[guys]

[I regret to inform ya'll that I can't participate in video taping the calling card]

[Futaba: s fjhdasfbd this is the first thing u tell us after we found out u DIED?]

[??? did Ryuji not tell u guys?]

[and did u not read the articles about me rising from the dead???]

[Futaba: ugh]

[Akira: U just wasted the PERFECT opportunity to send us the 'I lived bitch' meme smh 😔😔]

[oh damn ur right]

[Haru: Why can't you make the Calling Card with us?]

[My siblings have been watching me like a h a w k ]

[Shouto especially. The only time I'm left alone is to piss and sleep and Fuyumi even tucks me into bed like I'm 5 again 😂]

[Yusuke: You can't exactly blame them for their over-protective tendencies since you did die.]

[Makoto: Yes, and people think you were murdered. They're most likely afraid your 'killer' is going to come back and finish you off.]

[Yeah u right. I enjoy spending a lotta time with them it just feels weird to have shouto guard the bathroom door while I'm using it or Fuyumi making me stay away from windows...]

[Ryuji: Stay away from the windows?? Lol, does she think a bird's gonna swoop in and nab u or smthg???]

[Yes.]

[Ann: It should be okay for her to miss out on the calling card tho, right? I mean, we'll be suited up and ur classmates might recognize you even when it's gonna be all dark]

[Ah, good point!!]

[Anyways, have u guys seen any signs of Goro???]

[Just wondering]

[Ryuji: Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh🙄🙄🙄]

[I'm worried u jerk!!!!!]

[Makoto: Unfortunately, we haven't seen him anywhere lately...]

[Yusuke: Yes, I even remember hearing about his absence in a talk show he was supposed to guest star in.]

[Haru: I'm sure he's fine, Shiina. He's most likely in hiding now.]

[I really hope he is...]

Shiina had to put her phone down on the table when Shouto asked her a question.

"Are you sure you want to go to school so early? The teachers understand and they're even encouraging you not to participate in the Sports Festival."

"As if Endeavor's gonna let that happen," she muttered bitterly before plastering on a bright smile. "And there's no way I'm staying in this house any longer than I have to. I'm fine, Shouto, really. All my injuries have healed up so I'm good to go!"

She actually didn't want to go to school because she knew she'd be facing a lot of stares and whispers. News of her 'murder' and revival spread like wildfire and she was sure all of UA was buzzing about it too since the victim was a student there. She didn't want to deal with any of their judgment but she was willing to suffer through it if it meant not having to stay home where Endeavor may or may not finish work early.

"But the Sports Festival," he insisted. "You should tell the teachers you want to drop out of it."

No, dad'll hit me again.

"I'm totally ready for it, trust me!" She beamed. "Besides, I promised my friends that they get to watch me kick ass and I'm not about to disappoint them!"

His expression darkened. "Your friends. Right. They're going to watch..."

She didn't notice the sudden animosity towards her friends since she had finished eating her breakfast and stood up to put the plate away. Once Shouto was done too, they bid Fuyumi goodbye and headed out for the subway.

Much to Shouto's irritation, her friends were there.

"Shiina!" Ann exclaimed cheerily, bounding towards the younger girl only to get shoved out of the way as Ryuji came barreling forward. The blonde male didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around the red head and quickly picked her up to twirl her around.

"You're aliiiiive!" He shouted, grinning stupidly.

"Idiot, you saw me last night," she whispered, grinning just as wide.

"Oh shut up, lemme be happy, you bitch!" Chuckling, he finally set her down while the rest of her friends reached them.

"You look well, I'm relieved." Yusuke sighed out.

"Yep, the doctors and nurses healed me up nicely," she bragged. "Not a single scratch on me. Were you worried you wouldn't be able to draw me nude anymore?"

He smiled widely. "Oh, never."

"Oh please don't do any nude drawings, Yusuke, I thought you were done with that..." Ann lamented.

He frowned at her as if she had just spat on his shoes. "Nude painting is a central concept in art! It is about observing and understanding the human anatomy! It is about exercising the beauty and aesthetics of the human figure! It is about—"

"—Don't lie to us, you just wanna see Shiina's tits." Ryuji scoffed.

He furrowed her brows. "Her what?"

"Nobody tell him." Makoto said quickly, sending Shiina and Ryuji sharp looks.

"I don't know what a 'tit' is but I want to see Shiina bare it all!" Yusuke announced grandly. "That way, I can fully capture the beauty that is her body."

Ryuji stared at him with a twitching brow. "God, you're so—"

"—Sweet!" Shiina finished, hearts practically in her eyes. "You're such a smooth talker, Yusuke! Unlike a certain someone I know." She side-eyed Ryuji.

"You wanna say that to my face?"

"Eloquence is a trait every gentleman has," Yusuke smirked over at the fuming blonde. "Unfortunately, not everyone is a gentleman."

"I can be a gentleman and shit!" Ryuji protested.

"No, you can't." Makoto deadpanned.

"I friggin' can!"

Ann rolled her eyes. "We'll believe it when we see it. Anyways our train's here, let's get going guys."

The four of them headed in and Shiina was just about to follow them when Shouto suddenly grabbed her forearm and yanked her back.

"Ah, Sho-chan? That's our train too."

"Actually, I think we should take another train." He said.

She stared at him incredulously. "Hah? But Sho-chan, the next one doesn't come until fifteen minutes!"

"It's fine. We won't be late."

"But Sho-chan—" His grip on her arm tightened. "Oh fine..."

"Shiina!" Ryuji called out to her. He was waiting for her by the door. "Come on!"

"Er, we're going to take a later train," she called back to him. "You guys go on without us."

He looked like he was about to argue but Makoto pulled him back in just as the train doors shut. It zoomed away a few seconds afterwards.

She turned to her brother and narrowed her eyes at him. "Why did you do that?"

He wouldn't look at her. "I thought it was better we ride on a different train."

She stepped around him so they could be face to face. "Yeah, but why?" She pressed on.

He finally relented. "...I didn't want you near them."

She gaped at him. "You don't want me near my own friends?"

He nodded.

"Where did that come from?!"

"I don't trust your friends." He finally admitted. "You were with them the night you..."

Her eyes widened. "You think they—?!" She spluttered. "Shouto, I promise you they had nothing to do with what happened to me!"

"How would you know if you can't even remember what happened after you left your friend's house?" He shot.

"Er..." Damn, he got her there. "They wouldn't do something like that. I trust them."

"Like you trusted Kurusu Akira? He turned out to be Japan's most wanted criminal."

She swallowed thickly and couldn't find anything else to say so Shouto ended the conversation there.

It was moments like these where she really wanted to blurt the whole truth to him. She hated lying to Shouto and making him worry about her late nights out and the injuries she'd sustained. She knew Shouto would never report her to the police, but what if he didn't agree with her being a wanted criminal? What if he was disappointed in her?

The train ride to Musutafu was silent and tense between them. Shouto was fully convinced that her friends were evil and she had no idea how to convince him otherwise.

When they stepped into UA, Shiina was certain that people would begin staring at her but much to her relief, nobody did. Though that was probably because most of the hallways were cleared off since the students were already in their homerooms. Because they had to take a later train, the twins arrived at UA with only five minutes to spare.

They entered the classroom and all hell broke loose.

"YOU'RE ALIIIIIIVEEE!" Mina cried out, diving for her. "Oh my god, girl, you had us so scared!"

"Careful, Mina, she's probably still injured!" Kaminari fretted.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," Shiina grunted, trying to squirm away from Mina's death hug. Was this how Shouto felt every time she glomped him?

"You're really okay?" The blonde asked her skeptically.

She sighed in relief once Mina finally pulled away and nodded at him. She spread her arms out and even did a twirl. "No injuries, see? I made a full recovery."

"That's so manly, Kiberi-chan!" Kirishima gasped. "And fast! Were you taken to Recovery Girl?"

"Nah, I just had good doctors and nurses looking after me," she smiled. "I even had a broken ankle, but that was healed in an instant!"

"So manly!"

"Todoroki-kun was worried about you the other day, kero." Tsuyu stated.

Jirou nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he bolted out of the classroom after he found out."

"We didn't know what made him leave so quickly, but then we saw the news and grew really worried..." Momo frowned. "There was an article saying that you were... were..."

"Dead." She supplied.

She winced and nodded. "Yes, that. And then in the next hour, there was another article saying that you were suddenly revived. I was really lost and scared."

"Sorry for worrying you all," she said sheepishly. "But I'm alive and well!"

"Yeah!" Uraraka chirped. "See? I told you guys that she was okay!" She giggled over at Shiina. "Deku-kun, Iida-kun and I tried telling the class a few minutes ago that we saw you alive and well yesterday but they didn't believe us!"

"Can you blame us? All the articles we were reading were confusing us!" Hagakure cried out. "It definitely drove me crazy!"

"Can you all shut the fuck up already?!" Bakugou blew up. "Milk Jugs is alive! Whoop-dee-fucking-doo! Now sit down and zip up, for fuck's sake!"

"Don't be so heartless, Kacchan..." Midoriya frowned in disappointment.

"You shut up especially, shitty Deku!"

"Ignore him," Mina whispered to Shiina. "I'm pretty sure he was worried deep deep down."

"Oh I doubt it," she rolled her eyes.

The door slid open and everyone hurried over to their desks thinking it was Aizawa, but it wasn't. It was Ken and he looked stunned to see her.

"Shiina!" He gawked. "You're okay! That's great! I, uh, need to talk to you for a moment!" He didn't even leave her a second to protest when he proceeded to drag her out of the room, leaving everyone watching.

The door closed and Hagakure immediately let out a loud squeal. "Oh my goooooddd! Do you think he's going to confess?!"

"No way, it's too soon." Mina disagreed. "Besides, Todoroki clearly has dibs on her, right Todoroki?"

"Dibs?" He said.

"See? He said yes! Shiinouto forever!"

Meanwhile, Ken finally released Shiina's arm once they were away from eavesdropping distance. "Was it Shadow related?" He asked automatically.

She rolled her eyes. "Nice to see you too, Kenny."

He blushed. "Sorry. I'm glad to see that you're okay."

She smiled sweetly. "That's better. And yes, it was Shadow related. Me and my friend were trying to get to the exit, but there were too many Shadows around... We were both too tired to even summon our Personas and the Shadows were gaining on us fast. I can't really remember much, but we managed to escape, though it was too late to save me..."

He grimaced. "That sounds somewhat familiar to me..."

"Oh," her eyes widened in realization. "Did it happen to you too...?"

"Oh no, not me."

She sighed in relief.

"It happened to Narukami's group though."

"The tarot card crushers, right?"

He stifled a laugh and nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. Them. Anyways, a little girl was taken into the Midnight Chanel, which isn't safe for humans. She was trapped there for about a day when Narukami and his friends came to rescue her. But she died in the hospital and was miraculously revived."

"A little girl?" She frowned. "How young...?"

"Between six or seven..."

Her frown only deepened. "That must have been so traumatic for her..."

"It's traumatic for anyone," he corrected, then gave her a look of concern. "How are you feeling? Be honest with me. You can tell me about the Shadows and everything."

She was about to open her mouth and say 'I'm okay' for the hundredth time since she died, but she really wasn't. Talking about her death reminded her of all the Shadows she and Akechi faced and her fear of them dying in Shido's Palace. Her shoulders slumped at the onslaught of memories and before she knew it, she was shrinking into herself.

"I was scared that we weren't going to make it," she admitted in a quiet voice. "Turns out I was half right. And the friend that I was with is missing so now I'm really worried about him. Nobody really likes him at the moment, so I feel like I'm the only one who cares... And I also have to go back to that awful place..."

He grew more concerned. "You shouldn't have to go back there if you don't want to. Are your friends making you go there?"

"No," she shook her head quickly. "They understand—I mean, they will if I tell them how I feel—but I have to go back... to... to help them."

"Don't make yourself go there. It might not end well for you," he advised. "As for your friend... what bad thing did they do?"

"He betrayed the group. Tried to get one of us killed." She muttered. She still wanted to punch Akechi for that.

His exterior crumbled. "You had a traitor too?"

He was a traitor. He joined SEES at the tender age of thirteen all so he could kill one of the members as payback the death of his mother.

"The breath of life is faint in you as well, child... After killing him, you were planning to join him, were you not?" Takaya's words rang in his head. His lips started to tremble slightly as he recalled the death of Shinji—a death that he was more than willing to partake in all for the sake of vengeance, but the chance was snatched away from him after he took two bullets—and the last bullet wasn't even for him. Takaya had been meaning to shoot Ken, but...

He was brought back to reality by Shiina's stunned voice.

"You too?!"

Ken swallowed nervously. He didn't want her knowing how terrible he was back then... So he decided to talk about a different traitor in his old group.

"An old bastard who used to tell lame jokes. He's dead though, and no, we didn't kill him... He killed himself. Coward's way out." He said shakily. "Narukami's group had a traitor too, but he's... changed somewhat. For your sake, I hope your traitor changes too."

"He already has," she said softly.

His gaze softened. "Then you and your friend's are one of the lucky ones." They really were. "Come on, we should probably walk back to class before Aizawa sensei gets there..."

She shrugged. "Meh. He'd probably let me off."

"Then worry about me."

"Nah," she said teasingly.

He bumped shoulders with her. "Jerk. By the way, you got Sanada-san worried for a second. He's wondering if you'd like to come over again for dinner. I'd like that too, just so you know. He always cooks ten times better when there's guests over." He was a better cook though, but he liked the breaks he got from when Akihiko cooked instead.

"Would Koromaru be there?" She asked eagerly.

"Shiina, he lives with us."

"Then I'm definitely coming over soon!"

They returned to the classroom and most of the girls were eyeing them intensely.

"What happened?" Hagakure whispered to her as Ken returned to his seat.

Shiina stared at her weirdly. "Uh, we talked...?"

"And?"

"We walked back?"

Hagakure's shoulders slumped in defeat. Meanwhile, Mina was somewhere fist-pumping in the distance. "That's it?" The invisible girl said with noticeable disappointment. "No tearful embrace? No passionate kiss?"

"Nope. Sorry."

"I'm so disappointed in you," Hagakure hissed. "Now go to your seat!"

"Yes ma'am." Shiina replied, chuckling as she plopped down between Midoriya and Sero.

A second later, Aizawa walked in through the door and was visibly surprised to see Shiina. "Kiberi, what are you doing here? The school informed your father that you were allowed the rest of the week off to recover."

"I've fully recovered so it's okay," she chimed.

Besides, it's not like Endeavor gives a shit about me.

— ❤ —

Lunch turned out to be the most uncomfortable period ever. People in the cafeteria were whispering and pointing at her without even bothering to hide it. It was hard to eat too because what if one of them made a comment about how she ate? It wouldn't be behind them because everyone was blatantly talking about her dying! It was driving her nuts.

She tried to distract herself with Shouto, but he got up to go to the bathroom so now she was left completely alone to deal with the stares and comments.

"Hey," someone said.

She snapped. "Yes, I died okay and no, I don't remember going to heaven or hell so shut up and eat your stupid carbs!"

Shinsou blinked down at her. "Uh..."

"Oh it's you Shinsou," she relaxed, her cheeks turning pink for a moment. "Sorry for snapping at you. I was getting sick of everyone talking about me as if I'm not here..."

"I don't blame you," he sympathized. "And have people really been going up to you to ask about heaven and hell?"

"Yep..."

"Wow," he scoffed. "That's insensitive as hell."

"I know right?!" She cried out. "They're driving me crazy! I'm used to people staring at me but that's because they're entranced at how gorgeous I am! But these people aren't admiring me! They're whispering about me being dead and all! And guess what?!"

"Uh, what?" Something told him that a long rant was coming for him.

She whipped out her phone and shoved the screen at his face. "Look at this! Look at it! They're blowing up my Instagram too! I just posted a really cute selfie of me wearing my new eyeshadow palette but they didn't even talk about my makeup! Or how hot I looked! All my comments are from random irrelevants asking how I was killed, if it hurt, or who killed me and arrrrgghhhhh! I hate them!"

He took the phone from her hand and scrolled through the comments, his frown getting deeper and deeper. "They're even asking you for details...? Geez, they have no shame..."

She laid her head down on the table miserably. "The only good thing is that I gained over a hundred new followers, but they've been sliding into my DMs to ask me more stupid questions. I ended up blocking them but more keep coming!"

"Make your account private." He suggested.

She straightened up, looking aghast. "Whaaaat?! How else are people going to admire me?!"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh my god, you're so—"

"—Hey," he was interrupted by another student. A second year by the looks of him. "Are you Kiberi Shiina?"

Shiina buried her face into her hands and moaned in despair. Not again!

Shinsou narrowed his eyes at the intruder. "Hey," he said mockingly.

The second year shot him a look of disdain. "I wasn't talking to—" He stopped talking as a dazed and faraway look appeared in his face. His eyes looked dull and empty. Shiina looked up, her mouth forming into a little 'o'. This was the first time she had seen Shinsou's Quirk at work.

"Go take out a piece of paper and write down 'I will not bother innocent girls' a thousand times." Shinsou ordered.

The student wordlessly turned and walked away. Shiina's mouth gaped even more as she watched him take out a notebook and pen from his backpack and begin writing down lines over and over again. She whirled back to Shinsou, eyes glittering with admiration.

"That was so cool, Shinsou!" She squealed. "You wanna go shopping with me?! You can totally make the store employees give me everything I want for free! You can even get yourself some eyebag cream!"

"These bags are designer." He deadpanned.

"Those eyebags are bigger than my dad's bank account," she quipped. "Come on please?!"

He sighed. "I'm not gonna go shop-lifting with you, Shiina. I'm trying to get into the Hero Department remember? Fair and square."

"Ugh, you're so lame." She pouted.

"And you're chaotic," he quipped back, stealing a bite of her curry.

"Hey, that's mine!"

"But the carbs, Shiina." He reminded her, a teasing smirk on his face.

— ❤ —

Shiina was, for once, actually trying to do her homework without being forced to. 'Trying' being the keyword here because she just couldn't focus on anything while knowing that Shouto was undergoing another hellish training session with Endeavor.

While mulling over her stupid math homework, her phone buzzed to life. It was a notification from her gmail. She was about to dismiss it until she saw the word 'Fenty' so she whipped her neck back to it and read the alert.

Get half off of Fenty's Killawatt Highlighter in a Sephora store near you!

(Japan doesn't have any Sephora stores anymore so just pretend)

Her eyes glazed over. It was a coupon...

I know what I must do, she thought firmly.

Quickly stuffing her phone in her pocket, she stormed out of her room and dashed for the training room where Shouto and Endeavor would be at. She loudly opened the door, slamming it against the wall.

Endeavor snapped his head towards her, face red with rage at the fact that she just interrupted. "What do you think you're—"

"Tullia!" She called forth. When her Persona appeared, she pointed at Endeavor. "Dormina!"

THUD!

Shouto couldn't help but widen his eyes at his father's slumbering form. "W-what did you...? How...?"

"Come on, Sho-nii, we're leaving the house!" She exclaimed, grabbing his wrist and dragging him out of the room (but not before tossing his shirt at him).

"Wait, where are we going? Why did you put him to sleep?" He blinked wildly.

"I just received an important notice," she stated. "Sephora gave me an online coupon for half off of Fenty's Killawatt highlighter. I decided to kill three birds with one stone. I saved you, knocked dad out—again—and I'm gonna get that damn highlighter."

"You knocked dad out for a highlighter?" Shouto frowned. "Since when do you ever highlight anything? You've never touched a book once."

She nearly tripped on the way out. "What?!" She laughed. "Sho-chan, I'm not talking about those highlighters people use for school! This highlighter is much more useful then that."

"It is?" He tilted his head.

She nodded, a very serious look on his face. "It is."

"How will we be getting to Sonoma?"

"Sephora," she corrected. "And we're gonna take Endeavor's car." They stepped into the kitchen where they saw Endeavor's fire-patterned car key dangling on the wall. She greedily snatched it off.

Shouto gave her a very wary look as they climbed aboard Endeavor's very expensive vehicle. "...Can you even drive?"

"'Course I can," she snorted. She had driven the Morgana-mobile a couple of times before.

Her answer didn't comfort Shouto in the slightest, who was gripping his seatbelt and grab handle very tightly. His body tensed as if to brace himself as Shiina started the car.

He stared up at the ceiling. Please don't let her driving kill us, he prayed.

Miraculously, Shiina wasn't a maniac behind the steering wheel, which truly shocked him. He expected to get into a car crash in the first two minutes of her driving. But they were well into the city now and Shiina was actually abiding to the laws of the road.

During the (shockingly safe) car ride, Shouto began to wonder what sort of highlighter she was going to buy. Was it a tool that strengthened one's Quirk? Or did it enhance physical capabilities instead?

He was very disappointed when he found the answer.

"Shiina, this is makeup." He deadpanned.

"Isn't it great?" She asked cheerfully. "Look at this, Sho-chan! It's a Fairy Bomb!"

"It's just glitter in a box." He stated dryly.

"I think I'm gonna get this one too," she grinned, taking the 'fairy box' into her already full arms. She walked in wanting to get the highlighter, but she was about to walk out with more.

"I can't believe you knocked dad out for this. Actually..." He trailed off. "I take that back. You would knock dad out for something as trivial as this..."

"It's not trivial!" She said defensively. "It's important! It's, uh, preparation for the Sports Festival!"

He gave her a blank stare. "Okay."

She grinned sheepishly and continued on with her shopping, but it didn't just end in Sephora. They were surrounded by many other stores and Shiina being Shiina, couldn't control herself so she dragged Shouto around each one, even persuading him to buy a few nice things for himself too. For some odd reason, he really liked bath bombs, especially the ones with the red and white coloring.

The sky was getting dark and she knew they had to return home soon. Fuyumi was still out with her friends, and Shiina didn't want to leave her alone with an angry Endeavor once he woke up. As they walked back to the car, she received a text message from Akira:

[It's time.]

She turned her attention to one of the electric billboards, which was showing a report about the Phantom Thieves.

"—national news. Since the young man suspected to be a leader of the Phantom Thieves died in custody, the police have officially announced these clients have come to an end and have assured everyone that the peace will be restored—"

The screen started to glitch, catching the attention of a few civilians. What really caught everyone's attention was the famous Phantom Thieves symbol on the screen along with the phrase 'TAKE YOUR HEART'.

Everyone looked around wildly. All of the billboards had been messed with.

"What's going on...?" She heard Shouto murmur.

A distorted voice spoke up. "We are the ones you all know as the Phantom Thieves."

She then heard someone cheer and looked to see an excited Mishima. It took her all her self control to not cheer alongside him.

Haru's darkened figure showed up on screen. "The recent scandals of public figures, the accidents caused by psychotic breakdowns and mental shutdowns..."

Yusuke showed up. "One man is behind every single instance, simply to satiate his own greed."

"This cowardly man manipulated the police and shifted the blame to us." Makoto stated. "That man's name is... The leader of the United Future Party: Shido Masayoshi!"

"What?!"

"Him?!"

"That politician? They're going to target him next?"

"Everything he says is a lie!" Ann exclaimed. "You want proof?! None of us have died!"

"We're not gonna sit back and watch some crook wreck this country just 'cause of his ego!" Ryuji shouted. "Aint' that right, Leader?"

"Leader...?" Shouto said in a shaky voice as a tall figure strode forward. "That means..."

"That Akira's alive." Shiina finished.

Akira appeared, his body covered in shadows. "But before that, we will take this country!" And then, the Calling Card ended.

"WHHHHAAAAAAAT?!" Everyone shouted.

"That can't be! He was never dead?!"

"Why would the police lie to us about it?! Even the Pro Heroes did too! What the hell's going on?!"

"The Pros..." Shouto muttered. "They're gonna suffer a lot of backlash from this."

Shiina shrugged, unable to keep her joy. "Sucks for them. Now I wish Endeavor had joined in on the hunt."

— ❤ —

Today was the day they were going to give Shido his change of heart (it was a surprise that he even had a heart). There was only one problem though...

Shouto still wouldn't let her out of his sight. Fuyumi had somewhat calmed down, but Shouto? Not in the slightest. He seemed to grow even more protective now that her once deceased friend was publicly announced to not be deceased. Even worse, he was the Phantom Thief leader which made Shouto worry even more.

She couldn't think of ways to make him back off. In fact, she didn't want to think of ways to make him back off. She was done with lying to him. And so, she made her decision: She was going to tell Shouto everything.

...Just in a later time.

"Shouto," she whispered, grabbing her brother as he walked down the hallway and yanking him into her room. "Shouto, I need your help with something."

"What is it?" He asked immediately.

"I need to leave the house for a little bit—"

"—No—"

"—Just hear me out!" She pleaded. "I know you're worried that my killer's going to come back and finish me off, but I was never murdered in the first place!"

His eyes widened. "You—you remember what happened?"

"Er, well not really, but look, how I died is something completely outrageous and almost hard to believe. My friends had nothing to do with it. They were trying to come back and save me but they couldn't find us—"

"—Us? Who is 'us'?" He interjected.

"Me and Akechi Goro," she sighed. "We were... in lack of better terms, we were trapped somewhere and the... the things there were trying to kill us. By the time we made it out, it was too late for me."

"Hold on, you were trapped somewhere? And why didn't you tell the police—?"

"—Because the truth is too hard for anyone to believe. And I want to come clean with you. About everything I've been doing and how I got this 'Quirk'." She quoted. "But I need to do something really important right now and I need you to cover for me."

"I don't—I don't—"

"—Shouto please." She begged.

"...You promise you'll tell me everything?" He whispered.

She nodded. "Everything."

"...Okay," he nodded once. "Okay. I'll cover for you. Fuyumi is in the kitchen so you can sneak out. I'll tell her that you want to eat in your room and I'll eat there too to make sure nobody walks in."

She hugged him quickly. "Thank you." Before she could reach the door, he grabbed her arm.

"Whatever it is that you're doing... Will you be safe?"

She opened her mouth.

"And don't lie to me." He cut in.

She pursed her lips. "No... I'll be in danger... But I promise you I won't die this time."

It took him a while to accept that, but he finally nodded his head and allowed her to leave.

When she made it to the Diet Building, she was pleasantly surprised to see that it was surrounded by an angry crowd.

"They don't sound happy," she couldn't help but grin.

"A lot of people are gathered here..." Haru trailed off.

Yusuke smiled in satisfaction. "Our calling card has had a tremendous effect."

"I'm real proud of that one!" Futaba smirked.

"All they're doin' is makin' noise though..." Ryuji shook his head.

Ann nodded in agreement. "Seriously. They should should just go home and sleep. I know I would if I wasn't about to do something so important..."

"Even after what happened, not many people want to see Shido have a change of heart..." Makoto sighed. "What we're about to do is just, right...?"

Akira nodded in confirmation. "Yes. They'll see soon."

"There you have it." Morgana approved.

"You have a point," Makoto smiled.

"Hey, look over there!" Morgana jutted his chin towards the crowd. They saw a short haired women with orange-tinted shades join the rowdy crowd.

"That's Ohya. She doesn't notice we're here, right...?" Morgana asked warily. "That keen journalist nose is a force to be reckoned with."

"Ohya?" Shiina sent a blushing Akira a wide grin. "So that's Ohya. You're lucky I'm too busy to go talk to her about what you've been saying about me."

"Please don't..." Akira groaned.

"Hey look, Mishima's here too!" Ryuji exclaimed. "Heh... now that's what I like to see."

Morgana purred in delight. "There may not be many of them, but we have to cherish our fans. Let's go change Shido's heart!"

They delved into Shido's Palace straight after and Shiina couldn't help but shudder as she was back in the familiar walls. She was starting to feel trapped again...

No, no, don't think about that, she told herself. You're fine. Your friends are with you. You'll be okay.

They made a mad dash for the Representatives Chamber in the Central Passage. In it's place was a grand elevator which they stepped in, but before the doors could close all the way, a white gloved hand shot out and pushed the doors back open.

Shiina felt her jaw drop, as did everyone else's.

"Goro?!"

Akechi stumbled into the elevator, looking positively stunned as he stared at her (and basically ignored everyone else). "Shiina," he breathed her name out with so much relief. "I'm so glad..."

"Glad...?" She said in a dangerously low voice. "Glad?! You jerk!" She smacked him across the face, causing the other Phantom Thieves to cautiously back away.

Akechi held his cheek and gaped at her.

"I've been worried sick for you! You left me in a dingy alleyway and didn't even bother to send me a text or anything else to indicate that you were okay!" She screamed.

"I couldn't risk contacting you because I was in HIDING!" He screamed back.

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU WERE IN HIDING, I WAS DROWNING IN WORRY!" She bellowed.

"WELL HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL?!" He bellowed back even louder. "I kissed you and in the next second you're dying in my arms!"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Ryuji cut in. "You WHAT?!"

"What?" Shiina said in a more quieter voice. "What are you talking about? We kissed?"

Akechi uncharacteristically gawked at her. "You don't remember?!" His voice rose an octave higher from the pure bewilderment.

"No, I can't remember anything after we made it to the Entrance Hall."

"You don't even—?!" Akechi was going to get an aneurysm at this point. He forced himself to calm down (which was very, very hard). He then explained through gritted teeth, "The Entrance Hall was full of Shadows. We hid behind a plant. You had the marvelous idea of me using Loki on you to make you go Berserk. You went psychotic and killed most of the Shadows in our way. We made it out of the Metaverse and you passed out. I tried to carry you to the hospital, but you died on the way."

Shiina listened to the story attentively, but had one question on her mind: "Wait, so when did we kiss?"

"Who cares?" Akira couldn't help but scoff.

Akechi tried not to scream. "Forget that, let's just defeat Shido already..."

Yusuke turned to Shiina. "You went psychotic?" He almost hissed.

"It was a brilliant plan!" She defended.

"You don't even remember it!" Ann exclaimed.

"Shiina, you saw what it did to Akechi during and afterwards," Yusuke scolded. "You should've been smarter than that."

"I'm sure we were out of options!" She said.

"We were," Akechi confirmed gravely. "It was our only idea, and it worked."

"So what are you doing back here?" Futaba asked him.

"Just because I'm in hiding doesn't mean I don't want to take my shitty dad out." Akechi said bitterly.

"We're not here to kill him," Haru said firmly.

"I know. Neither am I, despite how much I want to," he admitted. "I want him to confess to everything he's done and he can't do that if he's dead."

"Then get ready," Morgana murmured. "Because the elevator's stopping."

They stepped out and entered the main assembly hall which was large and entirely empty if it weren't for the bald guy standing at the stage in front of the huge daruma head.

"There he is!" Ryuji said as they dashed forward.

Shido finally turned around to face him. "The Phantom Thieves... And my son too..." He turned his cold gaze towards Akechi.

"Ah, so you've known all along, hmm?" He said venomously.

"You reminded me too much of that woman," Shido said distastefully.

"That woman was my mother and you left her to suffer and die!" Akechi hissed.

"She was dumb and worthless much like you are," Shido sneered at him. "You approached me in hopes to trap me, did you not? It was a stupid plan. I figured it out too quickly. I admit, you're sharp, but in the end you're just a kid."

"He may be a kid, but he's here to take you down!" Shiina shouted.

"I was hoping you would've self-destructed and taken her down with you," Shido spat at the both of them. "You would've saved me some trouble. Sacrifices are, after all, inevitable in the path of reform. The life of the nation as opposed to those of a few sacrifices... There can be no comparison. Are you to be sacrifices as well?"

"Nobody wants something like that!" Ann cried out.

"Nobody?" He echoed. He walked closer to the podium and smirked at them all. "Then why was I chosen? Why are they surrendering the seat of prime minister to me? Everyone denies the value of hard work these days. Instead, they seek to effortlessly gain wealth. That is why I must reestablish this mighty country. One that does not waver. One that others will bow to!"

All of a sudden, a bunch of applause erupted around them. The Thieves jumped and looked around. The main assembly hall—which was once empty—was now full to the brim with important looking people.

"Wh-when did they...?!" Makoto whispered.

Shido ordered for them to settle down. "Traitors who disobey me must be eliminated. Are you ready for it?"

"We're going to steal that twisted heart of yours," Akira answered.

The stage rose with a aloud sound and the scenery changed. They were now standing closer to the ceiling and Shido was riding a large golden lion covered with hundreds of praising faces. His uniform had even changed. He wore a spiked helmet and clothes you'd see a dictator would wear.

"Now," he grinned wickedly. "Die, without further delay."

Ryuji jabbed a finger at Akira. "Our leader's gone through shit 'cause of you! It's on, bitch!" Seiten Taisei appeared behind him and struck Shido and the lion down with a powerful bolt of lightning.

When the light and dust blew away, the lion angrily let out a loud roar and stomped down. "There are no thieves needed in my mighty country!" Shido shouted. "Only myself and the ones who revere me are needed!"

The lion lunged at Akechi and made a mad swipe at him, but Akechi summoned his sword on time and stabbed through its metallic gold paw. It shrieked and backed off, but Akira's Persona rounded on him.

"Debilitate him!" Akira ordered Trumpeter.

"Tullia!" Shiina summoned her, and Tullia released a heavy curse attack that sent the lion back a few steps. As it staggered back, Akechi took the chance to climb on it's side and reached the top in no time. Shido didn't even notice him until Akechi grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt.

"What are you—?!"

"—It's time for you to get off your high horse (or in this case, lion), father!" He spat at his face before promptly knocking him off his steed.

"Oh my..." Haru whispered as father and son had a slug fest on the floor. "Should we...?"

Makoto shook her head. "Don't bother. Focus on the lion first."

"I agree," Yusuke said after Kamu Susano-o finished freezing the lion in it's place. "I think their father-son bonding is long overdue."

Haru and Makoto attacked the lion with magic while it was stuck in a frozen status. Akira summoned Yoshitsune who charged up before unleashing Ziodyne on the still frozen lion. The affect wore off afterwards, but Ann brought out Hecate to incinerate it.

The lion retaliated by jumping forward and making a mad sweep with its paws, but most of the team dodged except for Akechi, who was knocked off of Shido.

"Pay attention to your surroundings next time!" Futaba chided him as she healed his injuries.

"Apologies," he smiled wryly. "I was distracted with trying to rip his head off."

"Remember, we're not here to kill him!" Morgana reminded him as Mercurius blasted the lion back with Garudyne, only for it to be reflected as it used Makarakarn. "Dammit, it used Makarakarn! Everyone be careful! Magic attacks would just reflect on it!"

"That's fine with me! I'll kill it with my axe!" Haru grunted, running towards the lion with her axe raised. She slashed it down, and it was thrown back and enveloped in dark mass.

"We did it!" Haru cheered.

"Not exactly," Akechi said grimly, backing away as Shido transformed. His helmet was gone as were his attire and he was buffer than ever.

"D-dude, is your dad really that muscular?" Ryuji spluttered.

"Of course not," Akechi gave him a weird look.

"Those who dare challenge me shall burn in hell!" Shido roared, storming towards Akechi with his fist pulled back. Akechi raised his arms to block the attack but it was strong enough to send him stumbling back. Shido then went on to punch Ryuji and sent him crashing to the wall.

"What's wrong, Phantom Thieves? Is this all you've got?!" He let out a cruel laugh before zeroing in on Shiina who already had her claws out.

SCHICK!

"ARGH!" He screamed, his fist bleeding black gunk.

"Nice try," she smirked, flicking the blood off her claws before diving in for another attack. He brought his arms up and she sliced them into ribbons before delivering a kick to his chest that sent him staggering towards Akira, who stabbed him in the back with his knife.

"Loki!" Akechi growled. The two raised their swords and surrounded Shido front and back, slashing at him mercilessly. One particular slash caused Shido to go flying back and crash on the floor. Akechi quickly switched to Robin Hood and ordered: "Kougaon!"

When the smoke and dust faded, Shido was still standing, but now he was surrounded by a purple aura and he was disgustingly even more muscular than before.

"Be careful! Those muscles aren't just for show!" Futaba warned.

"I'm finishing this," Akechi seethed. "Joker, care to join me?"

Akira nodded. "Definitely," he turned to the rest of his team. "Fall back, this'll be between the three of us."

"Whoop his ass you two!" Shiina cheered.

Both boys grinned before facing the man that turned their lives upside down. Loki returned to Akechi's side while Akira summoned a deviously giggling Alice.

"What pathetic Personas!" Shido cackled before dashing forward, radiating with Tyrant's Wave. His magic collided with the combined forces of their Curse magic. Black and red against purple. The Curse magic was slowly overcoming Shido's side, who was beginning to lose his footing.

"Checkmate. You're not even in our league." Akira smirked.

Akechi grinned maddeningly. "It's over, dad."

Together, they made a final push forward and Alice's and Loki's attack grew and grew.

"S-stop!" Shido tried to scream, but it was blocked by the defeaning blast of their powers. He was thrown at least twenty feet back and collided painfully against the farthest wall, creating a large dent as he slid down. In a splash of black, he was forced back into his original form.

Akechi willed Loki to disappear before sprinting towards Shido. He grabbed him tightly by the neck and started to strangle him.

"Akechi!" Akira called out as he chased after him, the other Thieves following suit.

"Akechi, you can't kill him!" Makoto cried out.

"Just one more kill!" Akechi shrieked, sounding very much like he did when he attacked them.

"So—son—!" Shido wheezed. "Please—"

"—DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Akechi snarled, slamming Shido's head against the wall repeatedly. "For years I've obsessed over taking you down! I won't let you ruin this moment for me by trying to act fatherly!"

I can understand why he would want to kill him, Shiina thought as she watched the troubling scene. I would do it if I were in his shoes... But if he dies, then nothing would be solved...

With that thought in mind, she carefully walked forward and gingerly placed a hand over his shoulder. He stiffened upon her touch. "Goro," she said softly. "Remember... We can't kill him. We need him alive so he can admit to everyone his crimes..."

"R-right..." He croaked, then slowly released Shido while looking as if the action truly pained him. He stepped back, and Shiina had to carefully lead him away from the panting man.

Akira gave her a nod of thanks before crouching in front of Shido. "You remember me?" He asked, removing his mask.

"I... I don't..."

"This ain't the first time you failed to finish this guy off," Ryuji growled lowly.

"You took him to court and you don't remember...?" Makoto scoffed. "You truly don't care about the fate of others."

"Think long and hard, Shido. I have time." Akira said snidely.

Shido suddenly turned pale as recognition lit up in his eyes. "W-wait... Could you be... the one from back then...? You're the one who showed up and stood against me when I was with that woman...!"

Akira smiled sarcastically and slipped the mask back on. "Bet you didn't expect to see me again, huh?" He stood back up and joined his group.

"Now then," Makoto began loftily. "For causing countless mental shutdowns in others, you will atone... with your life."

"Don'tcha got somethin' to say to our leader before you go passin' out?" Ryuji barked.

Shido winced. "Yes... I acknowledge... that I incriminated you on false charges. I did it to protect myself... I'm so sorry for what I've done... It feels as though it's been quite some time since I have felt sincerely apologetic..."

"That's a surprise," Akechi drawled. "I always thought you lacked a conscience."

Shido turned to face him and opened his mouth to say 'son' again, but wisely thought against it. He then looked like he was about to call him 'Goro' too, but also thought against that. "Akechi..." He settled with. "My apologies might not mean much to you—"

"—They don't." Akechi cut in coldly.

Shido swallowed thickly. "But... But I truly am sorry for the life I bestowed on you and your mother. I never should have abandoned either of you..."

"Oh I'm glad you did," he sneered. "Living with you would be even more of a nightmare than the hell I went through."

Akira snorted. He really liked this sassy Akechi.

"You're right, your apologies to me mean nothing," Akechi stated. "I want you to atone for what you did."

He nodded. "...That may be good..." His face then fell. "So, I've been defeated... Haha... hahahaha..."

— ❤ —

Meanwhile, back in reality, something in Shido's mind caused him to lose his balance. He groaned, gripping his head in pain as the assemblymen in his office called out for him.

"No..." He breathed out. "Did they succeed...?" He pointed towards the researcher. "You! Will I really be able to kill the Phantom Thieves if I take that?!"

The researcher hesitantly glanced down at the bottle in his hand as Shido stumbled towards him. "According to Wakaba Isshiki's research... Temporarily collapsing a Palace will take down anyone inside it as well. The abrupt nature of the collapse means they will be unable to escape without extreme luck. H-however, the only way to purposely erase a cognitive world is by halting biological activity. In other words, this medicine will temporarily kill you. There are great risks involved..."

"Anything will do! Give it to me!" Shido snapped, snatching the bottle. He hastily uncapped it with trembling fingers before throwing several pills into his mouth. "Ngh... Now... they're done for..."

He dropped to his knees and passed out.

— ❤ —

"Look up there!" Shiina gasped, pointing at the ceiling where a golden steering wheel slowly lowered itself to the floor.

"The Treasure!" Morgana grinned.

"Wait, why a wheel?" Ann asked. "And it's for a ship...?"

"I must... steer this country! If I don't, who will...?!" Shido rasped.

"You've been defeated and you still have the audacity to act arrogant?" Yusuke frowned.

"I-I..." He clutched at his chest. He fell over to his side screaming but before he could hit the floor, he disappeared in a burst of red.

Akechi's eyes widened. "What the—"

—BOOM!

The Palace shook, cutting him off.

"Huh?!" Ryuji looked around wildly.

BOOM!

The ship shook once more.

"An explosion?!" Makoto shouted. "But w-we haven't taken the Treasure yet!"

"We'll talk later!" Morgana ordered. "Come on, let's grab the Treasure and run!"

Akechi quickly nabbed it and they all began sprinting out of the room only to enter a familiar hallway.

Ann stopped. "Huh?! Didn't we come from this way?!"

Ryuji gritted his teeth. "We can't get through like—"

BOOM!

Several of them screamed and braced themselves against the wall as the ship shook harder. It even began to tilt!

"What is happening?!" Yusuke shouted.

"Hey, Oracle?!" Ryuji asked.

"The ship is exploding..." Futaba whispered. "But why?!"

"What kinda sloppy explanation is that?!"

"I don't know what's happening either!" She cried out.

"S-something might've happened to Shido in the real world!" Morgana panicked.

"Whaddya mean 'something'?!" Ryuji demanded.

"I don't know!"

BOOM!

"Now's not the time to fight!" Akechi snapped. "We need to find a way out of here!"

"Oracle, are there any other escape routes?!" Akira asked.

"I'm looking but...!" Futaba couldn't find any.

"Guys look!" Makoto exclaimed, pointing to a hallway. It was completely tilted over and flooded. "Our path..." She said in a shaky voice.

"Crap! This way too!" Ryuji cursed.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ship started to lurch, and it was tilting back even more now. More water was rushing towards them, reaching their ankles.

"Are we... sinking...?" Ann said in a feeble voice.

"We are not gonna die like this!" Morgana shouted.

"Yes we are!" Futaba shrieked.

"No we're not," Akira suddenly said. "I see an archway over there! It's an opening!"

They had to wade through all the water to reach the large glassless archway window Akira pointed at. They crawled through it and managed to reach the balcony.

BOOM! BOOM!

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Futaba screamed as half of the ship was submerged in water. "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SWIM!"

Makoto gasped and pointed at the right. "Over there! A lifeboat!" There was only one, but it was large enough to fit all ten of them.

"Let's go!" Ryuji shouted, leading the way. They ran to the other side of the balcony and quickly grasped whatever they could as to not lose balance.

"We just gotta get there..." Ryuji bit his lip.

"But how...?" Shiina questioned. "It's so high up..."

Yusuke nodded in agreement. "It's too far. We won't reach it in time."

"I can see a lever," Ryuji muttered. "If I can just pull it and get the boat down..."

Shiina gave him an incredulous look. "You?! But your leg!"

He shook his head. "That was a year ago. I got this. You all hang tight. I'll nab the boat." He jumped off the balcony and landed in a running start position. He sprinted fast across the column, then soared over the body of water and landed on the deck where he had to run upwards to reach the boat and lever.

"He's got it!" Ann cheered as they watched him jump for the lever and yank it down. They quickly jumped off the balcony as the boat dropped on the water right in front of them. Ann and Shiina hopped in first, hastily helping everyone else on.

"Hang on!" Akechi shouted to him.

Yusuke started the boat and it quickly drove towards Ryuji's direction.

From above, Ryuji gave them a thumbs up before everything went to hell. A loud explosion blasted in front of them, obscuring their view of Ryuji. They were so close to it that they could feel the heat... Once it died out, Shiina uncovered her face and snapped her head back up where Ryuji should be.

The smoke cleared out but he was no longer there.

"What...?" She whispered as the ship was struck with several more devastating explosions, destroying it entirely.

"RYUJI!" Akira shouted.

"No way..." Shiina said to herself, scanning the water to see if he was somewhere there but everything was too dark despite the fire. She quickly lunged out of the boat but was apprehended before she could get off.

"Don't!" Yusuke grunted, trying to keep her still.

"We have to find Ryuji!" She screamed as the ship sank faster. "He's still there! RYUJI!"

"Quick!" Yusuke said. "Somebody—somebody take us back to reality before I lose my grip on her!"

Akechi nodded wordlessly and pulled out his phone. With the press of a button, they slowly oozed back to the real world.

Shiina would've fallen to her knees if it hadn't been for Yusuke still holding on to her. "No, we have to go back!" She gasped, trying to get away from him. "We need to go back! We need to find Ryuji!"

"We... we can't, Shiina..." Akira told her gently, his own eyes watering.

"You went back for me!" She screamed. "So we have to go back for him!"

"He didn't... make it out..." Haru sucked in a shaky breath and quickly covered her mouth.

"It'll be impossible for us to go back..." Morgana said quietly.

"No it's not!" Shiina thrashed around in Yusuke's grip. "The Palace isn't completely destroyed yet! We HAVE to go back!"

"We can't, Shiina!" Yusuke shouted in a hoarse voice.

"So this is the Treasure..." Akechi murmured, picking up a small pin from the ground.

Makoto choked a sob. "It's a legislator's pin..."

Futaba sniffed loudly and began to cry. Everyone else followed suit, even Akechi who failed to fight back tears.

"Maaaaaan," a terribly familiar voice groaned. "That was close..."

Ryuji—who wasn't dead but was soaked to the bone—strode forward. "For real though, why do Palaces gotta explode so much? Can't they disappear normally?" He looked towards them as if expecting them to agree, but blinked when he was met with blotchy faces. "...What?"

"Didn't you... die?" Haru gaped.

"What?!" He said as if the possibility was just outrageous. "I got blasted out from the explosion... When I woke up, I was lyin' on the grass... I mean, ain't I alive?"

"What... the fuck...?" Shiina uttered.

Ryuji gave her a stupid, teasing grin. "What's this? Awwwww, are you crying for lil ol' me?"

"URGH! Suck a dick, you JERK!"

SMACK!

Akechi winced in sympathy, having experienced one of her slaps before.

"What'd I do?!" Ryuji demanded, clutching his reddened cheek.

"We were worried about you!" Haru cried out, hastily wiping away her tears.

Futaba stormed towards him. "You troublemaker!"

"Wait, what's this about...?!" He said hopelessly.

"You're joking, right?" Makoto asked darkly. The girls stepped forward.

"We thought you died!" Ann growled.

He stepped back but hit a pole. "H-hold on, okay?! C'mon, I-I... almost... k-kinda died...!"

SMACK!

SMACK!

SMACK!

SMACK!

SMACK!

After each girl took their turns slapping him, Ryuji laid slumped against the pole.

Akira smiled. "Now that everyone's well and alive..." He darted towards Akechi in a flash, knife in hand.

"What the—?!" Akechi managed to squeak before he was tackled to the ground. He moved his head to the side to avoid getting stabbed in the face. "A-A-Akira?!"

"This is for trying to get me killed, you back-stabbing liar!" Akira uncharacteristically snarled before trying to swipe at his neck, but was then kicked off.

Akechi quickly crawled over him, fighting for the knife. "I had hoped you were over that..." He chuckled breathlessly.

"OVER IT?" Akira snapped, pushing himself up to headbutt him. "You shot me in the head!"

"But it wasn't even you!"

"You thought it was!" Akira howled back.

With a grunt, Akechi managed to push him away and scrambled up to his feet, summoning his own sword. The other Thieves tensed up and summoned their weapons too, bracing themselves for another fight against Akechi.

Akechi glanced at each of them and slowly lowered his sword. "I don't want to fight any of you anymore. Honest. I'm... I'm sorry. For everything that I've done to you all." He looked Haru and Futaba in the eye when he said that before looking away. "I'm also really grateful you helped me defeat Shido."

"You're welcome," Yusuke said coldly.

Shiina bit her lip anxiously. While she was glad that Akechi was okay after days of no word from him, she wasn't exactly happy with him either. He killed Haru's father, killed Futaba's mother, attempted to kill her and her friends, and even put the blame on the Phantom Thieves for crimes he had committed.

"I—" Akechi began.

"—You're stupid if you think we're just gonna go back to being buddies after everything," Ryuji growled. "Sure you saved our asses back then, but that was after you tried to kill us! While I'm glad you took care of Shiina and all in Shido's Palace, I'm never gonna forget that you're the bastard who tried to take us, the Phantom Thieves, down!"

"We shouldn't fight here, you guys," Makoto, ever the so logical one, advised. "We're in public right now. Outside of the Diet Building too. Anyone could see or hear us."

"Too late." A voice spoke.

Akira's eyes widened. "Dammit, Ryuji not again...!" He couldn't help but mutter.

Shiina's jaw practically touched the ground when the figure stepped forward to show themselves. "Ken?"

He waved at her. "Hey."

"Shiina, who is this?" Akechi kept his narrow-eyed stare on the intruder.

"He's another Persona user, and my classmate from UA," she hastily explained. "Ken, how long have you...?"

"I was here when you first teleported back from the... Metaverse, I'm guessing? I was curious so I stayed and eavesdropped... I watched the little fight you guys had... and that's when I heard him," he pointed at Ryuji. "Call you all the Phantom Thieves."

Everyone grimaced.

Ken's face turned serious. "I think that dinner invite I gave you is gonna happen a lot sooner."

— ❤ —

Ken and Akihiko couldn't believe what they were hearing as the Phantom Thieves went on to explain their adventure. They, along with Mitsuru and the others, knew that the mental shutdowns, 'change of hearts' and the Phantom Thieves were somehow related to Shadows and Personas, but cognition? Psience? Palaces? What? This was much more confusing than the Dark Hour and the Midnight Channel.

The confusion disappeared when they went on talking about their targets and telling them why they were targeted in the first place. They were absolutely disgusted to hear about Kamoshida and what he had done to Ryuji, Ann, and her friend, Shiho. Madarame and Kaneshiro's didn't bother them that much compared to Kamoshido, but it was when they started talking about Futaba did they suddenly feel alarmed.

"Your mother was a victim of a mental shutdown?" Akihiko asked.

The orange haired girl nodded. "Shido Masayoshi wanted her research on cognitive psience, so he ordered Akechi, here, to kill her two years ago. The agents of the Conspiracy made it look like suicide and even forged a suicide note blaming me for her death..."

"You were the one who killed her...?" Ken slowly turned to face Akechi, his body tensing up with apprehension. So did Akihiko's. "Then why...?!"

"Shido is my father," he said grimly. "I only did as he ordered so he could trust me. Then afterwards, I'd kill him for revenge."

Revenge. The word meant so much to Ken, and he couldn't help but wince. Revenge was never a good thing. And he had to learn that the hard way.

Sensing the tribulations the younger boy was going through, Akihiko spoke up. "After your Palace, who was next?"

"That would be my father," Haru said quietly. "Initially, I only wanted to stop him from marrying me off to this horrible man, but I changed my mind after I saw how he treated his employees. After his Shadow Self agreed to atone, we stole the Treasure and escaped his Palace. But then... then..."

"I killed him." Akechi said in an almost empty voice. "I waited until the Phantom Thieves left and then I shot his Shadow Self, triggering a mental shutdown in the real Okumura."

Akihiko swallowed thickly. He was seriously uncomfortable with having a serial killer in their midst. "And your next target was Shido, right?"

"No," Shiina answered. "Actually, their next target was me."

Ken's eyes flew open. He wasn't expecting that. "You?"

"Long story short, I resented Shouto—who's my older twin brother, by the way—because our shitty dad, Endeavor, always paid attention to him. I was envious and I hated him because I thought he was stealing everything I cared about when in actuality, I was in the wrong."

"But it's ain't her fault though," Ryuji said quickly, coming to her defense even though nobody was accusing her of anything. "It's Endeavor's fault. If he was just a better dad... If he just cared about his kids, Shiina wouldn't have been driven to that point."

"Endeavor..." Akihiko's eyes widened. "You're saying—"

"He's a villain disguised as a hero," Shiina said bitterly. "He neglected half of his kids and physically abused the other half. Lucky ol' me got a little bit of both. He also locked my mom away in an insane asylum when he was the one who pushed her to her limits."

"And you can't get help because of how high-up he is... Plus, nobody even knows you're his daughter..." Ken's shoulder sunk.

She nodded in confirmation. "After I changed my own heart, I joined the Phantom Thieves as 'Diablo'. Then we went to target Makoto's sister next."

"It was Akechi-kun's idea though, and he was using that as a ploy to capture us." Makoto explained. "When we found out about his plan, we quickly thought of a counter operation..."

Akihiko and Ken thought the confusion ended after they explained the whole 'cognition' bit, but it got even more confusing for them when they explained how Akira managed to escape death. They honestly didn't understand any of it, but it sounded impressive so they nodded their heads in amazement.

Then they got to the part about Shido, which they were most interested in. Hearing about how Shido saw the Diet Building as some sort of 'Noah's Ark' where only the worthy could live troubled them, but they were relieved to hear that his heart had been successfully changed and that Japan would no longer be run by a sociopath soon.

"I figured you were keeping something from us the last time you came over..." Akihiko sighed as he handed a hungry Ryuji the plate of tempura. "To think it was all that..."

"Sorry," Shiina grinned sheepishly. "I couldn't exactly tell you the truth since we're technically Japan's most wanted at the moment."

"Yeah, that's understandable," Ken chuckled a bit.

"So you're not mad at me for lying?" She perked up.

He shook his head. "No, of course not. Besides, that guy," he pointed his chopsticks at Akira, who froze in mid-chew. "Was the one who told you to lie anyways. I'm guessing he's the leader of you guys?"

"Yep." Akira answered.

"Wildcard too?"

"Uh huh. You?"

"No..." Ken shook his head sadly.

"Our wildcard's... gone." Akihiko said with a similar expression. Koromaru let out a miserable whimper and Ken bent down to pet him on the head reassuringly.

"Gone?" Ryuji said tactlessly. "Whaddya mean—Ow!"

"Ignore him." Ann said, glaring.

"Anyways, you guys really managed to change Shido Masayoshi's heart?" Akihiko asked. "Damn, I was actually gonna vote for that guy..."

"Vote for Yoshida Toranosuke." Akira advised.

Akihiko nodded. "Duly noted."

"Shido's Palace was a piece of cake." Ryuji bragged with a stuffed mouth.

"No it wasn't. We nearly died." Yusuke pointed out.

"Yeah and we thought you died too!" Shiina added.

"I'm just glad we got that over with," Haru said, sipping her glass of water.

"And this guy," Ken pointed at Akechi, who was awkwardly sitting at the farthest corner of the table. "I'm guessing is the traitor you told me about, Shiina?"

Shiina nodded mutely and the whole table fell silent. Akira went back to death-glaring the chestnut brunette.

"...Er, Shiina told us that your group experienced a similar other-worldly occurrence like we did. What was it called?" Makoto asked, wanting to get rid of the high tension in the room.

Akihiko, thankfully, realized what she was doing and answered: "The Dark Hour," he frowned. "It occurs every day at midnight for an hour. Think of it as the hidden twenty-fifth hour between one day and the next. Normal people get transmorgified into coffins and remember nothing of the Dark Hour so most people aren't aware of it's existence."

"Every day?" Futaba gawked. "That must be super tiring!"

"It is." He confirmed, looking distressed just from the thought of it.

"Hey, Kenny," Shiina spoke up in a questioning tone. "You said the Shadow Operatives dealt with Shadow-related things. What were they doing during this whole mess?"

Akihiko grimaced. "We weren't able to do much to be honest... The mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns were so similar to Apathy Syndrome, but we couldn't figure out what was causing it. Plus, the Shadow Operatives is an unofficial section of the police. We couldn't get close to any of the cases. It didn't help that Public Safety already had a low opinion on us..."

"I see," Makoto murmured. "Since you don't have the phone app, it was complicated for you to figure anything out on the outside world."

"Exactly," Ken said, then turned towards Akechi with a somewhat hardened expression. "Now Akechi-san, you were in league with Shido and the cause for all those murders. Now that you and the Phantom Thieves managed to give him a change of heart, aren't you worried he'll expose you too?"

"I set up a place for me to hide as well as a fake ID card, passport, and everything," Akechi explained with a tight smile "So I'll be fine if he does expose me."

Akira scoffed loudly.

Sensing the animosity, Akihiko slowly began taking the knives off the table.

"So you're just going to avoid serving a punishment that you rightfully deserve?" Akira asked.

Akechi's face darkened. "You want me to go to prison then?"

"Yeah, actually, I do." He said wryly. "You're a serial killer, you tried to murder me and my friends, and you've been plotting my murder from the very start. I think that warrants some jail time."

Shiina and Akihiko looked at each other. This was the most awkward dinner in the world. At least he managed to get rid of the knives.

"Um..." Makoto spoke up, but she had ran out of things to say. She looked around for help.

Shiina then blurted out, "I'm planning on telling Shouto about everything."

That did the trick.

Akechi and Akira stopped glaring at one another to look at her.

"You are? That's great," Akira smiled.

"Is that really a good idea?" Akechi rose a brow.

"She wasn't asking you," Akira snapped at him.

"What made you decide on that?" Ryuji asked quickly before they could argue again.

She sighed. "I just wanted to stop lying to him all the time..."

Ken winced. "Yeah, I don't blame you... He still thinks you've been murdered after all..."

"When are you planning on telling him?" Morgana asked.

"Um... I didn't plan that far ahead," she said sheepishly.

"It can be tomorrow at Leblanc," Makoto suggested. "He'd probably want the full explanation too, so it'll take us a while... Maybe we could meet there at nine? It's Sunday tomorrow so there won't be any school."

"I'm fine with that," Yusuke nodded.

"Me too." Futaba agreed as did everyone else.

"I'm down with it," Akira said, before shooting Akechi a glare. "But you better not come."

"You can't stop me if I want to." Akechi smiled.

Oh no, everyone thought.

Dinner went on for another half hour and miraculously, no fights have happened other than verbal arguments that either made Ken and Akihiko amused or just really, really uncomfortable.

"Good luck with your brother, Shiina." Akihiko said, patting her roughly on the shoulder (but she had a feeling he didn't mean to be so rough on her, he was just that strong). "I guess I'll see the rest of you guys soon in the Sports Festival."

"Bye guys!" She waved.

"Thank you for the delicious meals!" Ann added.

Ken opened the door for them and Shiina stepped out first, followed by Akechi who did something shocking. He grabbed Shiina by the hand, pulled her close, and then locked his lips with her.

Everyone gawked.

He pulled away after several seconds of silence, looking happy and smug at the same time. "Try not to forget that one." He smiled pleasantly, before walking away.

— author's note —

SHOUTO FINALLY FINDS OUT THE TRUTH IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!

How do you think he'll react to it???

Also, the separate oneshot book has been published so go check it out! It's called Steal Her Heart Oneshots.