A/N: Trigger warning - just in case it wasn't obvious, this is the chapter where things get ugly. Trigger warning for rape/sexual assault in this chapter.

Rei looked at the Ambassador. "You've been quiet for a bit. Do you have any questions?"

The older gentleman shook his head. "No. The way of speaking these Shadows have is strange, but I have been able to follow." He looked up from his notes. "This story is extraordinary. If it weren't likely to be classified at the highest levels, I would recommend you sell it to Hollywood."

"They'd just make the protaganist some suave ladies-man," Rei replied easily. "Besides, enough people still believe it happened that I'm not sure shoving it in a file folder somewhere will help. You still have your copy of the 'special' recording, right?"

"It's already been transferred to AIVD's central office via diplomatic pouch, and will be distributed to the appropriate departments once duplicates can be made."

"Excellent." Rei said. "Anyway, this is the part where it gets unpleasant…"

Rei did not, in fact, go home, but instead, loaded down with her supply of fresh fruit for baking, took the subway to Shinjuku for another meeting. It wasn't quite time for the working class to go home yet, and she knew Saitou-sensei tended to stay late. Which was what she was counting on, because she realized she needed help. And someone she could trust.

Saitou Hikaru's office was as eccentric as the man himself. As a long-tenured doctor in both senses, he rated an office large enough for a college student to live in and then some, and the man had a peculiar sense of humor. When he was actually expecting guests, he had an elaborate enclosed glassware setup that was set bubbling and boiling by mechanisms Rei had never understood, sending colored liquid piping around pointlessly. A Jacob's Ladder sat on one side of the desk. The walls, however, had serious anatomy charts, and there was a bookshelf stocked with psychiatric texts in Japanese, Chinese, English, German, and a few other languages Rei couldn't identify.

Rei knew all of this, so after bypassing the secretary she just came in and with a quiet 'excuse me' she sat down. "Sensei?"

"Rei-chan," Saitou said. "What brings you - wait you're a me - are those strawberries?" He said, jumping from topic to topic.

Rei groaned. "Sensei, please, not today."

Saitou immediately dropped the act. "What have you been doing?" A wince. "Rei, when your father brought you to me, all those years ago, I recommended heavily against the Kyokushin lessons. Do you remember what you said back then that convinced me you could handle it?"

"Always be kind. No matter what," Rei replied. "Why bring that up now?"

Saitou gave her a grave look. "Because I can see if in your eyes, Amamiya-san. You're wondering if you broke that promise."

Rei winced. "I...I should have known I couldn't hide that much from you. But...it has to be done." She took a heavy seat on the couch. "Sensei...I...Shujin's worse than we ever imagined. I mean, you warned me about the idiot in charge and how I'd have to go through it all again and maybe come out a second time and all that, but the damned gym teacher! He's abusing the students. Physically, emotionally...and sexually."

Saitou sighed. "I see." He thought about that for a moment. "Rei-chan, is this an official medical visit? Please think carefully before you answer, because there's a duty to report if he's abusing you or someone you're directly aware of."

Rei thought about it. It's an option, I guess. But what could she do this way? In the end, if she triggered an official investigation the best results would still lead back to her. Then the fat idiot would generate some pretext to get her kicked out. She realized Saitou had probably already figured that much out. She shook her head. "Can you just . . . the dysphoria's kicking back in."

Those words caused Saitou's blood to freeze momentarily. "Rei, you're sure? I realize you're under a lot of stress, but some of the medications we had you on are serious. With your record, being caught with them could get you in deep trouble. Even though there's a legitimate medical reason if I give one, the police aren't likely to take the time to check your records before you're in front of a judge again."

"I know okay!" Rei cracked. "Dammit, you know how this affects me. One of my classmates caught me with my bra open today because I just couldn't take it!" Saitou looked shocked again. "I...I trust him. Mostly. But still."

The professor nodded, and pulled out his prescription pad. "I'm not going to put you on the full battery again right away. And I can tell you'd just tell me to shove off if I tried to pull you from school for a round of isolation, even if you think you could do with it." Rei nodded. "Now, what is this about 'patching you up?'

Rei swallowed. "I could use some painkillers." The man in front of her looked apoplectic, so she held up a hand. "Sensei, not like that. I can't tell you what it's for, but I need something in an official looking bottle. The scarier it looks, the better. The contents can be sugar pills, although real asprin or something else over the counter would be better."

Saitou felt his rage fade into bafflement. "Rei-chan, that would be possible, but it's a very odd request. Are you sure you can't tell me why? And don't try to pass it off as an experiment. I've been through that process, and running a clinical trial legally is about eight years in your future."

Rei shook her head. "You won't believe me."

Saitou thought about it, then shook his head. "This won't be the weirdest thing I've done. Rei-chan, I hope someday soon you can trust me with this." He wrote something else out on the pad. "If you need me to look you over after...whatever it is you're up to, please feel free to come by before I go home." He said after much consideration. "But I may need some help from time to time around the office. It's getting more difficult to get the secretaries and medical assistants to pay attention to my requests. Just a bit of light filing, if you can handle that."

"Sure thing, Sensei." Rei said with a weak smile.

Saitou nodded. "Now, let's get you patched up. Do you want me to tell your guardian about this?"

Sojiro was, in fact, waiting up for Rei when she got in. Although it was well past any sane dinner time, he had a small saucepan full of fresh curry waiting for her. "Your shrink called up. Would have been nice of your parents to let me know you have one," he said, sounding slightly suspicious. In response, Rei put down a fresh new bottle of pills and an official-looking note. Sojiro checked the label carefully, then nodded. "All right, all right." He took the bottle.

"Hey!"

Sojiro waggled a finger at her. "This is to make sure you get home on time. One with breakfast, one before bed, right? The doc said these are powerful stuff, so I don't want you wandering around with them in your pocket. The other pills would just be embarrassing for a guy. This would get you sent straight back to Juvie."

Rei sighed. "Fine, I guess you have a point. And...sorry for making you worry."

Sojiro rubbed the back of his head. "I'm no good at this. Half the time you're a great kid, but then you pull something like this…"

Rei sighed. "Boss, I wish you could do something, but...well, we both know you're not my dad." Sojiro grimaced. "That's not what I meant. I've gotta go to Shujin, neither of us can change it, and that's that, right? A public school has different rules, and I wish I could go to one. Not just because Shujin's super-expensive. So...I'm stuck with this."

Sojiro raised an eyebrow. "Trouble with that principal?"

"Not him…" Rei swallowed. "Not directly, after Mako-chan threw him off the scent."

Sojiro grumbled. "Well, I'm supposed to be responsible if anything happens to you, so is it something I can help with or not?"

Rei considered. "Can you assassinate a teacher?" She purposely kept her tone light. "I'm sure my account could cover expenses."

Sojiro laughed. "They'd never find the body, but you couldn't afford it." Then he turned serious. "Kid...Rei...if something's going on that I need to know about…"

Rei shook her head. "I've got it handled. It's just a lousy teacher, every kid's gotta deal with them, right?"

The next morning Rei decided to head up to the school rooftop, leaving LeBlanc well before she needed to. While holding quiet meetings at LeBlanc after school had had mixed success so far, Sojiro was getting to be far too nosy. If this was just going to be about Kamoshida, the risks might be tolerable.

After that conversation, if I showed him the Metaverse he'd probably help. Rei thought to herself wryly. But he'd stop it from going any further too. She'd had some thoughts, but she needed to confirm some things.

The rooftop was more private than the cafe. While she and Makoto had keys, technically students weren't supposed to be up there. Need to ask Mako-chan where she got the spare some time, Rei added mentally to her list. On the other hand, it's not going to be great holding meetings in the rain. And really, the track-team leader turned delinquent, the president of the Student Council, a 'known psychopath' and the only girl who dared to quit Kamoshida's volleyball team all spending time somewhere they're not supposed to be? Yeah, that won't be found out in a hurry.

She could give Ryuji and Shiho keys as well - any hardware store would be able to make more duplicates as long as she told them they went to her house. With a little thought, she concluded that, if they purposely staggered their arrival and made use of both stairwells, it might be possible to hide the trips for awhile. That just left the weather issue. Rei thought she had a solution for that, but before she went out and bought a tarp she'd need to confirm there was somewhere to hide it.

"What are we doing?" Morgana stuck his head out of her book bag to ask as Rei went past the second story of the school.

Rei sighed. "Seeing about making a proper hideout," she answered, not entirely positively. "I'd go for an actual safehouse, but I don't even know where to begin."

"What's wrong with what we've been doing?" Morgana asked.

Rei shook her head. "Nothing for now, but…" Then she opened the door and realized someone was already there ahead of her, setting down a number of planters. "Oh, excuse me…" she said, before getting a good look at the girl. The first thing that struck Rei was the hair - it was a reddish brown color, but it came puffed out in waves that, if they were natural, almost certainly spoke of a gaijin somewhere in her ancestry. Rei would have put money on the 'not natural', though. A flash of jealousy was suppressed at yet another flagrant violation of the uniform regs, as the girl had a turtlenecked blouse on, untucked so the tartan skirt that seemed to be the only rule that was enforced was barely visible.

The girl looked up. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was told no one's allowed up here."

"They're not," Rei said. "That is not the kind of thing that stops me when I need...privacy."

"Oh." Haru said. "I'm sorry, but I have a science project for my class…"

There went the plan for the secret clubhouse. It wasn't a very good plan anyway, Rei decided, before speaking. "I see...I wouldn't interfere in another student's project, of course."

The girl tilted her head. "Do you know who I am?" The tone wasn't challenging, as one might expect, but seemed to just be idle curiosity.

"I just arrived at this school this year. I haven't had time to meet everyone, and I pay little attention to the rumor mill." Rei couldn't keep a hint of dryness out of her 'Ren' voice.

"Oh!" The girl was surprised. "I'm sorry, I thought everyone was aware. It's awkward sometimes…" Then she gasped again, with a little squeak. "Oh!" she repeated the little outburst. "You're that transfer student, aren't you?"

Rei felt herself deflate. "Yes...very well, I'll be go - "

"My name is Okumura," The girl said. "May I ask your name?"

Rei hadn't expected that. Most students wanted nothing to do with someone with her reputation. Even Makoto had been an accident - if the principal hadn't pushed her hard enough to intervene, she'd likely have been ignored. The name sounded familiar, but Rei found she couldn't place it and decided not to try. "Amamiya," Rei said. "Ren."

'Okumura' brightened a little. "Haru. I insist."

Rei let her facade crack slightly, showing Haru a smile. "Very well...a deal, then? I'll assist with your project and you won't report my presence to the school authorities?"

Haru nodded. "That sounds nice...but are you always so formal with everyone?"

"Yes," Rei said. "Long hours in the dojo, I'm afraid. It's been difficult to break the habit."

Haru grinned sheepishly. "That's fine. I just don't want to be treated differently…"

"That will not be a problem," Rei confirmed. "There are few enough people that I speak with that I would not jeopardize that."

Haru gave Rei a sad smile. "All right. For the time being, we'll need to put soil in the planters…"

Rei had to wash her hands off with the water bottle afterwards, not daring to risk the restrooms in Shujin. You're being stupid, Rei, she chided herself. No one knows except Ryuji-kun and Mako-chan, and they're on your side. You can get away with washing your hands…

"Hmph. You're really gonna do this?" The sound of the deep, annoyed voice forced Rei to try to remember the past few days. "Where do you think you get off, pushing everyone else around?"

Rei looked around. The man was heavyset, and just starting to go bald. He wore a collared shirt with a dotted blue tie, but had apparently left his coat in his office to go around, his suspenders necessary to hold up his pants. She thought about staying 'Ren,' but seeing no one around she addressed the man in her usual voice. "Ushimaru-sensei," she said, polite but firm. "With all due respect, do you think I haven't had this conversation a thousand times before? If you're asking me as my civics teacher, I can cite a few recent precedents in Japanese court cases that are consistent with international human rights positions."

"I could look up just as many that show you for the little pervert you are," the man barked back. "More, probably."

Rei nodded. "Probably, but they'd be older, and from lower courts. Plus, of course, the law itself is subject to change. If we were just a few kilometers over I could end your career for that pervert crack alone, and in about a year that distance might not matter." Ushimaru-sensei looked like he might have swallowed a lemon and was working up to a truly explosive reply. "That's not a threat," she explained. "Sensei, I know about this stuff because I have to. Anyone in my position does." She shrugged. "I won't do anything over this conversation, even in the future. It's not worth the trouble. But Sensei…"

Rei finally just sighed. "Whatever you're worried about, it's my life. Okay? If I'm asked, I'll tell people what's going on as long as they're not annoying about it. But if you think I'd actually wish being a transgirl on anyone, you're dreaming. It's rough enough with the connections to get into a study for blockers and hormones in Japan, and being far enough along that reversal can't be done cold turkey." She looked him in the eye. "I'm not a pervert, I'm not 'corrupting the youth' or anything like that, and I'm not actually out to be disruptive. Can I ask you for at least the same courtesy?"

"No." The teacher's voice was final. "You're correct that I can't actually touch you as long as you behave in school, but I will stop this."

Rei leaned against the water fountain. "You realize I let twenty grown men beat me into the hospital when I was ten to prove I was serious, right? You don't scare me." She glanced down at her watch. "Anyway, looks like I'm going to be late if we don't cut this short."

Ushimura looked, if anything, even more sour. "Kamoshida-sensei let it be known that he intends to talk to you after school." Rei froze. "If you won't listen to me, maybe you'll listen to him."

Shit. That was the only thing Shiho could think on seeing Rei stiffly walking into the classroom. She was so pale Shiho had briefly confused her for one of Ann's relatives, and the transgirl had apparently forgotten every inch of the act. It had only been a day since Shiho had found out, but seeing the difference between 'Ren' and Rei wearing the male Shujin uniform it was obvious - the slight sway of the hips, the way she was holding her bookbag in front of her instead of over a shoulder, and even the way she held her eyes. ...she really is… Her mind shied away from that thought. Amamiya is in trouble. That was a safer way to think of it.

Amamiya ignored, or possibly didn't notice her, tripping over the desk at the front of the classroom and then leaning against the windows as she made her way to her seat. While most of the class ignored, or at least pretended to ignore, the transfer student, Ann didn't. "Ah...Amamiya?"

Ann was no less confused. Sure, Ren was strange, but generally nice enough. But this wasn't the first of these weird episodes, and it was starting to get seriously worrying. "Here, come on."

Rei looked up, realizing Ann had already stood and grabbed her wrist. "What?" Ann felt her blood run cold. It wasn't confusion. It was a mix of resignation and sheer dread. She'd heard that tone before, but from Shiho, or some of the other volleyball team members talking to her. She'd even used it herself, although so far it had never been that bad. To hear it out of a 'boy'?

Ann sat back down and twisted in her seat. "Amamiya, what is going on? Ever since you got here everything's gone crazy."

"Can't...can't…" Rei said, then looked around and found herself meeting Shiho's eyes. In an instant, Shiho understood.

While Ann continued to stammer and try to get a reaction, Shiho came across the room. "Kamoshida." It wasn't a question. Amamiya nodded anyway. "Come on. We can put this off one day." A shake of the head. "Ren…" She dropped her voice even lower, so only Ann could hear. "Rei." That got the attention of both of them, but she could deal with Ann later. "Listen to me. We'll do it after school. Hold yourself together. You can go to the nurse's office, go home, sneak back out. Or don't go home. Whatever you want, right?"

Ann looked between Rei and Shiho. "Oh...oh kami what is going on?" She kept her voice quiet. "Amamiya, I…"

Shiho gulped. "Rei, we have to tell her."

"...not here."

Shiho nodded. "We'll use the hideout."

Just then Kawakami came in. "Settle down!" Shiho looked over her shoulder at the instructor, then back at Rei, not sure she should return to her seat. "Is there a problem, Shiho-chan?" Kawakami's tone was tight. Word had apparently started to spread that one of the starting volleyball players had chosen to defy Kamoshida, and Shiho knew she was about to have far less leeway at Shuujin Academy for the foreseeable future.

Hell with that, she thought. "Amamiya-san doesn't seem to be feeling well. I was making certain he was all right."

Kawakami sighed tiredly. "Does he need to go to the nurses' office?"

Shiho swallowed her fear. Sorry, Rei, She nodded.

"Amamiya?"

Rei looked up. Even the normally-exhausted Kawakami noticed her pale complexion, but when Rei shook her head she just returned the gesture with a shake of exasperation. "Suzui, get to your desk."

I tried. Shiho thought, going through the ritual beginning to the school day. It just wasn't good enough. She sat through the lessons, barely able to restrain herself from sending a surreptitious message to Niijima before the first break. But send it she did.

"Rei-chan, this is insane." Makoto said just after shutting the door to the student council room. "If we didn't have a plan to finish this, fine. I still wouldn't agree with it but…" She swallowed. "If there's nothing we can do, there's nothing we can do."

"I can do something." Rei said, reaching into one of the side pouches of the bag where Morgana normally rested. The cat slipped out of the bag and looked between the pair. Makoto gasped at the single sai in the side pouch, and was only slightly relieved when Rei reached not for that, but for a smaller device that ended in two wicked points. She flicked it on and it clicked menacingly. "Jam this right in his balls and leave it on till his heart stops."

Makoto shook her head. "How did you get that?"

"Dad," the girl in the boy's uniform responded. "Girl's gotta take care of herself, and that goes double for me, right?" Rei laughed, slightly hysterically.

Morgana looked between the two girls. "Okay, you two are scaring me."

"Well, we can't have that can we?" Rei snapped. "I've just got a ra-" She restrained herself, or perhaps she couldn't actually say the word. "An assault scheduled first thing after school, but sure, you can't be scared."

Makoto really didn't want to haul off and slap Rei, but it was getting harder to try to find other ways to get her attention. "Rei, listen to me. You're not going to that office after school today."

Rei took a deep breath, finally seeming to realize this was a serious conversation "...what, so I can just be expelled instead?"

Makoto shook her head. "Rei-chan, listen to me. I've been going over the budget."

Rei's jaw dropped. Morgana's did too, and he said "Queen, if you tell him anything but what he wants to hear about that, you're the one in for it!"

Makoto nodded. "So I'm not going to tell him anything he doesn't want to hear. I just won't tell him what he wants to hear in a quick way."

Rei shook her head. "No good. How much can the volleyball team go through in a semester?"

"You'd be surprised," Makoto said slyly. "On top of the extra uniforms for a sports team on top of the club itself, there's travel, hotels, tournament fees, school banners and other window dressing...it adds up, and if Kamoshida weren't bringing in all these students we couldn't afford it."

Rei took a deep breath. "Okay, so, that's more than I thought, but can you really keep him busy all afternoon?"

Makoto shook her head, but she was grinning. "I don't have to. I just need to keep him busy until he has to start volleyball practice."

Shiho and Ann sat up on the roof, carefully avoiding the new planters. Ann ate her sandwich while leaning against the fence, while Shiho had found one of the few desks still intact to pull out her - tiny - store bought bento. "Okay…" Ann said slowly. "Ever since Amamiya got here things have been weird, but what the heck was that about?"

Shiho sighed. "I don't know everything, but it turns out Amamiya is...he's…"

"She," Ann shot back harshly. Shiho nearly dropped her chopsticks in surprise, not just at the fact that Ann figured it out but that she seemed pissed about it. "Yeah, I knew that much."

Shiho's jaw was still open. She snapped it shut with a click. "How do you know about it?"

"I'm a model, Shiho." Ann shrugged. "Worked with famous people? Some of them are my competition? But, if you must know, I got the full rundown on a shoot a few months ago." She took a bite of her sandwich. "The feature model was. . . . well, like Rei. I was just there to be in the background, and there've been enough incidents that the manager made sure we knew how to be polite. But why is Rei hiding it? Once I knew what to look for, I noticed the hairpins. She'd actually be really cute, especially if she ditched the glasses too."

"That, I don't know." Shiho admitted. "The principal's involved."

Ann winced. "Oh. Yeah. I admit, it took me a few hours to get over it, but Kimiko was really nice, so. . . " She shrugged. "Hard to believe, if Rei's really anything like Kimiko, that she really got in trouble." Then Ann felt sick. "Wait, so . . . what, Kamoshida knows too, and that's why. . . " When Shiho just nodded again, Ann carefully wrapped the sandwich and put it away.

Shiho winced. "I'm. . . I'm sorry you had to hear that."

Something in Shiho's voice brought her up short. "Wait, you thought I was. . . "

"To protect me, right?" Shiho said.

Ann shook her head. "I . . . no, I hadn't yet, but I had to let him think he was. . . going to, maybe? He kept saying if I didn't, he'd need to find someone else…"

Ann never knew what hit her. One minute, Shiho was sitting down, the next her bento was scattered over the ground and Ann found her best friend since middle school holding her tighter than she had since the end of their second year as the high school exams had put a practical end to their 'relationship.' "Wait, wha - " Then Shiho was kissing her.

They stayed like that for several moments, until Ann pushed her down. "...Shiho...what?"

Shiho flushed, mortified at her own behavior. "I'm. . . I'm so sorry, I didn't think."

"It's fine." Ann sounded more confused than anything. "Uhh...so...uh…" She couldn't quite think of anything to say, so she went with the first thing out of her mouth. "Is. . . that why you haven't had a boyfriend?"

Shiho looked as if she wanted to sink right through the floor. "I. . . no, there was never anyone else I was as interested in. Boy or girl."

Ann choked. "I. . . I see. And I guess going to Shujin girls weren't an option anyway."

"Oh, who cares? The important thing is you were doing all that, trashing your reputation, maybe even your job, for me?" Shiho looked as if, having vocalized it, she wanted to try to kiss Ann again in gratitude, but restrained herself.

Ann smiled. "Well, yeah. We're friends, right?" Her eyes fell on the spilled bento. "Oh, your lunch!" She pulled the half-eaten sandwich. "Uh...you can have the rest of mine if you want."

"...yeah, I'll take you up on that." Shiho said, reluctantly. "I didn't get much to eat for breakfast this morning."

It was the end of the day, and Rei was feeling a little better about things. A little. She felt even better when, on leaving the classroom, she spotted Ryuji coming out of his down the hall and waving to her. Grinning, she turned to meet him. Maybe we can slip off to that onsen for a 'quick soak' for me, she thought. Just enough time for everyone to go home. I already told Sojiro that I'd be late helping Mako-chan. We get out of here, I get changed, we come back, and finally take care of this tonight.

Rei's heart stopped for several beats when a hand landed on her shoulder. "Hey, you weren't thinking about running out on a teacher, were you Amamiya?" Kamoshida squeezed down in what was assuredly meant to be a friendly gesture. It didn't help.

Okay, okay, remember the plan. "Uh, Sensei, is this a disciplinary meet? Only, if it is, it can probably wait. Niijima-senpai said she had found some money for you in the budget, but she needed to talk abou - "

"Hey, don't you want to spend some time with me?" Kamoshida's voice was suddenly cold.

Rei froze, when her attention was drawn to an angry voice. "What do you mean, canceled?!" It was Ann, yelling into her phone. "I wasn't, I mean, I was counting on that ride." Suddenly, Rei felt her attention sharpen. The phone's speaker wasn't playing, and the screen wasn't on. "Yes, yes, I understand…" Then she put the phone down and feigned a surprised look. "Oh, Sensei….uhm...it looks like I need a ride home today…"

What the hell? Rei's eyes flicked to Shiho, who nodded. So Ann knew. Not everything, but probably something. But it wasn't enough.

Pulling Rei to him posessively, in a way she was positive Kamoshida would never try with a cisgirl, he said "Sure thing, Ann-chan. But for the moment…" And suddenly Rei found herself being pulled down the hallway, towards the athletic building and Kamoshida's 'private' office.

She had actually avoided the place until now, getting by on washing down in the non-gendered bathroom with paper towels and fresh applications of deodorant. Far from adequate, but this wasn't the time to dwell.

Unlike his main office, which had a large number of binders with students' data scattered everywhere, this was neat. Although that probably had to do with the fact that this was just for the sports teams, and the only one Kamoshida cared about was the Volleyball Team. The room also, improbably, had a cot with a rather soft looking mattress, and a privacy screen stolen from the nurses' office. Beside the clear desk sat a large minifridge that Rei was sure didn't only contain icepacks.

"So, what do you think?" Kamoshida asked. "I bet you thought when I offered you my shower, it was some nasty thing so I thought I'd better show you." There was, indeed, a shower sitting there. It even looked nice. When the school was built, it had no doubt had the standard industrial shower-head, but maybe some regulation for handicapped students had come through mandating the replacement with a detachable massage showerhead. Or, more likely… Rei thought The regulation made Shuujin change out the shower head, even though there's no disabled students, and Kamoshida just swapped in the nice one himself. And even she had to admit, if she could stomach the cost, it would be nice.

"Well, go on." Kamoshida said.

Rei swallowed. Come on, Mako-chan!

There was a knock on the door.

"What the hell?!" Ryuji screamed at Ann as soon as Kamoshida was out of earshot. "If you know what's goin' on, why didn't you try to stop them?!"

"I wasn't trying to stop him!" Ann shouted back. "Shiho just wanted me to slow him down so Niijima could do it! I just hope I bought enough time."

"That was...scary." Shiho said slowly. "Kamoshida's never that nice. He must have the wrong idea about Rei if he thinks she'll . . . "

Ryuji swallowed. "Yeah. If he tries anything, one of them's not coming out of that office alive." The three of them looked at each other. "...we'd better get down there. Better expelled than dead."

Makoto realized her mistake as soon as she'd opened the door to the teachers' lounge. She immediately said something that got the attention of everyone in the general teachers' office, and sprinted off to the athletic building the the budget folders before anyone could say anything. I'm going to pay for that later, but there won't be a later if I don't hurry. Taking the steps three at a time and nearly bowling over a girl in another third-year class with unusually fluffy hair, she arrived at Kamoshida's other office to wait.

A minute later, she realized waiting wasn't doing any good and knocked on the door. It cracked open. "Yes, Niijima-san?" he asked, looking her over. "Uhm, we've had a bit of a situation. One of the students scraped her leg, and she's very sensitive about it."

Like Hell Makoto thought, but just said "Ah...yeah, sure. Can you give me a few minutes once she's patched up? Just something I need to discuss about the budget before I take it to the rest of the Student Council."

"Yeah, sure, if I get this done before practice." Then the door slammed shut. Ryuji, Shiho, and Takamaki came up just a few seconds later.

"Well?" Ryuji demanded.

Makoto shook her head. "We're too late. It's my fault, I went to the wrong office to stop them."

"No way in Hell we're too late." Ryuji rolled up his sleeves and tested the door. "What? Locked?!" He looked at the frame. "That wood's old. Bet if we tried we could bust it down."

Makoto bit her lip…

Kamoshida turned around to pick up where he'd left off. What he didn't anticipate was that Rei carrieed a cat in her tote bag. Morgana was not, as cats went, unusually large. He was, however, unusually pissed off. "How DARE you insult a lady! Even one as unladylike as Rei!"

Kamoshida couldn't understand him, of course, so just said "What the heck? How'd a cat get in - " then his world was pain, as Morgana's teeth sank into his hamstring. He lashed out, and Morgana found himself dislodged instantly and slamming into the wall. He wasn't hurt badly, but it turned out neither was Kamoshida. His eyes fell on Rei.

Rei had not been idle during the distractions. She had gotten to her bag and was fumbling for the weapons intended for self-defense when she felt her hair being torn loose from the pins holding it into an approximation of a decent boy's haircut. She cried in pain as she was completely jerked back into the gym teacher's embrace. "C'mon, call'em off." Kamoshida said. "After all, you're just a newhalf, right? Don't you get off on this stuff?" His other hand reached up under her shirt, toying with the front latch of the sports bra and pulling it loose.

Rei squirmed uncomfortably under the attention. Dammit, it's just biology she thought, gasping slightly. He's done this enough that he knows just how much to do to make it feel good. It was awful, and she felt stirrings in body parts she didn't like thinking about as he continued while she tried to think.

"Girl, don't make this difficult. I've tried being nice." Rei understood the implications of Kamoshida's statement all too well. If there was another interruption, it was her friends that would pay for it. While Rei was trying to decide, the belt buckle on her pants was undone and they slowly slid down, revealing her underwear.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! KA-RACHK!Ryuji tumbled into the office, with Makoto, Shiho, and Ann behind him. Ann, showing more wit than Rei had credited the blonde with, had her cell out and was busy snapping pictures. "Lay off Kamoshida!" Ryuji snarled, "She ain't interested, and you're a fucking teacher!"

Rei pulled up her pants and scrambled away, Morgana close behind. The sai was the first weapon out of her bag, and she quickly gripped it with the blade against her wrist. "Th..thanks."

Kamoshida snarled. "...you don't dare release that, or it's the tranny's ass too. Besides, no one will believe it wasn't consensual, with her looking like that." He crossed his arms. "I'll have you out of school in three days, tops. All of you."

"On what charges?" Makoto demanded calmly.

Kamoshida smiled, back in control of the situation. "Sakamoto damaged school property. That door's going to have to be replaced, and it won't be cheap. And the rest of you didn't do anything to stop him. And if pictures of Amamiya in girls' underwear are your only counter-argument…" He gave Rei a meaningful look. "Unless you wanna come home with me tonight…"

Rei's fingers clenched around the sai. It wasn't the ideal weapon for removing body parts like she really wanted to do, but she was fast and pissed off. One well-timed thrust into the eye and this living sack of excrement would be well on his way to Hell where he belonged.

Shiho reached out and squeezed Rei's shoulder. That was all it took to remind her that there were other options. "We'll...we'll see tomorrow." she said instead. "Something like this ruins the mood, you understand." She wasn't sincere, of course.

Kamoshida smirked. "Get back in the mood. Tonight. After volleyball practice. Or. Else. Now, get out of my office."

In the alleyway the team used as a jumping off point to the Palace, Morgana was pacing. "Dammit, first heist and it's all gone straight to Hell." He sat down. "Guys, I know I should've said this sooner but we need at least an extra day. The Treasure isn't actually physical yet, we need to do something to change his cognition so he believes it can be taken."

Rei cursed. Then Makoto did for an entirely different reason. "We're going to have to explain everything," the latter said.

"Right. Ann?" Rei said. "Brace yourself, this is gonna smart." Before Ann could object, she said "Shujin. Kamoshida. Castle."

The reaction was predictable. First, a groan of pain as the initial headache hit. Then staring at Morgana, before catching look of the other Thieves. "Wait, what? So you're superheroes?!"

"Phantom Thieves, Ann-dono," Morgana corrected.

Joker nodded. "Pretty much. We're here to steal whatever's causing Kamoshida's heart to do these things...or we were." She quickly repeated Morgana's explanation. "See, this area is basically Kamoshida's mind." She pointed at the castle that had replaced the school. "Got all that?"

"Not...really…" Ann admitted. "And Shiho, how could you keep this from me!?"

Joker shook her head. "It's not her fault. It turns out a mind's a dangerous place. I didn't even want to bring you here, but…" She smiled. "You've just been made an accomplice. After all, you have the most important job of all."

"Huh? Me?" Ann asked, shocked. "But, I'm not a super hero or a phantom thief or whatever it is."

"Yeah, but...well, like I said. This is Kamoshida's mind. He needs to have his understanding of the world changed. The rest of us need to be the ones to be ready to steal this Treasure when it manifests….but you need to make it manifest from the real world."

Ann swallowed, but really, there wasn't any choice. Their lives were about to be ruined anyway. "How do I do that?"

Morgana blinked. "Joker, that's brilliant!" He turned to Ann. "Okay, My Lady, it's simple. You're going to need to leave Kamoshida the best calling card you can manage on short notice. It has to tell him that Phantom Thieves have noticed his twisted heart, and that we will steal his desires and make him confess his crimes by doing it."

Ann nodded. "Got it. I'm pretty good in art class. Not tops, but I can manage something. Now, how do I leave."

Queen was all business. "Head down to the other end of the alley while thinking about returning to the real world. Just remember, you can't be seen. No cameras, either. It would probably be best if you didn't handle the paper with your bare hands either."

"I know which car's Kamoshida's, and he doesn't bother to lock the door," Ann said. "I can do it."

Skull grinned. "Hey, Takamaki, I know we ain't been on the best terms since middle school, but hey. Good luck."

Angel blushed hard enough that it was visible on the cheeks below her mask. "Uh...yeah. Ann, please be safe."

Queen gave it another moment's thought, then reached into her pouch and pulled out a set of keys. Tossing them to Ann, she smirked. "Just in case you need to hide in the school. Lock up behind yourself if that happens."

Joker grinned. "Oh, and don't be afraid to grease any palms you have to. If it comes to that, I'll pay you back." Everyone gave her a weird look. "Hey, when you get to it I am the daughter of one of the top five richest guys in town back home. I don't like it but money talks. Just don't get more ridiculous than seems reasonable and people will probably just take the money and run."

"Got it." Ann said. Joker gave her a thumbs-up.