The Mystery of Ren Amamiya - Lightning99

Stream 12:

Haru Okumura

'It's not quite as good as Ren's coffee, but that is the method I use to brew tea whenever I have it, which is quite often,' Haru Okumura said, placing her cup and saucer onto the desk. She manoeuvred her long pink dress and cardigan around as she sat down, then lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip.

Ann placed her own cup on the desk, pulling Ren's thick joggers above her waist before she sat down.

'There you go, chat, an impromptu tea-making lesson. I expect all of you to be pros already,' Ann said, setting her camera back up after having taken it to the kitchen.

'Oh, I don't expect that much of you,' Haru said. She placed her hands in her lap and scanned the screen. 'I just showed you the speciality of my recently opened Café, Okumura Teas.'

MidnightSword: A tea shop? I thought Okumura Foods owned Big Bang Burger?

'We do, yes,' Haru said, nodding. 'I inherited Big Bang Burger and Okumura Foods when my father passed away. I am still on the board of directors, and I oversee everything to ensure they don't fall into their old ways of overworking staff, but I do not have as big a role as I used to. I have invested more of my time into creating Okumura Teas.

'It has been a dream of mine for a while to open a tea shop, you see. You might think that being the person I am, opening a simple tea shop would be easy. I have enough money to buy the resources necessary. However, I have only used the money I personally earned from running Big Bang Burger over the last few years to start the business. And I have grown most of the ingredients I use to make my teas. As such, everything about Okumura Teas has been of my own making. Of course, I am just starting, but I hope it will evolve into something like Sojiro-san's LeBlanc one day. Although LeBlanc is so pleasant, I don't think I will ever surpass it.'

'I know friends should have each other's backs, but you might be right,' Ann said, leading Haru to giggle, nodding so enthusiastically that her floofy hair flopped over her forehead. 'How is business so far?'

'It is great, thank you. We haven't been overrun with customers, but we have had enough. Many of them are regulars now. It has only been open for two months, but we have already exceeded our predicted profit.'

'Wow, that's good going,' Ann said. She turned to the camera. 'If you like tea, then head on over to Okumura Teas whenever you're free. They are second to none. Even if you don't like tea, go there, and you'll start liking it.'

'What is this, an ad campaign?' Haru asked, chuckling. 'Thank you, Ann,'

'You came here for my stream. I'm only returning the favour.'

They shared a smile, then turned to the chat.

PhantomThiefRai: Guys, why aren't we talking about Ren being a Phantom Thief?!

Haru glanced, wide-eyed, at Ann, who just shook her head. She completely ignored Rai's comment. She ignored all of the comments afterwards that agreed with him, too. The conversation filled the screen for several minutes, but it started to fall off when, Ann assumed, people realised she was ignoring them. Finally, another comment for Haru appeared.

Square-Forneus: Haru, if you don't mind me asking, why did you name your shop Okumura Teas? Doesn't the Okumura name come with a bad reputation?

Haru smiled unflinchingly.

'Okumura Foods still carries the weight of its past misdeeds, yes. My fellow board members and I have been able to rectify that somewhat, but the reputation is still there, and that is exactly why I decided to name my tea shop as such. Okumura Foods is my legacy, after all, so by making my business a success, I intend to restore our name. Moreover, I want to show that my late father wasn't a complete monster. Because despite his bad deeds, I loved my father, and I know a part of him regretted what he became.'

Ann raised her hand, which was mostly hidden beneath the sleeve of her jumper.

'Can I say something?' she asked.

'Of course,' Haru said.

'Reputation is a weird thing and something that causes way too many misunderstandings. I'm gonna regret even bringing him up, but Ren is one of the best examples of this. When he joined our school, everyone was terrified of him. Someone leaked that he had been arrested, so his reputation became that of a criminal. Everyone said awful things about him, how he had killed people, how he would slug them if they looked him in the eye. He wasn't the only one that was treated like that, either. Me, Ryuji, and even Makoto had false reputations among the students.

'They couldn't have been more wrong about any of us, but I brought up Ren first because of how he handled it. He didn't let the reputations get him down. He knew he wasn't what they said. When he met me and the rest of us, we believed him, and that was enough for him. I never believed he was a criminal, but you know what he said when I asked if he really was? 'I'm bad to the bone'. He made a joke to try and cheer me up, even when he should have been suffering just as much.

'I'm rambling a bit, but I want to show you why Haru chose to name her café Okumura Teas. If all you trust is someone's reputation without first discovering whether it's true, you'll be blind,' Ann said.

Haru placed a hand on Ann's shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

'Thank you, Ann,' Haru said. 'That is exactly right. I wanted to embrace the reputation so I could prove it wrong. My associates suggested staying away from the Okumura name, too, because it was disgraced, but I politely told them that, if that was their attitude, they should quit their jobs and give up on life.'

Ann slowly side eyed Haru's innocent smile. She chose to ignore the slightly psychotic undertone to her statement just now.

'So, here's the lesson for the day. You shouldn't judge people by their reputation just as much as you shouldn't judge their appearances,' Ann said. She flopped back into her chair, sighing. 'I suddenly feel exhausted.'

Haru giggled.

'I haven't seen you speak so passionately in a while,' she said.

'You think?' Ann asked, looking at the chat. She smiled at the support everybody was giving.

1_1_M-B_1_9: I just realised I did this exact thing with Miss Kawakami.

'Oh? How do you mean M-B?' Ann asked, sitting forwards. It took a moment for a reply to pop through.

1_1_M-B_1_9: In school, she has a reputation for being pretty strict and focusing heavily on her work. There's a running joke that all she does is work, and she doesn't exist outside the school. But when I saw her on here a few weeks ago, I realised she's actually pretty cool and that she only works hard because she's devoted to us. You've made me realise that, so thank you.

'Not at all,' Haru said. 'It sounds like you came to that realisation yourself.'

'Haru's right,' Ann said.

PhantomThiefRai: Guys, seriously. Why aren't we talking about this? Ren might be a Phantom Thief!

1_1_M-B_1_9: How should I make it up to Kawakami?

'How to make it up to her?' Haru asked, eyes cast to the ceiling, chin resting on her fist.

'First, I'd make sure people stop with the running joke. Let them know the truth,' Ann said.

'I agree. And if you want her to know about your – change of heart,' – Haru and Ann shared a grin – 'perhaps buy her a gift.'

'Definitely. Either go for Designer Perfume or Chocolate Truffles from Shibuya's underground mall. She loves those. And, if you can't afford a gift, your words may be enough.'

1_1_M-B_1_9: Awesome, thank you!

Ann nodded, then laughed aloud at a following comment thread in which AnnFann and now RenFan argued over making him change his name. AnnFann had little success.

'Oh, wow, Ren even has his own fans now?' Haru asked.

'You have no idea,' Ann said. 'I think most of the chat are only here for Ren.'

Featherman616: Oh, you do get us, then.

Featherman's comment was the minority – most people denied her claim – but somehow, Ann imagined he was the most trustworthy.

RenFan101: Tell us more about his reputation!

'Honestly, there's not much more to say about Ren's reputation,' Ann said. 'Oh, I guess one thing I could say is that he decided it would be best to wear fake glasses, as you already know. But he did it to look less intimidating to people. Of course, that didn't work since they thought he was a criminal, but it definitely helped hide his eyes.'

RenFan101: Hide his eyes? What do you mean?

'Well, in general, Ren is quite calm and doesn't often get angry. He's thoughtful and kind, and when he's around his friends, he's always upbeat, smiling, and goofy. But yeah, in public, he's reserved and thoughtful and calm. You could say he's quite like the Phantom Thieves' Leader. Or what little we know about him, anyway,' Ann said.

PhantomThiefRai: OH, COME ON!

'But the thing is,' Ann continued, grinning mischievously, 'when he's not purposely masking it, his eyes always perfectly convey whatever he feels. He's very expressive in that way. When he's happy, you can tell. You can definitely tell when he's acting smug or thinking of making a joke. But most of all, when he's angry, his eyes are so powerful that it actually terrifies you. So, by wearing those glasses, he hides his eyes a little bit, making him seem a little less expressive.'

RenFan101: Awesome… So, the saying, 'looks can kill,' is true? Ren can kill people by looking at them?

'What? No, that's–' Ann tried.

'Oh yes,' Haru said, leaning in front of Ann, that innocent look in her eyes never fading. 'Whenever Ren looks at someone with anger in his eyes, you get the impression that he could kill them on the spot if he wanted to. Ahh, it sends such tingles down my spine whenever I see it.'

Ann scooted her chair a little to the left.

RenFan101: Uhh… Haru, are you ok?

'Yes, of course. Why do you ask me that?' Haru asked.

Ann ignored the comment, turning back to the chat.

PhantomThiefRai: More like he is The Phantom Thieves' leader, not that he's like him!

Ann sighed. 'You're still doing this, huh, Rai?'

PhantomTheifRai: I won't rest until I unveil his identity!

Ann groaned. She had resolved to ignore him for the entirety of the stream, but it seemed that wasn't quite possible anymore.

AnnFann101: PhantomTheifRai Do you have any more proof?

RenFan101: AnnFann101 What more proof do we need? It's Ren.

PhantomThiefRai: AnnFann101 No, but everything I have said so far makes sense, right?

Featherman616: PhantomThiefRai Yeah, of course. He even said you were right, that he was a Phantom Thief.

Endlave2011: Featherman616 But that's what's making me doubt it. As we said before, when has Ren ever not trolled us in the chat? Claiming Ryuji is a Phantom Thief, teasing Makoto.

PhantomThiefRai: Endlave2011 But what if Ryuji is a Phantom Thief?

Rai's next message came through in about two seconds.

PhantomThiefRai: Actually, never mind.

RyujiSkullington: Oi! I could be.

'Keep dreaming, Ryuji,' Ann said, choosing that moment to chip in.

Ren_Amamiya: Do you really think Ryuji would make a good Phantom Thief?

RyujiSkullington: Seriously, Ren?!

'Oh yay,' Ann said, definitely without a hint of sarcasm.

Haru, who had thus far remained silent, giggled. Ann looked over at her.

'This is amusing,' Haru said. 'Do they truly think Ren is a Phantom Thief?'

'They're mixed, as usual,' Ann said.

'I see.'

Sapphire-Eyes: Oh? Are you about to drop a big bit of knowledge on us, Haru?

Haru shrugged, sipping from her tea again. The ping of her cup resting back on the saucer was unusually loud. 'I have good reason to believe Ren is not a Phantom Thief.'

TheGhostlyMaiden: Let's hear it! Maybe we can finally shut Rai up.

'You see, my father passed away during one of the Phantom Thieves' missions, as I am sure you are all aware. Ren and the rest of my friends were by my side when my father died. He couldn't have been with the Phantom Thieves at that time,' Haru said.

Ann internally cheered for Haru. Now that was a convincing argument, she thought, for people who didn't know the inner workings of the Phantom Thieves' activities.

PhantomTheifRai: Hmm…

Midnightsword: I dunno Rai. That's pretty convincing.

Maidchan81: Guys, can we stop this for a second? Haru just talked about losing her father, and all you wanna do is speculate. Were you alright, Haru?

'Oh yes, I was alright,' Haru said. 'Losing a family member, especially a parent, is never easy. But I had my friends. They comforted me and were there whenever I needed them. But most importantly, they gave me space and time to come to terms with everything.'

Ann pulled Haru into a side hug.

From that moment onwards, the chat stopped speculating for the rest of the stream. Ann wondered if that had been Haru's intention from when she mentioned her father's passing. If so, she decided she had to applaud her wit afterwards. Fear it, but also applaud it.

She convinced everyone, it seemed, except one.

PhantomTheifRai: But the Phantom Thieves' targets don't always confess the day the calling card is sent.

PhantomTheifRai: You know what, that's it.

PhantomThiefRai: This has gone on long enough.

'Thank you, Rai! You finally realise how ridiculous this is?' Ann asked.

PhantomThiefRai: Starting tonight, I'm going to gather all of my findings and, when I'm done, we'll have a proper discussion about this! I've got a lot of notes so it might take a while, but when I'm done, you'll all see that I'm right! That Ren is a Phantom Thief!

'That's not what I meant!' Ann shouted, dropping her head into her hands.

When she ended stream that evening, she stared at the screen for a while longer, contemplating Rai's mission. If he dug too deep, if he talked too much, it could become problematic. Not just for them, but for him, too. There were parties out there that wouldn't like him knowing that information.

However, Ann's worries about the matter disappeared when, soon after the thoughts entered her head, a message popped through on her phone from the one person she could always count on in these situations: Ren.

I have a plan.