Ryuji found himself looking around his room. His first instinct when he got Iwai's ultimatum was to pack his stuff and run away. But the man's threat, and Hifumi's advice, loomed in his head. Part of him wanted to talk to Akechi and Makoto, part of him wanted to stick to his original plan, and part of him prayed that he'd wake up to the news that Iwai confessed. He was pulled out of his thoughts by a text from the man he hated the most right now.

Iwai: Get to Untouchable before sundown. And come alone.

Ryuji looked out his window. The sun was still out, and beginning to make its way below the horizon. He would have to hurry if he wanted to make it on time. Putting on his shoes, he hopped on a train to Shibuya Square, a scowl on his face the whole way. When he arrived at the airsoft shop, Iwai was waiting for him, reading a gun magazine. The criminal gave a sneer when he saw Ryuji enter.

"Ah, there you are. Follow me into the back. Got something to show you."

And so Iwai led, and Ryuji followed. The back was spacious, about the size of an unused basement of a house. Its walls were stacked with guns, grenades, knives, and ammunition. But the most disturbing sight Ryuji laid eyes on was a mysterious man in the center with the bag over his head. He was sitting in a chair behind a table, with both of his hands trapped to the table, while his legs were cuffed to the chair. As the pair approached, his head flicked upwards, and he struggled against his restraints, but the effort proved fruitless. Iwai smiled.

"Good, he's awake. I do believe you two know each other."

The bag was pulled off, and Ryuji let out a gasp at who it was.

"FOR REAL?! Why the hell did ya get him?!"

Earlier…

Yu and Akechi had gone their separate ways after they had finished their meals. Yu was on his way back to the apartment, planning on making some lockpicks. The city was as busy as ever, with people coming and going without a care in the world. As he passed an alley, he heard a girl scream, followed by a woman sprinting out of it. Her eyes locked onto Yu, and she ran up to him.

"Mister please! You have to help me! There's… there's…"

Yu grabbed her arms.

"Calm down. Take slow, deep breaths. What do you need help with?"

"There's a… man who's dying! You have to help!"

"Take me to him!" Yu ordered without hesitation. The woman nodded, and the two sprinted back down the alley. But much to Yu's surprise, it was a dead end, and there wasn't anyone else there. That's when he realized the woman tricked him, and he turned around to try and get out. But before he could do anything, a cloth pressed against his mouth and nose. The woman smiled as he began to lose consciousness.

"Thanks for being a hero kid."

Present…

Yu Narukami didn't expect to see Ryuji when he came to, and judging from the blonde's reaction, Ryuji didn't expect him either. Iwai gave a brief chuckle.

"That's easy. This kid's close to Niijima, and he works in the SIU. If anyone can help you with the job I gave you, it's this little shitstain."

"Job? What job?" Yu asked. Ryuji opened his mouth to protest, but Iwai spoke first.

"Oh, nothing too much. I gave our mutual friend here a flash drive. One that'll cripple the police network."

Yu shot an accusatory glare at Ryuji, who went pale.

"And you're gonna help him."

Yu turned the glare onto the Yakuza member.

"I suspect you're Munehisa Iwai?" Yu asked through gritted teeth.

"That's right kid. How'd you know? Did Ryuji squeal?"

"Actually, he did a very good job of keeping his mouth shut. It really worried us."

"Us? Well, didn't think a punk like you would have friends." Iwai stated, disappointment and dissatisfaction seeping into his words as he glared at Ryuji.

"It's amazin' what can happen when ya ain't an asshole." Ryuji growled.

"Asshole's putting it lightly. My dad told me all about you, and your operations." Yu replied.

"Dad… You're Dojima's kid? How the hell did you get a record?" Iwai asked, a crooked grin forming on his face.

"He also told me about how he and his partner dismantled your empire, piece by piece, until your underlings were fighting each other for scraps. If you plan on trying again, you might as well give up now; you'll only get the same result." Yu replied with a smile, dodging Iwai's question.

"Oh really? And did daddy dearest tell you what happened to him and his partner?" Iwai asked with a smug sneer.

"That won't stop me. Or my own partner."

"Your own partner?"

Iwai remained silent for a precious, tense few seconds before bellowing in raucous laughter.

"You mean that slut Sae?! HAHAHAHA! Please. What's she gonna do? Throw legal papers at us?" Iwai taunted.

"You have no idea what she can do. She'll eat a has-been like you alive. So go ahead, try to finish what you started. This time, justice will prevail."

"Keep thinking that kid. Those of us who live in reality, however, need a bit of help in order to keep going."

"Go to hell Iwai. What makes you think I'd ever help you?"

Iwai held up a picture of Shiho and laid it down in front of Yu.

"That girl look familiar kid?" He asked as he put on rubber gloves and grabbed something heavy. Yu said nothing, but let out a gasp when he saw what Iwai retrieved. In one hand, he had a power screwdriver with two rusty screws. In the other was a car battery, and two jumper cables. He slammed the battery down and began to explain as he attached a screw onto the power screwdriver.

"Here's the deal kid. Some rival clan leaders have dropped dead, and I intend to capitalize on that, and for that to happen, I need Ryuji to prove he's one of us. You're gonna help the newest member of my clan in his initiation. If you don't… well, that pretty little lady is gonna get worse than this."

Without any other warning, Iwai activated the power screwdriver, and slammed it into Yu's exposed hand, drilling the rusty screw into his tender flesh. Yu howled in pain, and just as quickly as the first, he drilled the second screw into Yu's other hand. Yu was left to scream in agony for a bit longer than before. But just as he began to take deep breaths to calm himself, Iwai added the icing on the cake. Attaching the jumper cables to the car battery, he attached the other ends to the screw parts that were sticking out of Yu's flesh.

Electricity coursed through the Wild Card's body, and never before had he been forced to endure such immeasurable pain. The teenager's screams were so intense that if he kept howling, his vocal cords would be torn up, and if his mind could focus on something other than the pain, he'd laugh at the irony of him getting hurt by electricity. The torture continued for a good few seconds before Iwai disonnected the ends attached to the car battery, but not the ones attached to the screws. As Yu's vision refocused, he saw that Ryuji was stunned into staying where he was by Iwai's sudden cruelty. The yakuza member turned to the silver-eyed teenager.

"Ryuji's got a flash drive loaded with a virus designed to completely destroy the SIU servers. You're going to help him pull it off. If you go to the cops, try to leave the city, or just don't do the job, that lady in the photo will get what you got, after my boys have some fun with her of course. You have until the end of July. And don't worry, I'll call off my guys to give you some breathing room." Iwai informed, ripping out the screws with the cables, causing another howl of agony from his prisoner, before tossing Ryuji the keys to free Yu. Ryuji scrambled to his friend as Iwai walked out.

"Dude, you alright? I would've done something, but…" Ryuji began, but was too ashamed to say he got scared.

"Don't worry about it. We need to focus on what we do now." Yu groaned as the delinquent went to work.

"Yea. I swear, none of this was my idea! I didn't even want you or anyone else to be involved, honest!"

"I believe you Ryuji. You did a hell of a job keeping your mouth shut, and now I understand why."

Ryuji finished the last of the cuffs on his friend. Yu rose to his feet, blood oozing from the holes on the top of his hands, pain flaring every time he moved them.

"What I don't understand is why he went after you. You're a highschooler, and, I mean this with all possible respect, aside from your hand-to-hand skills, there's not all that much that's remarkable about you." Yu continued.

Ryuji looked at the ground, a dejected look on his face.

"Well… dammit. You already know I'm up shit creek without a paddle, so I might as well tell you everything. My pa's original name is Hirohito Anzai."

"Anzai? As in-"

"Sworn brother to Munehisa Iwai and was the sole reason he became such a criminal legend. Yup. That Anzai."

Yu's jaw dropped open.

"Yea. Pa jumped through a ton of hoops to make sure his old life didn't touch him. Changin' his name, gettin' plastic surgery, anything and everything to make sure neither the clan nor the cops found us. You can see how that went."

"Wait, hold on. I heard that this Anzai guy was a total badass when it came to fighting. How'd Kobayakawa take him down?"

"Same way he took down Futaba's old lady. According to both of them, they felt someone put something over their faces, and when they woke up, they were in the hospital. Akechi was thinkin' that Kobayakawa used um… chloromom?"

"Chloroform?"

"Yea, that! Anyway, Akechi thinks they got knocked out, got the crap kicked out of 'em, and put in the hospital. Pa was pretty pissed, and wanted to find out who did that to him. But I didn't say anything, cause I didn't want us to move cause pa killed someone."

"So does that mean you won't tell your dad about this?"

"Well Iwai prolly knows how my pa thinks, and he'll prolly lay a trap or some shit. Dad's tough as balls, but he's been out of the game for a while now, even got himself a beer belly. We're on our own dude."

Yu could nothing but stand there as he reviewed everything he just learned.

"Yea. You weren't kidding, we really are up shit creek without a paddle."

"For real. I got an idea, but it's a bit of a long shot."

"At this point, I'll take even the most stupid of ideas."

Ryuji whipped out his phone.

"You know those Phantom Team guys the news won't stop talkin' about? They got a website where people can post the names of people who you think need to have a change of heart. I posted Iwai's name yesterday, so hopefully we should see that bastard confess."

"One can hope. But we'll need a backup plan."

"You got an idea? Just let me know, I'll help how I can."

"Give me the flashdrive."

Yu held out his hand and suddenly felt a surge of pain. Blood from the wounds caused by the screws were really starting to pour out, and the teenagers surveyed the damage for the first time. The metal hadn't managed to break the bone, but there were still two small holes at the top of his wrists, and they hurt like hell. Looking around, it wasn't long until he found some bandages and a pair of scissors. Ryuji quickly grabbed both, and started to wrap the cloth around Yu's right hand.

"Uhhhh, I don't have it on me. I gotta go back to the house." Ryuji explained.

"Alright, just be sure to give it to me at school tomorrow."

"What're ya gonna do? There's no way you'd actually do what he says."

"I plan on giving it to Futaba to see what she can do with it. We may be at a disadvantage, but we are not powerless."

"Alright. Sorry for gettin' you dragged into this."

"It's not your fault Ryuji. Come on, let's get out of here." Yu suggested.

The two of them made their way out of the back of the shop, but before they left each other for good, Ryuji turned back to Yu.

"You gonna be ok man? Your hands I mean."

"Yea, don't worry, I'm a fast healer. Oh, but first, let me give you my number and chat ID. This is only the beginning." Yu informed, grimacing as pain made his hands tremble while he pulled out his phone and checking the date.

"Iwai said I got until the end of July, and it's…"

Ryuji also pulled out his phone and his eyes almost bulged at the date.

"It's the 13th of June?! What the shit?! That's enough time to do this, and then some!"

"Yes, the time window is a generous one."

But then again, he's asking two teenagers to break into the headquarters of one of the most powerful organizations in Japan.

"Ya know, I gotta wonder, why the hell did Iwai pick you to help? I mean, yea, you're smart, and I know Makoto's sis is a total bigshot in with the fuzz, but if Iwai just wanted some insider guy, couldn't he use a dirty cop, or threatened Akechi?"

"Akechi is a member of the police. If Iwai threatened the Detective Prince, he knows the SIU would not only focus its full power on him, but they'd also double down on security for the server room. As for the dirty cop, there's a chance that you could fail and get caught. If that happened, you'd spill the beans, and it would likely have a domino effect."

"Ok, but still… why you? Why not, like, Futaba?"

"I have a criminal record. Iwai probably thinks I hate their guts, and because of my connection to Sae, I can get in without arousing much suspicion."

"But, can't you… ya know, talk to her to help out?"

"Iwai specifically said that if either of us did that, Shiho and Hifumi would get hurt. Plus, our relationship is… complicated."

If Sae finds out I got hurt, by the man who murdered her father no less, she'll go ballistic.

"Damn, that sucks."

"Don't worry Ryuji. We'll get through this, one way or another. Let's exchange numbers and go back home for now. By tomorrow, I'll have a plan." Yu spoke with such confidence, that Ryuji couldn't help but smirk at it, being reminded of another cocky student he happened to know. Once the two of them exchanged numbers, they each went their separate ways, both eager to get back at the yakuza member.

Sae Niijima came home early, much to the surprise of her younger sister. Makoto stood up straight, having only just gotten started on preparing the ingredients for dinner. But before the youngest Niijima could offer any words, Sae instead almost ran up to her and engulfed her in a hug. Makoto, completely caught off guard, awkwardly returned it.

"Thank god you're alright Makoto." Sae breathed, holding her younger sister.

"Of course I am Sis. Why wouldn't I be?" Makoto asked, genuinely curious.

"Sorry, it's just… I met with the leader of the Phantom Team."

"WHAT?! THEY ACTUALLY ACCEPTED YOUR OFFER?!" Makoto squealed, pulling back with a grin on her face.

"Yes. For the moment, we have an… agreement to work together."

"That's incredible Sis! I knew you could do it."

"Truth be told, I only made the offer in the slim chance that I could use it to trap them. Seems I underestimated what they were capable of."

"Is that why you came home early? To celebrate?"

"N-no. I came to check up on you. I was worried that the Team had done something to you."

"Well they didn't Sis. I'm still the same as ever."

"I'm glad. What about Narukami? Where's he?"

Yu opened the door just as Sae asked her question. He had a look of surprise, no doubt because he didn't expect her to be home, and quickly shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Ah, Narukami, there you are. Are you doing alright?" Sae asked.

Yu would have to handle this carefully.