~~~ Twist of Fate ~~~

[ Arc III: The Castle of Lust ]

Chapter Nineteen: Conspiracies at the Rally

- 04/13/20Xx ( Wednesday - Afternoon ) [ Shujin Academy - Nurse's Office ] -

Upon reaching their destination, Rie was the first to reach out for the door- but upon turning the knob, it was curiously closed shut.

After sharing a brief look of suspicion with one another, Makoto readjusted her grip on Mishima's shoulder and free up her hand to be able to knock on the door as she called out loud, "Anyone here? Please let us in! "

It was silent for a couple of seconds... and that made them apprehensive.

Eventually, they heard faint footsteps slowly approaching the door and then, a meek, male voice called out from inside, "I- Uh, the N-Nurse was called out to join the faculty meeting so can you come back-"

Hearing that it's seemingly just another student, Makoto was quick to cut him off as she demanded, "It's an Emergency! There's been an accident at the gym earlier and someone needs medical assistance as soon as he can!"

"...Oh, D-Did the c-couch accidentally hit someone hard again...?" Came the faint voice from the other side.

"Yes! Mishima-kun has been unconscious for some time already so please let us in!" Rie answered back in urgency.

Silence once again greeted them for a while and that agitated both girls as they wondered why the health committee member is stubbornly refusing to cooperate with them.

But then, both girls perked up as they heard the faint sound of the knob finally clicked open and the door swung back with the first-year moving aside to let them in.

Makoto and Rie hurried inside and the flustered health committee member assisted them as they carefully moved the still unconscious student down a nearby bed.

Once Mishima was securely placed and made comfortable, the male committee member cleaned up the bruise and applied some ointment to help reduce the swelling.

After that, the young male looked towards the girls nervously, "I, Uh... I'm kinda new and I could only do first aid treatment so I don't know what to do after this..."

Makoto decided to appease him, "It's all right. That should help him out as well." Then she suggested, "But still, we may need the hear what the Nurse would have to say so can you please come and get her?"

And that seemed to have worked as the younger student visibly relaxed and easily complied to her request, "Oh, sure, Ms. President. I'll go and see how the meeting's doing and come and get her if it's over."

Giving a small smile in return, Makoto then replied, "Thank you, we'll be staying here for the time being and looked over Mishima-kun."

The health committee member nodded at that before making his way out of the room after excusing himself.

Rie then closed the door shut and leaned her ear to its wooden surface. She only stepped back when she could barely hear the footsteps from outside anymore and turned to look back and whispered, "Coast is clear, Niijima-Senpai."

Makoto nodded at that, "Okay. Let's begin our search," She stated before suggesting, "Let's split up. Can you go to the drawers over there and look for anything that you feel is out of place? Check their supplies too."

Then she made her way towards the nearby desk and added, "I'll be keeping an eye on Mishima's condition, so I'll just be searching around the Nurse's desk over here and see if there are any files that we could use to our favor. I'll be lingering about the door as well and warn you if someone's heading our way."

The younger girl nodded back at that and immediately complied to her request.

Makoto was quick to do her part as well and after digging through folders, she found a file that may be of some use to their investigation.

But before she could skim through the contents, her phone suddenly chimed;

REN |Hey. Everything OK over there?|

|And what about Mishima-kun? How's he doing right now?|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MAKOTO: |We're fine, but Mishima-kun's still unconscious, I'm afraid.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RYUJI: |He's still out cold? For real!?|

|What did the Nurse say 'bout his condition, then?|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MAKOTO: |We don't know. The Nurse is still out in the Faculty office for a meeting.|

|But we managed to send the lone health committee member to come and fetch her.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

REN |I see. So I take it that you two have begun your infiltration?|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MAKOTO: |Yes. Ishino-san is already surveying the room for anything suspicious.|

|While I found a list of everyone who was recently admitted here as well.|

|I'll be skimming through them as I stand guard near the door|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RYUJI: |Off to a great start then! The first set of matches done for the day,|

|And 'effin Kamoshida still acting like he done nothin' wrong!|

|But, eh. He'll pay soon enough...|

|We'll be heading out too and check on our leads.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

REN |Tell us if you find anyone else from the Volleyball team, okay?|

|We might have missed some names after all.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MAKOTO: |I will. Take care in your investigation, you two.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

REN |That goes for you and Ishino-san too.|

|The first person Ryuji recognize from the team was from my class.|

|And We've just arrived at my homeroom right now,|

|I'll immediately update you again on how this turns out.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MAKOTO: |Roger that.|

After sending that last reply, Makoto placed her phone back to her pockets and fetched the file she found on the Nurse's desk earlier.

With all the documents in hand, she proceeded back to the door leading outside and slightly leaned down her back to its wooden surface as she began reading the names listed on the notes for a few minutes.

"...Majority of the students admitted are from the male volleyball players, even a newly recruited first year wasn't spared on his first week being on the team..." She mused as she looked towards Mishima who was still unconscious, "...And he's the one who's usually here."

Before Makoto could question why that was the case, Her phone chimed from her pockets once more;

REN: |Well, the first person refused to say anything.|

|He insists that what we're talking about is just nonsense.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RYUJI: |The coward's obviously lying that there wasn't any abused going on,|

|With how much he panicked upon just mentioning Kamoshida.|

|And hell, his injuries ain't normal yet he still won't 'fess up!|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MAKOTO: |That goes to show how much the coach influences them.|

|And he probably forced the entire team to secrecy with threats.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

REN: |That's most likely the case.|

|And that makes it difficult to get any info from them.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RYUJI: |Still someone could mess up and slip some deets, right?|

|After all, we got a couple more people on our list.|

|And crap, an announcement just went on and another ball game just ended.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

REN: |I know, you're against this, Makoto-san,|

|But Ryuji and I had just split up to cover more grounds.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MAKOTO: |It's dangerous but... we do lack time.|

|And where are you two, now?|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RYUJI: |I'm checkin' out the Practice Building.|

|Asking 'bout the Volleyball team before their clubs start.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

REN: |And I just found the guy Ryuji mentioned that was on 3-C.|

|He's just as beat up as the first guy and he's with a friend.|

|They seem to be on guard though, still, I'll do what I can.|

Makoto was about to send a reply to that- but stopped short when Rie called her out from the corner, "...Miss President? Can you take a look at this, please?"

"Okay, just need to send the boys a reply and I'll be right there!" The brunette answered back before typing a quick response from her phone;

MAKOTO: |Ishino-san seems to have found something important.|

|I'll tell you what that could be as soon as I could.|

|Again, Be careful and good luck on your end too.|

And with that, Makoto immediately went straight to the far corner of the room and found that the younger girl was kneeling down, busily searching a low cupboard and is reaching out something from the back.

But Rie stopped what she was doing as she noticed the student council president's approach. She then looked over her shoulder and mention that, "I noticed that the cabinets above are lacking a lot of medical supplies, Niijima-senpai. There's hardly any bandages, gauze pads, ointments and the likes left... I think what remains is barely just enough for one person too..."

Makoto finds herself instinctively nodding back to that, "I see. I'll go and discuss this with the Head Nurse and the health committee too. They haven't filed a report on this matter and based on the files I found on the desk, they haven't updated the student council regarding all those who were admitted here since the new semester as well."

Then she placed a hand to her chin as she considered that, "And you know, It's alarming that there are already a lot of injuries recorded when the school year has just barely begun for this semester and worse, most of them are from the Volleyball team too..."

Rie grew concerned upon hearing that as well, "...That's frightening. Just what is doing to his team?" She muttered in reply before lifting up a small wooden box with a small note at the top, "...And what is he hiding here? This was hidden at the far back with a pile of empty medicine bottles and his name written on it. And turning this back, we can now see that there's also a note sticking out that it mustn't be opened..."

Then she looked to their student council president with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "And that makes it all the more suspicious so... let's open it?" Rie insisted with a grin.

Makoto gave the younger girl a nod and helped her lift up the heavy box up to the counter above, "It's locked though..."

"That won't be a problem, I think..." Rie replied before removing a pin from her hair and began twisting it to the metal lock mumbling, "It looks like the same brand that was used back at the old newspaper club's room and I did this to get those files I gave you earlier..."

After a couple more seconds, the lock finally became undone and Rie cheered, "Though my hairpin broke as it's not a proper lockpick, it is enough to crack this one open since it's made out of the same cheap quality."

"Excellent work, Ishino-san," Makoto responded before proceeding to open the box and both girls peered inside it and saw a bunch of medicinal bottles all huddled up together.

Rie raised one bottle and lifted it up to their eye level, "They're pills... and what a peculiar name for it too. I don't know what it's for though and the instructions are written in a foreign language that I sadly can't read." She mumbled before looking at her upperclassman, "Miss President, do you know what this medicine's for?"

'Could this be 'the supplies' I heard the two seniors mention to Kamoshida at the Library?' Makoto thought with a frown before shaking her head, "...This brand's unfamiliar to me, I'm afraid, but let me take a picture of it and I'll go and check out what's it for later." She suggested as she took her phone and snapped a quick shot at the medicine's name.

After that, her phone suddenly chimed and she saw that it was from their group chat once again, "It's from Ren-kun. Can you take some more pictures of that boxes contents? I'll go and stand guard at the door as I'll answer the boys' messages."

Rie nodded in response, "Okay, Niijima-senpai. I managed to read that some are different brands and there was something at the bottom of the box with some sort of silver foil that caught my attention so I'll go check those out and take a picture of them too."

"All right, then. Be sure to place that back properly though. We must make it seem like it was untouched so we won't get any more unnecessary suspicions on our way." Makoto suggested and watch the younger girl agreed to that with another nod.

And with that done, she first made her way back to the Nurse's desk and returned the files she took back to where they were and then proceeded to head back towards the door and listened for footsteps that could be headed their way.

She heard nothing coming their way.

Though it offered them more time to themselves, Makoto was getting concerned on what's taking them too long to arrive as well.

She then took a look at Mishima and frowned as he remained unconscious. But fortunately, his breathing appears to be even and it seems he has more color on his face that it was earlier.

'That's an improvement.' Makoto thought as she sighed in relief.

Then she felt her phone chime from her pockets again and with that, she slightly leaned back to the door's wooden surface as she proceeded to open up their group chat;

RYUJI: |So... How's it going?|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

REN: |No luck on my end.|

|He refused that there's any abuse going on.|

|And insists that his injuries are just from practice.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RYUJI: |Him too, huh? It's the same with me.|

|Geez, everyone's too freaked out about Kamoshida.|

|But I still got a lead. A first-year who's a new member.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MAKOTO: |I think I know who that is.|

|I saw a first-year who was recently admitted here.|

|He's from class 1-B and his jersey number's six.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RYUJI: |Yeah, that's him! I saw him at that cas-|

|Crap! My hands slipped! Sorry. That's just a typo.|

|I meant that's the dude I saw Kamoshida spiked in the face the other day.|

|And he just joined so he might not be wrapped up with the bastard's bullshit yet.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

REN: |Well, I'm already on the second floor.|

|I'll go on up and see what I can do.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RYUJI: |Okay, I'll go and finish up over here too.|

|Then let's regroup. Why don't we meet at the courtyard after this?|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MAKOTO: |As of now, I can't leave to meet with you two.|

|Mishima-kun's still unconscious and the Nurse has yet to arrive.|

|But thanks to that, we found a suspicious box with the coach's name in it.|

|Though, let's discuss more on that at a later time,|

|I think the matches would be over soon so we'd best hurry.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

REN: |Roger that.|

|And I think I found my target.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RYUJI: |Good luck, man. I'm heading out too.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RIE: |Copy that. Be careful, guys!|

Reading the last message sent, Makoto finds herself looking up to the girl in question and saw her approaching, "Niijima-senpai? I've finished placing everything back to the way it was. What should I do now?" Rie asked.

"Let's just wait till the Nurse get's back. We can't leave Mishima-kun unattended with the state he's in and if I just leave to meet with the boys, then that would make the health committee member wonder where I went since he saw us come here together." Makoto suggested before she made her way towards Mishima's side and she saw that he was sweating profusely,

"...He'll have a cold at this rate..." The brunette mumbled to herself before looking back at the younger girl, "Can you watch over him for a while? I saw a basin earlier and I'll go and filled it up with some water to help cool him off."

Rie nodded at that and she grabbed a seat beside's the edge of the bed and look at Mishima with a concerned look as she carefully readjusted his blanket cover.

Meanwhile, Makoto proceeded to head back to them as she fetched a basin filled with water.

As she approached Mishima's side, Rie handed her a couple of small, clean towels that she found nearby.

Makoto took it from her with her thanks. As she dipped the end of the cloth to the water, she instinctively looked back to the door as she faintly heard some voices that are seemingly headed to their way from the outside.

And the door swung open after she placed the small, damp towel on top of Mishima's head.

"I apologize if it took us too long to return, the Principal discussed quite a long set of topics that we couldn't miss." The Nurse explained as she went towards the girls and asked, "So I heard what happened to Mishima-kun from my new assistant. So, how is he fairing now and changes?"

"He's still unconscious and unresponsive, ma'am and it's starting to concern us." Makoto answered before drying off the beads of sweat that cling to his neck with another towel, "We didn't know what else to do other than this."

The Nurse nodded at that, "That helps make sure he doesn't get a cold. Thanks for thinking ahead and taking care of him for me, girls. I'll be taking it from here." She said before she looked towards the health committee member and asked him to get something from the cabinet she pointed out, "Fetch me that opened medicine bottle with a white cap. Using that should do the trick again."

Makoto decided to ask more about that, "Again? Does Mishima-kun get sent here often?"

"He and some other members have been here recently. But I'm just assuming that might just be because they're preparing of this event." The Nurse answered as she took the medicine from her aide and carefully prepared it for administration.

"...But I can't help but feel like 's overdoing it. Most of the team are covered in bruises and there hasn't been a day since the school begun without one of them heading through here every day." The Nurse added before she started Mishima's treatment.

Makoto decided to press on with the topic, "Is that so? Can I ask how the supplies are fairing?"

"We're nearly running out of basic supplies." The Nurse replied as she finished up with the first procedure. Then she opened up her desk and got out an ointment and she placed a drop of it on her finger and lightly smeared it over the new bruise that was forming from Mishima's face. "And that should further stop the swelling and help it heal quicker."

Then she turned to look back at the girls and asked a favor, "Can you girls help us sort out which medical supplies are in dire need of a restock? We're currently understaffed with how everyone else seems to be focused on the rally, you see."

Makoto was quick to comply with that, "We'll be glad to help out." Then she looked towards Rie, "You don't mind, do you?" She asked, acting like they don't know each other.

Rie was quick to catch on that, "I don't mind, at all. So... what should we do first?"

- 04/13/20Xx ( Wednesday - After school ) [ Shujin Academy - Courtyards ] -

'I'll be waiting for Ryuji before making our next move.' Ren thought to himself as he sat down in one of the benches. Then after taking a deep breath, he let out a long sigh as he realized how exhausted he was.

"It's been a long day," He breathed out before his thoughts shifted back to the last Volleyball team member he spoke to. 'Special coaching, huh...?'

But before Ren could further think of what that could mean, he heard faint footsteps approaching from behind him and felt it gradually neared his location with every step.

He was expecting it to be Ryuji- but upon turning back, he was quite surprised to see a different blonde.

"Amamiya-kun, can I talk to you for a sec...?" Ann called out as soon as she stood in front of him.

Ren noticed that she seemed to be quite upset so he was careful with his words as he spoke, "...Sure. Is there something wrong...?"

Ann shook her head in response, "No, it's not that. It's just... I've noticed you left the gym earlier today and I followed you out since I want to look for Shiho..."

She paused for a while, deliberating on whether she wants to proceed,

Curiosity caught up to her quick so Ann eventually went on, "I still haven't seen her, but I found you and Sakamoto running about the school asking about the Volleyball team and-"

She was cut off by a familiar gruff voice from behind them, "Whaddya want with him?"

Ren peered over the blonde's shoulder and saw that it was Ryuji and he was looking at Ann with a scowl- who in turn returned it at full force as she replied, "Right back at you. You're not even in our class."

Ryuji backed down from that and slightly turned to the side to look away from her as he answered that, "...We just happened to get to know each other and there's something I just wanna ask him." Then he crossed his arms and look back at her with a frown, "That ain't wrong, right?"

"No. There's nothing wrong with that, " Ann started, mirroring his gesture before her gaze suddenly grew fierce as she went straight to the point, "What are you planning on doing to Kamoshida?"

Ryuji was taken aback from the suddenness of that, "Huh!?" But he also got over it in an instant as he added, "...I see. I getcha. You're all buddy-buddy with Kamoshida, after all."

Ann was quick to refute that statement, "That has nothing to do with it, Sakamoto!"

But Ryuji didn't believe that as he muttered, "If you only knew what he really thinks of you and what he's been doin' behind your back..." Then his voice gradually shifted to that of concern, "...I'd stay away from him, If I were you, Takamaki."

"What he thinks of me...? And what's he doing behind my back?" Ann shook her head in disbelief, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ryuji closed his eyes and turned away from her as he replied that, "You wouldn't get it... and you wouldn't believe me in the first place anyway."

Ann grew quite annoyed with that secretive response, "Or perhaps you should just stop assuming things."

Then she let out a sigh, "Anyway, what I really wanted to just say is that people are already talking about you two and I don't know what you're trying to pull, but if it's something against Mr. Kamoshida, no one's gonna help you."

"...I already tried it and it was pointless..." Ann muttered to herself before turning back to look at her classmate, with a concerned expression on her face, "I'm warning you, just in case. I don't what you getting to any more trouble. That's all."

Then she looks back up front and gave Ryuji a glare, "And please, Sakamoto, don't drag him and yourself further in a hole and try to behave." She said gruffly as she began to pass him by.

"I'm asking you of this since you were also my friend..." Ann muttered to the blond before making her way back to the Classroom Building to search for her best friend.

Once Ann fully enter the building did Ryuji looked down to the ground and complained, "So she was just worried 'bout us? But why's she gotta be so aggressive 'bout it too...? Dammit. She's been like that ever since that incident I had with that bastard last year."

Hearing that made Ren curious, so he neared the blond and asked, "You seem to know her a lot. When did you and Takamaki meet?"

"Yeah, well... I guess we were friends. I met both her and Suzui since we went to the same middle school. Mishima too, but I met him later than the girls so I don't know much 'bout him but I guess we hanged out a couple of times." Ryuji answered before a scowl formed on his face as he realized that, "But that slowly changed and we grew apart when we all met Kamoshida."

Ren frowned at that, "I see..."

Deciding to let the matter go, Ryuji shook his head and let out a sigh, "Anyways, that's not what we're here to talk about." He started before turning back to look at Ren and admitted, "I had no luck on my end. What about you? Did anything like someone's name turn up?"

"The first-year I spoke to last got nervous and he slipped up something about Kamoshida giving out some sort of 'special coaching' which obviously seemed more like a punishment." Ren said as he crossed his arms, "And Mishima seems to be the one he favors the most with that kind of training since the first-year deliberately just singled out his name."

Ryuji's eye grew wide as he heard that, "Special coaching, huh?" Then he placed his hands back to his pockets as he considered that, "And it's Mishima again, eh. But it's true. I always see the poor guy sporting new bruises on a daily basis and as you saw earlier, he was just knocked out cold during your class's match too."

The blond turned to look away for a moment, muttering. "If only we could talk to him 'bout it..." Then he looked back to his friend and asked, "Any news 'bout his condition from, Miss Prez?"

"No, not yet. She hasn't sent us a message since then." Ren answered before he took out his phone from his pockets, "But I'll go on ahead and ask her about it;"

REN: |Makoto-san, any news regarding Mishima-kun's condition?|

|His name turned up in our investigation, you see.|

It took a few more seconds till she finally replied;

MAKOTO: |Sorry for the late reply.|

|We were helping out the Nurse with something.|

|Anyhow, Mishima-kun has just regained consciousness a few minutes ago.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RYUJI: |For real!? That's great news!|

|The last person Ren talked to slipped Mishima's name, you see|

|So we gotta ask him more about this "Special Training" he gets.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

REN: |Can we talk to him about coach Kamoshida?|

|Or are there too many people over there, right now?|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MAKOTO: |No, it's fine. I've got the situation under control.|

|The Nurse and Ishino-san left to file a report with the Principal regarding supplies.|

|And I asked the Health Committee member to fetch me an Arginade for Mishima-kun.|

|But that drink is out of stock in all vending machines so it might be a while till he realizes it.|

|This may be our best chance for an interrogation so come over here right now.|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RYUJI: |Whoa! Way to go, Miss Prez! That's awesome!|

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

REN: |Thanks, Makoto-san. We'll be right there.|

"We're really lucky to have her on our side..." Ryuji mentioned as he watched Ren placed his phone back to his pockets as he did the same.

Ren nodded at that, "You're right about that. So it's best to not keep her waiting." And with that, he began making his way back inside the Classroom building with the blond following close behind.

- 04/13/20Xx ( Wednesday - Afternoon ) [ Shujin Academy - Nurse's Office ] -

Makoto placed her phone back to her pockets and shifted her glance to see a very nervous Mishima who's trying his best to avoid her gaze.

And that wouldn't do, so she tried to calm him down by starting a casual conversation, "Hey. How are you feeling, Mishima-kun? Does something still hurt?"

"...I'm f-fine, Niijima-senpai. I-I'm feeling a lot better than earlier..." Mishima answered with his gaze still away from her.

Makoto knew that isn't the case so she continued to press on, "Are you sure? You still look so pale though." Then she eyed him with concern, "Do you need me to get something for you?"

That's when Mishima finally turned back to look at her as he shook his head, "Ah! No, I mean... Y-you've already done so much for me, Niijima-senpai. Please don't let me bother you anymore..." He then looked down to the sheets and gripped its covers as he insisted, "I'm just feeling a bit tired, that's all... sorry for worrying you."

"There's no need to apologize. As council president, it is also my duty to make sure that I assist any student in need so you're not bothering me whatsoever, Mishima-kun." Makoto spoke gently to reassure him that she meant no harm. "If there's also something in your mind, I'm also willing to listen."

"I- Umm... No, its-" Mishima couldn't finish his sentence as he and Makoto turned to look back at the door when they heard someone knocked against it.

Makoto was expecting that could finally be the boys- but she tilted her head to the side curiously when she heard a faint, feminine voice from the outside asking, "...Can I come in?"

"You may. It's open," She answered back and watch how the door slowly opened and it surprised her as she saw a familiar face. "...Suzui-san."

Shiho was just as surprised to find her here too, "Oh! Niijima-senpai, you're here as well?"

"Another student and I just helped Mishima-kun get proper treatment." Makoto answered before she stood up from the stool beside Mishima's bed and approached the younger girl in concern, "What about you? What brings you here today, Suzui-san? Are you hurt?"

Shiho shook her head and explained that, "Ah, I'm fine, Miss President. It's just that I've just finished running an errand from my homeroom teacher at the faculty earlier and when I left the room, I heard from the students that a boy from class-D was sent here."

"The moment I heard that someone was unconscious and that's when I got worried as I thought that it could be Amamiya-kun," Then she turned to look at her teammate, "Or Mishima-kun over there so I went straight here."

Mishima didn't know what to say to that, "Umm..."

And fortunately, he didn't have to think hard about it as Makoto decided to ask Shiho about something that caught her attention, "Amamiya... You're familiar with Ren-kun?"

Shiho looked back to their council president and gave a nod in response, "Yes. I managed to personally meet him earlier today thanks to my friend and I've heard nothing but good things about him from Ann." Then she looked at Makoto curiously, "You seem to know him more though, senpai."

Makoto nodded at that, "Well, I do. He's an old friend of mine." She replied with a small smile gracing her face, "I'm glad to hear that he made some new friends as well."

Shiho returned the gesture and nodded back, "I'm happy to have properly acquainted with him, as well."

"...So you two aren't concerned about the rumors about him?" Mishima asked apprehensively. "How he's on probation because of an assault case and how he's rumored to be really violent?"

Shiho was the first to answer his question, "I just met him so I can't really say for certain but, he's shown me nothing but kindness so I like to believe that those rumors about him aren't justified." Then she looked towards her teammate with a frown, "Do you really believe them? Those rumors?"

Mishima finds himself looking down to the bed as he muttered dejectedly, "I... can't say. But I do get nervous whenever I see him though." He then gripped the sheets tighter and added, "I'm sorry. I guess the rumors about his assault case just makes me uneasy."

"We don't even know If that rumor is even telling us the truth..." Shiho said with a sad expression on her face. Then she looked up to their council president and asked, "It isn't true, right?"

Makoto first raised a hand to her chin as she considered what to say, "There's more to that story but I'm afraid that it's not my place to say. You two should try to ask Ren-kun more about what really happened on that night when he was accused of assault and why did that came to be."

"But I guess I can tell you two this;" She paused for a moment and finds herself instinctively looking upwards as she mused, "Having known him for so long, I know he wouldn't do anything that would deliberately just hurt someone for no reason. Even if that person's a stranger."

"To be honest, my first encounter with him wasn't even the most pleasant of days..." Makoto trailed off at that as she closed her eyes and contemplated a past scene that was dear to her, "I was severely heartbroken at that time and I didn't want to talk to anybody so I ran off somewhere to let off steam- but in a curious twist of fate, I found Ren-kun in the middle of Shibuya, crying that he was lost..."

"He looked so helpless that... it compelled me to help him out despite my own dilemma. After I managed to calm him down, he instantly noticed that I was depressed myself and he quickly offered to cheer me up." She then looked back to the two second-years respectively, "And he tried so hard in doing so and that curiously made me wonder why he'd bother since we were technically still strangers that really don't know anything about each other whatsoever."

"A lot of things happened on that day when we hang out together... It was fun." Makoto said before her face brightened up as she recalled that, "And just like that, during one of the most painful days of my life, Ren-kun was the first person to make me smile."

Then a determined look crossed her face as she looked towards Mishima's direction, "And that's why I chose to believe in him. Ren-kun's first instinct is to help someone in need, whoever they are and wherever he is. He's nothing like what those rumors are labeling him to be. "

Shiho was really moved by that story, "Thank you for sharing that with us Niijima-senpai." Then she looked towards her teammate, "So, Mishima-kun... Did that change your opinion on Amamiya-kun?

"Y-Yeah." Mishima didn't know what to say to that but he did felt really guilty inside as he recalled his first encounter with Ren was just as pleasant- but then, he thought dejectedly, 'But why did I make his life here miserable? I...I'm really the worst. I shouldn't have done it and-' His line of thought was cut short when he heard another series of knocks from the door.

All three of them finds themselves looking back to the door and it opened with a couple of familiar voices calling out, "Please excuse us."

Makoto then watched how Ren and Ryuji enter the room and she moved further back with Shiho to let the boys confront Mishima face to face.

Shiho grew concerned when she noticed that the atmosphere became tense, 'What's happening?'

Mishima on the other hand quickly grew uneasy when the blond neared him, "S-Sakamoto...?" And he grew even more anxious when he noticed his classmate, "...And you, too!?"

Ryuji frowned at that reaction, "C'mon, don't look at us like that. We ain't lookin' for a fight. We just wanna chat."

The blond then regarded him more seriously, "So we heard that Kamoshida's been personally "coaching" you. Are you sure that's not just abuse?"

Mishima's shoulder tense as he quickly refutes that, "Certainly not!"

"What are you talkin' all polite for? That ain't like you at all, dude." Ryuji said incredulously as he crossed his arms, "Anyways, we just saw him spike you today. Right in the face and it's obvious that he did that on purpose..."

"No... That's not... That was just because I wasn't good at the sport..." Mishima answered dejectedly.

With that insistence, Ren decided to step up next, "Even if that was the case, That still doesn't explain the other bruises you've got... Are you really saying that's just from practice?"

Mishima was fervently trying to keep his ground, "They are just from practice...!"

'Amamiya-kun... Mishima-kun...' Shiho wanted to say something but her throat felt too dry that when he opened her mouth, no words would come out.

Ryuji was getting frustrated from hearing the same response over and over so he went straight to the point, "Is Kamoshida forcin' you and the others to keep quiet?"

Mishima was near his wit's end, "...That's..." He was getting tired from keeping up the act too. "...He's..."

But he unfortunately couldn't finish his sentence when the door suddenly burst open and Kamoshida entered the room in a rush, "Mishima, ain't you up on your feet yet?"

Then the coach noticed that there were a lot of people inside. "Hmm? I didn't know there was a party. What's going on here?"

Makoto tried to defuse the situation, "We just came to check up on Mishima-kun's condition, coach."

Kamoshida raised a brow at that in suspicion- but he doesn't really have any evidence to prove it otherwise so he decided to change the topic, "And as I see, he's fine now. So Mishima, Suzui, isn't it time for practice?"

Mishima inwardly cringed upon hearing that and his insides tighten to a knot, "I... I-I'm still not feeling too well today, sir..."

"What? That's the kind of attitude that makes you fall behind in the team's progress." Kamoshida said with a sneer, "Maybe you're better off quitting then."

Hearing that caused Mishima to visibly pale and the others to be alarmed.

But the coach went on about without a care, "You're never going to improve that crappy form of yours if you don't show up to practice."

Mishima was stunned speechless at that while Makoto clenched her hands to a fist in frustration, "He's seriously forcing Mishima-kun to practice at his current state?" She whispered angrily to herself.

Shiho managed to hear that and she looked at her in understanding, 'Niijima-senpai...'

Ryuji had enough of hearing Kamoshida condescending attitude and he approached the coach with a scowl, "Didn't you hear? He said he ain't feeling well!"

Kamoshida took that as a challenge and he turned to look back to Mishima with a sharp look, "Well, Mishima? Are you coming to practice or not?"

That wasn't a question. It was an order.

And Mishima knew it too well that if he refused, he'd only get into deeper trouble so left with no real option, he could only comply to the coach's demands, "...I'll go."

Ryuji looked towards him in disbelief in response, "What!?"

Kamoshida grinned wickedly at that, "At least, you're still using your head, Mishima." Then his gaze shifted to the blond beside him, "Unlike you. When will you ever learn, Sakamoto? Didn't the principal tell you to keep yourself in line?"

"Shujin Academy is a place where those with aspiration come to learn and unworthy students don't have any right to be here." Then the coach gave the blond a sharp glare as he warned, "Cause any more trouble and you'll be gone from this school for sure. So get with the program!"

Ryuji just continued to scowl at that, "...Bastard." He muttered as he turned his head away from him.

Kamoshida decided to ignore him and instead focus his gaze on the transfer student, "If I was you, I'll avoid hanging out with this fool. He's bad influence and all those unsettling rumors about you are already making the student's nervous so don't make it worse."

'...That was your doing...' Ren thought to himself as he inwardly sighed and raised his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.

But it seems like the coach wasn't finished yet, "Instead, why don't you come and try out for the volleyball team too?" Kamoshida asked as he crossed his arms.

Ren wasn't expecting that, '...Err... what?' He then thought hard on how respond to that, "...I'm not really good at the sport, coach. I'd just look bad in comparison to that amazing spike you did earlier."

Kamoshida seemed to look disappointed by that response for a second before he grinned, "Hmph. I guess that's true." Then his gaze shifted to the student council president, "What about you, Niijima? I saw that you're still in top form as ever. Can't you really reconsider my offer? You'll be a starter for sure."

Makoto was already expecting that so she easily managed to reply, "Thanks for the offer, sir. But I must decline since I have to focus on my studies for this coming national college mock exams."

Kamoshida let out a sigh at that, "All that talent and both of you are wasting the chance to achieve even greater heights. Just like Sakamoto here, such wasted potential. But I guess that's that. Just don't get in the way of my practice." He muttered in frustration while he turned his back to them, "Let's go Mishima, Suzui. Come to the PE faculty office before heading out to the gym."

Both students looked grim for a moment- but they eventually complied in unison, "Yes, sir..."

"Hmph." Kamoshida seemed satisfied with that and he proceeded to leave the room without another word.

Once the door closed shut, Makoto turned to look at the volleyball team members respectively, "Mishima-kun... Suzui-san... I saw that frightened looked on your faces just before coach Kamoshida left... Can't you really tell us what's happening during those practice sessions?" She asked in concern.

Shiho had a painful look on her face as she closed her eyes and replied, "...We can't. And please, stop looking into our case. We don't want you guys to get involved."

Ryuji turned to look at her and spoke exasperatedly, "But we can't just let that asshole get away with all that crap! We have to do something!"

"...There's no point..." Mishima answered from behind the blond and that prompted everyone to look at him and they all watched how he let out a sharp wince as he tried his best to get off the bed.

Ren quickly decided to steady his classmate when he loses balance. He then let Mishima get his momentum back before asking, "What do you mean by that?"

Mishima first looked at him sympathetically before regarding everyone else and soon admitted that, "Proving that he's physically abusing us... is meaningless. Everybody who's involve with the team knows... The Principal, our parents... they all know, and they all kept quiet about it."

Both Ren and Makoto were shocked to hear that and the latter of them voiced out her disbelief, "...They're just... leaving this matter be?"

While Ryuji wasn't so reserved, "That has gotta be a joke! No way in hell could that bastard could have that much power over the school!"

Shiho then voiced out her opinion, "But it's true... there's nothing we could do. Anyone else whose not involved with the Volleyball team admire coach Kamoshida and they'll most likely believe in him more than just a handful of students that are against him."

Hearing that made Ryuji even more frustrated, "Dammit! So are we just supposed to give up then!? No way, I'll just let that Asshole do whatever the hell he wants!"

"...Don't be a pain. You don't understand what we've been going through." Mishima said in response.

And that got Ryuji even more riled up, "What!?"

Sensing that things were getting quite out of hand, Makoto decided to make her way towards the blond and attempted to calm him down, "Ryuji-kun please don't shout. Come now, take deep breaths and calm down so we can talk reasonably again."

Though he kept his mouth shut, Ryuji kept the fierce glare on his face and it was now being directed at Makoto- who remained unrelenting as she fixed him a glare of her own.

Seeing that caused Ren to intervene. "Ryuji. Listen to her."

And with that, the blond let out a sigh to let out his frustrations and eventually complied, "All right... I'm sorry for getting carried away..." Then he looked back to Mishima, "But isn't there really something we can do to stop him?"

Mishima looked down to the ground as he replied, "You of all people should know that nothing's going to help..."

Hearing that made Ryuji let out a grunt as he was taken off guard with that statement, "...!"

"I'm sorry. But we have to go before Coach Kamoshida comes back here and get us into even more trouble." Shiho said before she tugged Mishima's sleeves and pulled him out towards the door.

She then looked back inside and gave the three a bow, "Again, sorry for bothering you three will all these. Please excuse us." And with that, she soon straightened herself and closed the door behind her.

After that, Ryuji kicked the ground a couple of times in frustration, "Dammit..."

Ren lightly patted the blond's back for a couple of times to silently comforted him. Then he looked towards Makoto and asked, "What should we do now?"

"...I'm gonna wait for the Nurse to arrive. She'll probably want to know where Mishima is once she and Ishino-san returns." Makoto said as she sat back down the chair she was on earlier.

Then she looked back to the boys and suggested that, "Perhaps we should blow off some steam for awhile before we continue our investigation. So why don't we continue this tomorrow? It's getting late and I promised Haru-san that I'll attend to her garden since she had to leave earlier today."

"Can I head there now...? I think some gardening would help me clear my mind..." Ryuji said with a dejected expression.

Makoto nodded at that before looking at Ren, "You have they key with you, right? You two go on ahead and I'll follow right after once I've settled things here."

Ren nodded at that, "All right. Though... are you sure, you'll be fine here by yourself?"

"I'll be fine." Makoto then stood up and approached her friend and whispered, "But please make sure that Ryuji-kun wouldn't bent his frustration on the poor plants. They're innocent and Haru-san would definitely like to see her garden in one piece."

Ren grinned at that, "I'm sure he'll behave. He's secretly frightened at Haru-san, you see." He whispered back playfully.

And that made Makoto raised a brow in curiosity, "He is, huh? But I guess I can see why." She said as she recalled their match earlier and learned that Haru can be quite formidable if she wants to be.

"Whatta you two talking about?" Ryuji asked curiously.

Ren just flashed him a grin, "Nothing. We were Just talking about Haru-san and her garden." After stating that, he then suggested seriously, "Well, lets head on back to the locker room at the gym and change. The keys are in my bag there anyway."

Ryuji nodded at that, "OK. Let's go then." And with that said, he soon made his way to the door.

Before following suit, Ren took one more look back at Makoto and said, "Message us when something suddenly comes up, okay?"

Makoto smiled at that, "I will." Then she watched as her friend close the door shut.

Once she was alone did she let her thoughts shifted back to the discussion they had earlier. "So a lot of people are already involved in this whole mess... Everyone from the volleyball team, their parents and even the Principal... they're all accomplices." After mumbling that, she closed her eyes and thought. 'Father... what would you do in this situation?'

Makoto then finds herself glancing up to the ceiling as she wondered out loud, "Should I tell all this to Sis, too?"

**** [ Interrogation Room ] *****

'I wish I could've listened to her more that time...' Sae thought to herself once Ren was finishing up with his story regarding their mission, 'I let them do all this things by themselves...'

"...And that's all what happened that day." Ren said before he let out a soft grunt as his head started feeling heavy once more. He briefly closed his eyes shut in a vain attempt to ease the growing migraine that came with effects of the drugs that was still messing up his mind.

A moment later, however, he felt his guardian placed something on the desk and that slowly prompted him to open his eyes once more and as they adjusted, he noticed that it was a somewhat old newspaper article that was about, "...The Volleyball Team Scandal..."

"There's certainly no contradiction. Like what was said in that article, even the school itself was covering up the physical punishment that came from the training program regarding the volleyball team..." Sae spoke with a sad expression on her face. She then crossed her arms when she noticed her ward was looking at her.

"...It wasn't just the school. A student under the coach's supervision mentioned that majority of the victims' parents were also fully aware of the abuse yet not even one of them even tried to protest against it either." Ren responded, mirroring her expression.

Sae was surprised to hear that, "That wasn't even mentioned here." Then she looked away from him and instinctively raised her right hand to her chin as she further thought about the matter. "So what was written here wasn't the full story- it's just only a fraction of it."

After a moment, she briefly closed her eyes and explained that, "I unfortunately couldn't look further into this case and I could only rely on reports like this since I wasn't involved with this incident yet because it wasn't labeled as something that was related to the mental shutdown cases. Instead, it was classified as an unrelated case where the culprit just couldn't bare the guilt that came from his recent actions."

Sae eventually looked back up to her ward as she considered something, "However that isn't true either as you're here now on the account that you've involved yourself as someone who supposedly forced him to undergo a change of heart and that was what led him to admit his crimes."

"And from what you've told me, it seems like even if your mission did bare some results. It would still be impossible to get the other students and the faculty to believe you regarding the "rumored" abuse." She then crossed her arms before adding, "So was the frustration that came with that failure to find any other means to use against Kamoshida drove you to find the answers in that other world? Is that why you agreed to become a Phantom thief that could change people's hearts?"

Ren shook his head, "No. That wasn't why. Though it was painful to see the volleyball team continue to suffer even after the rally ended. We tried so hard to get more leads that could help expose the coach for what he truly is without using the Metaverse even if it did ended up for naught."

He then let out a soft sigh as he absentmindedly looked up to the ceiling before continuing that, "When we were out of options, I don't know where he came from- but the talking cat we met inside that weird castle came and meet with us in school and suggested a plan we could use."

Sae ignored the talking cat nonsense as she has already come to accept it as it is and was instead intrigued about something else, "About that plan, was that the method used in changing hearts? Did you really just quickly agreed to it?"

Ren eventually looked back to her with a frown, "Yes and No. The cat did explain the method but, I... We couldn't accept it then. Because he also mentioned that we could accidentally trigger a mental shutdown by forcing him to change. Because taking one's desires could cause the person to also lose the will to live and we couldn't risk it then."

Sae leaned in closer to the desk with a very serious expression on her face and asked, "Then what changed? What made you eventually went through with it?"

"...A day later, Kamoshida did something we failed to realize sooner that he could..." Ren answered before a very pained look came to his face when the memories that came from that day resurfaced, "And a day after that, that's when something truly terrible happened."

Sae first placed her right hand back to her chin in contemplation as she considered this, "A couple of days after the Rally...?" Then her eyes grew wide as she recalled, "...That's when the tragic incident in the Academy happened, right?"

Ren reluctantly nodded with his voice almost inaudible in response, "...Yeah."

Sae finds herself looking away from that as she recalled another mistake that she did. 'I should've prevented them from witnessing such a thing if I just listened to Makoto then. But no, I let my own frustration at work during those couple of days cloud my judgement... I even ended up saying things I shouldn't have to the both of them as well.'

Then she let out a sigh, 'But what's done is done. There's no way to change it, so all I can do to make up to them now... is to help Ren-kun get out of this situation.' She thought determinedly as she looked back to his ward, "I know this would be a difficult story to tell, but please try your best to not spare me any details. Tell me how you dealt with that incident and what was the first step you took in that mission to change Suguru Kamoshida's heart."

~~~ End of Chapter Nineteen ~~~

( ARC III: Castle of Lust 11/? )

Author's Note: Hey everyone. Though this chapter did end up becoming longer than the previous one, I'd still like to apolgize since it's a couple of days late than what I originally planned. I suddenly had to work overtime on another project and that almost occupied my entire weekend. It's also my mother's birthday today and I wanted to surprise her as she did on my birthday last November 11th where she bought me this huge Joker plushie and actually also pre-ordered me Queen's figma as a present. So in return, I worked hard with my siblings and bought her a new phone as a gift and we'll be treating her to dinner later so I may not be able to reply to any messages until tomorrow.

Moving on from that, I hope you liked the changes I did with this chapter and to be honest, these scenes were a lot difficult to make it flow with the original plot line than what I first thought it would be... or maybe that's just because I have a nasty cold when I was typing most of this down. Ha ha. By the way, please pardon any errors you might see above that I might've overlooked. I'll get to them as soon as I could. Oh and before I forget, that short scene with Makoto revealing her childhood friendship with Ren would be told in detail on my other p5 fic: Whims of Fate. :)

About the next chapter... well, I think the interrogation scene above already gave enough hints regarding what could happen next so let's leave it like that. And all I can really say about that is... brace yourselves. For now, thank you so much for reading this update and again, if you have any questions feel free to leave a signed review or a PM so I can answer them as soon as I can. Hope to see you all again in my next update~ Have a nice day/night! *salutes*

=Next chapter: XX: Shattered Dreams=