Persona 5: Shots Through the Heart

Shot 5: Deal with the Broken

Having a cold hearted rival give you a verbal smack in the face can change a person. And it's changing Ann a lot right now.

After Mika showed her up in her most recent photoshoot, Ann's been on a mission to better herself as a model. That includes an intense workout session with Akira and Ryuji at the Protein Lovers Gym in Shibuya. After all of the pointless willpower exercises, it seems she's finally on the path to obtaining a stronger heart. And Akira couldn't be more happy for her making leaps and bounds in her progress.

xxx

Today, Ann is visiting Shiho again in the hospital. Her visits are becoming more and more frequent as the day of Shiho's transfer to another school draws nearer. This time, Akira will be accompanying her with a bouquet of flowers in hand.

Akira and Ann are making their way down the hospital hallway to Shiho's room.

"It's really sweet of you to bring flowers for Shiho, Akira," Ann says with a smile.

"You might be her best friend, but you aren't the only one who cares about her." Ann giggles as they arrive at Shiho's room and she knocks on the down.

"Who is it?" someone calls out from the other side of the door. Ann cracks the door open and pokes her head in.

"Room service!" she jokes. "How are you?"

"A little bit better now."

"He he he! Hope you don't mind, but I brought a visitor with me." Ann beckons Akira as she enters the room and Akira follows her inside. There was Shiho, sitting up in her bed with her black hair down and wearing her patients uniform.

"Oh! Hi, Akira-kun," she says with a smile. Akira smiles and waves at her.

"Hi there, Shiho," he says. "It's kinda overdue, but I thought I'd come by and see how you're doin'." Akira walks up to her and bestows his flower bouquet onto her.

"These are for you. Thought they might brighten your day a bit." Shiho takes the bouquet in her hands and holds them close.

"These are really nice. Thank you." Ann takes a seat next to her bestie and giggles.

"And he's supposed to be the resident bad boy!" Akira smiles as Shiho laughs with her. They really are best friends, he thinks.

He puts hands in his pockets and sighs as he starts making his way to the door.

"Well uh… I-I just came to give you the flowers, so I'll just get out of your hair." Ann quickly reaches out to him.

"H-Hey wait!" she exclaims. "You don't have to leave! Why don't you hang out with us for a while?" Akira stops and turns back.

"Won't it just be girl talk though? I don't know if I can contribute." Shiho points to the box on the counter next to her.

"I have a deck of cards right there. We can play with those." Akira scratches his head and turns back around.

"Well, it's not like I got anything else to do today. Alright." Ann stands up and starts walking out of the room.

"First things first, I gotta use the little girl's room. Be right back." After Ann leaves the room, Akira just stands where he is awkwardly, not sure what he's supposed to do.

"Akira-kun, why don't you take a seat?" Akira looks over to Shiho and slowly walks over and sits in the chair next to her.

"So, how's your year at Shujin going so far?" Shiho asks.

"Huh? Oh. Well, everyone's still treating me like crap," Akira responds. "But I made a few really good friends. I'm part of this really cool… after school club, I guess you can call it. It's not an official school club though." Shiho leans in with interest.

"What type of club is it? Is it like the Track Team?" Akira pushes up his glasses.

"W-Well… we do do a lot of running." Akira catches something in his sentence and rushes to fix it.

"WAIT, NO! I-I don't mean like running from the cops or anything! I-I just meant… running in general, y'know!" Shiho starts giggling.

"I wasn't thinking that at all! Still, I'm happy you seem to be doing better." Akira smiles, then frowns as he looks at her covered legs.

"Are you doing any better? … Ann told me about your rehab… She said you were going through a really rough time…" Shiho frowns and looks down, gripping her sheets.

"To be honest… I think asking her to come was a bad idea… I don't think Ann really needed to see that... After I finished that session… she wouldn't stop hugging me. And she was crying the whole time, telling me how sorry she was…" Akira shakes his head.

"It was definitely hard, but I think seeing you push on actually sparked something in her. She's been working really hard on her modeling job lately." Shiho's smile comes back as she nods.

"I hope she'll keep it up… after I'm gone…" Akira turns to her.

"Oh yeah… you're moving away soon, right?"

"Uh huh… My family's starting to get ready to pack our things… It'll be any day now…" A depressing silence fills the room. Both of them know how much Shiho means to Ann, so when the day comes, she's guaranteed to be hurting.

"Hey, Akira-kun?"

"Yeah?" Shiho grips her sheets.

"Ann says you like making deals with people. Is that true?" Akira pinches the strands of his hair.

"I guess that's kinda one of my gimmicks now. Why do you ask?" Shiho closes her eyes.

"...I want you to make a deal with me." She turns Akira with a serious look on her face.

"After I move away… I want you to take care of Ann for me." Akira's eyes widen at her request.

"She's never really had a strong connection to other people besides me because they judge her by her looks. Plus, any bonds she does make always break with her moving from one place to another. When we say goodbye, I know she's gonna feel like she's all alone again. And when she does, I need someone let her know that she's not. I need someone to be there for her like I was." She smiles.

"And I know that if anyone can do it, it's you. And only you." Akira crosses his arms and cocks an eyebrow at her.

"Why just me though? She has Ryuji and some other really good friends now. Her and the student council president really hit it off." Shiho chuckles and shakes her head.

"I know that, but I don't think they can be there for her like you can. I mean, you are in love with her, aren't you?" Akira's face immediately turns into a beet.

"HUH?! H-H-Hold on a sec!" he exclaims. "W-What the hell gave you that idea?! S-She's just a friend!" Shiho smirks at him.

"Would you be there for her the way you have if that was the case? And would you be blushing the way you are right now?" Akira tries to cover his face and whines.

"Calm down. I think it's great that Ann likes a great guy who likes her back." Akira's blush disappears as fast as came when he hears a certain word come out of Shiho's mouth. Like. As in liking someone "that way".

"Wait… She… likes me?" Shiho points her finger at him.

"Like? That's actually the understatement of the century. She's been raving for months about you and the time you two spend together. Everytime she comes to visit me, you're mentioned." She giggles and looks up at the ceiling.

"Like... "I'm like "You've seriously been the top student in your class since grade school?!" And he goes, "You think I wear these glasses for nothin'?" Or... "He always has a snack handy for me when I'm hungry. Honestly, he's as sweet as the treats he gives me." Stuff like that. Smiling, laughing, and blushing all while. She didn't know she was blushing." Shiho turns back to him.

"So, tell me. How do you feel about her?" Just a second ago, Akira was denying the possibility of him having feelings for her with all his might. Now that he knows that Ann might feel that way towards him, he can't help but smile and picture her face.

"She… She's loyal, kind, and always puts everyone else before herself," he says with sincerity in his voice. "She loves food and never stops wanting to be a better person, even though she's so amazing already... She has a temper, she can be a bit of an airhead, stubborn as a mule, a bit indecisive, but that never stopped her from staying positive doing her best... And her heart... So big and sweet... Probably cuz of all the dessert she eats... And it hurts like hell to see it broken... It kills me a bit inside everytime I see her cry." He scratches his head and chuckles.

"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, inside and out… There's no way I couldn't… love her." Shiho smiles and nods.

"Well, she told me once that she wasn't interested in dating," she says. "But if you let her know you feel that way… I have a feeling her heart will change faster than ever. You'll be like… a Phantom Thief who stole her heart." Akira turns to her and laughs.

"That's… actually a great way to put it." Shiho bows her head to him.

"So I'll ask you again: Please, Akira-kun, take care of Ann for me."

The best friend of the girl he loves is encouraging him and asking him to watch out for her in her place. That's not something he can say no to.

Akira gives Shiho a determined nod and gives her a thumbs up.

"Shiho Suzui… in exchange for your blessing, you have yourself a deal."

"Good. Thank you."

Ann's timing proves to be impeccable as she enters the room at that moment.

"Phew! Sorry I took so long," she says. "The restrooms are really far from here." Akira and Shiho smile at her as she takes her seat.

"So, what're you guys talking about?" Akira smirks at her.

"How long it takes one Takamaki to use the bathroom," he jokes. Ann shoots a narrow eyed look at him.

"Oh shuddup and shuffle the deck." Shiho giggles as she watches her best friend and her hopefully future boyfriend interact with each other, happy that everything will be okay when she's gone.

Target: Hit