Work Text:
2010/02/01
It was over, The battle was finally over.
Nyx and Erebus had been defeated and Humanity’s distorted desire for its own oblivion had been stolen—temporarily, of course, for even Akira knew death was inevitable, yet that didn’t faze him, as the will to live would always triumph over the desire for death.
Honestly, if you told him when he was first put on probation back in 2016 that he’d suddenly become a Phantom Thief, shoot a God of Control in the face, stop a delusional reality-warping therapist, destroy another God born from the collective unconscious that sought to protect the status quo, put an end to an AI turned God, and then travel back in time and help defeat two manifestations of death in order to save a girl—one he’d grow to love with his entire being—he’d call you insane.
But at this point he’s just accepted that insanity seems to be the norm for his life.
So here he was, smiling and watching a gang who he’s grown to care for just as much as his own thieves rejoicing: Takeba Yukari, Iori Junpei, Sanada Akihiko, Kirijo Mitsuru, Yamagishi Fuuka, Aigis, Amada Ken, Koromaru, Aragaki Shinjiro, and lastly Shiomi Kotone—his girlfriend.
It was a bittersweet feeling, he knew. His contract was up, it was time for him to go back.
“Kira’…?”
Akira’s head was shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of his girlfriend calling for him, causing him to look at his fellow S.E.E.S members.
“Hey dude, you’re glowing!” Junpei stated in shock.
Akira quickly looked at himself. Now wearing his S.E.E.S uniform, he was no longer in his thief attire, but most importantly, he was glowing —the same deep blue that both Wildcards have come to associate with the Velvet Room. “That I am,” he said with a smile—one of honey and ash—as he put his hands in his pockets. “It’s time for me to go. I did my duty.”
The looks of shock and horror that painted his new comrades' faces pained him, but he had to stay strong.
“But!” Ken spoke up.
“Not after everything we’ve been through!” Akihiko yelled.
“You can’t!” Yukari added.
“Don’t leave us!” Fuuka followed.
“No way!” Junpei denied.
“Why must you go?” Aigis struggled to comprehend.
“That is unacceptable!” Mitsuru declared.
“Ruff!” Koromaru barked in sorrow.
“You changed things before? Why can’t you stay here!?” Shinjiro growled.
“Please!” Kotone cried out.
Akira simply shrugged. “Some things are just unavoidable, you know. But hey, this isn’t a goodbye. Consider this a see ya later.”
“What do you mean?” Fuuka asked, struggling to hold back her tears.
“It means we’ll meet again, plain and simple.” He smirked for a moment before dropping it. “I… I’ll admit this is really hard for me too. I went in thinking “oh, I just gotta help the current Wildcard in their journey,” but now, now you guys are all people I consider as close to my heart as my fellow thieves, people I’ve grown to treasure with my entire being.”
He could see them all getting clearly misty-eyed—even Mitsuru and Shinjiro. “So, let’s make a promise.”
Mitsuru quickly wiped a tear from her eye “A promise?”
“Yeah, back in my time when I went to sleep on March 21st 2018, there’s this nice small cafe called Leblanc in a part of Tokyo known as Yongen-Jaya. We can meet there on March 22nd that year.” He could feel tears building in his eyes now, but he couldn’t let the floodgates release yet. “I’ll make you all some curry and coffee, and I’ll introduce you all to my friends from then as well.”
“Why… why can’t we see you before then!?” Ken sobbed.
“Cause, though mine and Koko’s buddies are planning on correcting the timeline to fit both the original and these new changes we caused, I’d still rather not have you all break it just to see me again when I wouldn’t know who any of you are. So yeah, consider that part of the promise. Do not introduce yourselves to me before then. March 22nd, 2018. We clear?”
Akihiko breathed deeply, clearly not happy but understanding of it. “Yeah.” as the rest soon followed in agreement.
“Good, and… Koko?”
“Y-yeah?” his girlfriend tearfully asked.
“I want you to promise that you’ll live.”
“Wha-”
“You just as much as everyone deserve the right to live. You were dealt a shitty hand, and you deserved better, and all of us made sure you got what you deserved. So live; live not for me, not for S.E.E.S, not for anyone or anything but you . You’re the most amazing, wonderful, and beautiful girl in the world, and you deserve that chance to live for yourself… to be free.”
“Kira’…”
“I’ll always love you, Koko. I don’t care if we meet up again and you’re somehow an old grandma and I’m still just plain old me, I’ll love you.”
“You? Plain? Who are you and what have you done with my Kira? And I am not going to be anything like Mitsuko-san when I see you again and whoop your ass for even thinking of saying that!” she teased, lightly jabbing her boyfriend’s arm a few times as tears streamed down her face.
Once she stopped he cupped her face, looking at her as if she was the only thing that mattered in the world—and she was, she was the greatest and most beautiful treasure he had ever stolen, one taken from death itself. “I mean it, Koko,” he croaked before giving her a kiss.
She fell into his kiss and held her hand against his, her fingers phasing through his own as his body started turning into motes of deep blue light.
To Akira, this feeling wasn’t the same agonizing and nightmarish one from when all the Phantom Thieves faded away on the Day of Reckoning in 2016, erased from the collective unconsciousness by a twisted and evil god. No, this feeling was peaceful. A small part of him thought for a brief moment if this was what death felt like, but that was immediately crushed as he realized this was what life felt like. A wonderful life that has had its many ups and downs, and would continue to do so, but it was the feeling of life nonetheless, and he would continue to treasure and fight for this life of his. Death may be inevitable, but life will always be beautiful.
The two held their parting kiss as tears fell from both of their faces until Akira was gone, nothing left but quickly fading embers of the most charming, incredible, and amazing person Kotone had ever met. A person who helped tear down her walls and replaced that deep, dark longing for death in her soul with a fire of rebellion, one that razed fate itself to ashes and shined brightly with the will to live she would keep burning forevermore.
And as she fell to her knees crying at his departure while her fellow S.E.E.S members rushed to comfort her, a small smile grew on her face. “I promise… I’ll live.”
/–/
2016/04/10
Mitsuru sat at her desk, staring at the police report on her computer once again—it had been on her mind ever since the incident first occurred months prior. The image of a boy with a curly black mop of hair and silver-grey eyes looking back at her. 'Kurusu Akira. Convicted of assaulting an innocent; has been placed on probation for a year in Tokyo under the care of Sakura Sojiro.'
She still felt her blood boil at the live footage of the trial after Fuuka hacked into the cameras there. They were all livid at the fact there was no one on his side during it—even the orphanage owner was on the prosecution’s side the entire time—but she knew that there was no one more angry than Kotone at the sight. If they hadn’t managed to calm her down and restrain her, they all knew she would have tracked down and gutted the one responsible personally. Mitsuru sighed as she remembered that day before looking up at the vengeful woman herself that was standing in front of her.
She was taller compared to their highschool days—though she didn’t come up to her boyfriend’s height last time those two met back in 2010, her auburn hair still remained in a ponytail and she still kept her XXII barrettes, but now she was wearing a standard white office shirt underneath a black jacket alongside a black pencil skirt, black leggings and a pair of black heels. Much less apparent was a tattoo of a Joker Card on her thigh.
“If you're wondering why I called you here, Kotone, Akira’s first day at Shujin Academy is today,” Mitsuru stated. “I would have liked to try and offer some reprieve to him if I could, but even if we ignored the oath we made, Shido’s conspiracy controls so much of the country it’s near-impossible to set even the smallest of footholds back in Tokyo.”
“I know.”
“It’s been six years now since we last saw him properly. We were lucky to avoid directly coming into contact with him back in Inaba.”
“...I know.”
“I know he’s still on your mind after all this time, so speak. He wouldn’t want you to bottle everything up, and neither do I or the rest of the Shadow Operatives.”
“I… I just remember back to when we were all attending Gekkou High, and then seeing him as a little kid living in that orphanage we saw back in Inaba. And I just wish I could have helped him, take him in, get him away from all the bullying and rumors he suffered. And… I wish I could be there for him now, so he can lean on me during his journey like he did with mine.”
Mitsuru simply closed her eyes and breathed deeply, remembering the sight of a young Kurusu Akira they saw during the aftermath of the P-1 Climax—abandoned at birth and raised in what just fit the bare minimum of a proper orphanage, wearing nothing more than an old t-shirt and shorts, and constantly harassed by child and adult alike because of his appearance and circumstances. “I understand. Seeing him like that upset all of us, and we all wish we could have– could do more to help, but we made an oath of non-interference during his journeys, and a promise to meet him again once time caught up.”
“Yeah…”
“I must admit. I am interested to see who he and the rest of the future Phantom Thieves target. He always was unsurprisingly secretive about everything involving the future once he revealed his origins to us.”
A devilish smirk formed on Kotone’s face as she chuckled. “I know he’s going to enjoy getting revenge on the bastard that framed him.”
“I personally believe that he’ll get more pleasure out of killing a god for the… technically at this point, first time.”
“He was way too excited about killing more gods.”
“That's quite rich coming from you, Kotone.”
“Hey! I deserved payback for Nyx and Erebus ruining my life the first time round.”
“Oh, we all know, we were just the same once Akira told us. I’m still trying to wrap my head around that entire transforming-into-a-door thing.”
“Trust me, I’d rather be here with all of you then stuck as a door for eternity,” Kotone chuckled.
Mitsuru simply smiled at that. “Fair, I also prefer you being here then as a door.”
Before either of them could say anything else, the door behind them burst open, revealing Aigis, Labrys, and Shinjiro.
Mitsuru’s smile grew ever so slightly at the sight of the trio, but her eyes were drawn to one Aragaki Shinjiro. She remembered how relieved everyone was at them being able to stop Takaya from killing him. Not only did it prove that destiny could be changed, it also helped him get his Persona fully under control, make amends with Ken, and convince him to stop taking those Persona Suppressants.
“Can you please get her away from me,” Shinjiro spoke up. “I already told you guys I did not want to be stuck with her again for at least another few months.”
Labrys gasped at Shinjiro’s words. “I thought we were friends!”
“Not when you’re giving me a migraine.”
“I jus’ wanted ta make sure you weren’ relapsin’.”
“No way in hell would I even think of relapsing!”
As the two continued to bicker, Aigis turned to face the head of the Kirijo group and her lead operative. “Sadly, we still have been… unable to locate Minazuki Sho’s whereabouts even with the continued assistance of the Inaba Operatives.”
“It’s alright, I’m certain we’ll find him eventually,” Kotone reassured. “Anyway, you’re looking well, Shinjiro.”
“Heh, I ain’t like what I was back then anymore, thanks to you guys and Akira.”
“That’s good to hear,” Kotone replied with a wistful smile.
“Let me guess. You guys were talking about Akira again before we came?” Shinjiro asked.
“Yeah. Today’s his first day at Shujin.” Kotone stated.
“Fuck, that was today? I completely forgot about that.”
“It’s not like we can do much, considering Shido’s restrictions.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Wait? Wasn' Akira like your guys’ classmate or somethin’?” Labrys questioned.
“The story of Sakura Akira is a rather…strange one, unless you were there,” Aigis answered immediately.
“Can’t be any weirda than that whole incident in Aokigahara.”
“You have no idea,” Kotone chuckled.
Mitsuru cleared her throat to redirect everyone’s attention back to her. “Thank you Aigis, Shinjiro, Labrys. Even if you were unable to locate Minazuki, every search narrows his location down for us further. Aigis, I’ll expect a full report later.”
“Understood.”
“Anyway, imma get goin’,” Labys spoke up. “Teddie had somethin’ he wanted ta tell me.”
Once Labrys departed, it was simply Mitsuru, Kotone, Aigis, and Shinjiro left in the office. Mitsuru’s gaze became drawn to the old group photo on her desk that they and their fellow S.E.E.S members had taken back then. A small smile grew on her face, brought on by the fact that in two more years, they would all be back together, just as promised.
/–/
????/??/??
At this point, Akira wondered if he was just as much a part of the Velvet Room as Igor, Lavenza, and all the other attendants. Maybe if he somehow got involved in another incident that required him to stop a god seeking humanity’s ruin he could meet with Igor’s supposed boss he heard mentioned once or twice, or even get honorary attendant status—he always thought their outfits were cool, and he’d love to have one.
But that didn’t matter. He was proud of what he did, he loved helping people and always has, it’s just a part of who he was.
So when he awoke back in the Velvet Room in his thief attire and saw Igor, Lavenza, and Theodore standing before him, he couldn’t help but smile.
“Welcome back, my Trickster,” Lavenza greeted.
“It’s good to be back,” Akira replied, causing Lavenza to giggle and Theodore to sigh in exasperation.
“Your presence is always a welcome one.”
“Please don’t humor him, sister, dealing with Elizabeth is enough.”
‘Elizabeth?’
“You have no need to concern yourself, brother.”
Akira’s eyes darted back and forth between the two. “Sooooo, I guess everything went well and that Kotone didn’t become a door again?”
“You would be correct, Trickster,” Igor chuckled. “You have fulfilled your contract once more and helped assist the Messiah in her journey.”
“She didn’t really need my assistance, she just needed to realize for herself just how much her life was worth living. I can easily see how she could have ended up making the decision she did the first time around—I’d probably have made it myself if I was in her place.”
“Your empathy and desire to help others are truly admirable.”
“Sister…”
“Yes.”
“You truly have spent too much time around the Trickster, haven’t you?”
“Hey, it’s not my fault!” Akira spoke up.
Igor simply chuckled at the exchange, snapping everyone's attention back to him instantly.
“You have my apologies, Master,” Lavenza said, bowing immediately.
“I apologize for my behaviour, Master,” Theodore followed.
It was at this point Akira decided to ask the question that had been pestering him since the beginning. “Alright,” he stated, catching the trio’s attention. “What was the point of this? I know how contracts with the Velvet Room work—her journey is her own, and she must be willing to face the consequences of all her actions on it. She made her decisions back then from everything she saw on her journey, so what happened? What forced you all to be willing to rewrite time itself just to save her?”
Igor’s gargantuan and perpetual smile grew a little more at the thief’s deductions. “You have been on more journeys than many of our other guests, Trickster. However, while you may have traveled into the past, the future itself holds many mysteries that are built from the actions chosen.”
‘Great, more cryptic messaging, should have figured. But it sounds like my hunch was right—something happens in the future that was caused by Kotone becoming the Great Seal, and it fucks up humanity so badly that they had no choice but to grab someone who could steal distorted desires in order to stop it.’
Lavenza bowed her head. “You need not concern yourself with these matters for now. You have fulfilled your contract and helped the Messiah in stopping the God of Death, and for that we are grateful.”
“I see…well, I suppose I should take my leave then. It’s truly been a pleasure being able to work with you all again.”
“Farewell, my Trickster.”
“May you take care.”
As the Velvet Room attendants gave their farewells, Akira felt the world fade away before him, and all he could do was offer a small smile as he returned to reality.
/–/
2018/03/22
Sleep had always been an odd thing for Akira: from spending nights struggling to sleep in that orphanages boys dorm out of fear, to sleeping in a cafe attic and entering the Velvet Room on his first day in Tokyo, to suddenly having Morgana sleep with and comfort him in said cafe attic, to dealing with nightmares of him being drugged and beaten after that interrogation, to sleeping in a literal jail cell instead of a metaphysical one, to sleeping on the roof of a campervan with his closest friends and fellow thieves, to sleeping in a bed in what had become his room after being adopted by Sojiro, to sleeping in a dorm nine years in the past with people who had entered the place in his heart reserved exclusively for his closest friends while the 25th hour of the day ran rampant.
But sleep was sleep. It was something he had grown to enjoy because of how varied it could be at this point in his life, and maybe one day he’d get to feel what sleep was like for people who didn’t have a life story straight out of an RPG and add it to his collection.
And as the Sakura Akira of The Phantom Thieves of Hearts and the Sakura Akira of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad became one, he knew that chronologically it had only been a few hours since he went to bed back on March 21st, but mentally—and physically, he supposed…he wasn’t going to think about that—he had lived another entire year of his strange and treasured life in that short few hours. Some people would simply chalk it all up to a dream he had, but he knew, from the very depths of his soul where his Persona—Raoul—stirred, he knew it was all real.
Once he had woken up in his bedroom at the Sakura household and saw Morgana laying atop of him, he could feel his eyes begin to water. It had been an entire year since he’d last seen him in a sense—don’t think about it—so after his mentor and friend finally managed to wake up as well he made sure to give him scritches in the places he knew the not-a-cat loved all the while telling him just how much he treasured him and how amazing he was—much to Morgana’s confusion.
Akira then set about doing his morning routine from memory of before he got sent to the past—making sure to first send a message to the totally-not-phantom-thieves group chat asking them if they all wanted to hang out at Leblanc, as he might just have something… special to show them, and plus it would be nice to just hang out with them again. Being honest, he missed them all after his year on Port Island… that was also only a few hours—nope, don’t think about it.
Soon his mind began to wander as he thought just how both friend groups of his would interact; so many possibilities, so much insanity… he just knew that shit was going to go crazy once they all met. His memory on what some of his S.E.E.S friends became really helped that train of thought along: Yukari being a famous Featherman actress, Mitsuru taking over the Kirijo group, and Junpei being a famous baseball player. The rest he wasn’t sure on, but he still had some ideas. Akihiko would likely become a police officer like Kurosawa, Fuuka and Aigis would probably continue working for the Kirijo Group, and Ken would maybe be going for a college degree—though probably a different one to what he’s going for. And as for Shinjiro and Kotone, who both died in the original timeline, he was extremely curious about what would become of their lives.
And then there were his thief friends: Ryuji was aiming to be a personal trainer, Ann was continuing her modelling career, Yusuke was continuing his path as an artist, Makoto was training to be a police officer, Futaba and Sumire were in their final year at Shujin, Haru was continuing to work with Okumura Foods and start her own cafe, Sophia was continuing to assist Ichinose in her research while helping him and the other thieves in their day-to-day lives when she wasn’t busy, Zenkichi had transferred to the Tokyo branch of PubSec, Toshiro was likely continuing his political career—though they had lost contact with him after everything that happened, Shiho—who despite not being a Phantom Thief was still part of the group—was doing some soul searching with Ann aiding her. And lest Akira forget, all the while he himself was planning on studying to become a social worker.
“Hey bro, you alright?”
Akira’s head was shaken out of his thoughts by his sister—first honorary, then adoptive—calling out to him, causing him to face her whilst he was busy setting food for Morgana. It was difficult not to cry at the sight of his precious sister again.
“Yeah, why?”
“Well, you looked kinda spaced out for a while there, plus there was that cryptic message you sent.”
“Yeah, are you okay? Morgana piped up. “Was it nightmares again?”
“I’m also curious about what you were referring to,” Sophia followed.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine. If anything I’m feeling better than ever,” he replied. “Oh, and Futaba. I love you, you’re the best sister anyone could ever ask for.” Akira reached out and gave his little sis some much-needed headpats—another thing he so missed doing—much to her confusion.
“And Sophia?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Thank you for helping us out so much, not just back with the jails, but with everything else since then. You’re an amazing friend and I’m so glad humanity has someone like you helping them.”
“You’re welcome,” Sophia replied, also somewhat confused.
“Okay, what gives?!” Futaba spoke out. “First that text and now all this… are you under some kind of Charm status!?”
“Yeah!” Morgana added. “You’ve been weird all morning!”
Akira simply gave them a smirk and a wink, not saying anything else to a very puzzled Morgana, Futaba, and Sophia as he continued going about his day—oh, today was going to be fuuuun.
A few hours later he was in Leblanc—as Sojiro was busy elsewhere, he was left in charge of running things today—making coffee and curry for his Phantom Thief friends as they all sat at their usual places around the cafe. They had all asked him what was going on, but he wasn’t one to ruin a surprise—especially one that was just as weird as what he went through.
“Seriously Aki, what gives?” Ryuji asked.
“Yeah, what's going on?” Ann followed.
“It’s not bad news, I hope?” Yusuke questioned.
“You’d tell us if there was something wrong, right?” Makoto added.
Akira gave another smirk at them. “Relax, guys, it’s nothing bad. It’s just… well, you’ll see.”
“Ugh, would you stop being so secretive about this?” Futaba groaned.
“He’s been like this ever since he woke up,” Morgana sighed.
“Well, it must certainly be something special to get you in such a good mood, Aki-chan,” Haru stated.
“Right, Senpai must have a good reason for calling us here!” Sumire agreed.
“I must admit I’m curious as well,” Sophia replied.
“I swear if this is a prank I will take you to the station myself. I had plans for my day off.” Zenkichi grumbled.
“Wait, when do you take days off, Gramps?” Ryuji immediately questioned.
“Since Akane found out you guys are the Phantom Thieves.”
“Hey, it wasn't my fault this time! That was entirely on you, and what do you mean ‘you guys?’ You’re one of us too, Gramps.”
“And what do you mean this time , Sakamoto?”
Before Zenkichi and Ryuji could continue their ‘talk,’ they were interrupted by the chime of Leblanc’s door opening.
Akira felt his smirk widened as he saw the group of people walk in. They had all grown up so much from when he last saw them: Mitsuru was now wearing a sleeveless white turtleneck with a black leather jacket draped over her shoulders like a cape, blue jeans, and a pair of black heels; Junpei had a black tank top under an undone light blue baseball shirt with matching pants and baseball cap that he had on backwards as well as a pair of black sports shoes and a necklace with a dagger on it; Yukari boasted a pink and white blouse under a blue denim jacket with only the bottom button done as well a pair of beige shorts, white heels, and her signature choker; Akihiko sported a red sleeveless shirt with brown pants that had several tears across them, red fingerless gloves, and red boots with white laces; Fuuka was wearing a simple white dress with light blue sandals and—wait, both her and Akihiko were wearing matching wedding rings as well. Oh, Akira was so happy to see them together, he was always cheering for them.
He quickly shook his thoughts together as he took in the rest of the group: Ken—who had really shot up since back then, and now was slightly shorter than Yusuke—was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with black pants and brown dress shoes; Koromaru now looked to be much, much older, and although he had pure white fur Akira could see the age in him; Aigis looked to be pretty much identical as before, when she was in disguise; Shinjiro had grown out his hair and wore it in a ponytail and was wearing a black shirt underneath a maroon bomber jacket alongside a pair of white pants, black boots, and had even swapped out his beanie for some shades.
And last but certainly not least there was the girl who he fell for—Shiomi Kotone—who looked very, very much the same, only a bit taller and was wearing something very akin to her summer outfit from back then, with an orange blouse over a pink top, a white skirt, white sandals, a set of more modern looking red headphones around her neck, as well as her trademark XXII barrettes and… was that a tattoo he saw on her thigh—nope, he was not going to question that. Overall, she looked even more beautiful than when they went to Gekkou High together, and he just hoped that they could pick up in their relationship where they left off.
Already plenty happy, Akira stole a glance over at his thieves, and their reactions only made his day even better. There was both Futaba and Ann practically vibrating at the sight of Yukari, Ryuji’s jaw almost hitting the floor as he looked at Junpei, Makoto’s and Zenkichi’s eyes bulging out of their heads in shock towards Akihiko, Yusuke having some sort of stroke of inspiration from Kotone, and Haru’s breath hitched in her throat at the presence of Mitsuru. The rest were all similarly gobsmacked.
Akira knew he had the dopiest smile on his face as he gave out a chuckle and a wave at the sight of his fellow S.E.E.S members. “Hey guys, been awhile.”
“‘Kira!” Kotone practically cried out as she lunged over the counter and pulled him in for a kiss. He didn’t mind, really—even if he was turning 19 on April 1st and she turned 25 last year on December 25th, he’d seen bigger age-gaps during his time in Inaba, Tokyo, and Port Island, and honestly, the feeling felt so good regardless. Even if it had only been a few moments for him, he knew she had waited eight years for this.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!”
Ryuji’s voice rang through the entire cafe as his fellow thieves shared the same sentiment at a lower volume. The entire crew was staring at him by the time Kotone released her embrace.
“Sakura Akira, I hope you’re willing to explain just what in the world is going on,” Makoto demanded, her voice sterner than it had ever been before—though after dealing with Mitsuru, she seemed much less terrifying.
“I will, I will, but first I think some introductions are in order,” he dismissed with a wave before pointing to the S.E.E.S gang. “Guys, these are some old-new friends of mine: Kirijo Mitsuru, Iori Junpei, Takeba Yukari, Sanada Akihiko, Yamagishi Fuuka, Amada Ken, Koromaru—who is not a talking dog—Aigis—who, yes, is a robot—Aragaki Shinjiro, and last but not least, the most wonderful and greatest girlfriend in the world, Shiomi Kotone.” Akira couldn’t help but smirk as he saw her blush, glad to see that even after all these years she still could be reduced to a blushing mess in a single moment.
“ GIRLFRIEND!? ” the thieves all practically yelled in shock—except for Yusuke, who was looking at them both while making a finger frame, and Sophia, who just seemed even more baffled than before. Akira blushed in turn, finally realizing how insane and embarrassing it all was.
“Anyway, guys,” Akira continued, doing his best to ignore the massive bombshell he just dropped as he looked at the S.E.E.S members while pointing towards the very lost and shocked Phantom Thieves, “these are my fellow thieves: Sakamoto Ryuji, Morgana—who is in fact a talking not-a-cat—Takamaki Ann, Kitagawa Yusuke, Niijima Makoto, Sakura Futaba—a.k.a. my adoptive sister—Okumura Haru, Yoshizawa Sumire, Sophia—who, yes, is a sentient AI—and Hasegawa Zenkichi.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Mitsuru greeted.
“Yeah, ‘Kira told us so much about you guys,” Junpei followed.
“Even if he never told us your names…” Yukari added while shaking her head.
“Anyway, how bout’ we all settle down and you guys find a seat somewhere. I’ll make some curry and coffee for everyone like I promised, and I’ll tell you guys everything.”
“You better!” Futaba demanded, running around the counter to jab him in the arm several times. “How come you never told your own sister that not only did you have a girlfriend, but that you’re friends with the Pink Argus?!”
Yukari immediately gave out a slight exasperated sigh under her breath.
After his sister finished her onslaught, Akira grabbed the ingredients for his new-but-old friend’s meals. He then gave a small smile and nod to his girlfriend, who returned a similar one back at him. Both of their hearts fluttered. “Well, depending on one's perspective it either started last night after I went to bed, or back in April of 2009…”