May 30th

The end of the art exhibit was fast approaching, but there wasn't much Ren and his friends could do but wait. It wasn't like they were sitting around twiddling their thumbs, though. They had school to worry about and the Shujin students in particular had their own fair share of troubles. Because of the incident with Kamoshida earlier in the month, Shujin was doing everything it could to save it tarnished reputation, including scheduling students to do some trash pickup at a park. Because of that, Ren and Morgana had to wake up earlier than usual. "We're cleaning up today, right? It's further away than the school, so hurry up and get dressed so we won't be late."

"Yeah, I know…" Ren replied, groggily. It was only Monday and it already felt like this week was starting too soon. But to prepare for the cleanup he decided to bring only his gym clothes. They would be out all day so there was no point in wearing anything else.

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In Shibuya's station square, a young Shujin student with a red ribbon was having…some problems with a slimy middle aged man. The girl was trying her best to shake this man off, but it didn't seem like her attempts were doing any good. "Sorry…but I'm in a bit of a hurry." The girl spoke, attempting to dissuade the man from continuing this clearly dubious interaction with her.

"You got to Shujin, right?" The man asked. Because of the news, just about anyone in Japan could recognize a Shujin student due to their uniform. "I heard things have been rough there lately, what with that violent incident. You wanna…go talk about it somewhere?" The middle aged man held a creepy grin on his lips. Anyone could see what his intent was with this girl…

The girl with the red ribbon could see where he was trying to take this and she was having none of it. "Thank you for your concern," She said politely, but firmly. "However, I really am in a hurry, so if you'd excuse me…" With a curt bow, she turned to walk past him and leave…and as she did, the man forcibly grabbed her wrist and tugged her towards him. "Ah…!"

The surrounding people noticed this and started to murmur about what was happening and yet…..not a single person actually planned to do anything about it. "C'mon, there's no need to be shy."

"Ngh…like I said…" The girl was trying to get away, but she couldn't and there was no one around who looked like they plan to help either.

"If you're busy, I'll put my number on your phone so you can call me later. Sound like a plan?" The man leaned in and the girl leaned away.

"Stop it…" The girl pleaded, looking around for someone that would help. But the people who did notice just walked away as if the situation unfolding before them didn't concern them. And while that was true, they didn't hesitate in walking away the second things went beyond questionable and into worrisome.

Ren happened to arrive on the scene at this time. He watched for a little bit, having flashbacks to the one night that changed his life forever. "It's the same no matter where you go…" Adult men forcing themselves on women for one reason or another. He even encountered such a thing the other day with Hifumi. And no matter where Ren was… "I can't overlook this." He never could. Even if it wasn't his problem, he'd make it his problem. So he approached the two, hands in his pockets, and spoke calmly. "I'm from Shujin, too."

"Huh?" The man noticed Ren and backed off just a bit, releasing the girl's wrist. "No need to look so scary. I'm just being friendly."

"Uhh…!" The girl was familiar with Ren. They crossed paths a few times and he even helped her out, so she was extremely fast to hide behind him as soon as she had the chance.

This pissed off the man greatly. "What're you getting so jumpy for!? Like you're anything special!" How fast he was to change his mind the moment she had the chance to flee from him. Disappointed and angry, the man just up and left.

"And stay gone." Ren shook his head, before turning to the girl. "Are you all right, Yoshizawa?" That's the only name he knew her by; they crossed paths often but he only ever heard her last name.

Yoshizawa bowed in gratitude for Ren's actions. "Thank you so much! I'm so sorry for all the trouble! But I'm fine now, thanks to you. It was pretty scary though…" Thinking about what could have happened had he not intervened made her sigh heavily. "May I ask you something? What…made you step in to help me?"

"I couldn't look the other way. Simple as that." Ren said with a nod. That sense of justice was the driving force for a lot of his actions, even if it did get him in serious trouble in the past…

"I see…" Yoshizawa thought there would be more to it. "I apologize for asking something so strange. You're headed to the cleanup now too, right?" Wait… "The cleanup…?" And so she pulled out her phone, realizing what time it was. "Oh no! Look at the time! I haven't even properly thanked you yet! And I forgot my gym clothes at school! I'll see you at the park! And we can talk more there too, if you'd like." And off she ran, but not without giving a polite farewell in the form of a bow.

"…." Morgana was a bit in awe. "Wow. That girl is…all over the place, isn't she?"

"Yeah…" Ren scratched his head as Yoshizawa ran off. There really wasn't a lot he could say to any of that. "But at least she's okay."

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At the cleanup site, Ryuji and Ann were already waiting for Ren who arrived late. "Yo, what took you so long?" Ryuji asked.

"Sorry, had to deal with a little situation. But it's alright now." Ren responded.

Ann looked Ren over. "Did you come dressed in your gym clothes?"

"Sure did." Ren replied instantly. "Why, is that weird?"

"Huh? Ain't that normal?" Ryuji seemed a bit confused that Ann questioned that decision, since he did the same thing. "And are you really plannin' on doin' cleanup in that outfit?" Ann was the odd one out, wearing her actual school uniform while everyone else dressed for the occasion.

"Well, no, that's not what I'm talking about. I brought my gym clothes with me of course! It must be so nice to be a guy…" Ann sighed. "I was gonna change in the bathroom, but I didn't realize how long the line would be."

"Wow. Sounds like it sucks to be a girl." Ryuji said.

And here came Mishima, awkwardly intruding on the conversation. "Such a nice day out even the weather seems to be mocking us."

Ryuji just started. "Dude. Can you try pushing your way into our conversation a little less awkwardly next time?"

"I bet some Kichijoji clean freak hung paper dolls all over and prayed for clear skies today." Mishima continued to rant.

"Yeah…" Ann didn't really have anything to say to that. What could you even say to that? Mishima took 'talking about the weather' to a new extreme so suddenly; he was just getting an odd look from the trio.

"But man, I'm still ecstatic about the other day at least! I got to meet Hifumi Togo!" Mishima's excitement was still evident.

"Yeah. You keep saying that but I don't know who that is." Ryuji scratched his head.

"Keep up, Sakamoto!" Mishima said, pulling out his phone. "She's the top female pro shogi player right now! Surely you've seen posters of her around, right? She's practically an idol!"

"Oooooh! That cute girl from the other night! Yeah, I remember!" Ryuji nodded several times.

"I wonder if she was interested…" Mishima was getting very far ahead of himself.

"…?" Ann was…very out of the loop. She was not aware of Operation Maidwatch so she had no idea what this conversation was about or where it was going. "You guys met a girl? You didn't bother her did you?" And as she said that, she looked right at Ryuji.

"I didn't do anything!? Why are you lookin' at me like that?!" Ryuji was utterly offended Ann looked at him. "I didn't even talk much to her!"

"I was gonna ask her for an autograph…" Mishima sighed longingly.

"Did you even bring something to write with?" Ren glanced at Mishima, who didn't have an answer for that. Ren's question was a little bitter since….he was still a little upset Mishima and Ryuji bailed on him.

"A-Anyway, they've already assigned groups at random. 4 people, boys and girls mixed." Mishima explained.

That was rather disappointing news. "Oh…really?" Ryuji let is show on his face to. He'd much rather pick up trash with Ren and Ann, because they were friends and all. While Ann's reputation around Shujin was recovering thanks to the exposure of Kamoshida, Ren and Ryuji still had their labels as the 'transfer student' and 'delinquent' respectively. He already knew today was gonna suck.

That's when Maruki approached the group with a friendly smile. "Morning everyone."

"Oh, are you helping out with the cleaning too, Doc?" Mishima asked.

"You got it." Maruki replied.

"Uh…in those clothes…?" Ryuji looked the doctor over.

"Oh, no. I'm in a different-." Maruki tried to cleared up that misconception. He was still wearing his usual attire after all.

"There you are, Dr. Maruki!" Two female students were looking for him.

"We're going to start prepping soon." The other female said.

"Prepping what…?" Ann was confused.

"I'm part of the cooking crew. I hope your'e looking forward to a solid meal." Maruki said with a confident smile. "See you all later." He began to walk off with the two students. "Hm…I can't remember if I brought any starch or vegetables…"

"More like Dr. Popular…" Ryuji sighed.

"I'm sure the Phantom Thieves will be even bigger someday." Mishima said.

"Attention, students and staff of Shujin Academy." The one speaking into a megaphone was Makoto Niijima, the Student Council President. She was taking charge of the event in a way. "Please pick up all trash in the areas assigned to your group. Once the cleanup is completed, a lunch of pork miso soup and vegetables will be served. Now that those announcements have been made, please break into your groups and head to your assigned areas."

"So that's what they're making…" Ann nodded.

"All right…" Ryuji rotated his arm. "Let's get this over with as fast as possible so we can chow down on that soup!"

"I hope this goes well…" Ren really wasn't looking forward to this, but they just had to do it.

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With the cleanup started, Ren was…kind of isolated from his group. They were all picking up trash, but he was doing a bit more on his own. The other three were huddled off, whispering about him. "Hey…that guy over there…is that him. You know…THAT transfer student?" The other boy in the group questioned. He was a third year.

"You mean the on in the rumors…?" A girl from second year asked.

"Is it really…?" The other girl whispered; she was a first year.

"Quiet down! He might hear us…" The third year boy said in a hushed tone.

"I can hear you…" Ren thought to himself. He knew being partnered off with students he didn't even know wouldn't pan out well but this…it was a bit worse than he thought. He didn't let the comments get to him, there was nothing he could do about his reputation…but this was honestly a little ridiculous, avoiding him like he was some kind of plague…

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Ann and her group were tasked with picking up some broken and discarded umbrellas. The first year in her group let out a groan of annoyance. "Anyone who dumps umbrellas on the ground like this are garbage…!" He grunted.

Ann had a broken umbrella in her hand. "Before you throw them away, you have to break them apart first."

"Break them apart…?" A large second year asked. He wasn't sure what she meant by that.

"Like this." Ann pulled the top of the umbrella off from the metal limbs in one swift motion, surprising everyone around her.

"Wow, you'd make a good housewife, Takamaki-san." The other girl in the group praised Ann.

Ann felt a little bashful at that comment. She gave a sheepish smile and closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Oh…na

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Ryuji's group wasn't that much better. While they weren't outright ignoring him like Ren's group, he did feel like he was getting the side eye. "Oh hey, a wallet…!" The other male in Ryuji's group picked it up.

"Anything in it?" The second year female asked, excited about the potential contents.

The first year opened the wallet, looking at its contents. "Oh yeah! A shit ton!"

The third year in the group glanced around. Everyone was so busy with picking up trash, surely they wouldn't notice some money from a lost wallet going missing. "We going splities on this?"

"Uh…shouldn't we take that to a police box?" Ryuji asked. As soon as he did, he got the side eye from all three of his group members. "What!? How was that weird!?" Seriously, they looked at him like he just said something crazy.

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Mishima was kind of off on his own, picking up some discarded water bottles here and there. "Man, this park is TRASHED! No way this was all done by kids. Clearly this was the work of some rotten adults too…" Whether or not he was correct in that statement had yet to be seen, but he would think adults were the cause of this trouble anyway.

Before Mishima could throw the water bottle into his bag, a third year with short, fluffy hair approached him. "Excuse me…" She was a bit soft spoken. "May I have that cap on that water bottle?"

"Huh?" Mishima blinked at the girl's appearance and her request. He didn't mind handing it over, but it was a little out of the blue. "Oh, sure. Are you a collect or something…?"

"Not exactly…" The girl shook her head, taking the cap when it was handed to her. "Recycling companies collect and convert them into vials for vaccines."

"Whoa…" Mishima's eyes widened, legitimately learning something new today. "I never knew about that! But that sounds like an awesome way to bring more justice to the world!"

Uh. The girl had no idea how to respond to that comment or where it even came from. Her gaze averted else and she just kind of agreed. "I'm…not sure I follow…but thank you…" That was…far more awkward than she was expecting it to be.

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As the cleaning drew to a close, Dr. Maruki and his cooking crew had almost finished the pot of pork miso soup. The popular doctor even shed his coat for this task. "Before I add taro to the pot, I have to rub them with salt to reduce the sliminess."

"Ooh, you're an amazing chef…!" The fawning second year cooed.

"I do cook pretty often at home." Maruki said with a slight chuckle. "Now, if I just use this little technique here…" He pinched some salt between his fingers and planned to sprinkle it into the pot with a bit of flair. Unfortunately for him, the salt ended up fluttering in the slight breeze that passed by. "…"

"Huh? Why's the wind salty?" The other female glanced around, wrinkling her nose as it caught the smell of salt in the air.

"Uh…my apologies…" That did not go the way Maruki planned at all. How embarrassing…

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It took all morning and some of the afternoon, but Shujin finally finished with the cleanup. Now that they were done, Makoto could make that announcement. "The cleanup is officially complete. Thank you for your hard work today, everyone. Would the leader of each group please come and get the soup from their teams."

"So, after the soup's doled out, everyone's free to do whatever they want. Heh, including getting the hell out of here." The third year in Ren's group told the others. The other two females in their group, not Ren, because they spent all day avoiding him.

"Oh, okay." The second year female said.

"Thank you for everything!" The first year female said. And with that…the three of them just left.

"…I can't say I didn't expect this." Ren sighed. His team ditched him and it meant he'd have to go grab some soup on his own. But since he'd been walking all day, he decided to take a seat next to the Morgana bag.

"I don't know how to put this, but that was a pretty crappy time out there." Morgana told Ren. He'd been watching the whole thing and saw how Ren was ostracized from his group since the very beginning.

"Yeah, but it's fine." Ren shrugged it off. He had been getting this treatment for over a month now. It sucked at first, but he found his circle and that was good enough for him.

Yoshizawa soon approached, looking about as tired as Ren did. "I finally found you." As soon as she appeared, Morgana hid away inside the back. "I was trying to find you so I could thank you properly for this morning. "Uh…where did all the other people in your group go?"

"They ditched me before we even got soup." Ren said.

"Ah…I'm kind of in the same boat." Yoshizawa said sheepishly. "If it's alright with you, why don't we eat our soup together?"

"That's fine with me." Ren stood up from his seat. Since their groups were gone there was nothing wrong with grabbing some soup together. So they did just that, returning to their shared bench with soup in hand.

"Thanks for the food." Yoshizawa nodded and began to eat. "Again, I want to thank you for this morning. That man was even more frightening than he might have appeared to you."

"It was nothing." Ren shook his head. "You don't have to thank me for it so much." He did appreciate her thanks. It did make him feel a bit bashful with how polite and insistent she was being with it, though.

"I'm not even close to being done yet." Yoshizawa shook her head. There was still more. "There's one more thing I have to address. I'm sorry for what happened the other day!"

"…The other day?" Ren asked while indulging in his soup. He had no idea what she may have been referring to.

What Yoshizawa was referring to was a run in with Kamoshida last month. "There are plenty of people you shouldn't be interacting with in this school. This one here is at the top of the list."

"You mean the transfer student…?"

She remembered it clear as day. When looking back on it, she thought it was extremely rude to blurt out something like that. "Mr. Kamoshida had just told me about you a moment prior, so I sort of spoke without thinking there. I heard some of my classmates speaking about you, too."

"More rumors huh?" Seems like Ren couldn't escape them.

"I'm not a fan of all that gossip, though. I know it seems weird since I just met you, but you don't seem like the type to do anything they've said in those rumors. It'd be a different story if all those rumors were true though. …what were the crimes I've heard? Burglary murder, and elephant tusk trafficking, I think?"

"I drive without a license, too." Ren said with a stern nod.

Yoshizawa giggled. "Even I can tell you're joking…" Wait. She made another terrible realization. "Ah! I just realized I haven't introduced myself yet…!" And they had several conversations up until this point. How could she go this long without even saying her own name!?

"I'm Ren Amamiya." Ren said.

"Sorry, Amamiya-senpai. This is a long time coming but…" Yoshizawa was about to speak, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a child whose balloon started to escape them. Without thinking about it she hopped from the bench, preformed a front flip, and snatched the balloon from the air before it could drift away too far."

Morgana watched that whole sequence and he had no idea what he just saw. "W-What the hell was that…!? Oh, look…!"

When Yoshizawa sprang from the bench, she dropped her student ID. Ren knelt down and picked it up. "Huh…it says…Kasumi Yoshizawa."

Kasumi knelt down, handing the kid their balloon back. "There you. Make sure you hold onto things you like, okay?" The child nodded and Kasumi returned to Ren. "Sorry for running out on you like this."

"You dropped this." Ren said while handing Kasumi her student ID back.

"Ah…looks like you sniffed me out before I even had the chance to introduce myself." Kasumi took her ID and giggled sheepishly. "That's right, I'm Kasumi Yoshizawa, a first year!"

"That was impressive stuff, you an athlete?" Ren asked.

"Oh that? That was just basic gymnastics." Kasumi responded casually. "Nothing too serious; just a hop, skip and a jump. It's not that difficult once you get the hang of it."

"Gymnastics…?" Morgana felt a lightbulb go off in his head. "I was just thinking about how the Phantom Thieves need some sweet new moves? Do you think you can convince her to train you?"

"Huh?" Kasumi looked around. She swore she could hear some faint meowing somewhere. "Is there a cat nearby…?"

"Can you teach me?" Ren quickly asked to cover up Morgana's noise.

Naturally, Kasumi was a bit surprised. "Does that mean you're interested in gymnastics? That makes me so happy! The only problem is…I think I could use your help too, if you don't mind. Lately I feel as if I've been overthinking and I haven't been getting the results I'm looking for. So it would be wonderful if you could give me some advice from time to time."

"Advice?" Ren wasn't sure what kind of advice she meant.

"Exactly! I'm not looking for technical coaching or anything like that. Just someone to lend me an ear from time to time." Kasumi explained.

"Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me." Morgana nudged Joker verbally.

"I can do that." Ren nodded.

"You will? Thank you so much!" Kasumi clasped her hands together happily. "So we have a deal! Oh! Why don't we exchange contact information?" Kasumi pulled out her phone but…it wasn't working. "Huh…? Oh, it shut down…it's been doing that recently."

"Is it alright?" To Ren, it sounded like she could use a new phone.

"Oh, it's fine. And it's back up again! I'll contact you when I have free time." Kasumi said excitedly.

"Attention, Shujin academy students." Makoto spoke into the megaphone. "The cleanup will be ending momentarily. Please do not discard your trash in the bins here, but rather the specified locations. After that, we will officially be releasing everyone for the day. Thank you all for your hard work."

"It sounds like the cleanup is all done." Kasumi turned to Ren. "Why don't we get some training done in on the way home?"

"Sure." Ren stood up. "It's been a long day, but I don't mind." He made a deal with Kasumi. As such, this led to a new bond being forged between the two of them.

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Date: ?

There was a tense silence in the interrogation room. Sae occasionally interjected at certain points of Ren's story to form her own deductions and press him about certain things, all to draw out the name of anyone allied with the Phantom Thieves. "I've read in reports that the Phantom Thieves' physical abilities are more acrobatic than the average person's. It seems you've gained an aptitude for specialty equipment as well."

"…" Ren said nothing. He just glanced away.

"Wouldn't the natural conclusion be that you were trained in someone by that field? Well, tell me the truth." Sae leaned in. "It wouldn't be hard for us to figure out."

"Then do it." Ren responded. They could look all they wanted, but he himself wasn't going to sell anyone out. Any question concerning people he was involved with were all avoided; he was answering only what he deemed important and what would speed the questioning along. They didn't have much time…

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May 30th: Evening.

As for Hifumi, she had some concerns when it came to Yusuke. After the Phantom Thieves publicly announced that they were going to take his heart, she couldn't help but worry about what may happen to him in the future. She even had the Calling Card on hand but…there was no time for these thoughts. She was in the middle of a Shogi match and against a senior of hers no less. It had been pretty intense so far, every single move counting. Hifumi had to push these Phantom Thieves thoughts out of her head, there was no time for this. She did kind of make a small misplay that could lead to her defeat. "I need to focus…"

"…" Hifumi's opponent furrowed her brows. She seemed a bit…frustrated when making her next move in silence. It looked like the only option she had and…it was a bad one.

"…!" Hifumi's eyes widened. Did the pressure get to her senior's head? Was this a choke? "Abandoning your position? Your formation has crumbled with that one move." Anyone could see that this was a bad move. Hifumi must have been on more of a roll than she thought if she forced her opponent into this dire situation. With one final move, she had but one word; "Check." Her eyes said it all. There was only one thing her opponent could do now at this moment: concede.

"…" With a heavy sigh, Hifumi's senior lowered her hands. "I concede."

"She's done it again! Hifumi Togo emerges victorious! Can anyone take this rising star down!?" There were a few reporters looking on the match. The senior was the popular pick, but the undefeated Hifumi showed that she was the one to take it at the end.

When Hifumi forced her opponent to concede, she felt like a queen on the battlefield whose army reigned victorious over a fallen foe. "Thank you for the match." Hifumi gave a curt, respectful bow to her senior and extended her hand in a show of good sportsmanship.

"…" Hifumi's senior shook her head, letting out a scoff, but decided to return the gesture…reluctantly. She made this clear. "Your streak will end eventually." Words were laced with venom. She pulled away and left, leaving Hifumi stunned.

"Ah…" Her green gaze fell to the floor. It seemed that with every win she took, the further away people distanced themselves from her. But all she was doing was winning…

"That's my daughter." Mitsuyo said proudly to the reporters. Just as she planned, Hifumi's rise to stardom was going smoothly. "Isn't she amazing? I'm so proud of her efforts."

"…" Hifumi was silent. Her mother hadn't even come to congratulate her for winning; she just went straight to the cameras before they could even come to her. This wasn't the first time this happened either. It caused her pride in victory to deflate a little bit, since she wasn't even acknowledged for her efforts.

"Now, I know my daughter has a lot of fans and you all have a lot of questions. June 9th, there will be an exclusive interview with Hifumi Togo at our TV station!" Mitsuyo announced.

"Ugh…" Right. That. Hifumi was trying to forget about that…having to answer questions in front of a lot of people. Interviews weren't really her thing…

"Is this how you wish your life to be…?"

That voice again. Hifumi shook her head. She must have been tired…and now the cameras were finally coming her way. "…!" She straightened up and put on her public speaking face…and even though she tried to seem enthusiastic about it all, she really couldn't fake it that well.

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Before going to bed, Yusuke decided to try and probe Madarame once more. Ever since their mission, he limited his public appearance and stayed hidden away in the shack. "Sen…Madarame, are you all right?" This had been a daily routine, just to ensure Madarame didn't suffer a mental shutdown, even though it was concluded to be unlikely by Morgana.

"I've been doing some thinking, Yusuke…" Madarame's deposition was softer than before. "I have some very important things I must say. I don't know if I can hold onto these crimes any longer."

"Crimes?" Yusuke had to act as if he didn't know what he was referring to.

"I've made a decision." Madarame turned to Yusuke. Despite how…tired he seemed, he had some resolve. "I'm going to confess everything. I owe you my deepest apologies and I hope that one day you can forgive an old fool such as myself…a man who did not deserve to be an artist."

"What are…you going to do…?" Yusuke questioned. He wasn't sure what Madarame had in mind.

"When the art exhibit ends, I'm going to make an announcement for everyone to see. They will learn the truth of the artist Madarame. In that time…I need you to pack your things." Madarame said this as more of a demand than anything else. Without saying anything else, Madarame left, looking as though he was fighting back the tears from the weight of his sin of vanity finally crushing him. He could no longer hold back.

"…" Yusuke remained silent as Madarame left…and the first thing he did once in the clear was contact the others about it.

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June 5th.

There were numerous screens with Madarame's image on them. This was a live video recording of an interview that was happening at this very moment. Japan's greatest artist…had some very disturbing news to share with everyone.