Hospitals are not so boring
I am back!
Quick thing to note: starting from this chapter onwards, a Persona's speech will be 'bold' as to differentiate them.
Thank you to Saint_King in AO3 for pointing this out.
Without further ado, on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: Persona 5 Royal is property of Atlus.
Unknown location.
Yaldabaoth is used to looking down on others; be it humans or other deities, as long as he is inside what could be called his 'temple' almost no one should be able to harm him, let alone beat him.
The several cells that comprised the temple had the indolent masses in them and the wires connected to his main body, the Holy Grail, made it so he could recover from any injuries.
The red color and dark atmosphere was mostly a side-effect, the form the temple took as more of the indolent masses entered it; perhaps their own thoughts looked like that and that's why it took that form but it's not something Yaldabaoth bothered with questioning.
Yes, as long as he is inside this place, almost no one can truly harm him.
Almost.
"What do you want… Philemon?" Yaldabaoth asked, his voice booming with as much power as he could project and, although the figure calmly walking towards him resembled a human all the way to its height, Yaldabaoth couldn't help but feel like he could quite literally squash him if he felt like it.
"Are you really asking me that?" Philemon asked back, his face covered with a white mask with the image of an orange butterfly on the left and wearing a white suit. "After what you did?"
"I-"
"Ah, hold that thought." He interrupted. "I don't think this place is proper for us to have a talk." Philemon snapped his fingers.
"What?! What are you doing?!" Yaldabaoth yelled.
The wires that were connected to his main body were suddenly cut and the cells covering the entire place sent flying back.
With a snap of his fingers, Philemon had just destroyed his temple.
"Better, I much prefer to have some light other than that eerie red." Philemon thought out loud. "But, that's enough of that, what were you going to say?"
"…" Yaldabaoth remained silent, watching the remains of what was once his fortress.
"Nothing to say? Then how about you listen to me for a bit?" Philemon walked closer. "There are certain rules that we must follow, as I'm sure you are aware; one of those rules involves giving humans a chance, usually involving me and/or the Velvet Room." He stopped about five steps away from the Holy Grail. "But you, Yaldabaoth, not only tried to bend those rules, to a fantastically horrible result for you, oh no, you decided to go out of your way and ignore them as if they don't apply to you."
"I-"
"I'm not done." Philemon didn't raise his voice but Yaldabaoth felt that interrupting him again would be a grave mistake. "You attacked the Velvet Room, hurt Igor and little Lavenza, and when that plan failed spectacularly instead of cutting your losses you decide to directly orchestrate an attack on the Velvet Room's guest." Philemon suddenly disappeared from Yaldabaoth's sight only to appear again floating in front of the Holy Grail, several feet in the air. "Did you really think I wasn't watching when all of that happened?"
"…then, why didn't you do something?"
"Because you were still going to give the guest access to the Velvet Room's functions; sure, you would be able to watch him but even with that handicap, I'm fairly certain he would have defeated you."
"…!" Yaldabaoth almost screamed in outrage at the thought of a human defeating him but he stopped himself at the last moment, remembering who exactly he was dealing with. "Do you truly believe one human could have stopped me?"
Philemon smirked at the question.
"'So you're afraid then'."
Yaldabaoth would have choked on air if he had any need to breath.
"Those were the words that 'one human' said to you when faced with the very real possibility of his demise, isn't that right?" Philemon's smirk widened even more. "Yaldy?"
The Holy Grail could do nothing but remain silent as he tried to come up with a response.
"I have to agree with him; for someone that claims he is not afraid, you seem to be taking a lot of steps to try and rig this 'game' in your favor, don't you think? It sounds like you're not so sure of your victory."
"I will win in the end."
"Oh, Yaldabaoth, don't you understand what's going on?" Philemon's smile disappeared from his face. "Did you think I only came here to have a talk?"
Yaldabaoth doesn't know the name of it, it's not something he has ever felt before after all, but in that moment he understood very clearly what humans refer to as 'fear'.
"You attacked my Velvet Room, tried to rig the result in your favor, went out of your way to attempt to eliminate the Wild Card and you think you'll get off with a warning?" Energy began to fly around the place and behind Philemon a giant purple skull at least the same size as Yaldabaoth's body appeared. "Don't worry, I won't kill you, this time; but you will not be able to try and use this prison of yours to capture humans again like you've been doing up until now and I'd be very careful about what you plan moving forward." As soon as he said that, Philemon suddenly appeared several feet away from Yaldabaoth and behind the purple skull. "Consider this your final warning." He raised his arms to shoulder level and a yellow mist-like creature with Philemon's face and arms appeared behind him. "Armageddon R."
The skull began to shine, blinding everything and engulfing the place in a bright light.
"GRAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The Velvet Room.
After being told about what Igor and Lavenza's master will do to Yaldy, Akira was able to relax, albeit slightly; he had asked the two to let him rest for a bit so he went to the bed in his cell and lied down.
It's not like he could sleep, he is not even sure how 'sleeping' would work in the Velvet Room considering he has entered it while asleep in the real world but he just needed to take some time to calm down after what happened.
'I didn't think I'd be this affected.' Akira thought as he looked at the ceiling. 'Ever since I awakened Arsène, I've felt sort of invincible, even when fighting Shadows I never felt truly afraid… I guess I'm still a brat that was too full of himself.' He chuckled sardonically at the thought.
"Is something the matter?" Lavenza's voice brought him out of his thoughts.
"Ah, no, just thinking." He answered, moving to a sitting position. "By the way, I'm not complaining but… how long will I be here? My visits tend to end rather abruptly and not last long."
Lavenza looked away while Igor took a deep breath.
"Right now, your body is in what you refer to as a 'coma'."
"…oh." Akira uttered unintelligently. "I… see."
"You will wake up, and relatively soon at that, we'll make sure of it." Igor continued. "But I'll tell you now, you are able to move fine here but your real body…"
"I understand." The Trickster thought, taking a deep breath. "I don't suppose you can heal my real body, right?"
"If it's a question of whether we can or we can't, then the answer is that we can." Lavenza said.
"But?"
"Tell me, if a person was in a car crash like the one you were wakes up and his body was completely healed; what do you think the people around you would say?" Igor asked.
"That… yeah, I see your point." The teen sighed.
"We will, however, aid in your recovery so that it doesn't take as long as it normally would; it may raise a few eyebrows but it will be of the 'you were lucky, all things considered' kind."
"I'll take what I can get." Akira shrugged. "Well, since it sounds like I'll be here for a while longer, can I ask you something?"
"You can but I'm not sure if we will be able to answer to your satisfaction." Igor responded.
"What exactly are you going to do to ensure Yaldy doesn't try something like this again?"
"Ah… that, we can answer." Igor said with a chuckle. "For starters, I wish to clarify that our master would have made it abundantly clear that trying something like that again would only spell Yaldabaoth's demise; he may want to rig this in his favor but trying something after our master… most likely literally beat the idea out of him would just be the height of foolishness."
"We won't, however, rely solely on that." Lavenza continued. "While limited, we have the ability to monitor you, we usually don't do that constantly since our guests deserve some privacy but… the recent events have made it a necessity." She sighed before adding. "If we suspect, even for a moment, that the malevolent entity is attempting another attack like this one, I will personally move and stop it from happening."
"That's reassuring." Akira smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "It will be kind of weird to know that you are always watching but I'll take your watchful eyes over Yaldy's."
"…"
"Is something wrong, Lavenza?" The teen asked, noticing how she kept her gaze towards the ground.
Without a word, she looked at Igor.
'…are they having a silent conversation with their eyes… or actually communicating via telepathy?' The teen wondered; he wouldn't be surprised if it turns out they can use telepathy.
After a minute, Igor smiled and nodded.
Lavenza's expression lit up and she turned around towards Akira again.
"Trickster, with my master's permission, I am allowed to offer you a gift."
"Oh…what kind of gift?" He asked with raised eyebrows.
"That is for you to decide." Lavenza answered. "While there are limits; I could, for example, force a strong Persona to become subservient to you." She said before opening her book and a large Persona suddenly appeared behind her.
Akira gulped as he saw the Persona, with four faces and eight arms, six of them holding a different weapon; the appearance alone felt absurdly imposing, the only other time he had felt this kind of pressure was with Yaldabaoth and he is willing to bet that he doesn't feel like his legs will give out only because Lavenza doesn't have any hostility towards him.
"Attempting to use a Persona stronger than you can handle runs the risk of you losing control of it but I can force it to obey; it will be up to you how to manage its power so it doesn't exhaust you, however." Lavenza explained before closing her book, the Persona going away as soon as she did. "Alternatively, I could help you with the fusion of Personas to ensure that a stronger than usual Persona is created every time; I personally believe that this could be the best option in the long run."
"Well… those are certainly great gifts." Akira said with a chuckle. "Hmm… are those my only two options?"
"No, those were only my personal suggestions; like I mentioned before, there are limits, but I can give you anything as long as it's within my power."
"I see…" The teen closed his eyes in thought. "Then, there is something I'd like your help with but… I'm not sure if it would be allowed."
"What is it?" The girl asked curiously.
"Train me."
"…pardon?"
"I'd like you to train me, Lavenza; teach me how to fight using a Persona and spar with me to help me improve- oh! And I'd like to include Morgana on this so we can learn how to fight together better as well."
"I… I don't believe there would be any issues with that but… are you certain?"
"Is it that strange?"
"I'm not sure if I would call it strange but… I honestly did not expect such a request." Lavenza said with a giggle. "May I ask why that's what you would choose as your reward?"
"I noticed during my last trip to the Metaverse before this happened but I'm not really used to fighting." Akira said, remembering almost being caught off guard against that skeleton. "After awakening to Arsène, I sort of 'knew' how to fight to a certain extent but almost all of it is instinct; I don't know how strong Yaldy really is but… I don't think fighting on instinct will be enough to face him, I want to learn how to properly fight; you were able to hold Yaldy off, and that's when you were separated, so I can't think of a better sparring partner."
"I see." Lavenza smiled before bowing courteously. "My name is Lavenza, as the one who rules over power, both as a reward for helping my Master and I and as an apology for not foreseeing that malevolent entity's attack, I would be delighted to help you and your companions develop your strength."
Akira smiled widely, opening his cell's door and walking out.
"Glad to be working with you Lavenza." He said as he extended a hand.
Lavenza smiled back and shook it.
"When can we begin?"
"I would like to ask that you wait, we will prepare a place that is suitable for training." The blond girl answered.
"That's alright with me." The teen nodded. "So, is there anything I can do while waiting to wake up in the real world?"
"Yes, actually." Igor spoke up. "How about we start explaining how Persona fusion works?"
The Trickster nodded.
Consciousness came back slowly for Akira; the first thing he was able to tell is that his body felt heavy, even trying to move seemed to take all of his strength.
The second thing was a shuffling in the room he guessed was a hospital room, then a voice saying something that he couldn't really understand.
Slowly, his mind started to catch up with everything and he could make out his surroundings.
The ceiling was a pale grey and he was definitely on a bed, there was the beep of some equipment that must check his vitals and some wires connected to his arm.
'Alright… definitely a hospital then.' He thought, noticing a breathing mask on his face.
"Young man, can you hear me? Blink twice for yes, once for no."
Akira's eyes moved to the right where an older man, probably in his fifties with short gray hair and a lab coat was standing.
'Must be my doctor.' He thought before doing as he said and blinking twice.
"Good, do you remember anything?"
Again, he blinked twice.
"I'm going to take off the mask so we can talk, I'll put it back on immediately if it looks like you can't handle yourself without it."
For the third time, Akira blinked twice.
Slowly, the doctor removed the mask.
To everyone's relief, the teen was able to breathe normally.
"I'm Doctor Takahashi, do you remember your name?"
"Akira…" He answered slowly. 'My throat feels dry.'
"Do you remember what happened?"
"Yeah… a car hit me." He said. "Can I have some water, please?"
"Of course." The doctor nodded, a nurse already beside him with a cup of water with a straw in it. "Drink slowly."
Akira did as told.
"Better." He whispered after finishing the drink. "Sorry, any other questions doctor?"
"No need for apologies young man, but yes; how are you feeling?"
"My body feels heavy… and it hurts everywhere but it's not too bad."
"In a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is the pain?"
"Hmm… 4, maybe 3 and a half."
"That's good, looks like you were lucky all things considered." The doctor nodded as he wrote something down.
"I… I wasn't alone when it happened, are the other two…?"
"Ah, yes, the twins; don't worry, they're alright, a few scrapes was the worst they got from this, they've been visiting you every day since."
"That's a relief." Akira sighed. "So… how bad am I?"
"Like I said before, you're lucky all things considered; it could have been a lot worse." The doctor smiled sympathetically. "I'll need to run a few more tests to make sure; from what I can tell right now, you should be able to recover without any issues."
'Thanks Igor and Lavenza.' The teen thought and nodded to the doctor.
"In the meantime; do you feel like accepting visitors?"
"I won't be my usual charming self but sure." The teen joked.
The doctor snorted a laugh before nodding.
"I doubt they'll care, they've probably seen you being less charming than now."
"Hm?" That sentence surprised him slightly. 'What does that mean? Who could-?'
"You can come in."
"Akira!"
Two voices that he recognized said in unison.
"Hey mom, dad."
"You gave us a real scare, you know that?" His dad Eiji said, wiping away some tears, as the two approached the bed.
"Sorry."
"No, it's not something you have to apologize for." His mom, Kie, replied. "How are you feeling?"
"Apparently I'm fine, all things considered; right, doc?"
"Yes." The doctor nodded. "I still need to run a few more tests to be completely certain but there shouldn't be any issues with your recovery." The man finished writing something down and walked to the door. "I'll give you some privacy, please call me or one of the nurses if you need something."
"So… I'm happy to see you but what are you doing here?"
"Sakura-san called us two days ago about what happened, we got here as soon as we could." Eiji answered. "He was here when we got to the hospital and stopped by yesterday; looks like he took a liking to you."
"Well, I did inherit your wit and charm." Akira grinned.
"Stop, that's a terrible joke."
"Then why are you laughing, mom?"
Kie shook her head even as a smile threatened to appear on her face.
"But seriously, how are you? And before you say another joke, I'm talking about your mind, not your body." Kie asked.
"I'm… fine, I think." Knowing what he knows, not to mention the time he spent in the Velvet Room, helped to calm him down. "Maybe I haven't processed it yet but I feel fine at the moment."
"Alright, we'll leave it at that then." Kie held his hand. "But tell us the second you're not feeling well."
"I will." Akira nodded. "Don't you two have work?"
"Of course you're worrying about that." Eiji shook his head with a chuckle. "Don't worry about it, they know what happened."
"Oh!" A new voice said from the door, making everyone turn to it. "I didn't know you woke up." Sojiro said as he walked in.
"Hey Boss, how is Leblanc?"
"Kid, that's the last thing you should be worrying about." The older man said as he approached, nodding in greeting to the Kurusus. "It's doing fine but since you're awake, there is someone here who wants to see you."
Sojiro placed the bag he had on his shoulder at the foot of the bed and a familiar tuxedo cat came out of it.
"Hey." Morgana greeted, his ears flattened against his head.
"Good to see you Morgana." Akira greeted as the cat approached his hand and he petted him. "I hope you weren't too bored."
"Pff, I knew you'd wake up, Lady Lavenza contacted me."
"I doubt he was, that cat has been standing near the entrance of the hospital for the last two days." Sojiro said, unaware of the conversation.
"Nya?!"
"Seems like a good cat." Eiji mentioned.
"True, except for the cat part."
"And loyal; no offense but cats aren't usually the type to stay near their owners." Kie added.
"Ok, first, I'm Akira's master; second-"
"Maybe he is part dog or something." Akira chimed in.
"You take that back right now!" Morgana screeched, which sounded like a loud hiss for everyone else.
The teen let out a laugh but it turned into a cough, making everyone worried.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." He assured them. "I shouldn't laugh that hard until I'm healed a bit more… how long was I out?"
"Two days." Sojiro answered. "I called your parents as soon as I got here to the hospital so I knew where you were."
"We used some vacation days we had saved up and rushed here as soon as possible." Eiji added.
"I appreciate that… but you should probably go back."
"Of course you say that." Kie chuckled. "We would want to stay here until you're fully recovered but we can't, we wanted to at least stay until you woke up."
"Thank you, really."
"Ah!" The moment was interrupted when someone exclaimed that at the entrance. "Sumire, he is awake!"
'Ah, that's Kasumi.' Akira thought, turning to the entrance.
Kasumi was pulling Sumire and rushing to his bed but they stopped about three steps from there.
"Um…" The two mumbled at the same time.
"…what? You're usually more talkative, Kasumi-san." Akira joked to alleviate the tension.
"Ah, well… I guess even I'm not sure what to say…" She said sheepishly.
"Good thing I do, then." The black haired teen said. "I'm glad you're both okay."
Almost in unison, the twins' flinched before tears began falling from their eyes.
"Thank you." They said at the same time while wiping their tears.
After making sure Akira was okay, and at the doctor's suggestion, everyone left to let him rest save for Morgana.
"Arsène?" Akira called out.
A moment later, his Persona appeared next to the bed.
"It's good to see you again." He said.
"Didn't you know what was happening?"
"I did, I heard everything that you talked about in the Velvet Room, I just didn't think I should intervene."
"Well, I'm glad to see you too." Akira grinned before turning to Morgana. "Do you know what happened?"
"Lady Lavenza gave me the summary, Yaldabaoth caused that accident, Master Philemon went to talk some sense into him and you'll be monitored from now on to avoid something like this happening again."
"That's pretty much it… did she tell you about her gift?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Long story short, we get to train with her from now on." Akira said before explaining everything.
"I see… that will be very useful indeed." Morgana nodded.
"Yeah… sorry, I think I'm going to sleep a bit more."
"Take your time." The not-cat said.
"I'll go rest as well." Arséne mentioned before disappearing.
Now alone, Morgana let out a sigh.
"It wasn't our fault." Zorro said as he suddenly appeared. "You know that."
"Do I, really?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"…are you really asking me, your Persona, that?"
"…fair point." Morgana conceded. "Still, even if it wasn't our fault… we were there and couldn't do anything."
Zorro couldn't give an answer to that.
The following week flew by quickly for Akira, with doctor Takahashi coming at least once a day to check on his recovery.
He made a few comments about his body healing faster than he first anticipated that the teen attributed to Igor and Lavenza's help.
He was still bound to the bed until he recovers a bit more so there wasn't much he could do.
At least, not in the real world.
.
"Hm?" Akira opened his eyes and could immediately tell he wasn't in his hospital room.
The most obvious sign was that he was on his feet and not feeling any pain; not to mention the black shirt and pants he was wearing.
"Welcome, Trickster." Lavenza's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he saw her standing in front of him.
"Oh, hi Lavenza… where are we? This doesn't look like the Velvet Room."
"It isn't, this is the place that will serve to train you and… well, I decided to go a step further with it." She said with a giggle. "Please, follow me."
Akira did as told and walked down the corridor until he arrived at…
"…what is this?" He asked in awe.
"Welcome, to the Thieves' Den."
The place was big, as in 'this could pass for the inside of a mansion' big.
Some empty platforms occupied the center of it, a second floor with railings could be seen, the ceiling had a glass section to let it look at the sky and on the first floor there different section and a few doors.
"Lavenza."
"Yes?"
"This place is awesome."
"Thank you, I hope you don't mind but I took into account your own subconscious when making it."
"I… am not sure what that means or how you did that but I don't really mind." Akira answered before starting to walk around. "This doesn't feel like just a place for training, though."
"It isn't, the room we will be using is in here but most of this place was made with the help of my Master; he hopes you accept it as an apology for what happened."
"Hehe, the apology is accepted… wait, so this place isn't only for training, right?"
"Correct."
"So I can use it whenever I want."
"Indeed; it's a place you can enter while your real body sleeps."
"…" Akira grinned widely.
"Ah, a recommendation, though."
"Hm?"
"While we can adjust the passage of time to a certain degree, time still passes so I recommend you don't spend too much time here, even if your body is rested you must also give your mind a respite."
"Got it… but what exactly do you mean with 'adjusting the passage of time'?"
"It's something similar to what we do in the Velvet Room, have you noticed anything about your visits there when you come in from the door?"
"The world outside seems to have stopped for the time I was there."
"It's the same principle, we can't do something like 'a day there is two days here' but we can stretch it a fair amount; kind of like when you have a dream and can't tell what time it is when you wake up."
"Hmm… am I capable of regulating the passage of time in this place myself or should I ask you or Igor to do it?"
"We have prepared a device for you to regulate it, I'll show it to you as I give the tour."
"Lead the way."
And lead the way she did.
The place was a bit barren for the moment but Lavenza said that Akira would be able to add more things to it as time passes.
She left the training room for last and that's where the two were standing right now.
"It's big." Akira said.
It was a simple large room with a color reminiscent of the Velvet Room and a large, stylized yellow colored 'V' on the floor and ceiling.
"It needs to be, would you agree to start your training now?"
"I'll be happy to-ah!" A thought crossed his mind. "Should I call Morgana?"
"You can call him starting tomorrow, I'm afraid that to use this space and enter it, one has to be asleep and I believe it's still the middle of the day in the real world."
"Ok, got it. I guess it's just you and me today."
"Indeed." She opened her book, the pages moving as if the wind was blowing. "Shall we?"
Akira's clothes were suddenly replaced by his Metaverse outfit.
"Alright." He adjusted his gloves and prepared to clash. "Let's do this."
'Hngg… I know my body doesn't suffer from Lavenza's training but I wonder if my mind can have the equivalent of sore muscles.' He couldn't help but wonder that as he came back from the first training session.
It had been, in one word, brutal.
Before he could ponder on it much more, someone knocked on his door.
"Good afternoon, Kurusu-kun."
"Good afternoon, doc." He greeted back.
"How are you doing today?"
"Good, all things considered."
"Any pain?"
"Hmm… more like 'soreness', I don't think I would call it pain at this point."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Hmm…"
"Is something wrong?"
"No, no, I'm just surprised you're healing so fast; I mean that in a good way."
'Thank you Igor and Lavenza.' Akira thought. "So… does that mean I can be out now?"
"Well… you can be out of this room."
"…that's a peculiar way of phrasing it."
The doctor chuckled before he explained.
"Considering the way you're healing, I'm thinking of moving you to a different room, this one is used for patients in more delicate health." Takahashi explained. "I was thinking of moving you at a much later date but given the rate you're healing at, I think it would be best to vacate this room in case someone in worst shape than you comes around."
"I don't mind."
"You would likely have a roommate as well."
"I hope they like cats, mine tends to visit." Akira joked. "When would I change rooms?"
"Likely tomorrow or the day after." The older man answered. "In any case, there is another reason I came to see you besides checking on you."
"What is it?"
"Again, this would usually happen at a later date but, considering how fast you're healing, I think it's a good idea for you to start physical therapy."
"Oh… alright." He had honestly forgotten that was a thing. 'I guess it's normal for anyone that was in an accident like mine… I wonder if it's necessary considering I have Igor and Lavenza's help.' He mentally shook his head to stop that thought. 'Even if I do, better to go with it, less eyebrows raised.'
"Something wrong?"
"Ah… no, sorry, just got lost in thought." The teen said. "When would this physical therapy start?"
"I'll have it scheduled for later this week." He wrote something down on his chart. "One last thing, you have visitors."
Akira turned to the door and saw the Yoshizawa twins there, Kasumi waving at him while Sumire stood there, her head down and glancing at him.
"I'll leave you three alone, call me if you need anything."
"Thanks, doc."
He gave a nod to the twins as he passed the door and walked away.
"How are you doing?" Akira asked as the two entered.
"I think we're the ones who should ask that." Kasumi grinned. "But we're doing fine, how about you?"
"According to the doctor, I'm healing faster than expected. I'll be moved to a different room sometimes tomorrow or the day after and start physical therapy later this week."
"That's good to hear." Kasumi said. "…come on, Sumire, you brought it after all."
"Hm?" Akira looked at the red haired girl curiously.
"Ehm… here." She looked through her backpack and took out a bento box. "It's not much, but I wanted to do something for you."
"Thanks." Akira said as he took the box and opened it.
"Oh." The three turned around and saw a nurse with a tray walking in. "It looks like you won't need this." She grinned, looking at the tray.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! He didn't know but I should have told him so he could tell you and-" Sumire began to stutter until the nurse spoke again.
"Relax, there is no trouble." She assured her. "I would appreciate a heads-up next time but I'll let it slide this once."
"Th-thank you, sorry again." The red haired girl bowed in apology.
"No worries, enjoy your meal." With those words, she left the room.
"…I really should have called you before." Sumire sulked.
"Maybe, but I'm not complaining." Akira said after taking a bite of the food. "This is delicious."
"She has been researching all week for stuff that could help in your recovery and how to cook them~." Kasumi chimed in with a sing-song tone.
"K-Kasumi!"
"Well, I guarantee the effort was worth it." Akira smiled. "Thank you, Sumire."
"Y… you're welcome." She whispered.
"By the way, did you two eat already?"
As if on cue, a stomach growl was heard.
It took all of Akira's self-control to not burst out laughing and spit food all over while Kasumi freely laughed.
And Sumire wished the earth would swallow her.
The next day.
Like the doctor had said, Akira was being moved to a different room to vacate the current one.
"Do you have any idea about how long it will take you to recover?" Morgana asked, resting inside a bag to the side of Akira as he was moved.
"Nothing definitive, he is healing faster than a normal human would thanks to Igor and Lavenza but nothing was said about when he would be fully healed." Arsène answered for Akira to avoid making him seem insane.
"We still need to finish exploring that Youji guy's Palace."
Akira gave the Persona a look that Arsène translated.
"What would happen if he enters the Metaverse in his current state?"
"Well… I think that's a moot point, since we would need to somehow get you out of here and all the way to Yongen to enter the Palace." Morgana began. "But, theoretically, you could either feel the same as you do in the real world or be able to move without issue but… it could have repercussions when you come back."
"So we don't do that." Akira muttered.
"Hm? Did you say something?" The nurse pushing his bed asked.
"No, sorry, just thinking out loud." He quickly answered.
"Don't worry, though. We will enter the Palace and map a route while you recover." Zorro declared.
The comment earned concerned looks from both Akira and Arsène.
"Relax, we'll avoid fighting as much as possible and just check out different ways we can get to the Treasure. We won't do anything reckless."
"…be careful." Arsène spoke for both of them.
As their conversation died down, they arrived to his new room.
Akira wasn't exactly surprised to see someone else there, since he was told he would likely have a roommate, but he was caught off-guard a bit since no one mentioned it.
"I have some other things to do so I'll let you get accommodated, call if you need something." The nurse said.
"Thanks." Akira answered as the nurse left. "…so, looks like we'll be roommates for a while."
"Hm." The other kid hummed but made no comment.
He is around his age, with short black hair and dark brown eyes. Aside from the hospital gown he was wearing, the only remarkable feature was the cast on his right leg.
"I'm Kurusu Akira."
"Hm." No other response.
"Someone is in a bad mood." Zorro chimed in.
"To be fair, he is in a hospital with what looks like a broken leg, he has reasons for it." Arsène mentioned.
"Point taken."
"I take it you don't feel like talking."
"What gave it away?" The teen scoffed.
"A couple of things actually, would you like the list?" He only got a slight glare in response. "Sorry, sorry, just trying to lighten the mood; I don't do well with gloomy."
"Well, at least one of us gets to try." The teen sighed. "What are you here for, anyway?"
"Oh, a car tried to isekai me; I didn't let it." Akira said, his face completely serious.
Probably against his will, the other teen couldn't help but laugh.
It started as a chuckle that he looked like he was trying to contain but soon it was a loud laugh.
"Did you seriously just use 'isekai' as a verb?"
"I thought it was an apt description." Akira chuckled.
"Haha… damn, I think it's the first time I've laughed since I got here." The teen said as his laughter died down.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"…what did you say your name was again?"
"Kurusu Akira."
"I… sorry about before." He scratched his hair and sighed. "I'm Sakamoto Ryuji."
I told you there was going to be a familiar face in this chapter, didn't I? Mwehehehe.
Anyway, my bad imitation of Futaba aside.
I am no doctor so I'm not entirely sure how long it would take to recover from an injury like Akira's, a google search didn't give me any real guidelines as to how long it could last so I'm winging it.
I just wanted to make that clear from the get-go.
As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Until next time!
