5/19 Thursday
Days Until Legal Action: 21
She hadn't heard back from Yusuke since yesterday.
Of course, considering what they had just seen, she wasn't surprised by that.
"So, you think we should wait a few days before sending the calling card?" Morgana asked.
"Yeah… that might be for the best." she admitted.
After classes had ended for the day, she wandered the halls, looking for something to take her mind off of what occurred yesterday, eventually bumping into Ren.
"Oh, hey Makoto." Ren muttered. "How's it going?"
"I've been better." she admitted. "What about you?"
"Same, honestly." Ren admitted. "I'm just trying to find something to distract myself with."
"Maybe we could visit the library." she suggested. "We might find something there."
"Sounds like a plan." Ren smiled.
The two Thieves set out for the library, hoping to find something they'd like.
"Oh, hello, Niijima-san." the student librarian greeted. "And hello to… oh… you're here too."
As soon as her eyes landed on Ren, she immediately let out a scowl.
"Just don't cause any trouble." the librarian muttered.
She wanted to say something about her rudeness, but Ren seemed unfazed, moving to the bookshelves.
As she looked with him, she couldn't help but frown when she heard some of the other students in the library.
"What's that delinquent doing here…?"
"He's not actually going to study, is he?"
"He probably cheated on his exams."
"Wish those Phantom Thieves would change his heart."
"Ren…" she trailed off.
"It's fine." Ren assured her.
She had her doubts that he was taking things in stride, however.
"Niijima-san should stay away from a guy like that. He's just going to hurt her."
She quickly glanced over at Ren, seeing the sad look on his face when he thought she wasn't looking.
She turned to face the gossiping students, giving her fiercest glare.
"That's enough!" she snapped. "This is a library, somewhere to read or study in quiet, and every student has the right to use it without being disturbed. If you can't follow the rules, then leave!"
Most of the students immediately shut up, but when she turned to Ren, she saw that he was frowning.
"You… didn't have to do that." Ren muttered.
"I wanted to." she said.
Deciding to cut their visit short, they both exited the library, but not before they heard more gossip.
"No wonder Niijima's defending him. She's always covering up for criminals, just like with Kamoshida."
When they left the library, Ren turned to face her, a guilty expression on his face. "I'm sorry, Makoto."
"Sorry for what?" she asked.
"They… they're saying all of those horrible things about you because you're sticking up for me." Ren said.
"I don't care what they have to say about me." she told him. "I just don't want them bothering you."
"I can handle it." Ren insisted. "And I know the gossip will bother you too."
"I want to help you, Ren." she told him. "Whether you can handle it or not doesn't matter. You shouldn't have to handle it."
"I just… don't want to be a burden to you." Ren muttered.
"A burden?" she repeated. "Ren, no, you could never be a burden."
"But I've already taken so much of your time with the tutoring, and now you stuck up for me…" he trailed off. "And I attacked you in the Metaverse...
"That wasn't your fault." she told him. "Ren, you saved me several times too, and you've always supported me and helped me too. You're not a burden. You're… you're my best friend, Ren."
"R-Really?" Ren stammered. "I'm… your best friend?"
She beamed. "Yes, you are."
"T-Thanks." Ren said. "You're my best friend too. W-Well, I mean, so is Ryuji… um, can I have multiple best friends?"
"Sure." she smiled. "But no more talk about being a burden, ok? You're anything but."
"Ok." Ren nodded. "It's just…"
"Just what…?" she asked.
"...Nothing." Ren muttered.
"No, it's not nothing." she insisted. "Ren, I told you that you can talk to me, ok? Or anyone that makes you comfortable, but you can't keep all your feelings to yourself."
Ren considered her a few moments.
"Please, Ren?" she asked. "You could talk to Maruki too, if that's more comfortable."
"N-No, that's not… ok, I can tell you." he relented. "You see… all the friends I had from back home… as soon as I got my assault charge, none of them wanted anything to do with me."
He took out his phone, idly spinning it around. "I tried calling or texting them a few times when I got here, but none of them answered."
"Didn't you tell them the truth?" she asked.
"None of them believed me." Ren sighed. "And, well, news spreads fast, so eventually my entire school… even my entire town knew."
"The entire town?" she gasped.
"Well, I live in a very small country town about an hour or two from Tokyo." he explained. "There's only about 2000 people who live there. So… pretty much everyone knew what happened. The last month I spent in my hometown before moving… everyone would just stare at me and whisper behind my back. Guess it was silly to think that'd stop once I got to Tokyo, huh?"
"Oh, Ren…" she whispered. "That's horrible."
"I'll be ok." Ren said. "I'm worried about my mom, though. I hope she's doing ok, and that no one's giving her any grief over what I did."
"Even now, he's still thinking of others." she mused. "He's so kindhearted…"
A part of her wondered if there wasn't a little more to his past he wasn't talking about, but she wouldn't push too much. Even getting him to open up to her a little was good.
"Thank you for trusting me with that." she said. "I'll always be there to listen to if you need someone to talk to, ok?"
"Thanks." Ren said. "I'll be there for you too, Makoto."
Once again, he gave her a small, but genuine small.
"He… has a really nice smile." she thought to herself.
FOOL CONFIDANT: RANK 4
After speaking with Ren a little more, she went home for the day.
5/20 Friday
Days Until Legal Action: 20
As soon as she arrived at school, she saw a bunch of students gathered around the bulletin board, some of them with satisfied smiles, and others with dejected frowns.
"The exam scores must be in." she thought.
She couldn't help but give a satisfied grin when she saw her name at the top spot in her grade. All of her studying had once again paid off.
Right below her was Chiaki, her score just a tiny bit lower.
She continued looking through the list, frowning as her eyes landed on Eiko's score.
It… wasn't the worst score on the list, but it was still slightly below average. Well, she would still treat her to sweets like she promised.
Taking a peek at the scores of the second years, she smiled when she saw that Ren had scored above average, and Ryuji…
Well, she was sure he tried his best.
Curious as to how the first years did, she glanced at their scores, her eyes widening when she saw who was at the top.
Aiko Takao.
"That's Eiko's brother…" she mused. "Eiko wasn't kidding when she said he was a prodigy."
"Tch… second place again."
She saw Chiaki nearby, scowling as she saw her score on the bulletin board.
Chiaki glanced around, her eyes narrowing when they landed on her.
"Niijima… I suppose you're proud of yourself." Chiaki scoffed.
"Hello, Yasui-san." she said. "Congratulations on doing so well on your exams."
"Whatever." Chiaki muttered. "Just remember that we have a council meeting today. I'm sure you can't wait to unveil that budget of yours."
As the other girls walked off, she couldn't help but let out a sigh. She wished she knew what her problem was.
After the school day had ended, she went to the council room, the others already there.
"Niijima-sempai!" Kayo chirped.
"You're right on time." Daichi told her. "We were just about to finalize the budget."
"I see. Did any of you have any final suggestions?" she asked.
"Doesn't really matter anymore." Chiaki grumbled. "It's your decision."
"Well, I wanted all of you to have some input. With Kamoshida gone, the budget will probably be a lot different this year." she acknowledged.
"The principal usually makes us give most of the funds to the volleyball team, but I guess we've got a lot more freedom to distribute funds now." Daichi said.
"The principal's been pushing more and more work on us since the Kamoshida incident." Kayo sighed. "He was also asking me about the Phantom Thieves earlier."
"He was?!" she exclaimed.
"Did he ask you too, Prez?" Daichi asked. "He wanted us all to keep on the lookout for any suspicious behavior."
"This is getting ridiculous." Chiaki scoffed. "Are these Phantom Thieves even real?"
"I don't know, but if they are real, then I'm kinda afraid." Kayo admitted. "I mean, Kamoshida deserved it and everything, but what if they start going after the students… or us?"
"...We're ok."
Everyone turned towards Akemi, who seemed to shrink under the attention.
"What makes you say that, Akemi-kun?" Kayo asked.
"T-They… went after Kamoshida… because of his crimes." Akemi whispered. "I don't think… many students here have done things like him…"
"In any case, hopefully now that we have a councilor, hopefully students will feel more comfortable speaking out." Makoto brought up. "And we need to let them know that we're here for them too. I promise that I won't let anything happen to them… or to any of you, either."
The other council members seemed to cheer up after hearing her say that… all except for Chiaki, who still seemed skeptical.
After much deliberation, they finalized the details for the yearly budget, creating a detailed plan that she would present to the principal soon.
As she exited the council room, however, she ran into Chiaki.
"What's your game, Niijima?" Chiaki asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I've worked with you on the student council since last year, but you weren't acting like yourself at all." Chiaki brought up.
"Not acting like myself?" she asked.
"You want to know why I don't like you, Niijima?" Chiaki snapped. "It's because you're a suck up. A teacher's pet. I figured that you didn't give a damn about the other students. You just did whatever the teachers told you."
A teacher's pet…
She recalled Kamoshida's cognition of her, scowling as the thought entered her head.
"I did care about them!" she snapped.
She could feel her rage building at Chiaki's accusations, but she couldn't lose her cool. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
"You're the student council president." Chiaki pointed out. "If any of us were in a position to help the other students, it would be you. If you had done something sooner, none of this might have happened."
"And what did you do?" she responded.
"…The teachers don't listen to me like they do you." Chiaki muttered. "You're their favorite. Everyone's favorite."
"Chiaki… listen, ok." she began. "I know I could have done more and sooner. But I honestly thought that all of the staff had the best intentions for the student body. I suppose that the Kamoshida incident was a bit of a wake-up call."
"Is that so?" Chiaki asked.
"So, if you're wondering why I'm 'acting different', it's because I want to do everything that I can to help the students… even if it's something that the principal doesn't necessarily agree with."
"I see… well, hopefully you're telling the truth and have actually grown a backbone." Chiaki said. "Guess I've got no choice but to trust in you for now."
She knew that it was a shaky trust at best, but at least it was a step in the right direction.
TOWER CONFIDANT: RANK 2
With the meeting finished, she went home for the day, hoping that they could finally finish the infiltration tomorrow.
5/21 Saturday
Days Until Legal Action: 19
She had made sure to text the others, letting them all know to meet her at Leblanc.
Today, they were going to steal Madarame's treasure.
When she arrived at Leblanc, Ren and Ryuji were already there waiting for her.
"So, we doin' this today?" Ryuji asked.
"We are." she confirmed. "Unfortunately, we can't afford to wait long. I texted Yusuke to meet us, but…"
"Yusuke still isn't here?" Ren asked.
"We could wait a bit, but we might just need to do this without him." Mona suggested.
"There's no need for that."
Everyone turned around, seeing Yusuke at the entrance to the attic.
"Yusuke!" she gasped. "Are you sure you're fine to come with us?"
"I have resolved myself to face the truth, no matter what it may be." Yusuke told them. "I will confront Madarame and ask him what happened on that day."
The blue haired artist walked up to them, placing something on the table.
"And besides, I thought that my talents would be quite valuable in the next step of our operation." Yusuke stated. "A calling card, correct? What a suave maneuver."
She glanced at the calling card on the table. The design was seemingly based on their old calling card, but much better looking than what they had made.
"I didn't wish to make something of my own creation, as Madarame knows my style well." Yusuke explained. "So I simply based it on your old design."
"Aw man, that looks sick!" Ryuji grinned.
"Will Madarame take this seriously?" Yusuke wondered. "He's received numerous angry letters before."
"But this one will have all of the crimes that he knows he committed." Ren pointed out. "That'll get him to panic."
"All that's left to do is to write the message and place it." she said. "Let's begin."
Hidden from view, the thieves watched at the gallery as a member of the exhibit staff approached Madarame.
"U-Um, sir, you might want to look at this…" the man said. "We… found a bunch of these outside."
"A letter?" Madarame muttered, reading it to himself.
"Sir Ichiryusai Madarame, a great sinner of vainglory whose talent has been exhausted. You are a sham of an artist who uses your authority to shamelessly steal the ideas from and abuse your pupils. We have decided to make you confess to all of your crimes, and will take your distorted desires without fail."
"From, the Phantom Thieves."
An enraged Madarame crumbled up the letter in his hands.
"Who's responsible for this?!" Madarame snapped.
"We don't know, sir!" the staff member said. "These cards are posted all over the place."
"Didn't the security cameras pick anything up?" Madarame asked.
"There weren't any signs of a culprit… all we saw was a cat!" the man said.
"Then just get rid of them right now!" Madarame yelled.
"Yes sir." the staff member nodded. "Err, but… how will this affect the exhibit? When the media hears about this…"
"Are you implying that this slander is true?!" Madarame scowled.
"Of course not!" the staff member quickly said.
Seeing Madarame's reaction to the calling card, they left the area, meeting outside the gallery.
"So, will that do?" Yusuke asked.
"That's perfect!" Morgana grinned. "Now's the time to strike!"
"That old man better enjoy his freedom while it lasts!" Ryuji grinned. "People online are already talkin' about the calling card."
"We only have one shot at this, so we need to be careful." Ren pointed out.
Makoto nodded. "Let's move out, everyone."
"Would you hurry up, Inmate?"
Startled out of her thoughts, she went over her remaining personas once again, having gone to the Velvet Room to prepare for any potential fights.
She still had her Incubus from way back when… its life drain skill was nice, but just looking at it made her really want to get rid of it.
She had also recruited a Shiisha, which had just learned how to better dodge electric moves.
They both seemed ok, but she worried that neither would be particularly helpful going forward.
"Maybe… fuse these two?" she asked.
The twins nodded, performing the fusion.
When she saw the result, she couldn't help but let out a satisfied smile.
"This one will do nicely."
They made their way back to the treasure room. Queen went to the control room, Mona and Fox going to the crane, and Joker and Skull going to the crane controls.
"You seem to be enjoying this." Fox noted.
"It's moments like this when you really feel like a Phantom Thief!" Mona grinned.
As she saw everyone getting into position, she shut off the lights in the room.
"Joker, now!" Yusuke called.
Joker activated the crane, lowering Mona down to the painting.
Mona quickly grabbed the painting and pulled it up to them, all of them meeting in the crane room.
"Treasure secured!" Mona boasted. "Now let's get out of here!"
"Heh, that was easier than I thought!" Ryuji grinned.
They made it to the courtyard that had previously held all of the inferred lasers before Mona began acting strange.
"Mrrrr… Meowwww…" Mona purred.
"Um, why's Mona purring… you know, besides the obvious?" Joker wondered.
"I can't take it anymore!" Mona cried. "I need to see the treasure!"
"Come on, can't you wait until we get out of here first?" Skull said.
"Hold on, maybe we should look at it." she argued. "It's been covered by cloth this entire time, so we should make sure that this is actually the treasure."
They removed the cloth… only to discover that it was a fake.
"Huh?!" Mona gasped.
"The hell? This is the treasure?" Skull questioned.
"Everyone, watch out!" Yusuke yelled.
Everyone jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding getting trapped by an electric fence.
"Meddlesome vermin…"
Madarame approached them, holding a painting in his hands.
"Is this what you're looking for?" Madarame scoffed.
"How dare you try to trap me!" Morgana glared.
"I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that a plagiarist would have a fake ready." Joker said.
"Counterfeits are accepted in the world of Japanese art." Madarame stated.
"So, you came out here just to gloat?" she scoffed. "You really are full of yourself, aren't you?"
"Why, Madarame?!" Yusuke exclaimed. "Is your desire to become famous so great that you would trample over the lives of all of your pupils like my mother? Can't you understand how much it pains me to learn about the crimes of my foster father?!"
"Yua…" Madarame trailed off. "I remember that the reason I took you in was due to my ties with her. Even after her husband died, she never lost her passion for painting. Her love for painting was second only to her love for you. Her skills were extraordinary… and now all of her art, and the art of her son, is mine!"
"You piece of shit!" Ryuji scowled.
"I shall give you one final gift before you die." Madarame said, before revealing his treasure. "The real Sayuri!"
The painting depicted the woman from the other version of the painting, only now she was looking lovingly at a blue haired baby in her arms.
"Mom…" Yusuke gasped.
"So you know." Madarame said. "I figured that if I made a few adjustments to this painting and announced it under my name, I would be famous! I painted over the baby, to make the mother's expression a mystery. And all of the parasitic art critics ate it up!"
"You're despicable!" Yusuke spat. "How can you even call yourself an artist?!"
"Say what you will, but now that you are of no use to me, I will reap you and your friends!"
"You… you treat everyone around you like objects!" Makoto yelled.
"And when they are of no use to you, you destroy them." Fox stated, his body shaking. "Does that include my mother as well? Did you… let my mother die?"
"Come now, Yusuke." Madarame said. "I've done nothing of the sort. Isn't that right, dear?"
She gasped as she saw a young woman approaching them.
"Mother…" Yusuke trailed off.
"Yusuke…" Yua said. "It's been so long. Come, Yusuke. Forget this Thief nonsense for now and come with me."
"It's just a cognition!" Mona called. "Don't fall for it!"
"Just when I thought he couldn't sink any lower…" Queen mused, glaring at Madarame.
A silence fell over the entire group, everyone waiting for Yusuke's response.
To everyone's surprise, Yusuke gave a soft chuckle. "I must thank you, Madarame. You've erased all doubt from my mind."
"Oh?" Madarame said. "Well, good. Now why don't you stop this-"
"Any doubt I had about your treachery is no more!" Fox yelled. "You are no artist. You are a wretched fiend who wears the skin of an artist!"
"How dare you!" Madarame roared. "I am the God of the art world! I make the rules, and everyone else follows! Anyone who disobeys shall be sacrificed!"
"Everyone, get back!" Mona warned.
Madarame's body began to morph, transforming him into four separate statues of the arms, legs, chest, and head of a red horned demon with black, feathery wings. The statue depicting the demon's hands wielded sharp paintbrushes.
The cognition of Yusuke's mother ran off, as the Thieves readied themselves for battle.
"You're all nothing but sacrificial lambs to me!" Madarame roared. "I shall grace this world with my art!"
Madarame tried to slash at them with his paintbrushes, which they swiftly dodged.
"Try this!" Mona cried, preparing a counterattack. "Magaru!"
Sharp winds struck every one of the statues, but while the body, legs, and face took minor damage, the arms seemed to drain the attack.
"What?! It absorbed it?!" Mona exclaimed.
"We'll have to avoid multi target moves." Makoto noted. "Mona, go for the legs!"
"Got it!" Mona replied.
But before he could cast his spell, the arms went on the offense, drawing a green whirlwind on a canvas, which suddenly materialized and rushed towards them.
"Maelstrom!" Madarame shouted as they were assaulted by the winds.
Most of them managed to endure, but Ryuji was blown off of his feet.
"Come on, you just took a Garu spell and gave it a fancy name!" Mona snapped. "Not even your attacks are original!"
Mona rushed to heal Ryuji, but the arms tried to cast another spell to stop him.
"Fox, stop those arms!" she commanded.
Fox nodded, attempting the slash at the arms, only for the chest to block his strike, recovering damage in the process.
"So this one absorbs physical blows." Fox muttered.
"Silent Snowscape!" Madarame road, pelting Ryuji and Morgana with ice.
"Mona! Skull! Are you-AHH!
The head rammed into her, knocking her to the ground.
"J-Johanna!" she desperately called. "Frei!"
She fired a nuclear blast at the head, only for the head to grin at her as it absorbed it.
"Eiha!"
Dark flames blasted the head, knocking the head to the ground.
"You ok?" Joker asked, helping her up.
"Thanks." she said. "This battle is going to be tough. They keep covering each other's weaknesses."
"How dare you!" Madarame yelled.
The arms coated their paint brushes with black paint before slashing at them.
"Queen, look out!" Joker called.
She jumped out of the way, but Ren wasn't fast enough, getting coated in black paint.
"W-Why do I feel so weak…?" Ren muttered.
"Joker, what's wrong?!" she exclaimed.
"Flame dance!" Madarame yelled.
"AAAHHHH!" Ren screamed.
Scarlet red flames surrounded Ren, engulfing his body.
"Joker!" Queen cried.
"What the hell! Joker's persona isn't weak to fire!" Mona said. "It shouldn't cause that much damage!"
"It's the paint! It's weakening him!" Fox realized.
"Hahaha!" Madarame howled. "Now try this! Maelstrom!"
Razor-sharp winds soared towards Joker, who was still too weak to move.
She jumped in front of him, taking the attack in his stead.
"Queen!" Joker yelled.
...But when the winds died down, she still stood there, no worse for wear.
She passed Joker some medicine, smiling at him.
"Looks like… I was right on time." she said.
"How?! You took damage from that attack before!" Madarame pointed out.
"This is how..." she said. "Matador!"
A skeletal matador with a red capote and sword was summoned forth.
"Double Shot!" Makoto commanded.
Matador waved his capote, firing two shots towards Madarame's head.
"GRAHHH!" Madarame cried out in pain. "You little brat! Thunderclap!"
Madarame fired several thunderbolts in her direction, but Matador's skill and agility made it easy for her to dodge the attacks, and fire back with bullets.
"How hard is it to hit one skeleton?!" Madarame raged.
Seeing the head start to struggle, the body moved to intercept, only for her to switch tactics.
"Life Drain!" she yelled, draining the chest of its energy and stopping it from blocking attacks.
While the skill was weak, she was confident that none of the body parts could resist it.
The head moved to ram her again, only for Ren to stop it with his bullets.
"Fox, Skull, the arms!" Joker yelled.
Fox and Skull nodded, striking the arms with their strongest physical attacks while Morgana kept the legs away with Garu spells.
The force of both Fox and Skull's attacks were too much for the arms, which dissolved into black ooze.
"All right! One down!" Joker cheered.
"Hah! Do you really think that would be enough!" Madarame gloated.
The other three statues began to glow, and much to their shock, the arms were revived.
"Oh come on!" Ryuji complained. "He can revive them?!"
"We'll have to take them all out at once!" Mona advised.
"Just taking out one of them was rough." Makoto muttered. "How are we going to take out all four?"
Yusuke glanced around the battlefield, trying to find something to help them.
Seeing a paint bucket out of the corner of his eye, he quickly ran towards it.
"Fox, where are you going?" Makoto called.
"Gather all the statues together! Trust me!" Yusuke replied.
Deciding to place her trust in him, Makoto and the others gathered around, surrounding the other statues.
"Away with you!" Madarame exclaimed.
Just as Madarame went to strike, Fox tossed the paint bucket, covering all of the statues with black paint.
"Everyone, strike now!" Yusuke yelled. "The paint has weakened him!"
They all stuck the stautes with their strongest attacks, causing Madarame to cry out in pain.
All of the statues fell to the ground, dissolving into black ooze, before Madarame himself crawled out of the ooze.
"There he is!" Mona called. "We've got him cornered!"
"Damn you all! I am the great Madarame! Why don't you understand?!" Madarame vented.
"Enough of your ranting!" Yusuke snapped. "Feel the wrath of everyone you have wronged!"
All five of the Thieves struck Madarame with a barrage of bullets and spells.
"GRAH! You…" Madarame muttered.
"It's over, Madarame." Yusuke said.
"Enough! How dare you come into my museum and call me a plagiarist! I told you that I am the God of the art world!" Madarame repeated. "If you can't fathom that, then I shall show you my master craft!"
Madarame summoned forth copies of himself, each one wearing different robes representing a different element.
"More copies… I should have known." Ren snarked.
"Now for my masterpiece!" Madarame declared. "Madara-megido!"
Madarame drew a purple orb of almighty energy that rushed towards them before exploding.
They braced themselves for a powerful attack, but found it to be surprisingly underwhelming, dealing minimal damage.
"You went through all the trouble to announce such a weak attack?" she questioned. "You even named it after yourself!"
"Was a good pun, though." Joker whispered.
"Silence!" Madarame snapped.
"If their elements are like ours...Mona, go for the yellow one." she ordered. "Skull, the green, Joker, the blue, and Fox, the r-"
"I'll handle Madarame." Fox declared.
"...Ok. I trust you." she replied. "Jack Frost! Bufu!"
She shot chunks of ice at the red Madarame, easily dispatching it. While the other Madarames tried to put up a fight, they were no match for the other Thieves. Mona and Skull easily beat their opponents by exploiting their weaknesses, and Joker simply overpowered his opponent with curse spells.
Meanwhile, Yusuke charged at Madarame, his blade ready.
"G-Get back!" Madarame stammered, beginning to panic.
He attempted to create more clones, but they came out much weaker this time, and seemed to be suffering numerous ailments.
"W-What? I… made a mistake?!" Madarame said in disbelief.
"So, is this the extent of the 'God of the art world's' skill?" Yusuke mocked. "Pathetic."
He effortlessly cut down the new copies before turning his blade on the real Madarame.
Madarame paled. "M-Madara-meg-"
"You waste your breath!" Fox shouted. "Goemon!"
Goemon blew into his pipe, sending chilling winds that blew Madarame away, crashing into a wall and collapsing on the floor.
The battle was over.
Yusuke calmly walked towards Madarame, who clutched the Sayuri for dear life.
"Y-Yusuke, please." Madarame begged. "No one cares for true art like mine… all they want are brand names! I thought I could get by in the art world with just passion, but without money, I could do nothing."
Yusuke's eyes narrowed.
"I'm a victim in this too!" Madarame insisted. "I was so poor I couldn't even feed myself. I borrowed money from shady people to keep myself alive. I just didn't want to return to that life!"
Yusuke grit his teeth, grabbing Madarame by the collar and lifting him into the air.
"And what of all your apprentices?!" Yusuke exclaimed. "Do you think they want to be penniless and on the streets because you crushed their dreams?!"
"B-But…"
"What of my mother?! Do you think she wanted to die?!" Yusuke continued. "I looked up to you as a father… only to find out that you murdered my mother!"
"I-It was a moment of weakness!" Madarame stuttered. "I hesitated, knowing that I could leave her to die, but that moment was all it took! It was too late to go back!"
"You… I will end you… and this wretched world!" Fox declared.
"P-Please, don't kill me!" Madarame pleaded.
"Fox!" she called.
Fox scowled, forcibly dropping Madarame to the ground.
"Return to yourself in reality and confess your crimes and apologize to the people you've wronged- every last one." Yusuke ordered.
"Y-You won't kill me…?" Madarame asked.
"Swear it!" Yusuke demanded.
"Ok, ok, I will!" Madarame quickly said. "But you have to do something about the other intruder who was here before. The one with the black mask!"
"Black mask?" she questioned. "There's someone else who can enter the Metaverse?"
"He's going to kill me here!" Madarame cried. "You have to do something!"
"Give us your treasure then!" Mona ordered. "Then this place will disappear, and whoever this black mask guy is won't get you."
"Don't worry about the real world either." Makoto glared. "I'm sure the prison you're going to will have plenty of security."
"Y-Yes, of course." Madarame muttered, placing the painting on the floor.
Someone grabbed it before them, however.
"Yusuke… I'm glad that I got to see you again."
Yusuke gasped.
"Look at how much my baby boy has grown." Yua smiled. "You've even taller than me now. And so handsome… I bet the girls your age think so too!"
"Mother… I..."
"It looks like you have a wonderful group of friends, too." Yua said, before turning towards the others. "Thank you for watching out for my Yusuke."
Yua handed the painting to Yusuke, before bringing him into a hug.
"I wanted to give you that painting for so long." Yua whispered. "Whenever you feel afraid or hurt, I want you to look at that painting, and remember that I will always love you."
Yusuke said nothing, quivering slightly as he returned the hug.
It broke her heart to end this moment, but they didn't have much time. "Yusuke… the palace."
Yusuke broke the hug, taking the Sayuri into his hands. "Mother… Your painting inspired me to become an artist. It kept me going on my darkest days. One day… I shall become as good an artist as you, and make something I can be proud of."
"That's wonderful, Yusuke." Yua smiled. "Will you show me your painting when it's finished?"
Yusuke hesitated, a conflicted look on his face, before nodding.
"I have to go now. Goodbye, mother…"
Yusuke took one final look at his mother before escaping the palace as it disappeared forever...
Makoto's Confidant Progress:
THE FOOL - Ren Amamiya: Rank 4
THE HUNGER - Igor: Rank 3
THE CHARIOT - Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 2
THE MAGICIAN - Morgana: Rank 2
THE FAITH - Eiko Takao: Rank 2
THE TOWER - Chiaki Yasui: Rank 2
THE SUN - Shiho Suzui: Rank 2
THE MOON - Takayo Tachibana: Rank 2
THE HIEROPHANT - Sojiro Sakura: Rank 2
THE TEMPERANCE - Naoya Makigami: Rank 2
THE STRENGTH - Caroline and Justine: Rank 1
THE FORTUNE - Phantom Thieves of Heart: Rank 1
THE JUDGEMENT - Sae Niijima: Rank 1
THE COUNCILLOR - Takuto Maruki: Rank 2
Do you believe in the Phantom Thieves? Yes 7.3%