Of Phantoms and Thieves

Hearts Are Not to Be Toyed With

There was only one thing that Futaba wanted to figure out, and fast. She had her phone out the moment Lavenza disappeared.

"Is the app there?" Ryuji asked, standing over her shoulder.

"You kids alright?" Sojiro asked. "You all kind of look like you've seen a ghost."

"We'll explain later," Makoto offered.

Futaba stopped for a moment. "It's there."

Everyone took a moment to check their phones.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sojiro exclaimed. "I want to know what's going on. Is it some sort of Phantom Thief business?"

"Uh, yes," Haru answered. "The strangest thing just happened. Oh, look, I have it too!"

"So the Metaverse is back after all this time..." Yusuke said aloud.

"Dude, but she said it was Ren this time," Ryuji reminded them.

"Ren?" Sojiro wondered. "W-What's going on? Futaba?"

Futaba turned. "Sorry, Sojiro. It's... It's hard to explain."

"Well then, please explain, will you? Don't keep secrets from me. What happens in my cafe stays in my cafe."

The Phantom Thieves exchanged glances.

"Well?" Morgana purred, jumping on top of one of the booth tables. "Are you going to tell him or not? I sure can't do it, since he doesn't understand me!"

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"So, Ren's heart has changed..." Sojiro sighed. "That kid's been through a lot more than you know."

"What happened to him?" Ann piped up. "I mean, he lost an arm. That's traumatizing enough. What's been going on back at his place?" She looked over at Morgana.

"Well, I've heard his parents have been arguing a lot. They got in a bad car wreck. And..."

"Those cuts," Morgana cut in as Sojiro trailed off. "It's been a bit abusive for him."

"Right, he's one to stick his nose where it doesn't belong," Makoto followed up. "It's just like with what happened with Shido. He just wants to make things right, but doesn't know how."

"Man, I know how it feels when your parents don't get along," Ryuji mumbled. "Although, it's just been my mom and me for a long time now. Must be hard on him."

"Both his parents kind of hated him, don't you think?" Ann asked. "I mean, they were willing to send him here for a whole year. Don't you think that's harsh?"

"That is kind of harsh," Futaba agreed. "I've never really been one to question if it were harsher, though."

"We've all been through a lot," Yusuke added. "We all know how it feels. But Ren... All this is obviously pushing him over the edge."

"I wish he weren't so quiet..." Ryuji said for probably the millionth time.

"Hey, perhaps instead of guessing, we can figure out what his palace is," Morgana pointed out. "Then we can go in there and see what's causing the problem ourselves."

"That's not such a bad idea," Haru told them. "But, Ren was always our leader. And now we're the ones raiding his palace. Without him. He always knew what to do. It was his call. And now..."

"We're going to need to assign someone as a temporary leader," Ann pointed out. "If we're going to go in, we best have someone to make all the decisions."

"Yes, then who should it be?" Makoto wondered.

"Oh, oh, me!" Ryuji shouted, raising a hand.

"Ryuji, hold on a moment!" Ann exclaimed. "How about we think things through and figure out who would be the best candidate? And, no voting on yourself, okay?"