Chapter 10: Memory Lane

"Mmmm, thish ish shoooooo good!" Ann smiles around a bite of a generously stuffed crêpe. Akira smiles at her from her seat across the table.

Ann apparently had every crêpe shop, stand, and café in Tokyo mapped and ranked in a Top 100 list. At least, that's what it sounded like as she just stopped at the first place on Shibuya's Central Street, saying 'Quicker is better anyways~'. It was honestly kind of cute the way she bounced from topic to topic, talking about this and that as they sat down at a nearby table, Ann with her strawberry and cream crêpe and Akira with a hot chocolate.

Ann seemed to get her energy back now that she'd gotten some sugar in her. Akira made a note to keep a thermos of a sweeter blend of coffee to share on another day.

"It's so weird to like, feel Carmen inside me now," Ann says softly, looking away at the ground.

"She'll always be with you, now," Akira nods. "Although, I gotta ask, is she the Carmen I'm thinking of? From that American cartoon…"

Ann shakes her head slowly, "No, I think she's the character from this opera I saw once. She was this… force of nature girl who refused to be chained down by any man, even if it meant her own death. 'Carmen will always be free.'" Her gaze is wistful and distant, her chin in her palm.

Akira grins. "Judith was a Jewish woman who saw the crimes of the invading Syrians and decided to kill the bastard doing the slaughtering. She seduced him, got him good and drunk, and cut his head off."

Ann giggles, "Hardcore! She suits you, definitely."

The two fall into silence as Ann finishes her crêpe, lapping up the cream as it spills out onto her fingers. She manages to miss a dollop on the corner of her lip, though.

"Ya got a little…," Akira swipes at the spot on her own mouth to show her.

Ann blinks owlishly before laughing and scooping it off with her finger, popping it in her mouth. "Mmm, hehe, usually it's me and Shiho and she always ends up cleaning up after me," she giggles.

"She your friend or your mother?" Akira asks with a raised brow.

"Well, she's way more than a friend, but she's hardly my mother—"

Akira waves her off. "Alright, alright. I don't have time to unpack all of that."

Akira watches as Ann's gaze goes distant once more. It's not hard to guess why, when she's had to awaken her Persona in such a… personal way. Her best friend being used against her, her manipulator openly admitting to doing so to get what he wanted. Akira wasn't surprised to hear the part about wanting to see Ann and Shiho 'get together', but to someone not in the business, it must feel like a horrible violation of the privacy of her own feelings.

Then Ann's gaze flicks back to Akira, simply watching her watch her. Akira twists her ankles around each other, trying not to lay bare her anxiety. She didn't like being stared at, and probably never would. At this point, she doesn't want to guess what Ann is thinking. It's no business of Akira's what she thinks of her, she's no mind reader.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Akira blinks, not expecting a question like this. "I… don't know what you mean?"

"Your probation. That's what everyone's always talking about at school, right? Being the—" Ann worries her lip between her teeth, glancing away, "—prostitute transfer?"

Akira brings a hand up, picking at a nail with her teeth. "What do you wanna know?" she asks, not looking Ann in the eyes.

Ann crosses her arms in front of her, resting them on the table. "How did you get on probation?"

Akira sighs. Once more, down memory lane.

That day… I was on my way home late from work when I heard it.

"Just get in the car!"

"Stop it!"

I could hear a man threatening a woman just down the street. I didn't even think before my legs were carrying me over to them as fast as I could go.

"How dare you cross me!"

"No… Please stop!"

I wasn't close enough to get in the way yet, but this drunkard was struggling with a woman, grabbing at her arms and shirt, trying to pull her into his car.

"You think you're worth causing me trouble? Huh?"

"No… Stop!"

"Incompetent fools like you just need to shut your mouths and follow where I steer this country!"

Needless to say, I didn't really need context to know what was happening. I got up behind them and pulled the woman away.

The man was as drunk up close as he was from a distance. Sure, I could see his lazy movements and hear him slur with every breath, but the flush of his cheeks and unfocused eyes were even more obvious now that I was looking him in the face.

He snarled at me like some kind of animal, "This ain't a show. Get lost, bitch!"

Sirens came 'round and I was honestly shocked anyone had the wherewithal to call the police. You'd be surprised how many people ignore sounds of a struggle.

"See, this is cuz yer so damn slow! Now get in the car!"

He grabbed at her again, and I just pulled her back, hugging her close. He was gonna have to get through me.

Not that he could. Dumbass overstepped and tripped over his own feet. He stumbled and smashed his forehead on the curb.

…

"Damn brat, I'll sue!"

...

But when the cops showed up, they didn't care what happened. He told them that he and I'd been fooling around in his car, that I attacked him after complaining about not being paid enough. The pigs in suits didn't even look twice at the girl I was protecting. Poor thing was hysterical, I don't hold it against her for not speaking up. But the cops put me in cuffs, and when I tried to argue back, the drunk told them I was 'resisting arrest' and that they should add that to the charges.

And they did.

Two months in jail working through the court system, I was able to squeeze out a plea deal for probation. Just one year away from home, and they sent me here to Tokyo, and I'd be off, as long as I stayed out of trouble. Considering I had pled guilty to one, assault, two, resisting arrest, and compensated dating and prostitution for three and four, I got off easy.

But, well, now that's on my record for the rest of my life.

When Akira looks up from where she'd cast herself adrift in her tale, she sees Ann with tears in her eyes.

She shoots her a sad smile. "It's alright, Ann-kun."

Ann snarls and shakes her head. "How could any of that be okay, Akira-chan!?" She smacks her hands down on the table. "That's… that is bullshit! You were arrested and, and convicted, for helping! You saved that woman, and you only suffered for it!"

"'It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life.'"

Ann cocks her head, "What's that from?"

Akira grins. "Star Trek!" She huffs a breath out from her nose. "I didn't do anything wrong, and I got punished for it. But I'm okay with that. I've made peace with that. That's life, Ann-kun."

"But how can you just… accept something so horrible!? How can I be alright with this? How can you be alright with this? You've done nothing but now you're away from home, your record is stained forever, and everyone at Shujin is calling you a whore!"

Whore.

Akira sucks in a breath. Just let it go. You don't have to say anything—

'Shame is a knife in the enemy's hands, little harlot. We have no need of it.'

Judith's voice washes over Akira like a wave, and she shakes her head. What the hell is she doing? What good is lying to a friend going to do to her now?

"That's… just it, Ann-kun. Ann." Akira shakes her head.

Ann gives her a puzzled look. "What's what?"

Akira takes a deep breath, then exhales. "I found those two while I was on my way home from work. My… sex work."

"Akira-chan—"

"Two years ago, my mom fell into depression. It was bad. She couldn't even get out of bed to wash herself, most days. She lost her job, and once the money started running out we…" Akira swallows thickly, "we were at risk of losing our home. The house I'd grown up in all my life.

"And I didn't accept that. I looked myself in the mirror and said, 'Kurusu Akira, your mother raised you to be strong, be brave, be confident. Be like Beyoncé.' And I said, if Mom can't work, I will.

"So I worked. I sold my time to people my age desperate enough to pay for it. I could bring money in without slacking on my schoolwork. Then I just started doing schoolwork in bulk so I could spend more time making money. Then things got… tricky.

"I fell in with a bad crowd. Don't ask; you're better off not knowing the details. But fact is, I chose to stop selling my time and start selling my body. And it paid the bills. Kept food on the table. I won't call it proud work, but it's work. Pretty ironic that half the charges that asshole accused me of just happened to be true."

Akira stops, only now realizing how much sweat is pouring down her face. She grabs the thermos she hadn't yet drained and takes a swig of some rich Blue Mountain. With a gasp, she wipes at her lips and looks back at Ann, who stares at her like she's grown a second head.

"That's why I can face my classmates and tell them to shove off. That's why a John like Kamoshida doesn't scare me. That's why I can take anything these losers can dish out, because trust me, I've been through way worse." She throws up a cocky grin. "I'm Kurusu fucking Akira, and anyone who's got a problem with me can either nut up or shut up. That's why I won't let anyone mess with you for associating with me, Ann. A girl who walks nights looks out for her own."

"Wow, that's…" Ann lets out a shaky breath. "Akira-chan… Akira, you're amazing. I can't believe you were able to go through all that. You're so… so…! What about your father? Couldn't he have—"

"Don't have one," Akira cuts in. "Just me and mom. I had to take care of her when she couldn't take care of herself."

"Well, then that's her fault for failing you." Ann says, with the hard-eyed gaze of someone who judges without knowing.

Akira scowls. "Don't you ever say anything like that about my mom." Ann stiffens across from her. "My mom worked hard to raise me, and support me, and she's the one who made me who I am today. Everything I did, everything I do, I do for her. So don't you dare pin the blame on her for my mistakes!"

The buzz of Central Street goes quiet, and Akira looks around to see a few passersby staring. She sits back down in her seat, not at all remembering when she stood up.

"Sorry."

Ann shakes her head. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Your mom must have been going through a lot."

"And it's not like I was going to tell her I'd started walking on the side."

Ann looks down, shame etched into the corners of her face. "I… don't really spend a lot of time with my parents. After moving here, they were always travelling, so I loved them to death in childhood, but…"

"That freedom sounds nice," Akira throws in.

Ann smiles. "Yeah, it is. I guess I just don't feel the same way about them that I used to. It's hard to, when we see each other so little nowadays."

"I get that. Sorry for snapping at you."

Ann laughs, "Let's not start the game of apologizing back and forth, okay?"

Akira smiles, and feels grateful she chose to admit this to Ann. She really is too kind.

A/N: Originally this chapter was going to be much longer and go much further. However, by the time I had finished Akira's first storytelling session, I knew that I needed to cut things short. Next chapter will include everything I had initially intended for this one!

I hope you look forward to it!

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