Phantom Thieves of Hope - A Danganronpa X Persona 5 Story.

Chapter 53: Sheltering Tree

Beautiful Ruin - Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

"Huh...I see..." Mahiru Koizumi considered, as she quickly scanned over Makoto's notes, "Phantom Thief activity's been on the decline lately. Seems they're taking a break for the summer."

"I don't know about that. I just haven't seen much worth talking about," Makoto told her, "The devil never sleeps, so they shouldn't either."

"Pfft...Which comic book did you rip that line out of?" Mahiru scoffed.

"Hey! Isn't that the kind of corny dialogue you should be looking for in a headline?" Makoto asked.

As had become tradition, Makoto decided to go to Mahiru and deliver some more Phantom Thief related information to her for the school paper, and in exchange, she provided him with the latest gossip and street rumors.

"Well, I guess it'd be too eager of me to expect great stories from you every time. It's not like you've got a direct hotline to the Phantom Thieves or anything," Mahiru sighed, "Thanks anyway, Naegi-kun."

"No problem," he smiled, "By the way, I'm sorry for asking this if it's too personal, but how have you and Sato-san been since the last time we saw each other?"

"When was that?" Mahiru tried to recall.

"You know...when we were in the Reserve Course building and Fuyuhiko-senpai's sister was harassing you..." Makoto reminded her.

"Oh...Oh yeah..." Mahiru looked rather downtrodden now that she remembered it, "I'm really sorry you had to see that, but don't you dare think about sticking your nose into my problems."

"I wasn't gonna..." Makoto lied, "But if you need help, I'm here for you. That's what friends are for, after all."

"Friends..." Mahiru repeated, "is that what we are?"

"Yeah..." Makoto nodded, "Do you not think so?"

"Well, I guess we're not enemies, and you did do us a solid back then. I guess I owe you one if nothing else. Don't worry about Natsumi-chan though, seriously. She's just always been jealous of my talents and my jobs at school, ever since I've known her. Honestly, if she wanted to join the club, she could just ask, but I don't think she's especially thrilled about being beneath me in anything," Mahiru sighed, "Honestly, if I could get rid of this stupid role and give it to someone else, I would. All I care about is taking photos...It's Hiyori-chan who does most of the work in this club..."

"Why DO you do this job, Koizumi-senpai?" Makoto asked, "You clearly don't enjoy it, so why do you keep it up?"

"Pretty sure I already told you that," Mahiru crossed her arms, "Since my talents cater to journalism, Hope's Peak themselves put me in charge of the paper. Said it was the best way for me to apply my talents in a real world setting and show off and develop my abilities."

"I'm not sure how much of that is accurate..." Makoto remarked. Mahiru rolled her eyes.

"Tell me about it," she sighed, "but I basically don't have a choice. If I could assign Hiyori-chan to be the club president, I would do so in a heartbeat so I could focus on taking the photos. But she's a Reserve Course student, so she's not allowed."

Mahiru slumped in her seat and seemed to growl...

"Honestly..." she pouted, "the old windbags who run this school don't know a damn thing about photography. It's not all news, journalism, and propaganda...What era are they living in...? Can't they just appreciate the beauty of the world around us...?"

"What are you talking about now?" Makoto asked.

Mahiru sighed, disgruntled. She got out of her seat and walked around the desk to sit next to Makoto. She then handed him her camera, and when Makoto looked through the digital screen, she started to flick through the photos she had saved on them.