Yu entered the apartment, still feeling a little woozy from the drug Shoichi had him take. The last thing he remembered was drinking the thing, and a very bright light. After that, he found himself tied, naked, to a chair, and when he began to struggle, Shoich informed him of what happened. And Yu then proceeded to get Futaba to get rid of any and all surveillance. The last thing he needed was some curious person to see the footage and have Narukami and Shoichi arrested, or worse still, for Sae to see him naked. Oh dear God, if that happened, Yu would die from embarrassment. On the plus side, Shoichi was able to get excellent data, and assured Yu that the next drug wouldn't make him do… questionable things. Once the checkup was complete, the Wild Card made his way home, exhausted from the whole affair. Much to his relief, he found the place empty. On the table was a giant bundle of tin foil, but the wrinkles made it clear it was supposed to cover what Yu assumed to be his dinner. On the tin foil was a single note.

"Here's your dinner Yu-kun. Please don't stay out so late next time -Makoto"

Yu couldn't help but smile at the gesture. He tore off the foil, and allowed the smell of the still warm food to invade his nostrils. Gobbling up the grub with admittedly more gusto than necessary, Yu finished his dinner quickly, and decided to start working on homework. Sure, it wasn't due until a week later, and it was already late enough, but his schedule was hectic, and there was no guarantee he'd be able to work on it later. With that in mind, he opened his school bag and went to work.

Sae Niijima barely managed to stifle a yawn as she entered her home. Work had been particularly bad tonight on account of the porn, no coffee, and the strange naked man. Still, the silver-haired prosecutor shouldered the burden with skill and ironclad discipline, as she always has. She was expecting the room to be devoid of all signs of life, but much to her surprise, she found Narukami at the table, sleeping. Upon approaching him, she saw that he had fallen asleep doing homework, a small puddle of drool forming on the table.

"And it isn't due until next week." She whispered to herself as she looked at the due date scrawled on the papers, impressed and pleased at his diligence. Making her way to a nearby cabinet, she retrieved one of the many blankets stored within, before making her way back to Yu and wrapping it around his slumbering form. She gently wrapped the cloth around her ward, and smiled.

"Sweet dreams Narukami." Were her last words before going into her room to get some rest of her own.

As Kawakami continued her lecture, Yu felt his phone vibrate.

Shiho: So what exactly do we know about Iwai?

Akechi: I've already told all of you everything I already know.

Yu: Nothing new has popped up?

Akechi: Only that the police are having a hard time tracking him down, and the number of victims in scams and prostitution are on the rise. Iwai's almost completely reclaimed everything Dojima-san and Sato-san took from him.

Hifumi: I wonder why he's given Ryuji and Yu such an abundance of time. You'd think he'd want to remove all the pieces as soon as possible.

Akechi: His rivals in the criminal underworld suffered mental shutdowns. He's most likely taking advantage of that, moving in, taking over territory, and reorganizing it to work with what he has. Managing his current empire must be busy enough, but integrating new pieces is no doubt time consuming. He can't afford to have too much on his plate.

Yu: He's also probably been stalking Ryuji for a while, and knows he's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. He's probably thinking that Ryuji's not even going to be able to act.

Morgana: And that's why he got you.

Shiho: Hold on. If Iwai's not having us destroy the SIU servers because he needs the time to fortify his empire, what would he do if Yu and Ryuji did it earlier?

Akechi: I imagine he has plans for that possibility. Most likely all it would do is force him to expand faster than he planned.

Morgana: But if he spreads himself too thin, isn't he at risk of destroying what he has?

Hifumi: Who would oppose him? His enemies in the criminal world are leaderless, and the police network would be crippled by the virus.

Yu: That's not going to happen. We'll take his heart, and bring down his network once and for all.

Shiho: Hell yea!

Morgana: Wait. What about Makoto?

Yu: I'll send her a message. Hopefully she'll leave me alone if I tell her I'm going to stay over at Akechi's. Then, we can start working on his Palace's key words.

Akechi: Good luck!

Yu had managed to convince Makoto that tailing him to Akechi's apartment was completely unnecessary, much to his relief. The rest of the Team had arrived shortly after school was over, all of them ready and eager to get started. If they pulled this off, not only would they become even more famous, not only would they have taken down a dangerous criminal that not even the great Dojima Narukami could defeat, but they would've gained the trust of Sae Niijima, opening the way to new, other corrupt targets. But first things first.

"So, anyone got any ideas?" Shiho asked, all bravado from before now gone without a trace.

They needed to actually access Iwai's Palace.

"Umm… let's see, we know that he's the criminal overlord in Shibuya. So maybe he sees something as a… control center?" Morgana guessed.

"Conditions have not been met."

"Maybe a theatre? Since he's controlling things behind the scenes." Shiho wondered.

"Conditions have not been met."

"We're wasting time trying to guess the distortion. If we can find out the location, we can combine that with what we know of his character to guess the distortion." Yu suggested.

"Seriously? Do you know how long that could take?" Shiho asked.

"We are not having any luck with this approach. Perhaps a different tactic is what we need." Hifumi replied.

"Alright. Do we know any places that Iwai goes to?" Yu asked.

"No. If we did, the police would've caught him by now." Akechi answered.

"Perhaps a store? A military one?" Hifumi guessed.

"Conditions have not been met."

"Should we try to go on some kind of search for info? Maybe become a victim of his so we can figure out where he's hiding?" Morgana asked.

"The risk of being put in harm's way far outweighs the rewards. Besides, wherever he's hiding may not be the location that's also distorted." Hifumi reasoned.

"We can't afford to give up. We're going to find Iwai's Palace, even if we have to guess every building in Tokyo." Yu affirmed.

"Candidate found."

The group quickly looked down in surprise, and saw that the second box had been filled.

"The location is… Tokyo?" Shiho asked in disbelief.

"We are dealing with a yakuza clan leader. It makes sense he'd have a broad perspective on things happening in the world." Akechi reasoned.

"Well, what would such a person see Tokyo as?" Morgana pondered.

Before anyone could at least try to answer, Yu's phone let up as it received a text.

Futaba: Big news. Just finished looking into that virus.

Yu quickly snatched his phone up and began to explain.

"I had Futaba analyze the virus I told you about."

"Why? We aren't planning on using it." Akechi pointed out.

"Well, we don't know what could be waiting for us in the Palace. Figured there might be a door that wouldn't be opened until Iwai was ready to advance his plans."

"That's… a bit of a stretch." Shiho retorted. Yu let out a sigh.

"Alright fine. You guys have been honest with me. The real reason I had Futaba look into it was because I wanted to know if it was as powerful as she said it was. And if it was… we could use it as a backup in case Sae or the SIU betrayed us."

"That's reasonable. It never hurts to have a backup plan." Akechi agreed.

"What did Futaba-chan say?" Shiho asked, moving so she could read over Yu's shoulder.

Yu: And? What did you find?

Futaba: You weren't kidding. Whoever made this must've been at it for YEARS. I upgraded my spare test computer with the best of the best cybersecurity, and even added some custom-made on top, and even that wasn't enough. Trust me when I say this virus could cripple the police network for weeks.

Yu: Wow. Thanks for letting me know.

Futaba: So what do you want me to do now?

Yu: Hold onto the flash drive. We might need it later.

Futaba: That it?

Yu: Actually, there's something else. Can you look into a guy named Munehisa Iwai?

Futaba: I can. But there isn't a magical site that can give me his life story.

Yu: Just find what you can and give me anything you think I should know.

Futaba: Aye aye captain!

"Well, while we're waiting for Futaba, we should keep-"

Yu got cut off by the sound of the door knocking. Sending out Izanagi, Yu had to suppress a groan upon finding out who it was. He ushered the others closer so he could whisper without tipping the guest off.

"It's Makoto."

"What do we do? We can't guess the words with her here!" Morgana pointed out.

"Akechi, do you have a deck of cards? We can play a few games while we wait for Futaba to gather some information." Yu suggested.

"I'll go get it. You answer the door." Akechi ordered, going to get his playing cards. Yu got up and opened the door. A fake smile spread when he saw his guardian's sister.

"Hey Makoto!"

"Hello Yu-kun. I know you said that you'd be Akechi's for a good while, but I just wanted to check up on you, make sure you're still safe."

"I appreciate it." Yu lied.

"Good. I know you're annoyed at me following your every step, but it's for your own good."

"And now that you know I'm safe and sound, you can go back home." Yu hastily responded, moving to close the door, much to Makoto's anger.

"Hey hold on! I came all this way to check up on you! You can't brush me off that easily!" Makoto stated, shoving her foot in the doorway to make sure Yu couldn't close the door. The Wild Card let out a sigh.

"Alright fine. My friends and I were just about to play a game called President." Yu informed, letting the student council president in. Crimson orbs widened as she entered the place the Detective Prince called home.

"This place is filthy Akechi-kun! How do you get anything done here?" Makoto asked in dismay as she surveyed Akechi's home.

"I focus on my work." The detective earnestly answered as he began shuffling the cards.

"You guys focus on playing. I need to make this place habitable." Makoto informed, making her way to the sink full of dirty dishes.

"Considering how good you are at cleaning, perhaps you should consider becoming a maid Makoto-san." Akechi suggested with a cheeky grin as Makoto went to work.

"You're only saying that because you want to see me in a maid uniform Akechi-kun." Makoto teased. Akechi didn't deny it.

"So. Shall we play a round of President?" Akechi asked.

"Or several." Yu added.

Especially if Makoto's going to stay.

"President? What's that?" Makoto asked as she started washing.

"It's a game where you try to get rid of your cards, and each card has a different strength." Akechi explained.

"And the winner gets the strongest card of the loser?" Makoto guessed.

"Yea. Have you played before?" Yu asked, surprised.

"I played a variation called Tycoon. Want me to teach you?"

"Um… you know what, why not?" Yu asked.

"Excellent. Let me just finish this."

As Makoto continued working on the dishes, Yu couldn't help but glance nervously at his phone, and hoped his guardian's sister would leave by the time Futaba sent him what he wanted. Akechi began to deal out the cards, leaving a pile for Makoto for when she inevitably joined.

"So while we're waiting, care to explain how Tycoon differs from President?" Hifumi asked.

"There's a few significant differences. First off, any 8s that are played instantly stop the turn, if the President, or Tycoon in this case, doesn't finish first, they instantly become a beggar, if you play four of the same cards, it starts a revolution, which flips card strength. Also, the three of spades is the only card that can beat a single Joker. Finally, if a revolution is happening, and someone puts down four cards of the same kind, it'll count as a counter revolution, and switch the card strength back to normal."

Makoto placed the last of the soaking dishes on a towel to dry for later.

"I'd get to work cleaning the rest, but you guys are waiting for me, so I'll hold off on those." Makoto explained as she plopped down between Morgana and Akechi.

"Oh, and one last thing; the one with the three of diamonds goes first, and then the beggar in all games after that."

"Guess I go first." Shiho declared, placing down three 4s, which was followed by three 5s from Shiho. Then Makoto dropped three 8s, and just like that, the round ended, allowing Makoto to place down two 7s, and the game continued as normal. It eventually got to the point that each person only had two cards. Yu laid down a king, then Shiho laid down an ace, and Morgana topped it off with a Joker. Akechi countered with a three of spades, chuckling while he laid down his final card, making him the Tycoon. When the rest was finished, Makoto was rich, Hifumi was poor, Morgana was the beggar, and Yu was a commoner.

"Oh sorry, I forgot to ask, but what's your name?" Makoto asked Hifumi.

"Hifumi… Togo." The shogi player answered, looking downtrodden as she did.

"I see. For what it's worth, I hope school isn't giving you too hard a time, considering what's happened."

"My popularity has plummeted, and almost all of my former friends have turned their backs on me. Only Yusuke is willing to spend any amount of time, and I suspect it's because he went through something similar with Madarame."

"Well you've got us now. If you need help let us know." Yu replied.

I know all too well the damage being an outcast by people you thought loved you can do.

"Thanks. But enough with the depressing stuff. We're here to have fun." Hifumi reminded.

"Right. Speaking of which, I'll take your best card, thank you very much." Makoto smugly stated. Hifumi handed over a Joker, a scowl now plastered on her face, while Morgana handed over her two best for Akechi.

"Ah, the Joker. What a useful card." Makoto stated.

"Alright Morgana, you're up first." Yu stated.

The second round began with Morgana laying down a pair of 5s. The match continued as one would expect, until everyone only had about three cards left. Hifumi placed down a 4, which was followed by the others until it got to Makoto, who stopped it with an 8, and followed it up with a double 3 in the form of a single 3 and a Joker.

"I underestimated you." Akechi muttered as he went bankrupt, and the round ended with Makoto being the rich one, Morgana being the commoner, and Yu was poor.

"Well look on the bright side Akechi. At least now you'll be able to tell if the shag carpeting is ruined." Yu said as Akechi began the new, and final round.

It started out normal enough, the cards slowly but surely being emptied from the players hands. But then Makoto placed down an 8 stop, flushing all cards. It was then that she placed down four 7s, beginning a revolution. Everyone was caught completely off guard, but did their best regardless, playing until Makoto only had two cards in her hand. The student council president laid a two, smug and confident in her victory. But then Hifumi laid down an 8 stop. And immediately followed it with three 2s and a Joker, starting a counter-revolution.

"You were certainly right Makoto. The Joker is a useful card." Hifumi said as Makoto's expression turned from confidence to horror. With the playing strength back to normal, Hifumi unleashed her strongest cards, utterly slaughtering the others. Once Makoto was bankrupt, she revealed the last card she had; a 3 of Hearts.

"Wow Makoto, you would've won if it wasn't for that counter-revolution!" Morgana pointed out.

"Yea. I would have." She growled, glaring at Hifumi, who gave a smile so sweet it could give someone diabetes. As everyone else finished up, Yu's phone rang, and it was none other than Futaba. The Wild Card was quick to grab it, excuse himself, and make way to outside the room before picking it up.

"That was fast Futaba."

"Well… I figured you should know this."

"What is it? What did you find out?"

"Well… absolutely nothing."

"... what?"

"I've scoured everywhere. The deep web, police records, social media. I couldn't find birth records, school records, and got nothing. In fact, the only information I can get is just public knowledge."

"Are you serious?"

"Yea. It's real fishy too. The internet is probably the greatest information mine out there, and my mining stats are maxed out!"

"You suspect there's something else to it." Yu guessed.

"It was the lack of info that the cops had that tipped me off. I mean, they pretty much had a team deathmatch with Iwai already, so they should've had something on him. But they didn't, and there's nothing else on the internet. Now the internet I could chalk up to him just not having that much of an online presence. He is yakuza after all, so it makes sense he'd want to keep on the down low."

"But there definitely should've been something in the files the police had."

"Yup. I think someone grinded some seriously tough quests to make sure there was as little info about Iwai as possible."

"But you can find something, right?"

"I can try. Next time I get in touch, it'll be to let you know if I found something useful, or if the mission was a failure."

"Don't give up Futaba. We have plenty of time and options." Yu half-lied.

The line went dead, and the Trickster pinched his nose, letting out a loud sigh. If they couldn't find a way into Iwai's Palace, then it wouldn't matter how much time they had, and if they couldn't find the keywords today, then they'd have to look into another way to get the info they needed.

Maybe we could find the names of associates in Mementos and interrogate them.

"Yu-kun? Are you coming back in?" Makoto asked, peeking her head out the door.

"Hm? Oh, yea. I'm ready for the next round." Yu informed her, entering his friend's apartment.

Well, I suppose it can wait. First, we just have to get rid of Makoto, and we can go back to work.

The games continued long into the afternoon. There were many betrayals, laughs, and bitter defeats mixed with sweet revenge victories. But, eventually, Makoto decided to head home, conveniently after a game that ended with her as the Tycoon, leaving the Team to their own devices. Unfortunately, that meant they were right back where they started. Stuck.

"You guys think we should start going home? It's getting pretty late." Shiho pointed out.

"No. We have to keep trying." Yu replied, staring at the phone as if doing so would magically get it to work. Akechi spoke up, stifling a yawn.

"I'm with Shiho. It's a long walk from here, and before long, the trains will stop running."

"Candidate found. Beginning navigation."

Everyone's heads snapped to attention at the words, and Hifumi looked at all the completed boxes as they were dragged into the Metaverse.

Munehisa Iwai. Tokyo. Train.