Way to recovery
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Guest review answers.
nickthecit: Thanks, I was happy to bring him in like this.
And thanks for the guidelines about how long it would take him to heal, I'll admit it's probably going to be way faster than it should thanks to Igor and Lavenza. Diarahan for the win! Haha
Thanks for the comment!
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Here is another one.
We get more Ryuji! Although not many 'for real?!' just yet, hahaha.
Disclaimer: Persona 5 Royal is property of Atlus.
Enjoy!
The day after Akira got moved to his new room, he got new and unexpected visitors.
"Excuse me, Kurusu-kun." Doctor Takahashi called out as he entered the room.
"Yes?"
"The police wish to speak with you… it's related to the reason you're here."
"Oh… I honestly didn't know there was an investigation about it."
"That's on me, I told them it was better if you recovered more before talking with you. I just didn't expect you to recover quite as fast as you did."
"I don't mind and I'm fine with talking with them but…" He trailed off and looked at Ryuji.
"Ah… don't I have physical therapy soon?" The other teen asked.
He apparently caught him the day just before he had to take off the cast.
"I took the liberty to time it with that so you have privacy." The doctor admitted. "Is it okay if I send them over once Sakamoto-kun leaves?"
"Yes, I don't mind."
With a nod, the older man left.
"Well, good luck with that I guess." Ryuji shrugged as he stood up, took a crutch near his bed and began to walk out.
Around ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Akira called out.
As expected, it was the cops that are apparently assigned to his case although he was surprised by the appearance of one of them.
The first looked like a regular investigator; middle aged, wearing a brown coat and pants with a white shirt underneath and black shoes.
It's the second person that made him raise an eyebrow.
He looked to be a teenager around Akira's age, neck-length brown hair, reddish-brown eyes and wearing a tan pea coat with black pants, shoes and gloves.
"Kurusu Akira?" The older man asked.
"Yes, that's me."
"My name is Jin Masa." He introduced himself. "This is…"
"Akechi Goro."
'Akechi… that name sounds familiar.' Akira thought for a moment. "My doctor said that you have some questions for me."
"That's correct." Masa nodded. "It's just standard procedure, your case is… well, straightforward, really."
"Alright… well, ask away."
"First, why were you in that street at the time of the accident?"
"I was buying some groceries for Sakura Sojiro, I work at his café and he asked me to go get some things since he was busy."
"Is this unusual?"
"It was the first time he asked me but I know he's been busy for a while so I wasn't particularly surprised."
"Did you notice anything strange about the driver of the car that hit you?" The other teen chimed in.
"Oi." Masa sent a mild-glare his way but Akechi simply smiled cordially and waited for an answer.
"I'm… not entirely sure." Akira answered, unsure if he should reveal what he saw on the driver. 'Igor and Lavenza said that Yaldy is responsible for it so I'm not sure if there is any point in mentioning it.'
"It's okay even if it's just your own thoughts, we just want to make sure we have all the facts." Akechi pressed.
'…I'll be vague about it.'
"Well… I want to clarify that this might be my imagination or maybe I saw wrong due to the shock but… there seemed to be something off with the driver."
Almost immediately, Masa seemed to flinch.
'Hm?'
"Off… how?" Masa asked.
"The driver… his eyes looked white and had a blank look and… I think I saw some… I don't know what to call it, 'black blood' maybe? At the corners of his mouth." Akira explained.
The two glanced at each other.
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Akechi asked.
"…nothing comes to mind at the moment… was I not just imagining things?" He asked in turn.
"…it's unclear." The other teen answered. "I'm afraid we're not at liberty to say much about it."
"I understand… out of curiosity, how old are you?"
"Me? I'm 16, turning 17 this year, why?"
"You just seem rather young to be a police officer."
"You don't know about him?" Masa asked, looking surprised before grumbling. "He is called 'the second Detective Prince' or some title like that."
"Hehe, I'm not sure I'm worthy of such a title but it is true people call me that."
"…oh, now I remember." Akira said. "A patron at the café I work at mentioned you, I knew your name sounded familiar."
Masa frowned for some reason.
"Anyway, are there any more questions?" Akira asked.
The older man's frown almost immediately disappeared and was replaced with a surprised look.
"I don't believe there is anything else at the moment." Akechi answered after a second. "We'll leave our contact information here, please call us if you think of anything else." He pulled a card, Masa quickly doing the same, and left both of them at his nightstand. "Well, I wish you a quick recovery."
"Thank you, good luck with your investigation."
After they left.
"I was not just imagining things, was I?" As soon as Akira asked that, Arsène appeared.
"No, I noticed too. Their attitude seemed to change when you mentioned how the driver looked."
PING
He turned to his phone, resting on his nightstand and looked at a new message that just popped up.
"What were you not imagining?"
'Ah… I had sort of forgotten about 'Alibaba'…' Akira thought before typing a response. "It's been a while."
"Yeah… how are you doing?"
"Huh… I'm slightly surprised by that question." Arsène admitted.
'You and me both.' Akira thought before answering. "I'll heal with time, I can't exactly do much about Isshiki Youji while here, though."
"Yeah, I figured."
"Has he given you or Sakura-san more issues?"
"Nothing so far, Sojiro gave him money recently and he has been quiet… but that doesn't tend to last."
Akira grumbled.
"You never answered my first question." The message distracted him.
'Should I tell her about it…?'
"I'll find out if I just go over you conversation just now, might as well save me some time."
"…I can't really argue with that, I guess." Akira let out a chuckle before typing. "I mentioned there was something weird about the driver and the investigators flinched at that."
"Weird how?"
"I thought you listened to the conversation?"
"I had to leave for a second and must have missed that part."
"…you had to leave while listening in on my conversation with the cops." Akira thinks he is fairly good at conveying sarcasm, even through text.
"Hey, I'm still human, I have… forget it, just answer the question!"
"Bathroom?"
"Likely."
Arsène and Akira said.
"I have it recorded so I can just listen to it later, anyway."
'…I really should find a way to stop her from listening in on my phone but I can't figure out one right now.' The teen sighed.
"Fine. The driver looked like his eyes were completely white, his expression was blank and there was what looked like some sort of 'black blood' at the corner of his mouth."
He half-expected some 'that's freaky' comment but it never came, or any other message for that matter.
"Alibaba?" He sent but, again, no response. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you still there?" No answer.
Akira sent Arsène a look.
The Persona frowned.
It took five minutes before there was a response.
"I'm here."
"Did something happen?"
"No."
"I'm not an idiot."
"I never called you one."
'What the…'
"Then you know I won't buy a 'nothing happened' after you went silent for five minutes."
"I know."
"This is very strange."
"Seriously, what happened?"
Instead of an answer, he just got a notification saying 'the number you are trying to reach is unavailable.'
'What the…' He thought once more.
"It happened after you mentioned what happened to the driver." Arsène pointed out.
"Yeah but that was…" He trailed off, not wanting to mention Yaldy's name when she could still be hearing him. "Do you think she knows something about it?"
They could only theorize.
Inside Futaba's room.
It wasn't her smartest move to suddenly cut communication like that, he will definitely realize that something is wrong and she probably knows something.
But Futaba didn't care.
She wasn't thinking rationally when she did it, she simply needed to stop the questions.
"Futaba."
"Not again." She whimpered, putting her headphones on her ears, picking a random song in her computer and pressing play before turning the volume to max and hug her knees to her chest.
"Futaba!"
But it didn't matter how loud the music was, that voice only she could hear was still heard clearly.
"You killed her!"
"I-I…" She stammered, hugging herself until the voices stopped.
In Akira's hospital room.
"Remind me to tell Morgana to check on her later." Akira muttered quietly after letting his phone back down on his nightstand.
"Sure… what will you do now?"
"…" He could only frown. 'I guess there is not much to do while I recover but to train with Lavenza… I think I'm supposed to start physical therapy in a few days.'
"I guess sleeping and going to train could prove useful."
'True.' With nothing else to do, he relaxed and closed his eyes.
Meanwhile, at Youji's Palace.
'This is a lot more difficult than I initially thought.' Morgana admitted to himself.
They were already a bit blocked from advancing before the accident since the only area they haven't checked yet was full of Shadows.
Morgana could manage to sneak past some of them but going to the end of the hallway, wherever it might be, without fighting was starting to look impossible.
'I can handle some of them but I doubt I can get to the end before I'm surrounded.' The not-cat grumbled as he peeked around a corner. 'Even if I do, I have to look around to see if there is something useful and then I have to get all the way back…' He took a deep breath. "Well, nothing ventured, nothing g-"
"Be careful."
He was about to dash and try and carve a path when he remembered Akira and Arsène is words.
'…no, it's not a good idea; there is a good chance he will try and enter here, even in his state, if I don't come back… damn it.' Letting out a sigh, Morgana turned back.
He double-checked every other part of the Palace, it didn't give any sort of lead or clue to advance, before calling it a day and returning to the real world, appearing in front of Takemi's clinic.
"So… now what?" Zorro asked once they were back.
"I guess… we wait until Akira recovers and then we tackle this together; I don't see a way for us to get past that on our own."
"I guess…" Zorro trailed off.
"Yeah, I know what you're thinking."
"It's not that I don't agree about going after this guy but… even if we steal his Treasure, it's not as if it will cause any noticeable change. He is a nobody as far as I know."
"I know that… but I really doubt Akira will think of it that way."
"Maybe, but we've already wasted time." Zorro argued. "I know we didn't tell Akira but this was supposed to be a simple 'trial run' into changing a heart. We already got stumped when we found out he wasn't in Mementos, again while trying to figure out his keywords, once more when exploring the place and now with this whole thing Yaldabaoth caused."
"Yes, I know all that." Morgana grumbled. "…I guess we can at least try and talk to Akira about ignoring him. If it's only money that he wants, then it should be fine as long as the Chief keeps him at bay. We can come back to him after we take down a real target and have some downtime." He sighed. "I really doubt Akira will agree, though."
"I can only hope he can look at the bigger picture here." Zorro sighed.
After another training session, Akira woke up in his hospital room.
"Do you have any idea what's it like at Shujin now?!" And immediately heard someone he didn't recognize yelling.
'What the heck…?' He turned to the right where Ryuji's bed is but noticed that a curtain was drawn so he couldn't see.
"The track team is about to be disbanded because you went ahead and let your temper get the better of you! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
For some reason, Akira couldn't hear Ryuji's answer, if he even gave any.
"You shouldn't have joined if you were just going to screw everyone over-!"
"What the hell is going on?!" Akira eventually yelled.
It seemed to startle the other two and he shifted a bit in bed to move the curtain away.
After a second of getting used to the light, he saw the source of the yelling.
Another teen of their age with short black hair and wearing a red tracksuit was standing there.
"…tch." Seeing Akira, he clicked his tongue, dropped something on Ryuji's bed and quickly left the room.
"…what was that?" He asked Ryuji.
"It's nothing…" The other teen muttered, looking away.
"I'm not that much of an idiot, you know? I'll respect it if you say you don't want to talk about it but don't lie to my face like that."
"…do you know Shujin Academy?" He asked after a minute.
Akira thought for a second before answering.
"…sounds familiar but I can't say I do, why?"
"It got a new teacher this year, a former gold medalist."
"…and?"
"…"
"Sakamoto?"
"And the guy is a piece of shit!" The teen suddenly yelled and turned to look at him. "He got our track team's coach fired for some bullshit reason, then took over and gave us new 'training regimens' that are nothing more than physical abuse! All because the track team is… used to be…" His voice got quieter. "He is coaching the volleyball team and didn't want to have competition for the 'spotlight'… so he tried to break the track team." Ryuji sighed and lay back down, looking at the ceiling. "We put up with it for a while, almost the entire first semester, but a few weeks ago he… he brought up things that I couldn't just let slide so I hit him." The teen scoffed. "He provoked me, then broke my leg, but called it all 'self-defense' and everyone seems to have accepted it without question. Nakaoka, the guy that was just here, was on the track team with me and even they are calling me 'the track traitor', he just came to give me the school stuff I'm missing because the teachers push it onto him."
"…what?"
"Yeah, I know, it sounds like some movie or something, just forget it-"
"No, don't misunderstand." Akira interrupted him. "I meant it as 'what the hell is wrong with that school?'"
Ryuji turned to look at him again.
"…huh?"
"What kind of school let's that slide?! And even if the school does, don't at least the people at the track team know about what really happened?! What is wrong with them?!"
"…right?!" Ryuji yelled. "I can admit that I let that bastard Kamoshida get to me but how is it all my fault?!"
The next few minutes were spent with Ryuji pretty much unloading all of his hatred of Kamoshida until a nurse came in and warned them that they shouldn't yell like that.
The two could only smile sheepishly and apologize, laying in a bit of an awkward silence after the nurse left.
"…feel better?" Akira eventually asked.
"…kind of." Ryuji sighed. "It doesn't really changes what happened but… it felt good to finally let that out of my chest." He turned to Akira. "Why did you say those things?"
"…you'll have to be more specific."
"The stuff about the school and what is wrong with the track team."
"What do you mean why I said that? Because it's obvious who is in the wrong in this case."
"Yeah but… you just believe me? Just like that?"
"…I have no reason to think you're lying to me." 'And I know how it feels to have almost no one believe you'. He added in his mind.
"Well, thanks…" Ryuji trailed off. "So… what now?"
"…I have no idea." Akira answered.
A second later the two let out a chuckle.
"Maybe you should check out the school material… I should ask Sakura-san to send mine over so I don't get too far behind now that I think about it." The black haired teen grumbled.
"Who is that?"
"My guardian while I'm staying in Tokyo, he runs a curry and coffee shop."
"Curry and coffee? For real?"
"I had the same reaction but they go together surprisingly well." He chuckled. "Come over once I recover and I'll treat you, you'll see."
"Well, I'm certainly not going to say no to free food." Ryuji grinned.
.
.
There was a bit of a problem with sleeping during the day, even if it was to train inside the Thieves Den.
Akira likes going there, being able to move freely instead of being bedridden was very enjoyable.
But it also screwed with his sleeping schedule.
Not by much, probably because of something Igor and/or Lavenza did to the Den, but still a bit.
"Are you awake?"
The bright side, though, was that he could talk with Morgana while Ryuji was sleeping without worry.
"Yeah." He whispered. "How did your trip go?"
"It… could have been better." The not-cat sighed. "I don't think I can get past that area full of shadows we saw last time you entered. Even with the two of us, it wouldn't be easy."
Arsène and Zorro both materialized next to their respective partners.
"Did you find anything else?" The former asked.
"Nothing, there is a good chance whatever we need to advance is past that area full of Shadows." Zorro sighed.
"I guess we'll have to wait until I recover and try then." Akira muttered to make sure he doesn't wake up Ryuji. "It shouldn't take too long thanks to Igor and Lavenza."
"…about that." Morgana looked away and took a deep breath. "I was thinking that it might be better if we forget about Youji."
"…what?" Akira and Arsène said in unison.
"Look, just… hear us out, alright?" Zorro asked.
The two stayed silent and waited for them to talk.
"To be honest, I didn't think that going against Youji would do anything but help to train you in how to change hearts. I thought it would be an easy introduction to it in Mementos." Morgana began. "Then we found out he had a Palace and were very lucky with the keywords but I was already considering forgetting about him if we took more than two, maybe three days, to find out his keywords."
"Why?" Akira asked, very slowly.
"Because there is no merit in fighting him." Morgana shrugged. "It was good for training at first but he is, simply put, unimportant."
"Even if we change his heart, there will be no change in the general public, no one but the Chief, his daughter and you seem to be affected by him and it's not like he can't be managed outside of the Metaverse."
"So you're saying we should ignore him?" Arsène asked.
"At least for now, we can focus on a more important target and then come back to him later." Morgana said.
Akira pointed to his phone with a look.
"We can deal with 'Alibaba', it's not that we're going to let him do his thing forever. We're just postponing it for a while."
Akira and Arsène glanced at each other for a second before looking back at the other two and saying in unison.
"No."
"Wha-why?!" Morgana shrieked.
"We're not walking away from this Morgana." Arsène crossed his arms. "And when I say 'we' I'm referring to Akira and I, we will not force you to accompany us if you don't want to."
"You do realize that there are more important things to deal with, like Yaldabaoth, right?" Zorro grumbled.
"I'm not walking away." Akira whispered, taking a look towards Ryuji.
If he wasn't asleep, with the way he was snoring and some drool was falling from the corner of his mouth, then he was a very good actor.
"We can't look the other way on this. You say it's just for postponing it but how long will we postpone it?" Arsène continued. "Besides, you say that we should focus on a more important target, but do you have any means of acquiring one?"
Morgana and Zorro looked away.
"We can gain a source of information for that by changing Youji's heart." Akira whispered again.
"…you mean Futaba?" Morgana asked.
"She will know that we had a hand in dealing with Isshiki Youji, we can at least ask for some information about possible targets afterwards." Arsène shrugged. "Even without that, I wouldn't feel comfortable just walking away."
Akira nodded and gave another look to his phone.
"…so you will continue to target Isshiki Youji?" Zorro said.
Akira and Arsène nodded
"Even if there is no guarantee of gaining something from it?" Morgana added.
"…humans can't always think in merits and demerits, Morgana." Akira sighed. "If we did, I probably wouldn't be here in Tokyo right now."
The 'not-cat' mimicked the sigh.
"Alright, I guess I won't be able to convince you to leave it alone."
"You can try, but I have a feeling it would be more difficult than simply helping us in changing Youji's heart." Arsène joked to lighten the mood.
Morgana and Zorro shared a look and sighed in unison.
"We had a feeling that would be the case." Zorro confessed. "We should at least be looking for hints on a new objective while we are dealing with Youji, though."
"No argument there." Arsène answered.
Akira gave his Persona a pointed look.
"That reminds me, something strange happened with Futaba." He explained how she suddenly went quiet for five minutes, claimed that nothing was wrong when asked and then the number they were using to communicate went dead.
"That is strange." The not-cat mumbled.
"We'll take a look and tell you if we find something." Zorro added.
During the weekend, Akira had his first session of physical therapy.
'…this sucks.' The teen thought with a scowl as he forced his legs to move, holding on two bars and with a nurse in charge of supervising him. 'It's difficult to even take a step… I think I'm getting whiplash from being able to move normally in the Thieves Den or something.' Even so, he pushed onward. 'Better to get better as soon as possible.'
"Alright, let's finish up for today." The physiotherapist called out, helping him back onto a wheelchair. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired." Akira answered between breaths. "I didn't think it would be this hard."
"First few sessions always are." He answered. "You'll get better, I guarantee it, just need to keep at it."
"Well, I have been told I'm very stubborn." Akira joked as he was wheeled back to his room.
"Is that so?"
"…something the matter?"
"Nah, it's nothing."
…
"Hey, how did physical therapy treat you?" Ryuji asked after Akira got back on the bed.
"It was tiresome, I feel like my whole body is filled with lead." The black haired teen answered.
"Yeah…"
"I know that tone, what's on your mind?"
"For real? We've only really started talking like, two days ago, how could you know any tone?"
"You're easy to read." Akira smirked.
"You're a prick." Ryuji said, but there was a grin on his face.
"Come on, we're stuck with each other at least until one of us, probably you, gets discharged."
"…I'm just wondering if there is any point in continuing the physical therapy."
'I… did not expect it to be something that serious.' Akira blinked twice and took a second to recover. "…I think there is a reason why the doctors recommend it."
"No, I get that, and I'm pretty sure in your case is almost a necessity to go through it but…"
"Is that not the case for you?"
"Not really." Ryuji scowled. "I mean, they said it could bother me a bit and I won't be able to run like before but it shouldn't really bother me in my daily life… and it's not like there is any point in me running anymore." He said as he lay his head back on the pillow and sighed.
"…tell me if I'm overstepping my boundaries here but did something happen?"
"…I just learned that the track team at Shujin got disbanded. That bastard Kamoshida used my 'assault' as an excuse to get rid of it." Ryuji huffed and walked away.
"…"
"…I think this is the part where you say something."
"Saying 'I'm sorry to hear that' doesn't feel like enough but I can't think of anything else."
"Don't worry about it, I was just letting it off my chest." Ryuji shrugged.
"So you're thinking of stopping the rehabilitation because the track team got disbanded? That's it?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure a LOT of people will also have something to say to me… or will just outright ignore me once I go back." He laughed but there was no humor. "Apparently, Kamoshida was the first to jump to my defense about being expelled, something about 'giving me a second chance'." His fist clenched. "That bastard…"
Akira could only clench his jaw and remain silent.
At least, until an idea popped in his head.
"What's his name?"
"Eh, whose?"
"That Kamoshida, what's his full name?"
"Why?"
"Indulge me." Akira said simply.
"It's Kamoshida Suguru."
The black haired teen stood in silence, committing that name to memory.
"What is it?"
"Don't worry about it." He shook his head to get back on track. "Mind if I ask you something?"
"You have never been shy about it before." Ryuji answered, a bit of humor in his tone.
"Heh." The black haired teen let out a chuckle. "Why were you in the track team to begin with?"
"Ah… well…" For the first time since they met, Akira saw the other teen looking embarrassed. "I was hoping to get a scholarship; it would help ease a bit of the burden on my mom from having to take care of me… a lot of good I did in that regard…" He whispered the last part.
"Then get better and start running again."
"Huh?"
"If that's your reason, then it's not as if Shujin will be your last chance, is it? You just have to go to a team and show them that you can run." Akira shrugged. "Nothing has changed in that regard."
"…is there something wrong with you?"
"Where did that come from?!" Akira half-yelled, not expecting the question.
"I have never met someone that can be that optimistic." Ryuji answered. "Heck, you got hit by a car and, from the looks of it, will still be confined to that bed for a while longer yet you're still all sunshine and smiles."
"…I've been at the bottom." Akira answered neutrally. "Only way to go is up."
"…" Ryuji continued to stare at him.
"At the very least, I don't want to see someone give up because of what some asshole did if I can do something about it. Even if it's just trying to talk you into continuing."
"…"Again, his words were meant with silence. "…how old are you again?"
"15"
"You could have fooled me."
"You wouldn't be the first one to tell me that." Akira grinned slightly and shrugged.
"…I'll give it some thought."
"That's all I can ask."
Knock Knock
"Good afternoon, Akira-san." Kasumi said after opening the door. Sumire bowing behind her in greeting.
The two frowned after noticing the mood in the room.
"Is everything okay?" Kasumi asked.
"We can come back later." Sumire added quietly.
"No, no, I appreciate the visit." Akira said. "This is Sakamoto Ryuji, we're sharing rooms for the time being."
"It's nice to meet you, my name is Yoshizawa Kasumi and this is my sister Sumire." The two bowed in unison towards him.
Ryuji stared in silence for five seconds and just when the silence was getting uncomfortable he turned to Akira.
"For real? Dude, I'm so jealous of you right now."
Akira barked a laugh before adjusting his glasses with a grin.
"Hmm… there are four of us…" Ryuji mumbled. "Do you know how to play 'Tycoon'?" He asked the room.
"I've heard of it but I don't know the rules." Kasumi answered.
Sumire nodded at her sister's words.
"I've played a few times." Akira said next.
"I have a deck with me I haven't had a chance to use, want to play?"
The other three exchanged a glance.
"I'm game, what about you two?" The black haired teen asked.
"You'll have to teach us but I'd like to play." Kasumi said next.
Sumire remained silent for a moment before nodding.
"Alright, let's get closer to his bed, I'm pretty sure you aren't able to move yet after physical therapy." Ryuji smirked as Kasumi and Sumire moved a few chairs around closer to Akira's bed.
"So you started physical therapy?" Sumire asked.
"Yep, earlier today." He nodded. "I still feel tired about it."
The four spent the next hour or so playing tycoon and talking.
At the Thieves Den.
Once night came about and he finished his dinner, Akira quickly fell asleep, the tiredness from the physical therapy catching up to him, but he decided to go into the Thieves Den anyway.
Not for training, this time, but he told Morgana to be asleep every day around this time so he can call him over and the two can talk without worries.
"So what is it that you want to talk with them, exactly?" Arsène asked.
Akira sat down on a chair before answering.
"I'm sure you can guess."
"I can but I'll still like to hear about it." The Persona answered before shrugging. "But I do agree that it's better to just explain it all once when Morgana and Zorro get here."
"Why ask if you think that then?" Akira asked with an amused look.
"Because, like you, I don't really like to wait in silence." Arsène chuckled, Akira joining him a moment later.
'It's so weirdly normal to have… 'myself', I guess, to talk to.'
A few minutes later, Morgana and Zorro showed up.
"Wow, this place is incredible." The not-cat said, standing on two legs with his Metaverse form.
"Yep, I'll give you the tour in a second, there is something I wanted to talk with you two first."
"Alright, what's up?"
"I… may have found us a new target."
"Really?!" Morgana shrieked. "While you were in the hospital? How?"
"You remember my roommate?"
"Yeah, what about him?"
"Apparently, the new gym teacher at his school broke his leg and is covering it up…"
Akira gave a summary of what happened to Ryuji and about Kamoshida.
"I see…" Morgana crossed his arms and let out a sigh. "I can understand why you would want to do something about this."
"I know we still need to deal with Youji but I've been thinking we can have him be the next on the list."
"Wait." Zorro spoke up. "Akira, before you jump the gun, please think about this carefully. Will dealing with this gym teacher really help us?"
"…what do you mean?"
"He sounds unimportant." The Persona said simply.
"We already had this conversation." Arsène crossed his arms.
"I know but I think you will agree with us this time." Morgana said. "Akira, I understand that walking the other way is difficult for you and you won't stop targeting Youji but you do remember who the real problem is, right?"
"…Yaldy." The teen said with a frown.
"Wanting to help everyone can be called noble but if you go trying to change the heart of every person with distorted desires you find then you'll never see the end." The not-cat explained. "I've agreed to continue to target Youji, partially because we've already began infiltration and partially because what you said about having 'Alibaba' help us out makes sense but… I can't agree with going after another target that won't help in the real battle." Morgana looked him in the eye. "Even if you were to try and help everyone you meet, it will be for nothing if Yaldabaoth wins."
"…I hate that you're right." Akira grumbled.
"For what is worth, we can keep an eye on him and, after you recover and we deal with Youji's Palace, check Mementos and use him as a means of training but he shouldn't be our main concern." Zorro added.
"We've been thinking a lot after our conversation about Youji and it's not a bad idea to go after small targets but it has to be after we deal with at least one big target." Morgana said. "Care to guess why that is?" He smirked.
"Hmm…" Akira and Arsène took a moment to think.
"To make our presence more known?" The Persona finally said.
"Bingo." Zorro pointed at him with a finger.
"I see…" Akira trailed off, putting all the pieces together in his head. "The first time we deal with a big target could be called our 'debut' and after that we continue to grow our presence by targeting small targets until we find, or while dealing with, other big targets."
"Yep, the general public will become aware of us and we'll be able to put a stop to Yaldabaoth's plans." Morgana nodded.
"Ah, I see." Akira chuckled. "Is that why you said we should call ourselves 'Phantom Thieves' while in the Metaverse?"
"The people need a name to relate to us, don't you think?"
"No argument here." The teen nodded. "Alright, once I recover we finish up Youji's Palace, then we will talk with Futaba about gaining info in possible targets." He summarized before frowning. "Speaking of Futaba."
Morgana and Zorro both shook their heads.
"I went into her room a few times the last few days but I didn't see anything strange… well, anything 'unusual', I'm certain the mess in her room could be called strange but it was the same way the first time I checked on her so…" Zorro shrugged.
"I'm sure she knows something she isn't telling us." Akira mumbled.
"I'm sure there are a lot of things she knows that she doesn't want to tell us." Morgana chimed in.
"Definitely, but I mean about what happened to the driver." He clarified.
"It can't be a coincidence that she went quiet right after you mentioned that." Zorro nodded.
"We know where she is, perhaps a visit in person is due once Akira is out of the hospital." Arsène mused.
"Perhaps it is." Akira nodded.
The next day.
After Ryuji had gone for his physical therapy for the day, doctor Takahashi entered the room.
"Good afternoon, Kurusu-kun."
"Good afternoon, doctor." He greeted back. "How are you doing?"
"Pretty well, thank you for asking, but I'm more interested in how you're doing." He took his clipboard and a pen as he awaited the answers.
"Well, I still feel a bit uncomfortable when I move and physical therapy was… tiresome but I can't say I have any real complains."
"That's good to know." The doctor nodded before putting down the clipboard and bringing a chair closer to take a seat. "There is something else I wanted to talk to you about."
"…ok?" 'His mood suddenly changed.'
"I asked the doctor in charge of your physical therapy to keep an eye on you and report back to me if he found anything strange."
"I… I don't think I felt anything strange back then, did something happen?"
"No, at least, nothing related with your physical recovery."
"That's an interesting way of phrasing, doc." Akira narrowed his eyes.
"I'll be blunt, would you be willing to see one of our therapists?"
"Ah… why?"
"It's something we recommend for any patients that were on an accident like yours, usually once their recovery has advanced further or if we see signs that they need one."
"And I've shown signs of needing one?"
"Not exactly." The older man frowned. "That's what makes it more worrisome. You don't seem to be that affected by it, even when you woke up you seemed to be mostly fine, if a bit disoriented."
"I don't follow, you're telling me that the fact I haven't shown signs of needing therapy is a reason I need therapy?"
"Believe me, I'm aware of the contradiction." He let out a chuckle. "I can fix wounds on the body but mental injuries are outside of my area of expertise. It might just be me being a worrywart but I'd rather be too careful than not careful enough." The doctor explained. "I'm not ordering you to see a therapist, it's only my recommendation and you have every right to refuse. There are people that don't need therapy and can simply brush things like this as an unfortunate accident but I want to make sure I've covered all my bases."
"I… can you give me a few days to think about it?"
"Of course, take your time." He stood up. "I think it could be good, sometimes we don't even realize we need to see someone until we're there."
After a few more questions about his state to finish the check-up, the doctor left.
Once he closed the door, Arsène appeared.
"Hm, that was an… interesting conversation." The Persona mumbled.
"Yeah." Akira whispered. "Thoughts?"
"I think your changed, or unchanged, attitude is mostly because you know the truth behind that incident and have talked to Igor and Lavenza about it during your coma." Arsène answered.
"Same, I don't think I need to see a therapist… but it might be a good idea to go anyway, to make sure I don't bring any extra attention to myself if nothing else."
"One can never be too careful." His Persona nodded.
And done!
Not much to say for this one, things are getting on the way of Akira's recovery and he is getting an inkling of something happening with Futaba.
As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Until next time!
