Tokyo's Phantom Thief

"I mentioned before that Sakamoto was part of the track team, right?"

Ann explained bit by bit.

"He was pretty good back in middle school—even ranked in the national competition. Naturally, when he entered Shujin Academy, he kept up his hard work."

She added that the track team often shared attention with Shiho's volleyball club due to both having strong competitive records, with banners frequently displayed side by side.

But those good times didn't last.

Because Ryuji Sakamoto's track team was strong enough to potentially qualify for nationals, it naturally drew attention from the school administration.

At the time, Kamoshida had already turned the school into his personal castle. He even saw this unrelated club as an eyesore, something overshadowing his spotlight.

Ann spat in disgust.

"The students whispered that Kamoshida drove away the track team's original advisor. Then he volunteered himself as their new coach."

"No one dared oppose him. Even the principal meekly obeyed him. Once Kamoshida took control of the track team, he tortured the members relentlessly, forcing them to do nothing but squats and frog jumps every single day. Everyone saw what was happening, but no one dared speak up."

Listening to a teacher was natural for students—especially someone as supposedly "professional" as Kamoshida.

Students couldn't resist, and other teachers turned a blind eye, unwilling to invite trouble.

Under these circumstances, most track team members chose to quit to protect themselves. The smarter ones got out early.

But Ryuji was the stubborn one.

Ann sighed deeply.

"What I heard was that he got into a fight with Kamoshida, ended up hitting him. Kamoshida retaliated 'in self-defense,' causing Ryuji's knee injury—severe enough that he had to take a month off school."

That's awful... Listening alongside Ann, the Yoshizawa twins couldn't bear to hear any more.

As athletes themselves, they knew exactly what this injury meant.

Sakamoto's future as an athlete was over. It was unlikely he'd ever run competitively again.

Even worse, the incident was officially classified as him attacking a teacher, and he had to bear the full responsibility.

He became a troublemaker with a violent record, physically impaired, and despised by students and teachers alike.

If he'd been pushed a bit further, even rougher solutions might've been considered.

Rinto nodded knowingly; Ann didn't need to elaborate further.

At this point, Sakamoto and Kamoshida could be described as mortal enemies.

Especially now, after mistakenly entering the Palace and enduring prolonged torture and beatings, it made sense he'd become extreme.

...But was that all?

Rinto remembered Ryuji's earlier tears—his humiliated, anguished gaze.

"Aaaaaargh—!!!"

Right now, he was screaming hysterically, frantically swinging a baseball bat at the armored Shadow puppets.

But those puppets were Shadows in essence.

Without the power of a Persona, ordinary attacks couldn't even scratch them.

The large armored puppet blocked his strikes with its shield, twisting and deforming his already battered bat until it resembled scrap metal.

As the puppet swung its giant sword down, Ryuji instinctively raised his bat in defense, and the metal bat nearly split in half.

"Ugh!?"

He was thrown back by the tremendous force, crashing heavily to the ground.

The Yoshizawa twins covered their faces in distress, unable to watch anymore.

"...Sakamoto Ryuji."

Rinto called out to him.

His Persona cleared away the excess Shadows nearby, deliberately leaving the one targeting Ryuji untouched.

He continued shouting.

"Sakamoto Ryuji, is that all you've got? Ann stood up to Kamoshida for the injustice done to her friend, yet here you are—a grown man—hesitating like a coward?"

"In the end, you picked a fight with Kamoshida, didn't you? You lost, and your leg got broken. Deep down, you know it was your own weakness, right? You started the fight—you could've walked away, but you chose pride over safety. This is exactly what you chose."

"...Leader, isn't that going too far...?"

Even Ann timidly intervened, hoping Rinto would hold back a little.

Rinto merely returned her gaze calmly, nodding to assure her he had it handled.

Ann blinked, nodded back, and chose to trust him.

Rinto continued shouting at the boy sprawled on the ground like Yamcha.

"It's not just your knee you're avenging, right? Tell me, why did you risk your life entering this Palace? Is your reason for revenge against Kamoshida really so shallow you'd willingly throw your life away?"

"...Who are you calling shallow?!"

Ryuji gasped heavily, sweat dripping from his forehead as he struggled to his feet.

Good. Rinto smiled in satisfaction.

He flicked his fingers, directing [Eros] to fire a beam of light, intercepting the Shadow puppet's sword as it was about to strike Ryuji.

But immersed in emotional turmoil, Ryuji didn't even notice.

He clawed at the floorboards, nails bleeding.

"My mom... My mom apologized again, right in front of me!"

"Last time too! After I went and punched Kamoshida, my mom didn't just nurse me by my hospital bed—she had to bow and beg those teachers... Kamoshida himself... pleading not to have me expelled! She cried nonstop, kept crying and crying... even apologized to me! Saying she was sorry I had to suffer!"

"What kind of bullshit is this?! I'm the one who screwed up, so why is my mom the one who has to suffer the consequences?!—And yesterday too! Because I was a goddamned 'truant' again! They sent me home battered and bruised, and contacted her... and my mom cried again!!"

Ryuji's voice broke into bloody sobs, and the three girls embraced each other tightly, unable to bear the heartbreaking cries.

Rinto's guess was right.

Ryuji's anger differed from Ann's—it was internalized, rooted in self-blame.

His destructive impulses were erupting, unable to cope with this unreasonable suffering, longing to destroy everything.

He was almost there.

Rinto clenched his fists, inhaled deeply:

"Stop running away! Don't numb yourself by acting recklessly—face yourself!"

"It's your choices that led to this! It's true that you caused your mother pain!—But so what?"

"That bastard Kamoshida, those hypocritical adults pretending they care about the students—those spineless bastards who turn a blind eye! Are you really going to let them off the hook? Convince yourself it was all your fault, that you were just weak? Are you really going to let those bastards run wild, let them find their next victim?"

"—Like hell I fucking will!!!"

Ryuji sprang to his feet, smashing the Shadow puppet with the remains of his bat!

BAM!

With a deafening crash, the armored puppet slammed into the wall, shifting the air itself.

Rinto couldn't suppress his excitement, his clenched fists trembling slightly.

He was witnessing another miracle.

The light emanating from [Eros] coiled around Ryuji's hand, transforming his broken bat into... a crowbar?

White flames of rebellion engulfed his body next.

He was now clad in a delinquent biker outfit, complete with metallic guards and an exaggerated skull-shaped mask covering his face.

What followed needed no instruction.

A newly awakened Persona user instinctively knew how to tear off their mask.

Ryuji screamed in agony, blood streaming down his face as he ripped off the mask.

"Take it all from me! [Captain Kidd]!!"

[Captain William Kidd]—the world's most infamous pirate, possibly the most renowned pirate falsely accused of piracy—responded to his call, materializing as a skeletal pirate captain wielding lightning itself.

He struck the Shadows again and again and again... until everything around became scorched hellfire.

Sakamoto Ryuji raised his middle finger high, declaring war on this fucked-up world.