An alarm blared noisily through the air, a rather annoying beeping coming from the small device. The little plastic slate made an effort to overpower the hazy calmness of the world outside, painting the slowly rising sun in a villainous light.

The limbs wrapped in the bundle of blue and orange sheets sighed, unwilling to move from their position in the bed. But the sun and the noise persisted, reminding the bundle that things had to be done today - things such as school.

From the depths of the sheets, a hand emerged, shutting the alarm off with a deal of effort. The owner of said hand let out a sigh, sitting up in bed. Her dark hair sprung up around her, springing from her scalp and curling around.

Shiho gave yet another sigh that could have been interpreted as more of a yawn, plucking her phone from the charger and scooting back so that she could read whatever she'd missed last night while she woke up.

She clicked on her messages, and instead of being surprised by how many messages that Futaba and Ryuji had managed to send, she was shocked by how many private messages she'd gotten - it was one from each of the phantom thieves, plus Dojima.

The girl cringed a little bit. She'd probably have to explain what happened to him. Yeah….that was always fun.

Shiho clicked on the first.

Ann Takamaki - Shiho Suzui:

Ann: hi boo!
Ann: i know you're probably asleep right now while i send this but i don't care
Ann: i know you remember what we talked about last night too so
Ann: i just wanted to let you know that i'm really :clap: proud :clap: of :clap: you :clap:
Ann: even though you, y'know, had an attack and stuff, i still think you're making a lot of progress and i really am so proud of you
Ann: and that i also think you're amazing and i can't wait to see you when the gang and i come visit over the summer! 3

Ann: you'll have to dance for us if you're comfortable by that point okay

Ann: i love youuuuu

Shiho giggled, despite the fact that Ann had brought up the previous night. Oh, she always knew just what to say, huh? Smiling, she tapped out her response.

Shiho: thank you ann
Shiho: i love you too
Shiho: even if your paintings do still suck :shrug:
Shiho: i'm kidding! But i really do love you and thank you for sending me the love, and for last night

Seemingly satisfied with that answer, she clicked on the next person, who happened to be her dance partner and Ann's boyfriend. How coincidental that he showed up next.

Akira Kurusu - Shiho Suzui:

Akira: so, uh, hey
Akira: i know i couldn't do much for you but you were pretty far gone by the time Dojima had called me
Akira: i'm sorry that it happened around you. it….would be really hard to even do what you did and not just run, to be honest
Akira: and, uh, don't feel bad for not calling me instead of Dojima
Akira: i know you were just looking out for the best big brother ever & yourself, so no harm, no foul
Akira: but, seriously, I hope I helped even a little and that you slept well
Akira: i'll drop by your house in the morning so we can walk to school together but if you don't want to practice for a little while, that's cool. It's just like that sometimes and, i'm bad with words but you get it.
Akira: you're really strong and i have all the platonic love in the world for you
Akira: sleep well

Shiho smiled again, shaking her head. Akira's way of comfort was always a little more awkward and roundabout than he let on and could sometimes be direct, though it wasn't consistent. Even though the method was fluctuating, it was endearing. Akira was sweet, and don't get Shiho wrong here, he was a very, very hot guy. But to be completely honest, she just couldn't see him as a romantic interest, as much as she would have liked to.

Now, of course, she could see other people with him. The former volleyball player could see a lot of people with him if she were being honest. Ann, well, of course she could see them together! They were dating. Makoto, Haru, Ryuji, Yusuke, Nanako….all of them would be good together. The only person that Shiho couldn't consider him with was Futaba, and that was only because they were more like siblings, in the long run.

That was one of many common points between herself and her younger friend, actually. She should open Futaba's message next, actually…..

Before that, though, she had to write Akira a response.

Shiho: no no no no no! shush.
Shiho: you got Ann to call me and you gave me my favorite blanket back, so thank you for helping
Shiho: plus you woke up at 2 am to come help me out of a panic attack so! don't apologize
Shiho: as much as i'd love to say that i would love to just pick up where we left off on Wednesday, i don't think i'm mentally up to it
Shiho: but, um, maybe we could hang out today after school? I don't really feel like studying
Shiho: but if you want to go home and call ann tonight i get that too! you know how it is, "kira".
Shiho: i platonically love you more, dearest big brother

Was she satisfied with that answer? After going back and adding more to it, Shiho decided that she was. It was pretty accurate, and it wasn't as if they weren't going to see each other in about an hour, anyway. Backing out of her conversation with her friend, she clicked on Futaba's messages.

Futaba Sakura - Shiho Suzui:

futaba: hey, so ann told me you were gonna need some positivity
futaba: & you're like my depression sister from another mist…..ress(?)
futaba: so because i don't know how to explain my feelings like, at all
futaba: here are some memes about how much i love you
futaba: 3

Following her texts were about what she described, actually. Some were pictures, and others were stupid songs that you were supposed to send to your friends. Shiho read each and every one of them, even if a couple were a little dark. Those were the ones she giggled at, though, knowing that Futaba got her sense of dark humor perhaps better than even Ann.

Before she thought about it, she was typing back.

shiho: these are all GOLD
shiho: i'm saving so many of these alsddmfdlskfs
shiho: thank you 3
shiho: i love you more

With that out of the way, she moved on to the other messages, next finding Haru's.

Haru Okumura - Shiho Suzui:

Haru: hi suzui-chan! I'm not going to blow up your inbox because i think that you're asleep and I don't want to wake you up, but….know that you are extremely strong and that you are absolutely loved! I think ann would blow up if you and akira weren't around. i don't know what's going on with you, but ann said you needed the positivity right now, so i'm going to take this chance to express to you how strong and great you are! (◠‿◠✿)

A warm, almost fuzzy feeling filled Shiho, making her lips pull up even more than they had before as her thumbs moved along the screen to formulate some sort of response.

Shiho: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! thank you haru-senpai! i have no idea what you've really been through, but i know that you're really strong too! and i don't think makoto would be able to function either without you! you're really great, and thank you for sending positivity my way

After formulating what she thought to be a nice response, the girl hit send and mentally patted herself on the back, swiping to the next person. That person just so happened to be Yusuke.

Yusuke Kitagawa - Shiho Suzui

Yusuke: Forgive me for intruding in your private messages, Suzui-san.
Yusuke: I heard you were in need of some positivity, and I decided to capture the beauty and strength within you in the only way I knew possible to spread it.
Yusuke has sent an image.
Yusuke: I hope this is quite pleasing to the eye.
Yusuke: I would also like to do a painting to capture you sometime, if you'd let me.
Yusuke: Have a good day, Suzui-san.

The image attached was a picture of Shiho herself as some sort of Roman Goddess, who she thought looked a lot like Artemis. Shiho admired it for a couple minutes, noting that this was Yusuke's way of expressing what he was feeling.

Similarly to the seemingly silky tunic she was wearing and the bow she was firing, the painting seemed to capture something like a gentle, yet forceful power. She was firing a bow, yet she didn't look quite fierce, as she would expect. Instead, the Shiho in the picture looked forceful and in control, yet somehow gentle and graceful with the way her body arched and pulled, like a finely tuned machine.

It was beautiful, if she were being completely honest. Despite his….eccentricities and what could seem to be him hitting on Shiho, she knew that at heart, Yusuke had expressly pure intent and a whole lot of talent to go with it.

Shiho: yusuke-kun that's….
Shiho: breathtaking
Shiho: thank you so so so so much
Shiho: and someday i think i could model for you
Shiho: you're better off asking ann though, haha
Shiho: but thank you again 3

After responding, Shiho took another glance over the picture and then clicked off, checking the time quickly. The girl sprung out of bed and gathered her clothes when she realized she'd been on her phone for 15 minutes already. Her legs carried her to the bathroom, where her fingers picked up the job and dexterously ran a bath.

Her bath never took more than 30 minutes, and true to form, her feet stepped onto the mat beside the bath no later than 30 minutes later. The former volleyball player quickly draped articles of clothing over her body, then taking an equal amount of caution when she pinned her hair into its place.

The girl's legs quickly took the stairs by storm, ears paying attention to the gentle sizzles and pops coming from the kitchen, and the smell slowly snaking its way upstairs. This made her being pause, a warm feeling of comfort overcoming her along with a shred of guilt and discomfort.

Her mom was downstairs in the kitchen, cooking breakfast for her. Shiho suspected that her mother had already eaten with her father, who always left before she was ready to come down for breakfast. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable with her mother, per se….or anything about her. It was just the simple fact that this was a change.

Even after a year, her mind began to sway at the thought of her family and the changes they'd brought. Two parents who had previously been more concerned about making enough to give their daughter a good life versus two doting parents now. It wasn't their fault….they just hadn't been around enough to notice the cuts and bruises she came home with.

It wasn't that they didn't care or that they'd neglected her; everything they did was for her sake. She knew that, really, she did. It was just hard to keep that in mind when she….

Shiho allowed her feet to move once more, sniffing out the thought as if it were a cigarette but under her foot.

An aging woman turned her head around as she slid into the kitchen, smiling at her daughter over her shoulder. Shiho smiled back, sitting down and taking care to watch her mom cook.

The woman was a beauty, really. The only thing that offset that were her hands, claused from working so much, and her hips, which had become a little wider than most as she grew. Other than that…..Shiho wasn't looking at her mother, but she could landscape her face just as quickly as she'd recognize her own in a mirror.

The Suzui women were known for the warm brown eyes they held, and her mother was no exception, seas of hazel seeming to pour from her eyes and into another's. Her lips were the shade of a cherry blossom petal in the springtime, and she had a clear, heart-shaped face with a little button of a nose.

She was mostly petite, save for her hips, and even if she weren't looking, Shiho could picture the plush purple slippers she was wearing just as easily as she could picture the crow's feet that had begun to make their impression in the space around her eyes. She really was a beautiful and intelligent woman, something that was a catch in a city as dense as where they'd moved from.

"Good morning, Mama," Shiho said, readying her bag as she waited for breakfast.

"Good morning, my little dove." Her mother said gently, making Shiho's heart warm in only the way that she could. "How did you sleep after your night out?"

Shiho winced. Of course Detective Dojima would have called her parents about a follow-up. It wasn't like he'd done anything he wasn't supposed to….it was legally what he had to do. Still, that didn't change the fact that her parents didn't like her going out without their consent, nor did it change what happened last night and the fact that her parents had heard nothing about it until a call early in the morning.

Her mother wasn't angry, but Shiho still looked down, cheeks red with shame. Manami Suzui was not one to get mad easily - she was patient and stern. She always had been and always would be. "I - um….:" Shiho took a deep breath. "I had a nightmare and needed to go on a run, so I went down to the shrine, and….I'm sorry."

Her mother's posture had stiffened before but began to relax gradually. "It's alright, but you need to tell your father and I or at least leave us a note. I know it's difficult, sometimes, and you don't like waking us up, but even still…."

The two women lapsed into silence for a few tense moments, but it was quickly broken as her mother turned around and set a plate full of food before her daughter, placing down her lunch while she was at it. The two quickly made eye contact, and Shiho was surprised to see pride and joy on her mother's face. "On the other hand, I'm very proud of you. Being aware enough to call a capable figure in a time of crisis is something you couldn't have done at this time last year, and the joy that fills me when I see or hear that you make progress, however small, is not something I can properly express in words. You're not in trouble, hatchling."

Shiho laughed at the old nickname, breaking eye contact. Her eyes had been slightly watering, and she reached over for a hug. Her mother obliged her, walking around the table to hug her.

When she was very little, perhaps 5 or 6, she went through what her parents had nicknamed her "bird phase." It was spawned out of going to the park with her parents on their lunch breaks when she was younger and watching the birds run around and tweet.

It was also around that time that Shiho liked watching magic tricks more than anything, and so her mother had taken to calling Shiho her little dove, or her hatchling. It was a small nickname, yes, but it was those two words that were tacked on to the end of sentences and dispersed around when her mother referred to her that filled her with a warmth that she couldn't describe.

"Thank you, mom…"

The older woman smiled, releasing her child and allowing her to eat. "There's nothing to thank me for, doll. However…." she eyed Shiho's now buzzing phone, causing her to smile softly. "Don't you think you should get to that while you eat?"

"Probably…" She sighed a little. Shiho loved her friends, but when something happened and they needed to show support, there was no end to it. It could be a bit much to read back on, but not entirely unpleasant. "Though, it is….6am? Why are they blowing up the group chat at 6am, mom?"

The elder Suzui shrugged, a smile touching the corners of her mouth. "They're you're friends, hatchling, not mine.

….Shiho supposed that was true.

She quickly looked at her phone, but remembered that she had more private messages to reply to first.

Ryuji Sakamoto - Shiho Suzui

Ryuji: so, uh, hey, suzui.
Ryuji: I know that we don't talk that much 1 on 1?
Ryuji: I mean, I know the basement gremlin and i send you memes sometimes, but that's about it
Ryuji: idk where i'm going with this, honestly?
Ryuji: just like…..ann mentioned something about akira going awol for a little & that you needed support, n' i wouldn't really stop bugging her, so she told me what was happening.
Ryuji: what that bastard did was really effed up….and i wish we could have done something sooner
Ryuji: I would rather have gotten kicked out of school than let you go through that shit
Ryuji: you n' ann were pretty much the only nice ones to me in middle school, even tho you were really…..really blunt.
Ryuji: and just….yeah. it's really like that sometimes.
Ryuji: I can't do much, but feel better ig?
Ryuji: i'm bad at this words thing

Shiho could visualize the vines of a smile growing upwards on her face, pushing the corners of her lips upwards into a fond smile.

Shiho: aww, ryu
Shiho: I love you sm
Shiho: thank you so much for always trying to help (in your way, i guess?)
Shiho: you're a sweet guy
Shiho: um, thank you a lot. that means a whole heck of a lot to me.

That response felt somehow right to give to him, even if it was a bit lackluster. But seriously, what was she going to say to how loyal he was. Good guy. Ryuji really was a good and kind guy, but he didn't really know how to….express it, she supposed.

It had a certain charm.

Finally, she clicked to the final message she'd gotten, smiling a little as she saw it. Everyone's typing styles were so different, but somehow, Makoto's and Haru's were always somewhat similar.

Makoto Niijima - Shiho Suzui:

Makoto: Hello, Suzui-san. I don't know what's the matter with you right now, but Ann informed us that you needed to support. And...well..you know that the Phantom Thieves are the people that go for all or nothing. I assume your inbox was no exception to this rule. Nonetheless, I hope that you slept well, and that you keep recovering. And….I don't think this still applies, but I should remind you that my sister is a prosecutor, should you need her services in the future, and that we have a very comfortable home to accommodate you if you need it. Have a good day, Suzui-san. :)

Her smile only furthered, noting the smiley face at the end. Yeah….that was a definite sign of Haru in her texts.

….That was adorable, if you asked her.

Shiho: Thank you, Makoto-san! (I hope you're okay with me calling you by your first name? I think I've done it before but now my instincts are kicking in again, haha.) My inbox was destroyed, trust me, but it was a good kind of destroyed. It doesn't still apply, but thank you! It means a lot to me. 3

That was without the group chat, but Shiho got the feeling she wouldn't have to read back on it to know that she was about to jump into one of their weird 6am conversations, so she settled for pocketing her phone.

Sure, she would have to talk about it later with Dojima and Nanako-san, but….it wasn't an issue at the moment. She had a very good support system, and she was getting better.

If her mother or Akira noticed the extra energy in her step today, neither said anything. But the slightly amused expression her fellow dark-haired companion had given her was refreshing. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

For once, that word didn't ring the slightest bit hollow.

It didn't matter what life threw at her. She was going to be just fine.

A/N: "will update once per month"

Mhm. Well, I'm kind of going in and out with P5 right now, along with Ace Attorney and OHSHC, so it's been rough. But recently, I pumped out 5,000+ words on a school project and felt bad not doing anything for this fic, especially because I just adore the prompt.
This is also an excuse for me to plug all of my headcanons in, but I do think that I might start another long-term project that has something to do with a crossover. Ideas have been rattling around of this little dome of mine recently!
This chapter was mainly meant to showcase the bonds that the thieves have sort-of built between themselves and Shiho. I wanted to further that bond.
I also want more chapters where they hang out, and some that perhaps feature the persona 4 cast. It'll all depend!
Anyway, hopefully I update sooner than 3 months from now!
Thank you for reading! Favorites, follows, and especially reviews are greatly appreciated, as always, and I look forward to seeing you in the next chapter!