August 2nd, 2016: Tuesday

Two weeks.

Two straight weeks of not being able to go to the clinic.

Almost immediately after they had taken down Oyamada's Shadow, he had gotten a strange messages from an unknown account, some hacker named Alibaba. They had been able to find out that Akira was a Phantom Thief and proposed a deal. If they stole a single heart, they would deal with Medjed.

The heart in question? Futaba Sakura, the adopted daughter of his guardian.

One small wrinkle, however. As it turned out, Alibaba was Futaba Sakura.

For the past two weeks, they've been playing runaround with Sakura, including but not limited to breaking into Sojiro's house at night, but they've finally started making progress in the Palace itself.

He didn't begrudge Futaba for taking priority among the team. Strangely, it was as if her Shadow wanted Futaba to overcome the trauma keeping her locked away in her room. But that made the Palace no less difficult.

The path to the Treasure was almost clear. Just a few more dives and they would be able to save her. For tonight, though, they would rest and recover.

Finally allowing Akira the chance to rush to the clinic, sprinting as fast as his legs could take him from the train station.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was still open. Every day, he feared that it would be the day she closed her doors and moved on, but no. Still there.

The door nearly flew off the hinges, revealing a startled Takemi standing in the lobby. "Guinea pig?"

"Takemi-san, I-We need-Hold on…" He grabbed as much air as his lungs could hold. "Need to catch my breath…"

She shook her head. "What are you doing here? The trials are over and I don't have anything else to give you."

"I need…" Another deep breath. "We need to talk, Takemi-san."

"There's nothing to talk about, I told you, I can give you anymore medicine."

"I don't care about the medicine, it's about-"

"Uh, Doctor?" a new voice called out behind Akira, interrupting him. The father and daughter from before walked in. "Are we interrupting something?"

Takemi grabbed Joker by the jacket and moved him over to the bench without much care, asking, "What is it?"

"I just wanted to ask about that hospital that was on the news today, that's the one you used to work at, right?"

"'Hospital on the…'? What are you talking about?"

The door opened again, and the old lady stepped in. "Oh, there you are, dearie! I was afraid I'd miss you. I knew you couldn't have been responsible for all those horrible things they were saying about you!"

Tae pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Okay, I'm only going to ask one more time, what is going on?"

"You don't know?" the father asked. "Chief of Staff Oyamada just turned himself in. He admitted to being responsible for that awful medical error."

Her eyes shot open. Akira wasn't sure how she was able to stay on her feet, but she stayed upright. "W-What?!"

"It's all over the country!" the father proclaimed. "I suppose it only just happened, but still, strange that you haven't heard about it yet."

"I've just…" She shook her head. "I've been busy, I guess."

The father nodded. "I knew something didn't add up about Oyamada's story."

"I never once believed you would have done something like that," the old lady assured her.

"Hooray, Doctor!" the little girl shouted, jumping up and down. As the old lady and her father began talking among each other, she stepped forward and rocked back and forth on her feet. "Um… what's a medical error?"

Takemi blinked. "It's… a mistake. An awful thing that should never happen."

The girl smiled and moved back towards her father. From his seat on the bench, Akira smiled and looked towards Takemi. His smile turned into a frown when he saw the forlorn look on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "She's still gone…"

Akira glanced to the trio engaged in conversation. They were sufficiently distracted, so he got to his feet and leaned into Takemi and whispered three words into her ear. Just three little worlds that would change her life.

"Miwa-chan is alive."

Her eyes shot open and she whipped her head to look at him. He stepped back and placed his hands in his pockets, a satisfied grin now replacing his frown.

"That's…" Takemi stepped up to the girl's father and demanded, "Did the news mention anything involving the patient? What about her?!"

"Oh, I'm sure it was quite difficult for her too, but from what I heard she's been moved to another hospital," he assured her.

Takemi brought her hand to her mouth. Akira could see her eyes glisten. "She's… alive…"

"Let's get to work, Doctor," Akira said, his voice steady and full of confidence.

He's always thought her smile was beautiful, as was everything about her. But when she saw her beam at him, her entire being renewed with a hope he thought crushed…

His heart stopped.

After she had ushered out their guests, she turned back to him and her eyes steeled. "Alright. We're going to be moving quickly. Sorry, I might be putting you through the wringer today, we need to make up for lost time."

"Anything for you," he said easily. He wasn't even sure what possessed him to say that. But he didn't find himself regretting it.

She tapped him on the chest with her clipboard. "Alright you smooth-talker. Get into the examination room. God, I can't believe I was so stupid. I spent all that time moping around when Miwa-chan was fighting for her life."

"You couldn't have possibly known," Akira said, following her. "No one would blame you."

"Maybe not," she allowed. "Still, she's been fighting by herself for so long. Now it's time I fight for her."

"I'm rooting for you."

She turned to face him and nodded. "Thanks. It's honestly encouraging knowing you're here to support me."

Akira gave her a thumbs up.

No matter what she would put him through for these trials, it was worth it. All just to see that smile of hers.