Life Will Change Book 2

Chapter 38: Kyoto has a Jail?

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~Normal POV

8/23 - Wednesday

Makoto was able to contact Sae and explain the situation to her. Her sister was understandably angry at being kept out of the loop all this time but she agreed to help them out. Hopefully she'd be able to find some way to get Zenkichi out of his imprisonment. Until then, all they could do was wait.

Everyone was so on edge from all the stress that even finding things to occupy their hands was a challenge. It was like they were afraid that if they weren't listening to the news or trying to hear if someone came to the door then they'd get caught. Nobody ever came by, if only by a miracle of convenience. It wasn't until a little bit into the early morning that a new development arose...

Akira received a text message from Akane's phone. (She had given them all her contact information previously.) And the message itself was very alarming.

Akane: [Phantom Thieves. We have Akane Hasegawa. If you want her back, come to Inari Taisha.]

"What the hell?!" Futaba screamed, looking at his screen, "Who has her!?"

"It doesn't say, but she's in trouble!" Makoto said, worriedly. "We should-"

"Hang on," Akira said quickly. "It might be a trick from Konoe or Owada."

This helped everyone come to their senses a bit, though they were still visibly anxious. "That's definitely a possibility..." Morgana said.

"So they're using Akane-chan to lure us out!?" Haru asked, furiously.

"Given the timing, what else could it be?" Yusuke said, sharing her sentiment.

"Unforgivable..." Makoto growled.

"Extremely..." Akira agreed.

"But..." Ryuji interjected. "But what if they really do have her? We can't go to the cops..."

"What else is there to do?!" Makoto argued. "We go after her!"

"Calm down." Yusuke replied. "Akira is right, this has to be a trap."

"Yeah- they'll catch us the second we step out the door!" Ann reminded them.

Makoto appeared to not be having any of their reservations. "But we can't just leave her! If they even lay a finger on Akane-chan, I'll..." She couldn't finish her sentence but her fists clenched in anger. "...Anyway, with Zenkichi behind bars, we're the only ones who can save her. If we put our own safety above that of an innocent life, then we have no right to call ourselves phantom thieves! I'm well aware what this is, and I'm fine going out there alone. You guys stay here and hold down the fort."

She turned to leave, but was stopped by Akira gently grabbing her arm.

"Absolutely not, Makoto... We're in this together."

"But-" Makoto tried to argue.

"Ya losing it?" Ryuji interrupted. "We'd never let a friend risk their neck without giving backup!"

"Plus, Akane-chan is our fan!" Ann added, firmly. "She knows more than anyone that we don't abandon people in need!"

"Otherwise we couldn't live up to our name," Yusuke said.

"Even if it's a trap, let's turn the tables against them!" Haru said, fiercely.

"Darn right, Haru!" Futaba said, jumping up eagerly. "Let's show them how big a mistake they've made!"

Makoto smiled gratefully. Of course they were willing to come too. Though it most certainly was a trap, they would at least find a way out of it. They did have one advantage in their corner. The police might be brainwashed into hunting them, but they had no way to actually verify the Phantom Thieves' identities. Akira was the only one who'd ever been caught and profiled. And thanks to a certain testimony from a somewhat-reformed foe, everyone else had remained safely anonymous. Though, because of Akira being caught that did mean they were at risk by being seen in his presence.