6-14

"Thank you very much," the clerk proclaims, and tips his head into a bow.

Haru smiles back at him, and nods a bow as well. "I appreciate it. Thank you."

She turns and heads for the door, stopping when she realizes Ann isn't following her. The blonde girl peers - wide-eyed - at the latest model of Samsungs, set up on display along the wall. Haru steps up alongside her, clears her throat, and smiles when the girl spins towards her.

Ann blinks. "Oh, sorry. You all set?"

"I am," Haru replies. "The transfer finished just a minute ago." She reaches into the bag the clerk handed her, and pulls out her new phone. She misses the old adornments, but she figures she can spruce it up later. For now, it's nothing but typical. Sleek, black, fresh.

"Cool," Ann says, and backs away from the display. "Let's go."

"We can stay," Haru points out. "If you want to keep looking."

"Nah, that's okay," Ann says, with a shake of her head. "The last thing I need right now is another distraction."

The two girls exit the store and halt beneath the shadow of its awning. Haru enters the app menu and begins to flip through it. Ann stares at the screen, from over her shoulder.

Two pages of swipes later, and there it is.

The Nav App stares up at her from the unblemished screen.

"Akira was right," Ann says, a bit of awe in her voice. "The phone doesn't matter. The person does."

"I guess this would apply to anyone," Haru says. "If your phone broke, and you got a new one, the App would appear on it as well."

"Guess so," Ann replies, then frowns. "Let's not test that, though."

They're both quiet for a while. Haru's thumb hovers over the screen, but doesn't move.

"Um," Ann finally mutters. "Are the messages there?"

Haru sighs.

Akira had called Ann the night before. He advised the girl to take Haru to get a new phone after school. That way, he had said, she'd have access to the Metaverse via her own phone, and she could retrieve Sugimura's messages with a data transfer.

"Oh," Haru had said, into Ann's phone. "But couldn't I just use one of your phones to get into the Palace?"

"Yeah," Akira had whispered, and Haru got the impression he wasn't necessarily talking to her. "But this way, you have options." He hadn't elaborated.

Options, Haru thinks, as she swipes her way to her voicemail. Do I really have them?

She opens her voicemail and finds them, all time stamped, with the length of each proclaimed in bright blue text. "Here they are," she mutters. She lowers the phone and shoves it back into her pocket. "They're back."

Ann's frown lengthens. Then she pulls out her own and glances at it. "Hey, so we've got some time before the meet-up. Wanna, I don't know, get something to drink?"

"Couldn't we just do that at LeBlanc?" Haru asks.

"We could," Ann drawls. "But it'll be a total bro-fest there. Why don't we take some girl time, huh?"

Haru smiles and nods. "Sure. Let's."

The two soon find themselves at a small cafe on the outskirts of Harajuku, seated at a small table in the corner.

A small coffee for Haru. Something very, very sweet and probably very, very bad for her, for Ann.

"Thank you," Haru says, when the waitress leaves with their orders.

"For what?" Ann asks.

"You know." She gestures to the bag she's set on the floor. "For all of it. Taking me to get a new phone. Letting me stay at your place." She fingers the oversized hoodie she's kept on since the day began. "For lending me these clothes." She leans forward. "And for showing me how things work, over there."

Ann grins. "It's no problem. I know it must be pretty scary." She stares down at the napkin dispenser, then reaches out with a hand and starts pulling out little flakes of the paper. "Even before Shiho jumped, I was scared. Everything felt so, like, impossible to fix. And then the Thieves happened, and I didn't know what to think or do. But Akira, Ryuji, and Morgana helped me out." She smiles at Haru once more. "That's what we do. Help people."

It's Haru's turn to look away. "Do you ever have any doubts?" She asks. "About any of it? About what you're doing?"

Ann frowns at this. "Sure, I guess."

Haru looks up. She hadn't expected that.

"At the end of the day," Ann continues. "I'm well, I'm me. It's a lot. Sometimes I wonder about the future. About what comes next."

"But, is this what you want? Are you so certain what you're doing is the right thing?"

Ann shrugs. "I think so." She nods. "Yes. Kamoshida. Madarame. They needed to be stopped. And no one else was going to do anything about it."

"But is it what you want?"

Ann crosses her arms. "Well, yeah," Ann says. "But, even if I wasn't, so what?"

Haru blinks. "I'm sorry?"

"Just because I don't know exactly what I want, doesn't mean I'm going to stand around worrying about it." Her words grow more resolute as she speaks. "I stood around and did nothing for a long time. I won't do that again. I'm not dumb. I know this isn't something we can do forever. But it's what we can do now, so that's what I'm doing."

Haru stares into this girl's eyes and finds herself humbled. She says she isn't sure what she wants, but it seems to me that she does.

But still...

Haru lowers her eyes to the table. It's covered in the napkin scraps Ann has torn up.

#

AKIRA: You sure you don't want to come?

Akira sends the message and waits. His phone vibrates a moment later.

MAKOTO: Thank you, but no.

He stares down at the message, then slides his phone back into his pocket. He doesn't have time to press the issue. He still has nothing. Nothing concrete, anyway.

No idea how he's supposed to infiltrate Sugimura's Palace and steal his heart. When he'd woken that morning, he felt sure a plan had solidified in his mind overnight. He was completely confident of it, but when he tried to put it on paper, it deteriorated into a series of unconnected dots and notes.

Break the car, he'd written.

Separate them, he'd jotted down.

Calling Card, he'd scrawled. He waited for the last one to yield more, but it hadn't. Makoto had mentioned the Calling Card the night before, and about how there must've been something they could do with it.

He mutters a curse beneath his breath and puts his head in his hands.

The soft sound of Morgana's paws on the steps makes him sit up. "Yusuke's here," the cat calls, and Akira pushes himself to his feet as the lanky boy ascends.

"Ah, it appears I'm early," he says, and moves to the couch.

"The others should be here soon," Morgana replies, and hops up next to him.

Yusuke unshoulders his bag as he sits, unclips it, and slides his hand inside. He withdraws a stack of papers Akira recognizes.

"The Calling Cards," Akira says, with a sigh.

"For our Mementos targets," Yusuke replies, and sets them on the table. "Prepared, per your request."

Akira nods. "Right." Until Sugimura, the Phantom Thieves had prepared to knock out several Mementos targets all at once. That feels like so long ago.

"Any luck on the Sugimura situation?" Yusuke asks.

"Not yet," Akira replies, and sits back down. He doesn't bother to inspect the Cards. He's sure they're fine.

"We're working on it," Morgana says.

The tone of his voice makes Akira frown. We? What exactly have we been working on, Morgana? He keeps this to himself. It won't do to chastise the cat for not contributing when he can't even come up with any solutions.

"I don't mean to change the topic." He nods towards the Cards. "But I would remind you that those requests from the PhanSite have been active for some time now. We need to complete those soon. Otherwise, the public may begin to lose their faith in the Phantom Thieves. Especially since we cannot publicize the Sugimura heist."

Akira waits a full ten seconds before answering. "Yeah, I know that, Yusuke."

"Alright," the boy replies. "I just thought I would mention it."

"Have you got any ideas?" Akira asks.

"Could we not lure him somewhere?"

"Lure him?"

"Yes. Trick him somehow. Make him go somewhere we will be. We could then easily enter the Palace."

"Okay," Akira says. "And what happens if we're still in there when he realizes he's been had, and he decides to drive off?"

"What if we sabotaged the car?"

"How would we do that?" Akira asks.

"Plus, even if we did," Morgana points out. "He could just call a tow truck and get picked up."

Yusuke hums. "There are certainly many variables this time."

Akira stands and begins to pace around his room. It's all he can do to stop himself from shouting. It's not their fault, he thinks. This is stumping everyone. Then, he realizes he's wasting time consoling himself over his friends when he could be using his brain power to come up with a plan.

He grits his teeth. "Why don't we just knock the bastard out?" He growls, without thinking about it.

Morgana and Yusuke stare at him. Akira blinks.

Wait a minute...

He returns to his desk, pulls out a pen, and starts to write.

#

Haru nods to Ryuji as he walks upstairs. She stands near the edge of the gathering. Yusuke is on the couch, as is Ann. Akira sits at his desk. Morgana lays in the center of the table in the middle.

Ryuji strides up next to her, throws her a smile, and crosses his arms. "So, what's the plan?"

"We don't have one yet," Akira replies, head still folded over his desk.

"Oh," Ryuji responds.

Haru looks over at Akira. He hasn't raised himself since she arrived. He scribbles furiously across the page, eyes narrow. Then, he sits back, frowns, shakes his head, and tries again.

"So, what's the point of this meeting then?" Ann asks.

"The point," Akira mumbles. "Is to come up with a plan. Or something like a plan."

Ryuji raises his hand. "I've got an idea. Sort of."

"What is it?" Yusuke asks.

"What if we blow up his car?"

Akira stops writing. He sets down his pen. He turns to his friend. "You want to blow up Sugimura's car?"

Ryuji shrugs. "Well, wouldn't blowing up his car get rid of the Palace?"

Morgana blinks from where he lays. "No, Bonehead, it wouldn't."

Ryuji scowls down at him. "Why not?"

Morgana opens his mouth, closes it, then opens it again. "Okay, well, actually I'm not sure."

"So why don't we do that then?"

"Do you know how to blow up a car?" Akira asks.

"We can put a rag that's on fire in the gas tank. That's how they do it in movies."

"This isn't a movie," Ann says, glaring at him. "And we don't know if that would actually work."

"And I don't believe destroying the car would resolve the situation," Yusuke says. He nods. "It seems to me, it would only make the Palace inaccessible."

"That's right," Morgana says, as if he knew it all along. "Destroying the physical world's Palace equivalent isn't the same as stealing the Treasure."

"Alright, alright," Ryuji replies, sulking. "It was just a suggestion."

"Where would we even get explosives?" Ann asks.

"It doesn't matter," Akira snaps. "Because we're not doing it."

The room goes quiet. Haru looks back at him. He swivels his body back around and returns to his notebook. Is this what it's always like? Haru wonders. Is this what he was like when he was trying to throw us off his trail?

"Sorry," Akira mumbles, a few moments later.

"It's all good," Ryuji says, and gives Haru a grin she almost buys. "Just throwing things out there."

Ann speaks up next, offering a plan to draw Sugimura away from his car somehow. Akira points out the flaws. Haru begins to run through her mind, trying to come up with something but it's nothing but white noise.

If she called, she was sure to draw him out, but what then? Akira was right. Getting Sugimura to a certain place would be easy. Keeping him there would be infinitely harder. She also doesn't relish the idea of using herself as bait. She knows the dangers of going through with this, but putting herself out there all over again?

I bet Mako-chan could come up with something. Despite the circumstances, the thought makes her mind drift to Makoto. They've rarely spoken since she got out of Sugimura's Palace.

She was also against using the Phantom Thieves from the start.

Haru thinks of her new phone. I could still go to Officer Kagawa. I could still show him the messages.

Would it matter?

She wasn't willing to submit to Sugimura anymore, but that didn't mean the stars would suddenly align for her and make the problem go away.

The Phantom Thieves continue their discussion. Haru bites her lip and remains quiet.

#

Akira hefts up the sack of fertilizer, and moves it to the dolly, dropping it down with a sigh.

I should've just cancelled the meeting.

Morgana sits on his usual spot on a high shelf, tail swaying through the air. "You okay?"

Akira bites back a retort and nods. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

Coming to Rafflesia for his shift had been the last thing Akira wanted to do, but he had missed too many shifts lately, and didn't want to raise any eyebrows. Haru, of course, had gone home with Ann.

If Sugimura knew about Haru's part-time job, it was possible he'd come looking for her. Akira had a story in place in case he did, but he figured his best option would be to say absolutely nothing.

Of course, what's really on Akira's mind isn't so much the lack of a plan to save Haru and change Sugimura's heart. Because he has a plan, sort of. Only, there are a lot of ways it could go wrong. Wrong in the worst sense of the word. Wrong in the sense that he could be tossed in jail and never heard from again.

The thought sends a shiver through him. But what other choice do we have?

There's still a number of kinks to work out, but he'll keep at it. Time isn't a luxury he has, but if can get something solid by the weekend, he believes they might have a chance of pulling it off.

Maybe.

Akira exits the back storage room and finds Officer Kagawa standing just inside Rafflesia's entrance, talking to Hanasaki-san.

"Hey there," Officer Kagawa replies. He's not dressed in a suit and tie, like he'd been the other day. He looks more casual now, in jeans a and a polo shirt, stretched over his stomach.

"Akira-kun," Hanasaki says, bringing a smile to her lips. "This gentleman would like to speak with you. He asked after Haru."

"Right," Akira says, stepping up to them. He tries to keep calm.

Hanasaki nods to the policeman and steps away from the two.

Kagawa nods his head towards the hall. "Wanna take a quick walk?"

Akira shakes his head. "I think I'm good here."

Kagawa frowns. "Suit yourself. Like she said, I'm looking for Haru."

"She's not here, right now," Akira replies.

"Uh-huh," Kagawa replies. "See, the thing is, you mentioned that the two of you have the same schedule. So, I called this place yesterday and found out when you were working. Yet, she's not here. Why's that?"

Akira shrugs. "This is a part-time job. People don't show up for it all the time."

"Really?" Kagawa asks.

Akira shrugs once more. "Yeah, I guess. Sometimes I don't even show up."

"But Haru's safe, right?"

Akira nods. "Makoto found her," he replies. "She didn't want to come forward. Or so she told me."

Kagawa frowns at this. "You know, the only thing I want is for her to be safe."

Akira wants to say more, but he remembers his little breakdown in front of Goro Akechi. The last thing he needed to do was let this cop know just what he thought of their organization. "I know," he says instead. "Me too."

"The problem with being young," Officer Kagawa continues. "Is that you always think you know best. It's not until you get older that you realize what your mistakes were." He leans in closer. "I know you want to help Haru Okumura as badly as Mini-Makoto, but if you think this is something you can handle yourselves, you're wrong. Let me help."

"I'm not the person you should be asking," Akira replies.

"Well, I'd be asking Haru Okumura, if I could find her."

Akira fights off the smirk and keeps his mouth shut. If you can't find her, how could you possibly help her, Officer? He looks away. "If I hear anything, I'll let you know. Like you said, I want to help her as much as I can. She's my friend."

"Right, well, if you see your friend, tell her to contact me when she can. Sometimes you need help, even if you don't want it."

"Okay, sure," Akira says.

Kagawa looks him over once more, and to Akira, it feels like a rake rubbing against his skin. Then, he turns and walks off down the hall.

Akira steps back inside the storage room. "Was that-?" Morgana starts.

"Yeah," Akira replies. He checks to make sure Hanasaki-san isn't anywhere nearby, then whispers, "Remind me to keep an eye on his GPS. I don't want to get surprised by him, again."

#

Sugimura stares at the apartment building for a long time, before he admits to himself that she's either not coming out, or she's not there. "Shit," he spits, then orders his driver to take him home.

It'd been two days since he lost Haru. Two days since anyone had apparently seen her or heard from her. Granted, he hadn't managed to get confirmation if she was in Shujin, but he was willing to bet she wasn't.

He puts his head in his hands as they drive away. He thought he could just ignore the whole thing, but he's not sure he can.

Kaneshiro seemed on edge. The man had called yesterday to verify if Sugimura had found Haru. Sugimura couldn't very well lie to the man, as he probably already knew the answer.

The man had given him a simple, "I see," and hung up.

I've got to find her, he thinks. I've got to make this right.

He's not sure what'll happen if he can't.

#

Kaneshiro's phone rings. He pushes the girl away and snatches it up. "Hello?" He says, once he answers it.

"No," the voice replies. "He's not."

The line goes dead.

Kaneshiro smiles.

##

A/N: Hey gang, how's it hanging? I know things have been slow on the Crimson front, and I'm sorry about that. The wife and I are moving pretty soon, so things have been somewhat hectic thanks to that. Rest assured I'm still plowing away at these chapters. Also, I know I haven't had much of a chance to get back to you guys in the comments and whatnot, but I wanted to let you know that I appreciate all your feedback and well-wishes. It sings my soul to sleep. :)

PS. 80 freakin' chapters! Can you believe it! Holy smokes. It sure is something. Thanks for reading!