#i need to watch as much heist and thieves stuff so i can concoct the best soup of the genre

[homoeroticvillain]

the type of movie or show i can always get myself to watch will be heists or gentlemen thieves or etc cause i can call it research for geistverse

[blackguard]

Homecoming

     “Are you sure you want to head in there like this?  You don’t have to face this head on.”  Makoto’s the first to voice her concerns, as per usual, biting her lower lip as I turn to face her.  It’s the same proactive caution of hers that’s saved us so many times before.

     “Ooh, a heist! Now you’re talking, Queen.” Mona chimes in, appearing behind my shoulder.  “I can recon the place before you head in and map out an optimal route.  I’m sure Skull can make some kind of obnoxious distraction for us,” he says, turning to aim a feline grin at my blond teammate.

     Ryuji’s furrows his brow in a glare at the cat before turning his attention to me.  “Normally I’d tell the furball to can it, but he’s on to something there.  Makoto and I can keep ‘em busy while you do your thing.  We can fake some kinda argument, make it loud enough to get their attention.  Practically be doing the hard work for you.”

     Makoto flips her hair with a devious smile as she steps forward to me.  “My thoughts exactly.  So, what do you say, Leader?  One more for the road?”

     Without so much as a suggestion from me, my Thieves leap into action for my sake, already concocting an elaborate plan.  It’s a wonderful reminder of just how much we’ve come to trust and care for each other.

     I shake my head at them with a wry smile.  “Take it easy, team.  This is a one man job and I’m the one man for it.”

     Right now though, this isn’t a job for the Phantom Thieves.  This is something I’ve got to do myself, so I can close this chapter of my life for good.

     “Please, just head back to the hotel with the others for now.  If I need a hand, I’ll text you right away. Okay?”

     Makoto closes her eyes and sighs.  She knows just how stubborn I can be, especially about stuff like this.

     “Fine,” she says grabbing my hand and squeezing it in hers.  “But you better have the message ready to send before you go inside.  Got it?”

     I pull out my phone and show her it’s screen, displaying our group text, the word, “Jenga,” typed into the entry box.

    She rolls her eyes at me, muttering, “Clever,” before giving me a peck on the lips.  “I’ll see you back at the hotel.  Be safe.”  Letting go of my hand, she begins walking back.

     “Well, I’m not kissing ya, but good luck in there, man.  You say when and we’ll come running.”  Ryuji claps me on the back before following after Makoto.

     Morgana leaps off my shoulder before doing the same.  “Watch your back, Joker.  There’s no telling what they might try to pull.  …Oh and we’ll pick up dinner on the way back!”

    With a chuckle, I wave my friends off as they fade in to the summer evening.  As soon as they turn the corner down the street, my reassuring smile vanishes as a grim frown takes its place.  Withdrawing my glasses, I flick the arms open before sliding them on.  After straightening my spectacles with a push to the bridge, I breathe deeply and head up the road to the house I’m looking for.

     My knuckles rap against the door five times.  Several seconds pass before the lock clicks into place and the door swings open.  Standing in the doorway, still clutching the door, is woman in her early forties with a head of flowing, but frazzled black hair.  She stares at me with her jaw agape and her eyes bulging.  Her hands move over her chest before she finally speaks up.

     “Akira!?  What are you doing here?!  ...And why are you wearing glasses?”

     I keep my hands in my pockets as I shift my stance slightly to the right, hoping my lowered brow and frown properly illustrate my incredulity.  “…Good to see you too, Ma.  Can I come in or…?”

     She looks around in a panic before she backs away and opens the door further.  “O-Of course…!”

    Adjusting the straps of the bag hanging on my shoulder, I exhale deeply from my nose as I head inside.  Past the front door, I kick off my shoes and look around the living space.  To no surprise, everything looks the same as it did a year ago.  I walk further in as my mother flusters at a distance from me, attempting to start up a conversation on something other than my sudden arrival.  Ignoring her, I walk upstairs and into my old room.

     Inside, it’s looks like it’s been frozen in time.  If I took a picture of the place the day I left, not a thing would look different than it does now.  The same blue wallpaper, the same hanging open closet door, the same smashed action figure on my desk…  I don’t even need to see the dust to know this place hasn’t been touched.  Easier to pretend I was never here that way, I guess.

    Letting my bag fall off my shoulder, I open my mental map and begin checking off items.  Books, toys with sentimental value, old Karate belts, what consoles and games I can fit in my bag and the folded up box inside it; all stuff I couldn’t take with me when I had to leave.  The box is pretty weighty by the time I’m done, but it’s nothing I can’t manage.  After one last look over the room I grew up in, I leave it for the last time.

    Heading back downstairs, I see beside my mother a similarly middle-aged man with a head of close trimmed black hair and a dusting of stubble across his jaw.  Whatever conversation they were having is cut off as they both stare up at me.  The old man’s gaze is a bit sharper than ma’s worried grimace, but I’ve been accustomed to this paradigm for far too long to be fazed by it.

    “Akira, why didn’t you tell us you were coming back today?”  My father’s quick to address the tension, attempting to establish control of the situation while he has the chance.

     I continue descending the stairs as I respond to him.  “Hello there, father.  I just came by to pick up my stuff.  Didn’t think there was any need to make an event of it.”

    My mother stammers, struck dumb by my blunt approach to this catastrophe.  My father is taken aback, but recovers more quickly.  “What are you talking about?  Son, you owe us an explanation for what’s going on here!”

    “Actually, I don’t.” Reaching into my bag, I pull out a folded up legal document and present it to the both of them.  “As you can read here, I’m just an independent minor reclaiming his property.  Nothing worth talking about.”

     With a flick of my wrist, I fold the paper back up and return it to my bag.  Dad lets his jaw hang open for a solid few seconds before forcing himself back into a cold glare.  Ma is wracked without outright horror, staring at me as though I’ve driven a knife into her heart. Her eyes well up with tears before she runs to my side.  Her filed nails claw at my skin as she grasps at my forearm, sobbing through her words.  “Akira, we’re so sorry!  We didn’t want to send you away!  When you were arrested we-“

     “Stop.”  As gently as I can manage, I pry her hands off me while interrupting her.  “We don’t need to have this conversation.”

     Dad steps in, breaking his terse silence. “I beg to differ, young man.  We sent you to Tokyo for your own good.  Holding that against us just isn’t-“

     “Not one call.”  I cut him off.  “Not one letter.  Not one visit.  I was in Tokyo for a year without so much as a word from you two.  I went to prison and I never even heard from either of you once!”  Feeling myself losing my cool, I stop before I can get any more worked up.  Ice in my veins, I continue.  “I’m done here.  For any further inquiries, you’ll have to talk to my lawyer.”  Slipping Sae’s business card into my mother’s hands, I walk back into my shoes and out the front door.

    Making it a few blocks away from the house, I collapse, my back against the barrier wall of the suburb.  Sinking down until I reach the concrete, the emotion pours out of me.  Setting down the box, tears run down my face as I grit my teeth and slam my fist against the concrete beneath me.

     My first day at school.  Birthday parties.  Family vacations.  I spent so much time with the both of them.  I thought they loved me.  I thought I was their son.  All those years together and all it took was one crooked politician for them to abandon me entirely.  It’s nothing short of heartwrenching.

     I lose track of time as I vent the awful feelings stored up inside me.  Stopping only occurs to me when I feel something wet on my right hand, the one not pressed against my eyes.  It’s not a proud moment when I realize the wetness is my own blood.

     Sweeping away the gravel from the scrapes, I reach around myself to retrieve my phone without bloodying my pants.  Tapping through to my recent calls, I raise the device to my ear as the dial tone rings.  To no surprise, it’s quickly cut off by Makoto’s voice.

     “Hey, are you okay?”  Worry is evident in her tone.  In the background can hear Futaba arguing with Yusuke, something about who got what pieces of the sushi selection.

     I chuckle quietly into the receiver as I answer her.  “I’m fine, I’m fine.  Job’s done.  How’re things over there?”

    “Inari, I swear I will reach down your throat and scoop that roll out if you don’t-“  Futaba’s threats echo through the room over what sounds like Ryuji attempting to restrain her.  It’s faint, but I think I can hear Haru giggling too.

    Makoto spares them a snicker herself before answering.  “It’s a normal night for us.  Or, it would be if you were here.”  She pauses for a moment and I can hear the smile in her voice.  I can’t help but smile myself.  “Come back soon, okay?”

    “Is that Akira?  Makoto, tell him to hurry up!  It’s a free for all back here!”  Ann yells directly to Makoto through the chaos of the room.

    With a half-joking time limit set, I push myself off the wall and back onto my feet. “Well, you heard her.  I better get moving.  See you in a few.”

     “And be quick about it.  See you soon,” Makoto says before she hangs up.

     Finding my motivation renewed, I slide my phone back into my pocket and pick my things back up.  The way I handled things, some people might say I lost my family tonight.  I don’t see it that way myself.  After readjusting my bag, I head off into the night, back to the family I’ve made for myself.