#silverstringsoffate

Akechi just stares at him for a moment, clearly defeated by this conversation.

It makes sense. The pressure of the elections, the evidence he stole, the fear of discovery and the guilt of not having the strength to take action... it's all been weighing down on him so much that sometimes he feels like he's drowning. And to make matters worse, the stress has developed into giving him physical symptoms, too - headaches that sometimes border on migraines, physical exhaustion with no obvious cause... he's been sleeping like a rock at night, but that doesn't seem to help at all.

But it's strange. He spent so long unable to gather up the courage needed to expose his father. Despite knowing it was the right thing, he was scared - not just of what it would mean for him, but for everyone else, too - or maybe that was just an excuse. ...No, it was obviously an excuse. But when he'd seen the Phantom Thieves show their final calling card to the world... he thought he'd finally found the strength to do what he needed to do.

...And then that strength had been sucked out of him like it was never there at all. It's difficult to explain, and it's no excuse, but it was like his fear itself was rebelling against him, trying to stop him acting out. Sometimes, he's close to confessing everything, but he feels like he can't take that final step, all his worries rushing to the forefront at once. Other times- and more and more often, now - he's struck with a strange apathy, like he doesn't care about anything at all. What's the point? It's not like it'll make any difference, and it'll only get people hurt, so... maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe nothing does.

That's what scares him the most. He really must be losing his mind - or else he's just the world's most pathetic man out there. ...Self-deprecating thoughts won't help him, but it's far too easy to indulge... at least he has this place. Leblanc isn't somewhere he can go nearly as often as he likes, but it's nice to be able to relax and - well, to not think for a while.

...And then, all of a sudden, Toshiro's yelping out in pain as he feels a scorching heat out of nowhere, causing him to almost fall off his chair. What on earth was that? But when he looks down, seeing the coffee now splattered all over his suit, he realizes what must've happened.

"Arrrrgh.... and here I thought my day couldn't get any worse..."

Making coffee wasn't something he was used to, but he'd slowly gotten the hang of it over the past couple months. Making curry was also new to him, but it got easier over time. He was happy to at least have something to do during the slow weekend.

When the door opened, Akechi looked over immediately, smile on his face.

"Hey there, welcome to Leblanc! If you take a seat, I'll be right over to take your order!" He said with a hint of cheeriness in his voice.

A new face... I wonder if they've just arrived here in Tokyo? Akechi thought to himself as he brushed his hands off on his apron.

Funnily enough, there weren't many of Ren's friends and associates that Futaba didn't know of, but for it to be someone she physically met? She puffed her cheeks out at the headpat, before walking around Ren to face him from the front.

"Hmmm...I couldn't peg it as Ryuji or Yusuke, since I'd have heard it from both of them already, Akechi is out of the question...and I know it's a guy of some sort..." She was genuinely trying to narrow it down in her head, rubbing her chin with her thumb and index finger. Little by little, her sights narrowed down until she could think of only one person.

"Sensei, I'm heading to Junes. Do you need anything?" // @silver-strings-of-fate

Yayoi pushed the gym door open, the rest of her class behind her. They were all intrigued by the promise of a new teacher. They hadn’t been given a name, and the chatter between them was mostly guesses of who it could be. Some thought it would be an older hero, one that used to be popular back in the day. Others suggested a new rising star, someone fresh.

Of course, none of them expected the spiky-haired man in a suit in front of them.

Yayoi, bubbly as always, didn’t let that stop her from holding up her hand and waving.

“Good morning, Sensei!”

Nick flinched and quickly gathered his composure as the gym door swung open. His morning block was Class 2-A, and he’d gone over their files late into the previous evening. It always helped to be prepared.

Hitching a smile onto his lips, he waved back at the girl at the front of the group.

“Good morning! You’re all on time, that’s good.”

A friendly greeting seemed like a good sign. Now he just had to keep the vibe going.

“You can relax for now, though. We’re not doing anything too wild today.”

Nick watched the students file into a comfortable clump, positioned so that each of them could see properly. He hadn’t had so many eyes on him in a long time.

“Well, first things first. Welcome to Defensive Strategies one-oh-two, my name’s Nick and I’ll be your instructor. I’ll just call attendance now, and then we’ll get down to business...”