Izumi decides to work on Naoto's reputation.

(chapter originally by Faith on writing.com)

"Work before pleasure, Naoto-chan." Izumi (or whatever her name really was) chided to herself, deliberately referring to herself by her most recent assumed identity (helps get one into the role properly).

The longer Naoto was left to her own devices the more likely she was to escape or contact someone that could help her. Izumi(???) needed to shore up the holes in her new identity before she began tormenting anyone else. So, file the papers first, then maybe "help" Naoto's reputation along...preferably in a way that would embarrass the actual detective immensely and allow her to write off any odd behavior like walking around naked. A sudden and avid interest in nudism was going to be hard to justify in the detective's case, but there was certainly a-

Naoto's phone began to ring. With a sigh of consternation, "Izumi" answered.

"Shirogane here." She said in a flawless voice.

"Well done." Came a voice over the other end, a whisper she could barely hear.

"...I'm sorry. Can you speak up? Who is this?" the impostor asked.

"Just a fan of your work."

"I see. Well, as much as I appreciate an admirer of my detective skills, I don't appreciate unsolicited phone calls. Please do not call this number again."

"Awww. But I just wanted to say how well you handled putting that stupid bitch in her place. Flawless work." The voice said with an air of smugness.

"Izumi" bristled. Master of disguise and pickpocket extraodinaire she may have been, but she still had her pride.

"I assume you mean Miss Caito. I don't appreciate anyone calling her stupid or a bitch. She's clearly troubled, but also clearly very intelligent. As a detective I find it lamentable that anyone should come to such a state as her, especially when-"

"Shut up a minute." The voice said. "First off, I never said I was talking about Izumi Caito at all. And second, shouldn't a master thief let her work speak for itself and not sing her own praises like this?"

Izumi stopped dead.

"Heh. Got your attention? Good."

"...Who is this?"

"An admirer, like I said. Its about time that someone put that crossdressing know it all bitch in her proper place. Surprised it escalated that quickly, but I knew how it was going to end. Naoto Shirogane, Detective Princess, stripped and misidentified. Hilarious." The voice said.

"....Glad you approve. I hope your not expecting me to be impressed, though. I've run into a blackmailer or two in my time. It didn't end well for them."

"Heh. Yeah. Can't be easy to **** someone who can just be someone else at the drop of a hat. Fortunately, I don't really want anything from you. Just...to stick around a bit. Do what you love doing. And don't leave Inaba. Not yet. Not until I say to."

"Ha! Do you have any idea who your talking to?"

"As a matter of fact, Sarah, I do."

".....How in the fuck-"

"Oh, you wouldn't believe it if I told you. You've heard about the midnight channel? Urban legend around here. I'll let you in on a little secret. It shows you what you want to see. For most people, that's whatever shmuck was recently on the TV. But if you focus hard enough, it let's you see past all the useless things the other peons want to see...and lets you see things you alone can make use of. In my case, its pretty handy for learning about people's backgrounds."

"Sounds like a load of-"

"Whatever. Believe whatever you want. Bottom line is, I know about you. And I need a little favor. There's a group of idiots looking for the truth who could use a little distractions. So...distract them. Keep distracting them until I don't need you anymore. Then...get the fuck out and don't come back. That's fair, right?"

"Or what? You think you can catch me? Okay, yeah, pulling some names out of a hat is pretty impressive, but it isn't going to do jack shit if I decide to go to ground. I can be anywhere I want in a day. And only a mind like Shirogane could guess where I'll end up."

"Yep. Totally got me there. No way in hell I'd be able to find you once you started running."

"So tell me, admirer-chan, why in the fuck of fuck would I play ball with-"

"Naoto wasn't the first, right? Nah, she's only the latest stolen identity. And its no coincidence you can imitate her so well. She's been your obsession for awhile now. An obsession in a long line of obsessions. So I'm curious. Are you a professional here? All business, no pleasure? Or have you been falling for each of your marks just a bit? Its a personal thrill, right? Learning everything you can, then becoming them? Heck, you've even managed to stockholm most of them into keeping silent about you. Quite the little heartbreaker, huh?"

"....."

"Yeah. Getting it now? It'd pain me to no end if one of those old marks ended up on an antenna here in Inaba. But hey, that's how things go sometimes. You ask nice, but the stubborn bitches just refuse to play along...."

"You...you don't know who your fucking with."

"Oh, I do. And now you know who you don't want to fuck with. So have fun, play your game. Just remember not to cross the lines I tell you not to cross and everything will be super. So be a good girl and we can be really good friends. And friends pick up when friends call. Make sure this phone gets answered when I call again, friend."

The line went dead.