Hifumi was staring into space on the train ride to Yongen. To be more accurate, she was staring at her phone blankly, while the others were discussing ways to deal with Medjed. They were lucky to snag a few seats which made their ride a bit more comfortable. Ann, realizing Hifumi wasn't really paying attention to anything, gently nudged her with her elbow. "Hey, what's up?"

"Huh?" Hifumi blinked slowly. "Oh, I'm sorry…I was thinking about something else."

"What's on your mind? I don't think we're getting anywhere with Medjed yet…" Ann pointed to the others, who pretty much gave up for now. It was in their best interest to take a break.

"Well…you know Kaneshiro's defeat freed those under his grip?" Hifumi began, staring at her phone. "I thought it meant that my peers in shogi wouldn't give me those stares of ire. I won my match the other day, but it didn't feel like anything's changed. They still look at me like I'm a villain, and there were some whispers that I was a part of the whole scheme to win my matches…and I know that's not entirely wrong, but…"

"Hey, don't do that." Ann shook her head. "I mean…yes, you were being used, but it wasn't your fault. You didn't know. You were just playing your game…and people were taking advantage of that. But you can show them that you're better than that by continuing to win."

"Mmm…" Hifumi managed a slight smile at that. "Those are the first encouraging words I've heard about it for a while. I'm glad summer vacation is here. School was starting to become a bit unbearable. Do you recall how I said people weren't keen to talk to me? It wasn't just because I was feeling a little unwell…I think they were avoiding me intentionally."

"I know all too well how that feels…" Ann gave a slight nod. "People avoided me all the time, though I told you that before I think. It's gotten better since the incident at school was resolved and I know it stings. But you've got us around…and I know that you can prove them all wrong."

"Thanks, Ann…" Hifumi's smile softened.

"Shogi is really important to you, isn't it?" Ann asked.

"Mhm." Hifumi nodded. "I know my mother is a lot, and that sometimes it looks like I complain about things…but I love shogi with all my heart. My family situation is…a bit rough; to tell the truth, but playing the game and doing what my mother suggests helps me to support them. Plus…I want to become a professional shogi player like my father was. It helped us grow so close…and then he got sick."

"He's sick…?" Ann did recall Mitsurugi coughing a few times when they met briefly.

"Mhm, My mother has been doing a lot to get medicine for him. She told me it's on the expensive side..." Hifumi explained. This was the first time she was opening up about this. "I don't like talking about my family affairs publicly…"

"I get it." Ann nodded.

"But my father taught me all I know. He's actually a big part of the reason I'm allowed to be with you all." Hifumi explained with a fond smile. "He's always been able to get a yes out of her. I owe him so much."

Ann managed a slight, soft smile of her own. It was nice to hear that Hifumi had someone in her family that was looking out for her. "I'm happy for you. I would hate for you to lose your love for Shogi too…"

"I just hope the attention from my upcoming shoot doesn't draw more attention to me than I need…" Hifumi let out a small sigh at that one. "My mother wants to call it 'the Venus of Shogi'."

"As a model, I want to be excited for you, but…based on your expression, it doesn't seem like you really want to do it." Ann tilted her head.

"I don't really want to…but it'll help." Hifumi said, but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than she was Ann. "Maybe you could give me some tips?"

"I'd love to." Ann gave a playful smile. "If you're gonna do this, then I'll help you look great for it! You've already got a cute face, so…" She began looking Hifumi over curiously. "Let's see…

"C-Cute…?" Hifumi heard similar compliments before from boys, but when it came from Ann, she couldn't help but blush slightly.

"….." Morgana quietly seethed in jealously, watching Lady Ann interact with Hifumi like that.

.

.

They all arrived at Leblanc but with no ideas at all. They came up short on anything that was within the realm of possibility for them. "We came up with all sorta ideas on the way here, but…" Ryuji began with a heavy sigh. Nothing was working. "Looks like we got no choice but to ask for Alibaba's help."

"But how are we going to get in touch with them?" Ann asked.

"They cut off all communication after that misunderstanding." Yusuke said. "However, if we are able to change Futaba's heart, they may reach out to us once more…"

"But we don't have any clue what her keywords are!" Morgana had to present the biggest hurdle.

"Yeah, we're not going to get anywhere if we can't figure that out…" Ren said.

"Dammit, Alibaba. Where the hell are you!?" Ryuji grunted in frustration.

"You know…I've been thinking about this…" Hifumi spoke up. She wasn't entirely confident so her voice was quiet. "But…don't you think it's odd that this Alibaba has been the only one able to inform us about Futaba at all? It started when they asked to steal her heart…"

"I've been thinking the same thing." Makoto said. "They may be closer than we think. Hypothetically speaking, even if we did steal Futaba's heart, how would Alibaba know the deed is done? This leads me to believe they can monitor Futaba's condition. Not to mention, the letter Ren-kun received was delivered directly into the mailbox. That couldn't be done unless that person was in the immediate area."

"On top of that…Alibaba said they aren't able to meet with us…and that it's difficult to meet with Futaba as well. Wouldn't that mean seeing them together would be an issue?" Hifumi continued, feeling a bit more confident now that Makoto was on the same train of thought. "So…if we put the pieces together…it's very possible that Alibaba could be Futaba…"

Everyone's eyes went wide at the joint deduction. Not only were they impressed at how Makoto and Hifumi bounced off the same idea, but the notion that Futaba was the one potentially asking for her own heart to be stolen was a shock. "For real!?" Ryuji gasped.

"So…you're saying she's asking us to steal her own heart?" Yusuke couldn't fathom that, since nobody ever asked to have their heart changed.

"Maybe….she wants to escape from some painful memories?" Ann suggested. It was the best idea she could come up with.

"I'd like to speak with Boss. He lives nearby, right?" Makoto asked Ren.

"Yeah, I know where he lives." Ren nodded.

"I agree." Ryuji said. "But it's real late, though…what are we gonna tell him…?"

"We'll…say this take out sushi was a gift for him." Makoto said.

Morgana immediately had to object. "My fatty tuna…!" He whined.

"No complaining." Ann said.

"Let's all go together. Boss might get the wrong idea if Ren-kun and I go alone." Makoto suggested. As such, everyone made their way over to Sojiro's house. They arrived and rung the doorbell a few times, but there was no response.

"No one's responding…but the lights are on…" Hifumi stared up at a few windows.

"Think she's nappin'?" Ryuji asked.

"We've rung the doorbell so many times, I'm sure even Boss would've woken up." Ann said while looking at Ryuji. It was pretty odd that no one answered yet.

"If Futaba were here, I'm sure she'd answer too…" Morgana said. But they were still outside with no response.

Yusuke pushed his hand out toward the gate in front to test something. It was unlocked. "Oh, the gate is unlocked."

"You can't just…" Hifumi sighed. She felt odd about this.

"But look…the door is slightly open as well." Makoto pointed out. "I wonder why…that's rather careless."

"I wonder if something happened…" Hifumi mumbled. That's when thunder rumbled and she stiffened up. "Ah…!?"

"Whoa! Sounds like it's about to rain. We should get inside." Morgana really didn't want to get wet.

"Is that…okay…?" Makoto asked wearily.

"Should be fine." Ren nodded.

"…I'm sorry, Boss…" Hifumi and Makoto said together. Without further ado, the group quietly slipped into Sojiro's house.

"Hello…?" Hifumi spoke out quietly, but there was no response.

"He's not out, is he? The door ahead is open and I can hear the TV…" Makoto pointed out.

"He didn't pass out or anything, did he? Boss is kinda old, ain't he…?" Ryuji asked.

"I am kind of worried…" Ann admitted.

"Please excuse us…" Makoto whispered as everyone walked forward. Just as they walked, there was a flash and the power went out, leaving the house pitch black. There were two screams of surprise following this. "Did you hear that!?"

"Was that a scream…?" Yusuke asked.

"H-How should I know…!?" Morgana panicked.

"T-That first one was me…" Hifumi admitted, noticeably rattled by the power outage. The sudden boom of thunder didn't exactly do her any favors either, so she ended up clinging to Ann's arm in response…since she was the closest person to her. "The second one may have also been me…but I don't think I screamed twice…" There was also another noise upstairs that made her and Makoto panic. "Eeep…!?"

Ann was also freaking out in this situation. Being in someone else's house, uninvited, during a power outage? None of this sat right with her. "Let's get out of here, please! Can we just go?"

"What're you freakin' out for?" Ryuji scoffed.

"I-I-I'm not freaking out…!" Ann said, before just turning around and leading Hifumi back towards the front door. She was totally freaking out.

"I am…" Hifumi mumbled. Yusuke and Ryuji decided to follow.

"U-Uhm…I'm sorry…" Makoto shifted towards Ren awkwardly. "Can I…hold your hand?" She was terrified.

"Sure…" Ren nodded and Makoto clung to him. They started to walk back to the front door…but the sound of a door opening caused Makoto to freeze.

"Ah…!?" Makoto squeaked.

"I can sense someone's presence…" Yusuke whispered.

"Who is it…Who's there…?" Makoto looked left and right frantically. Ultimately she just couldn't take this anymore. "I'm leaving…!" She went to move, but she suddenly froze up, falling to her knees. "My legs…they won't move…" She suddenly felt someone looming over her from behind. Slowly, Makoto turned her head and saw…another girl. They made eye contact for a split second before the realization of fear set in. "AAHHHHHHH!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Futaba screamed and bolted upstairs as fast as she could, slamming a door behind her.

"A-Alibaba…! Futaba…!" Ann cried out. "H-Hey, come on, where are you! Show yourself!"

"I'msorryimsorrypleasesavemesis!" Makoto was done. She was clinging to Ren's leg, whimpering those words over and over.

"FUTABA! ARE YOU OKAY!?" Sojiro's voice came from outside.

"CRAP! He's home…!" Ryuji sucked his teeth.

"I knew this was a bad idea…! We shouldn't have come here…!" Hifumi closed her eyes tightly and held onto Ann, just letting her take the wheel as she, Ann, Ryuji, and Yusuke hit behind a corner. Ren would've joined them, but he couldn't move since Makoto was paralyzed with fear, clinging to his leg.

Sojiro opened the door. Since it was dark in the house, he couldn't quite see who exactly was in his home, but he saw their figures in the darkness. "DON'T MOVE!" He demanded while holding his hand out, reaching over nearby to grab a flashlight. When he turned the light on, he was…more than a little surprised at what he saw before him: Ren in his house, with Makoto clinging to his leg fearfully. "W-What are you doing in my house!?"

"Imsorryimsorryimsorrypleasesavemessissomeonehelp." Makoto's eyes were squeezed shut.

"Uh…." Ren rubbed the back of his head. This was…awkward.

"Ah…." Makoto now realized she was never in any danger. But she was caught red handed holding onto Ren. "Oh…G-Good evening…sir…we didn't mean…to intrude…" She stumbled over her words while attempting to regain her composure.

"Niijima-san…?!" Sojiro was confused, naturally. But then he also saw how Makoto was clinging to Ren and he had a thought. "Wait…are you two dating?!"

"T-THIS…." Makoto immediately stood up. "N-No…w-we're just friends!?"

"Friends nowadays get that close to each other?" Sojiro asked, skeptically.

"N-No…! This is…! Things happened…!" Makoto couldn't explain her way out of this one.

"We're….uh…" Ren didn't have an answer either.

"Um…" The others finally stepped in. Hifumi was still rattled so she was lightly holding onto Ann…before Sojiro's remark made her let go and blush, glancing elsewhere. This was very awkward. "W-We…um…are terribly sorry for this…" Hifumi stuttered.

"We came in to check on you, but the door was unlocked and we could hear the TV! We got worried you passed out so we came in, ahaha…" Ann hastily told the truth.

"The door was unlocked…?" Sojiro asked, questioning if he was that careless. And the answer was yes. "…I do that sometimes…I'm getting old…"

"Hey, so…" Ren began. "Is there…another person living in here?"

Oh. So they saw her. Sojiro couldn't very well deny it now. "Yeah…my daughter." He confirmed.

"And…would she happen to be…Futaba Sakura?" Makoto asked.

"Wh…you told Niijima-san too!?" Sojiro looked right at Ren, who rubbed the back of his neck.

"Is there a chance we could meet with her?" Hifumi asked sheepishly, unable to look Sojiro in the eye since she felt so guilty for coming into his house unannounced. "I um…the power went out, and I think when I screamed, she screamed…and then she saw Makoto and they both screamed…it was a mess. We'd like to apologize for frightening her…"

That…posed a problem. Sojiro crossed his arms, sighing quietly. "Well…that's…."

"Is she sick?" Yusuke asked.

"No…well…" Sojiro had a really hard time explaining this. There was silence as he was searching for an answer, but he knew he couldn't hide the truth from them. "I don't want you all getting the wrong idea. And I shouldn't have kept this a secret from you." He told Ren. This situation was the reason Ren hadn't stepped foot into Sojiro's house since arriving after all. "Let's go back to the shop. She'll hear us if we talk here."

.

.

After returning to Leblanc, Sojiro explained to everyone the story of Futaba and her mother, Wakaba Issihki. How Wakaba was a single mother raising Futaba like a normal family…and one day she committed suicide out of the blue, right in front of Futaba's eyes. After that, Futaba became a recluse and Sojiro just did everything he could to take care of her and help her. The last thing Sojiro asked of the kids was to just…leave Futaba alone. There was nothing to gain from bothering her, as far as he was concerned. "You all should get home soon, too. It is late." With that, Sojiro left and went back home to Futaba.

"I feel awful for prying into his personal affairs…" Makoto sighed. After hearing a story like that, she couldn't help but feel bad.

"Ah…" Hifumi sniffled, wiping her eyes as tears threatened to fall. "That's such a sad story…I want to give Futaba a hug and tell her everything will be alright…"

"No way in hell he's abusin' her." Ryuji said resolutely. They were worried about that possibility, but after hearing that story, it was impossible. Sojiro was just doing everything in his power as a guardian for Futaba.

"Futaba must want her heart changed because of what happened to her mother." Ann said.

"So she'd like to discard her feelings of pain, but can't do anything about it herself…" Yusuke surmised.

"I get it now." Ren said quietly. "With the visual and auditory hallucinations, it must be getting unbearable. I can't imagine what that's like…"

"Will changing her heart really help her, though?" Ann asked.

"If we manage to help her, we may be able to stand up to Medjed." Yusuke said while standing up from his seat.

"But…can we? I mean…she'd need a Palace, correct?" Hifumi mentioned while bringing up her phone.

"We may as well try it." Ryuji said. "The Futaba Sakura that lives in Sojiro Sakura's House. Is that enough?"

"Candidate found."

"What!?" Everyone was alert to hear that this was, in fact, a hit.

"Someone can have a Palace even if they're not evil!?" Ann was shocked. "Er, I mean…" She quickly backtracked because this included Hifumi's mother.

"I know what you meant." Hifumi said.

That was a relief. Ann still needed an answer to her question. "Hey, Morgana…?" No response. Now that she thought about it, Morgana had been oddly quiet since they got back. It was almost like he wasn't…there…. "…Where's Morgana?"

"I haven't seen him for quite some time." Yusuke admitted.

"Did he…stay in the house?" Hifumi questioned. It seemed like the most likely place.

"He's a cat, he'll be fine." Ryuji said. "We should probably get goin' though. The trains are about to shut down for the night…and we got that pain in the ass assembly tomorrow."

"Assembly? What about…?" Yusuke was surprised to hear they had to go to school.

"Shujin has been gaining a lot of attention since Medjed called us out." Ann explained. "So they want to remind us not to add any fuel to the fire, stuff like that."

"That sounds like a huge hassle…" Hifumi pointed out.

"It is! We gotta meet up over every god damn little thing!" Ryuji groaned.

"It is our fault, technically." Ann said.

"We can contact each other later." Makoto said. "It's best to head back for now. We'll try something again tomorrow."

.

.

Futaba was in her room, listening in on the conversation in Leblanc. She was thankful they realized Sojiro wasn't abusing her or anything, but it was pretty interesting how they were openly talking about her Palace…or something. "Is that what they were talking about in the messages…?" Her train of thought was interrupted as Morgana scurried from under her desk and out of her door. "W-When did that cat get in here…!?" As if she was going to get an answer.

.

.

Date: ?

"Hold on…" Sae interrupted Ren's story. This part intrigued her for a number of reasons. "While Medjed was targeting you, you went after someone completely unrelated? And you're saying that Futaba Sakura had one of these 'Palaces'?"

"That's right. Medjed was an unseen enemy." Ren replied.

"Then how was Medjed…" Sae didn't understand. But that's why she was having Ren explain. "What you said about the Sakura household falls in line with our investigation, so it appears that you're not feeding me a false testimony."

"Finally listening?" Ren jabbed. He had Sae's attention a little bit, but now it seemed like she was finally beginning to listen to him.

Sae rolled her eyes to that. "If you're lucid enough for jabs, you can continue your story."

.

.

June 25th.

That was one terribly long and boring school assembly. But it was over and everyone could properly gather at Leblanc in Ren's room. To pass the time and to keep themselves energized, there were some snacks on the table. Ryuji was slumped over his chair, sighing. "Man, that assembly had me bored to tears…"

Ann looked at Yusuke and Hifumi…who for some reason were also in their school uniforms. "Er…did you two have school, too?"

"I'm doing laundry and this is the only thing I have to wear." Yusuke responded.

"…We gotta get you some more outfits." Ann sighed.

"The photoshoot for my magazine cover is later today." Hifumi explained with a quiet sigh. "They wanted me to take some shots in my school uniform. It's been the norm with a few ads I've been on as well…"

"Oh, I think I saw those in passing in Shibuya…" Ren said while taking a chip in his mouth.

"Oh, let me help you out a bit…!" Ann said, swinging her legs a bit.

"I'd like that a lot." Hifumi smiled in return.

Makoto was the one who had to get everyone back on track. "Come now, we didn't meet to make small talk. We need to get to Alibaba's case."

"I'll start." Morgana said. "Futaba is a young girl with a young sounding voice, probably near your age if not a bit younger. It turns out she's been listening in on Leblanc."

"But…why would she do that?" Hifumi asked.

"No idea…" Morgana admitted.

"It's like Boss said, she a tough nut to crack." Ryuji said.

"We found out she had a Palace, but can someone who isn't evil have one?" Ann asked Morgana, getting back to her question from yesterday.

"Palaces are created by someone's warped cognition. It doesn't mean they're inherently bad, but it just turns out that a lot of warped people turn out evil." Morgana explained. "She has hallucinations right? They might be connected and warped by the distortion…"

"But she's so young…" Makoto frowned. Compared to the past targets of the Phantom Thieves, Futaba was just a kid… "The pain she must be going through in her heart is terrible…"

"So all we gotta do is steal her Treasure, right?" Ryuji asked. "Are we all in agreement?"

"She asked us to steal it. So I don't think that part is an issue." Makoto said.

"So we're heading into her Palace." Yusuke said.

"Hold on." Morgana had to bring up a good point. "This won't be like anything we've done before. Having a person ask their heart to be stolen is an extremely irregular case. Who knows what's going to happen in there."

"I think we can do this." Hifumi said with a firm nod. "I want to do this. I want to help her. I think we all share that same sentiment."

"If we can heal Futaba's heart, we can help Boss and even take on Medjed." Makoto added.

"I think we're ready for this." Ren said as the leader of the Phantom Thieves. "Let's head over and see if we can't find out her keyword."

.

.

They had no leads on Futaba's keywords. They had the 'who' and the 'where', but lacked the 'what'. It was clear the group wasn't going to get lucky like they did with Kaneshiro, so they were going to have to get a peek into Futaba's mindset from the girl herself. This involved sneaking into Sojiro's house again, much to the chagrin of Hifumi and Makoto. But Morgana led them to Futaba's door, which stood out among the rest with its bright color and the keep out signs. "This is Futaba's room." Morgana said.

"…If Boss finds us in here again I'm going to die." Hifumi mumbled. Sneaking into his house a second time just kept her on edge.

Makoto took the lead, knocking on the door. "Futaba-chan, are you in there?" No response. Makoto decided to keep going. "I wanted to apologize for last night. It got dark…and I got scared. I really didn't mean to frighten you."

"A-And I'm sorry about startling you too." Hifumi spoke through the door. "I wasn't expecting to scream…and to hear another scream in response." Still nothing.

"She's not responding." Yusuke said.

Time to switch tactics. Makoto had an idea of what it was she had to do. "You're in there, aren't you…Alibaba."

Immediately after she said that, Ren's phone buzzed. "…Huh. She responded."

"Does she not like us using her name?" Ann asked.

"We can figure that out later, but we need her keyword first." Morgana said.

Alibaba: What are you doing here?

"Our leader would like to speak to you." Makoto said. "You don't have to answer verbally, chat messages are fine. We just have a few questions for you."

Alibaba: OK. What do you want to know?

Ren: How is living in this house? Why don't you go out?

Alibaba: Painful. And I can't. I'm going to die in here.

"D-Die…?" Ann and Hifumi whispered at the same time, shocked to hear that Futaba would say such a thing.

Ren: Die?

Alibaba: Yes. I'm definitely going to die here. This place is my tomb.

"Tomb…could that be it?" Ryuji said while looking at the others.

"Try entering it!" Morgana said. Ren did and…it was a hit.

Alibaba: Was that enough?

Makoto gave a slight smile, even though Futaba couldn't see it. "Yes, it was plenty. We'll follow through on our deal."

Ryuji reached over to grab Ren's phone. "Yoink! Let's get going!"

"WAIT!" Everyone's eyes went wide as Ryuji, once again, acted first without thinking and pressed the button, throwing everyone into the Metaverse….

.

.

It all happened so fast. One second they were in Sojiro's house, the next they were standing in the middle of the desert. As soon as the hot, dry air hit them, they also recognized they were standing on arid sand. So everyone started bouncing around to keep their feet from burning up. "HOT! IT'S HOT!" Ryuji panic yelled while flailing around.

"W-Why are we in a desert!?" Hifumi bounced around frantically. "Somebody do something…!"

"M-Morgana! Hurry up and transform!" Ann pleaded.

"I-I know! I know!" Morgana leapt forward and turned into a bus. As soon as he landed on the sand, everyone scurried inside and he began to drive off. There was a bright light up ahead and he could only assume that was their destination. "I've got the AC on full blast…!"

"Thank goodness…" Hifumi sighed. It was so hot and stuff in the car, however, that she had to take off her blue vest and place it on her lap. The heat was already getting to her. "Ugh…what's going on here…"

"What I wanna know is why Ryuji acted so recklessly! I told him not to activate it!" Morgana sighed, pretty annoyed.

"I wouldn't have minded so much if we were dropped off into a desert." Ren fanned himself, trying to keep cool. Even with the AC on…it was unbearably hot. "We were right outside her room…so how aren't we in the Palace…?"

"Her desire to keep people away from her is very strong…" Yusuke said, struggling due to the heat as well. Nobody was having a good time right now.

"Her Palace must be that shining light in the distance." Makoto lifted her head up weakly. "A tomb in the desert, I see...ugh."

"It feels different here than it does in Kaneshiro or my mother's Palace..." Hifumi remarked. "More...desolate..."

"But why didn't our clothes change?" Ryuji was leaning against the door.

"She asked us to do it, so of course she doesn't see us as a threat…that's why they didn't change." Morgana said.

"I hope it doesn't take long to get there…I'm dying…" Hifumi closed her eyes and just leaned against Ann's shoulder. Since she was in the middle of Makoto and Ann, she didn't really have anywhere else to lean to. Everyone was sweating a lot. "Too stuffy…"

"I know…" Makoto groaned, leaning forward against the dashboard, her hands on the wheel to ensure that Morgana was at least driving straight. "But it beats opening the windows to the hot desert air…"

"Ugh…" Ann tilted her head back. At this point, the girls were sweating so much; it turned their white shirts see-through, giving an unintentional view. "What I wouldn't do for something cold…"

"Don't you have mineral water…? Can I have a drink…?" Makoto mumbled.

"I drank it already…" Ann replied tiredly.

"I already asked, too…" Hifumi groaned.

"Ugh…." Makoto just sighed. This sucked. "How are the boys doing…?"

Ann leaned back against the seat, attempting to cool her chest by pulling her shirt back and forth. She turned her head to look back and…the boys were leaning over the seat, looking at the view of the girl's see through shirts. Ryuji had the worst expression, taking note of how Ann's bra was pink, Makoto's was blue, and Hifumi's was green. Infuriated by the perversion, Ann grabbed the emergency brake and pulled on it. "TAKE THAT!"

This caused Morgana to lose control for a little bit. "Meowugh! Knock it off!" How was he supposed to drive straight if they were messing around!?

"GAH!" The boys were thrown around in the backseat as a result, all of them ending up on their sides or upside down. Their punishment for looking was getting tossed on their asses.

Makoto was too irritated and hot to say anything, Hifumi was also knocked around a little bit but ultimately fine, and Ann was extremely huffy about all of it. "Morons." Ann said while crossing her arms.

"The more I hang out with Ren, Ryuji, and Yusuke, the more I see why my mother wants me to stay away from boys…" Hifumi was pretty irritated and it showed if she was agreeing with something her mother said. But this was also her irritation from the heat talking…she didn't really mean it, but it was something that had to be said regardless.

Ren was the first of the boys to recover, looking up ahead as the shining pyramid in the distance began to grow closer and closer. "Hey, is that it…?"

"There we go…" Makoto sat up. The heat was killer, but she felt better knowing they were encroaching upon their destination after a hot drive. Their goal was straight ahead: The Pharaoh's Tomb.