7/4 – Monday
Evening
Cafe Leblanc
The cafe wasn't quite empty, there was an old man sipping coffee at one of the booths, but Ren didn't care. He put his bag down at a table, made his way around the counter, and hugged Sojiro as tight as he could. The man felt a little tense at the sudden display of affection, but he hugged Ren back.
"What's this all about?" he muttered, a smile in his voice.
"Thank you," Ren replied, grinning despite himself. "Just, thank you."
7/5 – Tuesday
Evening
Shinjuku
Ren was happy. He was, he really was, he was happy. The past couple days (had it only been two? It felt like far longer) had gone by in a pleasant haze. Everything simply felt alright, despite what both bitter memory and recent elation would convince him of, as if his mind was trying to process joy and anxiety in the same breath. An anticipation of failure without the tension of dread, his heart a lovedrunk ache but no less restless than ever.
And when Ren was restless, he investigated.
"Hey there," he said, waving his hand a little to get the attention of the "Fortune" booth's operator, who was currently focusing entirely on shuffling.
The woman glanced up at him and broke into a wide smile. "Oh, it's you again! Howdy there," she squinted, quirking the side of her mouth as she thought, "Ren, yeah?"
"Yep," Ren replied, and sat down across from her. "And you're Chihaya."
"That I am," she said, chuckling. "How can I help you, young man? Here for another fortune?"
He shrugged. "Not really. I was mostly just stopping by to apologize for the card."
Chihaya blinked, confused, before her face lit up. "Oh! Right, yeah, the Fool!" She waved a hand. "Nothin' you need to apologize for kiddo, but I s'pose it's kind of you to say. My deck was getting a little old and bent anyhow, it was plenty time for a fresh set of cards." Chihaya gestured to the tarot deck, then glanced back to Ren. "Anythin' else?
"It's a little silly maybe," Ren admitted, "but I could sit in on a couple fortune readings? I'm interested in how you tell the future." Maybe it had just been confirmation bias, or some other con, but Ren had a lingering feeling of frightening accuracy from her fortune of him. He had no idea how she'd been able to know about his lost memories or Oxymoron. If she was simply psychic, then it might stand to reason she could help piece some truth out of the Witch's enforced obscurity. He'd almost thought about asking her for another fortune, but the thought of spontaneous combustion made him feel a little wary about that prospect.
Chihaya's smile widened into a full-on grin. "You wanna make sure I'm not up to any tricks, don'cha?" Before Ren could protest, she burst into raucous laughter. "Oh, you're lucky I'm a softy, else I would have sent you packing for that sort of sneakery. Come here you little scamp." She scooted to the side, gesturing next to herself. "Got a spare stool back here."
Ren glanced at his watch. Already, it'd been almost a two hours, with four separate fortunes read, and he felt his eyes were starting to glaze over with very little to show for it. Chihaya's technique seemed to impress her customers, though she still spoke in primarily vague terms, and her advice felt far more sensible than prophetic to Ren. He'd watched her shuffling carefully, trying to see some sort of trick to her movement of the cards, but if there was sleight of hand involved then he was far too inexperienced to pick it out.
"What do you think so far?" Chihaya asked over her shoulder.
Ren was about to answer, but his gaze momentarily lingered on a lost-looking young woman in the near distance, staring at her phone periodically. She was wearing a navy blue school uniform, not one he recognized, but it looked different from most of the ones he'd seen in Shinjuku so far. The young woman looked back at him, first a glance, then a double-take at the booth, and she hurried over and sat down at the stool with such haste that both Chihaya and Ren jumped.
"I'd like my fortune told, please," she said in a very clear and polite voice.
"Uh," Chihaya said, "sure thing." And she started to shuffle her deck again. "Is there anything in particular you wanna know about?"
"I am a professional shogi player," the young woman said, with what felt like scripted haste to her words, "and I my opponent tomorrow is far more experienced than I am. I had a potential strategy planned to defeat him, but I was advised against it. I would like a second opinion, if possible."
Chihaya nodded slowly, placing her deck down and stretching a hand across the table. "What's your name, ma'am?"
"Hifumi Togo," the young woman said, not shaking Chihaya's hand. Ren could have assumed that to be condescension, but something about Hifumi's stiff posture made it seem more like nerves than pride to him.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Togo." Chihaya retracted her hand. "I'm Chihaya Mifune." She jerked her head towards Ren. "This is Ren, he's my apprentice."
Hifumi nodded to Ren, and he returned the gesture.
Chihaya fanned the deck out in front of Hifumi, and gestured to it. "Please pick a card."
Hifumi stared down at the cards, and then gingerly took one, flinching when Chihaya swept the rest back into a single deck, then again when the woman plucked the card from her.
Chihaya, seemingly absorbed fully in her reading, placed the card on the table. "This one card," she said, as she had four times before that night, "represents a single domino. What you're dealing with is a complicated issue, and we shall explore it one piece at a time." And she flipped the card over. The Star, upside-down. "You're struggling with faith," and Hifumi took a sharp breath in, staring at Chihaya with a her mouth slightly open, Chihaya continuing without noticing, "and close to slipping into despair. You trust yourself, but you are disconnected from those around you, and seeking connection where there is none." She paused, seeming to think. "What might resolve this issue?" And she flipped over the top card of the deck. Three of Cups. "Ah! A new collaboration! A friend, who might provide a sense of refreshed creativity, and a new outlook on life."
Hifumi nodded along, as if she was eagerly hanging on every word. Ren just hoped he hadn't looked as dumbfounded when Chihaya had told his fortune.
"Who might this new companion be?" the fortune-teller asked, with no shortage of dramatic flair as she flipped over the top card of the deck. And froze. "It's blank," she said. Then she shook her head. "It's blank?!" She turned the card over, and back again, and placed it down on the table, and stared at it, and picked it back up again. "No, that ain't...wait just a moment." She slapped the card down and picked up the deck, flipping through the cards while muttering under her breath.
Ren glanced towards Hifumi, who was blinking rapidly, as if completely lost. "What," she said, slowly, "exactly does a blank card im–"
"Aha!" Chihaya slammed the deck onto the table, and whirled towards Ren with a manic grin on her face. "That blank card! It's the Fool! You know what that means!?"
"No?" He felt a little like grabbing his bag and sprinting away from the woman's intensity. And then her words began to sink in. "Wait. Oh."
"Brand new deck!" Chihaya said, laughing between each word. "Brand new deck, and that same card fades away. How about that!?"
Ren massaged the bridge of his nose. If this was a trick, it was an incredibly infuriating one. And if it wasn't, then he was, what, cursed? Haunted? Both!? Either way, he really didn't enjoy the implication.
"Excuse me," Hifumi said, a little frustration seeping into her voice, "but what exactly does that mean for my fortune?"
Chihayta turned back to the young woman, and jerked a thumb over her shoulder at Ren. "He's your new friend."
Her face fell in an instant. "Ah." Hifumi reached into her pocket and placed a handful of yen coins on the counter. "Considering I'm in no mood to be 'set up' with your apprentice, I think I'll take my leave. Good night." And with that, she stormed off. Ren would have liked very much to sink into the concrete and vanish from view completely.
"Hm," Chihaya said, and shrugged. "Well, you get pretty used to pissed-off customers when you're telling fortunes." She began to shuffle her cards back together. "Not everyone likes to know the future."
7/6 – Wednesday
After School
Shujin Academy, Maruki's Office
"So," Maruki said, the moment Ren sat down, "how did it go?"
Ren found himself smiling. "Well, he said yes. And we're dating now."
Maruki grinned, and clapped his hands together. "That's wonderful! Congratulations to you both."
Ren couldn't help but grin back, the man's unabashed delight was infectious. "Thank you," he said.
"So," Maruki continued, crossing one leg over the other, "has a lot changed between you two now?"
Ren shrugged. "Honestly, not that much. I mean, I just really want to kiss him every time I see him now." He heard a groan from his bag, and stifled the urge to tease Morgana for getting embarrassed. "We text a lot more? Like at night, we'll just start messaging back and forth till one of us passes out. I guess, we haven't really hung out that much outside of school so far, but it's only been a few days. And uh, we're both kinda busy right now, but we've got a date planned after exams. He said he wants me to come over to his house for dinner sometime, which is definitely terrifying but I'm actually looking forward to it, which is like, kind of insane?!" He laughed. "But we've just...talked a lot. Like, all the time. That's basically it."
Maruki just nodded, pausing a moment to poke the straw through his juice box and then taking a sip. "If I might give a bit of reflection," he said, "I don't think you've stopped smiling since you brought him up."
Ren laughed and glanced away, feeling his cheeks heat up a little. "I don't know, he just makes me happy."
"I can see that!" Maruki agreed, chuckling. "And I'm glad. Especially for how nervous you were last week, it's wonderful to see that you're in such high spirits now." He hummed a little thoughtful note. "There's a lot of anxiety that can come with a new relationship, and a lot of impulse to change things. I'd like to suggest that you make sure you're taking things at your own pace. Opening yourself up like that, even around someone you trust, can be very intense."
Ren nodded slowly. "Should I like, try holding things back then? Not telling him about my past or whatever?"
"Only if you feel it's not the right time," Maruki said. "I think communication is very, very important, and I'm not suggesting you stop talking to him. Just to listen to your own limits, and take stock of when you're ready to open up, and when you need some more time."
Ren let that sink in, Naoto's words from two weeks previous ringing around his skull. I opened up my scars before my heart. A time and a place for everything, right? "Okay. I'll try to keep that in mind."
7/6 – Wednesday
Evening
Cafe Leblanc, Attic
Ren held his phone in both hands, staring down at Mitsuru's contact on the screen.
"You're going to ask her about the guy in the black mask, right?" Morgana said, grooming himself on the bed next to Ren.
"Yeah," he said. "I mean, and tell her that we ran into him." He reached up to twist a lock of hair between finger and thumb. "I'm kinda pissed at her, but I still owe her that much, at least." And he hit the call button.
It didn't take long for Mitsuru to pick up. "Hello Ren," she said, as cordial as always. "Is everything alright? Or, is there an issue I can assist you with?" Maybe Ren was mistaken, but there was something...tired in her voice. Sleep deprivation or some similar exhaustion, slurring the edges of each word.
Breath flowed from his lips, quick and bitter, before he could think to stop the torrent. "How much exactly do you know about a Persona user in a black mask?"
Silence, for a moment. "Oh," she said, simply. "You found out about him, then?"
"Yeah," Ren replied, failing to keep the frustration out of his voice. "He showed up in Kaneshiro's Palace. Tried to make a deal with Kaneshiro's Shadow, threatened to give him a mental shutdown, said he wanted us dead, and then vanished."
Another pause. "Fuck," Mitsuru swore. "Ah, I'm sorry for my language." She sighed, long and deep. "We've been scanning Mementos for the past month, just waiting for him to show up again. But the fact he can get into Palaces...that's deeply troubling." An odd catch of breath, like she'd cut herself off before she spoke. "I'm sorry. I know you're upset, and you have every right to be."
"I just don't get it," Ren grumbled, leaning back until his head bumped against the wall. "Even if it was just Mementos, it's not like you guys are the only ones who go there. You should have just told us in the first place, so we can keep a fucking eye out at least."
"Yes," Mitsuru agreed. "You're right, Ren. Absolutely. It was my call to keep that information from the Phantom Thieves, and it was the wrong call. I apologize sincerely for that."
He took a long breath in, and out. Ren was still mad, but the apology felt sincere, at least. "Why didn't you tell us?" he asked.
A pause, and a rustling on the other end. A distant clink, like a glass placed on wood. "When I was in SEES," she said, slowly, carefully, "a young man under my supervision was shot and killed by a rogue Persona user." Ren felt cold, like his bones had frozen stiff. "I don't mean to use his death as an excuse. Again, what I did was wrong. I was afraid that you all might seek out this person, or that he might consider you threats if you became involved. I didn't...I didn't want any of you to get hurt. I acted from that fear, when I should have trusted you."
Ren just let those words sink in. He couldn't stay mad. He wanted to, but he couldn't. "He countered one of my Persona's attacks with curse magic," Ren said. "I don't know what his Persona can do, or what it looks like, but he can do that, at least."
"Thank you," Mitsuru said. "I wish I had more information for you." She paused. "Well, it's not much, but there is something. We were able to find a pattern between a few of the mental shutdowns. At least a dozen public officials who have suffered mental shutdowns are linked in some way to a specific lobbyist group called 'An-So.' It's possible the black masked Persona user, or whoever he works for, is attempting to target that group indirectly. At this point though, it's impossible to tell. We're looking into it."
"An-So, got it." Ren closed his eyes. Were the mental shutdowns really part of some sort of conspiracy? They'd seemed arbitrary to him, but if there was a pattern, then what did it imply? "I don't know that every politician is going to have a Shadow. If that Persona user has a Meta-Nav, he should be able to find out who does and doesn't. Maybe An-So is funding people to get them into office, then killing them off?" He sighed. "I don't know."
"Interesting," Mitsuru mused. "We had considered that An-So may be somehow involved with causing the mental shutdowns, but I wasn't aware that Meta-Navs have that capability. Thank you, Ren."
"Yeah," he mumbled. "Just, next time tell me if there's some crazy bastard running around who might try to shoot my head off."
Mitsuru chuckled. "I swear to you, you'll be the first to know."
7/7 – Thursday
After School
Shujin Academy
"You're surprisingly dutiful," Kawakami said, still focused on grading her way through a thick stack of worksheets. "Most students would rather study in the library than office hours."
Ren glanced up from his notebook on the woman's desk, raising an eyebrow. "Surprising based on?" he prompted, reserving his bitterness for her reply
"That your best friends are the only two students in my class who are solidly sitting on the pass-fail line," she replied. "Then again, you have been buddying up with Miss Niijima, so perhaps you're just trying to impress her."
"I aced the exam before Makoto and I became friends," Ren said. He wasn't sure why he was indulging the woman, but he was willing enough to play along with her piss-poor attempt at investigation.
Kawakami nodded, slowly. "Sakamoto and Takamaki," she said, "seem to me more busy than lazy. Like they don't care about class, just about passing so they can get back to whatever is important to them. I've seen that with a few students who were working themselves to exhaustion to pay off some sort of debt. But your two friends don't seem nearly stressed enough to be debtors." She moved one of the worksheets to the side and started on another. "Almost like you all are involved with something."
How best to reply to that... "The Phantom Thieves are changing the world," he said, trying to force as much dreaminess into his tone as he could, as much saccharine optimism as those words could hold. "But they can't do it on their own, right? They need people on the ground, like us, who can find those with distorted desires that needs to be stolen away."
"Hm," Kawakami said, smirking. "And how is that working out for you?"
Ren wasn't sure how to respond to that. It wasn't at all the reply he'd been expecting. "People's hearts are being changed, and we've helped that."
"People like Zebul," she asked, her tone surprisingly even, "or people like Toshiyaki?"
Ren was silent, as he struggled to figure out what his homeroom teacher was scheming. What was her game?
"The owner of that maid service?" Morgana whispered. "What does he have to do with this? And how does she know about him?"
Something...something familiar. Something clicked in the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite grab onto it. What was he missing?
"I'll leave that to you to figure out, Mister Amamiya."
Oh. "You talked about debt a bit ago, a little like you have some experience with it. Would that be second-hand experience, Miss Kawakami, or first-hand?"
She smiled. Honest, a little relieved. Ren had no clue why, but he got the distinct sense she was happy to be caught. "I don't believe that's any of your business, Mister Amamiya."
"And mine isn't yours either," he fired back. This didn't change anything. It wouldn't. He was still angry, he wouldn't let go of that on a whim, on a hunch. "Why do you keep acting like you fucking care?"
Kawakami was still smiling, but any joy had faded from her eyes. She shrugged. "I want to be better than I am," she said, "sometimes. Sometimes it feels good to just do the right thing. It's not like being a teacher is going to reward me for that. If I'm a bitch or a saint, you're still going to walk out of here in a few years, forget all about me, and never come back. And eventually, Shujin will let me go for some stupid reason or other. Not like I'm going to get put on tenure for bringing cookies to class."
Ren scooted back his chair, wincing under his breath at the screech it made against the floor. "I don't give a fuck about your whole nihilistic pity parade. If you're just doing the right thing to feel better about your shitty life every once in a while, while you make everyone else feel as miserable as you do all the time, then you might as well just fuck off and get out of the way of everyone who's actually trying to change shit for the better. And if nothing matters and then you get fired, then why do you spend so much time kissing Kobayakawa's ass?" Honestly, if this was how he was going to get detention, then he'd settle for that. Without waiting for her reaction, he grabbed his notebook and bag, and stormed to the door. "You're a coward and a hypocrite," he snapped, and left her alone in her empty classroom.
7/7 – Thursday
After School
Shibuya, Underground Shopping Mall
"Sorry if I get distracted," Ren said, hurrying his step to keep up with Kasumi's excited stride, "I'm feeling a little bit funky right now."
Kasumi stopped abruptly, Ren stumbling to a stop so he wouldn't run into her. She turned towards him, clearly concerned. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," he said, "it's all good. Just got pissed off at Kawakami earlier. I'm okay though, just a little frustrated."
She nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I dunno." He let his gaze wander towards one of the nearby shops, towards a woman slipping an intricate pearl necklace out of a display case for an interested couple. "She keeps acting like she gives a crap about us, about me or whatever, but then she's still doing whatever Kobayakawa wants." It wasn't personal, was it? Off the top of his head, she hadn't done anything in particular to harm him...oh. Right. Kamoshida. The way she'd half-sneered when she said Ryuji's name that day after Ren awakened. "Someone I really care about got hurt. And none of the teachers did a goddamn thing about it. So unless any of them prove otherwise, as far as I'm considered, they're all complicit." He sighed. "Sorry if that sounds really mean, or bad. I dunno."
"Hm," Kasumi said. "I don't think that sounds bad." She was quiet for a moment, and Ren could see her swinging her arms back and forth out of the corner of his eye. "I don't like being angry. It makes me feel all gross and out of control, and that feels bad to me. But Mister Maruki said it's okay to be angry sometimes, and it's good to listen to why you're upset. Um, so, I don't think it's bad that you're angry? Maybe a little scary, but I'm not scared of you." Ren glanced towards her to see a soft smile on her lips. "You really wanna prot-ect the person who got hurt, right?"
Ren nodded. "More than anything."
"Then I don't think it's bad to get angry at people who might hurt them!" She punctuated her point with a joyful hum. "I think you're a really am-azing friend for that."
"I guess so," he mumbled. It was hard to see it the same way, that immediate fury mixing with lingering guilt in his gut. But he'd accept that. Might as well try to be the good friend she thought he was. "Alright. Let's go get those clothes now."
She grinned, spun around and then strode towards the nearest boutique, Ren a hurried step behind her.
7/8 – Friday
After School
Shibuya General Hospital
The roses were still there, but they weren't the same. Just as wilted as last time, perhaps, but old flowers scoured didn't shine as bright as the new. Ren decided he didn't mind that much. Change wasn't always a bad thing, after all.
Shiho had been watching television, but she switched it off as Ren entered, and he only caught an instant of an unmistakable detective's voice. "Oh," she said, blinking at him. "Hey Ren." Shiho tilted her head as if trying to peer past Ren into the hallway. "Is Ann with you?"
"She's on her way," Ren explained, closing the door behind dragged a chair up to the girl's bed and popped down in it "I'm not unwelcome, am I?"
"Hmmm." Shiho narrowed her eyes towards him, rubbing her chin dramatically. "That depends. Did you bring the goods?"
Ren rolled his eyes. "If by 'the goods,' you mean I smuggled my friend Morgana in here? Then yes, I brought the goods." He glanced down, addressing the feline in his bag. "You wanna hang out?"
"Of course!" the not-a-cat said, like it was a foregone conclusion. "Lady Shiho happens to be a very nice woman, and I'm happy to spend some time with her."
Ren simply lifted his bag up so Morgana could hop out onto Shiho's bed. "He's all yours."
"Don't be jealous, Ren," Shiho giggled, and pulled Morgana close so she could cradle him like a fuzzy infant. "You get to hang out with this super cutie all the time."
"She's right you know," Morgana added, wiggling to get comfortable in the girl's arms. "You should appreciate me a whole lot more. Like...get me sushi!"
"I'll keep that in mind," Ren said, chuckling.
And they were quiet, for a while.
"Thanks for keeping your promise, by the way," Shiho said, petting Morgana's head in time to his purrs.
An odd, almost strained smile tugged at the edge of his mouth. "Of course. My lips are still sealed."
She nodded. "And, uh...if I tell her...when I tell her, I still don't want you to-" Shiho interrupted herself with a quiet groan. "Ugh. I sound like such an asshole."
"It's okay," Ren laughed. "It's not my story to tell. It won't ever be."
"Right," Shiho said. "Thank you." And she took a deep breath in. "So, what's going on in the world outside? Did I miss anything fun?"
Whether she was asking for a distraction or not, Ren would gladly provide one. "I dunno if Ann's told you already, but me and Ryuji are dating now."
Shiho's jaw dropped. A huge grin spread over her face. "No."
"Yes?"
She burst out laughing. "No fucking way. You're pulling my leg. Ryuji?!"
Ren felt just a little prickle of irritation – or pride? "You have something against Ryuji?"
"Dude." She snickered. "That's the guy who said I had cooties in middle school. Middle school. I seriously doubt the guy who thought girls still had cooties in sixth grade would be a good romantic partner."
"Well," he smirked, "maybe I just don't have cooties."
"Shut up!" Shiho reached over, making to sock him in the arm, then winced and leaned back against the bed. "Ow, ow ow."
"Are you okay?" Concern rose like an iron tide in his lungs.
Shiho glared at him. "Ren, I'm fine. My legs just hurt sometimes, chill the fuck out."
"Right." He settled, forcing the worry back down the way it'd come. "Sorry. I get you're probably sick of people freaking out over you."
She blinked. "Yeah," she said, a little surprised, as if she hadn't expected that from him. And Shiho was quiet for a little bit, just petting Morgana. "Hey, Ren? Can I ask you something kinda serious?"
He nodded.
"And you have to promise that you won't tell Ann," she continued, a bit of haste to her tone, her cheeks reddening.
"I wouldn't dare," he agreed. "What's up?"
Shiho let out a long breath of air. "Okay, so like...do you...do you think Ann, like, likes me?"
Ren raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, she thinks you shit rainbows."
Shiho glared at him. "No, not like...ugh." She leaned back, staring at the ceiling. "Like, likes me likes me."
Oh. Ren felt his pulse quicken. He knew the answer, of course he did, but was it really his place to tell? "Why do you ask?" he said, slowly.
She shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I just...I don't...I don't wanna break her heart or something." She turned away from Ren, towards the window and its impeccable view of a tree trunk. "You know if like I were to hypothetically fall in love with her and she just wanted to be friends," Shiho said, all in one breath.
Oh! A smile crept onto his lips. "Well," he said, choosing his words carefully, "hypothetically, if Ann were to feel the same way, then I think she'd be too scared of hurting you to tell you. Until she worked up the guts, at least. She'd never want to hurt you, and I know that even if she wasn't in love with you, then she still would never want to lose you."
"Hypothetically," Shiho said.
"Hypothetically," he agreed.
She seemed to think about that. "I dunno," she said. "Someone as amazing as her, stuck with a girlfriend like me. That doesn't sound like a good deal."
"Ann is amazing," Ren said, "but that doesn't mean she'd be stuck with you. You're not a burden, Shiho." He breathed into the silence. "Ryuji is pretty amazing too. He's crazy brave, and clever, and he can make everyone happy just by being there. And he's dating a guy who has to go to therapy every week and still has like three panic attacks a month." He couldn't help but smile. "But if anyone said he was stuck with me, or that I was a burden on him, he'd kick their ass in a heartbeat. And I know Ann feels the same way about you."
Shiho was quiet, probably just taking that in. "Okay," she said. Shiho turned back, wiping some tears from her eyes and taking a deep breath. "If you ever tell her I said that though, I will run my wheelchair across your foot."
Ren laughed. "I already said I wouldn't!" Before he could say another word, the door opened behind him.
Shiho glanced over his shoulder, breaking into a grin which faded immediately. "Oh," she said, quietly. Not angry, just surprised.
Ren turned in his chair, expecting to see Ann, but there was a completely different young woman standing in the doorway. Makoto, her eyes locked on the floor, looking about two seconds from bolting.
"Hello," she said, stiffly but not unkindly, "Shiho."
"I wouldn't say we're on first-name basis, Niijima," Shiho responded, and her frigid tone made Ren wince.
Makoto nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry." And she took a long, unsteady breath. "You're more than welcome to ask me to leave, and I will gladly do so, but I'd like to make something clear before I do."
"And that is?" Shiho prompted, a subzero bite behind each word.
"What happened to you should never have happened," Makoto said, "but it stands that it did. I've come to understand that my position as president of the Student Council is largely symbolic, but that doesn't mean I can acquit myself of my complicity. I knew what was happening, and I said nothing. I had convinced myself that someone else could handle it, that the abuse would simply stop or that someone else could speak before I would need to. I was a coward then, and I take full responsibility for my inaction." She finally looked up from the ground, glancing towards Shiho. "I'm sorry. I can't take back what happened, as much as I wish I could. And I would like to do everything in my power to make things right, as much as I possibly can."
Shiho took a long, deep breath in, and a frustrated sigh out. "Niijima," she said, "I think you're kind of a bitch." She stared at Morgana as she talked, still petting him. "I don't really think I trust you, and I definitely don't like you." She said nothing, for a few seconds. "But I accept your apology. Someone needed to say something, and you're not the only one who was silent."
Makoto simply nodded.
"Besides," Shiho said with a dramatic sigh, "not like the prez of Student Council can really do a whole lot, right? Ornamental position and all. Kobayawaka would probably impeach you before you could do anything."
"Well," Makoto said, with an awkward smile, "I believe I am testing the limits of his patience as we speak. At the very least, I can rush to do a bit of good before I'm removed from office."
Ren raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean you're testing his patience?"
She smiled wider, just a little. "I'm...well, he'd been holding my status as an honors student hostage in order to convince me to investigate 'undesirable' students." Ah, right. Her spying on him and the other Phantom Thieves. "Last week, I told him in no uncertain terms that I wouldn't be his personal errand-girl. And then there's..." Makoto trailed off, looking towards Shiho, then away.
"There's what?" Shiho prompted.
"I may or may not have convinced the entire council to go on strike," she said, a little hurriedly, "until the school board can meet a few specific demands. Chiefly, that your medical bills are paid in full."
Ren stared at the girl, unable to form a single thought, then glanced to Shiho, whose eyes were the size of dinner plates. "What," Shiho said.
"I believe there is more that can and should be done," Makoto continued, "but I hope strong-arming Shujin into reparations can be a step in the right direction, at least."
"Holy shit Makoto," Shiho said. She burst out laughing, halfway between confused and giddy. "You've got some real fucking weird priorities when extorting Kobayakawa is 'bare minimum,' what the fuck."
Makoto chuckled. "And here I thought we weren't on first name basis."
Shiho flipped Makoto the bird, a huge grin on her face. "What the hell, you've earned it. Just don't think this makes us friends, Makoto."
"I wouldn't dream of it," she replied solemnly, smiling the whole time, "Shiho."
█████
Evening
Cafe Leblanc
"Is ████ doing alright?" the Trickster asked.
The young woman sighed, and ran a hand through her buzzed hair. The cafe's downstairs was empty, but quiet voices leaked down the stairs from the other Thieves in the attic. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"
"We're not on speaking terms," the Trickster replied, "and she's not a Phantom Thief anymore." He carefully poured the coffee into one of the mugs on the countertop.
"Then her dropping out of Shujin must have been very inconvenient for you," the young woman said, dryly. She leaned against the counter, staring at him.
"It's not about me" he said. He tilted the coffee pot up, swearing under his breath as the handle dug into his hand, and then moved onto the next cup. "I just still care about her. Despite what happened between us."
The young woman sighed. "Well, she hates your guts."
The Trickster smiled, softly. "That's not a surprise."
"She and ████ moved in together," the young woman continued.
"I'm happy for them–"
"After her parents disowned her."
The Trickster was silent. "Fuck," he mumbled.
"She's been taking it well," the young woman said, her tone sharp, "but I'm sure she would have preferred support from the Phantom Thieves. Not just the few of us who actually know her well enough to care."
Guilt. Overwhelming and bitter. "It's not my fault that she left," he said, almost a whisper.
"It's entirely your fault," the young woman snapped, "for breaking her goddamn heart. You two were best friends, and she caught you in a lie, and you doubled down. Unless you want to blame her for being clever enough to see through your bullshit, then there's not a single fucking part of that you're not responsible for." She shoved off the counter. "It's not your fault her parents are homophobic pieces of shit, sure. But you made your bed, and you don't get to pretend she's the one who made you sleep in it." And with that, the young woman stormed back upstairs, and the Trickster was alone, holding a half-empty coffee pot in his father's cafe.
He placed the pot on the countertop, and just let gravity pull him to his knees. No tears, too numb for grief. Guilt and guilt and guilt. Until there was nothing left of him but that regret, sharp and stinging and awful. Nothing but hope beyond hope things would get better.
They had to get better.
And he'd make it right, somehow.
7/8 – Friday
Evening
Shibuya Family Diner
"So," Ann said, popping a fry into her mouth, "what's this I hear about extortion? Something something you're betting your presidency for Shiho?"
Makoto rolled her eyes. "It's not extortion," she said. "We have the right to protest, and Kobayakawa was probably already looking for a reason to scapegoat me out of office anyway. I'm betting that he won't eject me from presidency until after negotiations, in order to seem more reasonable. A student protest is one thing, but he really doesn't want any parents to get involved. It's not like minors can reasonably sue the school board, after all."
Ren nodded, spinning a spoon between his fingers. "So he's worried shoving you out of office will...what's the word?" He gestured at a vague implication of something expanding.
"Escalate tension?" Makoto offered.
"Yeah, that."
"It probably would," Ann agreed, leaning over to poke a piece of broccoli off Makoto's plate. Makoto silently sent a glare her way. "I haven't heard anything about a strike until you mentioned it, but I think something like Kobayakawa curbing the council president for standing against him...that sounds like some gossip that could travel far."
"I'm sure more people will find out regardless," Makoto said. "We only announced the strike a few days ago, and we've spoken directly to the volleyball team beforehand, but outreach is otherwise pretty slow-going. It's all bureaucratic, after all." She sighed, resting her chin on one hand. "But we're going to be trying to get other clubs on board pretty soon. And with any luck, they'll take our side instead of getting angry at us for preventing them from requesting extra chairs, or something like that."
"Fingers crossed," Ren said.
"I think it's very brave of you to do something like that for Lady Shiho," Morgana said, poking his head out of his bag. "Standing up for her like that. Especially putting your presidency on the line."
Makoto smiled softly, reaching across the table to scritch under Morgana's chin. "I'm just tired waiting for problems to fix themselves. There are things that need to change, and if I can help change them, then I will. No point sitting on power without doing some good with it."
"Spoken like a true Phantom Thief," Ann teased.
Makoto rolled her eyes. "Well, it's a good thing too." She reached over to steal a fry from Ann. "Considering I am one."
