Ruby's POV

"I'm alone, my friends are gone and I'm being chased by her of all people…" I would never say this out loud, but I'm scared, scared out of my mind.

"Shit, she coming, I've got to.."

Date: 5/8

Location: Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya

I sat up and could feel sweat running down my back. "What was that about?"

Looking over towards Zwei, I was grateful that he was still asleep, so I knew that when threw the covers off and stood that he wasn't going to wake. It didn't take long for me to make it to the restroom downstairs.

"Was that your doing?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, sweety."

"How do I know you're telling me the truth."

"You don't."

I was able to get some sleep before my alarm… well, I say sleep, I more or less just closed my eyes hoping that I would fall back to sleep.

What also didn't help me and my lack of sleep was getting a text from Arc… how he got my number was beyond me so I might have to ask him to delete my number.

White Knight: Hey it's Jaune, I just wanted to say nice job sticking it to that stalker!

My Phantom Aficionado Website came in handy, didn't it?

Red Rose: What are you talking about and how did you get this number?

White Knight: It's okay, you don't need to say it. I know deep down in my heart that I was useful.

Anyway, I'm in Shibuya right now.

I'd like it if you could hear me out about your future actions!

I'll be waiting at the diner.

Red Rose: You really expect me to show?

"You should at least see what he has to say, after all, he is one of your confidants." Zwei said to me right.

I couldn't help but groan just thinking about going to see him after what he's done... but Zwei was right, sadly.

White Knight: I know that what I did was wrong.

But I'm going to try and make it up to you.

Even if it takes all year.

Red Rose: Fine…

I guess I've got some time to kill.

"You happy know?"

"Yes, even if you hate the guy, at least let him try and make amends, if anything, it's best to keep on good terms with the guy who made the Phansite."

Standing and stretching, I changed into my normal clothes before grabbing my bag and opening it up for Zwei. "You coming?"

"I won't be joining you." He said as he was scratching his ear. "There's something in Mementos I need to go look into."

"Great."

Location: Diner, Shibuya

'I don't really want to be here…'

I thought as I climbed the steps that lead to the diner and finding Arc was easy enough, seeing as he was sitting near the entrance. Even though there was a cup of coffee sitting half drunk in front of him, he looked like was about to pass out. I happened to catch the eye of the same waitress as before and I somehow managed to order a coffee as well before I sat down.

"So, what do you want?" I asked and watched as he jumped ever so slightly.

With him yawning, I was able to see the slight dark circles under his eyes. "Morning, how are things been? You know, with the… special activities?" He yawns again before finishing what was left in his cup. "Sorry about that. I haven't been getting much sleep lately."

'I don't really care.'

"I still don't know why you still think I am one of them." I said and I was happy that my coffee showed up.

Our conversation didn't start back up till the waitress left. "Sure, sure. I've been staying up late managing the Phan-site all night, every night… I think it's called PR?"

Taking a sip, the clink of my cup against the saucer was nice. "I don't understand what this has to with why I'm here."

"The Phantom Thieves Aficionado Website! Phan-site for short. You need a catchy name if you want people to notice you. This is all a bit of P-Thieves propaganda! Basically, there's no point in taking down bad guys if nobody's gonna know about it."

"There's a lot of people who do things without getting recognition, maybe the Phantom Thieves want to stay in the shadows?"

"Come on, you can't honestly think that? What do the rest of them think?" He said looking more alive than he did earlier.

"I wouldn't be able to tell you seeing as I'm not one of them."

"And that is why I've started the blog for posts from people you guys saved, while filtering out the haters. We need the Phantom Thieves to be seen in the proper light if we want to make the name popular, right?"

"You're sounding a lot like Sun." I mumbled as I lifted my cup to my lips.

"Huh!?"

"I said that, that sounds rough."

"You're not wrong about that, but it's nothing compared to what you guys do though. I'm just supporting from the shadows… though actually, I really wanna know how you punish people." He said with an all too serious expression.

"Well, if I was one of them, would you have fun if I just straight up told up?" I said and I was getting kinda tired of him inciting that I was a Phantom Thief… even though I actually was one, I didn't want everyone in Tokyo to know.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. After all, the Phantom Thieves do have a reputation for being secretive!" A downtrodden look appeared on his face as he spoke. "I… I wish I could be more like you guys somehow."

"Not all heroes wear capes you know." Even though I hated this guy for ruining my quiet life here, it just didn't sit right with me to see someone upset.

His face lit up at that. "Yeah, you're right. I'll be here to draw attention to the stuff you do! You can leave that part to me! Your popularity is gonna be at my mercy… or uh, my fingertips."

"It's not like I can tell you what you're meant to do, Arc."

"I'll be like your strategic image management representative, so to speak."

"A what?... never mind, good for you." I had no idea what he was on about.

He chuckles slightly. "Anyway, I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure that title's more than just show." And it seemed like all the energy he had, had disappeared. "I've gotta say though, managing the Phantom Thieves' reputation is tiring work…"

"Make sure you take breaks then… and get plenty of sleep."

"Yeah, yeah I will. The forum gets all sorts of weird posts, including tons of things unrelated to reforming society… that's where most of my time goes."

"What did you expect? You did give people a place to vent on the internet." I said with little empathy.

"I know, I know, but it's defeating the purpose of the site if the truth of the Phantom Thieves was buried amongst all that garbage… Oh, but don't you worry. I'll sort through all that trash."

"Then I'll leave that in your hands then." I told him just as the waitress came back around and I was able to order another coffee and Arc doing the same.

When she left, Arc looked at me with a lot less tired look. "Speaking of trash, I've actually already found out some worthwhile info about our own school. Our quest to boost your popularity can start close to home!"

I could see him speaking but I couldn't hear a word of it as I felt my back begin to warm up.

'Was not expecting this to happen…'

"I might be overworking myself though…"

"You're not the only one… if it weren't for talking to you and this coffee, then I think I'd fall asleep on the spot… I'm exhausted. I should head home." He said before he got up out of the booth and walked over to the cashier and paid.

With him gone, I was able to review the situation. Even though I still hate Arc, what he has done and still plans on doing was impressive, running a site like that must take its toll on him, so I was glad that I wasn't doing what he was doing… I had enough on my plate already.

My coffee arrived shortly so I was able to sit and enjoy it and without Zwei being here, I oddly enjoyed it more.

Location: Shibuya

It was weird walking around Shibuya without the others, but it was a nice change of pace and seeing as I didn't have anything planned I was able to wander around and that was how I found myself near the station square and how I found myself at a drink's vendor.

Well, I say at, but I was more or less looking for magazines that had the jobs listed as having more money than now was needed, seeing my line of work. And I was walking by the vendor when he called out me.

"Hey, girl with the red-tipped hair!"

I looked around till I saw the man question waving at me to come closer.

"Can I help you?" I said when I got closer.

"Would you like some fresh fruit juice?"

"Juice?" I said and I was a little curious why he would call out to me for this.

"Yeah, I sell all kinds of freshly made juice." He spoke cheerfully. "And since it's Sunday, I'm making a drink that I like to call Nasty Aojiu."

"You need to work on a better than that… but I'm curious now."

He laughs for a few moments. "You're not wrong about that, but I'm glad it's piqued your interests. I add bitter melon to a normal aojiru drink to make this a one-of-a-kind drink. It'll take guts to drink this terrifying mixture."

"You really are trying to make people not buy this you know." I said and it really did sound like he was. "Do you drink this stuff before selling it?"

I was surprised by the annoyed look on the cleck. "Of course, I do, how else do you think I know it's drinkable."

'He does make a point… I guess it can't hurt to try it.'

I thought as I pulled my bag around to fish my wallet out.

"It's five thousand yen." He said and I couldn't help but freeze momentarily before continuing.

After paying for the drink, I did have to wait for it to be mixed and I watched the clerk set about getting the plastic cup out. It didn't take long before I and the completed drink in and I will say that I was kinda nervous about drinking it but seeing as I was in Shibuya and having access to Mementos, I was confident that I could get in there and try and heal myself.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could the cleck watching me as I raised the cup up to take a sip. This was my first time drinking an aojiru drink and the fact that it was mixed with bitter melon as well was something else.

As soon as the drink hit my taste buds, the bitterness from the melon was very apparent and was helping with the taste of the aojiru dink. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I first thought and tasted as I kept on drinking. The clerk was happy about it.

"It's better than it sounds, right?"

"Yeah, yeah it is. I might just have to come back."

"Please do so, but I'll have a different flavour tomorrow."

I kept that in mind as I walked away taking a sip every now and then. I somehow found myself outside and by the Hachikō Memorial Statue and the spokesman that Sun and I saw the other week by the subway cart. With nothing better to do, I stood off to the left to listen to the tall black-hair cat faunus.

"…There have been far too many incidents recently to ignore! Can anyone deny this!? The runaway-train incident, mysterious psychotic breakdowns, a school with corrupt teachers… We have yet to discover the truth of it all! The apathy that permeates society is a direct result of negligence by our government and the media."

The tall cat faunus looked over at me and I had to look around myself to make sure that he was, indeed looking at me.

"You're listening quite attentively. Are you interested in politics?"

I don't know why, but I felt… something, deep within me telling me that this guy would be helpful. "Somewhat, yeah."

He looks at me with a studious expression. "Are you perhaps a student?"

I hum as I take another sip of my drink as I notice him stroke his beard.

"…Hmmm, I could use the help of a young person but I can't hire someone without any experience."

"What kind of experience are you looking for? As I'm used to working in a fast-paced environment."

"OH? And whereabouts did you work?" He said and it was weird to have an adult actually listen to me… then again, he didn't know I had a criminal record.

"There's a Tofu shop in Inaba that is run by Kujikawa Rises' Grandmother and the number of times people came in just to see the idol."

"Hmmm… I cannot guarantee anything, but in the meantime, I'd be happy if you stopped by to hear one of my speeches again."

"Sure, if I see you here, I'll be sure to stop by." I said before I left the towering man to speak to some other people.

Walking over towards the Hachikō Memorial Statue and sitting down on one of the benches there, I was about to pull my phone out when I felt something brush up against my leg. And when I looked down, I found Zwei looking up at me with a disgusted look.

"You're really drinking that, Joker?"

I looked at my half-finished drink and then back to Zwei. "It's not as bad as it looks or tastes."

He shakes his head before jumping up to sit next to me. "So, how did it go with Arc?"

"I still hate the guy, but the work he's putting into the Phansite is commendable." I said as I felt my phone vibrate.

"His work is commendable indeed." Zwei said as he looked at my phone when I pulled it out.

I wasn't really expecting the Thieves group chat to get pinged today seeing as were having a day of rest, but it must have been important.

Black Kat: Have any of you guys ever had that feeling that someone is watching you!?

Monkey King: Yup!

Red Rose: All the time.

Black Kat: …Right,

I am talking to you two, aren't I?

Maybe… maybe I just can't shake off the feeling of infiltrating a Palace!

So, it has to be my imagination…

Monkey King: Well, you are hot!

Red Rose: Well, you are hot!

Black Kat: Thank you, Ruby.

Monkey King: What the hell!

Red Rose: So, the question is, what do we do about your stalker?

Authors Notes

An update? And only five months have passed since. One of these days I'm going to kick force myself to focus on writing more.

With Persona 5 Royal out on everything now, I am streaming it on Twitch (under the name, Tiny94), and it's been fun playing the game for the first time.

For those of you who somewhat care and want to ask stuff, I have Twitter (Under the same name,) so come say hi.

If you do like my work and you have an idea for a story that you want to write, then please, feel free to comment/review and I'll see about writing it at some point.

Walk Tall and Be Fierce, my Friends.