Persona 5: The Phantom Files

by sithlorde1988

Will cover the events of Persona 5 Royal, with the sequel set to cover 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!

54. The Stakeout! Trapped Heiress part 4

A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 5- The Phantom Files! With this chapter (well technically this chapter and the tail end of the last chapter), we're now beginning one of the most poorly written (in my opinion) arcs of Royal, and if the alterations I made last chapter are any indication, the consequences of Morgana's 'tantrum' (for lack of a better term) don't just stop at him temporarily leaving the group.

As anyone who's read this far no doubt saw, it also lead to another deciding to walk away, even if only temporarily. Not to mention, the revelations (again for lack of a better term) that Morgana dropped before his departure might well have fractured the group's dynamic quite a bit. But only time will tell just how far the damage of his impulsive action will spread. But enough prattling about the arc, let's do the disclaimer, yeah?

Disclaimer: sithlorde1988 does NOT own the Persona series in any way, shape, or form (aside from the OC Kusa/Draconis, the recurring OCs Mimille, Slim, Kyori, Lumine, and Akira, along with any other OCs that might appear in the story, all of whom were made by and thus belong to sithlorde1988 unless otherwise noted) and all credit for owning the Persona series belongs to Sega, Atlus, and to a point Koei Tecmo, so all ownership credit to them!

With that said, on with chapter 54!

Chapter 54- Enter the Beauty Thief! Aftermath of a Fallout! Clash in Mementos! Trapped Heiress part 4

(At Leblanc, in the attic with Ren)

As Ren sat on the bed alone, trying to get tired so he could go to sleep, his eyes flew around the room, looking around at the layout of things, making Ren sigh as he was assaulted with countless memories of the times he, Morgana, and Kusa had shared in this room. At this point, the memories were a bit painful for Ren to think about, since despite the fact he himself had been the one to tell Morgana in no uncertain terms to leave if he was going to tell lies about himself and Futaba to Kusa, he still felt bad for how the whole thing had played out.

Moreover, whenever Ren thought about his memories of Kusa, all he could see was the livid, almost broken, look in Kusa's eyes before he'd stormed off after knocking Ryuji out with one well-placed right hook to the jaw. Ren then sighed as he had a thought run through his mind while he laid down.

"Kusa, Morgana, I know not where either of you are right now, but even after everything that went down before, I hope you're both safe and well. Hopefully, fate will see fit to let you both find your way back here, where you belong. For now, be safe, both of you. I miss you both, brothers." Ren thought to himself as he laid down, eventually falling into a fitful, mostly restless, sleep...

(The next morning, on the train to school with Ren)

"Man, this place sucks nowadays. My boss is just the worst. All he does is dump overtime on me while he dashes off right at five. I wish the Phantom Thieves would work their magic on him and change his heart." A slouching office worker could be heard complaining near Ren, who blinked before his curiosity won out and he listened in as an exhausted-looking worker next to the slouching worker spoke up.

"What would that be like? If they changed his heart?" The exhausted worker said as the slouching worker shrugged and spoke up.

"Who knows for sure? Well, they say you become the opposite of how you normally are. So I guess he'd become more open-minded, communicate better, and start taking initiative. He'd basically be as awesome as the president of Okumura Foods. If you can hear this somehow, please, Phantom Thieves! Please, make this happen!" The slouching worker said as Ren huffed, knowing that what the slouching worker had asked was presently an impossibility.

The reason for the worker's request being an impossibility for the Phantom Thieves to handle at present was simple. Due to the fiasco that had gone down recently which ended with two of the group's number having gone more or less AWOL, there was no way to reach a unanimous decision, and equally non-existent options to effectively perform any changes of heart since one of the two missing members was one of the chief strategists of the group. Ren then leaned back in his seat as the rest of the train ride passed uneventfully...

(Later that day, after school outside of Okumura Foods HQ with Ryuji, Futaba, Ann, Makoto, Ren, and Yusuke)

"Holy crap, this place is huge. Is this why they call these buildings skyscrapers?" Ryuji asked in shock as Yusuke spoke up.

"It is the headquarters of a large corporation, after all." Yusuke said as Futaba winced and spoke up.

"True. And if anything, getting into the real building is impossible, even for me with my hacking skills." Futaba said in a slightly somber voice, making Ren wince as he could tell at a glance that Futaba was missing Kusa and Morgana more than she was likely willing to admit to. Ryuji blinked and spoke up.

"Mona seriously went to a Palace based on somewhere like this?" Ryuji asked as Makoto frowned before speaking up.

"So it would seem. That said, it's definitely on a different scale than the ones we've dealt with previously, that's for sure." Makoto said as Ryuji frowned and spoke up.

"I searched Okumura online. He's totally up to something." Ryuji said before he turned to face Ren while he kept speaking.

"Don't you think he's guilty too, Ren?" Ryuji asked Ren, who frowned as he spoke up.

"To be honest, Ryuji? I dunno. He could be, but we only have public opinion, and the poll, that point towards him being either evil or distorted. Until we see this guy for ourselves, and get a feel for what sort of person he is, I don't think it's the most prudent decision to judge him until we get a better feel for the facts of the situation. And, not to bring up the metaphoric elephant in the room, or in this case elephants, but considering one of our best strategists is presently off who knows where on his own after storming off, after Morgana's misunderstanding of what he heard Futaba and I discussing upset him no less.

However, if we're being entirely fair here, Ryuji's word choice didn't necessarily help matters that much, since most of the blame can be laid at the feet of myself, Morgana and to a point Ryuji and Kusa.

But moreover, with the fact that the aforementioned not-cat/secondary navigator is the reason we're in this situation in the first place, I don't exactly think we have the luxury of a unanimous decision, much less anything resembling precision strategy making, at the moment. So we'll just have to wait and see for now. But? We'll know for sure one way or the other soon enough." Ren said sagely. Ryuji nodded but gave Ren a determined look as he spoke up.

"True. I acknowledge that I had a part to play in that fiasco before. But I know I'm right!" Ryuji said as Futaba smiled at Ren while she spoke up.

"Be that as it may Ryuji, that doesn't change the fact that we're here for Morgana! Once we've brought him to his senses and made him apologize, then we can turn our focus onto finding Kusa. I have to trust he'll be okay in the meantime, since he's a strong man, with an equally strong will, so he can handle himself for a bit if necessary. Morgana, on the other hand, for all his talk of being human and capable, is probably far less capable of surviving on his own long-term." Futaba said, trying to not think about how much she was worried for both Kusa and Morgana. Ryuji huffed as he spoke up.

"I know, I know. We gotta make sure we squeeze the juice on those mental shutdown things outta him, too." Ryuji said, trying not to think about the fact that it was partially his fault this had all happened since he chose to lash out at Morgana after he insulted him by calling said not-cat a piece of shit, before then proceeding to chew him out for what he said about Kusa and Futaba. The after math of said chewing out led to Kusa losing his cool after his poor choice of wording pushed Kusa past his breaking point, leading to the fight behind Leblanc, if it could be called that with how brief it'd been. Before he could mull his train of thought over things any further, Makoto's voice caught his attention as she spoke up.

"You said you found the Palace keywords, right, Futaba?" Makoto asked Futaba, who nodded with a smile.

"Yup! The who, obviously, is 'Kunikazu Okumura'! The where is 'Okumura Foods corporate HQ', and the what is 'outer space'!" Futaba said as the others gaped and Ryuji spoke up in shock and disbelief.

"Huh? The hell?" Ryuji said in confusion as Ann did a closed-eye smile and spoke up.

"Ohhh, so THAT's why it's called Big Bang Burger. Big Bang is space lingo, y'know." Ann said as Makoto frowned and spoke up.

"Um, not necessarily. Big Bang, as you might realize, is also the term used for the apparent explosion that is said to be what led to the creation of life as we know it. That said, so the concept behind the store-branch name came from the CEO himself." Makoto said as Yusuke spoke up.

"Outer space, hm? How exciting. This could provide so much inspiration for my art." Yusuke said as Ryuji grinned and spoke up.

"Yeah, yeah. We get it. You love art, Yusuke. But for real, we better be able to breathe once we get in there." Ryuji said. Makoto spoke up decisively.

"Is everyone ready? I'm activating it now." Makoto said as the others nodded, and she activated the MetaNav, none of them aware of a certain brown-haired ace detective hiding behind a nearby pillar to spy on them as they went into the Metaverse...

(Inside the Metaverse, with Queen, Joker, Panther, Oracle, Skull, and Fox)

"We're already considered threats?" Panther asked in surprise. Queen nodded as she spoke up.

"President Okumura must be on guard, what with everything that's been in the news." Queen said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"That bastard! He's just causin' more trouble for us!" Skull said, making Joker frown due to not being entirely sure if Skull meant President Okumura or Mona with his remark. Oracle then ran forward and looked out at the view of space that was visible in the background, including a view of what appeared to be Earth through the upper windows, making Oracle gasp as she spoke up.

"Whoa, how crazy. It's almost as if this Palace is a space station of some sort. Yet part of me can't help but wonder what Draconis would've had to say about this place had he not stormed off like he did." Oracle said as Joker walked over to gently give Oracle a reassuring pat on the shoulder while speaking up with a slight smile so only Oracle could hear.

"Hey, it's okay. You're not the only one who feels that way, Oracle. I miss both Draconis and Mona too. And I think he'd be as stunned by this place as you are now. But as you yourself just said, he's a resilient, resourceful man, so he'll be okay." Joker said as he smiled reassuringly at Oracle while Fox spoke up in a mix of shock and awe.

"Indeed, Oracle. It's as though we're in a film about space! Not to mention that view could make for a very impressive motif for a painting! Ugh, now I wish I had brought my sketchbook." Fox said in awe. Joker spoke up.

"We can always bring it on a return trip, Fox. Besides, I highly, HIGHLY, doubt we're finishing this Palace on this go." Joker said as Skull spoke up.

"Truth. But, um, Mona might be in here somewhere, yeah? C'mon, we gotta get lookin' for him." Skull said as Joker nodded.

"Agreed. That said, in light of our current short-handedness, I'm going to make the call that Fox, Skull and Panther man the front lines with me while Oracle and Queen are on backups, even though Oracle's also kind of on front-lines with her navigation. But she can keep some of the backups inside Necronomicon with her and beam them down if we have to switch out at any point mid-battle. Agreed?" Joker said, as the group agreed. Joker then moved forward to inspect a lever in the middle of the room as Fox spoke up.

"Hey. Hm? What is this?" Fox asked as Oracle frowned and spoke up.

"Let's see here. Hm, looking at it closer, it looks like a lever for the elevator to me. One second. Aaand it should be working now!" Oracle said as Skull blinked and spoke up.

"For real? You're amazin', Oracle." Skull said in a distinctly impressed tone as Oracle chuckled and spoke up.

"Mwehehe, that was nothing." Oracle said as Joker winced, now convinced that Oracle was the one who'd taught Draconis how to laugh since there was no shot in Joker's mind that Mona was the one who laughed like how Draconis did. Queen gave Oracle a closed-eye smile as she spoke up.

"Well, in any case, it's certainly reassuring having you with us. Anyway, let's try using the elevator." Queen said as Joker nodded, pulling the lever and smiling as the elevator carried the group downwards, towards a lower level, as the group kept moving once the elevator had stopped. After heading down a side passageway, Skull blinked and spoke up after the group started hearing strange noise.

"Huh? What's all that noise?" Skull asked as the group walked over to the nearby ledge, only to gasp at the sight of countless robots seemingly working at a conveyor belt, while a bigger robot, which head mostly red, silver and yellow, where the littler robots had blue faces and a similar color scheme to Oracle, but with more blue where Oracle wore teal. Fox frowned as he then spoke up.

"Hm? What is that?" Fox said as the group looked and Skull gasped and spoke up.

"Dude, are those robots? There're tons of 'em." Skull said as Panther spoke up with a smile after looking the scene over.

"Hm? That's surprising. They all have the Big Bang Burger logo." Panther said as Oracle spoke up.

"Shh, listen! They're saying something. Now be quiet so I can try to listen in." Oracle said before she started reading the big robot's posture as she kept speaking.

"You must adhere to your shifts at all times. And if you don't like it? You can quit. Those are the rules. However, you will not be compensated if you choose to quit, so if you do so, you do it knowing you won't get a severance package or any kind of exit pay." Oracle said as Skull frowned before speaking up.

"What're they talkin' about?" Skull asked as to the group's surprise, one of the robots seemingly shut down as it collapsed to the ground making Panther gasp as she spoke up.

"Oh! That robot just collapsed." Panther said as Oracle frowned while speaking up.

"And the big guy just said that it's being disposed of." Oracle said as Fox crossed his arms with a frown before speaking up.

"These robots are part of Okumura's cognition, correct? That means they represent something, possibly his employees?" Fox said as Joker frowned and spoke up.

"Wait, what!? Don't tell me. Is this President Okumura a slave driver!? Ugh, and here I thought we'd seen the last of that when we dealt with Kamoshida!" Joker huffed. Queen spoke up, blinking at Joker's mention of Kamoshida while she spoke.

"Be that as it may Joker, I think, and keep in mind that this is pure speculation and guesswork on my part, but this is most likely how the workers of Okumura Foods are viewed by their CEO." Queen said as Joker and Panther gasped, the latter speaking up in shock.

"What? So he thinks they're his robots!?" Panther said as Fox frowned before speaking up.

"Ugh. If they're treated like this in reality as well, that can only mean one thing. The company truly is exploiting them." Fox said as Skull spoke up.

"See!? Okumura IS a piece of shit! Just like I said." Skull said as Joker spoke up.

"While you might have been right this time Skull, do you really think you have room to be saying 'I told you so' right now!? As I recall, you were the one who lashed out at Mona before, and it was that said lashing out that not only led to Mona fleeing in a huff, but also to Draconis losing it and storming off after he decked you. And to be honest? I think he truly regretted it afterwards, if the conflicted look on his face was any indication. Granted, that's not to say that you were the only one in the wrong that day, because you weren't.

Truthfully, if we were to really sit down and think about it, equal shares of the blame for that incident can also be laid on myself, Mona and even to a point Draconis, since we all also lost our heads as well. I think, provided we manage to find those two safely and convince them both to return to the group, the four of us are going to have to sit down together and really have a serious discussion about not letting our tempers get the better of us, after we all apologize to the others for probably scaring the wits out of them with our outbursts." Joker said decisively. Oracle frowned as she spoke up.

"While Joker is correct in his statement, let's not forget that Mona is our main objective here. I think, provided we can safely convince Mona to rejoin us, he might be our best chance of then finding and hopefully convincing Draconis to also return. After all, if we're being honest here, as much as I don't like admitting to it, Mona might be the only one who can convince him. Or do I have to remind people that it was Mona's lie about me and Joker that drove Draconis away in the first place?" Oracle said as Queen nodded and spoke up with a sigh as she looked at the others.

"Oracle is right. I know I said before I could care less about Draconis, but that was just a lie to cover up how hurt I was by what he said to Skull. But back to the topic at hand, Mona doesn't seem to be anywhere nearby. Let's search further in." Queen said as the group nodded and kept moving, aside from Skull who lingered back to grumble to himself.

"Ugh, dammit! Why does Joker always have to be right? Yes, I was standing up for him and Draconis, but I do also admit that I was also out of line for snapping at Mona as harshly as I did. Crap, I guess I owe Mona an apology next time we see him." Skull huffed as he caught up to the others, just in time for Panther to speak up with a sigh.

"Ugh, I wonder what Mona's doing in here. We need to find him, and fast." Panther said as the group kept moving. Eventually the group came to a passage way that made Oracle blink and speak up.

"Huh!? Hold on a second, Joker!" Oracle said as the door in front of the group closed up, making Fox frown as he spoke up.

"The door appears to have closed. Is there any way by which we can open it?" Fox asked as Joker walked over to the door, at which point a mechanical voice could be heard speaking.

"PERFORMING BIO-METRIC AUTHENTICATION." The mechanical voice said as Queen gasped before speaking up.

"This is a lock of some sort! But what does it mean by that?" Queen said as the mechanical voice spoke up once more.

"AUTHORIZATION ERROR! ONLY REGISTERED PERSONNEL MAY PROCEED PAST THIS POINT." The voice said as Oracle gasped and spoke up.

"Oh! This is a bio-metric lock! This security system might pose a bit of a problem to us, Joker." Oracle said as Skull tried to shoulder-barge the door, only to grunt as he was met with no success, prompting him to speak up in frustration.

"Ugh! The hell's up with this!?" Skull said as Panther sighed and spoke up.

"Look at it, guys. There's no way we can force that thing open." Panther said as Fox frowned before he spoke up.

"We've hit a blockade quite early on, haven't we? Will we have to control the real Okumura's cognition to pass?" Fox said as Queen spoke up in realization.

"Oh! If that's the case, then that means Mona hasn't been able to proceed any further either. So, if he's here in the Palace, he would have to be somewhere before this door in front of us." Queen said before another voice, a female's voice, caught the group's attention.

"Halt, vigilante!" The group heard, before looking up in surprise to see the silhouette of a female standing on a ledge above them making Skull gasp and speak up.

"Wh-Who's that!?" Skull asked as the female who'd previously spoken up spoke up once more.

"Who is that, you ask!? Why don't you see for yourselves?" The female said as she stepped out of the shadows, making Joker and Queen gasp, as despite the unfamiliar outfit on the girl, two things caught Joker and Queen's attention immediately. One was the distinctly hazel-brown shading of the female's eyes, and the other was her distinctly poofy brunette hair, which immediately put both of them to mind of another female they'd recently see, but because this female had on a mask and a very different outfit, they couldn't be sure it was the same female. Queen gasped as she spoke up.

"Oh! Those clothes, they're similar to our outfits. Could she be a new Phantom Thief?" Queen said as Joker shrugged before his eyes widened behind his mask while he spoke up.

"Maybe so, Queen, but never mind that! Look at the mask on her face!" Joker said as the group looked, and Panther gasped before speaking up.

"No way! A black mask!? Wait, is she the one Madarame and Kaneshiro were talking about!?" Panther said making the others gasp as they all wondered if this female could in fact be the mysterious Black Mask they'd been warned about so often. Skull then frowned as he spoke up.

"So, does that mean that she's the reason for all those people goin' brain-dead!? It was a girl this whole time!?" Skull asked as the masked female winced at all the hostile looks aimed at her before she spoke up.

"What are you guys talking about?" The girl asked uncertainly as Joker spoke up.

"Guys, stand down. She's not Black Mask. I can sense it." Joker said firmly.

"Are you sure, Joker?" Queen asked while Fox spoke up, not hearing Joker's words as he glared at the masked female and spoke up.

"Are you the one who has been following us!?" Fox asked as Skull spoke up.

"What Fox said! Say something, dammit!" Skull snapped at the masked female, but instead of the masked female, it was a different, much more familiar, voice that answered them after laughing mockingly.

"Mwehehehe! Enough of your misunderstandings!" Mona said as he stepped out next to the masked female, making Oracle gasp as she spoke up in surprise after turning to look at Mona with wide eyes.

"No way! Mona! You're okay!" Oracle said as Panther smiled and spoke up.

"What Oracle said! You're okay! That's such a relief!" Panther said. Mona looked over at Panther as he spoke up.

"Long time no see, Panther." Mona said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"It hasn't been THAT long, Mona. You and Draconis literally only took off like a day and a half ago, tops. Speaking of, you haven't seen Draconis, have you? Neither of you came back after you took off." Skull said. Mona frowned as he spoke up in surprise.

"Draconis isn't with you guys!? I figured he'd have just went off to the gym to blow some steam off and gone back to Leblanc afterwards. That's a bit worrisome that he's missing. But more importantly? If you came for the Treasure, you should just go home with your tail between your legs." Mona said as Fox frowned before speaking up.

"How rude of you to assume we're here for the Treasure, Mona! In actuality, we were looking for you." Fox said to Mona who blinked but spoke up.

"Is that so? Even so, the Treasure will be taken by me and this lady here." Mona said before exchanging a look and nod with the masked female as he kept speaking.

"No, by this Beauty Thief!" Mona said as the group collectively blinked at Mona after this, excluding the masked female. Eventually Queen spoke up in a skeptical tone.

"Beauty Thief?" Queen said as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Hey! I'll have you know Queen, Beauty Thief is a Persona-user too!" Mona said as the now-apparently-named Beauty Thief spoke up once more.

"M-My name is Beauty Thief!" Beauty Thief said as Panther winced before speaking up.

"She really called herself that?" Panther asked in disbelief as Fox sighed before speaking up.

"And any tension that was in the air has just gone out the window at this point." Fox said before Mona and Beauty Thief leapt down to stare the group down as Beauty Thief spoke up while posing as she pointed at the group.

"We will take the Treasure!" Beauty Thief said as the group winced and Oracle spoke up while the others took in the outfit that Beauty Thief wore, which was a fancy black hat with a red stripe along the top where a black feather was tucked into the hat, a light pink long-sleeve dress shirt with a black leather partial vest over the chest, red frilly slacks with a black leather belt across the waist, long knee-length black boots and purple gloves.

"Mona already said that, y'know. You've got an impressive outfit and stuff to be sure, but your one-liners definitely leave a lot to be desired." Oracle said as Beauty Thief spoke up, her words making the others, excluding Mona, frown while she spoke.

"You are not qualified to be Phantom Thieves! Do you even understand what it means to be a phantom thief? An admirable phantom thief is-" Beauty Thief said as Mona grinned and spoke up to unintentionally cut Beauty Thief off mid-sentence.

"Yeah! Tell them!" Mona said to Beauty Thief, who blinked and looked at Joker while she kept speaking.

"You! What do you think it means!?" Beauty Thief asked Joker, who spoke up.

"That's an easy one. It means one who helps the weak. Even Mona there knows that one! That was one of the basic principles the Phantom Thieves were founded on! And as many times as I've heard Draconis mention it, I tend to agree." Joker said. Beauty Thief blinked in surprise at Joker's answer while she spoke up.

"Yes, that's...right? Maybe you do know what it means. Either way, enough with the idle chitchat!" Beauty Thief said as Panther spoke up with a frown.

"But you started it, Beauty Thief." Panther said as Skull frowned and spoke up.

"Mona, who the hell is she?" Skull asked in annoyance as Skull spoke up.

"Wait! I'll fix this somehow." Mona said before gesturing for Beauty Thief to lean down, which she did as Mona whispered into her ear for a bit before she nodded and pointed at Fox while speaking up.

"You!" Beauty Thief said to Fox, who blinked as he spoke up.

"Uh, me!?" Fox said in surprise. Beauty Thief kept speaking rather than answer Fox.

"Learn to take a hint!" Beauty Thief said as Fox blinked in surprise and spoke up.

"Huh?" Fox said as Beauty Thief turned to Skull as she kept speaking.

"And you! You're very vulgar, and moreover, you're very stupid!" Beauty Thief said as Skull blinked and spoke up.

"What?" Skull said as Beauty Thief turned to Panther next.

"Um, wait." Beauty Thief said as she turned to Mona and spoke up.

"What was it again?" Beauty Thief asked Mona, but Queen spoke up before Mona could do more than look down.

"You came all the way here just to say that?" Queen asked skeptically as Skull huffed and spoke up.

"I dunno. If you ask me, it kinda feels like she ain't dangerous at all, like maybe she's some sort of newbie to wielding a Persona." Skull said. Beauty Thief blinked before posing once more as she spoke up.

"We will take the Treasure!" Beauty Thief said as Mona grinned next to her, while Oracle huffed and spoke up.

"You already said that, Beauty Thief. I stand by what I said before, your one-liners are severely lacking and leave a lot to be desired." Oracle said as Mona huffed and spoke up.

"We don't have time to chat!" Mona said as he and Beauty Thief sprinted towards the bio-metric authentication door as Skull huffed and spoke up.

"No point, you two. It won't open-" Skull said before cutting himself off as the door flashed to say 'ACCESS GRANTED', as Mona smirked and spoke up.

"Don't underestimate us." Mona said as the door opened, to reveal a squadron of Shadows as Panther gasped and spoke up.

"Behind you!" Panther said as Mona and Beauty Thief winced at the number of Shadows behind them. Fox then spoke up.

"Here they come!" Fox said as Beauty Thief gasped and spoke up.

"Huh? Huh!?" Beauty Thief said as Mona spoke up.

"Snap out of it! We need to go!" Mona said as Queen spoke up.

"We'll meet up later at our usual spot! Let's hurry!" Queen said as the group fled from the Palace in a hurry...

(That evening, back in the real world, at the attic of Leblanc, in the hideout with Yusuke, Ann, Futaba, Makoto, and Ren)

"Oh, hey." Ann said as Futaba spoke up understandingly, her attention on Ren as she spoke.

"Bet you're tired after all that we did today, Ren." Futaba said as Yusuke spoke up.

"That was quite rough, to be sure. We barely got out of there in time. Meanwhile, we lost sight of Morgana and Beauty Thief. Ugh, that said, I haven't felt exhaustion like this since I first awakened to my Persona." Yusuke said as Ann looked over at Makoto while speaking up.

"What've you been looking at all this time?" Ann asked Makoto, who winced and spoke up.

"Sorry, I just didn't wanna stand around and wait. The burglary at Okumura Foods is circulating the news again." Makoto said as Ryuji ran upstairs at that point, huffing, before he spoke up.

"Uuugh! Dammit! Why'd they keep comin' after only me!? It's all 'cause little miss Beauty Thief opened that door!" Ryuji said as Futaba spoke up.

"That door most likely had a bio-metric authentication lock, so how'd she get it to open?" Futaba asked as Ann frowned before speaking up.

"More importantly, I wonder who that girl could be." Ann said as Yusuke frowned and spoke up.

"We were told that she's a Persona-user, correct? Do you believe it's true?" Yusuke asked as Ann spoke up.

"Well, she did look like one, at least. Though anyone can LOOK a part. The real tell is when they can ACT the part." Ann said. Futaba nodded before frowning as she spoke up.

"Did Mona betray us, then?" Futaba asked as Ren shook his head confidently while he spoke up.

"I don't think so. Sure, he was beyond rude and out of line when he ran off, but I think he was speaking out of a mix of fear, hurt, and uncertainty. And Futaba? If we're both being honest here, that's just as much our fault as it is Mona's, since we didn't bother to see if he'd heard our conversation that day. Because if he'd heard the whole thing, he'd have heard what you told me about 'be my key item' being an expression and not an actual thing.

But for Mona to think that it meant dating, of all things? That shocks me. And judging from the look on his face before he finally lashed out at Ryuji, it both shocked and devastated Kusa too. But I could tell even then, he was conflicted when he snapped. I think part of him was horrified at what he interpreted as me betraying not only him, but also Yoshizawa, who I do have feelings for, and the other part was devastated that he might have lost his crush to me.

Of course, I'm not exactly oblivious to what was probably really going through Kusa's mind then. You see, for all that he's level-headed, stoic, and calm, Kusa's also exceedingly insecure deep down, probably because our mother always acted like she put me first. But that's probably because I was her first-born, and also because, if my suspicions are true about Kusa's biological father, because his existence represents a painful memory that she's not fond of reliving since, if i'm right?

Kusa's conception may not have been strictly consensual OR by our mother's will. Of course, that's all purely a guess on my part. And I don't think Kusa realizes that at all. So to him, he thinks that our mom puts me first, and as a result. he slightly resents me because he might see himself as second-best to me, even though that couldn't be further from the truth. Kusa, if anything, is better than me in a lot of ways.

I might be the older brother, but all I've accomplished so far is getting falsely charged for assault, making him have to uproot his life, and constantly messing up Kusa's life with my luck. But I try to do the best I can to off-set things where possible. It was just bad luck that Morgana mistook what we said as confessing feelings for one another and then getting together. When, in actuality, you and I know full well we see one another as brother and sister, Futaba." Joker said. Futaba nodded with a frown.

"I see. I want to believe that too, but you heard how adamant Mona was about taking the Treasure. Also, he seemed genuinely surprised that Kusa wasn't with us. That suggests, at least to me, that they haven't seen one another since both of them stormed off. So wherever Kusa is, he's likely on his own." Futaba said as Makoto spoke up.

"Honestly? I don't think he's betrayed us. If he had, it'd make much more sense for him to directly threaten us, such as exposing our identities." Makoto said as Ryuji sighed nad spoke up.

"Perhaps. But either way, how the hell's Morgana related to that Beauty Thief?" Ryuji asked as Yusuke spoke up.

"Hm, considering her tone and physique, she looked about our age." Yusuke said as Makoto frowned before gasping as she had a realization occur to her that prompted her to speak up.

"More than that, I feel like I've seen her somewhere." Makoto said as the others turned stunned gazes onto her as Ryuji spoke up.

"For real? Where at!?" Ryuji asked as Makoto frowned and spoke up.

"At school, perhaps? I think. But don't quote me on that." Makoto said as Ryuji blinked and spoke up.

"Wait, what!? But, to be honest? Now that you mention it Makoto, I feel like I've seen her too somewhere." Ryuji said as Yusuke spoke up.

"Is she a student of Shujin?" Yusuke asked as Makoto shrugged and spoke up.

"Not sure. I just feel like that's the case. She did have a mask on, after all. The registry in the student council room has photos of every student. Let's check them all tomorrow. If we can figure out the identity of the Beauty Thief, that might help us regain contact with Morgana." Makoto said as Ren nodded his agreement before speaking up.

"Good point. And once we can get Morgana back where he belongs, we can then turn our focus onto figuring out where the hell Kusa could be. Because to be honest? He could be anywhere, since he hasn't said much about which friends, if any, he has. Granted, and this is a super long shot, he could've decided to crash at Yoshizawa's place for a time, since I know those two see each other as siblings of a sort. However, if Kusa's not been to school since he took off, which from what Boss said last night is the case, I dunno how he'd have gotten into contact with Yoshizawa. But that's the best guess I can make at this point." Ren said as Yusuke spoke up.

"Yes, well, for now, let us stay on the topic of finding Morgana. Maybe he'll have some insight into Kusa that we don't. That said, Futaba and I should probe further into Okumura Foods, then. It'd be best if we investigate how sudden mental shutdowns are connected to them." Yusuke said as Futaba nodded in a determined manner before speaking up.

"We're gonna take them down!" Futaba said as the group dispersed for the evening on that note. After they were gone, and Ren was once again alone, his phone went off to signify a group chat from Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, and Futaba, with Ryuji sending the first response.

"Things're really starting to heat up online. People are going on and on bashing Okumura Foods." Ryuji sent as Ann sent a response.

"Apparently they've been secretly using low-quality ingredients brought in from overseas to cut costs." Ann sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"Furthermore, any employees who were suspicious of Okumura have been let go without reason. That, coupled with the mysterious death of a rival company's CEO, seems rather suspect to me." Yusuke sent as Makoto sent a response.

"What's this all of a sudden?" Makoto sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Things are going up in flames. I don't really get what kicked it off though." Futaba sent as Ann sent a response.

"People have been coming after us too. They think we should just hurry up and punish him." Ann sent as Ren sent a response.

"That's irresponsible of them! Do they want us to do this swiftly, or do they want us to do it right? After all, we all know how dangerous rushing a change of heart can be." Ren sent. Futaba sent a response.

"They're just acting like spectators or something." Futaba sent as Makoto sent a response.

"It wasn't like this just a few days ago, though, to be honest." Makoto sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"Could there perhaps have been a whistle-blower from within?" Yusuke sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"C'mon, we've got even more reason to take Okumura down now!" Ryuji sent as Makoto sent a response.

"Can we really accept all of this information as truth, though?" Makoto sent. Ann sent a response.

"Either way, we need to do something about Morgana. Whether some of us will admit it or not, the team's not the same without him around. Not to mention, as Futaba said before, Morgana could be our best shot at finding Kusa and hopefully convincing him to return to us. And I don't think anyone would disagree when I say the team's definitely not the same without Kusa around." Ann sent. Ryuji sent a response next.

"Yup. Kusa might be preachy and insufferable at times, but he really is like that cohesive stuff that keeps the team in one piece. Granted, he did sock me in the face and knock me out, but it was probably deserved to be honest, since I did call Morgana a piece of shit before that. Anyways, seeya all tomorrow!" Ryuji sent as Ren put his phone away and sighed, thinking about Kusa and Morgana. He then decided to lay down for the night, still worried for Kusa, even if he knew now that Morgana was at least okay...

(The next day, on the train to school with Ren)

"Have you checked out the Phan-Site? Okumura's at the top of the list." Ren heard a gossipy office worker say to their surprised friend nearby as the friend spoke up.

"Whoa, the CEO of Big Bang Burger? Why?" The surprised worker said as a talkative worker spoke up.

"Apparently they're really shitty to their employees. They never pay overtime, yet work people hard enough that one actually died, if you believe what's been said. I also heard that a pissed-off former employee is the one who trashed their corporate entrance. There's a lot of terrible rumors about them, including that they strong-arm their competitors for whatever reason." The talkative worker said as the surprised worker spoke up with wide eyes.

"Yikes. I just ate there yesterday, too. I never really thought about how they make so much food for so cheap. I hope nothing weird's mixed in to the food." The surprised worker said as Ren frowned, since both he and Kusa had eaten from Big Bang Burger before, but then he leaned back in his seat as the rest of the train ride passed uneventfully from there...

(That afternoon, in class with Ren and Ann)

Ren and Ann's phone went off to signify a group chat with Ryuji, Yusuke, Makoto, and Futaba, with Ryuji sending the first response.

"Would someone normally call themselves Beauty Thief, do you think?" Ryuji sent. Ann sent a response at that point.

"Probably not. I'd bet Morgana made her say it in lieu of a code name." Ann sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"That's still a weird thing to say, whether he told her to say it or not. Plus they lied about her being able to use a Persona too, since she didn't even so much as try to summon it." Ryuji sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"Hold on. We don't know if that is indeed a lie, though." Yusuke sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"But we've never seen her use one. No matter how you slice it, she's totally just an amateur." Ryuji sent as Ren sent a response.

"Perhaps. But regardless, don't let your guard down. If she's with Morgana, she's bound to get stronger in time. After all, Morgana trained all of us, and look at how strong we are for it." Ren sent. Ryuji sent a response.

"I don't think we gotta worry about that, dude." Ryuji sent as Futaba sent a response.

"I agree with Ren. We can't take her lightly. She has Morgana on her side, remember?" Futaba sent. Makoto then sent a response.

"I agree with Ren and Futaba. At the very least, they're one step ahead of us." Makoto sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"True. An amateur would not have been able to open that gate." Yusuke sent as Makoto sent a response.

"Good point, Yusuke. They've clearly figured out something we don't know. We'll need to uncover the identity of that masked girl before we can do much else." Makoto sent as Ren put his phone away and focused on class...

(After school, in the Student Council Room with Ryuji, Makoto, Ann, and Ren)

"Oh! Man, this girl's hot! Aww, but she's younger than me." Ryuji said as Ren frowned and spoke up.

"So!? In case you've forgotten Ryuji, it's not that uncommon these days for older guys to be attracted to girls a couple years younger than them. Or am I the only one familiar with the anime trope that is 'younger sister falls for older brother's best friend'?" Ren pointed out, not mentioning that he only knew of the trope in question because of how often he saw Kusa browsing various stories online while he was considering being a writer. Ann spoke up while nodding agreement to Ren's point.

"That sounds familiar, Ren. And Ryuji! Focus!" Ann said as she looked through pictures until she came to a different picture and spoke up.

"No way! She's the same age as me!? But she looks like my dad's friend though." Ann said as Ryuji frowned and spoke up.

"Get back to work." Ryuji said as Ren spoke up with what sounded like a cross of a huff and a dry laugh while he gave Ryuji an unimpressed look.

"Hark who's talking? You were the one complaining about a girl being younger than you, Ryuji." Ren pointed out as Makoto sighed and spoke up.

"Why don't we take a break? It's no surprise that our concentration is waning. That said, even if it's only the female students, there are easily hundreds of them." Makoto said as Ann sighed and spoke up.

"They're all starting to look the same to me, to be honest." Ann said as Ryuji spoke up.

"Think we can really find her?" Ryuji said as Ren spoke up.

"I'm sure we can. There are a lot of students, yes, but we have to find her. If we don't, not only are we screwed in terms of getting Mona and Draconis back with us, but we're also screwed in terms of infiltrating the current Palace. So we can't give up." Ren said firmly but gently. Ryuji spoke up in surprise.

"Oh? Someone sure is confident." Ryuji said as Ann spoke up.

"Hm?" Ann said before gasping as she looked at a fluffy-haired brunette's picture and spoke up.

"Oh! This girl!" Ann said as Makoto looked at the picture and read the name under it.

"Hm, this says her name is Haru Okumura." Makoto said before gasping as her eyes widened in shock while she spoke up.

"Wait, Okumura!? Is that the same Okumura-san from Student Council!? If so, then no wonder I thought I'd seen her somewhere. I just introduced her and the others to Kusa not that long ago." Makoto said as Ann spoke up.

"True, but wasn't the Beauty Thief like this too? Especially the fluffy hair." Ann said as Ryuji gaped and spoke up in surprise.

"No way. That's gotta be her!" Ryuji said as Makoto smiled and spoke up.

"If that is the case, it would also explain how she got past the door's bio-metric reader when we couldn't. This may be worth looking into." Makoto said as Ann spoke up.

"But, why was she at the Palace?" Ann asked as Ryuji spoke up.

"We could just make her spill the beans herself." Ryuji said as Makoto frowned and spoke up.

"She may have already gone home for the day, so let's try tomorrow. That said, I'm going to lock up. I'll see you all tomorrow." Makoto said as the group walked off. As Ren got to the school gate, he blinked, as to his surprise, he saw none other than the same girl that he, Ryuji, Ann, and Makoto had just been discussing, or one Haru Okumura. Ren frowned as he saw Okumura struggling to move some bags, grunting to herself as she spoke.

"Ugh! Come the eff on! Just move for me already!" Okumura grunted to herself. Ren, being the gentleman he is, spoke up.

"Hey, are you okay there?" Ren asked Okumura, who blinked in surprise on hearing Ren's voice, only then realizing she wasn't alone, making her turn to face him as she spoke up.

"Um, sorry if this is out of nowhere, but would you happen to be interested in gardening?" Okumura asked Ren, who politely smiled at Okumura before he poke up.

"I've never tried it myself, but I have been interested in learning about it. That said, would you like some help with those?" Ren asked Okumura, who smiled as she spoke up.

"Really? In that case, I think I'll take you up on that offer. If you could help me unload this, I'd be grateful." Okumura said as Ren helped move the bags to where Okumura indicated. Afterwards, Okumura gave Ren a grateful smile as she spoke up.

"Boys sure are strong. Thank you. You're a second-year, aren't you? That makes me just a tad older. Um, pardon the question, but have we met somewhere before?" Okumura said to Ren, then kept speaking before he could answer.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself. I'm-" Okumura said as Makoto walked over to Okumura and spoke up.

"Haru Okumura, correct? Or Okumura-san to most?" Makoto said as she joined Ren and Okumura, at which point she kept speaking.

"Only daughter of Kunikazu Okumura, CEO of Okumura Foods. Care to explain why you were inside your father's Palace?" Makoto asked as Okumura blinked and spoke up.

"Ahh, I see. So that's where we met. Wow, you figured it out in just a day. By the way President Niijima, you looked really good in that biker gang outfit!" Okumura said as Ren had to stifle a chuckle at the mildly annoyed/perturbed look on Makoto's face as she spoke up.

"Let's just forget about that, yeah? And can we not talk about that, Okumura-san?" Makoto said before looking to make sure no one was coming as she kept speaking.

"So why did you become a phantom thief?" Makoto asked Okumura, who winced as she spoke up.

"To be honest, it was because of my father. My father's highly regarded as a manager, but I had various, shall we say, doubts about him. Things have grown quite serious lately at Okumura Foods. That's why I want to make amends, even though it may only be for my own satisfaction. But I wonder if this is just running from the problem or not. " Okumura said as Makoto spoke up.

"Where did you meet Morgana? And was there anyone else with him?" Makoto asked Okumura, who blinked at the question as she spoke up.

"No, he was by himself. And it was pure coincidence. I found a lonely-looking cat in front of our office building." Okumura said as Makoto spoke up.

"And that was Morgana?" Makoto asked Okumura, who spoke up.

"Mm-hm! And when I followed him, I ended up in the Metaverse as a result. There's no way for me to change my father's company, at least alone. But if I became a phantom thief, I thought I'd at least be able to change him, if nothing else. That said, you did mention something about someone called Draconis? Were you expecting them to be with Morgana?" Haru asked as Makoto nodded her understanding before she spoke up.

"Yes. Draconis took off around the same time as Morgana, after Morgana may have said something that wasn't strictly true that set him off, since it involved two people he considered himself to be quite close to. I can't go into details since it's not my place, but suffice it to say it pissed him off to the point he knocked out Ryuji with one punch and stormed off. No one's seen him since. And most of us are worried about him, since he's even been out of school the last couple days. But back on topic, isn't there any way we can work together?" Makoto said as Okumura looked down before speaking up.

"I'm sorry President Niijima, but I can't cooperate with people who don't know what they want to do. But it's nice to know you're at least worried for Amamiya-kun the younger. I assume he's this 'Draconis' you spoke of? I haven't seen him at all since the last student council meeting. Though I do believe I heard rumors that the last one to see him was Mishima-kun when the two met up at a diner a couple nights ago, then no one's seen Amamiya-kun the younger since.

Maybe whatever they discussed had something to do with that? That said, you have to realize that what you're doing is unnecessarily causing a stir among the public. Besides, the Phantom Thieves, who should be helping the weak, are not helping their own teammate." Okumura said as Makoto winced before Ren spoke up.

"And that's where you're wrong, Okumura-san. We've been trying to find Morgana and Kusa ever since they ran off to make sure they're all right, and also so we can apologize to them, since there were a lot of tempers that flared that day." Ren said. Okumura nodded her understanding and smiled before she spoke up.

"I see. To be honest, I just want my father to atone for his crimes. And help Mona-chan, who gave me a chance to do just that." Okumura said as Makoto spoke up.

"OK, but aren't our objectives the same? It'd be better if we work-" Makoto said before Okumura cut across Makoto to speak up.

"No, thanks. I hope you guys find Amamiya-kun the younger soon. That said, I will do this with Mona-chan, and him alone." Okumura said as Ren and Makoto nodded and left. Once they were back at the gate, Makoto spoke up with a frown.

"She hit quite a sore spot with her last comment. We don't know what we want to do, huh? If that's true, why are we trying so hard to find Morgana and Kusa?" Makoto said to Ren who spoke up.

"She's probably just blinded by her gratitude to Morgana for helping her. If you ask me, it seems rather similar to how Kusa tends to be blind in his gratitude to those who help him out." Ren said sagely as Makoto spoke up.

"Good point. That said, it seems getting her cooperation won't be possible. Let's consult with the others on our next move. We shouldn't ignore Morgana or Kusa either." Makoto said as Ren nodded and the two went their separate ways for the evening...

(That evening, at the Okumura residence, with Haru and her dad)

"I'm home, Father." Haru said to her father, a dark-haired man with glasses, a black dress coat, white dress undershirt, a red neckerchief, as well as yellow pants and shoes, as well as the same eyes as Haru and a perpetually annoyed look on his face, who ignored her to snap a command into his phone.

"Drive them away." Haru's father said before listening to the voice on the other end as he spoke up.

"That's right. Make it a priority." Haru's father said as he hung up the phone before sighing as he spoke up once more.

"Ugh, I finally get a foothold into politics and this happens. Why me? Phantom Thieves? Hmph!" Haru's father said as he turned to Haru and spoke up.

"Did the media ask you anything?" Haru's father asked Haru, who shook her head as she spoke up.

"No, not at all, Father. Um, what's this about Phantom Thieves?" Haru asked her father, who rubbed his forehead in annoyance as he spoke up.

"It seems I'm ranked first on the forum of these so-called Phantom Thieves." Haru's dad said as Haru spoke up with wide eyes.

"Is it because of the news coverage?" Haru asked as her dad nodded and spoke up.

"Something like that. It's jealousy of the successful. Nothing but the barks of the masses who lack the resolve to sacrifice what's needed for their well-being. Both the young and the old are overjoyed with some foolish idols. This country has no future." Haru's dad said as Haru frowned and spoke up.

"What if they do exist? What if these Phantom Thieves can steal hearts?" Haru asked her father, who frowned as he spoke up.

"Haru? Are you still having doubts about me?" Haru's dad asked Haru, who shook her head as she spoke up.

"No, not at all. I was just curious, that's all." Haru said as her dad spoke up with a frown.

"More importantly, I hope things are going well with that young man." Haru's dad said pointedly as Haru spoke up with a nod.

"I get it. Yes, Father, things are going fine with him." Haru said in a obedient tone. Her father nodded and spoke up.

"Very well then. He may not seem like it, but he's still the son of an influential politician. Be cordial with him. He'll eventually become a necessary connection for this company, or rather, for me." Haru's father said as Haru nodded and spoke up in a subdued-sounding tone.

"Yes, Father. I understand. I will do the best I can." Haru said as her fother stood up and nodded while speaking up.

"Good. That's how a daughter of Okumura should be." Haru's dad said as he pulled out his phone for another call, leaving Haru to sigh as she left the room...

(Around that same time, at Leblanc, in the attic with Ren)

Ren's phone went off to signify a group chat with Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, and Futaba, with Ann sending the first response.

"Hey, I found some weird comments on Mishima-kun's website. They were thanking us for resolving requests that we didn't actually complete." Ann sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"It's prolly just a prank." Ryuji sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"But those requests are indeed resolved. Someone must be going into Mementos other than us." Yusuke sent as Ann sent a response.

"I think it's Morgana." Ann sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Agreed. He's probably taking the Beauty Thief with him." Futaba sent as Makoto sent a response.

"We need to look into this. Although, speaking of Mishima-kun and the Beauty Thief, Ren and I happened to stumble upon Haru Okumura in the garden on our way out. And she all but confirmed that Morgana's staying with her. However, that wasn't all, was it Ren?" Makoto sent as Ren sent a response.

"Indeed. Okumura-san also mentioned that the last person to see Kusa was in fact Mishima, about two days ago, and no one's seen him since. Which leads me to believe that Kusa could well be wandering inside Mementos with no way of getting out. With how well I know Kusa, I could easily see him charging in solo to try and find Morgana and/or Black Mask in the mind space he was in when he stormed off. So he's at least safe, to some extent. Granted, if he's been stuck in Mementos on his own for the last couple days, who knows what that's done to his mental state?" Ren sent. Makoto nodded and sent a response as the others gasped at what Ren had sent.

"Agreed. To be honest, I was thinking of persuading Okumura-san at school, but she's been avoiding me like the plague outside of student council meetings, and I can't speak to her there, for obvious reasons." Makoto sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"So, how're we gonna look into this then?" Ryuji sent as Makoto sent a response.

"This might be a risky play, but we'll stake out Mementos." Makoto sent as Ren sent a response.

"Good plan. That way, if Morgana and the Beauty Thief are there, we can catch them and confront them. Worst case, it gives us an excuse to see if we can find Kusa. And maybe if we find him, he might have more luck persuading Morgana to come back than we have, provided he's not in a messed-up mind space from his time alone in Mementos." Ren sent. Ryuji sent a response.

"I'd rather chase 'em down instead of sit and wait." Ryuji sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"The method is indeed a classic one, but it is a safe bet." Yusuke sent as Ann sent a response.

"Yeah, I think it's better than just looking for them randomly." Ann sent as Futaba sent a response.

"I'm gonna have all sorts of snacks! No teachers to stop me on this field trip! Also, imagine if we were able to not only bring back Morgana, but also Kusa as well? How incredible would that be?" Futaba sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Truth. I do owe them both an apology. Welp, why don't we get this over with?" Ryuji sent as Makoto sent a response.

"Agreed. Let's do it tomorrow." Makoto sent as Ren put his phone away. Once Ren did that, he sat on his bed and eventually got comfortable as he dozed off for the night, hopeful that on the morrow, they could at least find and reunite with one of the two currently missing members of the group...

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

"I can't believe it! Isn't it a little strange that Okumura's the top vote on the Phan-Site? I mean, there are tons of other companies that do the same thing." A skeptical guy walking in front of Ren said to his non-committal friend, who shrugged as he spoke up.

"Eh, it's possible. Maybe they're singling him out for all of the praise he gets? Besides, there are a bunch of strange rumors starting to surface about his company, among other things." The non-committal guy said as the skeptical guy spoke up.

"Oh, you mean like all that stuff happening to his competitors? Don't tell me you buy that occult BS. I'm sure it's a coincidence." The skeptical guy said as the rest of the trip to school went uneventfully...

(That morning, in class with Ann and Ren)

"Hi there, everyone! How's everyone doing? Worn out from your trip? Come on, you're young! Hawaii doesn't even count as going to a foreign country. It's full of Japanese tourists. I bet you were able to speak Japanese wherever you went, weren't you? The shopkeepers will use Japanese to pressure you into buying things as if their life depended on it. I'm used to it though, so I actually haggle with them in English. Mister Amamiya! Show me how much you know your English." Chouno said as Ren gave her his attention while she kept speaking.

"Let's hear it! What's one of the supposed origins for the phrase 'cat got your tongue'?" Chouno asked Ren, who winced but then smiled as he remembered Futaba telling him about this recently as a fun fact one night, so he spoke up with confidence.

"This is it! The answer is 'Cats eating human tongues'!" Ren said confidently. Chouno clapped approvingly as she spoke up.

"Good! In ancient Egypt, it's said that the tongues of liars and blasphemers were cut out and fed to cats. It's also possible it came from the pirates' 'cat-o-nine-tails' leaving a prisoner too stung to talk. There are actually a lot of other explanations involving cats." Chouno said as the usual murmurs about Ren being smart ensued, though the lack of Morgana complimenting him on his intelligence made Ren a bit sad for the reminder of the missing not-cat while his Knowledge got boosted. Chouno kept speaking at that point.

"For instance, 'Cats have nine lives.' That relates to how cats seem capable of surviving all kinds of dangers, even ones you'd expect to kill them." Chouno said as the rest of the class went uneventfully...

(That afternoon, in class with Ren and Ann)

Ren and Ann's phones went off in class to signify a group chat from Ryuji, Yusuke, Makoto, and Futaba, with Futaba sending the first response.

"Man, it's crazy how many people want us to change the heart of the Okumura Foods CEO." Futaba sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"I mean, duh. He was doing tons of shady shit." Ryuji sent as Ann sent a response.

"It sounds like everyone's expecting us to actually take him down." Ann sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"C'mon, we gotta do this!" Ryuji sent as Ren sent a response.

"I'm game. If nothing else, I think we'll all feel a lot better once we have our group back together again, even if some of us have to swallow our pride a bit and eat some humble pie to make it happen, right Ryuji?" Ren sent. Ryuji sent a response.

"Hell yeah! And truth. I do owe them both a huge apology, Kusa moreso than Morgana. That's not gonna be fun to do, but I guess it is what it is." Ryuji sent as Makoto sent a response.

"That aside, does everyone remember the plan for today?" Makoto sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"Yes. We're to hold a stakeout in Mementos." Yusuke sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"You think they're gonna show?" Ryuji sent as Makoto sent a response.

"We'll just have to wait until they do." Makoto sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"For real? What if it takes them days to show up, Makoto?" Ryuji sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Then we wait days for them, Ryuji! We can't go back until we make up with Morgana, and if we happen to find and reconcile with Kusa as well while there, all the better." Futaba sent as Ann sent a response.

"I'm sure they'll come." Ann sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"I hope you're right, Ann. I'd rather not wait inside Mementos for literal days if it can be avoided, to be honest." Ryuji sent as Ren put his phone away and the rest of class passed uneventfully...

(After school, inside Mementos with Oracle, Skull, Panther, Queen, Joker, and Fox)

"You're going to apologize when Mona comes, all right? And if we run into Draconis, you're to make nice with him as well." Panther said to Skull, who huffed as he spoke up.

"I know already! And why're you just sayin' that to me!?" Skull said as Joker spoke up.

"Probably because it was your mis-interpreted comment that set Draconis off in the first place, even if it was Mona who was the one who misunderstood what Oracle and I were talking about and made it sound like we became a couple, which would never happen, since with all respect to Oracle, she's like a little sister to me if anything. And with regard to Mona, you DID escalate his temper by calling him a piece of shit, as I recall." Joker said pointedly. Skull huffed and spoke up.

"Fine, fine. I get it." Skull said as Queen spoke up.

"That said, we also need to be wary of the Beauty Thief, too." Queen said as Fox spoke up.

"So we're doing a stakeout here." Fox said. Oracle nodded with a determined smile as she spoke up.

"Right? So we better be ready for the long haul!" Oracle said as the group settled in to wait. Some time later, Skull huffed and spoke up.

"Ain't he gonna show up today? I mean, what time is it now?" Skull said as Fox spoke up.

"Hold that thought." Fox said as the group turned in time to see Beauty Thief and Mona enter the area, the latter frowning as he spoke up.

"You guys are slacking off way too much!" Mona said as Beauty Thief spoke up.

"Do you have business with us?" Beauty Thief asked as Queen spoke up.

"Aren't you the ones fulfilling requests on the Phantom Aficionado Website? Even leaving comments? It'd be best if you don't accept them so recklessly." Queen said as Fox spoke up with a frown while he spoke.

"The police will track you down in no time. If that were to happen, we'd be caught up in it as well." Fox said as Beauty Thief gasped and spoke up.

"Oh! That's not what I intended! But, if that happened, that would be my fault since I left the comments. I'm not actually that great with machines, to be honest. I'm truly sorry." Beauty Thief said apologetically with a bow as Mona frowned and spoke up.

"Why're you apologizing!?" Mona asked Beauty Thief in annoyance. Beauty Thief spoke up in a cheerful if confused tone.

"They're telling us for our sake. We should be thanking them." Beauty Thief said to Mona, who turned away as Queen spoke up.

"Won't you please put what happened behind us? Everyone here agrees that tempers flared and things were said that shouldn't have been and everyone regrets what happened." Queen said to Mona, who blinked at this in surprise while he spoke up.

"Wait, so I'm the one you're here for? You guys need me after all? Is that it?" Mona asked as Joker spoke up with a nod.

"Of course we do. I know I yelled at you not to come back that day, but I lost my temper and didn't mean it. I'm sorry, Mona. I feel terrible for shouting. Please come back. You're vital to our team." Joker said. Skull spoke up in surprise.

"Really?" Skull said as Panther frowned at Skull before speaking up rebukingly.

"Ryuji!" Panther rebuked Skull, ignoring the surprised looks on everyone else's face at Panther addressing Skull by his real name in front of Beauty Thief. Panther then turned to Mona.

"We're sorry, Morgana. We weren't taking your feelings into consideration at all. Well, I think Draconis might've been taking your feelings into consideration, even after your mis-understanding of Joker and Oracle's conversation upset him. I think it was only Skull's poor word choice that set him off in the end. But even Skull feels bad for that. Don't you, Skull?" Panther said. Mona looked at Panther in surprise as he spoke up.

"Lady Ann. You do care!" Mona said as Beauty Thief blinked and spoke up, seemingly being the only one bothered by Panther's slip-up.

"E-Everyone, shouldn't you be using code names?" Beauty Thief said in confusion as Panther spoke up, clearly not hearing her.

"Ryuji didn't really mean what he said, you know? He wants to apologize, don't you Ryuji!?" Panther said pointedly to Skull, who sighed as he spoke up.

"Well, it's like this. I was just trying to have Kusa's back, and I might have overreacted a bit when you called me a carnal blond monkey. But still, it was my bad too for calling you a piece of shit. That was uncalled for of me, Mona. My bad." Skull said. When he kept speaking, several of the others' eyes went wide at what he said next.

"I mean, I don't mind if you're not human or if you're useless!" Skull said without thinking. Oracle shook her head as she spoke up.

"What a douche. Way to put your foot right in your mouth after apologizing, Skull." Oracle said disapprovingly. Fox sighed as he spoke up.

"Ann's setup was completely ruined." Fox said as Mona frowned at Skull and spoke up.

"Oh, is that right!? So I AM just some useless cat to you guys! You're so full of yourselves, but do you have the skills to back that up!?" Mona said as he transformed into his Mona-Bus form as he spoke up before anyone could reply to his question, taunting the others with what he said next.

"Try and catch me then!" Mona said before addressing Beauty Thief while he kept speaking.

"Get in, Beauty Thief!" Mona said to Beauty Thief, who hurried to get into the Mona-Bus. Mona then spoke seriously to the others.

"If you can't do this, don't count on me ever coming back!" Mona said as he sped off, leaving Oracle to sigh and give Skull an annoyed glare as she spoke up.

"And there they go. Good freaking job, Skull! You had ONE job!" Oracle said as Skull huffed angrily while he spoke up.

"Did he even THINK about how long he made us wait!? FINE! We'll do this!" Skull said as he darted off after the Mona-Bus, making Queen sigh as she spoke up.

"Geez! This isn't what we came here to do!" Queen said as the rest of the group chased after Skull, who spoke up as he saw the Mona-Bus in the distance.

"All right! Look! There he is!" Skull said as Queen spoke up.

"We need to go after him and talk things through." Queen said as the group dashed after the Mona-Bus, which turned around and spoke up.

"Piece. Of. Cake! Hmph. I won't let myself get caught by someone like you!" Mona said as he took off again while Fox spoke up.

"Hm, this is a predicament we're in. We are facing a car here. Does it not seem somewhat reckless to chase him on foot?" Fox said as Oracle spoke up.

"I'm okay! You sure give up easy, Fox. There are dead ends all over this floor. We can do this if we manage to corner him in one." Oracle said as the group kept moving. Joker frowned as he could only just hear what sounded like the faintly echoing roar of a dragon in the distance, making him wonder if Draconis might also be in the area somewhere while the group kept moving. Eventually, the group cornered the Mona-Bus as Oracle spoke up.

"Mwehehe, you're trapped now." Oracle said as the Mona-bus spoke up.

"Hmph, how naive. You really think you've captured me?" Mona said as he dashed off, nearly running Joker and Skull over in the process as Skull pulled Joker out of harm's way while he spoke up.

"Gah! Shit, look out!" Skull said as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"Sheesh, what would he have done if he had run us over!? Moreover, how would he even go about telling Draconis that he ran us over if he did that?" Panther said with a frown. Queen huffed and spoke up.

"Stop complaining and let's get after him again!" Queen said as Joker could hear the dragon's roar a bit clearer now, suggesting it was heading their direction, as the group kept moving. Once they caught up to the Mona-bus, Fox spoke up.

"Wonderful, we have reached him!" Fox said as Panther spoke up.

"Mona! Will you listen!?" Panther asked Mona, who frowned as he spoke up.

"Shut up! I've got nothing to talk about with you guys!" Mona said as he dashed off, nearly hitting Joker again as he did so. Queen huffed as she spoke up.

"Ngh, not again! Dammit, Mona!" Queen said as Fox spoke up. There will be no end at this rate unless something gives." Fox said before he blinked and spoke up once more, his expression a mix of confused and surprised while he spoke.

"Hold. Was that a roar just now?" Fox asked with a frown as Joker spoke up.

"Not just a roar, Fox. If I'm right that was the roar of a dragon, namely a dragon Persona. If I'm right, that was the roar of Smaug." Joker said as the others blinked and Oracle spoke up in surprise.

"If that's true, then Draconis is here too. Maybe we'll bring them both back today after all?" Oracle said, a bit of excitement entering her tone. At that moment, the sounds of a crash reached the group's ears as Panther frowned and spoke up.

"Wait, what was that!?" Panther said as Oracle spoke up.

"It came from over there! Let's go take a look!" Oracle said as the group kept moving to chase after the Mona-bus. Sure enough, as they got closer, they saw the Mona-Bus tipped over and crashed as Skull spoke up huffily.

"Tch, that idiot crashed." Skull said as Joker spoke up, having had a thought suddenly occur to him.

"Possibly. Or he over-corrected trying not to crash into something." Joker said. Oracle nodded as she spoke up.

"Yup, that makes sense. Especially if we're right about that roar being Smaug. That said, hey! Mona! Are you okay!?" Oracle called as the group approached the downed Mona-bus which turned back into Mona as Beauty Thief was ejected carefully from the bus before it shifted back. Skull spoke up once the group reached Mona and Beauty Thief.

"You gotta hear us out, Morgana!" Skull said as Mona hissed and spoke up.

"There's nothing I have to talk to you about." Mona said as Queen spoke up.

"Come on. There's no need to keep being so stubborn." Queen said as Mona huffed and spoke up.

"I can't just give in like this! I have my pride to protect!" Mona said as Beauty Thief gasped and spoke up.

"Oh! What's that over there!?" Beauty Thief said, pointing towards the way the group had came from, just in time for the roar from before to echo, much louder than before, making the group frown as they realized whatever it was was close, right as a shadow passed over all their heads, before seemingly turning around and stopping in place as a figure leapt off the top of the Shadow, doing a superhero landing with a slight wince as they stood and glared at the group, namely Skull and Joker, before speaking up.

"Finally freaking made it! There you guys are! I heard you were here, and figured this was a good chance to catch up to you! But man did it take me an effing while to find you!" The figure said before the group, excluding Beauty Thief, turned to face them and gasped at who it was, though Joker and Oracle would be the ones to voice the group's shock as they spoke up.

"No way! You're here too!?" Joker said in surprise to the figure as Oracle spoke up, smiling at the figure as she spoke up to reveal their identity.

"Oh, thank god you're safe, Draconis!" Oracle said as she darted forward to throw her arms around the figure, who was now revealed to be a stunned Draconis, clearly pleased to see him. Draconis, for his part, could only blink and then smile as he gently patted Oracle on the head and spoke up while lightly hugging Oracle in surprise as he gently spoke to her in a comforting tone.

"Shh, it's okay Oracle. I told you I would be back. And I keep my promises, yeah? But we can catch up shortly. To be honest, even though I'm glad to see most of you again, I actually did have a purpose for chasing you lot down other than to catch up to you. And it pertains to those two idiots right there!" Draconis said with a livid glare while he pointed directly at the gaping Skull and Joker, who blinked in surprise as the livid look in Draconis' slightly glazed-over eyes.

As Joker and Skull looked into Draconis' eyes, the former blinking in surprise as the latter's eyes widened at the fact that whether or not it was a trick of the lighting or even Joker's eyes working right, but Joker could swear there was a hint of yellow in Draconis's narrowed eyes as Skull spoke up.

"Huh!? Why do you look so pissed, Draconis?" Skull said to Draconis, while Queen gasped as Mona took the distraction as a chance to shift back into his Mona-bus form and dart off with Beauty Thief riding shotgun inside the Mona-bus. But no one else noticed, as they were more pre-occupied with the apparent stand-off between Joker, Skull, and an apparently livid Draconis, the latter of whom glared at Joker and Skull before he spoke up again.

"Oh, I dunno, maybe because YOU HAD THE AUDACITY TO CALL MONA A PIECE OF SHIT IN FRONT OF ME, SKULL! AND JOKER HAD THE GALL TO LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND THEN LIE RIGHT TO MY EFFING FACE ABOUT NOT HAVING FEELINGS FOR ORACLE, ALL WHILE HE TOOK THE FIRST CHANCE HE GOT TO GET TOGETHER WITH HER! WHAT THE FUCK, JOKER!? WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU HAVING EYES FOR YOSHIZAWA, AND THE EFFING BRO CODE!? RUDE!" Draconis snapped as Panther gasped and spoke up.

"Ah!" Panther said in surprise as Draconis turned to the others and spoke up.

"The rest of you, stand down. I have no beef with you guys. I merely have a bone to pick with Skull and Joker. Namely, what I just mentioned. However, I already mostly got my own back on Skull when I knocked his ass out the other day, so I'm not that pissed at him anymore. Joker, on the other hand?

I'm VERY livid with him! You could've been honest with me and said you were torn between Oracle and Yoshizawa, and I would've willingly stepped aside to let you have a chance at her, since I'm a cool guy like that and would do most anything if it'd make Oracle happy, but NO! You lied to me and said you have no interest in Oracle, only to turn around and become her boyfriend when she asked you to in Akihibara!

And what was I stuck doing during that time!? EFFING ROOM-SITTING! I don't mind room-sitting for Oracle, but room-sitting while my brother decides to hook up with Oracle on the sly!? Hell no! Joker, I think it's time you and I settled this, man to man. None of the others have to partake in this battle. It'll be just you, and me. A clash of brothers. If you can defeat me, Joker, I'll back down and apologize for being wrong about you and Oracle, since I realize Mona might have mis-interpreted what he heard.

But if I defeat you, I'll take that to mean you lack the strength to prove me wrong, Joker! So what'll it be? Will you face me, or are you too spineless and cowardly to face what you did like a man? Dammit Joker! Do you have ANY idea how much it hurts to think you could do something like that to me AGAIN, never mind the fact you also did this to Yoshizawa, your supposed crush!

How can you sit there and hurt your own brother like that, Joker!?" Draconis snapped angrily at Joker, who winced as he saw the slightly blacked-out tint in Draconis' eyes before he sighed and spoke up, both Joker and Draconis ignoring the confused looks on the faces of the others while the former spoke.

"I REALLY don't want to do this, but if it means bringing you to your effing senses and hopefully making things right with you? Then bring it on, Draconis!" Joker said as Draconis nodded, gesturing for Smaug to join him, which he appeared behind Draconis as he spoke up.

"Well said, Joker. There's no more need for words. We will let our actions speak for us! As a man, and as a warrior, I will pull no punches! Prepare to face me at my best, Joker!" Draconis said as he brandished his bo staff intimidatingly as Joker sighed and brandished his knives as the clash of brothers began! At the start of the fight, Draconis spoke up.

"Dammit! How long have you been interested in Oracle for, Joker!? Answer me!" Draconis said as he charged forward with his bo staff, taking a swing at Joker, who sidestepped and called a Persona.

"Phoenix! Freila!" Joker said as he had his Phoenix persona blast a shot of Nuke energy at Draconis, who was pushed backwards slightly from the impact but then chuckled as he spoke up.

"Very well, my turn! SMAUG! Show this fool your Assault Dive!" Draconis said as Smaug lunged forward, slamming full-on into Joker, who was pushed backwards with a grunt before he spoke up.

"Phoenix! Try a Zionga!" Joker said as Phoenix loosed a bolt of Elec energy at Draconis, who winced as the effective attack knocked him to a knee, allowing Joker to follow up.

"Now use a Freila again, Phoenix!" Joker said as Phoenix his Draconis with a Freila, making him wince from the point-blank hit as he struggled to his feet.

"Good, good. You've got some backbone and strength to you after all. Even so, do you have the resolve to match that strength and backbone? Smaug! MEGIDO!" Draconis called as Smaug shot forth a burst of Almighty fire at Joker, who winced as the attack hit full-on for a good bit of damage as he moved to swap Personas.

"PERSONA CHANGE! PHOENIX, SWAP WITH ARSENE! ARSENE, EIGA!" Joker said as Arsene switched out with Phoenix and blasted a large torrent of Curse power at Draconis, who grunted as he was forced backwards onto his good knee from the impact, at which point Joker smirked and spoke up.

"Time to end this! Arsene! Use a barrage of Eiga!" Joker called as Arsene pelted Draconis with a steady barrage of Curse damage, occasionally pausing as Draconis struggled to his feet, with this loop going on for a few minutes before eventually making the battle end with Draconis huffing as he went down onto a knee, his fists hitting the ground as he steadied himself while trying to stand before grunting as he spoke up, an unreadable look on his face while he spoke.

"D-Dammit, I lost. But for real, why do I always end up being seen as second-best to you, Joker!? And for real, I have no idea when you got so strong, but regardless, you've bested me fair and square, brother. Ugh, well played." Draconis said as he landed on his back to end the fight. After the fight, Joker walked over to Draconis as he spoke up, noting as he did so that Draconis' eyes seemed to have gone back to their usual brown color.

"There, now that that foolishness is done, feel better yet, you hot-headed buffoon?" Joker said as he offered Draconis a hand to get up, which he took, before looking at Joker as he spoke up, a bit of shame just visible in his eyes while he spoke, not really happy about what he was about to say, but knowing it needed to be said nonethless.

"Morgana was wrong, wasn't he? You never hooked up with Oracle, did you Joker?" Draconis asked Joker, who just nodded as Draconis sighed and spoke up.

"I was afraid that was the case. Shit, how is it I always do this!? I hear things that piss me off, and I don't get the facts before I react! Dammit! I must look like a total hot-head and child with how I stormed off before. Speaking of that, sorry about knocking you out before, Skull. I guess I just lost it and punched harder than I probably otherwise would've. But for what it's worth? You're not pathetic, at all. I'm sorry for calling you that before. That was just my anger talking.

And the rest of you, I am so sorry for scaring you like that. Now you know why I don't let myself lose my cool. I tend to become livid beyond reasoning with if I let my temper really go off, like before when Mona told that vile and odious lie about Joker and Oracle. Also, sorry for not believing you guys immediately when you tried to tell me nothing had happened." Draconis said before he sighed and punched the ground, surprising everyone present as they saw the sight of tears hitting the ground while Draconis spoke up, looking less angry and more upset in the process of speaking, not looking up at the others while he spoke, missing the gasps that they gave at what he said next as a result..

"Why!? Why is it that most everyone I meet always seems to favor Joker over me!? I know it's not his fault, but still, dammit if it doesn't hurt to feel overshadowed by my older brother! Even our own mother does it! Ugh, but when I'm doing stupid things like storming off like a child throwing a tantrum, I can kind of see part of the reason why she'd prefer Joker, since unlike me, he rarely loses his cool, and even more rarely lashes out." Draconis said with a sigh as he felt Oracle wrap her arms around him from behind, hugging him for all she was worth as she spoke up, making Draconis blink as he turned to face Oracle while she spoke.

"Draconis? You're not an idiot, OR second-best to Joker! We all, Skull included, see you as your own person! I'm sorry you've been feeling like you were overshadowed or whatever by Joker, but you've got all sorts of qualities and traits that he doesn't! For example, you're an incredible strategist, and a far greater martial artist than he'll ever be! Sure, you didn't demonstrate them here because it was a Persona fight with Joker, but I'm sure you're an insanely talented martial artist.

And more importantly? It was most certainly not Joker who helped me snap out of the stupor and trance I was in that day in my Palace, Draconis. That? That was all you! So never doubt that I, at least, will forever appreciate and cherish you for that." Oracle said comfortingly to Draconis, who sighed as he turned around and smiled gratefully at Oracle as he returned the hug while he spoke up, his expression considerably more cheerful than it had previously been.

"Oracle, thank you. You're of course correct. But I don't think you were here to be stalled by my childish fool self. You were here to chase after the Mona-bus, weren't you? I believe he fled the other way while we fought. So if you hurry, you can catch him. Meanwhile, I suppose I should just keep moving, so I don't slow you down any further with my antics. Unless you were hoping to have me re-join you guys?" Draconis said with a sad sigh as Joker spoke up, clapping Draconis on the shoulder in a manly manner while he spoke.

"Draconis, none of us, myself included, have any ill will towards you for what you did before. Though, you might owe Skull a free shot or two for knocking him out. But that aside, we're more than okay with you re-joining us." Joker said as Draconis nodded and spoke up with a slight smile while getting to his feet.

"Very well, then I will re-join the group. Oh, right! I originally came here because I heard a rumor that someone saw a mysterious masked figure entering Mementos on their own recently. And interestingly enough, the rumors suggested they had a black mask on. Maybe it's this Black Mask bastard that we've been chasing?" Draconis said as the group shrugged before Panther spoke up, not seeing Draconis wince slightly while she spoke.

"Shoot! I'm glad we got Draconis back, but now we have to chase down the Mona-bus again!" Panther said as Fox frowned.

"I was going to say we've fallen for the oldest trick in the book, but was it really a trick if Draconis was actually where Beauty Thief was pointing!?" Fox said as Draconis blinked and spoke up with a sheepish look on his face while he spoke.

"Ah, that might well have just been a total coincidence that I chose that moment to appear, Fox. But hold on a moment. What's this about a Beauty Thief? Who's that?" Draconis asked as Oracle explained about the new potential Phantom Thief, making Draconis blink in surprise.

"Wait, you said Okumura-san is a potential Persona-user!? Queen and I are on Student Council with her! What're the odds?" Draconis said in amusement. Skull just huffed and spoke up.

"Ugh, dammit! Those two got away!" Skull said as Draconis winced and spoke up, a mixed sheepish and embarrassed look on his face behind his mask while he spoke.

"Dammit, my bad guys. That's my fault for choosing right then to intercept you guys to fight Joker. Seems like I chose a bad time to do that." Draconis said with a wince as Skull frowned before smiling as he clapped Draconis on the shoulder while speaking up.

"Don't worry about it, man! We're cool. You can make what you did up to me by giving Fox and Oracle budgeting lessons for free." Skull said, to Draconis' surprise as he nodded and spoke up after giving Skull a wry smile before fist-bumping him while he spoke.

"Wow, you're making a selfless request? I'm impressed, Skull. And agreed. I was gonna do that anyways, but if it'll make us even? Consider it done." Draconis said with a smile as Oracle sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh, it'll never end at this rate, will it? What do we do now?" Oracle said as Panther spoke up with a frown.

"To be honest? I don't hear the sound of his engine at all anymore. Could they have left Mementos?" Panther asked as Draconis spoke up.

"It's possible. Too bad I taxed him so much fighting Joker just now, or I could've tried to use Smaug to chase down and stop the Mona-bus." Draconis said. Queen spoke up.

"Our lack of vehicle puts us at a severe disadvantage, despite getting Draconis back. I hate to say it, but we should probably just head home for today." Queen said as Skull spoke up with a frown.

"Dammit! Freakin' Morgana! This is all his fault when you think about it." Skull said as Draconis shook his head.

"Not ALL of it. You have a share of the blame to own in it too, Skull. However, to be fair to you, the same can be said for both myself and Joker." Draconis pointed out with a wince, getting a nod of agreement from Joker as the group exited Mementos...

(While the group was confronting and reconciling with Draconis, outside Mementos with Okumura and Morgana)

"Hmph, serves them right." Morgana said as Okumura frowned and spoke up with a disappointed look on her face as she spoke up.

"Are you sure that was what you wanted? Them to be stalled by whatever that giant golden dragon was that appeared when I pointed and tried to trick them? What if it was a Shadow and it ate them all? Wouldn't you feel bad?" Okumura asked Morgana, who laughed, to Okumura's surprise.

"Hmph! Of course it was! You worry too much, Okumura-san. That was no Shadow. That was Smaug, a dragon Persona that belongs to our other missing teammate, Draconis! Odds are he finally had it out with Skull and Joker, which is how we were able to escape from them. I feel bad using him as a distraction, but it let us get away, so it all worked out in the end." Morgana said as he darted off, right as a male voice reached Okumura's ears as it spoke up.

"There you are! You made me look everywhere for you, my fiance!" The voice said as it was revealed to belong to a brown-haired male with brown eyes and a white business suit, who frowned at Okumura as he kept speaking.

"What were you doing somewhere without any reception? Out late with guys? That's it, isn't it?" The man accused Okumura who gasped as she spoke up.

"I would never do such a thing!" Okumura said as the man moved forward to snatch at Okumura's wrist as he spoke up, to her shock and horror.

"C'mon, let me have some fun too, will ya? Can't you do that for me?" The man said to Okumura, who winced as she cried out.

"Oh! OW!" Okumura said as Morgana darted up to her and spoke up in shock.

"Haru!" Morgana said as he glared at the man while speaking up.

"You little-! Let go of Haru!" Morgana said as he lunged at the man and attacked his leg, making the man wince in surprise as he spoke up.

"What the-Goddamn cat!" The man said as he literally flung Morgana off his leg into a nearby wall which he hit with a very distinct smacking sound before slumping over, to Okumura's horror as she spoke up.

"Mona-chan!" Okumura said as Morgana winced and spoke up, finding it quite difficult to even move from how hard he'd hit the wall, a humbled but regretful look on his fae while he spoke.

"Dammit to hell! I AM useless! They were right about me!" Morgana said with a sigh. He then swallowed his pride as he turned and called out as loud as he could.

"SOMEONE! HELLO? ANYONE! PLEASE! IS ANYBODY OUT THERE!?" Morgana called as loudly as he could, as the man spoke up, annoyed at what sounded like meows to him.

"Will you shut up, you stupid cat!?" The man said as at that same time, Ren and the others had exited Mementos near where this all was happening as Ryuji spoke up angrily.

"Damn that Morgana for causing all this! He is so getting it the next time we run into him." Ryuji said as Kusa spoke up, giving Ryuji a skeptical look while he spoke.

"Is it really ALL his fault though, Ryuji? Ren even said he and Futaba could've made sure Morgana understood what was going on, so they admit it was partially their fault too for not being clearer with him, and I forgive them for it, especially since I can't be mad at them after the way I stormed off the other day. I'm still impressed you all forgave me for that so easily. Especially considering I did basically trick you all into helping change Taba's heart. I honestly half-expected at least some of you to be a little annoyed with me over that." Kusa said as Ren spoke up after giving Kusa a manly clap on the shoulder once more while he spoke.

"I told you bro, that's all water under the bridge!" Ren said reassuringly. Before Kusa could reply, everyone blinked as they heard a familiar voice call out.

"Somebody? Anybody? Help me, but more importantly help Haru!" Morgana's voice reached the group's ears. Futaba blinked as she spoke up in shock.

"Was that what I think it was? Was that Morgana's voice!?" Futaba asked as Kusa nodded and spoke up, his eyes narrowing while he spoke.

"I think it was. And he sounded like he was in trouble. I know what he did, but dammit he's still one of us! And if you can forgive me for being a hot-headed buffoon who stormed off after hauling off and laying Ryuji the eff out like I did, you can forgive Morgana for unintentionally misunderstanding a conversation. After all, if anyone should be pissed at him, it's me, since it was because of that comment of his that I snapped. But I forgive him, because I know he didn't mean it." Kusa said. Ann blinked as she noticed a disturbance nearby and spoke up.

"Hey! Over there! That doesn't seem right to me!" Ann said as the group ran towards the scene as Okumura spoke up weakly with a mix of sadness and fear in her voice as she spoke.

"Please, don't do this! Let go!" Okumura said as the group caught up to her, Makoto speaking up in horror.

"Okumura-san!" Makoto said as Kusa spoke up with a frown, his words conveying how much he found the sight in front of him vile and despicable while he spoke.

"OI! Get your hands off her, you son of a bitch! Can't you see you're hurting her!?" Kusa snapped at the man, resisting the urge to just pop the man in the mouth on principle as he saw Morgana slumped over against the wall nearby, sprinting over to check on him, followed by Futaba who gasped and spoke up.

"Oh no! Mona!" Futaba said as Kusa gently scooped the not-cat into his arms, checking him to make sure he was alive, not trying to assume anything until he knew for sure. The others saw this and gasped as Ryuji turned to the man and growled angrily as he spoke up.

"What Kusa said! Also, the hell are you doing to our friend, you asshole!?" Ryuji said angrily to the man still holding Okumura's wrist tightly, at which point he let go and turned to the group and spoke up in his most charming voice.

"Sorry about the disturbance. It's just a, let's go with lover's quarrel, with my fiancee." The man said as Ann spoke up in horror.

"Fian-WHAT!? But she's clearly fighting you!" Ann said to the man who frowned as he spoke up.

"Shut your mouth, you blonde bimbo!" The man snapped at Ann, ignoring the outraged growls from Kusa, Ryuji and Ren as he turned to Okumura.

"And YOU! How dare you make a fool of me? I'll be telling your father about this, too! As for the rest of you rabble, I won't forget your faces." The man said as he stormed off, Kusa looking up to yell at the man's retreating back.

"Yeah, that's right! Run away like the effing coward you are! Never show your face around here again, you son of a bitch! And if I find out you were at ALL involved in hurting Morgana here, I'm taking it out of your hide!" Kusa yelled at the man's retreating back. After that, Ann turned to Okumura and spoke up.

"Are you okay?" Ann said to Okumura who nodded as she spoke up.

"I'm fine. But Mona-chan, he got kicked into a wall while he was trying to get that man off of me." Okumura said sadly as Kusa growled under his breath but said nothing, not wanting to scare Okumura or Futaba. At that point, Morgana weakly stirred in Kusa's arms as he spoke up.

"This is nothing, really. Wait, why am I in someone's arms? And why do those arms feel familiar?" Morgana said as he looked up and saw Kusa smiling at him, prompting the not-cat to give off a surprised gasp before he kept speaking.

"Kusa!? I thought you were missing?" Morgana said in surprise as Kusa gently ran his hand along Morgana's head with a smile while speaking up.

"Wrong. I was off chasing a rumor that turned out to be a bust. But I'm back now, and best of all, me and the others made up. Now you're the only one left to reconcile with the group, Morgana." Kusa said as Makoto spoke up, looking at Okumura as she spoke.

"Was that person really your fiance?" Makoto asked Okumura, who shyly nodded as Futaba blinked and spoke up.

"Whoa, so you're engaged then!?" Futaba said as Kusa laughed and spoke up while he looked at Futaba.

"Easy, Taba. Don't sound so jealous of Okumura-san. You're still young yet, like we all are. You'll get there when the time is right." Kusa said reassuringly to Futaba, who blinked in surprise at Kusa's comment while Ann spoke up to change the subject.

"Anyways, that didn't seem like an ordinary fight though, did it? Shouldn't you talk to your parents about it?" Ann asked Okumura who shook her head.

"I could talk to my father, but I think it'd be useless. I'll just be told to beg for his forgiveness, even if it means groveling on the ground and throwing away my dignity." Okumura said as she broke down crying at that point while Yusuke frowned and spoke up.

"I don't get it, but it seems she has her reasons." Yusuke said. Morgana spoke up desperately from in Kusa's arms, knowing that the others were probably his best bet of finding Okumura a safe place to recuperate from what she'd been through, and she'd been willing to help him out when he got in over his head recently, so he owed it to her to get her help now, when she needed it most. As such, he gave the others a regretful look while he spoke.

"I'll, um, suck it up and apologize about what happened earlier. So please, if not for me, then for her, would you let Haru rest for a while?" Morgana asked humbly as Ryuji walked over, looked at Morgana, then smiled with a nod as he spoke up with a grin on his face.

"Of course." Ryuji said before turning to Ren and Kusa as he kept speaking.

"We'll take her to your place, yeah?" Ryuji said as Kusa and Ren both nodded without hesitation, making Morgana smile up at Kusa gratefully before looking at Ren as he spoke up.

"For real!? Thanks, you two." Morgana said as the group headed back to Leblanc, where after a bit to rest while the others talked, Okumura sat up and spoke up.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, but I guess I was so tired I just fell asleep for a while. I'm sorry to whoever's bed this is." Okumura said as Kusa smiled before he spoke up.

"Don't worry about it, Okumura-san. That's basically my bed. But since I've been gone for a couple days, I don't mind you using it for a nap, since I let Ann use it for that same purpose. And as I recall, I also let Taba here share it with me while you lot were off in Hawaii, so it's probably not going to be the first time, nor will it be the last, that a girl uses that spot for a nap. Most importantly, I haven't heard Taba complain about it thus far, so I don't think she minds either, do you Taba?" Kusa said to Futaba, who shook her head while smiling at Kusa, pleased to have the team back together again for now. Makoto then spoke up in a concerned tone.

"Did you get enough rest?" Makoto asked Okumura, who turned to Morgana and spoke up.

"Mona-chan?" Okumura said as Morgana spoke up with a wince.

"Right. Anyways, It's just as I told you a moment ago. I can't have you guys risk your lives anymore for someone useless like me. To be frank, there's no assurance that I'll turn back into a human either, unfortunately. That said, this can't be called a fair deal. That's why I think we should split up." Morgana said as Yusuke laughed and spoke up.

"And who said we're acting as Phantom Thieves for your sake? I'm doing it to expand my own horizons." Yusuke said as Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"No need to tiptoe around the situation. We're splitting up." Morgana said before blinking in surprise as Okumura scooped him up into her lap amidst an amused smirk from Kusa as he spoke up.

"See? There you go, Morgana. You've got the ladies' attention, finally. Now can the lines about us splitting up. That's not just YOUR call to make. And last I checked, Ren here is our leader, so it should be HIS choice on if this team splits up or not." Kusa pointed out. Okumura smiled and spoke up, looking down at the not-cat in her arms while she spoke.

"Quit lying, Mona-chan. Do you remember what you said to me when I found you collapsed in the Metaverse? That you're a phantom thief. That you're going to get stronger and have the others acknowledge you." Okumura said as she hugged Morgana gently while she kept speaking to Morgana with a smile.

"You love being here, don't you?" Okumura asked Morgana, who got flustered as he squirmed out of Okumura's arms and hopped onto the table before speaking up in an embarrassed tone.

"O-Of course not. Don't be absurd." Morgana said as Kusa smiled and spoke up at that point.

"You don't have to lie, Morgana. I know we've not been the best teammates to you lately, but we feel bad about it. And I feel bad for not having your back more when you needed it most, Morgana. Sorry about that." Kusa said as he gently ran a hand along Morgana's fur affectionately before proceeding to gently lean down and press a kiss to the top of Morgana's head, to the group's surprise. Before anyone could really react to the rare instance of PDA from Kusa, he kept speaking to Morgana reassuringly.

"Never doubt that we have your back, Morgana, even if we don't always act like it. Despite what we say, I don't think we think of each other as just a team. Even if we don't always get along, we've become something akin to a family of sorts. Granted, some of us guys might not see certain of the girls on the team as siblings necessarily, but my point still stands." Kusa said as he smiled at Morgana while Okumura nodded and spoke up.

"Well said, Amamiya-kun the younger. I was lying to myself too, but when I formed a contract with my Persona and awakened to my powers, I understood it all. Doing this because my father id doing something horrible, while the truth of my motives, was nothing but a superficial reason. The truth is, I-" Okumura started to say as Ann smiled and finished her sentence for her.

"Don't want to get married, right?" Ann asked as Okumura smiled and nodded as she spoke up.

"Exactly. I thought that since an adult with responsibilities made the decision, it couldn't be wrong. I was such a fool, tied down by vague notions and stayed quiet as my marriage partner was chosen for me. But I won't tolerate this anymore. I can't stand that creep! Phew, glad I got that off my chest. That's how I truly feel." Okumura said as most every eye in the room suddenly turned to a sheepish Morgana, who spoke up in embarrassment.

"Wh-Why're you looking at me all of a sudden?" Morgana asked as Okumura spoke up.

"Mona-chan, why is it that you always talked about becoming human again?" Okumura asked Morgana, who winced as he spoke up.

"That's complicated. To be honest, at first, I only thought of this team as a temporary dwelling until I regained my memories. But I wasn't making any progress on finding out what I am or why I was born, and I got frustrated with it." Morgana said as Ann looked at Morgana sympathetically as she spoke up.

"Morgana, we had no idea." Ann said as Morgana kept speaking as if Ann hadn't interrupted.

"More than that, I wanted a reason of my own. A reason to stay with the Phantom Thieves. I don't have anyone I want to save or get revenge on. Someone like me has no reason to stay here, honestly. That's why, to be honest, to me, this team is...It's..." Morgana said as Ann spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"Come on, say it! You can do it!" Ann said as the others nodded and Morgana gulped, looking down in shame before he spoke up.

"It's the only place I can belong! I want to stay here forever!" Morgana blurted out as the others, even Okumura, smiled before Yusuke spoke up.

"Well, that was refreshingly honest." Yusuke said as Ryuji laughed and spoke up with an amused grin on his face while he spoke.

"You shoulda just said so from the start, Morgana! Geez!" Ryuji said as Kusa spoke up with a huff as he fixed Ryuji with a pointed look while he spoke.

"You have no room to talk, Ryuji. According to what Taba told me on the way back here, both times Morgana ran off came about right after you opened your mouth. So I think he gets a bit of slack in light of that. That said, was that so hard to admit to, Morgana-sensei? I would've thought you knew by now that none of us want you to leave either, especially myself and Futaba. Even if the latter hasn't known you that long, she already likes you, you dummy. And as for me, I've grown rather fond of you as well. Why else would I knock Ryuji the eff out for calling you what he called you?

Sure, that was also because I may have thought he called Futaba loose and easy because I was so pissed at the time I only half-heard the conversation, but the point remains I was standing up for you as well at the time. And before you say it, I'm not mad at you for what you said about Ren and Futaba. It wasn't your fault you probably misheard what was said or misunderstood. We can just chalk this up as a lesson in why clear communication is key among friends." Kusa said sagely to Morgana, who smiled as he spoke up.

"True, but still, if you guys stick with me, there's no telling what kind of trouble will come up! You better be sure about this!" Morgana said as Ann spoke up with a closed-eye smile while giving Morgana an amused look while she spoke.

"It's a little late for all that, don't you think? Of course we want to stay with you too." Ann said as Ren nodded and spoke up, looking into Morgana's eyes as he spoke up.

"Agreed. And for what it's worth? I'm sorry I yelled at you the other day. I just got fed up with all the fighting and lost my cool. As much as I don't like admitting this, Kusa's not the only one who can be scary if they really lose their temper. Though to be sure, Kusa is FAR scarier than me. After all, I'm not the one who beat someone within an inch of their life with just a backpack at one point while blacked out, am I Kusa?" Ren said as Kusa huffed and spoke up, ignoring the mix of shocked looks and amused smiles from the others while he spoke, fixing Ren with a mock-annoyed look in the process.

"No. And in my defense Ren, as you yourself just said, I was blacked out. Also, in my defense, I was only like six or seven at the time and still learning control of my temper! Plus you left out the part where that douche was bullying you around me, and I had to put him in his place! I won't apologize for protecting you." Kusa said as he crossed his arms in embarrassment as the others laughed. Morgana winced as he looked at Ren.

"Apology accepted, Ren. Uh, so, well, how do I put this? Oh, screw it! I'm sorry I worried you guys. This is where I belong! My mind's all set! I'll make sure to work hard to pay my dues. It's too late to cancel our deal, got it?" Morgana said to Ren, who chuckled as he fondly petted Morgana before he spoke up.

"Let's do it, together. As both a team, and as a family. Because Kusa's right about one thing. I think we all do think of each other in this room, aside maybe from Okumura-san, and that only because we've not gotten to know her that well yet, as family to some extent, with the obvious exceptions of both Kusa and Futaba, and possibly also Ryuji and Makoto.

Though whether or not they figure out they have crushes on each other is on them. At least I can say that Kusa and I more or less have wised up to how we feel about our crushes, even if we're both taking our time about actually moving to actually seal the deal, as it were, with them." Ren said with a smirk as Kusa nodded his agreement and looked at Morgana while he spoke up, gently giving Morgana a one-armed hug of comfort while he spoke.

"What Ren said, Morgana! I know I don't say it enough, but you're not just a Sensei to me anymore, you've become like a younger brother. And even a mentor at times, hence why I sometimes call you 'sensei'. Despite the stuff I told the others before about it being a matter of respect and courtesy, I also care about you. And if you don't end up actually being human in the end? So effing what! That won't matter to us. We love you just the way you are, Morgana. Even Ryuji, despite how much of a buffoon he can be about it at times with his lack of tact." Kusa said fondly to Morgana, who smiled, purring happily as he nuzzled his head against Kusa's palm while he spoke up.

"In that case, we're reforming our give-and-take deal." Morgana said as Ren nodded, feeling his bond with Morgana deepen even more as a result of this reconciliation. As a result of this reconciliation, the 'Magician' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'VII' becoming a 'VIII' to signify that his Magician Confidant link with Morgana had reached rank 8.

As a result of the rank-up, Morgana had awakened to the ability of 'Endure', making him possess the chance to withstand an otherwise fatal attack with 1 HP remaining, much like Ann had previously gained. Afterwards, Ann spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"Well, in the end, wouldn't you say that your encounter with us was destiny?" Ann asked as Kusa laughed and spoke up.

"Considering his first encounter with myself, Ren, and Ryuji was inside the dungeon of that crazy castle? I dunno if he'd call that destiny or not. But that's for Morgana to decide." Kusa said with a chuckle. Morgana blinked at that as he spoke up at that point.

"That's right. 'Encounter'. Why does that word ring a bell to me?" Morgana said as Futaba blinked and spoke up.

"Hm?" Futaba asked as Ryuji checked the clock and frowned as he spoke up.

"Oh crap! The last train's comin' up!" Ryuji said as Yusuke spoke up.

"Alas, I must go as well." Yusuke said as Makoto spoke up.

"Right. Let's continue this another time." Makoto said as Okumura spoke up.

"I see. Am I to guess this isn't including me?" Okumura asked uncertainly. Futaba spoke up.

"Not a chance! And don't worry about going home for now. Stay at our place. I'll arrange it." Futaba said as everyone but Ann, Ren, Morgana, and Kusa filed out of the room and Ann spoke up.

"See you all tomorrow!" Ann said as she left as well. Morgana looked at Ren as he spoke up.

"I'm sorry, but I'm gonna sleep. I'm exhausted." Morgana said as Kusa nodded agreeably and spoke up.

"Can't say as I blame you, Morgana. You and I both have kinda been AWOL the last couple of days. To be honest, I've probably got a crap ton of apologies to give out for my sudden absence, not to mention how much trouble I'm probably in at school and stuff since I technically did skip class the last two days. Oof, and that's not even factoring in how pissed off Boss might be at me for leaving the way I did. Oh boy, I think I might've messed up more than I thought storming off the way I did." Kusa said with a shudder and a wince as Ren laughed lightly before looking at Kusa understandingly while he spoke up.

"Nonsense, Kusa. If anything, Boss was probably worried about you more than anything else. As for the school, we can just say you were having a mental health crisis and had to take some time for yourself, which isn't strictly a lie, considering you were in a pretty bad mind space when you left, and to a point when you challenged me. Which by the way? You made me work for that win, Kusa. So maybe we're getting more evenly matched?" Ren said as Kusa shrugged and spoke up.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps you're just getting a lot better than I thought, not just as a person but as a warrior. So respect, Ren. You notched that win fair and square." Kusa said as he nodded respectfully to Ren as Ren then clasped his hand in Kusa's and the two shook hands to signify that all was once more as it should be for the group. Morgana then did a closed-eye smile as he spoke up.

"As nice as it is that we're all cool again, I have to say, this place is as drab as always." Morgana said as Kusa laughed and spoke up.

"Cut Ren a break, Morgana. We did kind of up and run off on him. So I'm sure he was too busy worrying about us to think about cleaning. If anything, I should be the one cleaning up." Kusa said as Morgana hopped off the table and curled up by Ren's bag as Ren walked over and Morgana spoke up.

"Hey, I wonder if Haru's been able to fall asleep yet or not after what happened. I know she took a nap here, but still. That said, it might not be easy for her to relax right now, but I hope this'll at least help her cheer up a bit." Morgana said as Kusa spoke up.

"Normally I'd be reminding you not to call people by their given name without permission, but given what we've all been through, I'll let it slide this time." Kusa said as Ren nodded his agreement. Ren then walked over to his bed and spoke up.

"I take it you're sleeping on my bag tonight then, Morgana? I'd have thought you'd have curled up with Kusa?" Ren asked as Morgana spoke up.

"I might still end up curling up with him later, but for now, I'll stay where I am." Morgana said as Kusa smiled lightly at the not-cat while he spoke up.

"Don't be shy if you do want to curl up, Morgana. This is as much your couch as it is mine as far as I'm concerned." Kusa said agreeably to Morgana, who smiled and nodded. After the group got laid down, Ren grunted as he felt a weight on him that was heavy and made his body feel like a boulder slowly sinking into quicksand, unaware that Morgana had decided to change it up and curl up on Ren instead of Kusa, probably out of guilt for running off, making Kusa smile as he discreetly snapped a photo of the two silently before setting his phone down as the trio dozed off for the night...

(The next morning, at Leblanc, on the lower level with Futaba, Ren, Sojiro, Morgana, Haru, and Kusa)

"Yo, Ren. Hey. What's going on here? You brought over another girl?" Sojiro said as Kusa almost choked on his breakfast from laughing at what Sojiro said. After he swallowed his current bite, Kusa smiled as he spoke up.

"Nah, not even close Boss. This is just a friend from school who was in a rough situation and had nowhere else to go, so Ren and Futaba decided to extend her a kindness by offering her asylum at your house. For what it's worth, you have my commiseration on being the only man in that house, Boss. But somehow I think you're managing well enough." Kusa joked as Futaba huffed at Kusa and spoke up.

"Not funny, Mister 'I-Knocked-Ryuji-Out-And-Ran-Off'! And you say that like you don't come around that house a lot as well, so I'd hardly say he's the only guy around the house. Now quit teasing Okumura-san!" Futaba playfully scolded Kusa, who nodded and spoke up.

"Ah, indeed. Forgive this poor humble fool who doesn't know his place, milady Taba." Kusa said in a mock-humbled tone, making both Ren and Morgana have to keep from cracking up at the playful banter between Kusa and Futaba, and even Sojiro had to keep his face straight as he saw the give-and-take between the two. Ren then spoke up.

"Don't get any ideas, Boss. She's already got a fiance." Ren said dryly. Sojiro huffed as he spoke up.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it Ren. Anyway, don't break her heart, all right?" Sojiro said as Kusa laughed and spoke up.

"Not likely! He'll just break Futaba and Yoshizawa's hearts first!" Kusa joked, ducking out of the way of the playful swing aimed at his head by a huffing Futaba while laughing at Ren flipping him off where Sojiro couldn't see, making Okumura giggle at the banter between the two brothers. Sojiro then turned to Okumura as he spoke up with a smile.

"So, you found our cat, and even took care of it?" Sojiro asked Okumura, who smiled as she spoke up.

"Oh, it wasn't a bother or anything." Okumura said as Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"I'M the one who took care of YOU, though." Morgana said as Kusa smiled at Morgana's half-hearted rebuttal. Even Okumura giggled at this, making Futaba blink as she spoke up.

"What's up? You seem happy." Futaba said as Okumura smiled and spoke up with a giggle.

"It's been a while since I've had a meal with so many people." Okumura said as Sojiro spoke up.

"Make sure you go home today before it gets too late, okay? I'm sure your parents are worried." Sojiro said as he went to man the counter as Futaba whispered so only Ren, Kusa and Okumura could hear as she spoke up.

"It's fine if you don't wanna go home either, you know." Futaba said to Okumura, who shook her head as she spoke up.

"No, I'll go home. If my father suspects something, it'll be more difficult to change his heart, wouldn't it? I'll contact you again so...Oh, right! Can we exchange contact info?" Okumura asked as Ren, Futaba, and Kusa all exchanged contact info with Okumura as Morgana spoke up.

"Will you be okay on your own? If you need, I'll go with you." Morgana asked as Okumura smiled and spoke up.

"Thank you, but you belong here, don't you Mona-chan?" Okumura asked Morgana, who huffed and spoke up with a flush.

'W-Well, yeah, I do belong here. With my brothers, and my sister." Mona said as both Ren and Futaba blinked in surprise at what Morgana had said while Kusa just smiled at Morgana as he spoke up.

"Hmph, about time you finally acknowledged that we're like family to you, Morgana. Why must you be so silly?" Kusa asked as Sojiro spoke up.

"Speaking of being silly, you and I still have to discuss this matter of you running off like an immature child, Kusa. I don't know if you realize how much of a state you had Futaba in while you were gone. She nearly reverted to her shut-in ways because of you, you know." Sojiro rebuked Kusa as Futaba flushed and spoke up in embarrassment, frowning at Sojiro mentioning how worried she'd been in front of Kusa, who just smiled fondly at Futaba while she spoke up.

"SOJIRO! Don't lie! I did not almost revert into my shut-in ways! I just missed him a bunch while he was gone, that's all." Futaba said huffily, making Kusa chuckle at how adorably red Futaba's face had gotten as he gently gave Futaba's hand a reassuring squeeze as he spoke up.

"I know, Boss. I messed up big time by doing what I did. You'd best believe I'm going to be spending quite a while making amends for it as best I can. To be frank, I'm amazed she accepted my apology before. I probably scared the wits out of her when I practically got up in Ryuji's face and yelled at him before storming off to wait for him behind Leblanc. That said, I apologize if I scared any of your customers while I fought Ryuji, Boss. I was just so pissed, I didn't think about that." Kusa said sheepishly as Sojiro chuckled and spoke up.

"Yes, well, as long as you've learned your lesson, I think you've suffered enough for it. Now you three go have fun, but not too much fun." Sojiro said as Ren, Futaba and Kusa nodded and headed upstairs with Morgana while Okumura headed home...

(A short time later, in the Okumura household with Haru and her dad)

"The matter's been settled. You'll be welcomed into his household." Haru's dad said as Haru blinked in shock and spoke up.

"Wait, what!? Excuse me?" Haru said in surprise. Haru's dad spoke up dismissively.

"You won't officially be registered yet, but isn't that how things are with young people these days? Go prove your sincerity to him. You can do that, can't you?" Haru's dad said as Haru spoke up.

"So, I'm not even allowed to decide where I will live, am I?" Haru said with a frown as her dad spoke up angrily.

"Not only do you come home late, you've even stayed out overnight without permission. Haru, I thought I had been clear about the friends you choose." Haru's dad said as Haru frowned and spoke up.

"Father, they're not like-" Haru said as her dad's phone rang making him sigh as he turned to face her and spoke up once more.

"I have my hands full right now with the company. Don't cause any more trouble for me." Haru's dad said before he answered his phone.

"Hello? Yes, it's fine. Go on." Haru's dad said as he left the room, leaving Haru to frown as she pulled out her own phone to dial a number, waiting for the person to answer as she spoke up.

"Hello? Yes, it's me. I need to discuss something with everyone. Can we all meet?" Haru asked...

(Back at Leblanc, with Ren, Kusa, and Morgana)

As Ren and Kusa sat in their attic room with Morgana, Ren and Kusa's phones went off to signify a group chat with Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, and Futaba, with Ryuji sending the first response.

"So, what're we gonna do about Okumura? Nobody wants to back out after we've come this far, right?" Ryuji sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"Of course not. It's highly likely he has some involvement in the mental shutdown cases." Yusuke sent as Ann sent a response.

"Yeah, we can't just let that slide." Ann sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"Plus our fans're really hoping we go for it!" Ryuji sent as Kusa sent a response.

"Really!? You're still hung up on fame and fans? I won't start a fight, but seriously Ryuji, is fame and recognition all that's important to you? Think about it. I thought it used to be we just did this for the sake of it being the right thing to do." Kusa sent as Makoto sent a response.

"Seconded, Kusa. And what do you mean, fans? I agree with Kusa, those are just a bunch of fickle sheeple that might turn on us at the drop of a hat." Makoto sent as Ann sent a response.

"But if we want to accomplish anything, we'll need Haru's help." Ann sent as Kusa sent a response.

"Heh, sheeple. Good one, Makoto! That said, the only reason I'm not going to scold Ann for pre-emptively calling her by her given name without permission is because it makes it easier to separate her from our target. But ONLY when it's just us. If she joins this chat, we'll probably ask her permission to address her by given name before we start doing it, just for the sake of politeness and formality." Kusa sent sagely. Ren sent a response.

"Agreed, Kusa. Let's talk to her. She should be back home by now, right?" Ren sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Oh yeah, nearly forgot! She said she wants to come chat at Leblanc tonight." Futaba sent as Ann sent a response.

"Chat? About what, exactly?" Ann sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Dunno. She wouldn't say. But it sounded serious, whatever it is." Futaba sent as Makoto sent a response.

"Let's continue this at Leblanc then. See you there, everyone." Makoto sent as Kusa sent a response.

"Be careful walking over here, Taba. Or would you like me to come pick you up and walk with you over here?" Kusa sent as Futaba sent a response.

"I can walk myself, but I won't veto the company if you want to come pick me up and walk there with me." Futaba sent as Kusa smiled and sent a response.

"Sounds good to me, Taba. See you when you're ready to walk over here, then." Kusa sent as Ren put his phone away in time for Morgana to speak up while Kusa put his phone away.

"Haru called to request a chat? What could be wrong? I wonder why she wants to talk to us. Any guesses, you two?" Morgana asked as Kusa spoke up.

"Considering who our target is? I think it's obvious that something happened. But we'll wait to hear it from her later on." Kusa said as Ren nodded while the two straightened up the room a bit pre-emptively while waiting for the time of the gathering...

(That evening, at the attic hideout with Ren, Morgana, Haru, Makoto, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Kusa, and Futaba)

"That's horrible, Okumura-san. It's that same fiance guy, right? You know what's going to happen if you go to live with him, don't you?" Ann said as Morgana spoke up.

"Based on what Haru just told us, she'll be taken to his house on October 11th. As such, that means our deadline is the 10th." Morgana said as Yusuke spoke up.

"True, we have a slightly shorter deadline than normal. But, at the same time, if we trigger a change of heart in your father as you requested, Okumura-san, he'll definitely be taken away by the police. The label of a 'criminal's daughter' will forever stick with you. Your current living situation may change as well." Yusuke said to Okumura, who shook her head as she spoke up.

"Be that as it may, if i accept a happiness based on the misfortune of others, I'll be no better than my father. And to be honest with you all? I've actually left a request on the Phantom Aficionado Website before." Okumura said as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"I can confirm this. She did so around the time we were mulling over who to target next." Morgana said as Okumura frowned and spoke up.

"But, unfortunately so, the Phantom Thieves didn't make a move at first. However, that's when I met Mona-chan. That's when I thought it was fate. I made my decision then. If the Phantom Thieves wouldn't act, I'd do it myself if I had to." Okumura said as Yusuke spoke up.

"The mental shutdowns, Treasure, and finally, the change of heart. Our interests have come together." Yusuke said as Makoto spoke up.

"Would you cooperate with us now?" Makoto asked as Okumura nodded and spoke up.

"Of course! I should be the one cordially asking to be allowed on the team." Okumura said as Morgana spoke up.

"From here on, we may be going up against the culprit behind the mental shutdown occurrences. This'll be different from our training in Mementos. Better brace yourselves, all of you." Morgana said as Ryuji spoke up.

"You're suddenly lecturin' us?" Ryuji asked as Morgana shook his head before speaking up.

"Not at all. You're so naive! Haru here's barely a hair better than an amateur. She's awakened to her powers, but it's weak. So much so, even her Persona's lacking a solid form at the moment." Morgana said as Futaba blinked and spoke up.

"Weak? Really?" Futaba asked in surprise as Morgana spoke up.

"She can transform at the very least, but to be frank, she may slow us down. A lot." Morgana said as Kusa spoke up.

"Perhaps, but as I recall, nearly every one of us had at least one moment starting out where we weren't exactly helpful to the group while we were waiting to awaken to our powers in their entirety. I say nearly because I don't think you, Ren, or Makoto went through that. One could debate back and forth on whether or not Yusuke had that problem, but I like to think he didn't since he spent so long in denial before he had the truth basically flaunt itself in his face and prompt his awakening.

I even had that issue with Ryuji before we awakened. So I don't think any of us have room to be dismissive of Okumura-san just because she hasn't fully awakened. Especially considering we pretty much were slowed down because of my dumb ass getting jumped before our most recent Palace, which would be Taba's Palace." Kusa said sagely. Okumura winced as she spoke up.

"Thank you for the kind words Amamiya-kun the elder, but even so, I'm sorry for causing such trouble for you guys." Okumura said as Ryuji spoke up.

"Nah, don't worry about it. It's more convenient for us to target that CEO. Check out this news blog." Ryuji said as Makoto spoke up.

"There's a lot of negative comments in regard to the Phantom Thieves. One says 'The names of obvious criminals have come up, so why haven't the Phantom Thieves acted yet!?' and a lot of the others are the same." Makoto said as Futaba spoke up.

"The way they're getting heated is on a different level." Futaba said as Morgana spoke up.

"Don't forget about the intel on the mental shutdown cases, all right?" Morgana asked as Ryuji nodded and spoke up.

"Of course! We'll get them both!" Ryuji said as Kusa grinned and spoke up.

"Not only that, with a bit of luck, we might even find some evidence to link our target to that son of a bitch Black Mask." Kusa said before blinking as he recalled Okumura might not know about that bit yet. Okumura gave Kusa a confused look, but Morgana saved Kusa from awkward questions as he spoke up, getting a grateful look from him while he spoke.

"October the, uhh, 10th, was it? We're gonna change Okumura's heart by then!" Morgana said decisively as the others nodded before dispersing for the evening, with Kusa walking Futaba home at her request, ignoring the amused smirks on Morgana and Ren's faces as he did so. After everyone was gone, Morgana looked at Ren and spoke up.

"I can't forgive him! Haru's his daughter! He can't just treat her like something he owns, such as property! That said, as Phantom Thieves, it's our duty to punish him!" Morgana said as Ren nodded his agreement. After that, Ren shrugged and sat at the desk in the corner, making Morgana blink as he walked over and spoke up.

"Oh? Working hard over there?" Morgana asked as Ren nodded.

"Yep. I recall we're getting light on Lockpicks, so I figured I'd craft a few more since I have some time on my hands, plus I could use the Proficiency." Ren said as Kusa laughed while coming up the stairs.

"You? Need Proficiency? Good one. If anything, you need more Guts, Ren! Your Guts is impressive, sure, but you never know when having max Guts could be handy." Kusa pointed out sagely as Ren nodded.

"Fair point." Ren said as he kept working while Kusa laid out on the sofa and stretched while he kept speaking.

"Ahh, it's nice to be back where I belong. Don't you agree, Morgana?" Kusa said as Morgana nodded from on the arm of the sofa where he watched Ren work, successfully crafting 5 Lockpicks. Morgana nodded at Ren as he spoke up.

"You're definitely getting better. I can tell by watching you." Morgana said to Ren, who nodded as he got a boost to his Proficiency from crafting Lockpicks. Morgana then spoke up.

"Well then, it's late. Let's get to bed, yeah?" Morgana said as Ren nodded, getting comfortable on the bed as Kusa laid out on the sofa while Morgana curled up on his stomach, making Kusa smile as he draped an arm over Morgana while carefully pulling the blanket over them so that it didn't cover Morgana's head while covering them up as the trio went to bed for the night...

(The next day, in the attic of Leblanc with Ren and Morgana)

Ren winced as he was woken up by a phone call from the twins, asking him to come pick up his Persona from lockdown lest he lose it. Ren nodded and said he'd do it, and they hung up as Morgana spoke up.

"People are starting to wonder when the next calling card's going to show up. We should send it soon. If Haru's sold off, the Phantom Thieves will never live it down." Morgana said to Ren, who nodded as the 'MISSION START!' prompt came up while Morgana kept speaking.

"Hey, do we have enough targets to consider a run to Mementos for training purposes?" Morgana asked Ren, who shook his head.

"I think we only have like 2, maybe 3? I'd have to double check, but either way that's not quite enough. Sorry. Though, I do have to decide where to slot our prep week in for this Palace. I've been doing a lot of them early. Maybe I should do this one right before we send the calling card so we can have the extra time to train and get prepared for the Palace Ruler, when the time comes?" Ren suggested as Morgana nodded.

"That's an idea, to be sure. Just don't leave it too close to the deadline." Morgana said as Ren nodded.

"I know. Probably, we'll do it after we secure our route, but before we send the card, so the sooner we get our route secured, the sooner we can have our prep week." Ren decided as Morgana nodded his agreement. Afterwards, the duo headed downstairs to ponder their options, knowing they'd have to plan things out just right since this coming Palace could potentially be the most critical one yet...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And boom, another chapter done and dusted! Not as long as I'd like it to be, but egh it is what it is there. However, I did fit in a lot of stuff I wanted to, like the reconciliation of the team, some teasers to the next Thief to join, a bit of a tense moment in Mementos between the Amamiya brothers (which for reference was NOT in canon Royal, being another scene I added in for the story, though the actual run to Mementos IS in Canon Royal since it's the lead-up to Morgana reconciling with the Thieves), and even a bit of character development for Kusa.

Apologies for the relative lack of Confidant rank-ups the last couple chapters, but the in-game story was at a point where I couldn't rank up confidants even if I wanted to because it was focused on the story. That said, there should be quite a few more Confidant rank-ups in the next couple chapters to make up for it.

And with any luck, I might even be able to slot in the first rank 9 scene, which as anyone who's played through either OG Persona 5 or Persona 5 Royal at least once knows. is where Ren gets the option to romance his female Confidants, if he so chooses. That said, a couple of quick things to clarify about romancing for this story:

1)Even though Canon Royal technically has an option that Ren could romance any of the female confidants he wants, or even all of them at once, I will NOT be pursuing this in this story. Why is that, you might ask?

Because for one, Ren's already ear-marked to date Sumire. For two, even if I was to consider a multi pairing for Ren, most of the girls wouldn't be an option because they're either a)too old for Ren, b)already intended for other male characters, c)not that into men, or d)I just don't agree with them as a pairing for Ren (e.g. Kawakami, Ohya, Takemi and Chihaya, even if the latter is adorable with Ren). And for three, I don't think I would be able to write a good harem pairing anyways for Ren, since I don't really see Ren as a polygamist (if I spelled that right?) guy honestly.

2)I have mostly all the pairings worked out at this point in the story, other than one or two that I might not implement until the Scramble/Strikers half of the story. And yes, I know that's a long ways off, but I still have to think about it to keep these things fresh in my mind for when we get to that part of the story.

Which in fairness, as of this point in the story, we're closing in on the halfway point for the Persona 5 Royal half of the story, and as you might recall, I said before that this story would cover both Persona 5 Royal AND Persona 5 Scramble/Strikers because a) It's my effing story and I freaking can and b)I don't really see any other stories trying to cover both games in one story.

Though I may consider running a poll a little ways down the line on if you want me to run the Strikers adaptation as its' own separate story or keep it part of this story. We'll see. That said, thanks to everyone who's been reading, reviewing, following and favoriting the story thus far as the support is both invaluable and greatly appreciated.

Plus working on this was a much needed mood booster after the absolute bummer that was the NFC championship game. The Niners tried their best, but when you've got injuries, bad officiating, an overeager opposing team and even the odds against you, there's really only so much you can do with the odds against you like that. I mean, come on. Losing both your third-string AND fourth-string QBs to injury in the same game!?

And also, I honestly think that play that Purdy got hurt on should've been called as a flag for either roughing the passer or unnecessary roughness, because I refuse to believe that a hit that hurts a QB's freaking elbow was at ALL necessary! Not to mention the defender's hand was very clearly in Purdy's face! But in the end, as much as I don't like saying it, the better team did win. The Niners just got supremely unlucky, that's all. There's always next year though, am I right?

But anyways, enough about me grumbling about a lost football game. It is what it is there. But you're here for Persona stories, not football rants. So yeah. Anyways, on that note, until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!

CONFIDANT RANKS AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 54

FOOL (Igor/Prison Master) - Rank 8

MAGICIAN (Morgana/Mona) - Rank 8

PRIESTESS (Makoto/Queen) - Rank 4

EMPEROR (Yusuke/Fox) - Rank 5

HIEROPHANT (Sojiro/Boss/Coffee Daddy) - Rank 5

LOVERS (Ann/Panther) - Rank 8

CHARIOT (Ryuji/Skull) - Rank 7

JUSTICE (Akechi) - Rank 6

HERMIT (Futaba/Oracle) - Rank 2

FORTUNE (Chihaya/Fortune Teller) - Rank 1

STRENGTH (Caroline and Justine/Twin Wardens) - Rank 7

HANGED-MAN (Iwai/Weapons Dealer) - Rank 2

DEATH (Takemi/Back-Alley Doctor) - Rank 7

TEMPERANCE (Kawakami/Becky) - Rank 4

DEVIL (Ohya) - Rank 2

STAR (Hifumi) - Rank 4

MOON (Mishima) Rank 5

SUN (Yoshida/Man Of The People) - Rank 8

JUDGEMENT (Sae/Prosecutor) - Rank 4

FAITH (Kasumi/Sumi/Yoshizawa) - Rank 5 'MAX'

COUNCILLOR (Maruki/Doc) - Rank 5

WORLD (Kusa/Draconis) - Rank 5 'MAX'

YET TO BE UNLOCKED - TOWER, EMPRESS