10/12 Friday
When she arrived at school, she immediately noticed that Haru wasn't around. Not that she could blame her…
It was hard for her to concentrate with everything that happened, but she still tried to make an effort in class.
Finally, classes ended for the day, allowing her to take a moment to relax.
As she made her way down the hall, she heard a voice calling out to her.
"Makoto!" Takayo called.
"Oh, Takayo." Makoto greeted. "Did you need anything?"
"I actually finished that request of yours!" Takayo grinned. "I wanted to tell you what I found."
"Wow, that was fast…" Makoto trailed off.
"What can I say, I just… really wanted to help you." Takayo admitted.
"I see…" Makoto nodded. "Let's talk about it more in the council room, then."
She led Takayo inside, offering her a seat.
"First of all… how are you doing?" Makoto asked. "Is everything still ok with…"
"Yeah, it's all good." Takayo smiled. "Stopped harassing us and admitted to everything he did. There haven't been any more problems."
"That's good to hear." Makoto smiled.
"Yeah! I guess now everyone knows that this whole time… he was just Raiten Arai!" Takayo giggled.
"... Doesn't that joke only work in English?" Makoto asked.
"Never mind that!" Takayo dismissed. "What I want to know is… have I… been helpful to you?"
"Of course you have, Takayo." Makoto answered. "Where's this coming from?"
"I just… I was thinking more about my future career as a journalist." Takayo murmured. "I wanted to be a journalist so that I could help people by keeping them informed, but…"
Makoto recalled Raiten's words when they had fought his shadow. About how people would prefer to be lied to than to know the truth.
"… There may be people that refuse to listen to the truth." Makoto admitted. "But it's not completely hopeless. Your grandfather proved that."
"It worked then, but…" Takayo trailed off. "But what if something like that happens again? A prime minister or aspiring prime minister gets involved in some sort of corruption? What if… people have become completely desensitized to this stuff, to the point where they become completely apathetic… or just completely lose faith in things getting better?"
It was clear that she had put a lot of thought into this.
"… I understand where you're coming from, but… I still think that we should pursue the truth, no matter what." Makoto insisted. "We don't know what will happen if we reveal the truth, but not revealing it will definitely lead to disaster."
"Maybe you're right." Takayo admitted. "Thanks for the talk, Makoto."
She felt a little closer to Takayo…
MOON CONFIDANT: RANK 8
"Oh, and… Makoto… about Yoshizawa-san. I did… manage to find something out." Takayo stated, her face taking a serious expression.
"And… what exactly did you find?" Makoto asked.
"Two things." Takayo answered. "First… there's this."
Takayo pulled out her phone, showing a new article on it.
"Tragic traffic accident claims the life of a young girl…" Makoto muttered, reading the name of the news article.
"It was on the news a while ago." Takayo explained. "If you look at the date of this article, it says it happened a little bit before the start of our current school year."
"In other words, slightly before Yoshizawa transferred here." Makoto nodded. "Does the article go into any specifics?"
"Not really, no." Takayo admitted. "It just mentions that there were two girls, around 15 years old, who were injured. One only had minor injuries… while the other one…"
"I see." Makoto replied. "I'm not sure if this really proves anything by itself, though."
"True, true." Takayo agreed. "But there's one more thing…"
Takayo took out a newspaper clipping, placing it on the table.
"This is an obituary." Takayo explained. "For a young girl named… Kasumi Yoshizawa."
"W-What?!" Makoto gasped. "Let me see!"
Makoto quickly grabbed the clipping, taking a look for herself.
Sure enough, the girl in the obituary was named Kasumi Yoshizawa, and she was high school age as well.
"She looks exactly like our Kasumi, doesn't she?!" Takayo exclaimed.
"Well, it's very similar, but not exactly the same." Makoto pointed out. "The Kasumi in the obituary has reddish-brown eyes and auburn hair, rather than both being bright red."
"Hmm… yeah, you're right. But what the heck does this mean?" Takayo wondered.
"I don't know… but maybe 'Kasumi' would." Makoto muttered.
She glanced back at the obituary, trying to glean any additional information she could from it.
"March 25th…" Makoto trailed off. "That was when she was born, it says."
"So, was there anything else that you needed, Makoto?" Takayo asked.
"No, that would be all for now. Thank you, Takayo." Makoto smiled. "You've been a big help, as always."
"No problem!" Takayo grinned. "I'm… glad that my journalism skills could be useful for something."
"Takayo…" Makoto muttered.
Even with Raiten dealt with, it seemed that Takayo still had a lot on her mind.
She said goodbye and headed home for the day.
10/13 Saturday
The moment she got up, she saw her phone beginning to ring.
"Hello?" Makoto greeted.
"Hello, Makoto. It's me, Haru."
"O-Oh, hello, Haru!" Makoto stammered. "I… um…"
"Makoto, I… would rather not talk about my father right now." Haru admitted. "I'm not sure if I'm ready… to speak about that."
"R-Right, of course." Makoto muttered. "But then…"
"The police visited our home." Haru explained. "Your sister and a detective by the name of Goro Akechi."
"Sis… and Akechi-kun as well." Makoto whispered. "Did they ask you anything?"
"That prosecutor… her questioning was… rather intense." Haru replied. "It was… hard to get through it. It sorta felt like… she was on the verge of snapping at me at any time."
"I… I'm so sorry." Makoto apologized.
How could her sister be so cruel to someone who had just lost their father?!
"It's ok." Haru replied. "It's not your fault, Makoto. More importantly… I managed to overhear a conversation that they had. Apparently, the police found a calling card addressed to that security guard that shot my father. They found it at the security guard's home, and another one at his workplace."
"What?! But we never targeted that security guard at all!" Makoto shouted. "How on Earth did they find a calling card?!"
"D-Do you… think it was forged?" Haru asked.
"It must have been." Makoto frowned. "The true culprit must be trying to frame us for the murder."
"Then… it must be those people who are working with the Masked Man." Haru realized. "They must be falsifying the evidence…"
"In that case… it's possible that they have some level of control over the police force." Makoto theorized.
"That's a scary thought." Haru whispered. "We've really stumbled onto some big conspiracy…"
"I'll let the others know what you found." Makoto promised. "For now… I think that it would be for the best if we were to lie low."
"You're probably right." Haru replied. "If I hear about anything else, I'll tell you, alright?"
"Of course." Makoto nodded. "And… if you ever do feel like talking about what happened, we're here for you."
"I know. Thank you, Mako-chan." Haru expressed.
Makoto let out a sigh after ending the call.
"Sounds like… your sister's been busy." Morgana commented.
"Yes. She's becoming absolutely obsessed with finding out about the Phantom Thieves." Makoto frowned.
"The authorities are going to be on high alert now that they suspect us of being responsible for Okumura's death." Morgana pointed out. "We'll have to be extra careful."
"I understand." Makoto nodded. "This is… getting pretty dangerous, isn't it."
A part of her began to worry that they were completely in over their heads.
Even so, there was no turning back now…
After classes ended for the day, Makoto prepared to go home for the day, only for someone to bump into her right before she was about to leave.
"Ah! I'm so sorry!"
Makoto turned around, seeing a distressed looking Kasumi.
"Oh, Yoshizawa-san." Makoto greeted. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine."
"O-Oh, good." Kasumi whispered. "T-That's good."
"Is something wrong?" Makoto asked.
She was well aware of what Kasumi was upset about, but didn't want to pressure her in case she didn't want to talk about it.
"I… I just… things have been rough for me lately." Kasumi confessed.
"How so?" Makoto wondered.
"W-Well, um… maybe we could talk about it in private?" Kasumi suggested.
"Of course. Let's go to the council room." Makoto offered.
Kasumi nodded, following her inside of the council room.
After they arrived, she listened to Kasumi speak to her about that gymnastics competition.
"Well, 3rd place isn't so bad, Yoshizawa-san." Makoto pointed out.
"But it's not good enough." Kasumi frowned. "I needed to do better. That's why I was brought into Shujin. I had to represent it."
"Do you have any idea what went wrong?" Makoto asked.
"My coach always tells me that there's always this problem where… I have trouble committing to a performance." Kasumi attempted to explain. "Like… I have trouble coming onto my own. Giving a performance that is unique to me."
"I see…" Makoto trailed off. "Why would that be?"
"I think… I might be just a little indecisive about my performance." Kasumi answered. "I'm always second guessing myself. Not just in gymnastics, but in… everything. Like different parts of me want to try different things, cause a conflict."
"Hmm… I can be a little indecisive myself, sometimes." Makoto sympathized.
"Maybe it would help to take my mind off of gymnastics for a bit." Kasumi sighed.
"Maybe so… is there anything else that you would like to talk about?" Makoto replied.
"Well… recently, I heard a big story about the Phantom Thieves." Kasumi brought up.
"Right… we've talked about them before…" Makoto trailed off.
"Recently, they were… accused of killing that one CEO, right?" Kasumi asked.
"… Well, we don't know if they actually did it." Makoto pointed out. "No one can say for sure right now."
"I guess not." Kasumi admitted. "Actually, I've been thinking about the last conversation that we had about them, and… well, I'm conflicted yet again."
"In what way?" Makoto said.
"I… for the most part, I really do disagree with you about the necessity of the Phantom Thieves." Kasumi admitted. "But it feels like there's another part of me, deep down, that wants to agree. It's… strange."
"She really is quite indecisive." Makoto mused.
Before she could ask her more, she heard Kasumi's phone buzz.
As Kasumi pulled out her phone, she noticed something off about it.
"Oh, your phone is cracked. What happened to it?" Makoto asked.
"I… I actually can't remember." Kasumi admitted. "Maybe I dropped it or something…"
"Ah, I see. My older sister had the same thing happen to her first phone." Makoto replied.
That was, of course, a lie. Sae would never be so clumsy with her things. Saying that, however, did allow her to segue into her next topic…
"Say, Yoshizawa-san, do you have any siblings?" Makoto asked.
"Huh? Siblings?" Kasumi repeated. "Well, I… err…
Kasumi suddenly clutched her head, wincing in pain.
"Y-Yoshizawa-san! Are you alright?!" Makoto asked.
"I… I'm fine." Kasumi muttered. "I just… got a nasty headache all of a sudden. About your question… no, I… don't have any siblings."
"I see. I was just curious." Makoto said.
Makoto was beginning to realize that something was definitely… off about Kasumi in general…
"Amamiya-senpai just texted me about gymnastics, actually." Kasumi said. "He said he'd try to support me the next time I practice."
"Oh, really? That's nice of Ren." Makoto smiled.
To her confusion, when she mentioned his name, she thought she saw Kasumi frown, but only for a moment…
"Are you and Amamiya-sempai… close?" Kasumi asked.
"Err…" Makoto trailed off.
She was fine with telling the other Thieves about their relationship, but she wasn't sure about anyone else.
"We… started hanging out together when the principal had me tutor him." Makoto commented. "Since then, we've mostly been hanging out with our friend group."
Maybe she could use this opportunity to segue into another topic…
"Actually, we did celebrate my birthday with some of my other friends a while back." Makoto stated. "Although I'm sure he'd want to celebrate all of his friend's birthdays."
"Really?" Kasumi asked. "Oh, but my birthday is still a ways away…"
"Oh, really?" Makoto asked. "When is it?"
"It's… March 25th." Kasumi answered.
Makoto quickly realized that it was the same day that girl in the obituary was born.
"I… see." Makoto replied, trying to hide her surprise. "Well, I'm sure that Ren'll always support you. And I will too!"
"Thank you, Niijima-senpai!" Kasumi beamed.
She felt a little closer to…
'Kasumi'…
FAITH CONFIDANT: RANK 5
After speaking for a little while longer, she went home for the day.
10/14 Sunday
Considering that they had no school today, Makoto had thought to use the time to possibly think of a way to prove the Phantom Thieves innocent, as well as find a way to stop the Masked Man.
And yet, with no idea who the Masked Man or their employer was, she found the task very difficult.
Things seemed to be going exactly according to the Masked Man's plan. What could they possibly do to stop him?
The only thing she could think of was beating him if they met in the Metaverse again.
In that case…
She had to get stronger! She couldn't let the masked man show her up again!
Next time, she had to win!
She stealthily made her way over to her and Yohei's usual meeting spot.
However, when she arrived, she saw that he wasn't there at all.
"Oh, are you looking for Yohei-san?"
She turned around, seeing one of the men from the homeless camp approaching her.
"Yohei-san was back at the camp." the man said. "He told me to tell you that you could go there if you needed to see him."
"Alright, thank you for telling me." Makoto nodded.
Slightly confused, she made her way over to the homeless camp, wondering why Yohei decided to change their meeting place.
Sure enough, when she arrived, she saw Yohei standing around the camp, seemingly keeping a lookout for something.
"Ah, there you are." Yohei nodded. "Have you come for more training?"
"Yes, but… why the sudden change in location?" Makoto asked.
"The others are worried that those punks from before might show up again." Yohei explained. "So I've been keeping watch."
"I see… then is this a bad time?" Makoto asked.
"No, it's alright. I can train you at the same time." Yohei said.
With that, Yohei once again began to train her.
"You seem more focused today." Yohei noticed. "More determined. Why is that?"
"I… messed up. I wasn't strong enough to win a battle that… I really needed to win." Makoto confessed.
"I see." Yohei nodded. "If you're that serious, then I'll try and increase the intensity of your training… assuming you can handle it."
"Thank you… and I promise you, I can!" Makoto insisted.
Before they could get much more training in, however…
"AHHHHHHHH!"
Suddenly, they heard shouting outside.
"Y-Yohei, they're back!"
She saw Tomo bursting into the tent, a panicked look on her face.
"Tomo-san!" Makoto cried. "Is it the same people from before?"
"N-Nijjima-san, what are… never mind." Tomo muttered, shaking her head. "Just stay here, alright. Yohei will handle this."
"No, I can't just let him handle it alone!" Makoto insisted. "I have to be able to help."
"We can't ask you to do that!" Tomo protested.
"Don't bother trying to argue with her. She's a stubborn one." Yohei noted.
"But-"
"Don't worry. I'll take care of it." Yohei promised.
She raced out of the tent, following Yohei outside, the two of them hearing another scream as they did.
"Let's move!" Yohei roared. "I won't let them get away this time!"
"That's right!" Makoto nodded.
She realized that this wasn't the Metaverse, and that she didn't have any of her powers here.
But even so, she couldn't just let innocent people be hurt.
She had already failed once… she didn't want to fail again!
When they arrived, they saw two teenage boys assaulting the other members of the camp with baseball bats.
"Get out of here, you trash!" one of the boys shouted. "Nobody wants you here!"
Before they could swing their bat, Yohei grabbed it, yanking it out of their hands.
"Hey, what gi-oof!"
Yohei slammed his fist into the boy's face, instantly knocking him down.
"Hey, what the hell?!" the kid shouted. "This old bastard just hit me!"
"You're in for it now, old man! They'll throw the book at you once they find out you've been hitting poor young kids like us." the other boy laughed.
"Why are you doing this?!" Makoto cried. "What have these people done to you?!"
"Eh? You look different…" the boy muttered in confusion. "You don't look homeless. Well, whatever… the reason we're doing this is because trash like you is stinking up the place!"
The other boy tried to land a punch on her, but she quickly caught his fist and flipped him onto his back before stomping on his stomach.
"Ugh… what the hell… who are you people…" one of the boys groaned, Yohei having easily managed to beat him to a pulp.
"D-Don't think you can get away with this!" the other boy cried.
"Get away with… you're the ones who started this in the first place! You attacked these people without any provocation!" Makoto shouted.
"Haha… we're just kids, you know? It ain't like we'll be rotting in prison, you know?" the kid laughed.
"They'll just give us a slap on the wrist at worst!" the other kid smirked.
Yohei's eyes narrowed, a look of disgust on his face.
"… You kids got a lot to learn about the real world." Yohei scoffed. "You really think prison's the scariest thing in the world?"
Yohei picked up the dropped bat, slowly making his way back over to the two teens.
"H-Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing, you old fu-GAHHHHH!"
Yohei slammed the bat as hard as he could into the first boy's knee, causing him to scream out in pain.
"I-I'm sorry, I promise I w-won't ever come here again!" the boy stammered.
"Course you won't." Yohei muttered. "You won't be able to go anywhere if I break both your legs."
Yohei slammed the bat into the boy's other knee, causing him to cry out again.
"Y-You… just who the hell are you?!" the other boy shouted, only to quickly be smacked with the bat himself.
"… I'm just a garage man." Yohei said, raising the bat above his head. "I take out the trash."
Right as he was about to slam the bat into the boy's head, however…
"Stop, please!"
Yohei raised an eyebrow, turning around to see Makoto.
"Please, just stop." Makoto begged. "They can't fight back anymore. They aren't a threat anymore, so can't you just let them go?"
"Y-Yeah, that's right! We promise that we won't ever come back here again!" one of the boys cried.
Yohei seemed to think it over for a while before letting out a sigh.
"I won't be merciful next time." Yohei muttered. "Go."
"T-Thank you, thank you!" the other boy cried. "We-"
"I said GO! Yohei roared.
The boys quickly ran off, Yohei keeping a close eye on them until he was sure that they had completely disappeared.
After confirming everyone's safety, she went with Yohei back to his tent.
Yohei studied her for a moment before speaking.
"You're too soft." Yohei muttered. "There's no telling if those two will come back or not. And next time, I might not be here to protect everyone."
"But…"
"Did you notice? One of them had a nice golden watch, and the other had a silver necklace. Probably just some bored, spoiled rich kids." Yohei scoffed.
"Even so… I don't think that they should die…" Makoto argued.
"Like I said… you're soft." Yohei muttered. "What other way could there be?"
"Well… what about those Phantom Thieves?" Makoto asked. "Have you heard of them?"
"I have." Yohei nodded. "I don't really oppose their methods… but I do question their effectiveness."
"And why is that?" Makoto wondered.
"They are also too soft." Yohei frowned. "Changing hearts… it seems inefficient. If the long wait times and calling cards are necessary…"
"But what's the alternative?" Makoto replied.
"Simple. The world would be better off without certain people in it." Yohei answered.
"Murder, then…" Makoto trailed off.
"… You mentioned that you have to get stronger." Yohei brought up. "I won't pry, but I assume that it's to fight someone. Do you plan to subdue them non-lethally?"
"I…"
She paused, not able to find the words. She wanted to quickly confirm that she wouldn't kill them, but…
It felt like… there was a small part of her, deep down, that…
"And about those Phantom Thieves… weren't they accused of murdering that one CEO?" Yohei asked.
"Well… it was just an accusation." Makoto muttered. "Although…"
Out of curiosity, she had glanced at the Phansite to see what the general opinion on them was…
It was divided, as she expected, but they still had more supporters than she expected.
And some of them…
"They actually have a website." Makoto mentioned. "I was curious what other people were thinking about what happened… some of them seemed to be celebrating that man's death. They said he deserved it. That the Phantom Thieves… should kill other people as well…
While it was true that he had committed many horrible actions, she still found it a little unnerving.
But then again… what about the Masked Man? How would she feel… if they were to die?
"People speak lightly about death… but taking a life is no easy task." Yohei mentioned. "Although, even with problems that don't require such a gruesome solution, most people would rather just complain about them instead of solve them."
"What do you mean?" Makoto asked.
"For all of their blustering, most people would rather have other people solve their problems for them." Yohei stated. "Be it the government, the police, or the Phantom Thieves. To be honest… I believe that sometimes, people ought to take matters into their own hands."
"Well… aren't the Phantom Thieves doing that, in their own way?" Makoto asked.
"… I suppose." Yohei admitted.
It seemed that her and Yohei's beliefs differed from her own…
Still, she felt like she understood Yohei a little better…
DEATH CONFIDANT: RANK 6
She trained with Yohei for a little longer before heading home for the day.
"I trust the investigation went well?"
Shido had taken great measures to ensure that the plan to eliminate the Phantom Thieves went smoothly.
Okumura having his heart changed was a minor setback, but one that they had worked into their advantage.
"Yes, sir. Calling cards were found at the security guard's home and place of employment." the SIU director answered.
Planted, of course. Another step in framing them for the murder.
"I went to great lengths to ensure this went smoothly, sir." the SIU mentioned. "You will lead this nation to a bright future, so I will, as always, assist you in any way I can."
Shido scoffed. What an obnoxious sycophant this man was. Regardless, he still had his uses, and he could also be taken care of if he became a liability.
"I trust that you'll have the best people under your command in charge of implicating them. Shido demanded.
"O-Of course, sir!" The SIU director insisted. "In fact… I know a certain prosecutor who will stop at nothing to take them down…"
Makoto's Confidant Progress:
THE FOOL - Ren Amamiya: Rank 9
THE HUNGER - Igor: Rank 9
THE CHARIOT - Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 8
THE MAGICIAN - Morgana: Rank 8
THE FAITH - Eiko Takao: Rank 7
THE TOWER - Chiaki Yasui: Rank 7
THE SUN - Shiho Suzui: Rank 8
THE MOON - Takayo Tachibana: Rank 8
THE HIEROPHANT - Sojiro Sakura: Rank 7
THE TEMPERANCE - Naoya Makigami: Rank 7
THE STAR - Hifumi Togo: Rank 6
THE DEVIL - Mitsuhide Matsuoka: Rank 5
THE HANGED MAN - Munehisa Iwai: Rank 5
THE DEATH - Yohei Kiritani: Rank 6
THE EMPEROR - Yusuke Kitagawa: Rank 7
THE EMPRESS - Haru Okumura: Rank 5
THE LOVERS - Ann Takamaki: Rank 7
THE HERMIT - Futaba Sakura: Rank 5
THE STRENGTH - Caroline and Justine: Rank 7
THE JUSTICE - Goro Akechi: Rank 4
THE PRIESTESS - Kasumi Yoshizawa: Rank 5
THE FORTUNE - Phantom Thieves of Heart: Rank 7
THE JUDGMENT - Sae Niijima: Rank 6
THE COUNCILOR - Takuto Maruki: Rank 8
Are the Phantom Thieves just? Yes 68.4%