A few minutes later, inside a classroom…
"Settle down now, all of you. I have an addendum to the earlier assembly, regarding the counselling you've all been offered. The counsellor will be available to you all starting after school today, in the nurse's office. Doctor Maruki will only be posted here through November, so be sure to speak with him soon if you feel the need. For the majority of you, it's your choice whether or not you see him, but… there are a few students and a certain fellow teacher I'll speak with later… The school's decided: visits to Doctor Maruki will be mandatory to these individuals." said Kawakami-sensei to the students as she briefly glance at both Akira and Ann before they felt their phones vibrating with messages and subtly take their phones out to see the messages.
RS: Yo, you guys and also teach are gonna go for it?
AT: What, the counselling? It kinda sounds like we're being forced to.
KK: I suppose so, in a way.
MKA: Hello, everyone. And what counselling are you all talking about now? Care to explain, dear brother?
MTA: Hello, sister. What they're talking about is that the principal of Shujin asked and hired a therapist to do some counselling with the students to help them get over the Kamoshida accident.
KA: Yeah, it's true, he did, Minako-san.
MKA: I see. So, who's the therapist and are you all going for this "counselling" thing?
KA: His name is Doctor Takuto Maruki and we don't know whether we're going yet.
MKA: Doctor Takuto Maruki, huh?
RS: I told Maruki I'd do it, but… I dunno if I'm really that into the idea, you know?
AK: I think we should do it.
KK: Yeah, exactly.
MTA: Since Kurusu-kun say so, I'm in.
KA: I'm in too but not today, Minato-san.
AT: I think I'm gonna try going today. Any of you wanted to try it today or next time?
AK: I'll do it.
MTA: Me too.
MKA: Good luck and tell me about it later, brother.
MTA: Sure, sister.
"Counselling, huh? Lady Ann's right. Make sure you visit him after Lady Ann and Minato visit him so you don't draw any attention to yourself, alright?" whisper Morgana as he glance at Akira.
"Yeah, I know, Morgana." whisper Akira as he nodded at Morgana before he resumed listening to Kawakami-sensei's lecture.
XXXX
Several hours later, after school…
Doctor Maruki is currently sitting on a dark brown sofa and staring at an open book lying on the desk in front of him in the nurse's office before he heard the sound of someone knocking on the door.
"Yes and come in, whoever it is." said Doctor Maruki gently to whoever it is knocking and standing outside the door before the door opened and Ann stepped into the nurse's office.
"Ummm…" said Ann with an unsure look on her face.
"Welcome. Are you here for a counselling session?" asked Doctor Maruki.
"Yeah, is now a bad time?" replied Ann.
"Not at all! It's always a good time, so long as I'm not already listening to a student." said Doctor Maruki reassuringly to Ann before he stood up from the sofa. "I'm so glad you're here. Would you sit down and care for a snack?" asked Doctor Maruki.
"I guess I wouldn't mind sitting down and having a cup of cocoa, Doctor Maruki." replied Ann as she sat down on the other sofa while Doctor Maruki went to prepare a cup of cocoa for Ann and a packet of apple juice (and also a clipboard and a pen) for himself before he sat back down.
"Shall we get started? Oh-but first, just relax, all right? I'm only here to listen to whatever you wish to talk about." said Doctor Maruki gently to Ann.
"Sure. Although, I really only have one thing on my mind now, anyway…" said Ann.
"Yes, I'd say that makes perfect sense. But don't force yourself into talking to me, you could even grab some snacks and be on your way, if you wanted! Haha…" said Doctor Maruki.
"No, it's… it's all right. I know I need to talk to someone about this, anyway. That is, if you're willing to listen to the super-long story…" said Ann hesitantly to Doctor Maruki.
"I absolutely am. Take all the time you need, Takamaki-san." said Doctor Maruki as he nodded at Ann before she proceed to tell him the long tale of what Kamoshida did to her and her friends and what they gone through because of him while leaving out the part of them being Phantom Thieves and their Persona powers. "… I see. That's such a horrible thing to do to someone." said Doctor Maruki with a disapproving look on his face.
"Yes. That's why I wanted to get even with him… For Shiho." said Ann.
"Mmhm… And?" said Doctor Maruki.
"At first, I thought Kamoshida ought to face the same fate Shiho was going to put herself through… But…" said Ann before she fell silent.
"But?" said Doctor Maruki, waiting for her to continue.
"… Later, I realised that wasn't right. If he did take his own life, it wouldn't undo Shiho's suffering-in fact, it'd just give him the easy way out." said Ann.
"Is that so? You know, you're quite the wise, level-headed young woman, Takamaki-san." said Doctor Maruki approvingly at Ann.
"Huh? Um, I think you've got the wrong…" said Ann as she shake her head.
"Nope-in fact, I think you're wiser than I was at your age. I wasn't anywhere as mature as you are now." said Doctor Maruki.
"… It's not like I did anything special though. If I haven't gone through my own share of hell and didn't have my friends, I don't think I'd be so mature either." said Ann sadly to Doctor Maruki.
"I see… So, what's on your mind now?" asked Doctor Maruki.
"Right now? Hmmm… I'm just hoping Shiho will get better quickly. We both suffered a lot, but… I just wanna get back to laughing and having fun together like we used to. At this point, I don't give a rat's ass about Kamoshida!" replied Ann determinedly to Doctor Maruki.
"Now there's a healthy outlook! You can't change the past, but you still want to keep your chin up and press onward-is that the gist of it?" said Doctor Maruki.
"Yeah, that sounds about right. I mean, it'd definitely be better if none of this had happened at all, but…" said Ann as she nodded at Doctor Maruki.
"I definitely agree with you there. But, it's impossible to wipe every tragedy from history." sighed Doctor Maruki sadly to Ann.
"If only, right? Everyone would be so much happier if we could actually do that." said Ann with a smile on her face.
"…Oh, it seems I lost track of the time. We should wrap things up here today-thank you so much for coming to see me." said Doctor Maruki.
"Oh no, thank you! I feel a ton better now that that's all off my chest." said Ann thankfully to Doctor Maruki.
"Hah, good to hear it-you deserved it. Feel free to stop by again anytime." said Doctor Maruki as he smiled and nodded at Ann.
"Will do! See you around, Doctor Maruki!" said Ann as she smiled and nodded back at Doctor Maruki before she finish drinking her cup of cocoa, grab her bag and stood up from the sofa before she turned and left the office.
