That night, there was a knock on her door. Shiina crawled out of bed and lazily dragged her feet to see what the hell the person wanted. Most of her weariness disappeared after a good nap, but she still felt like she could use an extra rest (she was actually just being lazy).

She swung open the door and froze upon seeing Shouto with two full plates in his hands.

"Can I eat dinner with you?" He asked.

"Uh..." Memories of what transpired between them just hours ago flashed rapidly through her head. She literally cried her heart and soul to him. You couldn't blame her for feeling a little awkward. She cleared her throat and stepped to the side, smiling widely at him. "Sure!"

Maybe this could be our very first brother-sister bonding time! She thought, taking her plate and plopping down at the edge of her bed. Shouto sat on her swivel chair, setting his plate on the table. He started to eat silently while also glancing around the room.

Shiina's room was the most modern thing in the house. The tatami flooring was mostly covered up by a peach colored fur rug. The walls were painted pure white, there were two light up mirror on each side of the bed, and off to the side, was her 'designing corner'. There was a wide white table with a sewing machine on it and stacks of fabrics and other things he didn't know the name of. Beside the table were two mannequins, each wearing something his sister had designed most likely for herself.

"How's UA?" She chirped, trying to make conversation. Unlike him, she was a pretty outgoing person so it wasn't hard for her to talk through awkward silences.

He barely shrugged. "It's okay."

She raised her brows in disbelief. "It's okay?" She repeated. "Shouto-nii, you're going to UA! That's the most prestigious hero school anyone could go to! Well, other than Shiketsu, but they don't have All Might! Does All Might teach any of your classes by any chance? Is he good teacher? He probably is. What does he teach?"

Shouto blinked. "...Have you always been so talkative?" He asked what he was thinking.

She cocked her head back. "Talkative? You make it sound so offensive..." She wasn't insulted, but his question just made her realize even more how strained their relationship was. They barely knew each other's personalities.

She wanted to change that.

"I'm sorry for offending you." He said.

She shook her head. "I... I was just kidding..." Did she not sound sarcastic enough? "But forget that. Come on, tell me about UA!"

"There's really not much to say," he replied. "All Might is a good teacher, though."

She gasped. "So he is one of your teachers! That's so cool! Does Endeavor know?"

Shouto took note on the fact that she called their father by his hero name rather than the title of 'father' (or in her case: 'daddy'). He still couldn't believe she had cut off whatever relationship she had left with him. And so quickly too. Just yesterday she was snapping at him over something Endeavor said...

Whatever it was that happened, he was glad for it.

"He does. Of course, he was raging about it," he rolled his eyes. "But it's not like he can do anything."

"What did you do on your first day of school?" She asked eagerly.

"We just had a Quirk Assessment Test instead of the Opening Ceremony." He replied plainly.

"So you got to see your classmate's Quirks? Do you remember any of them?" She asked.

He thought for a bit. "The only one's I can remember is this foul-mouthed boy who could cause explosions. A boy who broke his finger while using his Quirk. And another boy who had to shoot himself to activate his Quirk"

"...Sounds pretty destructive, those three..."

He nodded. "The next day we had a battle trial with All Might."

She perked up at the mention of the Number One Hero, Endeavor's one sided nemesis. "How was that?"

"It was good."

"Did you win?"

"Yes."

She whooped for joy, nearly spilling her plate's contents all over her bed. "Of course you did! Any other cool things you did?"

"Not really. What about you? How is... Shujin?" It was his turn to ask.

"It's okay, I guess." She shrugged. "Just like any other elite prep school. Nothing different."

"Except for the Phantom Thieves." He said.

She tensed up at the mention of their name and stole a quick glance at her backpack. Luckily, her calling card was still tucked into her bag, hidden from plain sight. She forced herself to relax. "Yeah... Except for the Phantom Thieves."

"...Do you really think it's safe for you to be there?" He asked. "Are you not worried about the Phantom Thieves targeting you? They killed someone." He pointed out.

She winced. For two reasons. One, the Phantom Thieves already did target her and two, she was starting to be skeptical about the accusation. She didn't think the Phantom Thieves killed Okumura. They saved her after all... and she was a lot worse than Okumura.

"I'm safe, Shouto," she stated. "You don't need to worry, but thank you."

After a while, he nodded in acceptance. "Okay."

Before she could say anything else, her phone chimed from a message.

[Ryuji: u ok?]

[Ryuji: Shiiiiiiiiina???]

[Ryuji: how u feeling?]

[Ryuji: Helloooooo]

[I'm fineeeee]

[Ryuji: oh thank god u responded]

[Ryuji: what took u so long?!]

[Ryuji: nvm, can we meet up at Leblanc tomorrow at 6? i think we need to talk...]

[yeah, we def need to talk!! ur a legit PHANTOM THIEF????!!!]

[Ryuji: Shhhhhhh we'll talk about that tomorrow]

[u better explain everything 😤]

[Ryuji: I willlllll]

— ❤ —

Leblanc turned out to be a cafe in some shady little alleyway. Thankfully, the inside of it looked a lot more comfortable than the outside.

The bell on the door chimed as Shiina entered, instantly taking note of the eight figures scattered around a table. One of them was Ryuji and the other was...

"Kurusu-senpai? You're a Phantom Thief too?"

Ryuji, who's mouth was open to greet her, promptly closed it shut and turned to the culprit who gave him a sheepish look. "You know each other? And why the hell is she callin' you senpai?!"

"We... might have met before..." Akira trailed off. At Shiina's nod of approval, he started to explain.

It was after the first day of school. Akira was working at Big Bang Burger and was called out to take someone's order. Languidly, he walked over to the table. He had been working for several hours now and wanted nothing more than to die on the spot.

"—believe dad just smacked you like that," an angry voice grumbled. Akira looked up to see a white haired male scowling angrily at himself. Across from him was a red haired girl who's face he couldn't see.

The girl just shrugged. "It's not his fault. He always gets mad when someone interrupts Shouto's precious training." She sneered.

Akira reached their table. "Welcome to Big Bang Burger, can I take you—uh..." His words died out when he saw who the girl was.

She was wearing the Shujin Academy uniform, not only that, but he was pretty damn sure she was Kiberi Shiina, a very popular first year who just so happened to be Ryuji's closest friend.

And there was a bruise on her cheek.

She seemed to recognize him too since he was famous for being a 'criminal' (damn Kamoshida and his gossiping). Her eyes widened and she gulped audibly.

"I'll get the double bang cheeseburger with large fries and a soda. Imouto-chan, how about you?" The white haired male asked, not noticing the expressions on the younger teenagers' faces.

Shiina quickly cleared her throat and tried to act normal. "U-uh, I'll just have the regular big bang cheeseburger. W-with a soda."

"...Uh huh..." Akira said, blinking away his shock as he wrote down their orders.

Shiina was being abused by her dad? Did Ryuji know that?

After his shift was finally over, he met Shiina again outside of the restaurant. This time, her older brother was gone and she was glaring at him.

"...You heard, didn't you?"

"..." He stayed silent but nodded.

Her face grew angrier. "Well you better keep your mouth shut about it, okay? It's not what you think anyways!"

"You're defensiveness is telling me that it's exactly what I think." He pointed out.

Her face grew as red as her hair. "I'm not being defensive!" She hissed. She tried to calm down, but it wasn't working. "Look, just... just stay silent about this, okay? ...Please?"

"I don't think I can." He said honestly.

Her eyes widened and for a second, she was speechless before a bitter look crossed over her face. "Well you have to," she said sternly. "If people find out..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

"I'll make you a deal, then." He offered.

She looked up, mildly interested.

"If it gets worse, you need to go to someone for help." He told her. "Can you promise me that?"

"Why do you care so much?" She mumbled.

"I just do," he said. "It's kind of my thing..." He chuckled. "I can't help but want to help people."

"Are you aiming to be a hero one day?" She asked.

He shook his head and laughed a little. "I... don't think I'd be able to." I'm the leader of the Phantom Thieves after all. "Besides, I'm Quirkless."

She whipped her head up at him. "You are?!"

He nodded. "Are you?"

Her expression turned sad. "I am..."

He used to feel what she felt, but that wasn't the problem. There were more important matters at the moment. "Do you accept the deal? You go to help if things get worse. I'll keep my word and stay silent, as long as you promise me."

She nodded hesitantly. "It's... It's a deal."

The second those words left her mouth, time froze and the world turned dark. Akira knew what was happening.

"I am thou, thou art I...

Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion

that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Hunger Persona,

I have obtained the winds of blessing that

shall lead to freedom and new power..."

Everything returned to normal.

"Thanks for caring."

"H-huh?" He said dumbly, snapping out of his daze. He just gained a new Confidant!

She sighed and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I said, thanks for caring." She repeated slowly.

"Whoa wait a minute, time out!" Ryuji interrupted. "Were you ever gonna tell me that Shiina became one of your Confidants?! And what's the Hunger Arcana anyways?!"

"Hold on," Shiina put up a hand. "You're telling me that time froze? Why were you the only one not affected!" So not fair, she thought.

Akira felt a little overwhelmed from the two yelling at him. "Sorry, I was gonna tell you but I forgot..." He said to Ryuji before answering Shiina," And it didn't affect me because I was the one getting a new Confidant."

"...I'm still a little lost."

"You should sit down," a short haired girl suggested, patting an empty chair beside her.

"Aren't you the student council president too?!" Shiina exclaimed, sitting beside her. "Holy shit, I never would've thought you were a Phantom Thief!"

"Shhh, lower your voice!" A blonde girl hissed. Shiina recognized her too!

"You're the cat lady!"

"C-cat lady?!" She spluttered.

"Ahahahahaha, she called you a crazy cat lady," Ryuji snickered.

"There's no shame in liking cats!" A literal cat said, jumping on the table.

"I thought you said you weren't a cat." A blue haired boy stated.

"I really need you guys to explain everything to me..." Shiina fanned herself. "Like why did I suddenly teleport into an alternate world where my house became a dollhouse with yellow-eyed people and why that cat is talking."

"I'm not a cat!" It yowled.

"Right."

Ryuji probably should've scheduled their meeting to be a little earlier, because the whole explanation about cognitions, Palaces, Shadows, and Personas took a lot longer than they were hoping for. Around three hours later, Shiina was still confused.

"So... the Phantom Thieves never targeted Okumura, right?" She asked, glancing at Haru.

Haru frowned, "We did... In fact, I was the one to target him first and they helped me... But something went wrong."

"We did everything the way we always did," Makoto muttered. "His Shadow was in the process of changing his heart too."

"We think someone killed him after we left." Akira said. "And because of that, it triggered a mental shutdown."

"And now everyone thinks we're the cause of all the mental shutdowns..." Ryuji said angrily.

"He was just about to expose who the real culprit was..." Morgana trailed off.

"It was the exact same thing that happened to my mom..." Futaba said.

"And the our principal," Makoto added. "Haru overheard my sister, who's a public prosecutor, talking about how our principal received a calling card as well."

"That's too overwhelming. A lot of things are being stacked onto you so suddenly and so quickly." Shiina frowned. "Do you think you could've been set up by the real culprit? You never targeted our principal."

Makoto nodded. "I'm thinking the exact same thing."

"Sending you a calling card was a big risk, but we were all willing to take it once Ryuji told us of your situation." Yusuke said. "We were very worried you'd go to the police about it."

"You're lucky I didn't," she said haughtily. "The idea never even came to me."

"Say, how do you feel about joining us?" Ryuji asked randomly, which caused a bunch of people to disagree.

"Ryuji, are you insane?!" Ann exclaimed.

"What?" He shot her a bewildered look.

"Think of our current situation! You really want to put her through all of this?" She hissed.

His face fell. "Oh shit... you're ri—"

"—I'm in." Shiina interrupted.

"Huh?" Ryuji blinked.

She nodded in confirmation. "You heard me, I'm in. Besides, I'm in far too deep to back out now. I don't want any of you guys getting blamed for doing something you never did. I've done too many false accusations in my life..." She trailed off. "So I'm in. Let me help."

"Are you sure?" Akira asked her cautiously. "This enemy we're dealing with, they're dangerous."

"They've been toying with us for the past couple of months," Yusuke pointed out. "And we never realized it until it was too late. This person is clearly dangerous."

"I'm aware of that," she drawled. "But I still want to help out. It's the most I can do after everything you've done for me. Instead of laying low you all went out of your way to help change my heart..."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Akira asked her seriously.

She nodded in confirmation.

He leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Then welcome to the Phantom Thieves."

"Oh!" Haru gasped. "We need to give you a code name!"

"Satan." Ryuji grinned.

Shiina smacked his shoulder.

"Ow! What? It fits!" He whined. "I mean, your mask has devil horns and all."

"Maybe Devil?" Makoto suggested.

"Or Demon." Morgana added.

"Diablo," Akira said, mainly thinking about the video game.

"Diablo sounds nice." Shiina grinned.

"Oh? I got that from a video game..."

"Oh..."

"I'm still wondering about something." Futaba interrupted bluntly. "Why are you called Kiberi Shiina instead of Todoroki Shiina?"

Shiina's face turned dark. "It's been that way since my family found out I was Quirkless. For almost a year Endeavor pulled me out of school and didn't let me back in. My... my older brother fought with him so I can continue my education. Endeavor ended up relenting as long as I never associated myself with the Todoroki name. He didn't want people knowing he had a Quirkless daughter."

"He pulled you out of school at such a young age?" Haru asked sadly. "Was he going to have you home schooled or...?"

She shook her head, scowling. "Definitely not. He had me locked and my room and made sure I could never leave. My older brother... he had to sneak food into my room since Endeavor didn't bother to have me fed. My older sister Fuyumi would teach me how to read after school. My siblings tried their best to help me, but they were so busy with their own things..."

"How about your mother?" Makoto was almost afraid to ask.

"...She's not... she's not around anymore. She's in the hospital." She replied.

They left it at that.

Suddenly, the bell chimed. A middle aged man entered the store, raising his brows in surprise when he saw the group of teenagers. "Oh? I thought you guys had all left at this time."

"We had a loooong study session." Futaba said.

He scoffed. "Yeah right, it's the first week of classes and some of you don't even attend the same school or grade. Also, a new friend of yours I'm guessing?" He motioned to Shiina.

"Heh," Ryuji clapped her shoulder and introduced her before she could do it herself. "This is Shiina. Endeavor's daughter-gone-rouge."

"Why would you call me that?" She deadpanned.

"Endeavor's daughter? The Number Two Hero?" The man said dryly.

"You a fan?" Shiina asked curiously.

He shook his head. "Guy's got a nasty face. I'm not sure if I can trust that. He's good with catching villains though, I'll admit."

Shiina shrugged to herself, "He seems decent enough," she muttered to Ryuji. "I'm Kiberi Shiina. Nice to meet you, ojiisan."

He blanched at the 'ojiisan' part. "It's Sojiro or boss for you kids."

"Boss it is then."

"You really Endeavor's daughter?" He asked warily.

"Wish I wasn't."

Ryuji sighed dreamily. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up."

"Well," Sojiro spoke up. "I just thought you kids should know that it's passed ten already. I'm sure some of you guys have bedtimes."

"Sis is probably expecting me home by now..." Makoto rose to her feet.

Shiina made a face, remembering Fuyumi's set curfew of ten o'clock. Being the only Quirkless inhabitant of the house, it was no surprise that the eldest sibling was protective (just a little bit though). "Same here..."

"I'll walk ya home," Ryuji offered, getting up. "I need to stop at the convenience store anyways."

Everyone went their separate ways except for Akira, Futaba and Sojiro who stayed at Leblanc. There weren't a lot of people on the subway ride back home, so Ryuji and Shiina were able to talk somewhat freely.

"Will your dad be pissed that you missed curfew?" He asked.

"Hardly," she scoffed. "The only one who would be concerned is Fuyumi nee-san since it's her curfew that she instilled. I already sent her a text saying that I was coming home so it'll be fine."

"So..." He trailed off awkwardly. "How are you feeling?"

"Different. Pissed. Mostly at myself. I can't believe how stupid I've been..." She rubbed her forehead, feeling terrible. "I feel so guilty... Did you know I spent more than half of my life hating Shouto when he's done nothing wrong...? God, you should've smacked some sense into me a long time ago."

"It's so weird seeing you act like this," he admitted, grinning in amusement. Around others, Shiina always acted confident, proud, and sometimes narcissistic. She was also very stubborn, never seeing any faults in her words and actions. He was pretty sure this was the first time she ever truly felt guilty about something.

She glared at him. "Dude I'm going through an existential crisis right now, can you not?"

He raised his arms up in defense. "I'm just saying. The new you is pretty cool too."

"The new me just realized how horrible of a person she is and currently hates herself." She muttered under her breath.

"Nothing wrong with that," he said. "I mean, better knowing what you've done wrong than to continue being a bitch, right?"

She groaned, slamming the back of her head against the side of the wall. She left it there, allowing her head to feel the train's vibrations. "Is this how all your other victims felt after you changed their hearts?" She asked miserably.

"Basically yeah," he nodded. "Except most of them publicly admitted to all the shit they've done. Did you have any confession moment?"

She pulled her head away from the wall and stared at her knees. "Er, sort of? Shouto found me crying in the living room after we escaped my Palace. He must have been so confused. I was weeping my eyes out, there was smoothie everywhere, and I was holding an old Endeavor toy I thought I lost a long time ago. I kind of blurted out how horrible I felt and apologized to him. ...And he forgave me, can you believe that? How could he just—?" She shook her head. "I've been so awful to him... How could he just forgive me for all of that?"

"Maybe 'cause he knew it wasn't your fault that you got all fucked up?" He guessed knowingly.

Shiina remembered Shouto saying something like that (just with more eloquence). "He blamed Endeavor..."

"Sounds about right," he agreed.

She fell silent. While Endeavor did damage her family, she couldn't entirely blame him for her own hateful nature. It was her who chose to put all the blame on Shouto. It was her who chose to be blinded by the truth.

...But really? None of that would've happened if Endeavor was just a better parent.

"Do you think you and your brother are gonna have a better relationship now?" Ryuji asked, with a bit of hopefulness in his tone.

The upper corners of her lips raised slightly. "I think so. We're talking a lot more than we used to now. But he seems a little... distant-ish. I don't know if that's because he's still hesitant towards me or if he's always been like that, but... I'm just glad he forgave me and we're starting to talk now."

"That's good," he said, smiling in relief before a metaphorical light bulb lit up over his head. "Oh wait, that reminds me. Since you're one of us now, I gotta add you to the group chat."

"You guys have a group chat too? Man, you were seriously leaving me out!" She complained.

"Well now you're apart of it so don't bitch," he mumbled, whipping out his phone.

She peered over his shoulder and snorted when she saw the chat name. "The Phantoms?" She whispered in case someone could hear. "Are you kidding me? Don't tell me it was your idea to name it that."

His face reddened with embarrassment. "Well what else would I call it?!"

"Something less suspicious?" She suggested, sending him a pointed look.

"Fine, I'll change it later." He grumbled.

She rolled her eyes. He wasn't going to do it. When he says 'later' is almost always means 'never'.

When she got home, Fuyumi was the only one waiting for her. "You're back," she sighed in relief. "Where did you go?"

"Leblanc," she answered truthfully. "I was hanging out with some friends. Sorry I got back so late."

"It's fine, but you missed dinner!" She exclaimed. "It's in the fridge though, just heat it up for thirty seconds. Dad was looking for you by the way! I didn't know what to say..."

She quirked a brow. "He was? That's a surprise, that bastard usually doesn't care about me... Anyways, how's Shouto?"

"...Huh?" Fuyumi blinked once. Then twice. Was this really Shiina she was looking at? She had never spoken so rudely about their father before... And why was she suddenly asking about Shouto?! "Sh-Shiina are you okay?!" She fretted.

Shiina chuckled, sheepishly twiddling with her hair. She would have to remind herself that she wasn't the only one that needed to get used to her change of heart. "I swear I'm fine, Fuyumi nee-san, really. I'm... a lot better actually. But seriously, how's Shouto? Where is he?"

Fuyumi struggled to close her jaw. This was seriously Shiina?! "U-uh, he went to go finish his homework after dinner... Are you sure you don't need any medicine?"

Shiina patted her sister's shoulder as she walked towards the kitchen. "The only one who needs to be medicated is dad. Thanks for the food by the way, nee-san. Bet it's good like always."

Fuyumi nearly collapsed.

— author's note —

Ya'll I forgot whether Shujin was called Shujin Academy or Shujin High School. So I searched it up and read their Wiki page and guess what I found out?

It's an elite prep school

I didn't know that it was fucking ELITE PREP SCHOOL. I thought it was just a regular high school for normal, commoner students (like me, lol), but it's actually for rich kids???

What????

I can't imagine Ryuji or Ann being a super rich kid. Same thing with Makoto. I thought Makoto and Ann were from average income families while Ryuji's family (which is basically him and his mom since his dad left them) was maybe around average too.

But turns out I was wrong, LOL.

Shujin Academy is an elite prep school, so obviously, you wouldn't be able to find someone who's from an average income family (other than Akira). I mean, it's perfectly understandable that Haru's there...

Anyways, I found this:

And I'm guessing that Ann, Ryuji, Makoto, and Haru are all apart the 'wealthy' section. I'm pretty sure Haru's part of the Up-High category while Ann, Ryuji, and Makoto are in either Mid-High or Low-High.

As for the Todoroki's, since their dad's the Number Two Hero in Japan, they're probably in Up-High or Mid-High.

(And poor lobster boi is prob in low-low...)