Almost forgot this notice, but during the email crisis, I uploaded chapters 57-60. Make sure to read those if you happened to miss them, and this is the first notification you're getting. Will repost this in the bottom AU as well.
Chapter 61: Fortune
Ω • Ω • Ω
7/19, Tuesday
•Akira•
Besides Ryuji stealing his umbrella, only a few other interesting events followed the wet aftermath of the fireworks festival. One was the silver-haired prosecutor grilling Sakura about something, and Sakura stubbornly responding to her. The other was the threat from Medjed, read aloud by the reporter on Leblanc's television.
'The hammer of justice…'
We already have the fist of justice. Let us see what they can do.
The next day, after listening to Ryuji talk about his shitty but passing scores, Mishima gave them as much info on Medjed as he knew, but it wasn't much. Unfortunately, Makoto, Yusuke, and Ann all had no luck finding out anything about them.
"Damn it… We need some intel on them, and fast."
Ω • Ω • Ω
•Alibaba•
"Clues on Medjed, huh?"
They grinned and clacked away at their keyboard. They had an in.
Ω • Ω • Ω
•Akira•
They didn't have leads. And there wasn't any easy way to get them. But if it came down to it… He could go to his uncle. That was a last resort, however.
It need not be a last resort if thou wouldst face thy fear of revealing thine heritage to thy brothers in arms.
Ignoring the voice of reason that admittedly had a very good point, he scrolled through his phone to see a message from Makoto.
Makoto— I've identified the student from the red-light district. She's a third year, Eiko Takao. I'm thinking of speaking to her directly about this. Can you sit in on this, too?
You— I'm assuming you're in the student council room?
Makoto— Yes. No one will be coming around today, so no one will accidentally walk in on the conversation. I'd like to hear about her situation as soon as I can. This is a delicate issue, after all.
You— Sure. I'm on my way.
Makoto— Thanks! It feels good to hear that from you, Akira. I will call her to the student council room, head over when you can.
"Akira!" Ann turned around in her chair before he could get up and leave the classroom, a bright smile on her face that nearly caused him to flush if he wasn't a master of his own emotions. Arsène and several other Personas scoffed, and he hushed them. "Do you want to hang out today? I want to get my head off of this Medjed stuff…"
"Actually, Makoto's asked me to come by the student council room to help her out. Maybe another time?"
He felt bad seeing her smile waver, but she plastered it back on and nodded. "Definitely! Alright, later!" She left the room, and he sighed as he packed his bag. Keeping his distance was hard, but it was for the benefit of the whole team.
Thou art not just hurting her, thou art hurting thyself with these pitiful actions.
He scowled at the words, before slinging his bag onto his shoulder, ignoring Morgana's little yowl, and walking to the student council room.
Thou cannot ignore thy 'self.' This behavior shalt only cause problems in the long run.
'It won't. And if it does, I'll smooth those problems over when they occur. Getting romantically involved with a member of the team is a recipe for disaster.'
A recipe for disaster is purposefully avoiding and then trampling upon the feelings of thy dearest Confidant!
If I co—
'DON'T BUTT IN!' Arsène and he roared simultaneously.
'I'm not trampling on anything!'
HA! Besides, were close relationships such a problem, you wouldn't bother getting closer to the others! Your bond with Ryuji is stronger at this point than hers!
'Ha! I thought you said she was my dearest Confidant?!'
She is, you buffoon! You may have more ranks with the Chariot, but the Lovers is a deeper connection! He scoffed. Shit. That's what he got for arguing with himself. He's probably the one person he couldn't win an argument against.
Or your mother, father, Uncles—
'Whatever.' Arsène at least was also losing his cool, considering he'd slipped out of the 'thou's and 'thy's and used 'you's and 'your's.
Before the argument with himself could continue he arrived at the student council room and knocked on the door. Arsène at least had the courtesy to let him focus on one conversation at a time. Makoto called him in, and he smiled as she looked up. "Howdy, Makoto. So, what kind of 'traps' will you be laying this time?"
Makoto's face flushed red with embarrassment. "Please stop bringing that up!"
"No. As terrible as it was at the time, looking back on it, that was hilarious. If you ever try and one-up me I will immediately bring it up," he smirked. Makoto could only sigh in exasperation, but it turned into a laugh halfway through. He sat down next to her and they began looking over their homework for the day.
It wasn't difficult for either of them, and the work was for different grades, but it was still entertaining. Eventually, Eiko walked into the room without knocking as he was in the middle of teasing her about one of the questions, and they both turned to her as she set her bag on the table and sat opposite them. She was on her phone the entire time, fingers practically flying as she texted away.
He shared a glance with Makoto, and she nodded as she took the lead. And she came out the gate swinging. "Eiko Takao-san. You've been spending time in the red-light district lately, haven't you? Both myself and Akira-kun here saw you there. Based on where you were heading, we assume you're working at a store called the 'After School Salon'. How is it, working there?"
Eiko finally put her phone away, looking up at them. "Whaddya mean? It's just a normal café. They make me wear a costume and stuff, but that's it."
Meido?
Stop.
You get enough maid-play with your teacher.
What a wonderful sentence.
"Oh, and I don't hafta do anything weird, if you know what I mean. It's all totally legal."
"Hm. So you're sure nothing strange is going on?"
"Yup yup, the worst I get is some weird old guys gawking at me."
"I see… Beyond that though, why are you working there? How's your financial situation?"
Eiko shook her head. "Uh, fine? I mean, I can just ask my parents for cash whenever I want."
"O-Oh, I see…"
"But they'd totally bug me about what I'm buying if I did that. That's why I work at the saloon. I get some good spending money, plus the guys who come in there, like, mega pamper me."
"Mega… pamper…?"
He hid a grin as Makoto struggled to keep up with Eiko's way of speaking, while the girl just kept going. "It's nice having people treat you like you're special, y'know? I'm sure a super honor student like you gets that all the time, though. Anyways… Are you gonna tell on me? You even brought a witness today. Hey, aren't you that one transfer student? Hold up, does that mean you two were in Shinjuku together? I thought you were with Takamaki? What's up with that, Miss Prez?"
Akira cut in, amused by the onslaught of questions. "You have the wrong idea about us."
"He's right," Makoto nodded gratefully. "It was nothing more than an errand I asked him to accompany me on. At any rate, don't mind him. As for you… I don't plan on telling anyone."
"Ohhhh, I get it! So we're, like, protecting each other's secrets? Oh crap, and your boyfriend's that rumored criminal… You're a real badass, Miss Prez!"
"I told you, that's not how it is! I was just worried you were getting wrapped up in some shady business, so I asked him here for support."
"It is true that I do crime, though,"
Makoto hissed at him angrily. "Shut up!"
"Hmmm… Eh, whatever. By the way, I was wondering… Is that a Buchimaru-kun pencil case?!"
"Huh? You know Buchimaru-kun?"
"I had, like, tonnns of Buchi stuff back when I was a kid. What a blast from the past! Wait, why's it so beat up?!"
"Well, it was given to me when I was still in elementary school… I'd like to buy a new one, but they've stopped selling Buchimaru-kun merchandise."
"OMG, this is too hilarious! The student council President has an adorable pencil case? My image of you has done, like, a complete three-sixty today."
"Um… isn't that a full circle?"
"Mmm, I dunno. I'm just real surprised. You don't look like the kinda person who'd be into that stuff. I mean, I always thought you were kinda like a robot, but I guess I just had to get to know you better. Hey, why don't we trade phone numbers?! I really wanna talk to you more about Buchimaru-kun… and your boyfriend."
Makoto was being verbally dragged along by Eiko, so much so that she nearly forgot to protest his being called her boyfriend. "O-Oh, um, okay… Wait, he's not my boyfriend!"
"Awright, saved!" Eiko cheered as their phones 'pinged!'. "Oh crap, it's this late already? I gotta get to work. I'll send you tons of pics of my Buchimaru-kun collection later though. Bye byeeee!" She grabbed her bag and was out like a flash, the storm that was known as Eiko finally leaving the room.
Akira quietly sat next to Makoto, the two intellectuals processing what just happened. Even with his much wider wealth of experience interacting with people like Eiko, he still needed a moment. "She was all over the place," Makoto finally muttered.
"Yeah. And I feel like I was just a third wheel that entire time. Why was I here again, darling dearest?"
"Please, don't you start too… Honestly, though, I'm in shock. She thought I was a robot…"
You should comfort her.
I agree.
"Beep boop."
Makoto glared at him. "Don't tease me!"
He would have made a 'law of robotics' joke, but he had a feeling she would literally tear his head from his neck. "Apologies, Queen."
"Honestly…" She shook her head. "You know, I believe what Takao-san said about me is how others think as well. I thought I had changed after the incident with Kaneshiro, but perhaps it wasn't enough."
"I wouldn't worry. No one can change that quickly, but you're making an effort. You'll be a real girl soon, Pinnochio."
She gave him the stink eye but at least didn't break one of his fingers. "That aside, it was almost inspiring to meet someone so distinct from myself."
"Ruru and Ann aren't your complete opposites…?"
"I'm going to try to look at things a little differently from now on. And, well… I think that will help me break out of my shell. I hope you're ready. I'm going to show you how useful an honor student can really be."
"You know that I was the honor student back home, right? I know quite well just how useful we can be," he snickered. She huffed at him, and he felt their bond grow just a bit deeper as chains shattered.
RANK UP!
Priestess Arcana, Makoto Niijima: Rank 3
"I'll be interested to speak with Takao-san some more now that I have her contact information. Perhaps I can correct her misconception about you… And as always, I'll let you know if anything important happens."
"Right. She must know we're not dating. I wouldn't want Ruru to get depressed."
She blushed bright red. "N-No! I mean the misconception that you're a criminal! Er, not that we're dating! She's wrong about that too! We aren't! And what does Ryuji have to do with it?!"
He just looked away from her. "I should get going."
"Akira?" He got up and walked out. "Akira! Answer me!"
Ω • Ω • Ω
On his way to Shinjuku, he was given an impromptu history lesson on the Egyptian God Medjed by Yusuke in the Phantom Thief group chat.
Enlightening. And not useful at all.
He groaned and let his head whack against the train window.
Ω • Ω • Ω
"G-Goodness gracious!" Chihaya looked honestly shocked, and he held back a smirk, not wanting to antagonize her… Well, not too openly. "Her boyfriend stopped abusing her? I don't believe it! But even if he did stop, her fate should still be heading down the path to misery, without changing!"
"Then let's see what the arcana reveals."
She hurriedly did a reading, and when the final card flipped he felt the world shift. "What?! The sequence of arcana has completely changed! 'Death' has moved far off into the future…"
"Fate is not absolute," he answered, becoming serious for a moment. "As long as you strive for it, it can be changed."
"Ngh… No, no, no! This must be some sort of trick. What are you, a scam artist? You made a deal with her boyfriend or something, didn't you?"
"I made no deals with him."
"That's an obvious lie! It couldn't have been that simple… Did you plunge him into Tokyo bay, or cram him into a metal drum and dump insects on him? You must've taken some sort of extreme measures!"
"ᨓƌɣβ⋲ ꔠ⋲ ⊔ی⋲ɗ ⋲ℓ⋲ᘓ⍭rơ-یꔠơᘓk ⍭ꔠ⋲ ƌφɣ, βơ⟟ηg?!"
He blinked. "Do I honestly look like I could do any of that?"
Chihaya faltered. "Well… You certainly do seem like just an ordinary high school kid. But there's no way that could've happened without you breaking the law. I mean, how could an ordinary high school student change the course of fate?"
"Because anyone could," he reiterated. "Even you."
"…Fine." She glared at him. "I'm just going to have to verify your power. The very power that reversed my tarot card prediction!"
"Pardon?"
"This is quite a serious situation for a fortune teller like me. I need to get to the bottom of this. You won't have to do anything. Just sit next to me while I tell fortunes. And if another unopposable fate happens to appear… Then I'll test your power."
"Do I get anything out of this?"
"Well… Um… Oh, I know! I'll read your fortune!"
"Something I could pay you to do anyway?"
"I'll prioritize your readings over my regular customers! Plus, I'll be able to provide much more accurate predictions once I get to know you better! How does that sound? Is it a deal?" He hesitated, watching as what seemed like despair spread across her face. "Otherwise, I won't be able to go on… Please, I beg you… I need to know if fate truly can be changed."
"ᘓꔠ⟟ꔠƌɣƌ..."
"Alright, no need to beg," he waved her words away, internally feeling a bit guilty. Just what had happened to her that made her so desperate for this? "I'll help you. Your abilities seem useful."
"Oh, they are! They are!" Chihaya immediately brightened up, relief and happiness spreading across her face. "Okay, then, I look forward to verifying your 'skills'! Please don't blow me off, okay? We've made a deal!"
"Indeed we have."
He offered her a hand which she gladly took, Arsène's voice and chains breaking echoing in his mind. Her fortunes have a power that matches, or perhaps even surpasses, our own… She will be a truly great asset.
I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
that breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Fortune Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…
Fortune Arcana, Fortune Teller: Rank 1
"Is fate… really something that can be changed? If it's really possible, then…" Chihaya became silent, thinking to herself. After a moment she realized that she'd spaced out, and looked at him with wide eyes. "Oh, it's getting late! Let's close up shop for today. It's past your curfew…"
He exchanged numbers with her, and with one final "βơ⟟ηg?!" he returned to Leblanc. What an interesting day… Hopefully, the next would be calmer.
"It seems you've got your share of problems Inmate." Caroline's voice spoiled the soft music that caressed his soul, and he sighed as he got off of his prison cot. Walking to the door he spotted the newest card that was part of his collection, representing his newly birthed bond with Chihaya.
The fortune card had the Roman numeral for ten on the top, while on the bottom the words La • Roue • De Fortune were written out. On the card, a cat-like creature wearing a crown with wings on its back rode a spinster wheel, a smile on its face.
"To think you would relax under such circumstances," Justine spoke up, likely referencing his hopes for a calm day. "Either you're quite bold, or quite foolish."
"Can't it be me being tired?" He sighed. "I'd like to get back to actual sleep."
"One with an 'unseen' form, hm?" Igor completely ignored him, still wearing that eerie smile. "It seems you've been targeted by troublesome company."
"You get the news in here or something? I don't see a TV."
A chuckle. "I've been enjoying this endless dispute over 'justice'. However, it will soon come to an end— and through the appearance of an unexpected force, of all things. Engaging with formidable enemies is also part of your rehabilitation. I ask that you overcome this. After all, you must hone your powers… and become a magnificent thief…"
Ω • Ω • Ω
7/20, Wednesday
•Alibaba•
Time to start the show.
Ω • Ω • Ω
•Akira•
Lunch finally came around, and he sighed as he rolled his neck. His morning started just peachy with another 'coincidental' run-in with Sketchy Akechi, and then he had to listen to random kids on the way to Shujin talk about the showdown between them and Medjed.
"Hey, your phone was buzzing earlier. Think it was someone wanting to hang out?"
"Maybe," he answered as he dug it out. Ann had left the room and Ryuji either hadn't popped in yet or wasn't coming to eat that day.
At the same time across the school, Ryuji debated going into Haru's classroom to ask about the events at the fireworks festival... But still felt a bit awkward just walking into her class. Maybe he would wait for the day of their gardening...
Akira leaned back in his chair. Seemed like it would be a slow lunch period. He checked his texts and raised an eyebrow when he saw that the messages were from an unknown number.
Alibaba— Greetings. I am the one they call Alibaba.
Alibaba— I wish to ask you something. You're a Phantom Thief who can steal hearts… correct?
Oh fuck.
"What the…?!" Morgana jerked up as he read the texts with him, banging his head on the roof of his desk. "How does he know!? Do you think it's a teammate pulling a prank on us?"
He barely paid attention, his mind whirling a mile a minute. Alibaba. Their chat icon was a round orb with a shark-toothed grin and pointed ears, no other features. Alibaba… A reference to Ali Baba, from 'Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves', one of the short stories in 'One Thousand and One Nights'?
If they chose the name because they'd found out who he was, then it certainly fit. In the story, it was said that Ali Baba found the den of forty thieves which held an enormous amount of treasure, only accessible if you said the magic words 'open sesame' to a rock blocking the entrance. Alibaba might have named themselves after the story to taunt him…
But this was very coincidental. Someone contacted him, the leader of the Phantom Thieves specifically, at the same time that Medjed was calling them out. Was there a connection between them? Medjed was an Egyptian god, and Ali Baba was from a Scarabian story. The two regions had their similarities. Scarbian gods were something that Uncle Anthony studied, and Uncle Noct knew a lot about considering Dalaam worshipped a similar religion, and they had multiple links to Egyptian mythos…
Alibaba— There is someone whose heart I want you to steal. But I'm not asking for charity. Let's make a deal. You wish to know about Medjed, correct?
He narrowed his eyes at his phone but still didn't answer. Did they know he'd just seen their earlier messages? Or was this one coming in now just a coincidence?
Alibaba— I can give you information on them if the change of heart is successful. If you so desire, I can take care of them as well.
Alibaba— Do you believe in my skills? I can track down their accounts, just as I have yours. But this is all I can prove at the moment. I've prepared every necessary tool on my end. Look forward to it.
"Akira, respond already!" He hesitated, but by the time he began writing, he got an error message. The account had completely disappeared. "We definitely have to tell the others about this…"
"We do." he continued to gaze at his phone, the messages sitting on his screen, mocking him. Damnit… He was smart, but he never studied programming. This Alibaba clearly had some way of reading their chat logs, that was the only way the man could have found out their identity with how careful he'd been. But how had they found their specific chat logs in the first place? Did he stumble upon their group chat on the internet while randomly hacking people's accounts?
Whatever the reason, he had no way to counter this.
Breath. Calm thyself, Trickster.
If you panic, then you've already lost.
Jussst keep calm.
"We'll wait. When school is out, we send a message to the group chat like everything is normal and ask to meet up. If Alibaba is reading our messages, I don't want them to expect a response to be ready any time soon, we'll act like we haven't seen their texts just yet. I want at least some time to talk this over with everyone."
"Alright… Make sure to grab Ryuji and Makoto, too. If they just see the normal messages in the group chat, they won't think its important enough to skip their study session."
"Good call, Morgana."
Ω • Ω • Ω
"Considerin' he mentioned stealin' hearts… He knows, doesn't he?"
They had all gathered at their hideout, the mood having quickly fallen after he revealed the real reason they'd gathered, and not a routine Mementos expedition or a discussion about Medjed. Reading the messages sent to him, everyone had varying degrees of shock, fear, and despair. "Seems so," Makoto murmured.
"How were we found out?" Yusuke questioned. "Akira has been exceedingly careful to correct us all when we do something that could oust us, and plans such as Madarame's Calling Card were crafted specifically to direct suspicion away from us."
"He may have traced our chat log," Makoto suggested.
"Or she," he corrected. "Either way, you're right. That's the one place we've been incredibly careless. No coded speak, no attempts to hide anything. Look at the chat room's goddamn name, for crying out loud!"
"How foolish of us…"
"But how would they have known all these details with just that?"
"Do you think there is another cause?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure why, but that's the feeling I get."
"Like what?" Ryuji interrupted Yusuke and Makoto's back and forth.
"There's no way to know right now," Akira answered for her. "But there has to be something for he or she to have looked into our chat logs specifically."
"Hey," Ann asked, "Is it that easy to look into someone's chat log?"
"I don't know much about it myself, but… it's probably not impossible, I think?"
"How's it done?"
"Maybe they extracted our phone's data?" Makoto suggested to Ryuji.
"Why's Akira getting an error when he tries to reply?"
"Perhaps the receiving end doesn't exist?"
"That's possible?!"
"Don't ask me everything, I already said I don't know much about it."
"Alright," he spoke up. "Let's stop bombarding Makoto."
Yusuke suddenly narrowed his eyes. "Wait. Is this what might be referred to as hacking?"
He was about to sigh and tell Yusuke 'Yes, obviously', before Ryuji looked at him with wide eyes. "Then, does this mean that this guy's a hacker?!"
"I don't get high-tech stuff," Morgana groaned. "What does this all mean?"
"An unknown hacker contacted us!" Ann exclaimed.
"I see… I don't really get it."
He looked at Makoto, and she shared his glance, completely exasperated. I'm losing my mind.
"Then, is this person Medjed?" Yusuke questioned, finally asking something proper.
"I don't think so," he shook his head.
"Agreed. After all, he says he can 'deal' with them. That is, only if we take his words for face value."
"True…"
"It could be a trap by someone from within Medjed. Attempting to make the PTs target an innocent and then besmirch our name?"
"Hey… If he is for real, wouldn't it be great if we got this guy on our side?"
"But we know nothing about their identity at all," Makoto reminded Ryuji. "We can't trust them."
"I-I don't think it's a bad deal, though…"
"Even if Alibaba turns out to be a criminal?" Yusuke questioned him. "I am not helping anyone of that sort."
"Oh right… Yeah, that would suck…"
"The 'I've prepared the necessary tool' part doesn't make sense, either," Morgana meowed.
"Could this just be a prank?"
"He knows an awful lot for it to be a prank, Ann."
"He also contacted me, the leader. This isn't a prank."
Ann looked worried. "If they know who we are, won't we get caught?"
"No. If they wanted to report us, I think they would've done it already."
"He must have some objective of his own," Yusuke agreed. "He did offer us a deal, after all. I'm certain he'll contact us again."
"Even after we do so, though… we can't know for certain they'll rat us out anyway," he muttered. "Best stay on our toes."
"There's no telling when he'll do so, though. It'd be best if we stay together. If something happens, we can act at once."
"Yeah. Sooo, somewhere we can wait and hide for long hours…"
Makoto smiled and glanced at him. He groaned, knowing just what she was going to say. "How about Leblanc?"
Ω • Ω • Ω
"What's with the big group?"
"Good evening," Ann chirped. "We were thinking about putting together plans for our summer."
Sojiro glanced at Makoto, and his eyebrows rose. "Another new face, huh?"
"It's nice to meet you," she spoke, stepping forward. "My name is Makoto Niijima. I hope we're not being a bother."
"She's our student council prez!" Ryuji grinned.
"Niijima…?"
"Is something wrong?"
A moment passed, and Sojiro chuckled. "Nah, it's nothing. A student council president, huh? I'm stunned. I hope he's not causing you too much trouble. I'm Sojiro Sakura, but everyone just calls me Boss." As Makoto bowed in greeting, the café owner handed him a letter. "By the way, that was addressed to you. Now, this old man'll get going and leave you kids be. All right, store's all yours."
"Yeah, beat it, old man." Sojiro narrowed his eyes and huffed, but he thought he could see a small smirk. With that everyone sat down at a booth, setting down food they'd bought at a diner on the way. As he grabbed his burger and began eating, he saw Yusuke retrieve the sunny side up eggs he'd requested for some reason, stick a straw in the yolk, and begin drinking.
His and Ryuji's faces became horrified, Ann burst out into laughter, Makoto sighed, and Morgana retched. Yusuke just looked confused at their reactions. "What?"
Ω • Ω • Ω
Aside from that horrifying incident, their meal continued on as normal, which meant chaos, considering their little group. After some time their eyes were drawn to Leblanc's small television and the news program playing.
"We have late breaking news on Medjed, whose notoriety rose since their statement the other day. Just moments ago, a new message has been released on their website. They have announced their victory over the Phantom Thieves." Akira narrowed his eyes and Ryuji scoffed. "Medjed also warns any Japanese citizens who praised the Phantom Thieves to stop doing so. We will report any further actions by Medjed as they arrive."
Ryuji and Ann pulled their phones out, likely searching for the message, and the bottle-blond groaned. "Ah, goddamnit! It's in English!" He quickly looked to Ann, who sighed and began reading, translating it into Japanese.
"Let me see… 'The Phantom Thieves remain silent at our question. This proves that we are just. People of Japan, wake up. You must not worship the Phantom Thieves.'"
"What?! That's bullshit!"
He grimaced at what the rest of the message said, and Yusuke shook his head at his reaction. "Keep listening."
"'We will discipline any who worship them. The punishment is the confiscation of possessions. We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil.' That's what it says…"
"{Shit…}"
"What does that all mean?!"
"They're saying that they'll target sympathizers of the Phantom Thieves," Makoto spoke.
"Confiscation of possessions, hm?"
"Perhaps bank accounts or personal information," she mused. "Either way, it won't be anything pleasant."
"Why the hell are we being singled out?"
"Perhaps all they care about is labeling the Phantom Thieves as crooks. That all this wouldn't have happened had the Phantom Thieves not existed."
"That's complete bullshit."
"Talk about a troublesome organization that we've been targeted by…"
Ann tapped the table at Morgana's sigh. "Isn't there anything we can do?"
"It's certain we can't do anything about this on our own…"
They all went silent at Yusuke's murmur, a pall of hesitancy over the café. It was true that they couldn't do anything on their own. But as he saw it, there were two options they had.
The first, rely on Alibaba. Not trust them, certainly not. But they would have to work with them at the very least.
The second… He would need to talk to his Uncle. But that came with a myriad of problems. For one, he did not doubt that Uncle Anthony would be very interested in why Alibaba thought he was a member of the Phantom Thieves, and why he needed Medjed dealt with. For two, his friends would question how the hell he'd gotten Anthony Andonuts to help them.
Ryuji sighed. "So, hey, what's this letter about? We don't need any more trouble."
He grabbed the letter and Morgana put his paws on the table. "It's rare for you to get something like this."
"Yeah. Everyone I know would rather text or call me. Who even uses letters anymore?" He opened the extremely plain letter, no markings or even a return address… 'or delivery address?' and inside was a calling card. "Huh?"
"Anything else in there?" He shook the envelope, then his head at Ann. "Who's this from anyway?"
"There's no stamp on it," Makoto observed. "Someone must've directly dropped it into the mailbox here…"
"Could it have been Alibaba?"
"That reminds me, he did mention something about preparing the 'necessary tool'… don't tell me, is this what he was talking about!?"
The absurdity caused Akira to let out a quick bark of laughter. "Wait, do they think we just have to send a calling card to steal a heart?"
"What the hell's goin' on here?"
"All we can do at the moment is wait for Alibaba's orders. Let's brace ourselves and stand by… In case anything comes up."
"Oh dear…"
Ω • Ω • Ω
7/21, Thursday
•Alibaba•
He hadn't responded the day before, but from their conversation the night before in Leblanc, they were open to assistance. Well, they were wary, but whatever.
Clack clackity clack… aaaand… sent.
You— Good day.
Now, to wait for a reply. If Starr didn't respond they'd send another, but—
Akira Starr— Howdy.
Dialogue had been opened! Let the conversation commence! Luckily, their Charisma had a plus modifier when they talked over the internet, so no need to worry about—
Akira Starr— You texted at a real bad time, dude. I'm in class. Gotta go.
Uh.
You— Wait a moment.
Akira Starr— Dude, I'm going to have a crater in my forehead if I keep looking at my phone in class. Don't delete your account again and maybe we can actually have a conversation instead of you cryptically texting at me. Peace.
This was not how Alibaba expected that to go. Akira Starr's texting style did not match at all… Whether it was to his friends or family, he was generally more uptight, even if he did joke with them… Was… Was he mocking them?!
You— Do not treat this as a game, Starr. I suggest you take this seriously.
You— Making a mockery of me would be a very poor decision.
You— Akira Starr?
…
DID HE LEAVE THEM ON READ?!
Time passed slowly, and they drummed their fingers on their desk as they waited for a reply. How long was a class in Shujin? No, don't focus on that. Think about what to say when he finally replied. They'd tear his ass a new one when that rude prick finally texted back.
Maybe they should just dox his ass right now…
Akira Starr— Well, I've got some time to chit-chat. So, what did you need? You think I'm a Phantom Thief and can change hearts or something, right? That's a good one. If you want me to change a girl's heart so she falls for you then my going rate is one hundred thousand yen!
They were too pissed off to enjoy his act.
You— Please do not play dumb. I have the chat logs to prove your group are Phantom Thieves. Now, have you received the calling card? I prepared it as I said I would, so when will you steal it?
Akira Starr— …
Akira Starr— Who's your dealer, because I'd love to buy whatever the fuck he's selling.
Twitcing fingers danced across the keyboard, but he responded again before they could send their own.
Akira Starr— Besides, even if I was a Thief, do you really think the whole changing hearts thing can be done just with a calling card? You didn't even give me a name, how exactly do I know whose heart I'm changing? Ali Baba would have realized that.
Their fingers paused, the screen illuminating their face as they stared blankly. Robotically, they deleted the message they were going to send and typed another one.
You— So you don't just need a calling card?
Akira Starr— Do you think those Phantom Thieves are just magical creatures that can read your mind and know exactly who to target with no clues at all? Come on, seriously now.
Their face blushed in embarrassment and typed another response, refusing to let Starr try and keep acting like they weren't a Phantom Thief. Starr was super stubborn, but they were not gong to be dissuaded.
You— So you need a name then. Is your heart thievery truly impossible without such information?
Akira Starr— I'd assume that'd just be the basics, but duh. If I asked you to hack somone then sent a computer to your house, you'd know exactly who I'm talking about without any more details? Sheesh, you might be the real magic man here, Baba.
Their head slammed down onto their keyboard. Shit. Shitty shit shit.
You— I see
You— Hm, I suppose past calling cards did have names on them.
You— One moment
They hesitated, heart pumping. Would they do this?
YOU KILLED HER!
MURDERER!
DON'T YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!
I NEVER SHOULD HAVE BIRTHED YOU!
They flinched, panic starting to overwhelm them, and forced themselves to type.
You— Very well, I'll tell you.
You— …
Clenching their eyes, they mustered their courage. This was the start of a grand quest, they just needed to take that first step and grab the sword.
You— I believe their name was Futaba Sakura.
Sweat began beading on their skin. They felt clammy. Their heart pounded in their chest. They'd done it. Shaking their head, they typed some more.
You— If you fail in this mission, I will expose your identity to the world and to the police. We shall speak again after the change of heart.
Seeing that he was typing something, they sent one last message before shutting down the account they were using.
You— No more playing the fool, either. I've done my research after reading through all of your chat logs. I can guess why you haven't used your connections with your family to solve this. Try that one more time and I'll put all the information I have about your family on your friend's phones.
Ω • Ω • Ω
•Akira•
He narrowed his eyes.
Prick.
"Akira, what are they talking about?"
"Don't worry about it," he responded quietly, clenching his fingers around his phone. Small sparks of PSI shot out of his hand as he nearly lost control of his emotions for a moment, the metal case of his phone cracking.
Morgana is going to be confused and intrigued by this. He is going to wonder about these 'connections'. If thou wishes to get ahead of Alibaba in at least one aspect, the time has come to speak of thy family to them.
Sighing through his nose, he closed his eyes. …Yeah. That was true. The fear that his friends would see him differently was still there, that they would care more for his family then him, but… Honestly, at this point, it was just stubbornness and a small lingering fear keeping him from saying anything.
He glanced at Ann's back as she sat in front of him, before scooping Morgana into his bag and walking to the rooftop. He had some time before the next class. "Akira?"
"One second." He opened the door to the roof after picking the lock, then walked to the fencing around the roof. He took a moment to think, Morgana pushing his way out of his bag, before speaking. "To make it all a long story short… My family is well known back in Eagleland."
Morgana blinked in surprise. "How well known?"
"REALLY well known. They have connections with people in very high places."
Morgana's mind was whirling as he thought back to a certain day several months prior. "Wait, when you said your dad knew someone in that Andonuts lab place…"
"Well, that was true, but… It's Uncle Andonuts himself that my dad knows. We aren't blood-related, but they're so close that he practically is my real uncle."
"Whuh… Seriously?!" Morgana leaped up onto all four paws and glared at him. "Why haven't you told any of us about this? Having the support of someone like that would have made dealing with Kaneshiro so much easier, let alone dealing with Medjed or Alibaba!"
He winced at Morgana's frustration, but he understood why he was so angry. "I know, Morgana, and I'm sorry that I haven't told anyone. Especially you. Ryuji's my right-hand man, but you're my partner, and I shouldn't have been keeping this from all of you." Morgana still looked upset, but he was standing just a bit prouder now.
"So why, then?"
"It's because…" He hesitated for a moment, cracking his knuckles on either hand with his thumbs absentmindedly. "This is… People knowing about my family is just…" He sighed. "Listen, this is something that I should probably tell everyone about at once. The whole reason I didn't want everyone to know about my family is stupid, embarrassingly so. I knew intellectually that it didn't make sense, stemming just from childhood misunderstandings, but I just could never push myself to tell you all about them, even when it would have been better for the team if I did."
"That's…"
"But also… If I got my father or uncle involved, what would they do? I'm sure they'd do their best to help us, stop Medjed before they do anything, and prevent Alibaba from blackmailing us, but after that, I'm certain they'd try and stop me from being a Phantom Thief. Not because they'd think what we're doing is wrong, I have full faith they'd agree with us, but instead because they'd think that I'm putting myself in danger… And they'd be right. I don't want them to be constantly worried about me risking my life as a Phantom Thief, and I don't want to leave you guys to do this on your own."
Morgana sat on the ground silently. "…I… Guess I can understand why you haven't said anything. But I'm still upset."
"I get that," he answered honestly. He, of course, didn't blame Morgana for being hurt by his hiding the truth, especially when it could have helped them with previous problems, especially their current one.
"If it means that they might force you to stop being Phantom Thieves, then… I guess we should hold off on talking to your family about any of this. But!" Morgana glared up at him. "Once this whole mess is dealt with, you'll tell the others about your family. They deserve an apology for making them all worry about what we could do to solve this problem with Medjed and Alibaba when you had a solution just sitting in your back pocket!"
"Right. Thanks for making me do it after we've dealt with everything. I wouldn't want the option to get my family involved sitting on the backs of everyone's minds."
"Yeah, yeah." Morgana climbed up and jumped into his bag, perhaps purposefully digging his claws into him a little. "But, there was something else I wanted to ask… Alibaba wants us to change this 'Futaba Sakura's' heart… isn't that…?"
"I noticed it too. Sakura is Boss' last name." He rolled his shoulders and began walking back to class, mind whirling a mile a minute. "There's a chance that there's more to our target and Alibaba than meets the eye…"
Almost forgot this notice, but during the email crisis, I uploaded chapters 57-60. Make sure to read those if you happened to miss them, and this is the first notification you're getting.
Medjed arc truly begins in earnest. Alibaba's gotten into contact with Akira and ordered a change of heart or she'll post his nudes on Twitter dot com. That and tell his friends that his family is famous, but one of those is clearly more important.
…
Anyway. The official start of the Fortune Confidant, as well as another rank of Priestess. I should say right out the gate, I dislike arcs that are born from characters just not talking to each other about what's bothering them, so there's not going to be some dramatic thirty-chapter arc where Ann and Akira are dancing around each other because one thinks the other is doing something but they won't just fucking ask the other about it. Sorry if anyone actually wanted to see something like that, I won't besmirch your taste because if you do like those kinds of stories more power to you, but I just can't stand it. The whole thing will be resolved.
We also got beep boop, so there's that at least. And Akira and Arsène arguing about if what he's doing is right, and if Arsène could manifest in reality he'd be slapping Akira on the back of the head. Akira slowly explaining his backstory has begun, starting with Morgana. And while he admits that his fears about his friends treating him differently because of his family are likely unfounded and based on an embarrassingly stupid event from his childhood, he's also concerned about the much more realistic event that his family would strive to keep him from being a Phantom Thief if they found out.
So, with an agreement that they would shelve the family discussion until after Medjed and Alibaba are dealt with, that's been put on the back burner. Hopefully, nothing happens that forces them to talk about it or cause Akira immense amounts of anxiety and stress lol. Definitely won't happen.
Also, I always find it funny that Alibabab just assumes that the PT's could change a random person's heart by sending them the calling card. Like, how did they not realize that the PT's wouldn't know who Alibaba wanted them to target? Alibaba's smart as hell, but their brain just kind of shut off there, lmao. Now then, let me know what you think of the chapter, or just leave a 'nice,' both are always great to read. See y'all next time!