Chapter Text
Sojiro knew one thing about the kid, he is quiet. He would expect a teenager with a criminal record to be loud, aggressive, defiant or rude, but not Akira Kurusu. The kid never made a sound and did as he is told. So when he found out that Akira is the leader of the Phantom Thieves, he was taken aback. Suddenly the kid broke most his supposed character traits. After that revelation Sojiro saw him in a new light. The child who started the game with the worst cards is now holding cards bigger than him. Furthermore, the kid is winning a game against powerful cheaters. Now the game is won and Akira is acting off. The so-called Leader is acting weird and his friend haven’t noticed yet. He tried asking Akira several times, but he always deflected from the topic. Sojiro only hopes it is the nerves of going back to his Hometown. After all the kid avoided talking about his parents like an Olympic sport. Tomorrow he returns home and all of Sojiro’s alarm bells are ringing. Not only is the kid looking tired, his eyes reflect a haunting image. Of course, he only saw Akira like that when the kid thought no one was looking. He asked Futaba once if she saw anything off with him. But no, Futaba hasn’t noticed anything. She did a quick "research" on Akira’s new behaviour. Yet nothing came up, no weird messages, no concerning search history and no weird daily pattern. So Sojiro reluctantly dropped it, but the thought didn’t leave him.
Today the kid left. The feeling like something is wrong didn’t leave. He only hopes he is wrong. It is a shame that the cat had to stay here.
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It was a sad and quick farewell and Futaba is regretting not bringing a phone charger or her laptop. The road back is quieter and longer than expected. Her friends are having discussions about school and potential summer plans. Yet she was nervous. Who can blame her she is still not used to human contact. Then the talk with Sojiro yesterday popped up in her anxiety ridden brain. There is no way that Akira is being weird, right? He was fine when we dropped him off. Yeah, it’s a shame that Morgana couldn’t join him, but he will be fine, right? He is after all their beloved and courageous leader. So he will be fine. Right?....
Nevermind she needs to check. "Guys! I need a Phone Charger pronto!" "Wha.. yeah, I think I have one. Here" surprisingly Ryuji pulled one out next to her. Futaba snatched it right out of his hands and quickly plucked it in her phone. "What is so urgent? You sound worried" Ann quickly added. Futaba didn’t answer she only waited for the phone to light up again. That nervous haste brought attention by all. "Futaba? Is something wrong?" Makoto added while still keeping her eyes on the road. "I… I just need to check something" and with that her phone lit up. She quickly opened her surveillance app and looked for Akira’s data. Only to find no new data since drop off. The phone didn’t move from its last location and that was two hours ago. The bugs she left in his bag also didn’t move. Now Futaba is panicking. That location is, if the cameras she just hacked are not lying, in the bushes next to the drop of place. "Makoto pull over. I need a stable connection!" "Can it wait?" "No! It's about Akira" With that the car erupts with concern. "What do you mean?" "Did something happen?" "Is he fine?" "For real?" The anxiety and chaos of the situation kept Futaba silent and focused on her phone. Makoto realizing that Futaba is not going to elaborate pulled over.
"Futaba. What is happening?" the worried cat asked. "Yesterday Sojiro and I were talking, and he was worried about Akira. He asked if I knew something. I didn’t notice something wrong with his recent behaviour…. So I stalked his phone for anomalies. I didn’t find something yesterday. But it made me nervous since Sojiro’s instinct are usually right. Now the location of his phone and the various bugs I placed on him are in the bushes near drop off. Now I am checking the nearby cameras for infos" Futaba explained with a worried and determined look. It took only a few minutes, but she now extracted the footage of camera near the last meeting point. Only to see a truly confusing scene, that occurred one hour ago. Firstly it looked like he was just waiting for his parents to pick him up. Only to flinch the moment a car pulled up. After the window of the car rolled down he stood up and pulled out his phone and grabbed is bag. And to the Thieves surprise he tossed his phone and bag into the bush nearby. After that he climbed into the car and it drove of.