NG++

[afailedmurder]

[After what was probably a very long first day of school, Akira returns home to find a pleasant boy enjoying a nice too-late-in-the-day coffee at Leblanc.]

Ah, there you are. I was just telling Boss about how we met on the train.

Comments

[criminaljustice]

[dead-eye staring is so appropriate, considering.

but he manages to shrug in that nonchalant manner he's familiar with.]

Tokyo trains are really as crowded as they are rumored to be.

[tmw u really want to make ur own cup of coffee but also Boss doesn't trust u with that yet...]

[afailedmurder]

[chuckles]

That's one part of Tokyo that certainly lives up to expectation. How was your first day at school?

[criminaljustice]

Could have gone better.

[he still missed like. most of the day and is gonna get scolded by Boss when there aren't customers, so. y'know.]

Rumors and all that.

[afailedmurder]

I'm sorry to hear that. People can be cruel. High schoolers in particular. They often do things they don't really mean.

[sets down his cup]

I should probably be going so you can settle in for the night. We can talk later.

[obnoxious winking. he's definitely coming right back as soon as Sojiro is gone]

Pancakes...

[criminaljustice]

[so when you make deals to treat so-called ace detectives to pancakes if they promise not to try to fuck up a person beyond stealing their heart and getting them to confess to crimes they committed with their distorted desires... you definitely 100% take them out for pancakes.

... there are so many pancakes on this menu.

what did he get himself into?]

[afailedmurder]

[Akechi is unnecessarily dressed up for this occasion. To be fair, he's always unnecessarily dressed up, but it still feels worth noting. He skims through the menu as if he's not just gonna order whatever is the most popular.]

There are so many tasty-looking things to choose from, I can barely decide. Perhaps I'll just get the special.

[criminaljustice]

[Akira is just wearing his school uniform.

... yeah.

but that is so much sweets

he'll definitely need black coffee with this.]

Whatever's fine. I can afford it.

[someone's been working overtime on making sure team's gonna have their gear. so.]

MEMENTOS

[afailedmurder]

[You're walking in Mementos. There's no one around and you're low on SP. Then out of the corner of your eye you spot him... SHIA LEBEOUF.]

[actually no it's THE BLACK MASK, and even though said mask is completely closed at the moment, you can probably make an educated guess as to who's behind it...]

[criminaljustice]

[HE STILL ALMOST PUTS A KNIFE TO THE FIGURE BECAUSE MAN HE HAS BEEN JUMPED WAY TOO MUCH ON THIS LEVEL.]

[afailedmurder]

[that's fine, he's not offended]

[he offers a canned coffee and a slice of strawberry shortcake from a convenience store]

The art gallery

[afailedmurder]

[Akechi shows up on the first day of the exhibit and takes some time to check out the art. Knowing what he does now, he makes a little game of idly trying to group together which paintings were drawn by the same person. He stops on one of Kitagawa's (his being the easiest to identify due to the dates) and takes it in. He knows one is supposed to feel something when they look at art. He is trying to figure out what the correct answer is.]

[wantsnudes]

[Yusuke had been expected to help out on the first day of the exhibit, and when he wasn't being toted as an example of Madarame's status as a respected teacher and benevolent caregiver, he was otherwise expected to keep his head down and his mouth shut. The sight of anyone taking a particular interest in his own paintings makes him anxious, though, and so he drifts over when he notices a teenager looking at one of his abstract landscape pieces.]

If you have any questions about Sensei's works, I would be happy to answer.

[afailedmurder]

[Turns to him with a small smile.]

I don't know if I have any specific questions. To be honest, I'm rather lost on the whole when it comes to art. But I do feel as if there's something interesting about this piece. Do you have any commentary on it?

Rando Day At Leblanc

[criminaljustice]

[so things have been progressing as normal--for this new timeline, anyway--and Akira is helping out the shop on his day off. it's a good thing, too, because he severely needs to stash away curry for himself and the gang since he's pulling double and even triple time in Mementos even without the team and sometimes with a Certain Pleasant Boy.

Morgana probably decided he wanted to take a nap somewhere sunny and warm before the rains come, so he's currently sans customers and making coffee to keep himself awake while curry cooks. nbd.]

[wantsnudes]

[This timeline reset thing is both inconvenient and oddly convenient for Yusuke, because even though they're right off the back of stealing Madarame's heart, he's mostly gotten over the artist's block he had before. And while there are paintings that are now gone forever that he'd been working on, it at least means he can draw and paint straight away, with his fresh ideas still intact... which is why he shows up at Leblanc, parks himself in his favourite spot in the booth by the Sayuri, and nods to Akira.]

Hello, Akira. Please don't let me disturb your work-- I'm simply here to draw.

[...You know, because Akira is so busy with all those other nonexistent customers.]

[criminaljustice]

[soooo busy.

but the return to a familiar that he remembers that hasn't been the familiar in a while has Akira smiling in spite of possible boredom and tired.

he leans against the bar, propping his chin up with a hand.]

Anything specific in mind?

It's good to go grind during flu season...

[afailedmurder]

[Unless you also have the flu, which Joker certainly seems to. It is not long at all before Akechi declares him useless, drags him into a taxi, and shoves him into bed. After that he disappears for a bit, but you're not so lucky as to be free from him, as he returns shortly with some bottled drinks, instant soup, and medicine.]

You're paying me back for all of this.

[wantsnudes]

[Yusuke may not have known about the Metaverse misadventure, but he had known Akira was sick and planned to check up on him after school. Sojiro was always busy, after all, and Morgana was... well, a cat, and not that great at healing ailments outside of the Metaverse, leaving Akira to fend for himself. So he shows up to Leblanc, and he can't help but feel exasperated when Sojiro tells him that detective kid had already beaten him to the punch.

Pushing down his anger for Akira's sake, he heads up to the attic, announcing his arrival:]

Akira? I'm coming up.

[afailedmurder]

[Akechi thinks maybe can climb out the window and Kitagawa will never know?? No, that's stupid. Shove the stuff he bought under the bed so he doesn't see it? That is also stupid. No course of action seems good, so by the time Yusuke has reached the top of the stairs, he's just sort of awkwardly standing there.]

...Ah. Hello.

BIRTHDAY BOY

[afailedmurder]

[What is Akechi doing for his birthday? Having a coffee alone at Leblanc, obviously.]

[criminaljustice]

[... is this really how you birthday?

actually, probably doesn't even know it's his birthday and thus it's just another day with Akechi at the coffee shop.

have ur usual, loser.]

[afailedmurder]

Thank you.

[sets it down to cool off]

I won't take up much of your time today. I'm going to treat myself to some cake in a bit.

[wantsnudes]

[Yusuke isn't usually inclined to Mementos forays on his own, but today his artist sensibilities have called to him, and so he's carted along a sketchbook and brush along with him to see what inspiration the surroundings might bring. He's sticking purely to the upper levels where the Shadows are weaker, and has an emergency Goho-M if things happen to go awry, but...

What's the worst that can happen when drawing, right?]

[afailedmurder]

[Totally, it's not like you'd run into some crazy asshole in here. Unless he spent too much money on fancy gift boxes from fancy bakeries to impress everybody at the police station and now needs to grind in Mementos.

Anyway don't mind the black masked horror who dashes in and screeches to a sudden halt, lightsaber in hand, almost falling over from the momentum of forcibly stopping himself from not slashing the unexpected art boy.]

[wantsnudes]

[Yusuke is so engrossed in his drawing he doesn't even notice until the figure has skidded right up to him. When it becomes clear it isn't about to attack him he looks up with mild surprise. Then:]

... Fascinating.

[And he just carries on drawing, adding the masked figure to his sketch, like this is just another docile underlevelled Shadow that is too scared to attack.]