"So, this was back in Kamoshida's Palace, right?" Futaba asked, requesting context for the final time.
"Yeah," Ryuji replied, a little sheepishly. "We saw some a' Kamoshida's prisoners our first time there, an' I recognised 'em as members of the volleyball team. I wanted to go back in an' try'n help 'em, y'know?"
"Weren't those just cognitive doubles?" Makoto asked, her tone soft, clearly intended to make clear that she was not accusing Ryuji of stupidity.
"I stayed behind in the Palace the first time," Morgana clarified. "I didn't explain the concept of cognitive doubles until later on. I was... a little too eager to get away from the dungeons after being trapped in there for so long. So, they didn't know about doubles until they came back and I filled them in."
"I see."
"So you went back in to find those prisoners again," Ann said, getting the group back on-topic.
"Yeah. My head was all screwy the first time from bein' bashed in the head an' almost dyin' an'... well, everythin' about the Metaverse..."
"Yeah, I think we can all relate." Everyone nodded to affirm Ann's claim.
"But I was able to figure out who those guys were the second time. They were bein' tortured with shit like a treadmill with a spiky crusher at the end, or a cannon shootin' out volleyballs at hangin' players."
"That's awful!" Makoto gasped.
"And it's not difficult to imagine what the real world equivalents of those activities were," Ren replied darkly.
"S-So, you saw those players being tortured and tried to save them?" Haru asked, trying to move quickly along from that grim thought.
"I explained cognitive doubles when we arrived in the Training Hall of Love," Morgana explained.
"'Training Hall of Love'?" Futaba repeated, clearly disturbed by the implications.
"That's what the sign over the door said," Ryuji replied.
"Really makes you wonder if on some twisted level," Ren again spoke darkly, "Kamoshida really did think he was doing them a favour."
"Then, you stayed to memorise their faces, perhaps?" Yusuke suggested.
"And that's why you were going around to all the injured volleyball players during the rally the next day," Ann concluded.
"Yeah, but it ain't like that went anywhere."
"I wouldn't say that. You guys were super suspicious while you were doing that. And that's what made me start paying attention to what you were doing. I probably wouldn't have followed you after what happened with Shiho if I didn't think you were gonna murder Kamoshida."
"And maybe we would have if not for you."
"What's with you and all these ominous comments?" Futaba finally asked.
"Kamoshida just has a way of bringing out the worst in people, I guess."
"Had," Ann corrected. "We got the bastard. And he's never going to hurt anyone ever again."
"Not that that's gonna make this video hurt any less," Ryuji spoke as darkly as Ren.
"Uh, yeah, so anyway," Futaba said, trying to regain control of the conversation. "You guys left the dungeon and... what, got cornered on your way out of the Palace?"
"Exactly," Morgana affirmed. "Kamoshida and his goons showed up. He tried to turn Ren against Ryuji by revealing his past with the track team. A warped version, of course. He called Ryuji a 'track traitor'."
"The same mindset he instilled into the track team themselves," Ren commented, recalling how Takeishi and the others had treated his friend after the fact.
"Alright, enough distractions!" Futaba declared. "Kamoshida was a dick, but he's done now. Let the final awakening be revealed!" With that, she pressed the button and returned to her seat beside the video's subject.
When the video began, Ren and Morgana were already prone on the ground from the beating they'd taken from the Bicorn trio. Kamoshida's Shadow held Morgana down with one foot-
"I'll kill him!" Futaba declared, despite her previous declaration.
-and one of his golden knights did the same to Ren. But despite this, Kamoshida's attention was exclusively on the powerless Ryuji, on his knees off to the side, having been unable to contribute as his two friends were beaten by the enemy.
"I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this, isn't that right?" the Shadow taunted. Ryuji refuted the accusation, but Kamoshida ignored him. His ranting continued, but one thing he said in particular stood out to the group: "Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?" It brought to mind Ren's earlier conjecture about Kamoshida's view on the abuse. Given a Shadow's nature to only speak truth, his wording really did make it seem like this was the case.
When Ryuji refuted the Shadow's assertion of 'kindness', Kamoshida all but admitted to having intentionally destroyed the track team by breaking Ryuji's leg, all out of petty vindictiveness. While the latter four members had heard most of the relevant details about the Kamoshida case, much of the circumstances surrounding Ryuji's broken leg had been kept between only the four founders. Even now, so many months removed from defeating Kamoshida, no matter how much Ren and Ann tried to shake him out of this mindset, it remained Ryuji's secret shame.
Of course, none of Ryuji's friends would ever judge him for lashing out at Kamoshida - least of all his fellow founders. Even having never met the man, even Futaba and Yusuke were visibly disgusted by the despicable egomaniac they had watched parade around in his underwear across three logs now. It was doubtful that any of them, even gentle Haru or the composed Makoto, would be able to last more than a minute in a room with the man without him losing a few teeth.
Kamoshida flaunted his influence, assuring Ryuji that the school would declare further assault against the blond boy another case of 'self-defence'. Ryuji, understandably fell into despair, and it broke the hearts of his friends. Even the usually combative Morgana made his way over to Ryuji's side and placed a paw on his thigh, reassuringly.
Fortunately, as was so often the case with such situations, Ren was there, both in the past and the present, to see his friend through it. Ren wrapped an arm around his best friend's shoulder, as his past self called for Ryuji not to let Kamoshida win - to stand up for himself.
"...You're right," Ryuji said with a newfound determination in both his voice and his eyes. "Everything that was important to me was taken by him... I'll never get 'em back."
Watching back now, Ren wondered if Kamoshida was growing just a little concerned by Ryuji's growing determination. It didn't show on his face or in his voice, but he commanded Ryuji to stay where he was and watch. At the time, Ren had felt that Kamoshida was flaunting his power and his victory, but now he wasn't so sure.
"Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you," Kamoshida taunted, potentially trying to regain control of the situation by demoralising Ryuji.
But it was no use.
"No... That's what you are! All you think about is using people... You're the real scumbag, Kamoshida!"
While Kamoshida was enraged by Ryuji's declaration, impotently commanding his guards to silence him, Ann and Joker found themselves cheering enthusiastically at Ryuji's declaration, surprising their friends, themselves, and especially Ryuji himself.
"Stop lookin' down on me, WITH THAT STUPID SMILE ON YOUR FACE!"
The utter jubilation of watching Ryuji overcome his fear and put his abuser in his place filled the room as the others joined in on the cheering. It almost distracted them from Ryuji's actual awakening. His was the most visceral of the seven thus far, save for Ren's. It was almost as if each one suffered more so that the next in line would have an easier time. At least, Ann thought so. She also thought he looked indescribably cool as the powerful wind summoned by his mask coming off stopped one of Kamoshida's knights for executing Ren on the spot.
Neither Futaba nor Haru had ever seen Captain Kidd, the skeleton pirate riding atop a small ship. Futaba found herself suddenly wanting to binge that one anime about pirates. Haru marvelled at how perfect a choice for Ryuji his initial persona was, somewhat lamenting that his current one didn't fit quite as well.
The group's cheering continued on as Ryuji used his new power to beat down the guards that had so brazenly threatened his friends. It got to the point that Sojiro had to come up and ask them to keep it down, as they had apparently given some of his older regulars quite a fright.
As the video ended, the now much quieter group silently reflected on the events depicted therein.
"So, uh, that's how it all went down," Ryuji said nervously. He wasn't sure what exactly he was so nervous about, but he certainly felt it.
"You were very cool, Ryuji-kun," Haru praised with a soft smile.
"Seconded!" Futaba exclaimed, her hand shooting into the air.
"I daresay we're all in agreement," Yusuke declared.
"Most definitely," Makoto assessed.
"Saved my life," Ren asserted. "Not for the last time, either."
"Naw, I ain't all that," Ryuji responded, waving Ren's assertion off. "If anythin', I was just payin' back the favour. I mean, we just saw you save my ass, like, a couple hours ago."
"Should I start a list? Let's see, there's that Palace, stopping the taxi to save Makoto-"
"N-No, that was just me bein'... y'know, reckless."
"I can't exactly speak on the others' behalves," Makoto interrupted, "but I'm in no real position to criticise you for your... overenthusiasm; especially when the only reason I learned you guys were the Phantom Thieves was because of that enthusiasm. If not for that, who knows when or if I'd have found out? Maybe Kaneshiro would have victimised a lot more people before he was stopped - if he was at all. Including me. And then there's Sis; would I have been able to help her change without being part of the team? I'm thankful to you, Ryuji. More than I can ever put into words."
"C-C'mon, Makoto..."
"No, I agree," Ann asserted. "I've already told you how much your intervention meant to me. And even if you didn't have any sort of 'major moment' in the other Palaces, you've still helped all of us just by being part of the team. And you helped me with working out, which I can't not appreciate. You're awesome, Ryuji. Even if we don't always admit it."
"I don't-"
"As your leader, I order you to accept it."
"Oh, you're pullin' that card?"
"Which card? The joker?" Haru actually had a deck of cards, including a joker, ready to go alongside her response.
"You got the Queen of Hearts in there?" Futaba joked.
"I do!" Haru answered proudly, pulling the exact card and holding it up alongside the other.
"Boy, we're really going off on tangents today, aren't we?" Makoto sighed.
"I think that is proof that the weight of our pasts has been lifted," Yusuke proposed.
"Yes," Makoto smiled. "I think you're right. And these recording could be very useful going forward: recapping past cases to help inspire us in keyword searches, or with devising new tactics or training regimens..."
"Or just having fun watching us kick the bad guys' butts again," Ann said with a grin. "Tell me you don't wanna see Kaneshiro get squashed by this own piggy bank again."
Makoto chuckled. "True. There's fun and reflection to be had in equal measure here. Promotheus really is amazing, isn't it?"
"Only because its user is so amazing," Morgana said without a shred of shame or reluctance.
"Yes. Yeeess! Praise me more!"
After that, the group got into random smaller discussions for a while, until Sojiro came up to let them know he was closing the shop. It had gotten rather late, and they had school the following morning. The group headed downstairs and stood outside the café to say their goodbyes.
"Thank you for today, Futaba," said Makoto. "Despite the few missteps, this has been an enlightening experience."
"It really helps put how great we all are into perspective," Ann added.
"Indeed," Yusuke concurred. "I have found much inspiration for my art in these inspiring scenes of rebellion."
"You got a lot out of it too, yeah?" Ryuji asked the redhead.
"Uh-huh!" she enthused in retort. "I got to show Sojiro how badass I am, and how much more my friends did for me than he realised. Can't ask for a better result."
"It really was an eye-opening experience," Haru said with equal enthusiasm. "Finally getting to see everyone's big moments of rebellion, and to share more of myself with you all... It feels like we're all closer together than ever before."
"And now we're ready to show Shido's Shadow what we're made of," Ren declared.
"That's right," Morgana concurred. "When do you want to finish this, Joker?"
"Tomorrow. That's good with everyone else, right?"
"Of course."
"Ya need ta ask?"
"Totally."
"Indeed."
"Ready when you are."
"He's goin' down!"
"He'll pay for what he did to you, Ren-kun."
"What he did, huh? In a way, we can think of reforming him, not as revenge, but as thanking him for setting me up to meet the best friends I could ever have asked for."
The bashful seven smiled in agreement.
"Alright. Tomorrow, we're ending this. The final mission of the Phantom Thieves."
"It's sad to think it's the last," Haru said with contradictory hopefulness. "But as the culmination of everything we've done, from Ren-kun's awakening down in that dungeon..."
"There couldn't be a more fitting end," Yusuke continued.
"For you, for us, and for everyone," Makoto said, extending her hand.
"Let's kick his ass!" Ryuji exclaimed, being the first to put his hand over the analyst's; followed soon after by the others doing the same.
"And let's do it stylishly!" Ann added. "That won't be a problem for you, will it, Joker?"
"Heh. What are you saying, Lady Ann?" Morgana said smugly as Ren held him up to join the hand pile. "I've known there was something special about this guy since day one. My intuition is rarely wrong. He's gonna make this both big and stylish. Right, Joker?"
"Damn right."
"Confident Joker always makes me wanna do my best," said Futaba. "We have to make this so big and flashy that no one will be able to deny our justice anymore. And I've got just the plan for it. Mwehehehe..."
"I'll be counting on you, Oracle. And you too, Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Noir, Mona. After today, there's not a doubt in my mind that we have what it takes to save this country. Let's do this."
"YEAH!" the group cried out as they lifted their hands in the air as one, unified by their experiences, their goals, and their confidence in their ability to put an end to this conspiracy and save Japan from the corrupt adults seeking to abuse their power over the innocent and the vulnerable.
"You've got this," Sojiro agreed. "But go home. You'll disturb the neighbours."
So... this part took a while, eh?
Honestly, I didn't have much of an angle to come at this from, since most of what needed saying about Ryuji already had been in prior chapters. I'm not entirely satisfied with this one as the final chapter. If I was planning it again, I'd probably move him to between Haru and Makoto to let Sae be last. Still, I'm overall satisfied with the end result, and I think I managed to end the story in a poignant manner to give the whole thing purpose.
As for why it took a full year for this one to get written... I tended to forget about the story, and get side-tracked with other projects. It was so long ago that I was considering turning this into a visual novel once "The Lovers' Awakening" concluded, but I've got other stories I'd rather do that with now. Maybe some day. I hope the wait didn't sour anyone on the story or the chapter.