pullmeoutalive | P5 Voicetest; Makoto Niijima, Ann Takamaki

[he might have pushed himself a wee bit too hard the last time they went into mementos.

it wasn't really intentional—he'd just expended a little too much energy as they approached the next barrier. wanting everyone else to conserve what they had left after taking out a couple of targets mishima had provided them with, it meant that akira took a bit much on his shoulders. the tactics shifted so that they were fighting conservatively; physical attacks, guarding, debuffs with futaba patching in buffs every so often. but that left joker handling a lot of the elemental spells. and even when he saw other people's energy getting low, he made sure they had some of the coffee he brought in a thermos for them all...

and neglected any for himself, because it was more important that they were prepared. his stamina was good, good enough to get them where they had to go. but by the time they left mementos, he was completely exhausted. even morgana didn't have to tell him that he should go to bed as soon as he walked in leblanc's door. it wasn't quite enough though—

he awoke at sunrise for school, wishing so desperately he could stay in bed. his head was foggy, face almost sallow, throat sore and nose somehow both stuffy and runnng all at once.

miserable.

colds are always miserable.

but he's not one to stop, even when he should. though he tries to not let it show to sojiro as he eats his breakfast (the curry does, at least, clear his sinuses briefly), but when he shuffles through shibuya station to get his transfer to aoyama-ichtome...

he's kind of like a zombie. and he's hoping, quietly and miserably that none of his friends run into him here, because he probably needs to conserve all is energy in pretending he's not feeling so terrible for being in class with ann.

(who's he kidding, he's going to nap in kawakami's class for sure.)

...he's standing at the platform, kind of spacing out enough that a train leaves and he's still... just standing there. it's a good thing the trains run fast and often, but he's definitely going to be a bit in another world, between sniffles and coughs as he waits for the next train.

whoops.]

[It's a shoot! There's nothing that unusual for them--models go to photoshoots, even models with Personas who occasionally have to use them to fight Demons and/or Shadows and save the world. Nothing special there (except everything's special).

Except.

Well.

Elly doesn't look all too pleased with the theme of this photoshoot. Her arms are crossed, brow furrowed a little and foot tapping as she eyes the sudden change in plans--

And truly, usually she'd be able to roll with it, but... going from a "heroines" themed shoot to a "damsel" themed shoot is a huge change, and Elly doesn't fancy herself to be a damsel at all, so while normally she'd be cheerfully bidding her new photoshoot companion a hello... right now, she's mostly just simmering a little, brows drawn together as she eyes the director of the shoot (who seems to be trying very hard to pretend he's not noticing her trying to bore holes into the back of his head).

... Hi Ann.]

[i wrote one prompt you can write this one

I'M HELPING]

[he probably would have hid the worst of it forever, if he could.

that first day back had been brutal; everyone was ready to celebrate their victory, and akira had been too... in theory. in theory, part of him was still riding the high of what happened and how it went.

...but then there was the other part of him. the part that still felt the lingering effects of the drug. the part of him that tried to hide the bruises on his face and the cut near his mouth. the part of him that definitely had a couple of slightly cracked ribs and bruising to along with it. the part of him that felt the awful pain in his right leg when he put his weight on it, because that blow he took to it out of his own drugged defiance really was with intent to break.

so he tried to hide his winces when ryuji draped an arm around him. he tried to stand with his weight on his left leg instead, and he tried to keep his focus on ann and makoto as they chatted about what they did while they waited for his release. he kept his unfocused gaze shielded by the glare that reflected off his glasses, and when they (or rather, sojiro) ushered them to sit at the booth. he was quieter, more still; rather than his hands making idle motions, he just... sat, still tired, still sore, still in need of recovery.

but akira only tells half the story. he talks about the arrest, he talks about the obvious injuries he can't hide, he talks about how he worked things out with sae and opened those opportunities to complete their plan.

he doesn't tell them about the being drugged, his hazier memories, the way he was injured and what bad shape he's still in. he does everything in his power to try and hide that, though he doesn't exit the booth when he goes to see them off—

and when everyone in leblanc has exited, sans sojiro and morgana, there's tension that drains from him, knowing that he should probably go upstairs and rest, though he wants to help sojiro clean up and find some semblance of normalcy. but pushing himself to his feet is hard—so he moves slow, hardly expecting that anyone would stay back or re-enter leblanc for any reason at all.

he's the leader of the phantom thieves, but he's so dumb sometimes, especially in these moments of vulnerability.

(akira's probably in for a pretty rude awakening soon enough, isn't he?)]

[ He sure is!!

Ann knows she can be oblivious at times. She isn't like Makoto, and her careful calculations and extended plans. She isn't some sort of computer genius like Futaba, who can process information super quickly and turn that information into a weapon to be wielded against the enemy. She doesn't have Haru's carefully cultivated diplomacy or her empathy for those she cares for. But Ann is also not blind.

Not when her best friend had started walking gingerly, when she'd winced over a friendly arm thrown over her shoulder, when it started taking longer to explain each new bruise Ann found when they were changing for gym class. There was an air of guarded weariness about her, and after everything, it's hard not to notice similar warning signs surrounding Akira. The circumstances are obviously different, but at the same time...

Well, hadn't they all known by now how corrupt the police were?

So as the gang leaves, and Ann hesitates, glancing back over her shoulder as the rest of them part ways--

She stands there for a full three minutes, and then she turns and walks back inside, to where Akira is slowly shifting himself to his feet. And she tilts her head, gaze solemn, as she extends a hand to him. ]

Come on. I'll help you upstairs.

[he probably should have seen it coming.

deep down, it's not like he doesn't know that his friends are perceptive about some things. he's sure makoto and futaba knew especially, thanks to their observant ways, and that maybe the others picked up on a bit too. but nobody said anything, and he didn't see many worried glances being exchanged (or maybe they did, and he's too exhausted to catch it).

he'd hoped, in all honesty, that he'd be in the clear.

being in this state, his own senses slip enough that it doesn't even occur to him that ann had been through this with shiho already, that she'd recognize the signs because of what happened all those months ago.

which is exactly why he looks at her, surprised when she re-enters leblanc... and even more surprised when she offers her hand. for a moment, akira seems legitimately dumbfounded by this. part of him wants to refuse because he's the leader of the phantom thieves and he should be strong enough to fight through this without having to use his friends as crutches. they depend on him—

(and though they always tell him he can lean on them too, he never seems to be able to find it in him to burden them when he has so much more on his shoulders to try and manage. it feels wrong, even if that's what led him to this very situation.)

but of course, that other part of him knows that ann is stubborn, that she's feisty, that she's probably not going to take "no" for an answer. yet still, he shakes his head, letting it dip a little and letting out a humorless laugh.]

I hope you're not going to try and princess-carry me up the stairs. [yeah, this is akira, throwing out his dumb sense of humor to deflect from how bad it really is. even though he's clearly tired and uncomfortable, even though he's not doing a great job at masking it now that he's torn away that mask.

(and maybe he's trying to delay actually accepting her help for a minute, because... it's odd to him to try and do.)]

[ ... Oh boy. Not that he was doing such a great job at hiding how obviously unwell he feels, but even if he was, Makoto's perceptiveness isn't about to be thwarted. She'd thought Joker was handling the elemental spectrum more so than any of them, but his orders had been clear: conservation first, with Makoto joining in on the more physical attacks.

Clearly straining himself had brought him to this point, and Makoto stands there for a full ten seconds behind him, watching his shoulders tense with each cough-- before she sighs, managing to give disappointment a sound without words and reaches out to clasp his shoulder. ]

You shouldn't be here.

[ Hi, Elly!!

... No, to be fair, Ann (who is all about the sultry and the villain and the superhero and not the simpering) isn't too happy about this either. But she's at least trying to smile at her fellow model (while also hoping that this isn't going to end as poorly as her first time meeting Mika had gone). ]

Talk about a total reversal, huh?

Oh...!

[Whoops! Elly sure was just totally spacing out and ignoring Ann there, wasn't she? (Thankfully, this is not going to turn into a Mika situation).]

Yes, it is a little unexpected... but I suppose we'll just have to make the best of it. Those who go the extra mile, after all...

[Yeah she definitely just lapsed into English for no apparent good reason, roll with it.

She claps her hands together a moment later, smiling brightly.]

Regardless! You must be Ann, is that right?

That's what Boss would be for, if you're stubborn.

[ And she will indeed recruit Sojiro for hauling Akira's sorry butt up the stairs if it means he's in bed and resting sooner instead of cracking jokes in some attempt not to worry her.

Because sometimes, that's how Ann deflects concern directed at her, too. Or she simply redirects that concern back to the person fretting about her. At any rate, she's not about to let Akira push her worries aside, no matter how good his intentions might be. ]

But I think you'd've learned by now that I can't stand jerks hurting my friends.

[ He hadn't been that injured when they'd scattered from the Casino, she knows that. And Akira was the type to downplay his own injuries. Looking at him now, it's even more apparent that he's been hurt more than he'd let on with the others. ]

[busted.

he's definitely not expecting makoto to come up behind him like that, and though he avoids her gaze directly... he can see the disappointment in her expression.

it's not like there's much hiding it from her, even if he wants to. not when she can see him coughing. but still, akira is.

shrugging it off.

it's just a little cold? it's an anime cold, it's not even real.]

Can't afford to miss a day. [he's got too many eyes on him at all times with the administration at school thanks to his record and all.] It's just a tickle in my throat, anyway.

[akira.]

[ It's fine, it's fine, her English is already ten times better than Ryuji "I am a Japanese" Sakamoto. If anyone's going to be fine with it, Ann's your girl. ]

Yeah, that's me! [ Complete with a little fistpump, no less. ]

And you're... Eriko-san?

[ She's made an effort to be a more serious model, she's paying attention more often these days. ]

That sounds like the stuff of nightmares. And anyway... you can't set the police on fire, even if they are a bunch of bastards.

[being princess-carried up the stairs by sojiro. no thanks. even if he has helped akira up and down the stairs nearly every time since he's been home... that's just a bit too much.

but it means he will comply, however reluctant akira might be. of course, there are obvious problems with this plan. he stumbles a bit trying to get to his feet because of his leg, and that motion makes his ribs hurt even more. he'd masked this all well with practiced motions upon entering leblanc, but with that mask off and the others gone, he falters.

and stumbling into ann is probably not the best idea when he's bigger than her. she's strong, but he was already expecting to carry a decent amount of his own weight and just let ann be a bit of a crutch but this... is not what he intended at all.

this sure is a problem, isn't it?]

[ Okay, so she hasn't been working out as diligently as Ryuji has, or been trying to do pull-ups in her bedroom, and Akira is definitely bigger and heavier than she is, but she's Takamaki Ann and she is not going to fall today!!

And neither is Akira, if she's got anything to say about it, so as he falters, Ann shifts and carefully wraps an arm around his waist to steady him. ]

It's okay. We'll take it slow.

[It's no surprise Yusuke is hungry.

It's his default state of being: he really lives up to the starving artist stereotype, though he would gladly trade that in for something else. He sways a little as he walks in the station surrounded by the shops in the underground, but stops, staring intently toward what looks to be a crepe stand. Anything. Any kind of food will do.

Even though something bigger and more filling would be satisfying.

When he tugs at his pockets and turns them out empty, however, he frowns down at them accusingly, as though his money's just flown off somewhere. As opposed to him spending it on art supplies. He tugs again at the fabric as though some yen has slipped into the seams (it's happened before) but when nothing shows itself he sighs and folds his arms.

Ah, the human body and it's need for food... How inconvenient even though food is amazing.]

...Sorry.

[that's the sort of thing that doesn't come easy to akira at all. to apologize is something he really only does when he has to—

though his friends come before he pride enough, enough so that he will in this case.

the truth of the matter is that putting weight on his right like feels awful right now, so he needs to use her as a bit of a crutch here. it's honestly kind of embarrassing to akira.

he's joker, leader of the phantom thieves. he moves about stealthily, he can jump from high distances and land on his feet like a cat, he can do backflips in the middle of battle—being battered and bruised and relying on one of his teammates to get up a dinky flight of stairs just feels bad, man.]

I was hoping you wouldn't have to see this. [but there's no hiding it now, even if...

well, he'd like to at least avoid telling her about his ribs.]

You're the first person to insist any one of us take a break when we start getting tired. If Ann or Ryuji were this bad, you'd also likely be the first to encourage them to go home. If you're ill, I'd be more than willing to explain matters to your homeroom teacher and have Ann bring back notes for you.

Let me feel your forehead.

[ Well. At least Makoto's polite enough to... calmly demand. ]

That's a funny thing to say. [ Ann says this lightly, even as she makes sure to take slow, ginger steps towards the stairs and onto them so Akira doesn't have to suffer any more than he already is. ]

I'm pretty sure you've seen us in some pretty bad states too. You know, one Garu spell too many on Ryuji, or that time Yusuke fell in love with a Shadow, or that time I got turned into a rat--

[ She's inwardly cringing. MOVING ON. ]

You've held us up and helped us out so many times, you know? Maybe I've been bad at it before, but isn't friendship supposed to be supporting each other on either end? You're my friend before you're my leader.

Ann and Ryuji don't have a probation officer to answer to.

[he sounds almost... exasperated, as he responds. akira's not really one to get snappy, but rather than calm deadpan snark, it seems like he really don't have it in him to think too cleverly for the moment.

either way, it's true. it's not that he can't miss a day of school, but he'd already gotten his warning about being egregiously late on day one—he has absolutely no leeway to speak of within shujin's wall.

even if kawakami would cover a bit for him, the adminstration is definitely in touch with the probation officer and making sure he's attending properly. missing school means going to the doctor. going to the doctor means making takemi fuss.

though it doesn't seem like he's refusing to lean down to let makoto feel his forehead, even if he's going to insist:] It's nothing I can't sleep off tonight.

It's a little different.

[those things happened in the metaverse and were often rectified so easily. this happened in the real world, in a very real way without a diarahan to save him or a harisen recovery to snap him out of things.

right now, he's left pretty beaten and battered, with that limp he still wants to hide—

but it's also a matter of pride. he's their leader, and he can't turn that off even if they're friends first. he took this beating to protect the rest of them—he doesn't regret it, but he doesn't want them to see him in a state of suffering, either. he wants to be their strengthand their guide, even though he knows deep down beneath it all that they would drop everything to look after him in a heartbeat.

he just doesn't want ther to have to be situations like that at all.

that part, at least... he doesn't deny. it's too much energy to do that.]

My ego's more bruised than my ribs right now. [ha. ha.

(it's not really funny, and neither of them are laughing.)]

[They'll get along just fine, random English phrases or not.]

Please, Elly is fine.

[She smiles brightly at that, nodding easily; don't worry, Ann, Elly's a pretty relaxed model too.]

It is a pleasure to meet you, truly. I hope we are able to work together well for the duration of this shoot.

[ Ann is no stranger to the underground shops-- she happens to love frequenting there rather often, even if she's just passing through this time around. Except that, if she remembers right, the crepe stand is around here and it doesn't look like it has a long line for once, and she's debating very hard...

But that's when she sees that oh-so-familiar slim form of starvation. ]

What's the matter? You're not feeling inspired by the crepe stand?

[ Ann can't really give him an entirely unimpressed look, given that she needs to stare ahead so she doesn't actually guide him into a wall instead of further up the steps. Progress is slow, and with Ryuji nowhere around to put himself to good use, Ann is stuck using most of her strength to carefully ease Akira onwards and upwards.

So for now, he just gets a sigh. ]

It's fiiine, I won't tell anyone how I singlehandedly carried you up the stairs.

[ Because that would be a lie. And if he's embarrassed because she'd seen through his paper-thin guise of Being Okay, well. That's just silly. ]

I'm sure we will! You don't look as cutthro-- uuuuum, I mean, you seem perfectly nice!

[ Nice save, Ann-- although she sighs a few seconds later and folds her arms over her chest. ]

It's a little weird that they changed the theme so suddenly, though... I was practicing my posing and everything.

[ So in the spirit of getting into the police force one day, Makoto does what she always does when she's determined to get shit done-- take it one step further. It's not just studying like crazy (which is nothing new), it's waking up, getting up, and getting out there to see for herself the kind of things cops face.

... But of course, when it's Tokyo and Shibuya, she already knows most of the police are corrupt, so she tries a different tactic and that is what brings her to Iwatodai today, approaching this normal-looking young man with a black notebook in hand. ]

Excuse me. Might I have a moment?

P5 Voicetest; Makoto Niijima, Ann Takamaki

FOR MAKOTO...

ann

and makoto

ANN, post 11/20 spoilers!!!

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I'LL LET YOU PICK

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