Chapter Text
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God, I swear I was falling asleep during that literature lesson. I'll have to try asking Akira for his notes later.
Ren checked his bag to make sure he'd grabbed the right notebooks for homework that afternoon. Ann had bid him a quick goodbye earlier before going to one of her modelling jobs, and homeroom was almost vacant except for a few other students hanging around. He was waiting for a text from his brother, who happened to have "Morgana Duty" that day. He slipped his bag onto his shoulder, ready to leave the classroom anyways.
"Hey, Suou, can I talk to you for a sec?"
He turned to see Mishima looking rather eager to talk to him. Somehow he hadn't noticed anyone walk up to him in the first place, but he brushed off his confusion to momentarily appreciate the life that was back in his classmate's eyes recently.
"Sure."
Mishima's face lit up with his response, and Ren ignored the sudden phone vibration from his pocket.
"So, I'll cut to the chase. Have you seen the Phantom Aficionado Website? It's called 'Phan-site' for short, and, well...I made it!"
Ren blinked. "...You're telling this to me because...?"
His callousness caused Mishima's confidence to falter, but it didn't seem to deter him. He cautiously looked around the classroom to see if anyone was watching them. The action made Ren a bit apprehensive, and his feeling was answered by the sudden invasion of his personal space and a single question.
"You're a Phantom Thief, aren't you?"
He needed a second to process Mishima's words, and it took him another to think I can really see his eyelashes, huh. Ren panicked.
"Too close."
Mishima quickly took a small step back. "S-sorry. Anyway, if I'm right, which I really think I am, don't worry! I can keep a secret." He nervously looked away from Ren's gaze before he continued, "It's the least I can do to apologize to you over...Kamoshida. He hurt so many students, so you guys helped a lot of people, including me."
The sincerity in his tone left Ren a bit speechless. Either Mishima was more perceptive than he'd thought or he was just a really good guesser. Regardless, Ren had to be cautious with him. It was interesting that he'd confronted him at all. What would he have to gain from sharing that suspicion if he didn't even have proof? Ren realized that was pretty cynical of him to think considering how honest his apology seemed and pushed the thought away. There was still something about what Mishima said that made him itch though.
"...Yeah he did, but why are you apologizing over him? You weren't responsible for that."
"I mean, yeah...but I have to take responsibility for what I did do. It wasn't right for me to put you and your brother's personal stuff out there, and I caused a bunch of trouble for you even after that." A flash of determination let him look Ren in the eyes when he spoke. "So I'm going to help you guys! I just know that if people get the word out there, the Phantom Thieves can do more good in the world. There's no way they'd just end things here..."
Mishima was quiet, and Ren didn't want to ruin his moment by being...himself, so he took a minute to think of how to respond. He barely knew him, besides what he learned about the volleyball team's struggles during the Kamoshida incident. And, really, he had no obligation to accept Mishima's help, but the resolve he was showing to him was intriguing. Ren absentmindedly twirled a lock of his hair before breaking the silence.
"You could be right."
That confirmation was enough, he hoped. As soon as the words left his mouth, Mishima smiled brightly at him, giving Ren the urge to pat him on the back...or something. Instead, he looked elsewhere to avoid his classmate's starry eyes and noticed Akira peeking into the classroom via window. He caught his brother's curious look and nodded to let him know he was fine.
"Awesome! And just so you know, the site functions as a forum, so people can voice their problems. That way, people who have nowhere left to go can still get their voice heard if something's bad enough to let the Phantom Thieves jump in. I even started an anonymous poll, take a look!" Mishima pulled out his smartphone, with the poll page already loaded onto it. He held it close enough to where Ren could see it.
"'Do you believe in the phantom thieves, or not'..." The percentage was extremely low; he didn't know whether to feel relieved or sad about it.
"Sort of to the point, but important to ask anyways!" With an embarrassed smile on his face, Mishima still looked proud of his work despite the current poll's results. "Oh...! We should exchange contact info, actually. If that's alright with you, I mean. I want to be able to tell you about what else I had planned."
It was do or die time he supposed. Ren guessed Mishima really wanted to impress him, which he really didn't understand. Then again, intel would be pretty helpful. Hmm...alright.
"Yeah, fine with me. Hand me your phone and I'll put in my info."
Mishima did as requested, and soon Ren gave the phone back with a hasty 'bye' before leaving to meet with his brother, who had been patiently waiting for him outside class. He already knew a question was on Akira's mind.
"Since you were taking awhile I wanted to make sure you were okay... So Yuuki Mishima confronted you after class?"
"Yeah, he did. Apparently he knows who we are, but said he won't tell anyone. There's more I'll tell you when we're back at Leblanc."
"Oh, and here I thought he was confessing to you. Had it been anyone else, you would've used my text as an excuse to run off." He could tell Akira was trying not to grin at him. "Don't pout, you know I'm right."
"Very funny, and I'm not pouting. Don't you have a blond boyfriend to run off with or something?"
Akira adjusted his glasses nonchalantly, "So mean. Ryuji had to pick up something for his mom, so I couldn't meet with him even if I wasn't already planning to walk back with you."
"That's fair... Did Morgana fall asleep or something?"
The familiar black and white patterned face peeked from Akira's bag. "No, I'm totally alert! I just stopped paying attention when you talked about...feelings. Anyways, get back to Leblanc already. We really need to talk about what your classmate told you."
Ren played with his hair again.
I just know that if people get the word out there, the Phantom Thieves can do more good in the world.
"I don't think we need to worry too much, but yeah, I'll fill you in later."