It was a bad idea.
Akihiko knew this.
It was such a terrible, awful idea. But he went with it anyways.
While Junpei and Mitsuru had been preoccupied with one Shadow, he and Kotone-chan had ventured off to try and tackle another Shadow that was safeguarding the teleporter back to the first floor.
It had been three Shadows, more powerful than Akihiko had anticipated. On top of that, he and Kotone-chan had been ambushed, so they weren’t exactly in the best position to begin with.
But Akihiko felt like throwing up as she took hit after hit from the Shadows, while still ordering him to keep himself healed.
“Akihiko-senpai! Your health is low!” Kotone-chan shouted as she wiped a trickle of blood from her mouth.
Your health is low, she shouted. As though she wasn’t liable to be struck down by a single blow from the enemy.
Speak of the devil, and he may answer.
As Akihiko reached for his Evoker, he heard a sound he’d pay good money to never hear again.
The enemy struck at Kotone-chan, and she collapsed. The sound of crunching bone echoed in Akihiko’s ears like a gunshot as her head bounced against the hard floor of Tartarus.
Akihiko couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t do anything except stare at the unmoving body of their leader. He didn’t even think she was breathing.
For one terrible, silent moment, nothing moved. Nothing stirred. Not even the Shadows they were fighting dared shift from their spots in front of them. Fuuka cried desperately from whatever she was contacting them with, begging Kotone-chan to get up, please, get back up-
“Come on, get up... Get up, dammit, we need you to get up...” Akihiko muttered, his anxiety climbing the longer Kotone-chan remained still on the ground.
Finally, finally, after a terrible moment of dead silence, Kotone-chan rose to her feet. She looked unsteady, liable to collapse again at any time, but she was alive and breathing and oh god was Akihiko about to cry-?
“Kotone-chan!” Akihiko shouted, casting Dia on her. Her posture straightened, and she looked at him with an odd expression.
Shrugging it off, Akihiko focused all his attention on keeping Kotone-chan alive, for fuck’s sake, because clearly she didn’t think that was important.
When the battle was over, Akihiko pulled Kotone-chan into a hug. It was long and tight and she was trembling from head to toe, and Akihiko knew it would be okay. They all returned home, with Kotone-chan mumbling something about giving up requests for a man named Theodore. How weird.
Akihiko was too tired to care. As soon as he got into his nightclothes, he passed out.
That night, he dreamt of Shinji and Kotone-chan both.
AKIHIKO BEING SCARED OF LOSING PEOPLE AFTER WHAT HAPPENED TO SHINJI OH MY GOD?!!! THIS IDEA IS SO DELICIOUS???? akihiko just getting terrified whenever someone falls in battle or when someone gets hurt because he's so scared of losing someone again. he doesnt want someone to die because of him. he doesnt want someone to die for his sake. he doesnt want someone to die in his arms again. he sees any minor injury as a threat to a person he cares about because he realized they're mortal and there's no guarentee they'll live...
