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God, Sojiro thought as he watched the little boy with round blue eyes in front of him scarf down the rice and curry with a pleased grin on his face. Why did Akira's little brother have to be so damn cute?
Almost as soon as he started, the boy finished the meal and set his chopsticks down. "Thank you for the food, Mr. Sir!", 'Mona' called out, giving a quick little bow. By then there were a couple of other customers in the store, and they seemed to be doing Sojiro's cooing for him. Was Akira ever this adorable? For some reason, Sakura found himself doubting the image of Akira like this as a little boy.
Speaking of, said raven-haired teen was sitting next to his brother at the counter, eating up his own breakfast much slower. "Did you even taste it?", he remarked to the boy after finishing up a bite. "I did! And it tasted good! Now hurry up!", the younger demanded, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him violently. He seemed riled up, full of energy. It was like two sides of a coin. "What's the hurry?", the man asked, finding amusement in the young boy's energy. Reminded him of Futaba when she was young.
"I've never even left town before!! I wanna see the city!", he demanded, kicking at his chair in excitement. "In a bit. Let me eat, first.", the teen responded, trying to get him to stop kicking the seat. "But--" "Mona. Patience.", Akira warned, glaring down his sibling as he slowly took another bite.
"Hey, we're...", Makoto called out as she pushed open the door, letting Ann, Ryuji, and Akechi walk in. All eyes locked on the young guest, each giving a surprised expression. "Hello.", she greeted slowly with a soft smile. "Well, holy shit.", Ryuji muttered with wide eyes. "Ah! Cute!", Ann squealed. "...How the fu--", Akechi started, getting cut off by Akira. "Hey guys, just in time! This is my little brother, Mona.", the teen introduced, and wow if that tone of voice didn't give off the implication that something else was going on, then he didn't know what would. This was definitely a cover story for something, but the man was almost too afraid to find out what.
"Mona, these are the friends I was talking about. Say hello.", Akira instructed before taking another bite, still keeping the 'play along' tone in his voice. "Hi, there! Whatever Big Bro told you about me, it isn't true!", the boy almost shouted, making almost everyone in the group chuckle. "Hello there, Mona. It's a pleasure to meet you.", Makoto greeted, the formality in her tone making the child beam in pride. Oh jeez, this kid had an ego, didn't he.
"Hi, Mona!", Ann greeted, running up and giving the young boy a hug from behind. Mona froze in his spot, a red creeping from the tips of his ears. "You good?", Akira asked, clearly smirking as if he knew the answer. "Mhmm.", the boy quietly answered with a nod.
"Anyway, what's up?", "Oh, we were about to go check out this new movie that someone won't shut up about.", Ann explained while giving Ryuji a pointed glare. He just shrugged and gave a guilty smile. "And we were in the neighborhood, so we figured we'd invite you along.", Makoto finished with a slight smile. Akira echoed the expression, but shook his head. "Sorry, guys. Not this time. Someone wanted to go sightseeing today.", Akira explained, playfully nudging the young boy. "Is that so?", Akechi asked, speaking with a hint of amusement in his tone. "Maybe we could join you later. Show your little bro all the good spots.", Ryuji suggested, ruffling up the boy's hair, despite his very vocal protests. "Meet up for lunch?", Ann proposed, getting a nod in return. "Sounds great. See you guys later.", Akira called with a wave as his friends left. The sound of Ann squealing about how cute Mona looked could be heard from inside the cafe not a second later.
"So, how long are you going to be in town?", Sojiro asked, trying to make light conversation. The young boy froze in his seat, surprised expression on his face. Like he got caught in a lie. "Uh...", Mona trailed off, glancing in between Akira, who had stopped eating, and Sojiro, who was watching with far more attentiveness than before. "You do have a return ticket, right?", Sakura inquired, curious about this reaction.
"The train ride here...cost more than I thought it would.", Mona whimpered, playing with his two index fingers. Something didn't add up about this. Crossing his arms, Sojiro slowly asked, "And how did you get the money in the first place?" "I saved up my allowance.", Mona replied, far more quiet and shy than mere moments before. He spoke slower, too, like he was carefully choosing his words.
The man stood with crossed arms, looking the kid up and down, trying to analyze whether to believe him or not. It was plain as day that something amiss was going on, and Mona was in the center of it, but whether or not that thing should be something Sojiro would wanna get roped into was the biggest point of the debate. He was a man who knew when to pick his battles, and the panicked look in both Mona's and Akira's--ok, he could see the resemblance. Kind of.--eyes was the move that tipped the scale into surrendering this time. "OK, I'll tell your parents that you need a ticket back.", he decided, pulling out his phone to start dialing.
"Already done.", Akira spoke up, too quick to not be suspicious. "Your parents know where he is, right?", he asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "If they didn't before, they did this morning.", the teen remarked in a deadpan, eyes still on the plate. "And let me tell you, Mom isn't happy.", he slipped in the detail, making the child shrink up in fear. A fear that was well-earned, if the few times he's ever actually met the kid's parents has anything to indicate. The Kurusu matriarch was a powerful authority if he's ever met one.
"You like cats, kid?", Sojiro asked in an attempt to change the tone, not catching the snicker that Akira tried to cover by stuffing his mouth with food. Mona seemed to look up in pondering, before giving a shrug. "Eh."
"Well, your brother's been taking care of a cat while he's staying here, and I was hoping you two would meet.", Sojiro explained, picturing the image in his head. They would either be best friends or sworn enemies, knowing the feline's attitude. Speaking of which... "Now that I think about it, I wonder where he is.", he muttered under his breath while collecting Mona's plate.
"Oh! I'll help!", the little boy volunteered, jumping out of the chair and running to the other side of the counter, quickly grabbing the dish and taking it to the sink. "Thank you, Mona.", Sakura was quick to respond, watching the probably-grade-schooler beam with pride.
Sakura turned to the elder brother and gave a long sigh. "Kid, you're lucky that your brother's cute. One convict's enough for me.", he grumbled, already acknowledging that standing his ground about the boy going home was a losing battle. "He says as if he hasn't adopted every member of the Phantom Thieves.", Akira remarked with a snicker, earning a dish towel to the face.