Chapter 25: Art Critics

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Akira•

"Zio!"

"Agi!" Lightning and flame flew across the battlefield, a Shadow that looked like a blue-skinned woman dancing around the attacks easily. A painting on the wall caught fire, while the lightning fizzled out on a wall.

Distracted by Skull and Panther, the Waterside Nymph didn't notice Mona sneak up behind her and slice her with his cutlass. She cried out in pain and awkwardly launched a handful of ice shards at him. Mona ducked back and avoided them, while he jumped forward and slashed her stomach, cutting the ballerina-like outfit she wore.

"Ah! You brute!" he grinned and did a flip over another barrage of ice, and fired his gun. She shielded her face, and when she lowered her hands she found Panther and Carmen launching an Agi straight at her.

Crying out in pain, she fell to the ground and the Phantom Thieves didn't hesitate as Joker ordered, "All-Out Attack!"

"Let's finish this!" The group of enemies that they had been facing was quickly annihilated, and Panther landed gracefully as the Shadows spewed black blood behind her. "Aren't we the best?"

He and Skull high-fived, and he pulled out his map again. "Great work everyone. Alright, where were we…" The others talked about the battle as he went over the pamphlet, noting crossed-out doors that had been blocked by lasers or bars. After the 'Infinite Spring' room had been a mess of hallways with various art pieces and guards patrolling regularly, which they'd managed to sneak through, as fighting one set of guards in such a small hall would have brought down the others onto them easily.

There had been one Shadow standing guard at the end, but without any other guards nearby they'd been free to fight them. Now they could move on, and enter the next part of the Museum. They came upon an empty room, save for an expensive-looking vase in the center of the room, and some glass separating them from two rooms on either side, paintings along the separated room's walls.

He walked up to the vase and he saw it sparkle brightly in his Third Eye. Whatever was within would be incredibly valuable.

He, Skull, and Panther walked around it.

"H-Hey, Joker, wait! Are you just gonna ignore that golden sheen?!"

"Mona-"

"Are you just gonna ignore that luster?! Whatever's inside is probably valuable, I bet it'd sell for tons!"

Mona, that is obviously a trap."

"Yeah, and ain't you the one that told us not to grab anythin', Monamona?" Ignoring them all, Mona gleefully jumped onto the pedestal and grabbed the vase. There was a click, and Skull held out a hand. "Whoa, Mona, you're steppin' on somethin'!"

"This is bad!"

"Everyone get back!" He jumped back, flipping through the air just as several sets of lasers activated. He was outside of all the traps, however, Skull and Panther were trapped by multiple walls on all sides, though they'd luckily avoided the lasers that had activated where they'd stood.

Well. This... is a predicament.

"No kidding," he sighed. "Really, Mona?"

The not-cat at least had the grace to look embarrassed. "Sorry…"

"What now? If we move through these we'll bring the whole Palace down on our heads!"

"We could book it and come back another day," Skull suggested in response to Panther.

A foolhardy plan.

I disagree, milord.

He waved his hand absently at Berith and Eligor's internal conversation. "We set off these many lasers all at once and we won't get to the exit in one piece," he sighed. "I'll have to figure out some way to shut them down."

'Well, Arsène? You're the expert here.'

Hmm. I am a Gentleman Thief of an older age where one did not need to worry about 'lasers,' but… I believe thy group did spot what looked like a security office back yonder. The 'off' switch might be within. The lasers block the path, however…

He looked around for inspiration and spotted a ledge that would let him jump up and enter one of the side rooms behind the glass walls. "Alright, I'll be back soon."

He climbed up and began carefully making his way around. His Third Eye illuminated two things, one, a guard highlighted with dark blue, and the second, a painting that was slightly askew. He'd have to take care of the guard before doing anything else, so he dropped onto their shoulders and gripped their mask.

"Show me your true form!" An explosion of black ooze followed him as he backflipped away, and another Waterside Nymph appeared. As he was still flipping through the air he ripped his own mask free and summoned Izanagi-Picaro. "Zio!"

The black and red clad form of Izanagi launched a bolt of lightning from his weapon, and the Nymph barely blocked it by creating a wall out of ice. The lightning dissipated into the ground, and she began throwing balls of ice toward him. Izanagi readied his naginata before swiping, smashing the bufu's out of the air as they approached.

She wound up and launched another barrage, so he released Izanagi and summoned Kodama, the tree spirit using a Garu to blow the ice off course. He sprinted through the opening Kodama had made, sprinkles of ice raining around him. Panicking, the shadow flew backward, throwing more ice, but he either dodged them or let his Persona blow them with his wind. "Dodge, weave… and strike!" He slashed her across the stomach, and she gasped as black blood spurt out.

That brief distraction was enough for him to resummon Izanagi-Picaro and have him hit her with another Zio. She cried out as she fell to the ground, and since he couldn't exactly pressure her without another teammate to back him up, he simply pulled out his gun and fired.

She vanished into black smoke, and Izanagi-Picaro crossed his arms. "Well, that was easy."

But fun! Kodama added.

"I thought there would be more, usually Guard Shadows explode into two or three enemies unless they're a Savage Enemy." As he spoke he approached the glowing painting, pulling it off the wall to reveal a button. "Well?"

"Try pressing it."

What's the worst that could happen?

Every Shadow in the museum comes down on thy ass? Arsène suggested sarcastically. He thought about it for a moment, before shrugging and pressing it. There was nothing else he could do, so if it really did bring hell down on them they'd just have to run. Besides, it wasn't like his Third Eye had steered him wrong before.

There was a rumble, before the glass wall separating the main room from the side room lifted, and Panther was released. "Oh, nice work, Joker!"

He grinned, clapping her on the shoulder. "Let's go free the others." Scaffolding let them move above the middle room into the next side area, and he could see another painting, and another guard, glowing in his PSI-influenced sight. The Shadow glowed a pale yellow, so he nodded at Panther. She snapped her whip out and tangled up the guard's feet causing them to fall before he jumped down and ripped their mask free. "I'll reveal your true form!"

Two small, yellow, dog-like creatures appeared, which he recognized as Shiisaa, the Japanese protective spirits. He quickly summoned Berith, who struck one with his blade, before swiping across at the second.

Panther followed by summoning Carmen and snapping her whip. "Go, Maragi!" A roiling wave of flame burst forward, consuming the Shadows, as well as scorching the ground and some paintings. The Shiisaa survived, causing her to smirk and crack her whip again. "Oh, you want more?"

He laughed as he dodged a retaliatory strike from one of the Shiisaa, striking with his icy dagger and freezing it in place, before shooting it and shattering its body. "Calm down there Panther! Why don't you save that for later, preferably, with me?"

"Oh shut up!" She grinned as well, however, cracking her whip out and wrapping it around the second Shiisaa's neck, pulling it in for him to strike. His dagger went straight into its open mouth and up into its brain, turning it to goo. "That was great!"

"We make a good team, Kitty Woman," he joked as he pulled aside the painting and clicked the button beneath. The glass wall began ascending, freeing Skull, who quickly high-fived them both.

"Well, it's better than Sexy Kitten," she ruefully smiled. He vaguely heard his Personas giggling in his head at them, and gave himself a light whack on the head with his dagger handle to shut them up.

Skull butted in, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders. "Alright, thanks for the save, guys! Now how do we get Monamona out?"

Ignoring Mona's cry of 'stop calling me that!' He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at a vent. "Well, right now I'm hoping that thing leads to the security room we passed on the way here. Then I've got to hope there's no password to prevent us from shutting down the laser grid."

"Sounds good to me!"

"Let's go, Joker!" He used his dagger to unscrew the cover, then slipped into the vent, followed by Skull and Panther, and they began shimmying through. "And don't look back here!" He could practically hear Skull's eye-roll at Panther's warning, continuing to crawl through.

The vent, thankfully, led straight to the security room. He maneuvered himself so that he was lying on his back, before pushing his foot against the vent cover. It slowly began denting outward as he applied more and more force, and when he heard a sharp snap from the metal, he pulled back and kicked as hard as he could.

It flew off its screws, slamming into a desk and crashing to the ground. Everyone winced and waited for some kind of alarm, but when nothing sounded out, they all breathed out. He slipped into the room, followed by Skull and Panther, before gazing around.

Most of the computers were off, and the few that were on didn't seem like they had anything to do with the lasers, bar one. Its screen showed the room with the vase, and the words 'pressure sensor: activated' flashed across the screen every few moments. He tapped at the keys, trying to find some way to disable it, and hoped there wouldn't be some password or requirement to remove them.

'Enter' did nothing. Nor did 'delete'. 'Esc' was useless. Upon pressing the spacebar, a text box opened with a blinking space. He paused and thought for a moment before typing in the command 'disable'. The system paused, before with a beep another prompt appeared. 'Password required.'

"Shit."

"Well, I guess it wasn't gonna be that easy, huh?"

"Maybe one of the guards knows the passwords? Should we try shaking some down?" Panther questioned.

"Well, it's the only thing we can do right now. Come on." He opened the doors of the security room, but immediately hid behind them and motioned the others back. "Guards!" Just ahead, two security guards were speaking to each other, oblivious to the trap that had been set off in just the other room.

"You hear about those intruders?"

"Yeah, we changed up the passwords just in case when we heard about those thieves."

"Joker," Skull grinned, "looks like we found them pretty easily, huh? Let's go beat 'em up!" He grabbed Skull's shirt and pulled him back, shushing him.

"Oh, really? I hadn't heard. What did you change them to?"

"Hello!"

"What?"

"Hello! It's the numbers zero-seven-seven-three-four upside down."

"That's kind of… childish."

"Eh, somebody's more likely to guess that the password has something to do with a museum than a bunch of random numbers like that. Besides, it's not like anybody's eavesdropping on us."

Well, that was a stroke of good luck.

He shrugged and turned back to the computer as Skull closed the doors. "Let's at least be thankful we didn't need to search through the whole museum to find whichever guards DID know the password." With another tap of the spacebar, the password was put in, and the computer accepted the 'disable' command before the diagram of lasers shut down. "Still. That was much easier than expected."

"Y'know, even with the whole password thing, I thought there'd be some key or somethin' else that was necessary. Or just somethin' that'd make us go on a whole romp through the museum back and forth"

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," Panther shrugged in response. "And where did you learn the word 'romp?'"

"Eh, can't remember. Let's just grab that stupid cat and get goin'." He rolled his eyes at Skull before they peeked around the corner to make sure the guards were gone and walked back to Mona.

He was waiting solemnly, wringing his paws at the foot of the pedestal holding the vase. "I-I'm sorry everyone, that was very unlike me."

"Sheesh, and weren't you the one tellin' us not to touch anythin'?"

"Er… yes… Ugh, I can't believe I made such a novice mistake! Even for solid gold! But there was just something drawing me to this vase!"

"Isn't it just a normal decoration?"

"I mean, it definitely looks valuable through my Third Eye, but with how it was displayed in the center of the room, well, it seemed too good to be true."

Skull sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Hell… Well, we turned off the security system, yeah? It should be fine to nab the thing now."

He looked at Panther, they shrugged at each other, and he smashed the vase like he did everything else that his Third Eye highlighted as holding something good. For a moment there was only the noise of tinkling shards falling to the ground, before black smoke exploded out, and coalesced into a giant gemstone the size of his torso. "What."

Ω • Ω • Ω

After spending way too long chasing down the floating gemstone, and then having to go through a whole list of elements trying to find the damn thing's weakness, they finally moved forward into the next section of the museum. A safe room waited at the end of a hall, and after entering they sat down and pulled out the map they held.

They were perhaps halfway through, and if he was correct in the assumption that there was another map, then they were actually just a quarter of the way through the Palace. Even though they had entered a bit later on in the day, they all agreed to keep going until at least the next safe room, not exhausted just yet.

"Whoa!" Skull nearly fell forward, and he grabbed the back of his coat, the both of them gazing down at what looked like a deep pit. The hall after the Safe Room had been blocked by lasers, and the only way around was up a ledge… and below that very ledge in the next room was the pit he was currently preventing Skull from falling into.

"What's wrong?" Panther got a look at the hole next, and her eyes widened. "Whoa!"

In the center was a single plank of wood, upon which a guard was standing. Mona frowned as he looked at it, scratching his head. "Why, exactly, is this even here?"

"Don't ask us, it's Madarame's twisted heart, not ours." He frowned and leaned forward. "I suppose if I'm careful I can kick that guard straight off and we won't even need to fight him…"

"Just make sure you don't follow," Skull snorted. He grinned in response, before leaping forward. He planted both feet into the guard's back and pushed, leaping backward as the Shadow flew forward and into the endless pit…

Or they would have, if the 'pit' didn't ripple like water, revealing that it was a painting. The Shadow Guard lay there awkwardly, and he felt very embarrassed as he landed on solid ground. "Uh… I'll reveal your true form?"

Skull just cupped his hands around his mouth from back on the ledge. "Boooo!"

After one anticlimactic battle featuring a fairy and a Waterside Nymph, who he managed to recruit and find out was an Apsaras, they were faced with another dilemma. One that could shake the foundations of the Phantom Thieves and could very well uproot their group.

"I'm not going in there," Panther declared, glaring at the 'men' sign next to the restroom.

"Oh come on, it's just a bathroom. And it's a Palace!"

"It's the principle of the thing!"

He stopped Skull by putting his hand up and shaking his head. "Stop, Skull. Alright, Panther, if we die because the fourth member of our team wasn't there to help us in an ambush, well…"

Panther whined, before half-heartedly following them into the men's room. It was as plain a restroom as any, with several stalls and sinks, and the only oddity being a treasure chest at the end of the room. "I didn't even need to come in here!"

"Too bad for you," he snarked, grabbing a choker out of the chest. They exited and entered the women's restroom. "Seriously, it's not even a real museum's bathroom, it's not like you'll be called—"

"PERVERTS!" A Shadow shaped like a woman attendant smacked him with a clipboard, sending him crashing through a stall. The other Phantom Thieves just stared in shock, while Apsaras just nodded inside his head.

Deserved.

"Fuck off…"

Ω • Ω • Ω

Another gallery was ahead of them, though it was suspiciously empty, with no Shadow Guards or secretaries in sight. He looked around, suspicious of any traps, and cautiously entered. Skull, Panther, and Mona followed, eyes peeled as well.

It was for naught, however, when two poles suddenly extended out of the ground and electricity began crackling between them. "Uh oh."

The intercom began blaring, and he could feel the security level rising. "Intruders in the second exhibition room! Apprehend them at once!"

"Aw crap, Joker, we gotta move!"

Shadows exploded out of the ground, and he shook his head. "Too late! Let's go!" Two Apsaras appeared before him, and he charged toward them with his knife brandished as his other hand removed his mask. He heard more explosions of ooze around them, multiple Shadows appearing.

Berith appeared beside him in a flood of blue fire, his naginata raised and glowing red as he used Tarukaja, increasing Joker's and his own strength, as Joker struck with his knife and dug through one of the Apsaras' flesh. She cried out, flinching back as the second threw a hand out and launched a barrage of ice.

He grabbed the Shadow he had slashed, pulling her back and throwing her in between him and the ice. He sidestepped as Berith charged forward and thrust his spear, running Apsaras through with a Power Slash. The Shadow screeched and exploded back into black goo as she died, and the second Apsaras visibly began panicking, backing away as she threw more and more bufu's at them.

Berith turned back into a mask so as to avoid the ice, and he cursed as he deflected some of the frozen projectiles with his knife. The rest he either narrowly avoided or felt slice across his skin. As he winced in pain, he saw the Shadow attempting to flee further away and gain more distance. "Skull!"

"On it! Captain Kidd, let's get 'em!" A bolt of lightning shot past him, Skull managing to pitch in from his own heated battle against a couple of Shiisa with Mona. The electric attack stuck true and the Apsaras fell to the ground, sparks flying from her, which let him close in. He struck out with his knife, and slit her throat, then put a bullet in her head before she could strike him with one last bufu.

With his opponents down he turned, surveying the rest of the battlefield. Mona and Skull weren't having much trouble with their opponents, and Panther was making quick work of a few of the gnome-like Shadows holding leaves, but the fae that could reflect her flames were slowing her down. "Skull, give Panther some backup! Mona, let's go!"

He took some potshots at the fae as he ran up, high-fiving Skull as he ran past and passing the baton. He jumped onto a wall and ran along it to dodge several purple-colored orbs, which exploded behind him. He leaped forward and slammed his dagger through the top of one of the Shadow's skulls, rolling with the momentum and tossing the dissolving corpse into another of the weird purple orbs.

"Careful, Joker, those are Frei attacks! Nuclear type!"

"What? These guys are tossing mini-nukes at us?!" He paused for a moment to wonder if they'd need to worry about radiation, before noticing another incoming attack and dodging to the side. The Frei flew past, and two balls launched from Mona's slingshot blew past in response, slamming into the Shiisa's eyes. It screeched in pain and shook its head, and Zorro quickly whipped up some winds with a Garu to launch it high into the air.

It yelped as it hurtled through the room, wagging its tiny legs before he jumped after it and drop-kicked it. After slamming into a wall, the Shiisa fell to the ground, wobbled for a moment, then slumped over and dissolved into goo. He looked towards Panther and Skull and saw them finishing off their Shadows.

The gallery fell silent, and after taking another glance around, he nodded. "Great work guys, looks like that's all of them." None of the electrical barricades shut down, however, meaning they were still trapped. He huffed in annoyance and pulsed PSI into his eyes, looking over the room for any switches or buttons that he could use.

"Whoo!" Skull high-fived Panther and gave a thumbs up to Captain Kidd. "We rocked that ambush!"

"Yeah! We were awesome!"

"All thanks to my mentoring, of course." He rolled his eyes at Mona's boast, a smirk slipping into place hearing a back-and-forth between Mona and Skull start. Not spotting any glowing paintings or footprints, he looked upwards towards a second-level balcony to the side of the room. Perhaps there was something up there to turn off the barricades, or a way around them.

Well, the stairway up was also blocked by electricity like the entrance to the room, and there weren't any convenient pipes for him to grapple up with… "—and you wouldn't have gotten anywhere even in Kamoshida's Palace if I wasn't there to guide you!"

"Oh please, we could've figured out how to take him down without you!"

He absentmindedly began climbing a pillar that had several paintings on it, looking around. "Hey Panther, set a timer or something, let's see if we break the record for longest argument between the two."

She rolled her eyes and leaned against the pillar he was atop. "Should we really let them keep going?"

He very deliberately did not look down, considering her position gave him a very clear view down her suit's… window. "Well, not like there are any Shadows around to worry about. Let them get it out of their systems now instead of when a bunch of enemies are beating the crap out of us."

"True enough." He could see her looking up at him with a smirk and heard the humor in her voice. He wasn't sure if that was from the argument, or if she knew he wasn't looking down at her on purpose. Probably both.

"Well, you wouldn't have learned how to fight shadows as well as we do!"

"Come on, fighting is mostly instincts thanks to our Personas! You think Joker grew up learning how to knife fight?! Besides, it doesn't take any skill at all to fight with maces or pipes or bats or whatever!"

Ω • Ω • Ω

Across the world, Sapphire Starr suddenly felt the urge to slap the absolute shit out of someone for disrespecting him and his weapon.

"Shh, it's okay, Casey, whoever they were, they didn't mean it…"

His Bonded Weapon simply did the equivalent of rolling their eyes in his mind.

Ω • Ω • Ω

After eventually managing to find a way across to the balcony, he found a switch to shut down all the barriers and quickly debated with himself whether to explore the second level further or continue onwards. He didn't bother consulting the others considering Mona and Skull were still basically throttling each other and Panther was watching in amusement.

On one hand, exploring the upper level could mean… treasure. Lowercase t, of course. Maybe a Will Seed, maybe just some smaller things to sell. But on the other hand, it was getting late… really late. They had already started the infiltration later than usual, and even though it was going relatively smoothly without as many snags as Kamoshida's Palace had, such as needing to find grappling hooks, or nearly being killed by a giant archangel, it had still taken a couple of hours to sneak through the museum.

He nodded and motioned them towards the way forward. "Come on, let's find a Safe Room then get out of here."

"Damn…"

"We've got homework we need to turn in tomorrow, remember?"

"Damn!"

He snorted in response and walked forward, waving the others behind him. On the other side of the doors was a long hallway, and at the end, they exited the main museum to step outside. Immediately their eyes were drawn to the massive structure ahead of them. "Whoa, check that building out… it's even gaudier than the rest of the museum!"

Panther was right, while the entirety of the museum outside had been golden, the tower before them was golden, sparkling and shining in the spotlights. The garden around them was filled with trees, golden and lined with black, stretched out towards the dark sky. Though they had none on their branches, sparkling leaves were constantly floating through the air above them. All along the edges of the garden, large shapes such as cubes, spheres, and triangles were stacked against each other, like some crappy art-deco. The path towards the tower was blocked by a stylized doorway, and Skull scoffed at the sight of it all.

"Geez, I thought the rest of this place was overkill." They stepped forward and suddenly the door, and the dozens behind it shot open, the sound reverberating and revealing yet another long hall. At the end of it, dozens of large barricades with red electricity flowing between them barred access to the rest of the garden, as well as the entrance to the tower, where a massive and intricately designed door was waiting for them. Blues, reds, and yellows, with an almost peacock-like design on it.

"Hey, take a look at this!" Panther walked over to a sign standing next to the barriers. "'All Personnelle: This door can only be opened via the security room that lies beyond it… Please be cautious, as it is impossible to open from the outside.' Huh."

"Wait, so there's no way around?! How're we supposed to get past?!"

"No, wait a minute!" Mona bounced forward and took a closer look. "Yeah… I saw this door in the Shack!"

"You did?"

"I think he'd remember a door this fancy," he snorted.

"So what does that mean?"

Mona just shook his head at Panther's question, "it means that we can't open it from here… but instead, out there."

Skull frowned. "Whaddya mean?"

"Come on, let's leave first, I'll explain more back in reality." Mona waved them along, so they shrugged and followed. Luckily just around the corner was a Safe Room, and after resting, they exited and found that the geometric shapes that Madarame likely thought passed as 'art' were perfect platforms up onto the building that they had exited from.

They quickly ran across the roof back towards the front of the building, avoiding skylights, and reached the front much faster, thanks to not having to sneak around Shadows, lasers, or winding hallways. When they reached the building's front Mona grabbed another rope from his pack and lowered it down onto the first roof they had used to enter the museum. They slid down and quickly ran out back into the parking lot of the museum.

They walked past the Velvet Room doorway and walked onto the sidewalk, pulling out their phones and exiting the Metaverse. When they'd reentered the real world the sun had set, it being well past seven. They began walking to the station, and he pulled open his bag to let Morgana speak. "Alright, spill, how are we getting past that door?"

"Mwehehe… well, remember how I said I saw a door just like that one in the real world? Well, this shack is the basis for the Museum. Well, on the second floor of the shack was a door that looked exactly the same, with a very hefty lock!"

"And in a place like that shack, it means there's something in there that Madarame doesn't want people to see," Ann surmised.

"But don't we wanna be openin' the door in the Palace, not here?"

"Yes, and we'll be doing that by opening the real door in front of Madarame's eyes. We'll be changing his cognition that the door is unopenable!"

"I see…" He rubbed his chin and grinned. "Whatever is behind the real door is so important to him that he keeps that door under heavy lock and key, which makes it impenetrable in his mindscape, meaning it won't open within his world of cognition… we break that certainty, and we can open the doors in the Metaverse!"

Ann rubbed her head. "So… when we open the door in his house the area in the Museum will open on its own?"

"I don't really get it… will that actually work?"

Morgana meowed confidently. "Of course it'll work!"

"..."

"...I think."

"For the love of…"

He chuckled as Ryuji groaned at Morgana. "Well, I understand how it should work, let's see if it actually works that way."

"Well, even if it does, there's still that hefty lock to deal with in reality, right?"

"That'll be a breeze, just give me a hairpin and I can take care of that! It'll take a few minutes though. So I'll need to make sure that nobody'll interrupt me while I'm working."

"Well, Kitagawa-san will obviously be preoccupied working on painting me. As for Madarame… well, the whole point is for him to see the door open. Perhaps I can also get him distracted by asking him about art while Kitagawa-san is painting me, then bringing them over somehow."

"Alright, then let's get this done-!"

"First, how about we focus on getting our homework done. I have an appointment with Kitagawa-san already scheduled for Friday. If it goes well, Kitagawa-san will probably be excited enough to ask me to come back the next day, and we can plan to go in on Saturday. That's three days of rest since we made excellent progress today."

"Man, why'd homework ever get invented?" He just solemnly pat Ryuji on the back, not bothering to answer.

Ω • Ω • Ω

5/19, Thursday

DEADLINE: June 5th

DAYS UNTIL EXHIBIT ENDS: 17

Steal Madarame's heart.

"So you take this line too?" He raised an eyebrow when he saw Kitagawa walk up to him, and he looked at the station signs around him in confusion. No, he was definitely at the right line.

How the hell did everyone he knew take the same line?

"Yes. I go to Shujin academy."

"Ah. Anyway, are you prepared to come tomorrow?"

He sighed and nodded. "Yes, I'm ready. Do you… need me to wear anything specific?"

'Please don't say 'something easy to remove…''

Heh.

"I've done several sketches, but I seem to keep coming back to darker colors, so anything on that side of the spectrum will do. Though maybe some sort of cape accessory might be good, I keep having flashes of some kind of longer clothing…"

"I'll buy a trench coat immediately."

"Hm… It could be a trench coat, but perhaps several types of longer-"

"I WILL BUY A TRENCH COAT IMMEDIATELY."

"...Okay."

You are much too obsessed with trench coats, dear Kouhai.

My dear simply thinks he looks cool while wearing them, Saki Mitama explained, a cute trait for someone so serious.

'Oi.'

"In any event, I look forward to your arrival." They nodded at each other and boarded the train when it finally arrived. A boring day at school passed, and when he was finally let out he got a text on his phone as he was packing his bag.

Takemi— Hello, Guinea Pig. I've got a new medicine ready to be tested.

You— Sounds good. I'll head over now.

He hopped on the train with Ryuji and Ann, ribbing Morgana with them about setting off the laser trap with the Treasure Demon. He eventually reached Yongen-Jaya and walked into the clinic, and tapped on the counter. "Howdy."

"Finally here? Then let's get to work." She led him into the exam room and got to work, pulling up her notes and handing him a test tube with orange liquid inside as he set his bag and Morgana to the side. "Here you go. The effects should be instant this time."

"Bottoms up." He chugged it and braced, but was pleasantly surprised when no acrid smell instantly knocked him out. There wasn't a foul taste either, more bland and tasteless than anything.

"Let's see… eyes are focused. Follow the pen." She held up the item and slowly moved it back and forth. "One, two, three, four… Nothing yet?"

"N- Hurhg!" He clasped a hand over his mouth as he gagged, the inside of his mouth suddenly on fire. His nose began itching horribly as well, and he fought the urge to sneeze.

This is disgusting…

"Ooh, there we go, the inhibitory effect is just as I had hoped."

"Is this supposed to be medicine or a date drug?!" He gagged again, hands on his knees.

Secure thine pants, save thy chastity for Madame Ann!

'Fuck you!'

Takemi just chuckled, writing down her notes. "Your weight was the primary reason it took longer to kick in than expected. Yes, this is about what is expected from a teenager. We're making great progress, Guinea Pig. Practice makes perfect, right? Now hold tight, once I compile all this data we can move on."

He tried to get his breathing under control as Takemi continued writing, only putting her pen down when the phone rang. "Hello, Takemi Medical Clinic of Internal Medicine, how can I help you? An emergency, huh? We're not a designated hospital. Besides, the head physician here is Tae Takemi." She paused, looking at the phone, before sighing and placing it down. "Awfully rude, just hanging up on a lady like that."

"What was that about?"

"Someone basically just called the wrong number. An ambulance driver was looking for a transfer location, all the designated hospitals were full. But to think they'd call a general practitioner… Eh, must have been a new paramedic. Seemed to at least know my name though…"

"What, do even paramedics recognize you? Is that idiotic name the cop called you something that widely known, the 'plague'?"

"Unfortunately… I've been blacklisted by the wider medical community, and they call me that due to a grave medical error I once made."

"Well, I'm basically knocked out by drugs right now… want to pass the time by giving me your backstory?"

She snorted, glancing at him. "Are you sure? You might not want to take any more medicine from me if you decide you don't like what you hear."

"If I'm already letting you test medicine that could kill me, I don't think a story will change that."

"Ha. Well, this goes back to my old job… I used to work at a university hospital in the city. I was never actually convicted of anything, but I'm still considered a pariah in the medical industry. Does that scare you? Participating in medical trials run by a doctor like that?"

"Eh. I'm pretty much a pariah myself. If you're not running away screaming from me, why should I for you?"

"...You're seriously one strange kid." She smiled though, shaking her head. "Still, that's fine. Being ostracized has enabled me to focus on my own research and development. But… no, I don't think you're getting any more info for now. Maybe when I've tested some more drugs on you so I know you won't run." Her smile turned into a smirk. "Regardless, I look forward to working with you. I'll be sure to add some new 'medicine' to my stock for you, my little guinea pig."

He chuckled at her tone, feeling his bond with the doctor grow deeper.

RANK UP!

Death Arcana, Back Alley Doctor: Rank Three

The phone rang again, and she picked it up. "Hello, Takemi Medical Clinic of Internal Medicine, how can I help you? Eh? One order of teriyaki chicken…? Tch, buzz off." She hung up and glowered, shaking her head. "Well, you're all good. You can go home for today. Come again soon, if you're still alive."

He glared at the phone, before standing and clapping the doctor's shoulder. "Come on, don't let some asses bother you. Let me go buy us some food, you can keep monitoring me for any side effects while we eat, Takemi-sensei."

She raised an eyebrow, before smiling. "Well, not like I'll be getting any other patients. What do I have to lose?"

He left and bought some takeout from Sakura, and they spent the rest of the afternoon eating and pranking any assholes that tried to scam call the 'plague' over the phone. He also felt a bit tougher after the medicine finally slipped out of his system.

All in all, a pleasant visit with Death.

Ω • Ω • Ω

"Alright, today, we're going to be brewing a cup of coffee from step one. Just listen to what I tell you." After he'd finished hanging out with Takemi, he'd returned to Leblanc, completed his homework, and after heading downstairs to use the bathroom, found Sakura waiting for him, wanting to know if he had time for more training. Naturally, he agreed.

"Sounds good."

"These beans are Columbian, a medium-fine city roast. Oh, and don't let the water boil too much."

"Alright, don't boil it too much. Got it."

Sakura chuckled, clapping his shoulder. "You'll be fine, I'm going to be here for the whole process." He nodded, starting. He followed the instructions that Sakura had given him each of the previous times he'd brewed coffee, with Berith reminding him of steps thanks to being a Hierophant Arcana, and sighed when he finished, pushing the cup over.

"Alright, here you go."

Sakura took a sip, and his eyebrows rose as a smirk grew on his face. "...Not bad. Though I guess anyone can do something as simple as just brewing it."

"I think you're just trying to downplay that I'm reaching your skill level."

"Heh, don't get ahead of yourself. You still don't know anything about making blends. Mixing beans at random won't do you any good."

"Just thinking about that sounds disgusting."

"Of course it does. And it is. The acidity and the flavor profile all depend on bean ratio. Pretty deep, huh?"

"Yet another subject to study."

"Somebody's enthusiastic. If you're that interested, feel free to try out different combinations you want to. Oh, but hands off the expensive beans while you're experimenting, got it?"

"Already trusting me with the expensive beans while making coffee for customers?"

"We'll see, it all depends on if you mess up any expensive orders," Sakura chuckled. "If you do good, then we'll move on to curry. There's something special about its flavor. Truth is, a scientific genius actually came up with the perfect spice combo to complement my coffee."

He snorted. "Someone came up with the scientifically perfect coffee and curry combination?"

"Don't ask me, I don't know much about it. It's something about the quantification of taste… There's no formula for flavor, but it IS pretty damn good. Anyhow, we don't make compromises when it comes to food service. Our stuff's gotta wow the customers."

"Sure, let me put my doctorate in chemistry to good use."

Sakura laughed at that. "Alright, wise guy, relax. In the end, this is a tiny shop, after all. The only thing keeping me going is self-satisfaction." He then cleared his throat. "So, er, make sure that you don't screw up when serving customers, alright?"

"Alright, Sakura-san." He noticed by now that Sakura had a habit of suddenly clamming up after realizing he was being too friendly. Perhaps he was just being gruff on purpose in an effort to make sure they didn't get too close… It still annoyed him, but it might just be a courtesy so their parting at the end of the year wouldn't be sad. Maybe the guy wasn't such a hardass after all.

The door to the shop opened, and they both turned to greet the customer, only for Sakura to forego his welcome at the sight of the man who'd entered. "You… Haven't I already told you I don't have the money? Look at this place. You see many customers in here?"

The man chuckled while Akira raised an eyebrow at Sakura's reaction to him. While the stranger seemed cheerful, there was likely a very good reason Sakura disliked him. "Oh, no need to hide it Sakura-san! You must have saved plenty from your time working in the government. Aren't you taking care of that employee right there too, for nothing more than charity? I wish you'd show me the same kindness you show others!"

"If you're not planning on buying anything, can you please leave? I'm expecting a phone call, so I don't have time to chat with you."

"I don't mind if you take the call in front of me. I can talk to your little friend here in the meantime. So should we keep talking until your call comes in? Or would that be too inconvenient for you?"

He looked back and forth, watching the byplay, a frown growing. Whoever the guy was, he was getting a strong feeling that he was an asshole.

No shit, Trickster.

Can't you get rid of him, mister?

Did he not just say that he was not awaiting a call?

Hmm… Kodama and Berith's words gave him an idea. He pulled his phone out and held it under the counter where it wouldn't be seen and began dialing Sakura's number. "If you want to speak with me… well, I don't mind as long as you're a paying customer. Sakura-san's doing me a big favor by teaching me how to become a good barista, and I really don't want to waste time—"

He was cut off when the call went through and Sakura's phone began ringing. His Confidant raised an eyebrow and pulled his phone out, and his other eyebrow followed when he saw the caller id. Quickly putting two and two together, Sakura waggled the phone. "Oh, there's that social services call I was waiting for. They come 'round pretty often to make sure this guy's not getting in any trouble. Want me to introduce you?"

The man's face fell and he looked away. "…Ah, that's right. I have some business I need to take care of myself! I'll come back later!"

The middle-aged man left, and Sakura sighed as he hung up. "Does he really have nothing better to do…? I guess I should explain what's going on, since he might try and drop by when I'm not around." He took a moment, before crossing his arms. "…That man is an old acquaintance of mine who's short on cash right now. Looks pretty friendly, yeah? Don't let him fool you—it's all an act."

"I'm a good judge of character, I could tell."

That caused Sakura to smirk. "Guess that explains why you went along with that little stunt. I have to say though, I'm surprised you were quick-witted enough to even pull that off."

"Now that's just rude. I'm plenty quick," he smirked back.

"Heh. Well, you really saved me back there. Thanks."

Their little shared moment of camaraderie was highlighted by snapping chains, his bond growing.

RANK UP!

Hierophant Arcana, Sojiro Sakura: Rank Four

Sakura's smirk fell quickly though, and he shook his head. "Still… why do you poké around into other people's troubles? It's way easier to ignore them."

"Because it's the right thing to do," he answered right away. "I never want to be the type of person who turns away from someone in need. Not when that woman was assaulted… and not when some asshole's interrupting a coffee lesson."

Sakura just looked at him, before nodding. "Hm. Alright then." He couldn't tell if that was acceptance or not, but he'd take it. Sakura finally noticed the time and grimaced, "already? Ugh… I'd report that man to the cops if he wasn't related to her… oh, uh…"

"If there's a problem…"

"No, never mind that. Anyway, that's it for today. Go… study or something. After you close up."

"Roger that, Sakura-san." He began cleaning up as Sakura left, then walked upstairs to sit down and do his homework. Morgana opened an eye from where he lay on his desk, before moving to the side to give him room.

"Ready to go visit Kitagawa-san tomorrow?"

"I suppose," he sighed. "I've got no idea what to expect, but it should be helpful to be on his good side in the future. Not sure what I'll do if he asks me to get naked, though."

Morgana laughed at his words, but he was deadly serious.

Whoo, a chapter about 65% Palace and 35% Life sim. Pretty good ratio I'd say. Can't wait to get to Yusuke and Joker's interactions next chapter, as well as opening the peacock door after that. We've almost got a new team member! Joker's also got an Asparas, and we'll see what new Personas he'll fuse next if he decides any of his current ones aren't up to par.

Really couldn't come up with a good title that encompassed everything going on this chapter so... Art Critics. Yep. Lol other than that, not much to say for this chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed reading, so let me know what you think of the chapter, or just leave a 'nice,' both are always great to read. See y'all next time!