We are currently running an exhibit of the Master Artist Madarame

"That is starting to get really annoying," Rem muttered as the PA announcement played over and over in the reception area of Madarame's exhibit as she opened the two chests in the room. Looking around she noticed on a shelf, a bunch of brochures stack.

"Is this a pamphlet?" Ann looked at it curiously after she'd wandered over to the shelf, the other three Phantom Thieves making their way over to her.

"The guy's really payin' attention to even little details like this?" Ryuji groused as he plucked a brochure for himself. "What the heck…? Hey, Rem, come over here for a sec!" he called out.

Rem saddled over to Ryuji, him showing her the brochure. The whole thing had different writing all over it with directions to chests, safe rooms, and even directions to Will Seeds. "Ann, is yours like this as well?" Rem asked as she glided over to her leather-clad teammate who showed her own proving that is was similarly annotated.

Rem grabbed another one from the shelf only to find the exact same thing. "Are all Palaces like this?" Rem wondered aloud.

"Well… didn't Kamoshida's map have something similar to this? Maybe it's common to all Palaces?" Ann guessed while Ryuji shook his head.

"Still… why'd they bother makin' stuff like this in the first place? Doesn't it go against the point of hidin' shit?" Ryuji asked.

"I don't think Palace rulers expect people to be able to go around their Palaces, so I don't think it stops them," Morgana hazarded a wild guess. "This one doesn't seem to be showing the Treasure anywhere on it though," he hummed as he jumped onto Rem's shoulder, Rem quickly compensating for the additional weight by spreading her footing.

"Well, didn't Kamoshida's have a second one showing the Treasure? Maybe this one's like that as well," Ann offered.

"That is a possibility, at the very least we can use this one as a scale of reference," Morgana nodded, "This map only shows half of the museum so as we scour the Palace we'll need to keep an eye out for the second map."

"Right," Rem nodded, tucking the map into the single pocket in her ripped pants. "Come on, we still need to confirm evidence that Madarame's cognition requires us to do something about it," she ordered, Morgana backflipping off her shoulder while Ann and Ryuji tucked the maps away on their person.

"Depending on what we find, we may need to reconsider our plan," Morgana pointed out as they began to make their way through Madarame's cognitive museum. It was only a room deeper through a double-entrance corridor did the group find the evidence they needed to move against Madarame.

"Wha' the hell is tha'?" Ryuji couldn't help but let out as the group gazed upon a spiralling golden monument situated within the centre of a large circular auditorium like room only without any seats. The spiralling golden monument with people at different interval atop it seemed to be one of the primary exhibits of Madarame's Palace.

"Hm…" Morgana hummed as he approached the base of the statue and looked at the plaque. "Look at this…" he pointed a paw at the golden plaque.

"'The Infinite Spring'?" Ann approached and began to read aloud. "'A conglomerate work of art that the great director Madarame created with his own funds. These individuals must offer their ideas to the director for the rest of their lives. Those who cannot do so have no worth living!'" she finished, taking a step back to take it all in.

"This… This is Madarame full-well knowing that he's plagiarizing his students' artworks," Ann said struck cold at the truth behind the seemingly gentle man.

"Dammit, Rem was right on this one," Ryuji growled as he stomped his foot in frustration.

Morgana shook his head at the monument. "In other words, his pupils are his property. He doesn't even qualify as an artist if this is true," Morgana remarked. "He's stealing the ideas from talented students in exchange for securing their livelihood…"

Morgana turned towards the room they'd entered from, thinking about the portraits they'd seen such as the one of Natsuhiko Nakanohara or Yusuke Kitagawa. "I wondered about those portraits on display… they must be how Madarame's cognition views his pupils," Morgana said contemplatively, "This even says that they have no worth. Perhaps this is referring to the abuse mentioned on the post from the Phan-Site?"

"Madarame will keep them with him so long as they continue to paint for him," Rem nodded along looking at the monument analytically, "but the moment they lose their worth or they refuse to do so… he betrays them, throws them out onto the streets… just like Nakanohara-san's Shadow had said."

Ryuji shook his head in frustration, yellow gloves squeaking as the fibres mashed against each other beneath his grip. "Why's Yusuke keepin' quiet? He's got no reason to lie for the bastard!"

Ann looked at Ryuji disheartened. "He did say that he owes Madarame his life for being taken in…"

"But still…" Ryuji shouted, anger coursing through his veins at the unfairness of it all.

"Wait, Ann… yesterday, at the exhibit… didn't Kitagawa-san act strangely when you commented on one of the paintings?" Rem asked, her hand cupping her chin in thought. "You said that you could feel… something, anger? from the painting?" she supplied, Ann lighting up as she understood what Rem was referring to.

"The one that felt like I could feel the artist's frustration… do you think that might have been one of Yusuke's pieces?" Ann asked, earning her a nod from Rem.

"Shit… well, what's the call, Rem? Reckon this is enough to target Madarame?!" Ryuji asked hotly, looking directly at Rem who was still analysing the statue.

"…We made an agreement that no matter what we do, would ensure that we all came to a unanimous agreement," Rem said as she turned around to look at everyone. "Just because we've officially formalised the group does not mean that will ever change. The only way we're going after Madarame is if we all agree."

"I'm in agreement, and if you all are in agreement as well, then Madarame will be our next target," Rem announced looking at the three. Morgana and Ryuji nodded but Ann seemed conflicted.

"I don't know…" Ann shook her head, "I feel like we should check these facts with Kitagawa-kun first."

"…Dammit, I get where you're comin' from," Ryuji sagged.

"Until we're all in agreement, we'll hold off for now," Rem nodded to Ann and getting a relieved nod in return.

"How're we gonna get solid evidence though?" Ryuji asked.

"We also don't know a lot about Madarame," Morgana piped up as he hopped onto Ryuji's shoulder almost sending the two sprawling form the suddenness of his action, only stopping because Ryuji was using his mace like a walking stick. "This is unlike Kamoshida where you three all had personal experiences with him. We need to gather more information before we begin, so perhaps it was a good call on Panther's part."

"…Thanks, Mona," Ann smiled before looking at Rem. "I'll try contacting Kitagawa-kun. We might be able to get the truth out of him if I accept his modelling offer."

"Wait, you're gonna do that?!" Morgana yelped in surprise.

The sound of cloth fibres squealing against each other rang out around the large chamber, causing Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana to look over at Rem who was giving a brittle smile. "You… want me… to model…?" Rem whispered with a tight smile causing Ann to grimace.

"Uh… Ryuji, maybe you should come with us so Rem doesn't do anything drastic," Ann suggested causing Ryuji to recoil.

"Uh, hell no… If you think I'm gonna be stoppin' Rem from beatin' ass, you're wrong. I've seen what she can do, if Yusuke tries something' he's on his own…" Ryuji shook his head vehemently causing Ann to give a suffering sigh.

"Rem… please don't kill Kitagawa-kun just because we're modelling, we need to get the truth from him," Ann pleaded the black-haired ponytailed girl whose only response was to give an even tighter and more brittle smile.

"If Kitagawa-san even suggests something… I'll break his teeth in…" Rem whispered intensely while somehow never letting the frigid smile leave her face.

"Oh god, we're going to get arrested for homicide…" Ann whined to herself as Morgana jumped from Ryuji's shoulder to her own and patted her head comfortingly.

It was Tuesday afternoon, the following day when the three gathered in their usual spot next to the vending machines.

"I got a response from Kitagawa-kun," Ann announced. "He said he wanted us to come over after school today," she told the three causing Rem to grimace and sag against the bench she was sitting on, pressing a cold can of orange soda against her forehead.

"Oh damn, this should be fun…" Ryuji commented as he noticed Rem's reaction. "The guy probably dropped every plan he had for the day just to get the two of you over there."

"Please, don't remind me," Rem complained, a stark contrast to the day prior. "I don't think I'm ready for this…"

"You're not ready? I thought you'd be the one ready to punch his lights out the moment he tries anything?" Ryuji remarked earning him a piteously scathing look from Rem before she sagged.

"That was before Ann reminded me that I'd actually have to model… which I don't know how to do," Rem uttered pathetically.

"Oh, there's no need to be so dramatic, I'm sure it'll be fine," Ann waved away her worries. "Besides, we're not there for the modelling remember? We're there to find out from Kitagawa-kun if what we saw in the Palace was true…"

Morgana's line of sight from his seat on the table drifted over to the walkway before noticing someone asking around. "Hey, quiet down. It's that student council president," Morgana whispered, the three looking around and noticed the pixie-cut brown-haired student council president talking to Akira.

"Yikes, she got a hold of Kurusu today? It'd suck if she noticed us. We should probably split before she comes for us," Ryuji said as he picked up his bag, Morgana clambering into Rem's before the three split up, eventually reconvening in Shibuya Station walkway overpass.

"Man, where the heck is Ann?" Ryuji murmured as he stood against the railing, Rem off to the side with Morgana perched on her shoulder.

It seemed those magic words were what was necessary for Ann to appear from the void that was known as Shibuya. "Sorry. I was thinking about some things and didn't notice how much time had passed," Ann apologised.

"Thinkin' about what?"

"Don't you think it's strange? Kitagawa-kun must be protecting Madarame," Ann replied as she cocked her hip to the side. "They live together, so he'd have to be aware of Madarame's true nature. The only reason that I could think of as to why he's protecting Madarame is if Madarame has something on Kitagawa-kun…"

"Yea, that's weird…" Ryuji murmured before shrugging. "But ain't that the reason why we're going over to his place to go and check it out?" he asked as he looked at Ann and Rem. "So… you two ready to be his models?"

"Yeah, I'm prepared," Ann nodded twirling her hair.

"If I say no… can we hold off for another hour?" Rem asked hopefully.

"Nope, we've gotta do this now otherwise we might not get another chance," Ann shook her head sternly.

"Wait… Whaddya mean prepared? Prepared for what?" Ryuji asked as he caught on to what Ann had said. "Y'know what, I just got a bad feelin' when I asked that question so let's just move right on from that. We should get going, gotta meet Yusuke and all."

Ann nodded. "Kitagawa-kun seemed really when I told him we'd both agreed to be his models. Once he finishes drawing and gets a little friendlier, we should bring up Madarame."

Ryuji and Morgana nodded while Rem gave a forced smile, feeling like the next few hours were going to be painful for someone.

"J-Just how long do we have to sit like this…?" Rem grimaced, a smile forced on her face as she sat adjacent to Ann, their backs touching as Yusuke painted the two of them, Ryuji sitting off to the side and Morgana exploring.

It had been well, the three-hour mark, evening dusk already descending upon Japan as they sat there, Yusuke off in his own world painting the two while Ryuji scrolled through his phone.

Initially, Yusuke had been irritated to find Ryuji had accompanied them, but was placated when Ann explained it was to ensure nothing untoward happened. It was, therefore, a surprise to the three when Yusuke had flat-out stated that the two had held little appeal to him as members of the opposite sex.

That had been quite possibly the only reason Rem was comfortable enough to model for three hours without fidgeting. That, however, didn't change the fact that she and Ann had essentially been sharing the same chair for three solid hours.

Thankfully, Yusuke let out an aggrieved sigh while lowering his paintbrush. Ryuji, ever impatient stowed away his phone and leaned forward. "You done?" he asked.

"It's no good…"

"Huh?" Rem let out surprised as she stretched, cracking her back.

"I'm sorry… were we the problem?" Ann asked hesitantly as she shifted her legs to look at Yusuke who'd slumped his elbows onto his knees.

"No, not at all…." Yusuke was quick to deny but it seemed like his mind was elsewhere. "It's just… as of late I've had trouble focusing. I'm sorry, but would the two of you be amenable to continuing this at a later date?" he broached but was overtaken by Ryuji.

"To hell with that!" Ryuji snapped causing Yusuke to look at him in disdain, "Do you know how many hours we've waited!?"

Yusuke was understandably confused when Ryuji stood up and walked over to Rem and Ann, the two similarly standing and hovering over Yusuke. "I'm sorry Kitagawa-san but we did have ulterior motives for agreeing to your modelling session," Rem said contritely but bluntly.

Ann nodded, an apologetic expression on her face. "We… needed to talk to you," Ann said, "It's about the rumours regarding Madarame-san."

"This again…" Yusuke growled in annoyance as he finally stood up in front of his easel.

"The painting we saw at the exhibit, the one with the autumn skies… that was one of yours, wasn't it?" Ann asked straightforward, the question visibly causing Yusuke to recoil and wince.

"Knew it…" Rem murmured.

"Look, Madarame's been usin' his pupils. You can't just sit there and tell us that ain't messed up," Ryuji said. "And those rumours about him stealin' their work or physically abusin' them are all true, aren't' they?"

Yusuke grimaced.

"Why the hell are you protectin' him?!" Ryuji shouted.

"Hahaha… I-I have no idea what you're talking about…" Yusuke stuttered, his eyes failing to meet any of theirs even as he rebutted Ryuji.

"You can't go against him, can you?" Rem asked, placing a hand on Ryuji's shoulder in an effort to calm him down, his breathing heavy and rapid.

"Please, just stop…" Yusuke shook his head as grey eyes met vivid red. "It's just as you say, we're… I'm… sensei's 'artwork'," he admitted thoroughly surprising the three at the lack of resistance, but he was quick to shake his head as he noticed their expressions. "Don't misunderstand me though," he said as he looked at them, "I offered my ideas to him myself. As such, it can't be called plagiarism."

"Sensei… is simply suffering from artist's block right now…" Yusuke defended but it was more than obvious that the words pained him to say it.

"And while he's having artists block I'm sure every other pupil he's thrown out onto the streets happily gave him their artworks," Rem remarked earning her a surprised glance from Yusuke. "Every other pupil of Madarame's was either kicked out onto the curb or ran away because he'd used them for years…" she trailed off daring Yusuke to deny the truth.

"Urk…" Yusuke recoiled as if he'd been struck but quickly struck back. "What's so wrong with wanting to help my master?! What if I give him my artworks?! It is my choice!" Yusuke snapped.

Rem simply crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "…was every other pupil of Madarame's afforded the same choice? It didn't seem as if Nakanohara-san was."

Yusuke gaped, a small gasp tearing its way from his lips as he stared at her in shock. Before long he sat down before his easel, elbows against his knees as he slouched over. "Don't… Don't ever come here again… If you do, I'll sue you for causing a disturbance…" Yusuke threatened.

"Excuse me?!" Ryuji growled, his words were what seemed to cause Yusuke to snap as he stood up and pulled out his phone.

"I may have asked for Takamaki-san and Amamiya-san, and whilst Amamiya-san may have her own opinions about my Sensei, I don't recall ever asking you to come," Yusuke snapped. "You were not invited and as such, I can report you to the police for trespassing and creating a disturbance."

"What the hell man?!" Ryuji stomped his foot in frustration, the rickety walls of the house shaking slightly as he did so.

"I can add property damage to the list as well…" Yusuke said as he began inputting the number for the police.

"Ryuji, stop it!" Ann tried to take control of the situation before she turned to Yusuke, "Calm down, okay?" she asked placatingly.

Yusuke stared, tensions within the room rising as the four looked at each other, primarily Yusuke and Ryuji staring each other down. "…I won't report you… but only on a singular condition," Yusuke said.

"And what would that be?" Rem asked, still standing with her arms crossed and her hip cocked to the side.

"I wish for the two of you to continue being my models," Yusuke said earnestly, the tension within the room disappearing as he quickly got distracted.

"But… you said that it wasn't working out today…" Ann said, looking at him confused, Rem doing the same as her head tilted to the side.

"That's because I was unconsciously being modest for your sake…" Yusuke shook his head, "However, I have nothing to worry about now."

Rem felt her hackles rise.

"If you're both willing to bare everything to me…" Yusuke's expression took on a delighted but content smile, "…I will put my heart and soul into creating the greatest nude painting ever!"

!

Many things happened simultaneously at that very moment.

"Nude?!" Ann recoiled, her hand covering her mouth as she gasped in shock.

"WHAT?" Ryuji cried out in alarm, similarly taken aback. He quickly realised, however, that he'd failed to complete the sole purpose he was given when he'd accompanied the two here in the first place.

Yusuke's head snapped back, his body hanging frozen in time for a moment. Ryuji and Ann could only watch helplessly as the blue-haired teen crumpled to the floor unconscious. Rem stood in front of him, a tight and forced demented smile on her face and her right fist extended from where it had knocked the teen into unconsciousness.

"…Nude?" she asked shakily, not seeming to be entirely coherent of what she'd just done.

"R-Rem! I think you killed him!" Ryuji yelled as he scrambled over Yusuke, letting out a sigh of relief that he was still alive and breathing, just temporarily unconscious. Ann quickly pulled Rem back, pushing her arm down as Ryuji tried to bring Yusuke back to the world of the living.

"Yo… you okay?" Ryuji asked in concern as Yusuke slowly came to, the blue-haired boy's head ringing.

"Wh-What happened?" Yusuke looked around blearily, colours and shapes still blurry but slowly coming into focus. He eventually could see Ryuji hovering over him, an expression of concern on his face looking down at him.

Ryuji didn't answer him but instead clicked his fingers in front of Yusuke to get his attention. "Hey, Hey!" Ryuji clicked his finger once more, Yusuke blearily paying attention, still more than out of it. "Do me a favour and follow my hand without moving your head, yeah?" Ryuji asked gently.

Yusuke did so, Ryuji moving his hand up, down, left, and right. "What's nine plus ten?" Ryuji asked suddenly causing Yusuke to give him a queer look.

"Nineteen…"

Ryuji let out a sigh of relief as he stood up. "Well you didn't give him a concussion at least," he announced to Rem, who as Yusuke looked over to, quickly recalled the last moments before his blissful sentence to the world of the sleeping.

"Ah… I recall now," Yusuke muttered as he slowly stood up cradling his head with a slight shake but his face morphing into that of delight once more, completely forgetting the fact he'd just been assaulted. "To think I'd be able to create a nude painting with the most ideal models!" he cheered gleefully.

"W-Woah!" Ryuji was ready for Rem lurching from her spot in the corner, quickly grabbing her right hand before she could give the teen clearly lacking in the self-preservation department a night-night strike. "I-I can't believe it… the madman's still g-going on about it!" Ryuji let out amazed even as he struggled to hold Rem down.

"Of course, I can't in good conscience allow you to stay after the disturbance you caused," Yusuke muttered as he looked at Ryuji then at the struggling Rem. "While I do believe it may be hazardous to my health to have you model… sacrifices must be made if I am to continue to use both you and Takamaki-san as the ideal pair of models in my next painting…" he hummed to himself.

"Nude, meaning it'll be without any clothes, right?!" Ann cried in concern and building embarrassment. "What are things suddenly escalating to that?!"

It took Yusuke a moment to recall exactly why he'd stated that before remembering. "Because those are the terms I've supplied in exchange for not calling the police on your friend for trespassing and causing a disturbance," Yusuke said simply.

"But a n-nude-?!" Ann stammered haltingly, still in the process of understanding the rapidly devolving situation.

"Ain't that bad?" Ryuji asked Ann, having finally managed to get Rem to stop and was now seated with the same broken smile on her face.

"Sensei is out during the afternoon while the art exhibit is in, as such I have free reign over this place," Yusuke murmured in thought ignoring the two, "I should purchase more art supplies…"

"Will you give us a second?!" Ann pleaded.

"O-Of course, I'm willing to wait," Yusuke's stance seemed to relax, still completely caught up in the thought of creating such a masterpiece. "I can make time according to both of your plans. But, please… come before the exhibit ends…" Yusuke said to both Rem and Ann.

"No! That's not what I mean! Why aren't you listening!" Ann whined in distress while Rem was still sitting frozen akin to a statue.

"Sensei will be returning home soon," Yusuke said simply, floating around the room with a blissful smile on his face. Rem twitched just the slightest bit when he neared her. "We're done for today. Takamaki-san, as you are the one between both you and Amamiya-san, I shall be waiting for you to contact me once you are ready."

"Nononono! We are not done talking here!" Ann waved her hands frantically but was promptly ignored as Yusuke began to rummage through his art supplies.

"Ugh… dammit," Ryuji cursed before turning to Rem. "Hey, what do you think we should do- oh… right…" he trailed off lamely as he realised Rem was still catatonic with shock, barely reacting to any outside stimulus.

Looking over at Ann, he could tell she wouldn't be of any help since she was still a flustered mess. With a weary sigh, Ryuji grabbed Rem's bag and slung it over his shoulder before he shook Ann out of her flustered state.

Turning back to Rem, he placed his hands beneath her arms and began to bodily drag the frozen and dementedly smiling girl out of the atelier.

"What the heck happened?! I was gone for two hours!" Morgana yowled as he noticed Ryuji dragging Rem through the house, who was only now regaining her mental faculties while Ann ambled along behind them akin to a zombie.

"It's… urk, a long… story…" Ryuji grunted in discontent.