A/N: ... Wow. I was not expecting this fanfic of mine to blow up so quickly. Within three hours of posting, I already had people's attention drawn to it. Good to know there are others out there who were looking for a Persona 5 'Good Ending' kind of fanfic. ^^' Thank you to those who have been reading, reviewing, favouriting, and following this fanfic already. Your support is greatly appreciated. I've initially posted the next chapter just so I can get the ball rolling. But expect slower updates from here on out as I have two other fanfics I'm working on and updating in two other fandoms (even if reception on those are particularly slow...). Before I get into the layout of this chapter, though, I just want to address a couple of questions and such that have popped up in the reviews.

To the anon addressing Ren's motives: I have to agree with your theories, too. I did take into consideration that Ren would have probably chosen this path to initially protect his friends. This is something you'll probably see throughout this chapter. But yes, I can see where you're coming from with both theories.

And to Toskie: No. The main heroine is not based on any of the main characters from either P3 or other Persona games. I'm only aware of and have played Persona 5, so if anything in this fanfic appears to hint at something from any of the other games... it's just pure coincidence. XD The main heroine is my OC, and you'll see that within this chapter.

From here on out, the chapters are going to follow a similar structure to the game regarding points of view. All first person points of view will be from my main OC's, whilst any third person scenes are just there for the sake of context of the readers from other characters. So expect the P.O.V to change quite a bit. I will also add that the events of this chapter take place a year later and follow the calendar for the year 2017 (it's been confirmed that the initial events of Persona 5 take place during the year 2016), but I've kept with the theme of not revealing the year just to make things a little less confusing.

I do hope you enjoy the second chapter, though. It isn't that eventful, but it at least does its job of setting up the events.

Chapter 2: Odd One Out

10th April 20XX [Early Morning]

"Hey, Verity! Get ya butt down here already!"

From where I was standing in front of the mirror in the corner of my room, I watched the eyes of my reflection droop in dismay at hearing Yuuma shouting up to me from the bottom of the stairs. But I chose not to answer him yet, keeping my focus on my black school blazer as I flattened it against my plaid school skirt. I expected him to follow up with another remark, which he proved me right about when I heard him yell up to me again.

"Auntie Chouko wants to see you in your uniform before we head out! So, hurry it up!"

"I heard you the first time, Yuuma!" I yelled back with the roll of my eyes, having a quick glance down towards my black tights and shoes to make sure they were in order. "Don't rush me! I don't want to get into trouble on my first day!"

"You'll get into trouble anyway if you're late! I normally don't care about that crap, but I've got you as extra luggage-!"

"Yuuma!"

I started chuckling in amusement and smiling at myself in the mirror when Yuuma was interrupted by my Mom's strict tone of voice, continuing to listen to their conversation as I glanced at my face's reflection one last time.

"Don't say those things about your cousin!"

"I didn't mean it like that! I was just saying-!"

"And yet you wonder why your parents sent you to me for the year… You should be taking your education a little more seriously, not because of Verity."

"Ugh. Not this again…"

I switched my gaze between my blonde braids resting against the front of my shoulders and my own green eyes staring back at me to see how they contrasted against my uniform, soon shaking my head in dismay.

'My natural hair colour is going to make me stand out no matter what I do, but it looks like I won't draw extra attention with my uniform being out of place, at least.'

"Verity! Hurry up before Auntie starts giving me the lecture again!"

Turning towards my bed and reaching out to grab the red strap of my shoulder bag, pulling it along as I faced the door to my room and jogged to it. I didn't bother checking to make sure I had everything I needed in my bag as I slung it over my right shoulder. I'd already done the preparation for today last night.

"I'm coming! Yeesh!"

However, I came to a sudden stop within the door upon realising I'd forgotten something important, quickly turning around and speed-walking back into my room towards my bed.

'Oh! Almost forgot!'

With my gaze locking with the small bright green jewel leaf attached to the silver bracelet lying atop the quilt, I grabbed it and held it close to my face for a moment, smiling proudly.

'Can't leave this behind.'

Sliding the bracelet onto my left wrist and making sure it was secured around my wrist and hidden away under my blazer and white shirt sleeves, I moved away from my bed and jogged for the door of my room for the second time.

By the time I'd reached the top of the stairs, I paused to briefly glance down towards the two people I already knew were waiting for me there. With one of his hands buried in the pockets of his matching plaid trousers of his school uniform and his other one rubbing at the slight spikes of his neck-length black hair, Yuuma stared back at me whilst leaning his back against the wall closest to the front door just to my left. He gave me a quick glance up and down with his drooped red eyes, clearly not looking impressed at all.

"You should have dyed your hair. You stick out like a sore thumb."

"Yuuma."

I watched Yuuma lean off the wall and stand up straight with a shocked blink when Mom addressed him for the second time in the last few minutes, our gazes quickly turning to her stood off to my right with her arms crossed across her orange, short-sleeved shirt. I took that as my cue to walk the rest of the way down the stairs, my eyes staying locked with Mom as she narrowed her own red eyes towards Yuuma out of disappointment at his panicked response.

"What?! It's true! Students of Shujin would recognise her as a foreigner straight away because of her hair!" Yuuma placed a hand to the front of his black blazer. "I look more like your child than she does, and I'm your nephew! Your blood-nephew!"

I paused at the bottom of the stairs and briefly switched my gaze between Yuuma's hair and my Mom's neck-length hair as she shook her head in dismay and huffed out of annoyance. He wasn't wrong. Had it not been for Mom's parted bangs, Yuuma could have been mistaken for her son.

"Blood has nothing to do with it," Mom eventually said, her expression softening as she unfolded her arms and faced me. With a proud smile, she raised her hand and gave me a light pat on the top of my head. "Ignore him, dear. You look fine. Very smart, in fact!"

I smiled a little at the compliment, watching out of the corner of my eyes as Yuuma groaned loudly and turned his body slightly to face the doorway. Mom chose to ignore him, though, her smile widening as she placed both of her hands on my shoulders.

"I can't believe it's already been four years since you've moved to Japan, and now you're starting high school…"

Mom trailed off the moment tears began to build up in her eyes, prompting my shoulders to slump in dismay as her lip quivered. She looked about ready to cry.

"Mom…"

"This isn't the time to be getting emotional, Auntie Chouko," Yuuma added with a groan, having glanced back at us just as Mom pulled me in for a tight hug with a loud sniffle. "You know once the waterworks start, you won't be able to stop."

"I-I'm sorry-!" I heard her respond in an almost whiny voice, leaving me to glance Yuuma's way with drooped eyes whilst mouthing 'A little help, please?'. "It's just… it seems like only yesterday that you were welcomed into our family-"

"Verity gets it, Auntie." Yuuma interrupted as he approached Mom from behind, getting a light grip on her shoulders and slowly prying her away from me. "I promise you can cry over your 'little girl' later. But if we don't leave now, she's gonna be late."

I let out a quiet sigh as I felt Mom's hold on me disappear, turning to face Yuuma and nod to show my gratitude whilst she dabbed at her watery eyes with the back of her hand. Being five feet, five inches and around the same height as your parent wasn't exactly helpful in this situation, which is why I was glad that Yuuma was six inches taller and had a good build despite his skinny arms.

With Yuuma nodding back as a form of acknowledgement, he was soon moving towards me and slipping his right arm under my left one, causing me to stumble in surprise as he pulled me close to his side.

"Anyways, we'd better get going! We'll see ya later, Auntie!"

As Yuuma turned to the door and forced me to move along with him, I glanced back to see Mom straighten herself out and turn to watch us leave with a smile and slight wave, both of which I tried to return as I was pulled across the threshold to outside once he'd opened the door.

"Bye!"

"Take care! Look after your cousin, Yuuma!"

"Yeah! Yeah! I will!" Yuuma yelled back in a dismissive tone as he slowed down in his walk and gave me a chance to stand up straight and move to walk beside him.

The train ride from Yongen-Yaya to Shibuya reminded me of how crammed the subway could get when both students and working adults used it to get to where they needed to go. The entire ride there I had Yuuma holding me close against his side with an arm wrapped around my shoulders, all whilst he held onto the train handle with his other one within his reach. Every time I glanced at his face, he was continually locking eyes with any passengers who happened to be glancing my way and glaring at them as a warning to look elsewhere before he made them. Despite having felt suffocated due to his actions and the addition of the large crowds of people around, it was little acts like these that reminded me of just how protective Yuuma could get. He always made blunt comments and acted indifferent towards me whenever around my Mom, but when it was just the two of us he turned into the equivalent of an over-protective older brother. To this day, I still couldn't comprehend why he did it. But it wasn't that important to worry over right now.

Yuuma's behaviour kept up even after we'd gotten off at Shibuya Station and ended up standing on the platform for the Ginza Subway Line, keeping his arm wrapped around my shoulders and me close to his left side. As I was forced to continue standing side-by-side with Yuuma whilst we waited for the train taking us to Aoyama-Itchome to arrive, I raised a brow and glanced at his face as he kept his gaze locked onto the empty tracks for now.

"You didn't have to take what Mom said to you this seriously, you know."

Yuuma briefly turned his head my way when I'd spoken, but was soon switching his gaze to the backs of a pair of female students bearing the Shujin Academy uniform and logo standing to the left of us at the front of the platform with a frown. His reaction was out of caution, as the two girls were too busy chatting away like they'd just seen something that had taken their interest. But we were both too far away to properly hear what they were saying.

"Most students at Shujin are judgemental prats," Yuuma muttered, his frown deepening as he turned his gaze back to me. "If they know you're associated with me, they should keep their distance."

I blinked in confusion.

"Why? Are you known as a bully to them or something?"

"No!" Yuuma's cheeks flushed a light pink from embarrassment, his gaze turning to the floor out of shame. "But an incident that occurred in last year's History class managed to convince everyone I need anger management…"

I tilted my head a little out of curiosity at this response, but chose not to question it to avoid further embarrassment on his behalf. I could only imagine the kinds of trouble my adopted cousin had managed to get himself into to prompt such a rumour…

"No way! The Phantom Thieves actually did that?!"

The sudden cry from one of the girls before us (specifically the one with long, brown hair tied up into a ponytail) caused me to flinch and turn my head in her direction, seeing her long, black haired friend nod with a silly grin on her face.

"Yeah! It was all over the news this morning! It came from a bunch of requests on the Phan-Site."

I gritted my teeth and focused my gaze on the crowd to my right to try to block out their conversation, as it was already obvious to me where this conversation was about to go. But their excitement proved too much for me to simply ignore.

"I'm surprised they're still finding people connected to all that shady stuff and changing their hearts! How do they know where to find them?"

"I don't know! But they're awesome for doing it! And so quickly, too!"

"They work faster than the police ever could!"

"Can you grind your teeth any louder?"

I blinked in shock and looked at Yuuma when I heard him ask his question, feeling my apparently tense jaw quickly relax. It seems I'd subconsciously started expressing my anger through my teeth instead of through words.

"Sorry…" I mumbled, raising a hand to rub at the back of my neck and switching my gaze to my shoes out of awkwardness. "I didn't realise I was doing it."

I heard Yuuma huff out of annoyance before he chose to speak again. He didn't bother lowering his voice as it was already noisy enough with the crowd's chatter drowning out each other.

"You really don't like people mentioning the Phantom Thieves, do ya?"

My eyes drooped as I dared to focus back on Yuuma, seeing him staring down at me with a raised brow.

"Really? You're gonna open that can of worms right here?"

"I just don't understand why you're so affected by it," Yuuma replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "I mean- what's the big deal? It's not like they're directly influencing you or anything!"

"It's not that." I said through a huff, shaking my head and folding my arms. "I just wish people wouldn't talk about them all the time."

"You're exaggerating! People don't talk about them 'all the time'!"

I raised a brow Yuuma's way to show my scepticism.

"… Do you pay attention to the news anymore? They're all the newscasters report on these days. You rarely ever see a news story that doesn't include them!"

Yuuma shrugged his shoulders.

"So what?"

I stared at him out of disbelief.

"So what? Do you hear yourself right now? You sound like everybody else who doesn't give a damn-! Mph!"

I was interrupted by Yuuma raising his hand and using it to cover my mouth, leaving me to watch as he moved his eyes towards his right as if to indicate for me to follow them. When I turned my head to do so, I saw the two female students from before staring at me with narrowed eyes. It was clearly obvious I'd been talking louder than I'd actually realised.

"Keep your voice down, Verity. You don't need to get so het up," Yuuma eventually said in a low voice, prompting him to move his hand away from my mouth as I watched the two girls eventually turn away and place their hands close to their own mouths to muffle their conversation.

I could guess I was now probably the hot topic of their gossip.

"Sorry," I replied through an annoyed huff, my eyes drooping out of shame. "I just wish people wouldn't be so accepting of the Phantom Thieves' recent behaviour. They act like they're right about every change of heart they make."

"But aren't they?"

My head was quick to turn to my left when the unfamiliar voice spoke, my eyes widening in surprise when they caught sight of a male student with wavy black hair wearing Shujin Academy's uniform standing close to me and Yuuma. Behind his black glasses, grey eyes stared at me with slight interest as he dug his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

"They've been saving people's lives and bringing justice to those who are corrupt. Isn't that a good thing?"

Before I had chance to respond, I felt Yuuma's grip on me tighten and found myself being pressed against his side, feeling my body tense as he let out a low growl.

"Oi! This is a private conversation!"

The student leaned back a little out of alarm at Yuuma's defensive behaviour and reached a hand to grip at the strap of his black shoulder bag, prompting me to scowl and pull my body away from his grip.

"Yuuma! He was just stating his opinion."

"Doesn't matter! He shouldn't have been eavesdropping!"

"I'm sorry," the student started with an apology, bowing his head slightly to add further emphasis to his sincerity. "I couldn't help but overhear, and it got me intrigued. It's very rare to hear anyone speak against them these days."

The boy raised his head and tilted it to the side as he locked eyes with me once again, with me catching sight of Yuuma mumbling something incomprehensible under his breath and turning his head away out of the corner of my eyes. Yuuma was normally very irritable around certain people who approached me, but I'd never seen him get this irritated with someone before. It made me wonder if Yuuma knew this student on a personal level.

As the student opened his mouth as if to continue to speak, the sound of the train's wheels screeching from the right side of the platform caused him to hesitate and briefly switch his gaze to the tracks. Yuuma sighed in relief at the approaching train and grabbed at my closest wrist just as I turned to face it, causing me to stumble when he started walking away towards the crowd at the front of the platform and pulling me along without warning.

"Nice chatting with ya, but we've gotta go!"

"Wait! What's your name?!"

I dug the heels of my feet into the platform to bring Yuuma to a stop when the student called out to us, prompting him to reluctantly pause with the roll of his eyes when I glanced back at the student still within close range. I could hear the train's screeching beginning to slowly die away, so I answered promptly to avoid delaying all three of us.

"Verity Achikita."

The student gave my uniform a quick look up and down before focusing his gaze back on my face, offering me a kind smile.

"I hope we can continue this discussion some other time. I'd love to hear your side of things."

I blinked in surprise at his remark, but my surprise was fleeting when Yuuma roughly pulled me forward and forced me to jog to keep up with his hurried walk to the nearest train door just as it opened.

"Of course you do! She'll see you later! Bye!"

I scowled at Yuuma's reply as he guided me across the threshold into the closest carriage to us, turning to face him when he grabbed the nearest train handle and gave me the chance to straighten myself out despite not releasing my wrist.

"That was rude of you."

With a frown of his own, Yuuma glanced down at me the moment I heard the doors to the carriage closing somewhere close by.

"… You should stay away from him."

"... What?" Caught off guard by Yuuma's reply, I raised both of my brows out of confusion. "Why should I stay away?"

Yuuma furrowed his brow for a moment in thought, staying quiet as if contemplating his response. But soon he was closing his eyes and huffing in annoyance when we felt the train slowly starting to move, prompting him to shake his head and let go of my wrist so he could wrap his arm around my shoulders again.

"… I'll tell ya later." He paused to open an eye and glance my way again. "Just promise me you'll stay away from him until I do, okay? You've gotta trust me on this one, Verity. I'm not just saying it for the sake of it."

And I could tell that from the tone of his voice. Yuuma sounded fed up, but I could hear the concern shining through. It was obvious there was something about this guy that crossed him the wrong way.

Although I was tempted to ask further out of curiosity, I chose to respect his privacy and leave the discussion until he was ready to bring it up again.

"… Fine. I'll stay away."

"Thank you."

Turning my gaze away to stare at the passengers standing and sitting opposite us, I shook my head at finding myself unable to watch the passing scenery through the windows just behind them.

'Why can't Yuuma just be straightforward with me for once…?'

10th April 20XX [Morning]

With his hands buried in the pockets of his school uniform, Ren stood before the open school gates of Shujin Academy whilst staring up at the three-floored building's front entrance in silence. It was hard for him to believe that a year had already gone by since he'd first transferred to this school, and the adventure it had taken him on as a result was one he had least expected.

"It's almost been a year, huh?"

Ren turned his head slightly towards the childish voice that had sounded from his shoulder bag, his grey eyes locking with the bright blue ones of the black and white cat staring at him through the small opening of his zip at the back.

"A year since you and Ryuji first encountered Kamoshida's Palace, a year since we first met, and almost a year since the Phantom Thieves were officially formed… It's hard to believe how much has happened since then."

Ren gave Morgana a nod of agreement, deciding not to speak for the moment so he didn't draw attention to himself from the other students continually walking past him. It was bad enough they could probably hear Morgana meowing a lot and wriggling around inside his bag, but the last thing he needed was them thinking he was insane for having a full-blown conversation with a cat. The rumours regarding his probation during the year before were already too much for him…

"I'm surprised you chose to stay on at Shujin for your final year of high school," Morgana continued, briefly pausing so he could turn his head a little more to face Ren better. "But thinking about it, that probably sounded like the easiest option given your situation."

And Ren agreed with another nod, recalling when his official probation ended back in the spring of this year. He was forced to bid a temporary goodbye to his friends and return home (with Morgana in tow when the feline had decided to stick with him in the belief he could find a way to become human somehow), but it wasn't long before he'd spoken to his parents about staying on at Shujin for his final year of high school (seeing as his former high school had originally expelled him). Sojiro had been more than happy to allow Ren to return to Café Leblanc for another year when his parents addressed the matter with him, and long story short Ren soon found himself returning to Tokyo for yet another year; record free, of course.

Ren was quickly brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Morgana chuckling in amusement, his eyes briefly glancing around him to see that the number of students outside of the academy had thinned quite a bit.

"Still, the reactions from the others was priceless! Typical of Ryuji not to stop talking about throwing you a 'welcome back' party when we can all get together again. He'll probably do the same with the official anniversary of the Phantom Thieves too, I bet!"

Ren gave the area another quick glance before deciding to speak this time, turning his head away from Morgana to allow a sly smile to appear.

"That's just like Ryuji." 'Which is how it should be. They definitely don't seem to remember what happened in the Depths of Mementos and after once I'd freed them from the Velvet Room.'

Ren paused to let out a quiet huff of relief and closed his eyes.

'My friends are as oblivious of the current state of things as the citizens of Tokyo, which is for the best. There's no way they'd forgive me for going against what we set out to do. And I'd rather them not get caught up in this mess. Speaking of which…'

Ren opened his eyes when he furrowed his brow in thought, finding himself recalling his earlier encounter with that young Shujin student and her angry-looking friend.

'… what was her name again? 'Verity Achikita', right?'

His eyes narrowed as he was reminded of some of the things he'd heard her say about the Phantom Thieves, which appeared to contradict anything that should have been remotely positive.

'I just wish people wouldn't be so accepting of the Phantom Thieves' recent behaviour. They act like they're right about every change of heart they make.'

'She sounded sharp; a little too sharp for someone whose will is supposed to be suppressed.'

"Hey, daydreamer!"

Ren's shoulders stiffened and his eyes widened with surprise when he heard Morgana speak up and bring him back to reality, his head turning to face the feline as he gave a scowl of disapproval.

"You're gonna be late! You need to set a good example as leader of the Phantom Thieves! Don't be tardy!"

"… Right," Ren responded with a mutter as he watched Morgana duck his head back inside his bag.

Facing the steps to the academy once more, Ren started to jog up them to reach the school's entrance, inwardly sighing in relief at the fact his classroom was now on the first floor instead of the second. However, that didn't stop him from briefly frowning as his thoughts returned to the earlier topic before Morgana's interruption.

'I might just be overthinking things. But I'll make sure to keep my eye on that girl. She sounds like she's going to be trouble for us at some point…'

"This school is weird," I said to Yuuma as we walked side-by-side through the bustling crowds of first-years walking through the third-floor corridor of the academy, probably being like me and heading to their homeroom teachers for their official introduction to the new school year. "And I'm not just saying that because of the school building resembling a prison. Although whoever chose the name of the academy was obviously alluding to that somehow."

Yuuma snorted in amusement and lifted his head back a bit.

"Ha! Ain't that the truth?!"

"I mean, if second-years are on the second floor, then the first-years should be on the first instead of the third-years, right? Why put it in reverse order and make things confusing?"

"I've been asking that since my first day here. Heck, I think everyone else has, too."

"And yet they still haven't done anything about it?"

"Nope. They most likely don't care."

"I bet."

When Yuuma came to a stop before a bright yellow door with a diamond-shaped window to our left I was quick to copy, briefly glancing up to the rectangle sign sticking out above it that read '1-D' in bold, black lettering before focusing on Yuuma again. There were two doors to the classroom separated by a large gap of wall, with the door furthest away leading to the front and the one closest to us leading into the back of the room.

With a wide grin on his face Yuuma reached out a hand to give my hair a quick ruffle, prompting my shoulders to tense a little.

"Here we are: Class 1-D! You should be okay to go on by yourself. If you need me, I'll be on the floor below. And remember, if anyone gives you any kind of trouble…" Yuuma paused to wink and retract his hand. "… just say you're the cousin of 'Yuuma Hashimoto'! They should leave ya alone, then!"

"I highly doubt it, considering the first-years have no clue who you are," I replied, allowing an amused smile to appear. "But thanks."

"You're welcome."

Yuuma was quick to turn around and start jogging down the corridor, but briefly glanced back and raised two fingers to give me a small salute when he was halfway away.

"Good luck!"

My smile widened as I shook my head and continued to watch him go, waiting until he'd disappeared around the wall to the stairs before I dared to face my new classroom for the rest of the year. Reaching a hand up to grip tightly at the strap of my bag around my shoulder, I took a step closer towards the door and leaned forward so I could glance into the room through the window, giving myself a chance to get a good look at what I was dealing with.

Most of the class had already gathered and occupied the desks towards the front and middle of the room (whether they were sat at the desks or on the desks), causing me to swallow loudly at the number of students currently in attendance. There were more here than I thought there were going to be.

'Yikes. Students here are pretty prompt with attendance, huh? Then again, this is an 'elite' school…'

The moment my eyes fell upon the unoccupied desk at the back of the row closest to the window, though, I let out a quiet sigh of relief and straightened out my stance.

'At least I can hide away at the back of the room and not draw attention.'

Taking a deep breath and reaching out my free hand for the door, I paused for a moment to give myself a little more time to mentally prepare. My hand was shaking slightly by the time I'd gotten a grip on it, but I made no move to pull it away.

'Okay, Verity. Middle School was a bust. But this is a fresh start; new school, new year. Now's your chance to forget the past. And who knows? Maybe you'll actually make some friends this time.'

With my thoughts stopping there, I scowled and pushed the door open from left to right, taking two steps across the threshold before glancing in the direction of the other students in the classroom. The students continued chatting away to one another loudly without turning their gazes away from the people in their small groups or pairs, giving me the reassurance I needed to walk inside and head straight for the desk I'd been targeting.

'So far so good. They haven't taken notice of me.'

I continued my way towards the furthest desk on the back row as quietly as I could, pulling the chair behind it out and sitting down without saying a word. As I lifted my bag from my shoulder and placed it on the hook provided on the left side of the desk, I dared to glance once more around the room at the gathered students. I smiled a little to myself out of triumph at seeing no one focusing their attention my way for now, deeming my infiltration into the classroom a technical success.

'Heh. Looks like things are finally starting to go my way-'

"Hey, aren't you the girl from Shibuya Station?!"

I blinked in surprise and glanced in the direction of the familiar sounding voice, only to have my eyes widening at the two girls who were standing close to my desk. The brown-haired ponytailed girl on the left was frowning at me with blue eyes and crossed arms, whilst her black long-haired friend had her hazel eyes narrowed my way.

I was quick to recognise them as the female students who had glared at me whilst waiting for the train, causing me to gulp quietly and lean back a little in my seat.

'… I spoke too soon. I never would have guessed these two girls were also first-years in the same class as me.'

Before I even had a chance to open my mouth to speak, the girl with the ponytail beat me to it with her voice raised loud enough for everyone else in the room to hear.

"It is! You're the one who was slandering the Phantom Thieves!"

The moment those words left her mouth, the chatter in the classroom died down in an instant. I dared to glance in the direction of the other students to see their heads immediately turning towards me, with what sounded like confused mutters already starting to sprout up from specific students. I wasn't able to make out what they were saying, but that wasn't important. The situation felt like when a hunter steps on a twig and a deer raises its head in the direction of the noise they'd just heard with alarm. I was the hunter, the girls were the twig, and the class were the deer.

The longer I stared at the many eyes now staring back at me, the sooner I started to feel the sweat gather on my forehead. My eyes were soon focusing back on the two girls, though, when the one with the black hair decided to give her two cents into this situation before the other followed. It was obvious now they'd purposely done this to intimidate me into responding to them.

"What's your problem?! What have you got against the Phantom Thieves?!"

"Yeah! Why do you hate them?!"

I was quick to bring my hands to my lap when I balled them into fists and rested them on my skirt, taking the opportunity to take in a deep breath to make sure I was calm. The two girls had fallen quiet for the moment as the class continued to stare at the three of us in silence, all of them waiting for me to answer. But I found myself physically unable to speak, with my nerves getting the better of me and keeping me silent.

I wasn't like Yuuma. Although I usually wasn't afraid to speak my mind and state my opinion, there were times where I knew better than to say anything I was going to regret. I only ever did so during discussion where differing opinions were accepted. These girls seemed like the type to gang up on anyone who disagreed with them and attempted to turn others against the target, whether it be out of superiority or just for their amusement. I'd come across these types before…

'Don't respond. Don't respond. Don't respond.'

My silence prompted the scowl on the ponytailed girl's face to deepen.

"Hey! We're talking to you! Say something!"

I pursed my lips to further encourage my silence on the subject, causing the girl with the black hair to smirk in amusement as the whispers around the room started up again. This time I was able to hear what some of them were saying.

"Someone hates the Phantom Thieves? That's new."

"Maybe those girls are lying. I mean, it sounds pretty ridiculous, don't you think?"

"I don't know. You'd think someone who was innocent would have spoken up by now."

"So, does that mean what they're saying is true?! That girl was talking bad about the Phantom Thieves?!"

"She's probably just attention seeking."

"Why doesn't she just say something already?!"

"What's the matter?" The black-haired girl eventually said, her smirk widening at the sarcasm dripping from her tone. "You were more than willing to express your opinion before. Did you get cold feet because you have an audience listening in now?"

Feeling my fists shaking in my lap, I turned my gaze towards the front of the room and took another deep breath in, locking my eyes with the blackboard and ignoring all other faces and objects around me. I was getting a sudden sense of déjà vu from middle school washing over me, and I wasn't liking it one bit. Even though the bullying back then was based on the fact I was a foreigner, I had a feeling the girls would eventually bring that into this discussion somehow…

Despite my efforts to block them out, however, the brown-haired girl became a little more daring and moved so that she was standing in front of my desk, placing her hands flat on the wooden surface and leaning forward so she was a small distance away from my face. Her eyes narrowed as they wandered around different parts of my face, and it didn't take long for me to realise the reason why she appeared to be scrutinising my looks.

"She doesn't even look like she's from here! I bet you're just some dumb foreigner who has no clue who the Phantom Thieves are!"

My eyes drooped in dismay when the whispers around the room started again, leaving me to catch a few of the comments here and there as I turned my gaze towards the window.

"She's right. She doesn't look like she was born in Japan."

"Well, that explains it! She must be clueless!"

"I bet she didn't even realise she was attending the school where the Phantom Thieves became famous!"

"Her silence isn't helping her case right now."

"I know, right?! Why doesn't she retaliate?! I feel like we're not getting the whole story!"

"She's probably scared the Phantom Thieves are going to come after her or something for speaking against them."

'All it takes is one person to open their mouth and the rest will follow like obedient sheep; just like when it comes to the Phantom Thieves. Keep talking. You're only proving my point.'

"Don't turn away from me!" I heard the brown-haired girl yell at me, which was quickly followed by her hands gripping at my shoulders.

This action was enough to force my gaze to stare into her angry-filled blue eyes being dangerously close to my face, leaving us a nose-length gap between us. She was trying to prompt a reaction out of me, which I really didn't appreciate.

"You're so rude!"

"Says the girl who's uncomfortably close to my face," I finally chose to respond in a calm but low tone of voice, causing the girl's eyes to widen in surprise and for me to hear an echo of quiet gasps going around the classroom.

They obviously were never expecting me to respond.

'I'm getting sick of this. I need to shut her up. But in a civil manner. I can't repeat what happened the last time I was in a similar situation…'

"E-Excuse me-?!" The girl stuttered in a surprised tone that she attempted to sound annoyed with, but failed miserably at.

The whispers were quick to spring up again as I lifted my still shaking fists to my desk and prepared to continue speaking.

"She spoke!"

"Ouch. That was harsh."

"She has a sharp tongue."

"At least she finally said something…"

"And for your information, although I wasn't born in Japan, I've lived here for four years. So I know very well who the Phantom Thieves are and what they do."

I paused when the girl released my shoulders and leaned away from me with her mouth gaped open, prompting her friend still stood off to the side to finally move forward with a scowl of her own. At least from what I could see from the corner of my eyes.

"So why did you say all that rotten stuff about them back at the station, huh?! If you really knew about them, you wouldn't have been slandering them-"

"It wasn't slander."

I interrupted the other girl and turned my gaze to her with a calm blink, watching her hazel eyes widening in shock as I relaxed my hands and brought them close to my middle.

"I don't hate the Phantom Thieves. But that doesn't mean I blindly agree with everything they do. I'm allowed to have a different opinion, you know. Or have you never heard of 'free speech' before?"

I paused to briefly turn my gaze towards the other students in the class now gaping at me from different parts of the room.

"I'd be more than happy to explain to you two and the rest of the class why I think this way… if you're willing to act like adults, of course." I tilted my head to the side as I focused my glance between the two girls in front of me and to my side. "However, it seems like you two would rather play the blame game, so I'd rather not waste my breath."

Silence fell around the classroom as every single pair of eyes still on me continued to gape my way, leaving me to focus my gaze once more in the direction of the window. It lingered for some time before the sound of the door at the front of the room sliding open drew everyone's attention (including mine), revealing a man who I assumed was our homeroom teacher walking into the room.

"Time to settle down, class."

My gaze briefly crossed with the two girls to see them taking the initiative and finally moving away from me to take their designated seats, with the other students who were sitting on their desks quickly moving to sit down in their chairs instead. I let out a quiet sigh of relief at finally gaining momentary respite from this pointless fussing.

'Saved by the teacher.'

I continued to watch them even as the two girls seated themselves at the desks a row and two to three seats away from me, even when they both dared to briefly glance my way and scowl at me in a disapproving manner. They clearly didn't like how bold I'd been back there, and thus were giving me a potential warning that they were coming back for blood the second they got the chance to.

But I wasn't concerned by this at all, instead choosing to focus my gaze on the teacher once he'd set his stuff down at his desk and had begun addressing the class. Reaching my left hand under my cheek so I could lean against it and resting my elbow on my desk, I closed my eyes and huffed out of annoyance to get rid of my final thoughts on the situation before I focused on school for the rest of the day.

'There go my chances of starting over. I can't catch a break, can I?'