Here's Chapter 3. Sorry it's been so long. Thanks to the Guest reviewer who encouraged me to keep going with this. This year has just been... hard. I'll try to write up some more later on when I think of something!

Chapter 3: Blogger's Crush

Although all of the Black Fox guys are cuties, one in particular's got the most of my attention.

Hiro's eyes sparkled as he read the sentence aloud. 'Ranko Togoshi' had posted a follow-up singling out one of the guys as her eye candy.

I won't dare call his name here - not yet - but he'll know who he is as he keeps reading.

"Why am I actually curious to see which one she picked?" I murmured to myself.

"Because you're sick and nasty," Takuto answered.

I rolled my eyes at him.

"I kinda wanna know, too," Kenshi admitted with a smile.

"She's the enemy," Riki pointed out.

I looked over at him. "You can't honestly tell me that you aren't the least bit curious as to which one of you she's got a crush on, Mr. No-girl-can-resist-me Yanase."

Riki's self-assured nature got the best of him as he answered with a cocky smile, "Is there even any doubt that it's me?"

"Therrre it is," I said, nodding knowingly, and secretly wishing that it wasn't him.

My Black Fox cutie, or should I say No. 1 cutie, would have be the muscle of the group. Tall, strong, adventurous- Ladies, if you see those arms in those tight, black long sleeves!

"She's definitely seen you guys," I commented, purposely avoiding stating the obvious.

"Kenshi?!" Hiro called out in surprise. "No offense, but, really?"

"Ladies like brawn," Atsumu said, glancing over at Kenshi with a grin.

"Is it wrong for me to take this as a compliment?" Kenshi said with an embarrassed smile, his cheeks a boyish red.

"Not. At. All," I stated firmly before Takuto could dish out some smart comment. "The girl's got good taste."

Riki looked at me. "Sounds like you agree with her," he said suggestively.

"I said nothing of the sort!" I dropped my face to hide my cheeks. "Hurry up and keep reading, Hiro!"

"Aww, ok," Hiro looked back to the screen.

And I'm not just basing it off looks for all you shallow minds out there. This particular Black Fox has physical as well as mental strength.

"Don't we all?" Boss murmured to himself in the kitchen.

"Is she calling Kenny smart?" Takuto asked.

Hiro looked up in thought. "Well, he's not an idiot but..."

"Guys?!"

"It's fine, Akahime." Kenshi laughed like their comments didn't bother him at all. "I'm not the one you think of when you hear the word 'smart'. That's either Takuto or Riki."

He's the one that goes in and checks out the place before they start a heist. First set of boots on the ground. Really keen senses and keeps the group's spirits up if things get tough.

"How does she know all this?!"

"She's even got the group dynamic down!" I said in awe. "It's like she's been watching you guys like a daytime drama."

He's also got some medical experience from his day job so he doesn't have to kiss away any boo-boos you ladies get - although I'm sure none of us would mind a kiss anywhere from any one of these guys, hehe.

"Skip... skip..." Hiro was scanning through the article while we talked among ourselves.

Don't worry, all the other guys will get a post dedicated to them, too. It's really hard to settle on just one.

"Hey guys, check this out!" Hiro suddenly yelled out.

And to The Black Foxes, I say, let's make this a mission. You come steal me away before I write my last post on you guys. If you win, the secret stays safe. If I win, fangirls will be swarming you guys like flies to a light bulb.

Ready? Mission commence! Or should I say:

"IT'S SHOWTIME!"

The bar went dead silent. Everyone's eyes were as wide as they could go, mouths agape.

Riki broke the silence. "We've GOT to find her."

...

I thought about our dilemma as I cleaned up my things at the museum. This blogger posing as Ranko was something else. She knew way too much about us to just be some simple loner behind a computer screen. All her posts, seemingly, had been uploaded from Ranko's personal laptop at the most random times during the late night or early morning before dawn. From the way she was writing, she could ruin the lives of every one of us with a few taps on a keyboard and the click of a mouse. That was scary.

...

*Brrrriiiinnnnnnggggg vvv vvv bbbrrriiinnnggg*

I rolled over onto my side and flopped my hand around my nightstand, still half asleep. "...HelloOo?"

"H-hey, um, Ki-kiyuki?" It was Ranko. Her voice was trembling unnnaturally.

I perked up a bit. "Ranko? What's the matter? Are you ok?"

"U-um- Ah!"

I heard a scuffle as the phone was snatched from Ranko's hand and then dull, boingy thud. A new voice came through the speaker, gravelly and androgynous, wavering between female and male. "Good evening, Mademoiselle Renard Noir."

I scrunched my eyebrows. Say what? "Hello...?"

"I go by Ranko Togoshi. I'm sure you've familiarized yourself with my work by now."

My eyes popped open, all trace of sleep completely gone. "I have," I answered levelly, not letting any reaction slip into my voice.

"Very good. I see here that your friend carries my name as well."

She was born with it, you faker.

"I would think that she would be grateful to me, putting such a huge story under her name. I would give her all rights and credit for it if she but asked me."

I took a silent breath and got into character. Putting on in situations like these had saved me more than once in more ways than one. "This sounds like it has nothing to do with me," I said in annoyed voice.

"Oh, but it does. You see, for her to take the credit for the story, this Ranko Togoshi - that is, your friend Ms. Togoshi - would have to be made aware of the fact that you are the girl in the group."

You wouldn't dare- I almost said out loud, before biting my tongue and steeling myself. "Are you threatening me?"

"Oh no, of course not! That would imply that I'm a bad person - which I assure you, I most certainly am not."

And I'll totally take you word for it, I thought as I rolled my eyes.

"I simply have a big thing about lying. People who love each other, family, friends, significant others, shouldn't keep secrets from each other. It only ends in someone getting hurt and relationships being destroyed. I've made it my personal mission to not let any secret I get my hands on be kept hidden from the ones who should know the most. I have no intention of ousting you noble thieves to the entire world, just to those who matter the most to you. I believe they have every right to know what their loved ones are doing under the cover of night. I very much admire your work; I just don't believe that keeping this information from people you claim to love and trust is morally right."

I remained silent. This person had a point. I mean - wait! No they didn't! We keep it a secret to keep them safe! Wait a second, I've got no reason to justify our actions to this complete stranger! Who do they think they are, anyway?

"So what are you going to do?" I asked, keeping my voice uninterested like I couldn't give two hoots if my family found out that I was a thief.

"I'm going to keep my word," the voice replied in a proper tone. "I'll continue posting the articles in order. I'll tell you, in addition to the four upcoming posts about the remaining guys in your group, there are going to be at least two more articles before the big reveal. I'll remind you that I have no intention of giving your names to the world - the furthest thing from it, actually."

"So you're throwing me a bone? How generous of you."

"Come now, Miss Akahime. Please don't address me that way. I'm only preparing you for what's to come inevitably."

"And you have my deepest gratitude." This cool, collected character drowning in sarcasm was doing a splendid job of masking the panic that was growing inside me.

The voice chuckled. "If you want, you can tell Mr. Kashiwabara that he's next on the list for me to write about. Then I'm still debating between Mr. Hirukawa and Mr. Yanase. Hmm, now that I think about it, I'll do Mr. Yanase first so that I can truly challenge Mr. Hirukawa. He'll be surprised at how much I look up to him as a progammer and a person. Oh! Don't tell him that, though. It'll ruin the surprise."

"We wouldn't want to do that."

"I knew you'd understand, Ms. Akahime. A girl like you is a great addition to the group."

"...Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll talk to you again soon!" The voice had piped up like the person was talking to a friend. "And don't worry about the other Ranko, she's perfectly fine and sleeping peacefully. I set her alarm so she won't be late for work. You have the day off tomorrow, right? Catch some extra Z's to make up for the ones I stole tonight. Good night!"

Click.

I leaned harder onto my propped up elbow as I squinted at my phone screen in the darkness. The imposter was at Ranko's house. I realized that but it just didn't click with me. I should call someone. Had Tatsuro been home? Maybe he'd slept at the office. No way an intruder could get in without him realizing - unless it was us, of course. Which raised an alarming question: Was this imposter not only a computer whiz of some level but also a thief?

Ok, I kinda have an idea of where this is going but...

~cascadedkiwi~