Chapter Text
Midori woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed, not having woken up at the small hours of the morning for once. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes sleepily, letting out a jaw cracking yawn. She smacked her lips as she turned to unplug her phone from it charge. She looked at all the notifications she had received. Oh right… the map she had sent in the group chat last night…. Anxiety gripped her heart with its cold little hand as she dwelled on opening the messages or not. What if they made fun of her? What if they thought it was dumb?
She took a deep soothing breath before opening the chat.
PantherBae: O.o Midori…did you draw this?
Pirateboy: That’s pretty cool but…what is it?
Memequeen: it looks like a map…I think
Foxylad: quite the abstract piece, it’s quite elegant
Melody bit her lip, slightly relieved that they weren’t laughing at her. She then noticed she had just submitted the drawings without explanation on what they were. She felt so dumb in that very moment.
Flightly mademoiselle: Omg, I’m so sorry <.< I forgot to mention what that was… It’s the map of the Palace me and Morgana went to.
Pirateboy: wait, for real???
PantherBae: you drew it out of memory!!??
Flightly mademoiselle: ahh yes ^^’ I have photographic memory and I thought it could be useful to us, it might be missing a few pieces though but I did my best ^^
LeaderofthePack: That’s still a great piece of information for us Midori, thank you. It’ll surely aid us in our next visit to the Palace.
Memequeen: That’s totally poggers dude! I’ll enter the plans of the palace into my database as soon as we get there.!
Melody felt herself smiling in relief at the praises and the fact that it ended being a good piece of information for all of them. She placed her phone back onto her nightstand before gathering some clothes for the day and headed to the bathroom to shower. She did her little morning routine, washed her face and showered at her leisure while listening to music. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself up in a towel before heading back to her room. She took another glance at the group chat.
LeaderofthePack: We’ll head into the Palace after school today if that’s alright with you Midori. We have to get to work right away since our deadline is rapidly approaching.
FlightlyMademoiselle: Oh that’s alright with me, where should I meet up with you all?
PantherBae: We could go join each other at Midori’s Café <<
Pirateboy: You just want to go there for the cakes *roll eyes emoji*
PantherBae: yeah!!So??
Supreme Queen: Cut it out you two, we can go meet up at Mon Coeur’s café after school, it’s not that far from the Ballets School
LeaderofthePack: Then it’s settled, we’ll meet up with Midori at Mon Coeur’s Café’
Memequeen: Gotcha!!
Foxylad: Will Do
FlightlyMademoiselle: Will be waiting!
Midori panted as she tiredly sat down onto the bench beside the pond outside of the Ballet studio.
‘Man, how in the fuck was that Palace so hard’ Ryuji complained as he slumped beside Midori, leaning his elbows on his knees and tucked his head between his legs.
Ann let out a whine as she took a seat besides Midori and leaned on her for support. The girl wrapped an arm around Ann’s waist to keep her upright, even if she was the one that needed support. She still felt dizzy and kept seeing spots in her vision. Perhaps she was just dehydrated…
‘We know what to expect now and we should all prepare accordingly.’ Makoto said commandingly as she leaned onto one of the surrounding trees. Akira nodded in agreement with the brunette. The guy didn’t even seem tired or maybe he was just good at hiding that he was. Acting like a true leader. Midori didn’t know what to expect when they actually went in and started to actually fight the soldiers that littered almost every corner of the Palace. Midori had to admit however, no matter how tired and dizzy she was, this had felt exhilarating. The rush of the fight, the negotiations with shadows and the finding of treasures had been such a rush that she couldn’t wait to go back in again. Although she hoped that it wouldn’t be as bad or hard this time around…
‘At least we finally got our treasures, all thanks to Midoris map’ Morgana meowed in satisfaction, showing his teeth in a mimic of a human grin, his tail swinging behind him in pleasure. Midori gave a small smile at the praise. The map did end up being a big help when they went in. Of course they found the actual map of the premises and they didn’t need hers anymore but it did the trick until they actual had the real thing.
‘on a good note, even though I’m completely exhausted, Midori got to level up pretty fast with all the fighting we had to do’Futaba piped up from her slumped position against a nearby tree. Yusuke had taken a seat beside her, quietly regaining his breath. Seems like the Palace had taken a toll on everyone in the group, even if they were mostly used to doing them compared to Midori.
‘How about we go get our energy back at my Café? Something sweet should do the trick.’ Midori suggested as she was finally able to stop seeing the spots in her vision. Ann cheered naturally, immediately on board with the idea of topping off that adventure with some sweets.
‘Wouldn’t hurt to reward ourselves after this’ Akira agreed with a smile as everyone agreed and stood up with a chorus of moans and groans. Midori stood up almost shakily but tried to recover quickly so the others wouldn’t notice. Little did she know that crimson eyes were watching her intently.
Slowly but surely, they made their way towards Café Mon Coeur, their light conversations showcasing how tired they really were. Midori stepped inside the Café first and held the door open for the others.
‘Oh, it’s so pretty in here’ Ann gushed as her eyes took in the whole place. Her eyes positively sparkled as she took in all the sweets that were displayed in the showcase window.
‘oh Midori there you are, where did you go honey’ Her mother’s voice nearly startled her ,making her release a small ‘eep’ in her fright. She hadn’t realised that she had spaced out as she watched her new found friends walk all over the shop. She blinked slowly up at her mother, the older woman’s eyebrows creased with concern. Her mother made her way out from behind the counter over to her and cupped her cheeks as she fretted.
‘Mooooom, I’m fine, I was out with friends, honest’ Midori murmured as she gestured to the group meekly. Her mother turned around to face the group, her face suddenly lighting up with a smile.
‘OH those are the new friends you were talking about’ She gushed happily ‘hello I’m Hime Madoka, I’m Midoris mother’ she greeted with a bow.
‘Mother? Your radiant features are deceiving madam’ Yusuke said passionately, clearly admiring her mom. Ann bonked Yusuke on the head with a tick in her eyebrow. Her mother visibly preened at the compliment, a light blush on her cheeks.
‘Don’t be weird’ she hissed before she beamed and bowed to Hime. ‘I’m Ann Takamaki’
‘Well….Yusuke isn’t wrong.’Ryuji mumbled before squeaking as Ann gave him a stink eye. He cleared his throat before introducing himself.
‘I’m Makoto Hajime’ Makoto introduced primly as she bowed. Midori saw her mother’s eyes flash in recognition.
‘Oh! You must be Sae’s younger sister!’ Her mother beamed as Makoto looked at her with wide eyes. ‘I know your sister and my husband used to know your father…’ Her mother said, her tone drooping into a sad tone at the end. Sadness flashed briefly into Makoto’s eyes before it was gone.
‘Oh I remember your name! You are one of the most renowned lawyers in Tokyo, Hime Madoka! Who is married to Kaoru Madoka, Special Agent’ Makoto suddenly said with her eyes wide. A look of apprehension was shared between the groups as Midori looked on. They wouldn’t find her suspect right? It wasn’t because her mom was an ex lawyer and that her dad was a PA that she would snitch on the Phantom Thieves activities, right? She would jeopardize both parties if she did. She would get the Phantoms Thieves in trouble AND ruin her parent’s reputation if it ever got out that she herself was a Phantom Thief.
‘That I am but I decided to finally follow what I really wanted to do, to open this cozy little bakery. I don’t have the energy for conflicts like that anymore. ‘Her mother said wistfully before smiling, dimples in her cheeks. ‘Now how about you guys be my new guinea pigs for a new recipe I’m trying out, you guys look like you could use a snack.’ The group answered with enthusiasm as they followed her mother to the kitchen, leaving her, Akira and by default Morgana, alone in the dining area.
‘Are you alright? You seemed a bit out of it when we came out of the Palace.’ Akira asked in concern, his grey eyes scanning her from head to toe. Midori grimaced, seems like she hadn’t been that subtle after all. She couldn’t possibly tell him that her body was going through rehab and that she was left to deal to with the aftermath of a strong addiction…
‘I was just a bit dizzy when we came out of the Palace …Probably because I’m not used to it that’s all’ She reassured, lowering her voice so they wouldn’t be over heard, waving a reassuring hand as she offered a smile at his concern. His grey eyes regarded her for a minute before he seemed to relent, offering a smile of his own.
‘Alright, if you say so, do let us know if you get too tired, we wouldn’t want you to get hurt’ He insisted before walking alongside her so they could join the others in the kitchen.
‘I’ll see you guys soon’ Midori waved as the group huddled near the door as they prepared to leave.
‘Thank your mom for the snacks’ Ann beamed and rubbed her full belly contently ‘I definitely want us to meet up here more often’
‘Ah you wish, you’ll roll out of here if we do’ Ryuji prodded with a shit eating grin on his face and yelled out in pain when Ann retaliated with a punch to his arm. The pair started bickering like children and Midori had to playfully roll her eyes at their antics.
‘I must agree with Ann however, those snacks were amazing in both flavor and in looks’ Yusuke said with a certain twinkle in his eye. Futaba pushed him out of the Café when he started to wax poetic about it.
‘See ya Midori!’ the red haired teen called over her shoulder.
‘Thank you for inviting us’ Akira said gratefully as he stepped out himself, he left with a small wave and trailed after the bickering blonds. This left her and Makoto together. Midori felt a touch of apprehension when she was left alone with the brunette. Especially when said brunette seemed to recent her for whatever reason she had. Said brunette finally broke the silence, her crimson eyes narrowed.
‘I don’t know what your deal is but I will find out one way or the other’ she said ominously before leaving. Midori stood there at a total loss for words. Why was she so Hostile towards her? What did she do?! She kept wracking her brain over the matter as she closed up shop and climbed up to the apartment. She quietly opened the door and closed it behind her. She locked it and leaned against it with a tired sigh, her head pounding with both fatigue and stress. She quietly dragged her feet all the way to the bathroom to finally wash off the grime of the day. She took her sweet time to try and relax under the hot water and try to shake off Makoto’s hostile words. She was lucky that it didn’t send her careening into an anxiety attack because she could feel it buzz at the base of her skull. She knew it was going to come, she never knew when though… After her shower she did her nightly routine before slumping into her bed, her tired bones aching as she settled down into the plush comforter. She wanted to check out her phones notifications but she found that she no longer had the energy to and finally passed out.