Zenkichi was standing in PubSec HQ, seemingly deep in thought as he looked over the news of the change of heart cases plaguing the country. Kaburagi noticed this and approached him. "You look usually serious. Inspector Hasegawa." She said.

Zenkichi was a little surprised by her calling out to him. He turned and cleared his through. "Ah, Commissioner Kaburagi. My apologies – I've been short on sleep. I've not been on an undercover case in quite some time." Even his voice was tired.

"I wholly understand." Kaburagi said with an understanding nod. Zenkichi was dealing with a large undertaking. "Have you liaised with the Phantom Thieves?"

"Affirmative. I've gained their cooperation." Zenkichi responded. "However, proceedings are touch-and-go. Some of them are exceptionally quick on the uptake. Nevertheless, I guarantee you that I will them over."

"Understood. As expected of someone so dependable." Kaburagi nodded.

"Well, I still owe you for taking me under your wing." Zenkichi said. "I'm happy to do whatever you ask of me."

"Keep at it until you get to the bottom of this." The woman replied, giving Zenkichi a stern look to go along with her words. "But, do not get too attached to them. At this point, their arrest is an inevitability."

"Attached?" Zenkichi glance elsewhere. "I haven't been attached to anything in a long time."

"So you say." Kaburagi gave Zenkichi a knowing stare. "And how's the girl? Go home – at least every so often. Understood?"

"Ma'am." Zenkichi gave an automated respond. With that, Kaburagi left, and Zenkichi let out the heaviest sigh in the world. "Damn it, there's no way she's buying anything about that world…" If he tried to explain, that would be the end of things right then and there. "I gotta wring a lead out of 'em. Don't take it personally, Phantom Thieves. All I want is for this case to be solved…"

.

.

The Phantom Thieves were on the road. Makoto was in the driver's seat, the others were in the back. Ren and Sumire's phones were propped up on the table; so Sophia and Akechi – who was on speaker phone – could at least take part in the conversations. "Yo, where are we now?" Ryuji asked. They were on the road for a little while now.

"It looks like we're coming up on Tochigi prefecture." Makoto replied while keeping her eyes on the road. "We've come a pretty long way."

"Tochigi, hmm?" Yusuke turned his head to look out the window. "Tochigi is famous for the Nikko Toshogu shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu."

"I heard the monkey statures are adorable!" Haru giggled. "I hope we get to see them!"

"Oooh, I want strawberries!" Ann commented, leaning against Hifumi excitedly. "Let's go strawberry picking! Doesn't that sound fun, Fumi!"

"Hehe, I wouldn't mind giving it a try." Hifumi snickered. Ann was adorable when she was excited about food.

"Apparently, gyoza's pretty big there, too." Futaba pointed out. "Utsunomiya's supposed to be THE place for it."

"Gyoza sounds pretty good…" Sumire was rubbing her stomach. Starting to think of food already? It made her hungry. "I hope we can get some!"

"Their dried gourd is pretty famous too." Was Ren's commentary.

"All of you are awfully relaxed about this." Akechi remarked from the phone. He was behind the RV in his own car. A drive like this was no issue for him.

"I feel a little weird partially agreeing with Akechi." Morgana said. "Of all the things to get excited about."

"It's understandable." Makoto had a smile on her face. Hearing her friends in such high spirits made her happy, even if the situation looming over them wasn't ideal. They would get through it, just as they always had. "We could all use some time to unwind every now and then. And besides, we've already discussed it."

"Yes, I know. We have the time. It's not even August yet." Akechi was aware of the plan.

"There might even be Jails between Shibuya and Sapporo." Haru said, It didn't hurt to take the scenic route.

"We have the time. There's no reason we shouldn't make use of it." Yusuke said.

"As long as we pace ourselves, we should be okay." Ren said with a nod.

"Hmmmm…I guess you have a point." Morgana couldn't argue the logic. As long as they had time, they would be okay.

Ryuji then had a thought. "Wait, say we find a Jail before then – zat mean we're sorta huntin' for Monarchs along the way? Aw, we're taking the Phatnom Thieves to a whole new level!"

"It is a little exciting to think about…" Hifumi remarked.

"If there are any Jails, I'm sure Sophia will be able to handle it!" Ann said with a smile.

"I should be able to handle it. I think." Sophia's confidence wavered just slightly at the end there.

"It always inspires confidence when the guide is unsure of herself." Akechi remarked.

"He's got a point. Who or what are you?" Ryuji asked.

"I'm humanity's companion!" Sophia said, humming her little tune as always.

"There she goes singin' again!" Ryuji was smiling as he said this, though. It was an endearing trait of Sophia's that he grew fond of rather quickly.

"I don't think we should worry about it much for now." Sumire said. "I'm certain we will learn more about Sophia if she stays with us. "Right?"

"That is right, Sumire." Sophia beamed.

"That reminds me, how are you doing, Mako-chan?" Haru asked. "You've been doing all of the driving. I have my license too, so could always drive if you want."

"W-Well…" Makoto's voice briefly cracked. Almost as if the possibility of Haru driving scared her. "You just got yours, Haru, so I'll try to handle most of the driving as I can. Hifumi has hers as well."

"You do?" Haru stared at Hifumi, surprised to hear this.

"Mhm. My mother insisted I get it as soon as I could." Hifumi answered. "After everything settled down the last time we were together, I used my father's car to drive. I have experience behind the wheel, so I believe I can drive something like this. Makoto has more experience than I do overall, but I can stay on the road for a while as a worthy substitute."

"Fumi's a good driver!" Ann said. She had a smile, but it was a bit of a shaky one. "She's just, uh…a little…" She trailed off, not really knowing how to continue that. Plus she felt Hifumi's gaze on her. She decided she didn't want to finish it, but whatever it was…it was something the others might have to worry about. "It's fine as long as no one cuts her off…"

"That's a worrying statement." Futaba said with a sweat drop. She had no idea what to expect when Hifumi was behind the wheel.

"Does anyone else have their license?" Ryuji asked. "Aside from…the people driving of course." Makoto, Haru, Akechi, and Hifumi were exempt from this question, obviously. "I wanna get mine soon though."

"Apologies, I do not." Yusuke shook his head.

"I'm a little too young for that, unfortunately." Sumire sighed and dropped her gaze to the table.

"Ditto." Futaba said.

"I don't." Ann shook her head.

"I don't either." Ren added.

"The ratio of drivers is very poor." Akechi remarked. They were going on this road trip with only a handful of drivers? Well…it was at least better than having to rely only on Makoto for driving.

"I guess we'll be relying on you two, Mako-chan and Hifumi." Haru frowned a bit. She did just get her license and lacked the experience the two of them had.

"We can switch off when needed, Makoto." Hifumi told the driver, and she nodded in turn.

"If you're going to keep driving, is there anything I can do to help?" Sophia asked.

"Hmm…" Makoto thought for a moment. "Could you find us a nice place to stop? I could probably use a break. We can have lunch there, too."

"Okay, I'd be happy to." Sophia replied. "There's a riverbank up ahead that's up ahead."

"That sounds perfect." Makoto replied.

Haru realized she should address the elephant in the room. "…I don't like the idea of Akechi joining us for lunch, but I'll stomach it." This was her way of saying that he was invited to join them. He kinda had to follow them anyway, since he had no way of detecting the Jails.

"…That is…appreciated." Akechi was going to figure something out for lunch, but he was invited. He instinctively wanted to say no, but it was better just to go along with this. Saying thanks was an extremely awkward endeavor that he just avoided entirely. Just because he was trying to change and become a better person, didn't mean it would happy so easily or overnight.

"Lunch by a river, huh? Man, this is feelin' like a real road trip!" Ryuji was excited for it all.

.

.

The group parked at the riverbank Sophia mentioned. It was a beautiful place with plenty of room for them to move around. "Whoa…! This spot IS perfect!"

"Is…is this place even real!?" Futaba gasped. She'd never been so far away from her room before. "I've only ever seen this kind of place online!"

"I told you those online pictures wouldn't match the real thing." Sumire held her arms behind her back, smiling at the sight before them.

"Seriously…!" Ann swayed her arms about happily. "This is the perfect weather for cooking outdoors, too!"

Haru giggled. "This is going to be so nice, cooking lunch with everyone." Well, almost everyone. Akechi was standing a bit away from the group, of his own volition.

"You can't eat standing all the way over there, you know." Ren pointed out. Akechi muttered something under his breath before taking a few begrudging steps closer.

"We'll leave the main course to you!" Morgana exclaimed.

"…We're sharing lunch with the cat?" Akechi quirked a brow. Surely he couldn't be the only one who found that strange.

"Don't worry about it. It's good food." Ryuji waved a hand.

"That's not the part…" Akechi closed his eyes and sighed. He wasn't going to argue. While Ren was the one in charge of cooking, Yusuke and Sumire were the ones who got the table and the chairs set up.

"There. I think that's everything we need." Sumire said while dusting her hands off. "So what's for lunch, Ren-senpai?" She could smell something good cooking in the pot. What was he cooking? She really couldn't wait to find out.

"I know that smell anywhere! That's Sojiro's curry!" Futaba's eyes lit up. "Gimme! I hunger!"

"She looks so ravenous…" Hifumi said with an exasperated smile.

"The rice has been prepared!" Yusuke shouted triumphantly. "We're ready whenever!"

"…And he's too intense." Hifumi glanced back at Yusuke. Sometimes, Yusuke and Futaba were two peas in a pod. Everything was ready and everyone gathered around the table to sit and eat. The Leblanc curry was a hit as always.

"Mmmm, it's soooo gooooood!" Ann let out a food moan as she dug into the curry. "You have to try some, Fumi!"

"But I'm already…" Hifumi was eating, but suddenly Ann's spoon was in front of her mouth. There was an embarrassed blush on her cheeks as Ann was insisting on it. So Hifumi, flustered, took a bit.

"Get a room…" Akechi grumbled to himself.

"And to be surrounded by nature in all its splendor makes it taste that much better!" Yusuke wasn't paying attention to that. He was too busy enjoying the taste of curry in this wonderful setting. "Is there more?"

"Is there more!?" Sumire already cleared her plate. She was one of the biggest eaters in the group, and she enjoyed Ren's cooking. So she absolutely wanted more.

"…Heh, sorry you two! The Great Phantom Thief Futaba has already swiped the last plate!" Futaba said with a snicker.

Yusuke and Sumire's expressions fell at the same time. "L-Last…!?"

Akechi was still eating his plate. He was in no rush, plus he felt…weird about eating something that Ren made. It was good food, but it wasn't something he felt like he should be eating. "…How did you two finish that fast…? Actually, I don't care to know."

"Oh, come on, don't act so depressed." Makoto rolled her eyes at the exaggerated response of Yusuke and Sumire. They were overacting.

"Don't worry, you two. I'll make some more." Ren said while standing up. "We have enough for another round. But we're going to need to buy some food after…"

"Please make some more, Ren-senpai!" Sumire's eyes were sparkling. She was still hungry.

"Please do!" Yusuke was sharing the same enthusiasm as Sumire.

"You two are somethin' else." Ryuji couldn't believe it. Just earlier Sumire was barely filled up with all that ramen they had earlier. Her stomach was bottomless!

"You're not really one to talk, Ryuji." Ann pointed out.

"Shaddup, you're just as bad with sweets!" Ryuji was not going to take that lying down. Meanwhile, Ren was cooking up a second pot of curry for everyone. It was going to go just as fast as the first, and it did.

"Now that hit the spot." Ren said proudly. He'd gotten better at cooking curry and everyone seemed to enjoy it as well. He did glance at Akechi and he finished his plate, but it didn't look as though he went for seconds.

"That was damn good." Ryuji grinned.

"Should I pour us some tea?" Haru suggested. She thought it would be a nice way to relax after a good lunch.

"Ooh, that sounds like a great idea! Maybe we can roast some marshmallows too!" Ann added.

"I don't think we have that much time." Hifumi said with an exasperated smile.

"You're STILL thinkin' about food!?" Ryuji couldn't believe this. Actually, no, it was Ann. He could believe it.

"There's always room for sweets!" Ann shot back.

"We can get back on the road when we finish having tea, then." Makoto said. There was nothing wrong with extending this break a little longer. She then glanced over to Akechi, who was mostly silent and still keeping his distance both physically and emotionally. "Is that alright with you?"

"…Whoa am I to say no?" Akechi replied. It was a distant response.

"If you don't want tea, you don't have to have any." Haru replied. It was less tea she had to make.

"…." Akechi didn't reply.

"Let's…have that tea." Morgana was going to try and move the conversation along. Haru did make tea for everyone, and everyone did have some. It was the best way to finish off a good lunch, and Haru did make some amazing tea.

"Whew. That hit the spot." Ren said. "Are we ready to get moving?"

"I have an idea for us first." Sumire spoke up. Everyone looked over at her. "We've been sitting for a while, so I think now would be a perfect time to do a few stretches. This way, we won't feel too when we sit down to drive again. I think this will be especially helpful for Makoto-senpai and Hifumi-senpai!"

"Stretches?" Futaba blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Simple!" Sumire stood up and walked away from the table, performing a few easy stretches. "Also…this is a little bit for me as well. Sitting for so long and being inactive is more difficult than I initially thought. I have to stay active somehow."

"I could use a good stretch." Yusuke was fine with this idea. So he, Ren, Futaba (reluctantly), Morgana, Ryuji, and Ann (also very reluctantly) joined Sumire in doing some stretches to limber up. Sumire was the most flexible of them all so these stretches came easier to her than a few others.

Ann was struggling a bit when it came to lifting her leg. "…Nope. I can't do this. This is too hard."

"You can't even touch your toes." Ryuji said.

"I can…!" Ann said.

"Come on, you two…" Makoto rolled her eyes, letting out a sigh.

Sumire glanced over to Haru, Hifumi, and Akechi. They were the only ones who weren't taking the chance to stretch out and she wondered why. "Is something wrong?"

"…I don't want to." Akechi replied bluntly.

"As for us, well…" Hifumi awkwardly glanced to the side.

"We…we can't." Haru looked down at her attire. She was wearing a dress, and Hifumi was wearing skirt. Their attire wasn't fit for the kind of stretching Sumire was doing. They were both aware of this and had embarrassed red hues on their cheeks.

"Oh…" Sumire now felt embarrassed as well.

"…." Akechi closed his eyes, let out a heavy sigh, and simply began to walk back to his car. He had enough of physically being around the group for now.

"Hmmmm…" Sophia was curious about Akechi's behavior. It was something she hadn't seen before and it intrigued her.

"Ah…he left." Sumire frowned while holding her phone. "Well, I did want to take a picture with everyone to commemorate the trip and where we visit."

"Something tells me he wouldn't have joined." Ren shook his head. "But if it's a picture you want, we'll gladly join in."

"Heck yeah!" Futaba nodded.

.

.

After their little break, the group was back on the road. This time, Hifumi was the one driving while Ann was in the passenger's seat. It was nightfall now – they made considerable distance from Shibuya since they left earlier in the day. "I feel like we've been on the road for a while now. Where are we?" Morgana asked.

"We'll be entering Sendai soon." Yusuke answered.

"We made a lot a of stops, but we haven't seen any Jails so far." Futaba frowned. It didn't feel like they were making much progress.

"Well, I'm definitely feeling a little more relaxed now…" Ann shook her head. "I wouldn't want those things popping up everywhere. I think it's good there aren't many Jails out there. Also, it's getting kinda dark. How about we call it a day?"

"I agree, I think we should find a place to stay for the night." Makoto nodded. "Don't you agree, Hifumi?"

Hifumi was very focused on the road. That's why it took her a few seconds to respond to Makoto's question. "Huh? Oh, right…! Just let me know the consensus and I'll drive us over there."

"Wait, shouldn't we eat something first?" Ryuji piped up. "What's good in Sendai?"

"We just ate…" Akechi said, letting out a heavy sigh.

"That was a few hours ago! I'm starvin' all over again!" Ryuji replied to Akechi.

Haru was the one to answer Ryuji. "As far as local delicacies go, there's always beef tongue. There's plenty of specialty shops around as well."

"I've never had beef tongue before…" Sumire was immediately interested.

"Nonsense!" Yusuke immediately interjected. "Delicious as that sounds, we must go to Mt. Aoba Park and see the remains of Sendai Castle. They house a statue of the late Lord Date Masamune. I'd very much like to see the One Eyed Dragon for myself."

"We can't eat a castle, Yusuke-senpai." Sumire was speaking with her stomach. She might be the hardest one to keep full on this trip and everyone was starting to realize this.

"Ehh, I wanna take a bath first." Futaba groaned. "I'm not sleeping in the camper all sweaty and sticky."

Morgana rolled his eyes. Everyone was in a different camp: Makoto and Ann wanted to find a place to sleep, Sumire, and Ryuji wanted to eat, and Yusuke wanted to go sightseeing. "Geez. We're all over the place on this one."

"It is late. So could you all decide on something and quickly?" At this rate, they'd end up doing absolutely nothing. Akechi was mildly annoyed by the indecisiveness of it all.

"Okay, okay, let's calm down for a second." Ren moved his hands in a 'calm down' motion. "Rock paper scissors?"

"You are no help at all." Akechi's voice was dry and deadpanned.

"Can we please come to a consensus?" Hifumi was a little troubled. She was about to do a lot of driving around she felt like could be avoided.

"This is where I come in." Sophia spoke up. "Searching: Overnight parking lots, beef tongue, Data Masamune, and nearby bathhouses. Leave it to me. I'll find the most efficient route to everything you suggested."

"Please do. I can't drive everywhere." Hifumi said with a slight sweat drop.

"Don't worry, I'll find the quickest route possible." Sophia told Hifumi. "We should first head to the parking lot at Mt. Aoba Park. Then we can walk to the statue of Masamune and…..huh?"

"Is something wrong?" Sumire asked. She was a little concerned that Sophia just stopped talking like that.

"There's a Jail here. I can smell it." Sophia responded. Everyone's eyes widened.

"Smell…? Actually, never mind. It appears we've reached a worthwhile destination." Akechi didn't want to bother and asking why Sophia could smell Jails. It was just important that she detected something.

"Are you sure, Sophia?" Morgana questioned. This was an important question after all.

"I think so." Sophia answered, though her voice was a little uncertain. "I can't pinpoint it yet, and that may be because of the distance. But this feels the same as Shibuya."

"Let's check it out." Ren said. "Sendai it is. Are you ready, Hifumi?"

"Yes!" Hifumi nodded. "Leave it to me. I'll get us there as soon as possible!" Sendai was their next location for more reasons than they anticipated. If Sophia was correct, there really was another Jail waiting for them up ahead. And that was all the more reason for them to find the Monarch and put a stop to them.

Sendai was their next destination, and little did they know, that they were encroaching upon the territory of the Demon Lord...