Hey, I finally finished rewriting the first 9 chapters! Yay! And now you get to read Chapter 10! I just wanna say I'm sorry this chapter is mostly Madarame amd his long winded dialogue but on the plus side there's some KinkikuAkira fluff, I think is what everyone calls it, at the end. And also I do reccomend going back and rereading if you aren't new to my story, if you are new to the story then ignore that. And finally I'm sorry that Kiku doesn't talk much or do much in the story, but she's got a reason so read this chapter and you'll understand. I hope you will forgive me for my spelling and grammer, most of it is caused by my lack of skill but some of it is my stupid phone's autocorrect not working. My Auther's Note's are made right on the App which does not let me use Atocorrect so leave me alone about those. Honestly I think it lets you see my personality better this way. Now I'll leave you to your readng, here's Chapter 10.
"Madarame Reveals His True Colors"
5/19
"Do we really have to do this?" I asked Akira on our way to school.
"It's the only way to get to the door." Akira replied.
"Right..." I looked down at the ground as we walked.
"You're not the only one who'll be doing it anyways, Ann will too..." He reminded me.
"But I'll still have to be the one to do something if things go wrong, right?" I asked him.
"I'll be there too you know!" Morgana called from Akira's bag.
"I know, but even if you don't like it in this world you're a cat. You can't do much if Ann or I get into trouble." I reminded him.
"...Right..." He replied sadly, I know it was kinda harsh but it was the truth the most he could do is scratch Kitagawa-San's eyes out or something like that.
"Come on, we don't wanna be late!" Akira told me and we hurried to school. After school was over we all meet up at the hideout.
"Ann, Kin, Morgana, we're countin' on you. Me and Akira're banned from goin' there, so all we can do is wait here..." Ryuji told us.
"No, you two have something different you'll need to do." Morgana told him.
"Whaddya mean...?" Ryuji asked him.
"You have to wait inside the Palace. Once that door opens, sneak in and look for some kind of control room. We need to make sure the door can't close anymore after it's open." Morgana explained.
"Oh, I get it. M'kay, you can leave that to us!" Ryuji assured us.
So Ann, Morgana, and I headed to Madarame's while Akira and Ryuji went to his Palace. Before we got there Ann put on a large amount of clothes over top of her normal ones. I almost laughed at how pudgy she looked like that, but Kitagawa-San's expression was even more priceless. I was just waiting outside the door watching as Ann had Kitagawa-San turn around, then he turned around only to find she still had clothes on. Then she ran off, with myself close behind, throwing her jacket on the floor to entice Kitagawa-San to follow after us. Once we got to the door Madarame came back and saw all of us standing in frount of the gaudily painted door that matched the one from his Palace, Ann grabbed Kitagawa-San and pulled him into the room with me following behind.
"Takamaki-San, Kaida-San, this is bad...!" Kitagawa-San sounded overly worried.
"Are these the lights...?" Ann pulled at something and the light flickered on. What we saw caused us all to gasp.
"What the...!?" Kitagawa-San looked around astonished and confused.
"Isn't this... "Sayuri"?" I asked as I inspected one of the paintings, the red clothes, the black hair, the gentle, happy, warm expression...except I didn't feel the same way I had when Kitagawa-San had shown me the picture of "Sayuri", these paintings didn't have the same emotions in them...
"Why are there so many of them...?" Ann wondered, there had to be at least a few dozen of them.
"I have no idea..." Kitagawa-San sounded lost as he looked at the paintings.
"Get out!" Madarame demanded, we all looked to him.
"Sensei, what is the meaning of this...?" His apprentice asked looking like a lost child.
"I suppose I can't keep it quiet now that you've seen this... Truth be told... I'm in severe debt. I handmade these "Sayuri" copies and have been selling them through a special connection of mine..." Madarame told us his sob story, but I didn't buy it there was no truth in his eyes as he told it, my father always told me you could see the truth and lies in a person through their eyes.
"But why...?" Kitagawa-San questioned, yes why indeed...
"The real "Sayuri"...was stolen by one of my pupils long ago. I assume they begrudged my strictness... That moment was quite a shock for me... Since then, I've been mired in a terrible artist's block..." I must admit this man makes a better actor than artist, "Because of this distress, some of my pupils handed their ideas overy to me from time to time..."
"..." Ann looked away unconvinced.
"I knew I couldn't keep that up, so I attempted to recreate the "Sayuri" a number of times. However, it resulted in nothing more than replicas... That's when someone came to buy the paintings, knowing they weren't the original..." He claimed, "...It's all my fault. I couldn't pay the price of being famous. As expectations for me rose, it reached a point where I had no choice but to keep making them... I...needed money to further your talents... I ask that you please forgive your cowardly teacher..."
"Please don't...!" Kitagawa-San tried to stop Madarame's ranting but Ann interrupted.
"Hold on... Something doesn't add up." She declared.
"She's right, if you didn't have the original..." I started.
"...how did you make copies of it?" Ann finished.
"I...happened to find a finely detailed photograph of it in an artbook." He explained.
"So you managed to sell copies of a photo of the original? I'm not sure how this works, but... Don't people who buy paintings generally have a keen eye for the fine arts?" Ann pondered with her arms crossed.
"Sounds like a lie if you ask me." I said turning around to where an easel stood with a cloth trapped over it, I stare at it.
"What would you know!?" Madarame yelled pointedly.
"Something just doesn't feel right!" Ann explained. I reached out for the cover of the painting and pulled it away. What I found shocked Ann, Kitagawa-San, and myself, there sat a painting much like the others but this one was different in many ways.
""Sayuru"...?" Kitagawa-San questioned, "This... This is the real "Sayuri"! But you said a moment ago that it was stolen...!"
"That's a replica!" Madarame claimed hurriedly.
"No, it's nothing of the sort! This painting kept me going...it's the reason I made it this far... Sensei... Don't tell me..." Kitagawa-San looked to his mentor with disappointment.
"It's a fake... Yes, a counterfeit! I heard there was a counterfeit spreading around, so I bought it!" His answered were to despret sounding to me.
"You, the artist behind the painting, bought a fake...? Do you really believe is so ignorant as to believe that?" I looked at him with one of my 'demon glares' as Ryuji's dubbed them.
"You're lying, Sensei..." Kitagawa-San looked at his teacher pleasingly, "Please just tell us the truth..."
"You too...?" Madarame pulled out his cellphone, "I've reported you to my private security company!"
"What!?" Ann yelled out.
"I had it set up to deal with some problematic paparazzi, but I nwver thought it'd come in so handy." Madarame smiled calmly.
"And they'll do what? You forget who you're speaking to Madarame..." I warned him.
"You're nothing but a child and a deformed one at that." He responded, I felt that pain in my chest again...the one from when I was younger...
"Lady Ann, Lady Kin, let's run!" Morgana told us with a distressed tone, Ann grabbed my hand and pulled me with her as she ran out of the room. Shortly after Kitagawa-San followed us, I pulled out my phone and started the Meta-Nav up and we slipped into the Metaverse.
5/19, After School, Madarame's Palace...
"Noooooo!" Came Panther's voice as she fell.
"Ngh...!" Kitagawa-San managed to land on his feet, catching Panther in the process, then Mona fell on his head instead of his own feet... even though Mona's supposed to be our veteran thief... Plus aren't cats supposed to land on their feet? Guess we busted a myth while we were hunting treasure...anyways back to the matter at hand, "Gah...!"(I'm a fan of the original Mythbusters couldn't help myself hehe...*looks away shyly*)
"..." I didn't say anything after I gracefully landed on my feet in front of Joker.
"Aaagh..! Owwwwww!" Mona exclaimed as he jumped up from the ground.
"I thought I was gonna die..." Panther spoke softly.
"Of course I was the only one to land without a problem..." I muttered looking away from the others.
"...Hey, will you let go already!?" Panther yelled at Kitagawa-San, pushing him away.
"Hrgh...!" Kitagawa-San groaned falling onto his back painfully.
"Oh no! I didn't mean to push him so hard... Are you OK? Wake up!" Panther called to him.
"Who are you all!?" Kitagawa-San asked us after he recovered.
"Calm down, Kitagawa-Kun! It's me!" Panther said, sounding more flustered than he did.
"...Takamaki-San?" He asked her, "That means you three are... I don't recall ever seeing this cat costume before though... What is this place...?"
"We're inside Madarame's heart." Panther explained.
"Inside... Sensei's heart? I'm sorry, Takamaki-San...but are you sure you're feeling OK?" He asked her conserned.
"She ain't lyin'. This is what that bastard truly feels. He's nothin' but a greed-filled money-grubber." Skull told him.
"Interesting choice of words..." I told Skull with a smirk, he just gave me a look, Joker looked at me with a worried expression...guess he could see past the fake happiness I was pushing to keep in my voice.
"Enough of this rubbish!" Kitagawa-San yelled out angrily.
"Rubbish? Wether you like it or not this..." I motioned to the space around us, "this isn't just some figment of your imagination, and we don't have any reason to lie about what this place is."
"Kitagawa-Kun! Didn't it cross your mind that something wasn't right about Madarame!?" Pather asked .
"That's..." Kitagawa-San began.
"You may not want to believe it, but this is another reality as viewed through Madarame's eyes. ...This is his true nature." Panther explained.
"This repulsive world...? Just who are all of you!?" He asked us.
"I guess you could say...we're a group that changes the hearts of rotten crooks." Skull answered.
"If everything you say is true, then the sensei I know doesn't exist..." Kitagawa-San looked down with a sad expression.
"You gotta snap out of it." Skull told him.
"Still...he has kept me safe these past ten years. My gratitude for that won't just disappear."Kitagawa-San told us in reply.
"...Not again!" I groaned.
"You're gonna forgive him!? At this rate you'll...!" Skull started, then Kitagawa-San collapsed to his knees.
"Are you OK?" Panther asked him concerned.
"I'm trying to be rational about this, but my emotions are overwhelming me..." He told her.
"Sorry, but we don't have time to dawdle. The security level's gone through the roof! We need to get out of here, at once!" Mona told us, we all agreed and ran towards the exit as fast as Kitagawa-San could manage. But as we passed the paintings he recognized one, he looked greatly pained. We made our way to the room with that damned statue, but as we made our way to the door way out, Shadows appeared to block our path.
"The exit is right there!" Mona exclaimed, then we turned to where we heard footsteps.
"Who is it!? ...What the-" Panther was caught completely off guard with who we saw, Madarame dressed in gold Japanese style clothes, his hair pulled up into a strange towering rod of some kind, and he wore powder to make his skin a sickly white with a bright blood red rouge(I think it's rouge anyways...might be lipstick not really positive and I'm not about to ask him...).
"Talk about bullshit clothes! First a king, now some kinda shogun!?" Skull questioned angrily.
"Welcome to the museum of the master artist Madarame..." The shadow Madarame greeted joyfully.
"Huh...? Sensei? Is that you?" Kitagawa-San questioned, "That attire..."
"Disqusting." Panther spat out.
"This... This is all one big lie, isn't it...?" Kitagawa-San looked so defeated I didn't know what to say to him.
"My usual ragged attire is nothing but an act. Besides, a famous person living in that shack? I have another home...under a mistress's name, of course." Madarame confessed to us.
"As sick as always I see..." I looked at him with fury, this man diserved no mercy.
"And what would the deformed child know?" He shot back, I felt the pain again and gripped my chest over my heart, grinding my teeth together(albeit lightly).
"This is absurd." I heard Joker declare beside me but everything felt muffled.
"Hahaha! How naive!" Madarame responded.
"If the "Sayuri" was stolen, why was it in the storage room? And if you had the real one, wht make copies!?" Kitagawa-San looked ready to collapse from all the weight of his burdened mind, "If it's really you, Sensei...please tell me!"
"Foolish child. You still don't see? The painting being stolen was just a false rumor I spread! It was all a perfectly calculated staging!" Madarame laughed at the last part, looking proud of himself.
"What do you mean...!?" Kitagawa-San asked him, we all looked at Madarame for the answer.
"Let me see... How does this sound? "I found the real painting, but it can't go public... You can have it for a special price, thought..." Haha! How's that for preferential treatment!? Art snobs'll eat it up, and pay good cash at that!" Madarame stood proud as he spoke, Kitagawa-San fell to the ground not wanting to believe what he was hearing, "The worth of art is purely subjective... Thus, this is a legitimate business transaction! Though I doubt a brat like you would ever come up with such a brilliant scheme!"
"You keep goin' on about money this, money that... No wonder you ended up with this disgusting museum!" Skull yelled.
"You're supposed to be an artist, right!? Aren't you ashamed of plagiarizing other people's work!?" Panther demanded.
"Art is nothing but a tool... A tool to gain money and fame! You helped me greatly as well, Yusuke..." Madarame was defiantly out of his mind.
"God... Posses me off... That's your teacher." Skull directed to Kitagawa-San.
"But what about the people who believe in you...? Who think you're a master artist...!?" Kitagawa-San looked to his mentor with despair.
"...I'll tell you this alone, Yusuke. If you wish to succeed in this world, I'd advise you don't rise against me. Do you believe anyone could find success with my objection holding them down? Hahahahaha! And that girl behind you, the one who thinks she can stand against me just because of her last name, you can hide your face but not that eye...do you really think anyone would believe your word to mine, you a deformed abomination, a demon child?" Madarame ranted on.
"To think I was under the care of this wretched man...!" Kitagawa looked like he was going to be sick, I just clenched my fists in frustration.
"You thought I took you in out of the goodness of my heart? Plucking talented, yet troubled artists allows me to find promising pupils and take their ideas... After all, it's much easier to steal the futures of children who can't fight back." The Shadow revealed. He continued for a little longer before Kitagawa-San couldn't take it anymore, the young man had no choice but to truely open his eyes. We all watched as he thrashed and screamed, bearing the pain of a Persona's awakening until a mask appeared on his face.
"Come, Goemon!" Kitagawa-San called as he ripped the fox shaped mask away, the figure of a man appeared from the blue flame. Kitagawa-San spoke eloquently about Madarame's crimes(honestly I've never heard someone speak of sins so elegantly) and summoned forth a wave of ice frezzing the enemy's with his power, the slightly wicked smile on his face was impressive. Panther, Skull, and Joker helped him destroy the main enemies with Mona providing support, I took care of any strays that tried to attack from behind.
"Laverna, Maeiga!" I bid her and wiped out the last of the stragglers, just as we were about to go for Madarame...Kitagawa-San fell to the ground in exhaustion, allowing the fake artist's Shadow to flee. We made our way to the reception area to let Kitagawa-San rest for a bit.
"You've known for quite some time, haven't you?" Panther asked.
"I'm no fool. Strange people have been coming around for years, and the plagiarism was an everyday affair. But...who would want to admit that the man they owed their life to was doing such terrible things?" Kitagawa-San explained.
"Why didn't you leave, Kitagawa-Kun?" Panther looked at him sadly.
"Well, he is the one who painted the "Sayuri." On top of that, I owe him a great debt..." He responded, he was strangely calm about this.
"Because he raised you..." It wasn't a question, I looked at him with my own sad expression.
"I...never knew my father. I was told my mother raised me by herself, but she died in an accident when I was three. That's when Sensei took me in. I heard he helped my mother while she was still alive." He recounted slowly.
"Heard...?" Panther questioned in confusion.
"To be honest, I don't remember much about my mother either. I did everything I could for Sensei, I thought of him as a father...but he changed. To think he would treat the "Sayuri," the very foundation of his art, like that...!" He was almost in tears as he spoke to us.
"...A lot's happened to you, huh?" Skull looked away depressingly.
"When you mentioned the plagiarism...deep down I knew you were right. That's why I so vehemently denied you... I was simply running from the truth, I'm sorry." Kitagawa-San apologised.
"No worries." Joker told him.
"...Thank you. I'm grateful for the chance to face what I have been denying all this time." He looked truely thankful.
"You're way too serious, man. That's why you're always gettin' stuck in your own head. Look at me! I just go with the flow." And Skull ruins the moment...
"For real." Panther said holding back a laugh.
"What are you going to do now?" Mona asked.
"I don't know..." Kitagawa-San confessed.
"We can't help the fact that Madarame's gone and changed. But...we can change his heart. We'll make him pay for his crimes." Skull assured. Once we finally explained the fact that we were the Phantom Thieves everyone was talking about(sort of...) a large number of Shadows appeared behind us. We had to make a run for it, and leave it to Kitagawa-San to finally realise his clothes had changed right then...anyways we finally left the palace for now.
5/19, After School, Dinner in Shibuya...
We explained everything we could to Kitagawa-San, about the Palaces, Kamoshida, our powers, the Phantom Thieves...
"...I see. And because of this that, this PE teacher's had a change of heart..." He digested the information, "The Phantom Thieves who steal hearts... To think they truly exist."
"Is it hard to believe?" Akira voiced.
"No, I believe you... There's no need for common sense to blind me after seeing a world like that. So your plan with Madarame-Sensei--with Madarame is to force a change of heart, correct? Let me join...as a member of the Phantom Thieves." Kitagawa-San looked to each of us, the others looked at each other in suprise not expecting him to ask that.
"You're sure that's what you want?" I asked him.
"Had I faced reality sooner, this may have been avoided. I must put an end to this for the sake of the others whose futures as artists were robbed, as well. That...is the most civil thing I can do for the man who was...in some manner, my father." He explained to us.
"...Civil, huh." Ann muttered.
"Sounds fine to me. We're gonna deal with Madarame anyways." Ryuji agreed to it.
"He may have a mental shutdown if we screw up. We have ways to prevent that, but they aren't fail-safe. ...Remember how we mentioned this on our way here?" Morgana reminded.
"Madarame is a man who has the art world under his thumb. He has connections to many organizations. If someone like me raised my voice, it'll only be snuffed out. ...We have no option but this." Kitagawa-San insisted.
"That isn't entirely true..." I voiced.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Well I am a Kaida... My parents are pretty influential people despite their preferred living style." I explained, "But, even then I think it would be a last resort to use my family name. Changing his heart is the most sure fire way to make sure he ends up where he belongs..."
"It's a deal then." Morgana agreed.
"We have a new member in the Phantom Thieves now! I hope we get along, Yusuke!" Ann cheered.
"You better not slow us down." Ryuji demanded.
"Says the one who nearly didn't make it out of the last Palace because he fell..." I muttered to myself but Akira heard me and gave me a gentle nug in my left side. I looked over sheepishly and he just gave me a knowing smile while he shook his head.
"I'll do my best." Kitagawa-San assured Ryuji.
"Welcome aboard." Akira agreed.
"Thank you. I ask that you coach me well." Kitagawa-San replied.
"Just don't do anything too reckless and you'll be fine, Kitagawa-San" I told him with a smile as I placed my head in my hand, leaning on it.
"You needn't be so formal with me." He told me.
"Yusuke, then...you can just call me Kin, most people do." I told him.
"Very well, Kin." He nodded.
"Oh, that reminds me... I wonder what's going on with the real Madarame. Yusuke, Kin, and I were in a pretty tight situation..." Ann remembered.
"Actually, I contacted him before we came here. He believes that I continued perusing Takamaki-San and Kin. And, just as you all explained, it appears he knows nothing about his Shadow." Yusuke revealed.
"What did he say...?" Ann questioned.
"He was complaining to the security company how they couldn't even catch a couple of high school girls. However, he's still furious about it, and said that he's going to take legal action against everyone." He explained.
"Pht, I'd like to see him try." I muttered.
"Talk about bein' completely on guard..." Ryuji sighed out.
"Legal action... He's acting way too desperate. Maybe he still has more secrets." Ann contemplated.
"If he were to act, it'd be after the exhibit is over. Any scandal during the show would be his loss." Yusuke told us, we spoke some more on our deadline and the fact that Morgana is in fact a talking cat, eventually we all parted ways.
5/19, Evening, Train to ...
"Kiku..." Akira called to me as we were on the train home.
"Hm?" I looked over to him.
"Are you okay?" He asked me worriedly.
"Why do you ask?" I questioned him.
"The things Madarame said, you've been looking really upset since you got to the Palace..." Akira explained.
"...I'm fine, not anything I'm not used to." I looked away from him with a sad smile.
"Just because you're used to them doesn't mean they stop hurting..." Akira told me.
"..." I couldn't bring myself to look at him, "I...I've heard those words so many times before, Demon Child, Deformed Abomination, Monster... One look at me and most people have the same reaction Ryuji and Morgana did when they saw my eye. They stare, point, whisper...I've gone through that all my life. The only ones who never treated me like that were my parents and my cousin. They were the only ones I could trust...the only ones I could talk to. I...I don't know how to talk to people anymore. I've noticed it, everyone else has so much to say but I have so little. What I do say mostly goes unheard, what does get heard isn't all that important."
"...That's not all true, and sure you don't talk as much as the others but neither do I. And you are not a monster, demon, or abomination. You're a sad lonely girl who's never had a friend to talk to before, just give it time...you'll get better, you'll grow, and you will be heard." Akira used his hand to turn my face towards him and he looked into my eyes as he spoke.
"I don't know if I can...not by myself..." I pulled away.
"Then don't do it by yourself. I'll help and I bet if you tell the others how you feel they'll help too. You're our friend now and friends help each other." Akira promised.
"Friend... So that's what they do, help each other when they need it?" I softly asked, afraid of the answer.
"Real friend do..." Akira assured me.
"Real...friends...?" I tilted my head to the side.
"The people I thought were my friends before I came here...once I had a criminal record they abandoned me. A real friend doesn't do that, they stick with you through it all. Til the end." He explained.
"So that's what my cousin ment..." I muttered softly thinking about the only person I had known who knew a little of what I was going through.
"..." Akira just watched me for the rest of the train ride, but I didn't fail to notice that his hand had made its way to my opposite shoulder and that he had me in a kind of side hug.
And that's Chaper 10! Yes, I know, you hate me for the damned cliffhanger. Sorry I don't really do them on purpose, they just kinda happen on their own... Anyways, who's this cousin? is what you're wondering, right? Well...you're free to guess, but i have the right on wether or not I want to confirm or deni those guesses. And also now you know why she's got issues talking and being active, she has small bursts of anger or sadness but mostly she keeps things to herself, she doesn't know how to interact with people amd it kinda messes everything up. Well, see you next chapter!
Shika Kizuka