Akira woke up in Leblanc. He had his head down in his crossed arms. He blinked a few times, taking in his surroundings. The cafe was silent, save for a ticking clock. He looked toward where the Sayuri usually hung, but the painting was not there. It was then that he noticed a woman sitting next to him but couldn't quite make out her face.

"Hey..." Akira heard a familiar voice. It was Sojiro's.

"Coffee good for you?"

Usually, Akira would say yes as he loved Sojiro's coffee, as did pretty much everyone who tried it. However, this time, he felt disgusted by the idea of drinking coffee.

"Ummm... no, thank you." He said. That's when he noticed the pitch of his voice was different. It sounded younger.

"Hehe, I think 13 is still a little too young to have coffee, kiddo," Sojiro replied. "don't worry, I'll get you a soda or something. This is for your mom." Sojiro handed the cup of coffee to the woman next to him, and that's when Akira realized who was next to him. Her name was Kairi Kurusu, his mother.

"I know you're desperate to try coffee, sweetie, but you're going to have to wait a few more years. I don't want you to grow up too fast, my special little guy." Kairi said as she hugged Akira from the side.

It all hit Akira at once. He was inside Leblanc with his mother as a child. Which he feels is odd. Akira knows never been to Leblanc with his mother, and he knows he never set foot in Leblanc before his year of probation. Kairi sipped her coffee all while chatting with Sojiro, who handed Akira a glass of soda. Suddenly, the front door opened, the bell chimed as two men entered the cafe, one wearing a business suit and the other wearing a police officer's uniform. Sojiro looked confused but noticed Kairi looking worried. The man in the suit started talking.

"Akira Kurusu, that is your name, yes?" He asked the young boy.

"Um, uh-huh..." Akira answered hesitantly, not knowing who these men were or why they were asking questions. Kairi was looking more and more worried.

"You are under arrest for the murder of-" The man in the suit was cut off by Kairi's interjection.

"Please understand, it wasn't his fault. It was mine. Leave my son alone. He didn't do anything wrong..." The woman exclaimed. Tears began rolling down her face the longer she spoke. The officer attempted to calm the woman down.

"NO! I will not calm down. I won't let you anywhere near my son." Kairi stood firm. She looked ready to take on these two men herself, even with little combat training. The man in the suit rejoined the conversation.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but we have evidence that your son murdered a man. We have to bring him in for questioning. We are allowed to use brute force if you attempt to challenge us.

"Oh, just try it, you son of a bitch!"

"Kairi, calm down." Sojiro joined the officer in his attempt to calm down Kairi. She turned to Sojiro.

"Calm down? Who's fucking side are you on, Sojiro? This is my son. He's done nothing wrong." Kairi turned back around and was met with a punch to the face from the man in the suit. Even the officer was in shock.

"Kairi!" Sojiro shouted.

"Mom!" Akira shouted.

The man in the suit grabbed Akira by the wrist and began pulling him towards the front door of Leblanc.

"NO! GET BACK HERE!" Kairi furiously shouted, not bothering to nurse the cut on her lip from the punch she suffered.

"MOOOOOOMMM!"

It was then that Akira's eyes burst wide open as his body shot up. He woke up in his familiar attic room, on his makeshift bed, completely drenched in sweat. He breathed a few heavy breaths, relieved that it was only a dream. Despite this, there was a thought he couldn't shake. He started thinking back to a particular night when he was 13. However, before reliving that traumatic memory, he quickly slapped himself in the face several times while muttering to himself.

"Stop it! Stop it! Get it together! It was just an accident."

His mind then played him a different memory, from when he was 11 years old. A name popped up.

Tetsuya...

"No!" He slapped himself again. "Stop blaming yourself, dammit! Move on!"

By this point, he felt his head hurt once again like earlier, only partly due to the slaps. He checked his phone; it was a quarter past 6 in the evening. It was almost time for him to go meet up with his friends at Ginza. He put his phone down and got up out of bed. He noticed in the corner of his room an unfamiliar bag that he was sure wasn't his. As far as he knew, his suitcase was still downstairs near the front door. He paid no mind to it, assuming it was Sojiro's or something. In his room, Akira had some clothes left over from his last visit. At the end of his road trip the previous summer, he had so many souvenirs that he didn't want to leave behind, so he chose to leave behind a few clothes instead. At least this way, he wouldn't have to go downstairs drenched in sweat in case there were still some lingering customers. After changing clothes, he made his way downstairs to find the cafe completely empty except for Sojrio, seated in one of the booths with his back turned to the stairs. He was reading a book while enjoying a cup of coffee. Sojiro heard him and turned around to greet him.

"Hey, you're up. I was afraid you'd sleep through your night out tonight. I was just about to come up and check on you." Sojiro said before turning back to his book. Akira thought he might be mad at him for his earlier sarcastic comment about the bed. Akira noticed the sign on the door was flipped to "closed.

"You didn't open up at all today?"

Sojiro just shook his head.

"I figured you could use the peace and quiet. I know I did after all the commotion earlier this afternoon."

Akira took a seat opposite Sojiro in the booth.

"Listen, I feel like I owe you an apology."

Sojiro looked at him, closed his book, and heard him out.

"I acted like an asshole earlier. You didn't deserve that comment, especially after everything you've done for me. I want to blame it on exhaustion from the trip, but I realize that's no excuse. So, I'm sorry."

Sojiro got up from the booth and walked towards him. He waved his hands, prompting Akira to stand up as well, and he pulled him for a hug, which Akira fully reciprocated.

"Don't worry about, Akira. I get it. I know what it's like to let your emotions get the better of you. I know you. You're not a bad person. You're a good person with one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen in someone your age."

"I still feel bad."

Sojiro let go of him and began walking to the kitchen.

"Of course, you do. That's just who you are. But what's important is that you owned up to your mistake and apologized for it. You're only human, after all."

Sojiro came back and handed Akira a glass of water and two small pills.

"Here, take this for your head. It's aspirin."

Akira raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"How did you know my head was still hurting?"

"You just told me, dummy."

Akira smiled for the first time since everyone else left. He took the two aspirin tablets and drank the water in one gulp.

"Thank you."

"No worries, kid. However, while I can't understand a darn word of what that cat says, I can understand you just fine. I heard what you said to him earlier. It seems like I'm not the only one you owe an apology to, am I right?"

Akira nodded. He knew he had to make up with Morgana before leaving for Ginza.

"Do you know where he is?"

"He went to Futaba's not long after you went to sleep."

The moment he said that, Futaba walked into Leblanc, holding Morgana in her arms. It seems like they had been outside for a little bit.

"How much of that did you hear?" Akira asked.

"Enough," Futaba replied with a smile on her face.

"What did I tell you about privacy?" Sojiro then scolded Futaba.

"You said no snooping through technology. You didn't say anything about eavesdropping without technology."

"Those go hand in hand, 'Taba." Akira said with a chuckle.

"Fine..."

Akira turned his attention towards Morgana, still in Futaba's arms. She put him down on one of the stools.

"So, you got an apology for me?" Morgana said in his typical cocky tone.

"Yeah, let's go upstairs, though. I still have to finish getting ready." Akira said as he went and grabbed his suitcase from near the front door. The two made their way upstairs in the attic. Morgana took a seat on one end of the bed while Akira took a seat on the other.

"Look, I shouldn't have said those things to you. You were just concerned for me. You tried to comfort me and just spat in your face. You didn't deserve that."

Morgana walked over and cuddled up to him. Akira stroked his back.

"I know you didn't mean those things. And you're right. I was just showing concern for you. My intention is never to bother you."

"I know."

"I get that last night and this morning were rough. I won't try to dig deeper right now if you don't want me to. I don't fully know what went down between you and your mom. But you got to promise me that you'll talk to me about it eventually, sooner rather than later."

Akira didn't want to lie, but he couldn't help it this time around. He really didn't want to talk about his mother with anyone.

"I promise. We cool?"

"Only if you bring me back extra fatty tuna," Morgana said in a joyful but also demanding tone.

Akira laughed. "Oh, okay, holding my forgiveness hostage for some raw fish? Nice..."

The two companions playfully nudged each other.

"But seriously, you know I'm here for you, right?" Morgana then added.

"I know you are."

"Not just me either. You have a whole group of people you can open up to."

Akira muttered under his breath. Do I, though?

"Huh?"

"I said, I know I do."

"Ah, okay then."

Akira finished getting ready, threw on a sport jacket he got from his suitcase, and headed out the door with Futaba, both waving goodbye to Sojiro.

"So, did you two make up?" Futaba asked.

"Yes, we did. we're good."

"Good, what did you guys fight about anyway?" Akira decided to bend the truth slightly.

"It wasn't really a fight. I was trying to take a nap, and he kept trying to talk to me, so I told him to piss off by making fun of him, always telling me to go to sleep."

"He still does that?"

"Not so much anymore, but you know how fragile his pride is."

"True."

Futaba decided not to push any further. Once on the train, the two sat down and talked about life. Mostly Futaba's school life and how she was pretty much more intelligent than everyone there, including the teachers. She had Kawakami as a homeroom teacher the past year and gave Akira a message from her, saying she hoped he was doing well and that she should stop by the school some time to see her. Akira's head was still hurting, so the two decided to ride the rest of the way in silence, Futaba put on her headphones, and Akira just closed his eyes for a bit. When they finally arrived at the sushi shop, they found that they were the last ones to arrive. Makoto spotted them and waved them over to a big eight-person table. The two greeted everyone, and Akira took his seat next to Sumire while Futaba sat opposite him next to Makoto.

"We were wondering where you two were. I would've felt bad if we started eating without you guys," Ann said.

"This one took a nap and nearly overslept," Futaba replied, pointing at her pseudo big brother.

"Hey, cut me a bit of slack. I had to get up at 5:30 to make my train this morning. Plus, you know that Sojiro's coffee and curry always makes you sleepy."

"Not in the metaverse though, it was a real energy boost there!" Ryuji exclaimed before receiving another elbow to the arm from Ann.

"Not so loud, idiot."

"What, I didn't even mention the Phan-" Before he could finish his sentence, Ann shut Ryuji up with a right smack on the head.

"Will you please watch what you say when we're in public?" Makoto said, annoyed.

"Sorry, my mouth just has a mind of its own. I can't watch what I say." Ryuji tried to defend himself.

"Unfortunately, I understand where he is coming from," Yusuke interjected.

"Oh, we know," Haru chuckled. The group was more than familiar with Yusuke's direct way of speaking. Like Ryuji, he didn't have much of a filter but desperately need one.

"Okay, so it's not just me. Why am I the one always getting picked on?" Ryuji asked.

"It's not, watch," Futaba cleared her throat. "What a weirdo that Inari is."

"Who are you calling a weirdo? You're a hermit who lacks social skills." Yusuke rebutted.

"Ooh, someone woke up and chose violence. Hee-hee," Futaba smirked, totally unphased by Yusuke's words.

"Will you please behave yourselves?" Makoto demanded softly so as not to disturb the other customers. She really was the mother of the Phantom Thieves.

"Oof, you two are in trouble~," Ryuji said, pointing at Yusuke and Futaba.

"So are you, dummy. Maybe if you laid off the protein powder, your mouth wouldn't write so many checks you couldn't cash," Ann said, this time with a smile on her face. By this point, the Phantom Thieves were in a war of words.

"Says the blonde-haired twig. Seriously, how do you eat so much and never gain weight? You must metabolize like a goddamn nuclear submarine." Ryuji shot back at Ann.

"Can't help the fact that I'm always in shape." Ann smiled.

"In shape, my ass. You can't run for 1 minute on a treadmill without wanting to puke your lungs out."

The Phantom Thieves Roast was officially on. Ryuji argued with Ann, Futaba with Yusuke, and Makoto was trying to calm everyone down. Haru just watched from the sidelines and laughed. The thieves knew that Haru was secretly vicious and knew better than to come at her. The only ones that were disconnected from all the madness were Akira and Sumire. They tuned out the playful insults and focused just on each other.

"So, are you doing okay?" Sumire asked.

"Yeah, I'm doing just fine," Akira said with a smile on his face. Sumire wasn't falling for it, though. She could sense the smile on her boyfriend's face was forced. She gave him a test which he failed but decided against pushing further for now.

Later on, while the thieves were enjoying their food, Makoto brought up their camping trip.

"So, is everyone packed?"

Everyone nodded or replied yes in some way.

"Good. We're meeting up at Leblanc at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Boss said the RV is good to go. Don't be late."

"I bet Ryuji's gonna forget to set his alarm," Futaba said, prompting Ryuji to pull out his phone and put it up to her face.

"Boom! Already set. C'mon 'Taba, why do you think so little of me?" Ryuji asked.

"Um, because I know you," Futaba replied with a laugh.

"Oh, that's cold." Ryuji is pretending to be hurt by the ginger's words.

"Akira-kun, are you all packed as well?" Asked Haru.

"Yep, all set. I still have to ask Sojiro for a sleeping bag, though, but otherwise, I'm good."

"I'm so excited about this trip! I was upset I couldn't come with you all last summer due to my gymnastics retreat." Sumire said.

"Yeah, but you got to go travel across Europe for the summer. That must've been incredible!" Ann said, beaming with joy and a slight hint of jealousy.

"Oh, it was wonderful. But I don't really share a strong bond with anyone on the team like with all of you. The only one who comes close is Coach Hiraguchi, but even then, it's not the same."

"That is a shame. You would think your shared love of gymnastics would be more than enough to strike up a camaraderie with your fellow athletes." Yusuke pointed out.

"You would think, but not everyone on the team truly loves what they do. Some do it just for the fame rather than the passion."

"I see. As an artist, I, too, felt the same towards some of my peers at Kosei High. I would hope that university will be different."

"I'm sure it will be. During my time studying law, I've met plenty of passionate people." Makoto interjected.

"Even so, it's weird, aside from some personal experiences, we don't got a lotta similar interests or hobbies. I'm a jock, Futaba's a geek, Makoto's a nerd, Ann's a model, Sumire's a gymnast, Haru's a entrepre- wahtever, Yusuke's an art freak (no offense), and Akira's... uh..."

As he went on, Ryuji received some death glares from a few people at the table. He then looked to his right towards Akira.

"Choose your words carefully, bro," Akira said in a threatening tone.

"Uh... Akira's a... cook...?" Ryuji winced, hoping he wouldn't get another smack on the head.

"Well, I do like to cook so, I can't argue with you there," Akira replied, turning his attention back toward his food. Ryuji sighed in relief, but the death glares from the others didn't stop. Ah crap... he thought.

Around 9:30, the thieves made went their separate ways. Makoto gave one last reminder to be at Leblanc early the following day. Akira and Futaba headed towards the train line leading to Yongen-Jaya, Morgana's fatty tuna in hand, when Akira noticed Sumire walking behind him. Futaba, not paying attention due to her having her headphones on, continued ahead without them.

"Where are you going?" He asked her.

"Well, I got the okay from my parents to stay with you for the night." She replied.

"You what?"

"Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell you earlier. Surely you must have noticed my bag in the corner of your room?"

"Oh, so that was your bag?"

"Mm-hmm. I brought it over when I first got to Leblanc before you arrived. Sojiro-san said it was okay as well."

"Well, that's a welcome surprise," Akira said with a smile. He pulled her in for a kiss, and the two caught up with Futaba. She didn't say anything. She also knew what was happening; she looked up at the two and smirked without the pair noticing. Once off the train, the trio made its way to Yongen-Jaya. Two clearly drunk men decided to catcall the two young girls. The three young adults kept walking until the two men ran in front of them, blocking their path.

"Hey, dinnt ya hear me..? I sait, wher ya goin?" One of the men said.

"None of your business. Beat it," Akira stepped forward and told the man off.

"Wasn't talkin to uyu, shithead. I wase talken to the two hot pieces of ass in betwen ya. Why you girlies with him, dontcha wanna real *belch* men?" The other said.

The girls were a bit frightened, but not completely. They had faced far more dangerous creatures during their time in the metaverse. But this was the real world. No personas were around to save them this time.

"Like I said. Back. Off." Akira said. Despite not having a mask, he still felt the spirit of Arsene flowing within him.

"Or what?" said the first man.

"Akira, let's just go." The two girls grabbed Akira's arms and tried to walk past the two men. Akira felt his head hurt even more than before when he heard Sumire yelp. One of the men had grabbed her behind. In seeing this, Akira, without thinking, dropped Morgana's fatty tuna and immediately lunged at the man, one punch knocking him to the ground. Despite his drunken state, the other man was stable enough to grab Akira and throw him to the ground and get a few good hits in. Futaba and Sumire attempted to pull him off but were unable to. The first man got up, and together, the two started kicking Akira while he was down. Sumire once again tried to pull the two men off of Akira while Futaba ran to get help. While trying to stop the men, she noticed Akira spasming as he was still getting kicked by the two men. Sumire was unsure, but it looked Akira began to foam at the mouth as well.

"Hey, what's going on down there?" A voice in the distance yelled.

Sumire looked and saw Futaba running towards them with an off-duty officer at her side. The drunk men stopped their assault and attempted to flee the scene but stumbled into some trashcans due to their inebriated nature. Before they got up, Sumire knocked both men out with a trash can lid before rushing towards Akira, who was no longer spasming but now seemed knocked out. The officer cuffed the two men before making his way towards Akira.

"Sir, are you okay?" The officer attempted to wake Akira up but was unsuccessful.

"Akira, please wake up." Sumire then said, her eyes welling up with tears. Slowly, Akira opened his eyes and sat against the wall.

"Where am I? Who are you, people?" Akira said. He had a dazed look in his eyes. Sumire and Futaba looked worried. The officer chimed back in.

"Sir, you are in Yongen-Jaya. You may have received a few blows to the head. Do you know your name?"

"Kurusu. Akira."

"Do you know these young women?"

"..."

"Sir, did you hear me?"

"...Yes."

"Do you know them?"

"Yes, I do."

"What are their names?"

"Sumire Yoshizawa and Futaba Sakura." Akira said, pointing at the two young women.

"Do you know these two men?"

"No."

"Would like to press charges against them?"

Had Akira not felt so bad, he would've said yes. But he didn't feel like dealing with more than one headache. He begrudgingly responded no.

"Alright, well, I got to haul them in any way. Don't worry; I'll make sure these receive some punishment," The officer reassured the trio. He then woke up the two drunk men and hauled them off to the nearest police station. Since Tae's clinic was not far, the two women decided to check if she was in. They picked Akira up, carrying him on either side of his arms, and brought him to Tae's clinic, which was thankfully open. While Tae took care of Akira, Futaba went home to let Sojiro know what happened. Sumire stayed behind and let everyone know what happened via the group chat.

PT Group Chat:

SY: Akira got assaulted tonight.

AT: What!?

RS: Ur shittin me!

YK: My word.

SY: Thankfully, we weren't far from Doctor Takemi's clinic. She's treating him right now.

MN: That's a relief.

RS: I hate to ask, but does that mean the trip is off?

AT: RYUJI! Your best friend just got assaulted!

YK: Agreed, your timing is truly horrid, Ryuji.

RS: Well, its not like there was gonna be a good time to ask.

SY: I'll let you all know soon.

HO: Please keep us up to date.

MN: Thank you, Sumire.

Sumire put her phone away just as Akira and Tae walked out of her exam room. She explained he had a couple of bruises, but nothing broken as Akira made his way out of the clinic. Sumire explained that he was knocked out and spasming on the ground during the attack. She also thought she saw foam coming from his mouth and that he seemed dazed when we regained consciousness. Tae had an idea would all that meant. She feared Akira had had a seizure during his assault. Only a mild one, thankfully, as he seemed fine in her exam room, minus the injuries, of course. Tae told Sumire to stay with him for the night, if anything seems off with him, to contact her immediately. Little did she know, Sumire already planned to do just that. Akira and Sumire made their way inside Leblanc. Akira locked the door, and the two made their way upstairs without a word spoken. As he took his shirt and pants off to get ready for bed, she looked at his body, noticing a plethora of marks and scars. Some she knew were from the interrogation he suffered a year and a half ago and some she was unfamiliar with. She noticed the bruises on his body.

"Is Morgana around?" Akira asked.

"No, Futaba texted me. He's with her tonight." Sumire responded before turning her attention to the bruises. "Do they hurt?"

"Nah, Tae gave me some painkillers. I feel fine. I've had worse, trust me."

"I let the others know."

"Good, don't want them out of the loop. Let me guess, they were wondering about the camping trip?"

Sumire nodded.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. We can still go. It's just a couple of bruises."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, I don't want to miss this."

"Okay then."

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

Once again, she noticed that same forced smile he had on at the restaurant. She planned on asking him directly about what was wrong but decided to drop it after the assault. The two cuddled up in bed, both smiling at each other.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

As Sumire drifted to sleep, Akira messaged the others, letting them know he was fine and the trip was still on. However, he became slightly annoyed when he realized that the state of the trip was brought up rather than another state—his own.

Not one person asked the question, " Is he okay?"