All His Masks: A Persona 5 Fanfiction

Chapter Six

  (A/N: I wanted to try something new this chapter, I hope you guys like it!)
        None of them needed to know that Akira wasn't the person he pretended to be, or all of the things he kept from them. Akira didn't care if he didn't know who he was. That was important, because he wanted everything to stay how it needed to be for all of them. It was fixed now, and they didn't even need his help anymore, so what was the big deal about him leaving? He didn't want to go back to where they all had to deal with those problems, even if it took him leaving Tokyo and the team.They didn't need him.
        His room was cleaner than usual, since he had nothing to do. But he didn't want to leave his room; he stayed there so people didn't have to see him acting in a different way than they were used to. For some strange reason, he was starting to struggle with acting the way that was normal for the others. He knew that they had noticed, and he didn't want them to pity him. He had already had enough pity parties of his own, both for himself and for everyone else. If he disappeared without them knowing, it'd be easier for them, right?
        He finally ended his daily session of staring at the wall and stood up from his bed. Even though he was leaving, he had to keep up his normal life at least slightly, just so not everyone was worried. Once he returned to the "real world", he remembered that Morgana wasn't there. Right, he did remember him saying something about leaving for a bit. He didn't know where he was, but it didn't bother him too much. Morgana always came back, and he wasn't something to worry about on the topic of getting hurt or something of the sort. He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder as he started trudging down the stairs. Normally, no matter his mood, his posture would be straight and he wouldn't look like he hadn't slept in a few days, but it had been different for a while now. 
        "Hey kid, are you heading out?" Sojiro was downstairs, wiping down the counters of Leblanc. It seemed like he was shutting down the cafe for the day.
        "Yeah." He kept his eyes staring down at the wooden floor, despite the feeling of Sojiro's worried eyes boring into him.
        "By the way, your friends are worried about you. They came in earlier to ask about you," Sojiro recalled. "Do you really think it's a good idea to leave?"
        Hardly raising his head, Akira nodded. He did feel a bit of shame at the thought of just leaving with no explanation, but he believed that it was for the best.
        Sojiro stared at him with tired eyes for a few moments, but when Akira stood unmoving with no change in expression, Sojiro sighed as a way of giving in.
        "I'm guessing there's not really a way to convince you. Just consider it, at least." He shook his head and went back to closing up the cafe as Akira walked out. He didn't exactly know where he was going yet; he mostly came out here for a breath of fresh air. Once he thought about it, he hadn't left Leblanc once in a few days now. Since he used to always be moving from place to place, it was the exact opposite of how it was before the interrogation. 
        His feet started carrying him around Yongen, and, as usual, nothing was new. He didn't mind much, though. Even though he was leaving in a few weeks, he had to admit how much he enjoyed living in a quiet area of Tokyo. He knew every shop owner and they all knew him, there was always an interesting story spreading around... Truthfully, he was going to miss it here, but there wasn't much he could do. His friends didn't need to deal with pitying him, adding one more problem to their lists. All he could do was believe that this was the right choice.