(So uh... I died, came back to life, now recap time? Nobody's in the TV, need to be able to defeat Pluto who is taking over Robert's dad, so the MC who is still named Souji Seta and his crew of dancers are both training and taking some chill time. Yuni just got saved by Akira yet again and they go through the aftermath of how much it kind of sucked for them, but it seems nobody flipped tables. Currently, Rage and Yuni's Personas rock.)
You knew Yuni was all right after the scare on Saturday, but you decided to check on Akira. You went to Yuni's mansion after class on Monday, hoping that he wasn't out trying to catch her.
"You're here for Akira?" Maid Zukin asked. "I'm sorry, he isn't here right now. He went to a shooting range today."
Did he take Yuni with him?
"She's still here," she answered. "Did you want to talk to her?"
No, you left her alone. It definitely seemed odd that she was home and Akira was out. You decided to get directions to the shooting area...
-.
You assumed it was loud inside because of how clearly you could hear shots from a distance. You weren't going to get in without paying a fee, so you left a message on Akira's phone and waited by his car in the parking lot. You entertained yourself by playing with games on your phone, quickly draining the battery for ten or twenty minutes before Akira ran to you.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said. You told him it was no problem; you just went to see how he was doing after...
His face fell a little. "It didn't leave me any less concerned for her."
Yuni mentioned that he took it rather well on the night of the incident, compared to usual.
"Did she?" he asked. Why did he have a sarcastic smile? "Usually, I'm not the only one who gets angry; it's a team effort. She would blame me for butting in, and I would blame her for getting in trouble. But we both managed to avoid those pointless arguments this time. I stopped and thought before lashing out, and I realized that it wasn't her fault. She seems to have matured as well, and I'm proud of her for that."
Proud? He spoke as if he was her father.
He laughed. "I'm not that old. I feel like I've just known her for a long time. Or maybe it's just that I've spent a lot of time with her over these years." He looked at his gun holster. "This is one of the first days I've really taken off for myself in years. It's not that they overwork me; it's just that if she gets in trouble, I have no one to blame but myself. But some things are just out of my control. I don't need to be around to stop her from experiencing life and learning on her own. Still... if she ever wants my help, I'll be there for her. I have the strength and skill to save her from danger.
"Weeks ago, I know that I brought the feeling of being a prisoner onto myself. When I think about it, the simple explanation is that I can't leave her because I, erm," he was a little embarrassed, "because I care about her too much. Yet if she wants me around as much as I want to be around, then there's nothing wrong with that. Our bond can't be broken, but it's because we're like family.
"Thanks for checking on me," he said. "It helps to have someone to talk to like this."
Akira relied on you to hold a conversation like that. You felt that he was at peace.
Akira looked surprised; the area around you turned into a void. All noise ceased, except for what sounded like a breeze in your ears. Akira looked up and saw Lu-yan for a moment, levitating in the sky. He brought his fists into his chest and curled into a ball of light; the light exploded and left a larger dark dragon in his place. He had elongated spikes on the back of his neck, narrower eyes, and shoulder guards. He had a majestic cape draped behind him. The last thing you noticed was the thin moustache-like strands by his nose before everything faded back to the real world, taking the new dragon with it.
It looked like Akira's Persona had evolved, too.
"Is that what happened?" he asked. "Interesting." He tried to remain humble about his new power, though you saw him place his hand on his chin, trying to hide his smile.
"Please do me a favor, though, and don't tell anyone about what I told you. People seem to get the wrong idea about Yuni and I."
You told him not to worry. From what you heard from Devil Zukin, you knew exactly what he was talking about. Did it bother him that much that people were spreading false rumors? They were his friends; they wouldn't make anything up to hurt him. They probably only meant to have some fun.
"It's not that they're spreading false rumors," he turned away from you, "but the more they talk about it, the more I believe it..."
-.
The sky was cloudy on Tuesday, making the evening darker than normal. You could hear faint rumbles of thunder in the distance when you stood by the large windows of the hospital. You were about an hour away from getting off of work, and you hoped you would get home before any sort of chilling shower began to fall.
The day continued to darken, inside and outside of the building.
You had no personal relationships with most of the doctors, but a handful of them recognized you from time to time. You were known as "the young man who somehow knew Zero," and that was enough reason for a woman to confront you.
"Hey, you're Zero's friend, aren't you?"
In some sense, yes.
"Have you heard? That girl he's looking after isn't getting any better."
He was looking after someone?
"Well, last week, a girl came in here to have a procedure done, but she's a bit frail, and they weren't sure if she was going to survive the operation. Zero was the one who broke the news to her and her parents. She was afraid to do it, so the medical doctors have been trying to help out and stall with some medications, but Zero and the other surgeons know that she won't actually get better unless she takes that risky procedure."
You nodded and followed her story, thankful that she excluded complicated terms. You asked her if she knew where Zero was.
"He's in the same place he's been all week: outside her door on the third floor, room 302."
-.
She had been right. You saw him with his back against the wall, staring at invisible spot across from him. His eyes noticed you, but only for a second before he looked away again.
"What are you doing here?"
You said you had been looking for him after someone told you what had been going on.
He sighed, annoyed. "There's nothing you can do. There's nothing I can do. We have to leave it at that."
He was frustrated; he didn't sound like he believed that. What did he really believe?
"I... don't know," he mumbled.
Did he not want to push her to get better? Or did he support her decision to wait...?
He glared at you. "I said I don't know!"
You flinched a little at his volume. It wasn't loud, just unexpected. He leaned his head back against the wall, suddenly calm again. "If she doesn't want the procedure, she will die. If she does want my help, I will be responsible for her life."
And he didn't want to be blamed for her death... you tried to understand his position.
"It would be in her best interest to get the surgery out of her way," he muttered. "She has about a month to live before her body damages itself beyond repair. I want her to live; I want her to recover. But the way she is now, she'll only get worse. Why is she doing this to herself...?" His shoulders looked tense.
You tried to see it from the patient's eyes. It was hard to imagine what she was going through, in part because you had no idea what she looked like or how old she was.
"See for yourself through the blinds," Zero told you.
Though it seemed like an invasion of privacy, you decided to peek. There was a vertical opening to the very right of the blinds where you could barely see her. She was an older teenager with straight, long dark hair and bangs, talking to two other girls that seemed to know her. She had long arms, likely because she was tall, but she was definitely thin; so thin that looking at her too long made you squeamish, especially when you thought about how she needed to go under an operation.
But she seemed happy, despite her condition.
"I've told her everything," Zero muttered. "Her 'choice' was to wait and think about it. It isn't my business, but I can't stand to see her here."
This was the most troubled you'd seen Zero. You could tell he had more to say, so you waited quietly.
"Part of me wants to do this surgery thinking that..." he stopped. "That no matter how it turns out, it's better than dying slowly and suffering in this hotpital. And I can't stop believing that, even though I know it isn't right... or is it?"
His perspective wasn't right or wrong; it was just his opinion. Had it been his own life, would be not think twice about spending a few days with the people close to him before deciding to risk his life?
He scoffed. "I don't think I can relate to that. Even so," he looked absentmindedly at the window to her room, "there are those people who cling to life like that. If I can't convince her to try the operation... will I have failed at saving her life?"
That was his reason for being a doctor, wasn't it? His reason for being on your team, even the reason for his Shadow and Persona's powers. Zero wanted to save people. You could only tell him that no matter what happened, she would be all right. She would live or she would die, even if she decided to live the rest of her shortened life in the hospital. To her, being sure that she would have another month was probably more important than just a chance of having the rest of her life. Instead of lamenting over her possible death, could he be happy that she had this chance to live a bit longer?
He looked at you, surprised.
"You're asking meto be happy about something?"
He had a fake smirk; you could sense he was actually still bitter inside. He quickly gave up trying to smile and stared back at the wall.
"Just... let me think about this for a while."
-.
After you left for the day, you saw Alice innocently standing outside, wearing a bulky brown winter coat, even though the weather still felt like an early autumn to you. How long had she been there? You approached her and asked her what she was doing.
"Oh, um," she stuttered. "I came because... well, because... I was going to talk to Zero."
You told her that she could probably find him by room 302, if he hadn't left.
"So he's still there, huh?" she mumbled. You asked if she knew about the girl.
"The girl from a week ago? Yeah. He... wouldn't tell me about it; I asked around."
He wouldn't tell you, either. You were fortunate enough to hear from someone else, and you were surprised Alice even noticed something was wrong.
"He gets worked up like that sometimes. I don't think he's been at the hospital very long; a lot of these things are probably new to him." She frowned. "He doesn't like to talk about these things... but he started avoiding me a few days ago, so I wanted to find out what was going on. When I heard he might be hurt, I wanted to do something to help, so I came here, and... and that's it. I've just been outside, waiting for him."
You were confused. Why didn't she go in? He wasn't busy, and it's not like she hadn't gone in before.
"Because I... I don't know what I can do to help in a time like this. I'm not smart like you, Souji. I don't know what to say to make people feel better. Especially not Zero; most people think he doesn't like to hear anything, but he really just doesn't like to talk, so I have to be the one to say everything sometimes. What do I say? What does he want to hear?"
You thought about it, and realized her problem was that she was looking for the wrong answers. She was thinking in terms of what Zero was expecting her to say.
"Is that wrong?"
You asked her if she remembered her Shadow.
She nodded. "She was... well, I was upset that I had to try so hard to get everyone to like me. I was so occupied with putting on a show for everyone else that nobody saw me for who I was... it was like they couldn't see the real me at all. But this isn't about me, this is about-"
It was indeed about her. It was clear that she was one of Zero's better friends (at least, one of the few people he tolerated). If she just did what she felt was natural, he would accept her for who she was.
"What if he doesn't like who I really am? What if I'm really just a bother to him...?"
You knew, since meeting her, that she was a sweet girl who wanted others to be happy. So what if she didn't know the right words? Her sincerity was something that couldn't be put into words; her will alone to be there for her friends was what made her so kind.
She blushed and turned away. "You don't have to say it like that. I'm still afraid of letting people down. But my real friends accept me for who I am. I think if I try, I can stop being afraid of the people close to me." She nodded, and then she smiled at you. "Yeah. I'm going to try harder to just be myself."
The other dimension formed around you. Above her head was Hael, who faded before your eyes before being replaced by a heavily cloaked woman with a white, blank face. She had a veil behind her and long sleeves; Hael's gold accessories were around this new Persona's waist as a belt, as well as attached to her long, horizontally pointed ears. She disappeared, and so did the view of the false night sky.
"Huh?" she muttered. "That... that was just like when Hael first appeared. Except now her name is Amitiel."
You congratulated her on becoming stronger. Amitiel signified her new power to overcome he weaknesses.
"Power? I'm really stronger now?" She looked speechlessly into her hands, as if she could hold onto some invisible form of energy. "Then I... I'll continue to do my best, Souji. Thank you so much for all the help."
With that, you felt an unbreakable bond between you two. Just knowing that the two of you would always have a place in each other's hearts was enough thanks to you.
(So uh... hospitals really do kind of suck. Not that I had to go for anything serious, but even staying there for days for pansy reasons, it sucks. I had the one from Scrubs in mind when writing this... xP)