Chapter Text
"Aaaaaaaaah!" Makoto ran desperately against time. She overslept, and would be getting late to school! This was unacceptable! The Student Council President had never once arrived late to school in her whole life!
Makoto usually walked all the way to school on foot, but this time she took a train to save time. She had just come out of the station and was running on the street.
"Watch out!"
Makoto heard the warning and halted just in time to avoid colliding with a lamppost. She turned behind to thank the person that had warned her, and...
"... Niijima-san?"
"Miura...!" What surprised Makoto the most wasn't the fact that he was there, but the fact that he didn't seem in a hurry and wasn't even in his uniform. Makoto frowned. Was he going to skip classes...!?
"Niijima-san, why are you in such a hurry?"
"Why?!" Makoto hollered. "What do you mean by 'why?!' School, of course!"
"School?" Miura blinked in confusion. "Uh, but today is Sunday..."
"..." Makoto stared incredulously at Miura. "Y-you've got to be kidding me..." Her first impulse was to accuse him of mocking her, but she took her cellphone and checked the date. It was indeed Sunday. Makoto wanted to slap herself. How embarrassing! What was she thinking?
"You... forgot?"
Makoto nodded shamefully, with a disgruntled expression.
"Oh, I thought it was strange, but then I thought that maybe you had something to do there on Sundays, like an extra duty from Student Council or something."
Makoto shook her head. "No, th-there isn't such a thing! I... I really messed up." She expected him to laugh, but he didn't. Makoto took a deep breath and changed the subject. "And what are you doing here this early?"
"Just doing my morning jog. I wasn't going to come here this early, but Morgana woke me up at the same time as always."
"Oh." It made sense. Makoto guessed that cats didn't tell weekends apart from weekdays. "At least I wasn't the only one that mixed the weekdays up..." And she smiled upon seeing that Morgana was actually there right next to Miura. "Morgana seems so quiet today."
Miura agreed. "Probably because I didn't threaten to lock him up."
Makoto recalled that Miura said he was doing his morning jog. "Oh, Miura, I interrupted your jog, didn't I? I'm sorry."
"No, I was already finished, actually. I was about to head back."
"Are you headed to Leblanc? Is it okay if I come with you? I still didn't have my breakfast..." Makoto hoped he would agree. She was already out on the street, and having some company would be nice.
Miura seemed to hesitate for a moment, but in the end he nodded.
They didn't talk much on the way to the cafe. The most amusing thing was to watch how Morgana obediently walked next to Miura. And when they boarded the train, Miura hid Morgana inside his bag, and the kitty didn't make a noise.
"Morgana is behaving quite well today, isn't he?" Makoto commented once they had disembarked. "I got worried when we were about to ride the train, but he stayed perfectly quiet."
"It's a relief to see him this quiet. He trashes my room every day, and then I have to waste a lot of time reorganizing it. It's probably a good thing that I don't have much in my room." Miura sighed tiredly. "But you know, I'm so tired of struggling with him that I'm beginning to think it may be easier if I take him to school."
Miura was considering taking Morgana to school? That was absurd. "You're kidding, right?"
"..." Miura's expression remained impassive, and he said nothing.
What if he were actually serious? "Th-that won't be good!" Makoto glared at him. "It's wrong! It's against the school's rules!"
"If you have a better suggestion, I'm all ears."
Makoto was incredulous. She stared him in the eye. "Miura, you aren't seriously considering to take Morgana to school, are you?!"
"I need a suggestion as to what to do about him." Miura countered, and neither confirmed or denied his previous statement.
Makoto tried to come up with a suggestion, but nothing came to her mind.
"Oh, hey!" A man in a business suit waved to Miura, and they were forced to stop walking. "You must be full of energy to be up so early on a Sunday! And who is this pretty lady with you?"
"Uh, I'm Makoto Niijima, the Student Council President of Syujin High School."
"I'm Toranosuke Yoshida. Nice to meet you." The man introduced himself. "You're in your uniform and with a school bag... perhaps you forgot that it was Sunday and was on your way to school?"
Makoto flinched. Was it that obvious? She felt like hiding in embarrassment.
"Ha, ha, ha. So I nailed it?" The man laughed amusedly. "I know how that feels, though. It happened to me a lot in my times of youth. It was ironic because I hated going to school, and ended up doing it even on Sundays! Anyway, you said you're the Student Council President. Are you interested in politics? Would you two mind listening to my newest speech plan? I just finished the script yesterday."
"Huh? Um..." Makoto was overwhelmed by the man's nonstop rambling.
Thankfully, Miura saved her. "Yoshida-san, I'm sorry, but we're in a hurry. Maybe some other time."
"Oh, it's fine. Another time then. See you youngsters around! Enjoy your Sunday!"
They resumed walking and went on their way.
"That guy talks too much," Miura said. "Better to cut him off before it's too late."
"It looks as though he talks to you regularly." Makoto observed. "How did you meet him?"
"I stopped to listen to one of his speeches, and he called me over to talk. Then, I learned that he can go on and on for hours if there's someone around to listen."
"Who is he, exactly?" Makoto asked. "I think I remember him from TV or something, but I can't put a finger on it."
"He's a politician, but he didn't take his campaigns seriously in the past and lost all his credibility. He says he's regretted what he did and wants to be back on the field to put his abilities to good use. Honestly, I hope it's true, and I'm curious to see what happens."
"Hopefully it's true." Makoto smiled. "A lot of people are having changes of heart lately. We have to have faith in people."
"Yeah." Miura also seemed hopeful.
They arrived at Cafe Leblanc. This time, Makoto chose to have a meal instead of a sandwich, and ordered a serving of curry rice. Miura went to talk to the workers, and Makoto had to await her meal alone. With nothing to distract herself with, Makoto began thinking about Joker again. What was he doing right now? Had he finished his homework? Did he have plans for this Sunday? She hoped he wouldn't use the day to engage in bad activities like stealing. Makoto wished she could be near him and be able to lead him away from bad activities.
Her order arrived, and she started to eat. After a few minutes, Makoto began regretting her choice of food. It tasted good, but she lost her appetite. She felt that curry rice was too strong for her stomach early in the morning, or at least that morning. Makoto sighed. She wondered what kinds of food Joker liked. Why am I thinking these things?! Makoto caught herself and tried to continue eating, but soon concluded that her stomach wasn't up for curry rice.
"Ah." Makoto sighed heavily. "No, I can't eat anymore..." She let go of her chopsticks and set the bowl aside.
Makoto began staring absentmindedly at the turned on TV while she waited for someone to take her half-empty bowl away. She spaced out for a few minutes, and failed to realize what was going on right in front of her eyes.
"Ah!" A startled gasp from Miura snapped Makoto back to attention. "Morgana, what are you doing?!"
Morgana had climbed onto the table and was furiously wolfing down the leftover curry rice.
Makoto also gasped in shock. "Ah, Morgana...!"
"I can't believe this..." Miura muttered in exasperation, and threw an apologetic glance at Makoto.
"Uh, I don't mind. I lost my appetite and I had already given up on the curry rice."
Miura relaxed a bit. "Ah, what a relief... I thought he had stolen your food!"
"No, it's fine... but will Morgana be okay? Isn't the food too strong for him?"
"Morgana will be fine. He eats a lot, and he eats any kind of food."
"Oh, alright then." Makoto giggled at the sight of Morgana emptying the curry rice bowl. "He's quite a handful, huh? I'd have never guessed that he's like this."
"Everyone thinks I'm exaggerating whenever I say that he's terrible."
Makoto chuckled and stood up. "Well, I'll go to the counter and pay for the food."
Makoto paid for the food, but instead of leaving the shop, she returned to the table she had been at. Morgana had just finished eating, and seemed very pleased.
"Morgana, you should be thankful that Niijima-san let you have that food. I wasn't going to give you curry rice anytime soon." Miura retrieved the empty bowl along with the discarded chopsticks and left.
Morgana jumped from the table and scampered to a corner of the store.
Makoto was alone. She should stand up and leave, but she didn't. She remained where she was, and began thinking to herself again. She wondered what Joker was doing right now. Was he awake? Makoto couldn't help but get worried that he might be using his day to engage in bad activities. She couldn't keep it in anymore and took her cellphone. Ideally, she would use her computer at home to send emails. She wasn't used to sending emails from her cellphone, but it was the only option available to her right now. After some struggling with the email app, she managed to write a message.
Kazushi was helping the workers wash dishes when Morgana came running to him and tapped on his leg urgently. Kazushi ignored him at first, but he kept insisting.
"What is it?" Kazushi stopped what he was doing and crouched down to talk to Morgana.
Morgana inched closer and whispered in Kazushi's hear. "Queen's still here. And I think she's emailing you."
Sure enough, Kazushi's cellphone vibrated with the notification of a new message in his Velvetmail inbox.
"Good morning, Joker. How are you? I hope you are doing okay. Guess how the silly Student Council President started the day today..."
"By waking up?" On impulse, he wrote the stupid comment and hit the send button. Only then he realized he shouldn't have answered the message. Now Niijima-san would know that he was checking his email and wouldn't leave him alone...
Makoto's heart skipped when her phone beeped with the notification of a new message. Joker was awake! Makoto read his response and could tell that he was making fun of her again. Even so, she was happy. At least he still bothered to give her attention.
"Hahaha!" She wrote. "Yes, by waking up. And at the wrong time. The same time as I wake up on weekdays. I didn't realize it was Sunday and tried to go to school... it was so embarrassing! Ridiculous, right? You can laugh, I don't mind. Well, I actually mind a little, but whatever. What about you? How did your day start?"
Kazushi took his cellphone again after having washed a couple more dishes.
Morgana was on Kazushi's back and peering at the cellphone over his shoulder. "You know what's even more ridiculous?" Morgana whispered to him. "The fact that she's texting you right from the next room. The irony..."
Yes, it was quite ironic. Kazushi read the message again. Niijima-san had asked how his day had started. He typed another quick response. "It started like any other day."
Makoto sighed in frustration. Why did Joker had to be so secretive and not reveal a single thing about his actions during the day? Her eyes widened and filled with worry. Could it be because he was doing something bad?
"I just hope you aren't wasting your day with stealing and doing bad things. I don't want you to get in trouble."
"I won't get caught so easily." *send*
Kazushi shook his head. That had definitely been his other side, his rebellious and sarcastic "Phantom Thief" side wanting to have some fun. Arsène, don't be cocky. He thought to himself. She's right in the next room. I might be caught if I'm not careful.
It was better to end that contact as soon as possible. "Sorry, I can't continue talking. I'm busy right now." He quickly sent the message and turned his cellphone off. He didn't want the notifications of Niijima-san's new messages interrupting him. If she decided to write to him when they were near each other and he ended up checking his cellphone in her presence, it would be even worse. Kazushi put his cellphone away and went back to washing dishes.
Joker's first reply left Makoto even more worried. He wrote that he wouldn't be caught so easily. Then, he wrote another message saying he was busy. Did it mean that he was indeed doing or planning to do something he shouldn't?
She sent another message. "Did I interrupt something? Sorry. But please, just promise that you won't get in trouble."
Makoto waited impatiently, but no response came. Did Joker refuse to promise?! Was he really doing something bad right now?! Makoto lowered her head and stared absentmindedly at the table in front of her.
Miura returned a few minutes later. "Niijima-san, you're still here..."
Makoto raised her head to look at him. "I don't feel like going home yet." She heaved a sigh. "Today I don't feel like doing anything, to be honest."
Miura directed a worried look at her. "You said that you lost your appetite, too. Are you feeling sick?"
Makoto shook her head. "No, that's not it. I just have a lot on my mind lately."
"Shouldn't you go home and sleep? You woke up too early today."
"I don't think I'll fall asleep so easily. I'm not tired. I... I just have a lot on my mind lately..." She repeated.
Miura kept staring worriedly at her, but didn't pry.
They stayed silent for a minute or so, then Sakura-san entered the shop. "Hey. You two must be full of energy to be here this early, huh?"
"Good morning, Sakura-san." Makoto greeted him.
You already know each other?" Miura was a bit surprised.
"Yes. We talked a bit the other time I came here," Makoto said.
"Alright." Sakura-san nodded. "Kazushi, I'll be here if the others need help. She came all the way here. You shouldn't keep her waiting. It's a nice morning. The two of you should go enjoy your Sunday." With that, Sakura-san headed to the back of the store.
"Huh? What?" Makoto tilted her head in confusion.
"He must be misunderstanding something..." Miura blinked innocently.
But Makoto's wariness kicked in. Her first impulse was to accuse Miura of having told Sakura-san that he was dating her or something. She was about to ask Miura what he had told Sakura-san about her...
... And apparently, Miura had the same idea. "What did you tell him when you two talked?"
"Uh, basically, I told him that I get along with you. He sounded glad because the Student Council President should be a good influence on you, and... well, asked me to keep an eye on you." She realized she probably shouldn't have said the last part, but it was too late.
"Ah, so that's it... he wants you to monitor me..."
Makoto tensed. Would Miura be wary of her now, like the other Syujin students? Would he start avoiding her so that he wouldn't need to put up with her nagging? Makoto didn't want this to happen. Miura was her only schoolmate she could talk comfortably to. What could she do to mend that? "Uh, Miura..."
Miura cut her off. "So, now that Sojiro-san practically kicked us out of the shop, what should we do?"
It didn't look like he was bothered, but Miura was Miura. He didn't react much to anything, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking. Makoto still wanted to put him more at ease around her. "Uh, despite what I said about keeping an eye on you, I can leave you be and go back home if you prefer."
"You just said you didn't want to go back home."
"Ah, yes, I said that. I just don't want to be in your way and ruin anything you might have planned for today."
Miura slightly shook his head. "I didn't have anything planned. You look like you could use some distraction, though. I can be around if you'd like some company... and if you don't mind hanging around a rumored problem student, that is."
Makoto could tell that Miura was worried about her. He offered to spend some time with her. Makoto enjoyed talking to him, too, so why not? "I don't mind, but do you think you'd manage to put up with the nagging Student Council President for hours on end?"
"I'm used to being scolded. So yeah, I think so."
Makoto frowned. "You're used to being scolded? I've never heard anyone say that!"
"Yeah. My parents used to yell at me so much that I got used to it."
So, this was the reason why Makoto's scolding didn't seem to work on him. Did it mean that he had behaved badly as a child?
"Shall we put it to the test, then?" Makoto stood up and threw him a defiant look. "Let's go."
They left the cafe. Miura walked to Makoto's right, and with Morgana inside his bag.
Makoto decided to stop by her home to get rid of her school bag. They took a train and dropped by Makoto's house. Miura stayed outside to wait for her.
"If you want to escape my monitoring, this is your chance," was what she said before running inside.
Kazushi knew he should avoid her. Staying close to her was a huge risk to his Phantom Thief identity. But she looked distressed, and he couldn't just ignore that. He wanted to make her feel better. But why? Because she could experience the Dark Hour. Because she was one of his group members, and he treasured his group members. This was what he kept telling himself. If the others were also distressed, he would do whatever he could to make them feel better. But supposing that it were another temporary group member trying to reveal his identity and betray him, would he risk hanging around the person like this?
Morgana popped out of the bag and glanced at the house curiously. "So, this is where Makoto lives. I wonder how it's inside..."
"And you'll be left wondering, because we can't enter. She didn't invite us."
"Aren't you curious?" Morgana asked.
"Not really."
"You're no fun." Disappointed, Morgana returned inside the bag.
Kazushi went back to his dilemma. Oh no. What am I doing? He thought in exasperation. I should stay away from her. Why did I even offer to keep her company...!?
Perhaps he should accept his chance of "escaping," as Niijima-san put it... no, if he ran away now, Niijima-san might find it suspicious. He shouldn't have offered to spend time with her in the first place, but what was done was done.
Alright, Arsène, Kazushi thought to his Phantom Thief Persona. Be quiet. No stupid or sarcastic comments, and no showing off. He would keep his word and accompany her. He had written to her saying he wouldn't get caught so easily, and this was what he needed to focus on. Taking care to not give hints and not get caught.
Minutes later, Niijima-san returned wearing casual clothes. "So, you didn't give up, huh?" She said rather playfully. "Other students would've run away a long time ago."
The sentence, "I'm not 'other students,'" popped up in Kazushi's head, but he quickly stopped himself before it could escape his mouth. Shut up, Arsène!
Niijima-san smiled sadly. "You know? I have a hard time engaging in conversations with people around my age." She started walking and prompted him to follow her. "With the knowledge I have, I'd like to hear people out and give them advice. I have my fair share of problems. A lot of pressure, both at home and at school, from my sister, the teachers and Student Council. I know this is stupid, and that I'm probably not in a position to advise others about their issues. But I was thinking that by helping other people find solutions to their problems, I may find the solutions to my own." She chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry, I'm boring you with all this rambling, aren't I? This makes no sense at all..."
To Kazushi, though, it made a lot of sense. "Like... looking in a mirror?"
"Huh? Ah, something like that, I guess... I should look at myself in a mirror and see that it's obvious I can't help people solve their problems if I can't even solve my own..."
"Uh, that's not what I meant." Kazushi tilted his head, and Niijima-san looked questioningly at him. He tried to explain. "Um, how can I put this? ... Like, we can't see our own faces unless we look at a picture of ourselves or a mirror, right? Since it's hard to notice things about yourself on your own, maybe you want to see your reflection in others, as though you were using them as a mirror?"
Niijima-san furrowed her brows in thought. "Hmm, that was deep. I hadn't thought about it that way... but yes, you may be right."
That was worrying. Yesterday during the Dark Hour, she had just admitted that these same problems were the cause of her biggest fears. The fact that she was trying to find a solution to her problems through others, plus the fact that she was openly telling him about it could only mean that she had no one to support her. Kazushi wanted to say that he would help her if there were anything he could do, but that would bring them closer, and bring more chances of her figuring out his Phantom Thief identity.
"The problem is that I don't seem to be able to help anyone." Niijima-san continued. "I want others to see me as someone they can count on. But even before I became Student Council President, I had no luck interacting with other students. I could only talk about studies, since it's what I do best, but no one seemed interested. Talks to my classmates were limited to the group assignments we had to do together. I joined Student Council because I wanted to do something good for others. The teachers praise what I do, but other students don't seem to like me too much. Most of them envy my academic results and view me as a nagging person. They tend to avoid me or run away from me. You're the exception."
"Oh. Really?" Kazushi had always thought that Niijima-san got along with people in general. She could be explosive sometimes, sure, but he had thought other students respected her because she was intelligent and responsible. "You seem popular at school. I'd have never guessed you to be an outcast."
"Popular?" Makoto awkwardly uttered the word. "Yes, sometimes I hear guys commenting about my looks and daring others to ask me out... but that's different. That's the kind of attention that I don't want! One good thing about becoming Student Council President was that I can hide in the Student Council room during lunch break. This kind of guys are a bunch of idiots that only care about looks and nothing else!"
"You hide in the Student Council room during lunch break? Ah. This explains why I don't see you around often..."
Alarm bells kicked in inside Makoto's head, and she looked suspiciously at Miura. If it turned out that he was actually trying to make a move on her, she would give up on that outing right then and there. Makoto stopped walking abruptly and glared at him with suspicion. "Miura, don't tell me...!"
"... What?" He was forced to stop in his tracks and face her.
"You didn't take part in that kind of conversation, did you?!"
"Huh? No." He answered innocently.
Makoto refused to let her guard down, though. "Are you telling me the truth?" She stared Miura in the eye, but he didn't falter, and held her stare with no problem.
"It's true." Miura still looked clueless. He hesitated a bit. "Uh... why do you keep giving me these suspicious looks?"
"Huh?" That question threw Makoto off. "Have I been doing this that often...?"
"Yeah, always. Since even before that night you came to Leblanc."
"Was it?" Makoto hadn't realized she did it that frequently. Despite Miura having never reacted to it before, his question showed that he was bothered. "Uh, sorry. I got on edge because of those rumors about you that I've been hearing at school since the day you transferred. And... the rare few guys that ever approach me only want to ask me out. So, I get wary on instinct." Makoto chuckled awkwardly. "But you're nothing like the rumors say, and you've always been nice to me. I shouldn't look down on you. Sorry, Miura."
"I see..." Miura smiled weakly as they resumed walking. "Since I've never been popular, I don't really know, but it must be annoying to get that kind of attention."
"You've never been popular? Good for you. It's really annoying." Makoto didn't get it, though. She thought Miura could easily fit into the category to make him "popular." He was good-looking... Makoto inexplicably blushed. But why? What was wrong about thinking that someone had good looks?
Miura continued speaking normally. He didn't seem to notice her blushing. "At the previous school, I took care to not stand out and didn't have many problems. But this year, thanks to those rumors, I already stand out the wrong way without doing anything."
Like Makoto, Miura was also having a hard time connecting with people at school. His situation was even worse, considering all the outrageous rumors about him. Makoto realized she and Miura might be more alike than she had imagined. Makoto felt bad for Miura. She wished she could support him in some way, even if all she could do was keep him some company. "You've also been going through a lot. And now you know that I'm willing to listen to others' problems. I don't know if I can do much more than listen, but if you need to talk about something, you can talk to me."
Niijima-san's last sentence was touching, but it also triggered warning bells in Kazushi's head. That was dangerous. He shouldn't allow himself to open up to her too much.
"Uh... thanks." He uttered awkwardly. He wanted to tell her that she could count on him as well, but he concluded it was better to keep quiet.
They entered the train station and boarded a train. They didn't find vacant seats and stood there next to each other. Morgana remained quiet inside the bag.
Kazushi was about to reach for the cellphone in his pocket, but then Niijima-san gasped in frustration.
"Ah! I forgot my cellphone at home! Why did I have to put it inside my school bag...? What was I thinking?!"
Niijima-san's action reminded Kazushi that his cellphone was turned off, and that he shouldn't check it. At least he didn't need to worry about her texting him, since she didn't have her phone at the moment... but something was wrong. Niijima-san had a hurt look on her face and seemed about to cry.
"Niijima-san...?"
"Why? Why? Why?" She muttered to herself, then heaved a deep sigh.
"Is it that important?"
Niijima-san lowered her head in shame and sighed again.
"Can't you go on for a few hours without a cellphone? I spent the greater part of my life without one."
The mention of a detail of his life sparked curiosity in Niijima-san's eyes, and she lifted her head to regard him. "You didn't have one?"
"It was only last year that my parents gave me a cellphone." Kazushi answered. "They were adamant about saving money, and didn't want me to spend money on phone calls. It was okay, though. I had no one to talk to anyway."
Niijima-san laughed in amusement, with her focus temporarily away from whatever she was worried about. "Ah! Sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at you, but the way you put it... I thought it sounded kind of funny. Uh, sorry. I shouldn't have laughed. You had told me that your parents were restrictive. And you didn't have anyone to talk to. That's sad." She hesitated. "If my phone were here, we could trade numbers."
Warning! Warning! Warning! Danger! If Kazushi were to trade cellphone numbers with her, then he would have to constantly juggle communications from his two identities, phone calls as Kazushi, and emails as Joker. And the moment he mixed things up and one of his identities mentioned something that only the other one was supposed to know, his cover would blow for good. Thankfully, Niijima-san's phone wasn't here today, and he was free from that dilemma, at least for the moment.
They went to Akihabara and headed to the arcade.
"A racing game!" Makoto approached one of the arcade machines, eager to try it out. "I wonder if it has a playable bike... if I can't have a real one, at least in the game..." That earned a chuckle from Miura, and she turned behind to glare at him. "What are you laughing at!?"
Miura seemed amused. "You're really into bikes, huh?"
The rare change in Miura's expression threw Makoto off. She flashed him a sheepish smile and turned her attention back to the arcade machine in front of her.
It turned out that there was a playable motorcycle in the game. Makoto bought some coins and tried the game out. It took her a few tries until she got the hang of the controls, but once she did, she began tearing through the stages and winning race after race. Miura watched stunned as Makoto's ingame bike flew through the tracks with impressive speed and left a cloud of dust in its wake, and even destroyed signboards and decorative objects along the way.
Makoto looked at him. "Are you going to only watch?"
"I'm fine here."
"No, this is unacceptable. It doesn't feel right to have you just standing there doing nothing." Makoto looked defiantly at him. "Miura, I challenge you to a race!"
"Huh? But..." Miura glanced around uncertainly.
"Since you're here, you're playing too!" Makoto inserted coins into the machine, then selected versus mode.
Without another choice, Miura reluctantly took his position next to the machine. They chose their vehicles, and the race started.
They left all the computer competitors behind, and soon it was only Makoto and Miura competing for first place.
"What were you so unsure of? You're not bad at this game at all," Makoto said to him, but he didn't respond.
Makoto couldn't hold her curiosity and took a quick glance at Miura. The look of concentration on his face was a stark contrast to the look of uncertainty he had before the start of the race. He was completely absorbed in the game, and looked like a totally different person. Since Makoto wasn't used to seeing different expressions on his face, the change left her reactionless for a second, and this was enough time for Miura's ingame vehicle to pull ahead of hers.
At the start of the race, Kazushi had considered going easy and pretending to be a beginner at the game. However, he got absorbed in the game before he even realized it, and soon "Arsène," or "Joker" or whatever he chose to call his Phantom Thief self - his side that craved for adventures and challenges -, had taken over, and was competing with Niijima-san for first place. At that point, feigning inexperience wasn't an option anymore. Niijima-san had already seen that he knew his way around the game, and throwing the match wouldn't be fair to her. She would be able to tell if he lost on purpose, and would become upset at him. He would play normally until the end.
"Ah!" Makoto regained her senses and directed her focus back to the game. "Oh no, you don't!"
And true to her words, he "didn't." Despite Miura's efforts, Makoto still managed to overtake him and win the race.
Miura exhaled and relaxed. "Phew. What a match. You get so destructive with a bike that it's scary."
Makoto also relaxed and smiled at him. "It was fun."
Miura seemed tired, but nodded and smiled back in relief.
"Hey!" A boy, probably a elementary schooler, approached them and addressed Makoto. "It's the first time I see a girl that's good at racing games. What about shooting games?"
"Huh? I don't know." Makoto actually didn't like shooting games that much.
"Wanna try?" His words sounded like an offer, but the look in his eyes made it look like a challenge. "You'll never beat me, though! I'm Shinya Oda. People call me the King of Shooting Games, because I'm the best! No one can beat my score!"
Makoto and Miura followed Shinya to another arcade machine. Shinya inserted coins into the machine and handed a gun-shaped controller to Makoto. The game was about shooting aliens to stop an invasion. The game started, and an uncountable number of aliens filled the screen.
Miura raised a hand. "Wait, you chose the hardest difficulty before handing her the controller, didn't you?"
Shinya shook his head. "No, it's on Hard. The hardest is Maniac."
Anger flared inside Makoto. That boy was getting on her nerves. "Aaaaaaaaah!" She growled and pulled the trigger several times in succession.
A lot of things happened on the screen at once. Makoto didn't know what to do, and desperately spammed the trigger and shot in all directions. It wasn't long until her weapon ran out of ammo and the game was over. The player ranking appeared, and the best score, which was Shinya's, was insanely high.
"Ugh, that was terrible!" Shinya was utterly disappointed. "I knew I couldn't expect a girl to be good at shooting games..."
Makoto gritted her teeth. What was with that boy?! He set the game on hard mode on purpose just to humiliate her, and kept mocking her just because she was a girl!
Miura stepped up to her defense. "This is the first time she's ever played this game, and you forced her to play on hard mode! You can't expect much from anyone in these conditions. What you did was really unfair."
"From the way she played that racing game, I thought she'd do better! Pfff. But no, this was very disappointing. I'm going home." Shinya sighed. "Ah, when will I find someone that can give me a challenge?" He mumbled while he walked away.
Makoto balled her fists and grunted in irritation. "He's just a little brat. It was just a game... but this is so frustrating! Shooting games aren't my thing, but to me, this isn't a game anymore. That kid hurt my pride, and I want my revenge... Miura, you know how to play this game, right?"
"A bit."
"Can you teach me?"
"Uh, sure."
Kazushi agreed to help Niijima-san with the shooting game mostly because it served as training for shooting Shadows during the Dark Hour. Surprisingly, the same concepts from the game could be applied to Shadow-shooting quite well, with the advantage that they could practice without risk of danger while playing the game.
Kazushi inserted a coin in the machine, then chose easy mode. He taught her the controls and gave her tips about aiming and firing. Niijima-san managed to clear a few stages, and was already getting used to normal mode.
"Thank you, Miura."
"No problem. But I have to break this to you. I just taught you everything I know about this game. Sorry that I can't help you much more with it. Right now, neither of us are anywhere near the skill level we'd need to beat Shinya's score..."
Niijima-san seemed disappointed to hear it. "You're saying this as though what we know about the game is useless!"
"It's not useless." Definitely not, especially during the Dark Hour. "What I'm saying is that I don't have any more little tricks to teach you. There's no 'magic.' From now on, all we can do is practice... a lot. But you said that shooting games aren't your thing. If you really want to get revenge, I think it's easier to challenge him to a racing game instead."
"To tell you the truth, I had more fun with this game than I had thought I would. It's probably because you were here with me. I think I'd have gotten very frustrated if I were forced to learn all these little details by myself by trial and error." Determination flared in Niijima-san's eyes. "I'll continue. I won't give up! Whenever I have an objective, I follow it through to the end!"
It was quite inspiring to see the determination on Niijima-san's face . She showed her strong will, and confidence that she could overcome whatever obstacle that dared cross her way. With her determination and confidence also came recklessness, which was worrying. But in that particular case, it was just a shooting game, and hopefully there was nothing dangerous to worry about.
"I think we had enough of the arcade for today," Kazushi said. "Let's go somewhere else."
"No, wait." Niijima-san stopped him. "I want to see you play a round. You've demonstrated a few things with the controller while you taught me and all, but I still haven't seen you actually play the game."
"O-oh... now that you mention it..."
"Care to show me?" Niijima-san inserted a coin into the machine.
Kazushi hesitated for a moment. If he showed her his performance at the game, Niijima-san might associate his playstyle with the way Joker handled guns at the Dark Hour. He should take care to not give his all. Arsène, please stay back, he thought to himself as he took the gun-shaped controller.
He played on normal, and missed some shots on purpose. Still, his score turned up way better than Niijima-san's.
"It must feel good to be able to play well like that..." She said in wonder before her determination manifested again. "One day, I hope to be able to play like that, too!"
It was lunchtime. By now, Makoto was hungry. They found a takoyaki stand and decided to have some takoyaki.
Miura saw a promo on an advertisement flyer. "They're giving a discount if we buy three packs of takoyaki. Perfect."
Miura bought three packs of takoyaki and ended up paying for Makoto's takoyaki as well, despite her protests.
There were a few tables and chairs near the stand, and they stopped to eat there.
They remained silent while they waited for their takoyaki to get ready. Makoto lost herself in thought, and began thinking about Joker again. Too bad that she didn't have her cellphone with her. Did he answer her message? Makoto hoped Joker wasn't engaging in any bad activity.
Their takoyaki arrived and Makoto came back from her reverie. When she glanced at Miura, she saw that Morgana was out of the bag and was eying the takoyaki longingly. "Morgana behaved excellently today, didn't he? I think he deserves a treat."
"Uh-huh." Miura agreed. "This is why I ordered three packs of takoyaki instead of two. One is meant for him."
Miura placed the extra pack of takoyaki on the table. Morgana climbed onto a chair, then climbed onto the table and began devouring the takoyaki. Morgana's eyes shone and he almost drooled while eating.
Makoto cracked a wide smile. That scene was just too adorable. "Aww, he looks so happy! I see why he's so attached to you. You're very kind to him..."
"Not always. Sometimes I treat him very indifferently, especially when I'm angry at him for having trashed my room. But today he's behaving, so..."
"Aren't you spoiling him, though?" Makoto asked before biting into her own takoyaki.
"A bit, probably. But he hates canned cat food, and I feel bad to have him eat only that every day."
They stopped talking and ate their food silently. Morgana finished first, and began eying Miura's remaining takoyaki.
"No, Morgana. You already had a whole pack."
Morgana made a cute whiny face. Miura didn't falter, though.
However, Makoto did. "Uh, Morgana, I'll give you one." She showed a takoyaki, and Morgana seemed entranced by it immediately.
"You're spoiling him." Miura remarked.
"I know, but it's hard to resist after seeing his cute pleading face." Makoto was curious to pet Morgana, but was a bit afraid that the kitty might not take well to someone other than Miura touching him. This was Makoto's chance to have Morgana come closer. Makoto turned to Morgana, who was still on the table eying the offered treat out of reach. "Just one, okay? And you have to come here to get it."
Miura snickered at Makoto's deal and covered his mouth to prevent food from spilling. He awaited the now annoyed Morgana to react.
Makoto pulled the takoyaki away, even farther from Morgana's reach, and this finally made the kitty spring into action. Morgana jumped from the table and approached Makoto from the ground. Makoto kept the takoyaki out of reach, and Morgana climbed onto a chair at Makoto's side.
"Very well. Here you go." Makoto finally lowered the takoyaki and brought it towards Morgana. While Morgana munched on the treat, Makoto patted him on the head a few times. There was no negative reaction, and Makoto smiled in relief.
Miura intently watched the exchange. "You're into cats?"
"I don't particularly like or dislike them. I wonder if I can get along with Morgana, though. He's been here with us the whole time, but isn't getting much attention, so..."
"Hm."
They finished their food, and Miura stood up to throw the trash away. Morgana was about to jump from the chair and follow him, but Makoto put a hand on the kitty's head.
"Hey. Can't you stay here with me? You don't need to be glued to Miura 24/7..."
Morgana seemed to hesitate but remained where he was. Makoto managed to convince Morgana to climb onto her lap, and began petting him. A couple of minutes passed, and Makoto learned that just spending time with Morgana was a nice distraction.
Makoto realized that Miura was taking too long to come back, and looked around. He was there, watching them from a distance. Makoto took Morgana in her arms, stood up, and walked over to him. "Miura, what are you doing?"
"Just watching. Looks like Morgana's been behaving in my absence. Shall we head back now?"
"Okay. May I hold him for a while longer?"
"If he doesn't complain, go ahead."
Morgana didn't show any hint of objection, and they went on their way.
A young woman stopped Miura near the train station. "Good afternoon, Miura-san."
"Hello, Mifune-san."
The woman turned to Makoto. "You are?"
"Hi. I'm Makoto Niijima, the Student Council President of Syujin High School."
"Do you have to boast your title every time?" Miura remarked.
"Huh?" Makoto hadn't realized she had been doing that. "Oh, uh, no, n-not really..."
"I'm Chihaya Mifune, the fortune-teller! Nice to meet you!" The young woman giggled. "It's a nice afternoon, isn't it? My fortune was good today, and I won a prize at one of the vending machines. I'm in such a good mood that I'm willing to read both of your fortunes for free!"
"I don't mind." Miura spoke.
"Uh, okay." Makoto also agreed.
Morgana returned to Miura's bag, and they followed Mifune-san to a cafe. The fortune-teller placed her cards on one of the tables.
Makoto sat at a faraway table while she waited for Mifune-san to read Miura's fortune. With nothing to distract herself, Makoto's thoughts flew back to Joker. Where might he be? What was he doing? From his messages, it seemed like his days were very boring. Makoto hoped he had been having a good day. Did he have friends to spend the Sunday with? Maybe the other Phantom Thieves? What kind of places did they go to have fun? Hopefully they spent time together for other things besides their heists. Despite her fear of him, Makoto had that inexplicable wish to spend time with Joker during the day.
"Niijima-san, right?" The fortune-teller walked over to Makoto's table. "It's your turn."
"Ah, right."
Mifune-san placed three piles of cards on the table, then asked Makoto to mix the cards and pull one from each pile.
"Oh... oh... oooooh!" Mifune-san's eyes glimmered, and a wide smile formed on her face when she inspected the cards Makoto chose. "You know, that boy's fortune is so complicated to read! The cards always seem to mean two totally different things at the same time! It's as though I'm reading the fortunes of two completely opposite people in one! Your fortune, though, is a breeze to interpret. There's only one possible interpretation. There's no mistaking it!" Mifune-san inched closer and whispered in Makoto's hear. "You're falling in love."
"I... I-I'm...?" Makoto was ready to dismiss that outlandish declaration, but then thoughts about Joker surfaced in her mind again, and it fully clicked. "There's no mistaking it..." Makoto echoed. "Only one possible interpretation... so, this is really it..." Makoto didn't want to admit it, but... she was constantly thinking about him, worrying about him, wanting to be near him to help him walk on the right path. If there was no mistaking it, then... yes, she had to admit that she was falling in love for a dangerous and mysterious Phantom Thief. "Then, what should I do?"
"This relationship may be complicated to get started, but you must not give up!" Mifune-san spoke enthusiastically. "The first step is to tell him what you feel! According to the cards, it's likely that he's not aware of his feelings for you yet. Confessing your feelings to him will get him thinking. This is the seed you have to plant to make it possible for this love to bloom. Do you get what I mean?"
"Hmm..." It kind of made sense. Makoto slowly nodded, and allowed herself to surrender to her feelings. Joker was hard to deal with, but she would confess her feelings to him. She would get closer to him and make him see the light. With that, he should stop committing crimes and should disband the Phantom Thieves. That plan would be hard to pull off, but with Mifune-san's encouragement, Makoto felt confident that it was possible. Satisfied with her resolution, she smiled. "Thank you, Mifune-san. I'll do my best!"
"If you need to have your fortune read again, you can find me at my place in Shinjuku." Mifune-san handed a business card to Makoto. "Good luck!"
They ordered a coffee to not seem rude for having used the cafe's tables for their own purposes. Then, they split ways with Mifune-san.
"You look... more cheerful." Miura observed. "Was it the fortune-telling?"
"Yes. I didn't know what to expect at first, but in the end her reading turned out to be very enlightening. She told me exactly what I needed to hear!"
"Hmm. If you say so..." Miura didn't share her enthusiasm.
"Miura, what about yours?"
"Mine was the opposite. It was very confusing, and I couldn't make sense of half of what she said."
"She didn't say you'd have bad luck, did she?"
Miura shook his head. "No, she didn't." He lowered his voice. "Not that I need her to tell me that, though..."
"Huh? What was that?"
"No, nothing. Never mind." Miura shrugged.
They made their way back, and the time to part ways came.
"So, how was it having to put up with the nagging Student Council President for hours?" Makoto asked playfully.
"It wasn't that hard." Miura played along. "Actually, it was nice." His response seemed honest. "I'm glad that you seem to be feeling better."
Makoto smiled at him. "I'm feeling much better. Thank you. Miura, see you around! And bye, Morgana!" Makoto waved to them and left.
Makoto was near her house when she saw her sister talking to Goro Akechi, the high school detective.
"Sae-san, I have a new theory. How about we discuss it over sushi tonight?" The detective boy offered.
"Only if it's the spinning ones." Sae answered.
"Ugh. Again?" Akechi-san made a face. "We can't we go to a fancy sushi restaurant for once?"
"Because it's too expensive!" Sae exploded.
He gulped. "Um, but you're working so hard... can't you indulge once in a while...?"
"Only if you pay for my meal as well." Sae countered.
"Hey, how harsh, Sae-san. You're considering having a kid pay for your meal at a fancy sushi restaurant?"
"It's you who wants to go." Sae shot back. "If you really want to go to a fancy sushi restaurant with me, you'll have to pay for everything. Either that, or we have the spinning sushi."
"Oh, um..." The boy was about to argue more, but jumped and shuffled awkwardly when he noticed Makoto was present. "Ah! S-sorry, I hadn't seen you there. Good afternoon, Makoto-san."
"Good afternoon." Makoto greeted him back.
He looked at Sae again. "Uh, Sae-san, you don't seem to be in a very good mood today. It's probably best to leave the discussion of my new theories for tomorrow... so, if you excuse me..." He turned around and left.
"Hmph. Kids..." Sae muttered under her breath as she and Makoto resumed their walk home.
Back home, Makoto finally reunited with her cellphone. To her disappointment, no response from Joker yet.
She helped with some household chores, then took a shower. After that, she went to her computer. Still nothing. She couldn't hold herself and sent another message. "Joker, you there?"
A few minutes later, her email program alerted her to the arrival of a new message, and her heartbeats accelerated. It was from Joker!
"Yes. What is it now?"
Makoto gulped. Was he annoyed at her? "I just wanted to know how you were doing. From your messages, you seemed bored the other day. My day was good. I hope yours was, too."
His response arrived. However, it wasn't what Makoto would have liked to see. "It looks like you've forgotten the reason I gave you this email address. It was for emergencies, not for chatting."
Makoto flinched at his response. Joker not only avoided her question, but also reprimanded her. He was losing his patience with her for sure, and seemed to be in a bad mood.
Makoto's plan of asking questions to try to make Joker talk and reveal more about himself wasn't working. Joker didn't seem willing to disclose anything about his life to her. Makoto really needed to get closer to him until he opened up to her, but if he began ignoring her messages, her chances of getting closer to him would be gone. She needed to come up with a message that he wouldn't consider irrelevant. What could she tell him? Joker was smart, cunning, dangerous, and maybe even manipulative. He acted so cold most of the time, and was merciless during fights. Makoto recalled the moment she clung to him when she had been under the fear spell, and how he held her so gently. What did he think when he held her? Did he really mean to be gentle to her, or was his gentleness just an act?
"He said you aren't getting special treatment, but I don't believe that." Mona's words replayed in Makoto's head. "... He likes you. I'm telling you!"
Could Mona be right? Was there a possibility of Joker actually having an interest in her?
The first step is to tell him what you feel!" Had been Mifune-san's advice.
Yes. There was no use hypothesizing anything unless she knew what he thought of her. Makoto needed to confess to him and get that weight out of her chest, preferably sooner rather than later. It didn't feel right to do it via email, though. As much as she feared his intimidating aura, she needed to talk to him in person.
To her, it was an emergency. Makoto gathered her courage and sent another message. "Actually, there's something else I want to talk to you about. I have something to tell you, but it can't be via email. I want to talk to you in person. Can you meet me today during the Dark Hour?"
Kazushi was sitting on the mattress in his room. He furrowed his brows as he stared at Niijima-san's message on his cellphone's screen. It was weird and very suspicious. She wanted to meet him during the Dark Hour. He spent too much time near her today. What if she had figured his identity out and intended to confront him? What should he do?
"What's up?" Morgana came over to Kazushi's side on the mattress. "Is it Makoto again?" Morgana stood on two paws and took a peek at Kazushi's cellphone. "Hmm, suspicious... think she figured your identity out?"
"Who knows..." Kazushi's best bet was to refuse to meet her today, and take note of how she would behave near him at school tomorrow.
He sent another message. "We can talk once the break is over."
To his annoyance, she insisted. "It's urgent. It can't wait until the break is over."
Kazushi bit his lip. It was probably a trap. He wrote again. "I decided to take this break so that all of us could sleep early and rest. You are saying you want to take a risk going out on the street during the Dark Hour, and also ruin my break in the process?" *send*
Ah! Arsène! What have you done?! Kazushi thought and scolded his Phantom Thief self. His text was too harsh, but he had already sent it. Too late...
Makoto recoiled upon reading his response. That message actually hurt. His words were sharp like the knife he used during fights. He was really losing his temper. Makoto wouldn't give up, though. "Joker, please."
"If it is so urgent, then tell me now." Joker demanded in his next message.
Makoto would protest, but remembered Mona's advice. "... if you conclude that you also like him, then tell him straight away and get it over with!"
It wouldn't be the same as telling him in person, but Makoto had to do it. She took a deep breath, then wrote. "Alright. The thing is, I realized something. I like you, Joker." *send*