Begin!

~Normal POV

7/31 - Monday

Zenkichi arrived at LeBlanc as early as he could to meet up with everyone. By the time he got there, Sojiro was already out picking up the camper for them. They'd be able to keep it as long as they needed, but they were warned to be careful with it. Zenkichi, however, didn't take too well to this plan.

"A camper?! This is turning into some kinda coming of age flick!"

"I don't recall asking for your opinion, inspector." Akira replied, bluntly. "You told us to get transportation, this is transportation. So sorry that it's not up to your standards." (Just because they had to work together, that didn't mean Akira had to pretend to be amicable towards him.)

Zenkichi couldn't refute that comment. As much as Akira was a mouthy brat, he could see he was right. It was a last minute decision and the only option that could carry all of them comfortably… But it still sounded like a bad idea.

"Ok, but are you sure? Uh, just to clarify, how many of you are dating each other exactly? Is it really such a good idea to have a bunch of guys and girls sleeping in that thing together?!"

Makoto had prepared an answer to that very concern. They'd discussed it before he arrived. "Akira and Ann have always been well-behaved on the job, same with Ryuji and Haru. They're all old enough to make their own decisions, in my opinion. Ultimately, it would be no personal issue to the rest of us to allow them to share sleeping quarters. However, given the fact that we need to conserve our limited space; we have decided it best to separate the arrangements. We trust our boys, but they'll be sleeping in a tent on the roof, while we get the camper itself. It's the most fair and logical option for everyone."

The inspector gaped at her for a moment before conceding to her firm reasoning. "Well… I guess you do keep calling yourselves a family. I can see how you'd have to have a lot of trust in each other if you're that close… Fine- whatever- not my problem anyway." He then handed Futaba a phone. "Here, I took Alice's phone; just like you asked. Don't break it, it's evidence." She took the phone and went straight to work on her laptop.

"How was Alice?" Ann asked, curiously. "You didn't beat her, did you?"

"I didn't!" Zenkichi replied, "Honest! She was very upfront about the change of heart thing. When people registered her on EMMA, she noticed they'd suddenly grow obedient to her. At first she was just curious. But she said she got such a thrill from making people do her bidding she couldn't stop herself."

"Then it simply began with the friend registration," Yusuke commented.

"The only other thing she did was apologize again. That's all we got. But it did seem she was telling the truth."

"The Phantom Thieves' work never does otherwise," Akira said, smirking.

"You're a cocky one, aren't you, Kurusu?" Zenkichi asked.

Akira ignored that. "But taking what Alice said into account, it doesn't sound like she was aware of her Jail's existence. People can be made aware of their cognitive distortions and still have them, though."

"Sounds that way. I'd have had a hard time believing in it too if you hadn't shown me…"

"What in the hell?!" Futaba shouted, getting everyone's attention.

"Did you find something," Ann asked.

"This is the standard, commercial, version of EMMA." Futaba answered. "No tampering. But I did find traces of someone snooping in her phone. Someone was monitoring Alice's activity- either her smartphone usage in general, or her EMMA usage specifically."

"Then someone else is involved," Yusuke said, "Anything else?"

"It was from within the country, but that's the end of it."

"Getting even that is quite the feat! And in such a short time, too!" Zenkichi said, smiling. "You're real good kid!"

"Never underestimate me, gramps. I could ruin your life with a few taps on this keyboard," Futaba replied, smugly.

Zenkichi ignored that remark, figuring it to be a joke. "We might find more leads as we move on to the other incidents. Well, since you have everything you need, I'll be going now. See you all August 8th in Sapporo central. Don't be late, ok? I'll reach out to you with the meet up location."

~...

Sojiro arrived shortly after with the camper. It was large and comfortable looking, with all the necessary amenities. It was big enough to seat at least nine people, two up front and seven in the back. All things considered, it was way cooler than they were expecting. Futaba christened it the "Phantomobile." Right away, everyone packed all their luggage into it.

Before they left, Haru and Futaba finished packing away their supply of food. Sojiro bought them some ingredients for curry. In the meantime, Akira, Ann, and Ryuji had a celebratory meal of ramen together. The blond boy wanted to start the trip off with tasty food and had dragged the two along. And by the time they got back Yusuke and Makoto had returned from saying their goodbyes to their significant others. (After all, to everyone outside the team, it just looked like they were a group of friends going on a road trip together; meaning no suspicion should arise. The road trip plan was already going to happen so this really worked out in their favor.)

Once everyone was ready to go they hopped into the camper with Makoto in the driver's seat. Sojiro had a few last minute warnings for them.

"Now, I want you to promise me you'll look after Futaba-"

"Sojiro! I can take care of myself!"

"And make sure no skeevy guys try to hit on her." Sojiro added, ignoring the interruption. Futaba grumbled in annoyance from being ignored.

"You have nothing to fear, Boss." Yusuke said, smiling. "She has always been safe in our company."

"She'd better be, or there will be Hell to pay." Sojiro warned. "You got everything?"

"Mhmm! We double checked," Haru answered.

"And you're sure you kids will be ok on your own?"

"We'll be fine! We've got Akira looking out for us," Futaba answered, with an optimistic smile.

"Yeah, Boss, nothing's gonna happen to this family while I'm around," Akira said, confidently.

Sojiro could trust those words. He knew Akira cared deeply for all of them and would rather die than anything hurt them. He didn't like the whole "having to work with that inspector" part of their little problem, but it was unavoidable. At least it got the guy out of his shop for good. Knowing he was a threat to his kids made him far less likely to hold his tongue in his presence.

"Alright…" Sojiro sighed. "Well, drive safe. And good luck."

As the van drove off starting on their trip, Akira leaned back in his chair and opened his new book to start reading. He barely registered the talking happening around him. For now, this was just a nice long ride with his family.

~End of Chapter