Cw: canonical minor character death.

By the time Friday arrived, it seemed as if someone had set the weather dial to humid-as-fuck and it had gotten stuck there.

"It's so hot…" Ryuji groaned, fanning himself. "I just wanna lay down…"

Makoto huffed, Gintō at the ready. "You're the one who volunteered to come - you didn't have to."

"Yeah, but that's only because there was a choice between doing this and my physics homework!"

"Which is something you'll need to complete anyway." The brunette chided.

A dark and heavy Reiatsu flowed through the air, and Akira raised a palm, cutting the argument off in its midst. While the shaggy-haired teen's week had been pleasant, tension with Akechi aside, the same could not be said for the Phantoms' newest member. To no one's surprise, Principal Kobayakawa was still harassing the student council president. He'd been summoning her to his office multiple times a day - sometimes, he shouted at her, other times, he had wheezing panic attacks, and occasionally, he made thinly veiled threats, saying they'd both be damned if the Phantoms situation wasn't resolved. She was still umming and ahing about giving him a supernatural kick up the ass, but Akira knew unless the principal had a sudden change of heart, they'd need to intervene sometime. In the meantime though, Akira had decided to offer her a distraction from her woes – namely, Makoto's first proper Hollow hunt. She'd been nervous, but after one particularly strenuous discussion with the principal, it seemed her desire to beat something's ass outweighed her lingering fear of ghosts.

Luckily, Futaba had detected a low-level Hollow attempting to breach the human world near Yogen-Jaya that afternoon, which lead to the current situation. The three teens had perched at the corner of a building, staring into the street, with Morgana (in Akira's body) watching from a careful distance. The air rippled and cracked, as a pair of jagged claws tore through reality itself. A large, avian head poked then through the gap in the sky, and Akira glanced back at Makoto.

"You ready?"

Her skin was pale and her hands shaky, but her eyes were firmly locked onto the Hollow, expression resolute. "Let me know when to strike."

The Hollow burst into the world of the living and flapped its wings like some sort of deformed pterodactyl.

"Now!" Akira shouted and charged.

Makoto easily kept pace with him, Shinigami powers or not, and before the Hollow could even blink the duo caught it in a pincer. Akira leapt into the sky, swinging his Zanpakutō down on the Hollow's wing. He didn't manage to sever the appendage, but the strength of his blow broke bone, and the Hollow teetered to one side. Makoto then struck with a yell and caved in its ribs with a spiritually enhanced punch. There was an awful snapping noise, and the Hollow fell to the earth, lifting its head just in time for Ryuji to crush it with his bat. As the Hollow broke into motes of Reishi, the three Phantoms exchanged a grin.

"See – that wasn't so bad, was it?" Akira grinned.

Ryuji stretched, laughing. "Way better than physics, that's for sure!"

Makoto shook her head, exasperated, but there was fondness in her eyes. "I wouldn't say that, but yes, it certainly could have been worse."

Akira nodded encouragingly. While there were some truly nasty Hollows out there – Grand Fisher and the Hollow behind the Vanishing Incidents came to mind – by now, Akira had gained enough experience to take most of them down with ease. Hopefully, today's demonstration would be enough to alleviate Makoto's fears.

"Why don't we grab a drink at Leblanc?" Ryuji suggested, wiping his brow. "Ain't it just a few minutes down the road?"

Akira nodded. "Sounds good to me. Maybe Makoto can help you out with your homework."

As Ryuji paled, the brunette nodded mischievously. "I'm perfectly amenable to that. They do say teaching is the best way to reinforce one's knowledge, after all."

A loud groan escaped the blond's mouth, and the other teenagers laughed – even Morgana joined in with his distinctive snicker. After shuffling their bodies around, it didn't take long for them to reach the café. Sojiro spared the group a brief glance, but was in the middle of serving a customer when Akira and his arrived. Heading to one of the booths, the trio withdrew their schoolbooks and got to work, with Morgana electing to take a nap in Akira's bag. Ryuji flicked through his textbooks idly, Makoto's explanations seemingly going well over his head. Meanwhile, Akira buckled down and focused on his own studies. While he doubted he'd be topping the scoreboards any time soon - especially at a school as competitive as Shujin - he'd like to get into the top ten if he could. Sure, his criminal record meant getting into a good university would be a long shot at best, but hell, Akira could always dream.

"… On to other news, the international hacktivist group Medjed has released a statement to the Phantoms."

Akira froze mid-equation, eyes snapping to the TV that droned in Leblanc's corner.

"Wait – did they just say the Phantoms?" Ryuji furrowed his brow, and Makoto shushed him.

"…Medjed posted this message on their website earlier today. 'To the Phantoms causing an uproar in Japan: Do not speak of your false justice. That the people of Japan have been hoodwinked by your crimes is disappointing. As penance, we will cleanse your country - by the end of the month, the Japanese economy will face ruination'."

Akira's jaw slowly dropped as the report continued. Ryuji's eyes widened, and Makoto let out a startled gasp. Even Sojiro furrowed his brow at the announcement.

"'However, we are magnanimous. We will give the Phantoms an opportunity to repent. If they reveal their identities to the public, we will halt our attack. The future of Japan rests in the hands of the Phantoms. We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil.'"

As the news moved on to other matters, a leaden weight settled in Akira's stomach. A cleanse? The future of Japan? Glancing at Ryuji and Makoto, it was clear that studying was no longer at the front of their mind.

Akira pushed up his glasses, hoping they didn't notice the tremble in his hands. "… Come on, we need to speak to the others."

In particular, they needed to speak to Futaba.

…..

"Well?" Makoto shuffled nervously, eyeing Futaba's trash piles disapprovingly. While they weren't as bad as they could have been, it was clear the hacker hadn't bothered cleaning this week. "… Is there anything you can do about this?"

The group waited with bated breath. Akira, Ryuji, and Makoto had immediately fled to Futaba's house following Medjed's announcement, while Rukia and Ann had dialled in on Akira's speakerphone.

"…. Hmm." Futaba hummed, fiddling with a pen. The hacker remained silent, clearly deep in thought.

"… Ann, is this thing working?" Rukia hissed.

"Uh, yeah, I think so?"

"Sorry." Akira cleared his throat. "Futaba's just mulling things over."

And she continued to do so for an awfully long while. Makoto finally caved and started to clean Futaba's room, and with little else to do, Akira offered her a hand while Rukia and Ann idly discussed their latest new soap opera in the background.

Mid-clean, Ryuji ran out of patience and poked the hacker in the back. "Uh, earth calling Futaba? Evil hacker guys. Can you do somethin' about them?"

"Wha-? Uh, yeah, that's not the problem – gimme a day or two, and I should be able to get things sorted…" Futaba's voice trailed off as she furrowed her brow.

Makoto paused, halfway through dumping some old instant noodle bowls into the bin. "… Is something else the matter?"

"Yeah. The thing is? I'm Medjed. At least I used to be." Futaba shrugged. "I gave the handle to a few old online buddies of mine when I got bored of it, and while the group has blown up over the year or so since I quit, most of the members I know would have loved you guys. This doesn't make any sense."

"I'm sorry – you started an international hacktivist ring, age fourteen?!" Makoto gawped.

Ryuji shot her an incredulous look. "Dude, she re-created spirit-tech from memory. Futaba's cracked."

"Mwehehe, why, thank you! I am the most OP member of the party, aren't I?" Futaba gloated, spinning around on her chair.

A muffled noise came from Akira's phone, and it took him a moment to realise it was Rukia clearing her throat. "So, do you think this is just a prank?"

"I dunno." Futaba frowned, prior levity fading. "It's not like it's April Fools. This feels crazy OOC - my best theory is that someone else is behind it, but it's not like some two-bit newbie would be able to hack Medjed's site. Either way, there's something off about this whole shebang."

Akira nodded and mulled things over. "… Do you think this could be a trap by the police? Something to lure us into revealing our identities? They'd probably have some pro hackers on their side, right?"

Makoto's expression turned conflicted. "I… I'm not sure. Threatening the economy, purely to lure out some vigilantes? It seems extreme, but I suppose we did make fools of them with Kaneshiro…"

"Does it matter?" Ryuji shrugged. "Whether it's the police or just some pissy nerd, we're not gonna take the bait, and we're gonna kick their ass."

"I think you mean that I am going to kick their ass." Futaba pointed out, before wriggling her fingers and letting out an evil laugh. "Medjed or not, they're not gonna know what hit them!"

…..

Goro's feet echoed over the smooth tiles of the SIU's foyer. Men and women in suits hurried around him, time and stress having chiselled their faces into permanent frowns. While there were the occasional huddles of people engaging in hushed chatter, the atmosphere was oppressive, as if a god from the heavens themselves would smite you if you dared to raise your voice (or an angry librarian). Suffice to say, it was not an atmosphere conducive to conversation. As he walked to the building's exit, a lone figure in a black suit caught his eye, and the detective paused. Sae was sitting at one of the tables dotting the foyer, rubbing her temples. Judging by her pinched brow she was probably at her limit for dealing with people's bullshit for the day. Making a split-second decision, Goro turned on the spot. He'd planned on spending his afternoon hammering out a tediously boring Japanese essay, but Sae clearly needed a coffee or two. More importantly, that meant free food and drinks for himself. Truly, a win for them both.

"Hello, Sae-san." She glanced in his direction, still blatantly miserable, and Goro gave her a commiserating grin. "I take it this latest announcement has only increased your workload?"

"You have no idea." The prosecutor groaned. "First, the Phantoms made a complete mockery of us, and now Medjed, who have been dormant for months, come back just to declare war on them? I've got actual important cases to work on - I don't have time to waste on this ridiculous circus!"

Her outburst attracted a few odd stares, and Goro decided it was a good time to strike. "Why don't we grab a coffee? It seems you could do with a break." He grinned mischievously. "Stress is bad for the skin, you know."

The glare she shot him could have melted steel, and Goro felt a small trill of satisfaction. The best thing about his Detective Prince persona was that he could act as aggravating as possible, and yet, no one would ever call him out on it. He surely didn't mean it that way, right? He was a sweet, innocent child, after all! (Suffice to say, over the years he had honed the art of being passive-aggressive to a tee.)

"I'm not in the mood to deal with your sarcasm." Sae growled, before relenting with a sigh. "Though, perhaps some fresh air will help jog my thoughts…"

He couldn't help but smile. Free food, check!

As they exited the building, Goro was greeted with the summer sun, and spent a good moment soaking it up. Sae, meanwhile, looked like she was sweltering in all that black, but was too proud to say it.

"How about you listen to my deductions for a change of pace?" He ventured as they walked down the street. He might as well kill two birds with one stone, and use this opportunity to push Shido's agenda.

The prosecutor nodded, guiding Goro down a side street. While he hadn't taken this route before, he realised she was taking him to one of the local cafés… Or maybe she's just trying to avoid the sun. He mused, shivering as the high-rise buildings bathed the street in shadow. It didn't help that a Whole was lurking by the street's end – while he knew it was probably just psychological, he always felt a bit of a chill being near the spirits.

"It sounds a bit fantastical, but the Vanishing Incidents and the Phantoms… I don't think the cases are as separate as they seem." Goro suggested.

Sae frowned but seemed content to let him finish his thoughts. Of course, Goro's thoughts were then completely and utterly derailed as she walked straight through the damned Whole without even blinking. Unable to resist it, he shuddered. Even your average human had enough instincts to subconsciously avoid walking into the bloody things. Sae's spiritual blindness was almost impressive. Impressively horrifying, that is.

"Akechi-kun?" She blinked, confused, as his voice trailed off.

"My apologies." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I got distracted. What was I saying…? Ah, that's right. The perpetrator of the Vanishing Incidents makes people disappear into thin air. The Phantoms are undetectable to the human eye. I'm sure you've noticed the overlap."

As they exited the side street and returned to the usual Tokyo bustle, Sae rubbed her chin. "Yes, but it's just a suspicion – we have no real evidence."

Goro shrugged, as Sae led him into a café and asked for a table for two.

"It is just a theory, after all." He commented, taking a seat. "Still, while the motives for their crimes are seemingly opposites… what if that's not the case? What if the perpetrators are one and the same, and the Phantoms' actions are simply yet another way to sow panic amongst the public?"

"Really?" Sae suddenly shot him a look, and Goro felt taken aback. "That's what you think?"

That... wasn't the reaction he was expecting. She seemed surprised. And yet, Sae was smart enough to spot the similarities between Vanishing Incidents and the Phantoms case – she'd said so just a moment ago. The next logical step was that they were connected - why was that such an egregious leap in logic in her eyes?

"… You disagree?" Goro responded weakly.

Sae gave a muted thanks to the waitress as she dropped off their drinks, before looking into the distance. "Look, I agree that the similarities between their methods are staggering, even if we have no concrete evidence on either of them. Still…" She bit her lip. "The Phantoms' actions are loud and flashy – immature, almost. Look at their targets. Kamoshida and Madarame were clearly personal, and they attacked Kaneshiro purely to mess with the police. Or to be more accurate, you. Between that and the vandalism… they feel like a group of stupid kids who've gained access to powers they never should have had, and are now targeting whoever happens to look at them the wrong way."

The words were damning. Goro had felt similar sentiments about the Phantoms – Kurusu's ridiculous showboating and naïve sense of justice rankled him as much as it excited him. Really, to have power like Goro's, and waste it on such pettiness? They could take down all the Kamoshidas and Kaneshiros in the world, and more bastards would simply just pop up to take their place. Corruption could never be cleansed by taking down individuals, only by burning this whole rotten society to the ground. That they were so blind to that fact… they were nothing but a group of stupid children, indeed. Still, to hear such sentiments come from Sae's mouth was unnerving.

If she noticed his disquiet, Sae ignored it and continued gesturing. "The Vanishings Incidents, though? They're sophisticated, professional. There's none of the Phantoms' signature tomfoolery. Plus, the connections between the victims are far more insidious. Ministers, CEOs… there's a clear political motive behind the attacks, not just mere spite. I'm sorry, Akechi-kun, but at this stage, I really can't see them being the same perp."

… Yes, unnerving indeed. Goro felt his stomach flip. This was bad. Sae was his baseline for how the ignorant masses would interpret Shido's dabbling into the spiritual world. If Sae was unconvinced that the Phantoms and the Vanishing Incidents were one and the same, it meant the public wouldn't gobble up Shido's angle either. More importantly, her analysis was far too accurate. She was beginning to tread into territory she shouldn't, and Goro couldn't allow that to happen. No – best to send her off down a rabbit hole that would lead her nowhere.

"That's fair enough. You've certainly given me food for thought. Still, I suppose none of this speculation matters unless we discover their methods." Goro leant forward, steepling his fingers. "Tell me, Sae-san – have you ever heard of Cognitive Psience?"

…..

Makoto idly stirred her dinner with her chopsticks. No matter how much she told herself there was no need to be anxious, her stomach didn't settle. Eventually, she sighed, giving up on the meal – she could always have it for lunch tomorrow. While Futaba had been more than confident she would be able to deal with the Medjed menace, Makoto wasn't as certain. She could accept Futaba's technological prowess when it came to magitek, but taking down a group of cybercriminals holding Japan's economy hostage was a different matter entirely. She gulped. If the Phantoms turned themselves in or got caught… it would be as good as signing their future away. They were all in too deep now. Admittedly, it would be hard to prosecute them, but it wasn't impossible. Ann's handwriting could be analysed, or they could discover where Futaba had stashed the guns.

Actually, on second thought, maybe leaving several pistols in the hands of a precocious, morally flexible teenager wasn't a fantastic idea.

Makoto gently slapped her cheeks. "Enough of that. Fretting isn't going to solve anything."

In the end, she decided to have a nice, long shower and take an early night. It turned out to be a good decision – after soaking under some warm water for a while, Makoto began to feel some of her worries drift away. She should put more trust in her fellow Phantoms – after all, they'd placed their trust in her after everything she'd done to them. Makoto just finished changing into her pyjamas when her phone buzzed.

Alibaba: guuuuueeeeeesss what?

Skull: you defeated medjed?!

Panther: wait, already?!

Heart skipping a beat, Makoto quickly Google searched the hacktivists. The first few links were to the articles released about the attack, but it didn't take her long to find Medjed's site. When she opened it up, Makoto almost ended up dropping her phone. The Medjed logo had been crossed out, and the site's green colours were replaced with a bold red. The entire front page had been wiped, leaving nothing but a series of numbers she couldn't interpret and the Phantoms' signature.

Joker: Did you just doxx the guy?

Alibaba: ;)

Joker: Wow

Makoto typed in a congratulations message, before pausing – she wasn't entirely sure if this was praise-worthy behaviour. In the end, she shrugged and sent Futaba a thank you text. Even if her methods were dubious at best, she'd just done both the Phantoms and Japan a massive favour. Plus, by now Makoto was beginning to learn that following the rules and achieving true justice were very different things. Sometimes, one had to work on the darker side of the law if one wanted to do what was right. Settling into bed, she'd almost fallen asleep when an idle thought crossed her mind, and Makoto jolted wide awake. Groaning, she ran a hand down her face. Kobayakawa was going to lose it when he heard about this. Sighing, she slumped back down. What a pain...

A clicking noise then echoed through the apartment, and Sae's voice began to drift down the hallway. "Sir, we have made some progress. We know none of the usual suspects supplied the bomb-"

Makoto sat up, brows furrowed, before creeping over to her door. She hadn't heard her sister sound that panicked in years. Pushing it open just a tad, she peered into the hallway. Sae was on the phone, standing rigidly still with a wince on her face. A slight buzz echoed in the background, and Makoto's brows rose as she realised it was someone yelling at her sister over the line.

"No – your trust in me isn't misplaced. I can handle it. In fact, I've already got a new lead to pursue." Sae stated, expression firm, but Makoto could see her clenched fist trembling. "Yes. I won't let you down. Goodnight." The second she hung up, Sae's façade crumbled. A ferocious scowl crossed her face, and for half a second, Makoto thought she was going to pitch her phone at the wall. Instead, she took in a deep breath, before plonking herself down on the kitchen table and cradling her head in her hands. "God, this information you gave me better be good, Akechi-kun…"

With a deep sigh, her sister stood up and ambled her way towards the bathroom. Makoto swiftly retreated – if Sae realised she was snooping, she wouldn't be happy at all. Sitting back down on her bed, all traces of Makoto's prior sleepiness were well and truly demolished. Unease welled in the teenager's stomach. She knew her sister was busy, especially after that Vanishing Incident that had rocked downtown Shibuya, but she hadn't realised Sae's troubles ran deeper than that. It was clear she'd been reprimanded about something – for god's sake, Makoto could hear the shouts from her bedroom.

Suddenly, she inhaled sharply, shooting back upright as a horrible idea occurred to her. Principal Kobayakawa had implied that Sae would be the one to suffer if Makoto couldn't shape up her act. What if that was why she was having trouble at work? Hands shaking, Makoto opened her phone.

Queen: We need to do something about the principal.

…..

Akira wouldn't say that Medjed crumbled like a roll of wet toilet paper, but, well, Medjed crumbled like a roll of wet toilet paper. With the hackers' defeat, Shujin's prior Phantoms fervour reached a fever pitch. Students rocked up the school decked out with black-and-red merchandise, and Mishima had even made a full-blown Phantoms fan site which he would not shut up about, no matter how much chalk Ushimaru threw at him. Truthfully, however, the most stunning thing in the wake of Medjed's defeat had been Makoto finally caving in about the principal. She hadn't revealed exactly what had triggered her about-face, but Akira wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Unlike most of their other Phantoms' escapades, it was a simple job – Makoto was rather confident Kobayakawa would simply need a nudge, not a full-blown shove. The principal was attending a conference that weekend, which left his office entirely unattended for several days.

"Plus, if we strike now, we have the added benefit of throwing suspicion off the students." The student council president had commented. "Only the staff and I know about his absence, and I doubt he'll expect I'm behind it."

They'd all agreed with her logic, and spent their Friday afternoon engaging in some light vandalism, aided by Ann's knowledge about Shujin's appalling lack of security. Who knows – maybe this would finally push the school into setting up a security system that actually worked. Either way, they'd find out come Monday.

Of course, while all of the Phantoms had received credit for the Medjed annihilation, there was only one of them who truly deserved the praise - Futaba. Unfortunately for Akira, she was happy to milk that for all it was worth, and had wheedled him into taking her to Akihabara that Saturday afternoon as a reward.

"… I'm sorry." Akira wheezed, glancing between the stack of games Futaba had in her arms and his rather light wallet. "When are you even going to get the time to play all these? More importantly, why do you think I have that much money? It's not like Sojiro pays me!"

Futaba popped up a finger. "One, I'll pull an all-nighter or three. Two, I know Rukia gets sent money whenever you bust a Hollow, and we've been doing a hell of a lot of that lately!"

"That's Rukia, not me." He groaned, rubbing the back of his head, but there was no real venom to his voice. "Okay, fine – three games." Akira concluded, ignoring Futaba's pout. "Look on the bright side – it means you'll only need to pull one all-nighter."

The younger teen rolled her eyes and affectionally poked out her tongue, before sauntering back over the stands. One far too-expensive purchase later, they headed home, bantering all the way back to Leblanc. It was amazing how much Futaba had come out of her shell over the past month and a bit - if someone had told him when he first came to Tokyo that one day he'd be able to spend an entire afternoon happily chatting with Sojiro's daughter, Akira would have dismissed them out of pocket.

As they swung open the café's door, Futaba opened her mouth, clearly ready to greet Sojiro in her usual bombastic manner, but she was interrupted as a cold voice sliced through the air like a sword.

"So, you won't tell me, no matter what?"

Akira came to a halt. The café's homely warmth had all but evaporated, the tension in the air so thick Akira could feel it seeping into his skin. For half a second, he thought they might be under attack by a Hollow, but no – the awful atmosphere was caused by purely mundane means. Leblanc was practically empty, aside from Sojiro and one customer, who was currently having an epic stare-down against the barista. The woman was young - mid-twenties at best - but despite that, her pristine suit and dark crimson eyes (which were currently drilling into Sojiro) gave her a dangerous aura that immediately set Akira on edge. In sharp contrast to her polished poise, Sojiro was hunched over, arms crossed, everything about him screaming defiance.

"… I've said all I'm going to say." Sojiro hissed. It was then that he noticed the open door, and did a double-take as he set eyes on them. "Y-You're back?!"

The woman turned to face them, and while Akira knew he'd never seen her before in his life, there was something about her that seemed vaguely familiar. No matter how much he stared at her though, he couldn't quite place it.

An awkward silence hung in the air, and Futaba winced, shuffling slightly behind Akira. "… Uh, hi?" She called out from her place of safety.

While the woman smiled, it was less friendly, and more like a predatory beast trying to put its prey at ease. "I see – you must be Sakura-san's daughter."

Sojiro's eyes widened, before narrowing into slits. "Don't you dare talk to her!"

The woman shot him a thoroughly unimpressed glare. "I can speak to whomever I please. Of course, I can't make them answer, but perhaps she'll be more interested in aiding our justice system than you are."

Justice system? Ice ran through Akira's veins. Was this woman onto them? Had Futaba slipped up when taking down Medjed? The hacker let out a soft whimper, clearly thinking the same thing, and Sojiro looked half a second away from throttling the woman with his bare hands. A protective flame ran through the frizzy-haired teen – if she was after him, fine, but he'd go through hell and back before he let anyone lay a hand on his friend.

"What's this about?" Akira grunted, shielding Futaba with his body.

The woman threw her hands up in the air, seemingly at the end of her rope. "What is with all this obstinance?! You do realise I'm trying to catch a mass murderer, right?!"

Akira blinked, feeling somewhat like he just got hit in the head with a frying pan. He was so positive this was going to be either about Medjed or the Phantoms, the truth had completely blindsided him.

Futaba poked her head out from behind his back, confusion beginning to shine through her fear. "M-m-mass murder? I didn't do any mass murder!"

"… Yes? Obviously not?" The woman looked at Futaba as if she'd grown a second head. She then sighed, before withdrawing an ID from her pocket. "… Let's start over. Niijima Sae, Public Prosecutions Office. I'm investigating the Vanishing Incidents."

Akira and Futaba exchanged a wide-eyed look. Niijima Sae? Vanishing Incidents?! A moment of silent communication ran through them, and Futaba squeezed his hand, before giving him a resolute nod. Stepping out from behind him, she took a seat at Sae's side, and Akira followed suit, ignoring the flush of guilt Sojiro's dismayed look caused him. Sorry, but if we can pump any information about the Vanishing Incidents out of her, this is a bullet worth biting. Before Sae got into things, however, there was something he wanted to confirm first. While the sisters didn't look super similar – perhaps they took after different parents – now that he knew to look for it, he could see hints of Makoto in the shape of her face. It must have been why he felt that odd sense of déjà vu when he first saw her.

"Kurusu Akira. I'm Sojiro's ward." He introduced himself. "Sorry, odd question, but do you have a sister who goes to Shujin?"

A brief look of surprise entered her eyes, and Sae's smile turned slightly more genuine. "Yes – Makoto. She's the student council president. I suppose you're acquainted with her?"

This time, it was Sojiro's turn to look caught off guard. He'd met Makoto before after all, but unlike Akira, he clearly hadn't put two-and-two together.

"Yeah. We're not super close, but she seems nice." He decided to downplay things, lest Sae snooped – he sincerely doubted Makoto's prosecutor sister would be happy with her hanging out with a convicted criminal.

"So. Uh. What do you want to talk to little ol' me about?" Futaba interrupted them, scratching the back of her head. "I don't really know what I've got to do with the Vanishing Incidents…"

"Nothing whatsoever." Sae stated bluntly. "I'm here to get information on Cognitive Psience."

As her statement echoed through the air, Akira inhaled sharply, feeling like he'd just got sucker punched. Futaba turned as white as a sheet, and Sojiro merely shook his head, clearly exhausted. Oh. Akira winced. That's why he didn't want Futaba to talk to her.

As Futaba remained silent, eyes wide, Sojiro sighed. He rubbed his brows, previous hostility gone. "Do yourself a favour and leave it, alright? Bad things happen to people who pry into Cognitive Psience."

A look of irritation flashed across Sae's face. "I deal with the scum of earth every day – I can look after myself, thank you very much. Besides, you two are perfectly fine."

Now that his initial wave of shock was over, Akira wondered what on earth Cognitive Psience had to do with the Vanishing Incidents. His stomach then twisted - they were both connected to the World of the Dead, if only tangentially. Shit. If Sae discovered the existence of spiritual power, it'd put her both in the crosshairs of a crazy Hollow assassin, and give her the information she needed to take down the Phantoms too. Futaba glanced at him, grief and panic shining in her eyes - it was clear she knew this was going to be an unpleasant conversation, and a dangerous one, too. Giving her a weak smile, Akira rubbed her hand, hoping it would bolster her spirits. I believe in you. I know you can do this.

It seemed to work, as the hacker squared her shoulders. "W-what do you need to know?"

Sae crossed her legs and rested an arm against the bench. "From what I've heard, one aspect of Cognitive Psience involved the alteration of people's perspectives. I'm mainly interested in that."

Akira blinked. He'd almost totally forgotten about that aspect of Wakaba's work amidst her managing to artificially create Reiryoku. A wave of relief ran through him – compared to what Sae could have been digging into, that was nothing. He felt Futaba's hand relaxing too - this was a topic they could both handle.

"How does that relate to the Vanishing Incidents?" Akira asked, curious.

"Does it matter?" Sae retorted, eyes narrowing to slits.

"I wanna know!" Futaba whinged, swinging her legs like a petulant child.

Akira almost cheered at the look of exasperation that crossed Sae's face. "This is purely speculation, but I believe it could be how the perpetrator is hiding themselves from sight."

He blinked. That was… frighteningly accurate, actually. While she was even less friendly than Makoto at her worst, it was clear that intelligence ran in the blood, even if spiritual powers didn't.

"Ideally, I'd like to find some of her research papers." Sae continued. "They don't need to be complete or anything – I just need evidence that the scientific theory behind Cognitive Psience is sound."

Akira winced, feeling a wave of pity for the woman. She'd stumbled across the only way to translate the spiritual world into the mundane, and yet, she'd never actually get any proof of that. Futaba had been pretty damn clear about the extent of the coverup - it was a miracle Sae had even heard of Cognitive Psience.

"Uh, yeah... that's not happening. " Futaba's shoulders slumped. "Trust me – I'd love to be able to show her work to the w-world, but! The government totally took everything! There wasn't even a loose staple left!"

"Yeah – I don't know why you're harassing us about it…" Sojiro grumbled. "Told you we couldn't help."

Sae bit her lip. "What about her old lab? Do you have the address?"

"Look, there's no point." Sojiro gritted his teeth. "There wasn't anything left of it after the accident, and the rubble would have been picked well-clean by those vultures by now."

"How on earth does a psychological experiment destroy an entire building?" Sae wrinkled her nose, baffled.

While the question was somewhat rhetorical, Futaba still answered. "Uh… the research was less psychological, and more just plain psychic at that stage." At Sae's confusion, Futaba elaborated. "Well, y'know how she was studying how some people could perceive things others couldn't? She'd… found a way to quantify that metric, I guess." Futaba tapped her chin. "Putting it in layman's terms, some people had a certain type of... brain wave that others didn't."

Sae's brows furrowed and her mouth knitted into a frown, but her expression wasn't angry as much as it was uneasy. "… Go on."

"Right. Um. Well…" Futaba's voice trailed off and she stared at the ground. "W-when she died, mum was… mum was trying to find a way of unlocking those brain waves in other people. I-I'm not sure what happened exactly – it might have been a fault with her equipment, maybe – but something went wrong in the attempt, a-and…"

Futaba broke off into a sob, and a brief flutter of Reiatsu suddenly spiked from Sae – it was barely stronger than Sojiro's, but it blazed like a sun compared to her prior dearth of spiritual energy. Akira aborted his attempt to pat Futaba's back as he stared at the prosecutor. Her eyes were wide in horror, and even in Leblanc's gentle lighting, it was easy to see her skin had turned sheet white. She schooled her expression back to its usual calm almost immediately, but there was no hiding that something had rattled her, and Akira sincerely doubted it was just Futaba's tears.

"No need to continue. I can figure out the rest." Sae muttered, before standing up. "My apologies. This has been a complete and utter waste of all of our time."

Without further ado, she strode out of Leblanc, the door closed behind her with a jingle. The café was silent in the wake of her departure, and even though she was gone, the tension Sae had brought with her lingered.

"Yeesh." Futaba mumbled, her sobs dying down. "What crawled up her asshole and died?"

Akira couldn't help but burst out laughing, and after a moment's hesitation, Sojiro shook his head, giving them an exasperated smirk.

"Words of advice, kids – never take a government job. The pay's good, but they're so utterly miserable they'll ruin every other facet of your life." The old man's expression turned more serious, and he gave Akira an appraising look. "Thanks for stepping in – she sheathed her claws the second you mentioned her sister." He then shook his head. "I can't believe a sweet kid like that is related to such a hellion."

Akira couldn't help but wheeze. "Oh, no – Makoto can absolutely get like that at times. Did you know we first met because she was hounding Ann, Rukia, Ryuji, and me about being the Phantoms?"

As Akira regaled Sojiro with a dramatized and highly edited story about their enemies-to-friends story, step by step, the warmth slowly crept back into Leblanc. By the end of his tale, even Futaba was laughing along, genuine warmth shining in her tear-reddened eyes.

(It was the calm before the storm.)

…..

Makoto was not at all surprised when she was summoned to the principal's office first thing that Monday morning. Admittedly, she wasn't expecting an out-of-breath, panting vice-principal to swing open her homeroom door and start shouting at her, but on the bright side, it certainly woke her up.

"N-Niijima-san!" He wailed. "T-t-the principal requires your presence at once!"

As Makoto stood up as a series of shocked whispers sprung around the classroom. She gave a polite bow to an equally stunned Usami-sensei, before following the older man. The vice-principal left her side as they reached Kobayakawa's office, shooting one last glance her way and scurrying off. Taking a deep breath in, she gave a perfunctory knock before swinging open the door. Besides the bulbous figure of Kobayakawa, the room was in much the same state as it was when Makoto had left it last Friday afternoon. The office had been trashed, drawers opened and paperwork scattered. Makoto had insisted on no permanent property damage – she saw no need to waste the school's money, just give Kobayakawa a little spook – but Akira and Ryuji didn't need to break anything to wreak havoc on a place. The accolades and degrees that had once hung on the principal's walls had been torn off, replaced by small paper slips. Pinning up the students' anonymous reports about the Kaneshiro crime ring had been Makoto's idea – after all, it was his failure to handle the situation properly that had caused Makoto to break away from him in disgust.

To cap things off, there was a message in fake blood scrawled across his desk.

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE

CEASE NOW OR YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR SINS

- THE PHANTOMS

"N-Niijima-chan!" The yellow-suited man wailed, half sunk to the ground. "This is – this can't be happening!"

Makoto knew she should probably pretend to be alarmed, but she found herself unable to dredge up any emotion at all, and in the end, didn't bother. "Did you call the police?" She asked nonchalantly, idly examining his desk.

"O-of course not!" He spluttered. "If the students or the staff thought I'd done something wrong, my reputation would go up in flames!"

"Perhaps it's just a prank?" Makoto suggested, and when the principal looked a tad too relieved by that, she immediately changed tracks. "Though, realistically speaking they're likely just pressuring you to stop your investigation. Unless you've been doing anything else unsavoury, that is?"

Like threatening me and my sister.

A haunted look crossed Kobayakawa's face, and when he spoke, it came out as a whisper. "… No. Nothing at all."

"Good." Makoto nodded, before turning on her heels. "In that case, I don't think you have anything you need to worry about."

…..

"So, how'd he take it?" Ryuji grinned, munching on some leftover tamagoyaki from lunch.

The Shujin five had met up again after school to ostentatiously catch up about Kobayakawa, Akira dialling Futaba in. Not that there was much point to the get-together – Akira had heard rumours flying around that Makoto had been dragged from her homeroom before class had even begun.

"As expected." The brunette shrugged. "He seemed rather spooked, but also not keen on getting the police involved. He probably doesn't want them looking into his affairs." She muttered, something dangerous glinting in her eyes.

Ann snorted. "Hmph. Of course he doesn't…"

Akira ignored Ann's venom, as the intense look on Makoto's face immediately reminded him that he'd never gotten around to telling his friends about his encounter with Sae.

"Oh, that's right – I ran into your sister the other day." He frowned. "Or, more accurately, she was lurking in Leblanc."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Futaba groaned. "I think that conversation hit me with three different status effects."

Makoto's eyes widened in surprise, and the rest of the Phantoms stared at him in intrigue.

Rukia crossed her arms and drawled. "I assume she wasn't there for the coffee?"

"She might have been, actually." Makoto hummed. "She's always complaining there's nothing good near her office."

"Oh, trust me, it was not a social visit." Akira grimaced, before settling down and explaining what happened.

By the time he concluded his story, Ann and Ryuji simply looked contemplative, but Makoto was wincing, cheeks flushed red, and Rukia was tapping her foot pensively.

"I'm so sorry." Makoto bowed. "I swear, she's not normally like that."

This time, it was the student council president's turn to tell a tale. She had mentioned offhandedly before that Kobayakawa had implied Makoto's failings would affect her sister, but none of them had ever expected that to become a reality. Suddenly, Makoto's sudden change of mind about the principal made sense. A wave of vindication ran through Akira as his thoughts went back to their latest attack. He hadn't had many reservations about targeting Kobayakawa in the first place, but now, any doubts had well and truly been thrown out the window.

"It's no sweat off my back – everyone has bad days." Akira shrugged once Makoto was done, and judging by the relief in her eyes, it was the right thing to say.

It was hardly Sae's fault that they'd jumped to conclusions about Medjed, and she might have been more mercurial if Sojiro hadn't immediately answered her questions by basically telling her to fuck off. With the additional knowledge that her bosses had been hounding her for results, Sae's demeanour was understandable. Still, that was different than it being excusable. She couldn't have been much less sensitive about Wakaba's passing if she tried.

"… She probably does owe Futaba an apology, though." He concluded, adjusting his glasses.

"Eh. I think it'd be a bit hypocritical for me to get on her case for being blunter than a hammer." Akira could vividly imagine Futaba's shrug. "Though, maybe I could use this to emotionally blackmail her… like hey, remember that time you made a fifteen-year-old cry? Real smooth there, Niijima-senior! Guilt's a great way to get people to do things!"

Makoto groaned, rubbing her temples. "Please don't do that. Firstly, manipulating people is wrong, and secondly, it probably wouldn't even work."

Akira cleared his throat. "Anyway, back to more important matters – Sae-san didn't really give us much info about the Vanishing Incidents, but she acted really weirdly when Futaba told her Wakaba was trying to increase people's Reiatsu. Does anyone have any idea what that was about?"

Makoto shook her head, brow furrowed, leaving Rukia to answer. "I can't answer that question from a human perspective, but the idea of artificially giving someone Reiryoku is… odd." Rukia pursed her lips. "Some people have dormant spiritual powers which can be awakened under certain circumstances, like with Ann, but you can't unlock something that isn't there to begin with." She sighed. "Truthfully, I think the only reason why I could transfer my powers to Akira was because he already had a significant level of Reiryoku to begin with."

He sighed. Akira supposed that was one mystery they wouldn't be getting answers to. Not that it probably mattered, really – as much as he hated not being able to state his curiosity, Sae's peculiarities weren't exactly important.

"Sorry to skip to a different conversation branch, but something's bothering me." Futaba mused, voice echoing around the alcove. "Not with Akira's tale – I mean, I was there for that – but with what Makoto said."

"M-me?" Makoto's eyes widened as she pointed at her chest.

"Yeah, you!" The hacker chirped. "Sojiro HAS to be the lead Akechi told your sister about. The thing is though, it's impossible to find info about Cognitive Psience anywhere – even your swanky prosecutor sister was reduced to sniffing around Leblanc."

It was then that Akira realised what Futaba was getting at. A pang of shock ran through him, and he inhaled sharply. "Hang on – if Cognitive Psience is so restricted Sae-san can't get access to anything, how on earth did Akechi Goro find out about it in the first place?"

…..

The sound of the roaring traffic was drowned out by the rhythmic thumping of his pounding heart. Kobayakawa Takuma dabbed his brow with his handkerchief, not that it did much to stem the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. A week had passed since the Phantoms defaced his office – a week of tossing and turning every night, twin blades held at his throat.

He'd made a deal with the devil, and now, he was paying the price.

The principal had met the SIU Director at a school function – he was an old alumnus, apparently, with a family that had attended Shujin for years. His words had been honeyed, cleverly hiding their poison, and Takuma had drunk them in like a man drowning in water. His predecessor had done a right number to the school – poor staffing choices, declining grades, and increasingly slipping standards. He'd done his best to fix things – he'd hired more enthusiastic teachers and pushed extra funding into the student clubs in hopes it would improve engagement, but despite all the effort he put in, enrolment was simply getting lower and lower every year.

The Director had nodded, sympathy in his eyes. He knew what Takuma was going through – his predecessor had mishandled several high-profile cases, and for the first few years of his career, he had been balancing on a tightrope. "You know what you need?" The elder gentleman had mused, sipping on his champagne. "An attraction. A star. Someone who shines so brightly people will flock to Shujin in droves."

"That would be ideal, truly – I've been scouting out some former alumni, hoping I could convince a big name or two to come back, but it all comes down to, well..." Takuma had tugged at his collar, flushed red from drink.

"Money." The Director nodded knowingly, before leaning forward, something glittering in his eyes. "What if I said I knew someone who could help you with that? In exchange for a favour or two, of course."

Takuma had inched in closer, not yet realising he was about to walk into a trap. "Please, tell me more."

The deal was simple, really. He'd inflate the grades of a few of Shido's friends' children and give them letters of recommendation they might not have gotten elsewhere, and in return, Takuma would get the funds he needed to rescue his school. In return, he got Kamoshida. Letters of recommendation, however, had slowly increased to keeping an eye on potential recruits for Shido's network, which had then morphed into subtly injecting a pro-Shido agenda into his curriculum, before twisting into helping the yakuza and staying quiet as people suddenly started disappearing into thin air. He'd been a frog in boiling water – Takuma didn't realise he was being cooked alive until it was too late, and now, a group of supernatural savages who knew about every single one of his dirty secrets were clamouring for his blood. Shido would never let him live if he spilled the beans, but the Phantoms would not take silence for an answer, as Madarame had proven.

Ironically enough, it was Takuma's morals that determined his final choice. If he was going to die either way, he'd rather take Shido down with him than end his days as nothing but a pawn to his schemes.

Gulping, he dabbled his forehead yet again, before promptly realising the crowds of people surrounding him had vanished while he was lost in his thoughts. Looking up, he frowned as he saw the pedestrian lights turn from green to red. Dammit. He'd need to wait another cycle if he wanted to reach the police station. Nervously, the principal glanced around. It seemed like a typical Sunday afternoon – there were no sinister figures lurking around, ready to stab a knife between his shoulders. A brief flicker of hope ran through Takuma – he was almost there. All he needed to do was cross the street, tell them that the SIU Director was compromised, and maybe, just maybe, he'd-

While Takuma had distantly registered that there was a truck hurtling down the road, he hadn't paid it much heed until something smashed into his back with alarming force and he was sent toppling into its path.

Suffice to say, he most definitely noticed the truck then.

(There was pain. Brief, quickly, but so, so, SO MUCH PAIN.)

(Then, there was nothing.)

When Takuma's eyes slowly drifted open, he felt lighter than he had in years, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Clearing his vision, he saw he was standing on the street, at the exact spot he'd been at when… when…

The portly man furrowed his brows, blinking, as he slowly began to process his surroundings. A large truck remained idle in the middle of the street, a dent in its front, and rusty blood splattered all over its bumper. A rotund shape in white chalk was sketched onto the tarmac, the ground stained red around it. Sirens echoed through the air as policemen scurried around, whispering to each other in hushed voices. Takuma looked down, and saw a large chain protruding from his chest. Distantly, he realised his feet looked somewhat transparent.

"Oh." He stated gloomily, finally connecting the dots.

Before he had even a second to process his fate, a cold, callous drawl drifted through the night sky, sending shivers up his spine. "Tch. Finally. I've been waiting for hours."

Whirling around, a jolt of panic ran through the principal. "W-who's there?!"

A figure leant against the handrail, and if Takuma had been scared before, he was now terrified. The man was lanky – tall and slender with a dark leather jumpsuit and what looked like clawed gauntlets covering his hands. A long katana in a black scabbard was sheathed at his waist like he was some sort of twisted samurai, and if someone asked Takuma to describe his features, he'd have no answers. A white, beak-like mask obscured the monster's face, except for his glowing yellow eyes and vicious, predatory grin.

The man straightened up and took a step towards him.

Heart hammering in his chest, Takuma scrambled backwards, tripping over the edge of the sidewalk and landing on the ground in an undignified heap. "W-what do you want from me!? You've already killed me – it's not like I can interfere in your plans anymore!"

Shido's assassin sneered, picking at his, well, claws. Oh god, he has CLAWS. "Please, spare me the blubbering – I've seen babies with more dignity than that. Besides, I'm afraid you're not quite right."

"P-pardon?" Takuma whimpered, crawling backwards as the police remained blind to the scene unfurling before them.

The man shrugged. "Thank the Phantoms for this – three months ago, I would have happily sent you on to the other side. Or at least let you be the Shinigamis' problem. Now though, I'm not the only one meddling with the World of the Dead, and you simply know too much to let live. Or stay dead, I suppose."

Tears and snot dribbled down Takuma's face, and he froze in horror, too scared to even beg for his life as his murderer grew closer and closer.

"If it's any consolation, your fate will lead to the Phantom's downfall, one way or the other." The man laughed, before reaching forward and grabbing the chain trailing from Takuma's chest.

A feeling of deep, indescribable wrongness came over the principal, before the assassin yanked, and tore the chain right out of his chest. Agony exploded through him, radiating through each and every single one of his nerves. The pain was then accompanied by an overwhelming wave of despair, dread, anguish, fear and desperation as the hole in his chest grew and grew. A loud, gargling scream pierced the air, and distantly, Takuma realised it was coming from him.

It was the last thought he had as a human being before something white and viscous leaked out of his mouth.