Akechi and Morgana had finally arrived at Dome Town, the amusement park that was second only to Destinyland in terms of popularity. But since that place was rather pricey, many teenagers found Dome Town to be an adequate substitute. Morgana was absolutely in awe of the massive steel behemoths that were the rollercoasters, the playgrounds that were the carnival games, and was incredibly disappointed at the lack of sushi to be found. Akechi, however, was focused solely on finding his other Team members, a briefcase handcuffed to his hand.

"Are we sure they're still here? You think they might have left already?" Morgana asked as they took a stroll down to the haunted house ride.

"They have to be. I told them we'd be coming here." Akechi stated, scanning the area for a pink hair band and silver hair.

"Oh look! There they are!"

Akechi looked to where she was pointing to, and sure enough, he saw Yu, Shiho, Ann, and Ryuji leaving the haunted house ride, with Yu at Shiho with a worried look, as the girl had both of her hands cupped on her mouth, as if she was ready to vomit. Ann, however, was clinging to Yu and Ryuji for dear life, a fact that annoyed the blonde punk. Akechi approached the two.

"Oh, there you are Akechi. We were waiting for you." Yu greeted as Shiho let out a very audible gulp.

"I apologize for the wait. It was very difficult for me to keep Morgana focused with all the attractions."

"Oh hey Akechi, what are you doing with the new girl?" Ann asked before letting out a gasp.

"ARE YOU TWO ON-"

Yu was ready this time, and clasped his hands over Ann's mouth before any other students could get whiff of whatever inaccurate statement she was about to make. He then turned to Akechi with a small grin.

"So, now that you're here, we can get down to schoolwork, yes?"

"Dude, for real? We're in the middle of a big-ass amusement park, and you wanna work on school stuff? Even though we've only been on one ride?" Ryuji asked, disappointment evident in both his face and voice.

"It's important for me, sorry. Thanks for going with us on the ride, it was fun." Yu said as he and Shiho walked away, leaving their two other friends behind.

"Was he serious back there? You've been here for hours on end, and you only rode one ride?" Morgana asked.

"Yup. Because someone didn't know where they were going." Shiho answered, glaring at Yu, who turned away sheepishly.

"Well, in any event, do you still have the flash drive?"

Yu fished into his pockets and handed it to the crimson-eyed detective, who smiled.

"Perfect. Now, we just need to sit down and get straight to work. And maybe even sample some pancakes while we're at it. I heard this diner is remarkably fast at making them." Akechi informed as they entered a sit-down restaurant. Shortly after placing their orders, Akechi opened up his briefcase and pulled out his computer. Inserting the flash drive, everyone else watched over his shoulder to see what exactly Yu got from the field trip. After a short while, the screen went black, then walls of red text flying through, and Akechi smiled.

"Now all we need to do is wait and- wait, hold on. Something's not right." the detective pointed out, his smile vanishing as soon as it appeared. On his screen, instead of red text, there was now a red exclamation mark inside a red triangle. The sign soon vanished, and in its place were the sentences; "Unauthorized access detected! Activating emergency protocols!"

"What does it mean by-" Morgana began, only to be cut off by an explosion.

Mitsuyo Togo sat in her office, clicking a single finger on her desk in annoyance as she typed away at her computer with her other hand. Someone had managed to not only infiltrate her fortress, but also steal priceless information under her nose, and escape. And no one would have been the wiser, had it not been for a hidden program she installed to alert her of a security breach and then trace it back to the source. Her computer itself was mostly untampered with, and it appeared the thief had copied files and then transferred them to a flash drive, but that was a small comfort to the head of Japan's greatest TV conglomerate. After confirming that they also managed to transfer her failsafe virus, the woman visibly relaxed. Her empire was safe, for now.

"Alright thief. Let's see what mistakes you made." Mitsuyo said to herself as she walked over to a nearby display case holding a crimson oni mask. The previous cameras had been hacked and put on a loop, shielding the intruder's identity. But, there was another camera, one only she knew about, and wasn't hooked to any network. Pulling the oni mask out of its case, she held it up to the light and saw that the two cameras were still in its eye sockets, obscured by the case itself. She flipped it over, revealing a chord tied up neatly with a USB plug. Untying it, she plugged in the USB and let the footage roll. Fast forwarding to the time of the break-in, she saw a boy enter and plug in a flash drive. He had his back to the camera, and the woman grumbled, until he turned around. Mitsuyo was prepared to zoom and enhance, but stopped when the thief started to walk around the room, and got close to the mask. Very close. Mitsuyo smiled, glaring at the crystal clear face in front of her. Pausing the video, she called up one of her many agents.

"Hello Emiko. I have a face I need you to sniff out. Start with the students attending Shujin Academy. I expect results by next week." The woman ordered, sending the picture to an email address.

Whoever this kid was, he just signed his death warrant.

Smoke was pouring from the wreckage that used to be Akechi's computer, the three teenagers and one timeless entity coughing up a storm as they tried to clear the smoke with their hands. Thankfully, the sudden explosion wasn't enough to hurt anyone, but it was bad enough to activate the sprinklers and set off the fire alarm, causing a panic. After the situation was under control, the four were subsequently kicked out and told they would never be allowed in Dome Town again. At first, Yu thought they were exaggerating, until they took the highschoolers' photos and fingerprints. Now, they were standing in the parking lot, wondering what to do next.

Well… that really blew up in our faces.

Not funny.

"That certainly didn't go the way I hoped." Akechi stated between coughing fits.

"What happened?" Shiho asked.

"I'd say we tripped some kind of boobytrap. Sorry about the computer." Yu explained.

"I have others, don't worry. Plus, all the data is backed up in the Cloud, so nothing all that valuable was lost. If anything, I should be saying sorry to you, since you risked your life for nothing." Akech replied.

"Now what do we do?" Morgana asked

"We still need a better idea of her personality, or we aren't getting into the Palace anytime soon." Akechi replied.

"Well, how about we go to the guy who gave you this tip to begin with?"

Akechi looked outside. The sun was going down, but it couldn't quite be called a sunset just yet.

"If we're lucky, he might still be at the school painting. Follow me, we might be able to catch him." Akechi ordered, making his way to the train station, discarding the ruined computer in a trash can. It only took them about an hour to arrive at their destination; a highschool that Yu was unfamiliar with.

"This is Kosei High. My informant is likely at the roof." Akechi informed, making his way through the school gates, his friends following closely behind. By now, most of the students had already gone home, giving the school halls barren. Once they reached the roof, they saw two people on the roof. One was a girl with a red braid in her hair that was in the shape of a three-leaf clover. The other was a boy with dark blue hair, and was playing against the girl in a game of shogi. Yu recognized them both as Yusuke and Hifumi, respectively. And they recognized him.

"Hey, aren't you that blonde boy's friend?" Hifumi asked

"Yu Narukami, yes. Surprised you remember me."

"I've seen you a surprisingly often number of times in a few days." Hifumi replied, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"Must be a coincidence."

"If you don't mind Hifumi-san, we have business with Kitagawa-san." Akechi interrupted.

"That's perfectly fine. I was just leaving." Hifumi said, packing up the board and heading out, glaring at Yu the whole way. Akechi took her spot and sat across from Yusuke.

"How may I be of assistance Akechi-san?" The young artist asked.

"We need some information, if you would be so kind."

"I'm afraid I've told you everything I know that's related to the case."

"You didn't tell me why exactly you started. Why did you decide to go after Mitsuyo Togo?"

"That's rather confidential information Akechi-san."

"We've hit a bit of a roadblock. We can't keep going without your help."

Yusuke placed both of his hands under his chin and looked down to the ground.

"Yusuke, people's lives could be in danger." Akechi pressed, earning a sigh from the student.

"Very well. The girl you saw leave, Hifumi, is Mitsuyo's daughter." Yusuke started, and the group leaned forward, earning a nasty stare from the artist.

"They're with me. Continue."

"It started a few weeks ago. Often times, Hifumi comes up here to practice her shogi skills, and declared that anyone who bested her would take her out on a date. Thanks to her natural beauty, she had no shortage of challengers. But, everytime she played, she had a fire that would light itself and never vanish until the match was over. I have captured that flame many times when I was starting out."

"I'm sensing an important 'but' in there." Morgana interrupted.

"But starting a few weeks ago, that flame has failed to show itself whenever she plays. Not only that, but she had been confronted by many men outside of our school. That's when I confronted her about it."

"And what did she say?" Yu asked.

"She said that her mother had recently begun forcing her to start modeling in place of shogi. At first, Hifumi was fine with it, but slowly but surely, the modeling consumed more and more of Hifumi's life, replacing her time for the sport."

"Why is Hifumi so obsessed with this game?"

"Her father was once renowned across the nation as one of the greatest shogi players in history, but has sadly been ill for a few years. Hifumi admires her father to the point of worship, and wishes to not only make him proud, but also to be like him."

I know how that feels .

"And because Hifumi can't pursue her dreams, she's starting to feel like a prisoner." Akechi finished.

"Hifumi herself was also well-known in the shogi world, but now, she's starting to become shunned there, being seen as a sellout by fellow shogi players. Worse, the modeling is starting to make her more and more popular, thanks to her mother's connections."

"So if this keeps up, her reputation as a player will be beyond repair. Then she'll never be able to do what she wants in life." Shiho stated.

"Yes, and her flame would be forever snuffed out. I could not allow that." Yusuke finished.

"What exactly did you think you could do? I mean, it's not like you could sue her for forcing her daughter to do something she didn't want to do." Yu replied.

"Perhaps, but I knew Hifumi's mother was a prominent media mogul. I figured that someone that powerful would have to have some dirt to use against them. And my demands wouldn't be completely unreasonable, just stop forcing Hifumi to be model. But I certainly wasn't expecting what I found."

"The recording." Yu guessed.

"Yes."

"Is there anything else you think could help?"

"I once asked Hifumi why she didn't ask her mother to stop, she simply replied that her mother had rarely listened to her daughter in any circumstance, and always did something if she could gain something from it. And she's gained much from Hifumi's misfortune."

"I see. Thank you for your help." Akechi said as he got up, followed shortly by his friends. The four left the school and Yu pulled out his phone as they started walking.

"Alright, since that was rather fruitless, I'll give you what I've learned through official channels." Akechi stated, reaching into his coat and pulling out a portfolio. Opening it, he skimmed the papers.

"From what I've been able to learn about her, she started the Togo Information Network from scratch using the money she obtained from her marriage from one Kaito Togo, a well-known and wealthy philanthropist, and quickly developed a reputation for uncovering corruption in the upper echelons of society, often at great personal risk, or so the story each person she exposed, she grew in fame, and her popularity made her an inspiration to many journalist. And now, word has it that she's grooming her daughter to follow in her footsteps. That's about all I have."

"Well, we've tried everything to get info. Now, we just have to figure out the codewords." Morgana said, a little disappointed.

"Let's see… Togo residence." Akechi guessed.

"Candidate not found."

"Are there any places she goes to a lot?" Shiho asked.

"Let's try… Togo News Station." Yu guessed.

"Candidate found."

"Alright! Now for the distortion."

"Let's see. What would a controlling mother see as her workplace?" Akechi pondered.

"A bunker?" Shiho guessed.

"Candidate not found."

"A warship?" Akechi asked.

"Candidate not found."

"A battleground?" Morgana pleaded.

"Candidate not found." Shiho let out a groan.

"Got anything Yu?" Akechi asked, defeated.

Yu thought back to what they knew about Hifumi's mother. She was stubborn, selfish, and very powerful. But there was something else, something he felt he should be remembering. He thought long and hard until Izanagi provided an answer.

You think it has something to do with that room?

Yu's mind raced back to Mitsuyo's office. He remembered the room was dotted by artifacts from the feudal era, from armor to masks. She held some admiration and love of that time period. Perhaps…

"Fortress?"

"Candidate found. Please approach destination to begin navigation."

The group let out mighty cheers that got several weird looks from pedestrians. But Shiho looked up at the golden sun starting to dip and a worried look arrived on her face.

"It's starting to get late. You guys think we should begin infiltration now?" Shiho asked.

"I doubt Sae's going to be home, so unless you're worried about your folks Shiho, I don't see a reason to not go tonight."

"Well?" Akechi asked.

"Fine. But let's not stay too long." Shiho agreed.

"Agreed. Best to get the lay of the land first. We'll see what it's like, explore a bit, then leave. Besides, I don't want Sae-san getting suspicious." Yu replied.

The group got on a train and speed their way back to the TV station.

Mitsuyo had finished up her management for the day, and had to go to a dinner with a potential investor. She also finally managed to secure Rise Kujikawa for an appearance on the studio, and she couldn't afford to let some brat ruin it all. Her mind was still swimming with questions. Who was he? What did he want? Why did he try to steal information from her? The last two she could answer by herself. He wanted something from her, or to bring her down, and he intended to use the information he stole to do it. She started to walk down the stairs when she heard her phone ring.

"Emiko? I didn't expect this so soon."

"I got good news."

"I expected nothing less. Now, who's the brat that's about to have his life ruined?"

"You're not gonna believe this; it's Yu Narukami. As in, Dojima Narukami's kid."

Mitsuyo's eyes widened and a sadistic grin formed on her thin lips.

"You're sure?"

"Yup, but that's not the best part. Apparently, he's got a criminal record, and he's in Tokyo on probation and has gotten real close with Goro Akechi. I can't make this up."

The woman's smile grew wider.

"Oh, that's just perfect. I'll handle this personally. Thank you."

"No problem. I almost feel bad for the guy. Almost."

Mitsuyo stepped out of her office and was about to call another one of her contacts so that she could arrange a private meeting with the boy, but found it unnecessary, as she spotted a teenager with silver hair in the crowd. She started to make her way to him, but she saw that he wasn't alone. Akechi was there too, as were two other women, and they were all huddled around his phone.

Mitsuyo froze.

There's no way they found out how to break her failsafe. Right?

The businesswoman scowled. Her watch beeped, signaling that she would be late for her business dinner if she didn't move it. She took one last glare at Yu before she left, silently vowing to make him dearly regret crossing her. If she had kept looking at the group, she would have seen them vanish right before her eyes.