Chapter 14; The Public Area of Museum of Vanity

Location; Shujin Academy, Aoyama-Itchome

During lunch, as Zorua made an illusion area so the Pokemon could eat, Aqua let Ren, Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana know what Yusuke said to her after she contacted him. "Yusuke said that he wants me to come over after school today."

"Perfect! Probably dropped all his plans just to get you over there." Ryuji said before Ann said. "We need to find out from Kitagawa-kun if what we saw in the Palace was true…"

"Hey, quiet down. It's that student council president." Morgana said and they all noticed Makoto talking to Mishima. "Yikes… She's got a hold of Mishima today? It'd suck if she noticed us. C'mon, let's split up." Ryuji said and they agreed, and returned everyone to their Pokeballs and cleaned up their trash.

Location; Madarame Shack

After school, they all went over to the shack. Ryuji was happy to have a big target, but Ann was wondering why Yusuke was protecting Madarame. Since Yusuke lives with Madarame, he should be aware of Madarame's true nature. But she would get answers when Aqua was modeling.

In Yusuke's room, which was packed full of everything that involved painting. Yusuke was happy to have Aqua there, but not the others, mostly Ryuji. "I thought it would just be you coming, Kangofu-san." Yusuke said to Aqua and Aqua said. "Yeah, but I am a little nervous being your model, so I ask them to join us."

"And we're going to keep an eye on you, so don't try anything perverted, okay?" Ryuji said to Yusuke and Yusuke said to him. "Stop making such odd assumptions. I have absolutely no interest in her as someone of the opposite sex." That surprised them and then Yusuke started to paint after Aqua got into position. As Yusuke painted, everyone started to talk to him, but he was so focused on his painting he ignored them. Morgana left the room, trying to find something. And he did. Morgana found a door with a peacock feather pattern and with a hefty lock on it.

Back with the others, after sitting for all of this time, Yusuke stopped and Ryuji said. "Are you done?"

"It's no good…" Yusuke said, surprising them again. Aqua then said to Yusuke. "I'm sorry… Am I the problem?"

"No, not at all. It's just… I'm having trouble staying focused today. I'm sorry, but we'll have to resume this another time…"

"Oh hell no! How many hours do you think you made us wait!?" Ryuji yelled as he got up. Yusuke was confused and after they all got up, Ann said to Yusuke. "We had another reason for seeing you today… We needed to talk to you."

"It's about those rumors regarding your sensei." Ryuji said to Yusuke. Yusuke got up and said. "This again…"

"The painting I saw at the exhibit… You're the one who actually painted it, right?" Aqua said to Yusuke. Yusuke then looked away and said. "That's…" That told them that it was true. Ryuji then said to Yusuke. "Your sensei's seriously messed up. He just thinks of his pupils as tools. That's why he doesn't give a damn whether he steals their work or physically beat them. I'll make this clear, there's no point in hiding stuff from us."

"Hahaha… I have no idea what you're talking about…" Yusuke said before Ann said to Yusuke. "You couldn't go against him, could you? I'm sure we can help you out though…"

"Stop it… It's just as you all say. We're… our sensei's "artwork." Don't misunderstand me though. I offered my ideas to him myself. As such, it can't be called plagiarism. Sensei is simply suffering from artist's block right now." Yusuke said before Aqua said. "Is that true, or is that what you are telling yourself?" Yusuke didn't say anything. Ann felt bad for Yusuke and Ryuji said to him. "Then why are you sticking around!? All his other pupils ran away! Aren't you the only one left!?"

"What's wrong with a pupil helping out his master!? There are no victims here! Stop pushing your self-centered righteousness on me!" Yusuke yelled and then Ren said to Yusuke. "And the other pupils?" Yusuke didn't say anything because he didn't know how to respond to that question. Yusuke then said to them. "I'm supporting Sensei as his pupil. Where's the wrong in that? Don't ever come here again… If you do, I'll sue you for causing a disturbance."

"Hold it! We're not done talking here!" Ryuji yelled and then Yusuke said pulled out his phone. "Then you leave me with no choice… I'm reporting you to the police. I asked Kangofu-san to be my model today, but I don't recall ever calling you three here!"

"What the eff, man!?" Ryuji said getting close to Yusuke. Aqua pushed Ryuji away and said. "Ryuji, stop making this worse." Aqua then said to Yusuke. "And Yusuke, please calm down."

"I won't report your friends… but only under one condition."

"What's that?"

"I want you to continue being my model, Kangofu-san."

"But you said that it wasn't working out today…"

"That's because I was unconsciously being modest for your sake… However, I have nothing to worry about anymore. If you're willing to bare everything to me… I will put my heart and soul into creating the best nude painting ever!"

"WHAT!?" Ryuji yelled as they were all very surprised to hear Yusuke's condition. And as for Aqua, it was like all of her color was drained from her body. Yusuke then said not seeing the color drained from Aqua. "Ah, to think I'd be able to create a nude painting with my most ideal model!" He then turned to the others. "Of course, you three won't be allowed in, and I ask that you forget about our discussion today, as well. If I don't submit a new piece to Sensei soon, there will be some… inconveniences."

"Nude, meaning it'll be without any clothes, right!? Why are things suddenly escalating like that!?" Ann said and then Yusuke said to Aqua. "Because those are my terms. Now Sensei is out during the afternoon and the art exhibit is on, so I can use this place freely… Of course, I'm willing to wait. I'll make time according to your plans. But, please come before the exhibit ends. Now Sensei will be returning home soon. We're done for today. Kangofu-san, I'll be waiting for you to contact me." Aqua didn't say anything, because she was still in shock, and Yusuke turned around to check on his art supplies. Ryuji said to Ren. "Hey… What should we do?"

"We'll have to leave…"

"Yeah… Dammit. He got us good this time." Ryuji said and they left. With Ann dragging Aqua outside and Ryuji grabbing Morgana, just as he returned to the room.

Outside they told the situation to Morgana and Aqua recovered from the shock. Ren then said to her. "You good Aqua?"

"Yeah, but I am not going to be in his crazy paint anymore."

"That means we need to make Madarame confess before the exhibit ends." Ren said before Ann said. "But Kitagawa-kun thinks he owes his life to him. Is there a need to make Madarame confess?"

"Madarame's no different from Kamoshida. That asshole's using Yusuke, who doesn't have parents. You're telling me we should just ignore how he's being treated horribly like the other pupils?" Ryuji said to Ann and then Ann said. "No… It is frustrating to leave this alone, even if Kitagawa-kun is fine with it himself…"

"You can't leave it be because you've endured a lot yourself, with Kamoshida." Morgana said and Ann nodded yes. Ryuji then said to everyone. "Anyways, we gotta go after this guy. Madarame's the kind of target we've been waiting for. Let's help Yusuke come to his senses too… before he ends up like us."

"...Right." Ann said before Morgana said. "It may become easier for us to investigate his Palace if he's preoccupied with his exhibit. We must deal with Madarame before his exhibit ends"

"Let's start after school tomorrow. It'll be a pain if Miss President finds us on the rooftop again, so where to meet up… Let's see… I guess that walkway-like place in Shibuya would work. It is near Madarame's place, too." Ryuji said and then Morgana said. "...Changing our hideout periodically, huh? That's a plan I don't mind backing."

"Hey, can I talk to you kids for a sec?" A woman with a camera said as she came up to them. They all turned to her and Aqua said. "How can we help you…?"

"Ichiko Ohya. I'm a journalist. I am looking for people that know Madarame's pupils. And you four don't seem like the ordinary, stalking fans." Ichiko said and then Ren said. "Why do you want to talk to Madarame's pupils?"

"There's this painting, "Sayuri," that was supposedly stolen in the past. But there's this rumor that it was taken by one of his pupils in retaliation for being abused. Have you heard anything about it?"

"No we haven't." Aqua said and then Ichiko said. "I see… There's no case unless there's a victim, and if there's no proof of abuse… I can't write either. Looks like I'm back to square one. Sorry for taking your time. If you ever get any leads, mind contacting me here?" Ichiko gave Ren her business card. Ren took it and then left. The other followed soon after and went home for the day.

Location; Shibuya Teikyu Building Accessway

The next day they all got ready to infiltrate the Museum from the new hideout. "My fellow thieves, welcome to our new hideout! Our target this time is Madarame! We all saw that Palace. We'll pay dearly if we assume it's just going to be like the last one. We'll need to do what we did with Kamoshida. First, we secure an infiltration route in the Palace. After that, we sent our calling card. Once the Treasure has materialized, we steal it" Morgana said and then Ryuji said. "Oooh, I got a question! Madarame doesn't know that we were doing stuff in the Palace yet. Why are we already getting treated like criminals there?"

"You're learning, Ryuji. Well done. It must be because he doesn't trust anyone. Any unknown person may as well be an enemy." Morgana said and then Ann said. "Or maybe he's just super salty from all those rumors that have been spreading about him…"

"Then his Palace being so crazy had nothing to do with us?" Ryuji said and then Morgana said. "Either way, we should stay on our best behavior. It'll be harder for us to steal the Treasure if we needlessly increase the security level."

"We need to be careful of Kitagawa-kun this time too. I'm sure that whatever he sees will just get passed on to Madarame." Aqua said and they agreed with her. Ann then said. "Hey, what is Madarame's Treasure going to look like anyway? Another crown?"

"I'd doubt that. But my sixth sense will know when I see it." Morgana said and then Ryuji said. "Oh yeah, you go completely huts, huh?"

"Our time limit is when the exhibit ends, right?" Ann said and then Aqua said. "Yep, so we have to send out the calling card before then. So let's stop talking and find our infiltration route." They agreed with her and went to Madarame Shack.

Location; The Museum of Vanity

Once they were inside, Phanpy came out of the Pokeball and said to Keeper. [Can I join you this time? Please?]

"Sure, it would be good for you to get some experiences." Keeper said and the others agreed. Skull let out Larvitar, Panther let out Buneary, Mona let out Nincada, and Joker let out Frigibax. Keeper then remembered something and said to Joker. "Wait, I totally forgot, but didn't the Person in Red give you a new Pokemon?"

"Actually it was just a Pokeball, nothing inside." Joker said, pulling out the Pokeball and opening it, revealing that there wasn't a Pokemon inside. "Oh there is Pokemon for that Pokeball." A female voice said and they all turned around to see the Person in Red. Keeper then said to the Person in Red. "What do you mean?"

"The Pokemon I caught with that Pokeball didn't want to leave his friends, so I let him out. But once he sees Joker, he'll join you. Oh and one more thing. I have a message from Nakanohara."

"Nakanohara… That's Madarame's student." Mona said and then Keeper said. "What's the message?"

"He wants you to change Madarame's heart."

"If he wanted to change Madarame's heart, why didn't he use the Website?" Skull said before the Person in Red said. "He wanted to, but it would complicate things if he posted the Madarame name online."

Is that all?" Keeper said and then the Person in Red said. "No. As you may have heard a senior pupil committed suicide, but why he did it was because he wasn't happy to hear his work praised under Madarame's name. And others like Nakanohara, who disobeyed Madarame's orders, left. However Madarame destroyed their life as painters to make sure no one would notice that his artwork was plagiarized. But there's only one left. And Nakanohara wants you to save that man."

"You mean Yusuke?" Keeper said and then Joker said. "What do you mean?"

"As you know, Yusuke remains under Madarame's tutelage. Yusuke won't leave because he feels like he owes Madarame for taking him in after his mom passed. Yusuke wants to leave, but he needs your help. So go in there and change Madarame's heart, before Nakanohara see another suicide. Oh! And before I forget, follow the candle. It will help you inside the museum." The Person in Red said before she disappeared. And while she surprised them, what she told them made them ready to change Madarame's heart.

Once they entered from the same place, the security was online and shadow guards in the shape of museum guards guarding the halls. They were able to ambush them and they turned into little green men named Mokoi, a female fairy with a suit named Hua Po, a female dancer that was glowing named Apsaras. Joker was to turn one of each of them into a mask. As for the Pokemon, while they were able to get some experience, but Phanpy, Frigibax, and Larvitar were still too weak to take down a Shadow by themselves.

Once they reached the room with the statue that told them about Madarame plagiarizing. "We'll be in unknown territory once we go past here, right?" Panther said and then Mona said. "The security will probably get a little more fierce as well."

"Wait, what's that?" Joker said, pointing at a candle with a purple flame hiding behind the statue. Keeper then said. "A Litwick. That must be the candle the Person in Red was talking about." Keeper then let Fletchinder out. Keeper then said to Fletchinder. "Fletchinder, can you talk to Litwick?"

[Sure.] Fletchinder said as it landed close to Litwick. Joker then said to Keeper as she pulled out her phone. "So what is a Litwick?"

"Litwick, The Candle Pokemon. The flame on its head keeps its body slightly warm. This Pokémon takes lost children by the hand to guide them to the spirit world." Rotom said and Panther said. "That sounds kind of spooky."

"Well yeah. It's a Ghost Type, and Fire Type." Keeper said before Skull said. "Wait, you have ghosts back in your world?"

"Kind of." Keeper said and back with Fletchinder, he said to Litwick. [Hello Litwick. What are you doing here?]

[I am here looking for my friend. She is kept deep inside this place.] Litwick said with a male voice. Fletchinder then said to Litwick as the others walked close to them. [If you help us through this place. We will help you find your friend.]

[Great, but I doubt you will help me rescue her.]

[Why do you say that?]

[Follow me.] Litwick said as it hopped away and they followed him. As they made their way through the museum, seeing take down or avoiding guards, side stepping traps, and finding Safe Rooms that were the rooms of the people that used to live in the shack. Litwick took them all to an open area that was like a garden. The garden had simple bushes, but it had a door with peacock painting in front of a gold building with glowing blue lights coming out of the window. "Whoa, it's even gaudier than the rest of the museum…" Panther said and then Mona said. "It definitely looks like something important would be hidden away in there…"

"Let's go see what's inside." Keeper said as she walked to the door. Once they got closer, they noticed a lot of security in the form of red electricity walls. "Whoa! The hell!?" Skull said before Litwick said. [This is where the Pokemon are being kept.]

"Great, and these things are in the way." Keeper said and then Mona said. "This level of security only proves there's something worth protecting up ahead."

"Wait, there's something written on the sign…" Panther said as she found a sign, and Joker said. "What's it say?"

"All personnel: This door can only be opened via the security room that lies beyond it… Please be cautious, as it is impossible to open from the outside." Panther said what was written on the sign. Skull then said. "So, it's never gonna open!? How're we supposed to get past!?"

"Wait… That door… I think I've seen that pattern somewhere…" Mona said and then Nincada said. [Where partner?]

"...Oh right! There's no mistaking it! That's the same door I saw earlier!" Mona said before Keeper said. "And how dose that help us? We still can't get threw this."

"I'll tell you outside." Mona said to the Thieves, then Litwick said to Mona. [I'm not going with out my friend. But good luck with whatever you are going to do.]

"Thanks Litwick." Mona said before the Thieves left Litwick and the Museum, for now at least.

And done. Now for some news if you know or don't know. A new Persona 5 spin off game came out called Persona 5 Tactics. Now I am doing Persona 5 Strikers, but Tactics is up in the air. I have a plan, and right now Tactics can be skipped. I will let you know if that changes later in the story.