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This summer, Sumire Yoshizawa could finally stay home in Tokyo rather than going overseas for a tournament. She missed all her friends, especially since Akira only came to visit during the summer now! He’s studying diligently in a college over in London, Sumire had heard from Makoto, so he’s never had the time to come home to Japan when the school year began. And she missed him! Even though she’s gotten pretty good at keeping her ground in Shujin now, every now and then, she would think about the days she spent with her friends and become… well, just depressed! That’s just natural, right? She hadn’t seen her best friends, Akira and Akechi, in almost half a year.
Anxiously, Sumire waited at a table in Leblanc. Over the years, she’s become close with Sojiro with how many times she’s come by Yogen-Jaya for a cup of coffee and anger to blow off at the batting cages. He’s heard her complain about school day after day, both about school and gymnastics. At this point, Sumire wondered whether or not Sojiro even listened to her whining anymore. He always served her with a smile, but… She’s come in so many times! Sumire rested her head on the table, letting out a long sigh.
“It’s sooo hot,” she moaned to no one but herself, her sweat making her red hair sticky on her forehead, “Why are they so late…”
“The kid’s never had a good track record,” Sojiro comments from behind the counter with a shrug, “Cut him some slack, will ya?”
Sumire lifted her head to look at the Boss, a bit of a pout in her expression. “I’ve been waiting for them forever! It’s like, thirty minutes past when they said they would come!”
Usually, Sumire wasn’t this informal, but, Sojiro was like a second father to her at this point. He was always kind to all of the Phantom Thieves, much to Akechi’s surprise. She begrudgingly took a sip of her coffee, eyes trained on the entrance of the cafe. Nowadays, LeBlanc was pretty… slow, save for the regulars. She was pretty sure that most customers only came when Akira was working; she remembered rumors circulating around Shujin last year about the famous delinquent transfer student working part-time at a back-alley shop. His smooth and flirty personality only made those rumors worse.
“Heyyyy, sorry we’re late, Sumi, Boss,” the bell jingled as the door opened, and Sumire sat up in her seat, eyes sparkling. Rubbing the back of his neck apologetically, there stood Akira in his plain white shirt with a lopsided grin. Behind him, Akechi waved at Sojiro politely. “Umm… Train was late?”
“Liar!” Sumire pointed an accusing finger at her former Senpai, a frown on her face, “You know trains are never late. What’s your excuse this time, Akira?!”
Akira chuckled as he took a seat in the booth across from Sumire, Akechi sliding in next to him silently. “Would you believe me if I said we were in the Metaverse?”
“You’re exhausting.”
Both Sumire and Akechi simultaneously said in response, which caused Sumire to giggle.
“It’s this idiot’s fault,” Akechi jabbed a thumb in Akira’s direction, who innocently put his hands up with a grin, “He wanted to go play a round of pool before we came.”
“I only asked for one round,” Akira pointed out smugly, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair, “Goro insisted on playing until he won.”
“I did not.”
“It took him like, five rounds, until he beat me.”
“Shut it, Kurusu.”
“Waaaah, you’re soooo mean to me, Goro!!!”
Sumire couldn’t help but laugh as she watched her friends bicker. She missed this! She loved all her friends dearly, of course, but spending time with just Akira and Akechi gave her a sense of nostalgia that she really couldn’t get otherwise. Sumire had chalked it up to the amount of time they had spent together in January of her first year— She had really gotten to know the real Akechi, and she had opened up to Akira wayy too much. There were countless times where the three of them would just go to Mementos together and just… talk! Talk and kill shadows! It was a time she would never forget, and she cherished those memories.
“Oh, by the way, Senp- Akira,” Sumire stared at him as she took a menacing sip of her coffee. She was still getting used to not calling him Senpai, since he graduated from Shujin last year… recently, Futaba had made fun of her speech habits (in good fun), so the two of them made it their goal to help Sumire loosen up a bit. “What happened last summer?”
“I’ve been wondering that too,” Akechi nods in agreement, his gaze harsh on Akira, “What the hell happened?”
Immediately, Akira looks over at Sojiro, a pleading look in his eyes. “Help me out here, Boss?”
Sojiro shook his head, a smug smile on his face. “Gotta tell ‘em, kiddo, they’re your teammates too.”
“Eeeehh…” Akira groans, sinking down in his seat, “It was all over the news, don’t you two already know?”
“Mm, vaguely,” the Ace Detective laughs dryly, a hint of anger in his voice. Sumire watched his expression carefully, holding back a laugh as she watched Akechi put on his ‘princely’ persona to poorly mask his rage, “But I’d much rather hear the details from my beloved boyfriend. Please, do tell us exactly what you left us out of.”
“I-I-In my defense, Sumi was overseas and .. Uh, we thought you were dead?” Akira quickly says, stumbling over his wording for the first time in forever. Sumire felt as though she was watching Akechi hold a knife to Akira’s throat. Admittedly, it was a bit entertaining.
“Did you even try to look for me?”
“…N-No. We had to leave immediately! It was right away! A national emergency!!”
“There you have it,” Akechi crosses his arms, “You’re purposefully leaving us out of stuff. Come on, Yoshizawa-san, let’s ditch him.”
“As much as I’d love to,” Sumire responded with that same overdose of fake polite that Akechi was using, trying her best to keep herself from laughing, “I think we should stay so Boss doesn’t go out of business.”
“Hey, I heard that,” Sojiro grumbles, approaching the trio with two cups of coffee for Akira and Akechi, “You’re making me want to charge you guys for your drinks.”
“Make Kurusu pay for it with extra hours this summer?” Akechi suggests, much to Akira’s dismay, “I think he deserves it after leaving us out of this world-saving Phantom Thief roadtrip he had.”
“You guys literally told me that you didn’t want to me Phantom Thieves!” Akira exclaims, his voice going up a few ticks in volume, slamming his hands on the table. Sumire wondered if they were teasing him too much, but… Akira was always a bit overdramatic, it’s hard to tell when he genuinely feels hurt or not, “It was official Phantom Thief business, and since you two didn’t want to join, we didn’t really think we needed to bother you..! And, like I said, Sumi was overseas and we were like, ninety percent sure Goro was dead!”
Sumire lets out a long sigh, not dropping her act. Well, it’s not entirely an act. She is jealous that she couldn’t go on this life changing, world saving road trip that Futaba kept telling her about throughout the school year; she really wished she was around when it happened, but she did catch a bit of the news online. “Fine, just this once, I’ll let you off nicely.”
Akechi is still glaring at Akira, drinking his coffee slowly. He grumbles, “Jury’s still out.”
“Okay, how about this, umm,” Akira runs a hand through his fluffy black hair, seeming to still be worried over Akechi’s wellbeing. “I promise to take you guys on a road trip next summer! We can go with everyone! To celebrate Futaba and Sumire’s graduation!”
“Really?!” Sumire gasps, her calm and collected “serious” mode immediately turning off at Akira’s suggestion. “That would be so fun! Right, Akechi-san? I’d love to spend so much more time with everyone, there’s still so much I want to ask Takamaki-san about fashion and…”
She trails off, suddenly remembering that she’s supposed to be in character. Feeling her face become red hot with embarrassment, Sumire clears her throat. “I-I mean. Um. Maybe. I’ll give it some thought.”
Akira bursts out laughing at that, and Akechi can’t help but break into a small grin as well. Despite her embarrassment, Sumire feels beyond happy to be with her friends. She can’t stop herself from grinning, and, she too, began to giggle alongside Akira.
“It’s a promise, okay?” Akira says after his laughing fit pretty much is over, giving the two of them a lopsided grin.
“Promise,” Sumire nods, and turns to Akechi, expectantly awaiting his answer. He stubbornly looks away, drinking his coffee absentmindedly before Akira scoots closer to him, that shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Sumire has to hold back another onslaught of giggles as she watches Akechi’s ears and face turn red.
“Proomiiseeee?” Akira prompts, giving Akechi his best teary-eyed look.
Akechi refuses to look at them, and his voice comes out quiet, barely audible.
“Yeah. Promise.”