On a sunny Friday afternoon in Inaba, the roads were slowly filling up as schools unleashed their contained hordes to the general public and some less than enthused office workers managed to slink out of their duties early but in the alleys behind Junes there were at least two people who were all business.

Dressed in a long sleeve shirt that hung loose enough to disguise his muscles and trousers designed to be stretchable should he need it, Akihiko Sanada was ready for whatever war was coming his way. He might have come up short in his first encounter with the legendary Dragon of Dojima but now that he knew just who he was messing with and what he was capable of, the Shadow Operative was coming in to the second battle ready for war.

"Are you sure you know what you're getting in to?" Came the crackly but calm voice of Aigis through a set of earphones as he walked through the loading bay and through the open shutter. The usual bustle of the backstage of a busy department store keeping the platinum blond on edge as he made his way through towards the one person guaranteed to know what was going on.

"Nothing I can't handle," the boxer mumbled into the microphone on his collar as he stepped in to the manager's office as if he owned the place "Hey Hanamura, where's the big guy?" he demanded, none of the smile he had on the last visit.

The manager of Junes on the other hand was all smiles as he turned to face Akihiko, spinning slowly on his office chair as he laid back pressing the tips of his fingers together as he laid back "Who?" Yosuke asked.

"Oh come on," Akihiko groaned "Kiryu-" he began before the manager quickly cut him off.

"Whoa, whoa! No-one working here by that name, and I should know." Yosuke insisted him as he watched the twinge of annoyance flicker through Akihiko's face.

"...Hiroki," Akihiko said, correcting himself "He told me to meet him here at four, figured you'd know what's going on here."

"Hmm..." Yosuke hummed as he spun back to his desk "Ya know I think he did mention something..."

"Stop playing coy Yosuke, what are you planning?" the boxer growled, folding his arms as he loomed over the manager.

"Coy? I'm not being coy." was the most deliberately coy reply Yosuke could have possibly given as his smug grin threatened to burst into actual laughter.

"Seriously-" Akihiko warned.

"Alright, alright. Anyone else with you?" Yosuke waved off, his smile never fully fading away as the talk got more serious.

"Just Aigis on the earpiece, she's outside in a delivery van." Akihiko admitted.

"Ah well, good enough," Yosuke shrugged before he stood up out of his chair "You're a little early but that's fine."

"Early for what?"

"You'll see if you follow me." The manager promised as he led the platinum blond cop up a set of rickety metal staircases that clanged with each step, around a set of storage shelves in the upper warehouse and into a pitch black room through a set of locked doors, at some point acquiring a set of sunglasses before stepping into the darkness.

"Hiroki! You in here!?" Akihiko called out as he felt Yosuke thrust an arm out across him to stop him moving forward "What the-" was all he got out before the lights were switched on with an audible thunk, blinding the boxer with the dazzling brightness and letting him hear the sound of shutters rolling up to a chorus of excited cheering.

"Ladies, Gentlemen and kids of all shapes and sizes," Came the ringing voice of Junes' famous mascot over the room's PA, loudly enough to keep the Shadow Operative stunned while the spots from his vision cleared, the sky blue walls of a hollowed out furniture store plastered with racing memorabilia, a green felt square was cordoned off by miniature traffic cones with a monstrosity of plastic separated into four channels sat on top "Welcome to a Bear-y special Friday edition of POCKET CIRCUIT INABA!" "The construction benches are open to use, the part shop will open shortly so try not to crowd in too fast. Our first race is the junior schools category and it begins in fifteen minutes, so give the little speedsters first chance to get ready everyone." Teddie declared in his shiny racing suit on top of his existing blue bear outfit.

"What?" Akihiko repeated from his and Yosuke's little corner that they'd walked in from, the boxer still thoroughly confused.

"He did tell you to bring money didn't he? Put it on expenses for the Kirijo Group or something, probably wouldn't be the weirdest thing that got written off." Yosuke said smugly as he patted Akihiko on the shoulder and left him to it while he set up the little parts stall across the room.

Stranded and soon to be surrounded by literal children, Akihiko reached out to the one person he recognized who might be able to steer him through this madness "Uh... Teddie," he began, shuffling over to the microphone wielding bear "What's going on? Hiroki told me to be here."

"Why, it's the racing craze that's sweeping the nation off its feet!" Teddie declared into the live mic before quickly realizing his error, and switching it off mostly so the Shadow Operative could stop wincing about having his ears blown out "Oops... anyway if Hiroki invited you here he must want to see you race," the mascot explained "Show true spirit in the pursuit of speed!"

With one look around at the crowd Akihiko was quick to spot an obvious flaw with this plan "Isn't this supposed to be a kids thing?"

"It's fun for all ages!" Teddie insisted "And we've got an open-age race series for the first time today so we need people for that. Winner faces Hiroki-chan!" he added hastily.

With a deep sigh, the silver haired fighter turned away to find a small space outside of the renovated store section, through waves of schoolchildren rushing towards the assembling benches and reached for his earpiece, ready to call in the expertise of someone who might know a thing about how to properly assemble one of these cars (not that Aigis had ever seen slot cars either) but then he saw a different way to get some assistance "Hey!" He called out to a familiar face who looked less than enthused to see him.

Ren had initially decided that today was going to be a study evening, with a few assignments that could be chewed through before Summer Vacation hit in full swing and he fled to Tokyo but getting the text from Teddie on Thursday had taken his scribbled down plans for the week, scrunched them up into a ball and dunked it into a basketball hoop over an industrial incinerator. Well... maybe not that extreme, all it really did was make him switch his Friday and Saturday plans but that was bad enough. Who studied on a Saturday? Classes wouldn't start again for more than 24 hours! Anyway it probably wasn't that big of a deal, nothing like a known cop calling out to him with a big smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Great..." he mumbled under his breath, he knew he'd made eye contact and visibly recognized the Police Training Instructor headed his way and as such knew there was no way to just pretend he didn't recognize the platinum blond "How can I help officer?" He asked stiffly.

"Whoa, whoa. No need for the 'officer' stuff, I'm off duty," Akihiko waved off "It's Amamiya, right? From Yasogami High? How've you been?" he rattled off quickly.

Starting from a point of not believing the 'Off Duty' part of that string of questions, after all Akihiko Sanada was someone the school had brought in all the way from Port Tatsumi Island and there was very little in Inaba worth sticking around for beyond work so Ren replied with a good old non-committal "Meh." in lieu of an actual answer while he continued his way in the Pocket Circuit arena.

Not that the boxer was deterred by this as he quickly switched to walking aside the messy haired young man as though they were taking the walk to school together despite the blatant age difference "Yeah, High School can be rough at times..." he let out before swiftly turning to his true intentions "How long have you been racing Pocket Circuit?"

"Huh?"

"That's why you're here right? Look, I'm..." Akihiko began, trying to pick his excuse for how he needed to get good at a toy for All Ages quickly "I just need a crash course. A friend invited me but I have no idea what I'm doing." He half-admitted.

The plot was thickening at an alarming rate for Ren. The 'having no idea' part was probably legitimate but a 'friend' inviting him was probably bullshit but as cover for what? Then again, he had heard some rumours about the silver haired cop after he had done his little stint around the schools. With one fellow third year who fancied himself a reporter claiming that he'd seen a Junes employee talk about a fight in the delivery yard and then a limo showing up a couple of weeks later. When he first heard it he'd dismissed it as the usual junk but if Sanada had stuck around then things might not be on the up and up in Junes "Sure," he agreed "On one condition."

"Alright." Akihiko sighed in relief, reaching for a wallet in his back pocket while the student swung his bag around. He had a bit of change on him to pay for a lesson in plastic construction and the parts he could buy on card but a tuft of black fur and two big eyes told him that he was way off the mark as to what this kid wanted.

"Can you look after my cat while we're here?" Ren asked, holding back a grin "He won't cause any trouble but security here can be..." now it was the delinquent's turn to pick his words carefully, swearing in front of a cop probably wasn't going to help anyone "...difficult about pets in the store. I've already fed him and he's getting more when he gets home so if he starts crying out for food just ignore him."

"Hey!" Morgana snapped back.

"Like that."

Well that was a surprise, but a pleasant one to be sure "No problem, just tell me what parts are good and why." Akihiko nodded as he willingly took the meowing bag, Morgana giving him a look before he settled down and made their way inside.

Once the student started explaining things, how different parts worked for different obstacles and which ones to buy for the course set up, Akihiko found putting the car together was fairly enjoyable, even if his own car at one point during the creation phase before the open age bracket started shot across the workbench and sped into someone's carefully organised component collection which set him back a few minutes as he hastily tried to reassemble what the high school student had meticulously set up, and then the racing started.

And he never thought it could be this intense.

Through the first round he kept a polite smile throughout, keeping his mind on meeting Kiryu after going through whatever hoops he and Yosuke had set up, but when his car wobbled in its slot or bounced up a little too high on the jump he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Surely someone wouldn't put whether or not they joined the Shadow Operatives down to a race like this, wouldn't they? Maybe it was better to win to make sure. Fortunately his preparation and the advice Ren had given him had paid off as his miniature rally car comfortably cleared the line a whole second in front of the second place finisher which may not have seemed like a lot but with how fast these machines could whiz round the plastic track a second meant a lot more.

It was addicting really, watching them run around, hoping that his setup was enough to keep his machine charging through the pact and so was the atmosphere even amongst the older racers that littered the open age bracket. "That's some good racing there." An old man told the Shadow Operative, shaking his hand after a hard fought victory.

"Thanks, what got you into this?" Akihiko asked

"I used to sell these things. Or at least tried to, was lucky I kept as much stock as I did when Hiroki came calling with a couple of Junes boys with an offer." The old man chuckled as they stepped aside to let the high schoolers do their races.

"So Hiroki's really into this sort of thing?" He asked, trying to picture the Dragon Of Dojima hunched over a kiddies workbench. It seemed a lot less silly now that he'd done it himself.

"Yeah, said he's got some fond memories about Pocket Circuit."

"Huh... interesting," Akihiko mused as the man himself stepped out, all dressed up in a silver and red racing suit of his own "Hey!" the boxer called out, walking over to the champion of the Inaba raceway.

"Heh, you made it then." Hiroki nodded with a confident smile.

"Of course I did, just didn't expect... this." The Persona wielder gestured towards the track.

"There's more than one way to judge a man's spirit. If you can race earnestly I know where I stand more," Hiroki explained before dropping to a whisper "Besides, Hanamura-san has forbidden me from fighting on company property." he said before both broke out into a fit of chuckles.

"Focus." Came the one word message through the earphone, earning a raised eyebrow from the security guard.

"Yes Ma'am," Akihiko said quietly into his collar "The group's not letting me off the leash fully, after last time I can't say I blame them..." he confessed while Teddie's grandiose announcements about the upcoming grand finale of a Grand Prix covered their conversation so no other human could hear.

"Ah well," Hiroki shrugged "Meet me out back when this is over."

"Got it. May the better racer win." the boxer nodded as they made their way to the track, placing their tracks in the first two slots, never breaking eye contact with each other until a third car was slotted into the adjacent track, a car that resembled an open wheel racer with a snakeskin pattern livery "Huh?"

"WHAT A SHOCK FOLKS! Not one but two challengers have stepped up to face our unbeatable champion!" The mascot declared throughout the system to general gasps and cheers as a messy haired teenager stood up to take on Hiroki Ryu once again "The High School division ace, Ren Amamiya is back at it again!"

"Teddie, you're supposed to do more than just announce..." Hiroki groaned as he looked at the big blue bear's antics. So much for anyone actually controlling the event any more.

"What's wrong?" Ren asked, snapping the attention of two legendary fighters to the kid "Don't tell me you're going to back down from a challenge?" he taunted with an audacious grin.

"The champion's challenge was for the open age bracket only, if you wanted to face me you should have joined that class." Hiroki said sternly.

"C'mon, let him race," Akihiko said, putting a hand on Hiroki's shoulder "He helped me get started with my car and he won his section." he justified.

"Alright," Hiroki nodded "You're on, Amamiya-kun." He declared.

The champion hadn't spent time between his last scare with the mini-Majima-mobile idle: the Golem Tiger had been upgraded and the course changed for this special event but neither had the Phantom Thief. He'd tinkered, toyed and browsed guides on his phone for the optimal path through the course and while occasionally he fell behind Hiroki's beast of a slot car racer, he was never that far behind and getting closer on every lap. Akihiko was being left in the proverbial dust but that didn't deter him from staying invested, he'd seen enough speedy machines burn out or fly off the track to give up before the chequered flag flew and staying fast enough to avoid causing a collision but staying on track might be the key for an upset victory.

Both leading machines wobbled and bounced along the perilous road, always threatening to shake loose but kept in place by what seemed like sheer force of will. It came down to the wire but at the end the rival machine of Ren's barely squeaked out a victory over both Hiroki and Akihiko. "Well raced." the security guard applauded before offering his hand, ever gracious in defeat.

"Thanks," Ren accepted, trying to keep his grin as small as possible as he shook the big man's hand, no need to antagonize the guard in case the handshake suddenly became a crushing one "It's been fun."

"Oh, Amamiya," Akihiko jumped in, holding up his backpack "Yours."

"Oh, right. Thanks!" the student said, quickly taking the bag away from the cop and dashing to the winners circle where the manager of Junes and the promoter of this prestigious racing series handed him the grand prize... one gift certificate for 5000 yen. It didn't take long for him to figure out how much more he'd spent on getting a good enough racer to win, but the spotlight forced an extra of politeness while Hiroki slipped out of the room together.

It didn't take long for Akihiko to find the ex-Yakuza standing on the fire escape, a packet of cigarettes in his hand while Akihiko stood alongside, leaning over the guard rail "So all of that was a character test?" The boxer asked as they looked out towards the setting sun.

"Part of it was," Kiryu admitted as he lit a cigarette and taking a deep drag "Rest was you compensating Hanamura for pulling me into a second job."

"So that's a yes?" Akihiko said excitedly, quickly turning towards the Dragon of Dojima.

"Yeah, so long as it doesn't run in to any Yakuza I'll work with you," he nodded "Don't think I'd be able to keep on here after seeing what I saw."

"I know what you mean," the silver haired man nodded back "Personas, Shadows, the Dark Hour, its a lot to take in all at once but once you've seen it you can't look away."

"Mmm," Kiryu hummed out as he leaned back against the wall, softly smiling "So, that arena you have in the lab..."

"Yeah?" Akihiko let out.

"That a good enough place for Round 2?"

Meanwhile on the long road through the houses, a very different conversation was going on "Yup," a black cat said as he rested his head on the black haired student's shoulder "He was definitely up to something with that security guard."

"Kirijo Group on the card he bought all the parts with too, no wonder he never questioned the prices. It wasn't his money." Ren added, trying to piece together some thoughts as he walked home.

"What was he up to though, and why does everyone think he's a cop?" Morgana asked "Maybe we can see if Futaba's new job is all set up?"

"Hmm..." the delinquent pondered "Nah, she'll be buried in work once that's up and running," he dismissed "We're gonna need more information on the ground first."

"Right, next week is investigation time!" the cat declared "Watch out cops, guards, Kirijo Group and Inaba in general, your secrets are gonna get found out by the Phantom Thieves!"