Chapter 15: Confessions
{R}
There was no order to the lines formed in the hall, other than they were straight, Ann having put herself close to the stage while he, Ryuji and Aki stayed a little farther back. As per usual, the students around him were murmuring about all sorts of things, from idle conversation to gossip to speculations of the reason for the assembly. Many of them thought it was because of Suzui's suicide, not that they cared to remember her name, and just as many thought it was due to their calling card. It seemed the former would be "true" as Principal Kobayakawa said into the podium's microphone about how they should try to not do the same.
Well, was going to say until the gym's doors were slammed opened, startling everyone.
There stood Kamoshida, looking absolutely drained. He seemed to say something before he went up on the stage, standing in front of the Kobayakawa's podium. Now with the acoustics of his location, Ren could hear what he said much clearer.
"I have repeatedly done things that were...unbecoming of a teacher."
Everyone but his sister and friends were confused.
But then Kamoshida went on to say exactly what he had done: physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual harrassment and abuse, and being the reason Suzui committed suicide. Now the conversations were reignited as the students reacted to this. The teacher wasn't done though as he then also admitted to expelling students he didn't like, as well as insulting himself, until he fell to his knees, grovelled and said,
"I will take responsibility and kill myself for it!"
Ren froze.
His heart raced.
Everything became static.
And he readied to dash forth.
But then Ann broke through the fog and said,
"Don't run, you bastard!"
And this time Ren froze in his steps and he looked at the furious girl, along with everyone else.
"Shiho's still alive even after all the things that made her want to die!" she said. "You have no right to run from this!"
And that convinced Kamoshida and, at last, he admitted that Ann had been among the people he had harrassed in return for Suzui's spot on his team. He went on to ask for the police and the teachers around them scrambled to get everyone back to classes.
"Wow..." Ryuji said behind him.
"You can say that again," Aki said.
It was only then did he realize that both him and his sister had been ready to stop Kamoshida from killing himself. Ren took a breath to settle himself and adjusted his fake glasses as the teachers directed students. Of course, he ignored it, along with the rest of the gang, to the point that they were among the last, if not the last, in the gym.
Ann stared at the stage.
He couldn't help but stand beside her and say, "Are you okay, Ann?"
"Oh, yeah, it's just..." she said, glancing at him before returning her gaze at the stage. "I can't believe it. His heart really did change."
Ryuji was similarly somber and said, "But was this really for the best?"
He had a guess why he was unsure. Kamoshida did try to kill himself after all.
But still, he said, "I think so."
Because, as Aki said,
"Not like we had any better ideas."
"Yeah, you're right." Then Ryuji said, "Huh? What the...?"
And Ren turned to see two girl classmates and Mishima walk up to them and...apologize to Ann. Mishima on behalf of the volleyball team ignoring what Kamoshida was doing to her, the girls on behalf of all those making it worse with rumors. To that, Ann just said,
"No, it's okay. The same goes for me too... Besides, that's all in the past now."
A teacher soon found them though and ordered them back to class. The girls left, but Mishima stayed behind with them. Ren wondered why until he said,
"I can't apologize enough for what I did to you two."
"Huh? Us?" Aki said.
"Yeah..."
And then Mishima left, the teacher waiting for hin by one of the gym doors. Unsurprisingly, that same teacher didn't seem to care that he, Aki, Ryuji and Ann weren't coming just yet. But that fact did little to dampen the smile he had at the apologies. He knew it wouldn't be everyone in school but it was still nice to hear at least some were willing to try and apologize to Ann.
"Looks like Kamoshida ain't the only one who had a change of heart," Ryuji said.
Aki chuckled. "You can say that again."
"Man, I'm glad for you," the faux-blonde said to Ann. "Looks like those weird rumors are gonna go away."
"Me too," he said.
"Me three," Aki said.
Ann shook her head, as if deflecting their words, and said, "We made Kamoshida apologize for Shiho... That's more than enough for me."
"You should hurry and tell her about it then," Ryuji said.
"... Yeah."
Ren frowned, worried for her but let her be. He could only imagine how hard it was staying happy when her best friend was comatose. Though he did make sure to ask if she would meet up in the hideout after school to discuss what happened as she was going to see Suzui, her hospital not too far thanks to the subway, and that Ryuji would come too. So with those assurances, he and Aki went up to the roof ahead of them. They were startled to see that it was occupied though.
"Oh I'm sorry," the auburn haired girl said, feeling vaguely familiar. "Did you want to use the roof?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, but..." his sister said. "If you're busy, we can just go."
The girl smiled and shook her head. "It's all right. I just finished what I wanted to do, so I was about to go anyway." She stood and bowed to them then said, "If you'll excuse me."
Aki made a protest, but the girl just left, though not without bumping into Ryuji, whom she apologized to. Their friend was curious and asked about her but they didn't have much to tell. Though glancing at the spot she had squated at, he suspected she was checking the plants on the roof. After that, Ryuji dropped it and instead, while waiting for Ann, started off by saying,
"I totally freaked out. He really did have a change of heart... And we were lucky his mind didn't get messed up either! This was an A plus job!"
"Guess that means mental shutdowns only happen if their Shadows are dead then?" Aki said.
"Yes, it seems to be the case. As long as the Shadow returns to its real self, then the Palace disappearing won't cause a cognitive collapse."
"So we can get 'em to confess with no bad stuff? That works for me!"
"Ryuji!"
While Aki was scolding the blond boy, the door creaked and Ren snapped alert. But upon seeing it was just Ann, he relaxed and smiled.
"Welcome back," he said.
"Hey," she said to him with a small smile. But to Ryuji, "Do you have to be so loud?"
"Hey you two, don't worry about it."
"Of course I'm gonna worry about it!" his sister said.
Wanting to both derail and ignore that, Ren said to Ann, "You're back soon. Is everything all right with Suzui?"
Because he couldn't help but worry something had happened.
But to his shock, Ann said, "She's regained consciousness!"
"Really?!"
"For real?!"
Ren stared.
Suzui was... Suzui was fine. She would recover. She was going to make it.
He didn't fail.
Ann sniffled, close to tears, and then she looked like she fell. Ren stood but it turned out she was just crouching as she said,
"Yeah... It was only for a little bit, but I got to talk to her! I was able to tell her that...Kamoshida admitted to what he did!"
He knew she was mostly fine but...Ren couldn't help but crouch with her and put a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it to soothe her. Her slight tremble left her as she wiped what little tears she allowed to fall. Better composed, she stood up and he did the same. But while she talked, he went to get a seat for her.
"Shiho, she...she told me she was sorry..." she said. "Looks like she found out I was flirting with Kamoshida for her sake... And here I was, wanting to apologize to her."
"Kamoshida's at fault for all of this."
"I know..." Ann said.
It could've been avoided if we had acted sooner though... Ren thought. What he said was,
"I'm glad she woke up." Then he gestured to the chair he put behind Ann. "Here."
"Oh, uh, thanks," she said and took it.
"No problem."
He smiled at Aki's good natured eye roll as he took his place back on top of a vent.
"Yeah, I'm glad too," his sister said. "She'll wake up and get better in no time at this rate."
Whatever joy Ann had left her at that and Ren's worries returned once again. "About that..." she said. "Shiho's mom is thinking of transferring her to another school after she recovers."
He and Aki frowned. He wasn't surprised but...
"Really...?" his sister said for the both of them.
...because it was her best friend planning to leave after all. When that comes through, Ann was likely going to miss her. But as she herself put it:
"Yeah... The whole sexual harrassment and attempted suicide... People will label her after that. Sounded like Shiho had the same idea too."
There was no way she could recover from her experience if she also had to deal with being ostrasized on top of it.
Still, he agreed with Ryuji when he said,
"It's gonna get lonely..."
Yet still Ann said, "But I think it's for the best... I'm sure it'll be hard if she stays here..."
"She's alive. You can see her anytime," Ryuji said in reminder.
"And talk with her through your phone and stuff."
Which was true, but...Ren was still worried for Ann.
Especially when she nodded and he caught her mumbling, "I need to change too..."
He wondered what she meant by that. But then Aki said,
"Well...you got us at least, right? I'm sure the four of us combined can make up for when Suzui's gone. Well, half of her anyway."
"Half...?" Mona said.
"What? Are we really gonna compare us with her best friend?"
"That aside..." Ryuji said before Ren had to redirect the flow. He was actually impressed at that. "I was surprised you could hold back against Kamoshida's Shadow."
"It wasn't like that... I just wanted Kamoshida to apologize himself," Ann said.
Ren thought so, considering what happened in the Palace.
Just like in the Palace, Mona said, "You're so kind, Lady Ann..."
And Ryuji said, "No matter how much of a shitbag he was, finishing him off woulda left a bad aftertaste, huh?"
While Ren agreed with that...
"Huh? That's not it," Ann said. Her expression turned as hard and burning as back in the Palace. "I just think revenge is better served if I make him repent." She glared. "Realizing what he's done, he'll grovel for forgiveness for the rest of his life, you know? I just believe there are fates worse than death."
...he also understood Ann's actual reason for holding back.
And he was fine with it. It was better than the alternative of Kamoshida's death.
He would admit that he did like Ann's determination though.
Ryuji though stared in shock before he looked to him and said, "Holy shit..."
Almost as if he couldn't believe it.
Ren just tilted his head in curiosity. What was so hard to believe?
"A-Anyways, that's all settled..." he said with a slight tremble that amused Ren. "There's one thing I was wonderin' 'bout."
"What's that?"
"Why was Kamoshida the only one to have that whole Metaverse thing?"
As usual, Mona was the one to provide the answer. "He isn't the only one to have a Palace," he said. "It's something that anyone can have if their heart is distorted by their desires."
"Anyone..." Ann said, likely voicing all of their thoughts.
That...was something Ren didn't like that was most likely true.
"Wanna check it out?" Mona said.
Ren shook his head. "No. That wouldn't be for the best."
"Yeah, people are still talkin' 'bout Kamoshida.'
"And I'd very much like to have a break from changin' hearts, thank you very much."
Ren looked to Ann and said, "What about you?"
She shook her head. "No, I don't think I want to either."
"Then again..." Ryuji said. "It's totally impossible for someone to find out what we did in the Palace."
"For once I can say you're not jinxing us with that."
Ren smirked at the chance. "No. Because you're the one doing it instead."
Aki of course glared. "Ha ha, very funny."
"Uh about that..." Ann said.
"Told you."
"Oh shut up."
"Uh...weird rumors about you guys are already going around."
"Oh great," Aki said as she flopped her back on the table. "What stupid thing are they sayin' now? I hope it's something that makes us sound cool at least."
"It's stuff like the three of you getting together and threatening Kamoshida with something close to physical violence."
"The hell?!"
"Oh shit."
Ren sighed. Of course. Though he was glad that at least he knew where that sprung from.
"People aren't going to easily believe phantom thieves exist like that," Ann said. "The calling card's being treated like it was a prank by someone who knew what he was doing."
Aki stared. "Oh," she said. "That's it? Then I guess it's better those rumors are flyin' instead."
"Ugh... Makes sense... I mean, we're the ones who did it and even I still can't believe it."
"Yeah, that was wild, huh?"
"Then we'll wait a bit before we do anything more with the Metaverse?"
Everyone nodded. With that done, they soon discussed on what to do with the medal. After a brief argument between Ryuji and Ann about money the former owed her, Mona's suggested they celebrate their mission and so they decided to spend the money that would be earned from the medal for that. Ann offered to arrange where they would go and they all agreed to it, even though they didn't know where it would be. But like how Ryuji didn't complain since he owed Ann money, Ren didn't object since Ann mentioned it was somewhere she and Suzui had wanted to go to. Once a date was set, that being the fifth of May, they all went their seperate ways and had assigned him and Aki to be the ones to sell the medal. Well, the team wanted to pawn it actually, but he just wanted to outright sell it since he wasn't planning on paying the money from pawning it off back. So he had them agree to selling it.
Not that he minded doing it.
Though he did wish that they had sold it the next day but not long after he and Aki got ready for said day...
"Hey, you can hear me, right?" Sakura-san said. "You don't have plans, do you? Come help me out instead of sleeping your life away."
That led to an annoyed but determined Aki wanting to help, mainly by insisting on doing the coffee. Since their celebration was still two days away then, he decided to go along with it. But as the day went on, he noticed Aki spending a lot of time making coffee, and not just when customers were around. When it wasn't her turn to clean up or do dishes, she was trying her hand at things like temperatures, different ratios of water to coffee beans and the timing of it all, of course with the cheaper beans and all of it written down. And she would either have him or Sakura-san taste it, though mostly the latter since it seemed she wanted critique. Curious at her seriousness, he said,
"Practicing to be a barista?"
Aki looked surprised, as if she forgot he was even there, before she said, "Nah. That ain't it."
"So what is it?"
"Blame Sakura-san," she said with a flat glance at the man.
"Hmm? Sakura-san?"
"It's not my fault you didn't make the coffee to the kid's taste."
That...just made it more confusing. "Who?"
"Oh right. Forgot. Well..."
And so Aki told him what had happened two days ago while he had been exercising with Ryuji. Simply put: she had wanted to make coffee for her new friend, Akechi, the boy that had saved her when they first arrived in Tokyo, and then it spiraled out of control when Akechi not only refused to be honest with her but was also taunted by Sakura-san.
"Really?" he said, though he wasn't surprised.
"What?"
He chuckled and said, "Nothing."
Aki pouted. "That doesn't sound like nothing."
"Your coffee's boiling."
"Gah!"
That distracted his sister as he hoped and he returned to doing the dishes with another chuckle. He hoped Akechi won't get annoyed at all of Aki's taste tests and prayed he would survive them. It was going to be a while until she was satisfied with her results.
(A)
Akira sighed.
Okay, Sakura-san liked that one... That's good. One down. Now I gotta nail the others since I don't know which one Akechi likes...
She was deciding on which of the selection of beans she would practice on next when Sakura-san said,
"Sorry for pressuring you into this."
She rolled her eyes but grinned at him and said, "It's fine. I get to practice anyway."
"Heh. Yeah, I can see that."
Before they could chat though, the news said,
"Onto our next topic... Fall from Grace: the story of a dishonored Olympic medalist."
All three of them focused on the TV as it went on to explain the details, all of which she already knew of. Well, except for the interviews of course, but because those were with students, as soon as that segment was over, Sakura-san said,
"I knew it, this is your school, wasn't it?"
Akira sighed.
While her brother said, "Seems so."
Sakura-san also sighed and whatever good will he had earlier left him as he remimded them to stay out of trouble and worked them even harder, now including cleaning up the entire café instead of just the counter and tabletops. By the time it was over, all Akira wanted to do was lie down, which she very much did when they finished.
"Geez... Cut us some slack..." she said, muffled by her bed.
"He's just worried."
"Well that doesn't come off like he is that way."
Almost as if to show an example of proper worrying, her phone buzzed at the same time Ren's did. Confused, they pulled out their phones and she found it was Mom calling hers. She answered and said,
"Hello?"
"Akira! Are you okay?! Please tell me you're okay?!"
"Agh! Mom! Too loud!"
"Sorry sorry sorry, it's just..."
Akira frowned. "What's wrong?"
"I just saw the news about the abusive teacher. That was Shujin, wasn't it?"
Ah...that explained it.
"Yeah. Saw the uniforms, huh?"
"Akira..." Mom said, her tone foreboding then back to pleading and worried. "Are you fine? Please, I...I..."
"I'm fine, Mom. Really. I wasn't one of the students he hurt."
Well in the real world anyway. But that didn't really count in her head.
Even through the phone, she could hear her mother sigh in relief. "Thank goodness..."
Akira smiled. "Sorry to worry you. Want me to give my phone to Big Bro?"
"Yes please. If he's done with your father of course."
Ren met her gaze and nodded.
"Here Dad, I'm giving the phone to Aki," he said.
"Here Mom. Here's Big Bro," she said.
They switched and as soon as she put it by her ear, her dad said,
"How are you feeling, Akira?"
"Fine. Like I told Mom."
"That's good...but..."
"But...?"
"Can you tell me what happened in your school?"
"Sure Dad."
And so the Akira told him about what happened, though not completely, making sure that Ren could hear her and vice versa so that their stories would match. It wasn't like they could just tell them they had done a very strange yet life threatening method to make Kamoshida confess. That would lead to the consequence of the century. After that, they once again reassured them that she and Ren were fine before they hung up to get ready for bed, Akira smiling the entire time.
As exasperated as she was at their worry, she was glad they called.
{R}
This time, when Sakura-san asked for their help, Ren told him they would be busy for the morning because they wanted to get ready to hang out with their friends tomorrow but could help in the afternoon. With that promise, he just asked them to help him open up shop before letting them go and do as they wished. After he and Aki changed into appropriate clothing, and getting a bag for Mona to stay in, they went downstairs, ready to leave Leblanc.
"Remember to do the dishes," Sakura-san said.
"Yeah yeah, we will," Aki said.
"Don't get cocky with me, kid."
He just said, "Don't worry. We'll do it when we get back."
Just then, the store bell rang and a long haired woman in a business suit walked in.
"Welcome," Sakura-san said when she did.
"Hmm? Am I interrupting something?" she said.
Ren frowned. She seemed familiar...
"Not at all."
With that answered, the woman sat down by the counter. At that point, the news started talking about the subway accident caused by a psychotic breakdown. With what he knew now about the Metaverse, a part of him wondered if that world caused those breakdowns like how Palaces were formed by people with distorted desires.
"Oh, is that the thing everyone's talking about?" Sakura-san said.
To his surprise, the woman said, "Doesn't it make you curious?"
And he couldn't help but listen. He was glad that Aki seemed to think the same since she hadn't complained yet.
"People living normal lives suddenly going mad or deranged out of the blue..." she said. "Not to mention them happening one after another... Could they really be coincidence?"
Ren glanced at Aki to see she shared his worried frown. That...was a plausible possibility, especially since they had done something similar but with different results. Though there was also no proof of that being true either. For all they knew, it could be some strange kind of Shadow causing it.
"Leaving that aside..." Sakura-san said. "What would you like?"
"Hmm... The house blend please."
The man nodded and went to do her order. Since the woman had nothing more to say, he tugged on Aki's sleeve to get her attention before he started walking towards the door.
However...
"Excuse me..." the professional woman said.
"Yeah?" Aki said.
"I think we've met before, haven't we?"
They met?
"Oh yeah!" Aki said, smiling. "You're Akechi's coworker, right?"
But with that, he remembered the encounter in the Shibuya streets. No wonder she felt familiar.
"Yes I am," she said. "I didn't think I would see you again. Are you two part-time workers here?"
"Er, not...exactly..." Sakura-san said.
"Yeah." His sister smirked. "He just forces us to work since he's takin' care of us."
"Watch your mouth, kid..."
Thankfully before it could get worse, the woman then said, "So are you high school students? Where do you attend?"
So he said, "Both of us go to Shujin Academy."
"Oh? Someone I know goes there as well. I've heard that things are rough there right now." Then she said, though it seemed more thinking out loud than actually talking to them, "A teacher named Kamoshida acted like he was a completely different person, supposedly. And it happened 'all of a sudden' one day..."
And Ren did his best to keep his face neutral and polite, covering the apprehension he had over the thought of her figuring it out. It was unlikely, true, but still he said,
"We'll be going now."
And they left just as the woman asked if her drink was done. Ren put any of his worries out of his mind as they made their way to Central Street. However, they resurfaced when just before Untouchables, two men were talking a couple meters away from the door, one of them mentioning a "search warrant". Urgency now fueling his movements, he went inside, put the medal on the counter and told the surly owner he and Aki wanted to sell it. To his relief, after reminding them he didn't take fake or stolen goods, he was willing to buy it for thirty thousand yen. Though it was clear he knew not to ask how they got it. It made all of Ren's worries about the place being shady return, which worsened when he gave them a paper bag that he suggested that they shouldn't open. Had it been any other situation, he would have refused, and told Aki to return the bag that was in her hands, but after buying the medal from them, Ren decided to bury those worries and trust him.
Which only increased once again as the two men from outside came in and were revealed to be detectives by him. Ren had worried for him, not trusting the two men to stop short of doing something drastic, especially when one of them obviously distrusted and egged "Iwai", as the detectives called him. But Iwai took it all with a smug smile, being courteous and cooperative. The less aggressive and more stern of the pair began to doubt his coworker, but he insisted his lead had been legitmate.
Were hoping to arrest a resisting criminal, huh? Ren thought with bitterness.
Almost as if he heard his thoughts and got offended, the vulgar detective turned his sights on them and said,
"Hey you! What's in the bag, huh? Show us!"
"The kid's just a regular ol' customer," Iwai said. "You can check the tapes if that'll convince you. They'll show everything's that gone down today "
Ren chastised himself for staying. If the officers saw that, they would see him and Aki bringing that medal. And he certainly didn't want them still here when they saw it.
"I won't let you go easily! Show us what's in that bag!"
"Yeah, no thanks. But thanks for making it very clear with your shouting though. Might've misheard ya if ya didn't."
Ren nearly snickered.
Iwai most definitely did with that look on his face.
Thankfully the other detective convinced him to leave them alone and they finally got to go. Ren sighed when they made it to the station.
"Well that was something..."
"That's one way of putting it..."
"Hey..." Mona said, popping out for the first time since before the trip. "Aren't you curious about what's inside?"
"Well...yeah, but...if he didn't want us to look, I'd rather check it out when we get back home," his sister said.
He nodded. "I agree."
"Ugh...fine..."
It actually wouldn't be a while until they did that though because, as promised, he and Aki helped Sakura-san with the café when they got back and didn't have much free time until it was after dinner. Which, well, he was glad for because when they opened the bag, Aki shouted.
"What the—mmph?!"
Ren covered her mouth, tensed as he waited to see if Sakura-san heard.
When no middle-aged voice spoke, he relaxed and let go.
"Sorry," Aki said.
"It's fine." And to lighten the mood, he said with a smirk, "I thought you would since you did that when Ryuji brought out my first gun."
His sister glared. "My point still stands: it's very realistic lookin', okay?"
"I agree," the non-feline said, leaning over the bag. "If anything, this is even more realistic than the one Ryuji got. Almost too realistic for just any old model shop..."
Ren frowned. That was true. As much passion there was for plenty of model gun makers, it was still pushing the limits of "legal" with making it look realistic. But...when Ren remembered the attitude of those detectives compared to Iwai's, he couldn't help but want to trust the man. For all he knew, Iwai was very much like them: seen as a criminal when he wasn't.
And it seemed Aki was of the same mind.
"Well just means we got lucky and got a really good model makin' shop. I mean, the more real it looks, the better in the Metaverse, right?"
"Oh yeah! That's right!" The not-cat gasped. "I just had an idea. Why don't we buy this gun from him next time?"
"Uh...but we've been buyin' guns from him already..."
"No, I mean, try to see if we can get more guns like these. That look like real guns instead of obvious tells that they're replicas made with plastic steel."
"Hmm, well he did say he was givin' us a beginner selection..."
Ren sighed. He didn't like where this conversation was going since the items discussed could get them in trouble...but it wasn't as if it was any worse than what they already had. So he was glad his phone rung. He "excused" himself from his sister and Mona's conversation then stood at the corner right of the stairs. When he saw the caller was Ann, he chuckled and smiled before he said,
"Good evening, Ann."
"Oh, uh, hello. Good evening too."
"Any specific reason you called?"
"I saw the news. You know, about Kamoshida," she said. "It's getting a lot of coverage."
It was. Even the lady who was Akechi's coworker knew about it. Though Ren wasn't surprised. He was a former Olympic athlete and a teacher, both prestigious in their own ways. But that wasn't what he was concerned about.
"How do you feel about it?"
Especially since she had left Kamoshida alive for this exact reason: forever shamed for his sin.
But instead of any kind of happiness, he just heard her say,
"I don't know..."
And...he wasn't sure what to say to that.
Ann continued despite his silence. "The reaction's bigger than I expected... I guess I'm just...surprised. But I don't think we did anything wrong though."
Ah, mixed feelings... That made more sense.
"I wonder if we helped those people speak up about it..." she then said.
"I'm sure we did," he said.
"That's pretty amazing, huh? I didn't think we'd actually do it! And yet, look at us now! This calls for a celebration!"
Ren chuckled. "Oh? So we're having two celebrations? I'm not sure we can afford that."
There was a grumble then she said, "You know what I mean!"
Ren covered his mouth before he laughed.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me. Let's meet in front of Shibuya Station at noon tomorrow. Don't be late!"
"We won't."
"And you did sell that medal, right? You didn't forget?"
"No I didn't. Thief's honor."
Ann chuckled on the other end and said, "All right. See you tomorrow!"
"See you tomorrow."
With that, she hung up and Ren went to tell them the schedule. Mona and Aki got excited at the news and so the time as they fell asleep was spent discussing what kind of restaurant it would be.
"As such, when an incident involving a teacher in Shujin Academy, a former Olympian at that, coffessing his crimes happened, it was just one of many scandals that was, at that point, commonplace in Tokyo. There was only one detail that made it stand out from the rest: it was supposedly caused by the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, who had put up several dozen calling cards all over the school's announcement board the week before his confession.