Good Day Readers! Obviously, I do not own anything connected to the Persona series in general or Persona 5 specifically, I DO own Chiba Natsumi and Anais Ouvrard, along with Natsumi's immediate family members and the original Personas that will be showing up on occasion.
Thank you to Guest for the review.
I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy.
Chapter 37: - Through the Door
"So, it's you two," Kitagawa's voice came. I lifted my head from my book and found the painter was standing in front of me and Ren. "You did use this line now that I think about it," Kitagawa admitted. He should since this is how we met him in the first place, his relaxed expression suddenly became hostile. "Anyhow, what's with this sudden change in attitude? I was contacted by Takamaki-san last night. She's accepted the nude modelling proposition. That's nice, of course… but I hope you aren't conspiring anything," Kitagawa stated. This caused Ren to snap his book close.
"I could say the same of you. Asking a pretty girl, you followed to undress and pose for a painting, especially since you seemed reluctant to let anyone else come with her to the painting," Ren commented. He moved closer to Kitagawa and jabbed the book towards the artist. "If you hurt my friend, I won't forgive you for that," Ren stated. Kitagawa seemed to be angered by Ren's comments as he glared heatedly at the curly haired ravenette.
"Do not make a mockery of art. Don't judge us by your worldly standards. I'll call the police if you try anything. Remember that," Kitagawa snapped. Thankfully the train to our school pulled in at that moment, allowing me to hook Ren's arm and pull him towards the vehicle; we didn't need to make this situation any worse with such a confrontation.
*Persona 5 Royal*
We had to get through school first, which also unfortunately included Inui-sensei lavishing praise upon Madarame's 'artworks', but once school was over Ren had me and Ann meet him and Morgana at the doorway to the roof since it was still pretty quiet. Ryūji was busy down the stairs running interference if Niijima-senpai or any of the teachers started getting suspicious.
"One set of lockpicks," Ren stated. He handed me the tool which seemed to just be strips of metal that had been fashioned slightly for the purpose of catching and moving the tumblers. "And one lockpicking cat," Ren added on. He lifted up Morgana and slipped the cat inside my bag. "Me and Ryūji will head off now and get into position in the museum. What will you two do?" Ren asked. I lifted the bag to hang from my shoulder, adjusting to the new and moving weight inside.
"There's something I got to do at home first, but after that we'll be heading over to the shack," Ann answered. She'd told me about her plan in a private Chat and while it was something that sounded ludicrous, anything that extended the removal of clothing was something I approved of; Ren nodded his head and proceeded to move towards the stairs.
"Just remember, your safety is more important than anything else," Ren reminded. He then descended down the steps, Ann took in a shaky breath as her hands trembled slightly, I moved over to grip her hand tightly which she returned briefly before we separated and quickly made our way down the stairs and out of the building.
We return to Ann's home and the girl went inside, meanwhile Morgana started to give me some advice on how to go about doing the lockpicking, but apart from Ann's front door which would result in her being locked in there wasn't anything to practice on. Once Ann emerged with her plan in place, Morgana gaped in shock before I forced him to curl up in the bag and sealed it shut. Ann and I made our way to the shack getting many odd looks along the way that we just ignored; thankfully the door was open which allowed us to slip inside after Ann called our presence ahead.
"To think you'd really come… I assumed you were lying when you contacted me," Kitagawa mused. His back was still to us, so he had yet to see Ann's outfit, Ann apologised for it being so sudden. "Oh, it's not a problem. But as I told you yesterday, Sensei will be returning in about twenty or thirty minutes. So, um… I'm sorry if that causes some anxiety on your part," Kitagawa admitted. Frankly that was perfect for us.
"That's why I'm here today, damn it," Ann muttered. I nudged her foot to remind her to be quiet of our true purpose, especially as Kitagawa turned around and asked her to repeat what she'd said. "Oh no, it was nothing!" Ann exclaimed. She needed to keep herself calm if we wanted this plan to actually succeed.
"By the way… have you gained some weight?" Kitagawa asked. I could tell he was trying to be gentle about this question, though said question was no surprise as I think Ann had put on every piece of clothing she owned. The girl's silhouette as a result had become rather rotund due to the numerous layers that were covering her form, Kitagawa was naturally shocked and I had to bite my lip in order to suppress the laughter I felt; Ann's idea was somehow both genius and comical.
"You think so? I weigh the same as always… maybe I'm bloated today?" Ann innocently responded. Kitagawa actually took this in stride which was quite impressive since he simply asked Ann if she was willing to get ready. "I… need to take my clothes off, right?" Ann asked. She was still reluctant to do this, no blame or judgment from me since this was uncomfortable from my position so worse for her, but at least she had a way to delay it.
"Just remember Kitagawa-san," I spoke up. As I did, I grabbed a chair and dragged it to the doorway. "I'll be right outside. One unhappy peep from Ann-chan, and I'll be in here fast as a ninja teleports. So… behave," I warned. With that, I firmly set the chair down in front of the doorway and yanked the door closed as a way to scare Kitagawa just a little more before waiting a few seconds. "Okay, Morgana, let's get to work," I whispered. At my words, the cat wriggled his way out of the bag.
Morgana immediately took off up the stairs, so I tailed after him, easily following the white tip as he guided me through the darkened corridors and my eyesight adjusted to the dim lighting. Eventually we rounded a corner and I came face to face with a more toned down version of the same peacock painted door from the Palace. As Morgana had warned it had a rather hefty lock attached to it… breaking it down might be harder than expected since it looked strong.
"Alright, get ready Natsumi," Morgana encouraged. I looked over and saw the cat had settled himself onto a gathering of random items that was near the door; I knelt down and found this allowed him to be at eye height with me and the padlock. I pulled the lock pick out and pointed them at the keyhole, feeling a bubble of nervousness rise up within me. "You'll need to insert the lockpick into the keyhole and carefully move it so that the hook can catch each of the tumblers inside and pull it downwards to open it. Locks like these have four tumblers, all you need to do is be careful," Morgana explained.
I reached forward with the lockpick and gently slid each of the metal strips into the keyhole, I quickly found that moving them about would be a bit more difficult than I thought. The insides of the lock were quite cramped and I could no longer move the metal pieces side by side, instead I had to trail one after the others as I moved about trying to find something. A faint scratching could be felt as I moved one of the pieces, causing me to pause as I slightly pulled the pick backwards to avoid damaging the lock's insides which could stop me from getting a hold of it.
My teeth gritted against each other, the more I moved the lockpick about, the less I actually felt anything that could be moved about. I started to get agitated as I moved the strips of metal about in a manner that was increasingly more aggressive than the previous movements. I just couldn't seem to find anything within this tiny space which didn't make any sense! Surely, I should have found something by now! Ann, Ren and Ryūji were counting on me to get this done! I couldn't let Ann's actions be in vain!
"Natsumi! Calm down!" Morgana snapped. I stopped my violent movements with the lockpick at the sound of his angry voice and pulled back to look at the cat who was giving me a heavy look. "Getting all stressed out and acting rashly is only going to break the lockpick and make it impossible to open the door," Morgana stated. A sigh that was laden with the frustration I felt escaped my lips as I looked down at my lap.
"I know Mona, but I have to get this lock open, for everyone's sake," I reminded. This lock stood in our way and I'd been the one to insist that I do this job as opposed to Morgana who had the experience; if I failed now then I risked everything the others had done falling in like a house of cards. Suddenly a pressure on my right hand caused me to look up and I saw Morgana resting a paw upon that hand.
"But emotion won't help here, you need to remain serene like how you are when training the others. Focused, calm and confident. I'm here to guide you so you've got everything you need to get through the lock," Morgana reassured. I could almost detect the faintest hint of a smile on his face and a soft, kind gleam was in his eyes; the pressure of his paw was a very human like gesture for him to make.
"Thanks Morgana," I admitted. I was glad that he was here to help me, if he hadn't been then I probably would have only become more agitated and ended up snapping the lockpick therefore definitely dooming us; I looked back at the lock and took in a deep breath to centre myself. "You know, if we have to do something like this again, I'd appreciate extra lessons," I added on.
"It would be my pleasure," Morgana stated. With that done, I raised the strips of metal and gently slid them back into the lock's tight confines; I regulated my breathing into the same deep pattern that I used whenever practicing my kata as I gently began to move the lockpick again. Everything seemed to slightly fade away until only my breath and Morgana's swishing tail could be heard, the pressure of my knees on hard wood faded as I focused on what I could feel through the picks.
I seemed to be able to actually feel stuff this time around, gaps and edges that I had either ignored or completely missed previously due to my silly frustration. I kept trailing them about until one of the edges caught on something that was a little bit more than a gap. Thinning my lips as I focused on that section, I proceeded to press down on it with the lockpick that had caught it and I felt it move. Stopping the movement of the other one, I proceeded to press down a little more firmly, causing the object to depress in response until suddenly it stopped moving and a loud click echoed through the quiet corridor, it felt like it was loud though it likely wasn't that noisy at all.
"There, one done, only three more Natsumi," Morgana cheered. I allowed a relieved laugh to escape from my lips once Morgana's words set into my mind; maybe this wouldn't be such an impossible thing to do after all. I took a deep breath to focus myself once more and I began to glide the lockpicks about once again, now that I knew the feeling of the tumblers that I was searching for, there was a good chance that it would make them easier for me to find again.
A few more moments of silent movement eventually brought the other lockpick to rest upon a tumbler. I started to depress it just like last time, but I must have done something different because I felt the lockpick lose its' grip upon the tumbler. A frown curled on my lips as a sigh escaped me, the pressure of Morgana's paw gently resting on my shoulder cooled my mind. With focus I moved the lock pick around again and found either the same tumbler or a different one, this time I managed to drag it down and the clicking sound echoed once more.
"You're still not done yet?!" Ann's voice came. I guess she must have stripped down to the absolute base layer that wasn't undergarments if she had turned up, hopefully Kitagawa and Madarame would get here soon… but not too soon since the lock was still sealed. "After all the time I bought!" Ann complained. I snapped my head around, taking in the pink camouflage patterned tank top and short jeans with red high-tops that Ann was wearing.
"Here's an idea, you pick the lock with no training while I seduce the genius painter. Then tell me which one's easier!" I snapped. Right after, I yanked myself back to the lock and focused on moving the thin strips of metal against the tumblers again; Morgana tried to reassure her by claiming I almost had it, only for Kitagawa to call out to Ann which caused my arms to stiffen up for a few moments.
"You have to stay away from that room. Only Sensei can go in there," Kitagawa stated. As if we weren't already aware of this from the darn lock it had sealed around it and its' deep connection to some secret part of his twisted mind; Ann distracted him by asking what was inside. "It's a storage room for old paintings," Kitagawa answered.
"Yeah right, no way anyone puts a lock on old paintings in storage," Morgana whispered. I nodded my head in agreement, such a lie was flimsy as wet paper, I dragged one of the picks down and felt it catch on something, twisting my wrist slightly to adjust the angle, I pulled it down just a little more and heard a satisfying click that got a low purr to come from Morgana. But Kitagawa also heard it somehow, that or he heard Morgana but either way he wanted to identify the source.
"Never mind that," Ann suggested. But her voice sounded… weird; nothing like her at all and it made me cast a wary glance over my shoulder in her direction. "Hey Kitagawa-kun… why don't we… do it in here? I won't be embarrassed if we go somewhere nobody can find us. Pleeease? I wanna be alone with you. Somewhere like, quiet. You know where we won't get interrupted" Ann suggested. A pinched expression came on my face the more I listened to this conversation.
"This is almost painful to listen to," I whispered. Morgana looked to be in pain as well from how awful Ann's acting was, I hadn't expected her to a natural at it since that seemed like a skill over a talent, but neither had I expected her to be this terrible at acting… I still say that picking the lock is harder but maybe not by much.
"Is he really going to buy that terrible act?" Morgana asked. Apparently, he was surprised by how badly his lady love was acting; I remained focused on the lockpicking as I adjusted myself angle once more to pull down on a tumbler I'd caught, only to lose my grip and slip slightly which took the lockpick away from it, thus forcing me to start searching for it once more.
"Stay focused!" Ann snapped at us. Obviously, Kitagawa noticed this oddity and questioned her. "Ohhh, it's just so frustrating that my feelings aren't getting through to you! Kitagawa-kun, do you not like girls like me?" Ann complained. I wonder how uncomfortable Ann must have been saying stuff like this, it almost made me start chastising myself for not getting through this lock any quicker.
"N-No, that's not true…," Kitagawa answered. Morgana rightly questioned how this was working as Ann continued with her… whatever that little act was by asking if they could continue inside; I remained focused on the lock. "S-Sure. I mean, no! We can't go in there!" Kitagawa responded before jerking right back to a refusal. Either Ann's acting was better than I thought, or Kitagawa was really sheltered. "It's locked anyway, so…," Kitagawa admitted.
"Fine! This is too embarrassing… I'm leaving!" Ann declared. WHAT WAS SHE DOING?! Ann couldn't just up and leave, we needed to lure Madarame to this door when I managed to get it open and we were already this deep in so we might as well keep going, Kitagawa protested this. "Let's just do it in here! Okay!?" Ann suggested. Oh, so it was another ploy to try and keep Kitagawa distracted, especially since the boy seemed contemplative.
"I'm home," Madarame's voice echoed. So, at last he'd returned, I just had to get this padlock removed and I think I was close since one of the strips was caught on something again, Kitagawa called out to the filthy con artist. "Yusuke?" Madarame asked. I pulled the strip of metal down and heard a metallic sound echo out as the lock finally came undone.
"Alright, it's open!" Morgana cheered. I swiftly stood up and pulled the connecting bolt all the way back from the hook on the door and set the padlock onto the nearby clutter; before running in, I twisted back to ensure that my words would reach Ann who was staring towards us with a bright smile on her face at me having successfully opened it.
"Drag Kitagawa in here Ann!" I whispered. I then grabbed Morgana and bolted into the open room, it was completely dark, but I was still able to sense the objects in the room enough to dive behind a cabinet standing against the wall in order to hide myself and Morgana from sight; now just to wait for them to join us inside.
"What are you doing there!?" Madarame demanded. I gave a small fist pump of victory at his voice, he'd definitely see the open door which meant that the one inside his Palace was bound to spring open soon; Kitagawa tried to explain the situation to Madarame but from a shocked exclamation that escaped the boy, I guess Ann must have followed my advice and pulled the boy in with us. "Not in there!" Madarame protested. That door had to be open now, he'd specifically seen unauthorised people enter it so it could no longer be un-openable.
"Takamaki-san, this is bad!" Kitagawa panicked. But Ann wasn't concerned as she proceeded to search around and located the lights, I was blinded for a few moments, but some quick-fire blinking cleared up my sight as shocked gasps reached my ears; from my position all I could see was an easel covered by a purple shroud. "What the…," Kitagawa wondered. I adjusted my position and looked over only to see more canvas lined up and all containing the same painting.
"Isn't this… Sayuri?" Ann wondered. It was indeed the maiden work of Madarame's career. "Why are there so many of them?" Ann wondered. A fair question since it made so sense for there to be so many, that reporter had claimed that it had been stolen, but was that really true? And why was the easel at the back covered by a cloth; that was extremely suspicious to me.
"I have no idea," Kitagawa admitted. The genuine shock in his voice and his earlier confusion proved that the young artist was baffled by all these replica paintings lying about; there could be any number of reasons for why they were here in this locked room, but only Madarame could answer that and by the creaking of floorboards he might just be pushed into that corner now.
"Get out!" Madarame ordered. He was definitely in this room with us, but I wondered if Kitagawa would attempt to get answers out of his teacher now, or if he'd continue to remain blind to the truth; Ann seemed to be fidgeting and slightly twitching her head slightly, likely looking for me and Morgana but I couldn't risk reaching out without getting caught by Madarame, possessing the element of surprise was necessary.
"Sensei, what is the meaning of this?" Kitagawa questioned. It would be interesting to see the lies – because it was doubtful he'd tell the truth from a simple question – that Madarame would proceed to spin towards his student; Ann had stopped looking around and seemed laser focused upon Madarame now, no doubt also wanting to hear the things he decided to tell Kitagawa.
"I suppose I can't keep quiet now that you've seen this… truth be told… I'm in severe debt," Madarame claimed. I wonder if that was even true, though given the flamboyant nature of his Palace, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. "I handmade these Sayuri copies and have been selling them through a special connection of mine," Madarame added on. How could he possibly be selling them if it was meant to have been stolen?
"But why?" Kitagawa wondered. Of course he'd be confused, since none of this would match up with the old man that he was more familiar with, yet despite my interest in this conversation, my attention kept drifting back to the cover easel and judging by how Morgana seemed to only focus upon that easel, he viewed it was important as well; I trusted Morgana's instinct on this so kept me ready to act if necessary.
"The real Sayuri… was stolen by one of my pupils long ago. I assume they begrudged my strictness," Madarame lied. More likely begrudged the plagiarism and decided to steal it as a form of retribution. "That moment was quite a shock for me… since then, I've been mired in a terrible artist's block… because of this distress, some of my pupils handed their ideas over to me from time to time. I knew I couldn't keep that up, so I attempted to recreate the Sayuri a number of times. However, it resulted in nothing more than replicas, that's when someone came to buy the paintings, knowing well they weren't originals. It's all my fault. I couldn't pay the price of being famous. As expectations for me rose, it reached a point where I had no choice but to keep making them. I… needed money to further your talents… I ask that you please forgive your cowardly teacher," Madarame claimed.
"Please don't," Kitagawa pleaded. Damnit! He was falling for the con already, no surprise since he'd basically been groomed by this man to believe his words, but we needed Kitagawa not to be fooled by the deception; the real question was how to convince the boy to trust us over the man who he'd practically dedicated his life to.
"Hold on. Something doesn't add up," Ann commented. I'm glad that she had spoken up so suddenly, I was still spinning my mind as to how to convince Kitagawa to side with us over. "If the original painting got stolen, how did you make copies of it?" Ann questioned. An astute point to make, even for a skilled artist, to recreate a painting from memory alone meant there would be some kind of different that most art focused people would catch onto, even if the buyer knew this fact they could be lying and others might catch the lie if the defects were obvious or common enough.
"I… happened to find a finely detailed photography of it in an artbook," Madarame lied. I could practically smell it, he was trying to keep something hidden and the more I thought about it, the more I was certain that it had to be the hidden painting sitting only a few steps away; a wicked smile curled onto my lips as an idea sparked into being.
"So, you managed to sell copies of a photo of the original? I'm not sure how this works, but… don't people who buy paintings generally have a keen eye for the fine arts. This sounds like a lie to me," Ann accused. The longer Ann kept him around and got him agitated then the better it would work for all of us; I only felt sorry for Kitagawa who seemed to be caught between a rock and a hard place.
"What would you know!?" Madarame demanded. He was definitely unhappy with Ann's accusations and probing questions, all I had to do was find the right moment and jump in; I could practically feel Morgana purring from where he was wrapped around my ankles, he must have been enjoying this whole development as well.
"Something just doesn't feel right!" Ann stated. We just knew something was wrong and Ann couldn't let go of that fact, not after she let go the last time and what that had resulted in; this seemed as good a time as any to make my move, so I carefully shifted my feet to gently dislodge Morgana before I took my next course of action.
"It's probably this covered up easel," I spoke up. I stepped out from hiding, shocking Kitagawa and Madarame as I reached my hand up to the cloth cover. "I wonder what's underneath it?" I questioned. Madarame loudly protested, but I didn't listen and instead pulled the purple sheet of the easel which revealed what was underneath; another Sayuri painting.
"Sayuri?" Kitagawa asked. He was surprised, more affected by this one painting than all the others, he drifted towards the painting in an almost trance like state. "This… this is the real Sayuri!" Kitagawa declared. He turned to look at Madarame with a confused expression. "But you just said a moment ago that it was stolen!" Kitagawa questioned.
"That's a replica!" Madarame declared. However, I don't think it was, not with the way that Kitagawa seemed to have been almost entranced by the object upon seeing it; his artist sense was better than mine or Ann's was, so I'd trust what he said about this painting unless someone unattached to Madarame in every way could provide scientific proof that it wasn't the same painting.
"No, it's nothing of the sort!" Kitagawa protested. He wholly believed those words and it only reaffirmed my belief that Kitagawa's claim was right. "This painting kept me going… it's the reason I made it this far… Sensei… don't tell me…," Kitagawa stumbled. He was clearly trying to wrap his head around what his mentor had done while correlating it to the man that he had come to know from childhood.
"It's a fake… yes, a counterfeit! I heard there was a counterfeit spreading around, so I bought it!" Madarame declared. I let out a scoff, even rolling my eyes, that was such a pathetic claim to make, especially since it made no sense; Madarame proceeded to glare at me, but I refused to back down and instead sent a blank look back at the man who had caused more widespread pain than Kamoshida could ever hope to.
"So, you're telling me, the actual artist behind the painting bought a counterfeit? That's pushing it," Ann commented. Her tone was slightly acidic when she said those words as she shot a baneful look at the man, all her previous respect for the man had instantly evaporated upon hearing the word suicide and now she could deliver some rather fiery looks towards our new enemy.
"Agreed. Besides I trust Kitagawa-san's judgment. He adores this piece, something tells me that he wouldn't be fooled by a fake even one created from the original," I stated. Kitagawa darted his eyes over to me briefly, I wonder if he realised that I was the one to open the door, but now wasn't the time to be pondering such things and instead he turned his gaze back to the lying 'artist'.
"You're lying Sensei… please just tell us the truth," Kitagawa pleaded. I don't think that was going to happen, Madarame lived for these lies to continue and now that his most loyal student had discovered them then he was probably going to leave; that would deprive Madarame of the necessary talent/skill to keep churning out the variety of paintings that he was so well known for.
"You too," Madarame spat. He then proceeded to pull out a phone that looked rather fancy, he messed about with it for a bit before stopping and stalking towards us. "I've reported you to my private security company!" Madarame declared. Not good, we couldn't afford to get arrested by people, for all kinds of reasons. "I had it set up to deal with some problematic paparazzi, but I never thought it'd come in so handy," Madarame claimed. A smug expression on his face.
"Please, wait! Let's talk about this!" Kitagawa pleaded. He was obviously trying to defuse the situation before it exploded in a way he hadn't anticipated; but I don't think there was any way to mitigate what was coming, not with the arrogant way that Madarame was looking at the rest of us and the way he'd so swiftly decided upon his course of action.
"You can talk all you want to the police… that includes you, Yusuke," Madarame stated. Oh, that was low! Sending me and Ann to the security people had some logic to it, but to throw Kitagawa to the dogs was nothing more than a treacherous act to smear his student's reputation and prevent anyone from listening to him regarding the lies and forgeries that we had managed to locate.
"Ann-dono, Natsumi, let's run!" Morgana insisted. I grabbed Ann's hand and immediately bolted out of the room, pulling my friend with me; Morgana ran around us, keeping close as I jammed my hand into my bag and dragged out my phone. I completely ignored any voices coming from behind us as I pulled up the Meta-Nav.
"Madarame Ichiryusai! Shack! Museum!" I yelled. At that moment, I felt the Metaverse sensation was over me… right as some weight seized a hold of us.
