June 16th.

Dr. Maruki was rather busy these last few days. His reputation in the school made him popular and many thought he was a decent therapist. It was afterschool hours and he was busy dealing with another student who was feeling stressed, likely from the blackmail situation. It was a tricky situation to deal with…the students couldn't talk much and Maruki didn't know how to initially proceed with such a lack of information. The Dr. sat in his chair, staring at the student that sat in silence in his office. "…"

"…."

"…"

"…Ah! I-I'm sorry…" The male said while shaking his head. "H-Here I am…asking for your help…taking up your time and not even saying anything."

To that, Maruki just offered a smile. "That's alright. Nobody comes to therapy with the mindset of 'I have to talk NOW'. If you want to sit in silence and have some snacks, that's alright too."

"T-Thank you…" The second year male gave a slight smile. Dr. Maruki was nice even when he wasn't on business. It did help him feel at ease a bit…and as soon as he felt himself relax, the weight of his situation just came crashing down. "Agh….it's just too much at times…"

"What is…?" Maruki wasn't expecting such a sudden confession, but he was attentive and ready to listen to the student's worries.

"I…I can't talk about it. But it's just too much. It just feels like there's no way out…I don't know what to do…" The student let out a heavy sigh, placing his face in his hands. They were on the verge of breaking down from how tired he was.

"…" Maruki was silent for a moment. This looked like a tough situation for a number of reasons. There was a moment of silence before Maruki spoke. "If your reality ever becomes too hard to deal with…it's okay to escape it."

"Huh…?" The words Maruki spoke caught him off guard. He wasn't sure how to do that, but the idea of escaping his reality did sound appealing. "How do I do that…?" They weren't opposed to the idea. Anything that could make them forget or trivialize their current situation was welcome.

"Close your eyes for a moment and relax. If you truly wish to escape, let those thoughts fill your mind." Maruki said. The student nodded and did just that. Maruki then extended his hand, a strange, undetectable pulse emanating from him. It only took a second before his work was once. "How do you feel?"

The student opened his eyes, seeming a bit confused at first. "Huh…I don't…even remember why I was worried…! I came in here for a reason, but I don't remember what it was!"

Maruki just held a slight smile. He knew what he did. "Do you feel better?"

"I do!" The student nodded frantically. Their expression did a complete 180. They came in downtrodden, and defeated. Now he was going to leave feeling happy and upbeat. "You're amazing, Dr. Maruki!"

Maruki just nodded. "I do what I can to help guide people to the right answers. To help them escape their pain."

"I have to go now…but I won't forget this!" The male student left, much happier than when he came in.

Maruki was pleased with himself. There was a satisfied smile, but it didn't last very long. It turned into a slight frown. This wasn't the first student to come in and leave like this, it had been happening a lot over the past few days. While he was glad they were willing to come to him, he was upset at himself for his inability to do more than help one individual at a time. "I can only save one person at a time as things are now. It's not enough…I need to be able to save everyone. I promise, Rumi…I will find a way to save everyone with this power. So no one will have to go through what I did…what we did…"

.

.

Afterschool was when the second phase of their intel gathering began. Everyone gathered in the Accessway as usual, Yusuke being the last one to arrive. "M'kay, we're all here." Ryuji saod.

Ann looked around. Now that they were specifically looking out for high school students, she noticed just how many of them truly were around during this time of day. "There sure are a lot of students out during the day. They must be targeting them somehow…"

"Finding the specifics may be difficult…" Yusuke brought up. "With such a crowd, the odds are against us."

"We have to do this, no matter what." Ren said.

"Right! We're gonna grab 'em by the tail!" Ryuji spoke confidently.

"You should head over to Central Street, just like we discussed." Ann told him.

"Let us know if anyone runs into any shady people." Ryuji said. With that, their operation continued. They all had their areas to check and observe, so they split off to cover more ground.

.

Ren's search started at Central Street. There was a lot of ground to cover on his end, so he wandered around carefully. He and Morgana were keeping their ears out for anything suspicious. While there wasn't much information to go off of, he did manage to get some information from a homeless man who was at least aware of what the mafia did. He gave Ren some information on how to avoid being pulled into the phishing scams. After getting intel from others, his search led him to a back alley…

"Hello." Makoto followed Ren. She was watching the Phantom Thieves looking all over Shibuya. They were aware of her presence, but since she wasn't offering anything of value to them, they opted to ignore her. They had more important things to worry about. "Have you gotten any closer to finding the boss?"

"We've found some things…" Ren said. It wasn't anything definitive, but they were getting a little bit closer to their goal.

"That's good to hear." Makoto gave a slight smile.

"Hey, you two got some time? I have a great job for you." A suspicious man approached the two of them. "It's real easy. Guess you could call it a delivery job."

It was as if what they were looking for fell right into their lap. "I guess we didn't have to look very hard in the end." Makoto smiled at Ren.

"You're high schoolers, yeah? Don't you want something more than just your allowance?" The man asked with a sleazy smile.

"By delivery…do you mean that of suspicion materials?" Makoto asked.

"Hah…you're a funny girl." The man replied with slight laugh, completely dodging the question.

Makoto noticed. So he dodged the first question, but how would he do with the next? "So you won't answer me? Then I was right." She said confidently.

"Eh?" The guy raised a brow, stepping closer to Makoto, getting face to face with her. "What's up with you? Asking all these questions?"

"Violence is not the answer." Ren stepped closer. His intervention caught both Makoto and the man by surprise.

"Oh…" Makoto stared. She…wasn't expecting Ren to stick up for her, since she put them in an unfavorable situation.

"It was just a joke." The man said while taking a step back. "Why would I get worked up over some dumb kids? Anyway, I can't hang. Seeya."

"W-well, if you don't want ot deal with us, we could always go see your boss ourselves." Makoto hastily said.

"You really gonna say that knowing who he is?" The guy scoffed. "I really can't believe that. Anyway, you guys are annoying me…" And with that, he left.

"I'm pretty sure he's part of the mafia we're looking for…" Makoto turned to Ren. With the way he avoided her questions, she didn't have any doubts.

"We should go after him." Ren suggested.

Makoto shook her head. "I think we need more proof before we can do that. I was trying to trick him into saying something, but he dodged all the traps I laid down. By the way…thanks for standing up for me…I'm going to go now." With a curt nod, Makoto left.

Morgana took this time to pop up. The situation he witnessed told them a lot, but didn't exactly help their situation. "That boss is tricky. He taught his subordinates well. No wonder the police are having a hard time catching up…"

"No kidding…he slithered right out of that situation…" Ren adjusted his glasses.

"And we're no closer to finding any leads. Let's stop here for today." As much as Morgana wanted to keep going, they didn't have much of a choice. When the rest of the group contacted him, they ultimately decided to meet up at karaoke the following day. Meeting up today was a bit too risky since they had done a lot.

.

.

June 17th

The group gathered at karaoke to compare notes and well… "Aw man…we didn't get anything!?" Ryuji groaned. Between the five of them, they hit a roadblock and just couldn't get any further than their own legwork.

Ann was deep in thought. Between having Hifumi on her mind, the situation they were in…and the awful singing on stage, it was hard to focus on anything. "…God they suck…" She ultimately groaned.

"Man, we're goin' nowhere with this. Can't we ask Miss President to change it up?" Ryuji asked.

"You mean change our target…?" Ann titled her head curiously.

"Just gotta show our justice to satisfy her, right? There are tons of shitty adults in this world, who does it matter who we target? She says it's for the students, but I bet it's so she can start braggin' on college apps."

"But they're targeting kids. We can't let that continue. It doesn't matter who the target came from anymore." Ann shook her head. It may have been difficult now, but she wouldn't feel right dropping this situation after knowing so much and coming so far.

"Ann's right. We have to stop them." Ren agreed with Ann.

"We want to give courage to the weak. Isn't this the perfect target for that goal?" Yusuke mentioned. His eyes then turned to the people singing… "They really have no talents."

"Never thought it'd be this noisy if you weren't singin'…" Groaning, Ryuji sat back in his seat. "I'm sure if we do this, we'll shut Akechi up, but…"

"That's exactly why we should do it." Yusuke nodded. This was their chance. It wasn't easy, but if they could overcome this roadblock…

"It all comes down to intel in the end…" Morgana said. Everyone fell silent but no one had any ideas. "If we don't overcome this, we'll never find out…there has to be someone who has what we need."

Ren furrowed his brows for a moment…something came to mind. "The media?"

"Ah!" Ann's eyes widened. "What about that journalist? Didn't she give you her card?"

"You mean the woman staking out Madarame's house?" Morgana said.

Ren pulled out the card the woman gave him like last month. It was for a major news publication now that he was actually looking at it. "Ichikyo Ohya…" With no other options left, he decided to send her a message.

"Think we can trust her?" Ryuji was naturally cautious. But they didn't have any other choice. This was their only option.

"It should be okay." Ren reassured his friend.

The phone nearby rang and Ann picked it up. "Oh, thank you. They said our time is up. Should we extend it?" She told the group.

"Happy hour's over, yeah? Let's just get outta here." Ryuji stood up. "Guess we can only wait until she contacts him back…"

Meanwhile, Yusuke was coughing because they were really about to leave without finishing their drinks. "How wasteful…!"

.

.

Makoto was walking past her sister at home, who suddenly spoke out to her. "I received a call from your school." Sae said, catching Makoto's attention. "They asked if you had any lifestyle changes recently. I gave them a suitable answer but…is there something going on?"

Makoto remained silent at first. For a moment it slipped her mind that the school would notice her slight change in behavior. With her investigation of the mafia group, on top of her usual responsibilities, of course there was going to be some kind of change. "N-No, it's nothing. Sorry to worry you." Makoto said.

Sae stood up, approaching her sister with a bit of a serious look. "I've noticed you've been coming home late the last few days. While I doubt you would do this…try to avoid staying out too late in Shibuya. I've heard stories of women throwing their lives away out there, wrapped up in shady deals, blackmailed into sex work…"

"…." Makoto was silent at first before speaking. "I've heard of such rumors at school…"

"They're not just rumors. I know of a few such cases." Sae said. "But it's nothing you need to worry about. Just focus on your grades, okay?" With that, Sae walked off.

Makoto was upset for a few reasons. One, the mafia's injustice infuriated her to no end. "They're unforgivable…!" She clenched a hand into a fist. Secondly…it kind of her that her sister didn't really expression any potential concern. Not even something as 'the last thing I want for you is…' or something along those lines. Sae just sort of brushed the issue aside so long as Makoto wasn't involved…

.

.

What a long day. Another Shogi match with a similar outcome as the ones before it: Hifumi obtaining victory and her opponents looking more crushed and defeated than usual. It didn't help that she wasn't sure why they were making such bad moves yet asked her to stop when she was going to win. It was just exhausting and she flopped down on her bed, letting out a small groan. "The matches have been mentally exhausting lately…" She was feeling a bit lonely but her busy schedule was coming to an end…just one more day. Pulling out her phone, she went to text Ann. "Are you busy?"

Ann: Hi, Hifumi. Aside from doing homework, not so much.

Hifumi: Sorry if I'm bothering you. I just wanted to talk a bit…

Ann: I can do that. Also, really sorry for not being available much this week.

Hifumi: That's okay. I haven't been the most available either. But I'll be free Sunday afternoon. Are you sure it has to be in person?

Ann: That conversation? Yes. It's nothing bad, don't worry. But while we're here…what do you want to talk about?

Hifumi: I want to learn a bit more about you, if that's okay.

Ann: Of course it's OK. Where do you want to start?

Hifumi: Well…

Outside of Hifumi's room, Mitsuyo just finished up another phone call. "I don't like that girl Hifumi has been talking to lately."

"I think you should be happy she found a friend…" Hifumi's father coughed a few times. He was out of bed, which wasn't supposed to be the case.

"…Go back to bed. You're supposed to be resting. I'm taking care of everything, you know." Mitsuyo told her husband. It came off as a bit harsh, but she did care about his wellbeing.

"I just wanted to tell you to take it easy a bit too…you've been working hard for Hifumi…"

"Your concern is appreciated, but don't worry. Everything is going well for Hifumi. I'm making sure of that." Mitsuyo said with a determined nod. "She will be a winner…the best player…no matter what…"

.

.

June 19th.

The thieves only had about 10 days left before Makoto reported them. Unfortunately, the only thing they could do at this point was wait for Ohya to contact Ren and soon at that. It had been a full day since Ren sent her a message, so now he was just in his room in Leblanc…and as luck would have it, she finally responded to him. "Hey, Morgana…she responded to me."

"Really?" Morgana hopped on the bed, reading the message that Ren received. "Crossroads Bar? It sounds that place is in Shinjuku. A meetup there, huh…?"

"Shinjuku…I heard it was a pretty lively area…" Ren said.

"Lively is a mild way of putting it." Morgana said. "I've hear they call it the red-light district. You should send a message to the others what you're up to."

"Yeah." Ren nodded and sent a message to the group chat. Ultimately, they decided that Ren and Ryuji would go to Shinjuku to get the information that they needed. With that decided, Ren stood up and was about to leave, but was stopped by Morgana.

"Hey, are you gonna go in your uniform? It would be bad if you stood out…" Morgana pointed out. "You should change before you go."

"…Thanks. Good idea." Ren was glad Morgana thought of that. Shujin was all over the news so someone was bound to recognize their uniform. Even if the chances were slim, they couldn't afford to stand out.

.

.

After changing, Ren and Morgana met Ryuji in the Accessway…and Ryuji was wearing his school uniform, still. "You're in your uniform!?" Morgana could not believe this.

"I had no choice. Didn't have the time to go home." Ryuji shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, it'll be fine."

"You stand out…" Ren sighed. Unfortunately, they didn't really have the time to debate this.

"It'll be fine!" Ryuji said confidently. "No one's gonna recognize us anyway!"

"It's not my fault if someone calls the cops on you two…" Morgana shook his head. Ryuji was an idiot for not changing, but there was nothing they could do about it now.

"We'll be fine! Now, let's head to Shinjuku!" …Ryuji was way too excited for this.

.

.

Shinjuku was totally different than Shibuya. It was just as lively, but there were more adults around than students. The time of day was also a reason for this. Ryuji was awestruck while looking around. "Whoa…this place is…"

"Stop looking around like some sort of tourist." Morgana chided.

"I-I was just lookin' around for the place we were after!" Ryuji quickly defended himself. "I think it's just up ahead, actually.

"Let's go then." Ren led the way. As one might expect, there were plenty of people attempting to rope them into buying something. Ren and Ryuji had to evade these shady people as best they could. They were doing a good job until…a cop called out to them.

"May I speak to you for a moment? Are you students? You shouldn't be out this late." The cop said.

"We're…college students." Ren said, deepening his voice to sound older. It was the same thing he had done when trying to convince 'Becky' he was a dad. At least his voice didn't crack this time…

"Yup! Totally college students!" Ryuji followed up.

"This your friend?" The cop asked before staring at Ryuji a bit more. "Those pants…I've seen them before…a school? Yeah! A school that was involved in the abuse case. That's a school uniform! You are students!"

It took all of 30 seconds in a single conversation to be recognized. Ryuji's eyes widened. "Crap…!"

"This is why I said uniforms were a bad idea! LET'S RUN!" Morgana yelped. Ren and Ryuji made a mad dash away into a nearby alleyway. Luckily they were able to shake off the cop and avoid getting caught. "Ugh…are we there yet…?"

"It's not my fault we had to take that little detour!" Ryuji huffed. Even though it was his fault. "A-Anyway, let's try headin' back…"

"Wait!" The woman nearby called out to them. She had long, dirty blonde hair and a purple headband on her head.

"What now?" Ryuji sighed.

"For the blonde one, I sense impending woman troubles…" She said, before glancing at Ren. "And as for you, I'm…not so sure. But the Priestess and Star Aracana are most prominent…if you listen to what I have to say, you can avoid those troubles…"

"This shit again? Sorry, we're kind of in a hurry. Plus I don't really believe in that stuff anyway." Ryuji said.

"Ah…my apologies. Well…I will be here if you should ever wish to come back." The woman looked a bit dejected as the two left. Out of curiosity she looked at the Star Arcana again. It was giving her a reading that she couldn't entirely make sense of…which was a first.

Finally, they made it to Crossroads. Night time was bar time. "We'll go in." Ren told Ryuji. "You'll stick out like a sore thumb again…"

Ryuji's head dropped. Considering they got spotted because of him, he couldn't exactly argue against that. "Yeah…that's fair. I'll go kill time somewhere…"

With that settled, Ren stepped inside Crossroads. There were only two people inside: Ohya and the bartender. "Ah…"

"This isn't the type of place for a kid…" The bartender said. She was a big larger and her voice was deep. It almost caught Ren off guard for a second.

"Don't worry, Lala-chan. He's with me" Ohya said while raising her drink.

"Oh…you picked a young one this time." Lala remarked. "As long as you don't go giving him any drinks."

"I'll be fine with water, thanks." Ren went ahead and brushed that worry aside.

"We'll be taking the seats in the back!" Ohya said. Her words were a bit slurred. Clearly she was intoxicated…

When Ren and Ohya sat down, Morgana could smell the strong scent of alcohol coming from this woman. It was almost overpowering his sensitive nose. "Ugh…this woman reeks of booze…" Honestly, if he looked in the dictionary and looked up the definition of alcohol, he'd see her picture.

"I thought you were joking…! But here you are!" Ohya let out a drunken giggle. She wasn't expecting Ren to show up, but she was pleasantly surprised. "What would a high schooler want to know from me anyway, huh?"

"I was hoping you knew who's been controlling things in Shibuya." Ren got straight to the point.

The bubbly laughter from Ohya ended. Her expression turned a bit serious and she took another drink. "Oh. I see. Well…that kind of information doesn't exactly come cheap you know…and it's pretty dangerous."

"…" Ren was silent. It sounded like she was about to ask for something in return.

"You're a Shujin kid, yeah? I remember you wearing the uniform when we first met." Ohya said while looking at Ren. "That place has been getting really popular because of the news. The Phantom Thieves first started too, yeah? I've been looking for a scoop myself…I wanted to interview someone who was involved in the Kamoshida case. So…if you can help me out here, I'd be willing to do the same."

Was that it? An information exchange. As soon as Morgana heard he whispered Ren an idea. "What about that Mishima guy?"

A great idea. Ren gave Morgana a slight nod. "I think I know someone who can help you with that."

"Really? You're a live saver!" Ohya was beaming. This kid was a bigger help than she could have imagined. When one more sip, she gave him another serious look. "This might not be upfront payment but…Junya Kaneshiro. That might be the guy you're looking for."

"YES!" Morgana was so pumped up. Finally, a name. That was all they needed. They could figure out the rest themselves.

"I should warn you….I'm not responsible for what happens next! Kaneshiro doesn't leave any tracks, you know." Ohya had to make that crystal clear. She gave him the name of someone he was after. What Ren did with that information was completely up to him. She had no part in it from this point on.

"Yeah, that's fair. But you don't have to worry. I'll send you the ID of the student I mentioned. He'll be more than happy to help you with your interview." Ren said with a smile. This woman was just a bit overbearing…but he could deal with it. This would also be the perfect revenge for how Mishima abandoned him during Operation Maidwatch. He didn't forget. He was just biding his time.

"I have to wonder, though…" Ohya began. "Both the Phantom Thieves and the Mental Shutdowns are supernatural. I wonder if there's any connection between them…" That train of thought made Ren stiffen up a bit. For a drunk woman she was scarily perceptive. "Oh, don't mind me. I just like to speak to myself a lot. Anyway! Lala-chan! Let's have another toast to celebrate a new partnership!"

"It would be a problem if you stayed too long…you should finish your water and leave." Morgana suggested.

"Mhm. I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got things to do. I'll speak to you later." Ren took one big gulp of his water, then exited Crossroads. Once he did, he contacted the others, Ryuji included. "I got a name."

.

.

June 19th.

The group gathered together in Station Sqaure. The finally had a name. That was only the first step…but they could get through the rest easily now that they had that done. "I entered Kaneshiro's name into Nav and as expected, it's a hit."

"But we don't have the first guess as to what or where he thinks his Palace is…" Ryuji mentioned.

"If we can guess what his Palace is, we may be able to ascertain where it is by association. Yusuke mentioned.

"We don't really have any clues other than his victims…" Morgana said. "But we can just start shooting things and see what sticks."

"We can't take too long, though." Ann said. "I have to speak with Hifumi later today about all this…so I hope we're in and out of this."

"Yeah yeah, we know." Ryuji said. "So…it's gotta be somewhere he's got complete control over. Maybe a garden?"

"No candidates found." The voice of the Nav said.

"He likes money…so what about a money bath? I've seen people online with something like that." Ann gave a smile, but once again, she was denied.

"No…not even close." Yusuke shook his head. "Ren, any suggestions?"

"…A bank?" Ren said.

"I see…" Yusuke nodded and of course, it was a hit. "That was a hit. So he thinks of his palace as a bank…"

"So now we have to figure out where this bank of his is…his hideout?" Ryuji rubbed his head. The location was the trickiest part of it all.

"How about a real bank…?" Ann asked.

Yusuke shook his head. "No…that's not quite right. Palaces emanate a passionate madness. It feels as though we're missing that aspect. This is a man who extorts the masses for his own personal gain…"

"So his bank would have to be where they are…? Somewhere he could withdraw from?" Ren was starting to put the pieces together.

"His bank is wherever his victims are…so it has to be close…!" Morgana was following up on Ren's statement. They were definitely making progress.

"That's horrible…but you're probably right." Ann sighed.

"Are you for real? Do you know how many people do you think Kaneshiro's taken advantage of in all of Shibuya!?" Ryuji understood the logic, but going about it this way wasn't getting them anywhere!

"Wait! I have a hit!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"H-Huh…? Did I…say something right…?" Ryuji was so caught off guard by this, he was almost stunned into silence.

"The place Kaneshiro thinks of a bank is…all of Shibuya." Yusuke confirmed.

"What!? Are you serious…the entire city?" Ann couldn't believe someone had such a huge scope like that.

"That's not a surprise if he has a Palace. His way of thinking really is criminal…" Morgana was disgusted.

"But wait…is it okay to go straight into a Palace in this crowd of people?" Ann questioned. She did have some time before her scheduled meetup with Hifumi.

"Don't worry, we'll be quick." Ryuji said while rubbing the underside of his nose. "Nobody notices when a piece of garbage goes missing from a trash can. Same thing."

"I don't think I like that comparison…" Ann lowered her head. But it seemed like things would be okay.

Hifumi was a bit surprised she had more time than she expected. Her day was completely clear so she was already on her way to the meeting spot she and Ann discussed. "Oh…!" She happened to spot Ann and the others nearby. "I guess she got here early too. I'll go say hello."

"Let's go." Yusuke said. Everyone nodded in agreement and activated the Nav, entering the Metaverse. They vanished from the crowd of people and not a single person noticed. Not a single person except…

"…!?" Hifumi's eyes widened as she quite literally watched Ann and the others vanish from sight. Nobody else saw it. Was she going crazy? She even rubbed her eyes a few times just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "T-That…? What just…happened…?"