[June 16th, Evening, Leblanc]

After a quick text session between everyone to confirm a meeting tomorrow in a karaoke, one that Shiho (out of all people) suggested, the thieves decided to call it a day. They had already brought enough attention toward themselves from their investigation, the only option left was just to take a break for the day.

But now knowing the personal stake Makoto was in, and how Izumo was literally risking his life for the Akashi family… Ren couldn't help but feel like he should do something more and right away.

And this thought stayed as he stepped into the cafe he had grown accustomed to, surprisingly quicker than he thought.

However, before his thought about Leblanc could take another step, the familiar ringtone and vibration buzzed inside his pants pocket. Taking out his phone, Ren's brow raised at the 'unknown number' displaying on his phone.

"…Uh… that's totally not suspicious, not at all," Morgana said, resting its head on his shoulder with a look that replicated Ren's own. "Do you think it's from the mafia… or something like that?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out," With a shrug, Ren accepted the call. "Can't be too bad, right?"

"I'm having a hard time distinguishing whether you're careless or cocky-"

Before Morgana could finish its little comment, Makoto's voice rang from the other side of the call. "U-um… hello, is this Amamiya? I'm… I'm Niijima Makoto."

Even if she tried to hide it, Ren could hear the slight choke in her voice. "…Yep, it's me," Choosing to ignore the potential fact that she might have cried her heart out a few moments earlier, Ren nodded.

"That's… good to know," She said, still having that slight choke in her voice. "I… I wanted to say thank you, for what happened earlier."

"…Okay? That's a weird reason to call me on the phone, you already thanked me too," Shaking his head, the delinquent's mind went to the elephant in the room (or call) instead. "But wait, how did you get my number? You didn't like abuse your position or something like that… right?"

"No, I got this from Ichijo," Makoto replied, as Ren gave out a breath of relief. "Please, don't be too hard on him, it was my request."

"I… wasn't going to do that."

"Oh, that… I'm sorry."

"No, you don't have to keep saying you're sorry," Ren said, turning his mind to the unfinished conversation they had earlier. "Anyway, about the whole thing with you telling the team the truth…"

"…Right, we haven't finished that conversation, don't we?"

"Yeah, you're… it's alright if you just can't do it."

"NO!" Surprised by the sudden rise in her volume, Ren had to put his phone away from his ear out of the pain in his ear. "I… I still have to do it."

"So you've made up your mind…" Nodding to himself, the leader of The Phantoms cleared his throat, purely out of habit. "We're meeting at the Karaoke place in Shibuya tomorrow, that's… a pretty good place to say it."

"Karaoke place… Oh, it's the one known for great service at a cheap price, right?"

"From what you described, it is."

"That one… I… used to go there with Shinji…"

"…Crap, I'm sorry for bringing up bad memories-"

"It's fine," She interrupted him. "…I'll be there tomorrow. And… that's all, bye."

With that said, Makoto ended the call immediately, and maybe a bit too quickly to not feel like she was holding something back. Ren could probably guess what was she holding back, but right now, he couldn't do anything about it.

"You're talking to a woman?" However, Sojiro's voice snapped him out of that train of thought. And looking over, Ren could see a faint smirk on his face. "I heard her voice."

"Yeah, but before you ask, she's already spoken for," Ren said, shaking his head. "And let's hope that guy would just stop breaking her heart every single day."

[June 17th, morning, Shibuya Station]

"So we meet again."

Diverting his gaze from the news on his phone, Ren turned around and faced Akechi with a somewhat surprised gaze. Just as the second coming of the Detective Prince held up a friendly look.

"Yeah, what a coincidence."

"It truly is," Akechi nodded, glancing over in the direction of the exit of the station. "But my, what murky weather we're having…"

"Speaking of murky… there haven't been any new developments in the phantom thief incidents," He continued, as Ren subtly raised an eye at his mention, only to be obscured by his glasses' reflection and his messy bang. "If they go so far as using calling cards to get attention, I doubt Madarame's case will be the last."

'No shit,' For a split moment there, Ren was about to blurt this long out. Thankfully, he didn't.

Stroking his chin, Akechi gestured his finger toward him. "What kind of target will they choose next? What do you think?"

For another split second, Ren was about to suggest a criminal or something. However, as he immediately re-evaluate the risk of sounding this sure, he hastily changed his answer to a safer one. "I have no idea."

"…To be blunt, neither do I," Thankfully, Akechi responded with a somewhat solemn expression. As if he was frustrated at the lack of any lead. "There's just not enough material to form any concrete thoughts."

"However, I'm positive they'll soon target someone who will garner even more attention…" Trailing off, the detective slowly and subtly gazed off to somewhere distant. Until he snapped himself back to reality seconds later. "Oh, sorry. I'm getting lost in my own head…"

"I have to stay on top of any Phantom Thieves activity due to what I said on the air."

"After all, you created a rivalry with them," Ren said, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets. "I guess the public pressure you to keep up with the Phantom Thieves, right?"

"Yes and no, I'm also investigating them out of my own interest as well," Akechi responded with a small smile. "If you hear any rumors at school, I hope you can let me know."

With that said, the second coming of the Detective Prince went on his way, and Ren was all alone at the station again. Until the familiar voice of the other leader of Phantom Thieves emerged from behind.

"Hey, fancy meeting you here, Ren," Walking up to his side, Akira greeted with a casual smile. "So… is that Akechi you were talking to?"

"Yeah, after the trip to the TV station, I guess he likes to have discussions about us with me," Shrugging, Ren subtly narrowed his gaze as he remembered something from yesterday. "Anyway, Akira, you really just gave my number to Niijima?"

"Um… yeah, I mean…" Trailing off with an awkward grin, Akira looked away as he rubbed the back of his neck. "She said she wanted to say thank you and stuff, and I'm the only way to get ahold of you without abusing anything…"

"It's fine, I'm not pissed," Shaking his head, the delinquent moved and stared at the people waiting for the train. "But… She's coming to the karaoke later today… I'm worried that Ann might blow up on her."

"I would be lying if I say I'm not worried about the same thing," Akira nodded, giving out a long breath. "Maybe Shiho would calm her down, but still, Niijima still needs to get it out of her chest."

"Yeah… let's hope it'd go well."

[After school, Karaoke room]

Unlike the last time the thieves were here, the karaoke room wasn't filled with laughter or joy, but a lingering sense of frustration. Which to be honest, was pretty much expected from the text yesterday.

"Aw, for real?!" Ryuji exasperated, leaned back against the softness of the leather couch. "We didn't get anything?! At all?!"

"I mean, we did get… first-hand experience on how they attempt to recruit more traffickers," Ren said, his arms crossed. "But that's not really enough."

"Yeah… We're really stuck in a loop here," Morgana nodded, just as everyone else agreed. And a strange sense of silence fell upon them, with the only sound being the terrible singing from an adjacent room.

And Ann glanced over with a frown, which was shared between her and Shiho. "Man, I'm not trying to be mean, but… they suck."

"Not to mention how loud they're singing too…" Shiho trailed off, giving out a long breath as she turned to Akira. "But… still, Akira, you haven't said a word since we came here… It's kinda weird…"

Tearing his gaze away from his phone, Akira opened and closed his mouth a few times. Before he finally found the right answer. "Oh well, I'm just… she should be here now."

"She?"

Thankfully, Shiho's confusion was answered with a soft knock on the room's door. And Akira quickly walked over and opened the said door, revealing someone.

Makoto.

To say that most of the thieves weren't shocked by her sudden appearance, would be a big fat lie (Other than both leaders). On top of that, the subtle frustration within the silence was immediately morphed into one filled with tension.

And Makoto could sense it, clear as day. "Before you ask, I'm here to… make a confession."

"A confession about what? That you shouldn't blackmail us in the first place?" Ann said, as a scowl formed.

In response, Makoto merely averted her glance at the ground out of shame and guilt. "I know what I did was wrong. But… I… I wasn't sincere when I said my request."

"Huh?" Ryuji blinked, exchanging a confused look with most of the thieves as well.

"I… It wasn't just because I was worried about how the scams would affect the students. Or my sense of justice," She paused and took in a deep breath, one shaky breath. "It's… It's because of someone. His name is Izumo Shinji, and he's… getting himself killed while facing the mafia."

"I… I was scared…" Trailing off, Makoto shook her head and bit into her inner cheek. "No, I was terrified that he would get himself killed. And I got desperate to look for a way to keep him safe…"

"And you ended up blackmailing us," Finishing the sentence for her, Ann could only feel… conflicted. "This… is your last option, right?"

"It is," Makoto nodded. "If I have a different, quicker way to get rid of the mafia, I'd do that instead. As long as Shinji's safe, I don't care what happens to me."

"If I had to die trying, then so be it."

Surprised by the… conviction in her words, another wave of heavy silence clouded the entire karaoke room.

"That's…" And out of everyone, Ann found her eyes widened the most. For once, she genuinely couldn't find a word to reply.

"You're willing to go this far just for someone…" Yusuke muttered, shaking his head as he gave out a small sigh. "I do not know whether to call you devoted or reckless."

"So he is THAT important for you…" Hifumi said, more to herself than to anyone.

"Niijima-Senpai…" Trailing off, Shiho averted her gaze to Akira who was standing behind Makoto, then to Ann.

However, for Ryuji, once he recomposed himself, only crossed his arms with a deep sigh. "That means we hafta look deeper into this whole mess then, yeah?"

"Well, it's not like we're going to quit in the first place," Hifumi added, mimicking Ryuji's posture as she leaned into the sofa. "Even if the context of the request has changed, we all accepted it, in the end."

Nodding as well, Ann took in another deep breath. "I… I did something similar after Shiho..." Unable to finish the sentence, she paused for a moment and looked right back to Makoto. "I would be a hypocrite if I say no because you're doing the same thing as me."

"I…" Trailing off, Makoto opened her mouth but closed it again. "Thank you, for being understanding."

"You don't need to thank us for something like this," Keigo said, giving her a somewhat comforting smile before a scowl appeared. "But still, we're somewhat on a loop right now…"

As Keigo's words reached everyone, the somewhat relieved mood from everyone accepting Makoto immediately turned heavy again. As the reality of the obstacles in their investigation hit them.

"Is… Is there anything that I can help with?" Makoto said after a bit of hesitation. "I don't think it'd work, but I can ask sis again…"

"No, what we need is a name, or we can't even start to steal his heart," Yusuke rubbed his chin, deep in his thoughts. "And this is the hard part…"

"I… I might try and see if Hinaki or even Principal Hoshido got anything," Hifumi spoke, but the doubt was still clear as day on her face. "But consider that even the police can't get anything about him…"

"Getting a name on anyone is hard enough, not to mention the head of a mafia group…" Keigo trailed off, pinching his nose bridge with a deep scowl.

"Then… maybe we should think outside of the box," Ann paused and pondered for a moment before something popped up in her mind. "Oh wait, remember that journalist we met before?"

Seeing a nod from Ren, and a look of realization from Ryuji alongside Morgana, everyone else merely gave him a look of pure confusion. And out of them all, Akira was the first one to open his mouth.

"...I think a lot of us are missing the context here," He said. "Care to give us a rundown?"

"We met a reporter back when we were investigatin' into the whole Madarame thin'," Ryuji explained. "She gave a name card to Ren, and… yeah."

"That's convenient," Keigo said, with a slight deadpan clear on his face. "To be honest, Ren, you should just told us about it earlier, it'd saved way more trouble."

"Well, I only remembered it a few minutes ago," Ren shrugged, pulled out his phone and started inputting the number on the name card. "Here goes nothing, I guess."

With that said, he texted the journalist. Surprisingly, she responded almost immediately. And while Ren was busy talking with that journalist, the phone on the room's wall started ringing.

Picking up the phone, Ann nodded a few times before turning back to the group. "He says our time is up. Should we extend it?"

"Nah, we've been here long enough anyway," Akira said, shifting his gaze to Makoto who just stood still with an aura of awkwardness. "And um… you can leave first, Niijima."

"I… Right," Makoto nodded, turning toward the door as Ren suddenly cut her off.

"Okay, we got a meeting with her," He said, but not before a nervous frown appeared on his face. "But uh… it's in a bar. Tomorrow night."

"A bar?" Yusuke asked, raising an eye.

"Yeah, it's called 'Crossroads' and…" Trailing off, Ren's gaze lingered on Makoto for a split moment. "It's in Shinjuku."

[June 18th, evening, The Crossroad bar]

"Ren… seriously, I'm having a bad feeling about this."

As the two leaders of the Phantom thieves stood at the entrance of the bar, Akira could help but speak out about his concern. As much as Ren said before, "It'd be fine", seeing the dim pink light illuminating the bar, the amateur writer still felt that pit in his stomach.

"Well, it is our only lead. I don't have much choice but to do it," Ren said, taking the first step into the said bar.

"But still… at least wait until Niijima is out of the room before saying it out…" Trailing off, the leader of The Fools merely sighed at the memories.

"Wha- Shinjuku? …At night?" To describe Makoto's face at this moment as 'filled with horror', would be a giant understatement. "T-that's the red light district."

"That's… that's what the journalist said-"

"Can't you just talk with her to meet somewhere else instead?"

"She insisted on meeting at that bar, I can't really talk her out of it…"

As the silence grew heavier, Akira decided to step in and be the push to somewhat alleviate the weight. "Alright, I'll go with him to keep checking on him, okay?"

"Still…"

"I know, but this is the only lead we have right now, and… we have Shinji to worry about too."

"...Yeah, I know, that's my bad."

Giving out a sigh of his own, the rumored-delinquent adjusted his glasses. When the two leaders approached the counter, they were greeted by a… woman (or they assume) in a kimono consisting of yellow and black. And aside from her size, she also had a heavy layer of makeup.

Meanwhile, sitting on the other side of the said counter, was a woman that was around her mid-20s. With a pair of orange sunglasses on top of her bob-cut hair, and a black T-shirt (alongside some graffiti-like design) on top of a white long-sleeved shirt. However, the one thing Akira immediately caught their eyes on was the DSLR camera on the counter. If his assumption was right, then this woman would be the journalist Ren met.

"Welcome, welcome," With a tone that was way deeper than what the two leaders expected, the woman(?) in kimono narrowed her gaze at them. "...How old are you two, boy?"

Before either one of them could answer, the journalist giggled. "Sorry, Lala-chan, he's with me."

"And I'm his plus-one," Akira added, rubbing the back of his neck out of some level of internal awkwardness. "I'm here to make sure nothing bad happens, this is the red-light district, after all."

Exchanging somewhat confused glances with each other, the journalist shrugged in the end. Casting the same grin toward Akira as well. "Okay, well… I'll borrow the seat in the back then, Lala-chan. And two cups of water for them too!"

"Sure."

With that said, the two leaders followed that journalist to a set of chairs in the back of the bar. And two cups of water arrived soon after alongside a cup filled with alcohol. Obviously, the one cup with alcohol was for the journalist herself.

"So, before we start," She said, casting a curious glance at Ren. "I can't say I didn't expect you to not show up at all, color me surprised."

Then, she shifted her gaze onto Akira. "And you, Mr. Plus-one… should I call you this, or something else?"

"U-uh… I'm Ichijo Akira, just call me Ichijo," With an awkward nod, Akira put on a wry smile on his face. "And um… I actually didn't get your name from Ren, so… how should I call you, miss…?"

"Ohya Ichiko, you can drop the honorific here," The journalist, now known as Ichiko, laughed casually as she took another sip from the cup of alcohol. "Anyway, I respect your bravery to come here at night. SO! What do you wanna know?"

As she leaned forward with her hand supporting her chin, Akira and Ren (alongside Morgana in Ren's bag) exchanged a look of agreement. Ren answered, "It's… I want to know about the whole mess in Shibuya right now."

"...Oh," Leaning back with a raised brow, the two leaders could sense her tone immediately turned serious. "Why that, out of all things?"

"We need intel on their boss," He continued. "A name would be the best, but a lead is enough for us."

"Hmm…" Trailing off, the journalist rubbed her chin as she took another sip of her drink. "Well, I do happen to know something about that, consider it your lucky day. However…"

"Do you two know the Phantom Thieves of heart? Y'know, that case the public has been focused on lately."

With their gaze widened slightly at the mention of the Phantom Thieves, both Akira, and Ren just nodded in unison. Oh, the irony…

"I was pursuing the issue of people randomly entering into a shut-down state, but I'm lacking intel…" Taking another sip of her drink, Ichiko let her body slump down for a split moment. "That's why I'm currently looking for new material to write about."

"So, do you two gentlemen have any info on these Phantom Thieves?"

Feeling the irony hitting them with full force, the two teens (and the feline inside the bag) gave each other a quick glance. And Ren responded, once again. "So that's your price for the intel on the mafia boss, right?"

"Hmm… something like that," She nodded, upholding that friendly smile as she stared right at Ren. "You're a Shujin kid, right? I remember you wearing their uniform the last time we met."

"And by association…" Ichiko turned her gaze to Akira. "I assume you're also a Shujin kid as well, Ichijo?"

"Y-yeah, I am."

"Okay, I thought maybe you two might have some insider knowledge on the Phantom Thieves because of it," Nodding, Ichiko turned back to Ren and continued on. "Their first incident was that of Kamoshida, you know?"

"Ideally, I'd like to get some exclusive coverage from a student who suffered Kamoshida's abuse," She said, as her features turned soft. "I would love an introduction if you know of someone who fits the bill."

Leaning a bit closer to them, the friendly smile turned into a mischievous smirk. "Seems we can't really do our stuff out in the open, so… Whaddya say?"

With hesitation clear on their faces, Akira and Ren exchanged another glance at each other. And of course, subtly shifted for Morgana as well. Thankfully, the hesitation melted away on Akira's features rather quickly, as if a light bulb lit up above his head.

"Mishima was part of the volleyball team, maybe…" Trailing off, he chose to let the latter half of his proposal hang in the air.

Thankfully, judging from Ren's widened gaze, it was clear that he got it. "Oh right, I think we know someone," He said, turning back to Ichiko. "We accept the deal then."

"Great! Just send your friend's contact to me later," Leaning back with a smile filled with excitement, the journalist grabbed her cup and gulped a big portion of her alcohol.

But just a split moment later, her features turned deadly serious. "...Now that I think about it, the Mental Shutdown and change of heart… they both seem supernatural…"

"What if they're related?"

Aware of the tense look from the two teens who were trying their best to hide it, Ichiko merely chuckled as she shook her head. "Sorry, force of habit."

Having another big gulp of her alcohol, she leaned back and melt into the sofa. "Well… since it's a deal… I'm not sure if this is worthy enough as upfront payment. But…"

"Kaneshiro Junya. I think that's probably the man you're looking for."

[June 19th, Daytime, Outside of Shibuya station]

"Distorted desire found, please input the location and distortion."

As the robotic voice of the Metaverse app rang out from Keigo's phone, the rest of the team all gave out a sigh of relief. Ichiko's tip was right, and now they have one out of the three keywords needed.

"Huh, so this Kaneshiro guy is the person we're looking for," Ren said, his arms crossed. "Glad to know the tip is right."

"Yeah, but… now…" Trailing off, a frown formed on Morgana's face. "Do we have any clues on the distortion and location? Other than people falling victim around here."

"We can leave the location for later," Akira said, rubbing his chin. "Let's try some keywords on the distortion first. Any ideas?"

"Um… it's prolly someplace he has control in… What about a Garden?" Ryuji suggested.

"Candidate not found."

As if a lightbulb just lit up on her head, Ann chimed in. "Uh… what about a money bath then? It's all about money, after all."

"Candidate not found."

"A mansion?" Hifumi said.

"Candidate not found."

"Those places where Yakuza are located…" Shiho added.

"Candidate not found."

"Not even close," Ren deadpanned. "Let's be a bit more realistic here, what about a bank?"

"Candidate found, please input the location."

"Huh, a bank… that makes a lot of sense," Shrugging at the hit, Keigo looked up from his phone's screen. "Anyway, any idea of places he'd view as a bank?"

"Uh… there's a SMEC bank building around here…" Trailing off, Akira squirmed at the awkwardness he was projecting. "I know, it wouldn't be distorted if he views a bank as a bank… Just… Nevermind."

"What about his hideout?" Shiho asked.

"I don't think so," Morgana merely shook his head in response. "Besides, we know nothing about his hideout."

"Then..." Running his hand through his hair out of frustration, Ryuji groaned. "How 'bout Central Street?"

"Still a no," Shaking his head again, Keigo paused for a split second. "But I think you got the right idea. It's a bank, so… it'd be something related to his victim."

"As if the victims are his personal ATM, thus the place those victims are would be the bank…" Finishing the assumption for him, Hifumi's features slowly but surely paled. "...What about… all of Shibuya?"

"Candidate found, ready to navigate."

As the robotic voice rang from Keigo's phone, it echoed throughout the ears of the thieves. And silence hung high between them, with a horrifying realization left in the air.

"That… pretty bad," Finally breaking the silence within the group, Ryuji tried to muster up something more, but he couldn't.

"Calling it 'bad' is the understatement of the century," Ren said, a deep scowl forming on his forehead. "But I hate how much it makes sense."

"After all, he is untouchable from the police," Akira finished the sentence, crossing his arms. "But we'd accomplish nothing if we just keep dreading and talking here."

"Yeah," Keigo agreed, as his thumb hovered over the 'navigate' button. "Let's see whatever this Kaneshiro guy has in store for us, ready?"

With a hesitant, but determined nod from everyone, Keigo tapped the 'Navigate' button. And once again, the now familiar sense of distortion emerged and surrounded the thieves, as waves of crimson and darkness tear the reality around them like fabric.

Mere seconds later, the thieves found the world around them being lit with a weird shade of green, and they were now in their Phantom attire.

However, the first thing they took notice of, was the pedestrians who passed by them. Actually, "Walking ATM" would be the better description for them, literally.

"What are those?!" Surprised by them, Panther took a step back and guided everyone's focus.

And the response was a mix of shock and horrifying realization.

"This is how he sees anyone…" With his gaze widened at the sight before them, Joker took a split moment before calming himself. "Just a bunch of walking ATMs, huh."

Leaping from the fence he had been standing on, Mona scanned his surroundings. "I never thought it'd be the entire district… The distortion is affecting the whole of Shibuya."

As the thieves followed Mona and scanned the surroundings, Majesty widened her eyes in realization. "Oh right, back in mom's palace, aside from the house, everything else looks normal…"

"The same for the castle and the museum too," Panther added, nodding at Majesty's words. "the city outside looks normal."

"Then… he sees the entire Shibuya as his ground," Fox said, casting a somber glance at the walking ATMs passing by. "And everyone as his personal ATMs."

"No surprise for a mafia boss," Crossing his arms, Skull's frown was barely hidden behind his mask.

"Yeah, but it's no use if we can't find the palace itself either," Adjusting his gloves, Joker gestured over to the main street at the other side of the crossway. "Let's look around and see what we can find then."

With a nod from the rest of the group, they quickly crossed the crossway that usually would be filled with people. However, in this version of Shibuya, the air around them felt… tense, as if each of those walking at ATMs were constantly in fear… of something.

Following their usual route to the main street in the real world, they arrived at the start of the main street when… the ground started shaking. And the thieves immediately readied their weapons, anticipating any shadows.

"This is not looking good-"

Before Jester could even finish, screamings slowly approached from behind them. And with each second, the screaming and the shaking only intensified.

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

"HELP! HELP!"

"SOMEBODY HELP! HELLLLLP!"

With their heads turned in the direction of the screaming, they could see… a giant… something floating high in the air. With money being sucked from the city to that object high in the air.

"What is that-"

Swan couldn't even finish her sentence as a giant shadow suddenly loomed above them, and the entire main street by extension. As they looked up above them, all they could see was a… giant floating bank.

"That's… the palace?" Majesty asked, her eyes widened at the sight before them.

As if on cue, the bottom of the floating bank suddenly opened, and the screaming intensified. Without any mercy, money was being sucked from everywhere, into the white 'pit' at the bottom of the bank.

And then, they could see something else being sucked from the street, something was moving. As if they were struggling.

"No way…" Looking through her sniper scope, Swan gulped at the sight she was seeing. "It's not just sucking up money, but people too."

"That means… it's about the same level in real life," Raven said, feeling his fist tighten. "What a piece of human filth."

"Yeah, but as long as we still don't know how to get in, nothing would change," Even though he tried his best to hold it down, the anger was still somewhat clear in Joker's voice. "Let's move."

With a nod from everyone, the whole team moved into the central street.

But even though they had a rough idea of what they're gonna see inside… they weren't expecting the sight before them. Aside from the faint screaming of despair from a distance, there also were a lot of broken human ATMs lying around the street.

Some of them had cracked screens, some of them were lying on the ground unmoving, and some were… just pieces lying around. As for those who happened to survive, the thieves could only see how torturous their circumstances were.

"H-help! Please, can someone help my daughter!"

"I… I can't pay anymore…"

"I don't want to die… I don't want to die…"

"Mommy? Daddy? Don't leave me alone, please wake up…"

"Holy…" Eyes widened at the sight of horror before them, Skull couldn't even finish his words.

And the same could be said for everyone else, as all of their eyes widened for the same reason, in pure horror.

"If it's like this in this guy's palace…" Trailing off, Shiho gulped at her own train of thought. "I can't imagine what those victims are going through outside…"

"Not just that, but what's inside that bank too," Panther said, her glance shifting to the looming presence high above the street.

"I'm not looking forward to it either-" Cutting himself off, Raven looked over at Jester, concern clear within his gaze. "Jester?"

However, the said leader of The Fools didn't react to his words. All he did was merely stare somewhere far into the street, or a spot where neon colors were leaking through the door.

"That's… that's where Akashi Bakery is," Jester finally said, his voice barely audible, barely above a whisper. And he immediately rushed to his feet, as the rest of the thieves hastily followed him.

And mere seconds later, they found themselves before the spot where Akashi Bakery would be. However, instead of the bakery, all they could see was a… strip club with neon signs proudly hanging in the place where the name would be.

Without another word, Jester opened the door to the club. And they came face to face with the main attraction of this said club, with gazes filled with shock and horror.

And as he witnessed the young girl dancing in worryingly erotic ways, all Jester could mutter out… was just a name.

"Nao… Naoko?"

[Meanwhile, Akashi Bakery]

"T-that's…"

With his gaze widened with shock at what he just heard, Shinji had to do a double-take and stepped closer toward the Akashis. On her face though, was nothing but sadness with a hint of despair.

"One hundred and twenty thousand yen for each week, or Naoko will be forced to join one of their clubs…" Repeating what they just said, Ryota buried his face into his palm. "It's double what it was before..."

"At this rate, we wouldn't last two weeks either…" Ritsumi added."They've already taken so much from us… why is this happening?"

"It's…" Trailing off, Shinji felt the deep pit of guilt emerging deep within his heart."It's because I tried to get the money back, right?"

"...Yes," with the conflict and pain clear in his voice, Ritsumi nodded with honesty. "But… please, don't go off on your own-"

"It's because of me, I have a responsibility to deal with this," Cutting her own, Shinji clutched his eyes shut. As well as his fists. "...I'll figure out a way to fix it."

"By fighting the whole mafia by yourself?"

Surprised by the intrusion of another voice, Shinji turned around and came face-to-face with Naoko. And she wasn't happy, not at all. "You disappeared from school for days, and now you're just gonna show up here and say you're fixing this?"

"You're the one who's being threatened-"

"So that gives you a reason to do it?" Cutting him off, Naoko stepped forward until she was right in front of him, and took a hold of his shirt. "We already had this exact conversation before, and you just wouldn't listen, HUH?!"

"...So those guys can just force you into sex work?"

"Of course not! But…" Trailing off, Naoko only lowered her head to the ground, as the grip merely tightened. "What can we do? What can YOU do either?"

And behind them, the two older Akashis only had a downcasted look on their face, having the same feeling as Naoko.

"I…" For a few long seconds, nothing came out of Shinji's mouth. Naoko was right, he had nothing to fight back. Not even a name for anyone who's responsible-

"Yeah, they're beating the shit out of him like it's personal, and he has the same hair color… Who else?"

"Then… it's from Kaneshiro… What kind of trouble he's dragging himself into…"

Eyes widened at the sudden resurgence of memory, Shinji closed his eyes for a few moments.

"Kaneshiro… huh?" He mumbled, barely louder than a whisper, and opened his eyes at Naoko's gaze. This time, there was some kind of resolve within him.

"I might have something."

(To be continued)

Preview:

Two reckless decisions, one destination.

A chance reunion that doesn't go where it should be.

A near-death experience, and a confrontation.

Amidst it all, a mask is taken off.

As a black scarf blows with the wind.

Next Chapter:

"仮面とマフラー(The Mask and The Scarf)"

Stay Tuned!

So uh... crap, it's been 2 months already. Well, after all this time, Chapter 44 is FINALLY here!

First, I'd like to apologize for the long wait (and the weird upload time by extension). I've been pretty busy with my college work recently, and the scenes in this Chapter also went through some problems with rewrite and stuff. So both these just accumulated into the... second longest wait for a chapter (I guess, after the long chapter break back in the original version of Another Thief.)

Anyway, for me, this chapter is more of a build-up chapter of the next 2, which uh... would be the small climax of this whole arc. As you readers can probably guess from both the preview and the next chapter's title what's gonna happen XD. Still, I'm actually really excited for the next chapters, so let's hope it wouldn't take too long to update. Especially not another 2.5-month-long gap.

Also, kinda a small additional tease of what's coming, I'm... I'm gonna show the full-on Kamen Rider reference in the next two chapters ;)

Also, about the palace, I also made some changes to kinda increase the horror side of what happened with Kaneshiro's scheme. And just kinda go a bit to the extreme, and set in the seriousness of the situation. And as a side note, the biggest inspiration is from Jorden Peele's "Nope".

Finally, with FFN's limit on the length of the title (still wish they'd increase it, even just for a bit), I'd have to shorten the title by deleting the word "chapter". Also, this is the first time I'm using Japanese as a title, so that's fun XD. (Before anyone of you ask that "Wait, it means Muffler", that's another way to call it in Japanese.) Also*2, if you google search the title, it's all about Kamen Rider, that's a fun coincidence too.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the story so far, Reviews and Favourites are welcome!