Winter Troubles a Persona 5 fanfiction

Rating: M

Pairing: Sadayo Kawakami/Protagonist

Summary:

Winter has come to Tokyo leading to Akira and Sadayo not having so much time together. Thanks to his new business, Akira hasn't been sleeping much nor has he been home and it's begun to take a toll.

Notes:

This story is set six years after the game and roughly a month and a half after my story "November Rain". This is a slice-of-life fiction. Nothing really game related. It's mostly about how they adjust to life after the game and the tolls relationships, family, and even having to deal with the fact that you can't relive the past can have on a person.

These are just my own speculations about how this particular version of the relationship might go. It's all ideas in my head and how I feel my version of the protagonist would react.

Atlus owns all in game characters and the plot. I own nothing nor profit save for my Ocs and the direction I took the story in.

Chapter 3

When he awoke, Akira felt worse than when he had fallen asleep. His head throbbed and his wound was pulsating violently. Sitting up, he winced as pain ravaged his body and he fell back into the pillows. He looked around, trying to gain the slightest hint of where he was and then it hit him. The room he was in was the ward inside the emergency clinic near his house. Rubbing his eyes he searched for his glasses and found them on the bedside table. The room cleared up instantly once he had them on and he slowly began scanning the room.

From what he could see, he was still the only person in the room and didn't know whether to be thankful or embarrassed. Feeling his hand stiffen, Akira tried flexing it only to be reminded of the needle that had been inserted the night before. Aside from his head and the drowning urge to fall back asleep, he felt better than he had in a long time and smiled, only to have his celebration mired by biological imperatives. Climbing cautiously to his feet, he put on his slippers and limped toward the bathroom. When he was almost there the door burst open and standing in front of him was a woman in a doctor's coat, a tray of instruments, and an authoritarian feeling to her.

"Look who's finally awake." The woman flipped on the light, forcing Akira to step back and cover his eyes. "We've been waiting for you to get up for a long while."

"Who are you?" Akira blinked rapidly trying to regain his vision.

"I'm Doctor Iwada." She searched through her tray and handed him a cup. "Please take care of this for me while you're in there."

Akira stared at the cup and then up at the doctor, an eyebrow arched and his jaw slightly slackened.

"What?" She asked incredulously while moving the tray over to his bed. "Don't tell me you've never had to do that for a doctor before?"

"I'm just confused as to the why." Akira looked between her and the cup; a coy smirk on his lips.

"Get in the bathroom and do what you need." The doctor's voice was stressed and he could see her frustration beginning to boil over. "Just leave it in there. I'll collect it later."

Deciding to follow her orders, Akira did what was requested of him and returned to the bed to find her waiting with gloves on and a large needle in her hand. He grimaced at the thought of being poked again. His hand was throbbing from the IV and having blood drawn was the last thing he wanted to do today. He rescinded to her instructions and allowed her to take what she needed from him and after removing his IV needle she removed his bandage and began checking his wound.

"This is a lot deeper than he let on." Her delicate touch was a wonderful contrast to her rough demeanor. Akira could barely feel her fingers as she cleaned him up and applied the ointment the previous doctor had applied."Is this your first time having stitches like this?"

"Not necessarily." Akira waited patiently as she applied the surgical tape to the gauze. "I've never really received medical attention for something like this."

"But you're no stranger to scars." She winked and gave him a pat on the head.

"It's not what you think." Akira had seen people stare at his scars when he and Sadayo had gone to the beach or any place where being partially dressed was the norm. He'd heard kids laugh at them and hushed whispers so often that he'd taken to leaving his shirt on or wearing a lightweight hoodie when they went to those places.

"There are very few people who could tolerate what you've had done to you." The doctor went to her vials and began filling out the labels. "I'm surprised you survived that many injuries and with little to no medical treatment."

Akira knew she wanted more answers, but he kept quiet about it and asked, "How much longer will I be here?"

"You can get dressed." The doctor was too consumed with her work to pay him much attentio.n. As he dressed he could feel her eyes on him, but he paid little attention and disappeared behind the dressing screen.

"Do you know how long I'm going to need to keep these in?" He changed out of the gown they had given him and reappeared in front of her in his normal clothes, ready to head home.

"You'll need to get your stitches removed in about two weeks." The doctor handed him a prescription and began searching for a fresh bottle of antibiotic cream. "The wound should heal properly but keep it dry and bandaged for the next few days."

Taking the slip, Akira read it and recognized the name of a common antibiotic. Looking at her he saw the bandages she'd removed and noticed the blood and pus that had soaked into it. Praising his hand he pointed at the bandages and asked, "Is that normal considering the stitches?"

"It'll be normal for some time." Unable to find a fresh bottle of the ointment, she handed the one she'd used to him and said, "It'll stop soon enough. Just be sure to remove the bandages carefully so you don't accidentally remove the stitches."

"Will do, Doc." Akira grabbed his stuff and followed the doctor out into the lobby where he received a pamphlet on appropriate care reminded him about how often he needed to clean his wound and how to change his bandages. When the door closed behind him, he shivered and felt a sudden throbbing in his head as the cold air hit his wound. Shivering he looked around to get his bearings and wasn't surprised at the condition of the streets.

The streets were cleared somewhat but there were almost no cars on the streets and from what he could see from the app on his phone the trains were running on reduced schedules. Adjusting his gloves, Akira wandered down the sidewalk and into the light snowfall that had started earlier that morning. There weren't as many kids on the streets as there had been a couple of days ago, but there were still plenty running around causing problems. Remembering something Sadayo had mentioned when they were on the phone the night he'd been taken to the clinic about instituting online courses, Akira wandered into the nearest pharmacy and purchased a hat and dropped off his prescription before returning to the cold streets where he was immediately pelted with a snowball in the shoulder.

It hurt a lot more than he'd expected and looked in the direction where it had come from and saw five kids standing near two small walls of snow. All of the ones who had snowballs, immediately dropped them and began pointing at one another, trying to lay blame on their friends. Grabbing several handfuls of snow, Akira packed them all tightly into balls and began chucking them at the kids. They all dived behind their tiny fortresses and began returning fire. Akira dodged between the balls, several of them glancing off his clothing, while a few actually struck him. They hurt, but he refused to let them slow him down. He ducked behind a mailbox and began packing snow as quickly as he could, returning fire every couple of snowballs while the barrage from the kids continued.

"Take that!"

"I can see his head!"

"Go for his arms!"

The shouts caught the attention of the few adults that had remained opened for business. Some of them laughed while others began to shout at the kids to stop. One of them, an older woman in a leaf motif shirt and jeans, exited her flower shop and continued to shout at them until a stray snowball struck her in the face.

"Bail!" shouted one of the kids and even Akira decided it best to run away.

Taking a different route than the kids, Akira began looking for a building he knew of nearby and ducked into it once he saw the sign. Catching his breath he scanned the room and saw it was about half full. Several people were at small tables, eating food and sipping drinks while the bar remained nearly empty. Sitting at one of the seats about three-quarters of the way down, Akira ordered a beer and some snacks removing his gloves and hat. He checked his bandage and found it dry and still situated where the doctor had left it.

"Thank you," he said as the cook brought him some water before pouring his beer.

"No problem." She gave him a smile and asked, "Do you want your usual starters?"

"Please?" Akira gave her a thankful smile before adding, "But I'll go with goma-ae instead of karaage this time."

"Nice choice. We just got in some fresh vegetables this morning." The cook gave him another warm smile but he saw her eyes flit up toward his bandage.

"I passed out in a convenience store last night." His hand gently touched the bandage as he blushed.

"Shouldn't you be in the hospital?" She filled a mug of beer and handed over some edamame as she gaped at his wound.

"I spent the night at the clinic." He took a sip and nibbled on a piece of soy bean "Got a huge cut and some bruising but nothing else."

"And you're spending your day drinking beer and eating bar food?" She returned with the vegetables and dipping sauce.

"I'm just waiting on a prescription." The beer wasn't too powerful, but he enjoyed the taste. "My clients all shut down until the weather clears so I don't really have any work right now and since the roads can't be driven on I have to pick up my prescription. Hence," he opened his arms in gesture at the bar, "I'm spending some time here in your lovely company."

"Yeah, yeah." The cook gave him a smirk and changed the channel to a soccer match someone requested and went back to cooking some food.

Akira turned his attention to the match, but he barely paid any attention. He felt a pang of guilt when she asked him about spending his day in the bar. While it was true that the prescription wasn't necessary that day, it provided a useful cover for him to delay going home. He was tired and wanted to get some more sleep, he was still feeling leery at facing Sadayo.

When he'd opened his eyes the previous night, he was prepared for the looks of relief on Makoto and Ann's faces, he wasn't prepared for Sadayo's. The look of complete fear, relief, and heartbreak clouding her face felt like his soul was being stabbed. Unlike Makoto and Ann, Sadayo didn't fully retain her memories of that day when Mementos merged with the real world. She had on occasion told him about dreams where she's been standing on the street staring up at giant skeletons and pink rain, but like the rest of the those who'd lived through that day the memories were fleeting and it was only when Akira had explained them she understood some of what he went through. She'd taken the news well, but had bombarded him with questions for hours until satisfied with his replies. With that knowledge, Sadayo seemed comfortable more comfortable talking to him about his days as a Phantom Thief, even if most of the time it was only after he had a nightmare.

He was glad that she didn't have to deal with the pain of having to relive that hell. She was free of it to some extent, save for those nights when he disappeared into his mental quagire. But last night rocked something in him that he hadn't planned on. He felt ashamed that he'd broken his promise again. He'd disappointed her and had become so absorbed in his own shit that he kept her up all night worrying and scared that he'd seriously hurt himself. He munched on a piece of carrot as the home team on the screen scored a goal, but he didn't cheer with the others, instead he took another small sip of his slowly warming beer and rubbed his eyes.

He was tired and wanted to sleep but the memories of last night were all he could see. Akira hated seeing that look on her face, that look from when she'd first mentioned Takase; the one that said she held herself responsible for his decisions. Shame crept through his brain again and he let his forehead rest on the cool bar. The fact that he'd brought up Takase was bad enough, but at the time he felt it was pertinent to the situation. He wanted her to know that she didn't need to worry about him; but the effect had been the opposite and now he was afraid to face her.

As he tried to figure out a way to work things out with her, Akira heard a dull thud on the bar and looked up in surprise at the sight of a plate with grilled chicken livers and hearts on it.

"What's this?" Akira lifted one of the bamboo skewers and resisted the urge to bite into one of the tiny livers.

"Lady at the end of the bar ordered it for you." The cook shrugged but gave him a warm smile none the less. "Said you needed a bit of a pick me up so she ordered those for you."

Akira was both thankful and frightened by the fact that a complete stranger had ordered two of his favorite bar foods for him. Only a few people knew of his favorite foods and Akira gave a cautious look at the end of the bar only to feel his stomach sink at the familiar face he saw sitting there. She hadn't changed much. She still had a pretty face, piercing black eyes, long brown hair, and a smile that could break hearts with a simple flash. She was fit and seemed entranced by the game on the screen, her eyes ignoring everyone but the people on the screen. Like him, she had chosen to have a beer but had opted for chicken wings instead of vegetables.

Nausea swept over him as the weight of her presence finally hit him. He couldn't avoid her now, she'd seen him and he had to explain himself after nearly a year of almost complete silence. Gathering up his food he made the slow march toward her and sat down near her, keeping a seat between them. Sliding the plate of liver and hearts over, she grabbed a skewer of hearts and bit two of them off.

"You look like shit." Her eyes left the screen as took in his baggy eyes, sunken cheeks and bandaged forehead. "The beard suits you though. You actually look a bit more like an adult, but I don't like the hair."

"I'm not really concerned with that right now." He picked up a skewer of grilled livers and bit into them. He chewed in contemplation for a moment and then asked, "What the hell are you doing here, I thought you were at school?"

"I'm out on winter break." She drained her beer and ordered another. "I'd be at swimming practice right now but the pool is shut down for renovations." She gave him a smile and rested her chin in the palm of one of her hands and asked, "You aren't excited to see me?"

"That's beside the point." He shook his head and chugged the remainder of his beer in hopes it would calm him down. "I'm more concerned how the hell you knew I was in here. Have you been following me?"

She choked back a laugh that caught the attention of several patrons but they soon lost interest once she'd quieted down.

"I have more important things to do than follow you around." She squeezed his hand, a fondness crept into her eyes when he squeezed back. "If truth be told I just happened to wander in here about ten minutes before you did to get out of the cold, ordered a beer and when I come out of the bathroom I saw you sitting at the bar looking morose and decided to send you that little pick me up."

"I appreciate it, Eiko. I really do." Akira let her hand go and returned to his food. "I'm sorry if I was rude, I just didn't expect you here. We haven't talked in a while so I figured you were mad at me about something."

"I'm not mad about anything." Eiko took her new beer and gulped loudly before sighing. "Well I can't say that I'm not mad about anything. I just saw her an hour ago leaving the grocery store and don't think I didn't notice….." Eiko tapped the rings on his left hand.

"You know we've been engaged for a couple of years now." Akira pulled his hand away and fondled the rings gently before taking another bit of food. "I just wanted her to have a ring I picked for her to go with the one she gave me."

"That's what she said." There was a mild disappointment in Eiko's voice but he couldn't place why. "I just wish you'd have told me about that and the baby."

Akira swallowed the remaining food so quickly he had to massage his throat to get it down all the way.

"How do you know about that?"

"I just said I saw her an hour ago!" Eiko rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Did your brain get rattled when it got cut open?"

"I've been through a lot the last few months." Akira scratched at his beard and shook his head. "I've kind of been out of it lately."

"I couldn't tell." Eiko helped him finish off the last of their food before checking her watch and calling for the bill.

"I got this," yawned Akira as he reached for his wallet.

"No you don't." Eiko paid the bill without any complaint and after thanking the cook they left. Once outside, Eiko watched quietly as Akira put his hat on and asked, "So what else do you have planned today?"

"I'm going to grab a prescription I dropped off and head home." Akira rubbed his eyes and gave her a questioning look. "Why? What are you up to?"

"I was just seeing if you wanted company." Eiko gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You seem like you could use it."

"I might." Akira shrugged and felt her hand slip off his shoulder. "I don't know what's going on at home so I don't know if it's a good idea if you stop by."

They slipped into an uncomfortable silence as they headed toward the pharmacy. Eiko remained quiet and grabbed a few snacks while Akira finished his business. With that completed they wandered the streets toward his house in a tense quiet. He wanted to talk, but something kept him from striking up a conversation. The last time he'd seen her they hadn't enjoyed one another's company that much and ended up parting with a loud argument over something so trivial he couldn't even remember. One look at her face told her she was just as distressed and he finally decided to break the ice.

"You figured out what you're going to do after school?" He remembered her saying that she'd planned to switch majors at the start of the year to journalism instead of sports medicine but he hadn't heard anything since.

"I'm going to start an internship this summer at an online newspaper." She smiled as she watched a few kids rush past, laughing loudly and screaming something about grabbing their sleds. "They also do video reports and if I do well I can get travel opportunities for story coverage in other nations."

"So you'd be out of the country often?" Akira knew she traveled for her softball scholarship, but if she was hired by this company international travel would be more frequent. "I mean a lot of papers like this can fall through at a moments notice. If that happens, what happens if they send you out of the country and they shut down?"

"Every ticket is round trip." Eiko's voice was soft and warm as if thanking him for his concern. "I'd be able to get home, but I'd probably have to stay at a hostel or something until my flight."

"And if you're in a place that suddenly has a civil war happen?"

"I'll be fine." She pulled him close and linked her arm with his. "I'm not going to get hurt. I've got too many reasons to come back to let some assholes keep me from coming home."

"You'd probably kill them and take over a boat or plane if you needed to."

"Well if I had you along, we wouldn't need to worry about that." She gave him a warm smile and nudged him with her elbow. "You could probably sneak us aboard, Mr. Phantom Thief."

With that small exchange the tension was cut and they both relaxed, exchanging stories about work and school experiences. Akira felt a bit calmer but when Eiko suddenly brought up Sadayo, he felt his mood sour again.

"If you don't want to talk about it, we won't," said Eiko as they turned the corner that led to his house. "But you have to admit you two getting engaged and her being pregnant was something you may have wanted to tell me."

"You would have found out eventually." Akira kicked a large mound of snow that turned out to be the collapsed head of a snowman. He glanced around to see if the builders were nearby and exhaled loudly when no one yelled at him.

"Still doesn't mean you couldn't have opened your damn mouth. I don't mind you hiding the engagement but her being pregnant isn't exactly something you keep quiet about."

"What part of I've been busy don't you get?" Akira was beginning to lose his patience and the guilt wasn't helping his anger. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but this isn't the conversation I want to have right now."

"You'll have to have it some time." Eiko picked up a bit of snow and chucked it at a street sign. It rang like a hammer to an anvil and she huffed loudly. "It's not my fault you pushed me away."

Akira stopped just outside the front gate to his house and took a deep breath and let that small bit of truth wash over him. She was right that she hadn't been responsible for him not talking. He'd had a hard time trusting her after that happened. She'd been the one person he could always confide in before Sadayo. They used to spend hours staying up at night talking and staring at the ceiling or the stars. Hiding around her had never truly been an option, but for the past several years he'd blocked her out save for their occasional meet-ups. But when he'd been sent away, that all changed. For some reason he'd blamed her as much as his parents, but he'd always known that had been unfair.

Turning around, Akira returned to her and nodded saying, "You're right. It's not your fault I pushed you away. I did that myself, but after what happened can you blame me? I felt abandoned by you. You were my best friend and once someone opened their damn mouths you just kept quiet and didn't even bother to stick up for me."

"I wasn't there." Her eyes focused on the ground and she began digging her toe into the snow. "I couldn't do anything or corroborate your story. What was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know." He ran a hand through his hair and scratched his head. "I just wished you had done something and instead you, like everyone else ,just kept quiet and let the judges pass that fucking sentence. I got kicked out of school, people who I thought were my friends up and abandoned me. I spent a year getting called a thug or a delinquent and oddly enough became one to an extent. But," he looked up and shrugged, "I felt alone for a long time, even after I found my friends and Sadayo. You never called me, never wrote to me. I never even got a birthday card from you and I had to make my own way around here. I made it work, but it would have been nice to know my little sister was in my corner rooting for me."

"Is that why you keep things from us now; from Sadayo too?" There wasn't a hint of accusation in her voice, just curiosity and contrition. "Akira I am sorry I wasn't there for you. But that doesn't mean I'm not here now. I miss my big brother and I tried to write, you never replied. I've called and texted but you rarely acknowledge them. I'm not saying you have to reply immediately. I get it now given Sadayo's condition and you're being busy with work. Plus we're adults and our lives are going to take precedent over us talking, but I want to talk to you and visit. I live only twenty miles away and I don't even see you. You haven't even invited me over, but you've had your friends over and you haven't invited Mom and Dad over either. Do you know how much that hurts?"

Akira had no rebuttal. In truth he'd been reluctant in inviting his family over. He had held a slight bitterness against them since Shido and he knew it. He'd tried not to let it leak into his relationship with them but it seemed it had. Even when he'd been welcomed home and they'd apologized, he always felt this slight resentment lingering in the back of his mind.

He'd always gotten along with his parents. They were loving, proud, and accepting people. His dad and mom both worked full time, but did their best to be there for him and made sure they rarely wanted for anything. But now Akira could see maybe that was why his resentment had remained. In truth he understood why they'd done it. Shido had massive political power and could have made their lives a living hell and he couldn't blame them for sending him away. He had no real place to go locally and the cops had haunted his every step, but the fact they had been able to send him away so quickly always felt a bit too convenient and out of everything that happened with them this little nugget had plagued him for years.

"I'm sorry." He lifted his foot and kicked the wall in frustration. "You're right and I'm sorry."

Eiko kept her distance as he kicked the wall.

"You're sorry about what?" Eiko was hesitant to approach but she still took a few cautious steps.

"About my pushing you away." Akira lowered his foot and rubbed his shoulder. "You aren't to blame for what happened."

"You aren't either." She walked up and gave him a strong hug. "You're a good guy, Akira. You have a good heart and sometimes a good heart can cause more trouble than it fixes."

"You're telling me." Akira returned the hug and they separated after a couple moments. "I haven't exactly been the best fiance over the past few weeks."

"Don't worry about that right now." Eiko gave him a pat on the cheek and smiled. "She's still upset but not as much as you think. She told me she's not going to make a big deal out of it right now and that you two will both take some time to relax before you talk. You both got a lot on your minds and besides I know a couple of people who are happy with the news. So you might want to focus on them instead."

Akira raised an eyebrow and asked, "Eiko, what did you do?"

"I didn't do or say anything." She crossed her heart and held up a hand in solidarity. "I honestly didn't know they'd be here but they said you had invited them so I just let them be."

As the realization hit him, Akira heard the gate creak open and he turned to see a woman in a red sweater, jeans, with thick glasses on her face. Her black hair was tied back in a neat bun and her brown eyes shined at the sight of him. She was squat had a nice round face but it wasn't hard to see where Eiko got most of her looks from and if one looked closely it wasn't hard to see that Akira took after her a bit as well.

"Akira! Eiko!"

Both of them braced themselves for the impending collision. Despite her stocky frame, Kurusu Sachiko was much faster and stronger than she looked. Within seconds she was on them, pulling them both into bone crushing hugs and laughing loudly. Akira couldn't understand how such a small woman could be so fast or strong as he fought the urge to vomit up his lungs.

"I missed you both so much!" Sachiko began smothering them with kisses and squeezing them even tighter.

"Put us down, Mom." Eiko was squirming violently to break free of her mother's grip and was gasping loudly. "I just saw you a few hours ago! You act like I haven't seen you in years!"

"Oh quit your complaining." Sachiko loosened her grip and let her kids go after giving them both long kisses on the cheek. "You both barely come home to visit so I think it's only fair you let me love on you a bit."

"I wouldn't mind it so much if you'd tone it down a bit." Eiko wiped where her mother had kissed and rolled her shoulder. "You're always so aggressive."

"Be quiet and head inside." Sachiko stepped behind her daughter and gave her a playful swat on the butt. "We're having a couple of hot pots for dinner and according to Sadayo there's going to be a few extra guests tonight and she said you're more than welcomed to stay."

Eiko gave her mother a kiss on the head and then smiled at her brother before asking, "Is it okay if I go in?"

Akira nodded and Eiko headed through the gate leaving Akira alone with their mother.

"Hi Mom." he said after a few tense moments of awkward silence.

Sachiko stepped forward and reached up to stroke his face. Her hands brushed his beard and then the bandage. Her fingers stroked the bags under his eyes and she shook her head.

"I will say that I do approve of the beard, but the rest of you…." she clapped his shoulders and sighed. "Akira you are in terrible shape."

"I know, Mom." He gave her a quick hug and squeezed her. "I'm sorry for not visiting more."

Sachiko returned the hug and Akira could hear her sniffling loudly.

"Come on, Mom." He gave her a gentle pat on the head. "It's not that bad. I just need to rest and I'm happy to see you."

Sachiko looked up, her eyes red from tears and wiped her nose on her apron. She smiled sadly and gave him another gentle pat on the cheek. "I'm happy to see you too. But we need to have a long talk young man." She took his left hand and fiddled with the rings. "A very long talk."