Persona 5: Daywatch

Friday, 12 August 2016
Early Morning
Yongen, Leblanc

Futaba shook her hands, then accepted a dry towel from the transfer student who didn't know how to dress for summer weather. Seriously, was he cracked? Everybody knows you wear short sleeves in the summer!

The last customer of the breakfast rush stood from the middle booth, bumping the table.

Futaba shot closer to her key item and clutched his shirt.

Sojiro paced close and those big, dark eyes blinked under his spectacles. "You sure you want to do this?"

Her hands clenched tight fists of the transfer student's shirt.

When his arm lifted she flinched, but after a beat she felt his arm around her shoulder. "Hey, just breathe and take one thing at a time. Just like your last summer job."

Sojiro's voice whispered, but with enough rumble to carry a threat, "She only graduated middle school last year."

Akira gave a squeeze and removed his arm. "Uh, well… think of it as your first summer job of high school. I had plenty even before Shujin, you can take this. C'mon, give us a power pose."

She wanted to say the whole idea of posture changing attitude still sounded stupid, but Sojiro did look like he was calculating ways he could throw the transfer student out. As much as she wanted to avoid it, she'd never survive bosses if she couldn't handle scrubs. She let go of his shirt to make the stupid pose and raised both hands in fists. And dammit, it worked. "R-right. My first summer job of high school. Watch me do this."

Morning
Yongen, Leblanc

Futaba rinsed another plate, flicked the water off, and wiggled the plate to get some more droplets off before handing it to Akira. He took the ceramic and wiped away the remaining water with circular motions. As a local elderly rose from her table and shuffled to the register to pay, the hacker extraordinaire paced around the transfer student to a basket of dried silverware. She remembered Sojiro complaining about them being as battered as a World War Two destroyer, but Akira must have taken tools to them because they looked straight and polished. She hefted the basket and paced to the drawers close to the register.

Seriously, today was supposed to be a social training day. Why did it feel more physically demanding than fighting in Togo's temple?

The door's bell jingled as the old woman shuffled out. While her focus was on lining up spoons held in neat stacks by pegs, a surprise attack hit her delicate, unprepared mind.

The bell jingled again. A familiar girl's voice called out, "Aki!"

"Eep!" Futaba abandoned the silverware to dash behind Akira, incidentally putting her at the perfect vantage point to see the boy look up with a blush and almost drop the bowl he was drying.

Futaba peered out from behind her key item at her… key item's key item? This was the first time she saw Togo Hifumi first-hand. Woof. No wonder Akira begged the other Phantom Thieves to help her. That long, dark hair and fair skin nailed classical beauty. The beige dress seemed a bit drab, but didn't detract much from the girl wearing it. She made a mental note to step up teasing him about having a hot girlfriend. It would be easy mode.

Akira dropped his dish, and caught the bowl on the first bounce by sheer Phantom Thief reflexes. His eyes widened and pupils dilated, locked on the long-haired girl striding in. His lips parted just a little and the hacker heard a whispered sigh leak out.

Futaba made a revision. Teasing him over his girlfriend wasn't even going to be easy mode, it would be auto-win. She'd almost feel bad.

Then Hifumi turned those big, green doe eyes at him with all the same softness.

Futaba opened her mouth to offer Akira as an appetizer. Unbidden, she remembered yesterday's fight in Togo's temple and the abuse her mother was lining up for her. At least in Shinjou, Wakaba was always there for Futaba. This girl's own mother was wrapping her up for the same abuse she had to suffer.

Hifumi stopped by the register and leaned to get a bit better view around the transfer student. "Oh, sorry. Is everything all right? Did I come during a reservation for a special event?"

"Not at all," Sojiro said, stepping forward with an easy almost-swagger. "What can I get for you, Miss?"

Hifumi's eyes scanned over the old chalk menus, parts of which had faded. "Could I try a cup of today's dark blend?" Gloom seeped into her visage. "I'm not permitted to eat, given Mother's schedule today. I'm going to be scolded for not showing up early, but there's a lot to get done before Tanabata."

Futaba jabbed a finger at the transfer student. "Maybe someone can give you some satisfaction."

Despite his claims of purity, Akira's face flushed and he stammered at her.

Sojiro rolled his eyes and paced back to the coffee siphons. "Dark blend, coming up. Sure I can't get you anything to eat?"

Her hand moved to her stomach and her eyes flitted to the kitchen, but Hifumi slipped onto a bar seat. The controlled smoothness of her motions never ceased despite a weariness in those green eyes, as if a tiredness of life. Hifumi looked up at Akira with a tremble in her gaze, but after a blink her eyes flitted to the hacker and proprietor for a heartbeat before falling back on the boy. "Are you… close?"

Akira turned on his heel and marched around the counter, hanging up his apron on the way. He took a deep breath and sat down next to her, his hand drifting closer to the one she left on the counter for a beat. "Not yet. I'm sorry."

Sojiro tapped the hacker on the arm and held out a cup of coffee on a saucer. "You ready to bring things out to the customer?"

"S-sure!" Futaba said, cursing her stammer. If she could shoot her uncle empowered by her warped heart, she could bring out a cup of coffee in a controlled environment like this! She took the saucer and marched one foot in front of the other to the girl she'd been spying on since she cloned a bug from Akira's phone. While the girl was crying. What could be intimidating about this?

"Yo," Futaba managed, blurting out what had to be the dumbest opener in existence. Seriously! She was supposed to be smarter than Ryuji! She didn't realize her hand started trembling until Hifumi reached out to take the saucer and it quieted. Despite her higher brain telling her there wasn't a threat, her hindbrain screamed, Different Thing! and she shot behind Akira.

Hifumi set the coffee on the counter, reaching her free hand after the hacker. "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you all right?" She looked up at the others. "I apologize, I haven't violated coffee shop etiquette, have I, Master Proprietor?"

"No. And just Boss is fine," he said, though the hand towel he dried his dry hands with stretched in his grip. His dark, bespectacled gaze moved to Futaba. "You okay?"

Akira rested his hand against the hacker's upper arm for a moment, the grey faux-leather of his glove tickling against the bare skin beside her black tank-top. He whispered, tone at such a hush she almost missed, "Just one more step."

The reminder of his cajoling before they changed her heart helped kick her back into gear. If she could track down the Phantom Thieves while still under the malign influence of her twisted heart, she could manage this while she was a Phantom Thief! Futaba straightened her pose and nodded, as much at Hifumi as to reassure Sojiro. "I-I'm all right. I'm just trying to get used to being outside again."

Hifumi shifted on her chair to face the hacker straight-on. "Oh? Well, good for you for not letting the hectic city keep you down."

Futaba blinked. Anybody else would have made some dismissive snort, but the older girl in front of her somehow meant that praise, seemed as pleased as if she'd accomplished something. Why?

Hifumi's smile faded away and her gaze turned to the transfer student, but a tension surrounded those green eyes. "How are you holding up? I hope no more arguing with cats."

The blush that had been fading on Akira's face returned. His gaze dropped from hers and he scratched his cheek. "No, no. I… actually have a few apologies to make about then. I got impatient and stressed without cause and I took it out the people around me."

Hifumi took his arm in hand, a wooden quality to her small, determined smile that made the hacker question it. "See? Just like in shogi. You come back from one defeat, stronger for the next game."

Futaba drew back a step. She didn't like the energy in the air, the sad undertone to the shogi idol's words.

Akira and Hifumi weren't making out or having deep heart-to-hearts or even holding hands, they were just sitting next to each other, being gloomy together. He wouldn't even reach out to put an arm around her even though she was leaning towards him.

Did every manga online lie to her?

Hifumi sipped her coffee, then reached for the creamer. Akira did, too, and their fingers brushed. A blush colored both their cheeks.

Futaba found herself tensing in anticipation, raising both fists almost to her chin.

Akira's hand retracted and he leaned one elbow on the counter, the retreat so unlike the boy who broke into her house just to give her a pep talk.

Hifumi took the creamer and poured in a small measure into her coffee. Despite the tiredness in her eyes, she still maintained a resolute grace. She stirred, then sipped her coffee again. "This is so much better than the coffee they offer at my interviews. Do you do catering, Boss-san?"

"Nah," Sojiro said, all cool and above it. "This little refuge from the hustle and bustle is all I want or need. You're welcome to take some home or to the office, with you. I've had customers cart a liter away in a thermos."

The corners of Hifumi's lips pulled further down. "A pity." She took another sip. A beat of melancholy breathing passed around the cafe before the long-haired girl glanced aside and noticed the hacker still there, staring at her from the other side of Akira. "Oh, did you need something?"

Despite Futaba's promise to herself to stand strong, the attention caused her to shrink behind Akira.

"Don't mind her," Akira explained. "She's a little nervous around strangers."

Before the hacker could make plans for how to punish him for throwing her under the bus, Hifumi straightened. "Oh. Well, I'm Togo Hifumi," she said with a polite little bow on her seat.

Futaba wished she could decide which was more awkward, tip-toeing around knowing exactly who the other girl was or forcing a year's worth of shut-in habits behind her. Her mouth felt dry as she blurted, "F-Futaba." She cringed. If Makoto and Akira both agreed she shouldn't hide behind her mask, she should get used to not hiding behind Akira. That thought set off a whole new wave of anxiety down her spine. "I-I'm Sakura F-Futaba."

Hifumi gave an incline of her head and faint smile. "See? Now we're not such strangers." She held a hand up to stage whisper, "I was nervous about meeting strangers when I was younger, too. It gets easier with practice."

Futaba would have let out her nervous laugh if she wasn't so sure she'd sound like one of the subjects of the Milgram Experiment. "R-right." The hacker could see why Akira preferred the older girl.

That smile on Hifumi's face took on a stiffer quality and her gaze shifted to take in both the hacker and boy sitting beside her. "So, how did you two meet?"

"Oh, I bugged Akira's phone and overheard him talking about Phantom Thief stuff. Then I bugged your phone and listened to your mom treat you like evil men tricked me into thinking my mom thought of me," seemed like way too radical honesty, but where did she start?

Perhaps unable to tolerate the tense silence, Akira lifted a hand and pointed at Sojiro. "Meet Sakura Sojiro."

"Oh. That makes sense," Hifumi said. She raised her cup at the hacker. "You're very fortunate to be able to enjoy coffee like this every day."

Futaba held up a hand, pointer finger extended. "It's so good with mom's curry."

Akira nodded. "I'd have never thought it before, but it's an amazing combo."

Hifumi swallowed her sip and lowered her cup. "I love curry, but they're weighing me before the shoot so I can't eat until dinner."

Now Futaba knew what her computer felt like when she told it to use a device before installing the driver. She strained to recombine what the Kosei girl said into something that made sense. "You can't eat… because…?"

Hifumi's shoulders stiffened and her fingers tightened on her cup. "They weigh us before the wardrobe and makeup teams are brought in."

"But…" Futaba shifted to her right foot. "They not only force you to wear dumb costumes, they also starve you?"

"Yup!" Hifumi chirped, a smile so sweet it somehow highlighted the bitterness she didn't actually let out in her tone.

Futaba was already mentally charting what network security these companies probably had. Oh, some producing executive was cruising for a cybernetic bruising. "Don't you… faint?"

Hifumi let out a short breath. "Sometimes. Usually in long shoots when I couldn't get breakfast or dinner."

Akira started to overcome the fuses shorted out in his brain and he turned to the Kosei girl, one hand reaching out to grasp hers. The hacker noted the shogi girl spun her hand around to clutch his hand in hers. "They with-hold food from you… for what?"

Her fingers squeezed his. "Girls are supposed to be light and compliant. And apparently powered by batteries and not calories, but if the shoot manager doesn't forward a positive report to Mother, I'm not allowed out on my own to see you."

Futaba wasn't even in such an insane situation and she was tempted to rip her hair out by its black roots. "How do they get you to agree to something like that? That's gotta be… child abuse!"

Hifumi shrugged. "They let me have my own TV. Lets me get caught up on Endeavour or Planet Earth." The corner of her lip twitched and an unfocused quality entered her eyes. "We used to all pile on the bed together at home and watch, but not since Father's collapse." She took another sip of her coffee. "What kind of fun things do you do with your father?"

Futaba's gaze fell to the floor and she fiddled with her fingers.

Sojiro paced out of the kitchen. "No interrogating the help."

"It's… it's okay," Futaba tried to reassure Sojiro. Her family situation may be complicated, but it wasn't for most people. Back when she was still in middle school with Kana, lots of people chatted about what each other's family members were doing, so of course hers came up, too. Even Kana talked about her parents, even if it was almost always money problems. Just because her situation was father-less didn't mean others would know that. She jerked her hands down and steeled herself. "Mom never talked about my biological dad. I don't think he treated her right."

Hifumi raised her cup as if for a toast. "Well fie on him. Clearly your mother did an excellent job with just you and her." She brought her cup to her lips for a deeper drink. Then she pulled out her phone to check the time and sighed. "I'm afraid I have to be going."

Akira stood and let go of her hand to dig out his wallet. "I'll get your drink."

She flipped her phone over to pull a steel grey card from a holder on the back. "Nonsense. You mentioned how difficult your employment situation is, I can't make you pay for even more things if you're already struggling."

"But I—"

She gave him an exasperated smile. "Let me handle it, Akira-kun. Most of the money for these shoots goes to Father's care, but Mother does let me spend some of it. When I have the opportunity." She handed the card over to Sojiro and he pulled out a pad with attached reader to tap. "Thank you for the moment of respite." Hifumi graced the room with a small smile and strode out.

Futaba took the clueless boy's sleeve just to have something to swing around. A beat passed before he yanked his arm from her grip. Then another before she asked in a hushed tone, "Weren't you going to ask her about how we might change her mother's cognition?"

"Shit!" Akira blurted before dashing out the door.

Sojiro just shook his head with a faint smile before his eyes came to rest on the hacker. "To think Wakaba's little girl is going to work and talking to customers. She'd be proud of you, Futaba."

Late Morning
Yongen, Back Streets

Akira sprinted through the narrow streets to catch up with the elegant girl too resolved to let her pace become a trudge. He couldn't help but worry that the frown on her face reflected the darkness in her eyes. "Sorry, I didn't want to get into a discussion on…" He glanced around. "…Phantom Thieving in front of Boss. But we ran into a problem in your mother's palace."

She clasped her hands behind her back. "Palace?"

"Her, uh… The manifested reality formed by her distorted heart." Akira scratched the back of his head. Morgana stayed back with Futaba, but having him around might have been useful. Either to explain details or to put a limit on how much he was supposed to explain. Still, he trusted her more than anybody else, including the Phantom Thieves. "There's a bunch of routes to the seed of her distorted desire, but the problem is there's either fog or this cognitive monster wolf that's blocking us. That's what all the texts yesterday were about. Can you think of any link to the real world to change or overcome those blocks?"

Hifumi unclasped her hands, those lovely green eyes darting up. "Fog tends to represent a lack of knowledge, or clarity. Fog of war, for example, is the set of unknowns of either one's own forces or one's enemies." She wiped at the sweat on her brow. "Given the current weather, I doubt it's anything literal."

"And we don't have much of a time period to contrast it. She didn't even have a Palace until a few weeks ago." Akira crossed his arms. "I can say it's been getting worse. Each time I've gone in, there's been more and thicker fog on the grounds."

Hifumi adjusted her dress' loose sleeves. "It's hard to imagine Mother as being anything other than sure of herself. It could be related to Papa's prognosis, or maybe she's even not sure what to do with me, but I'd rather not give her any clarity about how to hem me in any further."

An awkward silence descended on them as both pondered.

"Describe this wolf."

Akira leaned against the concrete wall. "That beast is fucking hu—"

Hifumi cleared her throat.

"Sorry." Akira straightened. "Anyway, it's massive. Appears like a ghost from out of the fog, then the fog falls away and there's a growling, fanged beast that chases us until we can get through a door it's too small to follow us through."

Hifumi pursed her lips. "You say ghost, but if its size limits where it can follow you then it does have concrete physical limitations."

Akira nodded. "If it isn't flesh-and-blood, it looks like it. Not like a gashadokuro. It doesn't seem much phased by any kind of energy our Personas throw at it. Its white-and-grey pelt blended into the fog, so it's like it only shows when it wants to. And those eyes… staring into me like it wanted me to know it was the last thing I saw before it tore everything apart."

Hifumi's eyes held the same distant quality that Kawakami-sensei held when filing and sorting something new. "No patterns, saddles, uniforms, or strapped-on weapons?"

Akira couldn't see what she was getting at. "No. Just… a big, furry, mean wolf."

The lines deepened on her face into a clear frown. "If it had some kind of emblem, that might have given us a symbol shortcut. Dogs are cultural symbols for defenders, for loyalty… sometimes to the point of stupidity." A smile crawled across her face and a giggle slipped out. "Real ones are often big goofs who just want to play, like Antalas." She wiped the smile from her face. "But wolves are pack predators."

"Antalas?"

Hifumi clasped her hands behind her back. "Oh, the husky Rumi gave me." Her eyes drifted to him, taking in the confusion in his visage. "He's the family dog. Well, mine. I'm the one who trained and takes care of him."

Akira took off his glasses to press both palms against his eyes. "Ugh. Why did I not just ask if you had a dog?" He settled his glasses back on. "That might be the ticket. We need your mother to see us all with Antalas."

Hifumi cringed. "That may be a little difficult. Antalas is the sweetest thing… to me. Because I interact with him all the time. He's a bit territorial."

Crossing his arms for a beat in thought, it took a moment before Akira looked back up at the shogi maestra. "Is there any way…?"

Her eyes darted back and forth, then back to his. "I think we can jump-start the process. I had to do it with Yuna-kun when I wanted to invite her home. But it involved keeping a shirt underneath his food bowl and at the foot of the bed where he sleeps." A touch of pink dusted her cheeks. "A… used shirt. Scent acclimation. The scent builds a familiarity and association with good places for him."

Akira stamped down the urge to reach out and rub those cheeks with his thumb. He reached into his pocket to pull out his phone to message the group. "So you just need used shirts?"

Friday, 12 August 2016
Late Evening
Shibuya, Untouchable

Akira tapped the yen notes to straighten them, then gave a nod to the hobby and surplus shop owner. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Iwai gave a nod and touched two fingers to the brim of his cap.

Before Akira even got to the door, his phone buzzed. Drawing it, he saw the Phantom Thief chat active. "Somebody's impatient. I haven't even gotten to the deposit yet."

His hands clenched when he read to Yusuke's text. [Did somebody disclose our identities to the public?]

Ann replied, [Ryuji, who did you blurt it to THIS time?]

[Why the fork are you blaming ME?]

Makoto's ID winked in, and she sent, [Let's back up. Did something happen, Yusuke?]

[I was out buying paints and drawing charcoal when I overheard a fellow art student say he's an acquaintance of the Phantom Thief.]

Futaba popped up with, [C'mon. That's obviously a loser trying to glom onto our rep.]

Ryuji texted, [Still, isn't it sweet we have a reputation people want to be a part of? When we announce Medjed's defeat, I bet we'll make TV.]

Mishima replied, [In a sense, you guys already were on TV back in June when Hashimoto-sensei and Akechi tried to say you didn't exist.]

Ryuji shot back, [See, Akira? This is why I said we should tell the world we put down Medjed right away. Show those no-good ash holes the Phantom Thieves are the real deal!]

[Oh, we'll make prime time. If we get caught.]

Three dots danced next to Ryuji's ID.

[I would have to take a couple days hacking Medjed's main page,] Futaba sent. [The poser threatening us was a script kiddie, but most of the others are the real deal. A lot of them have even been hacking longer than me. We won't have time until Togo's palace is done.]

At last, Ryuji sent, [You can be a real jerky, you know that, Akira?]

Three dots danced next to Makoto's ID for a beat. [By the way, Akira. When is the time frame for the shirts Hifumi needs?]

Mishima replied, [Yeah, I was kind of confused by your text, too. I thought used clothes were a fetish vending machine thing.]

[As soon as possible, she said Antalas is pretty territorial.] Akira had to admit he didn't really understand Hifumi's request the other day either. [Hifumi said it was necessary so Antalas would let us inside. Something about scent acclimation. I assume it makes sense to pet owners. You should be okay, Mishima, only the ones going into the palace NEED to do this. The ones Futaba and I gave her should do for a start, but the rest of you need to join in, too.]

Mishima texted, [Well, you're the one with a cat.]

Morgana growled from his shoulder. "I am not a cat! Tell them!"

[Obligatory: Your Shoulder Is My Throne says 'I am not a cat'.]

Before the team leader could protest, Ann texted, [Today was your first day at work, right, Futaba-chan? How was it?]

[Well, Hifumi showed up. I'm in the process of hacking her mother's computer now. She's actually got a really robust firewall and VPN system.]

Makoto texted, [Could you possibly NOT engage in cybercrimes while working with the Phantom Thieves?]

Akira sent, [She served coffee and we talked a bit about family. It was nice until she told us that her photo shoots starve her.]

[Oh, yeah.] Ann sent. [A lot of agencies do that garbage. That's why I went with one that doesn't do weighing.] A beat later, she added, [But good for you getting out there, Futaba-chan!]

[Totally,] Ryuji sent. [A phantom thief can't save people's hearts if you're scared of people.]

Ann texted, [What about Akira?]

Akira growled as he shot back, [Shut. Up.]

[This I gotta hear!] Futaba replied.

Morgana dropped down back into the day satchel. "You have to admit, Joker, you've got crowd anxiety. Maybe helping Oracle can help you figure out a way to handle it yourself. For now, put the chat down and let's go deposit the cash. The sooner the rest of the Thieves get trinket money, the sooner we can make the upgrades necessary to progress in the Palace."

Akira checked his phone, but despite Hifumi's promise to text him when they finished the photoshoot today, still nothing. He tried to remind himself that he didn't have a right to her, no matter what his heart said. She was more reliable than him, she'd call or text when she had something to say.

Akira stopped by the bank to deposit the cash, then had the money wired out to the rest of the Phantom Thieves by the time he walked out of the lobby. On the way across Station Square, a woman thudded into him. The same thing happened what felt like once a second when he was outdoors in Tokyo.

Her hand came out of her purse from whatever she had been worrying, flinging small bits of something chunky and granular on him. "Oh!" Her eyes widened and her hand scrabbled through her purse. She shrieked, "No!"

Before the transfer student could back away, some salaryman shouted, "I think he just picked her purse!"

Like a pack of wolves pouncing on a wounded gazelle, the crowd rounded on him. Already on edge from lack of word from Hifumi, Akira returned their hostility with a snarl of his own. "Oh, fuck off! She ran into me!" He started brushing at the white, chunky crap she got on him. Rubbing it between his gloved fingers, the crystalline substance broke apart.

The thirty-something woman ignored all the rest of them and dug into her purse, her hand coming up with larger chunks of the same white crystal. She sobbed. "My holy stone!"

The politician called out, "Let's remain calm, everyone. Back up and give them some breath." Toranosuke Yoshida stepped through the less-than-cooperative crowd ringing the transfer student and woman sliding to her knees, ignoring the handful of people recording video instead of doing a damn thing to help. "Ma'am, are you injured in any way?"

Sobbing, she slid to her knees and dug more of what looked like a rectangular, white crystal that had broken apart.

Yoshida lowered to one knee to try to get more in her field of view, but hesitated to touch her. "Are you all right, ma'am? Do you need me to call someone for you?"

Tears trailed down the woman's face and the transfer student noticed the yellow of a fading bruise under her left eye. "The holy stone was supposed to protect my happiness, my Yuya."

Akira crushed and spread some of the shards of white the woman got on him between his fingers. He knew it from somewhere. He licked at a glovetip. "Wait a second, this is just rock salt. Miss, there's nothing to worry about, you can buy salt at any corner grocer's."

Instead of taking calm from his words, the bruised woman wailed, "I have to buy another holy stone from the Maiden of Relief! It's the only way to keep my Yuya!" She clutched her purse closed and scrambled off her feet towards the JR line.

Concerned that the woman seemed in the middle of a psychotic breakdown, Akira stepped out to catch her before she could hurt herself or someone else during her manic burst.

Yoshida stepped into his way. "Whoa, young man."

Akira heard somebody in the crowd mutter something about purses. He forced his focus to stay on the politician in white gloves. "She's got to be off her meds or something. She was crying about 'holy stones' and holding a broken chunk of rock salt."

"Do you think she was having one of those mental shutdowns?"

"Those are fake. She's probably just stressed 'cause of Medjed threatening to destroy the economy at the end of the month."

Yoshida stepped away from the transfer student and held up his hands to draw attention to himself. "Ladies and gentleman, we gain nothing by speculating after the fact on the mental state of a third party. She had whatever troubles she had, but neither she nor the boy were harmed and she is now on her way. Let us reserve our time and energy for those we are with now. That is how we help ourselves and our nation forward."

"Kinda preachy," somebody behind the front said.

One of the people capturing video on his phone said, "Yeah, but how often's a politician get off a soap box to help one'a us?"

A barbed joke hovered on the tip of Akira's tongue, but this politician had thwarted all his expectations of political behavior. He listened, invested his personal time, and didn't seem full of himself. He advocated responsibility and solidarity across generations instead of the obedience Akira's old man supported. Instead, Akira straightened and said, "If he's doing this much out of office, imagine what he'd do if he was elected."

He expected the crowd to do like him and snark back with 'yeah, right's, but to his surprise he heard more hums of agreement. Granted, some laughs which could have been congenial disbelief floated out of the crowd. Even so, the amount of movement behind him set off his anxiety.

Whether Yoshida needed the help or saw the hairs on the back of the student's neck stand up, he offered his sign, then stood up on his soap box and launched into a speech about coming together to mend society's ills. When the cameras all left and the thinning crowd no longer took notice of him, the politician wrapped up his speech and took a drink of water from his tepid bottle.

Morgana popped his head out of the satchel. "I hope you've been taking notes, Joker. He's using a lot of good technique you can use to convince Shadows to join us, or give us useful items."

"Yeah, yeah," the student said as he re-shouldered the satchel set down at the beginning of the speech. He turned to the politician to thank him, but the nagging question about what that bruised woman meant with holy stones and Maiden of Relief left him juggling multiple thoughts. Something about it felt more specific than the generic mysticism many Japanese still clung to.

Yoshida gave a small, practiced smile. "Thank you, lad. You didn't even know that woman earlier and you were still trying to help. Engagement and charity are strong virtues in you."

Akira scratched the back of his head. "The world isn't always selective before dropping a problem on your doorstep, but what's the alternative? If nobody helps anybody else, it takes very small externalities to pick us off one by one."

The politician gave a small chuckle. "You're wise beyond your years, Kurusu-kun. I will be taking this Sunday off to take my wife to Tanabata, but I'll be speaking again next Sunday. If you're interested."

Having no idea if they'd be finished with Togo's palace, Akira gave a practiced smile he hoped didn't look too fake. "I hope I have the opportunity, Toranosuke-san." As he paced down the stairs to his train, he popped open the Phantom Thief chat to put out a warning in case somebody else had heard of a pyramid scheme involving holy stones.

AN: Hifumi's description of the arbitrary and inhuman conditions subjected to idols is based on a documentary on Korean pop idols, but the same things happen in Japan.

To my surprise, the murder mystery Endeavour by ITV Studios has a strong following in Japan.