Roses are red

Violets are blue

Your phone is ringing

Let me get that for you

"Can I ask you one last thing, Kurusu-kun?"

That was the second time Sae Niijima, ex-prosecutor and sister of Makoto Niijima, had asked the same question. This time, however, her tone was decidedly different. It was lower, almost as if fear dragged it down into the shadows.

It didn't help that the conversation was taking place inside a Juvenile prison, with a glass wall between the two of them, but that definitely wasn't the reason for the sudden terror in the voice of the lawyer.

"Sure." The raven-haired teen answered once more.

The tall woman quickly eyed her surroundings, as if she wanted to make sure there was no one who could hear them. "By any chance do you know someone who's maybe too good with computers?"

It was a silly question under normal circumstances. But Akira knew that it was inherently pointing towards one of the Phantom Thieves. Or… at least that was what he thought. "D-does this has to do with the Phantom Thieves?"

Sae slowly approached the glass, a scared look on her face. "I don't know, at least, not with what I was able to investigate. Look…" She sat on the chair she had left a few minutes ago, her nails faintly tapping on the surface of the metal table. "I told you that we were able to get you out thanks to the appearance of the woman Shido had assaulted, right?"

The teenager nodded.

"Well… the thing is… that there were other people. People that were linked to Shido, who worked for him, accepted his bribes or just worked under his minions." The woman sighed, the conversation was obviously taking a toll on her. "Remember those who tortured you in the interrogation cell?"

Akira flinched a little. Those scars took a long while to heal. The physical ones, the psychological wounds were still healing. "Yeah, is this about those guys?"

Sae's eyes seemed to look at the void for a few moments before going back to the young rogue. "Someone took the time to dig every single bit of dirt about those guys and made sure the entirety of their sins were exposed to the public. Not only in Japan, but WORLDWIDE." Akira felt the blood freeze in his veins. "I don't know if you understand the extent of what I've just told you, but let me explain: The lives of those men were over the moment those files were exposed to the world. The torture, the shady orders, the corruption, the crimes… everything. Their faces were on every single device that could connect to the internet, their names were on every single message and email. Do you understand?" Her eyes were wide open, trembling in fear. "Torture is a crime. It's not only on Japan's legal code, but also in every single international treaty. Torture of a MINOR, however, is even worse. I can only say that one of those men had to be put in Suicide Watch. The others were too broken to attempt anything."

At first the Thieves' Leader thought about Futaba, but after hearing the level of ruthlessness involved in the cases, he discarded the idea. Only one name remained in his mind, only one person was able to enact such a punishment. But he refused to speak its name. Innocent until proven guilty. "Was that all?" He asked, his voice cracking a little bit at the end.

"Far from it." The silver-haired woman answered quickly. "Those men were only the start of an even bigger purge. We only saw the smoke when the inferno was already burning high. After that, your friend started following the chain of command. Whoever had dirt on themselves ended up burning in a pire. A wickerman made entirely of burning people. I can't believe I'm saying this, but, if the former chef of the investigation unit, my former boss were still alive, he would've taken his own life without thinking it twice. That's the extent of what happened."

"Something tells me this isn't the end of the story." Akira lowered his gaze, unable to keep staring at the frightened visage of a former prosecutor. One that had been once proud of being unbreakable.

Sae's nails started tapping faster. "You're correct. That was far from the end. Under normal circumstances, it would've taken years to gather all the evidence to put Shido on trial. But then… this person attacked again. Mails were leaked, account balances, text messages, even video recordings. There wasn't a single spot left unchecked. If someone had made any deal with Shido, even if it was a one time thing, made under threats or whatever, it got out. The day a whole bunch of Yakuzas entered the Tokyo Police Station asking for protection was the moment I understood that Shido had made a powerful enemy. More powerful than you, me, the police, or even the Phantom Thieves." The woman on the other side of the glass lowered her head. "We got all the evidence we wanted, but at what cost? At the end, only ashes remained of Shido's crime imperium. Human, corporation, hacker or criminal. No one was spared. No sin went unpunished."

Akira didn't want to admit it, but if his willpower were a little bit weaker, his teeth would've been clattering non-stop. But he kept his wits intact, just as he had done against a literal god of order.

"That's why…!" Sae suddenly slammed her hands against the metal table, startling the young thief on the other side. "That's why I ask of you, Kurusu-kun, please BE CAREFUL. I know that person wanted to help you. I know that every single action was born of the willingness of taking every criminal to court with enough evidence to get them on trial, but… but the means…! Just… take care, ok? Enjoy your freedom."

With those last words, Sae Niijima promptly left the former Phantom Thief alone in the room. Akira took a few moments to forcefully dislodge his hands that were frozen clutching his knees.

The Dokkaebi is not only a mythological creature in Korean folklore. It's a legendary trickster, its magic beneficial or extremely harmful to humans. But the part that most people tend to forget, is that the Dokkaebi is also associated with the grim reaper. The very same trickster that likes to prank and help in equal parts is also the embodiment of death. And nothing could be closer to the truth right now for Akira Kurusu.

G: The VIP has been safely released, mission accomplished.
G: Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you're Ok. Tomorrow's a big day after all. Do you mind if I come around after work?
G: There are some things I need to speak with you… VERY important things.

A: Absolutely, Eun Hye.

G: Great! I'll see you tomorrow then. Sleep well, 자기야.

"Is everything alright, kid?"

The soothing voice of his mentor brought Akira Kurusu back to reality.

"Yes, I was just thinking about something." The ex-thief took back the pot he was scrubbing until a few moments ago and started cleaning it again. "I think… I got caught amidst the reverie. Freedom is still new to me." He let out a small laugh.

Sojiro Sakura sighed with a warm smile on his lips. "Yeah, the fresh air can get to your head pretty quickly."

The old barista eyed the café. On the back, his protegé and almost a son, Akira Kurusu, was scrubbing the last dishes of the day; on the booths, Futaba, his adopted daughter, played with Morgana, enjoying the peace and quiet of the closing hours. He let out a small sigh, the calm and peaceful scene almost too much for his mind after the tumultuous months he had to live.

But something didn't elude his sharp gaze. The young rogue was anxious about something. It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but Sojiro had been trained to pick up even the most minimal of signs. Now it was a question of knowing the source of his restlessness.

The former agent's mind went through a vast list of possibilities until, by some miracle, he remembered the date.

"Oh right. Today's Valentine's Day. No wonder there were so many guys bringing girls in here." Sojiro exclaimed in the most casual way he could muster. The ice had to be broken slowly, with surgical precision unless he wanted another calamity to unfold inside LeBlanc. "Don't you have anything exciting happening? I mean, you've been here nearly a whole year." Akira finished the dishes and quickly dried his hands on his apron. "Y'know, when I was young, hoo boy…"

That last phrase was good. Pretty good if the older man had to judge it himself, but, for some reason, the teenager still had his back towards him, as if he was bracing for an inevitable impact.

The thought vanished quickly from the master barista's mind the moment he heard the chime sing alongside the opening of the entrance door.

"Good evening Sojiro-san, Futaba-chan…" A small silence lingered for a moment. "Akira-kun."

In the entrance, the now usual figure of Grace Nam stood. For some uncanny reason, she had decided to leave her beanie at home and instead chose to don a simple but somewhat fancy attire for the occasion. A mixture of black and deep blues helped to highlight Grace's discreet but very cute factions. Her face was a shining beacon of love and warmth, even more so with a pair of big, round glasses that accentuated her expressive eyes.

Sojiro took a quick glance at Akira. The young man hadn't even budged from his position. There was something in the air, and it wasn't just love…

"Big sis Grace!" Futaba's shout broke the frigid air like a thunder cleaves the atmosphere in two. "You came! Why didn't you tell me you were going to visit today?"

The petite girl threw herself onto the arms of the older woman, who in turn spun her around with all the care in the world. "I'm also glad to see you again, Futaba-chan." Grace carefully lowered the little girl onto the ground once more and patted her head. "I hope you've been a good girl like I asked last time."

The orange haired girl nodded with enthusiasm. "I've been a good girl. I haven't hacked into anywhere that can trace me back." She pumped her arms with energy. "Not until you teach me how to be a ghost."

Grace smiled with something akin to pride mixed with uneasiness. "That's my little sis. Remember: Baby steps." She patted the orange tinted head once more and quickly turned over to the old agent behind the counter. "Glad to see you fine and dandy as always, Sojiro-san."

"I'm a tough guy. A little bit of torture is nothing." He caressed his prized goatee with a smug smile on his face. "Pretty fortunate of us to have you tonight. Do you have an appointment?"

The raven-haired woman smiled as a small laugh escaped her lips. "Perhaps. Although, I can't have a special evening all by myself." Her eyes quickly focused on the young man at the back of the café. "Say, is the shift over yet?"

It was time. His name had been called, and so, he had to answer. Slowly, Akira turned around and faced the three people (plus one 'cat') in the room with a smile on his face. "That's on my boss." The young rogue stepped out of the kitchen and stood just beside the booths at the other side of the counter. "It's okay if I end my shift now, boss?"

Sojiro sighed and laughed a little bit. "Ohhh… you should've just told me." He exchanged a quick glance of complicity with Futaba who was watching the whole scene unfold with a smug grin on her face. "Here, I'll leave the store to you." As he walked out of his usual spot he gave the petite hacker a small nod that signaled their cue to exit from the stage. "Enjoy yourselves..."

The orange-haired girl carefully picked up Morgana and followed her adoptive dad's footsteps out of the café. "Go get him, sis." She whispered to the older woman.

"Eyes on the prize." Grace whispered back

"So… the usual?" The young rogue asked as he lifted an eyebrow in amusement.

"That would be lovely."

It only took a few minutes for the teenager to whip up two perfect cups of coffee over the table of a booth and the couple sat one in front of the other.

"And I thought I was too dramatic sometimes." She sipped a little bit of coffee. "So, how's the other side looking?"

Akira shuffled his hair a little bit. "I can't complain. I surely don't miss the stagnant air of a single cell."

Grace smiled, her eyes shining with a longing she had been restraining since the beginning of the whole ordeal. "I'm glad… Anyway, I have something for you." She quickly produced an extremely fancy box of chocolates from under the table and carefully deposited it in front of her boyfriend. "I had literally zero idea of what to get for you. I mean, you never mentioned your favorite sweets, or chocolate flavors, anything! So I had to make a few calls just to be sure."

The young rogue eyed the heavy box in front of him. It was black with fine golden engravings. A red, long ribbon kept the package tightly and neatly closed. He gulped. "It is indeed a very big Valentine's Day present, Eun Hye."

A faint blush appeared on the cheeks of the older woman. "I-I mean… I know that handmade chocolates tend to carry that whole 'lovey-dovey' feeling a lot more than just buying them, but…" She fidgeted with one of her braids. "I hope you realize how much I love you."

Akira laughed a little, something that his older lover returned with a smile. "I really appreciate the gesture, but I consider the chocolate to be an extra. Because tonight…" He shuffled his hair in a seductive way. "You're the only thing I need in my life."

"I hope I'm the only one who has heard those words from you." The older woman answered, a fierce blush on her cheeks as she held back an extremely sheepish smile. "For your own safety."

"You have my word." He winked. "Also, thanks for taking care of Futaba. I am very, very grateful for that."

"Eh? Oh, right…" Grace smiled with some sadness. "Don't worry about that. You asked me a favor, just as I told you to do if you needed help, but… even if you hadn't asked I would've helped." Her eyes slowly trailed off to the cup in front of her. "Futaba's an amazing child. She has a gifted mind and her soul is filled with a passion brighter than the stars. It's only fair that we help her get back on track, after everything her poor heart has endured…"

"Even so, thank you. For the backup"

A brief silence was felt inside LeBlanc, the coffee in the cups endlessly swirling.

"She's just like you… like me." The older woman let out a strained laugh. "And if I had to guess, the rest of the Phantom Thieves also have a dark past behind them. Isn't that so?" She sipped a little bit of coffee.

Akira sighed with a smile on his lips. "We all have scars. We all have our wounds. But we wear them as badges, as trophies. They make us stronger, wiser. That's what makes us human, what ties us together." This time it was his turn to drink from his cup. "And that's why I keep falling in love with you. Because you understand me as much as I understand you. It took a while and we had our rough moments and bumps in the road, but…" He sat back with arms crossed and a loving smile on his face. "I think it's worth it. And I'll do it all over again, juvenile prison and all included."

"You're going home next month, isn't it?" Grace asked, sadness rising in her tone.

Her younger lover nodded.

She looked at the young rogue, the sadness mixing with the longing in her eyes. "Can I sit next to you?"

Akira quickly moved to the side, leaving more than enough space for the raven-haired woman. Grace quickly stepped out of her side and promptly sat at the side of her boyfriend.

The young rogue sensed how she squirmed a little bit on the booth, the telltale sign of something churning inside her mind. But before he could ask, Grace finally spoke.

"It was me." She broke the silence with a phrase that felt like a thunder in the darkness.

Even if the normal reaction was to ask a question, Akira remained silent, for he knew all too well what Grace was implying.

Slowly, the Korean woman unbraided her hair, letting it flow naturally over her shoulders. "I was the one who took justice into my own hands." She also took off her glasses. "Because… I couldn't let it go."

The former leader of the Thieves carefully eyed his girlfriend. The only time he had seen her without the braids AND fake glasses was when hope was almost lost in her apartment. It had been a radically different situation, so he hadn't had the time to appreciate how different, how alluring she looked like that. It was Grace Nam, the real Grace Nam, without any disguise or facade, just Grace.

"You went pretty hard on them." He sipped a little bit of coffee. "But I completely understand your feelings. I'm guilty of thinking the same thing."

"They were ready to go to any extent to take down the Phantom Thieves, ANY. I mean, what if the fuckers actually screwed up and ended up killing you during the interrogation?" She huffed, visibly agitated by the mere thought. "One simple mistake, one wrong dose of that drug, one more beating and you would have ended up really dead, isn't that a crime? Am I wrong for wanting revenge?."

Akira quickly took off his glasses and intertwined his hand with hers. "It's ok, it's alright. I understand, I would never judge you for this. Eun Hye."

She sighed. "They had the means to bury your death, the people to make it look like a suicide. I couldn't let it pass, I couldn't let it go. Going as far as to kill a teenager? Those are the real monsters, those people deserve punishment. It reminds me of the kind of scum I used to fight against in my old job."

"You didn't kill them and you brought their crimes to the light, that's a win in my book." He kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you. I needed to tell you that, even if you ended up hating me forever."

"I could never hate you. I didn't when you almost threw me out of your apartment to protect me from the Korean army and I won't hate you now for trying to enact some justice in my instead. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I hated the woman who saved me from juvie?"

Grace carefully leaned over his shoulder. "If you're okay with that, then I guess that we can leave it behind now."

With a careful hand, Akira slowly caressed her head. "That was the important thing you needed to tell me?"

"No." The older woman quickly answered. "That was just something I needed to get out of my system before the important part."

Those kinds of answers weren't really unusual, but, as he had learnt in his days as a Phantom Thief, it didn't bode well to have the whole "misguided justice" part before the really important stuff. Luckily, this time his fears were unfounded.

"You're going back home next month, right?" He nodded at the question. "I know that we can live far away from one another, and I know that it would be temporal, at least until you graduate but… what if…" That last part left her lips almost like a whisper. "What if you could remain here, in Tokyo? What if you didn't have to stay in your hometown until graduation?"

The younger man arched his eyebrows in surprise. "That's… an oddly specific question. Is this the part about living together?"

Grace quickly abandoned the comfy position she had on the booth and positioned herself in front of her boyfriend, her hands on his shoulders, their faces close enough to feel their breaths. "I'm not joking. This is a serious question. No more secrets, no more fake glasses or changing your appearance and personality to throw off others. This is me, the real me asking you this question: do you want to stay here, in Tokyo, with me?" Their foreheads touched, the contact of the skin feeling like electricity. "If you want it, if you are willing to fight, then… I'll do whatever I can to help you achieve it."

Akira felt the question like a burning noose over his neck. What was the correct answer? He already knew what "whatever I can" meant to Grace. It gave him shivers to think about it, but the thought of being apart from her was equally frightening, not because of a long distance relationship (their love was already too powerful to be broken by mere distance) but because if anything happened to them, the other would be too far to come to the other's aid. What was worse; knowing what a woman like her could do for love or risking an accident while away from the woman he loved? Difficult indeed.

"Do not think too hard…" Her mouth advanced towards his, lips slightly quivering as the words left her lips. "It's love, this is about love. Living where you want to live, doing what you love with who you love… if your feelings are stronger than your fear, then… say it."

He was melting, melting in the vortex of her eyes, composed of pure love mixed with lust, desire and longing, all of them towards him. Akira steeled his resolve, just as he had done countless times against foes several times more powerful than him, and finally spoke, almost in a hush.

"I want to stay here… with you, Eun Hye." The young man relented.

"That's all I need." Grace answered as she kissed him with tenderness. "You thought you knew how deep an adult loves, but the truth is… that was just practice. Tonight, I'll make you see what the extent of my love is."

A gasp could be heard coming from his lips as her embrace and tender ministrations melted the very core of his soul.

"Hey there, it's nice to hear you again."

"It's late."

"Don't give me that crap, you never sleep."

"… I'm busy. What do you need?"

"Are you still up for some mischief?"

"Am I allowed to ask what kind of mischief we're talking about?"

"The best kind, of course."

"That sounds awfully ambiguous. I'm in."

"Great. Ask Hibana too, I bet she's eager to kick the system in the 'nads a few times after the whole police fiasco."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll accept gladly. Do you need the usual?"

"That and maybe some spicy yokai action."

"Holy shit, you're not joking about this, are you?"

"I'm going all in."

"Alright, I'll get some things rolling and then I'll call you back to discuss the details, is that ok?"

"Perfect, you know how to find me."

"It's impossible to miss you, Dokki."

"Get some sleep, Echo."

"Sure. Smartass."

AN: Well, the world is currently on fire, and here on my bunker, I'm still writing. I promised myself to finish this before anything happens to me, so, expect the rest in a somewhat faster rate than before, until then, be safe, be smart.

AN 2: Yep, it's tactical Rainbow Action. Dokkaebi goes in for the big prize. No one stands in the way of her love. NO ONE.