Chapter 22: The Exhibit

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Sapphire•

After lying awake in bed for an hour, not able to return to sleep, he carefully, so as to not wake his wife, got out of the bed and quickly took a shower, washing the sweat from his body. After quickly finishing and drying, he put on a simple shirt and jeans combo before taking a single step forward and suddenly teleporting halfway across the world with the same ease that it took to breathe.

Although he had never stepped foot within the specific Scarabian tomb that he found himself in, the pictures Anthony had sent him and Noct were more than enough to allow himself easy Teleportation there. Especially with the level he was now at.

Sapphire looked around and frowned at the dingy cave he appeared in, the only decorations the walls had being the string of electronic lights that had been set up by the explorers and the hieroglyphics. It reminded him all too much of the desert portion of their adventure as children. Passing out from heatstroke was never fun, especially when you were only thirteen.

Well, he was an adult now. He could deal with a couple of bad memories and some cramped tunnels. "Hey! Ant! You in here anywhere?!" His voice echoed but received no response. He shrugged and decided to follow the lights. He kept his hands away from the wall, not wanting to risk accidentally damaging anything and getting his blond friend on his case.

Various hieroglyphs were carved into the stone around him, which he mostly ignored, besides some of the more humanoid ones. Mostly because…

He sidestepped as a spear cut through the air next to him, a hieroglyphic jackal silently attacking him.

Yeah. That was annoying. He rolled his shoulders and put his fists up, hopping from foot to foot. He hadn't brought Casey, mostly because it was only going to be a quick meeting with Anthony, and also because the extra challenge would be fun. "Well? Come on, don't just give up after one strike!"

It thrust its spear at him again, and he jumped back, ducking left and right as more thrusts followed. Several more jackals suddenly pulled themselves off the walls, running at him. "Alright, my turn." Infusing his fist with a portion of his energy, he punched and eviscerated the jackal attacking him. He sidestepped around a spear strike, snapping his fingers and causing the hieroglyph to be consumed by bright blue fire.

He grabbed the spear it dropped and struck another with it, his massively enhanced strength more than making up for his lack of skill with any weapon besides a baseball bat. Of course, the downside was that the weapon shattered after one hit. "Whoops." Distracted, he didn't notice another enemy attempting to attack him, their spear striking him directly in the heart.

Thankfully, his vigorous training in the past made sure that he'd instinctively flooded his chest and clothes with PSI just before the attack hit, and the weapon bounced off. Hell, it didn't even manage to damage his shirt. "Man, I'm out of it. Alright, enough playing." He waved his hand absentmindedly and a small orb of pure black appeared in the center of the hall, beginning to suck in the Hieroglyphs. "PSI Gravity: Black Hole, set."

It only took a moment for each attacker to be sucked in, and he dug his feet into the ground while reinforcing them with PSI to prevent himself from getting sucked in as well. Once each jackal was gone, he created a shield bubble around the gravity well and snapped. "Safety off: Detonate." There was a blinding flash as the unstable, miniaturized black hole exploded, the PSI shield around it preventing the sphere from destroying the pyramid.

Of course, there was no hiding the sound of the explosion. It thundered up and down the halls, and he heard screams further in. He chuckled and began walking towards them, and eventually, the tunnel led into a larger room, with various pillars and a pedestal in the center, as well as a large group of people.

One noticed him, quickly followed by the others when he shouted, "who the hell're you?! And what was that noise?!"

He waved his hand, and everyone except for the exasperated blond man stilled, trapped in various illusions. "There. Wassup, homie?"

"I'm going to kill you if this isn't an emergency. And you better not have damaged any of the walls."

"Alright, alright, chill. I didn't damage anything. A few 'glyphs came to life and tried attacking me. Maybe some remnant of Giygas' energy that remained due to being stuck in the stone walls."

Anthony's face grew contemplative. "Perhaps. And I suppose they didn't attack anyone in my group is because none of us are PSI sensitives. Even if I am a member of the Chosen Four."

"Also, It actually is. " Anthony raised an eyebrow sensing the seriousness in his voice. "An emergency, I mean. My clairvoyance activated again, saw a pretty bad vision."

"How bad? You get a vision every so often, but you've never come to me about them." He placed a finger on Anthony's head and pushed the memory of the vision into him. "Hm. Well… shit."

"Yep."

"I suppose the first thing to be asked is whether this vision can be changed or altered in any way. Top priority is preventing you from dying."

"It's never showed something that couldn't be changed. Most of the time when it didn't change it's just because I didn't try the right thing, or simply because I didn't try hard enough. I think. Hell, some of them may be unchangeable. A fixed point in time, if you—"

"Enough with the sci-fi, I get it. Well, what do you want me to do about this?"

"Just to keep your eyes open. You saw the end of that vision, when I'm with Akira, everything in the shop we're at is in Japanese. You were planning to head back after this excavation, so if anything suspicious comes up, or any lead on that site appears, let me know."

Anthony's eyebrows rose, and he looked at him with concern. "Are you sure? What if getting involved with whatever's happening leads to you dying?"

"There's no point in worrying what actions might or might not affect the future. Just talking with you about it could completely invalidate it, and it might not even happen anymore."

"...But how much do you want that?"

"What? The fuck are you asking? Zero. Of course I don't want to die."

"Not that, what comes before it." He looked away with a scowl, and Anthony gripped his shoulder. "None of us came away from our own journey years back unscarred. Everyone's had their own versions of trauma from it, and I want you to know that your… yearning isn't something to be ashamed of. Post-traumatic stress disorder comes in many forms, yours is no different."

"Yeah, the nightmares are bad, but at least they aren't as bad as Nightmare, eh?" A flash of light and they were standing on a grassy hill, the wind blowing calmly as a peaceful town sat below them, a giant imprint of a foot in the dirt behind them being the only oddity around for miles.

"Cut the crap. Wanting to throw yourself into ba-"

"Enough, we aren't talking about this. Just keep me in the loop if anything comes up. When you get back to the land of anime, of course."

"Sapphire, please." He turned to the foot and slid down the slight incline, ignoring Anthony, while summoning a small marble to his hand. His face relaxed as music began playing from it, the stars in the sky seeming to twinkle in time with the melodies. Anthony's face softened as he watched, and for a moment the adult figure of Sapphire was replaced in his mind by the thirteen-year-old child who had shouldered the weight of the world and had somehow managed to continue smiling. "...Fine. Speaking of heading back, please un-hypnotize my fellow archaeologists."

"Are you sure? I gave them all some pretty fun visions. Should make them much less cranky if they ride them out."

"I've got work to do, Sapph. Bring us back to Scaraba and fix them."

He chuckled and tossed the marble into the air, letting it vanish into mist. "Fine, fine." He grabbed Anthony and Teleported them back to the pyramid, before waving his hand again and bringing them out of their visions, while also erasing the memories of him ever being there. "Keep in touch, Ant."

"Of course." He took a step, and with a small flare of PSI, he was suddenly in Onett. He walked up the main street towards the northern residential area, frowning at the thought of that vision as the moon stared down at him. He sincerely hoped Anthony wouldn't find anything and ring him up, but he knew the chance of that happening was slim to none.

"Suppose I should get some extra practice in. Looks like I've gotten a bit rusty… what would Noct say if he found out?" He chuckled, and let PSI swirl around him for a moment. Yeah. Time to get back to it.

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Akira•

At the same time that his father was planning for the future, Akira walked into the nurse's office, sitting down with Doctor Maruki. "I'm glad you could make it. Your friend Takamaki-san came by earlier today, actually. I'm hoping Sakamoto-kun will be able to make it sometime too!"

"Ryuji's still on the fence about seeing you. I'm not sure when he'll come around."

"Haha, well, tell him my doors are always open. By the way, would you like a snack before we start?" The older man offered him a small bowl with gummies in it. "Care for a jelly baby?"

His eyes lit up and he grinned as he took several. "Allons-y."

Maruki laughed, "Finally someone understands that reference!"

"Not many here would understand that considering it's from a British show. I'm not certain how many Japanese students would watch it."

"You'd be surprised. Speaking of which, you're from Eagleland, aren't you?"

"Correct. I'm sure you've read up on everything about me," he answered with a roll of his eyes.

Maruki smiled, embarrassment clear on his face. "Well, yes, Kobayakawa-san did give me a brief rundown on your circumstances in preparation for our sessions…"

"So much for privacy. But It's in the past, nothing I can do about it now."

Maruki cupped his chin and tilted his head, thinking out loud. "Did you have to force yourself to accept everything that happened? No, that doesn't seem to be it… You know, even with just this short talk, I believe that I've realized something… You seem to have been able to reconcile your internal world with your external one."

"Thanks?"

"I should note, of course, that that's really, truly, impressive. Even most adults can't reliably manage that."

"I wouldn't say that. There are a lot of internal realities that I wished were true."

"Maybe. But there's something about you, I can tell… conceptions such as becoming a model student are common, and you've certainly accomplished that, even if your record has caused some ostracization. Without talking more though, I'm not sure I could figure out what your internal realities even are, let alone which ones you've reconciled with."

"Well, I'm not one to argue with the licensed psychiatrist," he chuckled.

"Yes, well… ah." Maruki rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "It seems I've gone on a bit of a tangent. Our conversation seems to have taken a life of its own."

"It's not like I had much of a plan for where our conversation would have gone."

Maruki just smiled, before a frown crossed his face. "...Hey, I've actually got one last request. Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

"I'm actually doing certain research along with my duties as a counselor. It's not quite like counseling-more like a type of psychological treatment… Basically, it's a project to learn more about people's metaphorical hearts. What they think, how they feel. If I get far enough with it, I think It'll be able to help a lot of people! So…?"

He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "So, what? How exactly would you like me to help?"

"Oh, sorry! Uh, I guess my point is… I'd like to ask for your help with that research! All you'd have to do is listen to my theories, then tell me if they spark any ideas or realizations on your end. Please! Any time is good for me, I can work with your schedule. And, uh, I've got snacks! Lots of them! You can have them! They're yours!"

Maruki continued plowing through the conversation, and he held up his hands with a laugh. "Alright, alright! There's no need for all of that, especially not giving away your snack collection, Ann would kill me if she found out I was hoarding them all. I'll help."

"Great! Um, but I shouldn't be the only one benefitting… Ah, what if I teach you some tips for mental training? I know quite a bit on the subject, I could cook up a special regiment all for you! It would certainly help draw out your full potential if you gave it your all!"

"Sounds good to me."

"Great! Then that's our second deal!" Chains crashed in his head, and he felt a heightened bond.

RANK UP!

Councillor Arcana, Takuto Maruki: Rank Two

"Here, let's exchange contact information so we can let each other know when we have some free time." After doing so, Maruki leaned back in his chair, a happy smile on his face. "Alright, I'd better get started on repaying you! So, let's talk about mental training and presence…"

Ω • Ω • Ω

5/14, Saturday

"It went well enough… I guess? He seems like an okay doctor."

"I still don't wanna go and get psychoanalyzed or whatever."

"Wow, that's the biggest word you've ever said!"

"Stuff it!"

"Can either of you not randomly start a fight over anything?" Morgana and Ryuji huffed as they ignored each other, people around them glancing at Ryuji oddly as he apparently argued with a cat. "Either way, he's agreeable enough. I might go back for more sessions. Especially if he's apparently a Confidant," he muttered.

"You two were talking about some high-level stuff. Maybe the Numbskull could have a chance of understanding it if he studied at all." He bopped Morgana on the head and slapped a hand against Ryuji's mouth before the faux-blond could begin yelling.

"No. I refuse. There will be no arguing."

"Ah… Ryuji said something dumb again?"

Ryuji pried his hand off his mouth as Ann walked up and glared at her. "Why do you always think that?!"

"Because it's the most likely reason your mouth would be covered."

"Well, that and saying that some girl is hot way too loudly… honestly, I'd probably cover his mouth for saying anything too loudly." Ryuji huffed, while he shook his head in amusement. "So, stayed up late studying?"

"Yeah, exams are almost over so I figured I should try and make one last effort across the finish line."

"One Final Effort, huh? Well, better than not studying at all."

Ryuji scoffed and Ann rolled her eyes. "Of course Ryuji didn't—" she turned suddenly, her hair whipping around. "…Am I imagining things…?"

"What's up?"

"It's nothing, I just thought…" she turned back nervously, biting a lip.

"Stalker?" Akira immediately questioned, glaring over her shoulder.

"There a groper?"

"No, it's… nothing."

He frowned at Ryuji and shook his head, while Ryuji just nodded back and Morgana huffed. When the train arrived they all got on and chatted quietly about the exams, and upon arriving at their stop, calmly walked off. Each of them gave subtle glances back, even Ryuji managing to be quiet.

I have spotted none following us.

They might be waiting to exit the train.

'Just let me know if anyone seems familiar,' he thought back.

They climbed the escalators, and for a moment Akira thought that Ann had been imagining things until the girl turned back and gasped. "Oh my god, the guy got off!" Turning back, he tried to spot anyone shady looking, but none specifically caught his eye. Ann grabbed his sleeve, a surprising amount of fear on his face.

No, perhaps it wasn't surprising, now that he thought about everything she'd been through. And especially since she had no defenses in reality, unlike the Metaverse. He mentally cursed himself out for forgetting for even a moment what she'd been through. "Isn't this bad?!"

Ryuji yawned before he could respond, walking up the escalator past them. A flash of irritation spread on his face, and he glared at Ryuji. "Perhaps you could take this threat to your friend seriously?"

"Oh chill out, and follow me. I ain't lettin' any loser think he can stalk my friends." Ann glanced at him and he nodded back, both of them following Ryuji.

Ω • Ω • Ω

•?•

There she was! Her compatriots had seemingly vanished. A sign? Perhaps! Oh, his heart sung with joy—

"Yo!"

"Nice to meet you, friend." From nowhere, the dull-looking hair-dyed boy and the competent seeming raven-haired one appeared, blocking his path. Both had stern looks, clashing violently with their friendly words. Artistry, in another form…

Oh, what oddly colored eyes. Hm… his beauty did not match hers, but his aura lent him an air of mystique… he could imagine the painting now—

He was pulled from his thoughts when the dyed boy turned to his target, asking, "you sure this is him? Or are you that self-conscious?"

"Ugh!" She stomped on the ground and pointed a finger at him. "I'm not—!"

"Excuse me, but is there something you want?"

The finger switched to pointing at him, and her eyes— a calming shade of cyan— narrowed at him, for some reason. "That's my line! You were the one that was stalking me!"

Stalking? He frowned and furrowed his brow. Hm. No, impossible. Why would he ever stalk someone? "That's preposterous."

"I KNOW you've been stalking me! Ever since the train."

"Oh, that." She twitched and looked as though she was going to accuse him of something outrageous again before his Sensei's car rolled up, and the window lowered.

"Yusuke, there you are. I was wondering why you left the car, but it seems you were simply following your passion."

"I suppose some people might consider stalking a passion of theirs," the raven-haired one snorted.

The words brought his attention back to the matter at hand, and he turned away from Sensei and towards his passion. "Ah, yes. I saw you from the car, and could not help chasing after you. I did not even notice the calls from Sensei… but, regardless, I am glad I caught up to you."

"Uh…"

"'Kay…?"

He clenched his fists, steeling himself. His eyes filled with the fiery passion that fueled him, and asked, nay, DEMANDED, that he begged the girl for her hand, and he quickly approached her. "You're the woman I've been searching for all this time! Please, won't you—"

The woman's eyes widened, and she waved her arms. "W-Wait a minute, I—!"

The dull-blond stepped forward. "Whoa, hold on—!"

The silver-eyed one cracked his knuckles. "Now you just see here—!"

The cat hiding in the raven-haired boy's bag began yowling madly.

"—Be the model for my next art piece!"

Everything stopped, and the blond boy fell on his face as he tripped over his own feet. Silence reigned for a moment before he looked up at them with a bewildered expression upon his plain face. "Bwuuuuuhhh…?"

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Akira•

Yusuke Kitagawa was apparently the… curious boy's name. He was still in the back of Akira's mind by the end of the day, the sheer whiplash he'd gotten from their interaction still had his head spinning.

After the sheer surprise of Kitagawa's question, the boy had pushed onwards, explaining how he felt a passion from Ann that was greater than anything he'd felt recently. Ryuji, not that surprisingly, began pushing for more info, not wanting Ann to be pulled into any shady business, and he followed up.

Kitagawa revealed he was a second-year at another school, a Kosei high, specifically part of the fine art division. After then saying how he lived with his Sensei, he revealed that there was an exhibition happening soon, and he would be assisting on opening day. He then gave her three tickets, happily inviting her, and not-so-happily inviting them as well, noting how they likely had no taste for art either. Ryuji glared, he snorted, and Ann still looked confused, before Yusuke then left in his teacher's car.

That wasn't even considering the fact that, by sheer coincidence, they met an artist named Madarame at the same time, Yusuke's 'Sensei' apparently.

"Mmm! It's over!" Ann cheerfully stretched, a relieved smile on her face.

"It's over…" Ryuji slumped even more than usual, a sigh escaping his lips. "How 'bout you?"

"I will lord my perfect scores over your heads like the god of knowledge that I am once the results are posted."

Ryuji just scoffed. "Yeah yeah, you're sooo smart."

"It's good you recognize genius when you can see it."

"He's just upset because his monkey brain knows won't be passing."

"Zip it, your brain ain't nowhere as big as mine!"

"My brain could be the size of a pea and I'd still have more going on in there!"

"Why you little-!"

"Would you stop arguing with my cat out in public? And you, stop provoking him."

"Stop calling me a cat!"

"Then stop acting as evil and smug as a cat."

"Ugh…" To block that out, Ryuji pulled out his phone and began scrolling through the Phan-site.

"Anything new?"

"...Nah, nothing. Well, anything useful anyway. Post numbers are droppin' too."

Morgana slammed his paw on his shoulder, though it felt more like a light tap, yowling angrily. "I am not letting this end as a one-hit wonder!"

"There's no point getting antsy about it," Ann commented. "I know! Why don't we eat lunch somewhere? We still have some money left over from the other day."

"I want sushi then! Or maybe some domestic-raised eel!" Morgana perked up at Ryuji's suggestion, only to then deflate when Ann shot him down.

"We don't have that much left!"

"Mach pizza maybe?"

"I guess, I think I actually have some coupons for the place…" Ann reached into her bag before her eyebrows raised and she pulled out three tickets. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about these."

Morgana immediately panicked. "Wait, don't tell me it was love at first sight with that Yusuke guy!"

"Morgana, she didn't even say anything about going yet."

"Even if I do go, it's not like that," Ann sighed. "When I was watching that special on tv, his artwork was pretty nice. And, since we've got free tickets…"

He nodded, understanding. "It wouldn't cost anything to investigate."

"…Madarame, was it?"

"Don't get your hopes up. While I'm all for investigating, it could simply be a coincidence," he cut in. "Of course, Nakanohara did say Madarame. How common of a name is that?"

"Not that common, I think."

Morgana just hummed in response, while Ann smiled. "Well, that aside, he did give us a couple of tickets! Want to go enjoy some fine arts for once?"

"Fine arts, yeah?" Ryuji certainly didn't look happy about that.

"I suggest we all go together! Appreciating the fine arts builds character! Plus, a Phantom Thief that can't identify an original is lame."

"I think that's beyond even me," he snorted. "But yes, we should all probably go."

"Well, if it's an order from our leader, I guess I'll come along too…"

"Yay! It's settled then!"

"Who knows? It could be fun."

"Just the phrase 'going to an art exhibit' sounds kinda mature." He and Ryuji shared a dry look before Ann took out her phone. "Let's meet at the exhibit tomorrow. Around nine?"

"Ann, it's the weekend! Can't it be later?"

He just snorted, adjusting his bag. "I'll see you both there."

"Aki!"

"Yep! See you there!"

"Aw man…"

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Ann•

5/15, Sunday

It was a dark and gloomy day, the rain drizzling down onto Tokyo as the Phantom Thieves met and walked towards the exhibit.

At the sight of so many people pressed together in the gallery, Morgana wiggled around uncomfortably inside Akira's backpack. "So crowded…"

Ryuji nudged the bag, shaking his head. "It'll be a pain in the ass if someone sees you, so don't stick your head out too much."

"I can be sn—!"

"You came!" Luckily, the arrival of Kitagawa-kun interrupted the argument before it could get into full swing, his face in a wide smile at the sight of her. "You really came…" which then descended into a scowl at the sight of Ryuji and Akira.

"What'd you expect when you left us those tickets?!" Ryuji asked incredulously.

Akira shrugged at Kitagawa-kun, "I agree, you really should have foreseen this. You did give Ann extra tickets."

Kitagawa-kun seemed to completely disregard their statements, simply sighing in response. "Make sure you don't get in the way of the other visitors. Come now, I'll show you around. I'd like to speak more about the picture I'd like to draw too." His tone did a complete one-eighty when he addressed her, and she rolled her eyes in response.

"Well, see you guys later." As she walked away she heard Morgana begin frantically asking Akira whether she'd be alright and if the blue-haired boy might try something funny with her behind a curtain.

Well, he didn't seem like he would, but if he did, he was getting a full-force kick to the groin. The last thing she heard was Akira assuring Morgana she'd be alright and that Kitagawa-san wouldn't try something like that out in the open. As they walked she noticed Madarame-san speaking with several reporters, laughing modestly as they asked him questions.

"...we continue to be truly surprised by your imagination. You have such expansive styles, it's hard to believe that it all stems from one person. Where in the world does your inspiration come from?"

"Well, it is rather difficult to put into words… It's as though they well up from within my heart like bubbles rising one after another in the spring."

"Naturally, you say?"

"What's important is to distance oneself from worldly desires like money and fame. My atelier is a modest shack, but it is more than enough to pursue true beauty."

"I see! So the act of emptying one's mind gives rise to inner beauty. Still, to think we could hear the word 'shack' coming from the great artist Madarame-san!"

"Haha, you would understand if you saw it." Her attention was pulled from the interview as Kitagawa-san stopped walking, and she looked at a wall that was covered in paintings, all of them in different styles.

"Wow, I didn't know there were so many different types of Japanese art."

"Usually one concentrates on their own style. However, Sensei creates all this by himself. He's special." He must be if he could paint that many styles. She didn't know that much about art, but didn't most artists only ever use one style that they adapted every once in a while?

"There you are, Yusuke."

"Sensei!"

The man turned his gaze from his student to her, smiling slightly. "Ah, the girl from yesterday. Are you enjoying the exhibit so far?"

"I don't really know how to put it into words, but… it's amazing."

"You're sensing something from the artwork… That alone is enough to give us artists satisfaction. I hope your piece is an excellent one, Yusuke. Now then, if you'll excuse me."

Smiling, she turned to look at Kitagawa-kun. "You'd think artists would be difficult to approach… but he seems really friendly."

"Indeed."

"Oh!" Her eyes widened as she saw a painting behind Kitagawa-kun, and quickly walked up to it. "This is it, the painting I wanted to see in person!"

"...This one?" She didn't quite notice, too focused on the vibrant red and orange drowning out the cool blues on the canvas, but Yusuke's voice, for a moment, became strained.

"I guess it's the painter's anger? I'm not sure, but I sense this… strong frustration from it. To think such a kind and gentlemanly person could make such a piece."

"..."

She turned to look at Kitagawa-kun when he didn't respond for several moments and caught a pained look on his face. "Is something wrong?"

"No. It's nothing. There are better pieces than… this one. Come now, this way!"

"Hey!" As Ann struggled to follow Yusuke through the crowd, and he distracted her by having them look at more pieces, that moment of pain began fading from her memory. But it wouldn't vanish. Eventually, she bid farewell to Kitagawa-kun, and walked to the front of the exhibit, looking around for Akira and Ryuji. "Where'd they go?" Not finding them, she quickly pulled out her phone.

Chat Room: The Phantom Thieves

You— Where are you guys?

Akira— We're at the bridge above Shibuya Crossing.

You— ?

You— On my way.

She began walking back to Shibuya, eventually finding Akira leaning against the glass and railing of the bridge, while Ryuji sat on the ground next to him showing him his phone. "Why'd you leave without me?!"

"Nah, you got it all wrong, we got dragged into this huge crowd, and— ugh, whatever, here, check this out, you gotta see it too." He turned his phone towards her, pointing at it. "This post might be about Madarame!"

Her eyes widened, and she saw Akira straighten up. "What's it say?"

"'A master of the Japanese arts is plagiarizing his pupil's work. Only his public face is shown on TV.'"

"Plagiarizing?!"

"I didn't think much of it when I first saw it, but hearing 'shack' and 'Madarame' triggered it." Turning his phone back around, he began reading. "'His treatment of the pupils who live with him is awful. He teaches nothing and bosses them around. He treats them inhumanly as if disciplining a dog.'"

"Abuse on top of plagiarism, huh?"

Ryuji's face broke into a grin, "if this is true, it'd be a huge scandal, huh?"

"Do you think Kitagawa-kun posted this? I mean, he IS a pupil of his."

"Who knows? it's anonymous and all."

"In that case, I'd say it's a pretty good chance the Madarame we heard about in Mementos is referring to the same one."

"A man like that, doing such a thing?"

"We all know you can't judge someone just from appearances," Akira muttered, causing them all to nod.

"I wonder if we can ask that Shadow from earlier about this? Oh wait, we'd need to talk with him about it in reality…"

"And how're we gonna go and do that?" Ryuji questioned. "We gonna explain it all, startin' with Mementos?"

"Besides, if we make a move out in the open, there's the possibility that Madarame could find out."

"Huh… right."

"Hey, what do you think about Madarame? Doesn't he seem suspicious?"

"I can't be sure, but I am suspicious."

Ryuji shrugged at Akira, "I mean, there is a bunch of overlap, yeah? Well, if this post is legit, ain't this the kinda target we've been waiting for?"

"Well, yeah, but… is it really true?"

"By the way, what did you do about that modelin' thing?"

"Kitagawa-kun gave me his contact info, and the address to his sensei's atelier."

Ryuji jumped up, grinning. "He said he lives there, right? Perfect timing! Let's try goin' tomorrow. We're off to Madarame's house right after school!"

"Wait, you want me to model tomorrow?! This is too sudden!"

"What? We're just gonna go talk to Kitagawa."

"Oh. That's what you meant." Akira snorted, and she huffed in embarrassment.

"Alright, sounds like a plan, guys. Let's get going."

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Akira•

5/16, Monday

After a boring school day passed, with the only interesting part being a short lesson with Maruki explaining the connection between mind and body, and Morgana wondering if he could turn himself human by believing it, they were on their way to Madarame's atelier.

"Phantom Thieves travelin' by train… this ain't any different from how I go home from school you know. Can't we travel in style when we're on the job?"

"I'm sorry, but would you rather a limousine?"

Ann giggled, "The train is the fastest way to go. Plus, we can bring pets."

"Hey, who're you calling a pet?!"

"Dude, be quiet! We didn't pay the pet fare."

"I'm the one guiding you to our destination! You should be calling me 'Master'!"

"Ooh, kitty!" A small girl suddenly wandered over, hearing Morgana's meows.

"Er, shoot…"

"Is that your pet mister? I heard it meowing!"

He just laughed, unzipping his bag to show off Morgana. "No, it's just a stuffed animal. Look, it meows when you press the button on its head."

"Really? Show me, show me!"

Ryuji suddenly grinned, "well, Aki? You heard her! Press on its head!"

"This is ridic-" He pressed Morgana's head, and the not-cat flinched, before sighing. "M-Meww…"

"Wowee! Again, again!"

"Well, you heard her, Morgana."

"Akira, no-"

"Time to button mash."

"Mewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmewmew-!"

"Ahahaha! Again!"

"Dude, I think he's gonna throw up."

The automatic alert that they were nearing Shibuya suddenly rang out over the train's intercom, saving Morgana's life as Ann grabbed his arm. "Whoops, this is our stop! Well, buh-bye!"

"Uh-huh! Bye bye!" They got off, Morgana rolling over in his bag with his tongue sticking out, eyes practically swirling.

"So," Ryuji asked happily, "which train line do we gotta transfer to?"

No other transfers were necessary, so they began walking from Central Street towards the address that Ann had been given. The houses around the building were all well-built and lean, while Madarame's, was… In Akira's opinion, he agreed that calling it a shack was most appropriate.

"Is… that it?"

Ann frowned at Ryuji's question, looking down at her phone. "We're at the right address… and the door plate says Madarame."

"Uhhh… you ring the bell."

"Me?! The walls won't collapse when I do, will they?!"

Morgana snickered, "Nobody sneeze or we'll blow this whole house down, okay?"

"I don't think the building will fall apart if you hit a button," he snorted. They walked up and Ann rang the doorbell, several seconds silently passed, then Yusuke's voice echoed from the intercom.

"Yes? Who is it? Sensei is currently-"

"Um, it's Takamaki."

"I'll be right out!"

"Whoa… people really do live here!"

"Guess so."

'Takamaki-sa-!" The boy paused, glaring when he noticed Ryuji and him standing next to Ann. "You two are here as well?"

"Hey. Sorry, but, ah… we ain't here to talk about the modelin' thing. There's something we gotta ask you." Before he could stop Ryuji, and ask the questions a bit more tactfully, Ryuji plowed on ahead through the conversation. "Is it true Madarame's plagiarizin' stuff? He's abusing people too, yeah?"

Yusuke opened his mouth, blinked, closed his mouth, and finally answered, his glare intensifying. "Are you serious?"

"We read about it online," Ryuji continued to steamroll forward, pulling out his phone and showing off the Phansite post, as Akira internally screamed at his faux-blond friend.

'HIT THE BRAKES, SAKAMOTO!'

My oh my.

He reminds me of an old friend, Izanagi Picaro chuckled.

"This?" Yusuke began laughing, under his breath at first, before gaining steam. "Preposterous! Not only is the plagiarism impossible, but abuse?! He welcomes pupils into his own home! This is no act of violence; it is charity! And I am the one residing here and studying under him. I'm saying it's not true, so it's beyond doubt."

"You might be lyin' about it!"

Finally cutting in, he grabbed Ryuji and pulled him back. "Zip it, Ryuji!" He hissed into his ear, turning to look at Yusuke. Maybe he could salvage this? He wanted to investigate slowly, not blunder in and begin screaming accusations as Ryuji did, but-

Wait.

Yusuke had paused and winced, clenching his fists. "That's-" Composing himself, Yusuke shook his head. "That is utter rubbish. I had no family when Sensei took me in and raised me into what you see now!" Taking a step forward, he threw his arm out and began shouting. "If you continue to ridicule the man to who I owe my life, you will rue this day!"

Evidently, he hadn't been the only one who'd noticed the slip-up from Yusuke, as Ann huffed and crossed her arms. "…You really think that?"

"Yusuke, what's the matter? I heard yelling." Madarame suddenly walked out of the house, a concerned look on his face.

"These people are slandering you with baseless accusations!"

There was silence for a moment before Madarame simply smiled. "…Forgive them, Yusuke. They must've heard some bad rumors and came in worry for their friend's safety."

He raised an eyebrow at Madarame's response, a little surprised at how calm he was in the face of his pupil telling him that they had been accusing him of crimes. Now the question was, were they wrong, and Madarame was truly just a kind old man with mountains of inspiration or was he simply measuring his response to seem innocent and nice?

"…Understood, Sensei."

"Well, even I doubt that a cranky old man like myself could be liked by everyone."

"That's not what we meant…"

"I'm sorry to have butt in on your conversation, however, I do have neighbors around. Won't you please keep it down."

"Of course, our apologies," he finally spoke up, bowing. "And there's no need for you to apologize. Your interrupting helped to lessen the tension before it got any more out of hand and you perfectly explained the situation."

Madarame smiled once more, turning away. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

Yusuke glanced at them all after his teacher walked back inside, before giving them a bow as well, with a solemn look on his face. "That was discourteous of me. I'm sorry." His mood suddenly brightened, and a more serene look appeared. "I know! I think you'll be able to believe in Sensei if you saw that painting. It's his maiden work as well as his most representative piece. It's titled 'Sayuri.'"

They all crowded around Yusuke's phone as he pulled up an image of the painting. A kind-looking woman wearing a red shirt was gazing down into a blue-ish fog that was floating all around her, a tree branch with budding blossoms hanging behind her head. "This was the piece that inspired me to become an artist."

"It's so beautiful," Ann whispered.

Ryuji nodded, "I don't know much about the whole fine arts stuff, but even I can tell it's impressive."

"I agree. Certainly a masterpiece." And it was. He never was one to feel a sense of intense emotions when he looked at a piece of art, nor was he very good at sensing the intent or emotions of the art or artist who painted it, but on a technical level, he could tell it was wonderfully painted.

"When I first saw you, I felt the same intense powerful emotion as when I saw this painting…"

Ann's mouth dropped, and her eyes widened. "M-Me?" He had to elbow his bag hard to prevent Morgana from jumping out and throttling Yusuke at what he must have thought was a flirtatious statement, though he did narrow his own eyes for a moment at Yusuke.

Watch that Jealousy, Trickster. Quite unbecoming of you!

'Oh shut up.'

"I wish to pursue beauty like this. And I believe drawing you will be a part of that pursuit. I implore you; seriously consider my offer. I'm sorry that you took the time today to come all this way for nothing, but I must assist Sensei today. I hope that we can discuss this further another time. If you'll excuse me, then."

Yusuke walked inside, and the Phantom Thieves stood there for several seconds, processing his short speech, before walking towards the street, where Ryuji sat upon a railing. "Those two… seem like nice guys, don't they?"

"Maybe the Madarame we heard about in Mementos is a different person?"

He winced at Ann's words, "It's a possibility."

"Man, right when we found a new target, too…" Ryuji sighed dejectedly, and he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll find a good target eventually. We shouldn't give up on this lead, but… maybe looking into some other ones in the meantime would be a good idea."

Morgana flicked his tail as he jumped out of his bag, and onto the railing, Ryuji sat on. "How's the Meta-nav?"

He pulled his phone out, and immediately a chime was heard. "Location found."

"Hey, the app…"

"Was it picking up our conversation? And this display… it means that Madarame has a Palace too, right?! But why?!"

"'Madarame,' 'Plagiarism,' and then 'Shack,' huh? These seem to be our keywords."

"For real though, the hell's goin' on? Does an old man like him really have a Palace?"

"Let's focus on figuring this out," he sighed.

"Right. We have the name and the location, all that's left is to figure out what Madarame thinks of this shack as."

"Like how Kamoshida thought the school was a castle?"

"Right. Let's just try saying some things, anything."

"Let's start with castle?"

"No candidate found."

"How about prison?"

"No candidate found."

Ryuji and Ann continued listing places, gaining the same result again and again before he cut in. "Maybe we should focus on words that actually pertain to Madarame and his job."

"Good point," Ann agreed sheepishly.

"Gallery?" He attempted.

"No candidates found."

"An art warehouse?" Morgana tried.

"No candidates found."

"How about… a museum?" At his next guess, the world wavered.

"Beginning navigation."

"Whoa, really?!" At Ryuji's exclamation, the world distorted, warped, and shifted, before they finally appeared in the Metaverse, wearing their Thief costumes. Skull whooped, pumping his fist. "Alright!"

Mona tried to catch his balance as he suddenly shifted from all fours to two legs, nearly falling off the railing. "Hey, when did you activate the nav?! You surprised me!"

"Didn't have much of a choice, it kinda did it on its own."

"I suppose it automatically occurs when we get all the keywords," he mused.

"And what if I hadn't noticed, then wandered off and got caught by an enemy?!"

"You prolly woulda figured it out when you started walking on two legs…"

Mona only growled in response, unable to refute his point.

"So even you can slip into the Metaverse without realizing it, Morgana?"

"Code names," he reminded.

"Whoops, sorry."

"To answer your question, Panther, yes. In a place with minimal cognitive distortion, the differences can be subtle."

"Man, forget that," Skull cut in. "look!" They turned, and beheld a golden building, stretched high into the sky, spotlights highlighting various portions of it. "Man, he really does think of that shack like some kinda museum!"

"We should check it out!"

He nodded at Ann's words, and let his cape flutter behind him. "Phantom Thieves of Hearts, let's move out!" With a cheer of assent, his teammate quickly followed as they began the infiltration of the Museum of Vanity.

Whew. Finally done with this chapter's crap. Got hit with a massive wave of writer's block for a couple scenes here for some damn reason, and eventually, I just moved on to write the later scenes first, before going back to finish the first ones, which might explain any feelings that some stuff doesn't really fit, why there aren't that many sections of Personas giving their opinions on what's going on, or that some sections feel rushed, Maruki's Rank 2 especially. Whatever, I'm going to do some quick editing then send this out, and check it over more thoroughly when I get home from work later, maybe add in some more lines from Arsene and the others. It's been way too long without a chapter.

The first scene of the chapter wasn't especially important, but I still wanted to write it out to set up some stuff later. Also, because Sapphire is going to be nerfed in the Metaverse to make fights realistic, I want at least a few scene here and there showing his skill and power level with PSI. There'll be a full on fight scene eventually where he will to go all out with PSI, which I look forward to writing.

Eventually.

Akira isn't the only one who'll be using some unique PSI of course, Sapph's had quite a few years to learn and even make up a few moves of his own. Speaking of, Akira will be getting a new move of his own soon, which I hope people look forward to.

Other than all that, not much going on in this chapter. Yusuke appears… Button mashing Akira… Yeah. Couldn't think of a chapter title that really encompassed everything happening in this chapter, so 'the exhibit' seemed good enough. Hope everyone liked Yusuke's first section besides the one in the first chapter. But, if you liked this chapter feel free to leave a review on what you enjoyed about it, or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time!