Can You Hear Me [Closed]

[stringmods]

Who: Akihiko Sanada & Friends
Where: Caduceus Hospital
Summary: Akihiko Sanada arrives from the Tower of Animus which means he needs a new body.
Warnings: Persona 3 Tear Factory

Sector F Level 4B-Room 2.

The area looked more like a science lab than an actual room. Numerous tubes were surrounding Akihiko, along with monitors of every type and subject. And that was for the medical part. What was more, candles and strange summoning circles and items were surrounding the bed as well, as medical met mystical in a strange array. Hinoto-Ri had perfected their arts, but they still had a long way to go.

"He's still rather weak," a voice above him said, distorted. "Did you send the message to his relatives?"

"Yes. I believe a positive experience may jolt him out of of the vegetative state he's now in."

"I wonder if he hears us. Damn Visitor should appreciate what we're doing."

"Dr.Stein, please remember that we are men of cloth sword to heal and protect as much as we can. This includes Visitor and Demons."

"I know. I know. I'm sorry. Let's leave him be and we can preform most tests later."

Comments

[boxingemperor]

Certain keywords can be heard, and cause Akihiko's consciousness to stir, though he can't quite find the energy to open his eyes and reunite with the world of the living just yet. The others in the Tower had died before, maybe it was finally his turn. It's just as painful as they say.

But his will is strong.

His face scrunches up a little in discomfort, but he doesn't move from his strangely decorated hospital bed.

[hinoto_npcs]

What could have seem liked hours later but were only minutes, a nurse came in and began to fill a few tubes with liquids.

"Mr.Sanada, I'm not sure if you can hear me, but I'm pumping liquids into your body to aid your body in recovering easier. Your motor skills with this new body is going to have to take a while. It may sting a little."

With a few hand movements, she created a holding spell on his arms and legs.

"Please don't worry. This is for your own good so you don't get jolted upward from your legs motor movements."

A few seconds later, what probably felt like an electrical shock shook his entire body. The feeling of pins and needles in his legs quickly took over.

[boxingemperor]

Despite his comatose state, he claws his fingers and continues to display his discomfort in half-formed facial expressions, wanting to move but a strange force holding him down. He wants to scream. What was going on now? Apparently the pain wasn't over.

Thread 1 - In which Miki runs into an room and awoken the dead (considering who is involved)

[helenchanted]

If Minako or Shinjiro hadn't heard that message, Miki certainly had. Her sleep was usually pretty light in general and she was only a few hours off before her morning job. It was a good thing that the phone system here composed of nanomachines near her face otherwise she probably would have lost a phone to the floor that night. She was...greatly conflicted, her heart racing. While she knew she should be joyful that her brother was here, the fact he was in the hospital worried her greatly. Couldn't they had told them exact what the problem was?

No time for proper anything, she barely fumbled in her outfit, pulling on one sock as she slammed into the room the other two were sleeping in.

"HEY GET UP!" she purposefully didn't look their way in case they were in the nude, but damn she had a massive pair of lungs and she was going to use them. "GET UP RIGHT NOW!" The tone in her voice pretty much said she would not take no for an answer.

[themortalhalf]

Shinjiro hadn't heard the message. But then again, he misses a lot of things when he's finally able to slide into sleep, and often has to rely on more than just the nagging persistence of a single alarm to get him up, so it's easy to ignore a telling beep of a message coming into the virtual inbox. It doesn't quite pierce his consciousness.

Miki's stressed voice, however, does, and he jolts back into a half-drowsy state of consciousness with a panicked, uncoordinated start, an elbow bumping into the warm body beside him. He's clothed, thankfully—too damn cold to even think of anything else, no matter how relaxed he might be—but he's still unable to string his thoughts together with any degree of coherency, too drowsy to be immediately embarrassed. His is still able to register the idea that something's wrong if she's yelling something at him. His voice is slurred, eyes blurry as he tries to shake the drowsiness off and will his lethargic body to move.

"...What?"

[greatseal]

Minako (who is wearing a cute nightshirt and leggings) hadn't awoken to the message either. She can sleep like the dead when she wants to (pun intended.) However, Shinji rolling over dislodges her arm from his chest, so she starts to stir.

"...Senpai?" Is it morning? It definitely doesn't feel like morning. If it is morning, Minako decides that she's going to forget school and slack off today. Sometimes, it's just not worth it.

[helenchanter]

Just for once, Miki was going to play the leader. Or pretend to be one, as she attempted to convey the message that they both needed to hear.

"We just got a call from the hospital!"

Yes okay good, she lets that sink in for a few seconds before trying to add what's the situation, but it's always hard to talk about her brother.

"It's Aki! He showed up but he's in the hospital, I don't know why, they didn't say and we need to go right now, I don't know what's happening!" The rest of her words were just a slur of attempting to talk some more but just being extremely worried and trying not to cry.

[themortalhalf]

Awake, it's easier to more rapidly shift into a more aware state of consciousness, and he even has the frame of mind to feel suddenly awkward at the situation for a few seconds, until Miki abruptly kills the emerging embarrassment and replaces it with something else, an emotion he's far more accustomed to feeling. He wouldn't call it worry, exactly, but... well some people probably would.

Aki being in the hospital isn't as surprising to Shinjiro as it probably should be. Him being here again is more of a surprise, even after what had happened in October. Aki's been in the hospital enough for Shinjiro not to be completely floored at the revelation, almost always booking a bed in there due to stupid shit that could have probably been prevented if Aki had bothered to use that brain of his he's got that's probably too smart for his reckless emotional wiring to utilize properly. Goddamn idiot.

What the hell is he in the hospital for this time?

He slowly sits up (at least now he doesn't have to debate about whether to wake Minako or not), shoving some of the covers he had been cocooned in away. "...I'll get my coat." Another pause as he sweeps his bangs out of his eyes. "I'm sure he's fine."

[greatseal]

"I'm coming too!"

Minako is also sliding out of bed, not caring about appearances anymore. Shinji had better be happy he didn't have to decide not to wake her up, because she would have been pretty angry. As it is, she's already forgotten how early it might be and is heading for the door to grab some warmer clothes from her room. "Miki-chan, wait for us in the lobby!"

PART 2: HOSPITAL HARDER

[helenchanted]

It hadn't mattered how long the three of them had taken to get there, it still felt like forever for Miki. Having managed to calm her nerves somewhat before arriving, they simply flared right back up again the minute they were on the level where Akihiko had been taken. There was a lot of strange looking scientific equipment all around. Just what had they been doing?

When they finally got to his room, it was closed. She literally had no idea what was going to happen once she got inside, but still something tugged at her heart.

"...Do you two mind if I go see him alone first? Just for a few short minutes..."

She needed to do this. Shinjiro would probably remember when she was afraid of seeing him the first time they had meet in Hinoto-Ri. This was a very different change of pace for her.

[themortalhalf]

He does remember. It wasn't something he could forget, really, so it takes him by surprise when she asks to see him alone, despite the current events over the past month. This Aki might not even know who she is, but then again, he might. It was hard to decide what to expect anymore. The Akihiko inside the hospital room could be one of the versions of him they saw in Geartopia. Older. Or younger. Or it could even be the old Akihiko from Minato's side of the coin again, having somehow found his way back. Still, he takes the request in stride, after a couple seconds of thought, face softening somewhat as he nods and steps away, leaning agains the wall behind him, trying to ignore the attention-seeking beep of hospital equipment.

"If that's what you wanna do," he says. "You can come and get us when you're done."

[greatseal]

It's because she's faced this scenario before that Minako doesn't question Miki's choice. Seeing a Minato who didn't remember her - didn't even know her at all, had really hurt. There's no guarantee that a Minato who returned to the city would be her Minato, the one she'd gotten to know. And if she wasn't sure of what she'd find, it would be easier to start by talking to him alone.

"Yeah! We'll be right here when you need us!" Moral support from afar.

[hinoto_ri]

A few minutes after Miki went on, a doctor came by, giving them a small bow.

"Mr. Aragaki and....Ms.Sanada?" Well she had a 1/2 chance of getting that right.

[themortalhalf]

He looks up at the sound of his name, back straightening, arching an eyebrow as he regards the doctor levelly. She's... half right at least. He guesses he can't blame her for making that assumption, even if Minako's hair is a bit to vibrant to fit in with the Sanada line. She's enough of a handful as she is, anyway, is without adding Sanada genes to the mix. His nerves would probably be a bit more frayed by now, if that were the case.

"Yeah. Mostly." His eyes flicker towards the door, mildly concerned. He's not the type to eavesdrop, and has no intention to, but he can't hear Aki's voice at all. Just Miki's every now and then, muffled. Not enough to make out the words. "But his sister's already in the room with him."

That should narrow her guesswork down.

[hinoto_ri]

"Oh I see! My apologies. Then this must be Ms Arisato." She tapped her pad for a few seconds, as if weight what she should be doing. "Perhaps it's best to leave them alone for a few more minutes, then. We were hoping she'd come to reinforce a positive experience to aid him recover after all he's been through."

She gave them a small nod in greeting.

"I'm Dr.Abi. We were weighing when to send you the message, but after the twenty hour-long operation we preformed on him, he was still having issues. In the end, an hour after it was done, I was given permission to contact you. I apologize that it was so early in the morning."

PART 3: I RAN OUT OF TITLES

[helenchanted]

As she steps into the room, Miki is nothing but a bundle of nerves. As brave as she was for leaving Shinjiro and Minako behind, it all melts away the minute she sees that familiar spot of silver hair amongst the covers. Somehow, it feels so wrong to see him here...and there are so many tubes around him.

What the hell happened? Why is he like that?

"Aki.."

She has no idea if he actually knows who she is, but she takes a seat next to him, holding one of his hands with both of hers and just stays next to the bed, hoping he'll wake up.

When in doubt use Electric Boogaloo

[boxingemperor]

Akihiko's been poked and prodded ever since he got here. Each touch invokes discomfort and pain, and is not exactly convincing to someone trying to wake up. Whenever it happened, his body didn't react how he wanted it to.

But this time, he gets a different sensation. This one is warm and welcoming, basing at his hand. The grip is reassuring but gentle.

He shifts a little, closing his fingers awkwardly around Miki's hand.

WOW OKAY THIS SHOULD BE CALLED "BREAKING MY HEART IN A MILLION PIECES"

[helenchanter]

She jumps up at the reaction from him, even if it's just his hand moving against hers for a few brief seconds. The monitors around her beep and show an increase of...something, she has no idea. Miki had never been a fan of hospitals, especially after what had happened.

Her second hand clasps around the first one, and she puts her head against it, her shoulders shaking slightly as she tries to fight back the tears.

"I don't know what happened...But I'm here now, okay? So please Aki, please wake up..."

LOL

[boxingemperor]

Motion sensors, no doubt. Akihiko learned when Shinjiro was comatose that even the most subtle movements would set them off. Funny he'd be hooked up to them too, not that he currently realizes it. Miki's warm hands cupped around his make his fingers wriggle even more, until they combs Miki's and weakly hold in place.

Akihiko groans, his eyes fluttering open to a bunch of bright, blobby shapes and colors. Now there's a whole lot of beeping.

GDIT

[helenchanted]

That jolts her upright, as she looks over at them thinking she might have accidentally set off some alarms or something or he's entering cardiac arrest and--no she needs to believe in her brother and not assume the worse, as hard as it might be. She tries to give him encouraging words as she claps that hand even tighter.

"Come on you dumbass, get up! Stop making everyone worry!"

Okay, she might have gotten that from Shinjiro.

Part 4 Attack of the...er, that doesn't work

[boxingemperor]

Akihiko had been getting tired, but when Miki mentioned that Minako and Shinjiro were waiting just outside with his doctor, he didn't want to rest before getting a chance to talk to them. Sitting with Miki and trying to hold in his yawning, he looked at the door expentantly, waiting for everyone to come inside.

THE BIGGEST TAG EVER

[helenchanted]

Miki was already inside.

Re: THE BIGGEST TAG EVER

[themortalhalf]

With a forceful tug leading him inside, Shinjiro clears the threshold after Miki. His eyes wander around the room, noting the machines and tubes and wires and the mechanical beeps and clicks. He's been in and out of the hospital enough when Aki's injured himself, though this is a bit different, seeing so many machines that had once probably been more hard at work. It's worrying enough, even with the the mostly clean bill of help the doctor had given them, though they don't hold much to the arrays drawn on the floor and the lit candles surrounding the bed. That makes him even more uneasy, and he keeps his posture steady, not wanting to knock over one of them. Must be the magic shit the doctor was talking about.

He finally looks up, towards the bed, though there's a good part of him that almost doesn't want to. Guilt doesn't just go away in half a year. He had always regretted leaving him behind, along with Amada and the others, even though he knows that there's not much he could have feasibly done. But his eyes flicker upwards anyway, away from the floor and and the well-drawn circles.

His frown turns turns into a soft smile, though there's still strain wired all through it, though lacking some of the earlier tension robbed by a sense of relief. It is good to see him again, in one piece. With two eyes instead of one, and perhaps a bit less skinny than he remembers him being. Now there's one less person he has to worry over.

"Hey." He's not sure what he can even say, really. As if anything he could say could snap the tension. "It's been awhile."

[greatseal]

The interior is strange to Minako as well. She's seen too much of hospitals before now, and it's already been shown that they aren't her favorite places. All of the mysticism, though... Even after being a Persona-user for so long, it's still pretty questionable in her eyes.

But seeing Akihiko is what they came to do, and so she's going to do that. She puts on her most cheerful smile, preparing for what is possibly going to come next. After all... No one has clarified yet whether this Akihiko even knows who she is.

"Hey, Senpai! How are you feeling?"

[boxingemperor]

With Minako and Shinjiro there, he feels even more at ease, flashing them a confident grin. "Yeah. How's it going?" He manages. For a moment, he attempts to sit up, but he only sinks lower into his linens. He doesn't let it bother him, though. "I'm good. I'm sure...by tomorrow I'll be out of here!"