Marionette(My Strings Are Titanium, You Cannot Cut Them)

Akira was pretty sure Goro had been biking to school. That was the only way he could explain why, despite showing up a whole hour early every day, he never saw the detective at the station. Anything else he could do would be bordering on stalking the man. He didn't actually know for sure if this wasn't. It was frustrating, he really missed Goro, and he hated not being able to check up on him.

He'd tried texting again, and calling. Nearly every day, just in case. Same thing every single time. It had been four weeks, four fucking weeks, and he was more anxious by the day. He'd thoroughly convinced his friends that it was all because of Medjed, his pride had taken a hit but that was fine. While he had always been the one to reassure them, they were constantly letting Akira know things would turn out okay.

Futaba's palace had been destroyed for a while. They were just waiting for her to wake up, and Akira did sincerely hope it would be soon. After begging Sojiro, he'd been allowed to hang out with her, despite the girl being fast asleep. Just to be there, in case she woke up and needed something. That's what he'd said. Sojiro didn't actually take as much convincing as he'd thought.

Morgana usually wandered around while he was there, Akira didn't mind. He enjoyed the almost alone time. And he needed it, too. Even if he did spend the whole time mulling over how things had left off with Goro, even if he did constantly check the guy's social media and re-watch interviews like an obsessed fan, it was better than ignoring it and letting everything pile up.

Akira had been practicing coming out, too, away from his not-cat's prying ears. It wasn't that he cared if Morgana heard, it would just be a little embarrassing. He did hope Futaba didn't choose one of those moments to wake up.

He'd made the decision to tell everyone once Medjed was taken care of. It seemed like a good plan, gave him time to prepare, and he didn't want to risk damaging any of his friendships with such a threat on the horizon. Not that it would, he had to tell himself.

Now, he was just staring blankly at a wall, a thousand thoughts running through his head, only a dozen or so of them positive.

"Ngh." Akira was startled from his daydreams by a groan and rustling in front of him, standing up from the chair in surprise as Futaba's eyes flickered open. "Sojiro send ya to babysit?" He heard the girl snicker as she sat up and stretched.

Akira nodded. He'd been starting to worry if she'd ever fully awaken for more than wandering out of bed for bathroom or a snack before falling right back asleep. "Futaba! Do you need anything, are you okay?"

She continued to laugh. "Nah, m'good. I can get my own snacks." She hopped to her feet with a frown. "Sheesh you look like the one who needs a two week nap. What happened to you?"

With a sigh, Akira lowered his head. "Can we talk about that some other time, please?"

The girl nodded. "Noted." She grinned. "Anyway, it worked! No more hallucinations, no more stinky thoughts. My heart's been super stolen!"

Akira laughed. He felt the best he had in weeks. That was right, he'd helped this girl. More than just saving someone from an oppressor, he'd actually done something that didn't hurt anyone involved. This was a life he had saved. "You did the hardest part."

Futaba put her hands on her hips. "Course I did, I'm awesome! Anyway, it's uh...Medjed, yeah! I need to help you deal with Medjed! That was the deal." She pushed past him and sat down, booting up her computer.

Akira took a seat on the bed, now, watching curiously. "There's something else I'd like you to do as well, if you're up for it."

Nodding, Futaba stared at the message Medjed had put up. "What's up?"