5/15
Ohya's phone rings.
Her mouth tastes of ash, and a horse bucks about in her skull. Her limbs ache.
Ohya's phone continues to ring.
She groans as she rolls over, and manages to snatch up her phone just before it vibrates off the nightstand and onto the filthy, blue carpet.
"What?" She moans as she answers it.
"It's me," comes a voice.
Ohya throws an arm of her eyes to shield herself from the light sneaking in through the shades. "Oh my god. Whoever this is better start making sense or I'm hanging this shit up!"
There's a pause on the other line. Then, "I found out who Yusuke Kitagawa is."
Ohya wrestles the horse in her brain under control and forces herself to think. It's that dumb kid from the bar. The one who thinks he's slick.
"So," she says. "Who is he?"
"Madarame's apprentice."
"Don't get excited," Ohya mutters. "That was an easy one. What else?"
"What'd you mean?"
Ohya rolls onto her stomach and buries her face in her pillow. "Kid," she shouts. "I'm not your teacher. This isn't a test. What did you get out of Yusuke Kitagawa?"
"I...uh-"
"You got nothing. Wow. Amazing. Incredible work there, champ."
"I thought you wanted me to figure out who he was?"
"Yes! But you weren't supposed to stop there. You were supposed to dig something up on your own. That's why I gave you the lead in the first place."
"Oh."
"Oh?" Ohya replies, then sighs. "What time is it anyway?"
"It's a little after nine."
"Why the hell are you calling me so early?"
"I mean, it's not that early."
"Kids," Ohya grumbles and pushes herself out of bed. Dressed only in her t-shirt and underwear, she schleps her way through her overheated apartment to the bathroom, where she promptly turns on the water, waits for it to get as cold, then splashes some on her face, before she sticks her mouth beneath the faucet and takes a long gulp. "Is there any other reason you called me?" She asks, once this is all done.
"I..." The kid says, and Ohya gets the feeling that rather than having nothing, he's debating whether he should hold something back.
"Spill it!" She growls.
"I got invited to Madarame's gallery showing this week," he spits.
Ohya looks at herself in her bathroom mirror. An unfortunately familiar face returns her stare. "How'd you manage that?"
"Yusuke Kitagawa invited me."
"So, you didn't just find out who he was. You actually met him?" This kid may not be so bad after all.
"That's right."
"That's...good. That's real good." Coffee. I need coffee! She can come up with something. She knows she can! She just has to have that caffeine kick. "Listen up, I'll reach out to you soon. Just be ready. You may just prove valuable after all."
"Wait, you don't have my-" The kid starts to say, but Ohya hangs up.
She smiles down at the now silent phone in her hand. "Don't you worry about that, kid."
#
Makoto steps out of the Aoyama-Itchome station. She steps away from the milling crowds, and up to the window of a department store, then adjusts her white blouse. I look fine, she thinks. She doesn't move. There's a twisting knot in her chest, coiling itself around and around itself, growing in size. When she'd gotten the text, she had prepared. She had made herself presentable. She had done the best she could with the clothes she'd owned. This would be the first time he would see her outside of school. Outside the Shujin uniform. She had to make some kind of good impression.
Liar.
She winces as the image of Shiho Suzui slices through her mind, and the screams she had belted at Makoto echo in her ears.
She knows why she got that message. There can't be any other reason.
Earlier this morning, Akira had sent her a simple text.
AKIRA: We need to talk.
That single sentence had punched through Makoto like an iron rod.
It hadn't taken long for Makoto to deduce what had probably happened. Shiho had called Ann, who had called Akira. And now Akira, 'wanted to talk.'
The jig is up. Someone had said that once, hadn't they? Makoto can't remember who.
Shiho's outburst had terrified Makoto. She had retreated back home, gone into her room, and sat on her bed, staring at nothing, just replaying the scene again and again in her mind. The words of the nurse would punctuate each iteration. What did you do?
What had she done? Re-traumatized Shiho Suzui, and for what? To figure out if Akira was a Phantom Thief? Wasn't that the same reason she was disobeying Sae? The same reason she was lying to Haru?
I'm a liar. That's all she is.
Well, it was time to come clean. Makoto had agreed to a meet-up, and Akira had told her to come to the school. Being Sunday, they could be alone for the most part.
She was going to confess. She was going to tell him everything. Everything about the Principal. Everything about her tracking him. Everything misstep and stupid mistake she'd made.
And then?
And then, whatever happened, happened.
She weaves her way through Aoyama-Itchome, and approaches Shujin. Akira had texted her to meet just inside the school's front entrance.
Makoto tries to push down the trepidation she feels. It was time to get off this rickety rollercoaster she'd boarded. This isn't who she is. This isn't who she wants to be.
She turns and enters Shujin's school gates. She climbs the steps. A few clubs do meet during Sundays, so the front entrance is unlocked. She pushes the door open and sees Akira standing there, hands in his pockets. Light from outside streaks across his glasses, and she cannot see his eyes.
She opens her mouth, "Akira, I-"
She stops. Because she sees who is standing next to Akira.
Ann Takamaki, her face a thunderstorm, steps away from Akira and up to her. Then, without a word, she slaps Makoto across the face.
There is a moment, long in itself but brief in reality, where Makoto's mind switches off. Wholly and completely. All that the gray matter held within her skull can produce is a full cowl of black.
Then, as the pain ricochets across her cheek, going from nerve to nerve, spreading its fire, things snap back on. Her hand drifts up to her face, and presses against the spot where Takamaki has hit her. It lingers there as Makoto turns her head back around, eyes wide, mouth agape.
When Takamaki speaks, her words are needles. "When Shiho called me, I thought she was going to jump again. She wasn't making any sense. She just kept crying and shouting and I didn't know why."
Makoto opens her mouth. "Takamaki, I-"
"I've never been so scared to hang up a phone in my whole life, but I couldn't run the whole way to the hospital with it up to my ear. So I hung up on her, and I thought, 'I might never hear her voice again.' I called the hospital, and they told me everything was under control and she wasn't in any danger, but... well, I didn't trust them."
Makoto finds she can do nothing but wait for Ann's speech to end.
"When I got there, and got into the room, I finally got the full story. She told me you had been there. That you'd been asking her questions about when I had really been to see her last." Ann shakes her head, and her face twists into a look of utter bafflement. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I'm sorry, Takamaki," Makoto blurts out, and looks over at Akira. "Akira, I-"
"Don't," Ann says, stepping into her line of sight. "Don't look at him." She crosses her arms across her chest. "For someone at the top of their class, you really are an idiot Niijima-senpai. I've had enough. I thought it was kind of cute at first. But you crossed the line."
Makoto stares at Ann. "Cute?" She asks.
"Your whole, 'following Akira' routine. Forcing him to the study sessions. Following him around Shibuya. Did you think you were sneaky?"
Makoto blinks. "I-" But she can't finish the thought. What's going on? Did they know I was investigating the Phantom Thieves?
"Sure," Ann says, shrugging. "I thought it was a little mean of Akira to not turn you down right away, but he kept saying that he didn't want to hurt your feelings. Boys are dumb that way." She takes a step closer to Makoto. "Girls know, it's better to just get things over with."
"Look, I made a mistake," Makoto says. "I didn't meant to scare Shiho, but I had to know about-"
"You had to know about Akira and me so badly that you harassed a bedridden girl who had just gotten out of a coma?" Ann yells.
"Akira and you?" Makoto asks. "What're you talking about?"
Ann rolls her eyes. "Don't play dumb. You must've figured it out by now." She stares down at Makoto, who feels smaller than she ever has. When Makoto doesn't answer, Ann blinks. "Really? Then I'll spell it out for you."
This is it, Makoto thinks. She's going to admit she's a Phantom Thief. That's-
Ann leans into Makoto's face and says, "Akira is my boyfriend."
The sun winks out.
The earth falls away.
The wind dies.
Her chest hurts.
"Wh-what?" She manages. Her mouth is dry.
"He knew you liked him. Anyone could tell," Ann continues. "But he felt so bad about it, because you helped him study, that he wanted to wait to tell you. So, when you kept poking around, he got Ryuji and me to help throw you off the trail. I told him I wanted him to just be straight, but he begged me to help him with this."
Makoto remembers his smirk.
Makoto remembers the lilt to his voice.
Makoto remembers how he's looked at her.
Makoto remembers that day on the roof, behind the A/C unit.
Makoto remembers being pressed up against him, her hand on his chest, as he leaned his head forward, towards hers.
Makoto remembers smiley face.
Makoto remembers winkey face.
"That's not true," Makoto says, and her voice is small and she hates how it sounds. She defies Ann and looks past her, towards Akira. He stands there, hands balled into fists, head drooped forward, eyes on the ground. He denies nothing. "Akira," she says.
A few seconds drag their way by.
And then.
"I'm sorry," he says.
And then something shatters.
She fights against it. "No. That's not true. Why would you hide it?"
Ann barks out a laugh. "Right. The transfer student everyone thinks is a dangerous criminal, dating the girl everyone thinks is a slut. That would go over so well in this piece of shit school."
"B-but," Makoto manages. "The Phantom Thieves?"
Ann's face grows quizzical. "What about the Phantom Thieves?"
"They... that is..." Could all this really be true? Could all the deceptions be because Akira was dating Ann, and hadn't wanted to hurt her?
"You know what?" Ann asks. "I've had enough. Here's what's going to happen. Drop whatever crazy obsession you have with my boyfriend, and go get your own. No more texts. No more stalking. It's not cute, Niijima-senpai. It's creepy. And leave Shiho alone. Don't go near her. Don't look at her when she does come back. Don't even think about her." She turns away from Makoto, and walks up to Akira. Then, she reaches out, grabs one of Akira's hands, and entwines her fingers with his. "Let's go, Akira. I've had enough of this jerk."
Makoto stares at their hands, wrapped together. She feels sick.
Ann and Akira walk past her. As they head away from her, Takamaki says, "You're a bad person, Niijima-senpai."
"Akira!" Makoto says, spinning around.
But he doesn't look back. He doesn't reply.
Akira and Ann push their way out the door. It clangs shut behind them.
Makoto shuffles her way over to the wall, leans her back against it, and slides down until she's sitting on the floor. She controls her breathing. Breathe in. Breathe out. She tries to gentle her thoughts, even as they race. She tries to maintain her control.
The tears come anyway.
#
They are almost to the station when Akira rips his hand free of Ann's. She doesn't protest.
"That," Akira says, staring at the concrete he treads upon. "That was mean."
"Good," Ann replies.
"Ann," Akira says, turning to her. Ann stops and faces him, crossing her arms across her chest. "I understand that she went too far. I know she freaked Shiho out, and that's awful. But she-"
"Oh for crying out loud!" Ann says, shaking her head. "Are you still trying to defend her?"
"I'm trying to understand! I'm trying to get everyone to understand!" He looks back towards the school, the top of which pops out over the top of a few buildings behind them. "We didn't need to do that to her."
"You could've let her down gently weeks ago, Akira," Ann replies. "After Kamoshida. Even after Nakanohara. But you didn't. You kept stringing her along."
"I wasn't 'stringing her along.'" He feels his face scrunch up, and his voice hitches. "I really like her."
"You made your choice, Akira. Are you going back on it?" Ann asks.
He had stared at her for a long time, in that hospital stairwell. Hoping that she would take it back. But the longer he waited, the more he realized that Ann really was serious. If he didn't stop... whatever he was doing with Makoto, Ann Takamaki would leave the Phantom Thieves.
"Okay," he had said. "Okay."
He shakes his head and looks back up at her. "I'm not going back on it, Ann. But we could've done that differently."
"This way she backs off. She thinks she's been stalking just a couple of lovebirds, and she thinks that that's what we think too."
Akira shakes his head. "No. We could've done it another way. You wanted to hurt her, Ann."
"She deserved it!" Ann spits. "For what she did to Shiho yesterday!"
He continues to shake his head, and shoves his hands in his pockets. "We could've done that better. We're not supposed to be the bad guys, Ann." He stalks off towards the train. "We're not the bad guys."
Ann falls in alongside him, and they proceed to the station in silence.
They split up in silence as well. Akira trudges through Yongen-jaya to LeBlanc, and up the steps without so much as a 'hello' to Sojiro.
Morgana sits on the bed, and stands when Akira enters. "How'd it go?" He asks, his voice wary.
"It was hard."
"Are you okay?"
Akira looks at the cat and shakes his head. "Not really." He sits down at his desk, and Morgana leaps down from the bed, trots over, and hops up into his lap. "I just," Akira begins. "I think I could've done things differently. Like Lala-chan said, I think I could've been honest."
"But Makoto was investigating us," Morgana says. "For the Principal."
"I don't know..."
"If she was on our side, why didn't she come forward right away?" Morgana asks. "Why didn't she say something right after Kobayakowa told her to look into us?"
"I don't know," Akira repeats. "Maybe she didn't think I'd believe her?"
"Is that a way you can afford to think?" Morgana asks. "If Makoto came up to you, and told you, 'Akira, the Principal asked me to investigate the Phantom Thieves, and I think that's you,' what would you do? Would you admit it?"
"Probably."
"And what if Makoto was against the whole time? You just told her you were a Phantom Thief. What if she took that right back to the Principal?"
"What do you want me to say, Morgana?" Akira asks, an edge sliding into his voice. "I don't know how to do this. I'm not..." But he trails off. I'm not like him.
"Maybe we can revisit this later," Morgana says. "But what's done is done. We need to focus on Madarame right now. You've got that gallery-thing on Wednesday, and you need to prepare."
Akira sighs. "Ohya said she'd be in contact, but I don't know how, considering she doesn't know who I am, or have my number. And is it really a good idea to show up to this?"
"We need dirt on Madarame. We know he has a Palace, but we don't know any of the other keywords. If we're around him, maybe he'll let something slip."
"Yeah, you're right. Just gotta focus."
And in the back of his mind, he hears his father's voice.
That's right, son. Focus on what matters. So what if you break a few hearts along the way?
Akira leans forward onto his desk, and shuts his eyes. In the black, he sees the stricken face of Makoto Niijima, her eyes begging him for it all not to be true.
"Dammit," he chokes out.
#
Makoto slams her fist into the punching bag, and imagines it is Akira Kurusu's face.
She had forgotten how good this feels.
It was all bullshit, of course. Once her eyes had dried out, and she'd taken a minute to think, she'd realized it.
As she had walked back to the station, she had called Haru, and between her sobs, had explained what happened.
Haru's response had been uncompromising. "I will obliterate him." Haru had offered her what Makoto imagined were the proper condolences, and suggested they meet up and eat something bad for them, like ice cream or candy, but Makoto had just wanted to go home.
Once there, she'd cried some more.
But now?
She was done with tears.
So, she used her brain.
And her fists.
She throws a haymaker against the bag, and takes a deep breath.
There was no way Akira Kurusu was dating Ann Takamaki. It didn't add up.
Takamaki's acting had been the first red flag. It wasn't that it was bad, but it was stiff. When Takamaki had been haranguing Makoto about Shiho, everything had felt so genuine. But once they'd crossed over to the 'Akira is my boyfriend' topic, the girl had exaggerated her every motion. When that overly confused look crossed her face, and she's said, 'What about the Phantom Thieves?' Makoto had known, even if she hadn't realized it at the time.
She sees it now. Ann had been banking on Makoto being so devastated that she wouldn't think things through. Makoto drives the heel of her foot into the bag, and imagines instead, that it is Ann's mean face. I'm not at the top of my class for nothing, Takamaki.
Who in the hell would go through so much trouble to convince someone else they weren't dating someone? Did they expect her to believe that everything that had happened the day Takanashi's heart changed was all to throw her off the trail of Akira and Ann's relationship?
Maybe they really aren't the Phantom Thieves. I find it hard to believe the people who took down Kamoshida could be that dumb! She punctuates this thought with another punch to the bag.
That's not all, though. She remembers the last few weeks vividly. For all her missteps, for all the fear she's felt and horror she's witnessed, they have been some of her happiest. She cannot imagine, that after everything she went through with Akira, that he was just stringing her along this entire time. Akira Kurusu was a Phantom Thief, and this was just another tactic to throw her off. He thinks he can look at me the way that he does and smile at me the way that he does and then pretend to have been dating Takamaki this whole time? Oh, I could kill him!
An older man, one of her unfortunate neighbors from upstairs, walks past the mat she works on and calls, "C'mon sweetie, don't look so glum. Can I get a smile?"
Makoto feels an engine rev inside her chest, and she turns a snarl on the man. "Back off!"
He pales in a considerably appealing manner, and scurries away.
She turns her attention back to the bag, and lets her mind go blank as she attacks it.
Her subconscious continues her preparations.
##
A/N: And just like that, it's Friday! Pretty boring chapter, right? Not much going on. Oh well.
An aside, I finally got around to looking at the 'Bookmarks' for Crimson on ao3. Some of you said some very nice things, so thank you! I appreciate it!
For curiosity's sake, is anyone participating in NanoWrimo? We're just over halfway done with November, after all. How are your novels coming?
Thank you very much for reading! You are all the last ace in a lost hand. (That's the line, right?)