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

Chapter 114: Disharmony

Cool Morning - Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

The next morning arrived with a golden haze over Ongakuin University, the sunlight gleaming off the school's rooftops and casting long shadows across the pavement.

The afterglow of the previous night's triumph still lingered faintly in the air, with buzzing social feeds, idle chatter in the halls, and the occasional snippet of the band's performance echoing from someone's phone speaker. 

For some reason, even though they had been out all night, Kaede didn't feel tired at all. If anything, she somehow felt even more rejuvenated.

She walked up the steps toward the music hall, carrying a flask of coffee. Her eyes were bright, but there was a small crease of worry in her brow.

She hadn't heard from Seto all night. She'd invited the band into a group chat, and Seto had accepted, but she'd received no texts, no replies, not even a reaction to Hayasaka enthusiastically flooding it with memes and clips from the performance.

Makoto caught up to her near the entrance, slightly winded and juggling a bag of supplies and his usual overstuffed clipboard.

"Morning, Kaede!" he called. "I brought some backup strings, a couple of spare cables, and...uh...emergency snacks. You know. Just in case."

"You always come prepared, huh?" Kaede chuckled lightly.

"You never know when someone's gonna need a granola bar or a new patch cable," Makoto smiled sheepishly. "Guess I got that from the Thief Biz..."

X

They shared a short laugh, but it faded as soon as they arrived and stepped into the practice room.

Because the rest of the band was already there...and the mood was wrong.

Fujimoto was sitting on the edge of the amp case, her hands in her lap, wringing a cloth anxiously. Hayasaka stood near the drums, unusually quiet, bouncing his drumstick against his palm but not tapping out any rhythms like usual.

And standing apart from them all, her guitar already back in its case, was Seto. Her expression was tight and serious. Not angry but... resolute.

"Morning, guys," Kaede greeted them slowly. "What's going on? You all look so...tense..."

"Yeah, is...is everything alright?" Makoto asked.

Seto looked at them both, then straightened her shoulders.

"No," she said, voice even. "I'm leaving the band."

Disquiet - Persona 5

The room was silent. But Kaede and Makoto both felt their stomachs drop.

"...What?" Kaede blinked.

"I said I'm leaving," Seto repeated, a little softer now. "I won't be performing tonight."

"W-Why!?" Makoto gasped. "But last night went so well!"

"Seto-san arrived this morning and announced that she was going to be leaving. She came here, waiting for you to show up so she could tell you personally," Fujimoto explained. "W-W-We tried to talk her out of it, but...she wouldn't budge."

"Seto-san, come on!" Hayasaka took a step forward. "If this is about nerves or something, we can talk through it. You killed it out there!"

"It's not about that. It's not stage fright," Seto shook her head. "It's...something else."

"Seto-san, regardless of your reason, you can't just say that so casually," Kaede's tone was sharp, but not unkind. "You can't expect us to accept this! We need you!"