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Goro drifted in and out of consciousness for what felt like days or months, maybe even years. He wasn’t sure how much time was passing or why he couldn’t seem to just wake up, until all of a sudden he did.
He blinked his eyes open and tried to reach into his memories to figure out what was going on, but it felt like his mind was stuffed with cotton. The last thing he remembered was fighting Maruki in that godforsaken palace, and after that there was a vague recollection of watching Ren and his merry band of Thieves in the helicopter, but that was where his memories ended. He supposed that was probably the moment that he’d died again.
But if he was dead, then where the hell was he now?
He took in his surroundings, and the first thing he noticed was how blue everything was. And oddly enough, he wasn’t really sure what ‘everything’ actually entailed. The room seemed to shift around him like illusions in fog, starting as an elevator and transforming into the back of a limousine and then a jail before becoming an elevator again.
The only thing that didn’t change about his surroundings was the three people in the center of the room. There was an old man with an absurdly long nose sitting at a desk, and on either end of the desk were a tall man who seemed to be in his mid-20’s and a young girl who seemed vaguely familiar, though he wasn't sure why. They both had the same silver hair and yellow eyes, and the longer Goro looked at them, the more he got the feeling that they weren’t quite human.
Given the room around him and the not-quite-people staring at him with their creepy eyes, Goro figured it was probably safe to assume that he must be dead after all. This wasn’t exactly what he’d imagined the afterlife to look like, but maybe it was just the reception area before he was thrust into Hell.
“Ah, you’re finally awake,” the old man said. His voice was… unsettling. There was no other way to describe it. “Welcome to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance.”
Goro rolled his eyes. “There’s no need for these dramatics. I’m guessing the Velvet Room is just another word for Hell, then? I can’t say I was expecting anyone to actually welcome me here.”
“Watch your tone with my master,” the girl said, glaring at him with a surprising amount of fire for someone he'd likely never met.
“It’s quite alright, Lavenza. I’m sure that Akechi-san here is just confused and perhaps a little nervous.” The man on the other side of the said said before turning to Goro with a smile that was suspiciously genial. “My name is Theodore, but you may call me Theo. As my master has stated, you are currently in a place known as the Velvet Room.”
“Frankly, I don’t care what your name is or where I am,” Goro said, watching closely as the girl gripped her book a little tighter. “Just send me off to my eternal torture and punishment so we can get on with it. Unless, of course, this is my punishment. If that’s the case, I highly suggest firing whoever came up with this.”
“You are not in Hell, or what some humans seem to think Hell is,” Igor said cryptically, practically confirming that they weren’t actually human. “This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter.”
Goro scowled, already getting tired of the way this old man seemed incapable of speaking in anything but riddles. Maybe whoever had designed this room in Hell for him had some potential after all. “Sure, let’s go with that. If this isn’t actually Hell, I would appreciate if one of you would just get to the fucking point.”
“Watch your tongue, Akechi-san,” the girl—Lavenza, he remembered—said, glaring sharply. Theo cleared his throat and Lavenza glanced at him before taking a deep breath, suddenly calming down at a rate that Goro begrudgingly had to admit was impressive. “To put it simply, you, are not actually dead—well, you're not dead anymore.”
Goro blinked, trying to school his features into his perfectly pleasant Detective Prince mask to hide his shock. “I beg your pardon?”
“While it’s true that you disappeared after that man’s reality was dissolved, you were never supposed to have actually died. It took us quite a long time, but we have managed to extract your soul from the remnants of Mementos,” Theo said, and then smiled that suspiciously friendly smile again. “In all ways that matter, you are alive. Once we are able to get you back to your time, you will be permitted to return to the land of the living.”
Goro froze, feeling time still as he tried to process what he was being told. The fact that he wasn’t supposed to die was surprising enough, but believing that these people—if they could even be called that—not only managed to bring him back from the dead, but also went out of their way to do it? That was the part he was having the most trouble processing. He didn’t know them; they had no reason to bring him back to life.
He knew that in this situation, most people would simply be grateful for a second chance at life and take the offer without a second thought. But he hadn’t survived as long as he had without being suspicious of everyone’s intentions.
“Why?” he asked, eyes narrowing as he studied all of their reactions.
Lavenza sighed, and though Goro saw no signs of malice in her expression or body language, she’d made it very clear that she wasn’t exactly happy about him being here. “Despite my better judgment, my trickster, who you know as Ren Amamiya, wishes for it. He never explicitly said so, but it was quite obvious.”
Ren. Of course he was somehow brought back to life because of fucking Ren.
“I’d rather be dead than live just because Ren feels sorry for me. I’m no one’s charity case, and I refuse to be kept like some pet by that sentimental fool,” Goro snarled, dark satisfaction running through him at the way Lavenza flinched at his tone.
He finally remembered where he'd met her before—in the nurse's office while they were all trapped in Maruki's reality. He hadn't thought much about her at the time, as he'd been far too concerned with figuring out how to escape that warped reality, which was probably why he hadn't recognized her immediately.
“I believe you have misunderstood us,” Igor said, and Goro’s eyes snapped to where he was still sitting calmly with his hands folded on his desk. “We would not bring you back simply to be by his side. Once you are in the land of the living, you will have complete free will. If you wish to never see Ren Amamiya again, no one will force it upon you.”
Goro had no idea how to respond to that. Everything in him was screaming that this was a trap, that there was no way these otherworldly beings actually meant what they were saying. And yet when he watched them, Lavenza looked frustrated by this development while Theo looked positively giddy about it for some reason. None of it made any sense.
“I can sense that you are looking for the deception in our words, so I will allow Theo to explain the conditions.”
Immediately, Goro felt vindicated, because of course there were conditions. He’d dealt with enough lawyers while working for Shido to know that, more often than not, the 'conditions' in legal contracts were just a way of trapping people who didn't read or fully understand them.
“Ah, yes,” Theo began, clearing his throat nervously. “Upon your return to the living world, we have procured a living space for you with a former resident of the Velvet Room who was assigned to me some years ago during her time as a persona user. You may stay with her for as long as you wish, though we ask that you at least stay there long enough to obtain a new legal identity to avoid potential… complications that may arise if certain people were to find you. There is someone that my client is acquainted with who would be willing and able to help.”
“And what’s in it for them?” Goro asked, raising an eyebrow. No one would simply agree to house someone they don’t know if they weren’t getting anything in return.
Theo smiled, and this time it appeared to be almost bittersweet. “I’m afraid it’s not my place to speak for her, but I swear on my existence that its value far outweighs any potential trouble that would come with hosting you and helping you obtain a new identity.”
Goro wasn’t completely sold on the idea, but he felt somewhat mollified. It was easy for people to create new identities if they had connections, money, and power, and if someone had enough money for something like that, they would be able to afford hosting someone for however long they wanted to. Even though he didn’t know the reason this girl was willing to go through with this, the look on Theo’s face and the weight in his words made it clear that it was actually quite a big deal. The girl wouldn’t be doing it out of the goodness of her heart, which was almost a relief.
He wouldn’t allow himself to get excited about this because he knew better than to hope for anything to go right, but the idea of being free of his old life and the restraints it brought was… a lot.
“How is this even possible?” he finally asked.
Lavenza and Theo shared a hesitant look, but it was Igor who spoke up. “We will fuse your soul with a shadow within Mementos—one which would have had the potential to become a persona.”
“You’ll still be yourself,” Theo said quickly, as if sensing that Goro was about to object. “We have already performed this fusion once before, and the only side effect they had was that they had the sudden and inexplicable urge to own a motorcycle due to being fused with a Hell Biker. But as I understand it, they’re actually quite happy with that change.”
Goro considered it for a long moment, trying to remember some of the shadows he’d seen running around Mementos and the ones Ren had used. After a few seconds he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “If you fuse me with something that eats human flesh so I suddenly turn into a cannibal, I will find a way back here and I will murder all of you.”
“We will not fuse you with anything that will have a negative impact on your life,” Igor said, sounding entirely confident in his words.
Goro frowned, watching each of them closely. He considered himself quite good at reading people, and ever since Ren had managed to escape death, he’d learned not to underestimate anyone either. Despite how hard it was to believe, these beings seemed to actually believe what they were saying.
He still didn’t quite understand what fusing his soul with a shadow would entail or what would happen afterward, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it would most likely give him more power—which, of course, meant that it would be easier to murder these ‘people’ if they were lying to him. And if they weren’t… he would get to live a life unrestrained from the ties that had nearly suffocated him in his previous life.
“Alright,” he said, squaring his shoulders and grinning sharply. “Do it.”
Five years later
Goro squinted at his laptop screen, glancing over the last batch of photographs that the private investigator had emailed to him. Sitting there in the center of the picture was one of the last remnants of Shido’s group, hidden away in some shithole in a barely-populated town with a brand new identity. Goro had been working tirelessly for the last month to track this single man down and gather as much evidence of his dealings with Shido as he could, and now he finally had the last piece of the puzzle to send this piece of shit to jail, where he would rot for years.
After attaching the photos to an email full of evidence and checking multiple times to make sure he didn’t forget anything, he sent it off to the head of the Kirijo Group with a deep sense of satisfaction.
One more asshole who had committed crimes on Shido’s behalf down; only three more to go.
He’d spent the last five years as Goro Arisato, hunting down every single one of Shido’s co-conspirators who’d escaped the justice system, and he’d been doing a damn good job of it. His cousin—at least according to his new identity—had gotten in touch with Mitsuru Kirijo, another former persona user and the current head of the Kirijo Group, who apparently had enough money and power to get these cases pushed forward faster than the courts usually allowed.
It was a nice change of pace to be working for someone who actually tried to use their power and influence for good.
Goro stood and immediately winced at how tightly wound he was from sitting in one place for too long, ignoring the pang of hunger that made itself known. He gently rolled his shoulders to stretch the muscles, pushing his waist-length hair behind him. Before he had a chance to stretch his arms over his head, he heard his two roommates pull into the driveway on their motorcycles.
He took a deep breath to prepare himself for human interaction just in time for his ‘cousin’, Minako, to come prancing into the house. He saw her turn the corner, her wild auburn hair bouncing in its ponytail behind her, at the same moment she yelled, “Goro, we’re home!”
“I’m right here. You don’t need to scream,” he said, fighting back a wince. He could already feel a headache coming on.
“Oh! Perfect,” Minako said, grinning as she walked up to him and immediately wrapped an arm around his shoulders in a hug. Goro could do nothing but bear it, knowing that any attempt to push her away would just result in her clinging tighter. “Mitsuru-senpai wanted me to ask how the case was going.”
“I just sent it over a minute ago,” Goro said, breathing out a sigh of relief as she finally let go.
“Good job, Kid,” Minako's husband, Shinji, said as he walked past the living room, still wearing his usual red peacoat and beanie despite being indoors. He’d at least taken off his heavy boots, but he didn’t even stop to glance at them before heading into the kitchen.
When Goro and Shinji had first met, Shinji had threatened to kill him if he ever tried to lay a hand on Minako. It was only after Goro had explained in very clear terms that he wasn’t interested in women physically or romantically, especially one that was now legally his cousin, that Shinji had begrudgingly accepted his presence in their home. They weren’t friends by any stretch of the imagination, but at least they weren’t hostile.
“So, this is the guy who was responsible for…,” Minako said, drawing Goro’s attention back to her as she gestured her hands vaguely as if unable to say the actual words. She didn’t have to though, because Goro knew what she was talking about.
“Yes. He was the worst of them,” Goro confirmed with a nod.
Minako’s gaze shifted into something dark and angry, her crimson eyes reminding him eerily of his own for a moment before she grinned brightly. The sudden shift in expression would have been unsettling if he wasn’t used to it by now.
“Good. He’s gonna get what’s coming to him.”
Goro sighed and rolled his eyes. “Just make sure you don’t leave a trail when you pay off some security guard to beat the shit out of him like last time.”
“Why, Goro, whatever do you mean?” Minako asked with a saccharine sweet voice, batting her eyelashes at him before breaking into a laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna do anything. I mean, a guy like that? There’s no way he’s avoiding that target on his head. The most I’ll do is pay some security guards to look the other way when the inevitable happens.”
Goro opened his mouth to respond, but before he had a chance, Shinji’s voice was yelling from the kitchen. “Minako, do you think you can take a break from scheming some asshole’s demise to help me with dinner?”
“You got it, Darling” Minako called back, giggling when something in the kitchen clattered loudly. It sounded vaguely like a pan falling to the ground. “It’s adorable that he still gets flustered so easily even after all these years.”
Goro watched as Minako skipped off to the kitchen and felt a pang in his chest that he immediately recognized as longing. It was a feeling he’d become familiar with over the years, and though his therapist had assured him that it was normal to long for companionship, he also assumed that it had something to do with whatever persona his soul had been fused with five years ago that he'd never figured out.
The longing came and went, but there was also a hunger that lingered inside of him. It never abated no matter what he did, and instead stayed settled in his stomach, causing a constant source of discomfort. It was never sated through eating or drinking, no matter what he did.
The only time he ever really noticed any sort of difference was at night when other people were asleep, when it would sometimes grow strong enough to make him dizzy. Those times were few and far between, but he always woke up the next morning sweating through his clothes like he’d run a marathon.
Still, he supposed he should be grateful that he’d never had a craving for human flesh.
“Goro, dinner’s ready!”
At the sound of Minako’s voice, Goro felt his stomach rumble. He quickly pushed aside his thoughts and walked to the kitchen, where he could smell something delicious, hoping to satiate a different kind of hunger for the moment.
Goro went to bed that night feeling the same as every other night—hungry in that way he couldn’t explain despite also feeling full after the dinner Shinji had cooked. Which was why it surprised him when he was hit with a sudden wave of dizziness so intense that it winded him while he was just laying down checking his email.
His phone dropped to the floor, the screen illuminating the dark room as he struggled to breathe. He barely even had time to panic before his eyes slipped closed and he passed out. And when he finally woke up he felt… weird. Off. Immediately, he knew something was wrong.
Goro glanced down at his body, expecting to find himself laying in the same position, and felt his heartbeat quicken when he realized he was standing on his bed. But even more strange was the fact that he was standing over his own body, which was fast asleep and letting out little snores with his long hair wrapped around his fist. The space where he stood didn’t even leave indents in the sheets, as if he weighed nothing at all.
Logically, he knew that this should be a dream, but there was something niggling in the back of his mind telling him it wasn’t. Somehow, this was real. He was just… separated from his body for some reason. Still, he supposed stranger things had happened to him—including waking up in some weird blue room and being told he was being brought back to life—so it wasn’t hard to believe.
Then suddenly, before he could figure out what was going on, he felt a sharp pain as the hunger that had been hiding in the background for years suddenly flared to life, overriding every other sense. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t hear, he couldn’t think. He couldn’t feel anything except for that one hunger driving through him like a gunshot.
After some unknown amount of time, he started becoming vaguely aware of things shifting around him. He grit his teeth, accidentally biting his tongue, and somehow the pain was enough to pull himself out of the fog of hunger he’d been wrapped in.
Struggling against every instinct, he managed to open his eyes just in time to see a wall flying straight toward him. He felt his legs moving, running toward the wall, but he could do nothing to stop himself. And then, to his shock, he ran through it. He turned his head to stare at the wall, barely paying attention to the way his feet kept running forward until they suddenly stopped.
He turned back around and froze as he realized he was now standing in front of the one place he'd never thought he would see again.
“LeBlanc,” he whispered.
He felt the hunger inside him simmer down to a gentle tug, beckoning him toward that dusty attic he used to spend far too much time thinking about—or rather, too much time thinking about the boy who used to haunt it.
He knew that Ren hadn’t lived there for years. It was one of the first things he’d checked when he’d returned to the world of the living. Ren had apparently gone back to his hometown of Inaba for his final year of high school and then gone to a local college. He’d come back to Tokyo a few times to visit, but Goro had always found out beforehand through Minako’s contacts and made a point to travel somewhere outside the city for as long as Ren was staying there.
Goro really wasn’t sure why he was standing there in this strange form. At this point, it had been five years since the last time he’d seen Ren, and he’d done everything in his power to stay away despite how keenly aware he was of that time passing.
So, why had his hunger led him here now?
Unable to hold off his curiosity any longer, Goro stepped through the door and into LeBlanc for the first time in years. It felt strange to not hear the bell above him jingle as he stepped inside the little cafe, especially when he took a glance around and realized that everything looked almost exactly the same as he remembered. The only difference was that the chess board was nowhere to be seen, but he still vividly remembered what it looked like at night with only the softest lights still on, after everyone else had left and the only people remaining were him and Ren.
The thought made his throat tighten for reasons he refused to examine.
Forcing himself to shake off those memories, he started climbing the stairs to the attic one at a time, just like he’d done so many times before. His legs still went through the motions despite getting the feeling that he could probably just float up there, but he paused as he noticed something at the top of the stairs that was never there before—a door.
Goro glanced back at the cafe, which still looked like it hadn’t been redecorated in at least three decades, and then back to the new door, its shiny wood standing out against the dull and scratchy wood of the walls. A feeling started building inside of him that felt like a strange mix of dread and excitement to find out what was on the other side.
Without giving himself a chance to think better of it, he continued up the stairs and walked through the door, having to stop once he reached the other side as he took everything in.
The tiny, dusty attic from his memories had been turned into something that almost resembled an actual bedroom. There were still boxes of coffee beans tucked away into a corner, but the old metal shelf that used to show off Ren’s various knickknacks and mementos was gone, and in its place was a bright red couch, an obvious replacement for the ratty yellow couch which was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was a long dresser with a modern TV above it attached to the walls, which were now painted a simple grey with red, black, and white designs and accents that looked distinctly like something that Kitagawa would have drawn.
Goro let himself observe the rest of the room for a long moment before finally glancing in the direction where an old mattress had once sat upon a bunch of milk crates. He wasn’t even surprised to see that it had been replaced with an actual bed with a headboard and everything, but what did surprise him was what was laying on top of it.
Laying on his back with the covers pulled up to his shoulders was Ren.
For a long moment, all Goro could do was stand there and stare, his breath caught in his throat as something in his chest squeezed tight. He’d never expected to see Ren again, but he’d been so busy chasing down the bastard from Shido’s group recently that he hadn’t thought to check and make sure that Ren was still in Inaba. Goro did some quick mental math and glanced at a calendar on the wall, realizing that Ren would have graduated from his college a few months ago. And now he was here in Tokyo again, possibly to stay considering the way the attic had been redecorated.
Well, fuck.
After another moment of staring, Goro stepped forward, rationalizing with himself that Ren was asleep and would have no idea that he was here. Besides, Goro had the gut feeling that no one could see him in this strange form, so he let his curiosity override his initial instinct to run away.
The first thing he noticed about this new Ren was that his unruly mop of hair looked… different. It was still long on top but it seemed shorter on the sides, like some strange cross between an undercut and a mohawk. He leaned in closer to get a better look and noticed that around Ren’s eyes were faint lines showing that he was no longer a teenager, and underneath them were dark circles that looked like they’d been there for years.
Despite the small changes in Ren’s appearance, Goro still felt like he intrinsically knew him, as if no time had passed between them at all.
Goro wasn’t sure how long he just stood there staring until Ren whimpered quietly, and Goro felt that hunger from earlier pulse through him from head to toe. He gasped, unable to stop himself from collapsing slightly, instinctively holding his hand out to land on the mattress despite the fact that he could physically move through objects. Instead of landing on the mattress though, his hand landed on Ren’s chest, and suddenly the world around him warbled in a way that felt like transitioning into the Metaverse. He squeezed his eyes shut as a wave of nausea rolled through him.
After a long, dizzy moment, he finally opened his eyes. Then he jerked his head from side to side a few times, trying to shake away the sight in front of him as his brain struggled to process what he was seeing.
In front of him, Ren was kneeling on the floor, his hands crossed behind his back and wearing only a pair of boxer briefs while an exact replica of Goro from five years ago, nude except for one glove from his black mask outfit, thrusted his cock mercilessly into Ren’s mouth.
Goro stood there completely stunned for a moment as the hunger that had drawn him here stirred inside of him like it was coming to life. As if sensing this, the other Goro—whose eyes glowed gold just like a shadow—turned his head and locked his gaze with Goro’s. A strange expression lit up his face before he smirked with a cruel and sharp edge to it that Goro knew he’d had once upon a time.
“Well, well, isn’t this an interesting development,” the other Goro said, that smirk never leaving his face as he slowed his pace until he was languidly pushing his cock in and out of Ren’s mouth. Then he leaned over, smacked Ren’s cheek lightly, and said, “Look who’s decided to join us.”
It took Ren a moment to finally open his eyes, but as soon as his gaze landed on Goro, his eyes widened and Goro had to fight not to suck in a sharp breath. He’d somehow forgotten how beautiful Ren was, how he always felt cornered any time that gaze was focused on him. It didn’t help that the shorter hair seemed to pull Goro’s attention right to his eyes, and it took him a moment longer to realize that Ren’s shoulders and chest were definitely more muscular than he remembered.
He looked… good.
Goro didn’t have very long to study the subtle changes before the other Goro was suddenly gripping Ren’s hair in a tight fist and thrusting his cock into Ren’s mouth hard and fast again. Goro heard Ren choke on it before moaning like he was enjoying it. The hunger inside Goro was practically humming, and he couldn’t deny that he’d had these thoughts about Ren before—it was part of why he’d been so determined to stay away, after all—but even in his fantasies he’d never allowed himself to imagine this version of himself with Ren.
“I always thought you liked my Detective Prince persona more,” he found himself saying before he could think better of it.
“Oh no, he likes all versions of us. That one was last month, though,” the other Goro said, not even bothering to slow his pace as he continued casually, “Every year on June 10th he dreams about the day we met at the TV studio for the first time. Sometimes he dreams of taking us home that night, and sometimes he dreams about us snatching him away from his precious friends and taking him into a broom closet to fuck his throat just like this. Last month he dreamed that we took him up on stage and fucked him live in front of the cameras for all of Tokyo to see. Didn’t you, Ren?”
At that, he smacked Ren’s face none-too-gently to get his attention. Ren whimpered and nodded but never took his mouth away.
“He’s such a good little slut for us,” the other Goro said before turning his gaze to Goro once more. There was something dangerous in those eyes, something knowing that immediately set Goro on edge. “Well, are you just going to stand there? Come, give him a spin. He wants it, and that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
Goro narrowed his eyes, wondering if the other version of him knew more than he should for some figment of Ren’s imagination. Did that mean that Ren knew he was, for all intents and purposes, really here? Or was it some cognitive metaverse bullshit at play? He had felt that strange pull when he was dragged into the dream like when he’d gone into the metaverse in the past. Maybe those damn ‘people’ from the Velvet Room had something to do—
“Tsk, still just standing there? You're fucking pathetic now,” the other Goro snarled, snapping Goro out of his thoughts.
He watched as the other version of himself pulled harshly on Ren’s hair, tugging his head back until he was no longer on his cock. Ren whimpered like he was sad about it, and Goro felt his cock twitch in his pants as the hunger stirred once more. He dragged his gaze over Ren’s mostly naked body as he sucked in full, heavy breaths, causing the light sheen of sweat on his skin to glisten as the lights shifted over his muscles. His eyes were half-lidded and his lips were swollen and wet with spit.
Ren looked absolutely wrecked, and Goro wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen something so beautiful in his entire life.
The other Goro leaned down, bending over until his face was just barely above Ren’s, everything about him screaming dominance and danger. He glanced at Goro for a split second before saying, “Go on, then. Tell him what you want.”
Goro’s breath caught in his throat as Ren turned to look at him, eyes wide and pleading and—fuck, that was a good look on him.
“I need your cock,” Ren whispered, and Goro felt his pants grow uncomfortably tight. Then Ren fluttered his eyelashes in a way that didn’t even look intentional as he said with more confidence, “Please, Akechi.”
The sound of his old family name made Goro freeze, because he hadn’t heard anyone call him that in years. There were only two people he interacted with nowadays who even knew that he used to be Goro Akechi, and neither of them ever called him that. To them, he was Goro Arisato now, and it made him feel uneasy to be called Akechi again.
He glanced over at the other Goro and frowned, realizing that that was Akechi. Goro knew who he was before, back when he was this angry, feral beast of a person who was willing to put a bullet through the skull of the only person who was ever kind to him just to follow his own ambitions. And while he would never deny his past, that just wasn’t who he was anymore—legally or on a deeper level.
“Call me Goro,” he said before he could think better of it.
He watched as Ren breathed in sharply, not missing the way his hands trembled behind his back before he clenched them into tight fists. Ren took in a deep breath and let out a shaky exhale before nodding once. His voice was surprisingly steady as he lifted his gaze to Goro’s, his eyes burning with something resembling determination, as he said, “Please, Goro. I want.. no, I need you.”
Goro froze and watched as the other Goro—no, Akechi—let go of Ren’s hair and pushed him away. Almost immediately, Ren stood up on shaky legs, eyes focused intensely on Goro. The room narrowed until the only thing he saw was Ren as he took small, hesitant steps forward. Goro didn’t go to meet him halfway, but he also didn’t back away, and that seemed to be enough for Ren to gain some confidence.
He stepped forward with more purpose until he was standing directly in front of Goro, so close that they were almost touching. There was a small, hesitant smile on his lips that felt far too soft considering the nature of the dream he’d first walked in on. Ren skimmed his eyes over Goro’s face like he was trying to memorize all the subtle changes in the way Goro had done to him earlier. Then he lifted his hand slowly to play with the ends of Goro’s hair by his waist, his mouth parting almost in awe.
“I never thought about what you would look like with long hair, but it suits you,” Ren said quietly, almost a whisper. He frowned like he was thinking about something but then quickly shook his head and locked eyes with Goro again.
“You, too,” Goro said. He almost cringed at how dumb he sounded, but he pushed the feeling aside as he lifted his hand to the strands of Ren’s hair that had started falling into his face. He pushed them aside with far more tenderness than was probably appropriate, but Ren smiled in response and Goro found that he didn’t regret it.
“Hey, Goro, will you…” Ren began, licking his lips and taking in a deep breath before whispering, “kiss me?”
The request seemed a lot… softer than the dream around him would otherwise suggest. Goro could still feel the presence of Akechi lingering behind Ren, but he tried his best to push that to the back of his mind as he studied Ren’s face for any sign of hesitation. Ren just watched him with a mix of hunger and anticipation, and before Goro could give himself the chance to overthink it, he closed the remaining distance between them and captured Ren’s lips with his own.
Ren inhaled sharply into the kiss and froze as if he was surprised that Goro actually complied with the request. But just as Goro was debating pulling away, Ren’s lips pressed against his harder, almost desperately. Goro fought back a groan as Ren’s hands gripped his shoulders tightly for a moment before wrapping around the back of his neck, holding on tight as if that was the only thing keeping him from falling. Ren let out a needy whine as he pressed himself closer, and Goro felt the hunger inside him ignite in response as he growled into the kiss.
Goro grabbed the back of Ren’s neck and yanked him closer, ignoring the way Ren stumbled a little as he licked at his lips. Ren immediately opened obediently, and then the world around him narrowed to the taste of Ren, the sounds of his little moans, and the feel of his hands gripping onto Goro for dear life. Goro lost himself in the feeling until Ren suddenly pulled back and let out a needy whine. Goro fought back a growl at being denied the taste of Ren’s lips until he sensed movement from behind Ren.
He opened his eyes to find Akechi still standing behind Ren, except this time he was much closer, almost pressing against Ren’s back. The sound of fabric sliding against skin filtered into the room that was silent other than Ren’s heavy breathing as Akechi pulled Ren’s underwear down. It took every ounce of self control Goro still had to not let his gaze drop to Ren’s cock despite the way he could feel it pressing against his hip, hard and straining between them, precum making it slide against his skin. Instead, he kept his attention focused on Akechi. If he truly was anything like who he used to be, there was no telling what he was planning.
“Relax, I’m not going to hurt him—well, not any more than he enjoys, at least.” Akechi smirked dangerously, as if he knew exactly what Goro was thinking. Then suddenly, the feel of Ren’s cock disappeared as his hips were yanked back, even as Ren’s upper half leaned desperately toward Goro as if he couldn’t stand to be away. “We’ve done this so many times over the years that I’ve lost count. I know what he can handle, don’t I?”
Goro dipped his eyes down to where Akechi was caressing down Ren’s sides, watching the way his fingers dug in hard enough to indent the skin as Ren moaned, “Yes, please.”
Goro inhaled a sharp breath at the way Ren’s voice sounded while begging, and Akechi chuckled darkly in response. Goro snapped his attention back up to find Akechi’s eyes narrowed on him, looking at him all too knowingly again. But before he could think too much about it, he watched as Akechi dropped down to his knees and bit Ren’s ass hard. Ren keened as he pressed forward more, hands desperately grasping for purchase on Goro’s shoulders.
“Don’t worry, Goro. You’ll enjoy this too,” Akechi said darkly, setting off alarm bells in Goro’s mind. “After all, you’ve been waiting for this for years too, haven’t you?”
Goro narrowed his eyes, now completely sure that this Akechi somehow knew way too much for a simple figment of Ren’s imagination. Ren seemed to notice it too and frowned, the look in his eyes slipping into something more lucid for a moment as he asked, “What are you talking about?”
Knowing that giving Akechi the chance to say anything else was just asking for trouble, Goro did the first thing he could think of and grabbed Ren by the chin, tilting his head up to kiss him again. Ren seemed to brush his questions aside and moaned into the kiss without hesitation.
Goro wasted no time before licking into Ren’s mouth, deepening the kiss as he let his hands roam over Ren’s skin. He slid them down slowly, marveling at how smooth and hot he was, until one hand was resting on his waist. With the other, he pinched Ren’s nipple at the same moment he bit into his lip, smirking at the way the muscles jumped under his hands as Ren let out a needy whine.
Ren slid his hands down slowly over Goro’s chest and abs, and Goro did nothing to stop him, wanting to see what Ren would do. He groaned when Ren cupped him through his pants and brought his hand to the back of Ren’s neck again, kissing him harder and reveling in the way he whimpered against his lips.
“That’s right, get him hard and ready for you,” Akechi said, his voice muffled by the cheeks of Ren’s ass. Goro jolted a little and felt his dick twitch as he realized exactly what Akechi was doing back there.
This was a dream, so it would reason that dream logic would make it so that Ren didn’t need to be eaten out and stretched open. Unless, of course, Ren simply enjoyed it, and that thought was almost too much for Goro.
He wanted to be the one back there doing it himself and was debating whether or not to pull away, but was immediately distracted by Ren deftly undoing the button and zipper on his pants. He didn’t hesitate before dropping to his knees and pulling Goro’s cock free, and when Goro looked down, Ren was watching him with a shy smile and eyes that sparked with mischief. He refused to look away, watching as Ren leaned forward and licked the tip of his hardening cock like a kitten.
Goro groaned, fighting the urge to close his eyes as he watched Ren’s eyelids flutter, a little moan escaping his throat as if he enjoyed the taste of Goro’s cock.
Well, if he enjoys it that much, Goro thought as he threaded his fingers through Ren’s hair, pressing him forward encouragingly. Ren didn’t hesitate, his movements almost desperate as he wrapped one hand around the base of Goro’s cock at the same time his lips wrapped around the head.
“Fuck, Ren,” Goro hissed, his fingers gripping Ren’s hair a little tighter. Ren moaned in response and took more of Goro into his mouth, pressing his tongue hard against the vein on the underside of his cock, and Goro swore he saw stars.
Akechi made himself known again, saying from where he was still kneeling on the ground, “Yeah, just like that. Take him deeper like the little cockslut you are.”
The words made Goro freeze until Ren groaned and sank further down Goro’s cock as if he liked being talked to like that. Goro growled, feeling his carefully-cultivated patience starting to wear thin. He gripped Ren’s hair tightly and pushed him down all the way to the base until he was choking on it. Tears started forming in Ren’s eyes but Goro just kept him there; the feel of Ren’s throat around his cock was heavenly. He stayed that way until Ren swallowed around him and Goro yanked him off with a hiss so he didn’t come down his throat too fast. He clenched his free hand into a fist, trying to hold onto what was left of his control as he watched Ren stare at him with wide, wet eyes while he sucked in labored breaths.
“Fuck, that’s hot,” Akechi said, and when Goro glanced at him, Akechi was staring right at him with his pupils completely blown out. “Switch with me. I’ll let you fuck him tonight and you can have his throat as much as you want outside of these dreams later.”
Goro sneered, ready to tell Akechi to shut the hell up, but before he got the chance, Ren stood up and spun to face Akechi, every muscle in his body visibly tense.
“Fuck you. Don’t you dare.”
Goro frowned at the amount of venom Ren had managed to put into those five words. He tried to remember any time in the past when Ren had sounded that angry, but there was nothing, not even when he was under the rage status effect in the metaverse.
“What? I’m not saying anything wrong,” Akechi said, waving his hand flippantly as he stood. He had a knowing look in his eyes once again as he stared directly at Goro. “You’d love it if one of us showed up here tomorrow, wouldn’t you, Ren?”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re—he’s dead,” Ren choked out, and when Goro glanced at what he could see of Ren’s face, he noticed that the tears from earlier were now spilling over his cheeks. “These dreams are all I have left, you asshole.”
Goro froze, his breath catching in his throat as he realized that the tears running down Ren’s face were his fault.
He’d spent the last five years going out of his way to avoid Ren, using Minako’s contacts to make sure he was out of town any time Ren came back to Tokyo, because he thought Ren wouldn’t want to be anywhere near him after everything that happened between them. Sure, Ren had seemed upset at the idea of Goro dying during that February so many years ago, but Goro assumed that it was just Ren’s savior complex at play, that he would forget about Goro before long and simply move on. And even at the beginning of this dream, he’d figured that Ren dreaming about him was simply because of a surface-level attraction, not… this.
Whatever ‘this’ was.
“Well, if you truly believe this is all you have, then you may as well enjoy yourself,” Akechi said with a wolfish grin. “You’re mad at me, aren’t you? Then do something about it.”
A long moment of silence passed before Ren spun around, grabbing Goro by the shirt and yanking him forward to crush him in a bruising kiss. Goro hesitated, his thoughts were still lingering on what had just happened, but Ren doubled down, kissing him with more determination and biting on his lower lip. The hunger inside of Goro flared to life and he felt his need for Ren overcome those thoughts as he reached down to grip Ren’s hips tight and yank him forward to grind against him. They both groaned into the kiss as Ren gripped his hair in a tight fist, holding Goro in place like he never wanted to let go.
“I’m kind of jealous. You’ve never kissed me like that,” Akechi said from somewhere off to the side.
Goro yanked his head back swiftly, ignoring the whine of protest from Ren as he glared sharply at Akechi. He could feel his anger heating his skin in a way he hadn’t felt in years as he snarled out, “Shut the fuck up.”
“You’re so sexy when you’re angry,” Ren whispered, his body shivering under Goro’s hands just before he put both hands on Goro’s chest and pushed with an unexpected—and, quite frankly, sexy—amount of strength. Goro was surprised to find himself landing on the bed he’d seen in the attic earlier because it definitely wasn’t behind him in the dream when he first popped in.
He only had a moment to think about how useful dream logic was before Ren followed him and climbed onto his lap, and then all of Goro’s thoughts flew out the window as Ren ground down on him. Goro groaned, gripping his hands tight on Ren’s waist and pulling him closer, moving him until his cock was rubbing against Ren’s ass, the precum and saliva making it easy to slide between his cheeks.
Ren whimpered and reached behind himself, grabbing Goro’s hands and sliding them down from his waist to his ass. Goro wasted no time gripping his cheeks and spreading them, loving the way that it made it even easier for his cock to slide between them. When the head of his cock caught the edge of Ren’s hole, just barely slipping inside of him, they both moaned.
“You want that?” Goro asked, his voice low and rough.
“Yes,” Ren whined as he ground down again before hissing. It didn’t sound like a good hiss, his eyebrows furrowed in what looked like pain. “We might need to… change positions, though.”
Goro fought to reassemble what was left of his working brain cells and glanced down to where Ren had lifted his hips, suddenly realizing that he still had his pants on, zipper and all. Shit, that couldn’t have felt good.
“I’ll just…” Goro started, trailing off as he reluctantly let go of Ren to start tugging his pants down.
“Wait!” Ren yelled suddenly as he grabbed Goro’s hands. He was blushing slightly—which was fucking weird to do now considering what they’d been doing so far—as he said, “I want you to keep them on.”
Goro wasn’t sure why, but the thought of fucking Ren while he was still fully clothed and Ren was completely bare sent a jolt of heat to his cock. He groaned and nodded, unable to do anything but agree. “Yeah, okay.”
Ren smiled at him in a way that was far too soft considering Goro’s dick was still shoved between his ass cheeks, but it took Goro’s breath away. He watched as Ren crawled forward, his cock bouncing with the movement, until he was kneeling on his hands and knees, giving Goro enough space to slip out from under him easily. His cock just far enough away from Goro’s face to make it clear he wasn’t suggesting that Goro suck him off.
Well, fuck that.
Goro growled at the sight and didn’t fight the urge to shift on the bed, forcing Ren’s knees apart to make room for his own shoulders before leaning up and taking Ren into his mouth. The taste on his tongue was bitter and salty, but it was more than worth it for the way Ren moaned so sweetly above him. Ren thrust his hips as if on instinct and Goro went with it, taking Ren further into his mouth and wrapping his tongue around the head, swallowing down the precum as it dripped down his throat.
“I want—” Ren started, taking in a shuddering breath and whimpering as Goro leaned up and began sucking. “I don’t… please, Goro. I want to come with your cock in me.”
Goro pulled away and shuddered as those words and the sound of his name spilling from Ren’s mouth sent little trails of fire over his skin. He wasted no time moving around until he was on his knees behind Ren. He grabbed Ren’s hips and lifted them a little higher until he was at the perfect height, a rough moan tearing out of him as the head of his cock pressed against Ren’s hole.
“Is this what you want?” Goro growled. When Ren just whimpered in response, Goro reached down to grip his hair and turned his head to the side so that he could see Ren’s face where the tear tracks from earlier had dried up. It was a shame; they looked so good on him. “Answer me, Ren. Is this what you want?”
“Yes!” Ren whined, pushing his hips back as if to prove his point. “Fuck me, Goro. Please! I need—fuck. I need to feel you in me.”
Goro swallowed, feeling his dick twitch. He took a moment to steady himself, ignoring the nerves fluttering in his chest because what the fuck. He had no reason to feel nervous; it wasn’t like he’d never done this before. Just… never with Ren. But this was just a dream. Ren probably wouldn’t even remember it in the morning—except he seemed to be almost lucid in the way he acknowledged it being a dream earlier, so maybe he would actually remember it, and Goro—
Goro hissed as Ren pushed back again until the head of Goro’s cock slipped almost fully into him. Goro immediately pushed those thoughts out of his head because none of that actually mattered right now.
“Okay,” he said quietly, but he knew Ren heard him by the way he smiled back at Goro. It was too gentle, too soft, so Goro gripped his hair a little tighter and watched the way Ren’s eyes fluttered and his lips fell open. Goro raised his voice as he said, “I’ll give it to you, but only because you begged so sweetly earlier.”
Ren whined in response and Goro decided to finally take mercy on both of them. He took his hand from Ren’s hair to grab his hip with one hand, gripping his cock with the other to slowly guide himself into Ren. He bit his lip to distract himself from the sensation, instead thinking about how this was easier than he expected since they’d completely forgotten about the lube. It was probably just dream logic.
Once he was fully settled with his hips pressed against Ren’s ass, he held his breath and waited. Ren was so hot and tight around him that he already felt close to the edge, but more than that, he knew Ren probably needed time to adjust. Or at least he would in real life, but who the hell knew how it worked in dreams.
“Don’t forget about me,” Akechi said haughtily as he walked toward them. Goro scowled at him, but Akechi just smirked and lifted one knee to the bed, keeping the other on the ground as he shifted until his cock was lined up perfectly with Ren’s mouth.
Goro half expected Ren to ignore him considering the way they’d fought earlier, but to his surprise, Ren didn’t hesitate to reach out, perilously balancing on one hand while slowly stroking Akechi’s cock with the other.
“Don’t make him wait too long. He likes it to hurt a little,” Akechi taunted with a grin that was too sharp around the edges. Goro frowned, frustrated that he was getting jealous of what was technically another version of himself, but immediately got distracted when Ren wiggled his hips a little in encouragement.
“Goro, please,” Ren begged, and Goro finally felt his carefully constructed control snap.
He pulled out slowly so that Ren would feel the full drag of his cock inside of him before thrusting back in hard and fast. Ren cried out as he was pushed forward, his open mouth landing perfectly onto Akechi’s cock, making Akechi moan as his head fell back. Goro pulled out slowly again, fully expecting Ren to react, but this time he just kept sucking on Akechi’s cock like it was the only thing that mattered.
A wave of possessiveness washed over Goro and he snarled as he snapped his hips forward again and set a harsher pace, thrusting hard and fast to draw Ren’s attention back to him. It didn’t take long before Ren was moaning and crying out, his mouth falling off of Akechi’s cock like he was too overwhelmed to focus on both of them. Goro grinned with satisfaction, his sense of pride feeling almost as satisfying as the hot, tight heat of Ren surrounding his cock.
Akechi scowled and gripped Ren’s chin with his gloved hand to move his mouth back to his cock. Ren obeyed immediately, sucking at his cock even as Goro’s pace increased, pushing Ren further and further up with the force of his thrusts until Ren was unable to do anything but take Akechi deep in his mouth.
“Fuck! I’m gonna—” Akechi started, but his words were quickly cut off as Goro watched Ren lift a hand to cradle his balls. Akechi moaned, his hips thrusting forward as he tensed up, his eyes slamming shut and head falling back.
Goro slowed his pace to something more languid as he waited impatiently for Akechi to finish. As soon as Ren’s mouth let go and Akechi flopped onto the bed next to them, Goro pulled out completely. He ignored Ren’s whine of protest as he grabbed his waist, lifted him, and flipped him over onto his back. Ren weighed more than he expected with all of his new muscles, but Goro hadn’t exactly been slacking either, so it took almost no effort at all.
When Ren landed on his back, he stared up at Goro with wide eyes, his mouth open in surprise. Goro raised a questioning eyebrow and Ren shuddered as he whispered, “That was so much hotter than I ever thought it would be.”
“Oh? You’ve thought about it before, then?” Goro asked with a smirk, unable to help but preen a little. He pushed his hair out of the way, watching with satisfaction as Ren gulped, using his other hand to push Ren’s knees open so he could slot himself between them.
“Ever since you told us that you were into bouldering,” Ren whispered like it was a secret, and in a way it kind of was.
“You’ve wanted me to manhandle you like this for five years?”
“Did you forget that he regularly dreams of you fucking him on the day you first met?” Akechi asked from the side and Goro blinked with surprise, having forgotten all about him already. “He’s wanted you for a long time.”
Goro didn’t miss the way Akechi said ‘you’ when he’d been saying ‘us’ all night, but chose not to focus on that right now. He studied Ren’s face, his skin still flushed and lips parted with surprise and desire, but he could see something else in his eyes as Goro said, “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Ren confirmed, his face flushing a darker shade of red as he smiled almost shyly. “Since the beginning. Always.”
Goro felt something inside of him swell, like a weight he hadn’t even noticed lingering in his chest was suddenly lifted. He found himself smiling genuinely before he could stop it and noticed the way Ren’s eyes widened and his pupils dilated in response.
Huh. Maybe he would have to smile more often.
Ren shifted a little, leaning up on his elbows and licking his lips, making Goro’s gaze drop to zero in on the motion. The world around them faded around the edges until there was nothing but him and Ren. He didn’t even hear it when Ren said, “Kiss me,” but he saw the way it was shaped on his lips. At that moment, Goro didn’t think he could deny Ren anything, so he leaned down and did exactly that, his hair falling like a curtain around them.
This kiss was just as full of fire and passion as the others, but there was something softer lingering there under the surface, like a whisper of things that had yet to be said. Goro leaned into it, letting his own secrets pour into the kiss as he shifted up the bed until his cock was pressed against Ren’s entrance again. Ren whimpered into the kiss and wrapped his legs around Goro’s hips, tugging him closer as his arms snaked around the back of Goro’s neck and pulled him down until their chests were pressed together.
The angle was a little awkward, but Goro couldn’t bring himself to pull away from Ren’s lips. He reached down and lined himself up before slowly pushing in once again. Being this close to Ren, Goro felt the way he breathed in sharply against his lips, the way his limbs trembled, and heard the tiny whimpers that got caught in his throat.
Goro started out slow, still basking in the tenderness that had caught him by surprise, until Ren clenched down on him and smirked against his lips. Goro growled, feeling that tenderness fade to the background as he gave himself over to the moment. He could tell that Ren wanted him to lose control; there was no way that he would, but Goro would still give him more.
Goro let go of the slow, gentle pace he’d been keeping and snapped his hips forward hard and fast, grinning at the way Ren cried out immediately. He kept up the vicious pace, biting hard on Ren’s lower lip and only increasing his pace when Ren started dragging his nails up and down Goro’s back, sending sharp waves of heat up his spine.
His hard thrusts kept pushing Ren further up the bed, making the already awkward angle even more so, and Goro growled as he gripped Ren’s hips and yanked him back down. He didn’t wait before grabbing Ren’s legs and throwing them over his shoulders, holding Ren’s hips just slightly off the bed as he thrust back in. He knew he hit Ren’s prostate by the way he cried out with a full body shiver. Goro kept going, angling to hit that same spot over and over and over until Ren pulled back from the kiss to yell, “Goro! I’m—fuck!”
Ren tightened around him as he cried out, his come spilling between their abs as tears started falling down his cheeks. Goro growled, sliding his tongue along Ren’s face to taste his salty tears as he followed him into an earth shattering orgasm that sent sparks down his spine and left his entire body shaking.
Goro felt the hunger that he’d had since being revived finally filling and the sensation made him moan, made him feel like he was coming again even though it should have been impossible. He shuddered, still feeling floaty as he used every ounce of strength he had left to keep from collapsing onto Ren.
Then, a voice that sounded suspiciously like his own suddenly whispered in his mind, “Don’t make him wait too long.”
Goro blinked his eyes open slowly and tilted his head to the side where Akechi was earlier. He was still laying there, staring directly at Goro with that knowing look in his gaze. Even with his thoughts scrambled from the orgasm he’d just experienced, Goro knew exactly what he meant. He nodded once and watched as his other self smiled before simply fading away.
Eventually, Goro’s arms grew tired of holding his weight up so he reluctantly pulled out and collapsed on the bed next to Ren, his hair spread out in a tangled mess around them. Sluggishly, he realized that for the first time since returning to the world of the living, he felt… good. Content. Hell, he felt better than he ever had in his previous life, too. He knew that it wasn’t just the hunger inside him finally feeling sated, but also something warm in his chest that he hadn’t allowed himself to feel since his mother passed. It was… strange, to finally feel that way again.
“This is nice,” Ren murmured as he rolled onto his side, throwing his arm over Goro’s waist and letting it flop there. “Usually you’re gone by now.”
Goro wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. There was a part of him that wanted to tell Ren that he was real—well, as real as he could be in a dream—but he still wasn’t sure if Ren would remember this in the morning. So, Goro wrapped an arm under Ren’s shoulders and pulled him closer until his head was resting on Goro’s chest and instead said, “I’ll stay with you until you wake up.”
“Thank you,” Ren said, snuggling closer. There was something wet on Goro’s chest that he thought was just Ren’s sweat falling until he whispered in a choked voice, “I miss you so much.”
Goro felt something inside of him squeeze painfully as he tilted his head to look at Ren’s face and realized that he was crying again. He knew there wasn’t anything he could say right now to make things better, so he just pushed Ren’s hair back and pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead before pulling him even closer.
Goro wasn’t sure how long they lay there like that, but eventually he felt the world warble around them as the dream ended. Once he was back in the real world and back in his phantom form, he realized that he was still laying next to Ren in his bed, and that Ren’s arm was wrapped around one of his pillows exactly where Goro’s chest was.
He didn’t move, content with watching Ren in the cover of night until he woke up, just like he’d promised. He stayed even as the sun began to filter in through the window and Ren began to stir, which was the exact moment he felt himself being tugged away, somehow knowing he was being pulled back toward his own body.
Goro hastily kissed Ren one last time, despite knowing that he couldn’t feel anything because Goro wasn’t really real right now. But he did it anyway, and before he could do or say anything else, he was yanked away.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself back in his own body in his bed, feeling better than he had in years. He let himself slowly bask in the moment as he replayed everything that had happened last night, a smile tugging on the corners of his lips that he couldn’t suppress even if he tried.
It wasn’t long before his peace was disturbed, though. There was a bang on his bedroom door and a moment later he heard Shinji yell, “Hey, Kid! Come out and eat,” before stomping away.
Goro got out of bed with more energy than he could usually muster before his morning dose of caffeine as he began getting ready for the day. He dug into his closet until he found his most flattering pair of jeans and a simple button down shirt that subtly showed off his muscles, combing his hair and pulling it into a low ponytail as he mentally mapped out his plan for the day. He glanced around the room and grabbed his laptop bag and, after a moment of internal debate, his cell phone charger too, just in case. He shoved it into the laptop bag and carried it with him into the living room where he dropped it on the table before heading into the kitchen.
“I’m going outside to work today,” he announced as he took his seat near Minako, raising a single eyebrow when she just stared at him with wide eyes.
“Wait, seriously? Is that why you’re smiling?” she asked, clearly baffled. “I haven’t seen you smile in ages!”
“Oh? I think I smile quite often,” Goro teased, ducking out of the way as Minako went to punch his arm.
“Don’t try to gaslight me, you little shit,” she said, but there was no heat behind her words as she grinned brightly at him. “So, you’re planning on having coffee and curry for lunch then?”
Goro’s smile faltered as he narrowed his eyes on her. “Why would you assume that?”
“Oh, I have my ways,” Minako replied with a smirk, obviously trying to be mysterious. It only lasted a second before she laughed and shook her head. “Other than Shido’s cronies, there’s only one person you’ve ever asked Mitsuru-senpai to look into in all the years you’ve been here, and I just happened to find out that he was back in town about a week ago.”
Goro wanted to demand to know how she found out and why she didn’t tell him earlier, but just then Shinji walked up to the table at that exact moment to save the day for Minako like always, carrying a plate of pancakes with him, of all things.
Shinji set the huge stack of pancakes in the middle of the table and turned to look at Goro with the most serious and threatening look Goro had seen on him in years.
“I don’t care where you’re going or what you’re doing, but you better not chicken out and come back here early. If you interrupt us, I will crack your skull open. Understood?”
Goro rolled his eyes even though he knew Shinji meant every word as Minako giggled beside him. “Yes, don’t worry. Worst case scenario, I’ll find somewhere else to stay until dinner. Best case scenario, you guys will have all night to do whatever the hell you want.”
“In that case, I really hope it goes well for you, Goro,” Minako said with a sly grin. “In fact, I hope it goes so well that you stay there as long as you want. Truly, take as much time as you need before coming back. Just make sure you text us every now and then to let us know you aren’t dead.”
Goro couldn’t even muster the energy to be annoyed that Minako obviously wanted to get rid of him because he found himself echoing the sentiment. He didn’t know how Ren would react to seeing him in real life instead of a dream, but he wouldn’t exactly complain if he ended up staying in that little apartment above LeBlanc for as long as Ren would have him.
“I will,” he said quietly, ignoring the knowing look they both gave him before grabbing a pancake and placing it on his plate. He stared at it for longer than was probably normal, unable to keep himself from thinking about how fitting it was. It was like things were coming full circle, and he could only hope that it was a good thing as he finally dug his fork into the fluffy pancake and dug in.