Chapter Text

Akira ended his call with a sense of smug satisfaction. Finally, his long hours of research had given him a solid lead. As Akira slipped his phone back into his pocket a small black cat leapt onto his bead and stared up at him, his head cocked curiously.



“We have a lead Morgana”, Akira said with a bit of excitement slipping into his voice. Morgana stretched out his front paws while swaying his tail back and forth.



“I’m surprised you have found so much information by yourself,” Morgana purred, his blue eyes lazily examining his friend’s face. “You know, once we left Tokyo I thought your days of being Joker were officially over,” Morgana drawled, “But you have that look in your eyes again.”



Akira smiled, he couldn’t help it. Ever since his life in Tokyo he could hardly sit still and while he wasn’t running through palaces anymore, he found himself acting more and more like ‘Joker’ every day.



“Well are you going to leave me guessing? Come on tell me what you found!” Morgana’s impatience became more evident as he began pacing around Akira’s bed. A habit he had formed since the Metavers’ destruction last Christmas. Poor guy probably felt cramped without Palaces or Mementos to explore.



Akira smiled before pulling out his phone again and opening the news article he had stumbled upon earlier this week. He laid it down in front of Morgana and watched as the energetic cat sped through it, using his tiny paw to scroll down the page. Once Morgana finished reading, he curled up into a ball before staring back up at Akira. He could see the cogs turning behind the sharp cat’s eyes.



“You don’t think that there may be others, do you?”



“Exactly!” Akira exclaimed. He had not meant to pump his fist like he did. Another left over mannerism from his Phantom Thief days he supposed. “If there are others like us then we may be able to find a way to turn you into a human.” Morgana raised a single paw in frustration.



“Uh you mean turn me BACK into a human… right?” Akira laughed as Morgana sneered at him. They both knew he had never been human, he had come from the Velvet room after all. For some reason however, Morgana refused to believe he was ever, in his words, ‘Just a cat’. He would lay awake at night and keep Akira up for hours, going on and on about what he must have looked like as a human. “Akira, when are you coming back! I miss you… I need you in my arms again if I’m ever going to survive this horrible school!” Morgana’s voice came out slightly higher than normal and his sneer had turned into a smug smile of satisfaction. Akira’s face turned beat red as he snatched his phone away from Morgana.



“Damn it Morgana…” Akira looked at his phone embarrassed. He had always been a calm and confident person. Emphasis on calm, but ever since he met Futaba Sakura, that had changed. Or at least it had when his life concerned her.



Akira - I’ll be coming next week for Summer break. I promise we will have a date or two. Just us.



Akira tried to hide his new complexion as he typed out his response to Futaba, but the damage was done. Morgana laying on his side, laughing hysterically at his own impression of Akira’s girlfriend. The little bastard had learned very early on in his relationship with Futaba, that he could knock Akira off balance just by bringing her up. They had tried to keep it a secret, but they had been careless one evening and Morgana had caught them sneaking out together.



Futaba – Yes! My key item will finally be in my inventory once more! Do you know how hard it is to complete any quests without your key item? Next to impossible. You better be planning on making it up to me.



Akira smiled at her response, especially because he knew exactly how he would make it up to her. He looked up at the currently panting cat and gave him a smirk. “So, Morgana. What do you think about going on a trip?” Morgana peered up at him again, a smile still playing across his feline face.



“You mean back to Tokyo? Of course I can’t wait to see the other Phantom Thieves and…” Morgana trailed off and looked away. Akira smiled as he saw his chance.



“Oh Lady Ann! How I have missed you, how do you like my new human body.” Akira flexed his arms and pushed out his lips to accentuate his point. Morgana shot straight up and growled.



“Do you want to fight!” Morgana yelled, his eyes squinting. Akira burst out laughing. Morgana had always been a little defensive, but Akira had discovered very early on in their time as Phantom Thieves that Morgana was smitten with Ann. Honestly, he had no idea how Ann didn’t know. It wasn’t like he was very subtle about it.



As Morgana laid back down sulking, Akira went back to his phone.



Akira – Actually I have an idea about that. What do you think about going on a trip together?



Futaba – Really!? Like just the two of us…



He didn’t have to be next to his girlfriend to know that her face had just gone completely red in the span of a few seconds. Futaba knew how to tease him, but the moment their relationship came up she quickly became tongue tied and would stammer halfhearted objections. It was adorable and he was almost sad that he had to ruin her new day dreams.



Akira – Haha I was thinking more the entire group.



Futaba – Oh! That makes sense. Well I would love to! We should message the others and see. Did you have a destination in mind?



Akira – Yeah I was thinking somewhere a bit more quite then Tokyo, we will talk about the details when I get back home next week.



He hadn’t realized what he had typed before he sent it. Home. He had to admit that Kyoto felt less like home with every passing day.



When Akira had been falsely accused of assaulting a man his parents were the only ones who stuck by him, but he knew even they weren’t entirely sure that he hadn’t done it. It was part of the reason why he had been shipped off to Tokyo. Granted the main reason was because Shujin was the only school that would accept him at the time, but still the lack of communication from his parents during that year was… telling to say the least.



Ever since his return to his hometown a growing sense of unease had slowly begun to take place in his heart. Many of his old friends were ignoring him, people would talk behind his back, and even his parents would give him sidelong glances when they thought he wasn’t looking. It was annoying, but luckily he had kept himself busy with his investigation. If Morgana hadn’t come with him, Akira would have lost his mind long ago.



Morgana’s loud yawn broke Akira’s train of thought and he looked down at the lounging cat. “Don’t you think it’s getting late? We should go to sleep soon.” Morgana lazily nuzzled Akira’s right leg as he repositioned himself. Akira rolled his eyes at his friend.



“You know just because you are tired that doesn’t mean I’m tired.” Akira let his right hand softly press against Morgana’s head as he absentmindedly began to scratch behind his ears. Morgana began to make a low purr as he slowly allowed himself to settle down in his current spot.



“You know I can’t fall asleep unless you are laying down too.” Morgana yawned loudly again to hammer home as much guilt as possible.



“Fine, fine. Let me get ready, I do have school tomorrow anyway.” Akira gave that cat one last scratch behind the ear before standing up. He quickly went about getting ready for bed. As he slipped into his pajama pants he heard his phone vibrate again.



Futaba – That’s cheating! Key Items don’t hide information they unlock it!



Akira – I have a hidden effect that you haven’t uncovered yet.



Futaba – What! How could I have never noticed before. You are way too powerful already!



Akira smiled at his phone, daydreaming about what he would do if she was here. He wanted to hold her against himself, gently kissing her lips and-



“Woah there… keep it together.” Akira shook his head as he tried to banish his thoughts from his mind.



Akira – I Miss you.



It wasn’t like him to get so sentimental, but his fingers moved before his brain realized what he was typing. He began to absent mindedly pull on his bangs, an old habit, as he frowned at his screen.



Futaba – Woah! My key item has gotten even stronger!



Futaba – I Miss you too. You know?



His heart skipped a beat upon reading those words. It wasn’t like he didn’t know they missed each other, but seeing the words spelled out in front of him felt… different somehow.



Akira – I should head to bead. The sooner I fall asleep the sooner I’m with you again.



Futaba – What! But you never told me where we are going! That’s cheating…



Akira – I guess you will have to just wait until I get there.



Akira could already imagine her face at reading his text. Her cheeks would be puffed up as she frowned indignantly at her text messages.



Akira – I’ll tell the others when I’ll be in town and we can all meet up at Leblanc. I love you Futaba.



Futaba – No fair making me miss you like that! You know I can’t keep pushing you when my heart is beating like this… I love you Akira. Sleep Well.



Akira smiled as he plugged in his phone next to his bead. Morgana Had already curled up next to his pillow and was patiently waiting for Akira to turn off the lights. Akira smiled as he flipped off the light and slowly made his way over to his bead. He pulled his covers up and picked up his phone one more time. He opened his browser to a previously read article.



“Other Persona users huh?” Akira whispered into the darkness as he re-read the old article, “Mysterious Murders in Inaba”.