(A/N: Ahem! PRETTY BOIIIIIII IS FINALLY HERE!!!! AAAAHHHHHH!!! ONTO THE CHAPTER NOW!!!)

*******

------Time Skip: Subway Station------

The end of the exams hadn't felt so fulfilling and satisfying like that time. Those last few days were... hectic, at the best description--weird would be more fitting, especially with the previous day's events. Nonetheless, that would all be in the past just after a few hours now that the final day of the exams had arrived at last. Stretching his arms above his head, a small smile made his way across Ren's face as a wave of confidence came over him. He was more than prepared to take on that exam and prove that he was more than prepared to face anything. The hustle and bustle of the subway station was the same as always, brimming with life and noise as people were hurriedly trying to catch on their trains, workers and students alike.

After those three hellish days, the final day of the mid-terms finally came which was on May 14, and on that day all the gang agreed to meet each other in the train station before heading to school. Ren was first to arrive like usual, so he pulled his phone out, scrolling through a few pages online to pass the time hoping that the others won't be very late. His attention was caught when he heard a familiar cheerful voice speaking rather loudly and enthusiastically and when he turned his face to see, it was none other than Ryuji along with his childhood friend who seemed like she was done with life. The noirest waved to them while smiling softly as they approached him.

"So sleepy..." Ryuji yawned, "I ended up pullin' an all-nighter once realized today's the last day of exams."

"You? Staying up studying?" Morgana asked astonishingly.

"Nah, I gave up on the exam. I was playin' some games, then before I knew it, it was morning." Ryuji said.

"Figures... what's expected from an idiot?" Emiko closed her eyes while crossing her arms.

"You're failing for sure, Ryuji." Ren fixed the position of his glasses.

"Eh, it'll be fine. Nobody's expectin' anything of me, so I don't gotta worry about grades." Ryuji waved it off.

"What about you, Emiko? How are you doing so far?" It was the first time Ren had ever called her by her first name, so it felt a little... weird.

"Does that even matter?"

"I was just asking..."

"Listen..." Morgana started, "Since you're now a member of the Phantom Thieves, you need to work more to blend in between us since you're not alone anymore but a part of a group, and that means you need to work on this attitude of yours. Understood?"

".........."

Much to the others' surprise, it was the first time for them that someone was able to verbally overpower Emiko driving her to silence. It seemed as if Ren and Ryuji couldn't believe what had just happened which made them look shockingly to the cat who was smiling proudly to himself. Morgana felt like he just achieved something amazing which is drawing the boundary to this girl and even made her unable to reply to him anymore, and that alone was indeed something to be proud of.

"Morning..." Ann approached the group while yawning and having a tired look on her face as if she stayed up all night.

"Yo, look who else is yawnin'." Ryuji's face lit up in Ann's presence.

"Exams are almost over, so I thought I'd make one last effort across the finish line."

"Impressive, Lady Ann. You're quite different from this stupid monkey I know."

"Huh? Don't gimme that crap. Your brain's tiny compared to mine." Ryuji looked offended.

"Size is meaningless if there's nothing inside, you know." Morgana added.

"What was that?!"

"Ugh, will you please shut up?! You're gonna make me forget everything I memo--" Ann got interrupted.

"You two... are very loud."

All of a sudden there was a purplish dark aura surrounding Emiko and her eyes were entirely colored in red. In an instant, she looked a lot bigger than everyone else as they looked like ants compared to her. Her voice had a dark and threatening tone in it as she cracked her knuckles which made it very clear that things will get ugly if she was angrier than she already is. Those demonic and evil looks of hers were enough to send shivers down Ryuji, Morgana, and Ren's spines since they gulped down audibly.

"S-Scary..." Ryuji muttered as he shivered.

".......?! Am I imagining things...?" Ann scanned her surroundings feeling like she was being watched.

"Is there something wrong, Ann?" Ren asked the girl.

"What, you see a groper or something?" Ryuji itched his nose.

"No, that's not it. It's... nothing." The platinum blonde-haired shook her head.

"........." Morgana looked troubled.

"........." Even Emiko narrowed her eyes, feeling that something fishy was going on.

The train ride wasn't anywhere near peaceful since all the ride, because the entire time Ann felt like there were two eyes watching her among the crowd on the train. During that ride, she couldn't stop feeling anxious and worried as she kept looking behind her with cold sweats rolling down her face. Ryuji noticed that himself and tried asking her many times, but she kept denying it saying it was nothing, but Emiko had another opinion since she kept a suspicious look on her face while looking around her and through the crowd.

She still felt uneasy looking around her even when the train reached its destination with the speakers announcing "Aoyama-Itchome! Aoyama-Itchome!" and the four high schoolers stepping outside of the train and heading up to the escalator. However, someone unknown was following them all around and even went up to the escalator themselves while keeping their distance from the group, but even though Ann noticed that which made the terror grow on her face.

"Oh my god, that guy got off!" Ann yelped, noticing the stalker before looking at her friends, "Isn't this bad...?"

Then all of a sudden, Ryuji started yawning loudly while stretching his arms up high acting like the carefree boy he was. It was very typical behavior from Ryuji, but even with that, Ann and Emiko couldn't help themselves but draw bored comical expressions on their faces knowing that it wasn't new for him to act like this.

"Hey! At least act like you care!" Ann scolded the blonde-haired.

"Fine..." Ryuji sighed while scratching his head before walking up the escalator, "Come on."

Dumbfounded for a moment, Ann followed Ryuji up knowing that he might not be the smartest person she knew, but she felt for certain like she could trust him and by the way he spoke and acted, it seemed like he knew exactly what he was thinking. On the other hand, Ren and Emiko exchanged questionable looks between each other not having the slightest clue on what Ryuji had in mind but decided to roll with it, so they followed the two blonde-haired teenagers up ready to hear the plan from Ryuji. 

Ann was not entirely sure about the whole fan as Ryuji was explaining it to them on their way up on the escalator. Sure it was simple enough, but she couldn't hide the fact that she was worried and anxious about all this. Once she reached out from the station, she stood all alone outside, shifting her gaze there and there and looking left and right, feeling anxiety and uneasiness taking over her. Soon enough, footsteps became clearer to her with each second passing as the unknown stalker was climbing the stairs up but paused for a moment before continuing his way toward the poor girl.

She was still standing there by herself not moving a single muscle of her body with her back facing him. And just when the stalker was approaching her and thought he reached her, Ann turned her back to face the guy when Ren, Ryuji, and Emiko came out from nowhere like they were expecting him to come and stood in a protective way in front of her; a simple yet perfect ambush.

The stalker had dark blue hair with parted bangs slightly covering his left eye and gray eyes. His outfits were a mandarin collared white dress shirt embroidered with a fleur-de-lis, fitted black pants, and black loafers. He clearly wasn't a Shujin student.

"........?" The unforeseen boy had a questioned look on his face as a lock of his dark blue hair fell from its place.

Everyone who was present looked at that guy with skeptical eyes before scanning him up and down from head to toe before looking back at Ann who was still dumbfounded by this rather unexpected outcome.

"Who are you?" Ren asked him casually.

"Beautiful." That was the only word that escaped his mouth as Ann's reflection showed in his pupils.

"Huh?!" The platinum blonde-haired dumbfounded.

"Hey, uh... are you sure it's him? Or you are just that self-conscious?" Ryuji looked at the platinum blonde-haired.

"Rgh, I'm not that--" Ann was going to yell at Ryuji's face embarrassingly while blushing.

"Is there something you want?" The unforeseen boy spoke.

"Grrr..." Ann gritted her teeth in frustration before shoving her friends and walking towards him pointing her finger, "That's my line! You were the one stalking me!"

"Stalking you...? That's outrageous." The unforeseen boy commented while tucking the fallen lock back.

"I know you've been following me! Ever since the train!" 

"That's because..."

The unforeseen boy trailed about to defend himself in front of Ann and the others, but he didn't have the chance to finish what he was going to say since a car's horn kicked in. A black car stopped near the teenagers before its window lowered down revealing an elderly man with long grey hair tied in a ponytail and he had short facial hair and wore traditional Japanese clothes.

"My goodness... I had wondered why you left the car. So this is where your passion led. All is well that ends well. Hahahahaha..." The old man laughed.

"I saw you from the car... and I couldn't help myself from chasing after you. I didn't even notice the calls from Sensei... but thank goodness, I caught up to you." The unforeseen boy had a relieved smile on his face.

"Okay..." Ann trailed awkwardly while sweatdropping.

"What?" Ryuji scratched the back of his head.

"Ever since I first saw her days ago, I couldn't take my eyes off her. She stole my heart." He pointed at Ann.

".........!" Emiko widened her eyes ever so slightly.

"Eh?" Ann was taken aback by his sentence which caused her to blush in embarrassment.

"You're the woman I've been searching for all this time! Please, won't you--" The unforeseen boy was about to say.

"Are you for real?" Ryuji interrupted him.

"W-Wait a minute, I--" Ann was stuttering embarrassingly, turning into a blushing mess.

"--Be the model for my next art piece?"

"Huh?" All the four drew blank comical expressions on their faces. (._.)

"...Model?" Ann repeated.

"All that I've drawn till now has been lacking, but I feel a passion from you unlike anyone else." The unforeseen boy added.

"This man's highly suspicious." Morgana spoke angrily.

"Ain't this a recruit for some shady business?" Ryuji turned to Ann, whispering uncomfortably.

"Will you cooperate with me? What do you say?" The unforeseen boy asked Ann desperately.

"Hold your horses! Who're you anyways?" Ryuji asked angrily while standing in front of Ann protectively.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm a second-year at Kosei High's fine-arts division. My name is Yusuke Kitagawa." Yusuke said while shoving Ryuji away from him walking to Ann, "I'm Madarame-Sensei's pupil, and I am being allowed residence at his place. I'm striving to become an artist!"

"Huh!? Do you mean THAT Madarame? The one who was on 'Good Morning Japan' the other day?" Ann widened her eyes.

"The very same."

"You know who that is?" Ryuji asked the platinum blonde-haired.

"He was introduced as a super-famous Japanese-style artist who's been recognized all over the world. But we heard that name the other day in Mementos..." Ann muttered the last sentence as everyone looked at Madarame who was in the car.

"Yusuke!" Madarame called.

"I'm sorry, Sensei. I'll be right there!" Yusuke said.

"That old guy's Madarame...?" Ryuji trailed.

"Ichiryusai Madarame, huh..." Emiko muttered that word quietly to herself as the light shone on her glasses' lenses.

Yusuke walked closer towards Ann saying, "Madarame-Sensei's exhibition will begin at the department store near the station tomorrow. I'll be there to help out on the opening day. Please come by. It'd be great if you could give me your answer in regard to being a model then..."

"I bet you have no interest in fine arts, but I'll give you tickets too." Yusuke frowned at the other three before giving the tickets to Ann, "Well then, I hope to see you there tomorrow!"

With that said, Yusuke waved at Ann while smiling sweetly and warmly to her before getting into the black car that drove away with Morgana poking his tongue out from his mouth toward the walking vehicle. The three teenagers were still a little dumbfounded with what just happened, except for Emiko who had a dark and unreadable expression on her face while looking at Ann. After hearing Yusuke's words towards Ann, she felt something ugly eating her from inside out.

"That guy's as easy to read as a book... you're not plannin' on goin', are you?" Ryuji frowned while asking Ann.

"...I think I will." Ann admitted.

"WHAT?!" Ryuji was beyond just shocked.

"Crap! Look at the time! I'll see you later." Ann looked at her phone before running away.

"How dare he go after Lady Ann... I've memorized that face of yours, Yusuke!" Morgana growled.

".......?" All of a sudden, Ren shifted his gaze at Emiko to see her in rather a worrying state.

Her fists were balled and her arms were twitching from how much she was clenching them. Her teeth were gritting against each other hard as her brown bangs were shadowing her face until her nose, so no clear facial expression could be pinpointed from her.

"Emiko... are you all right?" Ren hesitated to ask.

"Huh, Mikki? Why do you look so angry like this?"

"I'm fine, okay?" She shoved the two boys away from her way before walking away from them very quickly.

"Dude, what the hell's wrong with her...?" Ryuji trailed.

"Beats me..." Morgana sighed hopelessly.

"........." Ren couldn't stop himself from starting to feel worried about her.

While walking away towards the school, Emiko kept having her head lowered down, teeth clenched, hands in her black blazer's pockets, and face shadowed by her hair.

"Of course he'd ask Ann to be his model and call her beautiful."

"It's always been like this... ever since middle school."

"Why not me? Why?! What's the problem with how I look?!"

*******

------After School: Subway Station------

The battle of the finals was finally over since that was the last day of the exams. The young students couldn't feel any less happy when they delivered their test papers to their teachers before heading out of the school. Finally, they decided to meet in the subway station after school and they all looked beat and tired like they've just returned from a battle.

"Mmmmmm, it's over!" Ann exclaimed while stretching her arms.

"It's over..." Both Ryuji and Ren sighed at the same time.

"C'mon, you two need to get your act together." Ann said.

"How 'bout you, Mikki...?"

"Fine, I guess."

"Are you feelin' OK now?"

"...Yeah."

"Anyways, can we stop talkin' about the exams? Like it or not, they're gonna come back graded next week. Rather than focus on stuff that's over with..." Ryuji pulled his phone out looking at something.

"What're you looking at?" Ann questioned.

"The usual site." Ryuji nodded, "...It's no use. There ain't any useful info. The number of posts are gettin' less and less too..." He sighed in disappointment while putting his phone back in his pocket.

"I am not letting this end as a one-hit wonder, okay?" Morgana spoke seriously.

"There's no point in getting antsy though." Ann added, "I know! Why don't we go eat lunch somewhere? We still have some money left over the other day."

"That... doesn't actually sound really bad." Emiko admitted.

"I want sushi then! Or domestic-raised eel!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"We don't have THAT much left." Ann reminded, "Oh right! There are those tickets to Madarame's exhibit! ...Wait, that's tomorrow."

"Don't tell me. Was it love at first sight with that Yusuke guy...?" Morgana was about to freak out.

"It's not like that." Ann shook her head.

"O-Of course not." Morgana sighed in relief.

"Poser!" Ryuji mocked Ann.

"Shut up!" Ann leaned her face closer toward the blonde-haired.

Ren and Emiko could only sweatdrop at their childish quarrel.

"When I was watching that special on TV, his artwork was pretty nice. Plus, we've got free tickets. Besides, this could also be related to what we heard in Mementos." Ann narrowed her eyes.

"...Madarame, was it?" Ryuji asked.

"Hrmm..." Morgana trailed.

"Madarame..." Ren mumbled to himself.

"You're thinking about him too, aren't you?" Suddenly, Emiko asked Ren seriously.

"Eh?"

"Madarame, I mean."

"Yeah."

"I knew it... it's troubling me too."

"That aside, what should I do about the other three tickets? Want to go appreciate some fine arts for once?" Ann wondered with a joyous smile.

"Fine arts, huh..." Ryuji crossed his arms.

"I suggest, we should all go together! Appreciating the fine arts builds character. A phantom thief who can't identify an original is lame." Morgana said happily.

"Well, if everyone's going..." Ryuji trailed.

"It's settled then! It'd be worth it once in a while! Sounds like it'll be useful for Phantom Thieves too, you know? It's decided then! We're going. Let's meet at the exhibit entrance tomorrow." Ann beamed cheerfully.

"I hate you all." Emiko blurted that out of blues. 

*******

------Evening: Leblanc's Attic------

"Tomorrow we go to that exhibit with Lady Ann. I'm curious to know if this Madarame has anything to do with the name we heard in Mementos... whatever the case may be, we can't be late. Better get to bed early!"

Ren chuckled to himself at the cat's words before throwing his ached body down on the bed and closing his eyes to enjoy some peace and quiet now that the exams are finally over and done with. But that peace didn't last long since his phone buzzed announcing the beginning of a new group chat.

Ann: So I keep thinking about what Nakanohara said...

Ann: Could he have been talking about the famous artist Madarame?

Ren: That sounds about right.

Emiko: Yeah, maybe.

Ryuji: Seconded.

Ann: Great. The name really stood out to me...

Ryuji: Yeah I mean, you guys heard of someone else called Madarame?

Ann: It's really not common at all.

Ann: If what we heard is true, Kitagawa-Kun is studying under a corrupt teacher.

Ryuji: You mean a teacher who treats people like tools.

Emiko: That would be the case, yes.

Ann: Kitagawa-Kun's life is probably pretty terrible...

Ryuji: We gotta look into this.

"We're going to the exhibition tomorrow, right? Don't oversleep! 'Ichiryusai Madarame: An Infinite Font of Ideals,' huh...? I read the blurb on the ticket, but it seems that this Madarame is actually an amazing artist... Some of his pieces might be worth looking at, after all..." Morgana smiled at himself.

Even though Ren nodded, his mind was already preoccupied with what happened today earlier; Emiko's dark facial expression that is. He was indeed bothered by the way she looked and acted after that boy Yusuke talked with Ann and left. Ren wondered about what could possibly have bothered her that much but as he was thinking about that, he drifted into sleep.

*******

------The Next Day: The Exhibit------

It was Sunday, May 15; the first day of Madarame's exhibition. The entire group met at the exhibition's entrance like they agreed on, and luckily none of them was late at all, even Ryuji. They showed up wearing their normal and everyday winter clothes since it was the weekend, after all. And of course, Ryuji would be the least interested by all this since he had a bored facial expression while shoving his hands into his purple jacket's pockets. Despite that, Emiko's eyes wandered left and right, looking dazzled by all this since her eyes sparkled ever so slightly, but tended to hide it when she faced the group again. 

"So crowded..." Morgana stated.

"It'll be a pain in the ass if someone sees you, so don't stick your head out too much, all right?" Ryuji reminded Morgana as he hid back inside the bag.

"You came!" Yusuke approached the group looking happy upon seeing Ann.

"Um... yeah. H-Hello." Ann trailed awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, and you are?" Yusuke seemed like he just noticed Emiko for the first time.

She felt as if an arrow was shot right in the middle of her heart, but she shoved it off by shaking her head and saying, "Never mind me. I'm just a classmate of Ann."

"You really came." Yusuke's voice and expression were entirely changed to much harder ones upon seeing the two boys.

"What'd you expect when you left us those tickets?!" Ryuji folded his arms.

"Make sure that you don't get in the way of the other visitors." Yusuke reminded them before looking at Ann, "Come now. I'll show you around. I'd like to speak more about the picture I'd like to draw too."

"Well, see you guys later." Ann said before leaving with Yusuke.

"Will Lady Ann be all right?! What if he drags her behind some painting and tries something funny?" Morgana was about to freak out before sticking his tongue out again to the direction where Yusuke left with Ann.

"I told you not to come out!" Ryuji whisper-shouted at the cat who hid again.

"Are we gonna 'appreciate' the fine arts? Can't we just go home?" Ryuji complained, obviously uninterested in the whole thing.

"We should learn about Madarame." Ren stated.

"I guess we should do a quick pass through it once... uh... which way are we supposed to start?" Ryuji sighed in defeat while walking.

"I'm curious about something." Ren blurted out.

"You're not alone." Emiko glanced at him.

"Hm? It's that old man from the other day." Ryuji suddenly stopped her tracks. 

He pointed at Madarame who had a warm smile on his face standing in a spot in the exhibit, and he was being interviewed by the media as countless people were surrounding him with admired looks in their eyes and never-ending murmurs.

"We continue to be truly surprised by your imagination. You have such expansive styles, it's hard to believe that it all stems from one person... where in the world does all your inspiration come from?" The interviewer asked Madarame.

"Well... it is rather difficult to put into words... they naturally well up from within my heart like bubbles rising one after another in a spring."

"Naturally, you say?"

"What's important is to distance oneself from worldly desires such as money and fame. My atelier is a modest shack, but it is more than enough to pursue true beauty."

"A shack?" Ren questioned himself.

"Hm..." Emiko held her chin.

"I see... so the act of emptying one's mind gives rise to inner beauty. Still, to think we could hear the word 'shack' coming from the great artist Madarame."

"You would understand if you saw it. Hahahahaha..."

"Wasn't the word 'shack' something..." Ryuji was interrupted.

"Madarame-San is actually here?!"

"Over there!"

"I'm so glad I came on opening day!"

After all, tens of people rushed towards Madarame surrounding him so they can get a better look at him, but they were so many as if almost every person who attended the exhibit rushed towards that one particular spot, but they also ended up crushing the teenagers who were standing there and nearly suffocating them to death. 

"Hey, stop pushin'...! There's way too many people!" Ryuji was choking.

"I'm getting crushed..." Morgana was about to die.

"Anyways, we gotta head for the exit! Don't die on us, all right?!"

Thankfully, Emiko was able to flee the scene before people came rushing to them since she kinda saw that coming when she first heard them gawking and squealing. She had a troubled expression on her face and let a deep, long distressed sigh escape her lips while rubbing the back of her head. This whole situation was a little pain in the ass for her, but she took the opportunity to wander around and examine a few paintings of her own before she could recruit with the boys. After all, it was the first time she ever went to an art exhibition, so her interest was piqued.

At first, she wandered around here and there aimlessly, taking a few glances of random paintings along the way and listening to people talking meaningless gibberish jabber among themselves. But as she was walking, a certain painting caught her attention which made her stop her tracks to look at it. It was basically one big vortex of very dark colors mixed with each other. Sure it looked simple, but something about it... intrigued her. It symbolized agony, distress, anger, and despair and as she was looking at it, voices filled her ears as a memory flashed right in front of her eyes.

"A-a-a-a-a...!"

"What... WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

"A-a-a... AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Aaaahhhh...!" That scream escaped her lungs.

Of course, she caught the attention of people standing around her and looked at her with eyes filled with curiosity due to her sudden scream. Her skin went pale, sweat dripping down, eyes and jaw wide open, breath hitching, and heart beating fast. She couldn't take that rush of emotions and felt like she was about to crack, so she had no other choice but to run away from the eyes that were following her. On the other hand and not too far from her, Ann and Yusuke were examining art pieces together. Her eyes absolutely admired every painting Yusuke was showing her since they were sparkling with joy and excitement much to his delight.

"I didn't know there were so many types of Japanese art." Ann looked quite amazed.

"Usually one concentrates on their own style. However, Sensei creates all this by himself. He's special."

"There you are, Yusuke." Suddenly, Madarame approached them.

"Sensei!" Yusuke got alerted.

"Ah, the girl from yesterday. Are you enjoying the exhibit?" 

"I don't know how to put it into words... but It's really amazing."

"You're sensing something from the artwork... that alone is enough to give us artists satisfaction. I hope this becomes a wonderful piece, Yusuke. Well then, if you'll excuse me." Madarame excused himself before leaving.

"You'd imagine artists would be difficult to approach... but he seems really friendly." Ann smiled heartedly.

"Indeed."

"Oh, this is it--the painting I wanted to see in person." Ann pointed at a painting that consisted of drawn trees of many shapes and colors.

"...This one?" 

"I guess it's the painter's anger? I'm not sure, but I sense this... strong frustration from it. To think such a cheerful and gentlemanly person could make such a piece..."

"........" Yusuke stayed quiet, looking pretty upset.

"Something wrong?"

"Don't mind me. There are better pieces than... this one. Come now, this way!" He started walking away.

"H-Hey...!" Ann gasped before following him.

"Hm...?" Yusuke noticed a brown-haired girl running away with tears filling her eyes before mumbling to himself, "Wasn't that Takamaki-San's friend...?"

Shaking his head, Yusuke continued walking quickly ahead of him despite Ann's constant calls behind him to slow down. That moment, the dark blue-haired artist didn't want to hear anything, not after the girl's comment about that painting. It hurt... and it hurt so much to the point of making Yusuke's chest ache in pain, causing him to quicken his pace. Unable to catch up to him and eventually losing him through the crowd, Ann halted her movements to catch her breath. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, hoping to catch any glimpse of dark blue hair... well, Yusuke was pretty tall so it shouldn't be hard to find him. However, Ann still couldn't find him nearby, making her take a deep and tired sigh. It was bizarre though, that sudden change in his behavior. Did she say something wrong? He looked in so much pain, after all.

Suddenly, Ann's ears perked up when she heard someone crying beside her--particularly, the crying of a small child. Turning to the source of the voice, she spotted a small girl with bluish, off-white hair, straight and combed, which was parted in the middle of her forehead, almost reaching down to her waist. She had very wide, innocent-looking eyes, which were bright red in color. Her outfit consisted of a white dress shirt with a frilled collar, a plain red pinafore with two large, and golden buttons on either side of her chest. Under that, she wore gray tights, a large set of tan boots, a small dark red messenger bag with the trap sitting over her right shoulder, and a little floral pattern decorating one of its sides.

"Hey, are you okay? What's wrong, little girl?" Ann approached the child from behind with a reassuring smile.

"...........!" She looked behind her in panic as if she had seen a monster.

"O-Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" Ann quickly stepped back, seeing how uncomfortable the girl was.

"...nger." She muttered weakly.

"Huh? Sorry, I didn't hear that."

"...Stranger is danger. That's what big bro taught me."

"Is that so?" Ann giggled, "Well, he's not entirely wrong. Not all strangers are bad, some just really want to help. So, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"I... I got separated from my big bro b-because of the crowd..." The little girl sniffed.

"Oh, no! That's terrible!" Ann knelt down to reach the girl's level, "Say, do you want to look for him together?"

"R-Really? You'll help me look for him?" Her eyes lit up ever so slightly.

"Mm-hm, I told you that not all strangers all bad."

".........." The little girl stared at Ann in awe.

"So, how does your brother look like?"

"Um... well, he has this messy green hair, green eyes... oh, and freckles on his face!" She described while pointing at her head and face to give more emphasis.

"Okay, gotcha. C'mon, let's go look for him together. He must be worried sick about you." Ann stood up.

"O-Okay..." The little girl nodded slowly, wiping her teary eyes.

Smiling reassuringly to give the little girl a sense of hope, Ann led the way as she walked beside the blueish white-haired child, making sure to keep glancing at her so she wouldn't be lost again. The place sure was crowded, so it was no surprise why she got separated from her brother... maybe that happened when people gathered around Madarame? Speaking of which, wasn't she a bit young to attend an art exhibit? She looked no older than seven or eight years old. Either she loved art or her brother and she simply accompanied him. Putting her thoughts on hold, Ann felt a gentle tug on her sleeve, causing her to look down to see the small girl grabbing into her while offering her a small, shy smile. Ann beamed at the girl's gesture, especially at how she was wary of her just a few moments ago... she looked so polite and well-behaved that her brother must've been so proud.

"There you are!" A voice exclaimed.

"Big bro!" The girl quickly let go of Ann to run away from her.

The child threw herself in the arms of a short boy whose round face was framed by a short mess of fluffy dark-green hair which stuck up at odd angles around his head, casting noticeably dark shadows onto itself. His eyes were large and somewhat circular, their irises the same green color as his hair, stretched quite wide, giving him an innocent appearance. He had a set of four symmetrical freckles in diamond formations, one on each cheek. He wore a plaid white shirt beneath a light green jacket, associated with dark jeans, and oversized red boots with thick white soles laced up to the top. He squeezed his little sister tightly, pulling her closer to his chest as if he never wanted to let go of her evet again.

"Big bro! Big bro!" She kept calling him to make sure he was really there.

"My God... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Konno quickly pulled his sister away to look at her face, "Are you okay? Were you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine. This kind lady helped me find you." She pointed at Ann.

"I'm really glad for the both of you." The young model beamed happily.

"Thank you, thank you so much for taking care of my sister! I don't know how I can ever repay you!" Konno bowed a few times.

"Nah, it was my pleasure really. She's such a nice girl."

"Um, big bro... aren't you mad at me for talking with a stranger?" The little girl fiddled with her fingers nervously.

"No, not at all! I should've taught you better that not all people are bad. I'm such a terrible brother..."

"No, that's not true! You're the best big bro in the whole world!"

".........!" Konno's eyes widened from those words.

"Well, I'd better get going now. Someone is still waiting for me." Ann took her phone out to look at the time.

"Oh..." The girl seemed disappointed.

"Now, what do you say to someone who offered their help?" Konno reminded his sister.

"Th-Thank you so much, kind lady!" She bowed.

"Haha, you don't have to thank me at all! But listen, next time don't ever let go of your brother's hand. It's really precious." Ann smiled at her.

"Yeah, I won't!"

"Thank you again so much!" Konno bowed once more.

"Well, take care you two." Ann smiled before turning her back.

"Bye bye!" The girl waved, grinning happily.

If only fate allowed it... she really wanted to meet Ann again in the future.

*******

The sound of water running out from the tap filled the bathroom and followed by splashing. Emiko's shaky fingers moved towards the tap to turn it off as the room fell into utter silence. The only sound that can be heard is the sound of water dripping down from her face and hair into the sink. Her arms were trembling as she held the sides of the porcelain sink and staring at her reflection in the mirror. She already took her glasses off but looked like an absolute mess since her face was still pale and her eyes looked tired and dull.

"I can't... I can't take it anymore." Her voice trembled, "For how long do I have to keep this act...?"

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I WANT IT TO STOP!"

She couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her face nor the loud sniffles she made and even though she tried covering her face, she still cried and hiccuped really badly.

"What should I do...?" She sniffed.

"Since you're now a member of the Phantom Thieves, you need to work more to blend in between us since you're not alone anymore but a part of a group, and that means you need to work on this attitude of yours. Understood?" She recalled Morgana's words.

"Only if I could..." She chuckled sadly, "I can't... let anyone know... who I really am."

*******

------Evening: Shibuya's Passageway------

After he brown-haired calmed down, she already regrouped with the two boys near the exit of the exhibit and they all went to Shibuya's passageway, and yet it was already evening and dark.

"That old lady totally elbowed me..." Ryuji whined, "...But thanks to that, I remember now."

"What about Ann?" Ren asked.

"Let's not worry about it for now... It's about a post online."

"What post?" Emiko asked.

"...Here, look at this." Ryuji pulled his phone out when the girl came.

"Why'd you leave without me?!" Ann approached the group asking angrily.

"You got it all wrong: we got dragged into this huge crowd and--" Ryuji paused shrugging his shoulders, "...Eh, anyways. You gotta look at this too. This post might be about Madarame." Ryuji showed the post to her.

"What's it say?" The ash blonde-haired asked.

"'A master of the Japanese arts is plagiarizing his pupils' work. Only his public face is shown on TV.'" Ryuji read the post.

"Plagiarizing?!" Ann gasped in shock.

"...What?" Emiko's eyes widened.

"I didn't think much of it when I first saw it, but hearing 'shack' and 'Madarame' triggered it." Ryuji started reading the post, "'His treatment of the pupils who live with him is awful. He teaches nothing and bosses them around. He treats them inhumanely as if disciplining a dog...'"

"Abuse on top of plagiarism, hm...?" Morgana trailed.

"If this is real, it'll be a huge scandal." Ryuji exclaimed.

"Think about it though. He's in the limelight which would make it dangerous for us." Morgana reminded.

"I know!" Ryuji protested.

"Do you really?"

"I wonder if Kitagawa-Kun posted this. I mean, he IS a pupil of his." Ann added.

"Who knows? It's anonymous and all..." Ryuji mumbled.

"In that case... it's possible that the Madarame we heard about in Mementos is referring to the same one." Morgana said.

"So what should we do?" Ann asked the noirest.

"We should first confirm whether or not it's true." Ren replied.

"Is it really like how I thought it would be...?" Mikki held her chin.

"A man like that doing such a thing...? I wonder if we can ask that Shadow from earlier about this. Oh, actually we just need to talk to him in reality." Ann remembered.

"And how do we go about that? Are we gonna explain it all, startin' with Mementos?" Ryuji asked.

"Besides, if we make a move out in the open, there's the possibility that Madarame will find out." Morgana said.

"Oh... yeah, right..." Ann trailed.

"Hey, what do you think about Madarame? Doesn't he seem suspicious?" Ryuji asked Ren.

"He does." Ren nodded.

"........" Emiko was deep in thought.

"I know, right? This all fits way too well to just be a coincidence. If this post is legit, ain't this the kinda target we've been waitin' for?" Ryuji grinned excitedly.

"Well, yeah, but... is it really true...?" Ann asked while looking down.

"By the way, what'd you do about the whole modeling thing?" Ryuji asked.

"Kitagawa-Kun gave me his contact info. And, the address to his sensei's atelier." Ann replied.

"He said he lives there, right? Perfect timing. Let's try goin' tomorrow. We're off to Madarame's house right after school!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"Huh? You want me to model tomorrow?!" Ann gasped, "This is too sudden..."

"What? We're just gonna talk to Kitagawa." Ryuji widened his eyes.

"Oh, that's what you meant..." Ann trailed.

"Hm..." Emiko still looked like she had something in mind.

*******

-------The Next Day: On Train------

The school day ended much faster than anticipated and before even knowing it, the thieves found themselves meeting up near the entrance and heading to the train station together so they could go to the address given to Ann by Yusuke. The ash blonde-haired was still a little bit nervous about all this but tried her best not to show that since they had to make sure whether the info in that post was real or not. She hoped not...

"Phantom thieves goin' by train... this ain't any different from how I get home from school, y'know." Ryuji complained.

"The train is the fastest way to go. Plus, we can bring pets on here." Ann explained calmly.

"Hey, who're you calling a pet?!" Morgana snapped, looking offended.

"Dude, be quiet! We didn't pay the pet fare." Ryuji whisper-shouted.

"I'm the one guiding you to your destination! You should be calling me 'Master'!" Morgana argued.

"Ssssshhh!" Emiko tried to shush the cat.

"Ooh, kitty!" An innocent little girl approached the group happily.

"Er, shoot...!" Ann mumbled.

"Is that your pet, Mister? I heard it meowing!" The innocent girl spoke happily.

"Actually, It's just a stuffed animal." Ren laughed nervously.

"Yeah, it's just a toy. It meows when you press on its head." Ann smiled.

And Emiko just facepalmed her forehead.

"You heard her, Ren. Press on its head." Ryuji told his buddy.

"This is ridic--" Morgana was about to say.

"Sorry, Morgana..." Ren whispered before pressing gently on Morgana's head.

"M-Mewww..." Morgana mowed annoyingly.

"Wowweeeee! Again! Again!" The innocent girl jumped.

"Time to button mash!" Ren went rampage on pressing Morgana's head.

"Mew... meowowowowowowowow!" Morgana seemed to be in great pain, "...Blerghhh!"

"Ahaha, that's so funny! I wanna hear it again!" The innocent girl laughed.

"I just threw up in my mouth..." Morgana trailed.

"Seriously...?" Ryuji sweatdropped.

"Ew." Emiko commented blankly.

"The next stop is Shibuya. Shibuya. Doors will open on the left side." The train announcement said.

"Oh, this is our stop! Well, see you later! Bye bye!" Ann smiled nervously at the girl.

"Mm-hm! Bye bye!" The girl skipped her way back to where she was originally sitting.

"I hate you all." Morgana blurted out of blue.

*******

------Madarame's House------

The Phantom Thieves finally reached Madarame's house, but much to their shock it looked really old and shabby as well to their surprise. It was indeed nothing like what they expected at all which left them in a state of surprise, having cold sweats rolling down their faces. They expected that a great and known artist like Madarame would live in a big and fancy house, but the sight before them told a whole different story and even when Ryuji and Ren heard the word "shack," they didn't expect it to be that bad.

"Is... that it?" Ryuji asked uncertainly if that's the right place.

"I-I'm not sure..." Even Emiko was speechless.

"We're at the right address... the door plate does say 'Madarame.'" Ann pointed.

"Uhhhh... You ring the bell." Ryuji told Ann.

"Me?! The walls won't collapse when I do, will they...?"

"No one sneezes or we'll blow this house down, OK?" Morgana joked as they walked towards the entrance.

"Ann." Ren called calmly.

"R-Right." Ann gulped before ringing the doorbell.

It wasn't long before Yusuke's voice came out from the intercom.

"Who is it? Sensei is currently--"

"Um, it's Takamaki."

"I'll be right out!"

"People really do live here..." Ryuji whispered as a certain dark blue-haired young artist opened the door.

"Takamaki-Sa--" Yusuke paused when he saw the boys, "...You two are here, as well?" He frowned.

"That sure escalated fast." Emiko commented.

"Sorry to disappoint." Ryuji raised his hand.

"I don't recall inviting you."

"U-Um, actually..." Ann tried to talk.

"Hey. Sorry, but we ain't here to talk about the modeling thing. There's somethin' we gotta ask you. Is it true Madarame's plagiarizin' stuff? He's abusing people too, yeah?"

"Are you serious?" Yusuke glared at the blonde-haired.

"We read about it online." Ryuji showed the post to the dark blue-haired.

"This...?" Yusuke read the post before laughing hysterically, "Preposterous! Not only is the plagiarism impossible, but abuse? If he hated children so much to harm them, he would never allow pupils into his home! And I'm doing the one residing here and studying under him. I'm saying it's not true, so it's beyond doubt." His voice became really defensive.

"You might be lying about it!" Ryuji argued.

"That..." Yusuke trailed, "...That is utter rubbish. I had no family when Sensei took me in and raised me into what you see now! If you continue to ridicule the man I owe my life to, you will rue this day!" He yelled aggressively.

"...You really think that?" Ann narrowed her eyes.

"Kitagawa, stop lying to yourself!" Emiko yelled out of the blue.

"Huh...?" Ann looked at her shockingly.

"Mikki?"

"It's no use lying about this to yourself anymore! I can see it, your life is filled with pain and suffering... I've lived in that pain myself for too long so I recognize it when I see it. Am I right or not, Kitagawa?"

"You..." Yusuke trailed.

"........!" Ren's mouth was slightly agape since he never expected such a reaction from the brown-haired.

"Yusuke?" Madarame just came upon hearing the argument, "What's the matter? I heard you yelling."

"These people are slandering you with baseless rumors!"

"Rumors?" Madarame looked at Ryuji causing him to gulp nervously.

"...Forgive them, Yusuke."

"Eh?!" The group was dumbfounded.

"They must've heard some bad rumors and came in worry for their friend's safety."

"...Understood, Sensei."

"Well, even I doubt that a cranky old man like myself could be liked by everyone."

"That's not what we meant..." Ann shook her head.

"But Yusuke has done nothing wrong. Would you look upon him favorably? I beg of you." Madarame suddenly bowed in front of the group.

"Huh?!" All the four were taken aback at Madarame's unexpected action.

"Please stop, Sensei! You don't have to..." Yusuke placed his arms on his Sensei's shoulders before standing up.

"I'm sorry to have butt in on your conversation. However, I do have neighbors around. Won't you please keep it down? Now, if you'll excuse me." Madarame excused himself before walking inside the house.

"That was discourteous of me... I'm sorry." Yusuke bowed.

"Huh...?" Emiko's eyes widened at the sudden gesture.

"...I know! I think you'll be able to believe in Sensei if you saw that painting. It's his maiden work as his most representative piece--It's titled 'Sayuri.'"

Yusuke showed them the picture of a beautiful woman with dark hair styled in a one-side braid laying on her shoulder and wearing red. She had a warm and loving smile on her face, and her body was surrounded by a purple cloud.

"'Sayuri'...?" Ann trailed.

"This was the painting that inspired me to become an artist."

"She's so beautiful..." Ann gasped in awe.

"I don't know about all this fine-art stuff, but even I can tell that this is impressive..." Ryuji widened his eyes.

"........!" Emiko's eyes sparkled upon seeing the painting.

"When I first saw you, I felt the same powerful emotion as when I saw this painting..." Yusuke looked at Ann.

"Eh?" Ann blushed madly.

"I wish to pursue beauty like this. And I believe drawing you will be part of that pursuit. I implore you: seriously consider my offer. I'm sorry that you took the time to come all this way, but I must assist Sensei today. I hope that we can discuss this further another time. If you'll excuse me, then." He excused himself before walking inside the house.

Ryuji was left at a loss for words even after Yusuke walked inside the shack since he glanced at Ann who was still a blushing mess. She brought her fingers up to her cheek to feel its warmth from the aftermath of Yusuke's words to her. The blonde-haired boy felt as if the strings of his heart were being pulled forcefully as well as an uncomfortable feeling dwelling in the pit of his stomach. He hated that feeling a lot and wanted it to stop, so he shook his head before noticing that Ann's blush finally died down.

"Those two... seem like nice guys, don't they?" Ryuji asked hesitantly.

"I'm kind of taken aback. Maybe the Madarame we heard about in Mementos is a different person. It seems like Madarame-Sensei really is a good person. I can tell Kitagawa-Kun sincerely respects him. Someone who's been on TV bowed to us. Maybe the rumors were mistaken?" Ann rubbed the back of her head.

"Maybe." Ren looked down.

"But it really was a shack." Ryuji told Ann.

"Yeah, right?"

"Man, right when we thought we found a new target, too..." Ryuji sighed in disappointment.

"How's the Meta-Nav?" Morgana asked as Ren checked his phone.

"Candidate found."

"Hey, the app..." Ryuji got alerted.

"The Meta-Nav is reacting." Ren had an unreadable expression on his face.

"No way! A hit?! Ryuji gasped.

"Dammit..." Emiko gritted her teeth angrily, exhaling that word while holding her wrist tightly.

"Was it picking up our conversation? This display... it means that Madarame has a Palace too, right?! But why?!" Ann asked.

"I don't know." Ren replied.

"'Madarame', 'Plagiarism'... and then 'Shack', huh? These seem to be the keywords." Morgana pointed out.

"For real though, what the hell's goin' on?! Does an old man like him really have a Palace...?!"

"We have the person's name and the location. All that's left is the 'what' Madarame mistakes this shack for to enter his Palace." Morgana added for the matter-of-factly.

"You mean... like how Kamoshida thought the school was his castle?" Ann asked.

"That's right. Let's try saying some things. They can be random guesses." Morgana suggested.

"It's a bit sudden, though..." Ryuji scratched his hair.

"Why don't we start with 'castle'?" Ann questioned.

"No candidates found."

"Then... 'Exhibit,' maybe...?" Emiko trailed.

"No candidates found."

"Then, what about 'prison'?" Ryuji spoke up.

"No candidates found."

"Ugh, what a pain! 'Jail'! 'Warehouse'! And 'guidance counselin' office'! Might as well add 'farm'!" Ryuji counted.

"No candidates found."

"Not a single hit...?"

"...Should we come back another time?" Morgana suggested.

"A building that's related to artists... if we think from there, that would be it...?" Ann trailed.

"You already figured it out too, didn't you, Ren?" Emiko eyed the raven-haired.

With a nod of acknowledgment, he said "A 'museum.'"

"Beginning navigation."

"'Beginning navigation...' Whoa, really?" Ryuji widened his eyes.

And finally, the dark vortex formed to teleport them to the Metaverse.

*******

------Madarame's Palace------

"Hey, when did you activate the Nav?! You surprised me!" Mona yelped.

"Didn't have much of a choice. I think we just happened to get it right." Skull shrugged it off.

"Sorry Mona, but it had to be done." Joker rubbed the back of his head.

"What if I hadn't noticed, and then wandered off and got caught by an enemy?!" Mona jumped.

"You prolly woulda figured it out once you started walkin' on two legs." Skull sighed hopelessly.

"Grrr..." Mona growled in frustration.

"So even you can slip into the Metaverse without realizing it, Morgana?" Panther asked.

"Yup. In a place with minimal cognitive distortion, the differences can be subtle." Mona replied.

"I see..." Flare held her chin.

"Forget that... look!" Skull widened his eyes in awe while pointing at something.

Everyone else stopped talking and looked to see a humongous museum lying ahead of them made of gold and garnished with expensive and shiny jewelries.

"That shack is seriously some kinda museum?!" Skull widened his eyes.

"Let's go and check it out!" Joker said while everyone nodded before following him near the entrance.

"It's so extravagant... to the point that it's gaudy. It's a museum... right?" Panther asked uncomfortably.

"This is Madarame's?" Skull slightly widened his eyes.

"A Palace is scenery driven by desires, just like how Kamoshida's Palace was a castle. Mona explained.

"Madarame's artwork is on display at museums in reality too, though. His exhibit was popular, and people already respect him. Why would he fantasize about a museum?" Panther commented.

"You two got a point... It ain't related to plagiarism or abuse either." Skull agreed.

"I wonder about all this..." Flare trailed.

"Let's try looking around. Racking our brains here won't do us any good." Mona suggested.

"...Right. That aside... ain't museums a must for phantom thieves?!" Skull asked excitedly.

"Yeah, you're definitely right." Joker nodded.

"Now that's our Joker! I feel the same." Mona spoke.

"But man, look at that insane crowd..." Skull commented.

"Well then, it's time we begin our infiltration!" Mona announced.

"Flare." Joker approached the pale blue-haired girl.

"What?"

"What you told Kitagawa... about living in pain."

"Please, just forget about it..."

The pale blue-haired's face got shadowed by her hair as she walked away to follow the others. Joker reached his arm to stop her but it was too late, and it was that moment when it was confirmed to him that Flare had a very sad story to tell. He followed the others toward the Palace of the artist Madarame, and whatever laid behind those doors were deep secrets waiting for them to be uncovered!

*******

Word count: 8950 words

A/N: OH. MY GOD. THIS CHAPTER IS FINALLY OVERRRRRRR!!! MY GOOOOOOOOOOD!!! DDXXXX

Mweheheheh, am I seeing a potential love rival for our Ryuji? Oh, la la~ You better get your girl fast, Ryu!

And are we starting to see the REAL colors of Emiko? Looks like she has more than what the eye could see.

And the Konno siblings are just so precious, eh? I LOVE THE TWO OF THEM SO MUCH, I CAN'T--

My deepest apologies for the delay of the update. Things have been really tough at home for the last month and I've been in a state of slump. Ugh, it's just the worst thing ever! =.=

Please support me on Ko-fi so I can keep doing what I love! ☕

What did you think of the chapter nonetheless?

Let me know! 😄

Rand Talih💞

Published on: Fri/Mar 12/2021