Hot Plate Celebration

The group were at the station square talking about their next big target But Ann was still mad about the confrontation with Makoto earlier; "I'm still mad about what she said even though she was right..." "She makes me so angry! Especially how smug she acts!"

Akira puts a hand on her shoulder, "I know you're angry but from her expressions it looks like she wanted to do something but couldn't; just like you Ann." "Maybe she's just like you guys…"

Ann sighs, "I guess...but it's still a sore subject for me…" She shakes her head; "Anyway; Ryuji have you found anything our next target?" "Still doesn't excuse her words..."

Ryuji scratches his head; "Nope; me and Kidd looked all over the Phan-site but got no leads. Dammit! I wanna prove Akechi wrong!" "Aye! That scallywag best be hanged from the gallows!" "Relax man; we ain't trying to kill him." He then looks at Yusuke's belongings; "Why you bring your stuff with?"

Yusuke rolls his neck; "I had decided to move from the dorms and I decided in moving into Ann's house." "Yes. It would be nice to live with Carmen."

Akira coughs while Ann gets angry; "No way in hell that's going to happen!" "Oh great, we have another Morgana and Zorro…" "If you keep trying to suggest weird things dealing with me! I'm going to send Carmen after you two!"

Yusuke was shocked from how mad she had gotten; "B-but I brought you goodies with the rest of my money as thanks…" "Nevermind...it would not be nice to live with Carmen."

Morgana pops his head out of Akira's bag; "What do you mean by that Carmen?" "Hey! Do not compare me to that man; senorita!"

Ann sighs in annoyance; "That's not my problem Yusuke. Maybe you shouldn't assume stuff." "You're right Zorro; Goemon is a little more tolerable."

Akira looks at Ryuji; "Can he stay at your house? I would but I'm already technically freeloading." "Plus; Sojiro will find another reason to hate you."

He shakes his head; "Nah; I would but my place is small besides my mom wouldn't allow it." "Ye two mighty needs t' buy a bigger cabin!"

Morgana meows; "He can stay at our place! It maybe dirty but it's still a livable place." "I can teach Goemon the proper ways to woo a lady!"

Akira sighs in annoyance because he just said no; "Do you ever listen to me? Or do you just listen when I praise you…" "We're talking about Morgana and Zorro here, so yeah…"

"That's why it's up to you to convince boss." "You should be proud that I even consider you an amigo; Arsene!"

Akira sighs; "I will try and convince him to let you stay then; Yusuke." "Let's just hope that he doesn't kick you out..." He smiles coming up with an idea; "Why don't you guys come with me? Maybe he will be less strict."

Ann looks at him with a smile; "Oh yeah! You live at a cafe! I've wanted to try some coffee anyway." "W-we're going to Arsene's home? I-I don't know if I'm ready for this…" Carmen whispers in embarrassment. "Great; you're making me nervous as well. Wait; aren't you used to going to men's homes?" "I told you…that wasn't love though…this is different..." "Oh yeah; that's right…Don't worry; we're going to be with everyone, it won't be just us."

Ryuji gets excited as well; "Alright! We can also have our celebration there as well!" "Aye! Hopefully they 'ave rum thar!" "Dude. It's a café; not a bar. I can't drink booze anyways." "Arrr, don't remind me…"

Yusuke was confused about what they were talking about; "Celebration?" "Yes...What is it that we are celebrating?"

Akira smiles; "Yeah. Everytime we change a heart; we have a celebration. We decided that was our plan." "He also boosts our morale and learn more about the newcomer."

"Oh, that sounds kind of fun, we should do that then." "Celebration you say…" "But before that; I want to thank you for considering letting me stay at your place, sorry for being a burden." "You are a good person; Kurusu."

He shrugs; "It's okay; I'm just worried that he's going to kick me out for asking to let you stay." "He's really strict."

"Would he really kick you out for something as simple as that?"

"Trust me..." He brings out a piece of paper with a lot of writing on it; "I even made a whole list of the times he told me he was going to kick me out and I'm on page two with both sides of a paper covered."

Yusuke looks at it in disbelief; "That is a lot…"

"Anyway; Morgana, you need to learn that you don't get a say in what happens in the real world unless it involves the Metaverse." "That goes for you too; Zorro."

Morgana glares at him; "Hey! I'm trying to keep an eye out for our group; how else are you guys going to learn from my greatness?" "Maybe we should find somebody else who would listen to our greatness!"

Akira grabs his bag and holds it out for everyone; "Cat for sale! He's annoying and narcissistic!" "Don't bother Akira; no one will buy him anyways…"

Leblanc Café

The bell above the entrance rings and everyone walks in. Ann sniffs the air smelling the freshly brew coffee; "Ooooo, it smells nice in here! No wonder why you always smell like fresh coffee; Akira." "Yeah, it does so smell good…Ann drink some coffee I want to taste it!"

Akira laughs; "Yeah; I'm just used to the smell by now." "It really does taste great; Carmen."

Ryuji looks around; "This place looks old. It's pretty cool though." "Aye, it's like a fancy tavern."

Yusuke thinks for a moment; "I think people would call this...retro." "Retro would stand out of place in this futuristic world."

Sojiro finally realizes that they were there; "Akira? Are these your friends?" He notices Ann; "A girl?"

Walking up to him, she smiles and waves; "Hi there!" "Is this Akira's guardian?" "I think so..." "Akira helped us out a lot! He's a great guy!" Ryuji and Yusuke agree with her.

He laughs; "I'm pretty sure that it's the opposite."

Ann shakes her head and looks at Akira; "No...he really is great."

Sojiro shrugs; "Well nonetheless; thanks for watching over him. I'm Sojiro Sakura but people just call me boss. Now come and sit down. I'll get you some coffee, it's on the house today." He looks at Akira; "But you'll have to help me out though."

"I knew you were going to say that…" He says after sighing. "I secretly think he doesn't like you…"

After a while; Sojiro finishes making them some coffee with Akira's help and soon they all get a cup but Ryuji wanted something else instead.

Ann takes a sip and smiles big; "This is sooo good!" "Mmmm...You can say that again!"

Yusuke tries some as well; "What a deep acidity...But it does taste divine." "This taste is divine!"

"Hey! Let me have a taste!" Ryuji tries drinking some but he instantly spits it out; "Bleggh! This is disgusting and bitter!" "Told ye t' get rum..."

Sojiro laughs not at all offended; "I used to hate coffee as well when I was a kid. Anyway, Akira, take your friends up to your room; just in case customers start coming in."

Ann chokes on her coffee; "Y-yeah I would like to s-see it! "I'm surprised you haven't freaked out yet; Carmen." "….." "Carmen?" "…." "Did you just faint!?"

"It's just a storage room; nothing special."

"Hey! Can one of you guys take Morgana with you?" Akira asks

"Yeah I got him!" Ryuji takes another drink of coffee and spits it back out; "Nope, still bitter! Thanks for the soda!" He then grabs Morgana's bag and runs upstairs.

Yusuke finishes his coffee, "Yes. Thank you for the coffee." He also goes upstairs.

Akira mumbles while him and Ann were about to go upstairs; "I still need to ask him...damn it Morgana." "That cat likes to cause you trouble."

"It's alright; I'll ask him. I know you're afraid to ask him." Ann whispers to him

That makes him smile; "Thanks Ann." He then pecks her cheek and goes upstairs.

Ann stands there blushing and holds her cheek where he kissed; "He's such a great guy...I'm surprised that he's never had a girlfriend before…" "Huh...What happened?" "Did you finally wake up?" "Yeah...It seems I have fainted…"

Sojiro realizes she was just standing there; "Is something the matter, miss…?"

Ann turns around; "Oh sorry; we didn't give you our names. I'm Ann Takamaki."

"Ann huh? Cute name. Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Should I tell him? Akira wanted to keep it hidden..." "I think you should. He seems like he'll keep a secret." "Yeah." "Well I'm actually dating; Akira."

Sojiro eyes went wide, "Now that's surprising! Are you sure you should be dating him though? He does have a criminal record."

Ann got a little irritated by that; "Yeah. A false criminal record. But as you can see; he's there for the people he cares for even the ones he doesn't even know."

"That may be true but what will happen if he gets you in trouble for him getting into other people's businesses?"

"Then I'll stick with him no matter what; like he's done for me. He risked his freedom for me twice without hesitation and I would do the same for him." She grabs her bag and marches upstairs; "No wonder why he wants to keep our relationship a secret…" "That was so rude of him!"

Sojiro sighs; "Maybe I was wrong about the kid. Though I'm just trying to protect him from the harsh realities of this world."

Thirty minutes later

The group goes downstairs to get everything ready for their celebration; Ann walks past Sojiro without a word while Ryuji and Yusuke look at each other in confusion and then shrug following after Ann.

Akira goes behind the counter; "So I'm guessing you pissed off Ann?"

Sojiro sighs; "Yeah. We kinda had an argument about you."

"Let me guess…Ann told you we were dating and you didn't think it was a good idea since I have a criminal record; which is false by the way."

Sojiro scratches his head; "Yeah that pretty much sums it up. That girl really does love you just from how passionate she defended you."

Akira smiles; "Yeah; I'm surprised about that. She means a lot to me."

He chuckles; "I can see why she would."

"Oh yeah; did she ask you if Yusuke can stay here for a while?"

Sojiro looks at him confused; "Which one is he?"

"He's the one with the purple dress shirt and black jeans."

"Okay...and he doesn't have a home?"

"No; his mother died when he was young and he never knew his father. So he's been living at his school's dorm but something happened at his dorm so he needs a place to stay for a while till they fix whatever happened there."

Sojiro thinks for a moment then sighs; "Alright; I'll let him stay here but only because he seems like a good kid and he can help you with that."

"Thank you; Sojiro." He says ignoring the last part; "By the way; do we have a hot plate?"

"No problem kid and Yeah it should find it in one of the cabinets. Having a celebration or something?"

"Yeah; we have one for everytime we have a new friend."

"Alright; just don't cause too much trouble then."

He chuckles; "No promises." He then goes upstairs to prepare for the celebration

Twenty minutes later

Sojiro hears the bell go off then sees Ryuji; Yusuke, and Ann walk in making him put down the newspaper he was reading; "May I speak to you, Ann?"

Ann sighs; "Yeah. I guess so." "No need to be angry dear." "Well he shouldn't have talk about Akira like he's a criminal."

"Uh...we'll just will take the stuff upstairs." "Nah gonna be part o' this battle that's fer sure!" They both run upstairs.

Sojiro sighs; "Listen. I know Akira is a good kid; but I'm trying to look out for him because this society doesn't care about good people and they just look out for themselves."

Ann sighs but nods because he was right about that; "I'm sorry for getting mad at you because you're right." "See Ann dear; I told you there was a reason for him being like this."

"No; you have every right to be. Just promise to take care of him and watch over him since I can't do it outside of here."

Ann smiles, "Of course I will."

"Oh. One more thing; has he told you anything about his parents?"

"Yeah. He said that he didn't want them to move here since he didn't want to be a burden to them and that they believe him."

Sojiro sighs; "Don't tell him this but the truth is...is that his parents disowned him."

Ann gasps with her eyes wide; "W-What!? Why!?" "That's terrible! But I thought they believed him!"

"Well; even though he was falsely accused, he's parents thought he would be a burden and also that he was dishonoring the family name with the title of a criminal. But like I said; Akira doesn't know any of this. So don't tell him since I was planning on telling him before he's year was up."

Ann was close to tears; "I-I can't believe it...H-He doesn't deserve this…" Carmen starts sobbing.

"I know that. That's why I keep saying the law's the only way but honestly; the more power you have, the more you control the law and that's what happened with Akira."

"I will help Akira find the person who did this to him!" "I will make that person suffer as well!" "Thank you for telling me this."

He smiles; "Of course, you are his girlfriend after all; besides consider this payment for making you mad, you sure are scary though. Anyway; you should get back upstairs before Akira comes down wondering if we're fighting again."

"Yeah..." Ann gets up from her seat and goes upstairs.

Sojiro goes back to reading his newspaper; "Make him happy, kid..."

Attic

Akira sees Ann appear from the stairs; "Oh! You finally decided to join us." He chuckles but sees her looking down with sadness in her eyes making him worry; "Hey; what's wrong?" "Carmen, are you crying?"

"Huh? Oh nothing...just thinking about some stuff; that's all." "N-no I'm not..." She then puts on a fake smile; "Anyway; let's get this celebration started!"

After the celebration

"Oh yeah; Yusuke. I convinced Sojiro to stay, you just got to remember that the dorm was closed off for a couple of days." "It was pretty easy, surprisingly."

"Okay, but thank you, I owe you again." "You truly are a great leader."

"No problem. You don't owe me anything."

Ann looks at her phone; "Whoa, it's already this late!? I should get going…" "Yeah, you don't want to be walking the streets late."

Yusuke yawns; "I do want to take a bath though before bed." "A bath is good before you sleep."

"Oh yeah! A bath would be awesome right now!" "Arrr, I would love a hot bath, good thing we can feel the heat!"

"Oh, there's a bath right across the way, too bad I can't go in though." Morgana says "Aw, why can't we have fun?"

Ann gets up, "Well you guys have fun, goodnight all of you." "Goodbye, everyone." She then walks downstairs

Morgana eyes her; "I have to hurry and become human before someone takes her." "Yes! Carmen will be mine no matter what!"

Ryuji shakes his head in disappointment towards him; "Dude...you two really are creeps." "Yeah talking like that even wenches wouldn't want you."

Akira rolles his eyes and his phone goes off making him look at it seeing that it was Ann.

[Can you walk me to the station? I didn't want to ask in front of everyone just in case they suspect us. If yes, I'll be outside the café!]

[Yeah, I'll be there in a little bit.]

[Thank you.]

Akira gets up; "I'll be back guys, I got to go pick up a package from our weapons dealer since its custom made, it shouldn't take long."

Morgana jumps on the table; "Hey! Don't you want me to go?"

"Its fine, I'm just picking something up that's all. How about this, I'll buy you some fatty tuna tomorrow?"

"Oh! You promised me! Now you have to buy it!" Zorro meows loudly. "Yes! You're finally not like these two idiots!"

While this went on; Ryuji and Yusuke were texting each other

[You find it interesting that as soon as Ann leaves, Akira gets a text from our 'weapons dealer'?]

[Hmm, you know, that does seem suspicious…have you seen any sighs that they are dating?]

[Well I know they got real close after Kamoshida, and they hung out a lot before we found out about your stalking.]

[I wasn't stalking! I was just memorized by her beauty!]

{Sorry man, but that's kinda stalking. Anyway, now it makes sense like right after Madarame's confession, Ann started to stand closer to Akira and sometimes hug him randomly. Wait! If they're dating, I did try to look up her shorts! Oh crap! No wonder why he glared at me hard!}

[I tried to live at Ann's house….I hope he didn't allow me to stay because he secretly wanted to kill me…]

Akira goes downstairs; "Well that was easy." "Look at you, trickster." "Well I've learned from the best." He walks outside and sees Ann; "Here I am; are you ready to go?"

Ann looks up at him in surprised; "Huh? Oh sorry...I'm just thinking about stuff." "Hello…Arsene."

"Okay Ann, I know something's wrong." "Yeah Carmen, usually you're happy."

Ann started walking towards the station while Akira walks by her side; "Oh nothing's wrong, just thinking about what Sojiro said to me." "Of course I'm happy! I just had a sad thought!"

"Did you guys argue again?" "Oh okay, just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Nope, he just told me if I can take care of you and watch over you." "Thank you, my dear Arsey."

"Why? Is he getting tired of watching over me?" "Arsey? I like that nickname."

"Of course not, he just can't watch over you outside the café." "Aw, I'm glad you like it!"

He nods; "Well I guess that makes sense then..." "You're welcome."

They soon make it to the train; "Well, I guess I should let you go then." "Goodbye, Carmen."

Ann stands there for a second and then jumps at him putting her arms around his neck, crying; "I love you, Akira!" Carmen starts sobbing again knowing why she was

Akira at first was surprised but then hugs her back; "I love you too, Ann. But why are you crying?" "Okay, something is really going on."

"I-I'm just so happy right now…" "I just love you so much, Arsene!"

"Oh, well I'm happy too." "Well I love you a lot too, Carmen."

She soon lets go of him; "I should get going, are you free tomorrow?" "Thank you, Arsey."

"Yeah, I should be free." "Um, you're welcome, Carmen."

"Okay, I'll call you tomorrow, goodbye!" "Bye, Arsey!"

"Alright, goodbye, I'll see you tomorrow then." "Bye, Carmen!"

Ann gets on the train; "When are you going to tell him?" "I-I don't know, I don't want to see him heartbroken…that's one of the worst thing ever, to be disowned by your family especially for something you didn't do." "I don't know why they would do that!" "I don't know either Carmen, I know Sojiro told us but I need to know myself, but I want to ask them after I tell Akira someday…"