Chapitre 9: Chapter 9

April 14

Thursday

After School

Sunny

Akira noticed the girl who had been talking with Ann yesterday. She stood by the door, zoned out, but Akira was more worried about her face. A massive bruise was above her left eye, and her eyes looked dull and lifeless.

Oh…I'm in the way, aren't I? Sorry…"

"How are you?"

"Me…I'm fine."

"Are you telling me or convincing yourself?"

The black-haired girl's already bleak expression crumpled. Seeing this, Akira moved towards the door and pushed it open but also placed a guiding hand on the girl's shoulders.

"Come let's talk, even if it's for a brief moment."

She followed along and they found themselves in the courtyard. Surprisingly, she did not reject Akira's invitation to sit next to each other and was the first to break the ice.

"I know it might not be my place to say this, but I hope those rumors don't get to you."

"They don't."

"I'm glad to hear that…My best friend is often misunderstood too, all because of her appearance…"

"You mean Ann Takamaki. I'm Akira Kurusu, I've been conflicted or assault, arson, theft, and the works. Call me Akira."

That managed to get a chuckle out of the girl.

"I'm Shiho Suzui, sorry for not introducing myself before. Just call me Shiho."

"The starting setter for the volleyball team."

"How do you know that?"

"I do my research…Much like I know a little about you, I know a little about Kamoshida."

"Uhh…"

"I really should not be getting so deeply involved…Look, the next time you find yourself alone with Kamoshida…Be careful.

"…Why…why are you telling me this?"

"I'm not sure either…See you around, Shiho."

{You have quite the way with women.}

{I would hardly say that.}

{No need to play it off, first the blonde and now the brunette. You may be The Fool, but you Akira Kurusu are no fool.}

{Were you always this cheesy?}

{I'm an amalgamation of the legendary figure Kippōshi, and your inner psyche. This means, if I'm cheesy, then so are you.}

{…Christ. I must come off as a smart-ass too. Anyway, what do you think about Morgana's proposal?}

{The cat? It is worth the risk, but you already know that.}

{Yeah. I do…There's something about Morgana that feels off. He knows too much for not having memories about his past. How did he even enter and exit the Metaverse? And…how did he get imprisoned when he had a persona and could have used it to escape? What's his real purpose?}

{…All great questions, Akira. Unfortunately, I am as clueless as you are. Why not use the cat, but remain cautious around it?}

{At the very least, the cat is a piece of this convoluted chess game that was forced upon me…I wonder whose side he's on.}

- - -

"Will you give it a rest!? I told you; I'm not feeling up to it…Wait, what?! That's not what you promised! And you call yourself a teacher!? This has nothing to do with Shiho! Ah…Shiho's starting position…"

Akira had heard a familiar voice and caught the tail end of a conversation between Ann and who he assumed was Kamoshida. He walked up to the blonde, not sure what urged him to do so.

"Kurusu-kun? Wait…Were you listening?"

"…I think everyone around you was listening."

"…Sorry. I'm the one taking a phone call in a public space, and getting mad at you…So, how much did you hear?"

"Something about a friend."

"Shiho…It's nothing at all…Nothing…"

After wiping the tears from her eyes, Ann ran off, but Akira soon caught up with her.

"Stop following me!"

Even an imbecile could tell that Ann needed support; Akira feared what she would do if he left her to her own devices. Without thinking, he wrapped Ann in a warm embrace, and subconsciously channeled his Pneuma to bring a sense of security to the blonde.

"Huh? L-let go…"

Her initial reluctance quickly melted, and she found herself clinging to her new classmate. Soon enough, Ann was sobbing while being tightly held by Akira.

The two had drawn the attention of commuters but neither party seemed to care. Akira was content to provide what he had desperately needed a few months back, while Ann finally had a shoulder to cry on.

- - -

They sat across from each other. Ann looked everywhere but Akira's eyes as she wondered how the situation came to be.

"…T-Thank you for before. I probably got your shirt all gross. I can pay for it."

"It doesn't matter…What matters right now is you."

"…It was just an argument."

"With Kamoshida?"

"You've heard the rumors, haven't you? About Mr. Kamoshida. Everyone says we're getting it on. But…That's so not true! That was him on the other line. I avoided giving him my number for the longest time. He told me to go to his place after this…You know what it means. If I turn him down, he said that he'd take my friend off as a regular on the team…I've been telling myself this is all for Shiho's sake…I can't take it anymore…"

Akira's expression hardened.

"I've had enough of this…I hate him! But still…Shiho's my best friend. She's all I have left at that sorry excuse of a school! Tell me…Please…What should I do…? Sorry, I shouldn't– "

"I'm not sure…I made a decision a while back, one that I still believe to be the right answer, but here I am…A delinquent with no future."

For the first time, Ann caught a glimpse of Akira's inner feelings, and not the outer shell of aloofness and confidence.

"You don't have to give me an answer. I'm the one who asked you such a loaded question when I've barely even talked to you before."

"I tend to have that effect on people."

Just as quickly, Akira returned to his usual demeanor.

"Hehe…I guess you do. Still, I can't believe that you went out of your way to talk to me. Usually, everyone just ignores me…I just can't match the person I'm talking to with the rumors from school."

"That I carry around a knife? That I almost killed a man? Something like that?"

"Uh, yeah. I figured they couldn't be true. You seem more lonely than scary–almost like you didn't belong anywhere. We're the same in that regard. Maybe that's why it was so easy for me to talk to you…I wish I could help Shiho. I wish Kamoshida would just forget about me, about Shiho, about everything…But something like that could never happen right?"

"That's too convenient."

"You're right…I do feel a bit better now…I'm gonna grab the train to go home."

Ann, with a more relaxed expression, grabbed her bag to leave, but Akira also stood up.

"I'll walk you to the station."

"You don't have to do that."

"I insist."

"…You're so weird."

Despite her words, Ann had a smile on her face and gladly walked alongside Akira as he accompanied her to her platform.

"See ya, and don't tell anyone what I told you."

"Of course. Come to me anytime you want to talk."

"…Thank you, Kurusu-kun, and bye."

Akira's smile vanished as Ann's train left.

The doorbell of Café LeBlanc preluded Akira's entrance.

"…You're late. Where—What happened?"

"I'm not sure. Sorry for being late, I had to go back to the school, but it was closed by the time I got back, and I got caught up with the trains."

"That doesn't explain how late you arrived. You haven't been hanging around any bad influence, have you?"

"No, I was with a girl, a classmate. She needed some help…Not sure how much I did."

Sojiro noticed the wrinkles and traces of smudged makeup on Akira's shirt. For the few days he's known the teen, he's never seen a stain let alone a wrinkle on his clothes. Even his seemingly messy black hair was neatly styled.

"A girl? Just be careful, and don't do anything stupid…Man, look at the time. Try not to come back too late. Understood?"

"You don't have to stay up for me. I'll make sure to lock up the store when I come back."

"Heh…That all depends on your behavior at school."

"Sure. See you."

- - -

Akira sat at the desk to finish the homework while exchanging messages with Ryuji. The blonde was still reluctant about stealing Kamoshida's treasure, but after hearing about Ann's situation, Akira felt little remorse for what could potentially happen to the square-jawed volleyball coach. Killing a man was off the table but putting him in a coma was a risk he was willing to take.

[Akira: Death is a possibility. Would you rather more students continue to suffer?]

[Ryuji: Dude! You know that I don't want that bastard to hurt anyone else, but…]

[Akira: I'll be honest. I'm accepting Morgana's deal, whether you do or not. Someone must stop him.]

[Ryuji: …You're right. Just give me till tomorrow. I'll give ya a definite answer then.]

Akira continued with his homework, but his mind was elsewhere. On a whim, he had taken the line back to Shijin, but the school was closed. He climbed the fire escape of a nearby building to see if he could any lights on, but the school was completely dark, apart from the flashlights of the patrolling teachers.

However, a sense of anxiety persisted, and he was nervous about where his thoughts were leading him.

He sluggishly finished his homework and went to bed, but his eyes only closed around 3am.