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Sojiro had more experience than he ever imagined he’d have when it came to working with depressed teenagers. After Wakaba had died and he took Futaba in, he hadn’t quite anticipated all of the roadblocks that he would encounter when trying to help her work through her own emotions. Beyond that, he practically became a father figure for all of the Phantom Thieves one by one when Akira would start bringing them into Leblanc, each with their own pasts and secrets. Even though he put on a bit of a harsh front at first, he would willingly be there for any of the teens who helped Futaba and Akira out. He learned about Ryuji’s fall from the track team, Ann’s lack of parental guidance, Yusuke’s upbringing with Madarame, Makoto’s need for perfection, and later on, Haru’s issues with her fiancé.
Despite all that, he still noticed that Akira himself was still as private with his emotions as he was on the day Sojiro took him in. He knew that the kid must not have had a stellar home life considering how willing his parents were to send him to live with a stranger in an unknown city that was much larger than the town he had grown up in. It wasn’t that Sojiro hadn’t tried to get him to open up, at least a little bit (which was part of the reason he had Akira help out at the café more often these days). He figured that like Futaba, the curly-haired teen would eventually open up on his own terms.
As time went on, he began to realize that with Akira, that wasn’t the case. Akira was content with helping others sort through their issues (even though he hadn’t known any of his friends for long), but he refused to open up to anybody about his own.
Sojiro also started noticing certain... quirks that the teen had. Fidgeting with his phone or when that wasn’t available, his shirt sleeves. Avoiding any sort of eye contact, instead using the glare of his glasses and the hair in his face to conceal any stray emotions. Talking less when he was stressed, whether it be over Phantom Thief business or over unspoken personal issues. Habits that had always been there, but none that Sojiro had paid much mind to at first, assuming that he had it under control.
When he finally accepted that Akira wasn’t going to say anything (at least, not without prompting), Sojiro made more of an effort to reach out. Yet every time he checked in on the kid, he was presented with a small smile and a reassurance that everything was fine. For a while, Sojiro started to believe him. He figured that Akira had no reason to lie, and that he wasn’t getting himself into that much trouble, all things considered. Plus, he had learned his lesson about pushing the teen too far after he had confronted both Akira and Futaba about the calling card found in the latter’s bedroom (which resulted in a yelling match between the two males that Futaba had to shut down).
It took a news report of the leader of the Phantom Thieves committing suicide and a public prosecutor showing up on his doorstep at three in the morning with a bruised and bloody Akira in tow for Sojiro to realize that things really weren’t as okay as he made them seem.
After the interrogation, he noticed that Akira was shutting himself in more than he already had been. He supposed part of it had to do with the fact that he was technically dead to the world (as well as the circumstances around it - thinking about how the kid looked when Sae had dropped him off still made Sojiro stop in his tracks, even though most of the physical damage was nonexistent at that point). Still, the need to lay low had never stopped the antics that the group of teens found themselves into before now. Hell, there was an entire day where Sojiro didn’t see Akira or the cat - which was unsettling since at least Morgana would usually sneak out even if he didn’t see the kid.
Watching him continually withdrawing, the older man hoped that Akira would finally open up to somebody , since his own attempts at reaching out as of late were typically dismissed with a mumble of Phantom Thieves business. He figured that maybe once they were done dealing with Shido and the world literally going to hell that the kid would have a little less weight on his shoulders, a little bit more of a voice, and maybe he would stop hiding himself away from anyone who just wanted to help.
(He saw Akira’s perfectly neutral expression weaken ever so slightly when he asked why Morgana wasn’t in the bag when the teen arrived back at the coffee shop later that evening. Even after a mumbled “wandering around the area,” that slight slip combined with a hardly noticeable crack in Akira’s voice was cause enough to make him worry more.)
By that point, Sojiro had already decided he was going to try his hardest to make Akira talk. However, fate seemed to have other plans when both Nijimas showed up at Leblanc’s door Christmas morning. At first, Sojiro had assumed the two were just stopping by for coffee, but the look on Makoto’s face told him otherwise. Still, he prepared a cup for each of them.
“So what brings you two here so early?” He asked, curiosity getting the best of him.
“Actually, I-“ Sae started, quickly being cut off by the stairs creaking ever so slightly due to Akira walking down. Once he was past the counters, Sae looked at him. “Ah, there you are. Ready to go?” Akira nodded, a sense of hesitation there that Sojiro almost missed.
Though, when he did take a closer look, Akira looked awful. Even with hair covering his face, Sojiro could see the bags under his eyes, realizing he must not have slept yet. Combined with how small he made himself, he seemed- wait, were his eyes red from crying?
The shop owner shook his head. He could worry about that later. For now…
“What’s going on here?” He asked, sounding more on edge than intended.
“He’s turning himself in,” Sae said matter-of-factly. “We need his testimony to put Shido on trial, but he’ll end up incriminating himself regardless.”
“Akira, you don’t have to do this!” Makoto pleaded, worried words echoing throughout the empty shop. “We can figure it out, just please- “
“I have to do this,” Akira whispered, voice wavering slightly. So he had been crying earlier.
Makoto looked like she wanted to argue with him until he agreed with her, but sighed shakily instead. “I suppose I can’t change your mind. Please come back safe.” Instead of a verbal response, Akira gave her a small smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes (which was typical as of late).
Shortly after Akira and Sae left, the rest of the now-former Thieves began piling into the café. As he helped Makoto give the rest of them the basic rundown of what happened, Sojiro knew they had their work cut out for them if they wanted to make sure Akira got back to them safely.
“You guys can use this space for whatever you need. Just say the word and I’ll close down for the day,” he assured, figuring it was the least he could do for the teens.
(Sojiro didn’t think he would be able to forgive himself if he saw the teen in the same beaten state for a second time.)
The next couple of months had gone by quicker than Sojiro had anticipated, and before he knew it he was woken up by his phone ringing one February morning.
“Apologies for the early call, but I wanted to contact you as soon as I found out. Akira’s set to be released tomorrow.”
As soon as he heard those words, Sojiro set out to make preparations for a welcome home party, making sure to tell Futaba (and subsequently the rest of the Thieves) the good news.
In what seemed like a blink of an eye, Sojiro was walking back into Leblanc, Akira following close behind. The teen barely made his way into the café before Futaba and Ryuji were on either side of him, chatting excitedly.
Sojiro excused himself for a bit to get food from the nearby convenience store, mostly to give the group of teens a chance to catch up without an adult in the room. Upon re-entering Leblanc, he was greeted with loud meowing coming from Morgana (since when did the cat come back?), Ryuji yelling back at him, and Akira settled on the counter, laughing at the two arguing while watching Ann attempt to break up the fight.
“How many times do I have to tell you to use a chair like a normal person?” Sojiro said while putting his grocery bags down on one of the tables, a joking tone in his voice.
Akira shrugged nonchalantly. “Hey, I was just in jail for like two months. Let me live a little. Besides,” he paused, a look of mischief on his face, “you’re not my real dad, anyway.” To prove he was joking, he stuck his tongue out at Sojiro.
“Wow, cold-hearted!” Futaba chimed in between laughs.
Sojiro couldn’t help himself and let out a chuckle. “Fine, fine. But if you knock something over on the counter you’re cleaning it up.”
Later that evening, when only he and Akira were left in the shop cleaning (the kid had insisted on helping, saying he didn’t have anything better to do anyway), Sojiro heard the cat meow, followed by a quiet “I’m glad to be home too.”
Things were finally looking up for Akira after months of hardship, it seemed.
Before anyone knew it, Akira was rapidly approaching the end of his stay in Tokyo. Sojiro had noticed that any time the topic of moving back home was brought up, Akira immediately changed the subject, not even bothering with subtlety. After two or three times of it happening, Sojiro elected to just avoid the topic entirely, an unspoken agreement between the two.
It was the Thursday before Akira was scheduled to leave when the teen finally brought it up himself, sitting at the counter, a book open in front of him.
“I can’t believe I’m leaving in less than a week.” His voice was monotone and quiet under the sound of the sink running.
Sojiro immediately turned off the faucet, leaving the dishes in favor of taking a seat next to Akira. “It’s definitely going to be a change. At least it’ll be quieter without the damn cat yelling all the time,” he joked.
Akira let out a forced chuckle. “Yeah, I suppose so.” After a short silence, he continued. “I’m gonna miss Tokyo.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean… I’ve made so many friends here. Memories, too, as dumb as that sounds. It’s going to suck not being able to just hop on a train and see everyone I care about.”
Well, that was an unexpected response. “What about people back home?”
“I don’t really have anyone where I grew up like I do here. Especially not after the assault charge. Rumors spread quickly in small towns like that and everyone already knew who I was, so…”
“What about your parents? I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”
Akira scoffed. “They haven’t tried to get in touch with me once since I moved here.” His voice had a tinge of sadness and… anger? Whatever it was, it was quite unsettling to hear the tone that the normally stoic teen had.
Sojiro sighed, unsure of what to say. “That’s rough. I’m sorry.”
“I gave up trying to contact them after two months. Figured it was easier than constantly setting myself up for disappointment. Plus, that’s when stuff really started kicking off with the Phantom Thieves, so I didn’t have much time to worry about that anyway.”
“I wish I would’ve known earlier,” Sojiro admitted.
“I never mentioned it because I didn’t want you to feel bad for me. That and I was convinced that whole time that you hated me.”
“Admittedly, I was kind of a jerk to you at first. Part of it was me being frustrated with having to take care of a delinquent kid, part of it was me being stressed over everything happening with Futaba at the time, but still. That’s no excuse for how I acted, especially since I was supposed to take care of you.”
“I understand. I didn’t help much, considering I was prying into your personal life and all.” Akira let out a sad laugh. “Even then, you were still a better parent than my actual parents had been. At least you tried more than they did.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. I know I’m not the easiest to deal with, and I’m not great with actually talking about stuff, but you never gave up on me.” Sojiro noticed the way his voice cracked at the end, as well as the fact that Akira was looking down at his lap instead of at him.
“You helped Futaba out more than I ever could. And even though you’re more mature than some of your friends, you’re still a kid. I wouldn’t give up on a kid, no matter how much of a stubborn pain in the ass that kid might be.”
“Do you wanna know something?” Akira asked, still not looking at Sojiro. “Back in November, with the whole interrogation thing, I… Your reaction was the one I was worried about the most.”
“How come?”
“I just… it…” The teen let out a shaky sigh. “I was so out of it. I didn’t know where I was or anything. I knew we were going to Leblanc, but I was terrified that you were going to be mad at me. Or Sae, or my friends.”
“Honestly? I was beyond furious when I first saw you. Not with you or any of the Phantom Thieves, but with the officers that got away with what they did. And after that, I was scared for you. You already shut yourself in so much before, and you haven’t seemed the same since then.”
“I haven’t been.” Akira sniffled, and when Sojiro looked closer, he saw tears in the kid’s eyes. “A-and when I found out I had to let myself get arrested again ? After everything we did? And I… I thought Morgana was dead , and I wasn’t ever going to see him again, and I-I just… I didn’t even sleep the night before, I was so scared, and-”
“Hey, Akira, look at me.” He hesitated, but eventually met Sojiro’s gaze. The older man’s breath hitched, surprised to see Akira actually crying in front of him. “You’ve gone through so much, more than I ever did when I was your age. I hate that you’ve been dealing with all of this by yourself, but… You’re like a son to me, and I am so unbelievably proud of you, kid.”
Without warning, the teen launched himself at Sojiro, hugging him and crying into his shoulder. Unsure of how to react, Sojiro just patted his head and let him cry.
Akira pulled away after a few moments, an embarrassed look on his face. “I… Sorry, I just-”
Sojiro gave him a reassuring smile. “You don’t have to apologize. I’m glad you’re finally opening up instead of bottling everything up.”
“Thank you,” Akira mumbled, wiping the last stray tears from his face with his sleeve. “I’m gonna miss this place when I leave.”
“Just know that you always have a place to stay if you decide to come back to visit.”
Akira nodded. “I’m glad to hear it. This place feels more like home than my parents’ house, anyway.”
It was the beginning of summer vacation for Futaba, and instead of being in her room or out with friends, she was helping Sojiro by setting up decorations around Leblanc while he was finishing a batch of curry and Haru was brewing coffee. Ryuji and Ann were at one of the booths talking about one of their other friends, while Yusuke was “helping” Futaba by telling her where she should put decorations to make the place look more aesthetically pleasing.
The bell jingled as Makoto entered, Morgana in tow. Immediately, the cat started meowing at Ann and Ryuji.
“The decorations look lovely,” Makoto commented. “Are you finished with them?”
“This is the last thing I gotta hang up,” Futaba replied, taping the end of a makeshift banner to the wall. “Aaaaand done! Perfect timing, too!”
Sojiro looked up as he heard the bell jingle a second time, a surprised Akira walking in.
“Welcome home, kid.”