In the real world…

"Well, we've went in and confirmed the presence of a Jail. Next, we find and look into information about Alice and any potential victims of hers." said Morgana with a serious look on his face.

"Yeah, Morgana-san." said Sumire as she nodded at Morgana.

"He's gone again, just like Sophia-san. More suspicion and proof that Ryoji-san isn't like these guys and girls…" thought Isamu as she look around for Ryoji and didn't see him with them.

"And how do we do that? Look into what?" said Ryuji with a confused look on his face.

"Ryuji…" thought Ann as she shake her head at Ryuji.

"The usual rumor mills, lookin' for anything about Alice. Gossip about her being abusive or other messed up stuffs." said Futaba.

"Good idea. Let's gather any intel that we can, both online and on the streets." said Makoto.

"Hm, I've got the web crawling copycat." said Futaba.

"But if we're ever to gain conclusive proof of any rumors, I believe we'll need direct access to her at some point…" said Yusuke with a concern look on his face.

"Direct access to a fashion pop star sounds awfully tough…" said Haru, concernly as well before she, Hanzo and the others glance at both Minato and Ann.

"Oh yeah, we forgot that Arisato-san and Takamaki-san are just as famous as Hiiragi-san." said Doctor Maruki with a small nod of his head.

"Figures and was wondering when you all will glance, think and suggest Minato-san or Takamaki-san as the ones for direct access to Hiiragi-san just because they're as famous as her…" said Goro as he scowled at them.

"There, there, Gocchan…" said Minato calmly to Goro (which erased the scowling look off his face and make Hanzo felt jealous).

"Uh, about that… The 2 of us may get to meet Alice tomorrow?" said Ann hesitantly to Akira and the others (which surprise them).

"Uh, yeah, that's right…" said Minato hesitantly as well.

"Is that so? Why is it you didn't tell me and our brothers about it, Minato-san?" whisper Goro suspiciously and coldly at Minato.

"That's because I forgot about it until Ann-san say it, sorry, Gocchan." whisper Minato apologetically to Goro.

"I see, you forgot, huh? Then I sure hope that you didn't forget to tell me important stuff like seeing someone or doing something next time, Minato-san." whisper Goro slightly warningly to Minato.

"I won't, Gocchan." whisper Minato reassuringly to Goro.

"Wha… For real? How?" said Ryuji in surprise to Ann.

"Well, I had asked the modelling agency's president if I could meet her sometimes. I heard she'd be on a TV show filming nearby, so I ask if I could visit the set. I was hoping to learn from her by watching her in action… I gave up on it after making plans with you guys and girls, but I might be able to get the ball rolling again in time…" said Ann.

"The timing's nothing short on kismet…" said Yusuke.

"Totally." said Pharos in agreement with Yusuke from within Minato's soul.

"Yeah, way to go, Lady Ann! And you too, Lord Minato!" said Morgana happily and proudly to both Ann and Minato.

"Thanks, Morgana." said Minato as he nodded at Morgana.

"But I'm not making any promises about it. And there's no way we'd get to approach her either, famous or not. Plus, our full group's just too big. The most Minato-senpai and I could even ask to bring is just one more person…" said Ann.

"I see. So which among us is suitable enough to go with Arisato-kun and Takamaki-san…" said Kanakubo-sensei with a pondering look on his face before he, Doctor Maruki, Goro and Ken saw the others all glance at Akira.

"Of course they all look and volunteer me as the one to go with Ann and Minato-san. Why am I not surprise?" thought Akira in slight exasperation in his mind at them.

"Welp! That settles that. We're counting on ya, Akira!" said Futaba excitedly to Akira.

"Give Alice shit when you meet her so you can get some evidences out of her." said Ryuji.

"Very well, I'll do my best." said Akira.

"Good luck, Kurusu-kun." said Doctor Maruki gently to Akira.

"I think I'll tag along with you. We'll be fine so long as no one sees me. For today, let's focus on her potential victims." said Morgana to Akira and the others before they left their meeting place, split up and began their search of Alice victims in Shibuya.

XXXX

A few minutes later…

"So, how'd it go for you all? Any of you learn anything useful about potential victims?" asked Makoto to Akira and the others after they're done in their investigating and regroup back in their meeting place.

"Yeah. We spotted a couple familiar faces." replied Ryuji as he scratch his head a little.

"We've found some of the people who were attacked by the Shadows in the Jail." said Morgana.

"You did?" said Doctor Maruki with a surprise look on his face.

"You really found them!?" said Ann, surprised as well.

"Yes, we did, Ann, Doctor Maruki." said Akira with a nod of his head.

"Which means, the ones that some of you have seen ambushed in the Jail was indeed only their Shadows and not their human forms." said Yusuke.

"That's a relief, at least." thought Sumire with a relief look on her face.

"But, there's still one thing… They're all actin' real weird…" said Ryuji.

"Weird how?" asked Haru with a confuse look on her face.

"They're all totally crazy for Alice. They're even gettin' loans from others so they can buy more shit at her store. That's pretty weird." replied Ryuji.

"Hm, you're right, it is weird." said Hanzo.

"Now that you mention it, I saw others behaving similarly in the underground station in Shibuya." said Yusuke.

"Yeah. I saw this one couple nearly splitting up when the girlfriend saw her boyfriend bought and bring back everything Alice-related he could find in the underground mall…" said Ann.

"There were even people let go from their jobs because they weren't Alice fans themselves." said Makoto.

"I've even found some reports of Alice fans straight-up assaulting outspoken critics of hers." said Futaba.

"What? Now that's just terrible!" said Doctor Maruki with an outraged look on his face.

"Not to mention petty and stupid too." said Goro with a blank look on his face.

"At first I figured Alice was just the latest fad, but… this seems so much worse than that." said Haru with a worry look on her face.

"Maybe the people who had their Desires taken from them went crazy?" said Morgana.

"You may be right, Morgana-senpai…" said Sumire, worry as well.

"If that's the case, then we need to do something about it." said Makoto with a serious look on her face.

"Agreed. If such aberrant behaviour continues to rise, we could easily found ourselves in an unwinnable situation and position." said Yusuke with a serious look on his face as well (which make Isamu stared in slight awed at Yusuke for a moment before she quickly look away).

"With the Metaverse involved, we're the only one who can stop this." said Morgana.

"Mmhm. We have to help!" said Haru in agreement with Morgana.

"And we will, Haru, together like we did last year." said Hanzo reassuringly to Haru (who glance and smile at him while Akira felt and heard his phone vibrating and he take his phone out to see Sophia).

"It looks like you all have finished gathering intel on Alice victims. Would you like to meet and investigate her next?" asked Sophia as she glance at Akira.

"Yeah. Tomorrow with Ann and Minato-san at the TV station, Sophia." replied Akira as he nodded at Sophia.

"Yep… Let's break for today and pick this back up tomorrow after your trip." said Ryuji.

"Good luck with the Alice visit tomorrow, you four." said Makoto.

"Thanks, we're on it!" said Morgana as he nodded at Makoto before he, Akira and the others left their meeting place, went to the subway station and take different train rides home.