Justice.

The quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral righteousness.

A very simple word at first glance, but one that everyone had a different interpretation of.

One that had been studied, debated, morphed, and implemented since the dawn of man.

Used to justify numerous systems, but numerous crimes and atrocities as well.

But who decided what was just? A crime?

Was it a majority of their society?

What if they were wrong?

Who decided if they were wrong?

Her, apparently.

Her sense of justice was strong, yet simple.

That strength, that desire to see justice done was the only thing keeping her going…

As pain coursed through her body from numerous bruises.

As the injected drug began to take effect.

As she drifted in and out of unconsciousness…

"I said wake up!"

She gasped as ice cold water splashed onto her.

She shivered as the water soaked through her uniform.

Glancing upwards, she saw a police detective glancing down at her, glaring.

The detective began listing her various crimes, handing her a sheet on a clipboard for her to sign.

She had half a mind to take a page from her boyfriend's book and write down something provocative that she figured he would write in this situation.

Thankfully, she was the leader, not him, so a scenario like that only existed in her mind.

She decided against it, however, and simply gave him a defiant glare, which only seemed to make him angrier.

He slammed his foot down into her leg, causing her to cry out in pain.

"We need your arm to sign this… but I don't care if you lose a leg." the man threatened. "You've caused us a lot trouble, makin' us look bad…"

So that was it. Revenge. She knew all too well the many morally questionable interrogation methods that didn't involve violence. But this man was just taking his anger out on her.

She glanced upwards, spying a camera in the room, filming them.

The detective scoffed. "Do you really think that's going to help you?"

"No, I don't." she muttered. "I know that you won't be held responsible for anything that happens to me."

As if to prove her point, he slapped her across the face- hard.

"Glad you understand." the man sneered. "I could have a little fun with you right now, and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

He held out the clipboard once again.

"I would suggest that you cooperate." the detective said. "We've already captured all of your teammates, and one of them already sold you out!"

She couldn't help but let a little bit of fear show on her face.

Had they really captured the others? Mona, Joker, Skull, Fox, Panther, Oracle, Noir, and even Witch?

"I can't let him get to me…" she thought. "He could be lying to me. I just… need to… stick to the plan."

The plan…

What was the plan again?

She needed to remember.

She took the clipboard from his hands, writing her name with a shaky hand.

Makoto Niijima.

The detective snatched the clipboard from her hand, looked it over, and roughly sat her down at the table.

She already knew what would happen next.

Someone would come in and interrogate her, and she would need to convince that person that the Phantom Thieves were just, and to help them with their crazy plan.

That 'someone' being her elder sister.

She wasn't sure if that made her chances better or worse, only that the idea of speaking to her sister in a situation like this filled her with dread.

Although, if she were being honest, any interaction with her sister made her feel this way recently.

As she continued to think about it more, she could have sworn she heard a voice in her head, and a blue butterfly flying near her.

What on Earth did they put in those drugs?

The door to the interrogation room opened, and she nearly froze when she saw who entered.

Prosecutor Sae Niijima.

Her sister.

"It really is you…" Sae whispered, a hint of sadness to her tone. "I thought it had to be some cruel joke."

"Sis, I-"

"Enough!" Sae snapped, her expression hardening. "Don't think that because you're my sister that I'm going to let you off the hook!"

Of course not…

I'm just a burden to you.

She needed to calm down. Showing even an ounce of weakness would cause her sister to pounce on it, like a predator stalking its prey.

She saw her sister glance off to the side, scowling when she saw the discarded needle on the floor.

"Bastards…" Sae muttered. "I can't believe they injected that into you."

Don't act as if you care.

You don't care about justice at all.

"I can't believe this." Sae muttered. "A leader of a criminal gang… and a mass murderer."

"We weren't responsible for any of that." she insisted. "Sis-

*SLAM*

"Don't call me that!" Sae yelled. "You've lost the right to call me your sister!"

Her words were more painful than any physical injuries.

The wounds would heal with time, but even now, her sister's words stung.

Useless… you think I'm useless...

"The sooner you cooperate, the sooner you can leave." Sae mentioned. "I can't protect you from the police, so I suggest you answer my questions."

"What do you want to know?" she asked.

"Names." Sae said. "I want the names of your teammates."

"If you're asking for their names, I assume they all got away?" she asked.

"...Yes, they did." Sae admitted. "So, you're not going to tell me who they are?"

"I won't betray my team." she said.

Sae let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose before bringing out a file.

"Then we'll get back to that later. Moving on, the first target of the Phantom Thieves was your gym teacher." Sae stated. "You remember that, don't you?"

Sae had a look of disgust on her face as she went over the incident, although whether it was for her or their target, she couldn't tell.

"I remember." she replied. "That was Kamoshida."

"And you targeted him in April, correct?"

"That's right."

"Then I want you to tell everything, from the beginning, on how exactly this incident occurred." Sae requested.

She nodded. "It began on the tenth of April…"

4/10 - Sunday.

"Where… am I?"

She opened her eyes, only to find herself inside of a cell.

"W-What on Earth?!" she gasped.

She glanced downwards, gasping again when she saw she was dressed in a prison uniform, and had a ball and chain attached to her foot.

"Good, you're finally awake." a soft female voice said.

She whipped around, seeing two little girls dressed in police uniform and eyepatches.

"Quit gawking, inmate!" another, more aggressive female voice said.

"W-Who are you?!" she stammered.

A deep chuckled startled her, and she looked behind the two little girls to see a long-nosed man sitting at a desk, a wicked grin on his face.

"Welcome to my Velvet Room." the man said.

"A-Are you a kidnapper?" she stammered. "Y-You won't get away with this! My sister's a prosecutor, and I know aikido to defend myself!"

"Quiet, inmate!" the more aggressive girl shouted. "How dare you speak to our master like that!"

"We would ask that you allow our master to explain why you are here." the calmer girl requested.

Master? What on Earth was going on here?!

The man gave another deep chuckle. "I am Igor, and these are your wardens, Caroline and Justine."

"You'd better not forget, Inmate!" Caroline exclaimed, slamming her baton on the bars of her cell.

"B-But how did I get here in the first place?!" she exclaimed. "Did you take me here?!

"The Velvet Room exists between mind and matter, dream and reality." Igor explained. "Right now, the real you is still sleeping.

Sleeping… So was she in a dream?

But she felt so in control. This felt so real.

"But how do I get into this prison?" Makoto asked. "Can't you let me out?"

"The Velvet room reflects the heart of the user." Justine clarified. "You should know why you are in chains."

"I don't understand..." she muttered, shaking her head. "I'm not a criminal. So why am I tied down like this…?"

"It seems that you are a prisoner of fate." Igor stated. "And soon, ruin shall befall all."

"What does that mean?!"

"There is no need to worry." Igor responded, curling his lips. "Should you be rehabilitated, you shall have the freedom you desire."

"None of this makes any sense!" she cried out. "Ruin? Destruction? What do you mean?!"

"Night wanes… it seems our time is at an end." Igor affirmed. "But I assure you, we shall meet again."

"It is time to go back to sleep." Justine insisted.

"And next time treat our master with respect!" Caroline demanded, smacking the bars again.

Before she could say anything else, she fell to her knees, feeling as if the entire world was spinning around her…

She opened her eyes, finding herself back in her room. "Was that really just a dream…?"

She took a moment to take in her surroundings.

She glanced at her clock, seeing she had woken up a few minutes before her alarm rang.

She must have twisted and turned a lot during her dream. Poor Buchi-kun had been knocked to the floor.

She checked her phone, narrowing her eyes at the strange new app on her phone.

She didn't remember installing it, so she simply deleted it before going about her day.

"Makoto, are you up?"

She glanced over at her sister, looking at her laptop, no doubt at something work related.

"Good morning, Sis." she greeted. "Did you need anything?"

"I have to head into work now." Sae answered. "Could you pick up some groceries? I left some money and a list on the table."

"Of course." she nodded.

"Good." Sae nodded. "I'll see you tonight. Make sure you get some studying in."

"I will." she responded.

After saying goodbye to her sister, she went through her morning routine before heading out.

Running various errands in and out of the house was nothing new to her. Her sister worked so hard to support her, so she had done everything she could, including learning how to cook and clean, to help out.

The last thing she wanted was to be a burden.

She walked to the subway, arriving a few minutes early just in case.

She got onto the train, which thankfully wasn't too crowded, and grabbed onto one of the free handles.

As the train approached its destination, she used her other hand to look at the shopping list that Sae had left for her.

Soap

Salt

Coffee

As well as…

"Ah!" she cried out, a sudden jerking motion causing her to drop the list, and nearly lose her balance.

Glancing around, she saw that the other passengers on the train were beginning to lose their balance as well.

"What's going on?!"

The train's out of control!"

"We're going to crash!"

"Crash?!" she frantically thought. "What do I do?!"

She desperately looked all over the train for something to help her.

A loud, booming noise was the last thing she heard before being flung from her feet, falling to the ground, and slipping into unconsciousness.