[Deleted]

The Woman walked down the halls of the police station late at night. She often came down here to interrogate criminals during these times of night, especially people around her current criminal that she's dealing with's age. It was sad, this boy had an amazing life too until he did what he did, it was something that made the Woman made that he would just, waste his life like this doing something so petty and stupid.

The Woman stopped as she looked at the two Policeman standing by the door. "I'm here to see him. Did you use any harsh methods?" She asked one of the Policeman, one of them spoke.

"No. Given his status, the public will become unruly if they hear what has happened to him." He revealed as the Woman spoke soon after.

"Good. I should get this over with as soon as possible so he doesn't spend the entire night in there. He's probably scared out of his mind and thinking about his life, which he should, considering what he has done." The Woman said as the Policemen nodded and unlocked the door for her, with one of them saying as she went in.



"Good luck Sae." He said to Sae Nijima as she entered the interrogation room and sat across from where the boy she is questioning is sitting. He looked scared as he breathed heavily and looked up to Sae in silence.



"So, it's a surprise to see you here. Given your status, I didn't think you would be a criminal yourself." Sae then opened a file.



"To think my sister was friends with you, someone who was respected and then fell from grace. It said's here you are being charged with manslaughter on the orders of your father, and attempted manslaughter from someone at your school that you were friends with as well as your association with the Phantom Thieves." Sae looked up at the Boy.



"Should we begin the questioning Mr Akechi?"

Akechi was scared. He... He knew this would catch up to him. His past, he would be caught for what he has done, all so he could get closer to him, but it failed. And he was caught and now, he will be spending the rest of his years in jail, alone, without him, without his friends or without anyone.

He was alone, and he deserved this. Even when those girls tried to protect him, he should of stopped them, knowing that what happened was his fault.

They were gone now, and now Akechi was alone, punished for his actions. He tried to keep on a brave face as he looked at Sae, an old friend of his. As well as the fact that Akechi was a friend of her sister Makoto, wherever she is now.



"Yes, i'm ready. I knew this day would come eventually."

---

1983

A warm day and the perfect day for Yumiko to begin her first day at Jusho High School. Sure she missed the first couple of days since she only recently moved to Tokyo with her father Sabuo and may have missed the start of the semester ceremony, but she had seen that kind of assembly a lot of times, so she wasn't missing much and the Teacher's didn't seem to mind when she met them a few days ago and provided her the school uniform.

They were so thoughtful, even if Yumiko wanted to buy it herself. And it was a bit difficult to put on, especially the blue ribbon, which Yumiko had managed to finally put on. "Success." Yumiko muttered to herself as she turned to grab her bag and left her new room so she can start her journey to her new school.

But before she left, she stopped by the living room of her house to see Sabuo as he finished setting up the bookshelf. This was his only day off before he goes back to work, so this would probably be the only time Yumiko would say goodbye to her father before she went to school for awhile. "Papa, i'm going to school now. What do you think?" Yumiko tried to get Sabuo to look at her new school uniform, which he smiled at.

"You look beautiful Yumi-chan. I'm sure you would make a great first impression with the teachers." Yumiko hoped that her father was right, as Jusho usually splits their students in two group's, "Special" and "General" and when you're put in the latter group, the teachers won't care about your well being or your education, as they will think you're a lost cause or a delinquent. Yumiko hopes that the teacher's wont see her as a delinquent because she messed up the uniform, which was pretty comfy. Yumiko was starting to think that she should wear the uniform outside of school hours.

"Do you know where Jusho is? I can drop you off for your first day if you want." Sabuo offered as she smiled at her father, watching him put up a framed photo of her when she was younger and with Sabuo and... Her mother standing behind her. They were at the park that day, enjoying the fresh summer air.

"No thanks Papa, I know where Jusho is off by heart since we walked to it the first time. Anyway I have to get going, goodbye!" Yumiko bowed to her father before leaving her new home, excited to be starting her first day at Jusho. A student representative in her new class is going to give her a tour before class started so she had to get there early.

As she walked down the road, she saw some school children that were playing and singing a game before school.

♪ Kagome, kagome,

The bird in the cage

When, when will it come out?

In the dark-time before daybreak,

A crane and a tortoise slipped and fell.

Who is right behind my back? ♪

Kagome Kagome, she loved playing that game with her parents when she was a kid. She smiled upon seeing the children play that game...

Kagome...

Kagome...

---

Present Day

Yumiko trudged through the dungeon like area, following the woman at the front. She had just recently met the woman, but she knew she had to follow her if she wanted to find Akechi. She hoped Akechi was ok after that attack. The two tried in vain to find him but they couldn't and now they were looking for friends of the Woman that could help them make the search for Akechi easy.

As well as make sure this journey through this odd dimension was more easier then them after the enemy's that they encountered.

"Are you ok back there?" The Woman asked as Yumiko nodded.

"Yes. Sorry if I was silent. I was just thinking about something just now." Yumiko apologised.

"It's fine, but keep your focus. Who knows if we might face another one of those soldiers." The Woman advised as the two went further into the dungeon.

---

And finally, Mushroom Ruins was quiet shortly after the confrontation that had happened here earlier today. Besides the crying noises that the Toad was making as he was holding Akechi's phone, which was still unlocked.



"Oh woe is me. Why didn't I step in and helped everyone back when they were fighting? I'm such a poor officer and now Yumiko and Akechi are most likely dead. I'm going to get fired once I get back to the Life Sphere, I just know it!" The Toad Officer lamented to himself as he continued to cry as he waited for Yusuke and Naoki to arrive.

And hopefully the boys will help cheer the officer up before they can get the phone off of him.

MISSION START!

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

"Looks like I made it to the rondesvous point, I should wait for the others." a boy said, he was wearing a hoodie and pants, which seemed to prove to be quite an honest way to hide his power until he needed to unleash it, as what was usual when he waited, he popped open his Demonic Compendium, reading about the many demons that he met on his own adventure.

He would not have long to wait when his associate in this mission would arrive.

[heirtothemonado]

Yusuke arrived at the Mushroom Ruins, a lot more serious then he usually was. And he had good reason for it. He had heard that Akechi had been sighted, and he was unsure if the other Phantoms Thieves were aware of this, and if they were, whether they knew where he was. Yusuke wasn't one to leave loose ends undone, so he decided to investigate on behalf of the rest of the group. As he made his way to the rendezvous point, Yusuke spotted his partner for the mission, a rather odd-looking fellow, even by his standards. Beside him stood a rather frantic looking fungus creature, which he had been informed were called Toads. 

Yusuke gave the odd-looking boy a nod in greeting, before turning to a hysterical Toad. "I'm certain what happened to Akechi and Yumiko wasn't your fault" Yusuke said, trying to calm the Toad down. "If anything, it was Akechi's own actions that left him in hot water. However, if we can get his phone from you, it might help us figure out what has happened." Akechi's phone might hold some clues on it, especially since it was unlocked. If might have recorded something  that might be of interest to him "Would you kindly give us the phone? It would be a great help for us"

---

Yusuke
Health: 150/150
Shield: 50/50
Status: Normal

[Deleted]

The Toad stopped as Yusuke appeared and reassured him that what happened wasn't his fault, which cooled the Toad Officer down slightly as he smiled to Yusuke. "Why thank you. A gentle reassurance always helps me focus on my job." The Toad Officer smiled. But as soon as Yusuke said that it was Akechi's fault because of his actions, the Toad Officer freaked out again since Naoki wasn't going to help calm him down.

"But Akechi is my fan. He wouldn't of put the lives of others in trouble. I'm sure he was trying to handle the situation smoothly!" The Toad Officer said his theory about what happened to Yusuke, before doing what he said and gave the boy the phone.

"Oh, sure. I don't know why it would help, but feel free to use it anyway. I'm going to head back to the Life Sphere, with everything that's happened to Akechi, Yumiko and the other three people that were with them, the slightest thing can make me upset on my way back." The Toad Officer revealed, not noticing a slight pebble on the ground...

Which he tripped over with and fell face first on the ground, causing him to cry as he ran off back to the Life Sphere.



Which left Yusuke and Naoki with the ownership of Goro Akechi's unlocked phone. Looking at the screen the two boy's wouldn't find anything suspicious, just a few apps such as a map app and a weather app along with a few games such as:

RAPUNZEL
JACK BROS
PHOENIX RANGER - PINK ARGUS QUEST!
STRANGE JOURNEY

However one app that may catch Yusuke's eye is a strange navigation app that had an odd thumbnail and a name entitled "MetaNav" it has the number one by it's left, implying that it has been updated. If the two boys use the app they would see that it had recently be used to go somewhere, the recent entry in the app was as follows:

Goro Akechi
Mushroom Ruins
Toyland

There was a button below it for anyone to start the navigation again, should the two press it? As it could help them find out what happened to everyone, although Yusuke might know where this might be leading too if they do press the navigation button.

---

1983

Yumiko soon arrived at Jusho and was met by a student that she would be joining in her new class, which was 1-A. As the warm sun filled the school, Yumiko was lead around by a student as they walked up the stairs to Yumiko's new classroom. "That concludes the tour downstairs. The only other rooms that I haven't shown you were the rooms that contain certain clubs, although we walked past them and i'm sure you know which clubs are which. Clubs won't even be starting until next week anyway so you should already know by then." The Man said. He looked aloof, although Yumiko was happy with him giving the tour as they reached the floor where their classroom was.

"Yeah I will, i'm not much into clubs myself. I was once in a chess club at my old school but I never really gotten the hang of chess to be honest." Yumiko revealed as the male shrugged.

"To be honest me neither. I'm glad to see someone that doesn't flaunt their talents a lot. It's nice that most of us in this classroom are clarified as gifted students, but ehh, this whole gifted and general group thing bugs the hell out of me." The Man said as the two kept walking down the hall.

"Yeah, I feel sorry for the general students. What with them not getting the attention that the gifted at. I'm all for equal attention." Yumiko said as the man nodded.

"So do I. I want to talk about it at the next Student Council meeting, but, can I be honest with you?" The Man turned towards Yumiko, who stopped.

"Hmm?" She wondered.

"Everyone on the council are ass holes, they don't care about the positions they have. I don't want to boast, but i'm the only one noticing the problems that our school have. It pisses me off when all they do is talk about things that are not Jusho all day instead of the school itself, it's what they were voted in for." The man shook his head. Yumiko felt sorry for the man.

"Maybe this semester will be good for you, maybe you can even get new members who will actually listen." Yumiko reassured the man, who smirked.

"I wish. Nobody really cares about the student council here, it will be much easier when I take over the Kirijo group." The man crossed his arms, looking somewhat annoyed with what he said. Yumiko was surprised that someone who's well known is in her class.

"The Kirijo group, wait are you Kirijo Takeharu, the son of Kouetsu?" Yumiko guessed the name of the man, who smirked.

"Yeah, that's me. It's kind of the reason i'm on the Student Council anyway. I wanted to get my old man to notice that I can take on power. I feel as though he's angry that i'm going to one day take over the group and mess everything up. It was pretty easy given my status, but, ugh, i'm annoyed that I got it so easier when usually others work hard for it." Takeharu stood by the door to the classroom.

"People do look up to me, even though I think I don't deserve it, every time I feel this way I worry about the future, and what will happen to me when I take over my father's work and become like him." He clenched his hands, which Yumiko noticed.

"I... ---It's ok." Yumiko reassured Takeharu.

"It's ok to be scared, especially when you're going to take over a company one day, but Kirijo-san, please be assured that you're not going to go through this alone. There's going to be people there to help you and everything, you'll get used to it, and you'll be a good leader, like you already are right now with the Student Council. Even if the members don't follow you, a lot of people here look up to you, and that's great because it shows how a lot of people trust you and come to you about the issues that arise at this school, you're the only one that does and is actively doing something about it, and that's something to be proud of." Yumiko reassured Takeharu. After a few seconds, he snickered.

"That's actually pretty helpful, and it's coming from someone that just came to this school." He moved back from the wall.

"You're alright so far Shirasagi-san. To be honest I thought you were just going to stand there and say nothing like the other students I give this tour too, but it's great for someone to respond once and awhile, and to not hear any comments from that idiot Shido." Takeharu grumbled, which got Yumiko curious.

"Shido?" She asked as the two looked through the window of the classroom.

"That man over there, who's trying to flirt with that girl." Takeharu pointed to Yumiko to a boy with short brown hair and glasses. He looked nervous as he was looking at a girl with longer but more messier brown hair. She looked as if she couldn't tolerate what Shido was about to say.

"Hey Takai-chan. I heard you and Kondo-kun had a fight, does this mean you're breaking up?" Shido smirked.

"You know, you can always turn to someone that can treat a girl like you nicely." He said slowly moving towards---Only to be interrupted by Kyoko Takaizawa, the girl he was talking to punching him to the next empty desk over, causing some students to look at him as she crosses her arms.

"As if, I would never break up with my sweet Kondo-kun. He's about to be here any minute and we're going to talk. If you don't want to be in his punching reach then I suggest you stop trying to pick me up, or else a slimeball like you would have those glasses of yours broken." Kyoko sat on her desk.

"And I just got these nails done, I don't want to break them helping my sweet boyfriend break your face to next tuesday, pervert." Kyoko continued to taunt Shido as everyone laughed at him as he growled.

"Y-You'll be sorry. One day i'm going to become prime minister and you'll be sorry!" He declared, only for Kyoko to laugh at his face.

"You, become prime minister? I'll be dead when that happens. Who wants to live in a terrible world where you become prime minister Shido, nobody, because it's not going to happen!" Kyoko jumped off her desk as the school bell rang and Yumiko, Takeharu and Hiroyuki Kondo entered the room, where Kyoko quickly hugged her boyfriend before sitting near him at her desk, while Hiroyuki happily smiled to Kyoko.

The Teacher soon came in after Takeharu sat down at his desk after advising Yumiko to stand by the front of the classroom. He soon introduced Yumiko to the class. "Class, I would like you to meet our new gifted classmate. She will be joining us and taking over Kono-san's desk this semester. I want you to give her a nice welcome to Jusho like Kirijo-san has already done."  The Teacher explained as the classroom was silent.

Yumiko however, happily bowed down to everyone in class, which Shido smirked at.

"It's nice to meet you all, my names Shirasagi---But before Yumiko could finish.

She looked at someone at the back of the classroom...



There, with a boy whispering to him, was another boy, who looked, disinterested with what was going on. He looked bored, only focusing on the boy that he was talking to, but Yumiko couldn't help but stare at him for some reason.

She feel's as though, she had saw him somewhere, she wasn't sure where, but she swore she saw him before. He was, familiar somewhat.

"Everything alright Shirasagi-san?" The Teacher asked as Kyoko and Hiroyuki laughed at Yumiko's flub, causing her to look back at the teacher.

"O-Oh, i'm sorry. Shirasagi Yumiko is my name, it's nice to meet you all." She quickly finished her introduction and soon made it to her new desk. She looked back at the boy one more time.

Staring at him for a bit, until he noticed, causing Yumiko to look back at the front of the class.

"Ok, well, history will begin soon. I will give you a little recap until homeroom is over as I will be your teacher for the next lesson. You see..." As the Teacher gave his recap, Yumiko looked down at her new desk.

And noticed something engraved onto it. 

Kagome
Kagome

Miyuki Kono, the last student that sat at this desk must of liked the rhyme.

---

Somewhere Else

The interrogation between Akechi and Sae soon began, with Sae reading out how Akechi first started his manslaughter.



"It said's here that you first started killing people a few years back at the order of your father Masayoshi Shido, who was the former prime minister until he resigned soon after he was elected. The status of you being his son was kept a secret is that right?" 



"Y-Yes. He said it himself that me being his son can't be known."



"He said that you were a mistake multiple times to you and that the only thing that you were useful for him was to take out people that he deemed a threat to his future." Sae continued to read, with Akechi looking down when Sae said the word "Mistake"



"Yes, I am a mistake, I know. I've heard it being said to me multiple times that i've gotten used to it by now and haven't let it get by me." Akechi explained.



"Of course, you had to so you can follow that man's commands. Tell me, If she would be still alive to this day, would she be proud of you?" Sae asked, causing Akechi to slowly look up at her.



"Who do you mean?"





"Your mother, if she didn't kill---No!" Akechi shouted as he stood up.





"Don't speak her name, leave her out of this. She doesn't deserve this!" Akechi demanded.



"I wronged her and it was my fault, if I was just." Akechi leaned back sadly.

"If I and him wasn't, in her life, she would of had a happy life." Akechi looked away as Sae looked at him, still serious as before.



"You think it would of been better if you weren't born or if Masayoshi didn't come into her life you mean?"

Akechi did not respond.



"I hate my father. I had reasons to commit those murders for him." Akechi looked back at Sae with pure anger in his eyes, which surprised her.

"I wanted to get close so when the time was right, I can ruin his life in the best possible way, and in the worst possible moment for him."

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

Naoki Kashima looked up, acknowledging Yusuke with a nod of his head as he closed the Demonic Compendium. This wasn't his first rodeo into the Metaverse, as the last time he was there it was with Mitsuru, and he didn't much care about no-nonsence people who thought they were more important than the ones who actually matter most: the people.

"Nice to meet you, Call me Naoki, almost everyone does. This isn't exactly my first rodeo in the Metaverse, adventures in the Vortex World in my universe notwithstanding." Naoki said as he introduced himself to the young man as they were soon whisked into the Metaverse.

"I guess we shouldn't dawdle and get this thing done, yes?" he added quite bluntly, resigned to the fact that he was going to be doing this again.

[heirtothemonado]

Yusuke took the phone from the Toad Officer, looking though it as the poor guy made his way back to the Life Sphere in tears. Guess there wasn't really a way for him to calm down....Oh well. Dismissing the Toad from his thoughts for now, Yusuke looked back at the phone.

Huh...Some odd apps on here. Yusuke didn't really take Akechi as someone who'd have games on his phone, But he didn't have time to dwell on that, for another app had caught his attention. A very familiar app, too...While it didn't surprise Yusuke that Akechi would have a Nav app on his phone, what did catch him off guard was the information that was inputted into it.

"Goro Akechi, Mushroom Ruins, Toyland...." Yusuke muttered under his breath. No sooner had the words exited his mouth, then the world seemed to swirl before his eyes. "Destination found. Beginning navigation" the app chirped. Before long, the swirling stopped, and Yusuke found himself in a....very strange place. He was wearing his Phantom Thieves clothes too, so that could only mean on thing. They were in the Metaverse!

---

Yusuke
Health: 150/150
Shield: 50/50
Status: Normal

[Deleted]

When Yusuke and Naoki were transported to the Metaverse they would witness the entirety of the Mushroom Ruins itself change suddenly into something more... Bigger then the small area it was originally. There was now a large, dull looking and rusted wall around the entire area, with the sound of balloon's popping and kids laughing coming from within it.

It appears as though in this palace that they were sent to it was a sealed off community, a lively one at that related to toy's due to the name of it. "Toyland" there appeared to be no entrance, so it looked like the only way that Yusuke and Naoki could get up was by climbing it...

OR... There's another way.

"Thank you for letting us pass." Said a voice of a girl, who sounded like she was a teenager.

"Thank you." Sounded the voice of a slightly older boy.



"Anyone who passes master Akechi's riddles may enter his wonderful town, for he rules all." A mechanical like voice said as he allowed the boy and girl entry into a tunnel like area nearby. The boy appeared to have silver hair while the girl had black hair. The boy appeared to be wearing a red vest while the girl was wearing a blue dress.

Once the figures were gone, Yusuke and Naoki are free to go up to the solider and answer his riddle.

"Ahh more visitors that wish to visit Toyland, to enter you must answer the following riddle: What name do you call someone who has betrayed their friends to the authority's, the name rhymes with Oudas?" The Toy Solider... Appeared to say a made up word, but it might help Yusuke and Naoki gain entry into the tunnel like the boy and girl had just done...

They can still however climb up towards the wall.

(Climbing up the wall requires a 18 roll in strength. Failure will result in punishment for trying to sneak into Toyland. There will also be a punishment if you fail the riddle so think of an answer wisely!)

---

1983

A few hours of lessons later and it was time for recess, where Yumiko was quickly swarmed by students who wanted to know more about her previous life in the other towns that her and Sabuo had travelled from before settling in Tokyo.

"So Yumiko, were you popular at your last school as well?"

"Do you do well at tests?"

"What's your favourite manga?"

Yumiko, not wanting to be rude, wanted to answer them all, but... Something caught her eye, from where Takeharu, Shido, Hiroyuki and Kyoko were. She didn't mind them, but there was another student that she noticed.

It was that boy again. He was talking to another boy. I think his name was Kenichi Takai that the boy was talking to.

He briefly looked at Yumiko, who quickly looked away and answered all of the questions that the students had to offer.

"Yes, nobody didn't really mind me very much at my last school. I did fairly well in tests so I won't be a burden to this class and finally I don't read manga, although I did read Hand of the South Comet once. It was a nice read and I thought the main protagonist was cute." Yumiko said to the three students that each asked her the question. The last one, a boy blushed.

"Yeah, he is hot."

Later that day at lunch, while Yumiko was getting ready to eat with Takeharu, she looked at the boy nearby. He was lying back on his chair and didn't appear to have any lunch with him. Kenichi wasn't around for lunch with him so he was alone, although he didn't seem to care.



But looking at the boy... Made Yumiko feel weird.

She feels as though she knows him somewhere.

Like she had seen him before in the past, but Yumiko didn't know when in the past.

She didn't want to keep Takeharu waiting. She looked down at her lunch and gave a deep breath. "You can do it Shirasagi, just talk to him. He's not going to do anything weird, if he does do something weird like what Shido does then you'll just punch him." Yumiko nodded, deciding what she's going to do. She grabbed her lunch, stood up from her desk and approached the boy.



"Hi." Yumiko introduced herself to the boy, he didn't appear to notice her. He looked at the window instead.

"Umm, I almost know everyone here in my classes, well almost everyone. I don't know you, even though I met that boy you like to talk too... He seems nice." Yumiko said, referring to Kenichi of course.

She grew annoyed, he continued to ignore her. This wasn't going anywhere, she should go, but not before she put something on the boy's desk.



It was a small yakitori.

"My dad always sneaks these in my lunch box before I head off to school as a sort of snack. I don't like to eat them, but I think you should have something since you don't appear to have lunch with you today." Yumiko said to the boy, he continued to look away, she just turned and walked towards the door of the classroom.

And that was when the boy looked down at the yakitori, before looking at Yumiko.

"I like yakitori, thanks."

Yumiko turned to see that the boy was eating into the yakitori. He looked and then smirked at Yumiko.

"This is nicely done too, your Shirasagi right? This is your first day at Jusho?" He asked, Yumiko nodded.

"Shirasagi Yumiko." Yumiko said her name to the boy.

"Nakajima Akemi, I think your name is beautiful." He complimented Yumiko, who blushed and looked away.

"Yours too, I should go. A friend of mine is waiting for me." Yumiko said as she walked away, Akemi smiled.

"It's nice meeting you Shirasagi-san. If you don't want anymore of your dad's yakitori, I can have them instead." He offered, Yumiko looked back at him.

"Sure." Before she left to meet up with Takeharu.



Hiroyuki and Kyoko meanwhile, looked on at the two in envy, the latter especially.

Akemi meanwhile heard a buzzing sound nearby. He looked down, and grew weary at his school bag... 

Something was glowing in it.

As Yumiko headed to the school rooftop to meet up with Takeharu, she heard a voice of a man down the empty hallway she was walking down, causing her to briefly stop when she heard it.

"Kagome, Kagome."

Worried, she slowly turned and walked faster to the rooftop.

---

Somewhere Else

The room became tense when Akechi admitted of his hatred of Shido. Sae looked at him with a frown. She finally spoke once more.



"So you admit that in an attempt to get close to your biological father, Masayoshi Shido, you have killed multiple people via assassination from his orders?" Sae asked, Akechi nodded in silence.

"I see, I will refer to this confessed crime later. As of now we should talk about the other two important events that had happened after a fatal run in with the group known as the Phantom Thieves." Sae explained.

"As well as with another group, known as SEES, which are related to the Kirijo Group that was previously owned by Takeharu Kirijo, but due to his unfortunate passing, his daughter has taken up ownership." His daughter... Akechi remembered the incident in which he had a run in with his daughter, it almost resulted in more death, ones that Akechi didn't want to die.



"When you came to LI, you have created a school detective agency in Hylia Grace. All seemed to be going well, until you met someone during a new year at the school, one miss Shirasagi Yumiko."

Yumiko...

Akechi looked up at Sae.



"Where is she, is she ok?" Akechi asked, Sae remained quiet, causing Akechi to react violently by slamming his hand on the table.



"I want to know where she is. Whatever happened to her she didn't deserve any of this!" Akechi yelled, only for Sae to stand up.



"Goro-san you have to calm yourself. We also have to explain the matter regarding the Phantom Thieves, particularly the leader known as Joker." Sae said, Akechi faltered a bit before sitting back down.



"I... I don't know who you're talking about." He looked away, as Sae stared at him.



"You... Appeared to have a close relationship to Joker during your short time with the Phantom Thieves... Is that correct?" Sae questioned Akechi, who didn't know how to answer.

He didn't want to answer...

He wanted this to end.

He was in a nightmare...

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

"Your way of speaking with made-up words is pointless unless you speak normally, otherwise it is pointless to get proper answers... However the term for a person betraying their friends to the authorities would most likely be a mole that was planted in the group in order to spy on them. Yusuke, what do you think?" Naoki said as he looked at his Phantom Theif partner, though he did have a freikugel primed to go off just in case.

Naoki's Demi-Fiend senses would start tingling, he had the sneaky suspicion that he and Yusuke were being watched, hence the primed Freikugel at the ready.

---

Naoki Kashima the Demi-Fiend
HP: 130/130
Shield: 40/40
Status: on his guard
Cooldowns:
N/A
Stats:
STR: 16(+3)
DEX: 06(-2)
CON: 06(-2)
WIS: 16(+3)
INT: 16(+3)
CHA: 10(=0)

[heirtothemonado]

Yusuke's vision cleared as he fully entered the Metaverse, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. An...amusement park? Is this how Akechi saw these ruins? It was...strange, to say the least. "Well this was....not what I was expecting" Yusuke said to himself, fingering the mask that had appeared on his face. It looked like the main area was sealed off, however...

"A riddle, hm? Well, it can't hurt to try, at least" Yusuke said to himself. You couldn't be too careful in Palaces, but solving the riddle seemed like the easier route then trying to clime the wall. Yusuke thought for a second when Naoki asked him for the answer/ "Oudas….betrayer..." Yusuke mumbled, before he put two and two together. A famous betrayer that rhymed with Oudas. There could only be one answer...

"I believe I have an answer. The answer to the riddle is: Judas." Yusuke said to the guard, still absentmindedly holding a hand to his mask. He didn't like the feeling this amusement park gave off. The entire thing felt....unsettling. Fake. Yusuke was ready for anything to pop out at them, on the off chance he had answered wrong.

---

Yusuke Kitagawa
Health: 150/150
Shield: 50/50
Status: Riddle me this...

[Deleted]

The Toy Solider was preparing to attack, seeing as how Naoki answered the question wrong. He raised his triumphant, only to lower it again when Yusuke guessed the answer correctly, causing the solider to smile. "Ahh, you answered the question correctly, for that, a battle was avoided, and you are allowed to freely enter Toyland. Who knows maybe you'll meet Master Akechi and you can be the best of friends." The Solider smiled to Yusuke as he allowed the two to enter the tunnel.



When they entered the tunnel the two would come across two paths after walking down a tunnel that had pictures of Akechi posing on the wall, one to the left and one to the right. They would hear two voices from both paths.

Both of which sounded like girls.

"Do you think those guards will spot us if we sneak in and grab those keys?" Said the voice of one girl from the left path.

"Sanada-san, are you ok? that lance almost went into your side." Said the voice of another girl from the right path.

Yusuke and Naoki were left with another choice, which is which path to go down, and who they will meet along the way.

---

1983

It's been a few weeks since Yumiko has enrolled at Jusho High School, and she was enjoying herself by hanging around with Takeharu and the student council. They might even invite her to sign up for it any day now, all the while she was getting to know more about Akemi and Kenichi.

But, while things were fine, she did have a few encounters with that leech Shido, who Yumiko punched every time he tried to come onto her. She was annoyed with his attitude like everyone else in the class, but recently he kept trying to flirt with her the most out of all the girls in her class and kept bragging to her about how he was going to become prime minister someday.

Something Yumiko thought isn't going to happen with the way he acts.

Although they didn't talk to her since she joined the class, Yumiko keeps getting glares from Hiroyuki and Kyoko, especially when she's with Akemi. She did hear that Akemi got into a fight with Hiroyuki one time for rejecting Kyoko's affections for him. They do this every week apparently, yet Akemi stays strong throughout it.

It was lunch and Yumiko decided to spend it with Takeharu, but she noticed... That he wasn't around. He had to leave when someone came into the classroom earlier that day to tell him that the school received a phone call from his father Kouetsu. It surprised the class, since he didn't often talk about his father that much, and when he did, it was often in a bad way.

She did find him, alone in a classroom. Curious, she entered to see how he was doing. "Kirijo-kun?" Yumiko said as she entered the classroom. Takeharu turned and saw Yumiko, before looking away.

"Oh... Shirasagi-chan, I... I didn't notice you there." He looked back at the window as Yumiko approached him. She noticed that his cheeks were stained with tears, he was crying.

"Your face, you were crying." She put the box that contained her lunch at a nearby table and sat beside Takeharu. He remained quiet.

Until he spoke.

"My mother, passed away this morning." He explained, Yumiko was shocked.

"She was... Ill since my birth. She always spent her days in her bed, looking out the window or drawing. Me and my father had loved her very much. Each day I would visit her in her room and she would smile upon seeing me or my father. He would... Dedicate most of his days just to stop and visit her. He had been trying to get her better for awhile now, but he was in denial." He sadly looked down.

"We were all in denial over what was going to happen, she was going to die no matter how hard my father had tried to save her... And now she's gone, and we have to face it. That i'm when I go into her room now she won't be there anymore, she won't be smiling, her bed will be empty." He continued.

"I never even got to say goodbye... I was just told... That I wouldn't see her again..." Takeharu shook his head.

"I... Just walked around these hallways, they said I could of left to be with my father... But... I just kept walking, until I found this classroom... And then I looked out the window, like my mother always did..." A lone tear moved down Takeharu's cheek as Yumiko looked away, upset over the news of Takeharu's mother's death.

The classroom remained quiet for a long time, until Yumiko said something.

"You really loved her." She said, before looking back at Takeharu.

"I'm sorry. If you want anything, then i'm here for you." She offered a shoulder for Takeharu to lean on. But as he turned, instead of a sad or happy thank you from Takeharu, he just looked at Yumiko with pure anger, as if what Yumiko had said had offended him.

He clenched his fists in anger and jumped up from the desk and punched a wall, breathing heavily as his fist bled into anger as Yumiko gasped. She quickly stood up.

"Takeharu, your---Stop, just... Stop!" He turned and looked at Yumiko in anger, confusing her.

"Wh-What?" She sprouted out.

"You, trying to be there for me, but your such a useless person in reality!" He yelled back, loud enough for students walking outside to hear. Yumiko took a step back.

"I'm... I'm just seen as useless to you?" She shook her head.

"Yes. Ever since you came here, you've been nothing but someone that just... Hangs around me like some sort of parasite. Whenever something happens you just give out your pity sorry's or not say anything in general, and now you're offering the same thing to me, when my mother died!? HOW ABOUT YOU SAY SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY HELPS, OR BETTER YET, SHUT THE HELL UP!" He kicked another chair in anger as he breathed heavily. Yumiko started to tear up over Takeharu's attitude.

"Your pathetic, and what you say is empty as well. You don't know how it feels to lose someone precious to you." Takeharu fell down to his knees, blood hitting the floor as well as tears. Yumiko gripped her hands.

"No, you're wrong. You're not the only person that lost a mother in this room." She revealed, Takeharu didn't even look at her.

"I never even got to know my mother. She died when I was born while you managed to spend a lot of time with your mother until she was gone. I never got that time." She yelled back in anger.

"I was the only one that bothered looking for you right now, to try and comfort you, to be there for you, and you're calling the only person that's there for you useless, pathetic?" She continued.

"I care about you Takeharu, you're my friend. I don't want you to be alone..." She waited for a response for Takeharu, any kind of response from him, but he only said two things, not even looking back at Yumiko.

"Just... Go." He slowly pulled his wounded hand towards the door.

Yumiko left without another word, bumping into Akemi on the way out.

As Yumiko left, Takeharu watched, feeling... Regret over what he did.

"Shirasagi-chan, what happened, you're crying." Akemi looked surprised, and felt bad for Yumiko, who wiped away her tears.

"I just, had a fight with Kirijo-kun, that's all." She revealed to Akemi, the two looked sad.

"I'm sorry that happened. How about we spend the rest of lunch together?" He offered as Yumiko slowly looked up to him, having stopped crying.

"Yeah, that would be great." The two left for the rooftop. It was empty up there and it would allow Yumiko to relax after what happened.

---

Somewhere Else

Sae looked at Akechi quietly, the room was quiet as Akechi had yet to answer her question. He was, hesitating.

As if he didn't want to say anything about Akira.



"I... Don't want to say anything bad about him... He's... He's important to me. Please can we move away from this subject." Akechi looked up at Sae, he was... Scared.



"Not until we answer the question." She said without a change of expression.

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

"That would have been my next guess. Maybe since this Akechi kid likes the occasional cheesey app that speaks in riddles that I believe suck in such a way that puts me off..." Naoki Kashima looked at Akechi's phone, then took the opportunity to look through that phones App Store, putting down marked suggestions for actual apps for him to look into(Super Mario Run, Metal Slug Attack, ECT.).

Then he looked up Toyland, but to his abject dissapointment, found that the app was no longer found on the app store. "Well how about that, Akechi don't know that the Toyland app had closed it's service on the same day as Star Ocean Anamnesis. And although I don't carry a phone on me, I can access Eternal Sphere Online and not get a system crash." Naoki Kashima said bluntly, which was perfectly true, Naoki didn't carry a phone of any kind on his person, just the Demonic Compendium. "Now which path to choose, I guess we could split up and see what we can do." he added quite abruptly, his eyes now on a fork in the road, and both would lead to a female voice, wasting little time, Naoki Kashima took the path that he heard the word 'Sanada' from, leaving Yusuke to take the other path.

---

Naoki Kashima the Demi-Fiend
HP: 130/130
Shield: 40/40
Status: Surprisingly good with some kinds of tech, just not all.

[Jade Callisto]

Emil was acting as a replacement for the one named Yusuke. Not that he knew much about the person he was replacing but Emil was a little confused on how to get to the target location at first but Ratatosk took over for a tiny bit to show Emil how they would get there.

"Door to the Boundary Open!" Ratatosk would call out as a portal of sorts ripped open in the space right in front of Emil.

Emil would then wonder if he should go or not but decided on going as he remembered he was out to rescue people again just like before. Emil then appeared on the other side of the portal where he just noticed he was in a weird area somewhere in the Mushroom Ruins. Emil had his sword sheathed and his guard up while looking over to his new partner.

The boy might have been surprised by Emil's sudden appearance. But what surprised Emil was the increased technology that this area had. Not that it was entirely new to him as the Life Sphere tended to be rather full of tech but Emil's world was one with not as much modern technology as this. "Whoa! Where are we?" he would say 'we' as if referring to someone else as well as him. Emil of course meant Ratatosk but it could be noted for those who didn't know about him that he meant the partner that was with Emil.

"So is this the area we need to go to rescue those people?" Emil would turn to see the guy named Kashima and smiled as he saw him. "Hello there my name is Emil Castagnier. I hope we work well together on this mission." Emil said as he then heard two voices, both female and the boy that was with him was heading down a corridor where one of them presumably was. "I guess that means I should go this way right?" he would ask out loud before pacing down the fork in the road by himself.

---

Emil Castagnier

HP: 175/175

SHIELD: 65/65

STATUS: None

[Deleted]

And thus, Naoki and now Emil went their own ways down the path. For Emil, he would quickly see a figure that resembled Yumiko at the end of his path. Should he say anything Yumiko would quickly run off to the left, where the tunnel path would continue, as well as the fact that the portraits around Emil had images of Akechi being surrounded by tons of family members with a happy expression on his face.



But if Emil goes further down, the family members become less and less and Akechi's expression, changes to happy to sad. Eventually Emil would reach the end of the path... Which was a wall. It wouldn't be possible for Yumiko to just up and vanish considering that she ran down the same path as Emil.

"Mitsuru, look a door!" Was the sound of the voice again that sounded similar to Yumiko. However if Emil inspected the wall he would notice that it was slightly thick, as if a simple tap would do something to it.

---

Meanwhile upon going down his path, Naoki would notice one of the figures that he had seen earlier. The girl, jumped in front of him using a book and was wearing a blue dress, it was Tomoko Obel, who was busy fighting a toy solider with her partner, Akihiko Sanada, who was thrown in front of the two.

"Ugh!" He coughed as he quickly leaned upwards at the enemy that the two were attacking, a large toy solider with blood coated in Akihiko's.

Akihiko's arm was currently bleeding thanks to the stab from the spear, but he was ready for round two. "Damn solider, i'm going to break it's leg and kick it in the head!" Akihiko decided on that order as Tomoko looked at him.

"Not unless it chops off your arm in the process. Jeez Sanada-san, it did a number on you." Tomoko pointed to the hole in Akihiko's arm, who was cringing in pain, but he laughed.

"Like a stab in the arm had stopped me before, if anything, it just makes me more pissed off that this tinsel freak hurt me and tried to stab you in the neck!" Akihiko looked back at the Soilder, before quickly looking back after noticing something from behind Tomoko, more importantly, someone.

"Obel-chan, get back!" He called as Tomoko turned to see Naoki.

"Huh, who are---The solider!" She pointed to Akihiko, who turned as the solider tried to stab into Akihiko's leg.





Servant of Toyland
HP: 75%
Status: None
Items: Bloody Toy Spear

REJBIw1Wp_1d20+3(Spear Stab > Akihiko Sanada: If stabbed, Akihiko will receive 20% damage.)

p_1d20(Which he does.)

"ARGH!" Akihiko fell to the ground as the solider managed to stab him through the leg, with the spear coming out from the other side as Tomoko gasped. 

"SANADA-KUN!" Tomoko yelled as he fell in front of her. The solider moved quickly and aimed his spear into Akihiko's back.

Only for Tomoko to quickly shoot a blast of agi with it thanks to her spell book.

p_1d20+5(Agi > Servant of Toyland: A fire blast that will give the solider 5% chance of burn should he get hit as well as 19% damage.)

p_1d20+3(And it dodged.)

Bad news for Tomoko, the fire blast didn't hit the solider, but the good news is the surprise attack surprised it long enough for Tomoko to quickly help Akihiko up and away from the solider as he held in the pain and leaned close to a nearby wall.

"Let me see your wounds." Tomoko said, before quickly turning to see the Solider ready to fight the trio again.

"It's still alive." Akihiko sounded angry and in pain as Tomoko gasped.

"Crap..." She quickly took out her spell book again, looking at Naoki as well, as she and Akihiko don't know if he's good or evil yet. He wasn't attacking them yet so that's good.

For now at least.

---

1983

After what happened at the start of lunch, Yumiko was relieved to see that the rest of it was going smoothly with Akemi. He quickly changed the subject of what had happened with Takeharu and talked about computers, although Yumiko didn't much care for IT in general, she liked that Akemi was so invested in them.

Lunch was about to end soon, but Yumiko needed to do something before class goes back in session, so she had to cut the rest of the lunch with Akemi short as well. Before she left, she bowed to Akemi.

"Nakajima-kun... I really liked our lunch together. I hope we have it again tomorrow afternoon, since... I don't think i'll be talking with Kirijo-san again for awhile." She sadly revealed. Akemi, feeling bad, put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't mind him, he's not worth it. What a stuck up student council brat for yelling at you like that." Akemi thought thoughtlessly about Takeharu, much to Yumiko's discomfort.

"Nakajima-san, his mother just died, he's going through a rough time, although, you're right. He shouldn't of called out people for simply helping him out." She groaned but then she looked down at her lunch.

"I should go anyway and do that errand." She smiled again, and hugged Akemi, causing him to blush.

"Shirasagi-san?" He asked as Yumiko moved back.

"I'm sorry. You were just being a good friend and all." She quickly turned and walked away.

"See you in class!" She quickly waved to Akemi as she went down the stairs.

Unfortunately for her, when she made it to the bottom of the stairs she found that the stairway that would lead further down into Jusho was closed due to a prank that a student had did at lunch that went out of hand involving bananas and broken legs and most shocking of all... Stained school uniforms.

So Yumiko was forced to take the elevator. She gulped and entered the elevator once it opened for her and waited to go down, fortunately she was the only one that was in the elevator.

That is, until it stopped and Yumiko would hear familiar grumbling coming from the elevator doors as they opened and Kyoko stood in front of her. She glared at Yumiko as she looked away as Kyoko entered the elevator, which closed and began to descent down the school.

It was quiet, with Yumiko standing in front of the elevator and Kyoko leaning to the side, arms crossed and looking very angry. The atmosphere felt... Tense, like it was never going to end despite Yumiko and Kyoko being in the elevator for five minutes. (It's a really slow elevator)

Yumiko briefly looked to the side to see that Kyoko was holding something... It was the latest sheet for the exam that the class did, with Kyoko only getting a 30% when the passing score was 40%

It seems Kyoko had failed another exam again, which made Yumiko feel bad. Maybe she should say something to soothe Kyoko's nerves over the recent exam.

"If you don't open your mind, your test scores will not improve."

Kyoko leaned off from the elevator and turned her head to Yumiko bitterly.

"YOUR SAYING THIS IS MY FAULT, I'M BLOCKING MYSELF!?"

"Well, to be honest, yes. The recent test was a computer test and everyone but you had managed to pass it. Even Kondo-san passed."

"Computers are just big toys." Kyoko boastfully said.

"Then you don't know?"

"Hah, now I know something's up when the new girl start's talking to me." Kyoko groaned, but Yumiko remained quiet, because honestly she didn't know what else to say in this conversation now. But unfortunately for her, Kyoko became even more angrier because of her quietness.

"What's up? Are you happy that i'm having trouble with school now? Well don't worry cause when the next test comes, our wonderful Nakajima will come and get a 100% like before! That pathetic guy that passed me up from a date because he said I was rude!" Kyoko spat out while Yumiko... Just took the brunt of it.

"I thought it was bad when our Senpai was trying to encourage me to seek a tutor but when a quiet doll like you starts being sympathetic i'm doomed!"

"I am not a doll."

"You are, you'll do anything your teachers tell you to do!"

"I mean, of course, they're my teachers. I don't want to be punished if I act rebellious like you." This, ticked Kyoko off, to the point that she slapped Yumiko as the elevator door opened for the floor that Kyoko needed to be on as she left.

"Ow, you slap me because i'm a good student!?"

"No, you're a robot just as I thought. You're an unthinking puppet and I hate you!" Kyoko briefly paused.

"I hate you, I hate everyone!" She declared angrily as the elevator door slid to a class, leaving Yumiko as the only one on the elevator again, feeling bad with what had happened. She didn't like what Kyoko had said, but she hoped that she can do better from here on.

Oh, her favourite song was playing on the elevator, too bad that it was moving slightly faster then before now and so she had to get off soon.

---

Akihiko Sanada: 45%

1d20+3·1d20·1d20+5·1d20+3

[Jade Callisto]

Emil would pace ever so carefully down the tunnel of this mysterious place called Toyland. For a supposed toyland he did not see that many toys or even things resembling them as much as he had first expected. Coming down the tunnel he saw a familiar figure in the distance. It was a girl with long black hair and brown eyes and a school girl uniform. "Is that..." Emil would come closer to the mysterious girl as she did in fact look like Yumiko.

"Miss Yumiko is that you?" he would ask as the girl ran down to the left of where Emil stood. "Wait! Where are you going Miss Yumiko?!" Emil then hurried down the tunnel as he took notice of the portraits of Akechi being surrounded by family in a happy expression but as Emil ran down the halls of this tunnel he noticed more and more that the family members started to dwindle and the happy expression of Akechi started to wane over time.

Not noticing that there was a wall in front of him as his attention was drawn to the portraits he ran into it with a thud thus injuring him slightly and knocking him onto his behind. "Oww..." Emil looked up and saw the wall in front of him. "Where did she go?" Emil would ponder to himself before Ratatosk spoke up within his mind. "Perhaps that was an illusion Emil. A simple mind trick of this Toyland." Ratatosk would muse before another voice came up but this time not in his mind. It was Yumiko's voice speaking of a door yet there was not one to be seen around here. "I see. So the door is hidden behind this wall." Ratatosk would point out to Emil.

Emil got up after the thud against the wall before noticing that the wall was starting to move a little from that impact. "Did I do something when I ran into it?" Emil would ask Ratatosk. "Most likely. We shall soon see but Emil keep your guard up." Emil nodded in response as he awaited this hidden door as Ratatosk mentioned to open.

---

HP: 175/175

SHIELD: 65/65

STATUS: None

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

Naoki Kashima had long since taken the other path to find and help the other people that were in the area, luckily he didn't have to go to far, as he would observe and make a mental note to strike without the enemy knowing that he was there.  Plus there was only one of them, and he didn't want more to turn up.

To kick off the fight, he would promptly raise the heat in the area with his Heat Wave...  As a combo.
Bm2BGqyop_1d20+3=20(Heat Wave @ toy Soldier, 5% dmg and 100% burn chance if it connects)
p_1d20+3=4(and again^)
p_1d20+3=8(and again^)

Then launched an almighty elemental laser cluster Xemnas-style!
p_1d20+3=9(Xeros Beat @ Toy Soldier, 20% dmg if it connects)

Then fired off a Divine Shot from that vantage point, all while keeping his presence as the legendary Demi-Fiend masked.
p_1d20+3=22(Divine Shot @ Toy Soldier, 10% dmg if it connects)

---

Naoki Kashima the Demi-Fiend
HP: 130/130
Shield: 40/40
Status: ready to throw down with distance attacks
Cooldowns:
Xeros Beat(2)1d20·1d20·1d20·1d20·1d20