Tokyo Psychic

You called me one after another, did you make an appointment to mess with me together?

Fortunately, after he gave Hasegawa Zenkichi the answer that "I might visit" and explained that "if it's not twelve o'clock, come back tomorrow", Toyokawa Shoko woke up.

It only took her about half an hour to recover from the coma caused by mental exhaustion.

Kurusu Akatsuki couldn't tell for a moment whether this was because Toyokawa Shoko's current total mental power was not large, so the cost of overdraft was not serious, or because she had a unique talent as a personality mask user.

When Shoko Toyokawa opened her eyes, the phone screen was pressed against her face, and the contact on the screen was "Wakaba Mutsu".

......

PM.11:34.

Inspector Hasegawa looked at the boy and girl standing in front of him with a strange expression.

"Or, why don't you come back tomorrow?"

He asked tentatively, and while he was angry at the "ignorance" of the two young people, he also felt a sense of guilt for some reason.

Kurusu Akio glanced at Toyokawa Shoko who was constantly apologizing to Hasegawa Zenkichi beside her, and stopped explaining to the inspector his answers that were somewhat joking... Some things can still be good friends as long as they are not said in front of the person involved. If everything is explained clearly, the friendship may be somewhat damaged.

He understood that these teenage girls were always sensitive to topics like this. Most of the time, they could ignore vague jokes and even secretly enjoy these kinds of flirtatious conversations, perhaps because it made them feel welcome. But if they had to explain such jokes in person, the situation would change completely.

No one can tell what the friendship between a man and a woman will look like after it is full of cracks and finally shatters - maybe it will really turn into a pile of debris, or maybe it will be "completely changed" into a relationship that cannot be reversed.

Anyway, no matter what the result is, Kurusu Akatsuki feels that he is not a scumbag enough to play with girls' feelings unscrupulously.

I'll have to find a chance to explain it to Inspector Hasegawa privately later.

He stepped back in silence, ready to leave the office, leaving it to Shoko Toyokawa to explain the family conflicts to the inspector herself.

"Where are you going?" Hasegawa Zenkichi's eyes immediately became a little less friendly.

"To the restroom."

"Remember to come back quickly."

"How can I not listen?" Kurusu Akatsuki didn't want to work part-time as a family relationship mediator.

Hasegawa Zenkichi nodded, then asked Toyokawa Shoko, "How could he not listen?"

Toyokawa Shoko looked at Kurusu Akatsuki with a troubled expression, "He already knows about the conflict between my father and me."

I don't know and I don't want to know.

The Phantom Thief almost exited the office.

In response, Hasegawa Zenkichi just gave me an "as expected" expression and said, "Then I'd like to ask Amamiya-san to stop by the next department while he's using the restroom and ask Ms. Inoue and Mr. Hamada, who are working overtime, to come over to my place."

......

It was almost two o'clock in the morning when Akatsuki Rise and Shoko Toyokawa left the Metropolitan Police Department and were driven back to Akabane-cho in Kita-ku, Tokyo by Inspector Hasegawa.

By the way, it was Kurusu Akatsuki who took the initiative to ask for "sending her to Akabane Town", which was a patch up for the content of the phone call not long ago.

In the dark streets where you can't see the road clearly.

The thief walked in front of Toyokawa Shoko, feeling uncomfortable all over because of her passionate gaze all the way, and finally he couldn't bear it anymore.

"Toyokawa-san...can we just talk it out?"

"Yeah." Shoko Toyokawa stopped.

Out of courtesy, Kurusu Akatsuki also turned around and faced the personality mask user who had just awakened not long ago.

"First of all, I'm not going home with you."

"I know..." Shoko Toyokawa's voice was very soft.

"And if it's something like 'thank you', then that's not necessary. After all, I was just passing by."

"'A Kamen Rider who just happened to pass by'? I remember that was the protagonist's line from 'Kamen Rider Decade'."

"You've actually read 'Kadashi Kadoya's Pretentious Diary'."

"...I just heard a little bit about it from my classmates and colleagues."

Then, Toyokawa Shoko bowed solemnly to Kurusu Akatsuki, "No matter what, I must thank you for saving me."

"I've already said that, forget about the thank you thing. It's just a small favor." Kurusu Akatsuki looked at the moon, which was completely obscured by clouds above her head. "If you really want to repay me, then join my 'Phantom Thieves of the Mind'."

"Join the Phantom Thieves of the Minds?" Toyokawa Shoko's expression now is almost exactly the same as An and Subaru's back then, a complex hesitation mixed with strong yearning and self-doubt... Having just escaped from their ordinary daily lives, they all feel that they are far from the image of the "Phantom Thieves of the Mind" who are almost omnipotent.

"The club's activity policy for the 'Mental Health Education/// Club' is to popularize the importance of mental health education and to help mentally unhealthy people become mentally healthy, so its nickname is the 'Phantom Thieves of the Minds'." Kurusu Akatsuki tried to explain to the Persona user in a lighthearted and cheerful tone.

Toyokawa Shoko was stunned for a moment, "What you mean is..."

"Your father, the man who committed all kinds of wrongdoings due to his twisted desires, we can make him repent by stealing the twisted desires in his heart."

"But we're just at the Metropolitan Police Department..."

"It won't have any impact. Those who repent always have to pay a price." Kurusu Akatsuki looked at Toyokawa Shoko. "You don't have to worry about him going to jail. After all, he's your biological father. As long as you're willing to forgive him after he repents, the case will ultimately end with nothing more than a verbal lecture from the inspector and a few days in the detention room."

Toyokawa Shoko's expression was more shaken than ever before. "I still don't quite understand this kind of thing."

"That's why I let you join the Phantom Thieves," Kurusu Akatsuki said, looking into her eyes. "I'll teach you how to properly wield this extraordinary power."

"No, I mean..." Shoko Toyokawa's face was full of confusion, and she seemed very uneasy.

"Do you feel that you have been accepting my help unilaterally, so you can't accept it?"

"...Yes," Toyokawa Shoko's mood was almost written on her face.

"Then work hard to train yourself, become an excellent Persona user, and then protect more people. That will be the best reward for me."

Kurusu Akatsuki walked closer and extended his right hand towards her. "Welcome to the Phantom Thieves of the Mind."

In Toyokawa Shoko's eyes, the boy in school uniform in front of her at this moment completely overlapped with the image of the thief in her various fantasies and dreams.

She stretched out her hands and tightly grasped the thief's hand, which was wearing a bright red glove.

And the Phantom Thief did respond to this trust and expectation, completely pulling her out of the abyss of life.

But in reality, when I held my hands together, I didn't feel the fabric as I expected.

Only Kurusu Akatsuki's body temperature quickly spread from her palm to her whole body, as hot and scorching as a flame. The burning flames rushed upwards, staining her fair cheeks with a faint blush, and then tears couldn't stop sliding down the corners of her eyes. All this seemed difficult to distinguish in the darkness.

By the time the thief realized what was happening, the girl had already thrown herself into his arms and burst into tears, as if all the grievances and embarrassments she had experienced since graduating from junior high school had been vented at this moment.

Kurusu Akatsuki hesitated for a moment, but still hugged the crying girl in his arms and gently covered her head with his hand, "Thank you for your hard work."

Toyokawa Shoko hugged Kurusu Akatsuki tightly, crying without hesitation. All her usual strength and composure vanished in that instant.

When was the last time you tried to rely on someone like this?

She had lost her memory long ago.

When I come home from work, I am greeted by my father's drunken ramblings.

The scholarships earned through hard study and the salaries earned through hard work were all taken away for various ridiculous reasons.

After graduating from junior high school, he encountered a dramatic change in his family. The once reliable man fell into decline and became extremely disappointing.

No matter how strong you are, no matter how you pretend to be mature and rational, it is just a disguise that you force yourself to wear in order to resist the pressure of life.

In the past, Shoko Toyokawa always longed to be truly understood, to be able to rely on her parents like other girls of her age, or at least to get a sense of security from them... although she never got what she wanted.

Now all these longings, desires, and yearnings were stolen away by the boy in front of her.

Then, as if to fill the huge void in her heart, the cunning thief filled it with his own image.

(044.webp)

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(Free extra chapter)

(It’s the beginning of the month, looking for all kinds of refresh tickets and blades!)

070. The mysterious Akatsuki organization (five chapters in one!!)

（月初加更：1/5、2/5、3/5、4/5、5/5）

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Inspector Hasegawa drove back to the Metropolitan Police Department.

It's 2:30 in the morning, and the izakaya downstairs from the apartment building doesn't close until 4:00.

He only needed to rush back to the office within thirty minutes, finish the remaining documents on the desk, and then he could leave work with peace of mind.

One could imagine him turning off his car in the apartment parking lot, walking five minutes to the izakaya, taking a seat across from the counter, ordering a plate of eel sushi and a can of cold beer. He would then leisurely watch the evening drama on TV, waiting for the sunrise in the east, and finally, yawning, return to his room and fall asleep facing the rising sun.

That was his original plan.

In fact, when Hasegawa Zenkichi pushed open the door of the police station, he was immediately shocked by the overly lively scene inside.

The hall was crowded with confused men and women, queuing up to fill out forms and register with the tired-looking female police officer.

At this moment, he saw his boss running over, sighing anxiously, "Hasegawa, you're back just in time. Put those documents you left over from yesterday aside for now. There's a serious collective out-of-control incident here that needs to be handled by our Ministry of Public Security."

Hasegawa Zenkichi had realized that he might have to be forced to adjust his schedule today, so he forced himself to accept the task assigned by the other party.

"Are they all here to report a crime?"

"No, they came to turn themselves in."

"It sounds like the same type of case as the 'Kamo Group' in Shinjuku and the 'Internal Inspection' that happened here recently... Is this another Phantom Thief of the Mind?"

"They're not the Mind Thief, and this time the situation is a bit more complicated." Inspector Kabuki of the Public Security Department shook his head repeatedly. "There's no letter of change of heart, nor any sincere repentance... It seems more like someone forced them to come here. The psychologist managed to find out some information and confirmed that they were once part of the same pyramid scheme."

Investigator Hasegawa Zenkichi quickly got to work. "Any more information?"

"It's like they've completely lost that part of their memory. They only know they were once 'colleagues'. And no matter how much they question, threaten or bribe, they get nothing..."

Inspector Kabaki added, "What's even more bizarre is that these people who surrendered themselves were once victims of missing persons cases, both large and small, across Japan."

Hasegawa Zenkichi looked at the crowded crowd in front of him and was speechless. "Is this the end of the world?"

Inspector Kabaki slowly shook his head, his expression becoming increasingly solemn. "Inspector Hasegawa of the Public Security Department."

"Yes."

The inspector stared at Hasegawa Zenkichi with a deep, awe-inspiring gaze, "As my most capable subordinate, I only want to ask one question... Can I trust you?"

*

"From now on, you can trust me as much as you want."

Kurusu Akatsuki stood at the bottom of the apartment building and smiled as he fist-bumped with Toyokawa Shoko.

Toyokawa Shoko stiffly bumped her fist with Kurusu Akatsuki's.

This was the first time she had heard of this kind of farewell method from the passionate comics. After all, she had never read a comic before, let alone tried it in real life... She immediately felt numb all over from the feeling of a middle school student.

But the moment the two fists separated, I inexplicably felt that this farewell was somewhat handsome, a kind of free and easy feeling that was different from the partings of life and death in romance dramas.

"It's getting late, I'll go back and rest first. I have to go to school tomorrow." Kurusu Xiao waved his hand, quickly left the apartment building, and went into the community public toilet nearby.

Shoko Toyokawa stood on the stairs and watched him completely disappear from her sight. Only then did she return to the apartment and suddenly remembered something very important.

She pulled out her phone and asked Kurusu Akatsuki on Line, "It's probably going to be hard to find a taxi now, and the train won't run for another three hours. How are you going to get home?"

There was silence in Line until five minutes later when the message became "read".

Kurusu Akatsuki: [I'm already home.]

Toyokawa Shoko: [(frightened.emoji)]

Kurusu Akatsuki: [(Selfie in front of LeBron's store.jpg)]

Kurusu Akatsuki: [I didn't lie.]

Toyokawa Shoko hurried to the window, looked down at the community toilet, and then, somewhat apprehensively, took out her phone and typed: [Is this... the power of the Persona? Teleporting through the toilet?]

Kurusu Xiao, who was petting a cat, looked at the message on her phone and the smile on her face froze instantly.

[Big Universe People Are Terrifying: Your idea is too surprising? ? ]

Shoko Toyokawa didn't dare to answer. Although she didn't know the consequences of touching the sore spot of a chuunibyou patient, she knew that there would definitely be no good result.

[Big Space People Are Terrible: We'll meet at your doorstep tomorrow night after work. It's time to teach you about mind thieves.]