The sun crests the cityâs skyline, flashes of orange shining between the maze of towering buildings.  What light does escape the constructs streaks through the student council roomâs windows, painting the space in the orange shades of dusk.  I stand on the left side of the room, my arms crossed, my brow sunken, and my frown shallow.  Across from me sits the illustrious student council president, evidently perplexed as to why Iâd call on her so suddenly.  Unfortunately, sheâs right to be worried.
   Walking to to tableâs edge, I lean my hands atop it as I stare down my fellow thief.  âMakoto, if weâre going to pull this off, we need to do this right.â
   You see, the two of us have hatched something of a scheme.  In the process of helping her come out of her shell, Makoto befriended a nice, if not a little ditzy, girl by the name of Eiko.  Eiko happens to be seeing a host with an absurdly sleazy sleazy air about him called Tsukasa, which Iâm fairly certain is just his latest pseudonym.  Hosts like him work a simple con of roping girls into debt and eventually selling them into prostitution.  Itâs only as transparent as it is sadly effective.  Too many innocent young women have fallen prey to this particular brand of bullshit and neither Makoto nor myself will stand to see Eiko added to the count.  The only problem initially presented was the means to confront her with the truth.
   Thankfully, we have an in.  Back when we first met Eiko, she assumed the two of us were dating, despite Makoto doing her absolute best to inform her otherwise.  As awkward a misunderstanding as that might be, itâs working to our advantage now.  After a number of nights at the bathhouse, Makoto and I are pretending to see each other and using my Debonair Charm to convince Eiko and Tsukasa the act is genuine on my part.  The awful, awful crush I have on her may be making my role a good deal easier to act out, but thatâs neither here nor there.  So long as we can keep this up, we can gather information on the creep and eventually prove to Eiko heâs only using her.  The problem is, pretending weâre dating is proving to be more difficult for one of us.
   âTsukasa isnât going to drop his guard if we donât convince him weâre the real deal.  Weâre not going to be able to get Eiko away from this sleazebag unless we beat him at his own game.  Iâm sorry if this is uncomfortable for you, but I need you to be a better liar.â
   As Queen, sheâs at the top of her game.  Within the Metaverse, Makoto has proven herself an adept Phantom Thief more than capable in both infiltration and combat.  Her keen eye for analysis and organization has saved us more times than I can count.  The real world, however, is a completely different story.
   Charming as she is, social manipulation is not a strength of hers.  In example, her recruitment to the Phantom Thieves was immediately preceded by her being kidnapped and subsequently blackmailed by Kaneshiro after demanding one of his men take her to him.  Repressing the horrifying thoughts of what could have happened to her once more, my mind moves to a far more innocent, but still clumsy attempt at information gathering.  Itâs time we addressed the elephant in the room, or more accurately, the girl with the manga in front of her who thinks sheâs much more stealthy than she is.
   I pull out the seat across from her and slide into it, hoping this conversation might be slightly more comfortable at an evened level.  âListen, I know you were following me around before you joined us.  Your spy game needs work.â  I even tried walking right up and talking to her a few times, but she never admitted what she was up to, even as obvious as it was.  As Phantom Thieves, we need to be as capable of hiding our true intentions in public as we are evading Shadows in the Metaverse.  Makoto is far from the only one of us who needs to learn this lesson, but sheâs the first to which the opportunity has presented itself.  With a straightening of my glasses, I continue, âThatâs why Iâm going to teach you everything I know about deceit.â
"Makoto, if we're going to pull this off, we need to do this right."
I hum in agreement, watching my pseudo-boyfriend as he settles into a seat opposite me. It hits me again as I look at him just how fortunate I am that he was willing to go along with such an outlandish scheme. Asking someone to pretend to be your partner... it sounds like the plot of a bad movie. Still, the ends justify the means, and at least we are in agreement that doing this is likely our best chance to rescue Eiko from the horrible fate that's closing tighter around her with each passing day. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done if he'd declined.
Eiko would never believe that Ryuji and I were a couple, and Yusuke, whilst probably intriguing because of his talent, is also likely a little too eccentric to lower Tsukasa's guard. Akira is charming and confident enough to play the part perfectly - and to smooth things over if I say something wrong. Romance isn't really something I have too much experience with, after all. He seems far more comfortable with that kind of thing.
My immediate reaction to his admittance that he'd known my intentions back then is to drop my eyes in embarrassment. He doesn't seem upset about it now, but it must have been so frustrating at the time. In my defense, the pressure laid on by Kobayakawa had really left me with little alternative. It's a feeble argument, I know that, but at the time I had failed to see any other way of getting the evidence I needed. I almost open my mouth to quickly explain that I hadn't enjoyed my time as a thorn in their side, but it probably isn't relevant right at this moment. I make a mental note to reiterate that point later, and refocus my gaze on him.
Deceit... the implications of the word makes the part of me that can't quite let go of the honour student shudder, but he's absolutely right. If we're going to be a convincing couple and expose that Tsukasa for the fraud I'm certain he is, I have to be a better actress. Not to mention that if the Thieves were ever to be discovered because I slipped up, I could never forgive myself. A second or two passes before I give a single, resounding nod, and lean forward in my seat.
I will be useful. I will save Eiko from the danger she's in. I will see Tsukasa ejected from my friend's life, whatever it takes. Of course I'm curious to know just how our illustrious leader got so good at lying, but I trust that he will tell me when the time is right.
"What... do you need me to do?"
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