Chapter Text
Akira's phone lay heavy in his hand as he weighed his options. He wanted nothing more than to chuck the piece of technology out through the window of the student council room, so that it would take the much too loud voice of Ryuji with it and hopefully crush it against the ground below. Unfortunately, that wouldn't do anything about the recording that had been presented to him, nor the secrets that had already been discovered.
“Won't you take me to your friends, Kurusu-kun?” Makoto Niijima asked him sweetly, knowing very well he couldn't refuse.
There was something about Niijima that made Akira feel uneasy. The feeling was hard to explain, and had bothered him for a while. Before the incident with Kamoshida, he had only spoken to her once. She had approached him on his second day, asked him how he was doing and impersonally assured him that she'd be there for him just as much she was for any other student. The suspicion in her eyes told a different story, however, and when she brought up his recently leaked record, it was accompanied by a small, judgemental sigh that Akira was all too familiar with by now. At least she left him alone after that, presumably because she was busy with more important duties. And seeing how he quickly made new friends even in this place, he found no reason to think much of it.
Everything changed after Kamoshida, when her suspicion returned in full force. Ever since the calling card and the confession that followed a few days later, she had been on their trail nonstop. Sometimes confronting them directly with questions about the Phantom Thieves, sometimes employing more subtle (though not by much) stratagems. She'd innocently stop him to chat, choose the spot right next to him to do some light reading in the library, or outright follow him through the city. She'd deny it when confronted, of course, but Akira knew better (and the upside down magazine was a dead giveaway). The Phantom Thieves exercised some additional caution once they moved on to their next target, and moved their hideout away from Shujin, hoping she would lay off them eventually.
Unfortunately, she only seemed to grow more fixated on them after the news of Madarame's calling card leaked, and his televised confession escalated it further. Akira, grimly accepting that the problem would not go away on its own, had grown a lot more careful around the president. Her intentions were unclear, simply because she never outright acted against them while making it obvious that she didn't believe their excuses in the slightest.
Until today, that is – and Akira had to admit that he'd been shocked when she revealed the evidence she claimed was proof of their alternate identities. She had pictures of them together, but far more damning was the recording in which Ryuji loudly talked about their duties as Phantom Thieves. It was enough that Akira took her unspoken threat seriously, and brought her along to their new hideout at her request.
”What's she doin' here?” Ryuji exclaimed, the friendly banter coming to an abrupt end as soon as they noticed that Akira hadn't arrived alone. Even Yusuke, who had only heard of her through the others, quickly adapted a displeased if courteous expression. Niijima paid their hostility no heed, and only showed them the same evidence that she had already shown Akira.
Their anger quickly turned into alarm, and though they did their best to hide it, there was no doubt who was in control of the situation.
”I'm not going to turn you in right away,” Niijima said, and her tentative assurance sounded more like pity. Nevertheless, she had Akira's undivided attention: any scenario which didn't end in their arrest was one he was willing to consider. ”You could be a valuable asset, after all. But I'm wary of the justice behind it, and if you were to prove yourselves irresponsible with this power, I fear I may have no choice.”
”Excuse you, we're not some troupe of circus monkeys you can order around,” Ryuji protested, not taking well to having their methods questioned. While the Phantom Thieves weren't exactly famous, Akira had yet to hear anyone around the school speak of them as harshly as Niijima did.
”You have no right to speak of justice after how you dealt with Kamoshida,” Ann exclaimed, fire awakening in her eyes. ”What's so just in allowing a creep like him free reign? You knew about everything the whole time, didn't you!”
Niijima looked like she wanted to protest. But she swallowed her retorts, and it was with surprising humility that she finally admitted: ”Your... determination to take action against Kamoshida is what convinced me to give you a chance. I'm not being unreasonable. If you're even half as just as you claim to be, you won't have any problems with my request.”
”And what is the nature of this request?” Yusuke asked curtly.
”Use your talents and prove your justice to me,” the president replied.
As it turned out, she wanted them to take down a target of her choice. It didn't take the Phantom Thieves long to understand that they had no choice but to accept her deal, and so Akira, Ryuji and Ann (with Morgana hidden away in his bag, naturally) arrived at the rooftop where the President was already waiting for them, as she had promised, with more details on her so far very vague request.
A mafia boss. Allegedly, he was responsible for the recent phishing scams that had targeted students in particular, and Niijima's disgust was evident as she recounted how this mafia group would stop at nothing to get what they wanted. They would lure the students in with promises of a lucrative “part-time job”, then blackmail and threaten them to get what they really wanted. Akira had to admit that it wasn't a bad target if even half the things she said were true.
She couldn't give them a name, allegedly because she didn't know it herself. But through the stoic front she presented to them, Akira thought that he could discern a passionate concern for her students. This wasn't just a test. Niijima must have heard the same rumors as them, the ones that had circulated around the school causing anxiety among the students, and Akira couldn't say he didn't understand where she was coming from.
”That's an awful lot of responsibility to put on a few students,” he noted when Niijima explained how the police had been powerless to stop the gang. The president smiled, looking amused.
”But you're not just students, are you?” she said pointedly, before conflicted insecurity slipped through her so far authoritative front. ”I... may not want to admit it, but I'm a little jealous.” She ignored their surprised looks and continued. ”As the president of the student council, the principal has asked me to make sure that our students feel safe. How am I supposed to achieve that? Believe me, if I could, I would deal with this matter in my own way. But I can't, and so I'm willing to give you a chance.”
”Do you at least have any leads we could follow? Any at all?” Ann asked, and her resentment had grown less sharp. While it was clear that she still wasn't convinced about her lack of action towards Kamoshida, she was willing to put it aside for the sake of the mission. ”There was that student board, the one you put up, has anybody written anything?”
”I'm sorry, that information is confidential. You'll have to investigate,” Niijima replied, not sounding apologetic at all. She continued, her voice a little harder and leaving no room for objections or negotiations: ”See it as a part of my test. True justice will not back off because things are not laid out neatly before you. You have two weeks. The students have had to suffer this for long enough already.”
Two weeks was not a lot of time, and with the deadline looming unnervingly close they wasted no time getting to work. In two days, they had been able to find a student they could interrogate, and not only could they determine that the shady business in question was drug smuggling, but also that the students seemed to get recruited on Central Street. So far, so good.
But the next leg of their investigation yielded no further clues. Before they became too disheartened, Akira remembered that journalist they had run into during their investigation of Madarame, and the move was exactly what they needed. In exchange for some insider information on the Phantom Thieves (a responsibility which he promptly ”delegated” to Mishima), they finally had a name: Junya Kaneshiro.
Kaneshiro was indeed the leader of the mafia group in question, and one that the police had struggled to apprehend for quite a while. The stakes were much higher than anything they had faced before, but they might be looking at a significant breakthrough in their popularity, should they succeed. They had to succeed, because otherwise they would be the ones with a future behind bars rather than Kaneshiro. With renewed spirits, they returned to the investigation.
Half a week had already passed by the time they worked out the code words (of course it was a bank). Their joy was short lived, however: infiltrating the Palace directly proved impossible as they could find no way to enter the actual building where the Treasure was stored. It was floating high above Shibuya, beyond their reach, and they decided to return to Central Street in an attempt to look for anything that could get them further. The sight of the human ATMs that helplessly tumbled around the area spurred them to once again abandon the possibility of failure.
But after almost a day of investigating Kaneshiro in Shibuya with next to no results to show for it, Akira was getting rather tired. In a last-ditch effort they split up, Ryuji and Yusuke looking through the underground areas while Akira and Ann (and Morgana) scoured the main street, to no avail.
They had already agreed to meet up with the others when Ann mentioned that she felt uncomfortable. Like they were being followed. After the incident with Yusuke, Akira had learned to take her intuition seriously, and considering that they had been attempting to track someone with ties to a mafia, they couldn't be too careful.
Akira's gaze swept over the crowd, only to come to an abrupt stop at a familiar sight. They had passed by this place about fifteen minutes ago, where Akira had accidentally (and somewhat awkwardly) locked gazes with a boy on the other side of the street. Like proper strangers they had turned away as soon as they realized what had happened, and Akira had gone on his way without thinking much of it. The event had been unremarkable, merely one of a thousand awkward incidents that must happen every day in a place as busy as this, too insignificant to remember - but now their eyes met a second time. Because there, in the same spot he had been standing half an hour ago was the same boy, and he was once again observing them. And this time, he didn't look away.
They weren't being followed, at least he didn't think so, but they had definitely been watched. Akira figured it was only fair he observed him back.
He seemed perfectly ordinary, though the plain, gray briefcase by his side was a little odd. He was around their age, presumably a high-school student from some other school since Akira didn't recognize the uniform. The tan pea coat wasn't part of any standard he knew of, but complemented the rest of his outfit very nicely, and made him look a little more well-dressed than most of his peers that passed through. Maybe it was a nice school. Admittedly, Akira doubted he needed it to get attention; he was pretty enough as it was.
Then there were those watchful, dark eyes that followed their every move. The eye contact, though brief on a cosmic scale, had lasted too long to be coincidental. Akira refused to waver, and stubbornly watched him back in something that more and more resembled a puerile staring contest that the stranger was just as stubborn to win. Had he been watching them for long? Why? They didn't know each other, and Akira couldn't recall ever seeing him, much less properly meeting him, before. Their only encounter had been today, in which case...
"Akira? Are we going? Ryuji and Yusuke are waiting."
He made up his mind. Before he had time to think more about it, he turned around and grabbed Ann's wrist and crossed the street. The boy's lips curled into the hint of a smile as he watched them approach.
"Akira, where are we-?"
"You," Akira said, stopping in front of the student. Ann looked at both of them in confusion.
"Good day," the other said pleasantly, wearing a just as pleasant smile. It was undeniable fact that he had initiated the contact; hell, he had been caught in the act spying on them, and yet he patiently awaited a response, as though he was speaking to them as a courtesy and nothing more.
"What do you know about Kaneshiro?" Akira asked, and Ann inhaled sharply beside him, not expecting the blunt line of questioning. An astonished expression flashed over the student's face for the fraction of a second, before he chuckled lightly.
"Ah, you're a really interesting guy," he said, taking his time scrutinizing them a little more. He shook his head disapprovingly. "You know enough to have a name... but not enough to realize that you're in way. Over. Your head."
For a moment, his voice entered a slightly lower register that wasn't outright threatening, but obviously served the same purpose. He wanted them to back off, which only made Akira surer that he was on the right trail. He must have heard them ask around. He was exactly the person they needed to get somewhere after a whole afternoon of failures.
A hint of Joker made it through his everyday mask, and he leaned closer in.
"I hear he pays decently," he replied cockily. The chatter from the crowds on the streets would have shielded them from attention even if he had spoken louder, but if the student wanted to be theatrical, Akira was more than willing to play the game. "I don't suppose you'd know anything about that?"
Gone was the smile, replaced with a blank, unreadable expression. Then their potential informant laughed, but this time the sound was cold, ridiculing even.
"Go home," the student scoffed. "While you still can."
"Are you in trouble?" Ann anxiously blurted out. She had so far followed the back and forth with quiet, if a little confused, interest, but she too could read between the lines. The sudden, genuine worry in her voice was enough to throw the student off balance for a second before he recomposed himself. He glared at them, but it was about as effective as a small pet puffing up in an effort to look intimidating, and Ann gasped.
"You're a highschooler, aren't you? We've talked with others, you know – are you being blackmailed? Do you need help? Is that why you don't want us to get involved?"
He almost physically swayed beneath the flurry of concern, and Akira had to admit that the idea of weaponizing kindness of all things never had occurred to him. Not that it was Ann's intention; she was much too sweet to consider something like that.
"I'm in no more trouble than someone like me would be expected to be," her target finally replied, smiling once again but nevertheless sounding just a little bitter. "I'm more concerned about you two. Either you are after the money despite knowing the risks, which makes you stupid. Or you're not after the money... which means you're fucking idiots. Did he get a friend of yours? If so, there's nothing you can do without hurting them – and yourselves – more. The only thing you can do is to limit the damage, and not get involved."
"We need to find Kaneshiro," Akira said calmly. At the same time, Ann mumbled "I don't believe you."
It was clear which response the boy felt more comfortable facing.
"Why? What could you possibly gain by meeting up with him?"
Akira wanted nothing more than to tell him that if only he helped them first, they might be able to help him in return. He seemed reasonable, and despite his aloof manner, the boy seemed adamant that they didn't risk their lives for no reason. But he couldn't exactly tell him that they were the Phantom Thieves that were slowly making a name for themselves, and who had supernatural powers to keep them safe where others were vulnerable.
Before he could think of an answer, both his and Ann's phones buzzed simultaneously.
"It's Ryuji," Ann told him. "He's wondering why we're late."
"You'd better go," their useless informant told them, his amiable front back in place now that he once again had the upper hand in their little dispute. He nodded towards the briefcase at his side. "I have an appointment to keep, I'm sure you understand."
At least he acknowledged that they all knew what was going on. Akira wondered exactly what it would take to get him to open up to them. They had come so tantalizingly close to a breakthrough, but the wall of silence wouldn't budge just from poking it.
"Will you be alright?" Ann asked.
He just smiled. "Don't keep your friend waiting, now."
"We should talk again," Akira said, holding out a hand as the student looked at him with suspicion. "The name's Akira Kurusu, by the way."
For a moment, Akira was sure that he'd ignore the obvious invitation; there was no way he could miss it. Thus, he was a little surprised, albeit pleased, when he chose to reply. No handshake, though.
"Akechi."
"Akechi...?" Akira left the implied question hanging, waiting for him to fill in the blank. Akechi smiled in the pleasant way that Akira already, despite the brevity of their acquaintance, recognized to be a trademark of his. For what reason, Akira didn't know yet. It definitely wasn't because he was happy.
"Just Akechi."
They encountered Ryuji and Yusuke looking for them outside the station building. While Ryuji was initially excited to hear that they had found some kind of lead, he was as frustrated as Akira with the outcome.
"Man, why don't people ever want to be saved?" he asked, exasperated, and Yusuke hummed in response.
"He might be reluctant to admit that he needs help. And even if he did, to an outsider we can't appear to have much to offer in the way of aid."
"Yeah, it's not like we can tell him we're Phantom Thieves," Ann said, echoing Akira's thoughts from earlier. She bit her lip, looking miserable.
"We can't give up now," Morgana declared. He dug his way out of the bag and gracefully leaped over Akira's shoulder, landing on the ground in the middle of the group. "What little this Akechi told us about doing his job doesn't sound good at all, yet he stays. Do you think it's because of Kaneshiro?"
"Absolutely," Ann said. Determination took hold of her once more. "And who knows how many others. We need to act. We can't allow an adult to exploit students like this.“
“We still don't know exactly how he blackmails them, but it can't be good,” Yusuke agreed.
In the end, there wasn't much they could do. All of them were getting tired, so going into the Palace would have to wait. Instead, they agreed to meet up next day after school. If they couldn't find a more willing informant (unlikely, Akira's less optimistic side helpfully offered), or convince Akechi to spill his secrets (even less likely), they would have to figure out something else, and he was painfully short on ideas.
Next day's search was no more successful than the first one. So with clenched teeth they decided to cut their losses and head to the Metaverse instead. They had a deadline to meet, and the days were ridiculously short when under the threat of getting arrested.
That was about the extent to which they were able to follow the plan. After that, things went a little off track.
"Alright! Let's expand the radius today; after all, the distortion technically covers all of Shibuya-"
"...Ah."
Morgana's determined briefing was cut off by a soft voice that none of them recognized, and the five of them turned around in alarm in nearly synchronized movement. For a moment, Akira feared that they had pulled some random passer-by in with them, and wondered just how they were supposed to explain the situation. Their masks would protect them from real world consequences (or so he hoped), but what if that person attempted to reveal the existence of the Metaverse...
Then he noticed exactly whom they had pulled in, and instead wondered whether the universe was trying to help them or just playing tricks on them.
In Akechi's defense, he recovered almost instantly from the initial shock. Or at least pretended to do so, because while Akira figured that he must have fairly sturdy nerves to deal with Kaneshiro without breaking down, no one was transported to a different world without questioning it at least a bit. With the briefcase in his hand and an acquiescent, almost long-suffering expression, he looked like he was there on any regular business.
Yes, Akira called bullshit on that indifference.
"Who are you?" Yusuke asked sharply, but Akechi remained unfazed.
"You keep finding ways to surprise me, Kurusu-san," he said. The other exclaimed in shock, but Akechi ignored them and continued, still pleasant as ever and as though they weren't talking in a foreign world that he until today had never even set foot in. "I was simply going to tell you off a second time, since you're so terrible at listening, but this... You seem to have access to resources I didn't account for."
So Akechi had already approached them in the real world. How on earth had they not noticed? They were Phantom Thieves, masters of stealth, now caught unawares by some random high school student-turned-smuggler. Admittedly they were highschoolers as well, but that was irrelevant. They should have been better, or at least paid more attention, and now they were basically reduced to praying that Akechi could be swayed to their side, otherwise they might have a completely different set of troubles to deal with on top of Niijima. They probably had options for stopping him somehow, but they didn't appear entirely moral enough to consider seriously.
“We have absolutely no idea what you're talkin' about,” Ryuji said nonchalantly, only to be ignored back just as nonchalantly.
"And you have to be the girl who was with him," Akechi said, giving Ann a courteous nod before turning to Ryuji and Yusuke. "I'm afraid I have no idea who you two are. The same goes for..." He frowned and squinted at Morgana. "...the cat?"
"I'm not a cat!" Morgana predictably hissed. Akechi flinched.
"Alright, who is this guy?" Ryuji growled.
"I'm Akechi," Akechi helpfully introduced himself, with a dazzling smile that could make celebrities jealous, even as his gaze continued to dart suspiciously in Morgana's direction. The offended not-cat glared back.
"Just Akechi," Akira added cheekily. There was hardly any point in denying it anymore. Akechi wasn't stupid enough to be convinced that he was mistaken. At his level of conviction, he'd have pursued them even if he had been objectively wrong.
Besides, a vague idea resembling a plan was starting to take form...
Akechi chuckled.
"Allow me one more deduction, Kurusu-san. Those are some... very interesting clothes. Why, I'd almost say you look like... phantom thieves?"
“What, you wanna play the detective catchin' them or what? No one's gonna believe you,” Ryuji said gruffly. Even as he seemed genuinely annoyed by Akechi, Akira could tell that he was worried as well, and with good reason. Just because Akechi was a victim in the bigger picture, it didn't mean he couldn't have his own (misguided) agenda. With a snort, Ryuji added: “You're an errand boy for Kaneshiro, right? It's not like a drug smuggler like yourself could just show up at the police station.”
Akechi's amiable exterior faltered just enough to reveal something akin to resentment.
“I'm not wrong, though. Are you trying to change Kaneshiro's heart? Is that why you've been snooping around in places you shouldn't be?”
“Yes,” Akira cut in before anyone else could deny the statement. “Want to come along?”
Morgana ceased his glaring to shot him a questioning look, as did Ann, while Ryuji let out a surprised noise. Yusuke was the only one who didn't seem to question his course of action, though he didn't exactly look keen on the idea.
Akechi was guarded, but also visibly startled by the unexpected offer.
“Why?”
It was a risk. They knew significantly less about Akechi than they had known about Yusuke when he joined them, even though the similarities were there. Akira pondered whether making him an accomplice could somehow buy them his silence (surely Akechi, given his position, was no stranger to omertà), but there was a more practical reason, one that would solve at least one of their other problems.
“We need to go somewhere, and we can't get there on our own,” Akira explained. Beside him, Morgana understood what he was getting at and brightened. He jumped into the air and turned towards Kaneshiro's bank, then back to Akechi with an excited expression.
“Ooh, I see! Yeah, that could work!” Taking a moment to collect himself, he then spoke to Akechi in the same educating tone he reserved for all things Metaverse. “This place runs on cognition. Whatever the ruler thinks of the world becomes true here. That's why everything's all distorted.”
“And what's that got to do with me?”
“This is Kaneshiro's world. We can't reach him, or his hideout, because in his mind he's untouchable. He doesn't even know we're after him. But you, you're probably a customer at his bank-”
“I'm sorry?” Akechi interrupted, and there was a hint of offense in his tone.
“Kaneshiro, as repugnant as it may be, views Shibuya as his personal bank, to be exploited at his leisure” Yusuke explained. “And those who are indebted to him are his customers.”
He indicated the warped version of Central Street that lay before them and all the human ATMs helplessly stumbling around. “Since you're one of them, you should be allowed entrance. After all, he can't profit from you if he locks you out.”
Akechi took in the sight for a moment. Then he laughed, but the sound was harsh, and Akira didn't miss the way he clenched his fist. Despite the way he presented himself he did believe them, presumably because he had enough experience dealing with the real thing to know that they weren't deceiving him. “This is absolutely ridiculous.”
“It's terrible,” Ann said softly.
Akechi ignored her.
“And what are you going to do then? Burn it down?”
“What sorta fucked up idea is that?” Ryuji exclaimed.
“We're going to steal his heart,” Morgana said, eliciting a snort from Akechi. The cat thief must not have realized how cliché, maybe patronizing even, he sounded when he talked to the uninitiated the same way he did to his team. “Inside his world there's a treasure somewhere, a manifestation of his distorted desires – in this case, his ruthless greed that enables him to exploit the people in Shibuya. And if we steal that away, the heart, he'll lose those desires.”
“And then he'll feel guilty about it and turn himself in!” Ann finished. “You know... it would get you out of your situation, too... right?”
This time Akechi didn't ignore her. Instead, he turned around and looked at her with an unreadable expression. There was something about him that made Akira... uncomfortable, but before he had time to reflect on the precise reason, Akechi was smiling warily at them.
“So we will all profit from this, is what you're trying to say.”
“Don't you think so?” Akira asked.
“And what would you have me do?”
It wasn't exactly a 'yes', but it was a good start. Morgana picked up on the implications, and his tail wagged back and forth excitedly .
“Come with with us,” he said. “It may be dangerous, but we'll protect you!”
Akechi thoughtfully put a hand to his chin, and during the next few second lost himself in thought, staring at the air in front of him. The Phantom Thieves waited in silence.
“So what's the plan?” he finally asked. Morgana let out a pleased snicker, and his elation was contagious. Akira could tolerate all their setbacks so far now that something finally worked out for them, and a quick look revealed that his teammates were on the same page. Ann looked overjoyed (“That's great!”), Yusuke hummed approvingly and even Ryuji seemed relieved.
“First, we need to get into the bank,” Morgana said, pointing towards the building in the sky. Despite being in the exact same position as the last time, it was now much less intimidating, much less impenetrable. Akira felt pretty confident about this new approach. “Then, we need to look for the treasure, since we don't know where it is.”
“We also need to avoid any guards,” Ann said. “And Kaneshiro's Shadow. We don't always get a choice, though...”
“Shadow?” Akechi repeated. Ann picked up on his cautious tone, and opened her mouth with a sympathetic gleam in her eye, but Yusuke cut in before she could say anything.
“A representation of Kaneshiro's darker nature, the part he doesn't want others to see,” he explained matter-of-factly.
“It's not the real Kaneshiro,” Ann added. “Kaneshiro in the real world doesn't have a clue what happens inside here.”
If her answer eased his anxiety, or brought any kind of relief, he didn't show. Akira was starting to sense a pattern. But who was he to judge, when his entire Metaverse quirk was centered around his ability to put up the right front at the right time?
Just as they had hoped, the bank did indeed lower itself to the ground as they approached with Akechi following close by. In a hilarious contrast to Morgana's strict directions on how to properly infiltrate back from their first visit to Kamoshida's palace, they ended up walking in through the front door. After all, thieves might sneak in through hidden entrances, but legitimate customers did not. As long as they were ready to defend Akechi the moment the Shadows turned on them they should be fine, or so they reasoned.
It must have worked, because rather than being met with aggression they were directed towards an area designated “staff”, without much explanation. With no other clear goal in sight (and the unspoken threats of violence should they divert from their assigned direction), they followed the instructions and walked further in.
“I didn't expect a band of thieves to go the bureaucratic route. Or through the front door,” Akechi said, sounding amused, and Ann shrugged nervously.
“It's a bit odd, isn't it?”
“We haven't been recognized as threats yet, and we should make sure to gather as much intel as we can before they realize why we're here,” Morgana explained.
“So what's up the outfits, anyway?” Akechi continued. “You definitely don't sneak off to a phone booth, because it happened instantly. Is that Kaneshiro's mind, too?” He let out a giggle that almost sounded out of character. “Does he know who you are? Is that his idea of bank robbers or what?”
“Are you makin' fun of us?” Ryuji snapped defensively.
“It looks fun,” Akechi offered, and it was impossible to tell whether he was being low key sarcastic or genuine. “Do you break into vaults and all that stuff too? That's what phantom thieves do, isn't it?”
“It's not Kaneshiro,” Morgana said. His ears twitched, and Akira, who had spent plenty of time with him already, could tell that he wasn't entertained by Akechi's jokes like Ann was. Or maybe Ann was the problem, so to speak, because she didn't seem to mind Akechi's company at all, something that hadn't escaped the jealous cat's attention. “It's our inner images of a rebel. A will to rebel is what it takes to become a Phantom Thief in the first place, and our outfits reflect that!”
“A rebel, huh...”
Their discussion came to an end when they found the room they were searching for, and after some consultation they cautiously entered.
Not entirely unexpectedly, things went poorly.
Akira wasn't exactly sure what he had expected from Kaneshiro, since he had never met him in person. But after how intimidating and threatening Akechi and the general rumors had built him up as, his short, stout stature, topped with a pathetic mop of hair was a little anticlimactic. The alarmingly violent skin (hopefully exclusive to his Shadow) didn't help his case. He reminded himself that Kaneshiro wasn't feared for his physical strength, and he did notice how Akechi balked at the sight. He didn't look afraid per se, but Kaneshiro's appearance was enough to make him visibly uncomfortable.
Kaneshiro's disinterested look slowly transformed into a amused sneer.
“Huh? Akechi? I wasn't expecting someone like you here. And in such company, at that.” He leaned forward, his eyes gleaming dangerously as he met Akechi's gaze. “So what's your business today? Think very carefully before answering.”
“They asked for an appointment with you,” Akechi said. His former hesitation was gone, but Akira nevertheless stepped forward so that he stood closer to his side, as a signal to him and Kaneshiro both.
The gangster laughed loudly, taking his time, but stopped abruptly and was suddenly shouting.
“Are you an idiot!? Leading a band of thieves into my bank? What, do you want me to be robbed!?”
“I had no doubts that someone like you would have no problem subduing them if nec-”
A loud slap cut Akechi's explanations short. Ann shouted his name. One of Kaneshiro's Shadow guards had stepped forward and, before any of the Thieves could stop him, backhanded Akechi with enough force that he staggered backwards and landed on the floor. He quickly scrambled back to his feet, refusing to acknowledge the red spot that was starting to form on the right side of his face.
“Know your place,” Kaneshiro snarled. “I think you know exactly what will happen if you make me your enemy. There's no place for someone like you in society-”
Any chance of getting out peacefully was already gone. Akira decided that the impending monologue was a great opportunity to take their enemy by surprise. Ryuji, Yusuke and Morgana quickly joined in. While they fought off the hostile Shadows, Ann took Akechi's hand and remained protectively by his side away from the fight, incinerating all who dared step too close.
They soon realized that fighting inside the office was a terrible idea: the bank was Kaneshiro's territory, and as long as he was aware of their presence and position, nothing stopped him from summoning endless amounts of security and backup to fight them. Retreating was their only viable option.
”Great plan,” Akechi deadpannned as they ran. This time, the sarcasm was very much intended.
”You can snark when we're outta here!” Ryuji snapped back.
They ran until they were back at the entrance, where the doors had been closed since their arrival, and the Shadows giving chase had grown exponentially and were capable of surrounding them with ease. They hadn't succeeded in outrunning them completely, which meant that the amount of guards they had to fight kept growing as they caught up with them.
“Come on, Akechi,” Kaneshiro said in a sing-song voice, clearly enjoying the sight of their predicament. “Give 'em to me. You'll be in less trouble, I swear! We'll need to adjust your terms, however...”
Akira really hoped that the way Akechi's gaze flitted between the two groups wasn't an indication of an impending sellout. It wouldn't change anything, they were horribly outnumbered either way, but this relationship had started off bad enough as it was.
“Maybe I should. They were all useless to me in the end,” Akechi contemplated with treacherous indifference.
The others clamored in protest, Morgana and Ryuji the loudest. Akechi barely seemed to hear it, though, his eyes firmly on the ground in front of him. “It's all useless. No matter what I do, nothing ever...”
His words petered out into nothing, but Akira's third eye showed him his true nature. Anger and resignation, so tightly entwined you could hardly separate the two. No, Akechi wasn't going to sell them out, and that wasn't a good thing. Despair was blinding him, but the anger could still redeem him. It called out to Akira, resonating deeply within the chains on his heart, and he knew what had to happen. Convincing Akechi they weren't useless meant nothing if he thought he was.
“So you'll let them do whatever they want to you?” he hissed beneath his breath. “Why should you be content with that?”
He looked to Akechi's still hesitant gaze for some kind of indication that his words had been received, but at most, the boy seemed mildly confused.
Then he chuckled, and said, simply: ”No.”
”What was that?” the Shadow inquired, affronted.
He ignored him, and took a step forward so that he was standing next to Akira.
“I'm afraid I don't have much confidence in your abilities,” he bluntly told him. “But I intend to get out of here alive. Allow me to assist.”
Before anyone had registered what happened, Akechi's hand shot out and grabbed the model gun hanging at Joker's side, and aimed it without hesitation at the Shadow before pulling the trigger once, twice, thrice. Akira lost count after that; even though he had been using that gun for months already, Akechi's way of handling it seemed more fluid, more efficient than anything he could replicate. The Shadow was caught in the hail of bullets, while his guards looked on in confusion, unsure of what to do.
“Don't just stand there!” He lowered the weapon, and there was a determination in his eyes that hadn't been there before. “He's not-”
With a moan, Akechi doubled over and stumbled to his knees, the gun falling aside with a clattering sound. Though he initially managed to catch himself he eventually had to give in, and he pressed his forehead hard against the floor as he writhed in agony. Somebody else might have mistaken it for an act of supplication or begging, but it only took a moment for Akira (and the rest) to recognize it for what it was, and though the timing was a little unfortunate, they made sure that no Shadow was able to come close enough to interrupt the awakening.
Did Akechi's Persona speak to him like Arsène had? Certainly, but Akira could only imagine the actual words. Akechi finally stood up and ripped off a bright red mask, as red as the blood that trailed down his cheeks and framed his smirk in crimson. The mask in his hand caught fire, as did the very air around him before adorning him in blinding white and gold and red. There was no denying that he looked very different from the rest of them: where they were dark, suited to a life outside the law, Akechi was bright and uniformed, lavishly decorated all the way up to the golden epaulets that trembled with his every movement.
Then, in a massive contrast to his own dignified appearance, a slim, demon-like creature rose up behind him, covered in black and white stripes that made it difficult to get an idea of his true shape. Akira could make out golden hooves, two horns and falling braids, as well an enormous sword, glowing hot and almost as long as the Persona himself.
“Arise! Loki!”
The Persona brought down the massive sword on their enemies, smashing the Shadows' formation and forcing disarray into their ranks. Then Akechi went for Kaneshiro, and by the looks of it he was doing well enough. Akira recalled that both Ryuji and Yusuke (and presumably himself and Ann as well, though he had been unable to see at the time) had worn a unusually confident expressions at the moment of their awakening, but Akechi took that expression and turned it up to eleven. He looked almost unhinged in his eagerness, and his wide sneer would occasionally be break into disoriented laughter while he ordered the Persona to attack. The prudent fear he had displayed before had burned with the flames.
But Akechi was acting rashly, and Akira feared that if he didn't start to pay attention instead of striking out madly they might just end up overwhelmed again, despite everyone's best efforts. Akechi wasn't fighting as much as he was rampaging.
“Now, everyone!”
Morgana threw open his doors, having used the commotion to turn into his bus form. It seemed they were going to breach the closed front doors by force. Akira called out for Akechi, and if he was surprised by yet another of the quirks of the Metaverse, he quickly adapted. He turned around, leaving his back exposed in his single-mindedness, and had Loki assault the sturdy doors with his sword. The wood groaned loudly and splintered, though it didn't give way completely. Akira practically had to haul their newest teammate into the vehicle so they could make their escape.
Ann had already taken the driver's seat. She didn't need a licence to press the gas, and they sped out of the bank, bringing down what remained of the doors with them. They drove until they reached the edge, after which they were unceremoniously flung out into the real world, and they landed on the pavement in an unorganized heap all over one another.
Akechi hissed at the impact, then went quiet. With an astonished look on his face, he blinked a few times – and burst out into quiet laughter again. His expression now was barely a cheap imitation of the unfettered self that had been exposed in the Palace, and Akira couldn't help but think that his appearance must be deceiving to anyone who hadn't seen what had come before. In the light of his newly released longing for freedom Akechi had burned, and to the apathetic universe around them there must be little difference between the docile flames of a fireplace and those of the raging wildfire that would consume the entire house should it come in its way.
“Well, that was interesting,” Akechi said, smiling contentedly.