And the first thing she sees is Julie kneeling down into the pillows beside her, a warm smile on her face. "Bon nuit, moitié."

Akira smiles despite herself. 

This is far better than any prison cell.

She sits up and gently kisses Julie, just once.

Julie kisses Akira tenderly, stroking her cheek.

"I am so proud of you, chérie. I won't keep you long, tonight. We three truly do need our rest. But I wanted to tell you that, and give you a congratulatory kiss."

She kisses her again.

"You are such a good girl, mon cœur."

Akira flushes gently, smiles, and lets Julie lay her back down on the expanse of black pillows. 

"Thank you, Julie..."

She smiles, deep and wide and thoughtful, relaxes into the pillows, and closes her eyes again. 

And with one last kiss to Akira's forehead, Julie lets her drift back off.

And then the morning comes. It is Saturday, 4/16. Sunny.

Akira wakes up to messages in the group chat.

Morning! <3

morning!

think todays the day?

sure hope so

Akira gets up and gets on her second spare uniform. She needs to do laundry soon... 

Morning all. Fingers crossed!

And she heads downstairs to get her morning curry from Boss.

Morgana follows her down.

Coffee, curry, and a little bowl of tuna.

"Morning, kid. How're you feeling?"

"Great, honestly." She gives him a deep and genuine smile. 

Akira rubs the back of her head. "I'm lucky to have you here, Boss. You've been nothing but good to me. And you make a mean curry and a great cup of joe."

She digs in.

"Ah, shucks, kid."

He scratches the back of his head.

"Just keep me posted if you hear anything about that coach today, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll text you if I hear anything."

He nods.

She eats quietly, and pets Morgana a little. It's calming. 

Then it's off to Shujin Academy.

Morgana purrs while being petted, and meow's a thank you at Sojiro, getting a nod in response.

While on the train, they look up at Akira. 

"You and Joker are pretty cool. Maybe it'd be nice to hang out more often, like come to school with you or something."

Akira smiles. "Yeah, Morgana. Hard to keep an apparent cat in class though."

They nod. "Makes sense. Don't want to cause you trouble."

Akira just nods. She'd say more, but the train car's packed with people.

Morgana gets it. They snuggle close.

And soon enough Akira's walking up to school.

Ryuji comes up alongside her on her way in.

"Hey! Good to see ya!"

"Hey, Ryuji!" Akira grins. "How's it going?"