Faith | Akira Kurusu x OC | Persona 5

Faith ??? | Guilt

"Ramen..." Panther thought out loud before she got an epiphany, "That's it! Why don't we all go and enjoy some ramen together to get our leader back in spirits!"

"Yeah! Great idea, Panther!" Skull smiled with a fist bump that she didn't return.

"Ramen... I've never tried such a thing before." Fox stayed with his hand on his chin deep in thought.

"Sounds good!" Queen clasped her hands together.

"Is there any fish?" Mona questioned only getting smacked in the head by Skull.

"Why would there be?!" Skull hissed rolled his eyes.

"Don't hit me you dimwitted blonde!" Mona hissed back holding his hand in pain.

Joker chuckled a bit as he watched his friends interact, lifting his spirits slightly.

"Alright, let's get going then," Joker said his infamous lines as the team exited the palace, entering a dark alleyway in their original clothes.

"Speaking off, why don't we invite Mori-Chan?" Ryuji asked holding his chin in thought.

"You have a nickname for her?" Akira questioned feeling his heart sting just a little bit, but he didn't know why.

"Yeah! Yuu-Chan would love to come with us!" Makoto gleamed pulling out her cellphone to call the bluenette girl.

"But she isn't one of the Phantom Thieves, don't you think that's a bad idea?" Ann questioned crossing her arms; she being the only one disproving of Yuuen coming along.

"No, it's fine. She knows that we're the Phantom Thieves, she just doesn't know how we do it." Akira assured her before Makoto picked up the phone to call her.

"It went straight to voice mail." Makoto sighed trying to call her again.

"She wasn't at school today either," Akira mentioned with a worried look on his face.

"She's probably just sick or something." Ryuji waved off not really concerned about the blue-haired girl.

"Besides, if she's sick we should let her rest. We wouldn't want to disturb her while she's sleeping." Ann said placing her hands on her hips as Akira pondered for a few minutes.

"But I'm still worried, even when she's been sick in the past she was always a workaholic; she always told me to come over with her school and student council work so that she was never behind." Makoto's gaze saddened as Yusuke placed his hands on her shoulder.

"I too have faced the challenges of being ill whilst being artistically inspired. Such a tragedy, there is nothing I want to do more than pick up a brush and allow my creativity to flow from my delicate hand. Yet, I sit bedridden, slouching in the warmth of my dull gray covers." Yusuke preached with a small tear of pride falling from his face.

The team just sweatdropped before Akira began to speak once again, "Perhaps we should bring her some leftovers, she'd like that." Akira mumbled as Makoto agreed enthusiastically.

"Yeah! She would really like that!" Makoto smiled as the team began to walk off to the ramen place.

Akira let out a breath of air he didn't know he was holding, "Alright." He said his infamous words finally able to let a small smile slip onto his face.

-=-=-=-

Ann shivered as Makoto rang the doorbell to Yuuen's house.

"I-It's freezing!" Ryuji complained as the door opened to reveal a disheveled blonde-haired man with an angry look on his face.

"What the hell are a couple of teenagers showing up to my door this late doing?" He complained holding his arms as the cold air nipped his nose.

"Sorry, Morito-san, I'm Nijima Makoto, one of Yuuen's friends. I was just wondering if we could see Yuuen and give her this ramen we got for her." Makoto explained as she gave a small yet polite bow.

"She's not here." He groaned leaning against the door, aggravated to have company at such a late hour.

"Not here?" Makoto questioned furrowing her brows in confusion, "What do you mean? Where is she?" Makoto asked as Akira's eyes gleamed in concern.

"Sick. At a relative's house, how should I know?" He waved off with a glare.

"Why would she go to a relative's house if she's sick?" Yusuke questioned as the man glared harshly into his deep blue eyes.

"Listen if that's it, I'm going to bed. Don't bother me again, and if you show up to my door I'm calling the cops." He spat slamming the door in the group's face.

"Well, that went well..." Morgana said sarcastically looking back at the deep brown door.

"We should probably go home." Ann said shivering a bit, "It's getting late."

The rest of the group nodded in agreement but Makoto didn't seem to move. 

"Nijima-senpai?" Akira questioned seeing the brunette girl stand frozen in her spot.

"Oh, sorry. I just got distracted." Makoto waved off smiling awkwardly, obviously bugged about something.

"What's wrong?" Akira questioned noticing her uneasiness.

"It's just... this is the first time Yuuen's gone away without saying anything." She mentioned looking back at the door to the apartment worriedly, "She always says 'Goodbye' before she heads out, or at least tells me where she is going. This isn't like her."

Makoto sighed walking alongside her leader, somewhat stressed at the recent turn of events. 

"And her father wasn't normally that rude either, I hope nothing happened to her." Makoto's eyes glistened with concern as Akira's eyes widened.

"Like what?" He questioned not really wanting to know the answer.

"I don't know, maybe she got upset over something or got into an argument with someone," Makoto said obliviously as Akira's heart felt like it dropped down to his stomach.

Suddenly he felt sick as his eyes widened and he stopped walking in his spot.

"A-an argument?" Akira gulped remembering the last time he saw Yuuen was when he argued with her about the Phantom Thieves during detention.

The image of her fearful glossy blue orbs filled his mind as he remembered the face he never wanted to see her make.

He clenched his fist as he realized something, that perhaps he was the reason she left and hadn't said anything.

Just that thought was enough to make him feel sick.

"Kurusu-kun? What's gotten into you?!" Makoto panicked as the other members of the group surrounded the distraught leader.

Guilt hit him like a wave as he leaned onto whoever was helping him up. 

'Did I seriously terrify her enough to leave and not say anything' Akira panicked feeling his heart rate increase, 'The one person, I never wanted to hate me...'

'I'm such an idiot.'

-=-=-=-