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“Guys. I’m gonna do it. Get ready.”
After saying those words, Sojiro emerged from behind the counter and got into position. He was about to do the sickest backflip known to man.
“Boss...are you sure about this? It can be dangerous if you haven’t stretched,” Ann warned, leaning forward to get a better view of the spectacle from behind Makoto, who was seated next to her at their usual table.
“Stretching is for amateurs,” Sojiro quickly deflected. “Back in the day, I was crowned Yongen-Jaya’s backflip king. It’s a little-known fact.”
“Ann’s right, boss,” Makoto chimed in. “You should take caution, especially if you haven’t done a backflip in a long while.”
Sojiro broke out of his intense concentration with a sigh. He didn’t appreciate being doubted, by a bunch of children no less. They knew nothing of his achievements back in the day. Nothing. He used to be a backflipping superstar. Sure, it had been a good decade, maybe even more, since his last flawless flip. If only they had been there to witness his best flips. They wouldn’t have doubted him one bit.
But alas, they were probably right about needing to stretch. Sojiro wouldn’t have thought anything of it if Akira had suggested it, but Ann and Makoto were the more level-headed members of that unusual bunch. After another sigh, Sojiro finally conceded and took their advice.
“Fine...” he grumbled. “Thanks for your concern.”
The disgruntled cafe owner began his signature stretching routine, one that he hadn’t done since The Flip of ‘87.
I don’t need their concern. They don’t know what it’s like. They don’t know the thrill you get from doing a nice, solid backflip. The way your feet spring off the ground. The way your body defies gravity. The way the air feels while you rotate once, twice, maybe even three times. You become one with your surroundings. For a moment, the world revolves around you. Nay...you revolve around the world. And finally, your feet gracefully meet with the ground, and you stand tall with a sense of achievement. Ah, yes, I remember that feeling well. Back in my day, the crowd would cheer endlessly. “Do another backflip, Sojiro! Do another backflip! Teach me how to do a backflip! You’re the king of backflips!” I long to feel what I felt back then...
“Alright. Is that enough for you?” he asked the table once he finished his routine and abandoned his train of thought.
“Mhm!” Futaba nodded. She hurriedly whipped out the phone that she was seemingly glued to almost all hours of the day. “Mind if I record it, Sojiro?”
“Huh? Why?”
“For old times sake! Come on, you don’t mind, do you?”
It was for the best to let Futaba do what she wanted. It was hard to get her to back down, and besides, despite his questioning, Sojiro wanted to be recorded. He wanted to review his flip and make sure it was up to his high, high standards.
“Alright. Go ahead. Only Futaba, though. I don’t want you kids spreading this around your school if I fall flat on my face.”
Lies. I, the backflip king of Yongen-Jaya, would never fall. Be modest, Sojiro. Don’t let them know how long you’ve been preparing for this moment.
“Epic! I’ll count you off, okay?” Futaba’s finger hovered above the record button. Akira, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, and even Morgana held their breath in anticipation. They fully expected Sojiro to completely butcher the flip.
“Have 911 at the ready, Akira,” Morgana whispered. “He’s gonna hurt himself.”
Futaba began the countdown.
“Three…”
You still got it, Sojiro.
“Two…”
You’re the backflip king, for crying out loud! Show these kids what real athleticism looks like!”
“One…”
Assume the position...pretend you’re back in ‘87…
“Go!!!”
Three days after The Sickest Backflip Known to Man…
The school day had just ended for Akira. He jumped up from his seat, eager to see what the rest of the day had in store. Perhaps he’d visit a friend, maybe he’d wind down and read a nice, long book…
Before he could finish that thought, Akira felt a quick vibration in his back pocket. His phone danced around for a brief moment before he pulled it out, curious to see who was contacting him.
“Oh! People already wanna hang out with you? Someone’s popular,” Morgana teased. He raised his head as far as he could to look over Akira’s shoulder in an attempt to snoop his texts. “Who could it be?”
Futaba: Hey…
Futaba: Are you free today? There’s something I wanna talk to you about.
Futaba: Only you can help me with this.
“Futaba...what could it be?” Morgana wondered aloud. Before Akira could even think of an answer, his phone chimed once more.
Futaba: It’s about Sojiro :c Please hurry!!!
Futaba: I’m outside Leblanc as usual. There’s no way I’m going in there after everything that’s happened.
Futaba: Hope to see you there :/
“There you are, Akira!” Futaba called as she saw him turn the corner heading toward the cafe. She tried her best to sound enthused, but it was clearly an act. After dealing with the oddities that had occurred over the past few days, she was utterly drained. It was all because of that damn backflip.
“What’s going on, Futaba?” Morgana popped his head out of Akira’s backpack to take a look at the distraught girl. “Your texts were pretty ominous.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll try to explain it as best as I can.” Futaba plopped onto the ground. She held her knees close to her body and stared downward, looking dejected. “It’s about Sojiro...ever since he nailed that one sick backflip, he hasn’t stopped! Literally! Every time I see him, whether it’s at home or in Leblanc, he’s doing a backflip. He doesn’t drive anywhere anymore. He insists on backflipping all the way to wherever he’s going. And whenever I try to talk to him, he shushes me and says, “No...I. Must. Flip!” and does another sick backflip...I’ve had to start fully taking care of myself! I really don’t know what to do…” Futaba’s head sank into her hands. “He won’t stop doing backflips! It’s a nightmare!”
Akira just stood there, baffled by Futaba’s lengthy explanation. He didn’t really know what to make of any of it. He hoped that Morgana would have something to say, maybe some advice or words of encouragement, but he was just as stunned. “...What the hell-”
The door leading into Leblanc flew open. Akira, Futaba, and Morgana all abruptly turned their heads, startled by the noise. No one appeared for a few moments, but soon enough, out came Sojiro. But he didn’t just walk outside, oh no. No, no, no. He did the sickest backflip known to man. He executed the rare Quadruple Ultra Frogsplash Flipturn 360 backflip, the most difficult backflip to perform out of the many varieties. The other three watched in awe as he moved like no one had ever moved before.
Sojiro perfectly landed a few feet from the door. He didn’t stop to live in the moment and feel that sense of achievement he had once adored so much. After all, this was the sixty-fourth time that he had nailed the Quadruple Ultra Frogsplash Flipturn 360 backflip in the past three hours.
“What are you guys doing out here?” the flipping madman questioned, already getting ready to hit the air again. “Instead of sitting out here and wasting time, you should be watching me. Don’t you wanna see me flip? Huh?”
“I’ve already seen it...so many times...so...many...times…” Futaba replied lifelessly, not even looking at her caretaker.
“Tch. Don’t talk to me if you can’t do a backflip. It’s against the Backflip Code.”
“But you asked me a question-”
“Enough, Futaba! Now watch me flip.”
“No! Please don’t!” Futaba shielded her eyes, visibly shaking. “Stop flipping! Please! Your backflips are sick, but I can’t do this anymore!”
But it was too late. Sojiro was already midair. The world revolved around him...nay, he revolved around the world. The flawless backflip was underscored by Futaba and Akira yelling at him to stop. Their cries had no payoff, as Sojiro had already begun his next sick backflip as soon as he landed. Voices shrieked, tears flew, and hearts broke as Sojiro flipped. He flipped. And flipped. And flipped. And flipped. Backflip after backflip. No one could stop him.
The next day…
“So why’d you call us over?” Ryuji asked, tapping his foot on the floor of Leblanc’s attic.
A few hours earlier, Akira had ordered the Phantom Thieves to meet at their hideout. It was risky, considering Sojiro was working, but he wouldn’t have suspected a thing. After all, he was too busy scaring customers away with his ceaseless backflips to notice all of Akira’s friends heading up to the attic.
“It must be something dire, then. We should be trying to save our energy to deal with Okumura,” Makoto added. “He’s our most notable target at the moment, at least according to the forum.”
“No, trust me. This is an emergency.” Futaba stood up and slammed her hands on the table. She had a fierce look of determination in her eyes, one that hadn’t appeared since she set foot in her own palace. “You saw it when you walked in, right?”
Yusuke leaned back and crossed his legs. “Ah, yes, it was quite the visual spectacle. Certainly a sight I won’t be forgetting anytime soon...the flawless, effortless, glorious backflips of a man hard at work.”
“Is that all we’re here to talk about?!” Ryuji groaned. “It’s just an old man reliving his glory days. Is there really something to worry about? We should be focused on big guys like Okumura.”
“Just hear her out, Ryuji! We don’t know what this is about,” Ann retorted, glaring at the fellow blonde. She turned back to Futaba with a kinder look in her eyes. “So what do the Phantom Thieves have to do with Boss’s backflips?”
“I propose a change of heart! >:)”
“...For real?!?!” Ryuji was the first to speak after Futaba’s bold declaration. “For some backflips?!”
“You don’t understand! He hasn’t stopped backflipping ever since you guys were all here last. I’m not exaggerating. It’s gotten in the way of everything! He won’t work, he won’t drive, he won’t help me out, he won’t talk to me...everything! All he does is flip and then make fun of me for not being able to flip!”
The Phantom Thieves never thought they’d ever have to take on such a peculiar case. Not only was it someone close to them, someone that they thought they knew well and that wouldn’t need a change of heart, but they’d never seen such a drastic change in someone. If changing Sojiro’s heart was what they had to do to get him to stop doing some sick flips, then that was their only choice.
After a few moments of silence, the voice of the Metaverse Navigator sounded from Makoto’s phone.
“His name actually showed up on the nav…” she said in disbelief. “We’ll have to go to Mementos to trigger his change of heart. If that’s what you want, Futaba-”
“Yes! Please! We have to!!!”
“Alright. It’s settled.” Makoto stood up, followed by the rest of the thieves. “Let’s go.”
Full of determination and eager to fight, the Phantom Thieves began to warp into Mementos. They didn’t know what would await them, whether the battle against Sojiro’s shadow would be a breeze or a challenge, but that didn’t stop them. Nothing would. Sojiro had to stop doing backflips. This was the only way.
Without even descending one floor into Mementos, without even entering Morgana’s bus form, the Phantom Thieves were face-to-face with one of the biggest hurdles they had ever faced.
“No way…” Morgana completely froze, along with the rest of the group. Sweat dribbled down their foreheads. “It can’t be…”
“Oh, but it can be! Never thought you’d see me here, right? You thought wrong! You’re all very dumb! Very dumb! Very dumb and stupid! You’re like little infants! Aww, what are you gonna do, you little babies? Are you gonna cry? Maybe soil your diapers a little bit? Do you need your binkies? Well, that’s a shame! You can’t communicate your desire for your binkie, since you’re dumb little infants that are incapable of coherent speech!”
It was the dreaded reaper.
“Uh...Mona?!” Ann’s eyes darted toward the cat bus. She didn’t dare move any other muscles. “H-How is this possible? You said the reaper would only show up if we stood in one spot for too long!”
“I don’t know! That’s how it’s supposed to work...I think!” Morgana responded, slightly backing up.
The reaper chuckled. “You’re right about that one, little kitty. However, these are special circumstances. A fellow shadow offered me a deal, you see. If I stopped you in your tracks before you reached him, he’d teach me how to do the Quadruple Ultra Frogsplash Flipturn 360 backflip! Isn’t that divine?” He did a little dance that was filled to the brim with joy, as if all he ever wanted to do was backflip.
“Son...you’re a failure.”
Those words would stick with the reaper until the end of time.
That horrible phrase was uttered by his father. It wasn’t just one occasion. Day after day, the reaper’s father would remind his son just how much of a letdown he was. The reaper family was supposed to strike fear into the hearts of others. For generations, it was their specialty. Everyone feared the reaper family. Everyone. No one dared to get in a conflict with them. However, that all seemed to go to waste when the present reaper was born. He wasn’t the least bit intimidating. He had the kindest eyes, the softest smile, the friendliest demeanor...he wasn’t cut out to be a member of the highly regarded family.
“Son...you’re a failure,” the father said, putting his hand on his awful, disgraceful son’s shoulder.
“I know, dad. You told me this morning.”
“I just thought you should know.”
“...” The reaper didn’t immediately have a response. He was deathly afraid of rebelling against anything his father said. His word was the law, and that was that. But all the reaper wanted was to be praised. His whole life, every single day, at least three times a day, his father would speak those words. The reaper desperately wanted this cycle to end. “Father...is there anything I can do to redeem myself?”
His father sighed. “I knew this day would come...son, you’re a pitiful failure. You’re like a little infant. A tiny little baby begging for a binkie. It’s dreadful. But…my opinion of you would change if you did a backflip.”
The reaper’s eyes lit up. At last, a chance to prove himself! “Is that true, father?”
“Yes, son.” The reaper’s father removed his hand from his son’s shoulder. He adjusted his tie and swiftly cracked his knuckles. “Well, it’s time to go to work. I don’t plan on returning to you, son. I’m going to take your mother with me. We despise being in your presence.”
“Alright, father.”
“Farewell. You have my contact info if you ever learn to do a backflip.”
The reaper’s father was never seen again.
“Y’know...he’s not as bad as you made him out to be…” Ryuji whispered, gradually relaxing his tense muscles. The rest of the group followed suit. They all reached the same consensus-- The reaper, while intimidating in stature, wasn’t nearly as horrifying as they all had imagined. It appeared as though he was just a normal shadow with a strong desire to do a backflip.
With Akira in front, the Phantom Thieves began inching toward the reaper. They steadily began drawing their weapons, prepared to take it down once and for all. To them, it was just a roadblock on the way to Sojiro’s shadow.
Little did they know that their goal was closer than they thought.
“Not so fast, Phantom Thieves!”
A mysterious yet familiar voice boomed from behind the enormous reaper. A figure dashed out from behind it. It swiftly performed the all-too-familiar Quadruple Ultra Frogsplash Flipturn 360 backflip several times before gracefully landing a foot in front of the reaper.
Futaba tensed up once more. “It’s Sojiro’s shadow! Just like the real thing...always flipping.”
“Hush, Futaba!” Sojiro’s shadow quickly retorted. “I’m tired of all of your snide comments about my flips! You wish you could be as talented as I am. You crave it. Unfortunately for you, not everyone can be backflip royalty in Yongen-Jaya. What are you, a hacker? A worthless little hacker? Pathetic! You can’t even do ONE backflip! And you have the audacity to think of me as a father figure. If you were actually my child, I would’ve abandoned you the minute I realized you were a talentless hack. There’s no room in MY world for simpletons who can’t do backflips. The world revolves around me...nay, I revolve around the world! It’ll be a paradise for backflip masters only! And I’ll be their king! I’ll reclaim my title as backflip royalty! It’ll be just like my glory days! And as for my newfound pal, the reaper, he’ll be my second-in-command! I’m only here to watch the show as he grinds you all to dust!”
The Phantom Thieves struggled to muster up a response to the shadow’s long-winded villainous monologue. It wasn’t that they were intimidated by Sojiro’s shadow. They legitimately had no idea how to respond. The whole bunch stood in dumbfounded silence for an uncomfortably long period of time.
“AHEM!” The reaper cleared his throat, attempting to break the tension. “You heard the guy. Prepare to meet your doom, Phantom Thieves!”
“Buddy...we’re not here for you,” Ryuji sighed, just wanting to get this over with. “Can you get outta the way? Thanks.”
“I- But- You- He- I- No! I’m not gonna let you disrespect me like that! I’ve already had enough of that through my whole life! You see, my father, he-”
Makoto put her hand up. “I’m sorry. I’m sure it must’ve been difficult for you, but we can’t do anything for you right now. So please...leave.”
The reaper didn’t speak with the fear that his voice would break. This was the second most disrespected he had ever felt in his life, right behind when his father left him to fend for himself for being a failure. Was this really it? Was this all he would ever amount to? Just when things started to turn around, just when he had made his first friend in Sojiro Sakura’s shadow, the Phantom Thieves wanted nothing to do with him. They weren’t the least bit afraid of him. The thought of his father’s disappointed face crossed his mind. No matter what he did, it would never be enough to appease his father. Nothing would ever be enough. Maybe his father was just too hard to please. Yes, maybe that was it! If he had any other parent, the reaper surely would’ve felt wanted. Any other parent would’ve accepted him for who he was. He was perfectly normal, after all. He just happened to be unfortunate enough to be born into the reaper family. That’s all it was-- a stroke of bad luck. But fate could be changed. The Phantom Thieves proved that, didn’t they? They could change the hearts of Japan’s most despicable criminals, sparing many from doom. The Phantom Thieves were an inspiration to the reaper. If they could take fate into their own hands, then so could he. He had always considered changing his name to eliminate the stigma surrounding his family’s name. That way, he’d be able to live freely without the burden of being a failure in the eyes of his family. No one would associate him with that horrible name. He wouldn’t have to force himself to act a certain way. He could even abandon his job of waiting for people passing through to stand still for two minutes and attacking them. It was the perfect plan. The reaper would finally find happiness--
“Done! We got the treasure!”
Futaba’s joyful announcement snapped the reaper out of his thoughts. In the blink of an eye, Sojiro’s shadow had vanished. The Phantom Thieves had succeeded.
“That was a lot easier than anticipated,” Yusuke said with relief. “All we had to do was do a single backflip to make him feel insecure about his abilities.”
“Thanks for not contributing, Mr. Reaper!” Ann chirped as the thieves began boarding the cat bus. “I hope you sort things out with your dad! Seeya!”
After everyone else had left, Akira and Futaba anxiously sat in Leblanc’s attic. Morgana paced around the room, not saying a word. Though there wasn’t anything to be afraid of, since the process had never failed them in the past, it was worrying that Sojiro was their target this time around.
“Well...we should go see if Boss had a change of heart, right?” Morgana said, finally breaking the silence. “I know it might not be immediate, but we should at least check it out.”
“Yeah...I’m just worried…” Futaba replied with a sigh.
“About what? Nothing’s ever gone haywire. Boss being the target won’t change anything.”
“Hmm...you’re right.” Futaba quickly snapped out of it, accepting that no matter what, this was the best option. “Onward, Akira!” She grabbed Akira’s hand and dragged him downstairs to see if the change of heart had been successful.
At the sound of the stairway creaking, Sojiro looked up from the mugs he was cleaning. “Futaba…”
“Hey, Sojiro.”
The two stood staring at each other for an excruciating few seconds. Futaba was afraid to see the results, while Sojiro was dreading having to address his actions over the past few days. He didn’t know what had happened, but something possessed him to stop obsessing over his backflips. It was similar to those stories about the Phantom Thieves he had heard so much about on the news.
Being the adult in this situation, Sojiro spoke up first.
“Futaba, I’m sorry for the whole flipping thing. I don’t know what got into me...I really can’t explain it, to be honest with you. I guess I just wanted to feel young and wild again. But I went off the handle. I shouldn’t have put you through all of that. I promise you...I’ll never do a backflip ever again.”
A smile slowly crept onto Futaba’s face. “Aha!!! That’s exactly what I wanted to hear!”
And everyone clapped.
The reaper changed his name to Ethan and is now living a stress-free life.