"Amamiya…" Yu was rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Using the Metaverse on a school bully? Don't you think that's overkill?"

Rei sighed. "In hindsight? Overkill, no, but a bit petty compared to what could potentially be accomplished. Still, consider this. Takanashi had five or so first years he liked to go after, and two second years. I also understand that there were two former targets among the second-year students who were forced to drop out. So, that was seven people who were underperforming at school, and two more whose lives were definitely completely ruined. And if something like that was happening to adults - "

"It would be assault," Yu cut her off. "But they're not adults." Rei looked at him levelly. "The school was supposed to . . . " he trailed off, seeing only the slightest twitch in Rei's eyes. "...it was still wrong, Amamiya!"

"Why?"

Yu snarled. "You broke the law."

Rei shook her head. "We've been over this. No such law existed."

"What about assault? By your own admission, and even not in the Metaverse." Yu leaned back.

Rei smirked. "The school should have taken care of it."

Yu deflated at that for a moment, then looked through his notes. "I don't buy it. Shujin can't have bee - "

"We will get to Kabayokawa," Rei said. "Even if he's not in that folder of yours. I don't think I can convince you, but you want to understand and he's more important to this mess than you realize right now." She sighed. "But, for now, you clearly need to understand something. Shujin was not a place intended to nurture bright intellects. It wasn't even intended to do the bare minimum. I'd have been better off in my country school, taking the standard curriculum and cramming via internet schools at night like I had been. But hey, I'm gonna be a great general, not the world's most preeminent brain surgeon." She snapped to full attention. "Kennis is macht, karakter is meer!"

Yu rolled his eyes. "Your accent is terrible."

Rei sat back down and crossed her legs on the table, much to Yu's visible discomfort. "The point is, there was only one criteria at Shujin at that time for official punishment. If you came to the notice of the authority figures. Who came in with bruises every day and turned in poor test scores? I'll give you a hint. It wasn't Takanashi." Yu didn't answer. "That is what the Phantom Thieves took as our mandate. The last resort. For the people all the systems and all the rules had failed. So that those who remained would have the chance to do better."

Yu shook his head. "Let's move on…"

The next day, Rei returned to Maihama station, outside the theme park, and searched around. "C'mon, tell me it's still here…"

It wasn't. She had been chasing down a vague memory, of the last trip her family had taken down here. Even on a doctor's salary, it made little sense to spend all of their money in the parks.

But the store wasn't there. She had no idea how long it had been gone, but certainly long enough to have faded from the general cognition of the public. There were two chain ice cream stores, and a number of other cheap food options catering to the cost-conscious parkgoer, but all of the small-time shops had apparently been pushed out years ago. Finally, desperate, she decided to try anyway, bringing up the Nav's voice search function. "..." She took a deep breath. "Amamiya Rei."

"Match found."

Morgana peeked out from her pack. "Is that why we came here? To find out more about your Shadow?"

Rei nodded. "I always loved this place when I was a little kid. There was one shop in particular...but I can't remember."

Morgana winced. "Okay, Rei. Deep breath." She did. "What do you remember?"

Rei sighed. "I remember that...there was a place inside Disney selling some special ice cream. The lines were way too long. So, after the fireworks show, there was a place selling ice cream that we went outside." She smiled in fond memory. "It wasn't in a character shape or anything, but it was the sweetest strawberry ice cream I've ever had. I'm sure it was here."

Morgana sniffed the air. "Sorry, I'm just smelling the chain shops."

"I...I know." Rei said, sighing. "And I don't remember."

Morgana was skeptical. "You think your Palace is in that ice cream shop?"

Rei had to think about that one. "There has to be a reason it's coming to mind. But we have to find her anyway."

"So you're reasonably sure it's here?" Morgana thought about it for a moment...and then the world shifted around them. The structure of the station was identical, but suddenly Rei recognized everything. All of the old places were back, including the one she had been looking for. She raced off, Morgana hot on her heels, and stepped through the doors.

Everything was pink. Everything. The seats, the walls, the floor. Everything except the hundreds of tubs of ice cream behind the counter. There was also a serving bar, with rotating seats. Pink. The rest of the restaurant had cheap, easily-replacable plastic furniture. In pink.

Morgana gave Rei a look. "You're sure you liked this place for the ice cream?"

"Well, yes." Rei said, blushing. "I think my memory's exaggerating, but this place did make its' own stuff."

"And when you don't know where to go next, you retreat into nostalgia," Rei's Shadow said. Against all the logic of the multiverse, she wasn't dressed as a server behind the counter, but had suddenly appeared at the bar with a large, bright green float. Rei took a seat next to her, and Morgana jumped up onto the bar. "Fancy seeing you here, Stranger."

Rei shook her head. "If we're the same person, why can't I remember your run-in with Black Mask? Or. . . anything you did, actually."

The Shadow took a sip, seeming to consider it. "Well...the dramatics aside, it's not totally accurate to say we're the same person."

Morgana jumped in. "A Shadow is really more of a projection. Unless you take it into yourself as a Persona, you're still separate entities."

"Probably the closest you're going to come to understanding this. The point is, if you keep going on this way, we die." Rei's Shadow said to her. "That Black Mask kid took all of you out with practically no effort. And no, I wasn't there. I do know what you do, just not in real time. By the time I could have even tried to help, you were...well, asleep, probably."

Rei shook her head. "So help now. What do you know?"

The Shadow seemed to consider this for a long time. A float drink identical to the one the Shadow was sipping appeared next to Rei, and a bowl of ice cream for Morgana. Rei sipped hers, and found it a pleasant melon soda with kiwi ice cream. After another few sips, the Shadow finally came to a decision and spoke. "I'll tell you. But first, I'm going to try to talk you out of using the information. Rei, I need to emphasize that we're seriously out of our league here. There are three Persona users in the city already, outside our little group. One arrived in the last week. Black Mask is the weakest of them, as near as I can tell. The strongest may as well be a deity on this side of reality." Rei just shook her head at her Shadow's description. "Yes, fighting smarter might work, but there may not be enough smart in the universe to beat out that kind of power difference. The best I can say is that the others haven't noticed us yet, but if you keep going down this path they will."

Rei raised an eyebrow. "What happened to me being the great Trickster, the rebel who wants to tear down society?"

The Shadow looked at her for a really long time. "Normally, this is the part where I break your brain into a million pieces by making you confront your denial. Then I take over your mind and we go on a rampage of indulging our most secret desires until the cops come." Rei raised an eyebrow. "But I wasn't born like most other independent Shadows. Things...happened the day you came to Tokyo. Things you aren't aware of, and I see no reason to tell you yet. But the seeds were planted the day you came to this shop." She shrugged helplessly. "I'll set up here, for now. There may be things in the Metaverse that I can use to create tools to amplify your power. Bring them here, and I'll see what I can do." She smiled. "In the meantime, I ask that you reflect on what actually brought you to this point. Oh, I won't argue that Adler wasn't part of us too, but she wants revenge. The wrath of the oppressed, the scorned, risen up to smite our foes, yadda yadda yadda." The Shadow actually smiled. "All that's worthwhile, yes, yes, whatever."

There was a long pause. "Okay, you're not convinced, fine. Black Mask seems to be a mercenary of some kind. He's going around killing Shadows attached to people of some importance, for the most part."

"What about the subway driver?" Rei pointed out.

The Shadow smiled. "He was very important to you when he nearly ran you over. That's the game. He's using the Metaverse to affect change in the real world, just like your friends want to do. The difference is...well, nothing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rei and Morgana shouted at the same time.

Rei's Shadow smirked. "When you can answer that, you'll be a step closer to knowing what I want. Enjoy the ice cream, it's conceptual anyway. No calories from imaginary food."

"What kept you?" Ryuji asked as Rei came jogging up the Shibuya alleyway.

Rei panted slightly. "Really good ice cream."

Ryuji quirked his lips. "Y'know, you really shouldn't eat all that junk food." Rei pouted. "Well, I mean, you're worse than Ann-chan and I don't know how she does it."

Rei sighed. "I know. I'm actually really jealous. I jog practically everywhere I can and keep up practicing my kata and I still have to watch the snacks." She took a deep breath, and looked around. There wasn't much here - a bar on one side of the narrow alleyway, and a gym on the other. She looked at that with some interest. Boxing ring, practice dummies...she glanced back at Ryuji. "Is this a dojo?"

"Naw. I know you can't do that this year, but I figured you'd want somewhere to go."

Rei thought about that for half a second, then grinned. "Yeah, this'll be really helpful. Just wish you'd told me so I could bring my workout clothes."

Ryuji slammed his forehead into the palm of his hand. "Right, sorry. I forgot you'd have a problem with the change rooms."

Rei smiled. "Honestly, I'm happy you forgot." Ryuji looked at her surprised. "I mean, it's not perfect but I'd rather you think I'm a girl than . . . y'know."

Ryuji scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I get where you're coming from."

"Look." Rei said firmly. "Ninety five percent of the time, it shouldn't matter at all. The other five percent, it's rightly my problem. Like...do you mind if I bring up the leg?"

Ryuji shook his head. "A little, but you're just making a point, right?"

Rei nodded. "Yeah. It's kinda like that. Even back when it was fresh, I'm guessing after the first few days you could get around most places just fine. You had to use the elevator to the station for a bit, but that was your problem. Same here, except it comes up less. So, next time I want to come here I'll figure it out."

"Gotcha." Ryuji grinned. "Still, it'll be nice to have someone to train with."

"Getting back into track?" Rei asked.

Ryuji frowned. "I...don't think so. I just like running."

Rei nodded. "Let's head back to my place. I'll help you out with your stretches and we can get some studying in." She giggled at the pained look on her friend's face. "Makoto-chan would kill me if I let you get away without it. It's part of the plan to keep Principal Moron off my back."

"How does my studying work with that?" Ryuji asked, skeptically.

Rei grinned. "Makoto's 'reforming' me. That means I need to do everything good students do, and that's going to include helping bring your grades up."

"Man, I thought this Phantom Thief stuff would be awesome."

Rei winced. "Not so loud." She sighed. "Anyway, it's turning out to be like school. Even if you like it, there's a lotta boring parts. So, let's get on with the boring parts. Like establishing cover stories."

A short stretching session turned into Rei tutoring Ryuji in English, before he had to head home. Morgana had kept quiet during the whole thing, but when Ryuji was gone he jumped on the table. "I don't know what you see in him."

Rei raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I mean…" Morgana paced around. "He's kind of an idiot."

Rei nodded. "Kind of. He's a friend, though. That's all that matters."

Morgana seemed to ponder that. "Anyway, I promised to teach you about thief tools."

"You mean like your lockpicks and stuff?" Rei instantly perked up. She looked around, and noticed her writing desk had some space. "Let's store the stuff in there for now." It took a few minutes of sorting. "Okay, so I'm guessing this is part cognition again."

"Yep," Morgana said with a confirming nod. "But you've got to have something real to work from. This is about a third a way of focusing your innate powers, one third trickery, and one third real-world skill and chemistry. But it's way less stressing than leaning on your Persona."

"Got it. So, what have you got for me?" Rei said.

Morgana opened up the trunk and pulled out some simple padlocks. Then he picked out some paperclips with his mouth. "Let's start with the basics of lockpicking. You'll need to get the shape as good as you can while focusing." Rei looked at it skeptically, but concluded that the paperclips looked like they would fit in the lock, so she listened to Morgana's advice, using a pair of pliers. After awhile, it became almost meditative, and in the end she had two pieces of metal that almost looked like serious picks. She also had about a dozen snapped paperclips. "And now those are imbued with your cognition."

Rei blinked, and realized all of the padlocks were open. "Neat!"

Morgana grinned. "Store them somewhere safe. They're only good for one use in the Metaverse, then the power you put into them will be expended."

"...that almost makes sense," Rei conceded, before stretching and yawning. "Right. Another day coming up tomorrow. Let's get some shut-eye."

Rei found herself hovering on the platform on the way to school the next morning. It was early, a bit before the school rush. She sighed, and set Morgana's bag down. "Stay there," she whispered. "I may as well jog the platform for a bit until someone gets here."

Without waiting for an answer, she took off, figuring that anyone who tried to steal Morgana would be in for. . . well, an angry cat determined to murder them, actually. That would be enough deterrent. She also didn't quite get out of sight of it, and she frequently peeked over her shoulder to make sure it was still there.

Which was why she didn't see the boy until she had almost crashed into him. "Whoa!"

He was tall. That was the first thing Rei noticed. She looked up at him, into his rather shaggy hair and eyes such a vivid brown they were almost red. He smiled at her and gently took a step back. "I can't imagine where you might be going in such a rush this early in the morning."

Rei felt her cheeks heat slightly. "I wasn't - " Then she remembered she was supposed to be 'Ren' and lowered her voice. "I was just taking advantage of the empty platform."

A laugh was her response. "Really? It would be a shame if such a cute girl felt she needed to do so much extra work."

Rei choked. "What?!"

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Was it supposed to be a secret? Your hair is pinned up, but I suspect it would look quite feminine let down. Your running gait is a bit off as well, and…" He reached out and tapped at her throat with a black-gloved hand suddenly, making Rei jump back. "Few boys our age have so little development there." Then he paused. "Oh, and of course I checked your record as part of the Kamoshida investigation." Rei spluttered for several moments. "Oh, where are my manners?" He bowed, and Rei's attention was drawn to the tan peacoat over his uniform, which had black slacks. "My name is Goro Akechi."

"Y..wha…" Rei pulled her jaw up. "How do you have access to police records? Isn't this an invasion of privacy?"

"Amamiya-san," Akechi said seriously. "I assure you, I'm a licensed consultant. I am allowed to pursue cases that catch my fancy, sometimes. After all, a man confesses to such heinous crimes out of the blue and insists no one coerced him? It seemed odd." He shrugged. "Your profile stuck out for much different reasons, so of course I remembered it." He smiled. "By way of apology, how about coffee?"

Rei blushed but shook her head. "I don't drink any coffee but my guardian's. Nothing personal, it's just everything else is battery acid by comparison."

Akechi laughed. "I'll have to try it, if it would make someone swear off any other brewer in the city…"

Rei blushed, then, reluctantly, pulled a thermos out of her book bag, removed the cup, and poured him a few mouthfuls worth. Akechi's eyes quirked in surprise. "Black?"

"Boss' coffee should never touch milk or sugar," Rei replied solemnly, as though reciting an ancient sutra. "A sweet on the side is acceptable."

Akechi raised the other eyebrow as he sipped at it. "Oh. Yes, I quite see your point. Now, I believe you still had some concern about my credentials." He pulled a small business card from a holder in his pocket.

Rei took it, bowing formally, and read it.

Akechi Consulting
Private Investigations

At one corner was the National Police Bureau's official seal. Rei considered it for a moment, then sighed. "Akechi-san, I really don't want to talk about Kamoshida."

"Then you were involved?" He asked, gently. "I can reason out the details. There was no shortage of victims."

Rei swallowed. "If that's the case, why are you asking me?"

"I wasn't," Akechi said gently. "I simply remembered you and thought I might like to get to know you better."

Rei's eyes narrowed. "Okay, up front, you know I'm a transgirl, not a girl who's wearing the boy's uniform for some stupid anime reason, right?"

"Quite," Akechi confirmed. "I'm studying for college entrance exams, so anything like what you're thinking would have to wait."

Rei nodded, relaxing only slightly. "Also, how did you find me?"

Akechi smirked. "There's no point in being coy. I had access to your records. I knew you had to come this way to get to school, and because of my work with the police I could afford to make it to my own late. You would have rejected any other attempt to get in touch with you."

Rei nodded. "Okaaay. A little creepy." Akechi looked stricken. "Not like that, just. . . in the future, maybe don't introduce yourself to a girl this way?"

"Akechi? The Akechi?" Ann asked Rei. At lunch, Rei had signaled them to follow her to the roof for some privacy. Fortunately, Haru didn't typically tend her plants until after school, although Rei was doing a little work on them while they talked "Seriously?"

Shiho sighed. "Heeere we go."

Rei blushed. "Is he famous or something?"

Ann nodded rapidly. "He's solved a whole bunch of cases for the police, and he goes on talk shows all the time and stuff."

Rei raised an eyebrow. "You're a fan?"

"Well, duh."

Rei turned her attention to Shiho. "What's your take?"

"I'm not sure," Shiho said. Ann gave her a slightly annoyed look. "It's not just because I don't like boys, Ann. Something seems a little fishy about it to me."

Rei blinked. "Wait, this reminds me of something...Shirota...no...Shiro…"

"Shirogane Naoto," Shiho said. "The Detective Prince."

Rei's eyes widened. "OH! I can't believe I forgot about that. I was so disappointed."

The look on Rei's face was so heartbroken Shiho reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, well, the point is, Shirogane trained at it from a really young age and was along on cases with her grandfather. How'd Akechi get so good?"

"Makoto-chan could do it," Rei said. Both of them looked at her. "Well, she could. The only problem is that she would need access. Find out how Akechi-kun got access, we have the answer if we presume he's equally intelligent."

Shiho nodded. "Okay. So, I was gonna call a mee. . . " she trailed off, looking at Rei's expression. ". . . wait, seriously, don't tell me you said yes."

Rei blushed even harder than she had been already.

"A date with a police detective?" Makoto was staring at Rei, who had just emerged from the handicapped restroom at Shibuya station. Ryuji was with her, holding Morgana's bag.

Rei shook her head. "Just a consultant."

Makoto leaned in closer. "Is that makeup?"

"Pain in the butt," Rei replied. "I wear it every day. It makes me look that much more different than Ren, or I wouldn't bother."

"Look," Rei said, annoyed. "We shouldn't really do meetings until after the cafe's closed anyway. I'm not blowing off the job or anything. Go ahead and tell Shiho we're on. I'll talk to Akechi-kun and beg off spending the evening with him, but I want to get a read on this."

There was a long pause, then a sigh. "Rei-chan, I'm just a little worried. You don't strike me as a person who takes unnecessary risks…"

Ryuji grinned, suddenly interjecting. "Hey, I think it's great." Both girls stopped to stare at him. "Well, not like I know what I'm talking about when it comes to 'hot boys' but Rei-chan plays for both teams, right?"

Rei grinned. "You remembered that?"

"Heck yeah." Ryuji shrugged. "Kinda hard to forget. Point is, you maybe got a boyfriend, right? Worst case, he's digging for info on what happened, and you won't say anything. Why not?"

Makoto's jaw had dropped open. "That was. . . surprisingly insightful."

"What's that mean?"

Rei giggled. "Ryuji-kun got it right. If he's digging into us, we need to know. If not. . . well, when am I going to get another chance to go on a date with a genuine celebrity? Either way, this is too good to pass up. And we know he doesn't have proof, so it can't be an actual trap. No matter what, we win."

"Ah, Ren-chan," Akechi waved her over to the wooden booth. It wasn't LeBlanc, but rather a cafe near Ueno park, making it almost easy to find. That it was some distance away from Aoyama-Ichitome, in the opposite direction from Shibuya, and was thus somewhat unlikely to attract Shujin students, helped.

Which was why Rei purposely refrained from snarling. "Look, Akechi-kun…" she instead said slowly. "You obviously haven't known you were interacting with transgender people very often. I can see you're trying to be nice and using proper honorifics, but names are important too. Using our legal names, even if they might be unisex...it's called 'deadnaming' and is generally rude if we've decided on a true name. Please call me Rei when I'm not in disguise."

Akechi smiled. "Oh. That wasn't in the files. I'm really sorry." He did sound sincere about that to Rei's ear. He gestured to the place opposite her, then smiled as the waitress delivered drinks. "It's a bit chilly today, so I took the liberty of ordering something that's not coffee for you." The hot milk tea with bubbles instantly got Rei's eyes alight. "This is just an informal inquiry. You don't need to go into personally traumatic experiences if you don't want to."

Rei raised an eyebrow at that. "Then why talk to me at all?"

"You were an outsider, coming into the situation fresh," Akechi explained, sipping his own tea. "Furthermore your records indicate your grades are excellent, and as a karateka you must have excellent situational awareness for your age." Rei frowned at him. "Sorry to keep bringing it up, but you did ask. The point is, Kamoshida had been in power for so long, many of the students who did agree to give accounts had no idea anything was, for want of a better word, abnormal about the situation."

It took a lot of thinking before Rei felt ready to respond to that. "Well, obviously I noticed the injuries right away. There was also. . . look, I'm a country girl at heart. I don't know how it is in the city, but out there, if you were going to the local school, and I was being forced to by Dad - "

"Why would your father make you attend?" Akechi asked. "Surely he'd have paid to send you to a better school in Sapporo, if not elsewhere in the country."

Rei leaned back. "He wants me to take over the medical practice. So I have to get to know people in town in case any of them stick around. I went to cram school in Sapporo three nights a week, and since we've only got a public school it's not too terrible."

Akechi made some notes. "I understand. You were saying?"

Rei smiled slightly. "The point is, not everyone back home was hot on school, so you got a mix. Some kids moving faster than others, mostly, but everyone knew they had to go and went along with it. With Shujin...before..that...other than the boys' competition team, everyone at Shujin did not want to be there. It was worse with some than others, of course. The worst were the nerdy boys and pretty much every girl. And yes, I thought it was strange, but I learned why that was way too soon for my liking."

Akechi made a face. "I wish I had to imagine. Adults like him are the worst examples of the breed. I hope I don't grow into something like that, just expecting children to obey."

Rei's expression twisted. "They're not all like that...but yeah, a few too many in my life just don't get it."

Akechi smiled. "I can see that. You must be . . . well, driven, to keep it up in the face of so much scorn."

"I can't be anything else. In the end, I am me. The rest of the world can get out of the way if they don't like it."

"So, nothing, huh?" Ann asked.

Rei shrugged. "Well, he offered to meet up again some time. I think he enjoyed the conversation, but I'm not sure if it was that or anything else.' She leaned back on her bed. "I'll keep an eye on it." She turned her attention to Shiho. "Besides, we're not here about Akechi."

Shiho nodded. "I did that digging you guys wanted. Hiroshi Keino." She put a magazine down on the table, showing a man in his late 40s. "He owns Keino Imports, the company that runs those warehouses I mentioned. It turns out they're what's called 'Foreign trade zones.' It's a lot of complicated stuff, but the basic point is that legally they don't count as being in Japan so they can store stuff there indefinitely without inspections or taxes or anything."

"Wait, wait." Makoto shook her head. "Are you telling me someone could store anything there, like even a biological weapon?"

Shiho frowned. "Probably not that. . . legally, anyway. Of course, there's also this." She tapped on her phone. Rei picked her own phone up and looked at the shared link. "There's a whole bunch of these. Keino keeps getting accused of bribing officials, then skating out by bribing more officials."

Rei frowned. "That's not sustainable without a serious backer, is it?"

Ryuji growled. "And this guy's also workin' his people to death? Shit, why are we debating this?"

Rei shrugged. "Last time Shiho-chan brought this up, we didn't have a name," she pointed out. "And if it's close to what it looks like, I'll buy that something needs to be done."

Shiho slammed her hand on the table. "Why?! Why won't you listen to me!?"

"...that's it." Rei said coldly. "Officially, we're tabling this tonight." Everyone stared at her. "Makoto-chan, Ann-chan, could you get Morgana his dinner on your way out? It's late." She gave Shiho a look whose meaning couldn't be mistaken for anything but Don't Go Anywhere.

When everyone else was out of the room, Rei sighed. "Shiho-chan, I don't mean to pry, but I have to know. Why is this personal for you?" When Shiho didn't answer for a long moment, Rei reached out and put a hand on her shoulder with a gentle squeeze. "Please. Remember what we did to Kamoshida. I just need to know that you want to do it again for the right reasons."

"Because it's my uncle, and my dad, and my family. This is the only 'decent' job most of them can get and...and...they saved up and paid a lot of money and they...did some stuff to get me into a real school, even a terrible one like Shujin."

Rei's eyes narrowed a moment, then widened in understanding. She removed her hand from Shiho's shoulder, where she had been touching the other girl through the sweater. Shiho looked up, stricken with shock...right up until Rei put that hand directly on her forehead. "So…" Rei said. "That's why you can't go to the police, and why you wouldn't talk about it." Slowly, she smiled. "Do you not want me to bring it up with the others?"

"Ann knows." Shiho said. "Her dad was nice enough to let me use his apartment as my address for the school."

Rei chuckled at that. "Maybe Makoto-chan will let me use hers for my transfer?" A long pause. "Nah. Right. So, the authorities definitely won't do anything about it, and the new place will definitely end up using the tech to make things cheaper, and not safer except where convenient at best." She finally let her hand drop away from Shiho's face. "Did you check the app?" Shiho held up the phone.

*Potential Match Found. Location Found. Distortion Needed.*

Yu's eyes widened. "Wait, wait. You're telling me that Hiroshi Keino, a respected business owner, built his business on...what? Giving Burakumin jobs? Why would you go after him for that?"

A raised eyebrow. "So you do have a soul. Whether it's rigged to your brain is still in doubt, but it's definitely in there." Yu made an indignant noise. Rei continued with "Do me a favor for our guests? The ambassadorial staff know what we're talking about, but strict translations leave some stuff out, and I don't know if they'll bother with an actual person. Quick explanation as you see it?" Yu gave her an incredulous look. "Humor me?"

"I guess if you just want my take…" Yu shrugged. "Criminal underclass, for the most part. Oh, it's not their fault. Ancestors were just doing the wrong jobs at the wrong time, and they're still paying for it."

Rei sighed. "And as a result, the villages they lived in back then are the 'bad neighborhoods' of Tokyo, nobody will hire them for decent jobs, and a lot of them end up attached to the Yakuza somehow. And, of course, no one will rent to anyone with one of those addresses in their history, etc. etc. They can't get out...and why bother going to the police when your first thought was literally 'Criminal?'"

"Tha-that's not what I meant!" Yu protested. "I'm sure at least some of them are decent people - " Rei gave him a narrow-eyed look. "Arggh! Are you just trying to trap me or something, because if you are it doesn't change anything!"

Rei shook her head. "That's not the point, Narukami. It's a fun side-show, but not the point." Yu screamed again. "Hey, you're the one who made it easy. Anyway, think about it."

Yu did. "The safety violations are weird. The inspectors should have stepped in. Buraku or not, the law's the law." When Rei made a looping 'keep going' gesture he exhaled sharply. "I don't know what you want from me."

Rei shook her head. "So close, too. Oh well. I've got a day or so. Shall I send for coffee?"

Rei swung by the Student Council room, still as Ren, to 'help' with minor paperwork for Makoto. Which made an excellent excuse for a quick, quiet conversation. "Makoto-chan…" Rei said, keeping her eyes firmly on her own work. "How much do you trust me to not lead you wrong?"

Makoto took a long time to answer that question. "Rei-chan, if you have time and all the facts, I believe you're reliable enough. But I can't discount your history either here. You've spent just over half of your life under the care of a mental health professional. While I know that's normal for people with your condition, the medication you take to maintain your stability is rather strong. Furthermore, you've recently been through a traumatic experience."

Rei flipped a few sheets into the 'out' basket next to her. Makoto would look them over later, of course, but she had insisted having someone else sort it first would be helpful. "Bottom line?"

"I think…" Makoto said "...you're eager to prove to yourself that the power of the Metaverse is real. That you're a good, and more importantly a functional person despite your issues. That the things you do can make a difference." She looked up. "And that we're actually your friends, and not just people you're using to do all that."

Rei nearly tore the paper she was picking up. "M-maybe." She took a deep breath. "So...Shiho convinced me, but she had to let slip something she didn't want to. That means the last vote's yours. I don't want to betray that trust she accidentally placed in me."

Makoto swallowed. "That's...a lot of trust," she said finally. "How important is it?"

Rei put the paperwork down. "People will die if no one does anything." Makoto stared at her. "Big, I know. But you knew that anyway. People have already gotten hurt."

Makoto shook her head. "I already know people have been hurt, but killed? That's...incredible to take on faith. Why aren't the authorities acting?"

Rei slammed the papers down in frustration. "That's what I can't tell you! I'm sorry, but this could destroy people! Not just kill, but condemn them to worse!"

Makoto shook her head. "See, this is what I'm talking about. I can see you believe it, but it's really hard for me to believe without the underlying facts. Are they Yakuza? Secret government project? Aliens? Russians?" Rei's face was impassive. "The situations are not quite equally implausible, but it's close enough. I just don't understand, and without that I can't go ahead with this."

Rei intended to go straight to find Shiho after she was done, but Ryuji intercepted her. "Hey, you got your stuff for the gym today? I'd like to get back at it, but it's easier with a partner, y'know?" Rei was about to shake her head when she noticed a number of boys in the gym uniform coming down the hall. Ryuji blinked as she straightened up into full 'boy mode.' He turned around slowly. "Oh, hey guys."

"Hanging out with the new guy, huh?" one of the boys said.

He was about to make it derisive, when Rei decided to cut him off. "I do not know who you are, and I do not wish to. Please leave us alone."

"What's with the attitude?" the second boy said in a low growl.

Ryuji shook his head. "Leave'er-I mean, him alone guys."

The first boy shook his head. "You've got your track stuff in your bag."

Rei stepped in front of Ryuji. "He has asked me to show him some of my skills and to evaluate a dojo." She shook her head. "Please cease this. I have good reason to not want to hurt you, so don't force my hand."

Ryuji pulled her back. "No way. Don't you throw a punch, if they're gonna fight someone I'll do it. Nakaoka, Takeishi, I know you got a legit beef, but don't drag Ren into it." He paused. "Uhm...not that I need to defend him. I seen him punch through a brick."

Nakaoka and Takeishi looked at Rei skeptically. "That guy?"

Rei clenched her fists. "It's not about that." Her voice had slipped up into a higher register. "Dammit, you don't even care…"

Ryuji looked back at Rei and nodded once. "Go on ahead. We on tomorrow?"

Rei winced. "I'm not - "

"Dammit, Amamiya-kun," Ryuji said. "They ain't gonna kick me out for getting beat up."

Takeishi blinked. "Wait, what? You serious."

"Yeah, man." Ryuji said. "Principal's got a real hard-on for it."

Rei shook her head. "I didn't want it getting out, but I think my acceptance here was a favor to someone."

Nakaoka's expression hardened. "Likely story."

Takeishi responded with a hand on his own friend's shoulder. "Maybe, but do you really wanna take a chance? You know the rumors. I don't think he could rip your arms out of their sockets and beat you to death with'em, but I don't want to tackle anyone we gotta call sensei anyway."

Nakaoka gave them all a sour look. "This ain't over, Sakamoto. We'll catch you without your boyfriend some other time."

They both looked completely baffled when Ryuji burst out into laughter at that one. Rei smiled.

About an hour later, Rei was feeling awesome. It wasn't just the silly end to the earlier encounter, although that had helped. But even better was the gym Ryuji had found.

Protein Lovers was not a gym for the mere fitness nut. The kind of person who was simply there to 'get in shape' could pay the entry fee and use the equipment, but they wouldn't truly be welcome. They only had treadmills to fill the cardio needs of customers, and similarly spartan strength machines. What they had was freeweights, heavy bags, speed bags, practice dummies, weapons racks, sparring mats, and pretty much anything else an aspiring martial artist could want to hone their skills outside the confines of a proper dojo.

Even better, Rei had her hair properly up - not the stupid trick she used to look like a boy, but just up out of her way. No makeup, just her shorts and short T-shirt. "So…" She said to Ryuji, spinning around. "How do you like the real me?" Ryuji gave her a quick thumbs up. "Right. So, let's do some warmup, then I'll show you those stretches."

"Huh?"

Rei raised an eyebrow. "Your leg's still bothering you, right? Is it still broken?"

"Well, no…" Ryuji admitted. "But you sure about this?"

Rei thought about it. "No, but I've seen it work before. I think it's worth trying." They pulled up some space on the mats and started running through Rei's exercises. She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but strangely, it never did.

At least, not in the form that she had been expecting. Instead of harassment, someone else seemed to recognize Ryuji. "Hey, Sakamoto. Got your girlfriend here to help out?"

"N-no way, man!" Ryuji said in a panic. "Uh...Rei's not my type, know what I mean?"

Rei grinned. "Who's your friend?"

"Ikeda-sempai," Ryuji said by way of introduction. "Anyway, yeah. I was thinking of taking up boxing. Can't run quite like I used to, and Rei's got some moves. I might get back into track stuff, but not...well, officially."

Ikeda raised an eyebrow. "Rei-chan, you're good?"

"Better," Rei said with a cocky smirk. "Maybe we can spar on the mats some time."

Ikeda chuckled. "No thanks. I just come here for the weights." He looked to Ryuji. "You sure about that? I hear the track team's coming back, what with everything going on."

Ryuji's expression went through several emotions all at once, hope, dejection, and then a strange calm. "I was kicked out of the club too. They ain't gonna take me back, so why worry about it? Boxing, well, no club for that at Shujin and I can do it on my own, or at least with Rei's help. I can't go amateur anyway, not for a couple of years."

Rei raised an eyebrow. "You serious? It's going to be a lot of pain."

"Can't be worse than Kamoshida."

Ikeda nodded. "True enough, that. Anyway, I don't blame you for what happened. But I got my track scholarship anyway, so . . . "

"Yeah." Ryuji shrugged. "I got another way to pay for college. Part time job." He grinned. "That's where I met Rei. She's kinda my boss."

Rei flushed. "It's nothing too fancy. We work for a delivery service. That's why we've got to get Ryuji's leg working again, anyway."

Ikeda nodded. "Well, sounds like you have it together better than I'd heard. You going to be here often? I might see you around…"