Chapter Text
Almost a year has passed since the Phantom Thieves last made their move, and to be honest, Akira missed the action and the adventure that came along with it. He enjoyed being the Trickster that saved society and would always bring that cocky flair around with him, while carrying Morgana around in his bag. But as they say, life moves on. The team officially disbanded on the 13th of February 20XX and soon everyone made plans to explore what the future holds.
“It’s about time we start packing, Akira,” Morgana said, snapping him out of his rush of memories. “We need to be in Tokyo in about ten hours if you are planning to surprise Sumire at the meet tomorrow.”
“We’ve got time Morgana, don’t worry, and besides, you wouldn’t let me pack last night anyways.” Akira replied, and then jokingly added, “How about you go to sleep and see how it feels for a change?”
“Fine, I’ll go take a walk down around your neighborhood. I still can’t believe that the leader of the Phantom Thieves stayed in such a rural place. You knew so much about the city that I thought you had prior experience!”
“I just did a little bit of digging around before I got sent away, nothing too special. Now hurry up and go, I’ve got some packing to do.”
“Alright! Jeez, I’m not that dense. I can take a hint you know,” Morgana grumbled. “But make sure you actually finish packing, because I’m not helping you.”
Akira had rented out his own apartment near his high school with all the money he had saved from Shido’s ship and Maruki’s Lab, partially because he didn’t want to see his parents again when he came home as a free man. But after his spring break, he would be moving back to Shibuya and staying with Sojiro again while starting college. It had only been a year since he was last there but he ultimately felt like Shibuya’s natural hustle and bustle had grown on him, and he’s been missing it ever since.
“I’m finally moving back,” Akira muttered to himself as he started packing all of his belongings away into two large cardboard boxes. “I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces.”
He had secretly planned with Sojiro the night before to gather the Thieves in Leblanc two days from now, so he could finally get to see them all again, as well as have a little surprise party for the team. It was time for the return of their leader after all, it would be appropriate that the whole team would be there to celebrate his return.
He was just about to finish packing when suddenly his phone went off. He checked the screen and was surprised to see Sumire calling him.
“Hello Akira-senpai?” came an enthusiastic voice from his phone, “Are you still awake?”
“I love you,” Akira replied, knowing full well what comes next.
“I love you too senpai! Wait! That wasn’t meant to, I, um, uh….”
“Still the same as always, please never change Sumire,” Akira sighed happily as he set the call on speaker and continued packing. “Anyways what are you doing up so late? Aren’t you supposed to be getting rest for the meet tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I should be asleep but I can’t stop thinking about tomorrow, since this is my first meet since last summer. I just hope I do well.”
“Of course you will, after all, you’re Sumire Yoshizawa, aren’t you?”
“Right! Thanks senpai! I’ll be sure to bring home the trophy tomorrow!”
“I can’t wait for the good news. We’ll celebrate the next time we meet.”
“I’ll be going now. I’ll call you tomorrow once the meet is over, OK?”
“Right. Goodnight beautiful. Sleep tight,” Akira said as he ended the call. “Call me tomorrow eh? I think there will be no need for that,” he smirked as he finished up his packing.
Take Your Time
“Hey sleepyhead, wake up!” yelled Morgana, “ The train leaves in half an hour, so get your ass up and move!”
“Alright alright, you don’t have to yell Morgana,” Akira answered sleepily, as he went about his morning routine much quicker than normal.
He rushed out of the house with fifteen minutes to spare with only a backpack full of necessities and Morgana as he ran to the station, arriving out of breath and needing a drink.
He took out a Dr. Salt NEO and began to chug half the can down in one go as Morgana looked at him with an exasperated look on his face, mumbling something about breaking habits.
The train arrived no more than two minutes later. Akira got on and started to make himself at home, bracing himself for the long ride. Morgana was soon let out of his confined space and started lounging on the chair next to him.
“I can’t believe a year has gone by so fast, and everyone is coming back to Tokyo again!” Morgana meowed excitedly, “You’d think that after those heart-warming goodbyes they all gave last year would have stuck around a little longer, then again, this is the Phantom Thieves we’re talking about here, we can’t be apart for long anyways.”
“Yeah…” Akira replied, drifting off into thought as he looked out of the window. “Even I’m surprised that they wanted to move back to Tokyo so suddenly. Home really is where the Heart is.”
Ann had decided to take her education overseas, while Ryuji would move to a school further away to continue physical rehab and track. Haru and Makoto decided to live together while pursuing their separate goals outside of Tokyo while Futaba started high school to fuel her competition against Kana-chan. Only Yusuke would be continuing his Fine Arts Scholarship at Kosei High and then moving to Kosei University later, making him the odd one out. All the thieves were taking steps in their lives to look towards the future after the encounter with Maruki in the actualised reality, so Akira felt really happy for the team. The thieves would all be Tokyo again, just like it was meant to be.
Take Your Time
“Shibuya. This is Shibuya, the last stop on this line. We hope you had a pleasant journey with us and hope to see you again!”
The train screeched into the station and pulled to a standstill as many people started to take their leave. Akira, having just woken up, took his own sweet time to place Morgana in his extra bag and gathered his belongings to exit the train. He was thoroughly exhausted through the long haul, not having been able to get any sleep as he was scrolling through all of the pictures he had saved on his phone in reminiscence. He slowly made his way over to the ever so familiar line he had used for an entire school year. He slowly boarded the train and made his way to Yongen-Jaya.
“The cafe seems as deserted as ever” Morgana whispered to him on his shoulder as they made their way over to the designated place. “You’d think the chief would get more customers now that it’s spring break.”
“Well the cafe being deserted is also what helped us during our time as the Phantom Thieves, so we can’t really complain about that”
“True. It made for an excellent hideout.”
As Akira walked through the door he heard the chime of the little bell that announced the entrance of any customers to the cafe, and he saw Sojiro behind the counter, washing the dishes.
“Welcome. Have a sea-” Sojiro started as he looked up, and saw who exactly his ‘customer’ was.
“Hello Boss. Forgotten me already? I would’ve thought you remembered me after all we went through last year” Akira smirked, as he went behind the counter to give him a hug.
“Welcome back, kid. It’s great to see you again”
“Same here Boss.”
“So how’ve you been kid? It’s been a while since we last had a good talk. Here sit down, I’ll make you some curry.” Sojiro started, “It must have been a tiring night on the train, but still though why would you ask me to call everyone here tomorrow if you were going to come today?”
“I thought I’d give my sweetheart a little surprise at her gymnastics meet today and then have a little private time,” Akira responded, as he sat at the counter. “I’ve been OK, but being back at ‘home’ didn’t really feel like it y’know? I still got treated the same as when I left, so I’d rather be here with a family that cared about me instead.”
“Let me out! I can’t stand being in here for too long! You know that! I want some curry too!”
Oh right, Morgana was in his bag too.
“You brought the cat too eh? As noisy as ever, but I can’t seem to be annoyed. If I remember, you can understand him, yeah?” Sojiro asked as Akira let Morgana out of the bag. “He really never stops meowing.”
“Yeah, Morgana can talk, although I wish you could hear him too.” Akira chuckled as he pet Morgana. “He wants in on some curry too, would you mind making a little extra? It’s been ages since we’ve both had your curry.”
“Didn’t I give you those notes? You should be able to make it yourself.” Sojiro sighed, as he headed over to the pot and started to prepare the meal. “But I guess it has been a while, so have a treat, on the house. I take it you want coffee too yeah?”
Akira nodded once. “If at all possible. Thanks Boss”
“Don’t mention it.” He waved his hand, while using the other to stir the curry. “Although you still have one debt left unpaid, so you’re gonna be helping out in the shop after tomorrow.”
“And here I thought I had settled everything when I left. This wouldn’t happen to be about White Day would it?” Akira said as he facepalmed, “Alright then, I accept. I still haven’t thanked you properly yet, so I may as well do it sooner than later.”
Sojiro set the plate of curry in front of him and turned to store his ingredients “Good. Now here’s your curry and coffee. Hurry up and finish it, the store’s gonna be opening soon, and you have somewhere to go, don’t you?”
“Right. Thanks for the meal.”
“Oh yeah, speaking of White Day, how did it go? You never told me when you came back, although I did hear from the restaurant about your reservation.”
“It went amazingly well. I followed all of your steps and she went as crimson as her hair when I pulled out the flowers. If you hadn’t told me what to do on the day before, I would have forgotten it entirely.”
Sojiro simply shook his head. “You really never do change, kid”
Take Your Time
“Alright, I’ll be going now Boss! See you in the evening!” Akira waved as he walked out of the store with a happy smile on his face, and Morgana in tow. Sumire’s meet would start in an hour and he couldn’t wait to see the look on her face.