Mystery Within (Akira Kurusu x Reader)

Chapter 23

"Man that assembly had me bored to tears." Ryuji had complained just as he seems to always do.

"Did you have school too, Yusuke?" Ann asked the young artist.

"I'm doing laundry, so these are the only clothes I had to wear." Yusuke replied truthfully. Ann deadpanned at this.

"You really should buy a couple more outfits..." She muttered.

"Gotta remember he doesn't have much, Ann." You pointed out.

"Come now, we didn't gather to make small talk, now did we?" Makoto spoke out. You mentally rolled your eyes at this.  "Let's get to the Alibaba case."

"Then I'll start. It looks like Futaba was listening in on Leblanc." Morgana spoke. Akira remembered that you were pretending to not understand so he spoke.

"Morgana is part of the team and to us, he sounds like a human speaking but to you, he's just a normal cat. He was saying how Futaba seemed to be listening in on our conversation the other night." He informed you. You gave a nod.

"But why would she want to listen in on the cafe?" Ann asked.

"I have no idea." Morgana replied.

"It's just like Boss said... She's a tough nut to crack." Ryuji spoke.

"In any case, her hacking skills will be absolutely necessary if we wish to stand up to Medjed. Going by what she had told us, we may even be able to identify who they are." Makoto pointed out.

"We'll have to trust in her skills for now then." Spoke Yusuke.

"Anyway, we found out that Futaba has a palace.... But can someone who isn't evil have one?" Ann voiced her question again.

"That doesn't matter. A palace is a materialization of distorted cognitions brought about by strong desires... That's all." Morgana spoke and Akira translated even though you already heard him. You let out a hum. "It just so happens that a lot of warped people turned out evil."

"She's so young though... The pain she's gone through must be the cause of her distortion..." Makoto sighed.

"Maybe that has something to do with why she calls herself Alibaba." Ann suggested

"According to the chiefs story, Futaba has auditory and visual hallucinations, right?" Morgana asked. "There's a chance those are related to some important memories she's holding. It's hard to explain... But those memories may have been warped by the distortions."

"Basically we just gotta steal her treasure, right?" Ryuji asked.

"Well yeah."

"So do we agree about taking on Futaba's Palace?" Ann asked everyone.

"She's asked us to do so. I don't think that part is an issue. If we heal Futaba's heart, it will not only help Boss, but she can assist us with Medjed." Makoto pointed out.

"I agree." Yusuke mused.

"I've been wondering about how boss said "a lot happened" after Futaba's mom died too." Ryuji mentioned.

"Hold on a sec. Our investigation of her Palace may not go like anything we've done up until this point." Morgana warned.

"Why's that?"

"Having an individual ask you to take their heart is an extremely irregular case. There's no telling what the Palace ruler's disposition will be like. Or the distortion that'll be there. We may run into some unforseen situations. Do you still want to go in?"

"Of course. I want to help her." Akira spoke up as the leader of the group.

"Alright. Let's just make sure we're cautious." Morgana warned.