Chapter Text
“Don’t you think Mishima’s been acting a little, um… Strange? Not to sound rude or anything, but…” Ann hesitantly broke the thick silence that had filled the attic of LeBlanc, unsure if it was right of her to say something like that about the Phantom Thieves greatest supporter. Thankfully, there were no scoldings at her mention of his behavior- Just a resounding sigh of relief from most of the other members. Seems they were all thinking the same thing.
“Man, I was just thinkin’ the same thing!” Ryuji huffed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. “He’s been a total weirdo lately. Like, I get he’s probably upset about the whole Okumura incident, but jeez… Somethin’ about him just rubs me the wrong way. Especially with some of the requests he’s been sendin’ to us.”
Akira silently nodded in agreement, his usual calm expression still present on his face, although deep down he was quite troubled by the whole situation. After all, out of all the Phantom Thieves, he was the one closest to Mishima, so of course he’d noticed his odd behavior in the past few weeks. He always looked so worn down, with dark bags under his eyes, his hair never combed, and he was constantly either working on or talking about the Phansite. It was like his phone was glued to his hand, he never set it down, even when he was supposed to be eating lunch- It was clearly taking a toll on his health. And, as time passed, it was becoming more and more obvious he was trying to further his own desires through the Mementos requests, rather than just trying to help people… It was starting to become a serious issue.
“Should we try and find his shadow?” Makoto suggested. “If his desires really have become corrupted, then we should put a stop to it before it gets too out of hand. We don’t want to have to deal with another Palace, especially so soon after Okumura…”
The rest of the group solemnly nodded in agreement, before looking to their leader for approval. Akira was hesitant to go and confront his friends shadow, in all honesty, he wanted to believe that Mishima wasn’t corrupt, but Makoto was right. If he did have a shadow, it would be irresponsible to just ignore it and let another palace appear. “Alright. Let’s go.” He opened the MetaNav with a sigh, before they entered Mementos.
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“God, where the hell is he?” Ryuji groaned. It had been at least 2 hours of searching for Mishima’s shadow, but it seemed it was in vain. “He’s gotta be around here somewhere, right? There’s like, no way he doesn’t have a shadow lurkin’ around, not with the way he’s been acting.” With a frustrated sigh he kicked his feet up on the dashboard, his arms tightly crossed over his chest. “You really can’t sense him anywhere, Morgana?”
“Hey, don’t get snappy with me!” Morgana retorted. “I’m doing my best here, and I seriously can’t detect him anywhere in Mementos. He might have a shadow, but I’m telling you, it’s not here.”
“Ugh, this sucks.” Ann was tired of this as well, examining her nails in boredom. She really just wanted to go home already… A moment later however, her irritated look evaporated as what Morgana had just said truly set in, and the van descended into silence.
“Is it possible we’re too late already? If he’s not in Mementos, then…” Haru was reluctant to bring up the possibility, biting her lip nervously at the thought. “I apologize if it was out of line to ask that, I truly don’t know him very well…”
“No, it’s fine, I think we were all thinking the same thing.” Ann reassured, smiling at the newest addition to their team. “I don’t think it would hurt to check, just in case. That would be better than driving aimlessly around here for another hour.”
Akira stopped the van, pulling up his phone and once again opening up the MetaNav app, typing in ‘Yuuki Mishima’ before pausing. What was he supposed to put down for the location and keyword? “Any ideas?” He asked, voice still calm despite how troubled he was.
“How about the Phansite? Since that’s all he ever talks about, according to you guys.” Futaba suggested with a quiet snicker, before getting more serious. “Plus, isn’t that like the most important thing to him? He seems pretty into it, yeah?”
‘Yuuki Mishima - Phansite - ____’
Akira thought for a moment, before typing in the next keyword. He knew Mishima best, so if anyone would have an accurate guess at this, it would be him. The Phansite was the only place he could hide from the pain of the real world, the only place he had any control, any power.
‘Yuuki Mishima - Phansite - Sanctuary’
For the first time in a long while, he felt anxiety form a knot in his stomach. He really hoped they were wrong about Mishima, that he was just… Too far away in Mementos to detect. Palaces were only for the truly corrupt, or so he’d thought, and he still thought Mishima was a good person deep down. His stomach sank when he saw that there was a palace that matched that description, a deep frown creasing his face.
“... We’ve done enough searching for today. We’ll investigate this tomorrow.” Akira stated, his usual unfazed tone laced with disbelief, before turning off his phone. “Let’s get out of here.” This was going to be… Difficult, to say the least.
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Akira’s phone buzzed just as he was falling asleep, waking him with a start. His heart sank in his chest once more when he saw it was Mishima, almost not wanting to read it- But it would be even more irresponsible of him not to read it.
Yuuki: Hey, I’ve got some new targets that you might be interested in!
Yuuki: It might be better to talk about it in person, if you’re free tomorrow.
You: i’ll see if I have any plans tomorrow
You: … it’s late though, you should get to sleep
Yuuki: Oh, sorry if I woke you up…
Yuuki: I was just working on the Phansite, so I didn’t realize how late it was.
Yuuki: Well, I’ll just text you tomorrow if you can’t meet up. ‘Night!
You: yeah, ‘night.
Mishima cursed under his breath as he set down his phone, turning back to his computer screen. He worked his ass off for him every single day, even when everyone else was turning on the Phantom Thieves, and he still couldn’t take some time out of his day to just talk to him? Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered with this… Not that he didn’t consider Akira his friend- He was one of his only friends, not to mention Akira saved him- It was just frustrating feeling so unappreciated all the time. Was being thanked for his hard work too much to ask? Maybe he shouldn’t expect too much, after all, he was a nobody. Of course they wouldn’t remember to thank him.
He bit the inside of his cheek as he continued to tap away at his keyboard, scrolling through the Phansite comments. These fair-weather fans, doubting the Phantom Thieves… He wouldn’t allow them to say such things on his website, a sanctuary for himself and others who truly believed in them. Comments like that, condemning or distrusting the Phantom Thieves, only spread the idea that they were somehow unjust, that they were criminals and terrorists- His future, his fame depended on the Phantom Thieves, so he wouldn’t tolerate such ideology.
He would be nothing without the Phantom Thieves, and the Phantom Thieves wouldn’t be as big as they were now without him… He felt like he was the only one who fully realized that as he started to drift off at his keyboard.
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Akira made his way to school in a daze, grey eyes unfocused as he quietly waited for his stop on the train. He still couldn’t believe it, in all honesty… Was this his fault? If he had noticed sooner, if he’d brought it up to his friends earlier, then maybe… He shook his head, trying to get those thoughts out of his head. He should focus on how to fix this rather than blaming himself. After all, there was no way to change the past.
He scanned the room for Mishima as soon as he entered, however it seemed that he was running late again. No surprise there, but it was still concerning. He probably stayed up late working on the Phansite again, given that he mentioned that while texting him last night. He sat down at his desk, all while watching the door for his friend- And alas, he finally came stumbling in, and in all honesty he looked like hell. It was obvious he hadn’t gotten a good night's sleep for a long while now, and this morning was no exception. He furrowed his brows slightly at the way he slumped down at his desk as soon as he sat down, head resting on his arm, before he immediately whipped out his phone.
“Hey, Mishima.” He addressed him as he made his way over to his desk, lightly tapping him on the shoulder. The boy jerked up at the sudden touch, yelping a bit in surprise before realizing it was only Akira.
“A-ah! Oh, hey Kurusu… Did you need something? I don’t think I have enough time to tell you about, uh… The requests right now, so…” He nervously fumbled for words, rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed by how startled he’d been a moment ago.
“No, it’s not that. I just noticed you seem pretty worn out lately.” It was hard to act normally around him now that he knew about his palace, but luckily Akira was a master at keeping his cool. Still, he had never been great at voicing his concerns for his friends. “Maybe you should take a break from the Phansite.”
Mishima’s eyes widened at that, before he quickly shook his head. “No, no, I’m fine, really! It’s more important now than ever to be active on there, with what happened to Okumura and all… Anyways, you don’t need to worry about me.” He tried to give a reassuring smile, however it was clear something was weighing on him.
Akira frowned a bit, but it was clear to him Mishima wasn’t budging, and class was going to start soon. “If you say so. Seriously though, try to get some rest.” He made his way back to his desk, although knowing what he had to do after school today made it difficult to concentrate on the lesson. What dark secrets would Mishima’s palace reveal about him? He wondered…
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“Is everyone ready?” Yusuke asked, earning a nod from the rest of the Thieves, who had once again grouped up in the attic of LeBlanc after school.
“Alright.” Akira wasn’t looking forward to this in the slightest, but he knew it had to be done, so he pulled out the MetaNav regardless of if he wanted to or not.
‘Yuuki Mishima - Phansite - Sanctuary’
ENTER.
The first thing Akira was greeted by upon entering was a blinding flash of light, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut. Squinting through his mask, he opened his eyes again, now realizing that the flash of light was from a camera. In fact, there were camera flashes everywhere, seeing as they were completely surrounded by a paparazzi, all cheering and raving about someone, pretty much completely ignoring the presence of the Phantom Thieves.
“He’s so amazing, isn’t he?” “He saved me!” “We love you!” “Can I have your autograph?!” “They couldn’t do it without him!” The faceless shadows never seemed to stop chattering, almost every word that came out of their mouth some sort of praise. Furrowing his brows, Akira pushed through the crowd, his teammates following him closely behind as to not get lost in the sea of shadows, until he was finally able to get a good view of what the crowd was cheering about- And he stopped in his tracks.
“What the hell…?” Ryuji muttered, but the leader was stunned into silence at the sight.
Yuuki Mishima, dressed to the nines in clothes that looked like they’d come right off of a runway, golden eyes glowing as he basked in all the attention he was getting, grinning at all his fans. And at his side, smiling gently and whispering praises into his ear, was… Akira Kurusu himself.