[Afternoon, Teikyu Building Crossway (A.K.A The Phantoms' Hideout)]

To say that the atmosphere between the two groups of thieves was awkward… was an understatement, an understatement of the century. Even though it's really more because of the three main players of Ann, Akira, and Shiho. And everyone else just kinda got infected with the awkwardness from them.

"Why didn't you just tell me beforehand?" After a few long minutes of silence, Ann finally asked. "It wasn't like some kind of big secret in the first place."

"W-well, it's just because…" Trailing off, Shiho found herself to have nothing to say in response. To be honest, they really didn't have any reason to hide their identity. Hell, they all knew each other in the real world, so at least they were trustworthy. "Because everything went by so fast, and we just never had the chance to tell you!"

"But you had all the time in the world to tell us," Not believing her explanation, the model just crossed her arms in response. "The buffet in Wilton, all those time we had lunch together and stuff… then why?"

"I-I…"

"Look, I'm not really angry or anything, just…" Sighing, Ann looked away for a second, trying to think of a proper word to describe what she was feeling right now. "Disappointed, okay? We've been friends for years now, but… I want us to be honest, not having a secret and stuff between us."

"I'm sorry, Ann… I'm really sorry…"

However, Akira stepped in and stood before Shiho in a protective way. "It's all my fault, I just thought it'd be cool to play the 'mysterious helper' character," He said. "Takamaki, if you have anything to vent, vent on me, not her."

Surprised by the sudden turn of events, the model turned her narrowed gaze to him. "So you tell me that you just dragged her into this?!" She exclaimed, now starting to feel angry. "Tell me, when was her first time in the Metaverse?"

Even though he knew how bad it would be, after a moment of hesitation… Akira still answered honestly. "…The same day as you," He said, noticing how Ann's face was covered with shock. "Remember during your awakening, a guard's sword just mysteriously stuck in the air?"

"…It's you."

"Yeah, it's me and Shiho who held it back," He nodded, noticing how the cogs inside Ren and Morgana worked and started moving.

"Wait, then that voice…" Trailing off, Ren glanced over to Shiho, who still stayed behind Akira. "It really is you, Suzui."

Shiho just nodded in response, tapping Akira's shoulder and letting him step aside. "Akira, just let me… I want to tell Ann my reason," She said, giving him a look of reassurance. "After all, I asked you to bring me along, isn't it?"

With a small nod from him as a response, the volleyball player turned back and faced her long-time friend. "Ann, I… I asked Akira to bring me along and into that castle, and he also didn't want me to get in there at first."

"Shiho…" Even though she tried her best to think of a response, Ann found nothing came out of her mouth.

"I just… I don't want to feel useless. When Akira saved me from… him, I did nothing but just watch," And Shiho just continued, faintly winced from her recollection. "I don't want to be that person anymore, so… I wanted to help Akira, that's why I asked him to bring me with him."

"And he did the best he could to protect me too. So Ann, please… don't vent your anger on him."

For a moment there, Ann couldn't say anything. And the rest of the group here just respectfully stayed silent, letting the two friends deal with this matter between them. But for Ann, this just… it was almost the exact same reason as her.

Taking a deep breath, the model finally said something. "I… I think it'd be hypocritical for me to be angry with you or Ichijo. After all, I did the same thing with barging into that castle."

"And at least now we're coming clean with everything, and…" Trailing off, Ann rested her arms on her hips. "And you're still my friend, Shiho."

In response, Shiho gave out a breath of relief, and a small smile emerged. "Ann… thank you."

"I know," She said, shifting her gaze toward Akira. "And Ichijo, I know you've been doing this for a while now, but take care of Shiho. And please… don't break her heart"

"U-uh… I promise I won't."

"Good, because if I see you even dare to cheat on her, I'll hunt you down-"

"W-wait, Ann!" Interrupting her, Shiho immediately jumped in between Akira and Ann. Her eyes widened in shock and slight embarrassment. "T-there's nothing between us! W-we're just friends!"

"Huh?!" Ann blinked, as her eyes darted between Akira and Shiho before her. Meanwhile, disbelief slowly built up inside her mind. "Wait a second, you two are still friends?!"

"Y-yeah, this and partners in being a Phantom Thief," Akira nodded with clear awkwardness. "It's really just that-"

"Then why the hell didn't you clarify it from the get-go!" Ann exclaimed out of pure frustration, and a sense of embarrassment. She almost spilled Shiho's crush on Akira because of a misunderstanding!

"Well, I… I don't know why either…"

"Akira, you're just making it worse," Shiho facepalmed, noticing that everyone else was giving them a weird look. "Ann, maybe we should just… drop this? Just drop it and move on, yeah…"

"But-"

"Yeah, I'm with Suzui here," Finally speaking up, Ren raised his hand like he's talking to a teacher. "As much as this banter is fun to watch, we're in the public… and I don't want to deal with the second-hand embarrassment."

"Same," Keigo added, deadpanning. "Besides, just admit that you two are practically married. It's getting annoying at this point."

Feeling their cheeks heating up and painted in red, the two totally-not-married-couple shouted in sync. "Wha- NO!"

However, from the look of it, no one was believing a single word they were saying, not at all. Which, to be fair, they did say that in the most unconvincing way possible, even down to the level of contradicting themselves.

Thankfully, Hifumi saved them from more teasing as she spoke up. "Okay, that's enough teasing for today, you guys can save it up for tomorrow," She said, as the gazes were drawn onto her instead.

"Well yeah, that's enough for now…" Ren trailed off, looking away for a second before his head suddenly snapped back. "Wait, you're… you're Togo Hifumi!"

"Dude, that's my line!" Ryuji hushed, clearing his throat and rubbing his eyes. "But… how did you join Ichijo's group?"

"We have a name, it's called 'The Fools'," Akira suddenly said from behind, but was ignored by Ryuji instead.

"W-well, that's a long story," Crossing her arms, Hifumi found herself struggling to try and tell them a short version of her story. "Basically, I made a request on the Phan-Site, and they picked it up."

"That's actually why you guys didn't see us in Madarame's palace," Keigo added. "We're too busy with her request."

"But it's just a request, it shouldn't be this long-" Stopping himself in mid-sentence, Morgana's eyes widened in realization. "Wait, you guys dealt with a palace on your own?"

Upon hearing his words, the four other members of The Phantoms stared at them in disbelief. Did they just finish an entire palace without any help, just the four of them… not even have a navigator?!

"…Yes, it's my mother's palace," The Shogi player nodded, feeling a bit saddened by all those memories from her mother. "She's suffering from the grief after losing dad, and I… we saved her from the spiral of grief."

"Wait, wasn't palace only belongs to shitty adults?" Ryuji asked, with his gaze landed on Morgana. "First Kamoshida, then Madarame… but her mother doesn't sound like one…"

"Palace only spawns from intense distorted desire, it doesn't matter if it's evil or not," The cat answered. "But that means… her desire to see her husband again was this strong to form a palace of her own…"

"So it's the intensity of the desire, not time…" Keigo muttered to himself, nodding.

"But it's alright now," Giving everyone a reassuring smile, Hifumi brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "There's still a long way forward, but we are rebuilding our family."

"That's good…" Nodding, Ann's gaze then shifted to Keigo, as her brow raised. "But… Wait, you're Kamisaki, the new transfer student!"

"Yes, I am the 'new transfer student'," Deadpanning, the half-Frenchman just sighed to himself. "Is that really the only memorable part of me?"

"To be honest, you're really quiet for most of the time, Keigo," Akira said.

"…I guess I do excel at trying to be unnoticed," Shrugging, Keigo pushed his glasses and readjusted his posture. "I joined then because… I need to look after Akira here."

"Look after Ichijo?" Ren asked, raising an eye in confusion.

"Yes… The person who sent me over knew about his awakening, and I'm tasked to keep him safe," Retaining the calmness on his face, he glanced over and noticed a policeman approaching them. "By the way, someone's coming."

Before they could react, the said policeman approached them with a calm look. "Hey, sorry for interrupting," He said. "But it's getting late, you kids should be returning home. There have been some cases with mafia targeting teenagers lately."

"Oh, we're about to leave, officer," Ren quickly answered with the same calmness, and the policeman seemed to accept it.

"Good to know, just take care and be safe," With that said, the police left and carried on with his patrol.

"Well, I guess we can talk about more later…" Shrugging, Akira gestured over to the view outside. The sun had been set, and the blue-tinted sky just signified how late it really was. "At least… now we come clean with most of the things."

Even though there's still an aura of awkwardness, the group eventually nodded. And they went on their way, calling it a day.


[The next morning, outside Shujin]

The first schooldays after their identity was exposed felt… weird. On one hand, Akira felt a bit relieved that he didn't need to avoid talking about Metaverse-related business. But on the other hand, he expected an aura of awkwardness between them.

Which he hoped not to be reality.

"And there's also the whole date thing too…" Muttering to himself, the amateur writer couldn't help but sigh. "Oh right, what should the date be? Uh… a movie?"

"A movie sounds great."

"Yeah, it sounds-" Frozen in the middle of his walk (and words), he turned around and… There stood Shiho, smiling widely. "H-how much did you hear?"

"I would be lying if I say I didn't hear anything," Giggling, she skipped to his side, her hands placed before her hips as they continued their walk. "But good to know you still remember the date though, I was about to remind you about that."

"Of course I am, it's my first date, after all," Akira nodded awkwardly, suddenly feeling his cheeks heating up. "And it's you and me too, just you and me…"

"Don't worry, it'd be the best date of all time," Nodding to herself, Shiho pondered for a moment before smiling again. "Besides, do you notice something different about me today?"

"Different?" Raising an eye, it didn't take him a second glance to find out that 'difference' of Shiho today. It wasn't anything major, just that… she was dressed in a normal Shujin uniform, instead of the sports uniform she usually wore.

"Oh, you…" Trailing off, the amateur writer browsed through his mind and quickly as he could, and tried to find a word to describe how he felt. "You look… you look like those tomboys who are just perfect when switching to a look that's more feminine."

Surprised by his answer, the volleyball player blinked before a faint blush crept to her cheeks. "U-um… I'm a bit confused, maybe you can just… use a word to describe it? N-not that I don't like your answer before…"

"T-then… You look perfect in every way possible."

Finding it hard to suppress the urge to blush like something from an anime, Shiho struggled with it for a moment before deciding to let it out. "Thanks, Akira. You know how to make a girl blush like crazy, y'know?"

"Really? I… That's a first," Akira said, coughing to his hand with a sense of clear awkwardness. "Maybe I am talented in the department…"

"Don't get cocky though, maybe it's just me then."

"Don't worry, I don't think I'd do it to anyone else either."

Raising an eye and staring into his, they maintained their gaze before she giggled and broke it."Good to know, so I'm the special one…" Shiho trailed off, letting a sweet smile occupy her face. And from the look of it, it seemed like it's not coming off this time.

"Yeah, but…" Trailing off, Akira just gave out a small sigh. "It still feels a bit weird, now that they know about us."

"Same here," Copying his sigh with her own, Shiho straightened her blazer again. "But now that we've come clean with everything, it'd be fine."

"I hope so."

With that said, the two continued their walk to the school in an aura of silence and slight comfort. However, a visible smile both crept up to Akira and Shiho's faces, a small but sweet smile.

Just that unfortunately, their silence was broken as they overheard someone else's mutters.

"Senpai, you look just as amazing as yesterday…"

Standing before them and hiding behind the corner of the vending machine, a… second-year student kept muttering something to herself as she peeked over. Well, not exactly just muttering, there were giggles mixed in it as well.

However, the aura she gave was just… creepy.

Noticing that no one else acknowledged her presence, the duo exchanged a glance of uncertainty. And they slowly approached her, regretting their decision by each step. "U-um… hi-"

"Ah! Senpai dropped a pen!"

Without another word, the girl bolted out from her cover. Meanwhile, Akira and Shiho only watched with shock and confusion, dumbfounded by her sudden action,

"…That's something," Akira commented, and Shiho nodded in agreement.

"Yeah."


[Afternoon, Courtyard]

Thankfully, the day went on relatively normal after that small encounter with the weird girl. And all of them agreed to meet up at the courtyard during lunch, mostly to talk about business-related stuff.

"So, we have a very high chance to try and find a way to return the paintings to their respective owners," Ren said, sitting on the bench with his arms and legs crossed. "It's best to think of some way to do that now before the exhibition ends."

"Yeah, we only have a few days, after all," Akira nodded, resting against a pillar next to the bench. "But man, it's weird to discuss things with you guys."

"Same here," Ryuji shrugged, taking a bite into his energy bar.

"Me too," Morgana agreed, laying beside the phone sitting on the table.

"I guess our team just doubled in size," Keigo said, gesturing to the said phone. "But I guess the weirdest thing is… that."

"Well, if only we're in the same School as you all," With her voice blaring through the phone's speaker, Hifumi deadpanned and glanced toward Yusuke beside her. "At least I'm not alone… And I still can't believe there's a talking cat here…"

"I'm not a cat," The said feline deadpanned. "But I'll let it slide this time."

"Anyway, can we just go back to the main point here, we're talking about how we're gonna return those paintings," Ann sighed. "Even though we can deliver them personally, but that'd take us a while though…"

"Maybe we can ask some help from the public?" Shiho suggested, glancing over to Ren. "Ren, can you ask the Phan-site's admin to help to look for volunteers?"

"Mishi- He usually won't reject anything I ask, so I think he'd help."

"But that doesn't mean there'll be enough volunteers though, it's just the Phan-site…" Yusuke commented, just as Keigo and Akira both widened their eyes in unison, and in realization.

"Oh wait, I have a perfect solution for that!" The amateur writer exclaimed, taking out his phone from his pocket. "I can ask for Chidori-san's help with returning the artworks!"

"Chidori-san? who is that?" Everyone else asked, except for Keigo.

"Akira's talking about Yoshino Chidori," The half-Frenchman calmly explained, as everyone's attention snapped back to him. "I considered asking my higher-up to help me get into contact with her before, but Mitsuyo's palace took over my attention."

"Yoshino Chidori…" Trailing off, it only took Yusuke a second before his eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, you mean THE Yoshino Chidori?!"

"Well, there's only one Yoshino Chidori who has influence in the art world," Akira shrugged, searching through his contact list and finding her number. "Aha, there it is."

Calling the said number, Akira stayed silent for a moment before breaking into a smile. "Chidori-san! It's been a while! Uh… how's Junpei doing…"

Watching him with a bewildered look, the rest of the group just decided to ignore him for now. "Well, I guess that settles the 'return the painting' problem," Ren said, air-quoting the 'return the painting' part with his fingers.

"I agree there," Yusuke nodded. "But… I still couldn't believe Ichijo would know Yoshino Chidori personally…"

"…But wait, who exactly is that Chidori person?" Ryuji suddenly asked, grabbing the attention away from Akira. "She's really famous?"

"Yeah, she is," Ren nodded, showing him an interview with Chidori on a magazine's website. "Like, she's literally called 'the Rising Queen in Abstract Art' by all those news outlets."

"Besides, she also is the designer of Takeba Yukari's latest collections too!" Ann added. "That collection was so good, and the photoshoot they did together… it's like one of my favorite of all time!"

"That's good to know," Shiho shrugged, just as her gaze noticed Akira returned with a smile of victory. "Oh, so she said yes?"

"Yep, Chidori-san is happy to help us on returning the paintings," Nodding, he turned back and was greeted by weird gazes on him. "U-uh… something's wrong?"

"No, we're just… finding out how famous Yoshino Chidori is," Ann said, playing with her twin tail. "Can you like… get me into a meeting with her? I would love to talk with her about her collection with Takeba Yukari!"

"Or just about art!" Yusuke added.

Blinked in surprise, the amateur writer just rubbed his neck with slight awkwardness. "W-well, I can try… but nothing promised there," He said. "Speaking of the collection though… it's actually me who suggested Chidori-san design it."

For a moment there, silence filled the entire courtyard. And the widened gaze from everyone (other than Keigo) only made it even more uncomfortable. Thankfully, the silence was just a moment, it came and went fairly quickly.

Just to be replaced by a yell in unison.

"You WHAT?!"

Taken back by the volume of their yell, Akira just nodded, still holding that sense of awkwardness. "Yeah, a few months before the collection, Yukari-san told me that she was struggling to look for a new designer. Since she wanted something new and unique."

"So I remembered that time I visit Junpei-san and Chidori-san and saw one of her works. And I suggested maybe we can ask her to help," He continued, still feeling the shocked and surprised gazes on him. "And the rest is history."

"W-wait, you mean Takeba Yukari TOLD you about that?!" Still in disbelief, that's what Ann could mutter out at the moment.

"Well, not exactly like she told me directly," He shrugged, feeling a bit more used to… whatever type of reaction they were having. "Just that she mentioned it when we were having dinner together at my place."

"…She has dinner with you?" Ryuji said, his eyes remaining widened in shock.

"Yeah, she was doing an episode of Featherman nearby, and I suggested that maybe I can cook something for her-" Stopping in mid-sentence, Akira hastily shook his head and tried to put the conversation back to what it was supposed to be about. "Wait, we're straying too far from what I was supposed to talk about."

"Anyway, now that we have Chidori-san helping us, I think that settles the painting portion," He continued, as the group slowly calmed down from the constant bombs of revelations. "So uh… is there anything else we need to talk about? Other than me being friends with Yukari-san."

"Y-yeah, back to business," Ren nodded. "And uh… do we have anything else to talk about?"

"There's one," Ann said, glancing over to Keigo. "You said that you're sent here to look after Akira, but… by who?"

"Yeah, there's just way too much mystery 'bout you, Kamisaki," Ren nodded, crossing his arms. "You were transferred here not long after we finished with the castle… the timing is a tad bit too convenient."

"And who's the 'person' who sent you here?" Ryuji added.

"…I've expected that one of you might ask me about that…" Trailing off, Keigo pushed his glasses and straightened up. "Since a lot of it is sensitive information, I can't speak too much about it…"

"But you're not the only group of Persona-user here," He said, watching how the members of The Phantoms widened their eyes. "And my higher-up was close to Akira, so I was asked to come here and keep tabs on him."

"And I awakened my Persona long before you all did, a year to be exact," Keigo continued. "That's all I can say, for now."

To say that The Phantoms were stunned… was an understatement. And the same could be said for Hifumi as well, just a few days after getting this world of shadow and stuff… now with this dropped upon her. It was getting confusing at this point.

"So… in a way, we should call you 'senpai'?" Ann said, slowly recovering from the huge info bomb he just dropped. "Since you're definitely much more experienced than us…"

"Please don't call me that," Deadpanning, the half-Frenchman just leaned back again the stone pillar. "I'm not that experienced either…"

"Well, now that's out of the way," Akira spoke up, steering the attention back to them. "I think we still haven't officially greet each other either, it's just coming clean and business."

"Huh?" Ren blinked. "Wait, we don't really need to-"

"It's more just to make it official, kinda like those moments in movies, right?"

"Well… you can say that," Shaking his head, the delinquent nodded and stood up from his seat. "Nice to meet you, I'm Joker."

"And nice to meet you, I'm Jester."

(To be continued)


Preview:

As the two groups finally knew each other, things are looking a bit better.

Even though the end of Madrame's exhibition closes in, they had no other choice but to wait.

Meanwhile, for a certain amateur writer... he had something else to take care of.

As a different day, and date closes in for him.

Next Chapter:

"The Date"

Stayed Tuned!


[On the other hand, over at Kosei High]

Lately, things were looking worse for Higashikuni Hinaki. The cases and requests for help from students were increasing day by day, and most of them were about almost the same thing. Actually no, not 'almost' the same thing, it's literally the same thing.

The mafia had been targeting teens lately, asking them to do some 'easy job for easy money'. And blackmailed them into not quitting, and eventually putting them in impossible debt.

"This is not looking good…" Looking at the pile of the request forms and letters from the students, the president couldn't help but sigh in fatigue. "What should I do…"

To make the matter worse, another member officially quitted the council yesterday. And Hinaki just felt she's more and more alone, and this feeling only grew with each second she was sitting here.

"But this problem won't fix itself…" Trailing off, she rubbed her face before she continued reading through the rest of the request for today. And writing down each student's name on a nearby piece of paper, more to keep in mind of every one of them.

"So this one…. And this one… And this one…" Muttering to herself, she kept writing.

Until she stopped at one specific one, and her eyes widened in horror as she saw the name of the student. The thing that the student wrote… wasn't just a simple request for her help, it was a cry for help.

"My family is being harassed by the mafia because of a debt my father owed them…"

"N-no…"

"…I don't know what to do. Please, help."

On the said request form was one name, one specific name.

Akashi Naoko.


And with that, Chapter 33 is finally here!

Anyway, as the chapter's name suggested, this chapter is mostly about The Fools finally coming clean with The Phantoms. So I'm sorry if this might feels a bit like filler.

But we both get a bit of a tease of the upcoming date between Akira and Shiho, and something else as well.

Even though if you've seen the description of this series over at AO3, you'd know what is the 'something else' XD.

Also, we also got a bit of a tease and build-up toward the upcoming Kaneshiro arc, playing it out like an after-credit scene here, so it's intentional.

In the end, I hope you enjoy the story so far, and reviews are definitely welcomed!