Day 41: Breakfast

[oftemptation]

Endrance turned his head to look at the intercom, giving it a look that would wither an entire rose garden in an instant. He would never get used to ending up in his room again from somewhere else in the Institute

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[fourtharcana]

Oh shit, shit, shit. We're all going to die because we weren't expecting that goddamn bear to still be alive, and what the hell is going on with the Evoker not working? Akihiko closed his eyes, trying to think of a plan

[bewarethecute]

Ururu didn't have any time to react to Ken suddenly falling; just as she was about to yell, or to drop everything to try and catch him, the night ended, and Ururu was back in her bed. The girl didn't exactly realize what had happened at first. She sat up, very confused, especially when she saw she still had Ken's flashlight and spear. Once she did understand, Ururu was at least a little glad that she had kept her promise

[fourtharcana]

Akihiko wasn't expecting -- wait. Little girl, about Ken's age or a little younger. Was this that friend of his that had contributed so much to the bulletin mess? Well, only one way to find out, and either way, it was a distraction from thinking about last night. So, he'd take it, either way.

"Oh, sure," he said, mustering up a smile and gesturing for her to take a seat. "I'm Akihiko. What's your name?"

He paused for just a second. "This might seem like an odd question, but. You don't happen to be a friend of Ken Amada's? I'm his senpai, if that's the case," he said, that smile turning a little more awkward than it had been.

[bewarethecute]

Ururu didn't immediately realize she had been led to one of Ken's friends. She remembered Akihiko's name though, from the bulletin about the boxing club. Before she could say that, however, he asked her about Ken, and said he was one of her friend's senpai.

This might not be so good.

"I'm Ururu." The girl moved into the seat across from Akihiko, looking nervously at him. "You aren't still mad at Ken-kun, are you? He was only trying to help a friend, but then we got confused. Please don't stay mad at him. This time, we're looking in books, so it'll be better than asking on the bulletin. Okay?"

[fourtharcana]

So, he'd been right. Well, she really did seem to have her heart in the right place, even if the methods weren't what he'd have chosen normally. So, Akihiko smiled, and nodded. "It's good to meet you, Ururu-chan. Don't worry. I'm not really mad at Ken. I'm worried about him, but I'm not mad. And if I seemed distracted or upset just now, well, that wasn't your fault, either. Some of us that know each other were out exploring last night, and things didn't go quite as we'd planned," he explained

[bewarethecute]

Ururu was relieved to hear that Akihiko wasn't mad; the last thing she wanted was to get her friend in trouble. It was hard enough just being in the Institute sometimes without getting people angry too. Of course, when the older teen started talking about the bear, Ururu started feeling bad again

[fourtharcana]

"There's no need to worry about that," Akihiko replied. "We were prepared for a lot of monsters, but sometimes things happen that you don't expect despite that - I don't know if anyone's ever run into a monster bear before, so. The important thing is that we know they're out there now, so we can warn people about them."

He nodded at that statement, unable to hide the concern that flashed over his face just then. "Yeah, I'll keep an eye out for him. I'd wanted to talk to him about something later anyway, so I'll let you know how he's doing once I've done that."

That last statement very nearly made him choke on the sip of orange juice he'd just taken. Well, that was one rumor that was verified, though the fact that it had to be verified by a little girl was certainly surprising. "Wow. Well, it's good to know that if you punch them hard enough, they'll die."

[bewarethecute]

Ururu nodded in agreement with Akihiko about warning people. She could still remember running into the ghost--or rather, trying to punch through it. That'd been a terrible thing, and she didn't want anyone to have to go through that again. "I hadn't run into a bear. But I don't always go outside at night, so maybe that's why

[fourtharcana]

"I'll tell him that you have those," he nodded. Well, that was something he'd have to remind him not to do, leaving his gear around, but at least it was in a friend's hands as opposed to someone else's. And it hadn't really been his fault.

At the same time, though, this posed a problem - when to arrange to get them back? They really couldn't wait much longer to do Evoker-checks on their whole team, and that needed to happen as soon as possible. There was also how to broach that subject as a general rule. "When should I tell him to come find you to get them back? We need him for a mission tonight, so..."

The change of subject was welcome after that. "You're welcome to come any time you want," he said with a smile. "I'll probably be trying to get a meeting organized tomorrow night."

[bewarethecute]

Though she would have quickly corrected Akihiko's mistake had she known what he was thinking, Ururu could only hope that whatever was said would be good. The last thing she'd wanted to do was get Ken into trouble, especially after everything that had happened on the bulletin board. She couldn't help but look crestfallen, however, when Akihiko made it clear that Ururu wouldn't be able to go with Ken that night.

"He told me his room number. I can bring his things there." Part of Ururu knew she should be doing things with lost and found, but spending time with Ken was important to her too. Besides, Ken didn't think she couldn't fight, and Ururu liked that.

At least she'd be able to see him though. That way, she could be sure he was okay, and still there.

Ururu nodded when Akihiko told her about the other plans. "Okay. Does Ken-kun like boxing too?" It might be something fun they could do together. That'd be nice.

[fourtharcana]

This was another one of those situations where it wasn't clear that he had, in some way, stuck his foot in his mouth without realizing it until it had happened. Akihiko frowned as he thought. On the one hand, yeah, it was bad that she was so upset about it. On the other? She might possibly be a whole lot more upset if she saw him actually using the Evoker, and that wasn't even getting into the possibility that Ken's Persona might go out of control. It was better that the only ones around for that test shot were himself and Mitsuru. The question was how to explain it

[bewarethecute]

Maybe if Ururu hadn't been told almost the same exact thing so many times, she might have been willing to listen to Akihiko. She knew what it was like, not wanting people to get hurt, after all. But for Ururu, the possibility of Ken being hurt was much more important than the chance she could end up that way. The last thing she wanted was for someone else she cared about to be hurt--or to disappear entirely

[fourtharcana]

Oh, crap. Not as planned. Not at all. Uh... Akihiko looked around for a moment for any familiar faces, then, realizing they were all otherwise occupied, cursed silently. So how the hell am I supposed to tell a little girl that we don't want her seeing one of her best friends shooting himself in the head, even if it's not going to hurt him? There was really only one way around it that he could see, and while it wouldn't be pleasant either, it was better than the alternative

[bewarethecute]

Even if Akihiko said they knew she wasn't weak, that wasn't how Ururu felt just then. She stared at her pancakes in silence as Akihiko explained about the danger, and what had happened to Ken's mom, and what they were afraid would happen to her. It all meant the same thing to her, the same lesson she'd learned over and over. Every time a friend of hers got hurt, or every time one of them vanished

[fourtharcana]

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. What am I supposed to do here? He looked out again, trying to catch Mitsuru's eyes with a clear 'I'm in deep trouble, can you get over here for a second and back me up?' look, but she was in full-on information-gathering mode. He sighed deeply, then looked across the table.

"All right. You can come out tonight, on three conditions. One, that you promise that you won't interfere when he first uses that power. It's going to look like Ken's hurting himself, but I can promise you that isn't the case. Two, that you listen to what Mitsuru and I will tell you to do if anything bad happens."

He sighed again, then looked directly into Ururu's eyes. "Three, if we tell you to go back inside, you promise that you will, without any questions. I still think it would be better if you weren't there, but if you can do all of that, you can."

[bewarethecute]

Ururu had to struggle to stop crying enough to hear Akihiko; even when she stopped sobbing, the tears continued to fall. But it sounded like he had changed his mind, and Ururu was glad. She still felt upset about all the things he had talked about, but at least this way, she could be there to help Ken if he needed her. That's all she had wanted to do in the first place