Persona 5: The Phantom Files

by sithlorde1988

Will cover the events of both Persona 5 Royal AND Persona 5 Scramble/Strikers. What happens when in addition to Ren being sentenced to go live in the care of Sojiro Sakura for a year after being sued for assault, his younger brother is also ordered to go and oversee him? How will this extra character change things? Read to find out! More info in chapter 1! Read and review! Enjoy!

39. Enter Alibaba! Traumatized Oracle part 3

A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 5- The Phantom Files! Wow, hard to believe I'm almost 40 chapters into this story! And I'm not even at the halfway point of Royal yet! So this is gonna be a VERY long story by the time I finish Royal and Strikers! So that should be interesting, to say the least. That said, let's get on the disclaimer while I'm thinking of it.

Disclaimer: sithlorde1988 does not own the Persona series in any way shape or form (barring the OC Kusa/Draconis who he made and thus DOES own, and any other OCs that may or may not appear during the story, which are also his unless otherwise stated/noted), and the credit for owning the Persona series belongs to Sega, Atlus and to a point Koei Tecmo so all credit to them!

That being said, on with chapter 39!

Chapter 39- Start of Summer Vacation! Sakura Family History? Traumatized Oracle part 3

(At Leblanc, with Ren and Morgana)

"So, what's the plan Ren? Given how things went down today, I don't see us being able to leave Leblanc tonight. So we'll have to make do with doing something in the cafe." Morgana said, making Ren nod before he spoke up.

"I concur. I think, given the circumstances, we could either watch the rest of 'ICU', since I got the sense that Kusa wasn't that into what he did watch of it so it won't be a loss to finish it without him, and we can let him finish it on his own when he gets back before we swap it out, I could read a book to boost one of my stats, or I could either brew coffee or clean up Leblanc. Personally, I'm feeling the 'ICU' option, but I'm open to your input since you live here too, Morgana." Ren said considerately as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Personally, I like the movie night option myself, and I've been wanting to finish that movie anyways, so let's do that. As you said, we can let Kusa finish the rest on his own time, if he doesn't finish it while he's over at the Sakura house." Morgana said to Ren who nodded, headed downstairs to make popcorn, then carried the bowl carefully up to the room where he pulled out a TV tray and set it on the tray where he and Morgana could both reach if the not-cat wanted any before popping 'ICU' in to finish watching it. Morgana got comfy on the chair usually meant for Kusa as the two watched the rest of ICU. After a bit, Morgana spoke up in an awed/impressed tone.

"Wow, that's incredible! This guy just doesn't have the word 'surrender' in his dictionary, does he?" Morgana said as Ren nodded. The two then finished watching the movie quietly. After the movie was over, during the credits, Morgana spoke up once more.

"Oh! So we finished watching 'ICU', huh...Maybe you learned a thing or two about Kindness by watching this drama." Morgana said to Ren who nodded, as he felt his Kindness increase, the increase being boosted by the effects of 'The Charm of Cinema', making it go up more than it normally would have. Morgana then kept speaking.

"Okay, let's go return the DVD soon, probably once Kusa's finished with it. That said, it's starting to get late. I know it's summer vacation, but no sense getting off-schedule, am I right? So let's get to bed soon, okay?" Morgana said to Ren, who nodded before getting comfortable for the evening, idly wondering as he did so how things were going for Kusa...

(Around that same time, over at the Sakura household with Kusa and Futaba)

"This is nice, don't you think? The two of us snuggled up like this, watching TV?" Futaba said shyly as Kusa nodded and spoke up, smiling at Futaba while he spoke.

"I agree, but at the same time, I also have to point out you shouldn't push yourself too much before you're ready. We can take this at whatever pace you're comfortable with, you know. If all you're comfortable doing for the foreseeable future is just cuddling together like this and maybe some hand holding, then that's what we'll do. After all, the most important thing to me is that you're comfortable around me, and that you feel you can lean on/depend on me if needed, Taba." Kusa said as Futaba smiled and spoke up.

"Silly Kusa. I already feel that way about you. But you do raise a good point that I shouldn't move too far too fast. Yeah, we'll take things slow I think." Futaba said as Kusa nodded, smiling at Futaba before he spoke up once more.

"Good decision. I think I'm more surprised that Sojiro didn't have a bigger issue with us than I am that he was okay with us, since I get the feeling he just wants you to be happy and feel like you can be safe here, which I agree with him on. I may not know all the specifics on what you've been through up until now, but I do know this much, Taba. You're a bright, intelligent, savvy young lady with an equally bright future ahead of you, once you break yourself of these shut-in tendencies of yours at least.

I know they're something of a safety blanket for you, but in the long run I feel they may do you more harm than good. Especially since it might get to the point you end up passing up an amazing opportunity just to cling to your safety blanket. To that end, I'm willing to go along with it if you truly feel a change of heart is the only way to help you get over your shut-in ways.

But we're doing it carefully, since I refuse to risk anything happening to you just to help you be more comfortable being outgoing. I'd rather you remain as you are and safe than have you change if it means something bad could happen to you if the change goes awry, so we have to take all due precautions to ensure you remain safe and healthy above all else, Taba. And that's non-negotiable.

Because to be truthful? I know we've not known each other that long, but you've already become rather precious to me. And I dunno that I could handle the thought of losing you if something went wrong trying to change your heart, Taba." Kusa said honestly, making Futaba gape slightly before she turned to smile at him, giving him a grateful look for his honesty as she spoke up.

"You know something, Kusa? That's more than fair. And I appreciate you being honest with me." Futaba said as she leaned into Kusa, who smiled as he wrapped an arm around her as he spoke up.

"Of course I'm going to be honest with you, Taba. I have no reason, either now or ever, to lie to you." Kusa said simply as he gently held Futaba close to him as the two got comfortable and eventually dozed off again on that note...

(Back with Ren and Morgana, the next day on the train)

"Everyone's been talking about 'Medjed'. What the hell is it?" Ren and Morgana heard a laid-back woman say to the serious man next to her as the man spoke up.

"You don't watch the news much, do you? They're an international network of hacktivists. They target corporations doing shady business and cause chaos. The subway company's server thing? That was Medjed, trying to find out who caused the train accident." The serious man said as the laid-back woman spoke up.

"So, they're good guys?" The laid-back woman said. The serious man shook his head as he spoke up.

"Ugh, no way! Some liken them to digital Robin Hoods. But they snoop through emails and destroy data. They're no better than criminals." The serious man said as Ren and Morgana filed the information away as they finished the train ride in silence...

(That afternoon, around lunchtime at Shujin with Ren, Morgana and Kusa)

"Oh, our grades are out." Ren heard a female student say as he got to Shujin. Her friend, who was also female, spoke up.

"Oh, how'd you do?" The second female asked the first who shrugged as a nearby male spoke up on seeing his grades.

"Damn, I'm dead." The male said as one of the two females from before spoke up.

"I wish I could get in the top ten." The female said as her friend spoke up.

"People view smart students differently." The second female said as Ren and Morgana exchanged looks before a familiar voice spoke up from next to Ren.

"Mm-hmm, sure people view smart people differently. And Morgana can turn into a freaking jeep. Oh wait, my bad. I forgot that he literally cannot do that. He turns into a tour bus." Kusa dead-panned as he approached Ren, who nodded to Kusa in greeting as he spoke up.

"Ah, Kusa. Hello there. You here to get your grades?" Ren asked Kusa, who nodded.

"Yeah, that's correct. However, I can't stay for too too long, since I left Taba alone at the house to do this, and Sakura-kun would probably throttle me if he knew I left her alone for too long." Kusa said as Ren nodded and spoke up with an amused smirk on his face.

"Fair enough. How d'you reckon we did, Kusa?" Ren asked Kusa who shrugged as the two got to the board to check their grades. Ren blinked but smiled.

"Nice, I'm in the top 10 for second year!" Ren said with satisfaction, pumping his fist as he spoke up. Kusa nodded before he saw his mark and his jaw dropped, making Ren turn to face Kusa in surprise before he spoke up.

"Kusa? You okay?" Ren said as Kusa shook his head and spoke up, his tone making his disbelief of his score evident even while he spoke.

"No way, is this for real!? I got 2nd place among the first years on my marks!? And the only one to score higher was Kasumi!? I feel like there's a mis-print in there somewhere, but I'll take it." Kusa said as Ren's jaw dropped and he looked for himself. Sure enough, as Kusa said, the top score for the first years belonged to 'Kasumi Yoshizawa', and 2nd belonged to 'Kusa Amamiya', by the slimmest of margins at that. Ren turned to Kusa and nodded approvingly before he spoke up.

"Not bad, Kusa. I think it's safe to say I won my bet with Ryuji on who would have the higher marks." Ren said with a smirk pointing to the middle of the grades list, where Ryuji had finished just about dead middle of the class, which was better than usual for him, but even so, was still nowhere near enough to be better than Ren. Kusa blinked as he saw Ann's score just outside of the top ten and spoke up.

"That's true, Ren. However, it would seem that you didn't beat Ann by quite as big of a margin. I believe that's her whose score is around 12th to 13th ranked for your year?" Kusa said, pointing to where Ann's name was on the list and Ren nodded.

"True. And unsurprisingly, Makoto was in the top 5 for her year. As such, it would seem that we all did well enough." Ren said happily. Morgana smiled as he spoke up at that point, giving Ren and Kusa an impressed glance while he spoke.

"Whoa! Everyone's gonna have their eyes on the both of you now! Nice job you two!" Morgana said as Ren smirked and nodded, as he got a boost of Charm from his score that was sufficient enough to raise his Charm from Rank 3, which was 'Suave', to Rank 4, which was 'Charismatic'. Kusa smirked as he looked at Ren.

"Heh, looks like someone ranked up. Nice one, Ren. Maybe now you can be even smoother with Kasumi. As if you don't already have her interested in you as it is." Kusa joked as Ren shrugged and spoke up.

"What can I say? Apparently Kasumi likes herself a bad boy with glasses?" Ren joked as both Morgana and Kusa booed, the latter speaking up after picking himself up off the ground where he'd facefaulted after Ren's poorly-executed joke.

"That was terrible, Ren. But I won't argue that you have her where you want her. Now all that's left is to decide when to make your big move on her, I'd say." Kusa said sagely. Ren nodded and spoke up, smirking at Kusa as he spoke.

"Fair enough. You should get back to Taba now, Kusa. I have to go meet Ryuji in the hallway, since I said I'd meet up with him and Mishima." Ren said as Kusa nodded, heading back to the house at that point...

(A short time later in the 2F hallway with Ren, Morgana, Ryuji, and Mishima)

"We were busy. It's not like I could focus on studying. Hey, it's not MY fault my scores suck, right?" Ryuji said as Mishima and Ren exchanged a wince before the latter spoke up.

"I'd say you're right, Ryuji, but it IS kind of your job to ensure you study. With that being said, while I will say that myself and the others have a small share of the blame to own here, the majority of it is on you for not studying. After all, I studied where I could, and it paid off with me making the top 10 of our year, scorewise." Ren said happily as both Mishima and Ryuji's jaws dropped at this, both speaking up in surprised unison.

"WHA-? FOR REAL!?" Mishima and Ryuji both said in surprise, then blinked at each other before laughing at their synchronicity. Ryuji then winced as he spoke up.

"You don't gotta throw the truth right in my face like that. Anyways, there's somethin' more important here! Mishima-" Ryuji said as Mishima spoke up, having an idea what Ryuji wanted while he spoke.

"You want to ask me something about the internet, right?" Mishima asked and Ryuji nodded, looking at Mishima before he spoke up.

"Yup. I'm gonna be straight with you here-do you know who Medjed is?" Ryuji asked Mishima who winced as he spoke up.

"Tch, you weren't kidding about being direct. Well, I suppose the news about Medjed and the Phantom Thieves HAS caused quite the commotion. They started out as hackers of justice, but now they only look out for their own self-interests." Mishima said as Ren nodded understandingly and spoke up.

"Ah, so more of the old adage, 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely' then?" Ren asked as Mishima nodded and kept speaking.

"Yeah, pretty much. Either way, that's all I know. They were the group I texted Ren here about yesterday." Mishima said as Ryuji frowned and spoke up.

"I see." Ryuji said as Mishima nodded before he kept speaking.

"Nobody's sure who belongs to Medjed. Well, it looks like things'll be exciting this summer. It'll be the Phantom Thieves' worldwide debut, no?" Mishima said as Ryuji and Ren winced before the latter frowned and spoke up.

"Dude. You get WAY too excited about this." Ryuji said as Ren nodded his agreement before Mishima shrugged it off and spoke up with a smile on his face while he spoke.

"Don't worry, I'll be rooting for the Phantom Thieves. I'll get the forum mobilized as well. Now, if we're done talking here? I really must be going. I'll see you guys later." Mishima said as he walked off, after which Morgana popped out of Ren's bag to speak up.

"So, that was fruitless." Morgana said as Ryuji frowned while speaking up.

"I wonder if anyone else got any info." Ryuji said as he pulled out his phone and started a group chat with himself, Ren, Ann, Kusa, Yusuke and Makoto, where he sent the first response.

"Mishima was pretty useless. You guys get anything?" Ryuji sent as Makoto sent a response at that point.

"I tried asking my sister, but it seemed as though she didn't know very much about them. She doesn't specialize in cyber crime, after all." Makoto sent as Kusa sent a response.

"That's fair, Makoto. Hardly anyone 'specializes' in cyber crime these days. However, I will say that Taba was surprisingly well-versed in the ways of Medjed. Apparently, she knew of the original Medjed, before a bunch of copycats stole the handle and used it for their own evil/nefarious ends. But Taba claims that she can stop them easily, if she saw fit to do so. And I have no reason not to believe her, since I've seen into her room. And between us? Futaba has a seriously tricked-out computer setup that could easily support a hacker's lifestyle, if she was so inclined to be into hacking." Kusa sent as the others blinked while Ann sent a response.

"Somehow, Kusa, I'm not surprised at that. That said, I tried looking into them too, but didn't come up with anything. There are really just no leads." Ann sent as Yusuke sent a response, followed closely by Kusa.

"Hm, our opponent is truly elusive." Yusuke sent as Kusa sent a response.

"I agree. That said, I'm still staying with Taba and Sakura-kun for another few days, so I won't be able to help much during that time. However, I'll keep an ear and/or eye to the ground to see what I can find out through my phone, and if I think of it, I'll have Taba see what she can dig up on her computer, if she feels up to it." Kusa sent as Ren and Ryuji put their phones away and the latter spoke up with a frown.

"Ugh, no luck." Ryuji said as Morgana frowned and spoke up with a wince.

"Medjed, hm? It seems like we won't be able to deal with them by ourselves...Maybe if what Kusa says is true, we can lean on his friend Taba for help, but I don't know that we should rely on that too much, since Kusa did say she wasn't always in the most stable of mind spaces." Morgana said as Ren and Ryuji nodded...

(That afternoon, in class with Ren, Morgana and Ann)

"Okay, I know summer vacation is due to begin next week, but I have an unfortunate announcement. We'll be holding an emergency assembly on Monday the 25th. Please come to school that day." Kawakami said as a massive and loud outpouring of mixed groans, protests, and grumbles broke out. Kawakami frowned and kept speaking.

"Settle down! We have many strange incidents-the psychotic breakdowns, students being dragged into crime rings. Hence, Principal Kobayakawa has instructed all teachers to caution the student body. Look, this inconvenient for us too, you know? Having to find things to warn you about so suddenly." Kawakami said as Ren's phone went off to signify another group chat with Ryuji, Ann, Kusa, Yusuke, and Makoto, with Ryuji once more sending the first response.

"How're we gonna find Medjed?" Ryuji sent as Ann sent a response.

"I'm not sure. No matter how hard I look online, all I find are just unreliable rumors." Ann sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"They have carried out corporate terrorism, yet they still manage to elude arrest somehow. Kaneshiro was a lot of trouble, but this is turning out to be a much greater ordeal." Yusuke sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Did we bite off more than we can chew?" Ryuji sent as Kusa chose that moment to send a response.

"To be honest, I have no clue. All I know is that I'm going to be glad when it's summer vacation, so I don't have to keep coming in to school, considering we've already finished finals, so I'm not sure why they have us coming in this last week before summer vacation. If not for the fact it was mandatory, I'd have said 'eff this' and went back to the Sakura house to hang with Taba more, since that's likely to be much more fun than listening to this boring prattle about an emergency assembly.

Even Yoshizawa-san agrees with me, and she's usually pretty gung-ho about these assemblies! So that should tell you how annoying this assembly is. She said to tell Ren hi, by the way. So yeah, passing that along while I'm thinking of it." Kusa sent dryly as Ren sent a response.

"I'll send her a message after class to tell her hi back, Kusa. That said, I'm not sure, to be honest Ryuji." Ren sent. Makoto sent a response at that point.

"Right. There's no knowing who we're actually up against if we can't see the full picture. We don't even know whether it's a single individual or a large conglomerate of people." Makoto sent as Kusa sent a response at that point.

"Actually, funny you should say that, Makoto. I forgot to mention this earlier, but Taba also mentioned that Medjed is a group made up of many members, so it's definitely not a single individual. How many people are in it, however, remains to be seen. Maybe if I think of it, I'll shoot her a chat on the sly and see if she can dig up any specifics on Medjed, like group size or maybe names. But I make no promises on results, since it depends on what mood she's in and if she's in the right mind space for it." Kusa sent as Makoto sent another response.

"Fair enough, Kusa. That said, and even if we do manage to get a lead, what do we do from there?" Makoto sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Damn, this stuff's really not going so good. That's prolly why my exams're going to shit too." Ryuji sent as both Ren and Kusa sent the same response to that.

"BULLSHIT!" Kusa and Ren sent as the former sent another response.

"Your scores probably suck a big one because you spent more time gaming than studying, Ryuji. Which is probably why you finished nearly dead center in your years' rankings, yet both Ann AND Ren finished in the top 15, top 10 in Ren's case. Meanwhile, I finished 2nd in my year behind, ready for this?, Yoshizawa-san. I didn't think she was that studious, but that just shows you can't judge a book by its' cover, no matter how pretty Ren might find that cover." Kusa sent as Ren sent a response.

"Oh shut it, Kusa. And you can't talk to me about finding Kasumi cute either. After all, unlike you, I'm taking my time getting close to Kasumi. Whereas YOU, by all accounts, and according to Sakura-kun, are already cuddling up with Taba on the hide-a-bed. With that being the case, you can't give me grief about that unless you can handle getting it in return." Ren sent as Ann sent a response.

"First of all, for real!? Go Kusa! Secondly, you know those are two completely separate things, right Ryuji?" Ann sent as Ren put his phone away, not wanting to be part of the likely lengthy debate between Ann, Ryuji and Kusa on the subject of exams as the rest of class went uneventfully...

(Meanwhile, back at the Sakura household, with Futaba inside her bedroom)

"Hm? 'Damn, this stuff's really not going so good...' Mwehehehe. Ah, and there's Kusa keeping his word by subtly advertising my skills for me, as I asked. I'll deal with Ren teasing Kusa about our cuddling later, but for now, things are going as planned. Clues on Medjed, huh? Might be time for a certain anonymous person to chime in." Futaba mused to herself...

(Back at Shujin, in the classroom after school with Morgana and Ren)

"If we can't identify who it is, there's nothing we can do. Let's wait till they make a move..." Morgana said to Ren, who nodded as he checked his chats. After he looked and saw he had chats from Makoto, Ann and Ryuji, he opted to go check his Personas at the Velvet Room, managing to make a Setanta with Rakukaja while doing so, so he spoke to the twins, who blinked as they looked at him, and Justine spoke up.

"Ah, it would seem that you have brought us a Setanta with 'Rakukaja'. I see." Justine said as Caroline smiled and spoke up.

"See? You can do it! Heh...not bad. That's another one done." Caroline said as Ren nodded, having a seat on the floor of his cell while Caroline kept speaking.

"Heh, you know, I never thought you'd keep at this even though it's not mandatory. Heh, you're pretty interesting, Inmate!" Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"Huh, I must say...as Caroline noted before, this list is quite well thought-out. The tasks are designed to push you toward achieving yoru goals while also measuring your true strength." Justine said as Caroline blinked before speaking up.

"Hm? I guess so. Hey, Inmate! What're your thoughts on these tasks!?" Caroline asked Ren, who pondered the question carefully before he spoke up to answer it.

"The tasks can be pretty tough at times, but for the most part they're just about perfect as they are. After all, what's a rehabilitation without a bit of challenge?" Ren said in what he hoped was a polite but humble tone. Caroline frowned at the response, both pleased by it and annoyed at Ren for trying to butter her and Justine up, or that's how she saw it, as she spoke.

"Oh? You've got guts, Inmate. Oh well. We should give him the next one. Let's see here...Huh!? Wh-What the..It feels like I've seen the writing on this list before." Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"Do you speak of the penmanship?" Justine asked Caroline, who frowned as she nodded.

"Yeah. Dammit...I can't remember! Do you recognize it, Justine?" Caroline asked Justine who looked over the list and blinked as she read the next item on the list.

"Hm? 'Compliment him after he finishes the next task. Don't spoil him though. Do it just like you practiced, with a piercing glare and angled hips...'?" Justine read as Caroline blanched before frowning at Justine and speaking up.

"W-Wait, not that! Those are my notes! I, uh, no...I mean..." Caroline said as Justine smirked while she spoke up in an amused tone.

"It seems you have been rather looking forward to the Inmate's visits." Justine said as Caroline frowned and spoke up.

"Never mind that! I-I'm talking about the handwriting of the tasks themselves! Stop yanking my chain!" Caroline snapped as Justine looked at the list and spoke up.

"Hm...Now that you mention it, I do feel as though I've seen this handwriting somewhere before." Justine said as Ren frowned, recalling he was promised a reward after he finished this task, but deciding to just let the wardens speak, since he had a feeling he'd just get yelled at if he spoke up. Justine then kept speaking.

"To be honest, the sense of deja vu I feel when reading this is certainly concerning to me. Who made this list, and why?" Justine asked as Caroline spoke up.

"Whaddya mean? The goal's pretty obvious. It's to help train the inmate." Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"Beyond that though, what exactly is the purpose of training him?" Justine asked as Caroline shrugged and spoke up.

"Rehabilitation?" Caroline suggested as Justine spoke up.

"But that is merely our master's order. Someone other than him wrote this list, correct?" Justine asked Caroline who frowned but said nothing and shook her head as she spoke up.

"Then let's just assume there's some purpose we don't know about. If we're right in our assumption, the purpose'll be clear once he finishes the whole list, right?" Caroline said as Justine nodded while speaking up.

"That is correct. I suppose you have a point. Hearing something logical from you is like a cool rush of air amidst the sweltering heat of summer." Justine said as Caroline frowned and spoke up.

"Hmph! You didn't need to say that!" Caroline huffed as Justine turned to Ren as she spoke up.

"Now then, let us reward you for successfully completing our task. We will now grant you access to the Special Treatment." Justine said as Caroline frowned and spoke up.

"We hereby permit you to create Personas you normally wouldn't be able to handle! But the catch is, you'll still have to pay the price for it! Make sure you use this to the fullest so your rehabilitation comes to fruition. Do not disappoint us." Justine said to Ren, who nodded as he felt his bond with Caroline and Justine deepen more, as the 'Strength' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'IV' becoming a 'V' to signify that his Strength Confidant link with Caroline and Justine had reached rank 5.

As a result of the rank up, Caroline and Justine granted Ren the boon of 'Special Treatment', which allows Ren to pay yen to be able to create Personas that are higher leveled than him, with the cost increasing accordingly based on the difference between Ren's level and the level of the target Persona, along with how many Personas have to be pulled from the Persona Registry/Compendium for the summon in question. Afterwards, Justine spoke up. *2*

"Now then, allow me to give you your next assignment. Please note that the next privilege we provide for you will be quite powerful indeed. Therefore, we will require that you complete three more tasks before you can receive it. " Justine said as Caroline chuckled while speaking up.

"All right, here's task number one!" Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"Now, your next assignment is to fuse a Neko Shogun with the skill 'Dekaja'. You'll only need to speak with us once you obtain it. We will be able to tell if you got it or not." Justine said as Caroline huffed and spoke up.

"Hmph! See if you can live up to our expectations!" Caroline said as Ren nodded. After he got up, he did a bit more shuffling and then left the Velvet Room, at which point he headed to the clinic in Yongen-Jaya, recalling that Takemi was available to rank up and he'd not hung out with her in a bit. Ren then walked up to the counter, at which point Takemi spoke up, smiling slightly at Ren while she spoke.

"How's it going? It's been getting hotter, huh? How's your health? Don't forget to stay hydrated. I don't want you collapsing when you take my medicine. So, what are you here for today?" Takemi asked Ren, who spoke up.

"It's been a bit since I did one, so I figured I'd check and see if you had any more clinical trials ready for me to help with?" Ren said. Takemi blinked at the question but spoke up.

"I've been really busy lately with all my new patients, but...What the heck? Oh, everything's set up already." Takemi said as Morgana spoke up so only Ren could hear.

"So, what are you going to do? Want to hang out with Takemi?" Morgana asked Ren, who nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, I want to hang out with Takemi. Not only have I not hung out with her in some time, but I can hang out with her, rank her up, AND increase my Guts a bit from the clinical trials all at once, so it seems like a good idea to me." Ren said to Morgana before nodding to Takemi to signify he wanted to help out. Takemi nodded then spoke up.

"Oh, that old lady from earlier forgot something. I wonder if she's still outside?" Takemi asked as she went outside to catch up to the elderly lady, who smiled as Takemi returned her handkerchief to her and spoke up.

"Thank you, dear. This is my favorite handkerchief." The elderly lady said as Takemi spoke up.

"Uh-huh. It was right in front of me, so..." Takemi said before trailing off as the elderly lady chuckled and spoke up.

"Oh my! You're a shy one, aren't you?" The elderly lady said to Takemi, who blanched in embarrassment before speaking up.

"I-I'm not shy." Takemi said as the elderly lady smiled and kept speaking.

"My neighbor speaks highly of you. Se says your medicines are better than those at the big hospitals. It's very reassuring to have such a distinguished doctor right here in town. I'll see you again soon." The elderly lady said before she left, leaving Takemi to turn to Ren while she spoke up with a sigh.

"Ugh, what the heck?" Takemi said to Ren who blinked before speaking up.

"Huh, you seem in a rather annoyed mood today, Doctor. Did something happen? You can tell me to back off if it's none of my business, of course. I'm just curious." Ren said. Takemi frowned at Ren before she spoke up to answer his question with a slight pout.

"It's all your fault." Takemi said, making Ren give her a confused look so she kept speaking.

"Ugh, there's a lot of talk going around town about me, started by that girl and her dad. Apparently, they've been telling everyone that I can make all these amazing medicines and remedies. So now the number of patients I'm seeing has increased dramatically. I don't know what some of these people are thinking though. I've had a lot of crazy requests. Like, yesterday a patient requested a 'sweet-smelling' compress. And the other day, I had a request for a 'cold-buster'. Ha! A drug like that deserves a Nobel Prize. Other requests have included hair and skin tonics. I even had to do a consultation about a cat." Takemi said before chuckling as she kept speaking.

"Sheesh. It's not like I'm some kind of genius doctor." Takemi said to Ren, who shrugged and spoke up.

"If you say you're not a genius, far be it from me to argue with you. That said, you having fun?" Ren asked. Takemi frowned as she spoke up.

"Stop that! No, I'm not having fun. This is all interfering in my development. I'm only interested in completing my new drug. That's my role as the Plague. I'm not suited for all this other stuff." Takemi said as Ren spoke up, nodding as he spoke.

"That's fair, Doctor. But if you ask me, I think it suits you." Ren said honestly. Takemi blinked at Ren in surprise before speaking up.

"Wh-What? Really? Well, you're entitled to your opinion. But a 'town doctor', huh? That sort of lifestyle profession might've been possible for me at one time, but now..." Takemi said before trailing off and changing the subject as she kept speaking up.

"Oh yeah, about those clinical trials...With so many new patients, it's taking longer to analyze the data, so I'll need to catch up. This is a bit on the stronger side, but I'm sure you'll be okay." Takemi said to Ren, who shrugged as he felt his bond with Takemi deepen still more. At that point, the 'Death' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'V' becoming a 'VI' to signify that his Death Confidant link with Takemi had reached Rank 6, though no new skills came with the rank up. Afterwards, Takemi spoke up once more.

"Oh, it looks like that girl is going to make a full recovery. The treatment seems to be a good match for her. So at least I can breathe a little easier, for now. Hopefully, she'll be able to attend school soon." Takemi said before blinking at the look on Ren's face, which was a mix between proud, pleased and amused, making Takemi frown as she spoke up once more.

"What? What are you so happy about? Are you excited for your next clinical trial?" Takemi asked Ren who winced and spoke up.

"Nah, just proud that you seem to be taking pride in doing a good dead for a person in need. It shows that you're not just the Plague, despite what you might think. But I am ready to do a clinical trial, yes. That was our deal after all." Ren said as Takemi chuckled and spoke up.

"If you say so, Amamiya-kun. Well then, let's have some fun." Takemi said as Ren followed Takemi inside to do the clinical trial, which boosted his Guts afterwards. Afterwards, Ren got up and went back to Leblanc, Takemi stopping him as he left to speak up once more.

"Okay, thanks for your hard work today. Bye!" Takemi said as Ren headed back to Leblanc, where his phone rang as he reached the door, and Ren answered it.

"Hello?" Ren said as he answered the phone, not surprised to hear Takemi's voice on the other end.

"How's my little guinea pig doing after the catch-up drug? I know it was probably a lot to handle. Considering I doubled the dosage and halved the activation time. But we're so close. We're right at the end of all this-I can feel it. I'll need you to stick around just a little bit longer. I hope you can handle it." Takemi said as Ren spoke up.

"I always keep my promises and honor my deals, but I also make it a point to do all I can to help out my friends, and I'd like to think we're friends of a sort by now, Doctor. So you can count on me." Ren said honestly. Takemi chuckled as she spoke up once more.

"Well, aren't you a little go-getter. If you're that excited about it, maybe I'll just give you a dose of everything and see how you hold up." Takemi said as Ren nodded and Takemi kept speaking.

"Well, I've got some catching up to do. I have to process today's data as quickly as possible. Make sure to call if you ever feel sick, okay? Take care." Takemi said as Ren nodded and headed into Leblanc. Once inside, Sojiro greeted him and spoke up.

"Ah, you're back. Summer break's soon, right? Must be nice, being a student." Sojiro said to Ren who just nodded as his phone went off to signify a group chat with Ryuji, Ann, Kusa, Yusuke, and Makoto, with Yusuke being the one to send the first response this time.

"So, I looked into Medjed." Yusuke sent as Ann sent a response.

"Did you find anything?" Ann sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"As you know, Medjed is a god appearing in the Egyptian Book Of The Dead." Yusuke sent as Kusa and Ann sent responses close together, Ann's coming through first.

"Huh?" Ann sent as Kusa's response came through.

"For real!? I'm not sure if I should be more surprised that Yusuke researches Egypt, or shocked that there's an Egyptian Book Of The Dead. That's the first I've heard about that." Kusa sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"You're not the first to say that, Kusa, and you probably won't be the last, so don't worry about it. That said, its name apparently means 'the smiter'. It seems nobody is actually sure that Medjed is a real name." Yusuke sent as Kusa frowned and sent a response.

"Nobody, you say? If as you say, it's not a real name, why then does Taba know of the person who first used that name, Yusuke? I think your logic might be just a wee bit flawed on that one." Kusa sent bluntly as Yusuke sent another response.

"Fair point, Kusa. I forgot you said that earlier. Anyways, on top of that, almost everything about him is unknown. Even his form is unattainable. An unseen god that flies through the sky and shoots from his eyes...He truly is an elusive being." Yusuke sent as Ryuji and Kusa sent responses close together, Kusa's coming through first.

"First of all Yusuke, why are you so sure Medjed is a he? Wouldn't it be both more fair and more correct to say he or she, since Medjed's identity is unknown and thus could be a female? Also, what do you think Medjed is, effing Superman!? My goodness Yusuke, you have an imagination on you if that's the case. Maybe you should get into writing. With your artistic skills, you could make a killing as an illustrator if nothing else." Kusa sent as Ryuji's response came through.

"Dude. What Kusa said. Also, what the eff?" Ryuji sent as Yusuke sent another response.

"That's not a bad idea, Kusa. I'll keep it in mind if I ever find myself unable to sustain a career as an artist. That said, everything about his or her existence is shrouded in mystery." Yusuke sent as Ryuji sent another response.

"Wait." Ryuji sent as Yusuke sent another response.

"Fundamentally speaking, ancient Egyptian art depicted gods drawn in a side profile. However, Medjed is facing straight ahead in all depictions of him or her. Taking all of this into account, he or she seems to be quite the alien being." Yusuke sent as Ren winced and sent a response.

"I see...but I think you're thinking of a different Medjed than the one we're after, Yusuke." Ren sent. Yusuke sent another response.

"I hope that information was at least somewhat useful." Yusuke sent as Makoto chose that point to send a response.

"Indeed it was." Makoto sent as Yusuke sent another response.

"Should I look into it more?" Yusuke sent as Makoto and Kusa sent responses close together, Makoto's coming through first.

"That's enough, thank you." Makoto sent as Kusa's response came through, the wording of which made Ren wince as he read it, easily able to discern the dry annoyance in Kusa's tone as he read the response.

"Agreed. Of all the things to be woken out of a nap for, this wasn't anywhere on my list. Luckily for you, I was alone in the living room when you sent the chat, Yusuke, that way I could quickly get into the kitchen so the noise wouldn't bother Taba, who is also currently napping. And another thing, pretty sure this Medjed is far from an Egyptian god or goddess, Yusuke. And on that note, I'm gonna go see if there's any soda left in the fridge. I might as well get some caffeine in me if there is, since I doubt I'll be able to get back to sleep right now anyways." Kusa sent as Ren put his phone away right as Morgana frowned before speaking up.

"So, we still don't have any tangible clues..." Morgana said as Ren spoke up so only Morgana could hear.

"We don't, but I think Kusa might. Or more accurately, his friend might. She seems rather well-versed about Medjed. Maybe she knows Medjed?" Ren said with a shrug. He then did the crossword on the table, frowning as it was a repeat of one he'd just done. Ren got a boost to his Knowledge. Ren then looked over the map with his third eye, his eyes landing on the church of Kanda. He then spoke up, looking at Morgana as he spoke.

"I could go hang out with someone, but I think I'll read tonight instead. Might as well finish that library book so I can borrow another before summer vacation hits, since this might be the best chance to do so." Ren said as Morgana nodded and Sojiro spoke up.

"You gonna read? All right, I'm headin' home. Don't forget to close up." Sojiro said to Ren, who nodded as he pulled out 'The Illusory Popess' and read it.

"Hmm...'She always found it in her heart to show mercy to others...' Interesting." Ren said as Morgana spoke up.

"Hmm, a legendary female pope, huh? Do you think she really existed?" Morgana asked Ren, who frowned at him.

"Weren't you listening in class the day we were told about Pope Joan, Morgana? That's Johanna." Ren said bluntly making Morgana blink but nod.

"Oh right, forgot about that. Whoa, either way, you still got time to read. Let's go a little further." Morgana said from the stool nearby where he was curled up next to Ren, who nodded as he kept reading.

"Fair enough. Now where was I? Ah yes...'Her sublime soul gave strength to the people...' I see, I see." Ren said as he kept reading the rest of 'The Illusory Popess', holding up the finished book afterwards as he inspected the cover as Morgana spoke up in surprise.

"Oh! So, you've finished reading 'The Illusory Popess'. Maybe the people of that era made up this mysterious female pope, but she's still an inspirational figure." Morgana said as Ren frowned and spoke up.

"Morgana, she was real. According to what we were taught the day that Pope Joan was covered, she was stoned to death for being a female when her gender was discovered. Kinda excessive if you ask me, but that's the way it was back then." Ren said with a shrug. Morgana nodded as he spoke up.

"True...Still, Pope Johanna, loved by so many...Reading about her must have taught you about the value of forgiveness. Maybe we should get Makoto to read this, if she hasn't already, since that's her Persona's name. She might find it interesting if nothing else." Morgana said as Ren nodded, while his Kindness got a sizable boost from finishing 'The Illusory Popess'. Morgana then spoke up with a frown.

"Well, I guess we should go to sleep. Staying up too late isn't healthy, you know." Morgana said to Ren who nodded.

"Agreed. Let's get to bed." Ren said as the two went upstairs to get settled in for the night, the former wondering idly what Kusa was up to...

(Around the same time that Sojiro left Leblanc, back at the Sakura household with Kusa and Futaba)

Kusa frowned as he sat at the kitchen table, trying to finish the homework he'd been given so that he didn't have to worry about it, though he questioned WHY the school insisted on giving out homework over the summer. It's not like every single student who gets it is going to finish it. But Kusa figured he should stay on top of his studies, just in case. As he kept working, he didn't hear Futaba's bedroom door open and didn't see Futaba walk out of her room and walk over to him before speaking up.

"Hoy, Kusa. You busy?" Futaba asked Kusa who looked up, saw Futaba, and set down his pencil to speak to her, looking at her and smiling while he spoke.

"Not really. Just getting this bit of homework I was given sorted out so that way it's done and I don't have to sweat it all summer. Assuming, of course, we don't get any further homework before summer break. Why we get homework after finals is beyond me, but I guess that's school for you sometimes." Kusa said with a shrug before he kept speaking.

"But never mind that. What brings you out here, Taba?" Kusa said, giving Futaba his attention as she spoke up.

"I got a bit bored of surfing the net, so I decided to come hang out with you a bit, assuming, of course, that you're okay with that." Futaba said as Kusa smiled and spoke up.

"I'm always up for spending time with you, Taba. Let me just knock this last bit of homework out so it's done first, yeah?" Kusa said as Futaba nodded, sitting at the table to wait. A couple short minutes later, Kusa's pencil stopped moving across the paper as Kusa stretched a bit.

"And that's that bit of homework done and dusted. So, what did you want to do exactly, Taba? I don't mind spending time with you at all." Kusa said to Futaba. Futaba tapped her chin as she thought about it before she spoke up.

"I was going to say we could do some gaming, but I think Sojiro's actually due to be home any time now, and I feel like it'd be a lot of hassle to bring a system to the living room to hook it up, plus I feel like we should be out here when Sojiro gets back. Not sure to be honest." Futaba said as Kusa smiled, having an idea.

"Well, if in doubt, we can just do more of what we did last night, which was cuddle together and watch movies while talking or something." Kusa suggested as Futaba smiled, liking the idea.

"That's not a bad idea, actually. I do believe I like the way that you think, Kusa." Futaba said in a mock-snooty tone, which made Kusa chuckle as he spoke up.

"Taba, you're lucky you're so adorable, otherwise I might have to groan at how quirky that tone you just had was. But you are adorable, so you can get away with it." Kusa said with a smirk, before making Taba yelp in surprise as he gently walked over and put his arms gently around her as he looked at her.

"You're also my adorable dork, Taba. Never change that about you." Kusa said with a smile, looking into Futaba's eyes briefly before helping her to the couch so the two could get comfortable as Kusa turned the TV on so they could pick out a movie to watch, Futaba wasting little time in getting comfortable in Kusa's arms as Kusa put on a movie for them to watch. Kusa then spoke up with a teasing grin on his face while he spoke.

"Jeez, eager much Taba? I know you enjoy our cuddles, but it's not like they're going anywhere, you know. But I like that you're so eager, I suppose. It makes you who you are, if that makes any sense whatsoever." Kusa said as Futaba nodded before speaking up, her cheeks slightly red as she spoke.

"Heh, sorry. I guess your arms are too comfy for their own good at times, eh Kusa? Not that that's a bad thing, though. It's been some time since I was this comfortable with someone, probably not since before my mom passed." Futaba said honestly as Kusa frowned.

"That long? Are you trying to say Sojiro didn't try to comfort you? Not that you would've probably let him if he had given how reticent you usually are around others, which surprises me that you're this open with me. But I also don't mind it. I'm glad you're comfortable with me, Taba." Kusa said as Futaba lightly 'mm-hmm'ed in agreement as she turned her attention to the TV, clearly focusing on enjoying the moment while she could, making Kusa chuckle as he gently put an arm around Futaba's waist as he gently held her close to him as the two watched TV.

Because of how focused they were on the movie, neither Kusa or Futaba wound up hearing Sojiro come in as they were focused on the movie they were watching, Kusa just enjoying the moment for what it was, even though near the end he heard the faint sound of Futaba dozing off on him, making him shrug as he gently set her head on the pillow next to him and carefully tucked the blanket around her before gently pressing a kiss to her cheek as he let her rest, turning the movie down so she could sleep.

Because of how preoccupied Kusa was with his musings on him and Futaba, and with the movie he was watching, Kusa naturally gave a visible start in surprise when Sojiro cleared his throat in amusement as he saw the two on the couch together, smirking at Kusa who flushed a bit in embarrassment as he spoke up in a tone that was a mix of sheepish and wary.

"I know this probably doesn't look the best, but apparently she's that comfortable around me that she manages to doze off. I'm not arguing with it though, since I'd rather she feel safe enough to let her guard down somewhat. From what little she's told me, I gather this isn't something she gets to do often, so I'm glad to be able to offer her the chance to do so, even if I end up catching flack from you for it. Though in fairness, I deserve any flack you choose to give, since I'm just letting her lay with me rather than carrying her to her room or something." Kusa said sheepishly as Sojiro chuckled and spoke up, giving Kusa an amused look while he spoke.

"I'm not mad at you, Kusa. Surprised a bit, maybe, but not mad. If anything, I'm mad at myself for not considering sooner that she could potentially be getting that attached to you already. It's not often she opens up to anyone like she apparently has to you. Frankly, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't both impressed by it and a bit jealous that she opens up more to some young man I'm taking in temporarily than to me, the man who's basically her adoptive father." Sojiro said as Kusa chuckled and spoke up.

"Don't feel bad, Sojiro. She's a slow one to open to people. And you have a business to run, so it's not like you have all the time in the world to spend with her. And I think she understands that to some extent. If nothing else, she hasn't given me the impression she has anything but the utmost gratitude and appreciation for you for that, Sojiro. And to be honest, you have my respect as well, since I'm sure it can't have been easy to take in someone as withdrawn, reticent, and shy as Futaba, but you do it without complaint or expectation, just because you're that honorable and great of a man. Frankly, Futaba could do a great deal worse than you as an adoptive father.

Hell, if whoever my biological father is was even half the man you are, I'd be proud to call him my father. After all, for all that you can be gruff and rough at times, you do it because you care, Sojiro. Take the other day, for example. You could've easily reprimanded me for having the audacity to leave my request as late as I did, but instead you actually praised me for going out of my way to help surprise my brother and our friend.

Regardless of what anyone might say about you, you're a good man, Sojiro. Just be patient, and in time I'm sure Futaba will eventually come out of her shell enough to open up to you. I was just lucky she was quick to take a shine to me, or she'd probably still not be as open to me as she is. But far be it from me to try to tell you how to raise her, since you've done a pretty good job of it thus far if you ask me." Kusa said honestly, making Sojiro smile as he looked at Kusa.

"Thanks. Why don't we go outside and talk, so we don't wake up Futaba? I think this is something we should've talked about before, but I was burying my head in the sand, so to speak, instead of bringing it up." Sojiro said as Kusa shrugged but nodded as he followed Sojiro outside. Once the two were safely outside, and out of Futaba's earshot, Sojiro spoke up.

"So, let's get it out in the open. What exactly are your intentions with Futaba, Kusa? I think I know already, but I have to ask anyways for the sake of doing my due diligence as her father figure." Sojiro said as Kusa nodded understandingly before he spoke up.

"That's more than understandable, Sojiro. I have nothing but the purest and most noble of intentions towards Taba. I feel like she's had a pretty crummy run of luck in her life, and I just want to try and make her happy, any way that I can. Even if it's just as a close friend, she deserves whatever happiness she can get. Based on what little I know of her life so far, she's had life throw her a pretty crappy hand, between losing her mother the way she did and then apparently being blamed for it.

Honestly, if not for the fact that I'm not trying to get myself in trouble, I'd be tempted to find whoever told her she was to blame for her mother's death, which if you ask me is in absolutely zero way, shape, or form her fault, that is not at all, and punch their effing lights out! Who tells a innocent young lady like Taba something like that!? It's bad enough she had to watch her mother fall into traffic the day she died, but to be blamed for it on top of that!? That's borderline, if not outright, emotional abuse! And I am not okay with that! I also do not believe for an instant that Taba would be capable of wishing any of her family members harm, much less actually harming them.

To be honest, if it were up to me, I would just hold her close, but not tightly, provide her whatever comfort I can, and not let go unless she asked me to, since she deserves to know that not everyone close to her is human trash. Not you, and damn sure not me! Frankly, if he were related to her? I could see that scumbag who pushed me over the other day when I came back to Leblanc from here for the night as he was leaving being capable of telling Futaba something that effed up.

Speaking of which, I should probably apologize to you, Sojiro, for that outburst that you and Ren both probably had to witness afterward when I yelled after that prick's retreating back since I wasn't trying to cause myself, much less you, trouble by chasing that man down and kicking his scummy butt. Not only do I find that guy annoying, but I get strong sketchy creeper vibes off him. If he comes back around Leblanc again, he's going to be lucky if all I do is give him a strongly-worded reaming and chase him out of the shop. He frankly deserves to get beat up, if you ask me." Kusa said huffily. Sojiro chuckled, patting Kusa on the shoulder approvingly before he spoke up.

"Well said, Kusa. To be honest though? He actually IS related to her. That guy is Futaba's uncle. Not that he deserves to call himself that after what he did to her." Sojiro said as Kusa's eyes narrowed as he spoke up.

"Wait, after what he did to her!? Are you telling me he abused her!?" Kusa asked, only just keeping his voice down, despite wanting to screech the last few words. Sojiro nodded as he spoke up.

"It's a bit of a long story, but yeah. He made her sleep on the floor while she lived with him, with only flimsy sheets to cover up with, and to make matters worse, he wouldn't let her bathe. I think it's not wrong to say that man was scum to her." Sojiro said as Kusa growled slightly before speaking up, eyes narrowed dangerously while he spoke.

"Oh really? Is that right? Well, that guy better not try showing his face at Leblanc then, otherwise I might just be tempted to drag that man out behind the shop and show him just what I think of cowardly scumbags who would abuse their own family, since not only is that cowardly, that's despicable and straight-up effed up." Kusa said in a very livid tone, getting a nod of approval from Sojiro who spoke up.

"As long as you don't get either of us into trouble, I don't care what you do to him, within reason. But do remember that you yourself said you want Futaba to have people she can count on to be there for her, so I would advise against doing anything TOO reckless to him. But I won't stop you if you find yourself putting the fear of God into him." Sojiro said bluntly as Kusa nodded.

"That's fair. Straight-up brutality is too good for the likes of him anyways. Besides, he should be able to live to not only own up to what he did, but to atone for it if he can. But never mind that guy for now. Right now, the important thing is that we agree that Futaba's happiness is one of the most important things for us both. So I won't do anything too stupid, just for the sake of being able to be there for Taba if she needs me." Kusa said sagely as Sojiro nodded.

"I was unsure about you and her, but I can see now you have nothing but the best of intentions towards her. I know you two are supposedly just friends right now, but if it becomes more down the line? Consider my blessing freely given. And, to be honest with you? I think if I had to trust anyone with her, it'd be you, Kusa." Sojiro said as Kusa blinked in surprise at the remark before nodding as he spoke up, clearly pleased by Sojiro's response while he spoke.

"I'll be honest with you, Sojiro. Futaba and I are just friends right now, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have at least some feelings for her. However, I'm not going to try and make any move on her while she's in this delicate mind space, since I don't know if it would be as much beneficial as it would be potentially detrimental to her well-being if she doesn't feel the same.

And I'd rather she has someone she can feel safe confiding in, whether that's me or you, Sojiro. And despite what Ren might think, I'm not slow in making moves. I'm just cautiously considering my options and thinking about what's best for her rather than what's best for me." Kusa said honestly, making Sojiro smile approvingly as he spoke up.

"I had a feeling that was the case, Kusa. But to be honest, that's not the worst mindset to have. Because I'll be honest, you're not wrong to say she's slow to trust others. I've been taking care of her for about a year and a half now, and she's only just now slightly opening to me, even if it's mostly over the phone. So be glad she's comfortable enough to be cuddly with you. She might be more open to you making a move than you'd think, but I also can respect you not wanting to push her into anything she's not ready for as well, which I appreciate you being so willing to exercise restraint in how fast you try to get close to her." Sojiro said as Kusa nodded.

"Naturally. I consider the restraint worth it just to be able to see Futaba smile, even if it's only while she's resting on/with me. She looks much better smiling than when she frowns/is in a mood. And I try to give her space when she's in a mood, since I can respect not wanting to be around others at those times. Believe it or not, I myself was the same way when I was younger, so I can understand all too well how rough of a process it can be to break out of a shut-in mindset." Kusa said honestly as Sojiro chuckled.

"Somehow, I can see you being a former shut-in, Kusa. Tell me, was what I heard you telling your friends the other day about running a martial arts team true?" Sojiro asked Kusa, who nodded before he spoke up.

"Absolutely. I haven't really had much chance to keep my skills sharp since I moved here, since there's not exactly an abundance of martial arts places in Yongen-Jaya and last I checked, the Shujin karate team is a direct rival to my former school's karate team, so for the sake of keeping good relations with my former teammates/old friends, I chose not to sign up for the school karate team at Shujin. Besides, any time spent there is time not spent with Taba.

But that's not to say I don't still warm up somewhat, since as it happens the gym in Shibuya has training dummies that I can use to at least keep my technique and form intact, even if there's only so much training you can do on a dummy. But it's better than nothing." Kusa said as Sojiro nodded approvingly.

"That makes sense. I wouldn't have pegged you for being into karate though." Sojiro said as Kusa chuckled before he spoke up.

"Into karate!? Sojiro, I don't think you get it. Had I not had to step down from the team to come here with Ren, my team was on the verge of carrying an undefeated season into the championships, but because I had to move here with Ren, I had to let my second-in-command take over the team. And between us, I was about to test for my black belt around the time Ren and I had to move here.

Unfortunately so, that didn't get to happen thanks to the fact that I was ordered to move literally days before the test and had to quickly cancel, since I had no idea when I'd be able to go in for it. It sucked, but sometimes one has to be willing to make such sacrifices for the sake of those they care about. Because, at least in my opinion, nothing should be more important than family and/or those you care about." Kusa said honestly making Sojiro blink at Kusa in surprise as he spoke up. *1*

"Wow, that's actually impressive. I'm just as glad you have restraint, since I wouldn't be surprised if you said you could probably have broken someone's nose if you wanted to." Sojiro joked as Kusa laughed at that and spoke up.

"Oh, I could easily do that, Sojiro. I just choose not to, since using it for harm isn't the point of karate/martial arts. The usual point of it is to find peace/enlightenment in oneself, and/or balance. Hence why I got into meditating when I did, since when I was younger, and still had more of a unchecked temper, I probably would've swung first and stopped to ask questions second. But nowadays, I realize such a mentality is both foolish and destructive. Though I won't deny that even I have my limits.

Why, just the other day, Ryuji made some really idiotic comments that nearly got himself, me, Ren, and our friend Ann all into trouble with our school's student council president. Luckily for Ryuji, Ren and I convinced her we were on the side of justice and not a danger to the school, otherwise we'd have all been lucky just to be expelled or suspended. And Ryuji's lucky I kept my temper in check, because I very nearly socked him in the face for being so stupid as to put us all at risk. But I refrained, since I knew deep down it wouldn't be worth the regret I'd feel after the fact just to lash out in the moment." Kusa said sagely as Sojiro nodded understandingly and spoke up.

"I understand. And I think having Morgana around also helps you keep your cool, since I think you're closer to him than Ren is." Sojiro said with a chuckle as Kusa nodded.

"Yeah, you could say that. Odd as it might sound, Morgana's become someone I've definitely gotten close to. Some might call him a cat, but he's more than that to me, and to Ren, even if he won't admit it. He's almost like a younger brother to us, if that makes sense at all." Kusa said as Sojiro nodded before speaking up once more.

"Well, I think I've gotten my questions answered, and my concerns assuaged. Let's go on back inside before it gets cold, yeah?" Sojiro said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, makes sense to me, Sojiro! And that's not even mentioning the fact that I wouldn't want Taba to wake up and wonder where we went. Because I'd imagine she wouldn't handle that well at all." Kusa said with a chuckle as Sojiro laughed heartily at that before he spoke up with a smirk.

"Hoo boy, you have no idea how right you are on that, Kusa." Sojiro said amicably as the two headed back inside, Kusa sitting back on the hide-a-bed and smiling as Futaba was still peacefully dozing on the couch as Sojiro smirked and spoke up at that point quietly, fixing Kusa with a stern look while he spoke.

"I trust you, so I won't insist that she sleep in her room. However, the first hint I get of anything untoward or inappropriate going on between you two, and not only are you out of here on your ear, but you'll be lucky if I ever let you get anywhere near her again. Got it?" Sojiro said as Kusa nodded understandingly.

"Got it. I hear and understand you, Sojiro." Kusa said with an understanding nod as Sojiro chuckled and headed to his room, leaving Kusa to quietly breathe a sigh of relief as he laid down, carefully getting comfortable as he found another movie to watch while getting comfortable next to Futaba, who was peacefully sleeping, totally unaware of the exchange that had just happened between Kusa and Sojiro, as the former laid down, smiling at Futaba before laying his head on his pillow and watching TV until he dozed off, unaware of the spunky but petite redhead in question cuddling up to him as the two slept...

(Meanwhile, around that same time, in the Velvet Room with Ren)

Ren frowned as he sat up in his cell in the Velvet Room, realizing he'd probably been summoned there in his sleep. At that point, Caroline spoke up.

"It seems you've got your share of problems, Inmate." Caroline said as Justine frowned and spoke up.

"To think you would relax under such circumstances. Either you're quite bold...or quite foolish." Justine said before Igor spoke up.

"One with an 'unseen' form, hm? It seems you've been targeted by troublesome company." Igor said as Ren looked at Igor and spoke up, curiosity on his face as he spoke.

"Do you mean Medjed, by any chance? Me and my friends have been trying to dig up any info we can find on Medjed, to relatively little success." Ren said honestly. Igor chuckled as he nodded.

"Indeed I do. I've been enjoying this endless dispute over 'justice'. However, it will soon come to an end-and through the appearance of an unexpected force, of all things. Engaging with formidable enemies is also part of your rehabilitation. I ask that you overcome this. After all, you must hone your powers and become a magnificent thief." Igor said as Ren was escorted back to his cot where he laid down for the night...

(The next morning, between trains to school with Ren and Morgana)

"I'm not sure if Kusa's lucky that Sojiro drives him to school, or unlucky. I suppose it depends on Sojiro's mood, eh Morgana?" Ren asked Morgana, who shrugged, only to turn around, get wide-eyed, and duck into Ren's bag a moment later as a chuckle came from behind Ren, making him whirl around only to see Akechi standing there.

"Oh, sorry about that Akechi-kun. Didn't realize you'd approached me. I was just thinking out loud about how Kusa's probably lucky he doesn't have to take the train to school this week, since he's staying at a friend's house to help them through some stuff." Ren said with a shrug making Akechi chuckle as he spoke up with a closed-eye grin.

"I see. Apology accepted, Amamiya-kun the elder. That said, it's really summer now. I get sweaty just walking a little bit." Akechi said as Ren chuckled and spoke up.

"Maybe if you didn't wear black jeans in the middle of July, you might not be as sweaty? Just a thought." Ren said conversationally. Akechi nodded.

"That's a fair point. But changing the subject, I didn't think Medjed would pounce on the Phantom Thieves. Interesting things keep happening this year. The influence of the Phantom Crew knows no bounds. I underestimated it, honestly. I wonder what the public thinks of this. Are they entertained? Or perhaps inconvenienced?" Akechi asked Ren who shrugged as he spoke up.

"Probably a bit of both, to be honest with you. But given the reactions thus far, probably moreso entertained than inconvenienced, if I had to guess." Ren said. Akechi frowned at this, figuring Ren might say that but still shocked to hear it while he spoke up.

"Entertained, huh? A luxury for the uninvolved. I know they mean no ill intent. So this is what the public thinks. Oops, I don't have time for a conversation. My attendance has been poor due to interviews lately. Thank you for your valuable opinion. I'll see you around, Amamiya-kun the elder." Akechi said as Ren nodded, the two heading their separate ways as Ren headed on to school...

(On the walk to school with Ren and Morgana)

"I don't get it." Ren heard a bored-sounding male student say to his friend, who was walking next to him as he listened into the conversation.

"There hasn't been any news on the Phantom Thieves versus Medjed showdown. Which of them will come out on top? They're both just criminals pretending to be heroes." The bored-looking student said, making Ren wince and be glad Kusa hadn't walked to school with him since he had a feeling Kusa would've probably been just a tad ticked off had he heard what the male in front of him had just said about the Phantom Thieves. At that point, the bored-looking male's friend spoke up, his tone sounding as listless as he looked.

"If you ask me, Medjed causes way more trouble. They attack every company they set their sights on." The listless-looking student said as the bored-looking student spoke up again.

"I see. Well, I just hope something happens soon. But you gotta tell me-who do you think will win?" The bored-looking male said as Ren shrugged and the rest of the walk to school proceeded uneventfully...

(At lunchtime, in class with Ren and Morgana)

"Hey, your phone was buzzing earlier." Morgana said to Ren, who checked it to find he had tons of messages from an unknown account. He pulled open the unknown private chat to be surprised at what he saw, his eyes going wide enough to almost pop out of his head as he read the private chat.

"Nice to meet you. I am the one they call Alibaba. I want to ask you something, Ren Amamiya. You're a phantom thief, aren't you? Can you really steal hearts?" The now-identified 'Alibaba' sent as Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"Who is this? Why does he know you're a phantom thief?" Morgana asked Ren who shrugged and spoke up.

"I'm not sure, but I feel like I've heard the name Alibaba somewhere before, and fairly recently at that. Yet despite that, I can't recall precisely when or where I could've heard it." Ren said as he went back to the private chat while Morgana spoke up.

"Good point. Wait...didn't Kusa once say his friend had an online handle close to that name? I think Kusa said his friend's name is Taba?" Morgana said to Ren who shrugged as he focused on the private chat as more messages came from 'Alibaba'.

"There is someone whose heart I would like you to steal, if it is at all possible. But I'm not asking for charity here. Let us strike a deal. You wish to know about Medjed, correct? I can provide you with information on them, IF you successfully change the heart of the person I ask you to change, and ONLY if you succeed. And if you so desire it, I can take care of Medjed as well, quite easily at that.

Do you believe in my skills? I can track down their accounts, just as I have with yours. But this is all I can prove at the moment. I've prepared the necessary tool on my end. Look forward to it." Alibaba sent as Ren put his phone down, feeling more confused than before he'd opened the private chat. Morgana chose that moment to speak up.

"Shouldn't you respond to it, if for no other reason than to try and feel this Alibaba out? Because I agree that we've heard that name somewhere before, but I can't put my finger on it. I bet Kusa would know for sure if he were here." Morgana said. Ren nodded and looked at Morgana as he spoke.

"How should I respond?" Ren asked Morgana. Morgana huffed and spoke up.

"Isn't it obvious?" Morgana said as Ren blinked then nodded as he sent a response.

"I cannot confirm or deny your claims at this time, at least until I know more of who I speak to. That said, exactly who is this? I might be willing to help you out, but I think you can appreciate not wanting to strike a deal with someone who you don't know that well." Ren sent. Ren then swore as an error message popped up.

"Dammit! Did Alibaba block me!?" Ren said so only Morgana could hear, making the not-cat look at Ren in surprise while he spoke up.

"Hm? You can't reply back? I don't know what this is all about, but we should let everyone know about this." Morgana said as Ren nodded his agreement as the rest of the school day went by uneventfully...

(After school at the hideout with Ann, Makoto, Morgana, Ren, Yusuke and Ryuji)

"Considerin' he mentioned stealing hearts, he knows, doesn't he?" Ryuji said as Makoto spoke up with a frown.

"Seems so...Too bad Kusa-kun couldn't join us today, or I bet he'd have some valuable insight into Alibaba's mindset." Makoto said. Ren spoke up at that point.

"I agree, but he couldn't get over here without raising suspicions with the people he's currently staying with for the week, so he sends his regrets at not being able to join us, but assures me he'll try not to miss any more meetings if he can avoid it." Ren said before Yusuke spoke up with a frown.

"How were we found out, though? That's my question." Yusuke said in frustration, making Makoto blink in realization as she spoke up.

"He may have traced our chat log." Makoto said as Yusuke gasped and spoke up in frustration.

"Since Kusa's not here to say it, I'll say it for him. How careless of us, not to mention how absolutely asinine that we got caught so easily." Yusuke said. Makoto nodded before she kept speaking.

"But how would he have known all these details with just that?" Makoto asked as Yusuke frowned and spoke up.

"Do you think that there is another cause?" Yusuke asked Makoto who nodded before speaking up.

"Yeah. I'm not sure why, but that's the feeling I get." Makoto said before Ann frowned and spoke up in confusion.

"Hey, is it that easy to look at someone else's chat log?" Ann asked as Makoto shrugged before speaking up.

"I dunno. I don't know much about it myself, but it's probably not impossible, I think?" Makoto said before Ryuji frowned and spoke up.

"How's it done?" Ryuji asked as Makoto shrugged while speaking up.

"Not sure. Maybe they extracted our phones' data?" Makoto said before Ann looked over at Ren as she spoke up.

"If that's the case, why's Ren getting an error when he tries to reply?" Ann asked before Makoto frowned and spoke up.

"Maybe the receiving end doesn't exist?" Makoto guessed as Ren frowned and spoke up.

"If that's the case, why were they able to message me and not the other way around, Makoto?" Ren asked uncertainly before Ryuji blinked and spoke up.

"That's possible?" Ryuji asked, making Makoto frown before she spoke up in frustration.

"Don't ask me everything. I told you that I don't know much about it." Makoto said as Yusuke blinked before he spoke up in realization.

"Wait. Might this be what is referred to as 'hacking'?" Yusuke asked, causing Ryuji to look at him in wide-eyed surprise before he spoke up.

"Then, does this mean that guy's a hacker!?" Ryuji asked in surprise. Morgana frowned as he spoke up.

"I don't get high-tech stuff! What does this all mean!? Usually Kusa explains these things to me, but he's not here today." Morgana said in frustration. Ann frowned at the not-cat before she huffed and spoke up.

"An unknown hacker contacted us!" Ann said to Morgana, who blinked before he spoke up in confusion, his next words causing the others to collectively facefault at what he said.

"I see. I don't really get it." Morgana said before Yusuke, who was the first to pick himself up off of the ground, spoke up.

"Then, is this person Medjed?" Yusuke said before Makoto shook her head, having also gotten up from the ground, while she spoke up.

"I doubt it, considering he says he wants to 'deal' with them. That is, only if we take his words for face value." Makoto said as Yusuke nodded his agreement while speaking up.

"True." Yusuke said as Ryuji blinked as an idea came to him while he spoke up.

"Hey, wouldn't it be great if we got this guy on our side?" Ryuji said before Makoto shook her head, frowning while she spoke up.

"But we know nothing about his or her-since it could also be a her given Ren said the icon was that of a cat, so that doesn't instantly mean it's a guy-identity at all. We can't trust him or her." Makoto said bluntly. Ryuji frowned before he spoke up.

"I don't think it's a bad deal though." Ryuji pointed out before Yusuke glared at Ryuji with a frown on his face before he spoke up flatly.

"Even if Alibaba turns out to be a criminal? I am NOT helping anyone of that sort." Yusuke said huffily. Ryuji blanched at this before speaking up with a wince.

"Oh, right. That wouldn't be good." Ryuji said before Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"The 'I've prepared the necessary tool' part makes no sense either." Morgana said uncertainly before Ann spoke up.

"Could this just be a prank?" Ann said before Makoto shook her head and spoke up.

"I doubt it. He or she knows an awful lot for it to be a prank." Makoto said as Ann frowned but nodded while she spoke up.

"But if he or she knows who we are, won't we get caught?" Ann asked as Makoto shook her head while speaking up.

"No. if he or she wanted to report us, I think he or she would've done it already." Makoto said as Yusuke nodded before he spoke up.

"He or she must have some sort of objective of his or her own. He or she did offer us a deal, after all. I'm certain he or she will contact us again." Yusuke said as Makoto frowned before she spoke up once more.

"There's no telling when he or she will do so, though. It'd be best if we stay together. If something happens, we can act at once." Makoto said before Ren frowned and spoke up.

"Unfortunately, until the 23rd, that's going to be a tough ask, since Kusa's staying over with Sakura-kun and his daughter until then. Apparently she was having some sort of issue that she needed help working through that Sakura-kun felt Kusa was uniquely qualified to handle." Ren said bluntly as Ann nodded before speaking up.

"Yeah, good point, Ren. We'll have to try to keep Kusa-kun in the loop as best we can through private chats until he gets home, since I can understand him not wanting to draw attention from Boss or Taba, as he calls her. In that case, we can do our part to aid in that effort if we keep a low profile until he gets home. Once he's home, then we can start meeting together more often. So, somewhere we can wait and hide for long hours." Ann said before Makoto spoke up, her words making Ren and Morgana's eyes widen in surprise as she spoke.

"How about Leblanc?" Makoto suggested as Ren and Morgana winced, but couldn't argue against the idea, so the group headed to Leblanc...

(Meanwhile, around the same time at the Sakura house with Kusa and Futaba)

"I can't believe I agreed to help you basically try and manipulate my friends into helping with changing your heart! I don't mind, but you get to explain it to them if this gets them pissed at me when the truth comes out, Taba. That's only fair, yeah?" Kusa said as Futaba smiled and nodded as she spoke up.

"Yeah, I can do that much for you, Kusa. You've always got my back, so the least I can do is have your back in return when needed. Fortunately for us both, we're the only two who knows about the true identity of 'Alibaba', so it's unlikely they'll figure out anything until we want them to figure it out. Mwehehe." Futaba said as Kusa frowned before speaking up uncertainly.

"I dunno about that one, Taba. While it is true that Ryuji, Morgana and Ann aren't that bright, and even to an extent Yusuke's a bit slow on the uptake, I think you're underestimating both Ren and Makoto a lot, since they're both rather smart, and could probably piece it together if they sat and thought about it long enough, considering the former knows a lot about you from eavesdropping on us, and the latter is very smart and could probably figure out it if Ren used her as a sounding board. So I hope you have a backup plan in case this plan goes south, Taba." Kusa said as Futaba smiled before speaking up.

"Not to worry, Kusa. I got it covered. If they do figure it out, they'll be likelier to feel sorry for me than to be angry at either one of us, so don't sweat the small stuff, my friend. It'll be fine." Futaba said as Kusa sighed but nodded before he spoke up.

"If you say so, Taba. I hope for both our sakes you're right about that." Kusa said simply as Futaba smiled.

"Do you not trust me, Kusa? Have I been wrong yet?" Futaba asked Kusa, who just spoke up.

"No, but that doesn't mean I can't be on guard for both our sakes, Taba. I can handle them being mad at me since I did agree to help you with this, but I refuse to let them be angry at you over this. You're just trying to seek help in the best way you know how." Kusa said honestly as Futaba smiled, chuckling as she spoke up.

"You're always so concerned about me, aren't you Kusa? You're lucky I find that trait charming and adorable, or it might be both cheesy and trite." Futaba said sagely as Kusa nodded.

"Fair point. So now we just wait until the time is right to move on to step 2, then?" Kusa said to Futaba, who nodded sagely as she spoke up.

"Precisely. For now, we just relax and let them make the next move. If I'm right, they'll call a huddle to discuss what 'Alibaba' sent to Ren, and then they'll decide to stick together for the foreseeable future on the off chance that 'Alibaba' makes contact again so they can react at a moment's notice." Futaba said knowingly as Kusa sighed but nodded while he spoke up.

"Very well. I'll follow your lead on this, Taba. But I'm also hoping that this doesn't come back to bite us both firmly on our collective asses." Kusa said uneasily as Futaba smiled and leaned into Kusa, a content-looking expression on her face. After she did that, Kusa and Futaba got comfortable and waited for the right time to make the next move...

(Back at Leblanc, during the evening, with Sojiro, Ren, Morgana, Yusuke, Makoto, Ryuji, and Ann)

Sojiro was reading his paper at the counter when he heard the door of Leblanc open up and turned to it, figuring it was customers. To his surprise, it was instead Ren and most of his friends, oddly excluding Kusa. At that point, he tried to focus on the paper, but gave up when Ren walked up to him, looking up before he spoke up in surprise.

"Oh? What's with the large group?" Sojiro asked as Ann gave him a coy smile before speaking up.

"Good evening. We were thinking about putting together plans for our summer." Ann said by way of explanation while Sojiro noticed Makoto and spoke up.

"Hm? Is that a new face I see?" Sojiro asked, looking towards Makoto, who was standing near Ren. Makoto then stepped out so that Sojiro could see her better while speaking up.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Makoto Niijima. I hope we're not being a bother. We actually met one other time before, the day of Ren and Ryuji's shared birthday party, but you were busy with your restaurant that day and might not remember seeing me." Makoto said to Sojiro. Ryuji then spoke up with a nod.

"She's our student council president." Ryuji said as Sojiro nodded before speaking up.

"Ah, yes, that's right. Niijima...?" Sojiro asked as Makoto frowned while speaking up.

"Is something wrong?" Makoto asked warily as Sojiro smiled and spoke up.

"Nah, it's nothing. A student council president, eh? I'm stunned. I hope he's not causing you too much trouble. I'm Sojiro Sakura, but everyone just calls me Boss." Sojiro said to Makoto as Ren chuckled before he spoke up.

"Everyone, you say? Last I checked, neither myself nor Kusa have ever called you that, Sakura-kun. So I wouldn't say 'everyone' calls you that." Ren said bluntly making Sojiro shrug before he kept speaking, pointing to an envelope on the counter as he did so.

"Fair enough. By the way, that was addressed to you." Sojiro said before stretching as he kept speaking.

"Ugh, well this old man'll get going and leave you kids be. All right, the store's all yours." Sojiro said as he left the store and the group sat at a table to watch the news.

"We have late-breaking news on Medjed, whose notoriety rose since their statement the other day. Just moments ago, a new message has been released on their website. They have announced their victory over the Phantom Thieves. Medjed also warns any Japanese citizens who praised the Phantom Thieves to stop doing so. We will report any further actions by Medjed as they arrive." The newscaster said, right before Ryuji and Ann both pulled their phones out to check the Medjed website to see this message for themselves, with the latter groaning as he spoke up in annoyance.

"Oh, come on! It's in English!" Ryuji grumbled in irritation. Ann blinked and spoke up.

"Let me see. Okay, this says 'The Phantom Thieves remain silent at our question. This proves that we are just. People of Japan, wake up. You must not worship the Phantom Thieves-" Ann said as Ryuji huffed before cutting Ann off mid-sentence by speaking up in frustration.

"What!? That's bullshit! Kusa would agree if he were here, I know he would." Ryuji said as Yusuke gave him a reproving look.

"Keep listening." Yusuke rebuked Ryuji, and Ann took that as an invitation to keep reading which she did.

"Where was I? Oh, right. 'We will discipline any who worship them. The punishment is the confiscation of possessions. We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil.' That's what it says." Ann said as Ryuji frowned and spoke up.

"What does that all mean!?" Ryuji asked as Makoto smiled sympathetically at Ryuji before speaking up to explain it to him.

"Basically, they're saying that they'll target sympathizers of the Phantom Thieves." Makoto said as Yusuke frowned before speaking up.

"Confiscation of possessions, hm?" Yusuke mused as Makoto spoke up with a frown.

"Perhaps bank accounts or personal information...Either way, it won't be anything pleasant." Makoto said as Ryuji groaned before speaking up in anger.

"Why the hell are we being singled out?" Ryuji asked angrily as Makoto spoke up with a worried expression on her face.

"Perhaps all they care about is labeling the Phantom Thieves as crooks. That all this wouldn't have happened had the Phantom Thieves not existed." Makoto said as Ryuji gritted his teeth before he spoke up angrily, trying to calm himself as he spoke.

"That's complete bullshit." Ryuji huffed as Morgana spoke up at that point.

"Talk about a troublesome organization that we've been targeted by." Morgana said as Ann frowned before speaking up.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Ann asked as Yusuke spoke up with a frown of his own.

"It's certain we can't do anything about this on our own." Yusuke said before Ryuji sighed to calm himself while speaking up.

"Hey, so what's this letter about?" Ryuji asked before frowning as he kept speaking.

"We don't need any more trouble." Ryuji said sagely, making the others look at each other in surprise as Morgana spoke up.

"It's rare for you to get something like this." Morgana said to Ren, who nodded before opening up the letter, only to blink as he pulled out a calling card. Morgana spoke up with a frown at that point.

"A calling card?" Morgana said as Ann blinked while speaking up.

"Anything else in there!?" Ann asked Ren, who shook his head, so Ann kept speaking.

"Who's this from anyway?" Ann asked as Makoto frowned before speaking up.

"There's no stamp. Someone must have directly dropped it into the mailbox here..." Makoto said as Yusuke blinked while speaking up.

"Could it have been Alibaba?" Yusuke asked as Morgana nodded while itching the back of his head as he spoke up.

"That reminds me, Alibaba did mention something about preparing the 'necessary tool'. Don't tell me-is this what he or she was talking about!?" Morgana said as Ren's eyes widened in realization at the same time that Ryuji spoke up.

"What the hell's going on here?" Ryuji asked as Makoto frowned before speaking up, unintentionally cutting off Ren, who was about to voice his realization.

"Let's brace ourselves and stand by, in case anything comes up." Makoto said as everyone nodded before Ann sighed and spoke up.

"Oh dear, I guess that's all we can really do right now, isn't it? Oh wait, what did you realize Ren? I saw your eyes widen earlier." Ann asked Ren who spoke up.

"Well, for starters, I have a feeling that I know who dropped that letter in the mailbox for me, though if I'm right, I have no idea how he, of all people, knows of this 'Alibaba'. He's the last person I'd figure to know of them." Ren said as Morgana blinked in confusion before nodding as he spoke up.

"Oh..OH! I think I know who you mean, Ren, but why would he go to the trouble of tricking us? Surely he'd just reach out through a group chat instead?" Morgana said to Ren who shrugged, but didn't drop a name for who he thought it was, making the group decide to call it for the night at that point. Not long after he got back from escorting the others to the station and locking up Leblanc, Ren's phone went off to signify a private chat, from Mishima, which Ren opened up to read.

"I've really started turning the heat up on the forum! I put a special post up and everything! 'The showdown between the just Phantom Thieves and the global organization Medjed is here!' Reactions have been great, too. Everyone is really engaged. So far, most of the comments have been pro-Phantom Thieves. Most likely because of what happened in the Kaneshiro case.

Those on the other side say that Medjed are 'hackers of justice'. But there's nothing resembling justice in what they do. Someday, I want the whole site to be filled with pro-Thieves comments. I'm looking forward to when that day finally arrives." Mishima said as Ren frowned, putting his phone away without replying as Morgana spoke up.

"He can look forward to whatever he wants, but we have no means of striking back against Medjed. We're gonna be in deep trouble if we don't do something." Morgana said as Ren nodded, while Morgana kept speaking.

"Hmm...First that Alibaba character, and now a blank calling card? What the hell's going on?" Morgana asked Ren, who shrugged before he spoke up.

"No clue, but between us Morgana? I think Kusa might be involved to some degree in whatever Alibaba's up to, though for the life of me I can't fathom why he would help out someone like Alibaba. It seems out of character for him." Ren said as Morgana nodded, before his eyes widened in realization and he spoke up.

"Not if Kusa knows who Alibaba is, it's not. Remember, he'd do most anything for someone he cares about. And didn't Kusa mention before about how his friend is a verifiable genius who knows her way around a computer?" Morgana said to Ren who blinked at this and spoke up in shock.

"That's right, he did say that his friend Futaba is good with computes. And now that I think about it, he mentioned that she had an alias she uses sometimes when going online. But I can't remember what he said that alias was." Ren said as Morgana's eyes went huge as another realization hit him.

"Ren? What if, hypothetically speaking, Futaba's handle was Alibaba? It would not only explain why Kusa knows Alibaba, but also why he'd resort to discreetly slipping you a blank calling card. We both know Kusa's pretty well smitten with Futaba, so it stands to reason he'd be more reckless than usual if she asked him to help her out somehow." Morgana said as Ren frowned, before another thought occurred to him as he spoke up, his own eyes wide in realization while he spoke.

"OR, and this is both hypothetical AND a long shot, what if Kusa is Alibaba, and he's acting on Futaba's behalf to get us to change her heart?" Ren suggested as Morgana gasped but nodded while he spoke up.

"That actually is possible, if very unlikely." Morgana said in surprise as Ren nodded his agreement before he kept speaking.

"I say for now we just let things play out. Soon enough, if we're right about our current theory, Alibaba will make it clear to us. So let's, at least for the time being, allow things to unfold as Alibaba wants them to, if only so we can get Alibaba to possibly slip up and give us a hint of some sort to their identity, in case they confirm our suspicions." Ren said to Morgana, who nodded agreeably as the two decided to mull over their plans for the rest of the evening.

After a bit, Ren decided to go downstairs and do some more reading since there wasn't a whole lot else to do unless he brewed more coffee or made curry or made infiltration tools, but he had a feeling he could do any of that anytime within reason. That decided, he looked through his collection of on-hand books, blinking as he found a book titled 'Medjed Menace', which he pulled out, figuring it could be some informative reading given the current circumstances. Morgana blinked at the title but nodded as Ren started reading from the book.

"Let's see here...'Good or evil? The threat of Medjed can be felt all over the world!' Thank you, Captain Obvious." Ren deadpanned as Morgana chuckled before he spoke up.

"What are your thoughts? There's danger afoot in the internet world too, it seems." Morgana said before Ren nodded and spoke up.

"True, but I'm hoping this gives us some info we might not already have on Medjed, to be honest." Ren said as Morgana nodded, looking impressed while he spoke up.

"Whoa...I see. Well, you still got time to read. Let's go a bit further." Morgana said while Ren nodded before he spoke up to continue reading.

"I think I will. Now, where was I? Ah, yes, here we are. 'Do you have virus protection? Introducing the latest software!' For real!? Is this book just an effing ad for anti-virus software? What a ripoff! There was next to NOTHING about Medjed in there." Ren said huffily as he pouted, making Morgana nod agreeably before he spoke up.

"So, you've finished reading 'Medjed Menace'. They were like gentleman thieves, targeting evil corporations. But now they're just glory-seeking hackers. They're sort of like us Phantom Thieves, in that nobody knows exactly who they are. That section on computer security was difficult, but I'm sure you gained some Knowledge from it, Ren." Morgana said before Ren nodded as his Knowledge increased, before frowning and spoke up with a wince.

"Fair enough, but I think they also serve as a reminder for us not to get too caught up in whatever fame we achieve as Phantom Thieves, lest we fall to the same flaws that Medjed did. I think I understand more now Kusa's point about not wanting us to let fame go to our heads or be famous for the wrong reasons, at least a little." Ren said as his Knowledge got a sizable boost. Morgana nodded before he spoke up agreeably.

"That's true. Kusa's a smart man. Why do you think he's the front-runner, if not the only choice, to be second-in-command? I say front-runner since obviously, I'm a candidate to some extent too, though I accept not many of you will take me seriously in my current form. That said, it's getting kinda late. Let's hit the hay so we can be up early and ready for school tomorrow and on alert in case Alibaba reaches out again." Morgana said as Ren nodded and went to bed, getting comfortable for the night...

(The next day, between trains to school with Ren and Morgana)

"Well, only two days left until Kusa gets back. Hopefully he's enjoying not having to take the train to school as much." Ren said, making Morgana nod before he saw something, or someone, behind Ren that made his eyes widen while he spoke up to get Ren's attention.

"Indeed. But Ren? Look behind you." Morgana said before ducking into Ren's bag, making him turn around in confusion, before smiling as he saw Kasumi walk up to him, while he spoke up.

"Ah, what have we here? Morning, Kasumi. Wasn't expecting to see you this early." Ren said by way of greeting, making Kasumi smile as she nodded while speaking up.

"Agreed. But the early bird gets the worm, they say. Anyways, good morning, Ren-senpai. Ugh, every day is so hot. I empty my water bottle so fast. By the way, summer break is coming up. Can I ask what your plans are, Ren-senpai?" Kasumi asked Ren, who thought about it before speaking up honestly.

"Honestly, Kasumi? I don't have anything specific planned out at the moment, other than keeping myself out of trouble and probably just helping out around the cafe where Kusa and I are staying, maybe hang out with people as well. Why do you ask?" Ren said to Kasumi, who smiled but nodded while speaking up.

"Ah. Oh, so you're not the type to make plans in advance, I see! Then maybe we'll have a chance to practice some more! I'll be sure to give you proper instruction!" Kasumi said as Ren chuckled fondly before he spoke up.

"You say that like you haven't already been giving me great instruction, Kasumi. I understand that you're a busy lady, so you don't have the most open schedule in the world. But I welcome any time we get to spend together, regardless." Ren said charmingly as Kasumi nodded, her cheeks pinking in embarrassment slightly while she spoke up.

"If you say so, I suppose. Anyways, just let me know whenever you're available, Ren-senpai! I'll try to make it a point to fit in plenty of time for us to hang out! We've not been doing that nearly enough of late given how busy I've been with meets and such." Kasumi said as Ren nodded before speaking up.

"Will do, Kasumi. And I look forward to hanging out with you more. I agree we don't do that nearly enough. Even if all we do is train for the most part, I enjoy any chance I get to spend time with you." Ren said in what he hoped was a suave, winsome tone as Kasumi blushed slightly but nodded while she spoke up.

"Right. Oh, the train is here. Let's get going then!" Kasumi said to Ren, who nodded as they finished the trip to school together...

(That morning, in class with Ann, Ren, and Morgana)

"Hey, your phone's buzzing!" Morgana said as he pulled out his phone, thinking it was Alibaba, only to sigh slightly as it was just a private chat from Ryuji.

"Hey, did Alibaba message you?" Ryuji sent as Morgana spoke up with a sigh.

"Aw, it's just Ryuji." Morgana said as Ryuji kept sending responses.

"Nothing? Let us know ASAP if he or she tries to get in touch with you, okay?" Ryuji sent as Ren put his phone away...

(That afternoon, in a different class with Ann, Ren, and Morgana)

Ren and Morgana frowned as Ren's phone buzzed once more, making the latter sigh before he spoke up.

"Ryuji again? He just never shuts up, does he?" Morgana said to Ren, who shrugged and pulled out his phone, his eyes going wide as it was another private chat from Alibaba this time.

"Good day, Ren Amamiya." Alibaba sent as Ren frowned and sent a response.

"Good day to you as well, Alibaba, if that's really your name." Ren sent as Alibaba sent another response.

"Ah, you responded today, I see. Once again, I am Alibaba. You are the leader of the Phantom Thieves, correct?" Alibaba sent as Ren frowned before sending a response.

"Again, I can neither confirm nor deny that. But I admit to some curiosity as to your sources, since I feel like that sort of info shouldn't be that readily available." Ren sent. Alibaba then sent a response.

"Fair enough. Mm, I appreciate your honesty though, Ren. I take it you received the calling card?" Alibaba sent before Morgana spoke up.

"So it really WAS from this person." Morgana sent as Alibaba kept sending responses.

"Are you at school right now?" Alibaba sent as Ren sent a response.

"That is correct. I'm presently in class, but my day should be over fairly soon. Why do you ask?" Ren sent, figuring it was best to keep things conversational so as to hopefully keep Alibaba wanting to chat. Sure enough, Alibaba sent a response after that.

"Hm, you're a surprisingly diligent student. My source was correct on that count, it would seem. Now then, I have prepared the calling card for you. When are you going to steal it?" Alibaba sent as Ren frowned before sending a response.

"Steal from who, exactly? You told me you had a target in mind before, but you never gave me a name. I can't really promise anything if I don't know who I'm supposed to be after, Alibaba." Ren sent honestly. Alibaba frowned but sent a response.

"And what do you mean by that, Ren? Aren't you able to steal a heart as long as you have a calling card?" Alibaba sent as Morgana spoke up at that point.

"Tell him we need the name of the target." Morgana said simply as Ren sent a response.

"I'm not sure who your source is, but it would seem that they only gave you partial information. It is true that calling cards are used in the stealing of hearts. However, a calling card is useless if we don't have a name for our target. We kind of personalize our calling cards to suit each individual target we go after, as something of a professional courtesy to the target." Ren sent as Alibaba sent a response.

"A name, you say? Is your heart thievery truly impossible without such information?" Alibaba sent as Ren sent a response.

"Correct. If I don't know who I'm targeting, I can't really send an effective calling card, and the calling card is a vital part of the heart-changing process. With no name, the calling card loses quite a bit of its impact, and in turn massively diminishes the chances of a successful change of heart. And considering you're reaching out to me, I'd think you'd want the best possible chances of success, Alibaba. So all I ask is that you level with me and tell me whose heart I'm meant to be changing." Ren sent. Alibaba blinked as they sent a response.

"I see. That makes sense. Now that I think about it, the past calling cards that were shown did have the target's name on them, along with a personalized message for that target. I must say, the last two were extra well-written compared to the first. Very well, one moment please. Okay, very well. I'll tell you...I believe the name I was given for the target was Futaba Sakura. If you fail in this mission, I will expose your identity, and that of your associates, to not only the world, but also the police.

So I'd say that failure is not an option for you this time, wouldn't you agree Ren? Well then, I'll be counting on you. We shall speak again after the change of heart." Alibaba said as Ren and Morgana gasped as they read the response that basically confirmed both of their theories, albeit indirectly as the former sent another response.

"Wait. You said the target is Futaba Sakura? By chance, does the name Kusa Amamiya mean anything to you? I know he's a friend of Futaba's, so could he have put you up to this?" Ren sent, only to frown and bite back a swear word as he got another error message. Morgana frowned before he spoke up in a mix of surprise and frustration.

"Well, that basically confirms our theory about this involving Futaba, AND our theory that Kusa's probably involved in this somehow. But we still don't know if Kusa is acting as Alibaba, or if he's acting for Alibaba. Because at this point, I think we can safely assume that Alibaba is either Kusa, or Futaba Sakura herself. Especially given some of the specific things they said about our identities. That said, so he threatened you, then just took off!? And Sakura...? I feel like I've heard that name before. In any case, we should let everyone know about this." Morgana said as Ren nodded before he spoke up.

"Sakura is Boss' last name. Or were you not listening when he introduced himself to Makoto last night?" Ren pointed out to Morgana, who nodded as the two gathered the others at the hideout...

(After school, at the Accessway hideout with Yusuke, Ann, Ryuji, Ren, Morgana, Makoto and Kusa)

"We're gonna get reported if we don't do this? What the hell..." Ryuji said angrily as the group gathered at the hideout, oddly enough once more minus Kusa, while Ann spoke up, a frown on her face as she spoke.

"So the name Alibaba gave you was 'Futaba Sakura'? Where have we heard that name before?" Ann asked as Makoto blinked and spoke up.

"Wait, wasn't Sakura..." Makoto said as Ann cut her off by speaking up in wide-eyed realization.

"That's right! It's Boss' last name!" Ann said as Yusuke spoke up, having had a thought occur to him as he spoke.

"Does he have any family?" Yusuke asked Ren, who nodded.

"He has a daughter that he lives with, as I well know given how much Kusa spends time with her." Ren said as the others blinked at this and Morgana spoke up.

"Does he? I recall Kusa saying something to the effect of her being an adoptive or foster daughter if anything. But I'm guessing you mean Kusa's friend, Taba?" Morgana said to Ren, who blinked then stroked his chin in confusion as Ryuji huffed and spoke up in annoyance.

"For reals!? How laid-back are you!?" Ryuji said to Ren, though another voice would answer that question rather than Ren, as another figure walked over to the group, smirking as they spoke up.

"Considering who you're talking about, I don't think that's a fair question for you to ask, Ryuji. That said, what's this now? Why're we talking about Taba out of nowhere?" Kusa asked as he joined the others, frowning at Ryuji as he finished speaking. Ryuji blinked at Kusa before he spoke up.

"Ah, glad you made it this time, Kusa. That said, wouldn't you normally be introduced at least, Ren? I mean you ARE living at his place." Ryuji pointed out with a frown as Kusa shook his head before speaking up.

"Not true, Ryuji. We're living in Sakura-kun's place of BUSINESS, not his RESIDENCE. You do know the difference between those two things, right? Also, why would Sakura-kun go around introducing his shut-in daughter to random strangers? As it was, it was total chance that she and I met one another while I was over at Sakura-kun's house getting stuff for the cafe." Kusa said simply. Yusuke nodded to that before he spoke up.

"Good point, Kusa. Also, to be honest, Ren's situation does make things difficult as well." Yusuke said as Makoto nodded and spoke up.

"That, and the calling card was delivered to Boss' place of business, so it'd be more natural to assume this is all related." Makoto said as Kusa frowned while speaking up.

"Wait, calling card!? Hold up, did I miss something yesterday?" Kusa asked as Ren nodded before filling a surprised Kusa in on Alibaba and the calling card. Kusa gaped but nodded while he spoke up.

"I see. Well, to be fair Ren, we DO know of someone with a Palace, so it's entirely possible this is connected to that." Kusa pointed out as Makoto kept speaking.

"Fair. But also, one of the reasons for that is because Alibaba mentioned nothing about 'which' Futaba Sakura." Makoto said as Kusa gaped at the name Makoto dropped.

"So this Alibaba knows of Taba? Surprising. But it unfortunately seems to make it likelier that this might end up coming back to the fact that we found out, and by we I mean all of us here aside from Makoto who hadn't joined us yet at the time, that Taba has a Palace. So, since Taba's full name IS Futaba, it's entirely possible Alibaba means her. Though that then raises the question of HOW exactly Alibaba knows of Futaba. However, I will concede that Alibaba seems to be acting from a place of concern for her, and not a place of malicious or ill intent." Kusa said as the others blinked before Makoto nodded and spoke up again.

"Fair point, Kusa. Perhaps Alibaba thinks that the name alone is enough." Makoto said as Morgana gaped and spoke up.

"That makes sense." Morgana said as Makoto nodded and spoke up.

"I believe it's adequate for us to think that this is the doing of someone close by." Makoto said as the others nodded while Ann spoke up.

"I see." Ann said in surprise while Makoto kept speaking.

"I don't know how Alibaba got a hold of Ren-kun's smartphone information. However, since they're ordering us through chat, I do feel as though they're taunting us." Makoto said before Ryuji frowned and spoke up.

"You mean, this might be just a prank?" Ryuji said uncertainly as Kusa frowned and spoke up.

"I highly doubt it's a prank, Ryuji. After all, that'd be like saying that you trying to help out Makoto, Ann trying to help out Suzui-san, or Ren trying to help out Yoshizawa is a prank. And for the record Ryuji, that's also very rude to assume." Kusa said huffily. Makoto blinked but spoke up.

"True, but I mean look at their demands. 'Pay me if you don't want me to leak who you really are'-THAT I'd understand. But they're telling us to steal someone's heart without explaining why." Makoto said as Kusa frowned and spoke up.

"You know Makoto, sometimes not everything in life needs to have a reason behind it. After all, is there a good reason that the sky is blue, or that Sakura-kun's curry rules, or that Akechi is an insufferable prick most of the time?" Kusa pointed out dryly as Yusuke spoke up.

"Good point, Kusa. So we're being tested then?" Yusuke said as Makoto spoke up.

"Perhaps, but regardless, I think we should ask Boss about Futaba Sakura at least once." Makoto said as Kusa winced before speaking up.

"I wouldn't advise that. Taba is a bit of a sensitive subject for Sakura-kun. I got lucky he trusted me to know about her, and to a lesser extent you guys, though you don't know all the facts about her. And to be honest, I'd have to okay it with her first, but we might be near the time where I have to tell you all that I know of her, but let me just say now, what I know is neither pretty nor pleasant to hear about. So I would advise we only do that as a last resort." Kusa said warily. Morgana then surprised Kusa with what he said next.

"I agree, Makoto. I think that's probably for the best. But your advice is taken under consideration as well, Kusa. There's nothing else we can do at the moment, and Chief might have an idea on what this is about too." Morgana said as Kusa frowned and spoke up.

"Not to disagree with you Morgana-sensei, but since when do you call Sakura-kun 'Chief'!? I can see Boss, since Ann calls him that, but Chief!? That's new to me. That said, I ask you to reconsider. After all, what's to say that pursuing this idea won't piss off Sakura-kun and possibly make him lash out on Ren and I? He's a good man, but anyone would be angry if someone started nosing into their personal affairs out of nowhere! Not to mention, it's a total breach of privacy if it's done uninvited!" Kusa pointed out huffily. Makoto spoke up, seemingly ignoring Kusa's words as she spoke.

"I'll check the school's rosters just in case." Makoto said as Yusuke nodded and spoke up.

"We must make sure Boss doesn't figure out who we are. We'll have to go about this cautiously." Yusuke said as Kusa huffed and spoke up.

"Ugh, so now you're gonna ignore my suggestions and warning!? Whatever, don't come crying to me if this bites you guys right on the collective ass and Ren gets flack for it from Sakura-kun. Now, if that's all, I need to get back since I left Taba by herself at the house. I'll try to stay in contact through group chat, but otherwise I'll be back at Leblanc on the 23rd." Kusa said irately as Ren nodded and the group dispersed for the day from there...

(That evening, at Leblanc with Ren and Morgana)

Ren came into Leblanc, smiling as he saw Sojiro still there, and walked over to him, making Sojiro blink at Ren as he spoke up.

"Hm? What's up, Ren?" Sojiro asked Ren, who spoke up cautiously.

"I realize what I'm about to ask might seem out of the blue, but do you know of a Futaba Sakura? Apparently some of their mail got sent here for who knows why. I figured since your last name is Sakura, from what you told Makoto last night, maybe they're related to you?" Ren asked conversationally. Sojiro blinked at the question before frowning as he spoke up, his tone turning almost accusatory as he replied to Ren.

"Hm? Why do you know about that? Hmm...It's got nothing to do with you, Ren. That said, I'm going home. Make sure you lock up the place." Sojiro said as he walked out of Leblanc with a huff and a frown. Once he left, Morgana then spoke up.

"Looks like it's a hit." Morgana said as Ren nodded. After he and Morgana headed up to the attic to set Ren's stuff down, his phone went off while he was on the bed to signify a group chat from Ryuji, Ann, Kusa, Yusuke, and Makoto, with Ann sending the first response.

"Oh, I just remembered! Ren, were you able to ask Boss about Futaba Sakura?" Ann sent as Kusa sent a response.

"Did you seriously go through with that!?" Kusa sent as Ren sent a response, ignoring Kusa's response as he did so.

"I tried to, but he didn't want to talk. Almost turned accusatory when I asked about her. I used some excuse about someone leaving their mail in Leblanc's mailbox for some reason, but Sakura-kun shot me down immediately, saying, and I quote, 'It's got nothing to do with you, Ren!', before abruptly leaving and going home in a relative snit." Ren sent. Kusa and Yusuke sent responses close together, Kusa's coming through first.

"Of course he didn't! Not only was that tactic rude Ren, but it was asinine! Even I would've shot you down if you'd tried that around me. Has it occurred to ANY of you that there are just some things people aren't comfortable talking about to people they don't know that well?" Kusa sent bluntly as Yusuke's response came through.

"Could there be a reason as to why that was?" Yusuke sent as Makoto sent a response.

"Ignoring Kusa's apparent annoyance, I'd say Alibaba might just be our only hope of defeating Medjed. I wish we could get some info about Futaba out of Boss." Makoto sent as Kusa frowned and sent a response.

"Be careful what you wish for, Makoto. You might very well end up getting a lot more than you bargained for if you're not careful." Kusa sent. Ann sent a response.

"But trying to force it out would probably have the opposite effect." Ann sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"To be honest, I owe a great deal to both Boss and Ren. I don't wish for this to be a source of discord between them." Yusuke sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Yeah, I know just what you mean!" Ryuji sent as Makoto sent a response.

"It's probably best to wait for Boss to bring the subject up himself." Makoto sent as Kusa sent a response at that point.

"Heh, good luck with that. He hasn't even trusted ME with that info, and I hang out with Futaba a lot. But, from what little I have gotten out of Futaba herself, there's good reason for that. As the saying goes, 'sometimes things are better off left unsaid', or in this case, unasked. So don't go poking around for answers unless you're prepared for the possibility of said answers being both painful and brutal to hear.

Also, might I suggest we try NOT getting Ren into a mountain of trouble with Sakura-kun? I'm only gone for like two more days, so hopefully Ren can stay out of trouble that long, though I trust Morgana to keep him in line." Kusa sent bluntly as Ren put his phone away at that point with a frown, deciding to go downstairs and read to get his mind off of Kusa's ominous warning. He then pulled out his copy of 'Ghost Encounters' to read it. Morgana got comfy to listen in as Ren started reading it.

"Okay, let's see here...'And the next moment, we totally saw a ghost!' Ugh, what is this, Scooby freaking Doo!?" Ren said as Morgana winced and spoke up.

"Ugh, whoa, why are you reading that? Whatever you do, just don't read it out loud, okay? That said, you still have time, so keep going." Morgana said as Ren frowned.

"You can go upstairs if you don't want to hear it, but I'm reading it out loud. Now where was I? Ah yes, here we are. 'There were words written on the blackboard at the abandoned school...' Seriously? This is a ghost story!? I've heard scarier stories from Kusa." Ren said as he finished reading through 'Ghost Encounters' as Morgana winced and spoke up.

"For real!? So, you've finished reading 'Ghost Encounters'. Ah, these stories are way too spooky for me. Don't talk to me about any of them, okay?" Morgana said as Ren smirked and spoke up.

"Aww, is Morgana afraid of ghosts? Don't worry, I'll keep the scary ghosties away from you, Morgana." Ren said with a laugh. Morgana huffed and spoke up.

"That's not funny, Ren! Although, come to think of it, you do seem a lot more dependable now that you've read them." Morgana said to Ren, who nodded as his Guts increased a good bit from reading 'Ghost Encounters'. Morgana then sighed as he spoke up.

"Ugh, well I guess we should go to sleep. It's not healthy to stay up too late at night, you know." Morgana said as Ren nodded, idly wondering as he got comfortable for the night how Kusa was holding up...

(Around that same time, at the Sakura house with Kusa and Futaba)

"Well, that's step 2 done. Though, I question the collective wisdom of the others. I mean, HOW does asking Sojiro about you make ANY sense!? Even I know that's a sore subject for him, if only because of how much crap you've been through in your life already. But hopefully this will all pay off in the long run, and end with you having a change of heart and being able to finally come out of that shell of yours, Taba. I look forward to the day when you can actually smile about stuff and not be constantly haunted by your past, because you don't deserve that at all." Kusa said as Futaba nodded before speaking up.

"True. But everything is proceeding to plan. Now, we just have to subtly guide the others into looking for my 'Palace', as you put it, to start the heart-changing process. Mwehehe, it helps knowing a man on the inside, as it were, since that speeds the process along a lot. The fact that it's someone I consider myself somewhat close to is just a bonus." Futaba said happily as she snuggled up with Kusa on the hide-a-bed while they watched TV together, Kusa nodding before he spoke up.

"Good point. Though I admit that I find myself frustrated with how absolutely idiotically they're going about things without me around. I thought that Makoto, at least, would have the sense to know which lines not to cross. But as usual, I'm the only one in that group, barring maybe Morgana-sensei, with any common sense. Ugh. At least you're both smart and pretty, Taba." Kusa said honestly as he put an arm around Futaba happily, who smiled as she leaned into Kusa's hold, enjoying the close proximity to him.

"That's true. Sorry I keep falling asleep on you when we cuddle like this, but in my defense you're so comfy it's hard not to fall asleep on you." Futaba said sheepishly as Kusa laughed and spoke up.

"You don't need to apologize, Taba. I'm flattered you feel that comfortable around me. Besides, Sojiro already gave his approval of us, so it's not like we have to hide that we're comfortable around one another while we're here. So now we just have to hope for the best. Luckily, I head back to Leblanc day after tomorrow, so I can have a more hands-on involvement in guiding the others through your Palace. I just hope we won't find anything TOO rough inside it while we search for your Treasure. But I give you my word, Taba, we WILL find your Treasure without fail. If nothing else, you deserve that much consideration from us." Kusa said honestly as Futaba nodded happily before gently patting Kusa on the arm and smiling at him while she spoke up.

"I know I can trust you, Kusa. If I didn't, would I have asked you for your help?" Futaba said impishly to Kusa before giggling mischievously as she looked into his eyes and spoke up.

"Yep, you've got honest eyes, Kusa. I can definitely trust you." Futaba said as Kusa nodded, the two relaxing as they spent the rest of the night watching movies and falling asleep together, making Sojiro chuckle as he returned home to find Futaba asleep on Kusa, an oddly content smile on her face as she laid with him, making Sojiro chuckle as he knew that Futaba was already quite smitten with Kusa, even if she wouldn't admit to it. He left the two be as he headed off to his room to ponder Ren's odd inquiry into Futaba...

(The next morning, on the walk to school with Ren, Morgana and Ryuji)

"Yo." Ryuji said to Ren as he walked up to Ren and Morgana, the not-cat blinking as he poked his head out of Ren's bag. Ryuji kept speaking at that point once he had Ren's attention.

"Tomorrow's the end of the first semester, but we still got all this lame shit comin' up..." Ryuji said huffily as Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"If you don't take care of this 'lame shit' as you put it, you can kiss your summer vacation goodbye." Morgana said as Ryuji spoke up again.

"Oh yeah, about this Futaba Sakura girl...If she's related to Boss, think people living nearby would know about her?" Ryuji asked as Ren blinked at this but nodded while he spoke up.

"That's definitely possible, if nothing else Ryuji. Good idea." Ren said as Morgana nodded his agreement while speaking up.

"That's some keen intuition coming from you, Ryuji. You should have made use of that on your exams." Morgana said teasingly as Ryuji groaned while speaking up.

"Ugh, I never wanna think about exams ever again..." Ryuji said huffily before he kept speaking.

"Anyways, askin' around in your neighborhood might be the fastest way to figure this shit out. Then again, I doubt it'll be that easy. It never is..." Ryuji said as he and Ren finished the walk to school together...

(That morning, in class with Ren, Morgana and Ann)

"Tch, summer vacation starts the day after tomorrow, but don't forget...There's an urgent assembly on Monday. We'll be taking attendance. There's been an unusual number of strange incidents this year. Don't do anything stupid over break. Got it? Don't go someplace shady like the red-light district, and don't go to the beach after dark." Ushimaru said as Morgana spoke up so only Ren could hear, making Ren laugh with what he said.

"I wanna go to the beach...I wanna jump into some cold water...Seems like we won't be having fun on our summer break for a while." Morgana said as Ren nodded as the rest of class proceeded uneventfully...

(After school, with Ren and Morgana)

"Ugh, Ryuji might be right. We don't have a single clue. Might as well try-we've got nothing to lose! Let's head to Yongen and gather info around the neighborhood!" Morgana said to Ren who reluctantly nodded and headed to Yongen to do some fact-finding...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: Wow, that was a long one to type out. I had to split it up over two days because I kept getting interrupted while typing the chapter, but it's done. And boy howdy, did a lot of stuff make it into here, between the first appearances of 'Alibaba', the first bits of the mystery surrounding the Sakuras, and even a lot of other characters appearing, plus a few Confidant rank-ups for good measure.

Had a bit of everything, I'd say. That said, hopefully you're enjoying the story so far. if so, feel free to leave me a review or PM me with your thoughts/feedback/constructive criticism on the story thus far, and feel free to follow/favorite this story as it lets me see who's all into the story. Any support is greatly appreciated! That said, until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!

NOTES

*1* - For the record, I myself don't actually know karate in real life, so I don't have a lot of knowledge of it, but I had Kusa testing for a black belt since I don't know what the ranks below that are, so if anyone wants to tell me that in the reviews that would be great since I couldn't find anything on it when I tried to Google that for the chapter. That said, Kusa is a good martial artist, even if he's not had a good chance to demonstrate it as of yet. But in time, it will be demonstrated. Be sure of that.

*2* - This is a roughly educated guess on my part as to how this feature works, but it seems to be accurate, considering that 'Special Treatment' seemed to be increasingly costly the larger the gap between Ren's level and the Persona that he'd attempt to summon that I saw, to the point that a level 39 summon at the time of unlocking Special Treatment was earmarked to set Ren back well upwards of 50,000 yen and he was around 10 levels lower than the Persona's level.

That Persona, for anyone curious? It was Unicorn, who is low-key one of the, at least in my opinion, most underrated Personas in the game, since if you give it a good enough moveset, it can carry you quite a ways into the game once you summon it, despite the fairly early level it has when summoned (at least compared to the levels of most late-game Persona summons), so it's not a bad investment.

Especially so, since it's one of a small handful of Personas I know of that can learn both Kougaon AND Samarecarm by level, rather than with a skill card. Not to mention, it makes for a good embodiment of the Faith arcana IMO, what with that whole adage about unicorns and maidens that suggests that they more commonly appear before pure maidens. Granted, unless you've played the PS1 game Suikoden, you might not really get what I'm referring to there, but given the gist of that adage, I'd believe it tracks.

CONFIDANT RANKS AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 39

FOOL (Igor/Prison Master) : Rank 6

MAGICIAN (Morgana/Mona) : Rank 5

PRIESTESS (Makoto/Queen) : Rank 2

EMPEROR (Yusuke/Fox) : Rank 4

HIEROPHANT (Sojiro) : Rank 4

LOVERS (Ann/Panther) : Rank 5

CHARIOT (Ryuji/Skull) : Rank 5

JUSTICE (Akechi) : Rank 5

STRENGTH (Caroline and Justine/Twin Wardens) : Rank 5

DEATH (Takemi/Back-Alley Doctor) : Rank 6

TEMPERANCE (Kawakami) : Rank 2

STAR (Hifumi) : Rank 2

MOON (Mishima) : Rank 4

SUN (Yoshida/Man Of The People) : Rank 5

JUDGMENT (Sae/Prosecutor) : Rank 1

WORLD (Kusa/Draconis) : Rank 4

FAITH (Kasumi/Yoshizawa) : Rank 3

COUNCILLOR (Maruki) : Rank 5

YET TO BE UNLOCKED: FORTUNE, DEVIL, HANGED MAN, HERMIT, EMPRESS, TOWER