Click Here for Update 23
: I forgot to mention what we did at night on 5/25. The answer was crafting, and this was done for a specific purpose - so that we could hit Proficiency 3 in time for a couple of upcoming events. : No! You were supposed to take Morgana to horny jail, not me!
: “You are now one step closer to your rehabilitation. It’s a delightful thing indeed.”
: “Our master is pleased. You should be honored, inmate.”
: “However, that man’s remarks are concerning. It seems another has made their way into the Metaverse.”
: “That is beyond my knowledge.. but your rehabilitation is progressing smoothly.. that is for certain. May the devotion to your rehabilitation grow even deeper. I have high hopes for you.”
: “I’m calling about Madarame’s state. For the time being, he hasn’t suffered a mental shutdown. Other than that, his demeanor seems to have softened a bit. Is that the change of heart?”
: “I see.. I was curious and looked into Kamoshida as well. It’s as if he was an entirely different person. Will the same be true for Sensei?”
: “…I’m sorry to have taken your time. That’s all I wanted to tell you. Good- Oh. I’ll try asking him about the black-masked intruder from the Palace when the time is right.”
: “Goodbye then. This time for sure.”
: “It’s so annoying dealing with copyright crap these days… oh yeah, did you know this? You know the Arsene Lupin series by Maurice Leblanc?”
: “Leblanc once had a famous detective character from another series appear in one of the Lupin stories. Now then… Kurusu-kun. Do you know which author Leblanc borrowed from?”
: “Oh, do you like mystery novels? Yes, the answer is the author of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle.”
: “It was the ultimate showdown between the definitive gentleman thief and the famous detective.”
: “Apparently, Leblanc changed the name of his version of Sherlock Holmes when Doyle complained. He changed it to “Herlock Sholmes.” He just moved the S to the start of his last name.”
: “Both Lupin and Holmes would go on to appear in a number of other works.. but those were homages, not plagiarism.”
: “Now, Arsene Lupin is synonymous with the idea of a ‘phantom thief’. He’s recognized all over the world.”
: “Wow, it looks like some phantom thieves never go out of style!”
: “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!? I was in serious trouble, you know!”
: “Some girl had this crazy look in her eyes, and she was chasing me around, calling me a ‘snowball’ or something…”
: “I wonder if she’s been going after other cats and snatching them up like she tried with me.. try checking the Phan-Site and see if anyone’s saying anything about it.”
: “Hmm, maybe it’s just not a well-known problem yet? The only victims are cats, so I suppose that could be the case. Let’s try asking around in Yongen and see if we can find the culprit.”
: “A bunch of cats…? Hey, she might be talking about that catnapping case. Let’s ask her for more information.”
: “Hmm.. doesn’t look like we can learn anything else from her. Let’s get out of here and go over what we know so far.”
: “So here’s what we learned from that mother and child.. this ‘Aino’ lady suddenly adopted a lot of cats. There’s concern about the noise at night and shedding. The cats might be acting that way because they’re stressed.”
: “Not only are other cats suffering, but she’s also hurting people too.. the Aino household was the one that suddenly got a lot of cats, right? That’s got to be our target.”
: “It’s pay per visit, so you don’t gotta worry about any bullshit contracts or nothing.”
: “The equipment’s kinda crappy, but they got tons of variety. Plus, it’s real damn cheap. Totally worth it, even without a pool or hot tub.”
: “Oh yeah! You bring your stuff?”
: “Hell yeah, man. If you wanna beef up, you gotta - wait, that ain’t it!”
: “I’m talkin’ about spare undies! Gettin’ back into your sweaty clothes after a nice hot shower is like, the grossest goddamn thing.”
: “…Oh, but don’t get your hopes up. No way I’m gonna let you use mine. Anyways, let’s head in.”
: “Phew.. my form’s.. comin’ back… but I don’t got.. any stamina…”
: “I’ve been tryin’ to come up with some cool new slang. Maybe it’ll catch on!”
: “Him? He’s, uh… a friend! By the time he showed up, the track team was already… well, y’know.”
: “Eh, I’m managin’… how ‘bout you, Senpai? You still runnin’?”
: “About that, I’m real sorry…”
: “That’s ‘cause you needed him to write your letter of rec, right? You were just lookin’ out for your future.. but I still managed to eff it up anyways.”
: “Senpai…”
: “For real!?”
: “…Nobody told me about that.”
: “Yamauchi…? Hold up, THAT Yamauchi!?”
: “He is?”
: “…Yeah.”
: “Good for them.”
: “Nah, not really… for real though, I’m glad the team’s comin’ back. It’s sweet that Nakaoka and them can start trainin’ again.”
: “But I’m still worried 'bout their advisor, Yamauchi. He’s basically like a mini-Kamoshida.”
: “Basically. He’d always yell at us at practice, but then be a huge kiss-ass when our parents were around.”
: “Ugh, I can’t believe a moron like that’s gonna be advisin’ the track team. He doesn’t even teach PE!”
: “…He’s gotta be up to something. I’ll do some research.. there’s a chance I’m gonna need your help too, mkay?”
: “All right, we don’t got time to be messin’ around here anymore! Let’s head home! Wait, I gotta shower first!”
: “About that stuff today… I can’t really let myself be happy about the track team startin’ up again.”
: “Like I said earlier, there’s just somethin’ fishy about Yamauchi bein’ the advisor. But I mean, if anything happens, I know you got my back. So I ain’t too worried!”
: “Thanks, man! I knew I could count on you! I mean, we don’t know for sure if anythin’ sketchy’s goin’ on. But when I get these gut feelings.. they’re usually right.”
: “Well, if I hear anything, I’ll hit you up. Okay, later!”
: “I’m surprised you knew that. Did you just guess? Torture, though - that’s pretty brutal.”
: “I’d love to help you though… how shall I teach you? …It’s time for my speech. Let’s talk about this later.”
: “They lack jobs, security, savings.. the next generation will lead us into the future and yet they have no plan for how to arrive there.”
: “Yes, let’s.”
: “No…! T-that was.. all in the past..”
: “Yes, but I cannot say that to the crowd before an election. Regardless, whenever someone calls me ‘No-Good Tora’, I panic.”
: “I went through quite an ordeal 20 years ago.. let me explain. I used to be a member of the National Diet. I was elected during the rise of the ‘Kuramoto Children’. We were backed by powerful Diet members.”
: “This was about 20 years ago. I was very inexperienced back then, both as a politician, as well as a human being.”
: “That inexperience led me to be involved in a series of major political scandals. People refer to my blunders as ‘No-Good Tora’s Three Strikes’.”
: “The first was being caught missing a legislative meeting to take a personal vacation. Then, I was accused of embezzling a large sum of money from the party.. giving me two strikes.”
: “Finally, I called a voter an idiot at an open forum which resulted in scandal.. and strike three.”
: “I was out.. and branded a washed-up politician. You said you wanted to become a member of the Diet. But do you see the man before you?”
: “I’m happy to hear that, however.. everyone says I have no chance to get elected, so why come to me?”
: “You’re doing a good job of cheering me up.. but you may be right. The most important part about giving a speech is believing in yourself. Perhaps one day, I will believe in myself… again.”
: “But you sure got me there. You’re a strange young man, Kurusu-kun. Very well. If learning how to give a great speech is what you seek, then I’d be happy to instruct you.”
: “In exchange, I would like for you to continue assisting me. Let’s get started, shall we?”
: “..Oh my, we’ve been talking for far too long. Let’s call it quits for today.”
: “Ah, Kurusu-kun! I’m sorry, there’s something I forgot to mention. It’s about my speech schedules from this point on. Would you be willing to stick around to hear it?”
: “Quite a practical young man, eh? Well, I won’t take up too much of your time. I’ll be here giving my speeches every Sunday. You’re welcome to drop by and help whenever you’ve got the time.”
: “That’s all I wanted to say. Now, be careful on your way home.”
: “Madarame’s ill, but the exhibit is still going strong. I can’t respect him as my sensei anymore.. but it’s sad to think I don’t have a mentor anymore..”
: “Talk…? To you? Now that I think about it, I don’t believe I’ve ever had someone I could simply talk to. Well, perhaps I may need a sounding board sometime. I hope you’ll humor me then.”
: “I need your help with something. I found this flyer stuffed in my mailbox.”
: “A maid, dude! A MAID! Who’ll do ANYTHING for us! Right? …Right??”
: “…You’re a guy, right? You know what I mean! Let’s give it a try! Yeah? Yeah!”
: “Luckily, some guy on my floor just moved out so there’s a vacant apartment in my complex. The key is behind the mailbox, so we can get in anytime. The landlord seriously doesn’t care.”
: “The place is all set, so…”
: “…Get in on this?”
: “Oh-ho! You mean you’re into this kinda stuff? Wow! Okaaay…”
: “What does it mean that they’ll do ‘anything’? And do the maids look exactly as they’re advertised? We need to determine whether or not this company just pretends to offer housekeeping services!”
: “I-I.. just want to punish the bad guys! And in order to do that, I have to see it with my own eyes.”
: “Yeah, we gotta see it with our own eyes. Every little detail.. we’ll hafta do this at night, so let us know when you’re ready.”
: “So what’s the code name for this operation…? Hmm.. since we’ll be watching them, it should be something like.. ‘Operation Maidwatch’!”
: “Nice! I like that!”
: “If you’re feeling okay, you can go home now.”
: “…What? Again? That’s, well… that ship’s already sailed, so…”
:* sigh * “…What a pain.”
: “Her dad’s been bringing her here to be treated, even though I referred them to another hospital. I even told them about the medical error I made..”
: “Uh.. the medical error was well-documented. Everyone in my field knows about it.”
: “I led the development of a new drug for an incurable illness called ‘Crawford-Ende’s disease.’ Although I wasn’t the one who administered the medicine, it was the cause of the error.”
: “With Crawford-Ende’s, certain cells indiscriminately attack other cells throughout the body. When it reaches the muscles, the patient slowly begins to die.”
: “There hasn’t been much progress made on it - partly because there haven’t been many cases of it. I worked with a pharmaceutical company that had reached the final stage of production, but…”
: “One day, I was suddenly removed from my position. The Chief of Staff Oyamada, my superior at the time, took over the entire operation.”
: “I don’t know if he wanted the glory of developing a new drug or to become rich and famous, but.. he made careless mistakes and rushed completion so he could use it on a patient named Miwa.”
: “Miwa-chan had a reaction and lapsed into critical condition. The chief panicked and laid the blame on me. Miwa-chan and her family resented me.. no matter what I said, I couldn’t change how they felt about me.”
: “Well, that doesn’t matter.. the development of the medicine was suspended, so I had no reason to stay at that hospital. At least now I can keep working as a general practitioner, on my own terms.. with my guinea pig.”
: “That’s the new medicine I’ve been trying out on you. This version is in the final stage of testing. It searches for those cells that take the offensive and destroys them upon detection.”
: “That’s why it’s harmless for people who don’t have the disease.. probably.”
: “You have a lot of faith in me. Thank you, my little guinea pig. You’d better not flake on me this late in the game. I’m inching closer to the finish line, but I need your help to reach it.”
: “In exchange, I can offer you medicine at a special price. I’m counting on you, guinea pig.”
: “It’s been a while since I’ve had to deal with this kind of nuisance. It’s stressing me out. …Oh, sorry, that’s all I wanted to talk to you about. You can go home now.”
: “Also, sorry for the long talk today. I wasn’t planning on telling you all that.”
: “Yeah. You’re the first person I’ve really shared all that with. But.. it was also a good reminder. This is something I have to do, as the Plague.”
: “Thanks to you, the drug’s development is progressing very smoothly. If there are no issues with this latest sample, I think we’re right on the edge of finally finishing it..”
: “…Oh, sorry, looks like I’ve got a patient. Maybe that girl and her dad came back. I have to go. See you later.”
: “I had pretty high hopes for them, but they turned out to be posers… the Phantom Thieves are true heroes though! I wanna help out however I can!”
: “So, we’re executing Operation Maidwatch tonight for sure, right?”
: “Sweet! I’ve been waiting for this!”
: “Wait, you already changed out of your uniform!? I guess that’s a pretty good idea.. we’re meeting over at Sakamoto’s place, right? Let’s stop by mine beforehand so I can change too.”
: “Operation Maidwatch, bro!”
: “If it turns out to be sketchy, we can just bail. The apartment’s vacant, so it’s not like we’ll be messing with anyone’s home.”
: “Yeah, yeah, I know.”
: “To think.. Sakamoto has a brain. But if that’s the case, then…”
: “Then…”
: “Yep!”
: “Okay, give 'em a call!”
: “Well, I guess he could do it too. Okay, go for it, Mishima.”
: “M-Me!? I-I’m not good with that kind stuff! Seriously! Please, Kurusu!”
: “They answered!”
: “Shhh!”
: “S-Services…!”
: “Anyone we want to request!? What should we do, Akira!?”
: “Shit… this is really happening..”
: “A maid’s ‘services’… hey, what should we have her do? I was thinking we start with some cooking.. of course, I wouldn’t mind some of the other services either…”
: “…Should we hold a strategy meeting to discuss?”
: “They said 20 minutes, right…? Ugh, I gotta use the bathroom.”
: “I-It’s almost time.. you were in there for a while.. are you okay? Hey, did you wash your hands?”
: “… Huh? What? Who? Me?”
: “Y-You’re really nervous.. ahaha.. haha.. uh…”
: “Are high school students even allowed to use this type of service?”
: “Huh?”
: “What do you mean, ‘Huh’? You should’ve researched it! What if they find out who we are!?”
: “H-How should I know!? But why would how old you are matter when it comes to housekeeping?”
: “We would’ve been screwed if your number had shown up on their caller ID…”
: “What!? Already!? She’s five minutes early! What do we do!? I’m not mentally prepared!”
: “I-I can’t do this! My stomach’s actin’ up! And my hands are all sweaty! Okay, you handle the rest… and don’t let her find out you’re a high school student.”
: “This is our first meeting. Yes, the first time ever, Master. <3”
: “Ugh.. this is unbelievable.. yes, it’s me.. your homeroom teacher. …I’m so done. I can’t believe I got caught by some of my own students..”
: “I should’ve taken a job outside of the city. But I needed it to be close to school so I could go there after I finished work. …Who did you hear about this from?”
: “Ms. Chouno, the English teacher.. she’s been snooping on all the teachers ever since that incident with Mr. Kamoshida. …Are you going to tell Ms. Chouno about this?”
: “Hmm.. it doesn’t seem like you’re playing dumb.. in any case, I’ll get in big trouble if you tell on me. … Hey, if you’re going to side with a teacher, side with me. I’m in charge of your class, after all.”
: “And if you promise not to tell Ms. Chouno about this, I’ll do anything for you!”
: “This isn’t even your home address to begin with, is it? I guess you at least thought about that. Well, I’ll promise to keep this a secret too.. so why don’t we both forget this ever happened?”
: “I’ll treat this as if you had canceled, so you won’t have to pay anything. Okay?”
: “On that note, I’ll be leaving! Don’t say anything about this at school, okay!? Just act as if nothing ever happened! Got it? Okay, bye!”
: “Kawakami’s been driven into a corner by Chouno! Let’s talk to her to we can help her out.”
: “As I’ve been saying… get home safely, Kurusu-kun. Well then, I have another matter to attend to, so I have to excuse myself..”
: “No! We’re not finished talking yet!”
: “But I…”
: “There’s been a series of scandals on this campus. We’re all being called into question. And yet you leave work earlier than anyone - and you barely make it to the faculty meetings!”
: “Explain yourself! Don’t tell me you’re out running around at night!?”
: “Kawakami’s being grilled by Chouno. She said she’d do anything if we helped her out, so let’s clear up Chouno’s suspicions.”
: “The school’s closing soon, Mr. Kurusu. Head on home before it gets late. Or did you need something from Ms. Kawakami?”
: “…What?”
: “Another question?”
: “Th-that’s right! Kurusu-kun’s questions are complicated, so I take time at night to help him..”
: “So you’re giving individual lessons outside of school hours, hm? What passion! You are the ideal teacher! A passionate teacher is exactly what we need at this school. I’m sorry for suspecting you.”
: “Well then, keep up the hard work, you two.”
: “She just kind of convinced herself.. but that did clear up her suspicion, so… thanks. Could you come with me for a bit?”
: “This is the address and phone number of my night job.”
: “Call at night and request me. Just be careful that it doesn’t show up in your call history though, okay?”
: “Yeah, you did it! No call history means a public telephone. Let’s call from Leblanc’s yellow phone. Let’s call Kawakami when you’re free, and invite her to meet you at your room!”
: “Okay, I have to go.”
: “This place seriously feels amazing. It’s not even that far from Shibuya, but it feels so different here. You know, Tokyo is so strange. There are tons of people and tons of stores, yet there are still duck-filled parks here too.”
: “It has everything.. but it feels like I can’t understand any of it. It’s honestly kinda scary.”
: “Oh, right. You only just moved here, Akira. When I first got here, I had a super tough time adjusting. It’s so crowded, and everyone walks really fast.. like they’re angry or something.”
: "Even at school, I was only ever the ‘foreigner’. Nobody really knew me; they just spread rumors. I thought maybe my looks were the problem. I even considered dyeing my hair black to match everyone else..’
: "But that was when Shiho talked to me. The first thing she said was ‘Takamaki-san, your paintings suck.’ "
: “I thought she was just making fun of me like everyone else, but that wasn’t her intention. According to her, they were so bad that she just HAD to tell me. Pretty mean, huh?”
: “Still, that was the first time someone here talked to me without mentioning my looks. We sorta just grew closer after that.. and Shiho’s been my best friend ever since.”
: “That’s not why we’re here though! There’s something else I need to talk to you about! Do you remember what I told you the last time we came here? About the female thief in the anime I used to watch? Well, I thought of something!”
: “You know how the villains in those shows are always going on about world domination? Well, even though they get beaten by the heroes every time, they never give up.”
: “That means they must have really solid hearts.. and that’s why I’m going to try and learn from them!”
: “Right? So I’ve decided.. I’m gonna star in action movies!”
: “Thanks! Your support really helps! All right, I’m making this my ultimate goal for the future. You know, I’ve never really thought about what I wanted to do in life.. but now I have an objective!”
: “And that only happened because of talking to you, Akira! Thanks!”
: “Well, if I want to be in action movies, I’ll need to work on my actions! I wonder how many sit-ups I’ll have to do…”
: “Wait, Ryuji said he knows a good gym! I should ask him for advice! Oh, and I need to tell Shiho that I have a new goal! She’ll definitely be happy to hear that!”
: “So I’d like to think I’m pretty athletic. Like, I don’t hate exercise or anything.. but I’m exhausted just from running to the station earlier. Maybe I’ve gotta train my body along with my heart.”
: “Do you do anything to train your body?”
: “So that’s pretty much your lifestyle? You don’t, like.. do squats in class or anything, right? …Oof, my thighs are hurting just thinking about it.”
: “Okay, first I need to research what kind of training’s best for me! For now, I’ll just do some curls with a water bottle. I already drank it halfway, but.. better than nothing, right?”
