Marionette(My Strings Are Titanium, You Cannot Cut Them)

Despite how early and alert he was, Akira didn't see Goro at the station. He didn't give up hope either way, but unfortunately his attention was forced elsewhere. The group called Medjed, which was unfortunately planning to declare war on the Phantom Thieves. Once again, things seemed to be happening all at once. Not only that, the firework festival was that night. Akira wasn't sure he'd be able to enjoy it, honestly.

Akira stayed quiet, he always tended to. Through school, as they waited for the girls, he barely paid attention as a couple of women hit on Yusuke. 

Hell, even as they got rained on, all Akira could think about was how Goro would complain about it, yet still wear that plastic smile. Even with the weather, he probably would've had a lot of fun. Maybe Goro would even hit it off with some of the others. Not Ryuji, probably, but he'd bet Goro and Yusuke would get along well.

Akira's focus was deviated somewhat upon arriving home, to see a semi-familiar woman with silver hair at the bar and Sojiro looking angry. She seemed to be threatening him. Was Sojiro in trouble, too? What if he ended up not being able to stay in the man's custody? Would he lose everyone all over again?

"What's wrong?" Akira asked, adjusting his bag on his shoulder after she left.

"It's nothing." Sojiro frowned. "Seems like I should be the one asking that. You doing okay, kid?"

With a shrug, Akira averted his gaze. "Yeah. I'm just a little disappointed the festival got rained out."

Crossing his arms, his guardian shook his head. "I'm not buying it, kid. But if you don't want to talk about it, I won't make you. How about some coffee to warm you up, huh?"

"That sounds great." Akira relented, setting the Mona-Bag on a stool before sitting on the one beside it.

They were all quiet as the man prepared coffee and set it in front of him. As Akira traced his finger absent-mindedly along the rim, Morgana meowed.

"You should rely on people a little more." The not-cat reminded him, and he sighed.

"Yeah." Akira chewed on his lip as he debated internally. "Boss, I..." He sighed. It caught his attention, and he nodded at Akira to continue. "I'm not going to have to leave, right?" It sounded to stupid saying it, why did it even matter? He couldn't fix the system, just a few people here and there.

Sojiro smiled reassuringly and ruffled his hair. "No, you're not going to have to leave. Thing are going to be fine, alright? It's nothing you need to concern yourself with."

Akira nodded, squeezing his eyes closed. "I don't want to get sent away again." He admitted. Gods, he'd been bottling things up for too long. He thought he'd crashed hard yesterday, but here he was, falling apart once again.

"Kid..." Sojiro shook his head. "I'd never let that happen, got it? It's my job to look after you this year, and that's what I'm going to do."

He heard a drip against the surface of his coffee, and Akira rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. "I don't want to go back to Inaba. You care about me more than my parents ever have."

"Look, there's nothing I can do about that, but you'll always be welcome here." Sojiro promised him.

It was months away, but Akira was dreading leaving Tokyo. Yeah, there were people in Inaba who were nice to him. Between being convicted of assault and being shipped off to a stranger in Tokyo, he used to hide out at the Junes near where he lived. There was an employee there several years older than him who'd always been pretty nice, same with his friends. They were some of the only people who didn't buy into his charges. Still, Tokyo was his home.