A/N: Hey, sorry this one took a little longer, but life happened, couldn't work on it for a few days, and I changed some major details about the story moving forward. Yeah, it's a whole thing, won't bore you with the details.

Please, read and enjoy.

April 1st.

It had gotten much, much worse.

Not a day went by where he wasn't glared at and mocked. It was a slow trickle at first, only really limited to a few customers at Café de la Olla, but it just kept building and building, wearing him down with each passing day.

Akira wasn't at his breaking point yet, far from it. He was still resolute in his mission to just get this school year done with and get out of this town. There were people and a future waiting for him in Tokyo, that was the end goal. Meguro was just a steppingstone.

All the same, however, it was getting harder. What little progress he had made with his father had essentially been flushed down the toilet. He had moved into the pattern he had originally set out for himself, deliberately avoiding Daisuke whenever he could. There was usually an attempt to reach out on the older Kurusu's part, but it was met with single word responses.

His friends were still there, and when he talked to them his mood got a little bit brighter, but that was only ever going to be a temporary solution. Even when talking to Tae, there was always something at the back of his head, that nagging feeling that it was going to be worse the next day.

That feeling was always correct.

Now, however, he had to have a meeting with the principal of Tokuyama High, apparently to discuss some things about his future enrolment at the school. Despite his expunged record, it seems there were still concerns and doubts about his place there, and what Akira might do to the other students and teachers. He didn't even bother to hide his disgust when Daisuke informed him of the purpose for the meeting.

So here he was, sitting in Principal Kamiya's office, slouched in a chair, barely listening as the much older man gave his father the rundown.

"Kurusu-san, Akira-kun is in a very precarious situation here," he explained. "With his criminal record, it's a minor miracle that we're letting him back in at all."

Daisuke looked from his son, who had found the other side of the room much more interesting than this conversation, and then back to Kamiya. "Akira was cleared of all wrongdoing," he argued firmly.

Akira rolled his eyes. They weren't going to care.

"Yes, we understand, but we also understand that he was arrested in Tokyo this past December, yes?"

Daisuke's eye twitched. "Once again; On false charges."

"Yes." Kamiya didn't smile. Smiles weren't supposed to look like that. "But don't you find it a bit concerning that your son was in the position to even be arrested in the first place? And for it to happen twice? I would, yes."

"Forgive me, Kamiya-sama, but if you could please tell us why we are here?" Daisuke asked. If Akira didn't know any better, he'd say his father was starting to get irritated.

"Yes, of course. You see, Akira-kun here will be put under much more intense scrutiny as a result of such actions. One slip-up could end in his expulsion. And we certainly don't want that, yes? We'll do everything in our power to be as fair as possible, you understand, and we truly wish he has truly been rehabilitated, but that can only so far."

Even when ignoring that the word "rehabilitation" brought some deeply hated memories to mind, Akira had to try very hard to suppress the groan that was threatening to escape. This guy may or may not be the corrupt scumbag that Kobayakawa was, but all he could see was another shitty adult on a power trip. He glanced over to his father…

…and saw the barely suppressed anger in his eyes as well.

Akira stiffened slightly and raised an eyebrow, but he managed to otherwise maintain his slouched posture. Daisuke wasn't a man who got angry easily. It's where Akira got his normally stoic attitude. But he was human, after all, and his buttons could only be pushed so many times. "I understand," he said through gritted teeth.

"Excellent," Kamiya exclaimed, clapping his hands together. He had a nice watch, Akira noticed. Far nicer than a high school principal from a small town had any right of owning. "We'll be having our opening ceremony on Monday, and we're expecting Akira-kun to be on his best behavior. Disobedience will not be tolerated."

"Is that all?" Daisuke asked.

"Yes, it is. We look forward to the complete rehabilitation of your son." Kamiya's eyes shot over to the younger Kurusu. It made him shiver in disgust, like prey being eyed for lunch. "And make sure to be presentable, Akira-kun. This is a respectable establishment."

Akira rubbed his facial hair. It had grown a little in the past week, just enough to give a light covering of his face, and he was starting to like the way it looked on him. It started because he had forgotten to shave for a few days, something he always tried to keep up on. Then he had a video call with Tae, and she thought it was the best thing she'd ever seen, and demanded he grow it out and keep it until she could run her hands through it. She'd decide if he could shave or not afterwards.

When he had gone to Café de la Olla the next day, he told Javier that he was keeping the beard. The barista seemed confused as to why he should care, but agreed to it, nonetheless. So long as he didn't find hair in his dishes, it was alright with him. María, on the other hand, lightly chided him for it. She had told him, "That's no beard, that's barely peach fuzz."

It grown a little more since, but it was still short. That meant maintenance and upkeep wasn't terribly difficult, a good scrub in the shower was all that was really needed right now. So, he figured that was enough for the school to maintain their "respectable establishment".

"I'll do my best," he said absently.

Kamiya let out a huff of annoyance. "We'll see you on Monday. We hope your time at Tokuyama is enlightening, yes." That suit he was wearing also looked a little too good for a small-town principal.

Akira's upper lip twitched. "I'm sure it will be."

April 3rd.

The morning had been better than most.

He'd woken up earlier than his father, had gotten his coffee made, and retreated quickly back up to his room. The coffee tasted better than usual. His own personal blend was coming along quite well. It was the one thing that he had put any creative thought into since he got back to Meguro.

He'd taken the blends he'd bought from the shop and started experimenting with them. He still wasn't satisfied with them just yet, though. Not than any of them were bad, but there was just something off about them. They weren't good enough to be brought to Javier for a taste test.

The cup this morning was probably his best yet, but it still tasted a little hollow. It wasn't his blend yet, just a mash-up of various flavors.

Coffee aside, the rest of the morning went by smoothly. He hadn't woken up in pain today, thankfully, and the cold shower he took had dulled most of the tension in his body that remained. The school uniform he wore was nowhere near as appealing as the Shujin uniform. Just a standard, black Japanese school uniform.

He put it on and immediately hated the way it looked on him. Was this what he had been wearing all these years? Sure, Shujin's wasn't the most dazzling thing in the world, but he really liked the plaid pants it had.

Undoing the jacket did some work towards relieving that feeling, showing off his white shirt beneath. His dog stands were displayed proudly against the fabric, and he reached up to run his hands along the cool metal.

He'd be told to take it off if he wore it out like this, so he slid it underneath his shirt to keep it hidden away. That was fine by him. It kept it closer to his heart.

Akira rolled his eyes. Tae was right. He really did like to dish out the corny lines, even when only thinking them to himself.

He quickly gathered his things but had to stop Morgana from jumping into the bag. "No, you stay here," he said.

"But Jooooker!" Morgana whined, but Akira sliced his hand through the air to silence it.

"I mean it. I doubt I'd get away with taking you to Tokuyama like I did with Shujin, and that would get me into a whole lot of trouble." He threw the bag over his shoulder. "You'll just have to entertain yourself here, got it?"

"Fine. I better get some good treats for this."

"You're a very demanding individual, you know that, right?"

"Naturally."

Akira let out a little snort, waving his companion goodbye as he headed downstairs. When he descended, Daisuke was on the table, going over paperwork. He looked up at Akira, about to greet him, but the boy simply left without a word.

The walk to school itself was quiet. It was going to take a while to get used to Morgana no longer following his every move. It was comforting to have someone to talk to on walks like this, but it simply wasn't practical anymore to bring him everywhere.

Tokuyama was further away from his house than Café de la Olla was, so the walk was going to be longer. He didn't necessarily mind, it gave him a chance to just catch his breath and feel the cool air on his face. Plus, it got him out of the house earlier.

So, the day was going fine.

Until he passed that damn alley.

It was an alley a little past the downtown district, a good distance from the café, when he heard the scuffle. There were some threats being hurled and some muffled cries for help. It was either a fight or a beating.

The voice calling for help was a higher pitched male voice, sometimes poking through whatever was muffling it. A deeper, raspier voice was telling the first to shut up, to give them what they wanted. Akira could've sworn he'd heard some hyenas cackling at the beating.

He could already feel the headache coming on.

As Akira came into view of the alley, he saw four high schoolers, all dressed in the same uniform as him. One of them had their jacket thrown to the side and was being held against the wall by two of the thugs, one with spiked hair and the other with an ear piercing, as the third, probably the leader, stepped up and delivered a punch into the gut.

"C'mon, Naka-chan, just give us the daily payment and the pain stops, it's that simple!" the leader said. Akira felt he knew the kid from somewhere, but he couldn't quite place it. If he had to guess, he was a third year, like Akira.

The victim, Naka-chan, was most likely a first year and couldn't verbally respond. He just cried instead. The two thugs pinning him against the wall cackled.

The leader let out his own laugh. "Opening ceremony don't start for another twenty minutes, Naka-chan. We got plenty of time. C'mon, just give us what we want."

Akira could just leave.

It'd be so easy. This didn't involve him. It was this sort of thing that got him arrested in the first place. It would only make life so much worse if he got involved. He might get arrested again; he could ruin whatever potential prospects he might have gained; he might not get to see any of his friends for a long time.

It wasn't his job to help everyone he came across. It wasn't! He was just a third year trying to go to his first day of school, no one would blame him for walking away! That life of helping people was behind him, he just had to lie low and keep moving forward.

We both know you don't really have a choice. You can't just walk away from this.

That voice…

Arsène?

It made sense that Akira could still hear his old Persona's voice. Arsène was a part of him, after all, the representation of his inner rebellion. And as the representation of said rebellion, it was acting in defiance of all the logic, all the pragmatism, that was telling him to just go.

You know what you must do, don't you?

Damn him.

"Hey."

The three thugs let Naka-chan drop to the floor and spun to face the newcomer. Akira stepped into the alleyway with confidence, his hands in his pockets and his head held high. He looked between the three bullies and then down to Naka-chan.

"You alright?"

"Hey, any questions you have, you can run by us first," the leader called out. He stepped forward, ready to attack, but then his face twisted into some form of recognition. "…Kurusu?"

Akira stopped in his tracks, looking the leader over a little bit more closely. The realization dawned on him. "Tanimura?"

Kazuya Tanimura had never been what one would call a model student. His grades, everyone knew, were lacking, he had an attitude problem, and was just an all-around asshole, even in middle school. Akira had the fortune of not having to deal with Tanimura too much, but they did have a few encounters that left a sour taste in his mouth.

It seemed time was unkind to Tanimura's issues. Akira didn't know him well, but he never heard of him physically assault another classmate in a random back alley.

Tanimura said, "So, they finally let you out of prison, Kurusu-chan? I'm surprised you were able to claw your way back into this place. Hey, maybe there's hope for me and my boys yet?"

Oh, he did not have time for this. "Let him go," Akira said. "I won't ask again."

"Hah! You heard that fellas? He isn't going to 'ask again.'" Tanimura waved to the two thugs and Akira suddenly found himself surrounded. "That's the problem with you, Aki-kun. Even in middle school, you always thought you were hot shit, that you were so much better than us. And now you assault some dude, go away for a year, come back with a beard, and you feel like you can boss us around?"

Akira didn't respond, keeping his eyes focused entirely on Tanimura.

"Hero types like you, they make me sick." What the hell? Had Tanimura become some anime villain? What was this all about? Even Spike and Pierce looked at him like he grew a third arm. "They just can't seem to keep their noses where they belong."

The punch came quickly. It had a hell of a lot of force behind it, too. It would hurt if it connected. Tanimura was strong, always had been, and the year of being a thug had clearly taught him a thing or two about throwing punches.

Unfortunately, Tanimura made a mistake. He underestimated his new target. The punch was wide, and it was telegraphed. Akira caught the blow easily and held it tightly.

When the bully looked up at him, Akira didn't speak. His eyes narrowed, and his head tilted.

Spike raced forward, ready to throw a punch of his own, but Akira fell backwards, dragging the still stunned Tanimura with him. Spike's fist drove itself squarely into his shoulder, bringing forth a yelp that was far too high pitched for someone like Tanimura.

"What the hell?!" he shouted, but Akira paid no mind.

He leaned to the left, narrowly avoiding another wild punch from Pierce. As the fist was flying past him, Akira grabbed the forearm and used all of his strength to flip Pierce over and drove him onto his back. The wind was knocked out of him.

Akira didn't take long to observe his handiwork. He stood back to his full height and glared at Tanimura and friend. He looked like a rabid dog. "Get him!" he shouted at Spike.

They rushed him together. It was then Akira realized it was him that had made a mistake.

He wasn't in the metaverse. He wasn't as strong as Joker. He wasn't as fast.

That lesson was learned all too quickly when Tanimura, no longer underestimating his prey, made it past his defense and threw a haymaker as hard as he could into Akira's face. He was spun around and grabbed by Spike, arms held above his head, and Tanimura stepped in front of him and began throwing punches.

They were mostly focused on his chest, adding new bruises to his already substantial collection, but one connected to just above Akira's right eye. The force of the blow opened a cut through his eyebrow, and blood began to pour down, blinding him in that eye. Oh, great, he thought. Now his school uniform was going to get ruined.

Without wasting another second, Akira's head shot backwards and drove into Spike's nose. He quickly sidestepped Tanimura's next punch as it impacted his underling's stomach. He fell to the ground and let out a sharp wheeze.

Tanimura balked in surprise but recovered quickly enough, aiming to punch again. This time, however, Akira was ready. He narrowly avoided the blow and threw his arm up with as much force as he could, uppercutting the thug.

The attack lifted Tanimura up into the air a few inches and he fell to the ground with a thud. Akira was certain he saw a tooth fly out, too. He tried to not let the grin show on his face too much.

So, he stood to his feet, panting heavily, as Tanimura and his goons scrambled to their feet. Spike and Pierce were already running away as fast as they could, while Tanimura glared at Akira, holding his bloodied mouth. He spat some blood out on the ground and hurried after them.

A deep sigh escaped Akira's lips as his shoulders sagged and his knees threatened to buckle beneath him. Through a tremendous force of will, he remained standing and walked over to the fallen Naka-chan. The first year was staring up at him like he just saw the second coming with his mouth agape.

Akira offered up a hand. "You alright?"

"Y-Yeah," Naka-chan stuttered out, taking the assistance. "Thank you, I—You didn't have to, I mean, it was-."

"Forget it." If this was the metaverse, if he was stealing a treasure, that tussle wouldn't have even winded him. But not only was his body weaker, he hadn't been making an effort to stay in shape these past few weeks, so he was feeling wiped out.

"Do you…" Naka-chan fidgeted. "Do you want, uh, help with… that?"

Akira wiped the blood away from his eye, letting him open it slightly. "You wouldn't happen to have a first aid kit, would you?"

"I do, actually!" Naka-chan jogged over to his bag and pulled out a small kit. "My mom, she says, I, uh, I need to be prepared."

"Does that sort of thing happen a lot?" Akira asked.

Naka-chan pulled out a pad and some iodine. He shrugged. "First time with them, but I've been jumped before. It wasn't so bad this time. I'm Hideaki Nakamura, by the way."

"Kurusu." Akira nodded as he sat down against the wall and slid to the floor. "Akira Kurusu."

"Are you a third year too, Kurusu-senpai?" Nakamura jogged over and stared pouring some of the iodine onto the pad. "Sorry, but this might sting a little."

Akira nodded. "That's fine. And yeah, I—hngh!" His days as a Phantom Thief had gotten him used to most kinds of pain, but for one reason or another, antiseptics always stung. Tae teased him about it a few times.

"Are you okay?" Nakamura pulled back, and there was concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Akira hissed out. "Just finish it."

Nakamura nodded and reapplied the pad. He reached into his kit and pulled out some cloth. "Here, use this to wipe away the blood. And make sure to change this every hour or so. It looks bad. It will probably scar."

Akira let out a sound that could be considered laughter. After having his face miraculously untouched by Shadows, it was a high school bully that ruined his good looks. Go figure.

Tanimura wouldn't tell anybody that he'd been gotten his tooth knocked out by Akira, the weird and lanky kid, that much he was certain of. No, he'd make up some story about how he and his boys were jumped by a group of big, tough Yakuza-types, and they'd fought them off after a hard battle.

Not only that, but if things hadn't changed too much, Tanimura was hardly in a better position with the school than Akira was. It was a coinflip as to who would be believed in this situation. Chances were likely that the school would just find a way to get rid of them both and wipe their hands of the whole thing.

After a few minutes, Nakamura felt the wound was clean enough and applied a bandage over it and a medical patch on a bruise that was forming on Akira's left cheek and lower jaw. Most of the blood had been wiped away, but a trip to the bathroom to clean the rest was most likely in order.

After taking some pain killers that Nakamura carried with him, Akira got to his feet and dusted off his uniform. "This was not the way I wanted today to start," he muttered to himself. He bent over, grabbed his bag, and threw it over his shoulder. "C'mon. We'll be late for school."

"Wait!"

Akira stopped and looked back to Nakamura.

"It's just… um… why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Y'know… help me."

He had a reason, of course. A few, even. There was a little, nagging voice of a part of himself he thought he had left behind that wouldn't let him just walk away. That was simplifying it though. Akira knew, even if Arsène wasn't a part of him anymore, he would've jumped in.

But why? Why had he felt the need to jump in to help a complete stranger? It was the exact same feeling as seeing that woman be harassed by Shido, and he had never understood it, but it unlocked something inside of him. That feeling was what drove him to help his friends, to help random strangers in Tokyo, to take a scientifically sound, if ethically questionable clinical trial and meet the love of his life.

The reason was an elusive one. He wasn't sure he'd ever understood it. Part of him didn't want to.

"Ask me some other time," he said instead.

The rest of the walk to Tokuyama went by without incident, although Akira did stop at a public restroom to clean off the rest of the blood. Nakamura had to apply new bandages.

They made it to the opening ceremony just in time, which was as boring as Akira expected, with some first year giving a speech and all their teachers introducing each other. All of them were present from when he last attended the school. He wondered briefly if their opinion of him changed since he after he was acquitted.

Probably not.

Akira himself had gotten mostly glares and barred teeth from other students. The teachers were polite enough, but he knew it was all an act. They couldn't hide their disgust from their eyes. He had overheard one of them muttering, "We let him back in and he has the audacity to look like that?"

They were most likely referring to his beard and beaten-up appearance. He couldn't help the latter, and he refused to get rid of the former. It was a small but noticeable act of rebellion. He did enough by keeping it neat and presentable.

Actual classes went by smoothly, if incredibly dully. Most everything they were teaching he had already learned in Shujin. To be fair to them, he did go further ahead than he was supposed to, a habit he picked up from Makoto. He didn't take it nearly as far as her, but it was helpful in the end.

He heard the other students muttering about him. There was one rumor he liked that he joined up with the Yakuza in Tokyo, and that's why he looked so much tougher than he had a year ago. Another was that he roamed the streets, looking for helpless people to beat on for his own kicks. One kid wondered if he became some kind of superhero, since a lot of heroes he read about got reserved and quiet in their lives to protect their more bombastic persona.

That last one was his favorite. It wasn't entirely wrong, either.

The most exciting part was when he got a piece of chalk thrown at him by a teacher, who he affectionately referred to in his head as Douchebag-san.

He was sitting in class, minding his own business, staring down at his notes, when he heard Douchebag-san stop writing on the chalkboard.

The chalk was flying fast. Normally, he'd just dodge out of the way, something that he was quite adept at from being one of Ushimaru's favorite targets, but he decided to give the class a little show. He held up one hand and snatched it out of the air without glancing up. A collective gasp filled the classroom, followed by stunned silence. Douchebag-san's jaw had dropped open, in a combination of both bewilderment and rage.

The idea of just crushing the chalk sounded very alluring, he couldn't lie. The idea of sending it back at full speed was even better. However, he would most likely be arrested under the charge of destruction of property or assault (again) and kicked out of the school, which was something he couldn't afford right now.

Instead, Akira held the chalk out and smiled innocently. "I believe you dropped this, sir."

Amazingly, he didn't get in trouble for it. The teacher just grumbled something under his breath, most likely derogatory, walked over, and took the chalk back, then restarted the lesson.

Another fun moment was during gym class. He'd knew he'd have to change and tried to find a corner all to himself so people wouldn't stare, but kids are kids and they still stared.

Back in the day, Akira was a lanky kid. Not terribly out of shape, but not what one would call "fit". Training with Ryuji and running around stealing hearts changed that, though, giving him a solid and toned body that was easily hidden by his clothes. Add onto that the scars that raced across his body, it came as a shock to the kids when he took his shirt off.

Someone muttered, "Holy shit."

He turned and saw all the guys staring at him with unblinking eyes. All Akira could do was give them a smirk before continuing getting dressed for physical activity.

People began to give him a wide berth after that. He didn't mind.

The day came to a close with many whispers and rumors, but not much else. Akira could say that they didn't get to him. That he was strong enough to not give a damn about what other people were saying about him, but the truth was that he was getting tired of it.

He was tired that the only place in this town that gave him some semblance of peace was a café for an hour before it opened. He was tired off all the teachers and students writing him off as some problem child. He was tired of everyone looking at him like he was seconds away from attacking someone.

Javier had told him to take the first couple days of school off from work to relax and take it easy. Akira didn't have it in him to explain that the café was where he went to relax. He could work out to relieve some of the stress, but the gym had closed in the past year. There was some weightlifting equipment at the school, but he certainly wasn't going to be using that.

He would have to buy some weights online and use them at home. It wasn't ideal, but he liked being in shape, so he'd deal with it for the year. It wasn't going to be the same without Ryuji, but he'd manage just fine. Plus, he could always go on runs early in the morning. He refused to tell Sojiro, but it was almost better than a good cup of coffee to wake him up in the morning.

He heard someone shouting, "Senpai!" He didn't pay any attention to it. No one at this school would address him as such anyway.

"Kurusu-senpai, wait up!"

Akira stopped dead in his tracks. Wait, it was for him? He turned to see Nakamura running to catch up to him. When the first year did, he placed his hands on his knees and took several deep breaths.

After a moment, Nakamura stood to his full height and gave a smile. "I tried looking for you at lunch, but I couldn't find you." He sounded out of breath.

"Yeah, that was intentional," Akira said, looking him over. So far, Nakamura was the only person at this school that had treated him with any form of respect and kindness. Would be rude to not at least attempt to return the favor. "What is it?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to, I don't know, hang out? Or something like that?" Nakamura rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, a blush coming across his face. "You know, if you want to, I'm not going to, uh, force anything, I just…"

Akira's first instinct was to turn the boy down flat. He just wanted to go home and crawl under the covers and forget about the rest of the day. However, he didn't want to completely throw the offer back into Nakamura's face.

"It's been a long day," he said tiredly. "My only plans are to get home, shower, and go to bed."

"O-Oh. I get it." Akira had never seen a face look as dejected as Nakamura's did at that very moment.

"But I should have some free time tomorrow if you want to hit up the arcade," Akira offered instead. Nakamura's eyes lit up. "I also plan to do some running after school too, if you're interested in that."

"Will I be—Uh, that is, can I be like you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, as strong as you," Nakamura explained. He threw out some weak looking punches. "The way you took out Tanimura was awesome! I want to be just like that."

Akira sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not going to teach you how to fight just for the sake of it."

"I'm not asking you to!" Nakamura backed up a bit. "It's just, you won't be around to help next time and I don't want to be beaten up again."

That was fair and perfectly rational reasoning. "Aren't you worried about what people will think? Hanging around with a guy like me?"

"Why should I care?" Nakamura asked.

"Do you not know what I did?"

"Sure. Got arrested, got acquitted, then saved my bacon back in the alley. That last one is all I really care about. The way you caught that punch was so cool! Even when they got the upper hand, you turned it around in an instant!"

"Huh." He had to admit, this was a strange feeling. It was almost like talking with Mishima about his Phantom Thief activities, only this time Nakamura actually saw him in action. It was like a kid just met a superhero or something. "Well, okay. I'll teach you how to defend yourself."

Nakamura pumped his fist in triumph, but Akira stopped him. "You'll have to train with me every day, though. I won't tolerate you slacking off, got it? We'll start tomorrow after school. For right now, let's just go home and relax."

Nakamura beamed and gave him a thumbs up. "You got it!"

They walked part of the way home together before splitting up, with Akira waving his new companion away. Weird. He was actually making a friend. If not a friend, someone who wouldn't judge him for something he didn't do.

Hell, it seemed Nakamura was absolutely delighted to get to know somebody like Akira, who knew how to defend himself and had taken a hit or two in the past. This would certainly be interesting.

Akira rubbed at his bruised abdomen. The painkillers were wearing off quickly, adding a limp into his step that wasn't there just a few minutes ago. He gritted his teeth and worked through it. It was something he had been used to, and he had some of Tae's special medicine left over, those would probably pacify him until his body fixed whatever needed fixing.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and quickly took it out. Makoto was calling. He hadn't talked to her one to one since he'd left, with a small pang of guilt stabbing into him. He'd been somewhat distant with all of his friends, actually, not taking the time to talk to them outside of that first phone call with Ryuji.

Tae was the only one he consistently talked to, but she'd kill him if he didn't. Not that he minded. All of his conversations with her were a relief that he eagerly awaited every day.

He hit the button and held his phone up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hello, Akira. How was your first day of school?"

"Oh, people hate me, teachers hate me, the usual. Just like that first week at Shujin."

"I'm sorry to hear about that. Is there anything we could do for you?"

"Nah, I'll be fine." Akira lied. He wanted them to kidnap him and drag him back to Tokyo, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. "It's only for a year and then I'm back where I should be." He sniffed. "But something tells me you didn't call just to talk about my first day at school."

"Truthfully, no. I…" She broke off.

Hesitation from Makoto? That wasn't normal. Something was eating at her.

"Makoto?"

"Yes, I'm still here. Sorry, I just got a little distracted. I was just wondering if you could, um, if you were willing to offer some advice."

Why was she being so nervous about this?

"Sure, go ahead. You know I'm a good listener."

"There is this, this person that I happen to, um, take an interest in. I was just wondering if you would know how I would go about, uh, asking him for a… a date?"

Akira wasn't sure whether he should smile or grimace. On the one hand, he was loving that his friends were coming to him for advice on these matters. On the other, though, it made him curious as to whether they knew about his experience in the whole dating thing or not.

"Okay," he said, sounding unsure. "Why come to me, exactly? I don't really have that much more experience than you. Try asking Ann or Haru, she might know a thing or two. Or that Eiko girl, you guys are close now, right?"

"I've already asked all three," Makoto replied. "Eiko and Ann gave me advice that I don't think will really work in this instance."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, Ann said to wait for the guy to make the move. That it was his job to show interest, and not the lady's. Eiko said to play hard to get, that that's what boys liked. But, if I know him as well as I think I do, those are most certainly not going to work."

"Okay. What about Haru?"

"She gave some good advice, but mostly about what to do on the first few dates, not the actual act of approaching someone else."

"I didn't think Haru had been on many dates, especially with a company to run and college to take care of. I hope that's going okay for the both of you."

"It is, I assure you. It's different from Shujin. Less restrictive. I feel so much more free to do the things I want to do. We don't even have to wear uniforms! I can already tell the classes are going to be harder, but I find myself not worrying about it as much. Is that strange?"

"Not at all. It's making you happy, and that's all that matter." Akira couldn't help but let a cautiously optimistic grin spread across his face. "So, going back to this guy… is he a mutual friend?"

"N-No!"

That was a lie.

Akira couldn't help but let out a little chuckle.

"I mean, ahem, no, he's, uh, you guys don't know him." If he had to put any money on it, he'd bet her face was completely red. "But, as a guy, you might know a bit more on how to move forward."

"Well, that depends. How stupid is the guy?"

"I-I'm sorry?!"

"Is he stupid? Is he dense? Are the lights on but no one is home? Is he not the sharpest bulb in the tree? Does he-?"

"Okay, no, he isn't the most intelligent person in the world, but that's no reason to-!" She stopped short and gave a brief cough, covering up her embarrassment at getting so worked up about it. "You don't have to be mean about it."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But, based on that, my advice would be to just ask the guy. Don't try to drop subtle hints, or try to flirt, or play hard to get, he probably won't get it. Guys just don't know when they're being flirted with, and if they do, they're wrong. Best bet would be the forward route. That's your specialty anyway."

Silence on the other end, but this time Akira was certain she was just thinking things over. He gave her the time she needed.

"Thank you. That was much better advice than what Ann or Futaba could've given me."

"Oh, God, you asked Futaba?"

"Of course not. She most likely would've demanded a name so that she could hack into their phone and stalk them for information, or something like that."

"Yeah, that's about right." A sudden grunt came from Akira, an effect of some unexpected pain racing through his body.

"Akira? Are you alright?"

"Just, y'know, some old scars acting up," he said, waving off her concern. It wasn't a complete lie, and he didn't need his friends worrying about him more than they already did. "I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

"I certainly hope so. Thank you again, Akira. You really did help me come to a decision."

"No problem. Have a good one, Makoto."

"You, too."

Akira ended the call and returned the phone back into his pocket. He let out a low whistle. "Well, Ryuji, looks like you might have a better chance than you think."

When he got home, he quickly rushed up the stairs, ignoring his father's greeting. He didn't have time to deal with awkward family situations. He taken off the medical patch a while ago, so now his beard was hiding the largest bruise on his face from that first punch. The cut in his eyebrow wasn't immediately visible to his father, hidden beneath Akira's disheveled hair.

Akira would have a hell of a time explaining that away, but those were bridges to be crossed later.

Morgana bolted upright as soon as Akira burst through the door. "Where's the fire?" he asked.

Akira shook his head and locked his room. "It's nothing, just really tired."

"Oh, well that makes—Joker! What happened to you?!"

Akira tore the bandage from his eyebrow and rubbed the scar gently. It had long since scabbed over, and it hurt like hell, but he'd had to deal with worse. Like radiation, electricity, and fire. None of those were very pleasant, and the marks they left were much worse than some punch. Maybe he could pass it off as tripping into a rock.

He wasn't sure about the bruise on his face. While his beard would cover it if he moved quickly enough, it was still prominent for anyone paying attention for more than two seconds. He fell into bed and let out a loud groan. "Just had a little accident," he said, massaging his face.

He reached over into his old Shujin bag and pulled out a pill bottle. When he opened it, he was distressed to see that there were only six pills left. "Damn." He immediately put one into his mouth and swallowed.

"Running low?" Morgana asked. "Maybe you should ask if Dr. Takemi is willing to send some up to you."

"No, I'm not going to exploit my girlfriend to get painkillers." Akira rubbed his forehead.

"I thought you already were?"

"I did not exploit her to get the medicine, I purchased them in exchange for money and services," he explained. "It was a two-way system. I'll just get some Tylenol from the drug store. Besides, as long as I don't get into any more fights, I should be fine."

"You got into a fight?! What's the matter with you, that's the whole reason you were arrested!"

"I couldn't-!" Akira stopped himself and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can we not? I'm already going to have to talk to Tae about it, and I'd rather not have to do it twice. Is that alright?"

"Fine." Morgana stamped a foot on the bed. "But I expect to get the full details, understand?! I'm a valuable part of this team, and this information could lead to life or death!"

"Jeez, it was a school bully, not a government conspiracy," Akira muttered, burying his head into the pillow. "If it's alright with you, I'm exhausted, so I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up in an hour, okay?"

"Sure thing." Morgana stretched as much as he could. "I think a quick walk is in order for yours truly."

As Morgana strutted out the door, Akira stared up at the ceiling. The first day of school was finished. It hadn't been an absolute disaster, but it was hardly a roaring success either.

That wasn't completely true. He did meet Nakamura. The first year seemed nice enough, and it would pay to have someone close by to confide in. First things first, he would need to find out just what he was working with.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day, he mused. Hopefully in a way that wouldn't get him punched.