5/9

"And then," Makoto says, placing her finger next to the appropriate equation, "You would use this to..." She trails off.

Akira sits next to her, but his eyes are on his phone. He is smiling, and typing away.

"Is there a problem, Akira?" She asks, putting as much steel in her voice as she can.

Akira pales by a fraction and glances over at her. "I'm sorry. It's Ryuji. He needs advice. Badly."

"Oh? And that takes precedent over studying?"

Makoto cannot decide which of Akira's smiles she likes better, but the nervous grin he flashes her is a top contender. "Well, it's kind of important." He leans in towards her and whispers, "Don't tell anyone, but he's going to ask Ann out pretty soon."

Makoto's eyes widen, and all thoughts of studying vanish. "Seriously?" Sakamoto is going to ask Takamaki out? Does that mean Akira isn't interested in her? Does that mean Takamaki is interested in Sakamoto and not Akira? She feigns disinterest into her voice when she asks, "And you support him in this?"

"Of course I do," Akira says, with a confused look on his face. Then, his lips slowly curve back into a smile. "Wait. Did you think I liked Ann?"

Makoto opens her mouth, but her words are dust and nothing comes out. When she manages to wrestle back her composure, she replies, "No, I didn't think that. I was just wondering."

"It's just that you seem awfully interested," Akira says, his voice doing that teasing, annoying thing it does that makes Makoto's heart flutter.

"D-Don't you think he should focus on his studying?"

Akira spits out a laugh. "Ryuji? Study? Yeah, right. He's wandering around Shibuya Underground right now, looking for a gift for her." He sets his phone down in front of her. "Check it out. It's hilarious."

Makoto's eyes falls to the screen.

RYUJI: All hands on deck bro!

AKIRA: What's wrong?

RYUJI: Remember how I told you I wanted to get something for Ann? Well I'm kinda stuck! HELP!

AKIRA: Like physically stuck? Or figuratively?

RYUJI: Stop jokin' dude, this is an emergency!

RYUJI: What do I get Ann? She likes fashion and all that shit, but I don't know anything about it! Hold on, let me take a pic of some stuff. Let me know what you think.

The following texts included numerous images of various clothing items, jewelry pieces, and chocolates. "It seems he's very invested in this," Makoto says, as Akira scrolls through the dozen or so pictures.

"When Ryuji gets an idea in his head, he goes all out," Akira replies. He texts his friend back, and a moment later the phone vibrates in response. Akira chuckles and shows Makoto the phone.

AKIRA: You should buy everything. Ann's got expensive tastes.

RYUJI: Are you serious?! You know I can't afford all this shit! Dude, HELP!

Makoto smiles. "You shouldn't tease him like that."

Akira shakes his head. "He knows I'm just messing with him. Besides, I shouldn't just tell him what to get her, right? She'll appreciate it more if he figures it out on his own."

"That's..." Makoto starts, then frowns. "A rather romantic way of looking at things."

Akira smiles that smirk. "I'm a romantic guy."

Makoto averts her gaze from him. "Takamaki, I'm sure, like you said, would appreciate anything Sakamoto gets her. Is she meeting with him later?"

Akira shakes his head. "No. She's visiting Shiho at the hospital today, actually."

"Oh," Makoto says. "That's good. How is Suzui?"

Akira smiles. "I'll ask." He types out another quick message and sends it. A few moments later, his phone vibrates.

His grin increases and he turns the phone towards Makoto. It's a selfie. Ann, in what looks like a hospital room, dressed in a blank sleeveless t-shirt, with her arm thrown around Suzui, who smiles from the room's bed. The black haired girl looks exhausted, but happy, and Makoto smiles at the photo.

"She looks good," Makoto says.

Akira nods. "I think she is." He sets his phone down and sighs. "I'm sorry. I know I've been distracted today. And you're doing this to help me."

"Please," Makoto replies, raising her hand. "It's no problem. I'm just glad you've adjusted so well to life at Shujin."

Akira shrugs. "I don't know if 'adjusted' is the right word." His eyes dart in her direction and he mutters, "But I'm happy I came here."

Makoto turns her own gaze back to the textbook. "I am too."

#

Takanashi is on the subway when it happens.

Like shedding a second skin, the anxiety and rage and hate slough off him. He stands up, startling the other commuters, and presses his head into his hands. A single, choked sob breaks from his lips.

"Maehara," he groans. "I'm so sorry, Maehara."

I need to call him. I need to CALL HIM. He runs to the door, but the train is still moving, so he stands there and hops from one foot to the other, impatiently, until they come to a stop at the next station. It isn't his, but he bolts outside as the doors open, and squirms his way out of the congestion of people.

He pulls out his phone, dials Maehara, and waits.

"H-hello?" Comes a voice on the other end.

"Maehara?" Takanashi moans. "It's me."

"Daisuke?"

"I'm sorry man," Takanashi moans, and leans against a railing overlooking the local neighborhood. "All that horrible shit I did to you, I'm so sorry! I was scared, man! There're these guys and they kept picking on me and told me they'd only stop if I passed it along and did worse, so I took it out on you and I'm so sorry!"

"Whoa, it worked," Maehara mumbles into the phone.

"Huh?"

"Oh!" Maehara says. "It's fine. Really. I forgive you. We're friends after all. But listen, I gotta go. I promised them I'd post about it the second you called."

"What?" Takanashi asks. "Who?"

"Duh! The Phantom Thieves, of course!" Maehara says, and then the phone disconnects.

#

Skull, Panther, and Mona lay panting at the entrance of Mementos.

"Never again," Skull groans, between gasps. He turns one angry glare towards Panther, who lays on the ground, breath ragged, forearm flung over her face. "You're never driving again!"

#

Akira sits at the desk in his room. He has a pen in his hand, but there's no paper on which to write. Instead, he's tapping the tip against the wood, again and again.

"You should relax," Morgana says, from his spot on the bed. "Everything worked out!"

"I know," Akira replies. "That's why I'm nervous."

On the surface, it hadn't been that complicated of a plan. It had merely possessed so many moving parts, too many variables. Too many things could've gone wrong.

Akira takes out his phone and pulls up the PhanSite. He reads through the post made by Maehara once more.

'I just got a call from my friend! Just now! The Phantom Thieves just changed his heart!'

Akira frowns. Did he have to use the word 'just' so many times? It's like he was trying to call attention to the time frame.

Well, that had been the point. Still, Akira would've appreciated a little bit of subtly from the boy whose request they had fulfilled.

His phone vibrates.

RYUJI: Hey dude, thanks for the help today. I decided to get her a necklace. It's not expensive, but don't tell her that, okay?

Akira smiles and replies.

AKIRA: Your secret is safe with me.

And there's the code phrase. Ryuji's phone is back in his possession.

"I suppose," Akira says to Morgana, "that I'll have to thank Mishima. He actually did a good job."

"So, Makoto bought it?"

Akira nods. "I'm pretty sure. Hopefully, she thinks I was texting with Ryuji the whole time."

"Mishima followed the script?"

"To the letter. He sent the selfie from Ann's phone right on time too."

Mishima was the factor that had worried Akira the most. Try as he might, he couldn't come up with any other plan that would establish alibis for the three Phantom Thieves, that didn't involve his help.

The boy had been all too happy to assist.

After they'd established the location of Takanashi's shadow in Mementos, Ryuji had met up with Mishima in the fashion district of Harajuku. There, they had purchased a blonde wig. Then, Ryuji had coached Mishima on how to walk just like him.

Monday morning, the four of them had met before school, and exchanged phones. Akira took Mishima's cell, Ryuji took Akira's, and Mishima took Ryuji's and Ann's.

It had been Mishima texting Akira from Ryuji's phone, during his study session with Makoto. They'd had him follow a script Ryuji and Akira had put together the other day.

And if anyone bothered to check security cameras in Shibuya Underground at the time, they'd see a blonde boy in a Shujin Academy uniform stalking from shop to shop.

Mishima had also, when prompted by Akira's text, sent the selfie of Ann and Shiho, which had been taken by Ann the previous day, when she'd visited her friend.

Not only had Mishima been texting his own phone, but he'd also been texting Akira's. Given that the Phantom Thieves only needed one phone to access the Metaverse, and one phone to exit, Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana had used Akira's. After defeating Takanashi's shadow, and exiting the Mementos, Mishima's texts had flooded onto Akira's phone in one big bundle. Yes, the time stamps were off, but Akira doubted anyone would look too closely, and he could always cite a bug.

Meanwhile, Mishima, after getting his phone back from Akira at Shibuya Station, was to delete all the texts from his phone, and use his computer know-how to ensure they couldn't be found again. Akira had major reservations about this last part, but Mishima had sworn it wouldn't be a problem.

In the end, the Phantom Thieves had all established alibis.

Ryuji Sakamoto was in Shibuya Underground, searching for a potential gift for the girl that he liked, and texting his best friend the whole time, asking for advice.

Ann Takamaki had visited her best friend, Shiho Suzui, in the hospital.

Akira Kurusu had spent the afternoon studying with Makoto Niijima.

And while all this had been going on, the Phantom Thieves had changed the heart of Daisuke Takanashi, which was confirmed by Maehara's post on the PhanSite.

Naturally, there were plenty of things that could've gone wrong, and plenty of things that might still go wrong.

Akira's head spun a little, thinking about it. "Of course," Akira says to Morgana, "if anyone bothers to check the security cameras at the hospital, they'll see that Ann wasn't anywhere near Shiho today. And if Mishima isn't as good as he says he is, someone might be able to see that the messages were all flubbed and screwed with. Not to mention that the plan doesn't establish an alibi for him, at all." And this is the last time I'm going to rely on that kid.

Morgana shakes his head. "I think you're worrying too much."

"That's my job, Morgana," Akira replies. "To worry. To analyze. To lead." He stretches his arms over his head. "But, that's enough about Takanashi and Makoto. It's time to focus on Madarame."

#

Makoto lays on her bed, and stares at her ceiling. "What're you trying to do, Akira?"

Almost immediately after the two of them had gone their separate ways, a post had appeared on the PhanSite. The Phantom Thieves had struck again. This time against Daisuke Takanashi, a fellow Shujin student, who had promptly called his friend to apologize for harassing him.

And…

Given that Akira had been with her the whole time, and been constantly texting with Sakamoto, and had received a selfie from Takamaki and Suzui, it would appear that all four were cleared of having anything to do with the Phantom Thieves.

But.

Something bothered her about the whole thing. It all felt too neat. Too perfect. Akira had never spent so much time texting Sakamoto or Takamaki during their study sessions before. He had always been devoted to the work, and to her.

And who knew how the Phantom Thieves actually changed hearts? It was a total mystery. What if they could delay the time? What if they actually changed Takanashi's heart much earlier, but had Maehara wait until a specific time to post about it?

I suppose I could find out about that from Maehara directly.

Still, there was something else that nettled at Makoto. Something she couldn't put her finger on. She ran over everything in her head, once more. Akira had chosen Monday for a study session. During said session, he had spent a lot of time texting Ryuji Sakamoto. When Makoto had asked about Ann Takamaki, Akira had texted her and the girl had promptly sent a selfie…

She sits up. "The picture," she says to no one.

The picture Takamaki had sent Akira. It had been a photo of Takamaki and Suzui, presumably in the latter's hospital room. Both were smiling. Suzui wore her hospital gown.

But Takamaki wasn't wearing her Shujin uniform. She'd worn that varsity jacket thing. Makoto has seen Takamaki out in Shibuya during the week several times, and the girl always wore her uniform.

So, why would she have changed before going to see Suzui? And given that the hospital was some distance from Shujin, and that Takamaki had texted Akira relatively early on in their study session, had she even had time to go home and change?

She shakes her head. Wait. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Maybe I'm just looking for something to be wrong. After all, I brought up Takamaki.

Except she hadn't. Akira had brought up Takamaki. He had told her that Sakamoto was going to ask her out, which had prompted Makoto to ask after her. And then Akira had told her that she had gone to see Suzui in the hospital. Makoto had naturally asked how Suzui was doing, and Akira had texted Takamaki to find out.

She runs through it all again. The texting. The selfie. The timing of the PhanSite's posting. It all felt designed.

Designed to fool her.

And what did that mean?

Makoto's eyes widen.

He knows I'm looking into him. He knows I'm looking into his connection to the Phantom Thieves. And if Akira Kurusu was trying, desperately, to prove he had no connection to the Phantom Thieves, that meant he did have a connection to the Phantom Thieves.

He was a Phantom Thief.

##

A/N: Happy Friday people! Hope you're enjoying your weeks, and I hope you enjoyed this last chapter of Crimson!

So, I've decided that going forward, I will switch to a Monday/Friday posting schedule. I know, it stinks, but I think this is the best thing for this fic. As I've told several people now, I don't want to scribble something out just to make a deadline, and these chapters are getting longer and longer.

Anyway, thank you, as always, for reading! Have a great weekend!