Her sister still hasn't arrived yet.
She thought for a bit about what to do to pass the time before pulling out her phone.
She texted Eiko, showing her the picture of her new giant Buchi.
Eiko: OMG, that's adorbs! Did your bf get it 4 u?
Makoto: Yes.
Eiko: U R blushing, aren't u, Miss Prez.
Makoto: Stop teasing me!
She was beginning to regret her decision.
Eiko: Say, Prez?
Makoto: Yes, Eiko?
Eiko: I actually wanted to ask you something.
Makoto raised an eyebrow. It was probably serious if Eiko was actually using proper grammar.
Makoto: What's wrong?
Eiko: Oh, it's nothing, really. I was just wondering if I could borrow some money.
Makoto: Borrow money? Why?
Eiko: I was on a date with Tsukasa-kun, and he told me that his host club has been struggling recently.
Makoto frowned. She had a bad feeling about this.
Makoto: Have you asked your parents?
Eiko: I haven't. If I did, I'd have to tell them about Tsukasa. They wouldn't understand.
Makoto: Eiko, isn't he able to pay a little himself?
Eiko: I just want to be able to help him in any way I can. That's what partners do, right?
Makoto: That's true, but still.
Eiko: But what?
Makoto: Listen, we need to talk, ok? Are you free tomorrow?
Eiko: No, but I'll be free on the 5th. That ok?
Makoto: That would be fine.
Eiko: Ok! See you then.
Makoto sighed. She wanted to give the benefit of the doubt considering how happy Eiko seemed.
But there was definitely something happening between the two of them.
She had a sinking feeling that Tsukasa was taking advantage of Eiko, and she couldn't stay silent about it any longer.
Before she could think about it anymore, Sae walked into the home.
"Makoto? Are you home?" Sae asked.
"I-I'm in my room, sis!" Makoto stammered.
She got up, slowly walking to their living room, seeing Sae tapping away at her laptop.
"Hey sis! How was work?" Makoto asked.
"Busy." Sae answered. "I have to list up all of this evidence in storage. I don't know why they're having me do this and not some part timer. I don't have time for this, but it's not like I can tell them that… I didn't want my irritation showing on my face, so I brought it home."
"I… see." Makoto answered. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"I need to devote as much time as I can to the Phantom Thieves and the incidents that keep occurring." Sae muttered. "Everyone seems to be aware of them now, so no one wants to talk. Even that cafe owner…
Makoto frowned, not daring to say anything.
"Did you keep studying over your break?" Sae inquired. "It may have been summer, but that's no excuse to slack off."
"Oh course, sis." Makoto nodded. "I… was actually about to study right now! Maybe you should take a small break. A bath, maybe?"
"Yeah." Sae sighed. "I think I'll do that."
As Sae slowly entered the bathroom, Makoto was starting to feel as if her heart would burst out of her chest with how hard it was thumping.
As she heard the faucet turn on, she quickly inserted the flash drive into Sae's computer.
"Come on, come on, come on…!" Makoto quietly chanted.
The progress bar felt agonizingly slow, as if it was intentionally mocking her.
"Makoto?"
She nearly jumped out of her seat.
"Y-Yes, sis?" Makoto stammered.
"I'll need a new toothbrush soon. Could you get one?" Sae asked.
"I-I already got on, it's on the shelf" Makoto replied.
"Thanks."
"Hurry…" Makoto whispered, fear creeping its way into her voice.
Her heart began to sink as she heard the shower turn off.
"She's already done?!" Morgana gasped.
"That was fast!" Makoto commented.
"I'm not really in the mood to soak in the tub." Sae admitted.
"Think of something, fast!" Morgana hissed. "It's so close!"
"U-Um, sis?" Makoto asked. "Could you check if Morgana's litter box needs to be changed?"
"Sure."
"Of all the things you could have thought of…" Morgana grumbled.
"Done!" Makoto whispered.
Finally, the process finished, all of the data having been extracted.
She quickly took out the flash drive and closed the laptop, trying to act natural as Sae exited the shower.
"Makoto, is everything alright? You're shaking a bit." Sae asked.
It wasn't working.
"Oh, um… you know…" Makoto muttered. "There is a big test that's coming up, so I was getting pretty nervous about it. I'm just trying to, um… calm my nerves a bit before I try and study, y-you know?"
Thankfully, Sae seemed to buy her excuse.
"Alright, make sure you get some studying in, then." Sae answered, going back to her room.
Makoto sighed, going to her own room and plopping down onto her bed.
"I knew that it would be stressful, but I didn't think it'd be that stressful…" Makoto mumbled.
"The important thing is that you managed to do it." Morgana pointed out. "We'll have to get this back to Futaba as soon as possible."
Makoto nodded, closing her eyes and quickly falling asleep.
9/2 Thursday
After school finished for the day, she made sure to make a quick stop at Leblanc to speak with Futaba.
"Futaba?" Makoto called. "I finished that errand you wanted me to do."
"Great! Come up here then!" Futaba shouted from the attic.
Makoto climbed upstairs, handing Futaba the flash drive.
"This'll take me a bit to finish." Futaba told her. "I gotta look through everything."
"That's fine, but… about that favor I asked you about." Makoto said. "How's it going?"
"Right, that." Futaba mumbled. "Turns out, you've got someone who has a major grudge against the admin of the site."
"How did you find that out?" Makoto asked.
"Ummmmmmm…" Futaba muttered.
"Nothing illegal, I hope." Makoto muttered, narrowing her eyes.
"Whaaaaat, no, of course noooottttt…." Futaba trailed off. "I mean… nothing more illegal than Phantom Thievery, at least."
"That… that's not…" Makoto trailed off, before sighing. "Alright, fine. Just ask me next time."
"You got it!" Futaba grinned.
"So… what exactly did you find, anyway?" Makoto asked.
"There's an Ip address, a regular address, a full name, a phone number… yeah, this is textbook doxing right here." Futaba said. "And the Phansite going down is probably a DDoS attack."
"Um…"
Futaba sighed. "Denial of service. Overloading a server with traffic so that the site won't function properly. It's… a little more complicated than that, but that's the basic explanation."
"So, we're dealing with an expert hacker here?" Makoto asked.
"Nah, this is pretty amateur stuff." Futaba scoffed. "But the question is why are they going after the admin?"
"Could they have a grudge or dislike of the Phantom Thieves?" Makoto theorized. "Maybe they think she's a member?"
"Could they have a grudge against her specifically?" Futaba asked.
"I'm not sure why anyone would have a grudge against Tachibana-san." Makoto frowned. "Although I suppose I'd have to ask her myself. Thank you, Futaba."
With Futaba's information in mind, she texted Takayo, asking her to meet her at a small park in town.
She arrived first, sitting at a nearby bench, waiting for Takayo.
Thankfully, she didn't have to wait for long.
"Niijimaaaaaaa!" Takayo called, running over to her. "It's an emergency!"
"H-Hey, calm down." Makoto urged. "What happened?"
"Someone hacked into my account!" Takayo hissed.
"What?!" Makoto gasped. "What did they do?!"
She was beginning to worry that the same person who had sent those messages had gotten ahold of her administrative rights.
"Well… not much, actually." Takayo admitted. "They were on my account for a few hours… but most of the time they were just posting memes in the Phansite chat."
Makoto sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Well, that narrows it down to about one person…" Makoto thought.
At least now she knew that it wasn't anyone with bad intentions.
"Yeah, um… don't worry about that." Makoto replied. "I've taken care of that."
"Ooooh, I see. So they've already gone through…"
Takayo glanced around for a moment before whispering to her.
"A change of heart?"
"Yes… I suppose they have." Makoto nodded.
"So, I guess we're good, huh?" Takayo grinned. "I'll just be going-"
"No." Makoto replied. "There's something else that I need to talk to you about."
"Oh, right, ok." Takayo said. "What did you want to talk about?"
Makoto decided to get straight to the point.
"Someone's been harassing you on the Phansite." Makoto stated matter-of-factly.
"W-What?!" Takayo gasped. "C-Come on, what are you talking about, Niijima-chan?! Where did that come from?"
"I've seen the messages myself." Makoto said. "They have tons of information on you, like your address."
"Haha… can't hide anything from you, huh?" Tayako asked, giving a tired laugh.
"Tachibana-san, what's going on?" she asked.
Takayo sighed. "I guess I should start from the beginning."
"Please do." Makoto requested.
"My grandpa was a small-time journalist who worked for a small tabloid." Takayo told her. "But he managed to take down someone big by exposing their corruption."
"How big?" Makoto asked.
"I'm talking 'would have been a contender for prime minister' big!" Takayo exclaimed. "Might have even won, too…"
"S-Seriously?!" she stammered. "Your grandfather took down someone like that?!"
"Well, the thing is, their corruption and conflicts of interest were all out in the open." Takayo told her. "The problem is everyone was looking the other way."
"I don't understand why they would do that." Makoto frowned.
"Well, he was still a really prominent politician." Takayo pointed out. "And lots of people have a, um… 'don't rock the boat' mentality when it comes to this kinda thing. And media companies probably don't want to bother the politicians that decide whether they get interviews or not."
"I see… so this politician really didn't cover his tracks?" Makoto asked.
"Hardly." Takayo scoffed. "They must have thought no one would look into someone as influential as him. But my grandpa did, and it ended up spiraling into such a scandal that he was forced to resign."
"That's incredible…" Makoto trailed off.
"Well, my grandpa told me that the reason why he was the one who found it isn't because he was smarter or sneakier or more talented than other journalists." Takayo recalled. "It was because he had a strong desire to discover the truth."
"I think… that would be the most important part of being a journalist, right?" Makoto asked.
"… You'd think so…" Takayo muttered.
"Hm?"
"When the story broke out, all of the major news networks were enraged." Takayo said.
"They must have felt humiliated." Makoto theorized. "A small tabloid managed to get out a major story that they had all missed, even if intentionally."
"My grandfather… became something of a pariah among these news stations. They'd always say his name in disgust." Takayo mentioned.
"What about regular people…?" Makoto asked.
"Much more divided." Takayo sighed. "A couple people supported him, some more people were against him… and most people didn't care at all."
"Really?" Makoto asked. "I would think something like that would be very important!"
"It should be, but… people here don't really… like to talk about politics, you know?" Takayo said. "Everyone just kinda assumes that the government's doing the right thing."
"... But clearly, that's not always the case." Makoto frowned.
"Yeah. But if no one is willing to hold them responsible…" Takayo frowned, trailing off.
"Err, Tachibana-san?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry… this is interesting, but… what does it have to do with the person who's been sending you messages?" Makoto asked.
"Oh, right." Takayo sighed. "Well, because of this whole scandal, some major news networks tried to… well, save face."
"And how did they do that?" Makoto asked.
"They… encouraged some of their employees who were staunch defenders of the politician to resign." Takayo explained. "And one of them holds a big grudge against my grandfather."
"And is that the same person that's been harassing you?" Makoto asked.
"Probably." Takayo muttered. "Going after me is probably their way of getting back at my grandfather. They threatened to post personal info about us unless we do what they want…"
"We might have to get involved, in that case." Makoto replied. "I don't want to put you in danger."
"... Is there really no other way?" Takayo asked.
"Tachibana-san, if they're stalking you and threatening to post personal information, then we have to take personal measures." Makoto pointed out.
"I-I know that!" Takayo cried. "I was just… wondering if we're going to have to rely on the Phantom Thieves for everything… are people so apathetic to the truth that we have to keep relying on people working outside the law to fix things?! Are things that broken?!"
"Tachibana-san…" Makoto trailed off.
Takayo took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for everything you guys have done… I just wish that there was more that regular people like me could do…" Takayo continued.
"I think I understand." Makoto said. "It would be nice if our actions weren't necessary. I hope that one day, they won't be…"
"Yeah… I hope so too…" Takayo whispered. "Cause even if you have all the facts and truths in the world… it doesn't matter if no one wants to hear it…"
She could see the conflict in Takayo's expression. She could only hope that she'd be able to help her.
She felt a little closer to Takayo.
MOON CONFIDANT: RANK 6
After saying goodbye to Takayo, she went home for the day.
9/3 Friday
After school had finished for the day, she walked through the halls, about to head home until…
"Niijima-sempai!" a voice called.
She turned to see Kasumi walking up to her.
"Niijima-sempai, do you know if Amamiya-sempai is still here?" Kasumi asked.
"I haven't seen him." Makoto answered. "He must have left already."
"Oh… I was hoping to go shopping with him…" Kasumi frowned. "I wanted his opinion on something."
"Maybe you could text him?" Makoto asked.
"I would, but my phone just keeps acting up. It's even worse than usual." Kasumi frowned.
"Well, maybe I could come shopping with you?" Makoto asked.
"Oh… well I was hoping…" Kasumi trailed off, sighing. "Never mind. That would be fine."
Truth be told, she didn't really care that much about shopping herself, but she also didn't mind Yoshizawa's presence.
And a part of her was somewhat curious about her. She knew that she was Ren's friend, but little else. Aside from Ren however, she didn't really see her interact with anyone else, aside from the counselor.
Kasumi brought her to a small store selling eyewear, to her surprise.
"Yoshizawa-san, do you have bad eyesight?" Makoto asked.
"A little bit, but I usually wear my glasses, so I can see just fine." Kasumi smiled.
"Really, I've never seen you wear glasses before." Makoto commented.
Kasumi tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean, sempai?"
"You said you wear glasses, but I haven't seen you wear them before." Makoto pointed out.
"I-I did?!" Kasumi gasped. "N-No, I meant contacts. I've… never worn glasses. I must have gotten myself mixed up with…"
Kasumi trailed off, seemingly in some sort of daze.
"Yoshizawa-san?" Makoto called.
"...My… father?" Kasumi muttered. "Yes, it must be my father. He wears glasses. I came here to get a pair for him."
"Oh, alright…" Makoto replied, frowning. "Are you feeling ok, Yoshizawa-san?"
"O-Of course!" Kasumi insisted. "I'm fine."
She watched as Kasumi glanced over the selection of glasses. She watched as her eyes lingered on a pair with black frames for a moment.
"Yoshizawa-san? Did you want to get those for your father?" Makoto asked.
"Huh? Oh, no, I… think I'll choose this one." Kasumi muttered, picking out some red framed glasses. "I… just hope that he'll like them…"
"I'm sure that he'd love to get a gift from you." Makoto encouraged.
"I hope so." Kasumi mumbled. "I'd hate to pick something disappointing, so I've been a little hesitant…"
"Try not to overthink it." Makoto advised. "Just got with your instincts."
"Ok… I'll try." Kasumi nodded.
After a minute or two, Kasumi decided on the red framed glasses, paying for them as the two exited the store.
"Thank you for coming with me, sempai." Kasumi expressed. "It would have been a little intimidating picking out a pair myself."
"I'm glad I could help." Makoto smiled.
She had a good time spending time with Kasumi… but she couldn't help but notice how… odd her behavior was at times.
She felt like she understood Kasumi a little better.
PRIESTESS CONFIDANT: RANK 4
After speaking to Kasumi for a little longer, she went home for the day.
9/4 Saturday
After classes ended for the day, she felt her phone buzzing.
Checking her phone, she saw that Sojiro had texted her, asking if she wanted to work a short shift at Leblanc.
She replied that she would, and started making her way to Leblanc.
Futaba happily ate her curry while watching Sojiro clean dishes in the back.
She turned her head, hearing the door to the café open, a man walking in.
"Hello there." the man greeted.
"Ah, um… h-hello." Futaba mumbled.
She hated how she was still nervous around strangers talking to her.
"Futaba, why don't you finish your curry upstairs?" Sojiro suggested.
"R-Right…" Futaba mumbled.
As she moved to go up the stairs, however, she saw something that caught her attention.
"That book…!" Futaba gasped.
"Oh, this?" the man asked. "It's on a subject called 'cognitive psience'. Are you interested?"
Sojiro immediately turned to the man. "Wha..?! You're… where did you-"
"Sojiro, it's ok!" Futaba insisted. "Don't go driving out one of the few customers you get for me!"
"Wha… Futaba…" Sojiro muttered.
"S-S-So, um, is that book what you teach, uh, M-Mister…"
"Takuto Maruki." the man greeted. "Although, I'm a councilor, not a teacher."
"What's it for, then?" Futaba asked.
"It's just a personal interest of mine." Maruki answered. "I've studied it for quite a while. Information on it is quite limited, but from what I've studied, it seems quite promising. I hope that one day I'll be able to incorporate this into counselling work. I have a feeling that it'll help a lot of people."
"Mwehehe! That's exactly what Mom thought too!" Futaba grinned.
"Mom?" Maruki questioned.
"Her mother studied it too." Sojiro added. She was always studying it, from what I remember."
"Really?" Maruki wondered, before turning to Futaba. "Your mother sounds like a wonderful woman."
"Hell yeah she was!" Futaba exclaimed. "She was the best!"
"Past tense…" Maruki muttered to himself.
"Hmm?"
"Oh, nothing!" Maruki smiled. "I'm sure that she'd be very proud of you!"
They spoke for a while longer before Futaba headed upstairs.
"Sorry about her. She's been pretty excitable lately." Sojiro chuckled. "More coffee?"
"Oh, of course." Maruki nodded.
As Sojiro moved to fill his cup again, the door to the cafe once again opened.
"Boss?" Makoto called. "Oh!"
"Oh, hello, Niijima-san." Maruki greeted. "What a coincidence."
"I actually work here sometimes." Makoto told him. "Whenever Boss needs me."
"Ah, I see. So how's everything been with you?" Maruki asked.
"It's been… fine." Makoto answered. "How's your research been?"
"It's been progressing rather well lately. I think I'm going to compile all of it into a paper soon." Maruki replied. "Although I feel like I've hit another wall. Perhaps you could help in some way?"
She glanced over at Sojiro, who nodded at her.
"Of course." she smiled.
"Thank you very much!" Maruki expressed. "The problem I was facing is something I realized recently. Even if I make great strides and discover a miraculous way to erase psychological wounds, my reach will be limited. I'll only be able to help so many people."
"That would still be very impressive." Makoto pointed out. "And I'm sure that others would adopt your methods."
"I don't know…" Maruki sighed. "The last time I tried submitting my research, it was rejected. I can only hope that I can make some kind of breakthrough while working at Shujin…"
Makoto frowned. Did he take on the counselling job at Shujin for just this purpose? Using students and their trauma for his research? It seemed… unethical for a student counselor, but still, he did seem to have good intentions…
"Niijima-san? Is something wrong?" Maruki asked.
"Do you… enjoy your work as a counselor?" Makoto asked.
"I always enjoy helping people." Maruki mentioned. "But I'm also constantly reminded of just how little I can actually do on my own. Only a few people out of billions. It feels… insignificant."
"I suppose I understand that…" Makoto trailed off.
"There are infinitely different ways that a person can be in pain." Maruki stated. "But what helps one person might not help another. If we could just peer into a person's heart, we could get to the root of the problem, and give everyone the specialized treatment they need."
"Then perhaps cognitive psience could be the key." Makoto replied.
"It just might be!" Maruki exclaimed. "If everyone's cognition is connected in some way… both unconscious and subconscious… yes, yes, that must be the answer!"
"Have you made a breakthrough?" Makoto asked.
"I believe I have!" Maruki said. "I just might be able to tie my research to the cognitive plane!"
Good to hear!" Makoto smiled.
"Thank you so much for your help, Niijima-san!" Maruki expressed.
She felt like she understood Maruki a little better.
COUNCILLOR CONFIDANT: RANK 6
After she finished speaking with him, she worked a small shift at Leblanc before heading home for the day.
As she drifted off to sleep, she began thinking about Maruki.
It was clear that he had good intentions…
But she couldn't help but feel conflicted on his methods…
Makoto's Confidant Progress:
THE FOOL - Ren Amamiya: Rank 9
THE HUNGER - Igor: Rank 7
THE CHARIOT - Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 7
THE MAGICIAN - Morgana: Rank 6
THE FAITH - Eiko Takao: Rank 6
THE TOWER - Chiaki Yasui: Rank 6
THE SUN - Shiho Suzui: Rank 7
THE MOON - Takayo Tachibana: Rank 6
THE HIEROPHANT - Sojiro Sakura: Rank 5
THE TEMPERANCE - Naoya Makigami: Rank 5
THE STAR - Hifumi Togo: Rank 5
THE DEVIL - Mitsuhide Matsuoka: Rank 4
THE HANGED MAN - Munehisa Iwai: Rank 4
THE DEATH - Yohei Kiritani: Rank 4
THE EMPEROR - Yusuke Kitagawa: Rank 5
THE EMPRESS - Haru Okumura: Rank 4
THE LOVERS - Ann Takamaki: Rank 5
THE HERMIT - Futaba Sakura: Rank 2
THE STRENGTH - Caroline and Justine: Rank 6
THE JUSTICE - Goro Akechi: Rank 4
THE PRIESTESS - Kasumi Yoshizawa: Rank 4
THE FORTUNE - Phantom Thieves of Heart: Rank 5
THE JUDGMENT - Sae Niijima: Rank 5
THE COUNCILOR - Takuto Maruki: Rank 6
Are the Phantom Thieves just? Yes 71.4%
