The True Duet

by asdf1asdf1

*WARNING* P5R Spoilers With the help of a taunting voice, Kasumi stops her younger sister Sumire from running into traffic, changing the course of their lives. Now both sisters must face their first year of high school together at Shujin academy. Feeling stunted in Kasumi's shadow, Sumire insists on doing this separately. Follow the girls as they change fate once more.

14. Chapter 14

Author's note:

Happy Holidays!

Hopefully they are going well. I said I'd try to get a chapter before Christmas which I just managed. This will be the final chapter of the year, but I hope I can keep things rolling in 2021.

I'm gratefull for the support so far, and I hope I can continue to write an enjoyable story.

Later :)

-asdf

---

Chapter 14: A Fateful Encounter

Part 1: The Artist's Revenge

Friday June 3rd 20XX, After school

"We're all ready, yes?" Ren asked lightly. Leaning against the crosswalk in Shibuya, he couldn't help but have a small smile on his face. It was only overcast, but Ren was in a good mood. He always felt good before heist days.

It was when the anticipation was at its peak. The day when they did little more then hang out together and ensure the card was fully prepared for the heist tomorrow.

"Yes," Yusuke nodded. As always, the boy had an… interesting air about him. "I have finished the calling card-"

"With my help!" Ryuji injected, proud as always.

"Yes, you really, er, well you had great motivation."

Snorting at Yusuke's words, Ren shared a look with the giggling girls. Morgana, meanwhile, rolled his eyes. At a look from Ren, however, Morgana held back the reply. Sometimes Ren wondered if the rift between the two of them was growing worse instead of better.

"May I see the card, Yusuke Senpai?" Sumire asked, polite as usual.

"Of course, please enjoy," the boy seemed genuinely excited to show his work off.

Peering over Sumire's shoulder, Ren nodded along as Sumire read it. The cards had been improving each time. This one no longer sounded like – how had Ann put it? – it was written by an angry child, or something similar. The one to the principal had been slightly better, but the content was still only mediocre. That had been the major improvement here.

"Did you do the text, Ryuji?" Ren asked.

"Hell yeah I did!" He puffed out his chest. "It's good isn't it?"

"It… Actually is," Ann blinked in surprise. "Wow, Ryuji, I'm impressed!"

"I would have done better," Morgana muttered sullenly from Ren's shoulder. Eyeing the cat, Ren raised his eyebrows in challenge.

"You want to write the next one?"

"Err, I mean… I could. I just need to spend my time making more meaningful contributions, like thief's tools! I mean, the quality of text isn't that important!"

"Sure, sure." Ren smiled. "I guess we should do some more crafting tonight, yeah?"

"You bet!" Morgana preened, "who knows what we'll need to pull this off. It has to be our most complex plan yet."

"Not exactly inspiring," Ren commented, "but you aren't wrong. There are a lot of moving parts tomorrow. People will be separated. Lots could go wrong…"

Looking around, Ren realized everyone had heard his words. Scratching his head, he tried desperately to think of a follow-up. Some words that would calm their nerves and…

"Hehe, if you're that worried Senpai, you can stay home." Sumire taunted him with a light punch in the side.

Ren blinked at the physical contact. Small as it was, it was unusual for her. Maybe she was more comfortable around him after the practice yesterday? Musing silently, Ren didn't realize he was staring at Sumire until Ann coughed pointedly.

"S-Scared? Of course not. Just concerned you amateurs will screw this up for me."

"I, of course, will do my best." Yusuke frowned, taking Ren's joke literally. His blue eyes betrayed a slight wound that Ren had inflicted. "I think after our time together I will be able to benefit the group."

"Y-Yusuke, I wasn't trying to infer…"

"Why you gotta do that leader?" Ryuji smirked, shaking his head as he ragged on Ren. "Stop picking on the new guy already. He's been with us through the hell that Principal turned into."

Sighing, Ren just smiled and gave up on talking. With Ryuji's words, the atmosphere lightened again. Yusuke as well finally clueing in that Ren hadn't been insinuating anything.

As the conversation lulled, Ren looked out over the crossing. The giant intersection where people mulled about in great hordes. As jobs came to a halt for the day, it was easy to find the businessmen and OLs returning home. Others however, travelled in mixed packs searching out bars and nightclubs. With the weekend arriving, their responsibilities were done. Others, maybe, were waiting eagerly to attend Madarame's exhibit.

That potential helped reignite the fire in Ren's stomach. He had spent so long contemplating the Principal's fate and the twists that awaited him in that aftermath, that he was struggling to focus upon the next target. A target that had probably caused more suffering than the principal. Even if Madarame's days of crime were beginning to come to an end as he stopped taking on pupils to abuse; his previous history was inexcusable.

Even if changing his heart would only help Yusuke, it would be worth it. Thinking about the boy, Ren's eyes tracked back over to him. They hadn't really given Yusuke an option with the principal, but Ren wondered if the boy would continue to aid them after Madarame was dealt with. This was more a partnership built on a shared goal than teammates…

"Is there something on my face?"

"Huh?" Jerking, Ren realized he had been staring too intently. The rest of the group snickering at Ren's shock. "Oh, I was just thinking about after we've changed Madarame's heart."

"After?" Yusuke muttered. "I… hadn't given thought to it. As foolish as that sounds to say."

Morgana sighed loudly, standing up on Ren's shoulder to command everyone's attention. "I keep telling you, don't sweat the future. Live in the now."

"I'm not sure about that Morgana Senpai," Sumire disagreed politely. "If you never plan ahead, you'll never achieve your goals."

"Huh?" Ann questioned, tilting her head. "Why not?"

"W-Well…" Stuttering, Sumire blushed as everyone looked at her. "I mean… I want to become a world class gymnast. To do that, I need to do constant training, continually strive to improve my flexibility, watch my nutritional intake. I can't just wake up in the morning and decide to drink a soda. It would undermine all of my efforts!"

"Eh!?" Ann gasped. "You work so hard! Are you saying I shouldn't be eating double chocolate crepes after doing a photo shoot!?"

"Err… Isn't that…"

"Kind of obvious?" Ryuji sighed, shaking his head at Ann. Then, with a curious glance, he looked back at Sumire, as if acknowledging her as an athlete for the first time. "You know… You remind me of myself a couple years ago. Pushing for a scholarship to college…"

"I guess Kamoshida changed that, huh senpai?" Sumire muttered, her gaze tracking down to his knee.

Ren as well, felt the familiar surge of anger that they all did. The abuse of power from people in charge. From the people that were supposed to be helping them. "You move pretty well…" Ren spoke hesitantly, a little afraid to cross a line. "Have you thought about trying to pick it up again?"

Ryuji didn't answer instantly. After a short moment, he put that goofy grin on and laughed. "No way! I'm doing something far important right now!"

Ren caught Sumire's eye. The girl as well seemed a bit worried by Ryuji's answer. Ren was glad Ryuji was excited about being a phantom thief… But this work wouldn't continue their entire lives. It better not anyway.

Smirking at the possibly, Ren raised his voice. "So, we meet tomorrow at six in the morning. Morgana begins to spread the cards around Shibuya and the exhibit in general. Yusuke is at the exhibit until Madarame is informed, then comes and meets us to enter the palace. Everything should be wrapped up by noon. Sounds good?"

"You got it leader!"

"Yupp!"

"It shall be my honor."

Waving goodbye to them all, Ren pulled subtly on Sumire's sleeve.

"Senpai?" She asked quietly as they dispersed.

"Can I have a moment to talk to you alone?" As he talked, Ren shouldered Morgana to inform him that Ren meant alone alone.

"Fine, fine." Sulking, Morgana hopped off and began wandering by himself through the station. Ren had long since stopped worrying about him when he did this. Morgana could take care of himself.

"I-Is there something you need to ask me Senpai?" Sumire stuttered. As she played with a lock of her hair, Ren continued to watch her for a moment. He was often surprised by how easily the two of them got along. "Umm… Senpai, if you keep staring…"

"Am I not allowed to look at you?" Ren asked.

"I-Its not that… B-But… c-could it be…?"

Unsure where the blushing girl was going with her words, Ren illuminated her. "I was hoping you could continue mentioning your gymnastics in front of Ryuji."

"W-What?"

"I think it would be good to remind him that there is more to his life than the phantom thieves…" Trailing off, Ren pursed his lips as more worries crossed his mind. "Whenever we hang out, Ryuji calls it training for the metaverse. All he talks about is how we can change things for people… You can remind him that there is more to life than our new group."

"…Yes Senpai."

As Sumire pouted, Ren wondered what he did wrong. She had seemed so excited just a moment before. What changed? "I-Is this a problem? Or am I off base with my assumptions?"

"No. I think you are right about Ryuji Senpai. He has forgotten his love for the sport."

The answer was flat and monotone. Sweating now, Ren was positive he had screwed up. Sumire was twitching like she couldn't wait to get away from him…

"H-Hey Sumire… I know I'm not perfect… But, if something happened to be wrong, you would tell me, right?"

"Of course, Senpai. What could possibly be wrong?"

"N-Nothing… Just wanted to make sure that we are on the same page." Ren couldn't believe how hard Sumire was to read today. Her face had flattened into a dead expression that betrayed nothing but disappointment. Even her eyes seemed a duller colour than previously.

"Good. Well, I have practice to get to. Please excuse me."

"S-See ya…" Waving a tentative hand, Ren pressed it to his face as soon as she walked away. "I'll never fully understand her…"

Leaning against the rail again, Ren waited in a stupor for Morgana to return. In less than a minute, the familiar sounds of cat nails against the floor rang out, surrounded by the surprised mutterings of people that such a tame cat was walking around by itself.

"Yo, what's with the face? Can it be… Did she reject you!?"

"Reject me?" Ren asked. "I… don't think so. It sounded like she'll do as I asked…" Shaking his head, Ren picked Morgana up and placed him in the Shujin bag. "I'll never understand her."

"You don't have to," Morgana soothed him. "Only deify the ground upon which they walk…"

Feeling like they'd encountered a junction in their understand of the situation, Ren stayed silent. The cat could be even stranger than Sumire.

---

Saturday June 4th 20XX Early Morning

Standing at the familiar crosswalk, Sumire put the umbrella away. It was only a light drizzle for now, but she hoped the weather didn't ruin all of the calling cards. That would be an awkward way for their mission to fail.

Right now, only Ryuji Senpai was present. Unbidden, Senpai's words from yesterday rose in her mind. It seemed like he was right. Ryuji was so focused on the phantom thieves' work that he refused to miss a second of it. Even Senpai, the de facto leader, was taking a bit of a break.

If Sumire were to check his phone, she was sure that he would be surfing the phansite. Checking the top ratings, and who the next target should be. Sumire remembered when she did that. In the time before she had joined the group. Ever since awakening to her persona, however, Sumire hadn't visited it.

"Guess I should try for Senpai…" Approaching Ryuji, Sumire tried not to feel disappointed about the talk yesterday. Once again, she had gone and gotten her expectations up. But he had been looking at her so intently…

"Oh, hey Sumire! You're early!"

"Yes, you as well, Ryuji Senpai…" But was it really her fault, that her expectations were so high? Senpai always seemed so good at figuring out what people needed and helping them. But for some reason, he just stared longingly at her then started talking about a guy!

"Is… everything alright?" Ryuji asked, maybe seeing Sumire's grumpy expression. "If you're worried about today, I wouldn't be. This'll be a cinch!"

"A-Actually, it's not that…" Supressing her wild thoughts, Sumire focussed on Ryuji. "I'm just a little sore after training yesterday…" A lot sore. Hiraguchi had been relentless. "She recommended jogging as a good way to stay fit on rest days, I just need to watch my form… I thought maybe you could help with that."

"Form is pretty important," Ryuji agreed quickly. As his eyes sparkled slightly, it was easy to see the runner return. "Most important part is foot strike. Amateurs will ruin their knees by thinking they need to extend their leg in front of them.

"But the real key is landing beneath your body. Then you allow the kick back to send you forward. Your pace should be dependant almost entirely on cadence, your stride length staying the same."

Blinking at the impassioned talk, Sumire wondered if maybe Senpai's worries were unfounded. Sure, Ryuji was passionate about the phantom thieves, but he seemed to share that passion for everything he did.

"Oh yeah!" Ryuji continued as if had remembered something. "Ren and I go for runs after school sometimes, throw in sprints as well. You should come, its good training for the metaverse. After all, you never know when you need to book it out of there!"

But then again… Maybe Senpai did have a point. "Umm… I suppose if the days line up… I wouldn't mind." Giving a bit of a vague answer, Sumire wasn't sure if she had helped at all. At that time though, others were beginning to filter in. Senpai, coffee in hand, with a pleased looking Morgana in his bag. From the other direction came a sleepy Ann still yawning away the morning exhaustion.

That meant the group was fully assembled, only missing Yusuke who was waiting for Madarame to read the letter. Checking her phone, Sumire confirmed that the exhibit had only opened five minutes ago or so. With the exhibit being about ten minutes from the crossing, it would probably be at least that amount more until Yusuke showed up.

"I can't believe," Ann muttered, "that the one Saturday we don't have morning classes, you made us get up anyway."

Senpai simply shrugged, nonchalant about the accusation. "May as well take advantage of the free time. No use sitting about twiddling our thumbs all morning."

"Exactly!" Ryuji crowed, "See Ann, that's why he's the leader."

"Because he makes us wake-up early?" The girl replied, with a raised eyebrow. "In that case, wouldn't you be the leader, since it looks like you were the first one here."

"Hey, that's not a bad…"

""NO!"" Multiple voices cut Ryuji off, ending his thought. Sumire tried not to giggle at the boy's consternated expression.

"Did you all sleep well?" Sumire asked, to break the ice. It would be uncomfortable to stand around for another ten minutes to an hour in total silence.

"No," Ann muttered sullenly. "I was browsing this article about these new crepes, and how they might be coming to a store in Shibuya, so obviously I tried tracking it down, but by the time I figured out they weren't coming to Japan, it was three in the morning!"

"Ah haha…" Chuckling weakly, Sumire hoped Senpai would save her from the awkward ending.

"Fret not lady Ann! Just tell me what they are, and I shall not stop until you get one!"

"…" Morgana's words were a little… excessive to Sumire.

"But now!" Ann continued as if she hadn't heard the cat. "I realize that they are in America, and guess where we're going this Summer? Hawaii!"

"W-We?" Sumire asked.

"On the school-trip!" Ann clarified. "I think it is only second-years though."

"O-Oh no, I-I was just curious," Sumire clarified. "It wasn't like I wanted to spend time with Senpai on the beach in swimsuits. D-Definitely not!"

"On the beach with Ann… In a swimsuit…" Morgana's voice had a dream-like quality to it. Re-evaluating him, Sumire wondered if they weren't so different after all.

Morgana could be a valuable ally to help her in getting alone time with Senpai… She'd need some way to bribe him though. Running her fingers along her arm methodically, Sumire tried to think about the problem. Would a double date work? Probably not. You can't exactly take a cat to supper.

What am I thinking!?

Shaking her head quickly, Sumire dispelled the strange plans that had been trying to form. Trying to set-up Morgana and Ann just to free up Senpai was wrong.

"You alright?" Sidling up to her, Sumire blushed as she felt Senpai poke her in the arm with a finger.

"I-It's nothing." Sumire stuttered in reply. "J-Just thinking about some… things…"

Why did I say that!?

Before Sumire could beat herself up internally for too long, Senpai replied with a smirk. "Some… Things, eh? That sounds vaguely suspicious enough for a thief I suppose."

"Stop teasing me," Bowing her head, Sumire could hear the various chuckles from the other members. She felt like this happened more than it really should. The teasing was light-hearted, but Sumire's heart still fluttered uncertainly with a slight fear that they may be making fun of her.

But that's what it means to have friends… Right?

As Sumire looked around, she realized the words were true. This was her first group of friends. If Sumire was being honest with herself, she'd admit that her social skills were a little… lacking. The experience she had until now was playing second fiddle to Kasumi. She was all Sumire needed until recently.

Wondering why her thoughts were replaying useless conversations, Sumire tried to focus on her surroundings. On what was about to happen. They were going to steal a heavily protected treasure in the metaverse. One misstep, and they would die.

Sumire felt like that was something they didn't discuss enough. The very real possibility that at any moment a shadow too strong for them, or a fall from too high, would spell their end. When she looked at it that way, their actions were very high risk for… almost no reward.

Perhaps that was why when the principal was arrested, with no accolades for the phantom thieves, it bit that much more. This calling card was far more obtrusive, however. No one would miss the fact that the group had made a second move.

"Deep thoughts?" Senpai queried, raising an eyebrow. "About some… things?"

Sumire coloured, her cheeks reheated at his deliberate pause that let the rest of them giggling. "K-Kind of…" Sumire admitted. "I was just considering how little we get out of this for how much effort we put in."

"You got a point there," Ann sighed. "Although, people at school talk to me now, so I guess that's an occasional plus."

"Dude, I'm still an outsider!" Ryuji complained. "It's all good though! When we're famous, no one will be able to resist me!"

"Don't you understand what phantom means?" Morgana scolded the blond boy. "It means no one knows who we are!"

"That's sooo lame!" Ryuji yelled pounding his fist against the metal railing. "I mean… we're the phantom thieves! They should show us some-"

"Shut up!"

Sumire shivered slightly from the unusual anger in Senpai's voice. Even though the words were quiet, they contained an otherworldly force to them. It had been a while since Sumire was reminded of her initial awe upon seeing him. That feeling like he was an entirely different thing. Almost as if he was the only one that was truly alive in the world.

I'm being stupid again.

Cleansing her thoughts of the nonsense, Sumire glanced at an uncharacteristically abashed Ryuji. "What, no one is watching us."

"I don't care," Senpai continued, "those words should never leave your mouth… Ever!"

"I think he gets it," Ann agreed with an eyeroll.

The group was noticeably tenser than before. Sumire found herself constantly peeking over her shoulder. As if waiting to see a figure who was listening to everything. A plan to take them down already fully established. With the last part achieved, they'd wink once before vanishing into the Shibuya traffic.

Shivering at her imagination's wiles, Sumire took a half-step closer to Senpai. With their jackets almost touching, Sumire felt warmer already. "So, I was just wondering… but what if people did find out that we were… you know."

Leaving it vague, Sumire didn't want Senpai's anger to turn unto her. Glancing around the other four occupants, each one kind of shrugged concomitantly. Sumire couldn't blame them for their response. There was unlikely to be a law they were breaking. But would that matter?

Parliament could pass new laws. Banning their activities and labelling them criminals. It was a scary thought. It also added just a little more to the risk scale that Sumire had been contemplating earlier.

"Don't worry about it," Morgana waved off Sumire's concerns. "No one knows about the metaverse, ergo, they can't catch us!"

"Easy for the cat to say," Ann sighed. "But I agree. They can't really do anything to us, so relax, you'll be fine."

As Ann laid a comforting hand on Sumire's shoulder, she wondered how bad her face looked. Everyone had started trying to cheer her up, so it couldn't be great.

"Have you been waiting long?"

"Yusuke!" Ryuji greeted the boy happily. "Nah, just chatting. We good?"

"We are indeed."

"Well then, let's do this."

Smiling, Sumire gazed at Senpai with everyone else. Putting a hand in the centre, they shared a singular cheer before the mission began.

---

Saturday June 4th, 20XX Morning

Perched on top of the wooden beams, Joker struggled to contain his anxiety. He didn't like having people running around on their own if it wasn't him. He was fine risking himself, but the others shouldn't have to.

Currently, however, all Joker could do was stare down at the security window where Panther, Skull, and Fox would be entering shortly. It was Skull's job to lead the guard away, then Panther and Fox would signal Joker that they were ready. One staying at the window relaying signals, the other working the controls. Right behind Joker and a couple metres below, Violet stood waiting at the lever to lower the hook that Mona was tied to.

Much of this strategy, too much, in Joker's estimation, was relying on the shadows' inability to look up. The cognitive beings had severely lacking mental capacity for the most part, and therefore struggled with three-dimensional movement.

While that was true for the average person as well, the shadows took it to an extreme degree. The same way everything in the metaverse was taken to the extreme. So many normally unchangeable rules become bendable when cognition changes. It meant that power in the metaverse was largely dependant on how a person perceived themselves, and whether they had the strength of heart to resist.

Joker's thoughts were interrupted by a wave at the window. The signal from Yusuke that they had gotten into the room and were prepared to shut off the lights. Acknowledging it with a nod, Joker held up a singular finger in response.

It meant one minute, assuming everything went well. It should take Skull that long to lose the security guard and make it here. At which point, the lights will shut off and the treasure will be stolen.

With the plan past the point of turning back, Joker waited anxiously in his crouched position. Skull's part in this plan was by far the most challenging. After him, Fox and Panther would need to evade that same guard on the way out of the security booth. Compared to them, Joker, Violet, and Mona were doing nothing.

Just as Joker was getting worried that Skull had failed, or been captured, the panting boy slammed into the room. Nodding at him, Joker sent a glance at Violet. Receiving a thumbs-up, he waved for Fox's attention.

After finding it, Joker held up five fingers, then lowered one to make four. When he went to three, he signalled Violet to begin lowering Mona. There wouldn't be time to go all the down and then back up while the lights were off. They had to start the descent before the darkness set in.

Watching with bated breath as he went down, Joker struggled not to prematurely lower the fingers. Forcing his mind to relax, the digits closed at predetermined spacings.

Two…

One…

Then, just as Mona was crossing halfway to the portrait, zero. With a loud metallic sound, the lights abruptly ceased. With almost prescripted certainty, Madarame's shadow began yelling about the lights.

Joker felt the change inside him. Still not fully comprehending it, all he understood was that it was a gift from Igor. The rather creepy, silent master of the velvet room. The occupants were now clearly visible to his eyes. Their forms outlined in light. Objects with more of a… presence, maybe, glowed strongly. Unimportant things like walls were nearly invisible. That it made it highly inconvenient to keep on, of course.

Using it now, Joker was able to keep an eye on Mona's progress. While they were still mulling about in the dark, Joker signalled Violet to reverse the cat's momentum. True to being a literal cat burglar, Mona grabbed the treasure with hardly a sound.

The treasure?

Feeling a chill down his neck, Joker felt like his instincts were screaming at him. Something was amiss here… But what? Mona was pulling up the treasure, Fox and Panther had evacuated and were on their way here…

"The treasure doesn't glow…?" Muttering to himself, the wrongness finally clicked. Why would the treasure not glow under this power? Essentially every important detail with a strong cognitive presence glowed under this special vision. For the treasure not to was… strange.

As the lights finally flicked back on, Joker waved at Violet to stop the hoisting. Rushing over, he cut Mona free with a few deft slashes.

"Once we get out of here, look at the treasure." Joker hissed to Mona. Turning around, he confirmed Fox and Panther dashing into the room out of breath. "No time," Joker whispered. Below, he could hear Madarame's freak out as he noticed the absent centerpiece. "Follow me."

This part of the escape plan was far less planned out. It had been a mistake to think they'd be able to leave through the front door after taking the treasure. However, they had actually managed to get the treasure without fighting for it, which was a first for them.

Somehow it always ended in a fight…

Getting a bad feeling about what was to come, Joker led them across the rafter beams to a strange portal. Familiar with where these led, Joker didn't hesitate before diving in. As he expected, he ended up in that strange golden world of Madarame's.

A couple of twists later, and the exit was in sight. Running once more into that eerie blue light, Joker found himself on a lawn. The blocked off staircases from the barrier was where he had come out. A little upset that they hadn't found this path earlier, Joker waved everyone to a halt.

"Whoa! We actually did it!" Skull cheered. "Got the treasure and got out quick!"

"Don't celebrate too quickly," Joker warned him. "Mona do it."

"Treasure! Treasure!" With the excited yell of a feline on catnip, Mona dove at the wrapped painting and quickly stripped it off. Underneath…

"It's a fake…" Joker muttered. At the same time, poles were rising from the ground. Familiar with their capabilities, Joker shouted at his party. "Get back!"

With flawless execution they all escaped the cage of lightning that was emitted from the four metallic poles. Sensing their approach, Joker turned to look at a confident Madarame flanked by two powerful looking shadows. Between them, they carried another picture frame, the same size as the one they'd discarded. This one, however, was covered by a more elaborate velvet sheet.

Just to make sure, Joker quickly activated his other vision. As the world faded away, Joker saw it. The amount of cognitive power that was wrapped up in the real treasure. Taking it as a lesson, Joker kicked the fake away.

The doodled face was a mockery of real art. Although, Joker was beginning to wonder if that was the limit of Madarame's skill after he let it decay for so long.

"Give us the real treasure." Joker declared strongly.

"Yeah, we'll even let you run away if you give it up in the next three seconds!" Skull warned, cracking his knuckle.

"Bah, incompetent thieves!" Madarame mocked them with his ridiculous get-up. "Did you really think me ignorant to your wiles?"

"Madarame…" Fox's voice was hard with hate. "It is time for you to confess. Hand over the treasure and leave."

"Why would I do that?" The shadow mocked. "That attitude of yours though… How like your mother you are. Especially given the fact that I'll get to watch you both die!"

"W-What did you say? What did you do to my mother!? Answer me!"

"Hehe, everyone knew how poor your mother's health was… In fact, she herself painted one last portrait of herself and her child before dying. I was there when it happened. She had a stroke.

"The scene was just so upsetting I forgot to call an ambulance. She died on the floor in front of me! You can't imagine the trauma… Nor the amount of money in pity purchases I received!"

Laughing, Madarame was almost bent double. Not a single shred of remorse showed on his face at his confession. Everyone stood stock still. Fox in particular looked stunned.

Joker spoke up, asking about a strange line in there. "What portrait? I hadn't heard of any."

"Ah, yes." Madarame continued, smiling nastily at them. Gesturing at the two shadows, he continued. "Be blessed thieves. For you shall be the only ones to know the secret of the Sayuri's expression!"

With a rip, the velvet cloth was removed, revealing the true portrait beneath. From the time spent in the palace, Joker was quite familiar with the painting by now. But this was… "A baby?"

"A portrait of her and her son…" Fox stammered. "That's… me?"

"Yes!" Madarame gloated. "When I saw it, I instantly knew it would be a hit! Cover up the child, and suddenly the reason for her expression is 'mysterious'. Critics eat that shit up!"

Joker struggled not to agree with the shadow. The original was beautiful. The modifications Madarame made were a flagrant disruption of the previous charm… But there was no way it would have ever been as popular. All the skill was from Yusuke's mother. But Madarame with nothing more than a slapdash of gray paint and some words turned it into something the art world would adore.

"You even stole your masterpiece?" Panther added on. "So, you never were any good in the first place, at least this clears that up. Still, what you did was sad!"

"Truly…" Fox spoke, his words carrying with a weight they'd all felt. The realization that this man had been a source of trauma and suffering his entire life, even before he knew it. "I had hoped that there would be some redemption for you in the end. However… this is the end for you… Sensei."

Without waited for Joker's orders, Fox drew his katana from its sheath. As he did so, Joker quickly called out names. "Mona, Violet, with me. Skull, Panther, rest up and wait to fight!"

"HAhahahAHAHAH!" Madarame's laughter became distorted as his body shifted. Joker remembered a similar scene from Kamoshida. How the volleyball star had morphed into a demon. Rather than a typical monster, Madarame's body became absorbed into his rapidly growing head. Once it reached critical mass, it split into four fragments. Each one framed in wood like a painting and containing a different part of a face. Two eyes, a nose, and a mouth.

"What fresh hell is this?" Skull complained, backing up to obey Joker's orders.

"Lots of different options here," Joker spoke quickly. "Try to maximize damage by using wide area persona abilities." Fumbling slightly over the second half, Joker acknowledged that they needed to formalize names for things. Every time it was a different combination of words. They needed an official way to distinguish between Panther's fire ability that hit one shadow versus the slightly weaker, easier to dodge one that had a chance to hit multiple.

Taking his own advice, Joker put on his trusty Jack Frost mask and bombarded the assembled pieces that composed Madarame with an ice skill.

!?

Blinking, Joker narrowed his eyes in confusion. Something strange had happened around the eyes. Neither piece had taken damage from his attack. Thankfully, the nose and mouth were injured. Wondering if they had dodged it, Joker watched anxiously as his party followed his example.

Wind, light, and even more ice bombarded the four pieces. In the wake of their assault, the mouth was left drooping, nearly dead. The other three, meanwhile, were in a state between injury and health. To Joker's vision, the two eyes seemed to have recovered when struck by ice and wind. The nose, on the other hand recovered when struck by Sumire's light. The different pieces were literally draining their persona's attacks.

"Careful with your attacks from now on!" Joker called out. "I'll finish the mouth with magic, try physical moves next… Shit!"

Cutting himself off, Joker struggled to sidestep as the mouth suddenly lunged at him, its attack boosted to the max by one of the eyes' ability.

"AH!"

Quickly looking over, Joker just caught the tail end of Sumire turning black. It seemed she dodged a gout of fire from the nose, but the second eye caught her with an attack. She was an unnatural black now. Absorbing all light that struck her. All light…

"Guard, Violet!" Calling out to her, Joker wasn't risking her falling prey to some strange technique that Madarame had yet to fully reveal. "Come, Jack Frost!"

Summoning the little snowman once again, Joker directed its ice solely at Madarame's mouth. With a groan, the painting collapsed to the ground. As it settled, the other three still active ones had no visible reaction to the change. They'd need to defeat all four of them to do anything; most likely.

"Heh, now is your downfall, Madarame!" Fox roared as he rushed forward. His blade was a blur in his hands. The katana ripping a line straight through the middle of the nose and back.

As Fox retreated, the nose made strange jerking movements, but besides that appeared fine. The blows that should have bisected it doing far less in this cognitive world. What it did do, however, was make contact. If their attacks would land, they could do this.

"My turn then!" Following in Fox's footsteps, Mona repeated the attack on the nose with his scimitar. The curved blade stealing a large portion of the shadow's stamina with each swing.

As those two's attacks ended, the nose was dropping with a lack of life. It had only drained Violet's attack meaning it had suffered a high number of hits up to this point. Still, the shadow portraits made no effort of trying to surrender or run away.

With an inevitable gaze, the left eye lowered Violet's defences. Growing even more nervous now, Joker watched as the right eye lowered its gaze to the floor. Emitting a small portion of healing light, the mouth rose once again.

"They can revive each other…"

"So, it would seem." Grim words exchanged, they waited as the last two pieces turned toward Violet. The girl unable to do much but continue to guard herself.

"Gruhh!" Letting out a strange noise, the nose blew a cone of ice at Violet. The guard worked its job well, only a sliver of damage inflicted. However, the move's true purpose appeared to break the defensive posture.

Having recently risen, the mouth was still in bad shape. Barely more than a single attack away from falling. Its strength was undiminished as it rushed for Violet.

"AHH!"

Heart in mouth, Joker could only watch stunned as the jaws bit down on her black form. The teeth ripping through her persona's resistances with the help of the black paint. Without another whimper, her from collapsed to the ground.

"Violet!"

"Hold position!" Joker screamed at them. "Bring it down!" Hating himself even as he said the words, Joker followed his own advice. Firing off another wide area ice spell, both the mouth and the nose succumbed to the damage. With two down, they could win this.

With fire in their eyes, Yusuke and Mona teamed up, using their persona physical attacks to bring down the left eye entirely.

In Joker's estimation, this fight was over. There was no way that the one eye, with a single move could undo the damage they had dealt. Therefore, the more pressing issue was Violet. Joker was unable to check on her condition currently. If only there was someone free who could…

Wanting to hit himself, Joker shouted orders as the eye brought the mouth back once again. "Skull, Panther, check up on Violet, see if you can get her moving again!"

Meanwhile, the revived mouth was still drooping from a lack of stamina as it charged forward and bit at Fox. Thankfully, the nimble boy managed to sidestep the projected attack at the last moment.

"Nice one, Fox!" Mona congratulated him.

"Indeed!" Joker echoed him, "now, let's finish this!" Blowing through the extra mind, Joker used a coordinated ice skill to defeat the mouth for a third time. That revival was beginning to grate on him. Joker could feel the hole that the magic uses had left behind in his mind. He was good for awhile more, but continuous spells were beginning to take their toll.

"Yargh!" Yelling their determination, Mona and Yusuke teamed up once again to down the final eye. As the dust on their attacks settled, all pieces had been defeated. Each one lying broken on the ground.

Before Joker's disbelieving eyes, the individual pieces began to melt. Each one turning into the same viscous black substance that they had coated Violet with. After a moment, the shadow Madarame coagulated. While he looks haggard from the previous fight, his stamina seemed to be unaffected.

It was almost unfair, but Joker got the feeling that the painting morphing was a one-time thing. Clearly though, the fight was far from over.

Madarame glared at them with hate in his eyes. "Insufferable ruffians. My duplicates will make short work of you!" Throwing something at the ground, a cloud of smoke appeared, masking the shadow. After a moment it faded, leaving five Madarames.

"…" Saying nothing, Joker was stunned by how obvious it was. There was still the normal Madarame present where he had been standing. Around him were duplicates in different coloured robes: red, green, blue, and yellow.

"What devilry is this?" Fox spat. "I should have known you'd hide behind illusions!"

"Illusions?" Madarame cackled. "That's all the worth of a painting is! An illusion! You know what is real? The hundred-million-yen penthouse that I own under my mistress' name!"

"RARGH!" Bellowing with rage, Yusuke shot forward at the shadow. His blade a blur as he bisected the central figure time and time again. Yet, as Yusuke retreated panting, shadow Madarame was still glaring hauntingly at them all. They wouldn't be ending this fight anytime soon.

"Calm down Fox!" Joker snapped. "You two, how is Violet doing? Mona, focus on healing, Fox, let's try to hit all of them with attacks."

Bracing himself to drain even more of his mental energy, Joker reached inside and pulled out that adorable mascot once more. Twirling around once, a storm of ice blanketed each one of the five Madarames.

"Ah, shit." There was no time to dodge. Still stuck in the energy it took to summon such an attack, Joker couldn't dodge as some of it rushed back at him. The damage was reduced due to his persona's resistance to ice, but the two separate hits still took a portion of his stamina with them.

At the same time Joker was stumbling from the reflected blows, the red Madarame screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground, the yellow one and the main shadow were staggering from a hit but not displaying the same weakness. That meant the blue and green ones were the Madarames that reflected his attack.

Brain working overtime, Joker knew there was a pattern here. Something in the colours. Still, he was having trouble seeing it. Reaching into his pockets, Joker quickly swallowed down a little teardrop like thing. If he had to name it, it would be some sort of soul. With the strange extra sense that he'd been granted, Joker knew that the mysterious item would regenerate his mental capacity. Something that was severely lacking after the amount of spells he'd casted at this point. Or… that his persona had used?

Joker still struggled to separate where the actual power was coming from. The two of them were inexorably linked in a way that he couldn't fully comprehend.

"J-Joker!" Fox asked. "What should I…"

"Attack the downed one!" Unfortunately, the wide area attack plan wouldn't work. Not with Fox possessing the same ice type attack that Joker had utilized.

Fox's attack made the red caped one even weaker, its stamina teetering on the edge from the dual attacks targeting its weakness. However, there were still four opponents staring them down in healthy condition. Mona let out a wave of healing that helped disperse some damage that the three of them had taken.

"We need more people…" Muttering to himself, Joker could only attempt to endure as the five Madarames turned their attacks on them.

One after another, fire, ice, lightning, and wind fell. Then, to cap off the storm of damage, the central Madarame used some move that struck all of them. The aura it gave off gave Joker feelings of something divine. A move that nothing could negate nor resist.

Hand shaking slightly, Joker saw few options remaining. The barrage of attacks had been simply too much to take. Another round of that would be the end of them all.

Swallowing, Joker dispersed the budding fear.

"Thin their numbers!" Pasting on his daredevil smile, Joker winked at the other thieves. Diving in, he utilized the singular ice attack to bring the red Madarame down. Its form dispersing into smoke. While it was an illusion, taking it out reduced the real Madarame's damage.

With the opening left from striking a weakness, Joker flipped masks and utilized a second persona. "Orthrus!" Bringing forth the twin-headed dog persona, Joker fixed his eyes upon the blue-robed Madarame and prayed that he was correct.

"GAH!"

One gout of flame and a pained scream later, Joker smiled confidently. Madarame had told them his own weakness. "Coming to you Mona! Hit the yellow one with your wind!"

"You got it!" Getting tagged in, Mona's wind was a giant burst that cut heavily into the yellow shadow's aura. Its screamed drowned out by the hurricane of sound that the magic produced.

"Give it to Yusuke and target the main Madarame!"

Once again, they did as Joker ordered. Watching the hastily composed plan take shape, he couldn't help but smirk in confidence. Staring down the main shadow who was now looking into the eyes of a heavily powered-up Fox, Joker watched as his gloating smirk faded into a mask of uncertainty. Not fear, yet.

"Skull! Can you get the green one with your magic?"

"Yo, I've been waiting for this!"

One yell later, a lightning bolt and a scream following, all three of the remaining fakes were on the ground and the main Madarame was struggling to recover.

"Don't think… You've won…" Pulling himself together, all three of the remaining fakes rose as one. Their expressions mirrors of hate. With a creepy synchronicity, each one looked at the person that had felled it.

Shivering from the implications, Joker readied himself to dodge. As he had predicted, a stream of ice shot from the shadow's hand toward him. Only Joker's preparation stopped the attack from landing. None of the others were quite as lucky. Even Skull at the back was struck by a lucky gust of wind.

Across from them, the main Madarame's skill landed. The orbs of almighty power tearing away more of their precious stamina.

Gritting his teeth against the sensation, Joker wondered if they should try to flee. Yes, an accusation of breaking and entering from Madarame would leave him in juvenile detention for a long time… But it was better than his friends dying.

"Come… Jeanne!" With a weak cough, the words were hard to make out. Spinning around, Joker stared unbelievingly at Violet. The girl's eyes were locked upon him as her persona fluttered to life before her, as majestic as always. "We… Can do this."

Hesitating only a moment, Joker nodded. The healing light restored some of their stamina. Using it as a buffer between death, Joker fearlessly summoned forth Orthrus once more. Its fire blast attack melting the blue Madarame who sank into oblivion.

Once more, as they chained attacks together, the duplicates fell one after another. Weaknesses exposed; they were taken out.

In a moment, the main Madarame was standing alone, defenseless, Fox's blade threatening to tear him apart. "Do it." Joker ordered mercilessly. He still doubted that the shadow would give up quite so quickly

"I didn't come to kill you…" Fox spoke. "Just give us the treasure."

"No! He's not…"

Joker's words were pointless as Madarame waved his hands creating another four duplicates. This time though, there were only two colours. Two green and two yellow. The lack of different Madarame's was both a blessing and a curse. While their attack diversity was decreased, it would be harder for them to chain together attacks on their weaknesses.

"Ah… My apologies Joker…" Fox blushed awkwardly.

"The shadow will never surrender until its stamina gets wholly decreased!" Joker yelled at him. "As long as it has energy, it will believe it can win!

"Rampage, Oni!" Switching personas on the fly, Joker changed from magical to physical attacks. The brute force method striking out at all five opponents. This time, there was no reflection, or other negation of the damage. However, the damage dealt was less than a magical blow to their weaknesses.

Mona struck at the two yellow Madarames with his wind magic. As he got ready for a third attack against the main one, Joker cut him off. "No, guard!"

The fight was proceeding too quickly for Joker to manage every aspect. He needed someone who could provide tactics from the back. A strategist who would fix their stupid mistakes without Joker pointing them out. If Mona had attacked, he would have been left open to a dual lightning strike that surely would have removed the final remnants of his stamina.

After Mona, Skull followed up with a pair of lightning strikes of his own. With that, all four of the duplicates were down, their weaknesses struck on top of the damage that Joker had dealt. Still… it wasn't enough. Joker was worried what would happen when they got back…

"Dance Carmen!"

"No! Panther!" Heart in throat, Joker could do nothing as her magic ripped into all five Madarames. The two yellow ones reflected the move, the flames tearing back into the delicate girl that had called them forth. Panther coughed weakly as she bent over, the damage carving a huge chunk of her stamina away. The only reason she still stood was that it was the first attack she had taken. It was evidence of the power of her magic.

On the same token, the two felled green Madarames dispersed into ash. They had been defeated before they got a single move off. As impressive as the display was, Joker wondered if that was the norm they'd have to keep up if they wanted to defeat Madarame.

"I… can't… get shown up like this!"

"V-Violet?" Stammering her name, Joker watched amazed as the injured girl staggered up to his side.

"Don't worry Senpai… I will never let you fight without me."

"I…" Caught off guard by the display, Joker was reminded again of the girls extraordinary will. She was a force of nature when she wanted to be. Her dazzlingly bright outfit was truly reminiscent of her latent potential. A potential that Joker still forgot about all too often when she'd blush and stammer in response to simple questions.

"Purify them, Jeanne!"

With a call, the armoured maiden shimmered to life once more and brought with her holy light that sprayed across the remaining three figures. The lower magical power left the two yellow Madarames alive with a sliver of stamina. Neither of them looked like they had any capacity to fight.

Still, they picked themselves up as a battered central Madarame looked back and forth between his reinforcements and the six opponents that had lined up to face him. The cockiness was long gone from his face, but for the first time, a sliver of fear appeared there too.

"This… It isn't fair! You shouldn't be able to have so many people attacking!"

"This isn't a game," Joker berated the shadow. "Let's end this."

"Fine," Madarame spat in return. "DIE!"

Crying out, once more that attack washed over Joker's body. Wincing from the brunt of it, he was more concerned with Violet. The girl looked seconds away from toppling. Yet, through sheer force of will, she stood. Even if she did so by leaning upon her rapier.

As nobody fell before the attack, two errant lightning blasts bombarded them. One hit Skull, the other rattled pathetically against the already badly scorched grass.

Raising his gun, Joker disposed of the two yellow Madarames with a single shot each. The bullets landing between their eyes. A small whimper emerging from each as they collapsed into nothingness. With no more words, Joker turned the gun to Madarame. "No. You will die."

Pulling the trigger another six times, a hail of bullets peppered the lone figure. Whether mimicking him or it being the best idea, the other five raised their guns and rained hell down upon the last figure.

After the cacophony of gun shouts that rang out, the silence following was eerie. Only a soft clink as a final shell bounced lightly against the garden path.

"Guh… I can still… I can… Win…" The shadow looked pathetic. With almost no stamina remaining, he spread his arms, calling forth another four fake Madarames. There were once again four different colours. It didn't matter though. These were illusions whose power were tied to the central figure's.

Flipping his knife, Joker strode forward to finish him off.

"No, let me." Holding up an arm to stop him, Fox strode forward alone. "This is goodbye Sensei." It seemed like the boy wanted to say more but didn't hesitate in his swing. The singular slice stealing the final fragment of power that the shadow possessed.

"GAAHHH!" Collapsing to the ground, the shadow raised its arms to the sky, the fakes collapsing into nothingness as well. After a moment, Joker could sense the shift. The time when the demonic power fled, leaving behind only a man that a singular bullet could take out.

"Is that… Is that you… Yusuke?"

"…What is this, Joker?" Fox asked, his voice hard.

Joker struggled to answer. The situation with the principal had been highly irregular. Events in the real world had affected the fight and changed the principal's cognition. This was more similar to the fight with Kamoshida.

"After vanquishing the shadow's power, they seem to be more susceptible to talking. The inner feelings that they had long ago finally have a chance to shine through."

"I see…" Then Fox's voice hardened once again. "What you did to my mother's painting, to the Sayuri was unforgivable. However… You still took me, an orphan in. Taught me what I wanted to know. All before you ever knew I'd be a painter… Was that out of guilt?"

"I… I don't know." The shadow answered honestly. "At this point, I doubt it matters. While you are here, fooling around at playing hero, there is someone exploiting the metaverse to its full potential."

"What?" Mona broke in at this point. "That's impossible!"

"Haha, doubt me if you want." The shadow laughed, a weak sneer coming back to his face. "But beware the man in a black mask. You aren't nearly as powerful as you think you are."

"It's time to go," Joker ordered. Coldly walking past the shadow, he grabbed the treasure. The painting of the real Sayuri that somehow remained untouched.

"Yes…" Fox agreed. "Goodbye… and thank you."

Joker didn't comment on the mirage of tears as they ran. They had accomplished what they had come for. Tomorrow, they would know if it was enough.

---

Part 2: A not so unexpected meeting

Monday June 6th 20XX After school

"Urgh…" Groaning to herself, Kasumi discontent came not from the amazing degree with which she bent her body. Instead, it was from the well-dressed boy who was lounging comfortably on a nearby park bench.

Not helping the situation was the weather. Whereas Akechi sat comfortably under his umbrella, it continued to pour down upon Kasumi, who was stretching. As a result, the fairly popular park was all but abandoned. Only a few solitary old people braved the weather to walk the park path.

"So, you have received confirmation that this… Amamiya Ren will be attending the trip to the TV station?"

"Yes," Kasumi answered, continuing through the motions. Still, she struggled to stay composed. Yesterday's news conference had been playing on repeat within her head. How that painter, Madarame Ichiryusai, had looked, tears streaking down his face as he tearfully apologized. The conference had sent a visceral chill down Kasumi's spine. A chill that was returning as she tried to stretch.

The spring rain was warm, and Kasumi didn't fear developing a cold, or her muscles straining due to it. Yet, the wetness of the rain clung to her, Akechi's presence doing nothing to beat back the feeling.

"I see, very good." Akechi nodded sharply. "It also looks like your training is going well."

Catching Akechi's pointed nod at her convoluted form, Kasumi stuck out her tongue at him.

"If I may ask, what prop do you specialize in?"

"W-What!?" Blown away by the question, Kasumi gaped at the detective. His face hadn't changed expression at all. As if asking was as normal as commenting on the weather. "How do you know about that?"

"How? I got curious one day and did a five-minute internet search."

"I see…" The explanation made sense, it really did, and it helped Kasumi avoid thinking about the phantom thieves' most recent takedown. "Well, none yet. At my level, we're expected to be able to use all of them: Ribbon, ball, clubs, and the hoop."

"Hmm, wasn't there a fifth?"

Does he… actually care?

Kasumi couldn't be certain. Akechi was hard to read at the best of times. While stretching, shaken over yesterday's news, and now sopping wet, Kasumi had to admit she was having trouble focussing. "The rope was banned again. It seems unlikely it will make a comeback."

"Ah interesting. Still, you must have favored props, yes?"

"…I've always enjoyed the clubs. My sister, meanwhile, is more a ribbon girl. Her swirls with it are fantastic."

"Hmm, fascinating."

Once again, Akechi spoke the words in such a way that Kasumi could never be sure if he was being sarcastic or not. Standing up, Kasumi decided she had enough of this rain stretching. She was starting to feel cold. Returning to the bench, she blanketed her body with her dry coat and used the umbrella to keep water off herself.

"Is it?" She asked Akechi. "I mean… Are you…"

"Am I what?" Akechi asked again, his face betraying little emotion. Once again, the parallels between him and Ren Senpai were eerie. They could both manage that neutral expression which defied her ability to read them.

"Nothing. I'm always happy to talk gymnastics! Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

"Not right now. I'm sure I'll have more after watching you perform."

"W-Wha…" Stumbling, Kasumi could only gape as Akechi nonchalantly continued walking. Growling, Kasumi ran to catch up. Getting in front of him, she turned around and walked backward so that she could stare at him. "W-What do you mean, watch me perform?"

"I want to know," Akechi answered simply, never breaking contact. "What drove you so far to reclaim your ability to compete. I need to see how much you care about the life you've won back."

"I… I see…" Stepping away, Kasumi resumed her location half a step back. They had met because Akechi said he wanted to discuss something. Kasumi had told him she was going to the park to train. He could either meet her there or not.

"Do you…?"

"What did you say?" Kasumi asked. It was hard to hear Akechi when his back was to her. The pounding rain did nothing to help either.

"It's nothing," he spoke louder, "you saw the news yesterday?"

The one thing I didn't want to talk about. "Yes, of course." Kasumi laced her words with a hard irony, hoping the displeasure in them would make Akechi drop it.

"Good, then I won't have to explain what happened."

Of course he didn't…

"Before I continue any further, I need to know, do you believe that what the phantom thieves did was right?"

Kasumi bowed her head. That was probably the main reason she didn't want to think about it. She had allowed Sumire to talk her into posting on their website asking them to target the principal. While nothing had happened from it, Kasumi still couldn't imagine what she would have felt like being forced to watch the principal of all people breaking down in front of the school. Admitting to blackmailing her. She had turned to these people to fix her problems, so did she have any right to condemn them for targeting someone else?

With this storm raging within, Kasumi generated a weak answer for Akechi. "I don't think I can say at this time."

"Tch, you are better than that. Give me an answer you believe in."

Kasumi sighed at the boy's angry outburst. Akechi was right: Kasumi was better than that. "I felt the same way this time as watching Kamoshida's confession. It was unnatural and terrifying. No one should possess the power to make someone do that."

"I agree," Akechi nodded strongly. "If you can't remain true to yourself, then you aren't even a person. Merely a machine that they tune to sing whatever song they want you to."

Kasumi wasn't surprised by Akechi's answer. He had said much the same thing during the interview they had done together. Still, one thing about it sat strangely with Kasumi. "I just don't understand how the police hadn't arrested that artist already. I mean, a bunch of people must have known what he was doing!"

This time, Akechi's face went hard. His eyes blazed with a righteous fury. Staring at his side-profile, the boy briefly resembled some sort of divine avenger.

"And who were the victims of his crimes? Witless magnates, purchasing fakes. Aside from them, just the children getting stolen from. No one would believe the word of a child over a respected adult."

"Akechi…" Muttering the boy's name, Kasumi felt a repressed anger emerging. It was perhaps one of the few times Kasumi had seen his true emotions. Emboldened by the display, Kasumi reached out and laid a hand on his upper arm. "Hey, that's what you're here for. You help out people like me. Like those students that were taken advantage of."

Akechi snorted, jerking his shoulder away from the contact. "If any of them were like you, Madarame would have been put behind bars the legal way."

"Legal way?" Kasumi asked. "What do you mean?"

"To put it bluntly, it's hard to convincingly say that these men whom have had, 'changes of heart', actually deserve to be in jail. From a certain perspective… they're nothing more than victims. Er, well they would be if other testimonies hadn't confirmed that they have broken the law."

Kasumi nodded in understanding to the words. Neither of them felt that either of the men that had confessed so far deserved to go free. At the same time, they couldn't agree with this change in personality. "You're saying… These confessions mean nothing?"

"Mostly," Akechi nodded. "This is new ground, so the laws surrounding the indictment aren't fully fleshed out. Notably, however, is that a confession given under duress isn't a true confession. Therefore, if we conclude that what the phantom thieves have done to these men puts them under duress, then they cannot be tried for what they say."

"Only other evidence," Kasumi nods along, thinking about the strange subject that somehow had quickly become commonplace in her life. "I think that's smart. If they can make an innocent confess to a crime they didn't commit, then that law should protect them."

"Oh? You doubt their morals?" Stopping, Akechi turned and stared at Kasumi with mirthful eyes. "You don't think these 'heroes of justice' are all they are cracked up to be?"

"I…" For not the first time, Kasumi found herself unable to meet Akechi's eyes. Gaze lowering, she tracked a stream of rainwater as it wound its way closer to the sewer grate. "I guess their power just scares me. I don't want to change into a different person. I understand what they are doing. In a way, I'm even thankful for it…"

"But?"

"But I wish they weren't necessary!" Kasumi exploded. Kicking the water away she felt an irrational surge of anger. "If the police were better at their jobs, then these people would have already been arrested!"

"Understandable…" Akechi muttered. "Corruption exists everywhere nowadays."

"That's not true," Kasumi smiled gently at the boy detective. "You aren't."

"…" Rather than returning the expression, Akechi seemed to wince slightly before sighing heavily. "I hope so… You aren't either by the way."

As conversation lulled between them, Kasumi kept walking side-by-side with the detective. Their footsteps fell in sync. Outside, then inside as if they were a reflection of each other. Losing herself in the little minigame she played, Kasumi's gait was forced to match Akechi's. Her strides unnaturally lengthened to keep up with the taller boy.

"Having fun, are you?"

Giggling slightly at the dry tone in his voice, Kasumi didn't stop matching his steps. "I'm surprised you noticed."

"How could I not? You are practically lunging with each step."

"Am not! You're just a little taller than me!" Kasumi received an audible snort in response. Looking up at him, she was forced to admit that the detective had at least half a head on her. It was usually not so apparent as they typically sat when meeting in person. Whether at a café, or Akechi's house as they had done the week before last.

Still, with her declaration made, Kasumi couldn't let up on her mimicry. Using the extraordinary calf strength she had built up, Kasumi's tiptoes allowed her more easy match him. The additional height increasing her natural stride length.

"Sometimes I forget how… silly you can be."

"Hmm… It sounded like you wanted to use a different word." Kasumi accused the detective.

"I wouldn't want to strain our camaraderie," Akechi smirked. "Especially with how useful you've been recently."

"Useful?" Muttering to herself, Kasumi realized she had never gotten a reason as to why Akechi wanted Ren Senpai to go to the television station. Giving words to her thoughts, Kasumi waited for an answer.

"Why, hmm? What would you say if I told you that was on a need-to-know basis?"

"Bullshit." Kasumi answered immediately. She was proud of much easier swear words dropped from her mouth nowadays. Being around Akechi usually gave her an excuse to use at least a couple.

The boy shrugged in defeat. The gesture still looking refined within his expensive suit. "You got me there. You see, I'm talking on that Friday show Shujin students are attending. I'd heard that he was singled out by Mr. Kamoshida. I simply wanted the chance to meet him."

Kasumi felt a minor surge of elation. The reason was almost exactly what she had predicted it would be. She was also glad that there was no nefarious purpose here. Despite her initial misgivings about the coarse detective, he had turned out to be trustworthy. "So… This is the end of our deal then?"

"Don't sound so sad," Akechi smirked at her.

Blushing slightly from being called out, Kasumi realized that she would be sad to never talk to the detective again. He was unique and challenged her in new ways. She knew for a fact that she was more mature now because of his influence.

"No, I said I would need you to do things around your school for me. This was a single thing. You haven't fulfilled your side of the bargain quite yet."

"Hmpf!" Kasumi did her best to pull off an imperious flare of her hair. "Fine. But don't think that you can string me along forever!"

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"…?" Looking at Akechi, Kasumi struggled to not frown. It was at times like these when he would say a normal response… but the delivery would be wrong. As if there was a hidden meaning that Kasumi was missing. For not the first time, Kasumi felt a chill down her spine. Shrugging it off as the rain, Kasumi tried to keep her smile intact until they split at the station.

---

Tuesday June 7th 20XX Evening

"I'm home…"

Muttering out loud, Sumire didn't receive an answer and didn't expect one. Her training had been shorter today, which she appreciated. It was one of those days where it was hard to muster the energy to do anything.

That didn't shrink the long list of tasks that she had to do. Sumire had to get started on supper. By the time she was finished, everyone else should arrive back as well. After supper, Sumire would have to clean the meal up. Then, there were a bunch of minor cleaning tasks she had neglected this weekend. Once cleaning was done, Sumire had a pile of homework to start on.

"Maybe… a ten-minute nap?"

Groaning at the clock that read a little past five in the evening, Sumire knew she didn't have time for that. Besides, if she laid down, she would lose any motivation she had. Right now, she moved primarily off inertia. She kept moving simply because she had already started.

Receiving a bunch of pots and other tools that she would need to make the meal, Sumire found the small slip of paper from her bag and unfolded it on the counter. She had written it out during lunch today at school.

She had just finished when her phone had shut off and wouldn't turn back on. It was getting worse and worse lately. Grabbing the charger that Sumire now carried with her to school, she jammed it into the wall and waited for the icon to flash up. Eventually it did.

Scowling at it, the issues with the phone had only exacerbated her bad mood. Not been the source of it. Preparing supper gave her too much time to think as thoughts of the last two days of class came back to her.

News of Madarame and the phantom thieves' involvement had spread like wildfire. Everyone in the school had seen the interview by now. Not just the confession, but stupid meme videos where they had edited together the crying and broken words on repeat with flashy effects. They had taken the man's heartfelt confession and made a mockery of it.

The realization that they were no more than a humorous joke to most people was humiliating. Sumire had to struggle not to lash out at people all day. All the pride she had felt watching on Sunday had disappeared quickly. As it disappeared, Sumire kept relieving Saturday.

The disgracefulness with which she had performed when Madarame fought them. If she had just failed to help, it wouldn't have hurt so much. But Sumire had hindered Senpai. She had gone and made an easy fight into a challenging one as Ann and Ryuji had spent most of it taking care of her.

Assaulted by disgrace on all sides, Sumire was struggling to get through the day. "Tomorrow will be better, tomorrow will be better…" Trying to convince herself of that, Sumire continued to mechanically move through the actions.

Part of her tried to get excited for cooking. She liked the skill. Cooking was fun. Today though… Sumire just couldn't get motivated for it. The knife in her hand rose and fell slowly as she chopped vegetables. Slow enough that she'd be delaying supper.

Wrapped up in her thoughts, Sumire missed the door opening. Setting the knife down, Sumire removed her glasses and rubbed her face. Letting out another heavy sigh, she muttered to herself, "maybe just five minutes…"

"What's eating ya, sis?"

"AH!" Screaming, Sumire spun around. Missing her footing on the tile floor, she crashed to the ground, her head colliding solidly with the with the cabinets behind her. "Oww!"

"Ouch," Kasumi agreed sympathetically. Kneeling down to Sumire's height, Kasumi tilted her head quizzically. "So, what's wrong?"

"Why does something have to be wrong?" Sumire sulked, holding her head with her hands. Trying to blink back tears, she glared at an unhelpful Kasumi. "And since when do you enter the house without saying anything?"

"I did," Kasumi answered with a raised. "Come on, let's get you up." Extending a hand, Kasumi waited expectantly.

Looking at it, Sumire pursed her lips, unsure if she wanted to take it. She was feeling particularly petty today.

"Oh, just grab it," Kasumi sighed, rolling her eyes. "Then I'll help you with supper while you tell me what's going on."

"Fine." Grabbing the appendage, Sumire easily ascended back into a standing position. Rubbing her behind for a moment, she stared suspiciously at her sister. "Why would you offer to help with supper? You hate cooking."

"Yes, but I hate going hungry more, which is what will happen if I don't help."

"Ugh, fine. Chop these." Sliding the unfinished vegetables over to Kasumi, Sumire set about gathering the rest of the ingredients that she would need. As usual, they had all gone shopping together on Sunday morning before the interview. As such, their pantry and fridge were still stocked with a variety of ingredients. Grabbing what she needed, Sumire set out to make the sauce.

"Well?" Kasumi pressured.

"Your chopping needs practice," was Sumire's only comment. The horribly uneven pieces made her want to push Kasumi aside and to it herself. One look at the clock told her she didn't have time for that.

"Imma chop you up if you don't start talking," Kasumi threatened, waving the knife at Sumire.

"You shouldn't do that," was her sulky answer. "It's bad kitchen practice to lose control of your implements."

"I swear you are being worse than Akechi right now!" Kasumi growled. "Just tell me what happened!"

"Fine!" Throwing the recipe back onto the counter Sumire stalked over to the table where she collapsed, burying her head in her arms. "I hate this… I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!"

"Now, now…"

With her head buried in her hands, Sumire felt Kasumi's hands on her shoulders. They made rubbing motions, trying to soothe away the knots that lay there.

"Now tell me, who do you hate?"

"The school… Everyone…" Deep down, Sumire knew she was acting like a child. But at the same time, having Kasumi console her, as if the rift that appeared between them had never been, was delightful. For the first time in a long time, Sumire could just sit here and complain, letting her big sister deal with everything.

"Hmm? Are people making fun of you?" Kasumi's voice held a dangerous edge to it.

Sumire smiled slightly thinking about what she would do to them if Sumire said yes. Shaking her head, she clarified. "Not me. Have you seen… the news conference from Sunday?" The question but rhetorical, but Kasumi sent an audible affirmation as well. "Why are they so mean? So callous? He… He apologized! He's trying to do better now… So why…?"

"Haha, that's my sister for you…"

"W-What do you mean?" Sitting up, Sumire turned her head so that she could stare into Kasumi's warm brown eyes. She was still wearing that half smile where it was so hard to tell if she was laughing at you or with you. Usually, it was some mixture of both.

"I'm just saying, you're the type of person who would feel bad for the villain of the story."

"V-Villain?"

"Think about it," Kasumi commanded, taking the seat next to her. Holding her hand, Kasumi wouldn't let Sumire's gaze wander from hers. "The man is admitting to stealing and abusing from people no older than you or me. The very piece that made him famous was plagiarized for crying out loud! Most people would claim he deserves the criticism and mockery."

"I…" Sumire agreed with Kasumi's words. It did make sense. She personally knew some of the victims from Madarame's crimes. So why…? Was it simply because of how Yusuke had looked as they dashed away with the treasure? Was it the sorrow in his eyes as he took one final look back at all that was left of the man he had once looked up to? Had he been dreaming of what may have been if Madarame's heart had never become distorted?

Yes, that was the answer Sumire arrived at. These distortions that they were correcting. Where were they coming from? Why were people who would normally do nothing even close to these crimes become this way?

"I just want to see justice done to him. A civilized country shouldn't belittle its citizens that fall off the path but seek to restore them."

"Eww, are you quoting something at me?" Kasumi giggled. Upon seeing Sumire's stricken face, the mirth faded a little. "Hey, look. If it makes you feel better, I agree. He isn't a victim but… I'm not fond of these 'changes of heart'."

Perking up at the phrase, Sumire stuttered her answer. Hoping it was nonchalant enough. "W-What do you mean?"

Kasumi's face held only confusion in it. "What do you mean, what do I mean? Aren't you a Phanatic? Reading their site every night?"

"Urr… W-Well I mean, of course I know what a change of heart is. B-But I was surprised to hear you using the term."

Sumire held Kasumi's face for a tense moment. Then her brown-haired sister sighed and looked away. The tension releasing inside her, Sumire watched as Kasumi returned to the abandoned counter.

"Come on, we need to finish supper."

"R-Right." Agreeing with her sister, Sumire meekly followed along, picking up where she had left off.

As she arrived at the counter, Kasumi turned to face her, knife in hand once more. Waving it before her nose, Kasumi delivered her warning.

"I'm not going to force you to tell me, but whatever it is you are doing, at least bring Ren along. He has a good head on his shoulders."

"G-Got it." Sumire held the expression just long enough until Kasumi turned back around. Afterwards, she couldn't contain the little smile that slipped through.

Oh Kas, if only you knew.

---

Wednesday June 8th 20XX After school

"This is stupid," Ren scolded Morgana as they walked slowly through the streets on Yongen-jaya. Pausing briefly, Joker pretended to look over some wares that were being sold in a second-hand store.

"Now now, it's just an experiment," the cat tried to soothe Ren's misgivings.

Joker frowned, turning slightly behind himself to glance at where Leblanc stood. The store would be open for hours longer. The plan wasn't extremely risky… It just made Ren feel guilty.

"Oh, hey, buy those! They're just like the ones we found in mementos! We can craft tools with them."

"Fine." Biting the word off, Ren got the attention of the old man who was dozing in front of the wares. Ren probably could have just pocketed them, and no one would have been any the wiser. In fact, his metaverse self seemed disappointed as Ren handed over the thousand and so odd yen for a stack of identical trinkets.

Ren wondered for not the first time if he was spending too much time in the metaverse recently. The impulses to steal things, to test how well he could hide, they were bleeding over into his actions in the real world. Each conversation he had was now turning into an analysis of the various options. How should he act to best get the person to respond favourably to him?

Even right now, Ren could feel the multiple personalities swirling around in his mind. They didn't really change him as far as he could tell. Yet, by selecting one, he'd start to adapt some of its attributes. Right now, Ren needed the fortitude to not get lost in his thoughts. Therefore, he brought Oni to the front of his mind. The Strength persona had been a rock for him during the tail end of the Madarame fight.

"Are you ready?" Ren asked Morgana, pausing briefly to look at the vegetables on display. He needed to look like he was shopping, not making a beeline for the Sakura house.

"Give me two minutes." Leaving it there, the cat dashed off alone.

Standing by himself now, Ren enjoyed the sunshine beating down upon him. The last two days pf rain had begun to get monotonous. It was easy to forget exactly how bleak the rainy season could get at times.

After turning over a squash one final time, Ren nonchalantly walked over to the Sakura residence. The mysterious building he had only been inside of the once. However, that singular time had proven to be quite informative. Enough so, that Ren didn't see what exactly they would learn from this 'experiment' as Morgana called it.

As he walked past the gate, Ren rang the chime and kept going. He wasn't supposed to be loitering in front of the door. Exiting onto a road, Ren began to walk around the house. In short order, he found Morgana perched upon a windowsill.

"Anything?"

"No movement at all!" The cat complained, jumping down to land beside Ren. "They either can't hear the doorbell or have conditioned themselves to ignore it."

"Hmm…" Muttering over the information, Ren waited a couple seconds for Morgana to jump back into the bag before continuing to walk. Rather than going back right away, Ren thought he'd take the chance to see a little more of his surroundings. "Could it be that she's deaf?"

He thought the idea had merit. "If so, could be why she doesn't go to school. If Sojiro can't take her, then navigating the city without hearing can be risky."

"Maybe…" The cat agreed reluctantly. "But really? Hiding her away from the world because she can't hear? Doesn't that excuse seem a bit weak?"

"True…" Muttering, Ren simply couldn't understand it. No one in Jongen knew anything about someone else living at the Sakura house. Together, they had ruled out that Sojiro was a kidnapper but… beyond that they couldn't make heads or tails of the situation.

"Hmm… May need to either lay the issue to rest or directly confront the boss about this."

Ren snorted at Morgana's suggestion. "Yeah, sure. Get kicked out of my one place to live? No thanks. There is one more option…"

"And what's that?" Morgana asked excited.

"You should temper your expectations." Ren advised. "An internet search."

"An inter…" The groan was practically pitiful. "I hate it that you're right."

"Come on," Ren joked with forced brevity. "Let's go do some mind-numbing research on my phone."

---

Wednesday June 8th 20XX Evening

"Kill me now…" Moaning Ren let the phone fall from his hands as his head collapsed against the wooden table in his room. The time confirmed that he had only been at the task for two hours or so. Ren had never realized that there was a way to make time feel even longer than school. In fact, school passed so quickly some days, Ren wasn't sure he even remembered the classes at all…

This waste of time on the other hand, it consumed his thoughts with mind numbingly long pages that he carefully scanned through.

With Ren having given up, Morgana stood up and sauntered over to the screen. Then, with a distinctly un-catlike motion, began using his paws to navigate the browser. "Why not make some infiltration tools from that stuff we bought? I'll keep searching for something."

"Go for it," Ren groaned, forcing his body back up. As he started working on his first item, a lockpick, Ren found this task far easier to focus on. It was familiar, engaging, and most of all, important for the phantom thieves. Something he highly doubted this search was.

"Have you found anything so far?" Morgana asked.

"Not much, just what I told you before," Ren spoke. "Apparently, Sojiro used to be a government official. The savings from that job are probably all that keeps this café running and letting him maintain a fairly large house."

"Makes sense," Morgana nodded stiffly. "He never gets enough customers to break even, yet never complains about the lack of patronage."

"That was everything," Ren sighed. "No marriage, no affair that ended in pregnancy, no adoption papers; I'm stumped."

"Huh," Morgana muttered.

Receiving no further questions, Ren focused solely upon making the tools. A lockpick here, a smoke bomb there. He was starting to generate a nifty collection of items that could get them out in a pinch. At some point he needed to get Morgana to show him some of the battle items the cat had mentioned in passing. Being able to strike a shadow's weakness with an item could be extremely helpful in a pinch.

As Ren worked, his stomach growled at him. The break between lunch and supper was absurdly long for him. He had to wait until Sojiro was cleaning up to grab food. His other option was to slip out the back door and eat out. Even with the metaverse generating extra income for him, Ren wasn't nearly well enough off to splurge every night.

"We're going to the station tomorrow, yeah?" Morgana asked.

Ren nodded in answer.

"Aren't you excited? It will get you out of school."

"Meh," Ren shrugged, "I don't mind classes."

"Y-You don't… I don't have to do the homework and the classes still bore me to tears!"

Ren could only shrug. Last year he would have agreed with Morgana wholeheartedly. Now though… they just passed by in the blink of an eye.

"Weirdo…" Morgana muttered again. Then after a couple seconds of silence, Morgana spoke again. "Did you ever find out why Kasumi wanted you to do this?"

"She did?" Ren's memories of those days were more or less a constant stream of trying not to be embarrassed by her consistent comments. "I remember her asking, but that's about it."

"Hmm… She did a bit more than ask, but your right, it's probably nothing."

"It could have something to do with her dad," Ren suggested, the thought randomly popping into his mind. "He works at a TV station after all."

Morgana snorted at that. "And she what? Wanted to make sure you'd have something to talk to her dad about?"

"…"

"…"

Falling silent, Ren struggled to contain the heat that threatened to suffuse his cheeks.

"Ha!" Morgana laughed. "Though for herself or for her sister's sake I wonder."

Ren could only chuckle lightly. The explanation fit eerily well. It did, however, make him wonder if perhaps he had begun started thinking too highly of himself. Still, it would be dense to ignore the coincidence here. As Ren considered it more, Kasumi's words and expressions from that day rang more clearly through his head. She definitely had been relieved when he agreed to go to the station…

"Maybe I should get your advice. Sometimes I feel like Lady Ann has begun to think of me as a p…"

Pausing in the assembly, Ren turned to look at the cat. Morgana was frozen unnaturally over the screen. "What did you find?" Pushing the unfinished lump to the back of the desk, Ren leaned over to read over Morgana's shoulder. The words on the screen made his eyes bulge.

Sakura Sojiro's primary role during employment was liaison to [Redacted] for the purpose of their research on [Redacted].

Skipping down a few lines, Ren found perhaps the most important section of the document Morgana had managed to find.

After the untimely demise of [Redacted], Mr. Sakura took custody of [Redacted].

"So…" Speaking slowly, Ren scanned the government document one more time. He had no idea how Morgana even began to find something like this. Even with the redactions, it felt like something that should only be available to a strict few. "The girl… isn't Sojiro's?"

"Not so sure about that…" Morgana muttered. "Could have been a… side effect of his job as their liaison."

"That would be assuming the person is a woman and that Sojiro broke professional boundaries with her. Neither of which are implied here."

"Why else would he take their daughter in though?" Morgana huffed.

"Why'd he take me in?" Ren retorted.

"Ha, he treats the two of you quite differently though." Morgana countered.

Ren had to nod his acceptance at that point. Reading for a moment more, he collapsed back to the desk. The document had managed to tell them so much and so little all at the same time. It was incredibly frustrating. "So, where did you find this thing?"

"This? I requested the file from the government website." Morgana explained.

"You did what!?" Shooting up, Ren glared at the cat. "And what do you think is going to happen to me when they call Sojiro to tell him that a random person requested his old government file!?"

"Relax," Morgana waved a paw. "These files are made public property after a certain time. They remove all the sensitive information anyway. If was important, they wouldn't have given it to us immediately, would they have?"

"Maybe…" Muttering, Ren tried to control the fear that had risen. It wasn't as if Morgana had broken through a security wall to retrieve it. Searching for things on the internet was perfectly legal.

Convincing himself of that, Ren picked up the ball again. So much closer to discovering the mysteries his guardian had hidden from him, and at the same time, no closer at all.

---

Friday June 10th 20XX Afternoon

Sitting down in one of the hard chairs, it was only the uncomfortable plastic that was keeping Ren awake. The past two days of visiting the station had so far been unbearable. Even sitting in a classroom would have been better. At least then they had been sitting, not standing for long hours as some woman told them why the break room was called a break room.

Seated at last, Ren was shocked that a TV studio gave their audience worse chairs than a school did. He reasoned it must be so that they are forced to give their utmost attention to what's happening on stage. Otherwise, they would start to groan with pain…

"Is it starting yet?" Ryuji's annoyed voice cut loudly through the quiet babble the students had started. While they weren't giving Ren a wide berth anymore, they still seemed reluctant to be near him. That had made it easy for Ryuji and Ann to snag the seats beside him.

Any answer was unnecessary as the stars walked out onto the set. The host and co-host were joined by a boy with stylish brown hair, a fitted suit, and wearing black gloves. Ren figured he was maybe only a year older than him, but the person on stage had an aura of maturity that no teenager should possess.

Worse yet, was the realization that Ren knew the boy. He was the detective that had aided Kasumi in arresting the principal. If anyone would know about the change of heart the principal endured, it should be him. Feeling that steely claw of terror, Ren wondered if that was indeed what the conversation would be about today. The revelation about who the phantom thieves really were… but no, that was impossible… right?

Just as Ren was trying to relax again, he met the boy's eyes. They were red, like Sumire's, but far darker. Almost maroon where hers were rubies. In them, Ren saw a bottomless passion.

Yes, he was right to be worried about this detective. It wouldn't take him long to discover their identities. Particularly if he was talking to Ryuji.

"We're on in three… two…"

Leaving the rest of the words to be silent, the show started. The exposition confirmed what Ren already knew. That the guest today was none other than one Akechi Goro, known as the detective prince. He had recently achieved greater notoriety through the arrest of the Shujin Principal.

"Now, Mr. Akechi, it is an honor to have such an upstanding youth on our show. Of course, on your most recent television appearance, you called out the Phantom thieves as a group without direction.

"Does their most recent case that they claim credit for, the confession of the painter Madarame, change your perspective on this? After all, quite a few people seem convinced that this group exists and is fighting back against the rot on our society. Your thoughts?"

"Haha, you're really putting me on the spot early!" The detective laughed easily.

His mannerisms were slightly childish but had a good-natured air to them. Still, they appeared forced to Ren's gaze. Like the detective was forcing himself into a well-practiced routine.

"I think for many, this is an easy answer. Who wouldn't want a group of justice-seeking heroes with the ability to bring the bad guys to justice?"

"Very true!" The announcer commented in that booming voice of his.

"However…" On a dime, Akechi's personality changed from joking to serious. His eyes boring holes into the camera. "If these phantom thieves exist, I believe that they should be tried in a court of law!"

"Are they committing crimes?" The host asked in confusion, the change catching him off guard as well.

"Potentially," Akechi answered. "While Madarame's crimes are truly unforgivable, they have taken the law into their own hands to punish him."

"Fascinating!" The host preened, adding on some other silly statements praising Akechi. "Some people, however, claim that they help these criminals redeem themselves?"

"It is not acceptable to force a personality change on someone." Akechi cut in, speaking absolutely.

"Amazing!" The co-host spoke happily. "Why don't we poll the audience. Do you believe that these phantom thieves exist?"

Ren stared at the voting device in his hand. Deciding it wouldn't matter, he pressed the yes button. Due to the large number of Shujin students, Ren expected the number to yeses to be quite high.

"Hmm, over 30%? What do you think Akechi?"

"I must say, that is higher than I expected!" The detective laughed easily. "Although… if it turns out they don't exist at this point… I'd be quite embarrassed. Maybe I could turn it into a school report?"

"Haha! Humorous as always, you are!" The reporter laughed.

"Hmm, why don't we take a question from the audience…"

Ren felt the co-host coming. It was something unavoidable, like how the heat of summer always gave way to the snow of winter. Even while she hemmed and hawed, Ren knew that eventually, she would settle on him.

"Why not you!"

Ren struggled not to sigh as the microphone entered his vision.

"What do you think of the actions of these phantom thieves?"

"…" Pausing, Ren was surprised by the question. He had thought it would be whether or not they existed… Looking up at the detective, Ren found those maroon eyes focused firmly upon him. Was this… Staged?

As Ren stared back, an uncomfortable moment of silence lapsed, everyone waiting for Ren's next words. There were many options, Ren should probably say something noncommittal. A neutral to vague stance.

"They're justice itself." The words just kind of fell from his mouth. The detective's immediate reply was a small smirk as a ripple of noise spread through the crowd.

"You said that very firmly. How are you so confident in them?"

This is why you don't get let yourself get baited!

Screaming at himself internally, Ren still believed that this was something he couldn't back away from. If he couldn't even explain their actions to a simple detective, then continuing to act as the phantom thieves past this point would be pointless.

"They only target criminals. Criminals, I should mention, that the police failed to arrest."

"Ooooh." The rather animated noise from the crows turning this into something rather like a sparring match. A match Ren refused to lose.

"Hmm, fair. But you've only seen their actions which they have publicized. Can you be sure that they aren't using these powers to commit crimes that you don't see?"

"That's conjecture," Ren fired back instantly. "Maybe you're just upset because they are doing things you can't?"

"Damn dude!"

Ignoring Ryuji's exclamation, Ren knew that he had crossed a line. Even before the detective replied, the co-host removed the microphone.

"I-It's always so refreshing to speak to the youth of today!"

"Indeed…" Akechi finally answered, still staring appraisingly at Ren. "I always welcome opinions contrary to mine.

"While it is still, conjecture, as has been pointed out, I still believe the most dangerous aspect of these phantom thieves is what else they are capable of doing. How many seemingly ordinary crimes are them pulling the strings behind the scenes?

"These dangerous questions can not go unanswered. Even as we talk, I am working with the police to find and arrest this group."

"Amazing! Let's give a round of applause to our detective prince, Akechi Goro!"

Ren rolled his eyes as the segment came to a close. Exiting their seats, Ren followed Ann and Ryuji over to the studio wall. He could see in their posture how much the talk had bothered them.

"I almost feel like he may have right… Should we really be doing this?" As Ren expected, Ann's voice was conflicted.

"F that guy!" Ryuji growled. "He's just some hotshot that has no clue! Gah, I need to take a leak, wait here for me!"

"Gross… I'll be moving on. Later…"

Sighing, Ren shook his head at his two friends. It was partly evidence of how well the detective talked that he had shaken their resolve so easily. However, it also proved to Ren that although they talked big, they still didn't fully believe in what they were doing.

"Going to have to remind them," Morgana muttered from the bag.

Ren didn't have time for a reply before a different voice called out to him. Turning around, Ren found the detective from before striding towards him as if they were best friends.

"That conversation was very intriguing! To paraphrase Hegel, advancement cannot happen without both thesis and antithesis."

"…Sure." As soon as he made the nonintelligent reply, Ren regretted it. The opening had set the tone of their interaction. With the detective as the teacher and Ren the pupil.

"Ah, please forgive me. What I mean is that I found our conversation enlightening. It is rare to meet someone who will speak so bluntly to me."

Ren struggled to bite his tongue. He understood that the first time. "Same to you. You mentioned some good points."

"As did you," the detective conceded with a slight smile. It seemed a bit more genuine than the one he had given onstage. "Akechi Goro."

Looking at the outstretched hand, Ren paused for only a moment before taking it. "Amamiya Ren."

"I would enjoy if we could exchange phone numbers Ren. I believe I could learn much from talking with you."

"…Likewise, Goro." Ren answered instantly. He felt like he understood Igor's command to form bonds in this instant. This was truly a man that Ren could learn something from. It would be risky, but Ren felt like it would be necessary. Constantly having his ideals challenged would make him stronger in the end.

The detective only smirked at Ren's casual use of his first name. "Here."

With a quick, electronic exchange of contacts, the detective left. Following him with his eyes, Ren wasn't surprised by Morgana's words.

"Be careful with that one. He's dangerous."