Chapter Text
Ann was surprised to see their raven haired leader sitting in a booth with a younger student from another school. Quietly sneaking into a booth that would give her the ability to spy on him from a safe distance, she dismissed the diner waitress with a quick order. Akira seemed like he was enjoying the conversation, but the other teen’s face was mostly unreadable. She really couldn’t hear what they were talking about it, so she tried to guess what the two of them were doing together.
A date was out of the question. While it was a fun rumor to guess who their leader was dating, the other teenager seemed much too young to be in a relationship. They didn’t act like a couple, there were no longing looks between them, and Ann could read body language pretty well. The awkward breaks in the conversation had to be the last nail in that coffin, but she had other ideas.
She thought that they could be just friends, but how they knew each other seemed to evade her. Since he was on probation, living in a city where he knew nobody, the blonde could rule out they were old friends. The difference in uniforms led her to believe that Akira was his tutor, as despite his lack of focus in class, the transfer student shocked everyone by being at the top of his class on their midterms and finals.
While she openly stared at the pair in the booth, she realized that her drink was delivered, and had been sitting there for a while. With her attention at the bubbly drink before her, Ann did not realize that a gruff looking man entered the diner and approached the booth with Akira and this mystery kid. After taking a long sip of her fruity drink, she turned to watch the two and noticed the man looming over their table.
Even though Akira did not look troubled by the appearance of the other man, Ann noticed that his face lit up when he was speaking to the man. Taking a moment to analyze what she could see of the man, it was clear he was older than Akira. The scruff on his chin was noticeable from where she was sitting, and the gray trench coat, turtleneck, and hat seemed familiar to her, but she couldn’t place where.
Once the man left the diner, Ann dropped her money on the table and followed him outside. If he was indeed the person Akira was dating, she needed to make sure he wasn’t going to hurt their leader. It was easy to follow the other man, the trench coat stood out like a sore thumb. When he turned down a dark alley, she hesitated following him. This wasn’t the Metaverse, she couldn’t defend herself like she could in the other world.
Taking a deep breath to resolve her nerves, Ann walked down the alley and flinched when the man was standing around the corner, waiting for her.
“It’s not nice to follow people. Tell me, what’s a pretty girl like you doing following a man like me?” The man asked harshly, the lollipop stick moving from one side of his mouth to the other.
“How do you know Akira? You better not be causing him any trouble.” She could hear her voice tremble, but it didn’t seem like the other man noticed. Her attention was drawn to the bright green neon sign behind him.
“You mean my best customer? What of it?” He took a step forward towards the blonde girl, “What would you be able to do to stop me if I was causing him trouble?”
Now she was pissed. Ann did not trust this man, even though he seemed familiar to her for some reason. Instead of taking a step backward to avoid the man coming at her, she stepped forward, holding her ground. The comment he made about ‘his best customer’ finally clued her into who she was dealing with.
“You must be the person who buys all the stuff we find and supplies us with those model weapons.” Ann smirked, realizing that this was the shop owner that Akira couldn’t stop talking about. “Have you ever wondered who used all those whips? You must have an idea what damage they could do. Just how many whips I’ve thrashed in these past 4 months again?”
Ann whipped around, her hair nearly brushing the man’s face as she made her exit. Pulling out her phone, she created a new group chat, making sure to leave Akira out.
Ann: So I just found out who Akira is dating.
Ryuji: Who is she? Is she hot?
Futaba: spill it already
Ann: Not my place to say, but I’m sure you’ll all meet them soon.
Futaba: no fair ＼(｀0´)／
Yusuke: There must be a reason that Akira hasn’t told us yet. We should respect his privacy and let him come to us whenever he’s ready to divulge their identity.
Makoto: Agreed.
Walking back in the direction of the station to head home, Ann looked back and saw Akira and the kid he was with walking down the alley where she just was. With a smirk, she wondered if Ryuji would freak out when he found out for himself.