AN: sorry everyone i had to skip 4/20 because it didn't fit into the story :'(

April 21, 2014 (Monday)

Goro felt considerably sicker standing in front of Madarame's door than the first time he visited, but he managed to knock. Thankfully, Yusuke answered the door; seeing Madarame would invoke a rage that Goro didn't want to process at the moment.

Yusuke smiled. "Hello, Goro. How are you?"

"As well as I can be, considering the circumstances. And you?"

"I took a day to process all that we heard, but I still cannot quite believe it. What we saw is such a stark contrast to the reality here."

"That's why we must keep pushing forward." Goro held out a pair of gloves for Yusuke. "Put these on, please. We'll need them when we're investigating in the real world."

Morgana poked his head out of Goro's bag with a huff. "It was my idea. Give credit where it's due."

Yusuke looked down with wide eyes. "Oh. Hello, Morgana." He smiled up at Goro again. "Do you take him to school with you?"

"He insisted," Goro said. "What have you learned so far, Morgana?"

"Humans like to talk about things that aren't related to school at all, like makeup and celebrities and stuff." He huffed again. "How do you all remember what's important if you're focused on useless facts like that?"

"If you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly qualified to answer that question." Goro stepped through the doorway. "As much as I enjoy it, I'm afraid we must end the banter now. We have several items on the agenda." He gestured to the stairway. "Starting with the locked door, yes?"

Without waiting for an answer, he made his way upstairs. As Morgana said, its pattern was identical to that of the barricades they saw in the Metaverse. "So we can continue our investigation of the Palace if we unlock this door, correct?"

"Seems like it." Morgana climbed up the door with his front paws to get a closer look at the lock. "Yusuke, do you know where the key is?"

Yusuke stood a few feet from them, eyes wide. "I would assume that Sensei keeps it with him. However, I have never seen him enter this room."

"I think we could pick this lock pretty easily, too," Morgana added. "Stealing the key off Madarame himself seems too risky. Do you think maybe he keeps it in his room?"

"I really would not be comfortable with us entering Sensei's bedroom," Yusuke said. "It feels disrespectful."

"We're already breaking into whatever room this is." Morgana tapped one paw against the door to punctuate his sentence. "Plus, you heard what his Shadow said. Aren't you still mad?"

"Don't goad him on," Goro interjected. "Complicated as the situation may be, this is still Yusuke's home. He has every right to decide." He turned to Yusuke. "We don't have to enter the bedroom if you're not comfortable, but, if we pick the lock, Madarame will know for certain that we've been invading his privacy. There will likely be repercussions for you."

Yusuke's shoulders tensed. "It is not really much of a choice, then, is it." After a moment of hesitation, he turned and led them back down the stairs. They entered Madarame's sparse room and took in the sight: a splintering wood floor, a rolled-up mat leaned against the far wall, and a few sketchbooks stacked in one corner.

Goro knelt by the stack of books and picked one up, struggling to turn the pages with his gloved hands. Yusuke looked on over his shoulder. The book mostly contained lists of names and locations, and Yusuke recalled that these seemed to be the locations of past exhibits. They moved through the stack, finding nothing noteworthy until reaching one of the books near the bottom.

Goro weighed it in his hand. "This one feels unusually light." He opened it to find it had been hollowed out, with a key resting inside. He tsk'ed. "A child's trick. I refuse to believe that Madarame is truly this foolish."

Yusuke leaned closer, one hand to his chin. "It does seem uncharacteristic for him to leave such an important item unguarded. However, I am the only person ever here, and I would never even begin to consider coming into Sensei's private room under normal circumstances."

"Arrogance, then." Goro replaced the book beneath the stack, and they successfully tried the key on the door upstairs.

"This is super anticlimactic," Morgana whined. "I wanted to pick the lock!"

"There's still much more work to be done," Goro said. He peeked into the room, then turned to Yusuke. "How long should it be until Madarame returns?"

"Perhaps half an hour or more. His schedule can be somewhat erratic."

"Why don't we investigate a bit, then." Goro pulled out his cell phone, preparing to document anything incriminating in the room. Without waiting for Morgana or Yusuke's response, he entered. The first room was relatively plain, but another unlocked door revealed a room full of identical paintings.

Although Goro had surged ahead, he heard Yusuke gasp as he caught up. "What..." Yusuke pushed past Goro and knelt in front of the paintings. "What is all this?"

His companions remained silent as Yusuke quickly pieced the situation together. He must not have felt the need to share his conclusions yet; instead, he stood and paced the room, one hand covering his mouth. Goro took pictures of the room, making sure that Yusuke wasn't in any of them as he allowed the other two to process.

"This confirms what we experienced two days ago," Yusuke finally said. "I was still... having trouble believing it, but this is certainly something."

"Something incriminating," Goro added, scrolling through his pictures to make sure they were clear. "Even if we don't know what to do from the Metaverse angle, we can certainly use this evidence against Madarame. If we can prove that he's been committing forgery, he will surely receive some punishment for his crimes." He looked through the list of names in his notebook. "I also looked into the former pupils whose names we saw on those portraits. Not much information is available, as we suspected, but a few of them seem to have social media accounts that we could use to contact them."

At the responding silence, Goro looked up. Yusuke didn't seem to be listening, and Morgana looked at him with sympathy. "Maybe we'll save that stuff for a little later, Akechi," the cat said. "Right now, we should—"

"What is this?"

The three of them whirled around, and Goro's heart dropped at the sight of Madarame standing in the doorway. His shock quickly gave way to rage. How had this devious old man entered the house and climbed the stairs without any of them noticing? He should have assigned someone on lookout duty, but he got too excited, too foolish—

"Yusuke." The boy in question froze, hand still pressed over his mouth. His fingers trembled. "What is happening here?"

Goro's phone was still in his hand, and he navigated to the app, thumb at the ready to activate it. He hid it at his side as he spoke. "Yusuke wanted to show me something." Vague, but Madarame was shocked enough that Goro could think of more details in the meantime. He pressed his hand closer to his side to stop it from shaking.

Madarame focused his attention on Goro, and his eyes widened after a second. "What do you mean?"

Goro swept his free hand across the room. "He thought that he heard some noises coming from this area, and when we investigated, we found this cat." He flashed a practiced smile. "I've no idea how he got in here; there must be a hole somewhere."

Morgana slunk behind Goro and headbutted his ankle. "What are you doing? We have to get out of here!"

"It's amazing how many paintings you've done," Goro continued. "It must have taken a lot of practice to make the final Sayuri, if all of these are just the rough drafts."

Madarame's brow furrowed, and Goro held eye contact, trying to look as clueless as possible. Finally, Madarame laughed. "Yes, it certainly did. I still consider it my finest work, but I am always trying to improve." He turned to Yusuke. "I have to go make a call, but once I do, why don't we all go to the common area and chat there? That's certainly a more appropriate place to take your friend."

Yusuke flinched, looking guilty. "Of course, Sensei," he stuttered. "My sincerest apologies, I was just... very concerned about the noises, and—"

"So you went poking about for the key," Madarame finished. "I do hope that you understand this room is off-limits for a reason. It's quite embarrassing to have my old work lying around like this, but I can't seem to find it in me to throw it all out. Sentimental value, I suppose." He turned to the formerly locked door and placed his hand on the knob. "I'll come collect you all after I've finished my errand."

Goro held his breath as Madarame exited, but the old man didn't shut the door behind him. Goro slammed his thumb onto the Metaverse app icon and found himself falling. Morgana yowled beside him, but the cat landed on his feet while Goro and Yusuke smacked into the ground.

"That was a disaster," Morgana said. "We have to go right now before he gets back!"

Goro stood and looked to Yusuke, who was trying to use his shaky hands to push himself up. Goro offered a hand, and the three of them darted across the open area to another section of the museum. Once they were past the barrier, Yusuke leaned against a wall and let out a breath. "How will I come up with a reason—" he took a second to breathe in, "—as to why we aren't there when Sensei gets back?"

"Just say that we chased the cat out the back door." Goro stood closer to Yusuke and moved to lay a hand on his shoulder, then thought better of it. "We'll return soon; we just need to find a safe room so we can get back here another day. I do have to get home soon, anyway."

To Goro's surprise, Yusuke glared up at him. "And what home do I have to return to after this? With that stunt you just pulled, Sensei will never trust me again. I don't know if he'll even believe the lies you've told. Would he really think me so foolish that I would believe all those paintings were just practice?"

"He might," Morgana piped in.

Goro sighed. "Yusuke, you have to remember that he doesn't care about you, as painful as that may be. What we're doing is for the best. We have to investigate further to bring Madarame to justice."

Yusuke rubbed his eyes and took a moment to think. "I suppose I am too far involved to give up now. I don't think Sensei would throw me out immediately, in any case."

"Yeah, remember your resolve!" Morgana said. "Don't you want to get back at him for all that stuff he said the other day?"

The issue of where Yusuke would live after this was all over still hung over their heads, but they had to focus on the present for now. They found a safe room as quickly as possible and exited back to the front of the house. Goro picked up Morgana and carried him inside, where Madarame waited with several cups of tea. For all Goro knew, his was poisoned.

"My apologies, this cat ran out again and we had to chase him down," Goro said. "His owner may be looking for him, and we don't want him to get lost."

Morgana struggled as Goro spoke but eventually resigned to going along with the lie. He settled into Goro's arms and tucked his head under Goro's chin.

"I don't know if I can allow an animal in this house," Madarame said with a frown. "He might track dirt in or have diseases."

"Hey!" Morgana yowled. Goro placed a hand on his fur to calm him down.

"Oh, of course," Goro said. "Again, I'm so sorry about the trouble. I'll take care of it." He nodded his head at the table. "I'm sorry I can't stay longer. Perhaps I can stay and chat another time."

"Perhaps," Madarame echoed.

"I'll see you out," Yusuke said. Once they were outside, Yusuke leaned in close to Goro and Morgana to whisper, "May I call you tomorrow?"

"Yes, as soon as we both get home," Goro responded. "I really am sorry to leave like this. Please hang in there until we can talk again."

"I'm sure he will have questions, but I can take your lead and play the fool." Yusuke sighed, tickling Goro's cheek with his breath. He placed one hand on Goro's forearm and patted Morgana with the other. "Let us continue as soon as we can."

Goro swallowed. "Let's." He smiled at Yusuke as they pulled apart, then placed Morgana into the bag to hide his own face for a moment. "Good luck."

"You, as well." Yusuke's gaze lingered on each of them for a moment more before he turned and closed the door.

The other two seemed to let out a sigh at the same time, and Goro headed for the station, his stomach in knots. He could feel Morgana staring up at him.

"That was quick thinking back there," Morgana said, something curious in his tone.

"Thank you." Goro scanned the area to make sure no one else was around.

"You're a really good liar, huh?"

Goro held back a snort. "You hadn't figured that out before?"

"But Madarame finding us was a really high-stakes situation, and you handled it really well. I'm impressed."

Goro felt another flush threatening to show on his face. "Well. I'm glad we all seemed to get out of it alive. I was afraid he was going downstairs to call the police."

"I wonder who he did call," Morgana wondered. "Or maybe he was just lying."

"Maybe. Do you think there are other secrets in his room we haven't discovered?"

"He could've been checking under the floorboards or something. That's pretty much the only place you could hide something else in that little room."

"We may be able to investigate that later," Goro said, "but Yusuke will be the one to suffer for it if we noticeably disturb something. We need to be extra careful from now on."

"Yeah, I feel bad for the guy." Morgana looked over his shoulder, but Madarame's house was out of sight. "You both should go live on your own or something. You're both in pretty sorry states right now."

"If I could afford to do that, I already would have."

Morgana burrowed further into the bag with another sigh. "I guess you're right. You really have to go through three more years of this before you can get away from your foster family?"

"It seems that way, but maybe they won't keep me with them for that long. They must be as tired of me as I am of them."

"It's kind of scary, not really having a home."

Goro glanced down to the bag with some sympathy. As bad as the current situation was, Morgana and Goro would be having an even harder time if they hadn't run into each other. Morgana could probably figure things out on his own, though; he at least had freedom of movement. No one was paying attention to what he did or where he went.

"It is," Goro said eventually. "There's certainly something to be said for endurance in situations like this."

They continued back to the apartment in relative quiet, plotting a few of their next moves but largely unsure of how to proceed. With so many unknowns, as frustrating as it was, they would have to take it one day at a time.

May 17, 2014 (Saturday)

"Fox, Crow is down! Do we have any more items?"

"Only potions—nothing to resuscitate him."

Goro felt someone struggle to pick him up, but he couldn't seem to open his eyes or move his limbs.

"We have to get out of here right now!"

"I don't understand—how can he be this strong? You said that we were ready!"

"Just shut up and get out of here!"

Goro's head lolled from side to side as he was carried away. He could hear a distorted, taunting voice behind them, but he couldn't make out what it was saying. He was so tired.

The noises grew farther away, and everything blurred together until he was laid onto a flat surface. A door slammed behind him, and a gentle hand lifted his head. Something smooth and glassy was pressed to his mouth, and he swallowed the potion until he felt strong enough to open his eyes. Yusuke and Morgana's worried faces greeted him.

"Thank goodness," Yusuke exhaled. His hand shook as he laid Goro's head back down. "Can you sit up?"

Goro planted his hands behind himself and pushed until he was sitting. He looked around the safe room and shivered. "Thank you both. That could have been much worse."

"We should rest here a bit longer and discuss what to do." Yusuke handed Goro another potion to drink at his leisure. "That certainly did not go as planned."

"We've been training for weeks!" Morgana said. "I can't believe that guy."

They had been slowly getting stronger through training in both Madarame's Palace and Mementos, although they had reached a block in the latter place. Despite their erratic schedules, they had made it to the innermost part of the Palace. Morgana had recognized something in the center room as a Treasure, but he hadn't known how to make it less ephemeral. They had been attempting to sneak around and jog Morgana's memory, but they were ambushed by Madarame and his guards. After easily defeating all the Shadows, Madarame himself turned into a monster that none of them seemed prepared to fight.

"We cannot get much stronger from just fighting the Shadows here," Yusuke said. "They are already much too easy to defeat. How are we to defeat Madarame like this?"

"We could try sneaking past again," Goro suggested. He closed his eyes at a sudden bought of dizziness and drank more of the potion.

"I don't think that'll work," Morgana said. "Security's going to be super tight after that disaster. I would say to wait and see if security changes, but we're going after what's most important to Madarame. His subconscious isn't going to forget that."

Yusuke rubbed his eyes and slumped onto a chair. "What do you propose we do, then?"

"My investigation has gone quite far in the past few weeks," Goro said. "Even if we cannot defeat him directly, I believe I may have enough evidence to start building a case."

"I really have a feeling that we're supposed to take that Treasure, though," Morgana said. "I just need more time to figure it out. Maybe we should poke around Mementos some more and see if I remember anything."

"Do you think Mementos has a Treasure?" Goro asked.

"I do, but it's probably somewhere behind that barrier." Morgana sighed and sat on the edge of the table. "I don't have any other ideas, though."

"Driving around somewhere we have already been seems like an exercise in futility," Yusuke said. "Is there perhaps another Palace we could train in? Another psyche's Shadows may differ from this Palace's." They went silent to think for a moment, then Yusuke added, "We could also recruit a fourth member. Strategically, Madarame's attack style would be more spread out over four targets, and we could take out each portrait more quickly."

Goro tapped the bottle with his gauntlet, filling the space with clinking noises. "If we bring someone else on, there's no way to know if we can trust them. We would also have to debrief them on everything we've learned so far, which includes some very personal information of yours, Fox. Are we really willing to take such a risk?"

"If a stranger knowing about my past helps us make Madarame pay, I'm not terribly concerned about it."

Goro reflected on the reveal that Madarame had given just before their battle. He had watched Yusuke's mother die in front of him and done nothing to save her, all for his personal gain. The fact that Yusuke was holding it together at all after such a reveal was truly impressive.

"I'd like to get another person on board," Morgana piped in. "No offense, but you two are kinda gloomy to be around all the time. Maybe another face would lighten things up."

Goro and Yusuke glared at Morgana. "We cannot control the circumstances of our lives," Yusuke snapped. "We are trying to fix them, but we've run into issue after issue, in case you haven't noticed." He sucked in a breath through his teeth and rested a hand over his eyes. "I do not know how I will even be able to bear living with Madarame after this."

Morgana's ears fell back against his head. "Sorry," he meowed. "I was just trying to joke around. You must be going through a lot right now."

"You've no idea."

They fell into another tense silence. Yusuke's haggard breaths were now the only noise filling the safe room, and their irregularity concerned Goro.

"I'm really sorry, Fox," Morgana said. "I was the one who kept pushing us. I just... I feel like we're so close, but I pushed us too far, and we still don't have a place for you to live after we take Madarame down. This wasn't well thought-out on my part."

"No," Goro said, "I pushed you, too, Fox. I've made your living situation even more unbearable than it was before, and now we can't even—"

"Both of you, please."

They shut up.

"I do not care what happens to me anymore," Yusuke said. "I'll go back to the orphanage. I'll live on the street if I have to, as it seems that's where I would have ended up if I stayed with Madarame, in any case. Anything would be better than living with that man." He lifted his mask to wipe his eyes. "All I care about is taking down Madarame, and I will do whatever it takes to accomplish that. If it means recruiting someone we've never met, fine. If it means going into another Palace, fine. Let us make a quick decision and end this."

Goro and Morgana looked at each other as Yusuke rested his head in his arms.

"We still care about what happens to you," Goro said. "We can find both a way to bring Madarame to justice and a place for you to live."

"How would we start looking for another team member?" Morgana asked. "I think that's our best bet, but this city is huge. It'll be really hard to find someone who's cut out for this."

"Maybe you can scout while we're at school," Goro suggested. "Someone our age would be preferable, so that narrows things down considerably. I can also keep an eye out."

Yusuke lifted his head from the table. "I cannot think of any of my classmates who would fit the bill. A high school student may be more well-suited."

"I'll look around, then," Goro said. "You should just focus on enduring your situation for now. Again, I'm very sorry about this whole mess."

Yusuke flipped his mask back into place. "Neither of you are at fault. I do appreciate everything you've done, but we will need to be getting back soon. We can discuss this further tomorrow."

"We can start searching today and let you know what we find." Goro stood from the table, and they navigated out of the Metaverse from there. Parting from Yusuke was painful, as Goro felt more helpless than ever.

"I wanted so badly to improve your lot in life that I essentially forced you into a situation you may not have been comfortable with," Goro explained in front of Madarame's house. The shack was empty, so they had some time to say their goodbyes for the evening. "The truths that we have uncovered are extremely painful, and I feel terribly that you must bear them now."

"I don't know what to say at the moment," Yusuke said. "All of this has been unbelievably frustrating, but I would have wasted away if you and Morgana hadn't intervened. I will leave the scouting to you for now and join in when I feel able."

"Of course," Goro said. "Take your time, and please feel free to call me tomorrow. My foster parents will be out for the afternoon, so I can be there for you if you need me."

"Thank you." Yusuke squeezed Goro's shoulder, looked down at Morgana, then disappeared inside.

Goro checked the time. He had a few hours until his foster parents would be home, and he spoke with Morgana as they walked toward the station.

"We should scout now and restock on supplies," he said. "We have to make this up to Yusuke as quickly as we can."

"Akechi, you were passed out back there," Morgana said. "You shouldn't push yourself too hard."

"I can walk."

Morgana's ears tilted back, and he curled into the bag. "Fine, but don't blame me if you pass out again. There's much less I can do for you here than in the Metaverse."

They made their way to the usual shopping district, not bothering to make further conversation. The team had saved up quite a bit of money through their training, and Goro might even have enough soon to rent a place of his own. The possibility that he and Yusuke could live together used to excite him, but now the thought just redoubled his guilt. He was glad that he hadn't proposed the idea to Yusuke yet; he wanted to be sure they'd saved enough first, and they needed to spend the money on supplies for now.

He didn't know if Yusuke would even want to live with him after all this.

After buying the essentials, Goro leaned against a shop window, his bag considerably heavier. He scanned the area, not really sure who he was looking for but hoping that something would come to him, as it did on the day he reunited with Yusuke. In the Metaverse, he had been using the power of perception that Igor gave him, but it didn't seem to work on people in the regular world.

For the second time since the start of April, the world faded to greyscale without Goro concentrating. He blinked hard and looked around for anything that stuck out. The pedestrians passing by all looked like silver fish moving in two neat currents, and Goro leaned against a wall as another wave of dizziness took over. He squinted until he made out a splash of red and black amongst the current, then gathered himself to approach the person. As he tapped their shoulder, the world's color snapped back into place.

The student turned with a jolt, and her wide red eyes bore into him.