Street Artist

The fallout of Kamoshida's confession was bigger than Axel thought. Students came forward one after the other and accused Kamoshida of many different things.

Most students had evidence, a.k.a., the scars on their bodies. Others, relied on their team mates and friends to voucher for them.

The mess caused by Kamoshida's confession ended up closing the school for 2 weeks.

However, this event didn't even register in the minds of Axel and his group of heart stealing theives.

Instead, they were using the time to gear up and get ready for another heist. Ryuji, with the help of Akira, set up a website where people could anonymously call for help with people that think they were above the law.

At first, people thought that the website was a joke. But during the two week gap, Axel and his group managed to 'steal' alot of 'hearts', changing the attitude of many different people.

Now, you might be asking yourself, 'How were they able to steal so many hearts in just two weeks?'. Well, it was actually thanks to something Morgana tipped them off to.

Mementos. A palace created from everyone's mind. Taking the form of a subway, each shadow inside Mementos represents a person in reality.

However, the connection between the shadows of Mementos and reality was really weak. The only way to affect a person in reality was to defeat their shadow and ask them to change.

It was an… annoying process, to say the least. Some shadows were far too strong for the group right now, while others seemed to have a million ways to escape from them.

The groups frustration actually got to the point were they needed to rest and relax. They were all so mentally and physically drained that doing anymore metaverse diving would be detrimental to their health.

Anyway, after the group decided to take the last few days off, Magna and Ann decided to go on a date.

They did offer to instead go out as a group but Akira and Ryuji waved them off, saying that they were going to be training.

With the pair of boys, plus one cat, off doing their own thing, Axel and Ann went to town.

"Hey~," Ann muttered shyly, her finger raking against Axel's chest, "I was thinking we go to the movies? There's this movie I've been dying to watch…"

Axel shivered, his body warming up slightly as he nodded, "S-sure thing, Ann. Just… could you stop doing that? I don't want to have a… 'reaction' in public."

Ann giggled and nodded. She wrapped her arm around Axel's, burying his arm inside her cleavage as she practically dragged Axel to the cinema.

However, just as they reached their destination, a hand grabbed Ann and pulled her.

"Kyaa!~."

In an instant, Axel turned towards the person who grabbed Ann and thrust his hand forward. He quickly released Ann from his grip before maneuvering behind the culprit while still holding his arm.

The man screamed in pain as he yelled, "Let go of me, you barbaric buffoon! Y-you're hurting me!"

Ann rubbed her wrist and glared at the man, "Why did you grab my hand like that, creep!?"

"Owowow… I was just going to ask you to be the model of my next art piece. O-Ow!"

Axel pushed the man forward, causing him to stumble about as he frowned, "Next time, try talking instead of just grabbing someone. The next person you do that to might not be as… 'lenient', as me."

The man rotated his arm around while massaging his shoulder as he muttered, "Lenient… yes, that's what it's called when you almost break someone's wrist."

Obviously, Axel heard his little remark and glared at the man, causing him to back up while trying to defend himself.

Ann, seeing that the situation was slowly deteriorating, jumped into the conversation as she smiled, "So… my name is Ann Takamaki and he is Axel."

The man cautiously eyed Axel before turning towards Ann as he gave a slight bow, "I'm Yusuke Kitagawa, an artist and student of Ichiryusai Madarame."

Both Axel and Ann blanked out, though for different reasons. Ann blanked out because she had no clue who that was. Axel, on the other hand, was mentally berating himself for not realising who Yusuke was.

He was one of the future members of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

Yusuke, who had finished talking about his teacher, gave Ann a curious look as he questioned, "Miss Takamaki, could you please tell me why Axel reacted so… violently to my job offer?"

Ann glanced at Axel and giggled, "Axel is my boyfriend. And you didn't really offer me a job, you just grabbed me while we were on our way to… the… OH NO! Axel, we forgot about our date!"

Axel and Ann gave Yusuke a quick goodbye both hurrying off towards the theatre.

It wasn't until a minute after they left that Yusuke reacted. His eyes widened into saucers as he yelled in shock, "HE'S YOUR BOYFRIEND!?!"

---

Sadly, the movie Ann wanted to watch was finished for the day. Axel had to spend a few minutes coaxing Ann and ended up using one of her favourite things to distract her.

Shopping.

Ann LOVED shopping, though she hated spending her money since her modelling gigs were sporadic at best.

She was a popular for a newbie but the veteran models were ruthless, something she lacked. Most gigs ended up going to the veterans while Ann mostly modeled for small companies.

While roaming around the underground mall, Ann's stomach let loose a low growl. Ann stopped mid-step, her face turning a dark shade of red while Axel quietly chuckled.

"Don't laugh!" Pouted Ann.

With a small smile, Axel squeezed Ann's hands as he whispered, "Wanna grab a burger for lunch?"

Ann could only nodded. Axel's voice being whispered into her ears did something to her, something that made her weak in the knees.

"H-help me…" Muttered Ann, her arms gripping Axel's shirt while she stared at Axel with teary eyes.

This, in return, caused Axel to blank out. Ann just looked so… cute. She looked like a small animal that needed to be protected and occasionally patted.

Axel quickly moved forward and kneeled infront of her, "Hop on, Ann."

Though she was embarrassed, Ann compiled and nimble crawled onto Axel's back. Once on board, she couldn't help herself as she pressed her chest against his back and started sniffing his neck and hair.

Axel almost had a reaction, but he quickly started focusing on something else.

'System, recieve the last two rewards from the world trial.'

[Acknowledged.]

Axel didn't notice when but he was sitting down in a Big Bang Burger as the system screen appeared, [Reward(s):

4x Multiverse Gacha Ticket, Party Function.]

Raising an eyebrow, Axel slowly ate the burger Ann just got him as he mentally asked the system for a description of the party function and the difference between a lottery ticket and a Multiverse Gacha Ticket.

[Party Function: Allows the host to register people as a companion. People that the host designates as a companion are given the following benefits:

-Companions are allowed to travel between worlds. Though this only applies if the host brings them with him.

-Companions can send messages to the host via the system.

-Companions are given access to an abridged copy of the system that only has a map function and an inventory function.

Please note that the host is fully responsible for any and all damage his companions do to the natural order of the multiverse.]

Axel rolled his eyes as he internally groaned, 'Great… I guess that means more world trials for me!'

[Multiverse Gacha Ticket(s): A ticket far more powerful than a lottery ticket. MGT(Multiverse Gacha Ticket) allows the host the opportunity to recieve abilities and items from other worlds, worlds that the host hasn't visited. Unlike the lottery ticket, MGT does apply the '10 + 1' gacha feature.]

When he finished reading about the MGT, Axel practically started choking. He barely managed to dislodge the food in his throat as Ann rubbed his back on worry.

"Are you alright, Axel? Do you want to just head home?" Ann asked while patting his back.

Shaking his head, Axel coughed and gave her a small smile, "N-no need, I just got a little surprised."