maskreant | INBOX

Yeah... I've been worried sick, and now that we know this is all to help bring them back? I'm gonna work extra hard! You should too, okay?

Really? Was it a Phantom Thieves memory, then? Maybe I'll get one too, with all this fighting...

I told Mary this, but I'm looking into taking self-defense classes. You should totally join me! Not only will we get fit but we'll learn how to protect ourselves, too.

of course i will. there's no room for slacking.

i think so, but i don't really understand it. we were in some weird place? either way, it helped me with fighting a bit, kind of like i recovered some muscle memory as silly as that sounds.

sure. that sounds like a plan. i'm already training with Cleo in terms of normal exercise, but some self-defense classes can't hurt on top of that.

by the way, did you receive anything from Retrospec recently?

Dang... Now I kinda wish I got a memory like that to help me out. I believe you, though. I'll let you know if anything comes up on my end.

Oh, you know Cleo? She's really cool! I didn't know you two were getting so fit already!

Nope! Nothing. Why?

[ LITTLE DOES SHE KNOW IN A FEW DAYS... ]

sounds good.

she is, though i think she can maybe use some lessons in leisure. using your free time just for studying sounds like a hard life.

i was just curious since Hanamura got fish last month.

also, would you be interested in meeting other people in the Phantom Thieves?

[ mostly because he's not sure how she personally feels about them... Does she like them? Does she just want to live her life as is? It's kind of hard to go back now that they're wrangled into these teams. ]

Wait, okay, hold up: there are other Phantom Thieves here? Is that what you're saying?

[ ann's not...completely against meeting them, she's just surprised. what are the odds that other people besides akira would be a part of their hallucinomemories--ones that ann hasn't had yet but she's fully expecting them to show up eventually. ]

i only know one person and they're on the stranger side, but i don't know if they know?

so i'm a little reluctant to ask them since these memories trigger at inopportune moments sometimes. what if they like their life right now?

[ The true dilemma... ]

Oh. I get what you mean.

Maybe we should just...wait to see if the memory will come to them on their own right now. Maybe they'll approach one of us first about it? Who is it?

that was what i was thinking. also, sorry for springing it up on you at the beginning since you didn't have much of a choice. i should have thought that through the first time, but... yeah.

[ He doesn't mind being alone even when the memories become unsettling, but he promised her he would tell her. He won't lie that having someone to talk to about the milder stuff is nice. ]

Futaba Isshiki. know her?

No, it's totally fine! I wasn't mad or anything. I mean, honestly? You can tell me anything.
We're friends, aren't we?

[ she's never really...had a friend she could go to for anything and everything. other than kurt, but as an actor he'd be really busy and ann never wanted to bother him.

this is sort of her testing the waters with akira, to see if they're on that level. if anything she feels like the hallucinomemories have brought them closer together. ]

Her?? I've spoken to her once on the network. She's the gamer, right?

Edited 2017-08-13 22:25 (UTC)

yeah, we're friends... thank you.

[ But he's still hesitant. Some of these memories seem too intense, way over the top, so he'll wait a little longer before he tells her. He needs to be able to digest it first.

Despite that, he's really grateful and he's not sure if it can be conveyed in text. Retrospec has given them so much trouble, but brought them even more. ]

yeah, she is. i'm a little surprised, actually.

No problem. Don't worry about whether or not it's gonna change my life or anything, especially when I'm getting memories of my own.

[ those are life-changing enough as they are. though...it's probably a good move for akira to wait right now. ann's going to be hit with some unpleasant memories soon, so... ]

Seriously, that's super unexpected! Have you talked to her before?

all right. i'll make sure to tell you later, maybe when all of this is over.

[ Because more stress isn't needed. When he got that one memory, he had trouble sleeping. ]

actually, we're longtime friends? online friends, but still friends.

Whoa what?! You never told me you had online friends! How did you guys meet?

[ WAIT.

wait a minute

first: ]

do you not have online friends, Ann...?

No...not really...

[ akira she never had many friends to begin with, ]

Why? Is that bad?

i wouldn't say it's bad. i just thought it was kind of normal.

well, at least for me it is. i didn't have a lot of friends and i used to move around a lot, so i made some online.

[ He doesn't mind admitting that he has like. No friends. Little friends? A very small amount of friends. ]

we played an MMO together and that's how it started.

I see. I guess...I just never found a reason to talk to anyone online? Outside of updating my Instagram and stuff.
That's pretty cool, though. Have you met any of them in person, including Futaba?

[ oh, akira.... at least he has friends now. at least both of them do. ]

we should add each other, then we can be online friends, too.

[ he has you, fam. ]

i've met Futaba before Retrospec... the rest of them aren't part of it, so they don't really notice any differences. it's really unsettling, but i shouldn't be surprised.

Wouldn't that not count since we met in person first?

[ is that how it works ]

Honestly, I think you two would click better than me and her will. I'm not really into games and stuff, so...maybe you'd be able to bring up the Phantom Thieves more easily around her?

you're right. it doesn't matter where you meet friends, they are friends in the end.

[ this is all a set up for this punch line ]

maybe, but she could use more friends? she had a rough childhood. also, you never know? maybe you guys have something else in common?

[ Like... He has no clue, to be honest, but it would be nice if his friends become friends, too. ]

Wow. You got really wise there for a second!

[ ANN... ]

Maybe we do. I guess I should talk to her more, huh?
But isn't it weird if I just randomly message her out of nowhere?
I did that once for bingo and I'm pretty sure I creeped the guy out.

thanks, i guess.

[ smooth ]

i'll be the judge of that. how can you creep a that guy out? you're a nice person.

and the opposite of creepy.

Because I totally messaged him out of nowhere and he didn't know me...
Well, I guess it might be different this time because I've spoken to Futaba before?

Also you don't seem like the kind of person who'd be bothered by that kind of thing, would you be?

but did you ask them out for curry on the first conversation? that's the real question. also, it sounds less creepy since you've talked to her before. you can even tell her it's because i vouched for you or something.

actually, i don't know if that would give her a good or bad impression. i want to hope it's good.

[ Because the random person that called him did. ]

are you trying to say that i let creepers creep on me?

Nah but we went jogging together...it wasn't so bad actually?
Okay, I'll talk to her when all of this is over, then. How does that sound?

[ she also had a random caller but wasn't really creeped out so... ]

No! Just that you wouldn't see it as creepy if someone randomly messaged you!

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