[Akira is one of the first on the scene as soon as the clock begins to chime. he's there to witness the slow emergence of rotting corpses from the dirt, the way the zombies lurch at anyone nearbye, teeth bared and entrails oozing]
[he's there to witness the way Minato jerks back, stumbles, and nearly trips over a tombstone. his gaze narrows as he immediately leaps into action, kicking at the dirt to dart towards the other wild card at surprising speeds]
Minato! Behind me!
[the blue fire burns away his Velvet Room-esque uniform (butler flavor, today) to reveal the leather jacket and red gloves. Joker is here and he is ready to rumble!!]
[the good thing about being Kurusu Akira is that even when you have a slightly awkward, slightly intimate moment with someone you like but don't likeyet because fuck if I'm not playing pegokita in this game, you recover from it quickly!!]
[so when Minato texts him, he is quick to respond]
[Akira gets caught up in protecting Gideon from Vicious, but PRESUMABLY at some point the threat is neutralized and Akira can take a chance to, like]
[breathe?]
[so much happened at once, from Bugbear dying to Fran taking over to him waking up with a bloody face that he is, understandably, still dazed when Minato flags him down]
[with his new ears pinned to his head and new tail lashing, Akira turns to face Minato with a few owlish blinks]
Minato isn't avoiding Akira, exactly, but when he sees Akira in the diner, he... pauses.
And then straightens and fights off the urge to blush and continues on forward. Casually. Because surely Minato's the only one who remembers that dream anyway...!! ]
[it's fortunate for Minato that Akira's back is turned towards him, hip resting against the diner counter as he blows gently on a freshly brewed mug of coffee. even with his face turned away, his demeanor seems. . . distracted?? distant? he's wearing the pirate outfit with the red jacket, too]
It's pretty late by this point. Minato had to check in on Phoenix and Basilisk, had to talk to everyone on Cerberus, had to have brief dozing sessions on Unisonya and with Ritsuka, but eventually...
He shoots Akira a text. ]
On my way back. Let me in...? ( 人・ω・)
[ ... he can be found outside the door, leaning against the wall. He's... he's really tired, and he's slowly sliding down the wall, bit by bit, as he loses the fight against gravity.
At least he's properly cleaned up and totally blood free now. ]
[it's okay, Akira had some quality Echidna time while Minato was gone mostly in an attempt to distract himself from??? you-know-what?? so he doesn't rush the other wild card to return home until he's good and ready, though he does perk up pretty happily when the text arrives]
be right there
[. . . and of course when he eventually opens Echidna's front door, Minato is already half asleep]
Akira. Do you remember the memory that you showed us during the tarot card task? Minato and I both agreed that you looked really cool. I was hoping to find an excuse to let you show off your skills once again. Shall we try to break into the clocktower sometime?
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