Shrinking Violet

The New Normal

~Morning~

Kiyoshi: "Seriously?! How many eights do you have?! What the hell Kazuki!?"

Kazuki: "H-Hey! I just shuffled the deck like normal!"

You: "Guess I'm just lucky is all"

You played your last pair of eights before placing down your final card, keeping your spot as tycoon once more. The pair both quickly continued with their game to decide who would win next, eventually shuffling the deck once more for the next hand. This was your life now...inside juvenile hall. You had been here for a couple days at this point since you came back to your original reality, slowly getting used to the routines of the environment you found yourself in. You continued to relax on your break outside, other delinquents and individuals going about their business as you stayed with the two teens, Kiyoshi and Kazuki. You were thankful you were on good terms with them, the two of the being your only real friends in this place. In your spare time outside, you had begun to teach them how to play tycoon, Kiyoshi being lucky enough to have a deck of cards to use. He made sure to thoroughly shuffle the deck this time, refusing to let you win the final round.

Kiyoshi: "Better be ready for that luck to run out, cus I'm making you bankrupt!"

You: "Really? Come and try"

You gave your compatriot a smirk, accepting his challenge to try and beat you this final round.

Kazuki: "I don't think its just luck though. I mean, you gotta be pretty skilled at tactics...considering you used to lead the Phantom Thieves"

Kiyoshi: "This again? I told you man, he's not the right guy!"

Kazuki: "But he looks just like him! I should know, I watch that broadcast every time they let us use the computers"

Kiyoshi dealt out the cards as the two of them argued, with you keeping silent the entire time. Publicly, you had been sent to juvenile hall due to the assault charge Shido had forced upon you a year ago, the higher ups making an excuse that you broke your parole during your time at Shujin. You knew in truth though that they just wanted to get back at the so called brat who had ruined their corrupt plans for the country. For now though, you had no reason to attract unnecessary attention to yourself with something like saying you were a Phantom Thief, so you just let people think what they will. It helped that the staff were against people explaining their reason for their incarceration...putting more focus into efforts to 'rehabilitate' inmates.

Kazuki: "It would be so cool to be a Phantom Thief! I was so jealous I didn't get to see that broadcast live in Tokyo"

Kiyoshi: "I admit, they definitely livened things up round here. Always nice to see we ain't the only rebels in society"

As you begun your final round of cards, you spotted one of the attendees out of the corner of your eye walking towards you all, a young woman with her black hair done up in a ponytail, a set of spectacles on her face.

Kiyoshi: "Shit..."

Kiyoshi grabbed your cards from your hand, trying to quickly pool then together in hopes of hiding them in time. You were still learning the names of your 'wardens', but you were thankful to know who this was, a woman by the name of Mariko.

Mariko: "Kiyoshi...where did you get those?"

He was silent in response, not willing to answer the question as he averted his eyes. Mariko let out a deep sigh in response.