Howdy folks, as you can see, this is a series of one-shots focusing on the individual Phantom Thieves' if their life took a slight turn to the left and they ended up following Akechi's footsteps. These will be canon divergent to varying degrees (Shido won't even turn up in some of them), but will contain canon typical TWs, including violence, abuse, implied/referenced sexual assault, and both major/minor character death.

On the day the Metaverse Navigator appeared on Sakamoto Ryuji's phone, his bastard father hit his mum so hard she bled. He was locked in his room – while his mum wasn't perfect, she was always so, so good at keeping him out of his dad's hands – and could do nothing but sob into his pillow as her screams echoed around the house.

"I hate you. I hate you. I hate you so, so much." He whimpered, snot and tears dribbling down his face. "You're just some jumped-up bastard, not the lord of a goddamn manor!"

The rage and hatred that flowed through Ryuji like wildfire was so great, if his dickhead dad walked into the room at that moment, Ryuji was positive he'd try to rip the asshole's eyes out with his bare hands.

It was at that moment that his phone chimed.

"Beginning navigation…"

…..

Ryuji didn't get the Metaverse all that much. He didn't get Palaces, or the Shadows that lurked within them – for real, why the hell are the random masked monsters and the Palace Rulers both called Shadows? It made no goddamn sense!

What he did get though that in the world beyond his phone, Ryuji was powerful. Lightning crackled in his veins as Captain Kidd rose behind him, smashing the windows of his father's dainty little manor to pieces. By the time he reached his dad's Shadow, and finally pummelled it senseless (finally did what he's been wanting to do for so many fucking years), Ryuji smirked as it pathetically begged him for forgiveness.

Ryuji shot him between the eyes with his toy pistol, and felt nothing but relief when the police rocked up to his house the day after and informed his mum that her husband's body was found that morning. It was deemed an accident – alcohol-induced misadventure, they thought. The son of a bitch certainly drank enough.

When they left, his mum fell to her knees, and a deep, mournful wail cracked from her throat like a funeral dirge. For a split second, Ryuji's stomach twisted. What if he'd fucked up, after all?

Trembling, he walked to his mother's side and engulfed her in a big, enveloping hug. "It's okay, ma. It's all gonna be okay."

…..

And it was. Adjusting to life on a single income was tough, but Ryuji could deal with cheap food and fewer birthday presents. What mattered was that his mum began to thrive. Her bruises faded, and she started leaving the house, a healthy tan to her skin and laugh lines at the corner of her eyes.

The Metaverse helped, too. Just like in the old video games he used to play with Ann and Shiho before they drifted apart, Shadows drop cash when he puts them down. It's easy enough to tell his mum a little white lie, about picking up a part-time job somewhere.

Not to mention, even with his father dead and gone, there are still plenty of shitty adults out there. Criminals, rapists, abusers… Shit-stains who took one look at Ryuji with his single mother, dead father, and poor grades, and thought that made him less than human.

They're scum, the lot of them, and Ryuji was still furious, Captain Kidd's righteous anger guiding him like a compass. So what if the laundromat owner who sneered at him and charged him double the price dropped dead? So what if the creepy gym coach who shouted at the track team and leered at Takamaki fell into a coma? It's good riddance, as far as Ryuji's concerned.

Of course, all good things come to an end. As strong as Ryuji is in the Metaverse, in reality, he was still just a high school kid. When a black sedan rolled up to his side on his way home from school one day, and a group of men in tacky suits with guns at their hips strolled out – real guns, not worn toy pistols their mums gave them when they were eight – he barely lasted a minute before they pulled a bag over his head, and bundled him up into the back of the car.

What Shido Masayoshi wanted with him was simple. He'd seen Ryuji's work and was impressed. His companion, a pale-faced woman called Isshiki who clearly wanted to be there about as much as Ryuji did, had realised something was up with all the so-called mental shutdowns. She'd tracked him down, just like the police could have done if they knew about Cognitive Psience and what it was capable of.

He wanted to make a deal. If Ryuji worked for him, Shido would keep him and his mum safe from the long arm of the law. Oh, it was a bit more complicated than that – Shido ranted and raved about Ryuji being the herald of a glorious new future, blah blah blah, but while Ryuji was no genius, he knew buzzwords when he heard them.

More pressingly, he knew saying no would get both him and his mum killed, and while he could live with dying, he'd never do anything that could harm her.

…..

His mum noticed his subdued mood, but didn't push – only frowned softly as Ryuji slowly stopped turning up to his track meets and bleached his hair. He didn't have time for stupid things like running, schoolwork, and friends between his hits for Shido.

He tried to infiltrate the scumbag's Palace, once. Between Isshiki's research and what Ryuji belatedly realised was his own information about how the Metaverse worked, Shido had transformed what was once a mere ship into something far worse. Somehow, he'd managed to invite the Shadows of his closest friends into his home base, and if they died in real life, Shido would know Ryuji was coming after him in a heartbeat. That had been the end of that venture.

Everything changed at the start of his second year.

A flash storm had arrived, and seeing no choice if he didn't want to get soaked, he ducked under a nearby alcove. He wasn't alone, though. A lanky boy with frizzy hair seemed to have had the same idea. The stranger's grey eyes settled on him, and internally, Ryuji groaned. Great – he was gonna try to talk to him. Look at the bleached hair and vicious scowl, dude! Do I look like I wanna chat with you?

"Hello. You're a Shujin student, right?"

"Uh, yes?" Ryuji raised a brow. Duh?

"Sorry, sorry. Stupid question, I know." The black-haired boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm Amamiya Ren, second year – I just transferred this year. I don't know anyone yet."

Oh, so that's what this was about. The new kid wanted to make some friends, and anyone would do. Still, as annoying as it was, it was not like Amamiya had done anything to justifiably piss him off, and Ryuji was stuck here anyway. He might as well humour the new kid until he met his classmates and made friends with people who weren't contract killers.

"So, who's your homeroom teacher?" Ryuji asked, not actually caring about the answer, as the rain finally came to a stop.

"Kawakami-sensei." Amamiya frowned, following him towards the school. "I met her and Kobayakawa yesterday. Neither of them seemed particularly pleased to have me here."

Ryuji raised a brow in surprise. "Really? Kawakami I get – she thinks everything's a drag – but the principal? I thought he'd be happy bleeding one more family dry."

"Well, let's just say I'm not exactly going to be earning any medals for Shujin's trophy room." Amamiya laughed as they rounded the corner, and Ryuji came to an abrupt halt.

"Kobayakawa, Shujin Academy, Trophy Room. Beginning navigation…"

Oh, motherfucker.

Amamiya's jaw dropped open as Shujin rippled and faded away, the school vanishing in favour of a giant spiralling building with an elaborate wooden façade, which stood forebodingly under a blood-red sky.

Slowly, Ryuji withdrew his phone, immediately exited navigation, and dragged the shell-shocked Amamiya to a quiet alcove the second they re-entered reality.

"Forget that ever happened, okay?!" He hissed, gripping the boy by the lapel. "You didn't see nothin', and certainly not with me! Mention this to anyone and you're finished, got it?!"

Dumbly, Amamiya nodded, and with every hair on the back of his neck bristling, Ryuji dropped him to the floor and stormed away, internally cursing up a storm. He couldn't believe this – if Shido found out he'd dragged a nobody into the Metaverse, he'd be dead.

Amamiya would be dead, too, though Ryuji didn't care quite as much about that.

…..

Two things happened over the next few weeks. Firstly, he found out just why Amamiya had decided befriending the local delinquent was a good idea. He hadn't just transferred to Shujin – he'd been exiled there after getting kicked out of his old school for assault. Ryuji thought it was a load of shit – he'd looked up Amamiya on the Metanav, and had gotten no hits – but the school body had deemed him an even bigger pariah than Ryuji was. The boy had probably seen an obvious punk and assumed that was the best companionship he could get.

The second thing was that one day, a bunch of calling cards were slathered all over Kobayakawa's office by some nutjobs claiming to be Phantom Thieves of Hearts, who would steal his distorted desires.

Like eighty per cent of the student body, Ryuji had thought it was a dumb hoax. Suffice to say, when Kobayakawa had a breakdown in the middle of a school assembly and confessed to rigging academic records in return for monetary donations and good press, along with subtly pressuring 'undesirable' students to enrol elsewhere, he was as stunned as everyone else.

Ryuji wasn't surprised by Kobayakawa's sins – he knew the dude had a Palace, but Ryuji had hardly thought it was worth killing him over some fudged grades. He was surprised though by the fact that these so-called Phantom Thieves had actually made him crack. As he walked to his classroom though, Ryuji shrugged it off – they'd probably just found some really good blackmail on him. Kobayakawa had his fingers in plenty of different pies, after all.

As he walked back to his classroom, absolutely baffled, Ryuji caught sight of a familiar mop of dark hair. Amamiya. He wasn't alone, though. On one side, stood Mishima, the most boring boy in the school, and on the other, well… Amamiya needn't have been worried about his social life, as, for some reason, the world's most smarmy student council president had decided to take him under her wing.

Niijima tittered about something, and Ryuji resisted gagging. She probably thought just he would be a good pet project – if she managed to reform a known criminal, the colleges would certainly eat that up.

As they walked away, as thick as thieves, Ryuji watched them, eyes settled on Amamiya's bag as it began to meow quietly. Then again, maybe she was hanging out with him to get access to his pet cat. God knows how he'd managed to hide that thing from the faculty for this long.

…..

Ryuji didn't figure out that Amamiya absolutely did not keep his head down and mouth shut until the Phantom Thieves targeted Madarame. He hadn't realised the man had even been targeted until he had a public breakdown on national television. When the newscasters announced he'd received a calling card from a group calling themselves the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Ryuji had frozen, horrified.

Once could be dismissed as a mere hoax. Twice, though? Suffice to say, he wasn't at all surprised when he received a furious phone call from Shido ten minutes later.

"Sakamoto, what the hell is this?! Isshiki's just confirmed that several unidentified readings have been detected in Mementos. You know damn well what the price of betrayal is."

"I-it wasn't me, I swear!" The blond yelped, a flicker of dread forming in his stomach.

"Really?" Shido snarled sceptically. "Who else has access to the Metaverse and isn't in our research team?"

The answer came to Ryuji like a clap of lightning. Amamiya. Amamiya was the only person who'd entered the Metaverse who wasn't one of Shido's lackeys. Suddenly, his palling around with Niijima and Mishima made a lot more sense. After all, if any students were going to feel betrayed by Kobayakawa's true nature, it would be his favourite pets.

The absolute fucking cunt! Fury bubbled inside Ryuji. I told him to keep his stupid nose out of things!

"Don't worry sir, I know. And I'm gonna make them pay."

…..

He tried to keep tabs on Amamiya, but it was difficult. The teen was elusive when he wanted to be, which was all of the bloody time. It's not until the Phantom Thieves send their next calling card – to a TV show producer in Shido's pocket – that he finally sees them in the Metaverse.

They waltz straight into the Palace – a sleazy clubhouse set over the TV station – with so much unwarranted confidence, Ryuji wanted to gag. Amamiya was clearly the leader, garbed in a stupid cloak with snazzy red gloves, and was flanked by a woman in leather and spikes that had to be Niijima. There were two more boys – one with a trench coat and a pale visor (Mishima, probably), and the other looked like some weird mashup of a ronin and a furry. While Ryuji hadn't met Kitagawa in the flesh before, he could recognise the boy from Shido's file. Finally, the last thief was a girl with long, brown hair, dressed like some feudal samurai.

"Is everyone ready?" An unfamiliar voice chirped. "We've only got one shot at this, you know!"

Ryuji gawped, rubbing his eyes. While he hadn't noticed the creature first because of its height, at Amamiya's legs was… a strange cat-mascot thing. Ryuji had never seen anything like it – was it a Shadow?

By the time they defeated the producer, taking a clipboard from him the cat-thing proclaimed was a 'Treasure', Ryuji had no answers. Somehow, despite its appearance, it had a Persona. While he was no expert, he was pretty sure Isshiki had said Shadows (even the people ones) couldn't have Personas.

He did have answers about something else though. The Phantom Thieves were weak. Amamiya somehow commanded multiple Shadows, but while it made him crazy versatile, none of them was very impressive on their own. The rest of the Thieves were just as lacklustre, and didn't even have any gimmicks to make up for it.

Still, Ryuji would be an idiot if he didn't admit that their teamwork was excellent. Mona – the cat – played healer, while Queen covered their defences and Fox went on the assault. Emperor – the unidentified girl – could anticipate a Shadow's movements to a tee, and Admin's Persona knocked down his foes with a barrage of spells.

For a moment, he wondered what it would have been like, charging through the Metaverse with a bunch of buddies, taking down villains without a care in the world. An odd emotion formed in his chest, both hopeful and immensely frail.

As he left the Metaverse though, he shoved those thoughts to the side and dialled Shido. Sure, maybe it would have been fun. That hadn't happened though, and Ryuji had a report to make.

…..

It turned out Mona was Amamiya's fucking cat. Ryuji had half a heart attack when he heard the bloody thing speak for the first time.

…..

Shido's Medjed scheme had been genius. The Phantom Thieves had also entirely ignored it so far, opting to target Okumura Kunikazu instead. Shido had been frothing at the mouth and had pulled a monstrous number of strings to get the man sent straight to a psych ward. Ryuji had thought Shido would have asked him to pull the trigger on the Phantom Thieves then and there, but instead, when he called Ryuji to his office, he showed him some grainy CTV footage.

Ryuji gawped the second he noticed the location – he'd recognise Isshiki's labs anywhere.

In front of the building stood a gaggle of teens. Amamiya, Niijima, Mishima, Kitagawa, Togo, and their latest addition, Okumura. Oh, and the bloody cat. They weren't alone. With them was a short girl – perhaps a couple of years their junior – with bleached hair and a defiant expression on her face.

"Well? Will you do it? Will you change mum's heart?" The girl's voice crackled with static.

It was then that Ryuji recognised her, despite the video's shitty resolution – it was Isshiki Futaba, Wakaba's daughter. He'd never met her, but she was the only thing that made Isshiki smile these days.

The Phantom Thieves exchanged a series of glances.

"Isshiki-san is truly a formidable foe." Togo stroked her chin. "Her library is unlike any other Palace we've been to. Sometimes, one must concede with grace."

Niijima frowned. "If we don't have Futaba's help though, how will we deal with Medjed? Sae's trying to hide it, but I know she's worried."

"I think we should do it." Okumura's eyes shone with conviction. "I know what it's like to have a parent with a distorted heart. Being able to save my father meant so much to me – how could I refuse to help someone going through the same thing?"

"We've managed to persevere for this long." Kitagawa did that odd thing where he framed his fingers. "I see no reason to falter now."

"Yeah!" Mishima agreed, pumping a fist.

A confident smirk crossed Amamiya's face, and he looked nothing like the dorky boy Ryuji had met half a year ago. "I say we do it. Isshiki senior isn't the only Cognitive Psientist around here, after all."

Futaba preened at that statement, as the cat popped his head out of Amamiya's bag. "All in favour of changing Isshiki Wakaba's heart, say aye!"

"Aye!"

It was unanimous. Shido switched off the footage.

Ryuji sighed, shoulders slumping. Out of all of Shido's goons, Isshiki was probably his favourite. When she apologized for pushing him too hard, she actually meant it.

"When do you want me to kill her?"

Shido smiled.

…..

Isshiki Wakaba received a calling card from the Phantom Thieves in mid-October, and died two days later of a mental shutdown in the middle of a press conference, seconds away from blowing the whistle. Ryuji didn't even feel sick with relief. He just felt sick.

The Medjed defeat, which had rocketed the Thieves' popularity to ridiculous new heights barely a month ago, was entirely forgotten in the wake of this new controversy. Phantom Thieves Murder Single Mum wasn't a flattering headline, after all.

It was then that he approached them.

The Thieves had hidden away in the student council room, as nobody other than goody-goody two-shoes Niijima would ever want to be spent more than five seconds in its radius. Without further ado, he barged in. Ignoring the cat's yelp, and Niijima and Mishima's protests, he walked to Amamiya's side, hands trembling.

"Y'know, I told you not to fuck with Kobayakawa for a reason." Ryuji hissed, glaring at Amamiya. "We're not the only ones who know about the Metaverse, dumbass!"

"You… you have a Persona, too?" It was Okumura who spoke, and while Ryuji was half-tempted to snap at her, the look of curious wonder in her eyes brought him to a halt.

He was there to make friends with them, after all.

"Yeah." He sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Isshiki found me on one of her Mementos scans one day. We made a deal – I told her about the Metaverse, and she didn't rat me out to anyone else."

If only that was the truth. She'd be alive, and Shido would be six feet underground.

"… Why are you here, Sakamoto?" Amamiya steepled his fingers, grey eyes analytical. "You know what we've been accused of."

Ryuji snorted. Amamiya was harmless – for all his posturing, at his centre he was goop. "I know you didn't do it. There's a reason I made my deal with Isshiki. The folks who funded her research… they're the ones behind the shutdowns. I'd either be another gun for them to use or a loose end. I ain't gonna do that to my mum."

The Thieves exchanged a series of glances. They didn't seem too surprised – Isshiki's Palace displayed all of her most fucked up research for all to see, after all. Mind control, mental shutdowns, forced Persona awakenings… you name it. It wasn't like Shido paid her to do anything nice.

"Do you know the identity of these people?" Niijima rubbed her chin. "If we could change their hearts…"

Ryuji shook his head. "Oh, hell no. I'm here to tell you to leave that shit for the police. They're investigating it already, y'know."

"Is that so?" Amamiya's voice was mild, in a deliberate way that was more cutting than your average knife.

"Look, I know the cops ain't worth shit." Ryuji swallowed. This was the pivotal moment. "But… you can make them so they are, can't ya?" A series of surprised glances landed on Ryuji, as the teen reached into his pocket, and pulled out an old newspaper clipping. "There's this guy, Director of the SIU. He's up to his neck in filth, but he's got a ridiculous amount of sway. If you could get him to do his actual fuckin' job for once, they'll take down whoever offed Isshiki down in a handful of months."

Niijima's eyes widened, skin paling, but she remained silent. Ryuji barely resisted sneering. Of course a suck-up like her would think the police were immune to corruption. She should know better - Amamiya was her friend, after all.

It was Amamiya though who spoke next. "What do you get out of this?"

"I want you to stop fucking around in the Metaverse." Ryuji cut to the point. "It's not a goddamn toy. After we change the Director's heart, this all comes to an end."

"We?" Mishima furrowed his brow. "Y-you're coming with us?"

Ryuji rolled his eyes. "Uh, no shit…? I'm not gonna ask you to do somethin' without helping out."

Amamiya and Niijima exchanged a glance before Niijima asked him to give them some time to discuss it as a group. Ryuji waited for about five minutes before Mishima opened the door and cleared his throat, telling him to come back in.

The Phantom Thieves had accepted his proposition.

…..

Working alongside the Phantom Thieves was weird. While he knew they moved like an oiled machine, it was entirely different being a part of it than it was merely observing from afar. They ducked behind the cardboard cut-outs and childish curtains that hung over the wooden stages – the Director's Palace was a puppet show, of all bloody things – and either avoided or ambushed Shadows like it was an art form.

While Ryuji still hit harder than most of them, even when using only a fraction of his power, Morgana healed him when he got hurt Niijima bolstered his defences when weakened, and Mishima sapped the strength of their foes so they could barely scratch them. Between the two of them, Togo and Amamiya seemingly knew every Shadows' weakness, and when they ran up against any that would resist his thunder attacks, they'd send him to the reserves where Futaba (it hurt too much to call her Isshiki) would use her weird Persona to slowly restore his energy.

Between the lot of them, they could explore twice the distance he could in the same amount of time, and when Ryuji left the Metaverse, his muscles didn't scream and his brain didn't feel like goop. Instead, he was mildly tired at worst. He'd never realised exploring the Metaverse could be so easy.

That was not what made him feel so utterly jealous of the Thieves, however. As Kitagawa made some dreadful pun and Futaba fired back a snarky reply, a light shining in her eye despite the dark rings under them, and the other Phantom Thieves tittered and laughed, something deep and dark lurched inside him. No, what made Ryuji jealous was not their abilities, but their friendship. The playful banter they shared, the concern they'd show one another when things were rough… they loved each other so easily and unashamedly, and it shone through their every action.

To make matters worse, Ryuji found that he liked them too. Under her prissy exterior, it turned out Niijima was a motorbike enthusiast and had been spying on the police the whole bloody time – so much for being a bootlicker. Mishima was still the blandest person imaginable, but he was so whole-heartedly excited about everything, it was hard not to feel the same way. Kitagawa was weird, fundamentally weird, but when Ryuji heard the stories about Madarame and his poverty, he found himself relating. Togo was beautiful and graceful, but was a closet gamer girl and even more of a chuunibyou than Futaba was. Okumura was the polar opposite of her father, leaking kindness from every pore and happily using her privilege to help people instead of hoarding her riches. Futaba… she was brittle and frail, with a deep sadness that hung around her like a shroud, but still, she marched on. She was whip-smart and her dry quips were like Isshiki through and through.

Amamiya, though? He was something else entirely. Ryuji had been half convinced that his suave smiles and ridiculous showboating would drive him nuts, but there was a cheekiness to his actions, making him seem enthusiastic instead of arrogant. Outside the Metaverse, he was a lot quieter, but showed his heart in different ways. He sent him funny memes, along with unflattering pictures of Morgana, which despite everything, always managed to get a chuckle out of Ryuji. He took him to get ramen, talked gym with him, and more importantly just… listened. It was almost as if Ryuji could say anything to him, and he could somehow tell exactly what he needed to hear.

(Ryuji would admit the cat just got on his nerves, however).

…..

None of that stopped Ryuji from executing his plan though, as while he liked the Phantom Thieves, he loved his mother.

Throughout the entire battle against the Director, Ryuji felt slightly sick, and it wasn't because of the giant, hand-like monster he'd turned into. When the man finally fell, Kitagawa fetching the treasure as a stern Niijima told the Director to polish up his act, Ryuji's queasiness had turned into full-on nausea. That was when Futaba announced it – a swarm of enemies, gathering by the Palace entrance. Amamiya, just like Ryuji knew he would, offered himself up as bait.

As Ryuji returned home that night, he hugged his mother and went straight to the bathroom where he finally lost his lunch.

Twelve hours later, reports of Amamiya's murder-suicide in custody hits the news, just like Shido planned. Ryuji opened up the Phantom Thieves group chat, scrolled past the incredulous messages that steadily grew more panicked, and typed two words.

I'm sorry.

He never opened the chat again.

…..

Ryuji didn't realise Shido's pet cops had fucked up until he received a phone call from the politician, telling him to kill four particular individuals – four of the five guardians he had installed in his Palace. At first, Ryuji couldn't believe him – it was too good to be true. All he'd need to do is take out the cleaner, and Shido would be left wide open.

It was then that he started thinking about why though. Why would Shido remove the safeguards to his Palace… unless they'd already been compromised?

"Shit!" Ryuji cussed up a storm. He had been so, so confident the other Phantom Thieves would drop things after Amamiya's death, given how shaky their resolve had been after Isshiki. He should have guessed that they'd be out for revenge after one of their own had been killed.

Racing through Shido's cruiser, Ryuji went straight towards the engine room, his fears confirmed when the roar of combat echoed around the metal hull. Sneaking across the scaffolding, he waited, until the sounds of battle faded, and a gaggle of teens strode out of the cleaner's office.

"Good job, everyone. Let's secure our path to the Treasure, and send the calling card."

Ryuji did a double take, but it was unmistakable. At the Phantoms lead was Amamiya.

Still, that didn't matter, not really. Ryuji shoved his confusion to the side, as his stomach lurched at the implications of his words. If Amamiya was fine, and they sent that calling card, Shido would blame Ryuji. And if Ryuji got into trouble, so would his mum.

He leapt down, cutting them off. "Sorry, but that ain't gonna happen."

Amamiya sighed. "You've seen this place, Skull. There's nothing to be gained by sticking to Shido's side."

An incredulous laugh burst from Ryuji's throat. "Gained…? I'm ain't gaining shit from this, Joker! D'you think I'd be here if I had a choice?!"

It then all spilled out. The power he gained to punish shitty adults. How Isshiki found him and served him on a silver platter to Shido. The mental shutdowns he inflicted across the country. How he used them all along, to boost Shido's popularity and all but guarantee his election victory.

As he finished his spiel, Ryuji panted, a maelstrom of rage bubbling within him. Watching the Phantoms, he expected to see hatred in their eyes, for them to look at him with revulsion like he was a feral beast that needed to be put down. Instead, their expressions were blank.

"Yeah, no shit." Futaba mumbled, breaking the silence.

… Hold on, what?

Niijima pursed her lips. "Well… it was somewhat obvious, wasn't it?"

"When Mona told me about what could happen if a change of heart was messed up, it was easy enough to put two-and-two together." Amamiya shrugged, fiddling with his knife.

Ryuji rubbed his eyes. "Wait a minute… you're sayin' you knew what I was doin' since Kobayakawa's Palace?!"

A chorus of nods greeted him.

"Then why the fuck did you let me join your team?!" Ryuji threw his hands up into the air.

It was Togo who responded, in the end. They'd done it because it was strategic. They knew Ryuji was nothing but a pawn, and found their uneasy team-up a perfect opportunity to milk him for all the information they could. They'd bugged his phone the second they started the heist, and had known about Amamiya's planned death for half the bloody infiltration.

"How the hell did you pull that one off, anyway?" Ryuji scowled. "Shido's thugs are stupid, but not couldn't-shoot-a-drugged-up prisoner stupid!"

"My sister." Niijima replied. "She's a prosecutor working for the SIU."

It had been easy enough for them to make sure she was the one to interrogate Amamiya – all they needed to do was send the Director the audio files from a phone call Shido made to Ryuji about his plans for the man, and he was willing to everything the Phantom Thieves asked, calling card or not. She then went on about this nonsense about her sister's Palace, Cognitions, and remote Metaverse entry, but Ryuji was hardly paying any attention at this stage.

For the entire fucking time, they'd just been looking down on him. They were just like everyone else – the teachers that sneered at him because he couldn't pay attention, the adults that looked down at him because he was a little too loud, or a little too bold.

And he was fucking sick of it.

"I won't let you get away with mockin' me, goddammit!" Ryuji roared. "Persona, Seiten Taisei!"

…..

Despite everything, Ryuji could still crush each of the Phantom Thieves in one-on-one combat. That didn't matter though, because they were a team. While the bursts of thunder Ryuji threw around made it impossible for Morgana to stay on the field, Niijima could handle healing, as Kitagawa and Togo went on the offence, Amamiya filling in any gaps he could.

In the end, Ryuji fell to one knee. While the anger that had fuelled him every day for several years still burned within him, he wasn't that much of a sore loser and knew when he was beaten.

"… Fine. You win." Ryuji croaked, the world swaying around him.

In the end, it wasn't enough. The only thing he wanted, really wanted, was to keep his mum happy and safe. And now, she'd find out her son was a killer if Shido didn't get to her first. It would ruin her. A laugh bubbled out of his throat, which quickly turned into a sob. It was over. It was all over.

Footsteps echoed across the engine room hall, and when Ryuji looked up, he saw Amamiya offering him a red-gloved hand.

"Join us. You want to talk to take Shido down too, don't you?"

"… What?" Ryuji croaked. "Dude, are you for real? I just tried to kill you!" He gestured wildly, before looking at Futaba. "I killed your mum!"

"I know." She swallowed but refused to look away. "And I'll never forgive you for that. But… you did it to protect yours, didn't you? I guess… I can understand that."

Amamiya gave him a curt nod. "You're a victim here too, Skull. You deserve to take Shido down just like the rest of us. You don't have to worry about your mother – we can all help keep her safe until Shido has his change of heart."

Ryuji reached up but froze as the sound of a shotgun being reloaded echoed through the air. He could do nothing but gape as out of the shadows, a different Ryuji emerged. It took him half a second to realise what it was, and when he did, his blood ran cold. It was Shido's final defence – him.

A maniacal grin crossed the Cognition's face as he pointed his shotgun at his real self's head. "Nothin' personal, but it's the Captain's orders. He ain't got no need for losers."

As a series of Shadows coated in sickly red energy burst into existence around them, Ryuji knew exactly what he needed to do. Reaching forward, he pushed Amamiya out of the way, sending the Phantom Thief staggering back. As the Cognition's pellets punctured his abdomen, and the rusty taste of blood rose to the back of Ryuji's throat, he fired at his doppelganger, sending it reeling. Finally, he pointed his shotgun at the bulkhead's control panel and fired.

Alarms blared as a monotonous announcement echoed through the engine room, accompanied by a mechanical whir, as the bulkhead's partition wall slammed shut behind him. Dark spots entered the teen's vision as teens vision as he rested his back against the refreshingly cool metal, and ignored the thumps and screams of the Phantom Thieves behind him, separated from both Ryuji and the army of Shadows his Cognitive version had summoned.

"Get out of here!" He snarled, before coughing up a mouthful of blood. "Promise me… promise me that you'll change Shido's heart. Make sure that bastard doesn't trample on anyone else!"

After an age, Amamiya's wobbly reply reached him. "… I promise."

"Good." Ryuji grinned, closing his eyes for just a moment, as the Shadows slowly advanced. "Just… one more thing. Keep an eye on my mum, will you? Don't… don't let her know about this. I don't want her to…"

"Don't worry. We won't tell her."

At Amamiya's firm reply, for the first time in years, Ryuji felt the bubbling rage under his skin beginning to settle, as the first Shadow's fangs sunk into his shoulder.

…..

Sakamoto Ryuji's funeral was a peaceful affair. The air was cold and brisk, typical of a late December morning, but the sun shone down brightly as Ren approached the funeral home. He thought Ryuji would have preferred it that way – underneath his surliness, there had been a light within the boy, which had leaked out on the rare occasions he let down his guard.

The scent of flowers permeated the air – one day, Haru would tell Ren that she'd called in a favour with a florist who'd been booked for her cancelled engagement – and small talk echoed in the auditorium as the guests offered their condolences to Ryuji's family. Well, what was left of it, anyway.

While Futaba had declined Akira's offer to attend – considering what Ryuji had done to her, he wasn't surprised – he wasn't the only Phantom who'd decided to attend. He recognised Haru's curly hair instantly, and Yuuki stood at her side, head bowed respectfully towards a photo frame that showed a picture of Ryuji's face, the teen's expression permanently frozen in a boyish grin.

They weren't the only Shujin students in attendance, either. Takamaki hugged Suzui, tears spilling from the blonde's eyes as she leaned into her friend for comfort. Ren also saw a gaggle of boys, each of them looking vaguely unsure of themselves. Judging by their athletic builds, they were probably the track team. Ryuji mentioned he'd been a member, for a while. Before Shido had ruined his life.

A pang entered Ren's stomach, and he closed his eyes, giving his prayers. I hope you can see this, Ryuji, wherever you are. Even though you spent so much time pushing others away… so many people cared for you, in the end.

Ren wasn't here for the students though, and truthfully, he wasn't here for Ryuji either. He was here to fulfil a promise. Striding to the front of the auditorium, almost directly towards the plinth at the front of the room, Ren approached a woman standing by herself. She was older than most of the guests, and despite her charcoal black hair, he could see fragments of Ryuji in the shape of her face and the colour of her eyes.

"Sakamoto-san." He bowed, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. "Amamiya Ren, at your service. I wanted to give my condolences for your loss."

Despite the grief in her tear-dulled eyes, she gave him a wry smile. "Amamiya…? Ryuji mentioned you. You got ramen with him one day, right?"

He blinked, eyes widening. He didn't think Ryuji would have bothered mentioning that to his mother. (He still had the bowl they were given resting on his shelf. He wasn't sure what to do with it).

"Uh, yeah."

"Thank you. Thank you for being his friend." She turned back to face the smiling portrait of her son. "He always seemed so lonely, especially near the end. I'm happy he at least had some company before he…"

As her voice trailed off, the scent of blood and blaring alarms echoed in Ren's mind, as flashes of that awful day in the bottom of Shido's Palace filled his vision. He was snapped back to reality as she sobbed – an awful, broken noise. For a second, Ren floundered, before deciding to hell with propriety, and embraced her in a hug.

"If there's anything me and my friends can do to help, just… let us know." He patted her back as she cried into his arms. "He loved you so, so much."