| Born from the Heart |

o n e

"You are now leaving Shibuya Station."

"Are trains always this cramped? I've heard of the term rush hour before.. Is that what's happening now?"

"Yes, we did get in the train at a late time, so everyone coming home from work are already boarding the trains."

"I see.. But why couldn't we just run all the way to your hometown instead of this?"

"Because it's too far."

"But I've always travelled like that in the metaverse."

"You're just built different, [Name]." She only tilted her head, curious at what he meant. He sighed. "Besides, I wouldn't be able to catch up with even if you still can. Reality works a lot different here compared to the metaverse. I'm relatively fit and fast but not as fast as you or compared to my skills in mementos because-"

"Because it was a cognitive world." She sighed as he nodded. "Reality's rules of whatever are boring here."

"Reality is often disappointing." Ren cracked a smile, which prompted [Name] to do the same.

"I mean, I can still carry you and those things."

"We'll attract attention if we even try."

"But.." She leans in to whisper into his ear, "We are phantom thieves at heart. After all, we always hide in the shadows, right?" [Name] gave him a daring grin.

He chuckled, "A tempting offer, [Name]. Though look at it like this, you'll get to experience how people normally travel to farther places in this country. A phantom thief has to somehow blend in the crowd too, right?"

"Like that real life magician-phantom thief I saw on the news a few months back? Kaitou Kid was it? He always returns the gems he stole, and never gets caught by the police because of his wit and skillset. I wonder how he does it without mementos.."

"Mm, something like that. He apparently has a lot of realistic disguises and a talent to imitate people's voices; I wonder if I'll be able to see his antics up close."

"I never thought you'd want to learn his tricks."

"Why wouldn't I? They could be useful, but I don't even know if I can even pull off being similar to a magician. Ever since I heard of him during my probation days, around the time we were still infiltrating Madarame's palace; I've been keeping up to date of his heists ever since. I just haven't had a chance to mention it to anyone. Maybe you can say I'm a bit of a fan."

"A former phantom thief interested in another phantom thief? Your connections might land you in a place where his heists may take place, so you may have a chance." She looks up in wonder.

"I ponder, would you be a bystander? Or a part of the show?"

"Who knows?" He grinned, "What's the point of being a part of it, if I could steal it?"

"You're confident enough that you think you can stand up against the internationally wanted thief when you don't have your persona? Not to mention, didn't Nijima-san say not to get into more trouble?"

He only smiled at her, which only left [Name] confused.

"Am I missing something?"

He was only kidding.

--

Stepping out if the train after a good few hours, I stretched out with a yawn. For the first time, I'm outside of the city.

Akira was not wrong -- the small town of Inaba gives off a completely different feel compared to the huge scale of Tokyo. It is much quieter here in contrast to the busy streets of the city. The sight of the trees and plants here are more common, and I quickly notice the change of the air, the smell feeling nice to breathe into.