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Sumire Yoshizawa tilted her head up to Goro Akechi, gazing into his brooding, mahogany eyes. She certainly couldn’t pierce through into the soul of an ace detective...or whatever this man really was.
Yet she wished she could. The desire of fulfilling her gratitude - one which stemmed from the successful awakening to her true potential - ached within her. Yet if such a dark layer wrapped around Akechi’s visage, then clearly too much rattled the young man’s mind.
Infiltrating the research lab of Dr. Maruki - Sumire’s beloved friend, heedless of his complexes and distortions - was no longer a concern. The calling card would be sent by the very beginning of February, allowing them to take full advantage of their secured route.
It was still the middle of a most disconcerting January. Chilly and snowy, yet soft and promising in thanks to the cherry blossoms, every last civilian of Tokyo was happy. Too happy, to be exact. Maruki’s influence had extended itself across the entire city.
The realization of false happiness was taking its toll on everyone. Ren Amamiya, Sumire’s trusted upperclassman, and the other Phantom Thieves were mapping out the eve of the heist. With her and Akechi aboard their plans, she prayed the numbers would overshadow whatever obstacles Maruki had in place.
And no longer drowning in a dark pity, Sumire had come to realize the strength she had inside her all along. She could pray that her sister, Kasumi, was proud. But that wasn’t necessary; Kasumi was still a part of her, but just enough that Sumire could stand on her own two feet.
So neither of them were the great concern troubling Sumire in that moment, standing inside Akechi’s apartment.
Akechi received Sumire’s gaze with a hollow stare in return. Though he wasn’t as hostile as his other self was in the Metaverse, that same darkness blanketed his garnet eyes.
“Well,” Akechi deadpanned, “might as well make yourself at home, Yoshizawa-san.”
Sumire’s pink lips curved into a sad grin. Defeated, she looked down to ensure her shoes were off her feet. Yes, only her black tights covered her legs. She turned to face the rather elegant suite. Her eyes lit up once more at the neat simplicity of the living room.
“It’s so lovely!” Sumire exclaimed. “This’ll be nice to take it easy in.”
All she received in response was a sad sigh behind her.
“I’m not quite sure why you needed my company,” Akechi breathlessly remarked. “Isn’t Ren available today?”
Pure silence filled the room, leaving behind remnants of tension. Sumire slowly pivoted back to face the tall, wiry man.
“I don’t know,” she murmured. “I trust Ren-senpai - “
“So why not see him?”
Another pause. The redhead’s fair face slowly turned to the beige, carpeted floor.
“I wanted to see you,” she stuttered, struggling to keep her hands still and apart.
Sumire looked back up. Goro Akechi seemed startled, but only for a moment. The widened eyes and the slight fidget of his foot were so quick. Even Sumire wasn’t sure if she saw that instance correctly.
Being with you just feels right, she thought to herself, longing to say that to him herself.
“I suppose that’s polite,” Akechi abruptly huffed, walking past Sumire. “It’s still not necessary, let alone safe.”
He shook his head.
“You even arrived in the night…”
A dull pain beat at Sumire’s insides.
Being with you just feels right.
Just as Sumire’s vision grew murky and watery, a flicker crossed it. Even Akechi had slowly turned his head from the refrigerator before him.
Another two flickers drowned the apartment in unfamiliar darkness. Sumire couldn’t memorize what was where when the lights went completely out.
And then, there was nothing. Even the windows were shielded by blinds, leaving only a black void for them to maneuver within.
The following silence was chilling enough for Sumire to recognize that her consciousness was intact. It wasn’t her, of course. She could feel her body go rigid with the sudden shift.
“A-A-Akechi-senpai?” Sumire gulped.
A sweeping, tenor sigh echoed back to her.
“Of all the times for the power to go out,” she heard him grumble.
Sumire kept upright, motionless. Soft steps crept past her, a source of human heat and breath ensuring the lack of supernatural forces. Even then, Sumire knew well how jittered she still was after their route in Dr. Maruki’s Palace was secured.
“Even in Maruki’s reality,” Akechi snickered, “the power fails to stay on forever.”
Sumire felt a pinch in her chest at that. She and the Phantom Thieves found an empathetic idea in Maruki’s distortions, but Akechi’s blunt accusations and...harsh fighting style implied a greater sense of spite. She couldn’t quite wrap her head around why such was the case.
“With all due respect,” she heard Akechi softly deadpan, “we have work to do if you wish to feel at least somewhat safer.”
Snapping back to what was, quite literally, their dark reality, Sumire lifted her foot before planting it back down. She felt her forehead wrinkle in puzzlement.
“What can we use to light, then?” Sumire whispered to the void.
“Certainly, the power will be back within an hour or two,” Akechi murmured. “Unless the staff is still lost in their own happiness.”
What to do, Sumire thought to herself.
“If only we had a flashlight,” she groaned, more frustrated at her helplessness than anything. “Maybe some candles could keep us company until - “
“Candles?” Akechi snapped.
A thought struck Sumire.
“Yes, actually!” she beamed, pacing in her one spot. “I happen to have some scented candles at home! When we were little, Kasumi and I used to collect some from shops all over Japan and import some from the United States! I mean we didn’t use all of them; we just had part of the collection for show and -”
A tenor giggle in the dark made Sumire blush, but fervently shake her head.
“Wait, that’s not the point!” she exasperated. “I mean we can just make a quick stop to my house and grab a bunch.”
Another laugh, only a hair louder than before.
“Your parents will most certainly question your whereabouts,” Akechi chuckled. “But, you can make the excuse. How about you tell them Takamaki-san and the other girls invited you over for a slumber party? I’ll wait outside your home.”
“Why?”
“Why not? It’d be odd to them that their daughter was caught with an upperclassman of a different school.”
In the darkness, Sumire shrugged to herself.
It just feels right…
Nineteen...careful! And...twenty. Yes!
Sumire pushed her glasses back into place, proud of her newest small victory. Twenty scented candles - all of variant smells and sizes - brought a delicate dimness to the living room of Goro Akechi’s apartment. Though it indeed lacked in uniformity, the ambiance had grown tranquil.
Sumire had imagined carrying the candles from her home and back to the apartment would be a great ordeal. However, she left it to Akechi’s sharp wit to suggest even the most common of ideas. Sure enough, simply dropping them all in a cardboard box and hauling the whole package back saved the young woman’s sanity.
“How many scents will be wafting through here?” Akechi puzzled, less of a sneer and more of a concern.
“Well,” Sumire excitedly murmured, “there’s some vanilla, and some tropical scents...maybe a few fall scents - though, I suppose it is winter. But, we should be good! It’ll make for a nice combination.”
Sumire basked in the candlelight, and the whole room was silent. That is, until she nervously looked back to Akechi.
“S-s-so…” she blurted, “um...Akechi - “
A soft chuckle emitted from the young man’s pursed lips. Why...was he suddenly a bit warm?
“I suppose you can call me Goro,” he cooed. “If we’re going to be here like this, what’s the harm in cutting out formalities?”
Goro, not just Akechi. This welcoming request made Sumire hold perfectly still, staring back at Goro’s handsome figure slouched on his tan couch.
“Well...thank you, Goro,” she beamed, almost too excitedly.
Goro sighed, looking down at the silver watch on his left wrist.
“How can you see that when it’s so dim in here?” Sumire inquired in puzzlement.
Her response was a calm smile and a warm titter.
“I’ve always had a fair pair of eyes,” he replied. “Though I wonder how I’d look with glasses…”
“It’d probably suit you just as well,” the red-haired girl shrugged.
“Well, thank you,” Goro returned, as though he was also holding back excitement. “Now, how about you come and sit down? The candles are ready, and...I think you’ve done a good job."
“Thank you!” Sumire beamed. “I’m also glad I didn’t burn down the building!”
Just as she stood, the girl froze at the inner replay of what she just said. But Goro only smirked, almost taking amusement in Sumire's clumsy communication.
“Oh, come now!” Goro cooed. “Why don’t you relax...Sumire?”
“Ah, of course!” Sumire hesitantly approached, sheepishly waddling her way toward the couch. Gently, she took her seat beside the young man.
Beholding the entire scene, the young girl felt rather proud. The candles were all different, some even having three, tiny wicks in one. Even so, it was still more than enough to help bring a soothing light to the living room. The world around them remained relatively dark otherwise, so the silent little fires could give a fair clue to maneuvering Sumire and Goro’s little world in the living room and kitchen.
As Sumire’s eyelids slid shut, she came to realize how tired she ended up being. After navigating the world of Maruki’s Palace and the labyrinth of Mementos, the young girl had spent even her bountiful energy.
She felt her body sway along with Goro’s gaze. The latter murmured something, though Sumire had nearly tuned out so much that she couldn’t recognize the words.
“Hmm?” she quietly hummed in response.
She felt the other gently shake her shoulder.
“You really are tired, aren’t you?” Goro chuckled.
“S...sorry,” Sumire yawned. “Must be...after everything.”
Silence. Goro’s hand had released its gentle pressure on her shoulder, pulling back.
Then, he broke the stillness once more. His voice had suddenly grown colder, just by a bit.
“Maybe you should just get some sleep,” he murmured. “It has been...an ordeal, yes.”
Sumire could hear his legs shift, just as she struggled to open her ruby eyes.
“Wait,” she whispered.
“Hm?” he responded.
The sudden question that crossed Sumire’s mind helped her enough to snap out of her groggy funk. She feared it was intrusive, but she couldn’t quite help herself.
“So what does your Metaverse outfit mean?” she pondered aloud.
Another pause sent Sumire’s eyes fluttering wide and open. The room was still rather dim, so the candles helped her recognize she was still awake. She turned to Goro, who appeared rather...lost in thought.
“Curious, are we, Sumire?” Goro muttered.
“Oh, n-n-no!” Sumire stammered excitedly. “I mean I guess that was - y’know - a slip of the tongue! Right? Please, you can ignore what I said! I’m so sorry…”
Sumire lost her verbal train of thought when the young man beside her shook his head slowly.
“It’s alright,” he sighed. “Perhaps I could open up a bit."
Goro looked down at one of the candles beside the stand to his left.
“I assume Ren has told you the general ‘gist’ about our transformations?” he inquired. “Well, mine has just been that, but not the kind you’d expect. I’m also quite sure that the black mask I wear now is a newer one. It broke during...an incident.”
“Oh…” Sumire empathized.
“I’m not quite the goody two-shoes you would expect,” Goro lamented, his brows furrowed. “I’ve had a...pathetic history.”
He crossed his legs, his head turning farther from Sumire’s concerned expression.
“I was a bastard child to Masayoshi Shido,” he suspired, ignoring the other’s head slowly cocking to the side and down. “He had caused me a lot of pain, and even more to my mother. I ended being his puppet - not that that excuses what I’ve done to those ends.”
For just that moment, Sumire said nothing. Her hands clasped together, and the physical tension remained for some time.
“I’m sorry,” she winced. “I...I really do wish I could’ve helped.”
“What could anyone have done?” the man shook his head. “It’s not easy to ease that pain, let alone heal it.”
The two sat in a brief second - maybe two or three - of reflection.
“I’ve done terrible things...Sumire,” Goro lamented, almost whimpering. “I’m surprised you haven’t even run away from me at this point.”
Another pause sent a cold sensation down Sumire’s spine, almost racking her body. Even she herself questioned why she was still here.
But that wonder didn’t last long. She knew her answer.
“I still want to be here,” Sumire thought aloud. “It...it just feels right.”
“Is that so?” Goro replied, turning his head back to face her. His handsome face had grown sad and gloomy, as though he had been crying - or would.
Startled, Sumire began to wiggle her fingers and darted her eyes around the darkness.
“That is,” she mumbled, “I mean...I won’t say you’ve ever been right. But, it doesn’t feel okay to just...leave you! Or something?! You know, like, abandonment after how you’ve seemed to grow…”
“So,” Goro started up suddenly, “you’re really thinking I’ve grown?”
Sumire slowly fell back into the sofa, struggling to juggle her thoughts and piece everything together. It wasn’t long before the coherent thoughts were said aloud.
“Even if you have a ‘rougher’ personality,” she claimed, “and even if you’ve made serious mistakes, that doesn’t mean that you’re better off...well, gone. I won’t condone whatever you’ve done. I’m well aware that, if Shido was behind your mistakes, then it must be bad. But, he’s gone, for one thing. And you are helping us because you also want reality to be made by the people themselves, and not controlled entirely by a higher being.”
There was silence again, but Sumire combatted it within just a few seconds flat.
“I just believe,” Sumire slowly added, “that, if you want to be better, you can be better. And if you can be better, then...why not try to be better?”
“You’re an odd girl,” he said.
He was deadpanned and distant for a moment, but his voice suddenly reflected a newfound warmth and comfort.
“I...quite admire that,” he appended, his voice light as though he were smiling. “Thank you...Sumire.”
The young girl, quite proud of this new step for the both of them, slid her eyes shut and allowed the heat in her cheeks to flush the whole of her jaws.
Suddenly, she felt a gentle pressure on her jaw - almost like...a kiss.
The moment it left, her eyes shot wide open, her head darting to Goro. His face was closer to her now.
“W-what?!” the girl blurted out, her mouth agape and her shoulders trembling. “W-w-what was that for?!”
Goro Akechi merely shrugged.
“It just felt right,” he beamed, and his smile was wider than Sumire ever saw it on his television appearances.