Ann sits at the table again with her parents as the clock tick-tocks later into the night. Ann's mother has poured everyone a glass of wine, though Ann's is filled less than both her parents as they sit to discuss what's going on with Ann.
"I don't have a crush on him," Ann says.
"Dear, please," her mother responds. "You've got a crush, even if you don't know it. It was written all over your faces during dinner."
Ann blushes more and takes another sip of her wine as her parents look at her, unable to hold back their amused smiles at her embarrassment. I cannot believe we're having this conversation.
"What do you mean?" Ann asks.
"Well, the two of you were frequently looking at each other and quickly looking away whenever you made eye contact, but only when you thought other people weren't looking at either of you," Ann's father explains. "C'mon Sweetheart, we were young too, once. We know what it feels like."
"I just…" Ann hesitates. I've only ever told Shiho these things and she can't hear me! But they're my parents, I can trust them and their advice. "I just can't stop thinking about him."
Ann is startled as her parents both raise their hands in the air and cheer. Ann's jaw drops as they both turn and high-five one another.
"W-wha…"
"Sorry Sweetheart," her dad says with a chuckle. "We weren't sure we were going to be able to get you to open up about it. We certainly didn't with our parents when we were your age."
Ann's mother giggles as she takes a sip from her wine. "You can't stop thinking about him?"
Ann takes a moment to gather herself after that sudden display and begins to giggle herself as the absurdity of it all before responding again in her more serious tone.
"Yeah… he's on my mind all the time since we met. Even before we actually met, the rumors about him for being a new student and the fact that he sits behind me always kept me distracted in class. Now with the study group, I see him all the time and spend time with him almost every day."
"Sounds exactly what life was like for me when I met your father," Ann's mother says as she grabs her husband's hand.
"I just don't understand what this all is, you know?" Ann says taking another sip of her wine. "Like, I can't stop thinking about him and I always want to text him and see how or what he's doing. But is that really attraction? I don't think it's love. I don't know what it is."
"Yeah," Ann's father responds. "Things like love and attraction are difficult for people to understand. It's hard because everyone experiences it in different ways and each person would probably define it in different ways. It's easy to look at other people in love and point to it and say, 'There, that's what it is.' It's harder to be in it and realize it."
"So, am I in it?" Ann asks.
"I don't think so, Dear," Ann's mother responds. "I think you're infatuated with him. I think that you're in that stage just before love. Some people will tell you it's short lived or temporary, but I think it's a necessary stage to pass through for everyone. Some will experience it for a long time and others will have it for only a short while, but everyone passes through it."
"Mhmm," Ann's father hums in agreement as he sips his wine. "I understand why you like the boy. I can see how he caught your eye and threw you into this infatuation."
"You can?" Ann asks.
"Yes. He's a respectable young man from what I can see. He spoke steady and seemed to mean what he said. He maintained eye contact with whoever he was speaking with and was courteous to your mother and me. As far as first impressions go, I couldn't have been more pleased."
"What do you think, Dear?" Ann's mother asks. "What about him do you like?"
"I don't know… the way he speaks. The way he treats people around him. I like the way he seems so nonchalant about the world but still somehow seems to adamantly pay attention to the fine details. I like how aloof he seems to be but can still be depended on. I like…"
How he helped me with Shiho. How he helped me with Kamoshida. All the times he's likely saved my life to repay the times I've likely saved his. God, I wish I could tell you about those times.
"I just like him," Ann finishes off.
"Have you told him?" Ann's father asks.
"No. I haven't really told anybody, only Shiho when I went to visit her."
"Are you going to?" Ann's mother asks.
"I don't know. I don't think so. I mean, how would I? And what if he doesn't like me the same way?"
"Oh, Sweetheart," Ann's father says. "I don't think you'll need to worry about that."
"But how do you know for sure? What if I said something about it and he doesn't feel the same way and it makes the friendship awkward?"
"Dear, I'll give you this advice," Ann's mother says as she finishes her wine. "I think you should only say something once you're ready for both outcomes should they occur. But at the same time, you'll probably never be in a situation where you're truly ready. So, when you're as ready as you can be, you'll need to take a leap of faith and tell him."
"Even if it might make things awkward between us?"
"Even it if might make things awkward between you."
"OK," Ann says. "I'll—I'll keep it in mind." Ann finishes the last of the wine in her glass before standing up from the table with her parents.
"I love you guys," Ann says as she wraps her arms around both their necks.
"We love you too, Sweetheart."
"Mhmm, now off you go!" her mother instructs. "You've still got school tomorrow so get to bed!"
Ann smiles as she closes her bedroom door and changes into her night clothes. She continues smiling as she lies down and drifts off to sleep thinking of herself and Akira, Panther and her Joker. I just need to find the right time to tell him.
XXXX
5/1
Akira, along with Morgana inside his bag, step off the train and begin making their way to their destination. Yesterday had consisted of Akira going to an uneventful day at school and helping Sojiro out at the café before ending the day spending time testing new medicines with Dr. Takemi. The busyness of the day had left him drained last night and he'd slept like a log, almost oversleeping for his appointment today.
"Have you asked Ann how she's doing?" Morgana asks poking his head out of the bag.
"She said yesterday she still hadn't woken up but that they're hopeful it'll be any day now," Akira replies trying to not look obvious that he's talking to his cat in public.
"That's too bad," Morgana says. "I'd bet a bucket of fresh fish that tomorrow will be the day Kamoshida breaks. If anyone would deserve to see that, it'd be her."
"Agreed. I hope he shows at school tomorrow. We told his shadow to atone but instead he took half a week off and locked himself at home refusing to talk to anybody beyond confirming he's alive."
"Maybe we need to be more specific in our instructions to the shadows," Morgana suggests.
"Yeah, maybe."
Akira arrives at the hospital, nodding at Morgana to get back inside the bag. He checks his phone to make sure he had the right room number in mind. Just as he's about to begin heading inside, he sees Ryuji walking up to the hospital too.
"Hey dude," Ryuji says as he arrives.
"Hey," Akira replies.
"Ready to head in?" Ryuji asks as the two boys begin their way inside through the doors and towards the elevators. "I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous. I didn't really know Shiho well, other than just in passing, you know? I'm mainly going because Ann asked us to."
"I understand. I didn't know Shiho well either, I'd only had one conversation with her at school."
"You did?"
Akira nods. "Yep, she told me to not let the rumors about me get to me. Said she had a friend who knows what it's like to be misunderstood and rumored about… She was talking about Ann."
"Damn, I didn't realize Shiho was that kind."
The elevator ride to the correct floor comes to an end as the elevator dings. The boys step out of the opening doors and make their way to the room following signs on the walls and ceiling. As they arrive at the room, they hear talking inside. Both pause together to take a breath and steady themselves as they head inside.
Inside Shiho's room the boys see Ann sitting on one side of Shiho's bed, holding her hand and Shiho's parents on the other side. Shiho's mother sits holding her hand and her husband stands behind her with his hand resting on her shoulder. Standing at the foot of the bed are Ann's parents who turn as they walk in.
"Boys! Good to see you again," Ann's mother says as she walks over to give each of them a small hug. As she steps back, Ann stands and moves to hug both boys at once.
"I'm so glad you came," she whispers to them. As she separates from them, she turns to introduce them to Shiho's parents and greetings are exchanged.
Akira finally gets a moment to look at Shiho, resting silently in the bed. He hair is finely brushed and hanging down over one of her shoulders as her eyes remain closed. She looks so good, yet so terrible, he thinks.
Shiho's feeding tube sticks out of her mouth and the heart rate monitor beeps rhythmically next to her bed. IV's stick out of her arms, likely feeding her body with drugs and nutrients and medicine she'd need. Even though Akira didn't know her well, it is hard to see her like this.
"She… she looks a lot better nowadays. You know… considering," Ryuji says.
"Yes," Shiho's mother agrees. "She hasn't had this much color to her skin in weeks. Doctors are hopeful she'll wake up soon."
"Have they said anything about what kind of damage the coma has caused?" Ann's father asks Shiho's.
"Not in a lot of detail. They say it'll be hard to determine until she wakes but to try to not be too shocked if it's happened. With the physical and psychological trauma, they're expecting some. They know she'll need physical therapy for her leg to walk again at full strength, but they're confident that the leg on its own can be mended with just physical therapy. It's the whole package they're concerned about."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Ann's mother asks.
"No, that's quite alright," Shiho's father replies. "We can afford the treatments, thankfully. We're just waiting with baited breath with everyone else to see how long her road to recover will be."
"Did you boys know her at school?" Shiho's mother asks.
"Not as well as we'd have liked," Akira replies. "Hoping to change that moving forward."
"Yeah, we ended up becoming good friends with Ann because of everything," Ryuji adds. "I just feel bad we had to become friends over such bad circumstances."
The statements hang in the air as everyone in the room looks at Shiho's sleeping form. Moments pass as everyone thinks about Shiho and how they'd interacted with her throughout the time they'd known her.
"Ann-chan," Shiho's mother says to her. "We've been wondering how to tell you for a little while now."
Ann looks at Shiho's mother quizzically.
"We've decided it would be best that we move Shiho to a new school once she wakes. We don't know what's caused all these events to occur and we worry that someone or something at Shujin is to blame. We've got family out in the country we'd be moving closer to and allowing Shiho to go to a smaller school there where the air is cleaner, and the atmosphere is friendlier."
"What…? You're… moving away?" Ann asks as her eyes begin to water. "B-b-but… she's my best friend," Ann says as tears begin to streak down her face.
"We're sorry Ann-chan," Shiho's father says. "We just want what's best for her. We worry that returning to Shujin won't help her heal. We're not doing this to harm her or you. Or to punish anyone."
Ann hangs her head and weeps at the news. Akira feels a tightening in his chest watching Ann openly cry in front of everyone at the news. I can understand where they're coming from, but there's no way to deliver news like that without upsetting someone.
"I know… I'm just… going to miss her a whole lot," Ann says as she tries wiping her tears away.
"We know. We're so sorry Ann-chan," Shiho's mother repeats with tears in her own eyes. "We won't be leaving for another couple of weeks though. We'll obviously need to wait until she wakes and has progressed enough in her physical therapy that she can be transferred to a smaller clinic in the rural area. We won't leave without allowing you to say goodbye either." Ann's sob briefly interrupts her. "And of course, you'll always be welcome as long as you'd wish to come and visit."
"Th-thank you," Ann says. "I-I understand your decision. I'll just need to make sure to spend as much time with Shiho as possible before you leave. Would you excuse me for a moment?" Ann says as she steps outside the room and turns the corner.
Akira finds his feet carrying him out after her before he knew it. Ryuji follows him out as he turns to follow Ann and sees her at the end of the hallway, staring out the window. As they arrive next to her she continues looking out the window as tears roll down her cheeks.
"I'm so sick of crying," she says. "Every time I think I'm done, something else happens that gets me started all over again."
"You going to be ok?" Ryuji asks.
"I don't know. I just found out my best friend won't be coming back to school. And she still hasn't woken up yet, so I can't tell her anything about what's happened and talk to her. I just wish she was here with me. For me."
"We're here for you, Lady Ann," Morgana says poking his head out of Akira's bag. Ann smiles and looks over to him.
"I know. You guys will help me through this, won't you?"
"Of course," Akira says. "We'll be with you every step of the way."
"Good," Ann says wiping her face.
"You good to go back inside?" Akira asks after a moment.
"Yeah, let's go," Ann says as they begin to walk back to the room.
XXXX
Akira climbs the stairs in Leblanc towards his bedroom. He and Morgana had just gotten back from the hospital visiting Shiho. The remainder of their time there was spent sitting quietly with Ann while the parents made idle chit chat and got caught up in what was going on in each other's lives.
"We'll make Kamoshida confess tomorrow if he doesn't do it himself," Akira says to Morgana. "It's the last opportunity he's getting."
"Agreed," Morgana replies. "We'll call a meeting after school to find a way to discretely do it. You still planning on hitting the bathhouse tonight?"
"Yeah, if Takemi finds out I'm ignoring her orders, I may not wake up from the next round of medicine testing."
"Good point," Morgana says as he stretches. "I'm going to go and see if I can bug Boss enough to get him to feed me that leftover sushi in the fridge."
"Heh, good luck with that," Akira says as he packs a small bag for the bathhouse.
XXXX
Akira walks back late at night from the bathhouse towards Leblanc. Takemi was right, that loosened me up with the higher temperatures. I'll have to do this after every foray into the Metaverse.
As Akira enters Leblanc, he locks the door and flips the sign to 'CLOSED.' He climbs the stairs once again to get to his room, finding Morgana already asleep on his bed on his back; A significant bulge to his stomach.
As Akira dresses himself for bed, his phone pings and alerts him to a new message.
Ann: Hey, you up?
Akira: Sure am.
Ann: Thanks again for coming to visit Shiho.
-And for spending time Saturday with my parents and I
Akira: It was my pleasure.
Ann: I don't know what I'd do without you guys but seriously…
-Thank you
Akira: I'm sure you'd have managed :P
Ann: Maybe lol. I'm still glad to have been nosy enough to get involved in your guys' business
Akira: Best decision you ever made I'd say haha
-How much longer are your parents in town for? Didn't you say it'd only be for the weekend?
Ann: Yeah, they'll be leaving tomorrow morning
-I'll be getting up early to say goodbye before heading to school
-I won't have time to accompany them to the airport and make it to school on time too
Akira: I'm sorry to hear that…
Ann: It's ok. They're planning on coming back in a few months for a couple of weeks
-It's all going to work out
Akira: That's good. I liked meeting them
Ann: Well they liked meeting you too apparently
Akira: They did?
Ann: Yeah, they told me so after you had left. We talked about you guys
Akira: You did? What'd you talk about?
Ann: Just the impression you guys made. What they thought of you
Akira: What'd they think of Ryuji?
Ann: We didn't talk much about him. They seemed to like him ok.
-Which for Ryuji, making no impression is about the best impression I think he can make
-JK of course!
-He was on very good behavior and I appreciate that immensely.
Akira: So, if you guys talked about us, but not a lot about Ryuji, then that means you talked primarily about me, yes?
Ann: …
-Maybe
Akira: So why was that? ;p
Ann: You just happened to be the one they talked about.
-You did the most talking.
-So, you made the bigger impression.
Akira: Oh, yeah, I guess that makes sense
Ann: You still nervous about tomorrow?
-About the expulsion and all
Akira: Somewhat. Kamoshida has to show up tomorrow for the faculty meeting.
-At least he is expected to
-We told his shadow to atone for what he's done so I'm hoping that once he's finally back at Shujin that'll spur him to actually do it
Ann: Me too. As much as I feel like we'll never be able to ever truly move on and forget about this, I at least want to be able to make that first step towards putting it behind us
Akira: I agree. First step of healing here is for Kamoshida to atone
-It'll get the ball rolling for healing for a lot of people
-Not just all of us and Shiho, but all his victims
Ann: I'll see you at school tomorrow, yeah?
-Save a seat for me LOL
Akira: I'll make sure Morgana claws anyone who'd dare take your seat :P
Ann: Goodnight Akira
Akira: Goodnight Ann