"...and so it turned out that she was actually a robot! And that is why you must keep an open mind regarding the stories you hear."

The school bell rang, signifying that classes had ended for the day. Akira started to pack away his schoolwork quickly, ignoring the teacher's ramblings about assignments and tests. They had a test scheduled in two weeks time, which he had definitely been revising for, he totally had not been putting it off in favour of defeating that stupid final boss in Soulbourne.

Stupid lightning strikes and that stupid cape making his attacks longer. Why couldn't his character have that?

Akira darted out of the classroom doorway, ducking between the student council president and another member of the student council and walked up the stairs towards the roof as fast as he could, bursting through the double doors where, to his not surprise, Haru was working on the garden.

Key word being "was", for Haru had jumped up in fright when Akira had crashed through the doors with the grace of a flying seal. "Akira!" she chided as she rested a hand over her chest. "Was that necessary?"

"Probably not. But we've not had chance to go over the plants in a while, so I wanted to help out, preferably before people decide to ask questions about our personal life."

"Ann-san?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Itsuka-san?"

"Yeah. He and his friends are very interested in what we get up to when we're alone." Akira picked up the spare watering can and walked over to where they'd set up another planter, inspecting it closely. "I don't get it. Why can't they bother someone else for a change?" he grumbled as he watered the plants.

Haru offered no answer. Her heart rate having returned to its regular pace, she returned to tending to the plants. The two worked in silence for a while, until Akira spoke again.

"Did you sleep alright?"

Haru blinked, before remembering her excuse to Akira about why she had not returned home until the early hours of the morning. "Yes. Sae-san and Mako-chan made sure I was comfortable."

"Oh." Was that shyness she picked up from him? "Good. I-If you ever need somewhere to, you know, stay and, well, Mako-chan's busy..."

Haru glanced behind her to see Akira had turned away from her, rubbing at his neck in a vain attempt to hide how red he most likely was. Clearly, he was embarassed about what he'd been about to ask.

"May I?" she heard her other self ask.

Pardon?

"I have the perfect idea and the perfect excuse. May I?"

Oh.

Go ahead, she told her other self.

Akira could not believe he had just asked, or tried to ask that. For one, he shouldn't be this awkward about it, they were getting married in less than two months and two-

"Akira."

The boy reluctantly turned around to face Haru, who was looking down at her hands as she washed them. "Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"You've gone all red."

Akira interally cursed whichever god decided to mess with his day today. First he tripped up the stairs, then Itsuka's buddies decided to ask questions they shouldn't, and now Haru was-

"Have you overworked yourself?" she asked.

"No, I-why are you holding my hand?"

"Do you trust me?" The question was simple, yet the answer made Haru smile happily from her front row seat of whatever Astarte was doing.

"Of course I trust you."

Haru guided Akira towards the little spot they had cleared next to the doors to the rooftop, where they usually had lunch or talked if the plants didn't require much attention. Sitting down on the floor and straightening her legs out, she gestured to Akira to do the same.

"You look like you could do with some rest."

Akira, who's face had finally stopped burning crimson, looked at her blankly. "I'm fine, Haru."

"You aren't. How much sleep did you get?"

He was not going to tell Haru that he had barely slept because he had been trying to beat that boss again. She'd tell him off and then probably beat it with a wooden club like she did the last time he left her with Soulbourne. "I just-don't worry about it," he said dismissively.

"But I am worried." Her voice took on a pleading tone. "Won't you please take a break?"

Akira mentally threw his hands up in the air in defeat and nodded. Haru smiled and gently wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer to her.

Akira was expecting her to pull him to rest on her shoulder, like something out of a cheesy romance flick. Instead he found his head on her lap.

"Are you comfy?"

Akira let out a soft "yeah", and Haru set to work, running her fingers through his hair, straightening out the unkempt curls, running the tips of her fingers along the skin underneath causing goosebumps to erupt across his neck and his face to blush scarlet.

"This is weird..."

Haru glanced down at him, but didn't say anything, instead doubling back to try and straighten out the curls in his hair, fingertips never leaving his skin. Akira took it as a sign to carry on.

"I've never had someone play with my hair before."

"With hair like yours?" Haru asked in surprise.

"No. I wasn't... I, well..." Akira sighed. "I wasn't in one place long enough to get close to anyone like this. Inaba's the longest I've stayed somewhere, and I wasn't really, you know..."

"I know." Fingers circled Akira's jawline, leaving a light trail of tingles wherever they went. "Father didn't want me to talk to anyone without his approval. You are the first boy my age who I've been around outside of a social event."

"I hope I haven't put you off talking to guys."

A light laugh escaped her. "You haven't. But I think I prefer talking to you."

"I'm sure the other guys are heartbroken to hear that."

"What other guys?"

"Well..." Akira tensed up slightly as Haru's hands stilled, before his voice dropped to a whisper. "Norba asked me the other day what you looked like in a swimsuit."

"And what did you say?"

"That you looked like you. What was I supposed to say?" Akira's face reddened slightly.

Haru allowed herself to smile, hands running through Akira's hair once more. "You seemed to like how I looked in Hawaii."

Akira went even more red as he turned over in her lap to face her. "I was that obvious?"

"You don't have to be embarrassed, Akira," she reassured him, before giggling. "If it's you, I do not mind."

"Haru..."

"Yes?" Her voice took on a teasing tone. "I liked how you looked."

His face now bright enough to serve as a lighthouse, Akira shook his head and sat up. "My guardian would never have let me live it down if he'd heard you say that."

"Shido-san?"

"No, the one who I lived with in Inaba."

"Oh." A thought occured to Haru. "Do you think I could meet them?"

"I think so. He'll want to meet you for sure."

"I hope you've been telling him good things about me."

Akira chuckled. "Like you've done anything wrong."

"Aside from tricking you into watching that horror show."

"In my defence, I thought it was one of them coming of age TV shows and I convinced you to let me watch it."

"And you complained for a month afterwards about how kids their age shouldn't be fighting demons with that many teeth."

Both of them laughed for a moment, Akira's blush fading slightly as the two lapsed into silence.

"We need to watch the next season of it."

"Are you going to complain about it again?"

"Probably."

Now it was Haru's turn to shake her head. "You're unbelievable."

"Now that we can agree on." Akira laughed quietly to himself before speaking again. "But even so, I'm glad to have met you."

"Oh?" Haru's gaze turned curious. "What's made you say that?"

"Nothing." Akira's blush returned. "I just-"

Akira was cut off by the doors to the roof opening and someone walking through.

"Haru?" the person called.

"I'm over here." Haru quickly took control back from Astarte and stood up from where they had sat together and walked over to them, who Akira recognised.

"Sis said we only have a little bit of time, so we need to go now," Makoto explained, sparing a glance at Akira, who was sat facing away from them. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No, Mako-chan." Perhaps Haru put a little too much empathasis on that, as Makoto looked at her with concern before nodding.

"Then we need to go. The car's outside." Makoto turned around and began walking through the doors back off the rooftop, leaving Haru and Akira alone.

"Akira-"

"It's fine." Standing back up, he turned around and flashed a quick smile at her. "We can talk about what I..." His voice trailed off as he dropped his gaze and started tapping his foot awkwardly. "Can we talk about it later?"

"Of course. Be careful, Akira."

"It's me, what's the worst that could happen?" Akira chuckled before turning away. "Be careful."

"I will."

And with that, Haru left the rooftop, leaving Akira alone. With perfect timing on its part, Akira's phone began to ring, drawing his attention to it. Looking at the caller ID, he allowed himself a small smile before answering.

"Old man."

"How many times have I told you not to call me 'old man'? I'm not that much older than you."

Akira chuckled. "Because you react like that when I do. What else am I supposed to call you? Father?"

"Senpai."

"Nah, you're not a student."

A sigh enamanted from the phone. "Are you alone?"

"Yeah."

"Good, because we need to talk."

Great. He wasn't in Inaba anymore and he was still getting lectured. Akira sighed. "Why? I've kept up the exercise routine and I've done everything that Shido guy's told me to-"

"Its about Shido."

"Oh?" Akira's smile grew hopeful. "Has Satonaka finally noticed she arrested the wrong person?"

"For one, she's right here and two, she was fully aware but-"

"-her hands were tied regarding Shido and everyone's doing the best they can with what they have, I know." The fact that one of his guardian's friends had been the one to arrest him amused Akira quite a bit. "That must be an amazing example for the rest of her classmates to follow."

"Akira!"

"What?" And then Akira realised what he said, and his smile vanished. "Sorry..."

Murmuring erupted down the phone, before they spoke again, a joking tone accompanying his words. "She says she'll have you arrested for disrespecting the law if you carry on."

"She's going to arrest me again?"

"Akira."

"What? It means I get to go home!" But I'm getting distracted, what about Shido?" Akira asked.

"Mitsuru's been hearing some bad things from Tokyo recently. Have you seen or found anything weird while you've been living with him?"

"Anything weird?" Akira unzipped his bag and started digging through it. The voice had told him to keep it with him, but they probably didn't mean at all times. "Yeah, I did. He had this old gun."

"An old gun? What does it look like?"

The feeling of unease filled Akira again as he held the weapon in his hand, turning it over as he looked. "It's chipped, but it looks like it's made of silver. There's a word, or maybe an acronym, written on it."

"A word?"

"SEES, whatever that is."

A sharp intake of breath came down the line, making Akira wince. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. S E E S."

The line went silent for a moment, no doubt the person on the other end was talking to Chie about the gun. Akira stowed it back in his bag as he waited for them to talk to him.

"Akira, I need you to go back to Shido's house." The voice had taken on a serious tone. "Find any evidence you can and bring it to someone that Mitsuru knows and trusts."

"Who?"

"Sae Niijima. She'll know the best way to handle Shido, but please be careful."

"It's me, Sanada, what could-"

"Kurusu."

He'd been last named. That meant he was worried.

"I'll be careful, old man."

"What have I said about-"

Akira hung up and sighed, before zipping his bag back up and standing up to walk through the doors of the rooftop.

Even in Tokyo, he couldn't get out of being roped into investigations, it seemed.

...

"...the group, who have taken to calling them themselves "Ironfire", have been seen in Shibuya and while their recent actions have been minor, police are encouraging citizens to avoid interacting with them wherever possible."

Ironfire, Shido thought to himself. The current generation truly are running out of ideas.

As the TV continued to blare away behind him, now discussing the continuing instances of criminal damage against the headquarters of Okumura Foods, Shido noticed that he'd added the name of the group to the script he was preparing, and mentally cursed himself as he backspaced and removed it, writing down the actual words he was supposed to say.

Scripts, Shido had learned early on, were essential. As the old saying went, those who fail to prepare prepared to fail. Even a charismatic man such as himself benefited from knowing what he should say, and how he should say it. It was what made the difference between him and the idiots who tried to get into politics.

Speaking of which...

Shido's phone began to vibrate next to him, having turned the sound off to ensure he wasn't disturbed while working. He'd told people not to contact him unless it was an emergency. Sighing, he picked up the phone and answered.

"Masayoshi Shido."

"A situation has developed."

Shido's eyebrow rose a notch. "What kind of situation?"

"I have received a calling card."

"From the Phantom Thieves?" The eyebrow went back down and a thin smile began to form on his face, and he allowed just a hint of fake concern to slip into his voice. "Is there any way to trace it to its point of origin?"

"No. I've already ran it through the tests you instructed me to. There's nothing on it."

"I was right."

Shido mentally acknowledged the voice before returning to the call. "And what of your daughter? Did she see anything?"

"She was out of the house when I found it. With Kurusu-kun, according to her.

Shido's smile grew into a shark grin. He'd found his prey at last. "Contact me if you feel any different."

"I will. And I apologise for letting them get to me."

"Do not apologise. You couldn't have seen it coming." With a click, Shido ended the call. Saving the work he had done on the script so far, he stood up from the computer and strode over to the TV opposite him, picking up the TV remote and switching it off.

"Akira said Haru had left school early." Shido shook his head. "To think that his own daughter was part of the group that are planning to steal his heart..."

"The Thieves are proceeding as I expected."

"You say that as though you don't have twenty other plans in place."

"I will not allow a silver of unpredictability to ruin what the people want. Not again."

"Kunikazu is now a liabilty. And his daughter is most likely a Phantom Thief. If he confesses, we will have to escalate the timetable."

"Order him to set up a press conference for two days time."

Shido raised an eyebrow at that. "Setting an example to the other Thieves?"

"To everyone who doesn't want society to reform."

Shido's smile vanished as he heard the creak of the stairs, followed by footsteps telling him Akira was back. He quickly strode over to the wall next to his computer and drew the curtains covering it closer together, making sure the photos behind them were hidden from view, before grabbing his phone and walking out of his office as Akira reached the top of the stairs.

"There's a group of deliquents in Shibuya called Ironfire," he began without so much as waiting for Akira to greet him. "Stay away from them, getting associated with riffraff like that would not be kind for your reputation."

Akira nodded and stepped aside, allowing Shido to walk down the stairs to the entrance of the house, his security guards following after him. Once he heard the car door shut and the engine start, he started sneaking over to the office Shido had just walked out of.

All he had to do was carefully search the office to see if Shido had anything else besides the gun. Akira was certain the office would be a dead end, Shido didn't seem like the type of person to plot from a small room in a house he shared with a security detail and a kid. A private penthouse would be more like him.

That being said, a small pang of guilt settled in his stomach as he slowly pushed the door to the office open. Shido clearly had some level of trust in him if he was leaving him alone without any guards, so what he was doing didn't feel fair on him. Maybe he should ask him about the gun?

Actually, no. Bad idea. He could imagine that conversation now. "Hey Shido, I found this old gun in your room when I was chasing a cat and it's scaring my old guardian. Are you secretly planning to destroy the world?"

"Why were you in my room?"

Yeah. Definitely a bad idea. Which only left searching his office, regardless of how guilty it made him feel. Akira took a quick look around the room, trying to spot anything weird and-

Aha!

Akira quickly stalked over to the safe by the TV. Shido was bound to have left something incriminating in there. He grabbed the handle and pulled and to his surprise, the safe door swung open...

...to reveal a pile of Pinguen bars hidden inside. So that's where Shido's been hiding them, Akira thought, quickly pinching one out to look at the joke written on the back.

"What is black and white and red all over?" he read aloud. "A burnt penguin." He snickered and put the chocolate bar back in, closing the safe door after it.

Turning around, Akira caught sight of the curtains, drawn together a little too tightly. How suspicious. Akira walked over to them, noticing the lack of a window behind it.

Why would you need a curtain if you didn't have a window? Shido had to be hiding something there.

He pulled the curtains wide open.

And his blood ran cold when he saw what was behind it.

On the wall in front of him were several photos of people he'd heard mentioned by the news and Shido, each marked with their own name. Suguru Kamoshida, Ichiryusai Madarame, Jurya Kaneshiro, Futaba Isshiki, and finally, Kunikazu Okumura. All except Kunikazu had crosses over their photos.

The news claimed that Kamoshida, Kaneshiro and Madarame had all confessed to committing terrible crimes, but he'd never heard of this Isshiki person. Could he have missed her on the news?

Beneath were a collection of photos of people, with the words "possible Phantom Thieves" written above them. A large number of photos were crossed out, which he guessed meant that they couldn't be Phantom Thieves. A few remained, with names scrawled under them.

Yusuke Kitaguwa, who'd supposedly been Madarame's ex-pupil. Shido had commissioned them to do a painting of Haru a few months back.

Mishima Yuuki. The rumour mill at school suggested that he was the one behind the Phansite, but that same rumour mill claimed that he was marrying Haru for her money, so he doubted it.

Futaba Isshiki, or Futaba Sakura if the line through her other name meant anything. He didn't know anything about her, but her photo had a tick on it.

Makoto Niijima. She was the student council president, and the same rumour mill had said that she was a Phantom Thief. If she was, he seriously needed to ask her how she did it between being top of the third year class, training the Bernstein girl to take her place as student council president after she graduated, spending time with Haru and studying. Her's had a question mark above it.

Sae Niijima, the person Akihiko mentioned. Her photo had a tick on it.

Akira felt a sense of dread chase out the guilt in his stomach as he looked at the final photo, the name scrawled underneath it.

Haru Okumura. Her photo had a tick next to it.

Oh, shit.

Akira quickly pulled his phone out and took a bunch of pictures of the photos before frantically dialing Haru's number.

"Hello, I am unable to answer at the moment-"

"Why now of all times, Haru?" he groaned as he cut the automated voicemail short and started pacing the office nervously.

This was bad. Really, really bad. If those photos meant what he feared it did, then it meant Shido suspected that Haru was a Phantom Thief, as well as this Futaba girl and Mitsuru's friend. A quick glance at the board told him this wasn't some sick joke. He didn't know what Shido wanted with the Phantom Thieves, but no one dedicated a wall to following a group and hid it behind a curtain without having a reason to hide it, and knowing the kind of man Shido was...

Akira shuddered as he remembered when Shido had found that mouse. He had been thankful Haru hadn't been around to see how the poor thing had ended up. He redialed the number, praying Haru would pick up.

Nothing. Straight to voicemail. Damn it, Haru.

Akira looked back at the board again, this time spotting some words written beneath each of the crossed out photos.

Futaba Sakura. Futaba's room. Tomb.

Jurya Kaneshiro. Shibuya. Bank.

There were three words under each photo, including Kunikazu's.

Kunikazu Okumura. Okumura Foods Headquarters. Spaceport.

Wait.

Akira flicked over to the glowing red app on his phone and opened it. It had two sections filled now.

Kunikazu Okumura. Okumura Foods Headquarters.

What did this app even do?

"Yes..."

Akira whipped his head around in panic. "Who's there?"

"That is the way. Use the navigator."

Navigator?

Akira looked down at his phone again. Looked at the wall of photos before him.

This is the way...

"Spaceport." He spoke aloud.

"Keywords confirmed. Beginning navigation."

The world around him began to distort and twist.

...

"Satan, come forth! Black Viper!"

The Persona responded to Sae's command, launching free of her mask to fire a torrent of energy at the Shadow, dissolving it to nothing in an instant before returning to mask form once more. Sae sheathed her weapon, letting it dissipate back into nothingness on her back as she turned around in time to see a trio of shadows get knocked skywards by Haru's grenade launcher, Makoto and Johanna ramping off of each of the flying shadows before launching a Vajira Blast at them in tandem with Goro's Bufudyne and Morgana's Garudyne, dissolving the shadows into dust once more.

"Good work, everyone!" Futaba called from above in the Necromicon. "Mona, you said the Treasure's ahead, right?"

"Of course! I can smell treasure from a mile away!"

Futaba snickered. "Is that because all of the treasures made of catnip?"

"Hey! Was that a cat joke?!"

"Now, now," Akechi stepped between the two in an attempt to end the quarrel. "There's no need to get catty about all of this."

The entire floor fell silent. Morgana and Futaba both stared at Akechi for a few moments before the not-a-cat jumped up and slapped him on the back of the head. "That's not funny!"

"I know."

"Then why even make the pun?"

"I guess I wanted something to Crow about."

"Nope." Necromicon flew on ahead towards where Sae was walking towards the door. "No more buffs for you until you stop punning."

The group's progress was halted by the echoing sound of a faint scream.

"Was that you, Crow?"

"No? Did Oracle miss an episode of Neo Featherman?"

"Not me, I stream it off the internet!"

"Of course you do."

"Whoever it was," Sae interrupted," they are long behind us. No one else but us can access the Metaverse."

"Yeah."

Haru quietly glanced backwards, discomfort evident on her face before trudging after the others. She badly wanted to get out of this place as soon as they got the treasure.

"Don't worry, Noir," Makoto whispered as she slowed down to start walking next to her. "I'm sure it was just one of the robots."

...

It was not one of the robots.

But rather Akira Kurusu, who had freaked out upon realising he was no longer in Shido's office, but now somewhere completely unrecognizable. His head span, his stomach lurched and his heart thumped with a rapid beat as he looked around frantically, trying to figure out where on Earth he had gotten himself to.

"Just look in Shido's house for anything suspicious, Akira," he said to himself. "No one said anything about being dragged to a completely different part of the planet altogether!"

"Calm yourself."

The voice was back. Akira looked frantically for it.

"Where are you? Where am I?"

"'One thought, fills immensity.' All will make sense in time."

So the voice knew the Proverbs of Hell. At least it had good taste.

Akira took several deep breaths, focussing on his surroundings to calm down.

"What is this place?"

"A Palace."

"It doesn't look like one to me."

"This is the heart of a human, twisted by their own desires. A palace is born from that."

"Seriously?"

"Possibly. I only know as much as you."

So it knew nothing about this place. "So how do I leave?"

"I wouldn't leave."

"Why? This is clearly-"

"I can sense Haru nearby."

That got Akira's attention, unsurprisingly. "Where?"

"Use the navigator."

Akira looked down at his phone, back at the red app, which suddenly had a lot more information on it than before. "How can I find her? This just shows a map."

"Check the locations. Go to the bottom."

Perhaps normally, he wouldn't listen to the voice in the back of his head telling him to mess about with a strange app, but in fairness to Akira, this wasn't a normal situation. Opening the locations tab on the app, he scrolled down the last location.

"Weapons Production Safe Room. That doesn't sound very safe."

"Press the location."

And Akira did. And the world around him distorted and twisted once more, dropping him in a room that looked suspiciously like a board room.

"This is a safe room."

"A safe room?"

"Yes. It is a room in which-"

"WARNING." Akira flinched as an automated voice began to blare. "THE SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. ALL PERSONNEL PLEASE EVACUATE TO YOUR ASSIGNED ESCAPE PODS."

"I don't suppose this room can keep us safe from the self destruct sequence, can it?"

"No."

Today really wasn't his day, was it?

"THE SPACEPORT WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN T-MINUS FOURTY MINUTES. WARNING-"

"We get it!" Akira shouted, before starting to pacing the floor of the room. "How do we find Haru?

"Check the map."

Akira looked down at the app, pulled the locations tab away and looked at the map to see multiple dots moving on the map near him.

"White indicates friendly, I think?"

"If you're wrong, I'm going to be very annoyed." Akira shook his head and made his way to the doors of the room, pushing through them out of the so called safe room and into the rest of the spaceport.

Any other time, Akira would've been in awe of the outlandish place he had wound up in. As it was, he was on a time limit here and he needed to find Haru, so he kept his head down and followed the map on the app to try and find out where the gaggle of blips had gone. Too busy watching the map to-

"Kid!"

Akira jerked in surprise and stumbled backwards, narrowly avoiding the tumbling debris that took out the bridge in front of him.

"You were almost hit by that. Be more careful!"

"I will!" Akira took a glance at the remains of the bridge in front of him. "I think the path is out. How do we catch up?"

"Look around, there should be another way around."

"I hope you are right."

"There." The world around Akira dimmed and a ledge across from him began to glow. "That will take us to her."

"And how do you think we should get across? I can't fly."

"You climb over there." A ledge closer to him began to glow, and Akira nodded.

"Just a jump to the left?"

"But not a step to the right."

"Bring my knees in tight?"

"THE SPACEPORT WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN T-MINUS 35 MINUTES. WARNING-"

The warning was drowned out by the sound of something metal and massive crashing to the ground near Akira, causing him to frown in alarm.

"Let us hurry, Akira."

"I know." Akira walked backwards a couple of steps, mentally thankful that he'd not brought the glasses Shido had given him with him into here before running towards the ledge the voice had highlighted and leaping at it, his hands scrabbling for and then gaining a handhold on the ledge, before pulling himself up. "Thank you for that exercise routine, Akihiko," he muttered as he stood upright, feet balancing precariously on the edge as he shimmied along the wall to the next ledge.

"Now where?" Akira asked as he pulled himself up onto the next ledge.

The world would answer his question by way of a small object flying from the platform near him to a ledge not far from him. His surroundings dimmed once more, before a busted metal pipe in front of him began to glow.

"And it has a ramp leading up to it." Akira's shoulders sagged and he shook his head. "It's like the author made this part an obstacle course because they didn't want to write a boss fight or something," he muttered before letting out a yelp as something invisible slapped the back of his head. Rubbing the back of his head with a sigh, he shimmied along the ledge until the ledge widened out into a path he could walk on normally, until he reached the ramp.

"How am I supposed to get across that?" Akira's voice was laced with incredulity as he looked between the pipe and the ledge he needed to go to.

"Remove the gun from the bag, and use the bag to swing yourself over."

"No, that's my school bag. I can't use that."

"Do you see any other way across?"

"I..." Akira looked around, before stomping his foot with a annoyed huff and folding his arms. "This is stupid!"

"It is the only way to her."

"I know..." Akira muttered something unrepeatable before reaching into his schoolbag and pulling the gun out, storing it in the back of his pants, tucking the shirt in to make sure it stayed there. Taking a few steps backwards, Akira held his bag with both hands before running towards the end of the ramp and leaping into the air, launching the bag at the pipe.

The pipe flew between the bag and the handle, securing the bag and letting out a groan as the pipe and handle took Akira's weight, swinging the boy around. Akira let go of the handle and landed on the ledge, turning around in time to watch his schoolbag fall into the abyss below.

"Great. Now what do I tell the teachers tomorrow?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"I'm sure they'll love that excuse." Akira shook his head as he knelt down to pick up the object that had landed on the ledge and looked it over. "A big red button on a remote. Well, the place is already counting down to self destruction, this can't do any worse." Akira pushed the button on the remote.

And a gigantic metal groan bellowed around the area, and a huge metal cage was lifted up and away from the platform ahead.

Well, that did something.

...

Debris bounced off of the top of the cage next to her, the rest of the Phantom Thieves having been contained inside courtesy of her father's trap. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Queen analyzing the cage, trying to figure out how to get them free.

She needed to do something too, she realised.

"Father!" she shouted, glaring at the man sat in the flying sci-fi chair in front of her. "Why are you doing this? They only want answers!"

"Haru, my child, surely you can't be ignorant to their plans? They want to render everything I've worked for all for nothing!"

"What plans? Telling them who made you pay Medjed-"

"You think he made me? That was my own choice!"

"He?"

Kunikazu uttered a quiet curse upon realising his slip up. "It doesn't matter. The white mask will be here soon, and then you Thieves will be no more." The hoverchair descended a few feet, bringing him face to face with his daughter.

"Haru, you are my child, so please, listen to me. If he sees you and realizes you are with the Thieves, he will not show you mercy." Kunikazu held out his hand to Haru, his voice taking on a pleading tone. "Come with me. Whatever it is you want, I will give to you, just please come with me out of here so that I can keep you safe from him."

"You want me to leave my friends behind?"

"I did not think you considered such riffraff your friends. Have you learned nothing from what I have taught you?"

Haru's eyes narrowed. "If I said yes, would you convince Shido to let Akira return home and to call off the engagement?"

Kunikazu hesitated. "That is not possible."

"Then make it possible!" She lashed out at him, smashing through the helmet on his suit and striking him in the face with such intensity that it knocked him clean out of and over his chair.

"Haru!" Kunikazu looked at her in shock as he cradled his nose. "Why?"

Haru's glare softened, her internal conflict showing for a second before she steeled herself. "If this was for yourself or for your company, you would do it. So why not for your daughter?!" she asked. "You told me that my engagement would make you happy. You knew Akira wasn't doing this willingly, yet you still went through with it."

"Do you know how lucky you are?" The alarm in Kunikazu's voice was fading, now replaced with anger. "I've put in all this work for our family!"

"You did it for yourself." The fury that had caused her to lash out had simmered down to a cold anger. "Would you have still had me married me off if it wasn't someone like Akira?"

"Of course I would have! For our family, for a better tomorrow, I would sacrifice my own life for it!"

"What family?" Her fist connected with his face once more, knocking him back down. "You are all I have left, Father! Mother's gone and Grandfather's gone! Our family is just us now, why can't you see that?"

"Our company is our family!"

"It is your family! You never taught me anything about the company!"

The argument between Haru and Kunikazu was interrupted by the screech of metal, drawing their attention behind them to see the cage containing the Phantom Thieves being lifted up.

"Good work, Queen," they heard Mona say as the group slipped out from under the cage.

"It wasn't her, but not relevant. How should we find out who the knock off Darth Vader was trying to impress?" Oracle asked. "I vote for 'tie him to Johanna and have Queen drive as fast as she can!'"

"We will not be doing that."

The group turned their attention to the scene going on in front of them. Makoto made to walk forwards, only for Akechi's sword to block her path.

"If anyone deserves this, it's her. Let her deal with him."

Makoto glanced between him and Haru, but nodded and stepped back.

"I gave you a roof over your head! More food and clothing than you could ever dream of!"

"I wanted my father! I never cared where we went, I just wanted to be with you, but all you cared about was the company!"

"It will all be worth it in the end!"

"WARNING. T-MINUS 20 MINUTES TO SELF DESTRUCTION. ALL PERSONNEL MUST EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."

A third punch was thrown, knocking Kunikazu to the floor once more. "I'm sorry, father, but I do not care for your excuses anymore." Haru shook her head in frustration and walked away, leaving the way clear for the Phantom Thieves.

Sae stalked over to where Kunikazu was laid down, bringing his attention fully to her by placing a knee and her weight fully on his chest. "Talk."

"I have nothing to say to you damn thieves."

"Oh really? What a shame. I guess we'll just leave then and let the white mask find out you let us go."

"I'd rather face him than talk to you."

"What about your daughter? We can send you back to your other self and leave her here for him."

Makoto flinched.

Akechi smirked.

Futaba and Mona shared looks of alarm.

Haru, somehow, didn't hear her.

Sae mentally prayed her bluff would work.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Would I?"

The silence reigned for a few seconds, before Kunikazu broke.

"Masayoshi Shido. That's the man I hired Medjed for."

"Thank you, your confession is most appreciated. Now, go back to your other self and confess, or we will be back to finish the job." Sae stood up from kneeling on Kunikazu to see Futaba and Akechi catching the treasure as it dropped out of the spaceship above them.

"Treasure secured!"

"That's another one. Now," Akechi said as he pinched the treasure out of Futaba's hands. "Let's make like a tree and leaf."

"Crow!" Futaba let herself be pulled up into Necromicon and started to chase Akechi, who had set off running down the stairs, laughing manaically with treasure in hand, Morgana racing after the two yelling for them to be careful.

Makoto walked over to Haru. "Is everything alright, Noir?"

"No. But I'll be fine. Give me time to speak to my father before we leave." Makoto nodded, and began to walk down the stairs with Sae in tow.

Leaving Haru alone with her father.

Haru turned away from the ledge she'd been looking out over to walk back towards her father, who had managed to push himself to his feet, albeit with a lot of coughing.

"Haru-" he began before coughing briefly once more. "Why have you turned on me?

"I have not turned on you, father. I just want you to go back to being my father, not the man who cares only for himself.

Kunikazu coughed once more, before speaking once more. "Would you still want me to be your father, after everything that has-"

Machine gun fire ripped through the air as he spoke, knocking Kunikazu forward into Haru. Managing to stop herself from falling over from losing her balance, she looked over at her father, who had been knocked over onto the floor.

"Father...?"

The only answer was a single, rattling breath, before the bullet riddled body of Kunikazu Okumura stilled and began to dissolve in front of Haru.

"Father!"

"Move!"

Haru felt something crash into her and knock her a few feet across the platform, narrowly avoiding the second peal of gunfire.

"You."

Haru looked up at the source of the voice and the gunfire, and her blood turned to ice.

"I thought she was a Phantom Thief. But you?" White metal formed a mask that covered the upper half of their face, spikes adorning their head with brown eyes staring a hole through whoever had pushed her out of the way.

"You just shot her father! What is wrong with you?!"

Haru recognized the voice.

"He had failed me too many times. Now, why are you here?"

Akira groaned. "I don't know, the stupid app sent me here and a voice in my head told me to come here so I could find someone who I'm worried about and then go home. Now tell me what the-"

He was cut off by a round of gunfire aimed at the feet of the other guy. Turning around, he saw the hat wearing girl holding a rifle, aimed at the spiky man in front of him.

"You murdered his shadow! Do you realise what you have done?"

The white masked man didn't answer, instead turning to face Akira. "Are you going to let your fiancé talk to me like that?"

"Fiancé?" Akira glanced between hat girl and spiky man, before his eyebrows shot up in alarm. "Haru?!"

"There's no time to explain. This palace is going to fall apart soon-"

"WARNING. T-MINUS 10 MINUTES TO SELF DESTRUCTION. ALL PERSONNEL MUST EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."

"-and I'm going to make sure he falls with it!" Haru threw her rifle aside and summoned her axe, charging at the masked man. The gun sild to a halt by Akira's feet and he quickly picked it up, looking up in time to see the spiky man swat Haru aside with a backhand, knocking her across the platform and out cold before turning to Akira.

Neither man hesitated. Akira fired the rifle's grenade launcher, the grenade crashing into the spiky man's chest and exploding.

And that was the last thing he saw before the man blitzed through the smoke and shoulder checked him off the platform and into a wall, knocking him unconscious.

...

"-up."

"-ke up."

Had she fallen asleep?

No. She had been in her father's palace, helping the Phantom Thieves to steal his heart when-

"I said wake up."

Ice cold water crashed against her face, the chill of it forcing her eyes out and making her shriek in alarm.

"There's no need for that!"

"Then wake up, Phantom Thief. Or do you prefer Haru Okumura?"

That got Haru's attention. Shivering, she looked up at the source of the voice, trying to ignore the strain on her arms from whatever was holding them.

"How do you know who I am?"

"Perhaps if you saw me, you would realise the predicament you are in." The figure stepped out of the shadows to stand in front of her, light glinting off of their mask, and dread filled Haru once more.

"White Mask!" Haru attempted to lash out, but quickly found that her hands and feet had been chained to the wall. "Why did you kill my father's Shadow? Don't you know what happens when you do that?!"

"Of course I do." A small smirk formed on the masked man's face. "And even if I wanted to tell you about why your father had to die, I am on a schedule here. So I am going to cut you a deal instead."

"I'm not interested in your deal."

"Wrong answer." The masked man struck Haru across the face. "You will hear me out."

"I will not."

A second blow connected, this one aimed at her solar plexus. "You do not get a choice in this." When all Haru had to offer was coughing and wheezing, he continued. "You will tell me the names of your fellow Phantom Thieves, and in return, I will allow you to leave. Are we in agreeance?"

"No."

"That is exactly want I wanted to hear." The man's smirk grew into a psychotic smile, and he immediately slugged Haru in the gut before striking her twice across the face again. "You Phantom Thieves only care for yourselves. Finally being able to deliver justice on behalf of the public is so cathartic!"

"We do not care only for ourselves!"

"Oh, how naïve you are. Tell me, why did you join them?"

"Never." She spat at the man's face. "I won't tell you anything.

"What a shame." The man wiped the spit off his face and snapped his fingers. The door opened behind him, and two guards walked into the room. "Bring her outside. We will end this there."

"End what?"

The only answer she got was another jab to the chest, making her double over coughing as the masked man left the room. One guard caught her when she fell when her arm restraints were released, the other working on the feet.

"Try anything, and we're authorized to kill you. Do as he says, and you'll go free."

Kill?

Having been freed from her restraints, Haru became aware that she was no longer clad in her Phantom Thief outfit. Wherever she was, she was not percieved as a threat yet.

So why did they have orders to kill her if she did anything?

So she stayed there, not moving, not trying anything as the guards dragged her across the floor out of the room and down a hallway, eventually arriving at a set of double doors that were swiftly opened by another pair of guards.

"So this is a Phantom Thief?"

"She doesn't look all that much."

"Careful, she'll might 'reveal your true form!' Ahahaha!"

Haru ignored the jeers and looks of the crowd as the guards dragged her out of the doors and across the floor to where the white mask was now standing, not facing her.

"I must thank you for bringing me this back to me. I had wondered what had happened to it."

"What even is it? It doesn't have anywhere for bullets to go."

"It's not a normal gun. On the contrary-ah, she's made it. Wonderful!" The masked man turned around to look at Haru, who had been dumped on her knees with her hands bound together. "You two should say hello to each other."

And so the masked man stepped aside, revealing the kneeling form of Akira Kurusu, who had his hands tied behind his back.

"Haru?"

"Akira!"

The two looked at each other in alarm, before Haru spoke again. "What are you doing here?!"

"I woke up here. Haru, what happened to you? You're all bruised and battered!"

The glare Haru shot the masked man's way gave Akira the answer to that question, and he began to struggle against his bonds, shooting the masked man a furious look. "You-why-areyou-I'mgonna-!"

"Silence." Akira stopped struggling and settled for muttering and glaring a hole in the spiky man's helmet. "There are two things that should be done. First, a special guest wishes to watch what happens next, so if you will excuse me..."

Pulling out the SEES gun Akira had found a couple of months back, the man set it to point towards the center of his mask and took a deep breath before pulling the trigger.

"We ask for you, Yaldabaoth!"

The mask fractured before exploding into a geyser of blue light that quickly took form above the man. The lights that shone behind Haru reflected off of the being's metal body, an aura of the same blue light glowing around it.

"You have done well, Shido."

"Shido?!" Akira and Haru both looked towards the man, who was now climbing back up from being forced to his knees, brown eyes now glowing yellow as he glared at them.

"And now, for the finale." Shido stalked over to where the two were kneeling, holding out his other hand to conjure a pistol. "I have two Phantom Thieves in front of me. I only need one of them to go back to the rest of them."

He aimed the gun at Haru as he walked over, his mind already made up as he released the safety. "Anything you want to say?"

If this is it...

"Akira." Haru turned her face to look at Akira, trying to hide the fear she felt. "If this is it, then I must thank you for everything you have done since we met. I'm glad that I got to meet you."

Akira raised his face to meet her eyes, unbridled terror in his eyes.

"Haru-"

Shido turned away from Haru, and she realized what was about to happen.

"No!"

Shido fired the gun twice at Akira, one striking his head, the other hitting his heart. The boy flinched backwards from the impacts, before slumping over lifelessly on the floor.

Haru stared as a pool of blood began to form around Akira's body. She kept staring, heedless of whatever Shido had said to the guards, even as her vision was blurred by tears.

In the space of a single day, she had lost both her father, and her fiancé.

...

Author's Note: I am so sorry.