I do not own the Persona series or High School DxD. Everything belongs to their respected owners.
All of the Phantom Thieves and their guest had expected a calm afternoon. Each of them already having their own plans in mind for the rest of the day without anything to distract them.
But the people sitting in front of them… slightly deviated from that kind of atmosphere. But at least they did not make things very chaotic. Aside from the breaking and entering, ignoring the needs of government issues when it came down to reconstruction of their building, and forcing all of the former residents to move out to better areas while paying them off, it wasn't that bad.
"Never expected to see you all so soon… and with your leader to boot as well it seems. As well as… a companion of his." Akira noted the six figures around the couch opposite of the couch he occupied himself in what he could call the… meeting and or lobby area of this new building.
The leader of the Grigori had himself seated on the couch in the center. Dohnaseek was there as well, sitting to the left of the leader of the Fallen Angels. Raynare, Kalawarner, and Mittelt were all standing behind the couch, having looks that refused to make eye contact with the Phantom Thieves occupying the space at the moment.
There was a completely new person though that none of them were aware of or even knew. He was introduced as Vali and was considered… pretty handsome Akira had to admit (he couldn't believe he had to mentally say that). The young man had dark silver hair and light blue eyes. He wore a dark green V-neck shirt with a high-collared black leather jacket over it. The man also wore burgundy jeans with a silver chain drooping down over them and black leather chaps with three bands encircling his right calf and black shoes with black buckles.
"Throw in the fact that you," Makoto looked over to Azazel who was just sitting casually with his back against the support of the couch. "Also changed our apartments into… a mansion." She was nearly at a loss for words when it came down to those final bits. "Although I feel like I should thank you, there is still the issue about an invasion of our privacy and property."
"Oh come now," Azazel waved his hand dismissively. "You managed to stop a few of my Fallen Angels from committing a war as well as sparing them. I had to owe you all back somehow. Plus, there was also the fact that they had gone against orders." He looked over to the three standing and the female fallen continued to look away with ashamed looks.
"That can't be the only reason why you are here." Morgana stated, getting comfortable in Futaba's lap. "You would have most likely simply turned this place into a better condo rather than an entire mansion for just the eight of us."
"He's got a point." Ryuji noted, sitting on the arm of the couch most of the Phantom Thieves occupied. "You could have just done what you needed to do, say some stuff, and leave. But you're just lounging around the place. What's up with that?"
"Well, I just wanted to meet the very Phantom Thieves of Hearts live and in person." Azazel admitted, looking at each and every present one with an observant look in his eyes. "I certainly wouldn't have expected them to be a bunch of humans though with all that kind of news about the changes in people hearts. Even that prime minister guy was included."
As the talking continued, Ann kept a bit quiet as she stared at the three Fallen Angels that had harmed Asia. Looking over to her fellow blonde, she tapped the shorter girl's shoulder and got her attention quietly. "Hey, are you okay?" Ann asked.
"Hmm?" Asia asked, looking up to the Phantom Thief. Seeing Ann gesture over to the three Fallen, the girl was quiet for a couple of seconds. A few emotions ran through her face, but then she settled for a gentle smile. "Yes. It looks like they have learned their lesson, so there is no need to be so angry at them. Plus, you are all here as well to keep me safe."
Ann stared for a bit before chuckling and patting Asia's head.
"Hey, Yuske, everything okay, man?" Ryuji turned over towards the blue-haired character who was just staring at Azazel. "You're really quiet right now."
The boy didn't answer the blonde's question. Instead, he brought out a small notepad and pencil to move his fingers around quickly. "I was just making a mental comparison to Azazel-san in front of us as well as… another familiar figure." He said as he brought out an image he had just drawn up.
"…" Akira snorted after a short pause due to the picture Yusuke had drawn.
"Is that Azazel with…" Ryuji trailed off due to doing his best to stifle his laughter.
"Yes, with Sensei's facial hair. Quite an amusing sight don't you agree?" Yuskue chuckled.
Ann meanwhile was giggling. "Can you imagine what he would be like in that make-up as well?"
"Is everyone enjoying themselves?"
Everyone looked up and saw Haru carrying a rather large tray that everyone from Tokyo knew they never had before carrying several cups filled with a steaming liquid and other precious bits made of fine ceramic. "I've made coffee for everyone. I know how all of you like it," She nodded over to her friends before looking over to the Fallen company. "However I do not know your own preferences so that's why I left some sugar and milk on the side."
"You need some help with that, Haru?" Ryuji asked as the heiress was still carrying the tray but began setting it down gently.
"No need to worry, Ryuji-kun." Haru shook her head as she began grabbing cup for each of their guests. "This is for Azazel-san… Could you pass these over to Mittelt-chan, Kalawarner-san, and Raynare-san? Thank you, Dohnaseek-san. Here's yours as well." She passed over the cups to the following before she gently offered one to one of the silent figures of the group, Vali. "Would you like some coffee as well, Vali-kun?"
The young man raised an eyebrow at the offer and honorific that was used but silently took the cup. Perhaps in a moment of showing good manners. Sipping the liquid, he silently hummed. It was pretty good he had to admit. There was a complexity to the flavor but enough to satisfy greatly and not leave a bad taste in the mouth.
Staring at his reflection in the liquid for a second, he noticed someone else in the liquid. Looking up, he saw Haru with a frown on her face. "You seem… a bit grumpy, Vali-kun. Is everything okay?" She asked.
He blinked before shaking his head. "No." Vali stated. "I was just thinking about how good the coffee was." He couldn't see it due to eye contact with the girl, but Vali knew that Azazel was wearing a shit-eating grin at the moment.
A look of relief washed over Haru as she began to walk back next to her friends. Vali took a sip of his coffee again but tilted his head down to drink the liquid. Doing so managed to get him to eye the heiress' butt. It caused him to pause mid-sip as he watched Haru moved around. "Hmm…" He unconsciously let out a verbal hum as he stared at her bottom until she turned around. He then turned his attention back to the coffee.
Akira seemed to be the only one to notice this as he was giving Vali a weird look.
"All that aside though," Azazel seemed to bring the atmosphere to the meeting as everyone had a cup of coffee in their hand or on the table. "The main reason I'm also here is because of your Personas."
There it was. The ball dropper. The one sentence to make everyone go silent in shock or realization. Honestly though, they should have seen it coming. Their Personas were indeed the main reason to why the Phantom Thieves would be the point of interest after all. "What about them?" Akira asked curiously.
Azazel chuckled, bringing his fingers up. "Arsene…" He looked over to Akira. "Zorro…" The man eyed Morgana in Futaba's lap. "Necronomicon…" He looked up to the orange-haired girl. "Carmen…" Eyes drifted to Ann. "Finally, Johanna…" The man looked at the brunette as he counted them out before placing his hands down. "Did Kalawarner tell you something about Johanna being a legend?"
"Yes, she did." Makoto nodded her head in response to the question, slightly confused to the situation at the moment. "She mentioned some stuff about how Johanna was a great figure in the Fallen Angel community before retreating to aid Raynare-san. But they're supposed to be nothing more than stories."
"Legends have to start somewhere right?" Azazel only smiled in response, leaving his sentence at that.
All of the Phantom Thieves looked at each other as they thought about what the leader had meant. "Wait a minute…" Ann was the first to react. "Are you telling us that Johanna was an actual person?!"
"That's right." The leader of the Fallen Angels nodded his head, getting a shocked looked from Kalawarner and surprise from everyone else.
"But… those are supposed to be legends… myths… fantasies!" Kalawarner protested.
"Again, legends have to start somewhere." Azazel held his hands up to calm the situation down. "However, there are a couple more issues I still have to go over." He dug into his jacket and pulled out a few books. Tossing them onto the table, he gestured. "Take a look at them."
Every one of the humans looked at each other before grabbing the books that were spaced out for them. Each of them went for a specific book though. "Arsene Lupin…?" Akira asked as he eyed the book and opened the pages. "…This was made a long time ago." He noted the date it was first published.
"This book about Zorro is also pretty old." Morgana stated. "But this book looks like it's in perfect condition."
"Same goes for this book about Carmen." Ann added, looking over the literature.
"Necornomicon is here as well!" Futaba threw in her own thoughts.
"I think that's the case for all of us." Makoto stated, looking over the book that was in her hand. Putting down the object she stared. "What is the purpose of these?"
"You are staring at the very original copies of those books. Those are the first records of the famous tales of your Personas." Azazel revealed. "Those books never existed before until they appeared."
Throughout the entire conversation, Vali was pretty silent. But this made his wonder actually. "And what makes you say that?" He asked.
"I have to agree with Vali-san in this case. Just how do you know in the first place?" Dohnaseek asked.
Azazel shrugged. "Because I've met them personally. They even left those behind as their last bit of evidence they had ever existed."
"What?!"
Ryuji's question was vocalized pretty loudly as the others but Akira and Vali both didn't really react at all. The male blonde even stood up with shock. "How the hell is that possible?!" He added as well.
As Azazel winced a bit at the volume, he picked at his ear a bit. "My memories of them are a bit hazy, but I am positive that I've met them. Arsene was a pretty big surprise since he first showed up when I was still a part of Heaven. Zorro was rogue, helping those in need like the books say. Necronomicon was indeed an object filled with knowledge that was meant to stay unknown. Carmen was a mischievous character, certainly one of the reasons to why I fell from Heaven to begin with due to loving her breasts."
Ann pulled Asia closer to her protectively while covering her own chest.
"Johanna was there as well, helping those who had fallen get back up on their feet and continue to live without the heavy despair of being casted out of Heaven shadowing them." Azazel finished, almost having a nostalgic look on his face. "Either way, it is absolutely fascinating that such characters of history are your Personas." He tapped his head. "I am curious about them though. Would you mind if you would partake in some exercises I would devise?"
"So you want to experiment on us." Akira found himself on guard just in case.
The Fallen Angel shook his head in response. "Dear God no! I'm not heartless or cruel at all! Well… I want to run experiments with you, yes. But not in a way that you think. It's just some simple exercises and power testing. The concept of a Persona fascinates me, and it makes me wonder just how vast the summoning can be and what abilities can be used."
"…That sounds a little… suspicious still." Yusuke commented, keeping a studying eye on Azazel.
"Relax, I mean for the best." Azazel stood up straight. "Of course there is the option of refusing if you'd like. But I could even grant you all a few favors if you do accept." He dug into his jacket again and pullet out a few sheets of paper held together by a staple. "Here, I even made a contract for you guys."
Akira raised an eyebrow but then took the sheets and began to look over them. All of the other Phantom Thieves peek over as well. "You actually made a contract?" The leader asked.
"I'm the guy with the big, ominous, slightly loopy organization. You're all people with interesting, nearly secret power with historical figures." Azazel shrugged. "If I want your help, there has to be some form of compensation. Think of it as an act of good will for a foundation of trust to be built upon."
"…Paid vacation? That's… something I wouldn't expect from an offer like this." Ryuji commented.
"…We're getting paid a lot of money if we say yes." Ann added.
"I doubt bodyguards would be necessary however." Yusuke voiced his own opinion.
"Water and electric bills being paid though would be nice. We don't know how much energy this place uses." Futaba observed.
"…Any supplies needed but still need to pay respectful amounts?" Morgana questioned.
"… Raynare-san, Kalawarner-san, and Mittelt-san will have to be this residence's maids?" Makoto asked.
"What?!" The three female Fallen Angels cried out.
"…Vali-kun would have to live with us as well?" Haru asked with confusion.
"What?!" The young man lunged forward to grab the contract before skimming the paper furiously before coming up to the point that mentioned him. "Azazel, what is this?!" For the cool look he gave off, his current attitude was betraying his image.
"Come on, Vali-chan, you've been locking yourself in your room for hours and even refuse to come out!" The leader of the Fallen Angels commented. "You need to get out more often, interact with more people. And I figured that you would maybe get along with the that managed to grab your attention for about a week!" Vali groaned but it was completely ignored by Azazel as the Fallen Angel turned to the three females. "As for you three, think of it as punishment for going behind my back and creating your own business that was extremely uncalled for."
"But-!"
"You were all meant to observe and report the movements and actions of the host of the Red Dragon Emperor." Azazel cut Raynare's protest off as Vali still looked mad but had a look of interest in his eye. "But you instead chose to kill the boy and attempt to take Asia Argento's Sacred Gear for yourself when you were supposed to safely transport her back to headquarters after the incident with her." His eyes slightly narrowed as he didn't even bother looking at the Fallen Angel that was victim to the subject.
"As for you Kalawarner and Mittelt," The next two females stiffened at their names. "Rather than report this, you tag along for the ride while aiding Raynare with such schemes." Azazel added.
"What about Dohnaseek!? He's as guilty as we are!" Mittelt pointed out.
"While that is true, he truly reflected upon his actions as his punishment has already been dealt with accordingly." The leader placed a hand over his fist in a patient manner but still cracked his knuckles to show his partially true attitude to the atmosphere. "You three on the other hand have yet to learn your lessons. So you are going to wait for your future to be decided by the Phantom Thieves of Hearts."
"I'm sorry, but can we just talk about you forcing me to move in here if they do accept this contract?!" Vali tried to get the attention back to him.
"…We'll sit on it." Akira answered as everyone else seemed to nod in agreement, completely ignoring Vali.
"Good to hear." Azazel nodded his head. Taking out a pen, he wrote some numbers and words on the back of the contract that he snatched out of Vali's hands before handing it over to Akira. "This is my number and address. If you have any questions about the contract or anything else, just give me a call. Hey, even give me a call if you're just bored. We can talk about anything."
With those final words, he gestured for everyone to follow him out of the door to leave the Phantom Thieves to themselves. All of the humans cand cat watched as four out of the six leaving had disbelief on their faces. As soon as they were off the property, Azazel turned to Vali. "So they seem to be nice company, huh?"
"I'm not speaking to you right now." Vali grumbled. "Especially if you are going to make stupid decisions like that."
"Aww, cheer up, Vali-chan." The leader patted the back of the young man. "They may not end up accepting the contract. But if they do, look on the bright side. At least you get to stare at that girl and drink her coffee everyday. You also get to stare at her butt all you'd like."
Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, Vali slowly craned his head over in Azazel's direction. The young man suppressed the twitch of an eye as he took a deep breath to keep himself in check. "I would do no such thing." He stated.
Azazel chuckled. "Of course. Just remember that her eyes are above the waist."
TakeABreak
"Well, you are at school early."
Akira heard Sona make this observation as he looked over towards the student council president staring at him leaning against one of the walls that helped support the school. "We're had to arrive early to hand in the registration forms meant for Asia-san so she could transfer to this school." He answered with a shrug of his shoulders.
"I see." Sona nodded her head, satisfied with the answer she received.
"And also needed some extra time to think about the contract that the leader of the Fallen Angels offered to us." Akira added.
Sona continued to nod her head for a few more seconds. It then immediately clicked in her head what Akira had just said. "Wait a moment. So correct me if I am wrong." She said with a looked that requested an explanation. "The leader of the Fallen Angels, Azazel, visited you yesterday."
"Also reconstructed where we live." Akira added.
"…And he offered you a contract of sorts…" Sona continued, ignoring that quip Akira had thrown in. A hard stare was met as she turned around and gestured for the boy to follow her. Their journey was short as it was the student council room that was the destination. "Sit." She ordered as Akira noticed the interior was now different with a table and couches in the center. Maybe they changed the interior every so often depending on the situation. She soon sat across the boy. "Can I see that contract if you have it on you?" She held her hand out.
Akira thought about it. He may have looked over it himself, but Sona seemed to be much more experienced when it came down to this kind of paper work. Even though Makoto also looked over the contract, it left Akira to wonder if there were any kinds of laws or rules that differ from humanity to supernatural.
"Morgana, could you shift around a bit?" Akira asked the cat, getting the feline to poke his head out and moved around as Akira dug into his bag.
"What makes you curious about this contract of ours?" Morgana asked Sona as Akira fished the papers out and passed them over to the student council president.
"Just what kind of offers are being made." Sona said as her eyes began to skim the words in front of her glasses. "I could easily tell that the deals Rias and I offered were extremely basic, simply offering the chances of power, reduced aging, etcetera. But reading this contract may help me broaden my horizon of choices to offer."
"…You really are determined to be a good leader, huh?" Akira noted, getting a short nod from Sona before she remained completely focused on the task at hand. "…What drives you though? Why do you want your identity to be known as the one you desire in the future?"
"…" Sona stayed silent, either ignoring the question or didn't hear it at all. Akira didn't press on but he couldn't help but mentally frown at the silence he was given. "This is quite the offer." Sona murmured. "Azazel signed this himself. What did you do to impress him to make such offers?"
"Apparently out Personas are actual historical figures that were related to supernatural events." Akira answered straightly.
Her eyes were on the paper at first, but then she slowly brought her head up with a surprised look. "Azazel said that? The leader of the Fallen Angels makes such a claim?" She paused for a moment while looking away in thought. "He may be right though… He was the first to fall after all… Back to the contract though. This is certainly a deal that pretty much has no way on inflicting harm upon you, unless injuries appear. A couple of warnings include broken bones, concussions and… urinary track disorders?"
"Trust me, I have no idea how that would happen either." Akira shook his head.
"And yet you do not sound worried in the slightest." Sona commented.
Morgana kept his head out of the bag, looking between Sona and Akira. If the cat had to comment, he saw this scene a little bit too much in his opinion as the two would be discussing many tactics and many deals regarding serious business. Sure there was the occasional casual conversation once in a while, but that was pretty much it.
"So, what are your thoughts on this, Sitri-san?" Morgana asked, shifting around in the bag to bring everyone back on track.
"I'm just wondering what kind of things must be done for broken bones, concussions and urinary track disorders to be parts of a warning list." Sona commented.
"He wants to test our abilities out. See what can be discovered about them. I'm not sure what for though now that I think about it." The Trickster said to himself.
Sona however kept reading the contract and looked at a certain point. "Any supplies needed at a respectful price?" She asked, looked back up. "…Was it specified what kind of supplies are needed to be purchased?"
"After a call, he said pretty much anything." Morgana answered. "Perfect for us since we've run out of supplies to make out combat tools with." He then tilted his head. "What makes you ask that?"
"While I am concerned with you perhaps accepting this deal that has been offered to you, this may benefit both you and I." Sona noted, getting a look from Akira and Morgana. "Those Megido bombs… they would be a very useful asset when used against stray Devils or other occasions. As well as… perhaps a few other creations that are available."
Both the human and cat just stared at Sona. The words she spoke began to slowly come to terms in their brains. "…So let me get this straight…" Morgana started, processing the message behind the Devil's words. "You want us… to make you explosives… The very objects that you seemed to not be happy about when we first revealed them to you."
"Morgana has a point." Akira pointed out.
"Yes, the thought about you making explosives was a mixture of emotions." Sona pinched the bridge of her nose in memory to her first reaction of seeing the bombs in action. "But I at least can accept that now, after thinking for a bit, that you don't use them out side of your purpose. So if you do sign the contract that Azazel had created, just let me know so I will be able to place an order."
"I'm not a good shop person but I'll let you know." Akira nodded his head, getting Moragna to whip his head over in the human's direction but didn't say anything. "So, judging by your words, I should accept the contract."
"As long as you keep yourself safe. While I am not exactly pleased to see that you are considering Fallen Angel offers, I am at least satisfied that you gave me the opportunity and trust to show me such." Sona folded her arms after handing the contract back. "Although there is the concern about four other people living with you, Raynare, Kalawarner, Mittelt, and this Vali character."
"I could say the same, so I'll just see if I can end up refusing that one part of the contract." The human commented, stuffing the papers back into his bag. Looking up at the clock, he looked back at Sona. "Looks like class is about to start. Thank you for taking your time to look over the agreement."
"Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you about the issue." Sona stated, watching the boy stand up and walk. But before he opened the door, the girl raised and eyebrow as he turned around.
"Oh right, we figured out what we're going to do for our celebration and what date it is."
TakeABreak
It took a week…
An entire week to be able to map out the entire house. Really… the extent to how large the building was it could be described nearly as a maze. They ended up losing Ryuji for nearly half a day within the walls of their mansion. Within their search for the male blonde, they has discovered a pool, a library, an observatory, a kitchen, their respective bedrooms, and few bathrooms… and something that looked like a combination between a prison and torture chamber of all places. There were other rooms as well, but the idea was pretty much understood.
At the entrance as well as various walls of the structure, there had to be maps that showed where the person would be currently and directions to navigate through the place.
Due to being too busy with navigation and school as well as their everyday lives, Akira never had the chance to contact Azazel about the contract. But honestly, Akira was in no rush at the moment. Plus, just thinking about Raynare, Kalawarner, and Mittelt all squirming made him chuckle.
The kitchens meanwhile were busy with all of the Phantom Thieves running around and cooking a massive feast. Akira was mainly on the stove with Makoto, Haru, and Asia as they were in charge of cooking the actual food. Yusuke, Ann, and Ryuji were preparing the delicacies by chopping meat and vegetables into appropriate sizes. Futaba and Morgana on the other hand were busy calling out directions when the respectable character would say that their current activity would be done.
The sound of a doorbell ringing echoed through their ears as Futaba hopped up off her chair. "I'll get it!" She called out as she rushed to the door and peeked through the eyehole. Grabbing the knob, she pulled open the barrier. "You're all here! Come on in!"
Rias' Peerage all accepted the offer as each of them stepped into the housing with each of them carrying some form of prepared, ready-to-eat food. "Are we late for the celebratory potluck?" Rias asked.
"Oh no, you guys are actually here early." Futaba stated eyeing all of their food with an intense, critical stare. She then stopped at Koneko. "What did you bring?" She asked the shorter female.
"…Fish." Koneko stated.
"…For some reason that seems incredibly both appropriate yet inappropriate at the same time." Futaba commented but still stood up. "Follow me to the dining room unless you want to get lost."
Issei was carrying was looked like a large plate piled with a few steaks as he noticed the large sheet of paper that was the map to the place. "And like that, I completely believe what you're saying." He commented as he looked at the aid. "Seriously, how the hell did you guys end up with a huge place like this?!"
"That's for dinner conversation. Now hurry up, the others will be ready soon!" Futaba jumped a couple of times before leading the way.
"This place is certainly grand. How fitting for the Phantom Thieves." Akeno admired the interior decorating.
"Akeno's right." Kiba had to agree as there was a big bowl of salad on his person. "There is a charming atmosphere this place gives off."
"Really? I couldn't tell." Futaba shrugged her shoulders as she stepped into another room. "And here we are! The dining room! Just put your food down and wait for the others!"
"Well they don't need to wait long." Haru commented as she came walking to the table with a smile and a platter of raw vegetables. Putting it down, she looked at everyone. "We're just finishing up before we can all get together to eat. So while waiting, help yourself to some vegetables. I grew them from the greenhouse in the Kuoh garden."
Curiously, the Occult Research club each took a piece and nibble on the bit in front of them. "Mm, this is impressive from just the raw vegetable alone." Rias nodded, definitely impressed with the taste.
"I'm glad you like it." Haru giggled as each of their reactions were pretty good in her opinion. Once again, the door bell rang. "Oh, could that be Sitri-san with her own Peerage?"
"I got it." Akira said as he swiftly passed through the group while placing a pot full of soup onto the table before walking out of the room.
Hearing an amused sigh, everyone in the dining room turned to see the rest of the humans and cat walk in with their own meals for everyone for the potluck and set them down. "It's nice to see that we're all together, just about to eat and talk." Ann commented. "So, Issei, what did you bring?"
"Ah, just some steaks…" The brunette answered before looking a bit sheepish. "Though I just helped season it and all since my mom did most of the cooking."
"It's okay, Issei." Asia smiled gently. "I'm sure that it will taste good with the effort you helped put into it."
"Asia-chan is right." Haru added. "Seasoning is an important part of cooking after all. So if we find it delicious, you should know that you played a big role in its taste, I-kun."
The brunette stared at Haru for a couple of seconds before blushing a bit. "I-kun…" He mumbled. "No one's ever called me that before…"
"How about I-cchi?" Futaba asked from the side, grabbing the attention while sitting down, poking one of Koneko's cheeks. "You know… because he's part of the Perverted Trio."
"…Agreed." Koneko nodded while poking Futaba back.
"Aww, come on guys." Ryuji said, patting Issei's back to console the boy who was the target for attention whether it be good or bad. "I'm pretty sure you're all embarrassing him right now. No need to bully him at the moment."
"Then let's talk about you, Ryuji." Ann commented.
"Ara ara, what to say about Ryuji-kun." Akeno mischievously said, seeming to go with the flow of Ann comment.
"He's certainly a hard-headed individual." Yusuke stated.
"Wait, what?!" The blonde male exclaimed. "Not cool, man!"
"Looks like you all are enjoying yourselves." Sona stated as she began walking into the room followed by her Peerage as Akira was leading them. "You're right, we did arrive just on time."
"Put your food on the table and let's each find a spot to sit." Akira suggested as that's what everyone did.
Pulling up chairs to sit down, everyone found their own spots as they got comfortable. With glasses of their choice of drink at the ready, Akira soon stood up. "Before we eat, let me just say this." Everyone fell silent, waiting for the leader of the Phantom Thieves to speak. Clearing his throat, he soon spoke. "Screw long speeches! Here's to our future and the friendship that will come!"
"Cheers!" Everyone said with a smile, some being much louder than others.
That night was filled with laughter, amusement, and a good time they would never forget that brought them all closer.
Yeah, I think I just dug myself a bit of a grave with that bit about Vali living with the Phantom Thieves as well as Raynare, Kalawarner, and Mittelt being maids. In the middle of writing this chapter though, I realized it was completely stupid and a bad idea maybe. So I won't be doing it actually now that I think about it mid typing in this little paragraph.
Well… next chapter let's put in-
Ah! Just cut myself off from spoiling you the next chapter about-
Oh! I almost did it again.
I know this chapter was terrible, didn't go anywhere, and the story is getting a bit worse, but trust me… I hope I can just get those bonding and introduction bit out of the way eventually and move onto some more stuff you all may like…
If you all can tell, there was a bit of inspiration from 'King of the fake World' in this chapter. I hope my ass isn't on the grinder for this.
No flames please.