Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"Ken, Kamoshido said meet him at the track."

The next day, when Ken showed up to Shujin Academy with a limp, Yuuki Mishima did not join his classmates gathered around and wishing the boy well. There was nothing to say. Toying with the apps on his phone but not committing to anything was easier. Once their teacher showed up Yuuki did not have to listen as Ken assured their class mates he could still play volleyball as if he had a choice in the matter.

"Hey Harumi, Kamoshida wants you to come by his office after school."

She did not show up until two days later. A drunk guy on the subway tried something and that is where the bruise on her arm came from. She told everyone until it got around and they quit asking. Later in the day she caught Yuuki's eye and subtly, after checking for anyone looking, flipped him off.

That was normal, most of them hated him. Yuuki knew his nickname of "Kamoshida's pet" among the general students. Some were even jealous and wanted the 'coveted title' for themselves. To the rest of the volleyball team though, he was known as Kamoshida's 'messenger' or, as time went on and he kept calling people places, Kamoshida's 'bitch'. Some of them blamed him for not refusing, delivering the messages, and for not wanting even more bruises to take home and hide from his mother. It didn't matter that he mastered it. She still brought up the time he came home with a busted lip. If mom suspected his story of breaking up two girls fighting she didn't say.

"Ryohei, Kamoshida asked for you after lunch."

The worst times were like this, Yuuki pressed up against the wall of the coach's office trying to blend in. It never worked - everyone else seemed able to ignore him except those he wanted to most. Instead Ryohei, a dark haired older classmen, kept looking his way as Kamoshida, veins bulging in his neck and a rabid look, screamed in the other boy's face. What started as a stern lecture over Ryohei's failure to spike at some point switched over to the teacher yelling about "helping with a stupid school event". It probably had nothing to do with Ryohei in the slightest. He still got slapped across the face for daring to try and say something out of turn. Knocked to the floor, he stared at Yuuki with a look of disgust when Kamoshida wasn't looking.

'Don't look at me. I can't do anything. You know I can't.'

Ryohei did not even look at him, much less speak, after that. A little sad, really, as Yuuki had liked talking to the guy before. His one later attempt to apologize nearly got him punched in the face. It would have matched nicely with the bruise under his turtleneck from where Kamoshida choke slammed him into the wall after Ryohei left the office that day. There had not even been a reason or pretext for it really, unless him trying to follow Ryohei out had been enough. Yuuki turned to leave and suddenly he was pressed face first into a wall, a large hand around his neck, and a fist slammed into the blackboard inches from his head. He was just surprised the teacher missed on purpose. Must have blown most of his steam already. That day only added the bruise around his neck and a fist shaped one beneath his ribs on the left side, nothing major.

Both were easy to hide from his mother.

"Isn't it too hot out to be wearing that?"

He was still wearing the white turtleneck at dinner. Mishima, Saeki, his mother, usually had dinner to-go on her way to work and he fended for himself. Of course though the mood for family time never worked in his favor. Not that she cooked, it still came from a 'healthy choice' fast food place, but he was forced to sit at the table. At least most of his mother's attention stayed focused on her phone even through dinner. Kept her from noticing the wince as he eased into the high back chair of their table.

He answered while picking at his salad, "I've been kind of cold lately."

Saeki 'hmm'd' before glancing up from a text, "Have you been getting enough iron?"

"Yes. I even started-"

Her phone chirped, her ring tone being some kind of bird song, and Yuuki dropped the conversation as she answered. She had been working on some new fashion spread for the office. Launching into a new conversation about it on the phone, she did not even notice as Yuuki packed up most of his food and dropped it in the trash. He wasn't hungry, not really, and mostly ran off the school-bought protein bars that the volleyball coach basically shoved down their throats. Hanging around just long enough to clean the table for his mom, he retreated to his bedroom as soon as possible. A hot pack picked up from the convenience store dulled some of the pain from his side. Nothing to really do for his neck other than lay out another turtleneck for the next day.

He googled how to die painlessly a few times. All of the results sounded like they would still be horrible. One involved a paper bag and rubbing alcohol which sounded promising but after another search on suffocation he gave that option up too. Giving up on 'giving up' led to acting sick for two days before the school called his mom. The guilt of lying to her did not really seem to outweigh what happened both during and after practice that day. Apparently missing two days of practice meant he had to practice returning the 'olympic level spikes ' his coach knocked his way again, again, and again until his shoulders screamed and bruises bloomed over his arms. Those were easy to hide at least.

One thing went differently though. Usually after it ended Kamoshida ignored his students and let them go. He didn't make a practice, at least not with the males too much, of following them into the locker room for a chat.

"You're good at computer shit, right?"

Yuuki had to force himself to change with the man staring at him boredly, "Erm…yeah, I mean, yes sir. Kind of. I could build a website or-"

A mere tightening of coach's eyes shut him up, "I didn't ask for all that. I just want to know if you can put something on a few student boards."

He didn't reply in words. Instead Yuuki nodded quickly while scrambling into his uniform slacks and tried not to flinch when Kamoshida moved. Luckily the man just crossed his arms and leaned back into a locker, "Good. You hear we're getting a transfer student?" Yuuki shook his head 'no ' and Kamoshida rolled his eyes, "Of course not, you never fucking pay attention to anything. The new guy is a hazard with a criminal record. We're not supposed to say anything but I figure you let it out there, we can keep this school from going even further downhill if parents find out and complain, got it?"

He didn't but Yuuki nodded anyway and didn't question. Kamoshida had no way to know if he did or not. He knew that, he could have ignored it, but that night Yuuki still hopped his PC and spread the information as asked. Not by name, he knew enough to keep his posts anonymous. Having no idea of the real story he answered any messages about the new kid with a variety of increasingly ridiculous tales that made him laugh even as he typed them. One in particular, that the guy knocked over a love motel and beat up the desk clerk, seemed to get popular real quick. Yuuki added a few details onto that one about how the new guy was a frequent customer even at their age. Just enough to spice up the tale. His audience seemed to love it.

He felt terrible the next day when Akira Kurusu introduced himself politely to their class. The tall, bespectacled teen looked calm and smiled a bit as he said his name. It took their teacher repeating it twice for Yuuki to remember. He was too busy listening to a girl three rows back whisper the story to those around her. Apparently it had kept growing and now Akira, he had a name and face, beat up his girlfriend before robbing the as of yet unnamed love hotel.

Yuuki bought a paper bag on the way home. The store was out of rubbing alcohol and his mother did not have any in the house. He resolved to buy some later.

The volleyball team exhibition a few days later made it worse. First, a spike hit him, surely on purpose, and the nurse seemed surprised his nose wasn't broken. He was as well. That spike had sprained several wrists and injured hands across the team. At the least it excused him from having to return to the game. Instead Yuuki claimed a headache until the nurse got tired of having him around and kicked him out.

He didn't make it out of the school.

"Hey, got a second?"

'What now…' went through his head as he turned and promptly his brain stopped. Ryuji Sakamoto, hair bleached blonde and still in the mandated trainers, had an intense look in his face that jerked Yuuki back a step. Despite being in the same class the two had never really spoken, despite Yuuki considering it on occasion. Too awkward, even if he wanted to. The other boy was energetic and a bit of a loner. Of course the guy had to look irritated the first time they actually spoke.

His stammered, "Sakamoto?" nearly died when he looked past the attractive blonde hair to the brunette flanking Samamoto.

"And you, too?"

Akira Kurisu stood in front of him. The boy with a violent record whom Yuuki had spread rumors about. There was no way he could know right? Right, no way. He had been sure to keep all of his postings anonymous. No one could figure it out. Plus if he knew the guy would probably not look as calm as he did. He just stood there with his hands in his pockets, staring Yuuki down, while Sakamoto kept talking.

"C'mon, we just wanna chat."

Yuuki was going to try and escape until Sakamoto's next words had him flinch back, bag tucked tight to his side, "Kamoshida's been coaching you right? You sure it's not just physical abuse?"

Yuuki's brain short circuited. 'No, you can not know that. You're not on the team. No one cares.'' He shifted his bandaged arm a bit to try and hide it behind his bag. Sakamoto didn't seem to notice. Kurisu though, he watched those sharp eyes track his movements, and Yuuki looked away quickly as he bit out, "Certainly not!"

He didn't even sound convincing to himself.

Frowning now, Samamoto crossed his arms. The pity on his face instantly made Yuuki feel a thousand times worse, "What're you talkin all polite for? Anyways… we saw him spike you today, right in the face." This truly was the worst. Sakamoto never sounded like this. His voice and eyes were leaking in pity that made Yuuki want to drop his bag and run. It was not at all how he once hoped his first conservation with the louder student would go.

Kurisu did not make it better with his equally soft, "It's okay, you can tell us."

Fumbling over his words he managed to get out a feeble, "That's just because I'm not good at the sport.. "

'Please be enough.' It wasn't.

"Still, that doesn't explain all the other bruises you've got…"

"They're from practice!" The force of his yell seemed to surprise both of them. Kurisu raised a brow and looked concerned while Sakamoto leaned forward, face hardening. The blonde looked mad, at whom Yuuki was not quite sure, and he had to force himself to hold his ground. Everyone knew Sakamoto had a temper and if he were friends with Kurisu, if they knew, it would not be surprising if the other were to hit him too-

"Is he forcin you to keep quiet?"

It sounded more like a demand than a question.

"That's..."

"What's going on here?"

Yuuki froze at the voice. He didn't have to look. That tone he knew by heart. Kurisu's face had slipped back into unimpressed cool and Sakamoto looked one step short of exploding. They didn't matter anymore though. Every instinct Yuuki had told him to run because of that tone. Kamoshida's face looked exactly as he expected it too. Finding him with Sakamoto of all people had pissed the teacher off. He was going to pay for it. It was all Sakamoto's fault and Yuuki was going to suffer for it. He wanted to scream his anger at the blonde but could not hold onto it. Instead cold dread crept up his spine as Kamoshida looked at him and said, "Mishima, isn't it time for practice?"

'No, no, nononononono…'

"I… I'm not feeling well today." He sounded pathetic even to his own ears.

"What? Maybe you're better off quitting then."

'huh…?'

Kamoshida's look soured further, "You'll never improve that crappy form unless you show up to practice."

Yuuki felt his whole body tense. He could not quit even if he wanted to. The prestige on his college applications, his mother insisted he have it. Not to mention the idea of what the teacher could and would do to him if he did. The things that he had seen probably paled in comparison to what the coach was truly capable of. Literally shaking, Yuuki went to go with the man only to be stopped by a body stepping between them. Perfectly rational panic exploded through him as Sakamoto forced him back and practically snarled at Kamoshida.

"Didn't you hear? He isn't feeling well."

This was bad. No, this was a disaster. Yuuki grabbed Sakamoto's shoulder to pull him back but the guy didn't budge from his stare down with the coach. Kamoshida's face barely changed but the slight grit of his teeth was enough to convince Yuuki he might very well die today. A feeling that only intensified as the coach ignored Sakamoto and asked again.

"Well Mishima, are you coming to practice or not?"

Sakamoto looked ready to argue further but Yuuki stepped around him, one hand clutching his bag and the other behind him pressed to Ryuji's chest, "I'll go."

He heard a growl from behind him but didn't think on it. The whole world narrowed down to the victorious smirk on his teacher's face. Yuuki barely registered anything else, some threats to his would be rescuers, as he prepared himself to the best of his ability. It may have been Sakamoto's and Kurisu's fault but he couldn't blame them. If he had just left early and not hid in the nurse's office...

After a tirade Kamoshida stormed off with Yuuki behind him, at least till a hand in his shoulder stopped him.

"That asshole is going to pay for this."

Why did that have to sound like an apology? The hand at his shoulder gripped so tight it almost hurt and that was all he needed. He was shaking, the combination of everything at once overwhelming him, and Yuuki stayed turned away as his eyes watered pathetically, "There's no point." He heard Sakamoto's "huh" but rushed to finish talking, to hurry before they saw how pathetic he was or Kamoshida realized he was missing, "Proving that he's physically abusing us…is meaningless. We try to hide it but everyone knows. The principal, our parents, they must know and keep quiet about it."

Sakamoto's hand jerked from his shoulder as if burned, "This has to be a joke!"

A joke? A JOKE?

His eyes still watering, Yuuki clenched his teeth and glared over his shoulder, "Don't be a pain, you don't understand what I'm going through." Both of them looked stunned, Sakamoto more-so by far, and for a brief moment he hated the other for acting like he cared, "Shouldn't you of all people understand that nothing's going to help?"

Too much, he knew it as soon as he said it. Sakamoto looked as if he had just been hit and Kurisu took a step forward, hands coming out of his pockets, but Yuuki didn't wait around for a response. It needed to be said. Instead he turned back and, wiping at his eyes with a sleeve, ran across the halls to hopefully catch up with Kamoshida before the man grew even angrier. The man would be in his office, not the gym.

They did not have practices on exhibition days after-all.

It took three hours longer to get home that night. He had to stop by a store to get something for the swelling of his hand. Mr. Kamoshida usually avoided their hands for the sport but after flooring him had ground down on Yuuki's till he begged. Being kicked in the side, close to where the last bruise just faded, also nearly had him limping at the pain with each step. Something could have been broken but with no way to check he just hoped not. A last minute decision had him pick up a bottle of the alcohol he needed, consider it a moment, and put it back to pick up a small container of kitchen bleach instead.

Apparently his mother worked late and instead of doing homework or studying, he sat in bed with his 'tools' and cried for an hour. The thought of doing it scared him too much. He ended up ripping the bag to shreds and hurling it across his room, bits of paper fluttering across the floor, and hid under his comforter till sleep finally took him.

The next day the swelling was down and he had not died in his sleep, meaning maybe nothing was wrong with his ribs. It did little to cheer him up as Yuuki dressed for school in yet another turtleneck of his growing collection, wished his mother well, and briefly considered jumping in front of the train before getting on it.

Sakamoto made multiple attempts to corner him in the next few days but Yuuki managed to elude him. Kurisu, on the other hand, kept his distance even though they shared the same class. Occasionally Yuuki caught the quiet teen looking at him but they didn't speak, just acknowledged the other. As for Kamoshida, the man seemed more irritated than ever, but except for a few harsh slaps to the back of the head, he mostly left Yuuki alone. Instead the man had him fetch other people to the 'special sessions'. He could not bring himself to care, too drained to do more than the messenger work itself. Haruhi looked ready to cry when he called her. Tetsuo shoved him into a locker as he stormed past to go see their teacher. Yuuki could not even bring himself to care as he fetched Suzui, Shiho, one of the few people on the team who still spoke to him.

They didn't say anything during the walk to Kamoshida's office. Their only exchange was Shiho at the last second grabbing his hand and squeezing, making him look at her. She was too nice, far too nice, smiling at him while he delivered her. That smile would probably not last long. Yuuki ran from the office when she went in and threw up in the bathroom. Sakamoto tried to corner him in there too but he shoved by the other boy and fled school.

The next day, before lunch, Suzui flung herself from the roof.

Standing there in the courtyard, watching students swarm around the scene and Ann Tamaki sob, the first thing to come to his mind should have been sadness. Instead, much to Yuuki's own horror, his first feeling was some sort of jealousy.

He really was a sick person - a thought that made him run.

If not for Sakamoto, who somehow caught up to him and slammed him into a locker, Yuuki would have ditched school altogether. Instead his back hit the locker hard and all that held him up was Sakamoto's grip on his arm. It hurt, he still had a bruise there, and it slipped out of his mouth. Sakamoto let go instantly but didn't step back as Kurisu caught up.

"Why did you run like that?! Huh?", the blonde was practically yelled in his face.

Yuuki wanted to look away, to blend in, but he kept his eyes on the other boy's. Something, maybe just pride, kept his eyes from watering, "I didn't run…"

Sakamoto punched the locker beside him and for a moment Yuuki felt like he was back in Kamoshida's office, pressed against the board, being swung at. It must have shown as Kurisu tugged the blonde away. Sakamoto looked at his friend before seeming to catch on, voice lowering slightly, and Yuuki finally felt as if he could breath again.

"She jumped and tried to kill herself."

It sounded so much like an accusation.

"I…leave…leave me alone."

Sakamoto looked too mad to speak, practically vibrating, but Kurisu kept that same calm as he stepped closer, "She might die. Just tell us."

"He's right! She could die!"

Yuuki shook his head, gaze locked on the ground, until hands caught his shoulders. It was hard to breath and his throat tightened up but the shaking never started. Instead Sakamoto just held on while speaking, "We're not trying to get you busted. We won't tell anyone you talked."

Too much too much too much too much…

Shoving Sakamoto back, nearly knocking the taller boy over, Yuuki clutched his hands over his face. His voice came out nearly a yell, "She got called out by Mr. Kamoshida!"

Both of them looked shocked, Sakamoto's mouth hanging and Kurisu's eyes wide, but it was the blonde who cried out, "Wait, what?"

His hands tightened over his face, covering his eyes, as Yuuki continued. His voice practically a whisper as if someone would overhear, "I was called by him several times too…to the teacher's room. It wasn't just us. Usually it would just be me... but sometimes he would nominate someone when he was in a bad mood and…and hit them."

"So it was all true…"

How did Kurisu always sound so calm?

Still hiding his face from their reaction, he continued,
"But yesterday he called Suzui out of the blue. She didn't make any mistakes or anything. Mr. Kamoshida seemed really irritated so it…it may have been worse than usual…"

"…He made you call her?"

Yuuki dropped his hands and nodded to Kurisu.

Sakamoto looked beyond furious, eyes hard and fists clenched at his sides, and the blonde barely bit out a, "That son of a bitch!" before taking off running. He did not even slow when Kurisu called his name and took off after him.

Which meant…

No one else but him knew what happened to Shiho the day before.

Yuuki took off after the other two boys at a run. Kurisu he was able to catch but Samamoto sprinted out of sight, taking three stairs at a neck breaking lunge, leaving the other two behind. It wasn't hard to picture the track star Sakamoto used to be before the injury and blonde hair. By the time they made it to Kamoshida's floor he was fully gone and without stopping, Yuuki grabbed Kurisu's hand and nearly dragged the much taller boy along behind him to the teacher's office.

Somewhere in his mind; he realized he just delivered two more students.

They were too late. Yuuki walked into Sakamoto, red in the face and raging, yelling, "You bastard! What the hell did you do to that girl!?"

He must have made a sound. Sakamoto glanced back for a brief second, glanced at Kurisu, and Yuuki found himself pushed slightly behind the taller guy. Being closest to the door meant he could run away but he stayed through sheer force of will. This was his fault for talking. They were all going to get in trouble, especially when Kamoshida answered with a, "What are you talking about?" without even looking and Sakamoto kicked a chair across the room.

That got the teacher's attention. The man jerked up and looked at them, yelling "That's enough!". He noticed Sakamoto first of course but then he saw Yuuki, who met his teacher's eyes head on. It was subtle but having experienced the man's rage enough, Yuuki saw the fist that clenched and released. The man wanted to come at him for talking, Kamoshida knew. It was only the two resident 'violent delinquents' that kept the man in check. No matter how this ended, Yuuki already knew the man was figuring out ways to make him suffer.

His heart racing, arms crossed over his chest, something possessed him to just go for it, "What you did…wasn't coaching!"

What did it say about him that everyone looked shocked? Even Sakamoto turned back to him in wonder. It wasn't about that, not just wanting to impress the two attempting to stand up for the volleyball team. He had never felt more tired in his life of everything. If he were going to suffer no matter what, which judging by coach's face was a definite, it didn't matter at all anymore.

"You…you ordered me to call Suzui here...I can only imagine what you did to her!"

His eyes were remarkably dry. He had expected to cry, to be 'pathetic' but if anything he was just so angry. There was already enough guilt he had to deal with without this. Bad enough he brought people to be beaten but if Kamoshida did what they thought…

The man in question stood and stepped towards him. Maybe he would hit him despite the audience, maybe finally mess up and accidentally kill him. Sensing the teacher's intent perhaps, Sakamoto took step straight into the man's path with Kurisu flanking him. The man drew up short realizing he would have to go through both to hurt Yuuki.

Not that the man needed his fists, "You're going on and on about things you have no proof of. Basically you're making these claims because you can't be a regular on the team, right?"

"That's not what this is about!"

"Even if it is exactly are you imagine it to be, hypothetically speaking…what can you do?"

…what?

Kamoshida looked smug as he continued, voice taunting, "We just received a call from the hospital. Suzui is in a coma and her chance of recovery is slim. How will someone like that make a statement?"

Yuuki's mouth gaped, shock all he could feel, as Kamoshida threw a hand up dramatically, "There's no chance of her getting better I hear, the poor girl."

He felt sick. If Suzui could not speak to the police then their coach would get away with it. No one could stop him. Even knowing he would be thrown off the team, which was inevitable at this point, did nothing to steady the panic running through him. Distantly, as if through water, Yuuki heard Sakamoto yelling at the teacher, threats thrown around, but it didn't matter. The only thing that pulled him back from the ocean of his own thoughts was one word.

"Everyone present right now will be expelled."

Expelled…? He couldn't be. Getting expelled would go on the record. No college would accept him. Yuuki was not even sure what he wanted to attend college for. It wasn't as important as the fact he went through everything, all the after school meetings, all the pain, and it would immediately all be for nothing!

"You can't make a decision like that!"

Dropping back into his seat, Kamoshida turned and froze Yuuki with a disgusted look, “Who would seriously consider what scum like you say? You threatened me too Mishima, you’re just as responsible.”

The, “Huh?”, slipped out, but Yuuki already knew. He could have refused to call Suzui to the man’s office. Could have just taken the beaten for her. The situations running through his mind were all in their way true. It was the same thoughts he considered ever since the first person announced that Suzui was on the roof.

“To think you didn’t know why I kept someone as talentless as you on the team…You act like you’re a victim but you leaked his criminal records.” No, he wouldn't. Yuuki hoped so desperately against it but when the man pointed at Kurisu, it sealed the inevitable, “It’s all over the internet correct? How terrible.”

All eyes were on him, Sakamoto had even turned fully away from the coach with a shocked expression. He should have been disgusted, Yuuki would not have blamed him. The actual victim in the situation fixed him with a hard look, saying nothing. Now they knew why not to pity him. These two hard tried to stand up for all of them, including him, and now the truth was out in the open. It should have been more than just a questioning look; it should have been judgement or maybe a punch. That is more what Yuuki felt he deserved as his legs wobbled and he sunk to the floor, hands against the tile, and tried not to look at any of them. All of this was too much; far too much. If he had just done what he considered before; he could have escaped all of this pain. Even then though; maybe that too would have been running. If he had done what she did, would Suzui have been in this position instead, having to lay everything bare to them?

He wanted to apologize to Kurisu but what came out instead was, “He told me to do it, I had no choice…”

Pathetic to the end.

When they left the office it was Sakamoto who helped him up with a surprisingly gentle tug. Kurisu had just walked past him out of the room. The guy had every reason to be mad, Yuuki could not begrudge him that. He was as mentally prepared as could be for the tall, dark haired teen to swing at him when they piled out into the hallway. A surprise, on some level almost a disappointment, when instead Kurisu looked at Sakamoto and muttered, “You deal with him. I’ll go find Morgana so we can meet up.”

It could not end like this, “It’s okay if you want to…”

Kurisu shut him up instantly with a tight-eyed glance over his shoulder, “Not right now.” and walked away.

Having to wait till later was even worse than getting it over with now. Later meant he had time to think about what could happen, what kind of anger the other teen would show him. Exhausted, Yuuki let himself lean against the wall and sighed, eyes turned toward the ceiling, “I wish he would just punch me now and end it.”

“He isn’t like that.”

He had almost forgotten Sakamoto - too worried about Kurisu - and when Yuuki looked to the blonde boy he had an indecipherable look on his face. It was out of place for the boy who seemed to show every emotion he felt. Something on Mishima’s face must have shown his confusion as the other took off, waving for him to follow, and kept talking, “The speed he just accepts things is kind of freakish. If I can understand why you did it - he probably figured it out way before.” There was no way he could have; Yuuki knew that, but he just nodded as the blonde stopped them at a drink machine and bought two cold coffees.

“You obviously didn’t have a choice.”

Sakamoto popped his drink but Yuuki just stood there, holding his in both hands.

“I did...have a choice, I mean.”

“How?”

Maybe it was the exhaustion or the overall stress, Yuuki wasn’t sure what happened, just that he was holding a coffee and next it was on the ground and he was yelling. It was probably the long overdue mental breakdown he had coming. Sakamoto looked shocked too. Luck must have favored him; the hall was empty.

“There is always a choice! I did not have to call those people to his office! I could have told my mom, I could have called the police! He hits me all the time and...and… I should have said something!” Crying in front of someone he sort of idolized felt shameful. His nose always ran when he cried. Somewhere in the yelling he covered his face with an arm and wept into it. Feeling a hand squeeze at his shoulder only made it messier, “If I had been braver I could have told Suzui to run straight to the cops. I knew how he treats the girls on the team. Now I don’t even know what he did to her. What if he rap-”

His arm was pried from his face, held instead in Sakamoto’s other hand, as the blonde leaned in, “Don’t even say that. We do not know what he did.”

“But…”

His voice hardened, “Don’t. Say. That. We don’t know till she wakes up. Don’t put that on yourself.”

Yuuki’s nose was definitely running, tears pouring out of red eyes, but Sakamoto held fast when he attempted to reclaim his arm and hide again. It was all out there now and he was not feeling any better for it “What about your friend then? I spread all those rumors. I told everyone online. Kamoshida is terrible with computers; he would have never even known if I did it or not. I’m such a coward I knew that and did it! He should want to kill me after-”

He never got to finish his rant. Instead he let out a very undignified yelp as Sakamoto, with an irritated grunt, let go of his arm and abruptly jerked him into a tight hug. Yuuki’s brain switched to off and his mouth snapped shut. Sakamoto was hugging him - something he never expected to happen in his life. The blonde being taller than him was a surprise, despite the constant slouch. He also smelled like some kind of cheap minty after-shave that Yuuki would have never known about if his nose were not pressed strongly into the other guy’s neck. Oh joy, the ex-star of the track team hugs him and he’s getting snot on his collar.

Sakamoto sounding annoyed at least mitigated some of the shock, “Don’t tell anyone about this. I’m just...I’m not good with crying people, okay? So you’re going to listen while I talk, then I’m going to let go and you are going straight home to take care of whatever fucking bruises you are hiding right now, okay?”

Not knowing what else to do, Yuuki nodded into his neck.

“Okay, good. Now, stop fucking blaming yourself. It’s not your fault that piece of shit decided to use you as a punching bag. All the shitty adults are to blame for letting it happen. The whole deal with Akira is not on you either. Sure, maybe Kamoshida would not find out, but what would have happened to you if he did? It would have been bad, I’m sure, and if Akira hasn’t already fucking forgiven you, and I’m sure he already fucking has, I’ll knock some sense into him until he does. Are we clear so far?”

He nodded again, though a, “But…” slipped out that had Sakamoto squeeze a bit harder.

“I said no talking.”

Yuuki shut up, though his arm not pressed between their bodies gripped the back of Sakamoto’s jacket.

“Good. Now, what happened with Suzui? That’s all so fucked up there was no way you could have known.”

He started to try and say something, to deny that claim, but Sakamoto’s head shook against his and silenced him, “No way. You hear me? That guy is a fucking teacher. You had no way to know. So stop fucking blaming yourself for the acts of that shitty adult. I can’t tell you how but we are going to serve him up what he deserves. So until then, I want you to just keep away from him and let us handle it. If he tries anything you’re going to come find me or Akira right away and tell us, do you hear me?”

Another nod, even though he did not agree with half of it, there was nothing else he could do.

“Okay. Great. Now...erm...you’re going to have to let go of me so I can keep us from being expelled.”

What…? Oh, Yuuki hadn’t realized how tightly he was gripping the other’s jacket, a full fisted death grip, and he let go and jerked away so fast he nearly fell over. It afforded him an actual glance at Sakamoto’s face and sans-snot and post-cry redness, Yuuki was fairly certain he saw a carbon copy of his own embarrassment there. The blonde wasn’t as pale as the volleyball player, probably due to track, but the faint blush of red still hung across his cheeks. He coughed into his hand awkwardly before scooping up the dropped coffee and all but shoving it into Yuuki’s hands, “Yeah. So, I’m going to meet Akira. You are…?”

Eyes off to the side, face feeling way too hot, Yuuki mumbled, “I’m...going home and taking care of bruises.”

“Right...okay,” Sakamoto rubbed at the back of his head, “erm, later then. Straight home.”
Yuuki nodded he would and Sakamoto turned to walk away, a bit faster than normal.

“Hey Sakamoto…”

The blonde stopped but did not turn around, foot practically frozen mid-step as if he really did not want to stop. Yuuki would have felt bad about it but he really needed to know, “...We’re not getting expelled?”

“Not a chance.”

“...Okay, thank you.”

“No problem.”

Sakamoto practically ran, leaving Yuuki to go his own way and flee from the school.

His brain would not shut down on the way home. Bits and pieces of what Kamoshida said would come through, pulling him down, only for parts of Sakamoto’s speech to peek through. Granted, Sakamoto was wrong, it was in large part his fault. No one knew more about Kamoshida’s abuse than Yuuki did. Still on some level he felt...good?... about getting some of it out there. As soon as he would think that; his brain also realized that it was not fair to have shoveled all of his problems onto the ex-track star. The guy certainly had issues of his own with Kamoshida and their now pending, likely inevitable, expulsion from Shujin. That was another grave worry. Despite what Sakamoto may have said there was no stopping a teacher like Kamoshida who held so much power in the academy. The next board meeting was not far off meaning he could look forward to being expelled sooner rather than later. It may have already happened.

By the time Yuuki made it home he convinced himself that mom would be waiting, phone in hand, having just found out he was expelled. Perhaps Kamoshida would wait and for now just call and tell his mother he was kicked off the volleyball team for ‘disciplinary issues’ or something.

Neither situation came to pass; Saeki wasn’t even home. Instead there was a note on the kitchen table telling him to order in and some money left behind. Upon reading it he pocketed the money and ignored whatever vestiges of hunger ate at his stomach. He wasn’t hungry, had not been in a while. He instead spent the first two hours of being home applying the leftover hot-packs to whatever bruises he could see. There was nothing in their fridge to put on the swelling around his eye from the coach’s spike earlier in the day. Instead he just rubbed some ice around the area and put another band-aid over it. That gave him two, one on either side of his face, and Yuuki spent a good while staring into his bathroom mirror at that.

He looked horrible - eyes and nose red, covered in bandages, with bruises scattered across his body. Not to mention the darkness around his eyes from lack of sleep and stress. He had definitely lost weight too.

There was absolutely no way people, especially the other teachers, were unaware of something wrong.

His gaze peeled aside, toward the cabinet above the toilet, and just stayed there a moment. It was where he hid the drain cleaner after his freak out a few nights back. It was still there. If Suzui had done it then maybe…

Without thinking about it Yuuki fished out his phone and started going through his contacts.

There was no ‘Sakamoto’ in the S’s. No Ryuji in the ‘R’s. Nothing. He’d not gotten the other boy’s number.

“No, that’s...not fair,” ‘to force all my problems onto him.’.

Yuuki tossed his phone into the bathroom sink and fished out the drain cleaner. He did not drink it though - instead he upended the entire bottle over the toilet and poured it all out flushing as he went. The empty bottle he just dropped in the bathroom trash. If his mother did not have questions about all the injuries she surely would not be questioning random cleaning products. That done he collapsed in bed after deciding not to hop on his laptop and check for any Suzui-related updates. Knowing would not help him. Instead he resolved to try and force himself to sleep to prepare for whatever hell Kamoshida had planned the next day.

The next day came and nothing happened.

He was on edge all day. At any moment Kamoshida would come around a corner and punch him in the face. Maybe it would be Kurisu, whom shot him an unreadable look while walking by Yuuki’s desk to get back to his own. Neither one ever made a move. The most attention he got was from a few volleyball players whom were confused as to what happened. They probably already knew that he had been kicked off the team. None of them asked why; a few even smiled as if they were happy to see him gone. There would surely be some sort of Kamoshida concocted rumor attached to why he was dismissed but no one deigned to share it with him and to Yuuki’s own surprise, he was fine with that. Once he was expelled from Shujin none of that would really matter anyway. The real surprise was that Kamoshida was apparently keeping his promise, letting them sit on their pending expulsion, as the call to the Principal’s office never came.

It was practically a boring day and that worked his nerves in the worst way.

The next two days went much the same, nothing really happened. The leftover bottle of drain cleaner vanished out of the bathroom but his mother never said a word. He even had to walk by Kamoshida to get to the stairs, half expecting the man to shove him down them, but the teacher did not even look his way. Probably decided he was not even worth bothering with anymore now that he was off the team. Yuuki had expected at least some antagonism from the man as opposed to being completely ignored. It almost stung in a weird way to discover he took all of it and now had nothing to show for it at all but bruises.

Class and the occasional weird look was the only contact he had with Kurisu. The other teen seem as dedicated to ignoring him right now as Kamoshida was. As for Sakamoto, if Yuuki were a bit more of a suspicious person, he would think the blonde were avoiding him altogether. They only ran into each other a few times as if Shujin were a much, much larger academy. The first time they actually spoke was a stilted exchange in the hall between classes when Sakamoto walked up to him, looked him over, and asked if he had taken care of ‘all of them’. There were people around and so Yuuki just nodded and Sakamoto left.

It almost felt like a normal highschool life - assuming normal high schoolers dealt with a constant fear of reprisal from multiple sources that never actually came. Then one thing had to happen to change that.

Ann Takamaki.

They had never really spoken or held a conversation. Frankly, the girl kind of intimidated Yuuki, not to mention the rumor mill going around the school forums that she was dating Kamoshida. Someone like him was surely far below her interest. So it surprised him, four days after the ‘expulsion incident’, when she stopped in front of his seat before class and stared down at him She looked annoyed and for the life of him, Yuuki could not figure out what he may have done to bring this on.

“So I heard you are getting expelled with Ryuji and Akira.”

He must not have answered fast enough - too busy gaping at her - so she continued, “Those two absolutely do not deserve to be expelled but you I’m not so sure about.”

"But I…I didn't...I mean…"

"Ryuji told me. Some of it." She crossed her arms looked away, "It's just…you came and got her. Called her for him. After that she was…is…she did it." Her voice dropped off, "You could have just-"

"Ann, stop."

She cut off and both of them looked at Kurisu as he walked up, "You can't blame him for not talking."

"But if he had just-"

"Suzui had just as many opportunities."

Ann reeled back as if she had been slapped, hand over her mouth. Kurisu's face didn't change. He did not look angry or anything, face the picture of calm as he continued, "I'm not saying that to hurt you. This is not Mishima's fought and blaming him does not help Suzui, it doesn't help him, and it doesn't help you." A part of Yuuki, not the part currently in some form of shock, marvelled at how Kurisu delivered a statement like that and walked past them to his seat. It was the ultimate in final says if a bit cold. Even Ann seemed surprised as she watched the other teen walk off and then, after an unreadable glance at Yuuki, went to her own seat.

Yuuki felt like eyes were pinned on his back the whole class.

The weirdness continued into the day when, after school let out, a hand caught his arm and went to pull him. Panicking, thinking it was Kamoshida, Yuuki flailed at his attacker and managed to score a glancing blow before noticing the blonde hair and uniform. Sakamoto, to his credit, didn't let go even at a fist in the shoulder. Instead the school delinquent just grunted and held fast even if it hurt.

"Oh god, Sakamoto, I'm so sorry! I thought-"

Sakamoto rubbed his shoulder, easing it out, "Why you just using those now? Those hands are weapons." He laughed at either that or maybe at Yuuki's expression. Either way it was enough for the dark haired teen to grin and raise a fist up.

"People said I had a pretty good spike…"

Still grinning, Sakamoto shrugged, "They weren't joking."

For a moment they just stood grinning at each other before Sakamoto coughed into his hand, "Look, I got some plans later but I wanted to talk you before. Mind if we go somewhere else? Never know when that asshole will pop his snakey head up."

…what?

Yuuki never had a stuttering problem in his life until that very moment, "Uh…uh…umm…sure, we can, I…I m-mean…yeah."

He got a bit of a weird look but Sakamoto seemed pleased enough. Yuuki followed him out the school and down the street. The blonde seemed to have a destination in mind but he wasn't talking, not about anything really. They walked in relative silence most of the way and a few times, Yuuki considered saying something and didn't. It wasn't until Sakamoto stopped and Yuuki went a bit past, having to turn back, that he realized where they were.

"…a cafe?"

Sakamoto held the door open, letting him go ahead, but the blonde was pretty dedicatedly looking up, "Yeah. Erm, I figured would be the best place. Don't look so stressed. It's just coffee."

At a popular after school date spot. No problem, right.

They ordered at the counter and took a seat. Sakamoto looked no less awkward than when they came in but he was handling it better than Yuuki was. The dark haired student had his hands in his lap, locked together, and twiddled his thumbs waiting for something. Anything would do at this point. Just the awkward silence of sitting and waiting on their coffee...

It was Sakamoto who caved first, "Akira told me you know…about what happened…about Ann."

Oh, Yuuki understood now. He was surprised to find himself a little disappointed even. At least he was able to keep that hidden somewhat as he sighed and tossed his head, "It's fine … I actually forgot she was good friends with Suzui until after that. I mean, she did not really say anything wrong..."

"No, she was wrong. I thought we had already settled that last night in the…I mean, yesterday."

Last night? In where? Yuuki just stared at the other as he mulled over that statement. Sakamoto and Yamasaki hung out at night? Wait, they hung out at all? Literally no bit of school gossip had prepared him for hearing this. Did that mean the two blonde kids in their class were…really?

"I…didn't know that."

Why did he have to open his mouth? Sakamoto just looked at him confused as their coffee was dropped off. The girl delivering it was their age, probably a student at Shujin even, and gave the two of them a weird look that as Yuuki just discovered, they didn't even deserve.

"Know what?"

"Nothing…I mean, it's not important. I mean, Sakamoto-"

"Ryuji."

Yuuki drawn up short. The hand that had been tugging at his turtleneck stilled, "What?"

Sakamoto, no, Ryuji shrugged with a grin, "You stood up to Kamoshida with us and were ready to take the fall. That at least makes us friends, right?"

Did it? He had not even really stood up to Kamoshida so much as had what was close to a mental breakdown. Oh, and cried a lot, in front of the boy in front of him, whom he now knew was dating one of the most attractive girls in their class. Probably the most attractive girl in their school even. Ann was a model after all if the rumors about her were true. Yuuki was just surprised that Saka- Ryuji kept something like that a secret.

"Okay then, I suppose you can call me Yuuki then."

"Great."

"Yeah."

Ryuji was smiling again but it didn't feel quite as comfortable now. Which wasn't fair, Yuuki knew that but kept it to himself, back to twiddling his thumbs. He hadn't touched his coffee but if Ryuji noticed he didn't say anything about it.

"So…maybe an odd question but…"

Yuuki looked up, waiting for the rest of Ryuji's question.

"Just asking…let's say you needed to send someone a message but you didn't want them to know it was you. How would you do it?"

What…?

His expression must have been something as after a minute, Ryuji scratched at his cheek, "Eh…never mind, it's stupid-"

Yuuki started, hands closing around both sides of his coffee, "No, I mean, it's a bit weird Ryuji, but I'll help. Erm…is the internet an option?"

The relief on the blonde's face was encouraging, "No, the person needs to see it."

He nodded, "But they can't know it was you, right?"

"Right."

"Well…I mean, this might sound weird but-c

Ryuji shook his head, "The question was weird already."

Yuuki grinned, it was true after-all, "Well I watched this online thing once about a serial killer." At the track star's face, he threw up a hand, "You said it was okay, no judging." He only continued once Ryuji smirked and nodded, "Well he would send these letters where he clipped out letters from magazines. No handwriting involved and he used gloves so no fingerprints. And I mean, if you needed more, could just copy the first one and print out a lot of them."

Ryuji just stared at him for a moment before his grin went megawatt, "Yuuki," it felt surprisingly good to hear his name from the guy, "you are a genius!"

"I…I am?"

The blonde leaned forward across the table and patted him on the shoulder, "Hell yeah, I have been racking my head over this all day. Thanks man!"

Still confused, Yuuki just nodded slowly, "No problem…? Glad I could help with something."

The conversation dropped after that. He was too busy pondering over Ryuji's weird interests and the other boy looking far away. It was oddly comfortable just drinking his coffee and not crying on the other guy. Ryuji finished his first, checked his phone, and stood up, "I really appreciate the help with that. I have to go meet Akira and Ann," No surprise there, considering what Yuuki had just learned, "but thanks for taking the time. And erm…if anything happens just keep your head down. Don't say anything about what you know, okay?"

Confused beyond belief, Yuuki just nodded, a kind of half smile frozen on his face, "That should be easy, I have no idea what you're talking about…?"

Ryuji patted him on the shoulder, "You're really smart, you'll figure it out soon. Just trust me."

"I do." He meant it. Somewhere along the way he had started to and Yuuki wasn't even sure when.

That night, at home, Yuuki's mom was gone again. He ordered in and sat around the house for hours trying to figure out what Ryuji could have been talking about. It had to involve Kamoshida somehow but he could not see threatening messages getting the teacher to stop. Even if they named Suzui by name, which would be horrible for her, it would not change anything. They would still be expelled and from what he understood, Kurisu would be going to jail. Compared to that his college career seemed irrelevant.

After several hours of running himself in circles about those questions, once exhaustion started to set in, Yuuki found himself online looking up Takamaki. It started to feel a little like stalking after the third or fourth model shoot of her scrolled across his screen. A few of the shoots came with short interviews. Her answers tended toward the vague, kind of general stuff, and something left Yuuki feeling unimpressed. It wasn't fair - he knew the Takamaki in these interviews was probably not even a real person. After the second time he noticed her answers change to the same question, Yuuki closed all the tabs and shut down his laptop.

Looking her Ryuji's girlfriend was just creepy on his part. Something he would be sure to never, ever tell the blonde boy about if they did anything again.

Assuming they were not expelled in a few days.

The next day, that expulsion seemed like it would come sooner rather than later. Yuuki stood with the rest of the school staring at the veritable wall of red and black cards condemning Kamoshida. They were posted up all over the entranceway to the school overnight. It was all anyone talked about all morning, these 'phantom thieves of heart' and the accusations against Kamoshida. Very few students said anything about the creepy magazine clipped letters arranged to form the words. Yuuki was confident that when if the master copy was found, there would be no prints on it. The perpetrator would have worn gloves. It was how he had suggested it.

Ryuji was nowhere to be found.

As for the two Yuuki assumed were his accomplices, Takamaki and Kurisu seemed glued to their phones any time he snuck a glance back. They had to be planning something with the cards. Neither gave any indication that the format had been his idea. The wording seemed a little weird for Ryuji but it had to be him. During lunch he actually roamed the campus looking for the blondes, plural, as Ryuji, Tamamaki, and Kurisu all went missing until class resumed. As the day went on Takamaki started to look more and more nervous and their phone use was furious. As class chair, he would have been furious at literally anyone else but them about that or reported it to the teacher.

When class let out the two left quickly together. Normally, that would have stood out. Everyone was too busy talking about the phantom thief cards to call about the small things. If it were not for his own involvement, Yuuki would have never noticed either.

Now standing at his locker, he was beyond confused.

"How am I supposed to ignore this…"

At some point the school had gone through and removed the cards. That didn't stop students from gathering around their previous location speculating. Everyone wanted to know and some people, Kamoshida fans if the man had such a thing, seemed worried. He was also worried but not about the cards so much as the guy behind them. Having spent all of lunch looking for them meant there were only a few other places they could be.

He went through the gym first, nothing.

Checking the student council room only got him into a stilted conversation with Makoto. She didn't mention the cards directly but implied several times she suspected him, considering his recent removal from the volleyball team. He wasn't surprised that she already knew about that. The head of the student council never actively seemed to seek gossip but it was always brought to her. So either the cards were a 'bad practical joke' that Yuuki had to assure her was in no way his doing.

It took far longer to convince her than it should have.

Ten minutes of his time gone and still no closer to finding the three supposed 'phantom thieves of hearts'. Students were starting to clear out as Yuuki stopped for a breather on the second floor from all the running. The less students around the more frustrating it became to not find them. They were still on campus, he just knew it. The only areas he had yet to check were…

"When I find out decided this was funny there will be hell to pay."

Shit.
Shit.

Kamoshida's voice was close by - right around the corner. Yuuki felt his breath draw short as he scrambled to find somewhere to hide. If he ran for the stairs the teacher would definitely see him. The closest place to go would be… Clutching his bag, Yuuki took off sprinting up the stairs to the roof. Kamoshida may have already seen him and that spurred his step on faster than he ever ran before. He ran so frantically that he didn't notice the scenery changing behind him.

When he burst through the door to the roof it was not Shujin's roof. Instead he burst out, tripped over his own feet, and rolled across the hard floor.

A wall that should not have even been there broke his momentum.

"Oww…what the hell…"

He did not even stand all the way before noticing. Granted, Yuuki had never been on Shujin's roof, but there was no way the floor looked like that. Nor, as he looked around more, was it lit by candles and quite as high up. Nor, of course, was it a balcony.

Instead of a safe roof he got a safe…balcony?

Of what looked like a castle.

"This way, we have to hurry! The treasure should be materialized now!"

What…?

He didn't recognize the voice that echoed from the arches leading inside…the castle. It may not have even been a voice. In between panicked breaths Yuuki had to consider the possibility he'd lost his mind. Failing that, maybe he tripped on the stairs and smashed his head in. Would not be the greatest way to go. He should at least remember falling…

"Why are you so late? You know you need to study."

…mom?

Yuuki clasped his hands over his ears. It sounded like his mother was speaking a hundred thousand decibels too high. She said something else that was too much for him to understand. It hurt, his brain hurt, and all he wanted to do was sink to the ground and hide from the voices, yes, more than one.

Suzui, "…does he really need me today?"
Kurisu, "…you told them I robbed a hotel?"
Takamaki, "…if you had just said no and took the beating."

It was too much - it hurt both inside and out. He felt like he would pass out if it kept up. Get away, he had to run away from this place. If he stayed here Yuuki knew that if he were not already crazy, he would be soon.

Especially as one voice rose above the rest.

"…moving forward…only…you have…nothing left…"

Each step was agonizing. The voices were merging together into a symphony of screeches. His mother, father, Kurisu, Takamaki, even Ryuji featured in claiming that it was pathetic how he cried so often. Ryuji's voice was perhaps the worst of them. Somehow, phantom Ryuji knew about the things he had bought, what he considered doing. Yuuki turned a corner, hand dragging him along the wall, in tune to Ryuji's voice asking why he even bothered with buying those things. Why not just hang himself? Why not just drown in the bathtub? How hard would it be to throw himself in front of a train? Each suggestion grew more and more crude.

"Please…please…just stop. I'll do whatever you want."

The voices taunts changed with that. They took a darker turn, offering things that he 'wanted'. Things Yuuki had not even considered wanting in the past. It sounded so convincing now, a snake's whisper in the dark. This was worse than the threats and accusations. If anything positive came of them it was that he began nearly sprinting. The pain was worse but so was his desire to escape the hellish castle. Not even looking where he was going, his face and body collided with several walls as corners turned. More bruises to add to his ever growing collection.

A girl's voice broke the ongoing combination of Ryuji and his mother's voices, "M…Mishima!"

That strange voice from earlier chimed in, "What? We made sure no one else was around!"

Stopping, whole body leaned up against the wall, Yuuki forced his eyes open. It was so loud that his vision blurred. He could barely make out the three figures in front of him. No, four, one was incredibly low to the ground. It was hard to see the dark clad figures, other than the one in all red, thanks to the enormous golden crown they were toting forward between them. That more than the castle or voices, made him think he had gone insane.

Apparently the strange voice from earlier was the short one…who looked like a cat, "He looks weird for a cognition. Would Kamoshida create him the exact same?"

The tallest of them, in a long black coat, dropped a hand to his side. Yuuki had seen enough TV to recognize what a holster looked like, "He looks like he is suffering. I could see Kamoshida hurting him even-"

He didn't get to finish. The other tall one, with a bright ascot, moved forward separate from the group. Behind him the red clad dominatrix raised what Yuuki knew to be a machine gun…pointed at him.

"I…I don't..."

"Yuuki. Is that really you?"

That voice…it was so familiar-

"Well, to think I'd find my little pain lover here too."

That was the only warning Yuuki got before something flew past him. Unlike everything else, that still seemed hazy, he recognized a volleyball immediately. He above nearly all others knew the strength behind the spike that knocked that huge crown into the air. Nor was he unaware of the strength that shoved him into the wall as Kamoshida hurled past him and flipped in the air, landing beyond the four and catching the now-small crown in his hand.

It was definitely Kamoshida though Yuuki could have gone his whole life without seeing the man in a cape and speedo. Just as he could without feeling any of the pain he felt today. Seeing his teacher now though, Yuuki almost understood. It just felt natural to be hurt by the man. Overwhelmed, he started to fall forward only to be caught by the black clad figure with the ascot. Up close, eyes adjusting to the static, he could make out a mask shaped like skull. It would have been terrifying, gang members probably, but nothing could trump the strangeness of the day. He thought that even as skull mask pulled him in close side to side, supporting Yuuki's weight with a hand on his hip and one slung across his shoulder.

Kamoshida was ahead of them, yelling something about his castle, with the other three figures training guns, plus a slingshot?, on him. All three seemed more inclined to listen to what was happening behind them rather than the crazed 'king'.

Skull mask took took too big of a step and Yuuki's head lagged sideways, hitting the blondes leather clad shoulder, and he smelled something familiar…

"…Ryuji?"

Skull mask, no, Ryuji came to a sudden jostling stop, "Shit, fuck, Joker this isn't a cognition! This is actually him!"

Joker, the tall dark haired one in the coat…Kurisu? He flipped his gun up and looked back, "He must have been close to us. Skull, think you can watch him while we-"

Yuuki knew got to find out what Kurisu had planned. 'Joker' had to dodge a volleyball missile after red girl, must have been Takamaki with that blonde hair, shouted a warning. At once all attention was off Yuuki and back on speedo Kamoshida. Even Ryuji shifted a hand off him to raise a fucking shotgun up one handed to point at the man.

"Why are you even bothering with him? Don't you know dear little Mi~shi~ma loves the pain?"

"No…stop…"

He did not want anyone to hear this. Just hearing it from Kamoshida was enough. For these guys…for Ryuji to hear it…this was the last thing he wanted.

"Shut up!" Apparently Ryuji himself did not want to.

Kamoshida was never a man to be deterred, especially not when spurred on by a…carbon copy of Takamaki that clung to his side, "What? Is little Mi~shi~ma scared of you guys knowing the truth. I made him watch me hit the others. Made it more exciting! He never looked away!" As if to prove his point Kamoshida grabbed the bikini clad Takamaki at his side by the throat and slung her around, "I considered making him watch me with the girls but for some reason I don't think he'd have been as interested. Seemed to prefer-"

Yuuki's quiet begs to, "Please stop…" were dwarfed by Takamaki's yell of, "Do you ever stop talking?! Enough with the distractions damnit! Just give us the crown you ridiculous clown!"

"How dare you speak back to me in my own castle you whore!"

"W-Whore? You complete piece of trash!"

"Panther," it was Kurisu who stepped forward. He seemed completely different than normal, almost sinister in the black coat, "We've spent enough time talking to him. Let's take the treasure from him and go."

"Absolutely!", the cat yelled out.
"Hell yeah!", called Ryuji from beside Yuuki.

Kamoshida just laughed, "You won't take anything from me! I'm a cut above the rest, I'm the demon that rules this world!" Something was wrong. The 'phantom thieves' looked more on guard as the sick man began to glow with a red light. His form, previously clear, seemed to be shifting in and out of focus like static. "I'll beat the shit out of all of you until you know your place, isn't that right, Mi~shi~ma?"

Shutupshutupshutupshutup…

"What is going on?!" Takamaki, Panther, whatever they were calling her, she sounded scared. She had that machine gun up again but hadn't fired. Yuuki wasn't sure of anything at this point but especially that. As Kamoshida faded out again, something else took his place. The creature looked like one of the goblins from a game Yuuki played before, all pink skin with the crown enormous on his head again. The bikini clad Takamaki floated in a chalice on one hand while smaller creatures ran around his feet. Worst of all was the enormous tongue lashing back and forth, swiping at them, nearly slapping the real Takamaki before she leapt back.

Ryuji almost pulled him down when he jerked back with a yelled, "What the hell is that?"

Kurisu, gun pointed at the creature, had the gall to shrug, "This must be the truth depths of his distortions. Ann and Mona, cover us." He glanced quickly over his shoulder, locking eyes with Yuuki before turning back to demon-Kamoshida, "Ryuji, I'll need you with me." He didn't wait for a response. With no further warning he pulled the trigger and fired off three shots straight at the creature. The demon screeched as all three shots landed somewhere on its bulbous head. All at once things started to happen - Kurisu rushing in with a knife in one hand and pistol in the other. Takamaki and the cat opened fire on the creatures around the giant monsters feet.

"Shit…shit…Yuuki, can you find somewhere to hide?"

His head still pounded, feeling on the edge of breaking in half, but Yuuki managed to make himself nod, "I'll… I'll find something. Just... just go."

Rather than just letting go, Ryuji took the time to lean him up against one of the pillars, "Just stay out of sight. I'll explain everything soon as this ends, okay?"

"…I'll...look forward to it…kick his ass please, Ryuji…"

A manic grin with the skull mask should have freaked him out. Instead the blonde track star looked kind of cool, "If that's what you want consider it done."

He didn't hang around waiting.

Turning, Ryuji took off to join Kurisu, shotgun hefted in both hands and firing. It was the strangest thing Yuuki had ever witnessed. Kurisu and Ryuji, wielding some kind of barb-wire wrapped bat, darted in and out attacking the creatures around freak-Kamoshida's bulbous belly. Ryuji caught one of the smaller ones across the head with his bat and it went flying, body turning to black mist when it slammed into a wall. Another attempted to leap onto Kurisu only to burst into flames and vanish. It had to be Takamaki's doing. Something stood behind her, a hazy figure in red darker than her leather. Yuuki wasn't sure if it was the headache or his eyes that made it so hard to see what shadowed her. It was the same situation with the cat as Kamoshida swung towards Ann. His hand, far before it hit her, erupted in a stream of purple 'blood' as what looked like wind ripped up duvets in the flesh.

It looked like magic but that was crazy.

"You goddamn no good shitty brats!"

His voice, distorted and so loud, echoed through the throne room. The fork in Kamoshida's hand plunged through the air and with a sickening sound, ripped into the trophy before him. Yuuki had not noticed the blue bodies in it before. His stomach felt queasy watching the creature fork out the wiggling torso and legs only to plop it into his mouth.

He wasn't alone, Takamaki's s voice echoing his own sentiment, "He ate them?! That's so gross."

Pointing a sword larger than his body, the cat answered her, "He's eating those remains to heal himself! We have to destroy that trophy!"

"No one is touching what's mine!", yelled Kamoshida as he began to flail his arms. The small, masked creatures at his feet seemed excited by it. A wide swing of the fork barely missed Kurisu as the black coated teen jumped and flipped backwards over it, whole body turning in the air like he practiced gymnastics for years. He wasn't able to dodge the volleyball thrown like a missile by one of the smaller creatures. It hit him in the side and sent the teen tumbling.

"Shit, Joker was hi-"

The cat was cut off as Kamoshida's tongue shot across the room like a snake. 'Mona', as the others had called it, hit the wall like a brick and slid down.

Slinging her machine gun by the strap Takamaki took off running to the cat, "Skull, keep him busy while I heal Mona!"

"WHAT?!"

Ryuji sounded horrified even as he swung his bat and took out another of the small creatures chained to Kamoshida, "What the hell am I supposed to-?"

She cut him off from where she was hovering her now glowing - hands over the cat, "Think of something! Carmen is not very good at this you know! See if you can help Joker up!"

"SHIT!"

While they yelled back and forth Yuuki tried to help. Beneath everyone's notice, as usual, he was stumbling his way to Kurisu. The other teen had yet to move from where he landed, Yuuki half suspected him to not even be breathing. Dropping beside 'Joker' he shook the boy to only get a groan.

He tried not to look as Ryuji yelled again and something exploded behind him.

"Kurisu, you have to get up!" Yuuki shaking the other boy seemed to do something. Eyes fluttered behind the white mask so he kept going. Usually in movies they slapped someone to wake them up but slapping Kurisu, especially when the other had an enormous knife clutched in a death grip despite the hit he took, seemed the worst idea.

"Yuuki, get away from there!"

Everything seemed to happen so slow. He started to turn, first to see Takamaki's horrified face from where she was helping the cat up, then to see Ryuji's back as the blonde teen inserted himself fully begin Yuuki and the enormous pink fist heading his way. Ryuji took the blow fully, bat held up as if to block it, and went soaring across the room into the wall. The plaster itself splintered at the impact as he fell.

Kamoshida was practically hovering over them. The trophy was gone, Ryuji must have broken it, but the fork seemed posed just for Yuuki. The teen stared up at the horrific demon of his teacher as the creature laughed, "Pathetic! No one can stand up to me! You're all losers, weaklings, just toys for me to play with!"

The creature's head craned down and a horrid stench came from his gaping maw into Yuuki's face, "I'm going to eat them one by one Mi~shi~ma, and you're going to watch and love it. Maybe I'll even make you take a bite out of Sakamoto with me! We can see how your hero tastes together, eh eh eh?" The creature was laughing again, right in his face, yet it wasn't just his breath that made Yuuki lurch backward and nearly vomit on himself. Be could picture it, no, he always knew what Kamoshida wanted by making him watch. Knowing was different than having some warped version of the teacher tell him directly…

A hand caught his wrist and horrified, Yuuki almost threw his hand away from the rising Kurisu, "Mishima, get out of here- you need to run."

That seemed to amuse the demon just as much. Even the few remaining chain creatures were cackling, "Run? Mi~shi~ma never runs! He takes everything I give him and secretly enjoys it. Anyone else would have said something but he never did!" The long tongue slithered through the air toward him, "If I ate you up what would I task Mi~shi~ma? These brats think I'm sick but what if they found out-"

No one was more surprised than Yuuki when he snatched up Kurisu's knife and hurled it straight into Kamoshida's tongue. The appendage swept back, knife and all retreating wounded into the gaping mouth.

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP."

Yuuki was standing, barely but he was, and tears poured free from his eyes. He didn't want anyone hearing any of this. Not Kurisu, who looked slightly impressed, not Takamaki and the crazy cat creature with their shocked faces. None of them needed to hear the truth. Most of all he did not want Ryuji to know about it. No, he could not ever know! Not when he could very well be dead for saving Yuuki's worthless life.

He took a step forward as Kamoshida howled, "Stop talking as if you know what I want! I'm nothing like you! I never want to be like you!" He pointed at the creature and screamed so loud his throat, "Everyone thinks they have it so bad! That they are suffering! No one has suffered from you like I have and yet all they can do is hate me…because of YOU!"

Distantly, he heard voices calling out to him. Takamaki calling his name and the cat's voice freaking out, something about distortion and a palace. He wasn't listening, too intent on Kamoshida's monstrous true nature to notice the mist encroaching on him from all sides.

Something was wrong, anyone who knew him would have been surprised as he kept screaming, "You want to make me a monster! You don't need to! I'm already a disgusting person who wants to die but can't even make myself!" His eyes hurt, felt like they were going to burn out of his head, and threw off Kurisu's hand as the other grabbed for him, "I'm jealous of Suzui! She had the strength to jump but I can't even do that!" Drawing ragged breath, he clutched his hands at his side before lunging forward, "NO, I DON'T WANT TO KILL MYSELF, I WANT TO KILL -YOU-!"

"Took long enough to admit how filthy you are…"

A new voice spoke right into his ear, coming from all around him, and Yuuki flinched back as a feeling like slime clung to his face. Something was horribly wrong. There was something on his eyes and no manner of scratching seemed enough. It was worse than any pain he had felt in his life. His eyes had to be on fire, ready to burn straight out of his skull.

"You who are tired of this life…are you ready to crawl up from the dirt?"

He was screaming in agony as his hands found purchase beneath whatever was on his face. Hooking the fingers of both hands in Yuuki began to fight against it. Something wet ran down his hands and he ignored it to keep tugging.

"Are you ready to release all of your desires?"

Anything, anything to make it stop, "YES!"

It came loose and for a moment, Yuuki was convinced he had ripped his own skin off. No sooner had the feeling intensified than it faded, a blissful cool falling across his face and eyes. The voices he had been ignoring, the ones all in his head, were silent. His face still felt heavier than normal but he could see now. Takamaki and the cat had joined Kurisu some distance from him. The red shadow from earlier clear now, an equally red clad woman hovering around Takamaki's body like a ghost. Her hand was glowing and he knew it for what it was - healing 'Joker'.

"Piece of trash who would ascend beyond mediocrity…"

The voice from earlier became clearer with each word.

"…call my name and be set free of all your chains."

A name? Yuuki didn't know - no, wait, he did, it hung on the edge of his tongue. It felt familiar as if he had always known exactly what name he would call one day…

"I am thou, and thou art I…"

He knew.

"MEPHISTOPHELES!"

He should have been terrified. The black smoke at his feel converged in front of him and spiraled up. A nightmare appeared with it. It had the look of a man, far taller than Yuuki and thin built to an almost skeletal extent, but the skin of it's revealed hands and face appeared grey. Long, curly black hair fell to the waist of it's red suit, featured by brilliant golden accents and black pants with equally black boots. That hair moved unnaturally with a life of it's own as empty, smoke pouring sockets 'stared' down into it's book. The book itself looked badly burned and smoked, embers flashing across its ruined surface. One grey hand rose and slashed across it with a red feathered quill.

Yuuki felt lighter, faster, as if every sense charged up all at the same time. His hands as they fell to his sides were covered in black ratty knuckle gloves. Distantly, he knew his uniform was gone but it didn't matter. His mind would not let him question the high collared gunmetal grey pea coat buttoned to his waist. Nor did he question where the baton in his hand came from even as he held it in front of him and with a twist, razor blades slid from the side.

Towering over him, Kamoshida's fiendish cackle echoed off the walls, "See? See, see! You ARE a monster too!"

"Maybe…"

As he spoke, Yuuki noticed Kurisu, Takamaki, and the cat falling in beside him. He shared a look with Kurisu whom nodded to Kamoshida with a smirk he returned.

"Maybe I am a monster too…and maybe I'll never recover from what you did to me..."

His black boots scraped across the floor as he took a stance, one meant to fight with a police-style baton, that he was not even aware of knowing, "You won't be around to see it though. I'm going to put an end to you right here!"

Kamoshida howled, "Try and stop me then, pests!"

It wasn't Yuuki that answered but Ryuji, whom walked up beside and rapped the pea coat clad volleyballer on his grey newsboy cap, "Just watch us do it you piece of shit."

The "Ryuji!" from Yuuki fell beneath the "Skull!" from Takamaki and the cat.

Kurisu, who had to be the leader, brought them back to task, "Let's get this done and head back."

They all yelled the affirmative, Yuuki a bit behind the rest, and it started again. Having another person on their side changed things up. The rest of the team kept their distance as Yuuki, feeling better more athletic than he had his whole life, kicked one of the small chain creatures into the air and swiped it with his batons blades. The creature vanished instantly into smoke. Across Kamoshida's hulking form Kurisu was slashing at them with one hand and shooting Kamoshida with the other, flipping like a professional acrobat to avoid being hit. Takamaki, who seemed to favor range, covered them while Ryuji, formerly in the front line, was hanging back. His bat was put away and instead he fired off bursts of lightning and shotgun shells

The cat was nowhere to be seen but Yuuki was a bit too busy dodging fork stabs and volleyballs to worry over that.

Tucking and rolling under a swipe of Kamoshida's claw brought Yuuki right up by Kurisu. The 'Joker' fired off a burst of fire and incinerated the last creature before looking to him, "Your persona is named Mephistopheles, right?" At Yuuki's quick nod, Kurisu waved a hand at the creature before them, "it will respond to your will. Call out to it, see what you can really do."

It felt like a challenge and stammering, Yuuki replied, "Okay…"

He thought it would be difficult, it wasn't. As soon as the name left his mouth the creature appeared again, book firmly in hand, shimmering around Yuuki like a mirage. Mephisto did not write in his burnt out book this time. Instead the ghastly looking 'man' raised his face and gave Kamoshida's demon an Evil Smile. It was horrifying, his face cracking open to make the expression larger and larger, and the room seemed to drop several degrees instantly.

Yuuki felt oddly elated.
Kurisu pulled away and shook away the feeling.

Kamoshida however, the enormous creature threw up his hands, fork scraping the ceiling, and let loose a high pitched wail. The thing looked horrified as his body lurched side to side as if to escape Mephisto's sadistic expression.

"What the hell is that?", Ryuji yelled from behind them.

Yamakaki had other plans. Raising her machine gun she fired a few rounds to the ceiling and called, "Mona! Now!"

The cat remade it's appearance as a flash of black fur leaping from the nearby railing, running across a chandelier, and hurtling itself toward Kamoshida crown. A panicked swipe of the fork almost took 'Mona' out but the cat twisted, caught the crown with his claws, and vaulted from Kamoshida's now barren head to the other upper walk-way.

"Now guys!"

They were all with Yuuki now: Kurisu, Takamaki, and Ryuji, as their 'persona' shimmered into being around them and readied attacks. Mephisto, still out, raised his burning book as Yuuki and the others threw out their hands at once towards their enemy.

An enormous ignition of dual fires, a lightning bolt, and some strange shadow that cut across his stomach all hit Kamoshida at once. The creature wobbled back with a howl and fell over. Foreign smoke, the same as given off by the chain creatures, burst from the demon until only human Kamoshida in his speedo and cape remained cowering on the floor.

They were all breathing deeply, Yuuki worst of all, as 'Mona' shimmied down the wall and joined them. He had the once-more shrunken crown clutched tightly in his hands, "We did it team! Let’s get out of-”

“Not yet.” Takamaki.
“I don’t care about that.” Yuuki.

The two looked at each other, Yuuki in surprise while Takamaki, now that the battle ended, looked him up and down with a critical eye. With a toss of her head she sighed, “Of course, you would be a rat.”

“Panther! We talked about this-!”

Kurisu cut Ryuji off before the rant could start, “No. She’s right. Look at his mask, Skull.”

...Oh right, they were all wearing masks and using these ‘persona’ things. Reaching up to his face, Yuuki felt along the surface of it. The mask covered his upper face and came down, extending over his nose in two pitch-fork like points around his nostrils. There were holes along the side of the nose that whiskers could have slipped through even. Letting his hand fall, Yuuki forgot about it, and mostly ignored the ‘Phantom Thieves of Heart’ as they debated his appearance and something about a name. Apparently the cat was fascinated by his baton having ‘multiple modes’ or whatever. He didn’t really care right now.

Kamoshida, even beaten, crawled his way to the open arches of the nearby balcony. He looked pathetic thrown to the floor. Yuuki had never seen his teacher lowered in such a way. The man seemed to be talking to himself as he went, mutterings about what he deserved and something about hyenas.

He barely recognized his own voice as he called over the others talking, “Are you scared, Kamoshida?”

All conversation stopped as the Phantom Thieves stared him down and Kamoshida stopped. Realizing it was Yuuki speaking must have spurred something on as the volleyball coach pulled himself up under the arches, “Shut the hell up! You do not get to judge me! No one does! They want things from me and-”

“Stop making excuses for what you did to Shiho!”, Takamaki yelled, shutting up the teacher.

Yuuki didn’t yell - he was tired of talking. There was also the matter of the strange feeling inside of him ever since calling out Mephistopheles. It was a rage bubbling in his chest waiting to be let loose.

...so he did.

None of them, despite what had just happened, expected for Yuuki to lunge at Takamaki. She was the least careful and easiest to rob. ‘Mona’ was the quickest to react and brought his slingshot up just as Yuuki ripped the submachine gun from Takamaki’s arm. The shove that sent her over may have been a little unjustified but it gave Yuuki a chance to get space from her. She fell on her butt as he leveled the firearm on the deranged, speedo wearing man. The man whom smashed his head into the floor, crushed his fingers, and punched him in the sides where no one could see. The teacher whom made him watch as he did the same thing to other members of the team. The coach who wanted to make him…

Sling-shot still up, Mona growled, “How dare you touch Lady Ann like that!”

He was ahead of them now, between Kamoshida and the Thieves, and it would have been so easy. Yuuki’s finger hovered over the trigger. He was shaking, from his finger all the way to his knees, and could not figure out if it was nerves or excitement. Just a single pull would put an end to his nightmare.

“Mishima, put the gun down.” Kurisu’s voice was commanding but he didn’t listen.

“Stop! If you kill him he won’t be able to confess what he did to Shiho!” Takamaki sounded desperate.

He didn’t listen to either of them. Their opinion didn’t matter to him. Nor did Kamoshida’s whimpered begs as the man seemed to realize what was coming, “No, please wait! I beg you...just forgive me!”

No.

Only one voice penetrated the dense fog of his thoughts and gave Yuuki pause.

Ryuji’s voice was soft, the same one he used in the cafe, “Yuuki, please don’t do this. If you kill that version of him, the real bastard will die. No one will know what he did to you guys…”

Shaking his head frantically Yuuki did not take his eyes from Kamoshida, “It doesn’t matter! If he’s alive then I can’t...I won’t be able to forget! You don’t know what I went through! You can’t understand!”

That hand was on his shoulder again. Ryuji gripped tightly and pulled back as Yuuki attempted to flinch away, “You’re right. I don’t understand. None of us do. But you know what you said before about being a monster?” Yuuki didn’t acknowledge the question but his insides froze up. He almost pulled the trigger just out of desperation to end it then. Ryuji went on, “You’re not one. I know it. Shit, most people would not feel as guilty as you do… Doing this will be the first step to becoming one though.”

“But…”

Kurisu appeared like an apparition at his side. His red gloved hand slowly pushed down the muzzle while he spoke, “Skull’s right. Don’t let this guy turn you into a killer. Let him live with the guilt.”

Just a squeeze...if he could just pull the trigger it would…

With a pained cry Yuuki let go of the gun and Kurisu caught it.

Ryuji’s grip on his shoulder loosened. The blonde guy seemed surprised when Yuuki spun on his heel and wrapped both arms around the other boy. His mask covered forehead colliding with Ryuji’s shoulder was hard enough to hurt. It was less painful than the torrent of emotions and burn of exhaustion sweeping through Yuuki’s whole body as he sobbed messily into the leather, “I want to kill him. Want him dead so bad.” He knew that he sounded crazy. Who begged to commit a murder? It wasn’t fair, he was dumping everything on the track star again. The guy did not deserve to deal with all of his crazy.

Ryuji did not seem to mind the rant as he closed Yuuki in and patted the back of his head, “You didn’t do it though man. That's the shit that counts. Plus, you basically saved us there by distracting him.”

“...I did?”

The blonde’s megawatt grin was surprisingly not dampened by the skull mask, “Absolutely.”

There was an explosion behind him that sounded like the fire ‘magic’ from earlier. He attempted to turn his head and look only to be stopped. Ryuji pushed Yuuki’s face back into the other’s shoulder and leaned his head down, whispering, “Let those three deal with it. You have to be exhausted. My persona awakening was pretty damn calm compared to you and Panther but it still wore me the fuck out.”

He was tired.

Kamoshida’s distracted him, “What...what am I supposed to do now?”

‘Jump off that balcony.’
Kurisu’s voice was a lot calmer than Yuuki’s dark thoughts, “Atone for your sins.”

“Alright...I’ll return to my real form. I’ll make certain that I-” They would never know what he planned to do. Kamoshida’s voice vanished. Yuuki pushed away from Ryuji just to look back at where he was.

His voice shook as he spoke, “Is it ov-”

Then the castle started shaking violently like an earthquake.

Hopping from one foot to the other, crown still clutched tight, the cat yelled, “Hey, just so you know, we don’t have a lot of time! This whole place is about to collapse!”

...What?

They stood there for a moment, staring at each other, before Kurisu barked, “Everyone run!”

So they did.

All five of them ran at breakneck speed. Kurisu led the pack despite a cat and track star included. Yuuki (and probably the others) just kept an eye on the trail of that black coat as Kurisu led them around twists and turns. The others may have an idea how the castle was laid out but for Yuuki he barely remembered how he got there much less where anything was. It didn’t help his calm as the roof collapsed, nearly crushing him, and Ann screamed, “We’re all going to die!” as he leapt bits of ceiling.

“Gah!”

Yuuki ran on with the others before noticing - Ryuji wasn’t with them.

Kurisu, Takamaki, and Yuuki all spun to look back (‘Mona’ having leapt their heads to ride Joker’s shoulder) and saw Ryuji on the ground. All of them started back before the blonde threw up a hand.

“Heh, it’s just been a while. I tripped, is all!”

The blonde boy started to push himself up but it was too slow. Takamaki saw it first and yelled his name, “Ryuji!”, as they all started forward. Everything inside Yuuki screamed that he needed to get there quicker, to be faster, as the roof above Ryuji began to crumble. They were not going to make it. Except he did, Mephistopheles voice cackling in his mind, as Yuuki’s legs left a trail of smoke with each step. He didn’t run so much as make two leaps, a sprint from his stand and a kick off the wall. At Ryuji’s side in a blink Yuuki forced the blonde boy’s arm over his shoulder and tugged them both up.
“Guys, hurry up! You’re about to be crushed!”

Takamaki and Kurisu were running ahead of them as Yuuki, still feeling that strange boost to his legs, made up for Ryuji’s limp. Sadly Mephistopheles did nothing to make Ryuji weigh a bit less. Yuuki’s armed ached enough after everything that supporting the blonde was torture. Not that he would ever consider complaining about it. Together the two managed to run through the exit shortly after the others.

Yuuki expected to exit into a castle courtyard; not an alley across the way from Shujin.

They were back in their uniforms. Uniforms that looked out of place as the sweaty, panting teens basically collapsed in the alley. Ryuji and Yuuki, still near each other, practically fell into the wall. Takamaki and Kurisu just hit their knees - the blonde girl looking ready to hurl, “That...that sucked.”

With one last wheeze, Ryuji leaned away and fished out his phone, “Guys, look at the Nav!”

The others stared at their phones but having no idea what they were talking about, Yuuki just looked at the blonde guy’s screen. That was the weirdest GPS app he had seen - especially as it announced, “The destination has been deleted.” the more Ryuji tried to press on a seemingly blank area of the screen.

Rising to her feet, Takamaki sighed, “It’s true...we really can’t go there anymore.”

He had no idea what they were talking about. Especially as Kurisu’s cat peered up at the dark haired boy and whined, “What about the treasure!?” A talking cat should have freaked him out. Yuuki knew that, on an intellectual level, but he had already seen it talk in the castle in that other weird form.

The day was entirely too strange for a talking cat to be what did him in.

Apparently the medal Kurisu held up was important.

Ryuji started, pulling away from Yuuki to rise to his feet, “What the hell…?”

“A medal…?” Takamaki sounded unsure, “Wait, where’d that crown go?”

Okay, maybe Yuuki was not as okay with the cat as he thought, considering he jumped every time it spoke, “It means that was the source of Kamoshida’s desires. To him that medal is worth as much as the crown we saw in the palace.”

“An olympic medal…” Ryuji stared at it a moment, “So that perv kept clinging to his past glory and wouldn't let it go…”
Takamaki shrugged, “But this means Kamoshida’s heart may have changed, right?”

The cat’s, “Probably…?” was unsure enough to make Ryuji yell, “Our expulsions on the line here!”

Kitty looked sheepish, “This was the first successful attempt for me too. His personality must have changed after that though. We took the source of his distorted desires and his palace is gone…”

Oh right, Kamoshida was still alive and running around sans speedo supposedly. Rising and brushing dirt from his clothes, Yuuki made himself known, “Can someone explain what is going on? What do you mean Kamoshida heart may have ‘changed’? Was all this supposed to keep us from being expelled?”

All four of them looked at him as one and Yuuki felt nervous. The cat’s expression was unreadable but Kurisu looked considering. Ryuji looked sheepish, as if he may have forgotten Yuuki was there, not that he held it against the blonde boy. It was Takamaki who answered after giving him a sharp look, “By stealing Kamoshida’s treasure from the palace he should have a change of heart and not expel you.”

Oh...that...didn’t really make much sense, “I don’t quite understand what’s happening…”

Ryuji opened his mouth to explain but Kurisu beat him, “Look, we’re all tired, and we’ve done all we can today. Let’s head home and meet up tomorrow to talk about it, okay?” The ‘Thieves’ all nodded while Yuuki, feeling the odd man out, just stayed silent. Kurisu focused on him next, “Give us your contact and we’ll tell you where to meet us. I promise, we’ll explain everything tomorrow.”

Frowning, Yuuki rattled off his contact number and the ‘Thieves’ all saved it.

Kurisu yawned, “For now I just want to go to sleep. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

With that the dark haired teen and his talking cat, still a mystery there, departed. Takamaki hung around a moment to look at them with a scrunched nose before she too left. It was just him and Ryuji left then - once again - and Yuuki stared at the floor with his hands in the small of his back. The realizing that he had cried on the other again, a terrible growing trend, sank in all at once. The blonde did not seem to fare much better as he coughed into his hand to cover the seemingly awkward silence between them.

Yuuki, to his own personal surprise, broke it first, “Is your knee alright now?”

The, “Yeah, I’m fine now.”, came a little too quick and Yuuki frowned at the other boy until Ryuji relented. Grinning, the track star bounced his leg a few times and winced, “Okay, it still hurts a little. Promise though, it’s not that bad. Just need to get some rest and it’ll be good at new.”

He laughed at Yuuki’s dry, “And avoid having weird castles collapse on you…”

“That too.” Reaching into his pocket, Ryuji pulled his phone back out and waved it, “Hey look, I know Akira said tomorrow. If you’re awake later tonight I’ll text you at least some of the details. Can be a lot to take in all at once. That okay?”

Ryuji was...asking permission to text him?

“Umm, yeah, sure. That...that’s fine. Anytime.”

“Great.” Reaching up, he rubbed the back of his head while talking, “Guess we just gotta wait to see what happened to Kamoshida. Sorry I can’t really guarantee no expulsion here or anything.”

Part of Yuuki already accepted it as the inevitable but he didn’t say that, “Let’s just hope it’s fine.”

“Right.”

“Exactly.”

Laughing at nothing, Ryuji waved at him and took off, Yuuki heading his own way.

He did not even bother changing out of the Shujin uniform when he got home. Instead he collapsed in bed and napped for around three hours before snapping awake. The trip into the ‘palace’ gave him a new slew of information to pull his nightmares from. He spent a good ten minutes staring at his phone, considering all that had happened that day, before giving up and hopping online. There was too much he needed to look up. Not that Google helped with a lot of it. Searching for ‘palaces’ just got him a lot of information on the European countryside he would never need. ‘Personas’ got him pages upon pages of information about a psychologist named Jung. He read more of it than the information on castles; at least the psychology stuff seemed interesting. Not that it really explained why he could call Mephistopheles.

Searches that name did not absolutely fill him with joy either.

Several hours of fighting lingering exhaustion and searching high schools later, Yuuki’s phone vibrated. The number was unknown but already knowing who it was, he saved it as ‘Ryuji’ before opening it.

RYUJI :: hey are you awake yet???

Had been for hours - the other did not need to know that.

YUUKI :: Yeah, just woke up. So...are we getting expelled???

He may have spent an unfortunate amount of time looking at their two messages. The ‘Phantom Thieves’ had not sounded all that certain. They did something to Kamoshida’s heart but what?

RYUJI :: dunno. Mona thinks so but tbh i only kinda understand all this cognition shit

Another term for him to look up. Yuuki stepped into the kitchen to get water while responding. He deleted his whole message when his phone began to vibrate - Ryuji was apparently a busy texter.

RYUJI :: btw. Morgana is the talking cat which did not bother you very much. Thats weird. Ann freaked.

Sighing, he pulled a bottled water from the fridge. The talking cat had been weird but with everything else going on at the time he had not really considered it much. Yuuki dropped on the couch while typing.

YUUKI :: giant pink demon Kamoshida kind of seemed more important than talking cat. But really, what the hell? I’ve seen Kurisu walk around with that cat and it WAS NOT TALKING

A lot of the students at Shujin heard about the cat that slept in Kurisu’s desk. Had it been literally any other student someone would have reported the pet. The guy’s reputation kept people from talking. Not to mention the cat was developing a fan following among the cat loving students of the school each day.

RYUJI :: can only hear morgana when you go to the metaverse. He said you gotta hear him there first. Weird right? And yeah giant kamoshida was weird. Akira said morgana didn’t expect that either.

YUUKI :: So is Kurisu you guys leader? How long have you guys been going to that place?

Hearing a key turning, Yuuki got up and practically sprinted to his bedroom. He wasn’t hiding from his mom - he even called back “Welcome home!” to her. The issue of his imminent expulsion and how he had not said a word about it to her still hung in the air. Easier not to mention it by not being around her.

Back in his room, Yuuki reopened his chat to Ryuji.

RYUJI :: lot to explain. can i call you?

Yuuki stared at his phone a moment too long before texting back ‘Yes’. Stepping to his computer he turned on music and ensured his door was locked. No reason to make his mother think he was crazy.

The phone vibrated and he answered immediately, “Erm...Hello.”
Ryuji’s laugh came clear across the line, “Wow, you even sound formal on the phone.”

“Really?” Yuuki laughed a little, hand running at his face, “I do not really try to, you know?”

The other made an unconvinced sound, “Sure, sure.” There was a brief lapse and it sounded like Ryuji had his hand over the phone, talking to someone else, before, “Hey, just a second, let me step outside.”

“Erm, yeah, no problem.” The line went silent, Ryuji having put him on mute, and Yuuki pulled his laptop over. ‘Just a second’ seemed to drag on for quite awhile. He had enough time to open up a new tab and start looking up this ‘metaverse’ they mentioned. Most of the theories he found sounded like nothing he had experienced. A few, scattered across various pages, might have held some weight. By the time Ryuji actually came back, he had a somewhat working theory on what had happened to him earlier.

The other guy sounded out of breath when he came back, “Hey, sorry that took so long.”

Skimming a paragraph on what supposedly made up the Metaverse, Yuuki replied, “It’s okay, Ryuji. I didn’t mind.” Oh Really? Collective unconscious? That sounded familiar. He pulled up the Jung tab again while speaking, “You okay though? Sounded like you just went for a run.”

“I did.”

What?

Yuuki pushed the laptop away, “Wha...Really? Why not just talk in your house?”

The other boy made a noncommittal sound, “Just can’t right now. Don’t worry about it.”

Little did Ryuji know, Yuuki had never been good at that ‘not worrying’ thing, “Oh...okay. Yeah. No problem. So erm...I looked it up a little just now. That place, the ‘Metaverse’, it’s like their mind, right?”

A groan came across the line, “Hey, you can’t go cheating. If you already know how can I tell you?”

The dark haired boy felt his face heating up, “I...I just looked up a few things! I still don’t quite get it all… I mean, nothing I found could tell me what Mephistopheles is…? What is a ‘Persona’ really?”

The voice over the line sounded excited, “They’re cool right? I don’t know the whole deal but Morgana says they are the ‘reflection of our inner selves’ or some shit. Guessing by Kidd, I’m a pirate inside.”

Yuuki laughed, it was far too easy to picture the blonde boy with an eye patch and pirate get-up. Though as he considered the idea, his laugh trailed off, “I don’t know what mine says about me…”

He could practically hear Ryuji shrug, “Looked like some kind of lawyer from hell.”

“So if that is a reflection of my ‘inner self’...? I mean, what it did to Kamoshida was...creepy, right?”

“Hey, Yuuki.”

The serious tone in Ryuji’s voice got Yuuki sitting up straight, “...Yes?”

“Stop putting yourself down.

“...What?”

Ryuji considered on as if he hadn’t spoken, voice quick, “You are so hard on yourself over what that bastard did. But...you’re not anything like him. I mean, Morgana was convinced you’d have a palace but the app didn’t show one so you can’t be like that. Plus you have a persona even if it is kind of a creepy one but I mean, really, Ann’s persona throws around a doll man, so how bad can Mephy actually be, right? You should have seen Akira’s first Persona, that thing was scary as hell, man.”

Yuuki gaped at nothing as Ryuji’s rant died down. Questions were everywhere, he didn’t know where to start, and so his mutinous mouth handled it for him, “...Did you just call him Mephy?”

“...really, that’s what you got there?”

“Yeah…?”

The other boy’s laughter nearly exploded over the phone. Yuuki pulled it from his ear and grinned a bit, not quite joining in, until the blonde got past it, “His name is just too long! So...Mephy.”

It seemed kind of disrespectful to his ‘inner self’ but, “Mephy it is then.”

Another laugh before Ryuji cursed, “Shit, it’s late. I need to get back before my mom freaks.”

Pulling the phone from his ear, Yuuki was surprised at the time. It did not feel like they had been talking that long, “You are really standing in the street? I thought you were just outside.”

“I took a walk.” He was a little jealous of how nonchalant Ryuji sounded there, “Heading back now. Anyway, you should get to sleep. Summoning a persona and defeating that piece of shit Kamoshida’s twisted desire...that was a lot.”

He had been yawning for a few minutes already but kept that to himself. No reason to let Ryuji feel too smug, “Right, you’re just tired. Admit it.”

“Never.”

Smiling, Yuuki stepped from his bed to dig out sleep clothes, “I’ll talk to you...well, all of you ‘Phantom Thieves’ tomorrow then I guess? You know where I’m supposed to meet you?”

“No clue, Kurisu hasn’t texted yet.”

“...Right.”

There was a sound like a door opening as Ryuji spoke, “Hey, don’t stress so much. They are all pretty great people. Well, Morgana can be a bit annoying, but even he’s fine. If you want, I can meet you before so…”

Yuuki was sincerely ready to scream, “Please!” but never got it out. Another voice, from Ryuji’s end of the line, spoke loudly as if the new guy were right by the phone, “Hey, hey, you know you don’t have to sneak out to talk to your girlfriend right? I’d never interrupt another man’s score-”

The blonde’s yelled, “Shut the hell up Ryoma!” was followed by a quick, “Good night, Yuuki.”

‘Ryoma’ sounded excited, “Yuuki~? That’s a cute name - why you hiding her Ryuji~”

The line abruptly went dead while Yuuki just stared at it in shock.

He...erm...well… Not knowing what to think, he considered texting Ryuji back a ‘Good Night’ as well before reconsidering. The other had sounded really angry. Well, obviously not at him, he had sounded nice with the good night. Asking who ‘Ryoma’ was would also be a bit rude…

Shrugging to himself, letting it go (as if he were good at that), Yuuki changed and went to bed.

He had to meet the ‘Phantom Thieves of Heart’ the next day after-all.