Since Shinjiro-san started making food for him as well as yourself, you've taken to spending your lunch breaks with Akira and making sure he actually eats. He keeps promising to pay Shinjiro-san back for it, but you know for a fact that he's never had money in all the time you've known him, so you're not going to hold him to it.
You probably wouldn't have either way, given that he's your friend and all, but that's the reason you're going to give if anyone ever asks. Also the fact that, if this continues, you doubt Akira's ever going to have enough money to make up for it.
You don't tell him that, though, because odds are he's only saying it to make himself feel better.
Honestly, you're sort of worried about what's going to happen to him if this sort of thing continues over spring break, but if you're lucky you'll be able to get his address by then. Maybe. But that could just as easily end with Mitsuru-san deciding to freeze everything, and you aren't sure if it'd ever be a good time of year for that.
Explaining this all to Maiko, of course, is even more complicated than setting this whole thing up turned out to be.
"That can't be right," She says, looking more at her own food than at either of you. Given how... sad... the whole meal looks, you're half-certain that she's mostly here to see if she can't swap out a few things with you. "Are they allowed to do that?"
Akira shrugs. "Why shouldn't they be?"
You mean, besides the fact it's unhealthy?
"Because it's not nice to starve kids," You remind him. You really shouldn't have to tell him this, but the way things are with Akira have always been pretty far removed from how they should be, and this is just another reminder of that.
Maiko seems to be concerned about this. Fair enough, considering you are as well. "Shouldn't we be telling an adult about this?" Probably, but between the missing pieces of your own situation and the lack of anyone available who would both listen to you and be someone you could trust, that's not exactly going to happen anytime soon.
"Why would anyone believe us?" Akira asks. "They're adults, and I'm..." He stops before he can say anything else, and you aren't actually sure you want to hear his opinion of himself.
If it's anything like Shinjiro-san's...
"It can't hurt to try!" She insists. And, for her, it probably can't. It's just that she's the only one fortunate enough to have a living situation which is definitely legal and not at risk from being looked in on.
I mean, it should be fine if we can keep our name away from things, but... Why risk it?
You don't really have any idea how to explain this to her, but she also doesn't seem to know what adult she should go to, so you guess it ultimately doesn't matter at the moment.
It'll probably come up again eventually, but... you can deal with that when the time comes.
Can't be that much harder than facing Shadows.
Then again, given that your main preparation for fighting Shadows is practicing your healing spells, you may be understating the sort of threat they pose just a bit.
"Why is it that just about everyone here can heal, anyway?" Morgana asks, sprawled out on the couch. You've all pretty much given up on keeping him off the furniture, though Koromaru remains perfectly well behaved.
You decide to blame the other timeline's Akira for this. It's not like he's here to defend himself.
"Well, in Akihiko's case, it happened to fit with his original Persona's mythology," Mitsuru-san recounts, "Though, for the most part, it seems to be a happy coincidence. It's better for everyone to be able to handle their own injuries."
You don't disagree. Having to pull healing duty is stressful. At least with your own injuries, you know for certain that you're doing it right.
Yeah, if it's not personal, let's not mess with broken bones or anything. I'm not sure we wouldn't just make it worse.
"And then there's Shinjiro-san," You add. "Who never lets anyone heal him but Akihiko-san. And sometimes me, but..." You glance at Mitsuru-san. "Was he always like that?"
"Unfortunately..." You aren't sure if you should be relieved by that or not. On one hand, it's nice to know that not all of Shinjiro-san's issues are indirectly your fault for existing, but at the same time... "If he didn't have such a quick natural healing rate, I would have started worrying a long time ago."
"A year isn't a long time?" Mitsuru-san doesn't seem fully amused by your quip, if the snowball you have to duck under is any indication, but you honestly think it was a valid point.
A bit more irritating is how she decides to see how quickly you can heal an entire group- the answer to which turns out to be instantaneous, as you appear to have picked up a new variation of that spell at some point.
Mitsuru-san is pleased with this development. "I was wondering when you'd begin developing new abilities," She says, as if you're more a point of scientific curiosity than a teammate, at the moment. "It tends to happen on occasion, especially if you've been in combat recently."
"Really? What was the first new spell you got?"
"Marin Karin." That explains a bit. "Of course, it's not all that practical in everyday life, so I haven't had that much practice with it outside of combat, but it's still a useful spell to have."
All in favor of not being the one to tell her?
You think you're just going to take her word for it.
"We found Morgana," You declare to Lavenza the next time you meet with her. You think she might be surprised by this, but you're not sure, because whatever emotion was on her face is gone just as quickly as it appears.
"How is he?" She asks. "And, more importantly, the state of his Persona?"
"Mitsuru-san says it's stable now, but he's not as strong as he used to be. It's probably because of what happened with his Shadow..." And if you didn't have the silver-haired girl's interest before, you do now.
"His Shadow? It managed to manifest?"
"I mean, we were in Tartarus at the time, so it'd be sort of strange if it didn't." You think that's how it works, anyway. "He said it wasn't him, it got mad... and then Akihiko-san and I knocked it out with lightning, and he got his Persona back afterward. I'm... not really sure what it's called, right now." It comes to mind that you should probably ask about that at some point. Even if you doing that the first time sort of set off that particular link in the chain.
"...I suppose he wasn't an entirely lost cause after all." That might be the closest thing to praise you've ever heard Lavenza have for someone who wasn't a Guest of the Velvet Room.
You aren't going to point this out, though, because you don't want her getting mad at you. "So... is there some place you wanted to go today?" You're already here, you might as well ask.
She smiles. "I'm glad you asked. Today is the last day of the year, is it not? I would... like to see how humans observe the passage of time. Past Guests have described it, and Margaret has attended a celebration before, but I have never experienced it for myself."
You aren't sure you're the best person to be asking about this. Back when Mom was alive, she'd take you to the shrine, but you weren't able to do that last year because curfew, and now the shrine isn't even there, and you aren't actually sure if the people you live with are doing anything.
Still, Lavenza isn't the sort of person who takes no for an answer, so you're going to have to think of how you'll handle this.
[ ] Point out that she probably shouldn't be out all night, and that's probably what this would turn into.
[ ] Just let her follow you to the dorm and hope she doesn't break anything... or anyone.
[ ] Take her to where the shrine used to be, give her a basic explanation, and then bring her back.
