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Psyche: Life in the midst of Pain and Fate

Chapter 28: Futaba Sakura and Medjed's Declaration

Summary:

With Alibaba's now clear proposal, Ren and the rest of the Phantom Thieves now debate as to whether they can accomplish the task Alibaba gave them with only a name. That being said, they encounter some difficulties in locating "Futaba Sakura". Furthermore, more surprises lay in wait for the Phantom Thieves as they scramble to fulfill Alibaba's demands while keeping Medjed always at the back at their minds. At least, they were until unforeseen developments occur.

Notes:

So things have really heated up with Alibaba and Medjed for the Phantom Thieves. It doesn't help that Medjed is a faceless entity and is comprised of a group of people, people who Ren and the others can't target directly. Alibaba's deal may seem more rational to them, but it still is blackmail, at least in their eyes.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text


7/21

Shibuya 

After School


 

Ren and the others meet up after he messaged them briefly at lunch over the new messages Alibaba sent him and the deal he proposed.

 

As always, Ryuji is simmering with anger. "We're gonna get reported if we don't do this? What the hell...?"

 

Makoto rebutted, "Well, we do know that this was always going to be a possibility. That said, keep in mind that even if we do this, there's no guarantee he won't renege on this deal he proposed. Of course, to think Alibaba also has no fondness of Medjed to even propose that they'll take care of them on our behalf..."

 

Ann seems perplexed or troubled by the name. "Futaba Sakura... Hmm..."

 

Makoto seemed to be following Ann's line of thought. "Wasn't Sakura..."

 

Ann nods vigorously. "It's Boss's last name!"

 

Yusuke looks at Ren as he directs his question. "Does he have any family?"

 

Morgana looks quizzically at Ren. "Does he?"

 

Ren ponders and shakes his head. "None that I'm aware of."

 

Ryuji just stares at Ren. "For real? How laid-back are you!? I mean, wouldn't you normally be introduced at least? I mean, you ARE living at his place, after all."

 

Ren corrects him. "For starters, I live in his cafe attic, not his house. Boss seemed to be rather tight-lipped about anything regarding himself and any supposed family. After all, he and I weren't exactly on the best of terms at least until recently. However, earlier during my stay a couple of months back, he seemed to get calls from someone he knows. Whether that is this supposed Futaba Sakura, I don't know."

 

Yusuke looks down. "He's right, you know. His situation does make it difficult..."

 

Makoto ponders, "The calling card was delivered to Boss's house; it'd be more natural to assume this is all related. One of the reasons for that is because Alibaba mentioned nothing about 'which' Futaba Sakura. Perhaps he thinks the name is alone enough."

 

Morgana nods. "That makes sense. Of course..."

 

Ren punches his fist into his hand. "Yeah, you're right. I was wondering why it was so strange that Alibaba didn't bother to narrow down which Futaba Sakura. There was no address, no details... only a name."

 

Makoto continues on, "I believe it's adequate for us to think that it is the doing of someone close by. I don't know exactly how Alibaba got a hold of Ren's smartphone information but it's a likely assumption they got it through our chat or through some other means. However, since he's ordering us through chat, I can't feel but think he's taunting us."

 

Ryuji looks unsettled. "You mean, this is just a prank?"

 

Makoto equally looks doubtful. "I mean, look at his demands. At first, I wanted to err on the side of caution considering Alibaba has our chat log. However, after looking at his demand, I can't help but feel the same way. 'Pay me if you don't want me to leak who you really are-that I'd understand.' But he's telling us to steal someone's heart without explaining why. Also, he also mentions that it's something only we can do."

 

Yusuke deliberates. "So we're being tested?"

 

Makoto just continues onward. "Regardless of what we can conclude by this, I think we should ask Boss about Futaba Sakura once."

 

Morgana gets serious. "There's nothing else we can do at the moment, and Chief might have an idea on what this is about too."

 

Makoto affirms. "I'll check the school's roster just in case."

 

Yusuke looks troubled at the proposal. "We must make sure Boss doesn't figure out who we are. We'll have to go about this cautiously."

 

Ren nods. "I'll approach the topic carefully with him."

 


 

 

7/21

 

Evening

 

LeBlanc

 


 

Ren returns to LeBlanc to find Sojiro smoking. He walks up to him.

 

Sojiro takes a long huff of his cigarette and notices Ren standing there awkwardly. "Hm? What's up?" 

 

Ren takes a internal deep breath. "Who's Futaba Sakura?"

 

Sojiro furrows his eyebrows in anger. "...Why do you know about that?" He huffs in anger. "It's got nothing to do with you." He turns away, still addressing Ren in a more pissed attitude, "I'm going home. Make sure you lock up the place."

 

Morgana looks vindicated. "Looks like it's a hit judging by how he reacted."

 

Ren sighs. "I only know that this is not going to help my relationship with Sojiro for the near future."

 

Morgana nods. "I know... this must be hard on you to shoulder the burden of asking him all on yourself, but it's for the sake of the Phantom Thieves."

 

Ren nods. "I know... let's contact the others."

 

He heads up and sits on his bed. As expected, he gets a vibration from his phone. 

 

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Ann: Oh, I just remembered! Ren, were you able to ask Boss about Futaba Sakura?"

 

Ren: Yeah, about that...  He wouldn't tell me.

 

Yusuke: Could there be a reason as to why that was?"

 

 

Makoto: Hm. Alibaba may be our only hope of dealing with Medjed. I wish we could get some info about Futaba out of Boss...

 

 

Ann: But trying to force it out would only have the opposite effect. After all...

 

 

Yusuke: To be honest, I owe a great debt to both Boss and Ren. I can understand why Boss might be loath to part with the information we need, and I don't wish for this to be a source of discord between them. 

 

 

Ryuji: Yeah, I know just what you mean!

 

 

Makoto: It's probably best for Boss to bring up the subject himself.

 

 

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He bids everyone good night and starts working out, doing pull-ups on the ceiling beam. After all, his Metaverse activities tires him out quite a bit. He feels working out could help improve his stamina.

 

After a good workout, he heads out to the public baths to wash up, prepare for bed, and head to sleep.

 

 


 

 

7/22

 


 

 

As he was walking to the gate, Ryuji catches up to him from behind. "Yo."

 

Ren stops and turns around. "You still hung up about yesterday?"

 

Ryuji shrugs. "Kinda. Tomorrow's the end of the first semester, but we still got all this lame shit comin' up..."

 

Morgana pops out and addresses Ryuji. "If you don't take care of this 'lame shit', kiss your summer vacation goodbye."

 

Ryuji scratches his head. "You don't have to tell me twice. Oh yeah, about this Futaba Sakura girl... If she's related to Boss, think people living nearby would know about her?"

 

Morgana looks impressed. "That's some keen intuition coming from you, Ryuji. It's a shame you didn't make use of it during your exam."

 

Ryuji groans. "Ugh, I don't even want to think about exams ever again..." He gets back on topic. "Anyways, asking people around in your neighborhood might be the fastest way to figure this shit out."

 

Thus, they ended their conversation, and headed to school. During this time, Ren learned from the ever-grumpy Mr. Ushimaru that there was to be an emergency assembly held on Monday. Sumi hasn't made plans to talk with me since she sent me a chat. I hope she does so soon. This is starting to be really protracted and awkward.

 

He tries looking for Sumi but overhears some of the teachers mention that Sumi was heading out to practice as soon as school ended. Giving up on that regard, he heads back to Yongen-Jaya where he proceeds to question a wide variety of people. 

 

The vast majority of people either didn't know who she was nor have never heard of her. The only lead he had was that Boss was ordering an enormous supply of food... enough for several people to eat. Well... I am living at his cafe...

 

Morgana looks pained. "Hm... we didn't find anything on Futaba... I trust you know what I'm thinking."

 

Ren sighs. "Yeah. I hate to say and do this, but it looks like we have to ask Sojiro again."

 


 

As Ren enters LeBlanc, he finds Sojiro being questioned by the same formally-dressed lady in a suit who he saw in the cafe a few months ago. Sojiro seemed rather peeved at her. He sees Ren and takes a huge sigh.

 

The woman continues on. "You read the letter, did you not?"

 

Sojiro gestures at Ren. "So you're the one who tipped him off about Futaba. You really shouldn't have done that. I have no intention of talking about Wakaba."

 

Wakaba? The plot thickens.

 

The woman looked befuddled. "Tipped off...? What are you talking about? Back to the matter at hand... Your parental authority will have to be suspended. I take it you're okay with that outcome?"

 

Sojiro looked extremely angry. "What!?"

 

Parental authority? What is she talking about?

 

The woman continues laying into Sojiro. "Considering the state of your daughter and your family overall, there are no points in your favor. Would you like to take this to domestic court? Our chances at victory are roughly 99.9% though." She was seriously brutalizing Sojiro with her words, and it showed in his facial expressions. "With these suspicions of abuse... there's no way you can avoid having your custody revoked." 

 

Daughter? Family? Abuse? Sojiro may have hurt me with his words earlier, but that was typical of anyone who has yet to know me and only knew my record. I doubt he's the type of person to lay a hand on someone without permission.  Is Futaba...?

 

Sojiro crossed his hands in exasperation. "You're seriously going that far!? I told you, I don't know a damn thing about it. You're going to the wrong person for answers."

 

The woman replied, "Oh, I know you know. And I mean every word of what I said. We're extremely serious about this. As long as there's a possibility that cognitive psience can be linked to psychotic breakdowns..."

 

Sojiro looks enormously peeved. "Tch... Fine, you win."

 

The woman looks pleased. "Thank you. I will contact you at a later date." She puts her business card on the counter.

 

Sojiro gestures dismissively. "I highly doubt you'll find whatever you're looking to hear though."

 

The woman seems unperturbed. "That's fine. It will be up to us to decide whether the information you give us will be useful or not. Next time I come here, it will be for a nice cup of coffee." Yeah, I think Sojiro has a grudge against this lady after all this. I'd be surprised if he didn't have any grudge against her after all those threats. As they say, don't mix business with pleasure, or bad things will occur. She walks away, past Ren, and heads out.

 

Sojiro yells after her, "And stay out!" He closes his eyes in exasperation as he speaks, "That woman is real good at pissing people off..." He notices Ren looking over and keeps talking. "...What's with that look? You got something to say?"

 

Ren just says, "Custody?"

 

Sojiro seemed to simmer down a bit. "As I said, this doesn't involve you. It's best if you stay out of it."

 

Ren decides to push a little harder despite the warning. "Is Futaba your daughter? I heard that woman say daughter..."

 

Sojiro cuts him off. "That's enough. Need I remind you, you're staying here out of my goodwill. I can make it so that this arrangement ends at any point in time. Just behave yourself and keep going to school if you don't want me to throw you out of here. You got that?" Ren nods, clearly not wanting to push him further. "Lock the store up. I'm leaving."

 

Morgana communicates with Ren. "I guess that confirms it. Of course, it sounds like Futaba has her own set of problems. Moreso, our conjecture that Alibaba is in some way connected to LeBlanc seems to have a pretty solid foundation. And oh, didn't they mention 'cognitive' something?"

 

Ren nods. "Cognitive psience, whatever that is. Even I don't know what it fully means."

 

Morgana looks somewhat curious. "I wonder what the chief's hiding. We can't really press him on the subject though, especially after he mentioned throwing you out."

 

Ren just heaves a sigh. "Yeah, I figured that would have come up. We'll have to find a different source of information."

 

Sojiro leaves and Ren closes the cafe while locking up. He heads up. His phone starts buzzing; it must be the others.

 

 

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Ryuji: Yo, how'd it go? You found out anything about Futaba Sakura?"

 

Ann: I've been wondering about that too!"

 

Ren: I'll tell you guys tomorrow at the hideout, okay?

 

Ryuji: Woah-ho!

 

Yusuke: So you did learn something. Fine work, Ren.

 

Ann: I knew we could count on you!

 

Makoto: Ren-kun, thanks. All right then, let's meet up tomorrow.

 

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Ren sighs. I doubt anything I could share would exactly help us. We're gonna be stuck. He decides to work out to keep his mind occupied on something he could tangibly improve, his stamina. 

 


 

7/23

 

Shibuya

 

After School

 


 

After school, Ren met up with the others. He recounted what happened the other evening with Sojiro and the mysterious woman.

 

Makoto was shocked. "A woman was threatening Boss?"

 

Morgana nodded. "She was going on about domestic abuse and taking the case to court and all that stuff... she meant business."

 

Makoto seemed to be pondering something. "......."

 

Everyone seemed to have noticed. Ryuji broke the ice. "What's up?"

 

Makoto tried to brush it aside. "It's nothing."

 

Oh yeah, it's definitely something. Perhaps... she knows this woman I saw?

 

Makoto addresses Ren, "So to summarize what you told us, Futaba is Boss's daughter, and he's abusing her? I don't know him very well. Is he really the kind of person who would do that?"

 

Ren thinks. "Um... yes to the former, unsure about the latter. I agree with you. As much as I don't know about Boss despite all this time I've been living in his cafe, I find it hard to see him as an abuser. That said... Even I don't know him very well, so I would be surprised about whatever I could find out. I didn't even know he had a daughter this entire time."

 

Makoto sighs. "As much as I would like to give Boss the benefit of the doubt, we have no conclusive evidence suggesting one or the other." She barely finished speaking when Ren's phone vibrated. Everyone's here, so that must be... Alibaba.

 

Morgana pipes up, "Is it Alibaba?" Ren shoots him a 'be quiet' look as everyone starts to gather in to look.

 

It was indeed Alibaba, and he was NOT happy. 

 

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Alibaba:  I've given you a calling card and the target's name. You should be ready for this. Why aren't you doing it? I told you I'd help you if you stole her heart. What seems to be the hold up? I also said I'd report your identity to the police if you didn't help me. Are you OK with that? I'm serious here.

 

 

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Yusuke is annoyed as he mutters, "What a selfish person."

 

Ren corrects him. "A selfish person with all the leverage at his side. We have no means of declining."

 

Makoto nods. "He does have all that information on us... It's relatively easy for him to leak it out to the press and police... let's try not to antagonize Alibaba... we need their cooperation if we are to stand a chance at taking down Medjed."

 

Ryuji inserts himself into the conversation. "Anyways, this Futaba he's talking about have a Palace? If so, we'll need keywords to get in. Try messaging him about 'em." That's actually pretty clever of you, Ryuji. If Futaba doesn't have a Palace, we could just get this over with in Mementos.

 

Alibaba continues typing.

 

 

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Ren: Does she have a Palace? Any key words by any chance?

 

 

Alibaba: Palace? Key words? What is this code-speak you're talking about? Are you just saying random stuff to dodge the issue?"

 

 

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Ann is perplexed about how the text conversation with Alibaba will proceed. "What're we supposed to do about this?"

 

 

Morgana yowls. "We'd be able to figure out Alibaba's identity if we could just meet with him... Try asking him if there's any way we could meet up."

 

 

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Ren: Let's meet somewhere. It'll be difficult to explain everything over text. Even if I were to try, I doubt you'd be able to understand unless we're face-to-face.

 

 

 

Alibaba: Meet? With me? That would be difficult? I have reasons for not being able to go out. That's why I'm contacting you like this.

 

 

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Morgana is befuddled by this admission. "He can't go out? It's not like we asked him to meet us at a cafe or something? He could have met us at some private place or something, maybe even his house. Keep pushing, Ren."

 

 

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Alibaba: Wait. I get it. You steal people's hearts directly... That might make things difficult. Extremely difficult. One moment. I'm thinking... OK. It's a shame that it has to come to this but I'm calling this deal off. Stop looking into Futaba Sakura. Forget this ever happened. Don't worry. I have ethics. Since our deal was severed, I won't report you to the police. Sorry for taking your time. Now... If you'll excuse me..."

 

 

Ren: Hang on just a moment. You can't just leave us hanging like this. You made us accept this deal in the first place. 

 

 

 

Alibaba: I said the deal's off! Don't make me repeat myself. The complications will hinder you anyways. It's better off this way. We're never going to speak again. Don't expect me to contact you anymore either after this. Now, good day.

 

 

 

Ren: We're not finished here.

 

 

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Again it looked as if Alibaba has abandoned the chat, perhaps this time for good. 

 

Ann looked bewildered by how everything was unfolding. "Huh...? Am I seeing this correctly, or did he just shut down the whole operation? After everything he did to force us to accept his deal, he backed off...?"

 

Morgana looks downcast. "This doesn't make any sense... Not only does Alibaba not go out, but he won't let us meet Futaba either?"

 

Ryuji comments, "Well, it's none of our business now. We can't contact him anymore."

 

Ann looks plagued with doubt. "But... what do we do about Medjed? We won't be able to get Alibaba to help us with them now."

 

Ryuji shakes his head. "Maybe they were just pranking us. They made that huge declaration, but they ain't done nothing since. I bet we got 'em freaked out."

 

Morgana looks slightly surprised. "You mean they backed out because they're afraid we'll change their hearts?"

 

Ryuji grins. "Yep. And now it'd just make them look lame if they came out and apologized!"

 

Makoto interjects with a strong "But...!" but Ryuji kept going on. "I guess with Alibaba and Medjed out of the picture, can we just say this case is closed?"

 

Makoto looks troubled but smiles. "....You do have a point there. I guess it is safe for us to relax a little. We've been on edge the past couple days or so... it wouldn't hurt for us to take a break."

 

Ryuji just remembered something. "Oh yeah, remember Kaneshiro's Treasure? Prepare to have your minds blown! We got one hundred and fifty thousand yen out of it!"

 

Everyone was startled and surprised with that announcement. Ann was jubilant. "That's awesome! We can really go all out with that kinda money!"

 

Ryuji has a wide grin plastered on his face. "Yeah! Let's make up for what happened at the fireworks festival! We gotta go eat something fittin' for the Phantom Thieves' worldwide debut!"

 

Ann dreamily thinks, "Where would be good?"

 

Ryuji has a lightbulb moment. "Oooh! How about sushi? I could really go for some eel too!"

 

Yusuke leans backward while pronouncing, "The best method is to fill yourself on ginger before beginning to eat sushi. That is my master technique."

 

Makoto has a inscrutable look of her face, one of either worry or astonishment, perhaps even both. "You don't need to do that this time. Actually, definitely don't do it, okay?"

 

Morgana is happy. "I'm all for sushi! You're okay with that too, right?"

 

Ren nods. "Sushi will be great. It'll be our best way to celebrate everything since." That being said, I'm still rather perplexed that nothing has happened as of yet. For our sakes, let's hope Ryuji is right.

 

Morgana is ecstatic. "Then that settles it."

 

Ryuji nods. "Alright! Then let's go tomorrow night!"

 

 


 

 

He got back to LeBlanc. As soon as he got to the attic though, his phone started buzzing. He plopped down on the bed as he opens the chat.

 

 

 

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Makoto: I wonder if all that Medjed business was just a prank. Now that I have had time to think about it calmly and carefully, it's strange that they haven't done anything as of yet. If their goal is to target the Phantom Thieves, they should want to act now, given our fame. Are they backing off or lying in wait, preparing something? This uncertainty is giving me some unease. 

 

 

Ann: Huh. When you put it that way, it kinda makes me wonder too. Especially after they taunted us theatrically like that. Anyone would have expected them to follow up.

 

 

Yusuke: Yes. However, it would be wise and best of us to come up with a countermeasure regardless. For now though, we should cautiously enjoy the sushi. That is all we can do at the moment.

 

 

 

Ren: Something is not right...  You're right, guys. After everything, I don't really believe this is the last we heard from Medjed. That said, for now, we should just keep our eyes and ears out for further news about Medjed.

 

 

Ryuji: I was thinking that too! I can't really put it into words though... but something's always been bugging me since that talk we had this afternoon.

 

 

Makoto: Hm, Yusuke is right. I'm sorry for bringing this up. On the day before our celebration party too... 

 

 

Ann: Cheer up, Makoto. We'll be eating sushi like kings tomorrow!

 

 

Yusuke:  I hope one person in particular is on their best behavior. I'll refrain from saying who, though.

 

 

Ryuji: Hey, I hope you're not talking about me! I've learned my lesson already!

 

 

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7/24

 

Ginza

 

Evening

 

Ginza High End Sushi bar

 

 


 

Ren proceeded to take the train to Ginza to meet up with his friends there. They found the sushi bar that Ann had found online and recommended.

 

Suffice it to say, they were in paradise.

 

When their omakase sushi was plated for them, all of them were astonished at what laid in front of them. They began digging in.

 

Ryuji was rather ecstatic. "Man, the flounder is outta this world. That texture..."

 

Yusuke looks rather panicked. "I-I don't see any prices listed here..."

 

Ryuji waves it off dismissively. "It's called market price. Don't worry 'bout it; we got the cash!"

 

Ann looked to be in euphoria. "Sooo goooooood..." Okay, a little too ecstatic, but she's always been a foodie.

 

They kept eating, savoring all the different cuts in the selection .

 

Morgana, clearly hungry, whispered, "Hey, is the fatty tuna ready yet?"

 

Ryuji just glares at Morgana. "Hold your horses! And don't talk! Pets aren't allowed in here!"

 

Morgana just grumpily sulks and slides his head back in.

 

Makoto taps his shoulder. It seems she's troubled by something. "By the way, Ren-kun, is Boss really the type of person who would abuse someone?"

 

Ryuji sighs. "That again? I thought Ren-Ren already made it clear that he doesn't think Boss is a bad guy."

 

Makoto is anguished. "I can't get it off my mind. I respect Ren-kun's opinion, but to think that there is people who believe the opposite. Especially if it means he's taken to court over these allegations..." Makoto addresses Ren. "What kind of person is he? Do you truly believe he'd do such a thing?"

 

Ren ponders for a while. "Well, obviously, he and I started off on the wrong foot. Over time gradually, he slowly began warming up to me. I'd say he's pretty strict but fair. He's a nice person. I mean, I was forced to work for him at his cafe, but it's not like I'm not getting anything out of it... I can make coffee and curry now."

 

Yusuke just looks off into the distance of the bar. "Hmm..."

 

Ryuji continues with the thought. "I don't really want to believe it, but if it's really true about the abuse, he'd be a no-good jerk pretending to be a guardian."

 

Morgana pipes up. "Perhaps there's a chance it's the chief who needs a change of heart."

 

Ann looks startled. "Yeah, about that... I actually got curious about our conversation... and checked his name in you-know-what."

 

Makoto nods. "Sounds to me like there wasn't a hit."

 

Ann affirms. "Right. Anything beyond this is his family's problem. We probably shouldn't get further involved."

 

Ryuji suddenly looked up. "Wait!? You think Alibaba could be Boss's ex-wife!? He musta cheated on her, and that's where Futaba comes from."

 

Ren just gives him a flat stare. "With all due respect, Ryuji, that is the most ridiculous thing I've heard from your mouth in the entire time I've known you."

 

Ann nods. "Doubtful." 

 

Makoto looks down as if to distance herself. "Your imagination has run rampant."

 

Yusuke just chastises him. "How foolish."

 

Everyone just looks at one another and made the choice to resume eating, given the atmosphere has become awkward.

 

Yusuke muses though, "Still. This is delicious. I've never experienced anything quite like it before."

 

Ryuji grins. "Man, and it's all thanks to us being the Phantom-"

 

Ren quickly punches his left fist into Ryuji's side, making Ryuji keel over. He looks over to Ryuji and gives him a look. Ryuji looks startled but gives him a slight shake of the head. He removes his hand before the other patrons take a more careful look.

 

Too late, it seemed like everyone was looking over.

 

Makoto was feverishly trying to salvage the situation. "U-Ummmm.... Ph-Phan... Fantastic! This sushi is delicious!"

 

Ann chimes in, "Y-Yeah! The fish is so fresh!"

 

One of the sushi bar's other patrons, a lady, grumbles, "Hmph. Everywhere we go, we keep hearing about these Phantom Thieves."

 

Her companion nodded. "What rubbish."

 

They went back to their chatter. Ann looked over to Ryuji with a disapproving look. "Think about where we are, Ryuji."

 

Ryuji looks crestfallen. "Sorry, it kinda almost slipped..."

 

Ren sighs. "The last time it slipped, it got Makoto onto our case. We only got lucky because of how everything went. Just think about what could happen the next time you slipped and stop yourself, okay?"

 

Makoto nods. "My apologies for bringing up Boss again. We should just enjoy the food."

 

They finish eating and head back to Shibuya.

 

While transferring back to Yongen-Jaya, someone calls up from behind them. "Niijima-san! What are you doing here?"

 

They turn around and are surprised to see Akechi, Makoto most of all. "Akechi-kun..."

 

Ren nods at Akechi. "Nice to see you again. It's been a while since we last hung out."

 

Ryuji just muses, "Akechi?"

 

Akechi nods. "Amamiya-kun, it's been a while. You two... you're the ones from the TV station... Could it be that you three are friends of Niijima-san?"

 

Yusuke looks to Ren and Makoto. "Do you know this guy?"

 

Akechi flashes his TV smile. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Akechi. Glad to make your acquaintance, Yusuke Kitagawa."

 

Yusuke looks unsettled. "How do you know my name?"

 

Akechi just keeps smiling. "Well, because I'm a psychic, of course. Haha, I'm only joking. In truth, I'm a rookie detective. You're a former pupil of Madarame, right?" He extends his hand downward. "I have actually just recently joined the investigation team looking into the Phantom Thieves. Did you see that Medjed has declared war on them?"

 

Everyone looks startled. Ryuji quipped, "War?"

 

Akechi looked pained. "Their website was just updated a moment ago."

 

Ryuji did not believe him. "For real!?"

 

Ann and Ryuji pull out their phones. Ryuji is peeved. "Ah, English again..."

 

Ann reads the entire thing in record speed and exclaims loudly, "Wait, what!?"

 

Ryuji pockets his phone and looks over. "What's it say!?"

 

Akechi is bemused. "Hm. Why do you seem so agitated?"

 

Ann just looks bashfully. "Oh... Umm..."

 

Ryuji tries to cover for her. "She's, uh... a huge fan of the Phantom Thieves. A total nutjob for 'em."

 

Akechi keeps flashing that smile. Ren wonders if it was secretly a smirk or a sneer. "Hm. I don't know how wise it is to be a fan of groups like them."

 

Makoto seems unsettled. "What is with these comments?"

 

Akechi tries to stop smiling. "My apologies. I didn't mean to butt into your conversation. But I must say, this is an interesting group." He gestures at each of them. "Prosecutor Niijima's sister, an ex-pupil of Madarame, and a few Shujin Academy students... it seems you're all connected to the Phantom Thieves. Perhaps you have better intel than I do."

 

Akechi then turns to Ren. "Ah yes. I've wanted to ask you something. Regarding this whole Medjed commotion... If you were one of the Phantom Thieves, what would you do? Since you seem to be such a fervent supporter of them, Amamiya-kun, I'd like to get your insight on that topic."

 

Ren is unsure. "I truthfully don't care much about gossip."

 

Akechi is a bit taken aback. "Unsurprising. I suppose you aren't interested in such temporary hot topics... However, I'd half-expected you to respond differently, given what you and Yoshizawa-san discussed with me when I posed my question a couple of days back."

 

Ryuji looks incredibly peeved by how much time they're wasting chatting. "Sorry to disappoint, but we're just normal high school kids. If anything, we wanna hear what you have to say, Mr. Detective."

 

Akechi nods. "...My profiling of the Phantom Thieves has led me to believe they are a group of juveniles. They have a relative amount of free time after school and a hideout to slip away to. Furthermore, considering Kamoshida was their first target, it seems they began activity around April." His eyes slightly furrow. "In a way, all I've just said about the Phantom Thieves coincides with the group you have here. Kamoshida's possible victims, an ex-pupil of Madarame... it couldn't be even more accurate."

 

Ryuji grunts as he addresses Akechi with a hint of defiance, "What? You going to report us?"

 

Akechi elaborates. "I didn't say I was being suspicious of you."

 

Ren smiles. "That's a very interesting hypothesis you have there, Akechi. You know, you're acting pretty suspicious yourself. You seem to have just bumped into us, but from my perspective, it all seems calculated, right? Not to mention you freely discussed with us your deductions. It's almost as if you believe us to be the Phantom Thieves despite not outright saying it."

 

Akechi chuckles. "I wasn't anticipating that response. You always find a way to rise above my expectations regardless. I must admit that I did spot you from behind, but it was truly coincidental that we happened to be here at the same time. You really are intriguing, Amamiya-kun. I was right to think you were different." He puts his hand down, having stopped chuckling. "I lack your calm mannerisms... but don't you think my deduction is an interesting one? I bet we've make a great team if we worked together." He chuckles again and winks.

 

Ren keeps smiling. "I could say the same for you." That wink... He's hiding something. Ever since that Pancake slip-up back in June...

 

Ryuji made a loud outburst. "What!? The hell are you saying!?"

 

Akechi smiles. This man must never tire of smiling. "Well, this has been a valuable point of reference for me. I hope to see you all again." He turns to Ren. "It's been a great pleasure running into you again. I hope we do have the chance to hang out again. I would love to pick your brain out on more topics." He walks off.

 

They make sure Akechi is out of earshot before turning around to chat. Ann looks confused by Akechi's injection into their conversation. "What was that about?"

 

Yusuke looks concerned. "Do you think he's ascertained our true identities?"

 

Ryuji shook his head. "Nah, couldn't be." He looks at Ren and Makoto for some reassurance. "Right?"

 

Makoto turns around. "I'd like to say that this is us overthinking things, but... it'd be best to be even more cautious from now on. We shouldn't underestimate Akechi and his abilities and we definitely shouldn't forget Alibaba was able to discover who we are." Makoto turns to Ren. "From the sound of things, you've clearly hung out with him before at least a few times, and likely know him as much or even more than I do. What's your perspective on him?"

 

Ren nods. "As you said, Akechi is clearly talented. He's not a rookie detective for nothing. As for his deductions, he was pretty confident in making those preliminary assumptions based on the information he had. It wouldn't hurt us to keep an eye out for him and be cautious regarding future activities."

 

Yusuke looks down. "True, I agree with Makoto's and Ren's recommendations. However, I would like to also point out that Alibaba likely doesn't have tangible evidence to prove that discovery aside from our chat logs. Just keep acting normally."

 

Ann pulls her phone out. What she read clearly made her shocked. "More importantly, things are getting serious with Medjed!"

 

Ryuji just taps his foot. "Oh yeah! What'd they write!?"

 

Ann scrolls through her phone. "Here, I'll read it... 'We are disappointed in the people of Japan and their belief in the Phantom Thieve's false justice. Hence, we shall proceed with our plan to cleanse Japan. This process will commence on August 21st. As a result, the Japanese economy will suffer devastating damages.'"

 

Ryuji tilts his head down out of disbelief. "For real?"

 

Makoto gestures to Ann. "Keep going."

 

Ann continues reading Medjed's declaration. "'However, we are magnanimous. We will give the Phantom Thieves one final opportunity to repent. As proof of their repentance, we demand that they reveal their identities to the public. We will attack if these demands remain unmet. The future of Japan rests with the Phantom Thieves. We are Medjed. We are unseen. We eliminate evil.'" She sighs. "...That's what it says. Everything's just spiraling out of control."

 

Ryuji scratches his head. "Sounds bad..."

 

Yusuke is unsure what to make of this. "In other words, if we don't unmask ourselves, Medjed will attack Japan... correct? They're trying to blackmail us into revealing our identities by holding the Japanese economy hostage at gunpoint... I mean, hacking." He shakes his head. "It seems they're quite the attention-seekers..."

 

Ann is trying to quell her panic. "What are we gonna do about this?"

 

Makoto just sighs. "If only we could get in contact with Alibaba."

 

Ren nods. "That's right, that's what we're gonna do."

 

Ann made a time-out pose. "Hang on, what? Get in contact with Alibaba? Didn't Alibaba tell us to drop it?"

 

Ren nods. "I know. However, at this point, we need their help more than ever. And I think I know how to get in contact: by locating Futaba and fulfilling our end of the deal."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

The next chapter will go into meeting Futaba, the interlude to her Palace, and not much more. We'll be having a big time skip (well actually not, since I'll be covering the murals depicting Futaba's life since it's conducive to the whole story and her Confidant in part) to stealing her Treasure, and then a timeskip to during the Treasure heist.

Additionally, I don't think I'll be covering anything after the Treasure heist until the day Futaba wakes up. As much as I hate to say it, August is mainly full of confidant rank-ups aside from Futaba's Palace and isn't especially that thrilling to read, especially if you the reader have already played the game and watched everything.

Of course, what would become of the female confidants' "love confessions?" Don't worry, I'll be sure to reference them as either comedic asides later on or via some other means.