girlo akechi or whatever.

*Akira melts like butter in Sojiro's embrace, pressing his face into his pseudo-father's shoulder and just... letting himself breathe. With his parents, he had to fight for scraps of affection no matter how well he behaved, but with Sojiro, love came freely as long as you treated him with the same respect he showed you.*

*she scowls, looking away and lowering her head, her face effectively hidden behind her bangs. this is practically her in-law she's talking to. her in-law whose close friend she assassinated, mind you, so it would be in her best interests to stay amiable and mild towards him. alas.*

*Sojiro sighs, closing his eyes and nodding in acknowledgement. He did, in fact, barge into Goro's home uninvited, even if it was for good intentions. He nods, and tries to look Goro in the eyes, even though she's being avoidant.*

*she looks up, sniffing as her eyes finally meet sojiro's properly. they're glassy, as if she hasn't been blinking, or she's been holding back tears. she thinks back to all the things they've done together - endless darts games, billiards, the most infuriating 5d chess game with multiverse time travel, debates over text that left her feeling giddy the entire night. a good one, sojiro says. that doesn't even begin to describe akira.*

willi afton vs goro akechi rap battle

*Akira flinches, snapping out of his trance rather violently. His wide dark gray eyes dart up to look at Goro, and he looks confused as to why Goro's still here.* You don't... shouldn't you be leaving me here? Kicking me out of your apartment and telling Sojiro I need to live with him now? *His voice is small, wavering, and he doesn't meet Goro's gaze after brief eye contact with her.*

no, it's...

You'll probably have to...

hey, look, just--

*goro sits beside him, hand instinctively reaching out to to grasp his but stops just short of it, their fingertips barely brushing. she rests her chin on her knee, angling herself towards akira. when she finally looks him in the eye, it's him who directs his entire attention to the floor. she considers her options: suck it up and say sorry, yell at akira some more, or chicken out and stay silent?*

*Blinking in surprise, Akira lifts his head to stare at Goro, his dark gray eyes wide. He looks down at where their fingers brush softly against each other's, and tentatively reaches out to put his shaking hand in hers.*

*she jerks at the sudden contact, lips pressing into a thin line, but she stays still. not a single thing is normal anymore, so she can handle giving some physical comfort. she turns slightly to awkward hug akira with the hand not currently in a death grip, her voice muffled into akira's hair. the steps of the clinic are dirtied with the footsteps of others, but not a single person could even imagine where the two of them are right now, their own bubble of the world.*

*Akira shakes his head against her shoulder, finally managing to relax his grip on Goro's hand, though he still clings to it. Her words, 'I'll stay with you forever', makes his chest loosen enough for him to breathe properly, and his shaking subsides after another moment.*

oh, okay. we can stay sitting then.

*Akira snorts softly at Goro's words, unable to help himself.*

*goro leans further into him, her back beginning to protest from bending in such a way. whatever. akira was laughing again. the sound of a car begins to filter through the warmth of the moment, and she straightens up slightly, stretching her arms in preparation of carrying akira into the taxi again. no longer afraid of scaring akira away with a twitch of her eye, her face melts into something more natural and real.*

*Akira sees it, the way Goro's expression softens and the way her eyes hold warmth and what could even be described as love and care, and he relaxes with a soft sigh. He nods and grabs it from his side, holding it against his chest as Goro bends down to scoop him up. He braces himself with an arm around her neck, and tries to breathe through it when she accidentally jostles the still aching leg, knowing it's not her fault.*

*goro's eyes widen, but she doesn't respond until they're settled into the taxi. a blurry mosaic of grey and green are her backdrop, rain beginning to fall just when they're out of its grasp, as her words are almost stolen away by the engine.*

*the sunset glow is dimmed by rain pattering against the windows, the sound nearly lulling akira back to sleep until goro makes a frustrated noise from the kitchen. the scent of something faintly burnt wafting into the living space, without realising akira's awake at all, she shouts,*

*Akira fights the urge to laugh out loud at Goro's irritated yell, finding it more amusing than annoying. He reaches a hand from underneath the blanket and scritches Morgana under the chin, earning a pleased 'mrrp' and an even louder purr.*

*her head pops out from the kitchen doorway, then she scrambles to turn off the stove and rush to his side. well, I wouldn't say rush, more like a brisk walk, or an urgent stride, well i wouldn't say urgent either but she's there in seconds, focus entirely on him. the burnt smell hasn't gone away.*

*Morgana stares at Goro back, his tail flicking lazily even as his pupils narrow. Akira tries to push himself up into a better sitting position, only to practically whimper when the nerves in his leg flare up in protest. Instinctively, he covers his mouth with his hand to stifle it before it gets any louder.*

*goro looks at akira like he's grown a second head before she turns her chin up and promptly heads back into the kitchen.*

*Akira's neck prickles at the threat; she's being serious. Morgana hears it too, his ears flattening before he gets up and stretches, batting a paw at Akira's cheek affectionately.*

*goro screeches something about kitchen hygiene violations, YOU STUPID CAT GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN YOU'LL SHED FUR EVERYWHERE YOU FUCKING but after a while, both her and morgana emerge from the kitchen with only slightly burnt and uneven homemade pancakes.*

Huh?

*she raises a brow, leaning over to peek at akira's phone. 'boss'? great, okay. what a trek. she doesn't particularly want sojiro sakura in her apartment, but akira seems... rather optimistic about the idea.*

Not really... he's already on his way. I imagine he left as soon as I texted him that I was hurt. I didn't want to lie to him—he saw us by Takemi's clinic and he was worried.

*she sighs and rubs her temples in a show of (mostly) faux-exasperation, but eventually nods and shuffles onto the couch beside akira. she's glad akira has a family. she's jealous glad akira has people he can rely on and trust. she's glad he has a good paternal figure now. she's glad. she is so glad. you can feel how glad she is through the text, in fact, that's how fucking glad she is.*

*Akira finally sets his phone down and nods, taking the plate and taking a bite of the pancakes. The sight of them didn't deter him, but the imagined taste did. However, when that first bite settled in, pancakes and whipped cream and blueberries and all, Akira closed in his eyes in bliss. He ignored the slightly burnt aftertaste; it was heaven, and he was starving. Within minutes, the plate was clean, and Akira nearly started eating all the crumbs before Goro took it away with an amused huff.*

*goro pauses, halfway through standing up to wash the plate. she straightens herself up, then looks back at akira, her expression one of mild curiosity. it's the sort of face you'd attribute to a royal; a prince, even. not goro, not anymore.*

*Akira wanders around the upstairs part of Goro's apartment, feeling restless. It hurts to walk some days, and today was one of those times when Akira wishes he could just flop down in a heap and never move again. It had been like this ever since he had been captured by his Shadow and beaten, but surely his leg would have healed by now, right?*

*curious about the noise, goro rushes out into the corridor. sticking her head into the stairwell, seeing akira on the floor, she suppresses a laugh before quickly taking the stairs down to meet him. she stands at the bottom stair, not a hint of concern showing on her face - yet. when akira stays down for a few more moments, her brow furrows and she kneels down to look him in the eyes.*

*Akira bristles at the tone of her voice—like she's convinced he fell down the stairs for the hell of it. Resentment flares up briefly, but he tamps it down quickly, knowing damn well he can't be upset about this. He must look stupid, otherwise Goro wouldn't be trying not to laugh. Akira shakes his head mutely, biting back a groan as he attempts to get himself up again. He manages to force himself up into a somewhat sitting position, but as soon as he moves his right leg to get himself standing, fire lances up the limb and up his spine, making him wince and clutch at his thigh. He has a fairly high pain tolerance—after all, he's been through worse than a fall down the stairs. But this? It felt like invisible hands were pulling at his ligaments, intent on ripping the whole leg off of him in one fell swoop.*

*she hums, straightening up and simply watching as akira struggles to stand. after a particularly loud failure in the form of a garbled curse from akira, she sighs and steps closer once more.*

I've got it...

*unimpressed, she lifts akira up under his arms like a cat, depositing him on the couch with ease, still mindful of his evidently incredibly painful leg.*

*Akira's silent for a long while, his unruly hair falling into his face as his leg throbs and aches, making it twitch inadvertently. Goro's hand on his makes him feel slightly better, but it doesn't ease the pain. Finally, however, he lets out a soft huff.*

mm, maybe if you had your persona back then. you spent a while without any help before we managed to return your shadow to yourself, didn't you?

*Akira lifts his head, startled by the question. Goro hates Takemi, always has, especially since she found out that Akira had been the doctor's guinea pig and downed all manner of prototype drugs in the name of getting better healing items for the Phantom Thieves.*

lovely!

I'd... prefer not being in a wheelbarrow. And she lives too far away from here, she'd have to close early because she won't make it back to her clinic before closing time.

you're not walking on that leg, joker!

Infuriating. I know.

*she puts down her phone and takes deep breaths, counting to nine and back.*

*her expression tightens as akira's condition starts to show more clearly. she hasn't let the floor move out of her sight. shifting her own weight from side to side, she mutters awkwardly,*

*Akira doesn't say anything. He's too busy trying to keep himself conscious, his vision becoming blurry and spotty at the edges every time he so much as twitches his leg. He wishes Goro would stop looking like he'd kicked her favorite puppy and that she'd stop looking at the floor like it held the secrets of the universe.*

what?

*Akira opened his mouth to shoot off a long list: the way Goro refused to look at him in the eyes for several minutes, the way she squeezed her thigh earlier, the way she had shifted around uneasily like she was uncomfortable just being around him... but he closed it again, ducking his head like he used to when his parents were upset and yelling at him.*

*goro frowned. what was akira's problem? blinded by mild panic and biased by her own experience of metaverse injury care, she didn't see anything wrong with what she was doing. she was trying to help, truly she was. st the new development that was akira's new emotional state, her next words came out unsure and small.*

Yeah, if you want to.

*goro sighs and quickly moves to open the door for akira once they arrive. she's schooled her face back into perfect neutrality and her voice is, when it cooperates with her and leaves her throat, annoyingly lacking in any sort of tone at all.*

*goro pushes open the door to takemi's clinic with her shoulder, stopping in front of the desk and staring at a mildly gobsmacked back-alley doctor. she doesn't put akira down - if anything, she tightens her grip on him more, if that's possible.*

*Luckily, the clinic was entirely empty except for Goro and Akira. Takemi glanced up from her clipboard, assessing Akira's condition wordlessly before she stood, taking her clipboard with her as she opened the door to her examination room.*

*goro stays silent for a moment longer, half-expecting akira to respond, but no such sound comes from the man in her arms. she shifts him up higher in her grip as she follows the doctor into the exam room, looking around at the odd, vibrant medical posters plastered on the walls.*

*Takemi chuckles lowly, closing the door behind her and locking it with one hand before plopping down on her stool and crossing her legs.*

it's... i don't know.

*Takemi makes a non-committal sound in the back of her throat, her clipboard set aside to inspect Akira's injury. With gentle, manicured fingers, she probes at the swelling and discoloration. The bruising, which had largely localized to Akira's ankle at first when Goro had been taking care of his wounds, had spread all the way up to his knee, and it looked like it had been beat to hell.*

*goro doesn't answer immediately. her fists clench and unclench at her sides, and she feels like a sorry excuse for a partner. whatever! whatever. akira'll get over this, surely.*

*Takemi nods before starting her work. Akira's given the whole works— physical examinations, x-rays, questions about how he's been taking care of his ankle and if he's been taking pain medication (the answer is no). The whole time, Akira's been as silent as possible, and uncomplaining during the physical examination, despite how painful it looked to Goro. Finally, Takemi re-enters the room after fetching the x-ray results, and holds them out for Goro to take and look at.*

*goro's head snaps up like a whip, her hair slapping her in the face as she stares at takemi rather than the results chart. who cares? who fucking cares about some printed sheet of medical bull when not only she's been told everything by takemi and akira's shivering on the cot acting like a saint for his own made-up religion of useless fucking self-sacrifice!?*

*Takemi seems taken aback at first by Goro's reaction; she expected Akira to have an outburst, but Akira's sat as still as a statue, staring off into space with a blank look on his face. The poor thing was likely in shock. Then, she lets out a soft sigh.*

one blue pill, one white pill, and extra blue... no, white. yellow. white. one blue, one white, one...