Author-
🙇 Sorry for the absurd delay, I was stuck on how to have Morgana ditch the team and kick off the Okumura mess.
As the summer break drew to a close, the young leader of the Phantoms was faced with a problematic situation: the Metaverse Killer/Akechi's identity. Akira wondered how to breach the news about the phony prince to his team, he had a few landmines to mind and at least two people who were more of the 'shoot first ask later' type. "Now I get why Rise was so hesitant to say anything, those guys are all thirsting for blood." But now he had something else to worry about: Futaba vs Akihabara's crowds.
Akira had arrived at the district without issues, only needing to find his newest teammate. Morgana had tried sniffing her out but came up empty. "Where did she go? I hope she didn't go missing..." He had a bad feeling, they had agreed to meet at some shop, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. "Damn, she should have waited for me..." He tried to call after her, but the crowd was far too noisy. "Sojiro's going to have our skins for this..."
As the teen scoured the place, a woman checked the aisles after something of interest. Naoto was idling by the wares when she saw a familiar face. "Fancy meeting you here, Yamagishi." The SO member jumped slightly at the call, turning to face the detective. "Shirogane, what a coincidence." They made small talk about the Phantoms and their lives. "Did you manage any breakthroughs with those Plumes?" Fuuka nodded at the inquiry, the more resources available against Shadows, the better.
"Ichijou has requested to be our beta tester for any cameras. She is quite enthusiastic, her contribution granted us a lot of advances." The raven would dart straight into the Metaverse with each prototype, sporting a burning desire to record her adventures down there. "I never thought of that. I hope you manage to extract definitive results." Naoto hummed at what the woman had revealed, they were also attempting to apply Plumes of Dusk to cellphones and other smaller appliances.
"Talking of interesting gadgets, I met a person who has an item I'd like to examine." Fuuka's eyes glinted with interest, if it had enticed Naoto, it was sure to be a novelty. "Is that so? Tell me more." - Somewhere else, an attorney shuddered with dread while clutching Widget protectively. "Joder, that was quite the ill omen...!" - As Naoto and Fuuka kept walking, they ran into an orange ball, Futaba had gotten lost and curled up like a scared puppy. "Futaba...?"
Watery eyes landed on them, the girl was on the verge of tears and a panic attack. "N... Naoto? Fuuka?" The two adults were caught by surprise at how fast a frantic Futaba was, but Naoto did manage to dodge at the sight of snot, leaving Fuuka to take the bullet, almost falling with an armful of crying hacker. "Sorry, I don't want gunk on my tie again." The little hermit felt drawn to her fellow sage, attaching herself to Fuuka like a baby monkey afraid to get left behind. "I was so scared...!"
The pair of women offered friendly faces to Futaba, soothing her nerves. "We're here now, don't fret. Did you come with one of the others?" The girl snapped her head up. "Akira! He must be worried..." Fuuka felt heartache for how the girl acted, having lived through something similar. "Let's find him, alright?" She patted the girl on her head, raising her brows with surprise at how she seemed to freeze at the touch. "There, there. Wipe your tears and let's find Akira, alright?"
The male found them soon after, thanking them profusely for watching out for Futaba. "... I thought I had conquered my fears back at the beach..." Fuuka had gotten some details from Naoto about the girl. "... Felt like my heart was gonna pop..." The woman rubbed her back, watching out for hyperventilation. "You aren't alone. You can rely on us, so call if you need help." Morgana purred in Futaba's arms, offering more comfort.
The girl nodded, then she leaned against Fuuka. "Dunno why, but you feel nice to be around, like Akira." This seemed to make a switch flip in her head. "... Maybe you and Akira are my key items?" Morgana laughed at the notion, but those two got thoughtful. "Sounds like a deal." "I'd love to be your friend." Futaba got starry-eyed and shook their hands in a pact, making the cat jump to Naoto's arms. "Starting today, you're both my key items! So come when I call you!" Akira felt awkward at the people staring but humored her.
~m~
"School sucks..." Akira had a blank stare when Kawakami started homeroom, too deep in vacation blues to mind the whispering. Once class was almost wrapped up, the teen thieves discovered that they'd get a trip to Hawaii. Ann cheered up at that, she liked the idea of a change of scenery. The time after that was a bit blurry, involving listening to the team argue about whether they should chase the black mask or find a new target. It was no wonder the leader found himself in a pile of jelly at Leblanc.
Akira had his face down on the table as Futaba messed with something on her laptop. "Hn, kids, watch the shop, the sugar's running low." They saw Sojiro off without moving from their spots. A few minutes later, they saw Naoto come in. "Is this a good time?" The detective had arrived with take-out on hands. "Mikumo insisted that I should be the one to deliver it." The woman had shoved the box on her hands and ordered Naoto to go straight to Leblanc.
"Sushi!" Futaba tried to snatch the box, but Naoto stopped her. "I heard you both got your shares. It's for Morgana." He did a double-take, wondering if he heard it right. "For me...? Aww...!" The cat would be weeping if his body could produce enough tears, lunging at her chest in an effusive thanks. "You're the BEST! Way better than those yahoos! Sushi~!" Futaba and Akira drooled at the fish cuts. "They look even more luxurious than those we ate..." Naoto was helping the cat eat without making a mess.
"Mikumo's family with two high-end prosecutors. And she's used to getting a cut for Sissel." Morgana made a mental note to suck up to the other detective as well. "So, is there any news about the Phantoms?" Futaba showed her the polls on the Phan-site. Naoto was unsure if the teens should go along, internet trolls could be highly venomous and ask for an unreasonable target. "Wait... couldn't the results be manipulated?" The site was made by a teenage layman, there was no chance it would have enough protections in place.
The girl then asked Naoto about Fuuka's organization, perhaps she would get in once she was old enough. As Akira listened to the chatter, he took a decision. "... Naoto, We should tell them. The others are already trying to probe." Futaba got curious at the serious faces. "About what?" The detective sighed tiredly. "The assassin of your mother, and the target of the Shadow Operatives." The girl grabbed her lapels, she needed to know the details! "Spill! Now!"
"I can't say much right now. But I do know of his identity." Futaba gritted her teeth, burning with the desire to demand more data. "Please, just give me a name...!" Naoto averted her face, too familiar with the desire for revenge bubbling in her heart. "Sorry, but I have to deny. You can't go after him yet, it will only make him and his superior wary." The detective did her best to explain that her side was navigating legal waters, and a misstep could doom the operation. "Kh...! I don't like being in the dark."
~m~
"People are still voting like crazy." Akira could see a point in Naoto's hesitance about the poll put up by Mishima, but there was nothing he could do about it. "And that reporter should have wrung that guy dry of every tidbit about Shujin..." He even heard people talking about the Phantom's first target in the metro, the cover-up was quite a heavy topic that made people gossip. The only thing he could do was face the music and hope it didn't end in disaster. He was about to go to his class when Ryuji called out to him.
"D'you see the ad?" Haru had been tending to the plants when she noticed Sakamoto talking to Kurusu. "It sounds nice to have a friend..." She chastised herself for not having the courage to go and interact with the transferee out of his occasional help with gardening. "It's been a huge deal already." They were discussing the news about their school, namely the way the faculty had protected Kamoshida from facing legal action for his abuse. "I never felt comfortable during his classes..."
She was about to move to another section when she hard something curious. "Wait, 'talking about us'?" The girl bumped on the blond when he tried to go in, spilling some water on his shirt. "I'm sorry!" Once Ryuji reassured there were no issues, she walked away. "That girl just now..." He turned to Akira, grinning at the idea of flexing his phantom charms. "Don't ya think she was fine?" Akira shook his head. "I prefer longer hair." Ryuji nudged his friend with a grin and both went to their classes.
~m~
Makoto had been lost in thoughts, wondering why Futaba had all but demanded her not to use the pendrive given. Wasn't she supposed to extract info from her sister? "Did Mikumo say anything? I should meet her later." She wasn't given details, so she'd heed the request. Shirogane did mention that they had a side project with the mystery sponsor. "Just in time, Niijima." She heard a teacher call her and followed the woman, Kawakami seemed to have something important to say.
"It's about the school trip, the police have been looking into Shujin again..." Makoto felt dread at the tone the woman was using. "Some of the senior faculty have been called for further questioning..." That meant fewer adult chaperones for the school trip overseas. "I was informed about that. Why do you ask?" Kawakami dropped the fact that her grade was supposed to act as proxies and look out for the younger grades. "... We'll be counting on you."
The girl was shocked that they expected her and her fellows to be able to herd teenagers. "... Several of the second-years happen to be... unique." She was obviously talking about the 'terrible trio'. Makoto listened as the woman apologized for plopping yet another responsibility on her. "... But I'm sure you will be fine, considering your grades." The girl was unsure if she could refuse the task and accepted it. "I'll go and pass this news on then." The girl sighed, at least she'd have those three by her side.
She returned home to see her sister typing on her laptop while sporting a frown. "Looks like you're busy." The woman huffed, complaining about having to do gruntwork best foisted on a part-timer. "Sorry to hear that." Sae wanted to focus on capturing the Phantom Thieves, but between her work and media harassment, she was hard-pressed to obtain something of use. "People have been wary whenever we make inquiries." Amidst the grumbling, Makoto caught that her sister had threatened someone.
"All I did was question him harsher than usual." Now she understood why those people disliked Sae, she was too dismissive of her own actions and stooped as low as using threats. "I almost forgot, I will go on a school trip next week." Makoto then explained what was going on at school. "The school will owe you for it." When Sae went to take a bath, she was tempted to use the drive, but she was wary of having the detectives blow on her face for being reckless.
"... Yeah, I will talk to Mikumo first, or with Shirogane." Besides, the sponsor might be a few steps ahead from the official investigation headed by her sister. [We have to meet, are you free tomorrow?] She wondered why Akira sent a message, they already had met today. [I got info on the black mask from Mikumo.] That got her attention and she let out a breath of relief, glad that she had stayed her hand from messing with the laptop.
~m~
The teen Phantoms had gathered in Futaba's room and faced Akira. "Well, spill." Futaba had a frown, still bitter that Naoto had said nothing useful. "Futaba already got the warning, but I'll repeat it for you. While I do know who's the culprit behind both the shutdowns and psychotic incidents, we can't go after him." The room was filled with complaints from the blondes, they wanted justice to be served. "He's in the police force and got a politician or CEO backing him. Thus, being reckless will only burn us."
"Aw man, what a bummer..." Save for Ryuji, this clue made most of them frown. Ann huffed and grabbed some flyers Ryuji had brought for Hawaii. "Check this one, gigantic sea turtle sightseein' on some beach!" The girl flipped through a restaurant catalog. "Food's more important!" Ann drooled at some food pictures and reviews. Yusuke examined the artwork of some statues in a travel guide. "My school has planned a trip as well. Los Angeles, if I recall it right."
Akira let his mind wander, some spy movies had them busting into casinos. "Yeah, getting a jackpot and breaking their bank..." Ryuji felt a bit envious of Yusuke's trip. "So the team will be split..." Morgana felt bad that he couldn't go, too used to tagging along with Akira anywhere. "We'll buy something for you, Mona." Futaba had no interest in trivialities, already planning on badgering Naoto and Fuuka to the best of her abilities, she'd get a name and a face.
Ryuji shrugged, if the boss said they had to wait for the golden chance, then they would. "Alright! Let's put this on standby and enjoy our school trips!" His cheer was contaminating the room. "I can't wait to see our popularity skyrocket!" Morgana had flattened his ears, this had been his chance to address a worry that had started to gnaw at his heart. "... There's no need, I'm just overthinking it, it's nothing to worry about..."