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“Noooo...”
Akira sighed as his two-year-old daughter clung onto him harder and attempted to bury herself further into his sweater.
“Aina-chan, you and Aiko need to stay with Uncle Yuuki for a couple hours.” said Haru
“Noooo...”
Both Akira and Haru then glance down Aina’s twin, still hiding behind Haru’s legs and give Mishima an apologetic look.
Mishima then kneeled down to Aiko’s level and smiled at her.
“Girls, your mommy and daddy are just going out with their friends for a while. But they’ll back to take you home I promise. In the meantime, we’ll play some games and have lots of fun okay?”
Aiko still looked a little hesitant but she finally stepped out of her hiding place and walked over to Mishima. Seeing her sister willing to trust him, Aina loosened her grip on her father and allowed Akira to hand her to Mishima.
“Thanks Yuuki.”
“No problem, Akira. I’ll take good care of them. Say hi to the others for me, will you?”
Akira and Haru nod as Mishima and the girls head inside his apartment and close the door.
As soon as the door shuts, a muffled voice speaks out from Haru’s bag, “We’re good? Coast is clear?”
“Coast is clear.” Akira said as Haru unzipped her bag
With that confirmation, Morgana popped his head out of Haru’s bag.
“Finally! I can’t believe I’m saying this but I miss Akira’s school bag.”
Haru chuckled, “I’m sorry Mona-Chan, I’ll bring a bigger purse next time.”
With that the three then make their way back to the ground floor of the building and from there, Shibuya and one of the old meeting spots.
Futaba, to no one’s surprise, was the first one there.
“About time you guys showed up! Do you three know how long I’ve been waiting?” Futaba exclaimed, the sarcasm obvious in her voice
“You can blame your nieces for that. Aiko and Aina really didn’t want to stay with their babysitter.”
Futaba just grins, “Well not everyone can be the World’s Greatest Aunt like me. Mwe-heh-heh-heh.”
Before either Akira, Haru, or Morgana could comment, the four of them spot Makoto running towards them, still in her police detective uniform. When she catches up to them, she takes a moment to catch her breath.
“I…sorry... I’m... ”
Makoto clears her throat and stands up straight.
“I apologize for being late. I had to take care of a lot of paperwork before I could leave.”
“You’re not late at all Mako-Chan, it’s fine.”
Haru hands Akira her bag and walks over to Makoto. The two women start to catch up while Akira looks over at Futaba.
“So how’s the wild and exciting world of freelancing working out for you?”
“Eh, just mostly coding websites and setting up stuff for people. No global conspiracies or shadowy cabals so far. But hey it pays well. What about the equally “wild and exciting” world of running a cafe and parenthood?”
“Well we actually had to kick someone out the other day. I think he was drunk and came to the wrong building. Aiko and Aina are doing fine.”
“Well besides the fact that they still have that army of plush toys surrounding their beds.” Morgana added
Akira gives Futaba bit of a look when he remarked, “Yeah… I think they’re still affected by that movie you showed them last time you babysat...”
“Oh come on, I thought they could handle it! I said I was sorry.”
“Yo!”
Everyone turned to the new voice and spotted Ryuji joining them along with Ann and Yusuke
“Sorry for takin’ a while. Had to drop the kid off at my ma’s and then Ann’s flight got delayed and just...”
Akira pulled his best friend into a tight hug.
“Don’t worry about. I’m just glad you were able to make it.”
Akira lets go and looks over at his friends, “So shall we head out?”
Everyone nodded. Now that the whole group was together, they make their way to the Wilton Hotel to celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the forming of the Phantom Thieves.
As everyone claimed their seats and then rushed off to the buffet, Akira couldn’t help but think how different being here as an adult felt. No glares, no whispers, no mutterings of how he and his friends didn’t belong.
Admittedly there are times where Akira worries that he and his friends will become like those adults but those worries are put to rest when he sees the others gathering their food.
Ann going straight to the dessert table despite Makoto’s insistence on getting some dinner first, Ryuji piling on as much meat as he can on his plate, Futaba making jokes about the more fancy food names with Yusuke.
No matter how much changed, some things stayed the same much to Akira’s relief.
After getting their food, everyone takes a seat and Akira leads them in a toast (Morgana simply raises his paw.)
“Here’s to continuing to change the world.”