Chapter 17
The First Outing
Sunday, August 28th, 2016
"Ren. Reeeeeen."
He was being poked in the forehead. Repeatedly. He tried to bat away the poker. But they just changed targets, poking his shoulder now. And they were poking harder now. Ren groaned. They weren't going to relent, were they?
He opened his eyes, revealing that the poker was Futaba. Her face was centimeters away from him. She was on top of him.
"Good morning to you too," he said dryly.
"Get up, Ren!" she demanded, giving his chest a light smack. "We're going to meet Yukari Takeba today!"
"This is too early for this…" Morgana groaned from the floor—if he had to guess, Futaba removed Morgana from his usual spot on Ren's chest so she could poke Ren away.
"It's 9:30! Not super early! Come onnnn, can we please go?" she wheedled, all but pouting at Ren. "The line's going to get crazy if we wait too long!"
"Someone's excited." Ren smothered a grin, watching Futaba's expression grow impatient.
"Ren!" she whined out.
His phone suddenly rung. Ren groggily took the call, putting them on speaker.
"Hello—"
"Ren-san, please get up before Futaba-san gets some bright idea, like dumping water on you," Ken said dryly.
Futaba brightened at that. "Oooh, that's a great idea!"
"Okay, okay!" Ren groaned, jerking up in a sitting position. "I'm up!"
Over the phone, Ren heard Ryuji's hearty laugh. "I'm telling ya—we should've sent Anne up."
Futaba snagged Ren's phone. "We want him to get up, not stay in bed, Ryuji!"
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Anne cried over the phone.
…Well. Futaba did have a point.
Ren rolled his eyes before stealing back his phone. "I'll be down in a few. Now hush, before Sojiro kicks you all out."
He didn't let his friends get in another word, hanging up. He shooed Futaba out so he could get ready for the day.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Anne greeted him, smiling playfully at him.
"Morning." If they weren't in LeBlanc, he would've given her a good morning kiss.
However, he settled for a quick kiss on the cheek, drawing a happy giggle from Anne.
"So, what's the plan, exactly?" he asked, after everyone else greeted him.
"The signing is located on the outskirts of Akihabara," Ken explained.
Ren noticed that he had brought yet another pile of bento boxes today. Shinjiro-san was really insistent on eating healthy, wasn't he?
"You'll know when you'll see it. It's actually one of their smaller events, but I assume that they'll be in costume, at least…"
Kinda surprising, since it was Tokyo…
Futaba bounced in her seat. "They better be!" she cried out.
"Wearing costumes in this kind of heat?" Yusuke grimaced, before he shook his head. "I can't say that I envy them. Especially the black ranger."
"We should be okay," Ryuji said, holding up a plastic bag. "Grabbed some drinks I had in the house, since this will prolly be an all day thing. You can have the drink I grabbed from the fridge, Yusuke. I know you can't stand the heat too much."
Yusuke inclined his head at Ryuji. "My thanks, Ryuji."
"Yeah, good thinking, Ryuji." Ren grinned at his best friend. "Didn't even think about that."
"Well, you were sleeping like a baby just ten, twenty minutes ago," Anne teased, before she playfully poked his cheek. "I don't even know how you slept through Futaba texting the group chat."
"I got the real deal instead," Ren said dryly. "She's a very determined poker."
Futaba stuck her tongue at him, before taking a sip of her orange juice. "Can we go now?"
Ken pushed one of the bento boxes at Ren, a pair of chopsticks on top. "Eat a little before we go. I don't want you passing out from lack of food."
Makoto frowned. "You being unable to get decent food is really a problem…"
"Maybe I should just live with Ken and Shinjiro-san, then," Ren joked, before he opened the box.
He selected an onigiri, and took a bite. He didn't know how Shinjiro-san did it… but he took completely normal food and made you feel that you were eating something completely new. The flavors… the freshness… it really was something else. Shinjiro-san should really be running a restaurant. He'd definitely be a customer.
"You shouldn't joke about this, Ren," Makoto scolded, still frowning. "This is serious…"
"You're acting like Sojiro's starving me or something," Ren said, shaking his head. "I'm fine, really."
"It's not just you with Shinjiro-san at least," Ken said dryly.
Anne scratched her cheek, cracking a sheepish smile. "It's not my fault that sweets taste so good, okay?"
"But I'll eat some more later, okay?" Ren said, after finishing a second onigiri. "I think Futaba may run out of the door if we make her wait anymore."
"We can go now?!" Futaba said eagerly.
Sojiro eyed his daughter warily, before pursing his lips together. "Are you sure about this, Futaba?"
"Absolutely!" Futaba nodded firmly, determination burning in her eyes. She clenched both hands into fists. "Don't worry about me, Sojiro! I've trained for nearly a week for this!"
"Jeez, do you have to be so dramatic…" Morgana grumbled.
"Shut it, kitty."
"Futaba, be nice!" Anne chided.
"He should be nice too, then!"
They left LeBlanc soon after saying goodbye to Sojiro, Futaba happily chattering about Feathermen.
"This season was pretty cool! I wish Pink Argus could be the leader again… But they had Yukari Takeba return as a mentor! She totally pulled off the older and wiser vibe! And man, some of the stunts she pulls! It's like she's done it in real life!"
Yusuke, Makoto, and Anne all were lost at this, though. The R incarnation of Feathermen had been one of Ren's favorite shows as a kid, though, so he had no problem keeping up.
But then Makoto suddenly cleared her throat.
"You mentioned that she did her own stunts before… She must be quite the athlete, then," she remarked.
"Yukari-san has been practicing archery since high school," Ken answered. "She kept up with that until now."
Futaba nodded enthusiastically at that. "She's got some wicked skill with the bow! You know, they did a showcase of her doing archery a few years back! Man, it was so cool! She did so many trick shots!"
"You really do look up to her, huh?" Ryuji asked.
"Mm-hm!" Futaba suddenly cocked her head, looking towards Ren. "…You know. She's kinda like the Phantom Thieves. Reinforcing justice and all that."
"I suppose, in a way," Ken said, before lowering his voice. "Though the Phantom Thieves operate in the dark while the Feathermen Rangers are fairly… open about their actions."
"Yeah, I guess." Futaba chewed her lip, before she glanced at Ren. "Hey, do you ever change costumes?"
"Of course not," Morgana huffed. "The costumes represent our ideas of rebellion. We're not going to dress up as your silly rangers!"
"Take that back, kitty!" Futaba glared at him.
Maybe if they weren't so squished in the train, she would've grabbed him and tortured him via cuddling. Or pulling at his face.
"Make me!" Morgana retorted.
"Behave, children," Ken sighed, just as Makoto-san said, "Honestly… can't you two get along?"
Ren had to stifle a laugh. They were getting in sync about this kind of thing.
Ren eyes slid to Anne, before his lips suddenly quirked into a grin. "So, Anne. You up for dressing as Pink Argus?"
Anne smacked his shoulder, her cheeks turning pink. She then grabbed his sleeve, pulling him closer to her.
"Isn't one skintight suit enough for you?" she whispered to him, just loud enough for them all to see.
Ren just grinned at her. "Nope. Not even close."
"Stop flirting already, jeez," Ryuji grumbled. "God, I was hoping you would stop flirting in front of us once you got together for real."
"That's a naïve thought," Ken sighed. "Trust me… I know."
He sounded… tired. He must've had to walk in on this kind of thing a lot, before he and Shinjiro-san moved to Tokyo.
"Shinjiro-san and Fuuka-san?" Makoto asked, eyebrow raised.
"Them, along with my other senpai who've been together since high school…" Ken huffed.
Anne blinked. "Wait, seriously? Isn't it super rare for couples in high school to make it that far?"
Ken just shrugged. "They're used to beating the odds."
"Huh?"
Beating… the odds? That was weird, to put lightly. Then again, Ren did get a feeling that Ken had seen more than a kid their age should, especially with how he had pushed Ren to go for it with Anne.
Was this connected to how he had awakened to his Persona years ago?
Ken still kept mum about that, in particular. To be honest, Ren would be lying if he claimed it didn't bug him…
The train then lurched to a stop; Futaba stumbled forward, obviously not used to it. But Makoto grabbed Futaba's arm, steadying her, just as the conductor announced that they had reached Akihabara.
"That's us," Yusuke stated. "Shall we depart?"
After they left the station, they followed the growing crowd of elementary and middle school students.
"This is… a rather long line." Yusuke's eyes were wide with shock. "Is Feathermen truly this popular?"
"Hey, Feathermen's a classic," Ryuji said. "It was my favorite when we were in elementary school."
"You did the poses, didn't you?" Ren snickered.
"Did you?" Ryuji retorted.
Ren just held up his hands. "Guilty as charged."
Anne wrinkled her nose. "Can't say I know much about Feathermen."
"Ah, that's right. You grew up in America, did you not?" Yusuke asked. "It'd make sense that you wouldn't know much of Feathermen. I myself didn't get to watch the show until Futaba insisted on it, since Sensei… didn't quite believe in television."
"No… television…?" Futaba repeated, eyes wide with horror. "You've been deprived, Inari!"
"I didn't watch much of Feathermen," Makoto admitted with a sheepish smile. "I watched it mostly because Sis wanted to…"
…What.
"Your sister watched Feathermen?" Ken said slowly, eyebrow quirked. "I… I find that hard to believe."
Makoto just raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you can comment on that, Ken."
Ken's face flushed at that. "Okay, I see your point."
"Oh, there she is!" Futaba said gleefully, jumping up and down for a moment in her excitement.
Ren turned in the same direction as Futaba, and saw a pretty woman in her mid-twenties with light brown hair pose with a junior high student and elementary student. Their resemblance made Ren assume that they were siblings. She spoke to them after the photo, and the younger of the two shyly held up a DVD case. She took it with a smile, before pulling out a pen.
"She's so pretty…" Morgana purred, almost tipping himself out of Ren's bag as he peered out. "Almost as lovely as Lady Anne!"
"I'd say she's hotter than Anne," Ryuji added.
"Eh, I wouldn't say that myself," Ren said with a shrug, loosely draping an arm around Anne's waist.
Ken shot Ryuji a dirty look. "Can you not talk about her like that?"
"It's true, though!" Ryuji protested.
Ken just sighed, before pulling a face.
"Indeed, she is quite lovely," Yusuke breathed out. "She is a model, is she not? Perhaps I could—"
"You ask her to model for your art, and you may get smacked across the face," Ken deadpanned. "And I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't gawk at her like that."
This must be pretty awkward for Ken… He treated Shinjiro-san and Fuuka-san like they were his older siblings, so it must be the same for Yukari-san.
Yusuke blanched at that. "I-I see…"
"That's just uncouth," Morgana huffed. "A simple no would work."
"So, how did Anne react when Yusuke asked her to be his model?" Ken raised an eyebrow.
"Well… she very firmly told him no," Morgana said weakly.
That was putting it lightly…
"Dude, she totally flipped out," Ryuji said to Ken. "Her face was redder than her suit."
"Shut up, Ryuji!" Anne snapped, her face flushing.
"Dude, it's true!"
"That's what I thought," Ken said dryly.
"Yusuke, do we need to have a little chat about this…?" Makoto asked, narrowing her eyes on Yusuke.
Yusuke shook his head hard. "No. I-I understand that I shouldn't ask strangers to model for me now. Asking Anne that was a mistake."
Anne's expression softened at that. "Well… it's not completely bad. I mean, we did get to meet you through that."
Yusuke blinked in surprise before awkwardly clearing his throat. "Thank you, Anne. I do appreciate that sentiment."
"But jeez, Inari, you have no people skills," Futaba sighed.
It was Yusuke's turn to narrow his eyes. "I believe you of all people cannot say that, Futaba."
Futaba just stuck her tongue at Yusuke. He responded by letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Futaba-san, come on." Ken nudged her side. "We're almost there."
"Ooh, you're right!" Futaba's excitement was practically palpable. "But hey, Ken, has she ever taken you on tours? Let you meet her co-stars?"
"Yeah, she has." Ken nodded. "She surprised me a complete tour for my fourteenth birthday. Shortly after all of the paperwork was finalized, with Shinjiro-san taking me in. I thought I was going to pass out with shock… Especially after Yukari-san got the whole main cast to take a group picture with me."
"Ugh, you're so lucky!" Futaba griped. "I wish I knew her back then!"
"You're meeting her now, at least," Anne said, before giving her shoulder a light squeeze.
Then Anne gave her a teasing smile. Ren couldn't help but grin. He couldn't blame Anne for teasing a little.
Anne teased, "Try not to freak out too hard, okay?"
"Hey!" Futaba cried out, drawing out laughs from several people.
"Don't be mad that Lady Anne's right," Morgana grumbled out.
"Zip it, kitty!"
The group in front of them wrapped up with Yukari-san, before they darted to the line for meeting Red Hawk. Futaba let out a little squeak, before all but running to her.
"Ah, Futaba-chan, correct?" Yukari-san said brightly. "It's nice to meet you, Futaba-chan!"
"Same!" Futaba then froze, her cheeks turning red. "Um. You're not Futaba. I'm Futaba."
She then cleared her throat, awkwardly shifting her weight from foot to foot.
"U-Um… Victory was a huge comfort to me, after my mom died… You were just amazing! And cool! Totally awesome!"
As they came closer, Ren couldn't help but gawk a little. She really was pretty, though Anne was definitely prettier, in his unbiased opinion. Though something about her reminded him of Anne. He couldn't put his finger on what, though.
Maybe it was her smile?
"Aw, thanks." Yukari-san smiled at her, before looking over to Ken. Then her eyes softened with fondness, before her smile grew even wider. "Hey, Ken-kun. It's been so long!"
Without warning, she pulled Ken into a hug. Ken stiffened for a moment before returning the hug with a sheepish smile. Ren had to stifle the urge to laugh. Ken was just so awkward. Yukari-san must've caught sight of him, since she suddenly winked at Ren, her eyes twinkling with barely suppressed humor.
"You look well, Yukari-san," Ken said as the older woman released him. "How are you?"
"Oh, same old, same old," she dismissed with a wave of her hand.
But then she looked to the others with a friendly smile. Ren had to admit, he was a little surprised about how nice she was being. She was a celebrity after all, even ignoring that they were friends with Ken.
Yukari-san said, "But it's nice to meet you all too! Ken-kun has talked a lot about you."
"Didn't you know you were a gossip, Ken," Ren couldn't help but tease.
Ken pulled a face. "That would be you, not me, Ren-san."
"Hey, now you're just deflecting!" Ren said with a playful smile, drawing laughter from their friends.
"But I hope Ken has been saying nice things about us at least," Ryuji joked lightly.
Yukari-san tapped her chin in thought. "Hmm… I'd say about 90%."
"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance." Yusuke bowed low at the waist. "Ken has some rather accomplished senpai, from the looks of it."
Now that Yusuke brought it up… he had a good point. Mitsuru Kirijo was a no brainer. Yukari Takeba was a famous actress and model. Shinjiro-san was extremely talented with cooking. Fuuka-san was apparently pretty damn good at programming. What was next, a secret agent?
"It's nice to meet you!" Anne said cheerfully. "You're so pretty! Then again, you are a model, right?"
"Oh, you're Anne Takamaki, right?" Yukari looked at her up and down, looking thoughtful. "Ken-kun mentioned that you're thinking of pursuing a job as a model full-time, right? We should talk about that sometime!"
Anne took a step back, shock spreading across her face.
"Huh?!" she gasped out.
Then she started to blush a little out of embarrassment, waving her hands. Ren just grinned. Anne was really too cute.
"Oh no, no, I don't want to waste your time—" she began to protest.
"It's no problem!" Yukari-san waved her off with a smile. "Besides, you're a friend of Ken-kun." Her voice lowered to a stage whisper. "You know, he used to have a major problem with making friends."
"Yukari-san!" Ken flushed, and it definitely wasn't from the heat. "That was in junior high! Not now!"
"Why am I not surprised?" Ren grinned at him, which only made Ken glare.
Yukari-san just pressed a hand against her cheeks, her eyes sparkling with mirth. "Aw, but this was a completely new city. You can't blame me for being worried…"
Ryuji broke into snickers and wouldn't stop even as Makoto elbowed him hard.
"Yukari-san!" Ken exclaimed, all but whining, before he glared at her. "Did Minako-san put you up to this?"
Ren couldn't hold back his laughter. Ken's poutiness was just too funny. He was all moody frowns and crossed arms. It was completely different than how he usually was.
Yukari-san just ruffled his hair with a giggle—which earned her an annoyed glare. "Not this time."
Futaba shifted nervously for a moment, before she thrust out her boxset of Feathermen DVDs right into Yukari-san's face.
"C-Could you please sign this?" she blurted out.
"Oh, sorry about that, Futaba-chan," Yukari-san quickly apologized.
She nudged the boxset out of her face and then taking it. She then pulled out her pen and began to scribble out a message, before she signed it with a flourish.
Futaba slowly took it, hands shaking. It was like she was holding the Holy Grail.
"Thank you! Thank you!" She then pounced on Ken, making him stumble back a couple steps, before saying gleefully, "And thank you for helping me meet her!"
"Futaba, you could've made Ken fall," Makoto chided.
"It's fine, Makoto-san," Ken said to her, before he awkwardly patted Futaba on her head. "I'm glad to help."
Yukari-san put her hands on her hips. "Oh, I see how it is. You can do it to Futaba-chan, but you get all sulky if I do it to you."
Ken just shot her a sour look. "I'm not trying to mess up Futaba-san's hair on purpose."
"So if I didn't, could I—"
"No," Ken said firmly, all while rolling his eyes.
Futaba just beamed, before hugging the boxset to her chest. "Thank you so much for this!"
She then lovingly stroked the box, her eyes glowing with happiness. Ren couldn't help but smile at sight. It was nice to see her so happy, after everything she's been through.
"I can't believe it's actually autographed now!" she gushed, tracing her index finger over Yukari-san's flowing script.
Yusuke just smiled. "Congratulations. Though I do not understand why you would allow her to defile your DVDs like that…"
Futaba's face scrunched up in annoyance. "Ugh, you just don't get it—"
Yukari-san then reached out, an arm around Futaba's shoulders. She pulled her close.
"So, who's going to take the picture?" she interjected.
That was pretty clever of Yukari-san, to defuse the argument like that.
"I'll do it!" Anne said brightly, holding up her phone. "Say… um…"
She pursed her lips as she thought, tapping her index finger against her chin for a moment. Then her eyes lit up.
"Oh, I know! Say… Feathermen Victory!"
"Feathermen Victory!" they chorused, striking a pose.
Futaba's smile could light up a room… It was really a good idea of Ken to suggest this for Futaba. It's what she needed to get her feet wet for an outing.
"God, that's such a nerdy thing to say though." Ryuji shook his head.
"Whatever makes them happy," Makoto chuckled, before she shrugged. "But what should we do now?"
"Well, maybe we could walk around—" Ken began.
"Yukari-san!" A rather frazzled looking woman scrambled up to her, whispering frantically in her ear.
Ken frowned, looking… concerned for some reason. Did he recognize her?
Yukari-san's eyes went wide. "They've what?!"
"Yukari-san, what's the matter?" Yusuke inquired.
"It's the twins, isn't it?" Ken sighed, folding his arms over his chest. "They've escaped, haven't they?"
The twins? What was that supposed to mean?
"Give him a prize," Yukari-san sighed, rubbing her hand against her forehead. "I've got to go find them before—"
She took a step away from them, but Ken grabbed her arm, halting her movement.
"Hang on, Yukari-san. Let us look for them. There are more of us anyway, so we can cover more ground." He then glanced over to them, his expression turning apologetic. "…Um, if you guys don't mind…"
"Of course," Ren said, before turning to everyone else. "Right, guys?"
"But what's going on, exactly?" Makoto asked.
Anne nodded. "Yeah. Who are the twins?"
"They're Yukari-san's…" Ken hesitated for a moment, before his expression steeled, "…children. They're good kids, really, but they're… mischievous."
"I didn't realize you were married, Takeba-san," Yusuke commented.
Yukari-san and Ken both stiffened at Yusuke's comment for some reason.
Yukari-san bit her lip, pain suddenly flashing in her eyes. "I'm not married," she said quietly. "Their father died before I even found out I was pregnant."
…Oh god.
Yusuke's eyes widened with horror. "I apologize for the—"
"No, no, it's fine," Yukari-san cut him off, holding up a hand.
However, she looked simply weary.
"I get that a lot," she added softly.
Ren realized that Ken was… watching them. Staring at them, as if he was daring them to make a deal out of it. Ren winced. Yukari-san must've caught some serious shit for it, for Ken to react like that.
"Just try to find them as soon as you can," Yukari-san pleaded. "I know that they can only be in Akihabara but…"
"Don't worry, Yukari-san, we'll find them." Ken gave her a reassuring smile, while she weakly returned. "We'll bring them back as soon as possible."
"Thank you, everyone," she murmured.
They headed for a secluded area, before Ken spoke again.
"Thanks for agreeing to help," Ken sighed.
"It's no problem, Ken," Makoto said with a reassuring smile. "But… what do they look like exactly? So we know what we're looking for."
Futaba nodded. "Yeah, Makoto's right. We should know that."
"Right." Ken nodded as well. "Well, they're fraternal twins—Miyuki and Kaito. They take more after their dad—they both have dark blue hair."
"Like Yusuke?" Anne asked.
Ken glanced at Yusuke for a moment. "Not as dark as Yusuke-san's, but that's a good comparison. Miyuki usually wears a hairband with a little navy bow on it. She has grayish blue eyes. Kaito has brown eyes like Yukari-san. They're five years old."
They were five?! Just how old was Yukari-san when she had them…?
"Uh… Ken, just how old is Yukari-san?" Ryuji asked.
Ken tensed at that. "She's turning twenty-four in October."
That was… uh. She was only a teenager when she became a mom?
Ren quickly shook his head, mentally chiding himself for that thought. This wasn't any different than judging Anne for being foreign. Besides that, they were little kids, wandering who knows where… Their main objective was to find them as soon as possible.
"Okay, this is what we're going to do," Ren said, turning to address everyone.
A plan was already formulating in his head.
"We'll break into pairs and split up. We'll be able to cover more ground that way." He then looked at Futaba. "Futaba, I understand if you don't want to…"
"No!" Futaba shook her head, determination filling her eyes. "I'll have to go out in public. I don't need to sit out."
"Okay." Ren looked at his girlfriend. "Anne, you should pair up with Futaba. Ryuji and Yusuke. Ken and Makoto. And Morgana is with me."
"Let's go, then!" Ryuji said, smacking his fist into his open palm. "Yukari-san's prolly having a heart attack, so it'll be better if we find them as soon as possible."
They separated from each other, only for Morgana to stick his head out of the bag.
"Hey, um… Ren?" he said tentatively. "What's the big deal? About her being unmarried and having kids?"
Ren stopped in his tracks, wincing. Oh man, that was right. He sometimes forgot that Morgana was occasionally oblivious to the intricacies of society. Morgana was smart so he picked up things fast.
"It's… messed up. They treat like there's something wrong if you have a kid out of wedlock," Ren said with a frown.
"Is that why Ken got all stiff then?"
"If they're five now, they were born when Ken was twelve or thirteen," Ren said, before he frowned. "It might've been Ken's first exposure to this kind of crap, and it's obvious he cares a lot for Yukari-san."
Morgana cringed. "We should probably try to find them as soon as possible," he said quietly.
"…Yeah. We have a lot of ground to cover."
This wasn't how Makoto had expected to spend part of her day doing. But still, Makoto hoped that they would be able to locate the children soon.
"Is there anything you'd think that would catch their attention?" Makoto asked, turning to look at her friend.
"The only thing I can think of is a video game shop…" Ken said slowly. "They like to watch their aunt play with another school friend. Their real interest is the Pusemon Center—they've been begging me to get them something from there for ages."
"At least it's in a different district," Makoto said to reassure him.
Ken nodded in response, but his expression was still worried.
"I'm surprised they just ran off like that," Makoto mentioned.
Anything to distract Ken. She needed to get him to talk to her.
"They get bored easily." Ken shrugged. "You would too, if you had to occupy yourself for hours while your mom did her job… They're good kids. They just like to get into mischief."
Makoto raised an eyebrow. "Like what kind of mischief?"
"Let's see…" Ken let out a thoughtful hum, before his lips curled into a smile. "Well, there was the time that we were at their aunt's house, and it was close to Valentine's Day. She loves making sweets so she was making chocolate by scratch. They both have quite a sweet tooth so they got the bright idea of climbing the counter and getting into the chocolate. They smeared chocolate everywhere… Their face, their hair, their clothes…"
Oh dear. Poor Yukari-san. Twins had to be tiring enough.
"And there was the time they got hungry at night and got into the pantry," Ken mused.
His eyes lit up as he recalled the story. Makoto couldn't help but smile. It was a side that she hadn't seen from Ken, but she liked seeing it. She had never really thought about Ken's attitude towards children, but he seemed genuinely fond of these two.
"They found coffee beans on the shelf and thought it was some kind of chocolate candy." Ken then laughed. "Needless to say they were not impressed with the taste."
"You really weren't kidding when you said they were mischief makers," Makoto laughed. "They sound like quite a handful. I don't envy their babysitter."
"Yeah…" Ken's expression then grew serious. "Come on, we're wasting time."
They searched the streets, even asking a few passing people if they had seen a blue haired boy or girl. But no such luck. The longer the search took, the more Makoto was growing worried. Had they been snatched up? She really hoped that was the case.
Ken sighed, a heavy frown tugging at his lips. "I wish we had Koromaru with us… He'd be able to sniff them out."
Oh, right. Anne had texted to her, gushing about the dogs that Fuuka-san had brought with her for this visit.
"Calm down." Makoto grasped his hand and gave it a light squeeze. "We still have a lot of ground to cover. We'll find them."
She tried to speak confidently. She could sense that Ken was starting to panic, so she needed to calm him down.
Ken heaved out a sigh.
"I'm sorry, I just—" Ken then froze, suddenly inhaling sharply.
Without another word, he pulled her towards a police officer who was talking to a little girl with dark blue hair. Makoto had to hasten, so that she wouldn't trip over her feet.
"Come on, I want to help you," the officer coaxed. "Where are your parents?"
The little girl looked at him up and down, looking incredibly unimpressed for a five year old. Her arms were crossed.
"My mommy says not to talk to strangers. And I don't know you," she said flatly.
But despite her blunt words, she was… well, adorable. She had silky dark blue hair that went down to her shoulders. A black headband with a dark blue checked bow rested on top of her head, pulling back her bangs. She was wearing a lacy white short sleeved shirt under a dark blue jumper dress.
"Come on, I just want to help—" the police officer tried again.
The little girl just huffed in response, turning her nose up at him.
"Miyuki!" Ken called.
She perked up at his voice, turning to look at Ken. She let out a delighted giggle before dashing over to him.
"Uncle Ken!" she said cheerfully, before latching onto his leg in a hug.
"Young man, do you know this little girl?" The officer frowned, looking suspiciously at Ken.
"Yes, yes, I'm so sorry." Ken pulled his hand away from Makoto's, resting it on top of Miyuki's head, before bowing his head. "Thank you for trying to help her."
Then he crouched to her level. The little girl's expression suddenly turned petulant, as if she sensed what Ken was going to say.
"Miyuki, you should apologize to him," he whispered.
"Was just listening to what Mommy told me…" she said sulkily.
"It's all right." The officer waved him off with a friendly smile. "Just make sure that she doesn't run off again."
"I'll do that," Ken said.
He waited for the officer to walk away before looking sternly down at Miyuki. Miyuki cringed slightly.
"Miyuki, do you have any idea how worried your mom is right now?" he scolded.
She shrunk back, biting her lip. She scuffed the ground with her shoe.
"S-Sorry, Uncle Ken… but we were just soooo bored! And this is Tokyo! We thought we could explore a little while Mommy met with people…" she mumbled out.
Ken sighed. "Where is Kaito?"
"I-I dunno…"
"Great…" Ken muttered.
Makoto rested a hand on his arm, making him look up. "At least we're halfway done, Ken," she pointed out. "For all we know, the others may have found him already."
"Um… who are you?" Miyuki asked uncertainly.
…She was kinda blunt, wasn't she?
Makoto knelt down so she was eye level with her. "I'm Makoto Niijima. I'm one of Ken's friends."
Miyuki blinked. She looked bewildered as she looked up at Ken. "You have friends who are girls, Uncle Ken?"
Ken sighed. "…Yes, Miyuki."
Makoto just raised an eyebrow. "Why is this a shock?"
"It's 'cause Auntie Mina always says that Ken runs away from girls when he can. Oh, and Uncle Junpei says Uncle Ken could be a ladykiller if you wanted to, which I don't get since the only thing he kills are like spiders! And you're always nice to me and Mommy and Auntie Mina and Auntie Fuuka and—"
"Okay, okay, Miyuki, we get it," Ken cut her rambling off, by holding up a hand. Then Ken's expression suddenly darkened, muttering something about killing Junpei-san.
Though, Makoto couldn't help but wonder just how popular was Ken with girls back on Port Island. And… why did the idea of that bother her…?
"Well, given how our classmates pestered him, they must've bothered Ken quite a bit," she reasoned to herself. "And Ken doesn't deserve that."
"Uncle Junpei says funny stuff sometimes," Miyuki mumbled before Ken helped Makoto stand up. "But that's okay! He's really nice! I hope we get to see Uncle Junpei and Auntie Chidori more when we move to Port Island!"
Makoto frowned. "Move? Are you moving there while your mother works?"
"Not… exactly." Ken shook his head. "Yukari-san is quitting acting entirely, so she can focus on raising the twins. Especially since they'll be starting school next April. She's taking the money she's made to invest into a boutique. She's always been into fashion, so it seems like a good fit…"
"I see." Makoto nodded.
It did make sense, especially since Yukari-san was a single mother… And it was good that she was putting her children first.
"Futaba's going to be disappointed, though," she couldn't help but comment.
"Uncle Ken, you have more than one friend who's a girl?!" Miyuki gasped, wide-eyed. "Maybe Uncle Junpei is right… you'll find a girl you'll like-like here!"
Ken just pressed a hand to his forehead, all while sighing. "I really wish Junpei-san and Minako-san would stop speculating on my lack of a love life."
So, Ken has never dated before… In hindsight, it made sense. Makoto still remembered that he had looked extremely uncomfortable with their female classmates crowding him, fishing for details.
Makoto pursed her lips, suddenly feeling a flash of irritation.
Did the girls even bother to get to know him?
"But anyways…" Ken shook his head, before frowning at Miyuki. "…When did you lose Kaito?"
Miyuki began to fidget, before she bit her lip. "Um… I was looking at something in the store, and then I turned around and he was gone!"
"Oh dear," Makoto sighed, shaking her head before she turned to Ken. "What should we do then? Bring her back to Yukari-san or should we look for Kaito-kun first?"
"Well—"
Ken was suddenly cut off a shrill ringing sound. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. He took the call.
"Ken, can you talk to Kaito?" Ren's voice echoed from the device. "He's being uh…"
"A little snot!" Ryuji burst out. "He doesn't believe that we're your friends or that Yukari-san asked us to help find him-"
Ken sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, Kaito's picked up some things from Yukari-san… Give Kaito the phone."
"Hang on," Ren said.
"I don't wanna take the phone!"
"Kaito Arisato, I know that Yukari-san has taught you better manners than this," Ken started to lecture, frowning even though Kaito couldn't see. "Honestly! I swear, Yukari-san better take away dessert from you for two weeks at the very least—"
"No dessert for two whole weeks?!" Miyuki gasped, her eyes filled with horror.
"But anyways, where are you?" Ken asked. "Makoto-san and I found Miyuki, so we can bring them back to Yukari-san."
Ren responded, something Makoto couldn't make out, before Ken nodded. "Thanks again, Ren. Bye."
"Uncle Ken, you don't mean that, right? Two weeks is a long time!" Miyuki asked anxiously, her eyes wide as she wrung her hands.
Makoto had to fight the urge to start laughing. She looked so panicked, like the threat of losing dessert was serious business to her.
Ken just raised an eyebrow, before huffing out a laugh. "We'll see. Though if it was up to Shinjiro-san, you'd be deprived of dessert for longer. He thinks you and Kaito eat too many sweets as it is."
"Uncle Shinji always dumps veggies on our plates," Miyuki complained with a pout. "They're yucky."
"They're good for you," Ken said, all while a fond smile formed on his lips.
She liked seeing Ken like this. It was a completely different side of him, but it was… heartwarming. He'd make a good father someday, wouldn't he?
"They don't taste good," Miyuki said disdainfully. "I don't like 'em."
"Ah, Ken." Makoto touched his arm. "Don't you think we should get going?"
Ken turned back to her. "…Sorry. But yeah, you're right, Makoto-san."
He then took Miyuki's hand.
"Come on, let's go and save them from Kaito."
Ren wasn't sure how to get into Kaito's good graces, so… he had resorted to buying the kid a sweet. Not even bribing him with Morgana had worked. The rejection hadn't exactly pleased Morgana.
Anne and Futaba had managed to find them before Ken and Makoto, and for some reason, the kid didn't believe that the two girls were Ken's friends for whatever reason. Even more so than when Ren had attempted to convince him.
"He looks nothing like Takeba-san," Yusuke murmured.
"Well, Ken did say that they took after their dad," Ren pointed out. "Though, Ken called him Kaito Arisato. Isn't that a bit weird?"
Though Yusuke did have a point. Kaito had dark blue hair, though it was a bluer shade than Yusuke's. His bangs were due for a cut, falling into his big brown eyes. He was wearing a dark blue graphic tee shirt and a pair of shorts.
To put it shortly, his resemblance to his mom was more… subtle, like the shape of his eyes and face.
"Who cares about that?" Futaba complained, before huffing. "He's like a baby gremlin. I can't believe he's Yukari Takeba's kid!"
That made Kaito look up. "You like my mommy?"
"Well, yeah!" Futaba nodded. "She's like a superhero."
Kaito's face softened. "She is."
Then a sunny smile broke out on his face. His adoration was clear as day.
"She's the best mommy anyone can ask for! She gives the bestest hugs and she makes yummy food and she's always tellin' Miyu and me that she loves us a lot! She calls us her treasures."
Clearly, a way to get on his good side was to compliment his mom. Futaba had that in the bag, at least.
"Aww, that's just adorable," Anne cooed, pressing a hand to her cheek. "He's adorable."
"Should I be jealous?" Ren quirked an eyebrow at his girlfriend.
Anne snickered at him, before elbowing him in the side. "Oh, yeah, I'm going to leave you and run off with a five year old."
Ren opened his mouth to reply to her quip, but then out of the corner of his eyes, Ren noticed a couple of middle aged women suddenly stopping to stare at them.
The shorter of the women pursed her lips. "Isn't that… one of them? One of Yukari Takeba's bastards?"
"The boy, yes…" Her companion sniffed. "Honestly, what were they thinking, hiring a woman who became a mother in high school? It sets a horrible example to children!"
The first woman nodded in agreement. "I'm not surprised if she bribed her way to her job…"
"She would never!" Futaba hissed, her hands clenching into fists.
Ren quickly turned to Kaito, who had just frozen in place. Those women were badmouthing his mom and they were calling him a bastard. Did he even know what a bastard was? He hoped not, but that would lead him to asking questions…
Ryuji suddenly growled, scowling in their direction. "Haven't you heard of minding your own damn business?!" he yelled at them, shaking his fist at them.
"Well, I never…" the first woman muttered.
"Never had any manners," Yusuke sniffed, his eyes full of disdain as he stared at the pair. "Yes, that sounds about right."
Both women scowled, but stalked away. Anne huffed, before she glared at the two retreating women. "Ugh! I hate those kind of people…"
"Seriously." Ryuji scowled at their backs as well. "They have no effin' business. And saying that cr…ud," he quickly corrected himself, "to a little kid!"
"What…" Kaito said faintly, "what's a bastard?"
Ren sighed to himself. Of course…
"Uh-oh," Futaba gulped.
"This is not good," Morgana breathed out.
"How do we put this…" Yusuke wondered.
Dammit… Yukari-san wasn't going to be happy with them, was she? No, scratch that, she'd probably take her bow and show just how talented she was with it and turn them all into skewers.
"Ah, Amamiya-kun!" Ren's head whipped towards the familiar voice.
Goro Akechi came to a stop in front of them. Ren fought the urge to groan aloud. Not now!
"What's Akechi doing here?" Morgana hissed out.
"Like hell if I know," Ryuji grumbled out with a fierce scowl.
Ren shot them both a silencing look and they winced in apology.
"Oh, hello. I didn't know you were… babysitting?" he said, oblivious to everything.
"You didn't answer my question!" Kaito huffed, looking between all of them. "What's a bastard?"
"You want something else to eat? How about mochi? Or takoyaki!" Futaba said, her voice growing high pitched.
Ren didn't blame her for panicking. He hoped that Kaito would be appeased, but Ren didn't have high hopes.
Akechi glanced in Futaba's direction. His eyes grew wide for a moment, before he quickly looked away.
"No!" Kaito's brown eyes snapped in anger before he stomped his foot once. "I wanna know what a bastard is!"
An emotion that Ren couldn't put his finger on flickered in Akechi's eyes. He closed his eyes for a minute.
"You're… You're awfully young to have heard that," he said quietly, opening his eyes. "But… it was only a matter of time before you heard it." He inhaled. "A bastard… is someone whose parents aren't married. Many people, closeminded people, believe that makes you less important than someone who does. Some people think they're just a mistake. Sometimes people treat the mother badly for having the child in the first place."
"But… But that's not Mommy's fault…" Kaito mumbled, his eyes wide. "Me and Miyu… shouldn't have been born…? We're a mistake?"
"What's going on?"
"Kaito?!"
A little girl with Kaito's color hair darted forward, throwing her arms around him. Ken and Makoto followed, though Ken frowned in the direction of Akechi.
"Akechi-san, just what did you say to Kaito?" Ken demanded, his voice suddenly turning fierce.
The little girl scowled, looking at Akechi up and down. "I know him. He's the one that always talks about being a detective but never solves crimes."
Damn. That was brutal, from a little girl. Ryuji seemed to agree too, judging from the low whistle he just gave. Anne quickly jabbed him in the ribs for that, shooting him a glare.
"Miyuki, that was…" Makoto began, before her voice trailed off.
"It's true," Miyuki grumbled, suddenly looking petulant. "Naoto-san is a lot cooler."
"I was just…" Akechi began.
"Ken, he was just explaining what a bastard was," Ren said quickly.
Ken's eyes widened at that. Ren winced, but continued with his explanation.
"Two gossiping women were staring and talking about Kaito, and he overheard 'bastard'. It's not Akechi's fault."
He may not be a fan of Akechi, but Ren had begrudgingly admit that it wasn't all Akechi's fault. He just screwed up with the explanation.
Ken slowly inhaled, before looking towards the little boy. "Kaito, are you okay?"
Kaito was quiet for a long time.
"Uncle Ken, should Mommy have never had us?" he said finally.
He jabbed a finger in Akechi's direction, even as his eyes began to water. Ren couldn't help but wince. See a little kid cry like that… it wasn't fun. But Ren couldn't think of what to say.
"He said… some people think a bastard is a mistake… and that a bastard's mommy is treated badly for having 'em…" he mumbled out.
"Kaito-kun…" Anne whispered, and Ren could see the way Anne's heart was breaking for the little boy.
He glanced over at Ryuji. He could tell that the innocent question hit hard for him with how his mom had to work doubly as hard after separating from his abusive father.
Ken didn't say a thing for several moments. He crouched down to Kaito's level.
"Look at me, Kaito," he said quietly, before beckoning Miyuki closer. "You too, Miyuki."
He waited for the little girl to join her twin, before speaking again. He reached out, stroking the top of Kaito's head for a moment.
"What does Yukari-san call you two?" he said.
"She always says we're our treasures…" Miyuki murmured.
"Because why?" Ken asked.
"'Cause Daddy died before she had us…" Kaito mumbled. "And she really, really loved Daddy… So much that she doesn't want to get married, if it's not to him."
"There's your answer," Ken said simply, giving them a gentle smile. "You two are the last gift Minato-san gave Yukari-san. You don't listen to the people who tell you that you weren't meant to be born. Or the people who think that Yukari-san is lesser for having you. They don't matter. They speak cruelly because they're so miserable that they like to make other people sad."
"That's stupid," Kaito said flatly. "Mommy didn't do anything to that mean lady and… and…"
His eyes began to fill with tears again, trickling down his chubby cheeks.
"She said that Mommy shouldn't have her job! She's so mean! Mommy didn't do anything to her! That's not okay!"
"Why would she be mean to Mommy…?" Miyuki whimpered, wringing her hands.
Well… some people are just spiteful, and become jealous when they see someone more fortunate. But Ren held his tongue. He didn't want to risk upsetting the kids further.
"Don't listen to them," Ken said softly.
He pulled out a handkerchief out of his pocket and gently wiped away the tears from their eyes.
Ken said firmly, "They don't matter. The people who do matter love you, don't they? They know the truth, right?"
They both nodded, slowly, before they hugged him tightly.
"You're quite fortunate, you know," Akechi said, looking down at the twins. "Your mother obviously adores you and you have quite a doting uncle…"
Though Ren couldn't help but notice that there was a… wistfulness to Akechi's voice. Ren raised an eyebrow. That was a little strange.
"I don't dote…" Ken's cheeks turned pink, before he stood up.
"It was cute, Ken," Anne giggled, to which Makoto nodded.
"You were pretty gentle with them, Ken," Yusuke chuckled. "It was quite heartwarming."
"And… I'd like to apologize too." Akechi knelt down to their level.
Miyuki frowned at him, but Akechi smiled apologetically. Despite her tense expression never wavering, Akechi pushed forward with his apology.
"I simply thought to explain people's mindsets. I didn't want to upset you…" He then smiled wryly. "I have a tendency to offend people."
Kaito looked at him up and down. "You should talk to people more then," he said flatly. "'stead of just talking on TV."
"I dunno why you don't like the Phantom Thieves either," Miyuki continued. "They're cool. Like real heroes!"
"All right, all right, enough." Ken sighed, shaking his head even as wry amusement filled his eyes. "Speaking of heroes, let's get you back to Yukari-san."
"But Kaito has a snack!" Miyuki huffed, pointing at her brother. "I want a snack!"
Ken turned and stared at Ren. "Why does Kaito have a snack, Ren-san?"
Ren rubbed the back of his neck. "He was still being grumpy with us."
"Kaito, share your snack with Miyuki," Ken decided. "That way, you'll both have an appetite and Shinjiro-san won't scold you both for ruining your appetite for dinner."
"Fineeee…" Kaito grumbled, before handing off his taiyaki to his twin sister.
Miyuki's expression lit up, before she took a big bite.
"Amada-kun, I'm really sorry—" Akechi began, as the twins began to bicker over how Miyuki was apparently hogging the treat now.
Ken just held up a hand to halt him.
"Stop apologizing, Akechi-san," Ken said wearily. "It was bound to happen sooner or later."
He looked down at the twins, before he let out a little sigh.
"I'll admit that I would've preferred it to be later, but I can't change things. What's done is done."
Yusuke cleared his throat. "Ken, you should probably get them back to their mother before she goes mad with worry."
Ken nodded. "Yeah, I will."
Then he placed one hand on each twin's shoulders, making them looking up at him.
"Say goodbye, Miyuki, Kaito," he said in a coaxing voice.
The twins looked at all of them, before chorusing, "Goodbye!"
"That's such a heartwarming sight…" Yusuke sighed as Ken took their hands and led them back to Yukari-san. "Alas, if only I had my sketchpad."
Akechi sighed, a sad smile on his lips.
"They truly are lucky… Amada-kun really does treat them like they're his family. If only I had been that fortunate…" he said wistfully.
…Wait a minute.
"Akechi?" Ren turned to him. "You don't mean…"
"Ah, I suppose the cat's out of the bag." Akechi shrugged, as it didn't bother him. "I'm a bastard child as well. My mother was in a relationship with a man… who just threw her away like yesterday's trash, after she discovered that she was pregnant. I was constantly reminded of my status growing up… and it only worsened after she died."
…Damn. He never would have expected that.
Makoto's eyes widened at that. "Akechi-kun… I had no idea."
"Ah, but isn't it karma?" Akechi smiled that overly saccharine smile of his.
Ren huffed. "Here we go," he thought sardonically to himself.
"The man threw me and my mother away like trash, but I've risen above expectations. I'm a celebrity now… He would have never expected that out of me."
Futaba bit her lip, watching Akechi. She was a bastard child too, wasn't she? He remembered Sojiro mentioning that Futaba's father was never in the picture. Ren couldn't help but wonder what kind of treatment she received, growing up…
Though he supposed that's why Akechi liked showing up on interviews, talking about his job. He'd rub it in his accuser's face if he had the upper hand.
"A lot of men can be dickheads," Ryuji muttered. "I feel ya, Akechi."
Makoto then narrowed her eyes at him. "Though I have to ask… why are you here, Akechi-kun?"
Akechi just raised his hands. "It's not what you think, Niijima-san."
"What would that be?" Makoto asked blandly.
"I have to admit, I am a fan of Feathermen. And one of Yukari Takeba's last appearances… I just wanted to get a glimpse of her. She really is a marvelous actress. Though I have to wonder where she learned all of those stunts…"
Really? Ren couldn't help but feel a little skeptical at that claim.
Ryuji seemed to agree, as he coughed into his hand. The cough sounded suspiciously close to "Bullshit!"
"She's just that cool." Futaba folded her arms over her chest, giving a little nod. "She's like an acting god."
Yusuke nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Not to mention, she is rather… down to earth. That's a trait that I found most celebrities lack."
"And she's super nice," Anne chimed in, before pressing a hand against her cheek. "I wonder if she has any advice about acting…"
"You really need it," Ryuji muttered.
He then yelped as Anne abruptly jabbed him in the side.
"Hey!" Ryuji looked towards him. "Ren, Anne jabbed me!"
"You totally asked for it," she spat out, glaring daggers at Ryuji.
Ren raised his hands. "I'm staying out of this, Ryuji. Sorry."
"Traitor!" Ryuji cried out. "Now you're smooching Anne, are you always gonna take her side now?!"
Ren shrugged. "No, I'm just being smart."
"No, you're being a traitor, man!"
"I'm seconding Ren being smart," Futaba voiced.
Yusuke blinked. "Is this the concept of 'hoes before bros'?"
"Dude, it's bros before hoes," Ryuji sighed out.
"Ryuji, what are you teaching Yusuke?!" Makoto snapped at him.
Ryuji flinched at that, now sweating bullets under Makoto's stern glare. "I uh… I plead the fifth?"
"I told you before, that's an American law!" Makoto practically growled at him, glaring daggers at him.
"Heh. You really are a lively group." Akechi looked between them. "And rather close, too. I must say, I somewhat… envy it."
"Jeez, Kaito's right." Ryuji shook his head. "Maybe you just need to talk to more people."
"Perhaps." Akechi glanced at Ren. "But we'll speak another time, yes?"
He then turned to leave.
"I'll see you again, some other time!" he called over his shoulder.
He was then gone, presumably to check out the Feathermen event. Ren just shook his head. Honestly… Akechi was a bit of a mystery still. Though he did feel like he understood the older boy a little better now…
"Hey, hey, Uncle Ken, have you met the Phantom Thieves?"
"I don't know, Kaito. Phantom Thieves have to keep their identities a secret."
"No fair, Uncle Ken! You should say yes or no!"
Despite it being a few hours since the incident, Yukari was still seething. How dare they talk about her children in that kind of way? They were both innocent.
And in a way, she was angry at Akechi too. He had planted the idea that she regretted having the twins in their heads. And she never would. Sometimes it was hard, looking at the twins. They resembled Minato so much… But they were the symbol that Minato loved her.
"Yukari-chan?" Fuuka's gentle voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
She pushed a mug filled with steaming tea towards Yukari. She smiled weakly at her friend. Fuuka was a firm believer in that tea helped soothe people. Shinjiro-senpai picked up on this habit, as well.
"I could use an actual drink," Yukari lamented, before she took a sip of the tea. "But thanks, Fuuka."
"Mommy?" It was Miyuki who had spoken.
"What's the matter?" she asked, looking to her daughter.
Now that Miyuki had her attention, she climbed into Yukari's lap. She was growing so big now… Soon she wouldn't be able to hold her or Kaito in her lap comfortably. Miyuki hugged her around the neck, before kissing her cheek.
"Love you," she said quietly, before looking up at her with eyes so much like Minato's. "Uncle Ken said that people like that mean lady don't matter."
Yukari smiled. "You're right, sweetie."
She kissed her on the top of her head, before running her fingers through Miyuki's silky hair. She felt a pang as she cuddled her daughter close. Miyuki was growing bigger and bigger every day.
"I love you, too," she said, swallowing down the lump in her throat.
She caught Fuuka looking at them, a wistful look in her eyes. What she wanted to know was when would Shinjiro-senpai finally propose. Akihiko-senpai had told Minako about Ken's gift to Shinjiro-senpai, and Minako had told her. Though Fuuka's hand was small. Maybe he was getting it resized.
"Um… Mommy?" Miyuki said slowly. "Auntie Fuuka says that two or three puppies need homes… Can we have one?"
"So that's what you were after?" Shinjiro-senpai said dryly.
"Wanted to hug Mommy before…" Miyuki mumbled, before she pouted.
Yukari sighed. "We'll see, sweetie. We won't be able to move back to Port Island until January or February. They may have found homes by then."
Miyuki's face fell. "That's so far away," she whined.
"Should play with the puppies while you can, then." Shinjiro-senpai nodded at the puppies romping together.
Miyuki grumbled, before slipping off of Yukari's lap and joining Kaito and Ken. Once she thought that Miyuki wouldn't hear her, Yukari let out a huge sigh, before rubbing her eyes.
"Yukari-chan, you shouldn't be so upset," Fuuka said gently.
She stepped around the table so she could give Yukari a quick hug.
"It would've happened sooner or later…" she said in a soothing voice.
"They're five!" Yukari hissed out.
She clenched her hand as anger flared inside of her. Fuuka looked at her silently, before reaching out to touch Yukari's balled up fist. She gently rubbed circles against the back of Yukari's hand. Slowly, Fuuka's ministrations drained the anger out of Yukari.
"They don't… They shouldn't have…"
She slumped in her seat, staring down at her tea. Her reflection stared back at her. She just… felt so uncertain. She could never regret having her twins. But doubt was welling up in her now. Had she made a mistake, in that she refused to start dating again?
"Have I… made a mistake?" she asked in a small voice. "Should I have tried dating again? They do deserve a father…"
Her eyes then drifted to her hand… more specifically the ring on it. Minato had left it amongst his belongings. It was supposed to be his White Day present to her. It wasn't the most flashy ring.
It was a simple thin silver band, with three rose quartzes carved into hearts. The band was carved to form smaller hearts in between the rose quartzes. She ran a finger over the ring, giving a little sigh.
"They do have one, Takeba," Shinjiro-senpai said sharply.
Yukari looked up at him in shock. Shinjiro-san rubbed the back of his neck, before sighing.
"Minato's dead, but he's still their dad. And you're doing a good enough job, juggling your job and raising 'em. Anyone tells you otherwise? Fuck. Them."
"Shinji's right, Yukari-chan." Fuuka reached out, laying a hand on Yukari's arm, giving her a kind smile. "The twins will grow up with stories about Minato-kun. They'll know what their father was like."
"Okay," Yukari whispered, before looking between the two of them.
Her heart gave a painful squeeze. Sometimes she missed Minato so much that it physically hurt. It was like when Minato had died, he had taken a part of her heart. She had things to live for, but she missed him so much…
She mumbled out, "Thanks. I guess I needed the reminder…"
She still missed Minato so much sometimes…
"It's no problem, Yukari-chan." Fuuka smiled warmly at her.
"But you met the Phantom Thieves today, yeah?" Shinjiro-senpai kept his voice low, keeping in mind that the twins might overhear.
"Mmhm." Yukari nodded. "They seemed friendly."
Even though watching Ren and Anne together made her a little sad. It was clear that Ren wasn't Minato. If anything, Ren reminded her more of Minako, with the way he seemed to enjoy teasing people. But still. She was a bit jealous of them…
"I'm more worried that they're a bad influence on Ken," Shinjiro-senpai grumbled.
"Oh, don't be such a worrywart." Yukari waved a hand. "Ken-kun's a smart kid. If anything, I think that he would be a good influence on them."
"You mentioned how they were starting to meet here, before they decided to target Futaba-chan, right?" Fuuka looked at Shinjiro-senpai.
"Yeah." Shinjiro-senpai nodded. "Won't be surprised if they move back here as their new hideout."
Fuuka just winced. "Do we… always have to talk about them?" she asked quietly. "Can't we talk about something else? At least for tonight…"
"Well—" Yukari began, only to be cut off by a yelp.
"She bit me!"
Ken just huffed out a laugh. "She's still a baby, Kaito. She doesn't know any better."
"She should," Kaito grumbled. "I bet I never did anything like that as a baby."
"Well, you would always try to yank on my hair…"
"I did not!" Kaito protested.
"Kid, we have pictures and videos that say otherwise," Shinjiro-senpai said dryly, before he stood up. "Oi, Ken, bandage Kaito up. Gotta get dinner started."
"Of course you say that now," Ken deadpanned.
Shinjiro-senpai just scowled. "You try cooking for them. They're picky as h…eck," Shinjiro-senpai changed at the last minute, as he caught sight of Yukari's glare.
"Not our fault veggies are yucky," Miyuki grumbled.
"'Sides, Uncle Junpei says it's good to have… um…" Kaito's face scrunched up, only for it to brighten. "High salads!"
"Standards, Kaito-kun," Fuuka corrected with a giggle. "Though I think Junpei-kun was talking about something else…"
"Whatcha mean, Auntie Fuuka?" Miyuki asked.
"Um…" Fuuka looked desperately at Yukari, but she just shrugged.
"You wanted to talk about something else, Fuuka," she pointed out.
Yukari couldn't help but giggle at the chagrined look on Fuuka's face.
"T-That's not what I meant!"
The twins playing with the puppies had worn them out completely, and they passed out not long after dinner. Shinjiro-senpai offered to help her back to the hotel, which Yukari gratefully accepted. It wasn't easy managing the two of them. But Ken had disappeared right after dinner for some reason… and she wanted to say goodbye.
But when she approached Ken's bedroom, she could hear: You want to what?!
That was… Mitsuru-senpai's voice. Yukari pushed open the door, making Ken jump. "So. What's going on?"
She kicked the door shut with her foot, before putting her hands on her hips.
"Um… well…" Ken stammered, very much looking like deer in headlights.
Mitsuru-senpai pursed her lips. She looked rather displeased. In fact, she had a similar expression to the expression she had when Akihiko-senpai wanted to get back to fighting before his ribs fully healed.
"Amada wishes to tell the Phantom Thieves the truth," she said stiffly.
"About what?" Yukari asked, tilting her head. "About us? About why Ken-kun's here?"
"Mitsuru-san, please," Ken pleaded, his bottom lip quivering ever so slightly. "I don't want there to be secrets anymore. It's not fair to everyone. They don't have bad intentions!"
Mitsuru-senpai narrowed her eyes at Ken's plea. "We're meant to be a secret organization, Amada. We cannot—"
"That's not fair! The Investigation Team knows about us!" Ken protested.
"Those were different circumstances and you know it!" Mitsuru-senpai retorte.d
"How?!" Ken cried, suddenly looking miserable. "Mitsuru-san, it's not right. I can't… I can't keep telling half-truths. It's been eating at me… It's starting to drive me crazy!"
Yukari couldn't help but gasp at that. How long has Ken been bottling this up? She glanced at the image of Mitsuru-senpai. Ken was distracted so he didn't see the shellshocked expression on the older woman's face.
"If I explained everything, maybe we could go after Shido. He wouldn't be able to threaten you anymore! And Futaba deserves the truth. Especially. It's not fair to her, for me to keep secrets about just who ordered her mother's death. Please!"
His voice cracked at the last part.
Mitsuru-senpai was wavering. Yukari could sense that. She just needed to give her a little push.
"Mitsuru-senpai," Yukari said softly, "Ken-kun is right. Secrets destroy trust."
She remembered all too vividly about how she felt about Mitsuru-senpai originally. A lot of problems could have been resolved if they had been open with each other. And judging by the look on Mitsuru-senpai's face… she was thinking about it too.
"And I met them today," Yukari continued. "I didn't talk to them too long, but they seem like good kids. I think you can trust them. Naoto-kun was investigating us, but you chose to put trust in her. And look at you guys, now."
Honestly, even to this day… she was unsure why they had trusted the Investigation Team so easily. They had every reason not to. The Investigation Team could've been mistrustful, after finding out about what exactly happened to Labrys. But… they didn't. And they were close friends to this day.
Mitsuru-senpai's shoulders slumped. "Do you truly believe that they can be trusted?"
"They've only gone after people that needed their hearts changed," Ken said. "They don't go changing hearts just because. It's not for attention…"
"You do understand that you'll have to explain the entire story to them, don't you?" Mitsuru-senpai pursed her lips. "In all honesty, I'm not sure if they'll trust us, Amada."
Yukari had to admit, Mitsuru-senpai did pose a good point. Yukari understood though—she had been slow to trust before as well.
Ken slowly took a deep breath, his hands suddenly twisted the bottom of his shirt.
"And you're saying that it'd be better to just hide everything from them? That won't get their trust either," he countered.
Mitsuru-senpai let out a weary sigh. "Very well, Amada. You have my permission to tell the Phantom Thieves everything."
Ken's face lit up. Yukari always found it a pity that Ken's childhood had shaped him in a way that he rarely smiled so openly. When he smiled… it made him look young, closer to his actual age.
God. Sometimes looking at Ken really made it hit home just how young they were during their incident. They were just kids. The Phantom Thieves were so young. They were so broken by the system that they forced themselves to step up and take action. The thought of that made Yukari's heart ache.
Wasn't the whole point of creating the Shadow Operatives was so that teenagers wouldn't have to step up like they had to? It just… It wasn't fair.
"Thank you, Mitsuru-san." Ken bowed his head. "I'm sure you won't regret it."
"Though, you could always request that Isshiki's daughter trace whoever requested me as a hit."
Mitsuru-senpai didn't exactly scowl, but she came pretty close with that deep frown. Yukari winced. She had heard from Minako how pleased Mitsuru-senpai had been about the Phan-Site request on Mitsuru-senpai.
"Honestly, if I ever get my hands on that fool…" she practically hissed out.
She almost felt sorry for the moron. Almost.
Mitsuru-senpai then sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. Then she forced a smile.
"Well… I'm afraid I must go. I have a mountain of paperwork to deal with…" Then she nodded at Yukari. "Good night, Yukari, Amada. Say hello to Miyuki and Kaito for me, as well."
Mitsuru waved a hand before she shut off the connection.
Ken then turned to Yukari. "Yukari-san… I…" He bowed his head, swallowing hard. "Thank you. I think your reminder of what happened in the past is what convinced Mitsuru-san."
"No problem, Ken-kun." Yukari smiled at him.
She then reached out, ruffling his hair. Ken swatted at her hand with an annoyed huff.
"You really do care about them, don't you?" she asked teasingly.
"I…" Ken blushed, before mumbling out, "I do…"
"Aw, Ken-kun, you don't have to be embarrassed." Yukari ruffled his hair again, making him glower for a moment. "I meant what I said about them, you know. They're good kids. They'll listen to you."
Ken slowly smiled. "Thanks, Yukari-san. I'll probably ask to do it the day after tomorrow…"
"Why not tomorrow?" Yukari raised an eyebrow at him.
Ken ran a hand through his hair.
"We're going to the beach tomorrow. The past week we've been working with Futaba so that she can handle going outside and being around people," he explained.
Yukari frowned. Just how traumatized had Futaba been…? Then again, she had been suicidal… She had heard from Shinjiro-senpai that Ken had just about worried himself sick about Futaba's wellbeing.
Yukari closed her eyes for a moment. The poor girl. While she had never fallen as low as Futaba, she couldn't help but think back to how miserable she had been when she had lost Minato. And losing her own father…
"Yukari-san?"
She snapped back to reality. Ken was staring at her in concern.
"Sorry, I just—I was thinking," Yukari said evasively. She then smiled at Ken, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Give her my best, okay?"
"I will," Ken promised.
Yukari then leaned in close, hugging him and then kissing him on the cheek. "I have to go now, though… I'm surprised Shinjiro-senpai isn't looking for me."
Ken just nodded before hugging her. "Okay. Hopefully we'll see you soon."
Yukari flashed him a smile as she drew back. "Maybe for Christmas. Minako will have had the baby by then too…"
She had to make arrangements so she could be there for birth. Minako had been a big support, when Yukari had been pregnant with the twins. She was determined to not miss the birth.
"Yeah… good night, Yukari-san," Ken said.
"Night, Ken-kun."
Okay, so I lied. The beach episode is going to be a standalone chapter. This chapter kept stretching longer and longer. Depending on how long the next chapter gets, summer vacation will be wrapped up in one or two more chapters.
I also redid the Justice rank 3 scene, since it's really shoehorned in the game. One thing I think the anime did right is how they changed the timing of Akechi's revelation and connecting it to Futaba's struggles. (That did have the downside of reducing the focus on Futaba and Sojiro, but we can't have everything.