April 22 (Thursday); 9 Days Until Expulsion
Chapter 80: Early Morning
Ann and Nanako meet up at Shibuya Station, the latter telling Ann she has some advice for whipping. They consider whether to go to the Palace and decide to ask Ren, reasoning he's their de facto leader.
Chapter 81: Palace of Lust
The group agrees that they need to make progress, though Angel refrains from saying Skull and Panther are holding them back as they go through, engaging as few Shadows as possible. In the Safe Room, Angel wishes they had a map, and Mona reasons that by Metaverse logic, there must be one. Angel gets the hang of moving stealthily by way of cognition, finding that Joker shares her reservations about Skull and Panther, and they find an archive with a map laid out, sealed by bars. Joker effortlessly opens the cage and they take the map, finding several speeches written out on the table, but hide as they hear someone coming. A third Kamoshida enters, this one dressed like a butler and muttering about plans and excuses, and Joker and Mona incapacitate him with a smoke bomb before tying him up in Joker's grappling hook. Kamothreeda, as Angel and Skull dub him, begs for his life and shares that Kamoshida likes shortcuts, pointing a few out on the map. Realizing he's already called Shadows to their location, Panther puts him to sleep, and they untie him before heading to a nearby Safe Room.
Chapter 82: After School
In Shibuya Station Square, Morgana explains that Kamothreeda is the part of Kamoshida that keeps him from getting caught, charming and persuading people and exploiting loopholes. Ann grows furious as Ren observes that the speeches were all about Shiho and theorizes that the advice he gave them was just truthful enough to lead them into a trap, and Morgana theorizes that they can probably kill Kamothreeda, but should still refrain from it since he's clever and therefore dangerous. Morgana warns them to be careful, and Ren says they don't need to be stronger than Kamoshida, just smarter, before the group parts ways.
Chapter 83: After School, Shujin Academy
Sadayo Kawakami reflects on the state of her life between being a teacher and maid with no time to be herself, as she and Kamoshida meet with Chie and Naoto about Shiho's suicide attempt. Kawakami reflects on why she hasn't tried killing herself yet as they go through the questioning, finding that Shiho had more reasons to live than she did yet she was the one who kept trying to push forward; she can only reason that the human heart is a complex mystery.
As the questioning winds down, Kamoshida expresses his wish that Shiho had reached out, claiming ignorance to her issues. Naoto speaks up for the first time, saying that Shiho's injuries told a different story; specifically, the brace on her leg and the bruise on her forehead that she had when she jumped. Kamoshida excuses the brace by saying Shiho didn't tell him, he didn't ask, and it didn't seem to affect her playing, and the bruise by saying that playing with his special training to the national level, some injuries were inevitable. Naoto connects this statement to Shiho, one of his star players, and observes that Kamoshida didn't consider that that could be a significant source of stress to Shiho. Chie says she's not arresting Kamoshida and sends the two teachers on their way, though not confirming that the case is that of attempted suicide.
Left alone, Naoto confides that something seems significant about Kamoshida as far as their overarching case, and besides, he raped Shiho and needs to face justice for it. Chie notes that there was no evidence, and Naoto says he would have been careful to leave none, which Chie realizes is all the more reason to take him down.
Chapter 84: Evening
While battling exhaustion as she decides what to do for dinner, Nanako gets a text from Haru asking her to meet the family she'll be babysitting for the following night, which she agrees to do. Nanako muses on what to do about the Palace, sure that the map they have is incomplete after looking over it on her bed. Then she realizes that she had brought the map out of the Metaverse and debates telling Ren and Morgana about it, but hesitates to call.
Her mother calls her, checking up on her after seeing the news about Shiho's suicide, and Nanako feels great relief as she confides to Kaho that she saw everything and went with Shiho to the hospital. Her mother says she's proud of her and says her father will be, too, and has more faith in her than he lets on. After a bit more small talk, the call ends, and Nanako basks in the blessing of having two loving parents before getting a text from Ren asking to meet on Central Street.
Chapter 85: Evening
Nanako grouses over Ren trying to eat the Comet Burger. He finishes two-thirds of it in twenty minutes, and Nanako feels her Kindness increase from helping him to the station.
