2/11

turtlepower: Hey, hey, I got something cool to show all of you! If you're all available, please come to the Hall of the Daybreakers as soon as you can!

Nitori seemed full of energy, so I made my way over to the ravine after cleaning up the dishes after breakfast. Marisa was the only one who made it there before me; within minutes, everyone else arrived, with Mamiko being the last one to come, which she explained to be due to having to finish up some chores for Alice. Once we arrived, we each made sure to enter the Metaverse quickly, to avoid the prying gaze of Aya and other Tengu.

Inside, Nitori greeted us all. "Thank you for coming," she bowed.

"'Ya seemed really pumped up over that message," Marisa said. "Whaddya wanna show us so bad?"

Nitori ran to the door and waved at us to follow. "Come with me! It's outside!"

"Oh, well, alright," Marisa shrugged.

We followed her outside to the training course, where she led us to a large, grey structure in between all the platforms.

"What is this?" I asked.

Nitori stood to the side and showed it off very flamboyantly. "This is my Meta-Deck! It's a place where we can practice combat!"

"Can't we already do that in Ethos?" Reimu asked.

"Without the fear of dying!" Nitori proclaimed. "Not only that, but I can design custom scenarios so that we can work on different strategies!"

"How is that possible?" Youmu asked.

"Simple! I can create holograms of any enemy I have scanned during our explorations, and direct them to attack in different ways based on the training exercise! I can even modify their resistances and affinities in any way I like!"

"So we can practice our battle skills here…" Byakuren mused.

"That's correct!" Nitori smiled.

Mamiko got out her staff. "If it's combat practice, then let's step inside."

"I was just waiting for the signal!" Nitori chirped.

Inside the Meta-Deck was a large, metallic room whose walls and floor consisted of identical metal tiles. Above and behind us on the wall the door was on was a control room, which Nitori floated up into using her Persona, up through a hatch on the bottom which she closed behind her.

"Whaddya doin' up there?" Marisa asked.

"I control the simulations from up here," Nitori explained, now speaking through an intercom. "Of course, like in a real battle, I can and will still provide support to you guys." There was a pause, before she continued, "Now then, so that I can demonstrate this thing's capabilities, I'll go ahead and walk you all through a sample scenario I crafted which shows off all the basics."

"Alright," I said, "then, let's see it."

"Cool! Then I'll get it started!"

We watched as the metal tiles began shimmering with lights, before flashing white; when the lights died down, we found ourselves faced with a scene of the Hakurei Shrine in springtime.

"Whoa, what the-" Youmu stuttered.

"How did we end up here?" Mamiko asked, a little panicked.

"An incident has struck Gensokyo!" Nitori proclaimed. "Monsters are crawling all over the place, and it's up to you to stop them!" Three green lasers shot in from the ceiling, drawing two Jack O' Lanterns and a Pixie, which first appeared as green-and-teal wireframes before filling in with color and depth. "Daybreakers, move out!"

"Affirmative!" I said. I assumed an attack position, but saw some of the others were still confused. I looked over to them, and said, "just treat it like a normal battle!"

"Ah, yes," Byakuren said. Soon, all of us swooped in and swiftly dealt with the weaklings before us. Upon defeat, the holograms would at first go through their normal death throes, before pausing, glitching out and bursting into teal tiles and sparks.

Once we had beaten the first wave, the scene flashed and changed, this time to a Village setting. "The monsters have invaded the Village! Defend its human residents!" We were faced with a Succubus and two Daemons, which Byakuren managed to easily beat by throwing a Makouha and a couple of Hamas at them.

"Nice goin', Priest!" Marisa grinned.

"Thank you," Byakuren replied.

The scene changed again, to a mountainside, and we faced five High Pixies. "Looks like they're coming off the mountain! Find their base!" There were five enemies, but all of them were weak. We took out our guns, and blasted them to bits; Byakuren in particular seemed very fond of firing hers, what with her blasting away a stream of lead at the foes and seeming hell-bent on turning them into swiss cheese.

"Heeeey," Marisa complained, "let us have some fun, too!"

Byakuren giggled. "Oh, I apologize. I just find this to be very enjoyable."

We gave her strange looks as the scene changed once more, to an underground cave. Two Lamias and two Mothmen appeared before us. "You're coming up on the enemy base!" Nitori declared. "Blast through 'em!" And blast through 'em we did, shooting the Mothmen down and freezing the Lamias in place so that Marisa could follow up with extra-powerful Nuclear follow-ups.

"Starburst, that follow-up was devastating!" I complimented.

"Eh, they were nothin'," she said, tipping her hat.

The final scene was a lava-filled crater, and before us a single, very large Eligor appeared. "You've found the commander! Take him down!" I knew Eligor was weak to Electric, which only I could use, so I summoned my secret weapon: a freshly-fused Dairoku Tenmaou, freed from the distortion of Byakuren's old fortress and ready for battle. I commanded the use of Zionga, which stunned Eligor in place and allowed Mamiko to close the distance for a powerful physical blow. Down on the ground, we surrounded it, and since it was a hologram and there was no point in negotiating, we simply jumped in, sliced, diced and slashed until it was no more.

After the fight, and as we shook ourselves loose, the area turned back to just a room with metal tiles. "So," Nitori asked, "what do you think?"

"What… what were all of these different scenes?" Mamiko asked. "I don't understand, it's like we were being teleported all around…"

"Oh, simple. I can simulate any setting so that the battles can be way more interesting," Nitori said.

"I'll admit," I said, "they were so real it was as though we were really there…"

"Uh-huh, yep, that's what I was going for!" She paused. "And, besides, I had to perfect it to get these things working properly."

"What 'things?'" Reimu asked.

"Remember those Battle Memory thingies we got from Jose? Turns out, they contain fight data which we can use for practice! I wanted to put the first one on today, so that I could iron out any other bugs."

Youmu huffed. "I don't know, I'm already feeling a bit drained…"

"No problem, one second!" Nitori inputted something, then all of us were hit with a wave of energy which refreshed and revitalized us. "There. You should be ready to take anything on now, same as if you hadn't just fought through a huge wave of enemies!"

Youmu took out her sword, sliced the air a few times, then sheathed it. "Oh, wow… you're right, I feel like I could take on anything!"

"Are you going to start the Memory?" I asked.

"Yep, just oooooone second," Nitori said. A few beeps and boops, and the room flashed white again.

"Initializing Castle of Lust scenario." The lights died down, and various aspects of the room materialized in teal flashes, including the throne, the carpet, the chandelier, the castle walls, the pillars of female volleyball player torsos… it really was a perfect re-creation of Suguru Kamoshida's throne room, from when I was observing them.

Marisa walked up to one of the statues and touched it. "The hell is THIS supposed to be?"

"This looks like the domain of one who is completely overtaken by desires of the flesh…" Byakuren mused.

"And perhaps longing for glory," Mamiko added. "A golden chandelier, golden torches, countless riches and a decadent atmosphere…"

"Drawing memographic holograms…" A laser shot down and generated holograms of Ren, Ryuji, Morgana and Ann carrying a large, ornate, red crown down the stairs.

"Spawning holographic jerks…"

"What's going on?" Reimu asked.

"Who are they?" Mamiko asks.

Reimu covered her mouth with her hand. "Wait… are they…?"

"GO GO, LET'S GO! KA-MO-SHIDA!"

A holographic Shadow Kamoshida appeared from the side, smacking a volleyball into the crown to knock it out of the Thieve's hands, just like in real life. He then jumped with a flourish, reached out his hand while grinning, and shrunk the crowd down into his hand, and a cognitive Ann ran up beside him.

"So… this is Kamoshida…" Reimu said, whipping out her gohei.

"That's quite the get-up," Byakuren said, commenting on his heart-covered cape and pink speedo.

"Yeah," Marisa said, looking away. "I miss ten seconds ago when the image of a hairy, middle-aged guy in a speedo wasn't burned into my eyes."

We continued to watch the scene play out. "I won't let anyone take this!" Kamoshida declared. "This proves that I am the king of this castle. It is the CORE of this world!"

"That rat-bastard…" Ann hissed. "That's how he sees me, isn't it?"

Youmu peeled her eyes. "Oh yeah… those two DO look similar… well, except for the skintight catsuit on the 'real' one, and the skimpy bikini on the other one."

"Yo pervert," Ryuji said. "Were you waitin' to ambush us?"

"I just made it easy to find you," Kamoshida said, glaring. "I'll dispose of you myself, right here, right now."

"That's our line, 'ya sexually-harassin' D-Bag!" Ryuji shot back.

Kamoshida shook his head. "What a selfish misunderstanding…"

"How is it a misunderstanding?" Ann stomped her foot. "You were doing things that you kept secret from others!"

"People around me were the ones who kept it secret," Kamoshida replied. "Adults who want to share in my accomplishments, students who have the drive to become winners, they willingly protect me, so that we all may profit from it."

"Profit?" Ryuji asked.

"There are too many imbeciles who don't understand that!" Kamoshida hissed. "Including naive brats like you and that girl who tried to kill herself!"

"...a girl tried to kill herself?" Byakuren said. "...what did this man…"

Ann shook her head. "True… she's a total idiot… letting you manipulate her, trying to commit suicide… and I'm even more of a dumbass for not realizing that! But no matter what kind of fool someone might be… THEY DON'T NEED YOUR PERMISSION TO LIVE THEIR LIVES!"

"Drop the attitude, you mediocre peasant!" Kamoshida shouted back. "There's nothing wrong with me wanting to use my gifts for my gain!" He shot a glare. "I'm a cut above all other humans!"

Reimu shook her head. "No. You sink so low I'd use you as youkai bait."

Ann continued, "Above? You mean below, you goddamn demon obsessed with your sick desires!"

The room began to shake, and a red aura surrounded Kamoshida as he chuckled evilly. "That's right. "That's right. I'm not like you. I'm a demon who rules this world!"

At this point, the Phantom Thief holograms disappeared, and we stepped back, watching Kamoshida's horrific transformation into a demon unfold before our eyes.

Byakuren looked up, aghast. "No way…"

"What the…"

The transformation finished, and the giant, pink, four-armed crowned demon cackled madly. "Ahahahahaha! I can do whatever the hell I want!"

I swept my hand. "Your crimes end here!" Kamoshida roared in response, and we drew our weapons and pointed them at him.

"You goddamn no-good shitty brats! Haven't you been taught not to point at people, huh?!"

"This guy's a complete sicko," Marisa said. "I wanna tear 'im a new one, even if he's just a hologram!"

"Agreed," I nodded. "Let's tear into him!"

I, of course, knew what his entire strategy was, having watched the original fight. But I had to pretend I didn't, otherwise the others would get suspicious of how I already knew how to deal with him even though this fight took place long before I claimed to have first awakened my powers. Just like before, he attacked by having his slaves smack volleyballs into our faces, trying to stab us with his knife, and using his tongue as a whip.

"Gehh… this guy's a complete lech!" Reimu exclaimed.

"Agreed, I feel like I'm gonna need a bath after this," Marisa said.

"Then, let's attack his power source," Mamiko said.

"What do you mean?" Youmu asked.

"I mean, this." She whipped out her crossbow and shot a bolt straight into Kamoshida's crotch.

"YEEOOOWW!" Kamoshida jumped up in the air, landed flat on his ass and flinched in severe agony, allowing us the chance to hit him in the head with several powerful attacks, including a co-op attack where Byakuren caber-tossed Marisa onto him, allowing her to claw away for a few moments before Kamoshina shook her off.

Once he recovered, he took his fork, stabbed one of the featureless female bodies in his trophy, and ate it, fully healing himself. "Mmm-mmm! Nothing gives me energy quite like dumb, teenage brats!" He pointed his knife at us. "You dumb shits will never have the love and admiration I get from everyone! I'm gonna end this right here, right now!"

Youmu shook her head. "Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. He treats those girls like disposable sex dolls, and his male students like expendable slaves."

"He's just gonna keep eatin' them like a fat boy at the buffet if we don't do something 'bout the trophy they're all in," Marisa said. "Let's wreck it!" She cast Freila upon the trophy, chipping it and causing it to tip over a little.

"Wha- hey!" Kamoshida stuck his knife in front of the trophy. "You don't know what this is worth, so stop touching it! Don't do it anymore, got it?! I've warned you!"

I rubbed my chin. "Hmm… I see. Alright."

I rushed over to the trophy, took off my gloves, and slapped my sweaty, oily palm on its side.

"HEY! Get your grubby paws off of it!" He lunged at me with his fork, which I dodged, before I jumped up into the trophy, wriggling between the bodies and shooting up at Kamoshida with my pistol. He reached his hand in, pinched me, and pulled me out.

"I'm gonna make you pay for taintiny my trophy of love!" He looked me over. "Nice suit, do you have a license to be killed?!"

Interesting, I thought. Kamoshida never said or did these things in the original fight. I wondered, instead of just going through the motions, did the Battle Memory accurately capture his entire personality as well? That would make sense, if it was based on his distortion, that it could actually capture the full scope of it…

"Hey dummy, over here!"

Kamoshida dropped me and looked over to where the voice came from. It turned out that in the time he was preoccupied with me, Reimu, Marisa and Youmu had managed to nick the trophy right from under his nose. Before he could react, they chucked it out the window.

"AHHH!" Kamoshida reached out his arms in vain, before slumping. "No… nonononono! That was from when I won the National!"

We wasted no time getting around him and drawing our guns. His eyes darted around out of sync. "Who the hell do you think you are? Do you realize who I am?!"

"Of course we do," I said. "But do you realize who I am?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

I smiled. "I'm Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC. We're doing a segment on sexual predators."

"...what?" Marisa asked.

Kamoshida roared. "Oh, you think you're so funny, Mr. Comedian! But I'm Suguru Fucking Kamoshida! I am the king of this world!"

I shook my head. "I would ask you to have a seat, but you've already taken it." I smirked. "The seat to your execution, that is! OPEN FIRE!" We unleashed untold amounts of lead into his body; Mamiko shot bolts into his eyes, Marisa revolver shots into his chest, Reimu summoned her Persona to double-team him, Youmu shot her gun wildly, and Byakuren… well, she was getting into it, shall we say, if her mimicking the sound of the bullets' ratatatatata was anything to go by.

We jumped back as we ran out of ammo. Kamoshida reeled. "Damn you… how dare you keep defying me!" He whipped his riding crop. "Slaves! Bring over you-know-what!" The slaves rushed over to the side. "Time for my kill shot, from when I was young and rockin' it! Kill shot, as in, I make the kill!"

A few moments later, we watched as several girls in skimpy bunny suits came over, holding a truly massive volleyball. They were led by a cognitive version of Shito Suzui, the girl Kamoshida had raped.

"What on Earth?" Marisa exclaimed, jumping back.

Byakuren shook her head. "This man… those girls… truly the nadir of Man's desire…"

"Here's your extra-special cosmic ball of love~ *giggle*"

"Good Suzui-chan," Kamoshida cooed lecherously. "Now let's serve these defiant shits my game-winning spike!"

The girls jumped up, throwing the ball into the air. Kamoshida then dropped his weapons, leaping into the air and slamming the ball down with all his might.

I looked up. "Brace for impact!" I shouted. I braced, and so did the others… except for Byakuren, who ran up, jumped to meet the ball with her fist, and punched it back.

"What?!" A surprised Kamoshida saw the ball flying back toward him, prompting him to smack it back. Then Mamiko, following Byakuren's example, used her staff to whack the ball back.

"I see," I noted. "So we really are playing volleyball now." The ball came back around, and I responded with a flying kick.

"Grr, damn you!" Kamoshida hissed. "I WILL win this match! You're all amateurs!"

Each other person had their own answer to the massive volleyball: Reimu summoned her Persona to bat it back with its oversized metal gohei, and Youmu did a swift, spinning kick. Marisa was last; just before Youmu's hit, she took out a grenade, stuck a goo ball to it and pulled the pin, before throwing it toward the volleyball, causing it to adhere. She then hit the ball with a double-kick, and right as Kamoshida jumped up for a second Gold Medal Spike, the entire thing exploded like an Acme product, leaving Kamoshida with an ash-covered face and the crown on the other side of the room.

"Time to end this!" I had Bond fire a Snap shot right into his heart, causing Kamoshida to flail back.

"DAAAAMMNN YOOU-OU-O-OU-UO-" In his death throes, the hologram faltered and flashed static, before seizing up and shattering like electronic glass.

"Simulation complete. Victory!" Nitori called out.

The scene flashed out, leaving us again in the metal-tiled room. The only thing left was the crown, slowly rolling across the floor in front of us.

"That crown…" Youmu walked over to it, and the moment she touched it with her hand, it instantly transformed into a pile of coins, cash, skill cards and weapons, and she jumped back and yelped in surprise.

"Whoa!" Marisa immediately rushed over to the riches, taking a coin and inspecting it. "Is this real?"

"Is it?" Nitori asked. She came down from the control booth and inspected the treasure alongside Marisa. "It…" She took out her PDA and examined the pile. "It can't be… I… wasn't expecting this at all! I mean…"

I went over to the pile myself and scooped a handful of gold coins myself. "This must be a reward for defeating the Memory of Suguru Kamoshida. Hidden inside an unassuming disc…"

Marisa wasted no time sucking it all up into the bag gun. "Well, I mean, treasure's treasure. Can't complain about it…" She kicked her feet. "But man, that Kamoshida dude, he was just as bad as you made 'im out to be. Maybe even worse."

"Just how bad was he?" Byakuren asked. "I could tell he was a wicked man, but…"

"He was the first opponent of the Phantom Thieves," I explained. "It was his atrocities that brought the founding members, the four holograms you saw before the fight began, together. The blonde boy was Ryuji Sakamato; Kamoshida had broken his leg, ending his athletic career. The girl was Ann Takamaki; he had been coercing her into sleeping with him for 'favors,' and he raped her best friend, Shiho Suzui, when she refused one day. The cat was Morgana, who showed them the Metaverse." I paused. "And the man in the black coat was Ren Amamiya, a then-recent transfer student who was framed for a crime in his hometown and was serving probation. Kamoshida himself was Shujin Academy's main gym teacher, a former Olympic champion and volleyball star who ended up washed-up, and came back to his alma-mater of Shujin to head up the volleyball team."

"I see…" Byakuren nodded.

Mamiko walked up. "School… in other words, a place where children are taught about the world by adults. But when you say his 'alma-mater…'"

"It means he himself was a student there back when he was a teenager," I explained. "I'm familiar with his case; I reviewed it soon after he confessed his crimes. He longed for his glory days as an athlete, and as a result came to regard Shujin as his 'castle' over which he could exert control of the students, the only people impressionable and naive enough to let him control them, since as an athlete he was under the constant pressure and scrutiny of the media, organizers, and even national politics. Additionally, he had had a rough history with women. He was the type of man whose fame and influence made him believe he was entitled to women and sex, without any of the nuances, mutual understanding and trust that a healthy relationship demands. There was evidence when he was younger of him sleeping with prostitutes, and while he had been in relationships, they all ended after all the women walked away, unable and unwilling to tolerate his advances and domineering. All of them were strong-willed, worldly, and stuck to their beliefs. He didn't like that. So in addition to running the students of Shujin into the ground and expelling or otherwise punishing those who stood in his way, like Ryuji and Ren, he sexually preyed upon the female students."

Mamiko sighed and shook her head. "Inconceivable. Inconceivable how an adult could use their position to take advantage of impressionable children, scarring them for life…"

"Indeed. That analogy I made earlier was referencing an American TV show where they lured in men like Kamoshida as part of a sting operation in order to bring them to justice before the men could do any damage. But unlike those men, Kamoshida was well-guarded by the staff of Shujin, many of whom knew of his crimes, in order to protect the school's reputation and that of its prestigious volleyball team. Indeed, once the scandal broke, Shujin was thrown into chaos. Reporters were there almost daily, the police questioned the entire staff and student body, there were more firings, the volleyball team was forced to disband, and Shujin quickly became a pariah across Japan for letting a sexual predator teach there for so long, and eventually the principal was forced to step down. Actually, he died the day he was going to resign, hit by a truck while crossing the street. The case even made international headlines: the BBC, DW, the New York Times, the CBC, the Times of London, the Times of India, China Central Television, virtually everyone was talking about it. A former Shujin student who endured his abuses appeared on Good Morning Japan, and the recorded interview was shown on morning news programs worldwide. I even remember seeing it be talked about on Last Week Tonight, and boy did John Oliver have choice words about the man. And, of course, Kamoshida's sudden confession itself drew suspicion, since it came from nowhere and was preceded by an incident where numerous calling cards from a group calling themselves the 'Phantom Thieves of Hearts' threatened to take his heart. Thus, the beginning of the Change of Heart cases, to which I was assigned due to my track record in solving unsolvable crimes."

The room was silent for a second.

"Wow. I mean, just… wow." Nitori lifted up her goggles, revealing her stern eyes. "Youkai scare and prey on humans and their fears, but somehow, some humans find ways to be even bigger monsters than we could ever hope for."

"That's because a youkai will kill a human quickly and eat them," Reimu said. "These monsters, on the other hand, leave their victims with trauma that they have to carry with them for the rest of their lives. Many can't bear it and kill themselves, or try to, like that Suzui girl did. Oh, how I still wish I was the one to put that son of a slime in his place…" She shrugged. "But, in the end, I suppose it's for the best that people who actually suffered at his hands did it instead, and people out there who DO fight for justice exist."

"Indeed, the Phantom Thieves always told me that they wanted to give courage to people," I said. "All of their recruits were people who had personally suffered at the hands of another's distorted desires."

"That makes sense," Youmu said. "Those who have a personal stake in the matter are the ones who will most zealously fight for justice. Like me and how I wanted to help Yuyuko-sama overcome her distortion…"

*SNAP*

Suddenly, there was a bright flash from the side, and the click of a camera shutter.

"H-huh?! What the-"

We looked toward where the flash had come from, and…

Oh no. Oh fuck. Oh Shit, oh fuck, I thought, as my heart started pounding.

"Ayaya~, what is this? Did I walk into something important?"

She walked forward, waving the camera as she did so. "God dammit," Marisa hissed. "How'd she get in here?!"

"Oh, it was quite easy," Aya smiled. She then reached and pulled out an emerald green key, similar to all of our keys. "I've actually been observing you closely these past few days, and a few days ago I watched you all say a magic word into a key and then disappeared. After that, Momiji-san came to me and apologized for her rude behavior. Then, as luck would have it, this thing appeared on my bed stand this morning, and I thought, 'well golly, I can come back here and go wherever it is they're going whenever I want!' And as luck would have it, you all are here today as well!"

"Shit," I whispered. "We were too careless…"

"Of course!" She struck a pose, "after all, nothing escapes the eyes and ears of Aya Shameimaru, pure and honest reporter!"

"...somehow, I doubt that," Mamiko said.

"Oh, and why is that?" Aya asked.

"People who are actually 'pure and honest' wouldn't call themselves that. Such prideful behavior is exactly what the evil Mara wants us to delve into."

Aya looked all around the Meta-Deck. She whistled. "I'll have to admit though: quite the nice place you got here!"

"Yeah, I, uh, built it myself…" Nitori said hesitantly.

"Of course you did! Kappa technology is quite wonderful, after all!" She snapped some more pictures. "There was all sorts of stuff outside, too! With pictures of you and all that, I'll have the scoop of the century! 'Day Breakers' Identity Revealed!' My paper will sell thousands!" She turned to the door. "Anyway, sorry for bothering you, I'll be going~..."

I panicked. I had to do something. So I switched out a Bastet with random skills I had been meaning to fuse into something else, at this moment glad that I still had it.

"Dormina!" I cast a wave of pink bubbles, which hit Aya, knocking her out like a light.

We walked over to her unconscious body, which was sprawled out across the floor with her camera off to the side.

"Shit," Marisa said. "She found out. And not only that, she's got a Metaverse key too!"

I sighed. "What are we going to do? We can't just force her out, she'll just come back."

"If she has a Metaverse key, can't we just take it and hide it?" Reimu asked.

I shook my head. "That wouldn't work. A key can warp back to its owner if separated from them for long enough. I found that out when I left mine in a chest in my room for a few days."

Reimu got her gohei out. "We could 'silence' her here. We're not in the real world, and she doesn't have her powers here."

"Yeah, but she's a well-known figure," Nitori reminded us. "Even if there were no body, the Daitengu would get suspicious after a few days, and they'd check here since this was where she was last seen."

"What should we do, then?" Youmu asked.

Marisa took the camera. "I know what to do." She configured the camera, then knelt down to Aya's level.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I've always wanted to see what her panties looked like, under that short skirt of hers."

Byakuren blushed up. "You can't be serious!" she pleaded.

"Hey, she asked for it!" Marisa grinned, "and she's a sittin' duck!" She lifted Aya's skirt, took a picture, then peered inside… before dropping it and looking back up, red as a beet.

"What is it?" Reimu asked.

"...she's wearin' a tiny, lacy thong," Marisa replied.

Reimu paused, then rushed down and shoved Marisa aside. "Really? Lemme see!" Unlike Marisa, she stuck her entire head inside Aya's skirt.

"Owiee…" Marisa sat back up. "Do 'ya hafta be so rough?"

Reimu, her voice muffled, simply said, "wow, you weren't kidding! Now I can blackmail her for all the time she came by the Shrine and tried to pester me for interviews!"

"You two, you must stop right now!" Byakuren pleaded again, to no avail.

Marisa rushed around behind Reimu. "Oh yeah? Then what are you wearin' today?" She lifted up Reimu's dress, revealing puffy bloomers.

"Wha- HEY!" Reimu whipped around, pinned Marisa down, then lifted up her dress, revealing, of all things, Pikachu-printed boxers.

"Why you-"

*WHACK* *WHACK*

"That's quite enough, you two!" Mamiko had hit both of them on the head with her staff.

"Ooowww…" Reimu held her head in pain, and Marisa similarly staggered around holding her head.

I facepalmed. I'm surrounded by morons, I thought to myself.

"Look, let's just leave this place and go straight back to the Shrine," I said. "Reimu, you said we can use shimenawa ropes to tie youkai up? Let's do that."

"Alright…" she said. "Owww…"


"...mmmhh. Ayayaya…"

As Aya awakened, she slowly turned her head back up and forward. Once she was more lucid, she tried moving her hands and feet, only to realize they were tied up.

"Wha… eh? What is this?"

"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead," Reimu snarked.

"Yer' not a very good reporter, noddin' off on the job," Marisa smirked.

Aya tried to free herself from the chair she had been tied to, but all she could manage was slightly rocking it. "Why can't I-"

"Those ropes can seal even Yukari's powers," Reimu said. "You're not getting away from us so easily."

Aya looked down. "How did I… what did you do?"

"Hello, Shameimaru-san." I walked into the room and waved.

Aya looked at me. "Akechi…"

"You should be fortunate," I said. "Reimu wanted to execute you, but I talked her down from it."

"Yeah, and besides," Marisa waved the upskirt picture she took earlier in Aya's face. "We got something much worse in store if you don't cooperate."

Aya studied the picture, then her face turned red. "You… you defiling witch! T-that's sexual harrassment!"

"But it's perfectly fine for you to waltz right into our secret base and threaten to spread pictures all over Gensokyo?" I asked. "And besides, we had the upper hand on our turf. Without your normal powers, you were completely at our mercy."

"Yeah, I realized that," Aya snarled. "I dropped out of the air almost immediately. But still, I…"

"You were the one who wrote the note asking us to change Momiji's heart, were you not?"

Aya nodded. "...okay, okay, yes. I wrote the note. And yes, I've been following you guys around for a while. I suspected you all were doing something to make people have changes of heart, but I had no proof. Then you scattered those calling cards all over the Temple. I picked one up, and I recognized the art as Reimu's and the writing as Youmu's. That was the moment I figured out it was all of you. And I had a feeling Akechi was the ringleader, since this didn't start until just after his arrival in Gensokyo, AND he was associating closely with both of you and Youmu. That's when I… when I…"

"When you what?" Marisa asked threateningly.

"...that's when I realized you all could help me."

"...eh?" We all became confused. I had realized previously that she had made the request for a reason, and we could use it to turn her to our side, but I didn't think she would seek us out directly like this.

"...what do you mean?" I asked, hoping for clarity.

"Well, you see, I…" She looked down. "...I'm sure you're all aware of the Tengu caste system, right?"

"Yes, of course," Reimu nodded.

"Yes. Well, you see, it… it didn't always exist."

We jumped back in shock. "What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly that," Aya insisted. "It was put in place by one of the higher-ups as a means of suppressing the populace and keeping us from advancing. I'm an old, powerful Tengu, and I've always wanted to have a say in how things were run and try to steer Tengu society in the right direction, especially in this day and age where we're pretty much confined to Youkai Mountain, but because of the goddamn caste system, I can't. I'm stuck being captain of the guard and printing that newspaper. I want to do more. I want to uncover the truth behind the corruption in Tengu society and bring it down, but I'm only one woman and I haven't been able to find any allies who sympathize with me."

"What exactly are you getting at?" Reimu asked.

Aya chuckled. "You don't realize it, but I actually have a very strong sense of justice. Rooting out the evils of society, expelling them, and in some cases eliminating them. The real reason I started the Bunbunmaru was as an outlet for my frustration from not being able to do anything directly to address the injustices and corruption in Tengu society and Gensokyo as a whole. And, I'll admit, I suck as a journalist; after all, I was trained to fight, not to write. But, I have to make money to keep making and selling copies, in hopes that I can one day expose something that riles someone else up."

Using journalism as an outlet for her frustration and needing to expose crimes… if she was being honest, then her goals were very similar to those of Ichiko Ohya, a journalist whom Ren associated with on occasion, and who was also on my assassination shortlist due to her previous brushes with the Antisocial Force almost exposing Shido's criminal ties. And as one who held seeking justice as the ultimate virtue, along with dealing with an unfair and corrupt political system, her plight also resonated with me.

Reimu, for one, smiled. "Heh. I never thought I'd live to see the day where the 'Pure and Honest Reporter' admits she sucks at reporting." She lightly tapped Aya on the head with her gohei.

Aya pouted. "Honestly. I never thought I'd get myself into this situation…"

I pulled out my Metaverse key. "You showed us that you have one of these," I said. "A Metaverse key."

"Is… that what it's called?" She said. "And that place is called the 'Metaverse…"

"It's the place where the cognition of the masses takes form," I explained. "In addition, it is inhabited by the 'shadows' of every individual on Earth. The powers that we wield there are 'Personas,' which we gain by accepting our shadows, our negative and repressed feelings, as part of ourselves and resolving to fight against injustice. This way, we can expel a person's distorted desires and make them forsake their wicked ways."

"Is that so?" Aya said. "Then, that means you can help me?"

"Only if you agree to help us in our greater mission," I said. "In addition to expelling individual distorted desires, we're investigating 'Ethos,' the place where our base is and which you entered, but whose core is a tower which we feel is the source of all of the distortions."

Aya looked down. "Well… I only just got this key, and I don't have one of those 'Persona' things yet…"

"I'm sure you will awaken it in time," I said. "Especially if we find the ultimate culprit of the corruption in Tengu City."

Reimu pointed her gohei at her. "And there had better not be some kind of trick. You tried to blackmail us, after all."

Aya chuckled hesitantly. "Ah, well, you see, Reimu-sama isn't usually open to peaceful negotiation, so it was a… ah… reflex, I suppose you could call it."

Reimu paused, then lowered her gohei. "...feh."

Marisa grinned. "And besides, we have leverage over you, just in case you DID try to do something…"

I turned to face them. "Now, look, we're forming a deal, and we need that deal to be based on trust. Threatening each other with blackmail will only destroy that trust. We will destroy the photographs, and move forward with the investigation. Understood?"

"Yes…" Marisa grumbled as she handed the photo over. Reimu, who had been holding onto the photos Aya took, gave them over as well.

"Splendid," I said, accepting the photos. I then went over and untied Aya from the chair. Once she was able to get up, she stretched out completely.

"Mmmmmmmm, oh yeah. That feels much better." She stuck out her hand. "So, we have a deal? You'll help me investigate the Tengu higher-ups and I'll help you in your operation?"

"It's a deal." I offered my own hand, and we shook, sealing the deal.

I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Justice Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power...