[11th May]

At long last, the dreadful day had finally arrived. The only thing even the most fearless Phantom Thief fear. The only thing made a certain man who feared nothing fear...

Mid-term exam week.

Walking down the way to the school, Akira only kept his eyes down. If not for the school uniform, he looked like a prisoner going to a guillotine. Actually, 'going to a guillotine' was the best description of his feeling right now.

"I'm dead... I'm so dead..."

However, the voice of a certain volleyball player snapped him out of his thought.

"You're very much alive, Akira," Shiho deadpanned, raising her hand and flipped his forehead.

"Ow!" Akira yelped, rubbing his forehead in slight pain. "I know... I just don't know how my result would play out."

"You'll be fine, we studied together yesterday," She smiled, moving his bangs aside and caressed the spot she flipped his forehead. "Have some faith in yourself."

"I'm trying..." Trailing off, the amateur writer only blushed from the contact. "Uh... Shiho, people might get the wrong idea..."

Widening her eyes, Shiho hastily took off her hand and looked away. "O-oops, I let myself got carried away... haha..." Trailing off, a deep shade of red visibly crept on her cheeks.

Akira blinked in slight confusion, awkwardly turning his glance back to the road in front of him. Shiho acted so weirdly for the last two days, inviting him for a study session, and now this.

For a split moment, a very, very split moment, the idea of Shiho had the same feeling as he popped up in his mind. And as a result, the same deep shade of red crept onto his cheeks as well.

'No, don't overthink about it, Akira!' Mentally yelled at himself, Akira hastily shook his head and cleared the thought. "You have a goddamn exam to deal with, don't waste your thought on this kind of stuff."

Feeling the package containing the Teddie doll he was going to give to Mr. Ushimaru for his daughter, he used this to keep the thought about Shiho in check. And no, he told himself to never think that way about Shiho.

Without a word, Akira picked up his pace with a stiff posture, while Shiho just blinked at his back. "Did I went a bit too far with it?" She asked herself, looking at her hand with a furrowed brow.

However, as the duo arrived in the hallway, they were greeted by the sight of a group of students in front of the notice board. And behind them all was Ren, with Morgana poking out from the shoulder bag too.

"I can't believe this... A school assembly?" One student in the group said out loud. "During the exam week? The hell are they thinking?"

"It's the day after tomorrow, right?" Another student asked, and the boy next to her nodded. "I wonder if it's gonna be about Mr. Kamoshida again..."

"Ugh, I can't believe the school is messing with our schedules like this..."

"A mandatory assembly during exam week, huh?" Morgana asked, slightly poking out further from his bag. "Sounds rough for all of you."

"Yeah, it is," Ren nodded, noticing both Akira walking up to them. "Oh hey, Ichijo."

"Akira is fine, Amamiya," The said amateur writer shrugged, glancing over to the notice board. "But what's that about?"

"It says there's going to be a mandatory assembly on the day after tomorrow, dunno what it's about though."

"Urgh... seriously?"

"120% serious."

Sensing that Ren was serious, Akira just sighed and accepted this fact. "Just... please don't take too long, I still need to remember that English stuff..."

"Same for me," The delinquent shrugged.

[About half an hour later, Class 2-D]

The first subject of the week was Japanese history, a subject that Akira revisioned with Shiho for yesterday. And not only that, he was thankful that the section he had to revise on wasn't that much. It was just a few stories during the late Heian Period.

However, out of everything he remembered, the essay question had to land on the single part he had the worse on.

a)What historical figure inspired the idiom of "favoring the magistrate"?

Essay Question: Provide the reason why the historical figure is viewed as a hero.

"F-favoring the magistrate? The reason he was viewed as a hero?" Akira shuttered, darting his attention over the entire paper in panic. All he had left about this was just faint mentions, and fragments of the study session yesterday surfaced. "...Shiho mentioned it, right?"

(Yesterday, Library)

"Mr. Kuni told our class that this is definitely on the mid-term, so we should recite this," Shiho said as she tapped her pen against her lips, staring at the notebook on the table.

"The story of Minamoto no... Yoshitomo?" Akira blinked, staring at his own notebook with confusion. "Wait a sec, it's Yoshitomo, right?"

"It's Yoshitsune," The volleyball player deadpanned, before returning back to her tapping. "The story of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, or a story of an underdog if you will."

"A story of an underdog... Okay."

"It's quite a good one at that too," Shiho nodded with a smile, tugging a strand of hair behind her ear. "So... Yoshitsune worked under his brother Minamoto no Yoritomo... Then they go to a duel and Yoritomo won..."

However, Akira's focus landed on something else. Watching Shiho being this focused, he found himself couldn't tear his eyes away from her. Maybe it was because how last months of his life was literally chaos of event after another event.

But now everything had cooled down, and after that talk with Naoko... He couldn't ignore his feeling toward Shiho anymore, he promised, after all.

However, his trains of thought were stopped as Shiho looked at him confused. "Akira, something's wrong with me?"

"H-huh? Of course not, you're just as great as ever."

"But you've been staring at me for the last five minutes..."

"Oh, I'm just... You looked fantastic today, I just can't get my eyes off of you."

In response, Shiho only blushed furiously and hid her face behind her books. And millions of possibilities rushed through his head in just a millisecond. Did he go a bit too far? What was she thinking right now?

What if she only saw him as a teammate-

(Back to present)

'Nope, don't get sidetrack Akira!' Almost smacking his head to the table right in front of him, Akira hastily shook his head and looked at the clock. It was 9:45 right now, and the exam would be ended at 10:00.

Or in other words, he only had fifteen minutes left.

'Oh shit, I just spent the last fifteen minutes daydreaming!' Widening his eyes in horror, the amateur writer hastily grabbed his pen and started writing. Right now, he had nothing left but to believe in his own writing skill, especially his speed of writing. 'Damn you, teenage Hormones...'

"...So Yoshitune was working under his brother Minamoto no Yoritomo..." Murmuring to himself as his pen furiously flowed through the answer paper, Akira tried his best to ignore the pain in his wrist right now. "...Then they went into a duel and Yoshitune lost, and Yoshitsune killed himself later..."

"...Since people rooted for the weak, he was sung as a hero-"

"Time's up!"

Finishing his essay at the same moment Mr. Iuni announced the end of the exam, Akira panted heavily looked at the exam paper in front of him. The words were a bit Scrawl, but it was readable. So it should be fine, right?

But now, it was in the past now. Let's hope his answer was the correct one, and putting some hope on Shiho too.

[Afterschool, Ground Floor]

Since it was exam week, everyone was able to leave after the exam of the day was finished. In other words, it meant that they were able to leave much earlier than usual, around noon to specific.

Standing at the door to the staff's office, Akira glanced at the package in his hand. "It's just giving a package to Mr. Ushimaru, it's nothing really special," He shrugged, opening the door and walked over to Mr. Ushimaru's seat.

It took no time for Mr. Ushimaru to notice him approaching, and gave the amateur writer a confused look. "Ichijo? Why are you here, school is ended."

"I know, but it's more a personal matter, Mr. Ushimaru," Akira said, giving the teacher the package. "Teddie-san sent the doll from Inaba, and your daughter would appreciate a gift from her father, right?"

"...Oh, the doll for Setsuna," The social studies teacher scanned through the entire staff room. From the look of it, he probably didn't want anyone to see this happening. "I rarely said this but... thank you, Ichijo."

"You don't need to, Mr. Ushimaru."

"But you just spared me from a month-worth of constant begging from Setsuna, so I still had to thank you."

"That's nothing special, it was Nanako-chan who insisted to call Teddie-san about the doll, after all," Rubbing the back of his neck, Akira couldn't help but smile a bit from how weird it was to see Mr. Ushimaru being this... easy-going?

"Actually... maybe you should show this side of you a bit more, Mr. Ushimaru," He suggested, earning a confused look from the said teacher. "I mean, most people here either fear you, or somewhat dislike you becuase of your all business attitude..."

"It's just a suggestion, though."

"Showing this side..." Trailing off, the social studies teacher shrugged. "I might consider this."

"Then... good luck with that," Giving him a thumbs-up, Akira bowed politely and left the staff room.

[13th May, Morning]

Social Studies and Japanese were a breeze for Akira, thanks to his research on Western literature in his free time. Unlike how he performed for the last two days, which consisted of a lot of struggle and nervousness, he was filled with confidence today.

At least his performance was much better than biology yesterday, which he just forgot at least sixty percent of things he revised. Maybe he should ask Shiho for another study session, for the next exam.

However, this was interrupted as the school called everyone to a meeting, much to everyone's annoyance. And the worse thing? Today wasn't the final day of the exam.

Glancing at the principal with a deadpanned face, Akira just rubbed his nosebridge in annoyance. "Can't you just start this already..." He murmured, turning over to the direction of class 2-C. In another word, Shiho's class.

The said volleyball player was having the same expression of boredom and annoyance as well. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? He really couldn't decide. Besides, where was Keigo? They were in the same class, and he saw Keigo during the exam too...

"Stop looking around and making a fool of yourself," Before he could react, Keigo's unimpressed voice rang from behind. "And... what in the world is the principal waiting for?"

Looking at his watch, Kobayakawa stayed still for a moment before clearing his throat. "...Ever since that specific incident, many of you have voiced concerns that I could not bear to ignore," His voice rang throughout the entire hall, even if no one really wanted to listen.

"We believe the mental health of our student body is absolutely vital, so we've acquired the services of a therapist."

Now, this caught Akira's attention. "Therapist?" He blinked in confusion, resting his arms in his pocket. "Seriously?"

"The floor is yours, Doctor..." Trailing off, Kobayakwa looked over to aside and someone else came out.

It was a young man in around his late-20s with brown, short unkempt hair, and he wore a white lab coat over a blue dress shirt and loose tie. And the square glasses he wore just screamed 'nerd' to Akira, for some odd reasons.

The 'Doctor' tapped the microphone a few times before clearing his throat. "It's... nice to meet you all," He awkwardly said, giving everyone a smile with the same level of awkwardness.

"Isn't he hot?"

"Whoa, his voice is sexy!"

Even Akira had to admit, the man was good-looking. But the whispers of straight thirst from the female students really made him cringed. The same could be said for Keigo as well, as he took a small step away from the girls before him.

However, as the doctor blissfully unaware (or ignored) the thirst whisper before him, and continued to introduce himself. "My name is-"

Before he could finish his introduction, the microphone just decided to give up and cut his voice. For a few long seconds, Akira could feel the thick awkwardness in the air here.

"Huh?" Blinking in slight confusion, the doctor examined the microphone from every angle he could reach and patted it. Once he checked that it's working again, he nodded to himself with a faint smile and continued his introduction. "My name is Maruki Takuto. Thank you for welcoming me to your school."

He then tried to bow politely, before his head hit on the microphone. Watching this scene revealing upon itself, Akira couldn't help to not sigh at it. "...Banging your head to the microphone... that's first."

But then, the name of the doctor felt... familiar to him. Did he hear this name from someone else?

"His name is Maruki Takuto, he was... an old friend of mine, and I think he's a counselor."

'Wait, Doctor Takemi mentioned him!' Widening his eyes in realization, the amateur writer made a mental note to ask him about Takemi when they met again. "Well, the said counselor came for me instead..."

Meanwhile, Takuto continued his introduction. "No need to be formal with me, though," He said, still rubbing the spot he accidentally hit the microphone. "I'm just here to counsel anyone who's interested."

"You can even call me Doc, if that would help you feel more comfortable. Any assistance you need, I'll be-" Interrupting himself, Takuto scanned through the entire hall and smiled awkwardly. "Oh... I guess I'm not really any good for helping with money problems... I'm dealing with this problem personally right now"

The hall was instantly filled with girl's laughter at his lighthearted joke, but it died down as Kobayakawa took over the microphone. "Thank you, Dr. Maruki. Now the assembly is over, all students please return to their classrooms."

[Later, Courtyard.]

After the assembly ended, Shiho and Ann decided to walk together back to their classrooms. However, the boys were nowhere to be seen.

"That was... something," Shiho couldn't help but comment, tilting her head down in thought.

"Yeah, it makes sense..." Ann nodded.

However, the volleyball player looked to the glass pane instead. "Maybe it's my fault..." She trailed off, her grip on the iron fences tightened. "My stupid self tried to..."

"You don't need to say it out, Shiho," Ann stopped her, placing her hand on Shiho's shoulder. "It's all in the past now."

"I know, Akira... saved me from that, after all."

Feeling that this conversation would only go darker and more somber, the model hastily found a new topic to talk about. "Yeah, speaking of Ichijo, how's the chase?"

"He told me that I looked fantastic, I lingered too long on his forehead..." Trailing off, Shiho just gave out a long sigh and played with a strand of her hair. "I think we just both took one step forward, and one step back."

"Ahh... the typical awkwardness between crushes!" Ann grinned. "Never thought I'll see this happen to my friends!"

"Wha- Ann?"

"C'mon, you're not walking around in a circle, there's already signs of progress!"

As much as she wanted to correct Ann that they're nothing more, Shiho knew that she wasn't going to stop talking about it until... something. In the end, she just gave out a long sigh and pinched her nosebridge.

Thankfully, the barrage of questions was interrupted as Ren and Ryuji walked up to them. "Yo," Ryuji greeted, giving the two girls a casual wave.

"Hey," Ren nodded in addition.

Ann, on the other hand, furrowed her brow in response. "Ryuji, I was about to ask Shiho the 'big one'!"

"Huh?" The two boys blinked in unison, giving each other a confused glance. "What?"

"It's about Shiho and Aki-"

Before Ann could finish her word, Shiho hastily covered her mouth and stopped her. "Ann's just want to peek into my love life, or the lack of one," She said with an awkward smile, releasing Ann's mouth after she stopped her attempt to continue.

"...Okay?" Glancing at each other again, the two boys decided to drop this conversation and returned to what they're for.

"Anyway," Ryuji shook his head, running his hand through his hair. "You ever expect this place to actually give a shit about our mental health?"

"That fat ass bastard mostly did this for positive PR," Shiho murmured, just loud enough for the trio to hear her. "He's just doing the goddamn bare minimum."

"After all these, the school had the audacity to get us a therapist now..."

Feeling her subtle anger beneath, Ann reached out and comforted her. "...Well, our school made national news. Maybe they figured they'd look even worse if they didn't do anything for us." She said with a wry smile.

Ren shrugged. "Ann has a point."

Ryuji nodded with a deadpanned look. "And Doctor, uh... Doctor Whatshisname."

"Maruki," Ann and Shiho answered in unison.

"Yeah-" The ex-runner nodded, mindlessly kicking the ground below his feet. "Wasn't that guy just clowin' up onstage?"

"Yeah, a bit," Ren nodded, keeping his gaze subtly on Shiho herself.

As much as she tried to hide it, but Ren couldn't help but felt a sense of familiarity with Shiho. It wasn't like the usual kind though. For a second there, especially when she struggled to hide her anger on Kobayakawa... He felt like he's watching Swan right then and there.

Something just wasn't right with her, she just felt like... she's been struggling to hold her rage.

'Maybe it's just because how the principal tried to play it down,' Shaking his head to clear him from this thought, but he thought just had to come up with a logical conclusion.

However, before the delinquent could create any logical conclusion, his trains of thought were interrupted as someone approached them. Glancing over, it was the 'Doctor Whatshisname' himself.

"Hey there," Takuto greeted the four with a light smile, his eyes scanned through the group before continuing. "Sakamoto-kun, Suzui-san, and Takamaki-san, right?"

The said three just nodded in confusion. How in the world did he know their name?

Landing on Ren himself, the counselor pondered for a bit before continuing. "And that must make you... Amamiya-kun, right?"

"Yep, that's me."

Couldn't keep his confusion anymore, Ryuji asked out loud, "How d'you know our name?"

"Well..." Takuto hung his head down in slight shame. "I was informed of certain students before beginning my tenure here."

"Those that had ah..." Glancing over to Shiho, he hesitated for a moment. "As much as I don't want to say it, but uh... previous interactions with Mr. Kamoshida."

Then, the counselor turned to Ren himself. "Amamiya-kun, it must've been especially tough for you after having just transferred here."

"Not really," Ren shrugged, earning a faint smile from him.

"You're quite the tough youngster- just don't overdo it, okay?"

Turning his focus onto Shiho, Takuto stopped for a second before talking again. "And you too, Suzui-san..." He trailed off, knowing that this was a really, REALLY sensitive subject to talk about in open.

"I understand, if not for Akira... I probably won't stand here."

Takuto nodded. "Right... I read what happened..."

Deciding that this was the right time to interrupt, Ryuji rubbing his shoulder and asked, "So... whaddya want with us?"

"I know I already offered my service to the student body," The counselor explained. "But would you four be interested in counseling?"

And without a second of hesitation, Ryuji turned back to Takuto with a monotonous voice. "Nope, not at all."

"Wha- Huh?!" Physically taken back by the bluntness, the counselor took about a moment to recompose himself.

"How's that surprising?" The ex-runner deadpanned.

"You're just a touch more emphatic than I expected..." Trailing off, Takuto looked over to the other three students. "What about you three, are you interested as well?"

Ann and Shiho exchanged a glance of hesitation, not know whether to accept the offer or not. On one hand, it might be something that they would benefit from, but the offer just sounded way too good to be true.

Of course, the look of hesitation hadn't gone unnoticed by Doc. "...But there are snacks if you come!" He said with a sheepish smile, somehow physically feeling the awkwardness between the group. "All you can eat... would be nice, but there's still plenty to be had. So, how about it?"

"...What," The two girls said in unison, only staring at Doc with a deadpanned look.

Ren, on the other hand, pinched a strand of his hair and pondered. "Tell me more of these snacks..." Trailing off, he tilted his head so his glasses reflected the light and blocked his eyes.

Ryuji was... surprised, to say the least. "Dude, you're falling for that?!"

"Amamiya's just being sarcastic," Shiho sighed. "Somehow, it's oddly fitting."

Takuto rubbed the back of his neck in response, feeling a bit uneasy about what he's going to say. "To be frank, I've been explicitly ordered to provide counseling to students directly involved with Mr. Kamoshida."

"It's in the school's interest... for its students."

"Ahh... the school's interest, huh?" Ryuji groaned, crossing his arms.

"Just as I thought..." The volleyball player added darkly.

"I know that asking you to be open with a complete stranger like myself is a lot." Doc sighed, feeling sympathetic toward the students before him. "Making this mandatory wouldn't do you any good, either. Might as well turn it into a worthwhile experience..."

"Oh! I know!" As if a light bulb just lighted up inside him, Maruki nodded to himself. "If you attend my counseling sessions, I'll teach you different ways to improve your mental acuity."

"Like, ways to hone your concentration before exams, or not getting nervous on dates..." Trailing off, the counselor scanned through all four of them. "So, how's that sound?"

"That sounds like something perfect for Akira..." Shiho murmured, rubbing her chin as she pondered. "And not getting nervous on a date..."

"That feels more like something for you," Ann giggled, lightly nudged her shoulder. "At this rate, you'll be the one to ask him-"

"Shud-shuddup, you meanie."

Ryuji, on the other hand, gave Ren a questioning look instead. "I... I'm not sure of myself. So, which way are you leanin'?"

"No harm in a little chat," Ren shrugged, adjusting his glasses. 'Besides, it might help with our work in Metaverse too...'

"Well... I guess we're not goin' to get away then," The ex-runner sighed, hanging his head low.

"Yeah..." Ann trailed off, with Shiho giving them a small nod.

"Really? Then, I guess it's a deal," Takuto smiled. "I'll be in the nurse's office- feel free to come by whenever it's convenient for you."

Ryuji shrugged. "Welp, we should get goin'."

"Okay, I'll see you later."

With that said from Doc, the Persona users continued on their way. However, Shiho was stopped as Takuto suddenly caught up to her. "I'm sorry, but Suzui-san, can I bother you a second more?"

Telling the others that she'll be alright, the volleyball player gave him a confused glance. "What's wrong?"

"Um... can you tell him about the counseling session for me?" Takuto asked. "He is also on the mandatory list as well..."

"Guessed it..." Trailing off, Shiho nodded. "I'll tell him about it."

"Thank you, and I shouldn't bother you either."

[Afterschool, Outside of the nurse's office]

Well, Akira figured that Takuto's arrival was at least somewhat related to Kamoshida, and he probably had to attend one himself. However, it was a bit funny that he was going to whether it's mandatory or not.

Standing outside of the nurse's office and waiting for his period, he couldn't help but predict how their meeting would happen. And with what Kasumi told him when they saw each other on the way, Takuto was one of the best counselors she had.

Before long, the nurse's office's door opened and Ren walked out with a faint smile. "Oh, you're next, Ichijo?" He asked, which Akira gave a nod in return.

And with that, Akira entered the room and greeted Maruki. It looked just like how it was as his last visit, right after him saving Mishima from that strike. "Well, it wasn't like there should be any changes..."

"Changes?"

"Oh, I've been here a while ago," Akira smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck out of embarrassment. "I was saving a student from a strike to the face, quite an idiot I am."

Maruki chuckled in response. "That's was quite stupid indeed."

Sitting down on the comfy couch and placed his bag aside, the amateur writer leaned back into the couch and gave out a breath.

"So, shall we begin?" Maruki asked, holding a clipboard in his hand. "Just relax, all right? I'm only here to listen o whatever you wish to talk about."

Akira nodded. "What to talk about..." Trailing off, the thought of Kimiko and Shinji surfaced in his mind. "I guess you knew about Kimiko, right?"

"Kimiko... You mean Akashi Kimiko?"

"Yeah, we used to be close friends," He admitted with another nod. "Hell, I used to have a crush on her."

Maruki didn't say anything in response, just writing notes on his clipboard and listened to what he had to say.

"It always felt weird to lose someone that has a place in your heart," Akira continued, sitting up straight. "You still have a lot of things you wanted to say to them, but you already missed the chance to say it."

"Yes, I'd say that I can understand how it feels," Doc nodded. "But there's no need to force yourself to talk, I know it's hard for you to open up."

"No, it's actually fine," The amateur writer answered with a shake of his head. "The last time I could open up was at her grave... ironic, isn't it?"

Taking a deep breath, he resumed his own monologue. "But... maybe that's why I went out and saved Shiho from Kamoshida. Maybe in my subconscious, I just did it to redeem myself."

"Don't be too harsh on yourself," Takuto said with a reassuring smile. "Even if your intention was just to pay for Akashi, you still saved someone."

"I know, I still saved Shiho," Giving out a long breath, Akira let himself fell back to the back of the sofa. "And that's all matters, saving someone's life, protecting them."

"That's strong of you, Ichijo-kun," Doc smiled as he wrote down some notes on his clipboard. "There's not that many people who could keep going after a tragedy like this..."

The amateur writer nodded in agreement. "Life still had to move on, after all."

"Back to Kimiko, even though Kamoshida is where he belongs, paying for his crime..." Trailing off, he hesitated for a moment. "There's always a thought of 'if she's still around, how'd she react?'"

"I guess I just really miss her..." He chuckled at his own words, glancing back at Maruki. "It's quite a childish wish, right? The past is past, I couldn't do anything about it anymore."

"No, it wasn't," Doc shook his head in response. "You're actually really mature to keep looking forward. As I've said before, not many people can keep going after something like this."

"Maybe... Even though tragedy makes good stories, but people might be happier if all those tragedies were wiped out."

"Unfortunately, that's impossible for us to do so."

"Yeah, good stories are bad lives, after all."

Before either one of them could continue, the school bell suddenly rang and interrupted the two's conversation. Widening his eyes in surprise, Takuto took a look at his watch and sighed. "Ah... I lost track of time again. We should wrap things up here for today, thank you for coming to see me."

"It's alright, Elizabeth-san should be fine with me coming home late, once in a while," Akira shrugged with a reassuring smile, remembering that he originally was going to talk about Takemi. "And oh, I kinda forgot to ask you about this, but..."

"What is it?"

"Do you know who Dr. Takemi is?" Akira asked. "She gave me your business card a while ago, telling me that you're her old friend."

"Takemi- Oh, you mean Tae-chan," Widening his eyes in realization, Takuto couldn't help but chuckle out loud. "Right, we used to study in the same college together."

"That's great, maybe you can pay her a visit later on?" The amateur writer suggested, getting up and grabbing his school bag. "Her clinic is in Yongen-Jaya, I think it's around the corner from a cafe called Leblanc."

"She asked you to ask me about it?"

"No, it just seems... I dunno, I just felt like it," Akira smiled, bowing politely at Doc. "Thank you for listening to me, Dr. Maruki."

With that said, Akira left the office and left Maruki alone. Once along again, Maruki took out his phone and stared at the lock screen picture. It was an old picture of him, Tae, and another girl in an amusement park.

"Life was simpler back then, right? Tae, Rumi."

[May 14th, Early Morning]

Today was the last day of the exam, the 'week of despair' was finally coming to a close. Standing on the platform and waiting for the train, Ryuji and Ren just decided to enjoy the final moments before their final exam.

"I'm so sleepy..." Ryuji yawned, rubbing his head in pure tiredness. "I ended up pullin' an all-nighter once I realized today's the last day of exams."

"I got an all-nighter myself too..." Ren nodded in sympathy, adjusting his glasses. "It's just I studied throughout last night."

"That's because you didn't listen to me!" Morgana shouted, crawling out from Ren's beg and smacked his head. "It won't happen if you just sleep on time!"

"Sometimes I just had to sacrifice sleep for a better result," The delinquent sighed, rubbing the spot Morgana just hit him. "But Ryuji, you did spend your all-nighter for studying, right?"

"Uh... nope, I just gave up and played games for the night."

Before Ren could respond, the voice of Ann rang from aside. "...Typical Ryuji," She said, walking up to them with her own yawn. "...Morning."

"Yo, look who's yawnin' too!"

"I just... had to get one last effort across the finish line..."

"Impressive, Lady Ann," Morgana smiled, keeping his tone as sweet as possible. "You're quite different from this stupid monke-"

"Don't gimme that crap, cat," Ryuji interrupted him with a glare. "Your brain's tiny compared to mine."

"Size is meaningless if there's nothing inside, y'know."

"What was that?!"

"Jeez... just knock it off, you two," Ren sighed, keeping the distance between the two. "I'm going to get me a headache if you two keep going like this."

"Yeah, you two gonna make me forget everything I memo-" Stopping in all of a sudden, Ann turned back and looked around the station. As if she was searching for something. "...I'm not imagining that, right?"

"What's wrong?" Ren asked.

"No, it's just... nothing," Shaking her head, Ann gestured to the approaching train. "Let's get going, shall we?"

Exchanging a confused glance between them, Ren and Ryuji decided to leave this out and continued their daily routine. However, something's clearly wrong with Ann, or she wouldn't keep looking around for something...

No, wait, she wasn't looking for something. She looking to avoid someone.

As the train arrived at Aoyama-Itchome, Ann's unease only intensified and infected the two boys as well. The entire aura around them just screamed 'there's a stalker behind me'

Turning around and noticing that the stalker kept following them, Ann could feel a huge drop of sweat crawled down her forehead. "Oh my god, that guy got off!"

"What?" Ren questioned, turning back with a raised eye. "There's a stalker?"

"I-I guess so, is it bad?"

"Of course it's bad!" Ryuji hissed, running his hand through his hair. "C'mon, I have a plan."

"That didn't sound... too great."

"Trust me, Ann. It'll be fine."

With little choice she had right now, Ann just sighed and followed the boys to the exit. As much as she felt like an idiot when she stood here and act, Ryuji said this was the best chance to catch that 'pervy bastard' (right from his word).

'What the hell am I doing?' She thought.

However, her trains of thought were interrupted as a set of footsteps approached her, and it only got louder. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, the set of footsteps continued to get louder and louder.

Before Ren and Ryuji came out and stopped him.

And their reaction could only boil down to one word. Confusion.

"What the hell?" Ryuji murmured, nudging at Ren.

"I... that's unexpected."

Instead of a middle-aged man they expected to see, it was a boy at their age level. And even without the dark blue hair that made him stood out, he looked... normal, or even on the handsome side.

But the said 'pretty boy' just tilted his head in confusion. Acting as if there's nothing wrong with it.

(To be continued.)

Preview:

The Phantoms and The Fools are faced with a surprise invitation.

As they entered the world of art and beauty, they discovered the dark secret lies below.

A pupil's mask to show its crack.

A chance encounter changed a lone Shogi Princess's life.

Next chapter:

"Unexpected Requests"

Stay Tuned!

So... after about a few weeks, Chapter 18 is finally here!

So... this is quite a long chapter, to be honest XD. Since it covered quite a lot of scenes. Anyway, now our beloved counselor is finally here! Welcome, Takuto!

Not only that, aside from the obvious exam, and a small 'Akira x Shiho' scene, we also finally get into the Madarame arc! But for those of you who read the original version, you should probably remember that The Fool had to deal with something else.

Of course, this plotline stays in this version. Now with two separate palaces to deal with, the first solo operation of The Fools is close!

Review Response (god, it's been a long while since I did this):

Wendel Santana: Thank you! But in all seriousness, it always felt strange to have someone ask you to continue, even if you already decided that you would XD. But still, thank you so much for leaving a review here.

Anyway, I hope you all like the story so far, reviews are definitely welcome!