Author's Notes

This one's a bit longer. I'm trying to cover a little more in each chapter now. We're getting underway with the next major arch so I can't be spending chapters upon chapters that only span a few days at a time. Also, just as a disclaimer and trigger warning, there are some references to suicide in this chapter.

Sunday - May 15th

Rain tapped against the large windows that lined Shibuya's walkway. A feeling of pleasant calm washed over Lynn as she listened.

Standing in wait had become a sort of blessing as the morning went on. She had woken up far too early and decided to head to the meeting spot nearly an entire hour before the decided upon time. Morgana was still with the V Team, so for the first time in a while she was alone. At first, the very thought sent her into a mild panic.

Though panic slowly faded into contentment.

She watched as a raindrop trickled over the outside of the glass. It formed a trail that more droplets followed creating a miniature stream.

It felt somewhat good to have a clear goal in mind once again.

Plus, by the way things were looking, Madarame was going to be their first official target as a fully fledged team. It brought with it a sense of renewed purpose. As well as another chance to get things right.

They were not going to half-ass this. Lynn was not going to fail as a leader again.

"Sup!"

Ryuji's sudden appearance nearly sent Lynn to an early grave. She spun around to face him and gave a relieved sigh. "You shouldn't sneak up on a girl when she's waxing poetic," Lynn feigned irritation, but was honestly glad to see him. Notably, he was alone. "You're… actually early. Who are you and what have you done with Ryuji?"

"Shove it, Rin." He gave her a brief middle finger with a hearty laugh. "Mom wanted me to run some errands so I was already mopin' about. Figured I'd just kill some time. Beats gettin' soaked in the rain."

The mental image of a soaking wet Ryuji in a tight t-shirt invaded the girl's mind.

Part of her couldn't help but appreciate it. The other part wanted to run for the hills and never look back.

In a bid to distract herself, she glanced down at her watch. "Ann and Shiho won't be long. So," she shifted her weight on the railing, "think Ann has some big master plan? She seems pretty keen on this whole thing."

"Ann? Plan? Unlikely." Ryuji scoffed. "She's prolly just playin' things by year."

"It's ear. Not year."

"Whatever." The two chuckled. Ryuji's weak grasp on western idioms had always amused Lynn. Still, Ryuji seemed distracted. As if reading her mind, he gave a resigned sigh. "Real talk; are you feelin' ok? Ever since Nakanohara, you've been a little… weird. No… that's not right. Off. I get this feelin' you're keepin' somethin' from us?"

Straight to the point.

Lynn wasn't going to lie. It stung hearing him sound so concerned.

There wasn't really any reason not to open up about her issues, but some strange force had clamped down on her heart. "I'm fine, really. Just tired. Exams, y'know?"

For a few seconds, Ryuji's gaze lingered as his eyes stared deeply into hers. What was going through his mind, Lynn had no clue. It was getting a little too intense before he finally broke eye contact and flashed his usual gung-ho smile. "Well if you're sure!" He proclaimed. "Just remember I'm always down to listen if y' need it."

"Thanks… Ryuji."

The two spent the rest of their wait chatting on idle matters. Games, TV shows, guns - naturally - and many other mundane topics.

Lynn had even managed to coax a few tidbits about Ryuji's interest in athletics out of him. The guy usually turned into a tight-lipped miser when it came to talking about it. Though Lynn couldn't exactly blame him given his trauma. All she could do was give him the space to slowly come out of his shell.

Finally, Ann and Shiho arrived a solid ten minutes late.

They seemed to be mid conversation when they finally stopped in front of Lynn and Ryuji. "Shiho, how many times? I want to see where this leads us." Ann's exasperation was almost visible. "I appreciate you worrying about me, I really do."

"Still having disagreements?" Lynn's eyebrow perked up. Shiho nodded but decided against saying anything.

The whole place was beginning to grow more and more crowded. The exhibit's opening time was fast approaching and it seemed like everyone in the whole damn city had shown up to ogle at the art. Or at the very least catch a glimpse of a supposed superstar. Was Madarame really this popular?

Lynn hadn't even heard of him until a few days ago. Now it was anyone ever talked about.

There was a term for that. Baader… something. Or was it to do with frequency?

She shook her head. It wasn't important. What was important was the fact that Yusuke Kitagawa had taken notice of Ann's arrival. He had completely dropped the conversation he was having with a middle aged woman and made a straight beeline for Ann.

"You came!" He said with a look of genuine glee. Though as soon as his gaze turned to Lynn, Ryuji and Shiho, his expression soured. An icy breeze tickled at their senses. "You really came…"

"What did you expect when you went out of your way to invite us?" Ryuji's response earned him little more than a disdainful stare. Shiho had taken on her own identical stare. It was clear she wanted to blow up at him but the sheer number of people present stilled her mouth. The three entered a weird sort of Mexican Standoff for a brief moment before Yusuke finally broke eye contact.

"Just make sure you do not cause problems for the other patrons." He then turned to Ann and as if a switch had flipped, his expression lit up with excitement. "Come, I will show you around. Perhaps we can discuss what I wish to draw?"

The boy displayed his more pushy nature and for a split second, Lynn dreaded Shiho's outburst. Thankfully, it never came as Ann's disarming smile quelled the growing rage. "Well, see you guys later!" She sounded cheerful but the smile - much like yesterday - did not reach her eyes. She almost seemed defeated. Like the spark of life that should be there was no longer present. Lynn hated that smile.

She found herself balling her hands into fists. The pain of fingernails digging into skin was thankfully enough to keep her grounded. At least long enough for Ryuji to break the silence.

"Are we really gonna appreciate a bunch of art? Can't we just go home?"

As much as Lynn wanted to do just that, they had a job to do. She let her hands relax and shook her head. "We have to try and learn something about Madarame. Ann's doing her best to give us that opportunity."

"Rin's right," Shiho's shoulders sagged. She too had been defeated by circumstance. "We should ask the other patrons about him."

"Fine. We could do a quick pass of it once…" resigned to their fate of mediocre entertainment, the group shuffled into the exhibit. "Which way do we start?"

Though near enough as soon as they entered, something caught Ryuji's attention. Standing near the centre of the exhibit was Madarame himself. Surrounding him were various reporters each trying their best to get their questions through. Try as they might, Madarame's attention was focused on a single reporter. A woman. Notably the only one in a sea of male reporters.

"Your imagination is incredible!" The woman opened with a charming smile and flattery. "Your mastery of all these different styles is incredible. It's hard to imagine it all came from one person." Madarame's expression was hard to read with how openly friendly the man seemed. The platitudes and flattery were seemingly working. "Where does all your inspiration come from?"

For a moment, Madarame continued his vague smile before taking in a long inhale.

"Well, it's difficult to explain," he placed a finger on his beard and gently stroked it as he thought. "They each naturally well up and bubble in my heart like a spring in the mountains."

Lynn, Ryuji and Shiho each rolled their eyes.

"Naturally, you say?"

"Yes. It's important to distance yourself from worldly desires of fortune and fame. My atelier is but a humble shack but it is more than enough to pursue true beauty."

Ryuji smirked and whispered under his breath; "braggin' about not wantin' fame and fortune prolly means he has both in spades. Just look at the car he was ridin' in yesterday."

He had a point.

Still, the reporter continued on. "I see. So the act of emptying one's mind gives rise to true beauty. Still… it's a little strange hearing the word 'shack' coming from the great artist Madarame."

The old man gave a warm hearted chuckle. "You would understand if you saw it."

It was at that point other people - besides the press - had decided now was the best time to start crowding the artist. An ocean of art fans swarmed towards him trying to get even a second of his time.

The crowd pushed Lynn, Ryuji and Shiho around as it grew.

Lynn caught a glimpse of sheer panic and rage flash across Shiho's features. Deciding her friend's mental wellbeing was more important than gathering information, the leader of the Phantom Thieves made the executive choice of retreating.

She channelled her inner Silver Demon, grabbed Shiho and Ryuji's hands and turned herself into a human battering ram.

The crowd thinned as they broke out from the exhibit hall. Not too worse for ware, it seemed they had narrowly avoided a disaster. "That woman totally elbowed me…" Ryuji complained, rubbing a spot on his ribcage. His obliviousness had thankfully served as a grounder for the ex-volley ball star. Jumping on the opportunity to keep her mind on topic, she rolled her eyes.

"Oh boo hoo. You're a big boy, Ryuji."

The two shared a brief look of friendly rivalry before he slid down onto the floor. Out came his phone and with several taps, a familiar web page beeped into life. "Anyway, thanks to all that, I remember now! Take a look at this post."

"Why did you guys leave without me!?"

That was Ann. Lynn gave a weak willed wave before gesturing to the still thick crowd and then to Shiho. The fashionista understood immediately and any irritation she held washed away in an instant.

"Ah, you prolly want to see this too. I think it's a post about Madarame."

Ryuji's exclamation sparked everyone's attention. "Well, what's it say?"

"A master of Japanese art is plagiarisin' his students work. Only his public face is shown on TV."

"Plagiarising?"

"At first I ignored it, but hearin' Madarame talk about a shack reminded me. Anyway, there's more," he cleared his throat and continued on with the post. "His treatment of the students that live with him is awful. He teaches them nothin' and bosses them around. He treats them inhumanely… as if disciplinin' a dog."

"So abuse and plagiarism, huh? That is… disgusting." Lynn's nose wrinkled as if she had sniffed rotten eggs.

"If this is true, this could be a massive scandal!" Ryuji was a little too excited about this. He seemed to be getting a bit too intoxicated with the idea of being famous. It was worrying, but for now, the team needed a little motivation.

"Let's slow down for a second," Shiho interjected, "we keep charging ahead without any kind of plan and it keeps almost getting us killed. We need more information before we make a decision." Each member nodded in agreement. The energy Ryuji had started to build dispersed as reality set in. If they were going to be serious about this, they needed to play it cautiously. Thankfully, Ann had an in with Yusuke. That came along with access to Madarame's private domicile.

But perhaps there were other avenues they could pursue?

"Maybe we should talk to Nakanohara? His Shadow might be gone but we should be able to track him down in reality." The others thought for a moment before Shiho shook her head. She gave Lynn an apologetic smile.

"No, we can't know for certain that he still isn't caught up with Madarame. Besides… we did sort of ruin his life."

That was true. Lynn didn't think of that.

The four teens sighed. "We should wait for Morgana to come back. Maybe we should wait for the V Team too? They seem like pretty resourceful people, maybe they could help."

"Good idea. Whatever they're doing must be important if Morgana's been gone for this long." Ann shuffled uncomfortably as she spoke. Everyone glanced her way with expectation. This whole thing was a ploy for information after all. "I managed to get Kitagawa's number and the address of Madarame's atelier."

Ryuji jumped up off the ground with a boisterous grin. "Alright! We should try goin' tomorrow. We could all meet up after school."

"You… want me to model so soon!?" Ann's cheeks flushed bright red as she shrank into Shiho's side. The boy looked like a lost, confused puppy as he glanced from person to person. Had they misunderstood his intentions?

"We're just gonna talk to 'im…"

"Oh," Ann straightened herself out, "that's… what you meant."

Monday - May 16th

The morning dragged on as if time had ground to a crawl.

Art History was by far the worst. Mr. Inui had been ranting and gushing over Madarame for nearly an hour. The man barely even touched the planned lecture when the bell rang to dismiss the class for lunch. Every student in the room let out a unanimous sigh of relief. Inui huffed like a child, muttering under his breath.

Collecting his things, he resigned to let the class go about their business.

Lynn let escape a long, drawn out yawn and stretched. It seemed her motion had garnered the attention of a certain blonde girl sitting directly in front of her. Ann shifted in her seat and gave Lynn a studious look over. "Everything ok in Rin Town? You don't look so good."

The black haired girl could only scoff in mock offence. "Well thanks!" She smirked though a sigh passed through her lips. "I just haven't been able to sleep properly." Ann's expression turned to one of concern. Lynn waved a gesture; "I've always had insomnia. It comes and goes so there's no need to worry."

"Well… if you're su-"

[Rin Amamiya to the Faculty Office, please. Rin Amamiya.]

Ann was cut off by the school tannoy. She couldn't help but shoot a playfully suspicious look at Lynn. "Who have you beaten up this time?"

"You if you don't shove it." The two laughed as Lynn rose from her desk. "Do me a favour and go pick me up some bread? I've got the cash in my bag." The girl nodded in acknowledgement and went about fishing through Lynn's school bag. With that, Lynn marched off to whatever was awaiting her.

It couldn't have been anything good. That was for certain.

She couldn't shake the icy feeling of dread creeping into her chest.

As the announcement had been broadcast over the school's tannoy, everyone had heard it. Of course, a mere second was all it took for rumours to start trickling over the students. As she walked the corridors, she could feel the suspicious glares. Again, it was a test of resolve simply going from point A to point B.

"I heard she killed someone…"

"Really? I thought she was a hooker."

"Hah, that'd be something."

"Don't even think about it, bro. She'll turn you into a pin cushion!"

"She owns a whole collection of knives last time I checked."

Below her long hair, she grinned at the knife remark. That one was at least partially true. Still, hearing everyone's remarks still took its toll.

Thankfully, she made it to the Faculty Office without any real incident.

Sliding the door open revealed the rather bored and irritated visage of Sadayo Kawakami. The teacher had taken a seat behind a table in the far corner and with folded arms, nodded to the chair opposite her.

Hesitantly, Lynn took the seat and let the confusion display over her expression.

"Principal Kobayakawa asked me to provide some one-on-one counselling," Kawakami began. Lynn's confusion only grew. "Trust me, I don't like it either. There are a lot of things I could be doing right now."

"I can only apologise. I guess."

Kawakami's shoulders relaxed. A long and exasperated sigh fell from her lips as she shook her head. "No… it's not your fault." She pinched the bridge of her nose before getting out a notepad and paper. "This stuff always gets left to me." She jotted something down. "No matter. How are you settling in?"

"As smooth as sandpaper." Lynn grunted a response. It only served to feed Kawakami's irritation. In turn, that fed Lynn's growing irritation. "People talk about me like I'm some rabid animal. Teachers single me out to try and catch me off guard. One of them even launched a damn stick of chalk at me because he thought I was slacking off. So yeah, I'm not exactly 'settling in' all that well."

The teacher scribbled more notes down. "Mr. Ushimaru is a little old fashioned."

"That's certainly one way of putting it."

"You were involved in the incident with Ms. Suzui, right?" Something seemed to drop a vast distance in Lynn's stomach. "Sorry, that was a bit abrupt. We were all glad nothing bad happened but-"

Then something snapped suddenly.

"Nothing bad!?" The feeling in her stomach erupted and evolved into rage. "She was about to commit fucking suicide! This school sat by and watched as that bastard Kamoshida used and beat her like a fucking stress ball." Kawakami recoiled at the outburst as well as the curses, but the floodgates had opened. Lynn didn't care about keeping a lid on her language. "If Ann and I weren't playing hooky, she probably would be dead or in the hospital right now! She was left completely alone and she felt like she had no other option."

"Alright, that's enough, Amamiya." Kawakami regained her composure and put on a stern tone. "What I mean is that you and Takamaki's efforts prevented the worse case scenario." Lynn was about to explode once again but the teacher shut it down. "I'm well aware of the school's part in the whole thing."

Lynn glared. She wanted to direct her hatred at Kawakami.

But she couldn't bring herself to do that. Her homeroom teacher was completely innocent in all of this after all.

It was just her way of talking about it that set Lynn off.

It felt so distant and uninvolved. She groaned and shifted in her seat. She worked the metaphorical tension out of her muscles and let herself sink back against her chair. "Sorry…" She managed to utter.

"It's understandable. It brings us to why I brought it up."

Lynn took a few deep breaths and wrestled her emotions back under control. She could feel Arsene rattle against his cage deep within her soul. His calls for rage had to go unheard for now.

"Ms. Suzui is getting the professional help she needs," Lynn silently scoffed at that. A weekly hour session with a cheap therapist wasn't exactly much. "But the faculty feels everyone who was involved should get the same opportunity for help." She faltered for a moment before groaning. Her formal facade dropped and she looked directly at Lynn. "Look, the school has its issues. Let's cut out with the theatrics; this is just a ploy to keep you quiet."

"Go figure."

"Even if that's the case; it's my job to make sure you don't cause any trouble."

"Is this the part where you remind me of my criminal record and threaten to expel me if I step out of line again?"

"No. This is the part where you be quiet and let me come clean." That'd be the first. A teacher at Shujin Academy showing basic respect for their students. "When you were first put in my class, I only knew what others had said about you. I thought you were a problem kid with behavioural issues. Turning up late on your first day didn't exactly help."

Lynn briefly thought about entering the Metaverse for the first time. As traumatic as it was, it really opened her eyes to other people's issues.

"However I've been keeping an eye on you. I also looked a bit into your criminal record." Kawakami's tone wasn't accusatory and it lacked the irritated boredom it usually had. She sounded genuine. It was weird. "I don't buy it."

"Wait… what?"

"You're no violent criminal."

Lynn blinked. Kawakami's expression betrayed no sign of lying. She was dead serious.

"A headache to be sure, but you're not the psychopath I was told about. The person I was told about would never have stepped in to help Ms. Suzui."

"It's not like I like being branded as a would-be school shooter."

"My point is," the irritation briefly flashed back into her tone before softening once again. "Us adults aren't infallible. We make mistakes. I know that better than a lot of people." A second of wistful silence followed. "I'll cut you a deal; I'll try to keep the other teachers off your case. In return, I want you to take studying more seriously. I know you're friends with Sakamoto, but I'd rather you didn't wind up like him."

"You know he was also a victim of Kamoshida too, right? How do you think he got that bum leg?"

Kawakami sighed and nodded. "Yes. I read the full list of his confessions. Look, I'm doing my best here. I could get fired for just talking to you like this. I was given a script for this whole session so please just cut me some slack."

Honestly, Lynn couldn't think of a good reason why she was giving Kawakami such a hard time.

The poor woman was just doing her job.

But Lynn had been stewing on her emotions for quite some time now and Kawakami had unwittingly sparked a wildfire. The girl took a few deep breaths and tried refocusing herself. As far as things went, Kawakami really did seem like she wanted to help in her own stubborn way. Maybe having someone on the faculty vouch for her wasn't such a weird thought.

"Slack cut." Lynn muttered almost to herself. "It's just… been a wild month and a half. I'll try to do better in class, you have my word. It's not like I hate studying."

I am thou, thou art I

Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Temperance Persona, thou hast attained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power.

The rest of their session consisted largely of airing out each of their grievances in a sort of impromptu venting circle. Lynn's British penchant for moaning had made an appearance and to her surprise, Kawakami had much the same tendency. Oddly, it was a strange moment of bonding.

As it turned out Kawakami was actually a pretty fun person to talk to. Once Lynn got past the mask she had of the bored, distant and unapologetically apathetic teacher, Kawakami was quite passionate about certain things. It was refreshing to see such a side of the teacher. One that did wonders for Lynn's nerves. She finally had some sort of solidarity with a member of the staff.

She no longer felt like the school itself was out to get her.

Ironically, Kawakami had managed to succeed in what she had been ordered to do. The conversation had brought comfort to Lynn. Small it may have been, but it was enough.

She left the Faculty Office feeling like some small amount of weight had left her shoulders.

The walk to the school's courtyard didn't seem to bother her as much, either. She barely even registered the numerous whispers. For the first time in a while, she actually felt good about herself. Even Arsene seemed to be content in her heart.

The cynic in her tried to dampen her mood with the fear that this was just a temporary reprieve.

Yes, it was definitely only temporary. Even still, Lynn was determined to enjoy it while it lasted. Even Ryuji seemed to catch on to the lighter mood as she reunited with the group. Lunch break was nearly over so there wasn't much time to enjoy small talk. As such, she took the bread Ann had bought for her and promptly stuffed her face.

Quite un-lady-like.

Still, she needed the energy to get through the afternoon's lessons and then the visit to Yusuke's house after school. Whatever happened then was bound to be draining.

"Is… this really it?"

The group each held underwhelmed expressions. After a lengthy journey, they had finally arrived at the address Yusuke had given.

The term 'run down' was probably being generous. The building looked like something straight out of a shanty town. It didn't even look habitable, let alone comfortable. Lynn whistled in discontent. "Rustic…" she wryly smiled. "I heard corrugated metal is super 'in' these days."

"Complete with overgrown shrubs and exposed wiring! Oh, is that an old aircon unit? Very swish."

Shiho had joined in on the playful ribbing with a refreshing sense of ease.

Even if she was only trying to cover up her complete contempt for the situation. It took a lot of reassuring this was just a short talk and nothing more to even get her on the train.

"You ring the bell." Ryuji quickly urged Ann forward.

"Me!? It… won't fall over if I do, right…?" Gingerly, she inched toward the front door and with a shaky finger, poked the doorbell. An unassuming buzzer sounded and for a few seconds there was a tense silence.

"Who is it?" The old intercom crackled to life with Yusuke's apprehensive voice. "I'm afraid Sensei is not here right now so-"

"It's Takamaki."

Almost immediately, the artist's tone fell back on itself with the grace of a manatea. The sound of something falling from inside the house elicited a smirk from Ryuji and Lynn. "I'll be right there!" Not even a second later, the door slid open with a force Yusuke's general build probably couldn't physically muster. His beaming expression appeared from within the musty confines; "Ms. Takama- oh…" the smile disappeared instantly. Instead, his icy glare lingered on the three other people. "You three are here too…"

"Sup." Lynn gave a cheery wave.

"That's my line…" Ryuji whispered with a look of betrayal. "Sorry, but we ain't here to talk about the modelin' thing. There's somethin' we gotta ask you."

Yusuke raised an eyebrow at Ryuji. "Really? Then ask."

Ryuji seemed briefly thrown off by the artist's bluntness. He shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. If Lynn had to guess; Ryuji was probably having second thoughts on this whole thing. Even if Yusuke wasn't all that physically imposing, his frigid glare held a certain aura. Even Lynn felt a shiver down her spine.

"Is it true Madarame is plagiarisin' stuff? He's abusin' people too, yeah?"

The glare only grew colder. It was as if the very air was slowly starting to freeze under his scrutiny. "Are you serious…?"

Ryuji quickly took out his phone and dexterously tapped away. "We read it online." He held his phone out for Yusuke to read. The artist spent a moment scanning the post before levelling his gaze back at Ryuji.

He then began to laugh.

Almost hysterically.

"Preposterous!" He exclaimed. "Not only is the plagiarism impossible, but abuse?" Pure vitriol spewed from his lips as he spoke. With a dramatic flourish, the artist gestured as if he were putting on a stage show. "If Sensei hated children so much as to harm them, he would never allow pupils into his home!" His breathing started to grow heavier the further into rage he descended. It was quite worrying to say the least. "Besides, I'm the one residing here and studying under him. I say it isn't true, so it is beyond doubt."

"You might be lyin' about it."

"That… is," his rage faltered and gave rise to something else. Melancholy? Sorrow? Defeat? "That is utter rubbish."

His fury then sparked to life once again. Or perhaps it was simply obsessive passion.

"I had no family when Sensei took me in. He raised me to be what you see today!" His eyes narrowed and pierced through into Ryuji's soul. "If you continue to ridicule the man I owe my life to, you will rue this day."

"Yusuke?" A familiar voice drifted out from within the house. "What's all this racket about?"

The figure of Ichiryusai Madarame emerged from the darkness and studied the scene with a look of confusion and concern.

"These people are slandering you with baseless rumours!"

A moment passed as Madarame stroked his beard. A warm smile spread over his features setting the tension of the whole thing aside. "Forgive them, Yusuke. They must have heard some foul rumours online and were worried for their friend's safety."

"Understood… Sensei."

"Even I know a cranky old man like myself can't possibly be liked by everyone!"

Ann suddenly perked up and scrambled in desperation. "That's not what we meant!"

"I'm sorry to have butt into your conversation, but I do have neighbours. So please keep it down." The old man gave a disarming bow and began his journey back into the hovel. "If you'll excuse me…"

Once again, the group was left alone with Yusuke. The boy turned back to face the group. Shocked, Lynn could only see the barely held back tears and expression of sheer defeat. Her chest tightened as a sickening realisation had set in.

"That was discourteous of me. Please forgive my outburst."

The sadness in his body language lingered for a moment longer before an idea seemed to spring to mind.

"I know! Perhaps you will believe in Sensei if you saw that painting." With the same dexterity of Ryuji, he tapped through his phone and held it up. "It's his maiden work, the piece that first captured my heart; The Sayuri."

The image of a wistful woman blinked onto his phone's screen.

Lynn wasn't exactly an expert on art, but she could tell this painting was something special. Elegant and delicate pale skin, vibrant red clothing, a mesmerizingly mysterious gaze. It wasn't the most complex piece in the world, but it was definitely beautiful. She didn't know why, but she felt sad looking at the painting. Or perhaps a sense of apprehension? The only thing for certain was that it stirred up a weird mix of emotions.

As a true masterpiece could.

"It's so beautiful…" Ann muttered to herself. Even Shiho agreed with her look of genuine awe. Yusuke nodded in satisfaction.

"When I first saw you, I was struck by the same sense of a captured heart. The rush of emotion I hadn't felt since first laying eyes on the Sayuri." The artist's eyes softened as he spoke. The frigid, sharp cold that had once surrounded him had now mellowed to a gentle breeze that tickled the nose with the smells of early spring. "I want to achieve beauty like this and my hope is that drawing you would be a great step in pursuit of that. I implore you; please consider my offer!"

The group had been left speechless. The sudden turn in Yusuke's disposition felt off. Forced. Deciding against starting any further argument, Lynn took the lead and bid him farewell.

She then led the group across the street once he had returned inside.

The Phantom Thieves each let out an exasperated sigh. "I have to admit… Kitagawa seems… nice." Shiho seemed more defeated than the rest. "I guess I just accidentally projected a lot onto him. Madarame, too."

"They seem like nice people… man, right when we thought we had a target, too."

"Wait…" Lynn wasn't convinced. The tight feeling in her chest had refused to go away. It was like guilt mixed with helplessness. "How about we check the Meta-Nav?"

This all couldn't have possibly been just a simple coincidence.

Shiho took the lead on this one. She flipped out her phone and opened up the Nav. "So we need a name, place and distortion, right? So… Ichiryusai Madarame and… shack."

The Nav buzzed in response. A hit.

"He has one!?" Ryuji unconsciously snatched the phone from Shiho. Sure enough, the old man had a fully bloomed Palace.

"Yes," Shiho snatched her phone back with a searing glare, eliciting an apologetic smile from the boy, "yes he does."

"So we just need his distortion." Ann went into deep thought. "Morgana said the distortion is what the Palace Ruler sees the location as, right? So… what would Madarame see this shack as?"

"A secret lair?" No response.

"A slaughterhouse?" No response.

"A dumpster?" Still no response.

"A train station?" Nothing.

"Maybe… sweatshop?" Zilch.

Honestly, the suggestions were already quite stupid. Everyone knew that but at this point, they didn't have much else to go off of.

Lynn then went for the most obvious answer she could think of. It definitely wasn't going to work, but hey, there wasn't any harm in it. "Try Museum." As soon as the word left her lips, the Nav buzzed in confirmation. Dumbfounded, the teen couldn't help but laugh. Was the man really that simple?

She felt dumb for trying to overthink things.

"Alright, Rin!" Ryuji cheered. "We should go check it out, right?"

There wasn't really any harm in trying. They needed hard evidence after all. Or at least a reason to target him. "Alright, but let's be careful. Morgana isn't here so we should only take a quick look."

With that, and without another second's notice, Ryuji hit the Nav and the transition into the Metaverse began.

When Lynn's senses came back she suddenly wished they hadn't.

A cacophony on lights and garish colour assaulted her vision. The rundown shack had completely transformed and morphed into one of the most evocative looking buildings Lynn had ever laid eyes on.

The entire thing looked to be made of solid gold.

Spotlights shined into the night sky and fanfare played over speaker systems. It looked as though a big event was going on as a crowd of people had grouped up around the main entrance.

Towering above the crowd, flanking each side of the entrance were two large statues. Solid gold much like the main building. Both depicted Madarame with a large sneer over his expression.

"Vanity comes to mind…" Shiho whispered. "He doesn't even see us as a threat. Our clothes haven't changed." As she said, the teens were still dressed normally. "So what do we do? Try the front?"

As their leader gave some thought, Ryuji suddenly came to a realisation. "Shit… uh… we don't… have any of our gear."

Lynn's thoughtful expression twitched and slowly morphed into one of complete irritation. She planted her face squarely into the palm of her hand and groaned. "Guess we're going in the front…" She then began to speak in English. "Bloody hell, I swear I'm going mental…"

Ann quietly snickered at the accent.

Either way, the four of them dragged themselves towards the crowd. If the main entrance was anything to go by, there was bound to be a lot of information ready to be unearthed inside. They just had to be exceedingly careful not to bring attention to themselves while completely unarmed.

So when the group finally managed to gain entry into the main lobby, each of their jaws hit the ground.

"This guy is…" Ann could barely keep her balance as she looked around, "completely in love with himself." The lobby was twice as garish as the outside. Paintings and sculptures lined walls and sat in glass cases. Each one depicted the same person over and over again.

Ichiryusai Madarame.

Near the centre of the lobby was a reception desk. A single Greater Shadow - dressed in a white and gold suit and a flamboyant heart shaped mask - stood at its counter seemingly awaiting the teens to approach.

Above the Shadow was a large banner decorated with stylized motifs and fancy writing. It read; Welcome to the grand unveiling of the Madarame Infinite Wellspring.

"Well that's… foreboding," said Lynn, blankly staring at the banner. What an Infinite Wellspring was, Lynn had no clue, but from everything they had seen thus far; it wasn't anything good. Gingerly, the group moved towards the desk at which point the Shadow perked up.

[Ah! Welcome to the grand and fabulous monument to a master of the arts! It's nice to see the youth take an interest in fine art!] Its voice was canny as though it spoke through a loudspeaker. It hurt to listen to. [Would you like a map of the exhibit? The sections open to the public are marked clearly.]

The Shadow handed each of them a leaflet. Sure enough, it was a map of the museum's first floor. They thanked the Shadow and gathered at a small seating area.

"Hall of Rejects? It's a little weird to have a whole section dedicated to rejected art." Lynn's brow furrowed as she looked through the various other exhibits. Most were standard fare for an art museum. Some were more vague sounding and others seemed down right out of place. Though most of those were labelled off limits to the public.

"It says it's marked for public viewing… so maybe we should check it out?"

They each nodded in agreement to Ann's suggestion.

What they found upon entering the marked area thoroughly perplexed them. Dozens of large portraits lined the displays. They were of various people of all ages. Most were on the older side.

There seemed to be no real connection between each painting. That was until they noticed that the older the person was, the more faded and washed out the painting was.

"Yoshino Kojo, oil on canvas. Kazuya Nagasaki, oil on canvas. Toshio Haruna, oil on canvas… this doesn't make sense. It's just the artist's name and medium on all of these paintings." Shiho had been going from painting to painting inspecting their plaques.

Of course, Lynn didn't really know if that was odd. These were all self portraits after all.

Or were they?

"Isn't that… Nakanohara?" Ann rushed up to one of the more distant paintings. It was showing signs of decay but it remained clear enough to clearly tell who it was.

"Oh no…" Lynn's face darkened as a certain memory popped into her head. "I… think these aren't paintings at all. I think they're cognitions…" the group fell silent in horror as they finally came to the same conclusions. This was less an exhibit section and more of an outright mockery towards the people depicted in the paintings. Likely his past students.

"Hey I think I found somethin'..." Ryuji called from the far side of the hall. Hidden away in a dusty corner was a picture frame that likely once held a painting, but it had been ripped away leaving only a few tattered scraps of canvas.

"Hitomi Kitagawa…"