Chapter Text
August (epilogue)
July was full of studying and exams, which Makoto and Akechi threw themselves into without prompting. Haru decided she should probably make more of an effort, too — give her father something to smile about. When summer break started, they dove back into the Jikken Palace.
All of them were expecting to find Principal Ishikawa's Shadow in the gleaming office perched up at the top of the laboratory. Honestly Haru was expecting to find a Treasure there, too, and had been wondering if it would be possible to talk Akechi into stealing it instead of rage-breakdowning the principal.
Instead, they had to ransack the office before they found a secret passage leading down.
"You're fucking kidding me," Akechi said flatly.
"Is that going to go all the way back down?" Makoto asked. "Or farther? Are there sublevels?"
"Your principal is a slippery slimy — ass, Crow." Haru mentally censored 'bastard'.
Akechi pulled out Defarge. "…I think there's two more strong Shadows before we even hit a safe room."
There were. They did at least manage to make the safe room.
HO: I hate to say this
HO: I really, really hate to say this
HO: But it might be time to ask your employer about transferring schools for the next term
HO: I'm not sure we're going to be able to finish by September
HO: And even if we do…
HO: Whatever we do, there will be a massive disruption of the school
GA: I've been thinking that, too
GA: About the Palace, I mean
HO: Will he do it?
HO: Arrange a transfer?
HO: Or will he want you to do something more to, well, pay for it?
Oh hell what if this was what started the mental shutdowns—?!
GA: Well
GA: No
GA: Shido won't arrange a transfer
The 'typing' indicator appeared and disappeared several times.
GA: He has no reason to, since I don't actually work for him.
What.
HO: How on Earth did you survive quitting??!!
GA: I don't think that's possible
GA: I never started
What.
HO: But
Haru found herself starting and discarding several messages.
HO: But the blackmail?
GA: I was planning to approach him at the time.
GA: In the next few weeks. I was working on my pitch.
GA: But then you showed up and knew everything, and it was always going to be a risk but that made it a
GA: Substantially bigger risk
The lack of mental shutdowns. The lack of politically related breakdowns. The non-appearance of the Detective Prince.
GA: And with three people and more information the Metaverse provides a lot more opportunities than it did before, so…
GA: It never became a worthwhile risk again.
The last five months rearranged in her head.
HO: But
HO: What about the information?
HO: About my father? The short list?
GA: Shadows in Mementos are really easy to interrogate
GA: They won't shut up
GA: I have a line on three or four of his associates there
GA: One of them seems to have disappeared, but the others are as talkative as ever
The fuck. The actual fuck.
GA: And you assumed I was working for him so I just let you assume because back then I really valued anything you didn't know
GA: Because you know everything
GA: I probably should have said something since then though
The fuck.
HO: I see
She did see. Akechi wasn't working for Shido. He was still giving people psychotic breakdowns — rage breakdowns — whatever because he apparently thought it was a good solution to… everything, but he wasn't working for Shido. He had, in fact, picked working with Haru and Makoto over his stupid Shido plan, and would rather work with them in the future to come up with a less stupid Shido plan.
HO: I'm glad you're not working for Shido, Akechi-kun.
HO: We'll just have to step up our efforts in the laboratory.
How was that for making a change.