4/19 - Tuesday

Akira still feels the pull of sleep as he settles down on his desk and subtly slides Morgana in to hide amongst his books. Morgana flicks his tail against Akira's elbow and stomach, a slow, quiet purr rumbling his desk just slightly as he belatedly realises that Morgana didn't get much sleep either. Not with the way he'd been thrashing around last night.

"Mornin."

Ryuji plops himself on Akira's desk and rubs at his face "Goddamn, I slept like a log last night. This Metaverse shit must be fucking with our strength."

Morgana pokes his head out a little and eyes Ryuji "Technically, the Metaverse shouldn't exist at all," he points out "It's back which means it's being powered by something else. That something has to be very powerful so it's no wonder the Metaverse exhausts us all."

Akira's heard this before from Lavenza and Igor. It's about as comforting now as it had been when he first heard it.

Ryuji groans "First this god shit that nearly brought down the whole damn world and now something we can't even see. Do we ever get a break?"

"Apparently not," Morgana hums, his ear poking out from under the tabletop of Akira's desk "But more importantly, we have a lot to do in one day. It's almost going to be impossible but we need everyone at their best - that includes you, Ryuji!"

"I'll be fine," Ryuji rolls his eyes "Why do you always single me out?"

"You were yawning!" Morgana snaps "The day has only just started!"

"That's because…." Ryuji stops and his face turns a little pink. Akira notices it easily because Ryuji really isn't that hard to read. But the look on his face also tells Akira that it's not something he should push just yet so he leaves it alone and looks up at the first sign of a tuft of brown locks near the doors.

The girls catch him a couple of seconds later and Akira tries to ignore the jolt of annoyance he feels when the girls surround Akechi just as he comes in through the door.

"Akechi-kuun!" the squeal "Your skin is so smooth! What do you use?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"What school were you in before you came here?"

"Did you really come from Tokyo?"

"Still as popular as ever," Morgana hums, tucking himself further into Akira's desk "Well...if that's what girls want, maybe I'll be like that when I'm human too."

Akira shoots the cat a skeptical look but turns back to watch Akechi. He's handling the girls well. It's like he just flicked a switch and his fake smile is on, blinding and radiating and fooling absolutely everyone into thinking he's someone he's not. It's almost enough to piss Akira off because he knows what Akechi is truly like and his true personality now is not one that has to be stifled under that fake mask he wears.

It's annoying because Akira also knows why Akechi does it. As an unwanted and abandoned child, betrayed by both parents, it is almost ingrained in Akechi to seek for love and approval - no matter how fake.

Akira wishes Akechi could see that he doesn't need that and he never did.

"Are you alright?" Morgana asks, shaking Akira out of his thoughts. The boy looks down at the cat in his desk and Morgana flicks his tail against Akira's stomach. "You were restless last night. Did you even get that much sleep?"

Akira shakes his head, he kept waking up and when he did, it was very hard to go back to sleep again. He didn't know what it was.

Akechi finally makes his way past the girls and takes his desk behind Akira. He yawns into his arm and sits down "Good morning."

"You too Akechi?" Morgana asks in surprise "This one," he flicks his tail against Akira again "Had trouble sleeping last night as well. Kept me up too."

"I tried," Akechi rubs at his face "I'll be fine this afternoon though. We have a lot of work to do."

Morgana eyes them both and tucks himself away in Akira's desk "I hope we'll be alright," he mutters quietly "Because with our two wild cards out of action, we're screwed."

Akira feels Akechi's eyes on the back of his head and when the teacher comes into the class, he wonders if they really will be alright.

* * *

Yusuke wakes up to the sound of the front door closing. He opens his eyes and it takes him a moment to remember where he is because this messy room is absolutely nothing like his tidy surroundings.

Right. Waterbed. Love Hotel. Ryuji. Not necessarily in that order either.

He sits up in bed and as he stretches his arms out, he notices a hastily scribbled note hanging off the corner of the bedside counter. Yusuke peels it off and looks over Ryuji's messy handwriting. How he passes any class is beyond Yusuke.

'Yo,

Left for school. There's some leftovers in the kitchen, help yourself. Meet us at the same cafe after school. Also, your clothes are still wet so just borrow my clothes for now.

And don't tell the others about last night.'

Yusuke stares at it. Ryuji's penmanship aside, the thought of borrowing Ryuji's clothes intrigues Yusuke. As does the thought that Ryuji allowed last night to happen but doesn't want the others to know.

He shakes his head. There are some parts of Ryuji he'll never understand and Yusuke is already used to that thought. It's not like he was expecting the blonde to go up to the others and say 'Yusuke and I cuddled on the same bed last night and fell asleep like that' but Ryuji is actually, actively embarrassed about it.

That kind of hurts. Yet at the same time, Yusuke already knows he can't expect anything more when it comes to Ryuji.

Still last night...he recalls he'd been tired but not so tired that he'd forgotten what he'd done. The truth was that when he said he missed Ryuji, he wasn't even stating the whole of it.

He moves himself to sit on the side of the bed instead and puts the note down gently on the bedside table. Yusuke eyes Ryuji's clothes, messily sprawled out all over the drawers and shakes his head. He can't help the small smile that comes to his face at the very sight. It's just so...Ryuji.

There's no real way to describe him and underselling him by simply saying he's a 'normal teenage boy' doesn't really seem to cut it either. The truth of the matter is that Yusuke hadn't realised what was going to happen until he woke up one morning and realised that visiting Leblanc, seeing Akira and seeing Ryuji was no longer a possibility in Tokyo.

With Akira at least, he'd gotten somewhat used to that idea when Akira had been held up in that institution whilst they tried to prove his innocence. But Ryuji...an unexpected pain had hit Yusuke in the chest and it took him three days of severe discomfort and unease before he realised he missed Ryuji Sakamoto.

Actively, missed him.

He missed spotting his blonde hair amongst the crowds in Shibuya. He missed hearing Ryuji's laugh across the other side of Leblanc. He even missed him saying something dumb or burping or otherwise being totally uncouth. He missed everything about him and soon Ryuji was all Yusuke could think about it.

So he did what he did best. He brooded about it until Ann basically had to take him out for coffee at Leblanc to 'air him out'.

He didn't talk about it to her. Ann was too close to Ryuji and Yusuke didn't even know how to understand it himself, let alone get someone else to understand it. How on earth could he have developed any sort of romantic attachment to a caveman like Ryuji, it just didn't make any sense. It didn't help that they were polar opposites in most affairs. So Yusuke withdrew, kept this part to himself until he had the excuse to come here and see Ryuji again.

It figures that his opportunity to see the guy again came in the form of 'the Metaverse is open and we're all doomed again'.

He gets up and sifts through Ryuji's clothes before he finds something that might actually fit him. Ryuji's taste in clothes is more...colourful and loud than Yusuke would like on himself and the guy is shorter so Yusuke has to go for his baggier clothes but there is one thing Ryuji's clothing has that Yusuke finds himself liking.

Ryuji's scent is all over them. It sends shivers down Yusuke's spine as he pulls his shirt on and the scent just envelops him.

Yusuke checks himself in the mirror, tucks a lock of hair behind his ear and glances down at the bright red shirt that reads 'SUCK IT MOTHERFUCKER' on the chest.

Classy as always, Sakamoto.

He looks around Ryuji's bedroom for a moment before grabbing the note, flicking it over and writing a short thank you message for Ryuji's mother. He then heads downstairs, sticks it on the refrigerator and grabs his bag to head out again.

If he's being really honest with himself, he knows he has no shot in hell with Ryuji. The thought that he does, even a one percent chance, doesn't even cross his mind. But last night he'd been cold and annoyed and he'd allowed himself a moment of weakness to need Ryuji, to go to him and stay with him.

That weakness, he vows, isn't coming out again. For the sake of his friendship - which he reminds himself is all he's going to have with Ryuji - he needs to keep it hidden and hope it goes away.

Because he'd rather have Ryuji's friendship than nothing at all.

* * *

When the group return to the usual diner, the staff are already used to them hanging around the biggest table. One of the waitresses brings a small offering of ham for 'the cat in the bag' and Morgana happily chews at it as the group look around at each other.

"Weapons are ready," Makoto announces first "Haru and I were able to find a good deal at a second hand shop here. If the point was for them to look realistic, they succeed."

"We also managed to get some extra medicines and bandages," Haru adds cheerfully "There's a cute little clinic about a block away from the love hotel that sells all sorts of things."

Makoto is barely able to hide the smirk on her face "Hello Kitty bandages mainly."

Ryuji winces "Dude, you want me to patch myself up with Hello Kitty?!"

"If it's a bandage, it should do the job just fine anyway," Ann smacks Ryuji's arm and beams "I think we're ready. Should we go into the palace yet?"

It's at this point that everyone looks at Akira. Even Ishida, who seems to have quickly grasped that Akira is the leader.

Akira thinks it over. Despite everyone looking at him, he can feel Akechi's eyes burning on him most. He takes a deep breath. He doesn't like their odds. It's not like they've never gone into a palace before and most times they went in, they were armed but didn't know exactly what they were going to find. What changes the game here are the fake Phantom Thieves, who haven't made a move since they shot the principal last week and it concerns Akira that they've been so quiet.

But they don't have a choice. Above all other things, Akira doesn't have the luxury of time. Most of his companions aren't even going to be here long enough to see this through. They have lives in Tokyo and that's the part that makes this hard to deal with.

"Let's go," he decides, sounding far more decisive and firm than he feels as he gets up with the others and heads out into the Metaverse once again.

Before the world warps and twists around him, he catches Akechi's gaze and reads the same emotions in the eyes of the quiet, soft spoken boy beside him. Akechi is just as concerned.

* * *

Sitting in his office, Minagawa Shion sets his paperwork aside and glances at the small photoframe he keeps next to his computer.

It's old, chipped at the corners and faded from too much exposure to the sun and a lot of moving attempts but the picture protected inside remains the same.

His eyes, deep and dark, used to draw people in. He had his mother's hair, somewhat perfect and messy and he could do anything with it. Shion used to love it when he'd run his hand through his hair, pushing and pulling at the messy locks and never quite realising that it was perfect no matter what he did to it. Shion used to poke at the beauty spot near his eye, run his fingers along the smooth, youthful skin of his face and wonder how he'd managed to create something that...beautiful.

What he misses most, he knows now, is his voice. Nobody had a voice more beautiful than his and when he sang it was the most calming thing ever. Nothing ever made Shion feel more at ease, more at peace than when that boy sang for him.

But he's gone now. That's what they told him. They never found out what happened and they didn't look hard enough but he's gone.

Shion feels a familiar itch crawl down his spine and he checks his roster of students. The ones who say yes. The ones who can pretend - just for a little while - that they can be as perfect, as golden, as him.

Namigawa Yuya was free. He'd be doing track training at the moment and that would be perfect. He was as small, as skinny as him. He'd do.

Shion goes to the intercom and calls for reception "Kadoka-san," he says as he keeps his finger on the intercom button "Can you bring Namigawa Yuya-san to my office please?"

"Certainly," Kadoka replies, she has no idea what he does to boys when they get called into his office and she never questions it either.

Shion takes his finger off the intercom and glances at the photoframe again. He slowly sets it down and takes his coat off. Yuya will do for now. For just one hour he can pretend, close his eyes and pretend that his son is still here with him.

* * *

The excavation site is hot and humid when the Phantom Thieves step back inside. Akira pulls at his collar uncomfortably and looks around.

"It wasn't this hot when we came here last," Ann points out with a wince "What's going on?"

Ishida, who's been staying awfully close to Ryuji, looks down the hall they'd been in last and frowns. It's empty. The last time they were here, a golden statue of Namigawa Yuya had been there, frozen and golden, preserved. Now it was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Ishida squeaks "Yuya-kun."

"Hey," Ryuji starts when he realises it "That's right, wasn't there a statue here?"

Akechi gets this really tense look on his face first before Akira realises what this probably means. He glances back at Makoto, who shakes her head and they're the only ones who've figured it out.

"Let's go," Akira says, "Crow, Skull…" he pauses and glances at Ishida "...Kid, with me, the rest take the back."

The others comply easily and everyone seems to have accepted that Ishida's automatic code name is now Kid. Fitting, considering Ryuji was the one who chose it this time.

They head deeper into the hallways and the deeper they get, the hotter and more humid it gets. The hallways start getting darker and darker with the lights placed farther and farther in between.

"How does this normally work?" Ishida asks "You just head in, kick butt and force a change of heart?"

"Way to simplify it," Ryuji grumbles "We do a lot more than that, Kid."

"Actually that might be it," Akechi adds with a small smirk, earning himself a kick from Ryuji.

Akira notices the jewels, the stones, the gold embedded in the walls and it tells him that whilst Minagawa is aware that the school itself contains treasure within it's very walls, the real treasure to him are the students.

Specific students too. He'd gone after Ishida and from the looks of the boy they'd seen earlier, Minagawa tended to go after petite students. Not necessarily talented, but with just enough motivation that Minagawa can manipulate and use to his advantage.

Akira also notes, as he tilts his head and watches Ishida move, that the other is actually kind of pretty. Pretty, cute and young. Whilst Ishida is still clumsy, insecure and a creepy fanboy, there's no denying that what Minagawa probably saw in him was something he hoped to manipulate. A type of boy he was attracted to.

Akechi clears his throat, dragging Akira's eyes away from Ishida and towards him instead. The brunette gives him this arched eyebrow, as if he knows where Akira's eyes were and he didn't like it. It almost makes Akira want to look at Ishida again just to see if Akechi will do anything.

"There," Ryuji says, breaking his thoughts.

Up ahead in the dark corridor is another statue. The group approach it and it's another boy. Golden, frozen in what almost looks like an extremely submissive position. He's down on his knees, his head tilted upwards and eyes wide, frightened. He, like Ishida and like Namigawa Yuya, is tiny. Appears to be younger than he probably really is, he has soft looking hair, he looks like he should be in middle school and he's petite.

Pretty, cute and young.

"He's a second year," Ishida says with a small wince "He wins all the math competitions."

"Bet those games are rigged too," Ryuji growls under his breath, his fist clenches at his side "Sick bastard."

"Guys," Futaba's voice cuts in "Shadows, five of them and they're coming your way. They're really strong."

"Shit," Ryuji hisses and looks around "Do we take them?"

"There's five and they're all strong!" Futaba scolds angrily "Hide!"

Akira looks around but the excavation halls are really narrow, there aren't many places to hide. When he hears them coming in from the left, he points to the narrow hall on their right and heads into the darkness to hide with the others.

With any luck, the shadows won't come this way.

Akira crouches down low, he feels Ryuji's hand on his back and they're all tucked in too close as they watch five large shadows approach the golden statue. They look down at the boy and hum collectively.

"Lord Minagawa wants this one next?" one asks, poking the boy in the cheek "It's cute."

"They're all cute and they all belong to Lord Minagawa," another one reminds the rest with an authoritative voice "Though none will replace…"

The shadows grunt in unison and pick up the golden statue. Ishida makes a small noise but is quickly muffled by Ryuji who puts his hand over his mouth.

"Later Kid," Ryuji mutters quietly "You'll get your chance."

The shadows take him away and when they're out of earshot, Akechi pulls himself out of the corridor first and looks down "We need to follow them," he says "Wherever they're taking him is probably where we need to go."

Akira nods and Ryuji helps Ishida out of the corridor as well.

"They said 'none will replace' something," Ryuji points out with a frown "He sees all these kids as his own treasures, what are they replacing?"

'The Megalan?" Ishida suggests "Is he using them to ride on his former glory?"

"Unlikely," Akechi replies, his hand curling around his chin in a familiar fashion, he used to do this when he was thinking as the famous detective he once was. Must be a habit. "It's students. A particular type of boy he's interested in. Most likely these boys are replacing another one. One he can't control."

Ryuji growls and he's still angry "The dude is nothing more than a sick pervert," he mutters "The sooner we change his heart, the better."

"Yes," Akechi agrees softly "But I'm intrigued with what he's using them to replace. There could be someone in serious danger here. Someone we've overlooked."

Akira doesn't know what to make of it but he can see the well-oiled cogs in Akechi's head already spinning at full speed. Maybe in the past he'd had to fabricate and make cases in order to become the famous detective, but there's no denying he never needed to do that. He's intelligent enough on his own. If he had more faith in his own abilities, he might have realised he never needed to do the things he did last year.

"Come on," Akira says and leads the way after the shadows. Ryuji follows close with Ishida and Akechi trailing behind.

They follow the shadows down a narrow, winding flight of steps and it's only when they reach the ground underneath that they hear something. Like a soft, barely audible lullaby floating through the air, calling out to them from far away.

"Music?" Ishida blinks in surprise "Is someone singing?"

"Seems like it," Akechi frowns "But I can barely hear it."

Akira has been through enough palaces to know that the treasure at the end is never the same. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that the treasure in this palace can sing. Considering what Minagawa seems to view as 'treasures' of his own, it wouldn't surprise Akira at all if the treasure at the end was in fact, living.

They follow the shadows and as they get deeper and deeper through the corridors, the singing gets louder and louder. By the time they reach another flight of stairs, they can hear it enough to make out words.

'...everything will be alright...come to me...I'll take you home…'

"Dude, I don't recognise this song," Ryuji mutters quietly as they climb down the stairs again. They have to hold onto the walls because it's dark, there's no light and they can barely see where they're going now.

"It's a lullaby," Akechi answers "Sweet Dreams. Basically it's about a mother who will take her child back home, nurse away everything that went wrong that day and send him to sleep with no worries."

Akira wonders how Akechi knew that when he doesn't actually have any experience of his own. He lost his mother and was passed from foster home to foster home until finally he could take care of himself. It's doubtful that anyone was kind enough to sing that song to Akechi.

Maybe it was something he picked up in the entertainment business.

"My ma can't sing," Ryuji points out "Apparently when she tried, I'd just cry more. Eventually she just read shit to me."

Akira can practically feel Akechi biting back a sarcastic or witty response and instead the former detective just mutters out a weak "mhmm". He's biting his tongue.

By the time they reach the third landing, the singing is a little clearer. It's an angelic voice, one of the most beautiful Akira has ever heard and at this rate it's actually hard to tell if it's a boy or a girl singing.

"Wait," Futaba's voice breaks into their ears "I'm picking up some readings."

"Shadows?" Akechi asks and Akira feels his hand on his back, stopping him from walking.

"I can't tell yet," Futaba replies "But be on your guard. Whatever it is, it's powerful and it's probably not on our side."

Ryuji huffs "Great, more shit to be wary of."

Akira pushes on ahead with the others following close behind him. As they walk deeper and deeper into the cavernous hallways, the humidity in the air gets worse. By the time they reach the halfway point, Akira can feel the sweat dripping down the back of his neck.

"What is this?" Ryuji complains and pulls at his shirt "I need air!"

"There's a saferoom there," Akechi points towards a door that seems to be wavering in and out of reality "Let's catch our breath."

They make a beeline for it and it's no cooler in the saferoom than it is out in the halls but at least they don't have to worry about shadows in here. Akira feels the pull of reality and the break in the Metaverse as they all gather in the room and sit down.

Makoto fans herself and shakes her head "I don't know if we can do this," she admits "If it's hotter down in the lower levels, we might not be able to go down there."

"Why is it so hot?" Haru asks with a small whimper "It wasn't this hot last time."

Akechi's eyes go dark and so do Makoto's but Akira knows already. Neither want to tell the others why the temperature rose. The problem is, someone has to. Akechi shakes his head.

"Ishida," he says, his dark eyes zeroing in on the boy "You said that Minagawa places his demands on the students he promotes, correct?"

"Yes," Ishida answers, wincing a little at the reminder.

"Those demands," Akechi continues ruthlessly "They include getting on your knees. Correct?"

Ishida doesn't even have to answer, everyone knows what it is.

"They include lying on your back," Akechi says "Letting him-"

"Stop it," Makoto snaps quietly "We don't need to say it."

"Sex, both consensual and nonconsensual includes a lot of body heat," Akechi spells it out for them and his voice is firm. There's a conviction behind his tone but also a lot of anger. "The air we are breathing at the moment, the reason why everything is so humid and hot is because Minagawa is breathing on his students at this very moment."

Ann goes pale, Haru covers her mouth with her hands in horror.

"He is using them," Akechi explains viciously "He's a monster. He's destroying their lives and I don't see why we should let him live after this."

"Because we are the Phantom Thieves but we're not killers," Ryuji answers back "I know you're pissed, I'm pissed off too. I want this guy behind bars just as much as you do-"

"No, I don't want him behind bars, I want him dead," Akechi snaps "There is nothing, literally nothing, he can do to fix all the harm he has caused."

"I understand you," Ann tries to mediate with her hands up "But Akechi-kun, killing this man would make us as bad as he is. It would make us as bad as the fake Phantom Thieves. It's not what we do."

Akira watches him. He's seen Akechi angry before but this is different. This isn't personal for him but it's about justice and Akechi may not be the detective he once was, he may not have ties to the police anymore but he feels that justice has to be served. As someone who had ties to the police, he is also aware that even if Minagawa wakes up with a conscience, justice may not be served on him as it should be.

But then who decides what kind of punishment Minagawa must endure? The courts? The victims? Akechi himself? Akira knows where he's coming from but his friends are bringing in the points that the Phantom Thieves and he himself stand by.

They're not killers.

"My best friend was hurt by Kamoshida," Ann reminds Akechi "He threatened me, he wanted me in his bed and when I refused, he went after Shiho. I thought about death as a punishment as well but there are worse things in this world than dying. Kamoshida has to live with what he did every single day and if we steal the treasure from Minagawa, he'll have to wake up every morning hating his own reflection. That is worse than death. He has to live with himself."

"And the victims?" Akechi challenges "They won't walk away from this unscathed."

"There's only so much we can do, we can't fix everything," Haru points out softly "For now, getting rid of the main problem - Minagawa himself - is a step in the right direction. Everything that happens afterwards will be on the adults."

Akechi leans back on the wall and takes a breath. He shakes his head but he seems resigned.

"In any case," Morgana jumps onto the table in the middle of the room "We're not going anywhere if the humidity gets worse. We won't be able to breathe."

"Well if the humidity is being caused by Minagawa abusing his students, the logical solution would be to stop him directly," Makoto points out as she leans back in her chair.

"Precisely," Morgana nods "We can split up. Some of us will go and stop him directly, allowing the others to continue further into the palace without the humidity."

"I'll go," Ryuji volunteers right away.

Yusuke shakes his head "What are you going to do? Beat him up?"

"I'm a student there," Ryuji points out with a shrug "And from the looks of it, I'm not his type. I can just go in there, pretend I've got a shitload of questions and distract him."

Ann looks worried and she's not the only one but Akira has to applaud Ryuji's neverending bravery. After all, facing Minagawa directly could go terribly wrong and he knows that. But he's also someone who will stick his neck out for someone in danger, even if he doesn't care for that person much. That's the kind of person Ryuji is.

"There's safety in numbers," Yusuke says "I'll come with you."

"Two should do," Morgana decides before Ann can volunteer to go with them as well "Too many people bursting in on Minagawa will make him suspicious which will make getting to the treasure a lot harder. Skull, Fox, when you leave the Metaverse, you're going to feel tired but give it your all."

Ryuji nods "The rest of you guys just do your part too," he advises and heads out of the room with Yusuke following close behind.

When they're gone, Makoto fans herself with her hand. She sighs "I guess we'll know when they get to him."

Morgana hums "We'll be ready."

Through the breaks and shifts of reality and the Metaverse, Akira can still hear the singing. Angelic, soothing and beautiful, it floats through the walls and he turns to look at Akechi. The other is still angry. Akira can still see Akechi's mind working at full speed, trying to figure this out.

For once, Akira doesn't realise that Ann and Futaba notice his distraction with Akechi. Nor does he notice the way Makoto tenses when she sees it too. His attention is stuck on Akechi and even through his anger, Akira can read him so well.

* * *

"Shit," Ryuji hisses as they head through the empty hallways of the school. By now, most of the students have gone home and at least half the teachers are gone too. The only people around are people with clubs and activities.

The light is on in Minagawa Shion's office and the closer Ryuji and Yusuke get to the door, the more they can hear a quiet whimpering.

"So how are we going to do this?" Yusuke asks, his knees are shaking and his eyes are heavy with sleep but the same can be said of Ryuji. They just have to hang on and distract Minagawa long enough to let the others into the lower floors of the palace.

"I'm a student here," Ryuji shrugs "He's the history teacher. I'll just knock on the door and ask a fuckton of questions. Should distract him long enough."

Yusuke's eye twitches in annoyance and he grabs Ryuji's arm.

"There is another boy in there," he points at the door "And right at this very second, Minagawa is raping him. You really think he'll just stop that, get dressed and deal with you long enough for the others to get to the lower floors?"

"I don't know but man, we can't keep talking here whilst that shit is going on in the office," Ryuji shrugs him off and marches to the door "Come on."

Ryuji slams on the door before Yusuke can stop him and for a moment, there's no sound inside. They can hear a bit of shuffling but the whimpering stops. Ryuji waits a moment before knocking on the door again.

"Minagawa-sensei," he calls "I don't know if you remember me but my name is Sakamoto Ryuji, I have some questions for the upcoming test and I heard you're the guy to go to."

No answer. Yusuke hovers near Ryuji worriedly as a small sound from inside the office echoes.

"Oy," Ryuji tries again "Come on, I'm desperate! They said you're still here!"

Some muffled talking, more shuffling and when the door finally opens, Minagawa himself steps out. He's dressed and he's fixed himself up but Ryuji catches the sight of a boy sitting quietly in his office before Minagawa shuts the door and leaves him in the office.

"Sakamoto was it?" he asks and sighs "This is a pretty bad time. Can you come again tomorrow?"

"The test is tomorrow," Ryuji reminds him and pulls off his best pleading look he can muster "Come on, please? Help me out. I'm behind on everything because I just transferred here from Tokyo and I need to do well on these tests for my university applications."

Yusuke blinks, kind of impressed. Ryuji is better at acting than Ann is.

Minagawa glances at the door of his office, a decision ticking in his mind. He looks back at Ryuji and sighs heavily "You're going to apply for university?"

Yusuke and Ryuji both recognise that tone in his voice. Skeptical and they don't miss the way Minagawa's eyes flick up to Ryuji's blonde hair, as if his appearance is any indication to his future plans.

"Yes," Ryuji manages through gritted teeth. Yusuke silently praises his restraint.

Minagawa looks him over again and heads into the office. He glances at the boy sitting inside and nods.

"We'll continue this tomorrow," he promises.

The boy can't get out of there fast enough. He hurries past Ryuji and Yusuke, muttering a small goodbye as he hugs his bag to his chest and disappears down the corridor. Once he's gone, Ryuji heads in to the office with Yusuke and plops himself easily down on the chair the boy had just vacated.

The way Ryuji smiles, no one would dare think he's aware of what Minagawa had just been doing to that poor boy. It impresses Yusuke, as well as makes him fear for what Minagawa could do to Ryuji.

"Who are you then?" Minagawa turns his eyes to Yusuke "You don't look like a student here."

"He's a friend of mine," Ryuji explains before Yusuke can open his mouth "Just ignore him, it'll be like he's not even here."

Minagawa looks over Yusuke once more before reluctantly returning to his desk and pulling out the history textbooks. It's a little amusing to Yusuke that Ryuji can be calm and fearless in front of a known rapist but at the sight of textbooks he goes green.

"Well then," Minagawa says, opening the dusty book up with a loud thunk "Let's get started."

* * *

When the humidity starts to lessen and the temperature drops, the group let out a collective sigh of relief. Akira watches Akechi's shoulders relax just a little when they realise what this means.

"Good," Makoto decides as she gets back up onto her feet "Let's go. We don't know how long Ryuji will be able to distract him."

"From the readings I'm getting, I'd say we're two floors above the treasure at best," Futaba adds, her fingers clicking on her laptop "That singing gets louder the closer we get."

"It's possible the treasure is the cause of the singing," Morgana hums grimly "Considering the kind of man we're dealing with too…"

Ann looks up, confused "Is that even possible?" she asks "Can the treasure be a living thing?"

"The treasure is the cause of distorted desires, it can be anything," Morgana replies "It's just that all of our previous targets had things to blame for their distorted desires."

Makoto's eyes go dark "From what we know about Minagawa already, he views boys as treasures. Particularly petite, young looking boys."

Ishida shrinks and Ann pats his shoulder.

"There's also the fact that he is using these boys to replace something, or someone," Akechi adds, his hand curled around his chin again in thought "Navi, any thoughts?"

"One," Futaba hums as she clicks away on the laptop "Minagawa used to have a son. But there isn't much information on him, only that he was kidnapped years ago and the police declared him dead because they never found much evidence to suggest he was still alive. They dropped the case three years ago."

Haru blinks "Maybe that's it."

It seems convenient enough. Akira heads for the door and the others follow.

"Mona, Queen, Panther with me," he declares and looks back at Akechi "The rest take the backup."

Akechi reaches forward right away and grabs Akira's arm. He pulls him away from the door and doesn't seem to even mind that the others are watching as he turns Akira to face him properly.

"Take me with you," Akechi tells him in a low, quiet voice "We don't know what we're facing down there and you're going to need me."

Akira meets Akechi's burning gaze and shakes his head "Back me up," he says and it's taking most of his energy to keep the real reason from showing in his eyes. If anyone can call him out on a lie, it's going to be Akechi. Akira doesn't lie often but when he does, he's damn good at it. Nobody can read him...except the high school detective.

"Joker," Akechi's voice is tense and so is his grip "You're the leader and I'll do what you say, but don't make me watch while you head off into whatever this is."

But Akira can't let him. Akechi's outburst earlier proved enough to Akira. This case angers him and Akechi's judgement usually can't be doubted, except when his emotions are involved. That and they're walking right into an unknown danger. Perhaps it's selfish on Akira's part but he doesn't want Akechi walking into it if he can help it.

"Back me up," he says again and once again, he has to work to keep the lie up to fool even Akechi.

It works.

Akechi slowly lets go of his arm and steps back, allowing Akira to head out the door with Ann, Morgana and Makoto following close behind. Just before they leave the room, Makoto shoots Akechi a concerned glance and follows Akira out.

When they head down the stairs and reach the next landing, the singing gets louder.

"...and I'll bring you back to me...take your fears...take your worries...sing you to sleep…"

"I know this lullaby," Makoto hums quietly as she follows Akira "My father used to sing it to me. To think I'd hear it here of all places."

Morgana jumps up onto Akira's shoulder "If the treasure is the root cause of the singing, it's fitting. This singing is beautiful."

"It is," Ann agrees "This is the most angelic voice I've ever heard but...but why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Makoto points out "It adds up if the treasure is Minagawa's missing son. If the son is small and petite like the students he abuses, it wouldn't be too far of a stretch of the imagination to say that he might have abused his own son. To lose him must have been devastating for more than one reason. If that's the case, he viewed him as a treasure and all these students are poor substitutes."

Ann frowns "That's no excuse and it's still horrible what he's doing to these boys."

"I can only imagine what he did to his son," Morgana sighs "Humans...sometimes they can be so despicable. Yet I still want to be one."

"Shadows ahead," Futaba's voice rings in their ears "You can take them though. They're surprisingly weak."

It's a welcome distraction from his mind and when they see them, three shadows about to pick up another golden statue, Akira attacks first. The familiar air of the fight returns to him and this is the zone he knows best. The shadows jump back, turning into their true forms and they're kind of terrifying. Tall, thin shadows with pickaxes and white holes for eyes.

Arsene is just as - if not more - unforgiving as Akira himself and everything he's learnt as he's come down here has only fueled Arsene more. He feels his rage rushing through his veins as if they were his own and Arsene makes short work of one of the shadows.

He's not the only one though. Beside him, Makoto's own anger is fueled and made more powerful by her own Persona. The same can be said of Ann and Morgana and it's not so different from when they're fighting any shadow. Mementos is one thing but Palaces are always different. A distorted, grotesque form of desire that warped a person so much they do despicable things.

In that aspect, Akira can understand Akechi's anger.

Makoto and Ann down the next shadow and the last one somehow manages to resist Morgana's attack. It gets back up and looms dangerously over Akira. White, unfeeling eyes assessing him, dressing him up and down and pinning his weakness. The hit comes before Akira can dodge it and he's knocked over by a blast of ice hitting him from the side.

He hears the others gasp in surprise and it's not like this is the first time he's been knocked off his feet before. He doesn't even realise how bad it is until he sees the look of pure horror on Makoto's face and feels something warm and sticky running down the side of his head.

Makoto finishes off the last shadow painfully. Balling it up in a nuclear blast that all but tears it in pieces and when the battle is over, Ann is the first one by Akira's side.

"Your head," she winces and pushes Akira's hair aside so she can see how bad it is.

"That was really quite a knock," Makoto adds, crouching down next to him "But we're not safe here, we need another saferoom."

Futaba's voice breaks into their heads again "I'm not reading saferooms for awhile. There might be one downstairs, he's going to have to hang on."

"I'm fine," Akira insists "It's just a gash."

"It's a hole on the side of your head," Ann corrects him harshly "Now hold still, Mona do we have something?"

The blast must have knocked out more than Akira realises because the warmth on the side of his head aches and makes his head pound. He winces and he doesn't even have to look up when he feels someone kneeling down behind him and a familiar scent washing over his senses.

Akechi's arm comes around him from behind and a cold hand covers his gash.

"Told you to take me with you," Akechi scolds him.

Akira doesn't even have the energy to argue. He knows it won't end well if he does. Instead he watches as Makoto digs out a bandage and hands it to Akechi who makes quick work of the gash on his head.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Makoto reminds them when Akechi's finished and helping Akira back onto his feet "We don't have time. We have to get downstairs."

"I'm fine," Akira insists "Makoto's right. We don't have time for this."

"Then put me in the front," Akechi tells him firmly "I'm a wild card too aren't I? Use it."

Akira is actually really glad Akechi hadn't been right beside him for that last blow or Akechi himself might have been hit as well. But he's unfortunately, not wrong.

"I'll hang back with Kid and Noir," Morgana finally volunteers "Crow, keep an eye on our leader."

Akechi seems appeased and Akira rubs at his head again before leading the way towards the stairs. Ann, Makoto and Akechi follow behind closely and just as they reach the stairs, something warps. The walls shiver and waver, like the fabric of reality is tearing.

"It's a weak area," Futaba hums "We're close to the treasure now."

The singing is much clearer when they get down to the next landing. It's echoing and bouncing off the walls even as they walk through the corridors. It's a beautiful voice, almost hauntingly so but there's something else to the voice. Akira can't pick out what it is but it's almost addictive.

"Suppose this voice, this treasure, is his son," Makoto states as they walk through the halls "What then? Do we steal him?"

"Don't see why not," Ann mutters "He'd be in better hands with us than with his own father."

Akechi glances at the gold trapped in the walls, he runs his hand along it and frowns "A school made of treasure. He sees this place as made of gold. Which means he thinks that other people would see the school itself as treasure but he values the students more."

"It means he thinks what he's doing is alright," Makoto growls "That he values the students. He places them above the school itself. It's pure narcissism."

The singing is getting louder now and when they reach the last flight of stairs, Akira feels the push and pull of distortion stronger than ever before. It always feels like this near a treasure. They make it down the last flight of stairs and find themselves standing before a set of white doors. They look like normal household doors, perhaps even to a bedroom.

Makoto opens them slowly to reveal the cloud-like being, hovering on top of a four poster bed with a white duvet. It's a bedroom, Akira belatedly realises. Almost everything is white and golden. The bed, the window curtains, even the dresser and desk. Everything is white.

"Innocence," Makoto breathes in awe, watching as the cloud hovers above the bed.

The singing is coming from the cloud. There's no doubt about that now. The beautiful melody floats out like nothing Akira's ever heard before, singing the same lullaby again and again, always in that same sad, soft voice.

"Right," Morgana sighs as he catches up to them "We've found the treasure and our route is secured. Shall we go back?"

"We may just be able to pull this off within one day," Haru gasps in amazement.

Akechi looks doubtful "I wouldn't start celebrating yet. We should send the calling card out tomorrow morning and get this over and done with as fast as possible. If nothing else, the calling card will get the attention of the fake Phantom Thieves - that's when the real action is going to start."

He's not wrong, unfortunately. Akechi is rarely wrong. But just this once, just this once Akira wishes he were.

"Right then," Morgana decides "Let's get out of here. Anything else we need to do here, Joker?"

Akira shakes his head and glances at Ishida, who is watching the cloud with an unreadable face. Haru notices his gaze as well and tilts her head "What is it?"

"I've heard this voice before," Ishida whispers "A long, long time ago. But...it can't be…"

Makoto picks up on it as well and frowns "Do you know who this person is?"

"I think I do," Ishida looks shaken as he turns to the others "But I had no idea...his father could be Minagawa, right?"

Akira nods. There is that possibility and when one thinks about it logically, a lot of the evidence points to and makes more sense if they work on the assumption that the treasure is Minagawa's long lost son.

"What's his name?" Haru asks gently as she can see Ishida is quite shaken by this.

Ishida turns his eyes back to the cloud. It's still singing the same lullaby and there's conviction behind Ishida's tone as he recognises the voice.

"Sora."

* * *

Landing back in the real world is a lot like falling sometimes. The Metaverse has a way of making Akira feel like he's in a dream, like he's walking in a place that has very little gravity, makes everything feel floaty and going back to the real world is like all that weight, all that gravity just piling back on his shoulders and making his legs shake with exhaustion the second he hits the ground again.

They land back just outside the school. Akira hears the voice on his app welcoming him back to the real world as he looks around to check the others made it back alright as well.

"Oh my god, that was a lot of walking," Ann pants, her hands on her knees as she tries to catch her breath.

"It was," Makoto agrees "But we did it. We might actually pull this off in time."

Akira feels himself becoming more worried about what's going to happen after they pull this off. No matter what happens, the others still have to leave. They don't belong in this town.

Haru catches Ishida before the other falls. She looks quite shaky on her legs as well as she leans back against the school gates "Perhaps someone should go back in and grab Kitagawa-kun and Sakamoto-kun."

"Feet, won't move," Futaba whimpers, sliding down to sit on the ground "I don't remember it being this hard to walk."

Ann pulls herself up and takes a deep breath.

"I'll go," she volunteers "Maybe we should find a place to regroup."

"My apartment should suffice," Akechi speaks weakly, he's leaning against the school wall as well and he looks exhausted "I'll message the address."

Makoto looks like she's noticing Akechi's exhaustion and it's similar to her own. After all, she, Haru and Akechi hadn't been in the Metaverse before today. Of course the first time was always going to be more exhausting.

Ann hobbles inside the school with Morgana as Akira goes to help Futaba up first. He takes her hands, intending to help her stand but she clearly has more energy than she let on when she turns him around and jumps up onto his back. Akira sort of just lets her and reaches down to help Makoto and Haru up as well.

When Akechi turns around, Futaba is on Akira's back, Makoto has his right arm and Haru is clinging to his left.

Akechi gives him this one unimpressed raised eyebrow before leading the way down the street.

"Let's go," he says grumpily "I don't want to be caught out here whilst I'm this tired."

Akira watches his back, hunched up from irritation and the almost drunken way in which he walks. It makes him smile and he doesn't realise that the girls notice the way he looks at Akechi. Nor does he catch the way Futaba shoots a worried look at Makoto as the group follow.

Akechi's apartment turns out to be a relatively modern looking building. As he leads them in through the lobby, they're almost immediately confronted by a tall, older looking man with dark hair that flops over his head like a mop. His eyes are even darker and he's not Japanese. He's about a head taller than both Akechi and Akira and looks down at them with a small raised eyebrow.

"Akechi-kun," he hums as he looks over the group "You have friends?"

"Everyone, this is my landlord," Akechi introduces the man "Ariga Johnny-san."

"Please just call me Johnny," the man grins and there's a lazy, easy casualness to him that's easy to warm up to. From his leather jacket all the way down to his dusty blue jeans. He brings out a handkerchief from his pocket and wipes at his forehead before turning to Akechi "Now, kid," he hums "You know my rules on houseguests in your apartment."

"My apologies," Akechi says and this is his adult mode talking. Akechi does know how to handle adults but something tells Akira that Johnny is a little different from your standard adult. "I didn't have enough time for a proper warning and they won't be long."

Johnny looks at Akira in particular and he must seem strange with three girls hanging off him but he doesn't say anything. Instead he turns back to Akechi and sighs "Alright then, boy."

He wanders off and when he's gone, that pleasant, fake smile is wiped off Akechi's face so fast. He leads them to the elevator and takes them up to the fifth floor where his apartment is number 506.

It's not a large apartment. In fact it's pretty tiny with one kitchen that doubles as a living room if you watch TV from the dining table. He has a door adjacent from the entrance that leads to a little closet with a washing machine and the door next to it is the bathroom. Akechi leans over to close the door to his bedroom and gestures to the kitchen table.

"I'm afraid I don't have couches," he tells them as they climb off Akira and sit down at the table instead.

"Wow," Ishida murmurs, sitting down with Haru "Your place is nice."

"It's small but it's only me living in it," Akechi corrects him as the doorbell rings. He goes to let in the rest and Akira leans against the wall. There are only six chairs at the table and the others look far more tired than he is.

Ann, Ryuji, Yusuke and Morgana enter and when everyone is spread out in the kitchen, Akechi rubs at his eyes.

"So," Ann breaks the sleepy silence "What's the plan?"

"I haven't felt this exhausted in years," Makoto admits quietly "Is the Metaverse stronger?"

The others nod and she rubs at her head "We're going to have to work fast. Now that we know where the treasure is, we need to send out the calling card tomorrow morning."

"Yusuke, Ryuji and Futaba," Akira decides "You guys can handle that."

"Roger that," Futaba yawns and closes her laptop where she's almost curled up at the end of the table "I'm totally out, I think we need to go home, leader."

Akechi twitches again at the reminder that Futaba is in Akira's house and again, Akira's the only one who notices this. The others only yawn their agreements.

"If I get a nap in now," Yusuke says mid-yawn "I'll be able to work on the calling card tonight."

"I'm with you there," Ryuji agrees and there's a nod that nobody but Yusuke himself notices. The nod makes the blue haired boy grin happily as it's permission to sleep at Ryuji's place again.

"Alright," Makoto sighs "Everyone get some sleep, we'll be on the group chat tonight to figure out plans for tomorrow. Whatever comes, we've got to be ready."

It almost feels like traversing Minagawa's palace was the practice run and the real stuff begins tomorrow. Nobody says it, but the fact that they don't really know what they're up against is concerning. It's not like this is a shadow they can take down with their Personas, someone came up and shot the principal in the head with a gun. It's a totally different playing field.

Yet at the same time, they can't ignore it now.

Haru, Makoto and Ann get up first to leave. They yawn their goodbyes as they shuffle out the door. Ryuji gets this sort of resigned look on his face and sighs.

"Come on Yusuke," he mutters. Yusuke beams happily and follows him out as well.

Ishida still looks disturbed by what he'd seen that day but he's like the others. There's a determination in his eyes, a decision that he will not let this rest that says he's just as much a Phantom Thief as the others. His conviction is in the right place and he nods to Akira before he heads out as well.

Morgana hops into Akira's bag and Futaba leans down to pick it up along with her laptop. She turns to him "Shall we go?"

"Hang back a bit," Akechi finally speaks and looks at Akira "I've got something I need to tell you."

Futaba looks at Akechi for a moment and heads out first with Morgana. When she closes the door behind her, Akira turns to look at Akechi.

The brown haired boy looks tired but there's something else to it now. He pushes himself off the wall and walks around the table to where Akira is and for once, Akira can't read the look in his eyes. Akechi stops in front of him and reaches a hand up, he pushes Akira's hair aside and his eyes flick up as he examines the healing gash on the side of his head.

"Looks alright," Akechi breathes. His fingertips are warm and send all sorts of confusing sparks through Akira's body. He wonders if Akechi knows what he's doing.

"You're not feeling dizzy or anything, are you?" Akechi asks, eyes flicking back down to meet Akira's and Akira is so concentrated on the feeling of Akechi's fingertips that he almost misses the question entirely.

He shakes his head and Akechi gets this confused look for a moment before a sudden realisation makes him pull his fingers away. Akira misses them immediately.

"Well…" Akechi clears his throat and takes a safe step back. It's too far away, Akira doesn't know why but he doesn't like it.

Akechi's avoiding his eye contact now. He's looking down at his feet and it's so unlike the normal, composed boy Akira knows. It's new and not entirely unwelcome. Akira likes it when Akechi shows he's somewhat human. His real self, hidden underneath the crowd-pleasing smile, is unsure of himself, shy and even a little insecure. It's such a contrast that Akira wonders how he manages to hide that side of him and show a smile worthy of the TV screens when inside he's really different.

"Get some sleep," Akira advises and heads towards the door. He just reaches it when Akechi answers him.

"I can't sleep," he mutters so quietly that Akira almost doesn't hear him.

Akira remembers the night before. How he'd had so much trouble sleeping and it had confused the hell out of him. It was just like normal, he had Morgana on his bed, he'd slept plenty of times like that but last night had been difficult.

He hadn't realised it had been difficult for Akechi to fall asleep too.

He's about to answer when the door opens and Futaba pokes her head out.

"Akira," she says "Come on, I'm dying here and Morgana fell asleep in the bag. He weighs a ton."

Akechi isn't looking at him anymore. Akira doesn't know what to say, he lets Futaba drag him out and the last thing he sees before the door closes is Akechi alone. Always alone. The door closes on his tiny frame and Akira follows Futaba out into the air outside.

The pull of sleep is itching at his eyes and he's exhausted but when he gets home and leaves Morgana to sleep in his bag, he lies on his bed and tries to sleep.

He can't.

Akechi's figure, alone and tiny haunts his mind and Akira closes his eyes. He tries his hardest but sleep doesn't come.

* * *

Ryuji: Calling Card finished! Only took us three hours…

Yusuke: That was your fault. You kept rejecting all the ideas I had.

Ann: Now I'm worried…

Ryuji: It's fine. It's perfect. We gotta show up those fake Phantom Thieves and this will get their attention!

Yusuke: He's not wrong. It is a work of art...if I do say so myself.

Makoto: So long as it works.

Ryuji: It will!

Haru: How is everyone feeling?

Makoto: Tired, but with the strength of the Metaverse, it's no wonder.

Ryuji: This ain't my first time in the new Metaverse so I'm not that bad. Must be getting used to it.

Yusuke: Our leader is mysteriously absent from this conversation…

Futaba: He hasn't come out of his room yet. Akechi's not answering either.

Makoto: Maybe they're still asleep.

Haru: Akira did get hurt…

Ryuji: He's tough, he's dealt with worse. Anyway, Navi, I'll leave the rest to you.

Futaba: Leave it to me! That sicko will be hit with the stick of truth before he even realises what hit him!

Yusuke: But if he doesn't realise what he's been hit by, how will it work?

Futaba: …

Yusuke: And if he does realise what hit him, isn't that the point of the calling card? To make the subject aware of their own desires by calling them out on it?

Futaba: YOU KNOW NOTHING INARI SNOW!

Akechi: This is the team that foiled my plans and almost killed me? I'm so embarrassed...