April 28th, 2016: Thursday

There was one day left before they knew if the change of heart worked as Morgana had intended. Kamoshida himself wasn't in school yesterday or today. Apparently, he had called in sick, so they knew he wasn't dead.

Akira wasn't sure if he was supposed to be relieved by that or not.

The others have made their worries clear to him. If the change didn't work, they'd be expelled. He isn't sure what Ryuji or Mishima would do, but he's fairly certain he would be kicked out of Leblanc. Sakura didn't seem to be one to take such things lightly.

While the others waited with bated breath, Akira himself wasn't too worried. It either worked or it didn't. "It is what it is," he had told Ann when she asked about it today. He was used to things not going his way at this point.

He was thankful Sakura was already out by the time he got back last night. He couldn't see the bruises on his face from the fight with Kamoshida.

As he gingerly made his way into the medical clinic, he was careful not to aggravate any of his injuries. They ended up using every single one of Takemi's medicines and whatever energy Morgana drew upon to heal them in the Metaverse. It was close. Too close.

The goal today was to just pick up some pain meds so he could go to sleep tonight, but if Takmei requested help he'd give it. It'd be nice to talk to someone that wasn't constantly stressing over the supernatural nonsense he was beginning to fear would become a consistent part of his life.

As he gingerly made his way into the clinic, Takemi took one look at him and frowned. "You look like shit, guinea pig."

Akira let out a laugh, one without much humor behind it. "I've been called worse."

She waved him into the examination room, rolling her eyes.

Akira hissed as Takemi pressed a cotton swab dipped in iodine onto one of the bruises on his face. "Could you be a bit gentler?"

Takemi smiled and sat back, giving him a look he couldn't describe. "Normally I'm asked to be a bit rougher."

"Excuse - AH!"

She had used the momentary distraction to place another swab on one of the bruises closer to his eye. He sat and took it, trying not to flinch too badly. Pain was still something he was getting used to on a somewhat consistent basis.

"What did you even do to yourself?" she said, applying a bandage on one of the more nasty bruises. "You look like you went a few rounds with Mike Tyson."

"I prefer Antonio Inoki myself," he snarked, which was returned with a poke into one of his bruises. "Ow! What was that for?"

"I'm not joking," Takemi said, frowning at him. "You look awful. Did you get into a fight?"

"I wasn't the one who started the fight," Akira assured her, holding up his hands in surrender. "I just wasn't going to lie down and take it."

"You know you're supposed to avoid the punches right?"

It wasn't like I could avoid a meteoric volleyball, he thought to himself. He grimaced as she place another bandage at the base of his chin. "How much longer?"

"Since you're oh so eager to go back out there and get your ass kicked again," Takemi said, shaking her head, "I'm done."

She returned her tools back into the first aid kit while disposing of any hazardous material. "How did you avoid your parents seeing you like that?"

When Akira went silent, Takemi looked back to meet his troubled gaze. She raised a brow. "Touchy subject?"

"Something like that."

"Then we won't talk about it," she said simply, placing the kit away. "You're good to go if you want, I'm all done."

Akira furrowed his brow and asked, "Don't you want to do another clinical trial?"

"In the state you're in? It wouldn't do any good. I need a perfectly healthy guinea pig."

"Are you sure?" Akira asked again.

"Yes. Now go and get some rest, lord knows you need it. Let me just get you some painkillers first."

"Thanks," he said. He felt sorry they couldn't do a clinical trial today, but his body was doing cartwheels and backflips over how happy it was that it didn't need to put itself through another awful dose of experimentation.

Not literally of course. He's pretty sure he'd turn to dust if he tried that right now.

Just as Takemi handed him his school bag, her phone went off. She rolled over to it on her chair and picked it up. "Takemi Medical Clinic of Internal Medicine. How can I help you?"

Akira opened the bag and began to rummage through it to make sure everything was there. It looked good, which meant he could sleep tonight without difficulty.

He perked up when he heard Takemi say, "An emergency?"

He looked up form his bag to a frowning Takemi. She didn't look happy to be receiving this phone call. Okay, it was an emergency, that hardly seemed like it would be a fun call, but she seemed more aggravated that she was getting it at all.

"We're not a designated hospital," she explained. She took a deep breath and looked off to the side. She let the other person on the phone talk for a few seconds before interrupting. "The head physician here is Tae Takemi."

Akira didn't hear anymore noise over the phone after that. Takemi took the phone away from her ear, gave it a sorrowful look, then placed it back on its cradle. She shook her head. "Awfully rude, hanging up on a lady like that."

"Is everything alright?" Akira asked.

"It's fine. It was just an ambulance calling the wrong number," she explained. "Normally they wouldn't call a general practitioner like myself, so all the hospitals must have been full. Or they were idiots. One of the two."

"Doesn't explain why they hung up when you told them your name."

Tae looked in his direction and smirked. "Very perceptive, aren't you, guinea pig?"

Akira shrugged. "I try."

She laughed a little and shook her head before reaching up and pinching the bridge of her nose. After taking a few seconds, she leaned forward and looked him in the eyes. "Do you really want to know the truth?"

"I asked, didn't I?"

"That you did," Takemi agreed. "You should be careful when you do that, by the way. The truth can be a terrible thing."

Akira smiled, more to himself than anything. "Try me."

"I'm blacklisted from the greater medical community."

His smile instantly fell. "Oh."

"Do you remember that name the cop called me?"

"The Plague…"

"That's the one. You see, the whole reason I got that name was due to a medical error on my part. This was a few years ago now, but I doubt it'll ever wash away from my reputation."

"What happened?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I used to work at a university hospital. I wasn't convicted of anything, but I'm considered a pariah these days. Nobody with any stature will touch me with a ten-foot pole."

She looked at him again and smirked. "Does that scare you? Participating in clinical trials run by the big, bad Plague?"

Akira was quiet for a moment. He hid behind his glasses and lost himself to thought before answering, "No."

Takemi was taken aback by his response. "Really? Why so sure?"

"Because you're a good person. I know you are."

"Not many people would agree with you on that one."

He clicked his tongue. "They can get bent."

She scoffed. "You barely even know me. How can you possibly say that?"

"I'm not sure," Akira admitted. Why was he so sure of her moral character? She was a doctor performing back-alley trials, for goodness' sake. "I guess it's just a feeling I have. I like to think I have a good read on people."

"You really are one strange kid," Takemi said. A small, but genuine smile tugged at the edges of her lips. "I can't say your judgment is on point, but… thanks. It made me feel a little better."

Akira smiled and gave her a nod.

"At any rate," she said, turning back towards her computer, "I don't mind being ostracized. It lets me focus on my own research and development."

Liar, Akira thought to himself, but he kept quiet.

"You can check to see if everything is in there, but otherwise go home and rest. Doctor's orders, understand?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied, swinging his bag over his shoulder, and getting to his feet. "I'll hit the bathhouse first."

"Better than nothing," she said. Her phone went off again. Akira heard her groan, but she picked it up anyway. "Takemi Medical Clinic of Internal Medicine."

She flinched and gave her phone a strange look. "You want chicken teriyaki? I think you have the wrong number."

Just like last time, the line went dead, and she looked cross. She hung it up and gave Akira one last look. "Why are you still here?"

"Not sure, but now I have a hankering for some chicken teriyaki."

Akira fell face first onto his bed and groaned in deep satisfaction. All the tension and stress was beginning to wash away from his body.

It was so relaxing he almost missed his phone going off in his pocket. He fumbled for it before he brought it to his ear and offered up a muffled, "Hello?"

"You sound like a bright ray of sunshine," Tae's voice spoke over the line.

Akira let out an amused snort before rolling over. "Need something."

"Nothing in particular… Really, I just wanted to make sure you've kept our little deal a secret. It'd be bad for both of us if it got out."

"You don't need to worry about that, Takemi-san," Akira assured her. "That was our deal. My lips are sealed."

"Good." Akira could hear a frustrated sigh over the line. "Who the hell has been putting out that rumor? I got another call asking about it shortly after you left. I'm starting to get annoyed."

"To be fair, you're selling me drugs," he pointed out.

"You're an exceedingly rare and special case. And I'm only doing it so you'll help me with my research. All of the medicine I produce is for my research."

Akira pursed his lips. "Have you been giving me the by-product of your research?"

"Yes and no. It's a by-product in the sense that I only discovered how to make it while doing research, but the actual medicine I'm giving you is specifically made to be a painkiller. It's completely safe, guinea pig. So long as you're not downing an entire bottle's worth, anyway."

Best not to tell her that's exactly what they did in the Metaverse, then.

"I'll make sure to practice safe drug use," he snarked.

"Smartass." Her smile was clear over the phone. "That's all I wanted to ask. I'll see you again soon… if you're still alive."

The call dropped and Akira looked at his phone, a smile on his face. She just couldn't help herself, could she?

He let his arm drop before the painkillers did their work and sleep took him into its hold.