The night sky was quiet and peaceful, the bright moonlight constantly shifting with the parting of the clouds, gently flowing over buildings of varying heights. Dim streetlights and barking stray dogs added a touch of loneliness to the night.
It was four in the morning again in Yongen-Jaya.
Kurusu Akira chewed on a stick of mint-flavored gum bought from a 24-hour convenience store, strolling along the cool street.
So sleepy...
He looked up at the dim sky, feeling his legs as heavy as if filled with lead.
Grayish-white low walls extended endlessly along both sides of the road. A neighbor's Siamese cat lay by the wall, and upon hearing approaching footsteps, it opened its lake-blue eyes, vigilantly staring at the biped walking below.
The biped was very tired and had no time to pay attention to a quadruped cat that was active at night.
But cats are strange creatures.
Often, when you deliberately ignore them, they become curious as to why you're not paying attention to them...
So the Siamese cat jumped off the low wall and cautiously followed behind Kurusu Akira.
The slightly gaunt back of the Phantom Thief swayed in the streetlights.
Suddenly, he heard a soft meow behind him.
He glanced at the gum wrapper in his hand, then at the Siamese cat following him, and his expression became subtle.
However, it was obvious that the cat was not interested in gum.
It was just observing why this bipedal creature wasn't paying attention to it.
Seeing Kurusu Akira turn back, it immediately stood still, not daring to move forward.
Kurusu Akira yawned widely, took out his phone to check the time, and then continued to walk.
He hadn't walked far when he suddenly heard another meow.
The Phantom Thief immediately turned around and saw that it had indeed followed him again.
Through the streetlight, he could see the light brown Siamese cat curiously scrutinizing him with its lake-blue eyes.
Kurusu Akira inexplicably felt it resembled Iseri Nina.
A wave of guilt immediately rose within him.
When he skipped class, he specifically gave his report card to Iseri Nina, asking her to take it home and have Sakura Sojiro sign it.
He immediately thought of Iseri's terribly poor grades, coupled with his own report card for comparison...
Is Iseri Nina still alive?
Kurusu Akira stood by the door of LeBlanc, took out his wallet, and began fumbling for his keys.
He found the keys, but looking at the few remaining coins in his wallet, his hands trembled uncontrollably.
To reach the gang's hideout as quickly as possible, he had specifically hailed a taxi on the street.
"Tokyo," "night," "taxi," "from Aoyama-Itchome to Shinjuku"—combining these keywords, by the time Kurusu Akira reached his destination, the taxi meter had jumped to a shocking figure.
Paying the fare only worsened Kurusu Akira's already meager finances.
His heart was twisting in pain at that moment.
Thinking that Togawa Sakiko, whom he had just rescued, also seemed not very well-off, and adhering to the principle of "helping to the end," he had to quickly find a job to repay the money...
The wallet in his hand seemed to instantly turn into a sharp blade, cutting his palm until it bled profusely.
'Damn the Mementos, it actually judged me as an "intruder," making it impossible to obtain money or other spoils from the cognitive level after defeating a Shadow.'
It hurts, it hurts so much!
'Can I get twelve months' worth of club activity funds in advance?'
Kurusu Akira clenched his fists. What made him even more distressed was that, to avoid attracting the attention of the Public Safety Bureau, he had stuffed all the "sins" stolen from the hearts of the yakuza members into the Velvet Room and entrusted Lavenza to deal with them on the spot. There was no way to wait for them to materialize into items and bring them back to reality to sell for money.
Oh well, let's sleep first.
He closed his wallet and then used the key to open the shop door.
He pulled the light cord and turned around to find that the Siamese cat had actually followed him all the way inside.
Kurusu Akira thought for a moment, then went to the kitchen to find some leftover chicken breast scraps from yesterday. Under the cat's wary gaze, he placed them on the concrete ground outside the door.
"Good night."
He didn't care if the cat understood and locked the shop door.
Then he took his change of clothes to the washroom for a quick shower and tidied up the shop.
Kurusu Akira turned off the light, fumbled his way back to the attic in the dark, and collapsed onto the bed, exhausted. He fell asleep within minutes.
The brown-furred, blue-eyed Siamese cat crouched outside the shop door for a while, then picked up the pieces of chicken breast and slowly walked away.
----------------
Beep, beep beep.
[AM 7:10]
Kurusu Akira, severely sleep-deprived, grimly slapped away the alarm clock that was jumping around next to his pillow.
He had slept for less than three hours.
But even filled with resentment, he still had to dutifully get out of bed, change, and wash up.
Being a Phantom Thief was life, but working and going to school was also life.
The water from his shower in the washroom last night hadn't completely dried yet, and Kurusu Akira was already standing by the sink, brushing his teeth in front of the mirror.
He looked at the faint dark circles under his eyes and the toothpaste foam at the corners of his mouth, sighing uncontrollably.
Kurusu Akira, without parents and living in the attic as a dependant, began to fantasize about a white owl suddenly flying in through the second-floor window and delivering an admission letter to him.
He really wished he could study at Hogwarts, diligently research a few household spells similar to "Scouring Charm," and after achieving success, return to modern society, then casually open a company and accumulate wealth frantically through the power of magic.
Of course, "Harry Potter" is just a novel after all.
There are no such absurd and exaggerated magics in this world, similar to gag comics.
Kurusu Akira wiped his face clean with a towel dipped in hot water, forced himself to cheer up, and walked out of the washroom, ready to face the day's work.
----------------
An hour later.
Kurusu Akira and Iseri Nina stood in the train station, dark circles under their eyes, looking at each other.
"What were you doing last night? You look like you didn't sleep well."
Kurusu Akira asked first.
Iseri Nina's mouth twitched, "I did poorly on a test, had a nightmare."
She had indeed suffered from insomnia last night.
It was her first week in Tokyo, far from home, and her first test in Tokyo—
She opened the math paper, and couldn't understand a single question.
She opened the English paper, and couldn't understand a single sentence.
She opened...
When the test results were posted, Iseri Nina actually felt a sense of "relief," followed by an unspeakable panic.
She dreamed of herself back in the exam room, facing a hellishly difficult test paper, with her parents, teachers, and classmates from Kumamoto around the table, showing expressions of mockery, disdain, or disappointment.
All the anger and unwillingness collapsed into self-abandonment and tearful weeping the moment she held the pen to the paper, then she couldn't bear it anymore and stood up to roar at them, but in reality, she rolled over and fell to the ground, realizing it was three in the morning and her pillow was soaked with tears.
She had a big fight with her parents, then transferred to a school in Tokyo alone.
As a result, her first test was a complete disaster, making it seem impossible for her to get into university through her own efforts. She might even have to flee back to Kumamoto in disgrace next year... This blow to Iseri Nina was nothing short of a cataclysm.
This low mood was completely evident.
She looked up at Kurusu Akira, who also had a tired expression.
Handsome and academically outstanding, both of them had transferred to Tokyo alone from the countryside, and both had to resist an unseen yet immensely powerful force... But every step he took was firm and strong, as if no difficulty in life or career could hinder him, and he just kept moving forward, reaching a height she had to look up to.
Even so, Iseri Nina found that she couldn't feel any jealousy.
Only envy and longing.
It was as if he was a perfect image she could aspire to, an ideal "idol."
Iseri Nina tightened the strap of her backpack.
She remembered that when Sakura Sojiro saw her report card, his expression was very serious, changing from a kind and reliable uncle to someone very much like her stubborn and terrifying father from Kumamoto.
Even though Sakura Sojiro signed the report card without a word, Iseri Nina still felt some disappointment from him.
If someone were to mock her at that moment, perhaps she would be so scared that she would flee school again?
"Shouldn't you say something?" Kurusu Akira's voice suddenly came, making Iseri Nina tense up.
She especially didn't want to be mocked by this person... She took two steps back, somewhat fearfully.
If it were her former classmates, bullies, or her parents mocking her, she would surely stick her neck out and unleash her anger and sadness upon them.
But Kurusu Akira... this neighbor, who in her eyes shared so many similarities with her, was someone she absolutely did not want to be mocked by.
That would feel like her perfect other self had completely rejected her.
Iseri Nina pursed her lips and struggled to force out a strained smile, "W-what should I say?"
"I asked you the reason for your sleep deprivation; now you should ask me back."
'You must have been secretly studying, doing exercises or reading...'
Iseri Nina pulled her backpack closer, her gaze wandering for a moment. "I don't want to ask."
"Then get ready to board the train." Kurusu Akira looked at the train rapidly approaching along the tracks in the distance, no longer delving into the girl's emotions.
Girls' thoughts are usually difficult to fathom, so it's best to wait for them to confess themselves.
This was an experience he had summarized in his previous life.
----------------
The train doors opened.
Kurusu Akira and his dejected little follower sat down in the empty seats at the back of the carriage.
White-collar workers in suits and ties crowded into the carriage, forming an impenetrable barrier in front of them.
Iseri Nina looked at the silent crowd, then at Kurusu Akira, who was looking down at his phone. She tried to speak several times but stopped, then also took out her phone, planning to open Twitter to see if the bands she followed had posted any new updates...
'Hmm?'
'What is this?'
She noticed a strange app icon next to "Twitter" that had appeared at some point. The icon depicted a blood-red eyeball, casting radiating red threads against a black background, evil and demonic.
She long-pressed the app, wanting to delete it.
But the delete option didn't respond no matter how many times she tapped it.
She also couldn't drag it into a folder or hide it...
Iseri Nina fell into an unprecedented state of confusion.
'I'm a high school student from the countryside who came to Tokyo for school because I had many conflicts with my school and parents back home. I'm currently living in the guest room on the first floor of the Sakura Residence, which used to be a storage room. My guardian, Sakura Sojiro, is a middle-aged grump who likes to wear a scowl. While waiting for the train to school, I found a strange app on my phone that I can't delete or move. I'm asking for help from the experts on this forum, did I get a virus? How do I solve this situation?'
Kurusu Akira noticed the drastic and repeated fluctuations in his little follower's emotions within just a few minutes.
But before he could ask what was wrong, he saw Iseri Nina cautiously bring her phone closer to him.
"Um... Amamiya-san, if an app on your phone can't be deleted or moved, does that mean the phone has a virus?"
"A virus? Have you tried opening it?"
"It won't open."
"You didn't download some rogue software like '063 Mobile Manager,' did you?"
"Uh, it's an app called 'Metaverse Navigator.'"
No sooner had she spoken than Kurusu Akira snatched Iseri Nina's phone.
The Phantom Thief looked at the evil and demonic app icon on the phone screen, his expression growing even stranger.
Then he subtly returned the phone.
"Iseri."
"Yes."
"I'm planning to create a club focused on extracurricular activities. Would you be willing to join?"
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