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XXX
Just one ripple.
One Universe and her Moon.
And everything changes.
XXX
Goro Akechi is five, and he is hiding.
He is hiding from his bullies, his tormentors who enjoy hunting him down and pushing him onto the ground. The matron tries her best, but she is but one person holding down the fort for them all. It’s not her fault she can’t protect him, but a part of him resents her for not being able to do so.
As several footfalls approach, he can hear them muttering among themselves. The small boy tenses, his body coiling into a stance as he readies himself to bolt if necessary.
“Dammit, the freak got away.”
“Let’s check the pond,” someone suggests. “He might be there.”
“Good idea.”
Goro holds his breath as there is a mass shift of movement and footsteps and the sound of them going away slowly fades.
Gradually, he peeks out, his shaggy hair falling over his forehead. It has been awhile since his last haircut, but it can’t be helped as the others always purposely made sure the matron was busy so that she couldn’t take him out to get one. Which led to them making fun of his hair, his looks...everything.
It’s so unfair, and he hates it. Hates it all.
Because what did he do to deserve this?
The sound of footsteps approaching, crunching on leaves and sticks causes his eyes to widen, and he bolts.
“I found him!”
Oh no.
No no no no no.
Goro runs and runs as fast as his feet can carry him, not daring to look back as more footsteps thunder after him from behind. His chest burns and so does his legs (oh how he wishes he is taller!) but he can’t stop. Because if he stops, they’d…they’d…
“Oof!”
He crashes into someone, arms and legs stumbling over as he desperately tries to regain his balance.
A sudden, steadying warmth helps him, pulls him to his feet and stabilizes him and he looks up to see grey-coloured eyes that almost reminds him of steel.
“Sorry,” he mumbles, shuffling his feet.
“You should be more careful, kid,” the man says gruffly.
He opens his mouth to speak again until he hears them and freezes, looking about frantically for a place to hide.
But before he can -
“Found you, freak!” Hazuki’s voice is loud and triumphant as he reaches, a smug smile on his face. Goro flinches away from his grasp, memories of being roughly dragged by the other boy piercing through his mind.
But before the other boy grabs him, someone steps forward and grips Hazuki’s wrist.
Goro stares, stunned as the stranger he ran into glares at Hazuki.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Steel grey eyes narrow onto the gulping, suddenly nervous boy.
“I, um...I was just...helping the matron look for him, sir,” Hazuki says.
Liar!
His fear melts into anger and Goro glares at the other boy, hands clenching into fists. How dare he!
“Really now?” says the stranger. “Well, tell her I’ll bring him back.”
“Now go.”
A mixture of satisfaction and relief floods through Goro as he watches the other boy flee, and subconsciously, he uncoils his body and unclenches his fists.
The stranger turns to him, glare replaced with a less scary look. “What’s your name?”
He hesitates for a second, wondering if he should tell him his name. But he had helped him, unlike others who pretend everything was okay.
Noticing his hesitation, the man pulls out a badge that he’s seen around. “Don’t worry. I’m with the police.” He explains, and waits patiently.
He relaxes a bit.
“Goro.”
“Goro,” the man repeats before nodding. “I’m Shinjiro. Have you eaten?”
He shakes his head.
“Come on then,” The man - Shinjiro holds out a hand gruffly, and he takes it. It is warm and calloused and rough and comforting.
For once, Goro Akechi feels safe.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shinjiro watches as the brown-haired boy’s eyes widen at the food placed in front of him, sharp eyes taking note of his cautious movements (as if the food would be snatched away) and wary gaze, the occasional darting of glances at him to make sure he wouldn’t be scolded for eating.
He takes notes of all of this and more, and scowls inwardly. He is fairly sure that the other boy had been one of Goro’s bullies, and he hated bullies.
“Goro,” he says.
The boy pauses – freezes, really as he warily looks up. “Yes, sir?”
“Where are you from?”
“...The Tatsuji Orphanage, sir,” Goro finally answers after a moment. “My…my mother’s dead and...my father – he left me.”
Inwardly, his scowl deepens. But he has to remain calm. He doesn’t want to scare the kid. “I see.” He says. “Do you like it there?”
Goro shakes his head. “No. They all hate me.”
Shinjiro almost winces. It reminds him of the time when no one really liked him except for Akihiko and Mitsuru. He steals a glance at his watch and curses mentally. He is suppose to meet Minako in an hour but he can’t exactly leave Goro alone. There was no doubt that the kid would be bullied immediately upon his return, and considering the state of his clothes and his current behaviour…
It wouldn’t be good for him, to say the least.
But what to do?
He turns over the situation in his mind, mulling over it thoughtfully before a thought strikes him.
Could he? Could they?
“Do you want dessert?” Shinjiro asks as the boy finishes his pasta.
An unfamiliar feeling bubbles up within him as Goro’s face brightens, but then falls into a frown as he hesitates. “Can I?”
“Course you can,” the detective gestures for a server to come over before looking at him. “What do you want?”
Goro shrugs, uncertain.
He tries a different tack.
“Do you want me to help you order?”
A pause. Then, a small, hesitant nod as he fiddles with his fingers.
“Yes please.”
The older man turns and requests for a dark chocolate cake to which the server nods, writing it down before walking away.
“Um, sir,” Goro starts, looking up from the table. “What’s going to happen now? Do I have to go back to the orphanage?”
Shinjiro tilts his head to the side and meets his eyes. “Do you want to?”
“...No.”
“Then we’ll see what we can do,” he says firmly, and the tension drains from Goro’s shoulders.
It’s not long after that the cake is served and the brown-haired boy is engrossed with the dessert, and he takes the opportunity to message Minako to meet him here, apologizing for the sudden change of plans. They need to talk, and from what he sees, a trip to the doctor’s might be needed.
Thankfully, the place they had originally planned on meeting at is nearby. So it isn’t long before Minako enters the cafe and her face brightens upon seeing him. Then she notices Goro.
Her crimson eyes, similar to Goro’s, take in the situation as she approaches their table.
“Shinji,” Minako greets, taking the seat beside him and kisses him on the cheek before turning to look at Goro who seems like he’s ready to bolt, seeing a stranger.
The former S.E.E.S leader smiles gently. “Hello. I’m Minako, his wife. And you are?”
“...Goro Akechi, miss,” his muscles relax, seeing that she wasn’t going to scold him or anything.
“Well, Goro, you have very pretty eyes. Much like mine, see?” Minako grins at his awe as realization strikes him.
She nearly squeals at seeing him flush. Aww, he’s so cute!
Shinjiro watches the byplay in amusement.
“Don’t embarrass him,” he chides his wife halfheartedly.
Minako pouts and mutters under her breath, “Meanie”. It’s clear to them that Goro has heard her as he suddenly tries not to laugh.
“Well, Goro,” she says after his laughter stops. “Do you want to go shopping with us?”
“We’ll have to stop by the clinic first, but we can go after that,” Shinjiro adds after his wife.
“I...can?”
Minako fists her hands under the table at that question, resisting the rage simmering in her veins. Who the hell were his parents?!
“Of course you can,” she answers him with a bright smile.
Goro beams.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The pair takes the opportunity to talk in the waiting room as the doctor examines Goro. Shinjiro starts from the beginning and explains what happened, all the way up to when they all met at the cafe.
Minako’s frown darkens more and more throughout the story, eyes flashing when she hears about the bullies. She detests them.
“And the matron can’t do anything?”
The freelance detective shakes his head. “No. Apparently she tries, but…” he shrugs. “She’s only one person.”
A brief silence falls between them.
“What if we adopt him?” she says abruptly, breaking it.
Shinjiro stops short for a moment. It’s true that they had been talking about kids on and off ever since their marriage. After all, kids were a big thing and none of them wanted to have them when they couldn’t support them.
He considers it.
Finance-wise, they’re doing pretty well. Their bakery is pretty successful, Minako running it for the most part while he balances it with his freelance detective work with the police. Though he’d probably be committing to the bakery full-time in the future.
“We could,” he answers slowly. “Do you want to?”
Minako holds his gaze, steady and firm, “I wouldn’t suggest it if I wasn’t serious about it.” A teasing smile replaces the serious expression then. “Besides, I’m pretty sure he’s attached to you already.”
“He seems to like you too,” he points out.
“Yeah, but I’m not the one who saved him,” she teases, punching him in the arm lightly.
Shinjiro rolls his eyes, but is then caught off-guard as Minako steals a peck from his lips and looks up at him as if he’s the most important thing in her life, as if he holds her world in his hands. “I really do love you.”
His gaze softens, and he wraps around her in a hug. “Love you too.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Goro Akechi is happy.
He doesn’t know how it happened or why, but he finally has parents.
Shinjiro-san (as the older man said to call him) and Minako-san (same with his wife!) had taken him shopping after that nasty experience with the doctor (yuck) and then sat him down while they were resting, asking if he wanted them to adopt him.
He had looked at them, stunned.
Because – well…
No one was really nice to him. Everyone told him that they’d be there for him but never were, told him that they’d help but never did, but…
But the two of them had gone out of their way to help him and spent time with him even though he never said anything.
So he said yes, of course.
The smiles he’d gotten from them had made him feel all warm and fuzzy, more so when Minako-san hugged him and Shinjiro-san placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it lightly.
He finally, finally has a home.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Several years later
Goro hums thoughtfully as he reads the message his aunt sent him. His Persona powers had awaken awhile ago, and while it had scared him in the beginning, it had been a huge relief to find out that his parents used to have them too. His mother had been amused for the most part, as were his dad and Uncle Junpei and Uncle Akihiko. They had had a discussion with Aunty Mitsuru, where she suggested he joined the Shadow Operatives as he’d have the opportunity to train and learn more about his powers while helping the world. He had accepted, though his parents did warn him that he would need to retain his grades which he agreed to.
It's been almost three years since he joined the Shadow Operatives now.
He has just sent a reply when he catches sight of his parents making their way towards him.
“Kaa-san? Tou-san? What’re you doing here?” He blinks, confused.
“You didn’t think we’d miss your guest appearance, didn’t you?” his mother teases as she pulls him into a hug.
Beside her, his father rolls his eyes in fond exasperation.
“Ignore her,” he advises, and Goro stifles a grin as his mother whacks his father on the shoulder.
“What about the bakery?” the teen asks, changing the subject before his parents could get into another one of their playful arguments.
She waves it off. “Don’t worry about it. By the way, they’re all dropping by this Saturday so you can finally exchange more boxing tips with Akihiko.” The woman grins. “Your Aunt Yukari is going to be here too, she finally got some time off.”
Goro brightens and opens his mouth to answer, but is then interrupted by a staff member calling his name.
“Go,” his mother urges. “We’ll see you later.”
He nods, engulfs both his parents in a quick hug and darts off.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Everything goes well, and he is relieved.
He really doesn’t like making appearances that much, which is why he only appears so long as his parents and Aunt Mitsuru are okay with them.
As for the Phantom Thieves, well… He doesn’t really mind them too much, honestly. After all, sometimes even crime can escape the law so it was understandable.
Goro pauses in the corridor as he hears voices in the hallway.
“Honestly, being Phantom Thieves shouldn’t be this hard,” a male voice grumbles.
Oh?
Stealthily, he moves towards the end of the corridor and peeks around the corner to see a small group in deep discussion. It seems like they’re some students from Shujin High. Part of the visitors, he guessed.
“Shhhh!” A blonde-haired girl glares at the spiky-haired male. “Keep it down.”
Goro snorts. It’s a good thing it’s him that’s here and not anyone else considering it was too late now.
Hmmm…
“Ann’s right,” says the other male as he looks about warily, tousled black strands falling over his forehead.
“Let’s go get pancakes and then talk.” The new voice nearly makes Goro fall over as he sees a cat popping out from a bag and gesturing as if it's a human. Considering that there're only three of them, only the fourth voice could have come from the cat.
What the hell?
Also, quite frankly, he is intrigued.
So he steps out and approaches them with a smile on his face, inwardly snickering as they were startled by his appearance and tried to pretend they hadn’t been talking about the Metaverse. It’s no wonder his mother enjoys trolling people. It’s hilarious.
“Hello,” Goro says, introducing himself and offering a hand. “I’m Goro Akechi.”
The tousled-hair one recovers first and shakes his hand. “Akira Kurusu. This is Ann and that’s Ryuji.” Akira points to each of them in turn.
“Nice to meet you,” he nods. Then, he smiles and asks casually.
“So, I hear you guys are the Phantom Thieves?”
Akira winces, Ann glances around frantically and Ryuji sputters.
Goro smirks.
He needs to troll way more often.