Normally, I'd accept the blame for missing an upload for a week and a half.
But this time, it's different. For reference, I live in New York. And recently, we got FUCKED by a hurricane, and I lost electricity for about 50 hours. I wanted to die that entire time. That is my excuse for missing this chapter for so long.
June 20th, 20XX (Monday)
Lunchtime - Shujin Academy
After about half of a week had passed… no noteworthy progress had been made. There was no real way around the roadblock that had presented itself in front of Toya.
Kaneshiro's bank was floating up in the air. It's not like he could fly, so he had no way of getting up there. The grappling hook that he had ordered came in, and he attempted using that to get up there. But, of course… That wasn't going to work. There was no way he could reach that high up with a grappling hook. He even tried getting on top of buildings to shorten the distance between him and the bank, but even that wasn't enough. On his own, there was no way for him to actually get anything done.
Having exhausted all of his other options, he had to turn to his brother for help. He remembered what Kai had said about 'changing Kaneshiro's mind' to change his Palace, but Toya had no idea how exactly to do that. Kai wasn't exactly sure either. Luckily for him, Kai had today off, so Toya just had to wait until school came to an end.
"Hey, do you have any plans today after school's over?" Mishima asked him, as the two ate lunch together. It was a friendship that was on an awkward foundation, but Toya didn't mind that, and if anything it made Mishima even more eager.
"Yeah. Me and my brother are gonna try figuring out how the hell we're gonna deal with… you-know-who."
"Wait, your brother? He knows about that!? I-I thought he was a cop!" Mishima's shocked voice alerted the people around them, but he was doing a better job at not blurting out what exactly they were talking about. Then again, it also helped that nobody necessarily cared about what Mishima had to say.
"He is. He's known for a while. Believe it or not, he's actually the entire reason that you-know-who was already relevant to me, before Niijima ever opened her mouth."
"Wow… So wait, what exactly do you need help with? Is there something different about him?"
"Kinda… It's complicated. I don't think I could really explain it… especially not at school."
"Let me come with you then! Maybe I can help?"
"Uhh… Well, I guess there's no harm in it. Sure, why not? He's picking me up when class is over, so just follow me, alright?" As he spoke, he heard the warning bell ring, signaling that classes would resume in a few minutes. "You go on ahead. I gotta head to the bathroom." Mishima nodded off and started walking towards the classroom, while Toya split off and went the other way, walking towards the bathroom. Before stepping in, he turned his head to make sure Mishima wasn't looking. He then stepped inside and walked into a stall, taking out his phone and calling his brother.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Kai. Something uhh… Something kinda came up."
"...Kinda? What do you mean?"
"You remember how I told you about me and my friend getting interrogated by the student council president, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"My friend wants to come with us today. He wants to see if he can somehow help with figuring out how to deal with Kaneshiro."
"I don't see how he can help, but… I guess it can't hurt to bring him along."
"I thought the same thing. But… Well, there's one thing you need to know."
"Hm? And what is that?"
"He doesn't… know that I'm not really the one responsible. Neither does the student council president. They think I'm the real one."
"...You haven't told them yet?"
"I can't. Especially… Especially not Mishima. I mean… with everything that happened with Kamoshida… he thinks I'm his hero for that situation ending the way it did. If I told him it was all a lie… I don't know how he'd react to that, but it wouldn't be good. It definitely wouldn't be good." A long sigh came from Kai.
"I got it. I'll play along with things. But you can't just lie to him forever. He's gonna find out eventually, especially if you make enemies with the Thieves. If he's gonna find out… It'd be better if he heard it from you."
"...Yeah, I know. I gotta go-class is gonna start in a minute. See you later." Toya hung up the phone and put it in his pocket, closing his eyes and walking out of the bathroom.
"Any idea what you're gonna do about that?"
"No, not really. I'm not sure how I can exactly planfor that…"
"Just… Make sure you don't take too long. The sooner, the better."
"Yeah yeah, I know… Let's just get through the rest of the day first."
June 20th, 20XX (Monday)
After School - Shibuya (Accessway)
Once classes had ended, Toya and Mishima went with Kai to Shibuya, where they waited at the accessway above the station, looking down at Central Street from above.
"S-So, um… What do we do?" Mishima asked, curiously tilting his head.
"How do I explain this… Okay, so basically, I need to get into Kaneshiro's head. It's like… mental warfare, in a way. If I can get into his head and make him realize that everything he's doing is wrong and make him feel guilty for it, then he'll confess all of his crimes." Toya did his best to explain it without actually bringing up the Metaverse directly, as that would most likely go right over Mishima's head.
"But there's stopping him from going in. It's like a… mental block that prevents him from realizing that he's wrong. Our goal is to figure out how to get past it." Kai was able to along with the explanation Toya had made up fairly well. "But… That's easier said than done. The best way to do that is by talking to Kaneshiro directly, but we have no idea where he is. Also, going to see a mob boss directly sounds… Really stupid. So we're kind of stuck."
"Well, we'll probably just have to say screw it and figure out how to go see him directly. He targets students, right? Maybe I can bait someone in and figure out how to get to Kaneshiro that way…" Toya pondered the idea, before suddenly spotting someone walking towards him. "Oh my god here we go…" He rolled his eyes and put his hands in his pockets, looking towards the person walking in his direction. "And what, pray tell, do you want, Miss President?"
"Nothing in particular. I just saw you two together here." Her eyes were directed at Toya and Mishima as she said that, and then they moved towards Kai. "...I'm not sure we've met."
"Don't mind me. I'm just here to watch over my little brother while you lead him onto this wild goose chase." Kai tilted his head. "...I didn't realize that it would be you, though. I guess it checks out."
"And what do you mean by that?" She responded, a scowl on her face.
"Disregarding justice to get something done that you want. It's something I've seen your sister do once or twice. Runs in the Niijima blood, doesn't it?"
"That's…" She wanted to be angry about that. In fact, she was angry about it. But she couldn't actually respond to what was said. In reality… it was true. She had to accept that fact, regardless of how badly she didn't want to. Kai was much more aggressive than Toya ever was towards her. "Disregarding justice… So you're aware of what your brother is up to during his spare time?"
"We've been working on the Kaneshiro case together long before you tried pushing it on him. We're in the middle of figuring out what to do next. So if you wanna turn around and go somewhere you won't be completely useless… We'd appreciate it."
"Useless?" Makoto took a step back and recalled a painful memory from a talk with her sister.
"...Honestly? Yeah. My brother might be a bit more upfront about things… But you really have only gotten in my way when it comes to taking down Kaneshiro. Hell, If I didn't have to worry about you breathing down my neck so often, I'd probably be past this roadblock by now, and knee deep into Kaneshiro's mind. Instead, I'm here dealing with you, questioning when the hell it's gonna end." Makoto looked down. She struggled to get a word out. Between recalling what her sister said, and what Toya and Kai were saying to her… She was getting emotionally overwhelmed to an extent. Though, she had to force herself to speak up-to get something done.
"So you wish to get in contact with Kaneshiro. That is what you were just discussing, weren't you? It seemed you just needed to find out where he is."
"...Yeah, something along those lines. What's it to you?" Toya crossed his arms as Makoto covered her face with her hands and mumbled something under her breath.
"Fine. I'll help you meet Kaneshiro." She turned her head and walked away.
"Uhh.. Sh-Shouldn't we make sure she doesn't do anything reckless?" Mishima said, being the only one to show any sign of concern for Makoto's well being.
"Oh, please. There is literally nothing she can do at this point involving us that could get her into trouble-save for walking up to Kaneshiro's men and getting dragged off by them." Kai said with closed eyes. He didn't really believe Makoto to be the type of person to do anything reckless like that from the first impression, though there was an underlying concern in his mind. Suddenly, Toya felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.
"Who's calling me-" He took his phone out of his pocket and checked the number. He didn't recognize who it could be, but answered the call anyways. "Uh… Hello?"
"Hello? It's me… Makoto Niijima."
"Okay, I get that you've been stalking me for the past few weeks and all, but WHEN and HOW did you get my phone number!? Not even Mishima knows my number yet!"
"Just stay on the phone and listen. Make sure you record the call as well." He heard the sound of footsteps coming from her side of the call. "Do you guys know Kaneshiro? I heard I could find someone named Kaneshiro if I came to Central Street."
"Uhh… K-Kai?"
"What is it?"
"...She's literally walking up to Kaneshiro's men right now."
"Oh for the love of-Where is she!?"
"She said she's on Central Street! Come on, let's go!" Toya started running towards Central Street, with Kai and Mishima running behind him, Mishima trailing behind them. When they got to ground level, Toya and Mishmia kept running for Central Street, while Kai turned the other way and ran towards his car.
"He said get the fuck in!" Toya heard someone yell, and then heard the sound of someone get pushed. He grit his teeth and started running faster, before seeing two people get into a black car. It was hard to tell, but he could just barely make out Makoto's hair from the window on the back of the car. They started driving off before Toya could do anything to them, though. It's not like there was much he could do regardless. "Contact Kaneshiro. Tell him we got a good one."
"I guess we can't do anythin' to her if she's Kaneshiro's customer." He heard the two people who got into the car talk about Makoto and Kaneshiro, but he had no idea what 'customer' meant.
"H-Hey, what're we gonna do!?" Mishima asked nervously. Before Toya could answer, the sound of a car pulling up and stopping next to them filled their ears. They turned around and saw Kai through the window.
"Get in! We're going after them!"
"Right! Mishima, come on!"
"O-Okay!" Toya quickly hopped into the passenger's seat while Mishima got in the back. As soon as they were in the car, Kai started driving off, while Toya told him which way they went.
June 20th, 20XX (Monday)
After School - Kaneshiro's Club (Outside)
The sun was setting. It took most of the day to get back to Kaneshiro's club. As soon as they were outside, the first thing that they saw was the black car that they were following. This was the place, the three of them were all aware of that much.
"You ready to do something stupid?"
"While it wouldn't be the first time you did something stupid… I struggle to understand why you'd do something stupid for the girl you seem to hate."
"It's not about that. It's just… Even if she gets on my nerves, I can't just let her get wrapped up in whatever this is. And I mean… This is a mob boss who black mails students by having them traffic drugs. I don't want to imagine what someone like him would do to a teenage girl… Hell, Kamoshida was enough."
"...If you insist. I won't stop you, but just make sure you know what you're getting yourself into."
"Trust me. I'm very aware." Toya reached into his bag and pulled his bandana out. He stared at it and thought back to his father for a moment, closing his eyes.
"...You're gonna do what I think you're gonna do, aren't you?" Kai asked, staring at Toya as he held the bandana. "I'm sure dad would be proud of you for being brave, but he'd be disappointed if you went into something without realizing how dangerous it was."
"I know. But I'm gonna make him proud. I know it." He clenched his bandana tightly before tying it around the bottom half of his face. He opened the car door and stepped outside. "You should get out of here. I feel like things will get ugly if they realize there are cops here."
"If I leave, then how do you plan on getting away?"
"Don't you remember? I have the ultimate getaway tool." He took out his phone and started waving his phone back and forth. The two of them nodded at each other, and Toya began closing the car door. But as soon as he did, another car door opened, and Mishima stepped out. "...Mishima? What're you-"
"I-I wanna help, in whatever way I can!"
"...You realize that what you're saying is really dangerous, right? There's no guarantee that I can protect you. You might get hurt."
"I… I really wanna help. I mean… I feel like I've done nothing, and you did so much… I mean, you even dealt with Kamoshida and everything!"
Kai: "You can't just lie to him forever. He's gonna find out eventually, especially if you make enemies with the Thieves. If he's gonna find out… It'd be better if he heard it from you."
"...Alright. You can come, but you need to follow my lead. Alright?"
"Y-Yeah! Absolutely!" Mishima looked surprised that Toya accepted the offer, but he was really happy. But when Toya turned his head, and his eyes met Kai's for a moment… He saw concern. Kai's concern for the lie that was still going on. He couldn't worry about that right now though-he had to push that thought back. There was something more important at hand that he had to deal with. Mishima got next to Toya, and Kai drove off.
The two of them walked forward, but only far enough to see what was happening at the entrance to the club. There was someone standing in front of it-someone who probably wouldn't just let the two of them walk in. It looked like one of the people who were in the car with Makoto, but it was hard to tell. Nevertheless, he was in their way, and had to be dealt with.
"How do we deal with him? Do we wanna just rush him?"
"No, that's too risky. We'll cause a scene, and there's probably more people inside. Instead…" Toya stepped away and created distance from Mishima, crouching down to try and hide. "Get his attention. If he comes after you, I'll catch him by surprise."
"G-Get his attention!? How do you want me to do that!?"
"I don't know-throw something at him."
"O-Okay!" Mishima reached into his pocket and pulled out a pencil. "W-What if I miss?"
"You don't need to hurt him, just get his attention! If you have more, then throw more!" Mishima took a deep breath and stared at the pencil. His arms and legs were both shaky. He didn't realize how nerve wracking this would be when he said he wanted to help, but… He had a promise to keep. For just a brief moment, he stopped trembling and lifted the pencil into the air, throwing it in the general direction of the person at the entrance.
"Ah! What the hell was-" The guard was caught by surprise. He felt something hit his leg, and while it didn't hurt, it definitely caught him by surprise. He looked down and saw something at his feet. He picked it up and saw that it was just an ordinary pencil. "Alright, who the fuck is pullin' this shit? Huh!?" He looked around for a moment until he saw someone's arm poke out of a corner, as they threw another pencil at him. This one didn't hit-but it still pissed him off. "You're fuckin' DEAD, you hear me!?" The guard rushed towards where he saw the arm. Toya nervously looked at Mishima and started slowly stepping back, trembling. The guard turned the corner and saw Mishima standing there. "You messed with the wrong guy, kid." He cracked his knuckles, before feeling something poke his shoulder. "The hell is-UGH!" Before he could even finish turning his head, Toya punched him right in his face. He wasn't prepared for that at all, and stumbled back because of it. "Hey! Who the hell do you think you are!? I'll kill both of you, damn it!" He reached into his pocket for something, but before he could even pull anything out, Toya rushed in again, punching the guard in his gut. He staggered in pain and started stepping back again, but was met with another punch to the face before he could even step away. This time he was knocked straight to the ground, laying on his side with an angry look on his face as he started pushing himself up.
"Do the smart thing and stay down next time." Toya spoke in an obscured voice, before kicking the guard as he was trying to pick himself up, once again hitting him right in the face. The guard's eyes closed.
"Th-That was AWESOME! How did you-"
"No time! We gotta get moving quick, he won't be down forever!" Toya started running towards the club with Mishima following behind. The two of them stopped at the entrance, as Toya looked towards Mishima. "You need to stay out here. You don't have anything covering your face… Don't want Kaneshiro getting a look at you. Just stay out here and wait, alright?"
"O… Okay. Be careful though, alright?"
"I'll be fine." Toya tightened his bandana and slowly stepped inside.
"You sure you'll be okay in there?"
"You're here if I need the help, right?"
"Always."
"Then yeah. I'm sure." Toya kept going forward, before suddenly hearing a voice.
"So, whose number is this? Your boyfriend?" Toya got a look at the room before he stepped in. There were 5 people in there already. Makoto was on the floor struggling as someone kept her pinned down, who Toya recognized as the other person in the car. There was another guy sitting down on the table next to him. But behind him were two people, one was a girl, and the other was a guy who stuck out-the guy whose voice he heard. There was no doubt in Toya's mind. That had to be Kaneshiro.
"I get that mob bosses are supposed to be scum of the world and all…" Toya walked forward, still trying to alter his voice. "But Christ, I didn't expect you to be this ugly."
"Who the fuck are you!?" The man holding Makoto down said in an angry voice. She looked up at Toya-even with the bandana, she could recognize him by his hair and his eyes.
"Worry about what's gonna happen to you if you don't get off of her. Unless you want a repeat of what happened to the guy waiting outside, that is."
"You got followed, you dumbshits!" Kaneshiro's comically small face trying to look menacing almost got a laugh out of Toya-if he wasn't in the situation he was in, he would probably be hysterical by now.
"It should have been obvious from the get-go that it was a bait. Lucky for me, you guys were too stupid to realize what was happening."
"You little piece of-" The man restraining Makoto ran towards Toya, completely disregarding Makoto for a moment in blind rage. He clenched a fist and tried to hit Toya, but Toya simply dodged out of the way.
"Bad call." He grabbed onto the man's arm, then used his free arm to hit him in the eyes with his elbow, immediately following up with a knee to his gut. He let out a gasp of pain, before Toya simply grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him aside. He collided with the wall and collapsed onto the ground.
"Goddamn brat… sniffing around like a dog and barging in here like you own the joint! Do you know how much brats like you piss me off!?"
"That's real rich, coming from the guy who had a minor pinned to the floor a minute ago." Toya reached down and got Makoto on her feet again.
"Hey, boss! I got something!" Toya's eyes widened in shock. He recognized that voice. It was the man from earlier, the one he had knocked down outside. He walked into the room-and he was gripping Mishima by his hair, practically dragging him across the floor. He instantly glared at Toya. "These two brats ambushed me together outside."
"Is that so…" Kaneshiro chuckled, staring at the three students in Shujin uniforms. He took out his phone, taking a picture of them. "Oh, damn! I wanted to remember the moment of you three here, but I think I got some booze and cigs in the shot. I think there's even some drugs there, too."
"He's a real piece of work, isn't he?"
"You two." Kaneshiro was talking to his men now. "The kid in the bandana… Do whatever you want to him. Leave the other two out of this." They snickered under their breath, and started closing in on Toya.
"The one holding Mishima! Get him first!"
"On it!" He quickly turned around, his eyes locked onto the person behind him that was holding Mishima. He was already softened up from last time, so taking him down one more time wouldn't be hard at all. He let go of Mishima and rushed forward without thinking… which didn't surprise Toya in the slightest. As he tried punching him, Toya grabbed onto his fist, squeezing it tightly.
"So telegraphed. Could you at least pretend to know what you're doing?" Toya reeled his head back and smirked, before suddenly coming crashing forward, headbutting the person whose fist he was holding onto. He let go of him as soon as his head made contact, as the man was sent tumbling back and falling to the ground.
"Hya!" Toya suddenly heard Makoto's voice for the first time since he got here. He turned around and saw Makoto with one arm out… and the other guy sprawled out on the floor.
"Since when the hell can SHE fight!?"
"Works for you, doesn't it?"
"Tch… Goddamn brats… You have any idea who I am!? I can ruin your families, easy!"
"I'd say I'd ruin you first…" Toya rushed in faster than Kaneshiro could react to. He grabbed the hand that Kaneshiro held his phone in, while staring dead in his eyes. "But you were ugly as hell to begin with." With his free hand, he let out one last punch, this one directed straight at Kaneshiro. The force was enough to cause Kaneshiro's grip on his phone to loosen, as Toya grabbed it for himself. "Show's over, fatass!" Toya put Kaneshiro's phone in his pocket. "You two! Let's get the hell outta here!" Toya yelled out to Makoto and Mishima as he ran out of the club, the two of them following close behind. Kaneshiro had a furious look on his face.
"YOU THREE!" He yelled at his men, who were starting to come to their senses. "Get the hell up… AND KILL THAT GOD FORSAKEN PUNK!"
Seriously, Kaneshiro is SO GODDAMN UGLY. JESUS, DUDE.
I saw a couple of people question why Akechi's responding Arcana is The Sun. Allow me to explain really quick:
The Sun represents things like positivity, fun, and overall just being full of life. Does this fit Akechi, who we know as someone who is secretly a psychotic serial killer hellbent on revenge against his father? Absolutely not. I won't even try defending it.
But what you need to understand is that these are TOYA'S Confidants. As a result, these are how TOYA sees them, NOT us. And, at the moment, Toya doesn't know Akechi is a maniac. With that in mind, the description of The Sun fits what Toya-and realistically, everyone in the story at this point, knows Akechi as. Hopefully that makes sense!