Shattered Justice (A Persona Quest)

Maybe things would be a bit less awkward if you changed the subject. At the very least, you have some things you've been meaning to ask, and now seems like as good a time for it as any. "So... you did get lunch today, right?"

It's probably not something you have to be concerned about. Akira never complains about being hungry, but he's also... Okay, he's never been thrilled about having to walk long distances, but you think it's just getting worse.

But he's just staring at his feet, not looking at you, and that's worrying. "Well, I..." Bad sign.
At this point, I think we'd be able to recognize a good sign just by how different it'd be from everything else.
"Akira-san?"

"It's... like a trade," He says, so quietly you wonder if you heard him correctly.

"A trade?" Really, you aren't sure there's many ways things could be more concerning right now.

"A lunch for my homework," He clarifies, which suddenly makes things a lot worse. How is it that you keep stumbling into things that you really should know, but didn't actually want to? "It's not that bad... I can just read during the break."

"...I'll ask Shinjiro-san if he'll start making lunch for you." You aren't really sure what else you can do, at this point, if only because you think people might frown upon you going and threatening Akira's parents with lightning. Even if you probably wouldn't actually do it.

Akira looks shocked at this, never mind that there was never any chance of you letting him go hungry. "Y-you don't have to, really... I didn't mean to cause trouble."

You shrug. "It's not a problem, really. Shinjiro-san does whatever I ask him to, anyway." Honestly, you're pretty sure he shouldn't, but given that things could be a lot worse, you'll just enjoy the fact that it'll actually be helpful now.

---

Shinjiro-san is in the kitchen before you can even finish your request. Not that he's the only one who's less than thrilled with the information you've brought back.

"Shouldn't we be telling actual adults about this?" Takeba-san asks. Shinjiro-san shrugs.

"You could try, I guess, but they'd want to know where you heard it from. And, well... Ken, any idea who your legal guardian is?"

You shake your head. "It... never came up before." Which is actually sort of strange, when you think about it. It's the sort of thing you'd think someone would see fit to mention to you at some point. "I know I have relatives, but I've never met them, so..." It's safe to say they're probably not involved in this. "...No idea."
...You know I don't actually have an answer to this? Mitsuru-san just... casually mentioned obtaining custody one day when I was twelve and never brought it up again.
That's not a good sign, is it?
No. No, it is not.
Shinjiro-san nods. "And our 'adult supervision' only comes around whenever he feels like it, so... Also, social services frowns upon letting kids fight monsters."

Takeba-san blinks. "What are the chances of that coming up?"

"You'd be surprised." Okay, there's probably a story here, and it'd probably be really interesting, but you don't think Shinjiro-san's willing to share at the moment. "And odds are they wouldn't like the death tower thing, either. Either way, none of us know if Ken's actually meant to be here, and we probably don't want that to be how we find out if he's not."

"I guess..."

"We could suggest that Mitsuru go intimidate Kurusu's parents, though."

...You should probably do something to stop that, actually.

---

It takes a bit of effort to convince Takeba-san not to ask Mitsuru-san to make the winter even colder, and it's clear she still has misgivings about this whole thing, but Akira's still getting food and you think, for the moment, that's all that matters.

Still, if things get worse, you're not going to stop her. If only because you think Mitsuru-san is a lot more intimidating than you are.

For now, though, you're not going to focus on that. You're going to see if you can't do something else. (Pick up to three.)


[ ] Spend time with friends.
-[ ] Maiko and Akira.
-[ ] Akihiko-san and Shinjiro-san.
-[ ] Mitsuru-san and Morgana.
-[ ] Takeba-san and Koromaru.

[ ] Try to make a new friend.

[ ] Do things in the library.
-[ ] Study. (+Knowledge)
-[ ] Talk to the librarian.
-[ ] Read about mythology. (+Empathy)

[ ] Practice Channeling
-[ ] Dia
--[ ] By yourself
--[ ] With Mitsuru-san and Morgana
-[ ] Zio
--[ ] By yourself
--[ ] With Akihiko-san
-[ ] Kouha

[ ] You want more custom outfits.

[ ] See if Lavenza wants to go anywhere.