Chapter 37: Allez santé!

{R}

It was still staggering to Ren how popular Akechi was. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that his popularity skyrocketed now that he set his sights on the Phantom Thieves. There was even a rather flattering drawing of him on the back chalkboard of his classroom, one that Aki found equally funny and disheartening considering how Akechi was being depicted in it: a confident expression with "bishie sparkles". It made sense though. A rising genius detective now had found his "nemesis", and now that the masses had a more "public villain" with little info to direct their ire towards, it was easy enough to make their "support" for Akechi vocal across social media. But at the moment, Ren had a question he wished to ask when they finished their current discussion.

"'A criminal group that does whatever it wants in the name of justice'. Huh..." Yusuke said not long after Ren and the others answered the artist's call to gather at Shibuya Station. "And you say he is a friend of yours, Akira?"

"Uh huh," his sister said. She eyed the artist with worry. "Don't like it either?"

"He's free to deny our actions, but being cursed by his influence is another thing entirely."

Aki sighed in relief over Yusuke's opinion in tandem with Ann's own sigh before the blonde said,

"Just when we were starting to get people to believe in us too..."

"All the more reason to find and take down another hot shot," Ryuji said.

"Well, do you have any idea on who this next 'hot shot' could be?"

"Nope," Aki answered before Ryuji could. "We're still lookin'."

With a chance open, Ren took it to finally ask his question.

"Are you going somewhere, Yusuke?" he said.

"Oh yeah. I was wonderin' about that luggage too," Ryuji said.

"Oh, I have decided to leave the school dorms," the blue haired boy said. "They were not only filthy, but too noisy as well... No true art could come from such a place."

"Hmm? Really? Dad probably would differ."

Yusuke perked up. "Oh? Is your father an artist as well?"

"Nah, he's a screenwriter."

"A screenwriter?"

"Wait, your dad writes movies?" Ryuji said, wide eyed alongside Ann.

"He's not big time, if that's what you're thinkin'," Aki said with an amused glint in her eyes.

Ren shared it as he nodded in affirmation.

"Still, that's pretty cool," Ryuji said.

"I agree. Perhaps I should study some films for inspiration, considering it is a visual medium as well."

"Ha ha. I'll let Dad know then. I know he'd recommend some films for ya."

Still, as fun as that topic was, they were digressing.

Ren said, "If you're not staying at the dorms, where are you going to go?" He frowned as a thought came to mind. "You're...not going back to the atelier, right?"

Thankfully, Yusuke shook his head. "No." Not so thankfully, he said, "I was planning on staying at Ann's place. I've even prepared a thank you gift. I hope it's to your parents' liking."

Ren stared.

"What."

Aki laughed.

Ann said, "WHAT?! There's no way that's gonna happen!"

Yusuke staggered back in shock. "Impossible..."

Aki laughed harder and leaned against Ren.

"You're the impossible one!" Ryuji said.

Yusuke frowned. "But I spent everything I had on these delectable Japanese sweets..."

Oh my g—what am I going to do with you, Yusuke...

"That's not the issue here!" Ann said.

Now Aki was breathless.

"Ha ha, yes, I know it's funny, but please breath," Ren said to her, mostly serious.

Thankfully, she heeded his suggestion and caught her breath with but a few hiccups and giggles.

Ann sighed. "Seriously though...what are we gonna do about him?"

Ren hummed as he gave it some thought, Aki joining him in silent contemplation. With Yusuke's previous dwellings out, they had little in the way of permanent options. They could offer Leblanc, but he doubted Sojiro would be accommodating, as nice as he had been lately. That left—

"Well, seeing as Yusuke is an important member of our team...I'll lend a hand!" Mona said. "Come stay at our place! It's dirty, but at least you'll have somewhere to sleep."

What?!

"Mona!" Ren and Aki said.

But then Ann said, "Oh yeah, don't you three live in a café? I've been wondering about that for a while. Yongen's not too far, is it?"

And it snowballed as the rest of the team acted as if neither he nor Aki were there.

"Nope! And the café's only a minute walk away from the station."

"Ooh! Good idea! We can make it a welcome party for Yusuke too!"

"All right! It's decided!"

"Wha—hey wait!"

"Wait a second!"

And so Ann and Ryuji went underground to the station, leaving them with Yusuke.

"You've gotta be kidding me..." Aki said.

Ren grumbled and nodded in agreement, flashbacks to the maid incident flitting in his mind.

"Sorry to cause you trouble," Yusuke said.

Well, at least the artist had the decency to—

"By the way, I prefer to sleep on a futon," Yusuke said, then he pulled his stroller to follow the two blondes.

—never mind.

Meanwhile, Mona had the audacity to say, "It'll be up to you two to convince the chief!"

Ren and Aki glared at him.

They looked at each other.

"Give an assist?" he said.

"Yup," she said.

They glared at Mona.

The cat tensed. "Uh...guys...?"

He moved his bag and held it in his arms and his sister moved to stand before him.

"Time to button mash," they said.

"Wah—?! Nyaoooooooo-owowowowowowow!"

One satisfying button mash session—and train ride—later, they were at Leblanc with Ryuji, Ann and Yusuke. Their friends looked around curiously, while Mona was knocked out in his bag.

"Ah, what a nice smell," Ann said.

"I know, right? Better than any air freshener, I say," Aki said as she took her mask off.

"This place looks so outdated..." Ryuji said.

Ren and Aki glared.

"...can't say I hate it though."

Now they were unamused.

Aki was going to call him out on the insult, but then Yusuke had the courtesy to say,

"People refer to that as 'retro'."

That was followed by Sojiro finally noticing them. "Hmm? Who're they?"

Ann smiled. "Hello!"

"A girl too...?" For some reason, Sojiro was surprised about that.

Actually, no, he was probably surprised over Ann's fluency due to her appearance. It wasn't everyday someone who looked like a foreigner spoke in fluent Japanese.

So Ren said before Sojiro could accidentally make her uncomfortable, "These are our friends."

"Yeah! They wanted to visit where we're stayin'," Aki said.

"Oh really?" Sojiro smirked. "I find it hard to believe you made so many friends."

"Oy, what're you implyin'...?"

Before he had to intervene, Ann said, "They've really helped us a lot lately."

"Heh. I bet you're the ones doing all the helping."

"Hey!"

"No, really, they've been great."

"Yeah. Both of 'em been cool."

"Indeed. I owe them much."

Ren smiled alongside Aki, grateful for the words.

"Huh... All right. Sit down then. This round'll be on the house," he said, friendly. Then he turned back to stern with him and his sister. "You're helping though."

"Yeah yeah, we know the drill," Aki said as she got ready, Ren following suit.

"Hey, don't get smart with me kid."

"Then how 'bout lettin' me make the coffee?"

Now Ren smirked. "I doubt our friends want to be guinea pigs for your coffee."

"I'm not gonna try new coffee recipes on 'em, Big Bro!"

No, Aki didn't end up making the coffee anyway because of her inexperience, which was a good thing as the coffee that Sojiro served to Ann and Yusuke wasn't anything she had made before. She did "serve" Ryuji his soda though, and, in tandem with Ren, assisted Sojiro in making the coffee.

Though while Ryuji drank his soda, Ann said,

"Wow... It's delicious."

Followed by Yusuke. "Indeed, there's great depth to its acidity."

"Oh yeah! I think I've seen Leblanc mentioned in a magazine before..."

Aki smirked. "Oh? Leblanc used to be big time?"

Sojiro scoffed and smirked back. "That was a long time ago."

All the talk had Ryuji say, "For real? Gimme a taste."

And he drank from Ann's cup.

"Ryuji!" Ren said.

To his satisfaction, Ryuji reeled from the taste.

"It's so bitter!"

"Eh, don't worry. I didn't drink coffee when I was a kid either," said Sojiro.

Ren glowered at the blond. "Don't do that, Ryuji! That's not sanitary!"

"Oh lighten up kid. It's just a sip. And he's still dealing with the coffee."

Ren pouted at his caretaker. "But it's not sanitary." And that was Ann's cup.

Ryuji groaned again after clearing the taste with his soda.

"This has gotta be cruel and unusual punishment!"

Ren stilled.

"Cruel and unusual punsihment...?"

Ryuji tensed. "Uh...Ren...?"

Ren smiled and pushed up his glasses as he chuckled. "It seems I have more to my arsenal..."

"Hey! Stop that evil look, RenRen! You're freaking me out!"

Ren dropped it for a flat look.

"Giving me a nickname won't change my mind on using coffee if you do something stupid again."

"Okay okay, I'm sorry! I won't do that again!"

"I hope so, for your sake."

To his annoyance, his sister and friends were amused by the whole exchange. So he was glad Sojiro said,

"All right, if you guys are going to get rowdy, no need to stay down here. Go on and take them up to your room."

With their caretaker's permission granted, Ren and Aki led their friends upstairs, after they gave their thanks to Sojiro for the drinks, of course.

"Uh..." Ryuji said when he came up.

"What?" Aki said.

"Uh...whaddya think of this room, Yusuke? I dunno know where to begin..."

"It seems rather ordinary to me."

"For real?"

"You can just say it looks like a dump if ya want, Ryuji."

"Of course I ain't gonna say that! I ain't that blunt!"

"If anything, I believe Akira is blunt more often than you."

"What was that?!"

Ren, however, noticed two voices that weren't making any comments.

"I'll be back guys," he said while Aki was haranguing the artist.

As he thought, his bag and Mona were still downstairs, but it seemed that Ann had been held up by Sojiro talking to her as she said to this caretaker,

"Nope. Never had one either."

Ren frowned. "Is something wrong, Ann? Never had what?"

But before Ann could answer, Sojiro smirked and chuckled and said,

"Nothing's wrong. Just curious about something. Go on."

Ren was a bit suspicious of that look, but Ann just smiled and said, "Okay," then picked up both her bag and his with Mona in it. So it must have been nothing.

Reassured on that fact, he held out his hand and said,

"Here, let me carry both."

She was startled for a moment, then she giggled and did as asked.

"Really like to be a gentleman, don't you?"

Ren smiled. "I do my best."

With that, they went upstairs and Ren saw that Aki had calmed down and was now showing off the old weapons they kept to Yusuke while Ryuji suggested to sell it. Aki, expectedly, went on to rant about why she was keeping them.

"Oh," Ann said as she looked around.

"Not what you expected?" Ren said as he put their bags down.

"It's cleaner than I thought it'd be."

Ren chuckled. "Well, I have to keep it clean. It wouldn't be good for Aki otherwise."

"Still, I don't know, I kind of imagined it to be messy...? Oh! You put up that free idol poster I got on our shopping trip."

"Of course. Aki and I like Risette, so it was a perfect coincidence."

"Wait, you guys like Risette?!" Ryuji said, perfectly excusing himself from Aki's tirade.

At that, Mona woke up and steered them away from that topic as he reminded them why Yusuke had called them together in the first place: finding candidates for their next target to turn around the sudden negative reception. As Yusuke further showed, even former supporters were against them, which worried and saddened Ann.

"At this rate, we're going to worry everyone instead of giving them courage..." she said, downcast.

"Don't worry. We will," he said.

"And how we gonna do that? It's not like we're gonna stumble on some important target..."

"Yeah. We already did with Madarame, so I doubt our luck's gonna strike twice," Aki said.

"We'll need time, that's all," Ren said. "Looking for any kind of info is going take some searching, especially if it's shady stuff."

"But we don't got time with all the—"

Guooooooooo...

They all froze.

Then they turned to an embarrassed Yusuke.

"What the..." Mona said.

"Lemme guess. You didn't eat lunch?" Aki said.

"I'm sorry. No, I actually haven't eaten anything since yesterday..."

Ren reeled.

"What the hell, Yusuke?!"

"You spent all that money on that box of sweets?!"

"Dude, how much did you have?"

"Okay, that's it! We're having snacks right now!" Aki said as she went straight for the snack bag. "And then dinner! Never mind the target planning!"

"I agree," Ren said, stern. "It's not good to ignore your hunger."

"Oh! Then how about we do that for a welcome party?" Ann said.

"Even better! We can have a feast!" his sister said as she shoved a bunch of snacks at Yusuke, the artist looking as if he was handed gold.

Ren frowned. "Aki, you know we can't, even if we wanted to. The kitchen's too small and it's too late to cook that many dishes."

"Well something close enough then!"

Ann solved that. "How about a hotpot then? I see a portable stove there."

"Yeah! Let's do that!"

"That sounds great! I heard that eating hotpot together brings people closer!"

Ren smiled. "I don't mind. Any objections?" he said to the last two.

"Anything with meat's fine with me," Ryuji said with a grin.

"I only ask that we finish it off with porridge. Extra parsley, of course."

"Then hotpot it is."

Ryuji and their friends quickly self appointed themselves on grocery duty. It would've just been him and Aki to prepare the cooking equipment and such, but after the buffet incident, neither he nor Aki really trusted them to actually get the right portions of the ingredients, if they even got the right ingredients. So Aki went with their friends to the grocery near Leblanc while he did all the preparations. Though in the end, that was rather simple: he just needed to set up the stove and get a suitable pot. After asking Sojiro's permission, he found an old earthenware one in the kitchen that would be big enough.

Just as he got it though, Sojiro said,

"That girl... Her name was Ann, right? She's a nice girl."

Ren was a bit startled at the abrupt topic, but he smiled unconsciously nonetheless. "Yes, she is."

One of the nicest girls he'd met. Well, besides his sister, but his bias for Aki was a bit of a given.

For a brief moment, Ren thought he saw an amused look on Sojiro's face, but he wasn't too sure as the man was serious when he said,

"She said your friend doesn't have anywhere to go. Asked if I could take him in for a bit."

Ren tensed and chuckled nervously. "Oh, right, about that..."

"It's that tall, skinny kid, right? He can stay."

Ren stared.

"Really?"

"Hey, don't make me regret it."

Ren laughed. "Okay. Thank you, Sakura-san."

The man huffed. "Come on. You better go. It's almot time for them to get back."

"Yes, Sakura-san."

"Be careful with the fire, all right? Don't want your sister to breath in the smoke."

"Don't worry. I will."

They hadn't even started eating and he was already enjoying the night.

Though Ren made a mental note, one that he was sure Aki also had, to make lunch for Yusuke from now on, as often as possible.

That man couldn't remember his meals even though his life depended on it.

(A)

Thankfully, Akira and Ren convinced the others to let them do the cooking, with Ren dealing with the hotpot while she focused on making two batches of porridge. Though Ryuji had some experience in cooking, neither of them knew if she would like his cooking and she as sure as hell wanted to eat a lot tonight, so she didn't want to take any chances. It was for that same reason that she made two batches of porridge: one for Yusuke, one for the rest. And eat she did. In fact, by the time Ann, Ryuji and Mona finished, she and her brother were still eating.

"Geez...how're you guys not full? I thought you didn't like eatin' a lot from how you were eatin' at the buffet..."

"You went to a buffet...?!" Yusuke said.

Akira ignored him as she swallowed.

"That's 'cause it only had stuff I kinda liked. This is the stuff I like."

"Hotpot...?"

"Noooo, stuff cooked by me or Big Bro."

"Or Mama or Dad, but they're not here right now," her brother said.

"Ugh...man...I can't eat another bite..."

"Well more for us," she said, grinning. "Right, Big Bro? Yusuke?"

Ren smirked and nodded before he took another spoon of his bowl of porridge.

Yusuke just ignored them to scarf down his share.

Akira just laughed and went back to eating.

Then Ann yawned. "Sorry, I'm gonna have to borrow the sofa," she said as she lay down on it.

And Ryuji and Mona, in their infinite wisdom, attempted to peak on Ann.

"Ryuji..."

"Mona..."

"Do you want me to give you coffee?"

"Do ya want a button mashin' again?"

They were startled.

"Sorry!" they both said as they went back into position.

Still, she said, "Seriously? Do we have to tell you again?" And glowered at them.

Ren did much the same.

They, luckily, both had the decency to look ashamed.

"Sorry..."

Any further shame was rid of though as Ann started to snore softly.

"She's asleep already?!" Mona said.

"It'd be weird if she wasn't tired. Let's let her sleep."

"That reminds me..." Yusuke said, having downed all his porridge. "How do you know Ann, Ryuji?"

"Huh? Oh we went to middle school," Ryuji said, then went on to answer Mona's question about how Ann was like before.

Unfotunately, it wasn't that different from now: distant from everyone because she was "odd". That led to Yusuke asking about the three of them, Ryuji going first. It was stuff she and Ren knew before, his dad leaving, his mom being single and all the troubles that came with it. But he tried to get a scholarship to make up for it, except the mess with Kamoshida happened.

"In the end, I just screwed it all up. Turns out I'm a pretty bad son, huh?" Ryuji said.

"Oy, don't say that," Akira said.

"You're not a bad son," Ren said.

"It's not your fault Kamoshida's an asshole."

Her brother nodded.

Ryuji laughed self-deprecaringly. "Thanks guys, but it's...kinda hard to think that..."

"Why's that?"

Ryuji paused, gathering his thoughts.

"Back when I was a first-year, my mom got called out to school for me raisin' my hand on Kamoshida. All the teachers hounded her for what I did, but she just stayed quiet through it all..." His expression hardened for a moment when he said, "I'll never forget the look on her face though..." He paused again. "On the way home, she...she apologized to me. For bein' a single mom and all..."

They were quiet for a moment as Ryuji's words sank in.

"So that's what happened..." Yusuke said, sympathy in his voice.

Akira smiled sadly. "Okay, when you put it that way, I get it. It's hard to not feel useless when you see your mom havin' a hard time takin' care of you all by herself..." she said. "I...felt the same when it was still me and Mom."

"Aki..." Ren frowned at her in concern.

Ryuji, though, turned confused as he said, "What do mean just you and your mom? What about Ren and your dad?"

"We didn't meet then until I was like..." Akira seaeched her memories. "Seven? I think?"

"Yes, seven. I was eight at the time," Ren said.

"Eh? You met when you were little? Were you...seperated at birth or something?"

Akira and her brother stared and then laughed.

"Nah, that ain't it," she said.

"We're step-siblings," Ren said.

"Ehhhh?! You're step-siblings?!"

"Truly? You're quite close for only being family through your parents' marriage..." Yusuke said.

"Yup."

"Surprised?"

"You think?! I never woulda guessed...you pretty much look the same..." Ryuji said. "But wait, if your parents are cool, then why're you guys here by yourselves?"

"Is this about their past?"

"Now that I think about it, we never have heard the details."

"Well..."

Akira glanced at Ren in silent permission.

Ren took a deep breath and nodded.

And so, once again, they told the story of why they came here, but unlike the first time with Ryuji so long ago in Ore no Beko, they told it all. They told how it was just a normal walk home, how it was just them helping a woman only for it to go downhill fast, and how they barely got probation as their sentence thanks to Dad going all out, asking what few connections he had that could help.

Despite the cause, it was heartening to see their friends quite upset over their situation, even though both her and her brother were not really bothered by it at this point. It wasn't as if they could change what happened. Mona, however, wanted to, and asked for the name of the man and where he could be found, but, unfortunately...

"We don't know."

It saddened their friends for a moment. Mona sympathized with their lack of precise memories of the Incident given his amnesia, while Yusuke pointed out that it would be difficult to find out the identity of the man since the victim's personal information is kept hidden. Akira scoffed at that, remembering the blatant disregard of such treatment for their record at Shujin. But that observation reminded her of something else: Akechi was a detective.

Maybe when it wasn't too suspicious, she could ask him to look into it...

Her brother seemed to sense her having that idea, if not also coming to it on his own, but at that point Ryuji got mad and loud.

"This world is so messed up! I'm sick of this! The weak 're left to fight for themselves while rotten adults get away with whatever they want!"

"Ryuji! Quiet!" Ren said, gesturing to their napping friend.

The faux-blond was apologetic, but by then Ann was already awake, not that it mattered actually as she revealed she had been up for a while. Despite that, Mona resumed Ryuji's previous thought.

"Not only that, those who do want to do something are powerless while those in power don't do anything to help the situation."

"Can't we fix this though? Nobody would even know..." Yusuke said.

"And how do you plan on fixin' it exactly?"

"We just need to show them what true justice is. We'll make them come to their senses."

"You're right, Yusuke! That's gotta be what our powers're for!"

"Sounds good to me. The flashier our tagrets are, the cooler we look!"

It was then Yusuke chuckled and said,

"You've all taught me so much."

Akira smirked. "No kidding."

But then Ren said, "Ann? Something wrong?"

And she noticed the twin tailed blonde had a hard to read expression.

At least until she said, smile warm, "Nothing, it's just... It's only been a couple of months and yet it feels like I've known you all forever."

Akira smiled. "Yeah. It does."

Ren as well. "We've been through a lot together."

"And well...we all have similar backgrounds too."

Then Mona said, ears drooping, "I'm the only one without a past."

"Are you kiddin' me, Mona? You're an amnesiac. You're pretty much guaranteed to have a troubled backstory."

"I agree. I'm sure it will be troubled."

"No doubt," Ryuji said.

Ren laughed. "Not exactly something to say to cheer someone up."

"Hey! Misfits gotta stick together!"

And once again they all renewed their vow to continue being Phantom Thieves...and friends.

Vrrrrrriiiiririririiii!

Akira was startled and looked at her phone.

"Oh right! I forgot."

"Huh? Forgot what?"

Instead of answering though, Akira smiled as an idea came to mind. She looked to her brother in silent question. He smiled back and nodded. Akira grinned wider and answered her phone.

"Hey Mom! How're you doin'?"

"Mom?!"

"Hey Akira. I'm doing fine," her mom said. "You sound happy. Something happen?"

"Yeah. We were havin' dinner with our friends. Since you're callin', I thought maybe we'd introduce 'em to you."

"Wait really? Sure! Wait, let me get your father. He was making some tea for me."

Akira laughed as she heard shuffling before she put her phone on loudspeaker.

"Your mom's callin'?! Why's your mom callin'?!"

Ren said, "To catch up with us. We call each other every Saturday."

"For real?"

"Yup!" Akira said.

But she noticed Ann seemed a bit distant for a moment, something that worried her brother. Before either of them could ask though, Mom said,

"Okay, we're here. Say hi, Souichirou."

"Hello there. You're Ren and Akira's friends, yes? It's nice to finally meet you," her dad said, cheerful, then turned teasing. "I hope they haven't caused you any trouble. Those two are quite the tricksters."

Mom laughed. "I know right? They can be quite the handful."

"Mooom... Daaaad..."

Ann laughed but said, just like with Sojiro, "Not at all. If anything, they've been great to us."

"Yeah. They're pretty awesome Mr. and Mrs. Amamiya. Best friends I could ever ask for!"

"We all owe them quite a lot."

"Heh, thanks guys," she said.

"Thank you, everyone," Ren said.

However, neither of their parents said anything.

"Huh? Mom? Dad?"

"Oh sorry, Akira, it's just...they sound like good friends," her mom said, Akira easily imagining her smiling warmly.

Same with Dad as he said, "And we're glad you have them."

With that, Mom then said, "So? Mind introducin' yourselves?"

And so instead of Akira and Ren retelling the past week, their usual call was spent with their parents getting to know their friends, before it turned into discussion of hobbies. After getting Dad on a call through Ren's phone, he and Yusuke talked about movies, the artist learning from the screenwriter. Meanwhile the rest of them talked with Mom about video games, Ann, and especially Ryuji, surprised how much of a gamer her mom was, despite her favorite pastime being reading.

{R}

By the time the conversation died down, they decided to call it for the night. Yusuke, though, said he had trouble sleeping if he didn't take a bath. So they informed him of the bathhouse nearby, and that he and his sister were going to use it. Ryuji quickly joined in and offered an invitation to Ann, but she had to go home. Ren almost wanted to walk her back, but knew it would then be even later for him while returning t Leblanc if he did. So instead he said,

"Can you tell us when you get back home?"

Ann smiled. "Sure."

And now he was with the boys, bar Mona, in the male half of bathhouse, Aki by herself in the other half.

"Ahhh...huge bathtubs really are the best," Ryuji said. "Ann's missin' out."

"She'll be late when she gets home," Ren said.

"Yeah yeah, I know..."

"It's a bit hot though..." said Yusuke.

Ren snorted, thinking about his Metaverse weakness.

Ryuji glanced at the "extra member" behind them. "Old guys like it hot for some reason... I'm sure he'll stop eventually."

Ren snorted again. He could just hear Aki shouting "You just jinxed it!" at that. But then he noticed Ryuji giving him a thoughtful look. Ren gave him a curious one in return.

"You know, I've been wonderin' for a while now..." he said.

Ren nodded to urge him on.

"But what do you think of Ann? As a girl I mean."

He frowned, unamused.

"For real?"

"What?! I'm curious! Can't a guy ask another guy what he thinks of a girl?"

Ren sighed and let it slide, knowing Ryuji meant no harm, even if, as Aki would often pointed out, his word usage wasn't always the best.

He put a little effort into it and gave it some thought before he said,

"I think she's an amazing girl that I'm very glad to know in my life."

That made Ryuji smirk of all things.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that."

Now Ren was confused, and a bit irritated.

"If you knew, why did you ask?" He sharpened his gaze. "Were you trying to get me to say she looks beautiful or something?"

Ryuji's smirk got worse. "Are you sayin' she isn't?"

"No...but words Ryuji...especially since you were peeping on Ann just hours ago."

Thank goodness Ryuji had the decency to flinch and be sheepish.

"Okay, you got me there. But for real dude, I just wanted to know, honest," he said. "But still...can't really see why you think she's so amazing...her personality's overbearin'..."

Ren gave a flat look in annoyance. He was about to get back at Ryuji for his insult, but to his amusement, Yusuke did it for him.

"I'll be sure to share that information with Ann then."

Ryuji tensed. "Please no. Seriously..."

"Then please be careful of your words..." Ren said.

"Got it RenRen!"

"I told you it's not going to work if you do it like that, Ryuji."

At that, his friend turned morose and thoughtful, which worried Ren considering his earlier mood.

And then Ryuji said, "Yeah, I prolly really should... I mean, just seein' people's reactions is kinda makin' me think twice about what we're doin'..."

"True," Yusuke said. "Pursuing what's best in the short term may end up becoming fruitless for us."

Ren frowned. He agreed with their points, but...

"We need a strategy to appeal to the public."

...he didn't really have any ideas to do so, beyond what they've been doing before.

"Oh? Whaddya have in mind?" Ryuji said, bringing Ren back to the conversation itself.

But when Yusuke said, "Do I look like someone who could come up with such a thing?"

An idea of his own formed as two people did come to mind.

Ryuji sighed. "I was an idiot for askin'..." he said. "But I'm on offense duty and Mona's our...kinda expert in that other world, so that just leaves..."

"Our leader?"

"I have something that may help," Ren said.

"Wait, for real?! That quick?!"

"May help. Or at least lead to helping us."

"Heh heh, that's our leader! Always makin' the ugh..."

"Ryuji?" Ren said, worried.

"...it's frickin' hot!" the blonde said as he left the bath. "How much are you gonna add until you're satisfied, gramps?!"

Oh.

That was it.

Ren wondered if his heat tolerance had gone up with all the baths he'd taken here, both medicinal and not.

(A)

Akira: Hey, you gonna be free tomorrow?

Akechi: I'll see if I can make some time, but I make no promises. I'm going to be going to university prep school tomorrow and I might receive work afterwards.

Akira: Oh okay. Hey, maybe I can send ya lunch then?

Akechi: Ha ha. That's not necessary.

Akira: Only if you promise to eat lunch!

Akechi: All right, I promise.

Akira smiled and was about to type another response when Akechi sent a new message.

Akechi: How have you been faring? I know a lot of people are against the Phantom Thieves right now because of me...

Akira chuckled, touched, though saddened at the reminder.

Akira: Hey, I don't mind you having a different opinion from mine, then I don't mind other people's either.

Akechi: But you still feel upset, don't you?

Akira paused as she gave it some thought.

Akira: I mean sure. Course I am. Kinda. It's hard not to be affected by haters. But I'm more annoyed at the new "haters" instead of upset.

Akechi: Oh? Why is that?

Akira: Some of them used to support the Phantom Thieves and then all of a sudden they don't when you come and say they're bad even though they haven't done anything bad so far? I don't like that. Bet you they'll do the same with you if something goes wrong with you. THAT I like even less. You deserve legitimate support too. You're awesome.

Akira waited a bit for a reply, considering hers was a bit of a big one, but not only did she begin to worry when none came in almost a minute, she was surprised to feel an intense burst of mixed emotions from their Confidant link, so she couldn't help herself.

Akira: You all right, Akechi?

That cocktail of emotions subsided then.

Akechi: Yes, I'm fine. It's just surprising you're both supporting the Phantom Thieves and me. It's almost contradictory.

Akira: Yeah, it kinda is. But I still think the Phantom Thieves are doing their thing for justice, and you are too, so as far as I'm concerned it's not really "contradictory". You're both doing what you believe is right and I get behind that.

She sent it as quickly as she could, and to her relief, she felt joy from their bond.

Akechi: Ha ha ha, when you put it that way, it's hard to argue against it.

She sighed in relief and smirked.

Akira: Thanks for the compliment. I'm sure it's not easy to stump a detective.

Akechi: I certainly hope not or I'd lose my job.

Akira: I doubt THAT, that's for sure.

Akechi: You never know. All the more reason I want to catch the Phantom Thieves.

That sentence though had her thinking...

Akechi: I'll be going now if you don't mind. I want to study a bit before tomorrow. Good night, Akira.

Akira: Good night, Akechi.

She stared at her phone for a while, not really seeing as she ruminated.

She had meant what she said. As far as she was concerned, she and Akechi were on the same side, even if they weren't on the same "team". She knew Akechi disliked the corruption and abuse and such that went around the city, if not across Japan. And neither did they. But he didn't know that about the Phantom Thieves for sure. What was going happen should he keep chasing them...?

"Hey, Aki, mind if I could ask a—what's wrong?"

Akira turned to see her brother and Yusuke come up the stairs, both in their sleepwear and a freshly bathed Mona in the Ren's arms.

"What? Is there something the matter?" the artist said.

"Oh nothin' much, was just talkin' to Akechi."

Ren and Mona gave her a suspecting look while Yusuke said, surprised for a moment,

"Akechi? Ah yes. I remember you said he was your friend. Do you speak with him regularly?"

She quickly answered him in hopes of avoiding her brother's questioning. "Yeah. Pretty much everyday, if I can help it, since we don't see each other a lot."

"I see. And has he upset you just now?"

Never mind.

"Not really."

Ren sat down on her bed with her. "Then what is it?"

Akira sighed. She wouldn't get out of it this time.

"Just...wonderin' what'll happen to him, you know? He's chasing us and all..."

"You worry he'll catch us?" Yusuke said.

"Nah. More like..." How could she put it? "...worried he might get obsessed with chasin' us. Seems like he really wants to catch us..."

"So you worry if his heart is distorted then?"

Akira flinched alongside her brother.

Then she laughed, because she wasn't sure what else to do with the feeling she had.

"Yeah, when you put it that way, that's exactly it."

Everyone was quiet for moment.

Then her blue haired friend said, "I can sympathize with your worries. After all, I had similar worries over...Madarame once you reminded me of his crimes."

"Yusuke..."

"But I believe that is all the more reason to keep an eye on him, yes? So that...you don't have to go through what I did."

This guy... Akira smiled.

"Thanks."

He smiled in return. "As I've said, I owe you and your brother much. It's the least I can do."

She laughed. "You don't have to think you owe us, you know."

"No, but I wish to repay your kindness nevertheless."

"All right, all right."

"So? Will you check if his name is on the MetaNav?"

The apprehension and worry from before returned, but instead of being bogged down by it, she turned on the Nav and did just as Yusuke suggested.

"Target not found. Please try again," it said, to her relief.

"Phew..."

"There. Now that you know, should any worrying changes occur, we can catch on sooner."

"Right."

"Now then...I believe you were about to ask your sister something, Ren?"

"Oh right! Ren's got an idea for the Phantom Thieves and he needs your help with it," Mona said.

Her brother nodded.

"Oh? What is it?"

Turned out it was asking advice, if not outright example plans, for campaigning from Yoshida, considering those techniques could help spread the Phantom Thieves' influence and make sure it stuck.

"I'll go help him tomorrow then and ask," she said.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"So...are you finished?" Yusuke suddenly said.

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

"You wouldn't happen to have an extra futon, would you?"

"Oh right."

With that, Akira and Ren took out the extra futon Sojiro brought for their artist friend and then went to sleep, Mona snuggled in her arms as they bid each other good night.

{R}

The prisoners...have returned.

The bonds you have reeled in are quite intriguing...

...they all have been unfairly labeled by society and are standing up against their fates.

... They seem to have influnced you.

... Deepen your bonds with them.

... I will look forward to it.

I shall grant you an ability befitting of your newfound growth. Consider it a gift.

...continue devoting yourself...to your rehabilitation.

Author's Notes: Originally, the chapter title was "À ta santé" as I don't know French and what I researched said "À ta santé" is a less formal version of "À votre santé" that's used with friends, which basically means "Cheers" in French. I picked that mostly because Ren and Akira have French Personas and I wanted an appropriate title for the chapter without going, say, "Hotpot", so I settled on something thay would be said during a celebration. But a reader was kind enough to point out that "à ta santé" is mainly when addressing one person, so it should've been "allez santé" for a group. So the chapter title has been changed accordingly.

Now, again, I'm neither an expert on Japanese nor translating it, but the the word I meant for Akechi to say is actually "yobikou" and not "juku", as "juku" is just cram school "in general" while "yobikou" is cram school specifically to help people get into universities. That's why I decided to have Akechi say "university prep school" since that hints at the intent/what the word means instead of just going with "cram school".