Life Will Change

Chapter 71: Who is the Black Mask?

Begin

~Normal POV

11/10 - Thursday

Akira finally received word from Futaba about a recorded call from Akechi. Everyone was summoned to the hideout this evening to find out what it was about. (Keeping it secret from the detective of course.) Sojiro had gone home for the day; leaving the shop closed for their convenience. She apparently hadn't listened to it yet, but it was recorded automatically thanks to her bug.

"I still can't believe you bugged the guy's phone right in front of him..." Ryuji said, flabbergasted upon hearing the truth behind Futaba's odd freak out when they went to the Palace the first time. "What if he noticed and this is just a fake-out?"

"He didn't notice, otherwise he could have just avoided making calls altogether if he was worried." Futaba answered, tapping away on her laptop. "The call was intercepted just last night, after about 10 p.m. So he probably just got home at the time..."

"Impressive." Akira said, noting when the fortuitous call occurred. It had to have happened right after their duel last night.

Futaba removed her headphones and turned up the volume on her laptop before playing the recorded call. Everyone listened with full attention. Sadly, Futaba couldn't trace a call that had already been made, so they could only hear Akechi's side of the conversation; and it was impossible to tell who he was speaking to.

"Hello, sir. To what do I owe your late call? ...Yes, things are progressing smoothly... I'll need a bit of help with that. You see, the only way to do it would be to borrow a police squadron to bring into the Metaverse... It's Prosecutor Niijima's Palace... Excellent, sir, I'll come by and pick up your signature for it tomorrow. I'm sure they'll cooperate, they want to catch the Phantom Thieves that badly; this is their only chance... We only need the leader... The rest of them? Ha! Don't make me laugh! Mindless sheep, the whole lot of them. None of them are competent enough to lead in his place... We'll catch him alone, they'll take him back to reality, they won't know how or why it happened that way but they'll have to just accept it. They'll take him down to an interrogation room, the one in the very back, bottom floor, out of the way, so nobody else sees him. I'll need a couple of detectives on your payroll to rough him up, make sure he can't fight back... Oh, it'll be very necessary, he's a tough son of a bitch... Good, and I'll need your permission to get in to interrogate him myself of course. And once I get an audience with my esteemed leader, we could say he stole the guard's gun and committed suicide while in prison? ...I knew you'd like that idea... Yes, the guard will be one of ours, he won't be much of a witness, I assure you... Very well, I'll take no more of your time. Have a pleasant evening, boss."

The recording ended there. The gang stared in shock at the laptop as if they'd just heard the awful words from the man in person. Ann's eyes teared up at the thought. Beside her, Akira had gone quite pale with disgust and fear. They'd never seen him like this before...

"Akira..." Ann said, softly.

"...He wants me dead?" Akira said, breathlessly, "...My god, does he hate me that much...?" Nobody could answer that question.

"But- but why?" Haru asked, wiping her eyes. "If it was just to get rid of the Phantom Thieves, it would make more sense to arrest us all. Wouldn't it?"

"He's gonna bring a police squad into the Metaverse?!" Morgana shouted, "Think of what that would do to the security level! The Shadows would go nuts!"

"Indeed... Akechi seems to believe us incapable of escaping such a problem..." Yusuke said, worriedly. "Maybe that's why he's only interested in catching Akira, if he thinks the rest of us will be sufficiently incapacitated..."