Catch-22: The Recovery
By: M14Mouse
Summary: Futaba has recovered and there are emojis.
Disclaimer: Don't own them.
Many thanks to AKatsinTcups for betaing this chapter.
It's always fun when you get to go somewhere new and you get to meet new people and get new experiences.
-J. B. Bickerstaff
Sojiro looked up from his place at the counter as Yu entered the café.
"Tutoring again?" Sojiro said in amusement.
They're really going to need another base because he can't keep up with the tutoring excuse. Stopping for coffee can only work so much because his offices aren't close to the café. Luckily, he was almost done with his plan.
"I wish. Theo tried to make coffee again," he said as he took a seat at the counter.
Sojiro laughed.
"I take it that it ended badly."
"I don't have a coffee maker anymore and lost three mugs to the cause."
You are lucky that you still have an apartment.
His eyebrow rose slightly at the unknown persona. He had become more active lately, agitating the others.
You just want Starbucks again.
I do not.
He fought a grin off his face. Isis informed him that "the grumpy old guy" liked the chocolate croissants.
"Even if I hate the blasted place, your assistant should look up Starbucks."
"He tried. The menu confused him then he brought all the pastries in case. He said that they were calling his name. I didn't protest too much."
He laughed at the memory of Theo holding bags of pastries like it was his treasure. He'd never seen Theo so excited.
Sojiro laughed again then picked up an empty cup.
"Your assistant is something."
"He is, but I like him."
Sojiro shook his head as he poured Yu a cup of coffee then set it in front of him.
"Then-"
"Hey, Boss! Hey, Sensei!" Ryuji shouted as he entered the café.
"Good morning, Sensei! Good morning Boss," Ann and Yusuke said as they followed behind Ryuji.
He grinned and waved to his students.
"Good morning…here to see Ren?" Boss asked.
"Yup, we are going to hang out today," Ryuji said as he slipped into one of the booths after Yusuke.
"Do you guys want anything?" Boss asked.
"Water if it isn't too much trouble," Ann said to Boss.
"It isn't like that I have anybody important here," Sojiro said with a wave as he goes to get some cups. Yu watched as Sojiro added some ice and water to each cup then brought them to the counter where Ann took the cups to their booth.
"I'm hurt, Sojiro. To think that you would say that to a paying customer," He said with a grin.
"You don't pay that much, Yu," Sojiro said with a wave.
"You wound me."
"You can handle it."
The door burst open to reveal Makoto. She looked like she ran from the train station.
"Sorry that I'm late," Makoto panted.
"Nah. Don't worry about it. Ren isn't up yet," Ryuji said with the wave of his hand.
"Hey, your friends are here. Hurry down," Sojiro shouted up the stairs.
Few minutes later, Ren and Morgana came down the stairs.
"So, you're finally up, huh? Don't slack off just 'cause you're on summer vacation," Sojiro said.
"Yo, you look tired," Ryuji said.
Carefully, he looked over Ren, who had dark circles under his eyes. Ren did text him last night to say that Futaba was awake and supposedly did her thing. Few minutes later, he got unknown text with ninja emojis. He returned the text with an alien emoji.
Just because he could.
"We've made ourselves at home," Ann said happily.
Yu shook his head with a smile as he added his cream and sugar to his coffee. It didn't take much for them to do so.
"Late last night, it was discovered that someone had tampered with the hacker group Medjed's website. The site's main page now displays what is thought to be the mark belonging to the Phantom Thieves. More so, the personal information of a Japanese man, a possible Medjed member, was illegally publicized," The reporter on the tv said.
"Aren't these the guys people have been up in arms about?" Sojiro said as he looked over at the tv.
"Yes, we had a security meeting about them. Apparently, our holdings didn't interest Medjed and our servers weren't hacked," He said to Sojiro.
"They did seem more focus on banks and such."
"Medjed has yet to issue an official reply. Furthermore, their previously announced cleanse of Japan has remained unimplemented for now. Some speculate that they have taken this series of events seriously and ultimately canceled their plan," the reporter continued.
He heard his students celebrate in the background.
"What're you all smirking about…?" Sojiro said as he turned his attention to his students.
"Nothing," Ren said behind him.
"Well stop it. You're gonna drive away all of my customers."
"I don't see myself going anywhere," Yu said.
"I can kick you out," Sojiro said as he turned his attention to him.
"You'd miss me."
"I doubt it."
"After the commercial break, we will be asking guests from various fields about this turn of events," The tv report finished with in the background.
"You two have a very strange friendship," Makoto commented.
"I keep Sojiro's life interesting. He would be bored without me," Yu said as he turned to Makoto.
"Seriously doubt it. It seemed summer vacation kept everyone away expect this guy," Sojiro added.
"Oh, crap! I just realized our break's almost over," Ryuji said in surprise.
"There is still ten days left," Yusuke pointed out.
"I wanna go somewhere, but we can't leave Futaba-chan alone," Ann said with a concerned tone.
He heard Makoto mumbled something to others, but his attention was on the door. Futaba opened the door and walked past the group.
"Oh, did you just get up?" Sojiro said to Futaba as she nodded her head.
"Good morning," Makoto said to Futaba.
Futaba made a noise and hide behind Ren. He covered his smile behind his cup. It reminded so much of Nanako. He wondered how Ren is going to feel about having a little sister. It is better to leave it alone and not ruin the surprise.
"It seems she's cautious of us…" Yusuke said.
"Hey, why don't we go upstairs? If any customers come, she'll be even more afraid," Makoto said to the group.
"Why don't you go with them, Futaba? Have fun. It's about time my regulars show up anyway, so I don't want you guys loitering around my store," Sojiro said to Yu's students.
"In other words, it's time for his favorite drama and he wants to watch it in peace before the elderly couple demands that he puts it back on the news," Yu said with a grin.
"You know…I'm going to kick you out," Sojiro said.
He could tell Sojiro was struggling not to smile.
"And yet, I 'm still here," He said.
"Man, adults are strange," Ryuji said as he moved out of the booth and started to make his way upstairs
"Boss and Sensei have a very interesting dynamic. It's like watching a tennis match," Yusuke added as he followed Ryuji. Makoto got up as well and followed the duo up the stairs.
"I mean, I think that's their way of being nice to each other," Ann said as she got up and headed up the stairs.
Ren followed up them up the stairs with Futaba following closely behind.
He glanced at Sojiro for a moment and Sojiro glanced back. They burst out laughing.
"Ah, kids, these days," Sojiro said with a chuckle.
"Never a dull moment."
"Never."
Yu felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out to see a text from Makoto saying that she will tell him what happened with Futaba later. He texted her back a thumbs up.
The door rang again as the elderly couple came in.
"Good morning, Boss. Good morning, Yu-chan. It is good to see you so rested. You are such a busy young man," the elderly woman said as she patted his arm when she passed by. She took a seat in the booth closer to the tv.
"Thank you. Good morning to you as well," He said with a smile.
Her husband grumbled a hello before sitting across from her.
"The normal?" Sojiro asked the couple.
"Of course," The woman said. Sojiro nodded and went to work. Few minutes later, the couple had a fresh cup of coffee in front of them.
On the tv, the commercials had ended and the reporter announced their first guest.
"The fact that there were no damages due to the hackers' action is but an afterthought. The issue I want to make clear is the attitude of the police, and more importantly, the government," The familiar voice of Shido said on the tv.
He glanced over at Sojiro when he made a noise, and made a mental note to ask about that later.
"What do you mean?" The reporter asked.
"Are they doing their best to find an effective countermeasure against these Phantom Thieves? Is it not the government's duty to create a society where its citizens can live without worry? Unfortunately, the current cabinet is powerless. As such, they should be disbanded. I believe now is the time for me to risk my political career in hope of making a new reality. A new political system that goes beyond parties or factions…An ideal country of peace and order…" Shido responded.
Yu almost shook his head in disgust. That man doesn't want peace or order.
Shido wanted a directorship with him as the head.
"This politician seems quite promising," The elderly man said.
"I have to agree. I hope he can work to ease the anxieties of the elderly," The elderly woman responded back.
"What do you think, Boss?" The elderly man asked Boss.
"Hm? Oh sorry, I wasn't listening," Sojiro said as he turned his attention to the elderly couple.
Sojiro could have fooled them but not him. Sojiro was listening and disagreed with Shido.
"Tsk," The elderly man said.
"And you, Yu-chan? You are the future of this country after all. I can imagine order would help you in your daily life," The elderly woman asked him.
"Peace and order would be lovely, but I like to follow my own path and not the one someone laid out for me. It would take fun out of life if someone did that," He said honestly.
Sojiro's eyes widen slightly at his response.
The elderly woman shook her head.
"Oh, I remember those thoughts when I was that young. Dear, you remember that time in…" The elderly woman reminisced to her husband.
Sojiro moved back behind the counter and nodded his head toward him.
Yu nodded back in understanding.
-P5P5P5P5-
Once he was done with his coffee and outside of the café, he pulled out his phone and laughed softly at all the text messages from his students.
Ryuji: Man, she isn't talking.
Yusuke: She keeps eating. I wonder if she will share.
Makoto: We are just repeating ourselves at this point.
Ann: I don't think that she is paying attention to us, Sensei.
Then he got another text with a parrot emoji. He sent her a pleading face emoji then she sent him a party pooper emoji. He grinned as he put his phone away and a familiar black car pulled up with Theo jumping out. Rushing over to the other side, Theo opened the passenger door for him.
"Thank you, Theo," He said as he slipped into the car.
"You're welcome, Master," Theo said as he closed the door behind him and moved back to his original seat.
"How did everything go?" Theo said as the car started to move.
"Futaba is up and about. The situation with Medjed has been handled," He said.
"Wonderful."
"We might also want to keep an eye on Masayoshi Shido."
Theo frowned slightly.
"Is there a reason?"
"His little speech this morning rose a lot of red flags for me."
"I will look into the matter."
"Thank you. Anything I should know about?"
"Your meeting with Kunikazu Okumura and his daughter is this morning. Oh, and you have a working lunch with the board, but your evening is free. I plan to keep it that way," Theo said as he opened his planner and looked through it.
Yu chuckled.
"What are we having?"
"Tacos!"
Yu felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out, laughing at more texts and emojis.
Ren: She won't tell us a thing.
Ann: Each day, we are going to spend time with Futaba-chan! Wanna to come? Oh, we are going to the beach! You're coming too! I won't take no for an answer. I'll make sure Theo knows!
Yusuke: Art! Stars! Park! All of these fantastic places to take Futaba.
Ryuji: Man, this is a mess.
Theo leaned over for a better view when Yu held out his phone screen to him.
"Futaba is a little bit of shut in. Since she is their newest member, they are trying to help her adjust to them," He explained.
"Hermit arcana then?" Theo asked.
"Mostly likely."
Then he got a pleading emoji from Futaba. He sent back a pondering face emoji. Few seconds later, a beach with an umbrella appeared. He gave her a thumb up emoji.
"Apparently, Futaba is nervous about the beach."
"I see, Ms. Ann has invited you as well. You've had no time to yourself after your return from Inaba. Your lack of sleep and headaches have been troubling, Master. You have to do something about the persona in your head," Theo said.
Yu sighed.
Coupled with the unknown persona, he still had mixed feelings about Adachi's death much like his friendship with the man. Part of him felt relief, another part grief, and an overall sense of hopelessness. His uncle and his friends reassured him that there was nothing that could be done.
While he couldn't prove anything, "It would be awkward for me to hang out with my students, but thank you for thinking of me."
Theo frowned for a moment then his eyes light up.
"Ms. Nanako and Mr. Dojima can come. It would be a family vacation. Yes, yes. Let me contact them right away. I must schedule your day to able to help Ms. Futaba."
He laughed softly as Theo eagerly pulled out his phone.
"You're coming too."
Theo sighed.
"I burn, Master. My sisters took me to the beach once. I burned so badly. Luckily, Margaret took pity on me and put this green stuff on my body to make it better. It was like that for several days."
That would be something Elizabeth would do.
"Well, sunscreen, glasses, and a straw hat on the list for you."
"Sunscreen?"
"You won't burn with it on."
"Oh, that sounds wonderful, Master. Very well! I will join as well!" Theo said eagerly.
Yu laughed at Theo's excitement as he started to work. He picked up his phone again from his lap and shook his head.
Ann: Shopping? Maybe for some bathing suits?
Yusuke: I need something to engage her mind. Oh….
Ryuji: I'm just going to take her to get some ramen. People and food in one place. Bang. Done.
Makoto: I think that they're going to go overboard, Sensei.
Then he got a fearful face emoji from Futaba. He sent back an okay hand emoji then he added a zombie.
She sent back a mage emoji.
Slowly, the car came to a stop. Instantly, Theo got out of the car and opened the door for him. He slipped out of the car to see Mr. Okumura and Haru waiting for him.
"Hello, Mr. Okumura," He said with a slight bow.
"Hello, Mr. Narukami," Mr. Okumura said with a bow.
Poor Haru looked a little lost.
He sighed. This will be a long day.
End of The Recovery
Next Chapter: The Wild Card
A/N: I didn't know our shadow friends would divide you guys so much. Well, guess what? They are here (for now). Yes, Futaba and Yu communicate in emojis. Don't ask me why. It just amuses me. I totally agree with my reviewers about Akechi. You almost see him pull an Adachi (I got those vibes when rewatching the Akechi/Thieves fight). I will keep this note short because I will be introducing the titles for the next chapters. Thank you again for wonderful support with reviews, kudos, favorites, etc. I love it.
Next Chapters:
43. The Wild Card
44. The Beach Trip
45. The Secret Base
46. The Chains (Break in Play)
47. The Name Game
48. The Tippy Point
49. The Conversations We Have When You Aren't Around (Break in Play)
50. The Might of The Sword