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Akira
As Yusuke’s family grew, so too did his creative mind, and all of that would not have happened had he not met Akira.
The leader of the Phantom Thieves was chaotic when he wanted to be. From posing like he was being crucified at the church, to agreeing to strip when Yusuke asked him - whether he was joking or not, no one really knew - there didn’t seem to be much he wouldn’t do for Yusuke.
But he was also caring, able to provide a warm hug to anyone who needed it, with his fluffy hair becoming a pillow to those he trusted.
Such an occasion came one night when everyone else was asleep except the two of them. Morgana had been going to sleep earlier than usual lately, meaning Akira wasn’t exactly at his sleepiest.
They were in Yusuke’s room, shoulders pressed up against each other. Yusuke watched as his brother scrolled through his social media, sending the occasional text to Sumire as well. There was nothing but silence between the two of them and the calming sounds of the city.
Until Akira started snickering. He eagerly showed Yusuke a video on his phone that he found funny, one about two interviewees finding creative ways to dodge questions. Yusuke did the same, only to receive a text from Mayumi to keep it down.
So Akira flopped on his belly back onto Yusuke’s bed. He turned his head over to see the calm squiggles on Yusuke’s sketchbook, something he had been doing recently to fill in later for inspiration. He complimented the sketches, and it gave Yusuke an idea of what to do with those squiggles.
Said squiggles reminded him of the fluffiness of Akira’s curly black hair. So he replicated the pattern he saw on it as Akira laid down on his bed.
Soon, Yusuke found himself replicating that position, finding it easier to figure out the rest of the piece in that way.
Akira had a lot of merchandise he had amassed over the years, both from friends and family. That red banner with the Phantom Thieves logo that he designed. To see something of his get so much recognition under the Fox screen name, that was all he needed to be happy with what he was doing, even if Akira wanted Yusuke to make some amount of money once in a while, warning him that just because they’re brothers now doesn’t mean he isn’t going to do any less of a job as a leader.
That was something Akira did often, almost too much to the point of tuckering him out faster than most. It was no wonder why it felt like he could only handle two activities per day at most.
A long time ago, Yusuke had been Akira’s roommate for a few days. Back then, he lived in the attic of Leblanc, a place he would still go to often if he needed to be alone or to take in some nostalgia.
The browns of the walls there had always given off a cozy vibe to Yusuke, like a log-cabin which one would go to on a camping trip. But there was also a lighter brown, one that came from the dust scattered about, which had activated the allergies of plenty of friends and other associates.
And speaking of brown (though it was green as well), who could forget his beloved houseplant? Akira had transferred it to his room after he moved in, and he considered it just as important as the rest of his family, refilling on the best fertilizer he could buy even when he had more than enough.
All of this made for a person who Yusuke treasured as an essential companion in his life… who also had his arm around him at the moment.
Taking advantage of the situation, Yusuke handed the finished drawing to Akira before they both went to bed. In one hand, Akira held the paper. In the other, Akira was still hugging his brother. Before Akira finally drifted off, Yusuke could hear his response.
“This is nice. I really like it. I love you, bro. Good night, Yusuke…”
Its title? Calm Before Another Storm.
Morgana
Even if Morgana was no longer a cat, he very much acted like one when it mattered. Such as how he stretched whenever he was about to do something that requires a significant amount of physical effort for a boy his age.
Yusuke was never the best with children, no thanks in part to his lack of social ethics on top of seeing Madarame’s treatment of them, but that began to change as Morgana began to embrace his youth more and more.
He giggled more, he let himself be hugged more often, and he allowed himself to be a bit messier without feeling as ashamed of it. Even then, his gentlemanly nature never went away, even if it was much cuter now.
There was a time where Yusuke became distant from Morgana due to his worry of accidentally hurting him like his progenitor, but thanks to Morgana’s assurance that nothing would change between them now that his age was more apparent, Yusuke realized that he couldn’t just ignore one of the founding members of the Phantom Thieves. From then on, Morgana considered him his uncle.
Yusuke had been asked to babysit the young Morgana one day while Akira was off on a date with Sumire. Lavenza was also preoccupied studying with Shinya, so it was just the two of them.
Being so used to traveling around in Akira’s bag, it was easy for Morgana to get bored when stuck at home all day.
Being the clever kid he was, he asked Yusuke if there was anywhere he wanted to go to spice up his art perspective to inspire him. When Yusuke didn’t have an answer, he simply approached the door and told him he was going out for a walk, and Yusuke followed, respecting his assigned objective.
In the subway, Morgana sat on his uncle’s lap. It wasn’t the best place to pull out his sketchbook just yet, and Yusuke wanted to wait anyway.
He began to pat Morgana’s head, just as he had seen Akira so many times in the past, even before Morgana’s transformation. That was something he liked, right?
Yusuke’s hand stopped when he heard a squeaking noise come out of Morgana, followed by some… purring? It seemed that some old habits never truly die.
When asked, Akira had told Yusuke that, during their journey, Morgana would sometimes take these walks if Akira needed some time alone with a friend, including Yusuke himself. Where did these walks take Morgana? Yusuke wondered. The stray cats of Shibuya were much similar in those regards, and had provided him with ideas before he met the one cat who could talk back to him.
But Morgana was human now, and to anyone on the street, it might’ve simply looked like he was running an errand for someone.
That yellow bandana he always wore, something that carried over from his form in the Metaverse, and manifested as a collar in the time before. Where did he get that? What significance did it hold? Yusuke didn’t know, but it was a simple color that brightened the black hair all around him which matched his father.
He didn’t even realize it until he finished that part that they had arrived at the park. Up until that point, he had simply been following Morgana wherever he went, with the little boy desperately making sure he wasn’t bumping into anything since he was never able to look up from his sketchbook.
All the greenery around the place Morgana ran around had Yusuke looking at a place he’d grown to know so well in a new way as he sat on the bench supervising Akira’s son. Was Morgana someone he would associate with the color green?
Of course, how could he forget? The wind magic Morgana had used during their adventures was green in color, slicing up shadows with his scimitar and Zorro’s might. The wind, much like Morgana’s hair, was wild and free, and those curls were exactly what he needed when drawing the foliage.
Yusuke approached Morgana, who was lying on the ground. He had gotten some sticks and leaves in his hair again, which meant he was in for a long bath once they returned home. Yusuke laid down with his nephew. Feeling the cold of the shade and the light breeze in his face, he quietly handed Morgana the sketch, causing a big smile to appear on his face.
“Heh heh! Even now, you’re still able to capture my looks on paper! Just what I’d expect from my uncle!”
Its title? The Boy in the Jungle.
Ryuji
Ryuji, ever the rambunctious soul, seemed like the polar opposite of Yusuke. But opposites tend to attract each other, and Ryuji’s affectionate nature was just what Yusuke needed in his life.
Of course, just because the once-malnourished Yusuke was eating more often didn’t mean he had become completely healthy, and his parents knew that. So it didn’t come as a shock to his siblings when Mayumi had noticed that Yusuke was starting to put on a little too much weight.
If it was anyone else who asked, Ryuji would’ve protested to the idea of bringing Yusuke for a workout, but he accepted their mother’s request.
Yusuke had heard this was where Akira had taken a pretty nasty fall on the treadmill, putting him out for a day or two, so once he was inside the building, he walked as far away from that as possible.
Yusuke looked throughout the room, spotting a contraption he could sit in. While Ryuji was intrigued to see Yusuke pick a bike, he didn’t judge, it was his first time after all.
While Yusuke’s legs were busy, he got to work once his hands started getting bored. There was a stand near the screen where people would put their phones and whatnot, but the ever-resourceful Yusuke used it as an easel.
With his legs busy, getting the sketch lines just right was difficult, but he pressed on once those legs found a rhythm. Yusuke used it to his advantage, drawing to the rhythm of his circling legs.
Speed lines. One, two, three. They were gray as they breezed past Ryuji’s electrifyingly blond hair, as well as the tan dirt beneath his feet. This was more than doable. Said dirt muddied his shoes, Yusuke remembered, so he added some of that color a little higher than before.
Once finished, Yusuke realized he went a few minutes over Ryuji’s recommendation, and he still hadn’t been fully satisfied with his exercise drawing yet.
Getting on the scale, Yusuke had found that he lost a solid amount of weight for his first time there, or at least that’s what Ryuji told him.
Ryuji nudged him in the shoulder, proud of his brother for finally getting his weight to balance, something no one had thought possible with how Yusuke ate.
Speaking of meals, Ryuji requested Yusuke to join for a congratulatory noodle bowl. Yusuke had asked why they would eat after something that was supposed to get rid of what you ate, to which the blond answered that he didn’t want Yusuke to be completely worn out, and that he also deserved it.
He’d put the finishing touches on his work before they ate.
Yusuke was so enamored by the meal’s smooth taste, that he almost forgot to show Ryuji what he drew back there. Though he made sure to wait for him to finish eating before his reaction.
“Dude, you drew that on the bike? Man, you’re such a multitasker! But I can’t stay too mad at you, that does look really good.”
Its title? Speed Bump.
Ann
Ann and Yusuke were alike in how they joined the Sakura family. They both had terrible caretakers and ended up living alone for a while, but eventually found companionship and hospitality in their new home.
They were also opposite elements. Cold and heat. That much was obvious to any Phantom Thief.
At some point during their thievery career, they even performed an elegant special attack that impressed even their leader. That feeling of how opposites attract each other, their elegance when in each other’s general vicinity… it made Ann the kind of sister anyone could go to if they needed to calm themselves down after a rough day.
Ann had been through a lot over the years, longer than he had been a participant in their efforts. It did make Yusuke feel bad, looking back on how he asked her to go nude for a painting. Yet even with clothes on, her beauty shone through.
Red was the color of Ann’s Phantom Thief attire. The one she hadn’t been too fond of, but she did like the tail, just like Yusuke had on his costume. It was also the color of the flames she used in battle, adding a bright orange on top of it.
Her natural blonde hair, unique from most people where their family lived, and the very thing that made her stand out from the crowd and caused him to notice her in the first place, was a platinum-blonde that complimented his blue hair.
Fitting as it was to say, being with Ann made his heart melt, with that water putting out her fire, and leaving some nice steam to freshen up the area.
What Yusuke had come up was a fireplace, something that added light to any room, and a crackling sound that anyone could fall asleep to, just as anyone did with Ann when she knew for certain she could trust that person.
Yusuke helped her cool her down, Ann helped him warm up. Showing Ann the finished piece, she gave him a smile as gentle and warm as the fireplace in the artwork.
“You’ve come so far from last time! I like the book you drew me reading!”
Its title? Warm and Cozy.
Futaba
Yusuke never really knew how he ended up in certain places around the house. He tended to wander sometimes. Thankfully, Futaba didn’t seem to mind Yusuke wandering into her room when she did.
Futaba was usually in one place, seldom moving from the spot she resided. Even in the Metaverse, she sat comfortably in the background riding Necronomicon, Prometheus and Al Azif.
Similarly, he observed her actions from afar, watching as she rhythmically mashed buttons for a particularly hard part of the retro game she’d emulated.
Some of the best art patterns come from simple shapes, and from the monitors to the desktops and even the pixels on the game she played itself, there was no shortage of quadrilaterals in Futaba’s room.
Green had always been Futaba’s favorite color, which suited the cyberspace aesthetic Yusuke was attempting.
With a lack of windows, it was always dark in Futaba’s room. The black of the walls acted as a void, only being illuminated by the light of the machines and her computer, and even then, she was on a particularly dark level.
It was the colorful figures, posters, and other trinkets that tied everything together. A static screen created a faint rainbow at the top, which mimicked the error screen of a television.
Feeling tired from all of the mental pain she had to endure from the game (and one could imagine the physical pain on her fingers), Futaba usually took a nap after sessions like this. She asked Yusuke if she could use her bed. But before he did that, he asked Futaba if she would give her opinion on the piece he used to represent her.
“Woah! This looks so cool! It’s like I’m in the matrix or something! You outdid yourself, Inari!”
Its title? Life’s Inner Coding.
Sojiro
Leblanc was always a place where Yusuke was able to truly relax and take in the inspiration of the calming cafe aura. He had already made many a sketch from the decor of the location, both inside and out, but it was the one who tied the whole place together that he had yet to capture on paper.
His loving father.
The one who had provided his hospitality after Yusuke was freed from his wretched old life. He was obviously different from Madarame, and it had taken Yusuke a while to trust that it wouldn’t be the same. But once he did, everything changed. He was adopted by him, had a place in the house all to himself… and he wasn’t so lonely anymore.
Yusuke couldn’t think about this right now. He had art to make, and Sojiro was one of his nicest critics.
But what color would he use for this? He wondered. Brown, the color of coffee? No, he always used that one for the cafe. This needed to be unique. The Sayuri itself was watching him, after all.
In a desperate attempt to find a color he hadn’t used for the cafe before (the stained glass window definitely didn’t help), he noticed Sojiro’s shirt poking out of his apron.
Wait… did Sojiro wear pink? That certainly wasn’t a color he would’ve expected to associate with the man, but he certainly pulled it off very well.
There wasn’t any other pink in the entire restaurant, just him.
That made this whole process much easier. The shade of pink was even a lighter shade than most pinks, like that of boba tea.
The rest of the piece came naturally to him. He was still able to use brown somewhere, but he chose to use it as more of an accent color than the main course.
Food talk? Really? Sojiro really was rubbing off on him.
This was the most unique Leblanc-themed artwork he had made to date. If one looked at every drawing he made there side by side, it’d be hard to tell this was part of the same set, but that was part of the charm.
He had to show Sojiro, to hear his praises once more, and that soothing low voice that made him feel safe and at home.
Sojiro examined it thoroughly, as he did every time. This was a personal request Yusuke made once his responses started feeling too samey.
“Oh, that’s different. Certainly not what I expected, but I like it. No qualms here.”
Its title? A Cup of Pink, A Dash of Affection.
Mayumi
Yusuke’s transition to calling Mayumi “Mom” hadn’t been easy. There had been times where he felt as if she was supposed to replace his mama, even if she assured him that it wasn’t the case.
She was right. Mayumi was different from the one who had passed on, even if Yusuke didn’t remember her.
Mayumi was much like her first son, and it was easy to see where Ryuji got his more ambitious traits from. Ever since Sojiro and Mayumi began dating, she began to embrace the wilder side of herself more and more.
In another time, perhaps Mayumi and Mama could’ve been good friends, or maybe even something more.
Yusuke had sprained his ankle one time when he was trying to pose for his own reference photo, so he was stuck in his own bed with nowhere to go. It should’ve been the biggest blow to his imagination.
But his mom was with him, caring for the injury.
At first, Yusuke assumed the experience came from how often Ryuji’s leg cramped, and while he would be right, there was more to it than that. Mayumi was a nurse, and Sojiro was helping her get better medical education.
Her white coat indicated that she must’ve just come back from a long day at work, too tired to take it off, but never tired enough to take care of her son.
Imagining that, Yusuke drew the aesthetics of his room as that of a hospital. But what accents went well with white for this scenario? Red? No, that wouldn’t look pretty, no matter how much his color-theory expertise would like that.
It was then when he looked down at the extra blanket Mayumi had put on top of his normal bed’s blanket. A bright cyan. Perfect for complementing the white of the room.
Mayumi was about to leave the room to make dinner, but Yusuke stopped her, asking her for a second opinion. While initially concerned that Yusuke would still worry about art while in this condition, she still obliged with utmost care.
As Mayumi looked at the picture, she rubbed Yusuke’s ever-chubbier cheeks, and he smiled like a warm puppy under his mother’s affectionate gaze.
“Yusuke, baby…? This is wonderful . I love it with all my heart.”
Its title? Love Multiplies.
Lavenza
Ever since Lavenza started taking ballet lessons, Yusuke had been eager to watch her classes, which of course, both her and Akira were happy to bring him along, even if they expected Haru to be the one to do such a thing. Haru also attended when she could, but that was its own story.
Watching Lavenza dance with the other children in the class, it reminded Yusuke of where she had come from. He had only seen it once in his life, that being the moment before he had taken down the false god, but he was still recovering from a depressive mood Akira helped him get out of at the time to do anything with the idea.
Thankfully, the memory coming back to the front of his head allowed Yusuke to truly take in what Lavenza’s former place of residence had to offer. He’d need blue, and a lot of it, that much was obvious, and from what Akira had told him about it, it took the form of a prison.
But Lavenza was freed from that prison, so for this, Yusuke drew some golden gates with prison bars on them opening up, with a bright light coming out of it. Not only did it thankfully save him on the amount of blue he had to use, but it showed Yusuke the limitless possibilities Lavenza had once she was unleashed onto the real world as Akira’s child.
He took note of her blue tutu, reminding him that even though Lavenza’s time in the Velvet Room may have ended, she would never forget her origins. Her hair was a bright white then, and now it was a warm brown, symbolizing her no longer being a part of the realm in between mind and matter, dreams and reality…
When Lavenza’s classes ended, she happily skipped out of the room, holding her father’s hand. When he got in the car, instead of getting in the passenger seat like he did on the way there, he sat in the back next to Lavenza.
He showed Lavenza the very blue drawing he made, and the young girl held it longingly, looking in awe with her big brown eyes.
Yusuke could see Akira in the rearview mirror smiling at him, happy that he’d begun bonding with his daughter.
“I recognize the area in this artwork. I’d never imagine anyone would capture its essence so beautifully. Thank you very much, Uncle Koutei.”
Its title? Freedom After Eternity.
Sophia
Ryuji’s daughter was an… interesting sort.
She never did much at home, usually being on her laptop, phone, or playing with the yo-yos Akira got her.
And yet, it was the constant connection that left Yusuke thinking. While pretty much a sack of potatoes indoors, one that Ryuji would playfully toss on the ever-soft couch cushions, something he was quoted as saying, “Gotta yeet the child for their health.”
Whatever that meant.
Sophia was an explorative and curious kid whenever she managed to get outside the house, treating every trip as an adventure, whether that be a trip to the grocery store, a day at the park, or a trip to the gym with her daddy.
Sophia’s new human form in the real world meant that she could play with whatever was there. There was one particular time when Ryuji took Yusuke with him and Sophia to said grocery store since he wanted to make sure the food he got for Yusuke was ‘Something he’d be willing to eat’, and saw Sophia frantically shaking the cereal boxes in order to determine the densest one because ‘that would taste the best’.
Ryuji, being the spoiling father that he was, didn’t mind what kind Sophia wanted, sugary or otherwise, something that the major food company owner that was his girlfriend would probably disapprove of.
Sophia was still getting used to human needs, so stuff like nutritionary value never seemed to cross her mind. She was initially designed to be humanity’s companion, and there was nothing more essential to said companions, be that A.I., pets, or otherwise, than to play.
Her smile was bright as the yellow sun, shining through whenever her excitement peaked. It made for a warm combo with her bright red hair. It was a more saturated shade than even Sumire or Haru.
To complete the primary colors, the light transitioned into a cool cerulean that surrounded the clouds in the sky, to reference both her new possibilities as well as the service she used to store data on.
The gray in said clouds also worked well with Sophia’s yo-yos, which Yusuke happily painted a while back to look just like the ones she used in the Metaverse.
He drew all of this right after the cereal incident, which didn’t give Ryuji much hope when all he answered when he asked him if he was interested in having something was “Mhm.”, but that was just how Yusuke’s eating habits were, Ryuji guessed.
When he asked for Sophia’s critique on the way home, her reaction gave him an unintentional coincidence, yet it made her even happier than I expected.
“Oh! This is the shop I used to run for Akira! That brings back some good memories. Well done, Uncle Yusuke!”
Its title? Cloud 9-Years Old.
Yusuke looked at all of the drawings surrounding him. Each one based off of a time he hung out with a member of his family. He was still unsure of what to do with this collection. These were personal drawings, so selling or submitting them was completely out of the question. He needed to keep these.
It was then when he looked around his room, and saw the empty walls. There were a few trinkets some had given them that he would display on a shelf, but hardly anything that his strict mindset could qualify as “decorative”.
That’s when it hit him. Part of the drawing he made for Futaba was based on the patterns in her room. Ryuji had some band posters he liked, which was a bit of sensory overload for his standards, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Ann had some exclusive giant versions of the shoots she did, and even a poster of an idol she liked…
And Akira… there was hardly any wall left where Akira lived.
Once the lightbulb went off in his head, Yusuke went downstairs to pick up some poster hangers from Futaba, who happily lent him those, happy he was finally about to make his room look even half as interesting as everyone said he was.
The ones she had were easy to stick onto a wall, and easy to remove and replace. It had been what their father had used to hang up The Sayuri itself in the cafe. Oftentimes, his siblings would make promises there that would be difficult to fulfill, pointing to the iconic painting telling them to “Swear on Baby Yusuke”. The blue-haired boy could only assume the intention was to display the importance of said promise. Just like what his intent was when gifting it to Sojiro, Yusuke wanted these family portraits to bring some more color to his ordinary days as a Sakura.
It took almost an hour to get it just right, as Yusuke would assume that some of them were too high, too low, misaligned, or as not-straight as he was. But eventually, he found the positioning he liked, placing them from left to right in the order he made them.
Yusuke laid down in his bed, eyeing the portraits longingly. While not everyone was present for him to say it, he could at least say what he wanted to the art that represented them.
“Thank you… everyone. I love you all.”
This was his family, and they all loved him in their own way.
Their collective title? My Family Collection: by Yusuke Sakura.