A Thief's Passion

Spectral Thievery

-Monday, May 16, After School-

On the train to Shibuya, Melody sat on the seats and tried to read the 'Pirate Legend' book she checked out at school. However, her focus was cut off when she heard a familiar voice, along with a familiar meow.

"Dude, be quiet! We didn't pay the pet fare"

"Ooh, kitty!" cried a little girl.

Looking up at the sounds, Melody saw Ryuji with Akira and Ann. Morgana too, of course.

"Is that your pet, mister?" asked the child happily "I heard it meowing!"

Nervous, Akira shook his head "U-um... It's a stuffed animal. A very realistic stuffed animal. I can't sleep without 'im"

"Yeah, it's just a toy. It meows when you press on its head" Ann added.

"Watch this, little one"

Akira pressed lightly on Morgana's head, which Morgana reacted to with a seemingly reluctant meow.

The little girl giggled "Wowieee! Again, again!"

Akira pressed his head a little too much, and Morgana's meow sounded more confused before he made a pained noise. This still entertained the little girl.

"Ahaha, that's such a funny cry! I wanna hear it again!"

The train announcer spoke of Shibuya's stop coming up and Ann gently told the child that it was their stop. She nodded and walked back to her guardian as they got off. Akira whispered to the cat not to throw up in his bag.

Once off the train, the three talked about where they were going. Melody was at a short distance away, listening in.

"...Th-that's not what they said they were doing today..." she uttered, afraid of what this meant.

Melody followed them to Central Street, and lost sight of them when she got caught up in the crowds.

"Shit...!"

———

Once able to get through the crowd, Melody tried to follow where she saw them go. They appeared to be standing near some fences with Akira looking at his phone. Morgana was standing on the fence, too.

"This... Definitely doesn't look like they're taking Morgana to get a follow-up vet visit..." she grumbled, stepping closer to the group.

Without warning, the world around her flashed purple and she began to feel lightheaded. Which is usually due to her being dehydrated, but this time the world around her was spinning, figuratively and literally, and the decrepit building in front of her began to distort into an enormous golden museum.

Ahead of Melody, her friends had disappeared from where they once were standing. In this strange place, there were different individuals, luckily facing away from her. One was a young woman wearing a black strapless top and red leather jacket with dark jeans and red boots that went above her knees. The belt of her jeans had a red cat-like tail attached to it, and her jacket matched the red cat mask on her face. On her hands were a pair of tangerine orange gloves. Attached to the belt of the jeans was a long, red whip.

Across from the cat-lady was a young man in an outfit that had metal pieces on the shirt resembling a ribcage, a spine-like piece on the back. He had metal elbow and knee pads on, as well as two belts around his waist with little cylinder things in one of the belts. She has no idea what those are. Bullets maybe? A contrast to his dark outfit was the red scarf tied around his neck and his bright yellow gloves with metal pieces just below the knuckles. The skull mask he wore made him look even more badass. Melody had to admit, even if he looked threatening, he was kinda cute.