After the Storm.


The Thieves found themselves in the alley close to the school, tired and barely able to stand due to both the fight against Kamoshida and the run after the Castle started to collapse.

"That… Sucked…" - Ann said in between panting.

As they got back up on their feet, Ryuji heard a sound from his phone - "Hey, everyone look" -

The rest of the Thieves pulled out their phones and opened the Nav. "Destination deleted".

"That means we can't go there anymore…" - Ann said right after.

"Good riddance, I never want to go back to that place ever again" - Tachibana spoke.

"Wait, what about the Treasure?" - Morgana asked as he jumped to Ren's shoulder.

"I got it" - the black haired boy pulled a gold medal from behind him.

"A… Medal?" -

"Wasn't it supposed to be a crown?" - Mash said right after Fujimaru.

"That must be the source of Kamoshida's Desire, it's an olympic medal" - Morgana explained to the rest - "It's worth as much as the crown to him" -

"So, that perv kept clinging to his old glory and couldn't let it go" - Ryuji said as he grabbed the medal.

"But… Does that mean Kamoshida's heart changed?" - Ann asked.

"... Probably" -

"What do you mean probably? Our expulsion is on the line here!" - Ryuji yelled to Morgana.

"This is the first successful example for me too!" - Morgana defended himself - "However, there's no doubt that this has affected Kamoshida's personality greatly. The Palace was destroyed after all" -

"So what now? What can we do?" - Ritsuka asked.

"Agh, I'm feelin' all angsty, isn't there a way to check now?" -

"Calm down Ryuji, we'll find out soon enough. We have to be calm and patient" - Ren said to his friend.

"Right…" -

"Hey, what's with the gloomy faces? You should be happy, our mission was a great success!" - Morgana said to try and cheer the rest up.

"We just don't know if everything's ok yet or not" -

"I'm pretty sure it will be fine. After all, Kamoshida's Shadow said he would return to his real self" - Morgana jumped from Ren's shoulder to the ground - "We all know Kamoshida is scum, but even so… He did seemed to regain his consciousness before disappearing" -

"I'm sure everything will work out. Our effort won't be for nothing, you'll see" - Ren spoke after Morgana.

"Just remember, there are definitely people that will be saved because of what we done" -

"He's right…" - Ann said with a smile on his face.

"Well, I guess we gotta wait now. It all boils down to what will happen to Kamoshida… Or if we'll get expelled" -

"Don't worry Ryuji, nothing will happen to you" - Mash said as she put her hand on the boy's shoulder and smiled.

"For now, we should all go back home and rest" - Ren said and everyone agreed.

Ren, Ritsuka, Tachibana and Mashu returned to LeBlanc, finding Sojiro cleaning the bar and the cups.

"Ah, you're back" - he said as he turned to look at them - "By the way, you three, how long are you going to be staying here? You can't be angry at your parents forever" -

Ritsuka and Mashu started to become nervous, but lucky for them, Tachibana had the gift of quick thinking on her side.

"We've been trying to talk to them, but they don't listen to us. We want to fix things but they refuse to listen" -

"What did you guys do to piss them off like that… Well, you know our deal. Help with the stuff here and you can stay" -

"You two can go rest, I'll help for the night" - Tachibana said as Ritsuka and Mashu went to the attic, followed soon after by Ren.

"Craziest. Day. Ever" - Fujimaru said as he lay on the couch - "I can't believe all of this happened, I still can't" -

"Do you think everything will be alright with Kamoshida?" - Mash asked as she sat next to Ritsuka.

"It will be. We did everything like we had to, now we just wait" -

"By the way, Ren, Ann said something about Shiho when Shadow Kamoshida was preparing to jump, what did that mean?" -

"Ritsuka… I can't tell you if she doesn't want me to, if you want to know you better ask her tomorrow" -

"I probably should've done that before we went home…" -

"Well, everything's done now. Sojiro cleaned most by himself before we came here, there wasn't much to do now" - Tachibana said as she got up to the attic - "What's going on?" -

"Nothing, we're just talking about the stuff that happened today" - Mash answered.

The girl went directly to the bed and sat there, while Ren took a seat on his nearby table.

"Now we just wait" -

"How long exactly?" -

"2 weeks until the assembly. I'm a bit surprised honestly, we made it through the Palace pretty quick after meeting you three" -

"What can I say Ren? We got a gift for stuff like this" - Tachibana said as she looked at the boy "And we…" -

Before she could finish talking, she started to feel an intense headache, which Ritsuka and Mashu felt too. Moments later, it became so intense they fell to the ground in pain. Ren, scared and confused, called Sojiro for help as the three continued in that state.

While like that, they could feel as if they were gaining 'something'. No… Not gaining, remembering.

The sight of white hallways, figures walking alongside them, sights they could remember and yet didn't. And what they felt was most important, a name…

"Roman…" -

Sojiro quickly came and together with Ren, helped them all back up as they slowly recovered.

"What happened to you three!?" - Sojiro yelled as he carried Ritsuka to the couch.

"I… I don't… Know…" - the boy answered weakly.

"We… Saw…" - Tachibana tried to say, but she couldn't finish her sentence.

"Saw what?" - Ren asked, but got no answer. The 3 fell soon asleep.

"These kids… What's with them? I can't stay here and keep watch over them all night, I need to get home. Do you think you can take care of them?" -

"Sure, go and rest, I'll handle them" -

"Thanks, see you tomorrow" -

Ren then made sure to put all of them in a comfortable position and put blankets over them as they slept.

"Do you think this was caused because of what happened in the Metaverse today?" - Morgana asked as he came from under Ren's bed - "You need to clean down there by the way" -

"I don't think so, do you think that's what could've happened?" -

"Not quite. The Metaverse may still hold a lot of mysteries but I see no reason as to why our battle in Kamoshida's Castle caused them to have… Well, that" -

"We'll have to ask them tomorrow morning, can you help me keep watch on them?" -

"I'll do my best, but don't blame me if I fall asleep at one point" -

As such, Ren and Morgana stayed taking care of the 3 as they recovered from the recent event. They couldn't tell why they had such strange visions, nor why in dreams they kept coming back again and again, but they knew that it was important.

After a while, Ritsuka and Tachibana started to slowly open their eyes, but didn't find themselves in the attic of LeBlanc, which confused them greatly. The fact that their clothes were replaced with the ones a prisoner would use didn't help at all.

"The two new inmates have arrived?" - a deep voice asked far from them.

The first one to stand up was Tachibana, who noted they were inside a jail cell together, their arms and legs held by chains.

"Hey, you creep! Let us out of here!" - she yelled, but someone hit the cell with a metal baton.

"Know your place, inmate!" - a small girl on one side of the cell yelled - "To think we'd have to deal with two more besides him" -

"Settle down Caroline. Our duty is to help all who need rehabilitation" - another small girl spoke from the opposite side.

As the two talked, Ritsuka got up from the ground as well and stood next to Tachibana.

"Good, you're both awake" - the deep voice said. In front of the cell, there was a desk, with a chair facing the opposite direction, which turned to face them as the voice finished speaking, revealing an old man with a… Quite large nose - "My name is Igor, welcome to my Velvet Room" -