Begin!

~Normal POV

8/5 - Saturday

This evening, Natsume had set up an emergency press conference. The gang couldn't all go in to watch firsthand, but Akira and Yusuke snuck in by themselves and hid in the back behind the crowd of reporters. Everyone else waited outside. (Akira chose not to bring Morgana in with them, and told Sophia to stay silent while they're here.) The two boys watched as Natsume started his speech.

"...Thank you everyone for coming." Natsume began. Already they could tell his heart had been changed, his voice was softer and his eyes shone with honesty. "I've called this press conference to give an announcement, as well as a formal apology. First, my novel, Prince of Nightmares, was recently bestowed the honor of receiving first place in the Soukaisha Awards… I have decided to give the award back."

A round of shocked gasps sounded from the crowd, but the man ignored these and continued talking.

"I've also decided to recall all published copies… not to mention take the necessary steps to refund everyone's money. I'm sure you all want to know my reasons for doing so. The truth is… My book, Prince of Nightmares, only won because of my status as Sogo Natsume's grandson. In short, the competition was fixed. In addition, I've also stolen the work of countless other authors, word for word. Lastly, the story I told about writing to inspire a hospitalized girl was nothing but a lie I told to garner sympathy. This fabrication allowed my book to sell a number of copies it nowhere near deserved. I wish to apologize for this scandal. And I'll start by personally seeing to it that everyone who bought my book is refunded. I promise, my writing career ends here! I am deeply sorry for all that I've done! To all of you!"

"Hold on, Mr. Natsume!" His editor pleaded. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Please, don't interfere!" Natsume snapped. "This is my way of taking responsibility!"

"Hey, something doesn't seem right here. Mr. Natsume's the one who put this together, right?" One reporter asked.

"Do you think the editors were just trying to profit off Mr. Natsume's family name?" Another reporter said.

Before they could speculate aloud any longer, Yusuke had snapped once more. He couldn't stand back and watch Natsume end his career like this. Not after how he'd tried to save his Shadow. Akira followed his friend as they quickly made their way to the front of the crowd.

"Who are you?!" The editor asked.

"I will not allow this." Yusuke said, bluntly.

Natsume blinked in shock at Yusuke. "You… you're the kid from the party… I-I'm so sorry for what I said…"

"I will not allow you to cower and run away, Ango Natsume." Yusuke continued. "You intend to make a comeback, do you not?"

"Huh?"

"When you do return to the literary world, I want to see a book with your name on it, not your grandfather's!" Yusuke said. When Natsume didn't respond he added. "You're going to write a novel that you can be proud of, are you not?"

"We'll be looking forward to it," Akira added, smiling.

Natsume's eyes filled with grateful tears. "...Thank you. Thank you so very much… Once everything is rightfully resolved, I will make my return. Even if there's just one person out there waiting to read my stories… No matter what, I will keep writing. I can only hope I can one day save someone's soul the way my grandfather's novels saved mine when I was young… That is why I write!"

Akira and Yusuke left the conference before anyone could try to get their identities.

"That was a great thing you did for him, Yusuke," Akira said, as they walked down the hallway. "I'm proud of you, bro."

"I merely spoke the truth…" Yusuke replied. "May I ask you something?"

"Sure, what?"

"Do you plan on giving his next book a chance?"

Akira thought it over. "We'll see… I'd prefer if he switches genres first, though. But that's just me."

~...

They met up with the gang and Zenkichi outside the building.

"Sheesh, you kids are something else. Barging in on a press conference like that!" Zenkichi said, irritably.

"Apologies," Yusuke replied. "It was imperative that I speak with him."

Zenkichi shrugged this off and stood up. "Whatever, I gotta go question him myself-"

"Don't hurt him." Akira said, firmly.

"I won't!" Zenkichi replied, hastily. "It won't take long, so wait for me at the camp; I'll get his phone for ya, too." He then left.

Everyone else started walking back to camp. "...Do you have a moment, Akira?" Yusuke asked.

"Is something else bothering you?" Akira replied, staying behind with him.

"Yes… What Natsume did was no doubt unforgivable." Yusuke said, "Nothing will change that. However, was he really like Madarame? Can he truly be called evil like the Palace rulers we confronted in the past? Had he simply ignored his editors, would he have strayed from his path? Or… am I perhaps just sympathizing with someone who pursues the arts like myself? What do you think?"

"Hm… I think he's a deeply passionate writer who lost his way." Akira said, "He'd been used, beaten down by the people around him. And it made him forget why he loved doing what he did in the first place. His desire for recognition for his own achievements turned him to revenge against those who used him… It'll never erase what he's done, but starting over will let people see that he meant it when he says he's sorry. In simple terms, I don't think he was a bad guy."

Yusuke perked up. "You think so as well, Akira? Then… What is the purpose of these Jails?"

"I've been wondering about that myself… Hopefully, we can find out once we see more of them."

~...

Zenkichi rejoined the gang at their camper not much later. Natsume's interrogation must have been quite simple since he already confessed to all his wrongdoings. As promised, he brought Natsume's phone for analysis, too.

"...Nothing." Futaba said, after finishing working with it.

"You're sure?" Akira asked.

"The phone and the app are normal, but there are also traces of snooping. Most likely from the same person." Futaba said. She handed the phone back to Zenkichi. "Sorry, guys…"

"No, you did enough. We know Natsume had a stalker too…" Akira said, thoughtfully.

"It sounds much bigger than a stalker," Futaba added. "I got nothing new on them, but it's still from within the country so that's good…"

"Inspector, do the police know about this," Akira asked.

"You mean besides myself?" Zenkichi said, "No. The only reason we know this guy exists is because Sakura sifted through Alice's phone. I can't go waving that kinda illegally gotten evidence around at the department. And if I tried to tell even my most trusted coworkers about your little superpowers, I'd be committed…"

"And this mystery observer is the only thing connecting Alice and Natsume." Morgana said. "Given how far apart they live. If the police don't know that, why are they assuming the two cases are related?"

"Well, they're very peculiar cases." Zenkichi said, simply. "But mainly, it boils down to the nature of the crimes and the timing. All the change of heart incidents occurred at roughly the same time, that being within the last 3 months… Didn't I tell you that?"

"No, you didn't. Would have been nice to know sooner, thanks a lot." Akira said, dryly.

"That aside, 3 months ago is around when EMMA was released," Futaba said.

"EMMA is being used to perpetrate the crimes, so that makes sense," Zenkichi said.

"Madicce is looking pretty suspicious too," Akira added. "Assuming they don't know that their seemingly innocent app is linked to the Metaverse and cognitive psience, then they'd better have one hell of an alibi."

"For what it's worth, I'm investigating on that front as well." Zenkichi said. "Still, we're talking about a major corporation operating on a global scale. You can't just walk in and start poking around without reason."

"You haven't found anything suspicious yet," Haru said, quizzically.

"Not yet, no. At least, nothing's come up from checking the individuals involved. If our mystery observer was connected to Madicce, though, then we'd have grounds to conduct an investigation."

"Ah, bureaucratic bullshit at its finest," Akira said, "No offense, Haru."

"None taken," Haru replied, smiling. "Office people are some of the worst you'll ever work with."

"Considering your reaction, you must think there's somebody behind all this," Zenkichi said, curiously.

"We can't rule out the possibility." Akira answered, shrugging. "We wouldn't call it anything new to us, if that's how it turns out. But the question is, what's the motive? And who would have it?"

"No idea…" Zenkichi said, "Well, if we're done here, I'm heading to Sapporo to see what I can find on our next target. So, make sure you stay rested; we'll rendezvous on the 8th. It's three days, but there's no rush."

"In the meantime, we're gonna hang back to go to the festival." Akira said, smirking.

"What?"

"Yeah, dude, Tanabata is happening here in Sendai," Ryuji said, grinning eagerly. "We already made plans to go after the heist. We ain't missing that shit!"

"After I just told you to stay rested and sharp, you're gonna go spend your night at a party? You're kidding, right?"

"Uh, no. Not kidding at all," Ann said.

"We always celebrate our successful heists by partying, inspector," Akira said, "It's called enjoying the spoils of our victory."

Zenkichi scratched his head and sighed. "Well… don't stay out too late… and make sure you don't draw attention to yourselves-"

"What are you, our mother? We'll be fine," Ryuji replied.

"Rest assured, Zenkichi, we know how to behave at a festival," Makoto added.

"I'll hold you to that, Niijima…" Zenkichi said, before finally leaving the camper.

~End of Chapter