Chapter Text
Prompt: Hiding in Plain Sight
https://personakinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/993.html?thread=192225#cmt192225
Where the Phantom thieves deflect suspicion on them, by loudly proclaiming to the world that they are the Phantom Thieves and acting like complete wannabes that are most definitely not the Phantom Thieves.
Like, they have their own version of the Phan site, only it basically consists of a bunch of dorky pictures of them in obvious cosplay striking cheesy group poses. They call each other by their code-names in public, followed by confused backtracking. ("Don't call me by my code name at school!" "I'm sorry Panther, I mean Ann, I mean...") The have "secret phantom thieves meetings" in public restaurants and hangouts and anyone who listens in will basically hear a bunch of teenagers talking about how cool it would be to actually be phantom thieves and if they were, they'd total do this and it'd be awesome.
Which of course cements in people’s minds that those losers only wish they were the Phantom Thieves.
~.~.~
1. A dumb idea: The Beginning
A week after the strange calling cards had been posted on the school boards, the whispers about the “Phantom Thieves of Hearts” should have died down, writing it off as a prank or some other foolishness. And normally, they would have. If Kamoshida hadn’t mysteriously stopped coming to school the very next day.
Whether or not they believed in what the calling cards were claiming, anyone could guess that Kamoshida had been shaken by them. So the rumor mill churned steadily, even long after the initial excitement had cooled.
“Everybody’s talking about us,” Ryuji commented when they met for lunch on the roof again. “That’s kind of cool, right?”
“It’s only natural after you chose to deliver the notice in such a flashy way,” Morgana said, his tail swishing lazily. “Well, I admit it fits the aesthetics of a phantom thief. But be careful. There could be a downside to it too, you know. Drawing attention puts you in greater danger too.”
Ryuji made a stubborn face, and even Ann pouted mulishly. Ren could imagine what they were thinking -- ‘We have no regrets,’ and ‘We didn’t do anything wrong.’
No, they had no regrets about changing Kamoshida’s heart. They had even set their determination against the possibility of something going wrong and Kamoshida ending up in a coma or worse. And technically, it might have even been true that they hadn’t done anything illegal. After all, laws against going into another world and stealing someone’s desires probably didn’t exist (yet?).
That didn’t mean Ren wanted to get caught. Somehow, he didn’t think it would go over well with regard to his probation. Certainly, those in power and society as a whole would seek to punish them, even if unjustly.
Besides, as Morgana would have said, keeping your true identity secret was how a phantom thief should be.
‘But we’re the most obvious suspects,’ Ren thought, mercilessly zeroing in on the problem.
Ann, as Shiho’s close friend, would have an obvious grudge, rumors about her and Kamoshida aside. Ryuji’s animosity toward Kamoshida and their history were also well known. Ren was just considered suspicious and dangerous all around. Together with Mishima, who had also been threatened with expulsion, they would be the first ones investigated, if it came to that.
That was just the consequence of a target motivated by personal feelings. There was no avoiding it. The question was -- how to turn those inevitable suspicions aside?
“Still brooding about that?” Morgana yawned, poking his head out of Ren’s bag for a moment. There weren’t too many students around them yet, but the numbers would increase as they drew closer to Shujin, so he took the chance to enjoy his last moments of freedom before another long day of being desk-bound. “It’s good that you’re taking it seriously, but don’t worry too much. Even if they have suspicions, no one can prove it. There’s no evidence in the real world.”
Ren’s mouth twisted unhappily. “That’s only if they need evidence,” he said darkly. He was well familiar with how unnecessary proof and truth were to legal processes.
Reading his suddenly grim mood and perhaps seeing his point, Morgana fell silent. His tail swished restlessly, until he finally had to duck back into the book bag with a last unsure look at Ren.
No, leaving it to just that wasn’t good enough. They needed a plan.
~.~.~
He was still thinking about it as the last bell rang and students crowded out into the halls. Several of the conversations drifting past were about the Phantom Thieves again, Ren noted.
“This atmosphere is really getting to me. How about going out to Inokashira Park?” Ann was saying, dragging his attention back to his own group. “At least it’ll be quiet there. I think we could all use the break.”
“That’s fine with me,” Ren said. “Ryuji?”
There was no reply from the third member of their group. “Hey! Answer Lady Ann!” Morgana hissed furiously, making Ren’s bag wiggle. He jabbed his elbow into it warningly, sweeping a narrowed gaze across the corridor to deter anyone who might have decided to pay a little too much attention. Several people quickly looked away.
“Ryuji!” Ann called out. “What are you staring at?”
“Huh?” Finally noticing their attempts to gain their attention, Ryuji glanced at them -- except not quite, too busy glowering at something else to look away completely. “Have you guys seen that joker over there? Says he’s a Phantom Thief!”
He jerked his chin toward a male student on the other side of the corridor, others -- mostly girls -- clustered around him. He was gesturing grandly as he relayed something to his audience, a nearly starry look in his eyes.
“Don’t use my code name in public,” Ren said blandly.
Ann and Ryuji turned to him, puzzled, and it took a moment of blank looks for them to understand what he meant -- and that it was a joke. Ann cracked a smile, but Ryuji just groaned.
“So, the park?” Ann turned their conversation back on track.
Ryuji agreed easily enough, just as eager to get away from the school and the lingering uncertainty about Kamoshida’s state. But as they headed off, Ren lingered for a moment longer near the starry-eyed student Ryuji had been glaring at.
“--My actions have been attracting too much attention lately. It’s no wonder you figured it out…” he told his audience rather theatrically. “Keep this just between us, OK? No one can know I’m actually... a Phantom Thief. One who can steal even hearts!”
There was a smattering of giggles and amused jerring in response. It was obvious no one took him seriously.
Shaking his head, Ren abandoned his eavesdropping. That starry-eyed student had it easy. How nice to be able to joke about something that could become a dangerous allegation for the real Phantom Thieves...
“Hmph! That guy’s got some nerve!” Morgana grumbled in a tone very similar to Ryuji earlier. “Claiming credit for our hard work! And doing it like that -- like it’s an obvious joke! It’s so insulting...”
Well, of course it was an obvious joke. That was why no one thought he was serious.
That was why...
Hm.
Suddenly, Ren had an idea.
~.~.~
“Act stupid? That’s the plan?”
“Should be easy for you, numbskull.”
“Don’t use his code name in public.”
“You already used that joke! And that’s not even my code name!”
“I don’t know, this sounds kind of dangerous. What if someone does take us seriously?”
“Double down on the stupid and don’t let up. Get Numbskull to help, Kitty Woman.”
“That’s not my-- you know what, I give up.”
“I said double down.”
“...Oh, I see! Um, don’t use my code name in public!”
“Great comeback, Lady Ann! Just like that!”
“Now you’re getting it.”
~.~.~
2. Double down: An Excerpt
“They were asking about Kamoshida-sensei and how we got so beat up,” the volleyball team member told Makoto, looking anywhere but at her. But at least he was talking, and that was more than she’d gotten out of the others. “Mishima, Sakamoto from the track team, and that new guy, the one with the--”
He broke off, staring at something further down the hall, his face rapidly losing color.
Makoto turned to look over her shoulder, and the cause of the volleyball player’s sudden fear became obvious. The transfer student, the one with the criminal record, was staring at them from across the corridor, his glasses catching the light ominously.
With gall Makoto almost had to admire, he raised one hand in greeting. Her witness whimpered.
“That’s all I need. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me,” Makoto said to him, perfunctory, even as her gaze remained firmly fixed on the transfer student. Recognizing the dismissal for what it was, the volleyball player fled with all speed, but that was fine. Makoto had a new target.
The transfer student watched her stalk toward him expressionlessly. He didn't look particularly delinquent-like, criminal record or not. In fact, he looked mostly like he'd just rolled out of bed and wasn't more than a quarter awake yet.
He blinked down at Makoto as she stopped in front of him, as if trying to figure out the socially appropriate response. He did not manage to do so.
What he said instead was this:
“Oh man, don't tell me you're on to us already?”
Dropping even their flimsy attempts at appearing to not be eavesdropping on this juicy drama, the students around them fell silent. Makoto’s eyes narrowed. “Is that a confession, Amamiya-kun?” she asked sharply.
“I didn't do it, it wasn't me,” Amamiya shot back immediately. “I had nothing to do with Kamoshida freaking out and confessing.” A pause. “Good riddance, fuck that guy.”
“Language,” Makoto reprimanded instinctively. That... was not the important point here. Makoto wasn't quite what the important point was, but that wasn't it.
“Can I go?” Amamiya asked.
No. Yes. Makoto wasn't ready for this confrontation yet. She needed more time to prepare her points and, most importantly, evidence. This was not at all going according to plan. “Just go,” she sighed heavily.
It was only after he had fled down the hall toward the stairs that Makoto remembered he had been the one to initiate their interaction to begin with. But surely that hadn't been intentional...
~.~.~
Trying to identify the culprits in the Phantom Thieves case was a seemingly overwhelming task that Makoto frankly didn't need on her plate. However, that didn't mean she had any intention of giving up.
It had to be someone with a personal stake, she deduced first of all. There were no similar cases, after all. And a flashy group like this wouldn't debut on a high school gym teacher unless they had a personal reason to.
So students, or faculty, or close friends or family. Given the choice to plaster the school notice boards with the “calling cards,” Makoto felt it was more likely to be either of the first two, someone who attended the school regularly. Given the nature of those cards, she quickly discarded the faculty members as culprits, since none of them fit the profile.
So students. Students who had interactions with Kamoshida, or friends of those who did. The volleyball team, the former track team. Kamoshida had no homeroom, so that narrowed it down.
Among the volleyball team, feelings were mixed. They had hated Kamoshida, of course, but they had also lost their chance at the nationals, at being seen and scouted there. They still met for their scheduled club trainings, even though they only hovered listlessly instead of actually training. So someone who had less to lose and more to gain.
Yuuki Mishima, among the three Kamoshida had threatened with expulsion, the volleyball team’s punching bag. Shido Suzui, who had attempted suicide to escape Kamoshida. Or rather, Suzui’s close friend, Takamaki, who featured in many lurid rumors involving Kamoshida.
Among the former track team, innui and despair weighed heavily. Even with Kamoshida gone and their volleyball rivals disgraced, they had no renewed sense of purpose or hope. They had no coach, no leadership without the now graduated third years of the time. There was some vindication at seeing Kamoshida brought down, but no real relief. They lacked the spirit to strike out at him.
Except Ryuji Sakamoto. Noted repeatedly for his poor response to authority and uncooperativeness, as well as potential violent tendencies. The second among those threatened with expulsion.
And that brought her to the third. Ren Amamiya, transfer student with a criminal record, although no one seemed clear on what he had actually done. Why had he butted heads with Kamoshida so strongly as to warrant expulsion? Why had he and Sakamoto been asking the volleyball team about Kamoshida’s treatment of them?
He was spending a great deal of time with Sakamoto and Takamaki recently. He, Sakamoto and Mishima had been together when Kamoshida made his threat against them.
These four were suspicious. Makoto was certain of her conclusion.
She was. It made perfect sense.
...It made sense until you actually saw them in person.
Mishima started crying when Makoto tried to question him. Without anything that could even slightly qualify as “pressing for answers,” he spilled everything -- how grateful he was to the Phantom Thieves, how enamored with them, how he'd created the Phansite in hopes of prompting them to act again.
“I just, I just want others to be saved too!” he wailed. “I'm so sorry, Miss President! Please don't kick me out!”
Posting things on the internet was not illegal. Or against school rules. So while she personally disapproved, Makoto was able to assure him that he had done nothing wrong -- and usher him quickly out of the student council room. Her ears were left ringing in the silence.
(She did not see Mishima go dry-eyed immediately after the door shut behind him and give a thumbs up to the trio hiding around the corner.)
So in theory, her investigation was going well. She's narrowed it down to three suspects, who conveniently grouped themselves together as a unit.
In theory.
In practice...
She tried to imagine giving her findings to the principal. Given the man’s character, he'd accept them with no proof, congratulate her. And call the three of them in for his own questioning.
She tried to imagine that.
Sakamoto, who shamelessly used “I'll take your heart” or variations as a threat, except always in a tone and with hand gestures that suggested he meant it in the very literal, physical sense. He also called the calling cards “phone cards,” “cooling cards,” “college cards,” etc. and tried to stencil the Phantom Thief logo on his bag, but drew it backwards and upside down.
Takamaki, who discussed all Phantom Thief developments at a pitch not suited for indoors, and treated it all as a very entertaining drama happening to someone else. “Wow, she's on to us already? Ooooh~~ it’s really heating up already!” was an exchange the entire second floor heard the very day Makoto first ran into Amamiya. You could practically hear the hearts and music notes, and she never stopped grinning excitedly.
And of course, Amamiya himself. Who looked perpetually about to doze off right on his feet, and also always greeted Makoto with some variation of “I didn't do it” or “it's not my fault.” This was apparently also his go-to response in most situations, included to classmates dropping things clear across the room and bad weather. (Naturally, the student body now blamed him for everything, including the squeaky hinge on the third floor girls restroom and the anatomy model that had gone missing last year.)
Makoto tried to imagine the three of them standing in the principal’s office, belligerent, excited and utterly indifferent under his disapproving gaze.
...He wouldn't get three sentences in before the whole thing derailed into madness and stupidity. Just like Makoto’s every attempt to question them.
(“The delinquent, the transfer student, and the rumor girl... You’re certainly an odd group.” “Wow, we’re famous~!” “I didn’t do it, you can't prove anything.” “What's a dinquit? Are you callin’ me stupid?!” “...The roof is off limits since that incident.” “Whatever it was, I didn't do it.” “Fuck rules!” “....oh. That incident...”)
(That one was the worst because Takamaki’s vapid smile had finally cracked -- and she started crying instead. Makoto remembered too late that it was because of Suzui’s... accident that the roof had been made restricted access. Even if Suzui was on the mend, it must have been a painful subject. She had departed with all haste, feeling Sakamoto’s glower on her back.)
In any case.
Makoto needed evidence, so she could just turn them over to the police and wash her hands of the whole matter.
(She tried to imagine those three across an interrogation room table from her sister.)
...Right. Evidence.
~.~.~
And eventually, she had it -- the proof she needed.
It was a struggle to keep the smug smirk off her face as Ren Amamiya settled into the chair across from her. “Have a listen,” Makoto said, laying her cell phone between them and tapping the play button on the recording she’d made.
Sakamoto’s voice came from the speakers, rough as always but clear over the background noise of chatter and footsteps. “If someone else could help ‘em, we wouldn’t be doin’ stuff as the Phantom Thieves to start with!”
Takamaki next. “So you think it’s true...? We’ll be okay if we keep doing this... right?”
That was the end, and Makoto sat back, awaiting a reaction.
She was deeply disappointed -- as always, these idiots were nothing by disappointment and inconvenience all around. Amamiya’s bag meowed violently, but he himself only blinked down at her phone rather distractedly, as if he hadn’t really registered what he’d heard.
“Well? Are you going to deny it?” Makoto pressed impatiently.
“Oops,” Amamiya muttered, finally looking at her again.
‘Oops?’ Really? That was all she got for over a month of having to follow these idiots around while they tried on stupid costumes and took embarrassing Featherman pose selfies? While they bought out Phantom Thief merchandize and proudly talked about how popular they were in at the diner or the ramen shop? While they blatantly stalked bullies who suddenly had a crisis of conscience not a week later?!
(Although, that last one might have just been a nervous breakdown from being followed around by the infamous school delinquent and equally infamous school criminal. Both bullies had looked ready to run screaming if they saw Amamiya and Sakamoto looming behind them one more time.)
The silence was broken by the sound of a phone ringing. Not Makoto’s, which had gone dark on the table between them.
Completely calmly, Amamiya pulled out his phone and answered. Before he could get a word in, Sakamoto’s loud voice echoed through the empty student council room.
“Hey, where you at? Takin’ a leak? Let’s meet up at the usual spot for our Phantom Thieves meetin’!” he declared cheerfully.
Makoto smirked again. “There we are,” she said. “More proof. Are you ready to confess?”
Hanging up without answering, Amamiya stared back stoically. “I won’t confess even if you torture me,” he declared. “Even eighteen hour interrogation can’t make me confess. It wasn’t my fault. I’m completely innocent.”
Eighteen hours? No, that wasn’t important.
“Let’s, let’s just go,” Makoto sighed. Her sense of triumph was ebbing away quickly, leaving only a budding headache.
~.~.~
“Hey team,” Amamiya greeted his trio of ne’er-do-wells casually. “Hairband Girl caught us out. She’s got a recording of Numbskull and Kitty Woman talking about Our Grand and Glorious Mission.”
Takamaki gasped excitedly. “Don’t use my code name in public!” she berated in an unsuitably cheerful voice. Rocking from foot to foot, she went on, “Oh, we got found out! What’re we gonna do?”
“Oh no,” Kitagawa Yusuke agreed, looking not much more concerned.
There was just one thing. “My name is Makoto Niijima. I’m the student body president,” Makoto corrected Amamiya. Hairband Girl? Did he seriously not know her name after all this time.
He stared at her blankly. “You’re not a high school detective?”
High school... detective... Realizing she was grinding her teeth at the reminder of a certain individual, Makoto forced herself to unclench her jaw and smile. “I am not,” she said. “But that doesn’t matter because I have evidence proving your identity as the Phantom Thieves. What do you think will happen if I pass this recording to the police?”
“I’ll get arrested again,” Amamiya said immediately. “And interrogated. And falsely convicted when the witness lies. And sent to juvie. And no other school will ever accept me, so I’ll be cast out from society forever.”
Makoto paused, opening her mouth as if about to say something, only to come up short. What angle to even approach that from.
The cat in Amamiya’s bag poked out its head and meowed comfortingly.
“I... I don’t think this is evidence enough to have anyone arrested...?” Makoto admitted helplessly. “You’ll just be put under surveillance and unable to continue your activities. Also, I’m the only witness, and I’m not going to lie!”
“You say that now, but when a big shot politician threatens your future, you’ll say whatever he wants you to say,” Amamiya muttered. “Even if he was feeling you up five minutes ago.”
...She was starting to get an idea of what Amamiya’s criminal record was all about.
“It’s cool, dude,” Sakamoto assured him. “I’ll just break her phone.”
“I, I made a copy! Several copies! Including on my sister’s laptop!” Makoto protested quickly. She had not made any copies, and made a mental note to do that next time she was blackmailing someone.
“What a dangerous foe,” Kitagawa commented to Takamaki. “Truly, a worthy rival for the Phantom Thieves!”
“Yeah, even if she isn’t a high school detective,” Takamaki agreed -- backhandedly.
“In any case, I do not intend to turn you over to the police!” Makoto went on, trying to regain control of the situation. “If you cooperate, that is. What I want is for you to prove your justice to me -- and change a certain individual’s heart.”
“Plot twist~” Takamaki sing-songed under her breath.
“OK,” Amamiya said. His cat meowed unhappily, visibly digging its claws into his shoulder, where it had migrated over the course of the conversation.
“Only if he’s a dick,” Sakamoto tacked on.
“I assure you, this is a heinous criminal,” Makoto said.
“Cool,” Sakamoto said. And, crouching down right there at the railing of a public walkway, pulled out his phone and began to type something. “So let’s get on with the heart changing. What’s this dude’s name?”
“J-just like that?” Makoto wondered.
“Sure! We’ll put it on the site for you!” Takamaki agreed.
They weren’t taking her seriously at all. “I don’t need you to put it on the site! I need you to change his heart!” Makoto snapped, just short of stamping her foot in frustration.
All of them had turned to stare at her in surprise, along with several of the passersby. But no one stopped or stared for long, and soon her angry outburst had faded away as if it never happened. This was, after all, how they had stayed hidden all this time -- by being too obvious for anyone to take seriously. “Guys,” Takamaki said slowly, “I think she’s seriously. Like, she seriously thinks we’re the real Phantom Thieves.”
“Oh, come on. Are you shitting me?” Sakamoto groaned.
“Don’t try to play it off! It has to be you!” Makoto protested. “You three had the strongest reasons to target Kamoshida! And now Madarame’s student is in your group too! It’s obvious!”
Everyone was looking at her, their expressions surprised or puzzled. Makoto could hardly tell anymore, her head spinning. She couldn’t be wrong. She had them! She couldn’t have made a mistake.... could she?
“It’s true that the Phantom Thieves saved all of us, and that’s why we have become a close-knit group,” Kitagawa spoke up finally. His tone was horribly gentle. “But I met Ann before that, while I was still Madarame’s student. I asked her to model for me. And then, afterwards, she offered me her condolences. We began to talk about the Phantom Thieves, and...”
“And we kind of... fangirled, er, fanboyed together,” Ann said, smiling sheepishly. “I thought it would be nice if he could hang out with us. Yusuke... well, he seemed lonely.”
“I was,” Kitagawa agreed placidly.
Makoto looked between them, feeling her brow scrunch up painfully. They had to be lying. Didn’t Takamaki look just a little too earnest, weren’t the others watching too closely? She just couldn’t tell anyone.
“But,” she started helplessly, “but the three of you, at Shujin...”
“No one would talk to me except Ryuji,” Amamiya said bluntly.
Sakamoto grimaced a little. “And I ended up draggin’ him into pokin’ around Kamoshida. That’s how we ran into Ann. Me and her know each other from middle school too.”
“Nobody except Ryuji would talk to me either, after Shiho...” Takamaki’s expression crumbled, and she looked away biting her lip. Sighing, Sakamoto... pulled out a pack of tissues and handed one to her, and another to Amamiya, for some reason. She dabbed at her eyes, while Amamiya folded his neatly, and the two of them loudly blew their noses in sync.
“But, but I...” Makoto’s shoulders slumped as the fight and conviction drained out of her. “But it has to be you. It’s the only way to help the students. There’s nothing else I can do!”
She didn’t even try to read the look their exchanged. The only thing she was aware of was her own trembling -- and the way it stilled when Amamiya stepped forward and laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Tell us about it,” he said. “Even us deputy Phantom Thieves have our ways.”
~.~.~
3. Fake it till you make it: Best(?) End
“Look me in the eye and tell me that... that FOOL BOY in there is a phantom thief! Is that badge for show?!”
Sae’s strident voice filtered straight through the thick walls of the interrogation room, making Ren’s fuzzy, drug-addled mind echo painfully. Carefully bending over, he laid his cheek against the cool metal of the table.
“Of course he has Phantom Thief ties! He’s an ardent fan! So is three quarters of his school, and most of Tokyo!”
A small, smug smile tugged at his lips.
“Oh, you caught him the act? And WHERE exactly was that? In the act of WHAT?!”
Deep down, Sae was just as straightforward and soft-hearted as her sister. Very easy to play. Ren almost felt bad. Almost.
“I don’t CARE if he was wearing some dumb costume! That’s what kids do!”
A pause.
“And YOU! Akechi, I see you over there! Explain yourself! Why have you been harassing my sister and her friends?”
Now this was true justice.
~.~.~