A/N: Howdy, folks. I apologize for the long wait for what seems to be so little. Ideas didn't flow so easily this year as they did last year. So, sit back and enjoy, as the Bizarre Adventure continues.

Chapter 18:

Tuesday, 5/17/20XX, After School

Jolyne stood on the sidewalk, looking up at Madarame's atelier, alone save for Morgana in her bag. Ann had gone to check on Shiho, and Ryuji had been acting weird, choosing to go straight home following the end of school. She should probably follow up on that later, but for now, the youngest living Joestar was walked up to the door and knocked three times. Jolyne waited for a moment, before the door opened to reveal Yusuke. As soon as he saw her, Yusuke's face brightened up.

"Ah, Cujoh-san. I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon." Yusuke greeted, and looked around her. "You…didn't bring the loud one, did you?"

"No, it's just me." She replied, the artist let out a small sigh of relief. "Sorry to come over without warning this time. I just wanted to apologize for how we acted the other day."

"Please, don't worry yourself. After talking with Sensei about the matter, I realize now that having concerns is only natural. If anything, I should be apologizing for my own behavior." Yusuke reassured her, and Jolyne just chuckled.

"So, I guess that means we're even." She responded, and Yusuke gave a small smile. "Now, you still wanna paint me, right?"

"Of course. Please, come in." Kitagawa beckoned, and Jolyne stepped inside the shack.

"So, you and Madarame both live here?" Jolyne asked as she looked around the narrow halls of the atelier.

"That is correct, though Sensei has a studio in the city he occasionally sleeps at when he gets too busy." Yusuke responded, beginning to lead Jolyne through the shack.

"And you're the only pupil he has?" At this question, Jolyne noticed that Yusuke faltered slightly.

"There have been others, but you must understand that art can often be cruel and brutal, and Sensei is a tough master. Many are unable to handle the…pressure, instead choosing to live more mundane lives." Yusuke explained.

So, most of Madarame's pupils burn out? Interesting… Jolyne noted, as Yusuke lead her into a small room that was littered with paint supplies, with a canvas in the center of the room and a stool.

"Pardon the mess. I was not expecting you to come today." Kitagawa apologized, but Jolyne just waved him off.

"Don't worry about it. My place isn't any better." Jolyne reassured, and Yusuke gestured to a stool in the middle of the room.

"Fortunately, I had already picked out the colors I believe will best suit you. Please, have a seat there, and we will begin in a moment." He instructed, and Jolyne obliged, setting her bag down on the ground and sitting on the stool. Yusuke took a minute to settle on the proper brushes and paint colors, occasionally holding his hands as if he was making a picture frame. "Yes, that's it. Please, hold that pose for as long as you can."

"Like this?" Jolyne asked, sitting up straight with her hands on her lap, and Yusuke nodded.

"Yes, that's perfect." He responded, and began picking out the type of brush he would be using. After about a minute, the blue haired artist had begun, and Jolyne cleared her throat.

"So...what exactly is it like studying under a famous artist like Madarame?" She asked, but she got no response. "Right, probably not a good question to ask given how things went yesterday. Well then...so it's just you living here? Madarame doesn't have any other pupils?" Again, Jolyne was met with silence for a solid minute. Curious, Jolyne glanced over at Yusuke, and from the expression on his face, one might think he was in another world. "Yusuke?" Yet again, there was no response from the young artist, who was laser focused on the canvas in front of him.

"It's no use. He's in a totally different world right now." Morgana piped from his spot in the bag. "So much for our plan."

"Good grief…" Jolyne sighed out. The plan the two had come up with the night before was for Jolyne to show up to Yusuke's door, apologize, and start modelling for him, hoping that her sudden appearance, apology, and focus on painting would cause Yusuke to lower his guard and answer a few of their questions. Unfortunately, the duo had underestimated just HOW focused Yusuke would be on his painting.

"He's like a machine...is this a result of Madarame's discipline, or is he just like this?" Morgana wondered aloud, while Yusuke continued to paint away.

"Well, this is going nowhere…" Jolyne said, when she got an idea. "Hey, why don't you go look around? Madarame shouldn't be home for a while, so see if you can find anything that stands out." She suggested, and her cat-like companion nodded at his caretaker's suggestion.

"Sounds like a good plan. Even in this body, I should be able to at least see if he's hiding anything." Morgana replied, and Stone Free materialized, unzipping the bag and allowing Morgana to quickly exit the bag and dart out of the room. The sudden movement caused Yusuke to momentarily look up.

"Did you just see something?"

"Hm? No, I didn't see anything." Jolyne feigned, and Yusuke just shrugged, placing his attention back on the canvas. Jolyne let out a sigh of relief as she returned to her pose.

Talk about a close one… Jolyne thought to herself, as she stared at the wall. I wonder what everyone else is doing…

Elsewhere

"Alright, now...appear!" Ryuji shouted into his empty apartment. He concentrated and he strained...but nothing appeared. "Get on out here!" Still nothing. "Dammit!" The former track star cursed out, collapsing onto his couch in frustration. Ever since Ryuji had seen that transparent arm manifest out of nowhere the night before, he'd been uncertain if what he'd seen had been real or not. So, Ryuji was trying to duplicate the experience, but so far he'd had no luck. He was starting to think it was just his tired mind playing tricks on him. Resigning himself to that fact, Ryuji obeyed his grumbling stomach and headed towards the kitchen heading for a snack. As he approached the refrigerator, he accidentally tripped over his own foot and slammed into the fridge, knocking a rather hefty decorative tray off the edge of the fridge and hurdling towards Ryuji. Before he had the time to brace himself, a yellow and brown arm appeared out of nowhere, grabbing the tray and keeping it from harming Ryuji. When Ryuji looked and saw the slightly transparent humanoid figure it was attached to, Ryuji smirked. "Now that's more like it!"

Shibuya, Underground Mall

"You're coming back?!" Ann blurted out in the middle of the underground shopping center, unable to control her volume.

"Ann, keep it down!" Shiho beckoned.

"Right, sorry…" Ann apologized, before lowering her voice. "But you're seriously coming back to Shujin? That's great! I know everyone'll be really happy to see you!" The blonde cheered, and Shiho softly smiled at that.

"Thanks, Ann. Because of...what happened, my parents wanted me to go to somewhere like Kosei, but…" Shiho swallowed the lump in her throat. "...but I don't want to run." Ann smiled at her best friend's resolve, seeing a determination in those brown eyes that she hadn't seen in quite a long time.

"I'll be there for you every step of the way. And I know that Ryuji and Jolyne will be there too!" Ann reassured, and Shiho smiled. She remembered Sakamoto from middle school, and even though they hadn't really spoken in a while, he had always seemed nice enough, even if he was a little...vulgar at times. And Jolyne...Shiho didn't really know what to think of her. There were all those nasty rumors floating around about her, but Shiho didn't really put much stock in those, and when Shiho had spoken to her shortly before the...incident...the transfer student had seemed nice enough. And when Shiho had woken up, miraculously healed of all injuries, Jolyne had been there along with Ann and the man with the strange hair. As if that wasn't enough to make the transfer student stand out to the former volleyball player, there was that strange look Ann got in her eyes whenever she talked about Jolyne…

This was going to be interesting indeed.

Bunkyo, The Speedwagon Foundation

In his top floor office, Ikari was sitting at his desk when the door opened, signalling the entrance of one of the Foundation's researchers. "Sir, the tests have come back on Matsumoto." The researcher said, walking over to Ikari's desk and handing him the file.

"And?" The branch head said as he took the files, opening them up and beginning to read them.

"Well, as you can see, our scans have determined that there are no signs of brain damage, making it highly unlikely that his amnesia was caused by the injuries he suffered at the hands of Cujoh-san and Higashikata-san." The researcher reported, and Ikari stroked his chin.

"And he shows no signs of faking it?" Ikari asked, and the researcher shook his head.

"We sent agents to his hometown to inquire about his history. When our interrogators brought up these details, he still showed no signs of recognition." The researcher explained, and Ikari folded his fingers in front of him.

"Hmmm...I believe we've been approaching Matsumoto's amnesia by the wrong means. Given all the details we have, I believe it may have been caused by the work of a Stand." Ikari stated, and the researcher frowned. "Have our agents begin searching through our files. See if there's anyone in Japan with the ability to affect memories."

"Yes sir." With that the researcher left, and Ikari frowned.

If my hunch is correct, and Matsumoto's memories were taken away by another Stand user, then his assault of Higashikata and Cujoh wasn't an attack of opportunity. He was working with someone, and that someone didn't want him to talk. And if that's the case...I'm afraid that this is far from over. Ikari thought to himself, getting out and looking out his office window at Tokyo, unable to shake the menacing feeling he was starting to get. There's something evil lurking in this city. And I'm afraid it's just getting started.

The Atelier

Morgana was still wandering through the halls of the shack, looking for anything that looked as if it could be hiding something. Unfortunately, Morgana had had no luck, as most of the rooms in the atelier seemed like they had been abandoned. Judging from what he had found, Madarame truly did live with only the bare minimum, not even owning a TV or a computer. "Does a Palace owner really live here? It's so...modest." Morgana said to himself, and let out a sigh. "I guess it was too much to hope that Madarame would leave evidence just lying around like that. That would've been too...wait, what's that?" The thing that had grabbed Morgana's attention was a closed door, same as the others in the shack. However, there was one thing that set this apart from the others: the rather elaborate peacock design on the door. "Hmmmm. I wonder…" With that, the dimunitive thief moved closer to examine it. Squinting his bright blue eyes, the 'cat' jumped up, grabbing on the lock and holding on with his paws. It was a thick, metallic lock, but it was one Morgana could have easily picked…had they been in the Metaverse, where he had opposable thumbs and tools. But sadly, in the real world, all he had were his claws. But maybe if he had some tools…

Jolyne was convinced that she was dead. She must have died against Kamoshida or Matsumoto, or maybe even some random accident, and she was being tortured for some grevious misdeed.. That was the only excuse she could think of as to why she was trapped in the hell that was modeling for Yusuke, a task that required her to sit completely still for what seemed like months, but, as revealed by using Stone Free to check her phone, had only been about half an hour. She had to remain completely motionless, and trying to get a conversation out of Yusuke was like talking to a brick wall. "Good grief…" She groaned out, impatiently tapping her foot. She was about to ask Yusuke how much longer it was going to take, when Morgana finally came back in. "Finally! Did you find anything?" Jolyne asked, making sure to keep her voice low so as not to disturb Yusuke.

"Unfortunately, I didn't find much. There's a door with a lock on it, but I don't have the tools to open it with me." Morgana explained, and Jolyne raised an eyebrow.

"A lock?" She furrowed her eyebrows as she began to think. "I could use Stone Free to pick it, but it's way out of my range."

"Maybe, but how are we going to get over there? You can't pick the lock if you can't see it…" Morgana suggested…when Yusuke sighed. Panicking, Morgana quickly scrambled into Jolyne's bag as Yusuke turned his attention back to his muse.

"I'm terribly sorry, Cujoh-san, but I can't seem to start in a satisfying manner." Kitagawa apologized, and Jolyne just gave a reassuring smile.

"It's fine. Take your time."

"I don't know what I expected, honestly. Trying to do a nude painting with a clothed subject? I should have known better…" The skinny artist lamented.

"It's really no problem. I-" Jolyne started to reassure, when what Yusuke said clicked in her head.

Nude portrait.

As in a painting of Jolyne.

Naked.

"EHHHHH?!" She exclaimed, startling Yusuke. "What kind of sick scam are you running here, Yusuke?!"

"Hm? Is something the matter?"

"Is something the-? I didn't agree to a naked painting of myself!" Jolyne shouted, and a light went off in Yusuke's head as he realized where he had gone wrong.

"Ah, I see the problem. Allow me to apologize for not being clearer. There are few things as beautiful as the human form, and when I saw you in the subway, I thought you would be a perfect muse for my first painting of this kind."

"And you didn't mention this upfront because…?"

"Because I believed I could accomplish my goal without necessitating any actual nude modeling. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I was foolish to think my skills were that advanced…" He lamented, while the blushing Jolyne just folded her arms. "You must believe me, my intentions were not impure. My interest never stemmed from a place of lust, rather a place of artistic longing." Jolyne just continued to glare at him, almost ready to storm out with her bag and never talk to Yusuke again…but then a thought occurred in Jolyne's mind. One that was more than a little underhanded, and one she wasn't particularly proud of…but she had no other option if she and the others wanted to know the truth.

"…alright. I'll stick around." She said, and Yusuke's eyes widened. However, before he could speak, she held up a finger. "On one condition. You answer one question of mine, with nothing but the complete, honest truth." Yusuke sat silent as he thought it over for a moment…before he nodded.

"Very well. If that is what it takes. Ask your question."

"Who painted that painting we saw at the exhibition? The one that I thought represented Madarame's anger." The Stand user asked, and Yusuke's eyes widened. "Don't think I didn't notice how you reacted when we were looking at it. Like there was something you wanted to say, but couldn't. I'd very much like to hear what that was." Yusuke remained silent during her question, staring at the floor. There was silence in the air for a minute, and Jolyne sighed. She went to go grab her bag off the ground.

"…I am the one who painted that." Yusuke was visibly shaking as he spoke, and Jolyne felt a tad guilty for forcing the information out of him like this. "That painting…I am the one who created it, right here in this very room."

"So the rumors are true, then? That Madarame's plagiarizing his pupils?" Jolyne asked, and Yusuke's head bolted up.

"It's not what you think! I…I volunteered this for Sensei to claim as his own, of my own free will." The lanky artist revealed, causing the Phantom Thieves' leader's eyes to widen. "You must understand. The exhibition was fast approaching, and Sensei had no new work to unveil. At his age, the ideas don't flow as easily as they once did, and I could tell he was despondent. So, I…I told him he could use my painting." Yusuke explained, Jolyne listening intently.

"And you're not bothered by this at all? Someone else taking your own hard work, something you clearly poured your heart and soul into, and passing it off as their own?" Jolyne asked.

"Of course I'm bothered by it. But after everything Sensei did for me, taking me in when I had nothing and raising me as his own…how could I not help him in his hour of need?" Yusuke explained, and Jolyne grit her teeth. This wasn't the information she'd expected to get…but at least now she understood Yusuke a little bit more. "And while Sensei has been known to get…passionate in his teachings at times, I can assure you that he has never once laid a hand on me." He was telling the truth, that much was obvious. But at the same time, Jolyne couldn't just ignore the existence of the Palace. Something was clearly up with Madarame, but it was clear that Yusuke didn't know anything, or rather chose not to see it. Regardless, it was clear that she wasn't going to get any more information this way. Besides, she'd already overstepped her boundaries enough as it was.

"…I think I should go." Jolyne said after a minute of silence. "I'll…I'll think on if I still wanna do this."

"Yes, I…I do believe that is for the best." Yusuke agreed, as his muse began collecting her bag. As he began escorting her through the shack, they passed the door with the golden peacock on it, something Jolyne made sure to note. "Have a good day, Cujoh-san."

"You too, Yusuke." She said, and Yusuke nodded as he closed the door. "Good grief, that didn't go as well as I thought it would…" Jolyne sighed out, as Morgana stuck his head out of her bag.

"Still, it wasn't a complete wash. We got confirmation that the plagiarism rumors are true." He said.

"True, but according to Yusuke, it was completely voluntary. Still, that's better than nothing…" Jolyne sighed out, as she began walking towards the station.

"What do you think's behind that big door?" Morgana asked, and Jolyne shrugged.

"No clue, but it's definitely something important. We should keep an eye out for something like that when we're in the Palace."

"So you want to move forward with Madarame as our target?" Jolyne nodded at this, as she boarded the train back towards Yongen-Jaya.

"Yeah, I do. He needs to go down."

Evening, Yongen-Jaya

Once she was changed into her evening clothes, Jolyne sat on her bed, getting her phone out and messaging the other Phantom Thieves.

JC:Kitagwa admitted to me that the plagiarism rumors are true

RS: For real?! Dude was like a brick wall the other day!

AT: How'd you manage to get him to admit to it?

JC: It was a trade. If I agreed to do a favor for him, he would answer one question for me.

AT: Well, I guess that's one way to do it…

RS: So what was the favor?

JC: That's not important

RS: Well it had to be something if it made Kitagawa rat on Madarame like that

JC: ...I gotta be a model for a painting

JC: A uh...nude painting

AT: WHAT?

RS: I knew that dude was a creep!

RS: He's lucky we weren't there, or I would've beat him to a pulp!

JC: Calm down, Ryuji.

JC: He's an artist, not a pervert.

JC: He just thought that he could paint it while I kept my clothes on

JC: So I appreciate that

JC: I think…

RS: So...what now?

RS: Palace?

AT: We should definitely try and take down Madarame before his exhibition ends

AT: Otherwise we'll lose the whole point of why we picked him.

JC: The exhibition runs through the rest of the month, so we've got time.

RS: So I guess we're meeting tomorrow?

AT: Seems like it. See you guys then!