I haven't written a fanfiction in... 5+ years? Maybe? God it's been a while.

Had this idea stirring in my head for a bit, and I think I have something at least substantial enough to make a short story out of.

This won't be anything long, probably 5 chapters at most? I'd like to keep it short and sweet.

This is mostly a cute fluff fic, nothing too serious, so I hope you enjoy it!

This takes place in early December, after the last palace but before the 24th, so be warned there may be spoilers for anything up to December!

(Also, I apologize in advance, I haven't had to really write much for at least 2-3 years now, so I might be a bit rusty ;w;)

It all started with an argument, and a pretty pointless one at that.

Akira, in hindsight, didn't really mean to say the things he did to his closest companion, but the effects of their little spat still weighed on him, his irritation driving him to get some fresh air. The cold air bit at him but he hardly noticed, he had too much on his mind, thinking back to his earlier dispute.

He weakly let the door to Leblanc shut closed behind him, the bell's light chime ringing through the small café. Akira barely acknowledged Sojiro as he passed, giving a grunt of affirmation to the owner's gruff "Ah, you're back". He trudged up the stairs and at the landing chose to drop his bag to the floor instead of placing it in its usual position atop its perch. Morgana yowled in annoyance at the rough treatment.

"Hey! Warn me before you drop me okay? That hurts!" He shook his rumpled fur and padded over to his bedside where Akira had flopped down, obviously tired from his day out. Morgana huffed, annoyed at the boy ignoring his complaints. Vibrations alerted him to the texts of the group chat. He slipped his phone from his pocket and lazily scrolled through the messages before letting the device fall from his hand to the bed.

"You listening? Hey! Earth to Akira!" The boy blinked, then focused his attention on his friend.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to be so rough." Akira responded, sitting up and choosing to rest his back against the wall. Morgana sighed.

"It's okay, just don't be so careless next time." Morgana hopped up onto the bed, curling his tail to rest before his paws. He made to start grooming himself when he sniffed the air, smelling a foul scent.

"Oh man, you reek! What did you do to smell so bad?"

"You know, the usual. Working jobs here, helping the odd ex-yakuza member there." He chuckled. "Didn't get the chance to take a shower, not all of us can just lick ourselves clean like you can." Morgana scoffed at this.

"Hey, it's not as easy as it looks! Being stuck as a cat in this world isn't all that great you know, I can't just go anywhere and do anything like you can." Morgana growled out. It was Akira's turn to be annoyed. He'd had a long, miserable day.

"Like being a human is all that easy either. You get to lounge around all day. I have to actually go out and be a 'productive member of society'".

"Oh really? Tell me how much easier I have it, Akira." Morgana questioned. Akira's head, already throbbing from the commotion of the tiring day, pounded. His emotions and thoughts bubbled up and began to spill out.

"Come on, where do I begin? You don't have societal obligations, or school, or the pressure of others around you. You can get by without those needs. I wouldn't need to watch myself constantly, or go into hiding if I was like you, Morgana! I wouldn't need to deal with people shunning me, calling me slurs, or-"

"Really? You think I don't have to deal with those things either? I'm not just some stupid cat, Akira! What's gotten into you?" Morgana chastised, confused at the sudden outburst. Akira ran his hands through his hair in frustration, grasping at strands in an attempt to make the aching in his head subside.

"I would kill to be in your position Morgana, you have it so much better than I ever will." Morgana bristled at the last comment.

"You really think my life is that great? That I'm not jealous of what you have? You're being completely ridiculous Akira! So what a few people said some mean things to you-"

"A few?" Akira interjected.

"If I was in your position why would I care what some random people think? I could go so many places; do so many things." Akira abruptly stood up, frustration getting the better of him. He threw his hoodie back on, ignoring Morgana's sharp mew of surprise. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

"I need some air." Akira muttered, already heading down the steps. Sojiro had already headed home for the night, the cozy café shrouded in a blanket of darkness. Akira stepped out into the brisk December air, the chill making him shiver and blow out a plume of wispy breath.

Thinking back on it, the argument had been rather silly. The stress from the day had weighed down on his mind, and Morgana's remarks had dredged up old feelings he had managed to repress deeply. However, a part of him was still rather irritable and he still believed in what he told his friend.

'He thinks I have it so easy, that I don't have enough to deal with already. Does he not remember my position? What I've been through? How could he ignore that?' He questioned. Another part of him countered his thoughts. 'But you know he wants to be human more than anything, why would you say something like that to him?' He cringed, trying not to acknowledge how wrongly he had acted during the fight.

A bump to his shoulder knocked him from his thoughts to find he'd made it Shibuya. He was a bit surprised to find that he had gone into auto-pilot and taken a familiar route to the busy streets of the glowing city. People were still out, bundled up in warm clothes and enjoying the last hour of open businesses. Some were already locked tight for the night, but many would still remain open into the late hours. He went for his pocket, but cursed upon realizing he had left his phone on his bed, not caring to pick it up when he had rushed out in a huff. A screen to his left displayed the hour in harsh, glowing neon. He had a good hour before the last train home, so he decided to at least make this outing somewhat productive. He headed toward Central Street with the plan of entering the Velvet Room. Shido's palace may have fallen, but there were still some requests to finish and he might as well prepare.

A wave of nausea overcame him suddenly, causing him to pause and clutch his head. Beads of sweat trailed down his temple, cascading to his jawline. 'Did I catch a cold? It is flu season after all.' Undeterred, he continued to his destination. He wasn't, however, prepared for another wave to hit him, this time even stronger. He clutched his head in agony, overwhelmed by the suddenly onslaught. Akira had rounded the corner, the Velvet Room in sight, its faint blue glow now like a bright beacon in the murky, narrow alley. He squinted his eyes against the glare, its harsh light triggering his head to pound like a bass drum in his skull.

"It's pretty late for you Inmate. I'm surprised you're here at this time of night." Caroline greeted him with her usual smirk. She continued with her usual chiding but it was lost to the fogginess that had enshrouded Akira's mind. Had Akira been on a higher level of awareness, he may have been amused at the concern in her tone, or the hurriedness in which she moved to catch him as he finally collapsed under the fatigue of whatever illness had overcome him so suddenly. He definitely didn't catch the apparent fear in her cries as she spoke in his ear and dragged his limp body through the doorway and into the soft blue and melodic hymn of the Velvet Room.

Back in the stuffy attic of Café Leblanc, a certain member of the Phantom Thieves curled up in the empty bed, suddenly exhausted emotionally and physically from the events of the night.

Morgana awoke to soreness in his neck, a chill in the air, and a strangely empty space beside him. His mind slowly recalled the fight from the night before and the strange way Akira had been acting and responding to his usual jabs at him. The empty space next to him meant he either never went to bed that night, or he was already up. The latter was immediately dismissed; he had oddly slept like a rock last night but Akira waking up and moving would have definitely woken him up as well. It wasn't unusual for Akira to be missing in the morning, but with the happenings of last night, something was off. A yell from downstairs confirmed his suspicions.

"Akira? You up yet? It's nearly twelve, I need you to help me out today you lazy bum."

'Boss hasn't seen him either? Did he really not come home last night?' Groggily, Morgana opened his eyes to the dim attic. Akira was nowhere in sight, but even stranger did the attic seem to get smaller?

He went to stretch like usual but found his movements suddenly very awkward. Confused, he looked down and was met with a very unexpected surprise.

Two pale, pink, and lanky human arms greeted his tired eyes and he had to take a moment to shake his head vigorously to make sure he wasn't still dreaming.

Nope.

The hands were still there.

The very much human hands with thumbs, soft nails, no fur-

In that moment he screamed.

Ryuji S. : Hey, anyone hear from Akira lately?

Ann T. : Not since yesterday afternoon.

Ann T. : Why?

Ryuji S. : I'm a bit worried. He didn't respond to any of the messages last night or this morning. He doesn't speak much but he isn't usually this quiet.

Yusuke K. : I'm sure our leader is simply preoccupied with his multifarious endeavors.

Makoto N. : Yusuke's right. I don't think there's reason to worry yet. I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't even awake.

Ryuji S. : True. Pretty sure that dude could sleep for days if we let him. It's just weird that he hasn't replied to anything.

Haru O. : If we really want to be on the safe side, could not Futaba-chan check up on him?

Futaba S. : I bet he's just snoozing away up there. I'm gonna eat lunch at Leblanc anyway, so I'll text you an update when I get there.

Makoto N. : Satisfied?

Ryuji S. : Mkay.

Ann T. : I bet he's gonna laugh when he sees how worried you are Ryuji.

Ryuji S. : Shut up!

Morgana heard bustling from below him and a shout of confusion, but he couldn't focus on that at the moment. His current thoughts were occupied by 'Oh God what, how did this happen? Why am I human? How am I human? Is this a dream? An illusion?' His mind was racing through possibilities and he couldn't wrap his head around it. He reached his hands- his human hands- up and felt his face. Round cheeks that moved into a slender, pointed chin. A small, round nose squished between delicate fingers. He reached for his hair; black as night and tussled, looking all too similar to a bird's nest.

The next moment he was broken out of his exploration of his new human body to hear a shout from below.

"What's going on up there? Akira, are you okay?" Sojiro's voice was edged with worry. Morgana paused, having no idea how to respond. The quiet was long and tense, and the cat-turned-boy was struggling to think of a way out of this. A rush of footsteps signaled Sojiro moving downstairs and it was in that moment Morgana realized something.

He was naked.

He was a complete stranger sitting naked in Akira's room, the boy nowhere to be found.

This would not look good.

As fast as possible he bundled the blanket on Akira's bed around his body, trying to cover up his indecency as best as possible. A moment later Sojiro's head popped up from the staircase, a pan in hand.

"Who the hell are you? And where's Akira?" He grilled, raising the pan in defense. He looked Morgana up and down, confused at the presence of the boy, and ready to swing if he showed any signs of hostility.

"Wait, Boss! You're not going to believe me but please hear me out for a moment!" Morgana pleaded, hands up in surrender.

"You've got five seconds to explain before I drag you out the front door." Sojiro eyed him warily, raising the pan higher as a threat.

"Okay okay! It's me, Morgana, the cat that's always with Akira? I know! It sounds crazy, but it's really me!" Sojiro let the pan drop slightly, his eyes widening.

"You expect me to believe you're his cat?"

"Come on, out of all the things you've learned about recently, is this really the weirdest?" Morgana questioned, a deadpan expression painted across his face. Sojiro loosened up a bit.

"…True. I guess you're not wrong about that. Then tell me something only Morgana would know." Morgana thought for a moment and then came up with a response.

"When you first allowed Akira to take me in, you told him that you wanted to name me, and that 'I kept calling out in a cute little voice'. Then there's the whole business of Akira, myself, and our friends being the Phantom Thieves and changing hearts in the cognitive world. Is that enough proof?"

Sojiro looked a bit shocked at his response, only half expecting him to really have a good answer.

"So you're really him, huh? I'm actually speaking to Akira's cat?" He sighed. "I'm getting to old for this." He put the pan down and came closer to Morgana. "So, how exactly did you suddenly become a human being?" Morgana shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine, I just suddenly woke up like this." He gestured to the rest of his body.

"Strange… On a different note, Akira isn't up here, do you know where he went? Does he know you're…" He gestured to his new form.

"No, I woke up a minute ago and he wasn't here. I'm worried, I don't think he came home last night." Sojiro narrowed his eyes at this.

"What do you mean? I saw you two walk in before I closed up."

"Yes, but we may have had a little fight and he went out to get some air. I don't think he ever came back." He looked to the small device that still sat on the bed. "Looks like he left his phone behind too, so there's no way to contact him. This could be a problem." Morgana trailed off, still staring at Akira's discarded phone.

"It's not like him to stay out all night. Do you have any idea where he may have gone?" Morgana shook his head.

"No idea. I'm worried about him. What if he ran into trouble? What if he got hurt? If we didn't have that stupid fight we wouldn't be in this situation-

"Now hold on there, let's not go jumping to any conclusions just yet. It's his fault too for not taking his damn phone with him. Before we do anything we should probably check with his friends and see if they've seen him. You can contact them right?" Morgana nodded. "Good. Now, I'll see about getting you some clothes and some food. You're probably hungry right?" Morgana's eyes lit up.

"Food? Does that mean curry?" Morgana gasped, buzzing with excitement. Sojiro chuckled.

"I'll have it ready in a few, Futaba should be stopping in any minute now, so I need to prepare her a plate as well. Stay up here though till I can get you at least some pants. You can't exactly run around in the nude anymore, don't want you scaring away my customers." With that, Sojiro headed down the stairs.

Morgana reached for the phone, opening the Phantom Thieves group chat. After scrolling through the texts, Morgana wondered how he should break the news to the rest of the gang. On one hand, he'd miraculously turned human in a single night out of the blue. On the other, Akira was missing in action. Addressing himself as Morgana would cause a lot of confusion, and starting out with Akira having gone missing would make cause a bigger commotion and a lot of worry. It would be too much to explain in one text conversation. He then made his decision.

He fumbled with the phone for a moment. He knew how to work it from watching Akira use it so many times, but actually typing was a new experience for him.

Akira K. : Hey guys.

Futaba S. : !

Ann T. : Ah! Akira!

Ann T. : Look Ryuji, he's just fine.

Akira K. : Um…

Ryuji S. : Yeah yeah, laugh all you want.

Akira K. : I actually need to tell you guys something.

Akira K. : Can we all meet at Leblanc as soon as possible?

Makoto N. : What's the matter? Is something wrong?

Akira K. : Hopefully it's nothing, but it's important.

Haru O. : I hope everything is okay!

Yusuke K. : Does this have to do with your earlier silence?

Akira K. : Partially. Just meet at Leblanc after school, okay?

Ryuji S. : Got it!

Futaba S. : I'll be there in like, 2 seconds! :U

Morgana sighed and dropped the phone to the bed. It was going to be weird revealing what happened to everyone, and they probably wouldn't appreciate him misleading them, but it's the safest way to go. Hopefully Akira would make his way back to Leblanc before they even arrived.

He tried to ignore the feeling of a pit opening in his stomach as he worried about his companion.

He'd be okay. He had to be.

Annnnd there's chapter one! We'll see what Akira's been up to next!

Quick note about the fight between Akira and Mona:

Really I'm using this as a tool for a reason for the transformation to occur (cough like freaky friday cough) so Akira is a little less apologetic than he probably should be. Oh well. To be honest, it's probably the weakest aspect of what I wanted to write in this story, so I hope it's not too over the top?...