Chapter 51: Way of the Hermit

November 7

"Aw yeah! All we gotta do now is send the calling card!" Ryuji cheered as the gang met up at the hideout the next day. "So, when do ya wanna send it? The earlier the better, right?"

"Actually, Akechi and I were talking about it, and we think it would be best to wait right before the time limit," Octavia said.

"May I ask your reasoning behind that idea?" Makoto questioned.

"Sae-san is a realist. Even if she believes the Phantom Thieves exist, do you think she knows how they steal hearts?" Akechi said. "Furthermore, there is a chance that she expects that she herself will be targeted."

"Especially with Striker hovering around her," Octavia added.

"So because her heart is ready for any possibility, the calling card might not have enough effect?" Haru said.

"Theoretically, yes. But it also gives us time to plan on how to deal with Striker," Octavia nodded.

"Ah, I see. Just like how we cornered Akechi during Okumura's Palace," Loona said in understanding. "Sounds good to me."

"If we do so with no time to spare, I assume even Sae-san would have to be somewhat agitated," Akechi said with a smirk.

"Ensuring the Treasure actually appears… That sounds quite logical," Makoto nodded. "Impressive, Akechi-kun… Though it is a bit vexing that you know more about my sister than I do."

Akechi laughed. "That's only because of my work as a detective. Well then, if our time limit is November Twentieth, and we act the day after sending the calling card… Shall we send it out on the Eighteenth?"

"We should prepare as much as we can before then," Morgana said seriously. "Well, I can't complain about having more time. Make sure you're ready, everyone!"

"Futaba, Octavia, Morgana, Akechi. Do you think you think you can come up with a plan to get around Striker?" Ren asked.

Futaba gave a chuckle. "Oh yeah, we're gonna make that cowboy eat his own hat!"

"Some justice will be served against him, yes," Akechi nodded.

"We'll do our best, Ren," Octavia nodded.

[***]

"I'm here, I'm here!" Octavia shouted, catching her breath as she arrived at the train station alongside Morgana. Akechi and Ren looked over at the princess and cat in confusion. "Uh… is everything okay here?"

"We're just fine, thank you very much," Akechi replied crossing his arms.

"Oh, okay then… Morgana said you two went into Mementos alone and wanted me to make sure neither of you were hurt," Octavia explained.

"Mostly for Ren's sake," Morgana added.

"I'm fine, Morgana. In fact, I won in our little duel," Ren said with some sass in his voice.

Akechi rolled his eyes. "Once again, I've learned something new about you today. As allies fighting alongside one another, your strength is truly reassuring. In all honesty, it's to the point that I'd be relying on you in a pinch."

"I'd say the same for you," Ren replied. "When you said you wouldn't hold back, you really meant it. Even without the Black Mask powers, you gave me a good fight."

"Is that so? Well, that would please me greatly," Akechi said. "I'm sorry I asked you to indulge me, but I do feel a bit better now."

'Looks like their bond has grown deeper…' Octavia thought with a smile.

"By the way, about hat duel- if we had fought to the end, do you see yourself winning?" Akechi asked.

"I definitely wouldn't lose," Ren said confidently.

"I had a feeling you'd say that," Akechi nodded. "I'm going to be entirely honest with you: I hate you. Your deft handling of your unfortunate circumstances, your uniqueness, your ability to surpass me- all these irritate me… You're the one person I refuse to lose to."

"Same here," Ren said.

Akechi looked at him with shock. "You really are- No, never mind. I'll let you have this win today- but next time, I will be victorious. Let this be my proof." He took off one of his gloves and tossed it at Ren, the Phantom Thief leader catching it with quick reflexes. "There's a tradition in the West to throw one's glove at their opponent when demanding a duel. Should the opponent accept the glove, the duel is also accepted."

"…I accept," Ren said, pocketing the glove.

"Make certain that you never forget: I am the one who will defeat you," Akechi said with certainty. "Not Striker, not the entity that put us on opposite sides of this game. You are the one that I declare as my rival… and equal."

"Akechi…" Octavia gasped.

"Hm… The kindship between these two is strong," Morgana admitted. "I don't think either of them will back down when they duel again."

"Ah, look at the time. Let's call it a day for now," Akechi said.

"Akechi!" Ren called as the detective walked away. "I promise to never forget. I make due on all the vows I take."

"…Heh, the half-demon making good on his word. What a novel premise," Akechi chuckled before walking off.

[***]

November 9

Futaba: What are you gonna do today? I'm waiting at Leblanc. Keep me posted.

With time to do other things until they had to send the calling card, Ren and Loona decided to focus on helping out Futaba with her promise list. "The next promise on this list is… "Go to school." Right," the redhead said. "Pretty hard stuff for a second boss… It's gonna be even harder knowing there are people there too…"

"Welp, ain't no time like that present! Come on, let's go!" Loona said, putting an arm around Futaba's shoulder.

"You're going to school!?" Sojiro exclaimed. "Oh, um… Never mind. Just go have some fun." With that the teen trio was off to Shujin, Futaba already looking nervous as they stepped into the building.

"Here we are… School…" Futaba whispered.

"We're you here a few weeks ago for the school festival?" Loona raised an eyebrow.

"That was different! I had all of you guys here and it was an event! This… is a whole different level…" Futaba replied. "I think my heart's gonna pop out of my chest…"

It was then that Makoto passed by, looking shocked as she spotted Futaba with Ren and Loona. "Wh-What are you doing here!?"

"Um, well…" Futaba mumbled.

"Here, let's explain this somewhere else," Ren voiced. The four of them went to a different part of the school and explained everything about Futaba's goals to Makoto.

"I see. A promise list, like what you used to make with your mother…" the student council president nodded. "Well, do you want to come in?"

"Um… Can I use Goho-M instead?" Futaba asked.

"Not in the Metaverse, kid," Loona chuckled.

"Let's do this together," Ren offered.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Futaba smiled.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Most of the students have already left, and all the teachers are in a meeting," Makoto assured her. "Oh, and I'll join you. I can use my position as student council president to avoid any problems that may arise."

"You're incredible!" Futaba praised. "If I've got you three with me, this place is gonna be as easy as fighting a trash mob!"

Makoto tilted her head in confusion. "…I'm not sure I understand. That's a good thing, right? Anyway, come on. I'll show you around the school." First, they went to the cafeteria. "This is the cafeteria, where some students choose to eat lunch."

"Lunch…" Futaba repeated. "That reminds me of this time I was the only kid who didn't get a pudding with my meal… Oh, and this other time I ate a strawberry with ketchup on it… I didn't notice cause they're both red. It was really gross…"

"Oh boy…" Loona sighed. "Uh, anyway… the cafeteria's pretty boring, huh? Let's go check some other place out!"

The quartet moved to the library next. "This is the school library. We have all the regular academic fare here: textbooks, encyclopedias, study guides…" Makoto introduced. "But we also have a few manga and light novels at the request of some especially vocal students."

"So many books…" Futaba said in awe.

"Do you like to read, Futaba?" Makoto asked.

Futaba nodded. "Back in elementary school, I memorized the titles of all the books on a shelf in just one glance. The other kids thought I was making it up when I told then though. But then when I recited all the titles to prove it… they just laughed and called me a freak… Am I weird, Ren?"

"I bet they were just surprised," Ren replied.

"…No. They were really creeped out," Futaba sighed. "Ugh… School is the worst…"

"Amen to that, sister," Loona chuckled.

"W-Well, should we move along?" Makoto suggested. "Only the classrooms remain… though on second thought, maybe we should pass on those today… Shall we head back to the entrance?" The group moved back to the front of the school, Makoto giving a bow of apology. "I'm sorry, Futaba."

"Don't be. It's my fault… I remembered all that sad stuff on my own…" Futaba said. "I guess dwelling on the past is just a bad habit of mine, huh?"

"I think it's cute," Ren said.

"Huh? Wh-What kinda weird fetish stuff are you into, Ren!?" Futaba shouted.

"Seriously dude, why would you say that?" Loona raised an eyebrow.

"Honestly, Futaba… it's clear how much you've improved recently," Makoto said. "You would never have gotten so worried about this before."

"Huh?" Futaba gasped.

"What I mean is, worrying about something is the first step toward changing it," Makoto clarified. "Coming to school like this is a huge breakthrough, Futaba. You're doing great… Right, Ren-kun?"

"That's right," Ren nodded.

"Wait, so you're happy with me even though I got totally depressed?" Futaba questioned. "Hm… Is this like that saying about when life gives you lemons?" Maybe I could make lemonade for the Phantom Thieves! Er, figuratively speaking."

"I prefer the one about making life take the damn lemons back, but sure, go for it," Loona smiled.

"That would be wonderful," Makoto nodded.

"Aw yeah!" Futaba cheered.

"I'm sure you would make a lot of friends if you decided to come to school now, Futaba," Makoto said.

"Friends…" Futaba looked down.

"Woah, that was mood swing. You okay?" Loona asked with concern.

"Oh, uh… Nothing!" Futaba said, looking up quickly.

"Well then, it's time for me to head home," Makoto said.

"See you around," Ren replied as she walked off.

"All right! I went back to school, so that means promise number two is all done!" Futaba cheered.

"Mission accomplished," Ren and Loona said together, before pointing at each other. "Jinx!"

Futaba laughed at their antics. "Anyways, let's retreat for now. What're you feeling for dinner? How about curry? Time to make like a rabbit and hop out of here!"

[***]

November 10

"So, what's next on the promise list?" Loona asked as she, Ren, and Futaba gathered in Leblanc the next day.

"Learn about my generation," Futaba replied. "Wait, I think I can do the next one too! "Have a normal conversation with a stranger my age"! Hm, where can I find lots of young people?"

"I think I know some people that'd be willing to help out," Ren mused.

"Welp, ain't no time like the present! Come on, let's go!" Futaba cheered.

"Wow, you guys have actually started getting pretty close," Sojiro said. "Not like that's a bad thing though. Anyway, be careful out there."

"You got it, Boss," Loona said as they left. Ren took the two girls to the café, ordering some waters after he made a call.

"So we've arrived at the diner… I've heard all about the unlimited fountain drinks at these places…" Futaba said, fidgeting in her seat. "Well…? Where are they? I don't see 'em anywhere!"

"Amamiya?" a voice said with surprise, making the group look over to see Mishima approaching. "Oh crap, and you're with two girls?"

"Is this a friend of yours?" Futaba whispered.

"Friend might be a bit much," Loona replied.

"He's in my class," Ren added.

"Hm. How 'bout I ask him to help with my promise?" Futaba suggested.

"What promise?" Mishima asked.

"W-Well…" Futaba stuttered.

"She's working on becoming more social, so she made a promise to have a conversation with people her age," Loona explained.

"…You just want to have a regular old conversation?" Mishima questioned. "So, wait. You're saying that you, a girl… want to talk to… me?"

"Don't get it twisted, dude," Loona growled, putting a protective arm around Futaba. "This is for her sake, not yours."

"I see. In that case, I guess I don't have a choice. Nope, none whatsoever," Mishima said. "I'll just have to help you out."

"Oh, you're so nice!" Futaba complimented. "My name's Futaba Sakura, and don't you forget it!"

"U-Uh, okay… I'm Yuuki Mishima, but everyone just calls me Mishima…" Mishima introduced himself.

Futaba chuckled. "It seems like help always comes my way when I need it most. Maybe my luck stat's really high."

"I think you're right," Ren nodded.

"Heck yeah! I could prolly roll a natural twenty right now if you asked me to!" Futaba cheered.

Mishima was soon seated next to Ren, across from Futaba and Loona. "…So you want to learn more about our generation? I doubt it'll be easy to explain…"

"You… The unknown frontier…" Futaba muttered.

"Hm, maybe I should try talking about my hobbies…" Mishima said. "Do you like computers?"

"Mm, I'm always online," Futaba nodded.

"Me too!" Mishima smiled. "What sites do you use? I usually keep to forums myself… Or are you more into streaming? I'd gladly subscribe to your channel. W-W-Wait, do you by chance rune one of those… racy channels? You'd need to be super courageous to do that, though it certainly wouldn't be unwelcome… Kek."

"Whoa, that's the first time I've heard anyone actually say that out loud… Kek!" Futaba said in awe.

"H-Huh? That's all you took from that conversation?" Mishima gasped.

"Ah, I've got it!" Futaba suddenly realized. "This overwhelmingly forgettable appearance, generic speech style, and total lack of sex appeal… Nishima… Are you an NPC?"

That response made Loona spit out her drink as she laughed, while Mishima went red in the face from embarrassment. "He's the protagonist," Ren said quickly to try and save face.

"Really?" Futaba looked at him in surprise. "Huh, I guess you can't judge a book my its cover… Anyway, I'm glad you spawned here! I killed two promises with one Nishima today! "Learn about my generation" and "have a normal conversation with a stranger my age"! Aw yeah! I think I gained a ton of EXP on this adventure. And it's all 'cause you brought me here, Ren. Thanks!"

'Heh, her joy is practically radiating off of her…' Loona said. If she was in her hellhound form her tail would be wagging from the happiness she felt looking at Futaba. 'Huh… this feeling… I've never felt it before… It's like happiness for someone else but… different…'

"S-So, um… Futaba-chan. It's okay if I call you that, right?" Mishima said. "I'm a little embarrassed, hahaha… Anyway, uh… what are you doing after this?"

"She's going home," Loona said, getting protective once again.

"O-Oh… Right…" Mishima said, intimidated by Loona's glare.

"Come on Ren, Loona! We're off!" Futaba declared as they went back home for the night.

[***]

November 11

Haru: What are we doing today? Any plans to meet up? I'll be on the roof for a bit more. Let me know if anything comes up.

Ren: I'm heading your way.

Haru: All right. Collin-kun is here as well. We'll be waiting.

"My apologies," Haru gasped as she almost ran into Ren with a potted plant as he came up to the roof. "We're quite busy taking care of the planters. It takes some time for someone as clumsy as myself…"

"Then allow me to help out," Ren offered, taking the potted plant into his arms.

"Well, if you insist," Haru replied. The trio soon got to work on taking care of the little garden together. "Wow, Ren-kun! You're quite skilled! The soil here would be so healthy if you were here more often."

"Yes, human hands working together does much more for these plants than any minor blessings I can give," Collin nodded. "I can maintain plants but showing them love and care is what really lets them grow big and strong."

"Honestly… I'm surprised that my gardening can be of use to our work as Phantom Thieves," Haru admitted. "This started as just a hobby, so it's amazing to see it transform into a more practical skill. Beyond this, I've actually begun raising plants of my own at home… Coffee beans."

"Are you opening a café?" Ren asked.

Haru giggled. "Would you come if I was? I mean, doesn't the idea of a boutique café sound lovely?"

"It sure does," Collin smiled.

"Anyway, I recently discovered the joy in the taste and aroma of coffee. I used to think it was purely bitter, but now I understand the depth of its flavor…" Haru continued. "To tell you the truth… I wasn't even able to drink it before…"

"Why's that?" Ren asked.

Haru shook her head. "Ah, pardon me. I was just thinking back on the past… Um… can I share with you again?" Ren and Collin nodded. "As I mentioned before… I cannot bring myself to trust any of the employees at Okumura Foods. For as long as I can remember, the company has been run by my father. Being liked by him was always very important. Some employees would even come to ingratiate themselves to me."

Haru looked down. "…But since his passing, things have gotten unruly. Most evidently, people have started trying to use my influence as majority shareholder to oust other employees. They say they come to me out of respect… but I now they really just want to use me. I've heard so many rumors…

"The worst ones are about Takakura-san, the new president. They say he was thrilled to hear my father passed. There may be truth to that though. He's been with the company for years, but has only started being nice to me recently," Haru explained. "I fear he has an ulterior motive though…"

"Hm… He does sound suspicious…" Collin admitted.

"Yes, I can't help but wonder about him," Haru nodded. "He even went as far as to recommend I sell my shares the other day. He said I could make a fortune… But realized that if I did so, he would be able to strike the Okumura name completely. Takakura-san must be scheming to take the company for himself… At least, it's possible."

"This is a complex issue," Ren noted.

"Indeed it is…" Collin hummed.

"None of the advice I've gotten so far has been helpful either. Everyone only speaks out of their own self-interest…" Haru said. "Thank you for today though. I feel a little better after talking about this with you. Oh, and don't worry. I'll make sure I keep myself motivated, even through these difficult times."

'I can sense Haru's trust in us…' Collin thought.

"I'm going to stay here a little while longer to check the drainage," Haru said. "I need to make sure these vegetables turn out as good as possible for the Phantom Thieves."

"We'll see you later, Haru!" Collin said as he and Ren left school for the day.

[***]

November 12

"Only one thing left on the promise list… "Being okay without you around," Futaba said. "But before that, there's something I wanna show you, Ren, Loona. Come to my room." The trio were soon in Futaba's room, with the girl at her computer with Ren and Loona sat on the bed.

'Huh, that statue… Wepwawet was it? It's back up on the shelf,' Loona idly noticed. '…Weird, but I swear it almost looks like Futaba's hellhound form from Paimon's Palace…'

"This is one of the promise lists I made with my mom…" Futaba said, holding up a sheet of paper and snapping Loona out of her thoughts. "See, everything on here is marked off as being done. But that's kinda… wrong. There was one promise I lied about doing… One promise I never actually finished. It was "get along with Kana-chan."

Futaba squatted on her chair. "This all stated back when I was in elementary school. I used to get bullied pretty hard for how weird I was… The other kids always accused me of cheating because I'd get perfect scores on my tests. Then one time I turned in a test with nothing written down instead… but the school ended up yelling at my mom. My life at school was horrible. Sometimes during recess, I'd lock myself in the bathroom and cry… I didn't have a single friend… I was always alone."

She looked up a bit. "Ben then a girl named Kana transferred to my school… She was absent a lot of the time, then when she was there, the other kids bullied her… like they did to me. But one day, she said something to me "Good morning." She started saying it every day from then on."

"That must have been a shock," Loona said.

"Totally! I mean, literally nobody wanted to talk to me back then," Futaba nodded. "To be honest… I completely ignored her the first few times. I thought the bullies had put her up to it. But without fail, she'd come over to me to say good morning… Then eventually, I decided to say it back. IT felt like my heart was gonna shatter into a million pieces… But apparently, she'd been saying it to me that whole time because she thought we could be friends. She was the first person who didn't mind how weird I was…"

Futaba smiled. "I was so happy about making a friend that I told my mo. That's when she added something to my promise list. "Get along with Kana-chan." B-But… I couldn't do it. One particularly windy morning, Kana-chan dropped her diary and the pages flew everywhere. I didn't really mean to look… but I ended up seeing everything she had written down. And… once I see something I can't forget it…"

Futaba wince. "It was all so horrible… She wrote down how her parents hit her, how they made her take pictures in weird clothes… Kana-chan's diary was full of stories like that… Then when I asked her about it… she got really defensive. I felt terrible, but she just kept yelling at me for reading it…"

"You didn't know any better," Ren said to try and comfort her.

"Yeah… but I couldn't really tell her that…" Futaba sighed. "I just… froze up… And then… I ran. I ran… and ran… I wanted her to stop yelling. I wanted to go back to how things were before… Kana-chan ended up moving away pretty soon after that. I haven't talked to her since. So… I lied to my mom. Even after Kana-chan left, I would tell her we were best friends. Every month, she'd write that promise on my list… and every month, I'd lie about it."

"Futaba…" Loona whispered.

"I…I wish I could apologize to Kana-chan somehow. I really wanna say I'm sorry," Futaba said as she stood up. "Sorry for not helping her, though she was going through even worse stuff than I was… Sorry for reading her diary… Sorry… for running away… I hate being such a coward… But I think I might be able to face my fears now that I'm a promise-settling phantom thief! "Get along with Kana-chan"… I'm gonna do it for real this time!"

"And we'll help you out," Ren said with a smile.

Futaba went flush. "Ah! I didn't mean to tell you all that… N-Not even Sojiro knows… This is so embarrassing! Y-You have to help me now, got it!?"

"Someone's pushy today… but we got your back, Futaba!" Loona chuckled.

"This is another part of our deal!" Futaba declared. "Welp, I'm gonna get on that right now! Time to go look up Kana-chan's deets! Oh, and… sorry I wasn't too hospitable today. That'll have to wait for next time! Now, make like a cheetah and dash outta here!"

"See you next time, Futaba!" Loona said her goodbyes. 'I can relate to both Futaba and Kana… not wanting to burden other people, and regretting not helping in the past… I'll make sure it goes right for both of them!'

[***]

November 13

The next day, Ren and Loona met up with Futaba in her room to learn what she'd found on her old friend. "So I looked up Kana-chan online, and she's apparently still living in the same town in Kansai she moved to. But… she never continued on to high school," Futaba revealed. "I decided to do some digging into why that might be, and… well… The more I dug, the worse it got…"

Futaba got a serious look on her face. "Her parents are in heavy debt due to a gambling addiction. So… instead of sending her to school, they make her work to help try and pay it off… Apparently, they're still having her model in strange clothes. They're even selling the pictures now…"

"We have to put a stop to this," Ren stated firmly.

Loona nodded. "Yeah, I'm not going to sit back while another kid suffers because of shitty adults."

"That's right. They can't just use Kana-chan like some tool!" Futaba said. "Actually though, Kana-chan herself made a request on the Phan-Site. Based on the IP and other tracking data, I'm 99.9% sure it's her. The post was basically just her asking us to make her parents have a change of heart… But she didn't put her name. She might be a little hesitant. Or… she doesn't totally believe in the Phantom Thieves yet. Either way, I have a solution."

Futaba pulled out her phone. "I found her parents' names in the address book we got way back in elementary school. Kouta Magario and Asami Magario. I got a hit for them from the Meta-Nav too… We can fix them. I've decided, Ren, Loona… I wanna go to Mementos and change their hearts. We can't let them keep treating Kana-chan so horribly, right? Please, help me save her!"

"We'll show them the truth," Ren said.

"And give their Shadows what for!" Loona smirked.

"Ren, Loona…! Thanks!" Futaba smiled. "Oh, and since you're gonna help me with this, I'll have to return the favor. Hmhmhm… I'll look extra hard for valuable stuff when we're in the Metaverse! Well? Pretty good, huh!?"

"You don't have to do so much, Futaba. Thieves help fellow thieves," Loona said, ruffing the redhead's hair.

"Loona…" Futaba said, playfully trying to push the older girl's hand away.

'Heh, they're just like real sisters,' Ren chuckled internally.

"H-Hey, what are you smiling about!?" Loona said, staring at Ren.

"Oh, nothing," Ren smirked, making Loona go red in the face and look away.

"Welp, I'll be counting on you! Let's save Kana-chan!" Futaba cheered. "…Oh shoot, it's getting late. Let us adjourn for today! G-Goodnight."

[***]

November 14

Location: Mementos

"Hey, you know how the flu's spreading in the real world right now?" Mona said as they entered Mementos.

"Yeah, there's been an outbreak… I'm sure a lot of people are suffering through it," Panther said.

"I see… Those feelings might have an effect on Mementos…" Mona mused.

"What's this flu gonna do to it?" Skull asked.

"It may have something to do with people's negative emotions…" Mona replied.

"Would you care to elaborate, Mona?" Templar asked.

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure myself. This is a first for me too, so let's go find out with our own eyes," Mona shrugged. As the Phantom Thieves soon found out, flu season caused Shadows within Mementos to suffer from despair, making them much easier to pick off as they explored to fulfill requests. They only had two requests, but they were both important to Joker and Lycan to get done as soon as possible.

"Whoa, it's Tsuda's Shadow," Oracle said as they found their first target.

"Something about this guy tells me he's nuts. I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Skull said.

"He's threatening Iwai, and all because he's getting desperate," Lycan crossed her arms and growled. "If he thinks he can just kill Iwai and his kid, then he's got another thing coming!"

"Yes, we'd better change his heart immediately," Templar nodded.

"It's scary, but we gotta do it!" Panther cheered.

"Hey! Who the hell said you could come in here!?" Shadow Tsuda shouted as the Phantom Thieves approached. "This is my territory! I'm the Hashiba Clan's second-in-command! Don't come in without my say-so! Don't talk, don't breathe, not without my permission. You guys aren't yakuza, so you obey me! You hear me? Those are the rules of the world!"

"No thanks…" Joker shook his head.

"There are no such rules," Lycan scoffed.

The Shadow narrowed his eyes. "You… You're Iwai's pet bitch that bit me, aren't ya!? Damnit, you're not taking me seriously, either. No one takes me seriously! You, the Hong Kong mafia, Iwai, even the guys in the Hashiba Clan! Well, forget it! I'm not a joke! I'll show you all!"

He transformed into Belphegor, the gang ready for a fight. "Don't underestimate me, brats!" Shadow Tsuda put up a big talk, but he was no match for the overwhelming strength of the Phantom Thieves that it was almost laughable how quickly they took him down. "Goddamnit… I… I… There wasn't any other way… Once they find out I've been letting them down, I'll be demoted from second-in-command… I'm just a relic from a bygone era. The young college grads in the Hashiba Clan all laugh behind my back. Hehehe… Even the world of the yakuza's been taken over by the intellectuals. That's why I had to make this transaction work, no matter what. Evne if it meant taking advantage of my subordinate… Mune… The Hong Kong mafia pulled the carpet under me. It's what I get for breaking the yakuza code."

"Give it up," Joker said.

"Yeah… I'm done with being pathetic," Shadow Tsuda nodded. "Sorry, Mune… I wish I could have a drink with you one more time." He faded away after that, leaving a Weird Wrap behind.

"We'll have to check with Iwai later," Joker said.

"And hopefully he won't be weird about what happened last time with the whole "kitsune" business or whatever," Lycan nodded.

"Kitsune? Like Inari?" Oracle questioned.

"The TL;DR is that Iwai knows about my true self," Lycan replied.

"What!? He knows that you're a demon!" Templar gasped.

"He thinks I'm a kitsune- some Japanese spirit or whatever? He won't snitch about it, though, so we should be fine," Lycan said. She gave her boyfriend a kiss on the forehead. "You've gotta trust me on this, okay, Lambchop?"

"R-Right… I trust you, Lycan," Templar nodded. With Tsuda taken care of the Phantom Thieves delved further into Mementos, finding the Shadows of Kana's parents next.

"Why are there so many parents who try to control their children?" Queen wondered.

"Don't overthink it. Let's worry more about helping their daughter," Lycan said.

"We have to change their hearts if we want to save Futaba's friend!" Omen said.

"L-Let's go!" Oracle commanded.

"Bad bets at the races. Losses. Debt. Bad bets at the races. Losses. Debt. Why are the two of us so unlucky!? It's bad luck we're poor all year round!" the Shadow father said.

"We can't let Kana go to school. She needs to make money for us. Her sex appeal, her innocence as a young girl, whatever… She should sell it for us…" the Shadow mother said.

"You call yourselves parents!?" Oracle growled, her anger and Mementos transforming her into her hellhound form. "Kana-chan's suffering so much because of you!"

"It's too bad. But she needs to make us money!" the Shadow mother said.

"Kana needs to make money. Otherwise, our family will be broken up!" the Shadow father added.

"Don't exploit your daughter, jackasses," Lycan growled. The two Shadows transformed into a Succubus and Incubus as the team got ready to fight.

"It's not our fault! It's all because we've got some bad luck!" Incubus shouted.

"Kana should just suck it up. Eventually, we'll hit the jackpot. Then all of us will be happy!" Succubus said.

"…I knew it. These two are rotten to the core! Joker, Lycan, please save Kana-chan!" Oracle said.

"Impertinent brats! I'll blow you away in one fell swoop!" Incubus shouted.

"Keep your nose out of other people's business!" Succubus added.

"Persona!" Joker shouted, summoning Cerberus and casing Agidyne on Incubus, knocking the Shadow down.

"Now it's my turn!" Lycan cheered as Joker passed the baton to her. She called on Coyote and blasted Succubus with Magnadyne, knocking her down and giving Oracle the honors of finishing them off with an All-Out Attack.

"Get gud!" Oracle laughed as the battle concluded with a blast from her bomb.

"We had no other choice… We were in mountains of debt…" the Shadow father said in defeat.

"We were truly horrible parents…" the Shadow mother said.

"Then be better parents," Lycan ordered. "You don't want your kid resenting you for the rest of her life."

"…I know. I have to change my ways. I won't make Kana do that kind of work anymore," Shadow father nodded.

"I'm sorry, Kana…" Shadow mother sobbed. "We'll reorganize our debt. We'll be responsible for playing it back, not her. I'll quit gambling. And I'll start working. I'll play back all that debt, bit by bit…"

"You have to! Don't hurt Kana-chan ever again!" Oracle exclaimed.

"I starte gambling to make some cash. Before I knew it, I forced Kana to do those shameful things. To think, I used to be a father who only wanted his daughter to be able to eat nice things…" Shadow father said.

"You're right, dear. Before anything else, let's do our best to make Kana happy…" Shadow mother said before they both disappeared, leaving behind a Skill Card for Joker to take.

"Thank you, Joker, Lycan. I think Kana-chan's going to be all right now," Oracle said with a smile.

"Huh, I didn't comment on it before, but it looks like you took your demon form again, Futaba-chan," Noir pointed out.

"What? …Oh, I guess I did," Oracle shrugged, looking at her swishing tail. "Hehe, I must have tapped into my demon powers with how riled up I was."

"You know, now that I see you two standing next to each other…" Fox hummed.

"What is it, Inari?" Oracle sighed.

"I'm simply noticing now that there is a striking resemblance between you two," Fox said. "Lycan does not know who her birth parents are, correct?"

"You think we're actually related?" Lycan raised an eyebrow.

"Actually… it's not that far-fetched of a theory," Omen said. "I've noticed the similarities between you two as well, and seeing as we don't know who Lycan's father is…"

"…W-Well, it's not like you can just get a DNA test done, right?" Oracle stuttered. "I mean, would that even work with demon blood?"

"No, it wouldn't, but we can always try a magical solution," Omen said. "If you'd like, I can have my father do some tests on a hair from each of you to determine if you truly are related."

"…I guess," Lycan shrugged. "I don't see this as a big deal, though."

"What!? Finding out you had a secret sister the whole time would be a big deal, man!" Skull exclaimed.

"It would be cool if Lycan was my actual sister by blood, but I think we've already got something good going on already," Oracle said. "But sure, what the heck? Test away, oh powerful princess!"

"Well, it'll be my dad doing that, but sure," Omen giggled, accepting a hair from each of them.

"Just don't tell Blitz about this. I don't need him trying to smother Oracle as well," Lycan said.

"Sojiro is the only dad I need in my life, thank you very much!" Oracle giggled.

'I sense the bond between Futaba and Loona becoming even stronger,' Joker thought. "Okay team, that's all the requests we had for today. Let's go back home and rest. The deadline is coming up soon, after all."

"Then we can put our plan into motion…" Crow nodded, thinking of what would come in the future.

Author's Note

Just like in base P5 the Phantom Thieves are going to have to wait to send the calling card, though this time Akechi is in on the plan so he can get revenge on Striker for taking his position as the entity's new champion. We'll see how that all plays out next chapter so stay tuned for that!

Octavia showed up for the end of Akechi's Rank 8 Confidant, seeing the aftermath of Ren and Akechi's duel. I think it's important for her to her Akechi's affirmation of his rivalry with Ren, especially since it has a different connotation in this story. The detective prince is fully on Ren's side, but he still considers Joker his rival and does want to surpass him once everything is said and done. Akechi is basically a lot more of a shonen rival this time around!

We spend a lot of time doing Futaba's Confidant this chapter, which is to be expected as both her and Haru come fairly late into the journey that, if you're running an efficient schedule during your playthough, you can tend to speed run their Confidants since you've mostly completed everyone else's by this point. Not that it's a bad thing, however. I'd like to think that with both Ren and Loona around Futaba is more willing to get her promise list done since her confidence is doing a lot better with two "key items" at her side.

And we're finally getting some follow-up on Loona and Futaba's familial relation thanks to Yusuke's comments. We'll see their reactions to their secret relation soon as Futaba's Confidant goes on, but I'm finding it a lot of fun to give Loona those big sister dynamics and have someone to care about like Futaba. I'd like to see Loona gain a similar dynamic with Octavia in Helluva Boss proper, actually... if the writers actually decide to give the two proper screen time, that is (if you ask me, Loona hasn't had a full appearance since "Seeing Stars" and that one was... devisive to put it lightly).

But minor gripes aside, the story is picking up again next chapter as we set out to steal Sae's Treasure!