The Pawns and The Puppeteers.

(Hey there, sorry for not posting as daily as usual. Managing the second story was more work than I thought, but I am actually really enjoying diving into Tensura again. My new upload schedule will be one chap every other day of about 2k to 3k words. That's my goal. Thanks for reading the story so far, and I hope you enjoy the chap.

Chapter 100 marked the end of the first Volume, The Birth of The Phantom Thieves. Welcome to Volume 2, The Pawns and The Puppeteers. This is where the fun begins.)

— — —

As the morning rays broke through the window, Ren opened his eyes, feeling the comforting warmth of Shiho's body resting next to him. Memories of their shared moments from last night flooded his mind, and a gentle smile tugged at his lips as he saw how Shiho had instinctively cuddled up closer to him when she sensed him move.

Seeing her sleeping face without a single worry in the world, he couldn't help but move in to give her a soft kiss on the forehead. He could see the crimson thread of fate connecting them glowing brightly, letting off a slightly golden shimmer. 

When Shiho stirred awake, a moment of confusion washed over her. But as the events of the previous night came rushing back, a blush of embarrassment mixed with a sense of relief painted her cheeks. It was as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and she couldn't help but feel a newfound lightness in her heart.

After quickly getting dressed and stealing one of Ren's jackets for herself, she made her way down to see Ren cooking up some food. Once he saw her, he gave her a bright smile.

"Hey there! I'm making some curry, so you can sit down and wait. I should be done soon."

"Curry? For breakfast?" Shiho asked with a small giggle before making her way down and sitting. "I know it's your favorite, but you really should start making healthier food for breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day."

"That's a myth, and my curry was made by a scientist to be the best curry ever. So checkmate," Ren said with a chuckle, enjoying the sight of her smiling.

Shiho laughed, the sound light and carefree. She watched him as he cooked, feeling a sense of enjoyment and happiness. The intimacy of the morning routine, the playful banter, it all felt so natural, so right.

Just as they were about to start eating, Sojiro walked in, and after giving the pair a quick glance, he couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"Hoo boy." was all he said before he turned around and left to go back home, giving them some more time alone.

Shiho blushed slightly before the two of them laughed it off, and after they finished eating, the two of them left to go to school. Thankfully, she had built up the habit of keeping a spare uniform at school to change into after practice.

After school, Takemi had informed him that Yusuke had fully recovered from his newly strengthened connection to his persona, so Ren had given the go-ahead for Futaba, to begin with the calling card process.

— — — 

In a distant room, a blue-haired detective stood in front of a crimson-haired elegant woman. 

The Kirijo Group had been closely monitoring the mental shutdown cases. With each incident announced in the news, the shadows became more erratic. This was a worrisome sign for Mitsuru Kirijo, the crimson-haired woman who had seen firsthand what disturbed shadows could lead to.

An anomaly in the cases caught their attention: a school P.E. teacher who had confessed to all of his crimes before experiencing a mental shutdown. Since any anomaly warranted investigation, the Kirijo Group immediately dispatched their best detective, Naoto Shirogane, to examine the case.

Naoto followed the trail to a few different students: Ren Amamiya, Shiho Suzui, Ryuji Sakamoto, and Ann Takamaki. Her initial investigations didn't yield much; they all appeared to be regular kids. However, she noticed some activities that piqued her interest. The sudden purchase of a gym membership and airsoft weapons stood out. Despite this, their day-to-day activities seemed normal, they hung out like any group of friends.

Not wanting to get tunnel-visioned on one group, Naoto decided to follow a few other leads while regularly checking back with the first suspects. Then, the Kaneshiro incident occurred. The world was shaken by the announcement and even more so by the proof that was provided.

The shadows grew particularly restless with the sudden appearance of vigilantes. While some welcomed them as heroes, others saw them as something to be feared. Fear often leads to anger or surrender. And the one thing the Kirijo group wanted most, above all, was to prevent another case of Apathy Syndrome.

From there, Naoto was almost ready to dismiss the students. There was no way they could pull off a hack of that scale. However, during an interrogation with a suspect named Taro, a criminal who worked directly under Kaneshiro, she learned of an interesting figure named Akira Kurusu. 

A student with dark curly hair who claimed Shujin as his territory. Akira had asked Taro not to mess with students from his school anymore and later came looking for a job, making big promises before disappearing.

This description matched Ren Amamiya.

After that, Naoto began to pay closer attention to the group, diving deeper into the backgrounds of each member. It was during this investigation that she noticed a new addition: Makoto Niijima. 

On a lucky day while observing Ren, she caught a glimpse of him entering the Sakura household, which led her to Futaba Sakura, or more accurately, Wakaba Isshiki, her mother.

Previously, Wakaba's death had been dismissed as a simple suicide. However, as Naoto delved deeper, she discovered the hidden secrets behind Wakaba's research in Cognitive Psience. Although most of the documents had been deleted, Naoto found a few traces that only a trained eye could spot.

Cognitive Psience involved researching the collective unconscious, which immediately reminded Naoto of the TV world she had once explored. With Izanami gone, she had lost access to it, and the Midnight Hour was completely out of reach since Nyx had been sealed away. This made her even more suspicious.

Her suspicions grew strong enough that she decided to sign up for a TV interview, an interview in which students from Shujin Academy would appear. She wanted to send them a message and observe their reactions firsthand. While Ren remained mostly stoic throughout the interaction, the rest of his team failed to conceal their emotions as well as he did.

This all but confirmed it for Naoto, but since Mitsuru needed definite proof before interfering with students, she began to closely monitor the group. She waited for their next slip-up while continuing her own research into the mental shutdowns.

To her surprise, the Phantom Thieves were quite adept at hiding their identities. Naoto often lost track of them in crowds, unable to find them again. That was until she followed the group to Madarame's shack. For the first time, she captured proof of how they entered the collective unconscious.

"Mitsuru, I have confirmed that the group I followed was the Phantom Thieves. They don't seem to access the collective unconscious through either the Midnight Hour or the TV world. They can pretty much enter it from anywhere, which explains why I would keep losing their track." Naoto reported, placing a few pictures she had taken of the group vanishing on the table.

Mitsuru examined the photos, her expression serious. 

"This is troubling. If they have this kind of access, it means there's another entry point to the collective unconscious that we're unaware of."

Naoto nodded.

"Exactly. It's possible they've discovered a method that bypasses the usual restrictions. This could explain the increase in shadow activity and the mental shutdowns."

"Hmm… Should we see them as a threat? The shadows have been becoming more restless ever since they made their first appearance. You know what could happen if things keep going like this," Mitsuru spoke, her face becoming grave as she thought back to her past.

"I don't think they have bad intentions," Naoto said, producing a few more pictures of the group spending time together, all of them with smiles on their faces. "They don't fit the same characteristics of either Adachi or Strega. If anything, they remind me a bit of my own Investigation Team back in the day."

Mitsuru grabbed the pictures, a slight nostalgic smile appearing on her face as she saw the group.

"I see…" she continued, her smile fading as she remembered the face of one of her closest allies who had sacrificed himself. "In that case, we need to make contact soon… you already know what it means for there to be another entrance to the collective unconscious." Mitsuru said with a determined expression.

"Another god is messing around," Naoto finished, earning a nod from Mitsuru.

"Nyx is still sealed, even if the shadows are starting to grow restless, and there is no fog. This means we are dealing with an unknown enemy… We need to be more careful than ever not to accidentally strengthen them." Mitsuru said, tapping her leg as she thought.

"Should I contact the Investigation Team?" Naoto asked, earning a shake of the head from Mitsuru.

"Not yet. They all have their own responsibilities. We don't know how long it will take for us to figure out our next steps. We should only contact them if there is an emergency or if we are ready to act."

Naoto nodded, gathering her belongings as she prepared to leave again.

"Should I make contact with the Phantom Thieves?" she asked.

Mitsuru thought for a few moments before nodding.

"Yes, but approach cautiously. I want to meet the leader of the Phantom Thieves, but I need to finish a few more preparations on my side first. I will call on the lab to prepare some gear for them should they join us."

Seeing Mitsuru's worried expression, Naoto gave her a reassuring smile. 

"Don't worry, I will take care of everything on my side. If the worst comes to happen, I have my evoker with me."

Mitsuru smiled in response, raising the teacup in front of her to take a calming sip. 

"Don't push yourself too much, Naoto. You have already done enough."

As Naoto left, Mitsuru couldn't help but pick up the pictures once again, looking deeply at the smiling figures. 

"They are just kids, just like we used to be back in the day…" she whispered, her eyes turning nostalgic as she moved to look at the group picture S.E.E.S had taken. "I wanted to avoid bringing more young people into this mess. But it seems fate keeps forcing them to bear the burdens of the world."

Placing the picture down so she wouldn't have to look at it anymore, Mitsuru gazed outside at the dark sky. It was a new moon, so the only thing visible were the city lights in the distance.

"Mental Shutdowns and now Phantom Thieves… I wonder what you would think of this, Makoto…"

— — —

"Velveeet, oh Veeeelvet." Humming to herself with a smile, a silver-haired woman with golden eyes wandered across the streets of Yongen-Jaya. Elizabeth followed the trail of death and the collective unconscious in the air until she arrived at a clinic.

Both the awakening of a Death Arcana persona and the countless flowers Takemi had gathered had been enough to give Elizabeth something to follow.

"This must be the place. It seems we have finally found our path to the new Fool," Elizabeth mused to herself as she peered through the window of the closed clinic.

"What do you think, Thanatos?" she asked, pulling a card from her beloved Fool's compendium.

"...I sense her presence… There is someone who should be dead… He feels… Familiar…." Thanatos's voice echoed in her mind.

With a surprised smile, Elizabeth turned to look in the direction Thanatos indicated. She followed the path until she spotted a small café tucked inside an alley. Inside, a black-haired man was cleaning up. 

He had golden eyes that felt strangely familiar to her, but more than that, she could see the glowing card above his head, the final card she was missing to achieve the World Arcana, The Judgement.

With a wide smile, Elizabeth made her way to the door and tried to open it, only to crash against the locked door. The noise was enough to draw the attention of Ren inside. His eyes widened as he saw the familiar attire of a Velvet Room attendant.

As he moved to open the door, he saw her smile become wider as she introduced herself.

"Fool! I have been searching for you for a long time. I am Elizabeth, a former servant of the Velvet Room. May I come inside? I have a lot to talk to you about."

~Confidants~

Shiho Suzui (The Tower) Rank 9 ♥

Elizabeth (The Moon) Rank 1

~A/N~

(Shoutout to JonRedSea, who recommended Thanathos reacting to Takemi's Death Arcana awakening. Also, if you recommend something and I forget to give you a shoutout, remind me. Sometimes, I remember someone mentioned something, but then I can't find who did it because I lost track of the comment.

Also, if you have any questions about this chapter, feel free to drop them down in the comments, I will answer as long as it isn't a spoiler. But I will also go more indepth explaining stuff from p3 and p4 as I go with Naoto and Mitsuru's confidant.)