Plurk paste

Mitsuru’s phone rings before her alarm goes off. She has to extract herself from under Shinjiro’s arm to get to it, and almost hangs up on principle before she sees it’s her father calling; it’s likely important enough to talk to him, in that case. “Hello?”

“Good morning, Mitsuru. I thought you’d like to know that we just received confirmation that Amada-kun retained consciousness last night.”

Mitsuru sighs. She’d half expected as much, but it’s still unnerving to think his life has been so thoroughly shattered already. “I see. Have you found out anything about his living arrangements going forward?”

“Some relatives are willing to sponsor his education, but let him remain in the Port Island area, to prevent uprooting his life any more than necessary. That would also be convenient should he ever do more than remain awake during the Dark Hour.”

“I’ll go and talk to him after school. He deserves to understand the nature of the accident, and if he shows an interest in our work, it’s probably best if someone else who started young explains the potential pitfalls.” She spent a year and a half arguing for the <i>chance</i> to attempt calling a Persona, and was granted the opportunity at the earliest time the remaining researchers deemed it safe. If Amada wants to help, he’s still too young, and Mitsuru understands that sting better than anyone.

“Understood. Will you be taking one of the others with you?”

“I’ll have to see if they want to come along. Akihiko might, but I’m not sure about Shinjiro.” Mitsuru hesitates for a moment, then decides this is the best opening she’s likely to get for a while, and adds, “On a related note… I’m quickly coming to realise I couldn’t bear a political arrangement. It would be a supremely unfair thing to ask of anyone involved.”

“You’ll have to uphold the Kirijo Group’s standing on your own. Do you think you’ll be up to the challenge?”

“I’ll find a way to make it work, Father. Besides, if two in harmony surpasses one in perfection, what might three accomplish?”

Her father laughs. “You have a point there. I’ve believed you could rise to the occasion for several years now, but that means little if you don’t have that faith in yourself. Consider any potential arrangements called off. I’ll leave you to your morning.”

“Thank you. I’ll speak with you another time.” Mitsuru hangs up, and shuts off her alarm while she’s at it; there’s no way she’s getting back to sleep now.

“You’re as bad as Aki,” Shinjiro mumbles, from the other side of the bed.

“What’s that supposed to mean? How long have you been awake, anyway?”

“Since your phone rang.” His tone makes it clear that he thinks that should have been obvious, even before he sits up and fixes her with a flat (and fond) look. “What was that harmony bullshit about?”

“It’s just the company motto, Shinjiro. I knew it would make the point.”

“Yeah, whatever. Take Aki to the hospital with you. Kid’s gonna need someone who agrees that it sucks without tellin’ him to get over it – all I got for him right now is that he can’t change it. Besides, it’ll do Aki some good to have something he can’t fix by punching it.”

Amada takes the news about as well as Mitsuru thought he might, especially when she has to tell him he’s too young to help fight back against the problem that took his mother from him. Akihiko pacifies him somewhat with the promise of physical training to help take his mind off of things, and it occurs to her that they’re the most ‘adult’ support Amada’s likely to have around for the foreseeable future, unless his relatives move to Port Island to more directly oversee his care. There’s something very wrong about that.

Still, Amada seems to have calmed down a bit by the time they have to leave, which is something. Maybe, in time, the loss of his mother won’t be so heavy a burden on him, and he’ll be able to have something like a normal childhood despite this upheaval.

They stop at the ramen shop, on Akihiko’s insistence; at least Mitsuru knows enough to avoid embarrassing herself, this time. After they’ve been served their meals, she says, “Are you sure physical training is the best option for Amada?”

Akihiko shrugs. “There are worse ways for him to distract himself from the pain, and it’s definitely better than dwelling on it all the time. Besides, I don’t think he’s going to give up before he gets a chance to actually fight some Shadows, and being in good physical shape will give him a head start that he’s going to need if he wants to keep up with us.”

“You have a point there.” It also gives them a way to keep tabs on Amada without raising his or anyone else’s suspicions, which is the main reason Mitsuru didn’t protest. “Shinjiro just said something this morning about your tendency to punch all of your problems. I’m not sure he’ll be too thrilled about you passing that coping mechanism on.”

“Yeah, well, he can deal. The kid needs a better outlet than bottling up his anger.” Akihiko sighs. “And I still don’t think it’s such a bad thing if I don’t want to hurt like I did after the fire again.”

“No, I suppose not.” None of them have made it this far unscathed; Shinjiro’s better at covering it up, but she’s seen how surprised he is to be included, that she wants him around, and she’s had multiple conversations with her father about taking too much responsibility for the sins of others on herself.

At least now, they can lean on each other.