Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Case closed. This is how your ‘justice’ ends.”

One breath, two. Finger on the trigger.

Ren’s unblinking stare bores into him, a million questions and objections and concerns swirling behind that familiar dark blue. Questions he might have wanted to hear, concerns he might have wanted to discuss.

Too late now.

Gunshots were not nearly as dramatic as they appeared in movies. No sending the victim flying backwards or throwing them against a wall. Ren doesn’t move, seeming almost unaffected, were it not for the blood that blooms and begins to pour down his forehead.

Ren’s face lands on the table with an almost comical thud, the impact echoing in the room. Then, silence.

Way too late.

Akechi slides the gun into Ren’s hand, curling unmoving fingers around it. The splatters of red are so distracting. Without them, one could almost pretend Ren is just asleep.

He checks his clothes quickly for any blood splatter. None. Adjusting his gloves, he turns and departs the scene.

Way, way too late.

His chest is burning.

Hadn’t he gotten over this by now? He’s ended so many lives before--yes, it was always in the Metaverse, but it was still by his hand. A killing in the real world is no different. The important thing is he’s now one step closer to his goal.

And anyway, it’s too late.

He pauses on his way down the hall. For a second, he thinks it’s regret. But no, something else is tugging at his attention. A familiar, but very faint sensation. He’d felt it before, when he stopped briefly to speak to Sae on her way out. She’d seemed troubled.

He’d thought it was just his nerves then, a concern for the plan going as expected. But to feel it again now…

Akechi stops. Even though he isn’t actually a detective, so long pretending to be one has still helped improve his observational skills. He spares a few precious moments to try and compartmentalize this feeling, to retrace where he’s felt it before, and why it has him more tense--

The Metaverse. Could it be?

Akechi turns abruptly, goes back down the hall where he came. His searching eyes land on the guard--the one he’d had escort him into the room. The one he’d disarmed and killed.

Time travel isn't a thing. Which means he was inadvertently in the Metaverse. His plan was undone. He has to do it again. This also means that this was a setup--did Sae know? No, she seemed genuinely uninvolved. Then the Phantom Thieves are responsible. All of them? It has to be. They make decisions as a group. The finer details of how need to be processed, but at a later time. The most pressing thing now is having to repeat himself, like deja vu, but with less time and more chance for Sae to come back or someone to notice something amiss. He has to act, and quickly.

But now…

…it’s not too late.

Conflict plagues him, even as he wills himself back. Even as he schools his features when approaching the guard. Even as he says the same lines he said moments ago. Even as it works just as effectively on the real guard.

Even as he's led inside, even as he focuses on taking the gun, even as he shoots the guard yet again , even as the guard collapses in almost the exact same way.

The first real difference is Ren.

In the Metaverse, Ren had been bruised, beaten, but alert. He’d reacted to the situation, seemed shocked as Akechi’s truth spilled out, stared down the face of his murderer without wavering--just like Akechi would have expected him to.

Here, Ren is already slumped against the table.

That burning feeling is back. But Ren’s back rises and falls; he’s still alive. The culprit is a second syringe lying on the ground near the first--a harder dose than Akechi would have initially thought. Due to Ren’s resistance? Or proof of the police being especially cautious?

Too late.

No, not too late. But--

Akechi moves around the table, distantly aware that time is short. He crouches down, moving Ren’s arm aside to get a look at his face.

Ren’s eyes are open, but he’s so clearly out of it that they may as well be closed. After a beat, his lids flutter, he squints, and shifts, raising his head. “...Akechi,” he finally says.

Akechi has the gun. He’s taking precious time. He knows that the Phantom Thieves know, and they concocted some sort of scheme to trick him into thinking they didn’t.

“Your little plan didn’t work,” is his greeting.

Ren breathes in, out. “Is this real?”

“Of course it is.” Drugs are annoying.

Slowly, Ren pulls himself to a sitting position, one hand coming up to hold his head. Akechi stands now, and raises his own hand. The gun holds steady an inch from Ren’s eternally messy black hair.

He doesn’t need to explain. Ren knows he’s a traitor.

“I can’t tell.” Ren seems so out of it, but he’s trying to pull himself back in.

“You can’t tell that it’s real? Of course not; you’re drugged out of your mind,” Akechi snorts.

“I thought…you’d already shot me.”

Akechi raises an eyebrow. “Dreaming about me, are we?” It’s an automatic response, as he tries to calculate these new developments.

“You came in and killed the…” Ren trails off when his eyes finally land on the dead guard. He’s still for a moment, and then says again in a much quieter voice, “is this real?”

Is it shock that their grand plan failed? Or have the drugs been feeding him illusions as well?

Pathetic. Disgusting. Something about it makes Akechi’s blood boil. It suits the burning in his chest. He has a plan--he had a plan, but the Thieves were a step ahead of him. They must have some additional steps to rescue Ren as well. After all, they wouldn’t leave their precious leader in police custody.

Well. He’s not about to be outdone. The fact that he almost fell for their stupid scheme pisses him off, and he feels a rising urge to make it crystal clear to them that they failed , that they can not outwit him.

The easy way is to shoot Ren for real.

It was too late. It had been too late. By a very infuriating set of circumstances, he’s been granted a do-over. He’d left the room with regrets--he can admit that to himself, in the urgency of this moment. And now he has the chance to address them. He wants to prove he’s better than the idiots who had tried to trick him.

And he wants a more satisfying end than this.

He glances back, at the dead guard. Quickly he moves to the corpse, ensuring his gloves are in place before he begins a cursory search. He’s in luck--the man has a pair of handcuffs. Akechi grabs them and stands, moving close to Ren again. His free hand sinks into Ren’s sleeve, squeezing the arm underneath, and pulls. “Get up.”

Ren is basically dead weight. He rises slowly, much too slowly. Akechi’s head is quickly sifting through ideas and calculations, and he yanks harder, trying to speed up the pace. Ren stumbles, tips forward, unable to balance his own weight.

Alechi pivots his shoulder to catch Ren’s weight before he falls. Time’s running short. His eyes sweep the room for anything that may need to be moved. His shoes are clean, he didn’t touch the door or the table.

He handcuffs Ren with ease, ignoring the reddened marks the metal slides into place over. A problem immediately arises as he stares at the door. He was planning to leave alone. Trying to explain his way out of relocating such an important prisoner is far more trouble than it’s worth. And he’s growing more convinced by the minute that the Phantom Thieves will try to contact Sae to help them. She’ll be back, he’s sure of it.

Well, even though their pathetic scheme has failed, they ended up showing him the easiest way to get out of here. Akechi shifts Ren’s weight in order to pull his cellphone from his pocket.

The news cycle came and went that day without any notable updates. Something had gone wrong. Futaba’s text alert only confirmed it--she’d gotten a response from Sae, who was confused and somewhat indignant about the situation. Then, after trading a few texts back and forth, Sae’s messages had abruptly stopped.

A little later, Makoto received a text from Sae:

“Go straight home after school.”

Makoto promised to get in touch with the others as soon as she could find something out. Something unexpected must have come up. Had something happened to Ren and prevented him from explaining the situation?

Futaba advised that hacking into the police station’s system was a difficult and dangerous step, even for her, but she would try it and see if anything could be uncovered.

Makoto did not text the group that night, and the next morning arose with still no information on the news. Ryuji and Ann’s increasingly worried texts finally made Yusuke snap. He warned that every notification from them was only dashing their hopes on actual word about the situation. Futaba went radio silent for the rest of the school day, and Ryuji and Ann texted each other privately to fret about the situation.

Haru messaged the group once that evening, letting them know a couple of detectives had arrived at her home saying they wanted to ask more questions about her father’s case. Speculation flew in the group chat, and Haru was able to join back in about an hour later. She said they had asked some shallow questions about it, but then started asking some things that worried her. They seemed much more interested in discussing the Phantom Thieves, specifically its leader, and what information she had on him.

Something in the wording of her text caused Ann to immediately offer to come over and spend the night. Haru agreed. Futaba explained to a dumbfounded Ryuji and Yusuke that the interview had likely rattled Haru and Ann had picked up on it.

The sun had gone down by the time Makoto texted again. She said they had a problem, and Sae wanted to meet with them all the next day.

Chapter Text

Ren in the Metaverse but without his Thief costume is…a strange sight. It definitely feels wrong, especially when Akechi’s outfit appears with no preamble. Idly, Akechi finds himself wondering if it’s more tied to the mental state than he realized. It could be a fascinating thing to investigate.

But he has priorities. There’s no telling how long it will take the rest of the Thieves to realize their plan’s gone awry, and if they immediately think to come looking in the Metaverse, they could likely find either himself or Ren quite easily. Futaba’s general presence is such an inconvenience.

The best thing to do is to find a place that they don’t know about, and take shelter there until he can come up with more concrete plans. At the same time, he knows that once their search begins, it will be unrelenting. His own Palace is absolutely off-limits; they haven’t conceived of the possibility of changing his heart, and he doesn’t want them getting any ideas.

As crazy as it is, he comes to a decision that will work at least in the short term. The Phantom Thieves don’t know anything about Shido’s Palace yet, and won’t be able to find it. Even if they try to track himself or Ren through the Metaverse, they can’t get there without the proper coordinates. And he’ll have time to decide what he wants to do; even if they do eventually find out about it, they’ll be severely crippled with the core of their group missing.

So that is how he finds himself boarding the obscenely ridiculous cruise ship, pulling Ren along by the elbow. His timing is decent, and to his own convenience Ren’s clothes still don’t change. The most recent information Shido would have received was the leader of the Phantom Thieves being in custody, with the expectation of a quick disposal soon after. Ren won’t be considered a threat for a while.

Even still, caution is for the best. Akechi had traversed Shido’s Palace only a few times in order to get an idea of the layout. He uses that knowledge now to avoid most of the crowds, not wanting even the smallest thing to catch Shadow Shido’s notice. The less hassles, the better.

Once they've made it off the main floors, he can afford to relax a bit. The last time he’d come here, he’d swiped a couple of key cards from reception and stuck them in the locks of their respective doors as a test. One is still there, and he opens the door to a generic hotel-like room complete with a large king-sized bed and curtained windows leading to a balcony.

Akechi shuts the door, drags Ren to the bed, and throws him down on it by the grip on his elbow. Ren lands on his side with a grunt, and Akechi is already walking away, towards the window. He bats aside the curtains and pulls open the sliding door to look out. This balcony is practically useless for its normal purpose--the guardrails surrounding it are more like tall walls that rise well over his head. Not much trouble for your average Thief, but a decent enough deterrent for an inebriated mind.

He closes and locks the door again, yanking the curtains back in place.

“Where are we?”

Ren still sounds out of it, but like he’s trying very hard to pay attention. He had put up no fight at all the whole way here. Perhaps he was trying to memorize his surroundings to plan an escape, or something else stupid and straight out of a movie.

No real point in hiding much from him now. “Shido’s Palace,” Akechi says. “Those cuffs have no key, so don’t bother searching for one. And I can assure you, you’re no match for any of the Shadows here in your present state.”

Ren’s sitting by now, unsteady but upright. Still battered, still in his uniform, still missing his trademark glasses. In a normal situation he would almost look like he’s pouting, the way he’s slouched on the bed with his hands passively in his lap.

“Why didn’t you kill me?” he asked next.

Akechi finds himself leaning against the nearby desk, arms crossing automatically. “Would you prefer it if I had?” he asks with a bit of a sneer.

“I expected it. I thought you already…”

Ren trails off again, seeming a bit lost. Akechi can’t help a little flare of curiosity. “You keep saying things like that. How hard is it for the vaunted leader of the Phantom Thieves to recognize reality?” he sort-of asks.

The only response is a slow shake of Ren’s head, as if trying to manually clear his thoughts.

“Anyway, you can enjoy a little extra time alive and detoxing. From what I’ve seen in other cases, the withdrawal should be a bitch.” He smirks at the last. “If you’re suitably pathetic enough to beg, I might even come back with some food. After all, sustaining yourself in the Metaverse is a tough job.”

He’s thinking again. The effects of the drug won’t last forever, of course. Once Ren gets his senses back, he’ll try to escape, or maybe reason with Akechi, or even switch to a full offensive. It’s in Akechi’s best interests to keep Ren’s state of mind compromised for as long as possible, until he can fully sort out his next move.

Really, he’d had time to regret his regrets all the way here. But he’s committed now. Killing Ren at this point would be a complete waste of his effort. He can undermine the rest of the Thieves, get closer to his goal, and still leave Ren alive. And maybe at a later date he can sort out just why he was so determined to keep Ren alive.

“And then what?” Ren asks.

Dammit.

Akechi sighs dramatically. “Does it really matter? You’ve lived to see another day, and it honestly seems like you’re not particularly grateful. If you’re going to cause trouble about it, then maybe I can just toss you downstairs and let the Shadows have you.”

Ren tenses. He looks down at himself, as if realizing he’s still in his uniform.

“Not so tough without your fancy disguise, are we? And with how hard it is for you to string words together, summoning a Persona is most likely impossible. Any other questions, or do you want to press your luck some more?”

Ren’s head doesn’t lift. He’s silent.

Akech scoffs, feeling a weird sense of triumph. “Thought so. I have some matters to attend to in the real world, but I’ll be back. Why don’t you entertain yourself by imagining me coming in to kill you again, since you seem so attached to the idea?”

He moves past Ren, pulling the door open and exiting decisively. This is weird , he can easily admit. He’s taunting Ren, taking advantage of his weakened state, but still messing up everyone’s plans and enjoying it.

Maybe that’s all it is--not saving Ren for Ren’s sake, but just ruining things for everyone else. For the Thieves, for Sae, for his piece of shit father… everyone . Proving that he’s smarter and more capable than the people who constantly keep trying to trick him, use him, and control him.

He feels better already.

After Akechi leaves, Ren tries to get up and investigate the room. The obvious first choice is the window.

He doesn’t make it.

Head spinning, ground tiling, stomach churning, he has to lie down on the floor after a few steps on his own. It’s just another surge of nausea and lightheadedness, and it will pass. It will pass.

He closes his eyes.

No knocking, just police streaming into Leblanc. They’re there for him, to arrest him. Sojiro protests, but they’re there for Sojiro too--harboring a fugitive.

The ride takes a few seconds and a few years. He’s shoved into that cold, dark room. The door swings open, and Akechi strides in.

Gun.

The sound is like an explosion all around him. Being shot is so loud .

“An unfortunate fate, but perhaps befitting such a fool.”

Igor would be so disappointed.

He sucks in a breath and forces his eyes open. The cold, hard floor of the interrogation cell presses unforgivingly against his cheek. The dead-eyed officer is there, holding up the syringe just used, watching judgmentally as it takes hold on him.

He hurts.

It’s okay, he can endure. For the sake of the plan, he can endure.

Wait, did he tell Sae about the phone?

…What did he tell Sae? She was here, wasn’t she? At some point, he spoke to her…or asked for her. No, he didn’t ask for her--they wouldn’t have listened to him. She showed up on her own, like they’d known she would. Like they’d desperately hoped she would.

“Sign here.” The officer holds a clipboard and a gun. No, a pen. Sae is watching overhead, expression impassive.

He’d signed his name months ago. Why do they want it again?

Why the hell is he being interrogated on the floor of his own bedroom?

Ren shakes, feeling awareness return in little bursts. The floor beneath him is soft, actually, and smells generic. It’s an unfamiliar place.

Concentrate. Akechi brought him here. After shooting him, Akechi brought him here. No, concentrate . Akechi never shot him, just pulled him up and took them both into the Metaverse. Akechi, cold and callous and a danger to his life, had been the only solid thing he’d could lean on as they made their way here.

Ren reminds himself of this until it sticks, and then slowly, painfully, gets up. If he’d had his ever-growing arsenal of items, he could heal himself, rejuvenate his mind, and get out of here. The threads of his Personas are there, but thin and wavering like heat waves in the distance. Trying to grasp them feels like trying to grab the wind.

First he has to be able to think straight, but he’s so tired.

With what reserves of strength he has, he hauls himself up and manages to sit on the bed again.

Oh. A bed.

Ren lets himself fall onto his side, sinking into the softness. It feels like the most comfortable thing in the world. Of course; if he sleeps he can recover, at least somewhat. He can think better, and plan, and try to understand why Akechi brought him here.

Will his dreams make sense?

RS: OK.

RS: I had some time to think about things on the train ride home.

AT: Glad one of us did.

RS: Just hear me out, alright?!

RS: Maybe Ren just up and escaped.

AT: But then why wouldn’t they put out a warrant for his arrest or announce it on the news so people could be on the lookout?

YK: Perhaps they wish to cover it up.

RS: Yeah! Maybe they’re just gonna try to find him in secret but not tell anyone, since they made such a big deal of catching him in the first place!

HO: So in a sense, they’re trying not to lose face?

AT: Hmm, I guess that makes sense.

AT: But do they really think they can hide it forever?

RS: Dunno.

FS: That’s probably why they ambushed Haru. And they might approach the rest of us, too.

AT: Then we need to lay low, at least until we can figure out what ACTUALLY happened to Ren.

MN: The main thing is, we have to be careful. Especially since Sis has gone to all this effort to explain what’s going on.

HO: Will Niijima-san get in trouble for talking to us?

MN: Only if we let slip what we know.

YK: Then secrecy is of the utmost importance. At least now that we are forewarned, any additional inquiries from the police can be prepared for.

FS: Niijima-san all but confirmed they know we’re the Thieves. Everyone needs to stay alert, but don’t draw suspicion. This chat and Leblanc are secure--that’s it. So don’t go talking about business where sneaky ears can hear, got it?

RS: I can tell you’re talkin’ to me, and I won’t, jeez!

MN: Sis said if she gets in touch with Akechi, she’ll let us know. Him being missing at the same time as Ren absolutely can’t be a coincidence.

AT: Hey, do you think…

RS: Don’t finish that sentence.

AT: I didn’t even say it yet!

RS: Good, and keep it that way! We’re not giving up on our leader that easy.

MN: Let’s be hopeful, but realistic. If Futaba’s able to get any more information from the police department, we can act on that. Until then, we keep it quiet.

RS: Stop repeating that! I’m gonna keep a low profile, all right??

HO: Just stay safe, everyone. We might need to be ready to act at a moment’s notice.

FS: Next plan! Mona says that we should get together after school tomorrow and look through the Metaverse.

RS: Wait, really? D’you think Ren’s there?

MN: It would certainly explain his disappearance, if he’s truly missing.

YK: Not a bad idea. Where should we meet?

MN: Let’s make it Leblanc, just like always.

AT: I can do that.

FS: And I’ll hopefully have some results to share once we’re all grouped up, too.

RS: Alright, tomorrow it is!

Chapter Text

The phone makes it through four and a half rings before it clicks. “Tell me.”

Akechi is ready. “It’s done, but there was a complication.”

“Explain.”

“There’s no body. You’ll have to do a little extra work to cover it up.”

“Why is there no body?”

“He was lucid enough to put up a fight, and tried to escape into the Metaverse. Apparently he’d been able to get hold of his phone sometime during his interview with Sae Niijima.”

There’s a displeased tsk from the other end. “And then?”

“Obviously I followed him and finished the job.”

“You couldn’t have brought the body back?”

“You’re well aware of the elements available in the Metaverse. There wasn’t enough of a body to bring. Whatever the case, your passel of pocket cops can cover it up like they would anything else.”

“...I suppose this is sufficient. So long as the job is done.”

“Another thing, though. I’ll likely be laying low for a short time, after I’ve handled a few more matters.”

“Why is that?”

“I’m laying a trap for the remaining Thieves, and for Sae-san as well. I don’t doubt she will become a growing thorn in your side, so do with that information what you will.”

“I see. Very well, arrangements can be made. Should any additional work arise from this ‘complication’, however, I fully expect you to deal with it swiftly.”

“But of course.”

Unsurprisingly, the call is abruptly ended. Akechi sighs, allowing himself a roll of the eyes as he turns off his phone and puts it back in his pocket. One hurdle dealt with. Two, actually; now he has Ren’s phone. A quick sneak in from the Metaverse made retrieving it from the evidence department child’s play.

Business concluded, Akechi swiftly leaves the police station, nodding and smiling to anyone who notices him. Just another day at the office for the Detective Prince. He’s made it to Station Square before his phone buzzes again, and he’s not surprised to see Sae’s name on the display.

Round two.

“Hello?”

“Akechi, where are you?” Sae is no-nonsense as usual.

“Just on a walk. Is something the matter?”

“Where is Ren Amamiya?”

Akechi lets silence hang between them for a full second. When he speaks, he pours wariness into his voice. “...Should he not be underground in police custody?”

“Please, don’t play games with me. I need to know what you know.”

Akechi smiles and pauses to lean against the nearest wall. “Sae-san, are you accusing me of something?”

“I--” She cuts herself off with a frustrated noise. “I’m being told that he’s dead, and you were the last one I know who would have seen him alive. The guard who was with him is also being reported dead, and apparently there’s going to be a statement made to the public about it.”

“Oh.” Akechi filters shock into his voice. Another beat, before he picks back up in a lower tone, as though he doesn’t want to be overhead. “Sae-san, they were alive when I left. He was too out of it for me to question. At least, that was what I thought.”

“Look, can you meet me at the police station? Something’s not adding up here.”

“Something with the case? Or something with me specifically?”

Sae’s silence is telling. Akechi would laugh if he wasn’t in Detective Prince mode. “It sounds rather a lot like you think I have something to do with this,” he says warningly.

There’s a sigh of frustration. “I’m just trying to find out what’s going on. All of a sudden I have no access to anything, and everyone’s shutting me out. I’ll admit that I do have my suspicions, but all I want is the truth. I’m running out of options, and I need help.”

Akechi, once again, lets a meaningful silence fall between them. Interesting, very interesting. Sae must be desperate for answers.

“So are you accusing me, or trusting me?” he finally asks.

“At this point, I don’t know. I don’t have enough information. Akechi--”

“If you want the truth, I’ve been advised to keep my distance from you until the investigation into the Phantom Thieves is concluded.”

“What?” The shock in Sae’s voice is so satisfying that he has to work harder than usual to avoid bursting into laughter.

“So if we’re going to meet, it can’t be at the police station.”

Another beat of silence. “Where can I meet you?” Sae asks.

“Let me clean up some loose ends with this case, and then we can casually run into each other in Shibuya. I’ll be having dinner there tomorrow while I catch up on my homework.”

“All right.”

After going to the pharmacy and the convenience store, Akechi’s next stop is Shido’s Palace. It seems incongruous to bring a plastic bag of goods into the Metaverse so casually, especially after his clothes change. He makes them shift again, specifically to his Thief outfit--no need to reveal the surprise just yet, after all.

He opens the door, and finds Ren laying on his side on the bed, apparently fast asleep. The room seems undisturbed otherwise. Akechi glances around to confirm. Or…considering how the table is a lot more askew than it was before, maybe he tried to make a break for it and failed.

Akechi scoffs. Idiot. He shoves the table back in place, then on second thought pushes it up against the sliding glass doors. Then, he settles down in the chair next to the bed, dropping the bag he’d brought on said table. He crosses his legs and steeples his fingers as he examines Ren, thinking.

Why did he let Ren live?

Honestly, such an impulsive move is doing nothing but causing complications. If he’d just shot Ren, the real one, he’d still be ruining everyone’s plans. Well, everyone but Shido. But it’s not like he can’t ruin Shido’s plans another way.

Also, despite this going fairly well so far, he’s not exactly an expert at kidnapping. Having a prisoner means upkeep. The Thieves will be looking for him, too. And hiding him right under Shido’s nose will get more and more risky as the election draws closer.

“Perhaps I should just kill you and be done with it,” Akechi thinks aloud, staring intently at Ren’s form.

It would be easy. A simple summon of Robin Hood, or maybe Loki just for fun. Slide his mask into place, flex his mental energy to summon one of his Personas…

Suddenly irritated, he sighs and shakes his head. No. He’s invested in this course now. Constantly changing his mind is only going to make things more difficult. Killing Ren is the easy way out, and his end goal is much more complicated than that.

Eyes are on him.

Akechi looks up. Ren is awake, silently staring at him from the bed.

“Welcome back, sleeping beauty,” Akechi comments dryly.

Unsteady, and with the speed of an old man, Ren sits up. “How long have I been out?” he asks, sounding groggy.

“Long enough.” No need to give him more clues than necessary. Akechi leans away to grab the bag and then straightens to toss it at the bed. It lands on Ren’s feet and startles him a bit, bringing a smirk to the Detective Prince’s face. “I brought you something. A bit of a role reversal, so apologies if I don’t know your tastes as well as you know mine.”

Warily, Ren reaches out with his cuffed hands and opens the bag to look inside. His brows raise. “First aid supplies?”

“You look like shit, and I’m tired of looking at it,” Akechi says with a dismissive wave.

He’s mildly surprised to find Ren taking it in stride. “Okay.” Without missing a beat, his prisoner digs into the bag and starts retrieving the things Akechi had painstakingly purchased.

Akechi rests his chin in his hand as he watches. “How’s your stomach?” he finds himself asking. Purely out of curiosity, of course.

“A little queasy.”

“A little ? You sent the table to the other side of the room in your drunken attempts to escape.”

“Just needed some sleep.” Ren decisively rips open a case of bandages.

Akechi makes a disbelieving noise in the back of his throat. Ren’s found the cleaning solution and is washing his face now. Something about his matter-of-fact mood is very strange; best to get to the bottom of it. “So…” Akechi begins, “you’re taking this whole situation rather well.”

Now Ren has medical tape stuck to his thumb. He seems to be mainly concentrating on peeling it off and getting it properly applied to the gauze. Once he’s succeeded and is less distracted, he responds. “Honestly, I don’t know if this is real or not. So I’m just taking it as is.”

Oh. “Seriously? I guess the drugs take longer to wear off than I realized.” Unless something about the Metaverse has prolonged their effects. Ren was always quick to shake off any ailment inflicted on him in battle, but this is different. Another thing it would be interesting to study if there wasn’t so much going on right now.

He watches, thinking this over. Ren has patched up his face and is now moving on to his hands and arms. He awkwardly pushes up the sleeves of his school uniform, as much as he can with the cuffs on, in order to wipe them down before applying bandages.

Curiosity has Akechi speaking again. “If you don’t think this is real, then where do you believe you are right now?”

Ren pauses, finally looking up at him. His eyes slide away for a moment as he thinks, and there’s a flicker of something negative across his face. “I don’t know,” he says.

“Don’t be ridiculous. If you refuse to accept this as reality, then you must have a place where you believe you really are.”

“...Probably…the cell.” Ren’s quieter as he admits it.

“That bad?” Akechi finds himself asking.

Instead of answering, Ren turns away and grabs more gauze and tape out of the bag.

Weirdly, Akechi finds himself very invested in this now. Of course he’d known that Ren’s time under arrest would be unpleasant, considering everything happening and who the people handling the investigation answered to. He just hadn’t expected it to matter, or for him to hear about it.

“What do you think it would take to convince you that one or the other is real?” Akechi asks.

“A clear mind.”

Akechi smiles. “Do I hear some accusation in your tone?”

“Probably.”

“To be fair, I’m not the one that drugged you and beat the shit out of you. I had nothing to do with that part.”

Ren glances back at him, a flat look on his face. Akechi laughs--back in his element. “As a matter of fact, wouldn’t it be accurate to say I rescued you? Both times.”

“I don’t think I’d agree.”

“No? What would you call it?”

“Kidnapping.”

Akechi shrugs and spreads his hands. “Fair enough.”

“You never told me why,” Ren says next.

“What’s it matter to you? You and your little band of crooks already made up your minds about me, didn’t you? Had a cute plan to trap me and everything.” Akechi’s smile is sharper. “Now you’re the ones in the dark, flailing about with no answers--isn’t it a shame?”

Ren just looks at him. There’s something deeply meaningful in that gaze. Akechi chooses to ignore it.

Before he can say anything else, a buzzing noise catches their attention. Both of them look down at Ren’s phone, sitting innocently on the arm of the chair Akechi’s in.

Akechi scoops it up, turning it on. “You really should use a password,” he chides. He’s very aware of Ren’s eyes boring into him as he navigates to the Thieves’ group message, but the other teen doesn’t rise to the bait. Pity.

“Oh--I suppose I’ve got quite a bit to catch up on, since I was removed from the group,” Akechi smirks. “Looks like there are some new messages from today. I’m sure they’re quite panicked without their fearless leader to guide them.”

Ren lets out a breath. Something new--frustration--leaks into his face.

“Curious?”

“Of course I am,” Ren says lowly.

Akechi has regained control, and it feels good . He gestures at the floor by his chair. “Well, your legs aren’t tied down, now are they? Come take a look.”

Slowly, looking wary, Ren slides off the side of the bed and stands. He seems a bit unsteady, but successfully makes it the short distance between the bed and chair.

Akechi holds the phone loosely in his hand. “It goes without saying, but if you try anything…”

“I won’t.”

“Good.”

Ren carefully sits down on the floor, back resting against the chair. Akechi stretches a bit and then lets himself lean to that side, angling the phone so Ren can see it but would have to reach up to actually grab it. Although, he does trust that Ren will behave, at least for now.

FS: Mona wants to say something! Uno momento while I translate.

FS: Okay, Mona says that the likelihood of Ren being in Mementos is pretty low. He’s really strong, but even for him the deeper floors would be tough alone. And since we got completely owned before we could even get back to where we left off last time, it’s not likely he’s down there.

AT: So what do we try next?

RS: I know most of the other Palaces probably wouldn’t be a safe place to hide out, but maybe we could try those?

AT: Didn’t most if not all the Palaces self-destruct once their ruler was gone?

RS: There might be some ruins left!

AT: Maybe, but would he be safe there? Or even be able to get there anymore?

MN: I think we’re still glossing over something very important.

MN: Did he escape, or was he taken away?

MN: Until we find out for sure, narrowing down his location will be very difficult.

FS: And I need some kinda range, or I can’t sense him at all! We’ve gotta deduce the spawn location, pronto.

MN: I just got a message from Sis! She said she spoke to Akechi on the phone, and they’re going to meet tomorrow.

FS: So the prodigal son returns.

HO: Can we be there?

MN: I could ask, but if Akechi knows something, all of us showing up might spook him.

HO: …I suppose you’re right.

AT: Sae-san’s been really good at keeping us informed so far. I’m sure she’ll let us know if anything happens!

RS: I just thought of something though.

RS: Will she know the best questions to ask? I mean, even though we kinda talked about things with her, she doesn’t know the Metaverse like we do, right?

AT: Well, maybe we can send her a list of questions to ask.

MN: But then Akechi will probably realize we’re trying to figure out what’s going on.

RS: Okay, so what DO we do?

MN: For now? We wait. Sis is smart, and she’ll get answers. The important thing is not to let on that she’s working with us. If Akechi’s willing to reach out to her, we can’t jeopardize that connection.

YK: I don’t like this.

HO: I don’t either.

FS: Mona doesn’t either!

MN: I know, and I don’t like it myself! I want to find Ren. That’s why I’m suggesting this. Akechi must know something, and I don’t want to scare him off.

YK: And in the meantime, Ren’s fate remains unknown.

…

AT: Guys, Makoto’s doing her best. Don’t jump all over her.

RS: Look, we all wanna help Ren!

RS: Today just kinda sucked. Let’s take a break and just chill out.

FS: Mona says that’s surprisingly mature of you.

RS: Mona can shove it right now.

FS: Yikes.

MN: Okay, please, just stop fighting, everyone.

AT: Everybody take a break, get some food and some rest, and we’ll take this on with clear heads tomorrow, okay?

“What a shame. Looks like they’re dealing with a bit of infighting.” The glee in Akechi’s tone is obvious.

Ren feels dizzy. Maybe it was the journey from the bed to the floor. Maybe it’s witnessing his friends like this. Even with the tonelessness of text he can sense their worry, their stress and unease. They bicker sometimes, but this feels too real, borne out of frustration and fear.

It hurts. He hurts.

“Tired?”

Ren shakes his head. How many arms does this chair have?

“Just using my leg as a pillow for fun, then, I guess.”

Oh, it’s not a part of the chair.

He’d felt more alert when he woke up, but it feels like it’s going away again. Maybe this is when the dream ends, and he wakes up for real.

If this is a dream, then his friends fighting doesn’t matter. Does it? It’s so hard to think. If he lets himself drift, stop focusing on being so, well, focused , then he can feel the unpleasant air and oppressive forms of the police officers who--

The chair arm that is actually Akechi’s leg moves. Ren sits up, but it feels like the ground beneath him is slowly tilting. He presses back against the chair to try and ground himself.

“Did that really make you sick? Good grief. I hope that’s the drugs and you’re not actually this pathetic.”

“Always had a way with words,” Ren mutters. The room is too unsteady, so he closes his eyes.

He hears Akechi’s laugh. He can smell the slight crispiness from the space heater and wonders again about checking it. Morgana said it wouldn’t explode, probably. He should scoot it closer to the bed so they can both stay warm--it’s getting colder out, after all.

Why would Akechi be in his room? Weird…normally Akechi only visits downstairs in Leblanc.

There’s a sigh miles away. “Get up,” Akechi’s voice says to him from underwater. Something is pulling on his arm, urging him to stand. He rises, slowly, not sure if his feet are on grass or concrete.

He’s moving, he thinks, but it’s getting harder and harder to tell. He might just be walking in place. He’d been too tired to pace in the underground cell, but he’d really wanted to. His wrists burn where the cuffs scrape over the welts already there--and that’s another thing. Who decided to cuff his arms in front of him this time?

Oh well, third time’s the charm.

His back hits something soft. The floor. Nope, bed. It’s a bed. Still hurts. He hisses through his teeth. He didn’t get to work on his ribs or stomach. Ryuji’s going to freak out the next time they exercise together.

“What a nuisance.”

Being in pain is a nuisance. “Yeah,” he agrees, though he’s not sure how he spoke. He is having some difficulty finding his entire face.

He hears the plastic bag rustle, and then an aggrieved noise. Something wet is being wiped over where his wrists hurt the most.

What do you think it would take to convince you?

He and Akechi have never had much actual physical contact. Aside from minor things like high-fiving each other when playing darts, their shoulders brushing on a packed train, their fingertips briefly coming in contact when handing things to each other…normal stuff. Once at the jazz club they’d tried each other’s drinks. When he’d briefly disguised Akechi in public, he’d had to touch Akechi’s hair. He isn’t incredibly familiar with what Akechi feels like, the way he would be if Ryuji’s arm went over his shoulder, or Ann touched his arm, or Futaba grabbed his hand.

It’s weird that he immediately knows Akechi’s hands are bandaging his wrists. Akechi only holds guns. Not bandages. Just like the police only hold clipboards for him to sign, or syringes. Just like Sae only looks at him with an empty expression. It’s a moment of strangeness that feels like clarity.

He makes himself open his eyes. The room is glowing with orange light. Akechi is there, looking down at him with a frown.

“Akechi?” he tries.

“You’re welcome,” Akechi says, looking annoyed.

“...Is this real?”

Akechi sighs and rolls his eyes, moving away. Ren’s eyes are too tired to follow him, so he lets them close.

“Yes it is.”

The confirmation helps him go back to sleep.

Chapter Text

Makoto was worried about Sae meeting with Akechi alone. It could be some kind of trap--after all, Akechi had somehow seen through their plan. He had to know that they were onto him. 

It had been her idea not to tell Sae about Akechi’s true involvement in the case. At first, it was a way of keeping as little information as possible from leaking. But now, it felt like a way to protect her. If Akechi didn’t see Sae as a threat, maybe he would leave her alone, or just try to manipulate her.

Makoto made the decision to accompany Sae to the meeting. She wanted to discuss it with the others, but no one had spoken in the group chat since last night’s confrontation. She hadn’t run into any of the others at school, either. They were being smart and laying low…or maybe they were avoiding her.

It didn’t matter. She would look out for Sae. She would face down Akechi. And she would find out where Ren was. Then they would realize just how much this meant to her, and how desperately she truly wanted to help.

Akechi is both surprised and not surprised when Sae appears at the top of the stairs with Makoto. He’d expected some kind of backup for her, but had thought perhaps all of them would attempt to horn in on this. Sae spots him first, and approaches him in her usual brisk and businesslike manner. Makoto, laughably, shoots him a look of pure venom before heading to an empty table in the corner.

Playing the part of model student now, he has his homework spread out on the table. “Ah, Sae-san. Good to see you,” he says pleasantly, smiling as she sits down in the booth across from him.

“Thanks for meeting me,” she says, her voice pitched low enough not to carry.

“Of course. Your sister won’t be joining us?”

“No. She did insist on coming, but I told her we’d be speaking on some confidential matters.”

“And just her?”

“Just her,” Sae confirms.

Good. Akechi nods slowly, leaning forward and linking his fingers together. “All right, then. I’m afraid there’s not much else I can tell you regarding the case.”

Sae sighs. Her arms automatically cross. “If ‘they’ are telling you to keep away from me, then something must be brewing. You don’t know of anything?”

“Beyond the focus shift to gathering evidence on the remaining Thieves now that our best lead is gone…I really don’t, Sae-san.”

There’s the briefest flicker of her eyes in Makoto’s direction. Reflexive, and she covers it quickly. Makoto is staring daggers at him from her own table in the corner.

“May I ask a question?” Akechi asks.

“Of course.”

“Why was your sister so insistent on being here?”

Now, with a safer reason to do so, Sae does glance at Makoto more obviously. “I believe she’s worried something might happen.”

“Does she think I’d set up some sort of sting operation?” Akechi lets a teasing smile spread on his face.

“I think she suspects far more of you. And considering what little answers I have, I’m not sure what to think myself,” Sae says bluntly.

“Oh? Well then, I guess offering to meet you wasn’t enough.”

“There’s any number of ulterior motives you could have for this, Akechi. Don’t play dumb.”

Akechi sighs and absently twirls the pencil laying on the table. “I suppose. I have to admit, though, constantly attempting to prove myself to you does feel like it’s becoming more trouble than it’s worth. I’m risking quite a bit with this meeting. We’ve been colleagues for a while. Not to mention that your oh-so-skeptical sister is the one who’s a member of the Phantom Thieves. A fact that I haven’t yet reported, by the way, despite the risk that poses to me. I would have thought that afforded me some measure of trust.”

It seems to work. Sae deflates slightly in her seat, and looks away for just a moment, painted fingernails drumming on her arm. “...I’m sorry,” she finally says. “Things are escalating very rapidly, and I don’t like being on the outs with no way to get information.”

Akechi nods. “I understand. I can’t promise I can do much to change your situation, but I’ll try to help how I can.”

“I appreciate it,” she sighs. “Now can I ask you a question?”

“Certainly.”

“When you were working with the Thieves, did your opinion about them change at all?”

Akechi smiles a little cautiously. “I’m not certain what that would have to do with my assigned task of apprehending them.”

“There’s a lot going on here. When I spoke to Ren, we were able to talk for a while.”

“I assume he mentioned me, and that’s why you’re bringing this up?”

Sae nods.

Akechi leans in a little more. “I imagine he was upset at the perceived betrayal.”

“This was towards the tail end, when he started to lose more focus. There was something about you he was trying to communicate with me. He seemed more…worried, than anything.”

“Well, I suppose that’s natural, considering his circumstances.”

Sae’s fingers drum a little faster before stopping. She seems restless. Akechi waits.

“Akechi…”

“Yes?”

She looks at him steadily. “Can you look me in the eye, and tell me you didn’t do anything to Ren Amamiya?”

Interesting. Oh so interesting.

Makoto’s in the corner staring at him with the power of two thousand suns.

He lets his smile fade into a more serious expression and focuses on Sae’s gaze. Looks her right in the eyes.

“I didn’t kill Ren Amamiya.”

She watches him. He watches her. After a long few seconds, some of the tension in her shoulders eases. She lets out a slow breath. “I see. Thank you, Akechi.”

“Of course.”

With that, she stands. “I won’t stay too long. I don’t want to jeopardize your place in the investigation. But if you hear anything you think I’d want to know…”

Akechi nods serenely. “I’ll reach out. I promise.”

“Good. And I hope you understand this--I do recognize the situation you’re putting yourself in for me. I’m grateful, and I won’t let it go to waste. I promise.” The sincerity in her voice rings like a clear bell.

God, he wants to laugh.

Sae steps out of the booth and heads towards where her sister sits. Akechi neatly folds his hands on the table and watches them, waiting. The show’s not over just yet--of that, he’s certain.

Makoto’s head snaps to Sae upon her approach, and they share a quick, hushed conversation. Makoto then looks back at Akechi’s table before she says something to her sister. Sae’s shaking her head, and they speak again, the conflict subtle but plain to see.

Finally, Sae relents, although she presses her fingers to her temple for a brief moment. She gestures at Akechi’s table and then moves to the landing.

Makoto is up in a flash, striding purposefully over. She’s in the spot where Sae sat within seconds, gaze like red steel, hands folded primly on the table in a mirror to Akechi’s.

He knows Sae is observing them, though out of earshot, and keeps his expression pleasant. “Hello again, Makoto.”

“What did you do to Ren?” she snaps. Even with all the fire in her tone, she still keeps it low.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he replies.

Her fingers tighten around each other. “If you killed him, you could at least tell us.”

“All right, I killed him.”

“Liar.”

He shrugs. “I don’t know what you’re expecting to get out of this conversation. You can only do so much threatening while you keep your sister in the dark.”

“I’m doing that to protect her from you .”

Akechi’s brows raise. “Just you? Didn't bother to put it to a vote with your friends, then?”

Makoto tenses. Sae is watching, so he doesn’t crack. “And here I thought you all made decisions unanimously.” The supreme amount of condescension in his voice despite his perfectly placid face should win an award.

“Just so you know, you can’t hide forever. And you can’t hide Ren forever, either. We will find him.” Makoto stands then, and Akechi’s eyes raise to watch.

“Well then, let the games begin,” he comments.

MK: I have news.

MK: Sis and I spoke to Akechi today.

RS: Wait what? You were there?

AT: What? Where?

HO: What happened?

MK: I went with her, because I wasn’t sure if he would try something.

MK: He didn’t, thankfully, but I think I’ve got the confirmation I wanted.

MK: Sis said she couldn’t give me too much detail, but based on what we discussed, and what happened when I spoke to him, I firmly believe Ren is still alive.

AT: Thank God.

YK: That’s excellent news.

RS: Did you figure out where Akechi has him?

MK: Unfortunately I couldn’t get that much.

FS: No, this works. This DEFINITELY works!

FS: This confirms my theory that Ren’s in the Metaverse.

FS: There’s no way Akechi would just hide Ren out in the real world without there being some way for me to track him down. It’s easier for him to use the Metaverse and leave no trace that the normal police could find. And since he knows about OUR blind spots in the Metaverse too, it gives him a leg up on us.

RS: All right, so now we just have to find out where!

YK: Another foray into the Metaverse tomorrow, then?

FS: Well, that’s where we run into a snag.

FS: According to Mona, we can’t just run through the Metaverse willy-nilly. We need a location.

MK: I could try to contact Akechi again, but if he knows what we suspect, I doubt he’ll cooperate.

AT: Even if he didn’t know, there’s no way he’d tell us. And it’s probably not safe.

RS: Maybe we just gotta nab the creep and make him tell us, then!

FS: Try to use your brain, Ryuji. Akechi figured us out once already. He’s gonna keep his distance from us. I bet the only reason Makoto got a chance to talk to him was because she tagged along with Niijima-san.

YK: A location…would Ren be in a Palace?

HO: If we’ve ruled out Mementos, then I suppose so?

AT: Oh jeez, but where?

MK: Maybe we can meet and try to figure that out instead.

FS: Good idea.

Waking up nauseous is incredibly unpleasant.

Ren is alert and sluggish at the same time. His stomach is heaving. He rolls out of bed, his limbs so stiff it hurts. No, that’s not the only reason why--he just hurts still. He needs to find somewhere to be sick before this gets worse.

This is a hotel room, he registers distantly, which means there must be a bathroom. He sees a door to his left and staggers towards it. He lifts his hands and pushes down the handle.

Heavy though it is, the door opens.

An unfamiliar hallway greets him. The ceiling’s pressing down on his head. He has to concentrate to realize that it's not the ceiling, but his own headache weighing on him. Everything around him still feels closed in, ominous.

Where is he?

Looking around, Ren takes in the plush carpet, the ornately decorated walls, the unfamiliar ceiling. Doors stretch out on either side of him. He must have gotten turned around somewhere.

“Focus,” he mutters to himself.

The surroundings fade away. Spots of malevolence pulse at him distantly. The air is heavy, weighing on him with a familiar oppressive push.

The Metaverse.

It hits him suddenly. How and why he got here, he’s not sure. Maybe he rolled over on his phone and accidentally activated the Meta-Nav? But he’d still have to use the GPS properly, to actually land somewhere, wouldn’t he?

His stomach, tired of being ignored, reminds him very vehemently of why he got up in the first place. He bends at the waist, forcing back the reflexive retch that crawls up his throat. His teeth grit together. He forces himself to breathe deeply through his nose. In, out. Evenly and calmly.

“... the withdrawal should be a bitch.”

He’s not going to give in that easily. He just needs to expel whatever is making him sick, and he can think clearly.

Now with a mission, he turns and staggers back into the room. It’s the Metaverse, but it should still mimic the real world in some respects. Perpendicular to the exit are two more doors, and he shoves one of them open. The glorious sight of a bathroom greets him.

Ren makes it all the way to the toilet without falling. Any chance to congratulate himself is cut short as he finally gives in to the urge to vomit.

He’s not sure how long he lays on the floor. The cold tile feels good against his burning face, though its unyielding rigidity makes his joints groan. At some point, he could sense Sae and the police force impassively watching him bring up the meager contents of his stomach, but he’s alone again.

Someday soon, he should get back up and lie down on the bed. It’s better suited for sleeping, that’s for sure.

Distantly, he hears footsteps. They get closer, and he feels mild surprise when they enter the room. A pause, and then he senses a new presence in the bathroom, one that feels more solid than the police and Sae had.

A heavy sigh. Then, a gloved hand circles his elbow. A solid arm winds around his waist. “Get up,” Akechi’s annoyed voice happens suddenly.

Ren doesn’t feel like helping. He only puts his feet down when Akechi hauls him upright. The room spins a bit, and he groans in discomfort.

“Stop being such a baby. Move.”

He’s towed out of the bathroom. A few more steps, and suddenly he’s falling. Ren’s eyes snap open, and his arms come out to catch him, but he’s too late. He smacks into the pillows on the bed face-first.

“This is worse than babysitting a child,” Akechi sighs.

Slowly, trying to keep the room from spinning any more, Ren rolls over to face him. Akechi stands between the bed and the now-closed door, arms crossed, Thief costume on, mask pushed up diagonally on his head.

“Were you trying to escape?” Akechi sneers.

“Looking for a bathroom,” Ren replies.

“Congratulations, you found it. And then what did you plan to do?”

Ren blinks at him. “Didn’t really think much beyond that.”

Akechi lets out a noise that’s halfway between a laugh and a scoff. “You’re supposed to be the fearless leader, aren’t you? Yet you expect me to believe you had no plan?”

“Besides ‘stop feeling nauseous’, not really.”

With a shake of his head, Akechi glances behind him. “Well, whether it’s true or not, you’ve clued me in to a little loose end of keeping you here. I’ll have to make sure you don’t get to the door again.”

Ren watches him. Akechi doesn’t seem particularly angry at the moment. And Ren himself is feeling a lot more lucid than before. He needs to take advantage of this opportunity, he realizes suddenly. The next time he wakes up might not have as favorable circumstances, or he might be too out of it to do anything with them.

“What if we made a deal?” he asks.

Immediately, Akechi’s eyes return to him. A brow raises. “Oh? This should be good.”

Ren holds up his hands, still handcuffed. “I’m in the Metaverse and at a disadvantage. Even if I tried to get away, I wouldn’t get far.” He can tell that the link to his arsenal of Personas is extremely tenuous at best--much like when he would overdo it on a normal day and run out of energy. “I can agree to stay here.”

He’s being studied. Akechi’s head tilts slowly as he looks down at Ren, red eyes calculating. “And what do you expect of me in return?”

“Let my friends know I’m ok. And tell me what you want with me.”

This time, the noise Akechi makes is clearly a derisive laugh. “You want the evil plan monologue, is that it? Planning to hold out for the valiant heroes to come save you?” the other boy mocks.

“Yep,” Ren agrees, nodding.

“Absolutely sickening.” Abruptly, Akechi moves closer to the bed, leaning down and in so they meet eye to eye inches away from each other. “And how exactly does this benefit me?”

Ren meets his gaze without wavering. “You did rescue me. For some reason, you want me alive. I want me alive, too, so we might as well work together on this.”

“Even if I plan to kill all your precious friends?” Akechi says, his smile cold.

“We’ll talk about it.”

“I’m sure we will.”

They stare at each other for a few moments more, before Akechi straightens up. “All right then, Joker . I’ll play your little game for now. Remember this: step one foot outside this room again, and the deal’s off. I’ll kill you without another thought.”

Ren shrugs. “Fair enough.” The deal between them settles like a firm weight in his chest. An enhancement of the one they already formed, perhaps. A wave of exhaustion hits him--he’s been working harder than he realized to remain normal and clear-headed. Taking a nap sounds like a great idea.

Seeming satisfied, Akechi nods and leans down slightly. He straightens with a plastic bag in hand and tosses it underhand towards the bed, where it lands on Ren’s lap.

A bit startled, Ren glances down. Akechi seems to almost be ignoring him now, striding back to the chair he’d been in last time. So Ren shifts the bag into his hands and pulls it open. He’s not quite sure what he expected to be inside, but he finds a few convenience store snacks and a bottle of water.

“Make it last. I can’t run errands for you forever,” Akechi comments as he sits down, legs automatically crossing at the knee. He’s fished a familiar phone out of his pocket and now seems absorbed in navigating its screen.

Ren cracks open the water first. “Thanks.”

“Whatever.”

• RA: He’s alive.
  
  

Akechi closes the group chat app after sending the message. There are several resultant buzzes as it’s no doubt flooded with replies.

He ignores them and puts Ren’s phone back in his pocket.

Chapter Text

“All right, first condition met,” Akechi says.

Ren looks over at him. He’d been more alert after Akechi had dropped him on the bed, but the edge of unfocused haziness is back in his eyes.

It must be the Metaverse prolonging the effects of the drugs. Even with a double dose, Ren shouldn’t still be having this much trouble days later. This will certainly work in Akechi’s favor, but he feels a vague annoyance as well. Ren should be hardy enough to overcome this.

“You can’t do any better than this? Really? The way you act as Joker could make one believe you’re invincible.”

Ren’s eyes close, and he breathes deeply through his nose. “I know,” he says.

“I guess it was all fun and games to you, getting to play the part of the suave, sexy thief.” Akechi shakes his head. “Ridiculous.”

“You think I’m sexy?”

“What?” Akechi’s head snaps up, and he watches Ren’s eyes flutter back open. Akechi makes a face. The lack of smugness in Ren’s sleepy eyes is the only thing that prevents the knee jerk sarcastic response.

“Clearly the drugs are kicking back in. Looks like one purge wasn’t enough,” he sighs instead.

A moment of silence falls between them. Ren’s phone buzzes again. And again. Akechi waits, but Ren seems to be properly falling asleep now, and doesn’t have enough presence of mind to ask.

“You’re not even a little curious what your friends are talking about right now?” Akechi asks.

Again Ren’s eyes open and blink. It looks like he’s trying hard to pay attention.

“Are you going to tell me?” he asks.

Akechi props his chin in his hand. “I’m not your messenger. If you want to know, you can come look.”

Ren makes some sort of noise through his nose. “That’s not fair. I’m tired,” he says.

“Then I guess it’s not important.”

“You can’t gloat about it if I fall asleep.”

“Sure I can.”

Ren lets his eyes close again, but then heaves a sigh and pushes himself upright, angling to shuffle out of bed. Akechi’s lips curl into a victorious smirk. He’s merciful, though; when Ren makes it over to the chair and sits down on the floor, he fishes the phone back out.

“Ready for storytime?” he says.

Ren braces against the front of the chair to say upright. He tilts his head back against the arm, and makes a face at Akechi. “You’re really enjoying this.”

“Of course I am,” Akechi replies nonchalantly. And he’ll keep enjoying it, too. This is how it should have been from the beginning--him in charge, pulling the strings, the Thieves helpless and unable to do anything besides play his game.

And Ren…

Well, Ren’s current role wasn’t one he’d initially plotted out for, but he is nothing if not able to improvise.

• RA: He’s alive.

AT: Ren?!

RS: REN??

AT: Wait, “he’s” alive?

FS: What the hell?

YK: It’s him!

YK: Wait…

RS: He’s alive? He?

FS: BRB, I can try to track his phone.

AT: Wait, but…

HO: What’s going on?

RS: Hey! Who is this?? Who’s got Ren’s phone?

AT: It’s gotta be Akechi, duh!

HO: But why break the silence?

RS: Wait, shit, if it’s Akechi, then that means he can read this chat!

RS: He can read ALL our chats with Ren!

AT: Well if he didn’t know that already you sure told him!

YK: I don’t doubt he would have considered that previously.

MN: Everyone, be very careful what you say from now on. Akechi may have tipped his hand, but that doesn’t mean there’s not something else up his sleeve.

AT: That just means we can’t use this chat anymore.

RS: Shit, but what do we do instead?

MN: Perhaps we can discuss it at school, where we’re certain of no eavesdroppers.

• RA: I’d strongly advise against alternate means of communication.

RS: Look here, you little shit, you don’t get to spy on us and tell us what to do!

AT: We’re being threatened.

RS: Of course we are!

YK: Let us speak to Ren, so we may ascertain his well-being.

• RA: No.

HO: Why are you even interacting with us like this?

…

RS: Of course he doesn’t respond. Asshole.

MN: This is some sort of play.

MN: Perhaps he’s enjoying our panic.

FS: Clear the comms, everyone. We’ll talk in person. Inari, meet us. I’ll text you.

YK: Understood.

Akechi can’t help a laugh. “They’re running around like filthy rats. Pitiful.”

“They’re more resourceful than you give them credit for,” Ren says from the floor.

“Of course you would say that,” Akechi scoffs. He waits, but nothing else pops up. They really heeded the call to panic.

He puts the phone away again, and rises from the chair. “Storytime’s over. Better get back to bed, like a good little brat.”

Ren’s attempt at rising from the floor is so sad that Akechi laughs again. The illustrious Joker, leader of the Phantom Thieves, looks like he got bogged down in a pool of molasses.

“Absolutely pitiful,” Akechi sneers. But a moment later, he leans down to firmly grasp Ren’s elbow and haul him up.

The slightly taller boy leans heavily against him, and it pulls him back to one of their escapades into Mementos. One of the especially difficult Shadows had forced an overwhelming fear onto Joker and Fox. Fox hadn’t lasted more than a few moments before running away, Skull chasing after him and swearing up a storm.

Crow had immediately gone to Joker’s side to snap him out of it. Panther was panicking a bit. “Distract it!” he’d half-snapped at her, and she’d given him a glare but thrown herself into a flurry of attacks to divert the Shadow’s attention.

When he’d gotten to Ren--to Joker--the terror was clear. But even still, he hadn’t run. Crow had knocked some sense into him, and pulled him back to his feet. Mona called in Queen to take the empty space. They finished without any more significant roadblocks.

During a break on a lower floor’s station, Mona had teased them about Crow looking a little too enthusiastic about slapping Joker silly. Joker had just put his hand over the fresh print on his cheek and shrugged with that oh-so-Joker smirk. Crow had resisted an eye roll and magnanimously changed the subject.

There were often moments like that between them, and despite his loathing for the leader of the Phantom Thieves, neither of them pulled away from it. Akechi had fashioned himself as a polite but detached person, never letting anyone too close into his personal space. Easier to keep up the facade that way. He’d slipped a bit in admitting his hatred to Ren, in challenging him to a duel in the Metaverse, but it hadn’t seemed to change much. Ren’s treatment of him stayed the same.

Or maybe that was a bit of a lie. Things did change--they spent more time together. For some reason Ren kept inviting him back to that jazz club, to talk and get high-schooler-safe drinks. Darts would happen often; sometimes just them, sometimes a couple random members of the Thieves in attendance. Billiards was always just them.

Perhaps it had been overcorrecting, to ensure Akechi wasn’t suspicious of their pathetic plan to trick him. Maybe Ren was attempting the old adage of keeping enemies closer, or hoping to root out more information to use later.

Whatever the reason, Akechi never turned anything down. Even at supremely late times on school nights, if Ren texted him to come play billiards or convene at the café, he made it happen.

Perhaps that explained why he’d gone to all this trouble. Ren could be…a diversion from his usual duties and the mental fallout that came with them. As they had spent more time together he’d tested the waters more and more, seeing what he could get away with. A snide comment here, a look of disgust there. It had never shocked Ren or turned him away. And now the mask was fully off--he could treat Ren however he liked, and had done so.

Akechi sighs. Waxing philosophical right now is pointless. Ren might be a fun momentary distraction, but he continues to be a loose end. Gears need to be shifted. In accepting the terms of their new deal he’d had to tip his hand to the Thieves. Now they would be more cautious in their stupid little chat, if they used it at all.

He lets Ren flop over onto the bed. Watches as Ren half-shuffles, half-rolls into a more comfortable position. The fact that they ended up like this should be mind-boggling. Why the hell had he made a deal with his prisoner?

“Don’t forget what I said,” he says. “You leave, you die.”

“I remember.” Ren sounds half-asleep already.

They decided to meet at Leblanc, upstairs in Ren’s room, to try and formulate a plan. Together they laid out what they knew for sure: Ren was alive. Akechi knew Ren’s whereabouts. Sae was being kept in the dark. The police were either going to cover up Ren’s disappearance, or avoid talking about it all together. Their group chat was compromised, but if they stopped using it altogether, Ren could be put in danger.

The question was: how to proceed?

Ryuji said they had to keep searching the Metaverse. If Ren was in there somewhere, he had to be findable in some way. Yusuke suggested that he might be housed somewhere within what remained of Sae’s Palace, since that was so close to the police station. Haru mentioned that there might be guards to protect the crime scene, so investigating it could be difficult. Ann pointed out that they didn’t have much else in the way of leads. The risk would need to be taken.

Makoto advised that they needed to come to a decision on whether or not to continue using the group chat. They debated back and forth, Ren’s safety against Akechi learning their plans. They were unable to come to a unanimous decision.

Sojiro came upstairs at the sound of raised voices. He told them to cut it out. The arguing stopped, but their mood remained sullen. Sojiro was grumpier than usual, and told them they needed to take a break before they scared off customers.

Eventually they managed a civil dissolution. Futaba recommended they use the chat, but sparingly and vaguely, until they could come to a decision. She would keep trying to find a way to track Ren.

Makoto quietly suggested that they take the next day off from searching Mementos so they could mentally reset. No one liked the idea, but everyone agreed.

The next time he wakes up, he feels the nausea again. He stumbles out of his bed, hoping Morgana isn’t jostled by his sudden movements. Staggering on wooden legs, he drags himself through the interrogation room and Dr. Takemi’s office through sheer willpower. Sae silently watches him go, arms crossed.

The hotel bathroom is through the next door. He empties his stomach again, and god does it hurt. This time, Ren has the foresight to prop himself against the wall in a sitting position. The grating ache is traveling all the way from his stomach to his mouth.

Finally, he feels his brain reform into something that can work. He won’t waste the lucidity, and takes stock of what he knows.

He’s in the bathroom of the hotel, which is somewhere in the Metaverse. His hands are still cuffed, but the bandages underneath them seem freshly changed. He had a lot of water, and a bit of the snacks to test if he could stomach it. Clearly not, so maybe he’d dial it back to just water.

Ren bends his knees to put his feet flat on the floor, testing his balance before pushing up just a bit. He feels a swirl of dizziness and stops, letting himself sink back down. A few minutes to recover before trying again seems reasonable.

What else?

Years ago, when he was in a better state of mind, he struck a new deal with Akechi. He would comply with being a prisoner. In return, Akechi would inform his friends that he was alive, as well as explain why he was keeping Ren in the first place.

Well, that wasn’t an impossible goal, but one that would definitely mean playing this game very carefully. His own inability to fight off the drugs long enough to see their plan through meant new wrinkles were in place. Akechi bringing him here meant he’d gotten wise to it. And now he would want to prove he had outsmarted them.

A very careful tug. The thread is shaky, but still blooms into a wobbling tree of options. His Personae are accessible. It feels very unsteady, more like a rope bridge in a tornado than anything approaching the usual complex web he manages. He’d wager he could issue maybe one command before he was on his own again. Brute force would be out of the question.

But as he thinks about it, Ren recognizes that he doesn’t want to go that route. Akechi requires different handling. And a deal is a deal. Ren believes in his friends’ ability. They played their parts in the scheme to perfection--it was his own role that had caused the failure. They’ll find him, so long as he doesn’t do anything to cause Akechi to relocate them, or make a drastic move.

So what is his next move?

Again, Ren pushes up just a bit to test his balance. The dizziness returns, but it’s more manageable now. He slowly gets himself into a standing position, each move careful and calculated to not aggravate any more nausea.

Easy. One step at a time. With the speed of an old man’s walk cycle, he gets himself back to the bedroom. Carefully he sinks down on the bed with a sigh.

It’s weird not having Morgana around to bounce ideas off of. And his phone is gone, probably in Akechi’s custody. He’s truly alone with his thoughts and ideas, and anything he comes up with now might be lost the next time he wakes up.

Then he’ll have to plan as thoroughly as possible. 

Chapter Text

“Hm. I see.”

“Yes, it’s very troubling.” Akechi idly stirs his cooling tea with a spoon. “I assume you want me to handle it.”

“Of course. It’s a shame.”

“A shame? Fond of her, are you?”

“Competent subordinates are both a blessing and a curse. Had things gone as planned, she could have remained useful.”

A thin smile stretches over his face. Such constant veiled warnings, whether conscious or not. Nothing new here. “Then it’s a shame indeed, Father.”

“I told you--”

“Not to call you that, yes, yes. My apologies, sir. Every once in a while I get sentimental.”

There’s a noise suspiciously like a huff. “Very good. See to this soon. The official statement is going out in the afternoon.”

“As you wish.”

“And as far as those Phantom Thieves go, keep an eye on them. We’ll allow them to lay low for now. But should they become more trouble than they’re worth, they must be cleaned up.”

“Of course. With their leader dead and gone, they’ve lost their edge. They’ll be easy to manage when the time comes.”

“A cornered animal can still be dangerous. Don’t underestimate them and end up proving yourself a fool.”

Akechi only allows a grimace to spread over his face because he’s on the phone. He still controls it after a moment to ensure it doesn’t leak into his tone. “As you say. I’ll be sure to exercise caution as well.”

“Good.”

And he’s hung up on.

His jaw works for a moment, but he gently puts his phone down. He stirs his tea again, eyes pointed at his desk. Homework to his left, casework to his right. The call had been something to do. Now he has no excuse but to continue as normal.

Except the brief reprieve wasn’t enough. He still can’t concentrate on what he’s supposed to be doing. His mind continues to drift back to the Metaverse. Ren could be awake and attempting to escape. Maybe he’s running afoul of a Shadow right this moment. Unless he’d been grossly exaggerating his symptoms, he’d be ripped to shreds without a Persona to protect him.

Red eyes flicker to the other phone in his possession. Ren’s. It’s been quiet since he revealed himself to them, which annoys him. It was an easy way to keep track of their progress, and he basically threw that advantage away. Ren must have been out to sabotage him by asking for that. Stupid leader of a stupid group.

With a huff of his own, Akechi flips his phone over. He needs to get work done. There can’t be any break in his usual routine. No sliver of evidence to be used against him.

But even thinking that, knowing logically what he should be doing, wielding all his tricks to focus on work, his mind still wanders again and again. Ren might be hungry. Ren might be sick. Ren might be escaping.

Finally it becomes too much. Frustration speeds him as he closes and puts everything away. A quick check in, just to settle his annoyingly wandering brain. Maybe to taunt Ren some more, or ramp up the pressure on the Thieves. With a photo? No, that could be risky, potential clues in the background. A warning text? Possibly. He can think about it on the way.

Satisfied with this plan, Akechi pockets Ren’s phone and flips over his own.

The report came out later than expected, and there was no shocked triumph at seeing it. The anchor easily and clinically delivered the news that the leader of the Phantom Thieves had killed a guard in a struggle, and then shot himself. Information on the remaining Thieves, described as ‘still at large,’ was requested from the populace.

Ann and Ryuji texted privately back and forth with varying levels of worry and confusion. Futaba texted Makoto to confirm she’d seen the news. They discussed their newly precarious situation back and forth.

The group chat started to become active again.

HO: Akechi. Are you watching?

…

HO: I suppose that’s a silly question.

YK: Are you sure it’s safe to talk in here?

HO: Definitely not, but I’m worried about Ren.

AT: I’m worried too.

YK: As am I.

HO: I know this group chat is compromised, but maybe we can come to some kind of agreement to protect Ren.

AT: That would only work if Akechi’s willing to talk to us.

RS: And apparently he ain’t.

RS: Or he’s just not looking at the phone right now.

AT: In any case, we shouldn’t use this unless we come to a unanimous agreement.

HO: I know. I think it could use another discussion.

AT: Should we set up a time to meet again?

FS: Clear comms!

MN: Please cease communication here. We’ve talked about this.

…

…

…

• RA: Pathetic.

HO: So you ARE watching.

• RA: Obviously.

• RA: Run along now.

• RA: You don’t want to get in trouble.

HO: What I want is for Ren to be safe. You already know you have the advantage. You could let us speak to him at least.

• RA: I could. But I won’t.

MN: Haru, please.

HO: I’m going.

“Maybe Ren isn’t alive after all. Maybe Akechi got rid of him and that’s why they made the announcement!”

Ann lets out a sigh. “I feel like he’d say something in the chat at least. Rub it in our faces, right?”

“I guess. I wish he’d stop messing around and just tell us.”

“Me too. But I guess that’s the point. The less we know, the harder it’ll be to make a plan.” She idly swipes the damp cotton swab over her fingernail. Her nails had been painted for a recent shoot, and something like this was easy to do to keep her hands busy.

Ryuji makes a frustrated noise on the other line. “He’s probably pissed about the first plan, too.”

“Yeah. I bet that’s why he’s not telling us much. We almost got him and he knows it. He’ll probably be more careful now and just keep rubbing it in our faces,” she sighs again.

“Dammit, I hate that Ren’s paying for that. I kinda wish we hadn’t put so much of it on him. I want the chance to tell him I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be like that, Ryuji. He wouldn’t blame any of us for this.” Ann hopes Ryuji isn’t beating himself up too much.

There’s a moment’s silence, then the sound of a fridge door slamming shut. “Can’t we threaten Akechi, or something? Get him to slip up again?”

“Probably not like this. Maybe if he thought we didn’t have any more plans.”

“We don’t! We’re fuckin’ blind now, just like he wants! Bet he’s somewhere laughing his ass off,” Ryuji says bitterly.

“Maybe he’ll keep Ren alive just to gloat?”

“Maybe. Ego on that guy, I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Ann hums in agreement. Another finger done. “Maybe we could use that? We’re helpless until we can find more information on where he might have Ren. We could play that up, start using the chat again…make him think we’re worse off than we are?”

“I wouldn’t have to try too hard to feel helpless, that’s for sure. When I see that smug face he’s gettin’ one right in the jaw…”

“Focus, Ryuji. I think we should call another meeting and see if we can agree on this.”

“I’m willing to try anything at this point, but you think Makoto and Futaba’ll go for it?”

Ann feels a flare of irritation, and it’s evident when she speaks again. “They’re not the leaders. Ren is.”

“Well yeah, but it’s gotta be unanimous, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s do another vote! Tell it just like you told me, and maybe we can get everybody on board.”

The door opens. Akechi steps in, and pauses. Ren’s sitting on the bed, awake, and looking in his direction.

“Well, well. For once you’re not in a stupor when I arrive,” Akechi comments casually, pushing his mask up to sit on his head.

“Surprised?” Ren asks.

“Surprised that it took you so long.” He shuts the door behind him and approaches the bed.

A shrug is Ren’s response. “It’s good to be surprising. Better than boring.”

“Which is a good way to get yourself killed; wouldn’t want to be too surprising,” Akechi smirks.

Ren holds up his cuffed wrists. “Could you help with the bandages? I want to change these out.”

Reflexively, Akechi sighs. “Do you think I’m your nursemaid, Joker? I left the pack I bought in the bathroom.”

“I didn’t want to end up on the floor again.”

“That afraid of a little dizziness? Sometimes you’re so disappointing.”

Ren shrugs then, and swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands. Arms crossed and hip cocked, Akechi watches him suspiciously--but Ren does indeed head into the bathroom. His gait is slow, and a bit unsteady, and he stops at the doorway to press a hand against the wall.

“Well?” Akechi says after another moment goes by without any movement. “Go on, then, finish your little show.”

Ren goes into the bathroom slowly. Akechi’s eyes bore into the taller teen’s back, waiting for some kind of move. But nothing of the sort happens--instead, after a moment, Ren slowly turns around to give a surprisingly grumpy expression.

“There’s no bandages in here.”

Akechi’s hand automatically flies up to his mouth as he finds himself suddenly fighting back a smile. He changes it to a loosely closed fist and forces a decent cough into it within a second.

“That was far too easy, even with the drugs. Come on, Ren, can’t you do any better than that?”

“It’s bad manners to deceive a sick person,” Ren says.

He’s not going to laugh.

He’s not going to laugh.

“All I’m hearing are more and more excuses.” Akechi pulls the box of bandages from his school bag and wiggles them back and forth a bit just to rub it in.

Ren’s steps back are definitely to be classified as lumbering. It’s the most graceless Akechi has ever seen him. And it wavers, pulls unsteadily--

Oh.

Well.

He’s moving before he can even register a reason to stop. Before Ren’s suddenly dipping head lurches forward with his frame. Akechi catches him swiftly, arms automatically circling Ren’s waist to keep him from sliding onto the floor anyway.

“Reckless fool,” he finds himself grumbling.

“You’re the one who made me walk.” Ren’s voice is right next to his ear.

“Shouldn’t you know your own limits? Here I was overestimating your intelligence again,” Akechi sneers.

“And disobey my captor? Sounds dangerous to me.”

It was so often like this--the two of them ribbing each other. The most authentic back and forth could only happen when Akechi didn’t have to deal with the other Thieves. When he could ease a bit of the constant pressure he kept himself under at all times. When a slip here and there didn’t matter, didn’t bring his whole operation crashing down.

So is that it? Has he kept Ren alive just as an excuse to have someone he could be careless around? All this extra risk, the increased pressure, the jeopardizing of his entire plan, for such a pathetic reason? It’s maddening. He doesn’t need a crutch, some person-shaped safe space to let loose around. He’s here only to bask in the triumph of outsmarting the idiots who tried to outsmart him.

There’s no other reason.

To his credit, he only flinches slightly when Ren moves. It zaps him back--they’re just standing here, pressed together. His arms are around Ren’s waist, like he tricked his way into getting a hug. This is too much, even for them.

But when Akechi tenses to pull away, he finds that Ren’s movement was only to lift his own arms. The adjustment is a bit awkward thanks to the cuffs, but still more in control than his unsteady gait from earlier. Casually-- casually --his arms loop around Akechi’s neck and come to rest there.

“What the hell are you doing?” Akechi planned to pull back and squint at Ren suspiciously. But his plans are derailed when Ren’s head comes to settle on his shoulder. Now he freezes, stuck in place, realizing his arms are still around Ren’s waist.

“Tired.”

“Well I’m not the bed, stop being so clingy.”

Absolutely ridiculous. And Ren’s heavy, barely holding up his own weight. Akechi slides his foot back and feels his balance lean warningly. “Stand up already, you’re going to knock us both down!”

Ren shifts a little against him, but it’s not very helpful to the situation. With an aggrieved sigh, Akechi changes tactics, and instead turns them around so he can lean his back on the wall. Now without the concern of falling over, he can make this idiot stand up straight.

“You trying to piss me off?” he sort-of asks warningly.

“By getting dizzy?” Ren’s laugh in his ear is almost pathetic.

A huff from Akechi. “You could be pretending for all I know.”

“Maybe.” He sounds way too smug.

“I should drop you on the floor.”

“Then you’ll just have to pick me up later.”

“I don’t have to do anything.”

Silly. Stupid. Much too comfortable. The wall is digging into Akechi’s back, reminding him that he should not be in this position. Ren’s not that cumbersome--he can easily be dumped on the bed, and Akechi can be done with this weird situation.

A warm exhale of breath distracts him suddenly. It puffs over his ear, flutters a strand or two of his hair. He’s locked into place by the sudden, intense realization of just how close Ren’s lips are to his ear. Just how close Ren is to him.

He’s ridden the trains thousands of times, so he knows what bodies pressed up against each other are supposed to feel like. This is different.

Bad? No, that’s not the right term.

Personal? Perhaps--Ren’s arms are still linked around his neck. They’re hugging, that’s the problem. He doesn’t hug people. Doesn’t get close like that.

But that’s just how Ren is. It’s a natural progression. Ren had always seemed more…touch-willing than other teenage boys he’d encountered. Never to the point of being publicly unacceptable, but he wasn’t afraid to pull a stray leaf from someone’s hair, or brush a hand to get their attention. He and Ren had experienced plenty of incidental touches like that--handing each other things, high-fiving between rounds of darts. It seemed like second nature to him, so much so that Akechi had never found the behavior notable enough to object.

So this was the logical progression of that. Ren is merely hugging him because he’s that kind of guy. And he’s allegedly dizzy, so he’d seek stability. It makes sense.

It doesn’t explain why Akechi still hasn’t let go.

Ren’s breathing is evening out. Akechi frowns at that. “You better not be falling asleep.” His voice is low.

In response, Ren slightly turns his head from side to side. A muted movement, as if to preserve the thin film of strangeness allowing this moment to exist.

Break it.

Don’t be weak.

He gives himself one last inhale and exhale.

Then he pushes off from the wall. “All right, you had your fun. Back to bed before you suffocate me.”

Ren’s feet stumble, but thankfully they’re not too far from the bed. Akechi practically hurls the taller teen at its surface. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some rats to scatter.”

The idiot lands facedown with a muffled whump , and bounces a couple of times before rolling himself on his side. “You just got here,” he says.

“And what’s your point? Unlike you, I can come and go as I please.”

“Can you at least help with the bandages before you leave me?” Ren asks.

Akechi’s lips purse. Something about that phrasing…he pushes it aside and huffs again. “Lucky for you I’m in a generous mood. Sit up.”

Obediently, Ren rolls himself into a sitting position. Akechi opens his briefcase and retrieves the box of bandages before settling on the bed. “Let’s see them,” he commands, and Ren holds out his hands.

Silence falls between them as Akechi sets to work. More time for him to get his head on straight and remind himself of what he’s doing this for. Perhaps he’s been letting the pressure of the situation get to him, and that’s why he keeps letting guard down. Even if it’s easier to be around Ren than anyone else. That doesn’t need to mean anything. All he’s doing is opening himself up to an exploitable weakness.

The thought flits through his mind to warn Ren to pay attention so he can do this himself next time. Although handing his captive more tools might be a bad idea…but Ren agreed to comply. Ren is a lot of things, but he wouldn’t so quickly break a deal.

Whatever. He’s already halfway done. It’d be a waste of breath at this point.

Chapter Text

Ren gets up when his alarm goes off, like normal. He changes into his school uniform and heads downstairs, grabbing his bag on the way. Morgana’s already nestled into place inside it by the time he makes it downstairs.

Sojiro is there, as normal. A plate of curry is waiting for him. Sojiro tells him to eat before it gets cold. Or he tries to. Nothing comes out of his mouth except static.

Ren sits. Ren eats.

It tastes like blood.

There’s a knock on the café door. It opens, and Akechi is there. Gun in hand.

“Get up.”

Ren’s not sure when he ended up on the floor, but it feels like gravity is pressing down especially hard. He looks up at Akechi.

“You’re in danger. Come with me, Joker.”

Akechi holds out a hand.

He takes it.

Akechi realizes he didn’t consider what he would do in this situation only when he opens the door and Ren isn’t there. It actually takes him a moment to process. He goes to the bathroom just to check, but it’s also empty.

Maybe it’s disbelief that holds him. He comes back out to the main room. The desk is still pushed against the window, but he still moves it and goes to check outside on the balcony. Bizarrely he finds himself crouching down to look under the bed as well.

No Ren. Obviously.

Fury twists his features. A fool. He’d been a fool, to expect that fool to abide by his word. He’d been too lax, too lenient, too…too trusting, too willing to believe.

His investigation begins immediately. It hadn’t been that long since his last visit--less than 24 hours. Ren may have been biding his time, waiting to gain enough strength to escape. He wouldn’t be able to go back to the real world without his phone, so he had to still be on the ship. Perhaps he planned to hold out somewhere until he could get a message to his detestable little squad.

“I’ll find you,” Akechi growls. And then Ren would pay for betraying his trust.

The next meeting was thankfully less intense than the first. True to her word, Ann explained her and Ryuji’s thoughts to the rest of the group. It might have seemed counterproductive, but they could possibly draw out Akechi interacting more if they used the chat again. He was clearly watching and expecting it, and if they stayed silent he might take it out on Ren.

Haru was already on board. Yusuke seemed cautious but agreed. Ryuji looked like he wanted to claim the plan was his own, but he gracefully didn’t interject.

Futaba looked pensive, and Morgana outright objected to the idea. Makoto was quietly thoughtful for a bit, and said they could potentially set up a second, actually secure chat to discuss leads, and then allow fake conversation in the main.

Ryuji finally jumped in there, saying that if they weren’t careful Akechi would figure that out, and then Ren would pay the price. They had to be careful until they could get more clues.

There was a clear leaning in one direction. But it still wasn’t unanimous. Ryuji and Morgana almost got into a fight about it; thankfully Haru was able to defuse it to some extent. Yusuke recommended they at least try to find Ren’s location in the Metaverse, and that they were able to agree on.

Akechi’s sweep for clues starts slowly, carefully examining the area directly outside the room he’d held Ren and moving out further. He still has some general investigative skills--although they’re not as potent as whatever intrinsic observation skills Ren had vaguely alluded to once before.

Crow had been utterly baffled at the uncanny way Joker sometimes just knew where to look, and questioned him about it. Joker had only smirked, and said it was a leader’s job to be observant. Mona’d butted in then, obnoxiously declaring that Joker was just that good, and Skull had teased Crow about being jealous.

Had it just been Crow and Joker that sort of accusation would have elicited a completely different response. As it was then, with all the Thieves nearby and he at the time ignorant of their treachery, he’d just smiled and somewhat playfully agreed that such a mysterious skill would serve him well both in the Metaverse and when solving cases. Oracle then made some useless joke about the Detective Prince wanting to be more perfect, and the conversation had thankfully moved on.

After that he hadn’t brought it up again, but on occasion when Joker would warn them about a Shadow’s strength before engagement, or advise them of a hazard around a corner they hadn’t scouted, or another thing he had no business just knowing…sometimes Crow would look at him, and he’d look back, and their eyes would meet. One time, Joker had even winked. Crow, safely standing at the back of the crowd as Mona changed into his party bus form, had allowed himself the slightest pursing of his lips in response. What a showoff.

As he stalks through a hall back to one of the common areas, Akechi wonders if Ren used that preternatural ability to help him break the deal and escape. He’d been so naive; he should have tied Ren to the bed, or broken one of his legs. No, he should have just killed Ren from the beginning. This had been a waste, an absolutely stupid hazard he’d opened himself up to for no reason aside from petty indulgence in base feelings. He’d let fleeting regrets jeopardize everything he’s working towards, and now he’s paying the price.

Well he won’t make that mistake again. Ren will regret every second he lured Akechi in with a false sense of security. A last indulgence, to make that betrayer suffer before he--

“Oh, there he goes again, heehee~”

Normally Akechi ignores the chatter of the humanlike cognitions that populate the ship. They’re pointless, after all, extras in Shido’s grand ego-stroking adventure. But as he brushes past them, ignoring them as he has so often, one conversation catches his ear. It shouldn’t matter, but…

“Master Shido’s little lapdog, he’s so cute, hahaha!”

“Back to his room, I suppose.”

“Maybe he’ll change clothes again. I must say the uniform looks much better on him.”

“I was thinking the same! So much more dignified in my opinion.”

“Perhaps it’s Lord Shido’s orders to wear that silly number.”

He pauses for a moment, and although he doesn’t turn in their direction the conversation drops to whispers. One thing Shido always had right was others’ propensity to gossip. A sign of society’s brokenness, but a useful tool in many situations. Like now, when Akechi realizes that he’s been a bit too careless. The cognitions had seen him coming and going at times. If anyone more important caught wind and alerted the shadow version of Shido, that could cause him problems.

The already-burning anger at Ren’s betrayal is only stoked by this irritating new development. So stupid. He’d slipped even more, not thinking about his own movements in repeatedly coming back to a Palace. What had he been thinking? So consumed in getting back to Ren and making sure he was staying out of trouble…and it had done him no good.

More frustration builds. He’d been absolutely stupid, swimming in some weird obsession with monitoring Ren. He would correct all his mistakes now. Find Ren, end Ren, end the Thieves, get back on course.

FS: Metaverse after school, we agreed?

HO: Yes.

YK: Agreed.

AT: I’ll be there.

RS: You got it.

MN: Be sure to stock up on supplies before we meet, just in case it’s a prolonged trip.

“You’ll stay with me, won’t you Joker?”

Of course.

“Good. We’re a team, after all.”

“Futaba-chan?”

“I'VE FOUND SOMETHING! I’m gonna have to call EVERYBODY one at a time to share the deets but get your butts here pronto!”

“You found something?! Dammit, Ryuji’s being grilled by our teacher and I’m waiting for him. We’ll get there as soon as we can!”

“Good! Hurry up!”

It’s only at the start of Akechi’s second sweep that he calms down enough to think about what he heard. “The uniform looks better on him” they had said, but he was always in his Thief gear when he came here. It was automatic, for him at least. The only choice he’d made in attire was deliberately shifting from his Black Mask gear when he had or was checking on Ren.

It hits him then. Of course Shido would have a cognitive version of him running around. The thought annoys him even though it was inevitable. The pointless occupants of this ship had just seen both him and this cognitive version of him.

But something about it still bothers him. Akechi lets it stew in his mind as he starts looking for clues again. Think critically--there must be something that is alerting him, and why he can’t let it go.

Back to his room, I suppose.

How did they know about ‘his’ room? Even if they’d seen him in passing, it wouldn’t be immediately obvious where he was going. As unobservant as he’d been, Akechi had still always checked for any other presences in the hall. There had never been anyone around to see him.

Unless…it was a leap in logic perhaps, but what if it had been his cognitive version they’d seen? Has Shido’s version of Akechi been here?

Akechi goes back to the room. He looks through it yet again. What would he even look for?

Well, maybe that’s the wrong question.

Hypothetically, if Shido’s Akechi had come to this room, had somehow gotten in, what would he have done if he’d seen Ren? But that makes no sense. Akechi has the keycard. Unless Ren let him in? Would that idiot do that to get away? Maybe that was how he’d disappeared without a trace--could he trick Shido’s Akechi into helping him?

But that would be ridiculous. Shido would expect Akechi to kill the leader of the Phantom Thieves. Ren would still be there, dead, if Shido’s Akechi had found him. Right?

With a noise suspiciously like a growl, Akechi runs a frustrated hand through his hair. This is becoming a very stupid thought experiment. Even if Ren somehow escaped with the help of Shido’s Akechi, it still doesn’t change the fact that his current whereabouts are unknown. Dammit. Nothing but more frustration, and another buzz. One of many buzzes, actually. Those stupid Thieves are at it again, and now it’s becoming distracting.

“For once I want them to shut up,” he gripes as he pulls Ren’s phone from his pocket.

RS: You better watch your back, Akechi.

RS: We’re gonna find you.

AT: Don’t poke the bear.

RS: Yeah, yeah.

YK: Are you both on your way?

AT: Yeah, sorry, we got held up by a teacher.

YK: Good. Please make haste.

RS: We can’t make the train move faster!

MN: We’ll brief you once you’re here.

He tenses. Maybe it’s because he’s especially displeased with his current turn of events, but he does not like this. They seem more purposeful. Did they find Shido’s Palace? Dammit, and if so they didn’t chat about it because he blew his cover, for the sake of holding up his end of the deal. Again his decisions come back to bite him.

The vague urge of circumstances closing in pisses him off more. All of this for a fool who broke his word and ran away. His next trek down the hall is accompanied with his gear shifting, his anger bleeding enough through his concentration that his Black Mask outfit takes over. Perhaps when he finds Ren this will be a fitting way to show that the foolish leader of the foolish Thieves underestimated him again.

First, a slight detour. Both to cover his tracks and blow off just a little of the pent-up steam. He makes himself concentrate enough to change back to his white outfit first--no more sloppiness. Shido knows about his Black Mask form to some extent, but not this, and he doesn’t want even the slightest problem going forward.

Those two gossipy cognitions are still there, as they always will be. Their role is like most others here, and they’ll fulfill it until the end of time--or until someone changes it. Akechi had always found it somewhat amusing that the Thieves only engaged in combat against aggressive cognitions, not realizing that all cognitions could be a hindrance and could be attacked. Although he usually didn’t go out of his way for it, on occasion he’d done exactly what he is about to do now.

He walks up to them, all smiles. “Good evening, ladies.”

They turn to him, and even in the formless murk where faces should be, he can feel judgment under a thin veneer of civility. Disgusting. His gun is pressed dead center in the middle of one before they can say a word. “It’s bad manners to talk about other people.”

“What are you doing?” the other one gasps.

“I’m asking the questions here. You said you liked my uniform better, right?”

“What on earth do you mean--?”

“When was the last time you saw me wearing it?”

“How dare you? We--”

“Just a little while ago when you were going for the elevators!” the one at gunpoint chokes out. “We’re sorry, we didn’t mean to offend--”

“Security!” the other one starts to shout. “Sec--”

It dissolves a moment later after a clean shot straight through its core. Akechi once again turns his gun to the first. “As I was saying, since you seem to be more forthcoming, answer me this. Was I alone?”

“N-No, your f-friend was with you! Please, I don’t--”

“Up or down?”

“Huh?”

“Was the elevator going up or down?”

“Uh…down, I think?”

“Thank you.” Another shot fired, and the second cognition dissolves without a sound. Akechi holsters his gun and heads in the direction of the elevator. He hadn’t canvassed as many of the lower floors previously, but now would be the time. He doesn’t like this, either.

Why would Shido’s Akechi willingly work with Ren? What does Shido believe of him, that this would be possible? Hadn’t he been a convincing pawn, all this time?

Mistakes upon mistakes. It pisses him off.

But of course, it’s too late now. He has to clean up the mess he made. One way or another.

Chapter Text

“Come with me.”

Something is wrong with this picture. Ren can recognize that here and there, but it’s difficult to keep it in place. It’s important to concentrate, better than he had when Sae was here.

Sae had been here, right? Yes. He’s fairly certain he spoke to her at length. But it gets fuzzier towards the end, of both his story and his recollection of that time. Sae’s expression hadn’t been blank, not at all--she’d showed a wide range of emotions. Anger, worry, disbelief, confusion, and more besides. But she’d stayed and listened.

And then…and then? He’s not sure where it went from there. It all falls away into a jumble of places and images and people with very specific props. But at some point, Sae’s distant concern was replaced by Akechi’s hands-on derision.

Akechi.

What does he need to remember about Akechi?

Ren knows this isn’t right, somehow, some way--he’s supposed to stay in his room and wait for Akechi. Akechi doesn’t take him places, not like this. Akechi does hold a gun, just like this, but the grip on his hand feels wrong. Cold? Mean? How does one hold hands meanly? Somehow Akechi has cracked the code.

“Where are we going?” he asks.

“Does it matter?” Akechi replies.

Maybe not. The room vibrates around him. Perhaps the interrogation room is experiencing an earthquake. The walls open. No, the doors open. There’s so little happening.

“I feel a bit dizzy,” he says.

There’s no reply; Akechi just pulls him forward to walk. He frowns slightly. Of all things, that doesn’t seem correct. Akechi wouldn’t miss an opportunity to say something like a smartass.

Ren’s feet slide to a stop. Akechi turns and looks at him, a cool irritation flickering over placid features. “Don’t waste time, Joker.”

“Why the codename?” Ren asks. It feels like a sliver of clarity.

Akechi stares at him silently for a moment. Then his free hand lifts and the gun in it rests comfortably between Ren’s brows.

Oh. Again.

“I can make adjustments if need be. If you refuse to cooperate, I’ll just record your execution right here instead. Or you can shut your mouth, do as you’re told, and be suffered to live a bit longer,” he says.

Execution. A tool to strengthen his Personas. But Akechi wouldn’t know anything about that, and executing Ren himself wouldn’t strengthen anything. What a strange concept.

Ren blinks at Akechi as he thinks about this. “Why?” he asks.

“Why?” Akechi repeats, a note of disbelief in his voice. “You’re the leader of the Phantom Thieves, Joker. Why wouldn’t I?”

Somehow neither of them understands the other. This is very wrong, and very different. Ren knows Akechi, just like Akechi knows Ren. Beyond the layers, beneath the masks, it’s been like that for longer than he’d realized.

An age-old doubt creeps back into his mind, and he glances around. This place is not his room, the interrogation room, the hotel room. It’s somewhere else. “Is this real?” he finds himself saying.

“What are you on about?” Now Akechi is frowning.

There is definitely a problem. But Ren isn’t sure what. Something elusive is dancing just out of reach, harder to focus on with the fuzziness that has been plaguing him these last few decades. He needs more time to think about it, to study why Akechi is so strange now, to better understand what’s going on.

“I’ll cooperate,” he says next.

As he watches, the irritation is smoothed away, and Akechi’s cold neutrality is back. “Good.” The gun lowers, and Akechi tugs the chain links between the cuffs to urge him forward.

Had they ever been holding hands? Ren’s feel especially empty now.

Something spurs Akechi to make haste. Maybe it’s the thought of closing in before Ren can get away, before Shido’s Akechi can do something stupid. Or maybe he just wants to get there, wherever ‘there’ is, and prove to Ren that he’s not as smart as he thinks.

Being driven by his anger is nothing new. It propels him out the door of the elevator, sends his eyes roving around for clues. Urgency is growing stronger in his mind. He doesn’t know how long it’s been; ‘a little while ago’ could mean minutes or days. His indecisiveness has already cost too much.

Where are you?

Door after door, room after room, hall after hall. His pace increases further. There’s something bothering the back of his mind, past the indignation and anger, but he ignores it. No more distractions, no more slip ups. No more regrets. None.

More stairs to descend, more halls to traverse. More ignoring that growing feeling. He’d trusted Ren, and Ren had betrayed him. That’s all he needs to focus on.

A turn, and a pause. He hears something, faintly. A familiar voice behind a set of double doors. Akechi moves to them and pauses for just a moment. He holds his breath to hear.

It’s quiet, and then he hears it again, muffled but still distinct. “No more questions.”

It makes his blood burn. That’s his voice. How dare .

Akechi grasps both handles and pulls, wrenching the doors open. This room is fashioned like a large sitting area, big enough to comfortably hold at least twenty people. It has only two occupants: Shido’s Akechi, and Ren himself.

Ren is standing upright, looking a bit unsteady. Where the other Akechi’s attention is immediately diverted to the new presence, Ren moves more slowly, carefully, like someone trying to avoid straining an injury. Two sets of eyes lock onto him.

“Having a party without me?” Akechi sneers.

The other Akechi, Shido’s Akechi, the fake , watches him with criminally cold eyes. “Of course you would come running,” he says.

“And what’s that supposed to mean? Disappointed your little scheme didn’t go off without a hitch?” The acid in Akechi’s voice bears no tempering. Robin Hood is at the ready, primed to be summoned at a moment’s notice.

“If you’re going to interrupt, perhaps you can make yourself useful for once.” The fake holds up a gun held loosely in its hand. “The imminent prime minister would see the Phantom Thieves’ leader disposed of. Now is your chance to remain in his good graces.”

“I don’t take orders from cheap copies of the original,” Akechi spits.

A slow blink. “I’m not surprised. You showed your true colors when you hid this trash away, rather than do your duty and eliminate him. Just like you always let your emotions get the better of you. You really think you’re of any use when you continually go off script like this?”

Akechi lets out a single mad laugh. “You think you can lecture me? Shido’s so far up his own ass that this is the best he can conjure up about me. A pointless puppet with a superiority complex. That’s rich!”

“A puppet who knows his place.” The fake changes its grip to properly aim the gun at Akechi. “Better than one who thinks they can cut their strings.”

The smile that appears on Akechi’s face now is vicious. “Well, well, how telling. Far be it from me to argue with incompetence. Though I am curious as to how you got here.”

“You mean how I caught on to your failure to cover your tracks? Easily. You stick out like a sore thumb when you skulk around here constantly. All I had to do was ask at the front desk about any missing keycards,” the fake answers.

Annoyances, but proof of how much he’d let his guard down on this stupid diversion. More irritation blossoms, and Akechi pushes it away. “And then you decided to buddy up and run away together?” he guesses.

The smirk he receives in return from the copy makes the irritation spread along his shoulders. “You’re so compromised it’s tragic. The only thing you should have done when you encountered Joker was your job . Now I have to clean up your mess.”

“Then why is Ren still alive?”

Silence. Akechi watches his fake, but he doesn’t get an answer. In fact, his copy appears almost frozen in time for a moment, as if it’s rebooting. It makes Akechi laugh, with a touch more hysteria than he’d like. “So even Shido doesn’t know. That asshole’s nowhere near as smart as he thinks.”

“Shut your mouth.” The fake snaps back into place, a scowl stretching over its stolen features. “You’re the one who’s not as smart as you think.”

A bevy of appropriate and accurate insults spring to Akechi’s mind, but before he can start dealing them out he sees Ren shift slightly in his direction.

“Akechi?”

Probably the only thing that could really distract him from the red crawling into his vision is Ren. The leader of the Phantom Thieves is looking at him intently, the bandage on his face peeling just a bit at the corners, dark circles visible under his eyes. So little has changed since Akechi brought him here. But for once, his dark eyes are sharp. “Is this real?”

Again with this. Ren had asked that question more times than he could count. Really, he should just ignore it, and see to cleaning up this mess. But maybe, for sentimentality’s sake, one more time...

“Of course it is,” he replies with a sigh.

Ren looks at him for another moment, and then nods once. “I thought something wasn’t right. But I didn’t get it until now.”

“Is that your excuse? You mistook this pathetic copy for me?” Akechi scoffs, but even he can recognize it’s not nearly as harsh a tone as he’d had just a moment ago.

“Sorry.” Ren doesn’t sound sorry.

“Liar.” Akechi calls him out.

The slight shrug is so Ren that Akechi feels a vague urge to smile. He just lets out a scoff and jerks his head in a quick gesture. “Stop being a moron, then.” Come here.

“You can’t be serious.” The fake has finally shown its first real emotion--disbelief. Both of them ignore it. Ren steps forward, closer to Akechi. He’s coming back.

Akechi’s eyes flick to his inferior cognitive version. He hates what he sees, the flicker of different things that cross its face, too much like his own. He sees the moment of decision, and he knows exactly what is about to happen, even before his inferior version turns. The smooth adjustment of its torso speaks to Akechi’s own prowess, its arm swinging to point the gun in the direction of Ren’s temple.

“Get down!” It’s out of his mouth without time to think. Ren moves, purely in response to the call, twisting down and away. Akechi’s arm snaps out, fingers spread in Ren’s direction. The fake pulls the trigger.

Akechi’s the fastest. His fingers make contact with Ren’s shirt, ball into a fist, crunch the fabric firmly, and he yanks . Ren stumbles, the shot rings out--wide; the flurry of movement was enough. Still not safe yet--the fake is correcting, arm swinging up to aim at Akechi, face twisted with purpose.

Power blooms in his mind and he feels that familiar heat and pressure on his face as the will surges at his unconscious command. Robin Hood forms, and another quick thought is enough to send the blazingly bright light of a Megidola crashing down.

Dark flames burst at each corner of the room; Shadows spawn in, either summoned by the copy or alerted by the scuffle. They spill forwards immediately, flanking the copy which is somehow still standing, or more accurately kneeling, both hands gripping the gun. “You are a fool if you think you can get away with aiding the Leader of the Phantom Thieves just because you can’t keep your emotions in check,” it hisses.

“Shut the fuck up,” Akechi snarls at it. He wants it dead, the command halfway formed, but the damned Shadows are splitting into their combat forms, and they outnumber him four to one. He’s more suited to quick and unexpected attacks; a full assault isn’t something he’s prepared for here and now.

“Akechi.” Ren knows it, too.

He lets out an annoyed tsk . “Shut it! We’re going.”

“You’re not leaving,” the fake warns.

“I said shut up !”

For a moment, just for a moment, he lets himself go through with it. The flicker of change, the feel of his heavier, more purposeful mask settles into place. Loki burns into existence behind him. His options change, shift, and he easily offers up his own energy. Force is exuded towards his simpering, pathetic copy--but at the last second one of the other Shadows surges in. A Laevateinn gone to waste as the wrong target is struck down.

Dammit. The last angle of surprise is gone, and now the fake has its little sycophant Shadows gathered closer around it. This isn’t going to work.

With a growl of frustration, Akechi changes tactics again. Ren’s collar is still balled in Akechi’s fist. He yanks again, twisting towards the door. So many loose ends, each one an extra nerve frayed and frazzled--but he ignores it all, ignores that feeling. They’re faster, always have been. The rare occasions when the Thieves had to run is proof.

Thankfully Ren’s got enough coordination to keep up. Akechi spares one look back to ensure they have enough room to move. His fake has gotten to its feet, glaring barefully at them. The Shadows it summoned are already beginning to change back to their wandering forms, still half-lumbering in their direction. Shadows can never concentrate for long, anyway.

He slams the door behind them.

Their time in the Metaverse was fairly brief. Morgana explained that they would need to figure out exactly where their destination was before they could search for Ren. Their best bet was to figure out the most likely place he would be, since it wasn’t Mementos.

But they had new hope. Futaba had picked up Ren’s very faint signal. He was alive, and they had a chance to find him. Their new mission was to figure out where he might be within the Metaverse.

Makoto reasoned that his most likely location was within a Palace. They had precedent for people being able to be in a Palace without being in immediate danger, and if Akechi was responsible for it then he’d likely have access to a lot more Palaces than they did.

With that as their starting point, Morgana suggested they look into the popular options for heart changes on the Phan-Site, and see if any of them seemed like they would have a connection to Akechi.

Even without that annoying middle schooler’s clairvoyance, Akechi is able to find a safe room. It had always vaguely amused him that the signs pointing to one were obvious, but Futaba insisted on informing the Thieves about them at the top of her lungs.

In any case, once they’re inside he uses his pincer grip on Ren’s collar to slam the moron against the nearest wall. His Thief costume wobbles back into place just in time for him to shove his mask aside in order to better glare up. “You continue to be the most ostentatious thorn in my side,” he snaps.

Ren blinks at him, but he’s not done. “I can’t believe you just let anybody walk in and cart you off. You’re supposed to be some intelligent and capable leader and you can’t even tell the difference between me and that disgusting replica?” His voice is rising.

“Sorry I worried you,” Ren replies.

“I wasn’t worried about you, idiot! God, you are so stupid!” Akechi turns his head abruptly, frustration building for a whole new reason now. The Shadows might reset, but a cognition is a different story. His half-formed plan to get back to the room and put things back in order as they should be is already in shambles.

This, whatever this is, is over. If Shido’s simpering bootlicker version of him found Ren, it’s not impossible that another cognition could do the same. And even if that didn’t happen, the fact remains that his multiple forays in here have been noticed. He’d been stalling on advancing to the next step, letting himself indulge in silly things, and now he has to deal with the fallout of his own immature decisions.

It’s time to clean up. It has to be.

Abruptly Akechi swings back around. His gun is in his hand, and he aims it at Ren’s forehead. “No, it’s time we ended this. You’ve been a liability for far too long.”

Perhaps Ren is too out of it. But there’s no fear, no sign at all of realizing his life’s in danger, it seems. Instead there is just…both hands coming up to carefully untangle Akechi’s fingers from his collar. Calmly.

“Akechi,” Ren says, “why did you rescue me in the first place?”

Akechi tenses. “I’m not in the mood to be lectured again,” he grates out.

“This was part of our deal. You’d tell me what you wanted from me.”

“You broke the deal, remember?”

His head tilts. “If I’d known it wasn’t you, I wouldn’t have gone.”

Akechi blinks at him for a moment. Then he laughs once, the sound weirdly hollow. “You expect me to believe that?”

Ren’s now attempting to tug out the wrinkles that had been twisted into his collar. “Whether you want to believe it or not, it’s the truth,” he says. It’s so matter-of-fact.

“Fine. Let’s say I believe your little story. Why should I explain anything to you?” Akechi asks. “The only thing you’ve become is an increasingly messy loose end. You don’t deserve anything, least of all an explanation.”

“Maybe. I’d still like to know.” Ren's speech seems more coherent now, too. Maybe the drugs are finally wearing off. All the more reason this needs to end. The indulgence has gone for far too long, and look where it’s ended up. This was about control, and he’s very quickly losing it. He has to course correct.

But…

With a sigh, Akechi shifts back slightly into a more comfortable stance. “All right then, you want to know so badly? Because I wanted a trophy as proof I outsmarted you and your stupid little band of crooks. You all thought you were so clever, tricking me into the Metaverse. But you weren’t. You’re all idiots , and your plans are shitty. You’ve served your purpose and should be crushed under my heel just as you deserve. Happy now?”

Amazingly, Ren glances away for a moment. The change in his demeanor is enough to distract Akechi from the thoughts spurring him to act. Something tells him to wait, so he does.

“I agreed to the plan, but I didn’t like it.” Ren lifts his head again, and their gazes meet. “I didn’t like lying to you, after you had been honest with me. But I knew I had to, just like you knew you had to lie to us.”

It takes a second for this to sink in. “ What ?” is all Akechi can say. It sounds more surprised than it should.

“If you’re going to kill me, then it should be without any more lies between us. And not just about this,” Ren says firmly. Firmly . Like he knows anything about anything.

The next laugh is harsher. “And why should I agree to your terms?” Akechi wants to know.

“You want the truth too. Right?” Ren asks him.

It’s so ridiculous. It’s stupid, a gambit to disarm Akechi and preserve his own life. More tricks from the tricky Phantom Thief. It has to be.

…But that’s not fair. Ren alone is different from Ren with the others, or Joker. Just like you had to lie to us --they’d both been dishonest, both seeing to their duty, but when alone together they get to be different. Ren had known about Akechi’s lies first, taken advantage of the lopsided knowledge to…concoct a plan that would have ended with Akechi merely killing a double.

He hates this revelation. Ren had known , just like the rest of them. They had all plotted against him, sought to make a fool of him. But they could have trapped him, or killed him. They’d gone the convoluted route, winding in the Metaverse and cognitions and probably Sae. Joker’s band of morons could have been waiting outside the door to ambush him the moment he stepped out. He would have obliterated them, of course, but they could have been. All they’d done was set him up to not kill their leader.

Why?

What the hell is wrong with them?

“I don’t need your explanations. I can find the truth on my own,” Akechi snaps. This is dangerous. There’s too much crowding out his plans, his mission, what he wants to do. Complications like these are exactly the thing that make more messy loose ends to clean up.

As he watches, Ren inhales slowly, then exhales. “Then will you tell me the truth first?”

Was he really resigning himself to death?

“You’re seriously just going to sit here and let me shoot you? You won’t even fight back?”

“You want me to?”

“I want you to stop being nothing but trouble!”

“Do you?”

A pause. Of course, he should be saying. Who willingly puts up with a thorn? That’s a dumb question--no, absolutely moronic. But the way Ren says it, the way those eyes continue to meet his…it’s happened countless times before when it was just them. Things he would never say, or do, or even think, are safer around Ren. And now the odds are better still--he has the upper hand, he’s fully armed and can unleash either Persona if Ren tries to step out of line.

He’s safe. He can do anything he wants.

“You want the truth?” he finds himself saying.

Ren nods.

Those wrinkles make a reappearance as he balls his fist into Ren’s collar a second time. Impulse--something he rarely allows himself. Once he’d let it slip around Ren, but no judgment had rained down upon him. Cautiously he’d tried again another time, and Ren had taken it in stride. But that’s how Ren always is--unflappable, adaptable, easy to be around. It’s infuriating he can just be that way. He has no right.

Anger at Ren’s effortless efforts propels Akechi’s strength now, as he yanks the taller boy down. It shouldn’t be this easy, it shouldn’t feel like such a logical step, Ren shouldn’t be closing his goddamn eyes already --but for a moment he just doesn’t care. Something stupidly persistent in his brain mocks him that this is long overdue, and he ignores that nonsense as their lips meet.

Horrible decision; Ren tastes like he hasn’t brushed his teeth in years. Next trip is mouthwash. Akechi ignores that and focuses on the burst of triumph he feels. He brought Ren down to his level for this. He keeps his grip on Ren’s shirt tight, to remind him.

Perhaps wisely, Ren doesn’t fight it. Or perhaps he’s distracted. Either way, it’s good . It feels like a release of a building pressure Akechi hadn’t noticed. He’s in charge, he can do this. He can have this. He can bite Ren’s lower lip just like this and suffer no repercussions. Who’s going to tell on him?

Nobody. And this annoying Thief with his smart mouth and accommodating tongue isn’t going to do anything about it.

Several long seconds later, he only breaks apart to catch his breath. Ren’s lower lip is reddening and probably going to swell later. What a weakling. “I should have killed you a long time ago,” he says in the cloud of their shared breath.

“Maybe,” is the carefree response.

Akechi makes a sound through his nose suspiciously like a growl. “You’re insufferable.”

And he can feel the smile that curls Ren’s lips up against his. “But you like it.”

He ignores the smarmy remark and focuses on shutting Ren up for his own good. He’s back in control. Consequences can be damned for once.

“Niijima.”

“Sae-san.”

Sae’s posture has never been a slouch, but she definitely straightens up at that tone . “Akechi?”

Unsurprisingly, Makoto’s head snaps up immediately at this, attention going from her homework directly to her sister’s face.

“Front of the station. Thirty minutes. Come alone.” Then there’s a slight click as the call ends.

Sae takes a very brief moment to pull her phone away from her ear and stare at it. Then the moment’s over, and she’s on her feet, reaching for her purse and keys.

“Sis, what’s going on?” Makoto asks, also standing.

Sae glances at her. “Reach out to your friends, Makoto. I think I’m about to see to some unfinished business. If I haven’t come back from the police station in an hour, I’m in trouble.”

Makoto’s phone is in her hand in an instant. “I should go with you.”

“No. He said to come alone.”

Anger flashes over Makoto’s face. But she pulls it back after a moment. “Okay. Just…be safe, please.”

“I will, promise.”

“Why are you calling me again?”

“I assumed you’d want an update.”

“Is this important?”

“Yes. I’m going to take care of Sae Niijima next.”

There’s a pause. “And what’s brought this on?”

“You were the one who advised me to clean up loose ends should things get messy.”

“Don’t do anything reckless in the attempt. We’re too close now for you to screw it up by being impulsive.”

He lets a vicious smile stretch across his face. “Of course not.”

• RA: Ship.

RS: Huh?

RS: Akechi, is that you? The hell do you want?

…

RS: Hiding like a little coward again, fine!

RS: What’s ‘ship’ supposed to mean, anyway?

Chapter Text

Somehow, of everything that’s happened, this feels the most dreamlike. Hungry would probably be the best and simplest way to describe Akechi now. His grasping hands, his unrelenting mouth, his aggressive body language. He’s demanding, and he leaves at least one fist balled in Ren’s collar at all times. The message is clear: you brought this on, you’re not getting away .

Ren only wishes he could reasonably confirm this is real. He feels awake, and the pressure of Akechi’s body against his seems solid. The room around them continues to be a generic, unfamiliar room, although the opaque glass on the doors grows foggier by the moment.

At least in this situation it’s harder to think for a reason. His ideas and plans had been scraped together shoddily once he realized there were two Akechis to consider. It was practically a miracle he’d made it out of that mess--especially since he’d been fairly certain that at least one of them would have shot him.

Oh, time to stop thinking again--Akechi’s teeth feel like they might sever a vein. His range of motion is limited, but he’s figured out enough in this short time, and angles his hands to catch Akechi’s face.

“What?” Akechi gripes, reluctantly pulling his mouth free of Ren’s neck to connect their gazes. It’s such an unbelievably pouty tone. Ren vaguely wonders if he should risk getting shot at by pointing it out.

“Just wanted to look at you for a bit.”

“Take a picture, then.”

He can’t help but laugh at that. “I’ll add one to my Detective Prince shrine.”

“You better not have a shrine,” Akechi growls warningly.

“Do you want to come check?”

“Go upstairs to your dumpster attic? I’ll pass.”

“Now I’m hurt.”

“I’m going to hurt you more, too.”

“Threat or promise?”

“Asshole.”

“Right after our first kiss?”

“Shut the hell up, Ren.”

Ren would laugh, but he doesn’t want to push Akechi too hard. This very thin bubble of getting what he wanted could pop at any moment with the wrong word or gesture. Instead he just leans in, closer to Akechi’s pouting face--which would probably look like homicidal rage on any other guy.

It’s no surprise when Akechi swiftly closes the gap, leading with his teeth, again. It seems more like he wants to rip Ren apart piece by piece, but is temporarily settling for this. Maybe it’s the high of finally reaching the peak of the tension that had been building between them for--what, months now? But he feels more lucid than he has in quite some time.

Don’t let this end. He likes being lucid. Likes being able to focus on where Akechi’s hands and lips land. Likes having a single moment where the responsibility of being the leader of the Phantom Thieves doesn’t apply.

Shirking his responsibilities like that…it feels like a different, more dangerous kind of drug. One that could suck him under even more effectively than whatever’s been turning his brain to sludge since his last time in the real world.

He’s not even sure how long ago the real interrogation room was. It’s lost in a maze of jumbled locations and dates, with the only thing cutting surely through the murk being Akechi’s consistent presence. Maybe he could philosophize about that being part of why he’s so eager to hold onto this, to hold onto him . Akechi makes sense.

It gives him a tiny flare of alarm. This is dangerous, it really is. Maybe he should cut it off. He’s into this, but he shouldn’t be--right? It’s pretty difficult to think about with the Detective Prince’s tongue in his mouth. He needs distance to think.To actually take advantage of the lucidity he has. There’s no real guarantee it’ll last.

“Akechi.” He peels them apart just enough to manage it. Trapped in the present for a few more blissful moments.

“Don’t,” Akechi mutters against his lips, in the tiny space they left to breathe.

“Don’t what?”

“Call me that.”

Before he can reply, Akechi pulls him in again. Even his tongue feels sharp and demanding somehow, siphoning out control inch by inch. Okay, no thinking allowed for now.

“Goro then?” Ren asks the next time they come up for air.

The response is something like a grumbling sigh. Ren smiles, and Akechi--Goro--flushed and impatient, glares at him. “I can do that,” he confirms. This isn’t what he’d wanted to ask, or say, but it feels a lot more important.

“Good. Just with us.”

The implication is laying right there. At some point it won’t be just them. The thought is…somewhat sobering. Of course, it can’t always be them, like this. These circumstances are entirely too shaky. At some point they both have roles they’ll need to resume. He’s putting it off, but he knows that.

“Hey.” Goro’s free hand catches his chin. “Whatever you’re thinking about can wait. Don’t fuck this up.”

Ren blinks at him, caught off guard. The haziness of the moment flutters at the edges of his consciousness, threatening to make it feel just a bit too unreal again.

“You’re still my prisoner, so don’t get any ideas beyond that. You’re the one who practically begged me to kiss you.”

“I didn’t beg,” he protests, a bit of offense filtering into his tone.

“Close enough.”

“I didn’t even ask.”

“So you’re not interested?”

Now it’s Ren’s turn to make a face. “Now who’s ruining the moment?”

Goro snorts. The grip on Ren’s collar shifts to pull him forward. Ren’s grimace melts as the distance between them disappears yet again.

A few more moments of irresponsible decisions should be fine. He’ll take his time.

FS: Mona says “And you didn’t go with her?!”

FS: It’s a full interrobang. He’s appalled.

MN: I offered to go. But she said he told her to come alone.

YK: That sounds exceedingly dangerous. Certainly it would be remiss of us to not have someone there to watch out for her?

MN: I thought about taking the train to tail her at least part way, but…

FS: But?

MN: Somehow Sis can catch me really easily. She’s got good instincts, and in her car she’ll get there before me.

RS: Man, I don’t like this at all. How long’s it been?

MN: Fifteen minutes. I started a timer as soon as she left.

AT: Maybe if one of us goes to the station really quickly?

FS: I got this. It’s hackin time!

RS: Yeah, that’s right! We’ve got Anonymous Lite on our side!

FS: Excuse you, Anonymous WISHES they were as good as me! Half of those morons wouldn’t know a VPN if it stole their lunch money!

MN: Moving on…

MN: Futaba, if you can, please keep us apprised of Sis’s location. We may need to prepare an emergency trip into the Metaverse.

RS: You think he’d try to drag her in?

AT: No way…maybe he’d kidnap her too?

MN: I’m not sure.

YK: Being prepared for multiple possibilities seems like a good idea. Should we meet?

MN: He must have something nefarious planned, and the abrupt meeting means we can’t assemble in time to prevent it, only to mitigate the damage. He had to have done that on purpose.

HO: I think we should meet. That feels more like a warning than anything.

YK: Very well. I can make it to Leblanc within the hour.

RS: I swear to god, if Akechi hurts either of them he’s gonna regret it!

AT: I can head out right now.

FS: HOLD UP HOLD UP

RS: He basically kidnapped Niijima-san! The hell’re we waiting for??

FS: Well two reasons actually. First off, it’s only been fifteen minutes!

FS: Second, I got a ping on Ren’s phone for the first time in 84 years! It’s not in the Metaverse! Or not anymore!

MN: Because Akechi has it, right?

FS: Yeeeeees but

FS: I also pulled your sister’s location and Akechi’s phone’s location and they’re all together at the police station.

FS: And this is the first time I’ve even been ABLE to pull Akechi’s location.

YK: Which means…?

HO: Is he doing it on purpose?

FS: Yeah, I think he is!

RS: Okay, but why? More gloating?

FS: I dunno, do I look like the local Akechi motives translator???

MN: Sis texted me.

AT: Is she okay?

HO: What did she say??

MN: Everyone continue your plans to get to Leblanc. She wants to meet us there.

As much as he might hate the vast majority of the people he works with, he recognizes a few key points. Despite her absolute foolishness and naivete, Sae Niijima is still a capable woman. She’s accomplished a lot in her drive to succeed. And more importantly--glaring flaws aside--she’s one of the few adults he can stand to be around for long periods of time. In a different world, she could have been someone he actually confided in.

That, of course, is nothing but wishful thinking. There is no reality but the one he lives in. Where fools die at his hands by the dozen right under her nose, while she pretends gaining a higher seat of power will solve all her problems. But she’s still good for some things. And that’s the reason why, when she arrives at the police station right on time, he activates the MetaNav.

It would have been fun to bring her to the courthouse.

As it is, he gives her a few moments to recognize that something strange is happening. Watches her minute reactions as she tries to hold her composure in the midst of something unexplainable happening to her. Idly toys with the idea of making his lie to Shido the truth, and summoning Loki.

Maybe his brain’s still a bit too addled from Ren in the safe room .

That’s another thing he’ll have to figure out. It’s the only explanation for why he’s so abruptly pivoted his plans. Is he really that dumb? That lovesick ?

Ren in the safe room…

Maybe he’d been a bit too manipulative, asking for Ren’s trust right after kissing him breathless. The thought, as fleeting as it is, gets dismissed with a flicker of irritation. He’s done far worse to other people. And he could easily have carried out his plan without Ren’s consent.

It’s fine. Plans are meant to be adapted to the current situation. A lack of flexibility is Shido’s failing, not his. And Ren agreed anyway - even if the conditions he added were stupid.

This is nothing but a massive loose end .

It keeps swirling around in his brain. He has his two biggest problems at his mercy, one right in front of him. He doesn’t have to suffer this weakness. He doesn’t have to do something so reckless and dangerous. He doesn’t have to trust somebody else.

And he almost changes his mind. But as Sae’s attention is drawn to the bench, he holds back. If changing the plan is bad, changing it again and again is worse. Stay the goddamn course. The new one, anyway.

The open box he left on the bench is incredibly nondescript, and that’s part of what helps it stand out from the weird normalcy of the Metaverse. He was gracious enough to include a little note with visible typed font on the front of it: Sae Niijima . She goes to it, looks around again--shrewd--then carefully lifts the phone nestled inside.

He waits a few moments more, then activates the Nav again. Watching Sae’s head snap around as the world wobbles and melts away is almost funny. His own positioning is naturally perfect, as cover in the form of a phone booth springs up in front of him. Unsurprisingly, she continues to look around, her instincts not failing her.

Another brief waiting game, before he puts his phone to his ear. She jumps slightly when the phone in her hand begins to ring, stares at it, looks around again, and finally answers. “Akechi.” The suspicion is all over her face, and he can tell she’s guessing.

“What did you think?” he asks.

“Was that your doing? What was that?”

“‘That’ was the fabled Metaverse.” He watches her start, and can practically read her mind as gears start to turn. “If you’re wondering, yes, that is both where Ren Amamiya was arrested and the redacted word in the reports you lost access to.”

“How--?”

“It’s not very nice to underestimate me, Sae-san. I’ve been working with you for quite a while, after all. I was bound to pick a few things up.”

“Don’t play games, Akechi. Clearly you know more than you’ve previously let on. Tell me what the purpose of this was.”

“To give you an idea of just how far outside your scope you are. And to show you a few things that the Thieves are trying to shield you from.”

Her free hand tucks into her elbow. She’s looking around more carefully. Akechi steps smoothly into her blind spot as she scans, the movement slow so as not to attract her attention.

“Where is Ren Amamiya?” she asks.

“Somewhere safe.”

“So you lied about that too.”

“I told you I didn’t kill him, and that’s the truth. I’m surprised you didn’t pick up on the omission yourself.”

“Why are you sharing this with me now?”

“Because I think it’s in our best interests to continue working together. The Thieves may not trust you with this information, but I do.”

She pauses, and he can see different ideas warring on her face. She’d always been so easy to read, despite the cold and stern front she’d used as a shield. Now even more so - despite the Thieves not finishing the job, not actually stealing her heart, her Palace had still been ransacked. Items stolen, enemies killed, puzzles solved. Everything influenced a Palace’s ruler, and it was their own shortsightedness to not understand that.

It wasn’t his job to educate them on that.

“All right, let’s say I agree to whatever deal you’re proposing. What then?”

“Then we talk again. You help me see to a few tasks, I tell you more about the price on your head.”

“What?!” She looks shocked for a full second before she pulls it together.

“Sae-san, you can’t be but so surprised. Clawing to the top in order to root out corruption was one of our goals. You really think that pushing you out of the investigation would be enough to satisfy the slime watching over everything?”

She’s silent, staring out at the streets. He gives her time to think.

“Akechi…how deep in this are you?”

He smiles. “Is that really the question you want answered?”

“Who ordered it?” she asks next. Straight to business, despite discussing her own life.

“Think about it and I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Dammit.” It’s faint, and she turns away where he can’t see her face. “If this is true, then helping me puts you at risk. Why would you do this?”

“It’s not me helping you. It’s you helping me. If it happens to benefit you in the interim, that’s a happy coincidence.”

Her sigh filters through the phone. “Then you must already have one of said tasks lined up for me to see to.”

“Yes. Meet with the Phantom Thieves at Leblanc. There are a few things I’d like you to share with them in person. Consider it a stress test for our new partnership.”

“You believe I’d lie to children, including my own sister?”

“You’ve done it before, haven’t you?”

“And if I tell them about this conversation instead?”

“Have it your way. See how it turns out.”

More silence. She turns again--still surveying the area. Then, she turns and heads back to the parking lot. “You understand I have my doubts about this.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t believe you if you said you didn’t. Think about it on your way back.”