"I think Ryuji might know more than me," Ann says. "I've mostly just been trying to... manage his affections. I haven't exactly had time to figure out what else he might be doing."

Akira looks over at Ryuji.

Ryuji looks down and scowls. "Yeah, I know a thing or two about Kamoshida. Ann maybe knows part of the first one. I—"

He takes a breath.

"My dad's was a bastard. Beat me some. Eventually he walked out on me 'n Ma. After Kamoshida showed up, he started spreading the story around, getting everyone to talk about it. He knew I'm a hothead, y'see, and I was the captain of the track team. And Kamoshida wanted his volleyball teams to be the only big teams at Shujin. So he pissed me the fuck off in a way that I knew it was him, and then when I mouthed off about it he kept rilin' me up and insultin' my ma until I saw red and took a swing at him. Then he broke my leg and claimed 'self-defense', and used that to shut down the whole track team."

He exhales harshly, tiredly.

"S'my fault. I'm too much of a fuckin' hothead. But if he's hurtin' you an' Shiho too? He's gotta go. Other that story, all I've got is rumors that he's probably beatin' up the volleyball players."

"He's clever. He keeps it all deliberately deniable. Makes you take a swing at him so he can beat you up in response. Doesn't force Ann, just heavily implies things. But if he's willing to resort to physical violence... and is beating up the volleyball team... then there must be something we can get him on. The problem is that he's deliberately sabotaged your reputation, Ryuji, and Ann's as well... He picks on those who aren't able to fight back, reputationally. And I can't really help with that, given all the rumors around me as well. We need evidence and someone of sound reputation to back us. There's a doctor I know casually who might be able to help but we'd need to have real proof, I don't know her that well."

Akira frowns. "Normally you'd go to the school principal with something like this, but he's a raging asshole as well from the fifteen minutes I spent with him getting enrolled."

She crosses her arms and thinks for a moment. "Morgana, do you have any thoughts? I don't know what's possible with magic, and if there's a magical solution that's good I want to know about it."

They nod. "There's... an option, in the Metaverse. I'm not sure, but from what I've seen so far, every Palace forms around something that represents the distorted desires. It's deep in the Palace. If we manage to steal that, we should be able to change Kamoshida's heart, because the distorted desires will fall apart without that treasure. Without that, he should be consumed by guilt."

"Sounds dangerous. We'd have to face those guards again, and we barely got out okay last time. With Ryuji's powers and yours, we could maybe do something, and if it worked it'd be ideal — Kamoshida would turn himself in, right? — but fighting in the metaverse is risky. Is there any way we could make it safer?"

"There are a couple things. First of all, yes, there are Personas, like mine and Ryuji's. A Persona is the manifestation of the other half of you, especially your will of rebellion. There are no guarantees that you two will awaken Personas of your own, but you might. Other than that, tools and weapons you bring in behave in line with people's subconscious expectations: medicine heals injuries, granola restores energy, impractical tools work well, fake weapons are real, and so on."

"So we could maybe get fake guns or something like that. A bunch of granola would definitely be helpful and would be relatively easy to get." 

Akira frowns. If she's caught with a gun, fake or not, it'd look real bad. Medicine might be easier to get - she does have that bottle of long-acting painkillers - but overall it seems really fraught to try and sneak her way through Kamoshida's palace again. 

Kamoshida can't be allowed to keep hurting people like this, but she doesn't want to disappoint Sakura-san either.

She said she'd try to keep her head down. 

Said. Didn't promise.

What does she actually want?

She wants all this to be resolvable neatly and safely and not be traced back to her. She wants to not lose her housing or her liberty, not disappoint Sakura-san, and fix Kamoshida without anyone getting seriously hurt in the process. 

There's really two routes here: gather evidence of abuse and bring it to an adult with leverage, or get together infiltration supplies and try to brave Kamoshida's palace. 

In the first case, what are the risks?

One: Her housing and her liberty, because she had better pick that adult damn carefully for it to not be seen as her just repeating her previous "assault." If word gets back to Sakura-san or the police she could be out on the street or back in prison.

Two: Disappointing Sakura-san, because she can't keep her head down. 

Three: Alerting Kamoshida with her evidence-gathering, which could make the abuse far worse. 

Four: Failing to fix Kamoshida due to insufficient evidence of abuse or insufficient reputational weight. He's probably being protected by the principal of the school since the principal is also a scumbag. In which case Kamoshida probably gets ten times worse because he knows he's invulnerable to scandal.

In the second case, what are the risks?

One: Her housing and her liberty, because if she possesses even a fake gun that's definitely violating the terms of her probation. 

Two: Disappointing Sakura-san, because she'll look like a delinquent for possessing sketchy replica weapons. 

Three: Dying to the shadows in Kamoshida's castle, in which case she and the people she brings with her are probably lobotomized. 

Four: Failing to fix Kamoshida due to dying in his castle, in which case he goes on unimpeded as he has been and everyone in this conversation is also braindead. 

Neither is an attractive option. She's not important; if she dies in Kamoshida's castle or gets thrown in prison again that's fine. But taking Morgana, Ryuji and Ann to their deaths with her would be unconscionable. Similarly, if she fucks this up and Kamoshida seriously hurts someone, or becomes invincible to scandal due to an unsubstantiated accusation, that's on her head too. 

This decision feels heavy as hell. Third options, third options...

"There are two basic plans we could try," she says at length. "We could do it the mundane way. Gather evidence, find a trustworthy adult or a couple trustworthy adults who'll speak for us, try our best to support the victims. Or we could do it the magical way. Get fake guns, medicine, granola bars, whatever else useful we can think of. Get together and delve into the palace and steal the thing that's causing the distortion."

She looks at Ryuji and Ann. "I want, more than anything, for everybody to get to be safe, but this isn't going to work out that way. Whatever we do comes with serious risks. If we approach the victims we could attract abuse to them; if we fight in the palace we could literally die. But I think we've just got to throw everything we've got at this problem. Talk to the victims, get fake weapons, try to find the treasure that Kamoshida's hiding in that castle, just work the problem from both ends and whichever one seems more likely to work go with that one. The important thing is that Kamoshida gets kicked out of the school; how we do that is less important to me."

"Sure, fine, okay, so what do we actually do?"

Ann cuts herself off as the waiter comes with the crepes and passes them out. Orange for Ryuji, chocolate for Akira, and double cream for herself.

She speaks up again once the waiter's gone. "You say throw everything at the problem, what does that look like? What's the plan?"

"It looks like I feel out that doctor tonight and bring my meds with me tomorrow, and maybe Ryuji or you try and find a place for fake guns or granola bars overnight too, and tomorrow we ask around the school at lunch hour to talk to Shiho or the volleyball team, and if we're able to find good fake guns and medicine and prepare for things well we try and explore the castle some more after school tomorrow."

Ryuji nods. "I like that idea. I think I know a good airsoft shop, too, in Shibuya. Guy sells some realistic ones, from what I hear, but he's a little picky about customers. You seem like you're better at talkin' t'people than I am, Akira. Y'got time to come check it out with me tonight?"

She hates decisons like this. If she stays out, she needs an excuse to be out for a while that is not "buying airsoft guns." But getting those airsoft guns could make the difference between a successful infiltration tomorrow or... not. And every day is important with things so at risk right now. 

"Not sure I can squeeze both that and the doctor visit in, and if I'm gone too long my guardian will wonder where the hell I've been. I'd prefer not to have to lie..."

She taps her chin. "Failing that, I'd like to make the lie believable. Shibuya's a big fashion district, right? Ann, want to come along and buy an outfit or two with me? Then I'd have a physical object as proof of where I've been and a story to tell my guardian that'd make sense."

Akira frowns. "... I don't actually have much money on me," she admits. "Do you two have enough between the two of you to afford some airsoft guns and maybe a skirt?"

Ryuji shakes his head. "I don't."

"I think I can cover that. My parents give me a monthly shopping budget and I can use it on this."

"I didn't say anything earlier because we were running for our lives, but shadows accumulate money and items from the collective unconscious, and they sometimes leave it behind when they dissolve. That should make it easier to get more supplies or upgrades in the future, if we need to."

"That's pretty convenient. Glad to hear that."

Akira looks at Ryuji and Ann. "I think we have a plan. Let's get over to Shibuya before the shops close."

Ryuji nods and stands up, having finished his crepe. "Sounds like a plan."

"Let's hurry then."

Akira turns her attention to her own crepe and efficiently demolishes it.

Ann's already done hers. 

"Yeah." She gets up from the table. "Ryuji, you know where this place is?"

"Yep! It's called Untouchable, on Central street. C'mon."

And he leads the way into the station and picks out the right train.

Akira kind of wishes she could call Sakura-san and tell him where she's going. At least the excuse part. 

She'll have to ask for his number when she gets home today.

Onto the train she goes.

It's not a long train ride, and no transfers. "I'm glad we finally have a way to do something about—", he suddenly cuts himself off, correcting his following word choice. "About that bastard," he finishes quietly.

Akira gives Ryuji a small smile. "Better. Ryuji, when we're in the store let me do the talking."

Ann leans against the pole on the train. "It'll be nice to shop with someone," she says. "It's really been a while for me."