Chapter 25: Art is a Lie That...
{R}
"Ann...?"
"... Yeah?"
"You do know everyone's going to stare at you dressed like that, right?"
"Well what else am I supposed to do...?!" Ann said as low as possible as she glanced away.
Well, that was true, but...
Ren eyed the people staring at Ann who, currently, was wearing eleven shirts and five or so pants, looking like a poor cosplay of the mascot of that tire company, Boire Man.
"You could've just brought the clothes in a bag and then I could help you put them on right before you go inside."
He had done something similar with his own getup. He had changed into his delinquent disguise—which consisted of a red bandana, sunglasses, a spare Shujin blazer worn inside out, Aki's khaki cargo pants, rolled up sleeves and pant legs and no socks for his loafers—after leaving Leblanc and finding a public restroom, so that neither Sojiro would question him nor rumors would spread around Yongen.
From Ann's defeated expression, Ren could tell she hadn't even thought of that.
"Oh... Yeah..."
Ren chuckled with amused smile as he said,
"Don't feel so bad. It's a good idea for stalling, no matter where you preped for it."
The natural blonde looked at him, dubious yet hopeful. "Really?"
"Really."
Admittedly it was only a gut feeling, but considering how oblivious Kitagawa-san was...there was at least a very good chance of him not realizing the intent behind the multi-layered makeshift hazmat suit.
And then a certain someone said, "Of course Lady Ann. All of your ideas are magnificent."
Ren gave Mona a deadpan stare. He was glad he paid the pet fare this time. He didn't need two reasons for people staring at them.
Thankfully he could get his mind off of his annoyance as Ann determination returned and she said,
"All right. I'll do my best."
He nodded in acknowledgement.
She managed to not lose that fire as he helped her get off the train and make her way to Madarame's shack. He pointedly glared at anyone who even glanced their way so that she wouldn't be uncomfortable. Before Ann rang the bell though, he said,
"Just shout for trouble. I'll come help."
The girl smiled. "Thanks. I'll remember that."
With that, he gave her his bag with Mona and then went to the sidewalk across the street to sit on its railings. Copying the manager of Untouchable, he put a lolipop in his mouth but held it as if it was a cigarette, before he donned the most intimidating expression he could manage for his finishing touch.
Now all he had to do was wait.
Despite what he was disguising himself as, it was still fun trying not to chuckle as his disguise worked on passersby.
At least this time, it was because he wanted them to see him that way.
(A)
Rogue waited, sitting down on the tiles cross legged. Normally she would be worrying over what could go wrong, especially in an operation like this, but Skull was doing that for her out loud, listing everything she had already thought of. Would they be able to pull it off? Was Ann capable of handling her part? And how were they going to show the door opening to Madarame? These were just some of the points she thought and he gave voice to.
So she said,
"Oh come on Skull. Why you worryin' like that? That's Joker's job since he's leader and my big brother."
Her attempt at humor did little but make him groan. "I can't help it. It's just...it's almost time, right?"
She double checked with her phone. "Yeah."
"Let's hope they do it on time."
She hoped so too.
{R}
With the candy itself consumed, it was a lot easier for Ren to pull it out and continue to pretend it was a cigarette instead of timing it so that no one would notice it wasn't. But with it gone, it reminded him of how much time passed as he had let it melt instead of chewing it and he became worried for Ann. Did Kitagawa-san do anything to her? Was Mona unable to unlock the door? Did she and Mona get caught before they got the chance?
He knew most of them were unlikely but he couldn't help it.
Especially when a familiar high end car passed and then parked in front of the shack. Keeping an eye with peripheral vision, just as he thought, it was Madarame who exited it, looked back to tell the driver to go, and then went inside his abode when the car did just that.
Ren took a deep breath and stood up, just in case he needed to react to something.
It was the moment of truth.
(A)
It was already two minutes pass the planned time and Skull looked ready to complain about Operation: Mirrored being late...
...when the ground shook and the doors opened.
"It's off!" Skull said with a grin. "They seriously did it."
Rogue smirked even if it was covered. "See? Course Big Bro wouldn't let it fail," she said. "Now let's go."
"All right. I'll follow your lead."
She was a bit startled at his words. She knew she shouldn't be when Skull himself said that he wasn't good at leading, but it still sounded a bit odd when she was so used to Joker leading.
But she had no time to dwell on that.
"Roger. Let's go!"
Unlike the main building before, this place was mainly gold of different shades, with only a little of other colors breaking it up, like blacks and blues. Unfortunately, the only way in had a guard at the end of the hallway and, thanks to Third Eye, she could tell it was a red powerful, and cognizant, one, meaning it would be very hard to sneak past it.
"Damn it..." She glanced at her friend. "You ready to rumble?"
"You bet I am!"
They charged at the guard.
"Huh? Who are you?"
Rogue pounced and tried to tear its mask but it threw her off. Though that didn't matter as the Shadow rematerialized as some kind of giant monkey with a white mane, yellow fur with black stripes and a coconut-like torso with a vines as a tail. What did matter was that it hit her right on the head and her world spun like crazy.
She groaned as she staggered.
Where was it? Skull needed help.
No, wait, she should try hiding before she got hit again.
Before she could decide though, she felt herself get shoved. On instinct, she pushed whatever held her, but then felt something cool and viscous on her forehead. The dizziness faded away and it was then she realized it was Skull using one of Takemi's Relax Gels on her.
"You good?"
She could only nod before they both dodged another strike from the striped monkey.
"Keep it distracted! I'll find its weakness!"
"Got it!"
Thankfully for both of them, it did indeed have a weakness and that turned out to be fire. Now that it was known, she had Skull throw the molotov cocktails they found during their excursions in tandem with the fire spells she executed. As such, despite the rough start, and needing to heal sometimes, they managed to take down the powerful guard. Just as lucky, the control room for the door's lock and the lasers before it was right past the guard and didn't need anything beyond a couple presses to deactivate it.
"All right, let's get outta here."
"Yeah. It'd be a pain in the ass if we got caught."
It was easy enough to do that though since it was so near. So it wasn't long before they were back where the sign was.
Rogue took a deep breath. "Okay. Now all we gotta do is wait for Joker and the others then we'll decide if we'll..."
"Noooo...!"
"Huh?" Rogue said.
And then she looked up.
{R}
"Ren!"
He tensed. Though it was faint, he had heard it.
Ren ran to the door, ready to take out his lockpick should he need to, but when he reached the doorstep, a panicked Ann opened the door and said,
"Get us out! Quick!"
She was ready to run. But Ren knew one way that would definitely be quick.
So he activated the Nav...
"Noooo...!"
...but instead of being on the street, he began to fall. On instinct, he landed on his two feet but then he looked up and noticed Mona falling. So on autopilot, he caught him with a grunt from both of them.
"Big Bro?!"
"What the hell?!"
Joker thought the same.
But Panther was grumbling, saying "I thought I was gonna die...", and Joker turned to her just as she realized Kitagawa-san was...holding her bridal style. Understandably she pushed him away, and in truth he was thinking the same, but that sent Kitagawa-san thudding on the ground.
"Oh no! I didn't mean to push him so hard..."
"Course it's gonna be hard! We got superpowers here, Panther," his sister said as she checked for injuries.
He and Panther followed suit as she said, "Are you okay? Wake up!"
Thankfully he wasn't out, but when he regained his bearings, he backed away from the three of them.
"Who are you all?!" he said.
"Calm down, Kitagawa-kun, it's me!" Panther said.
That did just the trick as Kitagawa-san stopped and stared, now bewildered instead of frightened.
"Takamaki-san?" he said. Then he glanced at the rest of them. "That means you three are..."
"Her friends?" Rogue said. "Yeah pretty much."
Then he noticed the outlier among them. "I don't recall ever seeing this cat costume before."
"Cat costume?!"
Joker glared at him. "Mona. Not now."
The not-cat, this time, obeyed with reluctance while Kitagawa-san kept wondering about his location. Of course when Panther told him the outright truth of being in his sensei's "heart", he thought she was ill, and when they backed her up, he was frigid once again and said,
"Enough of this rubbish!"
Joker glared back at him. "I can say the same to you."
The artist looked almost ready to explode if it weren't for Panther saying,
"Kitagawa-kun! Didn't it cross your mind that something wasn't right with Madarame?"
And he flinched and looked away. "That's..."
She continued. "You may not believe it...but this is another reality as viewed through Madarame's eyes."
The blue boy was much calmer now, but it was obvious he was still in turmoil as he observed his surroundings once more.
"This repulsive world?" he said in disbelief, as Panther predicted.
"Yup. We might not be artists, but even we can tell it's awful," Rogue said.
That seemed to remind him about them as Kitagawa-san said, "Just who are all of you?"
"Guess you could say..." Skull said, thinking.
But Joker wanted to answer so he said, "We're an organization that changes hearts."
"Organization...?"
"Yeah, not a big one, but still an organization."
Still, that did nothing to convince or ease Kitagawa-san.
"If everything you say is true, then the sensei I know doesn't exist..." he said, shaking his head. "Still...he has kept me safe these past ten years. My gratitude for that won't just disappear."
And Joker remembered Dad once again.
"You're just gonna forgive him?! At this rate you'll—"
"We're not saying you should forget."
The faux-blond and artist stared at him.
"Huh?" the former said.
"Well, at least I'm not saying you shouldn't be grateful for him saving you," Joker said. "But my point before still stands. You shouldn't let him go on like this."
"I... Nngh..."
Joker was startled as the boy fell to his knees. He and Panther went near him and they said,
"Are you okay?"
"I'm...trying to be rational about this but my emotions are overwhelming me..."
That was understandable. But Mona then decided it was the perfect time to mention,
"I'm sorry but we don't have time to dawdle! Security's through the roof. We have to get out of here!"
"You couldn't say that sooner?!"
"You were busy!"
Joker internally sighed then said, "Let's go," before any more delays could happen.
He and Panther were about to help Kitagawa-san up but he insisted he could walk. With their time limited, Joker let him, making him join the frontal team with Rogue and Skull in the rear one. As such, when they passed the gallery filled with Madarame's previous students, they could say nothing more than confirmation to the nature of the paintings.
However, Joker noticed they hadn't encountered any guards in their path, despite the heightened security.
So his instincts were on edge when they neared the threshold between the lobby and the statue room.
"Everyone! Back!"
Joker pulled Kitagawa-san in time to avoid the guards that spawned and attempted to hit them. They retaliated and the Shadows split up to show their true forms, but just as that happened...
"Gah!"
"Rogue!"
...his sister and Skull got blindsided by more guards from behind, sending them down one of the stairs. And that left an opening for yet others to jump down from the landing to go after Kitagawa-san.
"Kitagawa-kun!" Panther said as they took him back up the stairs opposite the one Rogue and Skull fell down.
Joker parried another blow and began to formulate a new plan when an unexpceted visitor said,
"I knew that you were going to steal my art."
And everyone—him and his team, the Shadow guards that surrounded them and Kitagawa-san who was actually unharmed—stopped and looked to the door that led further into the museum.
There, in clothes as guady and gold as the museum, stood Shadow Madarame.
"But still, I am a good host, so welcome to the museum of the master artist Madarame."
His sister and his friends were outraged and disgusted at the false shogun's appearance. But Kitagawa-san, who was on the landing along with him...
"Sensei? Is that you...? That attire..." he said, his voice trembling. "This...this is all one big lie, isn't it...?"
...was in denial and it broke his heart.
The gold curator turned to his pupil. "My usual ragged attire is nothing but an act." He scoffed. "Besides a famous person living in a shack? I have another home...under a mistress's name of course."
As the master and student were talking though, Rogue cautiously made her way to his side and said,
"Can I try a shot from my rifle?"
Joker noted the distances between everyone. Most of the guards, counting a dozen or so, had turned into a tengu, surrounding them, about three or so meters away from them, blocking off the exit and both of the stairs. Kitagawa-san and Shadow Madarame were at the landing right in front of the door behind the Infinite Spring. And behind the pupil was a powerful red Shadow guarding him. But that wouldn't be that much of a problem as an idea formed on how to get Kitagawa-san back in their protection so they could escape. However...
As the aspiring artist begged for the truth behind the "Sayuri" and the many copies of it in his storage room—a detail he'll ask Ann about later—and the fake artist scoffed and explained it was all a calculated scam, a calculated "business", Joker said,
"I have a plan. But first we let Kitagawa-san talk."
Because if there was any other way to convince him of the wrong Madarame was doing, it was seeing it bare and grotesque before his eyes.
"No..." Kitagawa-san said as he fell to his knees in despair.
Though he knew Rogue wasn't too happy about it, she still nodded and said,
"Roger. Orders?"
He gave them as quietly as possible as he kept on an eye and ear on the ongoing verbal torment.
"The value of art is an illusion. What's the matter with providing that illusion to eager customers?" Madarame said while Rogue then whispered to Mona. "Though I doubt a brat like you would ever come up with such a brilliant scheme."
The not-cat nodded as Skull said, "You keep goin' on and on about money this, money that... no wonder you ended up with this digusting museum!"
"You truly are brats if you think any of this is disgusting," the Shadow shogun said, glancing their way, so Mona had to be cautious on his way towards the spring statue.
Then Panther said, "But you're supposed to be an artist right?!" His focused turned to her. Seeing the chance, Mona dashed to hide behind the statue base. "Aren't you ashamed of plagiarizing other peoples works?!"
The man huffed, ignoring Rogue while she then whispered to Skull. "Art is nothing but a tool..." he said. "...a tool to gain money and fame! And you helped me greatly in this as well, Yusuke..."
The faux-blond nodded then said, "See that Yusuke? That's your sensei. God, he pisses me off..."
"But what about the people who believe in you...?" the boy said, tone desperate. "The ones who think you're a master artist?"
"...I'll tell you this alone, Yusuke." The man smiled but it was anything but comforting as Rogue then whispered to Panther. "If you wish to succeed in this world, I advise you not rise against me. Do you believe anyone could find success with my objection holding them down?"
The man laughed as if the suffering of other's lives was exquisite entertainment.
Joker clenched his fist and took a deep breath, trying to quell the rage that burned within.
And then Kitagawa-san said, "To think I was under the care of this wretched man..."
Hope doused his rage and took its place, even as the false shogun continued to give them more reasons to hate him.
"You thought I took you in out of the goodness of my heart? Plucking talented but troubled artists allows me to find promising pupils and take their ideas..." he said while Panther nodded to his sister in his peripheral. "After all, it's much easier to steal the futures of children who can't fight back."
"I can't believe this..."
"Livestock are raised for their meat and hide! This is no different you fool!" Madarame said, sounding like a scolding parent. The rest of his team braced for his signal. "But I tire of this little chat. It's time that I—"
"You are unforgiveable," Kitagawa-san said as he stood back on his feet. "It doesn't matter who you are... I won't forgive you!"
And Madarame had the gall to be upset. "So you repay my keeping you all these years with ingratitude?! You damn brat!"
"Brat...? Is that what you think of me?" How amusing..."
Madarame glowered. "What was that?"
The young man chuckled humorlessly. "I wanted to believe it wasn't true... I clouded my vision for so long..." he said. "My eyes were truly blind... Blind and unable to see the true self behind this one horrible man!"
And then it happened.
Kitagawa-san screamed and writhed as he clutched his head.
"Now!"
Joker activated the spotlight Rogue crafted. His sister threw a dagger at the red Shadow. Mona tackled it further away from Kitagawa-san. The guards swarmed towards the light he carried. Panther and Skull attacked with widespread fire and lightning while he retaliated against the tengus attracted to the spotlight. And Madarame was confused at all the events that happened in succession.
Then he heard it.
"Come!" Kitagawa-san said. "Goemon!"
A shockwave sent the shogun stumbling back. Then ice exploded all around him. Mona squealed as he got off of the Shadow guard that was then encased by it. The ice nearly got Madarame too but the tengu that weren't focused on him defended their ruler, becoming frozen blocks.
"A breathtaking sight..." Kitagawa-san said as he took fluid steps towards his master, eyeing his ice sculptures. "...imitations they may be, together, they make a fine spectacle." He stared right at the shogun. "Though the flowers of evil blossom, may it be known..." He brandished his katana and renewed the blizzard. "...abominations are fated to perish!"
More ice spread across the room, spiking from the walls and floor. It almost hit them as they destroyed Shadows left and right.
"Hey watch it!" Rogue said.
Mona said, "Woah! This is impressive!"
"Hmph...who do you think you are?!" Madarame said, incensed more than ever. "Where are my guards? Kill them all! Dispose of these thieves!"
At that point, the red Shadow from earlier broke free from its prison to reveal a smith with a steampunk robot head and one leg. New tengus appeared to replace the old ones, destroying the ice near them. He and his team focused on getting rid of as many of the lackeys as possible but Kitagawa-san paid the Shadows no mind, hyperfocused on Madarame even when they blocked his way. The only enemy missing was...
Joker's breath caught.
The blacksmith had jumped with his arms ready to smash.
"Kitagawa! Watch out!" he said.
The artist was startled but sidestepped just as it slammed into where he previously was. Joker took the chance and summoned Arsène to check for an uncommon weakness on the guard. It wasn't knocked down but at that point the others grouped with him and the artist.
"Will follow my lead?"
It was only a moment.
Then he nodded and said,
"I am ready."
"Good."
With the addition of an ice specialist, he could focus on finding the weakness of the steampunk smith while Kitagawa kept the tengus at bay. Rogue aided the artist until they found none of his selection worked and had her use the Atom Ring, which worked. With all the combatants' weaknesses found, they were able to do All-Out Attacks. Thus cleared out the room in no time, leaving only an irritated gold shogun at the exit doorway.
"Yusuke, you've just thrown your bright future down the drain," he said.
Kitagawa glared with the fury of a blizzard.
"The children who adored you as father..." the son said as he stepped closer. "The prospects of your pupils..." Another step. "How many did you trample upon?" Another. "How many dreams did you exchange for riches?" He stopped. "No matter what it takes... I will bring you to justice!"
He crouched, hand on pommel.
Joker froze.
"Wait! Kitagawa!"
He ran forward to stop him but the boy then cried out and collapsed on his knee. His panic spiked as he checked for any injuries. Meanwhile, Madarame scoffed.
"I'll destroy every chance you've had to become an artist," he said.
Then he went up the stairs on the left.
"Errgh... Madarame!" Kitagawa said as he reached out towards the man.
He would've fallen on the ground had he and Panther not caught him before he did.
Just before he was obscured by the statue, the shogun paused and looked back...only to say, "You'll forever rue the day you dared defy me."
Then he disappeared.
"Get...back here!" Kitagawa clawed and struggled in their grips.
"Kitagawa-kun!" Panther said.
"Calm down!" he said.
He grumbled. "Why can't I move?!"
"Well for one, Joker and Panther are holdin' you still," Rogue said as she squatted in front of the three of them.
"But I..."
"Listen, you're totally drained," the blonde said. "You can't do much, even if you wanted to!"
The artist grimaced. "What a disgrace I am!"
Joker gritted. "No, you're not, Kitagawa," he said.
The boy turned to him with astonishment.
"This is normal when you awaken your Persona. If anything, you should be proud you did."
"Yeah," Panther said. "It means you want to fight back and help, right?"
Kitagawa directed a look at Panther, turning quiet but still tense in their grips. Here, Skull squatted down with his sister and said,
"C'mon just listen to 'em. You know they're right."
Kitagawa glanced at each and every one of them before finally relaxing.
He said, "All right."
And so they helped him get out of the Palace, Rogue, Skull and Mona sweeping the path ahead of them. But seeing how tired Kitagawa was from just climbing the rope they left from the skylight, they put him on the hood of one of the cars parked outside the museum.
"How are you feeling?" he said.
"I am well. Just tired."
"I wasn't asking if you're hurt. I was asking how you feel."
The young artist was caught off guard. "I..."
"Hey, no rush," Rogue said. "It was a lot to take in, right?"
Kitagawa was quiet as he tried to form words.
Panther said, "You've known for quite some time, haven't you?"
The boy sighed, more exhausted and weary than someone as young as him should be.
"I'm no fool..." he said. "Strange people have been coming to my—his house for years and the plagiarism was an everyday affair." He grew even more pensive. "But...who would want to admit that the man they owed their life to was doing such horrible things?"
His words hung like weight on his heart.
Then she said, "Why didn't you leave Kitagawa-kun?"
It was easy enough to guess why for him, but Joker was glad she asked so that they knew for sure. And he was right. Kitagawa didn't know his father and his mother died in an accident when he was three. From what he heard, Madarame had helped his mother when she lived, hence why he extended his hand to her son. Panther noticed his choice of words and the artist admitted that, despite knowing of his mother, he had little memories of her. It was Madarame—Sensei—that he remembered and he did everything he could for him, as a devoted son would for his beloved father.
"...but he changed..." He shook his head and gritted his teeth. He said, a little of his fury from before returning, "To think he would treat the 'Sayuri', the very foundation of his art, like that."
Skull mumbled. "A lot's happened to you, huh?"
"That's one way of puttin' it..."
Yet another world weary sigh. "When you had mentioned plagiarism...deep down I knew you were right," he said. "That's why I was so vehemently denying you. I was running from the truth. I'm sorry."
Rogue's eyes shined. "No worries," she said, grinning.
Joker said, "I understand."
"Thank you." He gave as best of a bow he could give from on top of a car hood. "I'm grateful for the chance to face what I have been denying all this time."
"Heh, you're way too serious man," Skull said with a grin of his own "That's why you're always getting stuck in your own head. Look at me! I just go with the flow."
Panther smiled. "For real."
"No kiddin'. That's what lightnin' does anyway."
"Say what now?"
"Physics," Joker said to answer.
"What does physics gotta do with me usin' thunder?"
"You're usin' lightning, not thunder. But seriously, you don't remember how it works?"
"Uh, does it matter?"
"Of course it does!"
And then Rogue tried, and failed, to convince Skull to remember more things they learned from school since it might help them in the Metaverse while Skull tried, and failed, to convince her that remembering those subjects was unnecessary since it didn't help with operations themselves.
Panther and Mona groaned. "There they go again..."
Joker smirked and looked askance at the not-cat. "You're not much better with Skull, you know."
"I am not as immature as him."
"Sure. Whatever you say."
A chuckle reminded him that Kitagawa was there.
Mona was not amused. "What's so funny...?"
"My apologies. It's just... I see carefree moments like this from my schoolmates. And here you all are, doing the same thing after a harrowing experience."
He chuckled in return, but in embarrassment.
"Ah, sorry. That's pretty rude of us."
"Yes. But unlike my schoolmates, you haven't stopped because I am here. So...I think it is quite refreshing," he said with a smile.
It was small and a bit weak and done after some saddening facts but it was a smile nonetheless and Joker was grateful for it.
And then Mona said, "Regardless... What are you going to do now?"
And that smile was gone. "I...don't know..."
The one bright side though was that it stopped his sister and his faux-blond friend arguing further and the latter said,
"We can't help the fact that Madarame's gone and changed. But...we can change his heart. He'll pay for his crimes."
"That reminds me...you mentioned something about a 'change of heart' before..."
Skull was about to speak but Rogue elbowed him, to his chagrin, before she gave him a meaningful look. He knew what she was asking.
Well...since the situation was the same as Panther's and that Kitagawa had kept Madarame's "secret" for years...
...Joker felt safe enough to say, "Have you heard about the Phantom Thieves of Hearts?"
"Yes...but I don't understand how..." He turned wide-eyed. "Don't tell me..."
"Yes. That's us. We're the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, an organization that changes the hearts of the corrupt."
"I...see... Is that why you wear that attire?"
"Kinda," Rogue said.
"It's because of our power. The same one you used."
"Me?"
"Didn't you notice, dude? Your clothes are different."
The blue haired boy was confused...until he saw his arms, the sleek white sleeves replaced with puffy black ones and light blue gloves. He quickly looked himself over, finally realizing he was in a black jumpsuit with a high collar and white motorcycle boots with equally high shafts. And to pair with his kitsune mask was a white foxtail with red stripes, hanging from a striped sash that acted as a belt.
"When did my clothes change?"
"Now you notice...?" Rogue said in slight disblief.
"Is this the reason you can change hearts?" Kitagawa said.
"In part, yes, but we should discuss this further elsewhere. You've rested enough, right?"
After testing his range of movement, he said, "Yes, I believe so."
"Then let's go."
(A)
The trip to the diner was somewhat eventful in its own way. Ryuji was surprised at her brother's yankii disguise and questioned it while Kitagawa-san talked to someone on the phone. Akira had a guess as to who that was. Once they were seated—her, Ren and Ann on one side and Ryuji and Kitagawa on the other—and ordered a couple of drinks, they explained as quietly as possible about the circumstances behind Kamoshida's change of heart, with her and her brother taking turns to be the indistinct lookout.
"The phantom thieves who steal hearts..." Kitagawa said at the end of their story. "...to think they truly exist."
"We're right in front of you," she said in jest.
Of course, as Ryuji said in the Metaverse, Kitagawa took it seriously.
"Indeed. I have to believe your words. Especially after seeing a world like that..."
"Hey hey, I was jokin'."
"A joke?"
"Don't mind me."
"Very well..." Then he said, "So your plan for Madarame-sensei—" Kitagawa shook his head. "—with Madarame is to force a change of heart?"
Ren's face twitched. Akira frowned. They noticed the sudden change there. But she didn't point it out, and neither did her brother.
"Yes," Ren said, though he was a bit more pensive than she thought he'd be over it.
"Then... Let me join you...as a temporary member of the Phantom Thieves while you're changing Madarame's heart."
Ryuji, Ann and Mona were shocked at the request. She and her brother however shared a look and a small knowing smile. They already had an answer. But still, Ren was the leader and she knew he wanted to be a good one so he said,
"Why do you want to join?"
Kitagawa was quiet for a moment, looking down at his clasped hands as he formulated his response.
"Had I faced reality sooner, this could have been avoided..." he said. "I must put an end to this for the sake of the others whose futures as artists were robbed as well." He looked up at Ren. "You said it yourself. If I truly care for the man who was...in some manner, my father, then this is the most civil thing I can too."
Akira saw her brother smile with pride and relief.
"Then I'm fine with you joining," he said. He glanced at her and the others. "You?"
"I'm fine."
"Seems fine to me. We're gonna deal with Madarame anyways," Ryuji said.
"I don't mind either," Ann said.
Mona, however, said, "Are you sure? He may have a mental shutdown if we screw up. We have ways to prevent that but they aren't fail-safe."
"What?!" she said.
Her brother shushed her.
She flinched. "Sorry." But that did little to douse her annoyance as she said, now "whisper-shouting", "But what do you mean they're not fail-safe?!"
"I'm just saying that if we use too much force, we might kill him by accident."
Kitagawa looked briefly upset but he remained steadfast. "Madarame is a man who has the art world under his thumb. He has connections to many organizations," he said. "If someone like me raises my voice...it'll be snubbed out. If I wish to stop him, I have no option but this."
"Kitagawa-kun..." Ann said with worry.
She and her brother glanced at her in concern but Akira decided not to say anything for now as Mona said,
"It's a deal then."
Especially as Ann perked up, her usual enthusiasm returning, and said, "I hope we get along, Yusuke!"
Akira and Ren smiled at the name used.
Ryuji grinned. "You better not slow us down."
"I'll do my best."
"Welcome aboard, Yusuke," her brother said.
"Same here, Yusuke," she said. Though a perfect tease came to mind. "Oh and no nude paintings. That was just a part of the plan to get further in the Palace."
"Oh, that was all a plan?" Yusuke said, surprised. "Quite daring, Takamaki-san."
Ann panicked. "It wasn't my idea—it was theirs!"
Akira smirked behind her mask. "I'm pretty sure it was yours."
"No it wasn't!"
She planned to egg Ann on more but Ren interrupted and said,
"Speaking of the plan, what happened in the shack? You mentioned that there were copies of the 'Sayuri' in a storeroom."
"Oh yeah." She grimaced. "We were in a pretty tight situation... Makes me wonder what's going on with the real Madarame now..."
With that, Yusuke revealed that the call he made earlier had, indeed, been with Madarame, as well as retold the events that Ann spoke of. To say the least it was quite the mood whiplash between Ann's plan and the details of Yusuke's call.
After detailing the what happened inside the shack—much to the blonde's embarrassment and chagrin as Mona stated bluntly how bad her acting was while Yusuke was oblivious to that—Yusuke told them Madarame had assumed his pupil chased after Ann for breaking in. He complained about his security company being terrible at their job since they didn't catch her. So of course he was going to take legal action for what she did...and include the rest of the group as well. To say the least, it was both a surprise and not that he would do such a thing. But still, as Ann then pointed out, it was much too desperate for a man selling copies of something that wasn't actually stolen. There was a good chance he had more secrets.
The only bright side was that because he was a high profile artist, he won't go through with his plans until after the exhibit was done. A scandal during it would hurt his reputation. With yet another reason to finish the Palace before it ended, they decided to go tomorrow since they didn't make much progress today.
Now that their plans were settled...
"By the way..." Yusuke said as he eyed a certain bag. "What is this?"
"Huh? It's a cat," Ryuji said.
Akira smothered her snicker at Mona's annoyed expression and flickering ears.
"But it's talking."
"You have a problem with that?" Mona said.
The artist simply shook his head and said, "No, not really."
Now she and her brother let their snickers loose.
Ryuji though was flabbergasted. "Why not?"
"He's...just on a different wavelength than other people," Ann said in explanation.
"Yeah, artist types tend to be like that," she said. She glanced to her right. "I should know. Dad and Big Bro can be weird."
He gasped. "I am offended, dear sister! How could you say such a thing?"
"See what I mean?"
"Ah...insulted yet again..." he said with a hand put over his forehead in dramatic fashion.
Ann giggled and Ryuji gave a flat stare.
"Uh yeah... You're probably right..."
Another gasp of mock hurt.
Mona ignored it and said, "I see... Do you wish to draw me then? You better bring out the best of me, in that case."
Yusuke hummed, staring at the not-cat.
Everyone stilled and watched him in curiosity over his sudden silence.
After a bit, he stood and leaned towards Mona...
"Hey, don't touch me like—"
...and pressed the call button right before him.
"I was thinking of ordering some black bean jelly," he said.
Ann sighed in exasperation as Akira and Ren giggled at Yusuke's actions.
"I bet he got that idea from a 'black cat'..." Ryuji said in a mumble.
They were startled by the artist when he jolted. "Oh!"
"Something wrong?" Ren said with a hint of worry.
"I didn't bring any money..."
"Never mind. He's just weird..." Ann said, exasperated even more, if that was possible.
Akira laughed.
Ren did too.
She was glad Yusuke was a part of the gang now.
Author's Notes: The title is part of a quote from Pablo Picasso, which is "We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth."
The Boire Man is in reference to the Michelin Man, or as he's actually called, Bibendum. That name came from a line from Horace's Odes, "Nunc est bibendum," which can be translated to "now is the time to drink". Since Michelin is a French tire company and Bibendum is most likely trademarked, I decided to go for the French word for "bibendum"/"to drink". And as far as I know, boire is French for "to drink". Hence Boire Man, in reference to both the names Bibendum and Michelin Man.