When I was a little girl, there were nights I would wake up at night and the world would be tinted green. The first time, I hide under my covers and waited for my parents to come running in and wrap me up in their protective arms. They didn't come for what felt like forever, until the green light suddenly disappeared and everything had gone back to normal. I ran sobbing into my parent's room to find them still asleep. I dove into their bed and cried, trying to blubber out what happened while crawling between them. They told me it must have been a bad dream, though they held me the rest of the night.

By the end of the night, I believed my parents. 'It must have been a bad dream, and I had nothing to fear', I told myself all through school that day. I fell asleep the next day shortly after sunset and slept blissfully through the night. I thought it was over after that. A few weeks later, I woke up in the middle of the night again and the same green light consumed the house. This time I ran straight for my parent's room, only to find two coffins resting on their places in bed. I had nothing to do but cry and wait. Eventually, the light again disappeared and my parents were awoken by my tears.

This kept happening, anytime I stayed up. Sometimes my parents would stay up with me, but they'd become a coffin as soon as the light turned green. I was taken to therapy, doctors... But they had no answers. No one could answer what was happening until... It just stopped, sometime around a year after the first time it happened. I don't know if my parents ever resented me, or thought I was a liar over it... they always seemed to support me through it. I'd ask them if they were still alive, but they died a year after that in an accident.

The point of my story is that I have always been attuned to... strange forces. Things that go on that aren't quite in human understanding. They aren't always big things, like the green moon either. Sometimes, especially in the last few years, I'll see a person with yellow eyes. Every person I've seen with yellow in their eyes tends to be... not the greatest of person. It's best exemplified with one person, Masayoshi Shido. The very same one that almost became Prime Minister a few years back, and was targeted by the Phantom Thieves of Hearts for his misdeeds.

Of course, I'm not a Phantom Thief or even the slightest bit brave. I see yellow eyes and bolt in the other direction, or stammer through an awkward conversation before excusing myself as fast as possible. I'm sure that... somehow, the yellow eyes are related to the Phantom Thieves in some way. I'd ask them, if I could. Maybe they'd know what I see is... and maybe how to stop seeing it.

I've never told anyone else about my little theory though. No one to tell, since my parents died I've been passed around relatives as 'the creepy child', and the less I talk the less trouble I find myself in with them. Moving all the time has made finding friends hard too. I certainly wouldn't tell the police, as a fan of what the Phantom Thieves are out to do.

I've mostly accepted what I am, at this point. A little unusual, in a way no one would understand. I don't bring it up, I don't act strangely, and I can lead a semblance of a normal life. I ever have a few friends at Shujin Academy, my most recent school. The aunt I'm staying with now is a career woman and doesn't talk to me much, which works fine. I've recently been optimistic that I could finish High School out at Shujin without another transfer.

But, in the words of my literature professor, little did I know my so-called gift would get me into trouble here in Shibuya.

-

There's a cafe, on my way home from Shujin. It's a bit of an urban legend around the school, and I kind of understand why. It's a hole in the wall place, called "Arsene". It has a solid wood door that's painted head to toe in solid royal blue. The rest of the building, all a typical backstreet cafe of beige and brown, but the blue door marks the cafe from halfway down the street.

That's just about the building itself. There are only two people ever seen working in that cafe. (Though I should clarify, not a single student spreading these rumors has bothered to go inside.) The first is a man in his mid twenties. He's got long black hair with bangs that reach his glasses and is always wearing an apron. Beyond that, no one knows a thing about him. Not a real thing, anyway. There are rumors he's a former killer, rumors that he's a pop star in hiding, rumors that he's secretly dating a senior in class three... All sorts of stories surround him (many started by girls who are into his look), but the second person is even more interesting.

Well, mostly because while I say it's a person, it's actually a cat. There's a black cat with a yellow collar that seems to own the cafe with the man. Anyone brave enough to peer through the windows has spotted the cat and man seeming to talk, the cat meowing when the coffee is at the right temperature, and the cat calling out to comment on the tv or when the man gets a phone call. There's one girl in class two who insists that the cat is a warlock whose been cursed to live as a cat for 100 years, but her theory is universally ignored.

Regardless, Cafe Arsene gets talked about a fair bit around Shujin. No one seems to want to prove any of the rumors about the place and its owner (owners?) true, they just want to enjoy making up new nonsense about the place. It's harmless fun, in my mind, and I rarely pay attention to it.

However today, I decided to take a shortcut past the main road on my way home. It rained all morning, and there are puddles all over the place. It's just my luck then, that a campaign truck comes driving past and soaks me head to toe in dirty street water. I'm left sputtering and drenched at the entrance to Cafe Arsene's street. I clutch my bag to my chest and decide to get some exercise in when I hear a meow from behind me.

I turn to look up at the mysterious owner of the cafe. He looks down at me, soaking like a stray dog, while his cat meows and meows into his ear from the bag he has slung over his shoulder.

"I own a cafe, on this street miss. If you'd like, I should have a towel for you to dry off..." He says. He's got a softer voice than the rumors say. I blink a few times. Not anywhere near what I expected him to say. The cat meows again and earns itself a look from its owner. The man reaches up and adjusts his bangs.

"Come on then, you'll catch cold," he says before walking down the street. I follow him... mostly on autopilot. He's got a certain air about him, one that feels... right. It's not part of my special gift, but at least feel like I'm not walking to my death. He unlocks the big blue door and steps inside, a bell jingling as he does. The interior is... probably too expensive for my meager allowance, even if I wasn't dripping everywhere. I wait in the entranceway, taking in the dark oak counter and tables, the rows of coffee beans on the tall shelves behind the counter (along with bottles of alcohol? This place must be a bar too), and the gold trim around the furniture.

The owner drops his bag on the bar counter, the cat extracting itself without prompt as it continues meowing at the owner. The owner heads up a set of stairs in the back, leaving me alone on the ground floor. Having taken in the decor I turn my attention to the cat.

"You're a talkative little guy, aren't you?" I say to the cat. It... tilts its head down at me, as if it was judging me. "Sorry, just a talkative guy?" I correct myself. The cat lifts its head and steps closer on the countertop, allowing me to pet it. I breathe out audibly as I pet... his fur. No wonder the cafe owner talks to him, it's almost like he understood me.

The stairs in the back creak again and the owner comes down with a towel and a folded up jacket. He comes up and hands me the towel first.

"If you'd like, you can take this as well. It's probably close to your size, one of the many my girlfriend has left here."

"I couldn't..." I reply, pausing from toweling off to put my hands up to protest but he gives me an aside glance and I find the words die in my mouth.

"Don't worry, she'd have my head if I didn't offer you something." He says. I find myself nodding and he places it on the counter near me. He walks around the bar. "A cup of coffee for you? It's on the house."

"Um..." I look around the place. It's empty asides from us and his cat so I don't think I'll be in the way... And if he wanted to kill me like all the rumors say he does, he already had every opportunity. "Okay."

"How do you take it?"

"S-sweet," I stumble over the word halfway through, wondering if that's offensive to a high-end coffee place like this. He doesn't seem bothered by it though, instead pulling beans from the shelf and going about his work. I catch a glimpse of the cat again. He's looking at me funny, with his head tilted slightly. "I'm fine, kitty, just stuck in my thoughts," I tell him. He... well, I'm pretty sure he rolls his eyes though I don't know if a cat can physically do that. "Oh, I'm sorry I called you kitty. I don't know your name yet."

"It's Morgana," the man says from the other side of the room. "And don't mind him. He's a bit oversensitive." The comment earns the man a yowl from the cat. Not stopping to question the oddity of that exchange, I step my dried off self into the cafe proper.

"I'm sorry Morgana," I say before putting on the jacket. Morgana meows approvingly and the yowls again in the owner's direction. I make my way to the other side of the room where the owner is using some kind of equipment to brew the coffee. "I... don't even your name either, Mr?"

"Ren Amamiya," he says without looking up.

"Thank you for your hospitability, Amamiya-san. And for your girlfriend's as well." He flashes me a quick smile and nod as the coffee starts to fill the mug he's prepared. I sit at the bar near his equipment, watching him move with practiced hands. I don't know if it's the smell of coffee (and... is that curry?) in the air, the decor, or how fitting Amamiya-san looks behind the bar, but a question rises to my lips before I realize it.

"May I ask you a question, Amamiya-san?" He nods. "Why is your door that color blue? It doesn't match any of the decor inside." A smile crosses his face, the smile that comes from having to answer the same question day in and day out. There's no trace of exasperation in his voice as he replies though.

"The door represents... A different place. I chose to make my door the same color so that if there's anyone walking by who visited that same place, they'll know they have a friend here."

"What... What kind of place is it?" Amamiya-san only smiles at me. He hands me a mug of coffee, not quite as beige in color when I make some for myself. I don't want to be rude though so I take a sip. It's... heavenly.

"This is... Amazing, Amamiya-san!" I say. He leans back, smiling with his hands in his jeans pockets.

"Cuban Crystal Mountain, if you ever want to order it somewhere else." I nod. It's nutty and sweet and perfectly sweetened. It's warm too, I can feel the last dredges of my encounter with the truck evaporating off of me. The bell on the front door rings and another customer enters the cafe. Amamiya-san moves down the counter to greet them and I'm left alone with my coffee. I don't bother him with further questions, instead watching him work and in fact, take an order for curry from the other customer.

My coffee's empty far too soon for my liking. I'm tempted to ask for another, but I don't want to take advantage of Amamiya-san's hospitality. I feel like if I asked him now he'd assume it's because I need it to warm up, and not simply because it's the best cup I've ever had. I can always come back, especially now that I've seen every rumor about the place is nonsense. Well, except the one about talking to Morgana, but to be honest I understand. He's interesting to talk to, even if he can't reply back. I gather my things and make for the door.

"Get home safe now," Amamiya-san says as I reach the door.

"I will. Thank you Amamiya-san," I bow politely and make my way back out into the street. I'll still be home long before my aunt, but I'd rather not be out after dark.

-

The following Saturday I came home to find a note from my Aunt on the refrigerator. It read, effectively, "I'll be gone all weekend and you're on you're own for food". It also had a handful of things in there about making sure not to have people over or anything that would inconvenience my Aunt even indirectly, but it's shorter a note that I would have gotten from my previous guardians.

I didn't expect my Aunt, career-focused as she is, to be any different than the other... shall I say disinterested guardians I've had over the years. I make my way to the fridge, open it, and find it empty of anything but the staples. I sigh. I doubt she left money for groceries, I usually have to remind her to give me anything, and she rarely shops for herself.

I weigh the options I have as I change out of my school uniform into a more comfortable sweater and jeans. As it happens, through my open bedroom window I can smell curry, of all things. A quick peek confirms the downstairs neighbor is cooking some. That reminds me of the Cafe, and Amamiya-san making curry for another customer. I decide it's a sign and that I'll make my way back to the cafe tonight. My Aunt won't miss me after all and my options are limited at home after all. I glance back out the window as I gather my things, estimating by the color of the setting sun that I should be able to make it there before evening.

-

The blue door is far less intimidating now and I push it in softly. The bell on the door rings through the Cafe and I take a look around. There's an older couple in the back booth, but the Cafe is otherwise empty. Amamiya-san stands behind the counter, washing a coffee mug and looking right at me. He may not be the rumors say he is but something about the way he glances at me does give me a little bit of a chill. Once you look past his unassuming attire and hairstyle, he's got some piercing features.

"Ha...Hello, Amamiya-san," I say.

"Welcome, have a seat," he replies quietly, motion to the counter in front of him. I take the seat he points at, wondering if I'm even allowed in here after dark since Amamiya-san serves alcohol. I should probably check, I don't want to get Amamiya-san in trouble.

"Am I going to get you in trouble for being here after dark?"

Amamiya-san turns from his coffee equipment with a smile on his face.

"No, of course not."

"Oh, good..." I breathe out. "Um... I won't take up any space if you get busy though, I promise. I needed dinner plans and I remembered you make curry here so..." Amamiya-san chuckles lightly.

"I doubt I've ever been busy enough to fill all these seats, you won't have to leave until you're ready." Amamiya-san hands me a cup of coffee and I can't help but take a sip immediately. It's hot, but it's the same heavenly blend as last time.

"This is amazing once again Amamiya-san, thank you!"

"Is the house curry fine for you?" He asks, only smiling at my compliment.

"Oh yes, please don't trouble yourself over me!" That garners another chuckle from the dark-haired man.

"This is a Cafe, I wouldn't be doing my job well if I didn't serve you good food and drink." I wince into my cup.

"Sorry, I just..." I start to mumble but I'm cut off by Amamiya-san as he turns away from the stove and settles against the wall opposite me.

"Nothing to worry about. You see the type that doesn't like attention drawn to herself, that right?"

"Ah," I pull my face out of my mug to face him properly. "Y, yes, I'd say that's accurate. You're quite the judge of character, aren't you Amamiya-san?"

"You could say I have a good grasp on the type of personas people have, yes," Amamiya-san says with a glance to Morgana. His paw is slapped on his forehead when I follow Amamiya-san's gaze. It's an odd way for a cat to clean himself, but what would I know?

"That said... there's usually a reason for someone to avoid attention like that. You're too young to tell your woes to a true bartender but..." Amamiya-san takes a glass out from under the counter and starts cleaning it with a rag. "I've been a bartender before, so it's almost the same thing."

I grab my coffee mug a little tighter. It's a kind offer I suppose but I... Amamiya-san seems to read my mind and smiles. He puts the mug down and steps back into the kitchen to plate the warmed-up curry before presenting it to me.

"The offer is always open." He steps away before I have the chance to thank him for understanding, going to pet Morgana for a moment and then talking to the other customers. I dig into the masterfully made curry and stew with my own thoughts.

I know why I avoid attention, people eventually find out my past before I started hiding my 'abilities' and get creeped out by me. Most people are fine to utterly ignore someone who doesn't stand out, though apparently, Amamiya-san isn't. I guess Amamiya-san knew someone like me? The thought that he might know someone with my abilities is outlandish of course, but maybe someone who's a bit of a wallflower? The urge to ask wells up in me. Amamiya-san seems kind, and without a doubt the most relaxed adult I've ever met. If anyone would listen... Maybe it's him.

I glance up, noticing he's returned to behind the counter. He's watching the tv in the corner of the Cafe, where a close-captioned silent news program is showing. I don't want to bother him since he seems interested in the report, so I finish my curry.

The program goes to commercial as I take my last bite. Amamiya-san takes the plate from me, bringing it back to the sink before making his way back to the counter.

"I, um." Amamiya-san waits patiently as I fumble the words in my head, avoiding eye contact. "I've just been bounced around relatives a lot, because of some things that happened when I was a little kid. I don't want anyone to um... pay a lot of attention to me because what happened usually gets out and the people around me start to treat me poorly."

I finally look at his face, biting my own lip from my nerves. My heart sinks when I see a frown on Amamiya-san's face. He probably thinks I killed someone when I was a kid or stole things or... My mind races so fast I can't stammer out an apology and goodbye fast enough to keep him from replying.

"I understand that," he says simply. As my frantic thoughts grind to a screeching halt, he continues. "I had a similar problem when I was in high school. I was falsely accused of a crime and had to transfer because of it."

"O, oh gosh..." my mind relaxes now that Amamiya-san has shifted the spotlight from me for a moment. "I didn't have anything that bad. I just..." I hesitate, then take a deep breath. "It'll sound stupid, compared to what you went through, I just said I could see things. Like coffins in the street every night, or yellow eyes in really bad people..." I cover my face with my hands. "God, this is embarrassing, I shouldn't have said anything."

"... Did you say yellow eyes?" Amamiya-san asks. It's an oddly pointed question, coming from him. I lower my hands from my face.

"Umm... yeah. It's kinda stupid, but I swear I've seen it... Well, like the kind of people the Phantom Thieves target."

"That's..." Amamiya-san turns to look at Morgana, whose looking at him. Amamiya-san turns back to me with a soft expression. "A very unique talent." I laugh awkwardly.

"No no, it's just an oddity in my head. People always get creeped out when they hear about it, I mean, I see things is usually a sign of a crazy person." Amamiya-san gives me a long look.

"At the very least, I don't think you're crazy. You're welcome here anytime." I don't have any word to reply with so I just nod once. He nods back to me and then walks over the other customers he has in the Cafe. He's... way too nice of a person, that's for sure.

Morgana's looking at me from the other end of the counter while Amamiya-san makes small talk with the older couple. I can feel dread setting in at the idea of continuing the conversation when Amamiya-san comes back. He's done nothing wrong but I just really don't like the attention the conversation brings to me. I'm sure he'd respect me if I said I wasn't interested in talking about it but then I have to say that to him and that's intimidating in its own way...

I take some cash out of my wallet and grab my jacket. When Amamiya-san returns to behind the counter, I hand him the bills.

"Heading out?"

"...Y, yes," I reply, stuttering over my words again, hoping he doesn't think it's personal.

"Be careful walking home, alright? It's after dark." He says with a smile when he returns my change.

"I, I will."

"Come back whenever you'd like."

"I definitely will," I reply, pretty sure at this point I haven't offended him in half a dozen ways. I make my way out the door with a smile and small wave. There's a meow from under me as reach the door, and I spot Morgana making his way outside with me. I call out to Amamiya-san over my shoulder.

"Is he allowed outside, Amamiya-san?"

"Oh don't worry about Morgana, he only got himself lost once," Amamiya-san calls back to me. Morgana yowls grumpily at my feet.

"I'm sure he's just messing around, Morgana," I say as I open the door. Morgana hopes up on a sign Amamiya-san has outside the door, turning to face me. He nods a few times, as if to agree, then hops up onto a hanging flower pot and then the roof.

"... What a smart cat, I say to myself before wrapping my coat closer around myself and making my way home.

-

After a quiet weekend and Monday of school, I find myself walking to my friend Arisa's cram school with her. She had asked me at lunch if I would walk with her and something about the way she asked made me accept, despite it being out of my way. Even now, her body language is full of nerves and stress; she's playing with a lock of her hair, fidgeting with her top, biting her lip, and looking anywhere but where we're walking. I gave up on conversation with her already, she's barely paying attention to me.

I'm not sure what's up, but my guard is definitely raised as we approach the building. It's set in the middle of a city block, a building flanking it on either side. We come to a stop at the base of the stoop, only a few stone stairs separating us from the front door.

"You... You sure you don't want to just skip today? You don't look so good," I say in one last bid to get her to open up. She turns to me, finally giving me her full attention. She even has a nervous sweat going, which leaves me all the more concerned.

"I, Um, I'd..." she stammers before she's cut off by a man in sunglasses walking down the street in the opposite direction.

"If it isn't Miss Sato!" the man says. Arisa's body goes ramrod straight. "Did you bring a friend to class today? The more ideas, the merrier!" The apparent teacher is in his mid forties, salt and pepper hair, and looks pleasant enough. "We'll have to work extra hard to welcome her. Come on now, we haven't a moment to lose!"

The man makes his way to the door and Arisa follows him, her body deflating. She looks so... defeated as she follows him up the stairs. He opens the door for her and she goes inside. He turns back to me.

"Are you coming inside?"

"I, um..." Something weird is going on, but I can't say what. My normal policy would be to run, but my abilities aren't firing and Arisa seems like she could really use the moral support. "I'll be right there."

After I"ve climbed the steps myself, I see something I've never seen before. The doorway to the cram school is filled with a haze of reddish-purple mist that can't be normal. I poke it tentatively, and it's not harmful to me. I realize I must look mad as I stand there, poking the doorway instead of walking through. The teacher, tinted in the colors of the haze, turns around down the hallway.

"Is something wrong?"

"N, No!" I quickly spit out. It's as I do so that I notice something about the teacher. He took his sunglasses off now that he's inside... and his eyes have a yellow tint to them. Already in the process of moving, panic fills my mind as the teacher turns and I step through the haze.

-

The interior of the cram school is tinted slightly with the reddish-purple of that... barrier, I'd call it. The teacher is gone, thankfully, leaving me alone in the hallway. I turn behind me but the front door has been replaced with barred prison doors. I spin on my heel, grabbing the bars.

"No no no..." The bars don't move as I pull at them. "This is bad, this is so bad, where the heck am I?" my voice rises in volume. I cover my mouth with a hand, I don't know if I wanted to be discovered by anything that's locked in with prison bars.

Breathing heavily into my hand I turn to stare down the hall, frantically hoping an exit will appear. None does, but it gives me time to get my hyperventilating over with. I can't help comparing this to the coffins I would see as a kid, and the green-tinted world. It's a different tint, so maybe it has a different aesthetic? Can strange, alternate worlds only I can see have aesthetics?

I shake away my thoughts and focus on what's in front of me. There are four doors in the hallway, and the hallway ends in a staircase to the next floor. There's got to be windows in the classrooms facing the street, I saw the windows from the outside. If those aren't barred maybe I can get back out of here. I move the door on my right, slowly creaking it open.

Inside I see what I would expect at first, rows of students studying. It's not long before I realize they're all frantically writing a speed that doesn't look natural. It's then I look to the teacher's desk, where some kind of... strange, silhouette man with a featureless mask for a face is standing there instead of a human.

"Cram! Cram, so you may gain grades worth of our wise leader!" the thing bellows in a garbled voice. Terrified of it seeing me through the crack in the door I make to close it, only to hear it speak again.

"You there! Why are you not writing?!" The student it's talking to had dropped their pencil, from the looks of it.

"It was only a moment!" the student begged. His arms come up between him and the encroaching creature.

"Every momentary thought you have belongs to our leader!" the creature bellows before extending its arm into a shadowy collapsible pointer. It swings at the boy, bruising his cheek and launching him across the room. I scream into my hand. and close the door. If that thing finds me it could break my neck, holy crap.

"Who just left?!" I hear shouting in the room. I panic and sprint for the stairs. I can't let that thing find me. I climb stairs after stairs, not evening noticing that the building in reality was only a few stories tall. I'm not being quiet and I can hear more voices gathering in pursuit of me. The echoing of feet pounding up the stairs after me rings in my ears and I keep running in hopes of finding something I can put between me and them.

my wish is somewhat answered when I turn the corner on another flight of stairs to see a door to the roof. I dive for it, pulling it open and slamming it close behind me. I look around for something to block it with but the roof is mostly empty. I don't have time to come up with another idea before there's pounding on the door. I shriek and run for the other side of the roof. I can hear the door being knocked completely off its hinges as I reach the end of the roof. I turn my back to a very long drop and facing what looks like a dozen of the shadow people.

"You will not escape your duties!" the creature shriek in unison before they... collapse, combining together like they were made of water and forming a literal green slime monster. It's... not the most terrifying thing I've seen in the last 5 minutes, but it's up there and I scream.

"Seth!" I hear from over my head, literally. I look up only to catch a flash of black swinging towards the roof in front of me. A man in a black coat, red gloved hand reaching for his face stands before me with his back to me. Some kind of cable is whipping into the sleeve of his coat, retracting as a tape measure would. Above him is a velvet blue ghostly image of a black dragon, that's launching fire at the slime creature.

This... This is a lot, and I don't blame myself when I stumble backward. I do, however, quickly realize I'm at the edge of a building and just stepped off the edge. I shriek as I begin to fall backward, my eyes clenching closed so I don't have to see the ground rush towards me.

It's a moment before I realize I'm not falling. I peak open eye, only to see the masked face of the man in the black cloak. Despite the mask, I know who this is. Everyone does, from the tv broadcasts they do for high-profile targets. This is the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Joker. He apparently pulled me away from the ledge and held on until I realized I wasn't falling.

"I, I, I'm sorry for screaming in your ear," I say, unsure where the associated thought came from. Joker grins and it sends a shiver down my spine. I guess I qualify under the 'all girls like bad boys' trope because the grin is terrifying and yet enticing. Joker releases his hold on me and I stand on my own. He looks me up and down.

"How'd you get here?" He asks and even his voice sounds just... criminal. Criminally enticing, but criminal.

"I um... saw this weird haze in the doorway and when I walked through it I was here," I say before realizing that sounds ridiculous. It elicits an even wider grin from Joker though.

"Hmm. Very interesting," he says and the way he hangs on the word interesting is just... I had to say it again but there's no better way to describe it than a chill down my spine. The grin leaves his face after that though. "This place is too dangerous for you."

"I um... couldn't leave the way I came?" He nods back to me.

"Who's this?" a rather high-pitched voice says from behind both of us. Joker doesn't seem alarmed so I don't panic as I turn around to see a... cat-shaped mickey mouse knock off. It the first thing that comes to mind at the thing waves about a miniature scimitar.

"Someone very, very interesting," Joker comments as the cat thing looks at me wide-eyed.

"J, Joker that's!"

"Someone who needs to get out of the palace. Can you handle the ruler?"

"Well, yeah, but!"

"Later, Mona," Joker's tone implies there's no rebuttal, and apparently Mona respects that. The living mascot turns, then looks back at me, then dashes towards the door into the building.

"Shall we?" Joker extends his arm to me. I take it and he pulls me tight to him before the cable from before zips out of his other sleeve. It wraps around a decorative feature of the neighboring building before he jumps off the side of the building, letting the cable pull him and by extension me. I scream before realizing we're swinging in a controlled descent to the ground. Joker's arm around my waist is the only reason I don't fall to the ground as we land outside the cram school.

"This place will disappear, momentarily," Joker doesn't look at me as he says it, instead watching a particular window on an upper floor. "You'll find yourself back in reality." His grappling hook has rewound in his sleeve and I assume he's headed after his partner.

"Thank you! For saving me!" I basically shout out. He turns to me, grinning like a madman once again, before zipping into the sky.

It's less than a minute after he disappears that the entire building starts to shake and the haze returns to my vision. I let the haze overwhelm my vision and with a soft rumble I find myself back in the real world. I fall to my knees, taking in the cram school without prison bars or monsters inside of it. Some businessman gives me an odd look but I can't bring myself to stand. What even... What even was that?

Someone does decide to stop before me. The jeaned legs crouch down and Amamiya-san's face comes into view. He's got a serious look on his face and Morgana in a bag on his shoulder, the cat standing on his shoulder.

"Are you okay there?"

"Um..." I swallow and look around for my things. I dropped my bag at the door before I ended up in that other world, apparently. I avoid eye contact with Amamiya-san as I reply. "I don't think you'd believe me if I told you..."

"I very much know where you just were." I slowly turn to Amamiya-san. There's not a trace of hesitation in his face, just like his voice. He extends an arm to me. He flashes a grin on his face, one I had seen moments before.

-

I had taken Amamiya-san's hand at that point and we made our way silently through the city. I could tell we were headed back to his Cafe, before long. I didn't know what to say, so I just followed. He unlocks the blue door to the cafe and motions me inside. I stand off to the side of the entrance, holding my bag close to me as Amamiya-san makes his way inside. As casual as ever, he starts brewing coffee. He gives me an aside look as he works.

"You can sit, you know."

"I..." I lower my hands and drop my bag on the nearest booth. It frees them up so I can run them through the back of my hair and exhale deeply.

"C, can I? Aren't you like... The most wanted criminal in Japan? For the last what, five years now?" I drop my hands from my hair, tensing up. "You're not going to like... change my heart, are you? Or..."

Amamiya-san only smiles at me, clearly amused. He pours coffee into a mug and motions in my direction with it, placing it on the counter in front of him. Assuming he wouldn't be offering coffee before he kills me, I tentatively walk up and take a seat on a stool. The coffee is delicious, which is a plus if I assumed wrong.

"I guess... you aren't going to do anything to me?"

"Of course not," Amamiya replies through his smile. "For one thing, you've done nothing wrong."

"But... I know your secret?"

Amamiya-san grins like Joker, or I suppose, like himself. "It's never helped anyone catch us before." I shiver a bit. He's intimidating when the Joker part of him surfaces. No one's even seen his face, I don't think, in all the years the Thieves have been active. The best the public has gotten is silhouettes. It hasn't stopped people from making action figures, of course.

That said, Every part of the Joker persona, from the silhouettes to the way he speaks in calling cards, to the way he fought in that other place to his grin now feels Amamiya-san down to the core. I want to say it's Amamiya-san's true self, but I don't think that's quite accurate. It's close though, something core to who he is. It's intimidating to see the famous criminal with the attitude to match, but because it's still Amamiya-san I don't find myself as scared as I thought I would be. Plus, the Thieves are criminals in name only, no one can really call changing the heart of a real criminal a crime.

"Come on, ask her already...!" I hear a completely different voice from Amamiya-san's whine. I look around wildly, not seeing anyone else in the Cafe. My gaze makes its way back to Amamiya-san and he points to Morgana. I turn to his cat and Morgana tilts his head at me.

"Amamiya-san, what..." I trail off as Morgana opens his mouth again.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Mona from before, yes I can talk, no I'm not a cat," Morgana reads off in a monotone. "Now, how did you get into that palace?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Morgana, I think you broke her."

"How is THIS the weirdest thing she's seen today?!" Morgana exclaims... or is it yowls? Either way, he's clearly frustrated despite having a cat's face. I turn to Amamiya-san.

"Am I actually insane?"

"No, but you have caught our eye. You said you saw yellow eyes on people the other day, and you somehow ended up in Palace without any kind of assistance. Those are very unique abilities."

"Ah!" I remember the teacher back at the cram school. "The teacher! He had yellow eyes!" Morgana and Amamiya-san share a look before Amamiya-san replies to me, putting his coffee down.

"I think... what you're seeing is the eyes of someone's shadow. Effectively, those yellow eyes mean their heart is warped or corrupted. Morgana and I were at the school to change that man's heart." I stare into my coffee.

"That's..." Does that make me some kind of freak, or someone who's corrupted?

"If anything, it's an early warning sign of someone you really don't want to be around," Amamiya-san continues softly. I give him an awkward smile in thanks.

"What about that purple haze I walked through?" I ask him. He looks to Morgana again and Morgana shrugs his cat shoulders, which would be adorable in any other scenario. It's Morgana who ends up replying to me.

"We didn't see anything like that. The metaverse, err, where we were is always a bit hazy but nothing concrete enough to walk through." Morgana looks down at his paws, one tapping against the counter. "Perhaps you saw the border of the Palace? Basically, the edge of that place, since it was tied to the school."

I shrug, unsure of what he's saying.

"Have you ever seen that before? You mentioned the last time you were here there were other things you could see."

"Um... no, I haven't..." I reply, ignoring how weird it is to be holding a conversation with a cat. Morgana hums (or is it purrs?) and looks back to Amamiya-san.

"She's an odd one, that's for sure. Maybe Lavenza would know more but... She usually comes knocking when she has trouble brewing." Amamiya-san takes a sip from his own mug.

"Well. It's been a while since her last visit."

"E, Excuse me..." I pause for a second to wince, excuse me feels weirdly polite. "Whose Lavenza?"

"That's a very, very long story. One that we could get to another time." Amamiya-san face lights up like he's had an idea. "Speaking of... I have a deal for you."

"A... Deal?" I feel myself tensing a little.

"Work part-time at the Cafe."

"Isn't that a job offer, not a deal?"

"It's both. You don't know anything about your abilities. They seem related to my extracurricular activities, and no one knows more about cognitive psience than the people I work with. You help me keep the Cafe open while I'm... indisposed," he winks conspiratorily, "and we'll help you figure out your talents."

Talents, he says... No one has ever referred to my abilities as talents... And I have said before the only people I thought would be able to explain them were the Phantom Thieves. I'm literally being served my pipe dream on a silver platter. My Aunt is never home and... well...

"Okay," comes out of my mouth before I quite realize it. Amamiya-san grins again. Morgana half laughs, half meows and I crack a small smile, knowing whatever happens next is going to be a wild ride.

-

This fic is... unique, for sure. If you've made it this far THANK YOU for reading through the odd style. I want to bring us a third party's viewpoint, while still having them in the loop of the Phantom Thieves to a degree. Our main character, intentionally unnamed is that third party and this is kind of... 'her' chapter slash introduction. From here she'll meet the other thieves as our POV character, learning about who the other thieves have become and what they do. She won't be the focus of this story, though she has a little myth arc of her own that will happen in the background as we explore the lives of the adult Thieves. I hope you'll stick around for this little experiment (^^)

This is the longest chapter I've ever written for anything, so something about the format at least works for that LOL

The next Chapter will be for meeting Ann!