It was a monotonous and peaceful late spring afternoon, with cherry trees planted in the green belt gently swaying their pink hues in the breeze.
People were at work, and on the road, there was only the rustling of cherry blossoms blown down by the wind, the dazzlingly bright sunlight, and the Phantom Thief who was accustomed to wandering around.
Kurusu Akira strode out of the school gate, holding his phone.
He skipped class.
The various gossip messages in the school forum had fermented over time, distorting to a point that was unbearable to look at.
He could imagine that if he didn't escape the school, that group of busybodies driven by adolescent restlessness would definitely corner him in the classroom and ask him all sorts of questions...
To avoid falling into such a passive and troublesome situation, Kurusu Akira chose to retreat during class time.
The 'privilege' he had just obtained now came into play.
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Aoyama-Itchome waiting room.
Kurusu Akira looked at the various tutoring agency advertisements posted on the wall and began to think about how to investigate Principal Shinba.
He had already searched for the name 'Shinba Takakiyo' online, but besides the fact that he was once a 'Shujin High School graduate' and some brief work experience introductions, there was no further information.
He couldn't get any particularly useful information from Ito Misui either.
The only thing that could be confirmed was that this year's student council selection was entirely presided over by the principal himself.
The details of the selection process were not disclosed to the public.
And the principal's explanation for this was subtle: "The previous principal left some unresolved and confidential matters in the student council. For this reason, I need to provide targeted guidance to the new student council members."
At first glance, it seemed to be the case, after all, the former principal was already imprisoned.
But Kurusu Akira's intuition told him that Shinba Takakiyo definitely had a problem.
His intuition had never been wrong in any previous operation.
Even if this time there was a misjudgment due to factors like 'transmigration'... he was trying to collect evidence, wasn't he?
Kurusu Akira thought carefully for a while, and it seemed there were only two ways to investigate Shinba Takakiyo: one was to probe the current student council members to see if any useful clues could be obtained; the other was to take a train to Kawasaki and conduct a search at the several universities and tutoring agencies where the principal also worked.
If he went to Kawasaki, he would have to plan carefully... he needed to arrange a suitable and reasonable time, and prepare sufficient funds for the operation.
The train arrived at the station.
Kurusu Akira thought as he boarded the train, it seemed that for now, he could only try to find a breakthrough through the student council.
Since he was going to apply for a new club, he would inevitably have to deal with the student council.
He hoped to gain something then.
The train car was very spacious at this time, with misty sunlight flowing rapidly through the space. An elderly foreigner sat enveloped in this light mist, flipping through a newspaper that also had English printed on it. The fine wrinkles on his face spread out like the complex textures of a riverbed, probably because he had read something interesting.
A young woman admonished her children beside her not to be noisy, but perhaps it was their first time on a train, they couldn't help but run around and play in the empty car, making their mother frown in distress.
On the in-car television, a meticulously dressed male host was speaking with a sorrowful expression about the recent "loss of control incidents."
[Breaking news: Last night, Ms. Mitarai from Kawasaki City Academy of Arts... disappeared...]
[When the police found her body, she had been confirmed dead for more than six hours, but no traces of a suspect's crime were found at the scene.]
[According to forensic examination, it might have been a suicide caused by depression.]
[It's the season of cherry blossoms, but this beautiful young girl can no longer return to her parents' side...]
Kurusu Akira listened very carefully, fearing to miss any detail of the entire case.
The invisible Dioscuri floated above his head, with a notebook open in his hand, rapidly making notes with a fountain pen.
Suddenly, two little girls who were playing bumped into Kurusu Akira's knee by accident, then lost their balance and fell, landing squarely on his instep.
Dioscuri's hand, which had almost blurred into a streak, instantly stopped in mid-air.
Kurusu Akira lowered his head and helped up the girls, who were probably still of kindergarten age.
It didn't really hurt, but the sudden movement interrupted his thoughts.
The mother, who had been distracted by looking up at the news and hadn't noticed her children, immediately apologized to Kurusu Akira, "I'm terribly sorry, my children accidentally caused you trouble."
Kurusu Akira wouldn't fuss over such matters with children; he just nodded and continued listening to the host on the in-car television.
The so-called "loss of control incidents" being reported in the news were actually a series of "accidents" caused by human manipulation.
In his previous life, he had personally found and resolved the source of this series of bizarre incidents—
Here, two key figures must be mentioned.
They are the popular politician and one of the prime minister candidates, "Shido Masayoshi," and "Akechi Goro," who was popular online due to his handsome appearance and praised by many as a "genius young detective."
First, let's be clear: these two were a wicked and evil duo. In less than three years, Akechi Goro used the power of his Persona to covertly eliminate political enemies for Shido Masayoshi, as well as all scholars who discovered the truth, by manipulating hundreds of "loss of control incidents." During this period, Shido Masayoshi's political status continuously rose, while also causing countless family tragedies.
With the help of this unprecedented assassination technique, Shido Masayoshi quickly gained immense power. Subsequently, he used his connections to introduce Akechi Goro, as a "renowned detective," to the public security to assist in investigating the "loss of control incidents."
In this way, they always had the upper hand, succeeding in everything, and even at one point, they reached the very center of power in this country.
If it weren't for Kurusu Akira's timely intervention in his previous life at their critical moment of success, and his theft of the evil within their hearts, a super disaster that would have endangered the lives of tens of millions of people would have been averted.
But Shido Masayoshi in this world had already died, killed by three shots from a homemade shotgun by a retired self-defense force soldier during a public speech on the street.
And Akechi Goro had become a vegetable a month ago, with no signs of waking up even now.
The two culprits, one in an urn and one in the intensive care unit, so who is continuing this evil?
Kurusu Akira's fists clenched without him realizing it.
He tried many times to search for the "Shadow Operatives" that had assisted him in various operations in his previous life, hoping to get support from them, but no matter how he tried, he found nothing.
Kawasaki Academy of Arts?...
Kurusu Akira looked at the screen of the television, having made up his mind.
"Saya, Shizuka, let's go, please don't trouble this boy!"
The girls called "Saya" and "Shizuka" still stood there blankly, looking at Kurusu Akira's profile with confusion and curiosity.
Suddenly, Shizuka exclaimed loudly, "Mom! This handsome older brother has flames burning in his eyes!"
"Don't talk nonsense!" The mother apologized to Kurusu Akira again. She had just looked at the handsome young man out of curiosity but found nothing unusual.
Just a very special, very striking handsomeness.
Hearing this, Kurusu Akira immediately turned his face to look at the window beside him.
Through the blurred light reflection of the glass, he seemed to genuinely see dark blue fire flickering in those deep gray pupils obscured by his plain glasses.
This didn't seem to be an illusion...
Immediately after, his gaze passed through the glass and fell towards the distant green mountains. The wave of cherry blossoms in Tokyo, as late spring progressed, gradually showed signs of fading. The train sped forward, and only occasionally could a few pink hues be seen amidst the sprawling urban high-rises.
The train arrived at the station.
Kurusu Akira stepped out of the car amidst the enthusiastic farewells of the two girls.
This is Shibuya Central Avenue.
He found a bookstore, asked for some printing paper and a pen, and walked through the bookshelves filled with reference books, beginning to conceptualize his own club.
He always acted decisively.
Since it was a normal club activity, there had to be a more convincing activity policy.
Kurusu Akira looked at the names of the departments he had written on the paper.
[Muscle Remodeling Department], [Financial Planning Department], [Rebellious Rock Club], [Amamiya Ren Fan Club]... he was quite interested in all of these.
But he always felt something was missing...
After thinking for a moment, he crossed out all the above words with his pen.
Then, as if by some subconscious premonition, he unconsciously wrote the English word "PHANTOM."
[PHANTOM (Phantom Thieves of Hearts)]
Kurusu Akira pinched his nose, painfully crossing out this chuunibyou and flamboyant club name with his pen.
However, this gave him a good idea.
A "Phantom Thief" steals the "evil" from the hearts of villains, helping them repent. Isn't this helping them solve various pathological psychological problems?
So he rewrote it under the blacked-out "Phantom Thieves of Hearts."
[Club Name: Psychological Health Education Department].
Helping students establish correct and healthy values, popularizing the dangers of mental illness...
It was as if the floodgates of inspiration had suddenly opened.
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