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Even if the Metaverse was gone, the Phantom Thieves’ lives still moved forward. Somehow it didn’t feel over despite how grand of a finale it felt like. There was still the lingering question ever since Morgana brought up the possibility of the end of their adventures. The most notable question was what they were going to do with the rest of their lives.
Yusuke was the one decided the easiest, not exactly moving away or anything, simply continuing his career at Kosei, but now more financially stable thanks to the rest of the team. Akira, who had plenty of time to think during his arrest, wanted to move back to Tokyo as soon as possible.
His parents had been supportive, especially when they discovered that Akira had made so many friends during his time in Tokyo, and even a love interest. Considering Yusuke and his sister Futaba were the two who had plans to stay in Tokyo, that worked out perfectly for the three of them.
Haru continued to work with Sojiro in Leblanc, eventually planning to succeed it, alongside her partner Ryuji. While Makoto had briefly considered training to become a police officer, she eventually decided against it, citing Akira’s abuse by the police as a primary reason. Futaba published a few indie games, which became surprisingly popular… too popular, to the point where Futaba relished in the… mature side of the fandom, but the less said about that, the better. Even Ann had found something she loved, training as a drama teacher alongside Shiho, who was looking forward to teaching at the very same school she used to attend.
But after a year or two of this seemingly mundane life, everything changed for the better.
It all began when Akira and Yusuke were walking through Shibuya on the way home from a date. Morgana had demanded to come too, not wanting to be separated from Akira for too long, and Yusuke had agreed, since he enjoyed the company of the feline.
Then, Yusuke noticed something hazy and blue out of the corner of his eye.
A door..?
Morgana immediately leapt out of Yusuke’s arms, sprinting towards the door, with Akira and Yusuke following closely behind him. It took a moment for Yusuke to recognise the place as the Velvet Room, since he had only been there once before. The girl standing before him was vaguely familiar too - her name was Lavenza, if he remembered correctly - though Yusuke was mostly thinking about how aesthetically pleasing her platinum blonde hair and yellow eyes were.
The older man sat at the table, who introduced himself as Igor, gave Akira and Yusuke an offer: he would turn Morgana and Lavenza into human children, giving them an opportunity to live out the rest of their lives in peace, in return for Akira and Yusuke promising to care for them.
Exchanging a meaningful look, Akira and Yusuke immediately agreed, signing the contract that Igor handed them.
As Yusuke watched the two children transform, shedding their magical bodies and stepping into mortal ones, he was struck with a feeling of deep awe that he had only felt twice before, when he saw the Sayuri for the first time, and when he completed Hope and Desire.
People often called their children their greatest creations, so Yusuke supposed it only made sense. While he and Akira may not have created Morgana and Lavenza, that made them no less their fathers.
Morgana stumbled towards Yusuke, a little unsteady on his new feet, and Yusuke held out his arms to steady him, wrapping them around Morgana’s shoulders to hold him close.
“I’ve got you.”
Face buried into Yusuke’s chest, Morgana mumbled, “Thank you, Dad.”
Meanwhile, Lavenza, who was a little more used to having a humanoid body, moved towards Akira, arms held out as if she wanted to hug him, but wasn’t sure if he would allow it. To ease her nerves, Akira swept her up into a hug, lifting her feet off the ground a few inches, making her giggle a little in shock.
As they held their children in their arms, Yusuke realized that he had never felt such sheer adoration radiating from himself or his lover in all the time they had known each other.
One thing was for certain.
Now that they had two children to care for, they definitely needed their own place.
“I think that’s the last of it,” said Ryuji, setting down the cardboard box he was holding. “You guys have a lot of stuff, huh?” he added, nudging the box with the toe of his shoe.
“Be careful with that!” Yusuke admonished, making Ryuji roll his eyes a little.
“What are you going to do with all your art stuff?” Ryuji asked, noting just how many of the boxes in the hallway were labeled ‘Art Supplies’.
Akira appeared in the hallway next to them. “That’s part of why we chose this place,” he stated. “There’s enough space for Lavenza and Morgana to have their own rooms, and for Yusuke to have his own studio.”
“Lucky guy,” Ryuji said. “Wanna show me where this studio is, then? Might as well get that stuff away first.”
Yusuke smiled. “Of course, follow me.”
Looking around the house they had just moved into, Akira was almost glad that Ann had agreed to watch Morgana and Lavenza while he and Yusuke got the house ready for them. The house wasn’t quite a home just yet.
Ryuji helped them move around some of the heavier stuff, before heading home to his wife and daughter, leaving Akira and Yusuke to their own devices. The duo spent a little longer unpacking before Akira suggested that they turn in for the night. He was in the middle of digging through the cardboard boxes in the hallway for a pair of sleep clothes, when Yusuke wandered up beside him.
“So I was thinking of painting butterflies on the ceiling of Lavenza’s room.”
Akira came up to Yusuke’s face.“Gonna stop you right there, Yusuke.”
“Why?”
“You know you don’t do well with ceiling decorations. Remember that time you tried to help Sojiro fix the chandelier?”
Yusuke winced. “I prefer not to...”
“Exactly.”
“Can I at least put them on the walls?” Yusuke asked, taking the opportunity to dig out a set of his own sleeping clothes (the only thing that differentiated them from his regular clothes was that they weren’t yet covered in paint), eventually finding a pair.
“That works for me.”
Yusuke thought for a moment before adding, “I’ve found a packet of glow-in-the-dark stars, which I think Morgana would enjoy. If you manned the stepladder to make sure I don’t fall, could I stick those on his ceiling?”
“You hold the ladder.” Akira pleaded. “If I did, my arms would get tired and you’d want to skip dinner because you’re spending too much time aligning those things to be in the perfect position.”
“You always know how to get me to appreciate the imperfections, don’t you?” Yusuke chuckled. “Even so, I would like the opportunity to paint Lavenza’s walls, if not her ceiling. I think she would enjoy having something charming to look at. Butterflies have always been her favorites…”
Akira nodded. “That, we can do.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“I’m wiped,” Akira yawned. “It’s kinda weird not having the kids around…”
“They’re likely having a great time with their favorite Aunt,” Yusuke assured him, taking the opportunity to shuffle a little closer to Akira.
“She’s probably giving them way too much sugar,” grumbled Akira.
Yusuke kissed him on the cheek. “At least they will be having fun, my love.”
Akira smiled. “I suppose you’re right…” he conceded. “I’m not quite ready to go to sleep yet. Do you want to cuddle for a bit?”
“I’d like that.”
Their first night in their new home was spent snuggled up together, sleeping off the stress of moving in.
Akira woke up at the crack of dawn the following morning, determined to get some coffee brewing before Yusuke woke up, only to get a text from his father stating that he already made some for them, asking him to come to Leblanc. Groaning in defeat, if it meant some quality time with more than just Yusuke and their kids, the more, the merrier, he assumed.
Yusuke, being the late sleeper he was when Akira wanted him to sleep earlier than usual, had to be woken up by Akira when the day began, urging him to get Morgana and Lavenza to visit their grandfather more often.
Ever since Akira started taking some cooking classes, the traditional curry meal became slightly less common in the family, not helped by Mayumi and Ryuji also taking turns. Sojiro was a little miffed at first, but understood. But that just made these types of mornings all the more special.
Morgana was the first to jump into Sojiro’s arms upon entering the cafe.
“Hi!”
“Morgana!” Sojiro exclaimed. “Geez, and I thought you had a lot of energy as a cat…”
“Dad said the same thing…” Morgana giggled.
“Well, your food’s over by the counter.”
“Thank you!” Just like that, Morgana dashed over to his sister, who had already taken her first bite. Granted, Lavenza had almost burned her mouth, still not yet used to “her mortal form being unable to handle the fiery pits of the godslayer” as she put it. An inside joke Yusuke didn’t completely understand, but found funny anyway.
While Akira took his first sip, Sojiro came over to ask him and his lover, “So, is the place everything you hoped for?”
“It’s better,” said Yusuke, making Sojiro chuckle a little.
“You know, if you ever need help, either Mayumi or one of your siblings can volunteer here while I check out your new place.”
“Nah, it’s fine.” Akira waved off. “We’ll tell you when we’re done.”
“If you say so.” Sojiro smiled. He looked at Lavenza, who was drinking as much water as she could before asking her grandfather for another cup, after Sojiro got it for her, he said to Yusuke, “You know, that kid is a lot like you.”
“It’s the hair, is it not?” Yusuke had assumed, remembering the fondness he felt as Lavenza’s hair changed to a similar color as his upon her transformation.
“That, and she isn’t exactly used to full time meals. You had the same reaction to my curry the first time you tried it.”
“Ah, yes. Perhaps I should have warned her.” Yusuke hung his head low before Akira put his arm around him.
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. She has to learn just like the rest of us.”
“I heard that!” Morgana yelled, causing the adults to laugh.
“My point is, your kids are already imprinting on the two of you.” Sojiro continued. “Be sure to keep that in mind.”
As Yusuke stared at his kids, watching Morgana teach Lavenza to blow on her food first before eating, Sojiro’s words lingered in his head.
How much was he going to influence their lives?
Once they were both finished with their coffee and had thanked Sojiro for looking after the kids for the day, Akira and Yusuke headed upstairs to tackle the first big project of the day: Morgana’s bedroom.
As they agreed the previous night, Yusuke held onto the stepladder for Akira, to ensure that he didn’t fall, and directed him on where to place the stars. It was vitally important to Yusuke that the stars on Morgana’s ceiling were accurate to real world constellations, and he would fuss and fret about astrological accuracy whenever Akira stuck one in the wrong place.
“I don’t think Morgana will mind,” Akira said, as Yusuke demanded that he move a star two centimeters to the left.
Yusuke pouted. “Well I do mind. I’m an artist, having an attention to detail is practically a part of my job description.”
Rolling his eyes, Akira replied, “Yeah, yeah, I know. You're lucky you’re cute.”
“Cute enough that you married me,” Yusuke retorted.
“...Touché.”
Another touch of blue here, a tad of white here, black for the antenna…
The painting was good, but Yusuke wanted it to be perfect.
Only the best for his daughter…
He was definitely getting close to finishing. The last section would only take another hour or so, maybe a little longer, if he went back to redo some of the sloppier sections…
Maybe closer to two hours… Yusuke had never been the best at gauging how long a piece would take.
A little over an hour later, Yusuke heard Akira calling his name. “Yu, let’s stop for lunch!”
“Coming!” Yusuke shouted back, scrutinizing the shape of a certain butterfly wing. Something about the perspective was a little off… Maybe if he-
“Yusuke!”
“I’m coming!” Yusuke snapped, suddenly irritated.
“Are you coming, or are you still painting?” Akira countered, appearing in the doorway. Realizing that he had been caught in the act, Yusuke chuckled sheepishly.
“Both?” he attempted. “I was going to come down in a minute.”
Akira stepped into the room, taking in the freshly painted wall like he was appraising a piece of fine art. “You’ve done a good job with this, Yu.”
“Thank you. It’s not quite finished yet.”
“You can do the rest after lunch.”
“But-”
“I’m not taking no for an answer here,” Akira said. “Come on, Sojiro dropped some coffee over. It should still be warm.”
Yusuke did love Sojiro’s curry…
“Alright, alright, I’m coming.”
Akira grinned. “Atta boy. You could always get Morgana and Lavenza to help you when they come home tomorrow.”
“I’d like that. Perhaps you could join us too?”
“Sure. It’s been a while since we’ve painted together.”
During lunch, Akira caught Yusuke up on what rooms were mostly sorted out. It seemed that they had made good progress in the kids’ rooms, their bedroom, the kitchen and the living room, meaning that the last major areas to unpack were the bathroom and Yusuke’s studio.
They decided that Akira would unpack the bathroom, leaving Yusuke to organize his studio, since it would be his private space, and he would need to know where everything was. That plan proved to be the correct one, and they both worked quickly. After thirty or so minutes, Akira finished in the bathroom and came to help Yusuke in the studio.
After a few minutes of working together in peaceable silence, Yusuke piped up, “I’ve just realized something.”
That caught Akira’s attention. “Hmm?”
“I’ve never had my own space before,” Yusuke explained. “When I lived with Madarame, I always shared the studio with him or the other students. At Kosei, I shared my dormitory and studio with other artists in my year. I don’t think I’ve ever had somewhere that was just for me.”
“Huh…” Akira reached up behind Yusuke to place a paintbrush in a pot on the shelf behind his head. “Well, this is going to be your space, so if you want to kick us out of it at any time, feel free.”
“I seriously doubt that we will be able to keep the kids out of here,” Yusuke laughed. “Morgana can be quite inquisitive at times.”
Akira smiled fondly. “True. Still, I meant what I said. This is your space, so do whatever you want with it. I only ask that you stay far away from the kitchen. That’s my domain. Plus, after what happened last time, I’m not sure I trust you.”
“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?” Yusuke sighed.
“You set a frying pan on fire!”
“That happened one time!”
Akira received a text from Ann the next day saying that the kids would be home the following afternoon. Not having any immediate plans, Akira patiently waited next to his bedroom window for Ann’s car. Once it had come, he came downstairs to see Morgana bursting through the door as usual, somehow with even more energy than he normally did.
“Dad! Which room’s mine?”
“Slow down, Momo,” Akira said. “We’ll show you both your rooms in a minute.”
“But I wanna see it now!” Morgana whined, making Akira chuckle.
“Okay, okay. We can see your room first, then Lavenza’s. Does that sound fair?”
Morgana quickly agreed (to no one’s surprise), and Lavenza mentioned that she was excited to see both their rooms too.
When Morgana was shown his room, he couldn’t contain his excitement, stimming and fidgeting as Yusuke pointed out the constellations he had crafted on the ceiling, with Akira’s help.
His joy was only matched by Lavenza’s upon seeing the butterflies painted on her walls. The girl had always had a fascination for insects - perhaps due to taking the form of one a few times herself - with butterflies being her favorite.
“It’s so beautiful…”
“Alas, I was not able to finish it in time for your arrival.” Yusuke sorrowfully admitted.
“Really?” Lavenza looked at her father curiously. “I did not notice.”
“Would you like to help me finish it?” Yusuke asked.
Beaming, Lavenza replied. “Of course!”
Not wanting to be forgotten, Morgana tugged on his dad’s sleeves. “I wanna help too!”
Yusuke was glad; he had never felt so surrounded by the two things he loved the most - his family and art - than in that moment.
The art project continued all the way into the night, only pausing for dinner. By the time that Morgana and Lavenza collapsed into bed, they were so sleepy they could barely keep their eyes open. With both of their kids sent to bed for an early night, Akira and Yusuke settled into bed themselves.
But Akira couldn’t sleep.
Instead, he stared at the baby monitor that Futaba had gifted him upon their adoption of Morgana and Lavenza. It had been a gag gift, which surprisingly turned out to be useful, so the joke was on her.
“Still concerned for him as ever, I see.” Yusuke pointed out.
“He’s never been one to sleep alone.” Akira reminded his husband. “If he and Lavenza need to share a room after this, it’s fine.”
“And what of my masterful decorating?”
“The other room can be their playroom.”
“... that is acceptable.”
Just then, he saw Morgana toss and turn.
“Maybe I should go check on him…”
Akira got up and walked into Morgana’s room, opening the door gently. “Morgana, are you awake?” He whispered.
“…Dad?”
Akira breathed a sigh of relief. “Is something wrong, Mittens? You’ve been moving around a lot in bed.”
“I…” Morgana’s voice was a little dry, as he had likely just woken up. “I think I had another nightmare.”
“Awww, Munchkin…” Akira reached out to hug Morgana, and the boy leant into his touch. “Do you know if something specific set it off?”
Morgana hugged him tighter. “Didn’t like being alone. Can I sleep with you and Dad tonight?”
“I figured. I was worried about that. Of course you can.”
“Thanks dad…” Morgana said, still not quite all awake.
Akira carried Morgana all the way to him and Yusuke’s room, only to find Yusuke there with Lavenza.
“Lavenza? What are you doing here?”
Lavenza startled a little when she noticed that Akira had walked in. “Tri…Ak…dad, I… Ummm…”
“She was simply struggling to fall asleep. Nothing serious.” Yusuke explained, a reassuring hand on Lavenza’s shoulder. “I simply offered to have her rest with us, if that is okay with you.”
“Of course it is. Come here, Vinnie.”
These days, their kids were getting a little too old to sleep in their bed every night (Morgana had developed an unfortunate habit of kicking). Still, Akira had to admit that it was nice to have their home family together in one place.
Finding an arrangement that was comfortable for everyone was a little tricky. Morgana was very insistent on cuddling both his dads at once, so they decided it would make the most sense if Morgana slept in the middle. Upon hearing this, Lavenza became very mopey, insisting that she wanted to cuddle her baby brother too, which made Morgana change his tune quicker than you could say lickety-split.
Eventually, Morgana and Lavenza agreed that they could both sleep in the middle, and it would be like they were hugging each other and their dads at the same time. Not for the first time, Yusuke was reminded of holding his children the day they first became human.
The second night Akira and Yusuke spent in their new home was with their children between them.
Akira and Yusuke wouldn’t have it any other way.