All His Masks: A Persona 5 Fanfiction

Chapter Four

        The bright, inviting sound of Leblanc's door chime rang as Makoto and Haru walked into the empty coffee shop together. The rest of the group had stayed near the cafe in a nearby alley, awaiting any information that the pair would bring back. That is, if they succeeded in actually acquiring it.
        "I'll be with you in a moment." Sojiro turned from the sink wiped his hands on the front of his dark apron. "Ah, it's you ladies. Can I get you anything, or are you just planning on hanging around?"
        Makoto looked around the room for a moment before responding. "Well, is Akira here?"
        Sojiro threw a quick glance in the direction of the stairs and sighed as he crossed his arms. "So you want to talk to him, huh? I'm not sure you'd be able to. He's been mostly despondent since..." He made a quick motion with his hand instead of speaking the words. It was clear what he was referring to, though; the interrogation.
        Haru shook her head with a polite smile plastered on her face. "We had means to speak to you about Akira, actually. We've been a bit worried about him, and we thought that you could possibly tell us about his current state?" Her voice was slightly hushed, since she didn't want Akira to hear their conversation, if he was, in fact, upstairs and could hear them.

         Sojiro stepped up towards the counter and leaned against it, resting his arms against the surface. "I see. I don't know much, even with my prodding. He hasn't talked to me much, either." He paused, as if he were deciding what to say and what to not. "And, even with what I do have, I don't know if he'd want me to tell you."
        Makoto furrowed her brow and bit the inside of her cheek as she took that information in. "What do you mean by him not wanting you to tell us? Does he not want to worry us?" 
        "I assure you that we would be less worried if we knew how he was doing," Haru interjected.
        "I assumed it was something like him not wanting to worry you."
        "Assumed? Past tense?"
        Sojiro sighed quietly, now leaning forward slightly. "Yup, past tense. I suppose I shouldn't keep it from you all, even if he wants me to." He motioned towards the stairs with his head before he continued. "The kid has this whole plan that he's told me about. It's pretty crazy, but the main thing is that he's going to drop out of Shujin and leave Tokyo."
        The pair of girls stared at him in disbelief. Why would Akira want to drop out and leave? And why wouldn't he tell them anything?
        "Why would he even think of doing that?" Makoto whispered, more to herself than as a question to Sojiro. Akira seemed like he had enjoyed being at school, even with his circumstances and the rumors that surrounded him. 
        "Whatever reason it is, I'm not sure either. He hasn't told me much of anything other than that. I do know that he wants to leave in about three weeks."

        Makoto and Haru exchanged a quick glance at each other as they processed all they had been told. Makoto, who was now looking down at the ground, pondering why Akira was planning on simply leaving Tokyo, spoke again. "Aside from that... how is he doing in general? You said he was despondent; does he not ever leave Leblanc?" 
        Sojiro shook his head. "He hardly ever leaves. When he does, he doesn't tell me anything other than 'I'm heading out.'"
        They wanted to ask a few more questions that could possibly help them with their exploration of his palace or just out of curiosity and worry, but Sojiro cut them off. "I'm sorry ladies, but I need to start closing up shop. I know you guys don't want him to transfer, so I can try to stop him, but there's no promises."
        "Oh, alright. Well, have a good evening, Sakura-san." Haru and Makoto politely said goodbye and left the dim lights of the cozy cafe and stepped out into the cold December air. They turned the corner and met with the rest of the group. Ryuji, who was leaning against the wall of a run-down shop, shot forward when the girls came into view.
        "Hey, how'd it go?"
        They got closer until they were back with the group, and Makoto announced what was told.
        "Akira's planning on dropping out of Shujin and leaving Tokyo altogether."