Probation.
For Ren Amamiya, this was a landmine that could go off at any moment.
Although the Yukinoshita family had suffered heavy losses because of the monsters in Chiba, their father was still a prefectural assemblyman. He had the power to detonate this landmine just by saying a few words.
Even though Ren didn't know much about Yukino Yukinoshita's family background, he wasn't stupid. The fact that even Shadow Kamoshida, the king of his own Palace, didn't dare do anything to the Yukinoshita sisters showed him that this transfer student from Chiba wasn't from a typical family. It would be no problem for her to detonate his probation. So when Taichi told him to open the Otherworld Navigation app, he had already started taking action.
Just then, Yui Yuigahama walked into the break room without hesitation. The girl still didn't understand the dangers of people.
"Yuigahama-san!" Although Yukino Yukinoshita had a good impression of the classmate who had attached herself to her, that impression hadn't reached the point where she would call her a friend. Her face fell, and she rushed over to pull Yui out of the room she had been tricked into entering.
But at that moment, the space began to warp after Ren had finished filling in the settings.
The six people and one cat now stood at the main entrance of the Palace.
"Wait! Didn't we enter from Taichi-kun's break room? Why are we logging in at the main entrance?" Ann Takamaki, who was entering the Palace for the second time, asked, confused.
"I don't know. It's always been like this, like it's been set up so that the entrance and exit can only be here," Ryuji Sakamoto said, who was already in his Phantom Thief outfit.
"W-what's going on?! We were just at school! Why are we suddenly here?!" Yui Yuigahama, who was entering a Palace for the first time, sat on the ground, staring blankly at her surroundings. The environment was familiar; it was the school gate. But where the school building should have been, a Western-style palace now stood.
"The cat, it's a walking cartoon cat now!" Yukino Yukinoshita's attention had been mostly on Morgana from the start, so her first reaction wasn't to the change in environment or space, but to Morgana's sudden change in art style. Yep, she was a cat lover through and through.
Having had a close encounter with a monster before, both Yukino Yukinoshita and Yui Yuigahama were shocked by the sudden change, but they quickly accepted reality. After all, if Ultraman and a monster could appear, a little urban fantasy wasn't a big deal.
"...So, this Palace has a Shadow of me and my sister?" Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Morgana, who was explaining the situation, with an expression that said she'd just heard the most ridiculous thing. When it came to getting Yukino Yukinoshita to listen, Morgana was much more reliable.
"It doesn't feel too outrageous... compared to Ultraman and monsters," Yui Yuigahama, whose eyes had long since lost their shine, mumbled in a monotone.
"To be precise, an unknown Shadow has taken on the appearance of you and your sister... and that teacher, Ms. Hiratsuka, but they aren't your Shadows," Ryuji Sakamoto said.
"No, what Skull said isn't quite right," Mona said, rolling his eyes and cutting off Ryuji. "Maybe one, two, or even all three of those Shadows are your own Shadows."
"Did you forget what Morgana-chan said earlier?!" Ann Takamaki pulled Ryuji back to remind him. "The two forces are competing for ownership of the Palace! Why would a common Shadow do something like that?"
"S-Skull?" Yui Yuigahama tilted her head. She didn't understand the word, but it sounded like a cool name.
Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Ryuji with a look of pity. "Mm, that code name perfectly fits the delusions of a normal high school boy." She was just short of calling Ryuji a chuunibyou.
"Yuki-chan, what does Skull mean?" Yui Yuigahama asked, hugging Yukino's arm without shame.
"You're hot. Don't hug me," Yukino Yukinoshita said, her nose turning a little red. "Skull is an English word for a cranium or skull."
"...Wow, what a chuunibyou." Yui Yuigahama's gaze toward Ryuji also became pitiful.
"W-what! Why are you looking at me like that?!" Ryuji, who had just returned, hadn't heard their conversation, so he had no idea he was being called a chuunibyou.
"My code name is Joker," Ren Amamiya said, who was worried Ryuji might have a tantrum. He voluntarily gave away his Phantom Thief code name.
"I know that one! It's the clown! Clown?" Yui Yuigahama looked at Ren, confused. The cool, handsome Ren seemed to have nothing to do with a clown.
"It means 'ace'! Ace!" When he heard his self-proclaimed name being misunderstood, Morgana immediately jumped up and yelled, "And my code name is Morgana! You'd better remember it!"
A chuunibyou group! And a chuunibyou group with special powers! This label was mercilessly slapped on the four people and one cat by Yukino Yukinoshita.
"Don't look at me! I don't have powers like them, so of course I don't have a code name!" Ann Takamaki felt a sense of shame for the first time and backed away as if she had been stung by a bug. But the Otherworld Navigation app had already appeared on her phone. It seemed she would eventually join them.
"Then what's your code name?" Yui Yuigahama, who was naturally friendly, turned her attention to Taichi, who had been silent since he entered. In his mind, he had been arguing with Mordred. Unlike the half-masks the others wore, Taichi's was a helmet with two horns. His style was completely different from Ren's and Ryuji's. A group with three different styles—it was something else.
"Knight," Taichi answered, pulling his attention away from the argument. "Now do you two understand? Our conversation wasn't about talking behind your backs. It was about comparing you to the Shadow in the Palace to rule out her suspiciousness."
The others had all forgotten why they came, but Taichi was the only one who remembered.
"Ah, yes, yes, yes!" Ryuji froze for a moment, then nodded his head vigorously in agreement. After all, he was the one who was bad-mouthing them, but Ren was the one who might become the victim.
"Seeing is believing," Yukino Yukinoshita said, staring at Taichi. "Take me to see the Shadow Yukinoshita you're talking about, and I'll pretend I didn't hear anything before."
"That's right!" Even though Yui Yuigahama already believed Taichi's story, she knew it was never wrong to stand by her friend.