New chapter, new introductions, new events. Thank you so much for the follows and favorites! I love contributing to this fandom!
Akira managed to haul her out of the store, slapping the yen for the groceries on the counter. After calming her down, wasn't sure how he managed to do that, he had her sitting on a stone bench in a quiet park. She didn't seem to like a ton of company, so he chose a secluded area. He had carried her groceries for her, setting them on her side and sitting next to her on the opposite.
He calmly waited for her to stop groaning and lamenting in her misfortune, cutting in when she slowed to a stop.
"Did I catch you at a bad time?" he asked jokingly, unsure how to make her more comfortable with him. She slanted a look at him before facing forward to an innocent tree.
"I hate this route. I want to reset. I wish I never beat the arcade score the first time and baited him." Was she talking to herself or him? And that kinda hurt if it were to him. It's not like he really did anything wrong. Did she really dislike him that much?
"H-hey..." he muttered. She looked at him again, then back to the tree.
"He's still here. What options should I use to scare him off?" She should've played a damn otome game. That was going on her list ASAP.
Akira chuckled a little. "You know I can hear you, right?"
She slouched her shoulders. "Yeah..."
He crossed his ankles and leaned back.
"Can you tell me why you're upset?" he asked, used to offering advice thanks to his friends. She cupped her chin, thinking deeply. She wasn't a guy. Maybe guys found attraction in girls differently.
"Hmm. So, you're a guy, right, basement-dweller?"
He shrugged. "Again, my name's Akira, but yes, I am a guy."
She didn't pick up the mocking tone he had. "Okay. Akira. Fine. Could you fall in love with someone just by hearing their voice? Even if it was fake?"
She listened to how her voice sounded on the program and it was awful to her ears. Maybe guys thought it was like hearing a bedroom voice.
Akira looked confused. "That's...oddly specific. What happened?"
She had to hide any fact of her being Alibaba. She whistled lightly.
"So, you can say I was chatting with some people online..." He cut her off with a smirk.
"Online, huh? You sure they were your age and you weren't getting catfished by a desperate forty-year-old?" he joked. She stomped her foot.
"Yes. Anyways! I've been up to here with physical contact. Now this dude online claims he's interested in stealing my heart. Who says that to someone online? And I talked to them for like ten minutes!" He didn't drop that cocky smirk.
"Then you gave them an awesome ten minutes." The suggestive tone he took had her eyes narrowing.
"I don't do camming, pervert. So after I get that message, I log off and try to go grocery shopping and who do I run into?" she asked, giving him an accusatory look. He had a fairly cocky smirk on his face. "Me. Who you were so happy to see that you had to make sure you weren't dreaming."
Her disgust was apparent.
"Like hell!" she shrilled. She rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever. And this is why I don't like too much human contact. People are strange."
He grinned at her and out his hands in his pockets. "I'd like to say that online would be worse. People don't hold anything back if they can hide behind a computer screen."
She shrugged. "At least it's more honest. Too honest sometimes. Now some dude thought a fake voice is hot. Ugh. I'm going home. My groceries might die."
She turned to grab her groceries, but was stopped when he stretched his arm over them.
"You know, you still technically owe me for lunch," he pointed out playfully. She scoffed and put a hand on her hip.
"Came back to collect your debt, have you?" she hissed. He wiggled his brows once at her.
"Yes. Otherwise you have incurred further interest."
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared. "Oooh, interest now? Giving me more objectives for your own entertainment? I don't look it, but I have developed arm muscles from my interest in NPB games. So if you wanna test out how hard I hit with a baseball bat, keep incurring debt on me."
He pretended to shiver in fear. "Oh, scary. It's not like I could defend myself with this."
He reached out and flicked her forehead. She cried out and touched where he flicked her, a little ache already setting in.
"Ack! A taunt! Keep it up, cheap shot! I know moves from Alley Fighter V that you wish you could pull off in real life!" He had the nerve to gesture her to try. But before she could properly kick his ass, she was quickly pelted with rain drops. It caught Akira off guard too.
She looked up at the sky blankly, the rain already giving her a shower.
"It's...it's really raining right now? Really? Did I have affinity to misfortune today?" Beside her, Akira was scrambling to grab her groceries and bag.
"Futaba, we need to get going! My place isn't far from here!" He grabbed her hand and proceeded in the direction towards his house, but she pulled back protectively.
"Wait, whoa! I'm not going over to a guy's house! I'm not that kind of girl!" she argued. He rolled her eyes.
"Congratulations, I'm not that kind of guy. Come on!" Because she weighed about the amount of a small sack of potatoes, he gripped her arm and hauled her with him.
"Yo!" It fell on deaf ears. Giving up, she found strength in her legs and followed him.
They reached a nice-looking home not long after, but it was long enough for her to get soaked to the bone. He fished out his house key and quickly let her in with him. She was already dripping onto the welcome mat. He led her into the kitchen area and set her groceries onto the counter. She took a close look around as she waited. The house was big and the kitchen was nice. It was a little too big for one person. It wasn't really her business to ask though. He turned to her with a sheepish smile.
"One hell of a downpour. Summertime is full of rain, as usual. Let me get us some towels. And it's pretty muggy. I'll turn on the AC." A towel wouldn't do much. She shifted her weight to her other foot.
"I'm drenched." He finally took a look at her, nearly bursting out in laughter when he saw how wet she actually was.
"I can see that now. Here, I'll get you some clothes. It's a problem if clothes are too small than big in most cases." She nodded, gesturing to her groceries.
"Can I put my groceries somewhere for now?" He didn't seem to react negatively, heading upstairs.
"Sure. I might have room in the fridge if you need. Want something to eat? I'm planning on making lunch about now." She sighed deeply.
"Another debt..." she murmured. He had ears like a hawk.
"Don't count this as part of the debt," he scolded.
She turned on her heel and smiled, her first one to him. "Thank you, then."
He stopped for a solid minute, processing that she was actually smiling at him. And she looked adorable. But once he stared for too long, her expression immediately changed to defensive.
"What?!" He jolted and quickly shook his head.
"Nothing! I'll go get you some clothes." He left shortly to go change himself. She sighed and peeled off her thin jacket. Putting the clothes back on after hanging them up to dry would be uncomfortable, but she couldn't do much about it. She went to put the perishables in the fridge. She tried to take up as little space as possible, cursing herself.
'I'm starting to owe this guy a lot! I really need to make a list on how much he's done so I can pay it back in full. Then avoid him for the next few days and exact arcade revenge!' While she was thoughtfully strategizing her next few days, she barely noticed Akira coming back down in new clothes with a towel around his shoulders. He appeared before her with the neat pile in his arms. She flinched, not realizing he had gotten so close without her knowing. He looked up and down at her, silently noting that she looked quite nice.
"Here's the clothes. You can throw your wet clothes with mine into the washing machine. The rain probably will last to about the evening, so you'd have plenty of time. I'll get started on lunch." She nodded and took the clothes.
"Thanks." Head down, she dipped into the bathroom to change.
It all had to come off and get washed. Her shirt, pants, scarf and even her bra sat in a heavy, wet pile on the bathroom sink. She couldn't remove her underwear, but she was fortunate that they were still dry thanks to the thickness of her pants. The shirt Akira gave her was nice and thick enough to keep her breasts unnoticed, though not like she had two melons on her chest. It didn't take long to wiggle into the black shirt and white sweatpants. With her wet pile, she followed Akira's directions to the laundry room and tossed it in with Akira's similar colored wet clothes. She threw in the necessary detergent and turned the machine on.
Returning to the kitchen, she caught a glimpse of Akira chopping up some ingredients. Above in a kitchen cabinet, she saw assortments of coffee beans. Like a mini version of the shelves in Leblanc. She didn't like standing around and doing nothing. It was awkward with someone you've recently met.
"I can make coffee for us. I noticed you had a ton of beans in your cupboard," she offered. He didn't look up from his cooking.
"That sounds great." Smiling to herself, she walked over to the cabinet behind Akira. Grabbing a bag of Blue Mountain, she went to work making the coffee like Sojiro had taught her years ago. She could smell what Akira was making, curry. It sent her back to the memories of Leblanc with the atmosphere teeming with the scent of roasting coffee and bubbling curry. Smiling warmly, she finished filling two cups with coffee and set them on the table. Akira covered the pot of curry and joined her to drink while they waited for it to finish cooking.
Taking a sip, Futaba grinned. Just like Sojiro would make it. Seemed like Akira liked it too, given the satisfied grin on his face.
"This coffee tastes really good," he complimented, smiling at her.
She shyly played with the rim of her mug. "That's because of the beans."
He propped his arm up on the table.
"Not entirely true. I was taught that the way you brew is just as important." Funny, Sojiro said that once. Akira got up to get their curry, bringing over two full plates and setting one in front of her. Her stomach growled deeply when she realized she hadn't eaten much all day. She could hear Akira chuckling lightly. Embarrassed, she quickly picked up her spoon and took in a few bites to quiet her stomach. She gasped at the familiar taste.
"Th-this curry!" she stuttered, grabbing her plate and bringing it closer to analyze it. He brightened up.
"You like it?" he asked eagerly. She nodded, sitting up on her chair with both feet on the seat.
"It tastes so familiar." He sat back, remembering the first time he tried making it.
"I learned it from someone a while ago in high school. I had to work with him as part of a rehabilitation program." Interested, she tilted her head.
"Bad kid or habits?"
He didn't seem bothered that she asked. He crossed his fingers together.
"The first one. I thought I was justified, the cops didn't. Parents couldn't handle the issue and sent me to him. After I graduated from probation and high school, I moved out here for a fresh start." She dragged her spoon along the plate, gazing at him questioningly.
"What did you do?"
He took a minute to gauge whether or not he was comfortable telling her. He had been judged and gossiped about during much of his high school years because of that particular mess and still not many people believed him when they heard. She didn't seem like the type to gossip like that, despite her not liking him too much. She liked him deep down, he was sure.
"I pushed someone I wasn't supposed to. He ended up being a top dog somewhere and spun the whole thing against me." She wasn't at all surprised. In her work, hacking against top dogs was common to unload their dirty business to the world.
"Where's he now?" she asked. He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"Running the country." The answer came off too casual, like he had rehearsed it several times to come off that way. She hummed.
"Wrong place and wrong time." Her response managed to make him smile.
"That's what my probation mentor mentioned at one point. But I'm over it now," he declared, though when she wasn't looking for a brief moment, a bitter smile reached his face before he hid it.
She gasped, realizing they had gone off on a tangent. "Wait a minute, don't throw me off! What about the curry?!"
He was shocked that she still remembered. He looked towards the kitchen and to the pot that he bought out of nostalgia.
"He trusted me enough eventually to teach it to me."
It couldn't be Sojiro. She almost laughed at the thought. Sojiro rarely trusted anybody.
Futaba hadn't lived with Sojiro during her high school days because she got a scholarship and recommendation at a tech academy. She rarely got to come home thanks to the busy schedule and costly flights to and back. When she came home after graduation, Sojiro just said that he had an interesting time. He was pretty mellowed out by then. Well, whoever taught Akira must've been to Leblanc plenty of times because no one could ever make it like this.
She bounced out of her chair with her plate. "I'll handle the dishes."
Ryuji had finally woken up at his usual afternoon time when it was his day off. A massive pile of clothes sat in his room that needed to be washed soon, so he lugged the full basket to the laundry room. Imagine his surprise when he saw clothes already spinning in the washing machine. Then he jumped back when a grey bra hit the glass for a brief second like it was a jump scare. After recovering from the initial shock, he bolted to the kitchen where Akira was putting away curry in the fridge.
"Yo, Akira!" He unknowingly dashed passed Futaba, who was looking over the library of games they had. "There's girl clothes washing in the laundry!"
"Mine." Came her voice, bored as she looked over a strange game that probably suited Ryuji's taste. Akira smirked and motioned for him to turn around. Ryuji whirled and grinned.
"Oh, Futaba! What's up?" She still didn't look up.
"The rainstorm." Her reply was fairly dry. Determined to get on her good side, he took a seat on the couch once Akira had finished putting away the leftovers.
"Yeah. Looks like we won't be going out right now. What are you guys up to?" he asked.
She barely gave him a glance. "I saw your game console. I wanted to ask if anyone wanted to play games."
He brightened and smacked his fist into his palm. "Hell yeah! I've been waiting for more people to play games with us! Yusuke refuses, Makoto sucks, Ann won't play because she chipped her nail on a button and Haru just sucks too. You game?"
Of course she did, why did he think she was bothering to look at their games? But she held her tongue.
"Yep," she replied.
Ryuji nodded hurriedly, his mind working fast to process what was going on. "Cool! Call me once you decide on a game. Hey, is that coffee? Don't mind if I have some!"
He jumped off the couch with his phone clutched in hand. Akira raised a brow at him for rushing off, but didn't say anything.
Ryuji ducked out of sight and quickly made a chat that didn't involve Akira.
'GUYS. AKIRA BROUGHT FUTABA OVER.' He typed quickly, looking over his shoulder to make sure they didn't notice. Ann was the first to reply with a threat.
'Ryuji. I swear if you say anything embarrassing to Futaba-chan about Akira, I will commit your murder.' He could hear how threatening she was. He exasperatedly typed his response.
'Why me?!' Ann's answer flew in under his.
'Because it's you, the one with zero filter!' Haru had different advice that wasn't a threat to Ryuji's life.
'Don't try too hard to put him out for her either! It would be nice if she wants to stay on her own accord!'
'I agree,' Makoto texted. 'If she requests to stay, it must not be brought on by coercion just for Akira's sake.'
When Yusuke texted next, it had nothing to do with the romance.
'Keep her away from my beloved crayfish.' He wasn't going to be home soon since he was working in the art studio. The white specter crayfishes Yusuke bought were sitting innocently in their tank and hadn't been tampered with. Ryuji rolled his eyes and pocketed his phone before returning to the couch.
It seemed like Futaba had fine tastes because she chose to play Smash bros. Ryuji hopped over the couch and snatched up a free controller.
"Get ready to lose, girl! I'll have you know that I am a certified pro!" He flexed and winked, thinking back on the days of tournaments for Smash.
"So am I," she replied simply. Online tournaments were the best.
Akira shook his head at him. "And I am too, genius. We both participated in the tournaments, Ryuji. That's probably not gonna matter here."
Ryuji shook his fist at him. "Let me intimidate her, dammit!"
She rolled her eyes and selected Inkling as her character. At once, both men stared at her for a full minute, then to her character for another. They chose to say nothing and chose their characters.
Two minutes in, Ryuji's Donkey Kong was flying off screen to his death. He screamed in frustration.
"What the fuck?! You're too good!" Inkling taunted on screen, making him more upset.
"Stop that!" he shouted. She was never that good at listening. Ryuji cursed when he realized that he had lost his last life for the match. Now it was between her and Akira on their last ones with over 130% damage on their characters. He was tensed up on the couch, feeling how competitive their aura was and scooting away. Futaba and Akira were sitting next to each other and neither attempted to move to assert their dominance.
It didn't last long until Akira dodged her attack by reversing to her other side and finished her with a charged melee attack. Her poor Inkling went flying off the screen while Akira's Mario taunted.
Akira was grinning, Ryuji was waiting with bated breath in fear of her reaction, and Futaba calmly set her controller down. Her chest was going up and down with the deep breaths she was taking.
Next thing they knew, she launched herself on top of Akira's lap and grabbed his collar in excitement. She was as threatening as a kitten. It was too funny to pass up.
"How do you keep winning?!" she demanded over his loud laughter. "Is it cheat codes?! Gameshark?! Game genie?! Are you actually a video game god?! Tell me! Teach me!"
Ryuji fled from the scene in shock. He didn't know whether or not she was trying to kill him. He fumbled to open his messenger.
'Guys. Futaba is on top of Akira.'
Ann was lightning fast once again. 'Then give them privacy! What do you wanna do, watch?!'
What the hell did this woman do when they don't meet up? Why is she always available to text?! Ryuji gagged at the message and zipped through a reply. 'No, dumbass! She wants to beat him up over video games!'
'Then don't let her and make her see what a great guy he is! Be the wingman!' Ann's response was so simple. Feral fighting girls were not his forte. He peered over his shoulder and saw a complete 180. Futaba was sitting up and Akira was showing her his moves and tactics. She was completely innocent like a child and was absorbing everything he was telling her like a sponge. Ryuji sighed heavily. This day was wearing him out.
As Akira continued to teach Futaba, he took his time to take in all her features. She was truly cute. She would pout a little when she found something hard to comprehend, but her eyes sprang with life when she realized what she needed to do. It was intimidating to see how easily she picked up the playing style and replicate it. When she wasn't annoyed with him for reasons he wasn't sure why, she was a lot of fun. He should consider trying his best to not get on her bad side, but by god was it fun.
After another hour of playing, she set the controller down and grinned to herself.
"It's actually fun to face a higher-leveled player. This is a trial of will and a time for me to go beyond my limit!" she declared. He smirked and leaned back on the couch.
"Whatever helps you. Ryuji!" he called out, the blonde barely moving from his spot on the other sofa. "You should've joined us to play."
Ryuji cringed, looking worse for wear just from watching them. "Hell no. You two are way too damn competitive for me to handle and that's normally my job. Keep me outta it."
Futaba glanced up at the clock. She had been here way longer than she anticipated. She remembered changing the laundry out and her clothes should be dry by now. A bit of a shame, Akira's clothes were comfy.
"I should get going." She didn't notice the look of disappointment on Akira's face. He cleared his throat to hide his face, then moved to turn off the game.
"You're more than welcome to stay the night," he pointed out, noticing that the rain hadn't let up. She shook her head.
"No, I've been imposing for too long. And I should go back and put my groceries away." She was pretty adamant to leave, looking more uncomfortable as she watched the clock. They couldn't stop her.
After changing and grabbing everything she needed, she smiled to her hosts.
"Thanks for having me over."
Akira didn't feel comfortable letting her go out in the rain on her own. He had his keys in hand and jingled them in the air.
"Let me drive you at least. I don't feel comfortable letting you leave out in dangerous conditions. What if a car doesn't see you walking on the crosswalk?" he wondered out loud. It was a real fear in the city. Ryuji made a face.
"I gotta agree. People don't know what the fuck they're doing, especially with rain involved. This guy here," he added, patting Akira's shoulder, "won't sleep well at night if he finds out something happened to you."
Akira went a little red and knocked his fist into Ryuji's ribs, causing the blonde to yelp. "Yes, I'm worried. Now please let me drive you because I need a break from this guy sometimes."
Futaba shrugged. She wouldn't say no to a free lift. Besides, carrying her groceries without an umbrella in the rain like this sounded awful.
Akira did take her in his car, the ride fairly silent as she stared out the window to admire the area soaking in rain. By the time they reached her apartment place, the rain had lessened up a tad. He offered to carry her things up to her door for her, then reached for his phone.
"Could I get your number by the way? I like hanging out with you," he added, smiling at her. She blushed and reached for her phone.
"S-sure. Just don't be surprised if I don't text or call often, alright? Sometimes my hours are strange," she said, waiting for his info. After successfully exchanging numbers, he nodded and pocketed his phone.
"Alright. I'll see you around, Futaba," he murmured, smiling at her charmingly. She fidgeted and nodded silently.
"Yeah. Thanks...Akira." His smile widened and he nodded, disappearing down the steps as he headed back to his car. She quickly went inside her apartment and flopped on her bed, blush growing and heart pounding.
With her errands done, shower taken and dinner eaten, she jumped onto her computer for her daily dose of messages and forum surfing. She was immediately greeted to an open chat from her email with the user available.
'Logged on, I see.' From PT. Tailcoat again. She needed to be like a rock.
Her reply was terse. 'Yup.'
Didn't seem to bother him much. Instead, his reply came without skipping a beat. 'I've been thinking about what I said to you earlier.'
Futaba raised a brow at this, letting her fingers convey her thoughts. 'That you didn't mean it because hitting on someone with a fake voice is the stupidest way to be attracted?'
She meant it. Who fell in love with a voice but no face to it? Tailcoat took a few seconds to respond.
'Not really. Still interested in stealing your heart. Just to let you know.' Blech, that again? She furiously wrote her threat.
'I have a baseball bat.'
If he was going to underestimate her, fine. He'll think twice after the first hit.
'Interesting way to tell someone you like them.' What a cheery reply he had. Full of fear, she was sure. She kept it going.
'My bat will like you so much. Me? Not so much.'
'I'll bother you again another day,' he replied. He didn't seem at all perturbed by her behavior. She wanted him to feel fear, dammit.
'The bat's not leaving my side, you know.'
'Of course, gotta protect yourself from the legions of guys wanting you before I swoop in to steal you away.' She gagged and stuck her tongue out at the screen before sending another reply.
'I know how to swing up too, you know,' she snapped back. She was then sent a red heart emoji in reply. This dude was seriously infuriating her. More than Akira earlier. Before she could send him a dead emoji, he logged off after sending her a kissy face.
The next few days were uneventful, to her relief. She was comfortable texting Akira on and off, but hanging out took a toll on her energy and comfort. The price to pay for trying to level up her social skills. She played some otome games here and there and wasn't surprised when she hit bad endings often. She was horrible at responding to the characters in predetermined lines. But she kept at it despite hours of losses. She hoped that it made her seem a little more charming and sensitive, but she never tried it out in person to tell.
Tonight, she chose to go out for sushi by herself. It was a treat for doing a lot more in a week than she had in a month in terms of going out and interacting with others. For sushi, she would endure going out in public. She luckily had a good job so she could splurge more so than usual on some days. Sojiro drilled into her head how she should be saving money instead of going crazy every time a paycheck rolled in. She upheld it and luckily did not have debt to her name. After the last bite of tamago nigiri, she bowed and thanked the chef before she paid and left.
The night was fair and the air was crisp and fresh. She yawned and stretched, walking along the sidewalk with a bounce in her step as she took a stroll. The city at night reminded her of the soundtracks she listened to with beats to keep her calm and concentrated during work.
"Futaba-kun, it's a surprise to see you." The voice had her whirling around in surprise. Had she been a basic bitch, she'd be squealing at the sight of handsome, popular Goro Akechi. She had a straight, blank face on as she nodded to him.
"Detective Conan." Her nickname for him had him more visibly bothered than he wanted to let show.
"You need to stop calling me that."
She stretched her arms behind her back. "And you need to stop copying him."
He put his hands on his hips and gave her a pointed look. "I do not. Anyways, want to catch up on old times?"
She quirked a brow. "We had old times?"
"Point being," he continued with an annoyed look, "as old acquaintances, I'd like to see how you've fared since the academy days."
Her gaze was slow and thoughtful. "I honestly don't remember when I met you in the academy."
He shrugged. It was expected for her to forget him. "During the digital database research course, Futaba-kun. I took a course at your academy to help me gain experience for detective work."
"I don't remember that class," she answered truthfully. There were millions of courses to be had from the academy since it was like university. Many students skipped high school because they nailed the exams in a rigorous accelerated program in order to get into the academy. Once they were in academy, they drowned in the coursework that each lasted their own separate weeks. It was hard to tell which class was which sometimes. Akechi gave her a friendly smile.
"Because you already knew everything. Anyway, that's where we met. Would you like coffee?" he asked, motioning towards the coffee shop nearby. She sighed. More conversations with people, but at least coffee was involved.
"Fine."
It wasn't horrible, she could say. Akechi was telling her all about his new job as a rookie detective and the mentor he had. She made sure to take extra care that he had no leads to her being Alibaba or he would start asking for favors on his cases with her identity as blackmail. He was impressed with her security system for the museum and praised her for keeping the Phantom Thieves out of one job. It was no secret that he disapproved of their methods, even though he understood their frustrations. He knew she supported them, but was comfortable enough to try and reason with her with his stance.
During their second cup, Akechi glanced out the window to check out the city view. His mood tensed when he saw flashes of movement on the building across from them. He stood up quickly, surprising her out of her sip.
"Futaba-kun." He sounded very firm and clear. Confused, her eyes widened.
"What?" she asked, setting her mug down. He pointed to the building.
"I just saw something move over that building over there." He seemed so sure that it frightened her a little.
"You sure you weren't seeing things?" she asked, trying to peer over where he was looking. He shook his head.
"No, I'm sure it's-" Realizing something, he bolted out of his seat, rattling their cups. He grabbed his coat and proceeded to run out of the cafe. "Call the police and have them meet in the Sanko nightclub! Tell them the Phantom Thieves are coming for the Silver Drop!"
With her head whirling, she barely had time to leave the money on the table before she went after him. Outside, she nearly lost him in the crowd of people if she hadn't started running ahead of time.
"Conan! What are you thinking going after them alone?! They'll pick on you because you're scrawny!" She chased after him, cursing herself for not making a better effort to exercise.
She managed to push through the crowd and followed Akechi to a busy building. When she got through the large door he went through, her blood chilled. She made a huge mistake.
She had gone into the nightclub. The club was packed with people and the music caused an eerie rattling in her head. Despite resisting, she was being pulled into the crowd when people pushed into her in their attempts to dance.
"So...so much people..." she wheezed. Air wasn't reaching her lungs. Everyone was in her space and stealing the oxygen around her. She was being squished by the large number of bodies bumping to the music of the club. The music itself was pounding her head and the bass thumped her heart uncomfortably. It felt like she couldn't breathe. She could barely see Akechi waving at her with the neon lights obstructing her view and forcing her to squint.
"Futaba-kun?! Over here!" She couldn't hear him well. Her legs trembled under her weight, giving in and nearly collapsing her had it not been for the strong arms wrapping around her waist.
"Come with me," said a steady, deep voice in her ear before she was lifted into their arms. Barely able to process the voice, she gasped as she was whisked away from the crowd. Her surroundings quickly changed as whoever carrying her took her out of the club, passing into several alleyways and into the evening of outside. She was pulled into a dark, quieter room with the stranger. The door was quickly locked before she was set on her feet, leaning against the nearest wall. The club music could still be heard, but her heart and breathing were coming back to normal. The relief can be heard from her as she took long, audible breaths. She took a second to look around. It was too dark to see clearly, but at least some moonlight was streaming in from the window.
"Feel better?" the stranger asked, mildly concerned. She nearly gasped, recognizing the voice immediately. Tailcoat. She could finally trace out his silhouette in the light.
"I...yeah, thanks." She couldn't let him notice that she recognized him. She couldn't see a damn thing anyway.
"You should leave through the left door and down the stairwell. It's safer and less populated. Go quickly." Before Tailcoat could leave, she quickly jumped to stop him.
"Why did you help me?" she asked firmly. She needed to know if he knew she was Alibaba. It wouldn't be good for her since she'd have to keep quiet around Akechi for more than one reason. Tailcoat didn't waste another minute to answer her.
"Because you looked like you needed it," he replied simply like it was the obvious answer. "Careful not to get caught up with us often. I don't want you to get hurt."
He turned to leave again, but his phone went off in his pocket. She spotted a small Bluetooth in his ear when he answered the call.
"Yeah, I'm here. I was helping someone out." He faced her, but it was too dark that she couldn't see him. "I got him off my tail."
Futaba slowly reached for her phone, the screen lighting up when she pressed her finger to the fingerprint scanner.
'If I'm not calling the police to catch the Phantom Thieves, I'm at least doing it for stupid Akechi's sake to make sure he's safe,' she thought. Akechi could easily be beaten up by these guys. But before she could reach her dial pad, her phone was snatched by Tailcoat.
"Hey!" She tried reaching for her phone, but Tailcoat easily had an extra foot above her as he held her phone out of reach and continued talking into his Bluetooth.
"I'll meet up with you guys shortly. Make sure he gets taken care of with the least amount of force possible." He nodded and shut the Bluetooth off. She huffed and stomped her foot.
"You're lucky it's so dark that I can barely see! Gimme back my phone! My...friend is in trouble." She faltered a bit with what she should be calling Akechi.
He could be heard chuckling in that gravelly voice the voice changer gave him. "Why did you hesitate when you said 'friend?'"
She rolled her eyes, trying to go for her phone again.
"None of your business!" she shouted, annoyed when she felt a hand holding her back by pressing down on her head.
"You dating him?" It sounded forced out, but Futaba was too busy gagging at the thought of her and Akechi together.
"Eww, no. I barely remembered where we met. But he's in trouble too!" she shouted, mainly saying that to remind herself that Akechi needed help.
"He's nosy," Tailcoat pointed out in an annoyed tone. She rolled her eyes because it was true.
"Yeah he is, but still! He doesn't deserve to die!" she said heatedly. He held up his hands in surrender.
"Whoa, what sort of guy do you think I am? I wouldn't just kill a guy for following me." He seemed sincere with that statement, but she figured that a renowned thief would be a capable liar.
"I wouldn't know what to think, with you taking a girl like me into a room this dark where I can't identify you." She suddenly stiffened when he fell quiet. Had she said something to piss him off? Would she die instead? While her mind was racing, she felt him grasp her chin and tilt her head up. With the minimal moonlight, she could still barely make out his face.
"I'm not evil." His voice was gentle and firm with conviction. She didn't really think they were, but she was scared of them nonetheless because of their capabilities. "I can tell that you believe that deep down. I promise nothing will happen to your friend, but you need to leave. You don't deserve to get held up by the police and have them try to pin you for something you weren't a part of."
He sounded bitter when he said that. He must have been scorned at one point by the justice system. The Thieves had once mentioned that many of their exploits were done out of being slighted by the corrupted who skirted under the law. Yet the law either didn't punish the correct culprits due to scapegoats or never thought that the corrupted were capable of the crimes. Bribery was said to be involved in some cases. He took a minute to calm down, then reached out and touched her shoulder.
"Go home, Futaba." She jolted. She never said her name to him.
"You know my name?" she asked, feeling uneasy. His laugh didn't do much to calm her nerves.
"His high-pitched voice told the whole club your name." Whatever pity she felt for Akechi died and fell into the abyss. She hated getting attention like that.
"Change of plans. I'll kill him myself." Tailcoat chuckled to himself, tightening his red gloves around his hands. She probably couldn't see well, but he was fairly accustomed to seeing in the dark thanks to his line of work. Kissing the tips of his index and middle finger, he then reached them out and pressed them against her lips.
"You do that." Without another word, he disappeared out of the window. She stood there dumbfounded. Were those his fingers? Why would he do that? What a weirdo. Shaking her head, she followed his advice and walked out of the door. Finding the stairwell like he told her, she proceeded down to the sidewalk. The club was still close by and she wasn't exactly lost either.
She dusted herself off and started down the path to the nearest subway line. She should really get going as some cop cars were coming to the club. It was already super packed and she didn't want to get sucked into the crowd. As she passed by the alleyway, a familiar figure caught her eye closest to the club building. To her surprise, Akechi was splayed out ungracefully on several black garbage bags. He did not look all too happy. In fact, he was looking like he wondered where he went wrong in life. Sojiro had that look before. She skipped up to him and peered down.
"Oh look, I didn't have to go far to find you." He simply nodded to her and acted as if he weren't laying in garbage.
"Glad to see you safe, Futaba-kun." She nodded and put her hands on her hips.
"I was about to kill you for shouting my name like that in the club, but you looking so pathetic is satisfying enough."
He closed his eyes slowly. "I'm glad I've entertained you."
She gave him a snarky grin and knelt down. "Leave the fieldwork to the professionals, Conan. Isn't that what you say to people supporting the Phantom Thieves?"
"..." His silence was a sweet victory to her. She straightened up and tucked her hands behind her back.
"Like in database research class, I'm always right. Get up or be inflicted by trash poison for three days." She'd offer a hand, but it was his fault for taking off like that earlier. He hoisted himself up and sighed.
"They threw me in here out of the first floor window." She shrugged.
"I didn't ask, but thanks for giving me more reason to make fun of you." He shook his head and scratched his scalp to pull him out of the dizziness the scarfed figure threw him through. He glanced towards her.
"Need me to ask the police to escort you home?" he asked, gesturing to the squad cars nearby. She shook her head. She didn't want to get caught up in business that had nothing to do with her.
"Nope. Later, Conan." He waved at her and she took off. He limped over to the officers to let them know what he saw. Unfortunately, not much. The Phantom Thieves strike again with the Silver Drop stolen.
Later that week, Kisa Amaguri was exposed for the drugging and murder of the previous owner of the famed Silver Drop a decade ago. Her under-the-table prostitution ring using high school students brought on another slew of controversy and charges.
Futaba was in the middle of failing another otome game route she had been working on in the last three days. She sighed as her character got dumped and cried over ice cream. Her network notified her that Akira had logged in online, but she ignored it. She had to restart her game again. Maybe she should sport being more sensitive and less nosy in this play through.
Her phone rang noisily on the seat next to her. Looks like Akira was calling her. She picked up while inputting in a new name for her character.
"Playing games. Busy," she answered shortly, debating whether or not she'd go for a tsundere or a yandere for a romance. Maybe yandere was easier. They were already in love with you. All she had to do was not get killed.
Akira chuckled over the line. "Are you? You seem more stressed out about it. What sort of game?"
"Otome. Figured my dating and conversation skills need work," she replied. "I've gotten bad endings in every playthrough I've done."
She hummed a little. Akira was good-looking. Maybe he knew more about dating than she did. "Hey. Are otome games this complicated? And is real life dating just as bad?"
He sputtered a little, not sure how to exactly answer her. "They aren't my thing really. And I've never had a serious girlfriend. Want to play Smash instead?"
She sighed, saving the little progress she made. "Yeah. Let's."
"At my house?" he added, smiling slyly over at his end. She was a little surprised when she realized that she didn't have a problem with it.
"Ah, sure. I'll head over there." It was strange, she thought as she picked up her bag. She felt sort of happy to be going to him. Weird. Her heart would flutter and her face would warm up. Maybe this was the feeling girls got in otome games.
Whatever, she decided as she shook her head. She needed to kick his ass in Smash.
"Hey, Akira's heading there too! And he has a car! You two should totally go together and save yourself the money!"
...
"Don't think I didn't see how you looked at her."
...
"You remind me of someone I met, but I never got to see her face."
"Don't talk about another girl if you're on this sham of a date with me."
"Not at all. You've got all my attention tonight."