Chapter Text
Akira had only been on the train home from Tokyo for about thirty minutes before he’d passed out and dreamed of the Velvet Room again. It was almost too painful for him to even be there, and he’d considered asking Lavenza to just let him go and live his inconsequential little life again, away from destinies and powers and people he couldn’t save. But clearly, some part of his brain was listening to Igor going on and on because his attention was snapped back to functionality by a simple little word. Blah blah blah Justice blah.
“What?” Akira said, his voice coming out with a small stutter.
“Your bond with Goro Akechi… your Justice arcana… it was a strong one. I know how much the loss of that bond has pained you,” Lavenza said. She cast her eyes down, looking so startlingly like the age she appeared to be that it almost made Akira forget how much mysterious power she held. “It pained me too…” she continued, “that I could do nothing to help the other wild card. As it was my duty to guide you, Trickster, it was my duty to guide him as well. I failed, and he is gone now.”
“The fault is not your own, young attendant,” Igor reassured her. “Trickster. I have called you here to make you an offer. I can still sense rebellion in you. You are not satisfied with this ending.”
“You mean…” Akira’s breath caught in his throat. He choked it down and felt the weight of hope he didn’t want to drum up sitting like a stone in his stomach. “You could… bring him back?”
“It is a Trickster with the power to rebel against fate,” Igor said. “We would merely provide you the means with which to do so.”
“You could be sent back to the day you awakened your power,” Lavenza explained. “You would have the ability to change the outcome of this year. However… the imposter would return to this place as well, and I will be unable to provide you aid. There is also the risk that you may not succeed a second time as you have now.”
Akira held his head, trying to process everything being said.
“You mean… like time travel ?” Akira asked.
Lavenza nodded shortly.
“Well, Trickster,” Igor said, his unsettling smile growing impossibly, grotesquely wider. “Do you wish to restart the game?”
Sojiro was showing Akira the empty attic, which Akira realized with no small amount of dread that he’d have to clean all over again, when the door to LeBlanc burst open, the bell ringing so loudly that Akira could hear it even from a floor up.
“What the hell?” Sojiro mumbled.
Akira only registered the sound of feet running up the stairs before Futaba came into view, practically launching herself at him and capturing him in a tight hug.
“Futaba?” Sojiro said. He sounded utterly floored, almost horrified. Akira himself was frozen stiff. Sojiro hadn’t remembered him when he’d walked through the door. No one on the news was suddenly talking about the entire world rewinding to a year prior. So, if everything had reset, why was Futaba out of her room? Hugging a supposed stranger?
“Futaba, what’s going on?” Sojiro said, panic seeping into his voice. “Are you alright?”
Futaba pulled away from the hug, letting out a little squeak of embarrassment. Akira met her eyes properly and offered her a little smile. Futaba returned it, relief palpable in her eyes. Then she looked over at Sojiro, biting her lip a little.
“I wanted to introduce myself!” Futaba said, too quickly. “To the, er, delinquent. It seemed like a good opportunity to get myself out of my comfort zone, y’know?”
“Well, I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to come out of your room,” Sojiro said, still sounding entirely baffled by the turn of events, “but isn’t this a little fast? And, well… it’s not really polite to hug people without introducing yourself.”
“It’s fine,” Akira said, not able to stop himself from letting his grin grow wider. “I’m Akira Kurusu. Nice to meet you.”
It was only after an awkward talk from Sojiro about cleaning up the attic and not stepping out of line that he left Akira to his own devices, closing up the shop early, presumably to spend the afternoon asking Futaba about her seemingly magical overnight conquering of her fears. There was little else to do but to mop the dirty attic floorboards and work himself into an absolute wreck wondering if the other Phantom Thieves remembered too. Would they even be willing to help Akechi, if they even had the chance of doing such a thing? Would they be mad that Akira was risking the fate of humanity just to have a chance at saving his murderer? Probably. He figured he’d best keep his direct involvement in the time loop to himself.
After about an hour of cleaning, Akira got a text message that, judging by his sparse contacts, was either from one of his parents (HA!) or a reminder about a dentist appointment (he didn’t have one scheduled to his knowledge). It was neither.
Unknown: you’ve been visited by the mighty Oracle. I know your future, and your future is you are going to buy futaba a nice figure in akihabara to express how much you missed her dearly
Akira: i figured you remembered when you tackled me. You’re gonna make your poor dad go gray early
Unknown: I don’t have the other thieves’ numbers saved so it’ll take me the afternoon to find their devices, but I’ll tell everyone to meet at Leblanc late. Sojiro doesn’t have to know mwehehe
Akira bit his lip as he thought about what he should write back. He wanted to see everyone again as soon as he could, especially if they all remembered like he did. But he was taking a rather large risk by meeting up with them when Sojiro still thought of him as a troublemaker. He almost wanted to tell Futaba to reach out to them, but to hold out on suggesting meeting up until Akira started school, so he could at least pretend he met them all organically.
That was probably the logical thing to do, but Akira had been leaving on a train before the loop, not to see the other thieves again for a while, and he already missed them all dearly. And, more importantly, they needed a game plan. Akira had given them all a second chance to do things better, and he didn’t intend to waste it.
Futaba was some sort of miracle worker. Shortly after Sojiro had gone home for the night, having checked up on Akira one final time, the Phantom Thieves started trickling silently into the cafe. Makoto was first, prompt as always, followed by Futaba, Ann, Ryuji, Haru, and Yusuke. Everyone shared tight hugs and stories of their confusing first hours in the time loop. Ryuji had called Ann to scream incoherently about the world resetting almost immediately after waking up that morning, and they had spent the day together rushing around Tokyo looking to see if everything had changed before getting contacted by Futaba. Makoto had searched the internet for any mentions of the Phantom Thieves or a strange time loop, but found nothing.
Haru had spent most of the day in her room, trying to come to terms with the fact that her father was alive again, and just as awful as ever. She also apologized profusely for being late, since she’d been unable to convince him that she was spending the night with a friend, and had been forced to sneak out. Yusuke told a similar tale, and Akira almost immediately hopped behind the counter to heat up some curry that he found in the fridge, since it was unlikely he’d eaten at all that day, since he was back under Madarame’s care.
Despite the confusion and chaos, they all seemed overjoyed to see each other again. The only thief missing was Morgana, who Akira assumed was stuck in Kamoshida’s palace. They’d have to go and get him out in the morning, Akira figured. It wasn’t like Kamoshida’s palace was all that treacherous. They could probably secure the route in just a day, then change his heart the next morning.
“So, we’re just gonna have to do everything over again?” Ryuji asked, looking exhausted at the notion. “Geez, and I barely handled my exams the first time round.”
“Can you really call playing video games instead of studying ‘handling your exams’, Ryuji?” Ann teased.
Ryuji let out some sort of retort, but it was lost under the sound of the front door of Leblanc being tossed violently open, the whole lower floor of the cafe seeming to shake with the sheer force of the motion. Akira stiffened, bracing his hands on the counter as he imagined Sojiro yelling at him for bringing so many uninvited strangers into the cafe, not to mention inviting himself behind the counter to prepare curry for Yusuke, on his first night of his damn probation.
But it wasn’t Sojiro standing in the door. Instead, a very familiar figure stood fuming in the doorway, dressed to the nines, made up like a doll, and wearing a look that was positively murderous.
Akechi. He’s alive. He’s here.
Akira, who had just walked around the counter and was about to hand Yusuke a plate of curry, froze where he stood. He’d only seen Akechi’s true rage once, in the engine room, and even then, it was hard to consolidate Akechi’s real self with the way he presented himself to the outside world, since he was wearing that helmet that obscured his face so well. But now, Akechi’s anger was on full display. It took Akira a minute to find his voice.
“Um,” Akira said, very intelligently. “Hey?”
Akechi didn’t respond, but instead charged into the building, headed right for Akira. Before Akira could react, Akechi had grabbed his shirt and was pinning him against the wall of LeBlanc, snarling in his face. The plate of curry fell from Akira’s hands and crashed onto the floor, the plate thankfully staying intact. Akira hesitantly looked up from the fallen food and met Akechi’s eyes which were bright and radiating pure venom.
“What the fuck did you do?” Akechi roared.
Akira…probably should have predicted that something like his current situation would happen. After all, the plan had always been to save Akechi with his second chance, so it was inevitable that they’d cross paths again. What he hadn’t expected was that Akechi would remember the previous timeline just like all the Phantom Thieves did, even though he… hadn’t been around at the end of everything.
So, due to his own stupidity, Akira had no plan. It wouldn’t be the first time he had to charge ahead and improvise though, so in the precious few split seconds he had before Makoto and Ryuji would be on Akechi to detain him, Akira acted without thinking.
“I’m sorry,” Akira said. “Do I know you?”
The whole cafe fell silent, and Akira was sure he could feel judgment on all sides. He supposed that was fair. He had no idea why his brain had gone straight into total denial as a solution to his predicament.
“That was pathetic,” Akechi spat. “Try again.”
“Heeeeeey…Akechi,” Akira said.
Akechi’s grip tightened on Akira’s shirt. As Akira had predicted, it didn’t take any longer than that for Makoto to get up from her seat and grab Akechi from behind, yanking him back and causing him to let go of Akira.
“Akechi,” Makoto said, not bothering to hide the apprehension and disdain in her voice. “Just what do you think you’re doing here?”
“He’s probably here to finish what he started,” Ryuji said, getting up from his seat and moving to stand next to Makoto. “Well, we’d be happy to take you on. Right here, right now.”
“What, in Leblanc?” Akechi asked blankly. “No, we won’t be wasting our time with that.”
Akira blinked, taking a moment to process Akechi’s… new new demeanor. He sounded strangely detached, the tones of his voice bitter, but no less melodic. Though he still looked the part of the Detective Prince, the mask was off. His ever present smile was replaced with a taut frown and tired eyes. When Akira looked at him, he could see his sharp edges, his sorrow, and his exhaustion at full force.
The performing doll looked so dreadfully human.
“You’re not here to fight?” Haru asked, finally breaking the silence.
“Let me reiterate my earlier question,” Akechi said, roughly shrugging off Makoto’s hand that was clenched around the fabric of his blazer. “Kurusu. What. The hell. Did you do?”
“What do you mean?” Akira said. He immediately wanted to slap himself for choosing on impulse, yet again, to play dumb. It was clearly something Akechi didn’t appreciate, judging by the way a dangerous fire re-ignited in his eyes.
“It’s April,” Akechi said. “And I seem to remember dying .”
“Well yeah,” Akira said dumbly. “But, uh, why do you think that has anything to do with me?”
“Because everything always has to do with you!” Akechi snapped, looking like he was just barely keeping himself from lunging at Akira again and slitting his throat with one of the kitchen knives. “Special little Kurusu who gets to win at everything and can manipulate the world to his goddamn whims! Who the hell else would I suspect?”
“Akira didn’t do anything!” Ann protested. “We’re all just as confused as you are! That’s what we were meeting about in the first place, so how about you just sit down so we can all talk about this?”
“Hey, how the hell’d you know to come here anyway?” Ryuji asked.
“You came here already assuming that Akira, and the rest of us by extension, would be cognizant of the apparent time loop,” Makoto accused. “I can’t imagine you’d act so carelessly unless you were certain. But, other than the people in this room, everyone we’ve all encountered seems completely unaware of everything we remember happening from April 11th, today’s date, to March 3rd of 2017. With all this in mind, you seem far more suspicious.”
“Oh, is that your theory?” Akechi said. “Are you just ignoring the fact that I couldn’t be the catalyst of a supernatural event that occurred in a year I never lived to see?”
“Well, perhaps, thanks to this strange wrinkle in time,” Yusuke said, “you can live to see the new year.”
“Yes,” Akechi said, voice full of venom. “ Perhaps . Though, I can’t really see that as a preferable outcome for anyone in this room.” Even as he said that, he kept his gaze fixed on Akira, making it clear to the two of them that he was the unspoken exception, even if Akechi probably chalked Akira’s grief up to pity or a hero complex.
“As for how I knew that Kurusu was aware of the time loop, I happened to spot him in Shibuya station earlier today,” Akechi said. “I followed him and watched him navigate the station with no trouble at all, practically sprinting to his destination. A fact that is quite damning when I remembered that he told me once that he got incredibly lost in the station on his very first day of probation –– a scared kid from the country suddenly overwhelmed by the largest city in the world.”
“Do you have a reason to be here?” Haru asked. “Or is your intent to just insult Akira until we all take action?”
Akechi opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off by the sound of banging and scratching on the door to LeBlanc. When Akira turned his head to determine the source of the noise, he saw Morgana pawing at the door, looking desperate and exhausted.
Akira pushed his way past everyone and dove to open the door, letting his friend in.
“Mona!” Futaba cried. “You’re okay!”
“You’re all here!” Morgana cried. “I’m so relieved…I woke up in Kamoshida’s awful palace and all of you were gone! I don’t know what happened!”
“This is confusing for the rest of us as well,” Yusuke said. “But regardless, I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Hmph,” Akechi huffed. “Good. Now I suppose I won’t have to convince you all not to waste your time with that gym teacher.”
“Excuse you?” Ann asked. “What makes you think you have any say over who we target? You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. He can’t ignore someone like him.”
“A-Akechi’s here?” Morgana yelled. He jumped up onto Leblanc’s counter, fur fluffing up in agitation. “What the hell does he want?”
“Yeah,” Ryuji said, his glare only intensifying. “What the hell do you want, anyway?”
“...ngh,” Akechi grunted, turning his head to the side. His eyes were once again lit up with rage as he clenched his fists.
“Sit down,” Akira commanded Akechi softly. “I’ll make you a coffee.” Akechi complied robotically, if not just so he didn’t have to respond to Ryuji’s question. The cafe was drenched in uncomfortable silence while Akira stepped behind the counter and went through the drawn-out process of preparing Akechi’s favored blend. It felt like it took an eternity, just going through the all too familiar motions.
Akira thought back to the last time he’d seen Akechi, beaten bloody on the floor of the engine room, looking so alone and conflicted. Before his double appeared and Akechi made the choice to sacrifice himself, he’d been asked to come with them to take down Shido. And before he was interrupted, he almost looked like he was going to say…
“You want to team up with us,” Akira said as he finished up the cup. “For real this time.”
“Huh? He does?” Ryuji asked. Then he turned his question to Akechi. “You do?” Akira took the cup across the room and set it in front of a scowling Akechi. He accepted it silently and took a sip, a bit of tension leaving his shoulders as he swallowed. Akira slid into the seat opposite him, and watched as everyone else who was standing relaxed into nearby seats too, all waiting for Akechi to speak.
“...after seeing what Shido thought of me,” Akechi muttered, “I realized that I was a fool to think he wouldn’t suspect me of conspiring against him. That’s already done. There’s nothing I can do to convince him otherwise –– he’ll be expecting my betrayal no matter what. But what he wouldn’t ever expect is for me to have accomplices. This is the best course of action for me to take.”
“You don’t have to go and try to rationalize it,” Futaba said. “You can just say your plan sucked and ours was better, so you want to change sides.”
“I can’t claim to understand how you feel,” Makoto said. “Despite all the evil things you’ve done, you’ve been suffering alone for a very long time. Striving to be recognized, striving for perfection…I know from personal experience how impossible that is. It’s a lot better having a team behind you, covering your weaknesses and celebrating your strengths. There was a place for you in the Phantom Thieves before. And…there still is, if you’ll just let us help you.”
“Makoto is right,” Haru said. “If all of us work together, we’ll be able to take down Shido and prevent a great amount of the ruin you brought upon humanity at his side. It’s not too late for you to start over. We can help you with that.”
Akechi looked halfway between vomiting and biting their heads off. He probably felt pitied and talked down to, even though Akira knew that wasn’t any of their intent. So, carefully and calmly, he spoke up as well.
“I’m your rival, aren’t I?” Akira asked. “I’d prefer to keep you close for that very reason. Shido isn’t allowed to kill you like that. Not before we have the rematch we promised each other.”
“As I was saying ,” Akechi snapped, disregarding all of them. “It has been made clear to me that my plan to take down Shido is…flawed.”
“Yeah, no shit,” Ryuji mumbled under his breath.
“So, for that reason, I believe it would be the best tactical decision for me to cooperate with you all,” Akechi said.
“You make it sound like you’re doing us a favor,” Futaba said, looking unimpressed.
“Well, of course, I’ll do everything I can to help you improve your plans,” Akechi said. “I doubt you all were able to discuss much before I showed up, but if I had to guess, you all were going to simply do everything the way you did it before, starting with that perverted gym teacher.”
“Don’t you dare try to write that off,” Ann snapped at him. “He’s preying on all these girls…on Shiho! I refuse to leave that alone. It’s because of him that Shiho jumped!”
Surprisingly enough, Ann’s words seemed to stop Akechi in the middle of his condescending tirade. His eyes went wide, and after a moment, his expression dropped into something remorseful.
“I remember reading about that in the case file,” Akechi said. “That’s obviously something that would be ideal to prevent.”
“Yeah, you think?” Ann said.
“The first recorded calling card left by the Phantom Thieves of Hearts was addressed to a teacher at Shujin Academy,” Akechi said clinically. “He was accused of wrongdoings that affected the high schoolers enrolled there primarily. That limits the pool of suspects significantly. Starting out with such a small-scale target was a grave error, and I won’t allow you to repeat it if I’m to be working with you. I won’t be taken down due to another’s incompetence.”
“We can’t afford to leave it alone, though!” Ann said. “We need to take care of it right away!”
“Fine,” Akechi said. “Then I’ll take care of it.”
The whole cafe was silent for a moment.
“What the hell?” Ryuji asked. “You can’t just kill him!”
“Yeah!” Ann said. “If you kill him, then he can’t confess to his crimes. He’ll be getting off too easy that way.”
“When did I ever say anything about killing him?” Akechi asked. “What I’m proposing is this: my acquaintance, Makoto Niijima, who is the student council president of Shujin Academy, came to me after noticing the actions of a certain teacher going overlooked. With testimony from Ann Takamaki and Ryuji Sakamoto, I’ll have enough evidence to investigate the matter firsthand. After his heart was changed last time around, Kamoshida turned in emails and texts he’d sent to female students as evidence, so I’d imagine those can be uncovered again. He’ll be taken in for questioning, away from any of his potential victims. Is that a satisfactory plan?”
“...that’s not good enough,” Ann said. “Even if they find evidence, even if the police put him away, he’ll just hurt more people as soon as he’s out. He’ll never confess on his own.”
“Fine, then,” Akechi said. “I have no issue with you all changing his heart once you’ve already made a name for yourselves. After all, if his arrest makes the news, the already-established Phantom Thieves would have all the more reason to…aid his confession.”
“That plan might just work…” Makoto said.
“You’d really do that?” Ann asked.
“It’s in my own best interest too,” Akechi said, waving a hand dismissively. “It’s annoying though. You have no idea how boring it is to almost exclusively work on cases where I know the culprit before it begins. This is just yet another case of that.”
“It’s ‘boring’, he says,” Morgana said. “Unbelievable.”
“Okay, so in that case,” Akira said. “Who do you propose we start with? All the targets are non-negotiable, by the way. If you want to take care of Kamoshida through the method you just proposed, I don’t have a problem with that, but we’re going to take down Madarame, Kaneshiro, and Okumura too.”
“Why don’t we just start with that asshole, Shido?” Ryuji asked. “That way, people don’t have to keep getting killed.”
“If you intend to change his heart, that won’t be possible,” Akechi said. “You’ve seen firsthand how prideful the man is. He considers very few things a threat to him, and if he were to receive a calling card from a group that he’d never heard of, he’d simply disregard it, and I doubt his treasure would manifest.”
“Last time around,” Makoto said, “the Phantom Thieves had already disrupted his plans a fair bit before he properly retaliated. Both Madarame and Kaneshiro were associated with him. If we take them down, that should be more than enough to prove to him that we’re a threat to him, and that our changes of heart are real.”
“So, we should start with them?” Ryuji asked, scratching the back of his neck.
“Just a moment,” Haru said, sitting up straighter in her seat. “What about my father? Will we be able to change his heart before he…”
“Before he becomes Shido’s self-destructing pawn?” Akechi asked, a hint of a grin on his face. “Well, it’s a little too late for that, I’m afraid. Your father has already requested a few mental shutdowns. He knows too much, and Shido is aware of his ambitions to rise up in the world. If he’s publicly targeted by the Phantom Thieves, he’ll be silenced before he’s able to confess anything.”
“You dare to threaten Haru’s father right in front of us?” Yusuke asked.
“Oh please,” Akechi spat. “I’m not the only assassin on Shido’s payroll. It’s as I said –– he’ll be silenced one way or another. You’ll just have to be satisfied with putting him off until after we take down Shido. That’s the only way he’ll come out unscathed.”
“What if we just… do it all as fast as we can?” Akira asked.
“Huh?” Haru asked.
“If we take out Madarame, Kaneshiro, and Okumura in quick succession, then Shido won’t have any time to make a plan,” Akira said. “They’ll be confessing too quickly for Shido to arrange anything, and after he’s arrested, Haru can make sure he’s put under the best protection money can buy.”
“That might work…” Haru said hesitantly. “But, can we really manage to go that fast?”
“We just do one palace after the other,” Morgana said. “We infiltrate one day, and send the calling card and take the treasure the next day. Then, we repeat the process again and again.”
“The loss of Kaneshiro’s funding left Shido scrambling,” Akechi said. “I didn’t receive any instructions from him for at least three days. That’s not long, but it would be a wide enough window for us to change Okumura’s heart.”
“But if he confesses to ordering mental shutdowns from Shido,” Makoto said. “Wouldn’t that be bad? No matter what kind of security Haru can order for her father, Shido’s is going to be relentless in his efforts to silence him.”
“Well, if you really want to put in so much effort to save the life of that scum of a man,” Akechi scoffed. “We can simply tell him to confess his crimes, but stay silent about the mental shutdowns. Shadows are quite prone to the power of suggestion, after all.”
“You know from experience, I’d imagine?” Yusuke asked. Akechi just smiled a fake, sweet smile back at him.
“Okay,” Akira said. “It’ll be a lot of work, but there’s enough of us to switch out of battle fairly frequently, so I think we can make it. Besides, I’m sure Akechi’s experience will really help us get through the tougher fights. I really think this plan might just work. So…uh…welcome to the Phantom Thieves, Akechi.”
“Hold on,” Akechi said, crushing all of Akira’s spirits in just two words. “I’m not joining your little group.”
“Uh…” Futaba said. “Yeah, you are. Isn’t that all we’ve been talking about?”
“I agreed to cooperate with you,” Akechi said. “But I have no intention of joining you until you all are ready to take down Shido –– I refuse to leave that to you all if I can help it.”
“Hey, if we’re gonna be working together, you gotta go all in!” Ryuji argued. “That’s what being a team is all about!”
“The main problem with what you all are proposing,” Akechi said, “besides the fact that I hate you all, is that it is not a feasible plan for me to simply join the Phantom Thieves. Shido is a powerful man, but he’s also a paranoid one. That’s clear enough when you consider how many of his ‘allies’ dropped like flies toward the end of his campaign. As such, with the tools at his disposal and vast network of co-conspirators, he keeps rather tight surveillance on me. There’s members of his conspiracy on staff at my high school, living in my building, and, naturally, in the police department. And, of course, my status as a minor celebrity can just be seen as another form of surveillance.”
Akechi said all this with no particular tone, like what he was saying was no big deal at all. Akira clenched his fist to keep from having an outburst about Akechi’s stupid plan and his stupid revenge and stupid disregard for his own safety and wellbeing. But he knew Akechi wouldn’t listen. At least, not yet.
“Well, maybe you just stop the celebrity thing?” Ann suggested. “If you say you don’t want to do it anymore, can they really object to that? I mean, what Shido really wants you to do is…well, you know.”
“My public appearances serve an important purpose,” Akechi said. “So, I doubt that would go over well.”
“What effing purpose?” Ryuji asked. “Stroking your own ego?”
“Granting me access to the lower levels of Mementos,” Akechi answered. “You imbecile.”
“That makes a lot of sense, actually,” Makoto said. She tucked some hair behind her ear and then bit her lip, clearly thinking hard. “Okay. So, what’s another way we can approach this surveillance problem?”
“Oh! Oh! I know, pick me!” Futaba yelled, suddenly almost hopping where she was perched in a booth. “So, think about it like this. Say all this attention is like electricity flowing through a circuit. We can’t shut it off, but there is another way we can take control of it.”
“Have Mona bite the wire until it doesn’t work anymore?” Akira joked.
“One time!” Morgana protested. “I chewed on your phone charger one time !”
“No, you redirect it, obviously,” Futaba said. “If the Detective Prince was suddenly overloaded with lots of unwanted attention, then either Shido will make you hold back on TV appearances, or the media will be so overrun with information that it’ll be hard to tell what’s true.”
“Unwanted attention…” Akechi mused, raising an eyebrow. “What exactly do you mean by that?”
“ Goro Akechi’s Secret Lover Exposed!” Futaba said, posing dramatically. “Nothing gets the media in a tizzy more than a celebrity going off the market.”
That…was not what Akira was expecting Futaba to say, but he had to admit, it was kind of brilliant. It’s not like it would even take a lot. All Akechi would need was a co-conspirator –– someone willing to stand next to him and hold his hand, and once evidence of that hit the internet, they’d treat it like a sex tape. The only real problem was…that face that Akechi was making. The same face Morgana made before he tried to discreetly cough up a hairball.
“You’re suggesting…fake dating?” Akechi asked.
“Sure am, got a problem?” Futaba asked.
Akechi snorted and let a small smirk spread across his face.
“Besides the fact that the idea of intimacy, even for show, makes me want to puke,” Akechi said. “None of the girls in this room would be suitable for the role. Okumura is kept under her father’s thumb and is soon to be engaged, if I remember correctly, so even setting aside the fact that I’m sure you all wouldn’t ask her to subject herself to me, that won’t do. Sakura is a shut-in. Niijima’s sister, Sae, is my co-worker and would see through the ruse immediately since she knows both of us, and Takamaki is both out as a lesbian and a terrible actor.”
“I’m not that bad,” Ann said with a huff.
“And before anyone suggests it, another girl who isn’t a Phantom Thief is out of the question as well. I’m not close with any classmates, and any girl who has confessed to me might try and actually make a relationship of the ruse. I won’t have that.”
“Would that be the worst thing in the world, though?” Ryuji asked. “Maybe you’ll meet a nice girl out of it and get to move on with your life a little.”
“I have no interest in such things,” Akechi said. “I suggest you drop it.”
Akechi, seemingly quite pleased that he’d shot down the idea, took a delicate little sip of his coffee, his gaze still wandering around the group, searching for a challenge.
“I’ll do it.”
Akechi choked a little on his drink, and slowly brought his cup down to the table, his eyes now fixed on Akira. He was probably trying to melt Akira into nothing with his stare alone.
“Kurusu,” Akechi said.
“Yes, dear?” Akira responded cheekily.
“Shut it,” Akechi said. “I wouldn’t put myself in such a situation…with you , no less, if my life depended on it.”
“Well, it kind of does,” Akira said.
“I’ll admit, this plan had potential,” Akechi said. “But I will not agree to carrying it out without a suitable co-conspirator.”
“What the hell, man?” Ryuji shouted. “Are you like a homophobe or something?”
“I’m not sure I would care to associate myself with such bigotry,” Yusuke said.
“Are you fu… that’s where you draw the line ?” Akechi asked. “I’m not homophobic, for the record. My problem is that Kurusu is suggesting I willingly subject myself to his presence. And Kurusu? In case you somehow forgot, I fucking hate you!”
“Well, it will sure help stir up tabloid drama if we get into a lot of fights, I guess,” Akira said, unable to contain his smile. “And honestly, you going out with a guy will be a way bigger news story.” Akira’s thought process came to a halt and his face fell as his mind processed all the implications of such a plan. “Actually…that might not be a good idea,” he said. “The internet can get really shitty about that sort of thing, and everyone’s going to think you’re gay for the rest of your stardom.”
“Non-issues,” Akechi said with a dismissive wave. “Public opinion has little effect on me. Besides, I…am. Gay, that is. Not that it matters.”
“The issue you have is pretending to tolerate me,” Akira said. “But you did so well last time around…it’d be a shame to put all that acting skill to waste.”
“Okay, dumb-dumb,” Futaba said, tilting her head and frowning. “If you’re gonna just shoot down a perfectly good plan just because you don’t wanna play nice, then I’d be happy to hear you come up with a better one. Because this is the best thing I can think of that will give you a lot of attention that you clearly don’t want, but that won’t all be super crappy and negative. It’ll also give you an excuse to hang out with Akira and the rest of us without it seeming suspicious. Like your secret internet boyfriend just conveniently moved to Tokyo and he’ll want to introduce you to all the friends he’s making. It’s basically flawless!”
Akechi scowled, but didn’t respond. It seemed he didn’t have a better plan he could bring up on hand.
“I wonder…” Haru said. “Do you all think Akechi’s fame will be enough to get us to the bottom of Mementos? I mean, he might be able to open up the way to lower levels for us, but if we have to fight Yaldabaoth again, there’s no way we can defeat him without the support of the public behind us.”
“Oh yeah…” Ann said, her expression dropping. “That could be a big problem.”
“Damnit,” Ryuji said. “But we don’t have time to get that ingrained in society! We have to take Shido down as fast as possible or more and more people are gonna die!”
“Who exactly is Yaldabaoth?” Akechi asked.
“A god that Akira shot in the face to save humanity,” Futaba said, very quickly. “Anyway, Haru’s got a point, but maybe there’s something we can do about that…”
“A…god?” Akechi repeated, eyes wide. “ What?”
“I’d say our biggest spike in popularity occurred after the incident with the fake Medjed,” Makoto said. “Futaba spread the Phantom Thief name all over the internet, and at that point, we went viral, as per Shido’s plan, though we didn’t know it at the time. Maybe we could use the internet again?”
“You might be onto something!” Futaba said. “I wonder if I can configure my phone to connect to the internet while in the Metaverse…”
“Why would you need its network functions inside a palace?” Yusuke asked.
“I’ll need to get the camera app working too, of course,” Futaba mumbled. “But the navigator’s already functioning on smartphone tech, so I don’t think it’s impossible…”
“Wait,” Ann said. “Are you suggesting––”
“Official Phantom Thieves social media accounts!” Futaba said. “We’ll go viral for sure! Especially if we record ourselves beating up shadows. Either that, or we can just dance to Risette songs like everyone else.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Akechi said.
“Nope!” Futaba said. “Trust me, I know exactly what I’m doing here. You think the Phantom Thieves were big when we were just a nebulous organization? Wait until the public gets to meet the quirky and adorable members! I’m talking fancams, reddit threads, shipping wars, fanfiction…”
“And that’s…something we want to happen?” Makoto asked.
“It’s about getting as integrated into the general public’s cognition as much as we can,” Futaba said.
“Sounds fun,” Akira said. “But don’t you think that would make my 100% real boyfriend Goro Akechi jealous? I mean, so many people are going to be thirsting after Joker, I’m sure.”
“I didn’t agree to your stupid plan!” Akechi protested. “I’m not agreeing to any of this!”
“Personally, that makes me like Futaba’s plan a lot more,” Ryuji said with a laugh.
“That actually sounds like it could be fun!” Haru said.
“Yeah!” Ann said. “I’d totally be down to dance for the greater good of Japan!”
“It would be a shame to keep all the beauty of the Metaverse hidden away from the public…” Yusuke said.
“Have you all gone insane?” Akechi barked at them. “You can’t just…use the Metaverse to become internet famous! That’s absurd!”
“Internet famous…for the sake of saving humanity,” Akira corrected.
“Put it however you’d like,” Akechi said. “But it doesn’t change the fact that it's just…ridiculous.”
“I think Akechi’s just scared we’ll get more popular than him,” Ryuji said.
“This could benefit you too, y’know,” Futaba said. “You’ve got a social media presence too. We can take your existing fanbase and start an all-out war. That’ll be impossible to ignore.”
“How exactly does that benefit me?” Akechi asked.
“You can step a little outta the confines of your branding,” Futaba said. “Especially if you get a cute new boyfriend like Akira. Sure, your fans like you because you have the whole cute act you put on, but Goro Akechi doesn’t seem like someone who you could hang out with, you know? Not everyone gets hot for a guy with the same personality as a sweater vest. It’ll help you transition away from having to be so fake all the time. With social media, you can start to seem more like, y’know…a real person.”
“I don’t care what other people think of me,” Akechi said. “I’ve been pretending my entire life. It doesn’t bother me, because I hardly have to think about it.”
“But that can’t be how you want to live forever,” Haru said. “We’re going to make sure you live past this year. But more than that, we want to help you break free of the person Shido made you into.”
“Besides…” Akira said, leaning a little over their shared table to wink at Akechi. “Won’t it be fun to take the rivalry public? And how scandalous to think that you’ll be secretly dating your greatest enemy! Isn’t that romantic?”
“We’re not going to actually be dating,” Akechi pointed out.
“So, you’re thinking about it?” Akira asked.
Akechi kicked him under the table.
That next morning, Sojiro drove Akira to Shujin, all the while complaining about the traffic caused by a train accident that had occurred quite early in the morning. It was a notable difference in time. Though Akechi hadn’t said anything about it in the group chat, he must have had to fulfill that request for Shido, but had changed his timing so that the first train of the morning derailed rather than one during the morning rush. As a consequence, far fewer injuries were reported.
Akechi was really on their side for their second go-around of the year, and thanks to Futaba’s plan, Akira figured they’d be able to have quite a bit of fun along the way. After meeting the principal (who Akira forgot was one of Akechi’s former victims) and Kawakami, Akira was driven back to Leblanc, where he waited for Akechi to meet him for the first phase of their plan.
While Futaba spent the day in the Metaverse with Morgana, figuring out how to configure their phones to function normally in an alternate reality, Akira and Akechi had a different task entirely –– leaking their “relationship” to the press.
It wasn’t long before Akechi walked through the door of Leblanc wearing a bright smile. Sojiro greeted him and served him coffee, while Akechi introduced himself as Akira’s online boyfriend, gracefully slipping in that he was Detective Prince Goro Akechi, an honor student, and an all-around trustworthy, polite boy who believed in Akira’s innocence. For all Akechi had resisted agreeing to their plan, he played the part quite well, singing Akira’s praises and charming Sojiro thoroughly, tacking on that their relationship was very much a secret and that he’d be terribly inconvenienced if word ever got out.
Akira let him do most of the talking, if not just because he was enjoying the show so much. But, when prompted, he did chime into the conversation, making sure to exclusively refer to Akechi as “honey” and “sweetheart” and other such names. Sojiro looked like he wanted to step away from the conversation to have a cigarette on more than one occasion, but he also seemed supportive enough. Akira hoped at the very least Sojiro would start to trust him a little sooner.
Eventually, they said their goodbyes and left the cafe for a “date”. As Akira could have predicted, he saw Sojiro reaching for a cigarette as the door of Leblanc closed behind them.
“Alright then,” Akechi said brightly. “Let’s get this over with.”
Akira shifted a little on the park bench, peeking around as subtly as he could to see if anyone was looking at them. It didn’t appear that anyone had noticed Akechi…or Goro, he supposed, he should call him Goro if they were supposed to be dating. That was fine, since it gave them a bit of time to get ready, which Goro clearly needed. Seeing how stiffly he was sitting, tapping his gloved fingers against the armrest of the bench, Akira couldn’t help but wonder if Goro had any dating experience whatsoever. But, after thinking about it for all of two seconds, he realized that there was very little chance of that.
“You doing okay?” Akira asked Goro quietly.
“Just fine,” Goro responded, his voice light, but short. He was in character, but the message came through regardless. He wanted Akira to fuck off, but unfortunately, Akira couldn’t do that. They needed to be caught in the act as soon as possible to kickstart their plan.
“How…” Goro said. Then, he appeared to swallow before speaking again. “How should we sit for this? And lay out everything you plan to do, because I will not be letting you just have your way with me, Kurusu.”
“Well, it’s ‘Akira’, first of all,” Akira said. “And I suppose I’ll call you ‘Goro’ for the time being. Is that alright?”
Goro looked like he very much wanted to protest, but knew that he really couldn’t, having already agreed to their arrangement. Out of the corner of his eye, Akira saw a few teenage girls pointing at them, one of them with phone in hand.
“Scoot closer to me,” Akira murmured. When Goro made no move to do so, Akira took initiative and moved closer on his own. Akira listened, and was almost sure he heard the girls he’d seen whispering. They had a window of opportunity, and Akira was going to take it. “I’m going to kiss you now,” Akira warned. “Close your eyes and pretend it's someone you like. Or go to your happy place and pretend like you’re hacking apart my corpse. I couldn’t care less.”
Then, before Goro could respond, Akira leaned forward and closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against Goro’s soft pink-lipped frown. Goro let out a little squeak of surprise at the sudden contact, and Akira could feel him shudder as he squeezed his eyes shut, which really shouldn’t have been so incredibly cute.
Akira brought a hand up to Goro’s cheek, caressing his impossibly soft skin and attempting to make up for the fact that Goro wasn’t doing a lot of kissing back by acting enough for both of them. As if reading his thoughts, Goro seemed to realize he was being outdone and quickly began to kiss back, lips moving slowly and methodically, opening and closing around Akira’s like docile bites.
He listened as he pulled away and just caught sight of the three girls he’d spotted running away. Akira really hoped they’d snapped a picture. Akira looked over at Goro to gauge his reaction and was met with a beet red face.
“That was excessive,” Goro mumbled.
“Sorry,” Akira said. “I didn’t have a lot of time to warn you.”
“Did they at least get a picture?” Goro asked.
“I think so,” Akira said. “But there’s no way to know for sure. We should stay here a little longer just in case. Keep up the couple-y stuff.” Goro grimaced as if that suggestion caused him psychical pain, so Akira quickly worked to fix the damage. “We can just sit close to each other,” Akira said. “The kissing isn’t necessary if we’re bold enough about our touching.”
“Akira!” Goro hissed.
“I didn’t mean that in a perverted way!” Akira said. “I mean…here, just scoot a little closer. Closer. Now, lean into me. I’m going to play with your hair for a bit. That’s a big ‘disgusting couple’ thing to do.”
“If I’m remembering correctly,” Goro said with a sigh as he followed Akira’s instructions. “You’ve messed with my hair once before.”
“Heheh,” Akira laughed. “Well, in that case, I guess we’ve been dating for a while, haven’t we?” He carefully began to thread his fingers through Goro’s hair, marveling at how soft and light the golden-brown locks were. “How do you get your hair this nice, anyway?”
“All natural, of course,” Goro said lightly. He was such a liar. Still, it was probably his natural color, and it was gorgeous on him. It’d probably be just as gorgeous if it was rougher and full of tangles.
“Is that so?” Akira asked.
“Of course not,” Goro said. “I have to beat it into submission most of the time. A downside to wearing it long like this.”
Akira ran his fingers through Goro’s hair again and felt him relax a little into his shoulder. Akira wondered quietly if Goro’s mother’s hair was the same. Akira brought his hand up again and used his nails to lightly massage Goro’s scalp. Goro relaxed even more into the touch, sighing a little and going quiet.
Somehow, it felt far more intimate than the kiss.
“Hey, Goro?” Akira asked awkwardly. He really hoped he hadn’t made Goro too uncomfortable. “Do you want to get out of here? I’ll go buy you a crepe or something. You know…to make up for this.”
Akechi lifted his head, and after a moment of staring at Akira with a look he couldn’t really decipher, the fake smile was back at full force.
“That sounds delightful, Akira-kun,” Goro said. “I seem to have this awful taste lingering on my lips right now. I’d do anything to rid myself of it.”
r/DetectivePrince
Akechifan602
Have you guys seen those pictures that leaked of Akechi-kun and that other boy? I think he has a boyfriend!!! Look how cute they are together! I need more info now does anyone know this guy?
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Snufflyspark
I’m soooo jealous! Agree tho his bf is super cute. You can tell by that picture of him playing with Akechi’s hair that they’re super in love (ɔ◔‿◔)ɔ ♥
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canyouheeremeeee
You guys are jumping to conclusions to fast i mean they could just be friends
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adotcorbinisthecoolest
They’re smooching LOL fellas is it gay to
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hahagirl16
WAIT that guy just transferred to my school! He’s like a criminal though i heard he was in a gang! What’s he doing with Akechi-kun?????
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letmeeatcake325
Omg that’s so cute tho
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drpeprika
Akechi-kun’s been into bad boys this whole time!!!
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cherriesandcream32
It’s confirmed. He just made a video with his bf, Akira-kun, announcing their relationship! Let’s show them some support, you guys! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Thread posted 4/13/16
Ann had been keeping a close eye on social media since Akira and Akechi had staged their first date, and the news of their new “relationship” had yet to stop dominating every single app she opened. Akechi’s own short video in which he shyly confirmed the relationship was only adding fuel to the fire, and so far, no one had brought up any challenges to the relationship’s legitimacy. That was quite the relief. Futaba’s plan seemed like it might actually work. She’d texted them all that she’d been able to make all her phone’s functions work just an hour prior.
But it was also Ann’s time to shine. She posed for Yusuke, who was watching the door just as she was, waiting for Madarame to return. Her getup was a bit ridiculous, but anything was better in her book than posing nude. Yusuke truly found beauty in everything, even a neon-colored safety vest and hard hat. In her hand was a hammer, an essential part of their plan. After posing and painting for several minutes, Yusuke and Ann both turned their heads when they heard the door open.
“Ready?” Yusuke asked Ann.
Ann nodded.
“No, no, it’s all wrong!” Yusuke exclaimed. “I’m trying to capture the beauty of the blue collar worker, but you’re giving me no passion, Takamaki-san!”
“Oh, I’ll show you passion!” Ann yelled back, getting to her feet and tightening her grip on the hammer. In the back of her head, Akechi was still mocking her for being a sub-par actress. She shook her head and did her best to forget.
“Yusuke?” Madarame’s voice called. “Is everything alright in there?”
Yusuke got to his feet and threw open the door, walking right past Madarame and pacing like a madman.
“Passion!” Yusuke cried. “I need passion! Show me your strength! Your anger at your oppressors! We’re creating art here!”
“You got it!” Ann yelled, sprinting out into the hall. She heard Madarame protest, but didn’t let that stop her. “Take this, you oppressive lock!” she cried, bringing her hammer down on the lock keeping the gaudy door in the back of the shack tightly shut. In three blows, the locking mechanism came loose, and the door creaked open.
“My door!” Madarame cried. “How dare you––you damn brat…”
“Yes, yes that’s it!” Yusuke cried.
“Get out of here at once!” Madarame hissed. “You hear me? Get out before I call my private security!”
“Yes, we must take this to the streets!” Yusuke announced. “Find more things to destroy!” Then, arm and arm, they sprinted out of the shack, not looking back for a good ten minutes.
“Hello, is this thing on? Wassup everybody! We are the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, and we’re coming to you live from Ichiryusai Madarame’s gross art museum. Hey Fox, what do you think of this piece?”
“It is truly garish. No inspiration to be found at all in it.”
“Noir, Queen! Whatcha looking at?”
“Nothing made by Madarame himself, that’s for sure.”
“Oh, nice burn, Queen!”
“Thank you, Noir.”
“Yo, Oracle? Are we filming already? I thought you said we were gonna wait until the shadows showed up so we could kick their asses.”
“Do shadows even have asses though?”
“An intriguing question, Fox! Joker, what do you think about all this art?”
“I think Crow’s the only piece of art in this whole museum.”
“Would you please at least pretend like you’re focusing?”
“And guess what party people? We’re gonna rob this museum! But don’t worry, we’re not taking any of this stinky old art. In fact, this isn't a real museum at all. What you’re looking at is the twisted heart of Ichiryusai Madarame, and we’re here to steal all his twisted desires. Stick with us, and you’ll see! We’re gonna make him confess every crime he’s committed and set his victims free! Now Mona, be cute for the camera! We need those views!”
“Why the hell did I agree to this––”
Posted 4/14/16 by @Phantom_Thieves_Official