Ren forced his eyes away from her legs, well her lack of. Instead he returned the gesture.

"Hi I'm Ren." He replied, putting hand out to shake. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you!" She smiled, her bright green eyes emanating a sort of irresistible bubbly enthusiasm.

"So uh," Ren began. "Do you know why Mister Kamoshida took the day off today? And yes, I'm supposed to be here"

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea." Ibarazaki flatly stated. "I don't usually teach, but I got a call from the principal that he needed a favour, and I was apparently the only other olympian he had on hand." She shrugged. "Well, paralympian, to be exact, as you see." She gestured to her legs.

"I usually do track, not volleyball, so I'm not sure why I was called." She continued, voicing her confusion on why she was chosen. "But I'm not gonna pass up a chance to teach kids, I've been looking for a position for some time."

"And this school's track team has seen some better days." She added. "I might only be here for however long Kamoshida isn't, but I want to see if I can bring it back…"

"That's great!" Ren spoke ecstatically. A thought drifted into his mind.

"I know a guy that was the leader of the track team before it went poof." Ren spoke rapidly.

"Really!?" Ibarazaki was ecstatic, Ren swore her eyes were glittering. "Can you get him? I wanna meet him!"

"I'm gonna call him now." Ren pulled out his phone. "He's gonna love this."

"Go for it." She encouraged Ren with a slap on the back.

"Yeah, I told him not to go!" Ryuji told Ann. "He's gonna get expelled on the damn spot!"

"Why though!?" Ann asked.

"H-he said something about 'getting it over with' and that he 'had nothing to lose!'" Ryuji explained frantically.

BRRRTT

"Hmh?" Ryuji's cell phone rang. He dug through his pockets and picked up the ringing device.

"Ren?" Ryuji raised his brow.

"He's gonna tell you you're both expelled isn't he?" Ann deadpanned.

Ryuji facepalmed. "I-I need to think about how I'm gonna tell my mom this. C-could you answer this for me?"

"Sure." Ann took pity and took the phone. "Ren?"

As Ryuji was contemplating his entire life, he heard scraps of Ann's conversation.

"Yeah, he wants to think about his words to his mom…"

"So are you expelled, or…"

"NOT EXPELLED!?"

"WAIT WHAT!?" Ryuji snapped out of his thoughts and grabbed the phone.

"New teacher!?"

"Paralympics track star!?"

"She wants to meet me!?"

"You're joking! W-what do you mean you've heard this joke twice already!?"

"Okay! I'm getting my ass over there!" And the fake blonde hung up.

"Wow, sounds like it's your lucky day!" Ann remarked.

"I-it sounds too good to be true!" Ryuji answered. "We beat up Kamoshida and then everything is suddenly sunshine and rainbows!?"

"This has to be a dream! Pinch me Ann."

"I'll do you one better." Ann suggested, with a tone Ryuji had never heard from her.

He felt her lips on his cheek.

"Go get em' tiger." She whispered in his ear.

"AWWOOGA!" He ran the fastest he had in years.

"Ow!" Ryuji proceeded to trip up and faceplant on the ground before getting up. But maybe not too fast.

"Oh that's terrible!" Ibarazaki frowned.

"Yeah, I know right!" Ren ranted. "According to him, the doctor didn't like him too much and didn't set his leg properly or something, he hasn't been able to run like he used to ever since."

"I'm sure I can give him the help he needs." Ibarazaki replied. "I mean I have no legs, so I'm confident I can help him get back in shap-"

BANG!

The door flew open, sending a gust of wind over Ren and Ms. Ibarazaki.

"I'M HERE!" Ryuji announced triumphantly, before breaking down into panting. "God I'm outta shape."

The fake blonde suddenly noticed Ren and who Ren was next to.

"Whoa!" Ryuji gasped, snapping from his exhaustion "Are….. are you Ibarazaki Emi!? The fastest thing on no legs!?" His voice grew with excitement. "I saw you in the paralympics years ago!"

"So, my reputation precedes me." She chuckled. "You must be Ryuji Sakamoto? Your friend tells me you led the track team before it was disbanded."

"Yes I am!" Ryuji confirmed. He walked up to shake her hand. "It's an honour to meet you, Ibarazaki sensei! This is awesome!... I'm shaking your hand too long." He released his grip.

"Please, just call me Emi." She assured.

"So, um, where's Kamoshida?" Ryuji asked, before receiving the same explanation given to Ren.

"Wow, so, I uh, really appreciate you're willing to go the extra mile for me…" He scratched the back of his head. "But are you really sure you want to do all of that for me?"

"I mean, I-I'm just a no good delinquent…"

"Oh nonsense." She dismissed his words with a shake of her head. "Everyone deserves a second chance."

"Wow." Ryuji was flabbergasted. "Uhh… Well, thinks for thanking of me. Emi."

"Wait..Goddamnit." Ryuji facepalmed as Emi chuckled. "Ren, kill me now."

"So, the usual?" The spy picked up the coffee pot.

"Yes." She slipped out a cigarette from her purse and into her mouth.

As Kaplan poured her black coffee, he pulled out his lighter and lit the doctor's cigarette.

"Thank you." Tae puffed on her cigarette. "I needed this, it's been another stressful day at work."

"Of course," The spy replied. "You got any new clientele?"

"...Maybe. Dunno." The doctor answered. "Working on it."

"These days, I've met up with an old friend of mine, she said she'll meet me here."

"A friend you say?" The spy spoke. "We could all use a couple of friends in life, lest we be left alone and out in the cold. So who is she?"

"A lawyer, Sae Nijima." Tae puffed. "We used to go to uni together."

"The prosecutor?" This piqued the spy's interest greatly.

"Apparently she only got the job recently. She's been damn effective though." Tae explained. "I'm surprised you've heard of her."

"Oh, a friend of mine asked me to take their kid in while he serves his probation." The spy spoke.

"...What did he get charged with?" Tae raised her eyebrow.

"I'm afraid that's… not for me to tell." Kaplan spoke. "Ask him yourself if you want to, school ends not too long from now.."

"Eh, I can respect that." Tae spoke. "It would be unbecoming if I blabbed about my patients."

All of a sudden, a ring came from the door as a figure came in from the cold.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Not at all." Tae quickly turned around. "Took you long enough."

"Forgive me, I had some unforeseen work back at the office." The lawyer pulled back a chair.

"I must say, you have a unique taste in your choice of establishments." She told Tae.

"Mmmm, more budget driven, not everyone can go to places like Jill Stingray's." Tae puffed. "But this place is pretty nice."

"I understand. The house blend please." She told Kaplan, who went into the back. "You know him?" She asked the doctor.

"I go here often, helps blow off steam after work." Tae explained. "Good coffee and curry here. You should go out more often. Too much stress can kill a person."

"I wish." Sae sighed. "Other than going home for my sister, there's been an influx of new cases and crimes.."

"Like the subway incident a good week and half ago. We still haven't found a clear cause."

"Yes, and the psychotic breakdowns." Tae recalled. "I don't specialize in mental health, but I am looking into that aspect of the incidents myself."

"It's curious, most of them seemed fine or normal before their incidents." Sae spoke. "The official line is it's all a big coincidence, but they're all happening one after the other…"

"Well, I mean, it's not unheard of for someone to go postal…" Kaplan returned with Sae's coffee.

"What do you mean by that?" Sae asked, taking a sip. "Go postal?"

"Ah, it's an American expression." He explained, to Tae's interest. "Back in the 80s, there were a series of incidents where American postal workers shot and killed coworkers, police, and members of the public in acts of mass murder.."

"And, you're familiar with these cases..?" Sae questioned.

"I used to do politics back in the day." Kaplan explained. "Did some stuff with the Americans. Lived in California for a while."

"Hmmh, America…" Sae mumbled. "We see lots of news from there practically everyday, gun violence most of it. Lots of good cops were killed."

"Not here though, if we started doing things their way, things would have gone to hell a long time ago."

"Well, that's why we have people like you." Tae spoke.

"Thank you." Sae replied. "But, maybe there is some merit to your logic." She spoke to the spy. "I never got your name, by the way."

"Name's Sakura, Sojiro Sakura." The spy answered.

"You make a fine coffee Sakura." Sae complemented. "You said you were in politics in the past."

"Tell me, what brought you to running this place?"

"I'd say it was the stress." The spy reasoned. "I find some comfort in a simple life. The small things."

"...I've never really… thought about such a life, not with my sister around at least." Sae spoke. "She's such a burden sometimes…"

"I'm assuming you're not very close?" The spy raised an eyebrow.

"It's… an unusual arrangement." Sae began. "She's seven years younger than me, but I am her legal guardian.

"... I don't mean to pry, but… something happened with your and her father?" The spy asked.

"Our father died years ago in the line of duty, that's all I'll say." The lawyer spoke.

"That explains some things." The spy thought.

"I'm sorry." Tae spoke.

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault." Sae replied. "Or yours." She told the spy.

"So is she following in the footsteps of big sis?" The spy asked. "You need strong academics to be a lawyer."

"She wants to follow father, apparently." Sae answered. "She's student council president at Shujin Academy, that's a start."

" Bingo."

The spy had begun formulating a plan in his mind, and he had just received his first lead.

"I must ask," Sae told Kaplan. "Why are you interested in my relationship with my sister?"

"Ah, funny thing." Kaplan began. "A friend of mine asked me to take in their kid for about a year, and I'm trying to get him to warm up to me, you know,"

"So when you said you had a sister, I was curious."

"I see." The lawyer replied. "Well, I hope that will help."

"It will." He assured. "Now, it's been a good chat, but I believe I've eaten enough of yours and Tae's time."

"Yes, we were talking about the psychotic breakdowns?" The lawyer turned to the doctor.

As the two women spoke, the spy vanished into the back room.

"Oh my god you run fast!" Ryuji puffed. "Well, I knew you were fast, but not that fast!"

"I don't get the name fastest thing on no legs for nothing!" Emi shouted. She actually slowed down a little to keep pace with Ryuji. "It's been some time since the paralympics but I've still got it!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Ryuji huffed, beads of sweat ran down his neck.

"Pace yourself!" Emi cautioned. "I know about your leg!"

Another lap went by, the fake blonde began breathing harder to keep pushing forward.

After watching Ryuji run for a while, Emi made her decision.

"I think it's best we stop here!" Emi told Ryuji as she quickly skidded to a halt.

'A-alright." Ryuji also slowed down. "Agh, my leg started seizin' up." He knelt down and started massaging it.

"Are you okay?" Emi asked.

"Don't worry about me." Ryuji spoke. "It happens every now and then, it's nothing compared to what you must've experienced." He referred to her prosthetics.

"Oh, don't say that nonsense!" Emi scolded. "How does it hurt?

She knelt down and asked. "Is it like a sort of tight squeezing pain or-"

"Yeah, it's like it's in a vice or something." He explained.

"Listen, sit here for a moment, and take a rest, drink some water, cool off." Emi instructed, "I'll see if I can get an ice pack."

She ran over to the bleachers, where she had placed her clipboard and other items needed by a gym teacher, including a first aid kit.

"Here you go." She ran back over, tossing it to Ryuji. "I suggest going to see a doctor for that pain if that keeps happening."

"Thanks." Ryuji replied. "You don't need to do this for me, you know."

"Oh it's nothing." Emi shrugged it off. "I used to help a guy with heart problems, this is small fries."

"Anyways, we have some time before class fully begins." Emi spoke, taking a seat next to Ryuji on the grass. "So, you wanna talk about life? Ask me a few questions?"

"I dunno..but." Ryuji admitted. "...Tell me why exactly, do you want to spend so much time and effort on a problem student like me?"

"...Maybe I see some of myself in you." Emi spoke. "We both love running, we don't do well with academics… and our legs… aren't really what people consider to be in the best shape."

"Yeah, we do, now that I think…." Ryuji reflected. "I-uh, don't wanna sound like a record player, but thanks…. I don't remember the last time a teacher treated me beyond a delinquent or trouble maker…"

"Aw, it's no biggie!" Emi slapped his back. "You're gonna make me all sappy!"

She then pulled out her phone and checked the time. "...We better start going back now, I have a class I need to figure out how to teach, and you'll be late if we don't." She got up.

"Yeah," Ryuji brushed off his pants.

As Emi pulled ahead, Ryuji lagged back a bit slowly, a sort of peace filled his mind for the first time in a long time.

"Well, sounds like that talk did you some good."

'Hmh!?" Ryuji turned to see who spoke. "Oh."

"I hope she replaces Kamoshida full time." Ann walked up, dressed in the gym uniform.

"Agreed," said Ren, who was walking next to her.

"Hey, Ren." Ryuji said. "Thanks for calling me over today."

"You're welcome." Ren smiled. "But it's no big deal."

"By the way, did she say anything about your leg?" Ann inquired.

"She advised me to see a doctor, but uh, I dunno about finding one." Ryuji replied.

"A doctor…" Ren thought. Perhaps he could help.

"It's going pretty fine, most of the cases are pretty cut and dry." Sae explained. "But every once in a while, Phoenix Wright shows up as the defense attorney and ruins everything." She seethed. "I don't know how he keeps managing to prove the witnesses are the actual perpetrators."

"Yikes, sounds like he's a real headache." Tae remarked.

"I know!" Sae complained. "Good news is, I haven't seen him lately."

Massaging her temples, the prosecutor sighed. "I'm sorry to unload on you like this…"

"No problem. I've dealt with patients that are worse." Tae replied.

"Thank you." Sae checked her watch. "I do need to go now. It was a good chat."

And with that, the prosecutor got up from her seat, paid her bills and disappeared out into the cold.

"Well, what you heard there," Kaplan told Tae. "Was a taste of why I quit my last job."

"Seems like it did do a number on you." Tae remarked. "With the hair and all."

"Politics is an ugly thing." Kaplan spoke. "You're gonna fuck over one group of people or another, at least with a job like yours, you're not gonna be demonized by the people."

"Depends." Tae answered. "Some of the bigger private clinics around here have been giving me crap for 'stealing their customers'. Not my fault they charge cutthroat prices."

"I guess there is that." The spy spoke. "This is a free market economy."

"Speaking of the economy, the pandemic a while back was pretty good for business." Tae added. "Could finally get some new equipment in."

The conversation dragged on as the hours passed, before it was interrupted, by the door which rang as it opened.

Out of the cold, was Ren Amamiya.

"Ah, speak of the devil. And he shall appear." Kaplan spoke. "Tae, this is Ren, I told you about him earlier."

"Ren, this is Tae, she owns a clinic around here, she's one of my regulars."

"Hi." Ren greeted, "You're a doctor?"

"Yes I am." Tae took a drag of her cigarette as she spun around on her seat to face him. She sized the teen up. "Hmm, you'd make a good test subject."

"Oh, come on, doc." The spy began. "Don't tease the poor kid."

"Mmh." Tae replied, pulling out her wallet and paying her bill. "I'm just saying."

"...Hold on." Ren spoke. "I might have a friend that could.. Use your services."

"Hmmh? Really?" Tae raised an eyebrow. "You had my interest, but, you might just have my attention."

"Well, here's the situation…." Ren proceeded to relay Ryuji's situation.

"I see…" Tae replied. "...See me tomorrow after school…"

And then she disappeared into the cold.

"Well…" The spy remarked. "Glad to see you're looking out for your friends, kid."

"Did you have a fun day at school? I hear that new teacher's doing wonders." Kaplan continued. "At least that's what Kasumi says."

"Oh, she is." Ren answered. "She actually does have a heart unlike the last guy. I don't know if she'll be around if Kamoshida somehow comes back."

"Good, I'm betting she's here to stay." The spy told Ren. "Your school probably doesn't want to lose face after the whole suicide incident by losing a star teacher as well."

The spy then walked over to the door and flipped the sign to closed.

"Anyways, kid, I have some new developments I need to discuss with you." The spy shifted to a more serious tone. "This is not to leave the room."

"Today, I had a special guest visit the café when you were out," The spy prefaced. "The prosecutor of the Special Investigation Department of Tokyo District, Sae Nijima."

"...Shit, I remember her." Ren's eyes widened. "She has gray hair right? I think I saw her at the courthouse during my trial.."

"We're on the same page then." The spy took out a cigarette. "I'll cut to the chase. My higher ups and I believe there's something going on with Japanese law enforcement."

"Unlike back home, Japanese Intelligence operations are handled by what is effectively the police, they don't have a dedicated organization like the Circuit. Nominally, we're allies, but recently, it seems they've been feeding us inaccurate and or disingenuous information."

"...How does this involve me specifically…?" Ren asked. "You've gotta be telling me all this for a reason."

"I'll get to that." The spy responded. "I'm hoping to embed or develop an intelligence source within the Japanese police. That's where an opportunity with Sae Niijima opens up."

"If we can get her to become an agent for us, it will be an intelligence coup. However, from what I saw, it seems she's relatively loyal to her job, especially since her dad was a cop."

"This is where you come in." The spy switched gears. "While I don't think we can.. 'Flip' her directly, she does have a sister we could possibly use as leverage."

"She is the student council president at your school."

"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!" Ren suddenly raised his voice, before composing himself. "After our hit on Kamoshida's palace, we saw the president snooping around where we planted the calling cards."

"It was like she was investigating them or something!"

"...That makes her a high priority." Kaplan decided. "I'll be sending a message to Kasumi to keep tabs on her. You too."

The spy rubbed his eyes. "We might need more people for this operation.,,"

"I'm gonna need to get close to the president." Ren realized. "But how?"

He and Ryuji were effectively delinquents, and were shunned by most of the student population, getting close to the president seemed nigh impossible.

The spy seemed to read his mind. "...Maybe you don't need to get close to the president…"

"Your friend Ann Takamaki is relatively popular, right?" The spy asked. "I know she's a fashion model outside of school."

"...So you want me to recruit her?" Ren spoke. "I could do that, but I feel it would be a bit weird if I asked her to start cozying up to the student council all of a sudden."

"She does speak English, right?" Kaplan scratched his chin. "...I think it's time we let just a few more people into the know of this operation."

"We're telling her then?" Ren pressed.

"...You know what, call your friends over here tomorrow, everything will be on the house." Kaplan replied as he prepared to close up shop.

"You do that, I have a little something for you." The spy assured. "You pull off the Nijima plan, you'll get something as well, but ah, it's not gonna be…. Little."

"It's getting late, you'd best be getting to bed." The spy finished. "You have a busy day ahead."

"...Well, I'm sure I do." Ren reflected.

I wanted this chapter to be more of a break from the action for our protagonists, as well as side of wholesomeness and setting the stage for what's next to come, hence the title.

I decided to put in Emi from Katawa Shoujo as a replacement for Kamoshida because I found her and Ryuji to have a surprising amount of similarities.

1. They both are big into track
2. They both have leg problems (No offense)
3. They both care about their moms, alot,
4. They both have a sore spot in regards to their dads (Emi's died, Ryuji's was abusive.)
5. Both have blondish hair, albeit Ryuji's is fake.

Of course, Emi's older and very accomplished at this point, given the time setting of this fic.

Anyways, on the spy side of the story, I decided to use some real spy techniques, it's not uncommon for them to use family members of targets as leverage for whatever goal. Throughout the entire conversation between Sae and the spy, he's constantly trying to get her to reveal bits of information so he can accomplish his objective.

I also intend on expanding the amount of Phantom Thieves aware that the entire thing is actually run by the CIA as the story progresses.

Regardless, Espionage is a dangerous game.

-Joesephi