5/16

Akira trudges his way towards Shujin. A light drizzle darkens the pavement. Umbrella in hand, cat in bag, he continues on. Two boys, dressed in Shujin uniforms, walk ahead of him. Their words snatch Akira's attention.

"...thing with Akechi the other night?"

"Yeah, talk about crazy! Do you really think the Phantom Thieves would do what he says?"

"Man, I'm not even sure I believe in the Phantom Thieves."

"What? Seriously, how can you-"

But then, there is the familiar sound of a picture being taken, and Akira's attention is broken. He whips his head around and finds Ohya, leaning against a streetlight, lowering a blocky camera from her face. She smiles.

Apparently unconcerned with the rain, she says, "Hi!"

Shit! Akira looks around, but isn't quite sure what he's hoping to see, then gives up and beelines over to the woman. "What're you doing here? How'd you find me?"

Ohya frowns and glances up at the clouds. "Yes, how did I manage to find you? How did I, the investigative journalist, manage to track down the boy I already knew attended Shujin? What a conundrum." She chuckles at herself, then holds up a single finger. "Journalism one-oh-one, kid. Sometimes, to get what you want, you have to sit in one place for a long time and wait for it to walk past."

Akira rolls his eyes. "I thought journalism one-oh-one was 'protect your sources' and 'tell the truth.'"

"Meh," Ohya replies, with a shrug. "There's a couple one-oh-ones."

"Fine, whatever. What're you doing here?"

Ohya nods towards the school, just down the road. "Let's walk and talk. Don't want you to be late." She steps out into the road with a yawn, and Akira falls in alongside her. "So," she says, voice low. "You've got the Madarame thing on Wednesday, yeah?"

"I do."

"Cool," Ohya says. "I'm going to need you to hack his phone."

Akira stops. "Wait, what?"

Ohay turns back to him, brows furrowed. "Did you not hear me?"

"No, I heard you. I just-"

"What?" Ohya asks. "You're the one who called me from an unregistered number. I thought you were all about this clandestine crap."

"But I don't know how to hack a phone!"

Ohya groans and shakes her head. "Yeah, I figured as much. Look, I've already taken care of that part. All you have to do is get close to him."

"What'd you mean?" Akira asks.

Ohya reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small, boxy device, and jiggles it before his eyes. "See this button on the side?" Akira spots it and nods. "When you're close to Madarame, press it." She hands it to him.

Akira turns it over in his palm. "This isn't a bomb, is it?" He asks, remembering Ryuji's criticism about Iwai's package.

"Are you joking?" Ohya asks, eyes widening.

"Never mind," Akira replies, shaking his head. "What exactly is this? What does it do? Where'd you get it?"

Ohya pats the air with her hands. "Easy there, inspector. One question at a time. Look, it's simple. You press the button, and the device locks onto the nearest phone less than a meter away. So, make sure there's no other phone close by, especially yours. Turn it off. What it does, is mirror the GPS of the target phone, and sends the data back to a remote source, which happens to be a device I have access to. As to where I got it, I got a guy."

"You've got a guy?"

Ohya nods. "I got a guy."

"You have a 'mirror a phone's GPS' guy?"

She lets out a frustrated groan. "And you've got a 'Phantom Thieves website admin' guy. Are we gonna plan this, or keep comparing our guys?"

They reach the front gates of Shujin, and the rain begins to lessen. Ohya runs her fingers through her hair, and yawns once more. A few students heading into the entrance stare at the two as they pass, and Akira groans internally. Great, another rumor about me.

"So, okay," Akira says. "Why, exactly, am I doing this?"

"Why are you mirroring Madarame's phone's GPS?" Ohya asks. Akira nods. "You tell me. What reason would someone have to mirror a phone's GPS?"

Akira thinks for a moment. "You want to know where they're going."

Ohya nods. "Aaaaannnnnddddd?" She drawls.

"You want to know where they've been."

"Bingo," Ohya replies. "You in?"

Akira mulls it over for a moment, then mumbles, "I'm in. But, isn't this all illegal?"

Ohya laughs and shakes her head. "Oh, man. So illegal." She glares at him. "Don't tell me that bothers you?"

"I don't really want to get into it, but I'd prefer if we did things above board."

"Kid, you've got a small little keychain thingy in your pocket, not a knife. Don't go waving it around and you'll be fine."

Akira shoves down his trepidation and nods. "Okay."

"Perfect. I'll-"

A voice cuts in. "Kurusu!" Akira turns without thinking and finds Kawakami-sensei heading down the steps, frowning.

"Huh," Ohya says, grinning. "So your name is Kurusu, eh?"

Akira scowls, but manages to smudge it away by the time Kawakami reaches the bottom of the stairs. "Good morning, Kawakami-sensei."

"Good morning," she says, frowning. "You're usually early. I was beginning to suspect you were going to cut school again."

"Again?" Ohya asks, and she takes an exaggerated gasp.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Akira replies, through gritted teeth.

"Who is this?" Kawakami asks, eyeing Ohya.

"This is," Akira starts, and spins his mind once more. "Uh, my cousin."

"That's right!" Ohya replies, and throws an arm over Akira's shoulders. "I thought I'd walk him to school today. Isn't that right, cuz?"

Akira tries to smile, and what ends up on his face is close enough. "Uh-huh."

Kawakami's brows furrow. "Okay. Well, it's almost time for homeroom. I trust you'll be there?"

Akira nods and is about to say something to exit the conversation, when another voice erupts into his eardrums. "Yo, Akira!"

Akira shuts his eyes. Ryuji, goddammit.

Ryuji trots up to the three of them, his smile wide. "Hey, Kawakami-sensei," he says.

"Sakamoto," Kawakami replies, with a nod.

Ryuji looks over at Ohya, and the arm she has around Akira's shoulder. "Who's this lady, Akira?"

"Yes, Akira," Ohya says, her grin somehow bigger than it was before. "Tell him who I am."

"This," Akira says, jabbing at Ohya with his eyes. "Is my cousin, Ohya. I've told you about Ohya, right?"

"Oh," Ryuji says. His eyes widen. "Oh! Oh, uh, yeah. Yep, that is something you have told me about."

Kawakami rolls her eyes and sighs. "You know what? I can't with you two right now. Get to class." She turns and stalks her way back up the steps.

Ohya removes her arm from around Akira's shoulder and moves away. "We'll be in touch, Akira Kurusu. I'm looking forward to it, Akira Kurusu. Bye, Akira Kurusu!" Then, laughing, she takes off down the road.

Ryuji and Akira stand at the entrance of Shujin, watching her retreat.

"So," Ryuji says, after a time. "Just so I'm clear, that wasn't your cousin, right?"

"Bonehead," Akira hears Morgana whisper from his bag.

#

Haru sits across from Makoto in their cafe. That Makoto has already begun to think of it as 'their' cafe brings a warm feeling to her chest, even as what she's about to do terrifies her.

"So," Haru continues. "I'm thinking that the best way would be a fire. In his home, preferably. Arson, as I understand it, however, is easy to prove, so we'll have to take precautions to the extent that-"

"Haru?" Makoto says.

Haru glances up from the coaster upon which she plots their revenge. "What is it, Mako-chan?"

"I need to tell you something," she says.

The night before had been a long one. After her workout, she had spent a lot of time in her room, watching and re-watching her favorite movies. She is tired, but resolute.

"A little while ago, Principal Kobayakowa asked me to investigate the Phantom Thieves. He told me that if I didn't, he would withhold my letter of recommendation. He suspected Akira Kurusu was among them. I didn't want to, but I'd been growing close to Akira, so I figured I'd look into it regardless. I wanted to... well, to be honest, I'm not sure what I wanted to do. Maybe I wanted to help. Maybe I just wanted to play games. So, when I asked for your help, it was because I was hoping your working relationship with Akira would provide some clue into his activities as a Phantom Thief. I lied to you. I'm very sorry."

She glances up at Haru's face, and watches as a range of emotions pass over it. Confusion in wide eyes, hurt in a pouted lip, anger in furrowed brows, and then, resignation in closed eyes and a deep breath. "I see," Haru finally says.

"But, hanging out with you has been really fun. I don't... I don't have many friends. Actually, I don't think I have any friends, not anymore. So, please know that while my initial intentions were bad, being your friend has been great." She sighs. "I'm sorry, that didn't sound so good. I'm-"

"Do you like him?" Haru asks, cutting Makoto off.

"Huh?" Makoto replies, blinking.

Haru stares at her from across the table. "Do you like him? Or was that a lie too?"

Makoto stares at her, and is silent for a long time. Then, she says, "I like him so much."

There.

Haru nods, as if in confirmation. "I believe you." She takes a deep breath, and holds it.

And holds it.

And holds it.

After about thirty seconds, Makoto asks, "Um, Haru? Are you-" But then Haru releases the air in one large exhale.

She smiles at Makoto. "I forgive you."

Makoto feels her eyes widen. "Really?"

"Yes."

She cannot help herself. "Why? I lied to you, twice. I haven't been honest with you from the start."

"Because," Haru says, with a small shrug. "You seem like you could use a friend."

Makoto feels something rise behind her eyes, and she manages a meek little, "Thank you."

"Besides," Haru says, with a hint of crimson in her cheeks. "I've enjoyed being with you as well."

They sit in silence for a short time.

Then, Haru asks, "So, is Akira part of the Phantom Thieves?"

Makoto nods. "I don't see how he couldn't be, at this point."

"Then, this whole thing with Takamaki is-"

"A lie."

Haru nods once more. "I knew it." She folds her hands together. "So, what's our plan?"

Makoto feels something hitch inside her chest, and smiles at her friend.

#

Akira slides open the door to 'Untouchable' and steps inside. He sees no customers, but notices the bespectacled boy from the other day behind the counter. He stiffens and nods his head as Akira enters, and blurts out, "Welcome to 'Untouchable,' sir!"

"Uh," Akira replies. It feels off to be greeted so warmly in this place. "Thanks." He looks at the boy for a moment, then says, "Your name was Kaoru, right?"

The boy brightens and nods. "That's right. I know you too. You were here the other day with the pretty girl."

Pretty girl? Oh, right. Ann. That's when she slapped me in the face. He frowns at the memory. "Yeah. So, is your dad home? Or, 'in,' I guess?"

"Nope," Kaoru says, then winks.

"Wait, what?"

"I said," Kaoru replies, "that my dad definitely isn't in right now. No way. He's not in the back room at all."

Akira hears a very loud sigh come from the back room, and a moment later the door opens and Iwai stomps out. "Kaoru," he growls, and fixes the boy with a long, hard stare. "Awful."

Kaoru's smile deflates and his shoulders slump.

Iwai slides past Kaoru and takes his spot at the counter. "What're you doing here, kid? Don't tell me those phones ran out of juice already."

Akira smirks. "You're not gonna scan me?"

Iwai frowns. "I wasn't." Then he bends down and pulls out the paddle-shaped scanner. Akira rolls his eyes and submits to the search. "So," Iwai says once he's done, "What do you want?"

Akira removes the small device Ohya had given him and places it on the counter. "I'd like to know more about this."

Iwai stares at it. So does Kaoru. "What is it?" The older man eventually asks.

Akira shrugs. "I was hoping you could tell me. It's supposed to be able to hack phones."

"Cool!" Kaoru exclaims.

Iwai smacks his kid on the back of the head. "Go in the back and see about that shipment." When the boy hesitates, he growls, "Now." Kaoru slinks away. Once his son is gone, Iwai turns his attention back to Akira. "Why'd you bring it here?"

"I told you," Akira says. "I wanted you to tell me a bit more about it. You seem knowledgeable on all this technical stuff. You got me those burner phones after all, and..." Akira waves his hand across his body, indicating Iwai's paddle-scanner.

The gruff older man shakes his head. "Kid, burner phones are hardly technical. They're just... burner phones. And as for the scanner? Necessary precaution. A three year old could operate it." He reaches out a hand and taps the small, black device. "This kind of thing? After my time."

After his time?

Iwai frowns. "Shouldn't you know someone who's good with computers? With whatever vague shit you're into, I figured that would be a given."

Akira sighs and picks up the device from the counter. He does know someone like that, but he had hoped not to involve him. "Alright," Akira replies, resigned. "Thanks." He starts to walk out the door.

"One more thing," Iwai says, an edge to his voice. Akira turns back and suffers the man's glare. "It's about Kaoru." His voice drops. "Don't tell him about this kind of shit. If you swing by and I'm not out front, tell him to get me. I'll send him on an errand or something. But not one damn word to him about what you're into."

Akira sees no room for argument in the man's eyes. He nods, says, "Got it," and walks out the door.

5/17

After spending another awkward day in class behind Ann, Akira enters a bedroom. One he certainly never wanted to enter.

Guess it's time to get this over with.

"And over there," Mishima says, with a bright grin on his face, "Is my set-up!"

Akira takes in the oversized monitor, bulky tower, sleek black keyboard, jagged mouse, and smiles. "Very cool," he says.

The rest of the room is sparse by comparison. It's evident where Mishima's interest lies. A simple bed, and dresser. An empty nightstand. A lamp next to the computer. There's no bookshelf or television or anything. Spartan, save for the computer.

Mishima drops into the chair by his computer and spins around to face him. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Akira digs the small device out of his pocket and shows it to Mishima. He briefly explains what it is supposed to do, according to Ohya, without giving away any details as to where he got it and why he needed it. As he speaks, Mishima's eyes widen.

"Oh, wow!" He exclaims, and holds out his hand, like a cup. Akira drops the device into them, and Mishima brings it up to his face and stares at it, with something just shy of reverence. "I've heard of this thing before. Well, I've heard of something like it."

"Will it do what it's supposed to?" Akira asks.

"You mean mirror a phone's GPS?" Mishima replies, then nods without waiting for a response. "It should."

"So then," Akira says. "All I have to do is hold it near someone's phone and press the button, right?"

Mishima shrugs. "I dunno."

Akira's eyes narrow. "You just said-"

"I said I've heard of something like it before," Mishima replies. "I've never seen one in action. If that's what someone told you it would do, I don't know why it would do anything different."

Akira stares at the little device. I don't think Ohya would lie about it. But I'd feel better if I knew for certain. "Is there a way for you to prove it?"

"We could use it on my phone. Then we'd know if it worked."

"I... don't think that's a good idea," Akira says. He leans against the wall of Mishima's room and sighs. Then, an idea pops into his head. "Let's say there are two phones in the vicinity of the device. One that has a GPS function, and one that doesn't. If I were to press the button, but the one without the GPS was closer, would it copy that phone?"

Mishima gives him a strange look. "Well, it would still copy the phone with the GPS. It's searching for the GPS signal, not just a phone's signal. If the one that's closest doesn't have the GPS signal, it would search for the phone with the nearest GPS signal."

Akira nods, and smiles. "Alright, fine. I suppose I'll take a chance then." He holds out his hand, and Mishima returns the device.

"Who're you going to use it on?" Mishima whispers. His expression brightens. "Is it that Madarame guy?"

Akira smiles. "You'll see." Let him stew on that. Then he eyes the computer. "Care to show me how to operate the PhanSite now?"

"Sure!" Mishima says, and spins around towards his computer. "Come on over!"

Akira slides up next to him and watches as Mishima launches into a detailed description of just how the PhanSite is kept secure. The more he listens, the more Akira realizes that a single session with Mishima isn't going to give him the understanding he needs to keep it out of the kid's hands. Damn.

He comforts himself with knowing that the admin password is secure with him, but the more technical Mishima gets, the sicker Akira becomes. This kid has way too much power. "How about we switch the PhanSite to private?" Akira asks. "Remember, how we talked about that?"

Mishima nods. "I'm all set with it." He hits a few keys and a new homepage appears on the PhanSite. "You can still log in as the admin, and see all the requests. There's actually a few on there. I know you guys have been busy, but you should take a look at some of them."

Akira nods. He's cast a glance at the PhanSite a few times during the last couple of days. Most of the requests are childish and local, but there are a few other ones that look promising.

As much as Akira hates to admit it, he still needs Mishima for the time being. Shared access is still shared, and until Akira can lock Mishima out of the PhanSite, and be certain that it'll still be secure, he can't take any moves against him. But as he thinks this, another idea pops into his head. "I want to thank you," Akira says, nonchalantly, and holds up the device. "For this."

"Huh?" Mishima asks, turning to him. "But I didn't do anything."

Akira shakes his head. "That's not true. You pretty much confirmed my theories about it. I feel better after asking you about it."

Mishima blushes a little. "Th-thanks," he mutters. "Anything I can do to help, I will."

Akira smiles. "Well, actually, I was thinking you might be able to help us with stuff like this in the future."

"What'd you mean?" Mishima asks.

Akira goes in for the kill. "I'm not very knowledgeable about this technical stuff, and you're the only one I know that I can rely on to give me solid information on the topic. In the future, I think we're going to have to use a lot more gear like this." He flashes the device before Mishima's eyes once more. "How'd you like to be our tech consultant? Whenever we have to work with something like this, we'll come straight to you."

Akira watches as Mishima mulls this over. The boy's eyes widen. "Of course I'll help you with that! That's awesome!"

Akira nods and widens his grin. There we go. Have some extra responsibility, Mishima. And a title to go along with it. It would make the sting of Akira taking the PhanSite away from him easier to bear. Naturally, Akira had no intention of making Mishima anything, least of all a 'tech consultant.' It was a meaningless title thrown by way of appeasement. But if Mishima thought it meant that the Phantom Thieves trusted him more…

Wonderful.

#

"Hey, Haru," Akira calls, his hands above his head as he reaches for the fertilizer bag on the top shelf. "Can you roll that dolly over here?"

What follows next is a distinct stomping, coupled with squeaky wheels. When Haru straightenss the dolly, she slams the flat metal bed against the ground, and punctuates it with a distinct, "Humph!"

Akira yanks the fertilizer off the shelf, turns and finds her glaring daggers at him. The look takes him aback, and he drops the bag. It slams onto his foot. "Ah!" He yells, and yanks himself out from beneath it.

"Did that hurt?" Haru asks, her voice like a still volcano before an eruption.

"Yes!" Akira groans, reaching down and rubbing it through his shoe.

"Good," Haru says.

Akira's eyes snap up to find hers. She still wears the glare. "Haru, what the hell?"

"What the hell?" Haru asks, hands on her hips. "Are you seriously asking me that right now?" She shakes her head. "Oh, I'm so mad at you I can't even think straight."

Akira glances up at Morgana, who stares back, eyes wide in confusion. "What did I do?"

"How should I know?" The cat hisses back.

"Are you serious?" Haru asks. "You're going to feign innocence?"

Akira straightens back up. "Haru, honestly. I have no idea what-"

Haru leans over until her face is inches from his own. "I'm talking about the Makoto Deception."

Akira blinks. "The Makoto Decep..." He stops talking. Recalls the awkward conversation from the other day. The questions. Haru's assertion that she was, 'asking for someone else.' "Oh, crap," Akira says.

"Yes," Haru replies.

"So you were-"

"Yes."

"And it was for-"

"Yes."

"Because-"

"Yes."

Akira stares at her. "Oh, crap," he says, again.

"What?" Morgana asks, from his perch. "What?"

"Your friends with Makoto," Akira says. She nods. "And Makoto-"

"Mako-chan told me everything," Haru cuts in. "About how you deceived her, and how you're actually dating Takamaki."

Morgana's eyes widen. "Oh, crap," the cat says.

Haru crosses her arms across her chest. "But, I suppose it's fine. You, after all, don't deserve Makoto."

"Listen, Haru," Akira begins to beg. "It was all a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding?" Haru blurts out. "If there was a misunderstanding, it was your fault. You're the one who got that present for her. You're the one who did all the smiley face texts, and you're the one who made her think she was special."

"She is special," Akira says, quickly. "But things got out of hand, and-"

"Please don't try and backtrack now, Akira-kun. It's unbecoming." She shakes her head and turns away. She glances up at Morgana. "Come to think of it, you don't deserve Mona, either. I'm taking him."

"Wait, what?" Akira asks.

"Huh?" Morgana asks.

"You heard me," Haru says. "Mona will be staying with me from now on."

"Uh," Akira replies, rubbing the back on his neck. "Haru, I know you're mad, but you can't just have my cat."

"I disagree," Haru retorts.

She marches up beneath where Morgana sits and raises her arms. "Come here, Mona-chan."

"What should I do?" Morgana asks.

"Well, don't go with her!" Akira replies.

Haru glares at him over her shoulder, but lowers her arms. "Fine. I suppose it'll take a bit longer for Mona-chan to realize how terrible a caregiver you are." She turns and stomps away to undertake some other task in the flower shop, leaving Akira speechless.

The rest of their time passes in awful and angry silence.

#

Once her shift is over, Haru takes out her cell and calls Makoto. When she picks up, Haru states, "Operation Punish Akira is underway!"

"Um," Makoto answers. "I thought we agreed to call it something different."

"Did we?" Haru asks, putting a little twist to her voice. "I don't recall."

"Well, whatever," Makoto says, her voice increasing in excitement. "So, did he buy it?"

"Oh yes," Haru replies, grinning. "Akira believes you to be devastated over this whole thing. I said quite a few nasty things to him myself." She giggles. "I even tried to kidnap his cat."

Silence from the other end. "Wait, what?" Makoto asks.

"Something wrong?"

"Did you just say that Akira has a cat?"

Haru nods. "I did. Mona-chan. He carries him everywhere in his bag. Did you not know that?"

"Could you describe this cat for me?"

"He's black, with a white tuft on his tail, and his paws. He's got such a cute face."

Makoto says nothing for a while. Then, with an almost amused cadence in her voice, she says, "Son of a bitch."

##

A/N: There's a chance that some of you might've read the next chapter, which I accidentally uploaded first, instead of this one. If you did, please do me a favor and don't spoil it in the reviews or comments section. I hadn't had any coffee. Thanks. That chapter will be back up on Friday.