5/15

We all showed up to the art museum as Morgana was hanging out from Ren's back.

Morgana:"It's so crowded here..."

"Keep it down, Mona. It'd be bad if someone saw you. So try and lay low."

He nodded and went back into Ren's bag. Yusuke approached us and smiled when he saw Ann.

Yusuke:"You came!"

Ann:"Um... yeah."

He then looked over at the rest of us.

Yusuke:"You really came."

"Dude, you were the one who gave us those tickets."

Ryuji:"Seriously, man!"

Yusuke:"Make sure you don't get in the way of the other visitors."

"The nerve of this guy..."

Yusuke:"Come now. I'll show you around. I'd like to speak more about the picture I'd like to draw too."

Ann:"Well, see you guys later."

Ann walked off alongside Yusuke, which worried Morgana and caused him to pop out the bag.

Morgana:"Will Lady Ann be alright?! What if he drags her behind some painting and tries something funny?"

Ryuji:"(Y/n) told you not to come out, didn't he?! Are we really gonna "appreciate" the fine arts? Can't we just go home?"

Ren:"We should at least learn about Madarame."

"Yeah, Ryuji. This'll be good for us."

Ryuji:"Fine. I guess we should do a quick pass through it once... Uh... Which way are we supposed to start?"

"Anywhere, really. Let's just go that way."

They both nodded and followed me as we saw some man being interviewed.

"Doesn't that guy look familiar?"

Ryuji:"Yeah, he's that old man from the other day."

Interviewer:"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?"

Madarame:"Well... It's rather difficult to put into words... They naturally well up within my heart, like bubbles rising one after another in the spring."

Interviewer:"Naturally, you say?"

Madarame:"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."

Ryuji:"...A shack?"

Interviewer:"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."

Madarame:"You would understand if you saw it. Hahahaha..."

Ryuji:"Wasn't the word "shack" something..."

Lady:"Madarame-san is actually here?!"

Man:"Over there!"

Lady 2:"I'm so glad I came on opening day!"

Because of Madarame's presence, a large crowd rushed over and bunched up together. We were being crushed and shoved around so we had to make a tactical retreat to the exit.

With Ann

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

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

Madarame:"There you are, Yusuke."

Yusuke:"Sensei!"

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

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

Madarame:"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."

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

Yusuke:"Indeed."

Ann:"Oh, this is it! The painting I wanted to see in person."

Ann walked over to a painting near them and Yusuke looked at her curiously.

Yusuke:"This one?"

Ann:"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:"..."

Ann:"Something wrong?"

Yusuke:"Don't mind me. There are better pieces than... this one. Come now, this way!"

Yusuke began walking off without her.

Back with you

We were hanging in the subway as Ryuji was sitting on the ground rubbing his torso.

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

Ren:"About what?"

Ryuji:"Well, lemme get to it. It's about a post online. Here, look at this."

He held up his phone to show us something when Ann came storming up to us.

Ann:"Why'd you leave without me?!"

Ryuji:"You got it all wrong; we got dragged into this huge crowd and- Eh, anyways. You gotta look at this too. This post might be about Madarame."

"Lay it on us."

Ryuji:"A master of the Japanese arts is plagiarizing his pupil's work. Only his public face is shown on TV."

Ann:"Plagiarizing?!"

Ryuji:"I didn't think much of it when I first saw it, but hearing "shack" and "Madarame" triggered it. "His treatment of the pupils who live with him is awful. He teaches nothing and bosses them around."

"..."

Ryuji:"He treats them inhumanely, as if disciplining a dog..."

Morgana:"Abuse on top of plagiarism, hm?"

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

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

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

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

Ann:"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."

Ryuji:"And how are we gonna go about that? Are we gonna explain it all, startin' with Mementos?"

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

Ann:"Oh... Yeah, right..."

Ryuji:"What do you two think about Madarame? Doesn't he seem suspicious?"

"I definitely think so."

Ren:"Same here."

"He pretty much fits the bill."

Ryuji:"I know, right? If this post is legit, ain't this the kinda target we've been waitin' for?"

Ann:"Well, yeah, but... Is it really true?"

"Hey Ann, what did you do about the whole modeling thing?"

Ann:"Kitagawa-kun gave me his contact info. And the address to his sensei's atelier."

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

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

Ryuji:"What? We're just gonna go talk to Kitagawa."

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

We split off soon after to do whatever as the evening rolled around. When I got home, I did some more workouts after chugging another bottle of protein.

5/16

Dr. Maruki was teaching class and he called on me to answer a question. He asked what the phenomenon was where believing in a treatment's power is enough to improve our condition. The answer was the placebo effect.

After school, we all took the train to head to Madarame's place.

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

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

Morgana:"Hey, who're you calling a pet?!"

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

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

A girl heard Morgana meowing and came over to us and gasped with delight upon seeing his head sticking out of Ren's bag.

Girl:"Ooh, kitty!"

Ann:"Er, shoot...!"

Girl:"Is that your pet, mister? I heard it meowing!"

Ren:"It's a stuffed animal."

Ann:"Yeah, it's just a toy."

"It meows when you press on its head."

Ryuji:"You heard him, Ren. Press on its head."

Morgana:"This is ridic-"

Ren tapped his head, and Morgana faked a meow, and the girl bought it. She asked Ren to do it again, and so he pressed Morgana's head gently. We were reaching our stop, which was Shibuya, so we said bye to the little girl and got off the train. Unfortunately, we still had to walk all the way to Madarame's house since the train we took was the only one that would take us close to his neighborhood.

We had to pass through Station Square to go towards a residential area past Central Street.

Ryuji:"Is... that it?"

Ann:"We're at the right address..."

"I mean, the door plate does say "Madarame" so..."

Ryuji:"Okay, Ann, ring the doorbell."

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

Morgana:"No one sneeze or we'll blow this house down, okay?"

We all walked over and Ann rang the doorbell. There was a speaker and we heard Yusuke's voice through it.

Yusuke:"Who is it? Sensei is currently-"

Ann:"Um, it's Takamaki."

Yusuke:"I'll be right out!"

Ryuji:"People really do live here..."

The door opened and Yusuke stepped out.

Yusuke:"Takamaki-sa-"

He glanced over and saw the three of us standing behind her.

Yusuke:"...You three are here, as well?"

"Howdy. Look, we're not here to talk about the modeling thing."

Ryuji:"Yeah. There's something we gotta ask you. Is it true Madarame's plagiarizin' stuff? He's abusin' people too, yeah?"

Yusuke:"Are you serious?"

He began to laugh before glaring at us.

Ryuji:"We read about it online."

Yusuke:"This...? Preposterous! Not only is the plagiarism impossible, but abuse? He welcomes pupils into his own home! This is no act of violence; it is charity! And I'm the one residing here and studying under him. I'm saying it's not true, so it's beyond doubt."

Ryuji:"You might be lyin' about it!"

Yusuke:"That... ...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!"

Ann:"...You really think that?"

Madarame:"Yusuke? What's the matter? I heard you yelling."

Yusuke:"These people are slandering you with baseless rumors!"

Madarame:"...Forgive them, Yusuke. They must've heard some bad rumors and came in worry for their friend's safety."

Yusuke:"...Understood, Sensei."

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

Ann:"That's not what we meant..."

Madarame:"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."

He retreated back into his house and Yusuke looked off to the side.

Yusuke:"That was discourteous of me... I'm sorry. I know! I think you'll be able to believe in Sensei if you saw that painting. It's his maiden work as well as his most representative piece--it's titled "Sayuri."

He opened his phone to show us a picture of Madarame's painting.



Ann:"Sayuri"...?"

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

Ann:"It's so beautiful..."

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

Yusuke:"When I first say you, I felt the same powerful emotion as when I saw this painting..."

Ann:"Me?"

Yusuke:"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 went back inside as we stood off towards the corner of the street leaning against some rails.

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

Ann:"Maybe the Madarame we heard about in Mementos is a different person."

Ryuji:"Man, right when we thought we found a new target, too..."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

They turned their attention towards me as I held up my phone. The Meta-Nav was open as it had boxes filled out with "Madarame," "plagiarism," and "shack." The boxes were highlighted in green, but there was still one box left to fill out. The what.

Morgana:"Nice! We just need to figure out what it is Madarame mistakes his shack for."

Ann:"Like how Kamoshida thought of the school as his castle?"

Morgana:"Exactly."

Ann and Ryuji tried different words, but none worked.

Ryuji:"What a pain!"

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

"...Museum."

Phone:"Beginning navigation."

Ryuji:"Holy crap!"

The world started to warp around us, and we were in our thieving outfits.

Morgana:"Hey, when did you activate the Nav?! You surprised me!"

"I mean, the app was already on. I didn't think it'd just take us here instantly."

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

Ryuji:"Prilly woulda figured it out once you started walkin' on two legs."

Morgana:"Grr..."

Ann:"So even you can slip into the Metaverse without realizing it, Morgana?"

Morgana:"Yes. In a place with minimal cognitive distortion, the differences can be subtle."

"That aside, take a look."

They turned their attention towards the golden museum several yards away from us.

Ryuji:"That shack is seriously some kinda museum?!"

Ann:"Let's check it out!"

We got closer to it as we saw a long line of people trying to get into the museum.

Ann:"It's so extravagant... to the point that it's gaudy. It's a museum... right?"

Ryuji:"This is Madarame's?"

Morgana:"Well, a Palace is a world formed by a mind twisted by desire--remember Kamoshida's castle?"

Ann:"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?"

Ryuji:"You got a point... It ain't related to plagiarism or abuse, either."

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

Ryuji:"But dude! Ain't a museum a must for phantom thieves?!"

Ren:"Yeah, definitely."

Morgana:"Now that's our Joker. I feel the same."

"Alright, guys, let's get a move on. We're definitely not going through the front door. We'll have to find a way around the high wall."

We climbed up the back of a van and jumped onto the ledge of the wall, and jumped through a courtyard before reaching the roof and dropping down through a skylight. We were inside the exhibit, and inside, we saw paintings that moved.

The paintings' descriptions all had a name and age. It was suspicious, so we kept looking around. In another room, we found a painting of the guy we met in Mementos who was shit-talking Madarame. Just down the room, we saw a portrait of Yusuke. Our conclusion was that each of the portraits was of Madarame's pupils.

There was another room across from Yusuke's portrait, which contained a pamphlet. It was a map of the museum but it was only one of two. We followed it and saw a massive sculpture.

Morgana:"...Look at this."

Ann:"The Infinite Spring?"

I took a look at the sign and read it aloud.

"A conglomerate work of art that the great director Madarame create with his own funds. These individuals must offer their ideas to the director for the rest of their lives. Those who cannot do so have no worth living!"

Ann:"Hey... This is most likely about the plagiarism, right?"

Ryuji:"Dammit, what a phony geezer!"

Morgana:"In other words, his pupils are his property. He doesn't even qualify as an artist if this is true. He's stealing the ideas from talented students in exchange for securing their livelihood. I wondered about those portraits on display... They must all be his "pupils" through his cognition. This even says that they have no worth. Couldn't this be about the abuse? Madarame will keep them around as long as they're useful to him, but the moment they're not..."

Ann:"He's treating them like slaves or tools!"

Ryuji:"Why's Yusuke keepin' quiet about this? He's got no reason to cover this up!"

Ann:"He did sat that he owes Madarame his life for being taken in..."

Ryuji:"But still...!"

Ann:"When we were at the exhibit, I praised one of the pieces on display. But... Kitagawa-kun acted strange. Maybe that piece was plagiarized too..."

Ryuji:"What's the call? Ain't this enough to target Madarame?!"

He looked over at Ren and I. We shared a glance as I gave my answer first.

"I'm all for it."

Ren:"Then let's do this."

Morgana:"Hold on, you three. We should confirm these facts with Yusuke once more."

Ryuji:"Confirm what, though?"

Morgana:"It means we should get solid evidence that such crimes actually took place."

Ryuji:"What a pain in the ass..."

Morgana:"Besides, there's too much we don't know about Madarame yet."

Ann:"..Mm, you're right. I'll try contacting Kitagawa-kun. I might be able to get the truth out of him if I accept his modeling offer."

Morgana:"Wait, you're gonna do that?!"

Ann:"You all better come with me, okay? I'm scared to go alone..."

Ryuji:"Famous, renowned artist, huh? This might be tougher than Kamoshida. Well, we'll just prep ourselves until we get confirmation from Yusuke. This is our first mission as real phantom thieves. We're gonna succeed no matter what!"

Evening

I got home, and Ann texted the group over her concerns on whether or not Madarame was actually that bad. It was a genuine concern, but tomorrow, we would be doing what we could to learn more. I let out an exhausted yawn before passing out on my bed.

To Be Continued...