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2020-07-23
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Give 'Em Hell, Kid

Summary:

Akira had always been a "problem child".

or, persona 5 except akira is actually a delinquent problem child and is a lot more angry at everything that happens to him

Notes:

hello!

this is an idea i've had for quite some time, and i'm happy to finally get started on it! i know i have a bunch of unfinished stuff, but so does every other writer, and i actually have a concrete idea of what i want to do here. more context for this au will be in the end notes. i hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: "Damn Brat, I'll Sue!"

Chapter Text

“What did he do this time?”



News travels fast when there’s not many places for it to go.



Nami and Hideki Kurusu looked at the policeman with exasperated faces. Next to him stood their son; a lanky teenage boy with scruffy black hair and glasses, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. The policeman sighed and glared at the boy, who narrowed his eyes back at him.

 

“Caught him in another fight. This time with some kids from his school,” the policeman told them. The boy next to them just scoffed and kicked the ground.

 

“They started it,” he grumbled.

 

Flustered, his mother grabbed him by the arm and pulled him inside. “Thank you for bringing him home,” she said to the policeman, who nodded and turned around to leave. “Get inside,” she hissed. “We have a lot to discuss, Akira.”



Nami dragged him to the kitchen table and directed her son to sit down. “Now, explain yourself,” she said. “You got in another fight, didn’t you?”

 

Akira scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I said, it wasn’t my fault. They started it.”

 

His father shook his head. “You probably provoked them in some way, didn’t you?” he spat. Akira glared at him.

 

“I didn’t do shit-"

"I thought I told you not to swear in this house," his father warned, but Akira ignored him and kept talking.

"I was on my way home from school and some dipshits attacked me and I fought back. Some idiot called the cops, and now I’m here.” He crossed his arms and looked directly into his parents’ eyes, scowling. His mother narrowed her eyes at him, getting angrier by the second.

"What makes you think you can keep talking to us this way?" his mother asked, fuming. "Do you have any idea what the neighbors say when they see the police bringing you home nearly every night?!"

 

"Why should I care about what the neighbors in this shitty town say a-"

"Don't you dare speak to your mother that way-"

"I'll talk however I want-"

 

"That's it!" his father shouted, pointing at the stairs. "That's enough, g-"

 

Akira didn't let him finish, standing up abruptly and starting towards the stairs. “Don't bother saying anything else,” he said. “I know what you're going to say. 'Go upstairs, you’re grounded, everyone in this town hates us because of me.' I know.”

 

Before his parents could say anything else, he was up the stairs and down the hall.

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

Akira had been a “problem child” for as long as he could remember.

 

He had never been able to make many friends in the small town where he lived, his grades were less than satisfactory, and he often got into fights. He was the poster child for the "rebellious teen" stereotype; he carried a knife, sometimes smoked cigarettes, was quick to anger, and his name was well known by the police department. His parents were ostracized by the rest of the townspeople, and they always blamed their son for every problem they had. He was used to it, though, and so were they. It wasn’t like Akira wanted to be a “problem child”, but he couldn’t help it- he was used to being kicked around and spit on, so why not try to fight back if he had nothing to lose? 

 

Akira’s parents hadn't held very high expectations for him since he was a child. When he was in middle school, it was just “bring home passing grades”, which turned into “don’t get suspended” which turned into “come home without the police”.

 

“Bring home passing grades”-- for what? Akira didn’t have any solid goals for the future, and surely his parents didn’t expect him to. By age fifteen, he was sure he’d spend his life in and out of jail, and Akira was sure that that was what his parents thought, too. They seemed to have given up on trying to make him a functioning member of society and were now waiting for him to end up in juvie. It would save them from the burden of taking care of me, anyways.

 

Akira sighed and turned over in bed. It really wasn’t his fault that he got in that fight. He was only on his way home from school, he really didn’t do anything to provoke those guys! Okay, maybe he had called one of them an asshole earlier that day, but it was only because he had witnessed them harassing a girl at school! He had honestly done the right thing! At least, he hoped he did…

 

He wasn’t stupid. He knew he had done the right thing. His parents and the cops were the stupid ones. They just didn’t know how to help people. He’d show them. One day he’d do something that would make them all realize that he wasn’t just a delinquent with anger issues and bad grades and what-else-have-you. Akira stretched, turning over in bed to look at his phone for the time. Almost midnight, and he had school tomorrow. Well, no wonder they were so annoyed, he thought, closing his eyes and sighing. Then again, they always are.

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

Days passed, and although Akira was used to his schedule after hearing the words “you’re grounded”, he still didn’t like it. He could tell that his parents were starting to regret grounding him though, because they seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable every second he was in the same room as them. Finally, less than a week after the incident, Akira’s mother told him that his grounding was over when he came home from school, and then ignored him when he tried to ask why. He shrugged her off and went back outside, pulling out a lighter. It wasn’t like he didn’t know the answer. 

 

Akira’s after-school walks were normally as long as he could make them before it got too dark to stay out. Now that it was nearing the end of March, there was more daylight- more time to be away from home. Akira chose the back roads this time, shivering at the chilly spring air. It was colder than usual, and as the sky grew darker, Akira wondered how long he had been out for. The thought quickly left his mind, however, at what sounded like arguing coming from far away. Curious, Akira followed the noise, his interest piqued. 

 

“Just get in the car!

 

Hm? What’s-

 

“Stop it!”

 

That didn’t sound good. Akira sped up.

 

“How dare you cross me!”

 

What are they talking about?

 

“Stop it! Let me go!”

 

Akira started running, and slowed down when he could start to see the scene more clearly. A drunk, bald man with a struggling woman, standing in front of a car. They were obviously arguing about something, and Akira knew he should probably stay out of it, but he didn’t like what he heard, and he couldn’t just ignore it…

 

“Hey!” he yelled, rushing forward and grabbing the man by the shoulder, causing him to spin around. “You’re hurting her!” The drunk man stumbled for a moment, found his footing, then looked up, glaring at Akira, who simply scowled back at him.

 

“This ain’t a show. Get lost, kid.”

 

Akira shook his head. “No way, asshole. She obviously wants you to leave her alone.”

 

"Who do you think you are, giving me orders like that, you little shit?!" the furious man yelled, jabbing him in the chest. However, he must have been very drunk, because the action alone caused him to stumble backwards, falling over. He looked up at Akira, holding his hand over his bleeding forehead. “What the hell did you do that for?” he shouted. Akira crossed his arms and glared back at him.

 

“I didn’t do shit. You fell on your own.” he retorted. The man steadied himself and got back up on his feet, glowering at Akira and the scared woman behind him.

 

“Think you’re some kind of tough white knight for saving her?” he spat. “You damn brat… I’ll sue!” Akira just continued glaring at him, saying nothing. In the distance, he could hear police sirens coming closer to where they stood. It didn’t matter to him. Let the police come, he thought. It’ll be the same as always.

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

It was not the same as always. 

 

Akira sat in the back of his parents’ car on the way back home from the police station, arms crossed and scowling. The car was excruciatingly uncomfortable, a heavy silence in the air. Akira didn’t want to disturb it, he knew what his parents would say. “We can talk about this when we get back home”, “We’re not mad, just disappointed”, the usual bullshit. He knew they were lying. He knew that they were too tired of him to be disappointed. In fact, they were probably wishing for him to do something worse so he would be sent away and they would finally be rid of him. He was sure of it.

 

When they finally reached home, Akira’s parents said nothing to him until the front door closed behind them and he sat down at the kitchen table where they usually scolded him. His parents finished hanging up their coats, then turned around to look at him, scowling. It was silent, the air filled with tension, before his mother finally spoke. “Explain yourself.”

 

Akira shook his head. “The cops should have told you everything,” he grumbled. “I saw some drunk guy harassing a lady, I tried to stop him, he pushed me and fell down.” He looked at the table, then up at his parents, whose angry faces only hardened. “How is that different from anything else I’ve done?”

 

His parents’ faces turned from angry to indignant. “How- What do you mean, ‘how’?!” his mother spluttered. “The victim said he was going to sue! Do you realize what that means?!”

Akira nodded. “Yeah, so? He was just some random asshole. It won’t hold any weight.”

 

His parents looked at each other and then back at Akira, clearly at a loss for words. “Do you know who..." his father started, but stopped himself, clearly too shocked to continue. “Never mind. Go upstairs. We’ll talk about this more tomorrow.” 

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

The following days were harsh.

 

Akira was woken up the next day by his disgruntled mother telling him that he wouldn’t be going to school for a while, and that he was in a lot more trouble than he thought. Akira said nothing and just went back to sleep. It didn’t matter to him. The coming days would be filled with lots of talking, arguing, and maybe even a court trial, but Akira didn’t care. His parents were mad at him, the cops were mad at him, he was in “more trouble than he had ever been in”. How was that any different from normal?

 

The day of the court trial, Akira didn’t feel nervous at all. In fact, he felt slightly excited. Nothing this interesting had ever happened to him before, other than the time he punched a kid in seventh grade for throwing rocks at a birds’ nest. However, that didn’t get him in so much trouble that he’d need to prove his innocence in court. Akira’s mother poked her head into his bedroom before leaving, clearing her throat. Akira turned around and looked at her, and she already seemed annoyed. “We’re leaving soon,” she reminded him.

 

He nodded. “I’m aware,” he replied coldly.

 

She just frowned at him. “You can’t go to a trial and expect them to feel any sympathy for you dressed like that,” she said, gesturing at him. “At least try to look innocent.” Before he could say anything else, she turned and left. Akira groaned and stood up, glaring at the door. Dress nicely? I didn’t think she actually wanted me to be innocent, he thought, opening his closet and turning on the light. Did he even have anything nice? Several hoodies, his winter coat, old clothes he kept forgetting to get rid of… 

 

A blazer, plain and simple. Right, that would do. Akira didn’t even remember owning it, it was probably something his father made him wear to some important event, and it must have been recently, because it fit him just fine. Some old dress shoes, too… Fine. Akira sighed and shoved his phone into his back pocket, turned off the light, and left his room, ready to fight a battle he knew he would lose.



“The verdict: One year of probation for the defendant, Akira Kurusu.”

 

“You’ll be in Tokyo in less than a day. Get packing.” 

 

Akira didn’t know how his parents were able to find lodging for him so quickly after the verdict had been declared, but that didn’t matter. He was getting out of there.

 

Sure, he wasn’t exactly happy at what had happened. He was arrested and officially a criminal. He was being sent away as a punishment. Akira felt himself becoming less and less excited at the prospect of leaving his small hometown the more he thought about it. Of course, no one in Tokyo would know what he did. He could start fresh and maybe even make friends if he played his cards right. But what if he failed? People told him that he had a pretty mean resting bitch face, and that he looked intimidating, but maybe that would change once he was in a new place? No, he thought as he sorted through his desk to look for anything he might need to bring. Somebody’s gonna find out eventually. A lighter, a hefty lockpick he made back in middle school, his phone charger… All essentials. After Akira finished packing, he got dressed quickly and went to bed. The sooner he was out of there, the better.

 

His parents said nothing to him on the car ride to the train station, and Akira didn’t care. When they reached the station, they walked to the platform with him, and just as Akira was about to step on, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw it was his father, who pressed a paper bag into his hands. “Don’t open that until you’re on the train, got it?” he asked. Surprised, Akira said nothing and nodded, then half-heartedly waved goodbye to his parents before turning around and stepping on the train, dragging his suitcase along and leaving his disappointed parents behind him.

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

Only when he was seated and the train started moving did Akira finally open the paper bag. Inside were three things; an envelope, ten thousand eight hundred yen, and a pack of cigarettes. Akira snorted lightly at the sight of them. Was this a joke? Surely his parents wouldn’t have sent him off encouraging his bad behavior-- although it would be cruel of them to not give him at least something to remember them by. Still, why this? Curious, he opened the envelope and read the paper inside. Maybe they actually did care about him a little bit after all.

 

Akira,

 

To say we are disappointed in you would be an understatement.

We knew for a very long time that you would eventually be in enough trouble to be arrested. However, that didn’t prepare us for the actual day it would happen.

Although we are upset, we could never say we hated you or regretted having you. You have become quite a handful in the past few years, but we never thought it would be something we couldn’t handle. 

A friend of ours named Sojiro Sakura will be your caretaker while you’re in Tokyo. Use the money well. The directions to his house are below:

 

Your parents,

Kurusu Hideki & Kurusu Nami

 

Akira stared at the paper, at a loss for words. He read it again, and again, and again. His parents actually meant well? He didn’t believe it. This had to be a joke. They were probably ecstatic right now, crying of happiness that their delinquent son was no longer a burden on them. Akira shook his head and put the paper back in the envelope, setting the paper bag aside and staring out the window. 

 

The loud “kuh-lack” of the train was all Akira could hear. It was all he could focus on. That, plus the gentle voice of the woman on the loudspeaker. 

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for riding with us today.”

 

That letter just had to be a joke. It had to be.

 

“We will be arriving in Shibuya shortly.”

 

Was I really staring at the letter for that long?

 

“This is the last stop for this line.”

 

I didn’t do anything wrong, I know I didn’t.

 

“Please transfer here for all subway lines.”

 

I’m innocent. I know I am.

 

“The doors to your left will open.”

Chapter 2: Be Your Best

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

4/9/16

 

Akira felt slightly lightheaded as he stepped off the train and onto the platform. 

 

The underground walkway was confusing, cluttered, and full of people. All of them seemed to know exactly where they were going. Of course they do, they’ve probably lived here all their lives. Akira couldn’t even find the proper ticket gate he needed to go to.

 

When he eventually found his way out of the horrible maze that was the Shibuya Underground walkway, Akira felt himself be honestly taken aback at the sight of the Shibuya Crossing. So many people. Akira’s small hometown out in the country felt like a distant memory now, and although he felt like an idiot standing in the dead center of the station square, he couldn’t stop staring at the sight in front of him. He was snapped out of his trance, however, by the sound of a jingle coming from his phone. Curious, he looked down at it, wondering if it was possibly his phone’s GPS reminding him where he needed to go, but instead Akira was greeted with something he had never seen before. It looked like an app, but it had the weirdest design, and nothing happened when he pressed it. What the hell… When did I download this? I’ve been holding my phone this whole time…

 

It doesn’t matter. I’ll just figure it out when I eventually get to Sakura’s house…

 

Akira took a few steps forward, suddenly feeling lightheaded. “What the-” he started, looking around, but stopped at what he was seeing. 

 

The world had slowed to a complete stop.

 

The people around him were standing completely still as if frozen in place, all the chatter had died out, and Akira seemed to be the only one who noticed. Before he could say anything however, a flash of movement from the corner of his eye caught him, and Akira spun around to look at it. He was greeted with the sight of something truly bizarre.

 

A sudden burst of blue flames, with what looked like chains flying around them. It took a fuzzy shape of what seemed to be a person, but Akira was too far away to figure it out. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, and for a second he swore he could see a face in the flames, but as soon as he noticed it and tried to get a better look, it was gone, and the world around him suddenly turned back to normal. Startled, Akira quickly turned around in place, at a complete loss for words at what he had just witnessed. What the hell… I had to have imagined that… There’s no way that was real. No fucking way.

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

It took him some time, but Akira eventually made it to the area he needed to be in. Yongen-Jaya was cramped and confusing, and he spent nearly ten minutes wandering around confusedly, getting anxious looks from the townspeople as he passed them by. Eventually, he finally asked the angry-looking police officer standing at a corner for directions. When Akira reached what should have been the Sakura residence, no one answered the door, and the mailman standing near the house told him that he should go to find a cafe called Leblanc. Akira scoffed and started back down the road, getting more and more sick of the sound of his suitcase dragging on the ground by the second.

 

It was 4:35 when Akira finally found the tiny cafe that he was told to go to. He was late. None of this would have happened if my parents just told me to go to this cafe instead, he thought as he pushed open the door. The TV was loud, and two elderly customers sat at a booth across from the counter. A man with greying hair and glasses who Akira guessed was the manager sat at the counter doing a crossword puzzle, not paying attention to the customers or the TV.

 

“Uh, excuse me?” Akira asked, trying his hardest to sound polite. “Is uh, Is Sakura-san here?”

 

The man at the counter looked up, and Akira mentally kicked himself for his bad attempts at manners. “Yeah, that’s me,” the man said, looking Akira up and down. “Oh, right. They did tell me that was today.” 

 

At those words, the elderly couple sitting at the table suddenly stood up and began to leave. “We’ll be going now, the bill’s on the table.” With that, they left, leaving Akira and the man called Sakura in an uncomfortable silence.

 

“So, you’re the guy,” he said. “I was wondering what kind of unruly kid would show up, but you’re the one, huh?” Akira nodded, biting back a response. I’m not getting kicked out on the first day. “Have you been told? A customer of mine and your parents know each other, and…” the man started, but stopped when he saw Akira’s face. “Well, not that it matters. Follow me.” He turned around and started walking towards the back, and Akira followed, wondering why this man bothered to take him in at all.

 

At the top of the stairs was a large, cluttered area that looked like it hadn’t been touched in a long time. “This is your room,” Sakura said when Akira finished dragging his suitcase up the stairs. “I’ll give you sheets for your bed, at least.” The room was dusty and covered in cobwebs.

 

“When was the last time you went up here?” Akira asked, looking at Sojiro.

 

The man shrugged. “Doesn’t matter,” he grumbled. “It’s up to you to clean the rest. That’ll make things easier on me”

 

Akira raised his eyebrows and blinked. “What?” 

 

Sojiro took a drag on his cigarette and turned around, starting down the stairs. “You wanna make me believe you’re turning over a new leaf? Start by living less like a slob.” With that, he was gone, and Akira was alone in the dusty attic. Guess I should start with that ladder…

 

Akira didn’t notice how long he had been cleaning until he finally flopped down on the bed, sweaty and exhausted. All the dust had made his throat dry, and although he still had the cluttered shelf and desk to clean off, he couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed again. Bored, he picked up his phone, wondering what time it was and if his parents had called or texted him at all since leaving. It was already 10pm, and they hadn’t. Of course.

 

He set his phone back down, sighing. It wasn’t like he cared about if his parents contacted him or not, but it’d be nice to know that they at least cared about whether or not he arrived in Shibuya safely. They probably don’t, Akira thought bitterly. They’d probably cry tears of joy if they found out that I’d died in a subway accident or something. He turned over and glanced at the paper bag that he’d haphazardly tossed onto the table when he arrived. The paper bag with the letter and the money and his father’s “parting gift”. Akira really wanted to believe that his parents cared about him somewhat, but at the same time, he knew it probably wasn’t true. He sighed. I’m thinking way too much into this, he thought. I should get to bed… Sojiro was taking him to visit his new school the next day. If Akira stayed up too late, he’d oversleep, and he’d never hear the end of it.

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

Akira woke up early the next day to the sound of Sojiro’s voice coming from the stairs. “Are you awake? You’d better be, we’re heading for Shujin now.” He sat up in bed and yawned. Akira couldn’t blame Sojiro for disliking him already; he was definitely warned of the “scruffy delinquent” he’d be taking in. He sighed and started getting dressed. His new school’s uniform would do, in fact it was probably expected of him. Stuffing his phone into his pocket, Akira shuffled down the stairs and headed outside, already waiting for the day to be over.

 

The meeting with the school’s principal and his homeroom teacher went by quicker than Akira expected, and before he knew it, he was back in the car with Sojiro. “So, what did you think?” he asked, trying to break the awkward silence. “About the school, I mean.”

 

Akira shifted awkwardly in his seat, staring out the window at the unmoving traffic. “I think I’ll scrape by.”

 

Sojiro scoffed. “I could save us all a little time and just kick you out if that’s gonna be your attitude,” he grunted. Akira just rolled his eyes, hearing Sojiro sigh. “What a troublesome kid I’ve taken in… a real headache waiting to happen.” Akira didn’t say anything. The car stayed silent as the traffic moved slowly, little by little, and Akira felt like he was dying of boredom. His parents hadn’t called or texted him at all (not that he cared), the radio sounded like white noise to him, and there was no way Sojiro was going to let him have one of his cigarettes. There was nothing he could do except wait.

 

When they eventually got back to the cafe, Sojiro sent Akira straight to the attic, complaining under his breath about how he hadn’t even been able to open the cafe that day. Akira wanted very badly to ask him how he was still open if he was such a dick, but he decided to keep his mouth shut. Sojiro left, telling Akira that he’d better go to bed early if he wanted to make it to school on time the next day, and just like that, he was alone again. Akira plugged in his phone (not that he needed to, he’d barely used it that day), got changed, and opened the window over his bed, breathing in the fresh air from outside. It was a welcome shift from the dusty air of the attic, and after a while, Akira found that he could ignore the paper bag on the shelf no longer. Sighing, he turned around and opened it, putting the money in his school bag, and hesitantly lit one of his father’s cigarettes, staring out the window again. 

 

Akira didn’t want to admit it, but he couldn’t hold it in any longer. He missed home. He was a “scruffy delinquent” living in an attic, but he still felt slightly homesick. He wasn’t used to being treated like a nuisance; his parents acted mostly exasperated and slightly resentful towards him sometimes, but he couldn’t remember the last time they talked to him like Sojiro had that day. “You got expelled from your old school, so why not just drop out? You’ll be treated like a nuisance everywhere you go…” Akira shook his head and sighed, putting out the cigarette on the window sill. Better to just brush my teeth and go to bed now instead of overthinking. 

When the lights were out, the window was shut, and Akira’s alarms for the next day were set, he couldn’t help but feel lonely as he turned over in bed, trying to fall asleep. It seemed like hardened “bad kids” got lonely, and Akira felt truly helpless as he felt unconsciousness taking over him. It was only a year. Maybe his parents would be happy to see him when this was all over. Maybe…

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

A gloomy, cold room.

 

The sound of clanking, jingling metal.

 

His hands felt weighed down by something-- heavy chains? Akira sat up in bed, or what seemed to be one, to find himself no longer in the dusty attic of Leblanc. Instead, he found himself to be in a prison cell, heavy chains shackled to his wrists, and something weighing down his leg-- a ball and chain? What was this, a horror movie?

 

Akira sat up, rubbing his eyes, trying to figure out what was happening. The shackles on his wrists hurt, it felt too real to be a dream-- just where was he?

 

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of giggling coming from outside the cell. Akira looked up, confused, only to be greeted with a set of twin girls, each with white hair and an eyepatch over one of their strange yellow eyes. They were both dressed like old-fashioned prison wardens, and when Akira stood up to get a better look at them, they stepped aside, to reveal more of the strange place Akira had found himself in.  In the center of the room stood a desk, with an old-looking lamp and a stack of papers on top of it. Sitting in the chair behind it was a man who Akira could only describe as horrifying. With wide, unblinking eyes, a long nose, and an eerily wide smile, he extended his hand as Akira dragged himself forward to grab hold on the rusty bars in front of him.

 

“Trickster… Welcome to my Velvet Room.”

Notes:

FINALLY a new chapter. sorry it took me so long to update, playing p5r and taking notes as i go takes a surprisingly long amount of time, believe it or not. however, i'm doing it so i can write this as well and accurate as possible-- i know it really doesn't matter but if i got something like a date or certain dialogue wrong i'd never forgive myself. if you haven't noticed, i'm hoping to explore akira's relationship with his parents a little more, because it's hardly mentioned in the game and i find it pretty interesting. anyways, i hope to be able to update soon, because i'm really excited to write Bad Boy Akira meeting ryuji and experiencing the metaverse for the first time. anyways, i hope you enjoyed, and if you did, please leave comments/kudos! it means a lot knowing that people like my work!

Chapter 3: Aria of the Soul

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Akira had no clue what was going on. 

 

“Velvet room?! What is this? Where am I?! And who the fuck are you?!” 

 

The unsettling long-nosed man just chuckled. He had a low, gravelly voice and a wide smile that took up half his face. One of the twins standing in front of the cell smacked her baton against the bars and glared up at Akira, who jumped slightly. “You’re in the presence of our master, Inmate!” she shouted. “Show some respect!”

 

The long-nosed man laughed again, sending chills down Akira’s spine. “My name is Igor,” he said. “This is a place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. Only those who have signed a contract may enter this room.” The twins continued glaring up at Akira, who was getting more and more confused by the second. He opened his mouth to argue, but the man named Igor continued, his horrible smile not breaking once. “I have summoned you here tonight for a specific reason,” he said. “There are matters of grave importance we must discuss here. Matters that have great bearing on your life.”

 

Akira tightened his grip on the bars in front of him, gritting his teeth and scowling. “My life?!” he blurted out. “What the hell do you mean? Who are you people?!”

 

The man did not answer. Instead, he continued, glancing around the room. “Still, I find this to be quite a surprise… Akira Kurusu.”

 

Akira gasped, and shook the bars angrily. “How do you know my name?!” he shouted. “What’s going on here?! Who are you?!” He truly had no idea what was going on or how he ended up in such a terrifying place with a man that looked like he was pulled straight out of a horror movie, and he wanted answers. However, the man (Igor, was his name?) simply shook his head and continued.

 

“The form the Velvet Room takes is a mirror of your own heart. To think it would appear as a prison…”

 

Akira couldn’t believe it. This is a prison?!

 

Igor continued. “It seems you truly are a prisoner… of fate. I can say without a doubt that utter ruin will be visiting you in the near future.” He continued smiling eerily at Akira, who felt chills running over his skin.

 

“Are you serious?! Am I going to die?!” he yelled, shaking the bars again, which prompted one of the twins to smack the bars with her baton again.

 

“Shut up! Know your damn place, Inmate!” she snapped. Akira didn’t budge.

 

“Hang on, we’re not done here! What do you want me to do?!”

 

Igor simply chuckled again. “You must fight. You must rehabilitate yourself towards freedom.” Akira could feel the world around him starting to fade, he must have been waking up in the real world, but he wasn’t done here-- he didn’t know who these freaky people were or how he got there!

 

“Wait a minute, hold on!” he yelled, shaking the bars again and hearing the loud jangling of the chains around him. “I don’t understand what you’re saying!” However, no matter how loud he shouted, Igor and the twins didn’t answer him. All Akira could do was watch as the prison continued fading away and he was once again plunged into darkness.



☁ ☁ ☁

 

Akira jolted awake the next morning, his wrists feeling heavy and drenched in cold sweat. Immediately upon waking up, he thought about his dream, wondering where it could have come from. Ruin? Rehabilitation? What does it mean? Akira couldn’t get the long-nosed man’s words out of his head as he got ready for school, and he was so distracted that he didn’t even notice that Sojiro was calling him from downstairs. 

 

“Hey! Kid! Get down, you’re gonna be late!”

 

Pushing the strange dream to the back of his mind, Akira started down the stairs and was about to leave when Sojiro stopped him. “Hang on,” he said, gesturing at the counter. “Eat some breakfast first, at least.” Akira glanced at the counter, seeing that Sojiro was pointing at a bowl of curry and a glass of milk. He looked up at the expectant man, confused.

 

“Curry for breakfast?” he asked.

 

Sojiro nodded. “Don’t complain. You should be grateful I’m feeding you at all.” Akira huffed and begrudgingly accepted the offer. The curry was good, but spicier than he expected. Realizing he should probably not be an asshole to the man feeding him, he muttered some quick words of thanks and stood up, ready to leave.

 

“Hey, Try not to get lost on your way to school,” Sojiro called from the counter. “Don’t be late, country boy.” Akira scowled, closed the door behind him, and set off, the curry’s taste still strong in his mouth.

 

It took him some time, but Akira finally found the right ticket gates to the school. When he emerged from the underground, it was raining. Just my shitty luck, he thought as he stood under a shop awning. First a weird asshole in my dream, and now it rains on my first day of school… 

 

The rain still wasn’t letting up. Akira could see students wearing the same uniform running past, and he felt like he was going to be late if he waited any longer. Hoping to kill time a little quicker, Akira pulled out his phone and checked the time. He had a few minutes to spare. Another student walked past, but this time they stopped next to him under the awning. Akira looked up to see who it could be, and was greeted with the sight of a girl taking her hood off to reveal long, thick white-blonde hair done up in twintails, and platinum blue eyes. The girl looked up at him, a slight smile on her face, then looked back at the road, clearly wanting to be left alone. 

 

A few minutes later, a car drove up and stopped in front of them. A window was rolled down, and a man with a mop of black hair and a very rectangular-looking face looked up at them, smiling. “Hey, you need a ride?” he asked. “You’re gonna be late.”

 

The girl next to Akira smiled back at him and stepped forward. “Oh, sure, thank you.” she breathed, getting into the car. The man in the driver’s seat looked slightly pleased with himself, then glanced up at Akira, who scowled back at him.

 

“Do you need a lift too?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Akira shook his head, which prompted the driver to take off, and Akira noticed an uncomfortable look growing on the girl’s face. 

 

“Damn it! Screw that pervy teacher!”

 

Akira heard another voice coming from behind him, and he looked up to see another kid wearing the Shujin uniform running up in front of him. The boy had bright yellow hair (so bright that Akira could tell it was fake), and wore an irritated expression on his face. He stopped in front of Akira and was breathing heavily, as if he had just finished running a marathon. Curious, Akira cleared his throat and spoke up to get the boy’s attention. “Pervy…. teacher?” 

 

The blond boy whipped around at Akira’s words, looking more annoyed than ever. “What?” he asked, one of his brown eyes twitching. “You plannin’ on rattin’ me out to Kamoshida?” Akira raised his eyebrows.

 

“What do you mean?” he asked.

 

The blond boy rolled his eyes and kicked the ground. “That asshole in the car just now,” he grumbled. “That slimy jerk is way too interested in high school girls.”

 

Akira gripped his phone slightly at the boy’s words. I hate this place already. The blond boy was still talking. “Like, dude! Who do you think you are, the king of a castle?” He must really hate that guy.

 

“Is he a teacher at Shujin or something?” Akira asked.

The blond boy nodded slowly, looking confused. “No shit, dude!” He took a step forward, and Akira noticed his expression softening. “You do go to Shujin, right? I mean, you’re wearin’ our uniform.”

 

Akira nodded. “I think so. I just moved here,” he replied, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. “Sounds like the school isn’t as great as I was told, huh?” The boy nodded, wearing a scowl that could match Akira’s any day.

 

“Don’t even get me started.” He glanced behind him at the rainy street, then back at Akira. “This rain ain’t too bad,” he said. “Come on, we don’t wanna be late. I’ll show ya a shortcut.” He started walking, but stopped suddenly, holding his forehead. “Agh…” he grumbled, his eyes squeezed shut. Akira rushed forward, worried. If his guide to the school was somehow suddenly unwell, it wouldn’t be good news.

 

“You okay?” he asked, suddenly feeling a surge of pain shooting through his head. The boy nodded, rubbing his eyes.

 

“Yeah, my head just hurts… Damn it. I wanna go home…” With that, he set off, and Akira followed him, feeling less doubtful now that he had a friend at his side.

 

☁️ ☁️ ☁️

 

Down the street, make a left, go down an alley. Akira was slightly confused about how long it would take them to get to the school, even with the shortcut, but at the same time, he trusted the blond boy. He hadn’t said much after Akira started following him, which made him feel somewhat awkward. He hadn’t even told Akira his name yet.

 

“Hey,” he called, speeding up a little to catch up with the blond boy.

 

He stopped and turned around, surprised. “What’s up?” he asked. Akira rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

 

“Nothing, I just realized something…” he started, trying not to make eye contact with the expectant boy. “I uh… I never got your name.” The blond boy raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised.

“You wanna know my name?” he asked. Akira shrugged.

“I mean, you’re showing me the way. Might as well.” The boy nodded.

“Alright. Name’s Sakamoto Ryuji.” He extended his hand, and Akira took it. “Kurusu Akira,” he replied. Ryuji gave him a small smile. “Nice to meetcha.”

 

They nodded at each other once again, and continued down the alleyway, the rain and the teacher in the car nearly forgotten. 



Notes:

me, at the beginning of this chapter: don’t make it pegoryu don’t make it pegoryu don’t make it pegoryu don’t m
me at the end of this chapter: fuck

if you enjoyed, please leave a comment/kudos! it makes me happy knowing people like my work!

thank you for reading!

Chapter 4: This Is My Fight

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Uh, what the hell?”

 

Upon emerging from the alleyway, Akira and Ryuji were not met with the sight of Shujin Academy, but instead a large, old-looking European-style castle. The sky behind it was cloudy and purple, and although what Akira remembered to be a fairly modern-looking building from the school’s website was now an old castle, the city around him remained unchanged. He glanced over at Ryuji, who was staring at the castle with wide, horrified eyes. “This definitely isn’t the school,” he murmured. Akira bit his lip and scoffed.

 

“Yeah, I can see that.” He went closer to the building to get a closer look, and noticed a large sign lining the front of it: “SHUJIN PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOL”. We should be in the right place.

 

Akira turned around and looked back at Ryuji, who was doing something on his phone. “Dammit, no service? Where the hell did we end up?”

 

They looked at each other for a moment, then took a few more steps toward the large doors at the center. “I guess we should go in and ask,” Ryuji suggested, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. Akira nodded at him, and they started forward. 

 

As soon as the heavy doors behind them closed, Akira immediately wanted to leave. The air in the castle felt dirty and musty, and he didn’t like it at all. He turned to Ryuji, who looked just as confused as Akira felt, and was still trying to get his phone to work.

“I thought this was the school,” he mumbled, pocketing his phone and looking around. “How the fuck did we end up in a creepy place like this?”

 

Akira shrugged. “Beats me,” he replied. “Though I can say that this doesn't look like the pictures on the website at all.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Akira could hear something coming from behind them. It sounded like heavy footsteps, and the two confused teens spun around to investigate the source. A few seconds later, a head poked out from behind a corner. 

 

Startled, they jumped, looked at each other, then back at the head, which showed itself more until it was revealed to belong to a knight, twice Akira’s height and complete with armor, a shield, and a long sword. “Dude, what the fuck?!” Ryuji shouted, stepping back. “Scare me to death, why don’tcha?” When the knight said nothing, Ryuji glanced up and down, then back at Akira, seemingly at a loss for words. Akira said nothing. What was he supposed to do? Ryuji bit his lip and looked back at the knight, who continued to stand over them. “Uh, what’s with the armor? There’s gotta be someone in there, right?” Ryuji asked.

 

The air grew more and more tense with each passing second, and suddenly, Akira felt like he needed to get out. Now. “Hey,” he started, touching Ryuji’s shoulder. “I think we should get out of here.”

 

The other boy turned his head, confused. “What, you sc-”

 

“OOF!”

 

In less than a second, Ryuji was slammed to the ground by the knight. “What the fuck?!” he shouted, struggling under the weight of the knight. “You’re gonna break my bones, dammit!” He looked up at Akira, who gripped the straps of his bag and glanced around the room, his heart pounding. He took a step back and tried to run, but was floored (literally) by another knight, and soon he felt and saw no more. 

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

When Akira woke up, he was disappointed to find out that being knocked out by a huge medieval-looking knight in a mysterious European castle in the middle of Tokyo with a kid he had just met was not a dream. He found himself in a cell not unlike the one from the dream he’d had the previous night, except this time it was dank and dirty and grimy. He could see chains and shackles hanging on the walls and could hear a waterfall in the distance. Akira sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Yo, you awake?” came Ryuji’s voice from next to him. Akira nodded and stood up, walking up to the bars and looking at the area outside. They seemed to be locked in a cell in a dungeon that looked as if nature was starting to take over the castle’s interior. “Startin’ to think this ain’t no dream,” Ryuji said, having moved to where Akira stood. He just nodded.

 

“This is the weirdest goddamn first day of school I’ve ever experienced…”

 

After a few minutes had passed and still no one had come to their rescue, Ryuji and Akira were at their wits’ end. Ryuji turned to Akira, who was busying himself with a game on his phone, and then back at the river flowing in front of them. “Are we gonna die here?” he wondered aloud, causing Akira to look up from his phone and at Ryuji. He shrugged.

 

“No clue.”

 

Ryuji started looking around the cell for the third time in the past hour, for something, anything they could use to try and escape. He looked at Akira again, who was now trying to pick the lock from the outside, then at his bag. “Hey, dude, can I look at your bag for a second?” Ryuji asked, trying to sound casual and not at all terrified. Akira looked back at him, and nodded.

 

“Sure,” he said, going back to fighting the lock. “You’re not gonna find anything of use in there, though.” He nudged the bag towards the blond boy with his foot, and Ryuji immediately unzipped it and started digging. All right, new kid, Ryuji thought. What’re you hiding?

 

An old-looking pencil case, a notebook, what seemed to be Akira’s wallet, a lighter, his phone charger, a pocket knife, a pack of cigarettes, a crumpled up piece of paper, and a map of the Shibuya underground. Ryuji zipped the bag back up and pushed it back towards his new friend’s feet, thinking. Maybe Kamoshida had actually been right about something for once when he said that the transfer student was a real criminal. He doesn’t seem that bad, though, he thought as he watched Akira continue to fidget with the lock. If he really was dangerous, he woulda knifed me before I even looked at him. 

 

A minute later, Ryuji was snapped out of his reverie by the sounds of footsteps coming from further down the hallway. Akira immediately took his hands off the lock and put them back in his pockets, and Ryuji stood up to see who was there. He felt his blood run cold when he saw who was there.

 

A group of the knights from earlier was walking up to the cell, their faces gray and expressionless. “Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon,” the guard at the front sneered. “Your charge is unlawful entry. Thus, you will be sentenced to death.” 

 

Akira and Ryuji’s jaws dropped, horrified at what they had just heard. “Say what?!” Ryuji shouted. He raised his fist, about to retaliate, but was cut off by the sound of another approaching voice. A gnarled, slimy-sounding voice.

 

“No one is allowed to do as they please in my castle.”

 

The guards parted, and approaching them was a man who looked slightly familiar, but not at all in a good way.

 

He was tall, but slouching, and was wearing a glittery pink cape outlined with white fur, with nothing underneath except for a hot pink speedo. Even with the yellow eyes and disgusting outfit, Akira could tell who it was. “You’re that asshole who had a girl in your car!” he spat. Ryuji turned to him, a shocked look on his face.

 

“You recognized him already?!” he asked. Akira scoffed.

 

“I could never forget a chin as blocky as his.”

 

The Kamoshida in front of them narrowed his eyes at them and snatched a ring of keys from one of the guards, then started opening the cell. “Who gave you the permission to speak like that to a king?!” he barked, kicking the door open. Akira and Ryuji jumped back, and even from further away, Akira could see Kamoshida’s disgusting hairy legs. Yuck.

 

The rest of the guards stepped in, and quickly grabbed Akira and Ryuji, holding them in place. Kamoshida stepped forward and leered at them, his focus on Ryuji. “I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it’d be you, Sakamoto… Seems you haven’t learned your lesson at all.”  He turned to Akira, who scowled at him. “And you brought a friend this time, because you can’t do anything yourself.” Ryuji struggled against the guard, trying to speak up.

 

“This ain’t funny, asshole!” he shouted. The guard tightened its grip on the struggling blond, and Kamoshida turned back to him, his eyes narrowed.

 

“Is that how you speak to a king?” he growled. “It seems you don’t understand the position you’re in at all!” Suddenly, Kamoshida took another step forward and smacked Ryuji across the face, a horrible grin decorating his own. “Take this!” he sneered, throwing a punch. Ryuji cried out in pain, and Kamoshida just laughed before punching him again. “Worthless scum!” he shouted, adding another blow. “Useless pest!”

 

Again, and again, and again, until the guard had dropped Ryuji and Kamoshida was laughing too hard to throw another punch. Akira felt sick as he struggled against the guard’s grip, unable to do anything but watch. When Kamoshida finally caught his breath, he looked down at Ryuji and spat on the floor where he lay. “Where’d your energy from earlier go?” he sneered. Ryuji said nothing. A guard grabbed the blond by the neck and held him up to the wall, pointing its long sword at his chest. “I’ll have you killed right now,” Kamoshida said in a low voice, a nasty smile on his face. Akira continued struggling against the guard, but its grip was too strong. He had to do something. Ryuji seemed like a nice guy, and he couldn’t let his only friend get killed right in front of him! Akira was supposed to be the scruffy delinquent. He was better than this!

 

“What the hell is your problem?!” he shouted at Kamoshida. 

 

The guard stopped, lowered his sword, and dropped Ryuji, who groaned and rubbed his neck. Kamoshida turned around to look at Akira, who didn’t flinch, even with Kamoshida and the guard staring him down. “What was that?” the mop-haired man sneered, his lip curling. “Don’t tell me you don’t know who I am.” Akira just scowled at him. Kamoshida’s glare sharpened. “That look in your eyes irritates me!” he shouted, suddenly kicking Akira in the stomach, pushing him against the wall. Immediately, he got back up and tried rushing at Kamoshida, but the guards grabbed him by the arms and held him back, leaving Ryuji out in the open, defenseless against the remaining guard towering over him. Akira could once again do nothing but watch and struggle, until suddenly, the world around him became quiet.

 

“What’s the matter? Are you simply going to watch?”

 

A deep voice sounded inside Akira’s head, cutting through the sudden silence. Akira’s head shot up, and he looked around frantically, trying to find the source. Before he could retaliate, the voice spoke again. “Are you forsaking him to save yourself? Death awaits him if you do nothing.”

 

Akira glanced up at Ryuji, who was struggling with all his might. The mysterious voice spoke again. “Was your previous decision-” Akira suddenly thought of that night back in his hometown, and the struggling woman, “-a mistake then?” Akira shook his head, feeling as if the voice should have known the answer.

 

“Of course it wasn’t,” he muttered.

 

The voice gave a low chuckle. “Very well. I have heeded your resolve.” Akira felt a sudden burst of pain unlike anything he had ever felt in his life go through his head. It was worse than any beating he had ever endured from the bullies at school, worse than flu shots, worse than death itself-

 

“Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I.”

The pain was getting worse. Akira was struggling against the guards again, desperately wishing for the pain to end, there were tears rolling down his cheeks now,

“Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice!”

The guards were pushing him harder against the wall, and the pain just kept intensifying, and Akira just wanted it to stop, death would be a preferable alternative to this-

“Call upon my name, and release thy rage!”

The pain had reached its peak-

“Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained, to Hell itself!”

 

Akira let out a scream, startling everyone around him, including Kamoshida, who spun around to look at the source. “What was that?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at Akira, who was breathing heavily, his fists clenched. Kamoshida rolled his eyes. “You desire to be killed that much?! Fine!” he shouted, pointing at Akira. “Execute him!” The guard beside him suddenly pushed him with its shield, knocking Akira’s glasses off his face. The guards surrounded him, pinning him to the wall with their spears holding his head up. Kamoshida raised his hand, and the guard captain raised his sword, ready to swing-

 

whoosh.

 

A gust of wind suddenly swept through the dungeon, blowing the guard back. Akira’s eyes were wide open, staring at the ground. The guards stepped back, holding their shields over their faces, and when the wind finally settled, they looked back up at Akira, who raised his head, which was suddenly very different.

 

In the space where his glasses once sat was now a black and white domino mask. Akira, who seemed to know exactly what to do, grabbed the edges and pulled, groaning. It hurt, but he kept pulling, knowing he had to get it off, he just had to, but it hurt, and a horrible ripping sound suddenly filled the air, mixing with Akira’s pained screams. Blood was spurting from his face, but Akira was no longer in pain. Instead, he felt the opposite. He felt great. No, more than that- he felt amazing, no, ecstatic. He looked forward at Kamoshida, who now looked terrified, and grinned.

 

A wall of blue flames suddenly shot up all around him, and although Ryuji couldn’t see Akira, he could hear him. He sounded almost hysterical, cackling while blue flames and broken chains flew around him. The flames directly in front of him disappeared, and standing before Ryuji was no longer the cynical transfer student- but instead was a maniacal-looking figure dressed in a long, black leather tailcoat, with bright red gloves and a dark suit underneath, tucked into high-heeled boots. Behind him stood a huge black-winged demon, wearing what looked like a red Victorian-style suit and thigh-high boots- wait, were those heels knives ?! Ryuji was utterly baffled, staring up at his strange, suddenly insane-looking friend, grasping one of the broken chains in one hand, a long, straight silver dagger in the other. An insane smile decorated his face as he stared down at Ryuji, his steely-grey eyes filled with a new, almost hungry glare. '

 

Even with all of the confusion of the past fifteen minutes, one thing was clear.

 

Kamoshida was fucked.

Notes:

WOOOO writing this was fun

i'm going to go a little canon divergent here and make it so akira is a little more powerful than he usually is starting off, for a few reasons: one, being that i'm doing a new game plus while writing this, and two, i think it's fair to say that the violent angry crime boy akira would have more power than just eiha and sukunda. the arsene i had in the compendium at the time of starting out the game was pretty beefy (not to brag but he had eiagon, maeiagon, sword dance, riot gun, thermopylae, and debilitate uwu) so i'm going to go along with that one because this is my story and i said so.

if you read all that and still enjoyed, please let me know by leaving kudos/commenting! i really like knowing that people enjoy my work! thank you for reading!

Chapter 5: Pick Another Fight

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

It took Akira no time at all to redirect his attention to Kamoshida, who was shaking with fright in the corner. Power-hungry grey eyes met timid yellow ones, and for a second, Ryuji seriously thought Akira was going to kill Kamoshida right then and there. However, another second passed, and Kamoshida regained his composure, straightened his back, and pointed a shaking finger at Akira, shouting. “Guards! Kill him!” The toppled soldiers sprang up and dissolved into purple and red mist, and two jack-o-lanterns floated in their places. Without a second thought, Akira ran at them, swiping the dagger up and killing them (with some help from that demon behind him- what was it?). 

 

Breathing heavily, he spun around to look at the stunned Kamoshida, and then down at Ryuji. His glare softened, and he hastily bent down to pick up the keys that the now disintegrated guards had dropped. “Get up!” he yelled, gesturing towards the door. Ryuji nodded, grabbed their school bags, and together they escaped, locking Kamoshida in the cell behind them. “Ha! Look who’s the prisoner now!” Ryuji laughed, pointing at him, then turning back to Akira, who was tightening the red silk gloves he was wearing. “Ready to go?” he asked, and Ryuji nodded. 

 

“So, what the hell happened just now?” Ryuji asked as they tried navigating through the dungeons. Akira shrugged, and started picking at a lock on one of the doors.

 

“Dunno, but it was pretty neat.”

 

Ryuji just gaped at him. “Neat?!” He stared at Akira, at a loss for words. “You almost fuckin' killed Kamoshida, dude! How is that only just ‘neat’?!”

 

He just shrugged again, and went back to the lock. “I’ve got more important things to focus on,” he murmured. “Like getting us out of here.” He fidgeted with the lock for a few more minutes, before sighing and turning around to face the still-shocked blond. “No good. Let’s look somewhere else.”

 

They snuck through the dungeons some more, and eventually found a tunnel that led to a set of stairs. Climbing them only greeted the two with even more of the underground prison, and Akira was starting to lose his calm and cool composure. “We’ve been down here for God knows how long, and we’re still further underground than the fucking subway…” he mumbled as they reached another dead end. He looked at Ryuji, who kicked the ground and sighed.

 

“Think we’re stuck here?” he asked. Akira shook his head. 

 

“Hey! You two! Wanna know where the exit is?”

 

Akira and Ryuji spun around, trying to find the source of the voice. “Where-” Akira started, trying to remember if he had seen anyone else in the dungeons, but the loud and slightly boyish voice cut him off again. “Let me out and I’ll tell you where it is!” 

 

The two confused teens ran further down the pathway as the voice grew closer, eventually stopping at a dead end. “No good, it’s just another stop!” Ryuji complained, kicking the ground. Akira turned around to look at the cell they were standing next to, and was greeted with the sight of… something.

 

“What are you staring at?!” it shouted, shaking the bars. “Hurry up and let me out!” 

 

It was very short, with big blue eyes and a little yellow scarf wrapped around its neck. It looked like a cat, but not like any cat Akira had ever seen before. “You want to know how to get out of here, right?” it asked. “Let me out and I’ll help you escape!” It pointed at a ring of rusty keys hanging on the wall beside the cell with its short arms, desperation in its voice. Ryuji raised an eyebrow and looked at Akira, then back down at the strange creature.

 

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” he snapped. “You just look like some kinda weird cat monster to me.”

 

The creature’s demeanor changed from frantic to indignant almost immediately. “I am NOT a cat!” he shot back. “I am Morgana! Say that again, and I’ll make you regret it!” Ryuji rolled his eyes and turned to Akira, who was watching the scene unfold, looking amused.

“This thing sounds like it’s all talk,” he mumbled.

Akira shrugged. “I dunno, I kinda wanna get out of here.” 

 

The creature (Morgana, was it?) jumped excitedly. “You there! Frizzy hair!” he yelled, directing his attention at Akira. “You wanna get out of here, right?” Akira nodded and glanced at the key ring on the wall. Morgana jumped again and waved his arms. “Let me out, please! I’ll tell you how to get out!” Akira looked at him, then at the key ring, then at Ryuji, then back at Morgana. He hesitated, but he was also feeling nervous, because he and Ryuji were seriously late, and they really needed to get out of there. Biting his lip, Akira grabbed the keys and started unlocking the cell.

 

“You'd better not be lying.”

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

Morgana delivered his promise, leading Akira and Ryuji to a room off the main hall and directing them to climb through a vent shaft that would lead to the outside. Akira wished the cat good luck in not getting caught again (it was the least he could do), crawled through the vent, and ran as far away from the castle as he could, Ryuji at his side.

 

“You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.”

 

Startled, Akira dropped his phone and looked around. The robotic voice had been right; they were back. He bent down and picked it back up, rubbing his head and wondering what the hell had just happened to him. “You have any goddamn clue how we got back here?” Ryuji asked him. Akira shook his head.

 

“I think we should get going.” Akira’s head hurt, and he had a bad feeling about what would happen if they spent any longer sitting around.

 

Ryuji nodded. “We can go over this shit later.”

 

Kawakami was less than pleased to see Akira showing up late. Introducing himself in front of the class went even worse. Akira didn’t like how nervous he felt, even though he had literally almost killed a man not too many hours ago. “I’m uh, Akira Kurusu. Sorry for being late.” He stared at the ground as he was directed to the open seat near the window, and Akira didn’t even care that the girl sitting in front of him was the girl he saw in Kamoshida’s car. He had other things to worry about.

 

“Is that him? The criminal transfer student?”

These people sure are chatty.

“He seems quiet, but I bet when he loses it…”

Do they have me pegged as some sort of psycho?

“I heard that he gets in tons of fights!”

And what about it?

“Really? I heard that he spent a year in juvie!”

I’d prefer that over being here a second longer.

“What’s the school doing letting criminals like him go here?”

Trust me, I don’t want to be here either.

 

Although there were only a few hours left of the school day, it felt like eons had passed before Akira finally stepped out of the classroom to go home. However, just as he was about to go down the stairs, he heard Kawakami’s voice calling him. Groaning, he turned around to see her standing in the doorway, her arms crossed and foot tapping. “What is it?” he asked. She glared at him. Not good.

 

“I heard you’ve been spending time around that Sakamoto-kun before school,” she said sharply. Akira raised his eyebrows.

 

“‘That’ Sakamoto?” Kawakami narrowed her eyes at him.

 

“Don’t ask questions. I’m just trying to steer you away from bad influences, that’s all.” As the words left her mouth, her expression turned from exasperated to annoyed. “Speak of the devil…”

 

Turning around, Akira saw Ryuji approaching them, and for the first time that day, he felt relieved. “Hey,” he grunted, staring at the ground. Akira gave him a small smile, then looked at Kawakami, who was glaring at them.

 

“Do you need something?” she asked.

 

Ryuji shook his head. “Just wanted to see him,” he shot back, gesturing at Akira. He then stepped closer, and whispered something in Akira’s ear. “I’ll see you on the roof.” With that, he turned around and started up the stairs. Akira looked back at his teacher, who rolled her eyes.

 

“See? He’s not one you’d want to spend your time around.”

 

Akira shook his head. “He’s the only person who’s been nice to me at all since I got here,” he snapped. Kawakami seemed surprised, but regained her composure and glared at him. Akira didn’t care. “I’ll be heading off now.” He could feel her eyes on him as he headed up the stairs, wondering if his day could possibly be any worse.

 

“Yo, you’re here.”

 

Ryuji’s voice made Akira feel slightly better. The roof was cluttered with extra desks and what looked like planters. Akira headed over to where Ryuji was standing and dropped his bag on one of the desks, opening it and lighting a cigarette. It had been a long day.

 

“Betcha Kawakami told you to avoid me, huh?” Ryuji grumbled. Akira nodded.

 

“I told her that I didn’t care. You’re the only person who’s bothered to be nice to me since I got here, after all.”

 

Ryuji smiled. “Heh, thanks dude…” He trailed off, watching Akira smoke. “You don’t seem like a bad guy. Those rumors don’t mean a damn thing to me.” Akira smiled.

 

“Thanks.” 

 

They sat in silence for a moment, then Akira spoke up again. “So, what did you ask me up here for?” he asked. Ryuji jumped slightly, then laughed.

 

“Oh, yeah! Right.” He pushed himself up onto one of the desks and crossed his legs. “So, about that castle.” Ryuji seemed slightly hesitant, but continued.

“You think it was a dream?” Akira shook his head.

“No way. That shit felt real.” They nodded at each other. Akira took a long drag on his cigarette and sighed. “Why’d you ask?”

 

Ryuji shrugged. “I dunno, I was just thinkin’…” He glanced at Akira, then looked at the ground. “I was thinkin’ we should go back. See if we can ask that cat thing for more info about it. I mean, he didn’t even tell us how that shit was even there.” Akira nodded.

 

“Sure, I’m down.” He looked at Ryuji, who seemed surprised.

“What?”

Ryuji shrugged. “I dunno, I didn’t exactly expect you to say yes.” He sounded slightly hesitant, almost like Akira’s answer unsettled him. Akira just laughed.

 

“You seemed scared shitless back in there,” he said, causing Ryuji to frown at him, his face red. “Come on!” Akira laughed. “You totally were. I thought you weren’t going to want to go back there ever again.” The blond smiled sheepishly.

 

“I mean, you were actin’ kinda crazy there, I gotta admit.” He said, getting another laugh from Akira. “You were!” 

 

Akira smiled. He couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed like that with a friend, and he had only known Ryuji for a day. At first, he had been shocked that someone would want to be nice to him, let alone spend time together. However, even though their newfound friendship had come from almost dying at the hands of a crazed P.E. teacher, Akira knew he could trust Ryuji. They exchanged numbers as they rode the train back home, and when Ryuji waved at him as Akira got off at his stop, he felt himself getting lost in thought.

 

If all it took for Akira to make friends was a near-death experience, it was going to be one hell of a year.

Notes:

me writing this: don't make it pegoryu don't make it pegoryu there are literally so many other directions this story could take don't make it pegoryu don't m
my goblin brain: hehe cute blond boy go "for real?"

please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thank you for reading!

Chapter 6: Are You Ready?

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

April 11th, 2016 / 10:04pm

 

 

Ryuji: Hey, I decided to go ahead and message you.

Ryuji: Can you see this?

Akira: Nope

Ryuji: You SO can!

Ryuji: Im gonna be countin on you tomorrow, okay?

Akira: About what

Akira: Wait

Ryuji: The castle, dude!

Akira: The castle, right?

Akira: Oh fuck nevermind

Ryuji: Were goin tomorrow after school, that okay with you?

Akira: Yeah just as long as we' re not out for too long or else the guy i live with is gonna be pissed

Ryuji: ?

Akira: I’ll  explain later

Akira: Good night

Ryuji: Night!

 

Akira smiled as he turned off his phone. The moment he returned home, Sojiro grilled him with all sorts of questions about why he had been late to school, and because Akira couldn' t give him a truthful answer (how was he supposed to explain the castle?), he had to help Sojiro with the shop for the rest of the night. He was nice enough to let Akira go to the bathhouse across the street before he sent him to bed, and it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open as Akira finished texting Ryuji. That strange castle was all he could think about. Hopefully he would dream about that instead of that long-nosed man and those bitchy little twins

 

About time you’ve come to! On your feet, inmate!

 

Fuck.

 

Akira ran his hands through his hair and sighed as he slowly stood up and walked towards the cell door. The twins looked just as irritated as they were the last time he dreamed of the place, but Igor retained his unsettlingly wide smile as he stared at Akira, who was already getting sick of the place. What do you want? he asked, gripping the bars. One of the twins smacked the bars with her baton.

Youre in the presence of our master, Inmate! she snapped. Be polite! Akira just rolled his eyes. What could the guy even do?

 

Oh? Youve awakened to your powers and special ones at that. Igors lips barely moved as he spoke, which sent a chill down Akiras spine. Your rehabilitation can finally begin.

He didnt understand. What rehabilitation? Akira yelled, shaking the bars again. This made no sense at all. Meanwhile, the long-nosed man chuckled and shook his head.

There is no need to understand it for the time being, he replied, seemingly attempting to be reassuring. However, it just made Akira more confused. Igor continued. You will be training the power of Persona, which you have awakened to.

 

That’s what that weird stuff was back in the castle? Akira wanted to ask, but Igor kept talking. Personas are, in other words, a mask”— an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters. I have high expectations for you. Akira just shook his head.

That's none of my concern, he shot back. Unless youre talking about that weird castle and the cat thing. Igor seemed unfazed.

There is no need to worry. You will learn when the time comes.”

 

By the by, have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator? he asked.

Akira blinked in shock. Your WHAT?! he exclaimed, ignoring the smacking on the bars from the warden's baton. You were the one who put that weird shit on my phone?

Igor chuckled. It will be what allows you to travel between reality and Palaces. I bestowed it to you to train you as a thief.

 

Akira felt more confused than ever. Meanwhile, one of the twins smacked her baton against the bars again. The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master! You better treasure it, Inmate! she shouted. Akira didnt care. He just wanted to know what was going on. Igor continued talking.

We shall continue this conversation another time, he said. For now, return to your world. He gave Akira another wide smile, and before he could say anything else, he was once again plunged into darkness.

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

Akira woke up the next morning with his wrists feeling heavy and a dry mouth. He could hear rain outside and smelled coffee downstairs, and he knew he should hurry so he could get to school on time, but he couldn' t help but think about Igor and the Velvet Room. At least it had given him one answer to his many questions; the Metaverse Navigator had come from Igor. How this strange long-nosed man knew how to make an app that could transfer people to and from different realities he did not know, but that didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was getting through the school day without finding some way to get himself expelled.

 

He could feel everyones eyes on him the moment he stepped off the Aoyama platform. No doubt the schools rumor mill had had a field day yesterday when Akira came to school late and ended the day talking to Ryuji Sakamoto on the rooftop. Not only does the transfer student show up late, but I heard that he was smoking on the roof with Sakamoto yesterday! Yeah I was, so what? he thought, staring out the window of the classroom. Why did it matter so much to them what he did?

 

Quiet down! shouted the teacher. He then directed his attention to Akira, who was still staring out the window. Hey! New kid! he shouted. Shit. Akira jerked awake and sat up in his seat, looking up at the teacher.  He hadnt heard much about the school and its teachers, but according to the other students, Mr. Ushimaru was one mean son of a bitch. Is that how you behave when someone is talking?! Suddenly, he grabbed a piece of chalk and threw it in Akiras direction. Looks like hes not used to delinquent students, he thought as he dodged it quickly. The entire class immediately started whispering to each other. Oh my god, he dodged Ushimarus throw! Is he a ninja? Akira looked back out the window and smiled to himself. Teachers threw chalk at him all the time back at school in his hometown. One measly throw from a teacher who didnt even know him? Please.

 

Akira spent the rest of the day listening to rumors, staring out the window, and trying not to draw any more attention to himself than there already was. Ryuji was waiting outside the classroom when the day was over, and seeing his fake-blond hair was the first thing to make Akira smile that day. Yo, you ready? he asked as they made their way back to the school gate.

Akira nodded. Of course.

They leaned against the wall in the alley, Akira pulling out his phone. So, I think I remember how we got there, he said. Ryujis eyes widened.

For real?

Akira nodded. This weird app installed itself onto my phone and I can't delete it. He showed the app to his friend, who raised his eyebrows. I looked at it and I saw the words Kamoshida, Shujin Academy, Castle…” There was a strange pulse in the air, and suddenly, everything slowed down. Akira smiled. That should do it.

 

When the distortion settled and Akira pushed his phone back into his pocket, Ryuji stepped back and gasped. The castle is back! he yelled. And your clothes! Akira glanced down, and sure enough, he was back in the dark suit and tailcoat. He tightened his gloves and pushed the mask further up his nose, smirking.

Not bad, huh?"   he asked. Ryuji scoffed.

You LIKE it?! he spluttered. He gaped at Akira for a moment, who just shook his head and started towards the castle.

Lets go! he said.

Startled, Ryuji followed him, jogging to catch up. Hang on! You act all different when youre in that get up…”

 

When Akira reached the vent shaft they had crawled out of, he and Ryuji were greeted by Morgana, the strange cat creature they had met the previous day. What are you two doing back here? it hissed, looking shocked. Akira crossed his arms and tapped his foot.

I could ask the same of you, he replied smoothly.

Morgana looked annoyed, but he quickly brushed it off and frowned at them. Looks like Frizzy Hairs got some attitude, he shot back. Anyways, like I said before, what are you idiots doing back here? He glanced at Ryuji, who took a step closer to Akira. I thought Blondie never wanted to come back here ever again, but here he is!

Ryuji narrowed his eyes. You wanna go, cat? he hissed, leaning forward. Morgana glared at him. Bring it.

 

Akira stepped forward, separating them. “Shut the hell up and stop arguing. They'll hear us. He looked up at the vent shaft, then back at Morgana, who looked slightly shocked. “Let's just get going already, he snapped, which only caused the not-cat to widen his eyes further as if Akira had just punched him in the face.  Now, are we gonna go back into this castle or not? The bickering teen and not-cat quieted, and followed Akira into the castle.

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

Morgana guided them through the dungeons per Ryujis request. He mentioned hearing screams and seeing what looked like people wearing Shujin uniforms trapped in the cells in the dungeons, and wanted to help them, despite Morgana trying to explain that they werent real people. Apparently, the castle was in another reality based on distorted human cognition or something a bunch of stuff that Akira didnt really understand. He didn't really care. He liked his outfit which apparently meant that the palace ruler (was it a castle or a palace?) viewed him as a threat, and he liked the shiny silver dagger he carried too. It was long and straight, with a black handle and a hole above the hilt. The mask was neat too he wasnt sure how it stayed on his face so well without falling off, and even more curious how he was able to  see without his glasses, but Akira knew they were questions for another day. Questions he would add to a perpetually expanding list.

 

The dungeons seemed to be never-ending, and Akira was beginning to feel tired of climbing stairs and hiding behind barrels and listening to Ryuji and Morgana bickering. He could faintly hear a deep, familiar voice in his head, telling him to hurry along and escape the dungeons, but he didnt want to leave Ryuji down there without him being able to see the prisoners, and Morgana was saying something about a safe room”— somewhere they could talk without the enemies finding them. He and Ryuji followed him, and when they passed through the hazy-looking door, Akira finally felt like he could rest.

 

Alright, so what the fuck is going on here?! Ryuji snapped at Morgana, who was standing on a table. Akira just plopped down into a chair and ran his hands through his hair. Although he was feeling tired, confused, and somewhat irritated, the silk gloves felt nice against his skin. Morgana was still talking.

 

Basically, this place is the school as seen by the ruler of this place I think you called him Kamoshida?

 

Immediately, Ryujis look of confusion turned into a scowl. Yep. Thats him.” Morgana looked slightly disturbed at Ryuji's change of attitude.

 

"I don't know what happened between the two of you, but you seem to really hate this Kamoshida guy."

 

Ryuji nodded, his glare hardening. "Hate doesn't even cover how I feel," he spat. "EVERYTHING is that asshole's fault!"  He took a deep breath, then turned to look at Akira, who had since redirected his attention back to his dagger.

 

And what about him, huh? Ryuji asked, pointing at him. Whys he dressed like that? He looks like a magician or something! Akira leaned back in his chair and placed his feet on the table Morgana was standing on. High-heeled boots looked surprisingly nice on him. Morgana was still talking.

 

Your appearance—” He must be talking to me, Is a manifestation of that. Its the image of rebellion that you hold within. Akira raised his eyebrows, forgetting that nobody could see them behind his mask and his hair.

 

I never thought my mental image of a rebel would be so fancy, he remarked.

 

Ryuji gave a dry laugh and looked at Morgana. Im more curious about you than his clothes! he spluttered. What even are you? A cat?

 

Morgana suddenly looked infuriated. No, Im a human! he shouted. An honest-to-god human!

 

Ryuji crossed his arms and scoffed. No, you're obviously more like a cat! He looked at Akira, who was doing something on his phone. The camera app wouldnt open. Strange.

 

What? he asked, noticing both Morgana and Ryujis eyes on him. You want my input on this? Morgana rolled his overly large eyes and shook his head.

 

No! Are you ready to keep going? Akira nodded and got up to leave, but Ryuji stopped him. Wait! I gotta show you something!

 

Akira turned around to see Ryuji rummaging around in his school bag for something, and a few seconds later he pulled out a toy gun.

 

Why did you bring that with us? Akira asked, seeing the eager look on the fake blonds face.

 

I brought this just in case! he said, grinning. I mean, its just a toy, so it'll only make sounds. But it looks real, so it'll totally fake 'em out!

 

Akira nodded and took it, putting it in his pocket, thanked him, then turned towards the door. Is everyone ready?

 

The three of them continued on through the dungeons, eventually finding a hallway with a promising-looking door at the end. It seemed like it would be an exit, however, it was guarded by a particularly strong-looking enemy (or Shadows, as Morgana called them). This isn't good…” the not-cat mumbled as he stared at it. He then looked at Akira, who was fidgeting with his gloves. You wanna take it down? Akira looked at him, confused.

 

Why are you asking me? Arent you the one who knows the most about this?" 

 

Morgana glared at him. Let's just go at it, okay? I wanna try something. Before Akira could retaliate, the not-cat ran towards the Shadow and jumped at it, ripping its mask off. The guard dissolved into something- a fairy, and Akira ran up to it with Morgana.

 

What do you want me to do? Akira asked, watching the fairy fly around. Morgana scoffed at him.

 

Just do what I say! he hissed back. Remember that toy gun Ryuji gave you? Take it out and fire at the Shadow.

 

Akira was confused. I thought that thing wasn't real, dumbass! What's it gonna do? Morgana scoffed. Just do it!

 

Sighing, Akira took out the fake gun and pointed it at the fairy, who was still flying around and laughing. He pressed the trigger, and to his surprise, a loud BANG was heard, a bullet flew out of the barrel, and the fairy fell to the ground, cried out in pain, and disintegrated. Yes! Morgana exclaimed, jumping up and waving his arms. I knew it! Akira pocketed the gun and looked down at Morgana, who was brimming with glee.

 

What the hell just happened? he hissed. That toy just shot real bullets!"

 

Morgana beamed at him. Yes, but this is the cognitive world! Because the enemy views it as a real, dangerous weapon, it becomes real! Akira gave a soft laugh and pocketed the gun again.

 

Looks like I've gotta practice my aim, then. he muttered. Let's get going.

 

☁ ☁ ☁

 

Ryuji didn' t find what he was looking for.

 

They did find what looked like torture chambers further into the dungeons, complete with fake Shujin volleyball team members. Ryuji became enraged at the sight of them and started yet another argument with Morgana apparently, he wanted to save them. They weren't real people, though; "just cognitive puppets", the students and volleyball team members as seen through Kamoshida 's eyes. In the end, Akira had to lead the way back through the dungeons to leave. They had nothing else to do there.

 

They were halfway through the main entrance hall when they were suddenly stopped by the sound of someone' s voice. An all-too-familiar voice.

 

Urgh! You knaves again?! I thought I smelled something terrible, who knew it would be those petty thieves from yesterday?!"  

 

Kamoshida was back. This time, he was descending the stairs from the upper floor of the main hall with a group of guards following him, the golden one in the front much larger than the rest. Akira suddenly felt a foot on his back, and he was forced to the ground, along with Morgana when did the guards sneak up behind them? Kamoshida! Ryuji shouted, pointing at him. "What're you doin' to the volleyball team, you scumbag?!

 

The glitter-clad king just laughed. It's none of your business, Sakamoto! Looks like your escape last time gave you some confidence, huh?

 

"Not that it matters. Kamoshida jerked his thumb at the huge guard standing behind them. This one isn't like the others. It stepped closer to them, and Akira started struggling against the weight of the guard pinning him to the ground. He had shown so much power yesterday, how was he so insignificant now, when his friend needed his help?! If Akira didn't do anything, Ryuji was going to die! Fuck, I have to do something!

 

Kamoshida laughed. Don't you get it now?! he jeered. Im the KING! No one can defy me here, especially not shit-for-brains brats like you! ESPECIALLY not you, Sakamoto! Running around like a hero, when you can t do a thingjust like your old track days! Akira saw Ryuji clench his fists. Kamoshida was still talking.

 

I originally wanted to dismantle the track team from the start, but that former coach got in my way too much! In the end, I had to settle with only breaking his star's leg! Ryuji gasped. Kamoshida was still talking, his voice growing louder. Mine were the only results that mattered! I deserved all of the attention! You brats and that old coach were in my way! He glared down at Ryuji, who was hiding his face in his hands and shaking.

 

You bastard…” he murmured, his voice quivering. You motherfucker…” Kamoshida was cackling now. Akira was still struggling under the guard's foot, gritting his teeth in fury. Why couldn't he move?!

 

Isn't that why you quit the team?! You couldn't take it anymore?! Kamoshida sneered. Ryuji let out a choked sob as he glared up at the still-talking Kamoshida. Now youre just another waste of space! You cant do anything, even now! Trash like you wont ever beat me! Angry tears fell from Ryujis face onto the floor. Akira wanted nothing more than to get up, pull out the gun from earlier, and shoot Kamoshida in the face, right then and there.

 

Its trueI cant run anymore. Ryuji murmured. Akira gasped.

 

Are you stupid?! he shouted, still pinned under the unmoving guard's foot. Get it together! Do you WANT to die here?!

 

The blond shook his head. No god damn it… He stole everything from me…” He started standing up, pushing himself off the ground. “I can't take it back But I ain't gonna run away anymore! Not while this childish bastard gets to do what he wants!" Morgana and Akira's eyes widened as they watched Ryuji steady himself, then point a shaky finger at Kamoshida. Stop lookin' down on me with that stupid smile on your face!

 

A flash of blue flames suddenly appeared, surrounding him. Akira could hear Ryuji laughing, as if he knew what was coming. Just like the previous day, a sudden heavy wind blew through the hall, knocking the surrounding guards flat. Akira stood up, brushing the filth from the floor off. Morgana chuckled. Looks like youre up, Blondie. he said, grinning.

 

Behind Ryuji was what looked to be skeleton dressed as a pirate, standing on a boat with an arm cannon. Hell yeah…” Ryuji breathed, marveling at the figure behind him. He was dressed differently now; wearing armor on his back, elbows, and knees, black jeans, yellow gloves, a double-sided holster belt, combat boots, a red tie, and finally, a metal mask that looked like a skull. Grinning, Ryuji looked at the confused and furious Kamoshida, with Akira and Morgana at his sides. Get ready, Kamoshida

 

You' re gonna be next!

Notes:

first of all, i think i gotta address the elephant in the room: p5a dub. OH MY GOD. xanders voice acting... it makes me MELT. i LOVE it. i could listen to akira talking all day. hearing him finally speaking full sentences and showing real emotions??? it's everything i needed and more. i don't even care about how bad the show itself is. akira is just so much more.... fleshed out? also, when he said "aloha to you too!" I DIED!!!

anyways, new chapter! writing ryuji is so much fun. let this boy say fuck

as always, please kudos/comment if you enjoyed! thank you for reading!

Chapter 7: Daredevil

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Why did he have to land on his face again?

 

Akira stood up slowly, rubbing his cheek gingerly. After somehow escaping the castle with a now-”awakened” Ryuji, he had fallen over and landed facedown on the pavement in the alleyway across from the school upon returning to the “real world”.

 

“You okay?” asked Ryuji, watching Akira brushing himself off. He nodded. “How do you feel?”

 

Ryuji grinned. “That shit was incredible!” he exclaimed, grinning. “Kamoshida’s gotta be shittin’ himself now!”

 

He picked up his school bag and looked at his phone. “Crap! It’s gettin’ late!” He looked at Akira, who was busy staring at Ryuji’s face with his eyes unfocused.

 

“You good, dude? Kinda creepin’ me out here…” He waved a hand in front of his friend’s face, who blinked and shook his head.

 

“What?” Ryuji laughed. “You were completely out of it, man!” Akira’s confused face suddenly turned into a frown.

 

“No," he said shortly, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "I was just thinking about how I’m gonna explain to the guy I live with why I’ve been late coming home again."

 

Akira internally kicked himself for losing focus, but as much as he didn’t want to admit it, Ryuji had a nice smile.

 

“Oh, that's right!” Ryuji suddenly exclaimed. “Let’s go out for beef bowls! You gotta tell me all about your past and how you ended up here and stuff!”

 

Akira felt slightly hesitant at the sudden invitation, but he supposed that another hour or so wouldn’t be so terrible, and it would be a major dick move to turn down the only guy who’s been nice to you since transferring (and also shared two near-death experiences with). Smiling, Akira nodded and followed Ryuji out of the alley. 

 

* * * 

 

“Dude, that’s so fucked up! How much shittier can that asshole get?!”

 

Akira tried shushing Ryuji, but the damage had been done. The surrounding customers in the beef bowl shop turned to stare at them, but Ryuji either hadn’t noticed or didn’t care. Akira shifted uncomfortably in his seat and took a bite of his food. “It’s in the past now, I guess… but you’re right,” he murmured. “I wish I could remember what he looked like.”

 

Ryuji placed a hand on Akira’s shoulder, startling him, but he didn’t mind. “Your situation sucks ass, dude. Mine feels like nothin’ compared to yours.”

 

Akira shook his head. “Don’t feel bad.” He took another bite of his food, then continued talking. “Thanks for taking me here, by the way. You’re like, the first friend I’ve had since…” Akira trailed off, staring at his food. He could feel Ryuji’s hand on his shoulder again.

 

“For real?” he asked softly. Akira nodded.

 

“I didn’t really have a lot of friends back home. There was a group of guys at my old high school I’d smoke with sometimes, but that’s about it.” Akira immediately regretted spilling all of that to a guy he’d only known for two days, but the damage had been done. Ryuji looked surprised.

 

“Damn, I’m sorry man… Sorry for butting in.” He suddenly shrank away and went back to his nearly-empty bowl.

 

Akira felt his stomach drop. “No, don’t feel bad!” he said suddenly. The fake blond looked at him, confused. “It’s my fault for getting so cheesy in the first place.” 

 

Ryuji looked down at Akira’s half-eaten beef bowl, then immediately started pouring ginger on it. “You need to eat more, man!” he exclaimed. “If the guy you live with ain’t gonna feed ya, then I sure will!”

 

 

When he eventually returned back to the cafe, Sojiro was sitting at the counter waiting for him with his usual scowl. “Late again?” he grumbled, throwing the newspaper onto the counter behind him.

 

“Sorry,” Akira mumbled. “I actually made a friend today. "We went to get beef bowls after school.”

 

Sojiro scoffed.

 

“You actually made a friend? You met someone brave enough to look you in the eye for more than two seconds?”

 

Akira wanted to argue, but Sojiro stood up and started to leave. “I’m going home. Don’t start any fires.”

 

---

 

Ryuji was waiting for Akira at the school gates the next day. “You ready for that volleyball rally?” he asked.

 

Akira raised an eyebrow. “The what?” He didn’t remember anything about a volleyball rally, and certainly didn’t remember being required to go. Although, it did mean a day without classes, a day where he could sit in the courtyard and smoke without anyone bothering him, a day he could spend with Ryuji…

 

“You busy after this? If not, I wanna show you a place I found!”

 

Akira snorted. “Of course I’m not.” He looked at Ryuji, who seemed eager. “What kind of place is this?” 

 

It had been a long day of watching Kamoshida stroke his ego and crushing the students’ teams in volleyball. Ryuji dragged Akira around the school trying to find the students he saw in the castle, and although they certainly did look like they’d been beaten up quite a bit, they refused to talk. Now, the two were standing in Shibuya Station Square, still in their gym uniforms and feeling somewhat defeated. Ryuji grinned at Akira, who felt his mood lighten ever so slightly. “It ain’t too far. Follow me!”

 

Eventually, Ryuji led Akira to an alleyway behind Central Street and stopped in front of a store with a bright green neon sign. “Is this it?” he asked.

 

Ryuji nodded. “Yup! I figured we could get better-lookin’ weapons to use in the castle, and I’ve been here before, so why not?”

 

Akira nodded at him. “Sounds good.” They walked forward, but Ryuji stopped him before he could open the door.

 

“Oh… by the way…” He looked back and forth, as if he was afraid they were being eavesdropped on, then leaned in closer to Akira. Holy hell. Ryuji was way too close. 

 

“You know anything about guns and shit?” 

 

Akira shrugged. “A little.” He had had a phase at one point back home, which had bugged his parents to no end.

 

Ryuji looked surprised. “For real?” he asked. “Well, there’s no use in just standin’ around, so let’s go inside already!” 

 

The manager behind the counter seemed less than pleased to see Akira and Ryuji, but he eventually let them look around. Akira had been unsure of what to use the money his father had given him on, but he really liked one of the pistols he saw, and his father’s money plus his own savings were more than enough to cover it…

 

“Damn, dude, you’re more of an enthusiast than I thought.”

 

Ryuji had accompanied Akira on the train ride back to Leblanc, and spent the whole ride marveling at Akira’s purchase. It was only an airsoft, but the details were so good that Akira was worried about what he would say if Sojiro found it. Whatever. He’d just hide it in the pile of stuff on the work desk that he still needed to clean. “By the way, d’you wanna go back to the castle again tomorrow?” Ryuji asked as they approached the cafe. 

 

Akira turned to look at him as he unlocked the door. Sojiro must have closed before he got home. “Why?” 

 

The fake blond shrugged. “Dunno, I kinda wanna test out those new weapons we got. Maybe see what else that cat thing has to say.” He leaned against the wall across from the door and fidgeted with a loose string on his sleeve. “Maybe it’ll tell us how we can take down Kamoshida.” It was silent for a minute as Akira thought it over.

 

“Sure,” he finally answered. “Why not?”

 

Ryuji grinned. “Yes! Alright, after school tomorrow then?” Akira nodded, and Ryuji started walking away. “See ya tomorrow, dude!” he called, waving. Akira waved back at him, watching his friend turn the corner and disappear, his fake blond hair shining even brighter in the late afternoon sun. 

 

It felt nice to finally have a friend.

Notes:

henlo

another update, because i just love writing ryuji so much. im trying so hard to keep this as slowburn as possible and not rush it but at the same time i wanna get to the pegoryu so bad that it's hard not to just skip everything lmfao

please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thanks for reading!

Chapter 8: Grey Lines

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Ryuji was the only thing Akira could think about that night as he got ready for bed. He had been able to avoid Sojiro finding out about the gun, and once again was forced to help clean up the cafe in return for coming back late. Before he went to sleep, Akira tucked the model gun safely underneath a pile of books on the work desk, then laid down, thinking over what had happened that day. The rally, the obviously hurt volleyball players, the airsoft shop, Ryuji…

 

It didn’t matter. They’d go back to that castle and kick Kamoshida’s ass soon enough. There wasn’t much he could do until they had real-life, feasible evidence of the abuse, and it was frustrating that the volleyball team members wouldn’t fess up. Ryuji was so annoyed, too, considering how the guy had ruined Ryuji’s life. It just wasn’t fair. Akira just had to help him do something about it, right? Hell, the entire reason he was sent to Tokyo was for stopping a guy from forcing himself on her. Stopping a sleazy gym teacher who picked up high school girls in his car seemed like something Akira needed to do. 

For justice.

Not just for Ryuji.

For justice.

There was an especially gloomy feeling in the air the next day as Akira stepped off the platform and walked up to the school. It wasn’t raining, but the air felt heavy, and Akira noticed the usually chatty students around him were quiet and withdrawn. It almost bothered him. Akira had expected them to be talking nonstop about how the transfer student and That Sakamoto were in Shibuya buying guns yesterday. However, all he could hear were footsteps on pavement and the sounds of the city around him. Odd.

 

Ushimaru’s lecture about the three branches of Japanese government was so unbelievably boring that Akira felt like he was going to fall asleep at any moment. The teacher’s droning voice, the heavy feeling still hanging in the air, the sleepiness from waking up so early… it seemed like the perfect recipe for an in-class nap.

Unfortunately, a certain someone didn’t see it that way.

“Are you going back to the Palace today?”

The fucking cat!

Akira jumped in his seat, quickly glanced around to make sure no one could see him, then looked down at his lap. Morgana, the not-cat from the castle, was here at Shujin, sitting in Akira’s desk. And he was a real cat. Who was talking.

 

What are you doing here?!” Akira hissed, hoping desperately that no one would notice. Lucky for him, everyone was too sleepy to give him any confused or dirty looks. He looked back down at Morgana.

 

“You and Blondie have obviously figured out that going back to the Palace is the best course of action. So, are you going back today or not?”

 

Akira was extremely confused. How did Morgana get in the classroom and into Akira’s desk without anyone noticing? And how was no one paying attention to him? The criminal transfer student was talking to a cat inside his desk during one of Ushimaru’s lectures- it sounded like perfect fuel for the Shujin rumor mill. And yet, not a single eye was on him, and Akira felt like he was going insane.

 

“Why are you here?! Did you do something with your weird cat powers to make them not pay attention to me?!” he whispered.

 

Morgana shook his head and started licking his paws. “You know, you and Blondie are on the right track. Although, just the three of us isn’t enough to take on Kamoshida… just one more person would be enough firepower.” Akira was more confused than ever.

 

“What on earth are you talking about?!” he whispered through his teeth. “How did you even get in my d-”

 

“Hey, what’s she doing? That’s dangerous!”

 

A sudden collective gasp went through the room. Everyone had stood up to see what the commotion was; a student had gotten out of her seat to point at the window facing the courtyard, and as more and more students stood up and made their way towards the door, the louder they got. 

 

“Anyone know who that is?”

“What’s she doing up on the roof?!”

“Wait, isn’t that Suzui from the volleyball team?!”

 

The blonde girl with pigtails in front of Akira suddenly jumped out of her seat and ran out of the classroom, shoving past the crowds of students. Akira recognized her; it was the girl that had been in Kamoshida’s car- Ann, or something. Ignoring Morgana, who had jumped out of his desk and into his bag, Akira pursued her, now worried about what was happening. Through the sea of students clamoring to get close to the window, Akira could see someone standing on the roof of the practice building, looking down over the courtyard and the school, and Ann was pounding on the window, yelling at the girl to get down, and Akira blinked, and suddenly everyone was screaming and running, and he looked at the roof, and the girl wasn’t there anymore.

 

----

 

“What did you do to Suzui?!”

 

Akira, Ryuji, and a blue-haired boy named Mishima were standing in the PE faculty office, and Ryuji wasn’t happy.

 

Right after the girl had been taken away by an ambulance, Ryuji noticed Mishima running away from the scene, suspected that he knew something about the situation, and ran after him, Akira following. After pressing him for information, he finally broke and admitted that everything Ryuji had suspected about Kamoshida abusing the volleyball team was true, and that yesterday, Kamoshida had called the Suzui girl down to his office out of the blue, and Mishima suspected that she had been raped. The moment the words left his mouth, Ryuji punched the wall, shouted in anger, then immediately took off towards the PE faculty office. Akira and Mishima followed him, and now they were here, watching Ryuji and Kamoshida stare at each other with looks that could curdle milk.

 

Kamoshida rolled his eyes. “None of your business, Sakamoto.” He stood up and leered at them, his hands on his hips. His black eyes met Akira’s, who scowled. “You’re that transfer student, aren’t you?” he sneered. Akira’s lip curled.

 

“What’s it to you?” he shot back.

 

Immediately, Kamoshida’s face reddened, and his hands curled into fists. “What did you just say to me, you little shit?!” His voice was low, and Ryuji, now completely ignored, took a few steps back. Akira heard Mishima whimper behind him.

 

“I think you heard me."

 

His voice was barely higher than a whisper. Suddenly, Kamoshida raised his hand. Akira braced himself for the impact, but it didn’t come. Instead, Ryuji had grabbed Kamoshida by the arm and pulled him away, sending him falling onto the desk, spreading papers everywhere.

 

“Get your hands off him!” Ryuji shouted. Akira fell backwards and onto the floor, shocked at Ryuji’s outburst and Kamoshida advancing at him- he hadn’t noticed before, but that man was huge. Those muscles definitely weren’t just for show. Speaking of Kamoshida, he was pissed.

 

“That is ENOUGH!” he shouted, standing up and pointing at Ryuji. “All three of you are going to be expelled!”

 

Ryuji, Akira, and Mishima all gasped. Akira felt his heart drop to his feet. Expelled?! Already?!

 

Shaking his head, Akira scrambled to his feet and ran out of the room. No fucking way. He couldn’t be expelled. It had only been three days. There was no way this fucking pervert teacher could get away with this. “There’s no use running!” he heard Kamoshida yelling from the office. “Your future’s already gone down the drain!” Akira stopped running and leaned against a wall, breathing heavily, his eyes closed. He could hear footsteps approaching him, but he had no more dread left to feel. However, the voice accompanying them was the opposite of what Akira had expected.

 

“You alright?”

 

It was Ryuji. Akira opened his eyes and laughed softly. It was only Ryuji. He turned to look at him, and was surprised to see that he didn’t look defeated or afraid; in fact, he looked bored, as if he had gone through this a thousand times already. “Wanna move to the courtyard?” he asked. “We can talk there.”

 

Akira raised his eyebrows. “About what?”

 

Ryuji looked behind them, as if he were afraid they were being watched, then back at Akira. “Just do it!” he hissed. “There’s something important I want to tell you.” Hesitant, but desperate to get some fresh air, Akira nodded, and followed him.

 

----

 

“I’m in.”

“For real?!”

 

Once they had arrived at the vending machines in the courtyard, Ryuji suggested that he and Akira return to the strange castle. “We can’t let Kamoshida get away with what he did to Suzui!” he growled, slamming his fist against one of the machines. Akira nodded from his spot on the bench.

 

“I know,” he replied, “but are you sure? We almost died the last time we were th-” 

 

Suddenly, Akira was interrupted by Ryuji’s hand over his mouth and the sound of footsteps approaching. “Shut up, stupid!” Ryuji hissed, looking up at whoever was approaching. It was Ann. Ryuji groaned. “What now?” 

 

Ann shot him a look that could curdle milk. “What are you two planning?” she asked. Her voice was icy. Ryuji narrowed his eyes at her.

 

“Why do you want to know?” Akira pushed Ryuji’s hand away from his mouth and stood up. “It's nothing that concerns you,” he said. Ann directed her glare away from Ryuji and instead at Akira.

 

“You! I didn’t know you were suddenly friends with Sakamoto. What are you two planning?” Akira shook his head.

 

“Nothing!” he hissed. Ann raised an eyebrow.

 

“It doesn’t seem like nothing. I heard you’re going to try to do something about Kamoshida.” Akira and Ryuji slowly nodded at her, not understanding what she meant. Was she going to rat them out?

 

“So?” Ryuji asked.

 

Ann looked ready to kill both of them on the spot. “I want to go with you,” she said in a low voice. Ryuji and Akira glanced at each other, then back at Ann, who looked determined. Ryuji glanced at Akira again, a look of “should we tell her?” on his face. They both knew they didn’t have much time to be debating on whether or not they should tell her. She can’t, it’s too dangerous! Akira thought, trying his hardest to get the message to Ryuji without actually saying it. Fortunately, he must have had the same idea.

 

“No way,” Ryuji finally answered. Ann’s face turned red.

 

“Why the hell not?!” she hissed. “Shiho tried to kill herself because of Kamoshida, and you’re not going to let you help me get back at him?”

 

Akira gritted his teeth. “Listen, it’s not that we don’t want you to avenge your friend, it’s just-” he started, but Ann cut him off.

 

“Out of all people, it’s you lecturing me?! You’re the delinquent transfer student!” Akira opened his mouth, ready to retort, but he felt Ryuji’s hand on his arm beginning to pull him away.

 

“We can explain it to her later,” he whispered, dragging Akira off the bench and away from the vending machines. “Sorry, Takamaki, but we really think it’d be best if you let us do this alone,” he yelled from over his shoulder at her. “We uh, appreciate the offer though!”

 

----

 

It took Akira and Ryuji almost no time at all to return to the alley in front of the school they had first entered the castle in. “How d’you get to that weird other world again?” Ryuji muttered as Akira pulled out his phone. “From that weird app, right?” He nodded. “You have to put in the keywords or something. I think I remember them…”

 

Kamoshida. Shujin Academy. Castle.

 

Beginning navigation.

Notes:

sorry for not updating! writing filler chapters is tedious and boring but i didn't want to just skip through all of that day or else ann's awakening wouldn't really have made any sense. also, i wanted more subtle pegoryu hehe enjoy

Chapter 9: No More What Ifs

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Morgana was waiting for them at the castle gates.

 

“You should have told me you were coming!” he snapped. “I’ve been here for hours waiting for you!” Ryuji narrowed his eyes as he loaded his shotgun.

 

“We were busy watchin’ a girl trying to kill herself, you jerk!” he shot back. Akira nodded.

 

“That just made us want to come back here more,” he grumbled. “Let’s get going already. How do we get rid of this place?” 

 

Morgana grinned and rubbed his paws together. “Good, you’re adapting!” he said. “Follow me, rookies!” With that, he turned around and sped off to the vent shaft they’d escaped from the other day.

 

“Who died and elected him leader?” Ryuji mumbled through his teeth.

 

Akira said nothing as they followed Morgana through the hallways of the castle, ignoring the mass of Shadows in the main hall repeating their praise to Kamoshida over and over again (making Ryuji gag). Finally, they reached a Safe Room, where Morgana explained to them that in order to make the castle disappear, they needed to find Kamoshida’s Treasure, which was the reason why the castle existed at all. “Can we elect Akira as the leader?” he asked as Morgana jumped off the table and headed towards the door. He turned around, looking annoyed.

 

“Why?” he asked. “Joker barely knows anything about the Metaverse.”

 

Akira arched his eyebrows. “Joker?”

 

Morgana grinned. “Yup! It’s your codename! It’d be dangerous running around the Metaverse using your real name, and you’re like our trump card when it comes to fighting, so you’re Joker!”

 

Akira shrugged. “I don’t hate it,” he said. Morgana placed his paws on his hips proudly, ignoring Akira and Ryuji’s confused stares.

 

“What’s mine?” Ryuji asked.

 

Morgana placed a paw on his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded at him. “You can be Thug.” 

 

Ryuji’s face turned from confused to murderous. “What?! Hell no! Let me choose it!”

 

Morgana rolled his eyes. “Your reaction is exactly why I picked it, but sure, let’s see what you come up with.”

 

Ryuji ignored him, thinking hard. “I got it! I got this skull mask, don’t I? I can be Skull!” He grinned at Akira, who gave him a thumbs-up. It suited him.

 

Morgana shrugged. “Whatever,” he said. “The real question is, what will my codename be?” 

 

Akira tapped his chin. “Furball?”

The not-cat glared at him. “No!”

He turned to Ryuji, who was smirking. “Does Blondie have any ideas for me?”

Ryuji ignored the nickname and shrugged. “How ‘bout… Mona?” 

 

Morgana sighed. They were wasting time. “Fine. From here on out, we are Joker, Skull, and Mona.” He turned back to Akira, who was completely distracted by a noise coming from outside. “What is it?” Morgana asked, noticing him not paying attention to them at all.

“I hear something,” he murmured, leaning against the distorted door. “It sounds like someone talking.” He turned back to Morgana and Ryuji, who looked worried. “Should we go check it out?” 

 

Morgana narrowed his eyes. “Did they sound like they were in trouble?” Akira shrugged.

 

“A little bit.”

 

The not-cat jumped in the air and ran towards the door. “Well, what are we waiting for?!” he hissed. “Let’s go!” Akira looked at Ryuji, who seemed nervous.

“Are you ready?” he asked. Ryuji nodded, but his eyes looked slightly afraid. However, he said nothing and tightened his grip on his weapons, then followed Akira and Morgana out of the safe room and down a hallway.

 

“Is this some kind of filming? What is this!?” 

That didn’t sound good. 

“Look, I’ll APOLOGIZE for touching the armor without permission! Will you just let me go?!”

Wait, that voice…

“If you don’t let me go, I’m gonna call the cops!”

She can’t have followed us…

 

“Hurry!” Akira barked at Ryuji and Morgana, who looked surprised at his sudden determination. “I think I know who that is!” 

 

When they reached the end of the hallway, the three were greeted with the sight of Ann Takamaki, the girl who sat in front of Akira in homeroom, strapped to a St. Andrew’s cross surrounded by Kamoshida’s guard shadows. Speaking of Kamoshida, he was there, next to a guard shadow that was larger than the rest, and also gold. “Urgh, you knaves again?!” he snapped, seeing Akira, Ryuji, and Morgana entering the room. Takamaki looked terrified.

 

“What the hell is going on here?!” she cried, struggling furiously. “Isn’t this the school?”

 

Kamoshida ignored her, instead focusing on the group of Shadows. “I can’t believe you mistook my Ann for someone like her!” 

 

At his words, someone walked up to him. Someone very familiar looking. 

 

It was Takamaki. Not the one struggling in front of them, but obviously it was supposed to be her, except she was wearing a very revealing leopard-print bikini and a cat-eared crown. She immediately threw her arms around Kamoshida’s neck, squealing. The real Takamaki made a gagging sound.

 

“WHAT?! TWO Takamakis?!” Ryuji shouted. Morgana lightly hit his leg.

 

“No, you idiot! Look!” He pointed at the fake, who was completely unfazed by the shouting. “That one obviously isn’t Lady Ann!” Ryuji blinked a few times, then scowled at Kamoshida, who simply smirked back at him. Meanwhile, the real Ann had a look of pure bewilderment on her face.

 

“Hold on, is that Sakamoto?” she asked, leaning forward slightly. “And the new kid?” 

 

Kamoshida interrupted her by grabbing a sword from one of the Shadows and walking up to her slowly, licking his lips. “Now, how should I play with you?” he asked, his voice slimy and vulgar-sounding. Ann backed away as far as she could, but it did nothing to help her. Kamoshida placed the tip of the sword on Ann’s jacket zipper. “Maybe I’ll start with her clothes…” 

 

“No!” Akira shouted, stepping forward. Everyone gasped, and Kamoshida turned around, his face livid.

 

“I don’t remember asking you to interrupt my fun!” he spat. Akira ignored him, and looked up at Ann.

 

“Are you just going to let him toy with you like that?” he yelled. “This guy’s a fucking pervert! Didn’t your friend try to kill herself because of him?!” 

 

Ann’s eyes widened, and her expression changed from shock, then to anger, then to understanding. “You’re right,” she murmured. “I can’t let him treat me like this.” She scowled at Kamoshida, who seemed unfazed. In fact, he almost looked bored.

 

“What are you gonna do?” he sneered. “Fight as much as you want. You’re not going anywhere.” He took a step closer to Ann and gently caressed her chin, causing her to screw up her face in disgust. Kamoshida laughed softly. “You’re mine.

 

Ann began struggling harder as Kamoshida leaned in closer and closer, and Akira felt his grip on his weapons tightening. “Aren’t you going to fight back?!” he shouted. “Don’t you get it?! You’re not his slave! Don’t let him get his way!” 

 

Kamoshida turned around, obviously very annoyed that Akira kept interrupting him. “God, you thieves are so annoying! Once Takamaki is done, you’re next, you hear me?!” Ryuji stepped forward.

 

“No way! Takamaki, you’re worth more than this!” 

 

“You’re right.”

 

whoosh.

 

“Huh?” Kamoshida spun around, now confused. “What was that, you little cunt?” Ann didn’t respond.

 

Her head hung low, and she was breathing hard. “Up until now, I’d always just given up. I ducked my head without saying a word.

 

“Kamoshida’s persistent flirting, holding Shiho’s starter position hostage if I didn’t agree, all those stupid, baseless rumors everybody spread because of my looks…” Suddenly, she jerked her head up, and in a flash of blue flames, a bright red cat-like mask appeared on her face. “I’m done holding back!” she shouted, then directed her furious gaze at Kamoshida. 

 

“You’ve pissed me off, you son of a bitch!”

Notes:

hii i know it's been a while since i've updated and this is a really short chapter but i wanted to update to let y'all know that this story isn't dead. i'll update again soon, but in the meantime, please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thank you so much!

Chapter 10: Let's Dance, Boys!

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The next thing Ann did was gasp.

She started struggling more and more, and Akira could tell she was hearing a voice in her head. “You’re right,” she said as the shackles around her wrists and ankles broke away. “No more holding back!” Another flash of blue flame, and suddenly she was dressed in a bright red latex bodysuit and dark red thigh-high boots, with pink gloves. Akira noticed Ryuji’s eyes widen. Ann ripped her new mask off with a flourish and behind her appeared what must have been her Persona; a tall, pink-skinned woman with curly black pigtails wearing a Spanish-style dress and carrying what Akira could only describe as two men in suits with pink hearts replacing their heads connected to spiky vines. As she stared down at Kamoshida with fire in her eyes, Akira, Ryuji, and Morgana stepped behind her as Ann pointed dramatically at the now furious man, holding a shiny red whip. “You stole everything from Shiho. But I won’t play your games anymore!

“I will rob you of everything!
Dance, Carmen!”

Without wasting another second, she jumped forward and snatched a sword from one of the guards, then ran up to the fake Ann and swung the sword at it, making it disappear into a cloud of black smoke. Next, Ann smacked her whip against the shocked guards, while her Persona shot fire at them. Morgana was watching her, completely entranced. “What a fantastic and meow-velous girl!” he said, awestruck. Meanwhile, Kamoshida sent the gold-colored guard at them, and the four watched as it dissolved into a huge, disgusting-looking demon with huge eyes sitting on a toilet. Akira wanted to gag. This was Kamoshida’s best guard? A demon sitting on a fucking toilet? 

“A lass that dares to defy King Kamoshida’s love?” it cried. “Never been heard of before!” Ann scoffed and flipped her hair.

“As if! That jerk only sees women as sexual outlets!” She pulled out a rusty-looking submachine gun and pointed it at the creature. “Outside of school, that asshole is nothing but a creepy old man!” 

Within a matter of seconds, the demon was defeated, Kamoshida had run off, and Ann was left kneeling on the floor, with Akira and Ryuji standing over her.

“What just happened?” she asked, rubbing her eyes. “Where are we? And what am I wearing?!”

She suddenly scrambled to cover her exposed chest, her eyes squeezed shut. Akira sighed. “It’ll be too much to explain now,” he grumbled. “Just calm down.” Steadying herself, Ann stood up, leaning on one of the guards’ dropped swords for balance.

How am I supposed to be calm?!” she yelled, grabbing Ryuji’s shoulder for support. Morgana shook his head.

“Just come with us, okay?” he said. “We’ll explain everything.”

----

With the battle over, the four of them had finally returned from the Metaverse, Akira was standing at the Aoyama platform with Morgana in his school bag, watching Ryuji walking back from a vending machine carrying two bottles of soda.

“Which one d’you want?” he asked, holding them out.

“Whichever one’s not carbonated,” Ann breathed. She sounded exhausted.

Ryuji grinned awkwardly. “Uhh, they both are…” Ann giggled and reached for the bottle of sparkling lemonade.

“Then.. that one, I guess.” Morgana suddenly poked his head out of Akira’s bag, obviously hearing them.

“Hey, what about me?” Ann giggled again.

“So, I really am talking to a cat, huh? This is so weird…”

Akira grimaced. “Get used to it then,” he said.

Ann frowned and placed a hand on her hip. “That’s no way to talk to a lady!” she scolded mockingly. Akira and Ryuji both laughed, while Ann rolled her eyes and took a sip of her lemonade. “Boys.”

After exchanging contact information and heading their separate ways, Akira asked Morgana a question. 

“So, where are you gonna go now?” 

Morgana scoffed, as if Akira had asked him a question with an incredibly obvious answer. “With you, duh! It’ll be the fastest way to reach Ryuji and Lady Ann!” 

Akira blinked in shock. Morgana? Stay with him?! Akira had always liked cats, sure, but Sakura-san was already pissed at him for simply existing. Asking him if a cat could freeload with him was practically a deathwish.

“No way,” he said, shaking his head. “That guy is gonna kill me.” Morgana looked confused.

“Who?” he asked.

He doesn’t know, stupid, Akira thought to himself. “Right,” he sighed. “I live in a cafe. The guy who owns it already hates me. He’d throw me out if I asked him if you could live with me.” Morgana seemed not to care.

“So don’t tell him then!” he snapped, dropping back into Akira’s bag. “I’m staying with you, and that’s final!”

 

—-

 

Akira felt his stomach drop as he entered Leblanc, the cheery ring of the bell doing nothing to calm his nerves. “Good evening,” he said quietly, ignoring Sojiro’s glare and the interested gaze of the turquoise-haired woman sitting at the counter. She stood up to leave as Akira passed by her, pushing the money across the counter towards the tired-looking man and saying a quiet “Goodnight” to him before leaving.

 

“You’re home late,” Sojiro said, stopping Akira from starting up the stairs.

“I know,” he said quietly, then quickly realizing he was being rude to the man housing him. “Sorry.”

Sojiro simply huffed in response. Desperately trying not to let the night end on a sour note, Akira tried to start a conversation. “Who was that?” he asked. Sojiro looked up, confused. “The punk-looking chick.” 

Sakura-san chuckled softly and took a drag of his cigarette. “Oh, her?” he asked. Akira nodded. “She runs a clinic down the street. Word is she makes her own medicines, but you have to go through weird examinations to get it.” He shrugged. “They’re just rumors though.” Akira nodded again, slower this time, thinking. Suddenly, Morgana spoke up (or at least tried to), wriggling around in his bag.

“Sounds suspicious, but maybe the medicine could help us in the Palace!” At the sound of Morgana’s voice, Sojiro jumped slightly. “Did you hear a cat meowing just now?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Akira shook his head.

“Nope.” 

Sojiro shrugged. “Whatever. I’m gonna lock up. Don’t start any fires or sneak out.” With that, he turned off the lights and left, locking the door behind him. Akira quickly ran up the stairs, letting Morgana out of his bag when he reached the top.

“So this is where you live, huh?” the cat asked, looking around the dusty room. Akira nodded.

“It’s a dump, I know,” he grumbled. “Turn around, I need to get dressed.” 

Once he had finished dressing and packing his things for the next day, Akira flopped down on his bed, exhausted. Morgana jumped up next to him. “So, what’s the plan for tomorrow?” he asked. Akira raised his eyebrows.

“Why are you asking me?” Morgana leaned forward and stretched, yawning.

“Because you’re the leader, duh!” Akira opened his mouth to argue, but the cat kept talking. “If it wasn’t for you, Lady Ann wouldn’t have awakened to her Persona! It’s clear that you know your stuff! Blondie is too dumb for the job, and Lady Ann is new at this, so therefore, you’re the leader!” He stuck his chest out proudly, smiling. “Now, what’s the plan?” 

Akira sighed, blowing a lock of hair out of his eyes. “Fuck, I don’t know!” he groaned. “Talk to the others about it first?” Morgana ignored Akira’s language and nodded.

“That seems as good a place to start as any. For now, let’s get some sleep.” With that, he curled up at the end of the bed and closed his eyes. Akira ran his hands through his hair, trying to process what had happened that day. A girl tries to kill herself, girl’s best friend discovers a crazy other dimension based on cognition, girl discovers she has insane powers, girl makes three new friends, one being a cat. Or, not a cat. Whatever. Who fucking cared. Suddenly, Akira’s phone buzzed, snapping him out of his reverie. Picking it up, he saw it was from Ryuji. Akira smiled. Of course.

April 13th 2016 23:15

Ryuji: So are we meeting up tomorrow? We totally gotta have a talk now that takamaki’s in on it too!
Akira: Yes but i havent decided where
Akira: It’ll probably be the school roof
Ryuji: Awesome! I’ll let her know!
Ryuji: G'night, dude!
Akira: Night

Putting his phone back down on the shelf and rolling over in bed, Akira kept smiling. It only took a few brushes with death, an attempted suicide, a pedophile teacher, and an alternate reality, but maybe, just maybe, Akira had finally found real friends.

Notes:

wooooo panther is finally here! this chapter was kinda hard to write but i still finished it!

please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thanks for reading!

Chapter 11: Heat Riser

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The next morning, Akira was greeted downstairs with a hot bowl of curry and a mug of coffee. “Morning,” Sojiro said as he watched Akira sit down and start eating. Once he had finished, Akira pushed the empty dishes away and stretched.

“Man, that smells good!” Morgana said from inside Akira’s bag. “The owner must be a good cook!”

Akira nudged the bag, hoping to shut Morgana up. “Shut up, you fucking furball!” he hissed, his voice barely higher than a whisper. Sojiro must have heard him, because he leaned over the counter to see Akira’s squirming school bag. He then looked at Akira, who felt his face reddening.

“So, are you gonna tell me what’s in that bag?” Sojiro huffed, scowling. Akira gulped.

“Hang on, I can expl-” he started, but before he could finish, the man reached over and grabbed the bag, causing Morgana to yowl in surprise. Sojiro’s eyes widened, and he unzipped the bag and dumped it out on the counter, the cat landing in the middle with a low thump.

 

Next out of the bag came Akira’s pocket knife, cigarettes, pencils and pens, schoolwork, lighter, phone charger, and lockpick. Sojiro scowled at him, pushing Morgana off the counter and dropping the bag back down. “Care to explain?” he asked. Akira felt himself beginning to sweat. Think of a cover story, you stupid moron, think!

“Um, he followed me home from school yesterday, and he was in my bag because I wanted to take him to where they feed the strays, and-” he started, talking as fast as he could, but Sojiro stopped him.

“Listen, I’m not gonna ask about any of the stuff you have in here, because that’s obviously none of my business. However,” he gestured at Morgana, “I wish you’d told me about the cat last night. I would have at least given it something to eat.” He then scratched Morgana’s chin, which Akira raised his eyebrows at. “Now, get your stuff back in your bag and get to school,” Sojiro said. “The only thing that concerns me is you getting in trouble, and God knows you’ve done that enough times already.”

 

---

 

“You need to be more quiet,” Akira grumbled when Morgana stuck his head out of the bag on the train. “I thought he was going to throw me out right there.” The cat just rolled his eyes.

“Who cares? He likes me, doesn’t he?” he said smugly. Akira glared at him.

“That’s not the point!” he snapped. “Why do you need to come with me to school again?”

Morgana scoffed. “To talk to Lady Ann and Ryuji, of course! Haven’t you forgotten our meeting?” Akira sighed.

“Right. That.” He was not looking forward to explaining to his teachers why he had a cat in his bag when he was inevitably caught. 

 

Surprisingly, the day went off without a single person noticing Morgana, not even when Ryuji joined Akira and Ann for lunch and Ann fed him some of her convenience store sushi. When they met on the roof, Morgana immediately jumped out of Akira’s bag and onto one of the desks cluttered together.

“So, why are we here again?” Ann asked, opening a can of grape soda and sitting down next to the cat.

“We’re here for our first official Phantom Thieves meeting!” Morgana answered, sticking his chest out proudly.

Akira rolled his eyes. “Phantom Thieves?” he asked.

The cat nodded. “Yup! It’s what I call those who sneak into Palaces and stylishly steal Treasure! What do you think?”

Akira shrugged. “Sounds good to me,” he said. Ryuji and Ann nodded.

 

“Okay, so when do you think it’ll be a good time to go back to the Palace?” Akira asked. Ann blinked in surprise.

“Really? You wanna do that today?” she asked. Ryuji nodded enthusiastically, but stopped when Akira spoke up again.

“Did I say that we were going today?” The three suddenly quieted, which made Akira feel slightly strange. They’re actually listening to me? “We can go today if that’s what you want, but I don’t want to force you to do anything,” he continued. The way the three in front of him looked at him made him feel even stranger. They seemed to be actually listening to him like a true leader, like someone who knew what they were doing and had everything planned. Basically the opposite of how Akira actually felt.

 

They eventually decided to go back to the castle the next day, to give them more time to prepare. As he watched Ann leave, Akira contemplated whether or not to visit the doctor Sojiro had been talking about the previous night. Ryuji must have noticed his eyes glazing over, because Akira felt his hand on his shoulder, and was suddenly snapped out of his reverie by Ryuji’s voice in his ear. “Hey, dude, you there? Hello? Hellooooo?”

 

Akira blinked in surprise, suddenly brought back to the school roof. “What?” he asked, rubbing his eyes. Ryuji laughed.

“You were so zoned out, I’m pretty sure you went to a whole other dimension!” He laughed at his own joke for a second, then frowned. “Seriously though, what were you starin’ off for?” he asked. “You okay?”

Akira couldn’t help but laugh at the fake blond’s sudden concern, then dig around in his bag for a cigarette. Despite the mostly uneventful day, he felt tired. Not too tired to stay on the roof with Ryuji for a little longer, though.

 

“Hey, can I ask you a question?”

 

Akira jumped slightly and turned to look at Ryuji. He looked slightly uncomfortable, as if he was a guilty child accused of breaking expensive china. “What is it?” Akira asked. Ryuji shifted in his seat awkwardly and avoided Akira’s eyes.

 

“Why do you do… that?” he finally asked. 

 

Akira blinked in surprise again, confused. “Do what?” Before Ryuji could answer, he lightly waved the hand holding his cigarette. “This?”

Ryuji nodded, and Akira shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said, then realized he should probably give Ryuji a better answer. “I mean, I started doing it when I was thirteen or so, but only whenever my parents pissed me off. I would steal one of my dad’s, and smoke it leaning out my bedroom window. The house already smelled like it, so it wasn’t like I needed to hide it that badly. I’m pretty sure my parents expected me to start doing it anyways.” He finished his spiel with another drag on his cigarette, then looked at Ryuji, who seemed uncomfortable. “Why do you ask?”

 

Ryuji shrugged. “I dunno, I just was wonderin’.” He sighed and looked up at the sky, frowning. “Figured it’d be good to know you a little more or somethin’, and you’ve been doin’ that every time we hang out, so…” he trailed off, fidgeting with his shoelaces.

“Sorry.” Akira suddenly felt extremely guilty, and stomped out his cigarette with his foot.

“No, don’t apologize,” he said, placing a hand on Ryuji’s shoulder. Fuck, was that too much? “Do you not like it or something?” Of course he doesn’t! Why else would he ask you?

Ryuji shook his head and smiled. “Nah, it’s nothin’ like that. I’ll tell ya later.” He stood up and stretched, glancing at the door. “It’s gettin’ late,” he said, picking up his school bag. “I’m gonna head out. My mom’s probably worried about me.” With that, he smiled, waved to Akira, and left, closing the door behind him. 

 

“You know we still have to go to the Palace tomorrow, right?” came Morgana’s voice from Akira’s feet. Startled, he looked down to see the cat climbing back into his school bag, an insufferably smug look on his face.

“I heard everything you and Ryuji were talking about,” he said. Akira glared at him.

“So what?” he snapped. Morgana just continued grinning smugly, which made Akira want to take off and leave him in the bag on the roof.

“So, it means that there are people you care about now. People you’d stomp out your precious cigarettes for.” 

 

Akira’s face was redder than Joker’s gloves the entire train ride home.

Notes:

can you feel it? the budding pegoryu in the air? because i sure can ;)

a bit of a shorter chapter today, but i wanted to update, and also include some ~bonding~ between nasty crimeboy akira and sunshine boy ryuji. you'll get a longer chapter soon, though. promise.

please comment/kudos if you enjoyed and thank you for reading!

Chapter 12: Desire

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“So, what am I going to be called?”

 

Akira, Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana were standing at the gates of the castle the next day, Akira having taken the previous day to finally talk to that strange doctor in his neighborhood and buy some medicine from her. She wasn’t too persistent on his reason for needing them, his excuse being that he needed them for school, but her medicines were more expensive than he thought, leaving his wallet empty as he walked home. Meanwhile, Ann seemed like she was more than ready to continue venturing through the Palace with them. Well, as soon as they figured out a codename for her first.

 

“Well, you’ve got the mask, so, uhh… ‘Cat Woman’?” Ryuji suggested, shrugging.

Ann glared at him. “Lame! Next?”

Morgana tapped his chin (or, where his chin would be) thoughtfully. “Cougar?”

Ryuji snickered, earning him another jab in the chest from Ann. “No way!” she huffed, then turned to Akira, who tried to hide his amusement at the situation. “What about you, Joker? Got any ideas?” 

 

Akira shrugged. “I dunno,” he started, looking Ann up and down. If a red latex suit with thigh-high boots was her idea of what a rebel looked like, then she had quite a lot of explaining to do. She definitely had a fierce “don’t fuck with me” type of attitude, but didn’t like it being pointed out. Her mask was definitely cat-like; not like a housecat, but still sleek and smooth. Almost like a…

 

“Panther?” he suggested.

 

Ann looked slightly surprised, then smiled. “Yeah! I like that! ‘Panther’ it is!” 



---

 

After deciding Ann’s code name and finding another entrance into the castle (a broken window and piles of crates stacked on top of each other), Akira was about to lead them inside, but he was stopped by the sound of clanking metal and a door opening. Curious, he turned around to see something that caused his stomach to drop to his feet; an open barred door, bluish fog surrounding it, and one of those horrible white-haired twins standing in front of it. She looked up from her clipboard expectantly, then stepped to the side when she saw Akira standing there. “Come inside,” she said, her voice monotone. “We have much to discuss.” Knowing he didn’t have much of a choice, he stepped forward, dreading what was to come.

 

“We are going to have to execute your Persona.”

“Wait, what?!”

 

The freakish old man’s smile didn’t flicker as Akira shook the bars of the cell door indignantly. “What the hell do you mean, get rid of him? Why?!” The twin with her hair done in buns smacked her baton against the door, but Akira didn’t care. The bizarre old man nodded.

 

“Indeed. This is a crucial step in completing your rehabilitation.” He gestured towards the twins as if telling them to get started, but Akira wasn’t finished. None of this made any sense at all.

 

“Hey, wait a second!” he shouted, causing the twins to stop. “You haven’t told me why I need to do this execution shit! What does it do for me?!” One of the twins raised her baton again, but Igor interrupted her.

 

“I suppose I should explain the execution process to you in detail,” he said, sounding almost bored. “Executing two Personas creates stronger, more powerful ones. It is almost like discarding old personalities to make room for new ones. Now,” he gestured behind him at two huge guillotines (how did Akira not notice them before?!), his unbreaking grin sending chills up Akira’s spine. “Are your Personas ready for the execution?”

 

Akira blinked in confusion. Personas, plural? He only had one! “What do you mean, Personas?” he asked. “I’ve only got one. Was I supposed to get more when I ripped my face off a few days ago?”

 

The twin with the baton looked like she had been smacked. “You mean to tell me you haven’t collected ANY new Personas since you first awakened?” she spluttered, her one yellow eye wide in shock. Akira nodded.

“Was I supposed to…?” he said slowly, regretting it when she smacked her baton against his fingers.

“OF COURSE YOU WERE, YOU INCOMPETENT PRISONER!” she shouted, stomping her foot on the ground. “You were supposed to have brought back at least one new Persona with you by now!” Akira was absolutely dumbfounded. How was he supposed to have known that? 

 

“Calm down, Caroline,” the other twin said, maintaining her monotone voice. “He may be completely ignorant of what his tasks are, but that does not concern either of us.” She then turned to Akira, fidgeting with her clipboard and ignoring her now red-faced sister. “Inmate,” she said, looking him in the eyes, “This conversation is over. You are to go back to the Palace and retrieve at least one more Persona. Return to us only when you have it.” 

 

When Akira returned to the castle gates, he was met with the confused faces of Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana. “What?” he asked.

Ryuji scoffed. “Dude, you were just standin’ there and starin’ off into space for like, five minutes! Right?” He then turned to the others, who nodded.

“It was like you were in another dimension or something,” Ann added. “What was that?”

Akira wanted to explain, but a voice inside his head told him not to. You have more important things to worry about, it said, and he knew it was right. “Never mind,” he told them. “I’ll explain later. For now,” he gestured at the castle, “let’s tear this shithole apart.”

 

--- 

 

As the four of them ventured deeper through the castle, Akira, Ryuji, Morgana, and Ann all learned new things about both themselves and each other that they never thought they’d find out. For one, Akira found it very easy to be threatening towards the Shadows when he fought them, and he was even able to persuade a few of them (one of those fairy things and a jack-o-lantern, to be specific) to come with him so he could use their powers. However, he liked his main Persona, Arsene, the most.

 

Despite talking big, Morgana seemed about as experienced in battle as the rest of the team, being caught off guard by powerful ones (“Savage Shadows”, they were called) and not knowing the different strengths and weaknesses of the enemies that he claimed to have known. His Persona, Zorro, looked like a big black Dorito with legs and a sword, as pointed out by Ryuji, which earned him a jab in the arm with Morgana’s weird sword. 

 

Every new room they entered strengthened their wills. The decorations featured large sculptures of bodies making sexual poses, rose petals, nude statues, and paintings of Kamoshida looking gallant and heroic, all of which made Ryuji and Ann angrier with every step they took. Akira was just weirded out and confused. How the hell was this creep still a teacher? They were all equal amounts disgusted when they found a hidden room dedicated to creepy pictures of Shiho Suzui, complete with candles, rose petals, and the St. Andrew’s Cross that Ann had been trapped in before. At one point, Ryuji stopped and asked Ann if she was okay, as she seemed slightly shaken at the contents of the room. However, she nodded, telling them that she was going to make Kamoshida have nightmares for the rest of his life. They kept going. 

 

Eventually, after many long hours of sneaking through hallways, hiding behind statues, battling enemies, and stopping security traps, Morgana announced that they had almost found the Treasure.

“And what does stealing it do again?” Ann asked, resting her elbows on the table. They were going over a map they had found in a Safe Room, and everyone was exhausted. Akira wanted nothing more than to go back to the cafe and sleep, no matter how angry Sojiro would be at him for coming home late.

“The Treasure is the root of the Palace,” Morgana explained. “It’s the physical embodiment of the Ruler’s distorted desires. Stealing the Treasure without killing the Shadow will make the Palace collapse, and the Ruler’s distorted desires will most likely disappear. They won’t be able to live with what they’ve done, and will most likely confess to all their crimes.” The cat finished his spiel proudly and placed his paws on his hips, standing up straight on the table. “Any questions?”

When there were none, he rolled up the map and placed it in one of his pockets, then jumped off the table and went up to the door. “Now, is everyone ready?” he asked. They all nodded. “Good,” he said, grinning.

 

“We’re almost there.”

Notes:

hii here's an update

happy halloween and merry christmas

can you tell that i absolutely love arsene and i hated having to get rid of him because i really do and i will forever be angry that he's one of the coolest looking personas and i still had to get rid of him

Chapter 13: Treasure

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The Treasure Room was huge.

 

Every square inch seemed to be covered in gold, with piles of gold coins, jewelry, gems, and other glamorous-looking items everywhere they looked. Akira, Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana stepped in cautiously, taking in their shiny surroundings. At the center of the room was something Akira could only describe as a hazy-looking blob, shining and sparkling. It didn’t seem to have a shape, yet Morgana immediately jumped up onto a tall pile of coins and placed his paws on his hips triumphantly. “This is it! The Treasure!”

 

Ryuji arched his eyebrows. “Really? That sparkly blob of nothin’?”

Morgana nodded. “Yep! Now we just have to send the calling card so we can steal it!” 

 

Despite his confident nature, neither Akira, Ryuji, or Ann were any less confused. “Calling card?” Ann asked, scratching her head. Akira kicked at a pile of coins next to him, trying to put the pieces together. They’d have to use this calling card thing to tell Kamoshida that they were going to steal his Treasure, which was that weird shapeless blob. But why was that thing his Treasure? 

 

Morgana seemed to have read his mind. “The Treasure hasn’t materialized yet because Kamoshida doesn’t perceive it as being in danger. We need to warn him that we’re stealing his distorted desires, and then the Treasure will have a form so we can steal it.”

He then jumped down from his pile of coins and headed back towards the door. “Come on, rookies. Time to go home!”

Akira rolled his eyes and walked faster. “I thought I was the leader,” he said, pushing the door open. Morgana scoffed.

“You are! I just happen to know more about this than you do.” He then rummaged around in one of his fanny packs and then pulled something out, then handed it to Akira. It was a grappling hook; not the gun type, but the kind that Akira would need to strap to his wrist and unravel. “Here!” Morgana said, grinning. “I’m sure this’ll help us a lot in the future!”

Akira stuffed the thing in one of his coat pockets. He didn’t know what prompted Morgana to remember that he wanted to give him a grappling hook, or how he had been able to fit it in his little fanny pack before, but he decided he’d save those questions for later. Although, Akira thought as he led his friends safely out of the castle and back into the real world, I’d really like some answers soon.

 

---

 

Sir Suguru Kamoshida, the utter bastard of lust. We know how shitty you are, and that you put your twisted desires on students that can't fight back. That's why we have decided to steal away those desires and make you confess your sins. This will be done tomorrow, so we hope you will be ready. From, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

 

---

 

“What’s this? A calling card?”

“Somebody came here and put these up before school!”

“Did Mr. Kamoshida do something?”

“Phantom Thieves?”

 

The next day, Akira could hardly find his way through the horde of confused students crowding around the bulletin boards. They were covered in copies of the calling card, which had been written by Ryuji and posted around the school by Ann, because it would look suspicious if Akira was at Shujin early and they couldn’t trust Ryuji to wake up on time to do it before anyone else showed up. 

 

“Whaddya think? Cool, right?” 

 

Ryuji had arrived, and was trying hard to conceal his grin at the amount of attention the calling card was getting. Akira smiled. “It looks and sounds great,” he said, and meant it.

He knew how much Ryuji hated Kamoshida and how he had ruined Ryuji’s life, along with the poor kids on the volleyball teams, which was why he let Ryuji be the one to write the card and design a logo for them, which Akira liked. It was a little sloppy-looking, but it was their first operation out of what Akira assumed would be many, so he didn’t think much of it. However, Morgana, who had been hiding in Akira’s school bag, seemed hell-bent on giving Ryuji a hard time for everything he did. 

 

“It sounded like a little kid trying to sound serious,” he said, poking his head out of the bag. “The logo is lacking, too.”

Ryuji scowled at him, and Akira gently pushed him back into the bag. “Will you quit being such a dick to him?” Akira whispered, hoping Morgana could still hear him. The cat didn’t answer. Ryuji didn’t seem to care though, leaning in close to the bag to try to get Morgana to answer, which meant leaning in close to Akira. Holy shit. He was about to say something, but stopped and quickly took a step back when he heard an angry yet familiar voice approaching.

 

Who the hell did this?!”

 

Kamoshida was storming through the crowds, waving one of the many bright red cards in his hand. “Was it you?!” he shouted, grabbing a student by the arm, then letting them go. “Or was it you two?!” he yelled, pointing at Akira and Ryuji. Shit.

“What makes you say that?” Akira asked, crossing his arms. Kamoshida looked like he was about to kill him on the spot. He opened his mouth to start yelling again, but stopped himself, seemingly remembering that there would be more than one witness if he tried hurting a student again. Instead, he took a breath, then relaxed, crumpling up the card and stuffing it in his pocket.

“It’s not like it matters,” he spat, turning around and starting to leave. “You two will be expelled soon, anyways.”

 

As he walked away and the crowds of students began to thin, Akira noticed Ann making her way towards them. “Do you think it had any effect on him?” she asked, looking around nervously, as if she was expecting Kamoshida to appear behind them and try to get them in trouble again.

Akira nodded. “Definitely.” Morgana stuck his head out of the bag, looking up at them nervously.

“Are you rookies ready?” he asked, which made Akira and Ryuji roll their eyes.

“We’ve been ready!” they said. Ann nodded, clenching her hands into fists.

“I’m more than ready. I’m going to make him pay for what he did to Shiho.” 

 

As the bell rang and they went to their classes, Akira couldn’t think of anything except for what he was about to do. Morgana had mentioned the possibility of Kamoshida dying if they messed up, but as he remembered the look on Ryuji and Ann’s faces as they stared into the eyes of the man that had ruined their lives, he knew his mind was set on doing this. It was a risk they were willing to take. Ann’s friend had been sexually abused by this scumbag for who knows how long, Ryuji’s future had been torn apart in front of his eyes, and Akira found himself being reminded of the drunk man back in his hometown, the surge of anger he had felt watching the helpless woman try to defend herself, and the deep voice that had spoken to him back on that first day as he watched his friend fighting for his life. His mind was set. As the final bell rang and he saw Ann and Ryuji waiting for him outside of the classroom, Akira knew what he had to do.

 

“Yo, you ready?” Ryuji asked as Akira stepped out of the classroom. He nodded, and led his friends out of the school and into the alleyway that he and Ryuji had discovered the Palace in. He pulled out his phone and opened that bizarre app, and grinned as he felt the world around him begin to slow down.

 

It’s showtime.

Notes:

hiiiii sorry for the sloppy chapter i just really wanted to update this

i wish everyone wasn't so fucking mean to ryuji all the time i swear im gonna make everyone be nice to him in this fic if its the last thing i do. i have no idea how i'm going to write the boss battle scene though, but i'll cross that bridge when i come to it i guess

if you enjoyed, PLEASE comment/kudos! it really makes me happy knowing that people enjoy what i write!
thank you for reading!

Chapter 14: Asmodeus

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“A crown?!”

 

Akira wasn’t really sure what else he expected Kamoshida’s treasure to be. The thing was gigantic; made of shiny gold and embellished with red and violet gems, floating above the piles of coins and various other valuable objects strewn about the room. Morgana gasped when he saw it, and ran towards it as soon as the door opened, startling Akira, Ryuji, and Ann as they stepped inside.

 

“Treasure! Treasure! Treasureeee!” Morgana squealed, trying to hug the crown but slipping off of it and falling onto the piles of gold.

 

“Alright, that’s enough, you stupid cat!” Ryuji grumbled, grabbing him and pulling him away from the crown.

 

Ann crossed her arms and looked down at the confused cat. “What was all of that?” she asked. Akira shrugged.

 

“Must have thought it was catnip.” He looked up at the crown, which was still suspended in the air, wondering how they were going to get it out of the castle without being noticed. The security had been heavily increased due to the effects of the calling card, which Ryuji was very proud of. 

 

“How are we gonna get this huge thing outta here?” Ryuji asked, looking at it up and down. Akira shrugged.

“I guess we’ll all have to carry it,” he sighed, walking up to it. “Everybody hold on!” 

 

The crown was just as heavy as it was big. Even worse, Morgana wasn’t able to help them because he was only one foot tall, so Akira had to settle for letting him be the lookout for any guards that might be patrolling around. Luckily, the hallways leading away from the throne room were empty, the guards most likely preoccupied with the main entrance. Even the entrance hall was empty, which was confusing. Akira was sure that Kamoshida would be waiting somewhere for them…

 

“Go, go, let’s go, Kamoshida~!”

 

The voice of the fake Ann rang out through the hallway as Kamoshida suddenly leapt from the railing above them and landed in the center of the hallway, with the cognitive version of Ann at his side. Akira, Ryuji, and the real Ann dropped the crown in shock, and it immediately rolled towards Kamoshida, shrinking down to a normal size when he bent down to pick it up.

“I won’t let anyone have this!” he jeered, tossing it up and down. “This is proof of my kingship. It is the core of this world!” Akira immediately pulled out his pistol, ready to shoot at it. The weapon felt cool and heavy in his hands, and he took careful aim at the crown, shot, and missed. Shit. Kamoshida laughed. “Aw, are you trying to steal it?” he sneered. “You won’t, but I’d love to see you try!” 

 

“Shut up!” Ryuji shouted. “You ain’t the king of anyone! We’re gonna make you pay for every shitty thing you did, including leaking his criminal record!” He jabbed a thumb in Akira’s direction, and he could feel his face burning. He was glad when Ann joined in on the yelling.

“He’s right! You’re going to hell for what you did to Shiho!” She had a look on her face that Akira couldn’t quite read; it was like fury mixed with excitement. Meanwhile, Kamoshida was laughing.

“Oh, was that the name of the girl that tried to kill herself? I can hardly remember anymore!”

The fake Ann laughed shrilly and squeezed Kamoshida’s arm. “Oh, you’re so funny, sensei!” she squealed, nuzzling his neck.

Kamoshida grinned and stared down at them, his yellow eyes gleaming. “You’re all so naïve, just like Mishima and that girl who tried to kill herself!” Akira could feel his anger rising, and looked back at his friends, who he could tell were feeling the same. Ryuji was cracking his knuckles, Morgana was making fists, and Ann looked ready to murder.

“You’re right,” she said quietly, staring down at the checkered marble floor. “She’s a total idiot. Letting you manipulate her, trying to commit suicide…” She stopped to take a breath, then continued, looking up at Kamoshida and the fake Ann. “And I’m even more of a dumbass for not realizing that.” 

“But no matter how much of a fool someone might be, they don’t need your permission to live their lives!”

Kamoshida scoffed. “Drop the attitude, you mediocre peasant!” he snarled. “There’s nothing wrong with using my gifts for my gain!”

Ann looked downright murderous now. “Above?! You mean beneath! You’re a goddamn demon obsessed with your sick desires!” 

 

There was a pause, then Kamoshida started laughing. “You’re right,” he said, red flames beginning to swirl around him. “I’m not like you.” Akira took a step back as Kamoshida started growing taller, his face beginning to distort, and the flames growing higher. “I am a DEMON! WHO RULES THIS WORLD!”

 

Akira, Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana all stepped further back as Kamoshida continued growing and changing, distorting madly until there was nothing vaguely human-looking about him at all. He was huge, taking up the entire entrance hall, with pink skin, large horns, four arms, ugly, bulging eyes, and a huge, disgusting tongue. He wasn’t wearing anything, which led Akira to notice that there was something missing from him, and sitting in front of him was a large golden trophy with what looked like purple human legs sticking out of it. Kamoshida was holding a large golden fork, a knife, and a huge wineglass with the fake Ann inside of it, but Akira was too distracted with the now completely distorted version of Kamoshida in front of him.

“What the fuck is that?!” Ryuji shouted, loading up his shotgun and trying to shoot at it.

“It’s Kamoshida’s true form!” Morgana yelled back, summoning his Persona and shooting a wind attack at it. Akira was disgusted. He didn’t know where to start. He ran towards Kamoshida and swiped at him with his dagger, to which he reacted by rearing back and shouting in pain.

“Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to hit people?!” Kamoshida yelled, waving the giant knife at Akira, causing him to fall backwards into a very angry Ryuji. 

 

“Sorry,” Akira grumbled as Ryuji helped him back up. In the few seconds Akira was down, Ann and Morgana were trying their hardest to distract Kamoshida, and it seemed to be working, with Ann shooting fire attacks at him and Morgana worsening them with wind.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ryuji said, flashing Akira a small smile, then turning back to Kamoshida. “Let’s whoop his ass.” 

 

They returned their attention to the fight, which seemed to be going well, until Ann and Morgana were downed by a swing of Kamoshida’s golden knife. However, before anybody could react, he suddenly stuck the fork into the trophy, pulling out one of the pairs of legs and swallowing it whole. As they watched in horror, Kamoshida’s various wounds were healed completely before their very eyes, which prompted Ann to pull out her submachine gun and start firing rapidly at the trophy.

“He’s using that thing to heal himself!” she shouted, beckoning at them to join her. Akira leaned against one of the nude statues and pulled out his pistol, taking careful aim at the trophy while Kamoshida was distracted. When he was sure he had a clear shot, he pulled the trigger, and the trophy exploded.

 

“NO WAY!” Kamoshida shouted, suddenly dropping all of his weapons and falling back slightly, as if he had been damaged along with the trophy. “This is from when I won the national!” Akira quickly joined Ann, Ryuij, and Morgana in surrounding Kamoshida with their guns drawn, pointed at him. “You can’t get away with this! Don’t you realize who I am?” he yelled, sounding slightly desperate.

“Yeah we do, so what?” Akira snapped. Kamoshida made a sound that Akira could only describe as a horrified gasp.

“Don’t you get it?!” he screamed, waving his many arms. “I am KAMOSHIDA! I’m going to make you pay for this!”

 

Ryuji scoffed. “Y’know, I always saw you as a condescendin’ hot-shot, but right now, you’re just a pathetic loser.”

Ann nodded in agreement. “We came all this way to steal that! Won’t you just give it up already?!” 

 

“Silence!” Kamoshida yelled, obviously having had enough. “I won’t let the likes of you have this!” Morgana smirked.

“Then we’re going to up our game as well!” 

 

What happened next was something that Akira couldn’t describe. Ryuji, Ann, Morgana, and him were attacking Kamoshida from all sides, quickly and swiftly, again and again until they were suddenly back on the ground. Kamoshida looked angry, but not yet defeated, and picked up his weapons from the floor. Akira knew he had to act fast. He shot an Eigaon at him, which sent Kamoshida rearing back slightly, but he recovered easily, and Akira had mere seconds to dive out of the way of his giant fork.

“This isn’t working!” he shouted at the team, throwing a bottle of the painkillers he had bought at Morgana, who had a large bruise on his chest. “We need a new strategy!” 

 

“What the hell are we supposed to do?!” Ann yelled from across the room as she narrowly dodged a slew of volleyballs from Kamoshida.

“Distract him!” Ryuji shouted back, shooting a Zio at Kamoshida’s chest. Akira shot a glance at the creature’s head. Kamoshida was wearing the Treasure, and seemed to be more focused on protecting it than anything else. He would let himself take massive damage as long as the Treasure was protected, and as Akira watched Morgana climb up one of the nude statues to deliver a blow from the air, something clicked in his mind. 

 

“Mona!” he shouted at the cat, making him stop right as he was about to jump off the statue. He looked over at Akira, who shot at Kamoshida a few times before pointing at Kamoshida’s head. “Get the Treasure!” 

 

In a split second, Morgana understood- leaping off the top of the statue and at the crown, pushing it off his head, and suddenly, everything seemed to happen in slow motion; Akira lowered his pistol, Ann dropped her whip, Ryuji stepped back, and watched as the crown fell off the king.

Notes:

WOW i suck at writing fight scenes sorry if this is terrible

i really don't have anything to say except rip alex trebek and thank u for reading :-)

Chapter 15: Siezed

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Kamoshida started shrinking.

The pink skin started fading, his gigantic, disgusting head was getting smaller, and his golden fork, knife, and wineglass all fell to the ground as his extra arms disappeared, taking the fake Ann with them. What was left in the center of the hall was a shaking, whimpering, utterly defeated Shadow Kamoshida, clutching the Treasure and looking fearfully up at Akira as he slowly walked towards him, Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana behind him.

“No! Please don’t kill me!”

Kamoshida looked utterly pathetic as he lay on the floor, his arms wrapped tightly around the shining crown, his yellow eyes filling with tears. Akira held his gun steady, but he didn’t say anything. This was Ryuji and Ann’s moment, not his.

The two blondes stared down at the Shadow harshly. “Do you finally understand now?” Ann asked, clenching her fists.

 

Kamoshida nodded fervently. “I do, just don’t kill me, please! Forgive me!” He started backing up further and further, but he stopped when he hit a wall.

 

“Shut up!” Ann snapped. “That’s what everyone told you, isn’t it? But what did you do?!” Kamoshida whimpered again and flinched.

 

“It’s not my fault! I’m a victim too!” he protested. “All those damn hyenas with their impossible expectations! I just wanted to be accepted! You understand, right?!”

 

Ryuji rolled his eyes. “You’ve hurt so many people. You ruined Shiho Suzui’s life, and the track team, too! They don’t even got a place to practice anymore ‘cause of you!” Kamoshida nodded again.

“What are you going to do to me?” 

It was silent for a moment as they considered what to do. They could kill him if they really wanted to, but Morgana had warned against that, as it could cause him to have a mental shutdown in the real world, and even worse, they would be suspects. The only thing they really could do was let the Shadow go. Let it go under one condition. 

“Atone for what you did.”

Kamoshida’s face changed from scared to confused, then understanding. “Tell everyone what I did?” he asked.

 

Akira, Ryuji, and Ann nodded as they lowered their guns (Morgana lowering his slingshot). “Turn yourself in,” Ann said, her voice cold. “And apologize to everyone, including Ryuji and Shiho.” The others nodded.

 

Kamoshida sighed. “Alright,” he said, defeated. He started to fade. “I’ll return to my real self. And I promise that…”

He was gone before he could finish. The Treasure lay where Kamoshida used to be, and Morgana picked it up, then looked up at Ann, Ryuji, and Akira. “Are you ready to go?” he asked. They nodded.

 

“So does that mean Kamoshida is gonna turn into a good guy?” Ryuji asked as they started to leave.

 

Morgana shrugged. “That’s what should happen, yes. He’ll be unable to cope with the things he’s done, and confess everything. That means you two,” he pointed at Akira and Ryuji, “won’t get expelled, and your friend,” he gestured at Ann, “will hopefully be brought to justice.”

Ann let out a relieved sigh. “That’s good to hear,” she breathed. “Are we almost there?”

When they returned to the alleyway, Akira suddenly felt an immense wave of exhaustion come over him. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before, he felt like he had just finished running an entire mile without stopping, and his legs felt like jelly. At his feet was a gold medal. “Where did this come from?” he asked, picking it up. Morgana stuck his head out of Akira’s bag and looked down at it.

 

“That’s Kamoshida’s Treasure!” he exclaimed, his eyes widening.

Ryuji scoffed and kicked the ground. “I thought it was a crown,” he mumbled. Ryuji looked just as tired as the rest of them.

“Are you okay?” Akira asked. He was addressing all of them, but Ryuji looked him directly in the eyes and Akira knew that Ryuji knew that it was actually directed at him.

“I’m exhausted,” Ann complained. “I’m going home. I’ll text you guys later.” She waved at them, yawned, and then left. 

There was an uncomfortable silence. Akira wanted to ask Ryuji if he wanted to get ramen or beef bowls or something, as he had found quite a lot of money on the floor whenever they fought Shadows, but he looked far too tired to do anything more than ride the train home. Ryuji looked at him for a moment, as if he were contemplating the same, but he must have decided against it, because he sighed and picked up his bag. “I’m gonna head home now,” he said, stretching. “You take care of yourself, alright?”

 

Akira blinked in surprise. “What?”

 

Ryuji nodded. “You look real tired, man. I think you’re the most tired outta the three of us.”

Morgana stuck his head out of Akira’s bag again. “I think you mean the FOUR of us!” he snapped. Ryuji rolled his eyes.

 

“Whatever, cat.” He then looked at Akira again, who was distracted by the sight of someone entering the school as students flooded out the doors. Had they really been in Kamoshida’s palace for only fifteen minutes after the school day was over? The person wasn’t wearing a uniform; just a brown coat and carrying a briefcase. Ryuji didn’t seem to notice them. “What’re ya starin’ at?” he asked. 

Akira blinked. He had never really considered what he looked like to other people when he was zoning out. It probably looked very strange. “Nothing, I just got distracted,” he murmured, pushing Morgana back into his bag. “I’m going home, too. I’m exhausted.” 

The two were silent as they approached the Aoyama-Itchome platform and boarded the train. Akira said nothing as he and Ryuji sat down next to each other, lucky to grab a seat. Akira hardly noticed when Ryuji began to lean on his shoulder, but for some reason he couldn’t figure out, he didn’t mind. It had been a long day. 

When he returned to Leblanc, Akira was glad to see Sojiro busy with a customer as he quietly made his way upstairs. If that customer hadn’t been there, he probably would have gotten yelled at for coming home late again. It’s not my fault though, he thought as he trudged up the stairs. Sometimes you just needed to fight a monstrous version of your pedophile gym teacher in an alternate dimension so you and your only friends don’t get expelled. 

He couldn’t help but remember the train ride home as Akira began moving the piles of books off of the work desk, in need of something to do. Was Ryuji really that tired, or was there something he was trying to tell him? Akira said none of this to Morgana, who was curled up in a sunny spot on the bed. He would probably just make a bad joke about how slow Ryuji was. Akira didn’t like the way the cat talked about his friend. Akira could count on one hand the amount of people who had been nice to him since he arrived in Tokyo, and while he enjoyed Morgana’s company and having someone to whisper answers to him from inside his desk at school, the way Morgana talked about Ryuji was somewhat troubling to say the least. It was like they had known each other for far longer than two weeks and had a long-lasting rivalry. Akira tried to push the thoughts to the back of his mind as he pulled out his homework, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to focus. They had fought Kamoshida, won, and stolen his Treasure, but did that mean the “change of heart” had really worked? Would Akira, Ryuji, and Mishima still be expelled? Would Ann’s friend finally be avenged?

And what the hell were they going to do with that gold medal?

Notes:

hello hello sorry this took so long to update!!!! i was very busy and kinda hit a wall in writing, but i'm back and hopefully will have the next chapter written by the end of this week!

this is not only a slow chapter, but a short one. i did try to sprinkle in a little bit of pegoryu in there hehe ;-)

thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed!!! please comment/kudos if you liked it!! thank you!!!!!!!

Chapter 16: Life Goes On

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

May 2nd, 2016

 

In the weeks after defeating Kamoshida’s shadow, Akira had been keeping himself busy while he waited anxiously for the result by spending more time with Ann and Ryuji. He had also gone back to the strange doctor in Yongen-Jaya, Tae Takemi, who he was able to strike up a deal with. Obviously he couldn’t tell her the real reason why he needed her medicines, but she wouldn’t sell them to him without her getting something in return, so he took up her offer to be her “guinea pig” for a new drug she had been making. Takemi wouldn’t tell him what it was or what it was for, but it didn’t kill him, and that was all he really cared about. 

 

Ryuji had asked Akira to help him train, in case they went back into the Metaverse again, which Morgana had all but guaranteed at that point. Ryuji told Akira stories about how he used to be on Shujin’s track team before he punched Kamoshida, which he still wouldn’t tell Akira why. They would run laps together mostly, and Akira made mental notes to himself to try to stop smoking soon, because he could barely keep up with Ryuji. When he spent time with Ann, she mainly just wanted to talk to him about her own life, how she did modeling part-time, and how her parents were famous fashion designers who traveled the world, which was the reason for her being born overseas. He had also met a red-haired first year girl, who was apparently an honors student. She had tried giving up her seat on the morning train to an older woman, but someone else had taken it before the woman could sit down. Akira had offered to tell the man who had taken the seat to get up, but the red-haired girl politely declined, and then thanked him a million times for helping her (even though Akira really didn’t do anything). When he wasn’t out with his friends or meeting new people, Akira spent time quietly studying or helping Sojiro at Leblanc. The man was slightly rough around the edges, but he seemed to be trying his hardest to get along with Akira, which meant awkwardly teaching him how to make coffee. However, none of these distractions were enough to stop the growing senses of dread and anxiety Akira felt as the second of May quickly approached. Kamoshida still hadn’t shown up at school, and if the change of heart didn’t work, he would be in more trouble than he’d ever been in before.

 

On the morning of the second, Akira had to drag himself out of bed and get dressed. The weather was dreary and gray, and the air felt heavy. Not even Morgana had any witty comments to make as Akira rode the train and climbed the steps of the school. Although none of his teachers had gotten calls from the principal’s office about him, he could barely focus in class, and felt relieved when the principal came over the intercom announcing an “emergency assembly”. It didn’t take long for Ann and Akira to find Ryuji in the crowd of students in the gym, and together they waited as the rest of the students filed into the gym and the principal walked onto the stage. “What do you think this is about?” Ryuji hissed at them under his breath as the principal tapped on the microphone and the room quieted. “No clue,” Akira whispered back. “It’s probably not about us, though.” Ann shushed them, and they stopped talking as the principal began to speak. 

 

“I am sure you are all aware of the terrible incident that happened the other day.”

He must be talking about Shiho Suzui.

“Fortunately, we heard that the victim will survive, though her recovery will take some time. Now I believe that everyone here has a bright, promising future. What I’d like you to take away from this incident is that life is valuable and precious…”

Suddenly, another voice spoke up, coming from behind the curtains.

 

“Pardon me, principal.”

 

It was Kamoshida.

 

A collective gasp made its way through the crowd as the principal stepped aside, letting Kamoshida stand in front of the podium. The students began whispering amongst each other, and Ryuji looked at Akira, a mixture of hope and puzzlement on his face. Kamoshida took a deep breath, silencing the crowd once more, but the principal spoke first. 

 

“Erm, Mr. Kamoshida,” he half-whispered, looking absolutely bewildered. “What’s this all about?”

 

Kamoshida didn’t answer. Instead, he closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Everyone,” he said solemnly, “I feel as if I have been reborn.”

 

The students began muttering again. Ryuji looked like he had just been smacked across the face. Ann’s jaw had dropped, and Akira felt his stomach drop to the floor.

 

“I’ve done many things-- repeatedly-- that no teacher should ever do. I verbally abused students. I physically and sexually abused my volleyball teams.” Kamoshida gulped, as if he were swallowing a large lump in his throat. “I- I’m the reason why Shiho Suzui tried to commit suicide!” 

 

The students gasped again.

 

“I thought of the school as my own personal castle. I tried to have more than one student expelled- simply because I didn’t like them. I feel ashamed of the horrible things I did to those poor, innocent students. I was an arrogant, shallow, cruel excuse for a human being--no, less than that!”

 

Suddenly, Kamoshida stepped away from the podium and threw himself onto the ground-- sending another gasp throughout the crowd. “I will take full responsibility and kill myself for it!” he shouted, beginning to sob. Worried murmurs began making their way through the crowd, and the principal ran towards Kamoshida, panicking.

 

“Mr. Kamoshida!” he shouted. “Please get off the stage now!” Another teacher attempted to control the crowd, yelling at the students to return to their classes, but suddenly, another shout rang through the gym.

 

“Don’t run, you bastard!” 

 

It was Ann. She looked furious, and the crowd suddenly quieted, everyone turning around to look at her. “Shiho’s still alive after all the things that made her want to die! You have no right to run from this!” A murmur of agreement went through the crowd, and Kamoshida let out another pathetic sob.

 

“You’re absolutely right!” he yelled. “I should be punished under the law and atone for my crimes… I did horrible things to Takamaki-san, as well! In return for giving Suzui-san a position on the volleyball team as a starter, I… I tried to force her into sleeping with me!” 

 

More horrified gasps from the crowd. Kamoshida kept talking.

 

“I forced Yuuki Mishima to leak Akira Kurusu’s criminal record by threatening him with expulsion if he didn’t. Not only that, but I said terrible things about Ryuji Sakamoto’s mother, and also… I broke his leg. It wasn’t self-defense, but simply because I didn’t like him.” 

 

Akira looked at Ryuji. He looked absolutely flabbergasted.

 

“Of course, as of today, I will resign from my position as an instructor and turn myself in,” Kamoshida continued. “Someone, please, call the police!”

 

As the teachers milled around frantically attempting to control the situation, Akira, Ann, and Ryuji looked at each other worriedly. “So, d’you think the change of heart worked?” Ryuji asked. Akira and Ann nodded.

 

“I was thinking he was going to talk about Ann, but not us…” Akira murmured, kicking the ground. He tensed up for a moment when he felt a hand on his shoulder, but relaxed when he looked up and saw it was Ryuji.

 

“That means we won, don’t it?” he asked. Akira nodded, but Ann looked like she was having second thoughts. “Oh, what’s wrong?” Ryuji asked, looking at her. “Ain’t this a good thing? The bastard’s gone now! You avenged Suzui, didn’t ya?” 

 

Ann nodded and sighed. “I guess, but he did talk about dying and everything…” She rubbed her arm and stared at the ground. “I just can’t help but wonder if we did the right thing…” She trailed off, still not looking up. Akira put his hand on her arm.

 

“Hey,” he said softly, trying not to sound annoyed at her. “Isn’t this what you wanted? He’s gone now. He can’t hurt you, or Suzui,” he glanced at Ryuji, “or any of us anymore.” 

 

Ann sighed again. “I guess you’re right,” she murmured. “I don’t know what I was thinking earlier… we really did do the right thing.” She wiped her eyes (had she been crying?) and gave them a half-smile. “You guys wanna meet on the roof after school?” she asked. Akira and Ryuji nodded.

 

“Sure, as long as it ain’t rainin’!” Ryuji said, grinning. “This guy’s gonna end up lookin’ like a drowned rat!” He jabbed a thumb in Akira’s direction. They laughed, then said their goodbyes as the crowd began dissolving and the students were ushered back to their classes. As he walked with Ann back to their classroom, Akira noticed she was walking with much more confidence than before, and he supposed she really had no reason not to. Her friend would finally be avenged. He and Ryuji weren’t going to be expelled. Kamoshida would pay for his crimes. 

 

Things were finally looking up.

Notes:

hi hello another chapter of filler

most of kamoshida's confession was taken directly from the manga, because i was too lazy to go on youtube and pick out the dialogue from the scene in the game, sorry. however, i did really want to put in kamoshida mentioning ryuji, because, know, what he did to him was really fucked up. i also felt like putting in how he forced mishima to leak akira's record, too, because i felt like that needed to be addressed as well. other than that, i'm sorry if this chapter was boring, but hopefully this'll be the last "taken directly from canon" thing for a while, so look forward to my hopefully unique take on the buffet celebration!

on another note, HOLY HELL, i'm so pumped for p5s. an entire persona game with no goro akechi, hallelujah. (no offense goroboys <3)

also, thank you so much for 3k hits!!! that’s a lot of people who have read what i wrote!! anyways, please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thanks for reading!

Chapter 17: How It Feels

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“So, when are we gonna celebrate?”

The sky had cleared up slightly since the morning’s assembly, and now Ryuji, Ann, Akira, and Morgana were on the school’s roof. Akira still had Kamoshida’s Treasure hidden in Leblanc’s attic, and he was getting worried about how he was going to get rid of it. He had considered selling it to the owner of that airsoft shop in Shibuya, but he’d have to explain where he got it from, and he was already in enough trouble to begin with. The small amounts of money he’d picked up from fighting Shadows wasn’t going to get them much of a celebration, though, so…

“I want to sell the medal.”

Ryuji raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

Akira nodded. “There’s no other way I can get rid of it, and it’s not like any of us have any use for it.” Ann tapped her chin thoughtfully. There was some silence before Ryuji made a suggestion.

“How about we go to a restaurant to celebrate?” 

Ann’s face suddenly lit up. “Ooh, that’s a great idea!” she squealed. “I know this fancy buffet that Shiho and I have been wanting to go to for like, forever! It’s the Wilton Hotel buffet, and it’s super fancy! Celebrities even go there sometimes!” Akira and Ryuji looked at each other, then at Morgana, who shrugged (could cats even shrug?).

“Whatever’s good with Lady Ann is fine with me!” he said, sticking his chest out proudly. Ann giggled.

“Good luck not getting caught being in Akira’s bag!” she joked. “I don’t think the place allows pets.” 

Morgana scowled. “I am NOT a pet!” he snapped. “I’m a human! Unlike this blond idiot over here!” He flicked his tail at Ryuji, whose expression changed from mild amusement to anger.

“Excuse me!” he snapped. “What did I ever do to ya to deserve that?!” Morgana scoffed and opened his mouth to argue, but Akira cut him off.

“He’s got a point,” he argued. “Ryuji didn’t do anything.”

He looked at Morgana and Ann, who looked slightly guilty. “You too, Ann. You call him dumb all the time. I don’t know if there was something that happened between you two before, but if you guys keep fighting like this, then we can’t keep doing this Phantom Thieves thing.” There was an uncomfortable silence after Akira finished, and he felt his face go red, realizing what he had just done. Was he even in a position to scold them? They had elected him leader, but did he have the privilege to do things like that yet? 

“Can someone say something?” he asked, starting to sweat. Ann blinked in surprise.

“Sorry, I just can’t remember the last time someone actually scolded me like that.”

Akira stared at the ground.

“Sorry.”

There was another pregnant pause, interrupted only by the sounds of the city below them and the occasional creaking of the desks they were sitting on. Akira hated it. He could feel all of their eyes on him, probably waiting for him to yell at them again, and he hated it. “So, is that something we can all agree on?” he finally asked, trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

Ann and Morgana nodded.

“Good,” Akira said bluntly. “So, when do you want to have the celebratory lunch?” 

They eventually decided on the 5th for the day of their celebration. Akira promised he would sell the fake gold medal and make up a story if asked where he found it, and he planned to take Ryuji with him to do it. The tension in the air between Akira and Morgana on the train ride back to Leblanc after the meeting on the roof was thicker than the air before a thunderstorm, and it felt like a blessing in disguise when they returned to an empty cafe. Not taking a moment to wonder where Sojiro could be, Akira unzipped his bag upon entering and let Morgana out, then collapsed into an empty booth. The day had completely drained his energy, and he felt like his brain was a few pounds too heavy. “Why did you do that?!” Morgana grumbled. Akira buried his face in his hands and sighed. He was really starting to regret scolding Ann and Morgana.

“Do what?” he replied, already knowing the answer.

“Go on that rant while we were on the roof!” the cat complained back, jumping down from the counter where Akira had set his bag down. “I was just kidding around, you know! Why’d you have to take it so seriously?!”

Akira felt his patience quickly ebbing away as he watched the cat pacing back and forth around the shop. The answer seemed so obvious, but it was almost as if Morgana was ignoring it on purpose. Akira could only reply with the same thing he had said to Kawakami on his first day.

 

”Because he’s one of the only people who have been nice to me at all since I got here!” he snapped. “I can count on my hand the amount of people who have treated me like a human being in this goddamn city, and right now, you’re not one of them! You do nothing but insult and berate Ryuji, even when he does something right! Everything has to be backhanded with you!” 

The cat looked slightly stunned, but Akira wasn’t finished. He hadn’t known Ryuji for long, but he was one of the only people that Akira could call his friend, and it was clear that Ryuji didn’t like being insulted all the time. “If you really want us to stick together and be a team, then you need to quit being such an asshole to Ryuji. Got it?” Akira finished his rant by lighting a cigarette and leaning back in his booth seat while waiting for Morgana to respond. He couldn’t help feeling slightly guilty for yelling so much, but at the same time, he had made some valid points, hadn’t he? They had appointed him leader, after all, so it wasn’t that bad for him to dish out a scolding for a valid reason, right? Akira sure hoped so. Finally, Morgana spoke up, ending his reverie.

“We made the right choice picking you as the leader.”

Akira couldn’t have been more confused if he tried. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he snapped. Morgana wasn't perturbed by his hostility at all. In fact, he seemed proud of it.

“It means that you’re the perfect fit for a leader! You’re passionate about the people and things you care about, and you’re willing to do the absolute most for them! Man, I knew I made the right choice!” He stuck his chest out proudly like he had done while talking to Ann, then jumped onto the table that Akira was sitting at. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Akira had expected the cat to fight back and defend himself, but he was acting the complete opposite.

“Are you sure about this?” Akira asked.

Morgana nodded. “Yup! With you as our leader, we’ll definitely be able to take down anything in our path! You really are our trump card!”

Akira rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he said, taking a drag off his cigarette. “That doesn’t matter to me right now. Are we clear on the whole Ryuji thing though?”

Morgana nodded. “Yeah, I get it. I’ll apologize to him. Can we be done with the serious talk yet? I wanna sell that Treasure!” 

---

The next morning, Akira was barely out of bed when he heard Sojiro yelling at him to come  downstairs. He needed help in the cafe, and although Akira really wanted to sell the medal already, he also didn’t want to be kicked out, so he agreed to it. By the time Sojiro let him go, however, it was late, and he really didn’t feel like sneaking out and having to explain to Sojiro where he had gone and why. The next day, Sojiro asked him again to help, but Akira knew if he didn’t sell the medal now, he never would, and Ann had texted him about already having made reservations, so…

“Sorry, I’ve got things to do.”

Sojiro looked slightly taken aback. “You, with errands to run?” he scoffed. “What could you possibly have to take care of that won’t get you in trouble?” It took almost all of Akira’s self-control to not roll his eyes, but he remembered the promise of eating something other than instant noodles and jagariko sticks, and he stood firm.

“Just something for one of my friends. I do more things than just get into trouble, you know.” 

He was out the door before Sojiro could say anything back.

Notes:

yall knew it was coming. i couldn't wait any longer to write akira popping off on morgana for being a dick to ryuji, so here it is. i also wanted to call out ann on it a little, because she does it too (albeit to a lesser extent). anyways, get excited, because next chapter they're going to celebrate!

thank you for reading! if you enjoyed, PLEASE kudos/comment! i really like knowing that people enjoy my work!

thanks again for reading everyone! <3

Chapter 18: ¥30,000

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The surly airsoft manager looked at the medal doubtfully when Akira and Ryuji presented it to him. “And where did you get this from?” he asked. Akira felt himself starting to sweat.

 

“I found it at a flea market a few weeks ago,” he lied, not meeting the man’s eyes. “I didn’t really have much need for it though, so…” He trailed off, staring down at the counter. The guns truly did look real. Akira really wanted to buy another one.

Meanwhile, the owner started talking again. “I guess I’ll buy it from ya. How’s 30 thousand sound?” 

 

Ryuji made a sound that sounded like a mix of indignation and anger, but Akira silenced him with a jab in the arm and looked back at the manager. “I’ll take it.” The manager sighed and put the medal down on the counter and started looking through the register for the money.

“You’d better not breathe a word to this to the feds,” he grumbled, not looking up. “I already had to deal with some bullshit from them a few days ago.”

Akira shook his head. “Oh, don’t worry. We hate the cops.”

 

The manager looked up at them and smirked as he handed the money over to Akira. “Well, how about that? Me too.”

 

---

 

Akira was woken up early the next day by Morgana yowling in his ear. “Wake up, Joker! I want sushi! I want meat! Let’s goooooo!” 

 

Great. Akira rubbed his eyes groggily and stretched, pushing the cat away from his head, then picking up his phone from the shelf to check the time. 7:45am. “We don’t leave until noon!” he mumbled, putting it back down and rolling over.

“That doesn’t matter! I can’t sleep, I’m so excited!” Morgana said.

Akira scoffed. “Then go outside or something!” he snapped. “I want to go back to bed!” 

 

Morgana huffed and jumped off the bed, leaving Akira alone to try and fall asleep again in the dusty attic. However, as light slowly filled the room and the sounds of the cafe opening downstairs grew louder and louder, Akira knew it was pointless to try any longer. Grumbling, he pushed the sheets off, sat up, and started getting ready for the day.

 

Sojiro gave him an odd look when Akira sat down at the counter. “What are you doing up so early?” he asked gruffly as he started pouring coffee, ignoring the eye roll Akira gave him. He didn’t have to say anything as Morgana poked his head out of the bag and started sniffing the air while Sojiro cooked.

“When are we going?! When are we seeing Lady Ann and Ryuji? When am I getting my meat?!” Sojiro looked down at the cat fondly and raised his eyebrows.

“Ah, so it was the cat that woke you up, huh?” he said smugly. Akira just groaned. Sojiro chuckled and started pouring another cup of coffee. “Here,” he said, offering it to him, which he accepted. “Going somewhere?”

Akira nodded and took a sip. The coffee was bitter, but not so much that he didn’t like it. “Lunch, with my friends.” 

 

Sojiro looked at him with wide eyes. “You made friends?”

Akira nodded and took another sip of his coffee. “What, is that weird?” he asked.

Sojiro blinked and shook his head. “No, I just didn’t think-” 

“You didn’t think anyone would actually want to be friends with me, right?” 

Akira drank more of his coffee while he waited for Sojiro to respond. He could see the man trying to come up with something to say. He felt slightly embarrassed though, and when Sojiro turned his back to him to look at the TV, Akira tried to start up the conversation again.

“I mean, it’s fine, I didn’t think so either at first.” he stammered, causing Sojiro to turn back around and face him. “Maybe I’ll invite them here sometime.” 

 

He stayed until he finished his coffee, thanked Sojiro, then left the cafe, Morgana in tow. “Finally!” Morgana exclaimed as he stuck his head out of Akira’s bag again while he walked up and down the streets of Yongen-Jaya to pass the time. It was only nine in the morning, and he wasn’t supposed to meet the others until noon. Akira was about to buy some cigarettes from the vending machine across from the secondhand shop, but he stopped when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket, and felt himself smile when he saw it was a text from Ryuji.

 

May 5th, 2016 09:14

 

Ryuji: Hey, dude, do ya have any extra time you can spend before we go to the buffet?

Ryuji: You probably won’t see this for another few hours, but it ain’t hurt to try, right?

 

Akira replied quickly.

 

Akira: Yeah i’ve got time

Akira: Where are you

Ryuji: What the hell are ya doin’ awake so early? We ain’t goin’ until noon!

Akira: Morgana woke me up

Ryuji: Damn furball. Anyways, I’m at the arcade in Shibuya!

 

Akira put his phone back in his pocket and turned around to head for the train station. “Where are we going now?” Morgana complained from the bag. Akira shoved the cat’s head back inside as he approached the platform.

“Didn’t you read the texts?” he hissed. “I’m meeting Ryuji at the arcade.”

The cat squirmed around in the bag as Akira boarded the train and tried to find a seat. “I couldn’t see the screen, the sun was too bright!” came Morgana’s muffled voice from the bag. Akira ignored him, and spent the train ride thinking about a certain fake blond waiting for him instead.

 

Ryuji smiled when he saw Akira entering the arcade. He looked tired, especially with Morgana standing up on his shoulder, but otherwise happy to see him. “Hey,” he breathed as he leaned against the vending machine next to Ryuji, setting the bag with Morgana in it down at his feet and yawning. His breath smelled like coffee. Ryuji didn’t really mind.

 

Akira and Ryuji spent the next two hours playing as many games as they could afford without spending the celebration money and talking while they waited for it to be time to leave. They learned more new things about each other; Akira learned that Ryuji liked cooking, even though he wasn’t very good at it, and that he liked the smell of coffee, but not the taste. Ryuji learned that Akira actually enjoyed reading, and that he was afraid of needles. He still wouldn’t tell Ryuji about his relationship with his parents or more details about his previous school life, but that was alright. There were some things that Ryuji wasn’t exactly ready to spill either.

 

Eventually, the time came when Akira and Ryuji left the arcade and left for the buffet. On the train, Akira was reminded of the train ride home after they had defeated Shadow Kamoshida, and when Ryuji laid his head on Akira’s shoulder. He wanted to bring it up again, ask Ryuji why he did it, but at the same time, he knew that it could wait for another day. For now, they had a heist to celebrate.

 

---

 

“Thanks for the food!” 

 

The buffet food was delicious.

 

Akira had piled as much food as he could on his plate, and felt instantly refreshed at the first bite. The food was better than he could have imagined; he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had something this good. Ann and Ryuji seemed to feel the same; Ann’s eyes closed as she dug into her cheesecake, and Ryuji practically tearing apart his steak. “Is it good?” Akira asked.

Ryuji nodded. “It melts in my mouth!” 

Morgana poked his head out of Akira’s bag and scoffed. “Who cares?! Where’s my food?! I want meat! Fish! Rice! Dessert!”

Akira pushed the cat’s head back into his bag quickly. “Quiet!” he hissed. “They can’t find out I’ve got a cat here!”

Ryuji pushed a plate absolutely piled with food towards him. “Here,” he said through his mouthful of food. “We remembered to get ya somethin’ too!”

 

Akira raised his eyebrows at the pile of food on the plate. “What… is it?” he asked. Ann put her plate down and leaned forward over the table.

“We didn’t really know what to get ya, so we just got ya some beans.”

 

Morgana’s eyes widened. “B-beans?!”

 

Ann nodded. “There was some pretty bizarre stuff there, too, so we got you a variety of those,” she said. “Fried bananas, preserved eggs, and… some kind of beans.”

 

Morgana blinked in surprise. “M- more beans?!”

 

---

 

After their plates were cleaned, Ryuji and Akira excused themselves to go to the bathroom before they had to leave. Ann stayed behind, wanting to get one last slice of cake. Ryuji was especially anxious to get to the bathroom, complaining about having “eaten too fast”, which made Akira want to wait for him to finish before taking his turn. Akira noticed Ryuji looking slightly green even after he was finished.

“Are you okay?” he asked, holding out his hand, as he looked as if he were about to faint.

Ryuji nodded. “I ate way too much, dude.” Morgana poked his head out of Akira’s bag again and leaned over his shoulder.

“Meathead!” he snickered. Akira scowled and pushed him back into the bag.

“Can it,” he hissed, then looked at Ryuji, who either didn’t hear Morgana or was too tired to care. They said nothing until they got to the elevator, about to enter when they were suddenly cut off by a group of men in suits and sunglasses. 

 

“Hey!” Ryuji shouted as one of them pushed him aside. “We were here first!”

One of the men turned around, obviously annoyed. He was bald and wearing orange-tinted glasses, and to Akira, he looked oddly familiar. “It seems the customer base has changed since I was here last,” he said coldly. “Did they start a daycare?”

 

The other men laughed and stepped onto the elevator, and Ryuji started yelling indignantly, but Akira wasn’t listening. The bald man’s voice sounded far too familiar for Akira to ignore, and he suddenly stepped forward and stopped the elevator doors as they started closing.

“Hey!” Ryuji yelled, grabbing Akira’s arm. “What are ya doin’?!” Akira didn’t answer.

“Wait!” he shouted. The bald man stopped talking to the others and turned around, looking shocked and confused.

“What? What do you want, brat?!” 

 

Akira scowled. “You’re that asshole from before!” he yelled, pointing at the man. “You were harassing that woman! You- you fucking got me arrested, asshole! You ruined my life!” He tried to get into the elevator, but Ryuji grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back as the elevator doors shut and the elevator left.

“Damn it!” Akira grumbled. He was positive that the bald man was the same one from before.

“Dude, what the hell was that?!” Ryuji spluttered. “You tryna get yourself arrested again?!”

Akira shook his head. “I’ll explain later,” he said dismissively, shaking his head. “It’s nothing.”

 

“Nothing at all.”

Notes:

merry christmas and happy satanael day everyone

i had fun writing this chapter! sorry if it's a bit short :-( thank you for reading, though! if you enjoyed, please leave a comment or kudos! ALSO, thank you so much for 4k hits!!! that's a lot of people who have read what i wrote, and i really appreciate it!!

happy crimbo everyone!!!!!!

Chapter 19: From This Day Forward

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Akira was quiet until they got off the elevator.

 

“Sorry for that,” he said quietly. He hadn’t realized how bad of a decision it was to make a scene until afterwards, and he had probably gotten them banned from the hotel for life. Ryuji, however, didn’t seem to think the same.

“For what?” he asked, confused. Akira shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the ground.

“For embarrassing us like that. That was a really dumb thing I did.”

Ryuji shook his head. “What? No way, dude, that was awesome!” 

Akira raised his eyebrows. “What?”

Ryuji grinned at him and slapped his shoulder. “I dunno what that was all about, but you were amazin’ back there! You gotta tell me who that guy was!”

Morgana poked his head out of the bag and jumped on Akira’s shoulders. “Yeah, I’m curious too!” he added. “Who was that?”

 

He didn’t really want to answer. “I’ll tell you later, okay?” Akira mumbled, fidgeting with the edge of his sleeve. Ryuji sighed.

“Fine, but you at least have to tell Ann what happened!” They looked over at Ann, who was still sitting at their table, looking annoyed.

“Are you sure I have to?” he whispered. “I don’t want to make her more angry…” At the sound of their voices, she looked up at them and scoffed.

“What took you guys so long?”

 

Ryuji rolled his eyes. “Why’re you bein’ so pissy? We hardly left.”

Ann glared at him. “When I went to get more dessert, some lady bumped into me, and it made me drop my food all over her! She made a whole scene about it, even though SHE bumped into ME!” She flipped her hair and crossed her arms. “It’s people like that whose hearts we need to change the most.”

Akira stretched as he sat back down and yawned. He was starting to feel tired. Meanwhile, Ryuji was looking at Ann with interest.

“So you’re sayin’ you wanna keep up this Phantom Thieves thing?” he asked.

 

Morgana poked his head out of Akira’s bag again. “I was gonna ask that!” he added. “There are definitely loads of people way worse than Kamoshida out there, and we’ve got the power to stop them!”

He looked up at Akira, who noticed Ann and Ryuji’s eyes on him as well. “What about you?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Me?”

He looked at Ann, who nodded. “I think I want to keep doing this phantom thief thing, too,” she said quietly. “There are probably lots more people out there suffering just like we did. If I turn a blind eye to them and do nothing, then I’ll be no better than my old self.” 

 

Akira could still feel their eyes on him, and he felt his face redden. It definitely felt good going through Kamoshida’s Palace, fighting the Shadows, knowing that he was helping not only Ann and Ryuji, but the students on the volleyball team as well. He remembered the bald man at the elevators, and suddenly had an idea.

That man definitely had a Palace, or whatever it was that Morgana called them, and if he and the others got stronger, then there was a chance that maybe he could find him and make him pay for what he did. Akira didn’t know why, but he had a feeling that harassing that woman and getting a teenager arrested weren’t the only bad things that that jackass had done. 

 

With his mind made up, Akira pushed his glasses further up his nose and looked up at his friends.

“So? Whaddya think?” Ryuji asked hopefully.

Akira took a deep breath. “I think we need to do this,” he said firmly. “This is something only we can do. There are probably a million other Shiho Suzuis suffering out there, and it’s up to us to help them.” He put his hand over the table, and Ryuji and Ann followed suit.

“You’re right,” Ann said. “Only we can do this!”

Ryuji grinned. “Alright! From this day forward, May 5th, 2016, at…” he pulled out his phone, looked at the time, then put it back in his pocket, “Twelve fifty-two, the Phantom Thieves have officially formed!” 

 

They lifted their hands and then sat back down. Akira picked up his almost-empty glass of sparkling cider and lifted it, Ryuji and Ann doing the same with their drinks. “Here’s to reforming society!” he said, and as they made their toast, he smiled.

 

---

 

May 5th, 2016 15:45

 

Ryuji: So, what’s our group gonna be called?

 

Akira smiled at his phone. After their hour at the buffet was up, Akira, Ann, and Ryuij spent some time walking around the area near the hotel together. He hadn’t told Ann about the bald man at the elevators, which he knew he should have, but they were having such a good time that Akira really didn’t want to ruin the fun. When he returned to the cafe, Sojiro was busy with customers, so he quietly went up to the attic and laid down, feeling tired and ready to take a nice nap. It was only when Akira was about to fall asleep when his phone buzzed with a message from Ryuji to him and Ann, but Akira didn’t mind at all. Something about Ryuji made him feel happy inside, like drinking cold water after being outside for a long time on a hot summer’s day.

 

Akira: Hmmm

Ann: What’s wrong with “Phantom Thieves of Hearts”? That sounded pretty stylish!

Akira: Too long

Ryuji: Does Morgana have any ideas?

 

Akira smirked and turned over in bed. Morgana was sitting on the couch next to the work desk where Akira kept the airsoft gun hidden, and he looked up when he heard Akira moving from the bed. “What is it?” he asked. Akira said nothing and got up to show him the phone. It was quiet for a minute while the cat thought of something. Finally, he gave a suggestion. 

 

“How about “Tilefish Poele”?” he asked.

Akira scoffed. “The hell kind of name is that?” He sat down on the couch next to the cat, realizing this could take a while. Morgana glared at him.

“It’s what I had at the buffet! Delicious and classy-sounding!” Akira shook his head.

“Lame. I’m not telling them that that was your best idea.”

 

Akira: Morgana didn’t have any good ideas

Akira: Do you have any ideas Ann

Ann: What about “The Diamonds”?! That sounds pretty fancy, don’t you think?

Ryuji: -___- I’m getting a real little league baseball feel from it.

Ryuji: Got any ideas, Akira?

 

That was tough. Akira put his phone down next to him and leaned back on the couch, staring at the ceiling. They wanted something short, but nice-sounding, but not edgy or stupid like Morgana’s idea. Akira liked Ryuji’s “Phantom Thieves of Hearts”, but like he had said before in the chat, it was too long to put on another calling card. He could shorten it, though, but he didn’t know how. The Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Phantom Thieves, The Thieves, The P-Thieves, The Phantoms… That could work. In fact, that was perfect.

 

Akira: I got it

Ryuji: Ooh, what did you come up with?

Ann: Yeah, tell us!

Akira: “The Phantoms.”

Notes:

happy new year!!

i was originally planning to upload this on sunday, but that's my birthday, and i thought it would be better to have this done before then, so here it is. next chapter will include the introduction of maruki and maybe some sumi, so look forward to that :D by the way, thank you so much for 200 kudos!

if you enjoyed, please PLEASE leave a comment/kudos! thank you for reading, and i hope you liked it!

Chapter 20: Out of Kindness

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Another assembly?”

 

“What’s it gonna be about this time?”

 

“Ugh, this sucks…”

 

“Did something happen?”

 

“I hope they make this one quick…”



The gym was crowded with chattering students and impatient-looking teachers. It didn’t take Akira and Ann very long to find Ryuji in the crowd, and he grinned and waved at them as they approached him.

“Why d’you think they’re callin’ an assembly today?” Ryuji said, staring at the empty stage. “Kamoshida’s gone, ain’t he? What else could they possibly have to tell us?”

Akira shrugged. “I just hope this doesn’t take too long,” he grumbled. “The sooner this is over, the better.”

A few more minutes passed, and after what seemed like an hour, the principal stepped onto the stage, tapped the microphone, and the room fell silent. He said nothing, instead stepping to the side as if making room for someone. “Doctor,” he said loudly, “The stage is yours.”

 

Someone pushed the curtains aside, and from behind them came a young man that Akira had never seen before. He had floppy brown hair and glasses, and was wearing a lab coat and a loose blue tie.

“Ever since that specific incident, many of you have voiced concerns that I could not bear to ignore,” the principal said. Akira heard Ryuji scoff next to him.

“Like he ever gave a shit about the students,” he mumbled. “All he cares about is the school’s rep.”

The principal was still talking.

“We believe that the mental health of our student body is absolutely vital, so we’ve acquired the services of a therapist.” He gestured at the young man standing next to him. “Please, introduce yourself.”

The man stepped forward, bowed slightly which made him accidentally hit his head on the microphone, making the crowd laugh. Akira rolled his eyes. Finally, a new voice rang through the room. “Nice to meet you,” the stranger said. His voice was soft and kind-sounding. “My name is Takuto Maruki. Thank you for welcoming me to your school.” 

 

There were lots of whispers from the female students.

“Isn’t he hot?!”

“Oh my gosh, I love him already!”

Akira pinched the bridge of his nose and stared at the floor. Really? The man, Maruki, was still talking.

“You can call me Doc, if you feel like that makes you more comfortable. Either way, I’ll be happy to give you any assistance you need.”

He stepped aside and made room for the principal. “Thank you, Dr. Maruki,” he said. “He will be stationed in the nurse’s office, and will be here until November. We hope he will prove helpful to the student body.” With that, he and Maruki walked off the stage, and the assembly was over.

 

---

 

Akira met Ann and Ryuji in the courtyard by the vending machines at lunchtime, quickly stomping out his cigarette when he saw Ryuji coming. “So, whaddya think of this Maruki guy?” Ryuji asked as he sat down next to Akira. He shrugged.

“He seemed nice enough,” he replied.

Ann nodded. “I thought the same,” she added. “I think it was a good idea to bring in a counselor. I have a lot of stuff I want to get off my chest…”

 

Ryuji shook his head. “You really expect this place to give a shit about our mental health?” he scoffed. “I bet the principal only hired the guy to make this place look better. You really think he’ll do us any good?”

Akira shrugged and took a sip of his grape soda. “I don’t know. I really don’t care.”

 

Morgana said nothing.

 

They stayed there until the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. On their way back to the classroom building however, Akira was stopped at the door by a tapping on his shoulder. Wondering who else in the school could possibly want to be seen near him, he turned around, and was surprised to see Dr. Maruki standing there, an awkward smile on his face.

“What do you want?” Ryuji asked, turning around when he noticed that Akira had stopped walking.

Ann elbowed him in the chest. “Don’t be rude!”

 

Maruki laughed. “It’s alright, don’t worry.” He brushed a lock of his messy hair out of his eyes and looked up and down at the three of them. “Sakamoto-kun and Takamaki-san, right? And that must make you Kurusu-kun?”

 

Ryuji scowled at him. “How d’you know our names?” he snapped.

The look on Maruki’s face quickly turned from amusement to guilt. “Well, I, ah, was informed of certain students before beginning my tenure here.”

Akira crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the ground. “And…?”

Maruki looked at the ground and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Those that had, ah… previous interactions with Mr. Kamoshida.” Suddenly, he regained his composure, looking Akira directly in the eyes. “Kurusu-kun, it must have been especially tough for you after having just transferred here. And your previous school experiences, as well.” 

 

Akira narrowed his eyes. “How did you know that?” he asked. “Don’t tell me the teachers told you that I’m a violent delinquent, too.”

To his surprise, Maruki just laughed. “No, not at all!” he said, smiling. “I just figured that it must be difficult adjusting to a new school environment, and having, ah, complications with a teacher can certainly worsen the experience.” Maruki’s positivity was starting to bother him. Why did he even want to talk to Akira again?

 

“I know I already offered my services to the student body earlier, but would you three be interested in counseling?” he asked hopefully.

Before Akira could answer without sounding rude, Ryuji shook his head. “Nope, not at all.”

Maruki looked shocked. “Wh-huh? You all seemed so enthusiastic earlier…”

Akira repressed the urge to roll his eyes. How had he appeared enthusiastic? Maruki’s face suddenly changed again, as if he had an idea. “Ah-- but if you come to my office, you can have free snacks!” he said, smiling (which was starting to get annoying). “What do you say? You definitely look like you could use a bite to eat, Kurusu-kun.” He laughed at his own joke, but Akira felt his face reddening. Maruki was still talking. “All you can eat, would be nice, but there’s still plenty to be had. So how about it?” 

 

Akira sighed. Maruki really did seem like a nice guy, albeit a little overbearing, but with the weight of everything that had happened to him in the past two months, plus never having an adult he could really talk to back in his hometown, he could use the advice. Sakura-san was nice enough, but Akira could tell that he still slightly resented him, and it would take a while for Akira to be able to confide in him. With the teachers treating him like a nuisance, and his friends having their own problems to deal with, he guessed he really didn’t have a choice. Sighing, he conjured up a smile and looked at Maruki.

“It’s a deal,” he said. 

 

Maruki grinned. “Great! I’m glad I was able to come through to you.” He then looked away and at the ground again. “To be honest, I was explicitly ordered to provide counseling to the students directly involved with Mr. Kamoshida.” Figures.

“It’s in the school’s interest… for the students.” Akira could practically hear Ryuji’s eyes rolling.

“Ahh, the school’s interest, huh?” he asked, raising his eyebrows and crossing his arms. Maruki didn’t meet Ryuji’s eyes.

“I know that asking you to be open with a complete stranger like myself is asking a lot,” he said. “Making this mandatory won’t do you any good, either. You might as well make the most of it…”

 

“Just think about it, okay?”

 

And with that, he turned around and left.

 

---

 

The train ride home after school was mostly quiet until Akira noticed something. Morgana had been completely silent since before the assembly, which was odd. He hadn’t spent much time with the cat, but Akira knew that he was the kind to voice his opinion on everything, no matter the subject. However, he hadn’t made a single sound all day, and it was starting to worry him. “Hey, Mona?” Akira asked quietly, unzipping his bag. “Why’ve you been so quiet?” 

 

Ryuji looked up from his manga that he had been reading since he boarded the train. “Yeah, I was wonderin’ that, too! I thought you’d be givin’ us your two cents as soon as that counselor introduced himself!”

The cat slowly poked his head out of the bag and looked up at them. “I had something else I wanted to talk to you three about today,” he grumbled, barely audible over the sounds of the train. Ann looked up from her phone curiously.

“Really? What was it, Mona?”

 

Morgana sat up a little straighter at the sound of Ann’s voice. “Well, I knew it would catch your attention, Lady Ann,” he said proudly. “There’s something I want to show you guys. You’ve been thinking about who our next target will be, right?” Akira nodded. He’d been thinking about it here and there, even doing some research when he had nothing else to do, but nothing had really caught his attention yet.

“Did you find something?” he asked. Morgana shook his head.

“Not exactly. When we get off the train, I want to try something out.” 

 

Ryuji leaned closer to Akira’s bag. “Quit stallin’ and just tell us, dammit!” he said. He was very close to Akira. Almost too close. However, Akira’s pounding heart and panicking brain couldn’t ignore Morgana’s plan.

“Alright, blondie, I’ll tell you!” he said, flicking his tail at him.

 

“We’re going to Mementos.”

Notes:

hii another update

apologies for the slight delay, i was kinda busy, and also i just didn't feel like writing. i'm back though!

sorry for no sumi in this chapter! she likely won't be in the next, either, but trust me, she'll be here eventually! maruki's here though, which i know some people were looking forward to, so here he is! hooray!

thanks for reading! if you enjoyed, PLEASE leave a comment/kudos! it makes me happy knowing that people enjoy my work!!!! <3

Chapter 21: Mementos

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“What the fuck is Mementos?”

 

Morgana glared at them. “Don’t be so rude!” he snapped. “Mementos is the shared cognition of the masses. It’s where you’ll find the Shadows of people with distorted desires, but not distorted enough to turn into Palaces.”

He looked at Akira, who was only slightly confused. “I get it,” he said thoughtfully, leaning back in his seat. “Where does it go, though?” 

 

The cat shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll explain it to you when we get there.” He swatted at the zipper on Akira’s bag, obviously wanting it to be closed, but Akira didn’t close it.

“Hang on,” he said. “I don’t have my weapons. They don’t just spawn next to us in the Metaverse, right? I’m guessing you guys didn’t bring your stuff either?”

He looked at Ryuji and Ann, who both shook their heads. Morgana scoffed. “Ugh, you guys are all idiots! Why are you never prepared?” Akira glared at him.

“It’s not my fault! You should have told us we were going to the Metaverse today!” He started closing the bag, but Morgana swatted his paw at him.

“Fine! We’ll go tomorrow!” he snapped. “Make sure you’re prepared!” 

 

Ryuji sighed as he walked off the platform with Akira. “How am I supposed to keep a shotgun hidden in my bag?” he groaned. Akira laughed.

“Just put it in a shoebox or something. Keep it in your locker for the rest of the day.”

Ryuji looked at him in surprise, his eyes wide. “How did you know that?” he asked. “You ever hidden a gun in a locker before or somethin’?” Akira laughed again.

“No, dumbass. But you should probably hide that iron pipe behind one of the vending machines. I don’t know how you’re gonna get away with that.” 

 

That made Ryuji laugh. “You’re lucky,” he said. “That pistol an’ knife of yours fit real easy in that bag. And the cat.”

Morgana immediately poked his head out of Akira’s bag and climbed up his shoulder. “How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not a cat?!” he snapped.

Ryuji just rolled his eyes. “I’ll bet ya 5 thousand yen that when we eventually do find out what you are, it’s gonna be a cat.”

He looked at Akira, who shrugged. “Sure. I’m in.”

 

Morgana was scowling for the rest of the day.

 

---

 

The following school day was uneventful until lunchtime.

 

Akira was eating his lunch (some instant yakisoba noodles and a can of grape soda) alone in his homeroom when he was suddenly tapped on the shoulder. Surprised, he turned around only to see the blue-haired boy named Mishima that had taken him and Ryuji to Kamoshida’s office that one day standing behind him, a nervous look on his face.

 

“What is it?” Akira asked. The boy flinched slightly as if Akira had yelled at him, but stood firm.

“I… uh… h-how are you?” he stammered. He then looked down at the floor, but Akira could see that his face was red.

“I’m, uh, fine,” he replied. “What did you want to see me for?”

Mishima was biting his lip and clenching his fists. It was obvious that he was very scared to talk to Akira, which made him feel slightly guilty. Was he really that difficult to approach? “Hey, uh, I’m sorry if I come off as intimidating,” he said quietly, which made Mishima look up at him in shock.

“W-what?” 

 

Mishima seemed extremely nervous now, which made Akira feel more guilty than ever. “Can you just tell me what you came to see me for? Am I in trouble again?”

Mishima suddenly waved his hands and shook his head fervently. “No, no, not at all!” he said hurriedly. “I just wanted to ask you something.” He then leaned in closer and looked around quickly, as if he were afraid someone was eavesdropping on them.

“Um, y-you wouldn’t happen to be a member of the Phantom Thieves, would you?”

 

Akira almost spit out his soda.

 

“What makes you think that?” 

 

Mishima looked shocked, then backed away. “I’m sorry!” he said quickly. “I totally get it! I’m sorry, I just figured-” he started, but Akira interrupted him and stood up.

“It’s fine,” he whispered. “I’m actually the leader. I just wanted to know how you figured it out.”

Akira might as well have given Mishima one million yen, because he looked extremely excited. “Really?! You are?!” he whispered. Akira nodded.

“So, what did you want to tell me?”

 

It looked like it took a second for Mishima to remember his reason for approaching him. A few seconds later, his face lit up again, and he dug around in his school bag for a second, then pulled out his phone. “I wanted to show you this!” he said excitedly as he quickly tapped around on the screen, then handed the phone to Akira. “The Phantom Aficionado Website!” 

 

Akira was met with lots of red. In big white letters across the top of the screen read “DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE PHANTOM THIEVES?” with something that looked like a poll function at the bottom; two answers: yes or no. Underneath it were several comments posted by anonymous users, who Akira guessed were mostly Shujin students, talking about the calling card and debating the authenticity of the Phantom Thieves’ existence. It seemed to be a forum dedicated to the group, but why? Akira handed the phone back to Mishima, slightly confused. 

 

“It looks great, but what exactly is it?” he asked. Mishima grinned, his nervousness seemingly forgotten.

“I’m glad you asked!” he said brightly. “There are tons of people way worse than Kamoshida out there, and I know that the Phantom Thieves won’t stand aside and let them get away with their crimes! That’s why I created the Phan-Site to give hope and strength to those who are suffering. I’m sure that you guys can prove that there’s still justice in this world!” 

 

There was an awkward silence after that. Akira really didn’t know what to say. Mishima’s enthusiasm was definitely encouraging, but could he really trust him to keep his secret? He was already constantly walking on eggshells around the school staff, and having someone he didn’t know very well know that he was responsible for Kamoshida’s change of heart didn’t sit very well with him. However, Mishima really did seem grateful for what Akira did, and after everything that he went through under Kamoshida, he seemed trustworthy enough. He went through the trouble of creating an entire website devoted to the Phantom Thieves, and the more allies he had, the better, so…

 

“It’s great,” Akira said, smiling warmly at Mishima, who went red. “This’ll be a huge help for us. Thank you.”

 

---

 

“Wait, he knows our identities? Ain’t that bad?” 

 

Akira shrugged. “Not really. He told me he’d keep it a secret.” He then took another sip of his grape soda. “Mishima doesn’t really seem like the type of guy to break a promise like that, anyways.” 

 

It was after school. Akira had met Ryuji and Ann by the vending machines near Aoyama-Itchome station where Ryuji had hidden his iron pipe, which was thankfully still hidden behind a potted plant. Akira told them about Mishima and the Phan-Site, which garnered mixed reactions. The only one who really seemed excited about it was Morgana.

 

“This’ll be perfect!” he exclaimed as Akira showed the website to the group. “This is exactly what we needed for today! You’re amazing, Leader!”

Akira felt slightly taken aback. “What do you mean?” he asked. “I didn’t do anything.”

Morgana ignored him. “We can’t go into Mementos without a target! This website will definitely have what we need!”

Ryuji and Ann looked just as confused as Akira felt. “Target?” Ann asked. “What are you talking about?”

 

Morgana shook his head. “Never mind, I’ll explain when we get to the station square. Let’s go, let’s go!” 

 

The train ride seemed to take longer than usual. When they finally reached the station square, Akira started unbuttoning his blazer slightly, because it was a surprisingly warm day. “Okay, so now what?” he asked, unzipping his bag and setting it down on a short wall next to the stairway.

“Someone needs to open the Meta-Nav, and someone else needs to open that website,” Morgana instructed. Akira opened Mishima’s website, and he heard Ryuji slump down next to the wall and the weird beeping sound that the Meta-Nav made when it opened.

“Now what?” he asked. 

 

“Start going through it,” Morgana said. “The website, I mean. Stop when you find a comment that sticks out to you.” Ann walked over next to Akira and peered over his shoulder as he started scrolling. 

 

“Give me one million yen.” “Hell, I wish I had that much money!”

“Please stop my friends from arguing.” “Um, names and details, please!”

“My ex won’t stop stalking me. He follows me wherever I go. His name is Natsuhiko Nakanohara.”

 

Akira and Ann looked at each other, then down at Morgana. “That one sounds pretty serious,” Akira said. Morgana nodded.

“I agree. Plus they put down the name. I think we’ve found a target.” Ryuji’s face lit up.

“Sweet, our next target already!” he exclaimed. “We just gotta put in the name and it’ll take us to his Palace, right?”

Morgana shook his head. “Not exactly. Just put in the one word: ‘Mementos’.” 

 

Suddenly, they heard a loud “ping” coming from Ryuji’s phone. “Input accepted,” the smooth female voice said. “Beginning navigation.”

 

The world suddenly started changing. The people around them slowed down and began to distort, along with the rest of their surroundings. “What’s going on?” Ann asked, looking around. “We’re going to the Metaverse, right?”

Morgana nodded. “Just hold on,” he said. “It’ll smooth out in a second.”

 

It did. As soon as he was finished, the distortion stopped, the people disappeared, and it was suddenly very quiet. The atmosphere felt much different. The air felt lighter, and Akira felt like he was stuck in between dimensions; the Metaverse and the real world. “It doesn’t seem like we’ve gone anywhere,” he grumbled, looking around. “What changed besides everyone else disappearing?” 

 

Morgana, still a cat, jumped off the wall and ran towards the stairs that led to the underground walkway. “Just follow me! You’ll see when we get down to the station!” 

 

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Akira noticed that Morgana was right. Everything had changed; it was like a twisted, more fucked-up version of the subway. Everything was red and black, the screens that normally displayed departure and arrival times for the trains were now broken and displaying gibberish, and black vines were creeping up every surface. Morgana, no longer a cat, jumped up onto one of the ticket gates. “Everyone,” he said, bringing Akira, Ryuji, and Ann’s attention to him, “Welcome to Mementos.”

 

Upon seeing Morgana, the three then noticed that their clothes had changed, and they were now holding their weapons. “Whoa, holy shit!” Ryuji exclaimed, looking around. “Everything looked so fucked up here! It’s super weird!” Akira and Ann nodded in agreement.

“Morgana,” Akira asked, “Are we in Nakanohara’s Palace?”

 

Morgana shook his head. “Close, but no.” He jumped off the ticket gate and stood in front of Akira. “Remember what I told you yesterday? This is the collective unconscious. You could say it’s like…” He trailed off, obviously trying to figure out a word, when Ryuji suddenly spoke up.

“It’s like everyone’s Palace?” he suggested. 

 

Surprised, Morgana turned to look at him. “Yeah, exactly!” he said. “I’m shocked that you were the one who came up with that, Ryuji.” He then turned back to Akira and Ann. “Nakanohara’s Shadow is in here somewhere. He won’t have a huge castle like Kamoshida, but he’ll have his own little area where all his desires are piling up.”

Akira started fidgeting with the safety lever on his pistol as Morgana talked. He felt like the not-cat could have made this a lot shorter. He only stopped to look up when he heard Ann speak up.

“That all makes sense, Mona, but I have a question.” She paused as Morgana looked at her earnestly.

“What is it, Lady Ann?”

She looked up over the ticket gates at the subway tracks ahead of them nervously. “How are we supposed to get around here? Are we gonna have to walk?”

 

Morgana’s eyes lit up. “Aha!” he exclaimed. “It seems the time has finally come for me to show this to you!” He suddenly struck a pose, startling them, but he either didn’t notice or care. “Morgana!” he shouted. 

 

“TRANSFOOOOORM!!!!!”

Notes:

hiiii!!!! a bit of a quicker update than usual, but this chapter was so much fun to write!

mishima is here again! such a good and underrated character, i was originally planning for akira to be more blunt towards him, but i don't think i could bear being any more mean to mishima than you're forced to be in the game, so i decided against it. in this house we love and respect yuuki mishima.

thanks so much for reading! if you enjoyed, PLEASE leave a comment/kudos! comments keep me motivated to keep writing and it makes me so happy knowing that people enjoy my work! <3

p.s. 5k hits wow... thank you so much!

Chapter 22: Qimranut

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Morgana then did something very strange.

 

He jumped up into the air, disappeared into a large puff of smoke, then a loud “pop” sound was heard. A second later, something dropped down on the ground-- something huge.

 

It was a van. It was black, with a thick yellow stripe down the middle, black cat ears at the top, and the lights were bright blue, exactly the color of Morgana’s eyes. It didn’t take long for Akira to put the pieces together-- the cat could turn into a car. That seemed to be what Ann and Ryuji were thinking, too.

 

“A car?!” Ann exclaimed, taking a step back. Ryuji looked completely at a loss for words. The car had no visible mouth, but Morgana’s voice suddenly rang through the air.

“That’s right, Lady Ann!” he replied proudly. “Mementos represents the cognition of the masses. For some reason, cats turning into cars is an extremely common cognition.”

There was a pause. Nobody seemed to know what to say. “Well, what are you staring at?” Morgana snapped. “Get in!”

 

Akira sat in the driver’s seat. He had never actually driven a car before, but he had played racing games a lot as a child, so driving on the subway tracks of a bizarre other world where the pedestrians were enemies couldn’t be too hard. Ryuji took the passenger’s seat and immediately crossed his legs comfortably. Ann sat in the back and leaned forward to be closer to them. “So now what?” she asked.

If Morgana wasn’t a car, he would have been rolling his bright blue eyes at them. “So drive! Let’s get going!” 



 

Driving on the subway tracks and veering around Shadows was a very odd experience. Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana talked to each other occasionally about things like school and TV while Akira drove, sometimes stopping to fight Shadows. Although he brought some of the medicine he bought from Takemi, Akira noticed himself becoming winded more and more easily, which made him feel even more guilty about his smoking habit. When they reached one of the platforms going further down, Akira stopped the team for a moment.

“There’s something I want to do,” he said, rummaging around in his school bag. They looked at him oddly when he pulled out the pack of cigarettes he had bought the other day and looked at it for a moment, then tossed it onto the tracks. “Let’s go,” he said quickly, turning around and heading for the escalator.

“Why’d ya do that?” Ryuji asked as they stepped off the escalator and waited for Morgana to transform.

 

Akira shrugged. “I noticed I was getting tired really easily,” he said. “I’m your leader, aren’t I? I should be more dependable. I figured it was the smoking that was making me tired, so I did that.” Ryuji nodded slowly.

“Right. I gotcha.”

He was mostly quiet while Akira drove, occasionally stopping to ask Morgana if they were near the target yet, but staring out the window at the Shadows passing by and the bluish-red of the Mementos walls. Finally, after what seemed like hours of driving, fighting Shadows, and going down escalators, Akira stopped the car in front of a path that looked different from the others.

 

It was a normal-looking path, until the tracks began twisting and lifting up into a strange hole-like thing where a wall should be. “Is this where the target is?” Ann asked hesitantly.

“Yup!” Morgana replied. “Floor it, Joker!”

Akira blinked in surprise. “You want me to drive headfirst into that thing?!” he spluttered. “Are you crazy?!” He gripped the steering wheel harder and looked at Ryuji, who also looked shocked.

Morgana sounded annoyed. “Just do it!” 

 

Akira didn’t have a choice. He slammed his foot down on the gas pedal, sending them forward and into the opening, and for a second, everything was completely black. However, there was a loud “bump” sound, and suddenly they were on the other side. There was a figure standing at the end of the path, surrounded by thin black smoke, and Akira guessed that he was Natsuhiko Nakanohara. He heard a low popping noise from behind him, which must have been Morgana turning back into a cat, because he suddenly ran past Akira and towards the figure. 

 

He followed, drawing his pistol and knife, even though he really didn’t know what to expect from the figure. “Are you Natsuhiko Nakanohara?” Akira asked when he reached the figure, hearing Ann and Ryuji’s rushed footsteps behind him.

The figure looked up, revealing a neat crock haircut and bright yellow eyes behind square glasses. “Who’s there?!” the figure barked at them. “Why have you come here?”

 

Ann stomped her foot on the ground. “You’re Nakanohara, right?” she snapped. “The guy stalking his ex?”

The Shadow laughed coldly. “So what if I am? And stalking? Is that what that woman said?” He threw his head back and let out another laugh, this one short and sharp. “Don’t be ridiculous! She belongs to me! I can do whatever I want with my possessions!”

Ann smacked her whip against the ground angrily. “Talk about a selfish jerk!” she yelled. “Do you even care how she feels about that?!” 

 

Nakanohara’s Shadow began to shake. He was running his hands through his neat hair madly, starting to laugh. “Who cares?!” he spat. “I was treated like an object for years! Now it’s my turn! What’s wrong with me doing the same thing?!” The ground began to rumble as Nakanohara gripped his forehead and stared furiously at the four in front of him. “There are millions of people out there who are worse than me!” 

 

Akira started to feel excited. This was what he was waiting for, another ugly enemy to slice at, to knock down, to place under the barrel of a gun before finishing it off once and for all. The Shadow began convulsing, thicker black smoke surrounding it, until it exploded and revealed its true form. It looked like a little demon with Nakanohara’s haircut obscuring its eyes. It was barely taller than Morgana. Akira looked at his team, who looked back at him with determination. This was it. It was time to attack.

 

Ryuji went first; throwing a Zio at it, which hit the enemy, but didn’t shock it. Next was Akira, who chose his move carefully, eventually deciding to run up to it and swipe at it with his knife, because he had a feeling that curse skills wouldn’t do much against it. Then went Ann, who sent a ball of fire at it, which left behind a nasty burn. Morgana finished with a gust of wind from his Persona, causing the demon to fall backwards onto its back, and as Akira and the others rushed forward towards it with their guns drawn, he knew what to do next.

“Let’s finish it off!” he shouted, and once again, he, Morgana, Ann, and Ryuji attacked it as one, ending it with a pull on his glove. Almost immediately after they returned to the ground, the demon disappeared in a flash of black smoke, leaving the defeated-looking Nakanohara in its place.

 

“Looks like you’re back to your old self,” Akira said quietly. 

 

Nakanohara sat up slowly, rubbing his head. “I…” he started, not meeting their eyes. “I get it now. I’m sorry.” He stood up slowly and gave them a pleading look. “Please forgive me. My obsession spiraled out of control… I’d been used and abandoned by my old teacher…”

Akira uncrossed his arms and took a step closer to the Shadow. “Your teacher?” he asked, suddenly curious.

Nakanohara nodded. “Yes. He’s a famous Japanese-style artist. Ichiryusai Madarame. I’m sure you’ve heard of him.”

 

Akira heard Ann gasp from behind him. “Madarame? The Madarame?” The Shadow nodded again.

“Yes.. I was terrified of being used and discarded again, like he’d done to me. That’s why I…” He trailed off and stared at the ground. Akira put his hands on his hips and thought for a second.

“Be that as it may, you still caused a lot of trouble for your ex,” he said. “Although we have a reason why you did it, that doesn’t make what you did go away.”

 

Nakanohara sighed. “You’re right. What I did was wrong. There’s no denying that…” he said sheepishly, rubbing his arm. “I’ll apologize to her. There’s still one more thing I want to do though.” Akira heard Ryuji sigh next to him.

“What is it?” he asked. He sounded tired.

The Shadow took a deep breath and looked up at them, and Akira noticed that his eyes now looked kind and understanding. “Can I ask for a favor?” 

 

Morgana tapped his foot on the ground. “Depends,” he said, looking up at Akira. “What do you say, Leader?”

Akira bit his lip. “What do you want?” he asked.

Nakanohara looked slightly hopeful. “Can you do something about Madarame?” Suddenly, his voice began to fade, as if he were walking away from them as he spoke, and his body slowly became enveloped in a soft white light. “Change his heart, before more of his students fall victim to his cruelty. So they won’t end up like me…”

 

With that, he disappeared, and in his place was a sparkly orb floating in the air. “What’s that?” Ryuji asked. Morgana squinted at it, then looked up at Akira.

“It’s the bud of a Treasure. Go on, take it.” He gestured forward, and Akira reached out and grabbed the object. The sparkles exploded when his hand closed around it, and he felt a warm, pleasant sensation fall over his hand, as if he had placed it over a fire on a cold day. He suddenly heard Morgana’s voice behind him.

“Had that been left alone, it very well could have blossomed into a Palace.” It was silent for a moment before Ryuji spoke up quietly.

“So, we changed Nakanohara’s heart, right?” he asked slowly.

Akira nodded. “Most likely,” he replied. “If we didn’t, we’d probably have to help his ex file a restraining order.”

 

That got a laugh from Ann and Ryuji, but not Morgana. “I’m still concerned about what his Shadow said afterwards, though,” he said quietly. “That artist is famous, right?”

Ann nodded. “He was on ‘Good Morning Japan’ the other day,” she replied. “He’s a pretty big deal, but-” 

 

“We should head back,” Akira interrupted. Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana looked at him, surprised. “We can discuss that tomorrow. For now, I think we should get back to the real world. I’m getting tired.”

The others looked at each other, then back at Akira, who started heading back towards where they entered. “Come on,” he called back at them. “Morgana, you know what to do.”

 

As he drove the cat-bus back up the subway tracks, Akira felt himself growing more and more tired. He wasn’t sure how much time they had spent in Mementos exactly, but it felt like hours had passed, and he was starting to regret throwing away the cigarettes. However, seeing Ryuji staring idly out the window as the bus passed the Shadows reminded Akira why he had done it in the first place. He was getting winded far too easily when they fought, and he had to be physically well if he wanted to keep his position as the leader. So, trying to quit smoking was for the success of the Phantom Thieves.

 

He was sure of it.

Notes:

hello!

it's time for another chapter! apologies for focusing so much on the smoking part. as much as i wanted to make it a minor detail and not a plot point, i thought "i can make this pegoryu if i try" so that's what i did. in case you didn't know already, akira reaaally wants to make ryuji happy. sorry that this chapter is mostly canon game stuff, but i tried to put in my own details here and there.

i'm debating on whether or not to include jose in this or not. on one hand, i love that little egg boy to death, but on the other hand, he doesn't really serve that much of a purpose in the story other than calling ann pretty and being another feature of mementos. so, if i don't include him in the next chapter, i'm really sorry. but who knows? skjhfsdgf

thank you so much for reading! if you liked it, PLEASE kudos/leave a comment! thanks again!!! <3

Chapter 23: A Woman

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

On the train ride home, Akira got a phone call.

 

It was from Ann. “Hey, can you talk right now?” she asked. She sounded slightly worried.

“Yeah, what’s up?” he replied. Akira could hear Ann take a deep breath as if trying to calm herself down.

“Um, I’m calling you because I’m pretty sure someone’s following me, and I want to stay on the phone with you until I get home.” 

 

His eyes widened. “Where are you right now?”

Ann took a moment to respond. “I’m about a block away from my apartment building,” she said, then took a pause. “I can’t see the guy anymore, either.”

Akira breathed a small sigh of relief. First a pedo teacher, now this. “What did he look like?” he asked. Maybe if Akira had a mental image of Ann’s potential stalker, he could keep an eye out for him.

Ann giggled. “What, are you gonna try to find him so you can beat him up?” He didn’t say anything and waited for Ann to start talking again. “Um, he was really tall and skinny, and he was wearing a school uniform that I didn’t recognize. He had blue hair that was kinda covering one of his eyes.”

Akira closed his eyes for a moment and tried to create an image of the stalker, and he pictured a boy about his age wearing headphones and an uninterested look on his face. That couldn’t be Ann’s stalker, though, unless Akira’s strange Persona skills also included predicting the future. Speaking of Ann, she was still talking.

 

“I don’t think I see him anymore, so I’m gonna hang up now,” she said. She sounded less anxious now.

“That’s good,” Akira responded, still trying to shake the image of the scowling boy. He had never seen anyone like that before, but at the same time, the face seemed oddly familiar. That didn’t matter now, however. He had to worry about explaining to Sojiro where he had been for the past four hours.

 

Sojiro scowled at Akira as he entered Leblanc. “And just where have you been all day?” he asked sharply. He was lucky there weren’t any customers around, because his demeanor was currently anything but a kindly old coffee shop owner. Akira’s eyes darted around the room nervously, trying to look at anything except the angry man glaring at him.

“Um, I was hanging out with my friends,” he said quickly, which was technically true, even though he knew Sojiro would either doubt him or punish him for it. He unzipped his bag and placed it on the floor, nudging it slightly with his foot and signaling for Morgana to go upstairs in case Sojiro threatened to throw him out. Speaking of Sojiro, he still looked angry.

 

“You know, the more you come home late after spending time with your friends, the less I trust you to go out on your own,” he snapped. “You have my cell, don’t you? At least let me know if you’re going to come back late!”

Akira flinched slightly. He was no stranger to being yelled at and scolded, but not from a stranger who was going to be housing him for the next year, and especially with nowhere else to go if he was kicked out. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, staring at the floor. “I didn’t know I would be out for so long, and I kinda got lost on my way back here…” 

 

That was a lie. However, Sojiro seemed to have bought it, because his face immediately turned from angry to slightly sympathetic. “So you’re still not used to the area?” he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. Akira nodded. Sojiro sighed. “Alright, I’ll let you off this time, then. But I’d really appreciate it if you at least tried to get more familiar with your surroundings, okay?”

Akira nodded, and watched as Sojiro turned off the TV next to the sink, gathered up his things, and started to leave. Before he walked out the door, however, stopped abruptly, dug around in his pocket for something, then turned around to face Akira

“Look,” he said, sighing. “I guess it’s partially my fault for not teaching you a little bit about the area. I guess you are staying here for the next year, after all.” He then held out his hand, in which sat a set of keys. Akira looked at them curiously. Sojiro sighed again. “You’re itching to go out and explore, aren’t you? Lock up for me at night, and don’t stay out too late, okay?” 

 

With that, he gave Akira a small smile, and left, the cheery sound of the bell echoing after him.



---

 

Akira wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his newly-acquired freedom. He took the train to Shibuya and wandered through the station square, down Central Street, and eventually ended up at the airsoft shop. The money he had picked up from fighting Shadows in Mementos felt heavy in his pocket, and he hadn’t bought new weapons for them since before they’d dealt with Kamoshida, so it seemed like the right thing to spend his money on. He ignored the intimidating stare of the manager, and ended up picking out a nice new pistol for himself and a better shotgun for Ryuji. 

 

“What’re ya buying all these guns for?” 

 

The manager looked suspiciously up at Akira as he pushed the money over the counter to pay for the weapons. He shrugged. “My friends and I are enthusiasts, that’s all,” he lied. It seemed enough for the manager though, who sighed as he placed the boxes into a paper bag.

“Just don’t use ‘em to pull any pranks, alright?” He avoided Akira’s eyes as he slid the bag across the counter, and said nothing else as he left, the door swinging shut behind him.

 

---

 

“Ugh, we have exams?!”

“I’m gonna fail so badly…”

“This sucks!”

“Wanna study with me?”

“Man, I’m tired already…”

 

---

 

Akira was very tired.

 

Because he didn’t want to be thrown out for bad grades, and also because Morgana wouldn’t stop bothering him about it, Akira had spent most of the past few days studying for the exams with Ann and Ryuji. They weren’t exactly difficult, but he still felt like he could have done a lot better. Now, they were almost over, and although Sojiro hadn’t let him leave until he had finished a plate of curry and a cup of coffee, Akira still couldn't help yawning as he waited for the subway with his friends. Ryuji looked just as tired as Akira felt.

 

“Up all night studying?” he asked as the other yawned. Ryuji shook his head.

“Nah. I tried, but eventually I got too distracted and ended up playin’ video games all night. Before I knew it, it was morning.” Morgana poked his head out of Akira’s bag and snickered.

“Just what I’d expect from you, Ryuji,” he said coolly. He then turned his head to look at Ann, who looked anxious again. “What about you, Lady Ann? Were you studying?” 

 

She jumped slightly at the sound of her name, then looked at Morgana, her expression softening. “What? Oh!” She brushed a lock of stray hair out of her eyes and continued. “Yeah, I sure was. I figured since it was the end of exams, I’d make one last effort across the finish line.”

Morgana grinned. “Impressive, Lady Ann! At least you make an effort, unlike s-” he started, but Akira reached behind his head to nudge Morgana’s ears to make him shut up.

Can it! Remember what we talked about?” he hissed. Ann didn’t seem to notice, though. She smiled and reached out to scratch his chin.

“Thanks, Mona. Now I feel extra prepared…” She suddenly trailed off and looked behind her nervously.

 

“What’s up?” Ryuji asked. “You see a groper or somethin’?” Ann frowned and shook her head.

“No, that’s not it, it’s nothing.” Akira opened his mouth to argue, because it clearly was something, but stopped suddenly when he felt a strange feeling wash over him. Like he was being watched. 

 

Akira and Ryuji stayed extra close to Ann on the train ride to school, and looked around the area before they got off. As they rode the escalators up to the exit, Ann suddenly gasped, startling them.

“Oh my God! That guy got off!” She clutched the straps of her bag and looked up at Akira, who frowned. “Isn’t this bad?”

Ryuji yawned and stretched, causing Ann to turn around and place her hands on her hips as she glared down at him. “Hey, at least act like you care!” she snapped. Ryuji just rolled his eyes.

“Fine,” he said, sounding bored. He then started up the escalator, pushing past the people in front of them, a confused Ann following him.

“Hey, wait! What are you doing?!” Akira sighed and started after them. It was going to be a long day. 

 

Through the loud voices and footsteps, Akira could hear the sound of jangling keys following him.

Notes:

hey hey heyyyy

yusuke is almost here. so close. sorry he's not in this chapter, but i really wanted to publish something today because WE REACHED 40K WORDS!!!!! i'm honestly shocked that i managed to get this far with this thing, because i really thought i was gonna post like 3 chapters and call it finished, but here we are 23 chapters in and still going strong! thanks so much everyone who's been supporting this!! anyways, yusuke will be in the next chapter, i PROMISE. also, secret minato reference??? i recently finished my collection of all the p3 mangas and i love emo jesus so i just had to slip him in, even if it's just a tiny little thing, but he's there! i mean, if you asked me to think of a persona character with blue hair partially covering one eye, i'd probably think of minato, too. ;-)

thanks so much for reading! if you liked it, please leave a comment/kudos! comments keep me motivated to continue writing, and it makes me happy knowing that people like what i wrote! thanks again! <3

Chapter 24: Blue

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

As the noise grew closer, Akira and Ryuji walked closer to Ann, and when they heard approaching footsteps, they knew it was time to see who Ann’s stalker really was. Akira turned around quickly, hearing a muffled meowing coming from his bag (it must have hit Ann when Akira turned around), and coming face to face with the stranger.

 

He was just like Ann had described him; very tall and skinny, with deep blue hair that slightly covered one of his eyes, and wearing an unfamiliar school uniform. Clipped to one of his belt loops was a key ring; that’s what Akira had heard. He crossed his arms and glared at the stranger, who looked perfectly calm and not at all like he had just been caught following someone. “Are you the guy who’s been stalking her?” Akira asked, jabbing a thumb in Ann’s direction.

 

The stranger looked confused. “Stalking?” he asked, pushing his hair away from his eyes. “That’s quite outrageous.”

Ann pushed her way past Akira and Ryuji and stared up at him angrily. “I know you’ve been following me!” she shouted. “Ever since the train!”

He seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment as Ann, Ryuji, and Akira glared at him. Even Morgana poked his head out of the bag to get a look at the stranger. “That’s because-” he started, but he stopped himself at the sounds of an approaching car. He looked to the road, and so did Akira, wondering what interrupted the blue-haired boy.

 

It was a very nice-looking black car, the type that you’d see transporting a celebrity somewhere. The backseat window rolled down, and a kind-looking old man stuck his head out to look at them. “There you are, Yusuke!” he called. “My goodness… I was wondering why you had left the car. So this is where your passion led.” He paused.

“All’s well that ends well…” The old man then started laughing to himself while the window rolled back up, making the blue-haired boy (Yusuke?) turn back to them, his face slightly red.

 

“I saw you from the car,” he said to Ann, who now had a surprised look on her face. “I couldn’t help myself from chasing after you. I didn’t even notice the calls from Sensei, but thank goodness I caught up to you…”

Akira arched his eyebrows. What was this kid’s deal, and what did he want with Ann? “Hey, can you just-” he started, but Ann interrupted him, making a confused face at the stranger.

“Okay… but what did you want with me?” she asked. Ryuji nodded.

“I was wonderin’ that myself,” he added. “Why’re ya so fuckin’ obsessed with her?” 

 

The stranger took a deep breath and stared directly at Ann. “You’re the woman I’ve been searching for all this time!” he exclaimed. “Please, won’t you-” 

 

Akira was in front of Ann and face to face with the stranger before he could finish his sentence. “Is that what you want from her, you creep?!” he spat. “A date? You stalked her for that long because of that?!” He looked behind him at Ann, whose face was redder than her leggings, then back at the stranger.

“You made her really freaked out before, you know!” Ryuji took a step forward as well.

“You gotta find better ways to talk to girls, y’know! They don’t like it when someone follows them everywhere they go!” 

 

The blue-haired boy seemed completely unfazed by Akira and Ryuji yelling at him. He pushed them aside (“What gives, asshole?!”) to step closer to Ann, who took a step back. “Won’t you please be the model for my next art piece?!” 

 

Ann blinked. Akira and Ryuji looked at each other, then at the stranger, then at Ann, who looked absolutely bewildered. “M-model?” She asked, fidgeting with one of her twintails. The boy nodded.

“All that I’ve drawn until now has been lacking, but you have reawoken my passion!” Akira heard Morgana meowing in his bag, but Ryuji gave it a hard nudge, shutting him up.

“Ain’t this a recruit for some shady business?” He asked slowly. Akira shrugged. The stranger leaned closer to Ann.

“Will you cooperate with me? What do you say?”

 

Her eyes were darting around everywhere, obviously trying very hard not to make eye contact with the stranger. Ryuji stepped forward again before she could answer. “Hold your horses, dude! Who are ya anyways?!” Somehow, the boy was still unfazed by the yelling.

“Oh, I suppose I forgot to introduce myself,” he said casually, brushing his hair aside again. “My name is Yusuke Kitagawa. I’m a second-year at Kosei High’s fine arts division.” He pushed Ryuji aside again to get closer to Ann. “I’m Madarame-sensei’s pupil, and I’m being allowed residence at his place. I’m striving to become an artist.”

 

Akira felt a small light go off in his brain. Wasn’t Madarame the one that the Shadow mentioned in Mementos? The famous artist who “needed a change of heart”? Ryuji seemed to think the name was familiar as well, because he looked at Akira worriedly, then back at Yusuke, who was standing very close to Ann. 

 

“Madarame-sensei’s exhibit will begin at the department store near the station tomorrow,” Yusuke said. “I’ll be there to help out. Please, come by.” He then pulled out three pieces of paper- tickets to the exhibit, Akira noticed, and held them out to Ann, who took them hesitantly. “I suppose I’ll invite you two as well, although neither of you look very interested in the fine arts,” he said, looking at Akira and Ryuji coldly.

They glared back, but his attention was already directed back towards the still-embarrassed Ann, who was putting the tickets in her school bag. “It’d be wonderful if you could give me your answer in regard to the modeling opportunity by then,” Yusuke said. “I hope to see you tomorrow.” With that, he turned around and walked back towards the car, leaving the three of them more confused than ever.

 

 

 

Akira, Ann, and Ryuji were silent for the rest of the walk to school, and they didn’t meet again until after the school day was over. They met on the school roof, being that it was a sunny Saturday, and most of the students had left, eager to get home now that exams were over. Morgana was stretched out on one of the extra desks when Ryuji and Ann finally showed up. Akira was drinking water he had gotten from one of the vending machines, trying to drink something other than bread from the school store and lukewarm grape soda. Ann yawned as she sat down next to Morgana. “Exams are finally over!” She looked at Akira and Ryuji, smiling. “How do you guys think you did?” 

 

Ryuji kicked the ground and scoffed. “Prolly flunked all of them,” he said. “I can’t concentrate for shit.” He looked at Akira, who was distracted by a loose thread coming from his sleeve. “How about you?” he asked, slightly startling him. “Think ya did okay?”

Akira shrugged and took another sip of his water. “Hopefully enough to keep a roof over my head,” he replied dismissively. Although they certainly were important for a number of reasons, his exam scores were the last thing on his mind.

Ever since their encounter with Yusuke, Akira couldn’t stop thinking about Madarame and what he had heard in Mementos. The Shadow had claimed that the artist abused the pupils that lived with him, forcing them to lose their passion for art, and in the Shadow’s case, end up losing themselves in the process. However, Yusuke seemed to respect Madarame quite a lot, and he hadn’t even talked about him that much. There was clearly more to this, and Akira wasn’t sure where to start. Even if Yusuke was suffering the same abuse that Nakanohara had mentioned, why would he accept help from Akira, who was so rude to him back at the station? 

 

Akira was snapped out of his reverie by Ryuji’s hand in front of his face. “Hey! Earth to Akira!” he yelled. “Are ya there?” He jumped slightly, blinked, and looked at his friends, who seemed slightly concerned. How long had he been lost in thought for?

“What’s wrong with you today?” Morgana asked. “Did you really do that badly?”

Akira shook his head. “No, it’s not about the exams,” he said, standing up. “It has nothing to do with that.”

 

“I need to tell you all something. It’s about our next target.”

Notes:

another chapter!

yusuke is here! i originally wasn't going to upload today, and only write a few paragraphs before going to bed, but before i knew it i had a whole chapter and i knew i needed to stop (it's currently 2:36am as i write this lol) so here you go.

if you enjoyed, please comment/kudos! thank you for reading, and i ope to see you next chapter!

Chapter 25: Alright

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The mood shifted suddenly as the words left Akira’s mouth. Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana were staring at him intently, waiting for him to speak, and he once again found himself wondering why they saw him as a leader if he froze up like this when he had to talk to them.

“Erm,” he started, rubbing the back of his neck, “It’s about that Yusuke guy. And the art exhibit. Something he said was bothering me, and I wanted to know if you guys felt the same.”

 

They nodded. “I mean, everything he said bothered me, but what stood out to you?” Morgana asked. Both Ryuji and Ann made sounds of agreement before turning their attention back to Akira.

“When he mentioned his teacher. The name Madarame stuck out to you guys too, right?” The three of them nodded again.

“I remember hearing that Shadow dude talking about him in Mementos,” Ryuji said. “Somethin’ about how he was abusin’ his pupils and shit. Real serious.”

He and Akira looked at Ann, who shifted uncomfortably on the desk where she was sitting. “I mean, I made that connection too, but what are you implying here?” she asked. “That Yusuke is being abused?” 

 

Akira sighed. “I don’t want to say that he should be our next target just yet, but we definitely shouldn’t just ignore it either. The only way to get closer to the guy and see what he’s really like is to-” 

 

“-go to the art exhibit,” Morgana finished for him. He nodded. “We’ll go tomorrow. Worst comes to worst, you’ll probably have to do the modeling thing,” he said, looking at Ann.

She cringed. “Do I have to?” Akira felt very bad for Ann. She really didn’t seem to want anything to do with the modeling career, but they all knew that Yusuke could be being abused, and the only way to find out was to go to the house and find out. But they wouldn’t know what Madarame was like at all unless they went to the exhibit, so…

 

Akira pushed his glasses up his nose and reached for his bag, Morgana jumping in and making himself comfortable. “It depends,” he said. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”



---

 

Sojiro gave Akira a rare smile when he walked through the cafe door. “On time, eh?” he asked, stirring a cup of coffee. “Don’t have any dangerous plans for this afternoon?”

Akira shook his head. “I’m going to an art exhibit with my friends tomorrow,” he said, sitting down at the counter. “Someone gave us free tickets. Does that count?”

Sojiro chuckled. “I ought to have you arrested for that,” he joked. “Going to an art exhibit.” 

 

That night, Akira decided to explore Shibuya some more. In the station square, he passed a middle-aged man giving a speech in front of the entrance to the underground wearing a green sash. There were a few onlookers listening, but most of the people in the area walked past without a second thought. Akira felt slightly bad; the people who were listening seemed uninterested, even though the man looked to be trying his best. He wanted to stay around, but there were some more places he wanted to check out, and Sojiro expected him to come back before a certain time, so he made a mental note to come back one day, and headed for Central Street. 

 

Akira could feel Morgana leaning on his shoulder as he walked down the busy street. He had never been in such a busy city street before; maybe once or twice on vacation with his family as a child, but never by himself. There was a bookstore to his left, a DVD rental shop to his right, a drugstore up ahead, a convenience store, a movie theater, the airsoft shop, the Velvet Room-

 

Wait.

 

The deep blue doorframe stood out brightly in the back alley where Akira had gone the other day to buy his new weapons, and in front of it stood one of the white-haired twins, holding her clipboard and looking at him with an annoyed look in her golden eye.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Akira hissed as he speedwalked towards the door. He barely noticed that Morgana was no longer in his bag, probably having leapt out to explore some more, but he didn’t care. He didn’t know how he would have explained it to him anyways. The girl scowled.

“A pleasure to see you too, Inmate,” she snapped. “Come inside. We have much to discuss.”

 

There wasn’t much Akira could do as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him in through the doorway, ignoring his protests as the warm evening faded away and was replaced with the cold darkness of the Velvet Room. When Akira could finally see again, he was back behind bars, the twins standing in front of the door, and the unsettling man named Igor staring down at him over his long, pencil-shaped nose. “Welcome back,” he said, his lips not moving. “There is a matter I wish to discuss with you.”

 

Akira rolled his eyes. “What, that your little wardens here are rude as hell?” The one with twin buns smacked her baton furiously against the bars.

“You be polite when you are speaking to our master!” she shrieked. The man named Igor seemed unfazed by the scene as he grinned eerily at them.

“He is not wrong, Caroline,” came the voice of the twin with the clipboard from Akira’s left. “You can be quite brash when talking to the Inmate.” The one called Caroline looked absolutely furious, but she said nothing and turned back around to face the desk in the middle of the room where Igor was sitting.

“What did you want to tell me?” Akira asked. 

 

Igor maintained his wide smile and gestured at the twins. It was clear that they would be delivering the message, which filled him with a sense of dread. It seemed to be showing, because Caroline laughed and smirked at him. “We’re not gonna kill you, Inmate. Just wanted to ask what you thought of the new door that we set up in your world.”

Before he could respond, her twin continued for her. “This will allow you to be transported from your world to ours. Make good use of it.” Neither of them seemed very intent on letting Akira talk, because Caroline started up right after her sister finished.

“That’s all we wanted to tell you! Now go back to your world! No slacking off!” 

 

Before he knew it, Akira was back in the back alley of Central Street next to the airsoft shop. He saw Morgana sitting in front of the drug store, staring up at the sign, and prayed that he hadn’t seen Akira staring off into space in that back alley while he was in the Velvet Room, because there was absolutely no way he could explain it to him.

“Hey,” he said as he approached the cat, making him jump slightly and turn around. “Are you ready to go?” He put his bag down next to Morgana and let him jump in, then shouldered it and turned around.

“Where were you?” he asked as Akira headed back towards the station square. He didn’t answer.

“I’ll tell you later,” he replied, yawning. “I’m tired.” It wasn’t a lie, for some reason, being in the Velvet Room seemed to drain his energy much faster than anything else, including fighting Shadows and jogging with Ryuji. 

 

He was quiet for the entire train ride home.

 

---

 

On the day of the exhibit, Akira and Ryuji hung behind while Ann and Yusuke walked around and talked (probably about the modeling job). Ryuji wasn’t very interested in the art, and Yusuke seemed slightly afraid of Akira, so he stayed near the entrance. They didn’t say much, just watched the people coming and going through the exhibit, not paying much attention to anything until Akira noticed someone familiar surrounded by reporters.

 

It was Madarame, the old man they had seen in the car the previous day. He seemed calm and patient despite being surrounded with chattering newspeople shoving microphones in his face. “Hey,” Akira said, nudging Ryuji, who looked up from his phone in surprise. “Isn’t that Madarame?” 

 

Ryuji nodded. “Yeah, and?” He seemed uninterested, but Akira hadn’t forgotten what the Shadow had told him in Mementos, and why they came to the exhibit in the first place.

“We wanted to find out what kinda guy Madarame is, didn’t we?” he said. “Let’s listen to him, then!” Ryuji nodded again, pocketed his phone, and followed Akira as he tried to get as close to Madarame as possible without intruding. 

 

“...Many have called my studio a run-down shack, but that is all I need to pursue my art.” One of the reporters laughed.

“You’re so modest, Master Madarame!” she said, beaming. “Please, tell us more about how you get your inspiration!”

Madarame chuckled. “Well, one thing I can say for sure is that it’s important that I distance myself from worldly desires like fame and money. All I ask is that you enjoy my works and understand the care I put into them.” 

 

Akira felt his face redden as he walked away. Maybe Nakanohara had been wrong about Madarame. Maybe he really was a modest, humble old painter who was doing his best to raise Yusuke and build his talent. Maybe he really wasn’t going to be their next target. Maybe-

 

“Hey, is that Master Madarame in person?! Oh my gosh, it is!” 

 

Suddenly, a large group of people rushed past Akira and Ryuji and towards the reporters, pushing them against a wall.

“Hey, what the hell?!” Ryuji shouted, trying to get their attention, but before they knew it, the two of them were back in the hallway that led to the exhibit.

“Man, what the hell was that for?” Ryuji mumbled, rubbing his arm. “One of them totally just straight-up pushed me.”

Akira pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. They’d only been there for ten minutes. “Ann’s probably gonna be in there for another fifteen minutes or so,” he said, putting his phone back in his pocket. “What do you wanna do until then?” 

 

Ryuji thought for a moment, then looked at Akira and grinned. “You still ain’t too familiar with the area, right?” he asked. Akira nodded, prompting Ryuji to slap his shoulder and start walking towards the stairs. “I’ll show you around, then! C’mon!” 

Notes:

hello hello!!! a new chapter is here!!!

we're getting closer and closer to madarame's palace! i'm sorry if these filler chapters are boring, but it's kinda hard to move the story along without them, unless you want big gaps in the story where a chapter ends with something mundane and the next one starts with a major plot event. i also apologize if i'm being too loyal to the canon in some scenes, because that's what i'm trying NOT to do!!! but if you're still reading and enjoying this, then thanks a lot! i appreciate it!

if you enjoyed, please comment/kudos! thanks for reading, and i hope to see you next chapter! :-)

Chapter 26: One Step Closer

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Ryuji ended up taking Akira for a walk around the area where the exhibit was being held, stopping occasionally at shops to look around inside, but not staying too long, because Ann could be finished with the exhibit at any moment, and they didn’t want to leave her there alone with Yusuke. While they walked, Ryuji and Akira took more time to get to know each other, and up until then Akira never knew how much he liked telling people about himself. Ryuji now knew that Akira secretly enjoyed sweets, was good at math, could cook fairly well, had gone to Hokkaido on vacation a few times with his family as a child, and that he liked Western rock bands. In fact, he knew almost everything about Akira except-

 

“When’s your birthday, dude?”

 

Akira blinked. “What?”

 

Ryuji shrugged. “I didn’t ask ya that yet,” he said. “So, can ya tell me?”

I don’t see why not, he thought. “November 20th. Why? And what’s yours?” 

 

The sound of Ryuji’s phone ringing interrupted him before he could open his mouth. “It’s Ann,” he groaned as he looked at the screen, then picked up. “What? Whaddya mean you’re done already? … Me n’ Akira got pushed out by a buncha people and I wanted to show him around ‘cause he still ain’t too used to the area. … Can we just meet ya here? Ugh, fine. See ya.” 

 

After hanging up, he turned to Akira and frowned. “Looks like we gotta go,” he said. “Ann sounded pissed.”

 

---

 

It was raining when they met Ann at the Shibuya walkway. “What took you guys so long?” she asked, folding her arms and glaring at them. “I thought you guys were waiting for me at the entrance.” Akira frowned.

“Didn’t Ryuji tell you? We got pushed out by reporters. He wanted to show me around.” Morgana, who Akira forgot he had brought with them, stuck his head out of his bag.

“Did you get any useful information about Yusuke?” he asked.

Ann shook her head. “Not really. All he wanted to talk about was the modeling thing.”

 

Ryuji arched an eyebrow. “Did you say yes?” he asked. Ann looked at the floor and didn’t say anything.

“I… I mean I didn’t want to, but he said something weird.” She then looked up at them with a new look in her eyes, like she had remembered something important. “Kitagawa-kun said something odd when I was looking at a certain painting. I thought it was nice, but he kept trying to distract me and pull me away from it.” Akira and Ryuji looked at each other, confused. Where was she going with this…?

 

“He sounded really upset that I liked the painting.” She frowned at them and uncrossed her arms. “You know, the painting that was made by his teacher that he admires so much? And remember the-”

Akira suddenly interrupted her, having put the pieces together in his head. “The accusations of plagiarism! Why would he be so angry about this painting unless he painted it himself, and-” 

 

“Madarame stole it and put his own name on it!” Ryuji finished for him.

Ann nodded fervently. “Exactly! I wanted to know more, so I took the modeling offer.” She suddenly sounded uncomfortable again. “He asked me to come to his house tomorrow. I said yes, but…” She trailed off and didn’t say anything else.

“Do you want us to come with you?” Akira asked. “In case he does something weird or creepy, I mean.” 

Ann nodded. “You’d do that? Thanks!” 

 

---

 

May 15th, 2016 18:32

 

Ryuji: Oh yeah, I just remembered somethin’!

Akira: What

Ryuji: Remember our conversation from earlier? I never told ya my birthday! 

Ryuji: It’s July 3rd!

Akira: Thanks haha

Akira: I’ll be sure to remember it

Ryuji: Aww, thanks! See ya tomorrow!

Akira: You too

 

---

 

The next day after school, Akira, Ann and Ryuji followed the directions that Yusuke had given Ann to Madarame’s house. “Phantom Thieves travelin’ by train,” Ryuji complained as they took their seats. “This ain’t any different from how I get home from school, y’know.”

Ann just shrugged. “This is the fastest way to go. Plus, we can bring pets on here!”

Morgana suddenly poked his head out of Akira’s bag and glared at her. “Hey, who are you callin’ a pet?!”

 

Akira gasped and pushed Morgana back in the bag. “Shut up!” he hissed. “We didn’t pay the pet fare!”

Despite his efforts, the cat pushed his head back out. “Excuse me! I’m the one guiding you to your destination!” he said haughtily. “You should be calling me ‘Master’!” 

 

Suddenly, a small girl wearing an orange coat walked up to them. “Ooh, a kitty!” she exclaimed happily.

Shit!” Akira whispered.

The little girl didn’t hear him. “Is that your pet, mister? I heard it meowing!” He quickly racked his brain for an excuse while trying to zip up the bag.

“It’s, uh, a stuffed animal,” he lied. “It meows when you press on its head.”

Ryuji, apparently embarrassed to be with someone carrying a stuffed animal, nodded and grinned down at the little girl. “Yeah! We’re uh, takin’ it to a birthday party!”

 

The little girl looked even more excited. “Ooh, can I see?” she asked. Ann and Ryuji looked at Akira expectantly, who felt his face go red. He looked down at Morgana, who stayed completely still, obviously trying to go along with the stuffed animal act. Akira quickly went over the few options that he had; he couldn’t not make Morgana meow for the little girl, but how should he do it? Press his head lightly (what if he didn’t feel it and didn’t meow?), push firmly, or…

 

Time to button mash.

Notes:

hello! another chapter!

sorry this one is shorter than usual. i wanted to publish something before i stop writing for a few days because i preordered the deluxe version of strikers so you probably won't see another chapter until after i finish the game, which could take a while since i got the switch version. so, that being said, enjoy my little personal hc that akiras birthday is 11/20. setting up for some serious angst when i eventually get there ;-)

if you enjoyed, please leave a comment/kudos! thanks for reading and i'll see you at the next chapter!!

Chapter 27: Rumor Has It

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“MEOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!!”

 

Akira pushed and pushed until Morgana had stopped meowing and let him zip up the bag. “See?” he said to the little girl. “Meows when you press on its head.” The girl smiled widely.

“That was great!” she squealed. “Thank you, mister!” With that, she turned around and went back to her seat, leaving a very stunned Ryuji and Ann behind.

 

“W-what WAS that?!” Ryuji spluttered.

Akira shrugged. “Pressing on his head to make him talk. That is what that girl wanted to see, right?”

Ann opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when the train began to slow down and a pleasant female voice rang over the speakers to announce where they were stopping. “The next stop is Shibuya. Shibuya. Doors will open on the left side.” As the train slowed to a stop, Akira stood up and shouldered his bag, feeling Morgana moving around inside.

“Come on,” he said, looking at Ann and Ryuji. “Don’t want to keep Kitagawa waiting, do we?”



---

 

May 14th, 2016 15:42

 

Mishima: Hey, Kurusu.

Akira: What’s up

Mishima: I saw some comments on the Phan-Site that I thought were interesting.

Mishima: You remember it, right?

Akira: Yes

Mishima: Okay, good! Anyways, the comments were talking about a potential next target. Apparently, they couldn’t say the name, because it would cause lots of controversy, but it’s related to a famous Japanese-style painter who is supposedly abusing his pupils and plagiarizing their work.

Mishima: Sound familiar?

Akira: Very

Mishima: Cool! I’ll send you to the link to the comments!

Akira: Great, thanks

 

---



The house that they arrived at per Ann’s instructions was not what they were expecting.

 

It looked like touching it would make it collapse. Madarame had been right when he was talking to those reporters; it really was a dingy, shitty-looking shack, and Akira wondered how it was still standing. Ryuji seemed to have the same idea, because he broke the silence with exactly what was on Akira’s mind.

 

“That old bastard lives here?

 

Ann nodded and looked down at her phone, then back up at the house. “Yep, those were the directions Kitagawa-kun gave me. And look,” she lifted a finger and pointed at the door, “It says Madarame on the plate above the buzzer.”

They looked at each other hesitantly, then walked towards it. Nobody did anything for a moment until Akira nudged Ann’s arm and gestured at the buzzer. She let out a tiny gasp, then stepped forward and pushed it. Immediately, they heard Yusuke’s voice coming out of it.

 

“I am sorry, but Sensei is out today on business. Please come back anoth-” 

“Kitagawa-kun, it’s me! Takamaki from th-”

“I’ll be right there!”

 

Suddenly, Akira heard the sound of scrambling footsteps running down a set of stairs, and before he could react, the door slid open, and he came face to face with Yusuke himself. He looked pleased to see Ann, but his face suddenly changed to annoyance when he saw Akira and Ryuji next to her. “Takamaki-sa-, oh, you’re here as well.” He straightened himself and leaned against the doorway causally. “I didn’t invite you two.”

 

Akira rolled his eyes. “Nice to see you too,” he snapped. “Listen, we’re not here about the modeling job. We’ve got a question for you.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the link to the comments on Mishima’s website. He had looked at them on the train and shown them to Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana, and they agreed that the comments were more proof to help them with the case against Madarame. “Are these rumors familiar to you?” Akira asked as he showed his phone screen to Yusuke.

 

The blue-haired boy’s face changed from annoyed, then to intrigued, then to their surprise, indignation. Then, shocking them even more, he began to laugh.

 

“Hahahahaha! You’d really believe rubbish from the internet?!” The three of them took a step back from Yusuke, who was now laughing as if Akira had just told him the funniest joke in the world. “I find it insulting that you expect me to believe such rumors about Madarame-sensei! Plagiarism!? Abuse?! Never! If he truly detested children as much as you claim, then why would he ever allow students to live with him?! I am the only student currently residing with Madarame. I say there is no abuse taking place. Therefore, there is no abuse. And plagiarism?! Have you all lost your minds?!”

 

Ryuji suddenly interrupted Yusuke’s tangent by pushing past Akira and pointing in Yusuke’s face. “You could be lyin’ to us, y’know!” he shot back. “Who’s to say you ain’t coverin’ shit up for your sensei?!”

Yusuke’s face suddenly turned red with anger, which prompted Akira to grab Ryuji by the arm and pull him back in case Yusuke tried to start a fight (although he definitely didn’t seem like the fighting type, his limbs looked thinner than toothpicks).

“Are you sure there’s nothing going on?” Akira asked sharply as he loosened his grip on Ryuji’s arm. “If you want to say something, now’s your chance!” 

 

Yusuke simply shook his head. “You’re wasting your time. Do you not have better things to do than meddle in an adult’s private affairs?” He took a deep breath and leaned against the doorway again (seriously, how was the house not collapsing?). “If you’re only here to start an argument, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” His voice had a tone of finality in it, but before Akira could turn around and leave, he heard more footsteps approaching from inside the house. 

 

“Yusuke. What’s wrong? I rarely hear you shout.”

 

The new voice was accompanied by long, worn-out robes, white hair, and a sense of familiarity. As its owner came closer into view (the inside of the shack was quite dark), Akira had to hold back a gasp when he saw who it was.

 

It was Madarame.

 

Yusuke could not have looked more shocked if he tried. “S-sensei!” he stuttered, standing up straight. “What are you doing here?!”

Madarame chuckled. “I heard a commotion. What’s going on here?” He looked at Akira, Ann, and Ryuji, frowned, then looked back at Yusuke.

“Sensei, please, these people are slandering you!” he said quickly. “I was merely def-”

 

“Oh, Yusuke, please forgive them,” Madarame said kindly. “I can only guess that they heard some… unfortunate rumors and came along with their friend out of concern for her safety. After all, I doubt an old geezer like me can be liked by everyone.” He turned around to go back inside, but stopped to say one last thing. “I apologize for the interruption, but there are neighbors to consider. Please, could I ask you to keep things civil?” With that, he gave a short bow, then went back up the stairs, the creaks echoing through the hall and out into the warm spring air.

 

It was silent for a moment, save for the chirping of the birds and the sounds of the city around them. Yusuke took a deep breath and looked at the ground. “I apologize for my outburst,” he said quietly. “Unfortunately, I must assist Sensei right now. Takamaki-san,” he looked up at Ann, who blushed, “If you are still interested in the modeling opportunity, I would be happy to know when you’d like to come back. Until then,” he began sliding the door shut, “Goodbye.”

Notes:

i'm back. i'm not going to talk about my strikers experience (if you want to hear me talk about it my tumblr url is the same as my username here), because that's not what this fic is about.

yusuke is a really fun character to write. i like him and his weirdness a lot lol
also, in this house we love and respect yuuki mishima.

if you enjoyed, please leave a comment/kudos! thanks for reading, and i hope to see you next chapter!

Chapter 28: Vanity

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Akira stretched his arms and yawned as he turned around to leave. “What a waste of time,” he scoffed as he led the way back to the station. “Are we ever gonna find out more about that old bastard?”

 

Ryuji shrugged. “I dunno,” he replied. “That place really was a shack, though! I can’t believe that Madarame really lives there. Looked like it’d implode if ya t-”

 

“Candidate found.”

 

Akira’s phone suddenly buzzed from inside his pocket as the smooth, unmistakable voice of the Metaverse Navigator came out of it. They all suddenly stopped walking at the sound of it,  Morgana poking his head out of Akira’s bag to take a look. “What was that?” he asked curiously. “It sounded like the Meta-Nav!”

Ann crossed her arms doubtfully. “Was it listening to our conversation?” she asked. “That’s creepy!”

He shrugged and turned on the phone. The Meta-Nav had indeed opened seemingly on its own. “I guess so.”

 

The keywords “Madarame” and “Shack” were there on the screen clear as day. “Well, now we know he has a Palace,” Morgana said from over Akira’s shoulder. “Now we just need to find out “what” the shack is to him, like how Kamoshida thought that the school was his castle.”

Ann and Ryuji looked at him blankly while Akira stared at his phone. “Uh, so, whaddya want me to say?” he heard Ryuji ask. “Just anything?”

Akira felt himself starting to understand. It was like a guessing game. “I’ll start,” he suggested. “It’s probably not a castle.”

 

“No candidate found.”

“Dammit! How about school?”

“No candidate found.”

“What kind of a dumbass guess is that? Dungeon!”

“No candidate found.”

“Prison?”

“No candidate found.”

“Warehouse?”

“No candidate found.”

“What kind of idiot would view their house as a warehouse?”

 

Akira racked his brain hard for ideas as Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana bickered with each other. Madarame obviously was heavily focused on his art, and it was probably the source of his distortion, along with his house. A building dedicated almost entirely to art. Akira wasn’t too familiar with places like that; he didn’t have many memories related to going to art supply stores or painting or going to museums- Wait, that could be it! 

 

“A museum?”

Candidate found.”

 

---

 

When the distortion and warping slowed to a halt, Akira was greeted with a far different sight than what he originally expected. He had pictured a modest, modern-looking building surrounded by a cityscape, and while that was indeed what he saw, it was definitely unlike any museum he had ever seen. What stood in place of the run-down shack was now a huge building, mostly a deep blue but covered in shimmering golden signs that read “MUSEUM OF THE GREAT ARTIST MADARAME”.

 

“It’s… horrible.”

 

Akira didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t like he was supposed to be nice, and the glimmering gold hurt his eyes. “You can say that again,” came Ann’s voice from behind him. “Looks like the dictionary definition of the word ‘garish’.”

Akira took a few steps closer to the building and noticed something odd- a large crowd of people standing in front of the entrance. Were they Shadows? “Hey, look at this,” he said, pointing at them, starting to finger his knife carefully in case he was right. “Do you think those are Shadows?”

 

Morgana shook his head. “Good guess, Joker. They can’t hurt us-- they’re only cognitions.”

Akira felt himself feeling slightly disappointed-- he had been itching for another fight ever since he and the others had defeated Nakanohara’s Shadow in Mementos. Something about rushing towards the enemies and striking over and over again until they dissolved into purple smoke, landing headshots on them with his shiny pistol, using his Persona to hit their weak spots… it felt freeing, in a weird sort of way. Sure, he used to get into fights at school in his hometown, but destroying monsters in an alternate reality using powers fueled by his own anger-- sure, it sounded edgy on paper, but it was a great feeling. However, he wouldn’t be able to feel that until they found actual Shadows, and they’d need to get into the museum for that.

 

“We’ll ignore them, then,” he said dismissively. “For now, we need to find a way to get inside so we can find out why this crazy place exists at all.” 

 

---

 

Even though the crowd at the entrance was technically harmless, Akira still found a path through the garden and an open ceiling panel. They landed in a dark exhibit room that was empty except for some very large paintings on the walls and some stiff-looking couches arranged neatly along the middle.

“Where are we?” Ann whispered when she landed from the open panel. Akira looked around carefully for traps-- they were in a museum after all, and a Palace modeled after a public place definitely would have defense mechanisms in case of intruders.

“I’d say we’re in some special exhibit room, but it’s hard to tell.” 

 

Akira felt Ryuji standing close to him, making him sweat a little bit. Why is he standing so close?! He desperately hoped that the blond would keep his mouth shut this time-- he liked hearing Ryuji talk, but anything louder than a whisper would certainly get them caught.

“D’you wanna get goin’?” he whispered in Akira’s ear. He nodded in response.

“Just be careful. There might be traps, and I’d hate myself if you guys got hurt.” 

 

He tiptoed carefully towards the archway that separated the room they were in from the next, stopping and holding his arms out to stop the others when he noticed something-- a trip wire. “Stop!” he hissed. “I was right. Look.” He pointed at the trip wire, which was set up at about waist length. “We have to go under.”

Akira slid under it first, in case there was a Shadow waiting for them on the other side, but found himself alone in the much larger exhibit room. “It’s clear!” he whispered. “You can come over-” Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana all immediately tried to slide under it the same way he did-- “but not at the same time, dammit!” 

 

His worst fear had come true: all three of them trying to slide under the wire had tripped it, causing the eerie silence of the museum to be replaced with the unmistakable screeching of an alarm, and Akira immediately spun around to try to see which way he should run, hoping the others would follow, but it was too late. Shadows dressed like security guards, complete with flashlights and night sticks began springing out of the carpeted ground in puffs of red and black smoke, and Akira immediately took out his pistol and knife. They were surrounded-- it looked like he was getting the fight he wanted after all. 

Notes:

hellooooo a new chapter!!!!

i really don't have much to say for this one. how is everyone enjoying strikers? i probably won't publish anything about it for another month or so because i want to wait until more people have had a chance to play it. obviously i'll tag spoilers, though, so don't worry about that. anyways, we're in the museum! more little pegoryu moments here-- they're so fun to write hehe

thanks for reading! if you enjoyed, please leave a comment/kudos! i hope to see you next chapter! <3

Chapter 29: Our Next Target Is...

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The spark of adrenaline and fear that ran through Akira’s veins at that moment was almost unlike anything he had felt in his life, the exception being when he awakened to his Persona in Kamoshida’s Palace to protect Ryuji from being killed by Kamoshida’s Shadow. Speaking of Ryuji, he stood with his back against Akira’s, and was doing what sounded like frantically loading his shotgun and dropping some of the shells.

“What do we do?!” he hissed as the guard Shadows started closing in on them. Akira’s eyes darted around the room for a way out, and he felt himself becoming even more worried when he couldn’t find an opening for them to escape.

“We’re gonna have to fight them!” he whispered back to them. “Preferably before they call for backup!” 

 

They each darted forward and chose a Shadow to start with; Akira plunged his dagger into the chest of the largest one, making it dissolve into purple smoke, then turn into a thin woman with pastel blue skin and hair that was roughly the same color as Yusuke’s.

“What brings you here, thief?!” she shrieked. “Get out of here!” Before he could react, Akira was suddenly hit with a blast of ice-cold air, knocking him to the ground.

Shit!” He needed to think fast, because Arsene was weak to ice, and one more hit would definitely kill him. If ice knocked down curse, then it would probably be the same the other way around, so Akira quickly browsed his mental list of skills he could use until he found what he was looking for: Eigaon. 

 

The blue-skinned woman immediately fell to the ground as the spell hit her, giving Akira an opportunity to rush forward and decide what he wanted to do with her.

“What was that for?!” she snapped as he pulled his pistol out to aim it at her. “That’s no way to treat a woman!” Akira went over his list of things he could say-- he could ask her for money, an item, or to lend him her power, which were all things he could use, but then he remembered when Ryuji took him out for beefbowls on the day they met, and how Akira had never paid him back, so…

 

“Give me some money if you want to stay alive.”

 

It was a little sadistic, yes, but he felt a spark of excitement at the fear in the Shadow’s eyes. “Money?” she asked, to which Akira nodded in response. “Okay… How’s this?” Seemingly out of nowhere, she held up a stack of one thousand yen bills that was about an inch thick.

“I’ll take it,” Akira said sharply, stepping forward and snatching them out of her hand. A little rude, but she had almost killed him a few minutes ago, so he figured that it didn’t matter. Especially not in a place where only he and his friends could access. Speaking of his friends, how were they doing against the other Shadows? 

 

He turned around to look, and was given a mixed answer-- Ann and Morgana had teamed up against a tiny man with a flat head who looked like he was molded out of clay, and looked like they were about to finish it off. Ryuji was leaned up against a wall, breathing heavily; clearly he had just defeated whatever Shadow he had gone up against. Confident that Ann and Morgana wouldn’t need his help, Akira walked up to Ryuji and reached into one of his coat pockets for a pack of jagariko sticks he had bought the other day, thinking that maybe they would help him a little bit. “Hey,” he said quietly, holding out the snack. “You look pretty worn out.”

 

Ryuji looked up at Akira, then at the item in his hand, his face lighting up. “Thanks, man!” he said, taking it and ripping the wrapper off. “I’m seriously beat. That guard Shadow was no joke!”

They took a few seconds to share their snack with each other while they waited for Ann and Morgana, who were just about finished with battling the Shadow. “Rude!” Ann whined when she walked up to Akira and Ryuji. “You guys were sharing snacks without us?” 

 

Akira brushed the crumbs off his gloves and nodded. “Yup,” he said. “All gone. Sorry.” Ann crossed her arms and glared mockingly at him. “Meanie!” 

 

They laughed for a second at Ann’s joke, then reverted their attention back to getting through the Palace and finding out why they were there at all. Akira wanted to keep pressing forward, but he also didn’t want another ambush, and he didn’t know when they would run into the lasers again. “Should we get goin’?” Ryuji asked as he crumbled up the wrapper and put it in his pocket.

Akira nodded. “Let’s try not to draw too much attention to ourselves. And don’t do anything like attack a Shadow or go into another room unless I tell you.” He felt awkward being so authoritative again, but it didn’t seem to be a problem for the others, who did what he asked as they crept through the various exhibition rooms, avoiding Shadows and sliding under the lasers one by one.

 

Finally, they reached what Akira assumed was the entrance. There was a reception desk, more stiff-looking sofas, and even information brochures. It was impressively detailed for the cognitive world, and when he picked up one of the programs, he realized that it was a map of the Palace. He folded it up and put it in his coat pocket, thinking it would be better to show the others later. Besides, he spotted something in the corner-- a treasure chest. 

 

“Hey,” he whispered, gaining his teammates’ attention. “Who wants to open that with me?” Akira felt his face go slightly red when he saw Ryuji raise his hand eagerly like he was in school.

“I do!” he said quietly (apparently remembering Akira asking him to be quiet earlier). “I mean, ya don’t have to take me, I just wanna see what’s in it,” he added quickly, lowering his hand. Akira smiled.

“Nah, don’t worry,” he said, trying to sound less nervous than he felt. Why was he so nervous?! He was just opening a chest! Maybe it had a trap? That had to be why he was anxious about it. He didn’t want to get surrounded again. “You two,” he gestured at Morgana and Ann, “Stay behind us in case it has traps or something.”

 

The chest turned out to be harmless, containing a whip made of shiny golden chains. Akira pulled it out carefully and investigated it. The thing was quite heavy, but he figured it would be much more powerful than the red pleather whip Ann had been using until then. “Here,” he said quietly, handing it to her. “I think this is supposed to be for you.”

She looked confused at first, then excited. “This was in that chest?” He nodded. “Sweet!” 

 

They returned to exploring the hallways, finding a safe room, but not much else that would give any clues. The only way to go was to the large exhibit room that was behind the reception desk. Akira could hear soft voices coming from the room, so he slowly guided the team up to the archway, but stopped and almost tripped over himself trying to back away once he saw who, or what, was in the room.

 

It was Madarame-- or rather, his Shadow, surrounded by guards and standing in front of a huge golden sculpture. From the quick glance Akira got at Madarame, he seemed to be dressed like a shogun, but with gaudy golden robes in place of the worn down ones he had worn before. He was laughing, clearly pleased about something the guards had told him.

“Those kids don’t know what they’re getting themselves into! All that snooping around will lead them nowhere! Plagiarism?! Abuse?! What’s wrong with that?! My students willingly offer their ideas to me, and in exchange, I grant them the privilege of feeding them and putting a roof over their heads!”

 

Akira could hear Ryuji muttering angrily under his breath. He jabbed him in the arm to make him shut up, because being noticed by Madarame was the absolute last thing they needed at the moment. The Shadow was still talking.

“They’re starting to get rebellious and leave me, however! It’s a shame, but fortunately, one loyal student remains! Yusuke has real talent, and feels indebted to me for taking him in when he had no family! His works have made me quite the fortune. I’ll use him until I tire of him, no, until he’s dead!” 

 

Ryuji was breathing heavily now onto Akira’s shoulder, obviously angry, and he felt the same way. He had to hand it to Madarame, being dumb enough to give them all the reasons they needed for why the Palace was there, but hearing all of the accusations out loud didn’t make it any better, much less being said by someone who was actually proud of it. However, he’d done what he needed to do. He was sure of it. They were going to help Yusuke, whether he liked it or not.

Notes:

it's currently 2:11am as i'm typing this and i'm much too exhausted to provide proper chapter notes sooooo here you go i hope you enjoy it

also follow me on twitter @communistlabrys and tumblr @grapeflavoredorange if you want to talk to me or hear more of my garbage <3

Chapter 30: Wicked Plan

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Akira quickly guided his team out of the Palace following the end of Shadow Madarame’s short speech. They seemed to have reached an agreement that Madarame was going to be their next target, but now they needed to figure out a solid plan for how they were going to get through the Palace and secure an infiltration route. They’d go again the next day after Akira bought more supplies, on the expectation that Takemi wouldn’t need him to test any new medicines. For now though, all Akira really wanted to do was go home, smoke, and take a nap. 

 

---

 

Mishima came to visit Akira the next day at lunch. “Hey, Kurusu?” he asked shyly. Akira looked up from his yakisoba pan at the sound of his name.

“What is it?” Mishima’s face reddened and he looked at the floor (a thing he usually did when he talked to Akira).

“Remember that stalker guy whose heart you changed? From the Phan-site?” He nodded and took another bite out of his food. “Well, he told me that he has information on a potential target for you, but he didn’t want to put the name online to avoid controversy. He wants to meet you at the station. I told him to look for you after school today.” 

 

Akira was confused for a second as to why Mishima was telling him this, but then remembered what he had texted him the day before; he knew they had their eyes on Madarame. “Thanks,” he said, smiling at Mishima. “I’ll be sure to keep a look out for him.” 

 

When school was over for the day, Akira waited by Aoyama-Itchome station just like instructed and looked for the bowl cut and glasses of Natsuhiko Nakanohara. Ryuji and Ann joined him a few minutes later, and stayed close when he told them who he was waiting for. Soon enough, they were approached by Nakanohara, clutching a briefcase and looking very nervous.

“Are you Akira Kurusu?” he asked when he got close. Akira nodded. “I was told to come here and look for someone in a Shujin uniform with a cat.” 

 

“What did you want to tell me? Is it about Madarame?”

 

Nakanohara nodded. “There’s something you need to know about him. You already know of the plagiarism and abuse allegations, yes?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I was one of Madarame’s students once. I lived with him in his studio. I honestly wanted to make my living as an artist. There was one other student living with me. He was a little older, and insanely talented. Madarame took a liking to him, taking all of that student’s work as his own. That student wasn’t the only one to have his work stolen, of course, but one thing made that student different from the others.”

He took a deep breath before continuing. “That student… committed suicide.” 

 

Akira, Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana all gasped. “For real?!” Ryuji blurted out. “Holy shit!” Nakanohara continued.

“I guess he couldn’t take seeing the work he poured so much effort into being stolen and published under the name of someone else and getting awards for it. His death shook me. Madarame tried to stop me, but I ignored him and left.

 

“There’s still one young man left living with Madarame. He’s about your age, actually.” Yusuke! “He feels like he owes a great amount of debt towards Madarame for taking him in when he was orphaned. To Madarame, he must feel like the perfect target. When I was still living in the studio, I asked him if staying with Madarame was hard on him…” He stopped to take another breath. “He said: ‘If I could leave, I would have long ago.’”

 

Akira felt his heart drop. They had been right about Madarame, about Yusuke. He really did need their help. “Alright,” he said. “We’ll do it.” Nakanohara looked slightly more hopeful.

“Thank you!” He smiled. “I truly hope that you can do it. I just don’t want that poor boy to suffer the same fate as that other student. He really does have a lot of talent.” 

 

---

 

They went to Madarame’s house soon after Nakanohara left. They needed to get through that Palace, and fast. They met a lot of new Shadows in the Palace, including some strange creatures apparently called Shiisa, friendly, childish little snowmen who laughed at Akira’s jokes (either from finding them funny, or the gun in their face), and tall, thin creatures made of metal that nullified most of their attacks and ate most of their stamina in a matter of seconds. Akira led them through the exhibit rooms and evaded the security system easily, finding interesting items he could sell to the airsoft shop manager along the way, such as odd-looking pottery and shitty paintings. They were on a roll, until they reached the courtyard.

 

It would have looked nice if not for the glaring laser fences that covered the entire area. They were able to creep through them and get to a large door with a peacock painted on it, but were met with another roadblock: the door wouldn’t open. Akira shot at it (wasting far too much ammo than the door was worth), tried picking the lock, looked everywhere he could for a place he could stick his knife in to try to open it, but no luck. He was about to give up, but then he heard Morgana gasp.

 

“What is it?” he asked. Morgana jumped up onto a bush next to the door and inspected it closely. I’ve seen this door before!” he said. Akira and Ryuji blinked at him in shock.

“When?! We didn’t see a door like that at his house!” 

 

Morgana scoffed. “Yeah, but I did. When you three were arguing with Yusuke the other day, I slipped out of Joker’s bag and explored Madarame’s house a bit.” He ignored their shocked faces and kept going. “I saw a door that looked exactly like this one in the back of the house. It had a huge gold padlock on it, and Madarame got really angry when he saw me back there, so I knew it was important.”

Akira crossed his arms and leaned against the door. “So, what does that mean for us?” he asked. 

 

“It means that we need to change Madarame’s cognition that the door is unopenable. He believes that he’s the only one who can open it. Therefore, we need to open the door in front of him to change his cognition that the door is unopenable.” He looked at the floor for a second and rubbed his chin. “Although, Madarame seemed really upset that I was near the door. It might be hard for you guys to open it in front of him.”

 

Ryuji scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Oh, ya think?!” he spluttered. “That asshole’s gonna make it impossible for us! Might as well call it quits now!”

Ann looked like she was thinking hard about something. “I mean, I might have an idea,” she said, making everyone turn to look at her. “But I mean, it’s like, worst-case scenario!” Akira rolled his eyes.

“I think we’re already at the worst-case scenario.”

She sighed and looked away from him at the security lasers. “I’d have to go back and model for him. And distract him long enough for Madarame to be around, then for Morgana to make a noise or something to bring him to the door and pick the lock in front of him.” 

 

It was quiet for a second while Akira went over the plan. It wasn’t a bad one, but the timing would have to be perfect. “Why Morgana?” he asked.

Ann looked uncomfortable for a second before she answered. “Well, after we got back from Madarame’s house the other day, Kitagawa-kun texted me and asked me to tell you not to come back with me again.” She rubbed her arm awkwardly as she continued. “I think he was scared of you guys, to be perfectly honest.” Akira sighed and ran his hands through his hair. It wasn’t like he was unaware of how Yusuke felt about him, but hearing it said out loud made it worse. There really was no way to do this besides go with the plan that Ann had come up with. 

 

“Alright,” he said. “We’ll do it your way.”

Notes:

two chapters in a row?!?!?!? what is this sorcery??!!?

sorry it's more meaningless filler. i also apologize that the weird yusuke nude thing will not be in this fic, because akira doesn't see it, and this fic is from his perspective, so yeah. i feel like this fic is steadily decreasing in quality but i'm really trying my best not to have it that way! i'll put something interesting in the next chapter, i promise

if you did like what you read, please leave a comment/kudos! thanks for reading, and i'll see you next chapter! <3

Chapter 31: Be The Key

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The cafe was empty when Akira returned home from Madarame’s house, which he took this as an opportunity to get started on his homework at one of the booths. He was halfway through his math homework when he heard his phone vibrating. The geometry problems now completely forgotten, Akira reached across the table to grab it and see who it was from-- Mishima. He couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed that it wasn’t from Ryuji, but Mishima was still nice, and he wanted to thank him for the lead from Nakanohara. 

 

May 16th, 2016 / 16:34

 

Mishima: Hey, Kurusu? Are you free tonight?

Mishima: It’s okay if you say no, I know you’re really busy!

Akira: No im free

Akira: When do you wanna meet up? And where

Mishima: In an hour or so, at the bookstore in Central Street? There’s something I want to tell you!

Akira: Sounds good. See you soon

 

---

 

 

Akira met Mishima an hour later at the bookstore in Central Street, just like he’d asked. “What’s up?” he asked as he approached the bluenette, slightly startling him.

“Oh! K-Kurusu! You startled me!” He put down the magazine he had been reading to look up at Akira. “I’m really excited to show you this!” Mishima then pulled out his phone and opened the Phan-site. “Look at the poll!” 

 

The site looked the same as it did the last time Akira looked at it, except the poll looked a little different. There were a lot more “YES” answers to the question posted at the top (“DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE PHANTOM THIEVES?”), which Akira guessed was what Mishima wanted to show him.

“A lot more people believe in you guys now, isn’t that great?” Akira nodded.

“It certainly is impressive,” he said. “How did you get it to be so popular?” 

 

Mishima grinned. “I don’t know!” He pocketed his phone and looked past Akira at the street behind him, as if he were looking for someone. “They’re still not here yet?”

 

Akira raised his eyebrows, confused. “Who? Are you waiting for someone?” Mishima nodded.

“Someone on the Phan-site said they’d meet me here tonight, but I’m not seeing them…” He walked over to the vending machines next to the bookstore, craning his neck to see over the people walking down Central Street, but he continued to look upset and confused. “Why are they not here yet?” 

 

He’d obviously been stood up. Akira sighed and walked up to where Mishima was standing, bought a Dr. Salt NEO from the vending machine, and handed it to him. “Here,” he said. Mishima looked even more confused.

“Um, thanks?” he said awkwardly. “But why?”

Akira was silent for a moment while he rummaged around in his bag for his box of cigarettes and tried to think of a way to tell Mishima the truth nicely. “I hate to tell you this,” he said, taking a drag and not looking at his face, “but you got stood up.” 

 

Although he couldn’t see Mishima’s face, he could tell that it had fallen. “Are you serious?!” he asked, the hurt in his voice making Akira feel even worse than he already did. “Dammit, this sucks!” He opened his drink and took a sip, then turned to look at Akira again. “I’m really sorry I wasted your time then,” he mumbled. “You can leave if you want.”

Akira shook his head. “No, it’s alright. It’s their fault for being so rude.” He pulled out his phone to see how much time he had left before he had to go home (he promised Sojiro he’d be home by ten thirty). It was only eight. He looked at Mishima, who really did seem sorry. “You wanna take a walk or see a movie?” he asked. 

 

Mishima’s face suddenly lit up. “Really? You’d do that?” Akira nodded.

“Sure. The night’s still young. We could go see a movie or something.” He jabbed his thumb at the movie theater at the end of Central Street, which was currently showing the movie “The Cake Knight Rises” the last time he checked. The blue-haired boy nodded and smiled.

“I’d like that.”



May 16th, 2016 / 22:25

Akira: By the way I forgot to mention

Mishima: What is it?

Akira: Thanks for letting me know about nakanohara, we made some huge progress because of that

Akira: I just wanted to let you know

Mishima: Really? You're totally welcome!

Akira: Night

Mishima: Goodnight! 

 

---

 

Akira met Ryuji at Madarame’s house the next day after school. The plan was set; Ann and Morgana would stall Yusuke until Madarame came home, and while they were doing that, Akira and Ryuji would wait until the door opened (if it opened at all). While they watched Ann knock on the door, Akira was suddenly startled by an unfamiliar female voice behind him.

 

“Hey there! Are you two fans of Madarame as well?”

 

He turned around to see who the voice belonged to, and was greeted with a young woman holding an expensive-looking camera. She had short black hair and a slightly round face, with orange-tinted sunglasses perched atop her head. She was also wearing a long-sleeved shirt and low-waisted jeans, with a clear water bottle hooked to her belt.

“Who the hell are you?” Ryuji asked. 

 

The woman giggled. “I was about to ask you the same question! You two don’t seem like the crazed stalker type of fan…” Akira scoffed and tapped his foot on the ground impatiently.

“We’re not fans of Madarame at all. We were just passing through.”

The woman’s expression changed suddenly. “Really?” she asked. They nodded. “Damn it… I was hoping that maybe I’d be able to get some information by coming here. I guess it’s back to square one.”

 

Akira arched an eyebrow. “Information?” he asked. “Are you a journalist?”

The woman smiled and nodded. “Yup! I’ve been looking for leads on Madarame lately. There are some pretty crazy rumors going around about him right now. Stuff about how he supposedly steals his students’ work and publishes it under his own name.” She then pulled out a business card from one of her pockets and handed it to Akira. “Contact me if you get any leads, alright?” With that, she turned around and left, leaving a very confused Akira in her wake.

 

“Dude, who the hell was she?” Ryuji asked. Akira shrugged and looked at the card the woman gave him.

“I dunno,” he replied. “Apparently, her name is Ichiko Ohya, and she writes for Maisa Newspaper.” He put the card into his bag and pulled out his phone. “That’s what it said on the card.” 

 

He heard Ryuji scoff as he opened the Metaverse Navigator and tapped on Madarame’s name. “Well, whoever she was, she sure was weird.”

Akira looked around for a moment to make sure no one could see them. Just being at Madarame’s house was a risk, and he didn’t want to imagine what would come out of someone witnessing two teenagers disappearing out of thin air. “Ready?” He looked at Ryuji, who nodded.

“Hell yeah.”

 

---

 

Akira didn’t think that there was a way to make being in the Metaverse boring until that day. He and Ryuji had both been leaning against the peacock door for what seemed like hours, and yet, nothing had changed. He could only imagine what was happening in the real world, and what Ann was doing to stall Yusuke. The only sounds he heard were the buzzing of the security lasers and the occasional sigh from Ryuji. He wanted to say something, but at the same time, he worried that making any noise would draw attention to them that they really didn’t need. Finally, Ryuji broke the silence.

 

“You really think she’ll be able to pull this off?”

 

Akira shrugged. “Probably,” he replied, trying to keep his voice barely above a whisper. “I hope so.” He yawned and stretched, then leaned back against the door. “It’ll probably take a miracle to pull off, though.” 

 

As soon as the words left his mouth, Akira suddenly heard a very loud clunk sound. “What the fuck was that?!” Ryuji hissed, jumping away from the door. Akira took a few steps back too, looking all over the courtyard for the source. However, he quickly figured out that the source was right behind him. He spun around, almost losing his balance and falling into the security lasers, but they had suddenly disappeared. That could only mean one thing.

 

The door was open.

Notes:

hi it's almost 3am as i write this and i really don't have the energy to write chapter notes so here a new chapter

kudos/comment pls

Chapter 32: High Pressure

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Akira and Ryuji both blinked in shock at the suddenly-open door. 

 

“Holy shit, it opened!” 

 

That meant one thing: Somehow, Ann had been able to both stall Yusuke, lead him to the locked door, and let Morgana open it in front of Madarame, all at the same time. As badly as he wanted to know how the hell she pulled it off, he knew he’d have to ask her how she did it another day, because for now, his biggest concern was getting to the next area and disabling the security protocols there. “Ready?” he asked, to which Ryuji nodded in response. “Let’s go. No time to waste.”

 

They raced forward into the building, which was different from the main museum. If this were a real place, Akira thought to himself, people would get so lost in here. There was a huge guard Shadow standing in front of the only way forward, and as Akira looked around the room carefully for any air vents he could crawl through or anything else he could hide behind, he realized that he and Ryuji would have to fight it.

“Hey,” he whispered, tapping his friend’s shoulder lightly in hopes that he wouldn’t startle him badly enough that he would make a noise and make the Shadow hear them. “We have to fight that thing,” he pointed at the Shadow, who still hadn’t noticed them, “in order to get past. Are you ready?”

Ryuji nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s whoop its ass.”

 

They immediately charged forward, Ryuji supporting Akira as he ran up to the Shadow’s back to rip its mask off from behind. “Hey, who the hell are you?!” it shouted, but it was too late to react, for it had dissolved into purple and black mist, and in its place was a very strange creature that Akira had never seen before.

 

It was huge, probably taller than him and Ryuji combined, and it looked like a weird combination of a tiger, a monkey, and a snake. It had piercing red eyes that glared down at the two of them, and with a wave of its tail summoned two more strange creatures, both of them appearing to be long, skinny dogs.

“What the hell is that?!” Akira heard Ryuji shout from behind him, but he didn’t have time to answer.

“Fight now, talk later!” he yelled back as he ran forward to swipe at the monkey-tiger-snake thing with his dagger, only for it to barely move a muscle. “Damn it!” He fell back, whipped out his pistol, and shot, landing a perfect hit in the middle of its head, but it barely seemed to make a difference. “No physical attacks!” he yelled to Ryuji, making him drop his shotgun and reach for his mask instead. “Try shocking it!” 

 

That worked. Akira quickly went through his mental skill list, but he didn’t have any nuke skills to knock it down, so he’d have to try shooting at it again. First shot, it flinched, second, it stumbled, third shot, it fell. He wasn’t done though; the weird dog things were still standing. He dug around in his coat pocket and pulled out an ice vial (something strange Morgana had taught him how to make that froze enemies), then threw it at them, successfully freezing both. It was Ryuji’s turn now, and he seemed to know what to do: knock one down using Lunge, the other with bullets. Now all three Shadows were on the ground, and it was time for the strange experience when they attacked as one: the All-Out Attack.

When the enemies were gone and Akira and Ryuji were back on the ground, it took them a second to catch their breath (doing it with only two people took more energy than normal).

“Are there any more enemies?” Ryuji asked as Akira looked up and down the hallway leading away from the room they were in.

He shook his head. “I think we’re good for now,” he said. “We should look for some security room first, though.”

 

Although the adrenaline rush he got from fighting was the thing he looked forward to most in the Metaverse, Akira didn’t want to waste all his energy trying to fight only with Ryuji with him to help. It wasn’t as if Ryuji was useless, in fact, he didn’t know what he’d do without him, but he only had so many healing items, and he didn’t know how many enemies were waiting for them. Akira was quiet as he and Ryuji snuck down the hallway and through another room, eventually finding a door with “SECURITY” written on it. Lucky for him, it was unlocked, and it only took him a few seconds to disable any lasers that might be blocking their way forward. 

 

“I wonder how Ann’s doin’,” Ryuji said quietly as they exited the security room. “If the door is open, she and Yusuke are probably in some serious shit right now.” 

 

Ryuji’s question was answered for him when they were startled by a sudden loud noise coming from the ceiling. It sounded like screaming, and Akira had only a second to jump back when he noticed something falling down above them, and it landed with a loud thud.

 

It was Ann. Someone was holding her-- Yusuke (what was he doing here?!), and as he began to get up, he was suddenly hit in the head by another thing falling down from the ceiling and landing with a squeak: Morgana. “Ouch!” he whined, rubbing his head. “Are you okay, Panther?” 

 

Ann didn’t answer him. Instead, she looked up, realized Yusuke was holding her, then let out a gasp and pushed him away, causing him to fall over backwards. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” she gasped as she stood up and looked down at him. “I didn’t mean to hurt you… Are you okay, Kitagawa-kun?” 

 

Yusuke rubbed his head where Ann hit him and carefully sat up, looking around. “Where are we?” he asked. “And where did that cat costume come from?”

Akira expected Ann to scowl at him, but she smiled and lifted her mask up slightly so Yusuke could see her face. “Calm down, Kitagawa-kun! It’s me!”

Yusuke let out a small gasp. “T-Takamaki-san?!” He stood up and looked around again, his eyes widening at the sight of Akira and Ryuji staring at him. “Where on earth are we?” 

 

“The Metaverse,” Akira answered. “We’re inside Madarame’s heart.”

 

Yusuke’s eyes were the size of dinner plates. “We’re inside-- inside Sensei’s heart?!” he spluttered. “Have you thought of seeking therapy?”

Ryuji scoffed and crossed his arms. “We ain’t lyin’, y’know. You ever seen a place like this in reality? This is that old bastard’s heart alright-- and it’s full of the ugliest shit you’ve ever seen. I hate to be the one to break it to ya dude, but all that asshole cares about is money.”

 

Akira nodded. “He’s only ever thought about profits. He doesn’t actually care about his students at all.”

This caused Yusuke to scowl at them. “Nonsense!” he shot back. “I refuse to believe this drivel you’re spewing about my master!”

Ann frowned and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “Kitagawa-kun, you may not like it, but they’re telling the truth. You saw what happened, right? There must be something up with him!” 

 

Ryuji shot a confused look at Akira, and then at Ann. “What’re you talkin’ about?” he asked. “What did you see?”

Morgana suddenly jumped up and interrupted him. “We can explain later!” he said, waving his arms around (making Akira bite back a laugh). “Yusuke, believe them! This place is another reality that reflects the way Madarame really sees the world.” 

 

Yusuke looked like someone had just given him very bad news. “You mean to tell me that this garish eyesore of a place is his?” he asked, astonishment in his voice.

Akira nodded. “We can tell you more about it later,” he said firmly. “For now, we need to get you out of here. It’s not safe.”

He and Yusuke made eye contact, and for once, the blue-haired boy nodded and said nothing, giving Akira a strange sense of confidence that he hadn’t felt before. It was one thing for his friends to listen to him, because they trusted his judgement and knew him well, but having a stranger who didn’t like him do what he asked was entirely different. As the others followed Akira through the courtyard and towards the museum entrance, he realized that Yusuke might not be as bad as he’d seemed. 

Notes:

hellooooo new chapter! happy late kiss ryuji day!

i wanted to mention this in my last chapter notes, but i was too tired to last time, so i will here! thank you so so so much for 8k hits!! i still think it's crazy that so many people have read what i wrote, not to mention the incredible support i've gotten for this fic!!! i appreciate each and every single kudos/comment i get so much and i feel like i just need to acknowledge that. i cannot stress enough how happy it makes me to see so much support for me and my work, so thank you all SO much!!!! <3

if you liked what you read, please leave a comment/kudos! thank you so much for reading, and i'll see you next chapter <3

Chapter 33: Scoundrel Eyes

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

They had gotten as far as the hallway that led into the room with the Infinite Spring statue before Akira realized that there was something wrong. “Stop!” he hissed, causing Ann to step away from the door she was about to open.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered back. Ryuji, Morgana, and even Yusuke looked at him, confused. Akira noticed that Yusuke looked much less confused than when he landed on the ground a few minutes ago; in fact, he looked upset, almost afraid. It seemed as if he had finally figured out that what they had told him about Madarame was true, which made Akira feel bad for him, because this was probably the last place anyone would want to receive news like that. 

 

“Isn’t it strange how easy we were able to get here?” he said softly, getting slow nods from the others. “We haven’t run into any Shadows on our way here. Doesn’t that seem a little odd to you?”

Yusuke suddenly raised his hand slightly, indicating that he had a question. “What?” Akira asked. 

 

“If I may ask, what are Shadows?” 

 

“Monsters that attack us here,” he answered. “I’m worried because we haven’t seen any of them at all in a while, and there might be tons of them waiting to ambush us on the other side of that door.”

 

There was a very tense silence. “So, what should we do?” asked Morgana, breaking the silence. Akira took a deep breath, pulled one of the exhaustion pills he had gotten from Takemi out of his pocket, took it, then stepped forward.

“Let’s get in there.”

 

He pushed the door open carefully. It was empty. Akira quickly led the others down the stairs and to the doors, but stopped when he suddenly heard something. A voice, one that he had heard before, and quite possibly the last one he wanted to hear at that moment.

 

Hahahahahaha! A warm welcome to the museum of Madarame, the master artist!”

 

Akira didn’t have to turn around to see what it was. He heard Yusuke gasp from behind him as he looked up to meet the cold yellow eyes of Shadow Madarame, who had appeared at the top of the stairs behind the large statue with two huge guard Shadows standing behind him. “You!” he shouted, glaring up at him. “When the hell did you get here?!”

 

“Sensei… is that you?” came Yusuke’s voice from behind them, sounding shaky and almost afraid. “Your clothes…” Shadow Madarame cackled again.

“My usual ragged attire is nothing but an act! You think someone like me would actually dress like a commoner and live in a shack?! I have another home! Under a mistress’ name, of course…” He smirked. Akira scowled at him.

 

“Disgusting,” he heard Ann say. “What a pig!”

Yusuke stepped forward in front of them, staring directly at Madarame. “Tell me it isn’t true…” he breathed. “This can’t be!”

 

Madarame ignored him. “However, it seems as if you all know too much now,” he said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “I cannot allow you to leave here alive.” 

 

Yusuke looked absolutely appalled. “Sensei, why were there so many copies of the Sayuri in your storage room? And if you had the original all along, why would you need all those copies?!” What on earth is he talking about? Akira supposed that he must be talking about something that happened when Ann was stalling him earlier, which Akira didn’t see. Either way, Yusuke sounded like he was about to cry. Meanwhile, Madarame’s smirk was growing.

 

“You see, the painting being stolen was a lie I created,” he said calmly. “It was all part of a carefully choreographed plan.”

 

Yusuke gasped.

 

“How about this little scene, hm? I tell people that I’ve found the real painting, but for certain reasons I can’t put it on display. However, you can have it for a special price!”

Akira couldn’t see the look on Yusuke’s face, as he was now standing in front of them, face to face with Madarame, but it must have been enough to make him laugh even harder.

“Ha ha ha! Well? Doesn’t that sound brilliant?! The gullible, stupid art snobs will eat it up all with wads of cash in their hands!”

 

They watched Yusuke fall to his knees as Madarame cackled loudly. Ryuji seemed to have had enough of it however, as he uncrossed his arms and started yelling. “That was a nice long-ass speech you just made, but all I heard was ‘money, money, money’! No wonder you ended up with this stupid-ass glitzy museum.”

Akira nodded. “How can you be so proud of all of this?! You’re disgusting!” he spat.

“Aren’t you an artist, too?!” Ann added. “Aren’t you ashamed of stealing other people’s work?!” 

 

Madarame’s smile grew even wider. “Why would I be?! Art is just a tool for making money and gaining fame!” He looked down at Yusuke, who was still on his knees. “I’ve made quite a profit off of you too, Yusuke.” 

 

“But what about all the people who believed in you?!” Yusuke shouted back. “Those who believed in your talent as a true master artist?! The students who looked up to you?!”

 

“Let me give you one little tip, Yusuke,” Madarame sneered. “If you ever want to make a living in the arts, don’t even think of standing up to me. You don’t really believe that you can succeed anywhere if I gave you a bad reputation, do you?!”

 

Yusuke was shaking now. Akira felt horrified watching it all happen, seeing Madarame’s smug face, listening to him brag about exploiting people… it made him sick. He wanted so badly to pull out his pistol and shoot Madarame in the face right there, but he knew that it would only lead into chaos, putting Yusuke into serious danger. Speaking of Yusuke, he sounded like he was trying to say something.

 

“No… after all this time… this was the man who was raising me?”

 

Madarame let out a sharp laugh. “Hah! You truly believe that I took you in out of the goodness of my heart?! Taking young and promising artists as students not only gives me direct access to their creativity and ideas, but I can nip in the bud any potential rivals! Children are defenseless and gullible, so why attempt taking from adults?! It’s so much easier to take from brats who won’t talk back!”

 

Akira couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His grip on his weapons tightened as Madarame laughed and Yusuke continued shaking on the ground. “H-How could you?!” he stammered. 

 

Madarame ignored him. “I’m tired of all this talking,” he said. “Guards,” he flicked his wrist, summoning more huge guard Shadows, “Eliminate them.”

 

They immediately charged forward, but Akira wasn’t going to let Yusuke die. “Not so fast!” he yelled, jumping aside and putting a bullet through one of the guards’ backs, causing it to fall onto the floor. “Panther, help Yusuke!” he shouted, pointing at him. Ann nodded and rushed over to him while Akira, Ryuji, and Morgana continued the fight.

“This way, Kitagawa-kun!” she yelled, grabbing his arm and pointing at the exit, but he wouldn’t move. In fact, to everyone’s surprise, he started to laugh.

 

“Interesting…” he said quietly, barely audible over the sounds of the fight. “Truth is stranger than fiction indeed.”

 

He started to get up. Akira could barely keep up with what was going on in the fight, but it seemed to be almost over, the guards couldn’t move anymore. “What’s going on?!” he yelled, landing a Sword Dance on one of the Shadows, causing it to dissolve into red mist. “Yusuke, what the hell are you doing?! Get out of here!” 

 

Yusuke did the exact opposite. He stood still in the middle of the room in front of the statue, staring at the floor, ignoring the battle. “For the longest time I chose to look away and refuse to believe that it could be true.”

 

“Fuck, there’s more of them?! There’s too many!”

 

“I called myself an artist, yet blinded myself from the truth. I couldn’t tell real from fake, even when it stared me right in the face!”

 

whoosh.

 

Suddenly, a familiar gust of wind blew through the room, knocking the Shadows flat. Akira looked at Yusuke, who was no longer facing the ground. Instead, he looked straight at them, now wearing something new-- a mask.

 

It was a traditional kitsune mask. Immediately, Yusuke fell to the floor, grasping his head in his hands, screaming in pain, most likely hearing the voice of a Persona in his head. He was breathing heavily, shaking once again, howling in agony. A horrible yet familiar ripping noise filled the air, and Akira watched as Yusuke pulled at his mask, his yelling becoming louder as he pulled, until blood spouted from his face and he let go with a flourish. Blue flames enveloped him as the ground began to shake, and Akira knew now what this meant: Yusuke had a Persona.

 

When he could see Yusuke again, he was dressed differently: wearing a black high-collared jumpsuit with a striped sash across his hips, bright blue gloves, white knee-high boots, and what appeared to be a white foxtail attached to the sash. He held a fancy-looking kitana in his hand, and behind him was something Akira couldn’t describe, but was undeniably a Persona. It was a tall, porcelain-white skinned man, wearing a bizarre black coat and baggy red pants, and holding a long pipe with an axe at the end of it. Yusuke looked up at them, an almost hungry look in his eyes, and then at Madarame, who looked terrified. 

 

“What a scene! Even fakes, with so many lined up side by side, make for a truly remarkable sight!” 

 

Madarame gave a loud gasp. “Are you calling me a fake?!”

 

Yusuke ignored him. “Let it be known, though the flowers of evil may bloom…”

 

“Abominations are fated to perish!”  

Notes:

hello!!! a bit of a longer chapter today!!!

welcome to the phantom thieves, yusuke! apologies for the lack of pegoryu in this chapter. don't worry, it'll be back soon! i wanted to make this chapter as yusuke-centric as possible, as it is his awakening, after all. i had a lot of fun writing this, i hope you like it!

if you liked what you read, please leave a comment/kudos! thank you so much for reading, and i'll see you next chapter! <3

Chapter 34: Kitsune

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Yusuke immediately jumped into the battle, his Persona at his side. Akira noticed a rifle attached to a strap hanging from his shoulder-- his ranged weapon. “Stay still,” he said coolly, picking it up and taking aim, landing a headshot on one of the guard Shadows perfectly as if he had been practicing for years.

“Holy shit!” Ryuji shouted, spinning around at the sound of the shots and staring at Yusuke, who took off his mask with a flourish and sent a block of ice at the Shadow in front of him, freezing it solid. Akira took the chance to aim another Sword Dance at it, landing the attack and causing the Shadow to explode into icy shards. 

 

When there were no more Shadows left, Yusuke suddenly fell onto his knees again, breathing heavily. Madarame had left, presumably afraid that Yusuke would kill him on the spot if he stayed any longer. Akira took a moment to catch his breath. He had already been stressed before about the door opening, which seemed so long ago, but then Yusuke was led into the Palace, and he even awakened to a Persona. It seemed odd to consider that just a day ago, the boy had considered Akira and Ryuji to be dangerous, and now he was there in the Palace with them, not only wiped out all the guard Shadows conjured by Madarame, but now completely drained as if he had just run a mile. 

 

“Are you okay?” Akira asked, attempting a gentle tone in his voice (considering that if Yusuke were to join them, he probably didn’t want to seem like an asshole).

Yusuke shook his head and stood up slowly. “I feel more exhausted than I ever have in my life,” he replied. He looked very confused as he looked at himself up and down, then at Akira. “I don’t remember changing clothes,” he said. “Where did all of this come from?”

 

“It means that the Palace Ruler views you as a threat now,” came Morgana’s voice from their feet.

“It looks badass,” Akira added, causing Morgana to glare at him. “Anyways, we’ll explain more later. For now, we need to get out of here.”

 

---

 

When they returned to the real world, they were back in front of Madarame’s house. The sun was setting, making Akira realize just how much time they had spent in the Metaverse. He looked at Yusuke, who was leaning against an electric pole, looking pale.

“Are you alright?” Akira asked again. He nodded, although he certainly didn’t look alright; Yusuke was clutching his sides as if he had just been punched in the stomach, and he swayed slightly when tried standing by himself.

“I’m fine,” he said. His voice shook slightly. Akira looked up at Ann and Ryuji, who looked concerned.

“We really shouldn’t leave him here.”

 

Ann nodded. “The diner in Shibuya. I think we could all use something to eat after that.”

 

They explained everything about Palaces and the Metaverse to Yusuke while they ate, including Morgana being able to talk, which amused the blue-haired boy very much. “Your cat talks?” he had asked Akira when Morgana yelled at him to order more fish, to which he responded to by pushing the cat’s head deeper into the bag and nodding.

“Yep,” he replied. “You heard him talk in the Palace, right? Now you can hear him talk in the real world, too.” 

 

They watched Yusuke’s face change as he tried to process the information he had just been given. “I think I understand now,” he finally said after taking a sip of his lemonade. “You’re telling me that we just returned from an alternate dimension created by distorted human cognition, the one in particular born from Sens- I mean, Madarame?”

 

All of them nodded. Akira noticed Yusuke flinch slightly when he corrected himself at the end.

 

“And I have special powers that are fueled by my ‘inner rebellion’ that I can use to fight the Shadows?”

 

They nodded again. Yusuke took another sip of his drink.

 

“Finally, you plan on defeating Madarame in combat and stealing the materialized form of his distorted desires, thus triggering a ‘change of heart’ in him in hopes that he will confess to his crimes, ending his career as an artist and possibly sending him to prison.”

 

Silence. “I mean, if you put it like that, then yeah,” Akira answered awkwardly. 

 

Yusuke leaned forward slightly, an eager look in his eyes. “If that is the case, then please, let me join you!” he said. “I want to bring Madarame to justice. For my sake, and that of all of his former students whose futures were stolen by him! I must bring this to an end!”

 

Morgana suddenly stuck his head out of the bag again. “Well, when you put it like that, we’ve gotta let you in!” He looked up at Akira. “What do you say, Leader?” 

 

Akira didn’t like everyone’s eyes on him. Yusuke seemed very passionate about joining, and it would definitely be better to have more manpower on their side, but he still had his doubts about him. Yusuke had seemed extremely distrustful of Akira, even following his awakening, but his feelings seemed to have taken a turn in the complete opposite direction. Even so, would he listen to him? Akira was still the group’s leader, and Yusuke seemed like the last person who would want to take orders from him, even if he had suddenly decided that he wanted to help them. However, seeing the hopeful look on Yusuke’s face, and remembering how distraught he had sounded when he discovered Madarame’s true feelings, he figured that letting him join would be the best course of action. 

 

“Welcome aboard,” he said, smiling and holding his hand out, which Yusuke shook. “I hope we can get along.” 

 

“Oooh, I just remembered!” Ann blurted out, startling them slightly. “He doesn’t have a codename yet, does he?”

Yusuke looked at her curiously. “A codename? Are you referring to the names you called each other in the Palace?”

 

Akira nodded. “I’m Joker, he’s Skull,” he gestured towards Ryuji, who grinned, “She’s Panther,” pointing at Ann, “And the cat’s Mona.” He ignored Morgana poking his head out of the bag again (“I AM NOT A CAT!”) to look back at Yusuke, who was tapping his chin thoughtfully.

“Hmmm… Those are all very interesting,” he said. “You can call me… hmmmm…”

 

This seemed to be much more important to him than expected. Finally, after a minute of thinking, Yusuke seemed to have made up his mind. “How abou-”

 

“Ooh, I’ve got one!” Ryuji exclaimed suddenly, interrupting him. Akira, Ann, Morgana, and Yusuke all stared at him, making his face turn red. “Uh, sorry,” he said quietly. “I meant, uh, I have an idea. Sorry for interruptin’.” 

 

Yusuke leaned back in the booth seat and crossed his arms. “Go ahead,” he said. “I can wait.”

Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the table. “Um, well, I feel kinda bad now, ‘cause I interrupted you, but I guess there’s no point in stallin’ any longer. Anyways, I was thinkin’ ‘Kitsune’ ‘cause of your mask, but…” he trailed off.

Akira wanted very badly to pat him on the shoulder to make Ryuji feel better, but he figured it would just make things worse. However, Yusuke didn’t seem offended at all. In fact, he was tapping his chin again, appearing to be lost in thought.

 

“I see,” he said thoughtfully. “That’s not a bad idea at all.” Ryuji’s face lit up and he opened his mouth, probably about to thank him, but he continued. “However, how about going for a minimalist approach? ‘Fox’ sounds quite good, no?”

 

Akira shrugged. “If that’s what you like, then sure,” he said.

 

“Welcome to the Phantom Thieves, Fox.”

Notes:

no chatper notes again cuz im fuckin tired lmao

happy easter if u celebrate and thanks for reading

Chapter 35: See You Around

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Akira waited a few days before he decided to head back to the Palace again. For one, he needed to buy more medicine, which meant he had to see Takemi again. She never seemed very pleased to see him, which was unfortunate, because her medicine was really effective, and he went through it fast. The last time he had seen her, she had asked him to sample a new medicine she had been creating, which knocked him out for a few hours. Although Akira wasn’t too fond of the experience, it meant more Recov-R medicines for him to buy, so he wasn’t going to complain. 

 

“You’re back,” she said when he entered the clinic’s tiny waiting room. “I wasn’t expecting you to come today.” She shuffled a few papers on her desk and stood up, then left the office to meet Akira in the waiting room. “So, what are you here for? You want another exam or something?” 

 

Akira scoffed. “No, I don’t feel like being knocked out again, sorry,” he answered, earning him a scowl from Takemi. “I just want to buy something.”

She leaned against the door that led to the exam room and continued frowning at him. “Not so fast. In order for you to be able to buy something new, I have to test it first. And you…” She walked up to him and smirked, “Are the only guinea pig I have. So, if you want to buy something,” She opened the door to the exam room, “head on in.”

 

Her smugness was annoying, but Akira didn’t know any other place he could buy medicine, and he didn’t want to leave and tell Morgana (who was waiting outside for him) that he was too much of a pussy to have an exam done, so he bit his lip and reluctantly stepped inside. “Fine,” he replied, entering the room and setting his bag down on the exam bed, “but no needles.”

 

---

 

A few hours later, he left the clinic feeling slightly lightheaded and weak, but Akira was also leaving with a paper bag full of medicine, so he concluded it was time well spent. Morgana was sitting at the bottom step outside the clinic, and he looked annoyed. “You could have told me that you were going to be there for longer!” he snapped, getting up and following Akira back to the cafe. 

 

“Well,” he responded, rubbing his eyes, “There was a bit of a change of plans. She made me drink some weird shit again.” 

 

“Doesn’t this concern you, like, at all?!” Morgana snapped from his feet. “What if you actually die from the stuff she’s giving you one day?” Akira shrugged.

“Hasn’t killed me yet, has it?”

 

He spent the rest of the night ignoring his homework and instead exploring Central Street again, this time checking out the rental shop that was across from the bookstore. He had bought a very old DVD player from the secondhand shop in Yongen-Jaya a few days prior, and figured that watching movies would be a good way to spend his time when no one asked for him at night. The friendly employee offered him a discount program where he could get free rentals for a year at the cost of 4000 yen, which he accepted, but for some reason felt his hands shake when he wrote his name at the bottom of the signup sheet. It wasn’t like there was anyone waiting behind him to make him feel rushed, nor was there anything that posed a threat to him at the moment, but Akira felt very glad to be finished when he pushed the paper back across the counter. In the end, he picked up a season of a ghost hunter show (he knew those shows were fake, but they were entertaining) and left the store. 

 

“Are you okay?” he heard Morgana ask from his shoulder. “Your hands were shaking when you wrote your name. Was there something wrong?”

Akira nodded and started walking away from the store. “I’m fine,” he lied. “Just a muscle spasm or something. It was probably from that weird shit Takemi gave me earlier.”

He was silent as he walked to the convenience store further down the street, and browsed the snacks for a few minutes, stole a pack of jagariko sticks, and left quickly, spending the rest of the night looking through the bookstore and eventually going home, feeling tired and drained. On the train ride home, he made a mental note to ask Takemi what exactly this medicine was supposed to be treating the next time she made him test it.

 

---

 

He woke up a few hours later not in the dusty attic of Leblanc, but in a dark, cold, yet familiar place: the Velvet Room. What the fuck do they want now?!

 

“On your feet, Inmate!” Caroline snapped, smacking her baton against the bars as she usually did. Akira groaned and struggled to get up and limp over to the door (the chains were heavier than he remembered).

“What is it?” he asked. He could feel the twins scowling at him, but he didn’t care. The sooner he listened to what that creepy bastard Igor had to say, the faster he could go back to sleep. 

 

“I see you’ve gained another comrade,” Igor growled, his lips unmoving. “Your powers are growing stronger and stronger every day as well. I am glad to say that your rehabilitation is going quite smoothly.”

 

He must be talking about Yusuke. “I’m still lost on what this whole ‘rehabilitation’ thing means,” Akira responded, trying his hardest not to sound rude (he really didn’t want his fingers to be hit by the baton). “How is meeting more people who can use these Personas rehabilitation?” 

 

He flinched, expecting Caroline to strike his fingers with the baton, but the hit never came. Both she and her sister were silent, which could only mean that Igor was actually going to answer him this time. “Worry not,” he said, chuckling. “All of your questions will be answered in time. For now though, you must return to your world.” 

 

“That means it’s time to go!” Caroline shouted. “Get lost, Inmate!”

 

Akira felt a familiar spark of anger that he normally got when she yelled at him. There were a million questions he wanted to ask; why he needed to be summoned here in the middle of the night only to be yelled at by grade schoolers, what “rehabilitation” meant exactly, if this was all part of a more elaborate plan to get him killed, and who Igor and the twins really were. It was especially infuriating knowing that none of these questions would be answered by running around a phony art museum and fighting monsters. Akira felt his legs getting weaker and the room getting darker, and before he knew it, he had been plunged into darkness one more.

 

---

 

Akira felt more tired than usual the next day as he got ready for school. His wrists still felt heavy from his unwanted visit to the Velvet Room, and he felt Sojiro look at him oddly as he drank the coffee that was left on the counter for him faster than usual. Even with the caffeine, he was still drowsy for the rest of the morning, even falling asleep during homeroom and waking up when Ann flicked his arm to wake him up when the period was over. “Are you okay?” she had asked as he slowly got up and stretched, feeling the other students’ eyes on him. “You still want to go to the Palace today, right?”

 

He yawned and stood up. “Honestly, Ann, I have no idea,” he replied, letting Morgana jump into his bag before shouldering it and looking at her. “Why do you ask? I never said that we were going today.”

 

She frowned at him and started putting her schoolwork away into her bag. “I know you didn’t. Yusuke does, though.” Akira suddenly felt a tiny pang of guilt. He had completely forgotten about him. “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that he wanted me to give you his number. We should add him to our group chat, don’t you think?”

 

Akira nodded and yawned again. “You do that,” he said. “We’ll probably go today, but I’m not making any promises. And if we do go and I pass out or something, tell Ryuji that he can be the leader.”

 

Morgana stuck his head out of Akira’s bag almost as soon as the words left his mouth. “Hey, why Ryuji?! Why not me? I know way more about the Metaverse than h-”

 

Akira pushed the cat back into his bag and looked at the clock above the chalkboard. The class was almost over. When the bell rang, he exited quickly, hoping to get to a water fountain before the next one started. Not looking where he was going, Akira accidentally bumped into someone while heading down the stairs, causing the student to drop all of the papers they were carrying-- it was the red-haired first year he had met a few weeks prior. Everyone around them gasped and immediately started whispering, making Akira’s face turn red with embarrassment. 

 

“Did you see that?! He totally pushed her!” 

“What else did you expect? It’s the transfer student!”

"She'd better stay far away from him if she doesn't want to get hurt..."

 

He sighed as he knelt down on the ground to pick up the papers, then stood up to hand them to her. “Sorry,” he mumbled, trying no to make eye contact with her, but it was too late.

She looked slightly upset, but smiled at him. “It’s no problem at all! Thank you for helping me!” 

 

She beamed at him, bowed slightly, then turned around to leave, but stopped, as if she wanted to say one last thing. “I’ll see you around, Senpai!”

 

Wait, what?



Notes:

hello hello hello

another boring filler chapter. i wanted to add a scene with takemi, because i haven't written much of her yet. sumi is here too!

i always thought it was weird when morgana points out that akira's hands were shaking when he first goes to the dvd rental shop in shibuya. it's so random and nothing like it happens again, so i wanted to put that in, along with a reason (the experimental medicine). we're going back into the palace in the next chapter though, so look forward to that!

if you enjoyed, please kudos/comment! thanks for reading, and i'll see you in the next chapter!

Chapter 36: Time

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Ignoring the strange comment from the red-haired first year girl (whose name he still didn’t know), Akira spent the rest of the school day napping in classes and trying to think of ways he could tell Yusuke that they weren’t going to the Palace today. He hadn’t talked to him since the other day when they were at the diner in Shibuya, but Akira knew that he wanted to go back to the Metaverse as soon as possible and take down Madarame. This was only proven further by the texts in the groupchat Akira woke up to at the end of History class.

 

May 18th 2016 13:52

 

Yusuke: Pardon me for asking, but I was just wondering if we were going back to the Palace today.

 

Akira groaned and tried to think of a response. He didn’t want Yusuke to resent him any more than he already did, but he was also really tired. Going into the Palace like that meant almost certain death, and there was no way anyone was going to be able to explain that to Sojiro. Eventually, he came up with something to say.

 

Akira: Not today I have to do some shopping

Akira: I’ll fill you in tomorrow we can go then

 

He quickly turned off his phone and stuffed it in his pocket before he had to say anything else. If it were any other day, Akira would have eagerly called the others to the hideout and stormed the Palace as soon as the school day was over, but what he said wasn’t exactly a lie, either; he wanted to go back to the airsoft shop and see if the owner had any new weapons or upgrades he could buy. 

 

“What’s up? Are we still going to the Palace today?” Morgana whispered into Akira’s ear as he approached his homeroom.

“No,” he murmured back, quickly taking his seat and putting his bag on the floor. “Stay in the bag. I’ll explain later.” 

 

Kawakami either didn’t notice him sleeping, or she didn’t care, because Akira’s short nap was mostly interrupted throughout the period. He woke up when the bell rang, picked up his bag, and hoped that Ryuji wasn’t waiting eagerly outside the classroom for him to say that they were going to the hideout. As much as Akira greatly enjoyed spending time with Ryuji, he barely had enough mental energy to remember what day it was, let alone go jogging with him or back to the Palace or whatever he was going to ask. It was Wednesday, right? They could go tomorrow. It would be fine.

 

---

 

Akira chose to take a nap first when he reached Leblanc, hoping he wouldn’t sleep the whole rest of the day and still have time to check out the airsoft shop in the evening. He felt slightly more refreshed when he woke up and saw that it was only six thirty in the evening, leaving him plenty of time to head into Shibuya and do the shopping that he needed.

 

The airsoft shop manager barely looked up at Akira as he entered the store, and was completely silent as he looked around, only speaking up when Akira tapped his fingers on the counter when he was ready to pay. He found even better weapons for him and the others all within his price range, including a new rifle for Yusuke, despite the fact that he didn’t even know if the one he had was good or not. 

 

“What’re ya plannin’ on doing with these, anyways?” the shop manager asked as he scanned the boxes. Akira shrugged as he pulled the money out of his pocket, sorted it, then slid it across the counter.

“Nothing dangerous,” he replied. The manager raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

“Like I said, just don’t go pullin’ pranks or anything with these. I already get enough shit from the feds as is.”

 

Akira quietly enjoyed a candy bar he had swiped from a convenience store on the train ride back to Leblanc. He hadn’t taken Morgana with him, as he was asleep when Akira woke up from his nap, so he felt slightly lonely as he listened to the loud “kuh-lack” of the train mixed with the dull chatter of the passengers around him. There was a tall man holding a little girl’s hand (presumably his daughter) sitting across from him who looked just as, if not even more tired than Akira felt, and at that moment he realized something: neither of his parents had called or texted him at all since he arrived. He pulled out his phone to check, thinking that maybe they had, and he just missed them, but the most recent texts and calls displayed were all from people he had met in Tokyo (most of them from Ryuji). 

 

May 18th 2016 19:32

 

Akira: Hey mom and dad

Akira: I realized that I never called you guys or anything after i got here

Akira: I’m doing fine in case you were wondering

 

May 18th 2016 21:59

 

Akira: You guys are probably still mad at me but that’s okay

Akira: I just wanted to let you know that everything’s going well here

Akira: I made some friends even

Akira: In case you were wondering i mean



It took him longer than usual to fall asleep that night.

 

---

 

The next day passed without much incident. Akira felt much better than he did the previous day, even sending a message to the group chat saying that they were going to the Palace after school. He ate lunch on the roof with Ann and Ryuji, took notes during History class to make up for his nap the previous day, and even volunteered to speak during English, getting many stares and whispers from the other students, but he didn’t care. Something about today was much better than yesterday, and Akira could barely sit still during the final period, checking the time every five minutes and tapping his foot on the ground impatiently. Finally, the bell rang, and the room was filled with the sounds of voices and chairs scraping against wood. 

 

“You’re doing better today, right?” Ann asked as Akira watched her put her things back in her bag.

He nodded. “We’re gonna wreck the shit out of that place,” he replied, shouldering his bag. “Madarame won’t know what hit him.” 

 

Notes:

hi! sorry for the super short chapter!

i wanted to make this one a little akira-centric, considering how much the story is gonna be about yusuke in the coming chapters. the next chapter will hopefully be a little longer, i just wanted to update because i haven't in a while lol

please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thanks for reading, and i'll see you next chapter!

Chapter 37: Get it Together!

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Yusuke was already at the hideout when Akira got there. “Good afternoon,” he said as Akira set the large paper bag with the weapons inside down next to his school bag and leaned against the railing, breathing slightly heavily. Model guns were heavier than he expected, at least carrying a bag full of them was.

“Hey,” he said back, not looking at him. “Sorry we couldn’t go yesterday. You know, to the Palace.”

 

He felt extremely awkward being around Yusuke, despite the fact that they were teammates now, and any sour feelings towards Akira that Yusuke might have had were gone now. However, he still felt slightly uncomfortable being around him. Was he still too intimidating? Did Yusuke not like him being the leader? Was he still put off by the talking cat?

 

“It’s fine,” the blue-haired boy replied. “I assumed you would want to take a small break before returning to the Palace. However,” he brushed his fringe away from his eyes to look at Akira, “I cannot deny that I have been quite anxious to meet again. I hope I don’t slow you down too much.”

 

The awkward silence only lasted a few more minutes, with Ann and Ryuji showing up a few minutes later, each holding a bag of chips and a soda (Ryuji holding two of each). “Sorry we’re late!” he said, holding one of the snacks out to Akira, who took them. He didn’t realize how hungry he was until then. “I wanted to get some snacks, ‘cause those jagariko sticks worked pretty well as healin’ items in the Palace!” He grinned at Akira, who smiled back.

“Good idea,” he said, opening the bag. “Thanks, Ryuji.”

 

“Typical Ryuji, late as usual!” came Morgana’s voice from Akira’s bag on the ground. “At least you actually had a good reason this time!”

Akira frowned and opened his mouth, ready to tell the cat off for being rude to Ryuji again, but he was interrupted. “Shut up, ya furball! This is only the second time I’ve been late!”

Yusuke straightened himself up from leaning against the railing to look at them, a slight look of longing in his eyes. Noticing this, Akira grabbed a small handful of chips and handed them to him, which he accepted.

“Thank you,” he said, ate one of the chips, then looked at Akira and Ryuji. “You know, your partner has quite the attitude, but I like that. How long have you two been dating?”

 

Akira felt like he had been hit with a ton of bricks. He almost dropped the bag and stared at Yusuke, his mouth open. He didn’t even look at Ryuji, but he knew that he was just as shocked as he was- Does Yusuke seriously think I’m dating him?!

 

“What the hell- wait, what?!”

 

Akira didn’t know what else to say. He didn’t even know what to think. His heart was pounding madly and he could feel his face reddening again, meanwhile Ann and Morgana were laughing, and Yusuke was just standing there eating his chips, looking incredibly confused. 

 

“What’s the matter? Was I wrong with my assumption that-”

 

“No!” Akira heard himself say, even though it wasn’t what he wanted. “I mean, don’t feel bad, we’re just friends, I don’t know what could have made you think that, but-” 

 

“It ain’t like that!” Ryuji interrupted frantically. Ann and Morgana were still laughing. Akira felt his face getting more hot by the second, so he ate another chip to distract himself. “I just wanted to make myself more useful to the team is all, ‘cause Morgana’s always sayin’ that I don’t pull my weight or some shit. I dunno what made you think that we were datin’, though…”

 

Akira wanted to disappear. He hadn’t felt this embarrassed since eighth grade, when his earbuds got unplugged from his phone and everyone in his homeroom class heard him listening to Rage Against the Machine. He still didn’t want to look at Ryuji or Ann or anything except the floor, but at the same time, he felt like he had to say something. He was the leader, after all! He was better than this!

 

“Anyways,” he said loudly, silencing Ann and Morgana and bringing the attention back to him, “We need to get back on track. Yusuke,” he glanced at him, “Is there a deadline we need to focus on? What’s going to happen if we don’t steal his Treasure by a certain date?”

 

Yusuke tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I believe that Sens- I mean, Madarame will avoid doing anything major such as taking legal action while his exhibit is active. He wouldn’t want to distract the public from his exhibit with a scandal.”

Akira gave a thumbs-up in response. “Okay, when does it end?” 

 

“June 5th,” Yusuke replied. “So that means…”

 

“We’ll have to send the callin’ card by the third,'' Ryuji finished for him. Akira looked back at Yusuke.

“You do remember what that does, right?” He nodded.

“It will cause his Treasure to materialize so we can steal it.” He paused, appearing to be deep in thought, then continued. “I hope at leat his Treasure is beautiful. Everything else in that museum is horrible. There is no art there, only vanity and greed. I feel ashamed for not noticing this sooner.” 

 

---

 

The security in the Palace had increased slightly when Akira and the others returned. They had explained most of how their operations went back in the diner in Shibuya, and Yusuke seemed to know what he was doing as they snuck through the exhibit rooms and slipped past the guards, occasionally taking them down in battle. As they got closer to the Treasure, Akira tried to keep his mind away from the catastrophe of their meeting and focused on handing out orders to keep his team from getting overwhelmed by the Shadows. It worked well enough that they reached the Treasure hall faster than he thought they would, and even devised a plan on how to steal it, as it was protected by guards, lasers, and even Shadow Madarame himself. They were going to lower Morgana into the area where the Treasure was held (surrounded by lasers) with a crane, with Ann and Ryuji distracting the guards. Yusuke would be waiting in the rafters, and Akira would operate the crane. The plan was so convoluted and high-stakes that it would be a miracle if they actually pulled it off. 

 

They left the Metaverse feeling quite accomplished, having gone through the entire museum (which was huge) and a weird golden labyrinth that required them to chase copies of the Sayuri through it until they found an exit, all the while battling Shadows that waited on standby in case they made a wrong turn (which happened several times). Due to the amount of ground they had covered however, Akira felt completely exhausted. He couldn’t think of anything (not even the humiliating meeting from earlier) except eating whatever was in Leblanc’s fridge and going straight to bed afterwards on the train ride home. It was later than he thought, anyways. They had been in the Palace for a long time.

 

May 19th 2016 22:30

 

Akira: Nice work in the palace everyone

Akira: Should we send the calling card tomorrow?

Ryuji: Hell yeah! Yusuke should draw the logo for it too!

Yusuke: As much as I would like to, I must decline. Madarame knows my art style too well. 

Akira: Good point

Akira: Do you want to write it then

Yusuke: Yes, I’d like that. I’ll need someone to proofread it before we send it, though.

Ann: How are we going to send it, anyways? Just deliver it to him?

Akira: No, i have a better idea

Akira: I’ll tell you guys tomorrow

Akira: Goodnight everyone

Ryuji: G’night dude!

Ann: Goodnight! 

Yusuke: Good night.

Notes:

hiiiiiiii!! we're so close to 10k hits on this, so i wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!!! it means a lot to me that so many people have read what i wrote!!! thank you so much for all the support <3

anyways, i had a lot of fun writing this chapter. i got inspiration for the beginning from a scene from the office (i can't remember which episode though lol). i hope it wasn't too awkward hehe

if you liked what you read, please leave a comment/kudos! thanks for reading, and i'll see you next chapter!!!

Chapter 38: Strike

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

---

 

Sir Ichiryusai Madarame, a great sinner of vanity whose talent has been exhausted.

You are an artist who uses his authority to shamelessly steal the ideas of his pupils.

We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth. 

We will take your distorted desires without fail.

From, The Phantom Thieves.

 

---



Akira, Ryuji and Ann waited anxiously outside the exhibit for Yusuke to come back after watching Madarame read the calling card. It had been plastered all over the building where the exhibit was being held, so there was no way Madarame would fail to see it.

“Well? Did he see it?” Ryuji asked when Yusuke walked up to them.

He nodded. “He seemed quite upset when one of the managers read it to him.”

 

“That should do it!” came Morgana’s voice from Akira’s shoulder. “Now all we have to do is steal the Treasure!”

 

---

 

The plan to steal the Treasure went off mostly without a hitch. Ryuji distracted the guards in the security room so Ann could shut down the power, Akira lowered Morgana down over the now materialized Treasure with the crane so he could steal it, they all met up in the rafters safely, and then quickly escaped through a window into the courtyard. It would have gone perfectly if not for Morgana suddenly getting so excited to see the Treasure that he stopped them all so he could take off the purple sheet covering it, only to reveal something that was very clearly not the Treasure: a shitty doodle of a face.

 

Akira ignored Morgana’s cries of indignation as he stared at the fake Treasure. Something felt very suspicious about this. Why else would they have no problems while stealing it? None of the guards were able to catch them, Shadow Madarame hadn’t moved from his spot when the guards notified him that the piece was missing, so unless this doodle really was the most important thing in the world to him, the real Treasure was probably-

 

“Get back!”

 

Yusuke’s sudden outburst cut through the air like a knife, and Akira only had a second to jump out of the way when he saw security lasers suddenly flicker to life around them, crackling with electricity. He could hear laughing coming from a few feet away, and looked up to see Shadow Madarame approaching them, flanked by Shadow guards, one of which was holding what seemed like a painting (probably the real Treasure) covered by a purple curtain. 

“You jackass!” Akira shouted. “You set up a fake to trick us!”

 

He felt anger begin to rise in his chest as he watched Madarame’s evil grin widen. “Exactly!” he cackled, smiling even wider at the Thieves’ angry faces. “Just like the Sayuri, it was all a trick I had set up! You really didn’t think I would let you steal the museum’s most prized piece, did you?!”

Akira kicked the fake Treasure aside and crossed his arms. “What’s this ‘Sayuri’ thing you keep mentioning? Is that your real Treasure?!”

 

Madarame smirked. “Hmph. I suppose you are smarter than you look. Perhaps I can give you a glimpse of the piece before you die…” He moved the curtain out of the way with a flourish, and the Shadow guard that was holding it held it high over its head, revealing a painting in a bright golden frame-- there was no doubting it. This was the real Treasure.

 

The painting was quite nice. It depicted a soft-faced woman wearing a red dress holding a baby and looking down at it fondly. Akira heard Yusuke, Ann and Morgana all gasp from behind him (he really needed to ask them what the big deal was with this painting), making Madarame start laughing again. “Behold! The true Sayuri!”

 

Akira turned around to look at Yusuke-- he looked horrified. “But why?! Why did you paint over the baby?!”

 

Madarame laughed again (god, Akira was getting sick of him). “If the baby is covered up, the reason for the woman’s expression will become a mystery!” he laughed. “Do you want to know a secret, Yusuke?!” He didn’t wait for an answer. “The baby in the picture… is you.”

 

Everyone gasped, including Akira. “You never realized this, after staring at it for all these years?!” Madarame spat. “This painting is your mother’s self-portrait!”

 

M-my mother- ” Yusuke stammered, “She painted this?! But you said that this was your signature piece, that it was stolen-”

 

“You still don’t get it?!” Madarame shouted. “Why has it taken you so long to understand?! Your mother painted everything she had into this last piece, knowing her death was imminent!”

 

“But how did you convince people that the painting was yours?!”

 

An evil smile suddenly spread across Madarame’s face. 

 

“Your mother just so happened to have a seizure in front of me. If I simply stayed quiet and didn’t call for help, I could take the painting and the credit for myself!”

 

Akira felt anger licking at his insides like white-hot flames. He had no idea what was going on, or what Madarame was talking about, but from what he could understand, Madarame had essentially murdered Yusuke’s mother to steal the credit for her painting, and profit from it. Akira may steal from stores and be ready to bust someone’s lip open for looking at him the wrong way, but he would never sink so low as to let someone die to steal from them without consequence.

“You just let her die?!” he heard Ann shout from beside him. “You’re inhuman!”

 

“Indeed!” Yusuke added. “You are no artist! You’re a rotten, despicable fiend who wears the skin of one!”

 

Madarame’s slimy grin turned into a scowl. “What did you just call me, you little brat?!”

 

The ground began to shake. Madarame was laughing again. This could only mean one thing: they’d have to fight their way out of the Palace.

 

“Those with power make the rules! Those without follow them!”

 

The guard Shadows began to back away as black and blue smoke began gathering around Madarame. A strange bubbling sound was heard; looking down, Akira saw a puddle of black ink forming at Madarame’s feet. He shoved a loaded magazine into his pistol as he backed away, watching Madarame disappear, being replaced by what looked like floating paintings; two eyes, a nose, and a huge mouth with way too many teeth. How the fuck are we gonna fight this thing?!

 

“Everyone, get ready!” Akira shouted, holding his arm out to keep the others behind him until he thought of a strategy. “He’s not going down without a fight!”



---

 

Yusuke attacked first, throwing a Bufu at one of the eyes, but instead of hitting the eye, the attack was merely absorbed. Okay, magic won’t work, Akira thought, holding up his gun and shooting twice, knocking the eye down. “Magic skills won’t work on the eyes!” he shouted to the others, prompting Ann to run up to the second eye and smack it with her whip, causing it to drop to the floor. Two down, two to go.

 

The nose was next. Ryuji shot a Zio at it, landing the hit, but not enough to knock it down. Akira chose to slash it with his knife, but he accidentally hit the mouth instead, which absorbed the attack. “Fuck!” he yelled, falling backwards and hitting Ryuji, just like he had done when fighting Kamoshida. “No physical skills on the mouth!”

 

He felt his face redden as he and Ryuji helped each other up. There was no time for apologies, they needed to get back to the fight. He heard gunfire, and saw Ann and Yusuke unloading their guns at the eyes and nose. Akira took this as a chance to throw an Egiaon at the mouth, knocking it down, Ryuji following up with another Zio to the nose. All of the paintings were on the floor now, dissolving into black ink, Madarame’s Shadow appearing in their place. He was on the ground, groaning in pain while Akira, Ann, Ryuji and Yusuke pointed their guns at him; they all knew what came next. 

 

“Dammit, dammit, dammit! I’m the great artist Madarame! The one who attracts a full house with every exhibit! You brats are nothing compared to me!”

 

“Save your bullshit for after we’re done with you!” Akira shouted. “You guys ready?” They all nodded. 




“Time for an all-out-attack!”

Notes:

hi! sorry for the short hiatus, i was working on another project and kinda took a break from this for a while. but i'm back! you get half a fight scene as compensation. yay.

anyways, you should absolutely check out my aforementioned other project if you haven't already. i'm planning on updating that one as well, but updates for both this one and that one might take a while because i've got a busy schedule for the next few days. you should expect a new chapter for both this story and the other one by the end of this month.

if you enjoyed, please comment/kudos! thanks for reading, and i'll see you next chapter! <3

Chapter 39: Put An End To All This And Use Your Own Damn Art For Once

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

They attacked Madarame’s Shadow from all sides, scratching and tearing until they were back on the ground, standing around the old man. “Give it up!” Ryuji shouted, reloading his shotgun and pointing it at Madarame. “You’re done!”

 

He just laughed. “Not so fast, brats!” he snarled, and suddenly there was a gust of wind, pushing them all back, and when Akira stood back up again, he was greeted with the sight of not one, not two, but five Shadow Madarames standing in front of him.

“Oh, come on!” he yelled, ripping off his mask and sending an Agialo at one of them with the help of one of his other Personas. “Really?!”

 

“Well, creating fakes is his specialty, ain’t it?!” came Ryuji’s voice from next to him. “We shoulda expected this!”

He ran forward at one of them, which was wearing green robes and surrounded by floating leaves, and tried to attack, but was immediately pushed back by it, and Akira quickly figured out why there were so many; each represented a different element, and Ryuji had barreled headfirst into the one representing wind. 

 

Akira dug around in his coat pockets for a Takemedic and handed it to Ryuji, who took it quickly. “Thanks, dude,” he said, shaking his head and getting back up.

Akira nodded. “You gotta be more careful next time.”

 

He had to think carefully of what to do next. Ryuji, Yusuke and Ann were the current party members. That meant Ryuji should attack the green Shadow, Ann should attack the blue Shadow, Yusuke should attack the red one, and Akira would focus on the real Madarame. “Everyone! You see the different colored ones?” he shouted. They all nodded. “Attack the one that your Persona is weak to, but use magic! Don’t face it head-on!” 

 

It felt a little embarrassing to be ordering his friends to attack the bizarre old man using magic spells, but Akira pushed those feelings aside and focused on the main threat. He could dwell on that later. Hell, he could even write it down in his probation diary. That would give the officer a laugh or two. 

 

“Why won’t you just die already?!” he spat at the Shadow, taking aim and shooting at it, and missing almost every shot. Akira really needed to work on his aim. “Put real effort into something besides traumatizing kids, damn it!”

 

Madarame just laughed. Akira was getting really annoyed. Not only was his opponent a real scumbag, but he was running out of bullets, Yusuke had just taken an Agi to the face and had fallen to the ground, Ann was almost out of stamina so she couldn’t heal him, and Madarame was still standing there grinning like an asshole. 

 

Akira had had enough. He had just enough stamina for damage buffs and one heavy attack, which seemed like it would be enough to knock Madarame down for good. He shoved his hand into his pocket and rummaged around for one of those weird supplements he had bought on the home shopping channel the previous Sunday (they were apparently supposed to increase one’s stamina, so maybe it would translate over to the Metaverse as well), unwrapped it, and popped it in his mouth. It tasted like shit, but Akira felt a little stronger. Just strong enough to finish Madarame off.

 

“I’m sick of your shit!” he shouted, tearing off his mask once more and hurling a Freidyne at the Shadow, and he felt a surge of excitement run through his veins when he heard a pained yell coming from Madarame. This was it. It was over. The fakes were gone, Ryuji, Ann and Yusuke were pointing their guns at Madarame, and this time, he didn’t get back up again.

 

“Nooooo!!!! Wait! Please don’t kill me!”

 

Madarame was laying on the ground, clutching the Treasure, looking up at all of them with terror in his eyes. Yusuke scoffed. “Why should we do that?”

 

Akira held his gun steady as he watched Madarame scramble on the ground to try and sit up. “Yusuke, you know how miserable being a starving artist can be! All they care about is easily recognizable brands! The art world is all about money! You of all people know what that’s like, don’t you?!”

 

“Yeah he does, because you made him live like that, dumbass!” Ryuji yelled. “Quit tryin’ to play the victim!” 

 

Yusuke’s glare sharpened. “How many dreams have you exchanged for riches? How many bright futures did you trample upon for your own success? I have no sympathy for you. You killed my mother and stole her work, and you expect me to feel sorry for you?”

 

Madarame sniffed. Yusuke ignored him.

 

“If I kill you, you won’t be able to atone for what you have done. But know this,” he steadied his grip on his rifle, noticing Madarame relaxing slightly, “You will have to live with the knowledge of what you’ve done for the rest of your miserable life. The art world will never forgive you. Now, begone from my sight, along with this wretched world of yours.”

 

He dropped his gun and stepped forward, snatching the painting out of Madarame’s hands. “But wait!” came the Shadow’s voice from the ground. “What about the other one though?! The one with the black mask?!” 

 

Akira raised his eyebrows. “What the fuck are you talking about? Trying to trick us or some shit?”

 

Madarame shook his head. “I have no energy left for such things. Please, if you run into him, ask him not to kill me, please!”

 

Ann scoffed and opened her mouth to say something, but Morgana, who had been hiding in the bushes during the fight, stopped her. “Come on. Let’s stop wasting our time with him and get out of here.”

 

As the Palace began to crumble, Akira led the others away from the courtyard and towards the exit, but Yusuke stayed behind. “Hey, we really should be going,” he yelled, running towards him, but stopped for a moment when he heard Madarame’s voice again. 

 

“Hey, Yusuke… what should I do?”

 

A pause.

 

“Put an end to all this and use your own damn art for once.”

Notes:

hey everyone! new chapter! sorry for the hiatus!

i've been working really hard on my other series at the moment (check it out here if you haven't already!) but i haven't forgotten this work either! writing it again was so much fun, so expect another update soon!

if you enjoyed, please comment/kudos! thanks for reading, and i'll see you in the next chapter!

Chapter 40: Touch n' Go

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The days following the defeat of Shadow Madarame were uneventful.

 

Akira tried to spend his time as wisely as possible while he waited anxiously for the deadline to approach, as he predicted Madarame’s change of heart would occur on the day the exhibit ended, just like Kamoshida and the school board meeting that would have determined his expulsion. In the meantime, he helped Sojiro with the café, went jogging with Ryuji, took up a part-time job at the airsoft shop he bought their weapons from, fusing new Personas in the Velvet Room, and still found time to spend by himself in between. 

 

One day, he was spending time with Takemi, the doctor in Yongen, when she asked him something odd. 

 

“How are you still so healthy?”

 

Akira was getting ready to leave when he heard her voice. He turned around to look at her, confused, seeing her looking at something on a clipboard, then at a paper on her desk, then back at the clipboard. “What do you mean?”

 

She frowned at him. “You smell like cigarettes every time you come in here. I’ve seen you smoking outside of that café you live in. I’m guessing you also drink a lot of coffee as well. Your teeth and lungs should be in horrible shape, yet the data that I’ve gathered shows a normal, healthy body.” She put her clipboard on her desk and leaned forward in her chair, narrowing her eyes at him. “What’s your secret? There’s no way you can be this physically healthy without something weird going on.”

 

What is she talking about? Takemi wasn’t exactly wrong, he did drink a lot of coffee, and he did try to smoke outside for the most part, but “physically healthy”? This was news to him too. 

 

“I… I don’t know,” he said slowly, avoiding her eyes. “I mean, I brush my teeth every day, but…” He trailed off and fidgeted with the sleeve of his blazer. He heard her scoff and turn around in her chair. 

 

“Don’t think I’m gonna let this slide,” she said. “If you’re hiding something from me, it won’t take long for me to figure it out.”

 

Akira thought long and hard on his way home, ignoring Morgana when he entered the café and sat down in a booth, trying to figure the situation out. “Morgana,” he asked suddenly, interrupting whatever the cat had been saying, “Can I ask you something?”

 

He explained what happened at the clinic to Morgana, and by the time he was finished, the cat looked just as confused as Akira felt. “That’s odd,” he said, flicking his tail back and forth. “I’d guess it would have something to do with the Metaverse and your Personas, but I’ve never seen Persona skills having any effects in the real world. However,” he continued, noticing Akira opening his mouth to say something, “You are a special case, so it might be different… Do you know which Personas you have right now?”

 

Akira nodded and rummaged around in his bag for a moment until he found his phone and took it out, opening the notes app. He made a habit of keeping note of whatever Personas he had currently after leaving the Velvet Room. Right now, the ones he had were Arsene, Ame-no-Uzume, Kusi Mitama, Phoenix, and Eligor. He remembered one of them having passive healing skills, but there was no way…

 

Morgana confirmed his suspicions for him. “You use one of these for healing, right? I noticed you heal a little bit in battle sometimes without doing anything.” He nodded. “That skill must be rubbing off a little bit in the real world, too!” His bright blue eyes widened as he stared at Akira in astonishment. “You amaze me more and more every day!”



---



Apart from the strange discovery that Akira’s passive healing skills in the Metaverse worked in the real world as well, the wait for Madarame’s change of heart was still as tedious and boring as ever, only interrupted by an announcement from the school that a mandatory “cleanup event” field trip to Inokashira Park would take place on the 30th. Akira nearly forgot about it until the actual day of the event, when a text from Ryuji woke him up that morning, reminding him to wear his gym uniform to school. Groaning, he got ready and left, hoping that it would be over quickly.

 

Akira almost made it through the station square without interruption until he was distracted by a familiar voice coming from the Buchiko statue. Turning around, he saw who it was; the red-haired first year girl he had bumped into a few weeks ago, and she was talking to a middle-aged man standing across from her, looking incredibly uncomfortable. Curious, he approached them, hearing more of the conversation the closer he got.

 

“I already told you, I really must be going. I’m going to be late for class.”

“Come on, don’t be shy! You go to Shujin, right?”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with-”

“I heard about that whole incident on the news. The one about the gym teacher, yeah? Why don’t you stay around and tell me about it?”

“I’m sorry, but I really have to g-”

 

The stranger suddenly grabbed the girl’s wrist, causing a collective gasp to rise from the people surrounding them.

 

“If you don’t have the time, why don’t you put your number in my phone so you can tell me about it later, huh?”

The girl looked even more uncomfortable than ever now, looking frantically at the strangers around her for help, none of which did, all turning around and leaving quickly. Her eyes fell on Akira, and he immediately stepped forward and in front of her, causing the stranger to let go. “Fuck off, you creep,” he spat, scowling. “Can’t you see she’s uncomfortable?” The stranger looked furious, glaring at him, then at the first-year girl, who gripped Akira’s arm. 

 

“Who the fuck are you?!” the stranger snapped back. Akira narrowed his eyes.

“Does it matter? Take a fucking hint and stop hitting on teenagers.” He watched as the stranger’s face reddened as he tried to come up with a response, but in the end, he gave up and stalked away. mumbling angrily under his breath. Akira took this as a chance to drive his attention back to the red-haired girl, who had since let go of his arm and was rubbing her own. 

 

“Are you okay?” he asked, trying to bring his voice to a more gentle tone. The girl nodded.

“I’m fine… That guy was seriously scary…” She trailed off, but suddenly looked shocked, then straightened her back and gave him a short bow. “Oh my gosh, I haven’t even thanked you properly yet!”

 

Akira shook his head and glanced at his phone. He was going to be late. “It’s okay,” he tried to say, but the girl shook her head.

“No, please, let me do this!” she said quickly. “I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t step in to help me!”

 

He didn’t really know what to say. “I appreciate it, but I’ve really got to go,” he said. “I have to be at that cleanup thing.” Akira hoped that this would shake the girl off, but it did the opposite; she looked even more surprised as she looked at her own phone and then back at Akira again.

“Shoot, the cleanup event! I completely forgot!” 

 

“I’ll remember to thank you properly once I get there, okay?” she said, turning around to leave. “I’ve got to go, right now! Thank you again!” With that and another short bow, she ran off, leaving Akira alone in the station square, more confused than ever. 

 

He didn’t even get her name.

Notes:

welcome back to boring filler chapters!!!!

sorry the updates for this story are so far and in-between. i know a lot of people like this story and look forward to it, but it's hard to write the boring filler stuff and stay motivated to do it. you get a new chapter today though, so i hope you liked it!

also, regarding the whole takemi thing, it was just an idea i had one day for some of the passive skills (like regenerate/invigorate) to rub off in the real world, hence akira's unnatural health. i know it's unrealistic, but this is a universe with talking cats and ancient gods buried hundreds of miles underneath tokyo's subway system, so... yeah. deal with it lol

please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thanks for reading, and i'll see you next chapter!

Chapter 41: Like A Dream Come True

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Madarame’s confession came and went.

 

All of the Thieves were busy when it happened. Akira was at the arcade in Shibuya with Ryuji, Ann was at a modeling gig, and Yusuke was painting at Inokashira Park. Madarame had apparently called a press conference, broadcasted live on the jumbo screens in Shibuya, where he confessed to all of his crimes, his face an ugly sobbing mess as he begged for the art world’s forgiveness. Although it was a nasty sight, the confession still called for a celebration party at Leblanc, where Akira had offered to let Yusuke stay until he found a new place to live, because he (obviously) couldn’t live at Madarame’s house anymore.

 

“I’m back,” Akira said loudly as he pushed Leblanc’s door open, the pleasant sound of the bell ringing helping to announce his arrival. The café was suddenly filled with the sounds of footsteps and chattering voices, plus Yusuke’s suitcase knocking against one of the booths. Sojiro looked shocked as he turned around to see what the source of all the noise was.

“Who are they?”

 

“We’re his friends,” Ann answered for him. “It smells amazing here! This is where you live, right, Akira?”

 

He nodded. “In the attic. I don’t sleep behind the counter or anything.”

 

This made everyone laugh, including Sojiro. “What are they all doing here?” he asked. “Of course, I don’t mind more customers, but I still would have appreciated it if you let me know they were coming beforehand…”

 

“Does it matter?” came Ryuji’s voice from behind him. “We’re here, ain’t we? That’s a good thing!”

 

Akira laughed nervously. While he and Sojiro had been getting along better lately, there was still the underlying fear that one wrong move could send him to the streets, and his friends bickering with the man providing him with housing might call for bad news. However, he was relieved to see Sojiro chuckling and bending down to grab something from behind the counter. “I guess that’s true,” he said, placing some coffee cups on the counter. “I’ll treat you all to some coffee, on the house. And you’re helping,” he added, looking Akira straight in the eyes. It was best not to argue. He put down his bag and did what he was told.

 

“Y’know, you don’t actually look half bad in that apron,” Ryuji said to Akira as he switched on the coffee siphon in front of him. “Makes you look really mature ‘n shit.” He then took a sip of his coffee, but immediately made a face and spit it out. “Ack! I didn’t realize how bitter this shit is!” 

 

Akira laughed at him, but he realized something when he was cleaning up the counter. Ryuji had told him that he looked good. That he looked mature. Was he…

 

He shook his head. Whatever. It didn’t matter. All he cared about at the moment was scrubbing the coffee stains off the counter and getting a soda from the fridge for Ryuji to drink instead. He was so caught up in it all that he didn’t notice Sojiro talking to Ann, or Yusuke’s empty cup, or that he had left the sink on. If he was being honest, this was the busiest he’d been in quite a while. Usually when he helped Sojiro with the café, there would be two or three customers at most, so being overwhelmed wasn’t that bad, right?

 

When the chatter died down and the coffee was finished, Akira stayed behind to do the dishes while the others went upstairs. He felt slightly anxious as Sojiro watched him, but really, what was there to be anxious about? He was just washing the dishes!

 

“Quite the rowdy bunch, aren’t they?”

 

It was only when Akira had turned off the sink and hung up his apron that Sojiro finally said something to him.

 

He shrugged. “I guess so. Why are you asking?”

 

Sojiro sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m gonna be honest here kid, I really didn’t think you’d make that many friends so quickly,” he said. “I’m not trying to be rude, honest, but when you first got here, I figured everyone would be too scared to talk to you.” 

 

Akira looked around at the booths to find his bag, but it wasn’t there (the others must have taken it upstairs). “It doesn’t really matter to me that much anymore,” he said. “Why do you care so much?”

 

He flinched, preparing to be scolded for his rudeness, but Sojiro just scoffed instead. “Because you’re living here, aren’t you? The least I can do is try to get to know you better.”

 

I’d say that that’s more finding ways to call me a delinquent than anything else, Akira thought, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he simply nodded and headed upstairs to join his friends. Somehow, the prospect of talking about which big-name criminal their underground gang of teenagers should pursue was less stressful than talking to Sojiro about his school life.




---



“Sooo…. how should I say this…”

 

Ryuji kicked the ground awkwardly and looked at the ceiling. Akira laughed at him. “What?”

 

“Your room is, uh… big.”

 

Everyone laughed, including Yusuke, who had been mostly quiet since he had arrived at Leblanc. “Big?!” Akira laughed incredulously, gesturing around at the room. “Not dirty, or dusty, or cluttered? Big?”  

 

“Aw, can it!” Ryuji shot back, looking around at the group. “You know I ain’t good with words…”

 

The playful banter and chatter continued as Akira pulled out a folded-up table from behind one of the shelves and placed it in front of the couch while the others helped move some chairs around it so they could sit. The attic felt much more lively than usual as they all sat down to relax, and Akira was able to let himself calm down seeing them all smiling and laughing; they were happy here, even if the attic was dirty and dusty and they had to help him clean it.

 

“We gotta figure out our next target!” Ryuji said eagerly, taking out his phone. “The public reaction to that confession was lame as hell! We gotta aim bigger!” 

 

Morgana just scoffed and flicked his tail in annoyance. “We’re not doing this just for fame, remember?” he snapped. “Who cares about the response?” He turned to look at Yusuke, who didn’t seem to be paying that much attention to the conversation. Instead, he was holding his stomach with one hand and staring at his fingers, his eyes unfocused. “Yusuke?” Morgana asked, nudging his hand with his head. “Are you listening?”

 

This seemed to startle Yusuke slightly, because he gave a small gasp and looked around nervously, as if he had suddenly forgotten where he was. “Oh! I apologize, what were you saying?”

 

Akira could practically hear Morgana rolling his eyes. “Whatever,” the cat said, turning back around to look at them all. “We should plan out our next course of action. Akira, how’s the Phan-site looking?”

 

He was about to take out his phone to check, but stopped when he heard a strange noise coming from Yusuke’s direction; it sounded like his stomach was growling. “Are you okay?” he asked, placing his phone down on the table-- had Yusuke eaten at all that day? “When’s the last time you ate something?”

 

Whenever Akira was around Yusuke, he would almost always make some remark about how hungry he was, but refused when Akira volunteered to buy him some food. It was obvious that Madarame had never let him eat very much, most likely to get him to focus on his art, and he probably didn’t have much personal savings. Akira tried to help by giving Yusuke snacks whenever he could, often ditching the Takemedics and giving him jagariko sticks and little sweets from convenience stores whenever Yusuke was hurt in the Metaverse, but they both knew that just those wouldn’t do. Knowing this, plus the fact that his friends would probably be staying at Leblanc until after dinner, he had an idea. 

 

“How about we save the planning for later and have something to eat?”

Notes:

hi, just dropping by to add another useless chapter of filler to remind everyone that this story isn't dead. sorry for the really slow updates, but i've been working on other stuff a whole lot, plus pegoryu week is soon, so this story will probably go on a short hiatus again until that's over. one of the submissions might take place in this au though, so who knows?

i wasn't originally planning on updating this tonight, which is why it's so rushed and probably doesn't flow well, but i didn't want there to be a month-long gap between chapters. it's currently 2:32am as i'm writing this and i'm very tired so i'm going to end the chapter notes here.

please comment/kudos if you enjoyed and thanks for reading!

Chapter 42: Youthful Lunch

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Despite Morgana bossing everyone around and Akira still feeling awkward about his conversation with Sojiro, the attic was feeling more lively than it ever had. 

 

Ann and Ryuji were looking over Phan-site comments, Yusuke was snacking on some potato chips Akira had given him (he felt very bad about how skinny his friend looked all the time), and Akira was busy anxiously cleaning up extra food wrappers and crumpled up pieces of paper off of the attic floor to try to make it look more presentable. Morgana seemed to be the only one to have noticed this, because he was following Akira around the room as he picked up the various pieces of garbage with a smug look on his face.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he grumbled at the cat as he tied up the garbage bag and placed it near the stairs. Morgana smirked (as well as a cat could, anyways) and flicked his tail at him. “Isn’t it obvious? You’re-”

 

He was interrupted suddenly by a loud bark of laughter from across the room. Akira didn’t have to look to know who it was; Ryuji was the only one in their group who laughed that noisily. “What is it?” he asked, turning around to see what was going on, and saw Ann and Yusuke crowded around Ryuji’s phone on the table. “What’s so funny?”

 

Much to Akira’s annoyance, instead of answering him, Ryuji just started laughing again. “Sorry, you just look so funny when you’re bein’ all serious,” he snickered. “You gotta relax a little. We’re here celebratin’, ain’t we?” 

 

“May I suggest we begin preparing the food?” Yusuke added, pushing his chair in and looking intently at him. “I do remember someone mentioning a hot pot celebration.”

 

Akira sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had completely forgotten about that. “Right,” he murmured. “I’ll go downstairs and ask Sojiro for a pot.”

 

He may have sounded disinterested, but in reality, Akira really didn’t want to have to talk to Sojiro again and make things between them more tense. Whatever. There was nothing he could do. Stop overthinking and just ask for a fucking pot. This is a restaurant, he probably has a million of them. 

 

“Sojiro?”

 

He seemed less than happy to see Akira there.

 

“What are you doing? I thought you were hanging out with your friends.”

 

Even a simple question could feel patronizing when it came from Sojiro. Akira bit his lip and clenched his fists. He couldn’t keep acting like a pussy in front of this guy. “I was just wondering if you had a pot we could borrow,” he said. “We were planning on doing hot pot…”

 

To Akira’s surprise, his face softened, and Sojiro actually smiled. “Of course,” he said, bending down and rummaging around in a cabinet under the counter, then pulling out a pot and placing it on the counter. “Here you go. Have fun up there.”




---



“Damn, she fell asleep quick…”

 

When all the food had been eaten, the sun had set and Ann had fallen asleep on the couch.

 

Ryuji had taken his jacket off and was stretching his arms and yawning, showing Akira just how toned he was, but that was to be expected, seeing that he was a former athlete, and now he was looking at him weirdly, had he been staring? Shit-

 

“It’s gotten quite late…”

 

Yusuke had broken the silence for them (thank God), shattering the tension and reminding Akira how long they had been there for. “Can you help me clean all this up?” he asked, gesturing at the various bowls and plates strewn across the table. Ryuji and Yusuke nodded, and as they followed him downstairs with the dishes, Akira felt more grateful than ever to see the café empty.

 

“May I ask you a question?” Yusuke asked, gently placing the pile of dishes in the sink. Akira shrugged.

“Yeah, what?”

 

“You know every detail of my past at this point,” he said calmly. “Might you be interested in telling me yours?”

 

Akira and Ryuji looked at each other, then nodded. “Might as well.”




---



“Dammit! No matter how many times I hear it, it still pisses me off!”

 

Akira finished telling his story.

 

Yusuke looked very troubled. “That definitely is a story to make the blood boil. The woman sounds quite horrible as well,” he added, shaking his hands dry after turning off the sink. “Do you remember their names?”

 

Akira shook his head. “They made sure to keep their names out of the trial somehow,” he murmured, frowning. The more he thought about it, the more upset it made him. “I did see the guy last month though. I ran into him at the hotel we had our celebration buffet at. But,” he added, seeing Yusuke’s eyes widen, “I couldn’t get his name. He left after I started yelling at him.”

 

He heard Ryuji laughing, but Yusuke’s frown deepened. “What?” Akira asked. “Did I say something wrong?”

 

Yusuke shook his head. “This man sounds quite powerful, but you still shouted at him in a public place,” he said. “Shouldn’t you exercise more caution around such individuals?”

 

It was silent for a moment, then Akira and Ryuji burst out laughing.

 

He couldn’t help it. That was the funniest thing he had heard since the Velvet Room twins tried hamburgers for the first time when he had taken them to Big Bang Burger the other day. “Are you serious?” he asked, trying to calm himself down by covering his mouth, but it wasn’t working. Ryuji seemed to be having the same problem, too, because he was biting down on his lip, clutching his sides in silent laughter.

 

“Dude, this is Akira you’re talkin’ to!” he said, nudging Yusuke’s arm playfully. “Did ya really expect him to care about politeness and shit like that?! You should come to our school some time, everyone’s scared of him!” He snorted and leaned back against the shelf behind the counter. “Pfft. ‘Manners’”.

 

Akira felt his face reddening. “Don’t talk about me like that. It’s like you’re trying to make me sound badass or something.” 

 

Ryuji scoffed. “C’mon, dude, quit tryin’ to be all modest!” he crowed, slapping him on the back. “You’re the coolest dude I know.”

 

“I am not-”

 

“Like, seriously, I dunno anyone cooler than you, man!” Ryuji interrupted. “You don’t let what anyone says get you down, and you just do whatever you think is cool, even hangin’ out like a loser like me-”

 

“You’re not a loser-”

 

“And we get to punish shitty people without anyone knowin’, with you as our leader! I couldn’t think of anyone else cooler!” Ryuji finished his spiel with another slap to Akira’s shoulder. “You can keep bein’ modest and humble all you want, but nothin’s gonna change how cool you are!” 

 

Akira really didn’t know where all of this praise was coming from, but at the same time, it didn’t feel bad. “I guess you’re right,” he said, moving Ryuji’s hand off his shoulder and looking at the clock. “It’s really late, huh?”

 

No one said anything. Yusuke sighed.

 

“I suppose it is.”

Notes:

hi, sorry i died. i've been busy, and also not very motivated to write. but i managed to get this chapter out, so there's that.

i bought a morgana plushie on amazon the other day and i love him. he's really big but very cuddly. he makes a nice writing companion

don't forget to comment/kudos, and thanks for reading :-)

Chapter 43: Justice This, Justice That

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Akira wanted to go home.

 

Life had been fairly uneventful after the celebratory hot pot party at Leblanc, the only major change being the weather, with the the second-years’ school field trip was today, the destination being a TV station where various talk shows were recorded, and Akira felt like he was going to die of boredom. The woman in charge of the “tour” had been going on and on about advertisements and scheduling and other incredibly obvious things related to how television worked, and her words were starting to slur together. 

 

“Dude, everyone already knows this shit already!”

“Shhh! Quiet!” 

“Get back in the bag, furball!”

 

Akira stifled a yawn and rubbed his eyes to see what was going on. Ryuji and Morgana were arguing (as usual), and he would have found it amusing if they weren’t surrounded by people. He quickly shoved Morgana into his bag and zipped it shut as he saw Ms. Kawakami turn around to look at them. She looked exhausted.

 

“I know you’re bored, but can you keep it down?” she groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. “And did I hear a cat meowing just now?” She shot a glare towards Akira and crossed her arms. “Kurusu-kun, if you want to clean up your record, I’d recommend at least looking like you’re paying attention!” 

 

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. How much time was left before they got to go home again?

 

“Hey, beautiful! Wanna be on TV?”

“Huh?!”

 

It was only when he heard Ann’s surprised yelp when Akira realized that neither she nor Ryuji were standing next to him anymore. He turned around and looked at the sea of heads to look for his friends, quickly spotting the two blondes only a few feet away. A man wearing a nametag around his neck (most likely a member of the TV station staff) was standing very close to Ann, who looked extremely uncomfortable.

 

“Ummm… I’m sorry… I’m on a school field trip…”

 

For a brief moment, Akira considered punching the guy in the face for being such a creep, but then he remembered what Kawakami said to him, so he chose instead to approach the guy from behind and tap him on the shoulder.

 

“I’d like to be on TV,” he said, biting back a laugh at the man’s confused face. “You want my number?”

 

He scowled at him. “I don’t remember asking you, ” he snapped. “You’re on this trip too, right? If you want to help so badly, then why and you and that blond one,” he jabbed his thumb in Ryuji’s direction, “help man the cameras?”

 

Akira wanted to protest, but he saw Kawakami glaring at him from a few feet away, and he knew it was useless to complain, so he resigned to helping man the cameras (which really just meant moving heavy cables) with Ryuji. 



---




“Quiet, everyone! The taping’s about to start!”

“Mr. Akechi’s coming on!”

“Coming back from commercials in 3… 2… 1…”

 

Akira leaned back in his seat and stretched. He just had to watch the rest of this show, and then it would be over. 

 

“Now, it’s time to begin the ‘Hottest Meet-and-Greet’ portion of our show!” the hostess said, showing off a gleaming smile. “Everyone, please welcome everyone’s famous high-school detective, Goro Akechi!”

 

Applause and cheers rang through the room as a boy who looked to be about Akira’s age stepped onto the stage. He was a few inches taller than him, with shoulder-length brown hair and rusty red eyes, wearing a uniform that Akira didn’t recognize and black gloves, and carrying a silver briefcase. 

 

He hadn’t even opened his mouth yet, and Akira already didn’t like him.

 

“Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us, Akechi-kun!” the hostess beamed. “You’ve become quite popular over the past few months!”

 

The boy named Akechi gave a perfectly made-for-TV smile. “It’s really no problem at all. I’m glad to be here!”

 

Akira crossed his arms and scowled. He wanted to leave more than ever.

 

“So, there’s been a recent incident that’s gathered your attention as a detective we hear?” the male host asked. Akechi nodded and gave them another smile, the audience all collectively making sounds of adoration at him. Akira just rolled his eyes.

 

“Yes, I suppose you’re talking about the scandal involving the master artist Madarame?” Akechi answered, nodding. “Along with those Phantom Thieves everyone’s been talking about. It would be fun if those rumors were true, wouldn’t it?”

 

If Akira rolled his eyes any harder, they would have fallen out of his head. 

 

The host nodded and folded his arms. “Interesting,” he said. “You don’t deny their existence outright.”

 

“Well, I must say that I stop every once in a while to think about whether or not Santa Claus exists,” Akechi laughed. “Though, if he did, I’d have to arrest him for breaking and entering.”

 

The audience began to laugh as if Akechi just told them the funniest joke in the world. Akira put his face in his hands and sighed. He would be so happy if he never had to see this stupid dork ever again.

 

“However, if the Phantom Thieves really are out there…”

 

The audience quieted down. 

 

“I think they deserve to be arrested and tried in a court of law.”

 

“Goodness!” the hostess exclaimed. “You aren’t mincing your words, are you? Do you believe their acts are criminal? There are many commentaries on the internet suggesting that Madarame’s crimes would have continued without their intervention.”

 

Akechi sighed. “Yes, Madarame’s actions were truly horrible. But arbitrarily passing judgement on him outside of the established legal system is simple vigilantism. And vigilantism is anything but true justice.”

 

I can feel my brain cells dying with every word he says.

 

“Besides, how is forcibly twisting another person’s heart to suit your own whims any less of a crime?”

 

If Akira had to listen to this idiot go on for any longer, he was going to get out of his seat and punch Akechi in the face. He was very reminiscent of the kid at school who reminded the teacher to collect the homework.

 

“You make a very good point!” the host exclaimed. “You are as fascinating as ever, Mr. Akechi! There’s just something about you that makes me want to listen to you talk forever!” 

I sure don’t.

“Hahaha! I’m flattered. Though, after my little rant, I’d be a little embarrassed to find out that the Phantom Thieves don’t exist.”

 

The hostess stood up and picked up a microphone. “In a happy coincidence, much of our audience today is composed of high-schoolers!” she exclaimed. “We conducted a poll recently, and discovered that over a third of them believe that the Phantom Thieves do exist!” She began walking towards the audience, and to Akira’s horror, stopped right next to his seat. “Why don’t we ask this young man what he thinks?”

 

She pointed the microphone at him, and he could feel the eyes of the entire audience, Akechi, and the other host on him. “Let’s presume that these Phantom Thieves do exist,” the hostess said cheerfully. “What would you think of them?” 

 

There was a pause. Akira stared straight ahead into Akechi’s eyes. 

 

“I think that they’re justice itself.”

Notes:

hi everyone! so sorry for the long hiatus on this story! i've been so busy with my other stories, as well as my job, that i've had no energy to update this. however, i did not forget that this story existed, and i felt kinda bad that i've been neglecting it, so here's an update and a reminder that i haven't abandoned it.

if you can't tell already, i think akechi is a little cunt and i want to shove him into a locker. that being said, i still hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, let me know with a kudos or comment! thanks for reading!

Chapter 44: Walking Arrogance

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

2016 9th June

 

Finally got a chance to write in here again.

The idea of me keeping a probation diary is kind of dumb, but I’ll get in trouble if I don’t keep up with it, so whatever. 

Today was the school’s Social Studies field trip, and I went to a TV station with Ann and Ryuji to watch a talk show recording. It was pretty boring, especially when the show taping actually started. Some asshole detective named Akechi was the special guest, and he was such a pretentious smart-ass about everything. I could tell that he thought he was smarter than everyone else there.

That’s not all, though. The hostess actually asked the audience a question, and I, out of all the idiots in the audience, got picked to answer. Long story short, everyone worships the ground Akechi walks on now, and everyone at school is talking about me again. Big surprise.

Nothing else really happened today except that we went to Dome Town after the field trip was over. The second part of the trip is tomorrow, and I really hope I don’t have to see that dickhead Akechi again. I want to shove him into a locker.

I really hope the probation officer skips this page.



Akira sighed as he closed the journal and put it back in his school bag. He hadn’t realized how late it had gotten since he started writing. Maybe the bathhouse was still open…

 

He yawned. There was just something about pretentious know-it-all high school detectives that really drained his energy. That, and riding roller coasters. Dome Town was actually pretty fun, thinking back on it. 

 

So why did he have such a strange feeling in his gut?

 

It didn’t matter, Akira thought as he relaxed into the bath. All he had to do tomorrow was show up for the show taping, maybe have lunch in the area, and then go home, hopefully never having to give Akechi more than two seconds of thought ever again. 





It was muggy and hot when the second-year students arrived at the TV station that morning. Akira groaned when he saw the schedule for the taping they’d be watching; another talk show, with Akechi as the guest of honor. Was there really no one else to invite?

 

The program itself wasn’t much different from the previous day’s. The hosts basically asked Akechi more of the same questions about the Phantom Thieves, to which he all replied with some smart-ass answer using big words that he probably thought made him look incredibly smart. All it really did, however, was make Akira want to run up to him and punch him in the face.

 

When the taping was over and the students began filing out of the room, Akira stood up and stretched, looking at Ryuji and Ann, who looked just as bored as he felt. Ryuji looked more angry than bored, though.

 

“Dammit!” he huffed, stuffing his hands in his pockets and kicking the ground. “I can’t stand that fuckin’ asshole! Spewin’ all his smart people shit and tryin’ to make us look like the bad guys!” 

 

Akira nodded. “I know,” he added. “Let’s get out of here.”

 

They started towards the exit, but Akira stopped a second later to tie his shoe, gesturing at the others to keep going. When he stood up and turned around, he found himself face-to-face with Goro Akechi.

 

He jumped slightly and took a step back. “What do you want?” he snapped, trying to control the anger in his voice. “You scared the shit out of me.”

 

Akechi gave a small laugh and brushed a lock of hair out of his face. “Sorry about that!” he said, smiling. “I’m glad I caught you, though. I just wanted to thank you. To paraphrase Hegel, advancement cannot occur without both thesis and antithesis!”

 

Akira blinked in surprise. “I’m sorry, but what the fuck are you talking about?”

 

To his annoyance, this just made Akechi laugh again. “My apologies! What I meant to say was that our discussion yesterday was quite meaningful.”

 

“What discussion?” Akira shot back. “I didn’t do anything except answer the host’s question.”

 

Akechi waved his hand dismissively. “Yes, but few people around me are so willing to speak their minds as freely as you did. There are too many irresponsible people nowadays. I can understand why you’d support the Phantom Thieves. It’s possible that this group is dispensing justice as you believe, and that they are acting with good intentions. Since they have special talents, I can only assume that their hearts are burning with justice and duty, but in the end, that justice is merely a facade, concealing their lack of true strength.”

 

He paused and took a breath. Akira pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, preparing for another long spiel.

 

“That’s why I believe that if they were to be cornered by a powerful opponent, they’d flee without a second thought. That’s just my opinion though,” he added, noticing Akira beginning to zone out. “What do you think?”

 

He raised his eyebrows. “You mean what do I think the Phantom Thieves would do in that situation?”

 

Akechi nodded. 

 

“I don’t think they’d even be cornered at all in the first place.”

 

He expected Akechi to be angry, but instead, he looked intrigued. This made Akira even more irritated. Does nothing piss this guy off?

 

“You really are intriguing,” Akechi said, beaming. “I bet you’d make a wonderful debate partner on the subject. If it’s alright with you-”

 

“I don’t hang out with cops,” Akira interrupted. “Sorry.”

 

He could be useful, a voice in Akira’s head suddenly interrupted. If you talk to him more, maybe you could get inside information on what the cops are up to.

 

He looked at Akechi, and noticing the look of shock on his face, felt a tiny pang of guilt. If the bastard really was such a smart-ass, he probably didn’t have a lot of friends. A few debates wouldn’t hurt…

 

“Fine,” Akira grumbled, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “If I have to.”

 

The disappointed look on Akechi’s face vanished in an instant. “Perfect!” he exclaimed, flashing another smile at him. “Would you mind giving me your contact information?”

 

“Do I have a choice?”

 

Akechi laughed, prompting the small bit of guilt Akira had felt seconds ago to be replaced once again with irritation. Why does this idiot want to talk to me so badly? Does he really have no friends? “You’ve got quite the sense of humor,” he said as they exchanged numbers. “I look forward to more of these enlightening discussions with you!”

 

I sure don’t.



Notes:

hello all! welcome to the second "akechi sucks and i hate him" chapter!!!!

in case you haven't noticed already, i can't stand that rat bastard or his stupid hegel quotes. writing this chapter was really fun because i got to make akira say all of the things i wanted to say during that scene. anyways, i hope you liked the chapter, and if you did, please leave a comment/kudos. thanks!

Chapter 45: Price

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

In the days following the TV station field trip, Akira began to feel strange whenever he left school.

 

He did almost the same thing every day; he said goodbye to Ryuji and Ann when he got off the train, ordered a melon pan or fruit danish from the bakery outside the station, took the train back to Yongen-Jaya, then hang out with Takemi or make coffee until he decided to stop neglecting his homework. Although nothing was stopping him from doing these things, there was a certain feeling beginning to creep up on him when he exited Shujin’s front gates, and it didn’t take long for him to figure out where it was coming from.

 

He was being followed. 

 

Akira didn’t know her name, but he did know that the third-year girl following him around and reading a manga upside-down appearing to look busy seemed to really want to know what he was doing, no matter where he went. At first, he thought it was a coincidence that they ended up in the same areas after school, thinking that maybe she lived nearby, but that was quickly ruled out, because if she lived nearby, then they definitely would have said something to each other by now. Clearly she was watching him, but why? Was she waiting for him to do something that he could get in trouble for? What did she want?

 

On the third day, Akira decided he would ask.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

He tried to be as polite and non-threatening as possible, but the girl still seemed to have a heart attack when Akira tapped her on the shoulder in front of the student council room. Her crimson eyes were the size of dinner plates as she whirled around and stared at him, dropping the upside-down manga on the floor. “W-w-what is it? What do you want?!” she stammered, bending down to pick up the book, but dropping it again when she made eye contact with him. “The transf- I mean, Kurusu-kun! Shouldn’t you be in class right now?”

 

Akira shook his head. “I was on my way to lunch,” he said. “I just wanted to know why you’ve been following me everywhere for the past few days.”

 

The girl couldn’t have looked more shocked.

 

“Wh-what are you talking about?!” she spluttered. “I haven’t been following you, I mean, yes, I have been in the same place as you multiple times these past few days, but I can assure y-”

 

“Are you gonna tell me why you’ve been following me around or not?”

 

It sounded awful, but the girl’s shock and confusion at Akira interrupting her was kind of funny. He watched as she stuffed the manga into her school bag and straightened herself up, blushing furiously. “Lunch period will be over soon, you know,” she said, an icy tone suddenly taking over her voice. “You should get going.”

 

With that, she turned around, went into the student council room, and slammed the door behind her.



---



“Dammit! I fuckin’ hate that Akechi bastard!”

 

THUD.

 

Ryuji banged his fist against the vending machine angrily. Akira said nothing.

 

After his unsuccessful attempt to get answers from his new stalker, Akira met up with Ryuji and Ann in the courtyard for lunch. He hadn’t even taken the plastic wrap off of his jam bread when he heard Ryuji’s outburst.

 

“I agree,” Akira said, crumpling up the plastic and tossing it at the garbage can next to the machine. “Everyone won’t stop talking about him. I can’t stand it.”

 

Ryuji sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “That shit he said about us the other day pissed me off so much,” he grumbled. “As if bein’ a total smart-ass piece of shit cop is better than what we do. He thinks he’s so much better than us ‘cause of his ‘justice’ or whatever bulshit he was spewin’.”

 

“I want to know why he mentioned the police,” Ann added. “It’s not like they can arrest us or anything.”

 

Akira nodded. “I think he just wanted to scare us. There’s nothing he can do without proof,” he said. “That being said, I still wish everyone would shut up about him already.” He took a bite of his jam bread and looked at Ryuji and Ann. “You think finding a new target would change the subject?”

 

Ryuji’s face lit up, but Ann frowned. “That’s a good idea, but maybe we should talk about this after school,” she said. “Didn’t you say you were being followed?”

“Yeah, but I still think-”

“Having fun?”

 

A new voice suddenly cut through the air, causing Akira’s stomach to drop.

 

It was the girl from earlier, except this time, she was holding up her phone, with an extremely smug look on her face.

 

“Niijima-senpai?! What are you doing here?!” Ann exclaimed.

 

The girl called Niijima folded her arms and frowned. “You all seem to be having so much fun,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m almost jealous.”

 

Knowing that it would be a bad idea to interrupt and ask who the Niijima girl was, Akira pulled out his phone and texted Ryuji. 

 

Akira: Who is she

Akira: The girl ann is arguing with

Ryuji: Makoto Niijima

Ryuji: She’s the student council president

Akira: Fuck

Ryuji: Is she the one who’s been followin you around?

Akira: Yes

 

“...from the conversation you’ve been having, I think it’s safe to assume that you three are the Phantom Thieves, correct?”

 

Akira’s blood ran cold.

 

The girl named Makoto sounded and looked extremely pleased with herself as she watched them realizing what she had just said. “I don’t think the police would be very happy to hear this, would they?”

 

If there was any color left in Akira’s face, it would have been drained completely. What was he supposed to do?! How long had she been recording them for? Had she even been recording them at all, or was she trying to scare them like Akechi had? Why did she have such a smug look on her face?!

 

The silence was unbearable. Ryuji looked furious. Ann looked like someone had just slapped her in the face. Akira was suddenly aware of the fact that he had been clenching his fists, because his fingernails were beginning to dig into his skin. However, even in the uncomfortable silence, Makoto seemed completely unbothered. In fact, she seemed to be having fun. 

 

Smirking, she held up her phone. “Let’s make a deal, shall we?” 




Notes:

hey everyone. as much as i'd like to say that i've been absent because i've been working on some huge secret project, that's sadly not the case. i'm sorry for being gone and not updating for so long. i'm dealing with some serious burnout rn. that being said, i still hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, leave a comment or a kudos, yeah? thanks for reading!

Chapter 46: Risky Move

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“What do you want?” Ryuji spat. 

 

The girl still looked completely unbothered.

 

“I have video evidence of you three admitting to being the Phantom Thieves,” she said. “That being said, I’ll delete it if you do me a favor.”

 

Akira raised his eyebrows. “A favor?”

 

She nodded. “There is a heart I’d like for you to steal.” Before any of them could say anything, she continued. “Meet me on the roof after school tomorrow. I’ll give you more details then.”

 

With that, she turned around and left.

---



2016 June 12th 14:01

 

Ryuji: WTF are we supposed to do about that Niijima chick?! She’s totally got us backed into a corner!

Ann: I’m concerned, too…

Akira: I’m still trying to figure something out

Akira: I think we should at least listen to what she has to say

Ryuji: What if it’s a trap?! 

Ann: There’s nothing else we can do…

Akira: That’s true. If we don’t talk to her tomorrow she’s definitely gonna rat us out

Akira: Let’s not forget to tell yusuke this too

Ryuji: Right! I’ll text him right now!

Ann: Focus on class!

Ryuji: How am I supposed to do that with Miss President’s threat hangin’ over my head?!

Akira: Ditto

Ann: If you guys get in trouble for texting during class, I get to say “I told you so”!

Ryuji: Fine....



---



“We’re fucked!”

 

It took immense amounts of self-control, but Akira was able to wait until the school day was over to let his feelings out. 

 

He was sitting in a fairly secluded area of Inokashira park, slumped against a tree, his head in his hands. Morgana was curled up in a sunny spot a few feet away, wearing an incredibly smug look on his face.

 

“None of this would have happened if you guys hadn’t opened your big fat mouths,” he said, yawning. “You really need to be more careful!”

 

Akira ignored him. “What am I supposed to do if she shows that to the principal?! The cops?!” he groaned, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. “Ryuji and Ann are gonna be in so much trouble and it’s all because of me!” 

 

Morgana looked up at him and frowned. “Are you finished having your pity party yet?” he snapped. “I know you’re stressed, but you need to think of a plan!” 

 

“How am I supposed to think of a way out of this if I don’t even know who her supposed target is?” Akira retorted, lighting a cigarette. “There’s no way this isn’t a trap of some sort!”

 

“Calm down!” Morgana hissed at him. “What other options do we have other than to do what she says?!”

 

“God, I don’t know!”

“Try to think of something! You are the leader, after all!”

“Maybe we could hide in Mementos until she forgets about us?”

“Are you stupid?!”

“That was all I could think of!”

“You’re hopeless!”

 

Akira groaned and leaned back against the tree. He supposed that Morgana was right; they really had no other options besides accepting Makoto’s request. It was either that, or explain everything to Sojiro and get kicked out. 

 

“Fine,” he grumbled, getting up and stretching while Morgana jumped into his bag. “If there’s really no other way.”

 

Although he couldn’t see the cat’s face, Akira knew that Morgana was smirking.

---



Akira spent the rest of the day helping Sojiro at Leblanc. It was easy to hide his anxiety about Makoto’s threat when he was doing dishes and listening to the tabloid shows that Sojiro played on the TV. The overexaggerated stories were a nice distraction from everything, and he was even able to forget about the student council president for a while as he listened to the customers talk to each other.

 

It took him forever to fall asleep that night, however, and when Akira eventually did slip into unconsciousness, he woke up almost immediately afterwards to the sound of chains clanking and two annoyed voices-- Damn it.

 

He was back in the Velvet Room.

 

“It seems like you’ve gotten yourself into quite the pickle, Inmate!” Caroline said, smirking as she watched him stumble towards the cell door. “What are you gonna do about it?”

 

Akira frowned. “I thought you two were supposed to be helping me,” he said. “Unless making fun of me is your idea of ‘help’.”

 

Both Caroline and Justine started yelling angrily, but Akira saw Igor raise his hand slightly, and they stopped. He felt his blood run cold as Igor stared at him; that long nose and those beady eyes still gave him the creeps. 

 

“Insensitive as they may be, Caroline and Justine are correct,” Igor said. Akira shuddered at his gravelly voice. “You must tread carefully, as one wrong step could send you to your downfall.”

 

Akira glared at him. “Yeah, I know,” he shot back, earning himself a smack on the fingers from Caroline’s baton. “I don’t need you reminding me how fucked I’ll be if I mess this up.”

 

Don’t you speak to our master that w-”

 

Caroline smacked her baton against the bars again, her face red with anger, but Igor interrupted her again. To Akira’s immense confusion, he was laughing as if he had just been told the funniest joke in the world.

 

“Your rebellious spirit is still flourishing,” he mused, folding his hands on the desk and leaning forward. “Yes… I look forward to witnessing your journey even more.”

 

As he spoke the last word, a loud alarm suddenly began to blare. Akira groaned. “Time’s up, Inmate!” Caroline spat. “Go back to your world!”

 

Akira’s view began to darken. The sounds of the Velvet Room were beginning to fade. He could feel himself becoming incredibly tired, as if he had just run a mile. 

 

He dreamed of the rainy school roof all night. 

Notes:

hey y'all!

apologies for the short chapter and lack of updates. still fighting that writer's block, but i wanted to give you guys something, and i also really don't want to give up on this fic, because it's probably the most effort i've ever put into a writing project. i've gotten this far, and i can't just quit! that being said, even though this chapter is hella short, i still hope you liked it!

please leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thanks for reading!

Chapter 47: Ultimatum

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

---



“Why don’t you ever listen to us?!”

 

Akira sat at the kitchen table, glaring up at his extremely angry parents.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he shot back. “I told you, I slipped and fell when I was walking home from school because the roads were so slippery from the rain.” Akira brushed a wet lock of hair away from his eyes and continued scowling. His parents’ expressions did not change.

 

“It sure as hell doesn’t look like you slipped and fell in the rain to me,” his father snapped. “You got in a fight again, didn’t you?!”

 

Akira crossed his arms. “And if I did?”

 

His father looked like he had just been smacked in the face.

 

“This is the third time you’ve been brought home by the police this month! Do you care about your future at all?! You know what happens to people who spend their entire lives picking fights and getting in trouble, don’t you?!”

 

“I don’t spend my ‘whole life’ picking fights!” Akira shot back. “Why should I care, anyways?! It’s not like you would support me!”

 

“We’d support you more if you did more than just piss off the local police department and get into petty fights!” his mother argued. “Why can’t you just listen?!”

“Because you never listen to my side of the story! If you just believed me-”

 

“God damn it Akira, we are not having this argument again!” his father yelled. “We raised you better than this! If you keep this shit up, you’re gonna end up in prison or on the streets!”

 

“I don’t care,” Akira snapped. “It doesn’t matter what I do or where I go! You two wouldn’t give a shit! In fact, you’d be happy if I was gone!”

 

Before either of his parents could say anything, Akira stood up, left the kitchen, and ran upstairs to his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. 

 

It’s not me, it’s them, he thought furiously to himself. They don’t know anything. They’ll never understand. I didn’t do anything wrong.



---



Akira’s parents’ words echoed in his head as he climbed the stairs to the school roof. 

 

It wasn’t only physical fights that could get him into trouble. If he started an argument with the student council president, he’d certainly be expelled from the school and stuck on the streets for the rest of his probation. Well, maybe Ryuji would let him sleep on his couch. But that wasn’t important. 

 

“Be careful,” Morgana whispered in Akira’s ear as he began opening the door to the roof. “She’s a sharp one.”

“I know,” he murmured back. With trepidation, he pushed the door open, preparing for the worst.

 

Makoto Niijima was standing in the center of the roof, arms crossed and scowling at him. “You actually showed up,” she said as Akira approached her. “I was thinking you wouldn’t show.”

 

Standing behind her were Ann and Ryuji, both looking nervous. “Can we just get this over with already?” Ann asked. “Who is it that you want us to go after, Niijima-senpai?”

 

Akira leaned against one of the desks and placed his bag down next to him. He half expected Makoto to say that she didn’t actually have a request at all, and that she was going to rat them out just because he was late, but she didn’t. Her face was more serious now, and there wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in her voice when she spoke.

 

“A mafia boss,” she replied, ignoring Ann and Ryuji’s gasps. “Recently, many members of our student body have fallen victim to dangerous scams being presented to them as ‘easy part-time jobs’. This group of criminals is stealing money from students, and they’re starting to depend on me to try and stop it.” 

 

“What’s their name?” Akira asked, taking out his phone. “We can’t go after them unless we get their name.”

 

Makoto frowned. “Nobody knows,” she said. “I don’t think that’ll be too much of a problem for you three however, considering what you pulled off with Madarame and Mr. Kamoshida.”

 

Akira bit his lip. She had them completely cornered. The only option was to do as she said, and he hated it. 

 

“Fine,” he said, hiding a clenched fist in his pocket. “Give us two weeks.”

 

Makoto looked incredibly pleased. “I’m glad to hear that you’re willing to cooperate. You’ll want to look around in Shibuya if you want more information. Good luck.”

 

With that, she turned around and left, slamming the door to the stairs behind her.



---

 

“Dude, this is bad! Really bad!”

 

Ryuji didn’t even wait for the door to close before speaking.

 

“If she rats us out, we’re done for! Especially Akira!”

 

Morgana popped his head out of Akira’s bag and scowled at Ryuji. “We know already! Instead of freaking out, we should come up with a plan!” The cat jumped out of the bag and stretched, looking up at them. “Got any ideas?”

 

His bossy tone would have made Akira annoyed if he wasn’t so anxious. “You really expect me to come up with a plan that quickly?!” he snapped. “All I can think of right now is going to Shibuya and asking around for members of the fucking mafia!”

 

“Calm down!” Ann interjected. She sounded angry, but Akira knew that she was just as scared as he was. “Your yelling is only going to draw more attention to us! Not only that, but we need to tell Yusuke about this before we do anything else!”

 

It was silent for a moment. Ann was right, they couldn’t make any progress without the entire team there. Going home seemed like the best option for the time being. “She’s right,” Akira said, bending down to scoop up Morgana and putting him back in the bag, ignoring the cat’s cries of indignation as he prepared to leave. “We should all go home for now. I’ll let Yusuke know what happened, and we can move on from there.” He paused and looked at Ann and Ryuji. “Any objections?”

 

They shook their heads. 

 

“Good,” he said as he turned to leave, trying to ignore the anxious feeling growing in his chest. “See you tomorrow.”

 

Hopefully with my sanity still intact.

Notes:

hey everyone!

i am so, so sorry for the incredibly long hiatus i've taken. first i had writers' block, then a lot of personal shit went down that i'd rather not get into, then smt v came out and took over my brain, but i finally managed to finish one (1) chapter. it's bad, i know, but at least it's something.

this akira is becoming more and more angsty and edgy. he absolutely listens to my chemical romance. anyways, thanks for reading, and please leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed!

Chapter 48: I Could Learn To Pity Fools (As I’m The Worst Of All)

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Makoto Niijima was not a stupid girl.

 

She was the president of Shujin Academy’s student council, top of the class in every subject, sharp, observant, and a quick learner. It seemed there was nothing that could break her or leave her without answers.

 

At least until Kurusu Akira showed up.

 

She’d heard the rumors. She’d seen his criminal record (by accident, of course, when Kamoshida leaked it to the student body), and while Makoto disliked gossip, she had to admit that some of the rumors weren’t all that far-fetched. She hated admitting it, but she felt slightly frightened by him. Honestly though, who didn’t? Kurusu slept in class, talked back to teachers, smoked cigarettes on the school roof, and was best friends with Sakamoto, who was well-known for being a troublemaker. Despite this, he had decent grades and attendance, as did Sakamoto… It was a wonder how neither of them had been suspended or expelled yet.

 

When Principal Kobayakawa told Makoto to “keep an eye on the transfer student”, she’d originally scoffed at the idea. Tailing a student just because they might be dangerous was an invasion of that student’s privacy, and overall just not a smart thing to do. However, Makoto found herself increasingly infatuated with Kurusu ever since the first time she followed him home from school (at a mostly unassuming distance, of course). She was normally very good at picking up on patterns and figuring people out. Determining whether or not he was worth being suspicious of was going to be a piece of cake.

 

It was not.

 

When the final bell rings and classes are dismissed, Makoto goes to the second floor and makes small talk with the president of the newspaper club while she watches the students of Class 2-D leave for the day. Sometimes Kurusu leaves quickly, and other times he waits by the stairs until Sakamoto shows up, and they leave together. She follows, still at a respectable distance, hiding behind a manga she’s been carrying around, trying her hardest to blend in with the crowd.

 

There are many places Kurusu goes after school. He goes to the underground mall in Shibuya, to play darts and billiards in Kichijoji, to a clinic tucked away in the back alleys of Yongen-jaya. Sometimes he meets up with Sakamoto, Takamaki, and a blue-haired boy whose name Makoto did not know in the accessway between the Ginza line and the station square. Other times, he’ll stop at a café near the clinic in Yongen and stay there for the rest of the day. 

 

He was truly unpredictable.




—-



Akira really had no idea what he was going to do.

 

He had two weeks to find out the name of a criminal that not even the police knew, break into their Palace, and steal their Treasure, and that was only if Akira was able to obtain this information without getting caught up in the business of the actual mafia. 

 

Akira leaned back in his seat as he listened to the sounds of the subway, trying to find something, anything to distract himself from the stress of the situation.

 

A second later, his phone buzzed.



2016 June 13th 16:02

 

Akechi: Good afternoon. 

Akechi: Might you be available to hang out tonight?



Great. As if things weren’t already terrible, now Akechi was texting him.

 

“Tell him no,” Morgana whispered in Akira’s ear from over his shoulder. “We need to let Yusuke know what’s going on and figure out a plan.”

 

“I was going to do that anyways,” he hissed back, pushing Morgana’s head back into his bag. “Even if I wasn’t being threatened by the student council president, I’d still say no.”

 

Akira: Sorry I can’t make it. Im meeting up with some friends later

 

Please don’t reply, he thought, stuffing the phone back into his pocket, but it wasn’t even ten seconds before he got a response;

 

Akechi: Oh, that’s fine! I didn’t know you had plans.

Akechi: Must be nice.

 

I’m going to regret this.

 

Akira: What

Akechi: Pardon?

 

Can you talk like a normal fucking person, please?

 

Akira: What did you mean by “must be nice”

Akechi: Oh! I meant that it must be nice to have so many friends that it becomes difficult to make plans.

 

How the fuck was he supposed to respond to that?

 

Akira: Sorry to hear that dude

Akira: I have to go, talk to you later

 

He didn’t look at his phone again until he got home.



—-



“So what are we going to do about Niijima?”

 

Akira tucked his cigarette behind his ear and ran his hands through his hair.

 

He had just finished telling Yusuke everything over the phone, and was now staring at his homework, as if maybe if he looked at it hard enough, it would disappear. The last thing he wanted to do right now was do any more talking, especially about Niijima’s ultimatum, but he knew that ignoring it wasn’t going to do anything to help. Plus, even if he tried, he knew Morgana wouldn’t let him.

 

“We don’t have any choice,” Akira said shortly, leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling, “We’ll have to do some poking around so we can find this fucker.”

 

He heard Morgana jump down from the desk and begin to pace around the room. “Lady Ann said that she knows some girls who hang around in Shibuya that she’d ask for information,” he said. “Ryuji said he’d do some looking around on the internet, too, remember?”

 

The mention of his friends’ efforts to help made Akira feel a very small bit better. “Yeah, I do,” he said. “I know we’re probably gonna be fine, I just….”

 

He paused, expecting Morgana to finish his sentence for him. When he didn’t, he continued.

 

“I’m scared that she’ll rat us out. The cops will come and I’ll be in massive trouble…. Ann and Ryuji and Yusuke too…” Akira paused again, taking a long drag on his cigarette. “They’ll all be in so much shit, because of me…”

 

He felt Morgana rubbing up against his legs. “That’s not gonna happen,” he said. “You know that.”

 

Akira sighed. “I know. I know…”

 

He suddenly felt mad at himself. He was the leader. It shouldn’t be this difficult to figure out a simple plan, even if it was a high-stakes one. All they needed to do was find information, right? Akira had two weeks to find the name of this guy, and with all of the training he and the others had been doing in Mementos lately, getting through the Palace (when they eventually figured out the keywords for it) would be a walk in the park. They’d be fine.

 

Right?

Notes:

hey everyone! welcome to this month’s chapter!

my writer’s block has been kicking my ass these past few months but i’m trying really hard to overcome it because i know a lot of people really like these stories, which is still unbelievable to me. speaking of which, thanks so much for 500 kudos on this story! it really means the world to me that so many people enjoy my writing, so yeah. thank you all from the bottom of my heart ❤️

please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thanks for reading!

Chapter 49: Encounter

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

It had only been three days, and Akira’s back was already against the wall.

 

He and the other Thieves had spent an entire day in Shibuya trying to get information on the mafia boss, but all they had managed to scrape together was that the guy’s recruiters liked hanging around near the gym on Central Street, and that Makoto Niijima was incredibly fucking nosy.

 

Even after she had forced Akira to tell her the truth about the Phantom Thieves and threatened him, she still followed him seemingly everywhere, and his little scavenger hunt around Shibuya was no exception. When he finally asked her why she wouldn’t leave him alone, she skirted around the question until they were interrupted by a shady-looking person asking if they wanted an “easy part-time job”. 

 

“I bet that’s a member of the mafia we’re looking for!” Makoto hissed, stepping closer to Akira. Was she scared of the guy? She couldn’t be! Not after acting so high-and-mighty towards him just a few minutes ago!

 

Akira ignored her and stared at the stranger. “I’m not interested,” he spat. “Fuck off.”

 

The man looked slightly taken aback, but only for a second. “Fine,” he murmured, turning away. “Fuckin-“

 

“Wait!” Makoto yelled suddenly, startling both Akira and the stranger. Although he had just been told to get lost, the strange man seemed to have a brief moment of camaraderie with Akira, then looking at each other in confusion before looking back at Makoto, who looked scared and confused. It was clear that she hadn’t expected the man to actually stop for her.

 

It seemed to take a second for Makoto to realize that Akira and the stranger actually wanted her to say something, because she was silent for a good ten seconds before she spoke again. “Um… I meant to ask! What’s this part-time job about?” 

 

The man scowled at her. “Why should I tell you?” he snapped. “We don’t need some prissy little good girl doing work for us. You’d be useless.”

 

What he said seemed to have struck a nerve in Makoto, because she suddenly straightened herself and gripped her bag a little tighter. “If you don’t want to tell me more about it, I could ask your boss instead,” she said casually. “How does that sound?”

 

Makoto had been right about one thing; the stranger was definitely a member of the mafia they were looking for, because his expression soured even further at the mention of his boss. “Someone like you ain’t worth his time,” he said. “Now, run home if you know what’s good for you.”

 

With that, he turned away and left. “What a waste of time,” Akira murmured as he started to leave. “Now I’m back to square one.” 

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help,” Makoto said quietly. “At least we know where to find those recruiters…” 

 

Akira sighed. Talking to Makoto was almost as exhausting as talking to Akechi. “Listen,” he said, turning around to face her. “I don’t want to be rude, considering how easy it would be for you to get me arrested, but I really don’t need your help.”

 

Not wanting to waste any more time in the alleyway, Akira left. He had felt somewhat confident a few seconds ago, but there was a slightly guilty feeling in his chest similar to how he had felt when he met Akechi. Makoto didn’t seem to have a lot of friends, despite being the student council president, and maybe she really had been trying to help him. 

 

He shook his head. That didn’t matter right now. What mattered was that Akira had wasted yet another day looking for this mafia boss, and his time was running out.






“Aw, for real!? We didn’t get anything?!”

 

It was hard to hear Ryuji over the music coming from the front.

 

After the encounter with one of the mafia members, Akira and the other Thieves met up at a karaoke bar in Shibuya after school to discuss their next move. They were really running out of options, and the prospect of being reported to the police was becoming more and more likely with each passing day. Morgana suggested the karaoke bar as a place to meet up without drawing any suspicions, but…

 

“God, they suck!”

 

Ryuji scowled. “We’re gettin’ nowhere with this… Can’t we just ask Miss President to change the target?” 

 

Akira shook his head. “No,” he said. “I know there’s a whole world of assholes we could choose from, but this is an actual criminal we’re going up against. The cops can’t even catch this guy.” He paused to take a sip of his drink. “Besides, I doubt she’d let us pick someone else, anyways.”

 

The other Thieves nodded in agreement, except Morgana, who looked smug. “You just want to be able to shut Akechi up,” he smirked. “He won’t be able to say anything if the Phantom Thieves take down a real criminal.”

 

Akira felt his face going red as the others laughed. What Morgana said definitely wasn’t a lie, he had been stewing over Akechi’s comments about them ever since the field trip, but there were other reasons, too. A new Palace, new Shadows, more challenging battles, coupled with the satisfaction of putting society’s trash in its place was more than enough to motivate Akira to keep going. 

 

“It all comes down to intel in the end,” Ann said, absentmindedly fidgeting with a napkin. “We’re not finding anything because we don’t have good enough connections.” 

 

Yusuke frowned at her. “What kinds of ‘connections’ would you expect high school students to have besides a part-time job or the school newspaper?”

 

Akira could hear Ann arguing back, but he wasn’t paying attention. Something Yusuke said gave him an idea, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. Intel. Connections. School newspaper. The news-

 

That was it. The news. He suddenly remembered the woman who had been hanging out near Madarame’s house that had given him her information, she was a journalist, and he still had the business card she had given him–! 

 

Akira started digging around in his school bag, ignoring the bickering from his friends, god, where the hell is it?! He didn’t even notice their arguing dying down until he finally found what he was looking for tucked between the folds of a map of the Shibuya underground. Turning back to look at them, Akira placed the card on the table as if he had just won a high-stakes card game at a casino, a hopeful feeling growing in his chest as he spoke;

 

“I think I know someone who can help.”

Notes:

hello, and happy late valentine's day everyone!

time for this month's chapter! i'm hoping to maybe get in another chapter before the month is over, because i REALLY want to improve the scene where akira and ryuji go to shinjuku for the first time, so look forward to that. anyways, i don't really have much to say here except please leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading!!!

Chapter 50: Shinjuku

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

As Ann, Yusuke, Morgana and Ryuji all leaned in to look at the card their eyes widened. 

 

“That’s that journalist we ran into who was sneaking around Madarame’s house!” Ryuji said with a gasp. “You seriously kept her business card?”

 

Akira shrugged. “Not on purpose.” In truth, he had completely forgotten about it until two minutes ago, and if it weren’t for the dilemma he was stuck in, he would have thrown it out. 

 

“Maiasa Newspaper?” Yusuke read aloud, looking closely at the card, “That’s a very popular publication.”

 

Ann nodded fervently. “You should call them! If they don’t have answers, they might be able to at least give us some clues!” 

 

Akira picked up the card and put the number into his phone, but didn’t call. “I don’t want to call them here,” he said. “It’s too loud.”

 

“That’s fine,” Ann said, looking at her phone. “Our time’s up, anyways. We should get going.”




—-



Akira waited until Sojiro went home to call the reporter.

 

“Hey there! You’ve reached Ichiko Ohya for Maiasa Newspaper! Leave a message!”

 

Damn it.

 

He sighed.

 

“Hey, I’m not sure if you remember, but you gave me your business card a few weeks ago telling me to call you if I had any information to give you… um…”

 

He paused and looked at Morgana, who rolled his eyes and mouthed something at him. “I can’t read cat lips!” Akira hissed, covering up the phone and leaning towards the cat, who flicked his tail irritatedly and jumped off the table. Akira wanted to run after him, but he still needed to finish the message!

 

“Anyways, I, uh, wanted to meet up with you to discuss it, because there’s some information I need, and I remembered your business card, so…”

 

Every pause he took made him want to kick himself more and more.

 

“Thanks in advance. Bye.”

 

That could have gone a lot better.






To Akira’s surprise, it took the reporter less than a day to respond to him. It was during lunch when he received a text from her, which he was grateful for, because the last thing he wanted to do was make another phone call.



Ohya: Hey there! Thanks for the call!

Ohya: I can get you the info you need, but I’ll need you to do me a favor in return.

Ohya: Can you meet me at the Crossroads bar in Shinjuku tonight at 8? 

 

Akira felt a slight twinge of excitement in his chest. He’d been wanting to go to Shinjuku ever since he arrived in Tokyo, and now he had a legit reason to go. A meetup at a bar in Shinjuku at night. It was every “bad kid”’s dream.

 

Akira: Sure, thanks

Ohya: Awesome! I’ll see you then!





“A meetup in Shinjuku? At a bar at night?!”

 

Everyone looked shocked, but Ann sounded the most indignant.

 

Akira shrugged. “I’m not going to any of the seedy clubs or anything,” he said. “I just need to meet up with the reporter and that’ll be all.” He paused. “Maybe I’ll stick around and see a movie.”

 

Ann glared at him. “Don’t treat this like it’s some kind of joke! You could get in real trouble there!”

 

Akira liked Ann very much, but he would give anything to tell her to shut up. What was she, his mother? “I appreciate the concern, but I’ll be fine,” he said firmly. “Besides, this might be the only way we can get the name of that mafia asshole.”

 

Ryuji and Yusuke nodded. “I’ll go with him,” Ryuji offered. “Buddy system, right? We won’t get in trouble, promise.”

 

Ann folded her arms and frowned. “Fine, but if I see you guys on the news tonight…”





Shinjuku was very bright.

 

It was easy to forget that it was nighttime with all of the buildings being covered in lights. The streets were lined with club promoters and hosts, a few cops, a fortune teller, and a door to the Velvet Room (Justine narrowed her eyes at Akira as he walked past).

 

“Here we are,” Ryuji breathed. “Ya ready?”

 

Akira nodded, but Morgana suddenly poked his head out of the bag and glowered at Ryuji. “Why are you still in your uniform?!” he hissed. “You’re gonna be in deep trouble if the cops find out that you two are high school students!”

 

Normally, Akira hated when Morgana berated Ryuji for insignificant things, but not this time. He had been right; the Shujin uniform pants made Ryuji stick out like a sore thumb, and with the school being featured on the news back when the Kamoshida scandal happened, pretty much everyone in Tokyo knew what a Shujin uniform looked like. 

 

“Let’s just get going,” Akira said. He noticed a cop a few feet away beginning to stare at them, and he did not want to explain to Sojiro why he had been caught hanging around in Shinjuku at night. “The bar should be up ahead.”

 

He pushed Morgana back into his bag and briskly walked past the cop, Ryuji jogging along. The businesses they passed seemed normal for Shinjuku; clubs, shops promoting “adult videos”, and bars, but none of them looked like the one he was looking for…

 

Never mind. There it was.

 

The Crossroads bar was small, sandwiched in between a flower shop and a convenience store, with a crooked pink neon sign reading “CROSSROADS” hanging above the door. “This looks like the place,” Ryuji murmured, kicking the ground. “Go in, dude. They’re gonna kick my ass if they see me in my uniform.”

 

Akira felt a slight pang of guilt at that. He could tell that Ryuji had been wanting to go in with him, but…

 

“I’ll be done in like, ten minutes,” he said. “I’ll meet you by the movie theater.”

 

Akira watched Ryuji walk away for a second to make sure he wasn’t being followed, then turned back around to face the bar. It’ll just be a quick chat with the reporter, he told himself as he reached for the door. Nothing to be scared of.

 

Let’s do this.

Notes:

hey everyone! welcome back to another chapter!!!

disclaimer: this'll probably be the last chapter you'll get for this story for a long time. p4au is in 2 days and i'm SUPER excited to play it, so that'll definitely be taking over my brain for a while. maybe it'll finally get me to write that crossover for my other au that i've been considering. anyways, please comment/kudos if you enjoyed! thanks for reading!

Chapter 51: City Lights

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Crossroads was very pink.

 

The first thing Akira saw when he entered the bar was the reporter sitting at the counter and chatting with the bartender; a drag queen with short purple hair and wearing lots of makeup. Other than that, the bar was empty. 

 

“Hey!” the bartender called out to Akira as he closed the door behind him. “How old are you, boy?”

 

The reporter (Ohya, right?) giggled. “Sorry, Lala-chan! He’s with me!” She slid off the barstool and smiled at him. “Follow me to the back! I’ll treat you to some water!”

 

Akira was mostly silent as he followed the reporter to the seats in the back of the bar. The place was much cleaner than he expected it to be, and the atmosphere was oddly relaxing. Still, he couldn’t stay for long. As much as he wanted to explore Shinjuku some more, the amount of cops hanging around made him nervous. 

 

“Here you go!” the reporter chirped as she slid a glass of water towards him and sat down. “So, tell me! What kind of information are you after?”

 

Right. This was the hard part. How was Akira supposed to explain that he needed the name of a powerful mafia boss in order to avoid being reported to the police for being the Phantom Thieves’ leader? He didn’t have any believable excuses, but Ohya was staring at him expectantly, so he had to say something…

 

“I’m looking into why Shibuya’s dangerous nowadays,” he finally said. “A lot of people from my school are being caught up in some dangerous scams, and I’d like to know what kinds of people to avoid.” He took a sip of water and watched Ohya think for a minute, feeling slightly anxious. Had he been too specific, or was she just drunk?

 

“You want to know who’s behind the drug trafficking in Shibuya?” she replied. Akira nodded, and she suddenly frowned. “What, are you gonna try to take it down all by yourself? That’d be suicide!”

 

Akira took another sip of his water. “Not exactly, I just need information.” It was clear that she thought he was some idiot high school kid trying to play hero, and if that continued, the chances of him getting that name were going to be well below zero. “I won’t try anything dangerous,” he added. 

 

Ohya looked slightly skeptical for a second, but then shrugged and leaned back in her seat. “Alright. I’ll tell you. I’m gonna need something from you in return, though.” 

 

Great. How could he be so stupid to assume that she’d just give him the information for free? It wasn’t like he was low on money (he had the Metaverse to thank for that), but still…

 

“How much do you want?” Akira grumbled as he dug around in his bag for his wallet. He heard Ohya laugh as he pulled the money out and started counting. “Don’t be silly!” she giggled. “All I need from you is some intel.”

 

Akira didn’t know if he should be confused about what she meant or embarrassed about what had just happened. “About what?” he asked. There wasn’t much he’d be able to help her with, considering how he was just a high school student, but he’d been at this bar for much longer than he’d anticipated, and he still didn’t have the mafia boss’ name…

 

“I’ve been looking for intel that can help me with an article I’m working on about the Kamoshida case,” Ohya replied. “You’re a Shujin student, right? Is there anyone you know that experienced it firsthand that I could get in touch with?” 

 

Well, that would be easy. Akira remembered Mishima enthusiastically telling him about how he wished he could be a bigger help to the Phantom Thieves, and he sounded exactly like the kind of person that Ohya was looking for. “I think I know someone like that,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll be happy to give you an interview.

 

Ohya’s face lit up. “Really?! Great!” She waited as Akira sent her Mishima's contact information, then leaned in closer to him. “Consider this as payment for helping me,” she whispered. “Junya Kaneshiro. That’s the guy you’re looking for.”

 

Akira felt strange as he thanked her and left the bar. Junya Kaneshiro. They had a name. They could move forward. All he had to worry about now was figuring out the Palace’s keywords, and from there on, it would be business as usual. 



2016 May 18th 20:32

 

Akira: Just finished at crossroads

Ryuji: That was fast, man! Did you get the name?

Akira: Yes

Akira: I’ll let you and the others know tomorrow

Akira: It would be bad if we started talking about it right now

Ryuji: Aw, c’mon! You’re just gonna leave me on a cliffhanger like that?

 

Akira huffed a laugh at Ryuji’s response. Where was he, anyway?

 

Akira: Where are you

Ryuji: In front of the theater!

 

Akira pocketed his phone and started walking. He felt incredibly tired for some reason, as if he had just run a mile on a hot summer’s day. Stress was a funny thing, and not funny as in something that would make you laugh. Ever since he had arrived in Tokyo, Akira had gotten stressed much less often than he did in his hometown, but when he did feel anxious, it was incredibly draining. He’d felt the same way after leaving the fancy hotel buffet with Ryuji and Ann after running into the bald man who’d gotten him arrested, and on the train ride home after Makoto gave him her ultimatum back on the school’s roof. It was only half past eight, but Akira was absolutely exhausted. Maybe he’d take a bath once he got back to Yongen.

 

“Yo, you did it!”

 

Ryuji’s excited voice snapped Akira out of his reverie as he approached. He looked incredibly relieved to see him, and Akira could understand why; there were two cops standing in front of a store a few feet away, both glaring at them.

 

“Let’s get out of here,” Akira murmured. “Those cops don’t look too happy about us being here…”

 

Ryuji scoffed. “You’re tellin’ me. They’ve been givin’ me the stink eye ever since we got here.” 

 

They kept their talking to random things like TV shows and manga until they reached the train station, just in case there were any eavesdroppers nearby. It wasn’t until Akira was about to board the train headed for Yongen when Ryuji mentioned the mafia boss again. 

 

“So, you got the name, right?”

 

Akira yawned and nodded. Holy shit, when did he get so tired? “I’ll tell you tomorrow,” he said. “Let’s meet up with the others… by the Buchiko statue.” 

 

Ryuji looked slightly disappointed, but nodded understandably all the same. “Alright then. See ya tomorrow.”

 

We’re one step closer, Akira thought to himself as he entered the bathhouse. That Treasure is as good as stolen.

 

Notes:

hi hello!!! welcome to another chapter!

before i say anything else, i want to thank everyone for 20k hits!!! that’s absolutely insane to me, i can’t believe that so many people have read this!!!! thank you so much <3

please leave a comment if you enjoyed, and thanks for reading!

Chapter 52: Took You Long Enough

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

To say that Akira was over-prepared for getting the other Palace keywords was an understatement.

 

Despite feeling drained from his trip to Shinjuku, he could hardly sleep that night. His mind couldn’t stop buzzing with all of the things he’d learned in the past week; there was an underground drug trafficking ring running in Shibuya, many of the victims were Shujin students, he’d gotten dangerously close to picking a fight with one of the mafia members, he’d gone to a shady bar in Shinjuku at night to get more information, and now he was going to tear that Palace apart. 

 

From what Akira had gathered about Junya Kaneshiro, he seemed like a typical cartoon villain hoarding money and stealing from vulnerable students to get what he wanted, with lots of subordinates he used to do his dirty work for him. When you put all of these traits on paper, Kaneshiro barely sounded like a real person anymore; just a cookie cutter “bad guy” character. Still, cartoonishly evil or not, he was dangerous, and if he was so hard to catch that even the cops couldn’t get their hands on him, it was clear that there was no other choice. Plus, taking down a legitimate criminal would definitely make Akechi shut up about the Phantom Thieves and kick him off his pretentious high horse. So, there was that, too.

 

Too much was riding on this. This just had to go perfectly. 

 

So, Akira arriving in Shibuya thirty minutes earlier than planned was totally justified, right?

 

Ryuji showed up first. He yawned as he leaned against the Buchiko statue, wordlessly accepting the bottle of soda Akira handed to him. “Thanks, man,” he said as he unscrewed the cap. “I couldn’t sleep at all last night. I had too much shit on my mind…”

 

“Like what?” Morgana asked, popping his head out of Akira’s bag.

 

Ryuji shrugged as he took a swig of the soda. “Like, what if we don’t figure out this keyword? We’re all totally fucked if we don’t pull this shit off. Especially him,” he gestured to Akira as he gave the soda back. “He’s already walkin’ on eggshells every day.”

 

Morgana nodded at him. “You’re right, but it’s not good to get so anxious that you can’t sleep,” he said. “If the mission is high-stakes like this one, it’s better to be prepared for it.”

 

Akira couldn’t help but smile at Morgana’s words. It felt good to hear them talking to each other respectfully instead of constantly being at each other’s throats. He used to be worried that his teammates wouldn’t take his authority as leader very seriously, but for once, he was glad to be wrong. 

 

Ann and Yusuke showed up together not long after Morgana and Ryuji’s conversation, Yusuke holding a pack of jagariko sticks, and Ann picking at the remains of a crepe. “Good to see we’re not late,” Ann said as she tossed her wrapper into a trash can. “How long have you guys been waiting for us?”

 

“Not long,” Akira said. “Everyone ready to guess the keyword?”

 

They nodded. He’d sent them the name in the group chat the previous night and advised against saying it out loud while in public, just in case any of Kaneshiro’s cronies were hanging around. Yusuke tapped his chin thoughtfully. “This man is a mafia boss, yes? Perhaps his distortion has something to do with money?”

 

Ryuji rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Obviously! I’d be thinkin’ about money constantly if I was a crime lord.” 

 

“How about a money bath?” Ann suggested. “I’d think about that a lot if I was taking money from loads of people.”

 

The Metaverse Navigator beeped. “ No candidate found.”

 

“What kind of crazy distortion is that?”

“It was just a suggestion!”

 

“Stop arguing!” Morgana snapped. “If we wanna get this keyword we’ve gotta think like a mob boss. Think!”

 

Ann hummed thoughtfully. “This guy is controlling a lot of people through his scams, right? Maybe a prison? Or a school?”.

 

No candidate found.”

 

“Dammit! What about ‘farm’? ‘Cause he’s farmin’ money from people?”

 

No candidate found.”

 

“That’s an even worse guess than mine!”

 

Akira sighed. They weren’t getting anywhere with this. He could almost hear the various Personas in his head arguing with each other over suggestions, just as his friends were. This was always the hardest part of a Palace operation, and the stakes of the mission certainly weren’t helping with the nerves. 

 

“Let’s start over,” he said, stopping their argument. “We’re thinking of a place related to money. Where would that be?”

 

Akira felt slightly proud of himself as the others quieted and started thinking again. At the risk of sounding slightly arrogant, he was a pretty good leader. I’d be an even better one if I could just figure out this stupid key word.

 

“Dammit!” Ryuji complained. “I feel like the answer is right in front of me, but I just can’t figure it out!”

 

Yusuke nodded. “Agreed. This is more frustrating than I anticipated.”

 

Money. Money. A building related to money. A place related to money. Why was this so difficult? Akira could make Shadows’ heads explode with a single clean shot and go to bars in Shinjuku at night without being caught by the police, but this was what he was struggling with? Just think, idiot! He was a thief. Thieves steal things. They steal things from mansions, museums, graves, banks-

 

“What about a bank?”

 

“Candidate found.”

 

The smooth voice of the Metaverse Navigator made everyone stop and turn to look at Akira’s phone. “Dude, you got it!” Ryuji exclaimed. “Way to go!”

 

“Thanks,” he said. “It’s embarrassing how long it took me to come up with, though.”

 

Morgana shook his head. “We can talk about that later. Now we just need to figure out the location.”

 

This one would be easier. “The location has to do with wherever the victims are, right?” Ann asked. Akira nodded. “Then, how about a real bank?”

 

“It wouldn’t be distorted then,” Morgana said. “That student council president girl said that there are tons of victims from all around the city, so we’re gonna have to think outside the box.”

 

Ryuji kicked the ground and scoffed. “How are we supposed to know how many people this asshole has scammed in all of Shibuya?!” he groaned. “There’s gotta be hundreds-”

 

Candidate found.”

 

They all gasped, including Ryuji. “Wait, what’d I do?! Did I say something right?!” he asked frantically. 

 

“The place where Kaneshiro thinks is his own bank,” Yusuke started, but Ann interrupted him-

 

“It’s all of Shibuya!”

 

The world around them began to distort and change. The people around them were disappearing. 

 

“Beginning navigation.”

Notes:

the phantom thieves all have one brain cell. and they share it. that's all i have to say about this chapter

pls comment if u enjoyed <3

Chapter 53: Going Up

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The first thing that Akira noticed about the distorted Shibuya was how green it was.

 

Nearly every surface was covered in money; shop windows, the Buchiko statue, the jumbo screen, and even some parts of the ground. Money was falling from the sky like snow, there were piles of it everywhere he looked, and it was getting hard to see anything. The only things in the Palace that weren’t green were what appeared to be walking ATM’s, and there were tons of them.

 

“What the fuck are those?” 

 

Ryuji had taken the words out of everyone’s mouths. “Are those Shadows?” Ann asked.

 

Morgana frowned and shook his head. “No,” he said. “They’re cognitions. You guys remember the fake volleyball players in Kamoshida’s Palace?”

 

Akira and Ryuji nodded.

 

“They’re like those, but they take a different shape here,” Morgana continued. “This is how Kaneshiro views his victims.”

 

“Seems a little too on the nose for me,” Akira said. “Does this guy have any idea what subtlety means?”

 

He heard the others laughing weakly at his joke, but ignored them. This area couldn’t be the actual Palace. They couldn’t afford to waste any time here. “Let’s get moving,” he said, starting forward, and the other Thieves followed.

 

The only way forward was going down Central Street, which was just as distorted as the rest of the Palace. The layout was the same, but all of the signs and windows were plastered with money, and a faint beeping sound filled the air as the walking ATM’s passed by. The entire place felt empty and completely devoid of life. It almost made Akira feel sick. (Well, that or everything in sight being fucking green.)

 

“Ugh, we ain’t gettin’ anywhere like this!” Ryuji complained. “Where the hell is this asshole’s Palace, anyways? It can’t be just this!” 

 

Ann crossed her arms. “Maybe we can ask some of the victims?” she suggested, gesturing at the walking ATM’s. “They know more about Kaneshiro than we do.”

 

“Can’t hurt to try,” Akira murmured as he walked up to one. “Uh, hey there–”

 

“EEEEEK!” 

 

Everyone jumped. The ATM had shrieked when Akira spoke to it, as if he’d just screamed in its ears (assuming it had ears for him to scream in). “Please don’t hurt me!” it cried, jumping back and falling over, hitting a wall on its way to the ground. “I don’t have any more money, I swear! Not even one yen!”

 

Although he didn’t do anything, Akira felt a small pang of guilt. As cheesy and over-the-top these cognitions may be, they were still the way that Kaneshiro viewed his victims, and he felt anger licking at his insides when he thought about it. There were real people out there being affected by this, and seeing as how the cops couldn’t even do anything about this, it became clearer than ever that they needed to do this.

 

As soon as they found the actual Palace, anyway. 

 

“Any luck?” Akira called to his teammates after turning away from the unresponsive ATM. He noticed the others splitting up to find more ATM’s after he started talking to the first one, and he hoped that maybe they’d be better at talking to them than he was.

 

He was wrong.

 

“All of ‘em are totally fucked,” Ryuji said. “None of ‘em can do anything except talk about how broke they are.”

 

“One of them said something funny,” Morgana added. “They said that they’ve ‘fallen from a place where Kaneshiro leaves no tracks’.” He tapped his foot on the ground. “Where could that be?”

 

Yusuke hummed thoughtfully. “If they said that they’ve fallen from somewhere, then it must be from a place high up,” he said. “Perhaps a skyscraper?”

 

Akira looked up at the distorted green sky and looked for anything in the sky that didn’t match the usual Shibuya skyline, and it wasn’t even ten seconds before he found it– a massive something floating above them, shiny and silver and huge. 

 

“What is that?!” 

 

It seemed obvious, but Akira supposed that he should say it anyway.

 

“It’s Kaneshiro’s Palace.”

 

They all stared at it for a minute, almost transfixed. Akira knew that the Metaverse had nearly infinite potential for displaying the distorted ways that people viewed the world, but this thing was huge. The two Palaces he had been in so far were pretty fucked up, but neither of them were so strongly distorted that they covered the entirety of Shibuya. They didn’t have money raining from the skies or walking ATM people, but that wasn’t the point. 

 

“The thing’s floating, yeah? How the hell are we supposed to get up there?”

 

Right. The elephant in the room. Knowing the Metaverse, there was probably something based on Kaneshiro’s cognition of them that wasn’t letting them in. He wished Morgana could turn into a helicopter or something to get them up there…

 

“We’ve done all we can for now,” Akira said, finally tearing his eyes away from the floating bank. “Let’s get out of here and think of a plan.”

 

Ryuji frowned at him. “Why not? Don’t we just gotta find some way up there ourselves?” He eyed the buildings surrounding the bank, probably thinking that they’d be able to get in if they were higher up. Akira shook his head. 

 

“It’s some cognitive barrier keeping us out,” he said. “Even if we did climb all the way to the top of one of those buildings, the Palace would go even higher up. It’s like that door in Madarame’s Palace,” he added quickly, seeing his teammates’ confused faces. “We need to do something in the real world first.”

 

Sighing, the other Thieves followed Akira back to the entrance point. “How’d you figure that out so quickly?” Morgana asked as they exited Central Street. “Even I was stumped for a minute there.” 

 

Akira was silent for a moment as he tried to think of a response. How did he understand the situation so quickly? He wasn’t stupid, but he hadn’t expected himself to come up with an explanation that fast, either. It almost felt like the answer had come from someone else. One of his Personas, most likely. 

 

He could almost hear Arsene’s low chuckling in the back of his mind as he lead his team out of the Metaverse.

 



“Where have you been?”

 

Sojiro never sounded particularly happy to see Akira when he came back to Leblanc after being out all day, but he sounded especially sour today, as if he had been chewing on gravel. “Drinking alcohol and doing drugs,” Akira replied sardonically, briskly walking past the counter. “Hanging out with my friends,” he added quickly, hearing Sojiro breathe in sharply. “Where else would I be?”

 

“Listen,” Sojiro snapped, tossing his cigarette into the ashtray next to the coffee siphons. “I’d be a lot less short with you if you actually told me where the hell you’d be after school. I actually get worried about you when you don’t get back until late at night, believe it or not.”

 

Akira scowled and ignored him as he started up the stairs, but felt a familiar pang of guilt in his chest. He wanted to be mad, but he knew that Sojiro was right. Morgana was probably going to scold him in 3…2…1…

 

“He’s right, you know,” Morgana said, jumping off the table and following Akira to the bed. “I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now, but-”

 

“But what?!” Akira interrupted, sitting on the bed and putting his face in his hands. “We’ve got less than two weeks to figure out how to get into that fucking bank, and you lecturing me on shit I already know isn’t helping!”

 

The guilty feeling intensified as Akira watched Morgana jump off the bed and leave the room, but he pushed the feeling away. How the fuck were they going to get into that bank? Think, you idiot!  

 

The Palace was a reflection of Kaneshiro’s cognition. Kaneshiro’s cognition was that he was untouchable, that he “leaves no tracks”. The walking ATM’s represented his victims, his “customers”. That meant that they’d gotten up to the bank somehow. So…

 

You’re nearly there, Trickster…

 

Akira felt himself relax slightly as Arsene’s deep voice echoed through his mind. He was right, the answer was right there, there was just one more piece to the puzzle…

 

The walking ATM’s are Kaneshiro’s customers. Only the customers can get into the bank. The customers are the scam victims. The customers have seen Kaneshiro. They needed to be customers. 

 

They needed to see Kaneshiro.

Notes:

heyo, welcome back to this story!

not much else to say except the usual sorry this took so long etc etc, i’ve been working on a lot of stuff all at once and my job is kicking my ass. also this chapter probably sucks because i was drunk as fuck writing most of it. i hope you enjoyed it though! leave a comment if you did, and thanks for reading as always <3

Chapter 54: Danger!

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Dammit! It ain’t fair that that asshole’s Palace is all the way up in the sky!”

 

Akira would have told Ryuji to keep his voice down if he wasn’t thinking the same thing.

 

They were back at their hideout in the Shibuya underground, all of them agreeing to take some time to rest before they went back to the Palace to attempt getting in. It was hard though, even after Akira explained the cognitive block and what they would need to do to be able to get in. The police couldn’t even catch Kaneshiro. How were they supposed to find him and break the cognitive barrier without getting in trouble with the actual mafia ?

 

“I wish Mona could turn into a helicopter or somethin’,” Ryuji sighed. “We really don’t got any other options.”

 

Akira shook his head. “It’s a cognitive block, remember? Even if Morgana could t-”

 

“Having any trouble?”

 

Suddenly, a familiar, slightly condescending voice interrupted him. He hadn’t even heard the footsteps approaching, but Akira didn’t have to look to see who it was.

 

“What do you want?” he heard Ann ask. “Come to threaten us again? Why don’t you stay on your high horse and watch?”

 

Akira wanted to smile and compliment her comeback, but he knew that now wasn’t the time. Letting out a deep sigh, he turned around and leaned against the handrail, coming nearly face-to-face with Makoto Niijima.

 

“I didn’t know that the righteous ‘Phantom Thieves of Hearts’ were so easy to stump,” she said, crossing her arms. “Is my target proving too much for you to handle?”

 

The smugness in her voice was infuriating. It took every ounce of self-control Akira had to not run up and smack her. The worst part was that she was absolutely right. The cognitive block in Kaneshiro’s Palace was proving too much for the Thieves to handle, and they didn’t seem to have any ideas on how to break it. The cops couldn’t even catch Kaneshiro. How was Akira’s rag-tag group of high school kids supposed to find him? 

 

“Did you at least get a name?” Makoto asked, crossing her arms. “Tell me you at least got a name!”

 

Akira let out another deep sigh. “Yes, we got his name,” he shot back. “It’s Junya Kaneshiro.” He lowered his voice slightly, remembering the way that Ohya had done the same when telling him in the bar. “Anything else you want to know? How about what I had for dinner last night?”

 

He heard Ryuji huff a laugh at his joke, but the satisfaction was short-lived. Ann glared at Makoto. “You’re the student council president, right? How could you possibly be any help to us?”

 

What Ann said must have struck a nerve in Makoto, because her smug face suddenly turned into a scowl. 

 

“You just need to make contact with Kaneshiro, right?”

“Well yes, but-“

“Fine! If it’s really that easy for you, then I shouldn’t have any trouble finding him, right?”

 

She then stormed off before anyone could reply, leaving Akira with a quickly growing sense of dread in his stomach. Makoto was either very brave or very stupid, and her cold and logical personality ruled out the latter. “We have to go after her!” Yusuke said urgently. “It’s not safe!”

 

“Ugh, what’s wrong with her?!” Ann grumbled. “Doesn’t she realize how dangerous this is?!”

 

Akira barely noticed his phone ringing in his pocket as he and the others ran after Makoto. He pulled it out and looked to see who was calling– an unknown number, of course it was– but for some reason, he answered it anyway.

 

“Hello? Who-”

“Hello?! Kurusu-kun? It’s me, Makoto Niijima! Don’t hang up!”

 

What the hell?! How did she get his number? “What the fuck are you talking about!?” he hissed, tightening his grip on his school bag. “How did you-”

 

“Just listen to me for a second! Whatever you do, don’t hang up!”

“Why-”

“Just don’t!”

“Where are you right now?!”

“I’m on Central Street!”

“Why are you-”

 

“Excuse me? Do you two know Kaneshiro?”

 

Akira felt his stomach drop. Makoto had gone after one of the mafia members that had targeted them the other day, and this time, it sounded like they weren’t alone. He could see the others giving him confused looks, so he just put his phone on speaker as they approached the Buchiko statue.

 

“How the fuck do you know about him?!”

“I was told that I could find someone named Kaneshiro if I came to Central Street.”

 

There was a pause. “What the hell is sh-” Ryuji whispered, but Ann shushed him. The unfamiliar voice spoke up again.

 

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

 

Makoto didn’t answer. Akira held the phone’s speaker closer to his ear and could faintly hear another person in the background. He guessed they were talking on the phone, most likely with Kaneshiro, and another pause made Akira realize what this meant– they had to move. 

 

He signaled to the others that it was time to get going again, and Akira held the phone close to his ear as they ran through the crossing and towards Central Street. It was still mostly silent on the other end (that, or he couldn’t hear anything because of the crowds surrounding him), but the unfamiliar voice from earlier spoke up again; “He says he’ll meetcha,” it said, sounding amused. Akira heard what sounded like an engine idling in the background– how did a car get there so quickly?! “Get in.”

 

“You’d better be taking me to Kaneshiro,” Makoto said sternly.

 

There was a muffled grunt and the sound of a car door opening. “He said get the fuck in!”

 

Akira ran faster, and skidded to a halt as they approached the alleyway next to the gym, just barely catching the car starting to drive away. “Fuck!” Ryuji shouted as they watched it turn a corner and disappear. “We gotta go after that car!”

 

“I got the license plate number,” Yusuke said. “For once, my sketchbook came in handy.”

 

They ran down the alley where the car had been and into the street that the car must have driven down, and sure enough, it was there, waiting at a red light. This was their chance.

 

Ryuji stopped a taxi and told the driver to follow the car, and although slightly confused, the driver did as they were asked. Akira watched the car as closely as he could, and when it finally stopped at a seedy-looking club, he rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out three thousand-yen bills, thrust them into the taxi driver’s hands, and scrambled to get out of the car, his heart pounding as he watched the two mafia members exit the parked car with Makoto following them with her hands behind her back. Fuck. Were they too late?

 

Let’s get going!” he hissed, gesturing at the entrance, and although they looked apprehensive, Akira’s friends followed him through the entrance and into the building.

 

The door they went through led to a dingy open space, the only sign of use being a beat-up black door tucked away in a corner with a dirty sign hanging above it. That has to be it. Akira could feel the beat of the music thumping below him, and he felt scared for Makoto; he may not like her, but it was clear that this was no place for a girl like her. Or any high school student, really.

 

They crept closer to the door and waited for Akira’s signal to go in. This was a real, potentially dangerous mission, and it was both exciting and incredibly terrifying. If he messed this up, he’d never recover from it.

 

No more waiting. Akira looked at his friends and nodded.

 

“Let’s go.”

Notes:

hey everyone! welcome to this month’s chapter!

i don’t really have much to say about this chapter in particular, but i would like it so very much if you could check out my other fics, specifically my most recent one? please 🥺👉🏼👈🏼

plz comment if u enjoyed!!!

Chapter 55: The Underground

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

For a sketchy club frequented by a mafia boss, this place had really lax security.

 

The door Akira had gone through led to a set of stairs leading to a basement hallway bathed in dull purple light coming from some neon lights hanging next to a door that clearly led to the club. The music was so loud that it seemed to make the walls vibrate; Akira could barely keep his footing steady. 

 

They approached the club door cautiously. Akira gave the others the same look he’d given them earlier; Don’t move until I give the signal. They nodded, he waited a second, then opened the door.

 

The entire club was purple. It was almost reminiscent of the Velvet Room, where everything was blue, except this place was noisy, bright, and crowded. The people in the club gave Akira and his friends strange looks as they passed, but then looked in the direction of a corner in the back of the club, then back at them, as if something in that corner told them exactly why these random high school kids were there, and not to worry about it.

 

“Why’s everyone actin’ so casual?” Ryuji murmured as he squeezed through two women in front of them who seemed to be arguing about their clothes. “Surely they’d have shut down the whole place to kick us outta here, right?”

 

Yusuke shook his head. “They probably think that we’re one of Kaneshiro’s,” he said. “He must be in that corner they keep glancing at.”

 

He was proven correct less than five seconds later when they heard Makoto’s shouts cutting through the pounding music like a knife.

 

“What are you doing– let go of me! What is this?!”

 

That didn’t sound good . Akira and his friends pushed through the crowd, ignoring their annoyed remarks, and headed for the corner where Makoto’s voice was coming from. When they finally reached it, the scene wasn’t pretty.

 

Makoto was on the floor, being held down by the same two men who had approached her and Akira in the alleyway the other day. A flicker of hope flashed across her face when she saw them approach, but it didn’t last long. 

 

“So, you’re the student council president of Shujin, huh?”

 

The new voice was oily and smooth. Akira wouldn’t have guessed that it came from Kaneshiro if he didn’t see him do it.

 

Kaneshiro didn’t look like a mob boss. He was short and stubby, dressed in purple and wearing shiny gold rings on each of his sausage-like fingers. There was a bored-looking woman sipping a drink sitting next to him. He picked up a cell phone from a table in front of the couch and examined it, smirking. “Akira Kurusu, hm? Who’s this, your boyfriend?”

 

Akira felt his stomach drop. He’d completely forgotten that he hadn’t hung up. 

 

Kaneshiro looked up, and a look of manic glee spread across his face at the sight of Akira and his friends.

 

“New customers? Or did you come here to try and save your friend?”

 

He leaned over to a suitcase on the table in front of him and flicked it open. Akira heard his friends gasp behind him at the several stacks of money inside of it. Kaneshiro looked at it for a moment, then at the woman sitting next to him. “How much was that crocodile-skin handbag you were talking about?”

 

The woman raised her eyebrows. “Hmm… about three million?”

 

Kaneshiro picked up a handful of stacks of bills from the suitcase and handed them to the woman, who gasped. “Oh my God! For real?!” 

 

He smirked and leaned back in his seat. “See, right now, I’m really pissed off. But spending money helps me de-stress, y’know? There,” he pointed at the space in the suitcase where he’d taken the money from, “See that big hole? I got mad, and now I’m down three million. That’s all your fault.”

 

Yusuke frowned and crossed his arms. “I don’t see what you’re getting at,” he said.

 

Kaneshiro rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. “You still don’t get it?” he grumbled. “I guess I’ll have to dumb it down for you fuckin’ idiots!”

 

Akira desperately wanted to spit an insult at him, but an image flashed across his mind: his mugshot from when he’d been arrested. Don’t give your parents and Sojiro something else to be mad at. Don’t give Kaneshiro what he wants. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by another flash: this time, it was a camera. Kaneshiro was holding up his phone and smirking.

 

“A bunch of minors boozin’ it up at a club, huh? Oh, man! Looks like I got some drugs in the shot, too!” He started laughing and shook the phone in their faces. “Mind if I send this to your school?”

 

Akira heard Ryuji gasp behind him. “You motherfucker!” he spat, leaning forward, but Akira held out an arm to stop him. “Shut up!” he hissed. 

 

“I eat morons like you for breakfast,” Kaneshiro sneered. “You,” he snapped at the man that was holding Makoto down on the ground, “Let her go.”

 

The man did as he was told. Makoto stumbled to her feet and rushed towards Akira, breathing heavily. He discarded his resentment towards her for the time being, placing a comforting hand on her back, knowing how terrified she must have been. 

 

“I normally give people a month, but seeing how there’s a whole bunch of you here….” Kaneshiro paused, looking at them briefly, as if counting them. “Three weeks. It’s almost summer vacation, right? Beg your mommies and daddies for a bigger allowance and maybe you’ll have scraped enough together, right?”

 

His snide laughter filled the air as Akira lead his friends out of the club and into the streets. They were quiet as they walked to a less crowded area to talk.

 

“I’m so, so sorry,” Makoto said when they finally stopped at a sitting area outside of a café. “It’s all my fault you got wrapped up in this… Don’t worry about the money. I’ll find a way to come up with it, I promise! I… I was just so desperate to be helpful in some way. I’ve caused trouble not only for you, but for Sis, too-”

 

“Wait,” Ann interrupted suddenly, startling Makoto. “You have a sister?”

 

Makoto nodded. “Yeah,” she said, her voice breaking slightly. “She’s a prosecutor for the district, and she’s way more competent than I’ll ever be…” She took a deep breath. “My, um… My father died three years ago. Things haven’t been easy for us. My sister and I live together, but she’s always working… I just… I just wanted to be useful for once.”

 

The silence that followed was incredibly awkward. Akira felt very bad about the way he’d treated her before; obviously she felt like trying to help him with the ultimatum she’d given them would make her feel better and less inferior to her sister. Still…

 

“That was still a really stupid thing you did,” he said. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed. If we hadn’t followed you, Kaneshiro would’ve had you sold to some basement club in Shinj-”

 

“Shut up,” Morgana interrupted, jumping out of Akira’s bag and onto the table in front of them. “I think she’s got it by now.”

 

Akira felt his face reddening and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Sorry.”

 

There was another pregnant pause. 

 

“So, now what?” Ryuji asked. “Kaneshiro’s got his sights set on all of us now. We can’t just ignore this…. If only there was some way we could get into that goddamn bank!”

 

At this, Morgana gasped excitedly. He looked like he’d just been given the news that he’d won the lottery. “The hell are you so happy about?” Ryuji asked, staring at him incredulously. “I didn’t say anythin’-”

 

“That’s it, Ryuji!” Morgana exclaimed. “The bank!

Notes:

hi omg sorry for such a long hiatus i’ve been having a hella stressful summer with little time to write. here’s a new chapter though! love songs by mariya takeuchi is the best album ever made and everyone should listen to it

thanks for reading, please comment if u enjoyed

Chapter 56: Dirty Money

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Everyone stared at Morgana, dumbfounded.

“What about the bank?” Ryuji asked. “What does that have to do with-”

“We’ll be able to go in now!” Morgana exclaimed. “Makoto’s Kaneshiro’s customer now, right? The bank will open for her!”

Makoto looked at them worriedly. “Are you all alright?” she asked. “You’re paying a lot of attention to that cat…”

Akira shook his head and knelt down to let Morgana jump into his bag. “We’ll explain later,” he said. “You wanted to be useful, right? Follow us.”

Giving them an extremely skeptical look, Makoto nodded and followed Akira and his friends back to the station square. When they reached the Buchiko statue, Akira opened the group chat on his phone and sent a text:

Akira: Opening the metanav now

“Keep your head down,” he whispered to Makoto. “Don’t ask why.”

He ignored her protests and closed his eyes as the noises of the city melted away and were taken over by the dull nothingness of the Metaverse.

Makoto screamed.

“Oh my God! What- where am I?! Who are you?! A- A dog?!”

Maybe this was a bad idea.

“It’s Fox,” said Yusuke in a slightly annoyed tone. “And we’re in the Metaverse.”

The look on Makoto’s face would have been funny if the situation wasn’t so dire. “I’m Joker, he’s Skull, she’s Panther, he’s Fox, and that’s Mon-”

“A monster cat!” Makoto screamed, pointing at Morgana.

He glared up at her. “I am not a cat!” he yelled. “I am Morgana! And this,” he gestured at the money-covered city behind them, “is the inside of Kaneshiro’s heart. This is how he sees the world.”

Makoto was silent for a moment as she took in the scene, her horror melting away and slowly being replaced by fascination.

“Interesting…” she murmured, staring at the distorted sky. “A dimension based entirely on how a certain individual views the world…” She paused, then turned back to look at them. “I think I understand, but do you think you could explain this to me a bit more?”

 

 

After twenty minutes of explaining the past two month’s events to Makoto, she finally looked like she understood. Akira was slightly taken aback by her shock when they talked about Kamoshida. He figured she must have known about it to some extent (she was the student council president, after all), but she said that she had been out of the loop the entire time it was happening, having been busy with “keeping an eye on the transfer student”.

When they reached the area of Central Street where the bank had originally appeared, it was of no surprise when a long, shiny walkway suddenly emerged from the floating bank and ended at Makoto’s feet.

The entrance to the bank was like a shinier, more well-kept version of the rest of the Palace; nearly every surface was covered in money, ATM people walking in and out of the bank, and money was still raining from the sky. Being closer to the Palace didn’t seem to deter or frighten Makoto though, in fact, it only seemed to harden her resolve.

When they had warned her about the Shadows, she just smiled and cracked her knuckles. “Don’t worry,” she’d said. “I’m trained in Aikido. I can defend myself just fine.”

They entered through the front doors slowly, and were greeted immediately by three massive, hulking Shadow guards.

“What business do you have here?” the one in the middle asked.

Makoto unclenched her fists and looked determinedly into the Shadow’s face. “I’m here to see the bank president,” she said firmly.

“Banks have presidents?” Akira heard Ryuji whisper from behind him. He heard Yusuke hum in response. “They do, but not in the democratic sense,” he whispered back. “They’re-”

“No customers are permitted to speak with the president!” snarled the middle Shadow. “Get out of here, thieves!”

Makoto raised her fists. “Try me!” she said in a dangerous voice. Akira, however, grabbed one of her wrists and lowered it. “Aikido won’t help you against these guys,” he whispered. “Leave it to us for now.”

She frowned, but lowered her arms and took a deep breath. “I guess we’ll have to come back,” she whispered. “Some other time.”

Suddenly, Kaneshiro’s voice filled the air, coming from speakers attached to the walls.

“That won’t be necessary,” it said smoothly, gaining the attention of both the Thieves and the guard Shadows. “You three,” it continued, obviously addressing the guards, “Take them to the visitors' office. Now.”

The Shadow guards shot furious looks at Akira and Makoto, then gestured at a door at the end of the row of teller windows near the front. “Well, come on then,” one of them said, sounding very annoyed. “Follow us, and don’t touch anything.”

Akira considered swiping a tape dispenser or stapler off of one of the desks just to annoy the Shadows, but knowing that Makoto was with them and was virtually defenseless stopped him from it. Instead, he did what he hated doing the most: keeping his head down and following the Shadows to the visitors’ office. When they entered, the first thing Akira saw was the large pile on the table in the center of the room; stacks upon stacks of bills all arranged neatly in the center of it. He heard the others audibly gasp behind him, but the Shadows didn’t seem to care much, looking rather bored.

“Sit down,” the largest one instructed them, pointing at the stiff, modern-looking chairs around the table, and they sat, Akira’s hand firmly gripping his pistol in his coat pocket. Ann, despite being angry at Makoto for being ignorant about Kamoshida, was shooting nervous looks at her, gripping her golden-chained whip tightly. Ryuji was nervously fidgeting with the studded baseball bat in his lap, and Yusuke was readjusting the buckle on the strap that he wore his rifle on. It was clear that all of them wanted to be ready if the Shadows suddenly got violent; however, they stayed quite still near the door, watching them, their expressions hidden behind their masks.

The TV attached to the wall opposite the table flickered on, and what appeared on it was quite shocking– a short, purple-skinned man with a toothbrush mustache, greasy black hair, and beady yellow eyes: unmistakably Kaneshiro’s Shadow. He stared down at them with the air of a tyrannical king addressing his subjects, and Akira felt nauseous as he watched Shadow Kaneshiro licking his lips as he stared down on Ann and Makoto. He tightened his grip on his weapons, keeping his hands well hidden in his coat pockets, feeling the scowl on his face deepen.

“So,” sneered Kaneshiro, leering at them from the screen. “You’ve all come here to try to negotiate with me, have you? Realized that your allowances won’t cover your debts?”

He looked as though he expected one of them to retort angrily, but they were silent. Makoto opened her mouth, but Ann shot her a warning look, and she fell silent.

“You know, I’m doing more good than harm,” he drawled, smirking. “I’m giving you jobs, you know. This is a fine business opportunity for you all. In fact, I’m such a great boss, I’m going to make you an offer.”

Akira glanced at Ryuji, who looked ready to murder. He kicked him underneath the table, unable to warn him to calm down any other way, but either he didn’t notice or he didn’t care, because he didn’t flinch.

“I’m going to offer you a loan,” Kaneshiro said lazily, looking at Makoto with a disgusting hunger in his eyes. “With an interest rate of ¥3,000 a day.”

“You mean you’re going to pay it for her?” Ann asked, her eyes widening. Kaneshiro scoffed and glared at her.

“No, a loan. Don’t you pay attention in school at all? Or are you really as stupid as you look?”

Ann’s face turned a deeper red than her latex suit and looked down at her hands. Kaneshiro gave a soft laugh as he surveyed Akira, Yusuke, and Ryuji, who were all glaring at him with looks of deepest loathing. Akira felt his hands shaking slightly in his pockets; what he would have given to get up and reach through the screen and strangle Shadow Kaneshiro, the “we don’t kill” values of the Phantom Thieves completely forgotten, but Makoto was still there, defenseless as ever, and the guard Shadows would flatten her if he made any sudden moves–

“You know what I think?” sneered Kaneshiro, watching their suppressed fury as if it were a highly entertaining TV show. “I think I’ll raise your debts a bit higher, to teach you not to act so rude towards your superiors. You know what the best part is?” he continued, watching Ann fingering the freshly upgraded submachine gun she had been carrying, “If any of you run your mouths to the police, I’ll know in a heartbeat. Especially you,” he moved his gaze to Makoto, “younger sister of the beautiful prosecutor Sae Niijima…”

Makoto’s face turned an even deeper shade of red than Ann’s. “How did- you, how did you-”

“Please, don’t insult our intelligence network,” Kaneshiro’s Shadow said casually, as she had asked him the most obvious question in the world. “Now, you should all run along and get back home… you’ve got lots of work to do, after all…”

He laughed; it was an awful, ugly sound, like someone who had a very bad head cold had just been told the funniest joke in the world. Akira felt his anger reaching the surface, and could tell the same could be said for his teammates; they all were standing up, Ann taking a protective stance in front of Makoto as the boys raised their firearms.

“Hmph,” sighed Kaneshiro, looking bored. “Fine,” he said, waving his hand dismissively at the Shadow guards. “Finish them off quickly.”

The Shadow guards rounded on the Thieves as Ann and Morgana guided Makoto to a corner, standing guard in front of her. Akira pulled his hands out of his pockets, gripping his weapons tightly as he watched the Shadow guards bubbling and melting into three Shadows Akira had never seen before, but that didn’t really matter to him right now; all that really mattered was beating these Shadows and getting Makoto out of the Palace safely. He could feel energy rushing through his veins as he grabbed his mask and tore it off his face; these Shadows weren't going down without a fight.

And that was more than fine with him.

Notes:

hi im extremely drunk updating this rn i can barely keep my eyes open

good news i got a new job!!!!!!! im still going to try and write as much as i can though ❤️❤️❤️ plz comment if u enjoyed thx for reading ❤️❤️❤️ ily every1

Chapter 57: Pushed To The Limit

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Ann was the first to attack.

 

The guards exploded into red and black mist, then three Shadows began to rise from the ground where the mist had fallen. They were large and vaguely humanoid-looking, but that was the only familiar thing about them— they were massive and looked extremely threatening. Ryuji’s shotgun blasts were barely making them flinch. Akira didn’t even give any orders yet, but Morgana rushed forward and tried to hit them with his sword, but he was knocked away by the largest one. “Stop it!” Akira shouted, running forward and tossing a Takemedic at Morgana, who had landed on the ground in front of Yusuke. “Wait for my signal! It’s too dangerous to just run wild at them!”

 

He could understand why they were acting so recklessly; they needed to defeat the Shadows before they could hurt Makoto, who was extremely defenseless, and they would be in big trouble if she got hurt. However, these Shadows were unknown to them, they needed to be rational in their fighting so there could be at least one person conscious enough to keep Makoto out of harm’s way.

 

“Panther, you keep Makoto away from the Shadows!” Akira shouted, pointing at a corner near the door. “Fox, evasion up! Make it harder for them to hit us! No physical or gun attacks!”

 

He yanked a small bottle of cleaning spray from one of his coat pockets (he’d bought it in Kichijoji, Morgana had suggested that it would help decrease enemy defense if used in the Metaverse), unscrewed the cap, and threw it at the Shadows, feeling a small flash of hope; there was a flash of indigo light, meaning that it had worked— the Shadows’ defense was down. “Try using magic skills!” Akira shouted at Ryuji, pointing to the emerald-colored Shadow. “It might be weak to electricity!”

 

Ryuji tried throwing a Zionga at the Shadow, and Akira felt another flicker of hope; the green Shadow tripped and fell to its knees. Ryuji passed his turn to Yusuke, who tried a Bufula on the Shadow in the center, freezing it. Feeling more confident, Akira knocked it down with a Sword Dance from Arséne, passed his turn to Morgana, and waited, hoping he’d follow Ryuji and Yusuke’s lead and use a wind skill…

 

“That’s it!” Ann shouted from her corner, watching the final Shadow collapse to its knees. “Finish them off! Hurry!” She was standing in front of a terrified-looking Makoto, who was surveying the scene with a look of pure horror.

 

Akira didn’t need telling twice. He, Ryuji, Yusuke and Morgana began attacking the Shadows very quickly from all sides, faster and faster until their feet hit the ground again, and the Shadows were gone. 

 

There was a moment of awkward silence, Akira and the others catching their breaths while Makoto looked at them all in shock. 

 

“What on earth was that?!” she breathed, her hands over her chest. “Those monsters that came out of the ground, and the way you were fighting, and— were those the Personas you ment-”

 

“We can talk later,” Akira growled, grabbing her wrist. “We need to move, now!”

 

Nobody argued. Quickly, they sprinted out of the room and down the hallway, past the teller windows and benches, and would have made it out if Akira didn’t notice the Shadow guards approaching quickly from both sides, causing him to skid to a halt right in front of them. They stepped closer together, blocking the doors.

 

To make matters worse, Kaneshiro’s voice suddenly filled the room.

 

“Freeze! Now!” 

 

Akira didn’t move, still staring at the doors. He heard the footsteps of more approaching Shadows behind him, and very carefully pulled his pistol from one of his pockets, hiding it in his sleeve.

 

“Turn around,” said Kaneshiro’s voice.

 

With trepidation, they did. Kaneshiro was standing ten feet away from them, wearing an incredibly smug look.

 

“Nice,” he said, clapping his hands slowly in mock applause. “Very impressive. You were so close to escaping. I almost feel sorry for you.”

 

The Shadow guards behind him laughed dully until Kaneshiro held up one of his small purple hands to silence them. “I almost can’t decide what I want to do with you,” he sneered. “Sell your bodies? Keep you as my personal slaves? I could even kill you right now if I wanted!”

 

It was hard for Akira to stay completely still and keep silent. Only the knowledge of what Kaneshiro was capable of doing to him was keeping him from scoffing and rolling his eyes; he didn’t think it was possible for someone to be this cartoonishly evil. However, he wasn’t going to lie and say he wasn’t scared, either; those guard Shadows were enormous and outnumbered him and his team ten to one. He didn’t doubt Kaneshiro’s ability to summon more out of thin air, either. In truth, Akira didn’t think he’d ever been this scared in a very long time.

 

Kaneshiro surveyed all of them with a nasty smile. “You’re finally realizing it now, aren’t you?” he said, leering at them threateningly. “You’re trapped. You’re finished. You have no choice but to do exactly what I say. I have special plans for you,” he added, leaning towards Makoto, “miss Niijima. I’ll have you and your beautiful sister working for me for the rest of your miserable lives.”

 

If Akira hadn’t been so angry and scared at the same time, he would have noticed Makoto balling her hands into fists quicker. She was actually shaking with rage, staring hard at the ground, either oblivious to everyone staring at her, or trying hard to ignore it. Kaneshiro had definitely noticed though, for he was laughing and pointing at her as if her appearance was the funniest thing he had ever seen.

 

“Angry, aren’t you?” he said softly, taking a step towards her. “Trying to ignore the obvious? I would have expected the student council president to be a bit s-”

 

“Shut up.”

 

If Akira had not seen Makoto’s lips moving, he wouldn’t have known it was her speaking. She was looking up now, staring daggers at Kaneshiro, and Akira could have sworn he saw a flicker of fear flash across his face.

 

“I’ve been listening to you go on and on,” she said, her voice positively quivering with fury, “and I’ve had enough of it. Of you .”

 

Kaneshiro’s confidence was back. “Oh yeah?” he said, his voice full of triumph. “And what are you going to d-”

 

Shut up!” Makoto shouted again, taking a defiant step forward. “Shut the hell up! Shut your goddamn mouth and get out of my face, you disgusting money-grubbing asshole!”

Notes:

hi again. sorry for the short chapter and hiatus. turns out i hate my new job and it makes me miserable but i can’t quit because i need to pay bills and buy groceries and expensive city pop vinyls. i might buy p5r on switch too just for the hell of it (never thought i’d type that sentence and be telling the truth). i wish i had the motivation to write more but it’s really hard to do much these days except work and sleep, but i know how many people like my work (however small that number may be) and i want to keep making you guys happy. thank you for continuing to support me throughout the past 2 years! ❤️

please comment if you enjoyed, and thanks for reading!

ps listen to love for sale by miki matsubara

Chapter 58: The Priestess

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

When the room went silent and Makoto began talking to a voice that everyone knew only she could hear, Akira and the other Thieves knew exactly what was coming.

 

“Fine,” Makoto shouted, stomping her foot so hard on the ground that it broke one of the linoleum tiles. “Seal the contract!”

 

She gasped, grabbed her head, and began to scream. The tell-tale gusts of wind and flashing blue flames confirmed what everyone except Kaneshiro knew what was happening; Makoto was awakening to a Persona. Her screams of pain and the gusts of wind grew louder, joined by the confused yells coming from Kaneshiro and his guards, until the blue flames subsided, the wind settled, and Makoto came back into view, looking extremely different than she had before.

 

Her neat school uniform had been replaced by a skin-tight suit somewhat similar to Ann’s, except it was dark blue and had spikes on the shoulders, making her look like a member of a hardcore biker gang. Makoto was now wearing a metal mask and was sitting on a shining blue motorcycle. At first, Akira didn’t see her Persona anywhere, but a second later it hit him– it was there.

 

She was riding it.

 

“Is that a Persona…?” asked Yusuke faintly, staring at Makoto in shock.

“Nah, dude,” Ryuji replied, also looking completely dumbstruck. “That’s a bike!” 

 

The sounds of an engine revving and tires screeching filled the air as Makoto drove her Persona straight through Kaneshiro’s Shadow guards, knocking them all to the ground. “Stand back!” she shouted as she turned around to face the front doors. “I’m going for the front door!”

 

They didn’t need telling twice. Akira looked around at the fallen Shadows around them and noticed that Kaneshiro had disappeared. However, they didn’t have any time to dwell on where he could have gone, because a second later the sound of a loud crash filled the air, and there was a large hole in the wall where the front doors had been. Akira took off towards it and the others followed— it was their only way out, and they’d better not waste it.





“You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.”

 

By the time the distortion from leaving the Metaverse had settled, night had fallen. Makoto was starting to show signs of the post-awakening exhaustion setting in, but was trying to stay on her feet. Noticing this, Akira tried to offer his arm, but she shook her head and shot him a slightly wary look, sending a pang of guilt through his chest. Did she still not trust him?

 

“I can’t remember the last time I felt this exhausted,” she groaned, leaning against the support rail in the underground walkway. “I just want to go home and sleep…”

 

“That’s normal for a Persona awakening,” Akira replied, trying not to sound threatening. If Makoto had a Persona and was going to join their team, he’d need to earn her trust. 

 

It wasn’t going to be easy, though.

 

“I’m fine,” Makoto breathed, looking like she was about to pass out. “I- Speaking of which, what was all that back there?” Her tone reminded Akira of Ann when she had awakened to her Persona back in April; not understanding what they’d done until after they left the Palace. “Why did I suddenly- I mean, my clothes changing out of nowhere, and overpowering those guards-”

 

“Your appearance changing in the Palace means that the Ruler sees you as a threat,” Morgana interrupted. “It’s what your idea of a rebel looks like.”

 

“Okay,” said Makoto slowly, “And that floating bank is a representation of how Kaneshiro sees the world?”

 

Akira and Morgana both nodded. Makoto looked like she had a lot more questions, but they all seemed to have come to a collective agreement to focus on getting her back home safely before anything else. 

 

“I’m sorry for making you all do this,” she said quietly as they boarded the train. “It’s all my fault that you got in so much trouble in the first place.”

 

The train doors closed. 

 

“It’s fine,” Akira said, still trying his hardest not to intimidate her. “What’s done is done. Besides, you’re on the team now.”

 

“Yeah!” Ryuji continued, nodding fervently. “You were kickin’ serious ass back there! You’re gonna do great, promise!”

 

Makoto smiled at them. “Thank you,” she said. “That reminds me,” she added, pulling out her phone and looking at Akira, “You’re the leader, right? Can I have your contact information?”





2016 20th June 19:38

 

Makoto: So, do you guys schedule when you go into Palaces? I want to go back there as soon as possible.

Akira: Not really

Akira; We usually like to stock up on supplies before we go 

Akira: We can go tomorrow if you want though

Ann: Are you sure you’re prepared?

Ryuji: We can just go shopping after school and then meet up! It ain’t gonna take long!

Makoto: In the passageway by the Ginza line, right?

Akira: Yes

Makoto: That’s good to know. Kaneshiro keeps texting me about the deadline.

Ann: Ew

Akira: It’ll be good to get this done as soon as possible then

Ann: Don’t forget that the cops can’t even catch this guy! We’re the only ones that can stop him

Ryuji: Yeah, plus he’s a real criminal! If we catch him it’ll wipe that dumbass smile off of Akechi’s stupid face!

Akira: Exactly

Akira: See you all after school tomorrow






It came as an incredible relief to find Leblanc empty when Akira finally got off the train and reached the cafe. He hadn’t told Sojiro that he’d be late coming home again, and he really wasn’t in the mood for another lecture about it.

 

“This is our most important mission yet,” Morgana said seriously as Akira began heating up some leftover curry. “Not only are we going up against a real criminal, but the stakes are higher than ever, especially for you."

 

“I know,” Akira sighed, ladling some of the curry onto a plate and sitting down in one of the booth seats. “It’ll be easier with another team member though, right?” He took a small bowl from the shelf and added some spoonfuls of curry to it and pushed it towards Morgana. “I really didn’t think Miss President was gonna end up joining us.”

 

“Me either,” said Morgana proudly in between a mouthful of curry. “She’s a natural at this, too! I know she’ll fit right in!”

 

The events of the past day played over and over again in Akira’s head as he finished his dinner and begrudgingly started his homework. It was hard to believe that the same Makoto Niijima that had spied on him because he was “dangerous” was now the newest member of the Phantom Thieves.

 

She’s still afraid of you, piped up a small voice in the back of Akira’s head as he turned his pencil over in his fingers and stared at his English homework. You’ll have to soften up if you want her to trust you.

 

He tried to ignore it, but the voice was right; no matter what the truth was, Akira had cemented his reputation at school as a “dangerous criminal”, and Makoto definitely wasn’t going to stop being cautious around him overnight. 

 

After staring at the paper for twenty straight minutes and barely managing to write anything more than his name at the top, Akira gave up on his homework and stuffed it back into his bag. There was no way he could even pretend to concentrate on it, no matter how much Morgana nagged him about it. Sighing, he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall next to the Sayuri , deciding that the smartest thing for him to do now would be to do his laundry and then go to bed.

 

I bet I’ll get another visit from Igor and those twins tonight, Akira thought dully as he dumped his laundry into one of the washing machines next to the bathhouse. They’d “summoned” him when the other Thieves joined.  Igor’s gravelly voice echoed dimly in his head at the thought.

 

“I see you’ve gained yet another comrade…”

 

Akira dreamed of clattering chains all night.

Notes:

im so fucking tired writing these notes im not even going to try to explain my hiatus because it'll just be the same excuses. i hate my job and i wish i had more time to do things other than work and sleep. i wanted to update something though, so here you are. i promise im not abandoning this work or my writing i just. waitressing. foodservice. yeah.

plz comment/kudos thx for reading

p.s. subscribe 2 hideaki utsumi

Chapter 59: Queen

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Makoto’s persistence to go back to the Metaverse was on full display the next morning. 

 

Akira was nearly asleep waiting for the morning train when he was startled awake by Makoto standing directly in front of him and waving her hand in his face. 

 

“Hey, Kurusu-kun,” she said, sounding anxious. “Are you awake?”

 

“I am now,” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “What is it?”

 

She frowned slightly and took a step back from him. “I wanted to ask if you were planning on going to the Palace today,” she said anxiously. “If that’s okay with you, I mean.”

 

Akira considered her question for a moment. On one hand, he’d wanted to go shopping for supplies first, but on the other hand, Makoto had come to see him herself, which meant that she trusted him enough to ask about the Palace, so…

 

“Yeah, we can go today,” he yawned. “I just want to pick up some supplies first, and then I’ll let everyone know when it’s time to meet up. Also,” he added as the train approached and slowed to a halt, “you can just call me Akira.”





It was barely the end of homeroom when Akira started to feel the usual pre-Palace mixture of nervousness and excitement. 

 

Either Kawakami couldn’t tell that he was starting to zone out or she didn’t care, because he’d barely noticed the bell ring at the end of the class because he was still thinking about showing Makoto how their team operated. His worries that she was still scared of him had lessened significantly after their meeting at the subway platform that morning, however, they’d been replaced by a new fear; Kaneshiro’s deadline. Cartoonishly evil or not, he was still dangerous, and the photos being leaked would mean an entire universe of trouble for not only Akira, but for his friends as well.




2016 21 June 15:42

 

Makoto: You said we’re going to the Palace today, right?

Akira: Yes

Akira: Did you want to get supplies with me

Makoto: Oh, to see where you get your weapons and such?

Akira: Yes

Makoto: Sure!

Akira: Where should we meet up

Makoto: How about the student council room?

Akira: Sounds good

Akira: See you soon






“So, what am I going to be called?”

 

Despite her determination to return to the Metaverse as soon as possible, Makoto still looked slightly awkward standing in front of Kaneshiro’s Palace. 

 

Akira had taken her to Untouchable before they met up at the hideout to buy a nicer pair of brass knuckles and a revolver, then they stopped at the bakery near their hideout for a Melon Pan, then finally called everyone to the hideout. After a brief run-down of how Palace infiltrations worked, they opened the Meta-Nav and entered the Palace. Now, they were standing in front of the boarded-up front door of the bank, going through the process they’d gotten used to by now; picking a code name for their newest member.

 

“Well, you’re dressed kinda like a member of a biker gang, so…” Ann said, folding her arms, “Maybe something like… ‘Rider’?”

 

Makoto shook her head. “No thanks.”

 

“How about ‘Fixer’?” Yusuke suggested.

 

“I’m not a mechanic…”

 

“Oh, I know!” Ryuji cut in. “‘Shoulder Pads’!”

 

Makoto frowned at him. “I refuse to be called that.”

 

Ryuji hung his head and scoffed. “Damn, you’re bossy… how ‘bout ‘Prez’?”

 

“No.”

 

“You should take a crack at it, Joker,” Morgana said. “What do you think?”

 

Akira, who had been zoning out and thinking about what kind of excuse he’d give Sojiro if he asked why he’d come home late again, blinked and rubbed his eyes. “What? You want me to pick something?”

 

Makoto frowned at him. “Were you even paying attention?”

 

Akira fought hard to hide the irritation on his face as he tried to think of a good code name for Makoto. Ryuji was right, she was bossy, but it would be rude to base her code name on that entirely. But she loves barking orders, piped up a small voice in his head. Kind of like…

 

“How about ‘Queen’?”

 

She smiled. “I like that. Let’s get moving, shall we?”







Finding a hidden tunnel underneath a large golden pig statue in front of the Palace was a good start to their infiltration, but for some reason, Akira couldn’t make himself feel happy that Makoto had gotten the hang of it so quickly and was now garnering praise from the other Thieves for being such a fast learner. Was it jealousy? Or was he just tired?

 

Who are you kidding? You’re obviously jealous.

 

It was too early for him to be judging Makoto this much. She’d said it herself that she just wanted to prove that she could be useful to someone, and here was her chance to prove it. She’d probably been holding back all of her feelings for a long time, and now she could let them all out. What was the problem with that? 

 

As they disabled security systems, snuck through vents, and skirted past cameras, Akira began wondering when would be a good time to leave the Palace and take a break. Now that Makoto was on the team, he felt himself getting guilty about ignoring his homework, and that started another argument between him and the small voice in his head from earlier.

 

A good Phantom Thief doesn’t draw attention to themselves when trying to blend in with civilian life! You’ll get in trouble if your grades slip!

 

I’m supposed to be the kid who gets in trouble though, Akira argued back as he broke the glass casing on a security lever with his foot. 

 

Maybe back in your hometown, the voice shot back, but you don’t get a second chance here!

 

Akira grumbled to himself as he tightened his gloves. The voice was right. 

 

Still, I’d rather go on a date with Akechi than admit that.







They didn’t find another Safe Room again until they reached the basement, and by then, Akira and the others were definitely feeling a bit drained. Even Makoto looked slightly worn out as she leaned against a wall. Akira ignored Ann and Ryuji bickering over whose fault it was that they’d wasted ammo on a Shadow that nullified gunfire (it was Ann’s, she had tried it first, but she obviously wasn’t going to admit that) and instead chose to take all of the healing items he’d brought and spread them out on the table to see how much longer they could keep going.

 

Despite having stocked up on supplies before going to the Palace, they were almost out. The reusable coffee tumblers were empty, as were the Takemedic bottles, and they’d gone through all of the snacks and vending machine sodas an hour ago. 

 

“How are you guys doing on ammo?” Akira asked, not looking up from the table. 

 

“I’ve got two more rounds,” came Makoto’s voice, coupled with the metallic clicking from her revolver. “How about you, Yusuke?”

 

More shuffling and clicking. “Empty,” he said. “And I think-“

 

“Well, OBVIOUSLY Ann is out!” Ryuji interrupted. “I’ve still got some shells left, but-”

 

“That’s because I didn’t know that those enemies were strong against guns!”

 

“Joker already told us that, you just weren’t payin’ attention!”

 

“Says the guy who can’t even remember when the deadline for finding the Treasure is!”

 

“Hey,” Akira said loudly, making them stop. “That’s enough. I was asking because I was trying to decide if now would be a good time to leave or not. I think we’re all a little tired out, but I won’t do anything until I hear it from you.”

 

As always, he felt slightly odd when giving commands that his friends actually followed. He felt almost hypocritical, having started this group to rebel against authority figures and then been elected to fill the role of one himself. 

 

Well, as much authority as being able to yell at his friends to shut up gave him, anyways.

 

“I think we should leave,” said Makoto slowly. We’re nearly out of supplies, right? It would be good to head back to the real world and regroup.”

 

Ann, Ryuji, Yusuke and Morgana nodded. Akira did too, but felt the irritation from earlier begin to creep up on him again. Makoto had taken the words out of his mouth, and seemed very pleased with herself for doing so. 

 

“Let’s go then,” he said shortly. “We’re done here.”

Notes:

over the past few months as i’ve made little adjustments on this fic and the chapter i’ve been writing i’ve made the realization that bad boy akira kind of comes off as a self-insert character. honestly this fic is more of a “my thoughts as i play the game” journal with better writing and it makes me wonder if people still want to read it. of course that’s just my self-deprecating thoughts and the truth is probably nothing of the sort, but i still wonder…

anyways thanks for reading, if you still are. it’s slightly bewildering but makes me happy how many people still enjoy this fic and look forward to it being updated. so, thanks for still reading and supporting me!

Chapter 60: Follow Me

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

2016 21 June 19:23

 

Akira: Good work in the Palace today everyone

Makoto: Seconded! Everyone did great!

Ryuji: When are we going back?

 

Akira lowered his phone down to his lap so Morgana could read the texts from inside his bag. 

 

“We should wait at least a day before we go back,” he whispered a minute later. “Going back in without rest could be dangerous.”

 

Akira: I want to wait at least one day before we go back

Akira: We ran out of supplies really quickly today and I want to restock. It’s important for us to rest too

Yusuke: Agreed. I’m feeling quite famished…

Ann: How is that any different from normal, though? 

Ryuji: LMAO

Ryuji: Let us know when you wanna meet up again! I’m ready whenever!






“So, what do you think of our new team member?” 

 

Morgana waited until they returned to Leblanc to talk. It was empty, and Akira headed straight for the fridge once he entered; it was suffocatingly humid inside the tiny café. 

 

“Why do you want to know right now?” Akira asked, taking a half-empty water bottle from the fridge, pouring the contents into a cup, and drinking from it. “Aren’t you tired?”

 

Morgana jumped out of his bag and onto the counter. “Kind of, but you looked annoyed about something earlier. Chances are you’re still shifty about having Miss President on the team.”

 

Akira huffed a laugh. “You’re pretty sharp for a cat.”

 

He ignored Morgana’s scowl and drank more water. “Anyways, you’re not completely wrong. I am annoyed about her, but not because of the whole Miss President thing.”

 

Akira waited for Morgana to say something, and when he didn’t, he continued.

 

“I wish she wasn’t so bossy,” he grumbled. “Of course I’m happy to have her on our side, and she’s a great fighter, but the way she talks,” he took another sip of his water, “you’d think she was the leader.”

 

Morgana frowned at him. “I guess I see what you mean,” he said slowly. “Are you gonna tell her about it?”

 

Akira considered the question for a moment. If he’d been asked the same question back in April, he’d have snapped at Makoto to shut up and remind her that he’s the leader, but two months of being forced to keep his head down and behave had made him think twice about that approach. He’d seen how some people only acted a certain way because they felt like they had no choice, and while Makoto’s personality might come off as annoying to him, he knew it was only because she just wanted to be helpful.

 

Still, he couldn’t change the fact that it bothered him.

 

“I’ll tell her if she’s not in a bad mood tomorrow,” he said slowly. “I don’t want to scare her off the team.”

 

Morgana gave him a slightly skeptical look. “Did something happen to you?” he asked, tilting his head. “You normally aren’t this considerate about people’s feelings. Especially not Miss President’s.” He paused. “Do you like her or something?”

 

Akira almost spit out his water. 

 

“What?! No! No! Oh my God, no! Oh my God!”

 

He grimaced while Morgana laughed at him. “What the hell made you think that?!” Akira spluttered angrily. “I mean, it’s good that she’s on the team, and she’s pretty good with a revolver, but- did you forget what we were talking about two minutes ago?”

 

Morgana was laughing again. “I was just kidding! Besides, I know what you really care about the most!”

 

“Yeah?” Akira shot back, turning on the sink and washing his cup, “what’s that?”

 

The cat gave him a satisfied smirk. “Remember when you asked about how much ammo we had back in the Palace?”

 

“Yeah, and?”

 

Morgana was still smirking. “Ryuji had his eyes on you the entire time.”

 

Like always, Akira was at a complete loss for words.

 

“S-Shut up,” he spat, fumbling with the cup and trying not to drop it. “I- I mean, it’s not that that means anything to me, he’s my teammate, you-” 

 

The smirk on Morgana’s face didn’t falter. “Keep telling yourself that,” he said, flicking his tail. “Whatever makes you sleep at night.”

 

Before Akira could snap back at him, the cat jumped off the counter and trotted upstairs, leaving Akira alone behind the counter with his very confused thoughts.

 

Did Morgana know something he didn’t?! What did it matter that Ryuji had been staring at him back in the Palace? His teammates were supposed to look at him while he talked, he’s the leader!  

 

Was Morgana implying that Ryuji liked him, and that Akira was too stupid to notice? Was he just screwing with him?

 

That’s not important! Akira thought to himself angrily as he dried his hands. Focus on Kaneshiro for now!

 

Right. Kaneshiro. Going back to the Palace. Dealing with Makoto.

 

Fuck.

 



2016 22 June 06:37

 

Akira: Can you meet me by the student council room after school today

Makoto: Why?

Akira: Nothing, just thieves stuff

Makoto: Okay, I’ll see you then!

 

Akira sighed deeply as he turned his phone off and leaned against his seat. The first step was over. 

 

School seemed more asinine than ever that day. The hours snailed by, and Akira found himself thinking about the mission more than usual as he sat through his classes. 

 

We’re dealing with the mafia, Akira thought to himself as he tried to focus on Ms. Chuono explaining English metaphors. We’re dealing with the mafia, and I’m stuck in here taking notes about what “raining cats and dogs” means. 

 

It felt like years had passed when the last bell of the day finally rang. 

 

“You know what you’re gonna say?” Morgana whispered to Akira as he got up from his seat. “Don’t scare her off the team.”

 

“I know,” Akira hissed back. “I’m ready.”

 

The chatter of the Shujin students seemed more far away than usual as Akira made his way towards the student council room. Makoto was waiting for him at the door just as she’d promised, looking just as anxious as he felt. 

 

Despite the fact that she’d already joined the Phantom Thieves, the tension was just as bad as when she’d cornered them on the roof.

 

“Kur- I mean, Akira-kun,” Makoto said, straightening her skirt as she held the door open, “What’s up?”

 

Her casual tone was so obviously forced that it made Akira feel slightly less tense. 

 

“What did you want to talk about?” 

 

Akira fidgeted anxiously with a strap on his bag. “Nothing much. I’ll try to make this quick.”

 

“Go ahead!” he heard Morgana whisper, “Get it over with!”

 

He took a deep breath. “So, I know that you’re used to being in charge and all. Like, being student council president. I mean, I know I’m a ‘bad kid’, but even I know that it’s hard. And I want to say that all of us— I mean, the Phantom Thieves,” he added quickly, seeing Makoto raise her eyebrows, “We really do appreciate how determined you are. I mean, we really were backed into a corner with Kaneshiro, and now you’re practically leading the group-”

 

“Thank you-”

 

“And that’s actually what I wanted to talk about.”

 

Akira felt his confidence plummet when he saw Makoto’s face fall. This was it. This was the hard part.

 

“I’m really happy that you’re a part of our group now, honest,” he said, “and that you’ve gotten a pretty good hang of the way our group operates, but I-”

 

Can you slow the hell down and let me do my job? I’m the leader, not you!

 

“I think it’s important to just slow down a little. I appreciate your help, but I’m still the group’s leader. I’m not kicking you out,” he said, feeling his face redden, “but I just feel like you’re going a little too fast, and… That’s all,” he finished, somewhat lamely.

 

He expected Makoto to look slightly hurt, maybe even offended, but the look on her face was more confused than anything else. It felt like time had frozen as she studied Akira’s face, her crimson eyes narrowed slightly and her hands folded neatly on the table. She was either sizing him up and getting ready to start shouting, or thinking of a good response that would make him sound stupid.

 

Or both.

 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she spoke.

 

“So… you’re not kicking me off the team?”

 

It was Makoto’s relieved voice that caused the mix of shame and dread that had been brewing in Akira’s chest to reach a boiling point. 

 

“No, of course not,” he said, trying to keep his voice low and calm. “I just-”

 

“He thinks you should stop trying to take over as leader and not get in his way,” Morgana interrupted, jumping out of Akira’s bag and sitting on the table. “And he thinks you’re bossy and annoying.”

 

Akira felt all the color drain from his face.

 

“What?! No, god damn it!” he spluttered, “That’s not true, he’s just being an ass-”

 

However, to Akira’s immense relief, Makoto started laughing. 

 

“You get straight to the point awfully fast,” she joked, smiling at them. “Maybe you should be the leader instead, Mona.”

 

Akira would have laughed if he hadn’t been feeling so anxious, but he started feeling more relieved when Makoto looked back at him, her expression warm.

 

“Thank you for telling me this,” she said, reaching over to scratch behind Morgana’s ears. “I’m glad you were honest with me, and I’m sorry if I came across as too… overexcited." 

 

The room was silent for a moment as Akira tried to gather his thoughts into a proper reply.

 

“It’s okay,” he said awkwardly. “I know you were just trying to help.”

 

Makoto shrugged and smiled again. “No, it’s my fault. If you hadn’t told me any of this, I probably would have kept going and messed up somehow, like charging straight into battle without preparing first.”

 

Akira didn’t know what to say to that, so he just nodded and pulled Morgana towards him so he could put him back in his bag. 

 

“We should get going,” he finally said two minutes later. “The others are probably waiting for us.”

 

She nodded and began to stand up. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

 

“Kaneshiro won’t know what hit him.”

Notes:

every time i post a new chapter to this story i think "oh i should really update more often so people don't forget that this fic exists" and then i don't do it. im convinced that some entity is trying its hardest to stop me from writing because this has been the busiest and most emotionally exhausting month i've had in a long time. anyways plz comment/kudos and thanks for reading

Chapter 61: Naturally

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Although their short talk in the student council room had ended on good terms, Akira had been afraid that Makoto would act coldly towards him as they continued storming through the Palace, but to no one’s surprise, he was wrong. 

 

It was on the train ride to their hideout in Shibuya when Akira had started to feel uneasy again. He knew that Makoto wasn’t angry at him. He knew that she had agreed to adjust her pace to fit the rest of the group and to respect Akira as the leader (even though he was the “delinquent transfer student”). Like before, she seemed more relaxed knowing that Akira wasn’t going to kick her off the team than anything else, but did she really feel that way? Or was she just pretending not to be resentful towards him?

 

There was only one way to find out.



—-



The lower Kaneshiro’s basement went, the more sleek and well-guarded it became. 

 

It seemed like every time Akira destroyed one of the cameras’ power sources, more would materialize right around the corner. They found long halls lined with literal piles of money, confusing hallways that seemed to only lead to dead ends, empty security rooms, a large room the size of a church with a literal sea of money covering the floor, and finally, after near-fatal close scrapes with guard Shadows and crawling through dusty vent shafts, they found another Safe Room right across from an elevator guarded by two large Shadows, and strangely, Shadow Kaneshiro himself.

 

“What’s he doin’ down there?” Ryuji hissed in Akira’s ear as they hid behind a very large potted plant. “Does he know we’re here?”

 

“I’d think so, considering how many security cameras we destroyed,” Yusuke whispered back. “He is probably expecting us to show ourselves any minute now.”

 

“What’s your call, Joker?” Morgana breathed. “That elevator is definitely important if he’s guarding it so fiercely!”

 

Akira weighed his options as he cracked open a bottle of Takemedic-Z’s (slowly inside his coat pocket to muffle the noise) and passed the pills around. They’d made a lot of progress, and leaving the Palace now sounded like the best idea available, but what were the chances that Kaneshiro would still be in front of the elevator when they returned? Even if he was gone when they came back, they’d definitely need some kind of key to get into the elevator that only Kaneshiro or his goons would have.

 

“We’ve got no choice,” Akira hissed, screwing the cap back on the bottle and cracking his knuckles. “There’s definitely going to be a special key or something that we need in order to use the elevator, and even an idiot like Akechi would be able to tell that Kaneshiro or those security Shadows will have it. If we leave now, he might go somewhere else and we won’t find him again.”

 

Their only option was making itself clearer by the second, and increasing the usual thrill that Akira felt before a potentially challenging battle; They were going to have to fight Kaneshiro’s enormous security Shadows if they wanted to make any more progress. The only question left, however…

 

Who do I pick to fight these guys with me?

 

Well, the first answer was obvious; Ryuji, of course. Not only were his damage buffs incredibly useful, but his Zio skills could potentially shock the enemies, leaving them vulnerable and unable to move, making them easy targets. However, Yusuke was capable of freezing them as well, but he had no healing skills. Makoto was almost out of stamina, which left Ann and Morgana, but there was a decent chance that the enemies could null fire and wind skills. 

 

Damn it! They were wasting time just sitting there! Kaneshiro and his goons could leave any second!

 

“Skull, Mona, Fox,” Akira whispered, “let’s go. Now. Before they leave. Queen, Panther, stay close just in case.”

 

They nodded. Akira didn’t think he would ever get used to the feeling of formally giving orders and having them followed, but by now it made him feel confident and capable as a leader.

 

A leader of an underground gang of teenagers (plus a cat) that fought crime.

 

In an alternate dimension.

 

Using magic powers they get from demons.

 

With a cat.

 

Who could turn into a bus.

 

When you put it like that, it makes it sound ridiculous.

 

“How are we gonna approach them?” Ryuji hissed in Akira’s ear. “We can’t just run up to ‘em!”

 

He quickly scanned the room. The only way to pull a sneak attack on them would be from above, but he had no way to get back to the rafters without running in front of them, but just running out into the open would be dangerous, too.

 

You’ve got a grappling hook, dummy!

 

Akira felt like an idiot.

 

“I have a plan,” he whispered. “Just listen to me.”



—-



Smoke bomb, shoot the grappling hook up, then ambush.

 

It went much smoother than expected.

 

“What the fuck?! What’s going on?!”

 

Are the Shadows being this stupid on purpose?

 

“You know,” Akira said, dropping lightly down to the floor in front of the elevator, “You really should invest in some better security cameras. Unless, of course,” he felt himself starting to smile as his friends rushed to stand behind him, “You’ve already bought the best ones that stolen money can buy.”

 

The Shadows spun around to face them, Kaneshiro stumbling slightly as he ran behind his guards. “H-how the hell did you rats get all the way down here?! What happened to the other guards?!”

 

“Those idiots?!” Ryuji laughed. “Piece of cake!”

 

 “Wh- you- Damn it! You two!” Kaneshiro spluttered, pointing at the guards. “You’d better get rid of them, or else I’ll kill you!”

 

“Everyone ready?” Akira called as the Shadows dissolved into black mist and turned into horse-headed monsters. “Let’s go.”

 

“These Shadows are called Orobas!” Makoto called from behind a golden yen statue where she’d been instructed to stay with Ann. “They’re weak to Bless attacks and strong against Wind!”

 

“Mona, focus on healing!” Akira yelled. “Fox, speed up! Skull, try shocking them!”

 

They followed his instructions. One of the Shadows got shocked, but the other didn’t. Morgana lowered their speed, and Akira shot at them. One stumbled, and the shocked one fell. 

 

If these are Kaneshiro’s best guards, he’s got some serious re-staffing to do.

 

It only took another Mazionga from Ryuji and near-perfect aim from Yusuke’s newly-upgraded rifle to finish off the guards. When the battle was over, Kaneshiro was gone, but there was something on the floor where he had been standing.

 

“A ripped-up notebook?”

 

Ann sounded confused as she bent down to pick it up and show it to Akira. “Why do you think he was so protective of this?”

 

Akira took it and looked closely at it. Written on the pages that weren’t ripped out were what looked like a key for a code of some kind.

 

“R=0? I, H=1... C=2? What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

Akira looked at the page, then at the elevator. “Well, it’s definitely important,” he said. “Let’s go find out.”

Notes:

im back. i hope you enjoyed this chapter because it’s very likely im going to disappear again after posting because my life sucks and i’m tired all the time. i still love writing though and i don’t want to abandon this fic. it’s been almost 3 years since i started writing it. crazy.

plz comment if u enjoyed and thanks for reading!

Chapter 62: Long Way

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

A giant floating bank having a basement didn’t make much sense, but the giant floating bank didn’t make any sense in the first place.

 

At first, the basement didn’t look like much of anything. 

 

Just a large circular room with strange-looking hallways with another elevator in the center. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as Palaces went. However, when Akira looked at the “hallways” and their “doors” for more than a second, he realized something.

 

“This whole floor-” he started, stepping back from where he’d had his face pressed up against the glass,

“It’s one giant lock!” Makoto finished for him.

 

Maybe it was more obvious than he thought.

 

From the brief look he’d been able to get at it, Akira figured that there were probably more rooms further underground that they’d need to go through in order to get to the center. There was a good chance that the Treasure was in the center of the lock, and it’d probably take at least another day to get through the basements, crack the codes, and get to the center.

 

That, or Akira was starting to go nuts from fatigue.

 

“We should find a Safe Room before we do anything else,” he said. “We’ve made a lot of progress today. I think that the next area— this basement— will take a lot of focus and preparation. I didn’t even think this place would have such a huge basement. I mean, it’s floating—“

 

The elevator stopped.

 

“Let’s find a Safe Room first. You said it yourself; that’s what’s most important.”

 

Maybe it wasn’t always horrible when Makoto interrupted him.

 

It could have been an effect of being in the Metaverse for too long, but the more Akira thought about going into the Safe Room and then back home, the more tired he felt. 

 

He got a brief glimpse of what looked like a keypad and screen in front of the first lock before turning to look for the distorted door that meant a Safe Room. 

 

To their luck, it was literally right next to the elevator doors.

 

Akira wanted to laugh at how quickly he and the other Thieves collapsed into the chairs surrounding the table in the center of the room, but he decided against it. 

 

“I think it’s time to head back,” he said, running his hands through his hair. “We’ll have to come up with a plan for the lock next time.”

 

There were no objections.

 

Akira didn’t even pay attention to Justine scowling at him from the door to the Velvet Room on the way out of the Palace.





2016 22 June 19:02

 

Akira: I know getting through the Palace is important but I think we should take a little break before we go back in there

Akira: I’m exhausted

Ryuji: LMFAO

Ann : Seconded! I feel like I’m gonna pass out…

Yusuke: I’m guessing Morgana is feeling fatigued as well?

 

Akira looked up from his phone glanced at Morgana, who was curled up at the edge of his bed fast asleep.

 

Akira: He was out like a light as soon as we got back to Leblanc

Ann: How are you holding up, Makoto?

Makoto: I’m alright. I’m curious about what those codes we found on that paper back in the Palace meant.

Ryuji: Whoa, the prez thinkin’ about something that ain’t homework? That’s a first!

Makoto: ….

Makoto: Anyways…

Yusuke: What do you think, Akira?

 

Akira put his phone in his lap and rubbed his eyes. I don’t know, he thought. I don’t fucking know. I have to write an essay about English metaphors for Ms. Chuono and study blood circulation for Mr. Hiruta and do laundry and now I have to try to figure out how to get into the basement of a fucking floating bank.

 

Akira: I’ll think about it tomorrow 

 

He closed the group chat.

 

It was all becoming too much. Akira thought back to when he first arrived in Tokyo, which he couldn’t believe was just a mere two months ago. Arrested for a bullshit crime he didn’t commit and sent to the biggest city in the world where everyone hates him. He forgot to bring an umbrella with him on the first day of school, and now he was the leader of an underground gang of teenagers who fought demons in another dimension. 

 

None of it made any sense. He didn’t think it ever would.

 

Akira sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes. He didn’t realize how exhausting thinking about all of this was.

 

What should I do? What can I do to make this all feel better?

 

His immediate first thought was to talk to someone about it– someone who would listen to him and understand the situation (and wouldn’t land him in a world of trouble). 

 

There’s a counselor at your school, dummy.

 

Akira laughed at himself.

 

Why would I want to tell any adult at school about this?!

 

He turned on his phone, looked at the growing amount of unread messages next to the group chat icon, then turned it off again. He looked at the bed. Morgana was still asleep.

 

I have to talk to someone about this, or else I’m going to go insane.

 

He turned his phone back on, barely paying attention as he put in the passcode, opened the phone app, and started dialing a number.

 

Akira tried to match his breathing with the sound of the phone ringing.

 

“Hey dude, what’s up?”

 

Ryuji picked up on the second ring. Almost instantly, Akira felt himself starting to relax.

 

“Uh, nothing much right now.” 

Stop lying!

“I just, um, wanted to talk. To you. Outside of the group chat.”

Then just text him, stupid! You’re gonna wake up Morgana!

 

“Really? What about?”

 

Akira could almost hear Ryuji smiling on the other end.

 

“Just– hang on, let me go downstairs. Morgana’s still asleep.”

 

The stairs sounded much louder than normal as Akira descended them. 

 

“Okay, so anyways,” he said, sitting down at a booth, “I just felt like I needed to talk to someone. I’m really overwhelmed and not sure how to approach the whole passcode thing in the Palace and I just want to take a day off but I know that the deadline is getting closer and we’re all seriously in deep shit if we don’t pull this off on time.” 

 

He took a quick breath.

 

“So, I know I dumped a lot on you, but that’s what I wanted to say. And,” he took a breath, “You don’t have to give me advice or anything, I just need a distraction. That’s all.”

 

The few seconds of silence felt like hours as Akira waited for Ryuji to reply.

 

“Well, of course you can talk to me!” Ryuji said finally with a laugh. “You’re my best friend, man! You can talk to me about anything.”

 

Akira sighed in relief.

 

“Thanks,” he breathed, feeling more relieved than he could remember feeling in a long time. “I don’t even really want to think about the Palace right now, honestly.” He paused. “If Makoto heard me saying that, she’d probably kill me.”

 

Ryuji laughed. “For real,” he said. “I kinda forget about everything else when she’s around. She’s got this way of talkin’ that makes you feel like not payin’ attention is like, criminal. She’s nuts.” He paused. “Still, it’s a damn good thing she joined us instead of tellin’ on us…”

 

“Don’t remind me,” Akira groaned. “I don’t want to feel guilty that I’m spending my evening talking to you instead of doing my homework.”

 

Ryuji laughed again, making Akira feel slightly more relaxed. Talking to Ryuji felt easy, as if they’d known each other for years. He thought back to the night they’d had the hot pot celebration with Yusuke and shared their stories while cleaning up, when he’d been filled with the same kind of familiarity that he’d feel while talking to people he’d known all his life. 

 

To put it shortly, Akira just liked talking to Ryuji.

 

(Admitting it made his heart skip a beat.)

 

“You know, Morgana said something funny the other day,” Akira said, fidgeting with a stray lock of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. “When I was talking about how I thought Makoto was trying to take over as the leader– long story, by the way,” he added quickly, hearing Ryuji take a breath, “He said that he noticed I seemed pissed off about having her on the team, and he asked if I was going to tell her that I didn’t like how bossy she was, and I said that I didn’t want to do it if she was in a bad mood because I didn’t want to scare her off the team. Then,” Akira paused, suddenly feeling his heartbeat speeding up, “Morgana actually asked me if I liked her or something.”

 

He stopped. There was a moment of silence, then Akira pulled the phone away and jumped as Ryuji let out a loud bark of laughter.

 

“Dude, seriously?!” he snickered, sounding like he could hardly contain himself. “ You likin’ Miss Prez?! How stupid is that cat?!”

 

Akira huffed a laugh. “A lot more than I thought,” he said. “Especially because…”

 

He trailed off. Should he really tell Ryuji what Morgana had said next? Should he tell him that Morgana had next accused Akira of liking Ryuji instead? How would he even say that without making it sound like Morgana was right?! It wasn’t, but still! 

 

“‘Cause what?” Ryuji asked, snapping Akira out of his reverie. “What happened next?”

 

Akira blinked. He’d forgotten for a second that he was still on the phone.

 

“Oh, right,” he said shortly. “Right, because, um, he sounded really smug about it. Like he knew something I didn’t.”

 

If Ryuji had noticed Akira’s nervousness, he didn’t sound like it. “Dude, he’s always actin’ like that. That’s just how he is. I swear, if I ever start actin’ all smug around you guys like he does, promise you’ll smack that shit out of me.”

 

Akira snorted. “Sure,” he said, “Assuming that I’d ever let something like that happen to begin with.”

 

“Of course, man. I– oh, shit. Hang on,” Ryuji said, sounding distracted by something. Akira could hear the sound of a door opening in the background.  “My mom’s home,” Ryuji said a second later. “She’s got groceries, too. Talk to you later?”

 

Akira nodded, then remembered Ryuji couldn’t see him. “Of course,” he said. “See you tomorrow.”

 

“You too, man! G’night!”



Notes:

im back to say happy birthday to ryuji. i couldn't just not publish a chapter on the most important day of the year. i'm happy to say that i've been hard at work on another project, so my hiatus hasn't been entirely just me being lazy. i have been working on something! that being said, i feel really guilty that i haven't uploaded anything in two months. life just got in the way, i guess. however i'm still writing, and i'm also SUPER excited for p5t and p3r! p5t looks like a hella fun game and the artstyle is adorable.

please comment/kudos if you enjoyed, and as always thanks for reading!

Chapter 63: Changing Seasons

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Akira woke up the next morning to the sounds of rain outside and the air in the attic feeling humid and heavy. Grumbling, he pushed the blanket aside and stretched, thinking vaguely of buying a fan to put in his window as he got dressed, Morgana following him wordlessly down the stairs and into the café.

 

“You’re looking sharp,” Sojiro remarked with a chuckle as Akira sat down at the counter and rubbed his eyes. “How’s that heat?”

 

Akira frowned at Sojiro as he chuckled again and slid a plate of curry towards him. “I’m loving it, actually,” he replied drily. “I might leave my window open tonight. I’d love to get rained on.”

 

Sojiro laughed again and started turning on the coffee siphons. “Better hurry up then,” he said. “Can’t get rained on if you stay in here all day.”

 

Akira didn’t know what to say to that, so he spooned some curry into his mouth, trying (and failing) to ignore the fact that it was still piping hot. Sojiro chuckled and poured some coffee into a mug, pushing it towards Akira, who accepted it wordlessly. Before he’d been sent to Tokyo, he’d never considered himself to be a fan of coffee, but Sojiro seemed to know how to turn anyone into a coffee fanatic once they had a cup of Leblanc’s house blend. 

 

“Don’t forget an umbrella,” Sojiro said as Akira picked up his cleaned plate and empty mug and took them to the sink. “There’s one next to the door.”

 

“Thanks,” Akira said, stifling a yawn as he made his way out of the café, making sure to flip the sign on the door to “open” on his way out.



—-



The humidity felt oppressive as Akira left the underground walkway out of Aoyama-Itchome, the rain so light that it was more like a fine mist dampening the air (and fogging up Akira’s glasses). 

 

“I’m hot!” Morgana complained, his voice muffled from inside Akira’s bag. “You couldn’t have put an ice pack in here or something?”

 

“Shut up,” Akira whispered, tightening his grip on his bag. “You’re always telling me to keep my head down and not get in trouble, right? If someone hears you—”

 

“You’re gonna be in deep shit?”

 

Akira didn’t need to turn around to see who had interrupted him.

 

He smiled. “Morning, Ryuji.”

 

Ryuji laughed and walked faster to catch up with him. “G’mornin, dude! What’s up?”

 

“Not a whole lot,” Akira said, ignoring Morgana squirming around noisily in his bag, “Feels like a good day to visit the Palace, huh?”

 

“Hell yeah!” Ryuji said, grinning. “I’m so ready to kick some Shadow ass!”

 

“I’m pretty sure I figured out that puzzle code,” Akira lied. “It’s just numbers and letters. And there’s six of us, surely someone will be able to figure it out.”

 

“Prolly gonna be Miss President,” Ryuji remarked. “She’s always tryna prove how much smarter she is than us.”

 

Akira snorted. “Are you admitting that she is smarter than us?”

 

“Hell no, dude!”



—-



The rest of the day passed in a long, slow blur. Akira could feel his classmates’ dirty looks as he clicked his pen over and over again, but he didn’t care. Anything was better than listening to Ushimaru droning on about the kinds of money issues by the government and the rain hitting against the glass. 

 

By the end of homeroom, Akira’s thoughts had traveled from the Palace, to the code written in Kaneshiro’s journal page, to the last time he did laundry, and back to the Palace again. He’d skipped lunch to hastily finish the homework he’d avoided doing the previous night, so he was hungry as well. The bakery at the Ginza Line gate should have their Melon Pan today, he thought vaguely as the final bell rang. Should be enough to keep me going…



2016 23 June 15:17

 

Akira: Is everyone ready to go to the Palace today

Ryuji: Hell yeah!

Ann: Of course! We’re so close to that Treasure, I know it!

Yusuke: I’m fully prepared. I will be at the hideout as soon as possible.

Makoto: I’m on my way now.

Akira: See you all soon

 

Akira was barely paying attention to where he was going as he left the school and headed towards the station, letting his muscle memory guide him to the Ginza Line gate. 

 

Maybe this was why he didn’t notice Akechi standing in line at the bakery until he almost bumped into him.

 

“Oh, Kurusu-kun!” he said in a gasp, turning around to face him. “What a pleasant surprise!” 

 

How can he always sound scripted whenever he talks, even when he’s not on TV?

 

“Hi,” Akira replied drily, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “What are you doing here?”

 

Akechi seemed to have some kind of ability to either not sense when someone wasn’t being nice to him or ignore it completely, because he just smiled as if nothing had happened. “Just getting a snack before heading to work,” he said. “I’m quite a fan of this bakery, especially their melon pan, even though I don’t actually like sweets that much. Now, I know what you're thinking," he added, interrupting Akira as he tried opening his mouth to talk, "You've seen me eating sweets before, but it’s usually just for some sponsorship. I’m more partial to spicy foods myself, in fact! Oh, it’s my turn, excuse me—”

 

Before Akira could even try to process the last thirty seconds, Akechi stepped forward, handed the girl at the counter some money (“One melon pan, please!”), and a second later (“I’ll see you later, Kurusu!”), he was gone, taking the last melon pan with him.

 

Akira was so shocked that he didn’t notice the bakery employee trying to get his attention.

 

“Excuse me,” she was saying, waving at him, “Did you still want to get something?”

 

Akira blinked.

 

“No,” he said, scowling. “I’m not hungry.”

 

And before he could even see the look on the girl’s face change, he turned on his heel and left, thinking only of getting to the Palace as soon as possible and beating the first Shadow he saw to a pulp.





“Dude, what the hell happened to you?”

 

Akira had forgotten how little time it took to get from the Ginza Line to the hideout spot.

 

The worried looks on his friends’ faces made him forget about Akechi for a second, and he felt his anger melting even further when he saw the Yon-Germain bag in Ryuji’s hand. “Nothing,” he said, leaning against the railing. “It’s just— something stupid happened. What’s up?”

 

Akira’s anger evaporated as Ryuji opened the bag and pulled out three melon pans ( that’s why there was only one left, he thought) and handed one to Akira, one to Ann, and one to Yusuke. “Thanks,” he said, quickly taking a bite, feeling more relaxed almost immediately. “Makoto didn’t want one?”

 

“I wasn’t hungry,” she said, offering a small smile. “I had a pretty big lunch. I wanted to be extra prepared for today. You’ve figured out what to do with that code, right?”

 

Akira bit his lip and hoped that the sudden nervous feeling that had taken over him wasn’t showing on his face. “I have a theory about that,” he said, before he could stop himself. “I think we need more clues. We don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle, you know? I’m sure that the answer will be super obvious if we just look around in the Palace a little more.”

 

He fought hard to hide his surprise at his friends’ looks of understanding, considering how he’d been making talking completely out of his ass. “That makes sense,” Makoto said, furthering Akira’s shock. “We did leave almost immediately after finding that notebook page. There’s definitely more things we missed.”

 

That seemed to settle it. “In that case, let’s get going,” Akira said. pulling out his phone and opening the Meta-nav. “We’ve got work to do.”

Notes:

so um. im back from my longest hiatus yet. i finally moved house and it took a lot of energy from me. im posting this chapter before p5t comes out and causes me to disappear for another 4 months.

please kudos/comment if you enjoyed and as always thanks for reading!