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“It doesn’t go away… “
Usually, when hit with a status ailment, it goes away once the battle is over. They haven’t figured out why (Akira supposes none of them are the mystery-solving type of people) but one should never look a gift horse in the mouth so they never really questioned it.
However, now with Ann afflicted with freeze and Yusuke afflicted with burn and no curing items because he’s stupid , he doesn’t really know what to do.
At least the symptoms are milder. They can both move and don't seem to be taking damage, but is it really wise to continue through Madarame’s palace when two of five members are compromised?
“W-why won’t it g-go away!?” Ann whines between clattering teeth. “I can’t go on like this! I’ll die!” She stares at his coat intensely.
Akira shrugs off his coat and hands it over to her.
“I must agree with Panther. This incinerating heat might be the end of me,” Yusuke gasps out. He unzips his outfit all the way to the sash around his hips.
“Dude! You can’t just undress here!” Ryuji protests.
“But Joker did.”
“He has a shirt under!”
“Maybe it’s best to go home,” Morgana says. “You’re in no condition to fight, and maybe the conditions will disappear once we return to the real world.”
“But what about Madarame!?” Yusuke bursts out. “I refuse to be the reason we must postpone the infiltration!”
“Just blame it on Panther,” Akira suggests, looking at his coat enviously. His arms are getting cold, truth to be told, and he wants it back no matter how kind he wants to be.
“No way!” She wraps the coat tighter around herself. “I d-don’t wanna stall the i-infiltration either!”
“How unfair that those shadows took advantage of our weaknesses like that,” Yusuke grits out. “I could shake off a little cold with the help of Goemon, but to fight the force of a scorching sun, a raging fire-”
Akira has an idea. “Why don’t you hold each other?”
They look at him curiously.
“Hold each other!?” Morgana says in outrage. “That’s-!”
“Actually r-really smart!” Ann exclaims. She claps her hands together in glee. “If F-fox feels hot, and I feel cold, m-maybe a hug can cancel the s-sensations out!”
“That’s our leader!” Ryuji cheers, and it’s a little excessive when Akira just spouted the first stupid idea that came to mind, but hey. Flattery gets you everywhere.
Also, if they believe hard enough, cognition might bend in their favor and make this work.
“Let’s do this!” Ann shouts, throwing herself into Yusuke's arms and squeezing him like a teddy bear.
A dreadful five seconds pass.
“I… “ Yusuke starts. “I think it’s helping.”
“For real?”
“Yeah!” Ann shrugs off the coat. “Thank you for letting me borrow this, Joker!”
“No problem,” he says, snatching it from below her before she changes her mind. The museum looks warmer than it actually is.
They lean away from each other for a split second before reattaching themselves to each other.
“Uhh, what’s up?” Ryuji asks.
“The status effects come back when we let go of each other!” Ann groans. She's pressing the side of her head to his chest.
“Do you believe we can progress through the palace like this?” Yusuke laments.
"Maybe it's skin-to-skin contact specifically," Akira says. "You seemed fine when Ann took off the coat while still leaning into you."
“So you don’t need to cling to each other,” Morgana huffs. “Also, Fox, zip up your shirt.”
“Ah.”
They remove themselves from one another and link their hands together after Yusuke has removed one of his gloves. He also zips up his shirt as instructed.
“Can you fight like this?” Ryuji asks.
“Probably,” Ann says. "I mainly use my persona anyways."
“And now we can count ourselves as four party members,” Akira says.
“Then we don’t need to postpone the infiltration?” Yusuke asks.
“If you think this works… “ Morgana says.
“Yes!”
**
“In all honesty, I’d love to see just how far we can go…”
Mementos is cold in the same ways subways are, and the mysterious winds don't help the case. Akechi doesn’t look tired and Akira doesn’t feel tired enough to call it quits either, his blood singing and thrumming with adrenaline. He also wants to see how far they can go. He wants to see how strong Akechi actually is.
Akechi clears his throat, putting on a big cheery smile. “But we have an important mission coming up! Until that’s finished, you’re a vital ally to me.”
He could stop him if he wanted. Confront him about that he’s far stronger than he appears, especially with his flimsy lie of only recently awakening his persona. Even so, Akechi’s right. They should stay well-rested for Sae’s palace, and despite Akira being sure Akechi wouldn’t kill him in a place like this he shouldn’t taunt death to take him early either.
“We’re done here. Let’s-”
“Hee-hoo!”
What.
Akira barely has time to turn around before a bold Jack Frost freezes Akechi into a cube.
An even bolder Jack-o'-Lantern throws a fire attack at him, and he knows he has Evade Fire on Byakko but he must’ve been really thrown off guard or the gods decided to give him the fuck-you finger because he gets hit, causing extra damage and knocking him off his feet, and to add insult to injury he thinks he got burned, too.
He can feel his health dropping from the agonizing burns, which allows the shadow to attack again. Jack Frost’s attack does nothing to him (actually, he thinks he’s recovering health from its attack), something that gives him enough time to recover.
“Byakko! Swift Strike!” he yells out from the ground.
The white tiger appears with a roar, decimating the shadows instantly.
Akira feels dizzy despite how weak the shadows were. He did say that he didn’t feel very tired, but that Jack-o'-Lantern really did a number on him, as embarrassing that is to admit. There’s a big chance he might pass out, if not from his injuries then from the sweltering heat still lingering even when the battle is over.
He takes off his gloves, sticky with sweat. Takes off his mask. His coat.
"Joker, what are you doing?"
Puts on his coat again because he forgot about Akechi's existence and doesn't want to undress in front of him out of nowhere like a whore. "Um. Nothing."
Akechi moves behind him until Akira can feel his presence.
Akira thinks, suddenly, that he might still get killed, as Akechi crouches down behind him and breathes down his neck. Akira thinks he might die of something else entirely when Akechi starts feeling up his sides with shaky hands.
"Where do you store your healing items?"
Akira thinks he'd rather get his throat slit than have Akechi get his hopes up like that. "Left coat pocket."
Akechi fishes out a Bead and gives it to Akira for consumption. "You have to be careful. I'd be heartbroken if you managed to d-defeat me only to die at the hands of some low-level shadows."
Akira stands up and twirls around to offer his hand. "I'd hate to disappoint."
The hand in his is freezing, Akira realizes, as he pulls him up. A balm to his burning existence, but he can't imagine Akechi is having a good time.
"You're burning up," Akechi says with a frown. "W-we should leave immediately, it'll go away when we enter the real world."
At least he's doing an amazing job hiding that his body feels like a sentient popsicle. He's doing less of an amazing job pretending he isn't experienced with the ways of the Metaverse. "Yeah. But."
"But?"
"I know a way to alleviate it. This feeling, I mean." Akira's throat is drying up. He's probably red all over.
"Did you bring cures?"
Well. He did, actually, but that's not what he was going to propose. "Take off your glove."
Akechi stares at him as if he's mad.
Akira stares back, deadly serious.
"If you say so, leader," Akechi huffs, peeling off his gloves in the most dramatic inconvenienced fashion, and Akira still doesn't know why his heart decided that this guy, this guy specifically would be the one doing it for him.
Akira snatches his ungloved hand and holds it in his grasp.
"What the-" Akechi's eyes widen, staring at where their hands are connected with wonder. "Oh."
"Cool, right?"
Akechi reddens. "I suppose. Although does this mean we have to hold hands all the way until we leave?"
"Yeah." Akira smirks. "Problem?"
His face of conflict turns into one of irritation before he smirks back and says, "Not at all, I just wanted to confirm our situation." He lifts his hand, taking Akira's with it, bows just slightly only to kiss the back of his hand. "What kind of prince would I be if I can't escort you to the entrance?"
Akira shivers at the sensation of lips brushing the back of his hand.
Fuck.
**
(They fumble through the glove-throwing scene and scream when they get home.)