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.
Thank you to the Guest for your review
I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy.
Chapter 24: - Helping Out
Sitting in Kawakami-sensei's class the day after I'd opened up to Amamiya about my family, after I'd finally allowed myself to cry, I felt surprisingly refreshed. As if that unbearable burden had finally lessened even just slightly, apparently it must have appeared on my face because Amamiya had a very Joker-esque satisfied smirk stretching across his lips when we met up this morning and even Morgana seemed to notice something had changed about me.
However, my relaxed nature couldn't last long as I immediately spotted something that caused concern to bubble within me. Kawakami-sensei had just entered the classroom and her expression seemed drawn, tiredness pervaded her entire aura, not just her face. Her eyes were surrounded by circles that were very prominently dark today, she was slumped forward in posture which caused her to look utterly defeated. As soon as everyone was sat down, she heaved a heavy sigh and got on with the lesson.
"I was reading the essays you turned in the other day, and everyone's writing is so sloppy!" Kawakami-sensei accused. Her eyes stern as she looked at all of us. "'I could care less' indicates that you still have some cares left to give! It's 'I couldn't care less'!" Kawakami-sensei lectured. And she was right, that was definitely the proper way of using that saying. "I've seen this a lot these days, where people are using a phrase differently from its real meaning. It reminds me of something I've been hearing politicians saying: 'My country, right or wrong'. They wouldn't be saying it so stubbornly it they knew how it was originally used… alright, Takamaki-san. Can you tell me how its' meaning has changed?" Kawakami-sensei continued on. Takamaki sat upright in shock.
"Huh!? Oh, uh, yeah! I mean-," Takamaki blabbered. She was clearly panicking and likely hadn't been paying any attention; she immediately leaned backwards as Morgana insist a rather startled Amamiya to help her out. "Huh? Um… what is she even talking about? I don't know politics! Crap! Hey, Ren, Natsumi, can you give me a hint here?" Takamaki panickily pleaded. Her voice was low at least to give us some cover as Kawakami-sensei gazed intently at the blonde. "What's the phrase originally mean to convey? 'My country, right or wrong?" Takamaki asked.
"You unquestioningly support it," Amamiya suggested. The first part could definitely have that context woven into it from the wordage and I'd unfortunately heard it from my uncle a few times when he was practicing his foul speeches; but I'd actually looked up the saying myself and found out the true meaning. Takamaki got the gist of what that meant before focusing on the real question: the original meaning.
"My country, right or wrong; if right to be kept right; if wrong to be set right," I whispered. Takamaki inclined her head slightly to show she was listening to me. "The original meaning is actually meant to show taking responsibility for your country's actions," I clarified. Takamaki smiled and focused upon Kawakami-sensei, giving the answer. Kawakami-sensei congratulated her before explaining the full meaning and how it had become twisted.
"Wow, I was so not ready for that… you guys saved me! Thanks a bunch!" Takamaki whispered. I smiled slightly, a glad feeling radiating in my chest at having helped her out as Morgana congratulated us. At least my knowledge had come in useful for helping my friends, I continued to listen until I realised something.
'I identified Takamaki-san's emotion!' I thought. My eyes going wide, I could guess most people's emotions or identify them if the situation was close enough to one that I had been stuck in, but I'd never panicked like that within a class. 'Maybe Amamiya is right. My heart might not be as lost as I thought it was.' I realised. A happy smile curled upon my lips at the possibility, especially since it was one that I dearly wanted to be true.
Class ended after the students had been thoroughly lectured on the proper turn of phrases by Kawakami-sensei. However, as everyone drifted out of the class towards their dinnertime break, I spotted Kawakami slumped down at her desk with her head in her hands and a drained atmosphere surrounding her. I waved Takamaki and Amamiya on before moving towards the tired teacher, I was seriously starting to think Kawakami-sensei wasn't well, why else would she seem so exhausted every day? Especially after a Sunday which should have been her day of rest.
"Kawakami-sensei," I gently called. My homeroom teacher bolted upright and stared up at me with wide eyes as if she didn't expect someone to still be within her class since we would now have a break. "Are you feeling well?" I asked. She obviously wasn't okay, but whether it was something physically ailing her or something mental was the issue I couldn't identify that.
"I'm fine Chiba-san, there's nothing to concern yourself over," Kawakami-sensei reassured. However, it sounded so false, she couldn't possibly be fine with how she was physically looking and acting; it was getting more and more apparent with each passing day and eventually she wouldn't be able to keep going, honestly it was rather concerning that she would just dismiss her health the way that she had.
"I do think it's something to be concerned over Kawakami-sensei," I refuted. She blinked her brown eyes in surprise at my words as I stared into her tired eyes. "You're clearly not well. I know I have no right to know what's going on in your private life, but that doesn't stop me from worrying when one of my favourite teachers is degrading right in front of me," I admitted. Surprise – oh look, another emotion – descended upon my teacher's face, although I don't know why she would be shocked by the words I'd spoken. "Please, just try and take care of yourself Kawakami-sensei," I pleaded.
With those words spoken, I pushed myself away from the desk and proceeded to walk out of the room, I could only hope that Kawakami-sensei would start taking care of herself.
*Persona 5 Royal*
School ended and I stepped out of my class, only to hear a small curse reach my ears. Quickly identifying the cadence, I looked over and saw Sakamoto sat on the stare with him gripping his right leg and glaring down at it like it had offended him in some manner. I proceeded to walk over to the boy and knelt down in front of him.
"Are you okay?" I asked. It was clear he wasn't, but making assumptions could annoy the blonde, especially as we were all on pins and needles awaiting Kamoshida's Change of Heart. "Is your leg causing you pain?" I asked. With the way he was holding it, it was apparent that he was suffering because of it, but the question was a way to coax him into admitting what was troubling him as he sat slumped on the stairwell up to the second floor.
"Yeah," Sakamoto admitted. He adjusted it and allowed a slight hiss of pain to escape from his clenched teeth, so I gently rested my hands on either side in order to avoid it being jostled anymore but not applying any pain myself. "I've been runnin' with Ren-Ren to get back into shape and I think that along with the trip I had the other day hav-," Sakamoto started to explain. But he adjusted slightly, forcing him to be cut off as he leaned forward suddenly which caused me to pull backwards to avoid being headbutted, but I got the gist of the situation.
"Did you ever see anyone about your leg?" I asked. I know it had been a year since he had endured it been broken by Kamoshida, but surely it shouldn't have been still causing him this level of pain after such a time; I wasn't a medical expert by any means of the word, but it was apparent that something was still wrong with his leg for him to keep suffering this way.
"Nah, I couldn't affor-! Oi! Natsumi!" Sakamoto admitted. However, the moment he had said the first word, I'd seized his arm and pulled him to his feet, waiting for him to regain his balance before dragging the boy out of the building.
*Persona 5 Royal*
"Hmm," Takemi-sensei sounded. Her eyes were quizzical as she examined Sakamoto's leg; the blonde was very nervously sat on the bed while I leant against the door, he'd already tried to escape several times, but I caught him each time and had forced him into the room, so Takemi-sensei had allowed me to remain during her initial examination. "And you say it's been about a year since your leg was broken?" Takemi-sensei asked.
"Yeah, it has, why?" Sakamoto responded. He seemed rather nervous as he looked between me and the punk rock dressed doctor examining his leg; Takemi-sensei looked over at me and nodded her head towards the door, taking her hint I turned to the door and opened it. "Oi! Natsumi! Don't go abandonin' me here!" Sakamoto ordered. I didn't listen and retreated through the door and sat at the chair across from the door, pulling Fall of the Goddess from my bag to continue reading.
I was eagerly chewing through the story, desperate almost to know if the protagonist and his friends would be capable of rescuing the Goddess of Love. However, I was jolted out of my reverie when a particularly loud voice came howling through the exam room's door, I closed my book and stood up just as the door was roughly kicked open and Sakamoto stormed out. The door swung close before I could see much more of Takemi-sensei beyond her perplexed expression.
"Damnit Natsumi! Why'd you drag me here!?" Sakamoto demanded. He seemed extremely unhappy about what had just happened, but I couldn't understand why he was feeling that way; all I'd done was bring him to a decent – if slightly sketchy – doctor to get his leg treated so he wouldn't be suffering anymore pain because of it, especially if he was starting to run again after all this time.
"Because your leg needs to be properly treated Sakmoto-san," I reminded. However, it seemed Sakamoto didn't take comfort in those words and instead proceed to storm out the building with as much force as he could even if it was completely unnecessary for him to slam the door hard enough for it to feel like the building had been struck by a minor earthquake. Takemi-sensei had emerged and moved to stand at my side with a heavy sigh escaping her as she shook her head.
"He's stubborn that one. I told him he needs to gradually increase his usage of his leg, but he refused to listen to me," Takemi-sensei admitted. I pinched the bridge of my nose and heaved out an annoyance laden sigh at this knowledge, I knew why Sakamoto had responded in such a manner, but while I knew little about her, I did think Takemi-sensei fell under the group of adults that could be trusted, same as Kawakami-sensei and Sōjirō.
"That sounds like Sakamoto-san. He's got little reason to trust most adults," I stated. A small hum came from the punk rock woman beside me, I turned to look at her and found the woman had turned her attention to her desk where she had set the clipboard before turning around to look at me with a twinkle of something within her eyes and a mysterious curl to her lips.
"I figured from what he grumpily told me. But someone he knows might have better luck than me," Takemi-sensei suggested. Nodding my head in understanding I bid the woman goodbye and stepped out onto the street, but Sakamoto was nowhere to be seen which meant he had taken off somewhere and it would be impossible to follow him. Deciding I needed to relax, I proceeded to head for the best place to do that as I thought about Sakamoto's situation, LeBlanc.
"Good evening, Boss," I greeted. I got quite the surprise though when I saw Amamiya stood behind the counter with a green apron over his long sleeved shirt, the ravenette proceeded to raise his hand to wave at me. "Has Boss roped you into helping him out Amamiya-san?" I asked. It did seem to be the only possibility given how brusque Sōjirō had been about me getting to know Amamiya.
"No Chiba-san, I wanted to help," Amamiya admitted. A small huff escaped from the older man and I smiled slightly at the man while passing over my order. "What brings you by?" Amamiya asked. Sōjirō moved to start getting everything sorted as I slid into a seat at the counter, I rarely sat here but it wasn't uncomfortable which was quite a surprise; I could probably read quite comfortably, but that was for another time.
"Just forced Sakamoto-san to see the doctor about his leg, given that tumble he took the other day. I saw him holding it after school today so I figured he should do something about it," I answered. Amamiya's eyes showed his concern as his eyebrows furrowed together, likely recalling the tumble I'd mentioned the other day. "Unfortunately, her suggestion wasn't appreciated and he got mad at me as well," I admitted.
"You were only trying to help. I'm sure he understands that, but we know how he feels about adults, even adults he barely knows," Amamiya reassured. I nodded my head, still spinning Takemi-sensei's words around in my head as I tried to figure out how I was supposed to help Sakamoto without stirring up his anger once again. Sōjirō saved me from falling down that rabbit hole by bringing over my food and coffee and I decided to focus on that instead, savoury the aromas that came off both items and perfectly complimented each other.
"Welco- You!" Sōjirō spoke. However, his sudden change of tone from his normal welcoming one to one of shock that seemed to be slightly filled with horror caused me to freeze in lifting my cup, Amamiya looked over with furrowed eyebrows; at the doorway was a pretty non-descript man, he was probably as old as Sōjirō was, with dark hair and eyes and dressed in all dark clothing – someone was looking to get hit by a car – his dark grey jumper and black pants looked faded and worn slightly, he also wore a black hat.
"Hello there! It's been quite a while, Sakura-san!" The man greeted. It seemed like they knew each other and while the man sounded rather cheerful, the look on Sōjirō's face was one of badly constrained rage; I loosened my grip on the cup and set it back down as I shot Amamiya a worried look who had adjusted his stance ever so slightly. "I heard you opened up a shop so here I am! It wouldn't have hurt to mention it to me though. Huh, you've got a real nice location here. Right by the station and everything," The man commented.
"Your order?" Sōjirō asked. But his tone was icy, I'd never heard him speak in such a manner and it caused me to go completely rigid, Sōjirō could be gruff and abrupt at times but I'd never once associated the word cold with him; he'd always had a current of warmth and care lying underneath all his words… just who was this man?
"No small talk? That's cold," The man commented. He didn't seem fazed at all by the cold words unlike me and Amamiya, who was giving Sōjirō a wide-eyed look. "Oh, but this smell… sure brings back memories! You're still making that curry, huh? I guess you haven't got over her yet," The man commented. Whatever this man knew about Sōjirō's past, he had no right to be bringing it up, especially when there were people who did not know that past present for that conversation.
"Excuse me sir? But if you're not going to order anything, could you please leave? It's quite obvious Sakura-san doesn't feel comfortable with you here. And quite frankly, you're ruining the atmosphere… and my curry, if I'm honest," I calmly spoke. The man looked at me, I had a smile on my face and open hands, which belied the tension in my shoulders and arms, my feet were firmly planted on the floor just in case this went badly.
"I just stopped by to say hi today… but I'll be back again soon! Bye," The man spoke. He turned and walked out the building, I proceeded to relax my entire body and turned back to my food, thankfully the man's appearance hadn't caused it to go any colder than it being ready to eat; I took a bite of the curry and looked at Sōjirō who had relaxed but at the same time seemed to be shouldering some kind of weight that he refused to speak of.
"Ugh… I don't know where he caught wind of this place. Thanks for speaking up when you did Natsumi-chan," Sōjirō admitted. He gave me a smile, but it was tight and small, indicating that this situation was still bothering him; I gave him a nod of my head and felt worried, whoever that man was, it was clear that Sōjirō wanted nothing to do with him and that immediately landed him on my list of people to be highly wary of.
"That guy seemed suspicious," Amamiya stated. I smiled at those words; Amamiya could have chosen any kind of words to speak up with – like inquiring about some of the questions the man's appearance would have brought up – but instead he chose a simple statement. His grey eyes were locked on the door as if awaiting the return of the man, I don't know what he intended to do from that look, but it was clear he hadn't been happy about the intrusion from the set of his jaw and his straight posture.
"Heh, I guess you have an eye for some things after all," Sōjirō complimented. I gave the barista an unimpressed look as Amamiya looked a little sheepish, but at least he had relaxed now. "Anyway, if you have time for questions, you have time to be learning about bean types. You're not going to be any use to me if you can't pick up on the ABCs sometime soon," Sōjirō insisted. How swiftly Sōjirō moved to a different topic should have raised an eyebrow, but I was just glad the man was back to normal. "Besides, ladies love a guy who knows his coffee. This isn't such a bad deal for you," Sōjirō added on.
"Well, I wouldn't mind the ladies loving me," Amamiya commented. I think some coffee went down the wrong pipe at those words; I practically dropped the cup and started to cough into my arm as I turned away from the counter to protect the curry. "Chiba-san!" Amamiya exclaimed. I felt a hand soon appear on my back and start to rub in soothing circle until my fit finally subsided. "Are you okay?" Amamiya asked. His words filled with a deeply worried tone as his hand stopped moving but remained on my back.
"Yes, I'm fine Amamiya-san," I answered. My voice sounding rather sore from the coughing, so I took a quick sip of my coffee to try and ease it. "And as a lady, I believe this is where I walk away from you two bachelors," I dryly commented. I looked down and realised that there was still a sizeable chunk of curry still left on the plate. "Right after I finish my curry," I amended. I do not like to waste food.
A chuckle came from the two men as I started to dig in, but at least the tension from when that stranger showed up had left.