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“Mine, mine, mine! ” the High Pixie giggles, the desires it’s stolen floating around its head. The Phantom Thieves try to cut a path towards it, but the horde of other shadows just won’t stop coming. It doesn’t help that the cramped rooftops of the Shibuya jail don’t leave a lot of room to maneuver.
Yusuke grunts, parrying shadows left and right. Just when he’s cleared through enough of them to have a second to breathe, he spots a shadow lunging towards Ryuji, who's too busy fending off three other shadows to notice.
At first Yusuke tries to summon Goemon, but he’s met with a gnawing hole in his mind as he realizes he can’t remember how.
Forget spell, fantastic.
The shadow trips Ryuji with it’s baton, tripping him. It’s about to charge a spell, so Yusuke grits his teeth and runs forward to tackle it before it can get another hit in.
The good news is he does cause the shadow to stumble, and it’s attack just misses Ryuji.
The bad news is the shadow stumbles backwards.
Over the edge of the building.
And it pulls Yusuke down with it.
Yusuke feels the shadow dissolve right before he crashes into the ground.
Everything hurts.
Well, Yusuke thinks, struggling to force himself onto his back, at least the shadow’s dealt with .
Spots dance in Yusuke’s vision, and each breath is accompanied by a sharp pain in his chest. He thinks he can just make out the sound of someone screaming, but that might just be the ringing in his ears.
I think I’ll just wait for the others , is the last thought that crosses his mind before Yusuke passes out.
*
Ryuji just barely clocks Yusuke straight up tackling a shadow, and is about to thank him for the save when Futaba screams and Ryuji realizes:
Oh.
There’s no more roof there.
The battle seems to slow down as everyone stares at the part where Yusuke went over the side.
The first to move is the High Pixie.
“Mine!” it squeals, swooping down and scooping Yusuke up under one arm. He’s barely moves and is pretty banged up. “All mine!” The shadow starts to fly off, and that snaps the rest of the Phantom Thieves into action.
“Um, I think the fuck not .” Ann shouts, quick to wrap her whip around the shadow’s leg.
Sophia follows suit, using her yo-yos to help pull the shadow and Yusuke back towards them. The High Pixie pouts and with a flick of its hand launches the back with a gust of wind.
Ann goes down hard, and Morgana stays back to heal her while Akira starts leaping across rooftops after the shadow, Sophia, Ryuji, and Makoto right behind him. Unfortunately, the High Pixie is fast, and keeps. Eventually they’re stopped by another group of shadows and forced to deal with that.
“Shit,” Akira pants, once the enemies are taken care of and the High Pixie is nowhere in sight. “Oracle can you-”
“No. I can’t pick up the shadow or Yu- Fox .” Futaba says.
“...Alright, we’ll head back to the crossing and see if you can pick up a signal from there, or Mona can sniff out the desires.
Futaba nods stiffly, then starts walking away, fists clenched. Akira and Ryuji share a look, and Ryuji sprints after her. “You ok?”
“Nothing’s happened to me. ”
“You know this place is huge, don’t beat yourself up for losing them.” Futaba keeps pushing forward and Ryuji jogs to stand in front of her. “Fox’ll be fine, ok?” he says, patting her on the shoulder.
Futaba stops. “I hope you’re right,” she mutters before pulling away.
They meet back up with Ann, Morgana, and Haru, and all head to the crossing.
“I’m picking up the desires!” Morgana announces. “I think the smell’s coming from Maruku City.”
They leap from car to car across the crossing until they’ve arrived. Once they reach their destination, Futaba perks up.
“Got it,” Futaba announces. “I think the shadow made a nest at the top of the keep.”
“Do you have a read on Fox?” Makoto asks.
“...Yeah.” Futaba says. “He’s not worse than he was before he fell, at least.”
“Good job Oracle,” Akira says.
“We should try and draw the shadow’s attention,” Makoto suggests. “That way someone can grab Yusuke while it's occupied.”
Akira nods. “Queen, you, Panther, and Noir are with me. Once we have its attention, the rest of you guys grab Fox and get him out of the line of fire. Skull can take the lead.”
Everyone nods, then the two groups split up. Akira’s group sneaks around the base of the keep, out of sight. The High Pixie is floating around the top, pleased with itself. Once it’s in position, Akira shoots.
The High Pixie is instantly caught off guard, and before it gets the chance to call for backup, Haru follows up, knocking the shadow to the ground. While they go all out attacking the shadow, the others race up the steps of the keep.
.Pennants, broken decorations, a skateboard, some stolen desires, and a bunch of other random knick knacks are scattered around. Yusuke’s lying on the ground looking much paler than usual. Ryuji notices Futaba’s shoulders relax when Sophia and Morgana start to heal him up.
Yusuke’s eyes flutter open as the color comes back to his face. “Where...”
“You got nabbed by that shadow after your swan dive.” Futaba explains, kneeling down next to him.
“O...k…?” Yusuke starts to sit up, but Futaba stops him.
“Don’t. You’ll hurt yourself more.”
“Did you have to be so loud?”
“Excuse me? You do not get to complain about your rescue.”
Yuuske just groans, closes his eyes, and lies back down.
“Uggh. Stupid Inari. Mona, Sophie, heal him again so Skull can carry him.” Futaba says. They do, and Yusuke’s breathing starts to get better. Ryuji picks him up carefully, and with some help from Futaba and Sophie, get Yusuke onto Ryuji’s back.
“My head hurts…” Yusuke mutters, laying his head on Ryuji’s shoulder.
“Well, that will happen when you dive over the side of the building.”
“‘S just… trying to help.”
“I know, and I appreciate it, but for now let’s get you out of here.” Not wanting to risk Yusuke falling off Ryuji’s back and taking another fall, they back head down the steps. More shadows have shown up while the others fought the High Pixie, so Morgana clears the way for Futaba, Ryuji, Yusuke while Sophie covers their backs.
Once they’re a safe distance from the keep Ryuji sets Yusuke down on the ground.
“Ok. You’re safe now.” Futaba says, taking a deep breath. “So seriously, what were you thinking ?”
“Do you have to be so loud?” Yusuke mutters.
“I’m not being loud.”
“Are you sure?” Yusuke replies, squeezing his eyes shut.”My ears are ringing.”
“Oracle, step aside for a second?” Sophia asks. Futaba does, and Sophia neals down next to Yusuke. “What is your name and how old are you?”
“17 years old.”
“Do you know where you are right now?”
Yusuke blinks. “The… Shibuya Jail?”
“What year is it?”
Yusuke frowns. “I’m not…”
Sophia nods. “Ok, I’ve got it. Based on his symptoms, Fox has a concussion.”
“Concussion…” Yusuke repeats. “Alright, I’ll just take a nap then-”
“No sleeping!” Futaba snaps.
Yusuke winces.
“Sorry,” Futaba says, quieter. “But I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to sleep with a concussion.” She pulls out a soda and hands it to Yusuke. “C’mon, try and have something to drink.”
“Thanks.”
The sound of the High Pixie being defeated rings out, and soon enough the rest of the team joins them.
“Are you alright?” Haru gasps as soon as she sees Yusuke.
“Not so loud, please. Concussion.”
“Sorry!” Haru whispers.
“You’re fine.”
“He has a concussion?” Makoto asks, kneeling down next to Yusuke.
Sophia nods. “Most likely. He has demonstrated several symptoms, such as headaches, a ringing in his ears, dilated pupils, and disorientation.”
“Healing spells haven’t worked?”
“We’ve used a bunch and he hasn’t gotten better.”
“Could be because it’s a head injury, and those are weirder than just healing a cut or something,” Futaba suggests. “Or it could be that Yusuke was so banged up there’s a limit to what can be healed at once.”
Makoto sighs. “Fair enough, it’s not like we’ve ever had to treat a concussion in the Metaverse before. We should take him to a hospital.”
“Sounds good,” Akira says, watching the desires the High Pixie had stolen return to their owners. “We’re done here anyway.” He and Ann help Yusuke up, and they leave the Metaverse.
*
Several hours later, Futaba’s pacing is the only noise in the RV. “What is taking them so long?!”
They were crowding the ER, so Makoto stayed in the hospital to answer their questions while everyone else went back to the RV.
“Makoto said Yusuke’s gonna be fine.” Akira says, petting Morgana. “They just have to wait for Zenkichi.” According to Makoto, the doctor confirmed Yusuke had a concussion and should be observed for the next 24 hours, but they wouldn’t let him out of the hospital without a parent or guardian. So, they’d called up Zenkichi.
“Maybe it got worse somehow! That happens you know, someone looks like they’re fine, and then suddenly they’re not.”
“Futaba, there’s no need to get so worked up,” Haru says.
“You wouldn’t be saying that if you saw what I saw!” Futaba snaps. “Necronomicon showed me all of Yusuke’s vitals, I knew exactly what happened to him after he fell. He broke pretty much everything.” Futaba shudders. “One nudge in the wrong place and a rib could pierce a lung or something, if that hadn’t happened already. He had a hip fracture too, do you know how bad those can be? He might never have walked again before Morgana and Sophia healed him, and even after all of that he wasn’t even healed all the way! If we hadn’t gotten there in time-”
Futaba pulls off her glasses and wipes her eyes.
“Futaba,” Ann says, pulling her into a hug. “It’s gonna be ok. Yusuke’s walking, he’s breathing fine, and he just needs to rest, ok? We were able to find him quickly because you picked up his signal.”
“Not to mention you stopped him from hurting himself more when we found him.” Ryuji adds. “Yusuke’s gonna be fine, and he’s gonna be fine because you were there to help him. We just gotta hold on, ok?”
“I didn’t realize I worried you so much, Futaba.”
Everyone turns to see Yusuke, Makoto, and Zenkichi standing in the doorway.
“Yusuke!” Futaba pulls away form Ann and grabs a bag from the hospital gift shop. “That was so stupid of you,” she says, pushing a “Get Well” Mothman plush into Yusuke’s arms.
“Sorry.”
“Well, I mean, you did save Ryuji’s butt so you don’t have to be too sorry.”
“Yeah dude, I totally appreciate that,” Ryuji agrees.
“I just wished you saved him using your Persona instead of, you know, yeeting yourself off a roof.” Futaba points out.
“I couldn’t, I was hit with a forget spell.” Yusuke pouts.
“You could've used your gun.”
Yusuke doesn’t say anything.
“Did you seriously forget about your gun?”
“I forgot we were on a roof, Futaba, clearly I forgot about a lot of things.” Yusuke says, hugging the Mothman plush defensively. “I’m really sorry though. I tried to help and only created more problems for all of you, and now you’ll be shorthanded-”
Morgana jumps onto the table in front of Yusuke. “Hey none of that. Let us worry about you for a few days, ok?”
“Yeah dude,” Ryuji says. “I say, let’s just blame the shadow and it’s weird desire to hoard things, and go out to eat instead.”
“Um, maybe a loud, bright, busy, restaurant isn’t the best place to take the concussed teenager?” Zenkichi points out.
“Good point,” Makoto says. “Guess you can get us take out then.”
“Are you-” Zenkichi sighs. “Fine, alright. What do you want?”
“I could go for some yakisoba,” Yusuke says.
“I want sushi!” Morgana adds.
“I’m feeling like nikuman, actually,” Haru adds.
“You know what? Just text me your orders,” Zenkichi says. “Call if you need anything else. But you kids stay safe ok? I have no clue what happens when you do your whole... thing , but you know, don’t get yourselves killed?”
“Gotcha!” Akira says.
Once Zenkcihi leaves, Futaba turns to the group. “Now, it’s on to Operation: Take Care of Inari.”
Yusuke looks up from his Mothman plush. “You don’t have to do that, I can handle myself.”
“Nope. Part of being on a team means you have to put up with us looking after you.”
The rest of the Thieves nod in agreement, and Yusuke sighs. Looks like there’s no fighting this.
“Fine,” he says, smiling.
They eventually agree on settling down to watch a movie— Yusuke’s choice— and eat their dinner on the floor of the RV in the middle of a large pillow fort.
“Thank you..” Yusuke says under his breath, leaning into his blanket and his friends’ warmth.