6-24
Ohya cracks her knuckles and scrolls back to the start of the draft.
After a quiet month, it appears the Phantom Thieves are back in business, she reads, then sighs. She deletes 'quiet,' then types it back in again. She frowns, shakes her head, and scrolls down.
There isn't much to go over. The Phantom Thieves have two targets: Nozomi Odo and Kazuya Makigami. The former apparently blackmails the employees of his convenience store - treating it like his own petty kingdom - and the latter was involved in a burglary ring Ohya had heard chirpings about, but paid little attention to.
Thing is, she muses. With the Phantom Thieves around, your average, everyday robber seems small by comparison.
Ohya wasn't sure how the Phantom Thieves - or the PTs, as they were becoming known on the internet - had discovered this information. She figures it came from the PhanSite, but she's not sure why they picked these two, when there are so many more out there who deserved a change of heart.
Her mind drifts back to the other night, to the pieces she can remember. Unfortunately, she recalls the insult she'd thrown at Lala with the clarity the alcoholic sometimes possess,
despite themselves. She scowls, drinks more coffee, and glances out the window. The sun is beginning to rise.
Her phone vibrates. She snatches it off the table and reads the message.
AKIRA: I need to talk to you about something.
Ohya frowns. That's vague enough to mean anything.
OHYA: What?
She stares at the screen until the response arrives.
AKIRA: I want to talk about it in person. Can we meet, tonight?
OHYA: I don't date high schoolers.
AKIRA: WTF
OHYA: Kidding. Jesus. Relax. What time?
AKIRA: Will be a bit busy tonight. Can we keep it open? I'll let you know.
Ohya's eyes narrow. "What're you up to, Akira?" She texts a quick affirmative, then accesses Akira's hacked GPS. She hasn't used it in a while, but something tells her to use it.
It's still early, and she sees Akira's phone is still at LeBlanc, which is what she expected. But she knows his schedule. It's Friday. He only works at the flower shop on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Wednesday is when he goes to Crossroads.
She smirks. "Have you got a date?" She asks. It could just as easily be a study group, or something else. Something innocuous. Then again, Ohya thinks. He does have an in with the Phantom Thieves. Ohya has never bought his explanation that he, somehow, knows the admin of the PhanSite, and that the Phantom Thieves would just disclose their targets to a random
high school student.
She plugs in a reminder to check Akira's GPS, periodically, throughout the day, and gets back to work.
#
Nozomi Odo stretches his hands over his head and yawns. He opens the door and proceeds to his office.
One of his employees turns the corner up ahead, sees him, then does an about face and speeds off.
Nozomi chuckles. He had some pretty compromising stuff on him, and the jerkoff deserved it all. Nozomi was a fair guy. He told his existing employees to explain the situation to the new people, but whomever he hired would
always try and wiggle for more perks. More money. More time off. All that nonsense.
It was disrespectful, is what it was.
He unlocks his office and enters. The doorknob feels a little jiggly, but it's an older building, so wear and tear is expected. He sits at his desk, and looks up at the ceiling. Things are good, he tells himself. He runs this business like a well-oiled machine. Corporate was happy with him, last time he'd checked. And he'd compiled enough material on his employees to keep them in-check for the duration of their employment.
Not to mention, there was that one girl who had just started working for him. With the right leverage, he was sure he could get her to put out.
It's been a while since I've had a girlfriend, he reasons, and lifts the cover of his laptop.
He blinks.
Taped to his screen, is a red and black card.
Nozomi Odo, the Pathetic Extortionist,
We know. We know how you've abused your position of power. You've broken trusts and shattered privacy. The lives of your employees are needlessly difficult because of your perversions and blackmail. Thus, we've decided to steal your desires and make you confess your crimes.
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts
PS. Next time, don't keep your blackmail shit in a file marked 'Blackmail!' DUMBASS!
"No," he says, and shakes his head. "No way. There's no chance that..." He trails off, and rips the Calling Card off his monitor.
No one had heard from the Phantom Thieves for a while. They were going to jump back into the spotlight with him? There was no way.
This is a prank. It has to be. One of his employees must've done this. One of them wasn't happy and was trying to scare him.
He clears his throat, crumples up the Card, and tosses it into the trash. "We'll see about that," he whispers.
#
Kaz busts through the door to Naoya's room. It flies open and slams against the wall. Kaz stomps in, fists balled.
"Naoya," he shouts.
There's no response. No one home.
That's right, he thinks. His brother had gone to those damn Kosei Dorms the other day. He hadn't come back.
Oh fuck, Kaz thinks. He knew this was coming! He looks down at the Calling Card in his hands. It had been taped to the window outside his room.
Kazuya Makigami, The Wannabe Thief and Abuser,
We've seen you. Running your pathetic little outfit and taking out your stress on your little brother. We've decided not to tolerate either. We will steal your corrupted desires and make you confess to your crimes with your own mouth. We'll show you how you pale to us as Thieves.
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts
He'd spent the night out with his gang, knocking over a house in Shinjuku. They'd had to move out of Shibuya ever since Kaneshiro started making waves. He thought they'd been careful.
He'd only just gotten back, and found the Calling Card. It could've been taped there for minutes, or hours.
"Fuck," he shouts, and kicks over the lamp on his brother's desk.
It had to be that damn PhanSite. That was the only explanation. Naoya had gone onto the thing and told the Phantom Thieves what Kaz had been doing.
I'll kill him, Naoya thinks. I'll kill the little shit!
If Naoya was at Kosei, there was no way Kaz could get to him. He couldn't just march onto campus and beat the shit out of his brother. Or could he? Who was going to stop him? This was a family thing, after all. Besides, he could always drag Naoya off campus, and take care of him then.
He could also sneak in. If he could break into homes and restaurants, he could break into some dormitories, no problem.
"To hell with the Phantom Thieves," he mutters. "To hell with Naoya, to hell with everyone else." He would deal with all these problems himself, just like he always did. Soon enough, there wouldn't be anyone to laugh at him anymore. Least of all his brother. Least of all, the Phantom Thieves.
#
Sakoda swallows. The teacher prattles on about something or other, but he can't pay any kind of attention.
He lowers his eyes to the phone. It had been in his desk when he arrived at school. It was old. Really old. The kind of flip phone people just didn't have anymore.
The phone had been open, and a single message had been displayed.
Yoshimori Sakoda, the Bully of Bullies,
Tell no one about this message. If you do, things will be so much worse. Your hurt people. Extort your fellow students. We're going to stop you. We will steal your desires and change your heart.
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.
The battery life reader says it's only got a bit more power left. He grimaces. This can't be right. Why would the Phantom Thieves target him? He thought they'd moved on from Shujin.
He gets out of his seat and heads for the door. The teacher doesn't try to stop him, because the teacher is a pussy. A few of his classmates watch him go, but he ignores this and walks outside.
Could this even be real?
Was this thing even a Calling Card? Wasn't a Calling Card an actual card? The message hadn't even been received by the phone. It had been typed into the antiquated messenger system. Why would the PTs do something so weird?
But what if it was real? If this was real, what did they mean by 'Tell no one?' He'd seen the rumors online, tucked away in the message boards. About how - maybe - the Phantom Thieves had killed off Madarame to keep him quiet. That maybe, that Aoe guy hadn't had much choice about stabbing his former master.
Would they do the same to him?
He marches down the hall, towards the stairwell, and feels the phone vibrate. He glances down. The battery is dead. If he wants to turn it back on, he'll need a charger. But where's he supposed to find a charger for a shitty old phone no one owned anymore?
Do they even make chargers for this thing anymore?
He exits the school and starts to walk down the steps. He doesn't know where he's heading, but it doesn't matter. He just needs to clear his head.
A hiss comes from his side. He turns and jumps. A black cat is planted on the steps next to him, back arches, fangs bared. It charges and swipes at his leg.
"Crap," Sakoda shouts, and jumps backwards. He trips on the stairs and falls onto his butt. The cat darts for his hand, and he pulls away, dropping the phone.
The cat pauses, snatches the phone into his mouth, and darts away.
"Hey," Sakoda calls, but then stops. Why bother? He stands up and straightens his uniform.
So the cat had the phone. So what? It
didn't matter. It was dead already, and it's not like the cat could use it. It would probably carry it for a block or two and drop it somewhere in an alley. No one would care, and even if someone found it, they wouldn't care enough to find a charger to turn it back on.
He had other things to worry about. If the Phantom Thieves came for him, it could really hurt his standing in Kaneshiro's group. He knew he wasn't an official Dragon yet, but if the rumors were true, the Dragon wouldn't be around for much longer anyway. He wanted to make sure he was on Kaneshiro's good side before that happened.
Of course, he was pretty sure Kaneshiro didn't know who he was. He rarely made any time from the Shujin students he'd recruited. He sighs. He would have to knock a few heads together and drum up some more cash to kick up. Maybe if he did that, his place by Kaneshiro's side would be set.
He could hope, anyway.
#
Fox stops alongside the others. Joker turns and regards him with a smile.
"I assume," Fox says. "Everything went well?"
Mona steps out from behind Joker, the flip phone held between his paws. "It did." He drops the phone to Mementos' pavement, and stomps down on it, splitting the screen.
Panther crosses her arms, from where she leans against a ticket counter. "That was dramatic. You could've just left it here."
Mona shrugs.
Skull smiles and steps up alongside Fox. "He's back to his old self," he whispers. "Cocky as shit."
Fox studies the cat, who turns towards the entrance to Mementos with a, "Let's go."
No, I do not think so, he reasons. Mona could be trying sometimes, but Fox much prefers the feline with a degree of self-confidence, rather than wallowing in guilt. It does seem that he's no longer partaking of the latter, but Fox can't tell if Mona's back to his usual cocksure self.
Joker follows Mona and takes out his phone. "Nozomi Odo. Kazuya Makigami. Yoshimori Sakoda," he says. "Are we all ready for this?"
Skull jerks his neck from side to side. His bones crackle. "'Bout time we got back to this."
Noir jogs after Mona, battle axe in hand. "Let's do it, everyone!"
#
The Shadow of Nozomi Odo disappears into the light, a small smile on his face.
Panther crouches and rests her hands on her knees. "Geez," she mutters. "That was harder than I thought it would be."
"Tenacious," Fox says, as Joker puts away his gun.
"One down," he replies, and a few Thieves groan. He chuckles. "Come on, it wasn't that bad." He takes an energy drink from his pocket. "Refuel if you need to. Mona?"
"Right," the cat says, and approaches the portal which will lead them back to Mementos proper. A small puff of smoke, and he's a bus once more.
"Never gonna get used to that," Skull complains, as he drops into the backseat.
Joker begins to follow, when he feels a hand on his sleeve. He turns to find Noir. A few strands of her hair hang loose from beneath her hat. "I just wanted to talk to you," she whispers. "About what you said last night."
Joker nods. "Right." He'd told Haru about Kaneshiro and Makoto's father at Rafflesia the night before. Haru had been appropriately horrified, and more than a little hostile when Akira had asked her how they should proceed. She had insisted on telling Makoto right away, but Akira cautioned patience. He agreed that Makoto deserved the truth, but wasn't sure telling her outright was the best way to go about doing it.
Haru had promptly reminded him how of bad he was at telling Makoto things.
Akira had accepted this truth, and they'd decided to tell her together.
"What about it?" Joker asks. "I know we said we'd tell her, but this has to take priority."
"I know that. I do. But I'm concerned."
"So am I."
"No, but..." She starts to trail off, then her eyes harden. "Makoto's in a fragile state right now. She's been getting into fights with her sister, and I'm worried that if we reveal this to her, now, it might make things worse."
"Noir, her father was murdered, I don't think there's a scenario where telling her that won't make things worse."
She nods. "I know. But, she's stressed about so many things. If we tell her about Kaneshiro, it could... I don't know."
Joker frowns. "I don't want hurt Makoto, either. But we can't keep this from her. We both know what kind of road that leads down."
Noir bites her lip and averts her gaze. "You're right. I'm just scared." She looks back up at him. "How are you, by the way?"
"Me?"
"Yes. You. For someone about to be inducted into a dangerous gang, you seem somewhat relaxed about it."
Joker shrugs. "Part of the job, right?"
Noir's eyes narrow. "Don't do that," she replies.
He sighs. "Look, we don't really have time for this. We've still got two more targets to hit before the day is out. Let's keep moving." He turns and heads for Mona, and can feel Noir's eyes on his back.
#
Nozomi Odo slams his fist into the locker, and the noise reverberates through the small room. His employees wince at this, and keeps their eyes averted.
"Who was it?" He demands, pacing up and down the length of the room. "None of you are leaving until I get the truth. I know one of you did it. Spit it out, already!"
No one replies.
He shakes his head, scowling. "If you think things are bad now, you just wait until..." He trails off.
The fog in his mind dissipates. He looks over at his employees. These young adults. These kids. Afraid. Afraid of him.
He extends a shaking hand to the wall, and props himself against it.
One of his employees frowns at him. "Boss?" He asks.
Nozomi sinks to the floor, mind clear, but chest heaving. He buries his face in the crook of his elbow and releases a single, loud sob.
The others look at one another, eyes wide.
One mouths to his friend, "What the fuck?" But by then, their boss is crying in earnest, and between the choking, blubbering sobs, they can hear him whispers, "I'm sorry," over and over.
#
The Shadow of Kazuya Makigami lies in a small, collapsed pile in the dirt. Slowly, it rises to its feet.
The Phantom Thieves surround it, each
breathing hard from the fight. They hadn't
expected it to summon other Shadows to fight on its behalf.
Kazuya looks down at his hands. "Naoya," he mutters, as he begins to fade away.
Overhead, a small key materializes and begins to float down to the earth.
"That's the Treasure?" Skull asks. "Kind of a letdown."
Kaz holds out his hand to catch it, but it floats right through. He chuckles. "Yeah. Of course." He looks up at the Phantom Thieves. "Do me a favor. Give that to Naoya. It opens a drawer in my room. Tell him to take what's inside and... I don't care. Get rid of it. Whatever."
Joker walks up and picks the key up off the ground. "We will," he says.
Kaz smiles, and his Shadow disappears.
Mona steps up alongside Joker and holds out his paw. "Give it to me. Once we're done here, I'll go back to the Makigami place and leave it for Naoya."
Joker nods and lowers the key into Mona's hand.
Panther throws back her head and groans. "Man, that was so hard. And we've got to do another one now?"
Fox shrugs, pushes up his mask, and begins to munch on a protein bar. "Indeed," he says, between mouthfuls. "But as we've already released the Calling Cards, we've little other choice."
Skull punches a fist into the palm of his hand. "Next up, Sakoda. Time to make that bastard pay for hurting Daisuke."
Joker takes a vial of Takemi's medicine from his pocket and downs it. That giant, red demon had managed to slash him with its claws. The wound throbbed, but as he empties the vial, he can feel it start to close.
Cognition is a wonderful thing, he thinks, and smirks.
He spins back to the Thieves and claps his hand. "Alright, everyone. Two down, one to go. Everyone set?"
#
Kazuya jerks forward, and grabs the handrail to steady himself.
"Naoya!" He screams.
Heads turn his way. He'd gathered his gang. Explained that they needed to sneak into the Kosei Dorms and pay a visit to his brother. They'd all looked spooked by this, but no one had complained.
Now, they all stared at Kaz as he moaned and lowered himself to the ground. A few pedestrians turned their way as well.
They were on the outskirts of a small park, but they weren't doing anything that warranted attention. Until now.
"I'm sorry, Naoya!" Kaz screams. "I'm so sorry, little bro!"
One of his friends crouches next to him. "Kaz, what're you doing, man?"
Kaz reaches up and grabs his collar. "I have to confess! I confess! It was me." He shoves his friend away and crawls to his feet. A uniformed police officer is walking towards them, carefully, a confused look on his face. Kaz's eyes widen. "Officer!" He calls, and starts to drag himself towards the man.
Another of his gang grabs him around the shoulders. "What the hell are you doing, stupid?"
Kaz shakes him off. "Officer, it's me! I confess. I've been hurting my brother. I've been beating him for months! And I'm part of that gang that's been robbing restaurants and houses!"
"Fuck," one of the others says, then turns and starts to sprint away.
The police officer stiffens, then says something into his radio.
Kaz grins. Yes, he thinks. This is good. This is right. This is what I have to do.
#
Yoshinori Sakoda's Shadow paces its small, little realm. Have to stay on top," he whispers. "Have to stay on top."
Around him, the vortex of red energy is
slowly coalescing. Forming something. If he looks, he can make out pillars in the storm, building themselves upon one another. He hears voices as well. Voices from some deep dark pit of himself swell and spit and rise to mingle and man this space of his.
He knows this. Knows it's all tentative. Knows that his position is dependent upon the goodwill of others.
This makes him angry.
But there's little else he can do. This is the situation he's been presented with. The hand life dealt him and all that cliché nonsense. He's not choice but to continue down the path before him.
"Have to stay on top," he mutters. That was the only way to guarantee his safety. "Have to stay on top. Have to st-"
A knife splits the ground before him. Beneath it is pinned a small, red and black card. He recognizes the words.
"Yoshinori Sakoda," comes a voice. The Shadow tears its eyes from the ground and lifts them to twisting tracks overhead. A group of people stand above him, glowering down at him.
"You," he whispers.
Joker steps forward. "Us."
Skull walks up alongside him. "Time to take you down a few pegs, asshole."
Panther loosens her whip. "We know you've been hurting kids at Shujin. We know you broke Daisuke's arm, and I saw you break the leg of that one kid in the alley."
Sakoda shakes his head. "So? All those wimps and losers are just begging to get stepped on and-"
Thunk.
Sakoda blinks.
One of the Phantom Thieves holds what appears to be a grenade launcher. Pointed at him.
The ground erupts in front of him, and he goes flying backwards, spinning through the sky until he crashes into the wall, sliding down into a heap.
"Yeah," Joker replies. "We thought you'd say something like that."
Fox draws his sword. "Shall we dispense with the pleasantries?"
"Let's."
Sakoda pushes himself to his feet. "You stupid little shitheads don't know what you're doing. You don't know who you're messing with! You don't know who I'm with!"
Noir frowns. "Who you're with?" She asks. Claws burst from beneath Sakoda's fingers, and with a scream, he rams them into his stomach. He wrenches them free, and a gush of black pours from the wound, onto the gravel.
"Ew," Panther mutters. "Gross."
Sakoda throws back his head, howls, and bursts into a puddle of black, which promptly rises up and begins to form. A cackling, black monster with a purple crown appears, swinging its legs from side to side as it hovers in the air.
"Shit," Joker hears Skull shout as they crash through it. The shockwave and pressure abruptly changes their descend, and the Thieves crash to the ground.
Joker leaps up, and finds Panther standing next to him, a gash across her side. She holds it, wincing. "You okay?" He asks her.
"I'm more pissed than hurt," she replies, and steps forward. "Carmen!"
Her mask vanishes and her Persona appears above her. It pivots and a gout of flame hurtles towards the Shadow. There's a loud ping that echoes through the chamber, and the flame swings around and plows straight back towards them.
Joker wraps his arms around Panther and pulls her away from the fire. They hit the ground and she gasps in pain. Joker rummages around in his pockets for a vial, finds one, and presses it into her hand.
"Drink it," he tells her, then stands. "Fire doesn't work," he calls.
Fox and Skull are running to either side of the Shadow, while Mona and Noir stare it down. Fox's mask vanishes and Goemon summons a pillar of ice, crashing down on the Shadow. It breaks apart before it reaches the thing, and the Shadow remains unperturbed.
Mona and Noir summon their respective Personas, and begin a barrage of attacks. The Shadow hisses, and slides forward, head-butting Mona and ricocheting the cat away and into the wall.
Skull leaps up and brings his pipe down on the Shadow's head, and it winces, but spins and swats him with his arm. Skull crashes to the ground, but pushes himself up and gives the thing the finger. "Like that, asshole?"
The Shadow roars and charges at Skull, who whimpers out a quick, "Oh crap," before scurrying away. "Little help!"
Joker charges, and pulls out his gun. Fox joins him a moment later, and together the two unleash a storm of bullets into the back of the Shadow, which quivers and falls to the ground. "Okay," Joker says. "That worked." He turns and cries out, "Noir!"
She steps forward and calls, "Milady!" Her Persona emerges behind her, and her skirt opens to reveal her massive Gatling gun. The Shadow turns with enough time to make a satisfying face before the hurricane of fire smashes into it. A small cloud of dust and dirt kicks up where it had been moments later, and the gun eventually empties to a soft whirrrrr noise.
Sakoda's Shadow flies upwards, emerging from the dust and leaking black back down to the ground. Joker sees a whip fly out and catch it around the neck. He turns to find Panther, the gash in her side healed, both hands on her weapon, a scowl on her face. "Not so fast, you bastard," and she pulls.
The Shadow comes crashing back to earth, and as it struggles to rise, Joker feels a pressure on his shoulder. Mona has risen, and uses Joker as a springboard to leap into the air. He pulls Skull's slingshot free and fires off a string of rapid fire pellets down into the thing. The Shadow hisses once more, and bursts into black.
Joker can feel the tension leave the rest of the group. He heaves out a sigh, and lets himself sit down. Three targets was a lot.
"Everyone good?" He asks.
The Phantom Thieves give their affirmatives.
Sakoda picks himself up from the ground, walks a few, shaky steps, and throws himself at their feet. "Please," he murmurs. "Please don't do this."
Skull scowls and stalks up to him. "Don't do this? We've seen the kind of shit you do, man. Hurting people, breaking their bones. You should be in jail."
Joker groans as he hauls himself to his feet, and steps up besides Skull. "You're going to go back now," he tells the Shadow. "You're going to apologize to Daisuke and the people you've hurt, and you're going to stop doing this kind of thing. The bullying ring you've got at Shujin? Get rid of it."
Sakoda shakes his head. "I can't. I can't. I'll get in trouble. You don't know what he'll do to me."
Panther joins them, along with Mona, Noir and Fox. "Wait," she says. "There's another guy in charge of all this?"
Joker rolls his eyes. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." He looks down at Sakoda. "Who is he?"
"H-his name is Junya Kaneshiro," Sakoda whispers.
No one says anything.
Sakoda closes his eyes. "Alright," he says. "Alright, I'll go back. I'll... I'll make amends." He begins to glow.
"Wait," Joker shouts, and drops down beside him, seizing his shoulders. "Kaneshiro is in charge of the ring at Shujin? You've met him?"
Sakoda blinks, then nods. Joker's hands pass through his shoulders, and he starts to vanish.
"What's he like?" Joker asks. "Wait, goddammit, wait! What's he like? Who is he? What are his plans? What's he-"
Sakoda looks at him, and he sees the fear
beneath the calmness in his eyes. "He's terrible."
And then he's gone.
Joker stares at the space he'd once occupied. There's an afterimage splotching through his eyes, of Sakoda staring up at him, scared.
He lets himself tip backwards, and sits down. The others gather around him. Joker ignores them. He just keeps staring ahead. Junya Kaneshiro.
His confidence has left him. The high he'd been riding since they'd entered Mementos is gone. All he can think now, is that soon, he'll have to meet this man.
This monster who manipulated children and students.
This monster who trafficked other humans.
This monster who sold drugs and ruined lives.
This monster, who had killed Makoto's father.
I'm not ready for this, he thinks.
"Joker," Skull whispers, and holds out his hand. "We should go, bro."
Joker glances up, and stares at the hand, not comprehending it. "Yeah," he mumbles. He takes it and allows Skull to pull himself up. "We should."
"What does this mean?" Panther asks, as they board into Mona.
Noir sits next to her. "We knew Kaneshiro recruited students from Shujin. But I didn't think it would be this bad."
"It doesn't change anything," Skull says, hopping into the passenger seat. "We've only got more reasons to take him down now, right Joker?"
"Uh-huh," Joker replies, and begins to drive.
#
Sakoda feels the change seep into him.
He stands in an alleyway in Shibuya, approaching his favorite arcade. His hand starts to shake.
He takes out his phone, and calls a number.
"Hello?" The voice on the other end asks, dazed and tired.
"Daisuke," Sakoda whispers.
At once, the voice on the other end is alert. "S-Sakoda, what-"
"I'm sorry, man. I'm sorry for hurting you."
Daisuke is silent for a time, then he asks, awe in his voice. "Did you get a Calling Card?"
Sakoda hangs up. He dials a new number. "It's me," he says. The voice on the other end asks him what he wants. Sakoda's voice trembles when he says, "I'm out. Of everything. The gang at Shujin. It's done. I'm out. I'm sorry."
The voice on the other end asks him if he's sure he wants to do this.
"I'm sorry," Sakoda repeats. "I'm sorry."
The voice on the other end asks him if he's retarded.
Sakoda drops his phone.
Then he starts to run.
#
Akira keeps his hands buried in his pockets, and his eyes glued to the concrete.
"Did you see?" Ohya asks, walking alongside him. "My story is up."
He nods. "Yeah. Cool." His arms and legs ache. The Metaverse took its toll, sure enough, but this was something else. Something deeper. Sakoda's words had shaken him, brought him back to reality and the shitshow fast approaching.
"What's your problem?" Ohya asks.
Akira shakes his head. "Nothing." Then, he sighs. "I need your help with something."
"Shocker."
"Just..." He starts, then trails off. "Come on, okay? Please?"
Ohya comes to a halt, just a few paces from LeBlanc, and Akira has no choice but to wait. Morgana is out delivering the key to the Makigami residence. He's alone with the reporter for now. "What's going on with you? For a while now, you've been all-"
"What's going on with me?" He asks. "What's going on with you?" He regrets the words the moment he says them. Ohya looks stung and he can see her face working through the initial denial, before it collapses back into something ashamed, and then settles to blank. "That was our deal, remember? I help you, you help me?"
Ohya crosses her arms. "What do you need? Information, I'm guessing."
Akira nods. "Do you know anything about a guy named Junya Kaneshiro?"
Ohya blinks, genuinely surprised. "Kaneshiro? Yeah, I think. Mumblings, anyway." She shuts her eyes, squeezes them tight, actually. "Wait, I've heard his name recently. It had to do with something." She brings her hands to her temples. "Dammit, I can't remember." She lowers her arms, puts her face to the sky and groans. "Ugh, what was it?"
"Well, if you could find out for me, that'd be great."
Ohya frowns, her face scrunching together. "Why do you need to know about him? You know he's yakuza right?" She stiffens. "That's it. He's a Dragon. Just like your other yakuza buddy. The guy I hit! Munehisa Iwai. Are you asking for him?" Before Akira can answer, Ohya stamps her foot on the sidewalk. "Wait, no. That wasn't the big thing I remembered. Shit, this is pissing me off. I never used to forget crap like this."
Akira keeps his comment to himself. "You want an exclusive? Here you go. The Phantom Thieves are going after Kaneshiro next."
Ohya's eyes widen. "Whoa. Whoa, wait a second. Are they sure they want to do that? Kaneshiro is dangerous. Really dangerous. He-"
"Everyone the Phantom Thieves have gone up against have been dangerous," Akira points out.
Ohya shakes her head. "This is a different kind of dangerous. Kamoshida might've been a brute, but he was a gym teacher. Madarame might've had connections and been rich, but he was a painter. Kaneshiro is a violent criminal, Akira. Maybe the Phantom Thieves should stick to someone who-"
"It's going ahead," Akira says, then catches himself. "Apparently. I'd appreciate it if you could get me whatever information you can find. Then, I can pass it along to the PhanSite's admin."
Why am I even bothering? Akira wonders, as Ohya continues to protest. Why not just tell her? Iwai knew. Takemi knew. Makoto knew. What difference would it make if Ohya knew too? It would be a relief, as he wouldn't have to keep a secret from one more person.
But he knows why.
Because she's a drunk. Because when she gets drunk, she says and does things she wouldn't otherwise do. She could tell someone. She could tell someone, and she might not even remember it the next day.
He feels guilty about the thought, so he covers his by asking, "Do you want some coffee?"
Ohya does not look mollified. "Fine, but I'm not going to start harping on this."
"I didn't think you would," Akira says.
They arrive at LeBlanc and Akira pushes the door open.
"Welcome home," Sojiro says.
"Thanks," Akira replies. His eyes adjust to the dim light. "I'm-" He stops.
Sae Niijima sits on one of the stools. Next to her, rests Goro Akechi.
Sojiro is behind the bar, a frown etched on his face.
Sae turns to him. "Kurusu."
Akechi leans back and beams. "Ah, hello again. I'd no idea you lived here. Niijima-san has mentioned it several times, but I've never had the opportunity to visit. What would you suggest I get? For a drink?"
"Uh," Akira replies.
##
A/N: So I've got some news. Figured I'd share it here with you all.
My wife is PREGNANT!
That's right. There's going to be a little Dowdz running around in about 8-9 months. Well, not running, but eventually.
We're very excited. However, while this shouldn't impact things too heavily right now, as the time gets closer (and of course, immediately afterwards) I may need to take some time off from Crimson. But for now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you'll swing by again on Monday, when the next bit will be out!
Thanks so much for reading!