" Chapter 1 , Welcome to Daifuku ! PT.1 "

As the first rays of sunlight crept into her room , Yukina reluctantly opened her eyes. With a loud yawn , she stretched her arms and rubbed her eyes. She had been lying in bed for what felt like hours , staring at the ceiling in silent frustration.

Taking in a deep breath , she moved the blankets off of her and stretched the rest of her body. She changed into a white buttoned up shirt with a navy blue cardigan and plaid skirt. With her white knee high socks already on and her black mary janes in hand , she scrambled around the room for her school bag.

Today was just like any other day - she would have to force herself to go to school and retain her perfect grades. She was top of her class , especially when it came to literature and music. She was completely guaranteed to have a future , if only it didn't take up most of her time.

" I swore I had it by my bed. Where is it ? "

She looked through every part of her room. From her closet to her drawers , she couldn't find it anywhere. Having one other option , her hazel eyes shifted to her bed. Moving the bottom of her lavender sheets , she moved her arm across the pink carpet , only to feel something made of cardboard.

Through the hair and dust was a large box with childish holographic stickers and pink glitter. The box's lid read " Yukina " in messy handwriting with decorative hearts that were most likely drawn with marker. Hesitantly , she pulled it out and opened it to reveal an entire collection of colorful manga. An occasional crossword and crayon could be found but her attention was drawn to a rainbow bookmark that stuck out like a sore thumb.

She shifted through the pile , her fingers twitched at the realization of what was at the bottom of the stack. Her thumb caressed over the cover of volume one before it ended on the face of the raven haired protagonist.

Phantom Thief Miyako.

Her frustration only grew more bitter. Everything came back to her. There was a reason for it being stuffed in that box. It was purposely meant to be forgotten.

Her birthday was just in a few days , and with it came the honest truth that she was getting older. Dreams of thieves dazzled in shimmering glitter , of glistening cities that never slept , how ridiculous she was to have such a dream.

She lived in reality , and in reality , there was only one thing that mattered.

To carve a future for herself. So her mother wouldn't have to worry about what success her daughter would find , if at all.

She had been debating for almost half an hour on whether to keep them , donate them or simply throw them away. The more she stared at the phantom thief , the more she was fought back the urge to slam the box shut.

Just as she was about to put the manga back into the box , a loud voice snapped Yukina back into reality.

" Yukina Odiyaka , you better be out of bed ! I'm not gonna let you be late for your first day of school ! " her mother shouted.

' Late ? What does she mean ? '

Yukina grabbed the heart shaped clock that rested on her nightstand before her eyes widened. " I was distracted for THAT long?! "

Yukina immediately got up and immediately swatted things underneath her bed so that she could slide the box back inside. Much to her surprise , her hand brushed upon leather , revealing it to be the school bag she was looking for. She wrapped the strap around her waist and took the split second to grab the manga and stuffed them into her bag.

She quickly tied her hair into a bun and closed the door behind her , running down the stairs to meet with her mother's disappointed face. Her hand was rubbing her temples in displeasure with a mug in hand , presumably filled with coffee. Her mother was around the same height as Yukina , with dirty blonde hair and deep green eyes. A pair of brown outlined glasses sat on her face , her attire that of a office worker.

Her mother , Yumi Odiyaka , was a hard worker. She always held a strong view on things and would always speak her mind. Whether that was something to view as positive , Yukina couldn't say. She wouldn't know anything about strong views , she just went with the flow most of the time.

With a soft sip from her mug , her mother raised an eyebrow at her child's disheveled hair and tight grip on her bag.

" Already scattered brained on your first day of school ? You really wouldn't be able to do this without your mama. " Yukina playfully rolled her eyes. " Morning to you too , mom. I have to hurry to school , I love you ! "

Running past her , she reached for the door before a tap on her shoulder stopped her from turning the knob. Turning around , her mother pointing to the table with a giggle as Yukina didn't say a word. A pink and white polkadot bento sitting there with a pair of wooden chopsticks next to it.

With a embarrassed laugh , Yukina kissed her mother's cheek and grabbed the bento , stuffing it into her bag and running through the door. " Love you mom ! Thanks for lunch ! " she called out , closing to door behind her and walking down the house steps. She found her mint green bike and began to peddle off the pavement and onto the dirt road.

She rode through the large fields of grass and flowers , the scent of wet grass from last night's rain bringing her a sense of peace.

Yukina Odiyaka , age 16 , had finally entered the 10th grade and would start another year at Matsuoka High School. It's no cake walk to get in , testing was extremely difficult and running low on sleep proved to be challenging. Despite the obstacles , she came out on top with perfect grades and her chin held high.

' You're going to be 17 soon Yukina , at some point you need to figure yourself out. Thats the only way you'll be able to leave this boring town '

Santiwan to foreigners was nothing more than a small town but to people like young Yukina , it was her entire world. A small , boring world where nothing interesting happened. Change was rare in Santiwan , and that was agonizing for Yukina. She did enjoy some parts of Santiwan , like the small library near the grocery store and the arcade on the way to school but that was about it.

That may have been part of the reason she cherished her manga so much. It gave her hope that outside of Santiwan was exciting and always changing. Every issue was filled with new characters , different places to read about , and no matter how bad the danger was , Miyako was always came out triumphant. It was her window to the rest of the world.

The road dirt came to an end as she peddled across the streets of Santiwan. She passed by some individuals walking down the streets , sometimes shouting good morning to them and be greeted back or given a warm smile.

A few to greet her was the arcade manager , Matsumoto-San and the local florist , Sakiyama-Sama. Good friends of her mother's since their days at university. They just went about their day , like they usually did. She envied them.

She finally reached the black iron gates of Mastuoka , hastily chaining up her bike and racing inside the building. She quickly slipped off her shoes and tossed them into her locker. She changed into her indoor shoes and raced up the stairs to the second floor. The thumping of her heart never left her chest. Not even for a minute.

She traced her finger across the doors and looked up to each sign in black ink with the number of the floor and the room. ' 2-1 , 2-2 , 2-3 , 2-4 , 2-5— ' as she continued to count down in her head , she finally came across her classroom number with a slight smile on her face. " Class 2-9 ! I might get there on time after all ! "

Opening the door will all her might , she kept her face calm even though her legs were sore from her almost tripping on the way to class. Her fingers gripped tightly on her door for support as her eyes darted all over the room , focusing on the teacher , Sensei Tamiko , who held disappointment all over her face.

The teacher was pale with dark brunette hair that was messily tied into a ponytail. Her dark brown eyes scanned through the attendants sheet , occasionally shifting to look at the students.

Knowing her manners , Yukina bowed to greet her as a drop to sweat dripped down the side of her cheek , knowing there wasn't any way to get out of this.

" Sensei Tamiko , I apologize for being late. I- "

Before she could finish , Sensei Tamiko sighed and stood up from her desk. She walked closer to her and Yukina felt her body lock in place with her eyes only on the teacher's fox-like gaze.

" Ms. Odiyaka , I won't mark you as absent but please try to be on time. Take your seat. "

Yukina expected more of a lecture from her , but nonetheless sighed under her breath and nodded , no longer bowing to her.

" Yes Sensei " she sat down in her seat only to feel the room's atmosphere shift as she felt the gaze of her peers. She understood why , but it didn't help to know that they all knew her from 9th grade.

She didn't even bat an eye or even talk back to her classmates , she didn't feel the need to since she didn't have any friends.

" Welcome to your first day in school. I hope you all enjoyed your summer. I'd like you all to introduce yourselves before we go over the rules and disciplinary measures. " Tamiko explained , writing the date and the rules on the board with white chalk.

" Who would like to start first ? " Tamiko explained , the class falling silent to look around until one person stood up , then another and then another. This chain of students continued until one was left.

Yukina's eyes fell to her desk as she balled her hands into fists. So this was how they were gonna start the year off ? This is what she gets for being quiet. She takes a small breath before standing up and placing her hands to her sides.

" My name is Yukina Odiyaka , I'm 16 and I like  to play music and read books. I hope we can can be friends and see the best version of myself. "

It was a bunch of empty lies. Her " best self " wasn't even her real self. The only reason why she didn't get bullied was because she kept quiet.

She sat back down and Tamiko began the lesson , Yukina tuning in and out since it wasn't any different than the last years rules. By this point , it was just going in one ear and out the other. She looked out the window with a bored daze , sketching whatever came into mind in her notebook. It was going fine till she slowly looked back to her notebook and quickly slammed her pencil on the desk.

Everyone in class turned to her , and Tamiko paused her lesson to look at her. " Are you alright , Ms. Odiyaka ? " Yukina quickly nodded and turned to another page in her notebook. " Yes sensei. I apologize for interrupting you " the teacher nodded and continued on with the lesson.

Yukina raised her sketchbook one last time to see it was the drawing. It was of Miyako.

' Miyako ? Why would I...Wait , what am I even saying ? It's probably just because my mind's still worried about the manga in my bag ' she ripped the paper from her notebook and crumbled it , throwing it in the trash bin beside her , and burying her face onto the desk.

The rest of the day wasn't any important , not to her anyway. She didn't bother to listen to the other teachers , all she could care to do was just draw to pass the time. Towards the end of school , she felt exhausted with everything as the thoughts of the manga got worse and worse.

The golden rays of the setting sun painted the classroom. It was empty and with her being the last one there , every movement she made created a small echo. She gathering all her school supplies and left her last period class with a sense of internal dread.

' Maybe I should throw them out. They're just gonna keep me paranoid unless I get rid of them ' Yukina thought. She unzipped her bag , and took out the manga with a hitched breath. All she had to do was toss them into the trash bin. It was easy. She just had to let the books go.

" Hey wait ! Don't go yet ! I need to speak to you ! " a voice shouted.

She stopped at the sound of the voice , and looked all around her , trying to figure out who was trying to get their attention " I think I'm finally going mental " Yukina mumbled. She turned back to the trash bin by the front door , only to gasp at the person that had suddenly appeared. Her startled expression softened at the student ID hanging around their neck.

The girl was shorter than Yukina with a plus sized body and round face. The round glasses covered in small sequin gems covered her doe-like brown eyes. Her long brunette bangs were decorated by colorful star hair clips and through her smile you could see her silver braces. What really got Yukina's attention was the Phantom Thief Miyako pins on her bag , as well as keychains of chibi Miyako on her phone. Her day just kept getting better and better.

" I'm Mariko Akahara , it's nice to meet you Yukina ! "

" ....Hoooow do you know my name ? " Yukina asked , raising a brow to the girl with a puzzled stare. " Oh , we go to the same class ! Class 2-9 ? Sensei Tamiko's room ? " Yukina held a hand to her hip as she tried to remember anything before she went into her own little bubble. With a soft sigh , she shrugged her shoulders. " I can't remember , sorry. Regardless , it's nice to meet you. " Mariko nodded , laughing to herself.

" It's alright , I kinda saw that you slept in class so I can't fault you. Oh , that reminds me ! " she opened her bag and dug through her notebooks and Phantom Thief Miyako themed folders before coming across a crumbled up ball of paper. She grabbed it and unraveling the ball of paper , only to stare at the same Miyako drawing she did hours ago in Sensei Tamiko's class.

It made her blood boil , and her lip tremble at the sight of the drawing.

" You're a really good artist ! I thought I was the only Phantom Thief Miyako fan , but I finally met someone who likes PTM ! " Yukina stayed quiet and stuffed it in her bag , along with the manga she tried to throw out.

" I'm not a fan. I only drew Miyako to pass the time , that's all. " She moved past Mariko and towards the school's front door , loud footsteps following behind. " How can you hate the books ? They're soooo good ! Even people our age can still read them ! " Mariko protested. How much did it take for this girl to take the hint that she's not interested ?

The warm colors of the sunset grew darker and darker with the sun meeting with the end of the horizon. By this point , they were in front of the school gates. Club activities didn't start till nest week so Yukina could look forward to the sweet comfort of some alone time. She was so close to her bike , then she could finally ditch the annoying fangirl.

" It just doesn't make any sense. I think Miyako is an amazing character , and a lot of people should take interest in the adventures she goes on. I could sense the amount of passion you poured into it ! Maybe you– "

Yukina immediately stopped walking , startling Mariko from continuing with her rambles. With a sharp turn , Yukina gripped on the folds of her skirt with a furious glare. " How many times do I have to tell you , I'm not interested ! What , do I have to spell it out for you?! I got fed up with the story and especially with Miyako ! Some of us want to grow up ! "

Her eyes softened at the pained look in Mariko's eyes. Her hands trembled as she pulled them close to her chest , trying her best to hold a smile. " I'm sorry. I just wanted to try and make a friend , you know ? I'll see you tomorrow , Yukina " with a slow , almost ashamed giggle , she walked past Yukina and was out of sight.

Yukina bit the nail of her thumb in frustration. " Whats wrong with me today... " she whispered , hanging her head low. Someone wanted to be her friend , and she blew the chance of ever having one. Maybe she saw something in her that she disliked about herself. She wasn't sure. She didn't want to give it a second thought.

Unchaining the bike from the gate , she got on and peddled off of school grounds and through the town.

' Maybe a trip to the electronics store would do me some good. It'll be good to see Fuji-San again now that the rain cleared up. '

Finally reaching the building , she opened the door , and was greeted by the cheerful chime of the shop's bell. " Ah , Ms. Odiyaka. It's a pleasure to see you tonight. Is it alright with your mother to be out like this ? " Mr. Fuji asked with a small mischievous grin which Yukina knew very well and allowed her body to loosen and relax.

" She's at work. I just came here to use the computers. " he nodded with a chuckle and walked off , Yukina picking the hint as she followed behind him at a faster pace. She always felt comfortable when she was around him. She knew him since she was a little girl , and always appreciated him for trying to shake things up , even if no one else took notice.

" What I have for you is something I think would pique your interest " Yukina titled her head in confusion. " My interest ? What do you mean ? " they walked through the shelves of electronics , the man stopped in front of a stack of boxes that was by the employee only door. " What is it , Fuji-San ? " Yukina asked , trying to catch a peek at whatever Mr. Fuji was hiding with his back.

After some time , he turned around with a happy chuckle. In his hand was a rectangular present. It was a violet color with gold ribbon that was tied into a small bow. She gently took it from him and unwrapped the ribbon from the paper , opening it with shocked eyes.

" To think after all these years , they finally turned the manga into a show. That thief , eh , whats her name....Liano ? Piano ? Riyoko ? " Yukina held the gift to her chest with her heart thumping so loud she swore she could hear it. " Miyako , Fuji-San " she teased , the pair laughing it off.

" I know that your mother doesn't want you to hold on to anything childish , but I quite frankly disagree. You're still young , you have your whole life to go through before you even have to worry about grown up things.

Yukina looked down at the gift in her hand. It was a DVD with the case depicting Miyako running away from the police with the neon city of Daifuku in the background. The corner sticker read " Phantom Thief Miyako " with the rest of the title being crossed out in black marker.

Yukina couldn't bring herself to say no , not to the man who was kind enough to even get her that gift. It was frustrating to , once again , be faced with her uncertainty , but by this point , she was too tired to fight it off.

" I...I appreciate this gift. I'll watch it as soon as I get home. " Fuji-San knew that her smile was bittersweet , but said nothing. Deep down , he wanted to hear her smile and laugh again , appreciate her youth like she always had before.

They exchanged a few pleasant conversations , before she said her goodbyes and left the store , peddling back across the dirt path to her home.
She leaned the bike back to where it was , walking up the steps , and kneeling to the wooden planks.

She grabbed a key from under the mat and unlocked the door. She took off her shoes near the door , and walked past the wooden floor , her feet meeting with the soft magenta carpet in the living room. She walked into the kitchen and shivered at the cold waxed floor.

She turned on the kitchen lamp and looked down at the DVD again with a glare. She condemned herself for not bothering to tell Fuji-San how uncomfortable it made her feel that she couldn't stay in her childhood mindset anymore. Whether he knew it or not , her mother had a point. She had to grow up and think of her future.

Yet...she found some peace in the DVD. Somewhere deep down , she could feel some amount of excitement. Something told her that she needed this. For closure or for curiosity sake , one viewing couldn't hurt.

" Mr. Fuji said it had all 3 seasons , so I'll give it a shot. The last issue I read was when Miyako had been attacked by a mysterious enemy. Miyako swore to find who they were , but she never did since there wasn't any new updates. Maybe I'll find out in the anime " she opened one of the maroon cabinets and pulled out the plastic container of wagashi.

With the container in hand , she walked up the stairs and opened the door to her room , tossing her bag somewhere in the room and collapsing onto her bed. The TV and DVD player sat on top of her white media cabinet in front of her. Her finger grazed over the power button and turned it on.

Yukina opened the DVD case. She didn't understand why , but she felt her heart pound in her chest. An old yet warm familiar feeling. She tried to bury it deep down , but in the end she had to come clean.

She missed her childhood , and the fact they created it in a new way fascinated her.

To think Fuji-San was able to get this made her even more appreciative of the fact she possessed it , no matter how hard she tried to force herself to hate it.

She placed the silver DVD into the DVD player , and watched the screen as the corner read " Loading disc ". The screen fade into black , and after some time , brightened into different colors.

There she was. Fully animated , was the Phantom Thief , Miyako. She waved to Yukina and the animation lead to the appearance of the menu screen. Yukina couldn't have felt more relaxed in her life to see her again.

The city of Daifuku was behind Miyako , elevating what was already in the manga. Her theme song was also playing in the background while Yukina munched on a piece of wagashi.
She grabbed the black remote as quickly as she could , and pressed the play button. Yet , the screen froze , and right after turned black.

Everything was quiet , and by this point , Yukina was getting anxious with the silence. She stood up , and walked over to the lights to turn them on with a frown. All the built up excitement fizzled away.

" This is what I get for caring about something meant for little kids " Yukina muttered , raising the remote to turn it off. Yet...it didn't. Rolling her eyes with a scoff , she hopped off the bed and stormed towards the TV , trying to turn it off manually.

Her hand brushed on the screen and widened at it completely phasing through. It wasn't a glass surface...there was nothing. What she could feel was liquidly , damp even. She dropped the remote as she tried to pull away her hand with heightened gasps. It continued to swallow her arms as she tried to pull away , clawing at the carpet. " SOMEONE HELP ME ! " she screamed out.

Something started to tap against her , her clothes becoming soaked as her grip weakened. The force that pulled at her was so great that she had no choice but to let go. She was completely absorbed by the TV as white light blinded her.

She couldn't see anything , or even hear herself scream. It just felt like she was falling in the air. As quickly as it happened , it was over. A sharp ache had spread throughout her back and the white slowly dissipated. Her consciousness was going in and out , but she swore she could see a bright star that outshone the rest.

A familiar scent of wet grass came to her and was all she could sense before her eyes fell heavy and the darkness engulfed her.