Akira knew he had made a mistake the moment he entered back into his hometown.

The familiar roads and shops he passed by would normally put him at ease, but Akira felt himself becoming more tense the closer and closer he got to his home. Akira was sitting in the passenger side of the van, leaning up against the window, trying to focus on the landscape while relative chaos happened around him. All of his friends were currently in a passionate argument about if Ryuji cheated in their game of iSpy, (yes, that bored) while they drove Akira back to his hometown. Akira wanted to enjoy these last few moments with his friends, but he just couldn't shake this overwhelming feeling of dread.

I shouldn't have come back, he thought. Maybe I should ask them to turn around. He then quickly disregarded that thought, shaking his head.

"Hey man, you doing okay?" Makoto taps Akira's shoulder in a friendly manner, breaking Akira out of his mind.

"I'm fine." When she seemed unconvinced, Akira added on "It's just weird seeing this place again."

"Are you sure? You seem quiet." She gave him a look of concern.

"What are you talking about?" Ryuji butted in. "He's always like that!"

Akira simply shrugged, a smile on his face. He tried to shove down his oncoming dread. If not for him, then for the sake of his friends.

"Akirraaaa!" Futaba cried, hitting him on the head from the backseat. "When are we gonna see you again? You'll come back and visit soon, won't you?"

"I can probably come back for Golden Week." Akira responded.

"That's awesome!" Haru gushed. "That's not a long wait at all!"

After much debate on which direction to take, they finally pulled into Akira's driveway. This is it . Akira was struck with a strong feeling of finality. He didn't want to leave his seat. He wanted to stay with his friends. He clenched his fist, steadying himself. This is something I have to do. No matter how much I don't want to.

"So...should we come out and meet your parents?" Makoto asked, looking towards him.

Even just the thought of his friends and his parents interacting made alarm bells signal off in his head. "Definitely not," Akira said, a nervous smile covering his face. He grabbed his bag that he placed on the floor of the car and opened the passenger door. He looked back at his friends one last time, focusing on each of their faces. "This isn't goodbye. It's a...See you later."

"See ya later dude!"

"Good luck at your new school!"

"Be careful, okay?"

"See you later, Akira!"

"We'll be sure to stay in contact."

"I miss you already!"

Akira chuckled, and with one last breath, he got out of the car. He picked up his bags from the back, and after another round of goodbyes, they reluctantly drove away. Akira watched the van as it slowly disappeared down the long street, every single fiber of his being screaming at him to run back to the car. He took a deep breath, and turned around to face his parents house for the first time in a year.

"I'd thought they'd never leave!" Morgana exclaimed, popping his head outside of Akira's bag. Akira gave a small chuckle, but he felt a strange anxiety building in his stomach. He felt frozen there, standing on the sidewalk in front of his old childhood home. The place hadn't changed at all. In fact, he could still see the same scratch in the bottom corner of the door he accidentally created a few years ago.

"You...gonna head inside? Did we get the right house? I swear, we should've never have trusted Ryuji with directions-"

"No. It's the right house." Akira sighed, pushing his glasses up further onto his face. He took one last breath and then finally walked over to the house.

"Hey!" Akira heard his mom shout as soon as he walked in the door. "Kuri! He's home!" She rounded the corner of the entryway and gave him a strained smile. After an entire year, she had barely changed. Her dark hair was tucked in a neat bun, with a few stray strands of hair falling out of it, as always. She wore a relatively plain outfit, the only remarkable thing on her was a gold necklace she had around her neck. I don't think I've seen her wear that before, Akira thought. Must be new.

"I hope you're trip wasn't too stressful!" She came up to him and gave him a featherlight hug. "We've missed you so much!"

"Not that much." His father appeared behind her, his gaze piercing and cold. He hadn't changed much either, same dark hair, same plain face. He had a bit of a five o'clock shadow coming in, but otherwise he looked exactly the same as he did one year ago.

"Kuri! Don't say things like that!"

"What? It's true. We got on fine without him." Akira could feel the waves of disappointment radiating off of his father. He quickly looked down, his face hot.

"Oh, your father doesn't mean that." She brushed the comment aside, taking Akira's bag. "I'll go ahead and put this in your room."

His mother grabbed the bag forcefully, her pale fingers wrapped tightly around the fabric. The sudden grip caused Morgana to yelp in surprise from inside the bag. Both of Akira's parents froze, their eyes locked on the bag.

"What do you have in there?" His father demanded.

"I, well…" Akira gave a shaky exhale. "It's...a cat."

"A cat?!" His mother quickly opened the black bag, and sure enough, Morgana jumped out. He immediately retreated behind Akira's leg, trying to become as non-threatening as possible.

"No. No way." His father declared, staring down Morgana.

Akira bristled. "But-"

"No! I'm not letting you keep an animal here, Akira." His father turned his gaze to Akira, his arms crossed and expression full of disdain.

"I've taken care of it the whole year I was gone." Akira protested, "I promise, Morgana is really well behaved, he won't-"

"Yeah right. I'm not letting you keep it."

"Oh, but Kuri, I'm sure its not-" His mother tried to intervene.

"My house, my rules."

"But-"

"No buts! The cat isn't staying here. My decision is final." His father shut down his mother's response, and moved forward to take the cat outside. Akira took a defensive stance, protecting Morgana. His father gave him a fierce look. Akira took a deep breath and tried to channel a bit of Joker's commanding tone into his voice.

"He's staying. Or...I go."

There was a meaningful pause, full of tension. Eventually Akira's mother spoke up.

"Kuri dear, I'm sure it won't be that terrible. We can at least keep it for a week, and if it's truly that annoying, then we can do something about it."

There was a pause, and then. "Fine." His father turned around, and Akira felt himself relax a little. "You'll keep it for the week. You'll feed it and wash it and take it's shit outside. I don't wanna see any cat hair, either. If I have to do anything for it, it's back on the streets."

His father then vanished into the living room. His mother gave a sympathetic smile, shaking her head as if this was an ordinary occurrence. She leaned down, hand outstretched, and Morgana hesitantly came out from behind Akira to accept pets from her.

"Morgana, huh? Cute name." She rose and handed Akira back his bag. "Go on upstairs now, Akira. You know how your father is when he gets like this. He's just in a bad mood."

Akira grabbed his luggage and headed upstairs, relieved he got to keep Morgana. When reached the upstairs landing, he headed straight towards his old room, taking a look around. The house looked practically the same, with only a few new decorations here and there. One thing he noticed was that all of the photos that included him were replaced with photos of just his parents. Photos of their marriage, their honeymoon, their vacations. You wouldn't have known they had a kid at all. In fact, there was a newer photo hung on the wall Akira hadn't seen before. It was of both of his parents, smiling happily, standing next to a waterfront. You could see a green statue on the water in the distance behind them. Akira wasn't sure exactly where this picture was taken, but he knew he recognized the statue from somewhere. He sighed, and moved away from the photo. Did they go on vacation? He wondered.

Akira's room looked exactly as he had left it, except for the fact that it was covered in dust. His dark bed was neatly made, with a few faded posters advertising some outdated manga on his monotone gray walls. His desk was still cluttered, with knick-knacks and papers occupying every space. Even his lamp, which had been knocked over the night he left, was still lying on the ground, the blub partially cracked. My parents haven't set foot in here for a long time , he thought, scratching the back of his neck. It's like I died or something.

"Jeez, what a mess." Morgana quipped, leaping up onto Akira's desk. "I thought I would be out on the streets for a minute there! Thanks for sticking up for me, leader."

Akira smiled as he placed his bag onto his bed. "No problem." He began to unpack, laying his clothes and new trinkets from Tokyo onto his dusty bed.

"Are they always like that?" Morgana asked casually, but his gaze looked concerned.

"What do you mean?"

"Like...you know, strict."

Akira hesitated before responding. "It's just how it is."

He began to unpack, placing his clothes back into their respective drawers. As he did so, all his old clothes, the ones he hadn't bothered to bring with him to Tokyo, stared back up at him. One particular piece of clothing caught his eye. He pulled out an old graphic hoodie that he used to sleep in on cold nights, stroking the worn fabric. It advertised some manga he used to be obsessed with on the front, the picture faded from use. A strong feeling of Nostalgia overtook him, and he felt compelled to put the hoodie on. It was still fairly soft, even if it had one or two holes on the sleeves. For some reason, putting it on gave him an overwhelming sense of safety.

He sighed, sinking into the fabric. His house felt so different, yet also exactly the same. It was so weird, seeing his parents again after so long. He had almost forgotten what they looked like. Why didn't they call? Were they really just busy? Did they really care?

He heard footsteps from downstairs, and then heard his mother's voice. "Dinner will be ready soon, dear, so come down in a few minutes!"

The sudden noise shook him out of his thoughts. Akira nodded, and then realized she couldn't see him. "Alright." he called back. He then pulled out his phantom thief tapestry from his bag, looking it over before hanging it up on the wall in front of his old posters. He backed up and gazed at it, a small smile on his face.

Dinner was a tense affair. Akira's mother wasn't the best cook in the world, and normally Akira was used to her sub-par cooking. But after a year of Sojiro's delicious curry, he found himself missing the cafe even more than he already did. Akira's mother tried to start a conversation, but they never were a talkative family. His father's face was a stone, staring out into nothing while he ate mindlessly. He occasionally glanced at Akira, expression full of malice. Akira just looked down, focusing on his food and counting the minutes until dinner was over.

Akira also managed to sneak some food for Morgana to eat later. He would buy Morgana proper food tomorrow, as he couldn't just live off of scrapes. Akira still had plenty of money leftover from his odd jobs in Tokyo, so he didn't see money as being an issue.

Afterwards, Akira helped clean up, taking care of the dishes while his mother watched television in the other room . He always used to clean up after dinner, back when he lived here. It's like I never left . Akira thought, robotically going through the motions.

"Akira" His father spoke suddenly, causing Akira to startle and almost drop a cup. He looked over and saw his Dad leering over him at the kitchen entrance, his posture tense.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Just so we are clear, the only reason you are here now is because we don't make enough to keep you at Sojiro's. It was becoming a real financial sink keeping you there, you know. We had no choice but to bring you back here." Akira's face grew hot, looking down towards the water in shame. He had forgotten that Sojiro had been paid for taking care of him. I wonder how much they thought I was worth. He thought suddenly.

"I know you feel like a big hotshot, living in the big city where no one knows what you did. But you have no idea how your mistake hurt us. It's taken us a year to fix our family's reputation in this town, and I'll not have you squander that."

He took a step closer, placing his hand onto Akira's shoulder. It took every inch of Akira's willpower not to flinch away. "You're going to go to school, come straight home, and cause no trouble while you stay here. Is that clear?"

Akira nodded, quickly scrubbing the dishes to hide his trembling hands. His father took his hand off of his shoulder, turning away quickly.

"Good. The minute you disobey, you're out of here. You hear me?"

Akira nodded again, staring at the soapy water until he heard his father's footsteps fade away. Akira took a deep breath, mind racing. He knew his father was mad at him, but he didn't think he would be this furious. He had definitely gotten angrier in the time he was gone.

When he was done with the dishes, he went upstairs, flopping onto his bed. He checked his phone and saw that he already had a bunch of messages from his friends.

[Thief time babey!] group chat

(Ryuji): I ALREADY MISS U AKIRA

(Ryuji): U DICK

(Ann): He's going to be insufferable without you here, you know.

(Ryuji): EXCUSE U

(Yusuke): I agree with Ryuji. I am going to miss you greatly.

(Futaba): Hey! I'm gonna miss him more!

Akira chuckled, a sense of longing taking hold of him. He texts back quickly.

(Akira): Don't worry, I'll be back there in only a month.

(Futaba): ᕙ(`▿´)ᕗ

(Ann): I'll be counting down the days!

(Yusuke): Futaba how do you do that

(Futaba): What?

(Futaba): You mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ?

(Haru): ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

(Futaba): (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖)

(Haru): (✿◉‿◉)

(Makoto): STOP

His mother then entered his room, not bothering to knock, as usual. Akira looked up from his phone as she spoke. "Hey! I just wanted to tell you that you're starting school in two days, so you shouldn't sleep in too late tomorrow. Gotta get used to your new sleep schedule and all!"

Akira nodded from his position in bed, and went back to his phone. Futaba and Haru were now spamming the entire group chat with the emoticons, with Ryuji joining in. He smiled, and was about to respond with his own emoticon when he noticed his mother frowning at his tapestry. "The Phantom Thieves?" She inquired.

"Uh, yeah? What about them?"

His mother looked disappointed. "You shouldn't hold those people up on a pedestal Akira, they're... criminals ."

Akira put down his phone. "You think they're criminals?"

She nodded. "I don't like them at all. You need to take that down."

Morgana glared at the women from his spot on the desk, but said nothing. There was a tense silence. Akira cleared his throat. "It's my room, isn't it?"

"Yes, but it's my house, dear. I want it down by tomorrow." She gave a cheerful smile and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Akira sighed and tried to get comfortable in bed, an ache taking over his chest. Sure, she didn't know he was the phantom thief, but that didn't make her comments hurt any less. He lay there, staring at his powered off phone screen. He debated telling the group chat about how his Dad threatened to kick him out, but he didn't want to worry any of his friends. If it came down to it, he could rely on them in a pinch.

"Hellooo? Earth to Akira?"

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a certain cat, who had jumped onto the bed. He looked over, a questioning look on his face.

"You aren't gonna take down that tapestry, are you?" Morgana asked.

"You heard her, I got to."

"Really? You can't be serious."

Akira shrugged. "She'd probably just destroy it if I don't take it down myself." He paused for a yawn. "I'll take care of it tomorrow."

Morgana gave Akira a concerned look before sighing. "That's a shame." He quickly laid down on a spare pillow that had been placed on the bed, getting comfortable.

Akira placed his phone to charge and turned over, staring at the wall and praying that the month would go by as fast as possible. He already couldn't wait to see his friends again. He closed his eyes and dreamed of a certain cafe that felt more like a home.

welp. here we go again. I figured I would publish this BEFORE the Royal comes out. (yes I know it's technically already out but I DON'T READ SPOILERS so this may or may not be canon who knows)
-Just so you know, this fic is gonna get REAL SAD REAL QUICK so be please be safe and leave if it makes you uncomfy. I wont hold it against you, I promise.
-Also, I'm sticking with Akira. I'm not used to Ren yet. I never will be.
-I'm really sorry if the phantom theives seem OOC, they show up a bit later so hopefully I'll get better at writing them
-also the manga that was advertised on Akira's walls and his hoodie is 100% Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. You can pry this fact from my cold, dead hands.
-Title of the fic and the chapters are from the song Self Esteem by Andrew Jackson Jihad.