"— video game Ann told me about with the knights and the swords, yeah!"

She gives Ryuji her fakest grin.

"Uh. Yeah! That game!"

He falls into step beside them with a grin and follows them outside.

Where a small black "cat" falls into step alongside them as soon as they leave campus.

"Ann, do you know any decent crepe places around here? Somewhere we could stop and grab something to eat before we head home?"

"I know one near the station that would work." 

That should be a good place to talk.

She takes the lead and heads toward the place she knows.

"Sounds great! I've got so many questions, what's going on with all this shit?"

He follows eagerly.

"Yeah, me too." 

Ryuji's kind of cute in a weird way. He's like a dog with a bone that just can't let it go.

Ann looks down at Morgana and taps her fingers against her arm as she walks. She could use some answers too.

"I'll explain it all when we get there," they say, padding along beside the teens. "I may not know much about this specific Palace's Ruler, but I know a lot about how the Metaverse works."

Ann keeps her pace and nods. 

It's not a long walk to the crepe place she knows. There's a set of white wirework tables and chairs outside the small cafe, and a planter of daffodils beside them. Most of the patio is deserted right now. 

"Grab a table," Ann says. "I'll go order for you two. It's... really the least I can do after all that."

"Get me a chocolate one, then." Akira takes one of the chairs and sits, leaving space for Morgana to hop up onto the table.

It's a little awkward that they can't order something for Morgana, but she doesn't even know if they like crepes.

"Thanks, Ann! I'll have an orange one."

Morgana gives a little cat-like shrug. "I'm good for now," they say.

Ann goes and puts in their orders in the café, then comes back outside and joins them at the table. 

"So Morgana," she says. "Spill. What's going on? Explain from the beginning."

Morgana nods. "There's a separate layer to the world called the Metaverse. It's a space where desires and beliefs are real. People usually can't get from the real world to the Metaverse, but there are ways. Lately it's been taking the form of an app on phones, I think, but like I said it's really rare. In the Metaverse, if a person's desires become twisted enough, entitled enough, their shadow self splits off from the collective unconscious to form a world of its own, called a Palace."

"We were in another world?"

"An app on people's phones..." 

Akira pulls out her own phone. The malware app is still there. 

"Like this app?"

They nod! "Yeah! That's it. That's the Metaverse Navigator, it lets you enter people's Palaces. Most people don't have a Palace. This Kamoshida character apparently does. The castle you three met me in is a reflection of his distorted desires. He sees your school as his personal kingdom or something like it, I guess."

Akira looks over at Ann. "We all saw what Kamoshida's like in the Metaverse. He called you his princess, said he wanted to take us to a "playroom", and I can still feel his hand on my cheek. Plus there's the speedo, and in the real world he was hovering over you creepily in his car. I think it's clear that he's not the kind of person who sees women as people."

Akira looks Ann in the eye. "Ann, if Kamoshida's creeping on you he's probably doing it to other girls as well. We've got to figure out a way to stop him. I know he's probably been threatening you, but you're not going to stop us from trying to help by being quiet. What do you know?"

Ann sighs. "I..." She looks down at the table. "He keeps coming onto me, and when I try and turn him down he starts to talk about Shiho's starter position on the volleyball team and saying that maybe he shouldn't keep her in the lead. Everyone at the school thinks I got into the relationship myself, but really I just can't turn him down completely because if I do maybe he does something to Shiho. I don't have any solid proof, it's not obvious at all if someone were to overhear a conversation, it's just - a pattern - and I feel scared and alone and I don't know what to do."

"That bastard!" Ryuji shouts, slamming his fist on the table. "We can't let him get away with this shit!"

"Ryuji."

Akira keeps her voice low and acidic. "If you shout loud enough that Kamoshida hears about this, you'll make it ten times worse for Ann. And probably worse for all the female students in Kamoshida's gym classes as well. If he's using Shiho to pressure Ann then probably Shiho's being threatened too. Think before you open your mouth."

Ryuji pales. "Shit. Sorry, Ann, Akira."

He swallows hard.

"I wasn't thinkin'."

"It's okay. I know that anger. You've just got to channel it and not let it control you." 

It reminds her of her early days in jail. The rage at a world that was supposed to be fair, but wasn't.

Akira looks over at Ann. "I think we've got to talk to Shiho. Kamoshida needs to control her to control you, so he's undoubtedly doing sketchy things to her as well. There are probably other victims too. Have you heard of anyone else Kamoshida's 'dated' before?"