Chapter Text
[Music: "Pressure" by Billy Joel ]
This journal will serve as my private account of the Phantom Thieves investigation assigned to me by Shujin Academy Principal Kobayakawa.
Let's start with the facts leading up to this moment. On April 15, Shujin second-year Shiho Suzui leapt off the school roof and fell three stories into the courtyard during the school day. She survived the fall, but she was badly injured and taken to the hospital. The school has been informed that she has a long road to recovery, though doctors are hopeful that she will eventually be able to walk on her own again. Many Shujin students watched Suzui's attempted suicide, and it was covered extensively by the media.
Then, earlier this week, Shujin teacher and volleyball coach Suguru Kamoshida came forward to confess crimes of physical and sexual abuse against Shujin students. He admitted that Suzui, a starter on the volleyball team, was among those he sexually abused, likely driving her to her attempted suicide. This "change of heart" incident has also been covered extensively by the media, and the story remains a regular topic in current news cycles.
Principal Kobayakawa is now concerned that these two incidents so close together are drawing far too much negative attention on Shujin. In turn, this is not reflecting well on Kobayakawa's ability to lead and control his school.
In his search for an action to take, the principal has set his sights on the calling card incident that happened days prior to the Kamoshida confession. A group calling itself the "Phantom Thieves of Hearts" posted numerous red postcards around the schools' bulletin boards accusing Kamoshida of putting his "twisted desires" on students and threatening to "steal" those desires so that he would "confess his sins." Prior to Kamoshida's confession, this incident was largely accepted as a prank by a student who had beef with Kamoshida. The incident seemed to be confined to the school grounds, and it put staff on high alert. However, no immediate action was taken to identify who was responsible for the calling card.
Since Kamoshida's confession, though, students and teachers alike have been associating the confession and the calling card. Students speculate about who these Phantom Thieves actually are and who they might target next. I heard some even speaking about a website dedicated to the Phantom Thieves.
All this leads us to today when Principal Kobayakawa called me into his office and asked me to use my position and influence as Student Council President to assist him in identifying the Phantom Thieves. He is certain that they are Shujin students and that they are directly responsible for Kamoshida's change in heart. He says he wants to find out who the students are and how they did the deed. He's certain that foul play is involved, and he is eager to take action.
Though he did not say so explicitly, I believe that Principal Kobayakawa considers it a necessity to find and capture the Phantom Thieves in order to restore the reputation for both himself and Shujin Academy. Expelling the students or having them arrested (assuming their actions were illegal) would paint Kobayakawa as Shujin's hero.
In exchange for my help in finding these students, Kobayakawa offered to write a recommendation for me for any college I choose. Then, unfortunately, the offer turned into a not-so-subtle threat that if things didn't go well in this investigation, it could reflect badly on my sister, Public Prosecutor Sae Niijima. In other words, he doubled down on the consequences of failing at this investigation even before I started the work. So, regardless of how I feel about Kamoshida getting justice or the students' guilt or innocence, I have no choice but to produce results to protect both myself and Sis.
I sincerely hope that I can find a clear, justifiable connection between specific students and Kamoshida's change of heart. I can't bear the thought of students facing the fate that Kobayakawa has for them unless they truly are in the wrong for what happened. After all, everyone is actually relieved that Kamoshida confessed, and I can sense happiness among our athletes to a level I haven't seen since I came to Shujin.
After the meeting with Principal Kobayakawa, I immediately thought through what we know about the incidents and narrowed down suspects. Fortunately, hearsay about last year's track team plus the discussions around the halls over the last three weeks have given me a trio of suspects.
(1) Ryuji Sakamoto:
Second-year Sakamoto has bad blood with Kamoshida after an incident last year when Sakamoto was a star sprinter on the track team. Apparently, Sakamoto punched Kamoshida during an altercation. There are also rumors that Kamoshida injured Sakamoto in some way that damaged his track career, but I would need to speak to witnesses to confirm since there are no official records of Sakamoto's injuries. Kamoshida did not bring charges against Sakamoto for the assault, and he wasn't expelled. However, the entire track team was disbanded, and I imagine the weight of that on Sakamoto's shoulders is a far worse blow to him than any legal or academic action would have been. Sakamoto's reputation flipped from star athlete to delinquent, and he started dying his hair blonde and playing loose with the school's dress code. Given all this, Sakamoto has a clear motive to force Kamoshida into a change of heart. What's more is that, ever since the second week of school, we on the student council listened to stories from students who have partially overheard heated conversations between Sakamoto and Kamoshida. If the two of them were exchanging threats and escalating the situation, perhaps Sakamoto donned the mask of the Phantom Thieves and took things too far.
(2) Ren Amamiya:
It's likely that Sakamoto didn't act alone. Amamiya is the second year transfer student who was rumored to have a criminal record. He apparently befriended Sakamoto at the start of the semester and was present during some of the heated confrontations with Kamoshida. Amamiya is apparently not from the city and mostly keeps to himself. I don't know much else about him, but I will ask among his classmates in 2-D to see what I can learn about him. I need to find his motive for action against Kamoshida beyond being friends with Sakamoto. Is he truly a dangerous criminal as rumors would suggest? Was it him that put the Phantom Thieves idea in Sakamoto's head?
(3) Ann Takamaki:
When I was leaving school today, I noticed Takamaki was a third member of Sakamoto's little social circle. Since the start of the semester, Takamaki has been rumored to be "Kamoshida's girl," and she'd been seen riding with Kamoshida in his car. Now she is thick as thieves with the delinquents Sakamoto and Amamiya. Could they have convinced her to use her closeness to Kamoshida to help them with this so-called change of heart? Or was she just a victim of the confessed abuses and eager to retaliate? I suspect her motive has multiple layers, and I need to discover which motive has the strongest evidence.
These three, who I'm dubbing the "Phantom Thief Trio," are my primary focus for now until I have more information. My gut tells me that these three are the students who caused Kamoshida's change of heart. However, I will continue to investigate the volleyball team members and others who have suffered abuse under Kamoshida. I can't rule out others who may have played a role in this.
After watching the Trio chatting in the hall today, I followed them up the stairs. They went past the third floor up toward the roof. I wasn't prepared to confront the Trio yet, though. I wanted to dig a little more, find what might be Amamiya's motive, and form some clever questions to trap the Trio into the answers I was looking for.