Tempting Fate

And so Kasumi began to tell her story, her voice a strained whisper dripping with shame and humiliation, the blush spreading across her face growing all the redder as she recalled the awful series of events that led to the worst humiliation of her life. Kasumi recalled being in high spirits that day. Her practice had been going comparatively well that week, and the weather that morning had been mild and pleasant. As usual Kasumi had brushed aside her father’s offer to provide a ride for her with grace and a smile. It was important she take the train like a normal student and avoid receiving special treatment. In hindsight it would have been better for her dignity if she had accepted the offer, but she had no way to know that at the time.

Kasumi by now was certainly no stranger to the weird occurrences that took place around her school. Horrid scandals, wild rumor mills, and of course the mysterious other world of shadows and Personas- the freshman had experienced quite an array of odd events since her transfer. And yet as she passed through the imposing steel and concrete gate that separated Shujin Academy from the rest of Tokyo she couldn’t help but gape in shock and surprise at the sight that greeted her in the courtyard. A large group of students was assembled before the glass doors of the school, most of them excitedly laughing and snapping pictures on their camera phones. The source of their attention was a dismayed looking school girl who was hunched over and awkwardly darting from one position in the midst of the crowd to another. She seemed vaguely familiar, though it was hard to tell with her shoulder length black hair wet mop clinging to her back and her body soaked and dripping wet. A second later Kasumi’s mind caught up to what her unbelieving eyes were telling her- the girl was completely naked! Her skin was pale and made her blush all too apparent to the mocking crowd as it dripped and glistened with watery droplets. She wasn’t an especially athletic looking girl, but her slightly plumper physique was only serving to gift her with larger than average breasts and create a pleasing bounce as she moved.

Kasumi blinked, and at last registered the reason the other girl was moving so frantically from place to place. While the bulk of the crowd was busy taking photo after photo of her humiliation a handful of students instead had surrounded her and were waving an object in front of her. A towel, Kasumi realized. One student would hold the fabric out before him, like the cape of a bull fighter. The naked girl would stare at the towel, covering herself and shivering in shame, then desperately lunge forwards attempting to grab the object. This immediately led to the towel being whipped away a second before it could be grabbed and tossed to another student, all while 30 or 40 students photographed her momentarily exposed nudity.

Kasumi frowned. So this was some sort of prank or bullying. Most likely the poor girl had been ambushed while coming out of a gym shower, her towel had been stolen, and this group was now humiliating her while taunting her with the promise of modesty in a cruel game of keep away. Kasumi glanced left and right, casually unshouldered her book bag, and took a moment to stretch her limber body. Then like a rocket she was hurling herself into the crowd, dodging students with a practiced grace and agility, executing a perfect somersault over one of the bullies. In the midst of the feat of acrobatics her hand shot out and snatched away the towel in the blink of an eye. She landed with perfect form next to the naked girl, while the rest of the crowd gasped in amazement and confusion. Kasumi gently offered the town to the girl, who was as stunned as the rest but recovered fast enough when it registered that her dignity was about to be restored. Snatching the towel up the black haired girl covered her body, squealing thanks and apologies as she did so.

“What the hell are you doing?” One of the bullying students barked, a rather ogrish looking girl a grade above Kasumi.

“That’s my line! What do you think your doing, bullying a girl and leaving her naked in public?!” Kasumi snapped back.

“She’s been bad mouthing the phantom thieves and sticking her nose where it don’t belong!” The bully barked. “Kind of like your doing. Walk away while you still can, ginger.”

“What? No one deserves this no matter what they’ve done! The real phantom thieves would never condone this!” Kasumi said, uncharacteristically outraged that some group of thugs would try to act in the name of her senpai.

“Like hell they wouldn’t! Public humiliation is what the Phantoms are all about!” Another member of the crowd roared.

“That’s not true! The Phantom Thieves steal the hearts of the most corrupt people! They would never try to silence their critics. They certainly wouldn’t stoop to humiliating school girls while they shower!” Kasumi shouted.

“Like you would know!” The lead bully thundered back. “The Phantom Thieves showed us the way to the future! We’re gonna burn this whole damned mess to the ground! You don’t want to be a part of this you damn well better get out of the way!”

“That’s completely wrong! The Phantom Thieves are trying to reform society, not destroy it! They have only ever acted to remove the most **** and corrupt obstacles impeding that goal. And they know better than anyone how limited their methods really are. They absolutely do not want us to become their cult of personality or emulate their vigilantism! We have to be the ones that create that change! We can’t depend on the Thieves or their methods in the long term. A world where the Phantom Thieves are our only means of solving problems or seeking justice is doomed to fail.” Kasumi lectured.

This was not the first time she had discussed the idea. She had presented a variation of the concept to Akechi and Joker before she had even known who the latter really was. But the response in the crowd was shocking to behold. As one they roared and cursed, shouting incoherent accusations and threats as she stood wide eyed.

“That’s it. You’ve crossed the line, girlie!” The ogre cried as she charged Kasumi.

Acting mostly on practiced instinct, Kasumi side stepped the girl and casually stuck her foot out. The bully tripped and went flying into the crowd. Kasumi almost laughed at the spectacle. After facing down the shadows and earning a Persona this hardly even registered as a threat. Kasumi was no brawler or martial artist, but she had a few defense courses under her belt (her father insisted) and she was most certainly faster and more graceful than her opponents. That said, there were many more of them…

“Let’s go!” Kasumi said, grabbing the other girl by the wrist and pulling her along as the crowd remained stunned by the series of events.

After losing the small mob in the corridors of her school Kasumi and her naked companion made their way to the girl’s locker. While Kasumi stood watch the girl blushingly divested herself of the towel and gingerly put on her uniform. It finally clicked when she had put the red rimmed glasses on and snapped the suspenders onto her skirt. This was the president (and sole member) of the Shujin Newspaper Club. Kasumi had given a brief interview with her upon first arriving at the Academy. Her name was…

Kasumi frowned. The other (now fully dressed girl) gave her a knowing look and shrugged. “Its fine. Nobody remembers my name. Kind of prefer it that way.”

“A-all right.” Kasumi asked, every fiber of her being protesting against the breach in etiquette. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah. Just mortified.” The girl responded. “Thanks for the assist back there.”

“Of course! But what was this all about? Why were those people attacking you?” Kasumi asked.

The Student Reporter sighed. “The short version is that those are ‘Phans’, the Phantom Thief affionados. They’ve been getting to be a bigger and bigger pain in the butt recently. The Thieves popularity is at an all time high, and not all of it is in a good way. The Phans in our school and on the website are getting more aggressive and belligerent. A lot of them aren’t even interested in the goals of the Thieves so much as the public spectacle and entertainment they provide. And this has been going on right around the time the activity of the Thieves has been dropping off pretty significantly.”

Kasumi nodded. She didn’t know all the details, but apparently there had been a brief schism within the group. Morgana, of all people, had left the Thieves to pursue his own agenda, effectively leaving them without an easy means of navigation or transportation. Joker had mended those fences not so long ago, but in the interim the number of cases on the Phan site they had failed to attend to had no doubt piled up.

“So recently someone has been organizing the extremists within the Phan community. Targeting critics, pulling pranks, subjecting people to public humiliation. Nobody knows who it is or why. I’ve been investigating the matter. I thought I’d been discreet, but not discreet enough.” The Editor continued.

Kasumi nodded.

“So here’s the creepy part. As you might be aware, I’m the sole reporter, editor, and printer working on the student paper. Lots of work goes into organizing the stories and getting them ready for print. The night of publication I’ll have prepared a few hundreds at least. Backbreaking work. And by the end of it I’m a mess of sweat, printer’s ink and caffeine. In other words, I really need to take a shower. And that’s been my routine all year. But publication day is never announced in advance. So somebody knew about my habits, knew what day I’d be conducting them on, and knew where to send that little goon squad to steal my towel. Take it from a professional networker…this asshole has skills.” The girl concluded, tapping her glasses in thought.

“Well, I’m glad you-“

“I am not okay. I am way beyond okay. They just stripped me naked and took pictures of my body! This was the most humiliating moment of my life, Yoshizawa-chan. There is no way I will ever live it down or look people in the eye in this school again. So lesson learned- I am dropping this story like a ton of bricks.” The editor said, a deep blush on her face. “Excuse me.”

Kasumi watched her leave, then shrugged to herself and made her way to her own locker. As she gathered her things, a familiar face popped around the corner.

“Yoshizawa-san.” Mishima Yuuki greeted the star athlete tentatively. “I heard what happened this morning. Are you okay?”

“A little startled, but I’m fine now. Thanks for checking up, Mishima-kun.” Kasumi said with a smile.

“I wanted to apologize for the Phans. They’ve been getting really riled up recently. I think we’re all feeling anxious waiting for the Phantom Thieves to follow through on their next target.”

“You just run the website, Mishima-kun. You don’t control the people who visit. No need for apologies on behalf of awful fringe group.” Kasumi said, giving a dismissive wave of her hand.

“Right.” Mishima whispered, scratching his neck and giving a slight frown. “Yoshizawa-san, I was hearing a rumor about something you said. The Phantom Thieves are detrimental to society?”

“Oh. Not exactly what I said. I think they do enormous good. I just think they can’t be enough in the end. We all need to work together if we’re going to achieve any kind of lasting reform.” Kasumi replied.

“I agree. That’s why I created the site. So we could all work together and further the goals of the Phantom Thieves.” Mishima said.

“And you’ve done a great job. I just think we need to look ahead and pursue longer term solutions. The Phantom Thieves are a bandaid. Our ultimate goal should be a world were they have no need to exist.”

“No need to exist.” Mishima repeated.

“Don’t take it personally. You and the Thieves have done so much. But the impact of the Thieves hasn’t been entirely positive. The Phans from this morning are proof of that. No matter how much good they do, the Thieves are still vigilantes. We shouldn’t be looking to them for answers about our future, no matter how much we respect their goals.”

“I see. I should warn you, Yoshizawa, that view might not go over well in some circles. I’d be careful. These Phans might try targeting you next.”

“I appreciate the concern, Mishima-kun. I’ll be careful. But I’m sure you are worrying over nothing. What could they possibly do to me?”