Chapter 6
The Downfall of Kaneshiro
Friday, July 1st, 2016
"Amada-kun, wait!" Makoto scrambled to her feet, but he was too fast, melting into the crowd all too easily.
Was he really the Persona-user they had seen? As Makoto desperately tried to make sense of everything, Ryuji's angry voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Are you serious?! Amada-senpai is really that guy Kaneshiro and Madarame were talkin' about?"
"No," Makoto said fiercely, whirling around to glare at Ryuji. "It's not possible, okay? Amada-kun would not be the black masked Persona-user, not with what Kaneshiro said about him."
Ryuji squinted at her, looking rather suspicious. "Not with—Makoto, are you hearing yourself? All he said was he was stronger than us and said that the Metaverse was being used to do those shutdowns and breakdowns! Why are you defending him? We hardly know him! Being all smiles and polite doesn't prove he's not capable of that!"
"There's no way that could be Amada-kun!" Makoto snapped, clenching her fists.
"Both of you, stop arguing!" Ren interjected, quickly stepping in between them.
"Yeah and like, let's not jump the gun." Anne chimed in.
" Wha'dya mean?" Ryuji demanded.
"I mean, we just know that Amada-senpai can enter the Metaverse and was there when the Palace was destroyed. That doesn't mean that he's that black masked Persona-user!" Anne pointed out.
"And as you said Ryuji. We don't really know him. Yes, he could have done it—" Yusuke started to say.
"Or he could have not done it," Morgana finished for him. "It's too early to say for certain, we'll need to confront him to understand his intentions and how he was able to enter the Metaverse. Or when he got his powers."
Makoto smiled, feeling relieved. At least she didn't feel so alone now.
"Why the hell would he be spying on us then?!" Ryuji demanded.
"Yeah, but you can't just go up to him and call him a criminal!" Anne retorted. "There has to be a good explanation. Haven't you heard about what he was like at his old school? He's like… a model student."
Ryuji argued, "But that would give him the perfect cover!"
"That's enough, both of you," Yusuke snapped, stepping between the two blondes. "Morgana is right. We need to confront him to confirm this. We should not argue over this."
To emphasize his point, he gestured to the people staring at them.
He then hissed out quietly, "Especially not here."
Makoto said diplomatically, "Look… I understand you're suspicious, Ryuji and he definitely does himself no favors by running, but I can vouch—"
"No, you can't," Ren cut in.
Makoto looked at him in shock. Next to her, Anne sucked in a breath next to Makoto.
"But Ren—" she began.
Ren held up a hand, and Anne's protest died down. Morgana looked up at him with an unreadable expression and Ren let out a heavy exhale as his shoulders slumped. He put his hands in his pocket and straightened his posture and eyed the whole group.
"Not here, we'll discuss this more at the hideout. Yusuke's right," Ren said sternly.
Makoto still wasn't used to seeing this side of him. He didn't do it often; Ren had quite a mischievous side to him, prone to quips and one-liners. But when things got really serious… he buckled down and took charge. He really did have the potential to be a good leader; it's no wonder he was their leader, beyond his ability to wield multiple Personas.
They all quietly nodded, gathered themselves and headed to the station. Everyone was silent the whole trip. Not a single word until they were inside LeBlanc. They gave a quiet greeting to Sojiro who just waved them off as he was changing the channel for a customer.
Things felt a bit awkward so Makoto felt it might be best to get started on at least opening the suitcase. Luckily, she remembered the combination she saw Kaneshiro do more than once. The guy was so weird. Constantly closing and opening that suitcase to flaunt his money at her, at his girlfriend, at his men.
But after Makoto opened the briefcase and they discovered that the money inside the briefcase was fake, the conversation quickly turned back to Amada-kun.
Yusuke said with a frown. "I met him that one time, but how do you all know him?"
Anne reclined against her seat, toying with her pigtails for a moment.
She explained, "Well, Ren and I met with him once for intel on Kaneshiro. He seemed nice. Smart and studious. Someone who would just keep his head down during all of this trouble, you know?"
"Trained with him at the gym. He's like… super polite, but it was fun once he loosened up." Ryuji shrugged, then he frowned, "But man... it's really him?"
"You're jumping to conclusions," Makoto snapped, irritation surging through her, "You hardly know him! You only met him once and already—"
"Oh yeah, what's your argument, then?" Ryuji challenged.
"Both of you, stop," Ren said a little more loudly.
There was that stern voice again. Ren was just sitting on his bed with his arms crossed as he eyed them all. Annoyance glinted in his dark eyes.
"Ryuji, I understand you're just worried for us all if he could be the real deal. But you aren't thinking with your head straight. You're getting paranoid."
Makoto smiled in relief.
Ren then looked at her with such a stern expression she almost flinched. She hadn't seen anyone give her a stare like that beyond her big sister. That look that made her feel like she was in trouble. It would be amusing to see that expression on someone who was younger than her, not to mention Ren of all people. But instead, she just felt herself sit up straight like she would when Sae would eye her with that "I'm disappointed in you" look. She noticed Anne stiffen next to her too.
"Ren, I thought you didn't agree with Ryuji?" Anne asked with a confused expression.
"I don't agree with either of you," Ren just stated flatly.
"Huh?"
"Anne, you and Makoto are also not being rational. You especially Makoto. Just because someone has a clean record doesn't clear them of suspicions, especially when the Metaverse is concerned. And he appeared to have been following us. You can't ignore that," Ren explained, before his eyes shifted over to Makoto. "You also can't act like you are the authority on knowing someone you also barely know. Ryuji may have only worked out with him once. You also only known him for a couple weeks at best. Hardly enough time to really make a judgement call on someone."
Makoto could only wince.
"We all need to take a step back and think about this more rationally. There are too many things that give off red flags about him at the moment, however something is bugging me."
"And what's that?" Morgana inquired.
Ren looked around the room again. "The day he transferred. It was after we dealt with Madarame."
"That's right, Amada-kun transferred to Shujin the day I…" Makoto looked away. "That was the day I confronted you all about being the Phantom Thieves."
Anne placed a comforting hand on her arm. She just weakly smiled at her.
Ren just nodded. "Exactly, Madarame mentioned the black masked Persona-user even before he transferred. Now that doesn't necessarily mean he still couldn't be the culprit. That could also mean they were starting to suspect or even figured out who the Phantom Thieves actually are. So, they decided to have him go more undercover."
They all sat in silence at that.
Ren just sighed, fiddling with his glasses. "But that feels like extra work, if they knew who we already are, why not just deal with us a more direct way? Unless he's gathering intel."
"Ugh! RenRen, all your speculating is making my head hurt!" Ryuji complained.
"Well now you see my point." Ren smirked.
Morgana chuckled and then chimed in, "We really don't know about this individual or him. Our best course of action would be to confront him and find out as much as we can. Hopefully he will be willing to talk, but if he keeps bolting that could be a problem and not a good look for him. Unless Ryuji traumatized him with chasing after him that one time…"
"Shuddup!" Ryuji glared at Morgana.
Morgana chuckled and stuck his tongue out.
"Agreed, Ren is correct. We really don't know this Amada-san very well. Who he works for, or if he even is working for someone," Yusuke said as he leaned back against the wall.
"Right. We need to corner him and agree to a chat. If he means us know harm, then he should agree to it. Of course, we'll need to not be scary and get him to feel he's in no danger."
There was an idle pause for a few seconds. Ryuji then broke it.
"What? No funny jab about 'don't scare him by being a thug, Ryuji' or something?" Ryuji said sarcastically.
"I wasn't thinking it actually but if you need to be reminded…" Morgana said in a sing-song voice.
"Can it!"
Makoto couldn't help but start to giggle, Anne joined in with her. Soon the whole group started to laugh.
Makoto understood where Ren was coming from. They should be fair, not assume guilt or innocence until they hear out his side and look into it more. There are too many variables to just cast judgement one way or the other.
But still… she just couldn't believe that of Amada-kun. He was nice to her when everyone else had been hostile. He insisted on sharing his lunch with her when he found out that she hadn't brought one. There wasn't a motive for that… She hadn't even been part of the Phantom Thieves at that part. They hadn't even been friendly.
Though Makoto had to admit there was how he asked about the Phantom Thieves… but that could've been just curiosity. Everyone talked about the Phantom Thieves these days.
She shook her head. Ren was right. She can't let her bias cloud her judgement if he was a potential threat. They must meet him and hear his side of the story.
"Where is Amada-senpai even from? Does anyone know?" Ryuji asked.
"Port Island," Yusuke said automatically.
"How the eff do you know that?"
"He mentioned it to Yusuke, when we ran into him last Sunday," Ren answered for him. "Yusuke picked up on his accent and asked him where he was from."
"Port Island…" Anne frowned, curling a strand of hair around her finger. "That sounds familiar for some reason."
Well, she couldn't really blame Anne for not recalling. Port Island wasn't exactly famous, not like Tokyo, Kyoto, or any of the other big Japanese cities.
"It's best known for being a man-made island and for being the headquarters of the Kirijo Group. Apparently, he knows the CEO personally," Makoto added, recalling what he had rattled off to those girls bombarding him with questions.
"So… we pretty much have mostly basic facts," Morgana concluded with a sigh.
"Yeah, there hasn't been much concrete, maybe that's why there were a bunch of rumors about him," Anne said with a shrug.
Morgana's tail swished back and forth in agitation. "This is frustrating. What I really want to know is how exactly he got into the Metaverse in the first place…"
"No kidding!" Ryuji grumbled out.
"He could have gotten dragged along with us? Much like when Anne used the app to escape Madarame, but she brought me along for the ride," Yusuke offered but then he looked down at the table, letting out a quiet sigh. "Though there's also why he was present while we fought Kaneshiro."
"That's like with me, I tailed Ryuji and Ren secretly and ended up dragged into Kamoshida's Palace," Anne said with a frown as she crossed her legs.
Ren then suddenly looked up; his eyebrows were slightly raised as he rested both of his hands on his lap.
"I think… he was helping us during the fight."
Morgana frowned, his tail swishing back and forth. "What do you mean, Ren?"
Ren leaned back against the wall from where he was sitting on his bed, crossing his arms again. His expression more contemplative.
"The flash of light," he stated, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"The light…?" Realization then made Yusuke's eyes light up with understanding and he leaned forward. "That's right… what distracted Kaneshiro!"
"And there was something else that bothered me…" Ren stated, now fiddling with a lock of his hair.
"Huh? Wha'dya mean, RenRen?" Ryuji asked.
Ren elaborated, "When Morgana healed Anne… it completely healed her injuries. Morgana's no slouch in healing, but his healing abilities aren't at that level."
"Yet." Morgana corrected but then added, "But Ren is right. I noticed something was off when I healed Lady Anne."
Anne nodded. "Yeah, it felt… different than how Morgana's healing spells feel. Like, Morgana's healing always feels like you're being touched by a cool breeze. But I felt… warm with that spell."
Makoto blinked. It was so odd how even the same spell could feel differently, depending on the Persona-user.
Morgana then shook his head. "But I didn't feel as if there was an outside force that was enhancing me, but the spell seemed much stronger. If this Amada has a Persona that can also heal, that would make the most sense as Makoto wasn't nearby to help me."
Makoto stilled at that. That was right, she was nowhere nearby when Anne was knocked down, but she knew that the gun attack had hit Anne hard. Not to mention that Kaneshiro had tried to flatten her like a pancake. If Ren hadn't been so fast… Makoto couldn't help but shudder at the thought.
Makoto frowned. "But if he was aiding us in battle… then why did he run away?"
"Well, considering that Ryuji tried to attack him last time we encountered him…" Morgana said dryly, shooting Ryuji a rather sardonic look.
Ryuji grumbled. "I'll apologize to him, okay?"
"That could be the case, or it could be he still has something to hide. Don't let your guard down," Ren advised. "We can't be quick to judge, but we can't be quick to take it easy either."
That was the most sensible thing to do. Makoto couldn't argue with him there. The group all nodded in unison.
"We'll need to confront him at school." Makoto tapped a finger against her chin. "I can clear the student council room during lunch and we can talk to him there. Not tomorrow though—we have a meeting. But Monday will probably work."
Yusuke frowned. "I wish I could be present."
"We could put you on speaker phone," Ren said lightly, his eyes sparkling with mirth.
Yusuke nodded. "Oh, that's a good solution. I approve."
"Dude," Ryuji said, shaking his head, "Ren was joking."
"Ren may have been joking, but it's not a bad idea to have Yusuke on call. Just probably don't talk at all during it, Yusuke, I don't think he'd be trusting if he sees a phone being pulled out with someone listening in," Morgana said, nodding firmly as he ignored the banter amongst the boys. "Be sure to get to him quickly, because I'm sure that he'll try to run away from you, Makoto."
Makoto nodded firmly. "I will."
Ken had run all the way back to the penthouse. And all the while, he had run the options in his head.
Why didn't he just use the app to leave the Metaverse? He was so stupid!
Mitsuru-san was going to be furious with him too. He couldn't be more obvious unless he had plastered his intentions on a billboard.
As he was alone in the elevator, Ken just let out a groan, thumping his head against the glass wall. How could he mess up this badly? If it was anyone else, they wouldn't have made the same mistake. They would have stayed calm and figured out a different route to escape.
"I'm an idiot," he thought gloomily to himself.
The elevator doors slid open, and Ken took the few steps it took to reach the door before unlocking it. He could hear Akihiko-san and Minako-san's familiar laughter, and it took only one glance to see Shinjiro-san was video calling with them.
"Hey, Ken-kun!" Minako-san greeted him cheerfully with a wave.
But Akihiko-san frowned, his eyes filling with concern. "You look beat. What happened, Ken?"
"Did that Persona-user show up again?" Shinjiro-san scrutinized him closely as he all but threw himself in the chair next to his guardian.
"No… not that…" Ken slumped in his seat.
"But?" Minako-san prompted.
Ken sighed. He might as well say it now. At least Minako-san and Akihiko-san would be nice about it.
He mumbled out, "I… kinda… slipped up. The Phantom Thieves saw me today in the Metaverse."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up, Ken-kun," Minako-san said sternly, holding up a hand.
Akihiko-san gave a concerned frown. "Mina's right, Ken. Seriously, what happened exactly?"
"Well…" Ken took in a deep breath. "I followed the Phantom Thieves into Kaneshiro's Palace and they fought him because he was trying to defend his Treasure—"
"So he's a western dragon?" Akihiko-san quipped.
"Shush, Aki," Minako-san scolded impatiently, smacking her husband's shoulder lightly. "Let Ken-kun talk."
"Plus, that was a lame joke," Shinjiro-san grumbled.
"Ugh, shuddup Shinji!"
Ken rolled his eyes before continued.
"But anyways, the Treasure is apparently the form of his distorted desires, which is what they mean in the calling card. They beat him and took the treasure and because of that, the Palace started to collapse. And how the hell was I supposed to know that the Palaces blow up?!"
Ken glared down at the table, feeling frustrated. Shouldn't they have mentioned it to Niijima-san with the last preparations?! But no, it's just "SURPRISE! We gotta make a dramatic escape while the base explodes!"
"They should really include in the job description—must be able to run like hell and because of that I—" Ken wavered when he realized that Minako-san was laughing.
"Must be able to run like hell!" Minako-san choked out, before she howled with laughter. "Good one, Ken-kun!"
"It's not that funny, Minako," Shinjiro-san deadpanned.
Ken just rubbed his temples as they were all bantering. He was definitely going to have a headache in the morning. That Palace explosion probably just took ten years off his life.
Akihiko-san just shrugged helplessly, even as his lips twitched into a smile. "I rather have this than Minako-san's… other mood swings."
"It looks like Amagi has possessed her."
"Shinji!" Akihiko-san exclaimed, shooting him a look.
"What?" Shinjiro-san snorted, folding his arms over his chest. "It's true. She laughs like a crazed hyena."
"But anyways…" Akihiko-san looked at Ken as Minako-san finally calmed down. "…What were you going to say?"
"There's not much else to say," Ken said with a shrug. "I had to climb onto their cat-bus—"
"—I still won't believe that until I see it," Shinjiro-san said dryly.
"We've seen weirder stuff, Shinji," Akihiko-san pointed out. "Like Teddie-Teddie's human form. Or some of the Shadow selves we ran into at Inaba."
"…Are you done?" Ken asked dryly.
Akihiko-san just offered him a sheepish look. "…Sorry."
Ken just slumped in the sofa next to Shinji and quirked a brow at everyone.
Minako-san just giggled. "It takes forever to tell a story with us, huh?"
Ken just sighed, looking down at his lap. "And the Phantom Thieves escaped the Palace and… I came with them. So… they saw me."
"And what they did say?" Akihiko-san asked.
"I don't know. I ran the moment I realized what had happened… I… this isn't the first time they saw me."
Ken winced as everyone gaped at him.
"What do you mean 'first time', Ken?" Shinjiro said in a dangerously low tone.
The last thing he needed with this headache was to get lectured.
"So, one of the times I followed them in, I slipped up. They spotted me. Sakamoto-san and Takamaki-san gave chase. Sakamoto-san was quite… aggressive... in chasing after me," Ken said with a grimace.
"Well yeah you probably looked a tad bit on the suspicious side now," Minako-san said with a nervous laugh.
Shinjiro-san just groaned, rubbing his forehead. "Greaaaaat. Mitsuru's gonna flip shit…"
"You don't have to remind me…" Ken muttered with a shudder, "That's why I ran away. I didn't need to get chased down again. Sakamoto-san looked really angry. Probably thought I was a threat like that black masked Persona-user."
It was bad enough that the Phantom Thieves had seen him before… Mitsuru-san would have forgiven that, considering how fast he had gotten away from them. But this? This may warrant an execution. He loved Mitsuru-san but… she was honestly really scary when she was mad.
"She won't," Minako-san said sternly, shaking her head firmly.
When Ken looked at her, she just smiled, before raising her index finger.
"She cares more about your safety, Ken-kun. I know that Mitsuru would rather you compromise your identity than let yourself remain in the Palace. She'll be glad that you're more or less okay." Her eyes softened. "I'm glad that you're okay. So… don't be so hard on yourself, okay?"
Ken sighed heavily. "I still don't know what to say… because I really doubt that the Phantom Thieves will just brush this aside."
Minako-san gave a thoughtful hum, tapping her chin. "Well… I'd say stick to the truth as much as possible."
"Yeah, that'll go well," Shinjiro-san deadpanned. "'I moved here just so I can spy on you because my upperclassman thinks that you could go AWOL and abuse your powers. Nothing personal, though'."
Minako-san glared at him. But Shinjiro-san barely blinked at that.
"Haha, you're hilarious, Shinji," she said flatly. "I meant use half-truths, dummy."
"Who are you calling a dummy?!" Shinjiro-san snapped.
"You, you dummy," Akihiko-san snickered.
Ken rolled his eyes. He started to massage his left eyebrow to help ebb away the headache. He was really going to need some Bylenol after this…
"Children, all of them," he grumbled to himself.
Minako-san snickered at the two of them, before she began to elaborate on her statement.
"But like… that you're a Persona-user, you got sucked into the Metaverse once because you were around when they used the app—that kind of idea."
"And maybe something about you being curious how they operated?" Akihiko-san suggested. "I mean, they're the talk of the nation… I mean…"
He quirked an eyebrow at Ken.
"Weren't you, before you moved to Tokyo?" he asked.
Wait, did they know…?
Minako-san nudged him in the side, giving Akihiko-san a playful smile.
"You're pretty good at this cover story," she teased. "You sure you really should be a cop?"
"That's only because I had to make up some stories to get that guy out of trouble." Akihiko-san pointed at Shinjiro-san, raising a single brow at him.
"Me?" Shinjiro-san scowled at him. "That's real rich, coming from you, Aki. You were always beating up boys for picking on Miki!"
"Yeah, but how about the time you tried to bring in that stray cat?" he retorted. "Or what about why it took so long to drag you to the barbershop?"
"Why was that?" Ken wanted to know.
Akihiko-san just smirked. "He kept trying to run away and I had to chase after him."
Shinjiro-san crossed his arms over his chest again, looking away with a scowl.
"My hair wasn't even that long," he grumbled.
Minako-san and Ken just laughed.
"Somehow, this doesn't surprise me," Minako-san teased lightly.
She then started to quiet down her laughter as she looked at Ken with more concern.
Ken frowned. "Is something the matter?"
"Get some rest tonight," Minako-san demanded. "Fuuka-chan mentioned something about you nearly falling asleep at dinner? You shouldn't be doing that, Ken-kun."
Shinjiro-san told her, didn't he? Ugh, that snitch…
"Jeez, you'll be well prepared for your kid when it comes, if you're nagging Ken like that," Shinjiro-san muttered.
Akihiko-san coughed something into his fist that sounded suspiciously close to "Hypocrite!"
Shinjiro-san narrowed his eyes dangerously at the screen. "What was that Aki?"
Akihiko-san just blinked innocently at him. "Don't know what you're talking about, Shinji."
"Like hell you do," he retorted.
"Now, now, boys, do I have to separate you?" Minako-san teased.
"They're hundreds of kilometers apart already, Minako-san," Ken pointed out.
Minako-san scowled at him. "Don't be so technical, Ken-kun."
Ken sighed, he excused himself to go to the kitchen to get some painkillers. But not after promising Minako-san he would try to go to bed earlier tonight.
Monday, July 4, 2016
Ken had talked to Mitsuru-san on Saturday, and as Minako-san had predicted, she was more relieved that Ken hadn't been hurt. She really knew them so well, didn't she?
Mitsuru-san had been intrigued about what he had reported what he had seen, even though Ken didn't have the full picture. Though Ken couldn't help but feel that he had let her down. Mitsuru-san had stressed to him so much that he was to keep himself out of sight. And what did he do? He let the Phantom Thieves clearly see him.
Stupid exploding Palace…
And he couldn't help but feel on edge throughout the school day. On Saturday, Niijima-san would sneak glances at him—but that was it really. Call him paranoid but… he couldn't help but think that the Phantom Thieves were going to ambush him at some point.
The bell finally rang for lunch, but before Ken could even move, Niijima-san's hand shot out, wrapping around his wrist.
"I apologize, Amada-kun, but I really need to talk to you," she said, all while smiling politely. "You don't mind, do you?"
Speak of the devil…
Ken gritted his teeth. 'Yes, Niijima-san, I do mind', was what he wanted to say. He wanted to come up with some excuse for why he couldn't talk to her in private, but everyone was staring and whispering and had he mentioned that he hated his life right now? No? Well, he did.
"As you wish," he muttered.
Niijima-san released him long enough so that they could get up but then she took his wrist again, pulling him in the direction of the student council room.
What did Minako-san and Akihiko-san say about his cover story again? He needed to sell this well, if he didn't want the Phantom Thieves to figure out the truth. Granted, almost nobody knew that the Shadow Operatives even existed, but the Phantom Thieves didn't exactly hide their hatred for the police.
The door sliding open pulled Ken out of his thoughts. Amamiya-san was leaning against the wall, his hands stuffed into his pockets. He straightened up when they entered the room. Sakamoto-san and Takamaki-san sat at one side of the table, both messing with their phones.
"Hey, Senpai." Amamiya-san offered him a smile, but it only made Ken even more wary.
"Time for you to spill it!" Sakamoto-san jumped to his feet, slamming his hands palm first onto the table; the force was loud enough to make Ken flinch. "Just why were you spying on us?!"
"Ryuji… didn't we talk about this?" He heard the cat-thing, Mona, chided with exasperation.
Ken looked around the room but didn't see where the mascot looking creature was hiding. Amamiya-san looked at Ken with a raised brow but stayed quiet. Ken looked down at his feet awkwardly.
Ryuji grumbled but let Takamaki-san pull him back into his seat.
"Why don't you sit down, Amada-kun?" Niijima-san asked.
She phrased it as a request, but Ken knew better.
He slowly sat down, choosing the seat across from Takamaki-san. Sakamoto-san looked at him suspiciously and it took all of Ken's willpower to not shrink into his seat.
"Ryuji does pose a good question though…" Amamiya-san took a step forward, his eyes narrowed. "Why were you there? How long have you known about the Metaverse?"
"Two weeks," Ken said, silently grateful that was the actual truth.
Niijima-san frowned. "Two weeks? But… that was the same time when I…"
"It was June 19th," Ken corrected. "I was walking through Shibuya when I suddenly found myself inside an entirely different world."
Takamaki-san's brow furrowed at that. "June 19th… That was when we found Kaneshiro's Palace."
Ken showed his phone's screen to them, so they could see the glowing red eye.
"The app appeared on my phone and I… kinda panicked. When it asked me if I wanted to leave, I pressed yes and I was back in the real world."
Takamaki-san slowly turned to look at Ryuji, her aquamarine eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Nobody will see us, huh?" she asked acidly.
Sakamoto-san was a tad… carefree about that, he had to admit. Ken was really grateful about how he was able to slip into the Palace from the penthouse. That rather simplified things for him.
Sakamoto-san cried out, "How was I supposed to know?! Besides that, you and Yusuke went along with it!"
Takamaki-san sputtered some excuse under her breath as she twirled some strands of hair around her index finger. He couldn't hear what she said but she was definitely pouting.
Amamiya-san however ignored it and just glared at Sakamoto-san.
"And need I remind you that I said your justification was really dumb Ryuji, but you didn't listen to me," he chided, giving Sakamoto-san a rather pointed look.
Ken blinked. That look on Amamiya-san's face, just now… It rather reminded him of Minato-san. Especially during the trips when Minato-san had taken all of the boys. Akihiko-san and Junpei-san occasionally needed some… reining in.
But Sakamoto-san's protest suddenly pulled Ken away from his trip down memory lane.
"Oh, give me a break, RenRen—!"
"Hey, hey, not so loud." A cat hopped out of Amamiya-san's bag. "We'll get attention if you keep this up!"
Ken blinked and stared. That voice… sounded familiar. But did that… come from his therapy cat?
"Am I hallucinating… did that cat just talk?" he asked incredulously.
"Excuse me, but I'm not a cat!" Amamiya's cat fired back, puffing up with anger. "I'm a noble human, trapped in this feline body!"
But that voice… that voice was the same voice as the mascot looking creature. The one they called Mona. Ken's eyes went wide. So unlike Teddie-san, this cat-thing turned into… an actual cat.
Was he so stressed that he was hallucinating…?
Ken stared, just barely managing to stop his jaw from dropping.
"Someone pinch me… the cat-monster talks," Ken mumbled out.
Mona yowled. "Who are you calling a cat-monster?! Is it so hard to believe after dealing with Shadows?"
Ken winced, pressing a hand against his temple. "No, but it's just… I just didn't expect that Mona to be an actual cat!"
"I'm not a—"
"Morgana." Amamiya-san stared at the cat pointedly.
The feline settled down, but continued to grumble under his breath.
"Morgana? I thought you called him Mona in there?" Ken raised a brow.
The cat perked up, "Correct. I am Morgana. But in the Metaverse, my codename is Mona. We all have codenames."
Ken just nodded, not really sure how to respond. He should be used to weird things by now. He shouldn't feel so strange that he was talking to a domestic house pet… but he did.
"Are you really a Persona-user?" Sakamoto-san demanded. "Ren seems to think that you helped heal Anne when we fought Kaneshiro. And you're the reason why Kaneshiro got distracted."
Wait, he caught onto that? Amamiya-san was sharp. He really had thought he had been subtle. Well, with healing Takamaki-san, at least. He knew that he was running a risk with his light spell.
"Did you awaken in the Metaverse then?" Niijima-san asked, looking intrigued. "I had to confront Kaneshiro before my Persona emerged."
Ken shook his head. "It's… complicated, but I awakened to my Persona before I moved out here."
"There are other Persona-users around?!" Sakamoto-san blurted out, his brown eyes wide with shock.
Well… he couldn't blame them for being surprised. It would be easy to assume that this was just an isolated situation.
"But how did you even gain your Persona?" Morgana quizzed.
"I… rather not get into it," Ken said, looking away. "It's a long story. A really long story."
"I'm sorry. But if you want us to trust you, you'll have to give us something more than that," Amamiya-san said seriously, crossing his arms over his chest.
Ken subtly swallowed, praying that his nervousness wasn't showing up on his face. He should've expected that they wouldn't let him skate by with that excuse.
But… what else could he say? Some story about Black Mask attacking him and that caused him to awaken to his Persona? Well... he supposed in a way that had happened, but they'd probably think he was insane. Besides that, Ken was already feeling a little guilty about spinning this story to them.
"It's just... I don't exactly like talking about—"
Niijima-san interrupted him. "Amada-kun, please… I want to believe in you. But… I do have to agree with the others. Your actions are suspicious. And I can't let my bias get in the way. Can I trust you? Can we trust you? Please tell us how you got your Persona."
He wished he could honor her. But he can't tell them the full truth. But he did need to give them something or this would get worse. Ken let out a sigh.
"Strange things… I couldn't explain, they just kept happening. As some of you already know, I moved here from Port Island. When I was a kid, there were… things going on," Ken started to explain. "It was bizarre and unsettling."
"Bizarre how?" Takamaki-san asked.
"Um… there were some odd rumors, things that couldn't be logically disproven. I remember people acting off and… I didn't understand it. People not acting like themselves, no desire to take care of themselves and just… collapsing. I heard it was called Apathy Syndrome; I didn't really get it."
The group stilled and looked around at each other. Morgana was sitting on the table in front of Amamiya-san and then moved over to sit in front of Ken, he looked more curious instead of uncertain like the others.
"Well, go on," the cat encouraged him to continue.
Ken nodded and let out a sigh. "I'm no expert on what happened or why it happened. It was all mysterious. But things went back to normal eventually and I just moved on with my life, not thinking about that stuff. But then… things changed. These past couple of years… new weird stuff started happening. And I just couldn't help but be reminded of what I heard of Apathy Syndrome."
"Do you mean the Psychotic Breakdowns and Mental Shutdowns?" Niijima-san asked.
Ken gave her a nod. He then crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling.
"There were several instances over the past couple years," he said slowly. "Like… there was a mall my friends and I often go to back home. One day, the owner of it suddenly changed completely. He started attacking his staff and then barricaded himself in his office, threatening to burn the whole mall down if they called the cops on him. His son begged him to calm down, eventually, coaxed him out. The cops were waiting and knocked him out. The next day he didn't remember a single thing."
Ken looked back at the others and they all had mixed looks of shock and pity. Ken knitted his brows and licked his lips. He felt awful for the man but nothing could be done for him now. Not yet. But once they get to the bottom of this all then maybe things can be set right.
"The owner of a boutique chain you can only find on Port Island that was planning on franchising out to other cities undergone a similar situation. One of the police commissioners too. He attacked some of the police department out of the blue. As the news called it, Psychotic Breakdowns," Ken explained.
He was just grateful that Akihiko-san had been nursing a nasty stomach bug with the incident concerning the police commissioner. He'd hate if Akihiko-san had been caught in the middle of that.
Amamiya-san started twirling around a pencil in his right hand but was still listening intently.
"I don't know if you guys remember the news about a month ago, but the Wild Duck Burger restaurant chain took a huge hit in stock. The chain originated from Port Island. People stopped going there for a bit because of an… incident with a chef that created a scandal." Ken felt heat rush to his cheeks as he recounted… that incident.
A lot more people started going to Big Bang Burger after that…
Sakamoto-san winced, "Oh yeah, that nude selfie incident. Yeesh…"
Ken nodded at him and cleared his throat. He quickly inhaled as his face became more somber.
"A member of the city council however… is in a vegetative state." Ken winced as he closed his eyes.
These events were all true. Mitsuru-san detailed this all in a report that he would need when further investigating the incidents happening in Tokyo too. He had heard of a couple things in passing but Mitsuru-san had thought it would be prudent if she had compiled all of this together for him.
"Wait, does that mean—"
Ken cut off Niijima-san. "Yes, as the news put it. A mental shutdown. They're lucky they survived it. I've heard the reports that some have died from undergoing those."
Niijima-san looked down at her feet. Amamiya-san and Sakamoto-san looked tense. Morgana looked over to Takamaki-san, who had tightened her jaw staring out the window.
"I… I couldn't help but fear what that meant. I wasn't sure if it was connected to that weird phenomenon going on when I was a kid. Or if they were completely unrelated. But I… I was tired of seeing good people getting hurt. I wanted to do something about it. So I decided to investigate it myself. I know… I was definitely in over my head. But I couldn't take it anymore."
The last part was true at least.
Ken rubbed his neck and took a deep breath. Amamiya-san had an unreadable expression and Ken did his best to keep his poker face under his gaze. He hoped he sounded convincing.
"I don't know… how I ended up in that—what was it again? The Metaverse, right?" Ken feigned ignorance.
The whole group nodded.
"Right… I kind of started calling it a Shadow Nest, felt like a fitting name for it at the time. But that's not important. Anyways… I was leaving home from school to head home when well… that was the last thing I remember." Ken crossed his arms and tried to looked confused as he was spinning this tale.
He might as well make good use of that black masked individual. He was bad news for all parties no matter how you looked at it.
Sakamoto-san tilted his head, "Last thing you remember?"
Ken nodded towards him, "Yeah, one moment I was walking home. Then nothing… it was all blank. I just woke up in that place. I think… I think I was ambushed. I can't remember. My head was sore though."
More like his whole body was sore when that guy got the drop on him.
"Ambushed? So your attacker dragged you into the Metaverse. Did you get a good look at them?" Takamaki-san inquired.
"Yes and no." Ken admitted, "I never saw his face."
Amamiya-san sat up straighter.
"His face? Your attacker was a male? What did he look like?" the Phantom Thief leader asked.
"I couldn't see his face at all, like I said. He kept covering it when…" Ken trailed off, realization dawned on him.
The whole fight, when his attacker used that freaky Persona, he kept covering his face with his hand. The way Personas are summoned here is with a mask. And anytime he removed his, he always made certain to block his face. The black masked Persona-user was keeping his identity a secret. Was he concerned that Ken would be able to identify him? Did that mean he knew Ken? He shuddered at that thought. Hopefully not, maybe he was just worried that meant he thought Ken might notice him if they ran into each other outside the Metaverse. But then… did that mean he was someone that would be recognizable?
"Yo? Earth to Amada-senpai?" Sakamoto-san cut through his thoughts.
Ken slightly jumped. And looked around them all. They looked a bit confused and concerned.
"Ah… sorry."
Niijima-san eyed him sympathetically, "Are you alright?"
He smiled politely and waved it off, "I'll be okay. Sorry… it still gives me goosebumps, thinking about him. That guy was… well… I was lucky. The Shadows I ran into after him weren't anywhere close to as dangerous as that guy. He's the reason I awoken to my Persona."
Well re-awoken but he needed them to not suspect him at the moment. But he wasn't lying about one thing. Whoever that person is… he definitely made Ken really nervous. He barely repressed a shudder, thinking about how that guy came close to killing him.
"I honestly thought I was going to die in that moment." Ken recounted, "But then I heard the voice of my Persona. It urged me to not give up and I couldn't die there. I managed to get away. Just barely. But that guy… he had powers similar to us."
"Similar to… similar to us. You mean he had a Persona?!" Morgana asked in shock.
Ken just nodded, "Yeah, and it was a tough one. His outfit looked more… sinister compared to me, and definitely compared to all your attire when you go to that place. His outfit was dark, he kept his distance but I could tell it was a dark clad outfit, and he had on a black mask—"
"Wait what?" Morgana interjected.
Sakamoto-san jumped to his feet, his chair almost fell backwards, wobbling a bit before settling. Amamiya-san dropped his pencil that he had been twirling around previously. Takamaki-san gasped before her head whipped over to Amamiya-san. Niijima-san looked towards her teammates with concern but seemed the least nervous, which made sense… she was the newest member of their team.
"A black mask, this Persona-user had a black mask? Are you sure?" the cat asked very seriously.
Ken just nodded. His tale was filled with half truths and lies. But at the very least he knew that whoever that person was, they were going to be a danger to everyone. And what he suspected, could be linked to these breakdowns and shutdowns, if what Kaneshiro said was true.
"Then Madarame and Kaneshiro weren't lying, this creep definitely does exist." Takamaki-san said nervously towards Amamiya-san while twiddling her thumbs.
"I managed to get away by the skin of my teeth. I've ran into some of those Shadows not long after," Ken said as he knew he had to keep it vague on the timeline and keep up with the half-truths. "I knew if I was ever to run into those things again or that black masked guy, I'd need to be better equipped. But still… I think he just wanted to silence me for looking into thing."
Amamiya-san bent down to pick up his pencil. Sakamoto-san had a mixed expression on his face that Ken wasn't sure what that meant.
Ken cleared his throat. "I was kinda worried he'd find me again. I don't know if I'd be ready to face him again, he was just too strong. Thankfully, my guardian recently told me we were moving to Tokyo. I thought I would be safer finally, he wouldn't able to track me down with luck. I still wanted to look into these mysterious things, but I realized I wasn't nearly ready and should get more prepared if I was to tackle all this weird stuff again."
"That does make sense." Niijima-san nodded.
Ken then awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and tried to look as sheepish as possible.
"Um, please… don't tell my guardian about any of this. He doesn't know about all of the trouble I've been getting into. I don't want to worry him."
He definitely didn't want them to confront Shinjiro-san or look into him. Hopefully he can keep them far away from looking into the Shadow Operatives, for Mitsuru-san's sake.
Morgana chuckled, "Don't sweat it, we know what it means to live a double life."
Ken sighed a breath of relief. And gave Morgana a sincere smile. He hated lying to them. He knew his mission but still, they didn't feel… like they were bad people. He knew he needed to look at the bigger picture and not let himself be clouded by bias.
Ken however realized he needed to quickly plug a hole.
"Please, promise me you guys won't go investigate those incidents yourselves, at least… not until you are much stronger!"
There is a chance they could investigate those themselves and nothing would happen, or… if his lie was actually true. And these guys wouldn't stand a chance. That black masked Persona-user was way too strong. Ken barely made it out alive and he's more experienced than any of them.
"Wait, is he that powerful? But you got away—"
Ken cut off Sakamoto-san, "No! Kaneshiro would be nothing compared to this guy! Not all of you combined I think would be ready. I was lucky. If you have to investigate who is behind all that, and I suspect that black masked Persona-user at least knows what is responsible for these incidents, then be very careful and be extremely discrete!"
The group was silent for a several seconds, all looking back and forth between each other. At their level they couldn't handle someone like that guy. He hoped they'd heed his warning. He still wasn't sure fully about them yet, even if his heart wanted him to lean in one direction completely. Regardless he didn't want them to run headfirst into trouble.
Amamiya-san sat up straight.
"He sounds ruthless, if he has you this nervous." Amamiya-san leaned back in his chair again and put his hands in his pocket. "But I appreciate the warning. I don't plan on running our group headfirst into something that we aren't ready for."
Ken relaxed into his chair and let out a sigh of relief. Not really caring how he looked to them in that moment. At least they weren't going to be reckless with something like this. And more importantly, if they did go chasing him and anything doesn't match what Ken says, he's in trouble. For Ken's mission and their safety… that absolutely needs to be avoided.
Morgana spoke up, "What can you tell us about him? Anything you remember?"
"Well... let's see…" Ken looked between Sakamoto-san and Amamiya-san, "I don't know if it's accurate, I was mostly avoiding his attacks and trying to keep my distance. But I think he could be around my height or the two of you, Amamiya-san and Sakamoto-san."
Amamiya-san just nodded.
Ken tapped his chin and closed his eyes.
"He… his outfit was black and…either a dark blue or purple, I'm not sure, he moved around so fast. He wielded a pistol that had a silencer on it. And he had a serrated sword. He… covered his face the whole time he summoned his Persona. Which means he was smart enough to realize if I got away, he needed to keep his identity a secret. However… he saw my face." Ken couldn't help but shiver at that last part.
If he had any luck, he'd not run into him in the real world. But somehow, he just knew that wasn't the last he was going to see of his black masked attacker.
"Amada-senpai, for what it's worth, we do kinda owe you for that save with Kaneshiro. So if you feel you are in danger of that dude, just let us know," Sakamoto-san said.
Ken's eyes shot open and he looked over at Sakamoto-san in surprise.
"You'd be willing to do that? But I thought I was suspicious?"
Sakamoto-san narrowed his eyes. "Damn straight you're suspicious! You ain't off the hook that easily! But you did us a solid, and I am not the kinda guy who doesn't pay people back if they owe us! Besides, seems like that guy is bad news for everyone!"
Ken winced and slumped in his seat. So much for hoping he was earning the trust of the one who was skeptical of him the most.
Takamaki-san groaned and shook her head. Niijima-san just rolled her eyes but then cleared her throat to get the group's attention.
"Back to the topic at hand… if you felt unprepared, why did you come back?" Niijima-san asked, "Why did you follow the others, and go back into the Metaverse, risking seeing him possibly again?"
Ken grimaced. "Like I said… I was tired of seeing innocent people hurt."
And… it was technically true. He just felt that it wasn't right to back away, not when Mitsuru-san and everyone were doing their hardest to help innocents, people who couldn't defend themselves.
Ken then shrugged. "I just figured I'd have to be more careful going forward. And to be completely honest… I was curious. I couldn't stop thinking about it once I left that Shadow Ne—I mean… right Metaverse. Sorry. But anyways… so I tried it one more time. And… that was when I saw you entering… the Palace, was it?"
"Yeah, that's right." Amamiya-san nodded.
"I heard you guys talking and it made me realize you were the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. And I… I wanted to know how you did it."
Ken then hesitated, unsure if he should say what he's been thinking about for the past few weeks.
"Hm? What's the matter?" Takamaki-san asked, her blue eyes filled with concern.
"It's nothing but um…" Ken ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Spit it out already!" Sakamoto-san said impatiently.
Morgana huffed. "Tsk, you have no patience, Ryuji."
"Can it, you stupid cat!"
"Guys…" Amamiya-san said; his voice was quiet but the authority in his voice made them immediately settle down.
Ken just smiled awkwardly. He might as well say it.
"Your goal… resounded with me," Ken admitted. "A long time ago, the police wronged me as well. They accepted a lie that a powerful group manufactured to protect themselves… a lie about how my mother had died. Officially, she died because of a car accident. Nobody knew the truth. I couldn't help but feel angry that they wouldn't punish the true culprit, that they just swallowed a convenient lie."
"Amada-kun…" Niijima-san breathed, her eyes filled with sympathy. "I… I had no idea…"
Ken just shrugged. "It's… something I don't really like to talk about."
As much as he loved SEES, and he wouldn't trade them for anything… Ken couldn't help but wish that his mother didn't have to die. He hated it but his memories of her were becoming vaguer and vaguer as he grew older. Sometimes he wondered if he didn't have pictures of her… he'd eventually forget her face.
"That's… That's effed up!" Sakamoto-san slammed a hand on the table again, looking at him fiercely. "They just let it go?! You've gotta tell me that her killer was punished!"
If only he knew. Somehow, he didn't think that they would take just who Shinjiro-san was too lightly.
"Two years after my mother's death, the one responsible got caught up in some trouble and was shot by… someone insane. But after all of that, it didn't make me feel better," Ken stated.
"At least your mom can rest easy, yeah?" Sakamoto-san offered.
Ken smiled to himself. Technically yes, but not for the reasons Sakamoto-san was thinking of. There was so much nuance to that situation he didn't understand as a kid at first. He couldn't explain it to them all. He wasn't comfortable explaining it to them for one. But for the other… would they judge him? Forgiving the one who killed her?
Would they find him weak for letting go of his anger? Becoming close to Shinjiro-san? No… that was too personal. They might not understand.
He then continued, "But because of that… I forced myself to move on. My mother would've wanted me to live, not be hung over her death."
"That's very mature of you, Senpai," Takamaki-san complimented, only to frown. "Though I don't think I would be able to do that, if Kamoshida went through something similar…"
"Kamoshida was terrorizing you personally," Ren said quietly, taking a few steps forward to place a hand on her shoulder. "I don't think you can compare the situations, Anne."
Ken nodded, "He's right, Takamaki-san. Besides, we've all had our own kinds of suffering… I don't think it's beneficial to argue who has suffered more."
"Dude, what did I tell ya about being so formal…" Sakamoto-san groused, shooting him a look.
Niijima-san just arched an eyebrow at him. "I don't know about you, Ryuji, but I can't help but think that you could take a page out of Amada-kun's book."
"I'm fine just the way I am!" he grumbled.
"But anyways… I'm glad that you feel that way, Senpai," Amamiya-san broke in, quickly rolling his eyes with a smile before gesturing to his friends, "About us. That's one of our goals… to inspire people to fight back."
"Well, it is pretty noble—"
"But dude," Sakamoto-san blurted out, "why use a spear? Are you c—"
"I am not compensating for anything," Ken cut him off, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.
This again? Junpei-san had made that kind of joke a million times. Of course, Junpei-san had been referring to his diminutive height when he was younger, but he wasn't stupid. And besides that, he was taller than Sakamoto-san.
He clarified, "I've been practicing soujutsu since I was in middle school."
"Ryuji!" Niijima-san scolded, a slight blush on her face. "You shouldn't joke about that."
"You can't blame me for being curious!" he grumbled.
Amamiya-san just cracked a smirk. "I'm just surprised you understood the joke, Makoto."
"Ren! That's hardly gentleman-like!" Morgana scolded just as Niijima-san exclaimed, "How sheltered do you think I am?!"
"Ahem!" Takamaki-san then cleared her throat. "But… Senpai…"
Ken turned to look at her and she smiled hesitantly.
"You won't say anything to anyone, will you?" she said anxiously, clasping her hands together.
Ken shook his head, offering her a small smile to reassure her. She was normally such a cheerful girl… but she looked so anxious right now, her lips pursed together and a glimmer of fear in her eyes.
He gave a reassuring smile. "You have nothing to worry about, Takamaki-san. I won't be going to the police about this, I promise."
Just Mitsuru-san, really… But what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.
"Okay…" All tension seemed to leave Takamaki-san and she sighed in relief. "That's a load off of my shoulders."
"Duuude…" Sakamoto-san suddenly gaped at the clock. "Is lunch really almost over?!"
Takamaki-san squeaked. "A-Are you serious?"
"Relax, we still have over ten minutes," Amamiya-san said, looking rather unfazed.
Ken couldn't help but wonder if that was a Wild Card trait. Even though Minako-san was energetic, she never seemed to lose her head during combat.
"I will say, this conversation isn't over yet. We'll talk with you again Amada-senpai. But thank you for your time." Amamiya-san waved off.
The second-years all made their farewells, before scurrying out of the door with Morgana in tow. Ken just stared after them. They were certainly… colorful.
Niijima-san just sighed fondly, shaking her head. "Those three…"
"They seem pretty close," Ken mused.
"Well… they went through a lot in April together," Niijima-san said quietly, folding her hands in her lap.
She then looked at him hesitantly. She was biting her lower lip, looking guilty for some reason.
"What is it?" Ken frowned at her as he rose to his feet.
"It's just…" Niijima-san sighed heavily, looking down at her lap. "I'm sorry that you had to disclose that about your mother…"
"Don't be," Ken was quick to reassure her. "You didn't force me to talk about my mom… And besides..."
He pursed his lips together, wondering if he should touch on her father.
He finally settled on, "I'm sorry what happened to your father. He didn't deserve that."
Niijima-san bit her lip before lifting her chin. "So…you were there. Weren't you? You were there when I awakened to my Persona?"
Ken couldn't help but feel guilty. But he nodded his head.
"Kaneshiro will be rotting in jail for the rest of his life. It's nothing more than he deserves. And Dad... I like to think that he's pleased with my choice." Niijima-san stood up straighter.
"I'm sure he is." Ken gave her a smile. "And... don't feel bad about my mom, really. I just wanted to let you know how I felt."
She said abruptly, "I was the same too. I thought the Phantom Thieves were people to be admired… especially with how they handled Kamoshida…"
She must feel terribly guilty about that. He didn't know the full story, but from the news coverage… Kamoshida really made Ekoda look like child's play.
"More people should stand up to those kinds of injustice…" Ken mused.
He couldn't help but wonder if people weren't so complacent, would Minato-san even need to die? Would people have called out to Nyx? He knew that Minato-san had died happy, knowing that he had saved the world—no, that he had protected his friends—but the what ifs came to his mind from time to time.
"Amada-kun… it… it's not up to me, but…" Niijima-san looked at him carefully. "I think you wouldn't make a bad Phantom Thief."
What? She thought what? Ken looked around, before pointing at himself.
"Me? You're referring to me?" he asked dumbly, even though he knew perfectly well that he was the only other person in the room.
"Yes, you," Niijima-san laughed gently, her lips curving into a smile.
"But—"
"You helped heal Anne and you're the one to turn the tides against Kaneshiro. And well… I was rather impressed with you when you jumped over the railing."
Ken tried not to groan, and he felt his face warm up with embarrassment. He just remembered his instincts screaming at him to run, to get as far away as possible. And it hurt like hell when he had jumped.
"I'm going to try to forget that ever happened," he grumbled, stepping closer to the door. "Hopefully before lunch ends."
Though he doubted it, seeing that there were less than ten minutes left…
"You should call me by my first name."
Ken blinked at her, pausing at the door. "…I beg your pardon?"
"Ren, Anne, Ryuji, and Yusuke all call me Makoto," she explained, tucking her hair behind her ear. "And they should call me Senpai, as they do with you. But I told early on that I would rather them just call me Makoto. I'd… like for you to call me Makoto as well."
"Well… if that's what you really want, Makoto—Makoto-san," Ken said, unable to stop himself from stumbling over her name.
It felt so strange to just drop the honorific. Especially since they hadn't known each other for that long. It felt more natural to refer to her as he did with everyone in SEES and the Investigation Team.
"Difficult for you?" she teased lightly.
"I'm not used to it." Ken smiled sheepishly. "But I don't mind if you want to call me by my first name."
While he always was polite when it came addressing people (annoyingly so, according to Minako-san), he never minded being called by his first name. Out of everyone in SEES, only Mitsuru-san and Aigis-san would address him formally. The others all just called him by his first name, although the other girls did attach an honorific to his name. The Investigation Team seemed to follow his senpai in how they addressed him, as well.
Makoto-san just smiled at him. "I'd like that."
Shinjiro could count a total of six puppies curled up against a black shiba inu.
The screen then jostled as Fuuka moved her laptop back to the desk.
"I'm surprised about their fur colors," Shinjiro remarked.
Most of the puppies had tan and black fur, though there was one puppy with cream fur.
Fuuka let out a hum. "Well, Koro-chan is albino. It's probably recessive genes."
Shinjiro just shrugged. "You're the scientist, not me."
He really needed to get moving. Aki and Minako were having their first kid, and he wouldn't be surprised if Yoshino got pregnant soon. Takeba's twins were growing like weeds. Koromaru had his own litter of puppies now. Watch Ken get a girlfriend before he got the chance to propose.
Nah, that wouldn't happen. Ken was even more uninterested than Aki, even though he actually acknowledged the fangirls.
Minako had joked about having a better selection of engagement rings in Tokyo, but they were also more expensive. But none of the rings he had seen jumped out at him. None of them seemed to fit Fuuka. He didn't want to half-ass it either and just pick out a flashy ring. Fuuka deserved better than that.
Fuuka just giggled in response.
"Well, biology isn't exactly my specialty," she said lightly, before looking at him curiously.
Shinjiro frowned. "What is it?"
"It's just…" Fuuka trailed off with a sigh.
She then wrapped her arms around herself, looking sad.
"I asked for a few days off this month and I was told no. I thought it would've been nice to visit, since Ken-kun will be off for the summer soon."
Figures... Shinjiro hated Fuuka's boss. On the couple occasions that he was able to visit Fuuka during work, her boss would always give him that judgmental look. He always micromanaged everything too. But he knew that Fuuka was fortunate to have found a good job fresh out of university, even with her talent, so Shinjiro kept his mouth shut around him even when he was being a prick to Fuuka.
"Well, there's no stopping us from going to visit Port Island," Shinjiro said. "We probably should, anyways, with Obon coming up."
And besides that, it would be nice to just go back to Port Island. And to actually sleep in his bed with Fuuka. Mitsuru had (of course) fitted his bedroom with a nice bed, but it wasn't the same. He missed the feeling of Fuuka curled up to him. Tokyo was just… so big. He didn't know how anyone could see Tokyo as home.
Fuuka raised an eyebrow. "Why not make it your birthday, then? Obon is only a couple days after that."
"Yeah, I should celebrate me getting old," Shinjiro deadpanned.
"Shinji." Fuuka shot him an exasperated look. "You're turning twenty-five. You're hardly old."
"Aki is gonna rub it in my face," he grumbled.
"Akihiko-senpai is only a month younger than you."
Shinjiro rolled his eyes. "You think he cares?"
Fuuka just shook her head.
"You're impossible," she said, but her voice was affectionate.
"Love you too," Shinjiro-san said dryly, before glancing at the clock on his laptop—he didn't want to lose track of time.
It was nearly six already? Time had really flown by.
"I've gotta go, though. I should start cooking dinner."
"Okay. Love you." Fuuka smiled sweetly at him.
Shinjiro felt his face warm. He didn't know what he did to deserve her, but he sure as hell wasn't complaining.
After they exchanged goodbyes, Fuuka hung up the call, making the screen go black. Shinjiro was on his feet, pushing the chair in, just as the door leading outside opened.
"I'm home," Ken announced, shutting the door behind him.
Shinjiro turned to look at him. "Hey. How was school today?"
Ken just threw himself onto the couch with a long-suffering groan. This made Shinjiro-san raise an eyebrow. That was more of a Minako thing, not a Ken thing.
"The Phantom Thieves confronted me today," he muttered. "I managed to come up with a cover story."
Shinjiro crossed his arms over his chest. "Then why do you look so bummed out?"
Ken rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. He was quiet, long enough for Shinjiro to want to tell him to spit it out already. But then he spoke.
"One of them suggested that I could make a decent Phantom Thief. I still don't know how to take that," Ken said flatly.
Ken, a Phantom Thief? Was he serious?
Shinjiro just stared. "Please tell me you're joking."
"Yeah, because I'm known for being a jokester," Ken deadpanned as he sat up.
God, Mitsuru would actually throw a fit if they actually asked Ken that. Probably freak people out too by creating a goddamn blizzard in July.
"Did they buy the story at least?"
"I think so. I took Minako-san and Akihiko-san's suggestions and managed to come up with something…" Ken shrugged. "Maybe if I'm lucky they'll just forget about me so I can continue with keeping tabs on them."
Somehow, he really doubted that, but there was no way he was gonna say that to Ken. He was being hard enough on himself, even without Shinjiro adding anything.
Saturday, July 9th, 2016
The next few days flew by quickly. Ren had busied himself with hanging out with his friends and working jobs as a way to distract himself from the approaching deadline. He had started to hang out with Makoto now that they didn't have to worry about Kaneshiro, and it was funny to see how she reacted to certain things.
But it was a relief to see the news spam about Kaneshiro turning himself in. With his disgusting, often disturbing, comments about women, Ren was more than happy to see that man behind bars.
And to see their approval on the Phan-Site jump was nice too.
If only exams weren't so close. He hadn't done too well during the last exam…
But now they had gathered in Leblanc, enjoying the day together.
"Hey, hey, what should we do to celebrate? We did a buffet for Kamoshida, a hotpot party for Madarame… we should do something big!" Ryuji said eagerly.
"Hold it." Makoto held up a hand, sternly staring at Ryuji. "Exams are coming up in less than a week. Have you been studying?"
You could have heard crickets chirping, if you were in the countryside.
Makoto looked from Ryuji to Anne to Yusuke to Ren, looking unimpressed. "…Are you serious? I literally asked you this a few days ago, Ren…"
"Hey, I convinced you to take a break," Ren said with a shrug. "But I'm doing okay-ish."
"Okay-ish isn't enough," Makoto said flatly. "You should really keep up your grades."
She shook her head, letting out a soft sigh.
"We shouldn't celebrate until exams are over. You need to focus on studying," she stated.
"Whaaaat?" Anne groaned, sinking low into her seat. "But I'm no good at school, unless it's English…"
"I have a scholarship because of my art," Yusuke volunteered.
Makoto insisted, "You still need to keep up your grades. If you do poorly, your scholarship could be revoked."
"Revoked? But I am doing fine enough!" Yusuke frowned at her.
Makoto crossed her arms. "Then you will be able to keep up when I test you to see how prepared you are, all of you."
"We can have all the fun you want, afterwards…" She paused for a moment, pursing her lips, then added, "Within reason, of course."
"Fiiiiine, whatever you say… Momkoto." Ren teased.
Makoto shook her head in exasperation. "That… was awful Ren."
Ren just snickered in response.
Anne sat up, her eyes brightening with excitement. "Ooh, maybe we can catch the fireworks festival! It's the Monday after exams, so it'd be perfect!"
"Did you not hear what I said?" Makoto sighed.
"No, no, I hear you!" Anne waved her off, flapping a hand at Makoto.
But then she clasped her hands together, giving Makoto an imploring look. She batted her eyes at Makoto, making Ren chuckle. She was really too cute.
"Though… it'd be a biiiig help if you helped us study! You're like the top of your grade, right?" Anne asked. "You said you wanted to test us anyway!"
Makoto's face flushed. "It's… It's not a big deal… But alright, I'll help you."
Then she looked to Ren, looking curious.
She asked, "Though, what's our next move? Regarding the Phantom Thieves."
Ren's hand drifted up to his bangs to toy with them as he thought.
"We'll have to show you Mementos," Ren said.
"Mementos…?"
"It's basically a place that acts as everyone's Palace," Morgana explained. "It's how we change the smaller scale targets' hearts."
Makoto's eyes widened. "I was wondering how you were handling those requests… but what do you mean, everyone's Palace?"
Ryuji sighed, slumping in his seat. "Eh… you'll see when we show you, it's kinda easier to explain it once you see it. But man… the targets are getting tougher and tougher in there…"
Yusuke remarked, "Naturally. But in turn, we are getting stronger."
Morgana then walked across the table, leaping into Ren's lap. "But besides all that, what's the verdict? What are we gonna do about Amada?"
Yusuke leaned against his seat and said, "Yes, I was wondering that myself when Anne called me and put me on speaker so I could listen in."
Anne nodded. "I'm so glad he promised not to tell anyone. And so far, it seems he is keeping his word."
"Yeah, but how can we know we can trust him to keep his promise?" Ryuji argued. "We still don't know him that much. What if this is all some trick or something?"
"Well…" Ren said slowly, "we could always ask him to join us."
Five heads whipped to stare at him.
"Hear me out," Ren said, holding up a hand.
"Go on…" Yusuke said slowly.
"He's at least a little experienced. He helped save our butts when we fought Kaneshiro. And you have to agree that from what you've seen… he's nice enough, isn't he? Plus, he does agree for what we fight for, and if it's really a trick, we could sus it out quickly. I was on the fence with him, but I'm starting to think he might be the real deal."
Makoto chuckled. "I honestly had the same thought about Ken."
"I think… we shouldn't be so eager to let him in so quickly. I think we should all keep an eye on him from a distance. Still get to know him and if we're more certain then we can extend the invite," Morgana suggested.
Ren was going to respond to Morgana but then realized what Makoto said. So he was Ken now, huh? Just a few days ago, Makoto was calling him Amada-kun. Seems like he earned her trust rather quickly.
The others were discussing the pros and cons of what Ren suggested. The most surprising is Ryuji seemed to be softening up on his distrust of Ken during their conversation.
Ren just got up to start making coffee for himself and the others, as well as a glass and fill it up with ice so he can get a soda for Ryuji.
"But I dunno, Ren…" Ryuji shrugged and cut through the chatter. "I think we should hold on that a bit. I mean, Morgana sorta does have a point. Wait and get to know 'em more before considering letting him in on us, y'know?"
Ren nodded. "Fair enough."
The one named Ryuji had been talking about a fireworks festival, but that wasn't what had caught Futaba's attention.
It was this other they had apparently encountered in their… thievery. The one named Ken Amada. It probably wouldn't have caught Futaba's attention, if she hadn't tried to hack into the archives of the Shadow Operatives repeatedly over the years.
Mom had always been super vague about why she was helping them or just who exactly they were, but Futaba couldn't help but wonder if they knew something about her research. But they had good security, so all Futaba managed to dig up recently was a folder of files. It was like… a profile on a person each.
Futaba didn't really know the connection the people in the folder had. It would've been age, since most of them listed were born either in 1991 or 1992, but Ken Amada stuck out like a sore thumb. He was only a few years older than Futaba, born in 1998. Though she didn't get what exactly S.E.E.S. was supposed to be. Were they spies?
It was the least she could do. Find her mom's research…
"Futaba…" a voice hissed. "Have you forgotten what you've done?!"
Futaba looked up fearfully to see a pair of wild, bloodshot eyes.
"You killed me! You stopped me from completing my research!"
"No…" Futaba whimpered, shaking her head hard. "It's not real…"
She gripped the edge of the desk.
"You're not real!" she repeated, desperately praying that it was true.
"Futaba?" There was a rapping sound on her door. "Are you okay?"
Futaba bit her lip, raising her head.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay, Sojiro!" she said shakily.
"Are you sure?" Sojiro asked slowly. "Er… are you hungry? I made curry for you…"
Futaba's stomach growled at just the mention, but Futaba ignored it. "Maybe later."
"Okay… I'll just leave it here for you. Don't let it get cold."
She heard his footsteps fade away, and Futaba turned back to the computer screen. Maybe… it was time for her to reach out to the Phantom Thieves. Futaba bit her lip. No—she couldn't… it was just so embarrassing to reach out to them. It was all in her head. She should be able to beat this.
But Ken Amada… he may have an answer about her mom's research. Maybe… if she managed to find her mom's research, this would all stop haunting her.
Now to find out this guy's phone number…
Pretty much a bridge between the Kaneshiro and Futaba arcs, since the Thieves had roughly a week of downtime with the date, I set for them to steal Kaneshiro's heart. I hope the Thieves' confronting Ken was satisfactory, though. But they're far from done with Ken~
Edit Notes (5/6/24): Heavy edits on the PTs confronting Ken scene, including Ken coming up with a more thorough cover-up. Thank you to my beta angelrin89!