I forgot Author's Notes last chapter because I'm literally out of practice. I'm going to alter perspective here and there so this chapter is from Makoto's POV. I got a burst of inspiration and just felt like I had to write. Its going to be more of an info dump in the beginning but we'll get through it together!

Thank you very much UltimateCCC for reviewing. Thank you so much to those who faved and followed as well.

I need feedback! I don't know what I'm doing! HALP! Doesn't matter if it's cruel or kind. I just want to get better.

Chapter 2

Makoto ran through Kichijoji as fast as she could, her eyes stinging with tears. She could faintly hear the voice of Ren behind her, but he was the last person she wanted to speak to.

I don't know why I thought he would be different. He's the delinquent transfer student, of course he would be capable of this.

During the past week Makoto was trailing Ren Amamiya, she found herself with more questions than answers. He didn't really have a set schedule. His days were always different. Some days he would be socializing with his friends Ryuji Sakamoto and Ann Takamaki. Some days he would be going for a counseling session with Dr. Maruki or working at Ore no Beko. She even saw him assist Toranosuke Yoshida with his campaign, which she admittedly found very impressive that he took such an active interest in politics. He also studied prodigiously and it was reflected in his class rank. Being in the top 10 was no small accomplishment.

He seemed normal, even admirable. It didn't make sense with his record. She started to wonder if this was a case where the justice system had successfully rehabilitated a troubled youth. A more dangerous thought had her question whether the charge was even justified. Makoto could hear in her mind Sae talk about Japan's 99% conviction rate and how prosecutors were incredibly risk-averse about the cases they brought to trial whenever this subversive thought entered her mind.. But something still nagged at her.

In her weaker moments, she would see him socialize with others and her heart would ache. She imagined hanging out with others the way Ren did. As she got to know him, she started having stranger fantasies of actually hanging out with Ren and his friends. They seemed happy. Something she could not say for herself.

But then he did what everyone else did. He was cruel. He used her weaknesses against her. He mocked her.

During her time investigating the possibility of the Phantom Thieves being students at Shujin Academy, she checked out multiple detective novels. While it was wildly inappropriate for Prinicipal Kobayakawa to request she conduct an investigation on her fellow students, she knew she had a duty to her sister to do the best she possibly could. If that meant she had to study how to be a detective like she studied every other subject, so be it.

Besides, detective novels were thrilling reads. She developed a bit of an obsession with Sherlock Holmes and one quote in particular: When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

Ren Amamiya is a delinquent. He hurt me. All this Phantom Thieves horseplay started when he got here. He made an enemy of Kamoshida right before Kamoshida's change of heart. He has been seen in the company of Madarame's pupil before Madarame's change of heart as well.

Makoto blinked several times to clear the remaining tears from her eyes. She looked around and realized she had unknowingly ran over to the information desk. She took a few moments to observe the people walking around Kichijoji. Young couples holding hands walking to Harmony Alley, families walking to the local shrine to pray, teenagers her age walking to Penguin Sniper. The brunette felt a familiar ache in her chest and noticed that Kichijoji suddenly felt vast and isolating. Even though she knew better, she turned to a small fantasy.

She saw a group of teenagers and imagined herself on the end of the group, chatting and laughing. She saw a young couple and imagined herself holding her lover's hand tenderly on their way to dinner. Her eyes scanned for another group of people when she saw a fast-moving figure out of the corner of her eye. A young man with unruly black hair…

and glasses…

walking very quickly….

towards her.

Red eyes met gray, and Makoto fished for her cell phone and started looking up train lines from Kichijoji.

Oh God please no. Just leave me alone.

"Niijima-san," Ren huffed out. He sounded winded.

"Amamiya. Don't worry, I'm heading home now. Go have fun with Sakamoto-kun." Makoto's eyes didn't leave her phone.

"I'm so sorry, Niijima-san. What I did to you was wrong and I hurt you deeply. While I have no right to ask for forgiveness, I hope you understand how remorseful I am."

He sounds….genuine?

Makoto did not have much recent experience with sincere apologies. Most students whispered rumors about her and when a particularly heinous one reached the staff and the student was forced to apologize, it was perfunctory at best. Sae had not done a real apology since their father died. Her mind was consumed with trying to keep a roof over their head and Makoto's feelings were occasionally collateral damage. She struggled to remember the last one.

However, she knew the last person who genuinely apologized to her did not do dogeza near the information desk in Kichijoji.

The student council president's jaw dropped open as her eyes finally moved over to Ren. She saw the delinquent transfer student lay on his hands and knees in front of her, in complete apology. People were rubbernecking as they passed by and some whispers of a lover's spat or more scandalously, infidelity, passed their lips. Makoto would have been embarrassed by this if her mind wasn't racing right now.

Ren looked up and saw her confused face. He brought his head back down and gave context. "I'm sorry for scaring you earlier. I was unsettled by you following Ryuji and me and wanted you to stop. I should have just asked you. I went way over the line by doing what I did."

That…sounds reasonable.

Makoto didn't like following Ren without his knowledge. She knew she would feel disturbed if another student tailed her and she would have stopped if he asked her directly. She felt she had no choice and would have come up with another way to get her information but she could understand his discomfort. She felt a strange impulse to explain herself to him.

"I'm also sorry, Amamiya-kun." She surprised herself by saying. So was Ren by how quickly his head snapped up. "I…didn't want to do this either. I was tasked to do this by someone else. But…." Makoto bit her lower lip. She struggled to get the next words out.

Is this too confrontational to say? He really hurt me though. I thought he was better than that. Is that too high of an expectation to have? I don't really know him. I had to do this though. For my sister, for my future, for Shujin. Is that a good reason? Was that the real reason?

Makoto felt her thoughts go into a familiar anxious spiral. But then she felt something deep in her rev up and accelerate one thought from her mind and out of her mouth.

"Are you really sorry though? Do you know how much you hurt me?" She almost winced from how angry it sounded.

Ren's body sagged after hearing Makoto's words. He stayed in the dogeza for a few moments, absorbing what she said. He carefully stood himself up, keeping his gaze to the ground as he did. When he was standing in front of Makoto his eyes slowly rose until they met hers. The boy took a deep breath and started.

"I think what will haunt me is that look in your eyes afterwards. I know what it's like to feel absolutely hopeless. The sheer terror and horrible realization that you're all alone and something awful is happening and you can't stop it. That the people you depend on can't or won't be there for you. I know that feeling and…." Ren's eyes suddenly became misty and he took another breath. Makoto almost gasped at how much sorrow spilled out from his eyes. It felt like it was overflowing and she wondered if they were the reason she had fresh new tears in her eyes. "I am a disgraceful person for doing that to you. No one deserves that. I'll never stop being sorry for this and I'll never stop telling you I'm sorry."

Then a weird thing happened. Makoto started smiling. The tears fell, but she didn't mind as much.

Ok, he gets it. That was a very good apology.

Ren was about to say something, but another voice loudly cut in-

"YOOOOOOOO!"

A shock of blond hair appeared lightning in front of them. Ryuji Sakamoto took a look at the two in front of him and knew the situation was bad. He opened his mouth and said the only thing he could think of to make it better.

"It was my fault. Renren is a prince. He didn't do anything at all. I told him to mess with you and come up with the whole plan. So don't blame him or get him in trouble. It's all me. I'm the effing troublemaker of Shujin after all. I'm sorry for being super shitty, Miss Prez. Er, I mean, Niijima-san."

Makoto just kept smiling. Who are these people?

Ryuji looked over to his boy in confusion. "Did I…say the right thing? Is she ok? She's smiling and crying."

Ren had his own smile on his face. "I think you said the best thing you could say, bro. Didn't know you could actually use honorifics. Although I already told her it was my plan."

"Wait," He looked between the two of them again for a while and put his hand to his chin. Makoto had never seen Ryuji this deeply in thought before. Ren looked at Ryuji like he grew another head. "I have one more thing I want to say. We effed up and ruined your day, so we need to make it better. Ren and I were going to go to play darts at Penguin Sniper, but how about you come with us?"

Makoto honestly would have been less shocked if Ryuji Sakamoto had admitted to being a Phantom Thief.

"C-c-come with you?"

"Yeah, I think that would make us square. Then it's water under the bridge. Renren and I will cover you. Only if you want though."

Ren clapped his hand on his best friend's shoulder. "You're a genius, Ryuji. For real." He turned to look at Makoto and his gray eyes were filled with mirth this time. "What do you say, Niijima-san? We'd love to hang out with you."

Makoto's head was swimming at this point. Her mind raced with all the possible complications of this.

I can't socialize with the prime suspects of my investigation. Do I really have an investigation at this point though? They've already discovered me following them. If I want to get more info, I need a new way. That's exploitative though. That makes me no better than a criminal using an innocent. They seem like they really want to hang out with me. I don't remember other people apologizing to me like these two. Maybe this whole investigation is for the wrong reason. What did Holmes do when impossible things actually happened? What do I do….?

Her stomach did not share these ethical and logistical concerns. It let out a loud and long growl.

Ryuji turned to her with an impressed look. "For real? Miss Prez, you've got a stomach on you. Right on!"

Ren laughed. "I think we have our answer. Come on, let's get some food before darts. How does nikuman sound?" The transfer student looked to Makoto for confirmation. She nodded. Makoto honestly did not care what it was, so long as it was real food. Her diet had taken a nosedive since the investigation and today the only thing she had for food was a case of Pocky.

Ren stuck out his hand to her. "Also, please call me Ren. I think way too much has happened for you to call me Amamiya anymore."

"Same! Call me Ryuji."

Makoto took Ren's hand firmly in her own. "Then we're all in agreement. I'm Makoto."

They walked over to the nikuman shop and Ren ordered their food. When he came back she had to stop herself from drooling over the buns.

Ren started to distribute the food. "Ok, so six for Ryuji, three for Makoto, and three for me."

"Only six? What the hell, man?"

"We're not going to blow our food budget on nikuman. We are also not going to subject Makoto to you gorging yourself."

Makoto looked expectantly at Ren. He grimaced. "Ryuji has a habit of getting what I call 'meat-drunk'. He gets so possessed when eating meat that he literally forgets how much he ate. It was funny at first, but now I'm just poor."

She felt slightly guilty and thought about reimbursing Ren. As if he could read her mind, he quickly held his hand up. "Do not feel bad for this man. He ate ten buns that I bought for my guardian and my cat. This is me being nice."

"Screw Morgana dude! Tell him he still owes me for last time! I feel bad for Boss though. I'll make it up to him later." Ryuji said.

Can cats eat nikuman? Also why is Ryuji so mad at a cat?

The scent of nikuman interrupted her thoughts and she carefully picked up the nikuman with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth. An explosion of flavor hit her with the first bite. The pork was flavorful and fatty, while the pepper added enough spiciness to keep it from being overwhelming. The veggies added texture and crunch, while the dough was pillowy and absorbed the flavor from the marinade.

"Oh!"

The boy across from her smiled from ear to ear. "Right? The information desk lady highly recommended this place. I'll get a bunch to go for next time. Without Ryuji."

Ryuji scowled and made an attempt to take one of Ren's nikuman. Ren blocked him and then made a go at one of his. The boys then engaged in an impromptu chopstick war. Makoto giggled at the scene unfolding in front of her.

This is really nice. I think my jaw hurts from smiling so much.

After they finished, they decided to leisurely walk down the alleyway. Ryuji was a little ahead of them getting several sodas from the vending machine. Ren broke the easy silence with some small talk.

"Do you like street food?"

"Sometimes. Rich food is typically overwhelming for me, but street food has such a fascinating history behind it."

"You mean like curry?"

Makoto cocked her head. Ren continued.

"My guardian runs a small cafe and I work for him sometimes. Coffee and curry are the specialties.

He's taught me a lot about it. I feel kinda bad when I think about how I used to eat and drink the stuff now. Anyway, he was talking about how it was originally brought to Japan from India via the British. Also how it used to be a luxury "Western" dish in the 19th century but its adaptation to Japanese tastes and popularization coincided with Japan's modernization in food technology to make curry-"

Ren stopped himself and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Sorry, you probably didn't want a lecture on curry."

Makoto protested. "Ren! Why did you stop? I absolutely do want a lecture on curry! Please continue!"

She resumed listening with bated breath.

Ren grinned, eager to entertain his audience. "So it was when food manufacturers were able to sell curry on a mass scale, using powderization and retort pouches that curry became a household staple. It's funny how economics and industrialization can influence the culinary preferences of a country. The West brought us curry and they also brought us the means to make it popular. So, we returned the favor with sushi but that will be next on our lecture series."

Makoto nodded vigorously. "Which will be when?"

Ren replied smoothly. "When you and I are having dinner at a sushi restaurant."

What did he just say? Does he want to do this again? Is he just teasing me? Is he…flirting with me?!

Her heart skipped a beat. The words hung in the air between them. Ren softly smiled at Makoto. Makoto suddenly found the walkway they were on very interesting. She was about to make a comment about the patterns when she heard Ryuji.

Thank God for his volume. Thank God for his interruptions.

"Alright! Monta time!"

"No 1UPs?" Ren asked.

"Sorry, bro. But it works out because in honor of Makoto joining us for darts, we're all chugging Montas!"

Makoto frowned. Ren pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Ryuji did not notice this because he went ahead and started chugging. Ren opened the can and started to drink the soda at a normal speed.

"You ever have one before?" He asked as he gave Makoto her own can.

She shook her head. "I mostly drink Green Tea and seltzers." She heard Ryuji burp behind Ren.

"Hoo boy. Pace yourself on this one. It has the sugar content of a candy factory."

Makoto took a sip and was transported to a very unpleasant place. "So…much…sugar." Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated. "My head hurts. Ren, is this normal? Am I going to be ok?"

Ren shook his head and turned to Ryuji. "Get her some water. She's having a Monta episode."

Ryuji gave Makoto a water bottle that he thoughtfully remembered to buy. "Yeah sorry. It can be a lot to handle if you eat healthy. Never seen anyone have an episode from a sip though."

Makoto chugged the whole water bottle and felt her senses return to normal. "Ryuji, you can have mine. I think I'll just stick with water."

"Thanks Makoto!"

Ryuji downed the can Makoto gave him in five seconds flat and looked no worse for the wear. They chatted a little more as Penguin Sniper started to come into view. Makoto thought about earlier today and her fantasy. She noticed she was on Ren's right side while Ryuji was on his left and that they were laughing at something she had said. She grinned.

Thank you both for making this happen.

Ren is deeply traumatized by juvie. But he's actually trying to use his trauma to connect, instead of being shitty and weird. My hope is also that I gave Makoto a distinctive voice compared to Ren. Please let me know how I did!