Unfortunately, Rei couldn't stick around to chat with Ruri and Ann between classes. She got up and stopped just in the hallway where Kawa

was waiting. "Sensei?"

"Amamiya, do you know her?" Kawakami was short and to the point.

Rei shrugged. "I met her somewhere, we had a conversation. She had a few days in town before she started." There was a long pause. "What is this really about?"

Kawakami bit her lip, before shoving an envelope into Rei's hands. "Don't open it at school. Don't tell anyone I gave it to you. Honestly, I thought you'd already be gone so apparently you can keep a secret."

Rei blinked, a number of times. "Uhhh…"

"You needed help, right?" Kawakami said. "Well, I found a way to get you a tutor. Just don't ask questions, and you'll have to pay up, but...well, it's thanks for the other day."

Rei swallowed. Something about this seemed off...but at the same time, with her reputation she'd have to shell out money for a tutor or get one from another school. "I understand."

"Good." Kawakami said. "If anyone knew about what's in that envelope we'd both be in a lot of trouble."

Ann bit her lip as everyone gathered on the rooftop. "Guys, can we put off the Palace another day?"

Rei shrugged. "Sure. We're not under the gun this time, and I've got some other stuff to take care of. What's up?"

Ann sighed. "I got a call for a modeling job. With everything going on, I've blown off way too many as it is lately."

Morgana strolled out from his hiding place. "Of course, Ann-dono, cover stories are definitely an important part of being a good Phantom Thief."

"Which reminds me," Rei said. "Ann's covered, I have a huge bank account I could theoretically be raiding as well as part-time work at Le Blanc. Morgana's lifestyle doesn't need an explanation unless you're going to start buying luxury cat food and pet beauty parlor time . . . . "

Morgana blinked. "That's a thing? Not that I need the assistance, of course. I look amazing no matter what I do."

"Taking that as a 'no'," Rei quipped. "What about the rest of you?"

Ruri leaned against the wall. "Taken care of as part'a the package. How do ya make money off this, anyway?"

Rei shrugged. "Why don't you come with me today? That's part of what I need to take care of anyway."

"Think I'll take ya up on that one," Ruri said back easily.

Ryuji groaned. "Do I gotta?"

Makoto shook her head. "You most of all. Everyone knows you don't have much money, I think."

Rei nodded. "It's not uncommon to have a part-time job. Makoto, please work with Ryuji to fake that." Makoto and Ryuji both stared at her. "We're going to have enough problems just keeping you functioning in school, Ryuji. Until you get your grades into decent shape, you shouldn't actually pick up a side gig alongside Phantom Thievery. Normally you'd need permission from the school, but Makoto can at least fake the records. If we can get your grades up no one will question it."

"I guess…" Makoto said uncertainly. "Personally. I'm fine. My sister makes enough money to explain almost anything I might want, even if she wouldn't actually give me enough allowance to get it."

Ruri shook her head. "I been in the secret agent game long enough ta know that ain't good enough. But you at least got time ta work on it."

Rei shook her head. "In the long run, I think Ruri's right, but at the same time . . . let's leave that much alone for today. Shiho?"

"I actually have permission for part-time jobs already," Shiho said. "I'll 'work at a gyudon place' or something."

"Okay…" Rei nodded. "Break for today, meet at the Palace Entrance after school tomorrow?" Nods all around. "Right." She then turned to Morgana. "I'll use this afternoon to teach her a bit about how we do things. Can you do me a favor and listen around Shibuya for a likely Mementos target?"

Morgana thought about it. "I think I can manage something, but you can look too."

Rei grinned. "We'll give it a try when we're not in the middle of a major op and need to give the newbie orientation at the same time."

"Hey!" Ruri protested. "I been doin' this longer than you!"

Rei grinned. "But I'm gonna teach you how to do it right."

Ruri was eyeing Untouchable's neon lighting and uncleaned windows with the kind of skepticism one normally reserved for a pachinko parlor with no one playing. "Ya sure about this?"

Rei grinned. "He'll do business with minors and fence practically anything. Oh, and afterwards I'll show you the other reason we use him." Without waiting for an answer, Rei opened the door. The proprietor looked up at her and grunted. Seeing the store was otherwise empty, Rei decided not to waste any time. "Got another small batch for ya." She put down the bag. He raised an eyebrow, looking at Ruri pointedly. Rei nodded. "We can trust her as far as you can throw her, anyway," He grunted again and pulled out his assay scale and got to work.

Ruri was looking even more skeptical when she noticed the airsoft boxes. And looked at Rei like she was positively insane when she noticed a bunch of glittering throwing knives made with chromed steel. "Hey, I wouldn't put the good stuff front and center."

The shopkeep snorted. "Yeah. If I had anything like that, it'd be in back. Which I don't. Got it?"

Rei grinned. "Got it" She was rewarded with a small stack of bills. She slid some back. "They do look shiny, though."

That got her a long look. "You are one weird girl, ya know that?"

"Haven't got caught so far, have I?" Rei replied. "Oh, right, got anything else I might be interested in?"

"Still using semi-autos?" The man asked, shifting his lollipop from one side to the other. When Rei responded in the affirmative, he thought for a second, then pulled down two boxes. "For you and your friend. M1911A for you. This one's from a few years ago, and it's got some flaws in the modeling, but since you're actually playing it'll work well enough. The other one's a Benelli M3. Same deal, really. If you wanna add to your collection, come back in a few weeks."

So that's how it's going to be, Rei thought. "I'll take them." More money changed hands. Rei ended up folding the last three bills and walking back towards the subway station with her purchases after having them wrapped up in brown paper, Ruri right behind.

"Ah don't get it." Ruri said. "Ya don't strike me as the type ta be into this stuff."

Rei gave Ruri an amused smile. She ducked into an unused corner, then said "Mementos" into her phone.

It took Ruri a moment to readjust, but when she did she looked unamused. "So? We're in the Metaverse." Then Rei pulled Ryuji's new shotgun out of the box, very carefully turned away from Ruri, took aim at a pillar nearby, and pulled the trigger, wincing slightly at the kick.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" The blast had put a small crater into the pillar.

Rei shook the ringing out of her ears. "Going to have to get used to that." she muttered as her hearing returned. "The short version is that the mind makes it real, or at least more real. The better the replica, the better the effect works, I think. It also applies to martial arts weapons and other things. High-quality weapons would be best, of course, but I don't have the licenses for that." Ruri frowned. She could probably get what Rei needed, but the thought of the transgirl actually being armed in the real world gave her pause. Rei seemed to pick up on her hesitation. "Whatever you're thinking, don't. This is way better than real guns anyway. That kind of thing tends to attract attention, right?

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Ruri said, relieved. "Of course, you get caught with that stuff and you're still in a lotta trouble." Rei shrugged, as if it didn't bother her. "I'll store it," Ruri decided. "I can actually maintain these things once we get my workshop runnin'."

"Sure." Rei decided. Then she tossed the small roll of throwing knives to Ruri. "At least until we can get you something better. They shouldn't take a whole lot of strength, at least here. Just faith that it'll work."

Ruri frowned. "From an axe ta this? Kinda a step down."

"I know," Rei said. "But we're going to need better parts, right? You're not human, so upgrades aren't as straightforward as a workout regimen."

"Yeah," Ruri sighed. "Anyway, I should get ta my homework."

"Wanna kill a few Shadows on the upper levels? That's where we get the precious metals...but we can't get too far, since Morgana's not with us."

Ruri shrugged. "That's okay. I'll save it for the Palace."

Morgana was looking dejected when Rei caught up to him. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Honestly?" Morgana said, crawling into Rei's bag. "I found way too many to ever get to even if I got everyone's names. It's awful out there."

"Well, it's the big city," Rei said reasonably. "I know there's going to be some stuff that you wouldn't see out in a rural town. Remind me to tell you about the time I got lost near Broadway some time. There's some streets there that still scare me."

"A lot of bullies, like we took on the first time in Mementos," Morgana said. "A lot. There were people talking about some pretty petty crimes, of course...but there was also drinking. Drugs. Girls being pushed to do . . . things no one would say out loud. And some guys too."

Rei swallowed. "We're. . . well, a small team. All we can do is one at a time. We can sweep three or four out of Mementos on a run, but we get tired. I think maybe we could manage ten a day if we all agreed to have no life, quit school…"

Morgana looked up at Rei. "Why can't you do that?"

"Well.." Rei pointed out. "Right now, they'd throw me in jail, so no." She sighed. "In a year...well, it's a year away. Maybe we'll figure out a solution to get more done without spreading the secret too far to let it stay a secret."

"What about Labrys' employers?" Morgana countered. "They have resources and know about the Metaverse…"

Rei swallowed. "That's. . . probably not a good idea," she answered. "I think they're in with the law. I really want to avoid that as long as possible. I mean, I like Ruri. But she's iffy on this. Right now, we need to stick to the core principle. Stay narrowly on targets the law won't touch." She sighed. "Besides, we need an email or something to get a Mementos message to a target. I'll do a sweep with you next time to try to peek at cell phones. The Thieves' Eye is proving to be more useful than I thought."

Rei spent the rest of that evening making the trip up to Shinjuku for her first load of painkillers for a serious Palace run. Saitou-sensei had long since gone home by the time she arrived, but he had left a note at the hospital pharmacy. A trip around the building and a suspicious look from the woman behind the counter, and she suddenly had a box large enough to warrant a handle to drag home.

Rei considered this, then decided to duck into an alley to see just what she'd been provided with. Her eyes widened at the selection. Did I screw up? Sensei...what are you thinking? There were real painkillers, some caffeine pills, disinfectant sprays and gels, burn ointments, some antihistamines, fresh bandages and gauze, a freaking infrared thermometer, tweezers, suturing thread, scissors, and even a full course of antibiotic pills of all things.

She snatched up the note. Rei-chan, I know I can't persuade you to stop whatever you're doing. Make certain it's worth it. Saitou. "Jeez, Sensei," she sighed. "I don't even know what to do with some of this stuff...maybe the Metaverse will make it work even if I don't know how yet."

Morgana caught up with Rei as she was closing up the box. "Geez, you sure we're prepared?"

Rei shook her head. "Sensei's on to us, I think. I mean, I don't think he's guessed at what we're doing, but. . . it's not going to be too long." She stood up. "This much was probably inevitable, but if he's gearing me up for a training accident or combat injury it's only a matter of time before he connects the results of the heist with me…" She stood up. "Sorry, looks like it's going to be a late night, Morgana. Sensei lives in Kichijoji. I have the address."

"This isn't good." Morgana replied. "The more people who know about the Phantom Thieves…"

"The more ways the info can leak out," Rei said. "I messed up already, telling Sensei I was looking into Keino. If I don't do this, when he figures it out…" She sighed. "If I tell him beforehand, he's less likely to set the cops on us by accident or on purpose when he realizes we had something to do with the change of heart."

Morgana sighed. "Shouldn't we tell the others?"

"We're starting the op tomorrow, No time for a meeting." Rei answered. "Let's go."

"Rei, we have the grou - " but Rei was already on her way down the block.

There was a knock at the door, a loud one. Saitou groaned, wearing a sweater over a T-shirt in his apartment. In contrast to his office, the place was very simply decorated, although quite a bit larger than the standard for someone living alone in the city. There was even a separate bedroom, and thus enough room in the main living area for a couch, a wall-mounted widescreen television a meter wide, several potted plants, a recliner, and, of course, bookshelves all along the walls, save for one wide space devoted to a personal shrine that was currently closed.

When he opened the door, he blinked when he realized his interruption was Rei, standing there looking sheepish. She held up a small bag that contained two large beer cans and, for her (most likely) a single milk tea. "Hey, Sensei. Yebisu for you, right? I. . . got your present."

"Rei? What is it that this couldn't wait until tomorrow after school?" the doctor asked, stepping aside to let her in. "And how did you get the beer?"

Rei rolled her eyes. "No one actually cares as long as you don't drink it on the street. I just said it was for my dad."

Saitou laughed. "True enough. So, what's on your mind?" He eyed Morgana as the cat slipped in. "Yours, I assume." Rei raised an eyebrow. "Of course. Cat."

Once they were out of the hallway and Rei was sitting on the couch, she turned serious. "Sensei. . . you've worked out I'm up to something. Mind running your guess by me?" She was quiet, almost pensive, but still determined.

Saitou considered a moment. "The most likely thing…" he said "...you're filling out, and have certain skills that would make you. . . very popular in certain spectator sports despite your condition. In some. . . very particular venues, no one would care about your criminal record and that condition might even be a bonus to some customers. It seems to me…" he looked her in the eye. "I'm not even close, am I?"

"No." Rei said. "I guess it tracks. Good way to make a lot of money?"

Saitou smiled. "Possibly, but in my opinion the risks aren't worth it. You already have no need of the contacts that you might make, considering I could do everything they could and much more for arranging your treatment. And I would have to remove you from the study if I found out you were getting additional help that way. And the money alone...isn't that good even if you weren't on probation."

Rei raised an eyebrow. "You seem to know something about it."

"One of the boys in the study…" Saitou said with a sigh. "You never met him."

Rei closed her eyes. It was obvious they were dancing around the topic. "Sensei...you remember what I said about Kamoshida, and what I did to him with my friends?"

"Yes. It was quite the sto...ry…" He trailed off, giving Rei a look. "It wasn't, was it?"

"No." Rei said. "I don't know how it happened, or why it happened. Heck, I still don't know. But...Morgana here is from that other world." Morgana jumped up onto the couch and nodded in an exaggerated fashion. "Yes, he's the cat I mentioned before."

Morgana batted at Rei's cheek. "You told him about that?"

Rei looked down. "Well, it's not like I thought he'd believe me at the time!"

Saitou grimaced. "Rei-chan, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, as you well know."

Rei nodded. "When you speak to Keino-san, I imagine he has a habit of slipping into pre-war speech patterns if he grows dramatic," she said. "I also suspect he has at least a small personal collection of pre-Restoration artworks, including at least one blade and one suit of armor. Given his wealth, he might not be able to afford more and keep up on proper maintenance...which he does personally, not trusting it to an employee."

Saitou stared at Rei, trying to process what she just said. Slowly, he pulled out the first beer, opened the top, and drank half of the large can down. "Rei-chan. . . that's . . . the more likely explanation is that you've been spying, but I don't see how…" He took a deep breath. "Can you. . . do this to just anyone?"

Rei shook her head. "No. It...it's not as simple as 'good' or 'evil' or even a question of genuine dysfunction." She sighed. "Morgana, smack me if I get this wrong. I think what it requires is...an obsession. A thought that gets stuck in a person's head, that warps how they're thinking. For Kamoshida, the school spent so much time and energy on playing to his whims that he came to think of the students and teachers as his servants, then as his subjects. His own personal kingdom. In the real world, it was just a metaphor for the power he had over our lives. But in the Metaverse. . . "

Saitou nodded. "It became a very real castle, with real defenders. That's why you needed the placebos. It would convince your friends they would heal more quickly…"

"...and that belief would potentially be enough to work like a damned magic healing potion, I hoped." Rei replied. "But I needed to be able to sell it to them as a miracle cure."

Saitou paled. "But...Rei-chan, if what you're telling me is true, you wouldn't be able to trick yourself. They'd just be sugar pills."

"Better me than everyone else," Rei said, sighing. "I know too well there's no substitute for time and rest for injuries anyway. If someone else had tried the trick on me, I wouldn't have bought it."

Saitou closed his eyes, thinking for a very long time. Rei sat waiting, pensively. "Rei. . . this reminds me of something. An abstract of a paper being worked on by . . . well, it's not important. I didn't pay much attention at the time, seeing how it looked like it was written by a complete basket case."

Rei smirked. "Sensei, after what's happened, I need to keep checking the news story about Kamoshida and remind myself that he's not in the school anymore. Maybe one day in five I have to stop for a second or I won't be able to go in at all."

Saitou sat there for a very long time. "Rei...what are you planning to do with this power?

Rei sighed. "I don't know." Morgana opened his mouth to say something, but she glared at him. "But...I do know I can't just stand by. The whole damn world tried to convince me I was wrong when I tried to save that woman. Everyone except Dad."

"And what do you think he would advise, in your current position?" Saitou asked her, in all sincerity.

Rei smiled. "When the whole world wants you to move, and you know it's wrong….you stand there even if it blows you away. And if you can keep standing against everything they throw at you...eventually, they have to move. And Keino's Palace….I have absolutely no doubt he's abusing the buraku he hires. I'm just not sure how much yet. So, for now, keep digging."

Saitou took another swig of his beer. "I should really report you."

Rei laughed. "And tell the cops what? They're more likely to lock you up, and that's saying something."

Saitou looked grim. "For now, yes, but Rei-chan...this could go very, very badly wrong. In the most likely scenario, you're delusional. And if you are telling me the truth. . . kami help us all. I can't think of anything more terrifying than a group of angry, bitter teenagers with this kind of power. The only reason I'm not making something up to get you locked away for observation again is that I'm reasonably sure your friends will turn their talents on me."

Rei thought about that, then flipped out her phone. "I'm trusting you with this, Sensei…" she said, warningly. "Hikaru Saitou."

There was a very long pause. "No match found" the phone finally said back.

Rei gave her psychiatrist a wan smile. "Well, you don't have a Palace. Not even starting to. My friends can't touch you."

He chuckled. "Calling my bluff, then, eh?"

Rei let out a bark of laughter, but then turned serious again. "There's. . . one more thing. Morgana here claims he was once human."

"Hey!"

Rei sighed. "He thinks this happened to him in the Metaverse. If it's true...then maybe, just maybe, I can do something with that same power. If I have to destroy Japan itself to get there, one asshole at a time? Maybe if Japan hadn't hit first, I'd think twice."

Saitou nodded. "Rei-chan...I'll keep quiet for now. But if I think you're stepping out of line…"

"Got it."

Rei set Morgana down gently on the floor before she started to get ready for bed. "Now what are we going to do?" Morgana finally asked. "He's gonna - "

Rei snapped. "Do absolutely nothing!" she shouted. "Morgana, I know Sensei!"

"And he already wanted to turn us in!"

Rei realized they were screaming at each other. She stopped, took a deep breath, and turned her back. "Morgana, you're forgetting something. I've known the man for ten years. Maybe more important, he's known me that long...and right now, he's pretty much depending on me and a few other kids for his retirement and legacy. Too many of the others are...gone." Morgana got real quiet, listening. "He knows where we're all coming from. I have to be honest. I'm pretty sure he was expecting something to get to one of us. I think he's probably just grateful it was something he can't possibly prove so he can ignore it."

Morgana wasn't convinced. "Why did he try to talk you into giving up?"

Rei shrugged. "Because it would be safer for me if I did? He...kinda feels responsible for me. Dad's not here, after all."

Morgana went really quiet for awhile. "It's almost midnight. Let's sleep."

Rei lifted up the covers. "Can we keep this quiet from the others? At least for a bit."

"Sure."

The next day, rather than LeBlanc everyone met up at the subway station. "Right, people. Any questions on today's objective?" A pointed look was sent at Shiho and Makoto.

Morgana decided to take that as his queue. "Right. No sudden moves this time. The Palace ruler sees us as a threat, but only a nominal one as long as we don't break any of the rules. For today, we want to try to secure a route to the Treasure. Once we're that deep into the Palace, we should have enough information to make our decision about the calling card."

"Ya haven't had a dedicated Navigator before now," Ruri added. "My job's ta keep track of what's going on and provide detailed info about the Palace and the Shadows. It'll be a bit of a change of pace for me, but it's what I can do for now."

"Say, whatever happened to splitting up and all that?" Ryuji asked. "I thought - "

Rei grinned. "Don't worry about it. Figured out something better. Just be ready to hit Mementos when we get out of the train station."

The train trip was uneventful, no one wanting to say anything until they arrived. They left the station, and walked half a block before Rei decided they were sufficiently alone. "Now." Everyone barely noticed the transfer, their Phantom Thief outfits appearing. Once they were on the other side everyone looked at Ruri, or Labrys.

Who...still looked like a teenage school girl. Labrys shrugged. "I dunno what you were expectin'?" she pointed out. "You guys are the only ones who change like that."

Morgana shook his head. "This won't do at all."

Labrys shot him a level stare. "I ain't turnin' off the stealth system. Seriously, that face looks creepy ta me, and I'm wearing it."

Joker thought about it for a second. "Can you look like you're in your original body?"

Labrys thought for a second. "Yeah, I can probably manage that." She closed her eyes. Instead of a flash, there was a shimmering effect, and then Labrys had, indeed, changed. Her legs had gaps at the hips with coils of wire that once probably allowed a much greater range of motion than the substitute body did. Both her arms and legs had solid black panels of some shiny metal, ending in feet that looked like they could stomp through limbs and hands with long fingers that could probably curl around a shaft over an inch thick without being awkward. Her head looked like she'd found an armored helmet somewhere with a wig attached, blue hair up in a tail that flowed loosely everywhere behind her. The effect was...somewhat offset by the fact that she was still wearing a dark grey sailor-style uniform with a red tie. "Thought I'd change up the color scheme ta fit in with the aesthetic a bit better," she explained.

Morgana grinned at her, then jumped up into the air. When the Morganamobile landed, Labrys looked like she desperately wished she was physically capable of fainting. "Wh-wh-wh-what?!"

"No idea how he does it," Joker said. "But he does it. Get in. Queen, you drive as usual?" The van was getting somewhat cozy already, and when they arrived at the edge of the Palace everybody was already nervous. There was a shudder, and then suddenly the car was in the middle of a dirt road, surrounded by trees too close to actually get it around. Everyone got out, and Morgana returned to normal. "Okay. So, the Treasure is most likely in that central castle," Rei said. "Any objections to just checking straight up this time?"

It was surprisingly easy, with Labrys doing the checking, to get around the paddies of Keino's Palace. The only reason it had confused them before was the sheer repetition, plus the way the landscape twisted to make sure landmarks were never quite in the right spot.

The next problem was simple. While the castle was smaller than Kamoshida's, it was surrounded by high, brilliant white stone walls, with multiple wooden support beams sticking through by about six inches, and overhang with even more beams. Without an apparent gate. "Labrys?"

"Scannin'," Labrys confirmed. "Looks like there really ain't a way in for normal folks. I'm seein' something odd though. I think there's an underground passage, but I can't tell where it comes out from here."

Panther huffed. "Well, what do we do? We can't just wander aimlessly looking for it."

Queen frowned. "It's most likely in one of the guard towers I wanted to search first."

"Oh, stop bringing that up," Angel snapped.

"Guys!" Joker practically snarled. "Not in the damn Palace." She turned to Labrys. "Is there any chance we can just climb the walls?"

"Well, sure," Labrys said. "Ain't no one manning the towers, so if ya can climb thirty meters of sheer rock, we're in."

Queen frowned, at risk of losing herself in thought for a few moments. "Okay, Angel, if I theorize on what we're looking at, are you going to snap at me again?"

Angel sighed. "No. I'm sorry, this is supposed to be figuring out the right answer."

Queen smiled. "If you'd just come out and say why you want to do this, it might make the right answer easier for me to understand." Angel said nothing. "Okay." She looked at the wall. "A barrier you have to know the way through to enter. No casual intrusions allowed, obviously, but there's more than one way to pass." She thought. "A presumption that only those who have some kind of value have the right to see Keino? But...what's he using to judge value?"

Morgana shook his head. "This is all interesting, but…" he was grinning like mad. "Here's how we get in." He had something in his hand, a band that he slipped onto his right wrist and pointed at one of the wooden beams. A grappling hook shot out, wrapped around it, and suddenly the odd creature was flying through the air, and with a swing, he made it within range of the overhang's catches. Another, carefully timed grappling hook and a kick off the wall, and Morgana was on top.

Joker shook her head. "That's fine for you, but we only have one - OW!" Another grappling hook hit her in the head, tossed down by Morgana.

"Sorry!"

With Joker carrying Labrys, it only took a few minutes to reach the top of the wall. "Huh. Anyone else take their middle school trip to Osaka?" Joker asked, amused. The style of the palace in the courtyard was different, being a wooden structure barely able to see over the defensive walls, and of course the walls themselves in the real world lacked a walkway that the public could access and were probably based on some other location, but the layout of the courtyard was a dead ringer for the recreation of Osaka Castle, with a large garden taking up a full quarter of said courtyard, buildings that were obviously the dojo and armory where such buildings had been built after the bombing, and even a giant food-serving area where there were tourist shops.

Skull spotted the difference first. "Uhm….there's a big Western building there in the real Osaka Castle, right?" Instead, it was a giant line of outhouses.

Queen shook her head. "This whole place was rebuilt after the war bombed it to the ground. Even if you replaced the buildings with medieval equivalents, it shouldn't look anything like this."

Panther. "So he's got a lousy grasp of actual history even though he's putting all his money into 'preserving' it? Typical."

Labrys turned her head to scan the courtyard. "Guys, I don't think we can afford to hang out here for long. Does any of this speculation help us?"

"Can you overlay your scans with a map of Osaka Castle?" Joker asked her. "Might give us a clue."

Labrys nodded. "I can get a net connection in here, for some reason. Gimmie a sec…" Her eyes glowed bright red as she looked over everything. "There's a whole bunch of those samurai Shadows in the barracks. I think that we'll have to avoid being spotted by any Shadows in the courtyard. I suggest we head straight to the palace on the Tower site. I'm getting something weird from the third floor. I'll show you the path down." Labrys led them around the wall to a place in the garden where they could get down via a tree. When they landed, the Phantom Thieves were shocked. Suddenly, instead of a small, contained series of paths through a place that Ryuji could have sprinted through in under ten seconds, it was enormous inside. The castle was still visible through the canopy, but it now appeared almost a kilometer away. Doable, certainly, but between the large hills, the giant lake that had looked like a pond from above, and the multiple tea houses, this was clearly not the same place. Strangely, instead of the bare branches of early spring or the greens of summer it had appeared to sport as the small castle garden, it was covered in a brilliant fall foliage, and the temperature was comfortably chilly when seen in view of the steaming heat of the 'farmland.'

"I recognize this place too." Queen noted. "It's in Tokyo."

Morgana shook his head in disbelief at the sight. "It's rare for someone this distorted to also have a connection to reality this strong."

Joker opened her eyes. "...no, it's not exactly like the real one. Queen, you said you recognized it. That means it's open to the public, right?"

Panther smirked. "Only the guys that our targets thinks should get in get to enjoy it, right?"

That was when the ninja jumped them.

Angel shrieked in surprise as a chain wrapped around her spear, before the Shadow dropped out of the trees and yanked on the kusari-gama, trying to yank it out of her hands. It was dressed exactly like the word implied, with a leather vest over all-concealing black clothing and a cloth mask.

Angel spent what felt like an eternity struggling for control of her weapon. Panther was stunned for a moment, but her own whip was soon out and lashing furiously, over and over, at the ninja. Skull, noting the lack of effect, pulled out a spiked mace and stepped in from the other side, taking a wide horizontal swing at the back of the creature's head.

That barely got the Shadow's attention. It turned its' head slightly to the side, looking at Skull in a way that gave him the distinct impression it thought he'd made a mistake. The Shadow spun around, trying to hook the Thief's neck with the sickle on the other end of his weapon. Skull jumped back, the thin metal blade barely missing him. Queen, sensing the opening, charged in and grabbed the Shadow's wrist as it over-extended, then pinned its arm against its' chest, pushing forward every time it tried to back away. Joker slipped in and pulled out her dagger, planting it firmly in the Shadow's back.

It stopped, and turned its' head all the way around to look at her. "Nice try." Then that neck snapped back around, and it slammed its' forehead so hard into Queen that she fell over, clutching at her nose. His weapon freed, he swiped at Panther's arm.

By this point, though, Angel had managed to free her weapon, and the butt of the spear planted firmly into the ninja's crotch. "The hood! Joker, go for the hood!"

Feeling like a moron, without her weapon, Joker jumped on the Shadow's shoulders while it recovered its' balance. Her fingers managed to curl just under the cloth, and with a yank it was free, floating into the air as the Shadow dissolved into its' true form.

It...didn't actually change much, becoming a little smaller, but with a long-beak. The Shadow's body was covered in feathers, with too-long arms and clawed legs, yet it stood like a human. The kusari-gama was gone, replaced with two short Japanese-styled swords. Joker's dagger fell to the ground, where she collected it as she tumbled over in an easy roll and landed on her feet, pulling her gun out and pointing it straight at the Shadow's head and pulling the trigger several times. This time, instead of ignoring it, its' head rocked back enough to indicate it had been hurt. Morgana took advantage of the distraction. "Zorro!" While Joker had been expecting a magical wind attack, or possibly some strikes with his rapier, instead the Persona appeared wearing a pair of giant boxing gloves, which proceeded to spring out from where they were mounted on his fists and slam into the Shadow's head. Already off balance, it toppled to the ground.

Skull grinned. "Let's do it, Cap'n!" The pirate swept through, lightning flying from his ship-surfboard's cannons and through the Shadow, frying it into insensibility. Joker gave him a quiet thumbs-up before slipping one arm around its neck, her blade sliding into place where the carotid artery would be on a human.

"Yeah, whatdya want?" The Shadow asked when it had recovered, seemingly unperturbed by its' imminent demise

Joker considered it. "Give me your power."

"Nah." The Shadow said. "Come back when you're a bit stronger. In the meantime, though, you can have what's in my pouch." Joker knew a dismissal when she heard it. She nodded to Panther, who reached down and came up with a small sphere. Reluctantly, she let the Shadow go. "Thanks, Pal. The Daimyo's on the ground floor. Might want to avoid him." Then it just ...vanished.

Morgana spun on Joker the second it was gone. "What did I tell you, Joker? If you don't get the mask, we can't hurt it."

"Right, right, I remember," Joker said. "Sorry."

The trip across the garden, despite needing to lightly skip over the river running through the middle several times, was quiet, but obviously not unobserved.

Skull seemed oblivious to the glowing yellow eyes following them from every shadow as he said "Hey, ain't it a little quiet?" Joker glared at him from behind her mask, until he tilted his head ever so slightly to indicate he had actually seen them. She relaxed when he continued with "Why are we the only ones here?"

Joker thought about it, then eyed Labrys. "They don't think there's anything here worth protectin'? The walls are pretty high. You'd need a lot of tools and to make a big noise to get in here without permission. Long as we don't touch anything guests ain't supposed to, we're probably good."

Which was a good time to finally come to the end of the massive park that had seemed barely a hundred square meters from the outside, where they reached . . . a simple balcony overlooking the edge with some stairs. Joker glanced at the group, and nimbly jumped to the edge just barely over her head, catching it and, with a swing forward to build up momentum, leaped up into giant manor hall.

The moment her feet touched the ground, nightingales began to swirl around her and sing, loudly. "...okay, this is ridiculous." It became notably less funny when sounds of someone stirring within the manor echoed back, with plates of metal and wood clanking together. "Crap. New plan. You guys use the grappling hooks, get to the third floor. I'll loop through the garden and come at it from the walls."

Queen's jaw dropped. "Joker, if they catch you alone it'll be a slaughter! You're good, but can you fight off three or four Shadows at once?"

"Did twenty guys who outweighed me by forty kilos at the time once," Joker said easily.

Queen looked unimpressed. "And how long were you down for afterwards?"

"Six weeks," Joker admitted. "And another four of physical therapy before I could walk in a straight line without help." Then she jumped down, the birds still swirling around her. "If I get caught, I run, okay? Go!" With that, she took off back into the garden.

Queen stared at Morgana for a second, still trying to process what had just happened. "We have to go after her!" she decided.

Morgana shook his head. "Joker's fine. She's got some tools for this. But we have to get up to the top if we're going to have any chance of tracking down the Treasure today." He pulled out a small plastic sphere. "Look, we'll cover our ascent like this. Keep your eyes on a grappling point." With that, he threw it down at the ground, cracking it open and causing an explosion of smoke to instantly cover their presence, although it also announced it. The remaining Phantom Thieves fired their grappling hooks, and vanished up to the third floor.

The trip back was nowhere near as uneventful as the one in. With the damn birds around her, Joker found the eyes tracking her every movement. More than once, an arrow fell at her feet or shot right by her. The ninja didn't seem to be moving on her, but that was only because she was being trailed by at least twenty of the samurai-like Shadows.

And the arrows were at least two meters long.

"This had better work…" Joker mumbled, pulling out one of Morgana's smoke bombs. Once it broke open, the birds stopped circling her almost at once. She ran out of the cloud, and found herself needing to roll over two chains trying to simultaneously trip her and restrain her around the waist. "...Okay, you weirdos, let's see how you deal with the best the twentieth century can offer."

They both loomed, and Joker found herself skidding to a stop. For several seconds, the Shadows seemed to regard her with some degree of confusion. "Lord Keino wishes to speak with you," one of them finally said, with that weird, echoey voice.

Joker's jaw dropped. "What?"

"He has put a good deal of his personal fortune into your development, in hopes that a place could be found for you in this world," it said.

Joker regarded the Shadow warily. "Why me, personally?"

The Shadow coughed. "As the son of a doctor showing such early promise, it seemed a shame that you would be relegated to such a life as you were choosing for yourself. Intervention was required to shape the future of this land."

Rei felt herself slipping out of the mask for a brief moment. "I...what?" Then she calmed. "Wait, why am I talking to you? I don't even know if you know what you're saying." Before the stupid creature could say anything else, she charged at it.

At the last second, she pulled out her pistol and shot the quiet Shadow in the face, forcing it to flinch back. The one she had been talking to, she simply used it's head as a vaulting horse, jumping over him with her legs spread wide. Once she was behind them, she pulled out her grappling hook and aimed for a beam to pull herself up to the wall from.

It somehow seemed like it took longer this time. The rope lashed out slowly, while Joker glanced at the Shadows that were now gathering. Ten...twenty...thirty meters, and then the tip sank into wood. The rope finished unspooling from its' line, then went taut, the supernaturally-strong spring lifting her off the ground and into the sky. A hand grabbed at her ankle. One, two, three kicks against those fingers and she heard a satisfying crack before she was pulled up. Once there, though, she had no momentum to carry her into a swing onto the walkway. She had to reach out with one hand to try to grip the stone, and push herself slowly into the spot before she could fade from view.

Once she did, it was as though the Shadows forgot her existence all at once. With a shake of her head. Joker looked for a better place to land to make her way back to the manor, before she realized that she could use the hook one last time to simply swing into the top floor. With a shake of her head, she looped carefully around the wall, making sure to pay attention to the courtyard and ready to run at the first sign of further alarms. When there weren't any, she frowned, but took one last swing and flew into the top floor.

It was an absolute treasure trove, but unlike Kamoshida's piles of gold, it was organized like an armory. The walls were lined with weapons, maintained to battle-readiness despite their obvious decorative nature. Shining chromed steel, gold and silver plate and chasing on the blades and sheaths, and fine hardwood bows. The outer walls held the most decorative pieces, but there were four rows of racks around a central display. And on that display was the vague, amorphous mass of the Treasure.

Queen and the others were already there. "Oh, thank the gods," Queen said. "Joker, don't scare me like that!"

"It's a dangerous game," Joker said simply. "I'm fine, you can rel - OOF!" That was when Panther was hugging her tightly. After a second, she hugged back. "Okay, guys. Palace. Minds on the job, scream at me how reckless that was later?"

Queen nodded. "We will be talking about that," she said simply. "Anyway, look at the plaques."

Joker did so, first looking at a display of katana. It simply read 'Respect for tradition.' The next was 'Obedience' and the one after that was 'History.' She shook her head. "So he thinks we can go back to being the Empire? Yeah, right, those days are history…"

Morgana grinned. "Well, it doesn't really matter, does it? We've secured a route to the Treasure, so all that's left is sending the calling card."

Panther sounded disturbed. "That seems way too easy, compared to how you guys described Kamoshida…"

Joker nodded. "Way too easy. Especially after that nightingale trap. Look around, make sure there's nothing we're missing."

Skull tapped on walls. Panther inspected the floors. Queen coordinated the search, while Labrys scanned everything. After nearly five subjective minutes, they all shrugged. "It looks clear," Labrys said.

Skull nodded. "Walls are all solid, we've been walking all over the floor, the weapons are just what they look like. Dunno what's got you worried."

Joker frowned. "There's something we're missing...something in...plain.." She realized that they'd only checked the room itself. Her eyes went up to one corner of the open-air treasury. Past the castle's guard towers, there were the border watch towers, each one with a perfect line of sight on the Treasure. "...Damn."

Angel paled. "Can they really see that far?"

Queen shook her head. "We can't take the chance. We'll need to split up to take them all out on the day of the heist."

Joker nodded. "And for that to work, we need to secure safe routes to all of them. We've barely started."

"And you will go no further." Forcing his way up the stairs was another of the samurai Shadows. Except, Joker realized, he was a much more normal height, barely a head taller than the short Thief. His armor was finely crafted, with silver plate mail and a helmet with decorations that towered over his actual head, giving the impression of a stag or giant rabbit. The open face revealed a man in his late 30s, with bright yellow eyes. "Surely you can see that a return to the hierarchies of old is for the best...disarm and I will have you escorted peacefully from my lands."