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Sakura Sojiro was cleaning dishes in his cafe, eyes glancing between the door and the TV, looking for some sign of Akira.
He hadn’t come home the night before with Futaba, the girl herself running immediately to her room and shutting herself in her room, only stopping to accept the plate of curry he had prepared.
And then that morning, there had been a report on the news revealing that the leader of the Phantom Thieves had been captured by police, shocking Sojiro at first. But Futaba’s grin the night before, wicked and confident, one he’d started to become very familiar with since he’d been told what his two charges had been up to, made him believe that the group was planning something.
So, he made Futaba breakfast, setting the plastic-covered dish next to where she was furiously working at her computers, went to his cafe and opened it up for the day, intending to do the only thing he could.
Keep his eyes and ears open, calmly waiting for anything he could do to help.
It was almost closing time for Leblanc, the usual slow but steady trickle of customers finally coming to a stop as the sun began to set.
They hadn’t stopped talking about the arrest on the news all day, so-called reporters and talk show hosts chattering bull and slander about what they thought was a terrible group of murderers and monsters.
God, if only they knew that they were talking about mere teenagers .
Abruptly, the newscasters on the TV cut away, and Sojiro snapped to attention.
“We interrupt this program for an important update. The leader of the Phantom Thieves, who was taken into custody this morning, has committed suicide while-”
Sojiro didn’t hear the rest of the broadcast, the voices turning to mental static as he tried to process what he’d heard.
Akira was the leader of the Phantom Thieves. Since he hadn’t been around all day, he could only assume that the report on him being in custody was true. But commiting suicide ? No goddamn way in hell, not the quietly cheerful kid that’d been living in his cafe’s attic since April, somehow still optimistic and kind despite what he’d been through.
But still, with this Phantom Thief business, he didn’t really know, did he?
Sojiro moved without thinking, uniting his apron and hanging it up, flipping the sign and locking the door, walking the few blocks to his home faster than he had in a long, long time.
Before he could even open his door, there was the sound of screeching tires from the street to his right and a familiar voice.
“Sakura-san!”
He turned to see Niijima Sae, her usual composed facade gone as she helped a tall, thin, dark figure out of the taxi, whoever it was seemingly unsteady as Sae helped them through his gate.
“What?” he asked, angry. What could she possibly want from him, after all she’d to him and his family that past summer and was still doing to his kids-
The figure she was supporting looked up, and Sojiro saw the face of Kurusu Akira, bruised and blotchy, eyes glassy and dazed, and he felt his heart stop.
“What- ”
“Not right now.” Sae murmured, glancing around. “Keep him hidden and safe. We’ll talk later.”
If there was one thing Sojiro knew how to do, it was keep his mouth shut, so he simply nodded and took the boy’s weight from Sae, helping Akira inside as quickly as possible as he heard the taxi speed off once more.
Futaba appeared as he was lowering Akira onto the couch, looking over the trembling teenager carefully.
“I think he’ll need Takemi-san.” she swallowed, handing Sojiro their first-aid kit. “He’s-he’s really bad off.”
Sojiro nodded, keeping his eyes trained on Akira, worry filling him even more when he didn’t even try to protest them getting the doctor, vacant eyes looking as if he couldn’t even see the other two.
“Hurry.” he told Futaba, popping open the kit and setting to work on the bruises and cuts on Akira’s face. “He needs help.”
***
Takemi-san worked fast.
In what felt like no time at all, she had Akira examines and the worst of the injuries wrapped up and set for healing, some kind of ‘natural’ antibiotic and painkiller pumping it’s way through the boy’s system, making him slump even more into the couch.
“Send him to the clinic or call me in about a week, or if he gets worse.” she ordered Sojiro and Futaba. “Don’t let him take too much of that medicine, it’s for emergency spikes of pain only.”
“Thank you, Takemi-san.” Sojiro told her, bowing a bit. “How much-?”
“Don’t worry about it.” she interrupted, “Kid’s helped me out of more fixes than I can count. Just let me know if anything at all changes.”
Sojiro finds himself stunned into silence at that, and Futaba grins like a sly cat at him before she bows as well, thanking the woman before as she leaves.
“I- we’ll tell you everything tomorrow.” Futaba said, moving to Akira and gently nudging him until he was lying down, making sure the boy had a pillow under his head and a blanket over him. “Everyone’ll be over at Leblanc after closing, including Niijima-san.”
There was a loud meowing, and that black and white cat of Akira’s trotted into the room, brushing against Sojiro’s leg before he hopped up and settled himself atop the couch, watching Akira intently.
“This...this better be the first and last time any of you get hurt.” Sojiro told his daughter, heart aching as Futaba bit her lip and hesitated before nodding.
“Okay.” she told him. “I’m-I’m going to bed, okay?”
“Okay.” Sojiro replied, stopping her as she went to leave and hugging her. “Good night.”
Futaba hugged back, pulling away with a smile before slipping out of the room, leaving Sojiro and Akira (and the cat, can’t forget that noisy little thing) alone in the quiet.
Sojiro ran a hand down his face, sighing as he turned to the little closet nearby, pulling out a blanket and two pillows before moving to Akira, carefully nudging the boy until he could tuck one of the pillows under his head, draping the blanket over him as well before smoothing some of that wild hair out of his eyes, sighing again as he sat down on his nearby armchair, the second pillow going behind him to make his inevitable night on in the chair easier on his back.
And at that, Sojiro settled in, not wanting to leave his charge alone after whatever it was he’d gone through, knowing he’d also get up at several points to check on Futaba as well.
He wasn’t going to allow them to go through any more pain alone. Not if he could help in any way.