Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 5!

Hey guys! I'm pretty sure you all know what's happening. That's right. Unfortunately, I'll still be on hiatus for a while, reasons being that my homework pile has been killing me recently, and I'm barely even getting any sleep anymore. (I'm not a night owl - I do need my sleep) Don't worry, I am not planning on abandoning this story.

Homework, club activities, class committee work and other official commitments have been making my life really difficult for me to even get my hands onto the computer and start writing a new chapter for this story, and it's sad because I really, really want to show you all what I have in store for Makoto's, Futaba's, Ryuji's, Haru's, Goro's and Akira's arcs. I guess the good side is that Ann's and Yusuke's arcs are done, but that's barely even scratching the surface of what I have planned for this story.

I am currently still in the middle of writing Chapter 20, and I don't know when I'll ever be able to post it, but please do be patient. I am trying my best to keep myself together right now, so I do hope that you guys can understand too. Do look forward to it!

With that, enjoy the story!

Several days have passed, and Makoto was finally all recovered from her severe fever despite her leg still being injured. However, the gang was just relieved that she was finally discharged from the hospital. Now sitting at the Pharmacy area, they were waiting to pick up some of the medicine for her, including one of which just in case her fever came back.

As usual, Akira, being the enthusiastic boy, decided to go and pick up the medicine. Ryuji decided to follow him, feeling a little uneasy about this decision, while Goro tagged along simply because he could.

"Alright, I have already taught you the measures to treat Makoto Niijima-san's wounds. Now, over here, I have the medicine for severe fever just in case she has a relapse due to infections or what not," the nice pharmacist smiled as she told them, gesturing to one of the boxes in the medicine basket for the patient. "Now, this one is a suppository. How do you give this suppository to the patient?"

"... I feed the patient?"

Akira's reply made Ryuji let out an unholy screech and collapse onto the floor, while Goro burst out into a haughty laugh.

"Akira, my goodness, you're supposed to put a suppository up someone's ass—"

"Okay, that's enough!" Ryuji suddenly screamed, leapt up and covered the flamboyant boy's mouth. "I had enough of hearing that language for the day, okay?!"

"Come on, Ryu-chan. You're always the good boy..." Goro sighed and shook his head in a dramatic fashion.

"... Um," the pharmacist cleared her throat awkwardly before She continued, "Basically, I have told you all of the steps on how to give Niijima-san her medicine. Is that okay?"

Ryuji quickly nodded as he snatched up the basket and ran away before anything else bad could happen and replied, "Yes, thank you very much, Aikawa-san!"

"RYUJI! WE HAVEN'T PAID FOR THE MEDICINE!"

"Well, and we're back home, Mako-chan! How do you feel now?" Haru asked cheerily as she wheeled the brunette into the apartment with the sister tagging behind.

"It feels so damn good to be home~" Makoto sighed as she took in a breath of air from the house. "I've been so freaking homesick ever since I realised I had to spend so many nights in the hospital."

"It was only five nights, Makoto," Sae sighed. "Then again, they are really long if you are actually ill."

Makoto stared at her sister before she shivered. "Five nights... Ugh, don't remind me about that game, Sis."

"Still a little scared of that horror game, Makoto?"

"Stop teasing me!"

"Alright, alright! Um, let's watch some television, shall we?" Haru giggled lightly as she picked up the TV remote, trying to ease the situation.

Instantly, a voice came up on air. "Heh... I won't let you take me down that easily!"

Makoto's eyes light up as she watched the main female character flip herself out of the antagonist's grasp. "Is that… Fire in Her Eyes...?! Hell yeah, that's Kazuki Akechi's recent show! Oh my god!"

"Fire in Her Eyes…?" Haru was confused, until Sae spoke up.

"Makoto's been into it recently since she's a huge fan of Kazuki Akechi," the grey-haired lady explained. "You know who she is, don't you?"

She nodded as she turned to look at Makoto, who was already absorbed in the TV show. "Yeah. A veteran in the Action Movie industry, and Goro Akechi's mother."

"The first time she saw Kazuki-san onscreen, Makoto was amazed by her performance, and vowed to be like her one day," Sae continued as a smile grew on her red lips. "Ever since, she trained herself in martial arts and parkour, and never let her willpower fade away. It was heartening to see her so motivated, but I was always worried that she was going to get injured doing something rash since she upholds a strong sense of justice, especially for the weak. Who would have thought…"

Seeing Sae's smile fade off, the auburn-haired girl patted her shoulder. "It's okay, Sae-san. You don't have to worry. We'll take care of her."

"I'm glad to see that Makoto has such amazing friends around her," she sighed in relief, but then frowned once again. "Despite this, I can't help but feel a little disappointed in myself…"

"It'll be okay, Sae-san…"

As Haru tried to comfort the older Niijima sister, no one saw the brunette's guilt-ridden expression on her face.

Meanwhile…

"Wow, that flip was an immediate eleven out of ten! You're amazing as always, Mom."

The lady whose brown hair had been tied into a low ponytail smiled serenely and giggled lightly at her son's words. "You flatter me too much, Ro-chan."

Goro chuckled back before he sighed sadly. "But it's true! Meanwhile, your poor son here can't even hold himself up against one opponent…"

"Don't worry about that, Ro-chan. Aren't there coaches who teach you parkour skills when you go for filming for Persona 5?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but the filming hasn't reached the Casino Palace yet. That is when Crow comes in. I heard that Sae-san is going to be acting as the owner of the Casino Palace though, and I can't wait!"

Kazuki laughed lightly once again, not a single trace of her fierce and playful demeanour when acting ever present. "You're really excited about this, aren't you?"

Goro smiled as he sat up enthusiastically. "Of course! I'm acting with so many of my friends, after all! Plus, I hadn't seen Akira in such a long time… You did see how shocked I was when I realised I was going to be acting alongside him in Persona 5, didn't you, Mom?"

"Huhuhu… Of course I did. You looked so elated that day," his mother smiled before she sat back in the plush couch once again and queried. "Anyways, speaking of Akemi's son… when are you going to tell him about that?"

He gave her an exaggerated quizzical look. "About… what?"

"Well, about your feelings for him, of course."

"…! MOM!"

Her aristocrat-like laughter soon turned into a boisterous laugh as she waved a hand at him. "Alright, alright! I shall not embarrass you about that. But really, you've held a torch for him for such a long time. Aren't you going to tell him one day?"

The doe-eyed boy looked down, his face starting to burn bright red."Um… well… maybe, I don't really know. I don't even know if he feels the same way as I do. Plus, would he…?"

Able to guess what Goro was thinking, Kazuki sat up, her voice reverting back to her usual soft tone. "If he really thinks of you differently once he knows about how you feel about him, then he's not really the one for you, is he?"

"… But…" he muttered hesitantly before he looked back up. "I-I think it's best if I have some time to ponder about this situation…"

"That's a wise decision too," she replied with a nod. "I'm just giving you a gentle nudge, after all. The next course of action will be up to you to decide."

A smile grew on Kazuki's face as she observed her son's behaviour. "Hehe, despite your flamboyant personality that you have gained just to taunt your biological father about his mindset, your shyness when it comes to these types of things haven't changed."

"Oh, um, I know this is really sudden but… Mom?"

She diverted her attention towards her son's words. "Yes, Ro-chan?"

"Do you remember my friend, Makoto Niijima? You know, the girl with short brown hair and red eyes?"

Kazuki thought for a moment before she replied, "Ah, yes. The one who was training herself to be an actress specialising in action movies like me. Is that her?"

Goro nodded. "Yeah. Well… I was wondering if you could come and talk to her a little bit since she really idolises you."

"That depends if I have the time. Why the sudden question, though?"

He took a deep breath before explaining the situation that Makoto had gone through to his mother. "The thing is…"

The melodious, clear notes of the piano echoed in the acoustics of the living room as Futaba Sakura's fingers glided across the piano keys skilfully. Despite this, however, it was obvious that through the crescendo and the look on her face that the orange-haired girl was beginning to get frustrated for some reason. Suddenly, a loud 'BANG!', the sound of mismatched keys being played, was heard resounding across the room.

"Futaba, is everything okay…?" Wakaba asked worriedly as she hurriedly stepped out of her room which happened to be close by.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "… I'm fine. Don't worry, Mom. I'm just practising for the competition, and I kind of feel a little frustrated."

Her mother frowned. "Don't stress yourself out too much, alright?"

Futaba nodded back as she turned her attention back on the piano. "I'll be fine."

Wakaba continued to stare at her daughter. "Anyway, our family will be heading out for dinner later, so make sure you're ready by five o' clock, okay?"

The bespectacled child turned towards her mother. "We're heading out tonight…?! Um… well… Is it okay if I stay at home and practise instead? You guys can get some takeaway food for me instead!"

"Futaba, this is a family gathering…"

"Mom, please, I need to focus on the competition. I haven't even completed composing the score that I wish to submit for that day!"

The frown on Wakaba's youthful-looking face creased even deeper. "Alright, but you do know that your father isn't going to be happy about this."

"I'll explain to him when I have to. Don't worry about it for now, Mom!"

The raven-haired lady stood there for a moment, analysing her daughter's behaviour before she shook her head and headed back into her room. Meanwhile, Futaba's frustrations grew as she made a mark on the score that she was drafting in front of her. Maroon eyes continued to stare at the sheet before angry hands snatched the entire paper off, tearing the work into two and tossing the scraps into the trash beside her.

As Futaba felt a strange feeling of disappointment, frustration and rage grow inside her, she couldn't help but want to scream. Why? Futaba had already sacrificed so much time that she even decided not to visit Makoto or even see her out of the hospital such that she could focus on her competition! Why was everything going completely wrong?!

"This sounds freaking horrible… Why are all of my works recently such utter rubbish?"

"… No. I must perfect this. I must win at all costs."

"Something is awfully wrong with Futaba lately…" Wakaba sighed as she swirled her glass of juice around, allowing the ice to make a clinking sound as they collided with each other.

Wakaba and Sojiro were having dinner together at a nearby ramen restaurant. Surprisingly enough, they had also bumped into their niece Chihaya and her boyfriend Yuuki, and decided that they were going to have dinner together.

Yuuki looked up with dark blue eyes of curiosity. "Mm? What's the matter, Oba-chan?"

Yuuki had always been known to call people in a rather affectionate manner, so Wakaba didn't really mind when he called her by such.

"It's probably got to do with her competition," Chihaya replied to him before turning back to her aunt. "Is she too stressed out about it?"

Sojiro sighed as he removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That Futaba… always a perfectionist. Whenever something doesn't seem right, she'll always ensure that everything is okay before she even decides on what to do next."

The blue-haired boy nodded to himself as he lifted his glass of green tea to his lips. "Hm… I never knew that such a shy introvert like Futaba-chan could be so… intense. Will she be okay?"

"You know, introverts tend to be more prone to being perfectionists…" Chihaya grumbled as she twirled her noodles around in her bowl with her chopsticks. "And to be honest, whether she'll be okay really depends on how she copes with it. How has she been doing so far?"

The older man mused, "Routine-wise, she still seems fine. She's still eating all of her meals… but she eats them at her study table now. I don't really think it's healthy at all, but she wouldn't hear the end of it."

"She seems a little more irritable with us recently too…" the bespectacled lady added with a small sigh. "But it seems like she's still getting along well with her friends. Hopefully, these friendships of hers wouldn't be damaged so easily."

"Well, I've hung out with Futaba-chan a couple of times whenever we did filming for Persona 5, and she still seemed rather cheerful," Yuuki informed them, "But then again, recently, she's pretty busy with her music course, it seems."

Sojiro nodded back at him. "Thank you for watching over her, Mishima-kun."

Yuuki smiled sheepishly and waved back, but then noticed Chihaya's strange behaviour. "Oji-chan, it's okay to just call me Yuuki, really… Anyways, are you not gonna eat, Yaya?"

The violet-eyed girl gave a deep sigh as she replied, "I don't know, man… I've been feeling really tired recently, and I completely lost my appetite at this point. Can you help me finish my ramen, Yuuki-chan?"

"Hey, it's not good to skip meals, you know! Eat! This isn't the first time you've skipped meals already, is it?"

"Aw, come on!" Chihaya pouted and folded her arms in irritation.

"Actually," Wakaba piped in, "Yuuki-kun's right. Plus, you look a lot thinner than before, Chihaya. Are you sure you're alright?"

She groaned as she placed both hands on her face. "I really don't know. I've been feeling so lethargic recently, and my breathing rate's gone completely irregular too… I even have night sweats and lost at least three kilograms in the past few days!"

Sojiro frowned. "You should go see a doctor, if that is the case. That doesn't sound normal at all. Could you be down with an illness?"

"I'm just praying that it's me lacking energy because I've been sleeping so late after working on all those essays…" Chihaya muttered in a frustrated voice.

Yuuki breathed out a small sigh, then shifted over to give his girlfriend a side hug. "Don't worry, I'm sure you're alright."

Despite this, feeling Chihaya's slightly cooler body made a strange, horrible feeling grow inside him.