Chapter Text
As expected, Akira has slipped downstairs after feeding Morgana - to breakfast and stacks of books at the table. "Good morning, Mom."
"Eat your breakfast and then get started. If you thought this break was going to be used for friends and fun, you were wrong."
"Yes, Mom." You'd think she'd know I ended the year top of my class.
The silence, normally welcoming after a long day prior was almost eerie. Akira is restless, the bouncing of his leg against the underside of the table catching a withering look from his mother more than once. Morgana went off a while ago to explore the rest of the house and the surrounding neighborhood. The company would be nice.
"You finished that quickly. Hand it over."
He passes the workbook along, waiting for his mother to finish checking the calculations, looking anywhere but directly at her. "Fine. Keep going, onto the next one."
Three days in is where the first fight starts. Akira has already gotten tired of the monotony of sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by things he already knows. Does she not trust what Shujin told her?
"Why aren't you working? That pencil should be moving, Akira."
"I don't see much of a point," Fingers tighten around dark curls in frustration as his hands slip into his hair. "I learned all of this last year."
He knows he screwed up when he sees her face scrunch. "With what time? You seemed to think being a vigilante was more important!"
"I spent just as much time on my schoolwork as I did on the rest of my life!" Akira doesn't realize he shouted back until he notices he's standing, palms flat against the wooden surface.
"...How dare you? Akira get out! Out of my face, now! Yelling at your mother, the audacity!"
He ducks around the corner right as one of her flats sails past his head, rushing up the stairs and behind the tender safety of his door. "Morgana! Where are you?"
When the feline slips out from underneath the bed, Akira scoops him up, curling up on the far corner of the bed against the wall like a tightened spring. "Whoa, Akira! What happened?"
"Got in an argument." He mumbles, pressing his face into dark fur.
As the cat starts to purr, he slowly lets his body unwind. Why couldn't I just stay?
The room fades to black as the day continues, Akira doesn't move from that spot. When he opens his eyes again, his vision is blurry, it takes too long to adjust and blink the weariness from his eyes. The clock says it's nearly ten - did I really not move for that long?
He stretches, tight muscles and joints screaming with the effort. Time to find something to eat, I guess. Akira sets Morgana down on the pillow, opening the window to his room. The idea of avoiding the kitchen altogether this late is too tempting, and the drop from his window is nothing to what he'd done within the Metaverse in the last year. The only difference is - the injuries remain.
The soft thud as sneakers hit the concrete is noticed by no one, and Akira begins the trek to the only late-night convenience store in town. Morgana will be fine for an hour. If that. Once he arrives, he picks out enough dry food to last him a couple of days, and a treat for his companion after the day's events.
Akira hurries a little on the way back, returning to his room via the window rather than taking a chance with either door on the first floor. Morgana's expression, more concerned than disappointed, is there to greet him. "Akira, why not just -"
"Can't. Too much of a risk. Don't want to wake them up." A whisper, and he quietly digs into the meal he bought, giving the dried fish snack he picked up to Morgana. I'm not allowed to wake them up.
The cat's face scrunches up, lit only by the streetlights outside. "I don't like this."
A nod, before Akira swallows. "I don't either."
"Aren't they supposed to…?"
"Can we..talk about this later? Maybe when I'm not eating?"
He knows without checking that Morgana isn't happy about it. The dark-haired boy still hasn't spoken with Ryuji. Or Ann. Maybe he should. They were always good at helping him keep a level head, even if they didn't know it.
On the fourth ring turned all the way down, he hears Ryuji's voice through the receiver. "Hey, man, it's late. What's goin' on?"
"Just needed someone to talk to. It's…been a rough night." He shifts on the bed, one hand gently petting Morgana as he presses up against Akira's side.
"You're so quiet. Hard to hear ya. Anyway, what'dya need to tell me?"
The former thief's voice cracks with the effort to speak. "...I don't want to be here, Ryuji."
"You've only been there a few days, right? Maybe you're just taking some time to adjust to the country again, ya know?" There's some rustling on the other end - Ryuji's probably getting comfortable too.
His eyes start to sting as tears slip to the corners. "It's so much worse than that. If it was that, I could at least go outside during the day."
"...What the f*ck, man? Why are you all locked up inside?"
A deep sigh leaves Akira's lips. "So..you know how I was arrested again, right? They had to tell my parents."
Suddenly Ryuji's voice sounds clearer, more alert. "They know you were a Phantom Thief!?"
"And they're not happy about it - sh*t, I think that's my mom. I'll call later, goodnight." Akira hangs up after he hears footsteps, looking around the room for anything displaced and curling up, eyes closed.
It takes everything in him to keep his breathing steady as the door opens, and he falls asleep like that, body still tight.
I really wish that I was back home…Leblanc…
Ryuji, for his part, was not going to take that news lying down. In a separate group chat from their usual Thief discussions, he gathers their friends. He relays concern for Akira, noting both how he sounded close to tears and how his home life is not what they anticipated it would be.
To himself, once they're done discussing the situation and have all gone back to bed, he mutters to the night air. "It's time for us to do something for our leader, for once."
