Chapter Text
Ren takes stock of her inventory as she runs down her options. We have less than a week before Kamoshida starts getting… handsy. We can't afford to wait much longer, but I still need to finish a few preparations…
She texts Akechi, " How goes the shopping?"
"I don't figure you have any of your deep pool of Metaverse money from last time."
"...Unfortunately, no."
"Figures. Then it will take some time to acquire the gear you all need for Kamoshida. I can do some solo training in Mementos tonight to get the necessary funds."
"That would be really helpful, thanks, Akechi."
"...Thank your cat, he's been quite irritating lately."
"Thank you too, Morgana."
She sighs and puts her phone away as Sojiro looks at her curiously. "You don't have time for that right now. Eat and get out of here, alright? You can't be late to school."
She nods. "Of course, Sojiro-san, my apologies…" She finishes eating and grabs her bag. Another boring day in class… I know all of this stuff already… I wonder if Kawakami would still let me space out in class… Probably not… As if on cue, Ushimaru-sensei looks over at Ren and glowers. "Are you paying attention, Kurusu?" He rears back and throws a piece of chalk at her. Max Proficiency! She dodges it with barely a second thought. Her reflexes were well tuned, even if she hadn't seen something like this coming. The rest of the class murmurs in impressed and shocked whispers, but it has long since gotten old to her. "Tch, whatever. Eyes up front, Kurusu."
After school, she manages to get up to the roof with Sumire, Ann, and Ryuji, but Akechi is notably absent. He must have went straight to Mementos. Oh well, I can discuss things with him later. "So… I have good news and bad news."
Ann and Ryuji pipe up simultaneously- "What's the good/bad news-" before blinking and looking at each other. "Uh, sorry, Ann." "Y-yeah, sorry, Ryuji…"
Ren sighs, not liking what she's about to go over. "So, I'll start with the good news first. I have a plan to finish up with Kamoshida's Palace and get this over with. Hopefully before anything else bad happens. I would have liked to see Shiho here to help, but… Perhaps it's for the best that she keeps her head down right now. Akechi's working on getting me some provisions for the infiltration, but he should be done with that by tomorrow, I think."
Sumire frowns. "What's the bad news?"
Ren rubs the back of her neck. "Well… I did some investigating while I was in the Palace the other day. Um… How do I put this… Things are too… quiet. It's like Kamoshida barely registers us as a threat. Even my Phantom Thief gear started to flicker in and out when I got to some of the safe rooms."
Ann looks confused. "Well, what does that mean? That's a good thing, right? He won't even see it coming, yeah?"
Morgana winces and looks up at Ren. "No, I think I get what Lady Ren is trying to get at. Kamoshida's cognition doesn't see you as a threat to his status as a Palace Ruler, as a threat to his status quo. And if that were to happen in the middle of you all fighting him…"
"We could get seriously hurt, or worse." Ren finishes, her theories seemingly confirmed by Morgana. These are just ideas she's mulled over in her head for some time, but never was able to directly figure out. "I think… we need something to provoke Kamoshida in the real world, to make him pay attention to us."
Ryuji interjects, also lost. "Wait, I thought you said that's what that Calling Card thing you guys were talking about the other day was for? So his like, Treasure would show up and whatever?"
Ren leans against the wall, a bit hesitant. "See… Cognition is a weird thing. Sure, the Calling Card is usually enough to get a Treasure to appear, but what if the person who sees it… just… doesn't acknowledge it? It's never been a problem before now, because the people we've targeted all felt on the edge between solidifying their power and utter ruin. But Kamoshida's… well, too cocky right now." Last time, he had a very particular thing he needed to blow over, and needed us out of the picture to ensure it would do so… "The one other thing I've always had in the Metaverse is… a time limit. The Palace Ruler has always imposed some sort of limit on us that, if we missed it, would spell the end of the Phantom Thieves. I've been threatened with arrest, blackmail, extreme debt, you name it, but I've always needed the Palace Ruler to have it out for me or my crew personally."
Sumire looks worried. "So what are you saying we need to do?"
Ren shakes her head. "I didn't say we. This… This is something I need to do."
Ryuji stands up suddenly. "Whoa, hold up, you're not gonna do something crazy, are you? Because if Kamoshida's gonna have a problem with one of us, it's gonna be me. He's already got it out for me anyway, can't be worse."
Ren looks away, unable to meet Ryuji's gaze. "I don't think that will work. He sees you as someone he's already dealt with, after all. He's not done anything to me yet, but he knows he has leverage over me, I think he's just waiting for me to try something."
Ann crosses her arms. "Well, what are you planning, then? You're not going to try to do something like fight him are you? That will just get you arrested again."
Ren sighs. "No, I wasn't planning that. You're right, I need to provoke him, not the other way around. I need some kind of leverage over him that will make it so he has to get a case together instead of just arresting me on the spot."
Sumire bites her lip. "Then what are you going to do? We can't wait forever. Because in a couple days, Suzui-senpai…"
Ren nods. "...I'm just going to have to give him a better target."
Ann blinks. "W-wait, you can't be serious, you're seriously thinking-"
Ren looks deadly serious as she locks eyes with Ann.
Ryuji furrows his brow. "Hey, wait, I'm confused. Are you thinking about-" Ren cuts him off by putting up a hand.
"I am, and I will hear no words to the contrary. It will be significantly easier to claim self defense if he tries to put his hands on me first unprovoked."
Ryuji shakes his head. "I got a couple problems with this beyond the obvious, for one, uh, no offense Ren, you're really cute in the Metaverse and everything, but uh… I don't think Kamoshida's gonna bite as it stands out here."
Ren shrugs. "It's not the first time I've worn makeup and a skirt, you know."
Ryuji rubs his neck, a bit embarrassed. "W-well, yeah, but uh, what about when he gets to um. Trying something?"
Sumire shakes her head. "No, I won't allow this, this is crazy, Senpai! Even for you, this is reckless and foolhardy! Say you do get him to take the bait, what's your next plan? I'm pretty sure he still overpowers you easily, yeah? And you're still on probation, if you get caught crossdressing without a doctor's note, you could get in serious trouble!"
Ren nods. "I'm aware. But I think that might be what gets Kamoshida to hold off on filing anything immediately. After all, it'd be his reputation that goes down the toilet too. Say what you want about taking advantage of his students, I doubt his ego would recover from being accused of… consorting with someone indecent. He seems like the type to have that kind of porn but hate the actual people…"
Suddenly, a voice stops them. "No, we're not doing this, Amamiya-san." The group start upright and turn to see Shiho coming through the door. "You need someone to provoke Kamoshida, yeah?"
Ann blinks. "H-how much of that did you hear?"
"Enough. I'm not letting someone else get taken advantage of for my sake. That's just not happening." She crosses her arms. "I'll be the bait. He's got his eyes on me anyway. I'm tired of letting him just… get away with this. It was almost too much… But you guys have a plan to get this dealt with, right? I can put up with a little more if it means we finally get this guy behind bars."
Ann puts her hands on her hips. "Absolutely not, Shiho! I'm not letting him touch you!"
Shiho shakes her head. "It's not like it hasn't happened before."
Ann looks paler than usual and steps closer to Shiho. "W-wait, he said he wouldn't if I…"
Shiho averts her eyes. "And you believed him?"
Ann looks like she just got punched in the gut. "I-I…"
Shiho sighs. "It's one more day, yeah? I'll do it, and then this nightmare can be over."
Ren shakes her head. "I'm not letting you do this, Suzui-san. With your injuries, you can't fight back if he-"
"If he what, Amamiya-san? If he does what he was already going to do anyway? I'll deal with it. The practices are less intense the days he… gets what he wants anyway." She can't look anyone in the eyes. "When do you want it to happen, Amamiya? I can dodge him for a couple days, but not forever."
"I already told you, I'm not-"
"And I already told you, I'm doing it. It's either I do this, or Ann will have to soon, and I refuse to let that happen anymore. Now, are you going to be ready to do something about it, or am I going to have to do this alone? I assume you have a plan. Ann speaks very highly of your ideas. What was your plan if you were to go in yourself?"
Ren sighs. "Well, I had planned to bug his office with cameras and microphones and send the footage to the news. It would be… mutually assured destruction, effectively."
Shiho sighs. "Well, we can still do that. Everyone… already knows about me. Especially my parents. It's not like that would really change much if it got out, I'd just have actual proof of his crimes. I'm sure he'd find a way to weasel out of it as always, but at the very least it might get him off his game."
Ryuji pips up. "Listen, Suzui, I uh, really don't like this plan regardless of who's doin' it. Can't we just kick his ass and get it over with?"
Sumire blinks. "Oh! Wait, I have a better idea! Why don't we um, interrupt the proceedings, as it were? If uh, we take a pic of him in a compromising position before anything… happens, maybe we can get him spooked enough to let Shiho go while he focuses on us…?"
Ann shakes her head. "How do you plan to do that? His office has no windows, and it's not like we can just break in, we'd definitely get in way more trouble… If he didn't end up hurting Shiho more while he heard us trying."
Ren thinks, before realizing something. "...Who says we have to get in while he's in the middle of something? Remember his throne room? We could sneak in while he's out and hide in the room until something happens."
Shiho sighs. "This whole thing seems so complicated… I still don't understand anything about that other world. And even if you did try to hide in his office… It's not got a lot of hiding spots…"
Ren reclines against the wall and smirks. "It's still got a tile ceiling, yeah? A Phantom Thief should be well adjusted to hiding in the rafters."
Ann looks a bit nervous about that. "I don't know, those don't look too sturdy, and how do you expect to see him if you're behind a tile?"
Ren rubs the back of her neck. "Well, I was planning on just holding myself off the tile by clinging to the frame of the ceiling. And I can crack the tile slightly to see through it, if I need to."
Morgana looks impressed. "Spoken like a true Thief! I never doubted in you, Lady Ren~"
Ryuji shrugs. "Yeah, but how do you plan on interrupting him? Are ya just gonna fall through the ceiling?"
"I mean…"
Ryuji blinks. "Whoa, really? That's hardcore!"
Ann crosses her arms. "What if you land on Shiho, or the tile breaks and cuts you? That's way too dangerous!"
Shiho groans. "Ugh, this is getting nowhere! I'm going home, tell me when I need to be in place, Amamiya. I trust you, okay? Please don't make me regret that…" She stalks off, the conversation apparently finished.
Everyone stays silent for an uncomfortably long time. Morgana pipes up first, to cut the tension. "So um… When are we planning on doing this, then?"
Ren sighs. "Well, I'm definitely not ready today. And when we do it, I want to be ready to send the Calling Card as soon as possible too… I'd say in about 3 days, everything I need should be in place?"
Ann sighs. "Can you make it 2? Let's get this done before Sunday, if we can. That way I can get Shiho out of town to recover from all of this."
Ren rubs the back of her neck. "I… think I can manage that, yeah. Tomorrow I plan on getting stocked up with Akechi, and then Wednesday, I have… someone else I need to talk to before this all blows up. Thursday we do the plan, and Friday we send the Calling Card… That gives us Saturday to finish off Kamoshida once and for all, and leaves you free on Sunday."
Ann raises an eyebrow. "Who do you need to talk to that's so important?"
Ren sweatdrops a bit, she's not excited to say this next bit. "W-well… I think it's important to get Niijima-san on our side."
Ryuji blinks. "I musta misheard you, you're talking about that Narc Student Council Prez? What could you possibly want with her? Isn't that just more likely to get you busted?"
Sumire nods. "No, Niijima-senpai is really nice once you get to know her, Sakamoto-senpai!"
Ryuji looks confused. "How would you know that? Didn't you just transfer here a few days ago?"
Sumire blinks and hastens to make up an excuse. "W-well…"
Ren shakes her head, ready with the save. "Sae Niijima, Makoto's sister, works with Akechi. The three of us have all met with her on occasion, though I have yet to interact with the younger Niijima sister. But I happen to know through my investigations that Kobayakawa has her as his lapdog for the time being, and I would like her to have a positive impression of me before she makes herself… a nuisance when things go down, or else it's likely she'll confront me first about everything. Or worse, you all. And I'm sorry, Ryuji, but…"
Ryuji looks hurt. "You think I'm gonna sell us out?"
Ren winces. "Not… intentionally. But you're really loud and have a bad habit of not checking your surroundings."
Ryuji rubs the back of his neck. "H-harsh but fair…"
"And Ann, I'm sorry to say, but you're a terrible liar."
Ann looks offended. "H-hey, you don't know that! I'm great at lying!"
Ren thinks back to the times she tried to get information from some of their targets, it never… went particularly well. Well, except for Yusuke, but he was… a particular brand of oblivious. Why did I let her do that, anyway? Ugh, that's not happening this time.
Ryuji just shrugs. "Whatever, if you say we need the narc, then by all means, do what you gotta do. I'm just the one that hits things, you're the ideas person."
Sumire sighs. "W-well, is that everything we needed to go over today? Like you said, there's not much we can really do in the Palace until Akechi-san comes back with the things you need, right?"
Ren nods. "Yeah, that's it for today. Sorry that was all so… roundabout for such little payoff, but we'll be back on track soon, I promise." With that, the group all leave, one after another…