Chapter Text
It all started with a rumor. A rumor about the new transfer student being a convicted criminal.
The rumor soon evolved into something more: He was carrying a knife to school; he was part of a crime ring; he had killed. (All of which were true, technically, since he did have a fake knife inside his schoolbag the day he bought it from Untouchable, and he was the leader the Phantom Thieves which was indeed an illegal group, and he did kill Shadows in the Metaverse. Loads of them.) Before Akira knew it, he had become the school’s most fearful delinquent and that was all everyone would talk about. Students saw him as a time bomb, expecting him to lash out any moment when provoked with harsh words.
That much was true, only at the start of the semester.
Because when Akira didn’t glare, talk back or even react to their insults, not once, they soon realized he was as harmless as a hamster. “Mild-tempered” was a more suited word than “fearful” to describe him. And after one particular day when he forgot to wear his fake glasses to school, leaving his striking eyes unobstructed, it was as if everyone had seen the transfer student in a new light.
Their opinions on him did a one-eighty then. People started talking about how captivating those deep gray eyes were, how adorably dorky his messy bedhead was, how he was so polite and soft-spoken that he might actually be a nice guy, and probably a bookworm as he was often spotted renting books from the school library. All of a sudden, Akira went from an obnoxious delinquent to an entrancing, mysterious enigma that you couldn’t help but be drawn to.
The Phantom Thieves were no exception. Morgana’d had this feeling right from the start that staying with Akira was what he was born to do. Ryuji and Ann had realized pretty early on they were attracted to their leader. And knowing each other back in middle school, the two blondes had caught on each other’s secret crush in no time. Then there was Yusuke who openly declared his adoration for Akira not long after joining the team. That was when the Thieves learned there was a pattern: You got near the leader, you were bound to fall for him, at least a little bit.
That was simply inevitable. Everyone on the team believed so.
Everyone. Except Akira himself.
It wasn’t like Akira had a low self-esteem issue. On the contrary he was quite confident, even cocky at times, especially when donning Joker’s mask. But when it came to how other people viewed him he would get pretty gloomy and convinced that most disliked him. The Thieves couldn’t blame him after listening to his backstory though. Being framed and abandoned by your old friends and parents and then sent far away to live with a stranger in an unfamiliar city would do that to you. The way Akira was treated by the whole school when he first transferred wasn’t helping either. Even Ann had given him the cold shoulder during the first week. So when his reputation actually took a turn for the better later, his low opinion of himself in the eyes of others remained.
This was verified on multiple occasions, first by Morgana on the day Akira found a letter inside his locker. The non-cat poked his head out of the schoolbag as the puzzled leader picked the letter up and turned it over. To Akira-kun♥, it said. He frowned at the words before crumbling it into a ball with both hands without hesitation.
“Wait, you’re going to throw it away without reading?”
Akira shrugged. “There’s no point. I already know what it says.”
“Which is…?”
“Just what they’ve been saying behind my back—how much they hate me and want me gone.”
Morgana’s jaw dropped. It baffled him how the leader could be so sharp in the Metaverse yet so unobservant in real life. “I don’t think that’s the case…Why don’t we take a look? I’m curious.”
“I don’t think so, Mona…”
“Come on, just this once! Humor me!” He dug his claws into his friend’s arm, urging him to see the truth for himself.
“…Fine. Just this once.” With a sigh, the leader smoothed out the letter and cautiously torn off the edge, as if worried something scary might jump out and bite his nose.
Dear Akira-kun,
I have had my eyes on you ever since the day you came into my life.
I hope you would come meet me at the backyard after school.
I have something important I would like to tell you ♥
A Secret Admirer
“What did I say? This is definitely a love confession!”
“No, it’s not.”
“What?” Morgana couldn’t believe how stubborn the boy was. “Can’t you see the heart symbol at the end? They even signed the letter as your “Secret Admirer”!”
“I don’t even know who they are.”
“All the more reason to go meet them!”
Akira shook his head insistently. “No way. This is obviously a prank, or a trap. I’m not going to fall for it.” Then he crumpled the paper again and dumped it in the nearest trash can, completely ignorant of the heart-broken sender of the letter who had been watching the whole scene from a far corner. But Morgana saw it. He also saw how other students in the hallway stepped back as Akira walked by, whispering and giggling softly with a blush from a distance.
“…See? They avoid me like a plague and talk behind my back,” Akira muttered under his breath, unable to hide the hurt in his voice despite his composed appearance. Morgana would have agreed with him if the girls weren’t all wearing this love-struck expression.
How could Akira be so oblivious to his own charisma?
“Er, to me it looks like they’re swooning over you,” Morgana pointed out. “But too afraid to actually come up to talk to you.”
“Quit teasing me, Morgana. A guy can tell when he’s not welcomed.”
“…Whatever you say, Joker.” The non-cat let out an exasperated sigh, resorting to taking a nap instead of fruitlessly trying to change his friend’s mind.
------
It wasn’t until the mid-term results were released in early June that Akira’s reputation skyrocketed. He came out top in the whole grade, surprising everyone including his classmates, teachers, teammates, Sojiro, and even the leader himself a little.
“Well done, Akira!” Morgana gave his approval from his schoolbag as Ann, Ryuji and Akira gathered in the hallway a few feet from the ranking board. “Looks like my help with your study didn’t go to waste.” The leader hummed in agreement and did a low-key fist pumping gesture. Then Ryuji suddenly grabbed his shoulders.
“Dude, why didn’t ya tell me you’re a genius!?”
“Um, because I’m not…?”
“But ya aced all subjects—even English! HOW!?”
“Stop hollering, Ryuji!” Ann chided, swatting the faux blonde’s head. “But what he said, Akira. I thought I could beat both of you at least in English. How’d you manage to do that!?”
The leader twirled his bangs, somewhat awkwardly. “It’s just luck…and a bit of hard work.”
“And don’t forget my help!” Morgana said, eager as usual to take at least some of the credit. Akira smiled and petted him through the bag.
“Yeah, you too, Mona. Thanks for staying up with me studying.”
By then the hallway was crowded with students craning their necks to find out their own ranking. But as they realized whose name was the first of the list, Ryuji and Ann could feel more and more eyes turned to them. Obviously Akira noticed the staring too.
“…Guys, mind if we go somewhere else?” He said in a low voice, ducking his head to let his bang conceal his eyes. He enjoyed being in the spotlight in the Metaverse, but in the real world this kind of attention just made him feel uneasy, especially when it came from people who he thought hated him.
“Oh yeah, ‘course.”
So Ryuji and Ann flanked the leader and together, they headed for the staircase leading up to the roof, away from the prying eyes. As they walked past the crowds a few prattles caught the blondes’ ears.
“I knew it—He’s actually a smart guy!”
“So his nerdy glasses aren’t just for show!”
“A delinquent who’s also got the look and the brain…Could he be any more perfect?”
Ever since then the number of Akira’s admirers soared. Swooning gaze and gossips followed him whenever he went. Love letters continued to piled into his lockers; not that he read any of them before throwing them away, not since the one Morgana forced him to a month ago. Students aside, even some teachers were giving Akira appreciative eyes. All the positivity was lost in the leader’s eyes though, as he still firmly believed in the whole school’s aversion to him.
“Seriously, dude, don’t sell yourself short,” Ryuji said as the trio waited in the walkway in Shibuya for Yusuke, who’d again asked Akira to “be his muse” and model for him. “You’re now like, the most famous guy in our school.”
“Hmm, more like infamous…”
“He’s right, Akira,” Ann butted in from the other side. “At least one third of our class have a crush on you—I’m not even counting Mishima.”
Akira huffed a laugh. “Yeah, really funny, Ann.”
“I’m serious!”
“I don’t see how they would be interested in a convicted criminal.”
The blondes exchanged a glance. They didn’t know how to explain to their stubborn, self-depreciating friend how girls were in fact attracted to bad boys. Sure, Ryuji was a delinquent himself, but a very different kind—not as smart and good-looking as Akira nor giving out this mysterious vibe that girls seemed to dig so much—so he wasn’t a good case in point to support their argument.
“Then how about that red-headed girl from first year?” Ann changed her angle. “You know, I caught her clinging to you, calling you ‘senpai’ several times!”
“You mean Kasumi?” Akira shook his head. “She’s just being nice, teaching me gymnastics basics while I offer her advice as a senpai from time to time.”
“That’s it?” Ryuji asked.
“What else can there be?”
“Oh I dunno, how ‘bout a crush on ya?” He lightly elbowed him.
“It’s not like that, she’s just…a friend,” Akira let out a soft sigh before continuing. “It isn’t easy making friends as an honor student on sports scholarship. People talk behind her back, not in a good way…I guess we’re kind of like kindred spirits.”
That wasn’t how the girl saw her senpai at all, Ryuji and Ann were sure of that. Not with the way she went all gooey with a pink hue dotting her cheeks whenever Akira was around.
“But Akira, she’s--” Ann started.
“Just give it up, Lady Ann,” Morgana commented idly from his perch on Akira’s shoulder. “You have no idea how much time I spent trying to convince him of his popularity. He thinks I’m the crazy one.”
The leader gave the non-cat a slight frown but said nothing.
Morgana was probably right; it’d be a waste of time talking Akira out of his paranoia. So Ann and Ryuji took his advice and dropped the subject for the moment, satisfied to be one of the few people the leader saw as genuine friends.
------
As summer came around, the Phantom Thieves continued to grow, so did the number of people falling under the spell of the leader. That included Makoto, the stoic Student Council President, and then Futaba, the quirky tech expert. It didn’t take long for Akira to become the youngest girl’s absolute favorite and calling him her “key item”, so no one was surprised when she created a separate group chat named “AK Appreciation Club” among the members—sans Akira, of course—with the purposes of sharing everything about their beloved leader and most importantly, solving crises emerged from his rising fame in school.
Makoto: Guys, I’m afraid we have a problem on our hands.
Futaba: What, is Nishima bugging Akira again?
Futaba: I’m ready to blow up his phone with ugly frog gifs. That should traumatize him enough to shut down for at least a week.
Futaba: Just say the word Makoto!!!! ( ╯°口°）╯
Makoto: No, it’s not about Mishima this time.
Futaba: ಠ ╭╮ ಠ
Makoto: I’m sure you are all aware of the underground Akira fan club set up at our school recently.
Ann: I remember! It’s formed by some girls from our class who used to talk trash about Akira when he first transferred here
Ryuji: man, girls sure are fickle n scary
Yusuke: Makoto, are they causing a scene?
Makoto: Unfortunately, yes. According to Morgana, some of them have been stalking Akira after school.
Yusuke: Unacceptable! That is a violation of our leader’s privacy!
Futaba: Yeah I’m the only one allowed to hack into his personal life!!
Ryuji: see? girls. scary.
Ann: Oh Ryuji I will show you SCARY tomorrow
Futaba: You want some frog gifs too Blondie?
Ryuji: er sorry
Ryuji: forget i said anything
Makoto: The thing is, it won’t be a problem if they just admire Akira from a respectable distance and only within school perimeter. But following him after school hours is clearing bothering him, not to mention it may jeopardize our PT activities.
Ryuji: no shit
Ryuji: dude’s already convinced half the school wants him gone, this can’t be good to his psyche
Makoto: Exactly.
Ann: Aww
Ann: I wish I could just go and tell him how lovable he is
Yusuke: I did tell him that, several times in fact. To which he answered with a beautiful smile and “I love you too, Yusuke. You’re a good friend.”. I’m afraid he didn’t grasp the true meaning behind my confession.
Futaba: Stupid dork
Ryuji: so can ya do sth about it, prez? ya know, as the prez?
Makoto: I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that, but it seems like this is the most effective way to put a stop to their behavior.
Makoto: I will track down the girls and talk to them tomorrow.
Ann: Wait Makoto
Ann: I have an idea that doesn’t involve flashing your president authority!
Makoto: What do you have in mind, Ann?
Ann: Just leave it to me and Ryuji!
Ryuji: ??????
Ann’s plan turned out to be pretty good. All it required was Ann and Ryuji playing the role of Akira’s bodyguards by gluing to his sides the moment school ended—which was what they did on most days anyway—and acting menacing. The two blondes relished in glaring daggers at whoever girls (and sometimes boys) came within the range, maybe a little too much, as Ryuji would often throw in the “I’m-watching-ya!” gesture with his forefinger and middle finger, while Ann would whisper-shout “don’t even think about it!” in an overdramatic tone. Sure enough, that instantly scared the stalking students back at least a few feet with a whimper.
Yeah, simple and effective. Not to mention it gave the blondes more time to spend with their leader. Two birds, one stone.
“Guys, you don’t have to tag along,” Akira said. He seemed to be none the wiser, misinterpreting affection from his eager admirers as hostility. “I can handle a few unfriendly stares on my own. I’m used to it.”
“Let us look out for you once in a while, silly. You don’t have to face everything on your own!” Ann said, tightening her grip around Akira’s upper arm.
“Yeah dude,” Ryuji echoed, grinning. “You’re always there for us when we need ya, we’re just returnin’ the favor.”
Akira thanked them with a grateful smile, thinking how lucky he was to have friends being considerate of his feeling, all while unaware of the murdering look the blondes kept shooting at any onlookers. The stalking dialed down considerably in a few days—not completely gone, but at least back to how it was a month ago when the admirers sneaked a peek in a corner or whispered from afar, not daring to come too close or follow Akira after school. It looked like they had finally learned to respect one’s boundaries.
There. Crisis averted.