Ace In The Hole

by eiranerys

Shido has barred the Shadow Operatives from action for two years. But when the Phantom Thieves appear, Mitsuru decides that they have to take action. Luckily, there's a certain former member Shido doesn't seem to be aware of: Ken Amada. But when Ken meets the Phantom Thieves in person, he can't help but agree with their goals. He can't help but befriend them. Phantom Thief!Ken AU.

41. 40: Counterstrike

Chapter 40

Counterstrike

---

Mitsuru was pacing around the room and tried to keep herself calm. She wasn't sure how well she managed.

"You don't mind if I use Shido as target practice, right?" Yukari hissed through the phone.

Needless to say, the actress had been far from pleased at the bad news.

"Not before I get my hands on him. He'll be begging for an execution by the time I'm through with him." Mitsuru said darkly, unable to stop herself from scowling

It wasn't just Amada. It was the fact that Minako had ended going into premature labor that infuriated Mitsuru so. And her friend's hysterics continued to ring in Mitsuru's ears.

"Hey, Mitsuru-senpai…" Yukari's anxious voice cut through her ruminations.

Mitsuru responded, "Yes, Yukari?"

"The baby…" Yukari trailed off for a moment, "Do the doctors know if there will be any complications yet?"

Mitsuru didn't blame Yukari for her anxiety. Especially since Minako had been Yukari's first friend for the longest time. Mitsuru knew that Yukari considered herself one of her best friends now… but she had a special bond with Minako. Not to mention that Minako was the twins' aunt. And had things been a little different… they probably would have been sisters-in-law by now.

"Hiraga was telling me a little," Mitsuru quickly clarified.

"Hiraga? Wait… as in Keisuke Hiraga? Wasn't he one of Minato's friends? The president of the photography club?"

Mitsuru then nodded out of habit, despite the fact that Yukari couldn't see her.

"The very same. We got to Minako to the hospital and she's been settled into the maternity ward. They gave her an epidural. It's for the best, to numb the pain she's in."

It was comforting to tell Yukari this. She could handle this.

"But Amada… no… I need to have faith in Akihiko and Shinjiro." She thought to herself.

She rubbed the back of her neck as she began to resume her pacing around the room.

Yukari then let out a heavy sigh, probably frowning as she said, "Poor Minako, she must have been bottling up these worries for so long. And then this had to happen…"

"It was just like a dam breaking. But as I was saying… Hiraga was explaining some things to us. Fortunately, Minako is thirty-seven weeks along so it's an early term birth, over premature. Statistically, a baby born before thirty-nine weeks is more susceptible to health problems, but Hiraga doesn't think there will be issues. Just that the baby will be born small." Mitsuru explained.

"I went through the same lecture, Senpai," Yukari reminded Mitsuru, sounding rather amused now. "Over six years ago. Speaking of which, how are the twins?"

"Aigis and Labrys are watching over them. They want to see Minako, but that's… not the best place for them to be."

"Mm… I wish I could be there. I promised I'd be back on Port Island before Minako's due date…" Yukari was probably biting her lip.

"Yukari, it's not your fault… This situation—"

"I know, I know. But I'll be on the first flight to Iwatodai Airport tomorrow."

Mitsuru just frowned. "Didn't you still have some shootings?"

"This is a family emergency!" Yukari said hotly; she was probably scowling now. "If people have an issue with it, then too bad. They'll just have to deal with it."

Mitsuru couldn't help but chuckle, "I have no objections."

"What about the others, though?" Yukari asked.

Mitsuru answered, "Iori and Yoshino are sitting with Minako. And Yamagishi…"

Mitsuru stopped short.

Yamagishi was on the phone as well, speaking to Shinjiro. From where Mitsuru stood, she could hear what Yamagishi was saying. Even though her tone was fairly even, the look on her face told a different story.

Even as she was reassuring Shinjiro, her lip quivered. She looked like she was barely holding herself together.

"Please be careful." Yamagishi suddenly pled; her voice suddenly cracked.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment.

"I don't know if I can bear it if you got hurt over this."

Mitsuru wanted to kick herself. Why didn't she think of sending Yamagishi? Juno had the ability to whisk everyone back to Tartarus's lobby… She would've been able to save Amada.

Yamagishi would've said yes, if she had asked. Without hesitation. And now… she was bound to worry about both Shinjiro and Amada. Especially with the distance between them.

Though, speaking of Amada… should she continue to risk his safety? Amada was adamant on staying but Mitsuru couldn't help but fear for him. On the other hand, there was what Niijima had said to her.

Maybe she should ask Yamagishi what she thought.

"Mitsuru-senpai?"

"I'm sorry, Yukari, it's just… There's something I have to do."

"Well, then take care of it then! I'll see you soon."

After her own goodbye, Mitsuru hung up. Then she tapped on Yamagishi's shoulder.

"Yamagishi, a word?"

Yamagishi blinked at her, before giving a tiny nod. She then spoke into the phone, explaining to Shinjiro that she had to go. A tiny smile curved at her lips, though it was ruined by the dull look in her eyes. Yamagishi then slipped her phone into her purse, looking to Mitsuru.

"What's the matter, Mitsuru-senpai?"

Mitsuru pursed her lips together.

"I just… Yamagishi, I want to know your opinion on what we should do after Amamiya's… faked death." Mitsuru trailed off.

Yamagishi pursed her lips together. Then she looked up at Mitsuru.

"Mitsuru-senpai, you can be straight with me. You're thinking that it'd might be better to bring back Ken-kun… don't you?"

"Well, I just—"

Mitsuru then heaved out a sigh.

"I don't know what to do honestly," she admitted quietly. "I wanted your opinion."

Yamagishi clasped her hands together behind her, before looking Mitsuru right in the eye.

"It wouldn't be fair to do that. Not just because of what Makoto-chan told you. But think about it, Mitsuru-senpai… Shido has directly gone after Ken-kun," she stated simply. "Do you think it'll matter after this? No matter what plan they come off, Shido won't take it lightly. And besides… doesn't Ken-kun deserve to help with taking Shido down after all of this?"

It was true… the closest Amada had gotten to how he had personally resounded with Sakura's situation.

But still… she didn't like this, at all.

Mitsuru sighed, rubbing at her face. She really needed a vacation from all of this.

"We'll discuss this with Amada later. For now, we wait."

---

"So… you're the infamous Ken Amada."

Ken leaned against the chair, trying to look nonchalant even as his heart thudded hard against his chest. He wasn't sure how much he succeeded given how he was cuffed down.

"Depends, who am I speaking to?" Ken asked coolly.

He only got a chuckle in response.

"I'm told that you're an intelligent one, boy. Use that brain of yours."

Ken looked away, pursing his lips.

Ken would have to be brain dead to not realize who the man was. But he needed to stall for time—figure out what to do. He needed to come up with something. Although it was difficult. His brain felt all fuzzy. Must be whatever they used to drug him with.

"You're Masayoshi Shido," Ken stated, focusing his gaze on the rug.

Shido roughly grabbed Ken by the chin, forcing Ken to look at him. He fought back the urge to glare at Shido. Instead, Ken forced his expression to remain neutral.

"Pay your respects to your betters, boy," he all but growled out.

It took all of his willpower to not scoff.

"Respect? Don't make me laugh. As if someone as arrogant and despicable as you deserve any," Ken thought with distaste.

He threatened to confiscate Aigis-san and Labrys-san, not to mention his threats towards Mitsuru-san.

He ordered the deaths of Isshiki-san and Okumura, devastating his two friends. The pain of a beloved parent cut deeply, something that Ken was more than familiar with. And in Futaba's case, he had caused her to become suicidal for two years.

And it was his behest that Akechi was going to try to kill Ren.

Words could not describe how much Ken despised him.

Ken met Shido's gaze steadily.

"Betters…" he echoed; somehow, he managed to keep his voice cool before he craned an eyebrow. "That's funny, I don't see anyone like that here."

The crack was worth it even when Shido suddenly struck him, making his cheek sting painfully.

"Impudent brat! How dare you disrespect me?!" Shido seethed, glaring daggers at Ken.

"You make it too easy." Ken kept that one to himself while he pressed his lips together.

Shido suddenly straightened himself, before readjusting his tie. But judging from Shido's tense posture, Ken's words got to him more than he'd like to admit.

Ken then demanded, "What do you want with me? I doubt that you're here to offer me tea and pastries."

Shido didn't answer right away. He walked to his desk, picking up a manila folder.

He spoke without preamble.

"You've been student council since junior high. Not to mention your athletic abilities. Furthermore, you're intelligent enough to win a scholarship."

Ken couldn't help but feel baffled. What was he up to?

"What are you—"

"Your talents are wasted on the people you've allied with," Shido said bluntly.

"Who are you to decide that?" Ken said with a scowl.

Shido ignored his retort and asked, "Why throw your potential away?"

Ken gave an irritated huff.

"The nerve of this creep..." he grumbled to himself.

"What—and you'd be better to help me?" He let some sarcasm slip into his voice.

Ken couldn't help but feel disgusted. Shido's mindset was so cold. What was this, a business transaction? He felt like a useful commodity all of a sudden instead of an individual.

Shido just smirked in response. In all honesty, Ken didn't consider what Shido was really like underneath the charismatic politician. But he really getting under his skin.

It dawned on Ken that it reminded him of when Akechi's arrogance irritated him.

Shido then tilted his head, allowing a look of pity fill his face.

"You know, it is rather sad how Kirijo has you wrapped so tightly around her finger."

Anger suddenly flared inside Ken and he glared.

"Don't patronize me!" he hissed out.

Shido just shrugged. "But it's true. The Kirijo Group is the one who's responsible for your mother's death, are they not?"

"You—"

Ken narrowed his eyes as the anger drained out of him.

How on earth did he know that? The Kirijo Group kept the truth about his mom's death under wraps.

Did Shido have some of the former Kirijo Group employees working for him?

But then Ken realized that Shido was looking at him, an amused smirk on his face. Ken really wished that he could wipe that smug expression from Shido's face.

"My mother died from an accident…" Ken finally said.

It was the truth. Shinjiro-san never meant to lose control of Castor that night.

The politician just clicked his tongue in response, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Kirijo really has you convinced otherwise, hasn't she?" Shido sighed out. "What a pity. I wonder how your mother would react if she saw you like this."

He glared at Shido once again. The man was really good at being aggravating.

"Don't speak like you know my mom!" Ken spat out.

Shido just chuckled.

"Oh, but I did."

---

"This is so humiliating."

Morgana glowered at the collar in Futaba's hand.

"Come on, Morgana, what's more important to you?! Your pride or Ken's life?!" Ryuji demanded.

Morgana huffed, "Oh quit it with the guilt trip! Of course Ken's life is more important! What do you take me for?! I just have some criticisms about the aesthetics—"

"Quit whining about aesthetics, cat, you're not Kitagawa." Shinjiro-san grumbled.

Morgana all but puffed up with anger. "I am NOT a cat!"

"Yeah okay we get it, stop arguing already." Akihiko-san rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, you both are acting like little babies," Futaba piled on.

"Excuse you?!" Morgana and Shinjiro exclaimed in unison while they glared at Futaba.

Now the three of them were arguing and Makoto could feel a headache coming on while Ryuji and Akihiko-san tried to get them to calm down.

Makoto took a deep breath, taking a moment to rub her temples. She needed to remain calm. Everyone was counting on her, especially Ken.

To make the plan work, they had to grab some of Futaba's equipment. So here they were, in the Sakura house. Sojiro had been understandably confused, so they had to hastily explain what had happened.

Sojiro had been horrified to learn of what had happened. Needless to say, he wasn't thrilled with the plan, especially with how instrumental Futaba was to it. But thankfully he accepted that Futaba was adamant on helping to save Ken. They still all had to promise him that she was to be returned home in one piece.

Even so, Makoto couldn't help but feel antsy. She'd probably feel better once they were on the road, following the coordinates that Futaba and Fuuka-san had traced, using Ken's Shadow Operative badge.

Not to mention there was Anne, Yusuke, and Haru. They had left with Rise-san and Chie-san in a separate car to sneak back into the Palace. She really hoped that they would be careful. Even though Anne scolded Ryuji from time to time for being reckless, the blonde had her hotheaded moments as well.

Add the other stressful problem to the equation… Akechi was going to try to murder Ren.

Haru was usually very sweet, but she was dealing with the cognition of Akechi. Makoto didn't know what Haru thought of Akechi being her father's murderer. She still remembered the rush of anger when Kaneshiro had gloated about pulling the strings of her dad's murder. It had been burning and all-consuming.

Something told her that Haru might unleash her ire on Sae's cognition of Akechi—since she couldn't do that with the real Akechi. She really hoped that Yusuke would be able to play damage control.

But she was still concerned for Futaba. Hopefully they would be able to keep her out of harm's way this time.

"Guys please…" Makoto spoke up. "Now's not the time for bickering, we're wasting time."

Shinjiro said nothing but he crossed his arms. Futaba gave a little huff and looked away briefly. Morgana scowled but he gave a little nod.

Their feline companion then allowed Futaba to slip the collar around his neck.

The plan was to have Morgana record the incriminating evidence. Futaba had attached a recording device to the collar for that very purpose. Him being so small gave him quite the advantage.

Futaba then dusted herself off, standing up, before darting back to her desk. She yanked open a drawer, rummaging through it.

She mumbled out, "I know it's here somewhere…"

Akihiko-san looked quizzically at them, as if he expected them to know how Futaba's mind worked. Ryuji just shrugged at him in response.

"Don't look at us, man. Futaba can be a huge mystery," Ryuji stated.

Makoto couldn't help but nod in agreement. Shinjiro-san just gave them both an incredulous look in response.

"Aha!" Futaba suddenly crowed.

She then whipped around, holding up several earpieces in her open palm.

Ryuji just squinted. "What the hell are these?"

Futaba smiled proudly.

"Communication devices! I was thinking that since you guys are gonna have to separate from Shinjiro-san and Akihiko-san during the rescue attempt, this is a good way to keep in contact. I even have one for Morgana. More of a mini radio though."

"We have those, developed by the Kirijo Group's R&D as well," Akihiko-san noted, before he heaved out a sigh. "I wish I had thought of bringing that…"

Makoto implored, "Akihiko-san, please don't be so hard on yourself. We were all stressed…"

He just sighed, rubbing at his jaw. "I know… I just can't help but keep running the what-ifs in my head. I just don't want to lose a third person I care about."

A third? One was Minato-san obviously but who was the second? Makoto sighed to herself. It wasn't the right time to ask about it.

Futaba cleared her throat. "But anyways… Ren brought them in for me the other day—I think Iwai gave them to him as a little freebie? He asked me to look into making them work in the Metaverse!"

"That is pretty smart," Shinjiro-san admitted.

Akihiko-san frowned, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"Who's Iwai?" he asked.

"One of Ren's contacts. That's all you need to know," Morgana answered.

"That ain't suspicious at all," Shinjiro-san said dryly.

"Maybe me and Makoto can look around," Ryuji suggested, obviously looking to change the subject. "See if we can find the drug you guys were talking about."

Morgana shook his head.

"We won't know that's what they drugged Ken with though. Just looking at the coloration isn't enough. And besides that, Futaba only caught a glimpse of the syringe, remember? Besides that, we shouldn't leave Futaba alone. After all, Ken's hand was forced because Futaba was captured. We can't have a repeat of that," he practically lectured Ryuji.

Ryuji deflated at that. "Oh, yeah…"

"It's still a good idea, Ryuji," Makoto said hastily, giving him a reassuring smile. "We can see what we can find. And who knows? Maybe we'll be able to discover something that will help us figure out the keywords to his Palace."

"Don't do anything reckless," Morgana grumbled.

"E-Excuse me?" Makoto demanded.

Morgana just flicked his tail. He didn't have eyebrows but Makoto could feel like he was raising one brow in disapproval.

"Do I have to remind you what happened with Kaneshiro?"

"T-That was months ago!" she protested, feeling an embarrassed blush flush her cheeks.

"Do I wanna know what happened?" Akihiko-san whispered to Shinjiro-san, who just shrugged in response.

Futaba suddenly frowned. "Is this going to be enough…? Maybe I can find something else that will help us out!"

Makoto quickly grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Futaba, please, you're doing more than enough," she said reassuringly.

Futaba's lip suddenly quivered.

"We have to make this work…" she whispered.

"And we will."

Makoto quickly hugged the younger girl, stroking her back.

It honestly broke Makoto's heart to see how fragile Futaba had become over this situation.

Futaba buried herself deeper into Makoto's embrace, shaking like a leaf.

"Please remember that it isn't your fault, okay?" Makoto pleaded softly, stroking Futaba's hair for a moment.

"R-Right." Futaba suddenly pulled away, her eyes too bright and a bit too much pep infused in her voice. "But let's move! We're burning daylight!"

"It's night," Akihiko-san pointed out.

Futaba scowled, jabbing a finger in the silver haired man's direction. "It's a saying! A figure of speech! Enough chit-chat! We need to move!"

"Pushy, pushy..." Morgana grumbled before jumping from on top of Futaba's desk, landing on Ryuji's shoulder.

"You're the last person to criticize anyone about being bossy." Ryuji snorted.

"Why you—!" Morgana growled.

"That's enough." Shinjiro plucked Morgana off Ryuji, setting the cat down and glaring at the two. "No more bickering."

Akihiko-san rubbed his forehead with a tired expression; he probably had the same headache Makoto was getting again.

"Says the guy who was bickering with a teenager and a cat earlier," Akihiko-san mumbled.

"You got something to say Aki?" Shinjiro-san glared at his friend.

"Okay enough… we need to get a move on," Makoto grumbled.

"That's what I was saying," Futaba complained.

Akihiko-san managed to herd her friends out of the door. Makoto let out a frustrated sigh, before rubbing her temples once more. Now really was not the time for the bickering. She really hoped they could manage without anymore headaches, literal and figurative.

"I'm guessing that they're like this a lot?" Shinjiro-san asked.

Makoto blinked. "U-Um, well, it's not that bad, it's just…"

"You don't have to explain yourself. Kinda reminds me of us, our crazy group I mean. No wonder it's so easy to give into their barbs."

Makoto could have sworn she saw a hint of a smile. Then Shinjiro-san heaved out a sigh himself.

He said wearily, "I hope this plan of yours works, Niijima. I don't even want to think about the alternative outcome."

Makoto swallowed hard. She couldn't think about it. Just the mere thought of losing Ken was just too much to bear.

"We'll make it work; we have to. Failure isn't an option." She spoke more confidently than she felt.

"You know… I am surprised," he said.

"About what?" Makoto asked; she couldn't help but feel confused.

"You've been doubting yourself about facing your sister this past month," he said bluntly. "And yet, you pulled yourself together when shit was going down. You had the guts to tell everyone to shut the fuck up and stop moping about the situation."

Makoto began to protest, "I didn't—"

"It's the gist of it," Shinjiro-san cut her off, holding up a hand.

Then he gave her a small smile.

"Just take the compliment."

Makoto bit her lip. For some reason, she felt the need to explain.

"It's well—Ken has always had faith in me. Even when I didn't have any. I want to prove that he's right… especially when he needs me the most."

Shinjiro-san's expression was pensive. Then he closed his eyes for a moment.

"Heh. I think you've proven yourself, Makoto."

Makoto looked at him, wide-eyed.

"W-Wait, you—"

"But let's get moving, yeah?" he said nonchalantly. "Ken needs us. We can't waste any more time."

Then he brushed past Makoto, already exiting Futaba's bedroom.

Makoto just stared at his retreating figure, before shaking her head. Her boyfriend's guardian continued to be an enigma and yet she couldn't help but feel a little pleased about this. He almost sounded impressed with her.

But… he was right. They needed this plan to work.

She just hoped that Ken would be okay.

---

Shinjiro didn't know what to think of this location.

He was more than aware that not all of Tokyo was bustling city life. Yongen-jaya was proof of that. But he couldn't help but feel extremely on edge. This place looked almost like a lab of sorts. Though he supposed that Shido would want a more secluded area. He needed to be away from the public's eye if he was gonna plot.

It didn't matter. Ken was the priority. He couldn't slip up now. He had to focus.

This was similar to how Minazuki orchestrated the kidnappings. That went fine. This would be the same.

"Hey Shinji, we're here," Aki said quietly, snapping Shinjiro out of his thoughts.

"Right," he muttered out before carefully pushing the door open.

Makoto opened the door on her side, Morgana riding on her shoulder as she climbed out. Sakura climbed out after her and then Sakamoto. Their expressions were pensive. But they were looking at him and Aki. The teenagers were taking a step backwards, expecting the two of them to take the lead.

Shinjiro warned. "Stay back. We don't want you to be seen."

Morgana looked like he wanted to protest, but Makoto gave a quick shake of her head.

They crept towards the entrance, when Morgana suddenly tutted.

"Keep your footsteps lighter," Morgana muttered, looking straight at both Shinjiro and Aki.

Shinjiro didn't know how, but the cat had the most disapproving look on his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shinjiro frowned.

"You gotta step lighter or else you'll give yourself away," Morgana lectured. "And you wanna get the drop on Shido's men, right?"

Shinjiro narrowed his eyes. Bossy little furball. His behavior kinda reminded him of how Mitsuru took the lead when SEES had just formed. Though he had to begrudgingly admit that Morgana had a point. Not that he'd give him that satisfaction.

Aki crossed his arms.

"It's worth a shot."

"Of course it is! This is basic Phantom Thief stuff here. Have you guys never heard of stealth before?" Morgana said haughtily.

Sakamoto joked lightly, "See what we hafta put up with?"

"Why you—"

Makoto silenced him with a stern look. Personally, he was glad. He usually could tolerate jokes and traded barbs but not tonight.

"We never really had to worry about that sort of stuff." Aki shrugged. "But I understand your point."

Shinjiro just nodded numbly. He felt sick, sick to his stomach. What was Shido planning on doing to Ken to have leverage over Mitsuru? If only Shido wasn't so powerful. The bastard deserved a good deck in the face and then some.

But they moved forward, circling around the area. It turned out that the building was fenced off completely. At least there wasn't any barbed wire on the top of it.

Shinjiro and Aki looked at each other and then the fence. Too easy. There had been countless times of them climbing fences (and getting into trouble) when they were kids.

They grabbed onto the fence and scaled it all too easily.

His friend just grinned.

"Looks like you haven't gotten rusty at all," Aki teased.

Shinjiro snorted. "Please. I'd think you'd be the one who got rusty, being a squeaky-clean cop now."

"Wait you're—" Makoto's eyes were wide.

"You gotta move fast," Akihiko-san whispered. "Come on, we gotta hustle!"

"And 'sides, Ken tells me you've done a bunch of crazy stunts," Shinjiro added.

Makoto looked uncertain still, but Sakamoto shrugged before grabbing onto the fence himself. Makoto then sighed before climbing up herself. The two teens dropped down onto the other side without any urging from either Shinjiro or Aki.

But that left Sakura. She seemed reluctant, before she shook her head.

"I can't… I'm no good at this…"

Something in Sakamoto seemed to snap, and he grabbed onto the fencing.

"Futaba, this ain't you! You're not that weak girl who would hide away from everything! You're a Phantom Thief! You're more than capable, okay? Telling yourself that you can't is not helping. And besides, you ran along with us in the Palaces! You're strong—stronger than you're telling yourself."

Sakura blinked, before her expression steeled.

"You're right, Ryuji… What am I doing?"

"Feeling sorry for yourself," Sakamoto said flatly.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him, which made Sakamoto grin in response.

She complained, "Ugh, you've got no tact. You'll never win a girl's heart that way."

Sakamoto scowled at her. "Hey, you're one to talk!"

"Hey, I'm not the one after a girlfriend," Sakura quipped, hands on her hips.

Then Sakura grabbed onto the fence, struggling to climb up but she managed to get high enough so that Aki could grab her. He swung her over. Sakura trembled for a moment, but she screwed her eyes shut before she let go.

Makoto caught her, making Sakura look at her in surprise.

But Makoto just smiled. "I've got you."

Sakura smiled back. "Um… thanks."

Shinjiro and Aki then dropped to the ground. They took a moment to dust themselves off before they hustled for a hiding place. Shido had a few men patrolling the area. It was a good thing they were all wearing dark clothing.

They had to go slowly in order to survey the area. Though Morgana kept hissing at Shinjiro and Aki to duck and cover for a hiding place. Makoto, Sakamoto, and Sakura all had no problem. It seemed almost instinctual for them.

"You have no self-preservation," Morgana complained quietly.

"Shut it before I stuff you in the fuckin' bag," Shinjiro snapped in a hushed tone.

Makoto chided in a whisper, "That's enough. We've found the least patrolled area, haven't we?"

"Kinda weird though, don'tcha think?" Sakamoto voiced.

Aki frowned. "Yeah, you'd think this being Shido's little… hideaway, it'd be way more heavily guarded."

Shinjiro clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"Shido must be concentrating his forces at the police station to make sure Amamiya doesn't escape," he guessed.

Aki's frown deepened, before he stroked his chin for a moment. "Which will make Chie and Rise's job harder."

"Don't focus on that. Have faith in them," Morgana said briskly. "Besides that, remember that Shido's decision should make our job less difficult."

"Ready to draw them out, Morgana?" Makoto asked in a low voice.

Morgana sighed. "…Yeah."

He then jumped down from Makoto's shoulder, trotting ahead.

It wasn't long until they heard voices. Shinjiro tensed up as they grew closer.

"How did a cat get in here?"

"Cats get into everything though. But anyways, we need to focus on the job, remember?"

"Pffft, please. There's going to be nothing happening tonight. You really think Kirijo's agent is actually going to be stupid enough to try and run away? Not that he can with that drug in his system. I've heard it's a whopper. And Kirijo's inner circle has always been so spineless."

Aki glanced at Shinjiro for a moment before springing forward, tackling one to the ground.

"So we're spineless now, Shinji?" he said casually, twisting Shido's man's arms behind his back like he was making an arrest.

Shinjiro then advanced on the other man, whose expression was growing more and more terrified.

"Yeah that's hilarious," Shinjiro said dryly. "Because all I see is a bunch of pussies."

"Y-You…" he stuttered out, shakily holding onto his radio.

Shinjiro just smacked it out of his hand, before crushing it under his foot.

"Yeah, it's me," Shinjiro snarled out. "And you're gonna regret the day you sided with Shido, you spineless pansy."

He grabbed for the gun at his hip, but Shinjiro just grabbed his wrist and twisted until he yelped in pain, the pistol slipping out of his fingers. Shinjiro then yanked him forward enough so Shinjiro could headbutt him right in the head. He collapsed in a heap.

Shinjiro scoffed. That was too easy. A quick glance told him that Aki was successful in knocking out his opponent and was now stripping him of his clothes. Shinjiro stripped his opponent of his own clothes.

"Shinji, rope," Aki said.

Shinjiro turned and caught the coil of rope Aki threw him. Shinjiro bound his arms tightly to his torso before securing it with a tight knot. They then threw the two men in the bushes.

But Shinjiro noticed that the teens were all gaping at him.

"You just—" Sakamoto broke off, just staring at them with wide eyes.

"You didn't even break a sweat…" Makoto looked awed.

"Or even use your Persona!" Sakura yelped. "I'm glad you're on our side!"

"Tch, this is nothing," Shinjiro scoffed. "But anyways, Aki and I probably should find some… privacy…"

He trailed off as a sudden movement caught his eye. He glared at Aki. The idiot!

Aki was already stripping, casting aside his shirt.

"W-What?" Makoto stammered out, her face suddenly turning a dark shade of scarlet.

"The fuck you doing, Aki?!" Shinjiro snarled out, before marching over to his idiot of a best friend.

He then thumped Aki hard on the head—not that would knock any real sense into him.

Aki just stared at him, baffled. "Getting the disguise on?"

"Why the fuck are you stripping in front of everyone, then?!" he hissed.

Ugh. How the hell did this idiot survive on his own for two years?

Sakamoto let out a low whistle. "Damn. Look at that scar on his chest. Badass..."

"Pffft, who cares about that?" Sakura scoffed before greedily staring at Aki's bare chest. "Minako-san's lucky—Akihiko-san's a total beefcake!"

"Futaba!" Makoto scolded.

"What? I have eyes, of course I'm going to look!"

"You're being rude!" she hissed.

Sakura just grinned impishly.

"Though I guess you don't care because you've got Ken to oogle."

Shinjiro grumbled, he really did not need to know that. It was annoying enough to walk in on them trading spit. Though he supposed he should be thankful that he hadn't at least walked in on them groping each other. Then he'd really need brain bleach.

"That—That's not why I'm saying that!" Makoto protested.

"Ohhh, so you do oogle Ken?" Sakura quirked an eyebrow at Makoto, a devious glint in her eyes. "Don't forget that I see all from Prometheus."

"Always the quiet ones, huh?" Sakamoto teased.

Makoto's eye seemed to twitch. She might've done something if Morgana hadn't spoke up.

Morgana rolled his eyes. "Pipe down, all of you. Do you want to get caught? Sheesh. Did you forget all of my teachings?"

"Teenagers…" Shinjiro sighed.

Aki just chuckled, nudging Shinjiro in the side.

He teased, "You sound old when you talk like that, Shinji."

"Yeah, like Shinjiro-san doesn't act like a cranky old man already," Sakamoto snickered.

Shinjiro let out a low growl. "Are you asking for an ass kicking, Sakamoto?"

Aki nudged him once again. "C'mon, Shinji, we've got work to do."

"Hmph."

Makoto suddenly sighed, "I hope Haru's group is doing okay."

"She'll be fine, Makoto!" Morgana reassured. "I trust in all of them."

Sakura frowned. "Though I'm a bit more worried for your sis's cognition of Akechi."

Sakamoto asked, "You really think that Haru will beat the crap outta him?"

Aki blinked in confusion. "Are we talking about the same Haru?"

"Two thousand yen that Haru beats up the cognitive Akechi," Sakura challenged, sticking out her hand. "What do you say, Ryuji?"

Sakamoto stared at Sakura's hand for a moment. Then his face broke into a wide grin.

"Deal!" he declared, grabbing Sakura's hand and shaking it vigorously.

"Futaba! Ryuji!" Makoto scolded. "Really?"

"It's like Minako and Iori all over again…" Shinjiro grumbled.

"Hey now!" Morgana scolded, looking sternly at both Sakamoto and Sakura. "We gotta focus on getting inside."

"What a killjoy," Futaba quipped.

"Excuse me?!"

---

Even though Akihiko-san and Shinjiro-san had taken down the front guards all too easily, Makoto couldn't help but feel antsy. What about inside? It'd be worse, wouldn't it?

"Oi, Makoto, you still there?" Ryuji's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"I… I'm fine," Makoto quickly lied.

Ryuji gave a concerned frown but fortunately he didn't press Makoto. Makoto wasn't exactly in the mood to elaborate right now. She cared more about enacting the plan so they could get Ken out of here sooner.

"I'm ready," Shinjiro-san suddenly announced, making Makoto jump.

Shinjiro-san surprisingly filled out the police officer outfit rather well. He had also pulled his hair up in a higher ponytail, compared to the low ponytail he seemed to prefer. The difference was striking. It made him less scruffy—though Makoto supposed that was the point.

Akihiko-san nodded; his expression was dead serious. "Let's go then."

They let the two older men take the lead. The plan was to find the control room first. After all, they'd be in trouble if the men operating the room caught onto them.

But the tricky part was to get Morgana to find Ken so he could tell Ken the plan… They were hoping to find a vent, like in the Metaverse, but Makoto couldn't help but be worried. They needed this plan to work. Makoto shook her head, pushing it out of her mind. She couldn't be fussing over this. She had to focus.

They crept through the halls, though Makoto felt a bit antsy. She didn't like being so out in the open, especially when they were supposed to be sneaking.

Akihiko-san slowly pushed open the door, peering inside. Then he turned to look at them, giving a little nod.

"Bingo. This is the place we want."

But before any of them could respond, voices floated from inside.

"This is so boring," one man complained.

"Nothing's going to happen here. The kid will agree to Shido-san's deal if he has a single brain cell. It's suicide to go against him. You might as well be dead. I kinda wish I was posted at the police station. At least there's something to do."

"And have to deal with all the high-strung higher-ups? I'll pass. Shido will kill them if this plan is botched up."

"Please. Like their leader can escape." The other man laughed.

Futaba suddenly stiffened, blood draining from her face.

"Futaba?" Makoto asked.

"That voice…" she said faintly, only for her expression to harden as she whispered, "I recognize it. He's one of the guys who ambushed us!"

They all froze at that. It didn't occur to Makoto at all that they would run into any of the men who had helped capture Ken.

"Gives us more of a reason to beat the shit out of them." Shinjiro said flatly, his expression darkening.

Akihiko-san peered inside to get a better look, only to look back at Shinjiro-san.

"There's only two of them," He reported, then cracked his knuckles. "Ready, Shinji?"

Shinjiro-san nodded curtly. "Let's go."

It wasn't long until there was a cacophony of startled cries and shouts. But Makoto still waited for Akihiko-san to signal it was safe. Once they heard "It's clear" the three teenagers piled in. The two men were on the floor, knocked out. Their radios were smashed to pieces as well. There were considerably more bruises on their faces than the other men.

Ryuji let out a nervous laugh. "Uh… so this is a reminder not to mess with Shinjiro-san?"

Shinjiro-san cracked his knuckles in response.

"That felt good," he stated with a smirk.

Ryuji gulped. "Remind me to never piss you off."

Shinjiro-san scoffed. "No promises."

"Okay… stage one is complete," Morgana said. "Now comes the hard part."

"Right." Akihiko-san gave a firm nod.

"You know, there is one thing that's bugging me..." Futaba said tentatively.

Makoto frowned, as she tried to think of what that would be.

"What would that be, Futaba?" Makoto asked.

"Ken's phone. I mean, we should try to get it back, right? There's gotta be some incriminating info on there…" Futaba pointed out.

"I mean there's all the contacts…" Akihiko-san trailed off. "But Mitsuru had Ken talk to her on video chat on his laptop, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Shinjiro-san gave a little nod, before he stared at Futaba. "Not that it helped with a certain someone."

"Who? Me?" Futaba blinked at him.

Shinjiro-san rolled his eyes in response.

"Don't pull an Amamiya, Sakura," he deadpanned.

Makoto found her eyes wandering as the banter continued. She managed to catch sight of a vent.

"I've found a way for Morgana to sneak to Ken," she said, pointing to the vent.

"Pretty high up, though," Morgana noted.

Ryuji groaned, hanging his head.

He lamented, "It was way easier in the Metaverse."

Akihiko-san's gaze turned to scrutinizing, before he looked to Shinjiro-san and then Ryuji for some reason.

"Shinji, let Ryuji climb on you. I bet he can get the vent open. Then Morgana can climb inside."

Shinjiro-san gave him an irritated glare.

"Are you kidding?" he demanded. "Why not you?!"

Akihiko-san folded his arms over his chest, quirking an eyebrow. "I mean, he's kinda the same height as me."

"I'm not that much taller, you realize?" Shinjiro-san retorted.

This earned him a scoff and an eye roll. "Oh, now you say that."

"Ahem!" Makoto cleared her throat, before she shot them a pointed look. "Are you two done?"

Shinjiro-san grumbled. "Let's get it over with."

Shinjiro-san crouched down so Ryuji could climb onto his shoulders. Morgana clung to Ryuji's shoulders for dear life as Shinjiro-san slowly straightened up. Ryuji flailed his arms for a moment.

"Holy shit!" Ryuji scrambled to maintain his balance.

"Just hurry up," Shinjiro-san grunted out. "You're not exactly as light as a feather."

Futaba snickered to herself before snapping a quick picture with her phone. Makoto looked at her sternly, but Futaba just shrugged at her. Makoto just let out an exasperated sigh. Only Futaba would do that.

"Well, maybe Ren too..." she mentally sighed to herself.

It took Ryuji several tries to finally wrench the vent open. Ryuji tossed it aside before allowing Morgana to climb up his head.

"You've got this, Morgana!" Ryuji whispered.

"Be careful, Morgana!" Futaba voiced; hands clenched. "But you've gotta hurry!"

"Okay, okay, sheesh, no pressure…" the feline grumbled out.

"You've got this," Makoto encouraged.

Morgana's expression softened. "I won't let you down."

Then he disappeared into the vent. Makoto bit her lip. She hated that this plan had so much uncertainty. She could only just pray that Morgana could find Ken.

Shinjiro-san then lowered himself enough so that Ryuji could jump back down to the ground.

"I just wish that we could notify Ken that we're here," Akihiko-san sighed, frowning to himself as he absentmindedly rubbed his arm.

"Never mind that, Aki," Shinjiro-san snapped—he was clearly on edge. "Let's get moving."

"Wait!" Makoto blurted out, only to slap a hand over her mouth.

She just reddened as the two older men looked to her in confusion.

Makoto stammered out, "I-I just wanted to say… Be careful."

Futaba was the one working from the shadows but… Shinjiro-san and Akihiko-san would be the one doing the actual rescue. And she knew that Ken would just blame himself if they got seriously injured for him.

Especially Shinjiro-san.

She just… wished she could do more.

"We will." Akihiko-san gave her a reassuring smile.

The two men then ducked out of the room. Makoto gave a little sigh before glancing up towards the vent. She could only hope that Morgana could find Ken quickly.

"Hey... try to breathe, Makoto."

Makoto looked towards Ryuji, who just smiled sheepishly. But she couldn't fault him for his obvious attempt to try and get her mind off of things.

"U-Um, you know… I didn't get the chance to say this earlier, but you were pretty impressive back there, Makoto. It's great that you could talk some sense into your sis's Shadow so she'd stop fighting," Futaba voiced.

Makoto smiled and slightly blushed. "Thank you. To be honest, I'm just surprised as you are that I managed to pull it off."

"Hey, you've changed a lot, Makoto." Ryuji grinned. "I remember back when I just thought of ya as just the robotic student council president."

Makoto glared at him briefly, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"Please do not bring that up," she requested sternly.

Ryuji protested, "Hey, I meant that as a compliment! I just meant that you've matured a lot and also that I realize I had the wrong idea about ya!"

"Same ol' Ryuji," Futaba quipped with a teasing smile.

"Hey, that's not true!" Ryuji retorted. "Besides, you didn't meet us till August! How do you know how I was like before that?"

Futaba just smiled sheepishly.

"It was the bug, wasn't it?" Makoto said with a sigh.

In that moment, Futaba's face fell.

"Ken would always get on my case for bugging LeBlanc," Futaba said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. "I found it pretty annoying, the way he'd nag at me but…"

Tears started to form in her eyes.

"H-Hey, don't cry!" Ryuji blurted out in a panic, reaching out to awkwardly pat Futaba on the shoulder. "Ken wouldn't want ya to be blubbering over him like this!"

Futaba glared at him before angrily wiping at her eyes. "Who's blubbering?!"

Makoto chided, "Come on, settle down. We can't really afford Shido's men looking in."

"Yeah, sorry..." Ryuji apologized.

It then became quiet. Makoto wasn't sure how long, however. Makoto found herself stopping herself from pacing several times. She felt… restless. They were always on the move in the Palaces, even when they needed to be stealthy. But this? She couldn't help but feel that she was waiting on her hands.

"I hate feeling so powerless," she lamented to herself.

Though from the looks of it, Ryuji wasn't faring much better, with the way he impatiently tapped his foot. Futaba sat on the floor, her laptop resting in her lap.

"Do you think Morgana is getting close?" Futaba suddenly asked.

Makoto sighed, folding her arms over her chest.

"I certainly hope so," she said softly.

Ryuji scratched the back of his head. "Akihiko-san did have a good point back there—it would be good to notify Ken. To give him a little hope, y'know?"

"Wait!" Futaba suddenly looked up; her eyes wide as saucers. "Makoto! Your present to Ken!"

Makoto's eyes widened before her eyes flicked to her wrist. "That's right. I… I can't believe that I completely forgot."

Even though it was just a week ago…

"Is something wrong, Makoto?" Ken looked confused.

"It's nothing wrong…" Makoto said slowly. "B-But I got you a little something! As a late birthday present!"

Ken frowned. "You didn't have to get me anything."

"But I wanted to! Especially with what you bought me during our first date…"

Makoto then fumbled with the box for a moment before handing it to her boyfriend.

Ken opened to reveal a silver watch inside.

"A watch?"

"I got Futaba to fiddle with it, to sync with the one I have here."

Makoto fumbled with her sleeve, showing him that she wore a similar watch, only more feminine.

"If you twist the knob counterclockwise and if you're within the distance of half a kilometer, it'll start vibrating."

Makoto found herself panicking a little at Ken's thoughtful expression.

"N-Not that I need to know where you are every moment! That's not it at all! I just thought—it'd be…"

Ken caught her wrist with his free hand, pulling her in for a quick kiss.

"You didn't have to go on a tangent like that, you know," Ken said, an amused smile tugging at his lips.

"S-Sorry, I just…" Makoto winced, before tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "I wanted to find you something good… I haven't really done any shopping for someone's birthday present in ages."

"It's a wonderful present," Ken reassured her, his amused smile growing more affectionate. "Thanks, Makoto. I won't ever take it off."

"Really?"

"I promise."

She hadn't thought she'd be using it just a week after giving it to him, though…

"But you should hold off on it for now," Ryuji advised. "Don't wanna tip off Shido, y'know? We should wait 'til Morgana finds Ken."

Oh… he had a good point. Makoto nodded to acknowledge what he said, before turning her attention to the monitors. She couldn't help but scowl at the image of Shido standing over her boyfriend. She really wished that she could just get Ken away from him.

She really hoped that Morgana would find him soon…

---

"You did not know my mother," Ken snapped.

Shido chuckled. "Ah, but I did. Her name was Hikari Himura. She married your father right after she graduated from university."

Ken tensed up. Himura was his mother's maiden name. It was the name she was buried under; after all, his parents had been divorced for years when she died. And that was true. His parents had gotten married after his mother had graduated from university.

But how did his mom know Shido of all people? N-No, Shido was just trying to mess with his head. His power could let him dig into people's information.

"Quite a tragedy, her death." Shido's tone was conversational, as if he was discussing the weather. "Although… I must admit, looking over the official records… something doesn't quite add up."

"Shut. Up." Ken ground out through gritted teeth.

"A bit sensitive, are we? Do you know more than you're letting on, perhaps?"

Ken glared at Shido. His blood was boiling with how casually Shido spoke of his mom's death. He didn't know anything about how Ken felt.

"I said shut up!" he hissed.

"I think I know why you're so attached to Kirijo and her cohorts," Shido continued, blatantly ignoring Ken. "It's because you were alone for so long. It couldn't have been easy, having no father in your life for as long as you can remember. And then you lose your mother at a young age."

Ken narrowed his eyes. "Is this the part where you tell me your sob story so you can tell me that you and I aren't so different?"

Shido's eye seemed to twitch for a moment before he forced a smile.

"No, it is not," he said evenly. "However, I just want to point out that your attachment is unnecessary. And besides that… what would your mother think?"

Anger immediately flooded Ken's entire being.

Did he… seriously try to pull that card?

But then Shido spoke again.

"They're nothing but hypocrites. The Phantom Thieves do nothing but steal free will from people, just like how your mother's death was unjustly stolen for her. They've probably convinced you that they're on the side of justice but they do nothing but twist it. You really think your mother would be proud of something like that?"

"That's—" Ken's protest died in his throat.

"No… Shido is just spewing this drivel to get inside my head." Ken thought to himself.

And yet, Ken couldn't pull together a counterargument.

Ken suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He immediately tensed at Shido's touch. In fact, his skin started to crawl, as if it could not abide even Shido touching him.

"I know why you felt this way…" he said silkily. "Today's society is not how it should be. But my goal is to shape it into something better. Isn't that why you joined the Phantom Thieves?"

Ken shook his head. That was a bald-faced lie. Shido is a heartless man with empty promises, no silver-tongue and honeyed words would change that.

"Stop it…" he said weakly. "And… why do you even want me?"

Shido then smirked, "Do you recall that I said that your attachment is unnecessary? You do have family who cares. I have it on good authority."

Ken hissed out, "That's a lie. The only living family I have is my father's cousin and his family. And I know just how much he doesn't care about me."

Shido shook his head. "That's not true. You have a cousin. Someone your age, in fact."

"Someone… my age? There was only that one kid, my aunt's son—"

He paused from that thought as an implication started to settle in him that he didn't like.

"Wait a minute... wasn't his name—Goro?"

But his name would be Goro Himura—not Goro Akechi. He was jumping to conclusions. Goro wasn't exactly some rare uncommon name. He met a few kids throughout his school life with that same name.

Except... Akihiko-san had ended taking his adoptive parents' surname. And Akechi had talked a little about his mother to him before.

"You see, she had a sister who was fortunate to find love in high school. After university, her sister's boyfriend proposed to her and they married soon after. They were quite in love…and my mother craved the same love."

He glared at the memory. It was ludicrous, Akechi—his cousin?!

Shido had all but admitted that Akechi was working with him. But he never said Akechi specifically was his cousin. But even if that were true... Shido seriously wanted him to think that was a good thing? Akechi was the one responsible for the mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns.

Why would Shido think he'd welcome this kind of news?! Did he really think that he was so desperate? Not when he had so many people who cared for him. This was grasping at straws whether or not it was true... And he didn't even know if Shido was truly referring to Akechi.

Of course, he'd think poorly of the Phantom Thieves. They were a threat to Shido. And they were not taking away people's free will! They were just removing people's twisted cognitions, which made them confront all of the crimes they've done. All of their targets had to be convinced that they were doing the right thing to turn themselves in. Their twisted cognitions had blinded them from the truth… making them think that their actions were okay and that they should escape the law.

And of course he looked down on his friends that made up SEES. People who risked their lives to preserve life and overcome Death. Shido could never understand that because he didn't value human life on even a basic level.

Shido… he had hurt so many people. Orchestrated the deaths of innocents. And for what? What was worth all of these lives?

"Did you really think that kidnapping me and feeding me this garbage would work?" Ken spat out. "You're really trying to hold the moral high ground? You think you're so smug but you only clawed your way to power because you think that nothing is too high of a price. You're nothing but a self-absorbed egotist, someone who can't even bother to even do the dirty work—"

Shido's expression remained neutral before his hand slipped into his pocket. He then whipped out a two-pronged device before jabbing it against Ken's side. Ken thought he heard electricity crackle before pain seemed to explode everywhere. It was intense, all consuming. He had been hurt by electric spells before. But that had been child's play compared to this.

Ken was only aware of the pain and his screams.

Eventually the pain dulled to a haze and Ken looked up at Shido with blurry eyes.

"You should really reconsider this, Amada..." Shido said coldly, "I tried to be kind. But either way, I will get what I want from Kirijo. Whether you join me or not. And you were fortunate this time."

The politician gave Ken a malicious smile.

"Overexposure to electroshocks can lead to burns… or worse."

"Don't react," Ken told himself sternly. "He's just trying to get a rise out of you."

Shido then shrugged. "But I suppose that I've given you a lot to think about."

But he paused at the door.

"Though, don't forget… I'm in the position to hurt people you care about very much. Shall I start with your guardian first? I'm sure that I can find some kind of crime to pin onto him. Though I suppose people wouldn't miss him terribly if a little… accident was to befall him. Which would be simpler, I wonder?"

Ken's eyes widened at that. But he couldn't speak.

Shido then continued, "And just so you know… you shouldn't even think of trying to run away. This place is crawling with guards. And if you do try to run away, I will make your life all that much harder."

Once he was gone, Ken allowed himself to slump in his seat.

What kind of mess had he gotten himself into now? What did Shido's threat even mean? What was he going to do to Mitsuru-san?

He couldn't stop shaking.

All of this was his fault. If only he had been faster, smarter… But no, he had been careless. And now Mitsuru-san was going to suffer somehow. Because of him. And what about Ren? Would he really be okay?

Did everyone know by now what happened? Ken closed his eyes as Futaba's tearful face flashed in his mind. He didn't mean to distress her but… what if they had tried to hurt Futaba to sell the bluff? No… it was the best decision.

Right?

But even so… he really hoped that Futaba was able to get to safety. Hopefully they all got away... but even if they did, Ren's fate was still up in the air.

No, he couldn't think like that. They planned as best as they could. They all most likely got away, save for himself and Ren it seemed. Though he didn't want to really think about everyone else's reactions.

Especially Shinjiro-san's, not after he promised his guardian no unnecessary risks. But Shido wanted to force Mitsuru-san's hand, no matter what. Perhaps, if he pretended to cooperate with Shido, it'd be better for everyone else.

"What am I saying?" Ken quickly shook his head.

That was crazy talk! He'd be in over his head if he tried that. But he couldn't think of any way out. Panic started to gnaw at his heart. Ken bit his lip.

Was it really hopeless?

Ken was suddenly snapped out of his wild thoughts as his wristwatch suddenly started to vibrate. It was just for a moment but he definitely felt it.

"What the…? Wait a minute, no! This means—Makoto is here!" he thought with panic.

Did that mean everyone else had come as well? His friends must have come up with some kind of plan to try and rescue him.

"No! No! No why are they—they should be worried about Ren's life! Not mine! What are they thinking?!"

It should have been reassuring. But instead, Ken felt even more terrified. He wasn't worth the risk. What would Shido even do if he caught wind of them being here? He'd kill them. And he didn't want to have someone else die for him. Not again.

First it had been Mom. Then Shinjiro-san's near-death experience. He didn't need there to be a third time!

---

The scream was how Morgana found Ken. It was faint, but it was unmistakable.

Morgana broke into a sprint, running for how who knew how long. Morgana panted for a moment before peering out of the grate.

"Bingo," he whispered with a smile.

Ken had his head lowered; his shoulders hunched over. Morgana studied him closely. What had that scream been about? What had Shido done to him? He better not hurt him too much or he'll have to find the man and claw his face off.

Suddenly the radio on his collar crackled.

"Morgana? Can we get a status update?" Makoto asked.

"I found him," Morgana hissed. "I need to figure out to get down but you can talk to him soon, okay?"

"Roger."

The line then went dead. Morgana cocked his head, pondering on the best way to get his attention. But then a suddenly buzzing sound caught Morgana's attention. Ken's expression first morphed to confusion. Then recognition shone in his eyes. But for some reason, Ken started mumbling to himself.

Maybe… he should just go for the simple approach, to get Ken's attention.

"Pssst! Ken!" Morgana hissed, batting at the grate with a paw. "Up here!"

Ken's head jerked up; his eyes wide with shock.

"Morgana?"

"Just hang on, okay?"

Morgana tackled the grate, but it didn't budge a centimeter.

"Ouch…" he groaned out.

"Morgana—"

"I've got this, okay?" Morgana interrupted; he couldn't help but feel annoyed though.

Can't Ken have a little more faith in him?

Morgana pushed against the grate, straining hard against it. He grumbled to himself. Ryuji had made it look so easy!

"Morgana, hold on—" Ken tried again.

"Can you wait for like thirty seconds?!" Morgana couldn't help but snap.

He paused for a second to think. There had been that movie he had watched with Ren several weeks ago. Maybe he could use the same principle. He had to use his head… just not in the typical way.

Morgana backed up before sprinting forward. He headbutted hard against the grate and there was a crashing sound. Suddenly Morgana found himself tumbling to the ground.

"Ouch…" he groaned out. "Not my brightest plan. Hopefully no one heard that."

He rubbed his head with one paw before he trotted over to Ken, suddenly feeling a rush of embarrassment.

"Don't tell Ryuji, he'd totally make fun of me for not being my usual graceful self."

Morgana paused, taking a good look at his friend. There was a bright red mark on Ken's cheek as if someone had slapped him. But that wouldn't have made Ken scream in pain.

Even though he wanted to berate Ken for his actions, Morgana held his tongue. Morgana had no idea how much time they had before Shido returned.

"Morgana, please…"

"I don't know how much time I've got," Morgana said briskly. "But we've come up with a plan to save you—"

"Will you just listen to me?!" Ken suddenly burst out.

Morgana stared, wide-eyed.

"Find the others. Get out of here. I'm not worth the risk. I can't…"

His voice grew more and more hysterical, before it suddenly cracked. Ken then shook his head.

"I can't ask that of you all!"

Morgana stared at him for a moment before the words finally sunk in. Then anger flared inside of him.

Was he serious? How could he ask that?!

"Well, good, because we would do it anyways! No asking needed!" Morgana snapped.

Ken shook his head. "Ren's life is in immediate danger! Go save him! I'm not worth the risk!"

"Oh, for the love of—we don't need your permission to save you Ken!" Morgana exclaimed before he leaped into Ken's lap. "We are gonna save both of you—we won't abandon one or the other! Got it?!"

Then the radio on Morgana's collar suddenly crackled.

"Seconded!" Futaba added. "Nuh-uh! Rejected! You hear me, Ken? Your request is rejected!"

"Of course they were listening in," Morgana thought to himself, before shaking his head.

"Seriously, Ken, are you nuts?!" Ryuji interjected; his voice incredulous.

Ken began to protest, "But—"

"No buts, man!" Ryuji snapped, cutting Ken off. "You're one of us! You'd be as big of a loss as losing RenRen!"

Makoto asked, "How could you even ask that? We've dealt with dangerous things all the time. When you're a Persona-user… isn't it an occupational hazard?"

Morgana just looked at Ken, feeling smug.

Ken sighed, blowing his bangs out of his face.

"I'm sorry… It's just—"

"It's okay to be scared, Ken. We don't know what you've been through…"

Makoto's voice suddenly broke; Morgana could've sworn that he heard a little sniffle.

"We've all been so worried about you. And I—we can't lose you. We've come this far." Then her voice suddenly grew fierce. "We will get you out of here."

"And I don't like this defeatist attitude!" Morgana added. "You're a Phantom Thief! We don't just roll over and give up! Absolutely disgraceful! Ren would tell you the same thing!"

Morgana then looked up at Ken's face; but the look on his face was just unreadable.

"I… I'm sorry."

Ken then let out a short, depreciative laugh, shaking his head.

"I don't know what's wrong with me… I just can't stop thinking about what Shido said."

"Look at me," Morgana said sternly.

"Wha—"

Morgana scratched his claws against Ken's cheek. Not hard enough so that it would leave a mark—it was more like a graze if anything—but hopefully hard enough to snap Ken out of whatever this was.

"Ow!" Ken yelped. "What was that for?!"

Morgana ground out, "WAKE. UP. You're just letting Shido bully you into submission!"

"I don't even want to know what you're doing," Makoto sighed. "But Ken… you were prepared to face Death nearly seven years ago. You didn't know you would succeed. But you and everyone else managed it. And we're pulling all of the stops to make sure that we succeed here as well."

Ken's expression went from unsure to thoughtful.

Ryuji then added, "You can't let Shido beat you into giving up! That goes against everything we stand for! Makoto's right—if you had the balls to stand up against Death itself when you were just a kid, you can stand up against Shido and his threats!"

"I…"

Ken closed his eyes for a moment. But when he reopened them, there was a fire burning in them.

"You're right. I can't let him beat me down."

Then he took a deep breath.

"So—what's the plan?"

Morgana couldn't help but grin. "Now that's more like it!"

---

Ryuji felt like he was going to lose it. He really wished he could do something. Anything than just pacing in this room like a caged animal.

"Ryuji, you're making me dizzy," Futaba said sharply. "Knock it off already!"

Ryuji groaned before stopping in his tracks.

"Sorry, just going stir crazy here."

He hated sitting on his hands. He wanted to help his friend somehow. Maybe he'd feel better if they could find out something about Shido, like Makoto had mentioned before.

He wished that Yusuke hadn't gone with Haru and Anne. Maybe if they had one more person here, maybe then two of them could split off while the third protected Futaba.

Futaba frowned. "I mean… you're used to constantly moving around Palaces, aren't you?"

Ryuji nodded vigorously. "Yeah, even when RenRen picked someone else to fight Shadows, we were always doing something, at leastfollowing close behind as the vanguard, y'know? I just feel so… frustrated. We're stuck inside here and we can't even do anything to help Ken! Don't get me wrong, I totally get why we gotta. But I can't help but wish that I could do more than just this."

Makoto sighed softly.

"I can relate," she said quietly.

Then her expression darkened, before her hands clenched into fists.

"I just… I can't believe that Shido would do that to Ken."

Ryuji tried not to grimace. The security cameras had showed them exactly what had Shido was doing. Makoto had occupied herself with trying to comfort Futaba, but the look on her face, it was pure anguish. And as hard as she tried, she couldn't stop the shaking of her voice even as she soothed Futaba.

Even though Makoto had told them not to blame themselves, Ryuji couldn't help but kick himself for their blindness. Maybe if they had been more alert, they could've prevented all of this.

Ryuji wasn't looking forward to Ren finding out. His best friend was definitely gonna take this news hard. He had made the decision to go with the plan, despite everything, to protect them. Ren was probably gonna blame himself for this.

"I can," Futaba suddenly spat out, interrupting Ryuji's thoughts. "Shido will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Even killing people for it. It's obvious that he has no boundaries."

Makoto bit her lip. "I just don't… understand why so many people would follow Shido. He's a monster."

Ryuji scratched the back of his head.

He pointed out, "I mean people have followed crazies before all because they're good at talking—persuading. Like that German leader guy back in World War II."

Futaba raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised that you've paid attention enough to remember that."

"Hey! I ain't that dumb!" Ryuji protested.

"…so dead…"

Makoto stiffened at that, pursing her lips. She crept towards the door, crouching down and pressing her ear against it.

"Makoto—" Ryuji began.

"Shhh!" Makoto hushed him, holding a finger to her lips.

Both Ryuji and Futaba slowly edged to the door as well. He wished that they could open the door, even just slightly but that would be suicide.

"—kid… so stupid… No point in saying no."

"Wait a second. They're talking about Ken, aren't they?" Ryuji thought.

Once that sunk in, Ryuji clenched one of his hands into a fist. Shido's men were at least vaguely aware what was going on, then. How could they be okay with this bullshit?! It made Ryuji just sick.

"What can I say? Kids can be so damn naïve. Shido's a visionary. He'll be the one to steer this country in the right direction."

"A visionary? Is this idiot nuts?! Shido was the one ordering all the mental shutdowns!" Ryuji thought with a glare.

"Then again, he might not be all there. I heard Shido specifically picked out that drug. You know… the one that Kirijo's old scientists brought with them. They've really refined it from the prototype, though."

Ryuji slowly looked to Makoto. She was taking short, measured breaths—almost like that meditation thing. Then she opened her eyes.

Makoto's eyes were smoldering with anger, her hands balling into fists. Anger seemed to radiate her.

"Makoto," Futaba called out softly, grabbing her sleeve. "You've gotta…"

Makoto then inhaled sharply, closing her eyes for a moment. She slowly unclenched her hands.

"Right," she whispered.

She motioned for them to move away from the door. It was probably smart to do that since… Shido's men might be able to hear their voices if they lingered. And then they'd be sunk.

"That drug… Shinjiro-san and Ken said that it was developed to suppress a Persona," Ryuji said carefully, looking at the girls seriously. "But… Shinjiro-san took it before. He said the side-effects would slowly kill ya."

"And that it sent your body out of whack," Futaba recalled, wrapping an arm around herself.

"For Shinjiro-san, it was that his body couldn't maintain body temperature and was always losing body heat," Makoto stated, a grim frown on her face.

Makoto's expression notably darkened. Though, he couldn't blame her for feeling pissed.

"Shido chose this drug on purpose, didn't he? He has such a warped sense of humor!" she seethed, suddenly pacing. "And you heard them! It's not even tested! That little—that twisted—"

"Bastard?" Ryuji offered.

Makoto coughed before her lips twitched into a smile.

"Yes. I suppose that's the word to describe him," she said.

"But what can we even do about this…?" Futaba asked.

Makoto bit her lip.

"We have to get a sample! We don't know what they've done to 'refine' it. And they injected it right into Ken. It has to be more potent that way, right? Mitsuru-san can probably get it analyzed. The Kirijo Group formulated some kind of cure for Shinjiro-san, didn't they? And we're catching it early! And maybe we can take Ken to Takemi-san. She owes Ren several favors so she can probably examine him without complaining…"

Sometime during her rambling, Makoto started to pace again. Ryuji was starting to get dizzy, watching her. Now he knew how Futaba felt. He reached out, grabbing her by the shoulder.

"Makoto, you gotta slow down!"

Futaba let out a false gasp, pressing a hand against her chest.

"Wow, Ryuji of all people's saying that?" Futaba asked sarcastically.

"Aw, shuddup!" Ryuji huffed, shooting Futaba a quick glare before turning back to Makoto. "But anyways, how are we gonna pull off that first thing? We can't just leave—leaving Futaba alone is especially a bad idea! I know you're worried about Ken but we gotta be smart about this."

Makoto sighed heavily, before her shoulders slumped.

"You're right, Ryuji, I just—on top of everything, we find out about this? When will tonight stop getting worse?"

Her voice unexpectedly cracked and Makoto suddenly looked like she wanted to cry.

"Shit, I got her upset! Ugh, why couldn't I be better with words like Ren?" he mentally lamented.

"S-Shit, don't cry!" Ryuji blurted out, before patting her shoulder awkwardly.

"You really don't know how to talk to people sometimes," Futaba said dryly.

Ryuji glared at her before retorting, "Like you can talk!"

This somehow drew a watery giggle from Makoto.

"I suppose that we should give Ryuji some credit for the effort at least," she teased.

"You too, Makoto?!" Ryuji complained, which just made the girls laugh.

But then Futaba suddenly snapped her fingers.

"I got it!" she exclaimed. "We can contact Shinjiro-san and Akihiko-san about this. I mean, Ken still needs to get Shido to admit his involvement with the mental shutdowns and everything. They can look around for us and hopefully grab a sample for us."

Makoto's eyes widened. "That's not a bad idea…"

Makoto chewed on her bottom lip, looking thoughtful. Then she glanced at Ryuji.

"What do you think?"

It was probably their best bet. It'd be a bad idea to leave this room.

Ryuji nodded. "I think it's a good idea. But… y'know that reminds me…"

"What?" Futaba asked with hands on her hips.

"Oh, it's nothing serious. Just something that Shido's little lapdogs said—it's buggin' me. Something about Shido steering this country in the right direction. Can you believe that shit? Talk about sucking his dick. What bullshit, don't make me laugh. Assholes…"

"They are insufferable, I agree. But let's forget about them. We got work to do after all," Makoto encouraged with a smirk.

Ryuji smacked his fist against his open palm.

"I'm so ready to kick his ass after all of this!" he exclaimed.

First it had been Futaba's mom. Then the people who went through a mental shutdown or a psychotic breakdown. And the innocents who got hurt, just to make Shido look good. Then Haru's dad. And he painted a huge target on Ren's head. And finally, he kidnapped Ken.

"Shido, you piece of shit, you have it coming. The most outta all of all our targets," Ryuji thought viciously.

Futaba opened her mouth to say something, only to freeze.

"Uh-oh..." she uttered with a wince.

"Something on your mind, Futaba?" Makoto asked, glancing at the younger girl.

Futaba fidgeted nervously for a moment before readjusting her glasses.

"So… who wants to tell Shinjiro-san that Shido ordered Ken to be drugged by a refined version of the drug that nearly killed him?"

"Oh goddammit…" Ryuji couldn't help but cringe.

He didn't even think about that. Shinjiro-san was gonna flip shit. The man was scary enough already, but tonight showed that he really wasn't a man to be messed with. Maybe it was a good thing that he wouldn't find out until after they got Ken out of here. Shinjiro-san would probably rip off Shido's head or even sic his Persona on Shido if he knew about this beforehand.

He rubbed his neck and sighed. But… they had to tell the two older men why they needed the sample so badly.

"I nominate Makoto!" Ryuji shouted, pointing at her.

"What?!" Makoto glared at him. "Why me?"

"I second that notion!" Futaba chimed in.

"W-What?" Makoto gaped at her. "You too, Futaba?!"

"You're outnumbered this time," Ryuji snickered.

"Don't make me smack you," Makoto complained with a glare.

---

Akihiko really hated playing the waiting game.

But they needed the signal from Futaba before they could proceed. They needed that leverage over Shido before they could break Ken out.

But he hated it. Action allowed him to stop thinking about Mina. And their baby.

It should've been a happy moment. But Shido… just had to ruin everything. He knew that it was better for him to be here, to help rescue Ken, but he couldn't help but think about Mina. She excelled at hiding how she felt, but this… this was the last straw.

He could only pray that their baby would be born safely. Especially for Mina's sake. She'd never forgive herself if something happened to their daughter. He wished he could be with her. He couldn't take away her pain, but he hated that he couldn't be with her.

They had talked about it. Mina had even joked about crushing his hand. But he had always thought he would be in the room with her while she gave birth.

But Shido made her break down, giving her so much anguish by kidnapping Ken. And if anything happened to Mina or their baby because of this, he would pummel Shido's face so bad that not even plastic surgery could save him.

Shido was always a threat. He had been a pain to all of them this whole time.

But this… this just made things so much more personal.

Ken was like his little brother. Akihiko would be the first to admit that he had never been the greatest with kids. But he still remembered meeting Ken for the first time. The way his eyes shone, pure admiration shining clear as day. It wasn't before long before Akihiko found himself growing fond of him, even though he didn't always know how to talk to Ken.

He was no longer that little kid who looked at Akihiko with hero worship. Ken had grown from a confused kid to a young adult. A leader. Someone who looked after people, instead of being the one who needed to be looked after.

And he was not going to lose another loved one. He refused to look on helplessly, like how he was forced to watch the orphanage burn to the ground, with Miki inside.

As much as he wanted to beat the crap out of Shido for even coming up with this plan to begin with, Akihiko knew that he had to remain calm. Acting recklessly would cost them. Dearly.

Akihiko let his eyes travel over to Shinji. His expression was stony, his posture tense.

"Stop slouching," Akihiko muttered, shooting Shinji a look.

Shinji let out a little grumble before reluctantly straightening up.

"Where the hell is that bastard?" Shinji grumbled out.

As if it was an answer to Shinji's question, the relative silence was shattered with a scream.

Akihiko's blood began to boil when the realization hit him.

Ken was the one screaming. Just what was Shido doing to him?!

Akihiko squeezed his eyes shut to regain his bearings. If only that would shut out the screaming.

"Keep calm. You have to keep calm…" he chanted to himself.

Ken didn't need him to flip out. He can't freak out. Not now. He wouldn't be any help to Ken if he let himself be blinded by anger.

He then turned to look at his best friend. Shinji's jaw was clenched tightly, and his eyes were stormy with barely suppressed anger.

"Fucking hell… I'd rip Shido's head off if he wouldn't come up with some bullshit reason to toss me in jail," he growled out.

"You and me both," Akihiko muttered.

Shido just kept giving him reasons to hate the man even more.

"Get in line, Aki," Shinji retorted, speaking out of the corner of his mouth.

Akihiko gave a little scoff, giving him a little sideways glance. "Who says you get to go first?"

Shinji snorted. "Cause I'm his guardian. That means I'm the one who gets first dibs on whoever fucks with him."

Akihiko had to fake a cough so he wouldn't start laughing and blow their cover.

"Sheesh, the kid must be really dumb."

One of the patrolling officers had been the one to make the remark. Akihiko had to stifle the urge to stiffen at that comment. Anger began to pool at the pit of his stomach.

His companion just nodded. "I heard that Shido was really hoping that he'd say yes… He'd get all kind of intel on Kirijo and her cronies that way then."

Akihiko's hands clenched into fists, practically biting his tongue so he wouldn't snap. How dare Ken have principles?! And refuse to be Shido's lapdog like all of the people in this building. And how could they just turn a blind eye to Shido blatantly doing something to Ken?! Akihiko didn't want to imagine what Shido was doing.

Ken was prideful. He didn't like to show weakness, not if he could help it. Though, Akihiko could recall one incident when a Gigas Shadow backhanded Ken and he smacked hard against the wall. And even then, Ken hadn't screamed from the pain.

It just sickened him to see people like Shido's men to be so blasé about it. Shido was obviously looking to just use Ken as a tool.

Shinji suddenly elbowed Akihiko hard in the side, snapping Akihiko out of his thoughts. And then without another word, he turned around and headed in the opposite direction. Akihiko forced an apologetic smile on his face before he went after Shinji.

"Shido has got to be off his rocker if he thinks that he can talk Ken into turning traitor," Shinji all but snarled out once they were alone. "He had enough trouble hiding the truth from all of 'em before. And there was the time he freaked out at Sakura hacking his phone and revealed that she knew about us! Now what? He's torturing Ken for our secrets?!"

Thankfully Shinji's rant was quiet even as he shook with rage. Though, Akihiko didn't blame him for reacting this way, at all. Akihiko desperately wished that he could dish out the punishment Shido so rightfully deserved.

He remembered when Mitsuru had wanted to bring Ken back to Port Island. And if he was honest with himself, if she wanted to do it after all of this, Akihiko would probably back her up. After everything tonight, he didn't want Shido anywhere close to Ken.

"I just want this to be over with," Shinji suddenly said before he rubbed at his eyes. "I just—fuck! I want to get Ken the hell away from Shido."

"You and me both, Shinji."

Akihiko tried to give his best friend a reassuring smile. He wasn't sure how much he succeeded. It was getting harder and harder to muster the energy to keep up his confident façade.

"We haven't gotten the signal for Futaba yet, though. We need to be patient."

"You don't have to tell me, Aki." Shinji's voice grew testy.

Akihiko just held his hands up in surrender.

"I'm just saying—"

"Hey, can you talk?"

Akihiko's eyes widened at the sound of Futaba's voice.

"What is it, Sakura?" Shinji asked in a low voice.

"The thing is… uhhh… Makoto you talk to them!"

"Oh, for the love of—" Makoto cut herself with a sigh. "Um… hi, Shinjiro-san, Akihiko-san."

"This doesn't sound like the signal... out with it." Shinji warned.

"It's important, I promise! It's just… well…"

Makoto trailed off for a moment. But then she exhaled.

"We overheard a couple of Shido's men talking. About the drug they used on Ken, exactly."

"What... exactly?" Akihiko asked slowly.

"Please try to—I know it would be hard to remain calm but…" she trailed off awkwardly.

Then the realization hit him, like a pile of bricks. His stomach started to churn.

"Oh... oh shit! She isn't seriously saying this is…?!" Akihiko thought with panic.

Akihiko quickly glanced over to Shinji. Thunderous didn't even begin to describe the look on Shinji's face. His best friend had one of his hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles had gone white. Akihiko quickly shook his head. He had to focus.

"Makoto… are you seriously implying what I think you are?" Akihiko demanded, "I swear if this is a joke—!"

She retorted, "It's not! Why on earth would I joke about this kind of thing?!"

Akihiko gritted his teeth. He hated all of this tiptoeing around. Sure, his job demanded that he not swing in gung-ho, so that the culprit doesn't get away but… it never had been so personal before. He really wanted to just run in, grab Ken, and get the hell out of here already. But… that would be just suicide.

He hated this so much.

"I'm sorry," Akihiko quickly apologized.

Makoto said curtly, "It's fine."

"Do you have a plan on how to handle this then?" Shinji interjected; his voice had grown extremely tense.

"With this being Shido's hideaway… we thought that there should be some kind of sample of the drug. We need you to track it down."

Akihiko's eyes met Shinji's.

"What do you think, Shinji?" he asked lowly.

Shinji's lips formed a thin line. He seemed to mull it over for a long time, long enough to make Akihiko feel antsy about it. And then, he finally spoke.

"Anything on Morgana's end?"

"We talked to Ken briefly. But we're waiting for Shido to get back."

That was weird. She was being kinda… close mouthed about this. Wouldn't she talk more about Ken? Was he alright? Then again, was this before or after Shido had hurt Ken? Akihiko decided that it'd be better to just push it aside for now. He'd find out soon enough anyway, like it or not.

"That just means we gotta hustle," Akihiko said.

Makoto had the right idea. If they got ahold of the drug, Mitsuru's scientists would be able to analyze the components and determine if it's as lethal—if not more—than the original. And from what Futaba had described… it was powerful. It had knocked Ken out almost immediately, additionally to sealing away Kala-Nemi.

Akihiko gritted his teeth. He really wanted to punch Shido for pulling this crap.

"We'll talk to you later," Shinji said.

"Mm-hm. Good luck," Futaba said.

Akihiko heaved out a sigh, rubbing his forehead.

Mina had been right to stop him, to order him to stay. Once the adrenaline had faded, Akihiko would have hated himself for leaving Ken. Especially with everything they had learned tonight. How could he even contemplate that?

"Aki… I don't know about you, but I'm really raring to bust some heads," Shinji suddenly hissed. "Shido may be protected with how he's twisting the force, but that same protection doesn't cover his men."

Akihiko lightly smacked his fist into his palm.

"Let's get started, then."

They moved as quickly as they could without drawing suspicion. But nothing stood out to Akihiko. But then they finally came to a room at the end of one hall.

Shinji gently pushed it open, to reveal a room that almost seemed like a hospital room. This had to be a good room to investigate, wasn't it?

They split up to scour the room. Akihiko pulled open a drawer, squinting at the contents. There were several syringes. Which was it? Maybe they should just take them all?

But then a glint of gold caught Akihiko's eye. He couldn't stop a little gasp from escaping him. The Shadow Operatives pin.

Akihiko quickly snatched it up. He hadn't thought that they would take the pin away from Ken. They must have found it while searching Ken. But Akihiko was just grateful that they didn't realize that it had a GPS mechanism. They really would have been sunk without it.

"Found Ken's phone," Shinji said gruffly, holding up the device.

"We'll need to have it examined by Fuuka or Futaba then… you don't know what they've done to it exactly."

"Why is this door open—?"

It suddenly creaked open, revealing a middle-aged man in a lab coat.

"Why are you in here?" The man demanded, striding inside. "This was only meant to hold—"

Then he cut himself off, his eyes growing as large as saucers. He made a choking sound.

"Aragaki?! Sanada?! What are you doing here?"

So, he recognized the two of them? He was most likely a former Kirijo scientist then.

"For a man of science… you sure are a fuckin' idiot," Shinji deadpanned.

"You little—"

The man's face noticeably reddened in anger from Shinji's crack; Akihiko could've sworn his eye started to twitch. But then he suddenly reached into his pocket, drawing out something.

"I was hoping to utilize Amada as a guinea pig… but what's two more?"

The scientist then lunged forward, syringe in hand.

But Shinji was faster. He easily pinned the man to the wall. Shinji's expression was pure fury; in fact, he radiated fury.

That pencil-necked idiot actually thought he could get the drop on Shinji? What a joke.

Shinji demanded, "Talk! You used to work for the Kirijo Group, didn't you?!"

But somehow, he met Shinji's angry glare rather calmly.

"What did Kirijo expect? Both she and her father were both so narrow-minded. Kouetsu-sama was a visionary. We could've shaped the world into something better. But Shido… he has the right idea as well. And I'm allowed to choose to work for who I wish, no?"

"And you brought that drug to him?!" Akihiko hissed.

He really wished knowledge of that drug could be erased, destroyed. It had brought no good to anyone.

"Why not? I knew it could be refined… perfected. It just needed a test run… on a Persona-user, that is. I'm relieved to find out that it still does its job to suppress a Persona. I do miss running my experiments on a Persona-user. I hope Shido-san will allow it."

Oh, hell no! He was seriously one of those scientists who experimented on Mitsuru when she was a kid?! And he was admitting that he wanted to use Ken as a guinea pig?!

But a sudden movement caught Akihiko's eye. The scientist still had the syringe, his fingers curling around it.

For a moment, Akihiko's vision turned red.

"Shinji!" he shouted, before shoving Shinji away.

"The fuck, Aki—"

Akihiko's hand clenched into a fist. He threw a punch right at the man's temple. A good clean blow to the temple could easily knock a man out. And fortunately, he managed to hit bullseye.

Shinji seemed to be speechless, staring at the now knocked out scientist.

"He was going to use it on you," Akihiko said, in order to break the silence.

But at the same time, Akihiko couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. The man was a civilian, after all. An older one, to boot.

But he brought the drug to Shido… even made it more dangerous with Shido's help. He was talking about making Ken a guinea pig for whatever sick experiments he could dream of. And he was going to drug Shinji, after everything Mitsuru did to ensure that they wouldn't have to worry about the drug killing him.

Shinji didn't respond, instead of choosing to bend down and retrieve the syringe.

"At least we have the damn thing now," Shinji muttered.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here."

Shinji managed to find something to secure the needle so he wouldn't accidentally poke himself as he tucked the syringe away, as well as Ken's phone before they stepped out of the room. Akihiko stuck his head out, to check if anyone was lurking out. The coast was clear, at least. That kind of mess up could have cost them.

Akihiko mumbled out, "Sorry… that really wasn't my best move."

"What are you apologizing for?" When Akihiko looked at him in surprise, Shinji continued, "Don't beat yourself up, Aki. We couldn't let him squeal."

"It just set me off. When I realized that he was gonna try and drug you. On top of everything he had admitted…"

Shinji made a face at him.

"Like I would've let him," he grumbled out.

"Since when are you the egoistical type?" Akihiko quipped, nudging Shinji in the side.

He wasn't sure if his smile was forced, though.

Shinji rolled his eyes, before giving Akihiko a light sock in the shoulder.

"Come on, let's get going. We need to be ready."

---

Morgana had put it so simply. But it wasn't that easy. Not by a longshot. But still, Ken had to try though. He couldn't let Shido beat him down.

He had to calm down though… If he panicked, he'd just give everything away. Ken closed his eyes, trying to will his pounding heart to slow down. How could he even start this…?

"Wait, that's it! Futaba's mother… she was the first mental shutdown. It'd make perfect sense to start with her, wouldn't it?" Ken mentally asked himself.

But then he'd still have to figure out where to go from there. His thoughts were interrupted when the door swung open and once again Shido stepped through. Ken tried not to tense up as he approached.

"So… have you thought things out?"

Ken swallowed hard. His heart pounded hard against his chest, so hard that it felt like it would burst.

"I… I want to ask some questions," he managed to spit out.

Shido seemed to ponder Ken's request for a moment. Then he nodded.

"Very well. That's fair enough."

"You keep saying that you could offer me so much more than Mitsuru-san," he said slowly.

He tried not to gag on his words. It was just so self-serving.

"But what do you want me to do exactly?"

"You're aware of the mental shutdowns, aren't you?"

Ken lowered his gaze to the floor for a moment, so that he wouldn't be tempted to roll his eyes. Who did Shido take him for, an idiot?

"You would have to be an oblivious fool to not know about them," Ken said flatly.

Shido's tone suddenly turned flattering. "And you're far from being either."

Ken kept his face neutral. He hoped his expression didn't betray anything, however.

"This guy is a real schmoozer, isn't he?" he couldn't help but think to himself.

"But what of the mental shutdowns?" Ken asked.

"I'm sure you're aware of the… dangers of the other world. While the person under my employment is good… it'd be better if there was more than one agent operating. Surely, you felt much safer once traveling in a group."

That was right. There were so many unanswered questions, regarding Akechi. He had lied to them about how he had awakened to his Persona… and the mental shutdown incidents have been occurring for little over two years now. But that must mean that he went to Shido before that.

But the big question was… why? Why would Akechi go to Shido about this? For clout? What would Akechi gain from this, exactly?

But then Ken realized that Shido was watching him closely.

"It is safer in a group," Ken agreed. "But why resort to that kind of thing?"

Ken had to keep up his poker face, to not show how ill he felt at the thought. Shido actually wanted him to work alongside Akechi to murder people for him?!

Behind his back, Ken's hands clenched into fists. Shido purposely traumatized Futaba just because he could.

His anger was bubbling up, despite keeping a straight face, he couldn't help but slip out his next words.

"You… You ordered the death of an innocent woman, Wakaba Isshiki."

Shido barked out a laugh.

"Oh, Wakaba Isshiki? She was practically begging for it. She was such a stubborn fool… what a pity. She had a brilliant mind. But she refused to give me what I wanted. And I always get what I want."

Despite everything, Ken could feel anger bubbling inside of him. Shido could repeat that lie until he was blue in the face, but that was just a bunch of crock.

"And Futaba?" he demanded. "What did she do to you? She was a child!"

Just thinking about it made Ken feel furious. Futaba was already grieving over her mom, but Shido just had to rub salt in the wound. And for what? Just to watch her reaction? How sick was he?!

And… there was everyone else he had hurt.

There were countless people that Shido had decided were needed sacrifices. Innocents who had been caught up in the backlash, people chosen to be scapegoats.

"You dare to question me?" Shido demanded. "You've had no idea what I've had to do to get where I am now, you brat!"

"Name calling. How mature," Ken couldn't help but think, before cracking a wry smile.

Shido's hands clenched into fists.

"What's so funny?" he demanded.

Ken just narrowed his eyes in response.

He spat out, "All I see is a man who throws a fit when he doesn't get what he wants. On top of that, everything you've built… it isn't even from your own work. You make everyone do it for you. Nothing but a bunch of corrupt yes-men you pocketed and some false celebrity-detective to do the real heavy lifting for you!"

"You impudent wretch..." Shido hissed. "Don't you know who I am? I'm the one in control. Every move I've made has been in preparation for my ascension to the top! The mental shutdowns, psychotic breakdowns—everything! I don't need to do it myself. All these fools in this country are nothing but my puppets!"

"I'll never be your puppet!" Ken fired back.

Shido's face contorted with rage for a moment. Then he jabbed a finger right in Ken's face.

"You may not fear me, but I'm sure that Kirijo doesn't feel the same way. She'll bend once she sees that I will harm you. Women are so soft-hearted and weak."

Anger flared inside of Ken. Was he really insulting Mitsuru-san? Mitsuru-san had been nothing but strong. She had carried so much burden and she tried to do it all on her own. And to have to watch Shido just stand there, deride her like this, the nerve of this scum!

"Mitsuru-san is worth a thousand of you!" Ken retorted. "The only reason she hasn't acted before is because of you abusing power! Because if she could act, you'd be nothing but dust under her heel she'd crush without remorse!"

"I could shoot you right here and now," Shido hissed out.

"Try it!" Ken snapped. "You took me because you want leverage against Mitsuru-san. You won't kill me. I'm no use to you dead."

Shido's eye twitched for a moment before he pulled out that torture device once more.

"I can't kill you… but I'm sure that Kirijo will break if I torture you long enough in front of her. After all, what's two machines compared to a human's life?"

Ken glared at Shido.

"Aigis-san and Labrys-san aren't just machines! They've developed souls! They've felt both joy and grief, mourned people that they loved deeply! They've certainly felt more than you!"

"You brazen idiot…" Shido began, his grip tightening around the device.

But then, he froze at a sudden loud thump.

Then the door slammed open. Shido's men were tossed into the room with a solid thud. They just let out a pained groan.

"Hello Shido," Akihiko-san said, casually dusting off his hands. "We're here to take Ken back."

Shido took a step backwards.

"What are you two doing here?" he demanded.

"Did you really expect to snatch Ken like that and for us to do shit?" Shinjiro-san snarled out.

His expression seemed to soften slightly though as his gaze fell on Ken. But then it hardened once more as he looked to Shido again.

"Can you give me one reason not to beat the crap out of you?" he ground out.

But then a sudden movement caught Ken's eye.

He tried to warn them, "Shin—"

Ken was cut off as something jabbed against his neck. The intense, all-consuming pain engulfed him once more. He barely registered Shinjiro-san and Akihiko-san shouts. All he was truly aware of was the painful electric shocks.

By the time the haze of pain had faded away, Ken could only stare in horror at the sight of Shinjiro-san and Akihiko-san pinned to the ground by Shido's men.

Shido specifically had a gun pointed right at Shinjiro-san.

"I mentioned that I would target your guardian first, didn't I?"

Shinjiro-san didn't flinch. Instead, Shinjiro-san just glared up at him.

"Now, tell me where your associates are," Shido demanded. "You didn't come alone, did you?"

"Go to hell," Shinjiro-san spat.

"No, please! Don't!" Ken begged.

Shido then turned to smirk.

"This is your weakness? How predictable… then again, my men were able to capture you by playing with your heart already. And well, you know the saying: Don't fix what's not broken."

Panic began to well up inside of him. Please not again! He wasn't going to let Shinjiro-san die! He couldn't!

He had to do something… But what?! He couldn't summon Kala-Nemi. Not in the real world, without an Evoker. His hands were literally tied…

If only he could summon Kala-Nemi. He could create a flare of light—distract Shido and his men.

Akihiko-san strained against the man's grip, only to hiss in pain as the man just tightened his grip.

"Ken…" Akihiko-san managed to choke out. "Don't let him win."

Ken squeezed his eyes shut. But how? He couldn't do anything. Not like this.

"You don't have the balls to do it, Shido," Shinjiro-san spat out.

Shido's eye twitched at the insult.

"You little—"

"You don't get anything outta it," Shinjiro-san retorted. "The whole purpose of taking Ken was to force Mitsuru to do what you wanted. You get nothing outta killing me. And you really think you've got the guts to pull the trigger? Don't make me laugh. You made a whole goddamn career out of making people do the dirty work for you. Why the hell should I be afraid of a total pussy like you?"

Shinjiro-san was right.

Why should he be afraid? Why should he give up? Dismissing that he could summon Kala-Nemi? He never really tried. He could use Kala-Nemi's healing magic already. What was stopping him from doing the whole deal, then? He couldn't roll over and give up!

He could feel Kala-Nemi's presence in his mind. He just needed to focus. The drug had slowly weakened, he could do this...

He wasn't a helpless child anymore. He was determined to see this through. He would see Shido fall from grace. All of those lives he had destroyed… they demanded justice.

He couldn't give up.

He mentally pleaded, "Kala-Nemi, please. Hear my call."

Blue suddenly surrounded him. And then Kala-Nemi's voice resonated in his mind, making his eyes widen.

"Thou art I… and I am thou. Thine resolution hast transformed me… and hast given me a new form. I am..."

"Hear my call… TYR!" Ken exclaimed.

---

Ken's new Persona took on a more humanoid form, compared to both Nemesis and Kala-Nemi. A flowing orange piece of fabric was tied around his forehead. A black cape was fastened in place with a golden emblem. Maybe it was the lighting, but Akihiko could've sworn the golden emblem bore the Shadow Operatives' symbol. Underneath he wore silver chain armor. In one hand, the Persona held a spear. But… the Persona was missing its other hand. Instead, it had almost like… a prosthetic—a prosthetic hand cannon, to be exact.

But then Tyr began to glow a bright gold. Akihiko automatically squeezed his eyes shut. But Shido and his men weren't so lucky from being blinded by the flash of light.

Akihiko tore himself free; judging from the curse he heard, Shinji had managed the same, as well. He whipped around, jabbing his former captor hard in the stomach. He keeled over in pain, allowing Akihiko to strike him down with a well-placed punch.

"You think you've won with that light show?!" Shido barked.

He then whirled around, pointing the gun right at Ken.

"Aeneas!" Shinji shouted, a blue aura flaring around him.

A translucent blue shield sprung in front of Ken. The bullet ricocheted from the shield, and struck the bookcase to the left.

"Damn you!" Shido hissed out.

Before he could say any more, he was cut off by the shrill ringing of his phone. Akihiko couldn't help but crack a grin.

"And that's checkmate," he thought viciously.

Then a tinny version of Shido's voice rang out.

"Oh, Wakaba Isshiki? She was practically begging for it. She was such a stubborn fool… what a pity. She had a brilliant mind. But she refused to give me what I wanted. And I always get what I want."

"I'm the one in control. Every move I've made has been in preparation for my ascension to the top! The mental shutdowns, psychotic breakdowns—everything! I don't need to do it myself. All these fools in this country are nothing but my puppets!"

The blood completely drained out of Shido's face.

"That's… h-how?"

Akihiko couldn't help but smirk. Revenge was sweet.

"Sucks to get blackmailed, doesn't it, Shido?" Shinji spat out. "Payback's a bitch."

"It'd suck for this to get out to the public, wouldn't it?" Akihiko added. "Especially so close to the election."

A black blur then lunged forward. Morgana dove at Shido's pocket, coming out with a key clenched tightly in between his teeth. Shido surged forward but Akihiko and Shinji moved as one, barricading Shido from Ken.

"Try us," Akihiko dared with a fierce glare.

Shido gritted his teeth.

"What do you want?" he hissed out.

Shinji crossed his arms over his chest. "It's simple. You let Ken go free, and keep the hell away from Mitsuru and the rest of us... and we will keep this recording our secret."

Shido's eyes burned with hatred. If looks could kill, Goro Akechi would be out of a job.

"You think that this will stop me?" Shido spat out. "The leader of the Phantom Thieves will die! By one of my men's hand!"

"This is about the Shadow Operatives; you made a mistake messing with one of us! Those are our terms." Akihiko refused to budge.

Shido clenched his fists. The silence seemed to stretch forever… Akihiko licked his lips, praying that their gambit would work.

He hissed out, "I see, abandoning the Phantom Thieves to protect yourselves. I supposed I can understand… fine, I can leave your little group alone for now. If only so I can finally crush your whole organization once I'm prime minister."

Then there was a quiet clinking sound. Ken slowly staggered to his feet, suddenly looking dazed. His eyes were glazed over with exhaustion. Akihiko grabbed him by the shoulders.

"I've got you," he murmured.

Ken could only give a tired nod, a small smile curving his lips. Akihiko shut his eyes for a moment.

Ken was okay. He'll be okay. Akihiko wanted to cry out of relief. Despite everything, they had managed to eke out a win. They had nearly blown it, but they managed it.

He felt a little disgusted, allowing Shido to think they abandoned Ken's friends, but it was worth it to get the man to finally cave. And hopefully it will help keep Ren Amamiya safe and his gambit a success.

Akihiko had to half-carry, half-support Ken out of there. Ken looked completely exhausted. His breath came in short, shallow huffs. If Akihiko had to guess, summoning in the real world, while under the strain of the drug, had drained Ken. Honestly Akihiko was a little surprised that he hadn't passed out.

As they hurried down the hall, Shinji pressed a finger to his ear, before hissing, "Get out of there."

They met the kids at the entrance, but Shinji motioned for them to hustle. Futaba looked like she wanted to protest, but Makoto just put a hand on her shoulder.

They made a beeline for the car. Akihiko then eased Ken so that he was leaning against the car's side. He was thankful they mentioned to Futaba before they arrived to erase the security footage soon as they got there and bug it so it won't record when they left. They wouldn't know of three Phantom Thieves' involvement with this break-out. They can't have Shido suspecting Ren could escape their trap, his life depended on that fact.

"You okay, Ken?" Akihiko murmured, running his fingers through Ken's hair.

Ken just gave a little nod. He must be really exhausted, if he wasn't gonna complain about his hair being touched.

"You really worried us back there." Akihiko couldn't stop his voice from cracking.

"I'm sorry." Ken murmured. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"I know, I know…" Akihiko closed his eyes for a moment, to will the tears away.

He had thought it was awful to hear Ken's screaming from a distance. But it had been a thousand times worse to hear it, while in the same room. He felt so helpless.

"Aki," Shinji said quietly, before jerking his head in Futaba's direction.

Akihiko smiled sheepishly before pulling away from Ken. Futaba didn't waste a second before she flew at Ken. She clutched at the lapels of his jacket.

"Stupid! YOU'RE! SO! STUPID!" Futaba blubbered out, punctuating every word with a small yank of his lapels with every word.

"I know…" Ken mumbled out. "I'm sorry, Futaba. For what I put you through."

Futaba just gave another sob.

"You better be!" she snapped before squeezing him in a tight hug.

Ryuji then let out a strained laugh. "You really put us through the wringer tonight, Ken. As if we didn't have to put up with enough crap already!"

Morgana grumbled, "Jeez, Ryuji… You sure know how to make people feel great."

"Oh shuddup, Morgana!"

Ken then slid down the side of the car as Futaba released him, a grimace marring his face.

Makoto then fell to her knees. She embraced Ken, tears flowing down her cheeks as she did so.

"Thank goodness! Oh thank God!" she sniffled. "You have no idea how worried I've been!"

She buried her face against his shoulder, all while clinging to him. When she pulled away, Akihiko could see that she was still crying. Ken weakly raised a hand, gently brushing a tear from her face.

"Don't cry, Makoto, please..." he murmured.

Makoto's eyes seemed to flash for a moment. "Then don't get kidnapped and I won't have a reason to cry!"

She then released him, wiping at her eyes before reaching to grab his hand and pull him back up. Then Ken looked over Makoto's shoulder, his eyes meeting with Shinji's.

"Shinjiro-san—" Ken began.

"Just shut up, you dumbass!"

Makoto hastily stepped aside for Shinji, who pulled Ken in for a tight hug.

"You idiot, you goddamn idiot…!" Shinji choked out.

With a jolt, Akihiko realized that Shinji was crying. When was the last time he had seen Shinji cry?

It… probably was Miki's funeral. After the funeral was all wrapped up and Akihiko broke down in front of her grave. He had put a hand on Akihiko's shoulder, waiting for him to stop crying. And then Akihiko looked at his friend, only to realize that Shinji had been crying the entire time as well.

"Do you have any idea how worried I've been?!" Shinji demanded.

Ken swallowed. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

"You better be sorry, you jackass! Never do that to me again!"

Ken just nodded numbly, all the fight from earlier completely sapped out of him.

But Akihiko kept his eyes on the boy. Ken's eyes were completely glazed over. Needless to say, he wasn't surprised at all when Ken suddenly pressed a hand to his face, swaying for a moment before finally fainting. He was lucky that Shinji was already holding onto him so he didn't faceplant into the asphalt.

"Ken!" Futaba cried out.

Shinji groused, "Oh for fuck's sake…"

"Not surprised, after everything," Akihiko stated.

Makoto nodded. "There was the fight with Sis, then Ken got drugged and then summoned his Persona for the first time in the real world without an Evoker…"

"We should really get out of here before Shido comes for us with a vengeance," Morgana suggested.

They thankfully knocked out most of the guards that would have been in their way before they rescued Ken, but they still were lucky they managed to make it back to the car without being followed. Their threat to Shido must have actually made him nervous if he didn't just turn around and order his men to chase them down. That was good for them. With that, and Futaba bugging the cameras, things might be looking up for the Phantom Thieves if the rescue of their leader went off without a hitch.

But Morgana was right, it wasn't smart to be lingering here. He nodded toward the feline in agreement.

"Yeah, let's go," Shinji said in agreement as they loaded up quickly.

---

Shinjiro had never been so happy to be back at the penthouse. Aki and Sakamoto supported Ken while Shinjiro unlocked the door.

"Should we put Ken on the couch?"

"Bed," Shinjiro said shortly. "Best to take a look at him and see his injuries. I'll go grab the first aid kit."

"Got it."

Shinjiro grabbed the first aid kit from the bathroom. Sakamoto had made himself scarce, but Aki had disposed of Ken's jacket and was in the process of pulling the turtleneck over Ken's head.

"You know, that's a weird look on you," Aki said casually, giving Shinjiro a quick glance.

Shinjiro huffed. "Yeah, yeah, it wasn't by choice."

He then sat on the edge of the bed.

Shinjiro asked, "What's the verdict?"

"Found several bruises," Aki said absently. "The biggest are the ones on his wrists."

To demonstrate, Aki gingerly took ahold of Ken's wrist. Dark rings circled around Ken's wrist from the handcuffs chafing his skin.

Aki's hand glowed blue with a Diaharan spell before he gently prodded at Ken's ribs.

"I don't think anything's broken, but we need to get a doctor's verdict. They might be bruised though. He'll most likely need a cold compress in the morning, then."

Aki then ran his hand gently over Ken's torso. His expression darkened.

"I can't believe Shido. Electroshock torture? That's just barbaric!" he fumed.

"You don't have to tell me," Shinjiro muttered out. "He probably would've tortured Ken, if he thought doing it in front of Mitsuru would've gotten him results."

Aki sighed before rubbing at his eyes.

"Everyone back home is going to flip out," he said wearily.

Shinjiro looked to his friend.

"I want Ken to be examined at the Iwatodai Hospital."

Aki drew a sharp breath before staring at Shinjiro.

"Shinji…" Aki then stopped short when Shinjiro held up a hand.

"He was drugged… by an improved version of those goddamn pills. We're not going to get the answers we need in Tokyo. They won't know shit."

Aki's expression turned contemplative. Then he spoke.

"Wait a couple days. I'll bring the sample we grabbed to Mitsuru. She'll have her scientists analyze it—compare it to the original drug. Besides that, Ren is still in trouble…"

Shinjiro sighed, rubbing his forehead. What Aki was saying—it wasn't unreasonable.

"But hey, Shinji…" Aki said suddenly. "What are you gonna do… after Ken recovers?"

Shinjiro looked to his friend.

"What would you do?"

"If I was Ken's guardian, you mean?"

Aki then let out a short, humorless laugh.

"I'd take Ken and put as much distance between him and Shido. I had hoped that Shido had never caught onto Ken being here. And tonight has been pure hell. I don't want a repeat of this."

But then Aki gave him a knowing look.

"But you're not going to do that, are you?"

"Shido targeted Ken specifically," Shinjiro said. "I don't like it, but… he deserves to see this through, doesn't he? At the very least, I know that Ken would argue against that. He's too goddamn stubborn. He'd probably find a way to sneak away from us even if we did drag him back to Port Island."

Akihiko sighed, shaking his head.

"You've really gotten soft for Ken, haven't you?" he teased lightly.

Shinjiro glowered at him but said nothing. It was true after all.

Aki abruptly stood up, heading for the door without a word. He was puzzled by this but when Aki yanked the door open, what happened next answered his question.

Sakura and Sakamoto both fell in—Sakamoto nearly crushing Sakura—with a flustered Makoto, who managed to not fall over, already making apologies.

Shinjiro rolled his eyes. They were just unbelievable.

"We were just—we were hoping…" Makoto fumbled with her words, only to redden when her eyes fell on the still shirtless Ken.

Shinjiro could only roll his eyes. It seemed Sakura's teasing had a grain of salt to them.

"We just wanted to see how Ken is doing, all right?" Sakamoto grumbled defensively as Sakura pushed him off of her.

Aki folded his arms over his chest, giving them all an exasperated look.

He said flatly, "Ken's completely knocked out. You can see him in the morning, okay? I get you're worried but he needs rest. Come on, I'll drive you guys home. It's pretty late anyways."

"Good practice for your kid's future friends, right?" Shinjiro deadpanned.

"Oh shut it, Shinji," Aki grumbled, though it was halfhearted.

Though that mention did make Shinjiro think… Makoto would be going back to an empty apartment, wouldn't she? While she's probably had to do that before, Shinjiro couldn't help but feel unease at that after everything tonight.

And even though Sakura covered their tracks so Shido wouldn't suspect the involvement of those three… he had to imagine how suffocating it would feel for her. To be home alone while her sister was interrogating Amamiya. The plan had merit, even without getting Satonaka and Kujikawa involved. But with or without their involvement it was extremely risky.

If worst came to worst… Amamiya would be dead. And who knows what could happen to her sister. The prosecutor had no idea of Goro Akechi's true nature. If things go to hell in a handbasket, she could become a causality.

This was originally Makoto's plan after all… her gamble.

He didn't like Sae Niijima that much. But she was still Makoto's sister. The stress was obvious on her face, she wasn't doing a good job hiding it.

Makoto spoke up, "It's quite all right. My apartment isn't far. I can walk."

She was trying to put on a brave face, but it was failing badly. He noticed her hands she had clasped together in front of her were trembling.

"It's too dangerous to walk out at night," Shinjiro rebuked. "But I don't mind if you really wanna stay over tonight."

Aki shot him an incredulous look, so Shinjiro stared back at him, eyebrow raised.

"Go play chauffeur."

Aki rolled his eyes before mouthing "soft" at him. He then ushered Sakura and Sakamoto out of the room.

"Shinjiro-san… thank you," Makoto said softly, even blushing a little in embarrassment.

"It was nothing," Shinjiro dismissed.

Being in a home with others close by might hopefully ease some of her nerves, especially Ken. Didn't take a genius to see how special he was to her.

He then stood up to dig out something for Makoto to wear. The school uniform couldn't be comfortable to sleep in, after all. He pulled out one of Ken's sleeping outfits, tossing it at her.

She then left to go change in the bathroom. Shinjiro took the moment to dress Ken in sleepwear. Shinjiro let out a weary sigh as he sank into the chair by Ken's desk. He could feel the energy literally drain out of him. He felt so… exhausted. Both mentally and physically.

His phone suddenly rang. He shot a look at Ken. He was still knocked out cold, but Shinjiro figured that Makoto would want to sit with him after everything. So he left the room, quietly shutting the door. He headed for his own bedroom, taking a quick look at the caller ID before answering.

"Yeah?"

"Shinji?" Fuuka said softly. "Um, is this a bad time?"

"Fuuka…" Shinji sighed, rubbing at his face. "No, it's okay. I'm just… tired. But Ken is safe."

Fuuka let out a soft sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness… this night has been a mess. But everyone will be so relieved to hear this news. I knew you guys would save him."

He… wasn't looking forward to recounting the story. And there was no way in hell that he and Aki could get away with not telling it.

Fuuka suddenly asked, "How is Ken-kun? Can I talk to him?"

"He passed out shortly after we got him out of there. He's in bed right now."

"I see…" Fuuka's tone became disappointed. "I suppose that it's warranted after everything. Poor Ken-kun."

Shinjiro's grasp on his phone tightened. She really had no idea.

"Shinji?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay? You must be exhausted."

Shinjiro ran a hand through his hair.

"Well, you know," he said carelessly. "Nothing a good night's sleep can't fix."

"That's not what I'm talking about, Shinji."

He should've known that Fuuka wouldn't let that half-assed excuse slide by. Shinjiro just rubbed at his eyes.

"Hey, how's Minako? Aki's been really worried."

Fuuka probably wouldn't be pleased at him dodging, but he was genuinely worried for her too.

Fuuka sighed but responded calmly, "The doctors say Minako and her baby aren't in any danger. But they do want to keep them at the hospital for an extra night or two to monitor them to be extra careful. It will probably be several hours until the baby arrives. It's stressful but they're gonna be okay."

Shinjiro let out a sigh of relief, at least Aki would be able to get some sleep tonight.

"You didn't answer my question. Shinji, please, talk to me," Fuuka urged gently.

Shinjiro rubbed his neck as he let out a heavy exhale.

"I just… fuck, Fuuka. He was probably planning on torturing Ken while trying to 'negotiate' with Mitsuru. He did it right in front of Aki and me. And I couldn't… I couldn't do a damn thing."

He couldn't stop his voice from cracking. Even though he knew that Makoto had a good point about blaming themselves, a small part of him couldn't help but wonder if he could've prevented this all. They'd be stressed about Amamiya, sure, but at least they would only be rescuing one teenager, not two.

"T-Torture?"

Oh fuck. Why did he have to mention that?

Shinjiro closed his eyes for a moment. "It was... electroshock torture. He got Ken a couple times and..."

He couldn't finish the sentence. Ken's pain filled screams were still rattling in his skull. Holy hell, he never wanted to hear that again. Ever.

On top of that, he didn't want to worry Fuuka any more.

"I'm sorry, Shinji…" Fuuka suddenly sniffled. "I'm so sorry, I even thought about asking Mitsuru-senpai if I could come with Akihiko-senpai, but I kept thinking that you had a good point. And we already had several people working to help Ren-kun. I never thought—maybe if I was there, I could've teleported Ken-kun and Futaba-chan to safety."

Shinjiro swallowed around the lump forming in his throat. He hated hearing Fuuka break down and cry about this. Especially since he couldn't even give her a hug.

"Fuuka… don't cry. It's okay, Ken's safe now."

Fuuka sniffled again.

"I'm sorry, I just—I haven't been able to stop thinking about this…"

Shinjiro then cleared his throat.

He said gruffly, "Don't blame yourself. We'll have to be doubly careful after all of this, but we did manage to dish some revenge to Shido. That's that bright spot of this whole shitty night."

To his relief, Fuuka managed a watery giggle.

"I suppose there's that silver lining," she chuckled.

Then she was quiet for a moment.

"I miss you, Shinji," Fuuka suddenly confessed. "Calling just isn't the same…"

"I miss you too. I hope all of this will be over soon," he answered sincerely.

Fuuka sighed, "I hope so too… But I'll let you go, Shinji. You should really get some rest."

Shinjiro gave a little nod. "You too, Fuuka."

"Good night, Shinji." He could hear the smile in Fuuka's voice. "I love you."

"Love you too. Night, Fuuka."

With that, Shinjiro finally hung up. He then got up and stretched. He would check up on Ken one last time before crashing.

He ambled over to Ken's room, carefully opening it. Then he did a double-take at the sight that greeted him.

Makoto was passed out in the chair by Ken's bed. But despite everything, she still gripped Ken's hand tightly.

She looked younger when she was sleeping. But she was only eighteen. On top of all the stress about her sister, there was the crap that happened tonight… and Amamiya's fate.

"Fucking hell… one thing at a time Shinjiro, these kids will pull through. They gotta," he whispered.

Shinjiro just shook his head before picking her up and setting her down on the other side of the bed.

He then slipped out, pulling out a spare blanket from the cupboard where they stored all the bedding. He draped it over Makoto. He then glanced down at his charge. Ken was curled onto his side, his expression peaceful.

Ken was safe. Even after this hellish night, he was okay… relatively. Shinjiro was still worried about what Shido had done to him—and then Amamiya's situation, but they'd deal with it, just like with Ken.

But at least for tonight… he could finally breathe easy.

---

TYR

History: In Norse mythology, Tyr is the god of war and the lawgiver amongst the gods. Most notably, Tyr was crucial in the binding of the dread wolf, Fenrir. He alone was the only one brave enough to agree to placing his hand in Fenrir's maw, allowing the Norse gods to bind Fenrir. He lost his hand as a result of this, however. Tyr is also associated with the Roman god, Mars.

Arcana: Justice

Level: 56

Elements: Bless, Gun, Healing

Blocks: Bless

Resists: Psy

Weakness: Curse

Spells: Makouga, Kougaon, Mediarama, Diaharan, One Shot Kill, Marakunda, Bless Boost, Hamaon

---

Soooo… I apologize for the wait. There were a lot of contributing factors to the delay. I was trying to write for shipping weeks, but then I hit a motivation slump hard. Also got caught up playing Trails of Cold Steel 3. Man, I forgot how much I love that series.

BUT I HOPE THIS CHAPTER MAKES UP FOR THE WAIT.

A lot of stuff happened. I want to discuss Tyr for Ken's third tier Persona. One big thing is that while Forseti is indeed the Norse god of justice, Tyr's domain was also said to include justice as well. And there's some interesting parallels with Akechi's "true" Persona being Loki and Ken getting Tyr. As I mention in the blurb, Tyr made a serious sacrifice to help his brethren. While Loki isn't evil persay, he ended up screwing over the gods a lot. Additionally, Tyr was often compared to Mars, the Roman god of war! While Mars' Greek counterpart, Ares, wasn't the most pleasant guy around, Mars was more disciplined. Mars was depicted as a guardian, someone brought strength and honor in battle. He was also considered one of the greatest gods in the Roman pantheon, only second to Jupiter, the king of gods. Additionally, Tyr's best known myth revolves him help trick an enemy into being heavily crippled. Quite fitting for what Ken goes through, no?

And speaking of Personas, Aeneas will get a description in the future! Just didn't fit in the scene where Shinji summoned.

I've also gotten a few more art pieces commissioned! Check it out on Tumblr (personaaceinthehole). Most notably, I've gotten an All Out Attack art for Ace! I want to thank my beta angelrin89 for helping me figure out what to do for the actual art. Additionally, coolman229 also surprised me with editing some exploding Shadows to add to the authenticity! Check it out guys!

I also would like to announce that my beta angelrin89 and I have decided that it'll be best for her to go through the rest of the story and edit it. So everything is up to par to the content she did edit! And as usual, she did a FANTASTIC job editing this! Her tweaks to the chapter made everything better!

Anyways, I've talked your ears off long enough. Please leave a review and tell me what you think!