76 The Days Before Judgemen

Ryuji, however, was a mess. As the days counted down, the adrenalin from the heist faded and all that was left was worry and skepticism.

I mean, now that he had time to think about it, there was no guarantee that the heist would work they wanted. Heck, there was even a chance that it didn't work at all.

Ann was… difficult to read. Whenever she and Axel were going out, she seemed relaxed and maybe even a little horny, like she didn't have anything worry about.

She actually dragged Axel along with her to visit Shiho, who had just woken up. Regarding Shiho, both Axel and Ann felt sorry for the girl.

Shiho adamantly refuses to meet her parents, stating that she was in this state because of them. Her mother was genuinely heartbroken over Shiho's exclamation while her father didn't seem to care.

Due to this, Axel secretly had Stella follow the man in an attempt to find some dirt. With her magic back, Stella was practically invisible.

It only took her half a day to find out that Shiho's father planned to sell her to a former-yakuza-turned-loanshark. All so he could pay off his gambling debt.

Obviously, when Axel informed Shiho and Ann of this, both girls broke down, though for different reasons.

Ann was crying for her friend, hugging her in an attempt to make sure she didn't feel like doing something stupid. Shiho was crying because, unlike when her parents tried to give her to Kamoshida, her father was actually preparing to sell her.

Anyway, after they cried their hearts out, Axel decided to do something stupid. He cornered Shiho's father into an alley and…

---

(PERSONA! Come… Flashback!)

"Hey, kid! What's the big ide-"

*SMASH!!!*

Any and all complaints that Shiho's father had, died in his throat as his eyes widened. Axel's casual kick had somehow caused a dumpster to cave into itself.

To make sure it wasn't a trick, Shiho's father shakily walked over and gave the dumpster a kick, hissing when pain surged through his leg from the kick.

"H-how did you… that's a steel dumpster!?!"

*BANG*

Suddenly, Shiho's father found himself pinned to the wall by Axel's hand. Shiho's father tried and failed to move under Axel's hand as he finally spoke, "Honestly… How someone like you could contribute to the birth of someone like Shiho, I'll never know."

Shiho's father glared at Axel as he continued, "Look, I'm a busy guy so I'll make this quick. I heard that you were going to sell Shiho to some loanshark, right? I'll give you a million yen for her."

Axel gave the panting man a blank stare as he nodded, "Ok… I hear you. Now, counter offer…"

Snapping his fingers, a dark blue fire tornado exploded out from Axel, his eyes glowing an eerie yellow as a large, armoured figure leaned towards the now terrified man and glared at him.

"You take my million yen and you get to keep your life. You have 5 seconds to decided."

Seeing him break out into a cold sweat, Axel gave him a sadistic grin as he raised his hand and quickly said, "5432-"

"WAIT! OK! FINE! I'LL TAKE THE MILLION! J-JUST DON'T HURT ME!!!"

Mordred snorted, "Coward…" And disappeared in a flurry of flames.

Clicking his tongue, Axel reached into his inventory and withdrew a bag containing stacks of yen as he said, "Pleasure doing business with you. Now, let's go make this official."

---

After that, Axel dragged the terrified man across Tokyo. Once he had signed Shiho over to him, Axel wasted no more time on the man and left.

He ran over to the hospital and explained the situation to both girls. Shiho ended up crying once again, though these tears were different as she had a wide smile on her face as she spoke through her tears, "Thank you…"

Anyway, since Axel was now responsible for Shiho, he sold some more gems through Iwai and used that money to move Shiho to a private ward.

He also paid for her medical fees, since her family no longer needed to pay for them.

Even though Axel managed to save her from getting hurt, the hospital wanted to keep her for a few more days just to make sure she was fine.

The doctors also talked with Axel, her legal guardian, about getting Shiho to see a therapist.

Honestly, Axel felt that, even though he was her legal guardian, he had no choice in the matter.

So he did what he thought was right and told Shiho that it was up to her whether she goes to a therapist or not.

Shiho spent the better half of the day thinking about it and, in the end, agreed to see a therapist on the condition that Ann and Axel come with her.

Obviously, Ann and Axel quickly agreed. The pair could easily see that while she seemed fine, Shiho was still quite fragile and needed the emotional support.

Shiho now started shaking when talking to men other than Axel, everything Kamoshida said and did to her finally taking it's toll.

She was also far more reserved around people she didn't know, though that didn't stop her kind heart from showing in the form of a smile.

Anyway, today was the day that Shiho was released from the hospital and Ryuji wanted to come and congratulate her for a speedy recovery.

However, after Ann explained Shiho's situation, he surprisingly acted mature and relented while asking Axel to pass along his wishes.

Akira asked him to do the same, while also giving him a large plate of mild curry as he said, and I quote, "Hospital food is the worst."

As Shiho walked out through the hospital doors, Ann walked over and gave her a strong hug while Axel smiled and said, "Congratulations for a speedy recovery, Shiho. Ryuji and Akira wanted to be here to congratulate you as well but…"

Shiho nodded in gratitude, her lips curving into a gentle smile.

"Oh!" Said Magna, "Akira did, however, prepare a gift for you. It's in the car."

Behind him was grey five-seater. It wasn't a hard choice when it came to getting the car since he needed to drive Shiho to and from therapy.

The car actually didn't cost that much and the fake drivers license cost him even less. What did cost alot was, surprisingly, the level-less skill, [Driving].

The reason the cost was so high was because this allowed him to drive any land based vehicle. Heck, he could even drive a tank if he had one.

Taking a peek at his points, Axel internally cried as he saw…

[System Points: 37,010.]

Now, this wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that he literally spent 250,000 points to buy a skill that only covers land vehicles.

[Riding], the ability to ride any sort of animal, costed 250,000 as well while [Piloting], the ability to pilot any aircraft or ship, costed a whooping 500,000.

Though Axel felt some pain in his heart while looking at his skills, he knew that this skill was a good purchase since the system told him that it allowed him to drive ANY land based vehicle like an expert.

Funnily enough, this also included things like bicycles, skateboards and snowboards.

That's not even mentioning the fact that he'd be able to pilot a Jaeger on his own if he ended up in Pacific Rim or how he'd be able to pilot a titan from titan fall.

Anyway, Axel walked over to Shiho to help her with her bags, only to be pulled into a warm embrace. Shiho squeezed Axel, tears dripping down her face as she softly whispered, "Thank you so very very much, Axel. For saving me and for freeing me…"

Axel was about to reply when he froze as Shiho gently placed her lips against Axel's cheek.

After kissing his cheek, Shiho blushed and giggled as she retreated into the car, his keys having been snatched from his hand.

Ann actually didn't feel any jealousy seeing Shiho kiss Axel, even if it was just on the cheek.

Instead, she laughed at Axel and followed Shiho to his car, choosing to sit in the back seat instead of the front.

Axel quickly shook off his shock and hopped into the car. Turning towards the girls, Axel had to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing as Shiho stuffed her mouth with curry.

Seeing that Axel was staring at her, Shiho quickly swallowed her mouthful before flashing a wide smile.

That set Axel off as he burst into laughter, his hand moving towards her face as he plucked a few grains of rice off her face before popping them into his mouth.

Shiho's face turned bright red as Axel smiled and said, "Akira's getting better at making curry." Before turning around and starting up the car.