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

Chapter 58: The Road to Rehab

REAL • FICTION - Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

"THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

Yasuke Matsuda found himself in an unexpected and precarious situation. As the night of the sports event came to a close, he was summoned to a meeting with the four enigmatic and sinister leaders of Hope's Peak Academy's Steering Committee; Ashikawa, Tomita, Wakaba and Uragami. They weren't in their usual office, but in the same building, in a dark room with only one lamp dangling above their heads.

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife, and it worsened the longer Matsuda stayed there. Ashikawa looked to be close to bursting a blood vessel, Uragami appeared to be under pressure, and Wakaba, as usual, was the group's calmest member. Most oddly, Tomita was standing off to the side, not crouching in fear as he usually did. Instead, he was just quiet.

This would be a perfect opportunity to screw with them.

"Careful, Ashikawa-san," he said, casually pulling a manga volume out of his pocket and pretending to read it like none of this was his business, "you'll lose what few hairs you still have."

"You shut your mouth, you little fucking brat!" Ashikawa rounded on him, foaming at the mouth, red in the face.

"I dunno why you're mad at me," Matsuda scoffed, "I'm not the one who made Kamakura go missing. Hell, why am I even here? I said I'd get back to you if I found any more information on him, but I haven't. What's the big idea? Or did you just call me in because you need someone to hurl insults at?"

"Let me...take over..." Wakaba sighed, waving his hand to get Ashikawa to back off, "When you delivered the news to us that Izuru Kamukura's Palace had disappeared from the Metaverse Navigator, we conducted an investigation, and as it happens, Izuru Kamukura himself has gone missing too. And upon further investigation, we concluded that our worst fears were in fact the case."

"I see...So the Phantom Thieves, or some other Metaverse user, whoever they may be, stole his Treasure and destroyed the Palace..." Matsuda affirmed, "I get why you're so mad now...Your pet project that you've spent so many years on, just up and gone without a trace..."

"It's not just a matter of being gone without a trace," Uragami noted, "Hajime Hinata was chosen to be a candidate because he already had a Palace. Even if we somehow catch him, assuming that Palace is still gone and his heart has been changed, we can't bring Izuru Kamukura back!"

"Catch him? Why bother chasing him at all?" Yasuke asked, "There's nothing he can do for you any more. Why not just try it again with another helpless Reserve Course kid? I mean, you've moved all the stuff you need, and you know how to do it now, yeah?"

"Because, you ingrate," Ashikawa snarled, "I wasn't counting on that boy having his heart changed, or the Phantom Thieves ever finding him! We know now for sure that they can use the Metaverse, and the very reason why we tried to move Kamukura and everything else away is so we could continue the project in secret, but SOMEHOW they caught on and swiped him away under our noses! And...And..."

"Let me ask you this, Master Matsuda," Wakaba interjected again, "if Izuru Kamukura's Shadow has been erased and that boy's original personality has been reconstructed, what are the chances that he has regained the memories he held before his transformation?"

Matsuda stopped for a second to pause and dwell on this before he delivered his answer.

"He's a unique case...But from what my research shows, he won't remember anything that happened during these past three years unless he somehow managed to take on Kamukura's memories," he explained, "but assuming he got his original Shadow back after Izuru's was...indisposed...He will no longer have any Ultimate Talents, but most likely, he has regained his memories of before the project."