~Chapter 9~

-April 12nd, 2009, Kirijo Group Hospital-

White was the first thing to greet Akira. His entire body felt sore and it seemed that he was having blood transfusion. His eyes immediately darted to the small cameras placed at the corners of the room, a habit he picked up after many Palace infiltrations. Someone was monitoring him... for what, exactly? Conveniently, his phone was on the table right next to him.

Reaching his phone, Akira activated the navigation app, choosing the target as auto. Seconds later, the red world of Metaverse greeted him. Everything was fine except throbbing veins on the walls and his attire was missing the coat and red gloves, no mask either. Normally, he would go around exploring this Palace, hopefully it was one, but his Persona said otherwise.

One thing at the time, Trickster. Let us escape this hospital and assess our situation.

I suggest inquiring the Kirijo heiress, Trickster. Demiurge added.

'Wow, now I have TWO talking voices in my head. Nice.'

Satanael is the Agent of Chaos while I am your Faithful assistant, Trickster. Simple, and effective.

'Huh, never thought of it. You okay with this, 'nael?'

Nael? Interesting nickname but indeed, this is the best outcome. I cannot suppress the Idiotic God's presence in your Sea of Souls, Trickster.

Hmph, I will prove who is the more Idiotic of the two, Pretentious Devil. Demiurge retorted with a bit of annoyance in its tone.

Feel free to try. I am the Seven Deadly Sins themselves, Pretentious is within my nature. Satanael smugly replied.

Meanwhile, Akira had reached the entrance by jumping out from the windows, grabbing a water pipe and slipping down with ease. His hands might have some bumps but they were hardly a concern. He could sense the 'smells' of his weapons in the Doctor's Office so he went to retrieve them.

Trickster, I detected the Kirijo heiress' signal in this room. Perhaps you can exit the Metaverse and inquire her right now.

He did just that and Mitsuru was indeed in this room, discussing with the head doctor. They were shocked to see him appear from nowhere.

"What in the world…?"

"You are full of surprises, Kurusu." Mitsuru quickly regained her composure, having seen crazy stunts from Akira before. "I suppose you have recovered?"

"W-We still have one more examination, Miss Kirijio. His conditions are quite unique and…"

"Hmm, I understand. What is your opinion, Kurusu?"

"…Sure, no probs. Make it fast, though."

"Of course!" The doctor answered and collected his equipment and called the nurses.

"Oh, and leave us be for few minutes. I assume Kurusu wants to ask me something."

"As you wish."

Akira waited until Satanael confirmed that there were no eavesdroppers or working cameras, a simple cloaking trick. He took a seat on the sofa and looked straight at Mitsuru's eyes.

"So what's the deal with cameras and all? Other hospitals only have one or two at best. My room has seven, eight if you count the one outside."

"My…apologies. You are an unknown factor to all of us and I cannot risk compromises. I can only ask for your forgiveness and I swear that this will not happen again." Mitsuru clearly wanted to buy his trust and part of it was from his strength alone. No one had survived a direct hit through the heart before.

"And why should I believe you? There are four hidden cameras in Minato and my room as well."

After half an hour of explanation and promises, Akira finally relented and allowed Mitsuru to place two cameras in his room with the condition of not overstepping the bounds. She accepted and once he left the office and followed the nurse to the operation room, she let out a long sigh.

Later that day, Akira was discharged and the first thing he did was going to the supermarket; he wanted to cook some curry to see whether his skills were rusty or not. He needed something to distract him from the expositions recently and Mitsuru's limousine dropped him near the Iwatodai Station, in case he wanted to go to Paulownia Mall.

The supermarket was a bit far from his position so Akira opted to go to the stores and convenient stores instead. He bumped into Yukari, who was choosing flowers a bit too focus, and both ended up falling on the ground.

"Ow, watch it – Akira-kun!"

"Uh, yo."

Akira helped her stand up and sweep some dusts on her skirt. She was surprised to see him out from hospital this soon, as Minato was still unconscious. Akira did visit his roommate earlier and the guy slept so much that pinching his cheeks did nothing aside some scolding from the nurse. They chatted about the school and topics that were sensitive to outsiders for a while until the sky got darkened. Yukari hurriedly purchased her bouquet and apologized to Akira before leaving. She was visiting someone dear to her, he deduced but it was not his place to ask.

As Akira entered the Iwatodai Dorm, Mitsuru was reading a book. She greeted him and he asked her if she wanted some curry as dinner.

"I haven't had dinner yet so curry would be nice."

"It shouldn't take long."

Turned out it took longer than usual as the kitchen was a bit messy to his standards. Sojiro was rubbing off on him, it seems.

Yukari and Akihiko arrived at the same time as Akira finished the curry pot. From the corner of his eyes, he could see how interested they were at the source of the smell so he took two more dishes.

"Good evening. Want some curry?"

"You cook, Akira-kun?" "Curry? Count me in."

It was midnight and Dark Hour kicked in right away. As Akira lied on his bed thinking about certain things, he heard footsteps outside. Akihiko was going out again; he mused. Since he wanted to test out Demiurge's power, he joined the senior.

"No."

"I-I won't do anything too excessive, I swear!"

"Your arm is injured, Akihiko. Don't think I am that stupid to not know boxing requires two hands."

Akira scratched his cheek, watching Akihiko being scolded by Mitsuru who had this scary, icy look on her face.

"…Well, since I'm perfectly healthy, I will go first. No Tartarus?"

"You have just been discharged today, Kurusu."

"C'mon, the doctor's been looking at my body over and over again." Akira made a Morgana-persuading eyes and it did not take long before Mitsuru gave in. Wandering around the streets, he occasionally encountered some stray Shadows and made short work of them. Demiurge's skill pool was different but they served the same purpose: Pyriphlegethon was Blazing Hell but stronger, about thrice the latter's output. Breath was Ice Age but guaranteed Freeze. Stigmata Strike dealt Mega Physical Damage and had 50% chance of Instant Kill. Or Pyroclastic Tempest was both Fire and Wind elements, taking form of a stream of blazing typhoon sweeping away a large group of Shadows.

"Demiurge is OP, what the fuck? Satanael, do something or you will be overshadowed man!"

Hmph, taking advantage of my weakened state. How about this?

A dark colored bullet appeared on Akira's hand, looking as real deal. From a quick look, it was about the same caliber as .50AE, perfectly fit for his Automag V. Akira loaded it into the magazine and pulled the slide.

This special bullet can piece through Physical resistance, even if Tetrakarn is on.

"Huh… Neat."

For some reasons, there was no Shadow that could nullify or repel Physical Damage. He spent most of the hour finding one until a particular Shadow type stood out. A weird castle supported by two elephant-like legs stared down at Akira menacingly, judging from the way it was charging a Zio-type spell. He tried slashing it with his knife and the attack bounced back at his face. Satanael lowered all kind of damage to the bare minimum but he still felt the cold edge of Paradise Lost on his skin. He jumped back to dodge a pillar of lightning and landed on a pole.

"Repel, eh? How about this!"

Akira leveled his gun, took aim and pressed the trigger. The bullet exited the barrel and tore through the castle Shadow, not without causing it to explode into goo.

Black Barrel, my new skill. Only one bullet per cast but it can instantly obliterate everything unless they are immune to Instant Kill. Otherwise, Colossal Gun Damage. Satanael explained, visibly admiring his rifle.

You and your gun. Demiurge huffed.

On his way back to the dorm, Akira saw Yukari outside gazing the sky. He asked why she did not use the Evoker that night. She looked at him with sad eyes, replying that she was scared and she was thinking about her father back then.

"…He is gone, isn't he?"

"How did you know?"

"Guessing." Akira closed his eyes. "An accurate one, that is."

"…Yeah, it's about my father. You know, he died ten years ago in this city. He was a Kirijo scientist and when an explosion happened in the facility where he worked, he was identified as the cause." Yukari explained with a strained tone. Akira narrowed his eyes slightly at the building, specifically at the Kirijo heiress.

Calm, Trickster. Let's hear the rest.

"After his death, my family just fell apart. My mom threw herself into random men on the street and I hate her for that." Tears began to fall on her cheeks. "When I enrolled into Gekkoukan, I received his letter for me years ago and you know what? He loved me a lot. He wanted the best for me. He hoped to return home early that day to take me to the amusement park. I miss him, Akira-kun."

Yukari broken down, crying. Akira stood there for a moment before hugging her to comfort her.

"…Have I told you that my parents are dead?"

"Eh?"

"They were gone in a fire." No technically a lie as his world was burned down before his eyes. Also, he was not even close to them anyway, after the false accusation. "I have no one left except my guardian and his foster sister. He tried his best to be my next father and I was graceful to him. I can't see them again." His voice was cracking. "I miss them a lot. I miss Sojiro who always throws snarky comments at me. I miss Futaba who keeps trying to access to my internet history. I miss them."