Friday, 14 October 20XX, Evening
Yongen-Jaya Dance Studio
After their chance encounter the night before, Ann was disappointed, but not surprised, to find that Atsuko had failed to show up for their following dance class. Ann figured that she must have been embarrassed about the whole ordeal, unable to bear the hypocrisy of believing in raqs baladi as a serious art form, only to perform it as anything but, even if through no fault of her own. She tried to keep her concern for her friend out of her mind, but it proved to be a subconscious stumbling block. Maiko introduced hand motions into the torso-and-step combinations they had learned before, but the coordination required proved to be too much for Ann at the moment.
As the class closed, Ann managed to get some time alone with Futaba. In the locker room, she relayed her findings from last night, describing the club's seedy atmosphere, the pushy nature of the manager who attempted to ensnare her in his business, and the way Atsuko, or rather Atsu-Atsu, clearly seemed uncomfortable in her predicament. "I'm worried that seeing me scared her away from class tonight," she explained. "She may never want to dance again, or worse… I want to give her a call, but after what happened, I don't think she'd want to talk to me."
"What if I called her?", offered Futaba.
Ann pondered this prospect. "Perhaps… She saw Ryuji and me last night, but not you."
"Come to think of it, I haven't really got to know her at all… That could work! ...Um, you'll tell me what to say, right?"
"Okay. I have her number, but could we use your phone?"
Futaba was already holding her smartphone. "Way ahead of you!" Ann showed Atsuko's number from her contacts, and Futaba dialed it on her own device.
After a few rings, Atsuko picked up on the other end. "Moshi-moshi…?" she nervously answered.
"Atsuko-senpai, it's Futaba," she greeted, trying to sound as cheery as possible. "We missed you tonight; where were you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I… I had to work overtime today." The way she paused made it obvious she was trying to lie about her true intentions, and yet there at least was a kernel of truth to her excuse.
"That's okay. Would… maybe you like to get together sometime?"
"Thank you, Futaba-san, but… I'm kind of going through a hard time now."
"Don't worry, Atsuko-senpai. My schedule's always clear for you."
"Listen, Futaba, I just… feel like I need to take a break from belly dance for a while."
Holding her hand over her phone's mouthpiece, Futaba glanced at Ann for a cue. Repeating her friend's dictation, she responded, "That's okay. We don't have to talk about that if you don't want to." Before Ann could add anything else, Futaba continued, "I just really look up to you, Atsuko-senpai. I don't have that many friends-" she ignored Ann gesturing and opening her mouth in objection "-and you just seem like the nicest gal."
If smiling had a sound, Futaba knew she would have heard it over the line right then. "I appreciate that, Futaba. Did you have a time and place in mind?"
Futaba looked back at Ann, who whispered, "After school. Leblanc.", and relayed the time and place.
When Atsuko asked about Leblanc, Futaba explained, "It's this cafe place my dad runs. It's in Yongen-Jaya, right near the station. Can you make it tomorrow?"
"Yes, that's close to where I live. I'll see you then!" But before Futaba could hang up, she added, "Oh, I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone in the class about our get-together."
Futaba stared up at Ann for another cue, but was met only with a shrug. Winging it, she merely gave Atsuko a noncommittal, "Alright, I'll be careful. Bye!" Once they finally hung up, the two friends shared a congratulatory hi-five.
Saturday, 15 October 20XX, After School
Cafe Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya
The next day, Ann headed straight from Shujin Academy to Cafe Leblanc, giving Futaba a heads-up via text message as she left the classroom. As expected, she saw her auburn-haired otaku friend already stationed in one of the booths, a cup of coffee lying untouched next to the sticker-coated laptop she was typing rapidly on. Sitting across from her, Ann ordered a coffee and cake set for herself. Futaba, being her usual blunt self, asked, "Do you really need that cake, Ann-chan?"
Annoyed, Ann retorted, "You're one to talk, Futaba! If it weren't for belly dancing, you'd never get up from your computers!"
Exaggerating the offence she felt, Futaba countered, "Well! I'll have you know that I've started drinking my coffee without sugar, thank you very much, Mrs. Sweet Tooth!"
Before Ann could argue any further, the door opened, its bell chiming in the motion, and with it stepped in Atsuko, dressed in a white tunic and capri tights. She spotted Futaba's head immediately, and started in her direction, but when she noticed the blonde, twin-tailed girl sitting across from her, she paused in her tracks. Futaba leaned out from in front of her laptop, and began to greet her guest with a cordial, "Oh hi, Atsu-" But when she saw the expression of shock on Atsuko's face, she cut herself off and tried to explain. "No, wait! We're only trying to help you!"
Atsuko wanted to run away, unwilling to face the reality of what she had become in other people's minds, but she was too afraid to even move her feet. Sensing her hesitation, Ann sprung up and grabbed her by the wrist. Looking deep into her eyes, she explained, "Atsuko-senpai… I'm sorry about what happened last night. I wasn't trying to stalk you or anything… Well, I guess I kinda was, but I was only worried about you."
Atsuko tried to jerk her hand away, to no avail. "No, stay out of it, Ann!", she protested. "You don't know what I have to deal with!"
"Yes, I do!", insisted Ann. "I got an e-mail invite to work at the same place. I only came by to see what it was like, then turn it down. I didn't mean to find you there. Is it okay if we sit down and talk it over?" Atsuko meekly nodded, and Ann led her to sit beside herself. "Can I get you anything to drink, Atsuko-senpai?"
"Some green tea would be nice."
Futaba, who was innately familiar with Leblanc's menu, responded, "I think we've only got coffee here…"
"Oh! I've got a pack of instant matcha!" Ann offered. "Would that be alright?"
"Why, yes," consented Atsuko. Ann requested a cup of hot water from Sojiro, took out a packet of matcha powder from her purse, and stirred in the contents. When it settled, Atsuko sipped the tea and said, "That's good. Thank you, Ann."
"My pleasure!"
The three girls sipped their beverages for a while, no one saying a word. When Atsuko felt she had enough courage to break the silence, she meekly announced, "I'm sorry to bring this up now, but I… I want to cancel the rest of my classes with Maiko-sensei."
The other girls were crestfallen upon hearing this news. They stalled in silence some more, until Futaba said, "Atsuko-senpai…"
"Please, just Atsuko is fine."
"Fine. Atsuko… Have I ever told you why I got into belly dancing?"
A third silence lingered as Atsuko tried to recall what Futaba had said on their first meeting together. "Was it… something about… Egypt?"
"That's only part of it. A couple of years ago… my mom died. I kept telling myself that I was responsible. I wasn't really, of course, but I felt so guilty about it, that sometimes..." She couldn't bring herself to mention her fantasies of self-destruction, and instead moved on. "Anyway, I needed something to take my mind off of it, and since I was already into ancient Egyptian stuff, that's how I discovered belly dancing. I only practised in secret, in my room, because I was afraid of what other people would think of me. Kinda like you, in a way, I guess. But, eventually my dad found out about it, and he liked it, and that brought me here. What I'm trying to say, Atsuko, is you shouldn't worry too much about how you think other people will see you or what you do, because that's not always the case."
"I guess…" mused Atsuko. "But you haven't had to get half-naked for other men, have you?"
Ann jumped in. "That's beside the point. You at least had that mask or whatever on your face, didn't you? No one could tell it's you up there; they'd only see Atsu-Atsu or whatever! You don't have to worry; I swear I haven't told a single soul about your secret, apart from Futaba over here." As she said this, the thought occurred to her that Ryuji, who had also been present that night, may not be as tight-lipped as herself, but something about their heartfelt debriefing afterwards assuaged her concerns.
Atsuko sighed. "Thank you, but that's only part of the problem. Remember when I told you all that I wanted to dispel the stereotype of belly dancing only being… sexy? I was lying to myself when I said that. I wanted it to be true, but… this was the job I took, and now… If all those men just want to watch me for my body, then..." She teared up and buried her head in her arms as she cried, "Then I don't want to do it anymore!"
Ann comforted her with a pat on the back. "Atsuko-chan, don't say that!"
"It can't be helped."
"Why don't you just quit?"
"I wish it were that simple… They'll come after me if I quit."
"Who? The yakuza?"
Atsuko gasped and lifted her head in shock. "Could they really be…?"
"Without going into specifics," explained Ann, "We've dealt with enough criminal lowlifes to know 'em when we see 'em. Like I said, I only went there last night to investigate who was behind it all, and the way he pressured me..." She began to feel uncomfortable about bringing it up, so she kept it brief. "I wouldn't put it past 'em to be yakuza."
"If that's true, then I'm glad you were able to resist their offer, Ann-san. But… would you really be able to do anything about them for me? Or any other girls who they've already snatched up?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Atsuko… Have you heard of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts?"
"Are you telling me… Are you Phantom Thieves!?"
Ann fumbled for a response, but Futaba jumped in with, "No, we… uh, know how to get in contact with them!"
"Please, no! I don't want them to kill anyone!"
"What are you talking about?" As Ann said this, her thoughts immediately flashed upon the unfortunate fate of Mr. Okumura. "Oh, that… Listen, Atsuko. I don't know how that happened, but trust me, the Phantom Thieves do not kill their victims! I would know, because…" She chose her words carefully, in order to maintain the facade of referring to them in the third person. "They helped me out in the past. Have you ever heard of Suguru Kamoshida?"
"I think so… Wasn't he that teacher who admitted to abusing his students?"
"Volleyball coach, yeah. Among other things, he tried to get me to do certain… favours for him in exchange for helping a friend of mine. And when I refused… I don't want to talk about it, but let's just say I feel like I completely understand your situation."
"Are you saying that when he confessed, that was the Phantom Thieves?"
Ann nodded.
"But wait, don't they have to put out a calling card or something before they do their thing?"
Futaba jumped in again. "That's only for the really big targets. For the smaller stuff, it's different. Tell me, have you ever heard of the Phan-Site?"
"The 'Phan-Site'...? No, I can't say I have."
Futaba showed her the screen of her laptop, which currently showed the Phan-Site in a private browser window. The latest poll question, reading "Are the Phantom Thieves innocent?", was shown at the top, followed by its results and a continually-updating list of comments, largely dominated by immature trolls. Before Atsuko had a chance to read any of those comments, Futaba already clicked a link to another page, a forum where the discussions were marginally more sensible. The comments posted here were requests for the Phantom Thieves to change the hearts of specific individuals.
"Basically what you do," explained Futaba, "is write a post describing your problem, and who's giving you trouble. They'll look into it, and if it's worthwhile, they'll change the target's heart! ...As they call it. Don't worry about anyone tracing it back to you, it's completely anonymous. In fact, I can do it for you! I've rerouted my browser through, like, three proxies, so even if someone somehow managed to track its IP address, they wouldn't be anywhere near close to me, you, or Ann's devices!"
Atsuko stared blankly in the face of all this technobabble. Ann took her best guess at interpreting the jargon in layman's terms. "I… think that means that we'd be even more anonymous, right, Futaba?"
"Pretty much. There's just one thing, though. In order for the Phantom Thieves to act on a request, they need a name. A full name."
"That's part of the reason why I came over to the club the other night", added Ann. "Unfortunately, your boss only told me his first name, Takashi. You wouldn't happen to know his-"
"Aramaki. Takashi Aramaki."
"Thanks." Futaba began typing, but stopped. "Um… You wouldn't happen to know the kanji, would you?"
"I'm sorry, I've never seen it written down."
"That's okay, I can look it up. Ann-chan, watch my things for me, okay?" Before Ann could stop her, Futaba sprung up from her seat and walked out the door.
Standing outside Leblanc's storefront, she whipped out her smartphone and opened the Metaverse Navigator. The app greeted her with a prompt to speak the name of her desired target, which she did. After a moment of processing, the phonetic name it recorded from her voice was automatically rewritten into three kanji characters, which she captured in her photographic memory. A synthetic voice announced, "One target found. Begin navigation?", but Futaba declined, instead furtively closing the app and heading back inside.
"Oh hi, Futaba," Atsuko greeted upon her return. "Found what you were looking for?"
"Yup."
"Great! ...What were you doing out there?"
"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you", she bluffed. "Assuming you even knew what I'm talking about. But yeah, I got his name down." Turning her attention to the Phan-Site on her laptop, she mused, "Now, what should I write…?"
The trio pondered in silence for a few moments, brainstorming what to include in their request. "You can keep it simple," suggested Ann. "Just mention his name and what he's doing to you."
"Alright. Let's see… 'Takashi Aramaki is…'" Atsuko paused in thought. "He is making me… how would you put it?"
"Enslaving?" Futaba drew upon her recent nightmare to describe the real-life situation more vividly.
"Oh, that's a good way to put it! 'Takashi Aramaki, owner of the Shag Pad nightclub in Shinjuku, is enslaving me… and the other dancers who work there.'"
Futaba transcribed Atsuko's line, silently adding a couple of details about what her "enslavement" entailed, closing it with a theatrical "Help me, Phantom Thieves!", and submitting it. "Aaand… done! Now, we just wait."
Atsuko bowed in her seat. "Thank you so much, Futaba-chan. But… what should I do in the meantime?"
Ann draped an arm over Atsuko's shoulders in a comforting embrace. "You just do what feels right. If all goes well, you won't have to worry about Aramaki for long."
"In that case… I'll just keep performing until something happens."
"Are you sure?"
"It'll be even more trouble if I don't show up. And besides, I thought about what you told me, and I shouldn't be ashamed of belly dancing, even if it is some gross perversion of it. I mean, it's not like the men in the audience are all that obnoxious anyway, besides Takashi. And like you said, they don't see me as Atsuko, only Atsu-Atsu."
"Well, if you're good with it… Just be careful, okay?"
"I will. Thank you too, Ann-chan." Atsuko returned Ann's hug with a brief, but tight, squeeze of her own, and stood up to leave.
Before she could get far, Futaba called out, "One more thing, Atsuko. Are you coming back to class with us?"
As she stood at the door, Atsuko looked over her shoulder and told the two girls, "Yes, Futaba-chan… I would like that."
"Great! See you Wednesday, and good luck!" The girls gave a slight head-bow to show their appreciation, and with a return gesture, Atsuko finally left. Once certain that she was out of sight, Futaba brought her attention back to her phone and started texting. "Who are you texting, Futaba?" she asked.
"Mishima. I just want to get his attention as soon as possible." She slid her phone across the table to give Ann a look at the chat log.
FUTABA: hey NPC-kun
MISHIMA: I have a name you know.
FUTABA: sorry bro
FUTABA: it's just there's this lead on the Phan-Site I'd like you to look into
FUTABA: it's for a friend of mine
MISHIMA: …
MISHIMA: Call me by my real name and you got yourself a deal.
FUTABA: fine...
FUTABA: please, Mishima-kun
MISHIMA: Alright.
FUTABA: it's the one about some skeezy nightclub owner called Takashi Aramaki
FUTABA: he's got this club in Shinjuku called the Shag Pad
FUTABA: if you can't get in ask that reporter chick
MISHIMA: Ohya-san?
MISHIMA: wth NO :-(
FUTABA: pretty please Mishima-kun?
FUTABA: for great justice?
MISHIMA: …
MISHIMA: Oh, alright.
FUTABA: YAY \(^o^)/
FUTABA: good hunting
With that, Futaba closed her messaging app and said to no one in particular, "And now we play the waiting game…"