"Yeah, I guess there's a lot to learn. Thanks for being here for me."

She runs a hand through her hair and smiles.

"Glad to, Akira-chan. Us trans girls have to look out for each other, right?"

"Yeah, we do."

Akira smiles. "Any other advice you'd like to offer? About transitioning, maybe? I probably need to have a conversation with Ann about my reasons for being trans and all, so maybe something about that?"

She blinks. "Oh! And - Do you mind if I tell my guardian you're trans? I made an excuse to come talk to you and I'd rather be able to explain that you're mentoring me a little, but I know you don't like spreading around that you're trans. My guardian's cool, he fought for me to be admitted to school as a girl when my parents wouldn't."

She hums for a moment. "Your guardian? It sounds like he'll be cool about it. So that should be fi—"

And then she recalls the address she recorded for Akira. "Wait. You're staying with Sakura-san? Yeah, you can tell him. Kind of curious how surprised he'll be, honestly."

"Wait, you know him?"

"Leblanc's my favorite café. Been going there for years."

"Oh, cool."

She frowns. "What's Sakura-san like, as a person? You probably know him better than I do if you've been going to Leblanc for ages."

She leans on her hand a bit as she thinks. "Gruff but kind. Makes a big deal about not wanting trouble or bother, but that's half a cover for how much he cares about the few people he lets close. Good listener."

"Yeah, that fits my image of him too. I'm worried that if news about the gym teacher situation gets back to him he'll be serious about not wanting trouble and kick me out of my housing. Do you think that's a reasonable worry, or should I talk to him about it?"

She frowns and nods. "It'll be okay, I think. Focus on the fact that you're staying out of the way and just supporting the victims and passing along my advice to them, and he'll be more worried for you than anything else. Well,. that and especially pissed at the school. I think he's seen a few things of his own that would caution him against meddling without evidence, though, so that should be fine too."

"Thank you, that's really good to hear. It'll honestly be a huge relief to be able to describe the situation to him. I hate keeping secrets."

"Glad to help, Akira-chan."

"Glad to be helped. I'll do my best to handle things sensibly. Any last advice before I go talk to Sakura-san?"

It looks like stealing the treasure is their best shot, then. Hopefully that turns out okay.

She shakes her head. "You've got this. And text me if you need to talk."

She gives Akira her phone number with a smile.

"Will do!"

And off she goes on her way back to Sakura-san's.

Where's Morgana gotten to, anyway? She didn't see them in the clinic.

They pad quietly up as she leaves the clinic. "How'd it go?"

"I think it went well! Doctor Takemi was very sensible about the whole thing, and convinced me to talk to my guardian about it too."

"I'm glad you've got good people to lean on. Everyone needs people to lean on."

"It's a new thing for me, honestly. I want to put my faith in people but up until now they've mostly let me down. Here's hoping Sakura-san will be better."

"Here's hoping."

They're quiet for a moment, then ask, "Um, Akira? I can't remember where I was staying before getting locked up in Kamoshida's dungeon. Can I stay with you?"

"Yeah, of course!"

She taps her chin. "... Do you think we should tell my guardian about you being a person?"

They tilt their head. "That'd be really great, but how would you convince him without taking him to the Metaverse? You can skip that if you need to."

"I mean, you're way too smart for a cat. I could direct you to go to different places in front of him, give sets of commands to do in sequence. I could ask you math questions and have you do an action the right number of times. It would be hard to prove it conclusively without taking Sakura-san to the castle, but I think I could at least demonstrate that you're unusually good with commands for a housecat."

"Maybe something about my ability to talk? He tells me something and I tell you?"