Akira awoke with stickiness in his eyes and a temper within his head.
Morning within the Niijima household was a primal, trivial affair, with little to it. In the early hours, Sae could be heard scrambling to get dressed or making coffee, often cursing in frustration as her endeavors found little fruitation. Even louder were her curses when cooking breakfast, as she usually left those tasks to Makoto, before Sae had resolved to become a better caretaker following the events of Shido.
Akira had remembered those conversations. Her unfairness; her guilt, her feelings of wanting to become a better person and adult and join the Phantom Thieves efforts to help make the world a better place.
Understandably, at first, Akira had his doubts. The woman was strictly devoted to justice; but justice was subjective, and even sometimes, conditional. While the primary goal of the Phantom Thieves was to bring people to justice, she, (and most of Tokyo) at the time, seemed to have better, more idealized versions of it.
Akira shook his head. They had proved them wrong. They had saved the world, and Sae made vows to redeem herself.
They had won.
Akira begrudgingly removed himself from the couch, taking deep, slow breaths as the effects of restless sleep wore off. Before his eyes could process it, Sae was by him in a flash, running back and forth between his vision in a blur of silver and black. Confused, he headed towards the kitchen, where a seemingly nutritious plate of bacon and eggs (also seemingly) awaited him. He approached it and sat down; figuring it best to wait until one of the sisters arrived to confirm the food was in fact for him.
A beat. Then two. He looked around, noticing the house had gone completely silent.
What's going on…?
He got up, intent on finding the sisters and what they were up to.
From the table and the hallway behind him were two rooms right across from each other. Figuring it best to knock on Makoto's door (as she didn't seem to have any pressing matters for the morning), he looked upon the door to the right of him and knocked, before waiting expectantly.
The door swung open with much more force than necessary, revealing a disheveled, messy Makoto. Her hair was scruffy and uncombed, her shirt wrinkled, dried spit and skin crinkled near the edges of her mouth and her eyes seem glazed with lack of sleep or alertness.
"Good morning," Akira said, albeit somewhat hesitantly, as he had never seen the calm and collected Queen in such a state.
Her eyes focused on his being for a second before she seemed to snap back into focus.
"Oh, hello, Akira. Say, what's with coffee?"
Another beat.
"It's really energizing," she continued, "I should drink it more. I should talk to Sojiro…"
Her eyes glazed on nothing again as the door promptly creaked itself closed, and Akira dismissed himself, thinking it better not to dwell upon the events that just occurred.
He also tried to ignore the fact she wasn't wearing any pants. That was a minor fact, however.
He turned to Sae's bedroom, knocking on the door. Sae told him to come in, and he entered, his eyes falling upon a rushed Sae frantically looking through multiple drawers, slamming them in frustration.
Her room, was much like her house; ill-furnished, with a single plant in the corner, white walls, a queen size bed, two drawers side by side, and a night stand by the bed, with a lamp and what appeared to be glasses and a book by it. Near the entrance to your left was what seemed to be a bathroom.
Akira watched her panic with a strange sense of pity. He realized that asking if the food was his could come across somewhat selfish in her current state. So instead he asked,
"What are you looking for?" The voice came out small- even after facing down a god, Sae still managed to cast a shadow of intimidation on him, even unwillingly.
"My keys," she replied angrily, "I can't believe I lost my keys! This is so irresponsible…" She sat down on her bed with a frustrated huff. Then, a lightbulb seemed to go off, as she said, "Maybe Makoto knows where they are."
Akira shook his head sorrowfully. "She doesn't seem to be in the best state this morning," he added helpfully, "She mentioned something about coffee and just stared at me."
Sae looked crestfallen, her red eyes cringing slightly. "I told her not to try coffee again," she said, "Sometimes she just doesn't listen. Oh, well." She got up again, heading into the living room, her sharp heels clanging against the wood.
Akira didn't follow; instead, he gazed around the room.
Where would keys be?
The drawers? She had already checked those.
Her bed?
Even in the chaos, it was perfectly manicured, made with care, every sheet pristine.
Does Sae even have one lazy bone in her body?
He guessed not. Surely a woman with a lazy bone in her body wouldn't be able to do what Sae does. However, he felt there was so much more to the woman he hadn't be able to understand yet; a chance that time, condition, and place had robbed him of.
I've got a second one.
He smiled softly.
Something compelled him, even, then, to take off the sheets, and for some reason, whatever it was compelled him to reach into the crevice at the top edge of the mattress, guiding his hand along the blackness until his hands felt metal and he heard a jingle.
That's that, I guess.
He heard the familiar clank of the heels drawing closer, and he tried to remove his hand, but found difficulty in doing so. He yanked it forcefully, but found the effort futile, groaning at his luck and slight pain.
The steps drew closer.
"Hey, Akira, you know that food is for-" She turned the bend to find the man in question knelt over, his hands somewhere in the crevice of her bed, and the previously perfectly placed sheets tossed aside carelessly.
"...What are you doing?" She said, her tone somewhat accusatory, her face mangled in slight annoyance.
Akira had the decency to look sheepish.
"Uh, just finding your keys," he replied, "I've got them, but my hand appears to be stuck…"
Sae sighed, her annoyance fading away into a good natured, soft, smile. "How'd you know they were there?" She questioned.
Akira attempted a shrug. "Natural intuition or ability from a year of infiltrating highly guarded fortresses where finding things was a necessity," he replied, though the humor in his tone was not lost.
Sae let out a small chuckle.
"I'll start using you more frequently then," she chuckled.
Akira grimaced in reply.
"Well, come on. Give me my keys; the food's for you. Try not to get stuck anymore, will you?"
Sae walked forward to help with the troubled teen, and with the combined effort, they eventually yanked him out of the crevice and onto the bed, the force of it causing both of them to stumble and fall onto the bed.
As they sat there, chuckling at the somewhat absurd situation in their midst, finding a slight, weird comfort in their proximity, Akira had one thought in mind-
This is better than bacon.
AN- Alright, I know this is short, but a lot of stuff happened recently, and I promise to update more frequently. Thanks for reading, and review! It really helps. I'm kinda ass at writing, if you couldn't tell.