It was oddly peaceful. The subway lines of Tokyo seemed less crowded in the eyes of Akira. Practically no one was on the train. He just looked outside the train car window and saw the sun shining behind the tall Tokyo skylights. It was majestic. He knew he had to tell Yusuke about it the next time he saw him. The sight made his body feel tingly...

"Akira?"

...and numb, but it also felt relaxing.

"Akira?"

Like he didn't have a care in the wo-

"Akira!"

Akira slowly and calmly looked to his right and saw Sumire staring at him with a confused look.

"Yeah?" He asked. Sumire chuckled.

"Head up in the clouds? Why were you staring at that man?" She asked him. He looked in front of him and saw a regular man in a business suit. He looked nervous. As soon as Akira made eye contact with him, the man quickly looked back down at his phone. Akira was puzzled. He wondered where the sunny Tokyo view he saw out the window was. Instead, all he saw were the dark, concrete walls of the underground Tokyo subway as they zipped by him. He suddenly felt a bit nauseous and stopped looking out the window.

"This is Shibuya. The next stop is Shibuya."

Akira was once again confused. "Wait, we're here already?" He asked as he turned to Sumire.

"Well, yeah. Why?" She was equally puzzled by his question.

"Didn't we just get on the train? Like just a minute ago?" Akira asked, scratching his head.

"What do you mean? We've been on here for the past twenty minutes."

"That can't be right. I know this line like the back of my hand. There are six stops in between Yongen-Jaya and Shibuya. How could we already be in Shibuya if we just got on? Is this the right train?" He began rambling.

"Calm down! Calm down. We're on the right train. Trust me." She smiled, not sure if he was just messing with her or not.

"I guess... I just lost track of time?" Akira concluded.

"I guess so..." Sumire just nodded in agreement. What neither of them knew was that Akira had suffered from a micro seizure. It wasn't violent. Akira just looked dazed. The man he was staring at had gotten on at the third stop and was puzzled why the young man sitting opposite him was staring at him. The train pulled into Shibuya, and the two made their way onto the platform and walked out of the station. Thankfully, Akira's nausea had passed. However, he had another hint that his sunny Tokyo view wasn't real when Sumire opened up an umbrella. The sky was gray, and it was raining cats and dogs. Akira and Sumire made their way down Central street, passed the movie theater that Akira had been to numerous times with his fellow Phantom Thieves, and entered the building next door. After a slow elevator ride, they found themselves at the one door in the hallway that had a sign on it.

Hiromi Kimura, MD

Neurologist

Please knock before entering.

As the sign instructed, they knocked on the door before entering. They found themselves inside an empty waiting room with a receptionist desk, minus the receptionist. "Hello? Kimura-san?" Sumire called out. The two heard a door at the end of a hallway. Out came a woman in her mid to late twenties, about five feet tall, with a short, light brown bob cut, dressed in casual street clothes, ripped skinny jeans, and an Iron Maiden t-shirt under a standard white doctor's coat. Yeah, she was Tae's friend, alright.

"Ah, you must be Kurusu-kun!" She said, looking at Akira, smiling. He nodded and smiled back, bowing respectfully. "And, I'm sorry, you are...?" She said, looking at Sumire.

"Oh, I'm Sumire Yoshizawa." Sumire introduced herself with a bow as well.

"Well, I'm Doctor Kimura. I hear you are friends with Takemi-san. How is she doing?" The doctor asked.

"She's doing fine. She has her own clinic and develops her own medicine." Akira answered.

"Lovely! Sorry for my outfit. I don't usually work on Sundays, so I didn't really bother dressing up to look super professional. I hope you don't mind." She apologized for the way she was dressed in a very timid manner. Akira and Sumire simply waved it off. After all, Takemi's outfit was always more punk-rock than a medical doctor, and she always remained highly professional. "Well, why don't we step inside my office?" Akira and Sumire followed Dr. Kimura into her office and sat down. She took a seat behind her desk and began asking questions. "So, tell me, what seems to be the problem? Takemi-san didn't really explain much over the phone last night." Dr. Kimura said as she took out a clipboard and pen.

Sumire chose to speak for Akira. "Well, you see, Akira has begun suffering from seizures."

Dr. Kimura took some notes. "How long did ago did they begin?"

"The first one happened this past Thursday night," Sumire gulped before continuing. "Akira was attacked by some men." This caused Dr. Kimura to go wide-eyed.

"My gosh! I'm sorry to hear that. Did you suffer any blunt force trauma to the head in the attack?" She asked Akira, who just shook his head in response.

"Just a few bruised ribs. No big deal." He said, smiling.

"Well, if you suffered a seizure during the attack, I'd say it's a pretty big deal, Kurusu-kun. And you say that it was your first one?"

"Yes, Doctor." He nodded once again. "Yes. As far as I am aware."

"I would assume that would be something you'd be more sure of." She said, still taking notes. "Were you exposed to any flashing lights leading up to the seizure?"

"No."

"Did you take any medications or medicine shortly beforehand?"

"No. Well, some over-the-counter aspirin, but that was way earlier."

"Did you consume any alcohol shortly beforehand?"

"Doctor, I'm only 18 years old." Dr. Kimura silently raised an eyebrow at him. "...No." Akira gave a proper answer.

"Were you feeling stressed at all during that day?" Akira thought back to the morning with his mother and the nightmare he had during his mid-day nap.

"No," he chose to answer with a lie. Not always wise to lie to a doctor.

"When was your most recent one?"

"Yesterday evening, we were driving back from a camping trip, and it happened."

"You had a seizure at the wheel!?" She asked, her jaw dropping to the floor.

"Oh no, no, no. I'm sorry. I should've clarified that I wasn't driving. Our friend was. We took a trip in an RV with a group of our friends. I was in the camper, not at the wheel."

"Oh! Phew! That's a relief." Dr. Kimura chuckled nervously. "Same questions as the first time." She proceeded to ask him the same questions as the first seizure. He answered them truthfully, even the single beer they shared at lunch. She didn't judge, however. She was young once as well. He told the truth for all but the one about stress. Not wanting to think about his mother right now. Dr. Kimura finished taking her notes and then turned to Sumire.

"You were with Akira-kun for both seizures, correct?"

"Yes, doctor."

"What happened during the first one? Aside from the assault, of course. Please excuse me if talking about it makes either of you uncomfortable," Dr. Kimura said. Sumire lowered her head.

"There wasn't much I could do. H-he was being attacked, and I-I..." Sumire's eyes were closed. She was fighting to hold back a few tears.

"You know what, we can skip that one for now. Tell me about the one from last night. Did something sudden happen that might've caused it?"

Akira answered as Sumire calmed herself down. "Four of us were playing Tycoon. My friend got a little too into his victory, put me in a headlock, and gave me a noogie," Akira chuckled at the thought. "Then, apparently, it happened. I woke up on the floor, and my head was hurting."

"Surprisingly, this is not the first story I've heard involving Tycoon and a seizure. I may have to submit Tycoon as a possible trigger." Dr. Kimura joked. The woman had a great sense of humor, which was not something either Akira or Sumire could say about all of the doctors they had visited in their lives. (No offense, Tae.) "Although, the noogie may have been a possible trigger. It may have caused a sudden burst of uncontrolled electrical activity between brain cells." Akira was doubtful. He had suffered worse head injuries previously. Most notably during his interrogation/torture after being captured in Sae Niijima's palace. A noogie did not cause him to have a seizure. "How long did the seizure last?" She asked, turning once again to Sumire.

"Just about two minutes."

"And afterward, was he unconscious?"

"Yes, for about three minutes."

"When he woke up, did he seem dazed and/or confused?"

"...Yes. He asked who he was and where he was." Dr. Kumira nodded her head as she took more notes.

"So, what did you do afterward?"

"He wanted to take aspirin for his head, but I was afraid it would trigger another one." Dr. Kimura nodded in approval.

"Good thinking, Yoshizawa-chan. And then you called 119, correct?"

"Well... no. Akira said he didn't want to go to a hospital." Dr. Kimura shook her head in disapproval.

"NOT good thinking, Akira-kun. Especially since you didn't know the cause. What about the first one? Did you call an ambulance then?"

"Um... no. You see, we ended up getting attacked near Takemi-san's clinic. It's practically next door to where Akira lives. We brought him there instead. I told Takemi-san about his body convulsing as well as saliva coming out of his mouth. Takemi-san did suggest it may have been a seizure, but wasn't sure."

"Even if she wasn't sure, she still should have called an ambulance." Dr. Kimura said, passively writing notes. "Not good thinking from you either, Tae." She muttered under her breath.

"Don't say a word against Dr. Takemi!" Akira snapped at her, causing her to look up from her clipboard in disbelief. Sumire was also shocked, though less so, considering this was not the first outburst from him she had witnessed. Akira realized what he had done and hastily apologized. She shook it off like a good sport but did add 'mood swings and outbursts' to his chart. "Alright, I think I have enough information for now. I'm going to bring Akira into my exam room and run some tests. Yoshizawa-chan, this will take a while. You can either wait in the waiting room or leave and come back in an hour or so."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll wait," Sumire said sternly.

"Alright, it's your call." Dr. Kimura said.

Sumire got up from her seat and planted a kiss on Akira's head. "Good luck. Love you."

"Love you too," Akira responded. She left out the door they came in behind them, leaving Akira and Dr. Kimura alone.

"Nice girl!" Dr. Kumira commented, gathering her files and smirking. "You two been dating long?"

"Almost two years," Akira responded.

"Isn't that nice," She said, getting up from her desk chair. "Follow me, please." The two got up and headed through the door to the right. The room was surprisingly large. It was your typical doctor's examination room, with a big chair in the center with some freaky, Hellraiser-like helmet next to it. He put his hand up to his head as he felt it pound. He told her about the consistent headache he's had for the past three days or so.

"I'm going to run a couple of tests, first of which is a blood test. Which arm would you like me to prick?" Akira sat down in the chair and rolled up his left sleeve. Dr. Kimura sprayed a cotton ball with disinfectant spray and cleaned an area of his arm. She then inserted a needle into his arm. Akira felt no pain as he watched his blood flow into the tiny vial. The only pain he focused on was the one in his head. Once the vial was full, she removed the needle, disinfected his arm again, and put a band-aid on it. She left to go into another room so she could run the test. Ten minutes later, she came back. "Good news so far. Your blood test came back totally clean. Sometimes seizures can occur because of other medical disorders, like diabetes, for example. They're not just exclusive to epilepsy. That's what the big test is here to determine." She was referring to the EEG.

"I'm going to put this cap on you and take a look at your brain activity. After about an hour, we'll find out if you have epilepsy or not." Akira knew this was coming. He had been dreading this since last night, barely getting any sleep because of it. Not because of the test, but because of the idea that there was a chance he was now going to be seen differently due to having a medical condition. Dr. Kimura placed the electrode cap on Akira's head and told him to relax as she reclined the chair.

"Oh, I trust that you haven't had any caffeine this morning, have you?" Akira shook his head. "Good." She turned the machine on and let the test begin. She asked him some questions.

"Do you have a history of epilepsy or seizures in your immediate family?"

"No."

"Any other illnesses?"

"No."

"Well, it would be a shame if you were the first. Epilepsy can be hereditary, you know?"

"So I've heard."

"Say, have you ever found yourself staring into nothing?" She asked after pausing for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, you wind up staring, like you're stuck in a trance, and then you suddenly find yourself snapping out of it? Sometimes you lose track of time?" Akira thought back to earlier on the train and told her about it. "I see. That was a focal onset seizure, also known as a partial or micro seizure. There are two types of focal onset seizures. From what you've described to me, it seems you experienced the second type, focal impaired awareness. You don't typically lose consciousness, but you don't remember what happened. What's concerning is that they usually last one to two minutes max. I've never heard of a focal onset seizure lasting for twenty minutes." This made Akira even more worried.

She would sometimes ask him to close his eyes for twenty minutes at a time. Sometimes she asked him to change his breathing from normal to heavy. After just under fifty-five minutes, the test was done, and Dr. Kimura removed the cap from his head. "Alright, Kurusu-kun, if you could make your way out into the waiting room, I will print out these test results, and we will get the verdict."

"Great, thank you, doctor." He tried not to sound too distressed, but it wasn't easy. He left the examination room and went out into the waiting room, where he found Sumire reading a gymnastics magazine. "How many of those have you read?" He smiled, noticing the stack of magazines on the seat next to her.

"Honestly, I've just been re-reading this one." She answered. She was clearly as nervous as he was. "I haven't even made it past the first page." She chuckled nervously as she closed the magazine and set it down. "How did it go?"

"It went well. The good news so far is that I don't have diabetes." He joked. She chuckled slightly awkwardly. "Now, we just have to hope for the best." He said as he held her hand.

"Whatever it is, I'll be there to help you along the way." She declared. They passionately kissed before being interrupted by Dr. Kimura clearing her throat. They quickly pulled away from each other.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" She giggled, causing the two lovers to blush. "If you'll both, please follow me." She said as they got up from their seats and followed her, once again into her office. They all sat down. Akira and Sumire were still holding hands. Hoping for the best but expecting the worse. "Well..." Dr. Kimura began. "From what I've gathered, it seems your brain is completely fine, Akira-kun." After taking two seconds to process what they'd just heard, they felt a wave of relief wash over them.

"Really?" He said, smiling profusely.

"I detected no brain damage, no lesions, and no signs of brain dysfunction, inflammation, a stroke, hell, not even any sleeping disorders. The EEG found nothing bad. The good news is we can rule out epilepsy." The news made Akira and Sumire want to jump out of their seats and start making out, not caring they were in the presence of a doctor.

"That's fantastic news, doctor!" Sumire exclaimed.

"...Yeah. I wouldn't get too excited if I were you." The excitement of the pair died in an instant.

"What do you mean? I thought you said my brain was fine." Akira asked her.

"I said the EEG found nothing bad. That's the good news. The bad news is that it doesn't mean there's nothing wrong. As I said, seizures aren't exclusive to epilepsy. They can happen because of another underlying illness or medical problem, hence why I took the blood test, or even when there's nothing wrong at all. But, usually, even people with epilepsy will only experience two to four seizures a year on average. But for someone without epilepsy to experience two within forty-eight hours? That's not a good sign. That's not even adding the focal impaired awareness seizure you experienced this morning."

"Wait, what!?" Sumire asked, turning to Akira. "You had a seizure this morning?"

"On the train, yeah. It was a mild one. Remember when I looked dazed and was just staring? Yeah, that was it." He said solemnly. She said nothing and instead hugged him—afterward, Dr. Kimura explained focal onset seizures to Sumire.

"Do you see why this is concerning? I'm going to get you an appointment at the University of Tokyo Hospital to get an MRI scan. If I couldn't find what was wrong, they will." Dr. Kimura assured them.

"I didn't expect my first campus visit to go like this," Akira sarcastically said.

"Campus visit?" Dr. Kimura questionned.

"I'm starting my first year at the University of Tokyo in a couple of weeks," Akira answered.

"Oh, congrats! What will you be studying?"

"Business, mainly marketing. I want to open my own restaurant or cafe someday. I have the culinary skills, but I'd like to have some business skills as well."

"Oh! Well, that's great! I would love to try out one of your dishes, one of these days."

"If you're ever near Yongen-Jaya, swing by a cafe called Leblanc. Home of the best curry and coffee in the world, and also me." Akira chuckled.

"Hmmm, I'm not the biggest fan of curry, but coffee, on the other hand..." Dr. Kimura was filled with curiosity.

"Trust me. Our combo of coffee and curry is untouchable. If I'm not there when you swing by, tell Sojiro, the owner, that I sent you. He'll take good care of you."

Dr. Kimura thought about it for a moment. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you very much, Akira-kun." Akira nodded in return. Sumire cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry, but we were talking about an MRI?" She said, half annoyed.

"Right! Sorry. I'll make the call as soon as you leave and message you the details. Takemi-san already gave me your number. However, I do have a few things for you." Dr. Kimura said before she got out her prescription pad and started scribbling. "Here you go—a prescription for some medication. They should not only help keep your seizures under control but also soothe your headache. Here are the side effects and directions for your medications." Akira didn't know what to feel. Even though Dr. Kimura told him he didn't have epilepsy, he still felt like he did, considering the prescription and reading the list of side effects.

"I thought I wasn't allowed to take medication until the cause of my seizures was found?" Akira asked, with hints of sarcasm in his voice.

"That doesn't apply to medication made to treat seizures. Just, don't take more than the directions say."

"Right..." Akira still didn't feel right. But he knew she wouldn't try to poison him. Tae didn't make these meds. He wasn't going to be Dr. Kimura's guinea pig as well.

"Oh! One more thing. Something slightly more pleasant." She said, reaching into her desk and pulled out a silver bracelet with the word "Seizures" carved out in black. "Not exactly the best-looking fashion accessory, I know. But I recommend you keep it on your wrist at all times. If you're ever out in public without a buddy and you happen to experience a seizure, people will be aware, and they'll be able to help you." Akira took the bracelet and put it on. It may as well have been a dunce cap to him. "One last thing. I'm sure this goes without saying, but don't hide this from anyone. The more people know, the easier it'll be for them to help you. Hence why I gave you the bracelet. But you should also tell people yourself. You don't want to collapse and have people just freak out rather than try to help, do you?" Akira shook his head.

"Thank you so much for everything, doctor Kimura. We can't thank you enough for seeing us today." Sumire said to her.

"To be honest, I'm glad I met you both. You're both good kids, and I'm sorry I couldn't definitively find your problem, Kurusu-kun." Dr. Kimura replied.

"No worries, doctor. Thanks again." Akira said as both he and Sumire bowed and headed towards the door. "Oh!" Akira said, turning back to her. "And I hope to see you at Leblanc someday."

"Oh, you bet!" She said, waving at them. Akira and Sumire exited the waiting room, walked down the hallway, and got in the slow elevator.

"Well, that could've gone better," Akira said.

"How do you mean?" Sumire asked.

"I thought I'd be scared to be diagnosed with epilepsy, but, to be honest, I'm more scared that I wasn't."

"At least she gave you some medicine. Hopefully, they'll help you get better." Sumire said as she held the hand with the new bracelet on.

She tried to remain hopeful. Akira was too worried to try.

Author's notes:

Well, I certainly didn't expect to get another chapter out this soon. Although, it is currently 4:30 am CST as I write this and I've been writing for the past 5 hours maybe? Not great I know, so If there are any spelling and grammar mistakes, feel free to let me know. I'm a bit anal about that stuff.

Anyway, this chapter has my first OC! yay! (well technically Akira's mom is my first OC but eh). I like how I wrote her personally. I have plans for her to stick around, not as a main character, but I might have her show up from time to time.

Also, man I had to do a lot of research to try and get this medical stuff as accurate as I wanted it to be. You'd think I was cramming for a grad thesis. Anywho, I liked how this chapter turned out. Next chapter however will be what I consider the end of the first act. I did say this would be a slow burn. Hopefully it's not too slow and you're enjoying so far.

That's all for now, as always, I hope you enjoy :)