Don't worry guys, this is not a drill or an April fools joke. Sorry for the long wait, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
These characters don't belong to me, but to Atlus.
Chapter 18
When Dr. Takemi had called her Becky, Sadayo had felt trapped by the medical professional, making it hard to refuse her offer. She followed the doctor into the heavy rain, umbrella in hand. She thought that they'd stop at the nearby bar by the corner of the clinic, but Dr. Takemi continued walking towards Leblanc.
Sadayo began to fear that the doctor's intention was to reveal things to Sakura-san or perhaps she was checking to see if Akira was there and drag him along. But as they neared the coffee shop, Dr. Takemi simply paused and tilted her head towards the cafe, before continuing her walk past it. Surprised, but relieved, Sadayo followed. Nervous and curious, she peeked inside, wondering if Akira was in, but instead it was only Sakura-san handing what seem to be some files to a woman. His obvious scowl of agitation and defensiveness made Sadayo worry, especially since it was directed to the woman.
The woman coolly examined the folders, unperturbed. Sadayo felt some respect for the woman's unflappable attitude against Sakura-san's glare. Though... Sadayo couldn't help but feel like she'd seen her before…
'Not the time to think of that.' She hurried before the doctor rounded the corner. Then, a few more steps, before they arrived to a cozy-looking restaurant. Tucked farther from the train station, Sadayo had no reason to venture deeper nor explore Yongen-Jaya before, especially in her maid outfit, so this was an unexpected discovery. It had its own bar counter with an assortment of drinks, but along it were plenty of tables and even private booths.
"Ah, Dr. Takemi! Come to take some shelter from the rain?" The man behind the counter grinned happily as the doctor entered.
"Something like that," Dr. Takemi smiled and turned towards the hesitating Sadayo.
Getting the hint, Sadayo entered the establishment herself and closed the door behind her.
Dr. Takemi turned back towards the patient chef with a pleased tone. "I hate to ask this of you again, but is it okay if we have somewhere to talk by ourselves?"
"First that Kurusu kid, and now this lady. Wouldn't your clinic work just fine for privacy?" The man raised his brow in curiosity, but still retaining his cheerfulness.
Sadayo twitched slightly. Part of her worried about what the doctor had wanted to talk to Akira about in private, but...
She was also jealous that they could such a thing without having to hide.
Dr. Takemi shook her head at the man's inquiry. "It's just a friendly chat between friends, and I would rather not drink while at the job."
The man began to laugh. "You have a point there." He then turned to Sadayo thoughtfully. "Have we met before? I feel like I've seen you before."
Sadayo began to fidget, inwardly praying that he wouldn't connect her to Becky if he had seen her in her maid outfit. "Oh, uh—"
"She's a recent patient of mine," Dr. Takemi interjected, amused. "She's been coming to my clinic for the last few weeks so it is possible that you saw her on your way from the groceries."
"I see. I do go there daily to pick up some ingredients." After the man nodded in agreement he turned to Sadayo and bowed. "Welcome to my humble restaurant. Why don't you take a seat with the good doctor? Either one of you can come over once you've decided what you want." He pointed to the far off table by the corner that was a bit enclosed from the other booths.
"Thanks again for doing this for me. I can imagine how troublesome this may be for you," Dr. Takemi commented, though her smirk never dropped.
The man gave a hearty laugh. "It's not a problem; as you can see, I don't have any customers at the moment. Besides, I still owe you for taking care of me. I truly thank you."
"I really didn't do much but do my job," Dr. Takemi refuted the praise, but Sadayo noticed that her smile softened. Then the doctor's expression firmed again once she turned back to Sadayo. "Well then, shall we take a seat?"
On full alert, Sadayo nodded and followed Dr. Takemi to the table, placing her bag on her lap when she took a seat. Grasping the straps with white knuckles, Sadayo tried for a nonchalant tone, "He seems to be quite friendly with you."
"I helped him with some debilitating problems. Can't go into details about it though." Dr. Takemi shrewdly gazed over the table, causing Sadayo to swallow the lump in her throat. "Besides, he's not the one I'm interested in talking about."
"Ye-yeah..." Sadayo confirmed, eyes averted from the scary doctor. "Is it alright if I get something to drink? I'm actually feeling a bit thirsty."
"Sure, anything in particular you want?"
"Water is fine?" Sadayo replied with a nervous smile.
"If you say so," the doctor shrugged and got up to talk to the owner.
As soon as Dr. Takemi left the table, Sadayo exasperatedly exhaled, feeling like she could finally breathe after what felt like forever. A part of her was screaming for a beer to help unwind her tightly-knit nerves, but she was too afraid of lowering any kind of inhibition around the Plague. Sadayo knew that Akira trusted the doctor considering that he specifically asked Dr. Takemi to take care of her, and from her experience, Dr. Takemi was nothing but dedicated to her patients' health. But at this moment, Sadayo was so terrified at what "The Plague" might be planning.
Sadayo took her phone out. She wanted to message Akira and ask him what to do, for him to come over. But as she took out the messaging app she was reminded of how he did his best to deal with the Alibaba incident on his own, afraid of how she'd react if she found out.
'What am I thinking? I'm the adult here. If he can handle that all on his own then I should be able to as well. I can't just keep relying on him whenever I get in trouble. I need to stand on my own.'
Sadayo nodded, determined… which lasted for three seconds. She put her elbow on the table and slumped on her palm.
'But still... couples should try to solve their problems together, shouldn't they? This is something that affects both of us; shouldn't I let him know of what is going on? After all, if he's in trouble, I'd want him to tell me about it as well. But then he already has so much on his shoulders.'
She raised her fingers for every item her boyfriend needed to take care of, from Medjed to his possible issue with Sakura-san; it worryingly exceeded the workload of a normal student. 'I know there's probably more he hasn't told me yet. And he even makes time for me!' She sighed. 'It's not fair for me to drop this on him out of the blue when he's dealing with so much already.'
Sadayo gripped her phone. As much as she wished he was there with her, but—
"Is anything the matter?"
In a panic, Sadayo scrambled to put away her phone as Dr. Takemi approached with a glass of water and what seemed to be a cocktail. She looked expectant and amused as she placed their drinks on the table, sitting languidly.
"N-no, nothing wrong, just checking for the time. Hard to tell with the rain, after all" Sadayo did her best to smile as she tried to sneak her phone back to her bag. Her chance slipped through her fingers, so she was left with no choice but to do this alone.
Dr. Takemi took a sip from her drink. Leaning on her forearms, she stared down Sadayo with a curious smirk. "No need to be afraid. I don't bite. Much."
Sadayo just let out a nervous laugh, hoping that it was just a joke.
"Why don't I make this easier on us and make things clear? I'm sure you have a number of questions about me, and I have a few about you. So why don't we make an exchange? I'll answer any question that you might have, and I might even consider teaching you some first-aids."
Her eyes then narrowed into sharp knives that pierced into Sadayo's heart, causing the teacher to freeze. "But in return, I want you to answer all my questions, truthfully. Nothing that we'll discuss here goes out to the public, and I'm certain that you want to keep it that way. Sound fair?"
Sadayo bit her lip for a moment before steeling herself to return the doctor's stare. "Why are you doing this?"
"Let's just say that I have a personal interest in the well-being of my patients."
"So this really is about Kurusu-kun," Sadayo remarked, hoping that singling him out would have a similar effect on Dr. Takemi as it did to her.
Yet the doctor simply chuckled in amusement. "Yes, I suppose there is no need to be vague here." She leaned forward as she rested her chin over her forearms, her confident smile still unchanged. "He's someone very special to me, and I want to make sure that he is doing well."
'Special?' Sadayo felt her eye twitch once more. "Well, with all the things he gets into, I suppose that he could be considered a special patient."
"That's true, but he's more than a patient to me." Dr. Takemi's eyes wandered to the side, lost in thought.
The doctor's surprisingly gentler expression and tone made Sadayo feel a bit of discomfort. She took a sip of her water to distract herself.
"After all, he's my little guinea pig."
Sadayo immediately began choking from her drink. "G-guinea pig?!"
"Is there a problem?"
"Is there a problem?!" Sadayo protested between coughs. "Isn't it a bit unprofessional to call one of your patients like that?!"
"Perhaps..." Takemi sipped her cocktail, unfazed. In fact, she seemed more amused than anything. "But I'm sure that a teacher referring to one of her students as Master is much more unprofessional."
"I-I, uh, I mean..." Sadayo's frustration fizzled as she reeled back. She couldn't deny the counterpoint — especially when her issue was more egregious. Slinking into her seat, her head hung down as she tried to hide behind her transparent glass.
At that moment, she can feel the Plague's laser stare like a spider eyeing down an insect nearing its web, waiting for the chance to strike. "Speaking of which, I think it's my turn to ask a few questions. That maid that I ran into at the laundromat a while ago — that was you, right?"
Sadayo hunched lower, feeling very small. Unable to look at the confident woman opposite her, she barely managed a weak, "Yes."
Dr. Takemi's smile was audible. "And that 'Master' you had referred to back then — it's Kurusu, yes?"
Sadayo nodded once more. "Bu-but it's not what you think." She finally forced herself to face the doctor at the other end of the table. "I mean, I know it looks a bit suspicious — well, actually it looks very suspicious," she sheepishly amended, "but… um..."
What can she say to avert the inevitable? Resigned, Sadayo sighed, "It's a long story, but trust me when I say that there was a reason for it and it wasn't Kurusu-kun's fault."
The doctor chuckled, easily accepting her flustered defense. "I can imagine. After all, he has a habit of—"
"—Meddling too much into other people's problems?" Sadayo couldn't help but finish.
In that moment, both looked at each other and giggled, amused at their shared views toward their young benefactor.
"I'm guessing he was the same with you?" Sadayo felt a weight off her shoulders.
"Very much so," Dr. Takemi smiled as she playfully spun her drink in slow circles. "He's very stubborn when it comes to helping others, but at the time I just didn't understand why he would stick around and help a quack doctor like myself."
"Quack doctor?" Sadayo frowned as she took another sip of water.
"I had been blacklisted by the medical field for a long time. We were in the process of developing a new drug for an incurable illness called 'Crawford-Ende's disease'. More specifically, our patient was a little girl named Miwa-chan. Things were progressing smoothly and we were actually making great strides; we had even reached the final stage of production. But..."
Sadayo nearly flinched as Takemi's expression soured. The other woman didn't seem to notice, lost in thought as her biting words revealed her displeasure.
"In his desire to become rich and famous for presenting the new drug, Oyamada, who was my superior at the time, made a careless mistake and rushed completion so he could use it as soon as possible. This caused poor Miwa-chan to have a reaction and lapse into critical condition. And of course, being the coward that he is, he laid the blame solely on me."
Takemi took a drink, tempering the growing fire Sadayo could see threatening to erupt.
"Because of his negligence and greed the development of the drug had to be delayed. Not only that, but as a doctor myself I can't forgive his reckless treatment of his patient. Miwa-chan had to unnecessarily suffer."
Just as rapid as that fire appeared, it quickly vanished. Takemi listlessly studied her drink, shoulders slumped — all too familiar to Sadayo.
"But at the time I couldn't voice my protest. It all happened so fast. One day I was working on the development team, the next I was ostracized by my peers and made the scapegoat of his failure. This caused me to be resented by Miwa-chan and her family… That last one in particular hit me the most. No matter what I said, how they felt about me never changed."
Takemi swallowed the last of her drink, "At that point all that mattered to me was perfecting the drug, to make right by them. So I isolated myself from the world around me and focused solely on perfecting the drug. I gave up treating patients and spent my days making all sorts of drugs in the hopes of finding a solution. It didn't take long for rumors to start spreading after that."
"You mean how they called you 'The Plague?'" Sadayo inquired, remembering the frightened expression the other doctor had when it was mentioned. "If I remember correctly, they are still calling you that even now. Doesn't that bother you?"
"Does it bother you?" Takemi returned.
Not quite sure what she was insinuating, Sadayo looked away in embarrassment, not willing to dignify the question with any sort of answer.
Takemi didn't mind her silence and continued, "In all honesty, the name itself never bothered me. I actually found it amusing, even now. All I really cared about was perfecting my formula, so I figured having such a reputation will scare away others from bothering me. I thought being alone with no distractions would help me focus and that I would have it done in no time. But I didn't have the funding, the supplies, the manpower, and most importantly, a method of testing. Soon enough, I found myself stuck, unable to move forward and I was becoming desperate… and that was when a certain student arrived at my doorstep."
Dr. Takemi's demeanor changed at that last line. Her softer and gentler smile with the noticeable color on her cheeks caused a painful vice to grip down in Sadayo's chest.
"You're talking about Kurusu-kun?" Sadayo asked without much thought.
She wasn't sure why she even asked. Of course it would be him; who else would they be talking about this whole time? But after seeing the way Dr. Takemi changed, a part of her hoped that it wasn't the case.
"Yes," Dr. Takemi confirmed, much to Sadayo's dismay. "He just came one day to my clinic and feigned being sick because of entrance exams so he can get some painkillers."
"Seriously Kurusu-kun? What were you thinking?" Sadayo shook her head in disbelief.
Dr. Takemi shrugged. "I think we both know why he did that. Isn't that the reason why you're asking me to teach you first-aid?"
"You have a point there," Sadayo sighed, remembering the injuries she had last seen on him.
"He wasn't the first to come to my clinic believing the rumors about me and thinking that they can get a free pass. So I did what I always did — I handed him a vial full of a trial version of the drug. Usually that scares them off, but he just looked at me with a smirk and drank the whole thing," Dr. Takemi huffed in disbelief and amusement, "only to pass out moments later."
"You drugged him?!" Sadayo slammed her hands against the table. "What if something had happened to him?! What if he had a really bad reaction?!"
"I only gave him the vial, but it was his own moronic decision to drink that without thinking!" Dr. Takemi spoke up in defense. Her eyes glared back angrily, but much to Sadayo's surprise, they held more regret than anything.
Dr. Takemi backed down, sighing as she looked at her empty glass. "But what I did afterwards wasn't any better. After treating him, I quickly realized that if he was really desperate for the medicine, then I could get him to be my test subject."
"Test subject?!" Sadayo parroted angrily while doing her best to prevent another outburst.
"Despite what you're thinking right now, I took every safety precaution, though admittedly, I partially did that because I needed him healthy enough so that my data would be more accurate. In return, I sold him my medication, which allowed me to gain some funds for my continued research. In short, I used him."
"And let me guess, he agreed to it," Sadayo pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose, not sure if she should be angrier at Dr. Takemi for putting Akira through what she figured were countless tests or her boyfriend for agreeing to such ridiculousness.
Still, Sadayo couldn't deny that the way she treated Akira at the beginning wasn't any better either. And...
'That's all she meant by 'guinea pig', right?'
"He agreed to all of this when he was still in recovery from that first test, but he didn't protest when I told him about it afterwards," Dr. Takemi continued. "And from then on, he'd show up to my clinic every so often, sometimes to simply buy a large number of medical supplies and sometimes to test out my newest concoction. I didn't pay him much mind nor cared about why he constantly needed so much medication — all I cared is that I could finally progress with my research. But then… things started to change."
Dr. Takemi placed a finger thoughtfully on her chin. "It was probably because the research was making good progress, but the side effects weren't as severe as I thought they would be, though a part of me wondered if his body was becoming resistant. I've always wanted to some stress test to see if—"
The sudden silence made Sadayo raise a brow and aware of the rhythmic taps on the table. She looked down and realized that it was her own finger expressing her agitation. Sadayo crossed her arms to stop her tapping and to prevent herself from lunging across the table.
Reluctance crossed Dr. Takemi's face so quickly that Sadayo wasn't sure that it happened, but the doctor soon continued, "Anyway, soon enough he was waking up sooner than anticipated, but I didn't want him leaving immediately in case any delayed reaction occurred. So he ended staying in the clinic to wait. During those times he started asking me questions. About treatments, patient procedures and eventually, about my tests and results. I was honestly surprised by his genuine interest but sure enough, he started assisting me during his visits and sort of became my temporary assistant. Turns out that at one time, he had considered becoming a doctor himself."
"Wait, really?!" Sadayo's arms slackened, her face wide-eyed with shock.
"Well sort of? He didn't seem all that certain. He just told me it was one of the options he was looking at, so helping him gave him some experience for later."
'He never mentioned any of that to me...' Sadayo's head lowered, sad that Akira had never brought this up with her. It felt disheartening, both as his girlfriend and his teacher, that he'd never talked to her about his plans for the future. But then again, she had never asked either.
"But as time went on, I started to notice his injuries. At first, I didn't pay much mind to them since they shouldn't affect my data gathering, but the more I saw them the more it felt that something was off. Many looked like serious wounds, but they'd appear only for days when it should take months for a normal recovery. Considering you're asking about first-aid, I'm guessing that you've seen them too."
"Yeah..." Sadayo nodded, still downtrodden.
"It was puzzling, so I offered to properly treat him whenever he got more injures. He laughed, asking me if I was starting to worry about my guinea pig dying too early."
Dr. Takemi's finger toyed with her empty glass. "But… he believed and trusted me when I gave him every reason not to, so he came to me when new injuries showed up. He also pushed me into taking patients again and go back to helping people. Supported me when my old supervisor began to pressure my already limited suppliers. And when it felt like I had no one on my side, he never gave up on me, even in my lowest moment. When all hope felt lost he brought it back to me and gave everything he could to make sure I could finish the drug on time."
Dr. Takemi lifted her head with a smile that, a while ago, would've given Sadayo a chill; now, it was familiar. "I owe a lot to Kurusu. It's because of him that I was able to save Miwa-chan, but he also helped me get re-accepted into the medical field and made me remember why I wanted to be a doctor in the first place. He's someone very important to me, so when he told me about you, I became very curious."
"W-what do you mean?"
"During one of our talks, he specifically asked me about symptoms that could lead to karoshi, particularly those related to lack of eating or sleeping. At first I was worried that he was talking about himself, but when I saw your results at the hospital I realized that he was actually asking about you."
Sadayo couldn't help but blush, embarrassed and happy at the distance Akira had gone for her. She was truly grateful to have met him, and even more grateful that he shared her feelings for him. But even if he hadn't, her determination to protect him wouldn't change.
"So…" Dr. Takemi asked after a long moment, "you're his teacher, but he hires you as his maid?"
"Like I said, it's a long story..." Sadayo scratched her lingering red cheeks. She could now understand where Dr. Takemi was coming from with her persistence towards Akira, but it didn't make things easier.
"I have some time."
Sadayo stared at her empty glass as her throat dried. Part of her was scared of bringing up what she had done in the past, considering how protective Dr. Takemi was of Akira. But after learning her story, doing anything less didn't feel right.
"Before that, can we get a drink? I'm probably going to need it."
"Yay! Kurusu-san look!" Chihaya pointed to her cards with too much uncharacteristic cheer.. "Seems that those connected to ya are forming a bond! Temperance and Death! This is all so exciting!"
"Huh? What's this all about Akira? Don't tell me you're looking for a love reading?!" Ohya playfully gasped. By contrast, she was characteristically tipsy as she rested her elbow on Akira's head, using him as support to keep herself from falling on the table, drink on hand.
"Nothing like that, just a regular reading," Akira breathed out an exasperated sigh, already worn out by the sudden turn of events.
To give the group some time to recover before the big heist, Akira had decided to catch up with some of his confidants. First was Takemi to make doubly sure that his right side was healing well. He was thankful that Takemi was always willing to help out, but the look she gave him when he asked about Sadayo's condition had him a bit worried. Making a mental note to talk to Sadayo about it later, he then headed towards Untouchable to sell some miscellaneous goods. Much to his frustration, Iwai had also found out about his identity.
Counting Tora, that made four people outside of the group that had pieced together about him being a Phantom Thief. Akira himself wasn't sure if he should be: a) glad that the succeeding sequences of Sadayo, Iwai and Tora finding out had caused the group to ease their suspicions on Sadayo; b) disheartened by the fact that they're no longer surprised that this happened, or: c) expectant for this pattern to continue for his other confidants.
After all, by the time he had told the group about Iwai, everyone but Ryuji just looked at him with exasperated disappointment.
When evening started, so did the rain. It was pouring cats and dogs outside and Akira was honestly tempted to just sit it out and help Sojiro out at Leblanc, but he was soon messaged by Chihaya of all people. She had been trying to get in touch with him for days but he had been busy with a lot of other stuff. It had been a long time since the group took care of the Chairman of that manipulative organization that Chihaya had gotten herself wrapped up in, so he figured that what she wanted to tell him was related to that. Since he had nothing better to do, he decided to pay her a visit.
The problems had started because it was pouring outside, so their usual meeting spot was a no-go. Akira grimaced at the only familiar place that came to mind in Shinjuku, but had gone ahead and messaged her to meet him in Crossroads, hoping that Ohya would be too busy with work to not be there.
Of course, with someone out there to get him, such a blessing was not granted as he arrived to see both ladies sharing drinks as they talked about him.
"So you really believe all this junk?" Ohya gestured to the cards at the table with her drink.
"Hey, what are you callin' junk!? If ya're not careful fate'll punish you for yer transgression!" Chihaya pointed angrily at Ohya threateningly… or tried to. Her finger dangled at the nonplussed Akira.
"Easy there Mifune-san, no need to get so riled up. Ohya's just someone who rather have proof of something first," Akira raised his hand to calm the excitable fortune teller and gently move her finger away from his crossed eyes. Then he pushed Ohya off his head, careful not to let her faceplant, addressing her in turn, "And for your information, I do trust Mifune-san with her reading. She actually ended up predicting that I'd be in trouble with Medjed." Akira awkwardly scratched his cheek. "Though I didn't expect it to be at a national scale.
"If you say so," Ohya shrugged before tipping her drink. She turned around and waved her empty glass. "Lala-chan! Get us another round of drinks!"
"I'll pour you another, but I rather you not drag the poor girl and the kid down to your level," Lala-chan scolded Ohya with her signature glare.
"It's fine, I can handle it!" Chihaya boasted confidently.
"I'm sure you can," Akira smiled nervously before turning to Lala-chan and signaling her to just give water, something he'd learned from working at her bar for a while now. "Anyway, may I ask why exactly are you looking into my bonds?"
"'Coz yer darn future continues to worry me Kurusu-san!" Chihaya shook her fist, her native dialect unhindered by alcohol. "I thought that mah future was already determined, but then outta nowhere the chairman just up an' turned himself in! So not only mah fate, but the fate of everyone I had talked to seemed to change for the better. Nevah did I expect to see such a large shift happen…"
"Did someone say something about someone turning themselves in?"
Both Akira and Chihaya turned towards a cheshire-smiling Ohya, who was peeking up from her resting spot on the table. Her drunkenness seemed to evaporate as her journalistic ears perked at the potential scoop.
"Ohya, no," Akira tried.
"Ohya yes," Ohya effortlessly derailed before turning to question Chihaya. "Tell me, did this person confessed everything to the police? Did he seem like a changed man?"
"He was!" Chihaya nodded enthusiastically. "He confessed everything he did, admitted his wrong doings, and even took full responsibility!"
"I knew it! So the Phantom Thieves strike again..." Ohya pondered to herself, serious and sober.
"Phantom Thieves? Hmmm..." Chihaya thoughtfully repeated as she looked at her cards. "The cards did tell me that I would receive the assistance of the Trickster. Could it really have been them? But how did they know?"
"If it's okay I would like you to tell me about this organization you're talking about. I could really use it for my next article."
"I think we should postpone that for when she's a lot more aware," Akira cut in, not letting his nervousness show, not wanting to continue his 'I know you're a Phantom Thief' streak so soon after the last one. "Anyway, what were you saying before she interrupted, Mifune-san?"
Chihaya snapped from the intense staring contest with her cards. "Huh? Right! Despite that drastic shift, yah future remains the same, continuing on the same path no matter what. But I haven't given up yet. I promise that I will find a way to change yah darn fate for the better. As a fortune teller that's decided to help change others' fates, I know I can do it!"
Akira could help but chuckle at Chihaya's drunken enthusiasm. "Very well, I leave my fate in your hands; after all, you haven't let me down yet." He then looked down at the cards once more, intrigued and slightly worried of Chihaya's accuracy. "Still, you seem very intent on focusing on Temperance."
"Out of all the bonds, it seems that the Temperance in particular has a very strong bond with you," Chihaya tapped the card which portrayed a woman with angel wings mixing water between two cups. "That's good, because even if I don't know why, something tells me that these bonds are the key to your change of fate. The gathering of so many arcana, and not only that but how they intertwine..." she trailed off before abruptly pointing to a perplexed Ohya. "Yer his Devil!"
"Devil?!" Ohya blinked.
"Yeah, it's pretty obvious," Akira smirked.
"And I'm his Fortune! And Lala-chan is his..." Chihaya squinted, obvious that she didn't have an answer but got caught up in the moment, "...his employer!"
Akira turned to the side, doing his best to muffle his laugh.
"And the Magician is that cat Kurusu-san... has? Wait, how is he supposed to help...?" Chihaya drifted off, realizing the ridiculousness of such claims, even for her.
Lala-chan let out a sigh while shaking her head. "And this is why I'm cutting her off."
Ohya giggled. "You're no fun as always, Lala-chan. By the way," she asked Akira, "where's your constant kitty?"
"Raincheck," Akira shrugged.
"Raincheck? What — ah! Raincheck!" Chihaya bumped the table with a triumphant fist. "Because of the rain… I get it… heehee…"
Akira looked at the ceiling, sighing.
Chihaya didn't seem bothered by his exasperation and merrily continued, "Um, where was I? Kurusu-san? Ah yeah, just as I was sayin', the Temperance is yah strongest bond, and now this person is branchin' out to connect to yer other arcana. It's all berry fascinatin'!" Then she deflated before turning to Akira with puppy eyes. "But I can't get a good readin' since I don't know this individual. Sooooo..."
"Nope, sorry, I know you mean well but I have my reasons," Akira refused without a second thought.
"Phooey, now why'd yah have to be like that?" Chihaya pouted.
Akira chuckled at Chihaya's complaint while he tilted his head to observe the Temperance card. 'Sadayo and Takemi… I hope she's doing okay. I'm sure Takemi will take care of her but she can be quite scary if you're not used to her.' "So, my other bonds aside, did your reading tell you anything else?"
"Most it'all is that Medjed hoopla. If yah wish to overcome this trial, you must seek the aid of the Hermit."
Akira eyed the card that portrayed an old man holding up a lantern. The weird goofy eyes and stuck-out tongue made it one of the odder illustrations from Chihaya's deck of cards. 'Hermit… If I'm right, I'm going to guess that that's our little shut-in. It really does seem to hinge on us helping Futaba.'
"There is one more thing though," Chihaya interrupted his thoughts, staring seriously at him. "There is a warning of flowers, bringing with them old wounds and regrets."
"Flowers?" Akira echoed in thought. "Well Hanasaki-san did warn me about that thug going around beating up people. Guess I should be careful about that." 'Sadayo, too, should be careful. Especially since she tends to walk alone back to her place.'
The concern grew in his mind as he nodded to himself. 'I should probably take care of that as soon as we go to Mementos again… just to be safe.'
"Thanks, I owe you one." Akira grabbed his bag and stood up. He can trust Lala-chan to take care of Chihaya and Ohya. Speaking of which… "By the way Ohya-san, you wouldn't happen to have any info on the members of Medjed, would you?"
Ohya shook her head. "Sadly no, I don't really deal with a lot of cyber crime so this is out of my alley. Why though? First asking about Kaneshiro and now Medjed?"
"You know me, just doing my part as a Phantom Thief fan," Akira shrugged.
"Fan? That don't sound right," Chihaya commented from her seat. "No, I got that vibe from that Mishima friend of yers. But not fer yah."
"We all just have different ways of showing it. Anyway I need to start heading back home now; the rain isn't going to make the trip any easier so I should get a head start."
"Wait, before you go!"
Akira stopped and turned towards Chihaya.
"There was actually something else I wanted to talk to you about, and umm…" Chihaya fidgeted for a bit, letting out drunken giggles as her face became redder than ever. "This is so embarrassing..."
Akira tilted his head, wondering what new ridiculousness from the previous round of drinks she'd say.
Chihaya swayed, still giggling before finally gathering her courage to ask, "U-um, Kurusu-san… are you… interested in an older woman…?"
The question caught the rest of the bar by surprise as they all turned to him for his answer. But he simply gave a mischievous smirk as he exited.
"Hell yeah I am."
"I see…" were the only words that came from Dr. Takemi as she looked down on her second glass.
Sadayo was no different as she focused on her half-empty glass of beer. It took a lot out of her and a few hard swigs to bring up what she had gone through. She hated to be reminded of all those years she lost, and the fact that she hadn't even told her mother yet divulged it to a stranger didn't help her conscience. But to gain Dr. Takemi's help, she felt that she needed to come clean.
For Akira's sake.
"For years I hated myself for what had happened to Takase-kun. So I made weekly payments because my guilt was too strong. It got to the point that I had become numb to it all. Eventually, I started to only cared about making money and keeping my horrible shame a secret. I stopped caring about my students and only saw them as nuisances. But that was nothing compared to how I treated him..."
Sadayo took another big gulp of her drink. Both to stall and to dampen the feelings of guilt.
"I looked at him with disdain from the moment he entered the school, I wished that he'd never showed up to class. And when he found out about my maid job, I tried blackmailing him. Even when he offered to help by requesting me, I just used him like you did as well..." Sadayo quickly shook her head. "No, at least you were honest with him from the start. Instead, I lied and manipulated him. But… despite all of that, despite constantly trying to push him away he—"
"—Never gave up on you," Dr. Takemi finished, more jovial than before.
"Yeah," Sadayo nodded mid-laugh. "He never hesitated to help me. He was always there when I needed someone, and even accepted me despite how much I hated myself. He helped me get my life back together and gave meaning to it. I mean, the reason that I'm even here talking to you now is because of him. He reopened my world from that dark place that I had been in for so long." Sadayo sighed, feeling better now, albeit shy. "I know he's my student, but to me he's someone much more than that."
"There's something going on between you two, isn't there?" Takemi brought up, finally cutting to the chase. "Are you two lovers…?"
Sadayo looked back at the doctor; while the doctor's ringed eyes were softer in understanding than before, they still scrutinized her. Evaluating. Luckily for Sadayo, she was able to keep herself a bit more composed.
"And what would you do if that was true?" Sadayo did her best to seem calm as she gripped her glass.
"Honestly, I don't really care what you do with your own life. It's none of my business after all." Dr. Takemi shrugged.
Part of Sadayo wanted to take what she had said at face value and relax a bit, but something told her that there was more to it. "But… the problem is that it's not just me, right?"
Dr. Takemi smirked, probably happy to see she had caught on. "You're right, it's not just you, but Kurusu as well. You know he's on thin ice already — I'm sure any sort of controversy or scandal will be enough to get him taken away. And he's a wanted criminal, having a taboo relationship puts him in a very dangerous situation, and it could only end in pain."
"I know that," Sadayo sighed at her drink. "Trust me, I thought long and hard about it, and I still do now. He was the one that confessed to me and it just took me completely by surprise."
"Even if he confessed to you, you had the choice of rejecting him, and yet you chose to be with him?" Dr. Takemi arced a fine brow, but Sadayo can tell that she was also genuinely curious. "Why? Doing so only jeopardizes both your career and his future. Isn't that too risky? Especially after everything he did for you?"
Sadayo stared down the doctor. The words coming out of her before she realized what she was saying. "If he had confessed to you, and you had the chance to be with him, wouldn't you had considered it worth the risk?"
For a second, Dr. Takemi was shocked, but quickly broke into laughter, the first Sadayo has seen her do since they first met. It was short-lived as she sighed and wiped off a small tear. "Who knows…"
After a moment, Dr. Takemi stood up as she grabbed her bag. "I think we should probably call it a night. We both have work tomorrow. I'll take care of the payment."
Sadayo was perplexed by the sudden end to the conversation but she nodded and grabbed her bag. "Um… Dr. Takemi, about me and—"
"Just Takemi," the doctor smirked as she grabbed her umbrella. "I think it's appropriate after tonight. And don't worry, your secret is safe with me. It's not like I haven't done my fair share of questionable actions. Besides, I'm sure that if I tried to bring this up Kurusu would try to take all the blame."
"That he would," Sadayo sighed, knowing full well how her boyfriend could be at times. "And I guess you can call me Kawakami." They both said their goodbyes to the owner and walked out of the bar and opened their umbrellas, travelling back to familiar sights.
"Oh, speak of the devil," Takemi suddenly said, causing Sadayo to turn to the side. They were already by Leblanc and under its awning was the topic of their conversation, shaking his umbrella dry..
Hearing Takemi, Akira stopped, looking at them curiously. "Ms. Kawakami? Dr. Takemi? Didn't expect to see you both together."
Takemi simply chuckled as she turned to Sadayo. "Just come by the clinic if you ever wish to talk." She proceeded to walk by Akira. "I'll see you later, my guinea pig."
Sadayo scowled as Akira turned to her with a nervous smile. 'Nope, I still don't like her calling him that.'
"About that… I can explain..." Akira scratched his head as Sadayo walked towards him.
"It's fine," Sadayo grumpily crossed her arms.
"You don't sound fine. You're not drunk again are you?"
"I only had less than one glass. I'm not a lightweight," Sadayo frowned. "I'm gonna go home now."
A moment of fear hit Akira when he remembered Chihaya's warning. "Wait, let me walk you home."
"Where is this coming from?" Sadayo raised her brow at the sudden request.
"Just some bad rumors that has me worried. I rather you not walk alone at night if possible."
"My hero..." Sadayo replied with a smirk. Her tone was mostly sarcastic, though she did appreciate his concern. "What about you though? Won't you end up walking home on your own on the way back?"
"Leave that to me!"
A black cat jumped from Leblanc roof and landed on Akira's shoulder. Her boyfriend grunted, probably used to this treatment, though Sadayo didn't anticipate Mona to start shaking off the water while they were in range..
"Hey, be careful Mona!" Sadayo retreated slightly.
"Sorry about that. Anyway, I overheard your conversation and don't worry, I'll make sure he makes it home safe afterwards.
"He says he'll make sure I'm fine." Akira commented.
"I guess that works," Sadayo sighed, still concerned, but willing to play along. "But please let me know if anything happens?" .
"Plus someone has to chaperon you two love birds," Mona snickered.
"He also said that he's chaperoning us," Akira rolled his eyes.
"I'm pretty sure I'm old enough to not need a chaperon," Sadayo scowled at the weird noise that Mona made. "Anyway, we should start heading out."
They began walking in the rain. The streets were luckily mostly empty, as few felt like going out in this weather. The sparsity continued to the train stations, from Yongen-Jaya and up to Sadayo's neighborhood. An idea took root in Akira, and after making sure of the empty streets, he enacted his plan. With an impish grin, he kept his umbrella close and instead huddled under Sadayo's.
"Clumsy me, looks like I forgot my umbrella. Mind if I share yours?" Akira playfully said at his girlfriend's perplexity.
"Really smooth there, Joker." Mona sarcastically commented.
"Fine, but pull something and it's a cold shower for you Kurusu," Sadayo pouted, turning away from Akira.
With this close, Akira finally got a good feel of his girlfriend's tense frame. He thought that she'd lighten up with some jokes but Sadayo actually was a bit more on edge than normal. Even her calling him without his honorific felt distant. He had also planned to try and sneakily hold her hand, but that seemed like a bad idea now.
"So…" Akira said instead, keeping his hands in his pockets, "did something happen between you and Takemi?"
"Mostly talked about you." Sadayo's grip was white-knuckled on her umbrella handle.
"Nothing bad I hope?"
"Just how much you love to meddle in other people's affairs, and that you let too many people take advantage of your good nature."
"That's kinda harsh," Akira laughed awkwardly at his, by this point, obviously annoyed girlfriend.
"Also..." Sadayo hesitated, just in time for the stoplight. Taking in a deep breath, she admitted, "She knows."
"Oh," Akira simply commented, idly watching a few cars driving past. A few seconds after, the red light turned on. "Oh…"
"Seriously…?" Mona said in disbelief from Akira's bag.
"I'm sorry," Sadayo said with genuine contrition. "This one might have been more on my end."
"No, Takemi is scary sharp about things. It's no surprise she caught on..." Akira sighed, frustrated once more that someone else found out about them so soon. He nudged his head to the road and they crossed the wet concrete. Once they reached the curb, he turned to Sadayo with worry. Considering her tense attitude... "Did she say anything harsh to you? She can be a bit direct at times and—"
"No, nothing like that," Sadayo shook her head. "She said that she'll keep it a secret so we should hopefully be fine on that front."
"If she said she will, then I'm sure she meant it. Still, I'll be sure to talk to her about it as well. Just to make sure."
"You don't have to do that. I handled it just fine," Sadayo scowled with more frustration than intended.
"...Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like you couldn't," Akira's shoulders slumped as he looked away.
At his depressed tone, Sadayo berated herself. 'What is wrong with you? Why are you snapping at him like that? He was just worried...'
Despite how well things had turned out for her, she couldn't help but feel frustrated. She was upset at her irresponsible answer that she gave Takemi, but more than that, she was bothered by Takemi's response.
Takemi had gone through her own hardships and worked hard to help others but ended up becoming lost. She's protective of Akira and Akira trusts her. In a lot of ways, Sadayo can relate to her and she felt a sort of kinship in their shared experiences and feelings toward Akira.
But...
She was attractive, confident, assertive; in a way, her personality is similar to Akira. Sadayo was already unsure of why he would show interest in someone like her when he spends his time with Niijima-san and Takamaki-chan. She figured that maybe, he was just into older women, but if he was already close to someone like Takemi…
'Why would he choose someone like me…?'
She turned to face Akira, who by this point was simply focused on looking ahead. He seemed to be keeping as much distance as he could from her without standing outside the umbrella. She saw him close his eyes on occasion, concentrating, similar to when they had met at school to talk.
Her eyes lowered to his arm. She hated how she was acting, frustrated at herself and how easily she let herself be riled up at the very thought of someone else having feelings for him.
She raised her hand, but hesitated to grab hold, stopped by her fear of someone seeing her wrap her arms around him. She wondered if Takemi would have this fear, if she would also hesitate. Or maybe, she wouldn't care at all and just hold him close to her without hesitation.
But Sadayo wasn't Takemi and she couldn't afford to do those kinds of things with him. The most she could do was grab the end of his sleeve.
They paused in the middle of the empty street, Sadayo slightly pulling him closer to her.
"Ms. Kawakami?"
Even her name was something he couldn't say in public. She wanted to apologize for how she had been acting, but even that was hard at the moment. So she sheepishly gripped his sleeve tighter, not wanting to let go of what small gesture she could show.
Akira was surprised, but quickly caught on. He smiled, shuffling closer. His hand reached out to tug at the hem of her shirt, returning her gesture.
Silly as it was, it did cheer her up a bit that he played along. That despite her attitude, his smile continued to be gentle and caring.
For the remainder of their trek, they walked together. Not hand in hand, or even able to say how they feel, but still holding on to one another and doing their best to make their feelings known in some way. Not wanting to let go of the person that meant so much to them.
"Okay you two, listen up!" Morgana boastfully proclaimed as he stood by the TV in Akira's room. "Tomorrow is the day that we rush in to take the Treasure. So we have to make sure we are in top physical shape."
"Well, Mona seems quite motivated," Sadayo side-whispered to Akira. Unable to decipher Morgana's speech, she still did her best to understand him.
"He usually does this the night before a big heist. Sort of like a pep talk," Akira whispered back to Sadayo, not really paying attention to Morgana's monologue.
Facing Morgana was Akira who had changed to his tracksuit and Sadayo who was sitting by the workbench in her maid outfit. After a quick detour into Mementos the day before where they took out a few targets — in particular the thug who was going around attacking others — the Phantom Thieves were ready to do a final push.
Sadayo was admittedly nervous at first to enter Leblanc again after finding out about the bugs Futaba had planted. But Akira explained that he had talked to Futaba and learned that the second floor was mostly fine; it was moot to bug an attic and when he moved in, it was too late. While Sadayo was slightly annoyed that it meant she couldn't have a cup of coffee downstairs with Akira without an eavesdropper, it made her a bit at ease that not everything that they had already talked about had been overheard.
Morgana very audibly cleared his thought. Sadayo nervously smiled as she mouthed an apology. Akira simply shrugged.
"As Phantom Thieves we can't slack off with our physical training," Morgana continued when he saw his audience paying attention, "so Akira will be working on his exercise routine."
"He's basically going to have me do some pull-ups, sit-ups, that kind of work," Akira rolled his shoulders, starting light warm-ups.
"I see," Sadayo then turned to Morgana, and pointed at herself. "But then, why am I here?"
Morgana snickered proudly. "I'm glad you asked Ms. Kawakami. After the information that I've gathered—"
"You mean when I told you that Sadayo offered to help and how awesome her massages are," Akira quipped.
"—I've concluded that we can use her skills to help us improve our efficiency," Morgana continued, not letting Akira's comments slow him down. "Usually it's best to avoid any strenuous activity before our big day."
"You don't let me do anything, period."
"But I believe we should be able to afford a bit more leeway thanks to Ms. Kawakami's assistance, though we should probably limit it to stuff at Leblanc."
Sadayo looked back and forth between Akira and Morgana. She was confused and embarrassed at the casual praise of her massaging skills, but all she actually heard was a large amount of meowing from the cat while Akira simply made small quips with no real context.
"So the gist of it is that he wants to take advantage of your massage skills so we can get in some last minute work," Akira quickly summarized Morgana's speech.
"Oh, um… I guess I should do some cleaning until you're done?" Sadayo stood up to grab the broom but was halted as Morgana leaped to the workbench.
"Don't underestimate my genius. You'll be with me while he does his routine." Morgana placed his paws on an unfinished stun gun model. "You definitely have some skill when it comes to assembling things, but you're still amateurish, even more so than him. Luckily for you you have me to guide you. Since you are aware of our identities, I believe that it will also be beneficial to us if you can help in crafting additional thief tools. After all, these are essential items when it comes to sneaking in."
"I'm guessing he wants me to work there?" Sadayo looked at her boyfriend for confirmation.
"Yeah, he says that since you're good with your hands that you can help us make some thief tools."
"I see." Sadayo picked up the half-finished model from Mona's paw to examine it. "Still, I don't get it. How are these things supposed to help you out?" She quickly turned to Akira, noticing as he was about to say something. "Don't you dare take that as my question, mister."
"Very well. We'll leave that topic for another day," Akira shrugged with a playful smirk.
Morgana cleared his throat to catch his crowd's attention once more.
"Is everything okay?" Akira interrupted, concerned at his girlfriend's wince. "You always look worried when he does that."
"I can't help it — every time he does it sounds like he's about to cough a hairball," Sadayo answered with slight disgust.
"Anyway..." Morgana scowled. "For tonight we're starting you off on a lockpick. It's simple, but difficult to get it right since it's so fragile." With his tail, he proceeded to grab a finished one and handed it to Sadayo. "Luckily we should have plenty of materials for trial and error."
Akira paused on his arm-stretching and looked on to his girlfriend as she examined the lockpick. "You know you don't have to listen to Mona and do this, right? You're more than welcome to take it easy."
"Kurusu-kun, I'm fine. I have a clean bill of health, and this is nothing compared to how much I used to work. Just leave it to me!" Sadayo smiled with confidence as she pumped her fist. "You just focus on your part. I'll be sure to do my best on my end."
Akira turned away, unable to look at Sadayo with a straight face after that display.. 'What am I supposed to say to that? I don't want her pushing herself too much, but the way she keeps pumping herself up is too cute. And the maid outfit...'
He took a few breaths to calm his heart and hopefully clear his red face. "If that is what you want then I can't stop you. Just don't push yourself, okay?"
"Same goes to you, Mast— I mean," Sadayo cleared her throat before giving him a grin as she pretended that the slip didn't happen. "Don't push yourself too much, okay?"
Akira chuckled, and with a nod from both ends they went to work. By this point Akira had gotten a good pace of his workout. Compared to when he first started, which would leave him exhausted on the ground from going too fast too soon, he was able to go much longer. Sadayo on the other hand was busy at work on making her first lockpick. Like last time, Mona did his best to advise her, but it was still difficult to figure out what exactly he wanted her to do without writing a full instruction manual. After a few failed attempts they at the very least managed some gestures for Morgana to do for simple suggestions. Things like wrap around, folding, pouring and sealing, etc.
A couple of hours and several failed attempts — some admittedly caused by her occasional sneaky glances at her boyfriend working out — but Sadayo was eventually able to successfully make a lockpick.
"I did it!" she cheered. "Look Ma—"
"Oh, not bad."
Before she even turned to show Akira, he was already hovering over her.
"What the—" Sadayo jumped slightly from her seat, almost dropping the lockpick. "Stop doing that!"
"It must have been difficult since you can't understand Mona," Akira wiped his sweat, beaming. "You're amazing."
"It... it was nothing," Sadayo blushed, doing her best to hide the obvious smile she had at his compliment.
She was having a hard time focusing with Akira so close her. He seemed to have already finished his workout, having taken off the Shujin jacket sometime and was left in his undershirt and a small towel around his neck. He was breathing heavy and she could smell the faint sweat the workout had left behind. It wasn't strong enough to be unpleasant, but enough to remind her of the first time he embraced her at the hospital, bringing back those feelings of longing that she had denied then. Sadayo pursed her lips as she looked away while fiddling with her skirt, doing her best to keep her thoughts and actions in check as Akira took the lockpick from her.
"I must admit," Akira said as he straightened back, studying the lockpick, "having someone make these will help us keep up a steady supply. Though I wish we could make one that didn't break so easily."
"That could be possible, but we're going to need some higher quality materials than the stuff we find at the second-hand shop," Morgana replied, opening a shelf; inside were small glass jars containing metallic substances. "We got a bunch of aluminum, but we still need to get some liquid metal before we should try and make one."
"Guess we'll have to rely on these for now then." Akira flicked the lockpick into the air with a flourish before grabbing it with his hand. "I'm counting on you Becky."
"Huh!" Sadayo snapped from her thoughts. She turned to Akira and did her best to give a confident smile "Oh, um… sure, I'll do my best!"
"You okay over there?" Akira raised a brow at his girlfriend's jitters.
"Yeah I'm fine, perfectly fine! Actually about the whole questions thing?"
"Sure, ask away," Akira chuckled at her fluster, but decided to go easy on her this time.
"So umm…" Sadayo thought about what to ask. She had so many questions lined up. How did they steal hearts? How did they even learn to do that? Could he teach others? She thought long and hard about such things and even had her own theories on how they were possible. But one instance in particular stuck out, or more specifically, several similar instances.
"Remember at school when you replied that being a Phantom Thief is the reason why you were certain no one would hear us? If it's alright, I would like it if you could explain why that is."
He had been confident about that, and he backed his talk with the speed to hide from Ms. Chouno. Then there's that certain expression of concentration he tended to do at times; like most recently, when he had walked her home.
Sadayo wanted to trust him, to be certain that he knows what he's doing, and so far, whatever it is had been super effective. But without knowing the reason how and why he was able to, her mind punished itself with stress and hyper-imagination.
Akira blinked at her question, confused about the choice to ask that instead of the obvious 'How do you steal hearts?' schtick. But he was willing to answer. "Sure. I don't know how well I explain, but I'll try my best." Akira took a seat by the edge of the bed patting the area next to him.
Sadayo complied, slightly hesitant.
"How do I explain this..." Akira pondered for some time, before turning to Sadayo. "It's a sort of gift that I got from a… let's just say benefactor. I don't know how to explain them even now without sounding crazy. If it's okay, I rather leave that subject for another time?"
"Oh, sure," Sadayo nodded, curious about what could sound crazier than a thief that steals people's hearts and makes them confess and act completely different.
"Anyway, it's sort of a six sense? I think the precise name is Third Eye. And it lets me be more aware of my surroundings. It's quite useful when you want to look for things or avoid attention. It even allows me to see things behind walls."
"Behind walls?" Sadayo asked with obvious suspicion.
"Nothing like that I promise," Akira innocently smiled. "And even if I tried, it wouldn't do me much good — the vision focuses more on highlighting things. At most I'd just see a bunch of female outlines on the other end with not much detail. Not something you want to have twenty-four-seven."
"Still, that seems way too crazy," Sadayo replied with uncertainty.
"More crazy than stealing someone's heart?"
"I don't know… I mean, maybe it involves hypnosis of some kind? Some sort of heavy-handed convincing or blackmail—"
"Never. Even if the people we target are truly heinous, blackmail wouldn't fix anything," Akira immediately replied with conviction.
Sadayo was taken by surprise before realizing why. "Sorry, I didn't mean to compare you to—"
"I know you weren't," Akira's smile quickly came back. At that moment, an idea hit him. "I think it will be better if I show you."
"Huh?" Sadayo blinked.
Akira stood up and walked towards his workbench. Ignoring Mona's knowing stare, he grabbed a long piece of cloth and tied it around his eyes. "Okay, pick anything you want and wave it. I'll be able to tell you what it is."
"Are you sure? That seems too broad," Sadayo raised a disbelieving brow.
"Wanna bet?"
"Oh fine…" Sadayo got up, proceeding to look around the room. She wandered a bit before deciding to go with something of her own.
"That's your carrying bag," Akira immediately answered.
Sadayo was surprised of his confidence, but figured it was a lucky guess because of the ruffling she did. She put down the bag and look around again. She moved to his shelf of knick knacks.
"That's the display ramen," Akira airly explained, hands in pockets. "Ryuuji gave that to me after we ate at the ramen joint we hang out in for the first time."
'Okay, maybe he's just hearing my steps and guessing.' Sadayo put the bowl back in its place and took her shoes off, wanting to make less noise as she did her best to be quiet and grab something.
"It's round, so I'm going to guess it's a smoke bomb. Just be careful when you put it back, we don't need a repeat of last time. Speaking of that time, I had actually used my Third Eye to find the window."
'He's not even trying.'
By this point it was becoming a competition, one Sadayo wasn't keen on losing. She tried to do various things: digging through some not-often used containers only to rediscover his weird laundry, which is a question for another time; suggesting he wear his headphones with the volume cranked up, which revealed he had a taste for jazz; and turning him around and around to disorient him, which he indulged with fancy pirouettes. At one time Sadayo even grabbed a pillow, moved to the far end of the room, threw the pillow on the bed, and waved her empty hands.
The pillow made a soft thunk, but Akira was still able to guess her misdirection.
Sadayo grumpily marched to the bed. The fact that he never turned directly towards her nor removed the blindfold to even check if he was right only exacerbated things. In a last attempt, Sadayo fetched her bag left beside his bed, figuring he just has a highly accurate map of everything in his room.
"I can't tell what the book is about, but from the size and shape I'd say… romance novel?" Akira's tone shifted at the last moment out of surprise.
"I'm done, we can stop now!" Sadayo quickly hid the book back to her bag, flustered.
"Told you," Akira took off his blindfold, giving Sadayo a cocky yet playful smirk as he boasted, "it's going to take much more than that to catch me by surprise."
He purposely avoided to mention the fact that he didn't notice her eavesdropping before when he had been talking with Iwai.
"Fine, fine, you have observational superpowers," Sadayo pouted, but unable to be angry at him. "I guess I can't complain. Considering the situation we're in, having that would make things a lot easier. Now lie down, I still haven't given you your massage yet."
Sadayo followed Akira as he laid down on the bed and she began working on him. While his muscles were still tense, this time he seemed more relaxed and pliant under her fingers. Maybe because he was getting used to the massages, or because he wasn't getting stressed by Alibaba's discovery of their relationship, or because his girlfriend was recently flustered — something told her it was more than likely the latter and that only racked up her annoyance.
At that moment, a brilliant idea came to Sadayo. Looking down at Akira with a mischievous grin that he could be proud of, she continued to work on his back, waiting for his muscles to fully relax. Eventually they did, and her hands soon went down to his lower back.
With the open opportunity, Sadayo struck.
Akira twitched.
"What's the matter, Master? Did I hit a sensitive spot?" she asked innocently.
"N-no, not in particular," Akira offhandedly commented, trying to play it cool.
"Really?" Sadayo smirked with a sweet tone. "Then it's no problem if I do… this!" From the single-digit pokes, Sadayo's fingers became spiders, skittering on his sides.
"What the hell!?" Akira protested amidst laughing and snickering, trying to squirm away from the maid's fingers, but Sadayo's strength pinned him down.
"What's wrong? I thought you were too good for me to catch you off-guard," Sadayo continued to tease, unrelenting in her assault.
"You cheated and you know it!" Akira proclaimed, doing his best to resist her tickling. Slowly, he managed to shift himself by the edge of the bed.
"Now you're just being a sore loser, " Sadayo giggled.
"Can't be a sore loser if I haven't lost yet," Akira grinned as he managed to finally slip at the edge off the bed. He gracefully rolled to the floor, out of Sadayo's clutches, causing Sadayo to yelp as she toppled on the bed. He then turned around with a kick off the floor. Sadayo didn't process her boyfriend's smooth escape until he lunged and went for her waist while she was down.
"Eep!" Sadayo yelped as sudden pokes jolted her whole body, causing her to recoil.
"Gotcha," Akira's eyes gleamed as he hovered, trying not to straddle her and give the wrong impression. Face to face with the squealing Sadayo, he continued his counterattack as his nimble fingers made her dance to his tune.
"Nooohohoh, stop that! No fair! hahahaha!"
By this point, Sadayo was squirming all over the bed from his touch. Doing her best to keep composure while she tried to swat his hands away, she was still unable to contain the laughter and giggles that escaped her lips. Things were challenging since Akira moved like water, slippery as an eel, but she was aware enough to take the opportunity when it presented itself. Quickly, she grabbed his hands and pulled them apart and far from her, glaring with a contorted smile.
"Stop. It," Sadayo demanded, though much of the intimidation was lost in trailing giggles and flustered smiles.
"You're the one that started the attack. I just retaliated," Akira replied, his smug expression unfaltering after finding that one little weak point of hers.
"I just figured I'd teach someone a little something about overconfidence," Sadayo retorted with a smirk of her own, still amused about getting the jump on him.
The two struggled as they stared each other down. On the defensive, Sadayo tried to keep him from going at it again while Akira attempted to get a few more pokes in. He couldn't help but be amused at the amount of strength she could pull up at times. Not that he was particularly strong outside the Metaverse, but he still trained.
"Do you really think that it's a good idea to play around before a heist?" Morgana complained suddenly from the couch.
"I-I'm sorry!" Sadayo's face burned as she remembered that Mona was around. Not sure of the disgruntled meow, she let go of Akira's wrist and she leaped to the other end of the bed.
Akira sighed, crawling after his girlfriend, making sure to telegraph that he wasn't attempting to start another round. "Come on Mona, I'll be fine. I'm not that tired and it's still too early to go to sleep." Akira gently grabbed Sadayo's head and slowly placed it on his shoulder.
"Kurusu-kun wha—" Sadayo blurted as her face went from blush to completely red.
"Besides, I don't get to spend time with my girlfriend often. And she did offer to help us. I think it's only fair that I want to give her some attention." Without shame, he nuzzled Sadayo's fluffy hair.
For her part, Sadayo couldn't speak. She buried her head in his shoulder, hiding her embarrassment and joy.
Mona sighed at the obvious display of affection. "Fine, I get the picture. Just don't overdo it, got it?" With that, Mona went out the window and left for the night.
Once he was sure Morgana had left, Akira let out a harried sigh.
Surprised by his sudden exhaustion, Sadayo pulled away. "What's wrong? Is everything okay between you two?"
"It's fine," Akira ran a haggard hand across his face. "It's just… it can be tiring at times. Sorry about doing that. I just wanted to have some space to breathe."
"Oh..." Sadayo's face lowered.
"N-not that I didn't mean it or anything. I do want to spend time with you and I'm grateful for all your help," Akira quickly added, realizing how his explanation must have come across. He shot her a wry but relieved look when she snickered at his fluster. "Haha. Anyway, sometimes Mona can be too much of a hardass."
"What do you mean?" Sadayo asked, smiling but concerned. She gave an inviting pat on her lap. "Come, talk to me about it for a bit."
Akira's smile softened with gratitude as he lay down. Instantly, his guard relaxed in contentment. "Sometimes he acts like my living planner. Always telling me when I have or don't have time to do things. I know he means well, but..." Akira rubbed his forehead, hands slowly lowering to massage between his eyes. "Sometimes, I feel like even now, I don't have control over my own life."
Sadayo placed her hand on Akira's head, slowly stroking his hair with concern. "Why not talk to him about this? Like you said, it's your life."
"It's fine. I don't resent or blame him at all. I know very well that what he says are true. Besides…" Akira let out a tired exhale. "As much as I wish it was, it really isn't just my life. It's also that of my teammates, my friends, my allies, you." He placed his hand against Sadayo's blushing cheek, letting his body sink into a state of calm. Her presence, her warmth, her voice, her touch… it was all very relaxing. "Sorry… I just felt like venting..."
Sadayo giggled, cradling the hand touching her cheek before moving her hand down to his cheek. "It's fine… you've always heard me out when I complained, so it's only fair that I hear you out as well. Besides..." Sadayo took a deep breath, glad to finally have some time alone to bring the topic up. "I'm the one that should be apologizing. For how I acted around you that night after you saw me with Doc— I mean, Takemi."
It was a bit odd to call someone like that since she only recently got to know Takemi. After all, she has yet to call her boyfriend by his first name, let alone without the honorific.
"You hadn't really done anything wrong," Sadayo continued, "and you didn't deserve me being so snappy with you when you were just worried. I was just..."
Sadayo's trailed off when she noticed that Akira had fallen asleep.
For a second she glared at him with annoyance, considering the effort she put to bring the subject up. But with the issue with Morgana and the impending heist, she figured it was probably for the best that he rest.
Sadayo carefully lifted his head from her lap and placed it on the bed. Grabbing the blanket she placed it over him, just like he would in those instances that she'd ended up taking a nap in his attic. Just as she was about to leave she was reminded of Mona's departure.
She understood Akira's frustration, but she hoped that it didn't cause any friction between them. Carefully, she took a paper from her bag.
Hey Mona…
I'm sorry if we made you uncomfortable, and I'm sorry if Akira's attitude only made things more awkward or frustrating. I know you mean well, and we both know how stubborn he can be at times about things. So let's both do our best for him, okay?
Leaving the note on the desk with one of the tools as a paperweight, Sadayo turned to the slumbering Akira once more. Baffled and slightly impressed, she studied his peaceful and cute expression, hiding the lurking mischievous nature underneath.
'By tomorrow you'll be doing whatever it is you do to steal hearts. Will you be okay? Or...'
Sadayo shook her head. 'No, I can't think like that. He's done it before right? So there is no reason he can't do it again.'
"But still..." Sadayo looked down at Akira. Despite her words, she couldn't help but worry and wish for his safety.
"I know things weren't fair to you with the first promise because some people have already found out about us, but I know you'll do everything you can to keep your other promise. Still… just for good luck."
She kissed two of her fingers and gently placed them against his lips.
"Go get them, Master..."
"You want me to do what?" Sadayo spoke up, frozen from her work on her desk in the faculty office.
"We need someone to supervise the girl's volleyball team during their practices," Ms. Chouno repeated her request to her stunned colleague.
"Shouldn't that be designated to the P.E. teacher?" Sadayo inquired with a hint of skepticism, still confused about why she of all people was being asked to do this.
"It would be, but he already has his hands busy trying to work with the boy's volleyball team and the reinstated track team. Besides…" Ms. Chouno exhaled, a hint of shame showing in her tone. "The girls and their parents would rather not have a male teacher in charge."
"I-I guess that's understandable," Sadayo turned away, guilty at the ugly reminder of her past failures. "I can't promise I'll be better, but I'll give it a shot."
"Gracias," Ms. Chouno sighed in relief. "Seriously, I mean it. You've been a big help lately it's almost like I was talking to a completely different person."
"I don't blame you for that," Sadayo smiled awkwardly, hoping that this conversation wouldn't lead to asking about the drastic change. "Thought I will admit this is a bit sudden."
"I know, and I'm sorry for that," Ms. Chouno apologized. "Originally I was in charge of supervising the girls, but sadly I have to help out with coordinating with the hotel for the second year's school trip, so I needed someone to take my place."
"That's right! That's going to be happening right after classes starts," Sadayo's mood quickly brightened at the mention of the trip. "So much stuff had happened already that it slipped my mind."
"You sound surprisingly excited about it. Shocking, considering you never came along for the last few."
"I just had a number of things that made it hard for me to do so. Anyway, I should get ready if I'm to supervise." Sadayo sorted her papers before moving to head out of the teacher's lounge.
"Actually, before you go," Ms. Chouno quickly interjected, stopping Sadayo from fully leaving. "I should probably warn you, but the girls aren't exactly the most welcoming..."
"That's not surprising," Sadayo turned away, disheartened by the news. "But it is our fault after all. The best we can do is confront their disdain and slowly win back their trust." She turned back to Ms. Chouno, doing her best to show a determined smile while pumping her fist. "Wish me luck."
And with those words she left.
"Best of luck," Ms. Chouno replied with a smile. "Whether it was the Phantom Thieves that stole her heart or because of what Mr. Hiruta suggested... honestly, by this point I rather not look a gift horse in the mouth."
Having changed in one of the school tracksuits, Sadayo headed towards the school gym. As she reached the door, she found herself hesitant to enter. She had been slowly trying to win her students' trust and respect, but now she was going to deal with students who were directly harmed by Kamoshida's actions… and her inaction.
'How should I even introduce myself? Should I be commanding and take charge? That might make them more likely to listen to me as an authority figure, but then they might be more apprehensive at someone just coming in out of nowhere and acting like they own the place. I could be more passive, but then they might walk all over me.'
Sadayo placed her head against the door, hearing grunts and skids from the other side. She did her best to act confidently with Ms. Chouno who had trusted her with this task, but she really had no idea what to do, both with volleyball in general, or how to deal with the girls.
"Feels like I'm going into a room full of Takamaki-chan, and I already get so nervous when it comes to her." Sadayo's hands tightened into a fist, a heavy sensation weighing on her chest. "But… that also probably has to do for other reasons."
Shutting her eyes tightly, she straightened her spine like a soldier, doing her best to shake off her hesitation. "Come on, we can't just avoid this. Get it together!" She took a deep breath, steeling herself. "Okay, no matter what, they are probably not going to be happy with me. Might as well just be myself then."
Not wanting to delay things any more than she already had, she opened the door and uneventfully went in. From the looks of it, the girls had already started practice without her, forming groups of two as they passed the ball back and forth. None of them paid her more than a few quick glances to see the new arrival before going back to their routine.
Not surprised by their reaction, Sadayo didn't let it deter her as she walked towards the girls, clapping her hands together as she reached the court. "If I could get your attention please."
She was a bit relieved when the girls stopped what they were doing and all turned to her, though they mostly stayed where they were. That relief was slowly lost though, as she noticed the type of looks they were all giving her. At best some seemed bored, but a few of them glared with distrust, clearly angered by her presence.
Sadayo cleared her throat once more, "As you all well know, Ms. Chouno had been in charge of supervising the team, but unfortunately due to other responsibilities, she will not be able to continue those duties. So I will be taking her place as supervisor until further notice." Sadayo gave a bow towards the girls. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I'm not that experienced with volleyball, but I do know a bit about the technical stuff..."
Sadayo reeled in disgust internally at her last statement. Her volleyball knowledge was there not because she showed interest in the sport, but it came from the many talks she had with their previous coach, Suguru Kamoshida. Back to those days before she met Akira, when she had dreaded doing her job as a teacher, in a way to ignore her self-loathing, she would turn to Kamoshida as someone to be admired, respected. Someone she looked up to as the kind of teacher she wished she could be. If she had only known what kind of man he truly was, if she hadn't let her own problems get in the way... then maybe the students in front of her now wouldn't had to suffer.
Sadayo bowed once more, her knuckles white from gripping the clipboard. "So if you will just give me a chance, I promise you that I'll do my best."
The gym was completely silent.
Not letting the palpable contempt reveal her unease, Sadayo straightened. "I guess I should call to see if everyone is here. Um, Ryoko Aonuma?"
Nobody answered. One of the girls passed the ball to her partner, which prompted the rest to follow and go back to practice.
"Ran Araraki?" Sadayo continued.
The girls still wouldn't answer.
She called every girl on the team, but not one replied, leaving her to count to at least see if there were absences. This is how it was for the remainder of the practice; her trying to reach out, the girls blocking her off If they spoke it was only to each other, only following orders from the girl who Sadayo figured was the team captain.
It was obvious that she was unwanted.
Sadayo still wanted to try to reach out, but by the end of it, she had made zero progress and the girls went to their locker room.
"Ms. Chouno warned me that they were not easy, but..." Sadayo lowered her head in shame as she was left alone at the gym. "How am I supposed to help if they won't even talk to me?" Maybe she should follow them into the locker room? It was the nearest place to change, but that would also mean enduring the girls' contempt in a smaller room. She left the gym and paused by the door to the girls' locker room, before deciding not to enter. But then, voices came from inside.
"It's bad enough that we had to go through what that Kamoshida did to us and stay quiet, but now because of him the school isn't even bothering to support the team."
"The problem teacher got caught, but because of it, we still end up suffering."
"It's just not fair!"
A loud slam came from one of the lockers, causing Sadayo to flinch. She wanted to talk to them, but after their silence, she knew that this was the only way she'd get their thoughts. So she leaned against the wall beside the door, listening.
"I guess it's no surprise that they sent us Ms. Kawakami, just like they threw that Kurusu guy in her class."
"Students of low importance get the low-effort teacher."
"I mean Ms. Chouno wasn't any better, but at least she volunteered herself."
"Although I had been hearing that she was apparently becoming more active lately. She even defended Kurusu."
"She probably did it 'cause it would look bad on her."
"A lot of teachers act like they care, but they are only doing that 'cause everyone is watching them and the school, so they don't want to get caught. In the end that's all it is. An act."
The girls continued to vent throughout the afternoon as Sadayo simply listened. It was sobering to realize how out of depth she was from them.
It wasn't a simple matter of lending them a hand. To them, she was just an adult, a selfish adult that never showed care for them and was just using them. And until she was able to show them differently, that's all she'd be to them.
"I really should have listened to mom's instructions more carefully," Sadayo lamented as she looked down at the number of burned karaage in her lunch.
After overhearing the girls talk, Sadayo needed some time alone. Knowing that students aren't permitted to go to the roof, she fled to its privacy, not even bothering to change from the school tracksuit. As a bonus, she also remembered the flowers that she had seen the last time she was here with Akira, and they were nice to look at while she moped.
"Maybe I should take up on Kurusu-kun's offer to make me lunch." Sadayo put her bento down after a few dissatisfied bites, taking out her phone.
[S]: Hey…
[S]: I hope things are going well on your end.
Message was not able to send.
Sadayo sulked at her phone. "He mentioned that today was the big day. I hope he's okay..."
Blush bloomed on her cheeks as she remembered her "gesture" from last night. He wasn't even aware of her kiss, but she yearned to return his affections anyway she can.
Sadayo sighed, reaching to finger the soft petals of the flower nearest to her. Her heart ached for his gentle touch and comforting voice as her mind counted down the minutes until she was able to see him again.
"We only just started dating and I already miss having him in class. I'm supposed to be responsible, but here I am, gushing over my boyfriend like a schoolgirl." Mortifying giggles came out of Sadayo's lips, despite her protests. "Boyfriend… it's still a bit embarrassing to call him that out loud."
She couldn't help but smile at how much her perspective on him had changed, especially now that she was aware of her feelings. The way he made her heart excitedly skip, her body comfortably relax. How even when things seem dire he was able to be a pillar of support, keeping her from wallowing in her regrets and fears and helping her stand up and march forward and allowing her to get back on track to doing what she loved to do. But what was most surprising is how much he meant to her.
Sadayo had been in a few relationships in the past, but none of them made her feel the same way that Akira did. Not the good-natured, but unfortunate Masu, nor the admittedly fun, but uninvested Kasuya. Whether it was because of her or the other party, Sadayo had never felt anything special when it came to her partners.
But with Akira it was different. She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to be with him, to hold him close…
'Stop,' Sadayo thought, slapping her lobster-red face. 'No need to get more detailed.'
...But in the end, what made her the happiest was that he felt the same. He didn't do any grand gestures, but despite their age difference and all the stuff he has to deal with, Akira was incredibly attentive and supportive.
Hands both cradling her cheeks, Sadayo nearly squeed. 'Who would've thought I'd be this happy from being in a relationship with one of my students.'
Students.
"It's just not fair!"
The reminder echoed one of the girls' yell of anguish from earlier, reasserting reality.
"It really isn't fair…" sighed Sadayo, back to moping. "Here I am, being all giddy and happy because I have Kurusu-kun, but those girls had to suffer because of another teacher." Her head lowered dejectedly, staring at her phone. "Am I really any different than him?"
Suddenly, the metal door on the roof creaked open. Startled, Sadayo quickly pocketed her phone guiltily, studying the newcomer.
The first thing she saw was the hair. Reddish and oh-so fluffy that it tempted Sadayo to pet it or at least see if it can bounce off projectiles. Then the school tracksuit, puzzling Sadayo if there were other sports team loitering in the school, which made her wonder if this student — girl — knew that sports-related events aren't held in the roof.
The girl seemed quite focused on opening the heavy door that she hadn't noticed Sadayo until she lifted her head.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. I wasn't expecting anyone to be here."
"Nono, it's fine Okumura-chan. You weren't interrupting anything," Sadayo quickly interjected.
Even with how little she had tried to get herself involved with her students back then, even she knew of Haru Okumura, daughter of the CEO of Okumura Foods. At the very beginning of the year that she had joined Shujin, the principal had called everyone at staff. Kunikazu Okumura had made a considerable donation to the school, thus the staff were warned not to do anything that might cause his daughter to complain. Since then, the teachers had either kept their distance or did everything they could to please the daughter. Wanting to avoid problems, Sadayo had chosen the former.
Except for now. Sadayo blinked, realizing the situation at the moment. "Wait, I thought students aren't allowed up here?"
"I got special permission to be here since I'm in charge of tending to the garden," the girl replied politely.
"I see."
Okumura-chan tilted her head. "I must admit, it was surprising to find you here Ms. Kawakami."
"Ditto," Sadayo smiled awkwardly. "Sorry if I'm intruding, just needed a change of scenery." Feeling a bit odd that she was apologizing to a student for being in school grounds, she changed the subject and gestured to the flowers and vegetables around the roof, trying to convey her genuine admiration. "I must say though — it's quite impressive. I've never seen many of these flowers in person before."
"Thank you, but it's not much," Okumura-chan smiled, though Sadayo could tell that it was more out of courtesy. Then Okumura-chan went wide-eyed. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She dashed back inside.
Sadayo followed, curious. She didn't expect to go all the way down to the ground floor where she saw Okumura-chan struggling to lift a large sack from a cart. The sack looked heavy, something a dainty-figured Okumura-chan shouldn't carry alone, especially when she tried to turn it around the stairs like some sort of super-sized slinky.
Regardless, Okumura-chan seemed to be used to it as she had a good momentum, slowly but steadily climbing up the steps. But just as she was about to reach the landing, her hand slipped. Okumura-chan yelped as the sack fell with several thumps.
"Ah! Okumura-chan!" Sadayo hurried down to her student, who was luckily more disappointed than hurt. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay; luckily the sack didn't tear this time, so I just have to try again." Okumura-chan started moving towards the sack that had slid back to the ground floor.
Sadayo looked between the sack and her student. "Why don't I help you carry these up?"
"Huh?" Okumura-chan turned back to Sadayo, obviously confused.
Sadayo smiled confidently as she pumped a fist. "I may not look like it, but I'm quite good at manual labor."
Pensiveness then contemplation crossed Okumura-chan's face, especially when she turned to the cart still full of heavy sacks. "It would help to get them up faster," she hedged.
"Just leave it to me," Sadayo encouraged as she grabbed one end of the sack. "I'll take this side and you take the other, okay? Just let me know when you need a break."
Okumura-chan was now positively befuddled, but eventually, she nodded.
It was several trips, each one requiring more stop points than the last, but eventually they managed to transport all sacks. When the last sack was unceremoniously thrown on the roof floor, both of them sat tiredly on the desks, breathing heavily as they caught their breath.
"That... took longer... than I expected," Sadayo huffed. "Why don't you ask others to help out? It can't be easy doing this all on your own."
Some of her reddish hair clung to her forehead; Okumura-chan shook her head as she wiped her sweat, not looking at Sadayo. "I've already asked a lot for access to the roof. I don't want to inconvenience anyone any more than needed."
"I see, but I ended up helping though," Sadayo quickly retorted.
"That's true..."
"Well, I can't promise much. And I know for sure that I won't be able to once school starts again, but if you ever need help feel free to ask me."
Okumura-chan whipped back to Sadayo, shaking her head and waving her hands in panic. "Oh no, you don't have to—"
"Think of it as my thanks for letting me come up here from time to time." Sadayo scratched her cheek, sheepish before turning a tad sour. "Though I guess usually it would be the other way around with this kind of situation. I mean, I am your teacher."
The reminder was a good note to try to appear dignified in front of a student. Sadayo sat from her slump, straightening her clothes in vain. "I will say though, I'm glad that I hadn't changed from my tracksuit; it would had been harder if I was wearing my regular stuff. Not to mention the smell..."
"It's not surprising with how much manure we carried up."
"Ma-manure?!" Sadayo paled as she gaped at the nonchalant Okumura-chan. "You mean we've been carrying poop?!"
"Yep," Okumura-chan cheerfully replied.
"Blegh!" Sadayo recoiled in disgust.
Okumura-chan burst out laughing, belatedly clapping her hands over her mouth when she realized she was making fun of a teacher.
Sadayo was torn between: annoyance at the realization that she had received and handled figurative and literal crap all afternoon from the girls and now Okumura-chan; worry that Okumura-chan's unwashed hands are now on her mouth; and gladness that the invisible ice had finally broken. After the volleyball team's reception, it was nice to have a student happy in her presence, despite the copious amounts of dung.
After a few minutes, Okumura-chan calmed down. "Are you perhaps interested in gardening?"
"Not a lot, sorry, but I do like flowers."
"Then what kind of flowers do you like?" Okumura-chan smiled, now genuine. "If you like, I can try growing some."
Stunned, Sadayo took a while to respond, but her smile immediately grew to an excited grin. There was only one answer.
"Dahlias!"
"What a day..."
Beer in hand, Sadayo groaned as she crashed on her couch. The couch was her witness and companion in all her years of hard work and drunken ramblings, and this time was no different after a day of figurative and literal crap. "It's still early afternoon and I'm already tired."
She took a sip and turned to her charging phone on the side table. Swiping the lockscreen revealed no new messages from Akira.
Previously held at bay by the warm shower, the worry — that she feared was going to be familiar throughout the year and age her to sixty — came back with a vengeance. For the umpteenth time, Sadayo told herself that everything was fine. In direct contrast to her self-reassurance, she took a long swig and immediately sent another message.
[S]: Please let me know when you're safe okay?
Sadayo didn't bother to wait. She put her phone down and reached for her remote, intending to distract herself with "Kingdom Under the Starry Sky".
Then her phone beeped.
Her whole body jerked towards it like a fish on a hook, hoping desperately for an answer.
[A]: Mission Accomplished!
A large, cathartic exhale dispersed from Sadayo, expelling the majority of the lingering stress from the entire day. Instantly, her body sagged bonelessly in relief, draping all over the couch.
[S]: Are you okay?
[S]: Did you get hurt this time?
[S]: Can I come over?
[A]: I'm fine
[A]: Takemi is taking care of things.
Annoyance immediately followed, much to her frustration. Though it didn't last when she read his following messages.
[A]: Sojiro closed the shop early.
[A]: You're welcome to come whenever you want.
Fire lit up in Sadayo as new energy coursed through her with purpose.
[S]: I'll be right over.
Nearly ripping the door off its hinges, Sadayo entered Leblanc. When she crossed the length of the counter, familiar but unwelcome steps came from upstairs, making her wary. She was proven right when Takemi came into view.
"I'm surprised to see you, Becky," Takemi met her halfway with a knowing smirk. Mercifully, she didn't comment on the maid outfit and just nudged her head upwards, towards the attic. "No need to worry; he just got a few scrapes and bruises, but he's dealt with a lot worse."
Self-annoyance was a familiar feeling that Sadayo could live without, especially when it stemmed from petty jealousy. But it was mitigated by the relief that Akira was fine.
Takemi let out a playful chuckle "So, why are you standing here for?"
Sadayo blinked, confused.
"He's waiting for you. Now if you'll excuse me, I was actually about to leave." Takemi walked past the flustered Sadayo.
Suddenly, she stopped, right behind the maid's shoulder. "You know where to find me if you still think it will be necessary."
When the sound of the door and its bell rang, Sadayo snapped herself from her thoughts. She hated to admit it, but Takemi had won this one. But if what the doctor had said is true, then...
Akira was waiting for her.
She hurried up the stairs.
There, supine on his bed, was Akira. The sight of him finally washed off the remnants of the grueling, crappy day. It took everything in her not to tackle his tired body.
"Hey..." Sadayo softly greeted, her relief palpable as she approached. "I ran into Takemi. Are you okay? Can you get up?"
"I'm fine, just need to rest," Akira replied with his trademark confidence.
It helped Sadayo calm down a bit, but it wasn't enough to erase all of her worries, especially since he didn't — or couldn't — even try sitting up. "Here, let me at least try to alleviate some of it." Sadayo sat next to him and got to work.
At first, she tried working on his back, but after he flinched too many times, Sadayo decided to stop. Instead she focused her work on his legs and arms, which were sore but less injured. She had him sit up so that she wouldn't accidentally put any unnecessary pressure.
"So..." Sadayo quietly started, kneading his left arm. "I'm guessing from your message that you were successful with your mission."
"Sort of," Akira replied, still confident despite what he had just said.
"Wait, what do you mean 'sort of'?" Sadayo raised her brow, already expecting a number of things that she wouldn't understand.
"Technically, we didn't steal her heart, but Futaba was able to change her heart on her own," Akira decided to explain; no need to stress Sadayo like last time. "Still, we helped her get to the root of her problems — the twisted desire that had affected her cognition."
"There! There's that word again!" Sadayo pointed accusingly at Akira.
"Huh?"
"Cognition. Sakamoto-kun said the same thing a few days back and now you're saying it too." Sadayo held back her desire to cross her arms as she was still busy massaging Akira's arm. "I looked it up afterwards, and from what I read, it has something to do with how we process things around us. And I'm guessing that what you do is to affect that. If so, does that mean that it's like what Akechi-kun said about being able to do more than just extract confession and..."
Sadayo stopped her rambling as she realized what she had just said. "I'm sorry, I wasn't implying that—"
"It's fine, it's not like you know about it exactly," Akira chuckled as he laid down, resting on the lap of his unprotesting girlfriend. "I'm honestly impressed Akechi is able to compile that much just from what little info he probably has."
"How exactly do you do it?" Sadayo finally asked. "After seeing Kamoshida and the Takases it's obviously not normal, and I just can't see any of you as the type to blackmail anyone. Besides how would that had helped Sakura-chan?"
"You sure you want to ask that now? It's a lot of info."
"We don't have to talk about everything, but we can at least start." Sadayo looked down at Akira, stroking his cheek.
"If that is what you wish," Akira smiled, nuzzling into her hand. "So let's start with what you know. What do you think it is that we do?"
"Well..." Sadayo contemplated, "considering how much Morgana was determined about you needing— wait, where is Mona anyway? Is he okay?" She looked around in worry.
"He's fine," Akira quickly replied. "He decided to hide at Futaba's room for tonight. After the way things ended he wanted to make sure that there weren't going to be any weird side effects."
Sadayo sighed in relief, placing her hand on top of her boyfriend's unruly mane. Stroking it gently, she continued, "Anyway, he was determined that you get some rest. Add the fact that you're often hurt afterwards, I'd say that it requires a lot of physical activity, and that it's very taxing on your body."
'To the point of injury,' she didn't say out loud. She tried not to think of worse instances that Takemi had implied earlier.
"This is helped with how good you are at sneaking, not to mention that perception of yours." Sadayo began counting with one hand while continuing to play with Akira's hair with the other. "You seem to know intricate details of the targets and you're able to make them admit to what they did despite their lack of remorse. They don't even mention you at all. If it wasn't for the calling cards, no one would had known that they were targeted and…"
Sadayo lowered her head, sobered by the implications. "People will just think they had some sort of... mental shut down." She grimaced. "Sorry, but based on those things, what Akechi-kun does say seems to be right and... I admit it's very scary."
"And that is...?" Akira inquired, generally unbothered except for the nod to the Detective Prince.
Sadayo hesitated. "That you're using some sort of ability to... forcefully change someone's personality? That it could possibly be used to make people commit crimes against their will?"
"Well, you're half-right?" Akira sighed.
"Wait, what?!" Sadayo desperately looked to her boyfriend for answers. "So you mean—"
"Let me explain," Akira raised his hand to stop Sadayo from overthinking things and to save his hair from her harsh grip. "Let's say that most of the stuff you said is correct, but not to the scale that you're probably imagining."
"What do you mean by that?"
"What if I told you that there is another world beyond this one? Different yet similar."
"You mean like a... mirror world?" Sadayo scrunched her brows.
"I guess that's a good way to describe it." Akira twirled his own locks around a finger in thought. He sat up from Sadayo's lap and settled beside her her, raising a hand like he wanted to give her a high-five. "Imagine this mirror, in which its reflection would show the beholder how one views thing. Basically it's a world created by one's strong desires."
"...You keep talking about this different world, but that's... really out there, even for me."
"Oh? Then what crazy thought did you have?" Akira asked with a teasing grin.
"Oh, uh..." Sadayo fidgeted with her skirt as she broke eye-contact, blushing embarrassingly. "Well, that you were an actual phantom thief. With a flashy costume who leaps into the night and confront criminals in the act?" She smiled awkwardly at her childish image of her boyfriend. "Sorry, I know it's kind of silly."
"What if I said that you're actually right?" Akira said with an amused smile.
"Wait, really!?" Sadayo turned back to Akira with more excitement than intended.
Akira chuckled. "Yeah, I have a mask and everything."
"Is there… any way I can see it?" Sadayo clasped her hands hopefully.
Akira shook his head, half-regretful that he can't show his badass get-up to his girlfriend. "Sorry, it's something that I can only do in that other world. Phones don't work over there either so I wouldn't be able to take a picture to show you."
"Awww..." Sadayo slumped in disappointment. 'That at least explains why I couldn't reach him before.' "So how does this world correlate with what you do?"
"Remember your second theory, about how it could be used on anyone to make them do crimes. Well our methods make it hard to target just anyone." Akira raised his hand again, this time holding three fingers as the other two stayed curled. "It's a bit complicated, but I'll leave it with this for now. Number one: we are only able to target individuals with twisted desires."
"Twisted… desires…? You said that earlier..."
"Yeah, stuff like glutinous or lustful desires."
'Lustful…?' Sadayo stared, a heavy weight in her heart.
"At first we thought that meant only those who would commit evil acts," Akira continued, "but it seems that the term is more broad than expected. Whether they are towards others… or themselves, as we recently confirmed."
'So they don't even have to be evil thoughts.'
"Number two: what we do is get rid of those desires. The reason why they confess is because they are still aware of what they did, despite no longer having the interest. And number three: until the change occurs we are unable to influence them in any way." Akira shrugged, "If we could have, we would had Kamoshida retract our expulsion sooner, or at the very least make himself really want to punch himself in the gut a couple of times."
"But how can you be so certain? There has to be a way to confirm if they are twisted, right?" Sadayo nervously asked.
"That will be going into a whole lot of stuff, but simply put, we have this app that allows us to go to the other world and confirm whether the target has any sort of twisted desire."
"A phone app?" Sadayo parroted in disbelief before looking at her boyfriend's innocent phone by his pillow. She turned back to Akira and asked, "May I see it?"
"Sure?" Akira raised an eyebrow, unlocking and almost handing his phone over before pulling back. "Why?"
"You know what they say, 'seeing is believing'," Sadayo's smile was strained.
"Sadayo? What are you—"
"I just want to know if there's something wrong with me," Sadayo blustered out. "I mean, here I am having an affair with one of my students and I'm happy while so many were harmed by Kamoshida. You said it yourself didn't you? Lustful desires, how one didn't have to be evil—"
"Sadayo," Akira cut off the rambling worriedly, putting the phone down and reaching out for Sadayo's hand with both of his as he drew her close. "Did something happen today?"
Despite her fear, Sadayo revelled in their proximity, almost clinging to his grasp as her forehead leaned to rest against his. Just as it had calmed her then when she panicked about Alibaba, his nearness did so again. But the guilt was still persistent.
"Sorry, I was just put in charge of the girls' volleyball team today. It kind of brought back a lot of reminders of how much I had screwed up. Kind of makes me worry that all of this is just another big screw-up from my part and that I'm only hurting you."
Akira frowned. "Sadayo, you've done nothing wrong. I was the one who confessed to you; you took your time. You are also determined to take responsibility and not let our relationship affect things at school. You're doing everything that you can to make sure I don't get hurt."
"Everything but reject you," Sadayo painfully forced out of her throat.
Akira could see tears forming at the corner of her eyes. He wanted to prove her wrong once more. To hold her down and show her how much he meant to her. But he felt that it would only hurt her now. So he stayed in place, his hands gently rubbing hers for comfort, keeping his gaze gentle..
"I can't deny that many will probably misunderstand," Akira held back from sighing pointblank at his girlfriend's face, "and that many will not approve, but what we have right now is not twisted or wrong."
Sadayo tiredly chuckled with a weak smile. "Kinda hard to agree when all we do is stay hidden in an attic."
"Then let's change that!" Akira pulled away from Sadayo, determined.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Sadayo blinked at the abrupt change.
Akira kept her hands in his, never looking away from her beautiful eyes. "Sadayo Kawakami, will you go out on a date with me?"
"WHAAAAT?!"
Sorry once again for the long wait between chapters. I hope that you have enjoyed it and was worth the wait.
Recently I have been talking to an artist by the name of Nanko Doujin and am in the process of getting a number of scenes of these story to be illustrated by them. Illustrations for the prologue and chapter 1-3 can already be seen in his tumblr page and more will be slowly added when able.
Once again thank you to both SomebodyLost and Chessicfayth for their help.
I can't give an estimate for when the next chapter is, but look forward to a very big moment.
