TW: Mentions of bullying and possible self-harm

After spending time with Riku, Akira felt a bit better, but not by a whole lot.

While the rage he felt in the past twenty-four hours or so had faded, guilt had once again replaced it. For the past few days, weeks, months even, his mind was either clouded by rage, guilt, or despair. Like he was back in Metaverse, being hit with Stagnant Air followed by every Status Ailment in rapid succession by a rowdy shadow. Despite this, his time with Riku had been enjoyable. Riku had a fun personality and made Akira laugh several times. He was also a lonely guy. Similar to Ann, Riku's parents were away on business out of most of the year. Unlike Ann, however, Riku never had a best friend, or a Shiho equivalent. He was well-liked at school but never had any close friends.

Akira saw a bit of himself in Riku. His school days from elementary to his first year of high school ranged from painfully mediocre to miserable. He was bullied constantly and would often come home in tears. After a particularly traumatic event, however, Akira stopped talking to others entirely and just kept to himself, never really talking much unless a teacher asked him a question in class. Not that he ever talked much to begin with, being shy and reserved. Other kids mostly left him alone, except for some who would ask to borrow his homework as Akira was always at or near the top of his class. The bullying continued, but Akira was unfazed by it. No matter what was done to him, he barely reacted. Some thought he was brave and tough because he was able to withstand what was being thrown at him. Others saw his lack of emotion as rather freaky. This continued until he moved to Tokyo.

It seems something in him changed once he transferred to Shujin Academy. More accurately, before he even arrived at Shujin on his first day when he stumbled into the Metaverse and awakened to his Persona. It felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders and Akira felt like an entirely new person; he felt reborn. As the year progressed, he found himself talking to more and more people, making friends, establishing bonds, and even finding love. Despite the circumstances that led to it all, and some of the events that occurred, Akira went home the following year, looking back on his time in Tokyo as a blessing. While he was happy to see his mother again, however, the more time he spent away from his friends, the more he began to feel like he was slipping back into his old, emotionally disconnected self.

All of this he shared as he enjoyed beers with Riku. Well, everything except the stuff about Personas, the Metaverse, and the Status Ailments that is.

"Damn, man. I thought I had a rough time. At least I wasn't seen as a freak. Uh… no offense," Riku said. Akira waved it off.

"None taken, I get how all of that sounds."

"What was that 'traumatic event' you mentioned, if you don't mind me asking?" It was probably the beer in his system, but Akira gave Riku more of an answer than he had to even his closest friends.

"Um… someone… very close to me died… that's all I want to say about that." Akira didn't know what it was, but between Taiji and Kenta, and now Riku, Akira seemed oddly comfortable talking with people he didn't know very well. Why he couldn't feel this way toward the people he had willingly turned himself into the authorities for, Akira didn't know.

"Ah… sorry to hear that. That must've been tough."

"You have no idea…" Akira nodded as he finished his third beer. He set it down on the table, and gently rubbed his hands, which were still hurting from his "workout" earlier this morning.

"Your hands still hurt?"

"Yeah, a bit," Akira hissed in pain when he touched them.

"Hold on," Riku said as he got up and went to his freezer. He came back and handed Akira an ice pack. "Here you go, this should help."

"Thank you."

"No worries. Sometimes I get blisters from drumming. Ya know, when I hold the sticks too tightly, I sometimes fill a bucket with water and ice and just dump my hands into 'em after a long and intense practice sesh. Point is, I get bloody hands, hehe."

"I don't think bleeding is the problem anymore. I think it's just the bruising and swelling. Either way, though, I appreciate it."

"Don't mention it. You want another beer?"

"No, thanks, I should get going, actually. I have some stuff I need to do. What about you? You barely touched yours."

"Ah, I shouldn't have bought these, they're ass. To be honest, I mistakenly bought 'em before I realized they sucked. I've just been waiting for someone to come over and drink 'em, so I don't have to waste 'em." Riku partially lied. He didn't mistakenly buy them; he just wasn't an expert when it came to alcohol. The truth was, despite having a fake ID, Riku wasn't much of a drinker at all. While he was a good guy, his drinking skills were nada. Akira was sure even Sumire could drink him under the table.

"Oh, so you have no problem dumping them on me? Gee, thanks," Akira said, rolling his eyes.

"H-Hey, hey. I-I didn't mean like that-" Riku stuttered in a panic.

"Relax," Akira chuckled, "I'm just messing with you. Although, you are right. These are not good."

"I mean, you had three of them," Riku chuckled.

"Tell you what, when you've had a shitty day, even the worst beer goes down like water," Akira joked before all of a sudden feeling a bit sad.

"Tch. You sound like an alcoholic, hehe," Riku joked.

"Well, I'm not."

"Or, at the very least, a functioning alcoholic."

"Again, I'm not."

"If you say so~," Riku muttered under his breath. He was right about one thing, though, the beer was light as hell and tasted like crap. Akira wasn't even buzzed, but this was a good thing. For one, Akira didn't want to risk going home drunk and walking into everyone waiting for him again. Two, there was someone he had to pay a visit to before the day was over, and showing up drunk would be a fate worse than death.

Akira said his goodbyes and excused himself. He got on the subway and headed for Makoto and Haru's apartment.

The walk from the station to their home was a long and tense one. Akira grew worried. Would they forgive him? He hoped they would, but he also knew this wasn't the first time he had to apologize. How many more times were they willing to forgive him before they had enough and decided to leave him? He walked up to the intercom and pressed the buzzer. The time between the call and answer felt like hours. Akira was terrified. Especially because facing either Makoto or Haru after what went down between him and them could be individually challenging, but together could be devastatingly tricky. Like going up against a raid boss only moments after finishing the tutorial.

"Damn it. Futaba's gaming references are starting to get to me now," Akira thought, chuckling. The chuckling stopped when he remembered Futaba in tears the previous night. "Futaba… and Morgana…" Taiji's words replayed in his head.

You look like you could use a drink…

"I could use a drink…" Akira thought to himself. Maybe, Riku had a point after all…

*Hello? Who is it?* The voice on the intercom snapped him out of his thoughts. He recognized it as Makoto's.

"Makoto? It's Akira… can we talk?" There was no response. "I hope this isn't a bad time, but I have something I need to say to you, and to Haru if she's home too." Still no response. Just silence on the intercom. "I'm sorry, I probably should've called or texted first. If you're not ready to see me now, which I understand, I'll… come back later." Akira started walking away, disheartened.

Suddenly, the door behind him buzzed open. He felt relieved but still terrified. He rode the elevator up to their floor and went to ring the doorbell. As he did, he noticed his bandaged hand. Not wanting to worry them, he decided to keep his hands in his jacket pockets for the time being. It wasn't unusual; he usually kept his hands pocketed by default. He waited a moment for Makoto to answer as he gathered his thoughts. The door unlocked and opened; Akira was surprised. He had expected either Makoto or Haru to open the door. Instead, it was Sae.

"Hello, Akira-kun," Sae greeted in a slightly hostile-sounding tone. Or maybe it was just her usual tone? It was sometimes hard to tell with Sae.

"Hello, Sae-san," Akira responded, trying not to sound too stressed out.

"Please, come on in." She moved out of the way and let him into the apartment. As he walked into the living room, he saw Makoto and Haru sitting on the couch.

"Hey, Makoto. Hey, Haru," he greeted them with a warm smile. Neither responded to him; both looked at the ground. Akira couldn't quite discern their expressions. He thought Makoto might still be hurt and/or Haru might still be mad at him.

"Makoto and Haru-chan were just telling me about what happened yesterday," Sae said, Akira hung his head. "I have to say, I was surprised to hear about you acting in such a way. It's unlike you."

"I'm not happy with how I acted, either," Akira admitted.

"I've also heard of your new medical condition. I'm really sorry to hear about it, by the way," she sounded sympathetic.

"Thank you, Sae-san," Akira sighed before turning towards Makoto and Haru. "Listen, Makoto, you didn't deserve what I said to you. Neither did you, Haru. I acted like a real asshole and said some things I shouldn't have. I'm really sorry to you both." There was a bit of silence before Makoto spoke up.

"I forgive you, Akira." Akira felt relieved, but he was not prepared for her next statement. "I'm sorry too."

"Huh? Wait, I don't understand. What do you have to be sorry about?" Akira was puzzled and stunned. Morgana had a point yesterday, what did she have to apologize for, trying to be there for him? How dare she? Haru answered for her.

"After we all left the attic, Takemi-san talked with us. She explained how someone with seizures would sometimes experience dysphoric episodes, depression, irritability, and such. Mako-chan was worried that she might have caused your outbursts yesterday."

"That's what I heard, but that's no excuse for what happened, and I definitely don't want to put the blame on Makoto for what happened," Akira said.

"There's another reason why I want to apologize," Makoto began. "A while ago, Sis helped Haru and me realize something."

"What's that?" Akira raised an eyebrow.

"We… don't feel like we've always been there for you the same way you've been for us…" Makoto said before Haru continued.

"During our time as the Phantom Thieves, and even after it ended, we rarely if ever checked up on you just to see how you were doing. You were always there to help us, and though we said that we would always be there for you, we don't feel like we've extended the same hand you did to all of us." Akira listened intently as Makoto took over once again.

"My visit yesterday was because I wanted to see how you were doing, especially with everything going on. But I feel as though I screwed up. While what you said did hurt my feelings, I didn't stay mad for very long. If anything, it made me want us to work harder to be better friends for you. You're going through a hard time right now between your seizures and starting therapy with Doctor Maruki. The last thing we want is for you to feel like you can't rely on us because that's not true at all. You're our friend, Akira, and you're important to us." Haru nodded as Makoto continued to speak. It was clear, however, that she was having a hard time keeping it together. "We want you to feel like you can be more open with us. I came on too strong yesterday, and I feel like that may have pushed you to… to…" Makoto couldn't take it anymore. Single tears began to fall down her cheek. "I-I'm s-sorry…" she sobbed. "I'm sorry that I made you have a seiz-"

"No, no, no, don't say that," Akira calmly shushed her. He gently got up from his seat, walked over to the couch, and sat down next to Makoto, gently taking her in his arms. Unfortunately, in doing this, he revealed his bloody bandaged hands.

"Oh my gosh, Akira! What happened to your hands!?" Haru gasped as she saw them.

"Oh, I uh… got a little bit too into a workout this morning. Don't worry about it."

"Akira-kun…" Sae worriedly said.

"I promise. I went to Protein Lovers this morning and stupidly used the punching bags without protection. It's fine. I got patched up at the gym. They're a bit sore, but I'm fine." Sae went to the freezer and got him some ice. He thanked her but asked her to hold on to it as he continued to hug a still crying Makoto. "Makoto, listen to me, you didn't cause me to have a seizure, and you have nothing to be sorry for. You, Haru, Sumire, Ryuji, Yusuke, Morgana, Ann, and Futaba have been the greatest friends I could have ever asked for. You don't know how lucky I am to have you all in my life."

Makoto kept quietly sobbing on his shoulder. Akira knew what he had to do. He finally began to open up more to the people he loved.

"I never told you this, but for a long time, I didn't have any friends. I could never maintain, let alone start, a friendship with anyone, and I thought I would go through my entire life without friends. That thought disappeared when I moved to Tokyo and met all of you. To be perfectly honest, you've all done way more for me than you think. You saved my life, and not just from getting killed or getting me out of juvie. You all saved my life by simply coming into and staying in it."

Haru joined in on the hug. Sae had a hint of a smile on her face as she watched the three friends make up. Makoto stopped crying. Akira broke the hug and began talking directly to Makoto and Haru.

"Look, it's never been easy for me to open up about anything to anyone…" He looked down at the floor. "…but I want to make an effort and try… and I'm going to start now."

"Just tell us whatever you want to tell us. We're here for you and we'll listen to anything you have to say, be it good or bad," Haru said as she took the ice pack and gently placed it on his hand. Akira took a deep breath.

"Makoto, the person who called me that day at the river wasn't Boss. It was my mother," Makoto and Haru were puzzled.

"I-I don't understand. W-Why did you feel the need to hide that?" Makoto asked as she wiped the remaining tears from her face. Akira felt a migraine coming on but didn't let it deter him.

"Before I came back to Tokyo, we… had an argument, a… pretty heated one." Despite Akira keeping it vague, Makoto and Haru were nonetheless shocked. They had only met Kairi twice, but, to their knowledge, she and Akira always got along great. The news of a possible falling out concerned them.

"I-Is everything all right? Have you talked to her since then?" Haru asked.

"N-No… no, I haven't…" Akira felt the migraine get worse, so much so that the pain he was experiencing became noticeable to everyone else in the room when they saw the pained expressions on his face as he massaged his temple.

"Maybe we should stop there, for now," Sae suggested. "This is clearly a sensitive topic for Akira-kun, and I'd hate for him to get too stressed out and risk him having another seizure." Makoto and Haru nodded.

"Can I get you anything? Water? Tea? Aspirin?" Makoto asked as she stood up.

"Just some water, please." Akira had his hand on his forehead as Makoto went to the kitchen before quickly returning. "Thank you," he said as she handed him the glass before he drank it in one gulp.

"Did you take your medicine today?" Makoto asked; Akira nodded. Makoto sat back down on the couch and rubbed his back. "It really pains me to see you like this," she said somberly.

"I'll be all right. I feel like once I've seen Maruki a few more times, I'll be more willing to discuss things openly," Akira said. The water helped; he felt his migraine slowly fading away. He felt calm once again and spoke softly. "Thank you, and again, Makoto, I'm sorry for what I said, yesterday. You too, Haru."

"We're sorry too; don't worry about it. Water under the bridge," she said as she and Haru smiled at him.

Akira smiled back; he felt like he had salvaged his friendship them as if it was in severe danger. Was Akira overreacting? Was it really in danger? Perhaps. After all, he didn't expect Makoto to apologize to him or Haru to be so forgiving after their argument not twenty-four hours ago. They forgave him and said that they wanted to be there for him. It was something Akira was both happy and unhappy about. Haru's words about the group willing to listen to anything he had to say be it good or bad troubled him. Good or bad, Akira didn't want to think about anything, let alone talk about it with anyone. Though left unattended, he still felt a wedge between him and the Phantom Thieves, and it was only a matter of time before the cord was cut.

"I should probably head back to Leblanc," he said as he stood up. "I kinda left early this morning without telling anyone." He hugged Makoto and Haru and said his goodbyes to them.

"It's time I get going, too," Sae said. "Why don't I give you a ride back to Leblanc, Akira-kun?"

"Oh, well, if it's no trouble for you, Sae-san…"

"Not at all, I'd be happy too," Sae smiled. "I'll see you both later," she said to Haru and Makoto.

"Thank you, Sis," Makoto said.

"Thank you for coming, Sae-san. Take care of yourself, Akira. And remember, we're always here for you," Haru said.

"I know," Akira smiled at her. He waved goodbye as he and Sae exited the apartment. Once they were gone, Makoto pulled out her phone and went into the group messaging app.

**Akira GC**

Makoto Niijima added Haru Okumura, Sumire Yoshizawa, Ann Takamaki, Ryuji Sakamoto, Yusuke Kitagawa, and Futaba Sakura.

MN: Akira stopped by.

AT: Really? How did it go?

MN: He apologized, and we did too. We told him we would try and be there for him more.

RS: I still feel like crap after that talk last night. You were right, Queen. We haven't been there for him as much.

YK: Indeed. I feel as though we haven't allowed him many opportunities to open up to us.

HO: He said he's always had trouble opening up. It's not just with us.

FS: We gotta change that asap!

AT: Definitely! We owe him a lot.

FS: Operation: Save Akira is a go!

MN: Let's not be too hasty. Remember what Takemi-san said? The dysphoric episodes?

RS: Oh yeah… So, what? We should just take it slow?

MN: I think that would be best.

HO: He tried talking about his mother, and it looked like it triggered a migraine.

FS: Seriously? Just like that?

YK: His mother? Why? Did something happen?

MN: He said they had an argument before he came back to Tokyo. He apparently hasn't talked to her, since.

RS: Jeez, that sucks…

AT: Sumire, do you have her number? Maybe you could call and ask her about it?

SY: I don't, unfortunately, but even then, I'd rather not pry into it. Unless Akira decides to talk about himself, it's probably none of our business.

MN: Sumire's right. We should try to hold out until Akira decides to talk about it on his own. He said he's going to make an effort to be more open with us.

HO: Another thing, his hands were bandaged, and his knuckles were clearly bloody.

SY: WHAT!?

MN: He said it was nothing serious, that he injured them at the gym this morning.

RS: I can vouch for that. Got a call earlier from one of my co-workers who spotted him there this morning. He said that Akira was hittin the bags without protectin his hands. He said it was weird tho. Akira was blindly hittin the sack, like there wasn't anything else around him. And he did it for an hour straight too.

AT: An hour straight!?

FS: What the heck!? He should know better!

YK: I hate to even consider this possibility, but do you believe Akira intentionally tried to hurt himself?

SY: Oh God… I hope not…

RS: No! I don't buy it for a second. Akira has been through so much shit, and he never tried somethin like that before.

MN: Akira is too strong-willed.

FS: I agree with Queen and Skull. He wouldn't do something like that… right?

HO: I want to believe that, but I feel like there's only so much a person can take before their spirit begins to break.

AT: I don't want to believe it, but after Shiho…

SY: Ann-Senpai…?

RS: Ann… are you ok?

A few moments went by before Ann responded.

AT: I'm fine. Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up. I'm just worried…

MN: Like I said, Akira told us he really wants to make an effort to open up. I don't think he's feeling "that" way.

SY: Let's just be there as much as we can for him.

YK: Agreed.

SY: I'm at Leblanc right now. I'm going to spend some time with him when he gets back. I'll let you all know if something comes up.

Makoto and Haru put their phones away and shot each other looks of concern for Akira.

The car ride to Leblanc was mostly quiet. There was the occasional bit of small talk, but otherwise, it was silent. Sae pulled up to the Leblanc alleyway. Akira was appreciative.

"Thank you for the ride. Always great to see you, Sae-san." To Akira's surprise, Sae pulled him in for a hug. Akira didn't know Sae was the hugging type. She broke the hug and addressed him.

"If there's anything I can do for you, Akira-kun, don't hesitate to let me know," Sae said.

"Thank you, I appreciate it. I'll see you later." He exited the vehicle and watched as Sae drove off. He walked through the backstreets before taking the usual right turn towards Leblanc. As he approached the café, he noticed Tae walking out.

"Hey, look who finally came home," Tae said in a snarky tone.

"Hey, Tae," he greeted her.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better than last night. Physically at least."

"You sure about that?" Tae pointed at his hands.

"Hurt myself at the gym," he quickly said without averting his gaze from her.

"A-ha… Intentionally?" Tae decided to be blunt.

"…what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, I'm serious. Tell me straight up, did you intentionally try and hurt yourself?" Takemi sounded deadly serious.

"No! Jesus Christ, Tae. No! I would never do that! Ever!" Akira insisted; Tae looked into his eyes and detected no signs of him lying.

"…okay, fine, but you understand why I'm asking, right? You haven't been your usual self lately."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, but no. I'm hurting myself on purpose. Trust me." Akira once again decided to open up a bit more. "But… I do have something I need to ask you about."

"I'm all ears."

"Well, the thing is… the reason I hurt my hands was because I was hitting one of the bags at the gym without protection for an hour straight."

"An hour!?"

"Yeah, yeah, spare me the lecture and just hear me out, will you?" he sighed. "… The thing is, I didn't do it on purpose. In my mind, I hit the bag for only a few minutes, but when I stopped, I found that an hour had passed." Tae was stunned.

"Are you saying that you blacked out?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but yeah. That's what I'm thinking," Akira nodded; Tae thought for a moment.

"I think you should tell Doctor Kimura. She'd be able to tell you more than I can."

"I actually ran into her this morning at the gym."

"Really? At Protein Lovers?" Takemi snickered.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just surprised she goes there."

"Well, it's near her office."

"Ah. Makes sense. Anyway, yeah, you should ask her about it. Here, let me give you her personal number." Takemi sent Hiromi's contact info to Akira's phone. "Right, well, I better go. Hope you feel better soon." She started walking away.

"See you around, Tae."

"I'm always around." Takemi waved without looking back. Akira smirked and then entered Leblanc. Sojiro was behind the counter, as usual, smoking a cigarette.

"Hey, you weren't here when I opened the store. Where'd you disappear off to this morning?" Sojiro asked.

"I just got up early and decided to go to the gym."

"Gotcha," Sojiro nodded. Akira was silent for a moment.

"Hey, so, about last night…" Akira began before Sojiro stopped him.

"Don't worry, kid; I know you're sorry. Takemi-san explained some stuff about your condition to us."

"So I heard. How's Futaba?"

"She's fine. She's at the house with Yusuke."

"You trust Yusuke enough to leave the two of them alone together?"

"Yeah, I know the guy wouldn't do anything to hurt Futaba or piss me off. Especially if he expects me to keep serving him free curry, hehe."

"Right. I should probably apologize to her, too."

"Nah, I wouldn't worry about it. Futaba's not mad at you. Besides, I think you should apologize to the cat… haha," Sojiro softly laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Sorry, I'm just laughing at how ridiculous that sounds. 'Apologize to the cat.' Jeez… I sound like one of those old cat ladies or something," Sojiro chuckled again.

"He doesn't like to be called a cat; you know?"

"Right, I keep forgetting. Anyways, like I was saying, if there's someone here who should apologize to, it's Morgana." Akira nodded in agreement.

"Do you know where he is?"

"Upstairs. Oh, and your girl is up there too."

"Sumire?"

"It ain't my job to remember her name, kid, hehe…" Akira gave a slight smirk and headed upstairs to his room. He found Sumire chatting with Morgana on his bed.

"Hey, guys…"

"You're home!" Sumire got up and rushed into his arms. "How are you feeling? And what happened to your hands?" Sumire's acting was miles ahead of Ann's. The blond could learn a thing or two from her.

"I'm fine. I hurt them at the gym. It was a dumb mistake that I won't make again, don't worry," Sumire nodded and kissed him.

"Ahem…?" Morgana broke up their kiss.

"Um… do you mind if I talk with Morgana alone for a bit?" Akira asked Sumire. She nodded.

"I'll be downstairs," she said before making her way down. Once downstairs, she pulled up the Akira group chat on her phone.

**Akira GC**

SY: I don't think Akira's hurting himself on purpose.

AT: Oh, Thank God

RS: Did ya ask him about it?

SY: No, I overheard him and Takemi-san talking outside of Leblanc. She asked him directly, and he vehemently denied it.

FS: Damn Takemi. Straight to the point, no BS.

MN: Are you sure he's telling the truth?

SY: Trust me. I know that tone of his. He's not lying about it. However, there was something else he mentioned.

HO: What is it?

SY: He told Takemi-san that he might be experiencing blackouts. He said he only worked out for a few minutes in his mind, but he realized an hour had passed when he stopped.

YK: My word…

FS: Jeez, that's freaky…

HO: That is very worrying.

SY: Takemi-san gave him Doctor Kimura's contact info. She'll be able to tell him more.

AT: I'm just happy he wasn't hurting himself on purpose. I don't want him to go through what Shiho did.

FS: Sounds like we don't have to worry about it.

YK: What a relief. Where is he now?

SY: Upstairs, talking with Morgana-senpai.

RS: D'ya think Morgana's still gonna decide to leave for a bit?

SY: I'm not sure. I talked with him briefly before Akira arrived. Morgana-Senpai seemed adamant.

HO: I hope they can work things out. They're so close…

"Hey," Akira smiled.

"Hey," Morgana simply said. No smile, though. Akira took a seat on his bed next to Morgana. "Before you say anything, I want to talk first."

"Go ahead," Akira nodded and let him continue.

"Look, I realize asking you to talk about your mom won't lead us anywhere, so I'm not going to bother. What I will say is that you really hurt me yesterday. Both with your words… and your notebooks." Morgana bowed his head and showed Akira his ear. There was a cut on the inside with some dried up blood. One of the notebooks must've actually hit Morgana. Akira felt terrible.

"I'm really sorry. You know I didn't mean to hurt you, right?"

"I know… but you did. I know Takemi said that your seizures influenced your emotions, but between my crushed feelings and my bleeding ear, you'll have to excuse me if I'm not ready to forgive and forget just yet."

"I understand, but I want you to know that I am sorry."

"I know… and I'm sorry too…"

"Why?"

Morgana sighed. "… I think I'm going to go stay with Futaba for a while." Akira was devastated but understood where he was coming from.

"For how long?"

"Until you get better and tell someone what's on your mind." There was a lot on his mind. Akira didn't want to bring any of it up. Even if that meant losing Morgana. Nevertheless, it still hurt to hear that his partner was leaving him, temporarily or not. "It's not like I won't be back. I just won't be constantly at your side for a bit. We'll still see each other, obviously; that's unavoidable."

"Why are you going then?" Morgana dodged the question.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Do yourself a favor and worry about yourself for once." Akira decided not to press further and silently nodded.

"Well, then… I guess… I'll see you around?"

"I'm always around," Morgana smiled. Before he left, Akira called out to him one more time.

"Hey, Morgana?"

"Mm-hm?" He turned around and looked at Akira.

"Even though you're not at my side, for the time being, are you still with me?"

Morgana nodded. "Always, Akira…"

The two traded one more smile before Morgana headed downstairs and exited Leblanc. It may not have been a true goodbye, but it sure felt like one. Was it finally happening? Were Akira's friends beginning to leave him. Did Morgana really leave on his own, or did Akira push him away? Was it only a matter of time before he pushed the others away too? Was being alone really the easier path? Now that Morgana was gone, Akira started thinking that maybe it was, no matter how painful it felt. Once again, Akira felt the need to cry but was unable to do so. He gave up trying when Sumire came back upstairs. She found Akira sitting on his bed, looking down at the floor, thinking. She sat next to him and rubbed his back.

"Sumi?"

"Mm-hm?"

Akira looked her in the eyes. "Am I a bad person?"

"Not even in the slightest," she immediately answered without hesitation. "Akira, you're the best person I've ever met. You're smart, you're kind, and you care about all of us. You've just been dealt a bad hand lately, but I know you, this isn't your first bad hand. You can get through this, and we're all going to be here to help you along the way." Akira laid his head in her lap.

"I love you so much," he said, looking up at her.

"I love you too," she leaned her head down and kissed him. Akira had a sudden thought. Morgana said goodbye to him the same way Tae did. Sojiro did say the walls were thinner than he thought. Did Morgana eavesdrop on his and Tae's conversation? Did Sumire? "Something on your mind?" Sumire asked him.

"Nah, it's nothing," he smiled. They kissed again, but Akira was feeling doubtful. "Oh, I forgot to tell you…"

"What's up?" Akira smiled before answering.

"You're all going to meet my cousin in a couple of weeks."

Author's notes:

Sorry, this one took longer than planned. Had to rewrite it a few times because I wasn't sure where to take it but I'm happy with how it turned out. I have the next chapter planned out so this was just a minor hurdle. Next chapter I'm going to start jumping forward through time so we can get to August and the palace soon. Still got a few more chapters planned for act two including some flashback chapters but we're getting closer. And yes, you guessed correctly from the ending, I'm going to be bringing in Yu and Rise in person next chapter.

I want to say this now. Consider it my confession. I have not completed Persona 4 (or P3 but that doesn't matter here). I tried to buy it on Steam but my laptop isn't strong enough and my main desktop is a mac. I even bought a vita to try and play Golden but the vita was bust. So two months ago, I bought a used ps2 with P3FES and P4, but now I am on vacation away from them for the summer. Son of a bitch... Point is, if the way I write Rise is slightly out of character, that's why. (if you're curious, I started Kanji's Spa before leaving). So yeah, wanted to get that out of the way now.

That's all for notes, hope you enjoyed ;)