Chapter Text
Akira steps off the platform of Yongen Jaya after a half day in the Metaverse, Morgana comments something about his disappointment the thieves are making in the infiltration progress of Okumura’s palace but Akira isn’t listening. He’s far too absorbed in his thoughts to do anything but switch on autopilot for the rest of his walk home to Leblanc.
As he walks, Akira thinks about the business man's palace. It has not been easy on any of the thieves, Haru in particular, but more so on himself, it’s hard being the leader of such a large group in such an unforgiving place. One lapse in judgment can put someone's life in jeopardy. Akira knows this, of course, for this has been the case since the beginning. He accepted it when he became the leader in the first place, he knew what he was getting himself into, but the stakes have been amplified in the space port.
Those damned robo shadows are the biggest problem of their infiltration and they are everywhere, guarding every nook and cranny, it’s almost impossible to sneak around them and even harder to fight them head on given how many there are crawling about the place. Fighting all of them is not in anyone’s best interest, it depletes the stamina of the team far too quickly, as he learned from today when Joker ripped the mask off every single one that was unlucky enough to cross paths with his team.
The shadow’s in Okumura’s palace are plentiful, that’s for sure, but the ones that you encounter are strong no matter where you find them. There seems to be no clear path to avoid them either, and after three and a half days of trying to piece together a plan, Akira gave up, he went for a more ‘straightforward’ approach, I.E, tearing off every mask of every shadow he came across in his endeavor.
Akira knows and is confident he has the stamina to fight them, thanks to the added bonus of his wildcard ability, but the same can’t be said about the rest of his team, he was foolish to think that Haru would be able to keep up, or anyone for that matter, considering that she’s a new persona user just getting used to the toll the Metaverse would take on you. That’s why the thieves left at the first safe room they saw, clearly too exhausted to continue. No matter how much they protested that they should carry on, Akira saw through them. He saw how worn out they actually were behind the facade, it was him who put them through it, he was the reason they were all so spent.
It makes the ravens head spin, sometimes he wonders if he’s really cut out for leader work but his friend’s voted and encouraged him to be the leader even when Makoto did join their ranks. He honestly thought that he was going to be replaced by her the second she joined, Makoto does indeed have the aura of a powerful leader around her and would have been the perfect role for her and the perfect replacement for Akira. He was surprised to find out that, no, Makoto did not intend on replacing him and that she was perfectly content with Akira continuing to bear the title of “leader”. He likes to be relied on but when it comes to being decisive in a high stress situation, Akira clocks out, he leans more on the Joker side of himself. Which is true… for most of the time that he’s in the Metaverse now that he thinks about it. Once the mask comes on, Akira seems to slip into the persona of ‘Joker’ ha! How appropriate, who is like a completely different person compared to Akira. The thought alone would make his stomach clench, he could really go for some of Leblanc’s coffee right now to calm his nerves. Or anything for that matter, just something to distract him from his self induced phantom thief duties.
“Heyyyy... hey Akira!” The sound of Morgana’s voice seemed to be the only thing able to pull Akira out of his thoughts. He turned to Morgana, who was perched on his shoulder with a unamused look, “Oh wow, I’m surprised I was finally able to get your attention,” Morgana started, “you think far too much for someone your age, but I guess that’s to be expected from our leader!” Morgana’s expression took a complete 180 because the smile the so-called cat flashes Akira the next second is strong and reassuring, it almost pulls Akira out of his funk, almost, but it’s not enough. Akira tentatively reaches up to scratch Morgana behind his ear, when his hand connects with the cats fur, Morgana seems to almost encourage what the boy was doing and responds by somewhat leaning into the touch… Morgana hates it when I pet him for no good reason... he must have realized that I’m out of it today, Akira thought. Morgana was keen on picking up Akira’s mood so he knew when the raven wasn’t on top of his game and usually offered support in the form of allowing Akira to pet him or other small varieties of affection. What a stubborn cat.
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As Akira starts to arrive at the backstreets of Leblanc, he slowly makes his way through the alleys to the small coffee shop that's tucked away and virtually undetectable to the unknowing eye. The more he walks through the tortuously winding alleys, the more the raven becomes aware of how exhausted he really is. Akira’s head feels like it weighs a hundred pounds, his eyes are heavy and he’s just now realizing exactly how long he’s been dragging his feet on his trip home. Maybe all of these Metaverse trips are finally starting to get to me, the boy ponders as Morgana shifts in the bag swung over his shoulder. When Akira finally, FINALLY, gets to stained glass door of LeBlanc, he sees a familiar chestnut colored tuft of hair through the glass and his brain decides that now, in this moment in time, is the perfect time to short circuit and completely push out any and all thoughts that was threatening to rush through Akira’s mind.
In other words, he really doesn’t want to deal with the whole ‘Akechi ordeal’ at the moment.