Phantom Thieves of Hope - A Danganronpa X Persona 5 Story.

Chapter 33: Phantom Troupe/Study Group

Wicked Plan - Persona 5

"Th...THIS is Kaede's house!?"

"Oh yeah, I forget this is the first time you've actually been here..."

Makoto, Monomi, Komaru, Toko, and Shuichi all stood outside the gate of Kaede's house. Toko, who had never seen it before, was bewildered, finally letting it sink in the Akamatsu Family's wealth. The others found this very amusing.

"Are you jealous or something? I mean, it makes sense...Bet everyone wishes they could be this filthy rich..." Komaru sighed. Toko shot her a look.

"I AM rich!" Toko snapped, "I write like...5 bestsellers in a month! Why wouldn't I have a lot of money?"

"Oh yeah, that's fair..." Komaru realized, "But...wait...If you've got so much money, what do you spend it on? You said yourself that you didn't have any real hobbies besides reading."

"Look, we're not all anime junkies like you Omaru," Toko scoffed, "unlike you who spends her allowance, I spend my money on the important things. I'm a simple woman."

"Wouldn't know looking at your living spaces..." Makoto remarked, which caused the look to be rounded on him.

"What's THAT supposed to mean!?" Toko snarled.

Makoto didn't say anything. Despite Toko's claim of being simple and not needing random junk, her dorm room somehow still managed to look incredibly cluttered with books and manuscript pages scattered all over the place shoved in uncomfortable piles. Toko had mentioned before that she'd written over 80 novels, so it wasn't crazy to assume that many of those were her own works.

"Still, I am surprised..." Toko rubbed her eyes, "I kind of figured that all their wealth had been made on dirty money, but it does seem like this house has been around for a while...Kai and Kirie must have been rolling in doe back when he was still alive..."

"A lot of it is probably from Kaede as well. She might not have been aiming for fame and fortune, but she probably makes loads off her performances," Komaru suggested, "you've been quite quiet this whole time and you've been here before. What's your take on all this?"

Shuichi didn't seem to be listening. Komaru snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"Huh? Oh, s-sorry..." he turned his reality switch back on and turned to face her, "I was just thinking what we might be eating for dinner..."

"Why is THAT what you care about!?" Komaru exclaimed.

"Huh? Oh, no, it's just...!" Shuichi seemed to snap out of his trance, "the last time I was here, we made some soup for Kirie while she was bedridden, but I didn't have a proper look around Kaede-chan's kitchen. It's pretty big, especially compared to the one at my home."

"Yeah, your apartment's so small the kitchen is basically one-quarter of the living room..." Makoto recalled, "meanwhile this is basically a small mansion, so it's no surprise the kitchen's big. Now that you mention it, I'm also pretty curious about what she's eating here."

"What does she usually eat for lunch?" Monomi asked. Shuichi shook his head.

"Just the meals from the cafeteria. She usually stays in the dorms, so she just eats the food on campus," Shuichi told her, "she DOES seem to have a taste for Dango, Crepes, and Omellete Rice though."

"Mah Girl!" Komaru pumped her fist

"Of course YOU could relate, fatty..." Toko jeered. Now it was Komaru's turn to shoot looks.

"I'm not fat!" she snapped, puffing out her cheeks, "my weight is below average! Like your looks, until recently!"

"Well if we're applying the same logic," Toko hissed through her teeth, "then that's about to change, isn't it!?"