Phantom Thieves of Hope - A Danganronpa X Persona 5 Story.

Chapter 31: Interval of Silence.

Neuroscience Wing - Danganronpa 0 UST

[A FEW DAYS LATER...]

"Did you watch the news?"

"You mean the stuff about Akamatsu-chan?"

"Her mother confessed to extortion and stuff like that in front of a crowd of people. Kinda like Towa did here at school!"

"Didn't Kyoko-senpai's grandfather do something similar on a live news show?"

"Do you think the Phantom Thieves were behind it?"

"Yeah, that's gotta be it! There's no other way she'd confess like that!"

"Crazy...Stealing hearts and stuff like that...it sounds like the coolest thing ever!"

Mahiru Koizumi sighed, but let out a small smile, as she sat next to her friends Hiyoko Saionji and Ibuki Mioda at the lunch hall. She took out her phone and began to read the headlines...

"Mmm? What's up Mahiru?" Hiyoko tilted her head, "you look all serious all of a sudden..."

"Yeah, did something happen?" Ibuki leaned in excitedly, "you got a date or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous..." Mahiru shook her head, "I just get the feeling that I'm going to be writing another article very soon..."

Even during the middle of the day, Yasuke Matsuda was alone in the Neurology Lab. He was watching the morning news, and as he had no doubt expected, Kirie Akamatsu's distraught face showing her live confession was right smack-dab in the middle of the screen.

He sighed. Why did he care so much? It was no consequence to him what these Phantom Thieves were doing.

Was it because he knew of the Metaverse? That they were using it? Even so, it was still none of his business.

And yet he couldn't stop trying to put the pieces together...Though he hadn't really paid much attention, up until today, Kirie Akamatsu's mask was flawless...And yet she simply turned herself in, confessing all her crimes and exposing some shady collaborators of hers with it. A change of heart was literally the only thing that could have possibly prompted this.

What was the Phantom Thieves' agenda? Even if Kirie Akamatsu had turned out to be notorious, why go after her specifically instead of someone bigger?

Perhaps it was because she was connected to a first-year Hope's Peak student? The academy seemed to be where they were based after all, and their last two targets had fit into this pattern...Towa had been a collaborator for the academy in funding the building of the Elementary School and Fuhito Kirigiri was the grandfather of the second year Ultimate Detective...

And the real question was...how far would their influence spread before the Mastermind took action?

He didn't know for sure, nor did he especially care...At least that's what he told himself...For if the two Metaverse users were to ever clash...Who knew what might happen?

Even in the 78th Classroom, the Ultimate students were buzzing about the recent events. Mukuro Ikusaba sat at her desk from the back of the class and looked forward as Chihiro Fujisaki and Junko Enoshima excitedly discussed Kirie Akamatsu's change of heart...

She reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out her, honestly kind of outdated, mobile phone, and used it to search the news on the internet. Kirie Akamatsu's confession came up almost immediately.

It was uncommon for Mukuro Ikusaba to ever show any sort of tense emotion on her face, so she was lucky nobody was watching when she gritted her teeth, bared her fangs, and quietly snarled under her breath, like a wolf cornering a timid rabbit.