"It's… kind of a long story," Akira explains as they all sit down at a table. "You guys got access to the Metaverse by going in with me, but I had the app on my phone since I arrived in Tokyo but never knew how to use it. There's this guy that gave it to me—"
"A guy gave you the app?" Ryuji asks suspiciously.
"Sort of. His name is Igor and he exists in some place called the Velvet Room," Akira explains as they eat. He explains about the room's location in reality and the twins and the fusions for personas but he leaves out his rehabilitation. Something tells him it isn't right to tell them just yet.
"That's so weird!" Ann says. "So, Igor and the twins take you there in your dreams and kill the personas you capture to make stronger ones?"
"Seems so," Akira says. "They don't reveal much about the room or themselves, just talking about me and what we're doing in the Metaverse."
"Normally I'd say it's sketchy as shit," Ryuji says as he slurps more ramen into his mouth. "Bu' if dey are helping who are we to argue?"
"Don't speak with your mouth full you child!" Morgana says from Akira's bag. "You're in the presence of a lady." Ann smiles as she eats her own ramen.
"Well," she says, "I think if they're helping then they can't be all bad. And the twins sound super cute! You should try and see if we can, like, visit them or something."
"Believe me, you don't," Akira says with a smile. "Do one thing to piss Caroline off and you'll wish you didn't have to meet them again." The four friends laugh at this joke as they finish their ramen amidst small chit-chat about school.
"You know, we don't really know a whole lot about each other," Ann says as she finishes her ramen.
"What do you mean? I know loads about you," Ryuji says as he sits down with another bowl.
"I mean, what the four of us know about each other. You and I know each other from middle school, but we don't know a whole lot about you, Akira. Or you, Morgana."
"Not a whole lot to know about an amnestic cat…" Morgana says dejectedly. "If I knew anything about me, I'd love to tell you all."
"It-it's ok!" Ann says. "It comes back to you in pieces! I'm sure we'll figure it out."
"Well I know you're on probation," Ryuji says to Akira. "You had mentioned it back when we first met. But I don't think you've ever told me the story from your perspective…"
"I don't talk about it much…" Akira replies. "It happened a couple months before I moved here to Tokyo. I was walking home from a study group held at the school," Akira explains. Ann and Ryuji lean in a bit to hear his shushed tones as Morgana sits on his lap. "I heard a woman struggling with someone. Like he was trying to get her to get into some limousine or something.
Well, my dad is a police officer so I couldn't just ignore it. I jogged over to the man and woman struggling. He'd had a hold of her arms and reeked of booze. I wedge myself between them and shove him off her. I guess I shoved him hard or he really was that drunk because he fell over and hit his head on the concrete.
When he stood up, he was pretty pissed. He said he'd sue me and that he was calling the police. He told the woman to back up his story when the police arrived. Said he was some politician of some sort and that if she didn't want to get fired, she'd better do what he says.
And so, the police showed up like he said the would. I knew running away would look terrible, so I stayed to give my side of the story. One of the officers who showed up was my dad and his more senior partner. My dad was new to the force, so he followed what his partner did to learn by example. So, the politician told his lie to the two of them. Told them I had assaulted him and the woman I had helped backed him up. My dad had no choice but to arrest me."
"Your own father arrested you?" Ryuji asks in surprise. Akira nods.
"He was too new to the force to have any kind of pull in the situation. And I think the guy was really a politician because he never appeared for any court dates and was never mentioned by name. I'd heard he wanted to keep his name out of it."
"Didn't your parents believe you?" Ann asks.
"I hope so," Akira replies as he stares out the window to the night sky. "But I don't really know. They didn't talk with me at all while I was in holding. They only spoke with the lawyer for my case. I think they just wanted the whole thing done and over with. I'm sure it was an embarrassment to my dad's reputation at work to have his only son accused of such a crime; regardless of truth of the matter.
Sentencing was done within just under two weeks and I was sentenced to a year's probation. I'm not to be in any kind of trouble with the law or at school for any serious infractions. Failure to comply results in me going to jail. School at home expelled me based on my new record and their reputation to uphold. Mom and Dad wanted me to go to school still but treated me like a stranger at home. Eventually told me at the start of April I'd be moving to Tokyo to stay with a friend of a friend of theirs who offered to take me. Didn't even walk me to the train station on my last day…" Akira says in barely more than a whisper.
Ann just stares speechless with tears in her eyes. Ryuji stares down at his ramen silently, brooding over what he'd heard. Morgana just looks up at Akira's face, trying to convey as much support as he could through non spoken means as possible.
"I-I can't believe your own parents didn't believe you…" Ryuji says looking with Akira out at the night sky. "I'd be pissed…"
"I don't know how to feel about it, truthfully…" Akira replies. "Sometimes I don't even think about them at all and don't realize it for weeks. Sometimes I reread old mundane text messages I'd sent them to remember what it was like before. I think I want to be mad. Maybe I should be. But I don't really feel much of anything about it. I still struggle to believe all that's happened. I think not having to see them, or hear from them… I think it helps me come to terms with it. In some weird way…"
"I kinda know a part of how you feel," Ryuji says as eyes turn towards him. "It's always been my mom and I since I can remember. My old man hasn't been in the picture any time I can recall. I'm not mad about it though. Like you said, I don't see or hear about him often. And mom and I do ok living by ourselves. She enjoys her job and makes enough money for us at it. I've never heard her say anything bad about my dad. Just that he's not around anymore.
I think if she were more bitter about it, I would be. But we've always done alright so I just don't really give it much thought. She's had some boyfriends over the years, but I liked that the few I met never tried to be my dad, you know? I think it could be a lot worse but… I don't lose sleep over it."
"Sounds like you guys are making the best out of what you've got," Akira says with a smile as he puts a hand on Ryuji's shoulder. Ryuji smiles back and looks over at Ann.
"What about you Ann? I don't recall ever seeing your parents around school," Ryuji asks. Ann smiles bit at his question.
"No, they aren't in town much. My parents are famous fashion designers and travel the world for fashion shows. It's what got me started in modeling as a kind of side gig. But when I was thinking about high school, they said I was old enough to decide where I wanted to go and where I wanted to live. We've got places in Japan, America, Finland, and the Caribbean."
"Damn you guys must be rich!" Ryuji says excitedly.
"I guess, hehehe. That's my thing I don't think about much to match your guys stories. I don't spend it on anything lavish or anything, mostly on clothes but even a bunch of those are paid for by the modeling agency and I'm just allowed to keep them. But we've got a penthouse apartment here in Tokyo and since I speak Japanese and liked the culture of the city, I figured I'd go here.
My parents are fine with it. Although they might be getting a little worried right now…" Ann says as she trails off.
"Why?" Akira asks.
"I haven't called them since everything with Shiho… it's been almost two weeks since my last call. Sometimes they're busy and we just get to play voicemail tag because of work and time zones. But I haven't even tried calling them…"
"I'm sure they understand," Akira tells her. "Especially once you do, and if you explain everything."
"Yeah. Maybe," Ann replies looking at him with a genuine smile.
"So, you guys have houses all over the world?" Morgana asks, not being subtle about changing the topic to a happier mood.
"Mhmm. Houses or condos or penthouses or something to live in. They all coincide with different parts of my parents' lives. The one here in Japan is my mom's old place when she was doing fashion design on her own. The one in America is because they met in America while working a fashion show together. And my dad is Finish-American so that kinda explains the American house too but definitely the condo in Finland. And they got married in the Caribbean on a private island they rented for friends and family, so they got a shack by the beach on some island down there we've been to a few times. It's all very romantic," Ann says with a sigh.
"It's also why I speak Japanese, English, and Finnish. It was all spoken together when I was growing up so learning each wasn't hard. Learning them all at the same time was a bit of challenge," Ann says as they all chuckle.
"You're really amazing, Lady Ann," Morgana says. Ann smiles quite wide at the compliment.
"Thank you, Mona! But yeah, that's my story. Parents travel most of the year but always make it back in time for Christmas or something. It's why Shiho and I were such good friends… She was the first person to not judge me by my looks at Shujin… She helped me not feel so alone."
"We should go and visit Shiho soon," Akira says. He sees Ann start to get more tears in her eyes as she looks over to him.
"Yeah, we should. We did this, at least in part, for her…" Ann agrees.
"Well let's not do it tonight," Morgana chimes in. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat. I think my tail is permanently bruised."
"Yeah, my back is killing me," Akira agrees.
"Same," Ryuji says.
"I can't wait to take a bath and wash all the sweat off," Ann says. "That suit doesn't breathe much."
The three Thieves stand and make their way out of the ramen joint. Akira pays the bill for everyone as they argue.
"Don't worry about it," he says as they all step out onto the sidewalk. "Pay me back next time."
"Hey," Ann says as the two guys turn to face her. She throws her arms around both their necks and pulls them in for a hug. After a moment of shock, they reciprocate and hug one another as well.
"Let's hope it worked," Akira whispers to them. They break off their hug as they bid each other good night and head their separate ways home.