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The Phantom Thieves decided to meet up today to go to Sae’s Palace. They wanted to discuss on how to tackle the place effectively and debating if it was better to have one team and proceed cautiously or split up to complete the area faster. They haven’t gotten deep into the Palace yet, but it seems that there are a few Shadows that could absorb or repel certain elements, making it more of a hassle to deal with.
Since they have two navigators, they could split up, however the question is now who should be grouped up together? Joker was able to summon all of the elements, but everyone else is limited to one (well Akechi is a special case being able to use two elements). They do have a few items that can mimic spells but they had a limited amount of them.
There seems to be more cons against splitting up the team, but they have already spent one whole day gambling to get enough chips to proceed to the next level. If there were going to be more unexpected circumstances that will try to delay them from progressing, then it was a better choice to split up the team. They have already spent an hour going through which idea was better and Ryuji just couldn’t take it any longer.
“Isn’t it better if we did this in the Palace? Sitting here and talking it out won’t do much.” Ryuji complained, interrupting Akechi in the middle of his monologue. He was aching for a fight. Knowing that they had a deadline before the SUI would try to capture them made him feel anxious and unable to stay still. All of their talking and chattering endlessly on how to progress really didn’t help calm him down.
The best thing is to take action and go from there! That’s his key motto!
“You need to be patient Sakamoto-kun. We could potentially be making a severe mistake if we were to rush the planning process and encounter a Shadow that’s too powerful for us to handle. That’s why we’re having this meeting beforehand.” Akechi said with his irritating voice. If this was Makoto saying this, Ryuji would’ve accepted it and backed down with no complaints, but it’s the new guy. You know! The guy who was against the Phantom Thieves from the beginning and was suddenly on their side when Okumura died. Ryuji was annoyed that it took someone to die to him to open his eyes and this guy was trying to explain the reason for the meeting him like he was stupid? He even had a mild exasperated look on his face due to Ryuji’s sudden interruption. Aw hell no was he going to take this lying down.
“Hey new guy, how about you keep your mouth shut?” He barked.
Akechi blinked a few times before narrowing his eyes in annoyance. “I guess it’s hard for some people to comprehend how much work it takes to be fully prepared for anything that might happen.” He snapped as he went from leaning on Akira’s work desk to standing directly behind Akira’s seat.
Akira tried not to wince at that response. There’s no way Ryuji would take that insult laying down.
“What the fuck? You wanna go? I can whup your skinny little ass anytime.” He snarled.
“Hey, hey, hey! Ryuji! You can’t say those kind of things! Remember Mona?” Ann frowned at him.
Ryuji had a look of regret on his face when Ann reminded him how he went too far last time and made a teammate uncomfortable to be around him.
Makoto looked over at Akechi and said, “You should apologize too Akechi-kun. Even though Ryuji started the fight, you shouldn’t have aggravated him any further.”
“I apologize Sakamoto-kun. I went too far with my comment.” He said with a smile. It all looked so fake that it only pissed Ryuji off even further.
“Ryuji! Apologize!” Ann demanded.
“….sorry” He grunted half-heartedly. Ryuji doesn’t dare look at Akechi in the face or else he might give into the temptation and punch him.
The rest of the Phantom Thieves looked at each other worriedly. This isn’t going to work. If they are going to be a team, then there shouldn’t be any kind of tension amongst anyone. It was just asking for trouble when they have to fight together in the Palace.
Ann tapped her lips thoughtfully as she tried to think of the best way of trying to make them get along. There was an article she read recently about a fight breaking out in a high school in America. The principal punished both of them by…by what again? She tried to remember and it didn’t take long before she snapped her fingers. “I got it!”
“What is it Ann-dono?” Morgana asked as she smiled mischievously at Ryuji.
“They should hold hands!” She said excitedly. Everyone looked at her with a confused look.
“It should be a good punishment for Ryuji and make him think a little bit more before he talks! Akechi should also be punished to engaging in the fight. Maybe embarrassing them might prevent them from fighting again.” She expanded her thoughts.
“Oh!” Haru clapped her hands together. “That’s a wonderful idea!”
They could hear Morgana and Futaba snickering in the background.
“The idea is pretty intriguing. The innocent action that serves as a severe punishment for people who have intense negative emotions about each other. This will be an interesting study piece. Let me prepare my sketchbook.” Yusuke mumbled as he finished his latest piece and flip over to a new page.
“Okay, you may start now.” He said as he leaned back on his chair and waited as he staring intensely at them.
“EWW! I’m not holding hands with a guy!” Ryuji yelled as he pointed at Akechi.
“Quiet down Ryuji! The shop is still open!” Futaba hissed.
“Shit…” He forgot about that fact. He lowered the volume of his voice and hissed out, “I’m not doing it!”
“I’ll do it!” Akira said as he raised his hand and he fixed his glasses. “I volunteer as tribute!”
“Bro…” Ryuji said with awe his in voice as he turned to look at Akira. What a noble sacrifice! He should pay for Akira’s next meal as thanks.
Everyone looked at him for a moment before turning back to Akechi and Ryuji, ignoring that little comment.
Ryuji made choked noises when they continued the conversation as though had nothing happened. Yo! Yo! Yo! He has a substitute! His best man Akira volunteered! He was about to open his mouth to object this cruelty before he saw Ann glaring him. Okay, shutting up.
“I don’t think it works like that Akira. Ryuji won’t learn his lesson if someone else takes his place.” Makoto sighed as Akira was enthusiastically waving his hand in the air.
Akira pouted as he awkwardly lowered his hand. Should he just grabbed Akechi’s hand anyways? He went out with Akechi a few times now but has always chickened out last minute from doing anything romantic. At this rate, Ryuji is going to become closer than he was with Akechi. First it is going to be hand-holding, then it might lead to hugging, then…then…ki--! No! He doesn’t want to think about it!
“I really am sorry for escalating the fight and learned my lesson. There’s no need to go that far.” Akechi nervously chuckled as he hid his hands behind his back as Ryuji frantically nodded at his words.
“Totally! I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart! Sorry man! L-Let’s go out for ramen sometime!” Ryuji said quickly.
“No! This is the second time Ryuji has tried to fight another member! Punish him!” Futaba yelled cheerfully in the background.
“Hmm, maybe we should make Ryuji hold onto Mona’s paw too. They do argue with each other pretty often.” Haru tilted her head as she pondered over the idea.
“No! Noo! That’s just overkill man. I’ll take one person if I have to…not both. One hand has to remain innocent for my future girlfriend to hold.” Ryuji begged as he went onto his knees. He knew if the girls were motivated, they would pressure him to do it. If he has to compromise a little, then he’ll do it.
“Fine, fine. Get up you loser.” Futaba snickers. “We have agreed with your terms! However we are going to make this experience one that you will never forget! You have to hold hands with Akechi for ten whole minutes! Muahaha!”
Ryuji’s face turned an ashy color, but he gulped down his disgust and didn’t say anything.
“Haru, you should move onto the couch with us and give Akechi your seat.” Makoto said as she scooched over to make room for her.
“Thank you Makoto.” She said as she moved around the table. She gave a wide smile at Akechi as she passed him. She also must be excited to see what’s going to happen next.
Akechi was tempted to just straight up walk out and leave this meeting. This whole situation was ridiculous! At this rate, they won’t have time to enter the Palace today. He looked at their faces as they smiled back at him. Akechi ignored looking at Ryuji’s pathetic form as he gave into their demands.
He gave a soft sigh, slowly walked towards his doom, and sat at the corner of his seat. He quickly grabbed Ryuji’s hand and squeezed it tightly. Hopefully this can fulfill their dumbass requirement and they can continue the meeting about the Palace. If they aren’t going to go, then he’ll just resort to kidnapping Akira and they could explore the Palace by themselves.
“Yo, you’re squeezing like no tomorrow! Loosen up a bit!” Ryuji complained as he shifted in his seat.
“I’m just trying to get this over with. Stop squirming Sakamoto.” Akechi said, trying to keep his irritation from leaking out into his voice.
“Hmm is one of the people being punished complaining? I think the lesson isn’t being coming across hard enough.” Ann said as she hummed thoughtfully.
“Oh, I know of a solution! I think Akechi-kun needs to remove his glove! I think having a material between their hands is letting them think that this punishment is too light and allowing them to behave this way!” Haru beamed as she said those chilling words.
‘Are you fucking serious?’ Akechi thought as Ryuji shrieked out “hell no!” in the background.
It looks like they were serious.
Haru’s face was still smiling, but her eyes said that if they were to disobey her, she had planned something else worse in mind. Akechi shook Ryuji’s hand off and took his glove off and quickly grabbed his hand once again.
“Ryuji! Stop moving! I can’t capture all of the details because you’re moving around too much.” Yusuke snapped as he was sketching them as Ryuji squirmed in his seat in disgust at feeling a man’s hand intimately in his hand. Palms touching. Was that his sweat or Akechi’s? Actually, he doesn’t want to think about it. Ugh.
“Yeah. What Inari said!” Futaba barked out in the background as Makoto sighed at their immaturity.
“Can we go back to the previous discussion about the Palace before we were interrupted? I would like to add that perhaps I should not be on the same team as Kurusu-kun because my Persona knows two elements. It is more beneficial for us to be split up.” Akechi said as he tried to ignore the presence of someone’s hands in his.
“I don’t think you should be talking at the moment.” Makoto said softly. Akechi jerked his head back in surprise. His thinking was logical so why would she reject it so vehemently? He was about to open to mouth to question her before she spoke up again. “…you are being punished after all.” She finished as she let out a devilish smile...he knew he had always hated her.
‘These guys are dead to me…’ Akechi thought as he stare at their reactions as silence permeated in the attic. They avoided verbally talking to each other and took out their phones to text each other secret messages and giggling at the responses. He couldn’t believe that these guys were the Phantom Thieves? Don’t they have a sense of urgency? The SIU is trying to capture them for goodness sakes! He saw Futaba angled her phone and knew instantly that she was trying to capture a photo of them. He sighed and rubbed his forehead with his free hand.
‘This is going to be agonizing’, he thought as he was tempted to squeeze his hand tightly for the next nine minutes. ‘This was all his fault.’ Akechi resisted looking over and glaring at the boy who caused all of this mess.
They endured the punishment without saying anything else even though Ryuji looked like he was about to get up and run out of the café. He kept bouncing his leg the whole time and Akechi wanted to smack Ryuji’s leg to stop the annoying tic.
“I hope you learned your lesson!” Ann grinned as their time ran out. The two boys immediately let go like their hands were magnets repelling each other.
Ryuji mentally sobbed as he cried for the loss of innocence from his hand. Tainted. Will soap even cleaning this nasty feeling he has now?
“I haven’t!” Akira said as he rose his hand once again. “I disliked Akechi since he spoke badly about the Phantom Thieves! Grr, I’m still angry! Punish me!”
Everyone continued to ignore Akira’s claims as Akechi and Ryuji ran downstairs to the restroom to clean their hands.
Yusuke showed his sketch of the two boys to the group while the guys washed their hands and the girls complimented the emotion of embarrassment coming from the picture. Akira just pouted as he saw how dark Akechi’s cheeks were in the picture and how his face was turning away from Ryuji. It looked a pair of guys going on their first date and Akira couldn’t help but felt jealous while staring at the picture.
“Hey leader, I took a picture of them together. If you want, I can photoshop you in and replace Ryuji in the picture.” Futaba suggested when she saw how crestfallen Akira was.
Was he that pathetic to say yes to Futaba’s idea?
Yes. Yes times ten.
He looked at her with hopeful eyes and nodded.
Later that day after they disband and went home (it was getting late and they didn’t have time to go to the Palace), Futaba private messaged Akira.
Futaba:
Here you go you thirsty boi! ;)
Image attached.
You:
Thanks.
He looked at the Photoshop image. Futaba was a good hacker, but her Photoshop skills need improvement. She kept Ryuji’s body in the photo and just replace his head with Akira’s. The lighting for his head was inconsistent with the rest of the photo and Akira would never wear a shirt that says “ZOMG!”
Akira smiled as he saved the image in the phone. Even though it was badly made, he still treasured it. This photo was going to be a goal for him. He will gather the courage and ask out Akechi and make this photo become a reality. Even though Akechi was annoyed for a while during the meeting due to the bizarre punishment, he was able to relax when he stood behind Akira. Hopefully, he could fully integrate him to the team and they would be able to share more nice moments together.
He let out a laugh as Futaba posted the original picture into the Phantom Thieves chatroom and seeing Ryuji’s response to the photo. Akira couldn’t wait to see his reaction to Yusuke’s sketch then. Yusuke went a little overdramatic in his drawing to put more emphasis on the emotions exhibiting by the boys after all.