"Akira" Normal Speech

'Akechi' People's thoughts

"Persona" Other being's speech

'Velvet' Other being's thoughts

Disclaimer: You know the drill; Persona and the SMT franchise belong to our lord Atlus.

Magician I

Family

Family.

It was such a simple term and yet it was one that at one point had mystified him.

What made a group of individuals a family?

Was it because they had the same blood running through their veins? At one point he might have believed it so, after all, it was the obvious conclusion in his mind.

But things changed, circumstances changed, he changed.

For so long he had been lost, believing to be something that he was not just for the sake of fitting in, his own clashing emotions blinding him of what he had right in front of him to the point that he had actually abandoned them at one point.

Looking back at it, he certainly acted as a fool there, didn't he?

But even after that, they had accepted him back with open arms; they kept fighting alongside one another against the incoming threats, even when a God itself stood in front of them.

And it was after all ended that he finally figured out what he truly was. To think he believed himself a human at one point, it almost made him snort just at the thought of it, and while the discovery of not only from where he came from, what he was and what he purpose truly was were things that he had felt more than glad about, he also found something just as, if not even more important to him.

It was his own definition of what having a family meant.

They didn't share the same blood nor was there a piece of paper that legally made them related to one another, but to him what they had was simply stronger than any of that stuff.

Among them, they found a place that they could belong to, a sense of camaraderie and companionship that could only be born by shedding tears and spilling blood together as they fought back to back to the beings of the Metaverse.

And among them, it was him that not only found a home, but also a family that he could proudly call himself a member of.

Such was the bond that tied together the members of the Phantom Thieves of Heart.

And you would think that after years of inactivity the members of such a tight-knitted group would have stayed just as they were before back in the day, at least when it came to their numbers in his opinion.

But the small being that had his undivided attention was the proof that the team had gained a new member, even if said member couldn't even talk right now.

It was the middle of the night and the shine of the moon coming from the window was the only source of light that filled the room he was currently in. He could perfectly see in the darkness though, so such a thing was hardly enough to bother him.

He was currently standing on top of one of the of the sides of a medium sized wooden crib, his tail hanging outside of the thing while his head was tilted down, letting his blue eyes focus solely on the small bundle that was currently resting on the crib.

Of course said bundle, which happened to be covered by a set of blankets, was a human.

An extremely small human yes, but one nonetheless, or if you wanted to be more precise: A baby.

One that even after weeks of being born still mystified him to no end.

Of course he knew that it was inevitable, that it was only a matter of time until one of these popped out from someone of the team, but even so, he didn't know if to be surprised or not about just who the father of the baby was.

Then again maybe it was just that said father had initiative running through his veins, he could be considered the first member of the team after all, and that was ignoring the fact that he was also the leader of the said team.

And now said person was also a father to a small baby daughter.

Boy had things changed from those times in which they slept in a dirty attic all by themselves.

His eyes inspected the baby in all of her sleeping glory just like how he had done so many times ever since she had been born. He didn't know why, but such a sight of her peaceful sleeping was still enough to fill him with awe.

It wasn't like he had experience with babies before anyway, although even if he had there was still no denying that this one was special to him.

He really wasn't kidding about the team gaining a new member; after all even if you ignored who the mother was, the fact that she was Joker's daughter already made her an honorary member of the Phantom Thieves by default.

And by the looks he remembered all the other members had as soon as they saw her, he knew that he wasn't the only one who thought as such.

"So here is where you where hiding"

A quiet, almost whispering voice called out to him from the door of the room, and it was one that he recognized pretty much immediately. He didn't even have to turn around to know who the person that was approaching the crib was, his own blue eyes still focused on the sleeping baby right until he felt a hand slowly stroking his furry back.

That was enough to get his attention, finally forcing him to take his eyes away from her sleeping form to look at his side, his gaze instantly meeting an amused pair of tired silver eyes.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping? You have work tomorrow in case you forgot" He reproached the man to his side almost instantly, however the answer he got was nothing but a smile.

"I could be telling you the same, even if you don't work I didn't think you were the night type" His smooth voice followed said smile, although the whole effect became mute by the bags that he was able to see under the man's eyes.

Although he had to admit that, even after years of knowing him he still hadn't changed that much. Sure, he was a little bit taller now, his hair wasn't that much of a mess as it was before and he even stopped wearing those fake glasses of his, but all in all, he still saw nothing but his partner, leader and best friend in front of him.

Sure, an extremely more tired version of said guy but hey, details were details.

He saw as the raven-haired man to his side did his best to stifle a yawn while his silver eyes moved from the black cat to the crib, or to be more precise, to the one resting inside said crib.

And as soon as those tired eyes met the sleeping form of his daughter, a smile that Morgana could only describe as being filled with love appeared on the man's lips.

It was quite the sight if Morgana had to be honest, one that by now he was also used to seeing, and by now he knew that it would only be a matter of time before his leader ended up spoiling his daughter rotten.

"She's quite the sight, isn't she?" He heard him mutter to his side, and the cat found himself simply nodding without even realizing it, although he then blinked slowly, a smirk making itself present on his face.

"You say that just because she's your kid or you're just pointing out the fact that she isn't crying her eyes out this time?" In response the hand that was on his back suddenly moved to his head right before pushing it down slightly, getting a small yelp from the blue-eyed feline.

"A bit of both to be honest" Even so Joker ended up answering with honesty, and it wasn't like Morgana didn't understand the feeling.

Nights had become restless every since they got this new addition to their family after all.

The pair of Persona users ended up falling in a comfortable silence soon after that, mostly out of the fear of waking up the snoozing baby below them while also knowing that if they did the mother of said baby would be coming up to the room as fast as possible.

No need to wake up the two ladies of the household after all.

But even then said silence ended up being broken by the raven-haired man who had already moved his eyes to look directly at Morgana.

"Hey, could you do me a favor?" His voice came out softly, and in such a tone that Morgana knew was only used when it came to important things.

Suffice to say, the leader of the Phantom Thieves had his undoubted attention almost immediately.

"Just… Keep an eye on her, alright?" It sounded as if he didn't know how to voice out his request properly, which was only intensified by the tired sigh that left him soon after "I mean, I know she probably won't be able to understand you when she grows up but… If it is you then…"

"Was that all? For a moment I thought it was something else" The answer he got from the cat caught him by surprise, but before he was even able to say anything else it was Morgana who beat him to the punch "She's your daughter, you know? She's a member of the team by default so of course I'm going to look out for her, even if you didn't ask" His blue orbs shinned with amusement as his next words left his mouth "Even if she doesn't look that much like you"

"Hey, I'll have you know that she got my eyes" Sure, her hair was obviously something she got from her mother, but those silver eyes hiding behind her closed eyelids were all from him.

"Thank you though…" He continued soon after while a grateful smile appeared in his lips, also feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulder "Feels good to know that she'll have uncle Morgana on her side.

Hearing that, the black cat almost fell down in surprise before a happy glint shined in his eyes right as he puffed out his chest proudly, his tail moving lazily behind him.

Uncle Morgana huh? That didn't sound so bad to his ears. Definitely better than uncle Ryuji or Yusuke if anyone asked him.

"No problem, partner" He said with a resolute nod "Now go and rest, you look like you're going to fell asleep at any second now"

A snort left the raven-haired man as soon as he heard that, although the advice didn't sound bad at all to him. He could certainly use a night of uninterrupted sleep, so it was with a last, soft smile as he looked down at the sleeping visage of his daughter that he got more than ready to go back to his bed.

And he would have done so if said daughter didn't suddenly start stirring in his sleep.

Her small movement was enough to freeze both human and cat in their tracks, their previous happy expression slowly morphing into looks of nothing but sheer horror.

And then both silver and blue were met by another pair of silver eyes as the baby slowly, but surely, opened her eyes.

A second of silence followed that…

And then all hell broke loose inside that room.

"Shhh please don't cry please don't cry" The man whispered softly as he rocked his child back and forth in his arms, a panicked expression present on his face just as the wails of the infant filled not only his ears but also the room.

As for the other Persona user of the room…

"Well good luck with that one, Joker!" Never in his life had Akira seen Morgana move so fast from point A to point B, after all he was sure that if he had blinked he would have missed Morgana running from the crib straight to the door of the room in less than a second.

Well, there went uncle Morgana.

"Traitor…" He whispered under his breath as he tried his best to stop the crying child in his arms. You would think that after weeks of the same he would have gotten better at such a thing, but you would be absolutely wrong.

Fighting and defeating Shadows? A piece of cake by now.

Calming down his crying daughter? Fighting Yaldabaoth had been somehow easier in comparison!

He suddenly stopped his movements as soon as he heard the sound of the door of the room opening. His back was facing the door so he couldn't have known who had made said sound, but the leader of the Phantom Thieves was quick to turn around, a hopeful expression forming on his face.

Of course Morgana wouldn't abandon him like that, not after everything they had gone through!

But instead of meeting the eyes of said cat his gaze was quick to match another pair of eyes just as, if not more, tired than his own, with the owner of said eyes sporting what could only be described as a clearly not amused expression.

Luckily for him if he had learned something in the years he had been married to his wife, it was how to deal with such situations.

"You look beautiful and I love you so much, my dear" He said with the best smile that he could muster, although whatever effect he had tried to convey became mute as soon as the wails of their daughter became somehow fiercer.

And such was just another night in the Kurusu household.

P5P5P5P5P5P5P5P5P5P5P5P5P5

First of all, I apologize for taking so long with this chapter. If you want to blame something for that, then blame both Danganronpa V3 and Cuphead. I will try to get the next chapter done faster, that much I assure you.

This chapter was just a fun little idea that I wanted to implement since all of the chapters with the female Confidants in this fic are in the past, why not make the male Confidants have moments in the future? Of course, by moments I mean them interacting with the Joker's family, aka him, his anonymous wife and their daughter (whose name I haven't thought up yet).

These chapters will be extremely rare though, so there's that, and I bet the main question this chapter will bring up is about who Joker ended up marrying in this story, and the answer right now is: Who knows?

Thank you all for your patience and for having read this far!

Next Chapter: Present III