Disclaimer: Fate and Persona are owned by different companies and I hold no ownership and all that jazz.

8/24

Hakunon - FloofyPlant

Hakunon- We are investigating a new Palace starting today, it's for Hyouma Sagara of the Education Policy Bureau. We figured we should keep you updated if you wish to join.

FloofyPlant- If it is at the MEXT building I can find an excuse to head there for a few hours! But not every day, My father has a Gala with a few shareholders that he intends to take me to the day before School starts. I think he truly is improving!

Hakunon- I'm glad, and we think it is there but not the exact building itself we will be going over tomorrow at noon is that ok with you?

FloofyPlant- I'll meet you there! :D I'm so happy Futaba's taught me how to do that! :D :) 3

8/25

After meeting at a Big Bang Burger nearby Hakuno thrummed her fingers on the cheap table while they waited for Yusuke.
It was slightly strange as the artist was usually on time…

Although it was nice seeing Haru again, the fluffy-haired heiress gave her a big hug as soon as she saw her with a grip that reminded her a bit of Tamamo. She never knew Haru to be that physically strong but… looks can be deceiving.

"Hello everybody!" She gave a large smile at Morgana and the not-a-cat melted into her hands. "Mona-chan have you been gaining weight?"

Morgana purred and mumbled, "No…"

Akira sighed, "Yeah, Boss keeps sneaking him food, he thinks I'm not looking but it's pretty obvious."

"Traitor!" Morgana hissed.

Yusuke's arrival was swift, and he appeared right behind Ryuji. "We say this not out of animosity but out of worry Mona, how would our dear Leader ever survive without your guidance? Imagine if you would become too large for your chariot?" That seemed to have gotten the cat to pause as he stared in horror at Akira's bag.

Ryuji jumped in surprise, " Dude, how are you so quiet?" His eyes flicked up to the nearby Museum, "So this is the MEXT buildin' huh? Doesn't look too special."

"It's the museum to be exact," Makoto said, "They relocated the actual office a few years ago but according to the Metanav the Palace is located in the Museum and not the main offices. From what I remember they wanted a new office after a small disagreement with the Nanjo Group that originally owned the building." The name
sounded vaguely familiar, maybe she had bought something from them in the past? Or maybe Ann's apartment was owned by them?

But it's not like she has kept track of every large corporation out there.

"So what exactly are we doing?"

"We are still missing a keyword, which is what he sees this place as." Futaba answered, "Like, what kind of lair does the dude have and such." Haru gave them a small
smile before nodding.

"Like that man and… Night Club?"

"Yeah," Ann sighed, "I've tried lair, dungeon, forest, castle, and stadium…" Those are… very strange and specific things noticing her confusion Ann's eyes darted at Ryuji before shrugging.

"He's a lawyer…" Morgana slipped back into Akira's bag, "Maybe he's like your sister Makoto?"

Makoto frowned, "I've read a few of the transcripts from his cases that went to court, I don't think he is anything like her… although he is a few years older than her they did end up graduating at the same time."

Hakuno frowned, "Maybe something more modern?" If he was younger then it would make a bit more sense…

"Hm…" Yusuke's pale gray eyes framed the museum, "What about Atelier?" Wasn't that what he used to live in? Or at least wasn't that what Madarame called that shack?

Candidate Not Found

"How about we take a look around? I've never had the freedom to visit this place before." Haru gave them a nervous smile.

"Sounds good to me." Akira nodded, "How about we split up in pairs and take a look?" Hakuno was fine with it, although Futaba looked a bit stressed at that. It was a new place for her and while it wasn't as busy as Shibuya it was inside with a solid amount of people.

Hakuno tilted her head slightly, "How about we check out the Science and Technology section?" Futaba grinned. Haru looked a bit confused as she was paired with Yusuke, but how bad could that combination be?

"Sure!" Besides, seeing Futaba's smile made it slightly worth it, although she might have to make it up to Haru later as Yusuke was already starting to try and position her…

Well, Futaba was certainly in a better mood. She had gotten mostly good at handling herself in larger crowds, but she had to take trains that were quite a bit different than usual and in turn a lot more people interaction.

But, it was a Museum, this place could totally be considered a date location! If that Yakuza Guy's bad advice somehow got Makoto, who was very blatantly head over heels for her brother, but his advice actually worked they started dating! She had to turn off the bugs in Leblanc that night, she did record it as Akira squealing in
happiness was something pure and absolutely good blackmail material.

However, looking for a hint of an idea to fight a Lawyer is perhaps the strangest reason to go on a date and one of the two didn't even see it as a date, as Hakuno definitely didn't see her that way.

Probably. But man, that new outfit she was wearing was certainly picked out by Ann… Futaba herself might not have a good sense of style but she did find the long skirt on her looked cute as heck.

She did notice when Hakuno paused and began to stare at a large machine… Oh, it was a lunar rover. Hakuno's soul/mind being from the Moon always made her cagey around stuff that reminded her of that place. But she seemed to love actual space and stars. Just not the Moon.

For good reasons, she still had trouble dealing with Funeral Homes and small apartments.

Futaba swallowed, she reached out and wrapped her hand around Hakuno's hand, her dull brown eyes flickering over towards hers. Her eyes were really good at showing her emotions huh?

Breaking eye contact after a second, possibly a second or two long, "Come on, they got a cool one about a Volcano!" Volcanoes are cool, the most annoying but aesthetic levels of her favorite games.

Fuck the developers that add the heat mechanic though, environmental damage as a concept deserves to die. Too many times has she prepared the perfect loadout only to forget the zone was in a volcano or tundra and she had to retreat.

"Hmm." Hakuno didn't let go of her hand, and she let herself be dragged by her.

She totally counts this as a win, another point of affection? Possibly?

Gr.

Or most likely, Hakuno is still just seeing her as a helpless friend that needs protecting… Well… while this is definitely not a good time for it, she's going to try and get something soon! With Summer ending right around the corner… there might not be a whole lot of time left… her having to spend most of the time back in school, and her talking about getting a part-time job like Akira...

Otome Games make this seem a lot easier, if only she could shower her with gifts and then boom dating.

And… she still has to text Kana soon she made the promise with Akira after all, she's been putting off finding her contact information for a while now, and well…

Maybe it might just be possible to have the old gang back together. She loves the Thieves, they are all great, even Yusuke and his weirdness, but he couldn't rely on them for everything right? She has to be her own person.

Hakuno's eyes flicked back towards her with a hint of confusion, "You alright? You're squeezing hard."

Fuck, yeah she was alright. She loosened her grip slightly but didn't let go. Hakuno wasn't pushing her hand away and she felt her face flush a bit more, "Sorry! Yeah, I'm ok…"

Hakuno hummed and didn't respond.

This... was going to be a hard mission.

She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but she felt Futaba was being slightly strange these last few days. She couldn't really think of a reason other than them taking out her uncle's Shadow and getting him off of Sojiro's back.

But she seemed fine after that so she wasn't sure that was it. Maybe it was stress from the new Palace, or possibly elation from the bugs finally getting them a hit. Or… maybe a glimmer of hope for finding her mom's killer. She sincerely doubted that Hyouma Sagara was himself the Black Mask but he had to know something about them.

If not they might be able to get pointed in the right direction by his confession or Palace, hopefully, the Palace has some memories to view as well, not just Will Seeds but something similar to Futaba's Palace just without them being twisted and full of lies.

She frowned as she looked at the Metanav, Not Volcano, Secret Lair, or… Moon base, going from what is popping up in the group chat they haven't found anything either… But it wasn't all bad the more things they figure it isn't then that means eventually they will find out what it is right?

Hakuno sighed, and then just noticed something peculiar, why was she still holding Futaba's hand? She will be the first to admit it was oddly comforting to be helped when the Lunar Rover reminded her of the Moon Cell but there was no reason to continue right? It might make things strange if Futaba ever came here with her future
companion, her memory was perfect so she definitely would remember.

But Futaba seemed to enjoy it, so perhaps she could hold off for a bit longer. Although it was getting warm in this building, maybe they should turn the AC on more. Or perhaps it was to get them to move through and not stay as long as they could.

Hakuno hummed, "How about we check out the other exhibits? We might get more ideas."

"Oh, right, yeah. How about the schoolroom part? I always wanted to see what they would look like." Hakuno tilted her head and nodded.

"Sounds fine to me."

Seeing Ryuji and Ann holding hands as soon as they thought none of them could see them was cute of them for trying to hide but He can See it. Took his bro long enough to make a move. Must have been recent too, he will have to drill the info out of them when they head to get ramen later.

It was more surprising that Futaba and Hakuno were holding hands, although the Brown-haired girl was dense enough to probably not notice that Futaba's face was practically scarlet when he and Makoto found them wandering into the Education section as they headed towards the Science zone.

This group of theirs really did do the whole thick-as-thieves thing, maybe if Haru joined them she would start dating Yusuke? Although that was a strange combination, a starving destitute artist and a rich heiress. He could totally see the light novel being written. But he was fairly sure Yusuke was denser than Hakuno and he might not even see people as romance options maybe he should ask the next guy's night.

They did have to keep an eye out for any of Sae Niijima's cooperators, they definitely did not want the prosecutor to find out about them. He can only imagine how terrible that would go with his record and them both still being in school… And how much of an asshole she is.

Probably whenever they get a moment to deal with her Palace either by convincing her to stop being an asshole in real life, which was something he doubted they would be able to do, or just simply take her Treasure and collapse her Palace. That would be the best time to come clean to her.

But until then they had to hide it for now so nothing too noticeable…

"Nothing so far?" Akira sighed as he saw the others shake their heads. Today wasn't going that well with finding out the Palace, he's personally typed in/said a couple dozen ideas. "Yeah, that sucks."

"Where's Haru and Yusuke?" Makoto question hung in the air, how bad could leaving the Emperor and Empress go?

"We didn't see them in the Science and Technology area." Hakuno's head tilt was always strong against Futaba, he could kind of see why.

"We just left the Sports zone, I didn't see him." Ann frowned.

"So… are they still in the Culture section?" The group together sighed before starting to walk towards that section, but luckily… "Never mind, I think I see him." Yusuke was sitting on the ground before the Shinto Shrine exhibition like a sad puppy as Haru fretted over the taller boy.

"What happened?"

"I… can't believe it… my heart is shattered, my will is gone. My other self shall fade away…" Yusuke's head was in his hands.

"His pencil finally ran out of lead," Haru answered holding something that barely looked like a pencil stub.

"It is a travesty that at this moment I can not capture the beauty of this place, this particular exhibit will leave tomorrow." He had tears in his eyes.

Akira groaned as he looked closer, "Come on, it says here it will just be moving to the regular Tokyo National Museum."

"That… is out of my price range."

"I'll take you sometime soon." The Artist quickly stood up at that a smile beaming on his face.

"Thank you, Leader I am ready to go." Alright then, Yusuke's problem of the day is solved, "Although… I do need to stop by my school and get a new pencil."

"I'll buy you one after we leave." Thank the Gods for Haru, he didn't want to dip into the already nearly depleted group funds again.

Man, he really needs to hold off on fusing, but…some of his older Personas were finally slowing down in usefulness… mainly Hakuno's Seeker ones, for some reason they aren't getting the huge boost his others have been getting. Well except for the Tower Star and Judgement but he hasn't really met the Tower or Judgement yet and Star well…

Hifumi scared him.

"Ah… we will have to go soon, I don't want to bother my Driver with picking me up and the train I need to take is coming soon…" Ryuji's phone let out a loud Beep, Haru gave a sad smile, "It has been a fun trip, I do truly love hanging out with you all."

"Dudes!" Ryuji had a wicked smile as he showed them his phone.

Result Found.

Begin Navigation?

It was a fucking Train!?

Author's Notes: Trains! Personally, when I think of thieves maybe it's the influence from me living in America but like… A train heist is kind of one of the major ones I think of, it's a classic, and it's a crime that they didn't include one. Well, not counting Mementos but you don't really mess with the trains, it's more of just a bunch of tunnels…

Anyways! Cya Later!