This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!
"Mmm! I know that I've said it before, but I have to say it again! You're cooking is the best, Sakura-san!"
Irina made sure that her opinion was vocal enough after she had finished her meal of curry. It was quite the display, watching the girl almost seem to just suck it all down like a vacuum cleaner. Despite her attempt to seem polite, she ate her food at an incredible pace.
"…Err… thanks again anyways." Sojiro answered, not exactly sure how to respond to the event that had happened. Holding up his own spoon, he was in mid scoop when Irina had finished her first plate when he wasn't even halfway done his own portion. He was surprised, that was to say the least. "It's good to hear you like it. There's a lot more if you like, help yourself."
Not needing to be told twice, Irina was about to get onto her feet before Xenovia was up first. "Let me get it for you." The blue-haired female offered, reaching her free hand out in the exorcist's direction. "I'm going to go grab some more for myself anyways."
"Ah, that's okay! Thank you for the offer though!" It was a quick trip from the table, to the pot, to the dining room again for Irina, leaving Xenovia partially stunned. But the former-exorcist eventually walked towards the kitchen herself. Humming a tune to herself, Irina gave grace (forgetting that she was giving headaches to Xenovia and Asia) once again before digging in. She released another moan after taking in a spoonful of food.
Hearing the sound of shattering away from the dining room, many heads turned in that direction. "…You guys keep eating." Sojiro said, getting off his seat. "I'm going to go check up on your friend, see if she injured herself."
"…Is this what I'm like when it comes down to cakes and other desserts?" Ann slowly asked, the question almost coming out of nowhere as Sojiro walked off. "I mean, I understand that people have passions for food. But this…" She trailed off, hoping that everyone was understanding that she was verbally gesturing to Irina without ill intention.
"You…" Makoto dragged out the word slowly to think about what to say next. "Are certainly affectionate with them." Her attempted answer only brought out a groan of embarrassment from the female blonde as the Ann looked away sheepishly.
"I don't think it's so bad." Asia tried to comfort the pig-tailed female by patting on her shoulder. She smiled gently to ease her friend. "I believe everyone acts differently when people or objects that they love are involved."
"Yeah, it's not really something to beat yourself on the head over." Ryuji added, sipping his glass of water before putting it down. Wiping his mouth with his arm, he grabbed his spoon and pointed it in Ann's direction. "Look at me and meat for example." Gesturing with his free hand using his thumb, he put the limb down and scooped up some rice and curry.
"Desserts and candies are natural. Meat on the other hand… I've never heard of something like that before." Futaba muttered to herself, wondering why that could be the case.
About to put a spoonful of food into her mouth, Haru saw that someone was a lot more silent than usual. Turning her head over, she decided to ask the person in question. "Akira-kun," She named out the one who concerned her, grabbing his attention. "Is everything okay? You've been very quiet since arriving back."
"…" Akira breathed, looking at Haru. His eyes then drifted over towards Morgana before standing up and grabbing everyone's attention. "Phantom Thieves," He began, his voice being a bit low which created a bit of a serious atmosphere. "When you're finished dinner, my room." Without another word, he grabbed his clean plate to put it into the sink with Morgana following behind.
Slipping past Sojiro and Xenovia, the two of them were the first to arrive to the destination. Sitting themselves down, all of the Persona users began to eventually began to arrive. Each of them picked their own spots and sat down.
"Akira, we usually meet up in the living room whenever we need to talk about something." Makoto stated. "Why would you want us to instead come here? Is it an issue that we don't want Irina-san, Xenovia-san, or Sakura-san to listen in on?"
"Yes." Akira answered curtly, surprising the brunette. "Morgana," He then eyed the cat who looked at him. "If you would."
"Yeah." Morgana nodded his head, leaping up towards the desk Akira sat next to. Sitting himself down, he made sure everyone was paying attention. "During school time, Ryuji, Lady Ann, Yusuke, Futaba and I all met Gremory-san's second Bishop." Makoto and Haru wanted to ask about that but didn't since the cat seemed to be rather serious. "Shortly after meeting him, we discovered that he could stop time."
"Stop time?" Makoto parroted with surprise. "Even if it's due to the power of a Sacred Gear, that is crazy!"
"Agreed, but that's not the craziest part about it." Morgana nodded his head. "When his power was activated, only the Persona users in the room were not affected by its powers. This was including Issei. What made this crazy… was that it felt like we were back in the Metaverse."
That last word of the sentence was what caused both college members to drop their jaws in stupor. "…What?!" Haru could only gasp after being speechless for some time.
"Yup, our reactions as well." Ryuji nodded his head. "We thought that he had the power that actually make some kind of Metaverse field effect.
"Thankfully, this was not the case." Yusuke continued for the male blonde. "But that did not consider the fact that most of everyone around us froze in place. Also, the Metaverse does not freeze non-Persona users in place." The boy turned towards the navigator. "Am I explaining this correctly?"
"More or less." Futaba answered.
"…So, which is it?" Yusuke asked after a blink of the eyes. "More or less?
"Okay…" Haru slowly answered, allowing everyone else to know that she understood what Ryuji was talking about as Makoto nodded her head. "So, it really is not a Metaverse field. But if that's the case, why are we holding this meeting?"
"Because this brings up a concern with our Personas." Akira stated, hunched over a bit with fingers wrapped over each other and elbows resting on knees. "Originally, we were living through the latest events believing that us being exposed to the supernatural was what caused us to gain our Personas back. But," He eyed those that met with Gasper. "With this new discovery, I'm afraid that we shouldn't consider that the case anymore."
Everyone in the room fell silent at Akira's reveal. He didn't explain his entire theory, they could tell, but it was only that part he stated was still stayed in their brains. Looking at each other with uncertainty, no one spoke for a few seconds.
"But… how do you come down to something like that?" Ann asked the black-haired teenager. "From all we know, maybe it's just that Persona-users are unaffected by Gasper-san's Sacred Gear?"
"And why would that be the case then?" Akira asked back to Ann, getting no reply from the girl. Sighing, he leaned back this time. Sliding a bit forward, he allowed his back to rest on the chair. "From what I can understand, that Metaverse feeling you all had when in that Sacred Gear's area of affect because of an actual Metaverse energy. What I theorize is that since the Metaverse is based on the cognitive world – a different reality – that time trick won't work due to it only affecting the reality or world the user is in. Since we are in this world, but you weren't frozen in time, you all were able to feel the change in the atmosphere."
"So basically, since our power is somehow being drawn or is a part of the Metaverse, Gasper-san's Sacred Gear would only work on us if he were in there. A power that had managed to spread to Issei." If Morgana could frown in his feline form, he would be doing it at that very moment. "That shouldn't be possible though. While the cognitive world still exists technically, no one should be able to have access to it since the Metaverse app is gone."
"Which comes down to this question." Akira stated. "Everything related from our Personas to the Metaverse since it all started here in Kuoh… How is it possible?"
TakeABreak
No one could come up with an answer that night.
Even though Akira eventually said that they should drop the subject in favor of school exams coming up. Which everyone did, but the questions still stirred in the corners of their brains. The Phantom Thieves didn't good a good night's rest, but it was more than enough to help them get through the day. The exorcist and two Devils that lived with them asked if they were okay during breakfast, which was answered as that they were doing well enough.
At Kuoh Academy, the day pretty much went down as usual. Their surroundings were quiet now that open classes were over. Plus, the school felt less crowded as well. At least this provided more space for people to move around. The morning was the same that all of the Phantom Thieves that were a part of the high-school area.
But lunch was a little different for one of them.
Akira was on his usual route to the Student Council Room. Once more, he had left Morgana with the others since the cat didn't really want to be bored with watching a game of chess. Reaching the door to the room, he had reached for the knob when the wooden barrier was suddenly opened.
Sona was slightly startled at the sight of the black-haired boy being right in front of her. Both stared at each other for a few seconds in silence before looking down. Akira's arm was still extended from trying to grab the door knob, almost touching Sona. The boy then brought his hand down to his side.
"Hello, Sitri-san." Akira was the first to break the silence with his greeting while he nodded his head. Putting his hands behind his back, he tilted his head slightly. "Are you feeling better?"
Sona blinked a couple of times before realizing that Akira was waiting for her to answer. "Oh! Y-yes, I am, thank you for asking." She coughed a couple of times into her hand. They then just continued to stand at the door silently.
"…" Akira inhaled, eyeing the girl curiously. He began rocking back and forth on his feet. "So… are you going to have to cancel our game of chess?" His question caused the girl to look directly towards his eyes with a bit of surprise. "You opened the door just when I was about to, instead of being in the room and setting up the game."
Sona continued to stare at the male with wide eyes. Shaking her head, the black-haired female got her thoughts back together. "About that…" She re-adjusted her glasses as they were slightly crooked. "I was thinking that we could have our game somewhere outside due to the nice weather."
This suggestion caused the boy to think. Yes, the weather was good right now. But it had been like that for the past couple of weeks. It was the season of summer after all. Why would Sona suggest something like that now?
"…Yeah, it does sound like a good idea." Akira agreed, eventually nodding his head. Side-stepping, he gestured with his hand towards the hallway area from which he came from. "Lead the way." He said since he assumed that Sona already had a spot in mind.
The student-council president nodded her head in response and began walking with the boy trailing after her closely. But less than a minute passed and Akira found himself a bit surprised at the direction Sona was taking.
Just as she was halfway up a flight of stairs, she saw the expression the boy wore. "Yes, I know that the rules say that no students are allowed up on the roofs of the school building." Sona clarified for her fellow teenager. "But… you are someone who doesn't exactly follow the rules, are you?" It was almost as if she were challenging him.
She knew what words to use. Akira shrugged his shoulders and followed Sona up the flight of stairs and towards a door at the top of them. When Sona pushed the metal barrier open, a gust of warm air immediately entered the building. Akira was quick to close it after Sona had taken her steps outside.
Walking out towards the large spacing, Akira grabbed a desk that just so happened to be sitting on the roof that was surrounded by a few chairs. Since it looked clean, it was the perfect surface to use for their game. Bringing it over towards a shady area so the hot sun wouldn't be too bad, he went back to grab the chairs while Sona set up their game.
Before she could finish the board, the boy had come back with both chairs. Setting one down, he moved towards Sona for the second seat. Holding it, he was careful when pushing the object in so that Sona didn't have to move her feet to position herself properly since Akira was doing it for her.
When Akira walked to his chair, he instead had his attention to his school bag. With sound of a zipper moving, the boy began rummaging through the contents until he fished out a book. Looking down at the object, he nodded his head in satisfaction.
"Before we begin, I would like to give this to you." Akira offered, holding out the book for Sona to take. Once again, the black-haired Devil was surprised at the human. Reaching over, Sona delicately took the object from Akira's hand and stared at it. "You seemed rather a little uneasy yesterday. So I decided to take a book out of my collection to lend to you. Read it, it should be able to help you relax if you are still tense. If not, give it a read anyways. I believe it is quite enjoyable. Also, consider it a bit of an extra apology since technically I'm the reason why you felt how you did."
"…Thank you." Sona nodded her head slowly, almost being at a loss of words. Putting the book back into her bag, the two of them began their game.
Although for most of the time, Sona kept an eye on the human more than her pieces.
TakeABreak
After class, it was originally meant for Akira, Makoto, and Haru to meet Rias' first Bishop.
Unfortunately, Akira had work, so he had to leave early without even being able to interact with any of the Devils. So, the Phantom Thieves without their leader met up at a point that was between the Occult Research club building and the college grounds before walking back to the former building.
"I'm sort of curious to meet this Gasper-san character." Makoto admitted as they were walking through the forest area of the school. The shade was a nice cover against the sun that shined heat against them. "He's Gremory-san's first Bishop, so I wonder what he had to do in order to gain her attention."
"Yes! Run, run! A sound mind starts with a sound body!"
"Eeeek!"
"…Gasper-kun, garlic will help you grow up big and strong."
"Nooooo! Koneko-chan's bullying me as well!"
Walking in on the scene, not one of the many humans had anything to say about the scene that there were witnessing at the very moment. In front of the building, a blonde male wearing the female school uniform was being chased by Xenovia and Koneko. The former-exorcist had Durandal resting on her shoulder while the smaller female had cloves of garlic on rope in her hands.
"…I thought you said that Gasper-kun was male." Haru was the first to speak, looking over towards the high-schoolers in confusion. "So why are Xenovia-chan and Koneko-chan both chasing that girl?"
Before anyone could answer, a voice interrupted them. "Oh hey, Senpais, Futaba, you're all here." Turning their heads, they saw that Issei was approaching them with Asia next to him. "You guys introducing Makoto-senpai and Haru-senpai to Gasper?"
"Yup." Ryuji nodded his head.
"Um, I-kun," Haru spoke out, grabbing the attention once again. "Gasper-kun is male, correct?" She asked once again but at least with the new brunette and blonde present. "So why are they wearing the female uniform instead?"
"Oh, that." Issei answered, a bit monotonous to the two college students' surprise. "That's because he's a crossdresser."
Makoto stared with surprise. "You're not kidding, are you?"
"Unfortunately, no." Issei sighed with a bit of disappointment.
"So what the heck are you guys doing out here?" Ryuji asked with a weird look on his face, just continuing Gasper to cry while being chased around. "I mean, the guy doesn't really look like he's enjoying himself. Xenovia and Koneko aren't really that mean… are they? Gasper does seem to be the kind of guy that doesn't like getting out."
"He's a vampire and stuff, so kind of a given" Futaba sort of frowned after her drawled out word, however. "But still, kind of a mean thing to do to Gasper-chan. I mean, you guys didn't exactly go out of your ways to force me to go outside. Baby steps, you know?"
"Um, that's actually not really the case with Gasper-san." Asia raised her hand to get a bit of attention from them all. "He's actually a special type of vampire called a Daywalker, his father being that while his mom is human. Even though he doesn't like it, Gasper-san is able to move in the sun. Since he's only half-vampire, he even isn't too reliant on blood, even though he hates that as well."
"A vampire who hates blood…" Ann said slowly. "What are the odds?"
"Weird stuff, I know." Issei nodded his head in agreement. "But as for Ryuji-senpai's question, we're currently trying to train him to be able to use his Sacred Gear better. But Xenovia-san began chasing him around and then Koneko-chan joined in. That's when you guys showed up." Folding his arms, he then leaned in and spoke in a bit of a low voice. "So… you guys have any idea on what was up with us being able to move around during that time stopping stuff?"
A bit of a distasteful look grew on each of the humans' faces. "We… have an idea." A frowning Yusuke supplied for the brunette Devil. "But it's just something that we find very crazy."
"Is Akira-san around?"
A voice interrupted that possible explanation that was about to be given. Other than those in action, everyone else looked over to see who had been the one to enter the conversation. Approaching them, Sona Sitri moved in their direction with her school bag over her shoulder but carrying a book in her hands. Issei and Asia meanwhile had to chase Xenovia and Koneko when they both ran into the building after Gasper.
"Oh, hello, Sitri-san." Haru greeted with a waved of her hand as everyone else greeted her in their own ways. "Unfortunately, Akira-kun has work today so he had to leave as soon as school had finished."
"…I see…" Sona said quietly to herself, but everyone just managed to hear her. No one let that sentence bother them. "In that case, could you give this back to him?" She asked, handing over the book that was in her hands.
Makoto reached over and took the object. But not before raising an eyebrow. "Dvoretsky's Analytical Manual?" She read the title aloud in a bit of confusion.
"Akira-san said that he was lending me that book from his collection in order to help me relax." The black-haired Devil folded her finger together while tilting her head down a bit. "He said that it was also a way of apologizing at the same time. That last part is completely unnecessary, however. While the gesture is… nice, it was not needed. I've managed to calm myself down last night anyways."
"…Akira said that this was in his collection?" Makoto asked.
Sona nodded her head. But she quickly checked her watch. "Sorry for cutting our conversation short, but I have somewhere else to be. See you tomorrow." Nodding her head, she turned around and walked off.
"…You seem awfully interested with that book being in Akira's collection." Yusuke noted towards Makoto as everyone seemed to lean in a bit to get a better look at the piece of literature. "Is there something on your mind that we should be aware over?"
"Come on, Gasper, open up! I promise that Xenovia-san and Koneko-chan will stop chasing you! We can even get some proper training in and it won't be so bad!"
"No! I don't want to! This dumb Sacred Gear ruins everything!"
"That's the point of the training! To help you get better at using it"
"…I'm beginning to think that Gasper-san just wants to be left alone for the moment." Makoto stated after a moment of silence with a bit of a frown. None of them really wanted to leave the Devils alone. However, it seemed to be that Gasper was against the training now. "Perhaps we can get better acquainted with him tomorrow."
Very hesitantly and begrudgingly, all the Phantom Thieves slowly walked away. Futaba however, not because she was the shortest out of all of them, lagged by a few steps. "Actually, you guys can go on ahead." She spoke out, causing the humans to turn to her. "I just need to check up on something."
The older teenagers looked amongst one another, not exactly sure how to respond. After a couple of moments however, each of them nodded their head in acknowledgement. Each of the humans then turned back around and proceeded to their own destinations in mind.
As Futaba approached the old school building, she slipped on through the doors and walked through the hallways quietly. Making her way towards the room where Gasper had been before being unsealed, Futaba saw that all of the Devils trying to help the half-vampire out were all outside of the door.
"Hey…" Futaba said as she approached, getting the attention for the moment. "You guys need any help with anything?"
"…Gasper-kun is being stubborn." Koneko stated while pointing with a finger towards the door. "I-cchi isn't doing much of a good job convincing him to come out."
"Please, man, come out." Issei ignored the comment from the white-haired girl however in favor of trying to convince the half-vampire.
"No!" Gasper cried out. "If I come out, I possibly freeze everyone else! Even if you are not affected, it doesn't change the fact that everyone else does! It's scary seeing everyone just frozen. If I don't look at you guys, I can at least talk to you like this! Just leave me alone already!"
"…" Issei sighed quietly, placing his head against his hand which was on the door.
"…" All of the Devils looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
"…" Futaba looked down, being a lot quieter than the others. "…If you don't mind, I might be able to help you guys out…" The ginger informed them softly. "But I'm going to need you all to go away… Preferably far enough so that you can't hear the two of us." Those surrounding her gave her surprised looks at her request. But when they opened their mouths, she cut them off. "Please… for the both of us?"
Each of the Devils were very hesitant over her request. Turning their heads towards the door, each of them silently thought of what to do next. Issei was the first to crack. "…Alright." He nodded his head and walked off. Asia was the next to follow. Xenovia was third.
Koneko however stayed in her spot, a small frown creeping onto her lips. "…Futaba…" She mumbled, hesitant on leaving. To the smaller girl, there was just something in the hacker's eyes that made the Devil want to stay around.
Futaba offered a small smile. "Don't worry, Koneko-chan, it'll be fine." She reassured her friend. Eventually, Koneko turned around and walked away. Taking in a deep breath, Futaba walked forward and turned around when she was close to the door. Dropping down onto her bottom, she rested her back against the wood. "…Gasper-san… it's Futaba Sakura. Remember me from yesterday?" She began. "None of the others are around. It's just you and me… Would it be okay if we talk?"
No answer at first. But Futaba stayed seated. After a few seconds, a quiet reply came. "S-sakura-san? …I remember you. You're one of the humans that was unaffected by my Sacred Gear." He then paused for a moment. "You're not here to make me come out, are you?"
"…Nah, that enough fresh air for you for today." Futaba waved her hand around as if the blonde boy could actually see it. "I was just kind of wondering. If you've been sealed up in your room for a long time, what do you do to occupy your time? Kind of boring if there's nothing to do, yeah?"
Futaba was met with silence. But she stayed patient, as she knew she had to try and approach the situation carefully. "…I-I perform all of my contracts online using my laptop." Gasper answered eventually. "But I usually play games on it as well."
"Oh?" Futaba asked curiously, a bit eager as well. "You a gamer as well? What kind of stuff do you play then?"
Gasper seemed to be a bit startled. "We-well…"
TakeABreak
Laughter was filling Gasper's room as the boy and Futaba were both sitting in front of a laptop screen with two arcade sticks set up. Colorful character designs and engaging music both were erupting from the electronic. A few bags of snacks were scattered around the two of them, some already empty with some bottles filled with various drinks accompanying the scene.
"That's amazing, Sakura-san!" Gasper complimented in awe. "How were you able to figure out so many combos? This game hasn't even been out for a week!"
Futaba chuckled while scratching the back of her head. "I kind of had a lonely childhood, so video games were one of the things that pretty much took up most of my time." She reached over to nibble on a couple of chips. "Back then, people in general were really scary."
At those words, Gasper's gaze fell to the floor. "…I can kind of relate to that…" He said quietly.
Blinking, Futaba slightly twisted her head to the side so that she could see Gasper out of the corner of her eye. But she didn't say anything. The girl could perhaps ask a question if she wanted, but it would probably feel as if she would be initiating something and that's not how things should be with Gasper. At least, not now.
"We-well… about the lonely and not going out parts." The blonde boy corrected himself. "As well as the people being scary stuff." After that, he stopped talking, as if he had just made the scene between the two of them awkward.
As they both sat quietly, Futaba decided to initiate some louder noise between them by changing to the character select screen of their game. It was a quick process of choosing who they wanted to play and everything required before the action would begin. But as soon as they began moving their sticks around while pressing buttons…
"Gasper-san…" Futaba said as they continued through the round. "It's not just people that you find scary, but also your Sacred Gear, right?" The question was unspoken for, yet Futaba knew the answer. "Did it cause problems for you as a kid?"
"…Yeah." Gasper nodded his head. "People feared me, leaving me alone. It didn't help either that I'm a half-breed, my mom being human."
Futaba scratched her head, wondering how she should proceed with this. "You know, people were sort of scared of me too in a way. When I was a kid, I was bullied a lot just because I got better grades than them. I did have a friend as well, but she stopped talking to me when I discovered something about her I shouldn't have… But everyone started becoming really bad when mom died and everyone blamed me for her death."
Gasper snapped his head towards her in horror. "Y-you're mom died?" He gasped. Stammering, he tried to figure out the correct thing to say. "I-uh-um… I'm sorry to hear that." He eventually managed to get out. "But… why did people blame you?"
"Despite something happening to her, the employees at her workplace forged a suicide note making it sound as if her death was my fault." Futaba slowly answered. "For a while… I believed it. It didn't really help that I was tossed from relative to relative who didn't even care about me."
The blonde couldn't help but stare. Slowly, he put his arcade stick to the floor. "…Why…" He whispered. "…Why are you telling me all of this? You didn't have to say any of that and yet…" His wide eyes almost shined due to tears building up.
"…Because I may not know what you had to go through… But I know how you feel…" Futaba tenderly reached over. Her hand hovered over his shoulder. After a few seconds of internal debate, she eventually settled to resting the palm against the curve which startled the boy. "I prefer not to go into detail… but it's a bunch of bad stuff that nobody should go through…"
"…" Gasper didn't know what to say at first, his jaw just slightly open as he tried to figure out the words to speak. "But… how?" He asked. "How are you still able to…"
"Well, in truth, it's really become a bit of a minor inconvenience now." Futaba said. "But that's all thanks to hard work and my friends. Even though I was resistant, they kept on doing their best to try and help me while making sure I was comfortable all the way. It's all about doing your best and keep on pressing on. Yeah, all that stuff in the past happened. But that's why you got to try to work hard, so that you don't have to feel the same way ever again."
Looking around, the blonde boy didn't exactly know where to look. "Ah… Err… Well… It's… it's going to be really hard for me…" Gasper did his best to figure out what to say. "But… I think I can do it. I'll work hard so I won't feel so helpless!"
At Gasper's new conviction, Futaba let loose a small smile. "Awesome!" She cheered, startling him. "Now we should come up with a list!"
Gasper blinked. "A… list?" He asked in confusion.
"Mmm!" Futaba nodded her head. "You know those games where if you play or work hard enough, it rewards you with an item of sorts? Well, it's kind of like this!" She excitedly explained. "We'll set goals that you can try to achieve. When you complete each task, we can set you up with a reward of sorts! It's what I did, and it was awesome!" Quickly reaching into her bag, she pulled out her notebook and a pencil. "Now, what do you have in mind?"
Gasper stared at the girl's sudden burst of energy with shock.
TakeABreak
Closing the door behind him, Akira made sure that to take off his shoes before walking through the large home.
His hours at the café honestly weren't that bad. It was a typical working day. Just cook, clean, and help feed the cats. But now that he was off, he had to focus on studying for exams. Thankfully, to help keep him on track were the other humans that were his age and were a part of the Phantom Thieves.
Arriving to his room, he put his bag down which allowed Morgana to crawl out and do whatever the cat wanted to do. Unpacking his belongings, Akira grabbed the necessary items and began to approach another room where he knew the others were already studying.
Opening the door, he was greeted to the sight of Ryuji, Ann, and Yusuke all sitting down with books open in front of one another. At first, they had neutral looks anyone would have going throughout one's day. But as soon as their eyes fell upon Akira, both blondes of the group almost look like they were extremely amused by something.
Those eyes caused the black-haired male to stand still at the doorway for a couple of seconds. "…Hello." He said slowly, wondering what the attention was all about.
"Hey." Ryuji and Ann both greeted at the same time.
"Hello." Yusuke nodded his head.
Approaching the table, Akira sat down and opened the binder he owned and sifted through his notes taken in class. But a few seconds passed by before he noticed something. None of the others in the room had looked back down to their writing. Instead, they chose to just keep their eyes on him.
"So, how was lunch with Sitri-san?" Ann asked innocently yet it sounded like she was asking this on purpose.
Akira raised an eyebrow. "…It was nice." He answered, wondering why such a question was even asked in the first place. None of them had ever pressed him about his lunches with Sona, so what changed that?
Ryuji almost had a smug look on his face. "You know, you could have told us that you like her."
That caused Akira to look up from his work towards the blonde-male. "I beg your pardon?" He asked.
"You like her." Yusuke supplied from the side. A simple yet heavy sentence at the same time.
Akira's eyes darted towards the blue-haired boy. "…Yes, I like Sitri-san. She's a very hard worker and is concerned with many people which is why she is the student-council president." Akira shrugged his shoulders as if it were nothing.
"And pretty." Ann grinned.
To that, Akira turned over to Ann. "What are you getting at?" He asked.
"You like her as in like like." Ann emphasized on the first like, teasing the leader of the Phantom Thieves.
"You're suggesting a romantic interest." Akira guessed while folding his arms and leaning back in his chair. "May I point out that you are making a statement without any form of way to support your claims?" His lips twitched, but Akira barely looked like he was triumphant.
That look fell when Yusuke reached into his bag and pulled out a book. More specifically, the one that Sona had handed to them in the afternoon. "This is the book you gave her. She wanted us to give it back to you."
Seeing the student-artist hand over the item, Akira took it from his hands. But then the boy saw the blondes both seeming rather smug once again as they stared at him. "…" He looked over to Yusuke who also seemed rather amused. "…So?" His question sounded like it came from a defensive child, hiding the book in his bag.
"So?" Ryuji asked back. "Makoto said that she's taken a look at your collection. While you had a decent amount, how many book on chess? Zero." He pointed to Akira's bag. "You totally bought that for her."
"Bought it to lend it." Akira defended himself.
"Right." Ann sarcastically answered while smiling. Akira then, of all the expressions he could make, pouted and looked back down towards his notes. "Oh, come on! Why are you being so childish about this?"
"Oh, I'm being childish?" Akira put a hand to his chest while looking up.
"Aw, come on, man." Ryuji continued to tease. "It's pretty cool that you really like her."
"Stop using that word." Akira did his best to put an end to the conversation. That's when the doorbell rang. As all of the occupants turned their heads in the direction of the noise, Akira was the first to look back. "Do you mind?" He asked, pointing in the direction he was planning to go towards regardless of their answer.
"Not at all." Ann, Ryuji, and Yusuke all answered at the same time, each of them with small smiles on their faces.
Giving them all a weird look, Akira then got up off his seat and headed towards the door. Making his way through the halls, his trip led him to end up right behind Sojiro who was one his way to the door. The older man saw the boy and pointed to the wooden barrier.
"Were you expecting someone?" Sojiro asked, causing Akira to shake his head in denial.
As the boy approached the door, he peeked through the hole that was provided. Eyeing who was at the front, Akira stepped to the sides. Unlocking the bolt of the door, he then swung the wooden slab open.
Standing in front of his was a handsome-looking man with long blonde hair and green eyes. He wore a red robe with a gold cross on the front of his white alb. He had on shoulder plates with a white sash and a golden halo set above his head.
"Hello," The man smiled politely. "My name is Michael, current leader of the Angels." Along with the greeting, he bowed slightly. "You must be Akira Kurusu, leader of the Phantom Thieves. Azazel has told quite a bit about you. Would it be okay if I come in a speak to you?"
Akira stared and blinked. "…This look is so much better than orange skin and roman-looking counterpart."
"…I beg your pardon?"
"Sorry, just talking to myself."
DIDJA MISS ME, YA WANKERS!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
But on a serious note though, there were a few things that took up my time. First of all, life. So don't just assume that this is abandoned just because I can't service your want of posting another chapter. Second, fiber glass is a jerk. Be careful when working around it. Third, that Gasper and Futaba scene was extremely agonizing to write. It's not the greatest, but I finally found a result that I'm happy with.
So... about that Metaverse part. Too many fics have constantly done the "too powerful to be affected by Gasper's Sacred Gear" trope. So what's wrong with trying to put a twist on it so our Persona users are unaffected by it?
No flames please.