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"Akihiko. Sit. Now."
Shinji's hand lands and grips tightly on Akihiko's shoulder, stopping him altogether before he even opened the entrance's door.
Akihiko turned around to catch Shinji's eyes, absolutely terrified because oh, Shinji never called him by his name instead of just Aki since years ago. "H-hey, Shinji. Erm, what's up?"
"What's up? What's up?" Shinji's eyes threw a thousand daggers towards Akihiko. "Where do you think you're heading to?"
"Well, look man I just wanted to run for a bit, it doesn't involve my hand so I should be good-"
"Nuh huh." Shinjiro deadpanned and shoved Akihiko into the living room's couch. "Yikes! Shinji- you scared me for a second."
"What's going on now?" Said Mitsuru as she walked down the stairs into the room, probably having just finished business stuff.
"M-mitsuru-" Akihiko attempted to clear up the situation on his favor but Shinji shook him by the shoulder again on the couch, then spoke before Akihiko could continue. "He's trying to go out and train again."
"Akihiko." Mitsuru's voice made Akihiko yelp as he felt like she hit him with Pentesilea and some Bufu in Tartarus.
"Ugh, guys stop making such a big fuss! I was going for a run, a run! I wasn't going to punch anything!"
Shinjiro and Mitsuru exchanged a quick glance at each other before they stood side by side in front of Akihiko, towering over him. Their eyes set on him like an objective, Akihiko sighed and reluctantly stayed in the residency 'resting'.
Later that day, the sky began darkening and the rest of the team came back to the residency too after finishing whatever they had been up to in the afternoon.
Sometimes Akihiko reflected on how less and less he hung out with people nowadays after school. He seemed to be popular amongst girls and he had the respect and admiration from some guys, mainly from the boxing club—it was that or being considered a weirdo. Either way, Tartarus just started consuming more of his free time, if not exploring then training harder.
Back then, he'd sometimes hang out with Mitsuru and Shinji but Mitsuru became busier and busier with Tartarus too plus her family business stuff, and Shinji abandoned the team and their dynamic got a bit muddy since. He'd love to ask but Shinji seemed a little bad on health, probably from living in the streets or something, he just hoped he could get better sooner or later.
"Sanada-san, how did you even get so beaten?" Akihiko was brought back to the room as the young Amada asked him with innocent curiosity.
"Oh, hey Amada. I didn't notice you were back too, heh. Uhm, I simply got into a fight at school, they outnumbered me." Akihiko explained briefly, scratching the back of his neck and sighing at the lingering soreness from his various injuries.
"Why did you fight?"
"Well, it happened during the boxing club hour. I was guiding the team through the training since we started a more intense routine for the incoming tournament. Uhm, two of my underclassmen were pretty late though and they did not pick up my calls. Hence I stepped out of the gym and went to search for them, I ended up finding them getting bullied and roughened up by some delinquents from the boxing club of one of the rival schools. So I jumped in, and yeah."
"Whoa, you're so brave, Sanada-san."
"I-it's nothing, honestly. I just couldn't stand by and watch them get hurt like that."
"And the tournament?"
"Hmm? Oh, the tournament... Yeah, I'll try to recover quick and hopefully participate, but my wrist is quite damaged. Which is kinda disappointing, but I'll gladly still accompany my team and cheer for them."
"Good to see you're finally somewhat accepting your faith, Sanada-san." Akihiko glances to the side and quickly spots the second yearers.
"Kirijo-senpai told us to keep an eye on you while she's out tonight." 'Oh, great." Akihiko thought, frowning slightly and crossing his arms.
"I think I'll just go to my room for the rest of the night—if we aren't going to Tartarus tonight?"
"You say it like you could even come at all, Sanada-senpai." Junpei teased and Akihiko groaned, it was true he's been forgetting that he's in rest time, Tartarus included.
"We won't be going tonight. Mitsuru is out, and you cannot accompany us. She made it a rule that we cannot go by ourselves without one of you at least." Makoto says lastly, Akihiko hums I'm acknowledgement a little frustrated with himself before leaving to his room, wishing goodnight to everyone.
Akihiko was well aware that Shinji wasn't around either tonight, he sometimes took up night shifts at a cafe to get some money for himself. Hence, he walked directly into his room and closed the door behind.
Stretching out slowly, he felt muscles and bones protest while relieving some tenseness at the same time.
Akihiko slowly began taking off his school uniform and change into his more comfortable clothes, being a little quicker than the first few days but also slower than he'd usually be what with his broken wrist.
He stared down at his torso for some seconds as he prepared to put on his red t-shirt, considering taking his binder off or not. On one hand, Mitsuru and Shinji who were usually the ones nagging him about it were out. But on the other hand, Akihiko knew better than overdo it while already being in a more vulnerable physical state, so he ended up taking it off and quickly putting on his t-shirt.
It was always a bit uncomfortable since he was not a fan nor an owner of many too oversized clothes, especially as the years progressed. More often than not he'd opt for using some tape for these situations like he did for when he was training or at the club. Sadly, he couldn't really work much with it at the moment with an useless hand.
Akihiko laid down on his back, fluffy blankets cushioning him, staring at rhe ceiling while waiting for sleep to overtake him.
He's always had a little trouble falling asleep. He's always been like this as far as he can remember. On one side, he tended to seemingly have more energy than the average person, and then he picked up on boxing and various sports and trainings over the years and also Tartarus came around.
At the beginning, it helped him a lot to regulate that extra energy and he used to fall asleep quicker during that time. But overtime, his body seemed to have gotten used to the routine and although the energy imbalance wasn't that bad, he was mildly insomniac more nights than not and now with a reduced activity he felt like crawling up the ceiling and do pushups up there upsidedown.
He knew better than to try anything though, as much as Mitsuru and Shinji were out they always seemed to have a special sixth sense for when he should be resting.
"Ugh, jeez." Akihiko grunted quietly and began rolling and tossing on the mattress. It was just a matter of time and he knew it, his body was reacting earlier than expected though.
Something that he'd experiment when he was too energetic but also exhausted and trying too hard to rest was a buzzing underneath his skin, sometimes his body began itching or feeling like he was being poked with needles. Adding to all that a certain static kind of situation inside his head and overall spatial senses.
After some time, the uncomfortable symptoms racking through his body dissipated—even if it was only due to the fact he passed out on his bed, head buried under his pillow.
He was woken up as his door creaked when it was opened. It was a little hard with his blurred vision and the darkness of the room, but it didn't take too long for him to recognise Mitsuru being the person entering his bedroom, holding a cup of warm tea on one hand.
"Akihiko? Did I wake you up?" Mitsuru asked slightly apologetic although not that much as she set the cup down on the little nightstand, pushing softly to the sides some of the stuff Akihiko had there messily placed. Mainly his boxing stuff, like his gloves, some gauze, bandages; and also other things like his current medication for the pain and his glasses.
"Yeh. What hour 's it? And why're you here?" Akihiko slurred a bit, voice heavy with sleep, tilting his head to have a better view of Mitsuru, who had sat down on the corner of his bed and placed a hand on his forehead. "You 'now I don't have fever."
"Maybe, but it's important to make sure. Anyway, as for your doubts—it's 2 a.m. right now and I just wanted to leave you some tea and head to my own bed. I just came back, I drank my own tea and since there was enough for a whole extra cup I thought you'd appreciate it even if it were to be cold by the time you'd wake up."
Mitsuru gestures Akihiko for the tea and he slowly sits up, stretching out before grabbing the warm cup and taking a small sip. "Mm, chamomile. Heh, you always know what I need don't you?"
"How are you feeling?" Akihiko thinks momentarily of his reply. "Well, it doesn't hurt much now. But I've been a little restless lately, I guess."
"Even more than usual? Wow, sometimes I forget that's even possible." A gruff voice accompanied by soft steps made its presence into the room too.
"Well, at least I don't look dead on my feet all day long." Akihiko retorts back and Mitsuru sighs. "Can you two stop arguing like little kids for one day?"
"Shinji started it." Akihiko said almost pouting, Shinji opted for not dignifying a reply since he couldn't stop thinking that Aki looked so adorable like that, instead he just grunted.
Some comfortable silent minutes passed by as Akihiko finished his tea and Shinji went to his room to change out of his work uniform and take a quick shower, as per Mitsuru's request solely. She insisted that he smelled strongly like coffee from his workplace and they didn't want to risk Akihiko suddenly craving a cup and become even more insomniac for the rest of the night.
When Shinji was finally back, he leaned against Akihiko's nightstand and looked down at him as he asked. "Jeez, why are you even so reckless today? It's not your first time getting timed out from an injury, and you're not usually this bad."
Akihiko looked down and his eyes kept moving around, changing the subject they focused on every half a minute. His feet, his hands, his floor, the school books... "Hey, don't ignore me now."
He couldn't help the small flinch, jumping a little on his bed. His brain was starting to ache.
"Tsk." Shinji shook his head before subtly getting closer to Akihiko and sitting next to him on the bed, bumping him to a side to have enough space for him. And also to hopefully get the man out of whatever mood has gripped him at the moment.
It worked as expected, thankfully. Akihiko pouted yet again. "Shinji-!" Mitsuru rolled her eyes at the situation and decided to take a seat too, on Akihiko's other side. "Whoa- my bed isn't long enough for this guys!"
"Like if I care." Shinji grunted.
"You'll live." Mitsuru added.
"You two are impossible-" before Akihiko could finish, he was attacked from both sides with two widely different glares, yet they both gave away the 'you're one to talk' message into his skull.
Which was pounding badly, something he was just starting to properly acknowledge as exhaustion was reclaiming his body.
"Well?" Shinji nudged him lightly. "Hmm?" "The question from before." Mitsuru clarified, helpful as always.
Although Akihiko didn't like lying or avoiding confrontation, he really was not in a mood nor state to bare his soul to them right now. It was hard for him as it was per normal.
"I don't...feel very well right now. Can I explain later?" Akihiko said almost pleadingly, starting to subconsciously slump into Akihiko's side.
At some point Mitsuru and Shinji agreed, or at least Akihiko assumed they did. His ears began ringing and his mind was all fuzzy. And certainly the warmth and comfort from leaning into Shinji's figure and Mitsuru's hand that was now on his head, soothingly rubbing Akihiko's scalp slowly.
He ended up dozing off, sandwiched between the two people he cared the most, and that were always there to take care of him too.
The next morning, Akihiko woke up with what he supposed should've been being neatly tucked into his bed, but he always messed these up since he tended to roll and toss in his sleep a lot.
Shinji and Mitsuru were no longer in his bedroom, but the warmth and affection he felt last night were still there deep within him in the cheesiest way he'd allow himself to take in.
He quickly changed into the school uniform and went downstairs. Only Mitsuru and Shinji were there, eating breakfast, the rest of the members had to leave earlier today since their year had to organise some stuff for a festival soon.
Akihiko sat down on the table with the others, having some coffee prepared by Mitsuru and pancakes by Shinji. He couldn't help but feel the swarm of nostalgia take over him completely momentarily.
After enjoying some bites, Akihiko set his chopsticks down and took a deep breathe before speaking.
"So, uhm- about yesterday's question... I-I'm sorry guys I know I'm being a burden lately. I just feel so, so restless it's making my skin buzz in a weird way. And there's so much stuff going on, too. Like, Shinji is finally back in the team and I really want to spend time with him and fight along his side like the old times and I just feel like such a burden in general. There's only 3 moons left, we've made so much progress in Tartarus, and chances are they'll just keep getting stronger. I-I don't want Minato or the rest of the team to bench me forever or start believing I'm an unreliable senior. And I don't really feel well about 'abandoning' my boxing club even more than I've already been doing due to our missions, right before the championship. It's just- ugh."
Akihiko looked down at the table and turned red as he realised he just blurted all that out hurriedly.
"Akihiko..." He heard Mitsuru mumble, and then, "Aki, I swear you haven't changed one bit you dumbass."
Before he could properly look up at them, Shinji decided to give Akihiko a playful nudge on the head. "Yikes- Shinji stopppp!"
"That's what you get for being this whole self deprecation bullshit. You're not a burden, dumbass." As always, Shinji's tone was gruff and he kept a hand around Akihiko's neck in a half headlock.
"For once, I agree with your methods, Shinjiro." Mitsuru said, and although Akihiko couldn't look up properly at her face, he was quite sure she was grinning.
Later that day, after school, Akihiko was surprised to find a notification on his phone from Mitsuru, asking if he wanted to hangout with her and Shinji that afternoon. Which he immediately replied to a 'Yes!!' and sprinted all the way to where the meeting spot, which earned him a lecture from Mitsuru and some more nudges from Shinji.