Despite my classes being more rigorous than usual, what with me preparing to leave in a couple years, I simply couldn't resist writing at least one more chapter for you guys. I hope that will suffice.

Also, yes, I might've lied about being unable to do any more chapters. My bad. But, hey, more entertainment for you guys!

So, where we left off, Futaba volunteered to glean any information that she could out of Rocco. Her plan succeeded, and now we see what the Phantom Thieves will do with this information.

Any OCs are claimed by me. Persona 5 Royal and its characters are owned by Atlus and Sega.

Friday, September 16, Evening

LeBlanc

Ren was busy tidying up the cafe when his phone buzzed. Taking it out, he saw, with a rush of elation, the message that was displayed there.

Futaba: Mission successful!

"She got it." Ren said, a smile gracing his face.

"She did?! How?" Morgana said in alarm, peeking over Ren's shoulder at his phone. The rest of the Phantom Thieves were chiming in as well.

Ann: All right, Futaba!

Yusuke: You seemed to take that like it was child's play.

Futaba: Because it WAS, Inari! At least for someone of my caliber.

Ryuji: Well? What did he say? Anything important?

Futaba: Not now, I'm sure it's way too late for you young'uns. Besides, I can't chat with Sojiro here. Let's discuss it tomorrow.

Makoto: Excellent work, Futaba. Now let's just hope that what he's told us will provide some answers…

Ren shut off his phone, putting it back as he finished tidying up the cafe, before heading upstairs to bed.

"Hopefully Futaba's information will prove useful." Morgana said as Ren got on his bed clothes, before climbing onto the window sill where he usually sat.

"I'm sure it will. Futaba hasn't failed us yet." Ren said. With that, he shut his eyes, and he and Morgana drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

Saturday, September 17, Afternoon

LeBlanc

"Right, we're here," Ryuji said, leaning against the counter. "What's this super-important info you've got on Rocco?"

Futaba turned the computer screen towards the rest of the group, the chat log with her, disguised as Alibaba, and the Shujin student, detailing the short but very useful messages listed there.

"So it's true. She has been neglecting not just him, but everyone within her jurisdiction." Yusuke said. "Just when I thought this couldn't get any worse…"

"That sneaky bitch…why can't we report this to the police already?! We have evidence!" Ryuji said, gritting his teeth.

"We have a single chat log, you dummy. We can't just show the police this and expect them to arrest her. Besides, I'd rather not encounter the police with the amount of snooping they're doing right now." Futaba said, shaking her head.

"So what can we do now? It's not like we can just walk up to him and start gutting him for details," Ryuji retorted, scratching the back of his head in frustration.

"Actually…that may be the best course of action." Ren said, to the surprise of everybody.

"What? Even with his responses to Futaba, he's still guarded." Ann replied.

"Be that as it may, at this point it may be our only option. We'll just have to ask him directly after school on Monday." Ren said in response. The group stayed quiet, until Yusuke spoke up again.

"Ren has a point. Hopefully things will not go to such drastic measures as you all did with me. I don't think any of our minds can handle a scare like that again." He said with a soft smile. The group laughed as well, the tension easing off of their shoulders for the time being.

"Makoto, you'll have to bring him over to Ren, Ryuji, and Ann. Futaba will probably still be home, and Yusuke will be over at Kosei and won't be able to observe or question him." Morgana planned out. "Has he shown any animosity towards you ever since your date at the sushi restaurant?"

"It wasn't a date," Makoto retorted hotly, a small flush on her face. "And, no. When I spoke to him he seemed to hold no ill feelings toward me. He did look tired, however."

"Tired? Was it like an 'I'm sick of everyone' tired, or just an 'I didn't get enough sleep' tired?" Futaba asked, looking up from her computer to ask the question.

"From the looks of it…both. Whatever's eating away at him, or whatever his aunt must be doing to him…it must have gotten worse." Makoto said, a worried expression crossing her face, along with everyone else.

"That's even more incentive to ask him what's going on. The longer we wait, the worse it will get…I don't want anyone to do something as drastic as what Shiho did…" Ann said, the image of her best friend sprawled on the ground still fresh in her mind.

"It's settled, then. Monday, we'll meet up with him. Afterwards, we'll get to the bottom of whatever's going on." Morgana said, and the group nodded.

Sunday, September 18, Evening

Rocco's Home

Some time in the evening, Rocco unlocked the door to his house. He had gotten some better sleep the previous evening so he looked a lot better, but he was still exhausted after everything that was going on. To his surprise, he saw his aunt, sitting down on the couch, rummaging through her bag.

"Auntie?" He said in disbelief, his woes and drowsiness erased for the time being.

Alessia looked up, and a gentle smile crossed her face. "The one and only."

Rocco walked over and gave her a hesitant hug, which Alessia reciprocated. He pulled back, still surprised. "I thought you weren't due to come home until tomorrow. You said you would be busy at the lab."

"Yes, well, the funny thing is, when you have a work ethic as good as mine, you'd be surprised with how much you get done." Alessia said, giving her nephew a wink. "And speaking of getting things done…guess what I finished today?"

Rocco's heart leaped. "Your research? It's done?"

"Yes, yes, of course it is!" Alessia replied, looking like a young schoolgirl with how excited she was. "The most difficult part is done, now I just need to get some things finalized and I'll be home free."

"How long will it take?" Rocco asked, expecting an answer of a few days at most. However, what she said next shocked him.

"A few weeks. Honestly, the hassle I have to go through with some of my imbecilic colleagues…"

"W-What?" Rocco stammered, his elation deflating. "But…that sort of stuff should only take two to three days, max!"

"Normally, yes. But, there have been a surprising number of lawsuits against me nowadays, sweetie. All of them have been quelled, of course, but I have to make sure that everything is set before my work is to be submitted. So I will have to go in, tomorrow at the latest."

Rocco looked down. His aunt was finally finished with whatever was plaguing her, only to have a new plague slapped in her face.

Spotting Rocco's unease, Alessia reached over to comfort him. "Dearie…"

Rocco shrugged her arm off. "Why…why can't you just stay home?" He said, looking back over at her, upset and a little angered. "Why do I have to be alone when I eat dinner? What's so important about this research of yours that trumps whatever time you have with me?!"

Alessia's expression hardened a bit. "You wouldn't understand, Rocco. This is my life's work. If I had to spend my days taking care of you and doing my work, it would be very difficult to accomplish anything. Sometimes, sacrifices need to be made in the name of science, Rocco." She said coolly.

"Why does it have to be me who is the sacrifice, though?" Rocco muttered. Before his aunt could say anything, he stood, grabbing his bag. "Whatever…I should've expected this…" He stormed upstairs, and soon the sound of a door slamming could be heard.

Alessia pressed a palm to her temple. "If only he could understand…" she muttered angrily.

Monday, September 19, After School

Shujin Academy Hallway

Despite getting a good night's sleep last night, Rocco's argument with his aunt was still fresh in his mind, but he kept trying to keep it under wraps during his day, although it did take a toll on his studies. Three times today he had lost focus during class and was unprepared to answer a usually easy question for him. Sitting alone at lunch again did nothing to improve his mood as he sullenly ate his leftover sushi from the Saturday before when he had gone out again. It wasn't until he realized someone was trying to talk to him as he went to walk out the doors did he shake himself out of his stupor and turn to find the source of the voice.

To his surprise, it was Niijima. She was bustling through the crowds, which was unlike her, as he assumed that she would be busy with student council work.

"Orimura-san, wait up!" the young woman said as she reached Rocco. For some reason, he stopped.

"Niijima-san…" He said simply, and to his surprise he found himself relaxing, before becoming overwhelmed with guilt when he remembered their last meeting. "Look, about what happened at the sushi restaurant, that was–"

"That's not why I'm here." Makoto said shortly. She was grateful that he was willing to apologize, but she had moved past that. She hadn't acted right either. "Look, I think we need to discuss something."

Rocco's heart leapt into his throat? Did she suspect him to be the one who killed the principal? No, wait, that was absurd.

Seeing him process the information, Makoto smiled and took his hand. "It's okay, you're not in trouble or anything. Here, let's go someplace more quiet, all right? I noticed that you've been a bit of a mess today."

"You noticed? Ah, jeez, well, it was obvious, anyway." Rocco said with a small laugh, more so to ease his mood than anything else.

"C'mon, this way." Makoto said, leading him outside to the backyards of the school.

The two arrived at a table, and Rocco's heart started to race again. Instead of being empty, there sat three figures…well, four, actually: Ren, Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana. As a cat, of course.

"What the…" Rocco said, looking at Makoto.

"We're sorry that we had to get you out here like this, Orimura-san." Ann said, clasping her fingers together.

"We just wanted to ask you a few questions." Ren said, his arms crossed. Ryuji said nothing, partly because he was irritated as is, but also because he didn't know what to say without sounding conceited.

"What sort of questions? You mean like what she asked me?" Rocco asked, gesturing to Makoto. "Because whatever you ask me, I'm not going to–"

"Oh, cut the crap, will ya?" Ryuji said, his first words since meeting Rocco face-to-face.

"Ryuji!" Ann hissed, nudging him with her shoulder.

"Oh, come on. We didn't bring him here just so that he'd deny everything!" Ryuji said as if Rocco wasn't there.

"'Deny everything'? The hell are you talking about?" Rocco said angrily, before Makoto put a hand on his chest.

"Please, you two, not now. We didn't come here to start a fight." She said firmly, and Ryuji offered a grumbled apology.

"Look, Orimura-san…we don't know how to sugarcoat this, but…we know what's going on with you and your aunt." Ren said simply, sliding his hands into his pockets.

If Rocco's heart was racing now, at this point it was threatening to leap out of his chest. "What…how did you…" he said in a slightly panicked tone.

"We had some outside help." Ren said simply. Now would not be the time to tell him about Futaba and her relationship with Alibaba. "What's important now is how we can help you out."

"We have a friend of ours who has gone through a similar situation as you, Orimura-san." Ann said. "And after what I saw with my best friend a few months ago…I don't want to sit back and wait until something drastic happens again. I won't."

Rocco had watched Ann speak, his annoyance with Ryuji rapidly ebbing away. Once she was done, he asked quietly, "You were Suzui-san's friend, right?" After Ann confirmed with a nod, he gritted his teeth. "Thank God that bastard Kamoshida is behind bars now…he ruined so many lives just because he thought he was the king of a castle or something."

The group shared a look at his statement. It sounded especially like what Ryuji had said when he and Ren first met.

Rocco continued with a heavy sigh, "I want to apologize for my outburst, I guess stuff just boiled over and I couldn't help it."

"It's all right," Makoto said, resting a hand on Rocco's shoulder.

"So, what's the dirt on that aunt of yours?" Ryuji said, still a bit irritated but more so towards Alessia.

Taking a deep breath, Rocco started with, "To be honest? A lot of the stuff I assumed you guys have seen about her is fake."

A soft groan left Morgana's mouth. "So some of the things we found on that list weren't true…what rotten luck…"

"But," Rocco continued, ignoring Morgana due to him interpreting his words as mere meows, "that doesn't mean everything is false. A few things are true about her. One such thing is misuse of company funds, though she's often covered it up by purchasing equipment disguised as things needed for her laboratory."

"Sounds like a lot of companies we know about…" Ann muttered in slight anger, with the others nodding in agreement.

"She has recently begun abusing her power as a head scientist, to the point where many of her staff have outright quit due to her totalitarian rule. I've spoken with a few of them a couple days after they've quit."

"That's horrible! And no one's opposed her? Surely there's a board of directors or administrators above her!" Makoto said, eyes wide.

"That is true, however they're so obsessed with the profit that she rolls in that they don't give a damn about her practices, even suing the people who've quit outright until they've ruined them financially." Rocco said, his gaze stormy as he recounted the victims of such lawsuits.

"Those dirtbags! This is just like Kamoshida! Adults couldn't give a damn about what someone's doin', as long as it benefits them!" Ryuji said, kicking an empty soda can.

"Orimura-san, how come you haven't reported this to the Phan-Site? The police probably wouldn't help you out, but I'm sure the Phantom Thieves would do…something!" Makoto said, giving the others a look to silently suggest avoiding exposing their identities to their fellow student.

"I would have to agree," Ren said. "They haven't failed a request yet."

"You think I haven't tried?" Rocco said in frustration. "My request is just one of thousands, and when there's a much more popular vote…it tends to get drowned out."

The other Thieves looked at each other with sad looks. Each one of them was thinking the same thing: How could this happen? Even with thousands of requests, they would have noticed his.

"Orimura-san…we'll make sure they hear you out. Even if it takes forever." Ann said, a determined look on her face.

"Yeah! W-they'll be sure to listen!" Ryuji added, almost slipping up but catching himself in the nick of time.

Rocco let out a relieved breath. "Well…thanks, you guys. I don't think anyone's really cared about me like this since…well, since Niijima-san and I went out for sushi a while back." At this, Makoto flushed a tiny bit, but smiled.

"I think there's something else that you guys need to know," Rocco said, clutching his bag. "As much as I hate to admit it…she has been neglecting me. I wouldn't have thought otherwise, but looking some stuff up has changed my perception of it."

Ren's knuckles tightened. "That little witch…she's ruined your life…"

Rocco didn't find it in his heart to agree. He sighed. "Yeah…but, guys…as much as you want to go on the war path for me, and I appreciate it, don't. She's a high-profile scientist. At most, we have some confirmed rumors by me."

"He's right," Makoto said. "We can't go barging in earlier. Remember what Ren, Ryuji, and Mishima did with Kamoshida? They almost got expelled."

"Yeah, but we changed his heart!" Ryuji countered.

"Doesn't excuse the fact that you were done for. Not to mention that Ren's life would've been history." Ann retorted.

"So, what should we do, then?" Ryuji said, frustrated. "The longer we wait, the more opportunities that batshit insane scientist has to ruin people's lives."

"Ryuji! Remember who we're in front of?" Makoto hissed.

Rocco waved it off. "You'd be surprised how much I've wanted to call her that. But, thank you, Makoto."

"What's best to do, for starters, is to research in depth about what Alessia does." Ren said.

"Good idea. Maybe we can ask his aunt if she does tours." Morgana said, forgetting that Rocco couldn't understand him.

"Uh…am I supposed to understand the cat or something?" Rocco said, confused.

"He said that we should ask you if your aunt does tours of her lab. Also, unless you're in some pretty strange circumstances, no, you shouldn't." Ann said.

Rocco was tempted to ask what said "strange circumstances" were, but he felt like it wasn't the time to do so. "Erm, in response to the cat's question…she actually does offer tours. I'd be happy to take some of y'all to see the lab she works at. But no funny business, all right? Last thing I want is for everyone here to be arrested."

"That doesn't sound like a problem to us. Although, could we ask that we bring an additional couple of people? They'd want to meet you in person." Ren asked.

"Sure, why not. As they say, the more the merrier. I'll call my aunt later to see if we can set up a time to go."

"Thanks, man," Ryuji said, a small grin on his face.

Ren looked at his watch, then hoisted his bag onto his shoulder, Morgana jumping into it. "As much as I'd love to stick around, I'd best be getting home. Mondays are surprisingly busy in the evenings, and Sojiro would have my head if I was late for the evening rush."

"That, I know all too well." Rocco said with a chuckle, having worked plenty of evening shifts at restaurants himself. "I'll let you guys know if I can get a date in."

"Oh, right! Before you leave, let's exchange contacts! Better than having you run around town looking to spread any announcements, anyway." Ann said, pulling out her phone.

The others followed suit, saving Rocco's number to their contacts and (in Ren's case) forwarding it to Yusuke, as Futaba had already found his number earlier and would add it on her own time.

Once that was finished, the students parted ways. As Makoto and Ren exited the school, the former let out a small sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness that went as well as it did. For a second I thought that Ryuji and Rocco would bean each others' brains out." She lamented as the two made their way to the train station.

"Same. At least you had the sense to stop it from happening." Ren said with a chuckle.

"True, true…and at least we got a whole lot of information out of Rocco. Hopefully we'll put a stop to his aunt before things turn south."

"You mean like they haven't already?" Morgana interjected, poking his head out of Ren's backpack.

"More south, I mean. At least Rocco doesn't appear too distraught." Makoto hurriedly said.

As the two waved goodbye (Makoto having to catch a different train home), Ren pushed his glasses up on his face a bit.

"It's showtime…"