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Ryuji knew they only had themselves to blame for the current situation.
No, if he was being honest with himself, he was the one to blame.
It was the second time they went into Madarame’s Palace since Yusuke became a part of the Phantom Thieves. The team had been exploring the place for several hours and normally by then they would already have called it a day, but with a new member joining the force, they got bolder and wanted to cover more ground in a single run. That was why Ryuji had suggested to push forward for a while longer until they find another safe room. Ann and Morgana had agreed almost instantly, eager to help the distraught artist changing his distorted mentor’s heart, to which Yusuke, to be expected, gratefully accepted.
Akira had seemed hesitant at the idea at the time, seemingly weighing between the risk of burning themselves out and his matching desire to find the treasure as soon as possible. So Ryuji figured he’d give the leader a little push.
“C’mon, man! There’re five of us now, we can do this!”
“…Alright,” Akira finally nodded, “Let’s get going then.”
If only Akira had said no to him.
Because the moment Ann accidently triggered a wired alarm with her tail, Ryuji didn’t need to hear the siren started blaring vehemently or to spot a group of never-before-seen Shadows rushing to surround them to regret his dumb idea. He knew they wouldn’t be able to get out of this one unscathed, and it was all thanks to his recklessness and overconfidence.
Ryuji had pushed their luck too far. And now, he and his teammates were going to pay the price.
Knowing they were outnumbered and out leveled, Akira had attempted to lead the team run away by tossing out a Vanish Ball, but the enemies had apparently been prepared for the move, as half of the goons immediately moved to block the only escape path before the Thieves could make a run for it, leaving them no choice but to fight.
With grueling effort the Thieves had managed to kill all the lower-leveled Shadows, yet the strongest, menacing-looking one, obviously the commander, was still standing tall. To make things worse, both Ann and Yusuke were knocked down lying unconscious on the floor. Akira wasted no time to cast a dizzy spell on the foe hoping to deter its move, and the rest of the team took this chance to find places to hide and catch their breath. The status effect, however, lasted only for a few seconds before the Shadow straightened up and began searching for its remaining targets again.
Panting behind a wall were Ryuji and Morgana, both of them dreadfully low on health and magic and out of restorative supplies. Akira, stooping low by a large plant pot a few feet away, seemed slightly better, though Ryuji suspected he was just as worn out as they were.
“Shit, this ain’t good…!” Ryuji cursed under his breath, racking his brain for the next move. He had to do something fast or the whole gang would be wiped out. It had to be him, because if it weren’t for his stupid suggestion to push on they wouldn’t even be so deep in this mess in the first place.
“Skull, catch!” At Akira’s shout Ryuji was yanked out of his thought, his head whipping around sharply. It was only his muscle reflex that let him catch what was thrown at his face -- a couple of Recov-R medicines.
“What--” Ryuji looked up and was alarmed to see the leader was poising to leave his hiding spot. “Joker, what’re you doing!?”
“I’ll create a distraction to draw the Shadow away,” Akira said, his tone urgent yet calm. “Cure Panther and Fox with those meds, then get them to the nearest safe room.”
“What ‘bout you!?”
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll get rid of it and double back to meet you guys there.”
“No, Joker, we’re not leaving you behind!” Ryuji protested. “’Side, if anyone were to do this it should be--”
Akira cut him off, “I have the most HP and SP left, and I’m the leader.”
“But that’s suicide even for you!” Morgana complained. “There has to be another way!”
“There might be, but we don’t have time to think of one,” Akira insisted. “There're probably more Shadows coming this way. We can’t take that chance.”
“But--”
“I’ll be fine, trust me.” The gaze he shot them was unwavering. Ryuji wanted to say more, but before he could the Shadow let out a low snarl to remind them of its presence. He didn’t need to look to know another round of attacks were coming soon.
“Go, NOW!” Akira called out.
“Jok--Urgh!” Ryuji wanted to say more, but the leader had already ripped off his mask and lunged forward, so the faux-blonde had no choice but to toss one of the healing items to Morgana to cure Yusuke before he rushed to Ann’s side. Thankfully, both fallen teammates roused the instant they were given the cure.
When Ryuji raised his head again and searched around the room, Joker was nowhere to be found. He only caught a glimpse of the back of the Shadow as it went off to chase its prey.
——
Akira was right, more Shadows were coming for them.
The group of four nearly ran into the reinforcements on their way to the safe room down the hall, so Ryuji and Morgana had to lead a dazed Ann and a limping Yusuke to take a detour. It took triple the time but in the end they were able to reach there without getting into another fight.
Ryuji had hoped to find Akira waiting for them inside when he rushed into the room, but no such luck. Dejected, he helped Ann to sit on the couch while Yusuke limped to one of the chairs with Morgana trailing behind.
“He said to meet us back here. He will be here,” Ryuji told his teammates and received hesitant nods. From their concerned expressions, he knew everyone shared his apprehension about the leader’s whereabouts and safety.
The clock ticked away in an agonizingly slow pace as they waited in agitated silence. Merely five minutes had passed when Ann stood bolt upright without warning. “That’s it! I can’t just sit here and do nothing!” she spoke up, her voice dripping with worry and anxiety. “We have to go find Joker, he’s still out there!”
Yusuke concurred, “I agree, it should not have taken him that long to return. I fear Joker might be badly injured.”
Ryuji knew they were right. Akira should have been back by now if he could, but Ryuji was also aware of their own situation, knowing full well that they were in no shape to run a rescue mission. With their leader missing, he needed to step up and remain level-headed for everyone’s sake. His recklessness had already caused them so much.
“Hold on a sec,” Ryuji said, trying to sound as composed as possible. “It’d be too dangerous to go out searching blindly, we gotta come up with a plan first.”
Morgana nodded. “Skull’s right, considering our conditions, we won’t last long if we run into Shadows again, let alone finding Joker.”
“Okay…then what should we do?” Ann asked uncertainly.
Ryuji ran his hand through his hair. C’mon, think, Sakamoto! Use your damn brain! What would Akira do in this sorta situation? Where could Akira…no, Joker, possibly be? The always calm, confident, cat-like leader…
Then it struck him. He vaguely recalled a theory of people acting in a certain way under life-threatening circumstances…
“Mona, what would a cat normally do when it’s sick or hurt?”
“What? Why’re you asking me this!? I’m not a ca—”
“Just answer me already!” Ryuji bellowed.
Startled by the urgency in his voice, the non-feline said, “…W-well, cats instinctively hide their pain as a survival strategy, and a sick or wounded cat tends to find a safe and enclosed space to hide…”
Safe and enclosed…
Ryuji scanned the room, before his eyes fell on the closet at the back.
There it was.
A small piece of black fabric peeking through the door gap.
He hurried to the closet, ignoring Morgana and Yusuke calling after him, and squatted down before reaching for the handle with a shaking hand. The moment he opened the closet door, he could hear Ann’s surprised gasp from behind as he himself let out a breath he didn’t realized he’d been holding.
Curled up inside the dark space was their unconscious leader, his head leaning back against the board, his body full of cuts and scratches. Ryuji gingerly rested a hand on Akira’s chest, and was relieved to feel the rise and fall in a slow, steady rhythm.
“Joker.” Ryuji gently tapped Akira’s face, and after a few tries his friend started to stir. Slowly, his eyelids fluttered opened, grey eyes locking on Ryuji’s brown ones.
“Skull…?”
“Hey there, buddy,” Ryuji breathed out. He could hear his teammates heaving sighs of relief as well. “You scared the hell outta us.”
“…Sorry,” Akira mumbled weakly, blinking a few times before his gaze traveled to look behind Ryuji. “…Everyone got out okay?”
“We should be asking you that,” Morgana chided. “You’re the one covered in bruises and scratches!” Akira winced slightly at the raised voice.
“Be gentle, Mona,” Ann crouched down next to Ryuji. “Here, I still have some magic left. Let’s heal you up a bit.” She hold out her hands, enveloping the leader’s torso with glowing green light, and Akira could feel his strength returning, even if just slightly so.
“Better?”
“Thanks, Panther,” He nodded. “…Sorry I used up all your healing magic.”
“Uh-uh, none of that. We wouldn’t even be here if it wasn't for you.” Ann gave his arm a gentle rub.
“Indeed, you saved us back there using yourself as a bait,” said Yusuke, his gratitude was evident. “We owe you our lives.”
Ryuji grimaced at the reminder of their close call, even as Akira shook his head. “I’m your leader. It’s my responsibility to protect my teammates.”
“It shouldn’t have been you though, man…” Ryuji said wryly. “It’s my fault we were caught in that shit...If I didn’t suggest we push on…”
“No, Skull,” Ann interrupted him. “We all agreed to carry on, it’s just as much as our fault as yours.”
“Yes, we made that decision together as a team,” Akira said. Yusuke nodded as well.
“Hey, there’s no point to beat ourselves up!” Morgana chiseled in. “What’s important is we learn from our mistake. We know not to push ourselves and when to pull back from now on.” The group exchanged smiles and words of agreement, contented to leave the matter behind. “Come on, Joker, let’s get you out of the closet.”
Yusuke spoke up when he and Ryuji helped Akira up and to sit on the couch. “Leader, mind if I ask…why did you choose to hole up in such a confined place?”
“…It felt…safer…?” Akira tilted his head to the side, smiling somewhat sheepishly. “To be honest, I’m not sure why I did that either.”
Yusuke gave a thoughtful hum. “And Skull, how did you realize where Joker was? We all thought he was still out there.”
Skull waved his hand flippantly as if the answer was obvious. “Ah, ya know.”
“Wait,” Morgana cut in. “You did ask me earlier what a cat would do when it’s hurt...” The non-feline trailed off, expression shifting as something clicked in his mind. “Not bad, Blondie!”
“Oh that!” Ann perked up in realization as well. “Good thinking, Skull, I haven’t even thought of that!”
The artist cocked his head and looked between them perplexedly before turning to Akira for some kind of clue, but the bleary-eyed leader was already listing to Ryuji, clearly drifting off.
The blonde cracked a grin. “Let’s just say our leader tends to act like a cat sometimes. You’ll catch on soon enough!”
Yusuke nodded, settling for watching Ryuji give Akira’s hair a playful ruffle as he let his friend dozed off blissfully on his shoulder, oblivious to the conversation that was going on.