"This is gonna be awkward..." Ren murmured, taking off his glasses to pinch his nosebridge.

The group fell into an uncomfortable silence for a while, until Haru broke it with a nervous smile. "Uh... Keigo-Kun, did you refused them for a day out with me?" She asked, giving the half-French an uncertain look.

Keigo sweatdropped, not sure of whether being honest to her or just found an excuse. "U-uh..."

However, before Keigo could even start to answer, everyone else just nodded in unison. "Yeah, he did just that." The fuzzy-haired boy said, taking a sip of his water.

"And he did it for you too," Akira added, raising an eye with a smirk at him. "Am I right, Keigo?"

"Uh..." The half-French glanced between his teammates and Haru, before sighing and nodding to the both of them. "W-well, I kinda did this for her..."

"Bro, just admit it." Ryuji deadpanned.

"I don't see a 'kinda' in this," Shiho commented, putting the darts back on the table.

"Totally agree." Ann shrugged.

Yusuke, on the other hand, noticed heavily blushing Haru and turned back to the thieves. "Everyone, I think we just forgot someone else here."

"Oh right," Hifumi said. "There's someone else here, everyone."

Seeing that everyone finally noted her, Haru awkwardly cleared her throat and tapped Keigo's shoulder. "Keigo-Kun, did you just refuse them... for me?"

Knowing that he's stuck in a corner, the half-French nodded. "Well, y-yeah..."

With that said, an awkward sense of silence fell upon them. Neither the duo or thieves had anything to fill this void, letting the silence continue until Ryuji finally broke it.

"You two are dating, right?"

"No," The duo replied in unison, shifting their shoulder in discomfort.

"Uh... It is our second time going out," Keigo explained. "And we're only friends."

Akira and Shiho only glanced at each other, noting the striking similarity between them. On the other hand, Everyone else just gave them a disapproval look.

"You're telling the truth?" Ren asked, raising an eye in doubt. "Because it didn't seems like it."

Before Keigo could open his mouth and answer, Haru stepped up and answered for him. "Yes, we are just friends."

The thieves looked at each other for a few seconds before shrugged. "Well, let just forget about it," Akira announced, stepping up and standing between them and the duo. "Let Okumura-Senpai join. We are coming to have some fun and kill some time, right?"

Haru was dumbfounded from his sudden offer, not sure of what to say for a moment. "U-uh... If you feel forced to let me join, I can leave-"

"We don't feel forced to let you join." Ren interrupted her. "After all, more people equal more fun."

"And the girls are lacking in number here," Ann beamed, walking up and grabbed her arm. "C'mon, we're in the middle of a dart game."

"And now with Keigo and Haru joined in, maybe we can restart the game?" Hifumi questioned, tilting her head thoughtfully.

"I'm in for that," Ryuji said, raising an arm. "Yusuke and I suck in darts."

Seeing the nod of agreement from everyone, Ren nodded and tapped his head thoughtfully. "Hmm... Maybe we can have another duo battle..."

Sighing, he took out his phone again and opened the app. "Here."

"But there are only four columns here," Yusuke stated, rubbing his chin. "And why number this time?"

"I know." The fuzzy-haired boy nodded, handing his phone out to the girls. "Girls, just spin the wheel to decided the order of choosing your partner."

The girls widened their eyes in shock, and Shiho took the phone from him. "So this is WHY you downloaded this app, right?" She asked.

"I won't answer this." Ren shrugged with a cat-like smirk, brushing his hand through Morgana's fur.

"I hate you." Ryuji and Akira said unison, deadpanning and crossing their arms.

With an uncertain glance, the girls spun the wheel, and a new game of darts started. Haru got the first place to choose and instantly chose Keigo as her partner. Hifumi got the next place and chose Yusuke.

Shiho then got the third place and chose Akira without a second thought. And Ann was left to partner with Ryuji.

The game went on, and time the day passed with laughter and giggles.


[Evening, SUN ROAD]

After the whole afternoon of the dart game, the group left Penguin Sniper and called it a day. "I'll escort Haru back to her home," Keigo said, giving everyone a wave before leaving with Haru.

Waving back to the duo, the group turned back to each other after seeing them left. "So, I think we should just get on our way," Ren announced, shifting the shoulder bag of his. "Sojiro is waiting for me to close Leblanc for him."

"Mom's waiting for me too," Ryuji said, walking back toward the station. "Bye guys!"

"Mother is preparing for the press conference too." Hifumi murmured to herself, sighing and waving goodbye while walking to the station too.

Seeing that there's no other reason to stay here, Ann and Yusuke also left for home as well, leaving only Shiho and Akira on the street. Once the duo saw there's only them left, they winked at each other and intertwined their fingers.

"It's hard to hold the urge to kiss you, you know." Akira jokingly said, giving Shiho a peck on her lips.

With a faint frown, Shiho fliped his forehead. "I don't think we should disclose our relationship now, remember?"

"Other than that, we've only started for a day..."

"I remember that." The persudo-detective said. "But I still want to tell everyone you're mine."

"Me too, Aki-Chan." The volleyball player giggled, tightening her grip on his hand and led him to somewhere else. "Now, let's just enjoy our time as a couple."

"As you wish, my Swan."

She giggled at his joke, looking at somewhere else to think of some way to return that. "Ahh, how cute. My~ little~ Jester~."

"Can't beat that." Akira smiled, giving her another kiss.


[30th May, Afterschool]

The end of Madarame's exhibition was drawing near. The Phantom Thieves were now waiting for his confession. This, with Mitsuyo's press conference, which happened to be on the same day as the final day of the exhibition, only caused the Persona users' nervousness to skyrocket. And the fact that Makoto was investigating them, only to worsen the feeling.

Once the bell rang, signaling the end of today, Akira got a text message from a person he never expected. Makoto.

Makoto: It's Makoto Nijima. I got your number from Kawakami-sensei.

Makoto: Ichijou, can you meet me at the student union room?

Even though shocked by her sudden message, Akira quickly tapped on the virtual keyboard and replied.

Akira: Uh... You can ask me for my number, no need for bothering Kawakami-sensei.

Akira: But anyway, I'll be here in five minutes.

Akira: At most, I think.

Once he replied to Makoto, the persudo-detective tapped Ren's shoulder and gained his attention. "Nijima just texted me, and I'm going to meet her." He said.

Ren nodded. "Try to be not suspicious. After all, we need to know what she's planning."

"Got it."

With that said, Akira quickly ran out of the classroom and up the stairs to the student union room.

"Nijima-Senpai? May I come in?" He asked politely, knocking on the room's door. "It's Ichijou."

Without any delay, the voice of Makoto rang from the room. "Oh, you may."

Nodding to himself, the persudo-detective opened the door. Makoto was sitting on one side of the table, packing a pile of paper with a whiteboard behind her.

"A whiteboard, huh," Akira commented, putting down his shoulder bag on a seat and sat down opposite of her. "So, where do we start on our investigation?"

"Straight to the point, good." The president said with a faint smirk, giving him a piece of paper with Ren's photo on it. "Actually, I already had a suspect for 'The Phantom Thief.'"

"Ren Amamiya."

Akira was shocked at her pace of finding the suspect, never expected for her to have a suspect already. 'She's more concerning than I thought...' He thought, but remember that he needs to be not suspicious, he only raised an eye in curiosity.

"Hmm... Interesting, but why did you choose him as the suspect?"

"Everything happened after his arrival to Shujin." She explained. "Half a day late for the first day, friends with Sakamoto and Takamaki... the two other outcasts of Shujin."

'Come to think of it, it's self-evident...' the persudo-detective thought, rubbing his thoughtfully as Makoto continued.

"Not only that, if there's someone who would have reasons to after Kamoshida-Sensei, it'll be them." She finished, staring at him with a curious look. "Or you, Ichijou."

'Great, she's already suspicious on me.' He thought, trying his best to act calm and not panic. "Well, my hatred on that scum is pretty obvious."

"You knew what he's done to the team, didn't you?"

Taken back by his question, Makoto widened her eyes before quickly calmed herself. "Y-yes." She answered, barely loud enough for Akira to hear and hung her head down in shame. "Believe it or not, I did try to report Kamoshida-Sensei's doing to the principal..."

"But he just swept it under the rug and carried on, right?" Akira finished for her, crossing his arms and leaned into his seat. "Back when he's still around, I questioned some volleyball team members to gather some evidence..." He trailed off, taking his notebook out from his shoulder bag.

"Unfortunately, their answer was either outright disapproval of my claim." The persudo-detective continued, turning to the page of volleyball team member's confession. "However, some of them gave me this answer."

He put the notebook onto the table and gave it to her. "I didn't modify those words, every single one of them is real."

Makoto took the notebook and read the lines, widening her eyes in disbelief and shock. "No way... Even their parents allowed it..."

"After all, Kamoshida won an Olympic medal."

Putting down the notebook and gave it back, the president took a few moments to organize her mind. "B-but, how did all of these link to the Phantom Thief?"

"They did the impossible," Akira answered. "I know there are rumors about Ren and Ryuji blackmailing him into confessing. But with everyone covering his track, he can brush it off and expelled them."

"You're right..."

"I don't know who is the Phantom Thief, but they did this to save us." The persudo-detective paused, biting his lips as he has to remember the event happened on those two days. "If they didn't change his heart... God knows what'll happen to Shiho."

"She almost committed suicide..." Makoto murmured, tugging her hair aside with a shaking hand. "Ichijou, why did you said these things to me?"

"Because the Phantom Thief saved us from him," Akira explained. "And many more."

"O-ok..." The president said, hesitantly nodding. "But I still need to find out who is the Phantom Thief... And since you're friends with Amamiya, I hope you can get some information from him."

"I won't promise any real information, but I'll try my best." He said, taking the paper and put it into his shoulder bag.

"And I have nothing else to add," Makoto said. "You can leave now."

The persudo-detective stood up and gave her a bow, leaving the room and took out his phone to tell everyone what'd been going on.

Akira: Just back from a meeting with Nijima-Senpai.

Ren: What did she say?

Keigo: Wait, why are you having a meeting with Nijima?

Ann: She's investigating us.

Keigo: Wait; what?!

Shiho: From what Akira told us, she's been investigating since Kamoshida's confession.

Akira: Anyway, she had a suspect already.

Akira: And it's you, Ren.

Ren: Oh, great.

Ryuji: How did she guess it this fast?!

Akira: Come to think of it, it's rather apparent.

Akira: Everything happens after Ren got transferred here, and he's a friend with you and Ann, the two biggest Kamoshida hater.

Ann: You're right... It's self-evident.

Shiho: Did Nijima-Senpai also said something about you and me?

Akira: No, she didn't.

Akira: Anyway, I'm going to ask Ren for some information. She told me to do it.

Akira: Any answer I can use?

Ren: Just say 'I'm sorry, I can't found any information from him.'

Akira: Hmm... Maybe.

Keigo: Wait, where's Yusuke and Hifumi?

Ren: Hifumi is probably helping her mother for the press conference.

Ren: As for Yusuke... No idea.

Shiho: Just leave them be. After all, the confessions are coming up.

Ann: Right, about them... When is the end of Madarame's exhibition?

Ryuji: June 5th, I remembered that clearly.

Akira: So, only six days away...

Keigo: Actually, are you sure that Madarame's going to confess?

Ren: No, not 100%.

Shiho: We only did one heist before them.

Akira: However, from what happened to Hifumi's mom... I'm about 95% certain it's going to be alright.

Ren: Yeah, have faith in them.


[June 5th, Shibuya]

A few days passed with nothing happened, with that fact that Mitsuyo's case of a successful heist, the thieves are mostly relaxed for what's coming. Yusuke was regularly informing them about her Madarame's situation, saying that he's locking himself in his room, not letting anyone in except for food.

However, they never expected how the corrupted artist reacts to his guilt.

"What's up with that old geezer?" A male pedestrian asked casually as the crowd stared up at Shibuya 109 screen.

On the huge screen was Madarame, sitting at an announcement table surrounded by cameras and microphones. Instead of his usual calm and kind attitude, or the cocky and disgusting attitude of his shadow, he was drowning in tears.

"I... I have committed crimes that are unbecoming of an artist." He began, his voice broadcast all over the city, and even more. "Plainly put...I, um... plagiarized work... I-I tainted this... this country's art world... and... even 'Sayuri'...!"

Clenching his eyes, more tears streamed down on his face in guilt and shame. "H-How could I... I possibly... apologize to- to everyone for..." He sobbed. "For what I've done... Aaaah...!"

"I am truly sorry!"

On the street of Shibuya, Kasumi, Rei, Asuka, and Shinji were staring at the screen with curiosity. "What happened to him?" Rei asked.

"He just confesses that he had been plagiarizing his pupil's work..." Asuka trailed off, pulling out her phone. "And the news is all about it."

"Hey guys, don't it seems familiar?" Shinji said, grabbing the group's attention. "It just likes how that Kamoshida guy confesses..."

"...And that was from the urgent apology conference by Madarame that took place just a moment ago." The newscaster informed once the channel changed visual feeds, shuffling his papers. "After reporting to the association, Madarame has agreed to the police's request to turn himself in."

"Another famous figure of the art world- Chidori Yoshino has also helped the former apprentices to reclaim their works. 'It's unbelievable that something like this happened.' She commented."

Kasumi nodded. "Yeah, now that you brought it up..."

"What happened to that Kamoshida?" Rei asked, tilting her head in confusion. "I only heard some rumors that someone called 'Phantom Thief' did something, and he confessed..."

"He basically confessed that he's been abusing the volleyball team's member and sexually harassed the female member," Shinji explained, sighing and shifted his focus from the screen to her. "It's lucky that we got into Shujin after all those things happened."

"If that creep dares to come close to me, I'll personally beat him up," Asuka commented with a dark look, causing Kasumi to take a step away from her.

"It's scary..." The crimson-haired girl murmured.

"Asuka, please don't scare Kasumi away..." Shinji whispered.

The German redhead quickly snapped back to reality. "O-oh, I'm sorry." She apologized.

Before anyone else can say anything, the voice of the newscaster grabbed their attention again.

"Also, a group calling themselves 'The Phantom' posted a dubious note at Madarame's exhibit. The police will investigate their relation to this case, but for now, did not identify them as suspects."

"Not only that, but mother of the famous Shogi player Mitsuyo Togo had also held an apology conference today. She confessed to fixing matches in the national Shogi competition. Here's the footage."

The screen changed from the newscaster to another conference. Cameras and microphones once again surrounded Mitsuyo. The cameras flashed as she stood up to bow in apology.

"I have been fixing matches to let Hifumi win, and verbally abused her..." She confessed, tears dripping down her cheek. "I am a horrible mother, only using my daughter as a tool for money. And venting my grief from my husband's death on her..."

"I am truly sorry..." She raised her head, wiping the tears. "For now on until Hifumi finishes her high school, she will stop all of her work aside from a student. But if there is any hate, please don't project them onto her, I am asking as a mother."

The screen once again changed back to the newscaster, another photo of the calling sent to her appeared on the background. "Other of that, another note of 'The Phantom' and another group called 'Le Fool' was also found."

"The Phantom Thieves..." Kasumi trailed off, furrowing her brow. "So it's their doing..."

"But from what they said, it seems the thieves are doing for the goods," Shinji commented, glancing at his companions with a raised eye. "Agree?"

"Yeah, kind of." Asuka and Rei answered in unison, but the crimson-haired girl pondered for a moment before shaking her head.

"Maybe their intentions were good, but they have the power to change someone's heart literally." She explained, looking down at her feet. "What if they just abuse this power?"

"You're right..." Rei trailed off, looking somewhere else thoughtfully. "But, we'll see."

On the other hand, a teen in a blue diamond-patterned vest stared at the screen, idly brushing some of his light brown hair out of his face. "Phantom Thieves, huh..." He murmured, walking away without a word.

"Phantom Thieves again..." Makoto whispered to herself, furrowing her brow. She paused, and the words of Akira rang inside of his mind.

'the Phantom Thief saved us from him...'

She grimaced, conflicted, before walking away to complete her errands. In the back of her mind, she wondered if they were really as just as they said they were...


[Phantom Thieves' hideout]

The thieves met up at their spot in the bridges, watching the news through the large window panes on the bridge. "You guys see the news about Madarame?!" Ryuji exclaimed in excitement, crouching on the ground. "It's just like what happened with Kamoshida!"

Ann nodded with a grin. "And they mentioned the Phantom Thieves!"

"And I have to deal with the problem that we're becoming more known in public," Akira sighed. "Makoto's investigating us, remember."

The ex-runner just laughed and put his around Akira's shoulder. "C'mon, let us enjoy this moment." He said with a bright smile. "Man, this is startin' to get interesting...If we do it right, we can change people's hearts."

"With this power... We might be able to do more than just gettin' back at society. It'll be a big deal!"

"This'll be fun." Ren nodded, smiling faintly.

Ryuji grinned at his friends. "Let's keep pushin' on then! As for me, I hope we just keep gettin' more and more famous!"

Keigo deadpanned. "We're not doing this for fame."

"Please, don't let the fame get to you..." Hifumi said, rolling her eyes.

Squeezing his face out from the bag, Morgana stepped on Ren's shoulder. "Something like this happening twice is massive too. It's too great a coincidence to occur normally."

"If we continue doing this, we'll definitely be able to give courage to everyone who needs it." Ann smiled brightly, twirling her ponytail.

"Inspiring people to stand up for themselves... That's awesome." Shiho smiled.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Yusuke held up a finger in front of his mouth. "...We may want to quiet down a little." He warned.

The group looked up and tensed when they saw two officers stood nearby through the crowd of pedestrians in the station, talking to one another. Ann blinked. "Do you know them?"

Ryuji glared at her. "You moron!" He hissed. "Those're attendance officers!"

"Hello there." The officer walked up to them with a polite nod. "May I speak with you all for a moment?"

"O-Oh, yeah!" Akira answered, trying his best to act normal. "Of course."

"What are you all doing here?" The officer asked casually. "Are you friends?"

"We wanted some coffee..." Ren nodded hesitantly.

"Hm, is that so? And how would you do that in a place like this?" The other officer asked skeptically

"We planned to meet up here and go to Jongen-Jaya," Akira explained. "There's a nice cafe around there. I think it's called Leblanc."

The officer nodded, appeased with their reasoning. "All right. Just make sure you disperse before it gets too late, OK? Lately, there have been some odd occurrences, and the news about that artist and that woman earlier caused quite the stir."

Ann smiled angelically. "We'll be careful!"

The officers turned and walked away, and the thieves grouped closer to avoid any eavesdroppers. "That was close..." The persudo-detective sighed in relief.

"It's still light out..." Ryuji kicked the floor with a grumble. "Man, those guys must have way too much time on their hands."

Jumping out of the shoulder bag, Morgana curled up around his owner's shoulder. "...From now on, we'll need to be even more cautious than before." He stated grimly. "Look at us! Right after the second Thieves incident, both prior victims are meeting up."

"Wait, you mean people might be listening to us...?" Ann frowned.

"Eh, it'll be fine. Look around." Ryuji shrugged, gesturing to the busy passageway. "We're the only people worryin' about it."

She pursed her lips. "I guess you're right..."

"By the way, Yusuke..." Ryuji turned to the artist. "You able to get anything out of Madarame? Remember how he was talkin' about that suspicious person in the black mask?"

"Well...I pressed him for answers, but he doesn't even understand what happened to him to begin with." Yusuke answered, shaking his head.

"It's not like he actually saw his desires get stolen, after all," Ann said, crossing her arms.

"It's likely that he may be sent to prison. In that case, gaining information will be difficult..." The young artist murmured, nodding and leaned against the railing.

"So, what're you gonna do now?" Shiho asked, tilting her head.

"I'll be leaving that house." He announced firmly, straightening up from the railing. "I can't draw in such a place anymore. Not after confronting the ugly truth within its walls."

"But you don't anywhere to go..." Keigo said, furrowing his brow.

"I still have the school dorms. I can stay there free of charge thanks to my fine-arts scholarship."

"A scholarship?!" Ryuji yelped, staring at him with wide eyes. "Wait, you're that good...?"

Shaking his head, he quickly snapped out from shock. "Anyway, it'll probably take some time findin' a target as big as Madarame."

"Well," Ann rested a hand on her hip. "We should just act like normal students while we look for our next target, OK?"

Akira nodded, turning to Ryuji. "And please, don't spill the bean, Ryuji."

"Wha- Why?!"

"You're the loudest out of us, you know," Morgana said with a smirk.

"Oh c'mon!"

Shiho quickly interrupted the argument between them, changing the subject. "Anyway, we can finally have that spa trip, right?"

The model grinned. "Oh yeah!"

They chatted as they picked up their bags and left the passageway, not noticing a pair of red eyes following after them. "Kitagawa Yusuke..." Makoto murmured, noting the appearance of Akira.

"I'm counting on you, Ichijou..."


And with that, chapter 27 of P5: Another Thief concludes! Thank you for reading!

The second arc finished, and the plot finally moved forward! And with Makoto's role becoming more important, leading to her joining the Phantom Thieves!

Review response:

RosyMiranto18: Where do I start... Um... About Kasumi, it's kinda weird to not mention her at all until this point. After all, from the canon, she's transferred around the same day as Ren, there's no way that no one talked about her. So I did some retcon on that, but... Maybe she's getting Cendrillon...

Seta Souji... actually, I did read I don't belong here... And this is some A-class idea XD.

As for the January arc, I got spoilered a while ago(Not by you), but I'm now 50/50 on whether covering it or not. After all, a certain someone isn't here to cause the arc, but maybe I'll do another retcon to include it.

After all, we just finished Madrame's arc, and there's still a lot of time before we cover there.

Keigo didn't mention where he's going nor where he is... So they can't just stalk him. And I think Ren just randomly type 'fun club with darts and pools' and found Penguin Sniper.

Speaking of which, Ryuji mentioned that he had a crush on Ann. (Ryuji and Ren did 'the talk' at chapter 16)

And Kichijoji SUN ROAD, which was featured in Royal itself is in fact, a shopping district.

Aside from his third eyes, Ren also had been making infiltration tools at night... Proficiency is crucial for him to dodge that chalk, and be a natural pro in dart XD. (And he ignored the calling to sleep by Morgana as a result.)

For Haru... I did also read Vanishing Act, and what an awesome fic! Haru can join early, and the team split to deal with two palaces at once.

And Shido has to find another way to crush their reputation. No stand user is helping you this time mate.

Anyway, looking forward to reading your review!

I hope you guys like the story so far, review are welcome!