There was some much needed rest after the day the group had. A few hours of sleep was all they needed to be back in normal shape. "Ahhhh." Futaba let out a content sigh. "I slept like a comatose rock."
"I don't think I've ever needed sleep as much as I did for that." Sumire said while taking a seat at the table next to the RV. She felt refreshed.
Spotting the group, Mika quickly strolled over to Hifumi. "Hifumi-chan, there you are! You will not BELIEVE the dream I had last night!"
"Wasn't a dream." Morgana spoke up. He was waiting for this moment and was not going to waste it.
And the instant the cat spoke up, Mika deflated. She was a little hopeful that horrifying experience was all one nightmare, but of course it wasn't. "...Of course not. The cat would ruin it for me."
"Sorry." Hifumi said with a bashful smile.
"...I wish my crow was here. He'd enjoy pecking at an annoying cat." Mika huffed.
"A-A crow!?" Morgana was shocked Mika would sic a bird on her. "I'm not just an annoying cat! I am a graceful Phantom Thief! I wouldn't lose so easily to some featherbrained creature!"
"...It is too early for me to start arguing with a cat." Mika groaned.
"Is there ever a right time to argue with a cat?" Sumire asked.
"Just ask Ryuji." Ren said with a small laugh. He wasn't wrong.
Mika just decided to take a seat nearby, next to Hifumi. "What a nightmare that place was. You fight those horrifying creatures all the time?"
"Yes. I am sorry you had to endure that. I never wanted to drag you into that kind of place." Hifumi frowned.
"It's...okay." Mika shook her head and sighed. She was a little shaken but she could get over it. "I heard a lot of alarms going off to. That was so you, wasn't it?" She pointed at Ann.
"What!? I'm a good Phantom Thief!" Ann said defensively. "I would never set off so many alarms! ...On purpose."
"Yeah! Lady Ann is skilled at what she does!" Morgana huffed.
"Why are you coming to her defense so quickly?" Mika quirked a brow. "Don't tell me you're trying to be her knight in shining armor or whatever. That's so corny. Also, you're a CAT. You're not getting any points there."
"This cat has CLAWS, you know!" Morgana hissed. Hifumi and Ann quickly had to try and pull these two away from one another before a catfight ensued.
"Okay, okay...I think that's enough of that..." Makoto said with a sweat drop.
"She's a very lively person, isn't she?" Haru looked at Hifumi. This was her friend after all.
"That's...not incorrect." Hifumi said with a sheepish smile.
"I still cannot help but think I've seen her somewhere before..." Yusuke thought to himself.
"Man..." Ryuji was still stuck thinking about the Jail. There were too many things about it that stood out to him. "Nothin' in that Jail was makin' sense to me."
"The only thing we know for certain is that the Director was threatened." Akechi remarked, leaning back against the RV. Mika had visible question marks above her head at the topic, but she also decided she wasn't going to question it too much.
"Yo, get some rest?" Zenkichi approached the group now that they were out and about.
"How are the locals behaving?" Makoto asked.
"No worries." Zenkichi replied. "Seems they all came to their senses. Seems like it's all back to good times here. Although, they all seemed to have some pretty bad memory loss regarding the last few months."
"So, if we didn't find a Monarch here, why'd the locals treat the lab like that?" Ann asked. "Why'd they attack us?"
"The lab's experiments might have something to do with that." Morgana said.
"..." Zenkichi was about to say something, but he glanced at Mika. "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to ask your friend to step away for a bit. This is classified case stuff we're about to talk about here."
"Oh, so now you wanna pull rank." Mika sighed. So much for being nosy. "Fine, fine." So she stood up and walked off. But not too far. Mika was nosy and ended up circling around a bit later behind the RV just to listen. She felt too involved in this after last night to just be left in the dark for the remainder of it.
"Alright." With Mika presumably gone, he thought, now was the time to bring up what he found. "Speaking of the Monarch - a body surfaced fitting his description. I stumbled upon it myself. It was found at the base of a cliff near the lab." And that confirmed the fate of Shuzo Ubukata. "Name: Shuzo Ubukata. Some sort of big shot AI researcher - and director of the lab. Obviously an autopsy's gonna be done, but based on what you guys reported, it's likely a suicide."
"It can't be..." Haru hated to hear about that.
"As I suspected." Akechi said calmly. "Everything within the Jail pointed to the Monarch taking his own life. Not even the Shadows were speaking about him. It was truly an empty Jail."
"Another life ruined by whoever's masterminded this whole thing." Ann grumbled angrily. Alice, Natsume, and Mariko. All of them were good people who were ruined in some capacity by this situation.
"Taking a dive to avoid Jail experimentation? Seems likely." Zenkichi replied. "Quite some time has passed since his death, but he had some personal effects on him. I'll make sure they go with him when the coroner..."
"Uh, dude..." Ryuji muttered.
"Hm?" Zenkichi glanced over.
"You're, uh...being pretty chill about this heavy shit." Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck.
"Oh..." Zenkichi realized it now. The mood got pretty low after the report of the suicide. He went into autopilot, forgetting that he was reporting to a group of teenagers and not colleagues. The only one who was taking this information as normally as he was happened to be Akechi. Although, when he thought about that, he wasn't sure what that said about either of them. "It is my line of work, after all. Anyway, I found the key to the facility on him. We can get inside now."
"But, are you sure that's alright to do so?" Makoto questioned. "You're the one who pointed out how any illegally obtained evidence is useless in court."
"It's different now." Akechi spoke up. "There's a body in play. I'm certain that's all the evidence needed to start rummaging through the building now."
"That's right." Zenkichi nodded. "It's prime investigation territory. No problem at all going in there. But the problem now is that...there's a chance nothing's left."
"Huh? Why's that?" Futaba tilted her head.
"The locals told me about a bunch of trucks going up to the lab and outta there a while ago." Zenkichi replied. "It's pretty likely the scene's been wiped clean."
"We still have to take a look for ourselves. There's always a chance something's been left behind." Yusuke said. He wasn't wrong.
"Yeah! Let's go bust this Mastermind's ass!" Ryuji exclaimed.
"I hope we can find something..." Ren didn't like their odds, but he had to trust they would be able to scrape something together. They all went off towards the lab, but Zenkichi lingered behind.
"Pretty chill, huh?" He muttered, thinking back on Ryuji's words. "I wonder when that happened..."
.
.
With access to the lab, the group immediately proceeded to rummage around the building in search of any kind of information to help their case. As expected, it really did look like it was cleared out. "Hey, anyone find anything yet?" Morgana called out to everyone else, hoping for some kind of an answer.
"Nothin'." Ryuji shook his head. "And I mean, literally nothin'. It's like this place didn't know shit about the Jails."
"I haven't found anything at all." Sumire shook her head. She had a few papers in her hands and rummaged through them, but was unable to find anything relevant to what they were searching for. "
"All I've found are very roundabout reports. We may have been too late coming here." Makoto said with a sigh of her own.
"It would be a shame if we came all this way here for nothing..." Hifumi frowned. But that's exactly why she didn't want to stop looking. They had to find something. They had to! They were so close...!
"I know it's too late to ask, but aren't people supposed to preserve the crime scene?" Haru asked. They were rummaging through a little too carelessly and she wanted to know if this was even okay.
"We just so happened to find out it was a crime scene after pokin' around." Zenkichi replied. Considering that was the answer he was going to give, everyone's expressions staled considerably.
"...Seriously?" Akechi pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Said Makoto, the up and coming officer.
"Ah ha! I've secured the Treasure!" Futaba was scurrying over from one of the other rooms. "There was a USB drive in the Director's office!"
"Wait, seriously!?" Hifumi's eyes widened.
"Hell yeah, Futaba! I can't believe something like that was left behind!" Ryuji was grinning, though.
"Right? That seems like the FIRST thing they'd want to get rid of!" Ann was just as surprised, but she absolutely wasn't going to complain about it.
"Ah, but it very well may could be the MOST important evidence!" Futaba said with an excited nod, "It was hidden in the director's desk drawer!"
"You really did find the Treasure here! Well done." Yusuke was excited for this find.
"What a discovery...I cannot believe we got so lucky." It was a stroke of luck, Hifumi thought.
"Well, it was also Sophia's idea." Futba admitted. She couldn't take all the credit for it.
"I searched the internet for the top ten places people hide things in the workplace." Sophia said, simply.
"You've got quite a nose. Well done." Ren said with a slight smile.
"Praise accepted!" Sophia said while humming her usual little tune.
"I can only imagine the state this lab must have been in if something that vital was left behind." Akechi thought as Futaba began to set her laptop up. "Or perhaps the director wanted to spite the mastermind by hiding this away? I suppose there's no point thinking about it now."
"Whatever case, this was a really lucky find." Haru clasped her hands together.
"You in yet, Sakura?" Zenkichi asked. Sure, Futaba had only just begun, but he learned quickly that she was pretty fast when it came to this stuff.
"Just a sec. It's password protected, but nothin' the mighty Oracle can't handle!" Futaba said smugly.
"You can do this, Oracle-senpai!" Sumire cheered.
"We're not actually in the Metaverse..." Ryuji responded to Sumire's enthusiasm with an exaggerated sigh.
"Welp, there it is!" Futaba grinned and sat back so the others could look at the results.
Yusuke leaned over Futaba's shoulder, his eyes quickly glancing over what he saw. "This is...a list of some sort? Apparently this drive holes nothing but people's names."
"Is it a list of the people workin' here...?" Ryuji asked.
"No." Akechi shook his head. A quick glance of these names and he found that he recognized them. "I do not think these people would be working here."
"This is a list of name of famous or otherwise powerful people in all sorts of industries." Makoto's eyes went wide at this information.
"Rich and famous people?" Ann tilted her head. "So, is it like, a list of sponsors or something?"
"...I swear, I've seen these names somewhere before." Hifumi furrowed her brows. She just couldn't place her finger on it.
Zenkichi decided to take a look at the list. "Let's see...Yoshikawa...he confessed to document tampering just last week."
"Wait a minute." Akechi was now looking at another name on the list. "This other one is the name of a Sapporo Central councilman who confessed to bribery just last month."
"Wait..." Haru's eyes went wide. "The person who had his heart changed by Mari-san? That means, this list is..."
"Targets of a change of heart." When Ren said those words, the room in the air went heavy.
"That's it. this is a list of people whose hearts the mastermind wanted to change." Morgana said.
"But why so many powerful figures? What exactly is being accomplished here?" Haru asked.
"And the question is...who benefits the most from all of this?" Akechi continued Haru's line of questioning.
"That's still a mystery." Zenkichi said. "But I'm gonna need that USB for a little bit."
"How are you going to use it, Zenkichi-san?" Sumire asked.
"I'm gonna snoop around the whole roster, from the bottom of the ladder on up." Zenkichi explained. "Going from Akechi's question, we'd love to find out who benefits the most from this list. It'll take time, but I swear I'll do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of this."
"That kinda swearing may be good and all, but you should probably go home to Akane every so often too." Futaba pointed out. They weren't going to let Zenkichi let work take away time from his daughter like he had been doing.
"Hrgh...I was...gonna..." Zenkichi recoiled. It's not like he wasn't thinking about it, but being called out like that did have him a little off guard.
"At any rate, you've helped us a great deal, now." Yusuke gave Zenkichi an appreciative nod.
"Yes, you let us sleep in your house, and you helped us stay safe when we were nearly attacked." Sumire gave Zenkichi a wide, cute smile. "Thank you so much!"
"Nice work, Zenkichi!" Ann beamed.
"Seems like he's fittin' in better too! Whaddya say, feelin' like a Phantom Thief now?" Ryuji asked with a teasing smile.
Zenkichi just shook his head and scoffed. "Why would I want to from Public Security to national fugitive?"
"..." Akechi crossed his arms and said nothing. He was the only one who overheard Zenkichi's conversation with his supervisor earlier. So he couldn't help but be skeptical about the idea of Zenkichi fitting in with the group. Akechi knew he didn't fit in. Zenkichi didn't fit in either. Especially when the threat of a knife in their back was everpresent.
"Anyway, I'm heading back to HQ - what are you kid's gonna do?" Zenkichi asked.
"Hrm...I don't think there is much we can do until you obtain some information." Hifumi tapped her chin.
"So should we go back with him to Kyoto for now?" Ann suggested.
"Do we really have to? That boat made me so sick last time..." Ryuji groaned.
"Why not go to Kyushu instead?" Haru suggested. "Our boat trip won't be so long if we do that. Plus we can scout the area for Jails!"
"Next stop: Hakata Pork Ramen!" Ren said.
"Indeed, we cannot sample their specialty ramen soon enough." Yusuke nodded immediately at the mention of food. "We must remember to try the stewed organ hot pot as well."
"Seriously man, what is it with you and hotpot?" Ryuji asked with a deadpan tone. Ryuji lost count of how many times Yusuke mentioned hot pot over the course of this trip.
"I wish I could answer that question for you. I would like to know as well." Hifumi shook her head.
"Kyushu, huh? Alright. I'll keep after whoever's at the bottom of that list and find out whoever's behind this." Zenkichi said with a firm nod.
"I've checked the ferry schedule. We have about one hour until the next ship leaves." Sophia told everyone.
"Time to get ready and pack up!" Futaba nodded. Just one more hour on the beautiful shores of Okinawa...
.
.
With one hour left to kill until it was time to depart, everyone decided to take one last look around the island. Ann and Hifumi were taking a quick lock along the shoreline together, hand in hand. "It is a bit of a shame we didn't have more time to ourselves." Hifumi said while taking a quick glance at Ann. "I would've really liked taking a night stroll with you along the beach."
"Ugh, I know...that would've been so nice." Ann said with a giggle. But it was a missed opportunity since they were nearly ambushed in the dead of night. "But I'm glad we get this time together."
"Me too. I have fond memories of the beach." Hifumi also giggled. "Back in Hawaii, I'm fairly positive it was that moment we shared where I started to fall for you, hehe..."
"No way, same." Ann squeezed Hifumi's hand. "Did you ever think you'd be going cross country when we first me?"
"I honestly never expected to leave Shibuya." Hifumi replied with a sheepish smile. It was a nice reminder that Ann had a huge impact on her life. "I'm happy that I can experience things like this with you, Ann."
"Hehe, me too, Fumi. Really." Ann smiled, leaning into give Hifumi a quick kiss. It hardly felt like they had the chance to be affectionate with one another over the course of this trip. So this moment, though brief, was extremely welcome. They continued this little walk along the shoreline for a few minutes until Hifumi's phone buzzed.
"Hm? Oh...It' Mika." Hifumi blinked. "...She texted that she wants to talk to me...and you?"
"Wow, she actually wants me there?" Ann blinked. She was pretty surprised. "I guess we should see what she wants..."
.
.
Mika was sitting on a beach chair, one leg crossed over the other with some kind of pen and notepad in hand. She was...drawing something. But her expression twisted into something that was displeased. "Ugh. Why did I even try..."
"Mika?" Hifumi called out to her.
"...!" Mika wasn't expecting Hifumi so quickly. So she jumped and tore off the page of the notepad she was drawing in. "Ahem! Hifumi-chan! Ann." The difference between the way she said their names was night and day.
"What did you want, Mika?" Ann asked. "We don't really have a lot of time before we leave, so..."
"I'll make it quick." Mika stood up from her seat. "How do I get those outfits you have?"
"Huh?" Ann and Hifumi said at the same time.
"You heard me! I want those outfits. Maybe those weapons too." Mika repeated herself. The statement had both Ann and Hifumi pretty stunned.
"You don't...want to become a Phantom Thief or something, do you?" Ann asked with a sweat drop.
"I can't you outdo me!" Mika huffed. "I thought I was doing so much more than you all this time, and yet you've been secretly Thieving around!"
"It was pretty hard to stay quiet about it when you kept bragging about all the things you do." Ann admitted, but at the same time she wasn't exactly being humble about it either. Mika was outwardly admitting her jealously of her? Oh, of course she had to eat this up.
"You could at least try and be a little modest about it." Hifumi said while scratching her cheek. "But, erm...it's far from simple, Mika..."
"I thought a catsuit would be alright, but I didn't know Ann was the one wearing it." Mika looked Ann over. "Although I'm pretty sure I could pull it off better than Cougar over there."
"What!?" Ann narrowed her eyes. "I said not to call me that...!"
"So, I was thinking maybe a snake, or something..." Mika went on, ignoring Ann.
"...Yeah, that fits. You are one, after all." Ann snapped back. Mika narrowed her eyes and Hifumi had to stand between them.
"Listen, Mika...it isn't as simple as that." Hifumi said calmly. "It's hard to explain, but getting those powers we have aren't easy to come back."
"Yeah, you have to have a strong sense of rebellion." Ann said. "I got mine after being pushed to my limit by that bastard Kamoshida back in Shujin. Everyone else had their fair share of troubles to overcome too. You're better at causing trouble over dealing with it..."
"Wh-! I can rebel!" Mika gasped, offended by Ann's words. "Take me back into that weird world and I can show you! Er, wait, no...not that lab, though. That place is just too freaky."
All three of them could agree to that. Hifumi rubbed her arm. "Well, we can technically access Shibuya Jail and...wait, no! That's too dangerous either way. You don't have a Persona and I don't want to expose you to that kind of danger, even if I would protect you with all my might."
"Just leave it to the experts." Ann smiled. She definitely was enjoying this maybe a little too much. It was rare that Mika got so flustered from jealously. She had to take it while it lasted. "Oh, Fumi! It's almost time!"
"Oh! I'll see you later, Mika! We're going back to Kyoto via Kyushu!" Hifumi gave Mika a smile before she and Ann hurried off.
"..." Mika furrowed her brows as the two of them went off. "I can do it." She said while looking at the paper she had been drawing on. She drew Hifumi in her Dragon attire.
.
.
On the beach itself, the others were making use of their time before the ferry arrived very wisely. Makoto was holding a stick while staring down at a watermelon she bought. "So...the art of watermelon crushing..."
"You can do it, Mako-chan!" Haru cheered.
"That watermelon is sooo gonna get destroyed!" Futaba clenched her hands into fists, excitingly awaiting the destructive outcome.
"Are we sure we're standin' far enough?" Ryuji asked.
"Crush it! Crush it!" Ren and Futaba started cheering. They were eager to see this outcome.
"Okay. Here I go." Makoto said while raising the stick high. "HAAAAAH!" Everyone watched as she brought it down with all her might! The stick crushed the watermelon instantly, causing chunks to fly out in all directions. It was a very satisfying moment for everyone involved.
"Woo! You showed that melon who's boss!" Futaba cheered.
"That was amazing, Mako-chan!" Haru clasped her hands together.
"That felt...really fun!" Makoto was smiling while still holding the stick. "Maybe I should get another one."
"...We do only have 20 minutes before it's time." Akechi was watching from the sidelines. It's not like he could do anything until it was time to leave, but he wasn't sure why he thought watching the group smash a watermelon was even a decent idea.
"That is more than enough time." Yusuke had his sketching pad out, proceeding to draw.
"What are you drawing, Yusuke-senpai?" Sumire tilted her head.
"While we were in the depths of the Jail, the Shissa inspired me." Yusuke explained. "I was unable to make use of this inspiration until just now, however!"
"So you're sayin' while we were fightin' for our lives, you were fightin' the urge not to draw?" Ryuji asked with a deadpan.
"It was extremely difficult withholding the urge." Yusuke admitted. "Btu the Shissa statute is an important aspect of Okinawan culture as well, so I couldn't help the burning desire to draw it!"
"That's Yusuke for you." Morgana shook his head. He really didn't expect anything else. At least the group was able to milk some last minute enjoyment before they left Okinawa. They were still on vacation, and they earned it after the scare the previous night gave them.
.
.
Zenkichi was on the boat ahead of them. He contacted Kaburagi to report his findings. "I've just boarded the ferry back to the mainland. I'll lose signal soon, so this'll have to be brief."
"Well done." Kaburagi said. "I've read reports from the local precinct - so now there's a body in play, is there? And what of the research facility?"
"While there, I found a list of indiviuals who are believed to be victims of changes of heart." Zenkichi said.
"Why's that? Explain." Kaburagi demanded.
"Of course." Zenkichi nodded. "Not only was the document tampering vice-minister on there, but both of the Sapporo Central councilmen, too."
"So their hearts were changed by Madicce..." Kaburagi surmised.
"Most likely. At the very least, Madicce is benefitting from whoever has the power to change hearts. If we keep dugging into people from the list and their connections to Madicce, the mystery oughta solve itself." Zenkichi said confidently. Now that they were finally making progress, he felt much better about the way things were panning out. "I'll bring everything I have to HQ once I'm ashore. I also plan to send it all to the local precinct back on the island."
"Well done, Hasegawa. You've brought us that much closer to solving the case." Kaburagi had to give the praise where it was due.
"Thank you, Commissioner. It sure is a good thing we didn't bust the Phantom Thieves. Thanks to their help, we might actually be able to blow this case wide open." Zenkichi might have been getting ahead of himself, but there was a part of him that really, really didn't want to bust those kids. They were good kids, even if naïve.
"You seem pleased."
"Oh, uh...well...it's just..."
"Leave it." One could hear Kaburagi shaking her head. "From now on, get ready for things to kick into high gear at a moment's notice. And keep your eyes open. At this point, there's no telling between friend or foe."
"I understand." Zenkichi nodded. "I'll let you know when I've arrived." With that, he hung up. But after he ended the conversation, he let out a heavy sigh. For some reason, he felt like the Phantom Thieves weren't out of the woods just yet. "Keep my eyes open..." He repeated to himself. He was aware of that, but the question was becoming...what would he be looking out for first...?