Edit: I didn't notice I uploaded the wrong file and had accidentally put "Seven" here. Haha. My bad.


crook & coquette

iii.

.

.

There were three things that prompted Morgana to run away. First was when Akira and his (he's referring to himself) Lady Ann skipped class and found them embracing each other asleep at the rooftop; second was when he caught the unsightly, lip-shaped bruise on Akira's throat and his Lady Ann's yellow scrunchie under the bed; thirdly, finding Lady Ann and Akira sending inappropriate messages during class last Friday. The last one had the cat call it a strike.

Of course, neither Akira nor Ann knew these caused upset to the cat, at least after three days of Morgana became out of sight.

"This is getting serious," Ann sighed as her cheek leaned on her palm. Morgana's absence has called for an urgent Phantom Thieves meeting on a Saturday.

"Something bad may have happened to him," added Ann. "what if he got hit by a car or something?"

"It's unlikely," answered Futaba from afar. She was lying down on her stomach on Akira's bed as she tinkered with her laptop. "Mona's a sword-wielding talking cat. His nine lives are tripled!"

"He's probably roaming around somewhere." said Akira.

"Wouldn't that mean he's troubled or something?" thought Makoto out loud as she began to stroke her hair. "he could be having personal problems,"

"Haven't we already done the pep talk with him about his place in the Phantom Thieves and stuff?" said Ryuji begrudgingly. When it came to the cat, he had little patience. Concern, however, remained evident in his voice.

"I'm pretty sure Mona understands that now," defended Haru with absoluteness. "there must be another reason."

"What else could have upset him though," questioned Yusuke as he began to rub his chin. "we've also been spoiling him with fatty tuna on a weekly basis,"

"Let's all try to recall our past interactions with Morgana and see if we did anything to make him upset," said Makoto. They did as what the council president ordered, plunging them all in deep thought.

Akira could only sigh. He may already have an idea why; but he couldn't piece it altogether yet. He shot a look at Ann who sat next to Makoto, catching her eyes. They held their gaze for a while and returned each other's smiles. The raven-haired boy turned to his phone.

Let's go somewhere after.

Ann felt her phone vibrate, immediately reading the message. It was Akira, as expected. Sure. I think we should look for Mona while we're at it.

Akira paused as he bit his lower lip. He glanced at Ann again, before typing his reply. We may have something to do Morgana.

We?

You and I.

Ann cocked her brow, mouth gaping at her phone. How?!

"Ann," Makoto had called her out, snapping her from the intense gaze she held on the screen. "have you found out something?"

Everyone retreated from their thinking poses and looked at the blonde, waiting for her to speak. She looked at Akira then to Makoto. "N-no, it's just my agent said I won't be able to appear on the magazine after all! Hehe.."

Akira looked away, trying to hide the grin creeping on his face. It only worked because it wasn't a lie; just old news which he already heard from her a day or two ago.

Makoto sighed, now looking onto her notebook. "I think we should dedicate the rest of the day looking for Morgana. Futaba, can you give me the wards where Morgana would most likely be?"

"Got it," her instant response was paired with her fast typing on her keyboard.

Ryuji grunted and sighed. He really was looking forward to hit the arcade afterwards. "Fine.."

"Makoto, here you go – Minato, Meguro Shinjuku, Chuo, Ota, Nerima." Futaba said out loud.

The red-eyed girl stood up from her chair, walked towards Futaba to check-up on her internet search. "You excluded Shibuya from the list?"

"It's home base," the ginger explained. "It's easier for everyone to search here. We can look around when we get back from the other areas."

"Futaba's right," backed up Ann. "Apart from Akira and Ryuji, most of us haven't really gone around outside the Shibuya ward."

"All right," Makoto agreed, jotting notes on her notebook. "So, who's going with who?"

"I recommend the street-savvy should split up," said Yusuke.

"Wow, you said something really practical, Inari," taunted Futaba. The artist turned his nose high up, ignoring the girl. "Woman, do not cross me,"

"Street-savvy, huh.." pondered Haru as her eyes circled around her teammates. "I guess that leaves us Akira-kun and Ryuji-kun,"

"We're sort of undermanned if that's the case," said Ryuji, scratching his nape.

"We need another leader," suggested Akira, although he already knew this would be a futile effort. "at least three groups should do it."

"I guess I can lead the others too," volunteered Ann. The others turned to look at her. She caught her boyfriend's warning gaze. She replied to his stern look with an equally serious one.

The other blond scowled. As per usual, he wasn't convinced of Ann. "Are you sure.."

Ann folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. "As if your personality is so agreeable," she retorted in sarcasm.

"No, it's good. Ann could be the third," decided Makoto, quickly ending their squabble. She turned to Haru. "She knows the streets more than you and I combined," she added sheepishly as she fixed her hair; the heiress nodded in agreement.

Ryuji relented as she sighed and dug his pockets in his cargo pants. "I guess that makes sense."

Makoto jotted on her notes again. "Ann. Lead Futaba and Yusuke in Meguro and Nerima. I recommend inspecting Hirakigaoka Park for the latter. It's large, but there are three of you, so I hope it will be easier."

"Don't worry," assured a now empowered and motivated Ann. "we'll make sure to search every corner."

"I can help with the coordinates," the ginger offered to the blonde. Futaba then shot a look at the blue-haired artist, who kept eating his biscuit dip. "try not to do weird stuff, Inari."

"Heavens no, I wouldn't disgrace myself in front of Ann," exclaimed Yusuke as he held on his chest. Ann let out a restless sigh. Here we go again.

"You should pay more attention to reality than on your laptop, you know,"

"Says the artist,"

"Futaba-chan, don't aggravate it," pleaded Ann, but her two companions continued to bicker at each other, leaving her in confusion and slight worry. Akira raised a brow at Ann – a look in which she inferred to as him asking if she'll be all right. She assured him by giving a small, contented smile.

"Anyway," Makoto cleared he throat as she turned to Akira. "Akira-kun, look around Minato and Chuo with Haru. There are a lot of high-class and middle-class establishments and people there where you both can ask around."

Makes sense. Akira nodded without a complaint. He looked at his companion. "Let's do our best, Haru."

The girl smiled and made a short, quick bow. "I'll be under your care, Akira-kun."

The student council president smiled in satisfaction as she took note of the Thieves' current plan in action for Mission: Finding Mona. Now that only leaves me and..

"W-wait!" the horror began to sink in Ryuji's expression as he slowly faced the Queen. Now he wasn't so hyped with the whole operation. "D-does this mean.."

Akira softly chuckled to his amusement.

"Ryuji," Makoto sternly gazed at him. "we'll look into Shinjuku and Ota."

"Shinjuku and Ota it is!" the boy faked a lively tone to mask his nervousness as he threw a fist on the air.

"Oh Ryuji.." sighed Ann under her breath.

Makoto made quick finishes on her notebook before closing it down. "All right. Let's all meet back here at LeBlanc before sundown. I'll send you all the possible spots Morgana may have gone to in your assigned areas. Also, don't forget to look at alley cats,"

With this, Akira began to type swiftly on his phone. Change of plan. Let's meet in Central Street after looking into the wards.

He signaled Ann to look at her phone. Ann cocked a brow. Do you have a lead you don't want to share the others?

I do. Only you and I can look into it. replied Akira. From there, Ann understood. She looked at him and curtly nodded in agreement.

With hands in his pockets, Akira stood up and led his band of Thieves to the station. "Let's go."

The whole mission went just as how Akira had expected – fruitless. He and Haru circled around Chuo, following almost every alley cat only to find them disappearing in cans of garbage. The rest didn't seem to have any luck as well. Ann called him and said Yusuke tried to draw in the cats (in which he hoped to also draw Morgana) by feeding them with pigeon food at Hikarigaoka Park. The end of this whole plan had them being chased by a clowder of cats. Ryuji and Makoto's investigation changed focus when they had gone to Shinjuku. According to Makoto, they saw a couple of teenagers beating up stray cats and dogs. The two of them ended up following the abusers to get their names so they could change their hearts in Mementos – for Akira, there was no way it could have gone any better.

"Where on earth could Mona be.." he heard Haru as they reached the alleyway of Yongen-jaya; they just exited the station. Akira looked at the sky and noticed it was already golden hour. He took out his phone and messaged Ann.

Central Street. I'll be at the Hachiko statue.

"Haru," he called.

"Yes, Akira-kun?" the girl turned to him.

"Can you head back to the café without me? I need to do some rounds in Shibuya." he excused sheepishly.

The fluffy-haired heiress cocked a brow, suspecting something, but said no more of her hunches. "All right. I'll tell the others."

"Thank you."

He went directly to Station Square and stood at the famous landmark, waiting for the certain blonde. A few minutes later, Ann came running from the Ginza line, huffing as she catches her breath. He immediately turned off his phone, ensuring Futaba doesn't get to know anything about his tryst.

"Oh God," she exclaimed as she held her knees to support herself. "that was incredibly exhausting,"

The boy knelt down and handed her a bottle of Arginade. "Got you this. Like you said."

"Thanks." She took the beverage and opened it.

Once Ann got to relax, Akira began to tell her his plan. "I think I know where Morgana went,"

The blonde folded her arms, curious of his intentions. "Where?"

"The cat café."

Ann blinked a few times. She was caught 50/50 on this one – it was ridiculous and yet it seems to make sense. "You're serious?"

Akira nodded. "There's one here, just past Central Street."

The girl looked around, noticing it was already evening. She turned to her phone – greeted by a barrage of text messages and missed calls from Makoto and Ryuji. She sighed. "I want to know," she began. "why didn't you share it to the others earlier?"

"If I did, they'll find out about us."

"How?"

"…you seriously don't know?" he smirked in amusement.

"No," Ann answered curtly, not liking the smug look on his face, especially the glint in his charcoal eyes. "What is it?"

He grabbed her hand, dragging her out of the crowding area. "You are aware that Morgana likes you, right?"

"Of course," she answered confidently, smiling. Her classmates may continue to talk about her as they become living legacies of her rumors, but with Shiho, Akira and the rest of the Phantom Thieves – she felt very much loved and could care less about her reputation.

They had just gotten out of the crossing as they now enter Central Street when Akira turned to her once more.

"You really didn't know?" asked Akira, bobbing his head to the side in wonder and amusement. He waited for Ann to realize it, but the blank expression remained as is. He turned his back to her, holding her hand as they made their way. "Like – in the sense he wants to date you,"

His last message didn't register to Ann, however. It was ludicrous to even suggest. "What do you mean he wants to date me, he's a cat!" she hissed in disbelief.

But he's a cat! she kept repeating it in her head. When Akira did not reply to any of her interjections, certain emotions crept in her; a salad of pity, sadness, guilt, and love.

"Was he actually serious with the whole 'Lady Ann' thing after all.."

Akira turned around, both of them stopping in front of the karaoke bar. His eyes went circled from her hair to her ears, her lips, eyes. A rare feeling of appreciation overwhelmed him as he stood before her.

"It will be okay," he assured he brushed his thumb on her cheekbone very briefly. His grin turned to a subtle smile as her solemn expression remained. He bit his lip. He took her hand in his again, tugging her to keep walking.

"He keeps saying he wants to turn into a human," sighed Ann. "did he want to become human so he can be with me?"

He could not lie. "Yeah."

"I see.." Ann could not understand why she was feeling so down. Morgana was just a cat – but then again, he was more than just an ordinary cat.

The eerie silence between them as they moved against the noise of Central Street was unsettling, especially for Akira. He could not help but think of two or three things of how this situation may go downhill.

"Are you going to dump me?" he chimed lightheartedly. Ann chuckled softly, knowing Akira probably meant that joke half-heartedly.

"No," she replied, squeezing his hand. She would have told him not to be 'silly', but her hyper-awareness held her back. Saying so may be insensitive of Morgana's feelings. "you're the one I like, Akira."

He could not help but grin, his cheeks showing off the pink tint.

"It's just, you know," she fumbled, her smile fading into a pout. "Cat or human, Morgana's still our friend.. and he's probably hurting."

The boy could not help but empathize. He had the same thoughts and feelings towards Morgana, too. Morgana's feelings surely were taken into account before he decided to be in a relationship with Ann. But it was no question he would still pursuit her – and he'd do it over again if he can – whether he was staking his friendship with Morgana's or Ryuji's, or anyone at all, or go through the same ordeal. Akira had it all set in stone.

"Don't worry," he said. He glanced at her. They had just moved past theater. "I'll make sure I'm the better partner."

Not for long they finally stood on front of the cat café. Ann could already smell creatures from the outside.

"What's wrong?" turned Akira.

"We're really doing this," said Ann as she looked up from the signboard down to the entrance. "how sure are you that he's here?"

"Ninety-nine percent."

"What's the one percent for?!"

"For the rare occasion that I may be wrong."

The blonde folded her arms, grunted under her breath. "you better be right. It will be very difficult to explain this later to the others."

He smiled smugly as he held the door open to her, gesturing her to enter. "Leave it to me."

The couple was greeted by an unusually loud chorus of meows before they could even look for Morgana. For some reason, they were all starting to flock to Akira; a staff member approached them and complemented them for their natural affinity with the feline. They were gestured to take their seat. This was actually their first time to go to a cat café – and it didn't seem like a bad idea to have their date here, with the pastel interiors and relaxing music. Ann reckoned it would actually be nice to unwind with Akira here – if only they had more than an hour to look for their friend.

"There's only three other customers," said Ann, looking around. "but there's no sign of Morgana."

Her eyes caught Akira getting along with the other cats – from all shapes, sizes, colors. "Hey!"

"It can't be helped," he answered her. He picked up a ginger cat and placed it on Ann's lap. The creature began playing with her hair as if strands of yarn. Eventually, the blonde relaxed as she played along. No sooner than that, more meowing can be heard as five cats crept towards her.

"Why are they all rubbing themselves on me?!" hissed Ann as she carefully picked up one cat and another, hoping they leave her alone. "am I smelling like a cat for hanging out with you and Mona too much?"

"But aren't you a cat yourself, Panther?" snickered Akira, now remembering Ann wearing her red catsuit as he teased a fat white cat with a toy mouse. "A sexy one at that,"

"Ugh," a faint blush came across her cheeks as she rolled her eyes, but she was too annoyed to be completely flustered. "we were supposed to be looking for Mona,"

"Yep."

"And..?"

Akira snickered as he glanced at a makeshift cat house above them. "He'll find us."

"Huh?"

"I see you two are getting more than friendly, again," came a familiar voice out of nowhere.

The blonde looked around frantically upon hearing the cat's distinct, cute voice. "Mona?!"

"Up here." Morgana was sitting atop the cat house that hovered over them. Akira could not help but notice how rounder his tummy is.

"You gained weight," snickered Akira as he patted a white cat on his lap, feeling Morgana's blue eyes pierce through the cat. He held his nose up and entered the house. It was too high up for them to reach.

"Come on Morgana," spoke Akira. He stood up from his cushion and let go of the cat. Although he could still feel them purring on his feet. "let's go home."

"No!" the cat snapped adamantly, his reply surprising the couple.

The boy crossed his arms, realizing it would take some effort to get him back. "And why not?"

The cat did not answer. He looked at Ann, motioning her to talk to Morgana.

"Mona," she called out softly. "why don't you want to go home?"

The cat crept from the house to peep at her cautiously. "You should know, Lady Ann,"

"Is it because we're going out?" asked Ann. The cat jumped from the height, landing on his feet graciously as he levelled with them. The couple sat back on their corner as they looked at Morgana.

"No." he answered, licking his paws.

"What is it then?" asked Akira. He tried to put a hand out to pet him, but the gesture only made Morgana inch away. He let out an arrogant grunt as he turned his nose and whiskers up.

"You two have been so insensitive," he meowed, scaring the other cats surrounding the two. "you do things as if I don't exist!"

The two looked at each other in confusion. "What things..?"

"I don't have to tell you!" said Morgana as he turned his tail up. "You both should know!"

"Let me think." said Akira, now on his thinking pose. After some few minutes of recollection, Ann's face became pink with shame and disgust.

"Okay, I remember now," she said, turning to Akira. "we were a bit.. experimental.. for the past few days.."

Akira blinked a few times. He wore a disagreeing expression. "There's nothing to be ashamed of those,"

"Hmp. I don't know," Morgana circled around them, as if some predator. "I'm sure if Makoto and the others find out, it will be a problem."

"I'm with him on this," agreed the girl. The boy looked at his two companions. Looks like there won't be some strawberry time for a while, he thought sadly. And here he thought he and Ann could do some 'sneaking' in the Metaverse.

"All right," Akira sighed in defeat. He and Ann nodded at each other in agreement as they readied themselves for their apology.

"I'm sorry." they said in unison. Akira reached a hand to Morgana again, hoping he'd accept his hand to stroke him.

"We miss you, Mona." said Ann, seeing that the cat was still withholding.

Morgana stared at the hand, then looked up at both of them, searching for sincerity in their eyes that he still had the place in their hearts – particularly his Lady Ann – despite being together. He said nothing, but instead leapt on the boy's lap, feigning calmness and sleep.

The couple smiled at each other and began to stroke Morgana and massage his ears. "I want fatty tuna," said the cat.

"I guess we can make a quick trip to Ginza," smiled Ann. The boy nodded in agreement.

"Let's go, Akira." he purred with eyes shut.

Akira was ready to put Morgana inside his bag, until a smiling staff member approached them.

"Sir," she handed him their menu. "would you like to order anything from our menu? Snacks? Drinks for the lovely miss?"

"No, we're good!" laughed Ann nervously. The staff member raised her brows out of curiosity and left anyway.

Akira looked around, studying the whole area for a small vent or outing. "We have a problem."

"What is it?"

"There's only one possible exit for Morgana," he answered. He looked at the peaceful creature on his lap, then to his girlfriend. "it's the front door."

And with just that, Ann already knew what he meant. She could not help but think this whole cognitive-vigilante-thing is already manifesting as well in real life . "No, no, no, no, baby," she shook her head. She was laughing nervously as her brows met in between her forehead. "we're not going to do that!"

Akira only sighed, defeated. He'd just have to wait before she accepts the procedure.

"Hey Mona," Ann patted the cat to wake him up. He opened one eye. "how did you get here?"

"I stayed in front of the entrance and waited for the owner to pick me up," he replied. He was somewhat proud of himself when he was telling them all of this. "he figured I was a lost cat than a stray. Well, I don't mind. I am an elegant cat, after all."

"There are no other exits at all?!" a worried quarter-American exclaimed.

"No," replied the cat teasingly. He couldn't wait to see how Joker and Panther outside the Metaverse would attempt to pull this off. "there's just one exit, and it's the front door."

"..I am not ready to be called a delinquent or a shoplifter," she fell leaned on her back in disbelief. "You already know how it feels, Akira!"

Akira turned to Morgana as he scratched his ears. "Hey. Can't you just sneak out on your own?"

"You two came here for me!" meowed the cat in anger. "Don't worry. They don't have any cameras. It's unlikely people will steal cats,"

The boy looked around once again, checking if any of the staff members were watching them. They were all too busy playing with a young customer.

"Ann, you distract the cashier," said Akira. "Morgana and I will leave first."

The blonde grimaced as she sighed in defeat, knowing there was no other option. "We're really doing this.." she adjusted her pigtails and shirt, before standing up. She reached out a hand to Akira. "give me the money,"

Akira gave her their pay; she counted the money before walking to the counter with a more confident posture.

Morgana snuck inside Akira's bag and meowed again. "And Operation: Cat Heist begins!"

Akira followed her shortly and had gone along with Ann's acting – which improved greatly since the time she fooled Yusuke. He pecked her lips before exiting; the public display had set the staff member at unease, thinking it would keep the person distracted from counting the cats in the room.

"And we're out," Akira smiled to himself as he stood away from the café. It was already dark.

"If you break Lady Ann's heart Akira, I swear with my nine lives I will duel you to the death! Cat or human!" purred the cat after witnessing his affections towards his Lady Ann. The boy smirked and patted the cat on the head.

"Don't worry," he chuckled, accepting his challenge. "I'd bet all my life for it."

"You better!" the cat used his paw to point at his owner. "But then again, if I can't be with Lady Ann, I'm glad it's you, Akira."

His cheeks warmed up from the compliment. "That means a lot to me."

Not for long Ann had joined them, her hand clutched to her chest. "I was so nervous!" she exclaimed as she held his shoulder for support. "we are not going to do that again!"

"It wasn't the bad," comforted Akira.

"We stole a cat!" she said in a hiss.

"It wasn't stealing if you owned the cat in the first place," he chuckled.

"I agree with Akira, Lady Ann," assured the cat from the bag. "we should all get away from this place before they notice they're missing a cute black cat."

They began to walk back to Station Square. The night had aged, and by the looks of the surroundings, it was probably dinnertime already.

"By the way," Morgana peeped from his bag. "how are the others? Do they know you two are dating?"

"Oh boy," Ann had completely forgot about the rest of the Thieves. Cold sweat began to build on her nape. The inevitable was about to happen. She took out her phone and began typing. "I should at least tell them we found Mona.."

The cat giggled. "I guess the answer is 'no',"

Akira chuckled as he tugged his collar out of nervousness, remembering how he and Ann just broke the Phantom Thieves' number one rule. At this rate though, he does think the group had already suspected his romance with Ann.

"Let's deal with that later," he answered, pushing away the dread he felt as he imagined Makoto's and Ryuji's reactions.. "Fatty tuna, then?"

"How spoiled," giggled Ann as she hooked her arm around Akira's. "I see why Mona loves you so,"

The cat meowed in excitement, now standing up from the bag as they walked to the Ginza Station line. "So Akira, among the cats in the café, which one was your favorite?"

He looked at Morgana with his Cheshire cat smile, and then turned to Ann. "The one named Panther."

"E-eh?!"

The cat made another meow of contentment. "Good answer."


Firstly, thanks for all those who reviewed - good, bad and the silly. I'll be in touch with the PMs soon :)

Also, I would just like to say I'm quite disappointed with some areas of the P5 fandom but it's probably my fault for expecting some maturity on the Internet.

Lastly, I've been in enough shipping fandoms and wars and let me just tell you that hating and bashing on other people's ships/characters is an unproductive way to show your support to your fandom. If you don't like this story, why not just write your own? I don't need a lecture to tell me how to write my ship, nor which I should ship. And that goes for the rest of the ship-authors. Whilst there's nothing wrong with loving and making efforts for your favorite characters and ships, I do find that fandom becomes unhealthy when hate for others become part of that love.

I swear this would have been longer. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I await your un-follows for the inconvenience of this elaborated footnote.