It’s time to start making choices. Wear headphones to experience more of that lovely dummy head mic. Here is the guide I’m using.

All rights belong to Rejet.

**Do NOT repost or reupload my translations or I will take them down.

Urie considers their situation back in the third library. The only clue they have to finding what they’re searching for… is that Butterfly? Shiki says she was adorable. The look of horror on her face… just remembering it makes him tremble. Urie still can’t believe there’s a girl out there who would dare rebuke Rem. She surprised him. Yeah, she ain’t half-bad. The look on his face! God it was priceless, Mage laughs. How about he go get the information outta her? It’ll be a breeze. *He’ll have her smitten with him in no time.

Urie would like Mage to leave that job to him. *He wants to love her and make her melt, oh so sweetly, because she doesn’t seem immune to temptation. Shiki wants to tease her too. He giggles and wonders how he’ll go about hurting her feelings. Urie says it appears as though all of them are in agreement. He’d like the Butterfly to fall right into their hands. But it won’t be as fun if she does just like that, Shiki complains. Besides, she must be sad that her mother’s been abducted. He’d like to chip away at the hole in her heart.

“You don’t have to go through all that trouble,” Mage says. How about he make her fall in love with him and then drag her back here in one go? Urie sighs and says they’re too rough. Butterflies must be treated with the utmost care. Though it’s a good idea to have these sorts of discussions, Rem will reprimand them if they overstep by acting on their own. It looks like they’ll have to patiently wait for further instructions. It’ll be fine if they can make her talk in their own way, Mages reasons. “Didn’t Rem tell you not to rock the boat?” Urie asks him.

Rem can’t be mad at them if all they do is go see her for a little bit, right? Shiki points out. “Exactly,” Mage grins. They wouldn’t be doing anything wrong. Urie sighs in exasperation. They’re really something. They don’t care what he has to say, do they? Shiki smirks at him. And yet he’s just as eager to get on board, he says. Of course not, Urie scoffs. He could never go against Rem’s wishes. Which is why… he’ll just go say hi to her. Carefully, so that Rem never finds out.

✞———————❖———————✞

The scene shifts to the outside view of Ritsuka’s home. The weather’s nice, she thinks to herself. It hasn’t changed at all since yesterday. But mom is… “What’s the matter? Let’s get going,” Lindo says, cutting into her train of thought. Ah, okay… It’s the day after mom’s abduction. Ritsuka’s still feeling down in the dumps but if she stays at home she’ll only be depressed. They take the usual route to school together.

✞———————❖———————✞

”It’s nice to meet you. I’m Kuzuha Azuna.” Lindo introduces himself to Azuna and says he hopes they get along. Of course, she hopes so too. With that out of the way, Azuna turns to Ritsuka and says her brother is just as kind as she said he was. O-oh, really? Absolutely. She’s so jealous. They must get along really well if they walk to school together. Y-yeah, Ritsuka says. Azuna asks her what’s wrong. She doesn’t look too good. So something did happen yesterday?

Huh!? Azuna says it sounded like she’d been crying when they spoke on the phone. If she’s up for it, would she like to talk about it? Azuna was… worried about her this whole time? Well, it’s understandable, considering how upset she was. Ritsuka asks her brother if it’s okay to tell Azuna about what happened yesterday. Lindo says nothing, staring off in another direction with a concerned expression. Azuna says she doesn’t have to tell her anything if there’s a reason for it, but if she would like to, would she please tell her? She may be able to help.

…That’s true, Lindo reluctantly admits. She might feel better having a friend she can talk to about this. “Nii-san… thank you.” However, he says sternly. She can’t go around telling this to the other guys. It could interfere with the police’s investigation. Sure, she understands. Ritsuka turns to Azuna and tells her everything.

✞———————❖———————✞

Azuna is stunned. She’s saying that her mother was abducted by those suspicious men? Yeah, Ritsuka says. Inwardly, she wonders why they took her and for what purpose. She doesn’t have a clue. “So you were in danger too?” Azuna says. It may be weird to say this, but she’s just glad she’s okay. Yeah… If Sogami and the others hadn’t come to help her, she would’ve also been… That’s why she’s so grateful to the Student Council Members, even if they’re a bit weird. The Student Council, Azuna repeats. Lindo goes quiet. Anyway, Azuna says in a cheerful voice, “Don’t hesitate to let me know if there’s anything I can do. I’ll always be here to help.”

“Thank you, Azuna.” The bell tolls, and Azuna says they should get going. Does she think she’s up for class? Ritsuka says she is. There’s no point in getting frustrated over this when they already submitted a police report. Truthfully, she admits to herself, she’d like to get out there on her own and find her mom as soon as possible but… she wouldn’t know where to begin. Okay, then let’s go. Azuna asks Lindo if he knows where his class is. Oh yeah, says Ritsuka. Would he like her to show him where it is? No, he’s fine. He should be able to find his way there. That aside… “Don’t go near the Student Council. See you.” He’s been going on and on about that since last night. What’s got him so worried? Azuna says they should get going or else they’ll be late. Oh, right.

✞———————❖———————✞

Ritsuka couldn’t concentrate on the lesson. She and Azuna linger in the hall together. She wonders what her mom is doing right now. She knows she has to leave this matter to the police but it’s taking too long and it’s making her frustrated. Mom… “Are you okay? You look a little pale,” Azuna says. Y-yeah, she’s fine. Don’t worry about her. Ritsuka tells herself she can’t be like this. She shouldn’t worry Azuna over nothing. Hey, Azuna says. She doesn’t think Ritsuka should push herself today. How about she go rest in the nurse’s office? Yeah, maybe she should, Ritsuka says.

Azuna tells her to sleep for just an hour. Once class is over she’ll come get her right away. She couldn’t drag her to class when she looks like this. Yeah, Azuna is probably right, Ritsuka thinks to herself. She may feel better if she takes a little nap. “Alright then, I’ll do that. Sorry,” she says. She’ll just take a break from the next class. Okay, Azuna says. She’ll go let the teacher know. “Thanks, Azuna.”

✞———————❖———————✞

Lying in bed In the nurse’s office, Ritsuka finds herself wide awake. She hadn’t slept a wink last night, either, she laments. And the campus police have gone off somewhere… When she’s all by herself, she ends up thinking about too many things, like why was her mom abducted? Or what are those men after? Speaking of, they seemed to be searching for something, didn’t they? Something called the Grimoire…

The door quietly opens. Huh? Someone’s here. “Oh? Can’t sleep, Butterfly?” Urie asks. Sogami-san!? She startles. But it’s not just him. Naneshiro-san and Natsumezaka-san are both here, too. “Shiki is fine. I’d like you to call me that.” Oh, no, she really couldn’t use his first name… Anyway, why is everyone here? Are they not feeling well? Isn’t she the one who’s not feeling well? Mage asks. She’s the one in bed here. “Huh? Me?”

Shiki tells her that the teacher said she wasn’t feeling well and had gone to the nurse. Urie leans down and says they came to check on her because they were worried after hearing that. Is she alright? They all came to see her because they were concerned about her… Ritsuka thinks to herself. Aloud, she apologizes for worrying them. She’s really worried about her mom, but… well, there’s no use feeling down about it all. That’s right, says Urie. She’s a resilient Butterfly. But the Student Council are always on her side. “Come to us anytime you have a problem.”

Ritsuka wonders if they came all the way here just to tell her that. She really needs to express her gratitude to them for yesterday. Urie draws closer. For example, he continues, if things become too difficult for her, she can cry in his arms. Look, her rosy cheeks have become cold to the touch. Ritsuka startles. H-his hand is on her cheek! (If you haven’t been wearing headphones, here comes the Dummy Thicc Mic.) Ignoring her personal space, Urie leans in asks her to rely on him. He’ll take her mind off of all of the bad things. “N-no, thank you! I’m good! Please don’t trouble yourself!”

He laughs and says she’s turning red. How cute. Shiki speaks close to her right ear. He’d like her to tell him if there’s anything she’d like him to do for her. He’ll grant any wish she has, whatever it may be… “E-excuse me,” Ritsuka flounders. “Your face—you’re too close…” He has to be to get a good look at her eyes, he counters. This way, he can see the innermost parts of one’s heart that aren’t usually on display… all of them… He’s way, way, way too close!

“Hey, don’t pay attention to those guys,” Mage speaks up. He wraps an around her shoulders, and she squeaks. If she’s gonna rely on someone, she’ll pick him. He’ll have her falling in no time. That tickles her ear! “E-excuse me! I’m fine! Really!” She’s okay now. All of the unpleasant feelings she’d had went away thanks to them coming to see her. That was so kind of her to say, Urie says. It’s an honor to be able to see her smile. It’s like watching a flower blossom.

Inwardly, Ritsuka remarks on how Sogami’s peculiar manner of speech makes her feel kind of embarrassed. By the way, he says, stepping closer. How strange… He’d noticed it before but she has a sweet scent. It’s like he’s been bewitched, in spite of himself. W-wait, he’s too close again! Yeah, says Mage. She’s got a weird, sugary scent. Shiki says it’s making him light-headed. He could just gobble her up…

H-hold on! Ritsuka demands. Why are they getting so close to her!? And she’s not even wearing any perfume! Urie asks if he can taste her ear, Mage asks if he can bite the nape of her neck, and Shiki asks if he can steal a kiss from her lips. Ritsuka can barely string a sentence together, so she throws back the covers instead and yells, “Absolutely not!!” Shiki’s ドM switch activates and he literally moans at her outburst Oh, she got angry at him, he says happily. It looks like the Butterfly is feeling much better, says Urie. It’s time they head out.

“See ya. Make sure you sleep under the covers,” Mage says. With that, the three of them leave the room, closing the door behind them with a soft click. Ritsuka pants for air, fuming. What the hell was all that? Still, it may have been thanks to them that all those trivial thoughts of hers have dissipated…

✞———————❖———————✞

Urie laughs about how cute the Butterfly was. Yeah, says Mage. They swung by to say hello and she seemed pretty nervous just by them getting a little close to her. Shiki wonders how they’ll make her fall into their hands. This is going to be fun. It will, says Urie. It looks like she’ll be at the mercy of sweet words and gestures. The thing they’re searching for may be surprisingly easy to find. So then what are they going to do now? Shiki asks. Is he going to break her before Rem’s orders come down to them?

He’d certainly be angry with them, Urie says. For the time being, all they can do is wait. Mage tsks. It’s such a pain that they need his instructions. They can’t go help her out or anything. Shiki says that Rem is too cautious and boring in times like these. “Now, now. I’ll go tell Rem you said that,” Urie teases. That sounds so nice, Shiki sighs. He’d gladly welcome any punishment he gave him. “…You’re still disgusting as ever, dude,” Mage says, pressing a hand to his head in disbelief.

Urie delights over how the Butterfly turned such a charming shade of red beneath his hand. At this rate, he may be the only one who can see those sides of her. What? Mage scoffs. No matter how they look at it, she’s obviously fallen for him. All he did was hug her to him a little and she got all flustered. It was a sight to see. Oh? Shiki drawls. He thought she seemed really infatuated with him.

“Nope, she only had eyes for me,” Urie retorts. “She was into me,” Mage says. “No, me,” Shiki says. “No, no, she’s definitely into me,” says Urie. “I’m telling you she’s got a thing for me,” Mage snaps, but Shiki continues to insist she likes him. The three of them can’t reach an agreement, and they all stew in anger. ”Fine, tell you what,” Urie says. They’ll let her decide who she likes out of the three of them.

Sounds good, Mage says. They’ll settle things once and for all! Very well, bring it on, Urie accepts. If it’s going to be like this, then how about they compete to see who can extract the information out of her? Shiki suggests. Huh? The heck is he saying? Mage snaps at him. If they act outta turn, that bastard Rem will start ragging on ’em. Shiki says it’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t find out. They can just go on a date with her for a little bit. It wouldn’t be weird to ask her about that thing they’re looking for while they’re at it, right?

That’s a pretty wicked thing to say, Shiki, says Urie. However… it’s not bad. He likes the sound of that. They’ll finally lay to rest who it is that she prefers and they’ll get the information they want from her. It’s like killing two birds with one stone. Mage is all fired up to play for that coveted item. Then it looks like it’s decided, Shiki says. They should get ready at once. He’s excited to see who she’ll choose.

✞———————❖———————✞

In the anime, Ritsuka’s teacher drones on about the Fourth Crusade, but in the game, he talks about how paintings depicted so much more than simply what society was like back in the painter’s lifetime. It also vividly shed light on other things like the artist’s personal feelings, experiences and knowledge. While unintentional, painters unconsciously tended to use many bright colors when they were happy, and lots of darker shades when they weren’t…

“I figured this would happen. I can’t focus today either…” Ritsuka thinks to herself. She can’t stop worrying about mom. Are the police really doing their job? She may as well go look for her herself… who is she kidding, there’s no way she could. If she at least had a lead, she’d dive into the search… That’s when someone lets out a roar outside the classroom. Ritsuka and the other students cry out in shock when their door is kicked down. Mage confidently struts into the room and looks around. Uhhh, where’s her seat? he mutters aloud.

“Nanashiro-san!?” Ritsuka gasps. Azuna can’t believe her eyes. Why’s he here? What the, so that’s where she was. He couldn’t see her through the throng of people, Mage says, grinning. Good grief, Mage, Urie sighs. Can’t he behave with a little more tact? But this sort of attack isn’t half-bad, Shiki says. Ritsuka is stunned that Sogami-san and Natsumezaka-san are here too. The teacher yells at the three of them about how he’s in the middle of class. (I guess the door wasn’t that much of an issue rofl)

Urie turns around and uses his powers on the teacher. “Apologizes, professor. This is a pressing matter for us. Please, pay us no mind… Alright?” Ah… very well, the teacher says in a robotic tone. Then he’ll resume his lesson. Ritsuka startles. Wh- Teacher? The class has suddenly gone quiet too. How? Mage walks up to her desk. “Hey, c’mere a sec.” He means her? Ritsuka stammers. Hold your horses! Azuna yells. What do you want with her!? Oh my, Urie says. It didn’t work on her? He hums in amusement.

It’s not like they’re going to eat her, Shiki says. ~~Wow, so reassuring lmao~~ They just want to talk to her. They want to talk to her? Ritsuka asks. Urie says they should go somewhere else for now. He’d prefer to go somewhere more appropriate if they’re going to have this discussion. Aight then — Here we go! Mage says. Ritsuka gasps as he suddenly lifts her up from her seat. “Pipe down if you don’t want to bite your tongue off,” he says, before racing away with her in his arms. Huh? What!? Wait! That’s the window — Ritsuka cuts off with a shriek as Mage leaps out of the window with her. Azuna panics, calling after her.

✞———————❖———————✞

To Ritsuka’s surprise, they safely land on the ground outside. What? “Don’t be so loud. All I did was jump out the window.” Just!? Ritsuka balks. They jumped from such a high place… he’s not hurt or anything, is he!? Huh? He ain’t that weak. Mage scowls at her. N-no way, she thinks. Urie says it’s fine that he got her out of there, but couldn’t he have done so in a smarter way? Shiki sulks about how unfair it is that Mage got to enjoy the look on her face as they jumped. He wants to see it too.

“When did they get here? Don’t tell me they also leapt from the school window. Why do they look so calm about it?” This is impossible, right? But, they definitely did… Now then, Urie speaks up. “Sorry for startling you, Butterfly. We’re going to take you to a lovely place.” H-hang on a second! she says. She was in the middle of class and they’re trying to take her somewhere!?

✞———————❖———————✞

Ritsukwa inwardly groans. Mage hasn’t let go of her and this is where they wound up. Is this a museum? She had no idea there was a place like this so close to the academy. Mage frowns. This is what Urie meant by a nice place? This is so boring! Shiki thinks this is the perfect place to lay bare one’s own heart without anyone butting in. “Um, excuse me? Can you please put me down now? I really need to go back to school.”

She looks so troubled, Shiki says. He laughs before asking Mage to set her down. “Aight, here you go.” With that, Mage literally dumps her ass onto the floor . Ritsuka cries out in shock. Urie says Mage has to treat women with more care. Is she alright? Y-yeah… Anyway, what is this place? And won’t the Student Council get in trouble for skipping class? They can’t run a Student Council if they’re hung up on stuff like that, Mage tells her. Urie assures her that it’s alright. They let her out of her cramped cage so they could play with her. Shiki thinks it would be a ton of fun if she got angry at them too.

This isn’t good… Their answers are kind of weird. Um… they brought her here because they wanted to talk to her, right? Yes, says Urie. He has something important to discuss with her as a member of the Student Council. That’s why they had her come here. Something important? Yes… that’s correct. But he can’t talk about it here, so he wants them to head further inside the museum. Further in?

There’s a hallway, but she can’t see the end of it. This museum must be pretty big. She wonders what he plans to discuss. She has no idea what it could be about, but… “You don’t have to force yourself if you don’t want to… What do you want to do?” Urie asks. Would this, by any chance, have something to do with the note from last time? The one that said she’d broken the school rules?

Oh… Did they already talk about that? He can’t remember. Whatever the story turns out to be depends on her. Wh-what is that supposed to mean? Still, they did go out of their way to bring her here… “I understand. Please tell me the story.” Then it’s decided, Mage says. Shiki chuckles. “Come here.” Ritsuka tells herself that despite the circumstances, they’re members of the Student Council so… they wouldn’t do anything weird to her, right?

✞———————❖———————✞

This place is bigger than she expected. But how come they haven’t passed by anyone else? It doesn’t seem like the museum is closed for today… There’s a bunch of paintings hanging up on the walls, side by side. They’re famous ones, but they can’t be authentic. Can they? Shiki asks her if she likes art. Y-yeah. She likes sketching and oil painting. Oh? They may have some chemistry then ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). He’s also fond of drawing and painting. Really? Yep. After he’s done with his work, he likes to smear it all over with paint… Ah, he can’t get enough, he moans.

Huh? Uh, oh, really? Ritsuka awkwardly says. ~~I wouldn’t know what to say either rofl.~~ *He may be artistic, but he’s kind of strange. Urie steps in and tells Shiki that he’s scaring her. He tries to calm her down by saying he likes to paint too, and he also loves beautiful things. “You paint too, Sogami-san?” He would much rather admire them, he says. The sight of so many colorful butterflies beautifully dancing is absolutely lovely. Urie prefers the real thing over a painting, Shiki says.

But of course he loves the real thing, Urie says. All of them are so sweet and beautiful and their lives so fleeting… it makes him want to hold them tight. What? Ritsuka thinks to herself. He wants to hug a butterfly? He’d crush them… The hell is so great about that? Mage grumbles. He doesn’t get it. “Nanashiro-san… you don’t come to museums much, do you?” She could say that. It feels much better to get outside and go crazy. G-go crazy!? Isn’t he part of the Student Council? Nanashiro-san isn’t some kind of delinquent, is he?

Ritsuka straight up says they told her some weird things and asks if they’re really members of the Student Council. They are, Shiki says. He’s their Treasurer, Urie is their Vice President and Mage is their Secretary. He’s their secretary!? Huh? Why’d that shock her? Mage asks with a glare. Ritsuka quickly saves her ass by saying she was just surprised because record keeping is such a difficult job. She thought that was really impressive. What, that’s it? Mage grins. “Well you got that right: I am pretty awesome.”

No, she meant something completely different, Shiki says to Urie. Well, he’s going to let it slide for her sake, he whispers back before raising his voice for Ritsuka to hear him. The Student Council President, Kaginuki Rem, was the one who summoned her the other day. That President… Ritsuka starts to say, but trails off. Urie apologizes for suspecting her of breaking the school’s rules. The truth is, they realized that everything in that note had been a fabrication right after she left. What!? So it was all a lie. What a relief.

Shiki tells her that Rem also said he’s sorry for what happened and would like to give her a proper apology the next time she visits. Oh no, he doesn’t have to, Ritsuka says. She’s fine so long as they know she’s innocent. Still, she said some pretty rude things herself… She’ll reintroduce herself to him next time. Shiki chuckles. Alright, she can come visit anytime she likes. She’ll be warmly received. Wow. The Student Council are a bit odd but they turned out to be pretty nice people.

Um, so then… was that the important matter they wanted discuss with her? Nope, that’s something else, Mage says. This one’s way more serious. Something else? Ritsuka repeats. What else could be so important they’d need to talk to her about it? Could it be related to her mom? Did they make any progress in their search for her? “I’m sorry. Unfortunately, we still don’t have any leads,” Urie says. But, Rem… well, the Kaginuki family is working on her case. If they find anything, they’ll let her know right away.

The President… is investigating her case? Mage tells her to let him handle it because if his family speaks up about something, the police will take it seriously. Ritsuka is taken aback. She didn’t think they’d go so far for her. “Thank you so much. I can’t thank you all enough.” Shiki muses over her words. If she really wants to thank him, he can think of something he’d want. Something he wants? Yes… something that Rem and everyone else would be thrilled to have.

What is it? She doubts she can afford something expensive but if it it’s like a *snack or something, she’d be happy to get them some! Mage laughs and presses a hand to his his head. She’d be happy to, huh? Ritsuka wonders what’s wrong. Oh, that reminds her… the corridor they’ve been walking down still hasn’t come to an end. Urie suddenly steps in front of her. “Hey, Butterfly. I’d like to tell you something. It’s about that thing we’d all like.” He’s going to tell her what it is? “Now, look into my eyes…” Huh? What is…this? She feels like she’s spacing out. “That’s a good girl. Come here…”

Adorable butterfly… won’t she show him her heart? He’ll ease the pain for her. And then, he’d like her to tell him… where the Grimoire is. The Grimoire? Ritsuka thinks, dazed. She feels like she’s heard that word somewhere before… A memory of Jek asking the same thing crosses her mind, and she gasps. A blinding light erupts between her and Urie, and he flinches back. It’s that pendant again! he snaps. Mage gasps and Shiki marvels at how bright it is. The sound of static rips through the air and Ritsuka startles. Huh? What the heck was she…

Damn, looks like it thinks they’re a threat, Mage says. Urie heaves a frustrated sigh. It’s really difficult, trying to tempt her. He stares at her with disappointment. Wh-what? What happened? Shiki looses a breath. That was a close one. He thought Urie had gotten ahead of them. Isn’t this match all about first-come-first serve? Urie asks. That said, this is quite the pickle. So they’re saying they can’t get any information outta her unless they force her to lower her guard? Mage asks.

Ritsuka silently listens. She doesn’t understand what they’re talking about. Shiki is the next to approach her. He chuckles. How about they have a little more fun while they’re here? Sooner or later, she’ll show them the hole in her heart. Yeah, Mage says. They’ll give it a shot. Huh? Wait a second. Why is everyone closing in on her? They all have a terrifying aura about them. She gets the distinct impression that she shouldn’t stay here. “I have to run!” Ritsuka dashes off, and Mage yells at her to stop. Shiki sighs. There she goes. The Butterfly really is in a pinch, Urie says. There’s nowhere for her to go.

✞———————❖———————✞

Ritsuka pants for air as she runs. The lighting is dim and it doesn’t look like there’s anyone else here. What should she do? She can see a corridor, but which way should she go? Paintings of plates hang on the walls, all of them depicting strange images. But which one leads to the exit? Ritsuka picks the plate featuring a spider winding its web around a rose. It seems to be the most normal one out of the bunch. “Let’s go with this one!” she says. (The guide recommends creating a save file after choosing a painting.)

✞———————❖———————✞

The place she runs into seems brighter than before. It feels like she’s been racing around in one place this entire time. Ritsuka struggles to catch her breath; her legs feel like they’re about to give out. “Caught you,” a voice sounds in her left ear. Ritsuka gasps. Sogami-san!? His hands are on her waist and he’s far too close for comfort. He’s honored that she’d swoop down into his arms. Ritsuka asks him to let her go. Is she sure about that? Isn’t it painful for her to stand on her feet? He warns her not to rest her wings beneath him, else he’ll spoil her rotten.

Ritsuka finds herself going dizzy. All the strength in her body seeps away when he whispers in her ear… “That’s a good girl. You can entrust yourself to me. Don’t think, just submit to me.” This very museum is her heart, he says. After so much hesitation, she came to him because her heart was most enticed by a man like himself. What? What is he saying? No… her head feels like it’s going numb…. Come on, Urie urges, stepping closer. How about they take their time with this discussion?

**This is where your first Human and Devil mechanic comes into play! You won’t be able to return to an earlier scene during this sequence or access previous dialogue. Simply pick the answer corresponding to the ending you want to see. I’m picking the Human choices first.

Urie says he’ll hold her hand so she can’t lose her way anymore. How does that sound? “I’m fine on my own,” Ritsuka tells him. She’s adorable when she pretends to be strong like that, but isn’t it better to yield to her desires? Yield to her desires? Yes, her desires… He doesn’t think she wants him to do this to her. Urie pulls her closer to him. Don’t stiffen up so much, Butterfly. She can leave herself in his hands. He hopes she’ll relax. He’ll take good care of her…

N-no! She mustn’t let herself be overwhelmed by him! Ritsuka twists out of his hold. Oh, too bad, he says. So this isn’t enough for her to bend to his will? “I suppose I’ll have to lock you up so that you won’t fly away somewhere…” Ritsuka has to get away from him. This is bad. She has this feeling that Sogami-kun is going to draw her in if she listens to him. It’s quite charming, watching her try to resist him. It makes him want her more and more. Urie grabs her again. “Look, I’ve caught you.”

Though his grip on her isn’t strong, she can’t shake him off. She’s still trying to fight back? The butterflies he’s captured can no longer escape him… Isn’t that what a spider does? she asks. Urie laughs. “You could say that.” She’s a butterfly caught in a spider’s web, and he’s the spider that gladly feasts on her. Is he wrong? He’s totally off! Ritsuka thinks to herself. He was wrong to even assign those roles to them in the first place!

He was already well aware of this, but she’s truly a stubborn girl. This is the first time a girl hasn’t done what he wants. But it’s because of that tenacity of hers that he wants her to become his so badly. Ritsuka tells herself she can’t believe a word he says. She’s positive that he’s only making fun of her. She’d nearly been deceived by Sogami-kun’s words too many times already. She needs to be careful. This is rather unexpected, he says. He can’t believe he’s having so much trouble with her. Ritsuka notices that he’s deep in thought and decides now’s the time to make a run for it.

Mage arrives before she can, though. He tsks. Looks like Urie got her first. Still, it looks like it was a struggle for him. That’s unlike him, isn’t it? Shiki says. Ritsuka startles at their appearance and panics. There’s no way out if they surround her! “Poor thing, she’s scared,” Shiki croons. It makes him want to chase her more. Mage tells her to behave herself. If she cooperates with them, they can let her go. Cooperate with them? Urie says they want to ask her something. In order for this to happen, they’d like her to open her heart. What do they want to hear? What do these people want to know?

Shiki wants to break her and make her tell him everything. Won’t she tell him? Ritsuka cries out and Mage steps in. Shiki’s such an idiot. Isn’t obvious he’s the best choice? Now be good and do as he says. What, no, that is… Urie says that all of the beautiful butterflies are his. He encourages her to come to him, not those rough guys, and let him gently hold her. Ritsuka doesn’t know what to do. There’s no way she can fight back against the three of them! She panics, unsure what she can possibly do.

Shiki pouts. He wanted to mess with her. Right when her face was starting to twist with fear… He moans. Just imagining it is making him shiver. Mage proudly announces that she’ll fall in love with him right away and he won’t even have to be persistent. He’s certain she’ll disclose the information to him. “You’ve got some backbone for a human. I like that. So give it to me.” Urie believes he’s a more suitable partner for her. He’ll have her tell him everything she’s too shy to talk about soon enough. And besides, the more pure and innocent her fleeting life is, the more he wants to taint her with his own hands.

“I want to tease her,” Shiki says. Mage says she’s his, while Urie insists that she’s actually his. Shiki is about to repeat himself when Ritsuka spirals deep into her own thoughts. Perhaps now would be a good time to run for it, huh. Yeah, they aren’t paying attention to her. She has to get up, quietly… “Hold it,” the three of them say. Ritsuka squeaks. “You’ve got some guts, trying to get away from me,” Mage says. “Looks like you need to be punished,” Shiki chuckles.

Get their hands off her! Ritsuka yells. Urie says she doesn’t have to be so afraid of them. They’ve done nothing to hurt her and they just want to talk. Talk? What do they want to know? She’ll tell them what they want to know, but they don’t need to do this to her. They can’t do that, Shiki says. She might lie to them. What, she wouldn’t lie! Why are they putting her through this? This happened yesterday too. Those men asked her some weird things… Oh no.

“You guys want to know about… the Grimoire. Don’t you?” Mage sucks in a breath and averts his gaze, frowning. Urie asks her how she knows that name. Those guys said it, she says. They asked her where the Forbidden Grimoire was. Oh, Shiki drawls. He laughs. So they targeted her because they wanted the Grimoire, after all. Mage says they beat them to the punch by taking her mother then. That’s no fun. Judging from their response, Ritsuka thinks it’s safe to assume that they know about the Grimoire. She startles. They aren’t friends of the men who took her mom, are they?

Huh? How’d she reach that conclusion? Mage snaps. They’re not with those guys. Yet they’re familiar with the Grimoire, she retorts. Urie sighs. She’s pretty sharp. But if she’s asking them… then he’s guessing that means she doesn’t know where the Grimoire is. Of course she doesn’t! What even is this Grimoire thing anyway? They thought she’d know more than them, Mage says. She really doesn’t know anything about it! She doesn’t know why her mom was abducted or why things are turning out like this either. If she knew something, she’d be out there looking for her as soon as she could, but…

Ritsuka cuts off and thinks the rest to herself: but she doesn’t have any leads. There’s nothing she can do… Oh, she looks upset, Shiki says. Hey, what the heck does that mean? She doesn’t know anything? Mage asks the others. How peculiar, Urie says, crossing his arms. He doesn’t think Rem miscalculated, but.. Something cracks, and Shiki starts. Huh? Right as they were getting somewhere, Mage grumbles. He thought no one else could get in here. Shiki giggles and says the museum was hastily constructed; it looks like a big crack opened up.

What is he talking about? Urie says there’s an uncivilized intruder inside who can’t read the room. The Butterfly is sensitive and afraid, so he doesn’t want them to scare her. What is he going on about? “You’ll understand soon enough… Look, here they come,” says Shiki. Huh? The doors burst open with a loud crash, and Ritsuka screams. “Found you!” a mysterious man says. Huh, who is that!? Where on earth did he come from? Urie tells her to hide behind them. A second mysterious man appears, wearing a beanie. He says it’s pointless to defend her. The Forbidden Grimoire is theirs. They’ll never let them have it.

The Forbidden Grimoire… Oh my God. “You’re the ones who abducted mom!?” What’s she going to do if they are? ask the man in the beanie. Now be quiet and come with them. He’ll take her to her mother if she does what they say. There’s no doubt about it! It’s them. “G-Give me back my mother! Where the hell did you take her? If you hurt her, I’m not going to let you get away with it!”

Shut up, says the man with blue hair. She doesn’t give them orders. Ritsuka flinches. These guys are scary… Why can’t she move her body? Shiki immediately notices that she’s trembling and asks if she’s afraid. Urie says she’s a weak little girl. Of course she’s scared. “Hey, get back,” Mage says. He says he heard everything. They’re the ones who targeted her. It’s gonna be fine, so just hide behind him. Shiki says it looks like they weren’t content with just stealing off with her mother. However, he’s not giving her to them.

“Everything’s alright, Butterfly. Come here and close your eyes for a moment.” B-but it’s dangerous! They should hurry and call the police! They won’t need ’em, Mage says. “Get out of my way. Now hand over the girl!” one of the men yells. Urie says he’ll leave this to Shiki, telling him ‘not to do anything that will frighten her.’ Shiki understands what he’s implying and apologizes to her, saying he’s going to take away her sight. What!? She can’t see! There are things she doesn’t need to see in this world, Shiki says. This is one of those things. Wouldn’t she agree? “It’s alright… It’ll all be over in a moment.” The sound of metal slices into something, and one of the men cries out in agony.

What!? Urie says this is their chance to tell them what they know. What’s he talking about? the man stammers. Urie hums. A mere grunt wouldn’t hold any particularly useful information. This is goodbye for him. There’s another bloodcurdling cry, and Ritsuka realizes it’s gone quiet.

✞———————❖———————✞

She’s been released from the darkness. What on earth happened? See? It’s already over, says Shiki. Ritsuka wonders where the men went. Urie asks her if she’s unharmed. Y-yeah, she’s fine. “Thank you very much. But um, where did they go?” Oh them! They ran off. The cowards were such a bore. Ritsuka asks Mage he drove them off. Something like that, he says. R-really? Inwardly, she thinks about how dangerous they looked. Mage cleaned them up real fast, Shiki says. He wished he could’ve had more time to toy with them.

What? That’s too much work. It’s better to quickly force your opponent into submission, says Mage. So they really did save her. Maybe the Student Council are working with those people, but they said such rude things to them… Ritsuka breaks down. “I’m so sorry… I doubted all of you… Oh, that’s right! Were you hurt!?” Huh? Like they coulda done that to him, Mage says. There’s not a scratch on him. Oh good… Ritsuka thanks them again for saving her. She never could’ve imagined the guys who abducted her mom would show up again…

There’s no need to thank them, Urie says. It looks like they’re really serious about hunting her down, though. It seemed like they were trying to find out where the Forbidden Grimoire is from her. If they’re that serious about this, then perhaps she knows where it is. But she really doesn’t have a clue… So then she and her mom are being targeted because they’re searching for it… Shiki wonders if the Grimoire could be a clue to finding her mother. A clue?

They’re looking for the Grimoire, so they could help her out. Won’t she help them look for it? The Forbidden…Grimoire… Do they know anything about it? Right, says Urie. They may know more about it than she does. They dragged her here against her will today, but… How about they make some time another day to discuss this? That’s enough for now. It looks like they’re already here to get her. Get her? Ritsuka repeats.

Mage tsks. What a pain, coming over here. Yeah, Shiki says. But Rem will get mad at them if they add fuel to the fire. Wait, who’s here? Ritsuka doesn’t get a chance to ask them because everything goes white. It’s so bright! Let’s slowly go over this next time, says Urie. They’ll be waiting for her in the third library… The third library?

✞———————❖———————✞

H-huh? Where is she? Wasn’t she in a museum? Sogami-kun and the others aren’t here. “Ritsuka!” Ah…Nii-san! He’s finally found her. Is she alright!? he asks, sounding out of breath. Y-yeah… “You dummy! I thought I told you not to get involved with them!?” Ritsuka apologizes. But how did he know she was with the Student Council? Her friend… Azuna, was it? She said those guys made off with her. Oh…

Anyway, he’s just glad that she’s safe. He wouldn’t know what to do if they’d taken her to a strange place. “I’m sorry…” She asks him if there’s a museum around here. Hm? What’s she talking about? Oh, nothing, it’s fine. Was it all a dream? But she clearly remembers running around in that place and getting attacked. Still, it’s not as if a huge museum like that could just vanish. Lindo says it’s time they go home because it’s dangerous to linger where they are. Okay. The Student Council brought her here. That wasn’t a dream. If that really happened, then what became of that museum?

✞———————❖———————✞

Shiki laments over how they’d been interrupted right when they were getting to the good part. Does this mean their match has been postponed? Urie says the three of them couldn’t get any information out of her regarding the Grimoire. The museum is a reflection of her heart. He’d thought that the room Shiki’s magic had built would lower her guard for them. He underestimated her strength. And it looks like that girl really didn’t know anything about it, Mage adds. That bastard, Rem. He said she was their only clue but didn’t he get that wrong? It’s still too early to tell, Urie says. If she didn’t have any information, then those other guys wouldn’t be after her.

They’re keeping her mother close to them. And yet they’re still after her, which means… That girl’s got something, Mage finishes Urie’s thought. “Agreed,” he says. There’s a small a problem, though, says Shiki. If they try to approach her again, her older brother will come for her like he did today. Ah… that brother’s gonna be a pain in the ass, says Mage. That’s not all. He’s probably started to realize what they truly are, Urie says. Wow… that’s not good. Rem will be angry with them if he finds out their identities were discovered, says Shiki. “…Did you really think I was unaware?”

All of them gasp as Rem saunters up to them. They’ve really crossed a line by acting out of turn. Ah… busted, Shiki croons. “Please don’t make that terrifying face, my dear childhood friend,” Urie says. They only said hello to her. He doesn’t need to worry because even her brother hasn’t even caught on to them. It’s fine if they play around with her, but they better not mess this up. Rem says there was one more piece of intel: her mother was taken as a preemptive move in their game. They absolutely must make Tachibana Ritsuka theirs. Mage tsks. He already knows that. Then he better not fail him, Rem says. They must approach her with their best moves in mind. Always. And then, they’ll have it. The Forbidden Grimoire.

✞———————❖———————✞

“I’m just glad that you’re alright. I’m so relieved to hear it,” Azuna says on the other end of the phone. She had no idea what those Student Council members were thinking when they suddenly snatched her out of their classroom. Yeah… says Ritsuka. She ended up getting out of school early. Or rather, her brother called the school and then dragged her back home. She must have really made Azuna worry about her. But… those men are after her because they’re looking for the Grimoire.

“Hey, you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself,” Azuna tells her. She know she’s worried about her mom but… she doesn’t think it’s a good idea for her to think she needs to sort this out herself or feel responsible for what happened. Ritsuka gets like like this sometimes and it really worries her. Ritsuka says she understands and promises she won’t do anything reckless. Well, she must be exhausted after today, right? Azuna tells her not to think about anything and get some rest.

Sure. She’s going to school tomorrow so she’ll need it. Thanks for today. “You’re very welcome. Well, good night.” After Azuna hangs up, Ritsuka muses aloud. She made her worried. She’s sorry. The people who took her mom are looking for the Grimoire. She may be able to rescue her if she knows what that is. If anyone knows anything about it, it has to be the Student Council. If she goes to see them in the third library… will she learn anything? If she can, then—

Translation Notes

As always, I’m not fluent in Japanese and I’m doing this purely to practice what I’ve studied. There will be mistakes! If you find any, please let me know. I’d love to improve.

I originally decided to omit all honorifics for this game. It worked splendidly in Beastmaster and Prince. Dance With Devils, however, is a little different. Not only is it set in Japan, but Ritsuka is very careful about how she speaks to those around her. As such, I’ll be keeping them intact and will make sure to go back to previous posts to edit those in. I hope this makes for a smoother reading experience.

* この俺様が、一瞬で骨抜きにしてやる There’s several different meanings for 骨抜きにする. The most common entry in English dictionaries is, “to take the teeth out of something.” If you look up this term in a Japanese dictionary, however, it’s when someone is attracted by another’s charm, rendering them spell-bound. I think the latter is correct in this context considering Mage told Ritsuka he’d have her “falling for him” the first time they met.

*免疫なさそうだし、甘く溶かして可愛がってあげたいよ. I’m not entirely sure how 甘く functions here but I’m positive it’s an innuendo of some kind. Please correct me if my attempted translation it wrong.

*白黒はっきりつけてやろう. New phrase for me.

*芸術的といえば芸術的だけど、ちょっと変わった人だな. This was a new grammar concept (specifically N2) for me, but it was thankfully straight-forward. Here’s the lesson I watched to understand it.

*差し入れとかなら喜んで持って行きます. There’s no direct translation for 差し入れ. It’s essentially a small gift (usually food) given to someone who’s worked very hard.

間に受ける. This is apparently a typo of 真に受ける. Here is an article about this, although it is only in Japanese.

Notes

Shout out to this fantastic guide written by RemIsBestAlmond, which helped me understand the structure of the game. Essentially, there are two common routes (the Left and Right Doors) and each one is 6 chapters long. An individual route begins on chapter 7. Based off of the choices you made in the common route with one of the love interests, you will then either obtain their Human (Good) or Devil (Bad) ending.

I only got like 2 hours of sleep lmao so apologizes if I missed any typos. Anyway, if the other chapters are as long as this one was, I’ll need to space things out to prevent burnout. I started to feel it creeping up this chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you noticed any mistranslations, please let me know! Thank you ❤

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