Life Will Change

Chapter 72: A Night Off

Begin

~Normal POV

11/12 - Saturday

Ann had complete faith in this plan, but that didn't stop her from being concerned. A murderer was planning to kill her boyfriend, it was impossible not to be worried sick, regardless of how many countermeasures were put in to prevent it... Akira hadn't contacted her all day after school yesterday. They hadn't even sent any text confirmation on being ready with the plan yet. She had to assume that they got it working easily enough; with Futaba's Metaverse hacking and Yusuke's eye for detail, it shouldn't have been too hard. She tried to stay strong. She didn't want to let her fears show... What day was today anyway? Saturday? Hm, she didn't have to work today. Maybe she could get a snack somewhere and try to calm down with something mundane-

Until her phone suddenly went off. It was a text from Akira.

Akira: [Come to LeBlanc this evening. :)]

Ann: [Ok, why?]

Akira: [You'll have to come find out for yourself. ;)]

Ann stared at the reply in confusion. He was being awfully cryptic. Still she wanted to go. She needed to discuss this issue with him in privacy. It didn't sound like they'd be meeting up for anything serious; he'd have been more straightforward if that were the case.

~...

When Ann arrived at LeBlanc, it was already closed for the night. The door was unlocked though, so she let herself in. Akira must have heard the door open because he came downstairs immediately and greeted her.

"Hey..."

"Hey, what'd you call me here for?"

Akira grabbed her hand, and dragged her along with him. Up in the attic, the first thing Ann noticed was that the couch had been moved to be in front of the tv. The second thing was that there was no sign of Morgana here at the moment. The last thing was a freshly baked chocolate birthday cake sitting on their foldable table, along with a small pile of presents.

"You didn't think I'd forgotten your birthday, did you?" He said, smiling.

Ann nearly smacked herself. She'd forgotten her own birthday! How could someone even do that?!

"Apparently, I forgot!" She replied, embarrassedly. "So, those are for me?" She gestured to the table.

"Mhmm. I told the others a while back so they'd have time to buy you something. We wanted to have a party for you, but... it's risky to meet up as a group right now with... you know... So, I had them drop off their gifts earlier while I was baking the cake."

"You made that yourself?!"

"Well, Futaba helped. Sojiro got you something too. He closed up early for us." Akira said, with a wink.

"And... where's Morgana?"

"Sleeping over at Futaba's."

Ann smiled. "You thought of everything, didn't you?"

"Of course. I thought since... we have such a crucial mission coming up... That you might be interested in a night off? Just the two of us; for your birthday."

That did sound wonderful. A quiet evening alone together. Trying to relax and forget all their troubles and just be happy in each other's company, while they had the chance. It was better than a party, to be honest; maybe next year she'd accept a party but this was perfectly fine.

"Akira... Can we talk? Please?"

He nodded and the two sat down on the couch. Where to begin... There was so much Ann wanted to say...

"I know I agreed to the plan already but..." She sighed and let it all out. "What if it doesn't work?! What if they don't let Sae in to see you!? What if she doesn't believe you! I mean, our entire method just sounds fucking ridiculous unless you see it for yourself! What if she won't cooperate?! What about you?! If they do kill you, who's going to tell your family?! Aren't they gonna notice if you just never come home, even after the probation is up?! And what am I supposed to tell my parents if I have to grieve over my dead boyfriend?! Or Shiho! She's going to notice if we're not together anymore, and I'd never be able to tell her what happened! So, much shit could go wrong! There are so many things that we have to leave up to chance for this to work... It's terrifying... I'm sorry for not bringing this up the other day... I guess I was just so happy to have a plan at all that it didn't affect me at first..."

Akira kept watching her calmly as if it didn't concern him. Why was he being so calm? His life was in danger. How could someone be so completely at ease in this situation? She went to wipe her eyes on her sleeve and felt his arms wrap around her in a gentle hug. He kissed her forehead and held her close.

"I get it... It's a lot to take in." He said, softly, "But I have faith in our plan. Everything will work out. If you keep worrying over how something could go wrong, then you're just making it harder on yourself."

"I believe in the plan too, but... I just keep thinking about it and..."

Akira pulled back from the hug and looked at her with his gentle, serious, gaze. "Ann, let me share a little something with you. I'm scared too. But it's not because of what Akechi might do to me." He grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers tightly. "I'm scared of what he's going to do to all of you, if I'm not here anymore. I have faith in our plan; because being confident that we've outsmarted our enemy... it's helping me sleep better, to put it simply. And it helps me concentrate."

Ann sniffled, "So that's your secret? You just... don't let it get to you? You must have a really strong heart... Well... if you really think it'll work, then I'll try to stay confident too... Thanks for letting me rant..."

"No problem." He gave her an affectionate squeeze. "Ok. So, would you like some of your cake first or do you want to open your presents?"

She chose cake first, which didn't surprise him. He was happy to hear that she loved it. Not that he was worried she wouldn't, but it was nice to know it turned out so well. He could tell she was still anxious but tonight was for them. He'd make sure she was feeling better by the end of it. No worries. No plans.

Ann loved her gifts, and made mental notes to thank everyone for them. They spent the rest of the evening wrapped up in each other's arms on the couch. They turned on a movie, but it never felt like they were truly paying attention, even though it was one they both liked. It must have had something to do with the tension in the air... They just wanted to sit together, to snuggle up close, to feel safe near each other.

At some point, Ann fell asleep in his arms. Akira didn't mind, she might get scolded for staying all night, but they'd missed the trains closing at that point. He was able to wake her up to text her caretaker that she was "staying at a friend's." If they woke up early enough, they'd probably be able to avoid Sojiro's watchful eyes. (Akira would never hear the end of it if it was found that he had his girlfriend stay the night; even if it was for completely innocent reasons.) But it was a peaceful night. A night of kisses, sweet words, love and affection... They wouldn't be able to see each other for god knows how long once this plan was set in motion.

They had to make this night count until they were safe in each other's arms again. Letting himself get caught would be the most difficult thing Akira ever had to do. All this time before this point, he'd been worried that if the Phantom Thieves were found out, they'd all be caught together. Turns out that wasn't the case after all. But even if he was caught, whatever the reason, he would never sell them out.

Even if his life depended on it.

~End of Chapter