Work Text:
The Shadow loomed tall, practically dwarfing S.E.E.S. If Akihiko was being honest, he was actually pretty intimidated by it; It looked like a nasty piece of work.
“Avoid getting hit,” Yuki called. “This looks like a strong one.”
“Agreed. I can’t scan it yet, so please be careful until I can get a solid reading on strengths and weaknesses!” Yamagishi added. She got to setting up her equipment.
Mitsuru, Takeba, and Yuki were on their guard, ready to block any attacks aimed their way. Akihiko had a different plan. If he drew the enemy’s attacks towards him, that would give the others opportunities to attack without worrying about counterattacks. Cracking his neck, he shot the Shadow a defiant look and slammed his fist into its side—
Only for the hit to reflect back onto him and knock him to the ground. All of the wind was knocked out of him. He sucked in weak gasps, struggling to prop himself up on a single arm.
“Sanada-senpai!” Yamagishi’s voice was full of fear. Damn, that was stupid…
The Shadow reared, but by some luck, moved to hit Mitsuru. She took it with all the grace one can take a strong blow. She was still on her feet, though, which was more than Akihiko could say.
He heard a commotion, then quick footsteps coming his way. Blearily, he opened his eyes. Crouching down next to him was Yuki. “...Huh?” The confusion wasn’t from the hit; He had genuinely no idea why their leader had come to his side. “Shouldn’t you be fighting?”
“I want you up and not vulnerable to attack. If you get knocked out, it’ll be a hassle trying to get you back up on your feet and keep you there.” Lighting him from behind was Orpheus, who bestowed upon Akihiko a healing light. Instantly, he felt much better, even if he was still a little sore.
“Thanks,” he muttered.
Instead of getting back into position, Yuki held out his hand. When Akihiko took it, he lifted him to his feet. The Shadow tried to attack Akihiko again, but Yuki guarded him, Orpheus shielding the two of them.
Eventually, after a lot of trial and error, S.E.E.S. emerged victorious. Mitsuru and Takeba chatted with Yuki, and then he swung on his heel. Once again, he approached Akihiko, who colored in embarrassment.
“I fell on my ass,” he started.
“I know, I saw. I was there.” Yuki was smiling, and it took Akihiko aback a moment at how rarely he saw something like that. Their leader had more of what Takeba called a resting bitch face. Akihiko wouldn’t go so far; The guy’s face just wasn’t that expressive. That’s why it caught him off guard.
“...Yeah.”
“Sanada-senpai, could you do me a favor?”
“Huh…? Yeah, what’s up?”
Minato placed a hand firmly on his shoulder. The glint in his eyes was almost fiery, uncanny when combined with his flat, resting mouth. “I know it’s hard not to act on impulse during a fight. It is for everyone, but I see it a lot with you.”
Akihiko felt nervous. He was distantly aware of a bead of sweat rolling down the back of his neck. The adrenaline was making him warm. After all, it usually did.
“Hold yourself back. When we’re facing an enemy we’ve never seen before, we have no idea what will happen. That’s why Fuuka’s an important member of the team; She’s here to help us out.” Yuki poked the center of Akihiko’s chest, his brows pinching over his nose. “You have to be careful. I won’t always be inclined to save your ass, but we can’t afford to lose anyone. Do you understand me? You got lucky today.”
As Yuki stomped off, even muttering out loud, Akihiko could only watch.
Why did his hand still feel warm? His heart was a car engine that wouldn’t start; It revved and revved, but wouldn’t grumble to life. It kept stuttering away in his chest, even as they ascended to the next floor.
This Floor Master was a pain. While it didn’t reflect Akihiko’s physical hits, it had no known weaknesses. The fight was a slog, and the Shadow was no slouch. While it wasn’t overpoweringly strong, it slowly chipped away at their health and cast a myriad of status effects.
Akihiko kept moving. It was all he could do. The more damage he dealt, the faster the thing would be gone.
“Take your time, Sanada-senpai,” Yuki insisted, his Zionga spell hitting home. He cursed when its static faded. The damn thing hadn’t been paralyzed by the hit.
“I know what I’m doing.” He spat the words, recentering his focus. Cracking his knuckles, he cast Tarukaja on himself. He could do this. He could. Just a little more, and the fight would be done.
The Floor Master had other plans. It hit Akihiko with something. It wasn’t a physical blow. It wasn’t a damage spell, either.
With dawning fear, he realized he was charmed. He had no control over his body or his Persona. All he could do was watch as he sprinted towards Aigis, preparing to puncture the blades on his brass knuckles through her shell–
A weight slammed into him from the side. As he was pressed into the icy tile flooring, he came back to himself. “Agh, shit,” he complained.
A warmth enveloped him as someone healed him. Opening one eye, he balked at Yuki, who had cast Cadenza. Apsaras and Orpheus vanished into particles of light as Yuki got to his feet with greater speed than he had possessed previously.
Yuki had knocked him out of the way before he had hurt Aigis.
Shame rose in his throat. He swallowed it down, shaking his head, and focused on the task at hand. The Floor Master’s health was dwindling, and Iori finished it off with a swing of his claymore.
Yuki checked on each of the current squad members. To see whether they were okay to keep going, he thought. He came up to Akihiko last.
“I’m sorry,” Akihiko said before Yuki could even speak.
“Hey, it’s not your fault…” Though he said this with relative calm, there was something about the look in his eyes. It wasn’t mad or frustrated, but he still wasn’t quite sure what it meant. “Sorry for tackling you.”
“Hey, no! You did what you had to. I don’t know what my knuckles would have done to her.”
“Damaged my exterior components,” Aigis added helpfully. “My interior components are harder to access. Repairs may have taken… An estimate of three days.”
“Three days is still a lot,” Yuki insisted. “I’m glad you weren’t seriously hurt, Aigis…” He trailed off, looking almost sheepish. “I hate to see any of you hurt.”
Akihiko bit the inside of his cheek. He wanted to say something, but he had no idea what that something was. He kept that in mind, an explanation for Yuki’s… strange behavior. Was it really that strange for a leader to go out of his way to take care of his team?
Looking at Yuki, Akihiko wasn’t sure what to feel.
This became more of a regular pattern, he noticed. Yuki would more often than not go out of his way to heal the party, even when someone with healing spells was also there. Akihiko included. He couldn’t remember the last time he had used Diarama. Most of his energy in Tartarus was used for Zio spells, physical hits, and increasing his strength.
When Yukari was there, she would get to heal. It cost her the least energy, so it made sense to him. However, she didn’t heal Akihiko. Unless he was included in a party-wide spell, Yuki was the one to do it. It wasn’t like she was oblivious; She’d make a face whenever Yuki did it.
Akihiko, a bit desperately, wished someone would tell him why this was happening. Why was he getting so much focus? It had to be because he got injured constantly, right? Because his health drained like a cheap battery?
He would ask, but this trip through Tartarus was testing his patience. Getting to another section meant a feeling of success, but also a greater challenge. Knowing this, he had been training in preparation…
And yet, he still got his ass handed to him.
This Shadow was strong, completely null to any physical attacks. It was pissed at Akihiko (to be fair, he had taunted it to try and divert hits from the rest of the party) and wasn’t afraid to show it. Tempest Slash after Tempest Slash, it wore away at him until he was on his last legs. A weak breeze could have certainly knocked him over. But it wasn’t a weak breeze that followed.
It was God’s Hand.
A giant fist sent him sprawling face first into the floor, and he felt himself losing consciousness…
He heard a distant voice. It sounded like it was underwater, the way it distorted… What had it said…? Cover… me…?
Akihiko gasped, coughing, as he felt a revival spell slam into him. On the other side of the room, Io gleamed, then scattered. Takeba had brought him out of it.
Next to him, as always, was Yuki. Orpheus appeared behind him like a halo. Weak and delirious, he asked, “...Are you an angel?”
And Yuki laughed, but there were tears in his eyes. “Something like that.”
With both palms on Akihiko’s chest, he pumped a Diaharan into him. There was a moment of shock in the transition to weak to healthy, but after a few shaky breaths, he felt confident he could stand. Yuki helped him up, the gesture, the feeling it caused so damn familiar now. A warmth radiated through him. Maybe it was delirium, but if such a place as Heaven existed, Yuki Makoto would surely be at home there.
With Yuki, Takeba, Koromaru, and Akihiko working in tandem, the Shadow was no match. Finally, after a grueling battle, they could rest.
As Takeba combed tangles from Koromaru’s fur, helping him calm down from a stressful fight, Akihiko slumped into a sitting position against the wall. Yuki came up to him, a melon pan in hand. “You should eat something. Take a bite, at least. I always feel wonky when I’m healed on an empty stomach, and I know you haven’t eaten since before we came in.”
Akihiko accepted it gratefully, taking a hearty bite. “Haven’t had one of these in a while,” he said after swallowing. “I used to get one of these once a month… Now I barely eat ‘em at all.”
“...Do you still like it?”
“It tastes the same.”
Yuki’s nose wrinkles. “That’s… not the same thing, Sanada-senpai.”
With a chuckle, Akihiko rustled Yuki’s hair. “Hey, thanks for the food. Do you want a piece?” He tore off a chunk, offering it out to Yuki. He accepted it, popping it into his mouth, and Akihiko couldn’t help but smile.
“You two are hopeless,” Takeba whined. She scratched Koromaru’s belly with a small laugh. “Isn’t that right, Koro-chan?”
Koromaru barked affirmatively.
Akihiko had no idea what that was about, but somehow still felt sheepish. “Can I fall back and recover for a bit? I want to get back into top shape if we’re going to go through a lot.”
“That’s fine, Akihiko.” Yuki nodded. Akihiko, he said…? “I’m hoping we’ll get through this section tonight while our schedules align.”
They used the next teleporter to the ground floor. The team dropped Akihiko off, swapping him out for Aigis. He felt… weird being on the bench. Like he belonged out there, still, even after all that.
Instead of his usual practice, he decided to actually take a breather and rest up. Though his wounds had healed, he felt absolutely exhausted.
Iori at down beside him, arms crossed over his knees. “Hey, senpai. You look down in the dumps.”
Akihiko huffed. “I guess I am, a little bit.”
“What’s bothering you? Did you get hurt again?”
Embarrassed, he ducked his head and nodded.
Iori winced in sympathy. “Man… Shadows have had it out for you lately, dude.”
“Don’t I know it.” He propped his chin on his hand.
“Makoto’s been looking out for you a lot, though. I dunno what it is, man– It’s like he freaks out when he sees you getting hurt.”
“...Huh?”
Iori blinked. His cheeks turned red, as if he had noticed he made a mistake. “Huh, guess you wouldn’t notice… Being knocked over ‘n’ all.” An awkward chuckle escaped his lips. “He panics, dude. He drops everything and rushes to help you.”
With this information dropped in his lap, all Akihiko could do was croak, “Why?”
“Don’t look at me, man! Ask him yourself. Hell if I know what’s going on in his head.” Iori threw up his hands in surrender.
As Iori got up to practice his swings, Akihiko pressed his face into his hands.
The expedition was wrapping up for the night. After rejoining the team, Yuki, Akihiko, Aigis, and Ken had reached the next incomplete stairway. The nervous energy in the air dropped away as they breathed a collective sigh of relief.
“Alright, good progress.” Yuki nodded proudly, hands on his hips. “We can head back to the dorm.”
Aigis and Ken got onto the teleporter. Before Yuki could join them, Akihiko caught him by the sleeve. “You guys go on ahead. There’s something I have to talk to Yuki about.”
Ken looked at Aigis, who wasn’t perturbed in the least. After a moment of thought, he pressed the button. They were both sent away, leaving Yuki and Akihiko alone.
“What’s this about, Akihiko?”
“I know you’ve been treating me differently. And I wanna know why.”
“What? No, I haven’t.” Though he insisted so, his eyes darted away towards the skyline. He wasn’t meeting Akihiko’s gaze.
“You have. It’s pretty obvious.” He frowned, then eventually sighed. “Look, do you really think I can’t handle myself? Because I can sit Tartarus out for a bit if you think I’m not keeping up.”
“What?” Yuki finally turned to him. His teeth dented his bottom lip slightly, and Akihiko’s eyes followed the movement without his input. “I don’t think you’re falling behind.”
“You’ve been helping me a lot. And giving Yukari a run for her money. Don’t healing spells drain you more than her?”
“That’s… not important. That was just the strategy I chose in the moment.”
“The strategy you keep choosing?”
Yuki’s teeth retreated from his lip, clearly worrying at the inside of his cheek instead. “...Yes.”
“I know you’re the leader, but… uh… that plan doesn’t really make sense to me. Wouldn’t it be a better use of your energy to support us where our team is weak? Use your ability to cover what we don’t have?”
Yuki was silent. His eyes were darting around, his feet melded to the ground. He looked like a deer in the headlights, and Akihiko felt awfully guilty all of a sudden. Finally, he spoke. “Okay, yeah. It doesn’t make sense. Because… how do I say this…? When I’m doing that, when I’m trying to protect you or heal you… I’m not thinking. My body… moves on its own.”
Akihiko stared at him, puzzled. “You lost me.”
“Ugh. Okay.” Yuki scrubbed a hand over his face. “Seeing someone so strong and capable get knocked down like that… it scares me. That you could get hurt so easily now. These Shadows… they get tougher every day. So, whenever you get hurt, I– I want to help you out. Give you back your strength.”
With a soft sigh, Akihiko patted Yuki on the shoulder. “Hey, I’ll be fine. With you guys backing me, I’m not afraid of what comes next. I’m ready for whatever gets thrown at us. No guarantee that I won’t get knocked out, though.”
Rolling his eyes, the leader of S.E.E.S. nodded. “Don’t you think we should get back to everyone? They must be wondering what’s holding us up…” He trailed off meaningfully.
Catching his drift, Akihiko felt his ears heat up. “Come on, you don’t really think they’d think that…!”
“Junpei would.”
“Iori would,” he agreed, hanging his head.
“Come on. I’m done with angel duty tonight.”
“Please tell me you’ll forget I ever said that.”
“Not in your wildest dreams,” Makoto said with a wink. As they stepped onto the teleporter, neither acknowledged the brush of the backs of their hands together. Akihiko said nothing when Makoto’s thumb wrapped around his own. At Akihiko’s look, he offered a downright mischievous smile. “I’ll look out for you. Just be careful, okay?”
“Okay,” he mumbled. He was sure he could be more careful on the battlefield. He wasn’t quite as sure if he could be careful with Makoto. He felt so vulnerable, so exposed by the tiniest of touches. It didn’t linger. At the base of Tartarus, his hand was gone, leaving Akihiko cold.