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XXI - The World
The real Igor wheezes and chuckles in glee as Kurusu Akira tells his entire story, and can only wipe the tears of mirth from his eyes.
"My, my... what a wonderful guest you have been!"
Lavenza mirrors his smile, and nods in agreement. "Indeed, Master."
Akira chuckles himself. "I try."
"It is time for us to leave, but... know that you will be remembered, young man. It is not always that we meet someone as interesting as you."
"What Master Igor means to say is... thank you."
"... Anytime."
XX - Judgement
The business card is innocuous... plain, even. It's a tad worn, yet lovingly preserved, and Sae knows in the depths of her heart that it is not fake; even if it shows a dream that she decided was impossible.
The tortured, yet still stalwart young man in front of her keeps holding it out to her, and gives her a smile that she doesn't know how to interpret. "I trust you, Niijima-san. I know you've always wanted to do the right thing."
And Niijima Sae, once drowning in a sea of hopelessness and injustice within her own heart, rises up and tastes freedom for the first time in years.
XIX - The Sun
This speech was a success, much to his wonder.
Opposition is easy to persevere against... indifference isn't.
And yet, Yoshida Toranosuke finds himself filled with a blazing, unstoppable kind of purpose as he finishes his address to the people at Shibuya's Station Square, and people cheer and talk to him and ask him for opinions and help and--
"Yoshida-san, could you please sign this petition for us?"
"Happy to help, of course... oh, did I-- Kurusu-kun, do you have a pen?"
"Sure thing, Yoshida-sensei. Let me just... here you go!"
He takes it and signs his name with a practiced hand... then sees what he's holding, and remembers a few things.
One look at his aide's gentle, knowing look tells him a wealth of things that he may or may not have been meant to know, but...
He hadn't grown throughout the past years by not knowing when to leave things in more capable hands.
XVIII - The Moon
"There's no need for us to change your heart, Mishima. At all."
The Shadow looks like it will cry from its confusion.
Akira takes out a small stack of papers, and gives it to the Shadow. "You have that power yourself."
When they come back to the real world, Akira sees Yuuki look at him with an unreadable expression... then he hugs him, and whispers as many 'thank you's as he wrote.
XVII - The Star
"... it seems your journey is at an end. Prepare yourself!"
Akira considers his move, and concedes with a chuckle. "I got close that time, Togo-san."
"Indeed you have. I am... truly glad to see another so passionate about shōgi."
"I am glad as well."
Hifumi considers Akira for a moment, then asks the question that has burned in her mind for days now. "Where did you acquire your passion? Your moves... they are filled with a purpose that is only born from devotion."
He smiles, and it is a wonderful sight. "A dear friend taught me... she always compared me to the lance, you know? I never know when to quit," he says, taking out a small piece from his pocket. "She gave this lance to me as a parting gift."
She giggles. "That's a very apt comparison. May I see it?"
His smile turns mysterious, and he hands it over.
Perhaps it is the notch on the right side of the piece... or perhaps it is the chip in the ink of the second kanji... or maybe it is the piece itself, and how it feels in her hand.
But Hifumi turns back to him, and hands the piece back. "Thank you... Akira."
"You as well, Hifumi. You as well."
XVI - The Tower
Shinya tries to be tough, he really does!
But... it's hard when he just got within a hair's breadth of losing to the guy who asked him for lessons.
"Are you trying to trick me?! You're already good!"
He has the nerve to shrug as if it's not a big deal. "Learning never stops. Just because I'm good doesn't mean there's not someone better. I can't grow if I think growth is impossible."
That hits something deep within Shinya, something he can't name right now.
Akira-san brings up his worn, well-used controller up again, and Shinya decides he can't lose to him; whether it's in Gun About, or becoming a better person.
XV - The Devil
Ohya Ichiko is a creature of habit.
Whether she has a drink or pen in hand, she knows how she likes things done, and does them as such.
The kid who's acting as her informant on the Phantom Thieves is something else though; because when she hands him her notes to see if the article is to his liking, he merely nods and hums instead of asking her to please read her handwriting and shorthand for him.
"I like it."
"Kid... you gotta be the first person I've met that could read my handwriting without my help."
"I've... had practice."
And isn't that a juicy morsel of a statement? But she has a job to do, and tries to ignore the fervent passion that tells her there's more than just another story behind his words.
Much, much later... she will remember his words (and more besides), and laugh her head off as she calls him a weirdness magnet.
XIV - Temperance
"Kawakami-sensei? I'm done."
She sighs, tapping her pen over a stack of papers. "Thank you, Kurusu-kun... you don't know how much it helps."
He evens out the sorted stack of graded essays he's holding, and places them in their class' stack. "It's just sorting..."
"Sorting that would take me another couple of hours at least, so don't you undermine yourself," she says, then stretches slightly. "Oh, I'm so going to enjoy the nap before work... go on home before the school gates close."
Akira frowns, knowing the reason behind her exhaustion. "Well... I know you said you won't accept me gifting you money--"
"And I stand by that. I'm the adult here, for goodness' sake!"
"... but I do have something that might help."
She looks at him curiously, and sees him holding out a coupon. "What's that?"
He smiles knowingly. "A gift from a friend."
She takes it, reads it, and among the torrent that is unleashed she still has the presence of mind to throw the coupon back at his smug face.
XIII - Death
"Well, guinea pig... I guess it was all for nothing, hm?"
She can barely recognize her own voice with the sheer amount of defeat in it, but she can't muster the will for anything else.
He doesn't answer, and she turns to see him look at her with that same steely resolve he had when he came in for the first time and lied his ass off about having a bad heart.
"Takemi-san... there's no need to give up."
He says it with so much conviction that she almost--almost--believes him. But no, Miwa-chan is--
Tae stifles a sob.
She hears a small rattle of metal, and he presses something cold and metallic into her hand.
"There is no need to give up," he whispers insistently.
The small thing in her hand is an unassuming chain with a set of dog tags, and engraved upon it is Takemi Tae's willpower and pride made manifest.
She wants to laugh herself silly at everything, but not before thanking the world's best guinea pig.
XII - The Hanged Man
"Kid... you sound like you have a lot on your mind."
Akira grins. "You know me so well, Iwai-san. Your fatherly instincts at it again?"
He snorts. "Shut up. I take care of my employees, kid, I have a right to be worried."
"I'm your only employee."
"And? Your point?"
"... It's just... I've been thinking a lot about what I'm accomplishing with my life right now. I don't regret anything I've done, but I keep wondering where it all leads."
"Oh, boy... listen, kid. That's a question that I've had for most of my life. Trust me when I say that, if you let yourself get bogged down by it, you'll miss the best years of your life trying to answer something that may not be answerable... at least, not right now."
The kid pauses for a few moments, then gives him a thankful smile. "I've never heard it put quite like that... thank you, Iwai-san."
"Tch... " he says, pulling his cap over his eyes in embarrassment. "Just tryin' to be responsible for a change."
"... Thank you. I think I'm going to see if my friends are available tonight."
"You do that, kid. You do that..."
As Akira hefts his bag up onto his shoulder, a shiny gecko-shaped pin catches Munehisa's eye.
The light reflecting off of it contains too much inside to handle, and it leaves him staring at the shop's door for the entire evening.
When he gets home, he asks Kaoru if he would like to talk.
XI - Strength
"I sentence you to be executed."
Caroline and Justine are stricken, worried, and horrified all at once, yet they don't know why.
They hesitate, and hesitate, and turn to the inmate.
He says nothing. Merely watches, calm as can be.
It annoys Caroline something fierce.
"You hear that, inmate?! I guess a failure was expected of someone like you!"
"It seems so... Caroline, open the door."
It is only then that the inmate reacts. He brings his chained hands up to his neck, and pulls out a necklace out of his uniform.
... and takes the key on it and opens his cell himself.
He walks out, his uniform and chains disappearing in a fiery blaze and replaced with a long coat and fierce mask, and just like that...
Lavenza knows what she must do.
X - Wheel of Fortune
Chihaya feels like the cards are mocking her. For the past few days all she's been getting are the reversed Fortune, reversed Death, and the Tower, and it's making her want to flip her table.
Just what is going on here?!
She's about to actually flip her table in frustration, but then Akira appears and sits on the chair opposite her.
"Oh! Hello again!"
He nods. "Hello Chihaya. How are the cards?"
"Making me want to scream, actually. They've been showing me the same thing over and over again, and it's driving me nuts!" she yells, then catches herself as a few passers-by look at her curiously. "A fresh start? A seemingly endless ordeal? A massive change? I don't know what to think..."
Akira looks away in discomfort, and it's all Chihaya needs to realize that he knows something.
On a whim, she does another reading, and tries not to scream as a card flies out of Akira's bag and lands on her table.
The Tower is there... again. But Death is upright now, and the card from the bag falls on top of the reversed Fortune to reveal--
... the same Fortune, upright.
It is the moment of clarity Chihaya has wished for, and the knowledge makes her want to cry; cry for Akira, for herself, for all of them who have pursued this goal to its end.
"I'm so, so sorry for everything you've been through."
He smiles, tired but resolute, and slides the Fortune card towards her. "I know."
A silence falls, and he looks at the table again, and seemingly tries not to cry. "Death was never upright before..."
A moment passes, and then they share a conspiratorial grin.
IX - The Hermit
Futaba wakes, and feels better than she has in years.
It takes a moment to get her bearings, and when she does, she remembers what happened and screams into her pillow because holy shit. She really went inside her own head and helped steal her own heart, huh?
Holy shit.
She groans as she gets up, glancing around the unnaturally clean room, and suddenly spots a piece of paper on her keyboard that she's sure wasn't there before. One look at what's written on it has her dashing out of the house towards Leblanc, tears trailing behind her as she runs.
She has a family she needs to hug.
VIII - Justice
If there is anything to be said about Akechi Goro, let it be this: he never would've made a different choice.
Akira is glad that's one of the things they differ in.
VII - The Chariot
"And... time!" Ryuji wheezes out, finally stopping and out of breath, supporting himself on his knees. His bad leg is yelling at him, but not as much as it usually does.
... or maybe that's just the adrenaline.
"You've lasted even longer this time! Congrats!" Akira says with a smile that makes Ryuji feel so fucking proud of himself.
"Hell YEAH!" he shouts. "Take that, leg!"
Akira starts fiddling with his sports watch to reset its timer again, and Ryuji can't help but feel the same sense of... something every time that watch comes up. This time, he feels so full of accomplishment that he forgets to be nervous about prying. "So, bro... you never told me where you got that watch, yeah? It's really great and I've been thinking of getting one too!"
He smiles that ridiculously charming mysterious smile that comes up every time he's secretly being a dramatic asshole but only he knows why. Ryuji feels like just rolling his eyes and dropping the subject, but then Akira takes it off and holds it out to him.
"Here... see for yourself."
Ryuji is confused, and takes it. The contour of it is so... ugh, he hates that feeling where a word is just on the tip of his tongue.
It's then that he flips the watch over and sees an inscription on the back, and he has to fight the urge to burst into helpless tears.
"You're-- you're so fucking weird, man... why does all this bullshit keep happening to you?!" he chokes out, before hugging Akira as if Akira's about to disappear any moment.
Akira hugs him back just as tightly, and thinks about how desperately he missed this.
VI - The Lovers
It's the day after Shiho leaves that Ann comes to Leblanc and asks for a coffee and an ear to listen.
Akira, dramatic as he always is, attaches a tiny piece of paper to her cup with an ear drawn on it. Ann laughs despite herself, before she sobers up again.
"Akira... be honest with me. Do you really think I have what it takes?"
He tilts his head curiously. "Why the sudden doubt?"
"... why not the sudden doubt would be more appropriate. I keep thinking back to Mika's words and-- everything she said was true! I don't work hard, I just... I coast on by sheer luck and natural talent instead of putting any effort into it, and--"
She stops when she sees the look on his face, and it's a familiar enough pain written there that she stops.
"Ann... I'm going to show you something, but you have to promise me one thing."
"What is it?" she asks quietly.
Then, he grins. "You have to not steal my glasses and tell Mona to hide them up on the roof."
She blinks and takes in the bizarre request, then nods. "I... alright? That's very specific and I will be asking questions later, but alright."
He nods, and goes upstairs and shuffles around what sounds like his box of possessions; eventually she hears a quiet 'aha!' and he comes back down with some kind of magazine in his hand.
"I don't believe you can, Ann... I know you can," he says as he hands it to her.
Ann looks, and looks, and looks, and damn him she really wants to have Mona hide his glasses on the roof again.
She settles for stealing them and throwing them into the curry pot while she hugs the living daylights out of him.
V - The Hierophant
"Hmm... let's see."
Sojiro takes one bite of the curry Akira made, and it sends him reeling.
It's perfect.
"It's... good, I'll give you that."
He gives Sojiro that ridiculous grin that means he knows it's far more than good, and Sojiro sighs at how transparent he's gotten these days.
"Alright, alright, it's more than good, kid," he concedes with a reluctant smile. "Here I was, thinking you'd never made curry in your life..."
"Haha... I might have had a bit of practice."
Those words stay with Sojiro for a long time, for some reason.
It's not until late November, when Akira shows up at the cafe, being supported by that prosecutor all bloodied and bruised and drugged out of his mind, that Sojiro gets a truly clear picture as to how much danger his son ward has been putting himself in.
It's as Sojiro settles him into bed that a piece of paper falls out of Akira's probation diary; crinkled, worn, yet well-preserved. It's written in a familiar hand, talking about the perfect curry and coffee.
He looks at it long enough for Morgana to catch him crying.
IV - The Emperor
"And so... I ask you to take a trip with me to Mementos. I must see the human heart first-hand if I am to understand it."
Akira nods, humming to himself. "I have a better idea, Yusuke. Would you allow me to show you something?"
Yusuke agrees, intrigued, and thus they find themselves back in Leblanc and Akira's room upstairs.
"What is this... means of enlightenment you spoke of, Akira? I can't help but wonder..."
Akira looks up from where he's sorting through his box of possessions. "Perhaps it won't be the same for you, Yusuke, but I-- this painting is one of my most cherished gifts. It is something that helped me come to terms with a lot of things, and I believe you will admire it too."
The moment Akira unveils the canvas in his hands, Yusuke has to stop himself from collapsing.
A wonder is before him, and his eyes feel like a truth is being burned into them that he cannot--will not--avert his gaze from. He breathlessly approaches, his hand outstretched as if in rapture, reaching out to get but a glimpse of the nirvana radiating from this canvas--
And then, he sees a brush stroke that is just so, and another... and another, and sees it for what it is.
Kitagawa Yusuke has not cried often in his life. As he stands in a dusty attic hugging Akira as if his life depends on it, he thinks about how grief and rage and betrayal opened his eyes to their truth once. And now... it is love and compassion and companionship that show their own truth.
And together? Together they give him understanding beyond his wildest dreams.
III - The Empress
"Phew... that's that for this batch, Aki-chan," Haru says, getting up with a stretch. "This was a lovely harvest!"
He nods happily. "Very lovely indeed. They look so fresh that I think Sakura-san will actually use them for his curry."
Haru giggles. "I sure hope so!" she says, then pats around her pockets. "Oh, where did I put my handkerchief..."
"Here you go."
The lovely dyed handkerchief he's offering her is really pretty and she's really thankful... and yet, Haru hesitates for some reason. She shakes off the strange feeling and takes it with a thankful smile, relieved to wipe some sweat off.
Minutes later, the handkerchief welcomes Haru's tears instead.
II - The High Priestess
"Expenses, expenses, more expenses... just how much money do we currently have in our budget?"
"Um..." Akira hums, thinking aloud. "One, two, four... five... about two and a half million yen."
Makoto blinks in astonishment. "Two-- what? Where did you get all that?!"
He leans in and whispers conspiratorially. "Remember the Takase couple? How they were blackmailing Kawakami-sensei? Turned out their shadows were absolutely loaded and all it took was some good old confusion to shake them down for a couple of million!"
"Well... that is-- that is quite fortunate, then," Makoto says, still a bit dazed from the figure. "Have you counted it exactly? We need our budget planned, you know."
"I, uh... no, I haven't," he says sheepishly. "I just stash it all in the box upstairs until it's needed."
"Let's go and take care of that right now."
They go upstairs and drag the heavy box over to the sofa, where they open it and start sorting the messy piles of money.
"Let me grab a calculator, just a moment..." he says, going to root around his bag.
Makoto looks at him in bemusement. "Doesn't every phone have one by default?"
"I mean... yeah, but I like this one a lot more. It's very dear to me."
He retrieves a-- a Buchi-kun calculator?! Makoto has to stop herself from squealing. "You... you like Buchi-kun, Akira?"
His smile is knowing, somehow, and he holds it out to her. "Like I said... it's dear to me."
Makoto takes it and silently fawns over it, and tries to see whose is better-preserved.
... it takes only a moment for Akira to start crying after Makoto does, and they hold each other for what feels like hours.
I - The Magician
Morgana can feel himself disappearing.
It's fitting, in a sense; hope is an ever-present thing, but never tangible or visible. He's going back to his roots.
The Thieves... they look heartbroken.
It takes a moment for Morgana to realize that he is too.
It's Joker-- no, Akira, who steps forward, tears running down his cheeks. He tugs the collar of his coat down to reveal a scarf around his neck; a scarf that...
Oh.
"We'll be waiting for you," he says softly; reassuringly even.
Thus, they're gone, and just like that... Morgana is back to how he was, trying to dodge people on the street.
... He lets out a supremely annoyed meow and vows to sit on that dramatic idiot's face when he comes back, no matter how much he loves him.
The Fool
The final parting gift Akira gives to Yaldabaoth, as Satanael holds him at gigantic gunpoint, is knowledge.
Knowledge that he has not, had not, and will not ever win.
The boiling pit of despair Yaldabaoth feels is too unrestrained, wild, and desperate for even a self-proclaimed god of control to rein in, and it is the first thing that makes him crack.
The second is the Sinful Shell piercing his head.