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To put it bluntly, Akira felt like he didn’t belong here.
He looked around; watching both children and adults either wearing Featherman merchandise or costumes. Then there was him in a plain black shirt, jeans, and white jacket.
Akira pulls out his cell phone to check the time and sighs. Looks like that panel that Futaba and Morgana went to won’t be done for another fifteen minutes. But there’s not really much he can do and he promised that he’d meet his siblings here when they’re done. Not to mention he’d rather not kill his phone battery going online or playing a game.
He lets out a small bored groan and slides down against the wall. Maybe letting Futaba and Morgana convince him to chaperone them for the convention was a mistake.
“Yo, you alright man?”
Akira lifts his head up and sees a young man around his age wearing a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses. Are his eyes sensitive or something? Whatever; that’s none of his business.
“Fine… just bored.”
“Bored!? At a con!? For real!?”
Akira chuckled, “I’m not really here for myself.”
“Oh! Kids dragged ya here huh?”
“More like my younger siblings… you see a few months ago… oh uh sorry, you don’t wanna hear my complaining.”
“No, no, go ahead, I got time.” said the other guy as he sat down next to Akira
“UGH, ARE YOU KIDDING ME MONA!?”
Both Akira and Sojiro sighed as it seemed that once again Futaba and Mona were having another one of their arguments about Featherman. Ever since Futaba had introduced Morgana to the show a couple years ago, these “debates” as she called them became a frequent thing in the house.
“YOU HEARD ME, FEATHER OSTRICH IS JUST THE DUMB COMIC RELIEF!”
Sometimes they were manageable but this one seemed to be a little more heated.
“JUST BECAUSE HE’S COMIC RELIEF DOESN’T MEAN HE’S INCOMPETENT!”
Akira shoots Sojiro a sympathetic look as he puts the kitchen knife down.
“You keep working on the curry, I’ll deal with them.”
“Thanks. Honestly I wonder if I should just sell off the TV and not deal with this.”
“Pfft, then Futaba will just pirate the episodes on her laptop, Old Man. You shouldn’t underestimate the lengths a fan will go to.”
Sojiro just mutters something about giving Futaba all of Akira’s curry portion if he calls him “Old Man” again and waves him off.
With that Akira heads to the living room where his little brother and sort of little sister were still arguing.
“If he’s just gonna get rescued by the rest of the team, why wouldn’t they just end the episode with it? Unless the Rescue Operation isn’t going to be the point of the next couple episodes.”
Akira smirks and leans down from behind the couch.
“So what’s all the shouting about?”
Morgana and Futaba nearly jump from Akira’s sudden appearance before immediately righting themselves and trying to give their point of view at the same time.
“Whoa, whoa, one at a time you guys. Futaba, Sojiro and I heard you first, so you tell me first.”
“So in the last episode, Feather Ostrich got kidnapped by Panthura and replaced with a monster mimicking him. The episode today ended with the team realizing they had a fake and that they needed to save the real Feather Ostrich. MONA here thinks that Feather Ostrich is just going to be a damsel in distress and do nothing until the rest of the group save him.”
“Cause that’s what happened last time! The last villain captured him and he made an idiot of himself until he got rescued!”
“They’re obviously setting things up for a new character arc for him! Just because you have a weird hate-on for him and an even weirder crush on Panthura...”
“HEY!”
“ENOUGH!” shouted Akira
The two teens immediately silenced themselves as Akira took a stern expression.
“Look, I don’t mind your “debates” most of the time. You two are allowed to disagree on certain things. But I think you guys are taking it a little too far today.”
He watched as both Futaba and Mona seemed to deflate in embarrassment.
“Look, you’re not in trouble for now. Just… let’s turn off the tv, wait for Sojiro’s curry, and not talk about Featherman for the rest of the day. We’ll figure something out for tomorrow to avoid this again. Okay?”
“Okay” they replied
The temporary solution that Akira, Futaba, and Morgana all came up with was to have Akira watch with them and play referee.
In practice, it mostly involved Akira playing on his phone while the two teens watched and shooting glares when he heard any raised voices. With that said, Akira did try to pay some attention. There were a lot of characters but they were somewhat easy to keep track of thanks to their color coding and it was easy to figure out who was Panthura due to A. Her lack of bird theming and B. That actress’ over the top scenery chewing.
Then there was basically the star of the episode, Feather Ostrich or Feather Yellow or whatever he’s called. (Akira still wasn’t entirely sure how the names worked.)
Akira couldn’t help but think that the actor mainly got hired for his physical skills as he watches the blonde young man run and pull off various stunts. But as the episode went on, it turned out that his acting was actually pretty good.
Even with only knowing bits and pieces of what was going on, Akira actually found himself feeling bad for Feather Ostrich when he talked about being a burden on the team.
By the end of the episode, only one fight broke out (Futaba bragging about being right on Feather Ostrich trying to save himself) but Akira defused it before it turned into a full on screaming match.
So the plan worked… shit the plan worked… which meant that Akira was gonna be watching more Featherman.
After a month of this, Akira could safely say that… Featherman wasn’t really for him. Not to say that the show was bad, it was just a little too cartoony for him.
Though he did have to admit, Akira did feel a little bad watching the ending with Feather Ostrich declaring that he was leaving the team to find his own path. Futaba teared up a little bit and to his surprise, he saw Morgana pretending he wasn’t getting choked up.
The two teens did talk about what was going to happen next and their own theories but it was thankfully civil.
Also much to Akira’s relief; that episode was the show’s season finale and thus he was finally going to get a break from Featherman for a few months…
“AKIRA!!!”
Akira nearly dropped the plate into the sink as he heard Futaba’s shout. He rushes upstairs as fast as he can and practically slams the door open.
“What happened!? Are you two okay!?”
Morgana, who looked no worse for wear, was about to say something until Futaba pushed him out of the way and shoved her laptop into Akira’s arms.
“Futaba what…?”
“Look!”
Akira finally took a look at the laptop screen and nearly dropped the thing in surprise.
Feathercon is super excited to announce as special Guests of Honor, the entire current Featherman Victory Team, Yukari Takeba (Feather Argus), Yu Narukami (Feather Hawk), Chie Satonaka (Feather Parakeet), Kotone Shiomi (Feather Starling), and Ryuji Sakamoto (Feather Ostrich).
Along with our heroes, we will also be hosting as a special guest, the corrupted ranger/evil queen herself, Panthura (Ann Takamaki.)
We hope to see you all at what is already shaping up to be the Greatest Feathercon Yet!
Akira looked back up and was immediately greeted with the biggest puppy eyes from his siblings. He knew exactly what was going to happen. After all, Sojiro was busy with LeBlanc and he knew that neither Morgana or Futaba could handle such a large crowd by themselves.
“...I’ll see about getting us tickets when my next paycheck comes through.”
“YES!”
“Thanks Akira!”
“...And that’s my story.”
The other guy laughed, “Wow dude, can’t believe you had to put up with a real life flame war.”
Akira chuckled as well.
“Yeah well, Futaba and Morgana are both passionate when it comes to stuff they get into. They get along, really. It’s just when they disagree, they REALLY disagree.”
“Yeah I’ve known people like that… So uh… I hope ya don’t me saying this but um, you sound like a good guy. Ya know, supporting your sibs and taking them here even though you don’t care for the show yourself.”
“Heh, it’s not that special. I’m sure there’s plenty of people in similar situations here.”
“I’m serious. I’ve been to a ton of these cons and it’s always obvious when someone’s just there cause somebody’s gotta watch the kids. I mean… like I can tell it’s different for you. You’re here cause you want your brother and sister to be happy not cause they nagged ya and this was your way to shut them up. If that makes any sense? I admit I ain’t that good with words.”
Akira smiled.
“I think I get it. Thanks.”
“No prob, dude.”
Sunglasses guy then took his phone out and muttered a small curse.
“Sorry man, I gotta bail but hey do you think you guys are gonna go to the Cast Q&A panel?”
“It was all Futaba could talk about on the ride here so yeah, we’ll be there.”
“Awesome, hope to see you guys. Just uh… you should go straight there as soon as you can. Those seats fill up fast! Later!” he shouted with a smile
Without another word, the guy stood up and ran off. Akira stood up, dusted himself off, and chuckled.
“Okay, just met a cute guy… didn’t get his name but he wants to meet up again. Maybe this convention won’t be so bad.”
The guy’s advice about showing up early was spot on, since the room practically filled up just minutes after the three arrived. So now it was time to play the waiting game.
When his eyes weren’t on his phone, Akira tried to look around for the guy. He was going to be here right? It sounded like it. Akira would like to get his name this time.
But before long, a young man with blue hair and a Featherman V shirt stepped into the room and took the stage.
“Good afternoon everyone! I’m Yuuki Mishima, some of you might know me better as the Admin of the Featherman V Fansite… you know: MoonMoon.”
That got a chuckle from Futaba, Morgana, and a lot of others in the audience.
“Anyway, you all excited to chat with our rangers and villain?”
“YEAH!”
“MoonMoon” looked like he was about to fall over from all the shouting before shaking his head and continuing.
“Well everyone give a big round of applause to the members of Featherman Victory and Panthura!”
The crowd erupted into applause and shouting as six people entered the room and took their seats on stage.
“Alright team, ROLL CALL!”
“Hey everyone, I am Yukari Takeba and I play Feather Argus.”
“I’m Yu Narukami and I’m everyone’s favorite, Feather Hawk.”
“I’m Chie Satonaka and you guys know me as Feather Parakeet.”
“I’m Kotone Shiomi, I play Feather Starling and I am so happy and excited to be here.”
“Yo, I’m Ryuji Sakamoto and I’m everyone’s NEW favorite, Feather Ostrich.”
Akira didn’t even hear the last actress introduce herself. He just stared at Sakamoto with wide eyes. He recognized that smile and he recognized that voice… shit he should have recognized that voice earlier!
“...The cute guy is Feather Ostrich...”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Akira simply stared as the panel went on.
How did he miss this? Was a baseball cap and sunglasses really the ultimate disguise!?
...Well there goes Akira’s plan to ask for his number. This was real life not some cheesy manga where the protagonist catches the eye of a celebrity. He’s pulled out of his thoughts by Futaba elbowing him.
“Pay attention. It’d be so embarrassing if you fell asleep or zoned out during this”.
She said in an annoyed whisper
“Sorry.”
Akira looks back at the stage to Panthura’s actress (Takamaki was her name he seems to recall) in the middle of a long answer.
“...She was once a defender of justice and a protector of the world. She tried to sacrifice her life to save her team but instead was turned into a villain by the Corruption. So yeah she’s absolutely a tragic character.”
“Do you think she might get a Redemption Arc?” asked Mishima
Parts of the crowd (including Morgana) start cheering over that.
“Maybe but that’s not up to me.”
“Alright so next question...”
A sea of hands rise up, some waving, some followed by “ooh ooh ooh”’s.
“Okay… uh the redhead with the glasses.”
Futaba let out a small “yes!” before getting to her question.
“So this is for everyone: What has been your favorite thing about working on the show?”
The cast all grin at each other.
“Oh that’s a good one!” said Shiomi
“Can I go first?” asked Satonaka
“Go ahead.”
Satonaka smiles as she begins, “So I’ve always been a big kung-fu fan. Bruce Lee’s my personal hero and Trial of the Dragon is my favorite movie of all time. While this isn’t really “kung-fu” I still feel like I got to bring my love for it into the role and it’s just been so much fun.”
A round of applause rang out before the others gave their answers.
“For me the best thing about this role has been seeing all the people I’ve brought joy to and inspired. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard young girls telling me that they decided to take up archery because of me and how many times I’ve cried over that.” said Takeba
“Honestly my favorite thing is similar to Yukari’s. Just seeing how happy and inspired we’ve made people.” said Shiomi
“I love having the opportunity to just cut loose and go crazy with the role.” said Takamaki
“As cheesy as it sounds, the friends I’ve made on set. I can’t imagine my life without them.” said Narukami as he shot a look to Satonaka that Akira couldn’t help but think that that did not feel like a look between two friends .
Finally it was Sakamoto’s turn to answer.
“Definitely the feeling of being a part of somethin’ so big like Featherman. And like Yukari and Kotone said, it’s real excitin’ to meet the fans.”
At that Sakamoto looked over at Akira’s direction and winked. Akira found himself turning red and frozen in place even as the audience erupted into clapping and cheers.
...No way… absolutely no way was that directed at him… was it? No. That was obviously for the whole audience not just him.
After that Akira found himself only really half paying attention to the rest of the panel. It was only after he felt Morgana tugging at his jacket sleeve that he realized that the panel had ended and everyone was heading out.
“You okay Akira?” asked Morgana
“Y-yeah I think I’m just a little… overwhelmed from the crowds. How about we go out for lunch?”
“Ooh! Let’s go to that sushi place nearby!”
"We had sushi last night Mona.” Futaba groaned
“You don’t mind when we have curry for multiple days in a row.” Morgana responded with a pout
“That’s different.”
“How?”
Akira sighed, “Could we please not do this in public?”
Before the argument could continue however a fourth voice spoke out.
“Excuse me?”
The three of them turned and saw Mishima, the moderator of the panel standing by their seats.
“I’m sorry to bother you all but could you stay in your seats for a few minutes? Sakamoto-san said he wanted to talk to you for some reason.”
Futaba and Morgana went wide-eyed and stared at Akira who merely squeaked out a “...Okay.”
As soon as Mishima walked away, Akira found himself crowded by his siblings.
“WHY DOES FEATHER OSTRICH WANNA TALK TO YOU !?”
“WHY DOES FEATHER OSTRICH WANNA TALK TO YOU!?”
“It’s… I’ll explain later.”
The two teens pouted but sat back down and waited with Akira until eventually they were the only ones left in the room. Akira was starting to wonder if maybe this was some sort of a joke when he heard a familiar voice by the doors.
“Yo!”
He turned around and there was Feath-erm rather, Ryuji Sakamoto with the sunglasses and baseball cap back on (which it now occurred to Akira that Sakamoto wore those so he could walk around the con without getting mobbed.) Before Akira could stand from his chair, Futaba practically leaped out of her own and rushed towards Sakamoto.
“OH MY GOD IT’S REALLY YOU!”
“Eh heh, yup it’s really me.”
Akira and Morgana stood up and calmly walked over to the blonde celebrity.
“S-sorry about my sister. Like I told you before, when she gets passionate about something, she gets REAL passionate.”
Futaba just looks at Akira like he had grown a second head. Not that he can blame her, it’s not every day that you get to meet an actor from your favorite show and also find out that said actor and your brother apparently talked to each other at some point.
“Yeah, I’m used to this sorta thing don’t worry. But uh hey we didn’t really properly introduce ourselves last time. I mean I’m pretty sure ya already know who I am but uh I didn’t get your name.”
“Oh. Akira Kurusu. That’s Futaba and this is Morgana.”
Ryuji smiles as he shakes everyone’s hands (or at least tries to in the case of Morgana, who simply crossed his arms and looked away.)
“Nice to meet’cha guys.”
“Um… you too Sakamoto-san.
Sakamoto lets out a laugh, “Dude, no need to be formal. Just call me Ryuji.”
“Oh okay… Ryuji.. so… Mishima-san said you wanted to talk?”
“Oh yeah. I wanted to ask if you guys would like to go with me for lunch? My treat.”
“WHAT!?” All three shouted
“IS THIS DREAM!? MONA PINCH ME!”
Akira could feel himself turning red again as he tried to form a sentence.
“That’s… I mean… I mean why…? Why?”
Ryuji shrugs, “I liked talking with ya and it’d be nice to just hang out with someone for a bit. But if you don’t wanna, that’s okay.”
“Ac-actually… sure let’s do it. We were planning on getting lunch anyway so...” said Akira without thinking twice
The grin on Ryuji’s face nearly stops Akira’s heart.
“Awesome! Is ramen okay with you? A friend of mine recommended this place nearby and I’ve been wanting to try it.”
“Y-yeah ramen’s good.”
Futaba nodded; Morgana looked disappointed over no sushi but he didn’t voice any objections.
“Alright, let’s go!” As Akira and his siblings walked alongside Ryuji, all he could think was “ What did I just get myself into? ”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After taking a cab (Ryuji insisted, claiming he had been on his feet all day) the four quickly found the ramen place that Ryuji wanted to go to and despite the small crowd, managed to find some seats.
“Have you guys been here before?” Ryuji asked
“Can’t say we have. We’re all pretty busy so we don’t go out that often.”
“Plus our dad owns a cafe so we don’t really need to go out.” said Futaba
Ryuji lets out a low whistle, “You guys living the high life huh?”
Akira just elbows Ryuji and picks up the menu; the others quickly follow. He looks through the menu but every so often, glances at Ryuji.
This whole thing doesn’t feel real. You don’t get to randomly chat with a celebrity and then get invited out to lunch with him like you two are old friends catching up.
He wasn’t even that much of a Featherman fan! He’s just here for his brother and sister!
WHAT IS GOING ON!?
“Akira! Earth to Akira.”
“Huh?”
He found himself quite literally snapped out of his thoughts by Futaba leaning over the table, snapping her fingers in his face.
“Hey we all figured out what we want, what about you?”
“Oh uh… I’ll just stick to a basic shoyu ramen and a glass of water.”
As soon as the group put in their orders and got their drinks, Futaba went straight back to asking a million questions to Ryuji.
“So what’s it like behind the scenes? Were you a fan before joining the show? Who’s the biggest prankster in the cast?”
“Uh, everything’s pretty chill and friendly behind the scenes. I don’t know if I’d say I was a huge fan but I did like watching the original series with my ma when I was a kid. And believe it or not, Kotone’s the big prankster. Everyone thinks she’s soooo innocent looking but that’s how she gets ya!”
Akira lets out a small chuckle at that.
“You and the other actors really seem to get along pretty well.” he remarked
“Yeah well, everyone’s real nice and it’s hard to to not get close when you’ve been working together for years.”
“Ooh, any juicy details? Like I’ve been seeing photos online of Narukami and Satonaka hanging out together off set.” said Futaba
Ryuji just rubs the back of his neck.
“That ain’t my place to say. Besides you shouldn’t believe everything you see on the internet.”
That was when Morgana pipped in, “That include those rumors about you getting kicked off the show?”
Ryuji nearly choked on his soda, Akira quickly patted him on the back and shot his brother a glare.
“What? I’m just asking!”
“Mona don’t be a jerk!”
“It’s… it’s fine… it’s fine! Those rumors come up with everyone between seasons. Hell, I remember when there were rumors saying the studio was gonna take Takeba off the show cause “people complained about the leader being a pink ranger and a girl”.”
Even with Ryuji starting to perk back up, Akira couldn’t help but worry about him a little. But he had to put those thoughts aside when the group got finally their ramen and everyone started to dig in.
“Ohhh! This is soooo good!” Ryuji said between mouthfuls
“Yeah, we’ll have to remember this place whenever we’re tired of curry.” said Akira
“Speak for yourself weakling.” remarked Futaba
She then turned over back to Ryuji.
“Soooo~ how’d you and Akira met?” She asked with a little laugh
Ryuji slurped up some noodles and just grinned, “We just bumped into each other, he looked kinda down so I wanted to see what was wrong and see if he was okay.”
“That’s it? I was kind of expecting you guys were like reunited childhood friends or something.”
“You read too much fanfiction, Futaba.” muttered Morgana
“This coming from Mr. “Can you beta my Reader x Panthura fic”?” Futaba muttered back
“HEY!”
“We’re not doing this you two! We’re in public and we were invited on this outing.”
The two teens mumbled their apologies and went back to eating their ramen. Akira sighed and looked at Ryuji, who looked amused over the whole thing.
“Man they really don’t have an “Off Button” do they?” Ryuji said in a low voice
“They do care about each other, I swear. I’m not lying.”
“Pfft, I’ll take your word for it.” Ryuji replies in a joking tone
The blonde actor then glances over at Morgana who seems to be glaring at him from his bowl. He leans over to Akira and whispers, “Uh… I don’t think your little brother likes me much.”
“Don’t worry about it, Mona’s just not a big fan of Feather Ostrich.” Akira whispers back
“Lemme guess, “He’s just the dumb comic relief”?”
Akira nods and Ryuji pokes at the remaining ramen with his chopsticks, “Yeah if I got five yen for every comment I get like that online, I could r... I’d be swimming in cash like that cartoon duck.”
“...I could only imagine... uh... Ryuji what were you about to...”
A loud buzzing stopped Akira from finishing his question as Ryuji pulled out his phone.
“Oh, sorry guys, I got an autograph session to get to. But it was nice meeting you all, I’ll head to the counter and pay for our lunch. Oh but before that; Akira, let’s exchange numbers okay? I wouldn’t mind hanging out again when I’m less busy.”
Akira just wordlessly nods, trying not to let the shock on his face be too obvious. The two pass their phones, insert their numbers, and hand them back.
“Alright! I’ll see you three later, enjoy the con!”
Akira just dumbly watches as Ryuji pays for the meal and heads out of the restaurant.
He turns back to Futaba and Morgana.
His sister has a look of joy on her face while his brother looks at him with a look of confused disappointment.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
For about the fourth… maybe fifth time today, Akira asked himself how he got here.
The answer this time was that A. Futaba wanted to go to a “Fandom and Mental Health” panel and B. Around the same time, Ann Takamaki was signing autographs and Morgana refused to miss out.
Akira didn’t like leaving either of them alone but Futaba suggested he just drop her off at the panel room and pick her up when she was done. Meanwhile he’d stay with Morgana in line…
That was twenty minutes ago. A tiny (selfish) part of Akira regretted giving Futaba his Swap so she could have something to distract her from the crowds. It would have been nice to play some Bash Bros while he and his brother sat on the floor waiting for the con staff to open the line.
He looks over to the right and smiles as he watches Morgana have a very animated conversation with a brown-haired kid a few years older than him. At least somebody was having fun.
After another five minutes, some con staff finally arrived and pulled back the line rope. Even with how early Akira and Morgana arrived, they still had a while to wait.
Morgana kept chatting with his new friend as Akira pulled out his phone. Still enough juice to kill some time. Maybe he should bring his charger with him tomorrow.
*PING!*
“Hm?”
One New Message
popped up on the screen. He clicks on the notification and is taken to his messaging app.
RYUJI:
Hey man, it’s Ryuji! Please tell me I got your number right.
Akira smirked as he typed up a reply.
AKIRA:
New phone, who dis?
RYUJI:
Not sure if Akira or Futaba.
AKIRA:
It’s Akira. There would have been more chatspeak and emojis if it was Futaba.
RYUJI:
Lol
RYUJI:
So how’s the rest of the con been treating you?
AKIRA:
Currently in line for autographs with Takamaki-San.
RYUJI:
Oof, hope you got there early.
Akira glances over at the line ahead of them, it isn’t too long though it’s still going a little slow.
AKIRA:
...Early enough I guess?
RYUJI:
Hope you guys can get in. If you do, say hi to Ann for me, haven’t been able to see her since the Q&A panel. I’ll leave you guys alone now.
AKIRA:
No please don’t leave. Morgana’s found a friend so I’m by myself at Linecon!
RYUJI:
Linecon? Lol, gonna have to remember that. But where’s Futaba?
AKIRA:
Panel
RYUJI:
Ah
Akira glances up and takes a few steps as the line moves just a little bit forward.
AKIRA:
So how’s your day been since we last talked Mr. Feather Ostrich?
RYUJI:
Dude, come on, I know we only met this morning but I like to think we’re past the ZOMG
A CELEBRITY phase. But anyway I’m okay. Had a fun time with autographs today. Legs kinda bugging me so I’m just relaxing at my hotel room til my next panel.
His legs are bothering him?
AKIRA:
They didn’t give you a chair during your autograph session?
The line moves forward once again and when Akira stops, he glances at his phone and sees that Ryuji hadn’t given a response.
AKIRA:
Ryuji?
A few more minutes pass and Akira takes a few more steps. He looks at his phone again and there’s still no response. Maybe he got caught up in something? With that thought, he puts the phone away and lets his mind wander as they continued to wait.
Eventually Akira and Morgana found themselves close to Takamaki’s table. After buying Morgana a print for Takamaki-san to sign (and silently mourning for his poor wallet,) Akira was lightly pushed to the side as his brother practically bounced in excitement.
The two watched as Takamaki-san took a picture with a Panthura cosplayer, both striking a pose that Akira assumed was probably an iconic marketing thing or something. After being handed her phone back, the cosplayer bowed.
“It was such an honor to meet you Takamaki-san! Thank you.”
“Hey no problem, enjoy the rest of the con!”
Takamaki waved at the girl, sat back down, and smiled at Akira and Morgana.
“Hi there, come on up!”
In an instant, all of Morgana’s excitement turned into nervousness. Akira gave a gentle nudge to his little brother and he made his way to the table.
“So what’s your name kiddo?”
“M-Me. I mean… Morgana.”
“Ohh, that’s a unique name. Can you spell it for me?”
Akira couldn’t help but chuckle a little watching Morgana nervously spell out his name to his celebrity crush. Takamaki signed the print with a quote from her character, her signature, and a little kissy face.
“Here you go Morgana.”
“What do you say Morgana?” Akira asked, talking like his brother was far younger
“...I...um...THANKYOUANDBYTHEWAYYOU’RESUPERPRETTYANDSOCOOLANDIREALLYHOPEPANTHURAGETSAREDEMPTIONARCAND...”
“Okay, okay Morgana, let’s calm down. I’m sorry Takamaki-san.”
Takamaki just laughed and waved her hand.
“Nah it’s okay, he’s how old?”
“Thirteen.”
“So yeah he’s just a kid and I totally understand getting starstruck. You should have seen me when I got to meet Risette last year.”
“Thanks for understanding. Oh uh… by the way, Ryuji says “hi.””
She briefly looked at Akira in confusion, “Huh? Why would Ryu... OH! You’re the guy that Ryuji was talking about before the Q&A panel!”
Akira blushed, “Wait… Ry-Ryuji was talking about me?”
“Yeah apparently you left bit of an impression on him. Anyway, it was nice meeting you two. Enjoy the rest of the con.”
“Oh! Y-yeah, we will. Thank you.”
As the two brothers walked out, Akira kept repeating Takamaki’s words in his head. Ryuji was talking about him to his co-stars? That can’t be right. (Then again, Akira had been repeating “That can’t be right” ever since he found out who Ryuji was.)
After finding a spot where they would get in the way, Akira took out his phone to see if Futaba had called. Instead he saw a notification for a new message from Ryuji.
RYUJI:
Hey sorry for leaving you hanging, got caught up in a convo.
RYUJI:
Anyway I did have a chair, it’s just sitting only helps so much.
AKIRA:
Did something happen?
RYUJI:
It ain’t anything serious. One of those you trip one time and your body never lets you forget it kinda things.
AKIRA:
I see. I guess all I can say is take care of yourself.
RYUJI:
Yes ma. :P
Akira chuckled at Ryuji’s response and was about to shoot back his own sarcastic reply until his phone started ringing. The caller ID showed it was Futaba.
“Hey, your panel finished up?”
“Yeah, I’m just sitting right outside the room. You do remember which room it was right?”
“Morgana’s got the program but he’s a little distracted at the moment, I can grab it from him while he’s busy admiring his autograph from Takamaki-San.”
At that little joke, Morgana stuck his tongue out at Akira and quickly pulled out the convention program booklet.
“So anyway, anything else you want to do?”
“Nah, I think I’ve hit my limit of human interaction for the day. Unless you or Mona wanna do something, I’m ready to head home.”
“Sounds like a plan, see you soon Futaba.”
“See you soon.”
After dropping their things off at home, Akira, Futaba, and Morgana headed straight to LeBlanc. As the little bell signaled their coming in, Sojiro turned to them and gave a small smile.
“Welcome back, how was that Birdman convention thing?”
Futaba puffed up her cheeks as she shot back that it was a Featherman convention.
“Futaba, he knows what it is, he’s just riling you up.” said Akira
Sojiro just chuckled, “Not my fault, you kids make it too easy. But seriously you three had a good time right?”
The three nodded as they sat down at one of the tables and waited for Sojiro to bring them some coffee (or hot chocolate in Morgana’s case) and curry.
“We actually got to have lunch with Feather Ostrich himself!”
“Oh. That’s nice?” remarked Sojiro
“I ended up meeting one of the lead actors from the show and he invited us for lunch.” Akira clarified
“Well look at you Mr. Big Shot.”
Akira ignored the shit-eating grin from Futaba as he waved off Sojiro’s comment.
“I-It’s not a big deal. I just got really lucky.”
“I’m sure you did.” replied Futaba
“Quiet you.”
Soon Soijro came to the table with plates of curry and their drinks and the rest of the conversation played out normally. Morgana gushed about meeting Takamaki-san, Futaba talked about the last panel she went to and the “Dr. Maruki” who hosted it, and both of them talked about their plans for tomorrow. Including Futaba and Morgana begging and pleading Akira to take them to some big concert event in the evening.
At first Akira was a little hesitant to say yes but Sojiro piped in and gave the go ahead.
“If the trains aren’t running, I can drive you three back. Besides you kids are young and should be enjoying yourselves. Unlike us old geezers who can barely stay up past nine.”
Akira smirked, “What happened to “call me “old man” and I’ll give your curry to Futaba”?”
“When I call myself an “old man” it’s me being self-deprecating. When you do it, you’re just a smartass.”
Akira collapses onto his bed, glad to finally just lay down after everything that’s happened today.
He’s almost afraid of what’s going to happen tomorrow but as long as Futaba and Morgana are happy, he’ll deal with it.
...Then again…
He pulls out his phone, no new messages or anything.
...No he shouldn’t be bothering Ryuji…
Akira opens up his contacts list and looks for Ryuji’s name.
...He needs to sleep, they’re heading out early tomorrow and it’s going to be a long day…
“Yo, Ryuji here.”
“Hi Ryuji, this is Akira… this isn’t a bad time is it?”
“Nah man, just got back to my hotel room. Late night panels are crazy.”
“I’ll take your word for it. So...”
...So how does one ask, “Hey one of your coworkers said you talked about me, what did you say?” and not come off weird and creepy?
“So…?”
“So… Well… Morgana got his autograph from Takamaki-san. He looked as pleased as the cat who caught the canary. Had to nudge him a little since he got a bit starstruck.”
“Pfft yeah that uh that happens a lot with Ann. I’ve known her since before we worked on Featherman and she always had this… something I dunno how to describe it?”
“Je ne sais quoi?”
“Dude don’t speak gibberish on me!”
Akira chuckled, “That was French. It means a quality can’t really be described.”
He could hear Ryuji let out an exasperated sigh on the other end.
“Yeah sure that whatever jee nay says qwa.”
Akira laughed so hard, he found himself actually clutching his sides.
“Akira! You know what? I take back all the nice things I said to you today. You’re an asshole.”
Quickly gathering himself, though he couldn’t quite stop some giggles, Akira replied, “Sorry! I’m so sorry! I just… hahaha… I’m good now I’m sorry I’m good now. But uh… speaking of Takamaki-san, I said hi for you and she mentioned something that I thought was a little… weird?”
“Really? What she say?”
“She mentioned that you were talking about me before the Q&A panel?”
There a brief moment of silence on the other end before Ryuji let out a small annoyed groan.
“Oh man I’m sorry if she embarrassed you or something. Like all I said to her was “hey I met a cool guy and was thinking of inviting him out to lunch after the panel.” And it ain’t like I was shouting to anyone who’d listen. Count on Ann to make it a bigger deal than it was.”
For some reason hearing that made Akira feel more at ease. Maybe cause it just sounded like a normal thing rather than Akira leaving this massive impact on Ryuji’s life.
“It’s alright. I wasn’t really embarrassed just curious and maybe a little confused cause I didn’t think I was that big a deal.”
“Aw come on you’re selling yourself short Akira.”
Akira blushes at that and is about to respond when Ryuji spoke up.
“Oh! Uh so… what are your plans tomorrow?”
“Some panels, Futaba’s determined to get a commission done by her favorite fanartist, and that concert thing in the evening?”
“Cool, cool. If… if uh our free time lines up would it okay for me to hang out with you guys?”
Part of Akira wanted to say “no.” Ryuji was a busy guy and he didn’t want him to risk getting crowded by fans if someone recognized him behind the sunglasses and hat. Akira’d rather not see his face plastered on some tabloid because he was with Ryuji.
He really should say “no.”
“Why not? But I should check with Futaba and Morgana to make sure it’s okay with them. Going to the con was their idea and I don’t wanna step all over their plans.”
“Nah I get it. Let me know when you can. Talk to you later Akira.”
“Yeah talk to you later.”
The two hung up and Akira fell back onto his bed. That same part of him that wanted to say “no” felt like he made a mistake.
But he couldn’t (or rather didn’t) really go back on what he said.
Well… whatever happens is a problem for a future Akira.