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[ She wants to be angry. She was angry when she first found out, and she was scared, and even when they'd finally managed to take down the daitengu, it felt like such a hollow victory. They should have prepared better, they should have looked after each other better, she should have fought harder and paid more attention and this and that and so many other things and then maybe people wouldn't die. Even if they come back...

Kido's feet stop in front of the patient room with "Nowell" on the door, and she turns around again to walk the halls for the tenth time. Mostly she wants to be angry to give a reason for the tears that spill down her cheeks no matter how hard or often she tries to scrub them off her face, so that at least she can come into the room and pretend she didn't cry over him again.

It's a long process, and one that takes almost until the sun starts to set and visiting hours would be over she gets the chance to say anything, so she finally stops in front of the door again, knocks and opens the door, hoping Terry is asleep. ]

[ While Kido did the pacing outside his room, she must have noticed that the nurses frequently went in and out of Terry's room with a fresh roll of bandages and gauzes each and every time. When she opens the door, she can see Terry sitting up on the bed. Last time was bandages around his head with a huge gauze over his cheek. This time, it doesn't look like much other than his left arm being connected to an IV and several band-aids over his arms. A blood pack hangs from an overhead hook. Surprisingly, there isn't a pulse monitor, but surely, it's dramatic irony.

There's a cat family huddled in the opposite corner of the room, a mother fiercely protecting her four kittens, occasionally hissing over at Terry. He ignores them though and his direction of sight changes over to the door, expecting the nurses to make another round in changing his bandages, but it's Kido.

...

He's not sure what to say and averts his eyes to the floor. He's usually a do-whatever kind of person so he rarely felt guilt for what he did, but after their recent talk several days ago, he feels a sort of guilt creep into his head, even if he tried his best to avoid this kind of outcome.

However, he still raises his head, closes his eyes, and smiles over at Kido. ]

I missed you.

[ That's great, sparing Kido from having to look him in the eyes when she steps through the doorway and casts her eyes back down as she closes the door behind her. In all her pacing around outside, she realizes now that she never actually figured out what she was going to say; she'd just agonized over it for a while after learning about what happened and then stomped over to the hospital before she can think of some excuse to turn back and now she's here walking over to the side of the room with the cats, the other corner so she can sink into a crouch and watch the cat family instead. ]

...I missed you too.

[ Even if she doesn't sound like it, or that she still doesn't look at him, it's still true. You would miss anyone, if you thought they were dead and gone forever. ]

Is this the sort of hospital where they allow outside food, or do you have to eat hospital food?

Both.

[ His voice doesn't carry its usual energy when he speaks. The mother cat sees Kido approach and seems to lower her guard around her, even walking over to her slowly to paw her ankle. mya mya ]

I can eat outside food when I get better, but for now, I have to follow a specific eating schedule.

[ ...

He won't ask Kido to sit on the chair next to his bed for now, but it's quite something to come into someone's hospital room and go to something else instead. Well, it's Kido. Terry doesn't mind as much. He's hoping that the cats will be friendlier to her at least. ]

Hey, Kido... um...

[ He gulps, even though the simple act of doing that hurts too. ]

... I'm sorry.

[ For all the worries and anxieties that Kido had coming here, it melts away when she sees the cats, head bowed and shadow of her hood hiding the small smile that grows when she holds her hand out for the mother cat to sniff. She doesn't make any move to pet the cat, though, and knows that when the cat licks at the tips of her fingers, it's only because of the salt from her tears.

She's only half listening to Terry's answer, thinking about how it ended up being better in the end that she couldn't think of anything to bring, because she wanted to cook something for him in return for before but he wouldn't have been able to eat it anyways, but she looks up suddenly at the apology and the cat darts away from her in fright. ]

What? What did you do?

[ What is this admission of guilt from a bedridden patient so close to death? ]

Well... this.

[ He gestures, arms open to signal to Kido about the current situation. ]

... I couldn't react fast enough, so it ended up like this. I tried really hard to be careful too, but I wasn't strong enough.

[ He'll spare Kido the details, since he thinks she wouldn't really like to hear all about it anyway. ]

So... I'm sorry.

...Stupid.

[ It's her go-to word now, but she pushes off her knees to stand, makes as if she wants to walk closer, but ends up just leaning against the wall. ]

As if any of us were strong enough to go up against that thing. It took so many of us... I'm just glad to see you're alive, okay? ...It's not like I'm going ask for anything more, when it's already a miracle.

[ Hm... does he say it... or not...

... ]

I think... it wasn't taken away. There's no way a person would have lived through... [ --a crushed heart. But does Terry want to say it? No. ]

Haha... I wonder if it really is a miracle.

... You're not gonna sit?

[ kiiiiidooooooooooooo ]

[ She's just going to pretend Terry tripped and fell and hit his head and that's how he almost died, she's never going to ask for any details. But she does freeze when he asks if she's going to sit, because sitting means she can't just walk out as easily— and more than that, she can't really pose cooly like she can leaning against a wall with one foot up and her arms crossed. Sitting is just awkward... sitting next to somebody's bed is also awkward... sitting next to a hospital bed with its white walls and beeping machines is just...

She sighs and walks over to the bed, sitting herself down unceremoniously and goes back to crossing her arms. ]

Miracle or not, I won't question it. How long do you think you'll have to stay this time?

[ It's okay, Kido. There are no beeping machines in this room because you can't have a pulse without a heart! Well, that was the logic of it anyway, so they don't have that here. It's the small things. ]

A while...

[ He quietly sighs. ]

I can't get out of bed even if I wanted to--

[ The nurse knocks on the door, but opens it without waiting to hear back an answer. "Will she be staying overnight, Nowell-kun? Visitor hours are over." And before Kido has the chance to say anything, Terry blurts out: ]

Yes, she is.

[ The nurse nods, jots something down on her clipboard and closes the door behind her as she leaves. ]

[ The doctors here are really too chill about things... The nurses too, just taking Terry's word for it before Kido can catch up to what the conversation is about. ]

What? Uh-

[ Cool. Alright. She's being volunteered for a sleepover. ]

Is that okay??

Mhm.

[ He says, as if this isn't a big deal at all. ]

Well... you don't have to stay the full duration and you can leave during the midnight phase if you want to. The doors are somehow unlocked during that time, even though it's supposed to be locked when visitor hours are over.

[ Maybe it's the haunting rumors of the hospital... no one knows.

ghost jazzhands ]

... I just wanted someone to talk to. That's... okay, right?

[ Terry should never mention anything about haunted hospitals or Kido will never visit him ever again. But she can understand wanting to have somebody to talk to, even though she really thinks he'd be better off resting— but it gets boring to sleep all day without people to talk to, and the nurses are too busy to spend more than the time needed to do their work checking up on people, and night and day sort of all blur together when the days stretch long enough and Kido knows all of that. ]

Yeah, it's okay. I'll listen to whatever's on your mind, and I don't mind staying overnight either. I'm not too keen on being outside when the monsters are out there anyways, so it'll just be an extra hour we can spend together.

[ Though she really should have brought food as a get well gift, because if Terry doesn't eat it, she can. Dinner... ]

[ He smiles a little when Kido says that. ]

Thanks. I thought you would have wanted to leave as soon as possible... You can play with the cats if you want to. I'm sure they'll like you more than me.

[ He sighs. His physical heart had been regenerating somehow a little every day, and it's... so weird at how it does that without help from anyone or anything. Regardless, it's still painful, which is why he's on god knows how many painkillers right now. Despite that, he's here. It's fine. Looking outside the window reminds him of the time though. ]

Did you eat yet...?

[ It's a miracle Terry is awake at all if he's being pumped full of painkillers, but it's not something Kido knows to question, so she's just glad he's awake at all and able to talk, instead of her sitting by herself twiddling her thumbs and not knowing what to do. ]

I've eaten. [ Lunch. It counts. ] And I came so late, that leaving now would hardly make the trip worth it. I'm here to see you, after all, not the cats. ...I meant to come sooner. Sorry.

[ There are always pros and cons to having a stupid high amount of endurance... (single tear) ]

It's fine. You were probably busy. You can open the drawer off to the side. The top one should have a container with three mochis in it. You can eat those.

[ Should Kido decide to get the container, it's full of three big, yellow custard mochis. ]

My coworker dropped them off, saying they were from the owner, but I can't eat it... so you should have it.

[ It's a newest big hit from the cafe, their ever popular dessert menu: the Ryoji Mochi. ]

[ RYOJI MOCHI............ Kido leans over to open said drawer and find the sweets inside, not ones she's had before because there was no point of stopping by the cafe anymore if Terry's in the hospital instead of working there, but she places the container on her lap for whenever she does get hungry. Maybe it'll be soon, once the nerves wear off, but the anxious feeling never quite leaves when she's in a hospital. Either way, mochi's best eaten fresh, so she won't be shy about eating something meant for Terry. ]

That's nice of them— both your coworker and your boss. Does that mean everything's going okay over there? There was that bug that hit a lot of people over the month, and it looks like it's passing.

[ Except, you know. Wyatt and Shore and Zelda who are just permanent zombies now. ]

I... guess so. I've been here ever since the fight with the bird leader, so I haven't really heard much about work. It's good to hear that the thing seems to be going away. Now the owner will have more people at work to help out.

[ He'll be so sad upon seeing those zombies... maybe it's better that he's stuck in the hospital right now. Terry looks relieved about the Hirajiro Lethargy passing over though, and quietly sighs. ]

After I get better and fully recover, I want to get stronger if I have to. I was never a summoner type, so having to fight with a persona was a new thing for me... but I need to be able to defend myself too, when my persona is too far away or something. [ Since that was exactly why this happened in the first place. ] I mean... I can, I guess, but I'm so rusty...

[ He's already thinking about fighting again, when he's like this... But any complaints Kido has about that, she forces herself to keep it to herself, because what's the point of having the Personas if not to fight, especially after seeing what Terry's dragon is capable of. What's even the point of fighting, though, when they could all just stay indoors at night and not risk getting hurt... Stay tuned for next month, ig. ]

Don't push yourself to recover just to get beaten up again... You're ridiculously athletic, so I don't imagine it'd be hard for you to pick up any weapon to learn to fight with, but there's no reason for your Persona to be too far away, is there? Before, we used it as a distraction to get away, but if we're stronger, we wouldn't need to run anymore.

Ah...

[ Well, maybe Kido didn't see what happened. Maybe that's for the best. Terry doesn't really have it in him to argue right now, so he'll just pick apart the things that interests him more. ]

I never had anything personalized to be my own weapon, so I had to improvise a lot... like clothes hangers or umbrellas with a hook handle. The umbrellas were pretty fun to use though. I doubt they'd actually work against the shadow monsters, but I guess it'll be something to use... I could probably poke their eye out or something and run for it. That sounds the best way to handle it, right?

[ It sounds fun, but he won't say that. He'll laugh a little, even though it hurts through all the painkillers he's taken. ]

[ He wonders though... maybe Kido would know something. ]

... Vassago hasn't felt like coming out for a while now. It doesn't work no matter what I do.

Clothes hangers and umbrellas... Were you fighting off burglars, or what?

[ She'd let him have her umbrella, probably, but she doesn't think they'd be the sturdiest thing against fire breathing monsters. ]

Do you have your charm with you? Maybe it got damaged... I could fix it, if that's the case.

[ Whether Terry expects visitors it doesn't matter: he's getting one in form of a cat walking on the power lines just behind the window. She seems pretty carefree about it, walking and jumping around—it might not be clear, but she's for the hospital pharmacy, one of these windows has to lead there. There are plenty of windows to check out and she'd really appreciate a hint or some directions. Terry looks like a nice guy, so she's just going to ask him: ]

Hey, do you happen to have any painkillers? Or do you know where they keep the meds?

Kinda!

[ Using those two things against some sort of demigod sounds like the worst sort of matchup, but it's fine. He managed to hold them off. It's fine. ]

It's in the hoodie pocket. Second drawer.

[ And if Kido goes to get that out, she'll see that it's already been patched up with white flower designs. If she remembers Rei's hairpins, they're pretty much what they look like. A bit of washed out red peeks out from one of the patches, but it's easy to miss. Either way, the omamori itself looks fine. ]

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7/28 (or whenever), action

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