Yu sat with restless anticipation as the school day neared its end. It was now or never. With Rise due to arrive tomorrow, the Phantom Team had to steal Mitusyo Togo's heart today. If they failed, his life would be over and her victims would not get justice. Akechi told him he stayed up all night making the calling card, and all that was needed now was to have Hifumi deliver it. At first, Shiho wondered why they didn't just plaster everything in sight with them, like they did with Kobayakawa, and Yu reminded her that they weren't doing this for glory. Akechi also added that he was pressed for time, and one card was all he was able to make. Yu's mind flashed to the looming confrontation, running battle strategies in his head, or trying to prepare for whatever Mitsuyo's form could be. So caught up was he that when the loudspeaker came on, it forced Yu up with a jolt.

"Yu Narukami, please report to the gym. Yu Narukami to the gym."

Yu had a puzzled look on his face, and judging by his classmates looks, so were they. And the voice on the speaker sounded familiar too. Making his way there, Yu resolved to just take whatever it was lying down. He had too much on his mind to bother with this. He entered the gym though an already opened door. Reaching inside his pocket to get his phone, he turned around when he heard the door slam and lock.

Wait, what the hell?

Instead of it being a random student, a teacher, or even one of the Niijimas, Yu found himself face-to-face with…

"Ryuji? What are you doing here?"

"Hey dude. I'm the one that called you here. We need to talk."

"About what? And how were you able to use the PA system?" Yu asked, on guard. Ryuji's tone was neutral, but his eyes showed an innocent curiosity.

"No one else was in the room with it. We need to talk about Hifumi. And you."

Yu paused, tilting his head in confusion.

"I'm sorry, what?" Was the only thing he could think of.

"I've seen you and her together, alone. Care to explain what you're doing with another girl while you're dating Shiho? I just want an honest answer." Ryuji answered.

Oh for fuck's sake. I don't have time for this.

"Ryuji, Hifumi and I haven't been seeing each other. We've never been in the same place alone at the same time." Was Yu's bored reply. He hoped the blond-haired delinquent would buy it. Instead, Ryuji's face turned into an ugly scowl.

"Oh really? Because I saw you and her alone on the rooftop at her highschool. You even said the two of you were alone in the church the day you encouraged me to ask her out."

Ryuji's scowl deepened.

"She said no, by the way. And after that, you two were alone yesterday. At her mom's news station."

Yu's eyes widened.

"Don't believe me? I have proof."

Ryuji pulled out his phone and showed Yu the picture, and sure enough, it was of him and Hifumi at the Togo News Station, all by themselves.

Shit. When he puts it like that, it really does look bad.

"Well? Wanna try again?" Ryuji asked through clenched teeth.

"Ryuji… I can explain."

But if I do, I'll sound like a crazy person.

"Oh really? Because I asked you to explain, and you effin' lied to my face!"

"Ryuji, calm down." Yu pleaded.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?!"

"I swear, this isn't what it looks like."

The next thing Yu felt was a very hard hit to the jaw. The silver-haired teenager went to the floor instantly, caught completely off guard by the sudden attack. As Yu began to reorient himself, he heard Ryuji speak, pure venom dripping from every word.

"You know, I thought they were wrong about you. Whenever I heard someone mutter in the hallway about how much of a scumbag you were, I'd always think that they were wrong. That you were like me; someone no one else would even try to understand."

Yu began to get up, tasting blood from a cut on his lip. He felt his resolve surge through him, and he glared at Ryuji. The blond high-schooler spread his arms wide, as if to say 'come at me bro'.

"But holy shit was I wrong. You ain't anything like me. The rumor mill was right about all the shitty things you are. For once. Tellin' Shiho that her boyfriend manipulated and used her will be a complete shitshow, but it's gotta be done. I hope you're ready for an asswhoopin' you ain't gonna forget, you piece of shit." Ryuji said with such calm fury that Yu felt a small shiver go up his spine.

"It's not too late to talk about this." Yu tried in a last ditch effort to get Ryuji to stand down.

"Yea it is. You had your chance and blew it when you tried to lie to me. Now shut up and fight."

Ryuji threw another punch, as fast and hard as the last one. But this time, Yu was ready. He caught the fist and matched Ryuji's scowl with his own.

"I am a lot of things Ryuji. But I'm not a man who's cheating on his girlfriend. And I'm certainly not someone's punching bag. You wanna fight? Fine. Let's fight." Yu hissed right before sending a punch of his own to Ryuji's gut. To his credit, the student didn't get down to one knee from the pain like Yu thought he would, instead being forced back by Yu's raw power. Ryuji cracked his knuckles and took up his battle stance. Yu could tell Ryuji had experience doing brawls before, but Yu had the advantage of training. An advantage that he intended to take full advantage of to make sure this ended quickly.

And with that, the brawl began in earnest, all hope of a peaceful resolution dying when Yu made his declaration. Yu took his kickboxer stance while Ryuji circled around, waiting for Yu to make the first move.

Which he did.

Throwing a right hook, Ryuji dodged Yu's attack and retaliated swiftly, landing a solid hit on Yu's face. He tried to follow it up with another punch, but Yu managed to redirect it, and crack Ryuji across the jaw with the back of his fist. Stunned, Yu let loose a powerful kick to Ryuji's stomach. At first, it seemed to have the desired effect, but then Ryuji grabbed the leg and elbowed it hard. Yu went to the floor, and Ryuji grabbed him by the hair, picked him up and slammed him against the wall. Before Yu could have the chance to fight back, Ryuji pressed his arm against Yu's throat, punched him in the gut before cracking him across the jaw. Yu was in a corner and hurt, but Ryuji wasn't letting up, grabbing the silver-haired student by the shirt.

I was wrong. Ryuji has been trained.

"Yu-kun?! What's going on in there?! Open up!" Makoto ordered from the other side of the locked door.

Ryuji was briefly distracted by Makoto's voice, giving Yu an opening. Slamming both of his fists down on the top part of Ryuji's elbows, the delinquent let go of Yu's shirt. Before Ryuji could register what Yu did, he grabbed Ryuji's shirt and hit him with a headbutt. With Ryuji staggered and forced back, Yu pressed the attack. Hitting Ryuji with the back of his left fist, then following it up with a kick to the gut, and finishing the combo with a swing from his right arm so strong, Ryuji did a half flip before hitting the ground. Ryuji got back on his feet with a groan, determination in both his eyes and Yu's, The blond teenager swung first, but Yu surprised him by hitting him first with an uppercut. Yu quickly followed this with a few heavy-hitting consecutive punches to the chest, finishing it off with a roundhouse kick. Ryuji tried to fight back with a kick, but Yu grabbed Ryuji's leg tight and threw him across the gym.

Ryuji refused to stay down, getting back up after a bit of struggling. By now both boys had bloody noses, and bruises were starting to form. There was no doubt that their bodies would be sore and aching from this battle, and they would need to make sure they didn't have any fractured bones. But neither of them cared. Not while the other stood. Before the fight could go on to round three, the doors swung open, there stood Makoto, Akechi and Ushimaru. Yu and Ryuji looked at each other, not knowing that the door was open. The two ran towards each other, both ready to keep fighting.

"What is the meaning of this?! STOP! BOTH OF YOU!" Ushimaru yelled, and as if a spell over them had been broken, Yu and Ryuji stopped dead in their tracks and looked at the group for the first time. And none of them looked happy.

"You two, in my office. Now." Ushimaru spat.

"You have no idea how lucky you are Narukami." Ushimaru began as the two fighters sat down in front of him, bruises staining their skin, and blood staining their clothes. At his side were Akechi and Makoto, both of whom looked very disappointed.

"Had I found you fighting any other student, I would've had you expelled on the spot. But Sakamoto has a reputation for provoking others and starting fights. As it stands, I'll give you both a chance to explain what happened. Starting with you Sakamoto."

"And don't lie. I'll be able to tell if you are." Makoto warned.

"This asshole's cheating on Shiho, so I decided to beat the shit out of him." Ryuji answered.

Upon hearing the delinquent's very brief, but true explanation, Ushimaru let out a very loud, long, drawn out, and exasperated sigh, and then buried his face in his hands. Makoto pinched the bridge of her nose while Akechi tried to suppress a chuckle, like an outsider laughing at how a child got caught misbehaving.

"Narukami, could you give us a more… descriptive telling of the events?" Ushimaru asked.

That was exactly what Yu did. Starting from when he was called to the gym, to Ryuji's interrogation, to the fight breaking out. Ushimaru sighed again.

"So what you're telling me is that Sakamoto decided to try and beat you to a bloody pulp over nothing more than suspicion?"

"It ain't suspicion! I tried to find out what he was doing with Hifumi, and he lied to me! I can prove it!" Ryuji interrupted.

"Ushimaru-sensei, if you don't mind, I think I should talk to Ryuji and Yu alone. This is just a big misunderstanding." Akechi interjected.

"Fine. But Niijima will be with you. She'll decide what to do with you."

"You're not gonna punish us?" Yu asked, trying to hide the relief. The last thing he needed was detention on the day when he needed to take someone's heart. Ushimaru shook his head.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd just call your parents and let them meat out punishment. But, that approach hasn't worked with Sakamoto, and Sae-san technically isn't your parent. I've trusted Niijima with such matters before, and she hasn't let me down yet."

Looking at the girl in question, he gave a small nod, and the four students made their way to the Student Council room. Once the door was closed and locked, Makoto looked at Akechi expacantly. The detective let out a sigh.

"Makoto, I think it's best if you stepped out of the room. What I'm about to say is confidential."

"No. I need to hear the whole story. Besides, you know I can keep a secret." Makoto reasoned, and the look she gave Akechi made it clear that she wouldn't budge. Yu could definitely see the resemblance between her and her sister. Akechi, knowing that time was short, decided to relent.

"The reason why Yu's been seeing Hifumi is because her mother is under investigation." Akechi began. Ryuji snapped to attention, while Makoto just looked puzzled.

"Really? Sis didn't tell me that."

"That's because Sae-san doesn't know. It began a few weeks ago, shortly after Kobayakawa was imprisoned. An associate of mine, Yusuke Katagawa, contacted me, expressing concern for a friend of his."

"Hifumi." Ryuji guessed.

"Yes. Apparently, her mother was causing her distress, and Yusuke wanted me to investigate Mitsuyo, to see if there was anything I could use to get her stop whatever she was doing to Hifumi. Originally, I was going to say no, but then I remembered that Dojima-san, Yu's father, was investigating her before being reassigned. So I began my own investigation, and I enlisted Yu to help me."

"And he went after Hifumi to try and get anything from here." Makoto reasoned.

"Correct. Meanwhile, I've been investigating Togo using other means."

"Why didn't you tell me? Or Sis?"

"Because we haven't found anything yet. And you of all people should know how much Sae-san hates having her time wasted."

"Wait… so… why did Yu tell me?"

"He wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Before today, the only people that knew about this were me, him, and Yusuke."

The four just sit there, letting Akechi's lie sink in and get processed. Makoto seemed a bit suspicious, but kept her mouth pressed in a thin line. Yu tried to have as blank an expression as possible, while Ryuji seemed to be going through every emotion possible as fast as possible. Silence reigned for a few more moments until Ryuji let out a groan.

"Awwww man. That means… God dammit!"

Ryuji punched a table and let out a hiss of pain, his body already starting to become sore. He then looked at Yu with apologetic puppy eyes.

"I'm really sorry dude. I thought… well…"

"I know Ryuji. You couldn't have possibly known what I was doing. And I didn't do myself any favors by lying to you."

"Yea, but I still feel shitty about beating you up over nothing."

"You didn't exactly get out unscathed."

"Yea. I didn't expect you to hit so hard. Have you been in a fight before?"

"A few times. I've also had some training."

"Me too! My dad taught me. You?"

"Same here. I've also gotten some from my guardian."

"Oh that's so cool! We should do this again sometime, see what we can learn from each other."

"Maybe later."

Makoto looked at the two boys with total shock plastered on her face. When she found them, they looked ready to kill each other. No, they were trying to kill each other. But now that it was over, they were talking like they were best friends. And not only that, but they wanted to do it again. She let out an exhausted sigh.

"Alright. Since this was all just a big misunderstanding, I'll tell Ushimaru-sensei to let you off the hook. But if this happens again, you're both going to detention and doing the janitor's job. Understood?" Makoto asked sternly.

"Y-yes Makoto-senpai!" Ryuji stammered, while Yu gave a small nod in acknowledgement.

"Good. You're both dismissed."

The three made their way out of the building, while Makoto went back to Ushimaru. Once they were out, Yu gave a nod to Akechi, signaling to the detective to go and deliver the card to Hifumi. As Yu's teammate left, Ryuji started talking again.

"But for real, I'm really sorry about that dude."

"It's alright Ryuji. You thought I was cheating on Shiho, and did what any good friend would do. She's lucky to have a friend like you looking out for her."

"Yea but I still feel shitty about it. I feel like I gotta make it up to you somehow."

Yu shot a text out to the other team members to meet him at the news station. Akechi had passed on the calling card, and Hifumi was en-route to deliver it to Mitsuyo at her office.

"Look, if you want to make it up to me so bad, talk to Makoto. She knows what you can do!" Yu yelled as he sprinted down towards his showdown with Mitsuyo Togo.