Whims of Fate

November 19th

The Next Day After Finding the Treasure

The group were once again in the Attic to discuss about what to do with the treasure because if the palace collapses while Futaba was working on her laptop so they could get Sae into the Metaverse through Akira's phone.

Akira looks at them, "Okay guys, we got everything almost set up so all we need to do is figure out what we are going to do about the treasure." "Because we can't have it be destroyed since we need her palace to have her cognitive mind make a fake Akira."

Makoto holds her chin thinking out loud, "Maybe we can pretend to steal thes treasure?" "But we would have to make it look legit."

Ann shrugs, "Why don't you just say that you want to grab the treasure?" "That would actually work since it's her sister but would Akechi actually have enough heart to let her?"

Yusuke crossed his arms, "I wouldn't say heart. More like, he would do it just to keep up the charade." "He is a bad actor though." "But what are we going to use to hide the 'treasure'?

Ryuji smiles, "I know! We should get a suitcase! That way he won't be able to see it!" "The one like that Kaneshiro guy?" "Yeah but way cheaper."

Morgana nods, "Ryuji actually said something right for once. So our plans are now complete. We just need to wait till the twentieth and fight Makoto's sister." "We shall take her out!"

"Dude…" "Arrr, ye're worse than a landlubber cat! Ye shant be sayin' that!" Ryuji looks at Morgana nodding at a downtrodden Makoto making his ears go down in shame when he turns to her.

Haru puts a hand on her shoulder, "It will be okay, Mako-chan." "I don't get why you're getting upset about it now since you already knew what was going to happen."

Akira rolled his eyes at Milady's comment, "Well Haru's right, we're all here for you; even Milady." "You need to learn to be more respectful again; Milady."

"Thank you again everyone." "We're all with you Makoto-chan."

Akira nods, "Anyway, there's actually one more thing that I almost forgot about. And that's Robin Hood." "Should we just take a chance and hope that he's actually a good person?"

Ann looks down, "Oh yeah...because he would know that he's in the Metaverse and tell Akechi..." "But he sounds like a good person. Would he really help Akechi kill?"

Morgana shakes his head, "Actually me and Akira talked about him and we think that he's being force to do whatever Akechi wants." "Because he might have another Pendejo stronger than all of us."

Yusuke holds his chin, "Hmm. If that's true then would he help Akechi and would this other persona say anything?" "Hmm. I wonder who's this other persona then."

Ryuji shakes his head, "So he might have the same power as Akira? Wouldn't we get our ass kicked then?" "Aye it looks t' be that way but that be a scary thought..."

Akira sighs, "Like me and Morgana said, it's a just a hunch. So let's just worry about Robin. Else, we'll just be worry more." "It still makes me wonder though."

Haru looks down, "But wouldn't we be taking a chance with that?" "It's either he takes a chance that he might die or we all die by taking a chance at convincing Robin and if true, not only letting him know but this other persona know as well."

Akira sighs, "It's the only thing we can do. Hopefully he's as good as we think he is...and this other persona doesn't say anything or it's just our paranoia..." "We just have to leave it up to fate I guess..." "Anyway, that's it for today. Get some rest for tomorrow.

30 minutes later

After everyone left, Ann was sitting on the couch looking down with a frown while Akira was seeing everyone out. Once he came back up, he sat down next to her putting an arm around her shoulders in comfort seeing that she was upset about their many obstacles that could ruin their plan, "Look Ann, I know that this looks bad but there's nothing else we can to do..." "But this isn't about skill. It's all based off of luck..."

"I know..." "We have so many things to rely on fate for..."

Akira sighs, "Why don't we just forget about what we have to deal with and just celebrate your birthday since we couldn't do it on your actual birthday." "That sounds like the best option."

Ann sighs, "It's okay...I had a great birthday party weeks ago and that massage was great even though I ruined it. So let's just stay in and watch a movie, I'm fine with that." "That sounds like a great idea to me."

He nods and gets up. He then puts on one of Ann's romantic movies and sits back on the couch and Ann instantly curls up against him while he puts an arm around her shoulders. After a while of watching movie. He looks down at her smiling, "I have an idea on what I could do about Makoto's sister."

She looks up at him with a little bit of hope in her eyes, "Really?"

He nods, "I'm going to show her the Metaverse. If I show her that then she would have to trust me...hopefully." "That is a good idea. It seems like the best option to gain her trust quickly."

"But what about Akechi? Aren't we supposed to wait till Futaba sees him and Sae?" "That's why we have to do it quickly."

"What Carmen said. I don't think the Metaverse reaches far so I can quickly show Sae the Metaverse and have her meet Arsene. There's no way she can argue that." "It will be hard though since she's a Prosecutor."

She sighs, "You just had to say something Arsene..." "Well I for one believe Akira can convince her." Ann sighs again but then smiles at Akira, "But Carmen's right. I should just believe in you. Like I usually do."

Akira hugs her, "That's all I need to hear from you." "I could try and convince her as well." He wasn't going to tell her this but he had a backup plan involving giving her his phone with the messages of them.

Later that Night

Akira's Room

Akira was lying in bed having trouble sleeping because of tomorrow while Ann was holding him around his waist sleeping. He was having trouble sleeping because even though he had everything prepared. He was still worried about the whole thing and what got to him the most, was that he will die if even one thing goes wrong. So he slowly moved Ann's arm and got up, "Maybe I should just get some air..." But the floor squeaking made her wake up.

"What's wrong?" Ann lets out a soft yawn and sits up.

Akira signs from waking her and looks at her, "Sorry for waking you...I'm just having trouble sleeping because of tomorrow and wanted to get some air."

Ann quickly wraps her arms around his neck behind him kissing his cheek, "I should have figured you wouldn't be able to sleep."

He puts a hand on her hands, "Am I weird that this is the first time that I'm actually scared to die or get arrested since I got here?"

She laughs, "Yeah and it's weird that I'm glad you're like this because I was worried that you'd throw your life away for no reason but this time there's no other way."

He smiles, "You're right, I'm throwing my life away to save all of you and to bring justice to Akechi and whoever he's working for."

She hugs him even tighter, "That's why we all think of you a leader and we all care about you especially me."

"I know and I'm forever yours."

"And so am I to you."

He looks behind him, "How about you? Are you nervous."

She nods, "Yeah...but I'm trying not to think about it."

He turns around with a determined look on his face, "I will come back. And even if Akechi finds out; I'll beat him till he knows not to mess with us."

Ann smiles big and holds his face, "That's what I want to hear!" She starts kissing him.

After a minute, Akira pulls away, "I would like to do this more but we should get some sleep so we're ready for tomorrow."

She sighs, "Fine then..." She lays back down and holds her arms out towards him, "Get over here and cuddle me!"

He laughs and lays down holding her, "Thank you for everything."

"No need to thank me! I will always be here for you, like you are for me! My lovely Akiree!"

He smiles big and nods, "That's all I need to hear, my beautiful Anki."

After battle with Sae

The group was outside the room waiting for Makoto since she said that she wanted to talk to her sister alone as an excuse to pretend to grab the treasure. Soon she comes out of the room and shows them the suitcase.

Akira smiles, "So is everything alright?" "I hope it is."

Makoto nods, "Yes, everything is fine." "Don't worry Arsene-san, Sis should have her heart changed."

Goro smiles and looks at them all, "Now the investigation will move in the right direction and I'll make sure that you'll be cleared of any suspicion." "Yes my merry crew! You shall no longer be wanted fugitives!"

Akira looks at him, "And we will disband, just like we promised. I hope you join us in the future as friends." "It was nice meeting you Robin."

Goro shakes her head, "I'm grateful that you keep your promises but I can no longer be associated with you, just to be safe." "I'm glad to meet you King Richard and...I hope to see all of you again!"

Futaba gasps, "Wait! We have shadows coming here and there's a lot of them! But why are they still here!?" "This is terrible…we failedddddd!" "Not so dramatic." "Oh, sorry." Necro whispers.

Ryuji looks at her surprised, "You serious!? What's going on!?" "Arrr, shant they 'ave disappeared!?"

Yusuke looks at Futaba, "What are the numbers?" "More than likely…a lot."

Futaba nods, "Elvis is right, there's a lot of them!" "Nooooo!"

Ann shakes her head, "This is bad…" "W-What should we do then...?"

Morgana looks down in worry, "That's not possible! We've defeated the ruler and stolen her treasure! The shadows should have stopped…" "We must either flee or destroy them all!"

Futaba looks at Akira, "If we leave like this, it'll be dangerous." "We have to hurry!"

Makoto nods at Akira, "We have to keep moving. The shadows will come down like an avalanche soon. If we get caught, we're done for…" "I will not give up!"

Akira sighs, "Then there's only one thing to do and that's for me to distract them." "Akira! You cant be serious!"

Ann looks at him in worry, "Are you serious!? Don't throw your life away!" "Don't be so reckless!"

He sighs, "There's no other way; Panther. It would be easier to escape if we split up and they will go after the loner." He turns to Queen and holds out his hand, "So let me see the case; Queen." "You really are serious…"

Makoto nods and hands him to Akira, "Be safe please…" "You better come back Joker!"

Ryuji scratched his head, "There's no point Ann. You should know that once he makes up his mind, he's going to stick with it…" "That be because he's a true captain!"

Yusuke nods at him, "Even though I have hope that you will make it, I still have my doubts." "We'll still hope somehow…"

Haru looks down, "I'm sure you'll be making it out safe but please be careful on the way!" "So we finally got caught huh? Now things are getting really exciting!"

Morgana nods, "You better come back! You still have to fulfill your promise!" "I will take care of Carmen if you die Arsene."

Goro looks at him, "I'm sorry you have to do this…if only there was another way." "Be safe Arsene, I don't want to lose a friend…"

Akira nods at them, "Don't worry guys, I'll meet you on the other side!" "We will back everyone!"

"Wait!" Ann walks up to him and kisses him deeply for a minute then pulls away, "Please come back to me…" "Pleaseee be safe, you two!"

"Of course Panther…" "I'll be seeing you soon Carmen."

Once they spilt up and Akira got above the first gaming area's chandelier. He decided to gain everyone's attention so they can focus on him, "Good evening everyone! I am Joker! And I am here to take all of your hearts." He starts pointing at everyone, "And I'll be taking your heart and your heart." He points at a beautiful woman, "And definitely your heart!" "We should probably get going."

"Really Joker!?" "Stop being a cool brother!" He heard Futaba.

"Sorry about that! Just had to get noticed!" "Well it worked because everyone is freaking out." "See! Told you!"

"Whatever man! Just hurry up and get out of there!" "Ye better get out o' thar; Cap'n!" That was Ryuji.

"Right!" Akira continues on while the other's were worrying about them or giving him more details about the shadows coming but that's when he gets stopped by a bodyguard that turned into Sacrificial Pyrekeeper.

Akira smirks, "Is this all they got!?" He jumps over it before it could attack him and starts raining down bullets at it.

"It's pretty pathetic that they think this could stop us!" After Akira did that, Arsene kicks the shadow toward Akira.

Akira holds out his dagger making it get stuck in it and shoots him in the back of his head; destroying it, "It's just that simple."

"Joker! Is everything alright!? We heard fighting!" "You two better not be starting things!" He heard Makoto and Anat

"Don't worry Queen! It was nothing but a distraction." "We would never start things. But we'll finish them."

"Remember Joker, don't get cocky." "No cockiness!" Fox and Goemon says.

"I'll try not to! But no promises!" Once he made it through the back areas and up the stairs, he ran into the lobby with guards approaching him from both sides, "We can't get through! There's too many people blocking the exit!" He looks up and smiles seeing a round giant window, "Well I guess we'll have to make a dramatic exit!" "We should always have to make a dramatic entrance after a heist."

"Dramatic exit? Wouldn't that get you more noticed!?" "It's because they are royalty! Everything they do has to be fancy!" It was Goro and Robin.

"Hell Yeah; Robin!" Akira ran on the railings and then jumped through the window with a flip.

"What a showoff!" "That was maginicent!" He heard Ann and Carmen.

"Only for you my panther!" "Thank you my love!"

He then lands on the ground but then a light shines on him seeing a whole platoon of police and swat, "Oh crap!" He looks around and sees a fire escape ladder. He runs to it and jumps onto it then climbs it. He thought he got away till he saw more swat team on the fire exit balcony, "Uh...hey there." "This isn't good at all..."

"What's not good!?" "What's happening Arney!?"

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, away from you guys, so if you can just move..." One of the men stomps on his hand making him fall down, "I should of never gave you guys money!"

"Joker! What's going on!?" "Is everything okay Arsey!?"

Once he lands, he gets surrounded by the police and they instantly handcuff him and one of the them grabs him by the hair, "Well looks like we finally got the murdering piece of shit. Didn't think it would be a kid. Wondering how we knew about this heist? Because somebody on your team sold you out."

"Damnit Joker! Say something man!" "Wha' be happenin' lad!?"

"Really? I would have never known." He says sarcastically.

"A smartass huh? You won't be after your ass goes to jail for life." He then gets knocked out by a swat person's rifle butt.

Everyone else was out of the Metaverse but Ann stopped and looked back, "You better come back to me...or I'll go after Akechi myself..." "No matter if he's stronger than us..." She returns to the real world.

Underground Interrogation Room

"Wake up!"

Akira felt water forcibly getting thrown at his face making him wake up and choke but once he recovered from that. He started feeling pain in his face from getting knocked out by the gun. But also felt dizzy, nausea, and disoriented. That's when he say a syringes.

"About time you woke up..." A stern voice says.

Akira slowly realized where he was at and it was in what he assumed was the interrogation room, "Did you guys…drug me or something?"

A man in the tuxedo with an imposing body smirks at him, "Maybe we did." He then grabs Akira's hair and pulls his head back, "You are in so much shit kid and you're not getting out of here."

"I can see that...and so what am I...in trouble for?"

He lets go of Akira's head and grabs a clipboard from another man, "More than you can possible imagine…you're one sick kid." He starts reading off the list, "Obstruction of justice and business, intimidation, defamation, preparing and carrying weapons…and murder. The full course meal."

Akira smirks, "Well one of those things don't belong…would you like to guess?"

The man looks at him with contained anger, "You're a cocky little shit, aren't you?"

"Cocky, yes...Little shit?...Nope." "Akira..."

That's when the man kicks Akira in the stomach making him fall backwards to the floor, "Not so cocky now, are you? I bet you enjoyed murdering people."

Akira grunts in pain, "How...can I enjoy something that I never done…"

"Yeah right kid, we caught you in the act…" He looks over at another man, "Uncuff him." He then puts the clipboard in front of his face, "This is a confession, write your name on it."

Once they did, Akira rubs his wrists, "At least I'm free from the cuffs…" "You need to stop antagonizing them, just sign the paper." "Not yet…" Akira spits on the paper, "There you go…oof!" "Damn it Akira! What did I just say!?"

The man kicked him hard in the ribs three times; bruising them. He then puts the clipboard back in front of his face, "So are you going to stop being a dumbass and sigh the damn paper?"

Akira coughs up blood, "Y-Yeah…" "That's why I said not to cause more problems…" "He grabs the pen and writes, Yu Arisato, as his name. "Well that's your first good idea that you had this whole time by giving them a fake name."

Once he finished, the man ripped it from his hands and gave it to the other man, "Now that it's done. I'm going to put you in so much pain to make you understand that you must pay for you crimes." He punches him in the face making him fall back and starts hitting him a couple of more times.

"You bastard! Stop hurting him!"

The man then steps on Akira's chest and started putting pressure on it little by little making him not only be in pain but it also made him start having trouble breathing but that's till the door opens and closes, "Sir! We have that annoying Prosecutor here and boss is letting her talk to him."

The man growls and lifts up his foot, "You got lucky punk kid." Him and the other men left the room.

"Are you okay Akira?" "Y-Yeah…he's lucky he works with the police or I would have fought back…" He uses the chair to get up and sit on it still feeling pain in his ribs, chest, and the door opens again and Sae walks in.

She looks at him surprised that it was him of all people, "So it was you? Even though I had my suspicions. I didn't think it would actually be you."

"What..? Are you surprised that...the person you were going to use as a scapegoat... was actually the leader of the Phantom Thieves?"

She sits down and puts a folder on the table and his phone on the table, "Yes. But how did you know?"

Akira shrugs, "I have my ways of information…"

She looks at him closely seeing his eyes were dilated and his face bruised, "So they drugged you and beat you...bastards..." She sighs, "That should show you that anything can happened here with them and I cant stop them…"

Akira shrugs, "I can see that…they'll probably even break every bone in my body."

She sits back into a straight position and nods, "Yes. So please answer me honestly because they didn't give me enough time meaning you don't have a lot time." She crosses her arms, "First off, what's your motive? Why did you attempt such huge crimes like these and how were you able to do this?"

He shrugs again, "Easy...because none of you would even attempt to go after these people and for how we did it...? Well it's hard to explain..."

She shakes her head, "We can't go after them if we aren't given any leads or evidence."

He scoffs, "That hasn't stopped you...from the other people you convicted..."

She looks at him with annoyance, "I don't know how you got that information but I still had somewhat of a lead and evidence to go after them."

"Fine then...it's because people are afraid of them. Let me give you an example." He points at the folder, "The first change of heart was Suguru Kamoshida...no one would go after him because he was a gold medalist that took our volleyball team to the nationals...so everyone will believe him instead of believing anyone that talks bad about him...and unfortunately, the volleyball team were too scared and sadly, some of them ignored it because he brought them to the nationals...So guess what happened...? A member of a volleyball team gets raped and her friend almost gets blackmailed into sex...because he took advantage of their friendship. Not only that...he broke a star track team member's legs because he provoked him...by going for his family. Yet...everyone still believed him and didn't do anything about it and he almost got away with it until we changed his heart...So you see why we did it?"

She nods, "Yes, but you still had no jurisdiction to 'change his heart'. You're practically forcing a confession out of them."

"And who does that sound like..? I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to do this…" He points at himself, "To me and even going so far as to drug me…"

She sighs, "I wouldn't go that far but you are right. Now tell me, how you were able to change hearts? Based off the reports, it involves this 'world'?"

"This is it." He nods, "Yeah...there's another world...that's called the Metaverse. Basically, it involves stealing something...that makes their desires distorted. Their 'hearts' basically."

She looks at him confused, "Stealing something makes their desires distorted? You mean their 'heart'?"

"Yeah. It's usually something that...they hold dear to...and it causes them to become corrupt."

Sae was still skeptical about all this, "I can't believe I'm saying this but If what you say is the truth. Then why don't you show me this other world then?"

Akira smiles, "Sure...but if I'm able to show you the Metaverse. You have to believe everything I say...but if I don't...then you can take my phone. In it, it has all my accomplices so you can give it to your superiors...because it has all the information about us talking about who...we went after and how we...planned it all, which is enough to convict us and I'll even give out my testimony so you get all the credit. Also, if you don't believe me and think that...I deleted my information...why do you think I encrypted my phone?" He felt bad for throwing the others under the bus but it was a backup plan to get her to trust him just in case showing her the Metaverse didn't work.

She looks at him in shock but then suspicion, "Why should I believe you? How do I know that this is not a trick?"

"What reason do I have...to trick you? I'm already caught and...if I did have a trick...wouldn't I have done it by now? I'm not a masochist to get beat up first...then escape." He shrugs, "Besides, they already know my face...they'll catch me again eventually and send me straight to jail..."

She sighs because she was taking a gamble but he was right as well, "Alright. Show me this 'world' then. If you can."

He smiles, "Now can you point my phone towards me? So I can unlock it."

She looks at him confused but grabs his phone and turns it facing him so he wouldn't be able to delete these messages.

He unlocks the phone and presses the Metaverse app.

Soon the world becomes distorted and Sae holds her head with a groan, "What was that?" She then shakes her head and looks around seeing that the room was the same. She glares at him thinking that he activated something in his phone to give her a headache, "Did you activate some sort of trap!?"

"The only thing he did was send you to the Metaverse and the reason why you're head hurts is because this is the first time that you've been here. "

Her glare turns into shock and confusion, "Did you just change your voice? And how did you do that without moving your mouth?"

Akira smirks and leans forward with his elbows on the table and his hands under his chin, "Welcome...to the Metaverse. A place that's between fantasy and reality. Mind over matter." Arsene comes out of him knowing what he was doing. Akira gestures to him, "This is my assistant, Arsene...He helps me and the others with stealing the hearts." Arsene bows, "I am Arsene. A pleasure to make your acquaintance; Sae Nijima." He walks up to the table next to Akira slowly and puts out his hand for her to shake.

Sae was still in shock, "H-How!? How is this even possible!?" She looks at his hand suspiciously but slowly reaches for it and jumps back when she feels that he's indeed physical.

"He is my persona...basically he's my hidden personality that has taken form to rebel against the...evils of society. Hence, all our targets were in some way an...evil to society." He looks at her, "I would include you but you're not evil...just stressed out by what you have to go through and it's making you desperate..." He walks back to Akira, "You have a palace as well Sae Nijima. You treat your court cases as competition against the men and blame them for not getting your promotion. You also go after Makoto by calling her useless because you have to take care of her."

Sae didn't know what to believe anymore and she didn't know what a palace was but he was right because she was a target as well so they must have heard her hidden self, "I-I don't even know what to say about what is happening before me..." She looks at Arsene still shocked about him, "And if you know my sister's name...then this all has to be true then. So, could I hear him in the real world now?" It felt odd to her that this was happening before her eyes and talking to this 'Arsene' but he was right about what she really felt because no one knew and she didn't even tell Makoto any of this either.

Akira gestures to Arsene to come back and he does. Then he presses the app again making them go back to reality, "No, only persona-users can hear him in the real world. Anyway, this should be enough proof that I'm being truthful. Also, when me and you went into the Metaverse, it was just us. So, I could have easily taken you down and escape but I didn't because I have nothing to hide."

She sighs and nods knowing that he was right and that she had no arguments about what he had shown her and said, "You are correct. You have given me enough proof that I can trust you. But I still can't believe that there is actually this other world."

He shrugs, "I thought the same...but I seen it with my two eyes...and now you have."

She nods, "How did you come to find this 'Metaverse' then?"

"When I was walking to Shujin Acadamy...I ran into another student and we were running late. So, they showed me a shortcut but...once we reached the end of the shortcut. We saw that the school turned into a...castle and the sky was red. When we made it out...My phone started talking saying that we returned to reality...and I figured it out that it was the app brought us there."

She looks at him confused, "So you just happened to have it when you came here and why was the school turned into castle?"

He couldn't tell her the truth because that would have made him look crazy because there was no evidence to show her, "Yes...and the subway accident happened before I got here...because I heard about it on the way here...And for why the school was the castle, well that was because Kamoshida thought the school was his castle...Basically if you think of a place in a certain way it becomes... like that and you become the ruler of it, in the Metaverse. We call it...a palace...And you think of the court room as a...game that you have to win...so your palace was a casino...like Arsene says."

She looks at him surprised and looks down "I can't believe I'm saying this but you are correct..." She shakes her head, "But we have no time to talk about that. So, about the subway accident, you were saying there may be someone who has this ability before you?"

He nods, "Yeah and it's Akechi..."

Her eyes go wide, "Akechi!? Do you have proof of that?"

He nods, "We have recording of him admitting...to doing the crimes and he's been the one to sabotage us...he also knows about the Metaverse...and he tried to hide it from us...until he heard Arsene speak about wanting to try pancakes...because you can't hear a persona outside the Metaverse unless you are a persona-user."

She looks at him confused about Akechi and pancakes being his downfall, "Because he has a persona as well, correct?"

He smiles, "Correct...and why would an innocent person hide something...to people who have the same power...?"

She nods, "But how did you know that it was him besides the...pancakes?"

"Because one of our targets, Ichiryusai Madarame, told us if someone in a black mask...was coming to kill him. Which confused us all..."

She looks at him confused, "Someone wearing a black mask? So Akechi wore a black mask doing all this?"

He nods even though he honestly didn't know what Akechi looked like as the black mask but it would be better to just say yes instead of her getting a reason to question it, "At first...we didn't believe him. We just thought...he was trying to confuse us...but that's when Junya Kaneshiro talked about them as well. But what made me start to believe that they were telling the truth...was the principal's 'suicide'."

She nods, "That's when the citizens started to question if you were really about justice and it put you on the map."

"Yeah...but you must have known that the principal's death doesn't fit...our M/O, correct?"

She nods, "Yes, you wouldn't start killing since your stealing hearts technique was working. So why would you need to kill him and put yourselves on the map? But what made me believe it was you, was the calling card found in his office."

He nods, "Yeah, we were confused about it...but it wasn't us. It was a setup...so it would look like...he was telling the police about the calling card...giving us a reason to kill him...but if we were going to kill him...we would have just killed him in the Metaverse...We use the calling card...so we can steal their treasure...Besides, I was in Hawaii for our school trip and we only went after the people...who were number one on the Phansite...The principal wasn't even on the list...Akechi was the one who did it."

"That makes the most sense and when Akechi saw that it didn't work as well as he thought it would. He goes after Kunikazu Okumura when you changed his heart. By changing his heart first and then killing him during the announcement then it actually looks like you killed him with any discrepancies." She didn't question about him being in Hawaii because Makoto was depressed about seeing him and his girlfriend together during the trip.

"Exactly and...look what happened when he did."

"Yes. Everyone started hating the phantom thieves and the police got so desperate to find you that they put a three-million-yen bounty on you. I was promoted to go after you in full force and I was so desperate to capture the phantom thieves to gain our reputation back that I decided to use your criminal record as a scapegoat if I couldn't capture them so I can finally say that I captured them." She looks away, "I can't believe that I almost did that...even though you are the leader...it goes against everything that I once was..."

He smiles, "It's okay. Anyway, the reason why he...wanted to sabotage us was because he was trying to trick us... Because he knew that I'm the leader of the phantom thieves..." When he sees the shock look on her face, he can tell that Akechi didn't tell her that, "Let me guess...he didn't tell you...that he knew about me being the leader...of the phantom thieves?"

She looks down shaking her head, "So he was hiding things from me..."

He nods, "Yeah...he was trying to trick my team...by getting me arrested...and coming here to kill me...so the team would disband..."

Her eyes go wide, "He's coming here to kill you? But how!?"

"Like...I said...before...he's working with some...one that controls...the police..." He then holds his head in pain.

She leans forward in worriment, "Are you okay? Are the drugs starting to take full effect?"

He shakes his head, "I think so...anyway, he should be here soon..." He looks at the phone, "So show him my phone...it will..." He grunts in pain again.

She grabs his shoulder and lightly shakes him, "Hey! Stay with me!"

He slowly puts his head up, "Sorry..." He shakes his head, "Just show him the phone...one of my confidants will bring you and Akechi to the Metaverse...once you feel the headache again...leave...I know it sounds...weird...but one of my confidants will play the recorded message...of Akechi talking about...his crimes...and killing me...then follow her instructions...afterwards. I...will explain...everything...afterwards..."

Sae looks at him confused at first but nods, "Okay. If what you say is true then I'll come back to get you out." She grabs the phone and walks outside.

"We did it..." "Not yet, we still have to make it back to Leblanc." "..." "Akira?" Akira passes out from the drugs and the pain.

Later That Day

Leblanc Café

Ann was getting impatient because after hearing the news report of Akira's 'suicide', she quickly left her photoshoot and walked to Leblanc Café to not draw attention. So now she was walking back and forth in the café hoping that Akira made it out safe.

Sojiro was seething in anger after hearing the news, "Who's idea was it for Akira to get arrested to bait a murderer!?"

Ann sighs, "All of ours..."

"And you didn't think that this plan may not have worked!?" He points at the TV which is reporting Akira's 'suicide'.

Ann glares at him, "Of course I did! You didn't think that risking the man I love's life wouldn't affect me!?"

He sighs and holds his head feeling a headache coming on, "Look. Why didn't you just let Makoto give the recording to her sister and Akira would admit that he's a Phantom thief and show her how you changed people's hearts. Wouldn't that be truth enough for her? You didn't need for him to get arrested!"

Ann shook her head, "We needed to know who Akechi's boss is..."

"That's why you would have interrogated him here with Makoto's sister!"

Ann shakes her head, "Cause we had to get Akechi off our backs! Why can't you understand that!?"

That's when the door opens and Sae walks in with Akira leaning on her.

"Akira!" "Arsey!" Ann quickly walks to them and sees him bruised up with his pupils diluted, "What did you do to him!?" "You didn't need to hurt him!"

Sae shakes her head, "Nothing. It was his interrogators. They beat him and drugged him."

Sojiro quickly walks to them, "They were trying to get him confess to crimes that he didn't commit and they wanted to teach him a lesson also." He puts Akira's arm over his shoulders.

Ann held his face, "Akira, it's okay, you're safe now..." "Akira...Arsene...I was so worried about both of you..."

Akira looked at her giving her a weak smile, "Yeah...our plan...actually worked..." "We're sorry that we worried you."

Sae looks at him, "Your plan?"

Ann looks at her, "We needed you to trust Akira because you were the only way we could trick Akechi. Basically, it's something about your cognitive mind making a fake Akira so Akechi would think he was killing the real one. Getting him off our back."

Sae was still confused and looks at Akira, "The Metaverse makes an actual person out of my thoughts but I that it was only the place?"

Ann nods, "There's someone on our team that can explain it more."

Sae gives her a small smile, "Understood." She looks at Akira, "Once you get better. I'll come back so you can tell me more about the Metaverse. Just inform Makoto when you are." She turns around to leave.

Akira stops her, "Wait...Before you go...can you just talk to your sister? She's worries about you...all the time and she's not trying to not...be a burden to you. She's just trying to...live her life without disappointing you...but there's no reason to place all your problems on her...she didn't ask for it either..."

She looks at him in shock but looks down, "You are right. I need to go apologize to Makoto for the things I said to her." She looks up, "Thank you for watching over her. I know you mean a lot to her." She smiles, "Please let me know when you are well so we can talk about the case. Good night everyone." She leaves.

Sojiro sighs, "Will you be able to take Akira upstairs to the attic? I'm going to grab Dr. Takumi so he can heal him here, just to be safe."

Ann nods, "Yeah, I got him." Sojiro lifts Akira's arm and puts it over Ann's shoulders then he leaves.

After he left, Ann starts crying making Akira worry, "What's wrong...?"

"I-I was so worried...I kept thinking to myself that you weren't able to convince Sae or Akechi found out...and that Robin told him..."

Akira chuckles, "Do you really doubt my charms...?" "Now's not the time for jokes Akira." Arsene whispers. When he saw her not laughing or smiling, he knew that Arsene was right, "It's okay Ann...we got pass the hard part...and as you can see Robin didn't say anything."

Ann nods, "You're right, it's just seeing you like this..." "Hurts the both of us." "You didn't need to finish my sentence."

"I understand...but like you said...I'm safe now..."

An hour later

After Sojiro and Tae left, Akira had bandages wrapped around his abdomen laying down with Ann who had her arms around his shoulders to not hurt him and soon the drugs started to slowly leave his system. He started to feel a little bit better enough to talk without having a hard time.

"So it was kind of my fault...that I have bruised ribs." "You shouldn't have kept antagonizing them."

Ann sighs, "I can't believe that they tried to force a confession out of you even though they say that we force confessions out of people..." "Not only that, they'll beat a person and drug them for a false confession."

"Well they're a bunch of hypocrites...Anyway, all I had to do was show her the Metaverse and Arsene. She believed me afterwards because...she couldn't come up with any arguments about it." "Well what arguments can you really make about an alternate world?"

Ann laughs, "Well that was a good idea to just show her than just trying to use words to make her trust you." "Why would anyone do anything other than that? If you have the evidence, show them."

"Well I...kind of had to throw you guys under the bus as a backup..." "If she still didn't trust him for some reason. He was going to unlock his phone and give her all the messages."

Ann lets go of him and glares at him, "Why would you do that!?" "Why would you let him do that Arsene!?"

Akira puts his hands up, "Well what else was I supposed...to do as backup?" "He didn't do it but he's right. There was no other way as a backup."

She rolls her eyes and turns around, "Fine then...but you don't get to kiss me tonight then as punishment." "No goodnight from me tonight Arsene."

He pouts, "Fine. I didn't want to kiss you anyways and you wouldn't last a night." "Carme..."

After a bit, Ann turns around and kisses him, "You suck..." "Goodnight...Arsey."

He chuckles, "I told you you wouldn't last." "Goodnight, Carme."

The Next Day

Sojiro was reading the newspaper as usual. Soon he sighs after reading an article about the 'suicide' of Akira making him remember that he had gotten mad at Ann for not telling him about their plan for Akechi. Because after Akira saved Futaba from her room and helping her become more sociable. He started seeing Akira as a son and it would have devastated him like the loss of Wakaba did, if he did actually die.

Soon the bell over the entrance rang indicating that a customer walked in and once the door closed, he heard a soothing female voice, "Excuse me but are you Sojiro Sakura?"

"Hmm?" Sojiro looks over at the customer and sees a beautiful mature woman with black hair with some grey hairs done up in a bun wearing a black businesswoman's suit and coat. He also saw a young woman with a black eye was wearing a pink beanie, black hoodie and pink jean pants with a worried look on her face, "Yes and what does a beautiful woman like yourself want with me?"

She smiles warmly at him, "Well I was just wondering if I could see my son. You are his guardian after all."

The newspaper drops and Sojiro looks at her with wide eyes, "You're Akira's mother..."

"Yep! I'm Reiko Kurusu and it's a pleasure to meet you finally." She holds out her hand to him.

He grabs it still in shock and shakes it, "I don't understand why you're here though. Didn't you disown Akira?"

She lets go of his hand and looks down in sadness, "No...that was my husband...I tried to convince him to not disown him but he would have none of it. It got to the point that he would check my phone all the time just to see if I called him. But that's when he told me that he argued with a girl that cared about Akira and when he told me what he said to her, it made me lash out at him so I decided to not care if he found out so I came her since this is my only day off this month." She looks back up to him sighing, "I took a chance to be here so can I please just see my son? I miss him so much."

Sojiro smiles, "Okay, I believe you. I just hope Akira doesn't get angry again. How much time do you have because he, uh, fell down same stairs and he's sleeping with his girlfriend who gets angry when you wake her up."

The girl in the pink hoodie's head shot up after hearing that and then looks down, "I should have known..."

Reiko sighs looking at the girl, "I'm sorry dear but it was your fault for pushing him away at first even if it wasn't your true thoughts."

The girl nods slowly and sits down on a chair at the end of the counter.

Reiko sits on a chair at the other end, "Anyway, since I have the day off and my husband is at work, I have a couple of hours." She smiles at him, "May I get some coffee? I heard that your coffee is the best."

"Sure thing." Sojiro makes her his best coffee.

She takes a sip and her eyes light up, "This is really good! No wonder why you're always recommended."

Sojiro laughs, "Thanks for that. I take my coffee skills very seriously. I've been asking Akira for help around here and he's a really good kid, very respectful."

She smiles sadly, "Yes, a little bit too much though." She sighs, "It's because of his father making him believe that respect is the only thing that should matter and he made him focus on his studies instead of enjoying his school life. Don't get me wrong, I want him to study as well, but there should be a balance between study and fun."

Sojiro nods, "I agree but he's been having a great time here and even made a lot of friends and like I said before, he's got a girlfriend here as well, well it's more like it will soon be more than that. As well as keeping his grades up." The girl quickly left the Café confusing him, "Who is that?"

"Well I wouldn't say Akira's ex-girlfriend because they weren't really official so more like his first love."

He chuckles, "Never thought he would have someone in his hometown."

"Hey! My son can be a Casanova if he wanted to! Anyway, I lashed out at her after Akira left because of what she did to him but after a few months, she finally came around apologizing so much so I felt sorry for her because she wants to apologize to him."

He nods and then hears footsteps up in the attic, "I think they're up, I can call him down if want me to."

Reiko smiles, "Please do."

Sojiro nods and looks at the celling, "Hey Akira, there's a package for you!"

After a little bit, Akira walks downstairs and walks towards Sojiro, "Good morning Sojiro. You said that you had a package for me?"

He chuckles, "Yeah but first I want to introduce you to someone."

Reiko got up standing behind Akira ,"Hello my son, it's been a while."

Akira's eyes go wide hearing the voice and he quickly turns around seeing his mother, "M-Mother!?"

"Yes…" Reiko starts crying and hugs him, "I missed you so much my son!"

He was beyond shocked to feel the pain from her hug, "B-But…I thought you disowned me…?"

"Of course not…I would never abandon you. You will always be my son and I'll explain in a bit what happened."

Akira starts crying and hugs her back, "Mom…"

Even Sojiro had to wipe tears away from their reunion.

She pulls away and looks at his face seeing it bruised, "Wait! Who hurt you!?"

Akira gulped forgetting about the bruises, "Uh, I, uh, fell down some stairs..." "Would she fall for that?"

"Don't you lie to me!" She glares at Sojiro, "Did you hit him!?"

Sojiro looks at her in shock, "What!? Don't be ridiculous. He did fall downstairs because his girlfriend got too excited and she tripped accidently pushing him downstairs."

That's when Ann appeared from upstairs, "Akira? Did you just scream mom?" She then she's him hugging a woman, "What's going on!?" "A older woman this time!?"

Akira pulls away and smiles at Ann, "Its okay Anki."

Reiko turns around smiling at Ann making her gasp because the woman looks like a feminine Akira, "So you're my son's new love and I must say, that I already approve."

Ann slowly walks the rest of the way down, "I can't believe it! But I thought you disowned him!?"

Reilo shakes her head, "No…his father did. I think I should explain now." She sits in the booth and the couple sits across from her, "After you left, I ran to me and your father's room and cried till I fell asleep but during the whole time before I fell asleep, I saw tears in your father's eyes as well. But then the next day, things went downhill…"

"Let me guess, everyone started looking down on you two?"

She nods, "Yes…they started saying that we should be put in jail and that we're piece of shit parents who raised a criminal, amongst other things. Anyway, I didn't care for them but it got to your father since he had the respect of everyone and you know how he is about it. So, the next day, that's when your father came up with the idea of disowning you to get our respect back. I tried convincing him not to do it but he wouldn't listen to me. It was like he was a different person and he was dead set on making sure that you were never part of the family. He would even check my phone everyday just to see if I called you..."

Akira looks down and Ann has the look of disgust, "Father..." "Geez, that's beyond creepy..."

She nods, "I was worried about calling you or coming here to visit..." She looks at Ann, "But that's when my husband tells me about the argument between you and him a month ago and some words got exchanged and because of you, I stopped caring what my husband thought." She turns back to Akira, "Anyway, that's why I had to come here to see you...I'm sorry it took me forever...and being worried about your father finding out..."

Akira smiles, "It's okay. I don't care how long it would have take. As long as you didn't disown me, that's all that matters to me."

Reiko smiles back, "I'm glad to hear that my son. So since I have sometime maybe you can tell me how's life been here so far besides the false criminal record. I've heard it's been great for you."

Akira nods, "Of course, it's been great so far. I've actually became a model, I start next year."

She is shocked, "What!? My son became a model?!"

Ann laughs, "Yep! My family are fashion designers and I sometimes model for their clothes!"

"Oh wow! My son is a model and his girlfriend is one too. Honestly, it seems like you're doing better here than at home."

Akira nods, "To be honest, yes I am." He looks down, "But I still miss my other friends..." He looks back up, "Have any of them asked for me at least. Did Emily?"

She shakes her head, "No, they didn't want anything to do with you. Anyway, don't worry about them." She smiles obliviously hiding a surprise from him, "Now can you please go outside? I want to talk to my future daughter-in-law alone." Ann smiles big after hearing that.

Akira nods and leaves.

Once he leaves, Reiko turns to Ann, "So...have you two...?"

Ann looks at her confused, "Have we what?"

"Oh come on now. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

"She means love making." She blushes, "Oh! Um, n-not yet..."

"Really? After being together for this long?"

"W-Well, I have a special day for our first and it's on his birthday."

Reiko smiles, "Well now. So that means you'll be having a child around July or August."

Ann's face went even redder, "W-What!?" "Well she is pushier than your mother."

"Why are you being so shy? Didn't you and Akira talk about this?"

"I'm going to surprise Akira about our first time and we haven't really talked about children."

Reiko laughs, "Well I was messing with you. You both are too young to have children so enjoy your life." She then looks at her with a serious look, "Now how was my son when you told him about his father's disownment?"

Ann gulps, "Well um..." "Should we lie or would she know?"

"He was more upset about us not telling him so he went off on me and Ann for good reason. But it all hit him afterwards and he just went into a depression for about a couple of weeks but Ann helped him through it after ."

Reiko turns to Ann smiling, "Thank you for being there for him. If it wasn't for you, I know that he would have done something worst than depression..."

Ann flinches from that, "Yeah...it almost did..." "It will be best not to tell her..." "Of course! We always have to be there for the one that we love!"

"That's what I want to hear from my son's girlfriend!" She smiles, "So, I heard that you soon may be more than girlfriend and boyfriend?"

She blushes bright red, "Y-Yep!" She shows her hand with the ring on her ring finger, "He gave it to me for my birthday!"

Reiko smiles, "So when shall I start the wedding plans?"

Ann couldn't get even more redder, "I, uh, I..." She was too shocked by the words wedding to think of anything. Carmen laughs, "A wedding will be so great! Especially with you too."

Sojiro chuckles, "Well I think you broke her."

Earlier

Outside the Café

The pink hooded girl was sitting next to the entrance of the café with her knees bent towards her with her head on her thighs, "Why did I even come back? I should have known he would forget about me and...find someone new..." That's when she hears the door to the café open making her quickly look up to see who it was and she gasps seeing who it was, "Akira..." She says quietly but notices that he had bruises all around his face which surprised her. But that wasn't important right now for her.

Akira smiles, "I can't believe mother never disowned me. I just wish that everyone else didn't..." "I say to just take it one step at a time."

The young girl got up slowly, "She's not the only one..."

Akira's eyes go wide hearing the voice and turned towards her, "E-Emily!?" "So you're mother was trying to surprise you."

She lowers her hood and it was indeed Emily with the blonde hair with black highlights done up in a ponytail, "Yeah...I-It's me..."

Akira couldn't believe it, "You really came to here but I thoug...

Emily starts crying and hugs him making him stop talking, "I'm so sorry! I know I said you're dead to me! But that wasn't my true thoughts! It was like my mind was clouded or something! But I know you'll never forgive me or you'll forever hate me but I just wanted to see you again and apologize!"

Akira hugged her back still trying to understand what she said and was going to ask why she had a black eye but he needed to comfort her first, "It's okay...I forgive you."

She gasps and looks at him surprised, "Y-You do!?"

"Yeah, you being here and apologizing for what you said and my mother brought you here so that's enough proof for me. Besides, I was going to come back to our town and ask you why you felt that way and hoped that we can be at least friends again. But what do you mean by your mind being clouded?"

She looks down, "It was like someone kept telling me that you were a criminal and to not trust you because you'll do the same to me..."

"Okay...that's really weird." "Yes, it is. It's like before. Someone is definitely trying to get you to forget your hometown." "Yeah...but why?" "What made you realize this voice was wrong?"

"After what happened, I would spend time thinking that you were a terrible person but as more time past, I started missing you more and more; I would look at our photos together, think about our time together and how much I loved you. That's when the voice in my head started to go away and my true feelings came back. Like I had a some sort of change of heart. Kind of like what those phantom thieves that are popular now do."

"Wow...she changed her own heart." "This is too much of a coincidence..." He smiles, "Thank you for coming around."

"Yup! I've been so wanting to see you again and hear your voice! It's just...I never called you or visited you because I was scared that you hated me...I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, I understand. But what happened with everyone else?"

She sighs, "Jiro...he's been convincing people that you're an abuser and some worthless criminal. So now everyone hates you including me at first but it's so weird how he was able to trick everyone..." She looks away, "He also...gave me a black eye when I said that I was coming here saying that I was just a dumb bitch for still loving you..."

"He hit you!?" Akira grits his teeth in contained anger and tries to calm down, "Of course he would..." "Remember I don't condone violence but for this person; I allow it."

"It's okay...I'm just going to avoid him and he can't say anything because I have proof. Anyways, our mom asked if I wanted to go see you so this was my chance to make things right...but I know we can never be together again...because you have a new...g-girlfriend..."

"I know...I'm sorry but I will never leave her."

She nods sadly, "I know you already. There were girls at our own school that would try to get with you but you ignored them for me even when we didn't confess yet. I guess that's why I figured you fell for me. But all I want is for us to be at least friends again."

He smiles, "Of course, that's what I want as well."

"Thank you! I'm so happy to hear that!" She looks down, "I know this may sound crazy but could I talk to your girlfriend?"

"Yeah let me go get..." He sees the door open and Ann walks away making Akira pull away, "Hey Ann."

Ann turns towards him, "Your moth..." She stops when she sees the same girl that Akira described from his hometown, "Emily!?" "She actually came here!?" "Ooooo, are you going to tell her off!?"

"Um, hello, you must be Akira's new girlfriend. I'm Emily Haruka!" She holds out her hand to her.

"Okay. I'm Ann Takamaki." She slowly shakes her hand.

"Nice to meet cha! Thank you for looking after Akira and loving him...I know it's because of me that he had to deal with distrust...but it was because my mind was clouded! So I said all those things to Akira but I'm willing to make up for it by letting you have him and not trying to get back with him!" She looks down shaking her head, "That sounded dumber than when I thought about it..."

"Yeah." For some reason, Ann couldn't get mad at her, "You at least admit what you did was wrong so I guess I can't be mad at you especially when you're trying to make up for it."

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome." "Should we trust her?" "I'm not sure, she doesn't seem like she's lying plus she has a black eye maybe it was Jiro?" "Or it could be fake..."

Akira smiles seeing them get along well and that's when he sees the others coming towards them.

Makoto quickly walks over to him and hugs him, "I'm so happy you're okay. I was so worried until my sister told me what happened yesterday." "Makoto-san cried the whole time till sis came back. What did you say to her to make her apologize to Makoto-san?"

Akira hugs her back grunting from the pain, "Yeah...it's good to be back but can you stop squeezing me..." "It wasn't hard since she wasn't a bad person in the first place."

She pulls away from him, "Oh! I'm sorry. Sis told me what they did to you..." "Makoto-san said the same thing."

Emily steps next to Akira looking at him in worry and finally sees the bruises, "Oh Yeah! I forgot to ask you about your bruises! What happened!?"

Ryuji looks at her confused, "Who are you?" "Another lass?"

Yusuke's eyes go wide remember that she was the same girl that Akira described Emily, "Ah! You're Emily, aren't you?" "Ah! Akira's ex."

Everyone who didn't know gasped

Futaba quickly walked up to Emily, "You hurt Akira!" "You're a big meanie!"

Emily looks down, "You guys must be Akira's new friends." She looks back up, I know I hurt him but let me at least explain." She tells them what she told Akira.

Makoto nods slowly, "Well I can't say anything bad about what you did because I did the same thing, just not as bad. So, I can understand why Akira forgives you. He did the same with me."

Futaba looks down, "I guess I'll forgive you...but only because Akira does." "But if you hurt him again, I will find some way to hurt you!"

Ryuji looks at Akira, "But didn't Akira try to kil...owe!" Makoto elbows his side making him glare at her, "Really!?" "She doesn't need to hear that lad."

"Forgiveness..." Morgana looks down. "I will never forgive Arsene for stealing Carmen..." Zorro mumbles.

Haru smiles, "I'm glad that you woke up from your clouded thoughts and came to visit Akira to tell him and apologize to him." "I swear I don't get you people. You forgive way too easily. She could be tricking Akira. Speaking of which, are you going to do this with Akechi?" "No, he's a murderer...a murderer who killed my father..."

Akira smiles and looks at Emily, "Well I guess you're part of the group now." "I never thought you'd be saying that to her."

Emily smiles and nods, "You guys are really nice and cool! No wonder why you're Akira's friends!"

That's when the café door opens again and Reiko steps out seeing all the teens, "Oh what's this now? I'm guessing you're all Akira's new friends."

Ryuji looks at her surprised, "Whoa dude! Who's the that!? She's hot!" "Aye! That she is!"

Yusuke nods, "Yes she is." Haru looks down in sadness which he notices, "N-Not as beautiful as you my dove!" "Good save."

Morgana meows happily, "She's even more beautiful than Lady Ann!" "I want her to be mine more than Carmen!"

Reiko smiles, "Well I love the compliments boys. Anyway, I'm Akira's mother; Reiko Kurusu."

Everyone that didn't know looked at her with wide eyes.

Ryuji shook his head out of shock, "Holy crap! Now I see it! You look like a female Akira!" "Really lad? That's what you came up with?"

Makoto starts fixing her outfit, "I can't believe I'm meeting Akira's mother." She walks up to her and holds out her hand, "I'm Makoto Nijima." "Aw...I want to meet her..."

Reiko smiles shaking her hand, "Why hello there, Makoto-chan. You seem excited to meet me."

Makoto nods, "Yes, I have high respect for Akira and I wanted to meet the person who gave him his kindness."

Reiko chuckles, "Well if respect is the way you say love then I'm sure it's high."

Makoto looks at her in shock, "How did you...

Reiko interrupts her, "A mother knows dear."

That's when Futaba marches up to her, "Why did you abandon Akira!?" "Yeah!"

Reiko shook her head, "No, I would never abandon my son." She explains everything.

Futaba nods, "Okay...I'm Futaba Sakura. Akira's like a big brother to me." "And Arney is like a big brother to me!" "She can't hear you."

Reiko smiles big and gives Futaba a big hug, "Oh my goodness, you are so cute!"

"C-Can't...breathe..."

Reiko instantly lets go of her and clears her throat, "Sorry about that, I tend to lose myself from cute things..."

Akira laughs, "Well guys, that's my mother for you."

She walks up to him and hugs him, "Oh hush dear. Anyway, I have to get back just in case, you're father senses me here or something. I'm so glad I got to see you again but I have a feeling that you want to stay here even after the year is up."

He hugs her back, "Yeah, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay...I understand." She lets go of him, "I will try to convince your father to stop being an ass and let you come home again. Hopefully he will come to understand. When I'm able to, I'll come back and visit."

Akira nods, "Well if nothing works, I'm going to come visit when my probation is up and I'll talk to him myself."

"That sounds like a good idea." She turns to Emily, "Are you ready dear?"

Emily nods looking down, "Yeah...I guess."

Akira hugs her, "Hey don't be like that. You can come visit anytime."

She hugs him back, "Thanks. I'm so glad you want me in your life still...even if it's just as friends..."

Akira knew that she wanted to be together again and he would have straight away, if he never met Ann or Makoto. He pulls away, "Well you can at least say I can fully be happy again now that at least you and my mother are back in my lives again."

Ann clenched her fists and gritted her teeth when he said that Emily is the reason for him being fully happy again.

Reiko looks at the others, "Well then my son's friends. I hope to see you again and I'll make you all a feast when everything goes back to normal." Everyone cheered from that, "Well I'm happy to hear such enthusiasm! Farewell everyone and my future daughter-in-law. Good luck in December and don't forget, I want to meet your parents!"

Ann blushes at that, "T-Thanks...and of course!" "I love her!"

Emily waves at them, "See ya guys! Keep taking care of Akira for me!" Her and Reiko turn around to leave after everyone says yes and their goodbyes to them. But once Emily turns around, tears start forming from her eyes

Reiko puts her arm around her shoulders in comfort, "I'm sorry dear but at least you can be friends with him still." She says quietly.

Emily nods, "Yeah...it was nice to see him again...at least."

After they turned the corner, Ryuji looks at Akira, "Man, your mom is awesome! If I met her before, I wouldn't had believe she would disown you." "She be the perfect lass to have as a shipmate." Kidd whispers "You have a thing for Akira's mom!?" "Aye! But not as much as that Doctor lass!"

Akira laughs, "Well now you know why I act the way I do. My mother is the reason why I'm not heartless and care about people." "As well as charms."

Yusuke nods, "And you got you beauty and charms from her as well." "No lies."

Haru giggles at that, "Did you just call Akira beautiful?" "Well I always figured that he fancied men more than girls." "That's Enough; Milady!"

"I did not. I was merely making an observation." "Just observations."

Futaba walks up to Akira, "Can't your mom be with Sojiro instead?" "Yeah! That way we can be like a real family!"

Akira laughs, "No but it would be interesting." "I think we're good with enough surprises this year."

Makoto looks at Akira, "I'm surprised that you forgave Emily so easily." "That's probably because it doesn't seem like she came here with ill intentions."

Akira nods at her, "Yeah. If she did that. She would have brought Jiro and my friends here to harass me." "It's good that she wants to be friends with you." "Yeah." He turns to Ann, "So how do you feel about Emily?"

Ann looks at him surprised, "Huh? Oh, yeah, she seems like an a nice person now so I'm okay with her and she did apologize to you." "You're lying dear." "And? I don't like the way she was holding him, that's all."

Akira smiles, "That's great to hear." He turns to everyone, "Before we talk about Akechi, I have something to tell you guys." He says in a serious voice.

"Based off of what my mother and Emily said. My father doesn't want anything to do to me because I ruined his reputation and Jiro is spreading lies about me and I know why he's doing it because of his jealously of me and Emily. So, I've made my decision...I want to change my father's and Jiro's heart after we take down Akechi and his boss."