Note: This is an AU oneshot of an AU. To be more specific, my Phantom Thief Ken AU, Ace in the Hole. As such, I don't recommend reading this fic if you haven't read Ace in the Hole. There are references to it that may confuse you otherwise.

Wednesday, October 5th, 2016

It was rare for Ken to see one of his friends during his commute to school, but even rarer to see two of them. But Haru was talking to Ren. Her expression was troubled, so if Ken had to guess, she was talking to Ren about the Palace. They were cutting it close, though. They had less than a week before Haru was supposed to go to Sugimura...

But Ken figured that it wouldn't hurt to join the conversation and he walked up to rejoin his two friends.

"Morning, Ren, Haru," he greeted.

"Oh, Ken-kun!" Haru's eyes widened at the sight of him. "Good morning."

Ren glanced at him, concern flashing in his eyes. "Is everything okay? I know that Shinjiro-san called in sick for you yesterday, but I know Futaba and Makoto were especially worried about you."

Ken just sighed, wrapping an arm around himself. "It'll pass. It always hits the hardest during the day of."

"I'm sorry about your mother, Ken-kun..." Haru said softly.

"Don't be!" Ken shook his head. "It's just... hard. But it's nothing I can't handle."

Ren frowned, toying with his bangs for a moment. Then he spoke.

"Why don't you go see Dr. Maruki today?"

"Huh? The counselor?" Ken blinked in confusion.

Ren nodded. "Yeah the school hired him after the whole Kamoshida fiasco. Anne went to see him right when he joined the staff. Ryuji went to see him in... May, I think? Oh, and Makoto went to see him just a few days after Kaneshiro confessed, actually. I've helped him out before, and he's a pretty nice guy. Just in case you need to talk it out. He's there to help."

"Hmm, I see," Ken said quietly, before biting down on his lip. "I suppose there would be no harm to it."

Morgana then suddenly poked his head out of Ren's bag.

"That's all well and good, but you really need to get to school! You'll be late at the rate you're going!"

"See what I have to put up with?" Ren quipped. "It's all nag, nag, nag."

"H-Hey!"

"Just knock the door already," Ken told himself. "Why are you making this hard?"

Ken just sighed to himself, rubbing his face. He shouldn't be nervous. Maruki was nice, according to Ren. And that was saying something, considering how much the school had screwed over Ren. It'll be fine.

He inhaled deeply before raising his hand and rapping his knuckles on the door.

"It's open!" a friendly voice called out.

Ken took another deep breath before opening the door.

"Um, sorry if I'm bothering you..." he said hesitantly, nervously fidgeting with the strap of his schoolbag. "My friend Ren suggested I'd come see you today."

Dr. Maruki just flashed Ken a warm smile. "No, no, come in!"

After Ken introduced himself, Dr. Maruki invited Ken to sit down.

"Apple juice, Amada-kun?" he offered.

"Um, no thank you," Ken declined, before leaning against the back of the seat.

At least the chair was comfortable.

Dr. Maruki pressed his lips together, mulling over something. He stared down at the file that he had fetched, before looking up and meeting Ken's eyes.

"So, you're friends with Amamiya-kun? Is there a reason why he suggested you come see me?"

"Well..." Ken sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Yesterday was the anniversary of the day my mom died."

"O-Oh." Dr. Maruki's eyes turned round from behind his glasses. "I see... That must've been difficult. If you don't mind me asking... how long ago was it?"

Ken looked down at his lap. "Nine years."

"Oh goodness..." Dr. Maruki looked taken aback.

"I know it's probably silly to mull over it so long but..."

"No, no, it's not silly! Grief can be... messy." Dr. Maruki's face suddenly fell. "I'm so sorry, though. It must have been rough to lose your mother at an early age. Do you have your father still, at least?"

Ken shook his head. "I hardly remember my dad. My parents divorced when I was a baby. I am lucky to have my guardian though."

"Oh?" He leaned forward, intrigue gleaming in his eyes. "Are they a family relative?"

"Mm, not quite." Ken shook his head, trying not to grimace at the memory of his uncle. "He... He's my senpai, actually. Seven years older than me. He was there the day my mom died... it was um, a break-in, and he felt helpless that he couldn't do anything to save her. I didn't properly meet him for another two years, though."

Ken winced. What was he thinking, bringing up the accident like that? Ugh, he could be so stupid.

"Oh, it's wonderful that you have someone who cares about you like that!" Maruki said.

Ken nodded. "Yeah, and it's not just him."

"There's more?" Dr. Maruki asked.

"Mm-hm. Due to special circumstances, I lived with my guardian and several other people around his age back in the fifth grade. They... helped me a lot. They helped me properly grieve for Mom."

"It's important to have a good support system." Dr. Maruki nodded, before smiling. "So... tell me a little about them."

"I don't even know where to start…" Ken said sheepishly.

"Take your time," he laughed, a genial smile forming on his face.

Ken talked longer than he had expected. He even talked a little about Minato-san. Though Ken had been surprised how… saddened Maruki had become when he vaguely explained Minato-san's death.

There was just... something inviting about Dr. Maruki. Ken hadn't expected him to be this nice.

"Sometimes I think about Mom meeting everyone. I think... she would've liked them." Ken then heaved out a sigh. "But I doubt that I would have met them if Mom had never died. It's just wishful thinking. I should count my blessings."

"There's no shame in that," Dr. Maruki contradicted gently. "I'm sure that people have felt similarly to you."

Ken then toyed with the strap of his schoolbag. "But... I know that Mom wouldn't want me to focus on the what-ifs. She always believed in looking forward. She actually became estranged from her twin sister when I was young. And even though it broke her heart, she kept moving forward. And I think... she'd want me to do the same. I'm blessed in my life already. I have so many people who care about me."

He could be sad about Mom but... he had bigger concerns now.

"That's very mature of you to think that, Amada-kun," Dr. Maruki said. "And I'm sure that if your mother was alive today, she'd be proud of you."

Ken just smiled slightly. "Thank you. I'd be doing her a disservice if I didn't try to live my life to the fullest. She died to protect me. She gave her life so I could live."

He then stood up, picking up his bag. He then bowed his head.

"Thank you for your time today."

"It's no problem, Amada-kun!" Dr. Maruki smiled. "Feel free to stop by anytime you need me. My time is nearly up after all, and I'd like to help you if you need it."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ken reassured the older man.

After he stepped out, he pulled out his phone to check his messages.

Group Chat: The Phantom Thieves of Hearts

[Ryuji Sakamoto]: RenRen we're almost out of time!

[Ryuji Sakamoto]: We gotta go to the Palace!

[Ren Amamiya]: Ken went to see Dr. Maruki, we can't go without him

[Makoto Niijima]: The timing just isn't good today. But we should go in tomorrow then.

Ken just smiled. He was lucky to have his friends.

[Ken Amada]: I just got out. And I appreciate you guys being considerate but... we need to change Okumura's heart. For Haru's sake... and all of the people he's been abusing.

But... he had things to take care of. He couldn't focus on something that'll never come true.

He had his friends. He had Shinjiro-san and everyone else in SEES.

That was enough.

After beating Royal, I could not get the idea of Maruki talking to Ken out of my head, in the universe I've built up Ace in the Hole. So! I wrote this little oneshot. Now, this does not mean that I'm writing a P5R AU of Ace in the Hole. It was a fun write, but I still want to focus on Ace in the Hole, which is firmly in the vanilla timeline of P5.

But regardless, I hope you enjoyed this!