Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For Makoto, there is a process to her morning schedule.

First, she wakes up, her eyelids heavy with sleep and exhaustion from the previous day’s job. Her wife had always doted on her for putting so much effort and work, toiling day in and day out as Tokyo’s youngest police captain in her mid twenties. But no matter how many times she was berated by her wife, no matter how many times she caught Makoto falling asleep with a book on her face in bed, at the end of the day, she would always cuddle with her wife, smiling with those brilliant blue eyes before drifting to sleep.

Makoto stands up, moving slowly as she breaks free from the sleeping grip of her wife. Her wife, Ann Takamaki, the beautiful golden haired model, the star of Tokyo, was currently drooling on her pillow, a pink blindfold with hearts covering her eyes. To think that someone as perfect as her who was once her best friend and fellow Phantom Thief would become her partner in life still had Makoto in disbelief. At times, she secretly thought that it was all a dream, that one day she would wake up this ideal world and return back to reality.

But even if it were a dream, she would not give it up nor wake up from it.

Before leaving the confines of their bed, the brunette haired woman goes to kiss her wife on the forehead, a silent promise to return back soon. As quietly and carefully as she can, Makoto manages to get up from bed, slipping on her the custom made Buchimaru slippers that Ann somehow with her connections in the model industry was able to commission and gift Makoto on their first anniversary. From their bedroom window, she sees that the sun has barely broken the horizon, streaks of pink and blue slowly breaking the receding night. Another disadvantage of being a captain was being an early riser, a trait that Ann has also pouted about, though there were benefits to it.

Like a thief in the night, Makoto slips through the hallway of their shared apartment, once her childhood home where she was raised by her parents and Sae, now hers and Ann’s. She remembers when the days leading up to her wedding, Sae had given Makoto the keys to the apartment, her sister smiling with pride and tears.

“This place has always been your home, Makoto,” Sae had said “Mom and dad would be proud of the woman you’ve become because you didn’t just change yourself. You changed me. And I couldn’t be happier. I want this apartment to be yours when you start your new chapter of life. To always remind you of where you came from.”
Makoto smiles at the memory, wiping an imaginary tear from her eye as she treks into the kitchen, turning the lights on. Without a second thought, she got right into work, grabbing the necessary ingredients from the fridge and pantry of eggs, milk, flour, sugar, salt, strawberries, whipped cream and butter, the ingredients of crepes. She has made this recipe time and time again, ever since she made this specific recipe for Ann during their study dates in high school. She remembers how Ann’s eyes lit up from the first spoonful of crepes, her voice keening with sweet pleasure from the dish and the next thing that Makoto knew, the blonde girl was kissing her, whipped cream in tow.

Before long, Makoto stands before her finished dish, nodding to herself at the sight of her work. She brings out the bed tray table, and once again returns to the bedroom with breakfast in tow. She sets the tray table on the side, and goes to Ann’s side. Ann has barely moved from the last time Makoto saw her, her long blonde hair spread out in a tangled mess. Leaning down, Makoto grabs Ann’s shoulder and slowly shakes her wife “Ann?”

Ann groans back in response, slightly moving away from Makoto. The brunette shakes her head and lightly rolls her eyes as her wife was never one to wake up without a fight.

“Honey, it’s time to wake up.”

“Urghhhhh.”

“Ann, please.”

“Noooo….”

One last shot then. “I made crepes.”

For a few brief seconds, Ann did not move. However, slowly, her hands reach to the blindfold and takes it off, her sapphire eyes open with hunger and bright curiosity. “Crepes?” Ann repeated, her lips smacking with drool at the mere word.

“Hmhm,” responded Makoto with a smile, kissing her wife on the lips. Ann returns the kiss with great vigor and the two get lost in a brief blissful moment, their thoughts only to each other and how much they mean to each other. Each kiss a solemn vow to care and love, to be there always for each other, in life and death. The moment has to end and Makoto is the first to let go, breathless as she continues her words “With extra strawberries and whipped cream. Your favorite.”

Ann smiles and moves her knees to her chest, motioning Makoto to the bed. Minutes later, the two Phantom Thieves were sitting in bed, enjoying crepes, their hands briefly touching as they enjoyed the early morning.

The day has only begun and yet to Makoto, hers was already made by being with the love of her life. And nothing could beat that. Ever.

Chapter Text

Ohya had always believed that she was cursed in some way.

Ever since she could remember, both her parents were hardly ever invested in her life, drinking and smoking their woes away. When she was but 10 years old, they died in a car accident; the detectives had ruled alcoholism as the major cause. Ohya was sent to live with her aunt and uncle and for a while things were good.

That was until Ohya had her first drink.

It was meant to be a one time thing, a celebratory drink for her high school graduation with her classmates. At first she declined, waving away any and all drinks offered to her before the constant prying eyes of her cohorts made her finally relent. Just one drink, she had thought, looking at the glass of beer in her hand. Just one.

One became two, two became four, and more and more did Ohya drink away that night. The next morning she woke up hungover and in someone else’s bed, naked as a newborn baby under the sheets. She slipped away from the apartment and never looked back, vowing to never drink again.

And yet she continued. No matter how hard she tried to rationalize or make sense of it, she always went drinking as soon as she could. It didn’t matter if it was school nights or her current job as a journalist, she drank everything away with alcohol. An exclusive story on the Phantom Thieves from a Shujin student? Drink. If her editor was on her ass again? Drink. If she was thinking about Kayo and how she was still nowhere close to finding her or the people responsible for her disappearance? Drink. All her problems, her worries, her victories she would wash them down with a drink and wake up every morning, alone and hung over.

Perhaps this was to be her fate after all. She was only doing what she grew up knowing and despite trying to reform her habits, she went back. To Ohya, this was her fate.

That was until she met the fortune teller behind The Crossroads.

Ohya had paid little attention to the fortune teller stand where hopeless schmucks would waste hundreds of yen on receiving “divine” advice from silly tarot cards. What had caught the journalist’s eye was the woman running the scam; a pretty young woman with long blonde hair, violet eyes, and wearing a ridiculously sized navy headband with a matching shirt and tights and a light purple dress to top it all off. From the brief glimpses and speech she had heard when walking by the stand, the fortune teller seemed to be from the countryside, her accent thick of the boonies. How someone with little to no experience in city life ever managed to make a living here with just reading palms and cards was beyond Ohya. Whatever the case was, Ohya had little interest or time to ever touch fortune telling.

Until one night after excessive drinking where she blacked out completely and awoke the next day in someone else’s bed again. Though this time, unlike that night, she was greeted by a pair of shining violet eyes.

“Oh!” said the fortune teller, stepping back from bed with a glass of water in hand “I’m sorry for waking you up. It’s just that it’s the afternoon and I was worried…”

Ohya blinked. This was by far the most kindness she had ever received in her life thus far aside from the Phantom Thieves’ charity. Here she was in some stranger’s bed who let her sleep in their bed.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Ohya had said, rubbing her forehead “This is normal for me.”

“It’s normal for you to black out while walking out of a bar?”

“Not… really,” admitted Ohya. “Mostly just drinking and heading home completely wasted. Blacking out is a first for me.”

“I see,” said the fortune teller. “Well it's a good thing I was walking just behind you or else you would have hit your head on the pavement.”

“And then you brought me to your place? Why not the hospital?”

The fortune teller blushed, a cute blush if Ohya might add “I mean I could have… to be honest, I wasn’t thinking all clearly and my place was the closest.”
“Fair enough, I suppose,” said Ohya. “Thank you again for your help… uhh-”

“Chihaya. Mifune Chihaya.”

“Right.”

The two women stared at one another in silence, avoiding (or at least trying to) each other's gaze. This was a truly embarrassing moment for Ohya, all things considered. She couldn’t just leave the fortune teller without a proper thank you at least.

A lightbulb lit up in her head. “Have you had lunch yet?”

“Lunch? No, I haven't even had breakfast yet.”

“Well get dressed, I’m paying for lunch.”

“You don’t have to do that!”

Ohya sighed, looking at Chihaya with a solid stare. “Look, I can’t leave here without sounding or looking like a one night stand. You did all this trouble for a mess like me and damn it I am going to treat you out to lunch.”

The blonde haired woman blushed, clearly taken aback by Ohya’s words. “Well… I don’t know. The cards said that I shouldn’t do anything randomly today or else.”

“Pretty sure you won’t get struck by lightning if someone takes you out for burgers.” pointed out Ohya. “Besides, are you really buying into that tarot card shit you sell to people?”

Chihaya pouted, “It is not ‘shit’. My grandmother taught me how to read the cards when I was a little girl. It’s the only thing she left for me before she passed.”

Crap.

“Shit,” said Ohya, rubbing the back of her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Chihaya rubs her hands on her arms, crossing them as she looks away “No… It’s alright. I know my talent is seen as scammy; however, I try my best to read people's fates to determine the best future for them.”

Ohya gets out of bed, one hand on her hip while the other points to the fortune teller “And this is why I’m treating you out. You’re too good to not get rewarded by the likes of me.”

Chihaya tilts her head slightly “Likes of you?”

“Yeah. Pretty sure I’m a mess right now considering my breath smells like vodka and ramen.” Ohya was also sure that her hair was a mess considering the atrocious bed hair she’s had to calm down over the years despite cutting it short.

“You’re not a mess. I think you’re quite beautiful.”

This woman was going to be the absolute end of her, thought Ohya, her cheeks burning red

It took her another minute to convince Chihaya and before long, they were sitting at the most luxurious (as cheaply and affordable to Ohya’s wallet) crepe stand in Shibuya. The place was practically buzzing with young people, even noticing two girls from Shujin academy by their uniforms though one was wearing more red than usual.

Chihaya’s face was stuffed to the brim with chocolate and cream cheese delight while Ohya’s was dying from strawberry and banana flavor. Suffice to say, this was not a bad idea. The journalist had often thought of bringing Kayo to this place, before she had disappeared. She had always taken Ohya out to takeout when recovering from a night out. Odd how she was now taking Kayo’s place. When the two women were done with their breakfast (or lunch considering it was the afternoon), Ohya escorted Chihaya to the train station.

“I had a wonderful time,” said Chihaya, bowing her head to Ohya “Thank you.”

“Please don’t do that,” said Ohya, her cheeks red as she looked around the busy pedestrians who paid little attention to them.

“So…”

“So?”

“Will…” started Chihaya, twirling a strand of her hair around “Will I see you again?”

“You want to… spend more time with me?” asked Ohya, her eyes wide with surprise.

Chihaya nodded. “Yes… because… the cards dictate so!” she said, taking out a deck of tarot cards from her purse.
“Right…” muttered Ohya, doubting the fortune teller’s words. She looked at the deck and the card at top was odd. It was of two people holding hands with a heart in the background “What’s that one supposed to be?”

“This is the Lovers,” explained Chihaya, “It represents one’s relationships in life. From familial, the self, platonic, or romantic. Essentially it’s how one wishes to keep those relationships, either close or apart.”

“That so…”

Chihaya nodded “I’m not sure why this card but… despite what it means.. I do think that you are a nice person Ichiko-san and that despite what you think of yourself or fate, you deserve a friend at least.”

A friend. The concept had felt so foreign to Ohya for so long ever since Kayo disappeared. Here a stranger was, a kind woman of all people, asking to befriend a mess like her. It sounded comical, a joke even. And yet… she couldn’t but feel to say-

“Yeah.”

Chihaya blinked and then smiled. She took out a piece of paper and handed it over to Ohya “This is my number if you ever find yourself lonely and sad. I know your usual spot.”

“Right… cause of your stand.”

“That and you’re hard to miss with that pretty hair.”

Before Ohya could say anything, the blonde haired woman simply waved, smiled, and turned away, walking away into the crowd of pedestrians. Ohya stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds and looked at the card.

Perhaps… maybe just this once… she could indulge fate a chance.

Maybe her luck was just getting better thanks to a certain fortune teller.