↳ CHAPTER TWENTY:

STRANGER DANGER ↲

SATURDAY, MAY 14| MORNING

ROUGHLY A WEEK HAS PASSED SINCE EVERYTHING THAT WENT DOWN AT THE WATANABE HOUSEHOLD.

Ryuji and Kaori came to an agreement about her mother, making him even more eager to find a new target for them, only to be slowed down by the week of exams before them.

Kaori and her mother didn't talk much after the exchange they had, besides going to the doctor together to get her medication and thanking her for the present, which was a copy of the famous novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment.

The week went by in a blur for most students, including our quartet of thieves, no thanks to the midterm exams taking place. Ren and Kaori didn't have much trouble during their exams, but the same couldn't have been said for Ryuji and Ann, the latter struggling the least of the two.

The pair (plus Morgana) rode the subway together as usual and then proceeded to wait at the station for Ryuji and Ann, to then head to school together.

The two of them waited at the usual spot for everyone to gather. Ren was looking through some things on his phone and occasionally glancing at the female next to him, while Kaori was busy reading the book that her mother had gotten her as a present.

Neither had much to say, but they didn't mind the silence between them, so they both simply enjoyed it until the rest of their friends arrived.

Luckily they didn't have to wait too long as their reckless blond friend arrived with heavy bags under his eyes.

Ryuji let out a long yawn and came to a stop before his friends, gaining their attention. "So sleepy..." He let out with another yawn, "I ended up pulling an all-nighter once I realised today's the last day of exams."

Morgana poked his head out of Ren's bag with a look of disbelief on his face. "You? Staying up studying?" He asked.

Ryuji shook his head, stretching his arms above it. "Nah, I gave up on the exam. I was playin' some video games, the before I knew it, it was morning."

"That does sound more like something you'd do," Ren commented with a thoughtful expression.

Kaori nodded from behind her book, turning over to the next page, "It's what he always does."

"No matter how many times I fail, nothing's gonna change."

Before anyone could add to this conversation Ann walked up to the group, also letting out a long yawn, but having the courtesy of stifling it with her hand. "Morning..." she greeted.

Ryuji smirked at the sight, "Yo, look who else is yawnin'."

Ann glared at Ryuji, "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," Morgana said, a subtle look being thrown at Ryuji, who quickly noticed.

"Huh? Don't gimme that crap. You're brain's tiny compared to mine."

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

"What was that!?"

"Ugh, will you please shut up!?" Ann threw herself between the blond boy and the cat, a very annoyed look on her face, "You're gonna make me forget everything I memo-" She paused for a moment, her eyes suddenly focusing on something else, "Am I imagining things...?"

The other three shared a confused look before turning back to the blonde girl.

"What's wrong?" Ren was the first to talk, a concerned look on his face.

"What, you see a groper or something?" Ryuji added, to which Kaori elbowed him in the ribs for being insensitive.

Ann shook her head at the questions, "No, that's not it. It's... nothing."

The trio shared another look, silently deciding to not push Ann any further. Luckily before anything else could be said the subway arrived and everyone quickly got on to it.

Ann seemed to be antsy the entire time, looking around as if they were being followed and nervously tapping her fingers in the railing she was holding on to. The boys didn't notice anything off, but Kaori definitely felt a pair of eyes on them as she continued to read.

The quartet got off once they arrived at their station and proceeded to take the escalator to the upper level.

Ann turned around again, her eyes widening at what she saw, "Oh my god, he got off! Isn't that bad?" She exclaimed.

Ren and Kaori also turned their heads to see what the blonde was talking about, only Ryuji stretched his arms above his head and let out a loud yawn. The girls glared at him in reply.

"Hey! At least act like you care," Ann said irritated with her hands on her hips.

Ryuji rolled his eyes and scratched the back of his head, "Fine. Come on."

The rest shared a confused look as the blond boy walked ahead of them, before hurriedly following after him.

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"Hey, Uh are you sure it's him or are you just that self conscious?"

After Ryuji told everyone that he had a plan, Ann and Kaori waited outside the subway station for the stranger to maybe approach them to see if he was following them. Turns out that he was actually following them all this time.

The quartet of teens stared at the stranger, all of them besides Ann shocked at his appearance as they imagined a creepy looking old guy, but he was just Highschool student like them. He was fairly tall and had dark blue hair and eyes, but wasn't wearing the usual Shujin Academy uniform.

The male stared back at them, a bewildered look on his face, "Is there something you want?" He asked.

Ann pushed past Ryuji and Ren with an angry expression. "That's my line!" She yelled, pointing her finger at the stranger, "You were the one stalking me!"

The blue haired male narrowed his eyes, "Stalking you?" He said, while pushing his hair out of his face, "That's outrageous."

Ann only glared harder at him, "I know you've been following me ever since the train!"

"That's because-" He couldn't finish his sentence, as a sleek black car drove up next to them. All of the teens turned to look as the window slowly rolled down, revealing a very old man in traditional Japanese clothing.

"My goodness I have wondered why you left the car," the old man said, probably addressing the stranger, "So this is where your passion lead. All's well that ends well."

The blue haired boy turned his attention back towards the quartet of thieves (but mostly Ann). "I saw you from the car... and I couldn't help myself from chasing after you," he started to explain, "I didn't even notice the calls from sensei... but thank goodness, I caught up to you."

"Okay..." The blonde replied hesitantly.

"What?" The other blond let out.

"You're the woman I've been searching for all this time! Please won't you-"

"W-wait a minute. I-"

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

Everyone stopped for a moment, staring at the stranger, taking a moment to process what he just had said.

Ann blinked rapidly at him, "...model?" She repeated confused and shocked.

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

"This man's highly suspicious!" Morgana poked his head out from inside Ren's bag, only to be pushed back inside quickly.

Ryuji shared a look with Kaori, "Ain't this a recruit for some shady business?" He asked, to which she just shrugged.

The artist ignored the comments and continued, "Will you cooperate with me? What do you say?"

Before Ann could respond Ryuji stepped in front of her protectively, "Hold your horses! Who're you anyway?"

The stranger stopped, "Oh, where are my manners?" He said, before clearing his throat, "I'm a second year at Kosei High's fine arts division. My name is Yusuke Kitagawa."

Yusuke stepped closer towards Ann, rudely shoving Ryuji to the side in the process, making the blond tumble into the nearby Kaori, who then in turn tumbled into Ren.

"I'm Madarame's pupil, and I am being allowed residence at his place. I'm striving to become an artist."

Ann jumped in surprise, "Huh!? Do you mean THAT Madarame?" she asked impressed, "The one who was on "Good Morning Japan" the other day?"

Yusuke nodded, "The very same."

"You know who that is?" Ryuji asked the model.

"He was introduced as a super famous Japanese-style artist who's been recognised all over the world," she explained, before quieting down, "But we heard that name the other day in Mementos..."

"Yusuke!"

"I'm sorry sensei. I'll be right there!"

Yusuke turned back to the quartet. He pulled something out of his pockets and handed it to Ann, "Madarame's exhibition will begin at the department store near the station tomorrow," he started, "I'll be there to help out on opening day. Please come by. It'd be great if you could give me your answer in regard to being a model then..."

He took a small pause before turning to the other three standing in the background. He pulled out another set of tickets and handed them to Ryuji, since he was standing nearest to Ann, "I bet you have no interest in the fine arts, but I'll give you tickets too," he turned back towards Ann, "Well then, I hope to see you there tomorrow."

Yusuke bid his goodbye and entered the car, before quickly driving off. The quartet of thieves watched as the car disappeared, Morgana finally poked his head out of the bag again.

"That guy's as easy to read as a book... You're not plannin' on goin', are you?" Ryuji looked at Ann, as he folded his arms behind his head.

Ann thought for a moment, "... I think I will," she replied, then she looked at her phone, "Crap, look at the time! I'll see you later."

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SATURDAY, MAY 14| AFTER SCHOOL

The final bell of the day rang, signalling to the students that exam week was finally over. Everyone let out a breath in relief at that, before enjoying their new found freedom.

The quartet of thieves gathered around at the subway station, having some time before each had to head home, next to the usual vending machine, treating themselves all on some soda.

"Mmmmmm, it's over!" Ann let out as all of them clinked their cans together.

"It's over..." Ryuji repeated, the feeling of relief very apparent in his voice.

"It's over..." Ren repeated with a nod, although he seemed to be less affected by it that the other two.

Kaori shook her head at her friends, "C'mon, you guys need to get your act together."

"Easy for you to say, Little Miss Perfect," Ryuji replied, "Anyways, can we stop talkin' about exams? Like it or not, they're gonna come back graded next week. Rather than focus on stuff that's over with..." He pulled out his phone from his pocket, starting to look through the Phansite again, as he often did these days.

Ann looked over his shoulder curiously, "What are you looking at?"

"The usual site..." he replied absentmindedly, as he scrolled through the page, before letting out a defeated sigh, "It's no use. There ain't any useful info. The number of posts are getting less and less too..."

Morgana gritted his teeth as he heard that, "I am not letting this end as a one hit wonder, okay?" He let out quite loudly, a few passerby's proceeded to look at them weirdly.

Ann petted the cat on the head to calm it down, which worked better than she thought. "There's no point in getting antsy though," she said, as she stopped petting Mona (to his dismay) and took a sip from her soda, "I know! Why don't we go eat lunch somewhere? We still have some money left over from the other day."

Ryuji's eyes lit up at that, "I want sushi then!" He said excitedly, "Or domestic raised eel!"

"We don't have THAT much left," Ren then replied, making the blond drop his head in disappointment. The frizzy haired boy softly petted his friend on the back in comfort.

"Oh, right. There are those tickets to Madarame's exhibit!" Ann said excited, before looking down again, "...Wait, that's tomorrow."

Morgana stared at the blonde in shock, "Don't tell me. Was it love at first sight with that Yusuke guy...?"

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

"O-Of course not."

"When I was watching that special on TV, his artwork was pretty nice," Ann continued, before pulling the tickets from this morning out of her bag and showing them to the group, "Plus, we've got free tickets."

"Besides, this could also be related to what we heard in Mementos," Ren added, earning himself an agreeing purr from Morgana.

Ryuji thought about it for a moment, "Madarame, was it?"

"I'm curious too," Kaori said, raising her hand slightly.

"That aside, what should I do about the other three tickets?" Ann said, "I mean, I'm obviously taking Kaori with me. What about you two, want to go appreciate some fine arts for once?" She looked at the boys with a teasing smile.

"I-I don't remember agreeing to that,"Kaori spoke up, but changed her mind once she saw Ann's pleading look towards her, "...but I'll go anyways because you're my friend."

The blonde and the brunette turned to look at the boys again, who just shared an unsure look.

"Fine arts, huh?" Ryuji let out.

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

The blond delinquent sighed tiredly, "Well, if everyone's going..."

Ann jumped and clapped her hands together excitedly, "It's settled then!" She stated, before letting out a dreamy sigh, "Just the Phrase "going to an art exhibit" sounds kinda mature."

The rest sweat dropped at the blonde's behaviour towards the exhibit.

"Let's meet at the exhibit entrance tomorrow."

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↳ A/N:

Hey, the gang finally met art boi! 🥳

I also want to thank that one commenter that remind me to finally update this story again. It literally took a month for me to finish this because of current world events and I was busy writing other things that I'm probably never going to post *cough* Kingdom Hearts fanfic *cough*.

Regardless of that I decided to add a meme to every author note for fun.

Look at the absolute best boi, he's so precious. I love him.

Anyways, have a nice day/night! And stay safe!