I apologize for the long wait for this chapter. It's been a couple of busy weeks, and made worse by the fact that I ended up sick for a while. That made it much harder to work on the chapter, and by the time I had recovered it had killed all momentum I had, and ended up with a case of writer's block. Hope the chapter was worth the wait, and that the next one won't take as long a time.

Also, while I was a way Mizutanitony put out a story called "Bittersweet Valentine's" involving Sadayo and Akira as the do their best to celebrate Valentine's while dealing with the consequences of Akira's action during Christmas day. Also Emerald_Treasure started his own series, called "Persona 5: Living with Freedom" on Ao3, and begins on taht very same night. I hope to put my own iteration on these events in the far future, but for now these are both good reads.

I don't own this characters, they belong to Atlus, but I love them all the same.

EDIT: This chapter has been updated as of 3/20/19. Thanks again to Chessicfayth for all their help.


Chapter 4

"Ms. Kawakami!"

"W-wha, what...?" Sadayo woke sharply from her sleep as Ms. Chouno slammed her hand against the table.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Said Mr. Hiruta, "We are discussing one of the students in your homeroom. It's only fair that we get your views on the matter."

Sadayo was in a bit of a daze as remembered where she was. She had dozed off in the middle of a faculty meeting. She had planned to use the bit of free time before her night job to grab some food and rest, but was unfortunately intercepted by Ms. Chouno. While the other teacher was no longer prying into Kawakami's after school activities, she was still determined to drag her into the faculty meeting, despite Sadayo's failed attempts to excuse herself from it. They had started with the usual discussion of future plans, but it seemed that discussion had shifted to mid-terms, specifically the score of one student in particular.

"There's no way someone who barely pays attention in class like him could do so well!" Mr. Ushimaru protested, standing up from his chair. "That little punk probably cheated in some way!"

"Unless you have proof of such things, I would refrain from throwing such accusations." Retorted Ms. Usami as she looked at Mr. Ushimaru's direction. "He may not pay attention in class, but he seems smart enough to know the answers. If he understands the material and doesn't hinder the rest of the class it doesn't bother me."

"You can't go easy on these students." Mr. Ushimaru responded, pointing at Ms. Usami. "They need to learn to respect their seniors. If you just let them do as they please they'll walk all over you."

"Ms. Kawakami, you mentioned helping him with questions from time to time, plus he's in your homeroom. What are your thoughts on him?" Ms. Chouno Asked Sadayo who had just caught up with the discussion.

"Umm..." Sadayo scratched her head as she tried to think of a good excuse, since she didn't want them thinking she was giving him the answers after all. "Well honestly most of his questions seem more related to his assignments and wanting to make sure that he is doing things correctly." She remembered back to when she visited him last week, how he seemed to be working hard with his school assignments. "When it comes to actual subject matter he seems to understand things fine, and I haven't had much of a problem with him in class. Most of it was more due to his record being spread around on the first day."

And it was true. Since his arrival to Shujin he'd barely caused any disturbances at school, much to her relief. He may not be the most attentive student, but he's behaved well enough in class. If it wasn't for their run in that night, she probably wouldn't know about how much of a trouble maker he could actually be. He'd been especially attentive this week, though considering what had happened at his place the last time she visited, it was hard to tell whether he was doing it to actually improve in class, or to mess with her. Knowing his personality, it could easily go either way. For a few days she had a hard time facing him, though he seemed to have left her alone in that regard.

"Ms. Kawakami, you're zoning out again!"

"Oh, Sorry!" Sadayo flinched at the sudden outburst, snapping her mind out of the muddle of thoughts about the situation she was in with her student. "What were we talking about again…?"

"We are discussing the increase of discussion involving these Phantom Thieves of Hearts." Mr. Inui replied with his arms crossed. "Things were a bit crazy when that situation with Kamoshida occurred, but they had started to die down."

"Ah, but it seemed that another target has been hit and it has rekindled the flames a new." Mr. Hiruta added, wagging his finger. "Whether these are the same individuals or a copycat can't be proved, but It has people talking nonetheless."

"The students are becoming restless. They won't shut up! They keep on talking about it, even in the middle of class." Mr. Ushimaru grumbled.

Ms. Usami took out her phone and brought up the fan, or rather 'phan' site. "When Kamoshida confessed, this site started showing their support for the group. Most seemed to have seen the cards as a prank and just a coincidence, but now that a second target has appeared, and a famous painter at that, the site's has seen an uptick in followers."

Many of them remember seeing the press conference in which the Well renowned painter, Ichiryusai Madarame, had confessed to acts of plagiarism, more specifically taking the work of his pupils and claiming it as his own. Apparently even his most famous work "Saiyuri" was not his and the story of it being stolen turned out to be false. While the general public found it odd, if not amusing at how broken up he was during his confession, those in the faculty meeting remember all too well how similar his behavior was to Kamoshida's confession.

"They both were very similar. Could that just be a coincidence?" Sadayo broke the silence nervously as everyone contemplated the similarities of both events.

Mr. Hiruta simply shook his head. "Hard to say. Sadly the whole situation as well as the group is really quite mysterious."

"Be that as it may, the main problem right now is the students." Ms. Chouno said as she redirected the topic closer to school matters. "If they want to talk about it, that's fine, but we have to make sure that it doesn't end up disturbing class, so make sure to keep any discussion at a manageable level."

Mr. Inui did a small cough as to get the other teacher's attention. "There is one thing I wish to bring up. As of late there have been rumors of high school students being blackmailed and extorted in Shibuya. So far these are just stories, and we have yet to hear any such story from any of our students, but it's probably a good idea to keeps one's ears open for such occurrences in our school."

Ms. Umagi remembered something she had noticed a while ago. "Do you think that note asking students to talk to the student council about any information they might have has something to do with that?"

Ms. Chouno simply shook her head in frustration. "Principal Kobayakawa seems to have a lot of expectations for our council president, but I feel like he's putting too much pressure on her."

"He seems to favor her. Sometimes it feels like he discusses stuff with her more than the other members of the faculty." Mr. Inui responded with a bit of annoyance.

Ms. Chouno stood up from her seat. "Either way, I think we are done for today's meeting."

"Okaygottagobye!" As soon as the meeting was finished she stood up and rushed to grab her bag, ignoring Ms. Chouno as she asked where she was going.

The meeting took much longer than she had wanted. Evening was arriving soon and she hadn't eaten much all day. She hurried to the convenience store to find something, but sadly it seemed like it had been a busy day, and most of their packaged foods where out of stock

"Just one more thing. Though I have been eating those for the last few days, so I guess I can find something else." Looking down the aisle she noticed that the instant noodles were on a two for one discount. She was hesitant though. "They seem affordable, but do I even have the time? It would go to waste if I got reques-" Sadayo was hit with an idea as she took out her phone. He did say that he would be willing to request me, maybe I can make this work.

[S]: Hello, it's Becky the delivery maid!

[S]: We have a sale today.
[S]: The "Maid's Cooking" Option will come included with the "Together with a Maid" option

[S]: Only 5,000 yen with the request fee.

As she finished sending her text she was left wondering what to do now. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it won't matter if he doesn't answer on time, or at all. He said he was willing to request me, but would he really be okay with such a sudden message? I'm sure he has his own social life... As she thought things through Sadayo shoulders slumped down and she gave a disheartened groan. "Since when did I become so reliant on one of my students?"

Her phone suddenly pinged, letting her know that her message was received.

[A}: Sure, I'd be up for a delivery.

A smile crept on the teacher's face. She picked two instant noodle bowls, quickly responding as she went to pay for them.

[S]: I'm so happy!

[S]: Okay, then please wait for me with an empty stomach.

[S]: See you soon, Master!


"Well... did you enjoy the 'Maid's Cooking' and 'Together with a Maid' services I provided today?" Sadayo asked with a happy expression as she set down her chopsticks.

She and Akira sat in front of two empty bowls that was their dinner. Akira had managed to find a folding table and a few chairs among the pile of discarded items in his room, which allowed them eat peacefully upstairs. While it showed in his reaction that this wasn't what he had in mind when she mentioned a 'Maid's Cooking' meal, he seemed to have taken it well enough...

"I appreciate the food, but I kind of expected more of a traditional cooked meal." Akira remarked as he began picking up only to be stopped by Sadayo.

"I can take care of throwing these out, though I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee after our meal?" Sadayo said as she cleared the table and went to dispose of the disposable bowls, but turned back to Akira. "As for the meal… I could put a magic spell on it to make it extra delicious next time, but if you would rather have something much more extravagant then I would suggest the 'Home Maid's Cooking option. That will cost you extra, but I make the best egg rice with soy sauce." She proclaimed cheerfully with a smile and wink.

"I'll have to think about it." Akira responded with an unsure look in his face as he scratched his chin with his finger. He got up and proceeded downstairs to start working on the coffee.

Once the contents were disposed of Sadayo took a seat in front of Akira, acting less like the cheerful Becky. "They are pretty complicated though. It says drain the hot water once and leave the sauce packet on the lid so it warms up… Why not just put the sauce on the noodles after draining"

Akira chuckled at his maid's apparent difficulty with the noodle bowls. "Seems simple enough to me."

. "If you're going to complain then don't request me." She retorted an annoyed look.

"No complaints here." Akira responded as he finished grinding the beans and set the water to boil, leaning forward with with confident smile on the other end of the counter. "Though, I figured there was a particular reason that you asked me to request you to cook something."

That obvious huh? She reeled at how easily he was able to figure her out and proceeded to rest her head on her palm with a sigh. "We had a faculty meeting today, it took way longer than I wanted and I hadn't eaten anything in a while..."

"Ah, I see. I request you for the meal, then you get paid and get to eat without judgment." He finished her explanation as he proceeded to pour the hot water over the coffee grounds, letting it bubble and slowly drip through the filter.

"You told me that I can be myself when you requested me, so there you have it." She stuck her tongue at him as he simply shrugged it off, much to her annoyance." Why are you taking this so well? She shook her head as she massaged her temples from the minor headache of trying to understand him. "Anyway… Thanks to the latest stunt by the Phantom Thieves the students have been really restless, and it's causing problems for us since we can't decide what to do; about either the students or the group itself. I'm also worried that the recent events will cause our salary to be cut… I'm just so tired of it all."

A smile slowly formed on Akira's face, It seemed that their plan to get their name out by hitting a big name was paying off, though he did feel kind of bad about Sadayo's situation. It couldn't be helped though. She continued to complain about her day as Akira continued his brewing, and by the time she was done venting Akira had finished and proceeded to pour a cup for her, which she was thankful for.

"If that's a problem, I can always request you more often?" Akira offered as he filled his own cup.

"Really? That would be a big help." She sat up excitedly. "If you do I'll continue to serve you with all my might, Master!"

"Hey, I know things are hard with you dealing with your sister's medical bills, so anything I can do to help." Akira took a sip of his coffee as he chipped a bit at that particular lie.

"Oh… right, my sister..." Sadayo, attempted to keep her composure, as she had forgotten about her little lie and was too afraid of telling him the truth when her phone began to ping. "Sorry, have to take this call, I'll be right back." Wanting to get out of that discussion as soon as possible she quickly fled to take the phone call.

Akira simply nodded as she went to one of the shop's corner, he was able to hear her responding to the call, but was sadly unable to get a good grasp of the discussion as he wished for once that Morgana had stayed behind, even if it meant Mona would end up messing with him later.

"Hello." The call started normal enough, but was quickly changed as whoever was on the phone went straight to business. "How much?!" Sadayo's shouted in shock before she remembered that Akira was around and attempted to lower her voice. "By next week? But I can't..." her voice silenced as she heard the other end of the call talk, her form shrinking with each second."Yes, but…" her energy slowly drained as it went on. "That… That's true..." Her free hand grabbed at her other arm as the call went on, squeezing it tightly. "Yes… Yes, I understand… Yes, it's my responsibility, after all..."

Akira could see that her hands were shaking as she hung up the phone. She stood there for a while, probably to recover from whatever that call was about and as she returned, Akira simply waited for her to sit.

"Problems with medical bills?"

"Huh? OH!" Sadayo snapped back from her sinking feeling as Akira's questions brought her back to the person in front of her. "Sorry if you heard that. I'm a little behind on my sister's medical bills."

"Are they that expensive? From what I heard last time you've been working non stop. How bad is it?" Akira's voice was soft, a look of concern in his face which caused the teacher to panic.

"Uh, well it's apparently some sort of crazy incurable disease, so there's a lot of fees and charges." Her hands flailing as she tries to make up an explanation. He can't find out about them. If he found out… She took a deep breath as her rested her head on the counter. "I really need to pick up more shifts... If I don't, I'm going be in trouble."

Akira, stood there silently as he looked at Sadayo become lost in her thoughts once more. He was reminded of how she was behaving when he had found out about her job. Well I seemed to break her out of it then, maybe it will work this time.

"Well you're not going to get that many customers with simply offering them instant noodles." Akira teased in a mocking tone.

Sadayo twitched at hearing Akira's comment as her head slowly raised to face him. "You're not letting that slide, huh? Are you any better?" She remarked with a pout In her face.

Akira simply shrugged nonchalantly "Boss has been teaching me how to make curry, other than that, I'm no good. Besides, how could I let it slide like that? I thought it was very cute." he said with a mischievous look.

"Now I know you're messing me with me. I told you, don't request me if you're going to complain. If you think you're so much better why not show me?" She argued as she pointed her finger at Akira, challenging him on his statement.

That's more like it. It may not be the nicest thing to do at the moment, but he remembered how she wouldn't give in to his teasing, she would retort back with some fight and vigor in her. And, just like last time it seemed that she was now focused on the troublemaker in front of her, not wanting to lose to him. He had to admit, that desire of hers to not fall behind, to keep up with him was the main reason he found her so interesting, an interest that had grown with each interaction.

Akira chuckled at his flustered maid. "I'm not complaining, I'm offering some advice." Akira poured her another cup of the coffee. "You mentioned not having that many clients, maybe if you can offer a nice cooked meal you might get some more people."

Sadayo glared at him, her arms crossed and annoyed, but eventually give a sigh and begrudgingly accepted the cup. "Thanks..." She let it's aroma enter before taking a sip, it wasn't much but it did help calm her down a bit. "Even if that was true, I have very little free time, and even when I do I wouldn't know where to start."

"Then I'll accept your challenge."

Sadayo looked at him with a brow raised as she took another sip. "What do you mean?"

"About showing you what I can do. As I said, Boss has been teaching me how to prepare curry, so why don't I teach you? Mine might not be as good as his, but it's not bad, I'd say it's quite decent.." Akira placed his hands on his pocket as he gave Sadayo a confident smile. "We can even do it the next time I request you, that way you'll still get paid."

Sadayo looked at the boy with a stunned look, her mind trying to figure out why he'd do this.

That came out of nowhere, and it's way too convenient. What is he plotting? Could he be-NO! Dammit I'm doing it again. Here he is offering to help and I'm already suspecting him. I just never learn do I? She shook her head and looked at her student. "Why though?" She simply asked, still confused by willing to hear him out.

"I told you didn't I, I want to help out in anyway I can." Akira shrugged and began messing with his hair. "Besides, I'm your Master aren't I? What's so wrong about wanting to make sure that my maid is doing a good job?. Plus you issued a challenge, and I'm not going to back away from it." He explain with a devilish smile.

"You're such a brat, you know that?" Sadayo remarked, trying to keep herself from laughing at Akira's reasoning. "Seriously… You're a strange kid." Sadayo stretched her arms, feeling much more relaxed and calm than she was a few moments ago. "Well… As you said I would be getting paid either way, so I can't complain about your offer."

Looks like she's in a better mood at least. "So does that mean that you accept?"

"Sure, and with the confidence you have, I'm expecting much from you, Master." Sadayo confirmed with a playful look in her face. "Sadly though, it seems that our time is up." Sadayo stood from her chair. "I'll let you know the next time I'm available, okay?"

Akira smiled as he nodded. "Sure thing, take care, Becky..."

Sadayo returned his smile with one of her own as she waved goodbye. "Take care, Master..."


"Finally done!" Sadayo stretched as she finished the last of her school preparations.

Today had been a half day in school, and with no available work that she could acquired, Sadayo found herself with some free time in a while. Not sure what to do with her sudden free time, she decided to get a head start on her upcoming classes turning on an old romance movie as white noise in the background. She hoped that getting the syllabus done in advance would allow her to focus more on her jobs when they become available, and by the movie's climactic point, she was already done.

As she thought to herself about what to do, a smile slowly shaped in her face. She stood up she went and grabbed her phone checking for the time. "It's a little bit early… but why not let him know ahead of time that I'm free."

[S]: Becky is excitedly waiting your request, Master!

[S]: Your lovely maid is ready to learn how to please.

[S]: So let me know once you're ready!

She placed her phone down and proceeded to organize her school work while she waited on his response. It didn't take long as her phone pinged in the distance and she eagerly went to check it.

[A]: Sorry, I won't be able to request you tonight, a friend of mine has found himself without a place to sleep so I'm having him crash here.

Her excitement quickly dissipated at reading his response, and she let out a disappointed sigh.

[S]: Oh! No, it's fine. Sorry for bothering you.

As she responded to Akira's message, she wondered about this friend that he was talking about. She remembered the faculty meeting from yesterday and was a bit worried. Could it be someone from Shujin? She continue to message him, hoping to get some more details on the situation.

[S]: Is everything alright? Is it serious?

Sadayo impatiently waited for his response as she paced in her living room.

[A]: Nothing serious, he just wasn't thinking things through.

[A]: Sadly, this means that It will be hard to request you for a while.

[A]: Sorry...

Sadayo just looked at the phone, a bit relaxed now that she knows that it isn't something serious, but still trying to figure out what to say, when the phone pinged one more time.

[A]: Just so you know, he's not someone you know, He doesn't go to Shujin.

Sadayo let out a small chuckle at the last message. "Did he figure out why I was asking? I keep forgetting that he can be very perceptive when he wants to be. Though I guess we won't be seeing each other outside of class for a while..."

Sadayo shook her head at the realization of what she had just said. "That's good, right? I mean I kept telling him that he shouldn't request me, and he kept spending money away so frivolously, he should really be responsible with it. Not to mention that he's my student, he shouldn't be requesting me in the first place". Sadayo pulled her legs up to the couch, her arms around them as she grumbled. "Even though he was the one that offered to request me."

She stayed in that position in silent contemplation as her head slouched forward letting out a frustrated groan. "WHY?! Why am I so frustrated by this? He doesn't owe me anything, he's simply helping someone out. Knowing him he probably didn't realize it would be problem until I sent the message."

Her head lifted as she looked to the tv The credits beginning to roll as she stared at the monitor without really seeing it as she tried to figure out her confusing thoughts. "I guess… it was just the fact that it was nice having someone request me so often. It's hard enough getting new customers, so having a stable customer has made things a bit easier. Though it isn't fair to him really... All I do is complain and vent." She thought back to all she had put him through, and while he was quick to mess with her, in the end he never complained and treated her well. "He's surprisingly tolerant and can actually be kind of sweet when he's not being a cocky brat."

A smile formed as she remembered the first time he had requested her, how he'd told her that she could be herself when he requested her, and how she was slowly becoming comfortable being around him, how being with him helped her feel at ease. "I have to tell him that he can't request me anymore. I don't get involved with my students for a reason, to avoid getting attached. I'll only end up hurting him, hurting both of us, I know that already, but..."

Her thoughts interrupted as she heard her phone pinging. She rested her head on her arm as she faced the phone and checked to see what it was. A small, disheartened chuckle escaping her lips as she read the message.

[A]: It may take a while, but I'll find away to be able to request you. I'll let you know when I can.

"I'm such a coward. I know that I should end this, but I can't make the payments without him. So in the end I'll end up using him, because that's the kind of person I am..."


Akira stared at his phone as he laid on his bed, Morgana was by the foot of the bed while Yusuke had been given the couch. After Yusuke's plan to stay at Ann's place failed spectacularly, Morgana offered they place for the time being. There wasn't a bed available for him but he seem perfectly fine with the couch.

"Might I ask about what your looking at." Yusuke turned to face his new roommate.

"It's nothing..." Akira sighed as he put his phone down. He hadn't seen anything from Sadayo's end after his last message, and was a bit worried.

"He's probably just sad cause he had other plans today." Morgana remarked, preparing himself for any retaliation.

"Other plans?" Yusuke asked, quite curious to what their feline companion was referring to.

"And yet you immediately offered our place to stay." Akira sat up from his bed so he could face both Morgana and Yusuke.

"My apologize, it seems that I have ruined your plans." Yusuke said with his head down.

Akira lightly shook his head. "It's fine, while I did have plans, I would had still preferred you staying here. I was more frustrated because I was worried about how Boss would had taken it, but I guess that turned out all right."

"Thankfully, Lady Ann was able to talk to him and get the okay." Morgana reassured him, as if that was part of his plan.

Akira gave an exasperated sigh at Morgana's confidence. "Why do I feel like that was more luck than anything else."

Akira was a bit annoyed. He had hoped to help Sadayo today and Morgana jumping in put a damper on those plans, though to be fair, he doesn't know the full gist of the situation since Akira had been avoiding talking to him about it. He was admittedly a bit worried, considering how she was acting last night, but be that as it may, he wasn't going to abandon his friend in the street because of that. He just had to find a way around being able to request her without Yusuke seeing her.

"I see, Thank you... I'm in your debt." Yusuke bowed his head courteously. "I hope that you will take care of me during my stay."

"Well to be fair, I think it's more like both of us are in the boss's care." Akira corrected as he scratched the back of his head. "But, I understand your sentiment, let's just do our best. For now let's get some sleep."

As they got ready his phone began to ring as he quickly stood up and went to check, only to find it was Ryuji. Still, why was he calling? Did he forget something?

"Who's that?" Morgana ask curiously.

"It's just Ryuji, one moment." Akira picked up the call to be greeted by his friend.

"Hey man, how are things holding up over there?"

"Things are going fine. What's going on Ryuji?"

"Sorry did I wake you up?" Ryuji replied apologetically.

"Just about to sleep so you caught me at the last moment."

"Then I'll make this quick. Do you have any plans tomorrow?"


With all that confusion that she went through the night before, Sadayo needed some time to think. While she would rather be working, she figured she'd be way to distracted, not to mention that she didn't sleep all that well with everything on her mind. She found that fishing helped her clear her head, maybe it was because it gave her something for her mind to focus on, maybe it was because it reminded her of her hometown and of happier times. Whatever the reason, it usually did the job and was one of the few luxuries she let herself have. She took her bag and took a train to Ichigaya, where the local fishing pond was. As she arrived and paid her entry fee she stopped, surprised to see Ryuji and Akira fishing.

You have got to be kidding me! Why are they here? She wanted to avoid being spotted, but sadly it would seem that Ryuji had already seen her and let Akira know, not to mention the fact that the fishing pond was surprisingly full today, with one of the few spots open being right next to them. This has to be some kind of cruel joke. With an exasperated sigh, she walked towards her two students.

"Two boys at a fishing pond on Sunday, huh..." Sadayo remarked, still in disbelief of finding both of them here. "Shouldn't you be doing something more exciting? Why are you sitting around like old men?"

"Look who's talking. Why are you here?" Ryuji commented, just as surprised to find their teacher at the fishing pond.

Sadayo sighed as she massaged her brow. "Sometimes adults need time to themselves to unwind and clear their thoughts. You'll understand when the weight of the real world starts affecting you, as you start working long shifts and your free time slowly becomes less and less."

Ryuji slumped his head of his teacher depressing reasoning."Wow you're sounding really old there Kawakami. That can't be good for your health."

Sadayo simply glared as she noticed Akira seemed to be focused on his fishing and hadn't commented much. "That's MS. Kawakami to you."

She proceeded to sit down at her spot, her two students behind her, and started fishing, trying to ignore her unexpected company. It took her a bit longer than usual, with Ryuji constant complaining about lack of catches distracting her, but eventually she got into her usual pace and start getting some big catches.

"Holy crap… Akira! Kawakami could be the master fisher we were looking for, she's already caught so many." Ryuji looked stunned at this new discovery.

"Keep it down. If you keep being so loud you'll scare all the fish." Sadayo simply remarked without turning away from her lure, though she had noticed that Akira hadn't said anything to her. She felt her eyes slide slightly to the side to look at him, though she quickly went back to her lure when she thought Ryuji would notice. "Is Kurusu-kun okay? I haven't heard a word from him at all."

Ryuji scratched his head in his confusion, not fully sure himself about what Akira was doing. "He's been like that for a while now. We haven't been able to catch a single thing… I think he's trying to stare down the fish."

"I'm keeping an eye on the fish. They keep going for the lure but I'm always short in pulling them in, so they get away. So I'm not losing track of them this time. But now none of them are going for it and-" Akira mumbled on, as he impatiently waits for the fish to come.

It's a bit strange seeing him struggle with something, must be his first time. Sadayo did her best to hide her amusement at seeing the ever cocky Akira struggling to even catch anything. In a way it was kinda cute, how flustered he was getting. "It's really easy once you get the hang of it. Just clear your mind and free yourself of all negative thoughts."

"So you're saying that we shouldn't think? How do we do that?"

"By letting go of all worldly desires?" Akira brought his lure back after waiting for so long and no bite.

"So you're saying that if I think that I don't want any fish then..." Ryuji closes his eye, a contemplative look showing on his face for a few seconds before he just shakes his head. "Nope not working, we're doing this because we want the catch a fish."

"It's more that you're so focused on the catching that you're hindering your chances. Relax your grip, focus less on what you see, and more on the subtle movement of the rod as it is pulled. She continued to instruct Akira without loosing her focus on her lure and continued to catch some of the bigger fish in the pond.

Akira listen to what she said, but was still unsure, he had confidence in his eyesight, especially after becoming a Phantom Thief, so telling him to not rely on it was strange. Nonetheless, she clearly knew what she was doing, so with a deep calming breath he threw the lure once more. Some time went by as the lure floated in the water, Akira instinctively tapped his foot after a while, which Sadayo took note of.

"That isn't going to help. The lure is already out, all you can do now is make it so they won't flee, and even small movement can affect the water."

This gets him to stop as he takes another deep breath and relaxes his arm. Sure enough he notice a small pull as the rod jerked ever so slightly and he immediately stood up as he pulled at it, Ryuji standing up in surprise.

"Whoa, We got one! don't lose it Akira."

"Don't pull too hard, if you do you'll break the string. Tire it out slowly so it will become easier to pull."She turned to instruct her student, guiding him through the process.

After much struggling Akira manages to pull it out of the water. It was a small one, but he was excited about having caught anything at all at this point.

"That's it? Considering how much it was pulling I was expecting something bigger." Ryuji commented, disappointed at their first catch since arriving.

"Hey, it's something at least." Akira said enthusiastically as he proceeded to release the fish.

Sadayo went back to her fishing, mumbling to herself in in frustration as her hopes of some alone time had been denied. "It's such a nice sunny Sunday too. I didn't think I'd be stuck fishing with you two on my day off." She gave a tired sighed as she reeled in another fish. "But I guess this is kinda fitting… Two troublemaker students, and their no-good teacher. We're perfect for each other."

"She's nagging, but she's still getting fish, She's scary good at this." Ryuji was honestly impressed at how good she actually was.

Akira smiled as he caught another fish after following his teacher's instructions. "You're much better at teaching than you give yourself credit for. After all, I'm doing much better now thanks to your guidance. So cheer up Master Kawakami."

Sadayo was left silent at the words her troublemaker had said. While they had slowly become used to each other's company, this was the first time he had given her a direct compliment. Even with that mischievous tone of his when he called her 'Master', his gratitude and smile that came along with it were genuine. It felt like less of a poke at her other job, and more a sign of respect for her ability (though she never felt that her fishing skills was something of worthy of respecting, let alone her teaching ability).

"Again… That's MS. Kawakami." She avoided looking their way as she could feel a bit of a blush in her cheeks.

They continued fishing together after a while, people slowly leaving for the day, and eventually Ryuji decided to head out for the day. Akira told him he would be staying a bit longer and with a wave and a wide grin they parted ways for the day, leaving the teacher and the student.

"Oh, Ms. Kawakami." Akira sat straight, having remembered something, causing Sadayo to jump a bit.

"Y-yes?"

"I forgot to mention, but my friend decided head back to the dorms, so I should hopefully be able to request you again." Akira let her know, remembering that Yusuke had left the morning before he even got up. He hoped that last night comments hadn't push him away, but when he texted him he mostly got talk of wanting to live among the other and learn new experiences for his art, he figured that meant that things were good on his end so left them as it was. After all, while he was worried for him, he was a bit relieved that he wouldn't have to juggle him being there and finding time to requesting Sadayo.

"Oh, that's good." Sadayo looked shocked at how quickly that situation got solved, even though he did tell her that it wasn't anything serious. As she remembered about last night she gripped the fishing rod tightly as she bit her lower lip. "You… do know that you don't have to request me, right? You probably have other stuff you'd want to do than spend time with someone like me."

Part of her wanted to tell him that he should just stop doing so, for his own good, but the other part knew that she would be struggling to do her weekly payments without him. So she continues to ask him, reminding him that he can stop requesting her at any time, both dreading and hoping that he will take the chance to do just that, since her situation caused her to be unable to put her foot down herself.

Akira simply smiled as he managed to reel in an average sized fish. "It's nothing to do with having to. I've enjoyed your company, and if it also helps you out, then I don't see why I should stop."

"Seriously! What are you, some kind of masochist? It's not like I've done much." Her eyes widen at his comment of enjoying her company.

Akira chuckled at her question, but paid it no mind. "The point still stands. If you will let me, I'm happy to continue our deal, and I did take up your challenge after all. I would look bad for me if I ran from it now."

"That IS true… As long as you're okay with it I guess." a moment of silence passed as she realized that they've been talking while avoiding any eye contact, as they sat back to back. "Is it just me, or does it feel like we are discussing some kind of shady deal?"

Akira kept himself from laughing at her comment, as he was reminded of what Ryuji had said when they started fishing. "Well if you like, there is a new spot here." he patted the crate where Ryuji was previously sitting.

"I think I'll stick to where I am, thank you very much." Sadayo said with an exasperated tone, though a bit of a smile was beginning to form.

They continue to talk quietly as Sadayo offered a few more tips and Akira readily put them to practice. As evening was fast approaching they both decided to head out, Sadayo heading out to her night job, Akira planning to meet up with Iwai from the model gun shop. They bid their farewell and went their separate ways, both in better spirits and with fond memories.