Since her mother's death Futaba had become afraid of the world and had shut herself and her heart far away from others. Because of this she felt she had no one. As a genius hacker she knew how to keep things secure. She builds walls around her heart that no one could "hack" and get through. The perfect defense she would call it. No one could ever get in and hurt her again. Over time Futaba let one of her walls down and gained a close group of friends. Together they protected the people and took down criminals. When they truly did save the world, Futaba was once again lost. What was she to do now that she could not be a Phantom Thief?
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Boredom slowly took over as time passed. Futaba would still interact with her friends but it wasn't like before and she began to isolate herself a bit more. What's the point she would think. She was too afraid of school so she took online classes instead. It was for the best because she was much more advanced mentally then her so called peers. What she had in intelligence she certainly did not make up in social skills. Due to this her guardian Sojiro made sure she went out a least twice a week.
One day she goes to her favorite little tea shop. It is nothing really special but it smells so wonderful in there. It quickly became one of her favorite spots. Opening the doors an overwhelming scent of herbs and spices fill the air. There is something familiar about the floral scents of the shop that she could not quite place but is very comforting for her. Every time she walks in the door she pauses, lets the aroma comfort her for a moment, and continue to the counter. She orders a dirty chia bubble tea and sits in the corner away from everyone else. She opens her laptop and responds to her friend's emails.
These days they did not see much of each other. Ann had emailed and asked to hang out later in the week which was a nice surprise. So Futaba happily responds she would like that and Friday works best for her. The last email immediately caught her attention. "What's this?" She thinks as she opens the email titled "To My Alibaba". Only her very close group of friends know that is her code name but the sender is not one of them. The email wrote:
To My Alibaba,
The time has come for my return, Im sorry it took me so long but im ready now....
~~~Ebisu~~~~
"WHAT THE HELL" she says out loud. "That's just creepy. She begins to feel nervous. Maybe this is a joke. Maybe stupid Inari is trying to pay me back for all those times I had made fun of him" she thinks to herself. Swiftly she tries to trace the email. Shocked she tries again. Nothing.
NOTHING! "What is going on here". Now she is feeling really freaked out.
Anger quickly wells up in her. There is nothing the Great Futaba cannot hack or trace and yet... all her efforts are leading her nowhere. "This is not happening" she thinks. She could not sleep all week. Never before had she failed like this. Friday come around and she meets up with Ann.
"How is it going Futaba? Im sorry it's been a while; work is really keeping me busy"
Futaba twiddles her thumbs as she nods but she doesn't respond.
Ann: "Is something wrong? You seem really out of it"
Futaba explodes. "IT'S JUST THAT.... I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO TRY I'm so lost and nothing I do is working. This has never happened to me before Ann what do I do?!"
Ann eyes lit up. "AWWW this is about a boy! Im so excited. You have never been interested before and now you're in love!!! Im so excited to help, tell me everything" she exclaimed as she grabbed Futaba's hands in excitement.
YOU ARE READING
Alibaba & Ebisu
FanfictionAfter the Phantom Thieves are no more Futaba Sakura starts to retreat into her old habits until one day a mystery's presence pushes her outside her comfort zone.