Another day of traversing through the Metaverse brought an exhausted state over the Phantom Thieves; they still had much distance left until they'd reach the treasure in Sae Niijima's Palace, but they decided to break for the day and head home for some rest.
Futaba Sakura, the navigator of the group of teenagers, opted to spend her evening at Leblanc with her adoptive father, Sojiro. She arrives at the empty cafe, taking a seat at the counter and groaning. "Gaaah, I'm sooo hungry! Feed me! Curry, please!" Her bossy yet tired attitude brings a chuckle from the older man.
"You look tired. Just what is it you kids are up to these days?" He comments aimlessly, but the further complaining of the girl pushes him back to work.
"Hurry up, Sojiro, before I die!" Her dramatic wailing rewards her with a plate of fresh curry served by him. "Yes, this is the stuff!" Without wasting a single second, she digs right into her dish.
Sojiro watches her with a sigh. "You're lucky I had extra servings left. I was just about to go out and get some groceries too, but it looks like Akira's still not back."
"Nwot lwike ywou gwet awny cwustomers anwyway!" She remarks with a giggle while still chowing down. The older man shakes his head in disappointment at her lack of manners.
"That may be true, but…" He decides to give up on the argument for now, scratching the back of his head. "Well, you're here for now. I'm going to run out and buy what I need. It shouldn't take me too long. If any customers come, just hold them off for me, would you?" Before she has the chance to make fun of the likelihood of customers visiting his cafe, he throws his hat on his head. "I'll be back in less than half an hour."
With that, he walks out, leaving the girl to her gluttony. It's not long before her plate is empty, and she looks over her finished plate with pride. "Ah, so good… Sojiro's curry is the best healing remedy…"
She pulls out her cell phone, noticing a few text messages in the group chat. It seemed the others were talking about going to the palace again soon, even with how there was still quite a good chunk of time left until the final date. Futaba merely shrugs, knowing they can't make any decisions without their leader's go-ahead.
The chime of the cafe door causes her to break into a smile. "You're back already? Wow, that was qu-" But once she turns to see how it is, she halts. The male seems just as surprised to see her there. "Akechi…"
The girl forces herself to look away. Ever since he joined their team, she was asked to look into him, which was when they all discovered the horrible secret he had. Not only was he behind the mental shutdowns, but on the final day he was going to capture their leader using the police in the real world and kill him. While they had come up with a counter-plan in secret, they were still working on actually putting it into effect. Futaba had little to no social skills, and since this would be her first time alone with the male, she felt somewhat worried she might accidentally give their plan away. Additionally, even if he was only a lackey to someone much more powerful, there was still a high chance he had been the one who killed her mom.
"Ah, you're all alone, Futaba?" The male takes a quick look around to confirm his question before letting out a disappointed sigh. "I see, that's too bad… I was actually hoping to enjoy a nice cup of coffee."
The girl says nothing to him, turning her entire body away, and pulling her knees up to her chest. It seemed like she had intended on ignoring him altogether for now.
Although confused by her actions, Akechi was aware of just how strange she was, so he decided not to question it. Instead, he takes a seat at the edge of the counter. "Is Akira upstairs, or is he out too?"
"Out." She responds with a sad mumble, wishing he was actually here. There was no doubt she'd be much more comfortable if he was around. After all, he was her key item.
"Ah, well, will Sojiro be back anytime soon?" He asks.
"Went shopping." She grumbles back to him, causing the male to study her smaller frame.
He had no one else to talk to for the moment, so he chose to further inquire with her. "Did I upset you in some way?"
Futaba suddenly straightens up, not wishing to cause him to be suspicious. "N-No! I'm not upset!" She finally turns back around once more, her knees still tightly hugged to her chest. "I… I…!"
However, her actions seem to bring about the opposite effect for which she intended. He brings a hand to his chin, stroking it. "Oh…? Forgive me for being blunt, but you seem upset."
At this rate, she was going to expose everything herself. Knowing she couldn't do this, she quickly gets out of her seat. "I-I just remembered! New show streaming! Gotta go!" With that, she darts out towards the exit, nearly bumping into the man carrying groceries who had just been re-entering the cafe.
"Woah, Futaba!" Sojiro shouts in surprise, but she makes no effort to explain herself and instead passes him, hurrying out. His gaze sweeps from the departed girl to the teenager sitting at the counter. "What the…? Did you do something?"
Akechi holds his hands out defensively. "I don't think I did? She seemed rather startled for whatever reason…" Sojiro looks over him suspiciously for a moment, but can't seem to find any flaws in the charming detective's features.
Bringing his groceries behind the counter, he starts to restock his supply. "Fine, what'll you have?"
"Just a cup of coffee, please. I need something to get me through the night. I have a case I'm looking into." He explains with a polite smile, and the barista gets to work on brewing his requested coffee.
Akechi casts another glance towards the door, his thoughts shifting towards the girl who had fled from him earlier. "Futaba was a shut-in until recently, right?"
Sojiro lets out a puff of air while working. "Yes… Shouldn't you already have known this? You work with that Niijima woman, after all."
"You're right. I've heard she's good with electronics too. Do you think she'd be able to fix my phone? It's been really slow as of lately." The brown haired boy mindlessly asks.
"Heh, she can do a lot more than that. She's crazy smart. Not only could she probably take your phone apart for you and put it back together, but I bet she could bug it without you even realizing."
Sojiro was clearly joking, but the surprised look on Akechi's face gives way to another idea. "Bug my… Phone?"
Realizing he had just admitted to this to someone on the police force, Sojiro stiffens as well. "Oh, well, uh, it's just a joke, of course! She'd never do something illegal, after all." Finishing up his coffee, he pours it into a single cup, serving it to Akechi. "Here you are."
For a moment, Akechi seems to be deep in thought, running through the ideas in his head. He wasn't all that good with technology, but if his deductions were correct…
"Hey, what're you looking all serious like that for?"
Sojiro's voice snaps him out of his head. "My apologies. I just remembered something about the case." Carefully, he picks up the cup of coffee, taking a delicate sip. "Mmm, delicious as always."
"That so? Don't get too deep in your head or your cup will go cold. I'm gonna start closing up shop." The man walks away, starting to get to work on the dishes, as Akechi looks down into his lap.
"Could it be…? Do they already know everything?" But no one but himself hears his incessant mumbling.