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Yusuke's on fire right now. He's been painting non-stop for hours. He's never painted so much in his life!
He's absolutley covered in paint from head to toe and every corner of the art room is covered in canvases.
Why was he even worried about his slump, this is amazing!
"Kitagawa-kun?"
Yusuke spins on his heel to see Ryuko-senpai.
"Senpai! Good morning how are you? I feel great!"
"Kitagawa-kun, it's the middle of the afternoon. And uh... what's this?"
"I the muses struck me last night! I woke up in a cold sweat and had to paint."
"Have you been in here all day?"
"I was so in the throes of artistic passion I couldn't keep track of the time," Yusuke laughs.
Ryuko-senpai nods. "Well your homeroom teacher asked me to give you the work you missed today, and remind you that if you're sick you need to tell the nurse."
"Sick? I've never felt better in my life!"
Ryuko-senpai frowns. "Kitagawa-kun, what's that on your arm?"
"Oh?" He looks down and sees her pointing to a cut he'd bandaged a few days ago and is now covered in paint. "Oh that was just a minor scrape from some of the shadows in Mementos, it wasn't worth someone wasting energy to heal it."
"Ok... Kitagawa-kun, did you um... clean that at all? Have you replaced the bandages?"
"No, I was so tired I just wrapped it and then went to bed."
Ryuko-senpai takes his arm and carefully removed the bandage, then winces. "Yep, that's infected." Then her eyes widen. "Kitagawa-kun were you using the non-toxic paints?"
"Huh? I'm not sure, I didn't have time to read, I just grabbed the correct colors and got to work."
"Oh. Oh no, you need to go see the nurse right now, maybe even the hospital."
"What? I feel great?"
"Now is not the time, we're washing this, then going to the nurse."
~
Ren gets a call from Yusuke while at work at 777.
"Hey, what's up?" He asks.
"Um is this Amamiya-san? I'm Ryuko Saito I'm in the theater clubs with Kitagawa-kun, he asked me to call you."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"He's got an infected cut and he wouldn't calm down unless I promised to call you to say erm he's not going to be able to fight shadows in Mementos or something today?"
"H-he said that?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, the infection's made him delirious. He's probably going to get some antibiotics and rest it off."
Ren winces. "Is he at the hospital?"
"The ambulance is on the way."
"Ok, let me meet you guys there."
Ren grabs Morgana and quickly explains the situation and then they meet Saito at the hospital.
"Ah, Amamiya-kun, I presume?"
"Yeah," Ren says. "How is he?"
"I had to wrestle him over to the sink to clean the wound, then drag him to the nurse's office, and he was sweating the whole time," she says. "I'm not incredibly well versed in infections other than what I've studied online, but none of that seems good."
"No," Ren says.
"Amamiya-kun, forgive my asking but what do you do with Yusuke-kun when you hang out?"
"W-we play a lot of video games!" Ren says. "That's what he meant when he talked about fighting shadows and stuff."
Saito nods. "Ah of course. But if I may, he said he got the cut with you and that it was too minor for someone else to waste energy looking at. It seemed to be a pretty significant wound too."
"I live above a cafe and have been showing Yusuke how to cook, maybe he cut himself without me noticing?"
Saito is clearly unconvinced.
"Fine," she says. "But whatever it is you're really doing, I want you to consider the consequences. Hopefully we caught Kitagawa-kun in time, and he hasn't gotten any of the toxic paints or paint thinner near the wound to make the infection worse. I don't know Kitagawa-kun that well, but I know he'd be distraught if his arm has to be amputated."
"Is that a possibility?!"
Saito shrugs. "I'm not a doctor but... possibly. And I'm not blaming you for Kitagawa-kun's condition, I'm simply saying if you're taking up dangerous hobbies, please be aware of the risks. I'd hate for this to happen to anyone else."
"Believe me," Ren says, "I know."