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Ren sat on the couch, gazing up the ceiling. Sleep wouldn’t come no matter how hard he tried to allow it. He looked around the room for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last hour. Scattered among the strange movie theatre were the various members of the Phantom Thieves, as well as the Investigation Team whom they had met in Junessic Land. The latest excursion into the movie world had left everyone exhausted. Almost all of them were sleeping on or against some piece of furniture.
He turned his head upwards once again and closed his eyes. But after a short while, he heard the sound of footsteps coming close. He opened his eyes to find Kotone standing in front of him.
“Hey, Ren. Still awake?”
“I tried to sleep. No success: I’ve got way too much on my mind right now.”
“Yeah, me too. So, I did some investigating, and I found that apparently one of these theatre projectors is still playing a real movie.”
“A real movie, huh?”
“Yup. No portals to a dangerous world. Just a regular film. Do you want to watch it with me?” She smiled at him. “We’ll have the whole theatre to ourselves.”
“Sounds like you’re asking me on a movie date.”
She nodded back. “I guess I am.”
“What kind of movie is it?”
“Some romcom.”
“I can’t say I’m a fan of the genre.”
“Come on, Ren. Who knows if we’ll get a chance to do this later? I’ll pay for the popcorn.”
Ren got up from the couch. “No need. I’m sick of the popcorn here already. Let’s go.”
You want me to do what, Cindy?!
Just rob the bank. It’s not difficult. The tellers are trained to hand over the money in an emergency.
I can’t do that!
Ooooh my God, Ryan, are you serious? We’re already on the run from the FBI, the private investigators my dad hired, and those disgruntled postal workers. If we’re ever going to get married, we need money. What, are you just chicken?
Well, I…
Fine. If you’re too much of a coward, I’ll do it! *click*
Woah! Is that a real gun?!
It sure is. I’m going in now.
Wait, Cindy! I can’t let you put yourself in danger like that. Give me the gun and wait here… I won’t be long…
You can do this, Ryan, you can do this… excuse me, Madame, I'd like to make a deposit! *click*
Umm… do you mean a “withdrawal”?
Ren noticed that Kotone was looking at him. “Something on your mind?”
She gestured to the corniness taking place on the screen. “Is this the kind of thing you do as a Phantom Thief?”
“Technically, we did rob a bank once. But we were certainly a lot more tactful than this.”
“You must have a ton of cool stories. I’m kind of envious.”
“Is C.E.E.S. not exciting enough for you?”
“It’s S.E.E.S.; and no, it’s pretty depressing actually. You and your friends always look like you’re having so much fun together; you’re practically superheroes. For S.E.E.S., this kind of thing is more like a job. Don’t get me wrong, I love all my teammates. But the aura is always… tense.”
“I only wish being a Phantom Thief were as glamorous as you make it sound. We’ve had our share of difficulties.”
Kotone looked pensive. “You choose your targets because you want to keep making the world a better place, right?”
“It sounds a little pretentious when you put it like that. But yeah, that’s the gist of it.”
“That’s the difference between you and us. You guys want to keep fighting. We’re all waiting for the day when we can finally stop and live our normal lives…”
“Are you saying you’d rather join the Phantom Thieves? I’ll be happy to approve your membership.”
Kotone brightened up a little. “I guess I’d look pretty cool in a costume like you guys have. Crow always looks good in his.”
Ren nearly choked on his own breath. “Crow?! Really?”
“What’s the matter, you jealous? I thought you two were friends.”
“It’s nothing…”
Kotone retracted the armrest between their seats so that nothing was between them. “Hey.” She scooted right next him. “I think you look pretty dashing in your outfit too. Especially when I first saw you.”
“I can be just as dashing out of it as well.” He put his arm around her as she rested her head on his shoulder.
The two were mostly silent throughout the remainder of the movie, occasionally laughing at the (largely unintentional) hilarity of the plot. Even as the credits rolled, neither of them spoke or stood from their seats.
And then, as they came to a close, there was total silence and darkness. For a few moments, they let it remain that way. Kotone spoke up first “Let’s put our seats back. We can stay here a while longer.” Both reclined so that they were gazing at the black void which formerly was the ceiling. Kotone wrapped her arm around his.
“Not that I’m complaining, but this is rather sudden. Why haven’t known each other for that long.”
“That’s why I want to know you better. I really hope we can keep doing things like this. Considering all that’s going on, I think fate brought us together.”
“Now you sound just like a romcom.”
“I’m being serious! I really felt that you were special the moment I met you. I’m happy that I met someone who’s like me.”
“A wildcard, you mean?”
“Yeah. I thought, ‘maybe he understands what I’m going through.’ Plus, you went out of your way to be nice to me.”
He squeezed her hand. “Maybe I sensed something special about you as well.”
Unexpectedly, they managed to fall asleep in the reclined seats. For how long, neither of them was sure. But they figured it must have been a few hours. As they got up from the seats and stretched, Kotone produced something from her jacket pocket. “Hey, this is for you. Keep it somewhere safe, where it won’t get damaged in battle.” She handed him a piece of paper and a pencil.
On it was written Kotone’s name, phone numbers, and address, as well as a message which read: “You stole MY heart, Joker. Don’t forget about me! ♡”
“It’s my contact info. I know we may live in different dimensions or whatever. But I hope I can see you again after this all blows over. Let’s try to find each other, okay?”
Ren sighed. “I’m currently lodging in the attic of coffee shop. My parents kicked me out after I hit a man and got a criminal record. Are you sure you want to get involved with me? When I’m not wearing the mask, my life is very unglamourous. Or… maybe you’re just attracted to the bad boy type that much?”
“I didn’t know I was until I met you.” She shook her head. “But seriously, though: Your life in the metaverse is a part of you too. No mask will hide that. And I don’t believe you’re a bad person.”
He twirled the pen in his hand for a moment before he decided to give in. He wrote everything down and ripped the paper in half, handing the part with his information to her.
She held the paper to her chest for a moment before pocketing it. “We should probably go see the others now.”
“Yeah, they may be awake.”
They made their way to the doors, but Kotone suddenly stopped him from leaving. “Something you said got me thinking. If I were a Phantom Thief, what would my codename be?”
This was no easy task. The first thing which came to his mind was “MP3” because of the player dangling around her neck. But that was too on the nose, and frankly, sounded dumb. Then, perhaps it could be something relating to her lacrosse stick? But that was abandoned to when he remembered that he knew nothing about lacrosse. Maybe something about her persona?
Then it hit him. “Alright, how about this…”
She waited in anticipation.
“Muse. It relates to your persona, Orpheus, and it sounds kind of like “music”… y’know, because of the MP3 player.”
“Hmm… we can workshop a better one while we’re fighting later.” She passed through the door.
“Hey! I thought that was pretty good for something I came up with on the spot!”