THIS STORY TAKES PLACE AFTER THE EVENTS OF PERSONA 5 ROYAL. SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

I don't own Persona or any title related to it. All of that belongs to Atlus and you should go and support the official release.

Just then, everyone heard the bell to Leblanc chime and the door open.

Standing in the doorway was a teen with short blue-tinted black hair and dark black eyes. He appeared to be dressed in the Shujin Academy uniform only with the suspenders hanging from the belt loops. The teen looked around the cafe as he adjusted his hold on the book bag in his arm. "Man," he said while scratching his head. "Why did I have to miss the first train?"

"Mishima?" Ryuji lent out from the booth. "What are you doing here?"

"Sorry kid. We're closed today." Sojro stated politely.

The teen turned to give Sojiro a bow, "Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. I was told to come here by a friend." Mishima opened his bag and pulled out one of the invites the rest of the group had shown to Boss earlier.

Sojiro smiled upon seeing the invitation."Oh you're one of Akira's friends."

"Sure am," Mishima gave a quick bow. "I'm Yuuki Mishima. A classmate of Akira's."

"Sojiro Sakura, but everyone calls me Boss. I looked after the kid and I own this place."

"So this is the cafe he mentioned," Mishima looked around the cafe, taking in the old fashioned feel of the place. "It's a very nice cafe. Really retro."

"Thanks," Sojiro went to the coffee siphon. "You like coffee? Have a seat and I'll make you a cup."

Mishima bowed once again. "Thank you, sir. A little milk and sugar please."

"Coming right up. And drop the 'sir', It makes me feel old."

"Right sorry." Sojiro turned to start brewing his coffee and Mishima walked over to where everyone else was sitting. "Hello, I hope I didn't interrupt something," he said, taking a seat at the bar next to Yusuke.

Ryuji grinned, "It's all good man. We were just chatting. But what took you so long? We all came from school."

He lowered his head in defeat. "I missed the first train. I accidentally left the invite Akira gave me in my desk at school so I had to run back and grab it." He looked up to glance around the room once again, "Speaking of Akira, any idea where he is? Kind of thought he would be here."

"He's still grabbing a few things for the party," answered Yusuke. "He'll get here soon."

Mishima nodded, "Ok. One other thing, have we met before? You look familiar."

"It was quite some time ago, yes." Yusuke gave a cordial wave. "I'm Yusuke Kitagawa. We met at the planetarium."

"Oh, that's right. You were the eccentric guy."

Everyone chuckled at Mishima's description of Yusuke and the artist frowned, "Must you insist on calling me that."

"Nishima's right," chuckled Futaba. "Eccentric describes you perfectly Inari."

Yusuke stared at the hacker and Mishima turned to her as well, "Actually it's Mishima. Not Nishima. Your Sakura-san right?"

"Yeap, Futaba Sakura is the name," she declared proudly. "And sorry about the name thing."

"It's fine. And I'm sorry as well Kitagawa-kun. I shouldn't have been rude like that," Mishima bowed a little from his seat.

"Apology accepted," smiled the artist.

"Wait Futaba-chan, you know Mishima-kun?" asked Haru.

"We had a brief interaction one day when Akira was helping me with the promise list I mentioned." Futaba held up three fingers, "It was promise number three, learn about my generation."

Mishima lowered his head to the floor, "All I remember is that you called me an NPC. I'm more offended by that than I should be."

"Damn Futaba," Ryuji let out a small chuckle. "Didn't think you could be so harsh."

Futaba twiddled with her fingers, "I didn't mean to be. I was still learning to talk to people back then. Cut me some slack."

"But did you really have to say I have a total lack of sex appeal straight to my face like that."

Everyone's eyes widened before turning to Futaba. "I'm sorry," she said, turning to give the teen a genuine bow.

"Geez Futaba. Talk about below the belt." Sojiro placed a cup of coffee in front of Mishima. "Here. Tell me what you think"

He turned away from Futaba and picked up the cup of coffee. After a quick whiff, Mishma took a sip of the coffee. "This is amazing Boss. I'll have to stop by more often."

Sojiro smiled at the praise from the teen, "Thanks. I'm making curry for everyone later once the party starts."

"If your curry is as good as your coffee, I'm sure it'll be great."

"Thanks. Before I forget, you mentioned earlier that you were a classmate of Akira's. But I take it that there's more to it than that."

"You would be right," Mishima nodded. "Have you seen the 'Phantom Aficionado Website'?"

Sojiro placed his fingers on his chin, "I have. Futaba showed it to me once or twice before."

"I'm the sole admin for the site. I run it," Mishima answered proudly.

"Seriously," he said with wide eyes. "You run that whole site by yourself. Impressive."

"Thanks," Mishima slimed at the genuine praise from Sojiro. "It was a lot of work from time to time but in the end, I think it was worth it."

Ryuji leaned back in his seat and placed his hands behind his head, "Totally man. A lot of people were able to ask us for help because you set that thing up."

"A lot of people were helped because of your work Mishima-kun. You should be very proud," smiled Haru.

Mishima blushed from the praise of a pretty girl. "Thanks you guys. It means a lot to hear you say that. But there is one question I would like to ask." Everyone turned to look at the teen."I feel like I can finally get a straight answer," he leaned forward in his seat. "You guys ARE the Phantom Thieves right?"

They all looked at each other for a second before chuckling a little. "Yes," smiled Ann. "We are the Phantom Thieves."

A deep breath of relief escaped Mishima's lips and he leaned back in his chair once again. "Man. Finally feels good to get a straight answer."

Sojiro was rather taken aback by the teen's question. "Wait a second. This guy was running your website and he didn't even know you guys were the Phantom Thieves?"

"It's nothing like that Boss," explained Mishima. "Since what happened for Kamishida, I more or less knew that Sakamoto-kun, Takamaki-san, and Akira were the Phantom Thieves, but I never got any confirmation about it."

"I see."

Ann continued the explanation, "It was Akira's call. He said he didn't want to get people directly involved at the time. Sorry, we weren't able to tell you sooner Mishima-kun."

The teen shook his head, "It's fine Takamaki-san. And since I know the truth now. I want to thank you guys honestly for what you did. For stopping Kamoshida." Mishima's tone darkened a little bit as he remembered those days back in April. "Everyone on the volleyball team kept their mouths shut because we were afraid of Kamoshida, Me especially. I would buckle at any order he gave to me and I hurt you guys so much because of it, like when he told me to leak Akira's record or when I told Suzui-san to go see Kamoshida."

"I'm sure Akira doesn't blame you for what happened Mishima-kun," Haru said, trying to comfort her fellow student.

"And I'm sure Shiho doesn't either," added Ann.

"Thanks. Still… I can't forgive myself for being so spineless at the time. Even when Kamoshida threatened to expel us, I locked up. That's why after Kamoshida confessed, I created the Phan-site and confronted Akira so I could offer my support."

"Like we said, the site has been a big help. Lots of people were able to reach out for our help. Thank you Mishima-kun," Makoto smiled.

"I'm glad I was able to help in some way. But that's not the only thing I should apologize for. I need to say I'm sorry for letting the fame get to my head like it did," Mishima lowered his head, bowing to the group with his hands on his knees.

Haru and Futaba blinked a few times. "I'm not sure I follow," asked the third-year.

Mishima raised his head and Ann stepped in before he asked his obvious question, "Haru and Futaba weren't members yet. They don't know about what happened."

"O-ok. Then let me explain." Mishima straightened his posture as he remembered his shortcomings from around that time. "Well right after I told Akira I was running the site, the two of us started to hang out a bit. Usually, I would give him an update on the progress of the Phan-site, but after a while, I started to become obsessed with enacting justice." he shook his head, "I think I was still mad at the me that let Kamoshida get away with everything he did. I kept telling myself that 'I'm not that guy anymore' or 'I have power now', but in the end, I was just riding your guy's coattails. Using you so I could get famous. What made it worse was Akiyama-kun always getting on to me."

Ryuji blinked for a second, "Akiyama?"

Mishima nodded, "My old classmate from middle school. A few times when me and Akira would hang out at the dinner, he would show up. Say things like how I'm a zero and nobody even knew I existed. Every time we would bump into each other, he would hound me." A defeated sigh escaped Mishima's lips. "I think that was one of the things that led to worrying so much about fame in the end. I didn't want to be the 'zero' I used to be."

Ryuji smiled at his friend, "Come on man. Don't let what they guy said get you down. You're not the same guy you were. If anything, you're completely different."

The blonde boy's words caused Mishima to perk up from his seat. "Huh."

Ann nodded, "Ryuji's right. You seem totally different then you were back then. I'm not sure what it is exactly but you seem so much more confident in yourself. I can see it when we're in class."

"Y-you really think so," Mishima blushed at the honest praise from Ann. "Well, to be honest, I owe it all to Akira. Honestly, It's hard to put into words how thankful I am to Akira. He even helped me patch things up with Akiyama-kun."

"How'd that happened," Futaba asked.

"My and Akira were in Akihabara one day when Akiyama-kun sent me a message with his location. I didn't want to ignore him so me and Akira went to see what he wanted. When we met up with him, he was being attacked by some thugs. Threatening him and demanding money." Mishima clenched his fist, "They even threatened to go after his girlfriend."

Mishima's words caught everyone by surprise, "Seriously! Scumbags." Ryuji growled, vocalizing the disgust of the group.

"What could this 'Akiyama-kun' been involved with for those goons to make such a declaration?" asked Yusuke.

Mishima shrugged, "I don't know and I didn't care. Sure the guy was a jerk to me, but I wasn't going to just leave him alone with those thugs. I was completely scared at first, but it's thanks to Akira that I was able to work up the courage to stand up to those guys." Mishima proudly crossed his arms, "I bluffed those guys into thinking I recorded them and I was going to the police. I told them if they ever laid a hand on Akiyama-kun or his girlfriend, I would send the recording to the police. Looking back on it now, I'm surprised they bought it."

"Doesn't matter that much now," Sojiro added from behind the counter. "You saved this guy, that's all that matters."

"Yeah. After that, Akiyama-kun stopped bothering me. He even told me thanks. Truth be told, when I saw him getting cornered by those thugs my only thought was, what would Akira do? He stood up to Kamoshida when he saw all the injustice happening at Shujin. He didn't have too, but he did anyway." As he spoke, everyone seemed to sense a new resolve in the boy's tone, along with a glimmer in his eye. "Akira taught me to not worry about what other people thought of me or what other people could do. Sure I can't change people's hearts the way you guys can, but there are things that I can do, like running the Phan-site. Back when I was obsessing over fame, I was trying to change the weak me that let injustice go unpunished, but I realized something. Heroes aren't heroes because they help people, not because they're famous. I learned I may not be able to change the world, but I can change myself. And that's fine with me."

Everyone gave Mishima a smile. "Well put Mishima-kun. You sound so sure of yourself," Makoto said with a smile. "Sounds like Akira was a big inspiration to you."

"Yeah. When I found out he got arrested, I knew there had to be something I could do to help. I got on forums online and got people talking about his case. Even stood outside of Shibuya station to get signatures for a petition to get his sentence revoked." Mishima scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Not sure how much help I was to be honest."

Haru clapped her hands together, "I'm sure Akira appreciated the effort you put in Mishima-kun."

"I'm sure," chuckled Mishima. "I don't think I'll be able to repay Akira for all he's done for me, but I'll try. I have plans to make a documentary about the Phantom Thieves. I also want to turn it into a book someday." Mishima stood up from his seat and rummaged through his bag, pulling out a few sheets of paper before setting them on the table. "Here take a look. It's still in the rough planning stages, but it's coming along." He took a swing of his coffee as the group looked over his work.

The notes had detailed listings of their past targets. It was still crude but it was obvious a great amount of attention had been put into the notes. "These are great man," Ryuji smiled. "You got to let us know when it's coming out, we should all see it together."

Yusuke nodded, "Ryuji's right. I'm sure your work will be spectacular."

"I've still got a lot of work to do before I can even consider releasing it, but you guys will be the first to see it. Promise." Everyone handed Mishima back his notes and the teen slumped into the booth behind Ryuji with coffee in hand, "But before that, we should get thought today, did Akira say what time he would be back?"

"No idea," Futaba shrugged. "He'll be around eventually though. Plus, we're still waiting on his other friends."

"His other friends," Mishima placed his fingers on his chin. "I wonder who they are."

Just then, everyone heard the bell to Leblanc chime and the door open.

A teenage girl wearing a blue blazer with a school logo and a black skirt walked through the door. Her brown hair was long and had a red cord shaped like a clover on her left side. She bowed upon entering the cafe. "Hello. Sorry for the intrusion."

Yusuke batted his eyes, surprised at the new arrival. "Hifumi-san. It is quite a surprise to see you here."

The girl smiled. "Likewise Kitagawa-kun. I guess the world is smaller than we think."

Futaba turned to the artist, a cheeky smile on her face. "A friend of yours Inari?"

"Yes. An acquaintance of sorts. We shared a few classes together at Kosei," he answered before turning back to the girl. "Pardon me if I sound rude, but why are you here Hifumi-san?"

"I am here for the party." Hufumi smiled and reached into the bag draped over her shoulder. From it, she pulled out the familiar invitations. "Akira invited me. Is he here by chance?"

"He's still grabbing a few things so he'll be around later," Sojiro said from behind the bar. "Would you like a cup of coffee?"

Hifumi bowed politely, "I would love some. Could you please put a little sugar in it please?"

"Coming right up."

Sojiro began to work on another cup of coffee while Hifumi made her way next to Yusuke. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to properly introduce myself." She gave another bow. "My name is Hifumi Togo. As Kitagawa-kun mentioned, I attend Kosei Academy. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"Ryuji Sakamoto," he said, beginning the introductions.

"Ann Takamaki."

"Futaba Sakura."

"Haru Okumura."

"Makoto Nijima. I believe we've met before. Albeit only briefly."

Hifumi gained a thinking expression, "Oh that's right. We had a small interaction at the bookstore Jimbocho. It's a pleasure to finally introduce myself properly."

"What were you doing in Jimbocho Mako-chan?" Haru asked.

"Nothing major," she said with the wave of her hand. "Me and Akira were looking into cognitive psience while Futaba was resting during summer break. We happened to bump into Hifumi-san while we were there and she shared some excellent advice about strategy. Thank you again for that."

Hifumi shook her head, "Oh no, it was my pleasure. Before it escapes me, would you all mind if I conformed something with you all first." She leaned forward in order to whisper to the group. "Would I be correct in assuming you all are the Phantom Thieves?"

Everyone seemed confused by Hifumi's whispering before Ryuji blurted out, "Yeah that's us. The Phantom Thieves.

Hifumi blinked for a second while Ann smacked Ryuji on the head. Sojiro said from behind the counter, "Don't worry. I already know."

"Oh, my apologies. Does that mean you're…" She trailed off as she looked over to him.

"No," Sojiro smiled. "I'm not a member. Name's Sojiro Sakura but everyone calls me Boss. I run this cafe and looked after Akira while he was here."

"I see." Hifumi now turned to Mishima. "What about you?"

"No no no," Mishima waved his hands frantically, a little blush on his cheeks. "I'm not a member either. My name is Yuuki Mishima. I run the Phantom Aficionado Website." He bowed politely. "Sorry, but aren't you THE Hifumi Togo, the master female Shogi Player who went on an eight-game winning streak."

Hifumi fidgeted a little. "I wouldn't call myself a master. I'm not good enough for such a title."

Ryuji just shook his head, "Still… Eight wins in a row. Don't even think I could manage one."

"It's because you don't have any brains for a game like shogi," said Morgana, chuckling a little at his comment.

Before the blonde boy could get a word into Morgana, Ann stepped in, "Makoto mentioned you talked to her about strategy. Was this about Shogi?"

"Correct, Nijima-san showed an interest in the strategy and I offered her some advice."

Makoto smiled, "I thought it would be useful information. After all, we've all seen Akira's leadership skills. If she was the one who taught him then…" she trailed off as the rest of the team nodded.

"Actually I was wondering about that," Futaba pulled up one of her legs and wrapped her arm around it. "You taught Akira strategy thought shogi right? How did that happen?"

Everyone turned to look at Hifumi. "I see. Then allow me to tell you." Tucking her skirt, She hopped onto the stool as Sojiro placed a cup of coffee before her. Taking a quick sip, "Thank you, Boss. Your coffee is delicious."

"Don't mention it."

"Alright, I suppose I should start from the beginning." The shogi player straightened her posture before turning to face the group. "It was around some time in June. I was at the church in Kanda practicing new moves and thinking of possible counters to certain scenarios. One day when I was going through my routine and that's when Akira approached me." A small smile crept onto her lips. "At first glance, I didn't think much of him when he asked me to be his shogi teacher. But after we played a game together, I swore I sensed something."

Ryuji leaned forward, "Did he win?"

"Oh no," she chuckled. "The blue dragon which governs the sky swiftly dealt with his forces. His defeat was assured." Hifumi smiled while everyone else tried to make sense of her statement. "While Akira did lose, I sensed a gambler's spirit within him. Which I later found out was because he was a Phantom Thief." A thinking expression crossed her face as she placed her fingers on her chin. "Now that I think more about it, Akira's playstyle could be attuned to his work as a Thief."

Haru petted Morgana and asked, "What do you mean Hifumi-chan?"

"Akira would never concede, no matter how much the odds were stacked against him. I suppose now that can be attributed to his attitude towards leading the rest of you." There was a beat of silence for a moment longer before Hifumi shook her head. "Excuse me, I got off track. After that initial match, Akira and I formed a deal. We would be each other's playing partner. I would get to research new moves and Akira would receive my instruction."

"I suppose we should thank you properly," Yusuke said after a sip of his coffee. "Your instruction to Akira has been invaluable. His leadership during many of our operations was exceptional."

Ann smiled, "Yusuke's right. You taught Akira right. He's led us out of some tough situations."

The rest of the thieves gave smiles and thanks to Hifumi. "Thank you. I'm glad I was able to contribute to your efforts. But you all have done a lot for me as well. Like when you helped with my mother," she said.

Sojiro leaned against the counter, "Your Mother?"

"It's rather complicated. My father loved shogi and would play often despite how ill he was," Hifumi smiled widely at the mention of her father. "His spirit and passion while he played were one of the reasons I learned how to play Shogi. He was like a king, never hesitating when giving orders to his troops. I loved that passion he had and wanted to do the same with shogi."

"He sounds like a great man," Mishima commented.

"He was. However, because of his health, he couldn't work so my mother supported us. She used to be a local TV announcer but had to quit in order to take care of my father. When he passed away, I think my mother blamed shogi for making her lose her dream and her husband."

"I'm sorry," Futaba said from across the bar. "I know losing family can be hard."

"It's alright. Even though he is no longer with me, I have shogi to remember him." Hifumi said, nodding to Futaba. "After my father's death, my mother began to push me to keep playing shogi. At first, I believed it was to support me, but she started to change. It started with a few magazine interviews, then a photo shoot. Soon I began to be treated like an idol rather than the shogi player I aspired to be." The shogi player's tone grew more and more somber. "At first, I went along with it so I could ease the financial burden on my mother. But it came to it's apex when my mother asked me to throw a match against another famous male shogi player."

Mishima blinked, surprised by this information, "she asked you to throw the match. Why?"

"It was all a ploy in order to have me gain popularity by using the media in our favor. Before this, she had been persuading my opponents to throw matches, all for the sake of me to gain fame as an up-and-coming female shogi player."

Sojiro grunted a little under his breath, "The media." The rest of the thieves had glares and expressions matching Sojiro's. They had experienced first hand the power of the media in the aftermath with Shido.

"That's when I realized my mother didn't care about my shogi career. To her shogi, was a means to get me famous. She fully intended me to quit shogi so I could make money for my looks. That was the final straw so to speak."

"I'm glad we were able to help you Hifumi-chan," said Haru. "That must have been horrible. I know what it's like to have your parent's expectations thrust onto your shoulder like that."

"Thank you Okumura-san. Although, I can not place all the blame onto my mother." She shook her head as she stared down into her coffee cup. "I was overconfident in my skills. If I had properly assessed my own shogi skills I would have realized none of my matches were one by skill. That's one of the things Akira helped me realize."

Once again, a smile crept onto Hifumi's lips when mentioning Akira and everyone noticed a shine in her eye, similar to the one they saw in Mishima. "During many of our practice matches, I would confide in him many of the things I just told you. Through everything, he was there to offer support to me when I needed it most. He was always there to encourage me to keep going, it was nice to have someone who genuinely believes in me. Akira's support helped me come to the conclusion that I needed to start over as an amateur. So I could earn people's praise with my skills alone. That's why when I found out Akira had been falsely imprisoned, I used every opportunity to speak out about the injustice he was facing. I gave a few interviews when I was starting my shogi career over again and every time I mentioned how it was because of him that I escaped those fixed matches. I would not let a knight so chivalrous be defeated without offering the support I had."

A small chuckle escaped Hifumi's lips, "It's quite funny in hindsight. At first, we were nothing more than playing partners. I never would have expected things to have turned out the way that they did."

"You're not the only," Ryuji grinned widely. Everyone smiled at the boy's words, agreeing with the effect Akira has had on their lives.

"I suppose it would be rather presumptuous of me to assume that I have been the only one helped by Akira. I would love to hear about your time with Akira but first, if you would excuse me," Hifumi turned to Sojiro, "Excuses me, Boss, would it be alright if I used the restroom?"

He smiled at the girl's politeness, "Go right ahead. It's over there just before the stairs."

"Thank you," she stood up from the stool and bowed politely before turning to go to the restroom.

Once she was inside, everyone looked around at each other. "Akira has quite a larger circle of friends," Haru said.

Yusuke nodded, "I must agree. Since I know Hifumi-san from school, it is rather surprising to find out she has a connection to Akira." He let out a small chuckle. "To think some so close to me would have a connection to us and not even know it."

"You're totally right," Ann leaned back to stare at the ceiling. "I wonder if there's anyone else like Hifumi-san. Someone who we didn't even realize already knew about the Phantom Thieves."

Just then, everyone heard the bell to Leblanc chime and the door open.

Author's notes:

Alright, here we go, getting into the nitty-gritty. For the rest of the Confidants, I plan to have each chapter in pairs so that's the plan going forward with the exception of the last chapter but that's too far in the future for me to say for certain.

I feel I should elaborate on why Mishima and Hifumi got longer explanations than the rest of the Phantom Thieves. To me it comes from the fact, they have known each other longer and so there is no need for banter or comments of support. This is also somewhat true with Boss, but not as much.

Now let's talk about the two sections. Mishima's was pretty fun to write. He's a socially awkward kid who's had his confidence enhanced by meeting Akira. I wanted to capture that growth in his character with his dialogue, like how he corrects Futaba about his name. That being said, he also still has and will have some of his awkward moments.

Next, Hifumi. I had to go back a lot to make sure I got the way she speaks right. It took a while, but I think I captured the polite but spirited shogi player. I hope you all agree. Of course, she will have some funny lines too.

The update schedule for this story may not be consistent because of the current state of the world right now. I'll try biweekly but nothing for sure.

See you next time. :)