March 21st.

Akira woke up with a strong desire for coffee and an even stronger urge to destroy his alarm clock.

He let out a deep yawn and started to get up but was weighed down by a lump on his chest. He rubbed his eyes and looked down to see a peaceful Morgan curled up into a ball. His head fell back down onto his pillow. So much for an early start, he thought to himself.

He reached underneath his pillow to pull out his phone and set the alarm to snooze. He wasn't intending to fall back asleep, but Morgana was just far too heavy and far too cute to move at the moment.

There was a small pain scratching at his back. It wasn't the first time he'd felt it since he became a Phantom Thief, but it was starting to become more consistent when he woke up. Back in Tokyo, by the time it was becoming a problem, Tae would be there to use her doctor skills to give him a nice massage. He made sure to return the favor before they got out of bed, though. He wasn't a selfish person, after all.

After a few minutes, he pushed Morgana off, eliciting a squeal of protest. "Hey, what's the big idea?" he sleepily demanded, getting to his feet. "I was having a beautiful dream about Lady Ann…"

"Not touching that one," Akira muttered to himself as he sat up and threw his legs over the edge of the bed. "I need to get ready for work."

"This early?"

"Yes." Akira got to his feet and stretched the back ache away. "I have to shower, make coffee, walk a half hour, all that lovely junk."

"Sounds awful," Morgana moaned.

"That's the life of a working man, unfortunately," Akira said, throwing off his night shirt. He looked down at his chest, all of the old wounds and scarring from his Phantom Thief days ever present. He rubbed at a spider-webbed marking over his left shoulder, working out a kink he felt there. "It'll kill some time. I might try to go to the arcade afterwards, then get on video with Tae."

"Is this something I won't want to see, or…?"

"You won't want to see. Probably."

Morgana rolled his eyes and slumped back down onto the bed.

Akira grabbed a long-sleeved, white shirt and threw it on, making sure the sleeves were low enough to cover his entire arm. He didn't bother changing pants yet, since he had a bit of time and would do that while his coffee was being made. He grabbed the bag of his fresh coffee supplies and headed downstairs.

He was hoping his father wouldn't be up so early, but he knew his luck wasn't good enough for that to be the case.

Daisuke was in the kitchen, prepping his own coffee. He was also still dressed in his pajamas, with his hair rustled into a shape close to Akira's own, and the growth on his face looking more pronounced from sleep.

Akira scratched at his own cheek, noticing some stubble. He'd take care of it later, right now he needed coffee. It was more important than potentially avoiding an awkward conversation.

He didn't say anything to his father as he placed the bag on the kitchen counter and dug out his tools. Daisuke took notice and raised a brow. He also stayed silent.

Akira placed the French Press to the side and grabbed the grinder. He really should've taken all of this out last night before bed, but it was a way to keep occupied in the morning. He reached in and took out the American blend. Fogcutter, he was pretty sure it was called.

"Did you pick that up from Tokyo?"

Akira looked over to Daisuke. "I, uh, bought this stuff yesterday, but, yeah, that Sakura guy I was staying with taught me how to make a good cup of coffee. Why?"

Daisuke let out a short laugh. "That man will talk anyone's ear off about his coffee. One time he stopped by to visit, and I made the mistake of breaking out the AGF in front of him."

Akira blinked. He took a minute to digest that information. "You know Sojiro? Like, know him?"

Daisuke nodded, not taking his eyes off the coffee maker. "He and I go back. We drifted apart a little before you were born, but I knew he'd be the right choice to take you in."

"Y-You're the reason he took me in?"

"No, not really," Daisuke said, a smile crossing his face. "He's too much of a hardass to do something like that because I asked. I just told him the situation, nothing else. But for how much of a surly bastard he is, he's a great guy. I knew he'd take you in. If I had to guess, you reminded him of himself when he was younger."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. A kid given a rotten deal, with no real hope of a future, cast out onto the mean streets of Tokyo." Daisuke was here, but his mind had been shot back into time. The smile turned into a frown before easing again. "It's not my place to tell you about his past, but I can guarantee him taking you in wasn't done as a favor on my behalf."

Huh. Akira legitimately didn't know what to say. No matter how indirectly, it was because of his father that Sojiro had taken him in and essentially become another father to him over the past year. Why didn't he mention that? Why didn't he mention that he knew Daisuke?

"I see," was all he could say given the current circumstance.

Daisuke shrugged a shoulder but didn't say anything else. A strange silence fell between the two as they continued about their morning routines. Akira had gotten everything out and set up, setting some water to a boil for his own brew.

So many thoughts were going through his head now. Did his father really abandon him? But if he didn't, why cut contact? Was it so that he could wipe his hands clean of Akira, not having to be burdened by a perpetual disappointment? To ease his guilty conscience?

Akira clenched his fist. It should be so easy to hate his father. He left him and cut contact for a year. That's not something a teenager gets over, not even when there wasn't much of a relationship there to begin with. He was fully expecting to hate him, even. At peace with that fact.

But now there was doubt, pushing back at that wall of rage and hatred. Maybe there was even that lingering sense of hope. But that wall was strong, and no matter how much that doubt and hoped pushed, it wouldn't budge. It also didn't advance.

He couldn't take it anymore. He spun on his heel and stormed upstairs, startling Daisuke. He needed a shower, maybe that would take his mind off of this. He quickly stripped and stepped into the shower.

Akira liked cold showers. Tae always complained that she wasn't able to join him when he took one, but it felt great on his aching body, especially after a long day in a Palace or Mementos. The cold and the coffee were also a great combination of waking him up.

It did wonders to the pain in his back, but it only did so much to ease his stress. He had the distinct feeling that that would return with a vengeance soon enough. He just hoped it didn't happen when he went back downstairs.

After he'd finished in the shower and dried himself off, he took a deep breath and headed back. The heat from the kettle was turned off, with Daisuke seated at the table enjoying his own coffee reading a book of a sort.

The title was written in English, Akira absently noted. When had his father taken the time to learn English? Probably with all the free time from not having to deal with his son.

There it was. The comfortable feelings of contempt. He just needed to remember what happened. That his father deserved his scorn. That none of this would have happened if it weren't for his father blindly agreeing with the police or that bastard Shido.

The rest of the morning was spent in silence, Daisuke reading his book, oblivious to the raging storm occurring in his son's heart, and Akira mulling silently over his coffee.

The time came for Akira to leave for work, and with it came relief. He quickly changed into a pair of jeans and threw his black jacket over his shirt. The apron María had given him yesterday sat in his Shujin school bag slung over his shoulder. It felt strange to not have the familiar weight of Morgana in it, but, as he told him yesterday, he couldn't bring a cat to every job.

He threw his earbuds on and tried to get lost in the music while he walked to work. It was a nice distraction, but it would hardly be a permanent solution.

In his pocket, his phone buzzed. Someone messaging him this early? Without being able to hang out with anyone, what was the point? He had a long walk, though, and having someone to talk to would be a welcome distraction.

Akira pulled his phone out and clicked on the notification. The name immediately made him smile. Tae did seem to have a preternatural ability to sense when he was in distress. It was twice as touching since it was so early, meaning she'd gotten up just to talk to him.

T: I hope my guinea pig has a pleasant first day at work.

A: Dr. Takemi? Up and chatting before eleven A.M.? Color me impressed.

T: I'm laughing, I promise.

T: Last time I be courteous enough to say good morning to my ungrateful boyfriend. Next time I'll just sleep the night away.

A: I'm kidding. It really does mean a lot to me.

A: But I'm just looking forward to getting out of the house.

T: Still awkward with your dad?

A: That's a bit of an understatement.

T: Oh?

A: I mean, we sort of talked. About coffee.

T: That's better than not talking at all. Words are being exchanged.

A: That's technically true. I also learned that he and Sojiro were apparently close.

T: Really? I didn't think Boss was close to anyone, much less another man.

A: Yeah, he has some pretty weird boundaries when it comes to that. But if it wasn't for my dad, Sojiro probably wouldn't have taken me in.

A: And it's making it hard to grasp exactly how I feel about this whole situation.

T: Why is that?

A: When I got back to Meguro, how I felt about my dad was simple. It isn't now. I have all this information that just makes me so confused.

T: Unfortunately, life isn't simple, guinea pig.

T: There is so rarely someone that can be objectively defined as a bad person, and from what you've told me about him, I don't think your father counts as one of them.

Akira looked away from his phone. Was his father a bad man? Probably not. A bad person wouldn't let something like this eat away at them for a full year. Did that make him a good person? Also no. A good person would've fought harder, or at all, instead of letting what was supposed to be the most important thing to them be taken away.

That led him to his only real conclusion.

A: But I don't think I can forgive him.

T: Good. Just because he isn't a bad person doesn't mean he didn't screw up. Honestly, if I were there, I might have just punched him in the face for how stupid he was.

There it was. Tae Takemi, big bad Plague, tough as always. And Akira had no doubt in his mind that she would absolutely deck his father a good one if she got the chance. It was one of those things that he loved about her.

A: You always know just what to say to remind me why I love you so much.

T: Thank you. I try.

A: But what's on the agenda for you today? Any exciting plans?

T: I was thinking of curing cancer, but that's far too much work for me. I'm probably just going to take it easy and play some games when I get off work for a little bit, then hop on video with you.

Akira raised a brow. He remembered the first time he invited Tae up to his room to play some video games. Due to being in and out of the hospital so much as a kid, she never really got into them, so she was new to the whole "gaming" thing. By the time she could reliably stay out of the hospital, she was far too busy with school, and then later work.

He broke out the Super Nintendo and watched as she stumbled her way through Super Mario World. It was very cute watching her curse and scream at the T.V. whenever she died in the game. It was less cute when he had to stop her from chucking the controller into the screen, though.

As it turns out, she was very competitive when playing games, and refused to lose to a bunch of pixels. She enjoyed it, though, and they regularly had gaming dates.

This was the first time that he heard about her having bought a gaming system, and he all but lived at her apartment for the last month of him being in Tokyo.

A: When did you buy a gaming system?

T: I was just going to use the one you left in Leblanc. I still have the spare key Boss gave me, and you said you had a better one at home.

Ah. That made sense. His friends mentioned wanting to stop by and just hang out at Leblanc when it was open, relaxing in his room. With all the improvements Akira had made throughout the year with the small space, it felt so much more inviting than it had any right to be. Adding onto that, it was a connection to him, a reminder that he was a part of their lives.

A: Playing video games when we have a date night? I'm crushed.

T: Who says I can't just use the attic?

A: That is a very good point.

Suddenly, a question popped into Akira's head.

A: Wait, you kept the key? Why?

T: I like the place. It's a nice little retreat from the clinic, and it weirdly doesn't feel as cramped as my apartment.

T: Plus…

Three little dots bounced up and down next to her picture for an agonizingly long time, making Akira fidget.

T: It reminds me of you. And what's waiting for me when you get back.

Crimson spread across Akira's face. For as tough as Tae could be, for as blunt as she could sometimes be, for as abrasive as she could be, she was always the one who knew exactly what to say to make him feel like he was the luckiest man alive.

A: I don't know what I'd ever do without you.

T: Die.

T: That's not a joke, by the way, you'd probably be dead many times over with how much you got your ass kicked if it wasn't for me.

Akira snorted. Of course, she had to take something deeply touching and slap her wit all over it.

A: Thanks for the reminder. You love the rugged look my scars give me, though.

T: I'd rather you didn't have them at all.

T: But yes, I think you look very handsome with them.

He scratched at his cheek. Great, he'd forgotten to shave this morning. Ah, well, it probably wouldn't hurt to let it go for a little longer. He wondered how Tae would react to it. It was just some light scruff anyway.

The walk to Café de la Olla passed quickly, so it came as a bit of a surprised when he looked up from his phone find he was standing in front of the café.

A: Just arrived at my job. I'll have to text you later.

T: Have a good day at work, guinea pig.

T: Oh, and if anyone give you grief?

T: Beat them.

A: Noted. Love you.

He dropped his phone into his pocket as he stepped into the café. María was behind the counter again and looked up at the chime on the door.

She let out a huff of amusement. "You actually showed up. I'm surprised."

Akira stopped midway to the counter. "Why?"

"Every new person we hired didn't even bother to show up the first day, so I guessed that you'd be the same." Maybe if she didn't start out every hiring with telling how the job sucks, they'd get more consistent applications. He didn't voice that thought, though. "I'll show you the basic rundown of how we get started every day, then I'll have you meet the boss."

"Are you not the boss?"

"Nope. Get that apron on and get over here."

He'd shed his black jacket and replaced it with the dark blue apron. It felt nice to be wearing one again. It almost made him feel like he was back in Tokyo. Almost.

But the daily setup seemed simple enough. He was pleased to note they ground their own blends, even including some unique ones. Most of it was just cleaning equipment and making sure supplies were within somewhat easy reach.

Owing true to the café's name, they had mostly Mexican breakfast dishes. Things he'd honestly never heard of things like a chilaquiles or a Huevo Rancheros. There was also plenty of dishes with eggs and refried beans.

María said, "Don't worry, you won't be making those yet. Boss and I will handle that side. Not that they're particularly advanced, buy I'm assuming you've never even seen some of these before."

Akira shook his head. "I haven't had much Mexican, no. Come to think of it, I haven't really had any."

"Well, now the boss is going to force you to have some." She smiled. "I'm sure you'll like it. But if you don't, lie. It'll hurt his feelings otherwise."

"Okay." Akira looked over the brewers. "So, what will I be doing?"

"You know how to brew coffee, right?"

"Yes."

"Then you'll be doing that. Boss will be making up the house blend, but he'll leave the rest to you."

From elsewhere within the café, someone shouted in frustration. María rolled her eyes as Akira looked over her. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, he just doesn't like using new technology sometimes." A loud crash filled the air, followed by several more expletives. "It breaks on him a lot."

A large, Mexican man wearing a gray t-shirt, the same dark blue apron, and blue jeans stormed out from an office towards the back of the café. "Malditas computadoras," he grumbled in Spanish, stroking his finely trimmed goatee. "¿Por qué todo tiene que hacerse en esas máquinas diabólicas de todos modos?"

When he looked up towards the two, he stopped and blinked a few times as Akira. He turned to look at María and asked, "¿Quién es éste?"

"El nuevo empleado que no habla español," María explained, gesturing towards Akira.

The man's face dawned in realization. "Ah! Mi amigo! Welcome to Café de la Olla!" His accent was much thicker than María's, but the Japanese itself was still passable. "Sorry about that back there, we've been having some… dificultades técnicas."

Akira looked to María for a translation. "He doesn't know how computers work," she explained.

"Bah! Nothing those computers can do that I can't do better myself," the man proclaimed, walking towards Akira and holding out his hand. "Perdóname, where are my manners. I am Javier Hernández, María's father and owner of Café de la Olla!"

Akira took Javier's hand and bowed. "Thank you for taking a chance on me, Hernández-buchou."

Javier let go of his hand and waved him off. "No hay problema. And none of that honor-whatever. Could never get used to it. Call me 'Javier'. And your name was Akira Kurusu, correct?" A nod. "Then I'll just call you 'Akria'. Sound fine?"

"S-Sure," Akira stammered, slipping his hands into his pockets. Foreigners sure were strange, but he talked to a cat when alone in his room. He really had no place to judge.

"Look at that, Kurusu, you made a friend," María said, leaning against the counter. "Call me what you like. I don't really care."

"Thank you, María-san," Akira replied. It felt nice to not have people just be people around him. It hadn't even been a full twenty-four hours, but he was already painfully aware of the stares and mutterings he got when job hunting the day before.

"Well, I'll have to go manually put in the next order, which might take some time," Javier said, nodding to both. He turned and headed back towards his office. "I'll leave you to it."

The rest of the morning went by uneventfully, Akira listening dutifully to how the standard opening procedure went. It wasn't entirely dissimilar to the times Sojiro had enlisted his help in opening up, but there were enough differences that Akira needed to play close attention.

For example, Sojiro had a very hard stance on how coffee needed to be ground and mixed up. It was essentially his way or the highway. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, Akira reasoned, since it led to having a damn fine cup every time. It was just a lot of pressure.

Javier, on the other hand, was much laxer about it. He reasoned that his employees would make, at the very least, a good cup every time, so they were allowed to experiment if they felt as though it would lead to a better result. Didn't always work out like that, but that was part of the learning experience.

8 o'clock rolled around soon enough, and so the doors to Café de la Olla opened up. Due to how small of a town Meguro was, there wasn't an immediate influx of customers. There was one guy there who gave Akira the stink eye the entire time, but still order his coffee and eggs and sat down without complaint.

It was around nine that more people stared showing up. They showed up and they all immediately looked like they wanted to run Akira out of town. Their orders were short and to the point, with as few words at most. That was fine with him. It meant less time dealing with these people.

The orders were taken, coffee was brewed, food was made, glares were thrown, but nothing too upsetting happened in the morning. Akira had long since learned to take these things in stride, dealing with it every day at Shujin up until the end.

María picked up on the dirty looks pretty quickly, though. The café had died down, and there were only a few customers, so she took the chance. "Hey, Kurusu, I need to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"Everyone in here is looking like you personally drowned their firstborn child." She raised a brow. "What the hell did you do?"

Just as Akira was about to respond, another customer came in, sounding the bell atop the door. It was a portly man, dressed in a haphazardly pressed and ill-fitting suit, with an obvious toupee atop his head. He lumbered in a few steps, taking in the ambiance, until his gaze landed on Akira.

"Hmph. I wasn't aware they were allowing gutter trash behind the counter at this establishment," the man said. Akira didn't lower himself to a response, but his features hardened as he watched the man shamble him wave towards the counter.

María crossed her arms and leaned back. "Excuse me?"

"I'm surprised your father allowed you out of the house, Kurusu-kun," the man said. He drummed his fingers against the counters. "I'd be worried about you flying off the handle again."

"Sir, if you're not going to order, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," María said. "My employee has a lot of work to do, and we don't appreciate our time being wasted."

"My sincerest apologies. It's just that, I'm concerned about the stability of this establishment knowing that there is a criminal working here now."

María eyebrows shot up as her eyes darted over to Akira. He saw her accusatory look and shrunk underneath it. "I was acquitted," he said quietly.

"The fact that you were in a position to be charged at all is worrisome, child," the man continued. "It speaks poorly of your character, and it speaks poorly of this business that they'd be willing to sink so low as to hire you."

"Lo siento, is there a problem here?"

The new voice belonged to Javier, stepping out form his office. He had a smile on his face, but his eyes were anything but pleasant. They burned holes into the customer's own. He stepped up to them, and said, "Any issue you have with one of my employees, you can take to me."

"Are you the owner?"

"Javier Hernández, at your service. What appears to be the problem?"

The customer motioned to Akira. "Were you aware that you hired a criminal? Arrested and charged for assault?'

Javier looked to Akira, only to find the boy had formed an impenetrable wall, letting no emotion show, eyes focused entirely on the customer. "I wasn't aware, no. If he is a criminal, why is he not in prison?"

The customer waved a hand. "A technicality of the system, I'm certain."

"So, he was found innocent?"

A pause. "That's not the—"

Javier repeated the question, with the same tone and the same smile, but with his eyes growing even darker. "So, he was found innocent?"

The customer rolled his eyes. "I'm sure he was, but—"

"Then there is no more to discuss," Javier proclaimed, shrugging. "Now, please, try our house blend. I make it myself."

A blood vessel looked ready to pop on the customer's forehead. "I don't think you understand—"

"No, I do understand," Javier said, cutting him off immediately. "I understand that my employee is being harassed and is clearly uncomfortable. I take my role as business owner very seriously, and that means seeing to the needs of both the customer and the worker."

He turned to Akira, who's back straightened slightly under the scrutiny. "This young man came to us and asked for a job, and I saw no reason to turn him away. Even if he did have a criminal record, even if he did assault someone, I fundamentally believe everyone deserves a second chance. This is his. Whether he makes the most of that chance is up to him, but neither I nor you will deprive him of that chance."

Javier leaned over the customer, dropping his voice a few octaves. "Now, order your coffee or get out."

The customer blinked. He looked away, trying to hide the bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face. "How idealistic. How naïve." He turned on his heel and stormed out of the building.

Javier let out a small grunt of annoyance before he focused back on Akira. "Is what he said true?"

Akira looked up at him for a brief moment, but found the opposite wall much more interesting. "I was arrested about a year ago. Got between some creep and a girl. He tripped and fell over himself and bullied her to lying to the cops. But the guy came out and said he lied. Not that anyone here gives a damn."

Javier rubbed his chin. "I see." He shrugged. "Well, none of that really matters. You're here to work, not be a model citizen. And I'd say you're doing just fine on that front."

"Who was that, anyway?" María asked, eyes still on the door. "Haven't seen him around."

"Kazama Akiyama, a big name around here," he explained. "Don't know what for, though. An electrical company, I think. The only thing I know is that he's an asshole."

María snorted. "That much was obvious." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't let that dick get to you, Kurusu."

"If you need to take a minute, Akira, feel free," Javier said. "I won't hold it against you."

"No, I'll be fine. He wasn't the first and won't be the last." He shrugged. "I'm used to it by now."

María pursued her lips but said nothing. Javier gave Akira a thumbs up. "You handled it quite well, all things considered. Now, to give you a little something to take your mind off that, whip me up a coffee. Your choice how to prepare it."

Akira blinked, but took up the challenge and got to work. He couldn't lie. It was nice to have his mind turned to something he knew how to handle, like a nice cup of coffee. Time to see how his new Boss felt about his skills.

Javier was pleased but did note that there was room for improvement. "It's not that it's bad, it isn't, but it doesn't feel like the blend belongs to 'you'," he explained. "We have our house blend here, and I'm sure where you used to work had their own, but I want you, over the next few weeks, to work and tinker away at your own blend."

He perked up. "Oh, and you'll be using this." He pulled out a mortar and pestle from beneath the counter. "Learning how to do it by hand with be incredibly useful."

Akira had a thing to work towards. It was a nice feeling. His shift was winding down to an end at 3 in the afternoon, and Javier refused to keep him any longer. He said that a growing boy like Akira needed to go out and stretch his legs.

He said his goodbyes and started making his way home. Today had gone better than he was expecting. He only took a job because he wanted to be out of the house, to avoid his father, but he felt welcome by them. They didn't hold his discredited criminal record against him, something he was certain was going to be a deathblow in Meguro.

School has yet to start though. He found himself bitterly annoyed with that thought. He was not looking forward to being surrounded by people who wouldn't even give him the time of day. Hopefully, his reputation caused most of the students to just stay away from him.

The teachers would be a bit more difficult to deal with, though. He doubted he'd get the same level of care and consideration Kawakami and a few of the others at Shujin were willing to give him at the end. It was just going to be more, "Should have minded your own business," or, "I'm sure you actually did it," or some bull like that.

As he was thinking things over, his phone started buzzing. He pulled it out to see that Ryuji was trying to get a hold of him. What did he want?

He answered the call quickly. "What's up?"

"Yo, you free right now, dude? I want to talk to you about somethin'."

"I'm just heading home from work," Akira said. "Do you need something?"

"Shit, you already got a job? Haven't you only been back for, like, a day?"

"About. It's a café, actually."

"Boss is gonna be jealous you're moving on from him."

Akira shook his head. "I think Sojiro will be fine."

"Proud of you, though, man. Hey, don't let those douchebags get you down. If they give you any trouble, give me a call and I'll grab the gang and we'll sort it out."

"Appreciate it," Akira said, and he meant it. His friends were his emotional bedrock, and he had no idea what he'd do without them. "But that would probably cause more problems than necessary. I can deal with whatever comes my way."

"Like I said, say the word."

"Hey, you said you wanted to talk, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I, uh, I was hoping you could, y'know, help with a problem." Akira raised a brow. Ryuji wasn't usually this hesitant about anything. This must have been serious. "I, uh…"

"Take your time."

"Do you have any advice on… on girls?"

Akira blinked. Of all the questions Ryuji could have asked, that was no what he was expecting. "Come again?"

"There's this girl I like, and I just want some, y'know, advice."

"…and you came to me for help? Why not Ann, or Makoto? Or even Haru?"

"I'm not asking Ann for this, she'll laugh me out of the room, man," Ryuji said. "Besides, you're really good at helping people and chicks seem to dig you, so I thought, hey, what magic is he working?"

"Chicks don't… dig me," Akira argued, unsure of where he got that idea. The only girl he knew that had an interest in him was Tae. Ann was pretty interested in finding him a girl, but he'd already set his heart on his favorite doctor.

"Dude, don't tell me you didn't notice all those looks chicks were giving you when we went out!"

"Th-There were no looks," he further objected. He didn't like thinking about this. "Just-what's the problem? I don't have a whole lot of experience with this kind of thing."

There was a second-too-long pause on the other end of the phone. Akira had to double check that the call hadn't been dropped. "Yeah, 'course, I know that, but you've helped me a lot so I was hoping you could help me out again. I really like this girl, but I've never, like, done something like this. Like, how do I even approach that? She'll probably just think I'm dumb and laugh."

"How about just asking her?" Akira offered. "You're a forward guy, so play to your strengths."

"She won't go for that, man! I have to do something to prove myself, y'know? She's way too smart, and cute, and funny, and awesome, and—" He stopped listing off examples when he realized he was rambling and went quiet.

Akira raised an eyebrow. He was beginning to get a clue as to who this girl was. "Who is she?"

Ryuji made a noise that sounded like the name was going to start with the letter "M" but thought better of it. "I, uh, can't tell you that."

"Can't or won't?"

"Both."

"Uh-huh." He was now confident on who the mystery woman was, but he wasn't going to confront Ryuji about it. The guy was already spooked and nervous. "Listen, Ryuji, just ask her to dinner, or a movie. The worst she'll do is say no, in which case you can move on."

"Huh." He took a second to digest that information. "Thanks, dude. I'll have to think about that."

"Don't try too hard," Akira said with a wry grin. "Thinking isn't your strongest attribute."

"Pfft. Yeah, well, being a smartass seems to be yours," Ryuji said, but couldn't be the smile out of his voice. "Hey, you free tonight? I was thinking you, me, and Mishima could hop on for a gaming sesh!"

The thought of playing some games with Ryuji and Mishima did sound appealing, and he did have a few hours before Tae would close the clinic. He'd mentioned to Morgana about wanting to head to the arcade before he got home, so this was just a slight change of plans. "Yeah, I have a little bit of time, I can log on for a few hours."

"Great, I'll let Mishima know! I'll even make sure to let him know to keep mention of you-know-what to a minimum."

"Thank you so much," Akira said earnestly. "Talk to you later, Ryuji."

"Later!"

Akira hung up and scrolled through his messages. He responded to a message from Yusuke about art theory, and one more to Futaba about some new hacker circle that was popping up, proclaiming themselves to be the successors to the Phantom Thieves.

He'd let her nip that problem in the bud.

Tae had texted him while he was calling Ryuji, reminding him of their little get-together they had planned, sending another image that made him blush and hold the phone close to his chest. It wasn't as risqué as the last one, but he didn't want anyone else seeing these. He sent her back a quick selfie with the biggest grin and the reddest cheeks.

She responded with a photo of her blowing a kiss and winking at him. His smile grew wider.

Today hadn't been all that bad. He had a job he didn't despise, and he could still talk to his friends. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he wasn't cut off from his friends by any means. Hell, they were even reaching out to him. Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad?

But he knew better. School hadn't started yet, and it was only his first day. It was only going to get worse from here.

Much worse.