A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/followed this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters Misato Katsuragi & Kaji they are the property of Gainax.

Note: This story (And Scar Tissue) exist in the same continuity as Exit Wounds my Persona 4 Golden story.

Lonely Boy XI

Sayako Uehara collected the medical charts from the table where she'd been working in the cafeteria of the Mizuho Hospital. Gathering statistics on drug usage and patient recovery was an essential part of a nurse's job. Not necessarily one Sayako relished, but since her experience in Inaba five years ago she'd taken up the challenges of being a nurse with renewed vigour. Sayako smiled reflecting on her experiences with a particular grey-haired young man. He had been the catalyst for Sayako to change her view on life and strive to be a better person and nurse. Sayako blushed as other memories stirred within her, ones of introducing her grey-haired young man to the world of sex and sexuality.

"I see he's put what I taught him to good use," Sayako commented to herself as she passed another table as she carried the medical charts back to the nurse's station. Sayako's eyes wandered across the cover of a recently published tabloid magazine; the cover featured her grey-haired young man, now in his twenties and his stunningly beautiful copper-haired pop idol wife. Even from the picture, Sayako could see the love they had for each other.

Sayako's smile faded as she spotted her kouhai Misato Katsuragi sitting alone in a darkened corner of the cafeteria. The raven-haired woman stared out the window that lined one end of the cafeteria. Calling out to another nurse who was heading back to the nurse's station Sayako passed off the medical charts and altered course towards Katsuragi.

"You look preoccupied Katsuragi-chan," Sayako observed as she sat down opposite the raven-haired trainee nurse.

"Oh, Uehara-senpai, I didn't realize… uh, am I running late?" Misato asked her eyes darting around the room in alarm.

"Relax Misato; you've still got twenty minutes before you need to go back on duty. I'm just concerned about you, you've seemed distracted for the last two days. Did something happen, is it your boyfriend?"

"Kaji? No, we're… complicated but its fine. No, I… I did something stupid, and the more I find out, the stupider I feel." Misato explained staring down into her coffee.

"What happened, you can tell me Misato," Sayako replied reaching out to squeeze Misato's hand.

Misato nodded taking a deep breath. "There was a guy; he said his name was Vince and he wanted me to call this kid and say his mother was near death. He offered me a hundred thousand yen (A/N: about $1000 US)."

Sayako looked down at her kouhai disapprovingly, "Misato…"

"I have bills to pay Uehara-senpai! I have student loans. I love being a nurse but I love being out of debt too, and between Kaji and I we are barely making ends meet. I know I shouldn't have done it but…"

"I get it. You said the more you find out the stupider you feel, what did you mean?"

"W-well, he looked sort of familiar, so I did an image search. I got his picture from a friend in security and… His name isn't Vince. It's Naito Eizo."

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Sayako asked frowning.

"He was Shido's chief of staff," Misato admitted.

Sayako let out a low whistle as her eyes narrowed as she continued to stare at her kouhai responding, "Jesus Misato, everyone is looking for that bastard. He's the last one of Masayoshi Shido's group that wasn't prosecuted."

"I know! That's why I feel so stupid. I accepted blood money from a murderer!" Misato exclaimed.

"What did he ask you to do again?" Sayako asked.

"He wanted me to ring some kid… Ku… Kuru…" Misato replied trying to recall the name.

"Kurusu?" Sayako asked as a whisper her blood turning to ice in her veins.

"That's it! Akira Kurusu. He wanted me to tell him that his mother was near death. The kid said he was…"

"In Tokyo." Sayako finished.

"How did you… Uehara-senpai?" Misato asked watching Sayako rise from her seat rather quickly hurrying towards the doors of the cafeteria.

"I need to call someone…" Sayako explained, she paused returning to the table, "Misato, tell no one else about this. This stays strictly between us, understood?"

Misato nodded replying, "Of course senpai."

With Misato's agreement, Sayako ran out of the cafeteria in a rush.

"I'm going to kill him!" Ann Takamaki declared pacing Café LeBlanc. Haru and Makoto exchanged worried glances as Sae sat opposite them in a booth typing away at her laptop, her phone sat charging beside her having run out of charge midway through a call to the TMPD. Futaba sat beside her glaring at her computer muttering angrily to herself. She occasionally half glanced at Akira's phone which was being searched by Makoto. All Futaba's search of it had divulged was a blocked number that had called Akira shortly after three that morning. Futaba had wanted to hack the NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone) network but was forbidden from doing so by Sae who hoped for a legal way to find out who called Akira. Futaba in frustration had resumed her surveillance of Akira's mother in the vain hope he would turn up there, much to Sae's chagrin.

Yusuke sat in his usual booth near the door to the café; he minded the same coffee he'd been poured by Sojiro two hours before when he entered. They'd all been summoned by Futaba after she'd roused Sojiro from sleep. Everyone had quickly gathered at the café, everyone except…

"Where is Sakamoto-san?" Yusuke asked noticing the fake blonde wasn't among them.

Ann paused her pacing turning to face the blue-haired man frowning as she replied to his question, "Ryuji got pissed off when he saw Futaba's text. I think he's gone to the batting cages to blow off some steam."

"I see. I would question whether that is the most effective use of Sakamoto's time." Yusuke observed.

Sae stretched her arms arching her back to work out the kinks in her spine before replying to Yusuke's question, "Without a lead on where Kurusu went going to the batting cages is about as productive as what we're doing Kitagawa-kun."

"You could always join Lady-Ann in pacing and planning Akira's murder," Morgana suggested from his seat at the counter.

"I think not," Yusuke replied curtly.

Ann paused again turning to face her friends. "Someone should go get Ryuji. We're going to need that big idiot eventually."

"I'll go." Makoto and Haru said at the same time before exchanging looks.

"I'll go Makoto-san," Haru said to the brunette.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. It'll make me feel useful." Haru replied climbing out of the booth trotting happily out the door. Ann and Makoto exchanged baffled looks before Makoto returned to searching for clues on Akira's phone and Ann returned to pacing.

Ryuji Sakamoto swore loudly as another ball went sailing past him to hit the fence behind him. A pile of missed balls was collecting behind him as he pulled another hundred yen from his wallet slipping it through the wall. "I'll go another round dude."

"Put your cash away kid; someone has already paid." The owner of the batting cages replied indicating to the opposite side. Turning around Ryuji found Haru Okumura watching him with a small smile and a dusting of pink on her checks. Ryuji rubbed the back of his head as he spoke, "Hey."

"Hi, Ryuji. Are you ok?"

"Yeah… no… I don't know… I'm pissed." Ryuji finally admitted.

"At who, Akira?"

Ryuji took a swing at an incoming ball swearing again as it sailed passed into the fence behind him. "No… well, maybe a little. I mean we're his friends, and he goes off half fucking cocked because he receives a call in the middle of the night. I mean what could have been so fucking important that he wouldn't even leave a note?"

"It must have been something important. Important enough for Akira to leave his phone behind." Haru agreed.

Ryuji walked towards the cage wall to stand beside Haru picking up a baseball off the ground as he went. "That idiot… He knew it could be a trap."

Haru frowned raising a manicured eyebrow asking, "How do you know that?"

Ryuji shrugged leaning against the cage, "Why else would he leave his phone behind. What if it was Eizo if he cracked it he'd have all our details and all the details of the people who helped Akira when we were Phantom Thieves. Togo-san and Oda-kun aren't apart of this. Hell, Oda-kun is just a kid. They don't deserve the kind of crap Eizo could rain down on them. They did stuff to help Akira we don't even know about, not fully, they even helped get him out of Juvie. We don't have powers anymore, but we're still the Phantom Thieves, and we must protect those who can't protect themselves. If we don't do that, then everything we fought for was for nothing."

Haru giggled playing with Ryuji's hair through the fence. Ryuji glanced at the older girl with a half-smile, "What?"

Haru's face burned red as she quickly withdrew her fingers hiding them behind her back. "O-oh, um, w-well, I was just impressed with w-what you said just then. You, you act like you're a dummy when we're out in front of people but you're smart and cool. You care a lot about other people and protecting them no matter what is standing in your way. I-I guess that's why you and Akira make such a good team."

Ryuji felt his face heat up as he walked away from the fence scratching his face. "Y-yeah, I-I gue… GAHH! YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH! Oooooh…."

"RYUJI!" Haru screamed running into the cage.

Unfortunately, Ryuji had been so distracted by his conversation with Haru he'd walked into the detection zone of the pitching machine. Before the owner of the batting cages could warn Ryuji, the ball had already been sent sailing, right into Ryuji's balls.

"Oh shit, is he ok?" The owner of the batting cage asked running in after shutting down the pitching machine.

Haru cradled Ryuji who had curled up into the fetal position seconds after the ball connected with his nuts. Haru looked up at the owner and nodded replying, "I think we'll need an ice pack." Hearing Ryuji groans Haru sweatdropped, "Maybe two."

Akira winced feeling a sharp pain on the underside of his arm, cracking his right eye open a little he could see Eizo tapping a vein in his right arm. Akira groaned in pleasure feeling a sudden pleasant rush, his arms and legs started to feel heavy, and his mouth felt dry. Granted he hadn't drunk anything in about a day but whatever Eizo was doing made his mouth feel even more dehydrated.

Eizo smirked placing the syringe back in its case turning to face Akira. "Enjoying yourself shithead? You should be."

Akira hung limply from his shackles not even bothering to lift his head to address Eizo, "What do you want, want from me?"

Eizo walked forward grabbing Akira by his aching jaw raising the teen's head so he could look Akira in the eyes. "I'm getting it, shithead. The chance to see you suffer. Hearing about it second hand isn't nearly as satisfying as watching you suffer in person. I should have dispensed with the charade and dragged you down here the night I turned up in Mizuho. Then again if I'd done that I wouldn't have found out what a great lay your Momma is."

"Mom, where's… Mom…" Akira mumbled incoherently through the iron grip Eizo had on his jaw.

"Fuck, you're still worried about that stupid bitch after all this? Don't worry your head shit stain; she's unharmed in her apartment. If you're down here taking a beating like a good boy, she'll stay that way. Well at least until I get bored. Then your precious little gang will find you dead on the street. The great and powerful leader of the Phantom Thieves found dead of a heroin overdose while living on the street. A fitting punishment for a shit stain which should have known his place."

Through the haze, Akira's eyes darted to the injection site on the underside of his arm. Eizo laughed replying, "That's right. Get nice and loaded kid. I'm going to film you begging for a hit and send it to all your fans. See you in a few hours shithead."

Akira flinched as the door to his cell slammed shut. He hung off his shackles limply, despite himself he could feel his body already craving the next hit. His mind wandered to his friends; he tried to reason with his addled drug mind that he was suffering through this for their benefit. If Eizo were occupied with him, he wouldn't have a reason to go after his friends. However, in a small corner of his brain, the part he tried to keep locked away with his feelings for the women in his life he desperately wanted to see them again. He wanted to play video games with Ryuji, people watch with Yusuke, tend to the roof to garden with Haru, and have long late-night talks with Morgana again.

Then, his thoughts turned to Makoto, Sae and, Ann, he knew he was coward for not telling them exactly how he felt about them. He knew the consequences if he ever appeared in public with any of the three, Makoto might be thrown out of the police academy, Ann could be dropped by her modeling agency and worst of all Sae. Sae could lose everything, the respect of her colleagues, a way of earning a living to support Makoto and herself. He argued with himself that they deserved better than him but the part of himself he tried to bury reminded him that it was their decision, not his. Funnily enough, the voice in his head sounded oddly like Morgana.

"Ann-chan, I'm, I'm so sorry…" Akira whispered as tears ran down his cheeks.

To Be Continued…

A/N: So, not quite as many reviews as last time. Also, before I get to review responses, I should mention that Scar Tissue for those who are enjoying it is next up. I'm 1000 words deep into the current chapter, and I hope to have it out by the weekend.

Thanks to the following people for reviewing:

Shadow Joestar

Rebfan90

For Deliberatee & Darkling41 I hope this chapter answered your question.