Here we are with chapter 27 everyone! Would be working on assignment but spent like twenty hours sleeping because I think my body needed rest and the other four hours I'm using of the day is to write a fanfic rather than do anything mentally demanding. Like think.

Enjoy.

"Fuck."

Akira groaned as he allowed his head to fall into the palm of his hands and massage his temples, trying to stem the building headache that seemed to be his life. He tried to deal with the oncoming pain in his temples as Azusa tittered beside him nervously, his fellow second-year already proving to be the empathetic sort.

"I-It can't be that bad, can it?" the chestnut-haired secretary tried to defend him.

"It is not," Suzune nodded from her paperwork, the normally taciturn treasurer joining the conversation.

"However, Vice-President Kurusu displays through the videos that he protects female students, even if that isn't necessarily the truth," she said plainly, barely looking up from her reports, "Additionally, I do believe over the course of the past two hours, videos and pictures regarding the suicide incident with Suzui-san along with various anonymous explanations were posted soon after."

Akira just looked up, remembering faintly that there was a whole crowd of students hovering over him and Shiho at the time with their phones out. "So everyone knows about that now?" Akira bemoaned.

"Not everyone, no. Simply those who have been on any online forums or social media site within the last four hours," Suzune informed him, her hand not stopping for a moment as she continued to file out forms.

"It's been a nightmare this morning trying to run interference," Makoto sighed. "Akira-san, you're quite literally the only thing people have talked to me about this morning."

Akira tried to give a humourous grin and deflect the situation. "You're not serious, are you?"

The dull deadpan look that Makoto sent him told him it wasn't. The brown-haired student-council president stood up, placing a hand on the smaller of the two piles of paperwork that she'd brought into the room. If he had to guess, it must've been at least twelve inches thick.

"If I wasn't trying to work with Principal Kobayakawa in sorting out the mess you made through that video, I've been sorting out the mess you made at Inokashira Park," she said lowly, red-eyes piercing his grey orbs.

"You've lost me," Akira responded truthfully, completely unsure of what she was talking about. Both Azusa and Suzune paused in what they were doing and made painstaking actions in not looking in any direction near Akira which only caused his grief to increase.

Makoto chose to raise a paper from the small pile beneath her hand and showed it to Akira.

"This… is a student request form," Makoto said simply.

"Okay…" Akira said slowly and unsurely.

"Would you like to know exactly what they're requesting?" Makoto said.

"I have the feeling I don't… but I also get the feeling you're going to tell me anyway," Akira said, his words while witty only caused a sickeningly sweet smile to spread across the third-year student council president's lips.

"This is a request asking for you to cook curry," Makoto said before slamming the thin sheet back onto the small pile. "This whole pile is just people asking for you to cook curry for them. Not even just students either, I saw Miss Chouno somewhere in this pile!"

Akira sweatdropped as Makoto seemed to lose all of her energy and just slumped into her seat. "Now do you see why I'm reconsidering your position?" she asked looking at him in exhaustion.

He really didn't.

"Do pay little mind to Niijima-san," Makoto's fellow third-year and council treasurer stated. "She is simply venting as she has found herself returning to her normal workload. She would loathe to actually reconsider your position as you have proven yourself proficient in lightening the paperwork she would normally have as Student-President without your assistance."

"Must you tell him that?" Makoto asked before looking at Akira. "But, yes… Ichihara-san is correct. As much trouble as you've shown yourself able to get into, it would be a nightmare if I removed you from your position. For myself the most," she admitted with no amount of fatigue.

"I see… I'll have to do my best to make up for it then," Akira nodded carefully before his gaze drifted to the larger pile of papers sitting in front of Makoto.

Makoto noticed his lingering gaze, her own eyes staring at the papers for a moment before looking at Akira, switching between the two intermittently.

Akira sighed. "Is that the student paperwork for the social studies field trip?" he asked tiredly only to get an unclear response from Makoto.

"Not exactly…" she said as she took a small portion from the top and placed it to the side before sliding the rest of the pile to Akira. "These are student forms for the second-years," Makoto stated as she slid the well over two feet tall stack of papers to him causing him to stare at it in despair.

"You… need to fill these out in triplicate," Makoto grimaced while Akira stared at her horrified. "One set of forms for the parents, one set of forms for the academy, and another set of forms for whichever locations each student has chosen for their studies field trip."

"Wonderful…" Akira murmured sarcastically as he grabbed a sheet of paper and began looking at the contents. It'd take a while to finish but nothing that copious amounts of coffee and an all-nighter couldn't fix.

He looked back at Makoto and the little sheaf of papers in front of her. "Do I need to do anything with those ones?" Akira asked curiously.

"These are just forms that need to be filled out for each field trip location." Makoto picked up the pile of papers and scanned their contents. "Afterwards I'll file them with the host of each location but… after everything that happened this morning I haven't had the time to file them."

Akira sighed as he realised at this point he was causing more work to be heaped upon Makoto's shoulders, and that's ignoring the fact that at this point she was also investigating Rem and the others.

Cybele urged him to continue in lightening Makoto's load.

Akira silently argued that it'd give her more time than normal for her to blackmail them.

His head burst into a migraine causing him to slowly massage his temples as Cybele decided to be petty and wreak havoc on his mind.

Damn Phrygian Goddess…

"I'll fill them out and file them…" Akira said causing the three other student council members to look at him in states of surprise.

"B-But Kurusu-san, you already have so much paperwork to fill out!" Azusa reminded gently but shyly, tittering in her chair as she stared at the daunting pile of paperwork before Akira.

"I have this period to fill some of them out," Akira pointed out. One good thing about being on the Student Council was that council duties superseded priority over normal lessons and the teachers didn't complain so long as he kept on top of his grades.

Considering he was still first throughout the second-years, the teachers weren't all that caring if he skipped a few classes to file some paperwork.

"Even so, you're already filling out the second-year documents in triplicate. It would be remiss to add more to your workload. As it is, you share a balanced portion of the council's work between yourself and Niijima-san," Suzune stated but an undercurrent of concern lacing her words even though her face never seemed to leave its stoic disposition. "Additionally, it would take time to contact each host and ensure their cooperation."

"They're right Akira-san," Makoto declined diplomatically even though the prospects of delegating the task to another student council member did hold its appeal.

Unfortunately for them, Cybele was a stubborn, if fickle, goddess. Akira didn't allow the internal wince that he allowed to form in his mind to express itself on his face as the migraine intensified. With a small thought, he swatted Cybele back into his sea of souls before turning his attention to Makoto.

"How about we call these reparations for this morning?" Akira offered, wincing internally once more as Cybele forced herself back to the forefront within seconds, his head pulsing shortly with pain before dulling into an aching throb.

Both Suzune and Azusa looked at Makoto curiously waiting for her decision.

"Very well," Makoto eventually relented under the gaze of her treasurer, secretary and vice-president. "But if it becomes too much I fully expect you to at least split them with me should it become necessary," she said as she slid the papers over to him, only letting go when he nodded.

"I will."

Akira let out a quiet sigh of relief as Cybele cheered happily, the migraine that pulsed in his head vanishing like winter snow basked in the warm rays of the sun.

Makoto let out an aggrieved but relieved sigh. "We should get through our paperwork while we still have time now and during the first period. Perhaps the second period if need be for you, Akira-san."

The three council members nodded.

Suzune continued once more through the paperwork she'd been working on since before Akira had arrived while Azusa began organising student documents along with the weekly paperwork for the first years. Makoto began to sort and file the student/teacher requests, small sounds of irritation emanating from her throat as she realised from her brief skimming of the pile that most of them were simply inane requests for Akira to cook.

Akira began to look through the second set of forms that Makoto had slid over to him and looking at the locations and hosts of each field trip location. His quick skimming of each form ceased momentarily as he came across a certain document form in the latter portion of the paperwork.

Host: Shinichi Yoshizawa

Location: Good Morning Japan

Social Studies Type: Television Station

Akira couldn't help but think of the ludicrously low chances that Shinichi just so happened to be the host of the tv station that he'd eventually end up going to. He recalled back in his old reality the field trip study had been hosted by a particularly weak-willed PR lady who'd bent to the whims of a newscaster.

He couldn't help but shake his head and allow a small chuckle to leave his lips even as it drew strange looks from the three girls around him. Lavenza had said that there would be small variables that would change but would have little impact on preventing ruin.

Akira found the coincidence amusing.

Suddenly he was filled with an inexplicable feeling of dread as realised Shinichi would probably know in three days time maximum about the video circulating online.

Wonderful.

Akira shook his head, removing the dregs of dread that filled his soul and began to fill out the form, setting a small reminder to file the forms after school.

"Really?"

Akira looked up as Makoto held up two pieces of papers, two student request forms as she stared both Suzune and Azusa down.

The both of them ducked their heads in embarrassment, even the normally stoic Suzune's face flushed red as they'd both been caught red-handed requesting for curry.

"Hey, Rem?" Ryuji asked as he sat down beside her during lunch, sitting on Akira's desk, said teen having been announced as busy with student council work for both first and second period by Miss Kawakami and Doctor Maruki as teachers for both periods.

"Yes?" Rem asked as she slurped down a bowl of instant ramen, the heavy rain outside making it perfect for a hot meal. Since there wasn't anything left in the school shop and the cafeteria was packed at the moment, she'd chosen instead to but an instant pack of ramen form the vending machine and nab some hot water from the cafeteria before returning to her classroom.

She did have some yakisoba bread that she'd bought in the morning but that was Morgana's lunch which he was currently going to town on in the underside of her desk next to her textbooks.

"Well, I was wonderin'," Ryuji said before pausing to consider his words. "Well, remember how on Saturday Mishima and I were talkin' about the whole maid thingy?"

Rem paused for a moment from her meal to stare at Ryuji slowly, "Are you sure you want to continue this?" she asked carefully. She wasn't exactly building with temper or anything but she didn't want to cause a scene with how she tended to do so normally.

Ryuji just raised his hands in surrender. "Just curious is all," he defended and only lowered his hands as Rem continued her meal. "It's just I remember you snatchin' that paper from Mishima's hands when he invited you so just curious what you ended up doin' with it," he said as he took Akira's chair, flipped it around before plopping himself down.

Rem shrugged, "I think it's sitting somewhere in my room on my desk."

"Huh…" Ryuji let out, "Thought you would've thrown it out or somethin'."

"She was too angry at the time to do anything other than pace around," Morgana piped up, breadcrumbs and remnants of the yakisoba pan evident around his mouth and whiskers which Rem wiped off with a tissue.

Ryuji was about to say something but was cut-off as the three overheard two students nearby talking.

"Did you see Madarame's press conference?"

"You mean that guy who was all like, 'How could I possibly… apologize for what I've done… Ahhh…"?"

"Think it was really those Phantom Thieves? You know, the whole stealing your heart thing?"

"That… There's no way. But then again… it seems too convenient for it all just to be a coincidence."

Ryuji let out a quiet whoop of joy from his place at the desk but made sure it was quiet enough that it wouldn't be noticeable.

"How's it going? Have you found out next big target?"

Not that it mattered since S. bulldozed through and basically announced that they were doing something shady. She recoiled at the two urgent glares before realising what she'd done, covering her mouth and looking around to see if anyone had heard.

Another good thing about Rem's status was that everyone was content to ignore her so long as they knew where she was.

"Keep it down would you," Ryuji whispered.

"Sorry," Ann apologised with a sheepish smile.

"Besides I thought we agreed yesterday that we'd be laying low for a bit?" Ryuji asked to which Ann slumped in her desk on the other side of Rem who was still dutifully making her way through her instant ramen.

"I know… it's just, I guess I'm a bit antsy after both Madarame's and Kamoshida's Palace," Ann said as she leant her body against the backrest of her chair. "It's beginning to feel weird being outside of the metaverse."

Rem understood what Ann meant. It felt odd being a normal human when she was slowly getting used to fighting shadows in the metaverse. Not having Selina or any other Persona whispering in her ear while she was out here in reality.

"We'll head into the Metaverse after the social studies trip," Rem stated as she finished off her ramen, setting the now empty container on her desk to be disposed of later.

"Oh yeah, what did you two end up choosing?" Ann asked curiously. "I chose the TV station."

Rem shrugged. "I was just going to wait and see what you two chose before picking so I wouldn't be bored," she replied simply as she reclined in her chair, a hand winding its way beneath Morgana's chin to scratch gently.

Morgana hummed in contentment, his belly full and his chin getting scratches.

"That's kinda smart actually," Ann admitted before turning to Ryuji, "What did you choose?"

Ryuji grunted as he flopped over the desk. "I dunno, I was plannin' on just ditchin' it," he shrugged.

Rem's free hand bopped the back of Ryuji's head since he was in easy reach, "No ditching school activities. We're trying to lay low, not draw attention to ourselves by being delinquents," she scolded lightly.

"Yes mom," Ryuji groaned, his voice muffled since his face was burying itself in the varnished wood of Akira's desk.

"Well if you don't have anywhere to go and Rem's just waiting for us, why don't we all go with the TV station?" Ann asked, more than excited at the prospect. "I heard we're gonna get to watch them tape a show! Maybe there'll be actresses there!" Ann slowly began to lose herself in her imagination.

Morgana peeked out from his chin scratches to look at Ryuji. "I'm surprised you're not saying anything like wanting to go now to see the actresses," Morgana jabbed good-naturedly.

Ryuji just grunted from his place buried in the desk. "What's the point? I like livin' thanks," he retorted, Rem feeling as if he was talking about her but she let it slide.

"Oh, that's right did either of you see the video that's circulating online?" Ann asked causing Rem and Ryuji to look at her in confusion.

"What're ya goin' on about?" Ryuji asked, crossing his arms before letting his chin rest in the crook between them. Ann didn't say anything but rather pulled out her phone and rapidly began typing, scrolling through before presenting a video to Rem and Ryuji.

"What the heck? Ain't this that Kurusu guy?" Ryuji asked as he took Ann's phone to get a better look, moving closer to Rem so they both could see it.

Rem watched as someone filmed Akira protecting Sumire, the red-haired gymnast who she'd recently became friends with, from a middle-aged man. Akira had a hand grasped tightly around the middle-aged man's wrist and judging from how Sumire was clutching onto his blazer jacket, Akira had stepped in from preventing anything untoward from happening to her.

"H-Huh? Wh-Who the hell are you?" the man seemed to yelp as Akira's grip tightened, Rem able to see the bones in his wrist rubbing against each other.

"I'm a student at Shujin as well," a deadly smile blossomed on Akira's face as he spoke, "I'm more than happy to talk if you'd like."

The man tried to wrench himself free from the tight grasp Akira had on him to no avail. "Dammit, no need to get worked up! Just being friendly!" he near shouted, at this point whoever has been recording seemed to move closer in order to get a better view.

Both Rem and Ryuji watched as Akira's smiled dipped into a dangerous scowl. "The last person that was being 'friendly' to a girl from Shujin, raped her," he whispered harshly but loud enough that it was captured on video, "We've had enough with paedophiles like you."

The moment he'd finished speaking he threw the man backwards, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Daaaayuuuum," Ryuji let out, a small grin on his face. "Dude's got some guts to do that."

Rem had to agree. Then again, she was slowly beginning to realise that Akira had more confidence and guts than the entire school, but was also likely missing half of his impulse control.

"There's still more," Ann shook her head as she inclined her head towards the phone. The two of them looked back at the phone, Ryuji lowering it a bit so Morgana could watch as well.

"Tch, bloody brat!"

A sharp flash of pain echoed through Rem's mind. Memories of a dark evening in the alleyways of Kuoh and a woman screaming for help erupting in her mind.

She quickly shook it away as she looked back at the video.

The man had gotten up and was in the middle of swinging his fist to the back of Akira's head, the teen turned around unknowing as he looked over Sumire.

"What the eff?" Ryuji yelped as they watched the man's fist inch closer and closer.

It never met its mark as Akira seemed to know it was coming, swerving around the strike before grabbing the man's arm in a tight grip and pulling him close. Akira's head reeled back before slamming forward in a solid headbutt, his forehead slamming none too gentle against the man's mouth.

The man swayed for a moment and stumbled before collapsing bonelessly to the ground clutching his bleeding mouth.

"I-I'll sue, you damn brat!"

Those words shot lances of pain through Rem's head, memories trying to force themselves to the forefront of her mind. Reminders of when she'd been arrested. She tried to latch onto them, to try and remember the face of the man who'd sued her but those memories disappeared like wisps of mist in the wind.

"Go for it."

Rem watched as Akira dared the man to do so.

"You tried to assault me in broad daylight in the middle of public in an area full of CCTV cameras," Akira said as he stared the man on the floor down. "It'll be more than obvious that it's a case of self-defence…"

The dangerously saccharine smile from earlier returned with full-force. "I'm sure the police down at the Shibuya Precinct would love to see the footage of how you tried to sexually harass a student from the same school their daughters go to," he said in a pleasant manner.

The man was quick to scramble off the floor and around Akira and Sumire before ambling down the stairs leading into Shibuya station. The video stopped soon after.

"When did that happen?" Rem asked curiously as Ryuji handed Ann her phone back.

"No one's sure since they're both wearing their normal school blazers," Ann shrugged. "But get this, it's been going around online. People are starting to think of him as the face of Shujin."

Ann showed the numerous comments that were posted below the video, many of them trying to figure out who Akira was.

"Well it's a shit-ton better than being remembered as the school with Kamoshida," Ryuji muttered with a deprecating snort at the thought of their rapist of a PE teacher.

"That's not all," Ann shook her head as she scrolled through and showing some photos that caused Rem's heart to stop and Ryuji and Morgana to gasp sharply.

There were photos of Akira holding onto the top of the school rooftop fence, his other hand holding Shiho in his grasp as she dangled from his grip. Another photo of Akira and Shiho in freefall, him hugging her to his chest as he stayed on the bottom. One of them impacting the ground, and a final one with both him and Shiho being brought into the ambulances, Ann and Sumire with them.

"It seems someone was able to get photos and posted them. People online know about him saving Shiho," Ann said, small tears forming in the corner of her eyes as Rem and Ryuji looked at her in worry.

Ryuji was the one to get up and give Ann a one-armed hug. "Hey, how's Shiho handlin' all this?" he asked with concern.

"She's handling it well…" Ann gave a small but shook her head while wiping the small tear droplets away. "No one posted the details. I don't think anyone wanted to anything more to her… they just wanted to show that this wasn't the first time Kurusu-kun did this."

"I'm glad to hear she's doing okay…" Morgana murmured quietly so only they could hear him. "How's her recovery?" he asked to which Ann gave a much happier smile.

"When last I checked the doctors said she'd be fully recovered in a few more weeks," Ann smiled. "Because of Kurusu-kun, her therapy wasn't difficult but… she still won't be returning to Shujin."

"I don't blame her…" Rem shook her head empathetically. "This place must have some difficult memories for her."

"Yeah…" Ann nodded before shaking her head, "But enough about that… Kurusu-kun's slowly becoming the talk of the school between this and the curry he made. He's just behind any talk about the Phantom Thieves!" she said, bringing levity back into the group.

"Damn, don't remind me," Ryuji groaned, a small line of drool escaping his lip before Rem handed him a tissue which he used to wipe it away. "Pretty sure I died and went to heaven eatin' that thing," Ryuji chuckled, "I even put in a request to see if he could make some for the next event."

Rem and Ann looked at him strangely.

"What? I can hope, can't I?" Ryuji defended himself.

"So you're one of the people who submitted those requests?" a voice asked from behind him so suddenly, the suddenness cause Ryuji to yelp and turn around to find Akira standing behind him, a large pile of papers carried in both hands.

"Mind if I put these down?" Akira asked as he hefted the stack of papers.

"Shit, my bad," Ryuji scrambled out of the seat and allowing the frizzy-haired vice-president to set the stack of papers down with a heavy thud, the steel legs of his desk squeaking slightly under the weight.

"That's… a lot of papers…" Rem stated obviously as she stared at the daunting stack of what she assumed was paperwork.

"Yeah," Akira nodded as he placed his shoulder-bag on the hook on the side of his desk to allow it to hang and placing his umbrella on the floor beside him.

"What the heck is that even for?" Ryuji scratched the back of his head as he asked.

"Second-year forms that need to be filed for the social studies trip in triplicate," Akira shrugged, winding his shoulder as if it hurt.

"All that's for us?" Ann stared at the mind-bogglingly large stack.

"Heh, no," Akira shook his head. "This is actually just what's remaining. I finished two-thirds of it during the first and second period," he smiled.

"Damn… being on the student council sounds like a pain," Ryuji mumbled earning him a wry grin.

"Don't I know it?"

Rem stared at Akira feeling as if there was something wrong with him. Not in the way he spoke but… the clothes he wore.

Then it clicked.

It was the same thing that happened with Ryuji.

"Why are you still wearing your winter uniform?" Rem asked as she nodded towards the black Shujin blazer he was wearing causing the teen to re-examine himself before looking at the three who were in their summer uniforms.

"Ah, I was wondering why I was getting looks on the way here," the black-haired teen shook his head as he shucked off his blazer before folding it and placing inside his shoulder bag neatly.

"I don't know if it's because of that or the video…" Ann murmured, her words causing Akira to freeze then hang his head.

"Ah… you all saw the video then?" Akira asked with a strained smile.

The three nodded.

"Found out about that this morning… Makoto-senpai really tore into me," Akira chuckled lightly while scratching the back of his head.

"Dude, how do you even get into situations like that?" Ryuji asked to which the teen shrugged.

"Dumb luck I suppose," he said but looked around for a moment. "Actually, while you three are here do you mind filling out which location you want to go to and your name?" Akira asked as he swiped three blank forms and handed it out to them.

The three nodded, each taking a form and a proffered pen or in Rem's case, taking the one Morgana handed to her from the underside of her desk, and filled out the form. They handed it back before Akira quickly looked it over.

"You all chose the TV station huh?" Akira looked at the three of them who all nodded.

"Do you know which TV station we're going to?" Ann asked curiously, and the only one of the three even remotely excited.

"The tv station for the social studies trip is Good Morning Japan in the 97 Building in Shibuya," Akira answered earning an excited gasp from Ann, an exasperated groan from Ryuji.

Rem was indifferent on the matter.

~Ding Dong~

The four froze as the bell rang signalling the end of the first break and the beginning of the third period.

"Ah damn, I gotta go. See you two later!" Ryuji swore before he was bolting out of the room for his own class. Rem and Ann watched as he left before settling in their seats for the next class of Social Studies.

If Rem had looked behind her she would've noticed a conflicted expression flicker across Akira's face for a moment as he stared at the classroom door before it disappeared, the teen similarly readying himself for the next class.

Looking at the heavy rain pouring down from the sky, Akira was really glad he'd decided to finish the paperwork at school and filed it already rather than attempting to bring it home. He would've had to let loose in Mementos with Megidolaons if he had to fill out all those damn forms again.

With umbrella in hand since he'd had the foresight to look at the weather app on his phone, he made his way to the front entrance. He paused momentarily as he noticed a familiar figure standing on the steps of the front entrance beneath the metal awning, a head of silky red hair and red eyes looking up at the sky forlornly.

"Forget your umbrella?" Akira asked Sumire as he approached her from behind only to startle her with a jump. One of Akira's arms immediately lashed out as her jump caused her footing to slip and her to stumble only to be stopped as he pulled her close.

"S-Senpai!" Sumire squeaked as he let her go, red eyes looking up at him in surprise.

"Yes, that's me," Akira smirked.

"I-I didn't see you there," she said with a slight stutter as she got her heart under control from the sudden jump scare.

"Sorry about that," Akira apologised shamelessly before returning back to the topic at hand. "But you forgot your umbrella, didn't you?" he asked once more, Sumire nodding downcast as she looked at the heavy rain pouring down.

"I left it at home since I thought it wouldn't be raining today," she murmured.

"You can have mine then," Akira offered out his one to her causing Sumire to look at him in surprise. Her red eyes narrowed, however.

"Senpai, the last time you tried that you almost got sick," she scolded lightly causing Akira to chuckle.

"I'll be fine. It's not the worst thing that's happened to me," Akira shook his head, once more offering the umbrella.

Sumire reluctantly accepted the umbrella, this being the long ones she lifted it up before opening it. However, rather than moving into the rain she instead moved closer to Akira, moving the umbrella so it was just shy over his head.

"There, we can share it this time," Sumire stated with a stubborn look in her eyes.

A mirthful chuckle escaped Akira as he shook his head, a hand gently prying it from her hand. "If we do that maybe I should carry it," Akira said, "I rather like my eyes not being poked out by my own umbrella."

Sumire was more than happy to allow Akira to hold the umbrella, moving close to his side as he lifted it above him and well above her, shielding them from the oncoming rain. "Shall we?" Akira asked as he nodded forward, Sumire giving a happy nod as the two began to make their way towards the station.

"How'd your gymnastics meet go today?" Akira asked curiously as they took shelter beneath he large umbrella, heavy rain pelting the top but thankfully no wind was sending water their way.

"It was okay," Sumire hummed, "It was mainly practice and discussion about the prelims."

"The competition?" Akira rose a brow as he tried to remember. He wasn't exactly the most well-versed person regarding gymnastics.

"Mhmm," Sumire nodded as the two walked side-by-side, "Two huge competitions are coming up. One at the beginning of summer and one at the end."

"Don't you have to be selected by your club to participate?" Akira asked, vaguely recalling something about club representative's when Azusa was fist showing him the ropes of the student council.

"That's right," Sumire nodded. Akira noted that she didn't seem as shy when she was talking about her passion for gymnastics. "I have to be selected as my club's representative if I want to participate in the prelims, and to do that there's a qualifier meet I need to win."

Akira nodded along. "I'll cheer you on," Akira smiled at her, "You're already great as you are and there's a lot of people that believe you can do it, myself included. Just keep your head up and believe in yourself and you and Kasumi will be at the top."

Sumire looked at him momentarily stunned before her lips morphed into a smile. "You're right senpai. It's like you said," Sumire nodded, a new confidence springing her forward, "If I'm better than the me of yesterday, then that's an achievement. If I keep doing that I'll be able to participate in the prelims."

"You remembered," Akira looked at Sumire who gave him a dazzling smile.

"Of course, it's the best advice you ever gave me," Sumire giggled.

For a strange moment… Akira felt his heart skip a beat.

"Oh," Sumire let out looking ahead causing Akira to do the same and notice the station looming ahead. "We're already at the station…" she said in an almost disappointed manner. In a few moments, the two were just in front of the ticket gates, Akira closing his umbrella and shaking it free of any loose droplets of rain.

"You sure you don't want to continue borrowing my umbrella?" Akira asked, double-checking only for Sumire to shake her head with a smile.

"That's okay, Senpai," Sumire shook her head, crimson tresses swaying behind her. "Knowing you, if I take it you'll try running in the rain and get sick," she smiled, her words causing Akira to dramatically clutch at his chest, miming being stabbed in the heart.

"The truth of your words is hurtful," Akira gasped earning him a giggle.

"Hey, isn't that Yoshizawa?"

"And isn't that the Vice-President of the school council?"

Sumire stopped giggling as they both overheard two Shujin student talk about them.

"She gets VIP treatment at school AND a nice boyfriend like him?" the female of the two asked offended, "Princess sure is livin' on easy street…"

"B-Boyfriend?" Sumire stammered with a red flush as she watched the two leave.

Akira realised she'd probably hadn't seen the video yet and he wasn't exactly feeling like he should be the one to tell her. He'd leave that up to Shinichi. It didn't stop the tinge of something he felt stir in his chest.

"Don't worry about what they think of you," Akira advised, bringing Sumire's attention back to him.

"Y-You're right, Senpai," Sumire nodded as she psyched herself up, trying to regain the confidence she'd had in the last few minutes. "It's… just sometimes hard because others are wary of me as an honour student… and the school is also expecting me to attain strong results in the prelims."

Akira gave her a comforting smile and a nod, "Well, if anyone can do it, you can."

Sumire seemed to grow taller as her confidence fully returned.

Ring-a-ling

The moment was broken by the sound of a ringtone echoing from Sumire's pocket resulting in her withdrawing her phone to look at who was calling. "Oh, sorry, my father's calling," Sumire apologised as she answered the call and brought the phone to her ear.

"Hi, dad! Hmm? No, it's okay, I'm at the station now," Sumire responded over the phone before pausing and looking at Akira, "Um, yes. He's right in front of me, why?"

Akira felt his heart drop as Sumire looked at her phone in confusion before bringing it back to her ear. "Okay, I'll give you to him," she nodded before removing the phone from her ear and extending it to Akira.

Sumire smiled as she offered the phone to him, "My father wants to talk to you, he seems really eager."

Once more, here's the AO3 link for a fantastic story known as Retribution of the Trickster by Asphaow but call him Chadzura since that's his name.

/works/24405181/chapters/58872412

Check it out, great story!