Chapter Text
7/28
Akira gently knocked on Futaba's door, a gesture that caused a small rustling sound to reverberate from behind the door. "Hey uh, Futaba?" he asked. A few seconds of silence passed before he got a message from Alibaba, which he promptly glanced to.
'Why are you here? Shouldn't you be working on my heart?'
"We're getting there. Trains are running a little late today, so I figured I'd take the time to chat with you before the others arrive," he explained. "How're you feeling today." His phone chimed again a few minutes later.
'Okay, I guess. I've binged on Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, but I'm already done with all the episodes.'
Akira smiled faintly. Something told him this girl was a bit of an otaku. Not that he was going to judge someone for having hobbies. "Sounds like a monster girl series. Well, I'm sure you'll find a good replacement soon. Truth be told, I haven't had a chance to watch any anime lately."
'Because of your Phantom Thief stuff?'
Akira examined his phone and nodded. "Pretty much. We've been getting a lot more popular, so that eats into a lot of my free time. And my job as an exotic dancer doesn't help either." A muffled snort resounded from the other end of the door, making him smile faintly. "Ah, the great Alibaba has a sense of humor?"
'>:E don't tease me you dork.'
"Alright alright, I'm sorry," he replied with a modest snicker. "But, anyway, I think we're close to a breakthrough. We'll change your heart soon enough," he assured her. Another buzz rocked his phone a few seconds later.
'Is it really gonna take that long?'
"Afraid so," Akira replied. "The inner workings are... well, it's weird, just take my word on that. We can't just snap our fingers and change a person. But we're going to help you, I promise." There seemed to be a particularly long pause before he got another response from Futaba.
'Thanks, I really appreciate that. But don't forget, I can still turn you into the police.'
Akira's smile didn't falter. Something told him Futaba wouldn't go through with hurting them like that.
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7/30
Having two Palaces to contend with at once seemed to greatly increase the need for days off, with their numbers being spread apart those locations. Exploration could be taxing enough with a full team, and now they seemed to tire out just a little bit quicker.
Medjed's deadline was still a good bit of time away, they could afford to take time out on that. And having no deadline at all for Okumura was also welcome.
Having these openings meant that Akira was going to put some time in for his friends, particularly Yusuke and Ann. He felt that the bluenette was close to some kind of breakthrough on his art, particularly with a large painting competition looming on the horizon. But he was still hung up on the relationship between art and money.
Madarame hadn't been able to find any balance between passion for art and his own greed, ultimately becoming consumed by the latter. Akira knew that Yusuke didn't want to turn out the same way, but it was hard to convince him that he could still make money off his passion without falling into the same trap.
Trying to put that thought into words, it seemed, hadn't done much to persuade Yusuke. So for now he was leading the way through the city and casually chatting, hoping for some inspiration to hit.
They rounded one corner, striding away from streets drenched in advertisements and neon colours and into a long stretch of more conservative and serious structures. "You know, we had a customer in Leblanc who was really taken with the Sayuri the other day. Said it was one of the best paintings he had ever seen."
"Oh? Well, I'm glad that it's still bringing enjoyment to people."
Akira nodded slightly. "Guy even said he wanted to buy it. Had to turn him down though. It's not mine to sell, for one thing, and for another it just wouldn't be right to give that painting away for any price."
"I don't doubt Madarame would have jumped at the chance if he had been in your shoes. But I appreciate your restraint immensely Akira," said Yusuke.
The dark haired boy hummed gently, feeling that he was at some sort of dead end right now. He wanted to get to the root of Yusuke's problem, but couldn't seem to find the right words. However he stopped when Yusuke seemed to spot something just ahead of them.
"Oh, isn't that..." The two teens stopped and glanced to a small clinic, the front door opening as a pale and sturdily built man stepped out. The breeze flicked at his white doctor's coat. "Doctor Lifeson?"
Realization struck Akira like a bolt of lightning. When they last met the Stand-using doctor, Yusuke had been impressed by Lifeson's drive to help others, when his powers could have made him the most famous man on earth. But he still earned a living wage. So perhaps this was the kind man who could help sort Yusuke out...
"Doctor! Hey, Lifeson-san," Akira said as the two approached. The taller man looked up from his phone and gave the two a faint smile.
"Ah, you're Shizuka's friends from the other day. Is everything alright?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing serious. I don't know if you caught our names the other day. I'm Akira, and he's Yusuke," he explained, gesturing to the tall and thin bluenette. "You working in here today?" Akira asked, gesturing to the unassuming grey building behind him.
Lifeson nodded slightly. "I go where the Foundation points me. Since I'm gonna be in Japan for a while, it means there's really no shortage of people around here who need a helping hand," he explained.
"It must be taxing," Yusuke said.
"Uh... if you don't mind me asking Lifeson-san, how did you get into this line of work? I know this is probably very personal, but... well, you seem very charitable. With a Stand like yours, you could be one of the richest men around," Akira said.
The older man hummed gently at the question. "It's something I'm asked relatively often, but I don't mind people being curious. The short version is that I tried fame and riches in the past and didn't care for it. The long version is that..." He tapped his chin. "I'm American originally, born and raised in Tennessee, a state in America that's part of what they call the 'Bible Belt.'"
Lifeson leaned back against the wall for support, seeming to realise he'd be talking for some time. "As you can imagine from the name, it's a pretty religious area. Not that being religious is an inherently good or bad thing, it's just... well, it's something to keep in mind for the story. Back when I was a kid, when it was just me and my folks, we got by even when money was a little tight. But things got really difficult when my sister was born." He raised his left hand toward his eyes and made a slight circular motion. "She was born with this condition that damaged her eyes and left her functionally blind. The nerves didn't properly link to her brain and so, well, the brain couldn't receive information from her eyeballs. Having a blind child is tough enough, but the medicine she needed was pricey too."
"That must have been rather challenging," Yusuke gently said, glancing down to his feet.
"Oh yeah. My folks tried their best, and they never took their problems out on us or anything... but even as a kid, I could see how it was causing a lot of strain on them. Me, I just focused on keeping my sister safe. Even so, I really wanted to help her." Lifeson sighed and slowly scratched his right temple. "You know, there's this theory. It says that a persons Stand and the abilities it has are wholly shaped by their needs or desires. Not everyone fits that mold, but I'm pretty sure I did. Cause one day, when I was giving my sister her medicine, Panacea appeared. And a few seconds after she took her pills, she could see."
Akira blinked in surprise. "Your power was that strong on the first go? That's really impressive... I'd say you were shocked," he said.
Lifeson nodded. "My sister was really young at the time. She was surprised too, but I suspect she assumed it was just... natural in some way. My parents and I though, well we recognised that something paranormal had happened. And they wanted to experiment more, so they brought me to my grandfather." He lifted his left hand and lazily made a circling motion. "He'd had a limp for years now because of a farming accident. They handed me his painkillers, I gave those over to him... bam, no more limp."
"By the sound of things, you weren't too happy about that," Yusuke remarked. "But surely it must have been good to help your family."
"Oh it was. Believe me I was more than thrilled to help my sister and granddad, but... well, my parents saw dollar signs. I was the 'miracle healer boy' and they were pretty happy to advertise that fact. And soon we were touring around, with folks paying for me to heal them. On the one hand, I liked earning money for my folks. On the other, the fame really started to weigh on me."
The memories made him grimace. Regardless, he carried on with his story. "We were making money, travelling the states and doing these 'spiritual healing' shows. I liked helping people, hated the glitz. But the more people we helped, the flashier it all got. And then the crazies started showing up," Lifeson explained. "Like I said, I was in a pretty religious part of the states and while a lot of religious folks are great people, some take their worship to insane levels. And some people got this idea in their head that I was a messenger of Satan, some kinda Antichrist."
Yusuke blinked a few times. "What? But that's... ludicrous. If you were helping people, how could anyone think you had nefarious intentions?"
"The Devil wouldn't be very dangerous if he couldn't beguile and tempt people. That was the logic, I guess. I was using Satanic powers to 'heal' people while robbing their souls in the process. Or something like that... It came to a head when, at the end of one show, someone from the crowd stabbed me."
The two boys were taken aback. "I... wow... I'm really sorry to hear that Doctor. That must have been really horrible," Akira said.
"Mm. Didn't hit anything vital, thankfully, but that whole incident... it made me aware that I needed to get out of that lifestyle. I was about... seventeen then, and I just... took off with whatever money I had to hand. But it didn't take long for the Foundation to find me. They'd had people following the news of my shows, and figured out I was a Stand user pretty quickly." A very faint smile crossed his face. "They offered me two things. A spot in medical school so I could get some credentials, and a job with them. I'd be helping people without any of that... bullshit that followed me around before," Lifeson explained.
After a brief pause, Yusuke nodded. "That must have been rather nice. Still... have you been in contact with your parents since then?"
"At times. Things are awkward between us, since I think they know how overboard they went with that 'spiritual healer' stuff... I see my sister fairly regularly though. Hell, I even made sure she had the means to get into college," Lifeson explained. He pushed himself off the wall and slowly stretched his arms over his head. "Well, that's about it... Anyway, I was gonna go and grab a bite to eat before getting back to work," he said.
"Oh uh, one more thing," Akira said. "You still get paid for your work, right?"
"Of course. Helping people and using my abilities for good is the important part, but there's nothing wrong in earning a wage you can live off of." He strode by the two boys and carried on up the road. "Stay safe you two. I'll be happy to see you if it's not just for business."
As he left, Akira glanced to Yusuke and smiled faintly. "See? Nothing wrong with that. So really, as long as you keep the reason for your art in mind, there's no need to worry about turning out like Madarame."
"Ah." Yusuke smiled faintly and followed after Akira. He was slowly making his way to a small ramen shop, and seemed to have no qualms in paying for Yusuke too. "So that was the reason for that discussion?" Akira smiled impishly. "Well, you may well have a point... Say, Akira?"
The dark haired boy cocked his head toward the bluenette. "Hm? What's up?"
"When Lifeson was talking about Stand abilities being based on what you need most at that moment, it made me think of Shizuka. What do you suppose it was the caused her Stand to appear the way it did?"
Akira didn't answer him. But both boys agreed that whatever scenario resulted in an infant needing to be invisible, it couldn't have been a good one.