Of Phantoms and Thieves

News

Ann stared at Ms. Kawakami as she talked. She was bored, and all she was thinking about was when she could get out of school and go shopping with Ryuji. It turned out that she really liked him, and he really liked her. And they'd started dating.

But she had always not been able to get her mind off of Ren. Ever since he'd moved back to his hometown, and after everyone had said farewell, he'd promised to keep in touch. But recently, he'd been strangely quiet. And for a quiet person, Ren was being a little too quiet.

She'd talked to Futaba about it, to see if she or Sojiro knew anything about it. Futaba said that Ren had been struggling with something, but he didn't say what. He hadn't been on the group chat for a while.

Ann had also talked to Makoto. Makoto knew just as much as Ann. Ann had gone around, asking everyone. Nobody knew anything. As always, Ann was the one that showed that she cared about her friends. Ryuji had tried to help in that silly way of his, but he hadn't been able to dig up any dirt.

Ann was about to nod off, when her phone buzzed. She sneaked her phone out, and she took a peak. Someone had said something on the group chat. She opened it up. It was Ren. He'd only sent one sentence.

I'm coming back to Cafe Leblanc for a while.

Ann nearly jumped out of her seat. She didn't respond to it, because she was too excited to think of anything to tell Ren. He'd been the leader of the Phantom Thieves, but after they had disbanded, he'd become more of an introvert. Perhaps, disbanding had been a bad idea. Ann had thought this through a few times, but she'd always dismiss it. She put her phone away and made it through the rest of the school day. She then hurried to meet Ryuji outside the school.

"Ryuji!" she shouted to him. "Ryuji, did you see it?"

Ryuji looked up from his phone. He flashed a grin at her.

"Heck, yeah, I saw it! My man's coming back!" He lowered his voice. "But seriously, Ren-ren's been acting real strange, lately. He hasn't been responding at all. Do you know anything?"

Ann shook her head. "I wonder if something's wrong, or if he just wanted to surprise us."

"Prolly one of those," Ryuji agreed. "I hope it's a surprise, and that he's not struggling with anything."

"Do you want to go to the Cafe and check out what's going on?" Ann suggested.

Ryuji shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt."

And so they took the train to Cafe Leblanc, hoping to find answers from Sojiro or Futaba. But when they got to the shop, it was closed.

"Well, that's strange," Ryuji muttered. "Wonder what the heck is going on?"

Ann stared at the sign on the door that said CLOSED. She silently thought to herself about Ren and wondered if the same thoughts were going through Ryuji's head.

"We should go to Futaba's house and see what the matter is," Ann suggested.

Ryuji stared at the sign for a moment, and then he nodded. "Yeah... Prolly our best option."

They started down the alley on their way to Futaba's house. Ann was a bit worried. She wondered if something might be wrong.

"Hey, you wanna text her before we go ringing the doorbell?" Ryuji questioned.

"Oh, yes," Ann replied, moving her bangs out of her face. "We should do that."

Ann pulled out her phone and began to text Futaba.

"Hey, Futaba. What's up with the shop being closed? Are you home?"

"Aw... dang it... I wanted to surprise you guys, but it's actually today that Ren is coming."

"Today? Are you serious?"

"Yep."

"We were on our way to your house. Should we just meet you at the Café?"

"Sure."

Ann put the phone away.

"He's coming today."

"So suddenly?" Ryuji scratched the back of his neck. "What's goin' on?"

Ann's expression turned sad. "I hope everything is okay..."

"Let's head," Ryuji suggested. "I want to see Ren again."

Ann slowly nodded, and they walked back in the direction of the Cafe.

They waited for a long while. Yusuke, Haru, and Makoto had enough time and plenty to spare after they had arrived. The Phantom Thieves conversed among themselves, having nothing else to do.

"From what's going on, it's either really good or really bad," Makoto sighed. "There's no in between."

"I hope nothing is wrong..." Haru said.

"It's Ren. He's probably doin' great," Ryuji stated, kicking the ground.

"One can never be so sure," Yusuke breathed, leaning against the wall.

Everyone's phones buzzed. Futaba had sent a message.

"Guys... it's worse than I thought. Much worse."

"What's wrong?" Ann asked.

"He's sick. And I mean really sick. Sojiro isn't sure if we should have so many people welcome him."

"Sick? With what?"

Futaba didn't respond.

"Oh dear..." Haru whispered. She shook her head. "No, no no..."

"Come on, man!" Ryuji cried. "I wish that he weren't so quiet! If only he'd actually talk to us...!"

"Yes, Ryuji, we all know he's quiet!" Ann shouted.

Everyone fell silent.

"Sure, he's much on an extrovert, but when it comes to talking, especially about himself...!" Ann stopped and sighed. "It's no use, yelling at you..."

They all tensed when they saw Futaba come running down the street. She came to a stop and panted in front of them. 

"Hey... guys..."

"Hi," Makoto stated, smiling. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah... about that..."

Everyone leaned in closer.

"Um... well..." Futaba's voice lowered. "He... kind of... just..."

She paused.

"What is it?!?" Ryuji cried out. "Just say it!!!"

"He's not coming to the Cafe today."

"Is he alright?" Yusuke questioned.

"I-I don't know..."

"What happened?" Haru pressed.

"He- he passed out. He's... he's not okay, alright?!?"

Futaba put her hands over her face. Haru slowly walked up to Futaba and put an arm around her.

"Futaba..."

"We should just give him some space," Ann suggested. "Let's just give him some time. Does he have something?"

Futaba shook her head. "He's not sick..."

"Not sick? Then what?" Ryuji stomped a foot on the ground.

"He... when he came... there was... were... cuts..."

The Phantom Thieves looked at each other.

Cuts? Ann mouthed to Ryuji.

Ryuji shrugged. Ann stared at the ground. None of the Phantom Thieves knew anything about where Ren came from or his family. Ann wondered if he had done something reckless... or if someone had done something to him.