Honesty; get Ann to contribute of her own free will... somehow.

(chapter originally by Faith on writing.com)

"Trickery? TRICKERY?" Yusuke said to no one as he paced around his small living space.

He turned towards a mirror in the hallway of his small studio. In typical melodramatic fashion, he stalked up to his reflection, glaring at his doppleganger in a fury.

"Trick her into undressing, Yusuke Kitagawa? How dare you? To even consider such a course, for even a moment! That you would consider sullying your forthcoming masterpiece with such base tactics....is that the sort of artist you wish to be? One who would **** and manipulate to achieve his visions? Then by all means, walk the path of Madarame!"

He sighed dramatically and shook his head. "No. No more subterfuge or demands. It was an act of foolish desperation, trying to **** Tamaki-san to pose for me before! Sensei needed a new masterpiece and I was running out of time. But I knew, even then, that it would be futile to try and capture Ann's inner fire by ****! She must be a willing partner, not a prisoner! I cannot capture the essence of what I see in her if she is not willing to show it to me. I must convince her with pure sincerity. Yes! I must tell her what I see in her, what I am seeking to show the world!"

With that he strode forth from his apartment, a man on a mission.

"I know what you will say. And you are correct. My actions before were beyond unconscionable. I was driven by desperation...perhaps even a touch of the perversion you accused me of. It was absolutely inexcusable, and should I apologize from here to the end of time it would not make up for the slander I inflicted on you."

"Yusuke..."

"But hear me out! I beg you, see what I see! Ann Takamaki, you are beautiful. I do not speak of physical beauty, though that certainly applies! No! I see in you an inner fire, a woman who spurns the expectations and the shackles of this corrupt society! I see a fire! Dangerous! Potent! Powerful! I see one who has no need of foolish expectations the modern world would impose upon her. Certainly nothing so confining as mere clothing!"

"Yusuke..."

"I know what you wish to say! The world looks upon you, and all they see are the exotic features and physical beauty. They presume you are a woman of loose morals. They want to use you, like that lout Kamoshida. I beg you to understand, I am not like those fools! I do not want to strip you for my own perverse pleasure! I wish to...to show you...liberated and unimpeded by the stupidities and lusts of those fools! You are your own woman! Your body is yours, your sexuality all your own! It cannot be claimed by any other! It is fierce, and powerful, and yearns to be liberated!"

"Yuusuke!"

"You have to understand! I am an artist! I do not seek to be some base pornographer! I wish to make of you a grand nude portrait, the best ever made! Nude, not naked! I know, to your ears they sound the same! But they are worlds apart to an artist! To be naked is to be stripped against one's will, thrust into a situation outside of one's control or desire! A maiden chained up and awaiting rescue is NAKED. To be nude is to be unclothed willingly and without shame! Nude is claiming the fundamental beauty, the power of the human form and presenting it uncaring of what the world might think. Its...it is like the difference between a shadow and a persona! Both seem the same, but one is all that the mind rejects about itself while the other is embracing everything about oneself! Consider! Your life as a model implies you are not afraid of your body or your looks! You are merely tired of others seeing your beauty and assigning their own idiotic assumptions to it! There is a part of you that wishes to display....even flaunt your lovely form before all others...but on your terms, not those of a foolish society or drooling bastards like Kamoshida! Why else would you display such a skin tight, flamboyant costume oozing with sexuality whenever you become a Phantom Th-"

"YUSUKE!"

"What?"

Yusuke was standing in front of Ann's doorstep, his arms high in the air, frozen in mid-gesticulation. Ann was as red as a tomato, her hands balled into fists. Thankfully there weren't many people around at this time of day. Even so, Yusuke's impassioned speech was loud enough for Ryuji to be impressed. And, well....

Ann continued to stare at him in livid humiliation, stepping out of the doorframe enough for Yusuke to see into her home. A couch, a television on...and a pretty brunette girl with a long ponytail sitting nearby, a bemused smile on her face. She gave an awkward wave to Yusuke when she realized she had been spotted.

"You have a guest." Yusuke noted.

"I have a guest." Ann confirmed, her words caustic enough to eat through the floor.

"You should have said something. I was being rather loud." Yusuke noted.

Ann's lips curled back into a snarl as she clenched her teeth to avoid screaming. One hand reached forward, grabbed the nape of Yusuke's shirt, and pulled him inside her living space, all the while fighting the rising desire to commit an unimaginably brutal homicide.

"Yusuke...this is my friend, Shiho. Shiho...this is an idiot I know." Ann said.

"Yusuke Kitagawa." the artist said, extending a hand.

"You must be Madarame's pupil. Ann's talked a lot about you." Shiho said with a smile.

"Indeed. And you must be Ann's friend. The one that scoundrel Kamoshida drove to-"

"Yusuke!" Ann snapped.

"Ann, its fine. Really." Shiho sighed. "If I'm ever going to move past it, I can't **** everyone to tiptoe around it."

"......." Ann paused, still glowering at Yusuke. "I'll get some tea."

"Ah. That sounds wonderful. I'll take a cinnamon blend with-"

"Green tea. Plain. And if I hear one complaint about how it isn't some stupidly fancy obscure blend from some highbrow cafe or something I promise this tea pot and the scalding water inside it are going to get shoved up places you will not want them. Clear?" Ann snarled.

"Ahem. Yes. Quite." Yusuke whispered.

Ann stomped out of the room. Shiho instantly broke into a fit of a suppressed laughter as Yusuke seated himself on the couch.

"I should apologize for the interruption." Yusuke said after a moment.

"Oh, please don't. The look on Ann's face was the most priceless thing I've seen in years!" Shiho said.

"Still, I'm afraid I conducted myself a bit...umm..."

"It was very passionate. You might want to work on the volume, though." Shiho smiled. "Still, its refreshing. I'm glad your as enthusiastic about your work as I imagined from your pieces."

"You follow my work?" Yusuke asked in surprise.

"Oh, absolutely. I really admire great paintings, you know. I wish I had some talent for it myself, but my drawing skills are terrible. At least I never sucked as much as Ann, though." Shiho said.

"Shiho, you know I can hear you, right?" Ann said from the kitchen.

"Yep!" Shiho said with a smile. Yusuke was liking her more by the minute.

"Some of my tirade must have seemed strange, though." Yusuke mused. "Sensei always scolded me for my eccentricity. I really should learn to reign it in a bit."

"Oh, that's fine, really. Like I said, its nice to see an artist getting excited about his work. And..." Shiho shifted to a whisper. "Between you and me, I'm glad to hear someone else sees the Takamaki-san I've been seeing this whole time! She acts all sweet and timid, but there's a lion hiding in there!"

"A lion? You think so? I pictured her as more a panther." Yusuke whispered back.

"Hmmmm. Maybe. But why do I get the impression I'm missing some inside joke now?" Shiho asked.

"Ah. You are an observant one. I apologize again, Miss Suzui. I am being rude." Yusuke said.

"No worries. I assume its some kind of Phantom Thief thing."

Yusuke's face went blank.

"Heh. Oops. I'm not supposed to know about that, am I?" Shiho giggled softly to herself. "Don't tell Ann, okay? She's been trying really, really hard to keep it a secret, I just didn't have the heart to tell her I figured it out months and months ago. I mean, everyone who visited me in the hospital was buzzing about how Ryuji and the new kid had butted heads right after...what I did. Then Ann came along and told me that 'someone' made Kamoshida pay for what he did, and when I asked who her voice took on that fake accent she only uses when she's trying really hard to act innocent and coy and doing the worst job at it. All the stuff with Madarame and you becoming a regular friends of theirs just cemented it."

Yusuke hung his head and sighed. "It may be the worst kept secret in this city."

"Your secret is safe, obviously. But I want Ann to tell me herself when she's ready...even if I'm dying to know how exactly it all works."

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you." Yusuke whispered.

The conversation was cut short as Ann reentered the room. Ann eyed Yusuke suspiciously as she poured him a cup.

"So what were you two whispering about in here?" Ann asked.

"Oh, you know....how to get you to pose naked." Shiho said with a straight face.

Fortunately, Yusuke was spared Ann's look of outrage and promise of painful **** due to **** and sputtering on his tea.