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The Phantom Thieves were hanging out in LeBlanc, for once not having any hearts to steal or requests to fill. Everything was at peace, for the first time in a while.
"Wow, can't believe that the school year's almost over.", Makoto pondered over her cup. "Graduation's right around the corner, and I haven't the faintest idea of where I want to be next." "Here here.", Haru responded with a nod.
"Time moves by so quickly.", Yusuke agreed with a sigh. "Right? Before we know it, this guy'll be...off...", Ryuji tried to continue with a pat on Akira's shoulder before his face fell. "...Sorry.", Ryuji admitted before Ann half-heartedly shrugged the mood change off. "Eh, don't worry about it. I'm sure this guy's just jumping to go back home to all of his much cooler friends.", she remarked with a grin. Kurusu was quick to wave the assumption off. "Pfft, what friends?", he retorted with a light tone.
"Yeah, Ann. What friends? He's always been the silent lone wolf that all the girls in town just throw themselves at.", Ryuji remarked, wrapping an arm over his shoulder. "Ha! I lost my romantic appeal after 3rd year of primary." The room grew silent. "What happened in—" "I don't wanna talk about it."
"Well, what about family? Surely your parents are waiting for you to come back." Kurusu just shrugged. "I doubt it since I haven't heard anything from them." "Nothing?", Ann asked, only to be met with a shake of the head. "Not a word."
The room grew quiet with an awkward tension as Sojiro reentered the room, immediately getting a read. "Well, any time you need to stay in Tokyo, give us a call! We'll be happy to have you.", Futaba spoke up, lightening the mood. "Right, Sojiro?"
The man nodded with a smile. "And you know that Ryuji'll be waiting by the door every day like a little puppy.", Morgana teased. "Will n—I really can't argue with that.", Sakamoto admitted with a hung head. "Can we keep him?", Akira asked in a high-pitched voice, squeezing Ryuji's cheeks as if he were a small animal. The gag made the friend group laugh.
The man chuckled as well, reclaiming his spot behind the counter.
"It's a shame you can't stay.", Futaba whined, draping over the countertop. "We could've kept you 'till graduation! And then during college!" Sojiro chuckled. "Well, it's not like we'd have to stop seeing each other. I've already got his graduation date marked." The offhand remark caught Kurusu's attention. "R-Really?", he stammered. "Yep. You can count on us being there." the man said with a curt nod. Akira echoed the gesture, clearly appreciative of the effort. "Y'know. I just realized something. Everyone here's told him their goals and dreams and hopes for the future. But we haven't heard his.", Haru observed, gesturing to Akira. "Y'know what? You're right.", Ryuji agreed, wrapping an arm around Joker to make sure he didn't escape. "So, how about it?", Morgana prompted, making everyone look at the frizzy-haired boy expectedly.
Kurusu almost blushed from all the attention, not used to having the spotlight shine so brightly on him. "Uhh...well...hmm...how do I put this...I don't know? Like, I thought I just wanted to go with the flow; go to a good college, get a stable job, find a wife or a husband, maybe have a couple of kids. But then this happened to me...and I kind of got thrown in a loop. I'm... not so sure anymore." Everyone stopped short for a second. "Why's that?" Ann asked, head tilted in curiosity.
Akira took a moment to collect his thoughts before trying to put them into words, resulting in the most he's spoken since he came here. "Well, it almost seems hypocritical, you know? The leader of the Phantom Thieves, a notorious group sworn to right the wrongs of a society that discourages individuality and wants everyone to do as told, goes on to live a systematic lifestyle encouraged by statistics. I don't...want to be a statistic, but then that leads to the question..." "What do you want to be?", Makoto finished, sympathetic. "And I don't have an answer for that. Plus, I have a criminal record now, so any chance of getting into a good college has dropped like a bomb." He remarked, mimicking the sound and movement of a bomb dropping. "Nah, you don't need a degree to be set, my guy. Mishima and I are talking about doing an online startup once we're out; you're more than welcome to tag along.", Ryuji offered. "Just might."
"It's not exactly stable, but if it comes to it, I'd be more than happy to have you keep helping me around here. I could continue teaching you; things like how to run a place like this. Chances...chances are, when I go, you'll be the one getting this place.", Sojiro thought aloud, looking around at the cafe with a fond look in his eye. Akira jolted up in surprise, before looking at the cafe. This place...his?
"W-What?", Futaba asked in shock, whirling around so quickly that Yusuke felt his own neck starting to hurt. Tears started to line across her eyes. "Relax, that's not going to be for a long, long, long time if I can help it. I'll still be here running this place when you go become an IT millionaire and go live in a four-story house up in Akihabara with fifteen dogs, twenty cats and at least ten birds--all named after anime characters--and the only time anyone could see you outside the house is when you're walking your pets.", the man joked, trying to get her to calm down. "And visiting you.", Futaba interrupted, feeling much better after Sojiro's jokes.
"You mean it?", Akira asked solemnly, gaze fixed on the table in front of him. "Absolutely. I'm as serious as death here.", Sojiro responded, looking down at Akira so that he could see the teen's eyes hidden behind his glasses.
"Yeah. Thanks, Dad."
Everyone froze in their spot, glancing between the man in shock and the boy who realized his mistake. Without much of a second thought, he slowly got up, moved out of the chair, and dashed upstairs to the room where he locked the key.
"Hey!! Don't run from your feelings!!", Morgana shouted as Akira slammed the door. "Tsk. Kids these days. Never respecting their father." "SHUT UP!"