"Everything went as planned up until we defeated your Shadow, Sis… However, it was then that we were met with a terrifying, unexpected police ambush. And as a result, even though we managed to grab the Treasure, we couldn't get it out of the Metaverse… but of course that was all an act by us. We had prepared an empty briefcase beforehand and merely acted like we were taking the Treasure. This was because we knew the police would be coming for us." said Makoto.
"We made sure before the operation that the police would be waiting to ambush us. And just as expected, Sakurai's gullible enough to take the bait." said Ann.
"Keiko-chan getting captured by the police went exactly how we planned." said Makoto.
"It's a risky move but I fully believe that my friends and I will pull it off and we managed to pull it off splendidly." said Keiko.
"It may have been a splendid and risky move to you and your friends, but that doesn't mean that I like it, Keiko." said Goro sternly to Keiko.
"I know, Goro." said Keiko reassuringly to Goro.
"And I had been interrogating her with no knowledge of this. But how did you all lured Sakurai into this… cognitive world's interrogation room?" asked Sae curiously to them.
"Yeah, do enlighten us, you youngsters." said Samson in amusement to them.
"That's thanks to Futaba-chan here, Niijima-san." said Jason as he raised and gestured his right hand at Futaba.
"All I needed were the coordinates. Hehehehehe…" chuckled Futaba with an excited look on her face.
"Looks like Futaba-chan used that unique laptop of hers to remotely access the Metaverse… And something tells me that asking her about it now would drag the conversation on too long… I should ask her about it later." thought Keiko as she sweat-dropped a little at Futaba being excited.
"Sakurai disposed of the fake Keiko Amamiya in the palace, and left thinking that he had been victorious. It must have been truly hilarious for our leader Miss Keiko who sat idly by herself in the real world's interrogation room. Surely she was acting quite cocky by herself in that quiet chamber." said Yusuke with an amused look on his face.
"Yeah. How I wish that we could see how cocky she is in that room, Yusuke." chuckled Aglaia.
"Yeah, it was at first before I got bored of waiting for Goro and Sae-san to come and get me out of there." said Keiko.
"So that's why you gave me your phone… I only took it because of what you told me." said Sae with a realization look on her face.
"It's a shame that I and the others have the opportunity to see that for ourselves. Only Akechi-san did." sighed Yusuke with a slight regret look on his face.
"Yeah, lucky me, Kitagawa." said Goro as he rolled his eyes at Yusuke.
"Same goes for me. I couldn't see it either in that room." said Keiko.
"You not seeing is much better than you nearly being shot and kill by "Junko Sakurai", Keiko Amamiya." thought Samson calmly in his mind.
"All I could do was try to handle all the messages that started coming to me on her phone. Huh… So, in other words, I've been to the Metaverse, albeit for a brief moment." said Sae with a knowing look on her face.
"In our experience, there is little danger when someone enters their own Palace for so short a time." said Yusuke.
"That's the other reason we had Keiko-chan give her phone to you. We need you to listen to Alibaba, deceive the guard, and ultimately cooperate with Akechi-kun to aid in Keiko-chan's escape." said Haru.
"And also by having you head back to the interrogation room and have you bump into Detective guy here along the way, we could return you and Detective guy in the real world as well." said Jason.
"Yeah. I mean, I had to think of some way to keep you and Big Sis's boyfriend from running into Sakurai mid-assassination." said Futaba.
"…Astounding. I haven't the slightest idea that such a grand operation was taking place within me." said Sae with an impressed look on her face at them.
"Yeah, it's brilliant. You youngsters are brilliant." said Samson as he briefly clapped his hands proudly at them.
"I'm so glad that Keiko was able to persuade you during the interrogation. Even though we already knew Sakurai's plan and that Akechi will try and manage to succeed in helping her, we were still pretty worried about that part." said Ann concernly to Sae.
"True." said Makoto as she nodded at Ann.
"Why's that?" asked Sojiro with a confused look on his face.
"Without Sis on our side, Futaba's plan and subsequent breakout would have never been possible. That persuasion was easily our greatest gamble. We couldn't consult Sis beforehand. It was absolutely the make-or-break moment of the entire plan." replied Makoto.
"Still, I'm surprised you could convince me in such a short time. Were you confident you could do it, Amamiya-san?" asked Sae as she glance at Keiko.
"Yes, I was. It was something else for all of us to make sure it all worked out." replied Keiko as she nodded at Sae.
"I see… Either way, I can't believe you went for such a risky idea…" said Sae sternly at Keiko.
"If we could just tell you the true culprit's plan, I knew you'd realize the bigger picture… Realize that Keiko-chan was telling the truth, and that there was a greater evil to pursue." said Makoto.
"As a result, we emerged victorious." said Yusuke with a happy look on his face.
"Then the reason you all kept this a secret from me was so you all could catch the true culprit, correct?" asked Sae as she glance at Makoto.
"Yes. Plus you had lost control of yourself at the time…" replied Makoto as she nodded at Sae.
"This is stunning… All I can really do is laugh." chuckled Sae.
"I've kinda figured out that you guys and girls make Sakurai kill a fake… But what did you do about the body?" asked Sojiro curiously to Sae.
"The police never even checked it." replied Sae.
"Huh? They didn't?" said Sojiro with a disbelief look on his face.
"They had a coroner working to ensure Keiko-chan's death was reported as a suicide. The coroner didn't take one look at the scene, and just passed along a falsified death certificate." said Sae grimly to Sojiro.
"Wow, can't believe that the coroner would just…" thought Samson as he slowly shake his head.
"… The bad guys have that much influence?" said Sojiro with a troubled look on his face.
"You've no idea how big their influence is thanks to "Junko Sakurai" and her "allies, Sakura-san." said Samson dryly at Sojiro (who scowled at him).
"Murder in a police station would be reckless otherwise. We also knew of a possible conspirator." said Makoto with a serious look on her face.
"Thanks to Futaba-chan's messages and the guard's demeanor, I eventually came to understand… And since the higher-ups at the police station knew nothing of this, they were thrown into disarray. As a result, Keiko-chan's suicide during imprisonment was reported on the news, just as Sakurai planned." said Sae.
"And with that confusion, she was able to escape with Akechi-kun and Niijima-san helping her." said Ann.
"I made sure nobody would check the morgue for her body while Akechi-kun swiftly and subtly bring Keiko-chan out of the police station and avoiding the police officers and detectives there, and thanks to that, nobody knows she survived." said Sae.
"Yeah, thanks again for helping me, Goro, Sae-san." said Keiko gratefully to both Goro and Sae.
"We know and you're welcome, Keiko." said Goro as he pressed a soft kiss to Keiko's forehead while Sae nodded to her.
"Thinking back to the interrogation though… I can't believe what they did to Keiko-chan. The callous use of violence and even drugs is utterly abnormal. If she had lose consciousness and hadn't been able to tell and hand her phone to Sis, she would've died… I'm… We're truly glad you made it back safe to us, Keiko-chan." said Makoto in joy and relief to Keiko.
"I know, Makoto-chan." said Keiko as she smiled at Makoto. "And I wish that Maly and Akira-kun are here with us…" thought Keiko sadly in her mind.
"I almost became one of your assailants as well…" said Sae with a guilty look on her face.
"Yeah. We're glad that you didn't, Niijima-san." said Aglaia.
"It still freaked me out when I saw the suicide on the news though." said Ann with a concern look on her face.
"We made sure to live normal lives while she was being interrogated to avoid drawing any suspicion. Even with that, I couldn't help but worry for her in my heart…" said Haru, concerned as well.
"Well, I knew right away that our plan worked out." said Ryuji with a wide smile on his face.
"I wanted to believe… but considering who and what we're up against…" said Yusuke.
"Ryuji's a bit on the dense and carefree side." said Morgana teasingly to Ryuji.
"Can it, cat!" snapped Ryuji as he scowled at Morgana.
"I had to be patient and avoid this place until things settle down. I finally feel relieved…" said Ann with a relief look on her face.
"We knew she was alive, but… it was difficult to not worry until we could confirm it in person." said Yusuke.
"Now that I think about it, my interrogation was just a formality for the head commander. What a joke letting me interrogate someone who was meant to die. They just wanted to avoid backlash… Very well. From here forward, I will do my utmost to assist you… You saved me, after all." said Sae calmly and happily to Keiko.
"You're welcome, Sae-san." said Keiko as she smiled and nodded at Sae.
"That's reassuring to hear." said Ann with a relief look on her face.
"Totally." said Keith in agreement with Ann.
"I'll do whatever I can to help too. Just let me know. Let's take a break for now though. This old brain of mine is pooped. Oh, and feel free to use the first floor when you guys and girls want to get together to talk. You all need a hideout where you all can be safe. Just say the word and I'll close shop early." said Sojiro.
"Are you sure?" asked Ann slightly unsurely to Sojiro.
"This fine young lady and one of my charges can't leave. Plus, you all won't make much progress if people can hear you all from downstairs. It's not like this place is the liveliest joint in town. It won't be a huge loss for me." replied Sojiro reassuringly to Ann before he went into the kitchen to begin cooking.
"Sojiro-san…" said Aglaia.
"Let us accept his offer. What a great man…" said Yusuke with an impressed look on his face at Sojiro.
"Yeah, he sure is, Yusuke-kun." said Keiko in agreement with Yusuke about Sojiro.
"Heheh." chuckled Futaba.
While Keiko, her boyfriend and friends, Sae and Samson take a break and Sojiro's busy cooking curry in the kitchen, the front door of Leblanc open inward and all of them saw a still quite pale and weak-looking Akira slowly walked into Leblanc and as he's about to fall, both Keiko and Goro quickly rush forward to help Akira stand up and put him down on one of the booths before Akira glance and apologize to Keiko for not trying even harder to protect and prevent Mallory from being taken by Junko's "allies", which make Keiko hugged and console Akira while Goro and the others watched him with sad looks on their faces.