Good Day Readers! Obviously, I do not own anything connected to the Persona series in general or Persona 5 specifically, I DO own Chiba Natsumi and Anais Ouvrard, along with Natsumi's immediate family members and the original Personas that will be showing up on occasion.
I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy.
Chapter 16: - Preparations to Make
We returned to the physical world and head for Aoyama-Itchome station to discuss what had happened. Sakamoto ran away, to get drinks he said but I suspect it was so he didn't have to explain everything, so me and Morgana took it in turns to explain about the Metaverse, Shadows, Palaces, Personas and I finally filled them in on my Betwixt status, though I left out the Daughter of Philemon, Triad of Power stuff since I didn't want to confuse them too much.
"Which one do you want?" Sakamoto asked. He returned with three bottles in his arms, one with a yellow liquid, one with brown and one with red; Takamaki asked for the one that wasn't carbonated. "Uh, they all are actually," Sakamoto admitted. Takamaki sighed and proceeded to take the brown coloured drink, I took the red one and Amamiya got the last one. Morgana proceeded to stand his front legs on Amamiya's shoulder whilst the rest remained inside of the ravenette's bag… he seems to have got used to it.
"What about me?" Morgana questioned. Sakamoto didn't seem to understand why Morgana would need a drink so I took of the cap, poured a small bit in and offered it to Morgana – if he really was human, this should be fine – Morgana purred with happiness as he lapped at the liquid. "Have you calmed down, Ann-dono?" Morgana asked. He pulled back from the cap once he finished so I stepped back.
"Um… Morgana, right?" Takamaki asked. She looked at the cat with wide eyes, likely still processing the fact that a cat could be understood by humans. "I really am talking to a cat… this feels so strange…," Takamaki admitted. She then blinked her eyes and shook her head as she remembered something. "Oh, sorry! You're not a cat, right?" Takamaki recalled. However, Morgana waved – metaphorically speaking – it off and agreed it was only natural to be confused and demanding so, after so much had happened, would be asking a lot. "Honestly, I still can't believe what happened… and that power… my Persona," Takamaki admitted.
"It's the Will of your Rebellion, Ann-dono. With it, you'll be able to fight in that other world," Morgana reassured. Although the station might not be the best place to talk, the naturally noisy atmosphere covered up our rather unusual conversation quite well since we were speaking in low enough tones; people would have to stop and hover if they wanted to listen in on us but me and Morgana would sense if they did plus Takamaki and Sakamoto could look behind me and Amamiya to see if anyone did stop whilst Amamiya could cover Sakamoto's back since Takamaki was stood in front of a wall.
"So, if what you told me is true, we can make Kamoshida have a Change of Heart, right? Is it really possible? Can we actually force him to confess his crimes?" Takamaki asked. I don't blame her for her disbelief, it would seem like a dream solution to her so of course she was wary about blindly jumping into the possibility even if it would free her from the monster that thought he had any right to own her.
"Yes. I have personal experience in forcing someone to undergo a Change of Heart, the weight of grief and guilt this forced upon that individual meant that she willingly removed herself from my life," I admitted. Takamaki stared at me, I could see the burning questions within her eyes, but her lips never once made the move to ask any of them.
"With the volleyball team keepin' quiet about this, while the teachers and parents turn a blind eye, it's our only shot. Especially since what happened to Suzui. If guys like us, or even you and Natsumi, try and complain, they're just gonna shoot us down. Goin' all in on this plan is the only chance we got," Sakamoto pointed out. A brief smile came onto Takamaki's face at the mention of them doing this for Suzui, despite the pain in her eyes.
"Then let me help too. I want to make him pay for what happened to Shiho. He just keeps going like nothing happened, even after what he did to her… I'll never forgive him," Takamaki insisted. A steely determination came across her face as she looked at us, but her blue eyes held another emotion, perhaps a plea for us to listen to her, Sakamoto blinked his eyes in confusion as he tried to process what he'd just heard come from Takamaki.
"Wait, did you just say, 'let me help'? You mean you want us to take you along?" Sakamoto asked. He seemed utterly baffled by the words that had been spoken, Takamaki insisted she could fight too and wouldn't drag us down and Sakamoto turned to us. "Hey… what should we do?" Sakamoto asked. His brown eyes darting between me and Amamiya.
"She wields Fire, can use healing spells and is another fighter. I see nothing wrong with bringing her along," I admitted. It would be useful to have a fifth person given that Morgana had been concerned about us not having enough people and with Takamaki's unique magic abilities, that left only Ice, Nuke, Psy and Bless as the elements we didn't have but getting a hold of them might be more manageable now.
"It should be fine. She'll be a great help," Amamiya affirmed. He given gave a nod of his head, Morgana piped up with his agreement, even reminding us of his concern about manpower, before vowing to protect Takamaki; Takamaki's expression turned into a serious expression, with her blue eyes almost seeming to catch on fire, as she looked at the three of us.
"Even if you said no, I'd just go in alone," Takamaki pointed out. The unfortunate thing was, this wasn't a bluff; with the Meta-Nav on her phone and a clear enough understanding of it to work it, Takamaki could leap back into the Palace whenever she wished and there was every possibility that we'd be completely unaware of it happening which was too risky in my opinion, Takamaki didn't have the training Lavenza gave me before my first infiltration so it was too dangerous for her to solo it.
"Oh right, she can go by herself… I guess it'd be more dangerous turnin' her down. Rgh, fine…," Sakamoto stated. It sounded like he was complaining a bit about Takamaki joining us; I don't know why since she'd be a big help and was just as much as a victim of Kamoshida as Sakamoto was, sure physical assault and sexual harassment aren't two things that can be compared, but pain is pain at the end of the day.
"Then it's decided. Well, I hope we get along!" Takamaki almost cheerfully declared. She then adopted a grave expression on her face yet the fire kept burning within her eyes. "I'm going to make Kamoshida atone for what he did. Not just for Shiho's sake, but for everything he's done. I won't let any more people suffer because of him! I'll do whatever it takes," Takamaki declared. At that moment, the sensation of something strong yet still capable of growth flowed from Takamaki's fighting resolve, causing me to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Just let me know when you're heading back in… oh wait! We don't have each other's info. Hey, give me your numbers and Chat IDs. And um…," Takamaki insisted. We quickly exchanged the information and I promptly added Takamaki into the group chat. "I'll be counting on you guys, then," Takamaki stated.
"Just as we'll be counting on you Takamaki-san," I responded. Morgana claimed it was a pleasure to work with Takamaki, with that the blonde model proceeded to walk away with a renewed bounce in her step and her head held high; it was good to see that she had recovered but I would never forget the way she had been broken down by Kamoshida's cruelty.
"What a kind girl… such admirable consideration for others and the resolve to cast herself into the jaws of death to achieve her goal. She cares about her friends and she's beautiful to boot. What a girl! She's captured my heart," Morgana sighed. He seemed to have really fallen head over heels for Takamaki, but his comments at least showed this was not a shallow physical attraction and a bit more real.
"Dude," Sakamoto stated. I looked at the boy, wondering what he was going to say. "You know, it'd be better if this group could get together quick from now on," Sakamoto stated. Morgana agreed, even pointing out that we could do with a secret hideout to discuss our Phantom Thief activities. "A hideout, huh? I like the sound of that," Sakamoto stated. The real question was where, it's not like any of our homes were close by to consider it quick to meet up and there might not be anywhere in Shibuya where we could get decent privacy.
"The school rooftop should work. It seems like nobody goes up there. For the time being that will make the perfect hideout. I can't contact you from inside a Palace, so I'll stay in this world. That being said I'll need someone to take care of me. I'm personally nominating you Joker. You should feel honoured," Morgana decided. However, Amamiya's eyes flew wide at those words.
"M-Me!" Amamiya exclaimed. Sakamoto didn't help when he said that he couldn't care for Morgana at his place, he then proceeded to leave after stating we'd meet at the hideout tomorrow. "Oh, I hope Sakura-san doesn't get mad at me," Amamiya stated. He gripped his head and looked completely put out about the possibility.
"If it doesn't work out at your place Amamiya, Morgana can always come and stay with me," I offered. I wasn't allergic and with no one else in the building it wasn't like anyone could complain; Amamiya gave me a smile that seemed to be warm and we proceeded to climb aboard the train to start our commute back to Yongen-Jaya.
*Persona 5 Royal*
I sat cross legged on my floor, sorting through information and some items I'd picked up during my time searching for tools to help me in the Metaverse. Even if we didn't go in tomorrow – I was hoping to convince them against that – then at least I could be prepared with a few elemental magatamas to cover what we didn't know. A sudden buzzing came from my phone, so I reached over and opened up the Chat.
Ren: I think Morgana will be fine at my place.
Natsumi: That's good, take care of yourself and him.
Ren: Will do, see you tomorrow.
Natsumi: See you tomorrow.
I guess Sōjirō had allowed Amamiya to keep Morgana at LeBlanc even though it probably wasn't good for a food business to have a cat wandering about. Well, so long at Morgana didn't randomly move about there wasn't any issue with it; I turned my focus back to the tools I had splayed out when my phone buzzed once more. Looking at it, it was another Chat yet this time it happened to be from Takamaki.
Ann: Chiba-san, I wanted to say thank you for everything you did today.
Natsumi: I don't understand Takamaki-san, why do you need to thank me?
Ann: You were there for me after Shiho jumped.
Ann: And then you were the first to encourage me in that Palace.
Ann: I want to thank you properly. I've already thanked Amamiya-kun and Sakamoto.
Natsumi: It's fine Takamaki-san. I appreciate it.
Natsumi: We'll try and meet up tomorrow to discuss our next move.
Ann: Alright, see you tomorrow.
Setting the phone down, I gathered up all of my stuff and put it away before spreading the books out in front of me once more and flicking through each of them. This information would come in useful soon enough, I just had to get the other three to listen to me.
*Persona 5 Royal*
The next day, I met up with Amamiya and Morgana, we walked towards the station and got onto the usual train, however by some miraculous event I found that there were two seats open. Acting quickly, I squeezed myself through the crowd with Amamiya following me and quickly claimed one seat, Amamiya took the other and I saw that he seemed to relax marginally, maybe at the relief of being sat down after having to stand for the last few days.
"It's crowded as usual, but I guess we got lucky and managed to grab a seat," I commented. Amamiya let out a hum of agreement as he tightly held the bag containing Morgana, glancing around at the cramped surroundings. "I'd advise bringing a book, the journeys can get boring when sat down so it's a good distraction," I suggested. As I did, I pulled out a book I was currently reading, Amamiya leaned over to see the book.
"Isn't that the newest release of Shadowed World?" Amamiya asked. I lifted my gaze to look at him and nodded my head in surprise; Shadowed World had been the first book of a series released two years ago by Mikoto Nami, it had been a runaway hit and personally I loved it myself, her second book Fall of the Goddess had come out last month and I was enjoying it immensely. "Do you mind if I read it with you?" Amamiya asked. I shook my head and shifted the book over so we could share it.
The journey was quite nice as we shared the book before having to stop and change trains. I was rather surprised by sharing an interest with Amamiya, but he had seemed to be enjoying the story along with me and even Morgana got interested and started to read with us. We couldn't read on the train to school so settled for talking about Shadowed World and this continued even as we walked towards the building.
"What's wrong, you don't look so good," A female voice spoke up. I turned my head around and saw that two girls were standing by the vending machines located in a small cubby outside of the school; one of them looked to be okay but the other girl seemed noticeably unwell, her skin was a sickly pale and she had prominent dark rings circling her eyes.
"I haven't been feeling well lately. My head's all foggy and I have no energy," The ill looking girl admitted. She paused in order to yawn loudly into her hand and I could almost hear the cracking of the joint in her jaw. "I've tried every drug at the pharmacy, but nothing works. Do I have some new virus?" The girl wondered. However, a tension soon appeared on her face and her breathing started to pick up rapidly, indicating she was probably panicking. "Is this the onset of a psychotic breakdown?! What should I do?! Am I going to die!?" The girl panickily exclaimed. The other girl immediately started to calm her down and insist they go to the doctor's clinic.
"Doctors have the best medicine, huh," Morgana spoke up. I stepped back to look at the cat in the bag whilst Amamiya craned his neck over his shoulder. "Hey, wasn't that one customer back at LeBlanc a doctor?" Morgana asked. I looked back at Amamiya, wondering if he knew who Morgana was talking about since I don't recall any doctor being at the café before, so I was a little clueless.
"Do you mean the woman dressed in punk rock clothes?" Amamiya asked. Okay, I'm a little surprised that a country boy like Amamiya knew what punk rock clothes looked like, or maybe I'm just being ignorant since I never been anywhere near the countryside before, so I didn't know what they were like clothing wise. "So, what if she was a doctor?" Amamiya asked. He sounded honestly confused as to where Morgana was going with this.
"True, she did have an interesting fashion sense, but it might be nice to have some strong medicine to use in the Palace," Morgana insisted. That was true, if we got a hold of some powerful medicine then it would ease the strain on Morgana and Takamaki to keep us healed, also it would ensure we could be healed if either of those two were knocked out. Sakamoto then came up and greeted us and we finished the walk to school with him.
*Persona 5 Royal*
Sitting in class with Ushimaru-sensei talking at the front, I felt a buzzing come from my phone, mentally cursing Sakamoto for his inopportune timing, I pulled out my phone and held it underneath the table in order to ensure that I wasn't spotted by the strictest teacher we had. A quick glance in the corner of my eye showed Takamaki and Amamiya pulling out their own phones, meaning this was a group Chat.
Ryūji: Hey, we're meeting up at the hideout after school, right?
Ann: Don't text now. We're in class.
Natsumi: Don't bother Takamaki-san. I've already chastised him.
Natsumi: He didn't listen.
Ryūji: Whoa! You two mean you're actually listening to all this crap?
Natsumi: Obviously
Ann: Yeah, but none of it is really sticking today…
Ryūji: I know right?
Ren: I can't blame you two but do try to focus. We'll draw attention otherwise.
Ryūji: Anyway, hideout after school?
Ann: Where exactly is this 'hideout'?
Natsumi: It's the school roof.
Natsumi: If that's okay with you Takamaki-san?
Ann: Yeah, it's fine Chiba-san…
Ann: Wait, we can still go up there?
Ryūji: Yeah, I'll let you in
Ryūji: Welp, I'll be waiting. Just come on up once school's over.
Ren: I'll be there.
"Hey! Amamiya!" Ushimaru-sensei yelled. I jerked up right and quickly hid my phone as Amamiya shot himself back in his chair and seemed to go paler at those words. "Pay attention! Is that how you listen when someone's talking to you!?" Ushimaru-sensei snapped. Amamiya seemed to become even more pale at the snapped words and I knew exactly what was coming for him.
Ushimaru-sensei pulled his hand back and I could practically see the chalk in his hand glinting in the light. He hurled the arm forward and released the chalk so that it shot through the air, completely ignoring all other individual as it shot forward. The chalk was practically spinning through the air as it cut forward towards Amamiya; suddenly Amamiya ducked down flat against the table and the chalk sailed safely over his head and cracked into the wall behind his head and startling the boy sat behind him.
'How… did he do that?' I thought. I'd never seen anyone dodge the torpedo chalk before, I'd never had it thrown at me so I couldn't say I could do it but when everyone else had been hit by it, the fact that Amamiya had dodged it was kind of impressive; everyone began to mutter impressed about the dodge as a sudden buzzing came on my phone and I stealthily took it out in order to check what had been said.
Ren: I now understand what you guys meant by torpedo chalk.
*Persona 5 Royal*
Once school was done, me along with Amamiya and Takamaki – plus Morgana in the bag – headed up the steps towards the roof, trying to avoid people spotting us too much which could cause unnecessary whispers to start spreading around us. We reached the door and found it was indeed open as Sakamoto promised and the blonde boy was sat upon a chair there, we all gathered around with Takamaki and Morgana perching themselves on the tables, Amamiya leaned against the metal box bolted to the roof as I sat on a chair by some planters growing vegetation… why are there plants here?
"Looks like we're all here," Sakamoto stated. I could practically sense his body vibrating with energy from here. "Mkay, let's get goin'!" Sakamoto insisted. Now was the time to put my foot down, they couldn't go rushing in and I had to at least try and stop them from doing something reckless when we were still unprepared for the dangers that we'd face deeper within the Palace and potentially the Shadow's transformation.
"Hold on!" Morgana called. I looked at the cat, surprised at he had opened his mouth before me. "It's still too early for us to head to the Palace," Morgana insisted. Well, at least he wanted to stop them from heading inside the Palace like I did, we needed to be much more prepared if we wanted to overcome the dangers, which meant that we had to take the time to ensure those preparations.
"But why? Don't we just gotta steal that Treasure thing?" Sakamoto protested. He hadn't enough experience in Palaces to know what was coming the further we went inside, unlike me and possibly Morgana but even if Morgana didn't know he was cautious enough to at least ensure we had preparations for the challenges coming to face us.
"Don't underestimate the dangers of the place. We need to prepare," Morgana insisted. Sakamoto believed our Personas would simply be enough. "That's exactly what I mean when I say don't underestimate it. You'll die if you mess up in there. So, again, we need to prepare before we head in," Morgana insisted. Let's see, we needed medicine, ranged weapons for Takamaki and Sakamoto along with training the other three to properly wield their melee weapons.
"But… how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Takamaki calmly asked. At least someone else was thinking about the dangers that would be coming for us, Amamiya had stayed silent during the conversation so far, but he had a contemplative look upon his face showing that he was listening to what we were saying.
"I'm glad you asked, Ann-dono. First, we need to find ranged equipment for you and Ryūji, along with better ranged weapons for Ren and Natsumi," Morgana stated. Sakamoto proceeded to inform us he knew a 'kick ass' place for our weapons. "In that case, you can handle that side of things. The only other thing would be stocking up on medicine. Fatigue is unavoidable in a Palace," Morgana added on.
"And where can we get medicine?" Takamaki asked. Morgana told her not to worry and quickly claimed that he knew of a place, could that be the doctor he'd been talking about before school started? However, when Morgana immediately suggested that they split up for today, I loudly stomped my foot on the ground, pulling everyone's attention to me.
"Hold it, Morgana! We're not done here," I insisted. Morgana looked at me with wide eyes, probably since this wasn't normal for me. "There's no way to put this delicately, so I'll just come out and say it; all of you, bar Morgana, are horrendous at using your melee weapons. You need training," I announced. Takamaki blushed bright red as Amamiya flinched slightly, but Sakamoto ended up getting angry.
"Why do we need training? You said that Metaverse is about thought right? So, if we think we can use it, then we can use that," Sakamoto protested. I sighed heavily and reached up to rub my nose in annoyance, I understood the threats more than they did, but still the fact that Sakamoto assumed thought would be enough to overcome someone with superior skill was worrying and I needed to prove my point to him.
"Shadows are born of stories, mythical and historical. So, what are you going to do when you go up against a superior warrior? There could be Shadows born of stories about war gods in there," I explained. Sakamoto didn't seem to understand what I was getting at so with a sigh, I stood to my feet and started to walk around the rooftop before finding an abandoned piece of metal that could substitute for a club. "This will do," I muttered. Stooping down, I picked it up and turned to throw it at Sakamoto who fumbled but caught it. "Use that to attack me. I'll show you what training can do against thought," I insisted.
"What?! Are you crazy!? You could get hurt!" Sakamoto exclaimed. Amamiya and Takamaki also bore distressed looks on their faces, I didn't say anything and instead adjusted my stance to settle into one prepared for combat with an unflinching expression on my face. "ARGH! Fine! But don't blame me if you end up in the hospital!" Sakamoto snapped. Takamaki and Amamiya both tried to stop him, their words boiling over each other until nothing made sense; yet Morgana remained silent as he looked between me and Sakamoto.
As for the blonde punk, he decided to not listen to their words and instead proceeded to charge at me blindly like a rushing bull with his arm pulled back and the improvised weapon raised. I waited to a count of three exhalations before he was close enough and then I moved. I snapped my right hand up, seizing his right wrist and stopping his downwards momentum. I pivoted around and rammed my left elbow back into his solar plexus.
The air was forced from his lungs and I felt his grip on the weapon sag. Shooting my left hand forward, I seized the weapon whilst releasing Sakamoto's wrist. I stepped forward and I pivoted on my heel to face the blonde who had folded over from my strike. I casually rested the metal's edge on the back of his dyed hair and felt his entire body tense up when he felt the light pressure and coldness of the metal.
"I can see… eight, depending on the weapon, ways to end you without my Persona. Any Shadow that is a skilled warrior or expected to be a skilled warrior will probably see more and react better than me. Someone untrained like the three of you would be easy pickings," I warned. Removing the improv-weapon, I cast it to the floor and helped Sakamoto to stand up who was looking at me utterly baffled. "Come to my home on Sunday, I can at least ensure you won't get pummelled into paste by whatever we run across in the Palace," I insisted.
"Considering, how you proved your point, I'll go," Amamiya agreed. Sakamoto seemed grumpy about it, but he also let out an agreement as he clasped the area where I had touched his head with the pipe; I looked at Takamaki who seemed to be gaping in shock at what she had just witnessed before coming back to her senses.
"If you can teach me to do that to Kamoshida, I am so coming," Takamaki affirmed. A small chuckle escaped me at her words as a big smile came onto the blonde girl's face.
*Persona 5 Royal*
Returning to Yongen-Jaya, instead of splitting off from Amamiya and Morgana like I had the last few times we'd come back, I instead followed after them. Amamiya looked at me, most likely in confusion at me suddenly deciding to come with them instead of heading to my home; I brushed a lock of my black hair back behind my ear in slight embarrassment.
"I want to meet this doctor that Morgana is likely taking you to," I admitted. Amamiya shrugged in response, possibly not bothered by the sudden tag along, Morgana popped out of his bag and rested his paws upon Amamiya's shoulder, he looked at me with a slightly tilted head, but he seemed just as unconcerned about me following as Amamiya was.
"This doctor supposedly prescribes medication after a quick examination. She was sitting in a boot-," Morgana began to speak. But Amamiya covered his mouth suddenly and I saw a blush spreading brightly across his face; I wonder if he was embarrassed about the fact that he was living at LeBlanc, he hadn't told me or Sakamoto that was where he happened to be staying so likely didn't want people to know.
"Isn't that just a rumour?" Amamiya wondered. I never really needed to visit a doctor, nor did I want to, so I wasn't sure who the doctor was for Yongen-Jaya or what she was like, so I didn't know what to say regarding her; however, Morgana wanted us to check out this clinic because of those rumours, with her being the kind of doctor surrounded by such sketchy rumours then she might provide us with medicine.
"True. We need medicine to operate safely in the Palace, but most people get suspicious of people buy large amounts of specific types of medication. But if she is surrounded by suspicious rumours then she probably won't want to ask questions about why we need that medicine," I softly admitted. Keeping my voice low in order to avoid people staring at us, I needed to find some way to talk about this openly without getting people looking at me suspiciously.
"She's somewhere in the neighbourhood, right? Take me to her," Morgana insisted. He could be a little bossy at time, Amamiya set off and so I followed after him through the narrow streets of Yongen-Jaya's back alleys, talking to people and we found someone nervously stood outside of the clinic. "This is the clinic that the chief mentioned. Now, how can we get her to give us some medicine?" Morgana wondered.
"We can't tell her the truth, so we've got to make something up," Amamiya stated. We really couldn't tell anyone the truth as they'd either not believe us and might consider calling someone about our 'delusional' mental state, or they would believe us that that was a can of worms that I would rather avoid opening at any and all possibilities.
"Um… we could try getting a mental stimulant by claiming it's for entrance exams," I suggested. Amamiya looked at me in surprise at my suggestion. "Well, it's the best excuse high schoolers can come up with," I explained. Despite my words, I was starting to feel a little nervous about meeting this sketchy doctor but when Amamiya boldly went inside, I trailed after him.
The waiting room was ordinary, medical pamphlets and signs pinned up along boards lining the wall, with red covered chairs and a vibrant plant tucked behind the door. I looked to the left and saw a window with glass set to either side which contained a computer and a bunch of files and other office supplies. But sat by the computer was a woman and I understood what Amamiya meant by punk rock.
She had dark blue hair which was styled in a messy bob-cut with a blunt fringe and brown eyes. She has red nail polish on both her fingers. Her outfit consisted of a typical white lab coat that was worn over a short dark green dress, there was a red belt with two rows of holes wrapped around her waist, she also wore a black studded choker which connected to multiple necklaces.
"Is this your first visit?" The woman asked. She sounded kind of sleepy when she spoke, but her eyes were rather sharp as they trailed between Amamiya and me. "Hm? I feel like I've seen you somewhere before…," The woman stated. She pointed a coloured nail at Amamiya to clarify who she was referring to.
"You saw me at LeBlanc, it's nice to meet you," Amamiya answered. The woman didn't seem particularly interested as a 'well, whatever' came out of her mouth but she then asked why the two of us were here. "We need some medicine, me and my friend have been feeling rather lethargic lately," Amamiya smoothly lied. I was surprised that he had referred to me as a friend though; we were cooperating together… but I still didn't know what to think of him or the others beyond comrades.
"Fine. Please head to the exam room," The woman insisted. She lifted her hand and gestured to the blue door set near the office's window; Amamiya opened the door and we proceeded to head inside, seeing a computer screen resting in front of x-ray images, medical tomes stuffed into one corner with an IV drip and microscope close to it; a green curtain cut off the area passed there and a bed was pushed up against the wall.
Me and Amamiya each took a seat on a red stool as Amamiya insisted Morgana stay quiet, the doctor soon joined us and sat in her office chair in front of us. This allowed me to see that she wore strappy black platform high heels, with red nail polish on her toes. She conducted a brief examination as Morgana mentioned she did, but despite this it did seem to be a thorough one as well; she did us one at a time and made notes after each analysis with soft mutterings under her breath that I didn't understand.
"In a case like either of yours, it's usually just due to stress. I'm going to prescribe you some pain relievers, okay?" The doctor insisted. That wasn't good, pain relief wasn't any good for healing within the Metaverse, it had been the first thing I tried and it only made a microscopic difference if any at all. "Actually, I still need to restock those. So, let's go with sleeping pills instead, sleep is the best medicine anyway," The doctor admitted. Even worse, sleeping pills would just put us to sleep making us Shadow food. "Which type of pill do you want, a sweet tasting one or a bitter one?" The doctor enquired.
"I want the painkillers," Amamiya stated. His tone was firm and unwavering, I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and I saw that his eyes were steady and firm, as if we were currently in the Metaverse facing down a Shadow instead of an ordinary, if slightly suspect, doctor; the woman lowered the clipboard she had been writing on and I spotted a displeased look press onto her face.
"Is that right? And I bet you think you should have a year long supply of them too," The doctor stated. Sarcasm and bite dripped from each syllable that she spoke which caused a nervous fluttering to stir up in my stomach. "Neither of you are sick at all, are you? I'm not as dumb as I look, you know," The doctor accused. Dumb, if anyone thought this woman looked dumb then they were more delusional than any person had a right to be, this woman was dressed strangely but her intuition was sharp as a freshly forged blade. "I'm guessing you're here because you heard the rumours about me, huh?" The doctor asked.
"Yes, I did hear about you from rumours. But I really do need that medicine," Amamiya stated. He was being rather honest with her despite us needing to lie about why we needed that medicine; the woman apparently had a lot of people coming in with ulterior motive, I felt kind of bad now since we were causing her more stress by coming in with suspicious motives that she apparently dealt with far too much.
"I guess high school kids have it tough nowadays too, huh? Well fine. I'll prescribe you some medication," The doctor decided. I blinked my eyes in wide surprised as Amamiya also bore a shocked expression, despite knowing we had suspicious motives, she still decided to give us medicine. "But only medicine that will help you recover your health," The doctor insisted. That was perfect, in my mind, that medicine would have better effects in the Metaverse than painkillers would. "I guess it's fine. Both of you seem pretty earnest and neither of you look like you'll be any trouble. This is my private practice. All the medicine I dispense is original. I have a license to make my own formulas. You've likely seen them being sold at various hospitals. It's your responsibility to take care of yourself. So, if that's okay with you, stop by anytime," The doctor offered.
"That'll really help, thank you," Amamiya admitted. If we had a place to successfully get a hold of medicine, then we wouldn't need to be concerned about acquiring more medicine if we ran out in the Palace; I expressed my own thanks and she seemed pleased by this, talking about it saving her hassle and being quick on the uptake… why do I have a feeling we'd caught the interest of a dangerous individual?
"You're pretty weird kids, you know? I wonder what you're going to use the medicine for…," The doctor wondered. Oh yeah, very dangerous individual; her contemplation ended and she focused back on us. "Well, as long as you don't cause me any trouble, it's not my problem," The doctor admitted. She gave us some pretty basic medication along with me paying for some capsules that helped with alertness and gel to help relaxation, those two could be useful.
We stepped out into the waiting room and saw an elderly man dressed in a dark brown pinstripe suit jacket and pants with a long sleeved white shirt underneath, he had flattened black hair with dark eyes hidden behind glasses that were likely real and a black briefcase was held in his right hand. I sensed Amamiya slink in close to me, his uncertainty coming on strongly as I squared my shoulders; ironic how now our roles were now reversed. I took Amamiya's hand and guided him out of the way so that the man could enter the exam room despite the doctor not having called for him; I started to guide Amamiya towards the door.
"What's the reason for your visit?" The doctor's voice called. But something in it made me stop short, a cold venom filled tone laced her words, a tone I was much too familiar with speaking myself. "Do you have a cold? Stomach-ache? Athlete's foot? Whatever it is, you'll need to take a number," The doctor stated. Her tone sounded almost mocking, more so than when she had spoken to us at all.
"Enough of this!" The man exclaimed. I looked at Amamiya who also seemed surprised and perhaps suspicious. "You're the only one who could have developed that type of medicine," The man accused. We both drifted close to the door, flanking it on either side in order to listen as the doctor claimed ignorance. "Don't play dumb with me. Rumour has it, it's a drug so potent it can give a person unlimited power," The man claimed. I shot Amamiya an amazed look and he seemed stunned as well, unlimited power? If such a thing had even a fraction of that kind of claim here, it's applications in the Metaverse would be amazing.
"Really? That's news to me," The doctor commented. I couldn't be sure if she was being genuine or still mocking the man, the man started to talk about violation of medical regulations by developing these experimental drugs and herbal remedies… that's how better medicine was made though, you had to experiment to get something that would work. Perhaps if she had been prescribing these medications to patients without clear clinical trials having been done and the patients had no knowledge of its' dangers, maybe it be a violation then but not before.
"Are you attempting to create a super stimulant? A drug like that will only become a social issue!" The man exclaimed. He sounded far more like a politician than a doctor and I fought really hard to pull back my anger, the doctor claimed she was just a quack… a quack who performs skilled examinations and can make her own remedies, I'd soon believe my uncle was an honest politician than that claim. "The police may not be taking action, but I imagine the media will soon pick up on it. You intend to ruin my reputation again, huh? You're a disgrace to the medical community. What's with that look? That was your mistake, was it not? I won't be responsible for your criminal actions. Dispose of that 'medicine' immediately and resign. The name Takemi Tae will never-," The man continued to speak. But he suddenly stopped and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. "Hey, is somebody there?!" The man yelled.
Instantly, Amamiya grabbed my hand and dragged me away from the door, we darted out into the street and swiftly moved away from the clinic so that the man wouldn't chase after us and get suspicious about what we were doing spying on him. My heart thundered in my chest at the sudden adrenaline that had decided to surge through my body and I felt my hands go a bit clammy, Amamiya was breathing heavily as he kept looking back to see if anyone was coming after us.
"Geez, they almost caught us," Morgana commented. The cat finally decided to poke his head out of the bag and even on his cat face, I could see the worry he felt. "It sounded like they were talking about something dangerous. Could that woman be hiding some extra strong medicine?" Morgana admitted. I finally felt my heart calm down and noticed that Amamiya was still holding onto my hand.
"Maybe, it sounds sketchy but if it's true then we could use that," Amamiya admitted. I wasn't entirely sure how to bring up that Amamiya was still holding onto me as Morgana proceeded to agree with our leader but the cat insisted we keep the phantom thievery a secret; I slightly moved my captured hand and Amamiya registered the movement. "Oh, sorry Chiba-san!" Amamiya exclaimed. He released my hand gently, not throwing it like he'd been burned despite the scorching blush stretching across his cheeks… then again, like I could talk because I'm sure my own cheeks were crimson red.
"It's fine Amamiya-san," I insisted. I tried to settle the bright red blush that was tormenting my cheeks by focusing on my breathing, of course I was distracted when my phone proceeded to buzz so I pulled it out with Amamiya mimicking my actions; guessing that it was a group message I quickly checked the Chat and found what I was expecting.
Ryūji: So you know that store I mentioned, with the model guns?
Ryūji: It's in Shibuya. I can go with you tomorrow if you want Ren-Ren.
Ren: Sounds good.
Ryūji: Sweet
Ryūji: Welp, let's figure out where to meet.
Ryūji: You at least know how to get to Shibuya Station, yeah?
Natsumi: Are you forgetting something, Sakamoto-san?
Ryūji: Eeh? Forgetting what?
Ren: That we're meeting at Chiba-san's tomorrow for training in the morning.
Ann: Which means you guys will be meeting there.
Ryūji: Oh?
Ryūji: Yeah, sorry.
Ann: I can't help you guys with that, the training is still fine though. Can I trust you guys to check the place out for me?
Ryūji: You can't come?
Ann: Not tomorrow afternoon.
Ann: I made plans to go see Shiho in the hospital.
Ryūji: Ah, gotcha.
Ryūji: Don't worry, we got this.
Ryūji: Well, seeya at Natsumi's tomorrow.
"We might be able to get our hands on some decent stuff if this store is the same one that sold your model gun, Ren," Morgana admitted. I was just a little concerned about my own weapon, I wasn't using a gun and there wasn't much that could be done to improve my bow especially since it wasn't like there was a bow-maker anywhere nearby that could try and make something better, I'd just have to make do with what I currently wielded.
"True, I can only hope things go well. It's not like I've got a lot of cash," Amamiya admitted. Pulling my purse, I opened it up and pulled out some of the Yen I received from the Shadows and held it out to Amamiya. "Oh, Chiba-san, I couldn't take your money," Amamiya insisted. He held up his hands to block the money from reaching him, I slotted my purse away and took a hold of Amamiya's wrist to place the notes into his hand which I curled around it.
"It's from Shadows, easily replaced. You don't have to bother getting me a gun by the way, I'll stick to my bow," I insisted. Amamiya's lips pressed in a straight line and he looked down at the hand clasping the money. "Look, if it bothers you that much, how about you repay me by treating me to some coffee. There's a lovely café nearby, it's my favourite," I insisted. Amamiya smiled softly and nodded his head in agreement; he put the money away and so I led him to LeBlanc's door.
"Um… this is the place you mentioned?" Amamiya asked. I nodded my head and proceeded to open the door, Sōjirō looked up as I stepped inside and he nodded at me but then his eyes widened when he saw Amamiya step in behind me. "Hello, Sakura-san," Amamiya softly greeted. He looked between the two of us in stupefied silence and confusion on his face as he tried to understand what was going on.
"Hello Boss, could I have the usual, please?" I requested. Without pause, I glanced over at Amamiya. "What about you Amamiya-san?" I asked. Sōjirō's eyes widened in shock at the fact that we happened to know each other after he gave me the warning to stay away from the boy; Amamiya let out a stuttered order before I took his hand and guided him over to a booth, thankfully there was no one else in café at this time.
"Do you come here often Chiba-san?" Amamiya asked. A concerned look upon his face as he probably wondered how much I knew about his living situation; it was best to be honest with him by this point since I had pretty much exposed my connection to LeBlanc – not that it's that big of a deal – I nodded my head, Amamiya's lips proceeded to press tightly against each other as his expression tensed up quite hard at my response.
"I kind of knew you were living here all along," I admitted. Amamiya looked down, somewhat embarrassed from the blush on his face and the sheen in his eyes. "I don't care and I'm sure neither Sakamoto-san nor Takamaki-san will either. We're all odd in some way, this isn't that big of a deal," I reassured. Amamiya looked up as Morgana peered out from the slight opening in the bag.
"Thank you, Chiba-san," Amamiya spoke. At that, Sōjirō brought over the coffee and set it down, giving me a side glance as I picked up the mug and smiled at Amamiya.