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There’s a boy who lives in the Metaverse.
The first time Goro sees him, the boy is sitting on the ground with his head against the walls of some insignificant plebian’s potential Palace. He can’t be much older than seventeen; wearing a high school gakuran with wireless headphones. He doesn’t so much as twitch when Goro appears, dressed in Loki’s garb. “Hello.”
“Hello,” Goro says, a little taken aback.
Strange kid, Loki says. Goro ignores him.
“I wouldn’t advise going that way,” The boy continues. “The Reaper’s coming.”
“I see. Thank you.” Goro turns to leave. The boy doesn’t follow.
The next time Goro meets the boy, he’s in the same position as he was previously. Goro, bleeding from his temple and covered in lacerations, still dressed in Loki’s outfit. Stupid fucking Queen Mabs, it’s not his fault they’re so easy to piss off. Not looking where he’s going, Goro stumbles and falls right on top of the boy.
As the kids say, ‘L-O-L’, Loki laughs. Shut your whore mouth, Goro thinks viciously.
“Oh. Sorry.” The boy says.
“Don’t worry about it.” Goro smiles tightly.
How polite of you, sire, Robin Hood says approvingly.
“Were you looking for me?”
“Not particularly, no.” Goro preoccupies himself with fixing his wounds. He can’t afford to waste a Life Stone here. The boy seems unperturbed when Goro spits up a mouthful of blood right onto the ground in front of him.
“You must have been thinking about me, at the very least.” The boy says. “You came back, after all.”
Goro looks at him, askance. “I didn’t mean to.”
“I know. But maybe your subconscious latched on to me. That’s why Tartarus changed to lead you here.”
“I’m sorry, did you say Tartarus? As in, the realm beneath the Underworld in Greek mythos?” Goro stares at the boy, the gears in his head turning. Is he referring to the Metaverse? But if he can access it, why doesn’t he know its name? He asks as much. “Do you mean the Metaverse?
“I guess. Is that what you call it?” The boy seems unconcerned. “It’s the same thing. Does it matter?”
“I suppose not.” Goro finishes patching himself up. He takes his leave.
“Bye,” The boy waves at his retreating back.
The third time Goro encounters the boy, he’s starting to worry this is going to become a habit.
“You again?” The boy asks.
“If anything, I should be saying that to you,” Goro gripes. He’s wearing his school uniform, because he didn’t have time to summon his Personas. The moment he used the MetaNav, he ended up right in front of the boy. “You always seem to show up whenever I return.”
“I told you, you’ve been thinking about me.”
“Maybe,” Goro admits, surprising himself. The boy looks the same as ever. “It’s not every day you get to meet someone who seems to live in the Metaverse.”
“I wouldn’t say live, exactly,” The boy smiles wryly. “I guess you’re right, though.”
Silence.
Goro itches to go. He needs to finish his mission before he gets too caught up in this conversation—no matter how interesting it may be. So the boy just…stays in the Metaverse, then? Without any adverse side effects? How intriguing… If Goro were not short on time, he might have stayed just to pry any and all knowledge he could get out of the boy.
“You ever going to tell me your name?”
Goro blinks. “Are you ever going to tell me yours?”
“Mm. Probably not. You’ll end up looking for me, won’t you?”
Goro shrugs. He has no qualms admitting it. “Well, you are quite the anomaly. I wouldn’t squander my chance.”
“Yeah, I thought as much,” The boy nods. “You seem like that kind of guy.”
“What kind of guy, if I may ask?” Goro raises an eyebrow.
“Like you need to have all the information. You need to know all the cards in your deck.” The boy catches sight of Goro’s surprised look. He’s not wrong, per se. “It’s not a bad thing. Not all the time. One of my—someone I knew is like that too.” He sighs, a little sadly.
So he didn’t always live in the Metaverse. Goro quietly files that information away for later perusal.
Against all odds, Goro keeps running into that boy.
The twenty-eighth time Goro meets the boy, he’s with the Phantom Thieves of Heart. He’s wearing Crow’s outfit. The boy raises an eyebrow; interesting company you keep. Nice outfit, Thief. Who are you trying to be today? Goro pretends not to see.
It’s not very chivalrous to ignore your friends, sire, Robin Hood informs him. I don’t care, Goro snarls back.
Also, they are not friends!
“What the eff?” Sakamoto is loud. “Dude, are you seeing this?”
“I have eyes, Skull,” Amamiya says, a little amused. “I can see.”
The boy looks at Amamiya. “Dangerous to willingly stick your hand in a den of snakes.”
Goro glares.
“No, seriously, dude. What the eff?!” Goro is grateful for Sakamoto’s loudness. No one sees him bare his teeth in the beginnings of a snarl. The boy is completely inscrutable, as usual. Boo-fucking-hoo.
“Don’t worry about it.” The boy shrugs.
“Oookay…” Sakamoto looks like he’s going through the five stages of grief and an aneurysm at the same time. “Do you, like. I dunno. Need any help getting out of here?”
“No.”
“Alrighty then!” Sakamoto looks pleadingly at Amamiya, who steps forward with his hands raised placatingly.
“We can help you, if you’d like. We can get you out of here.”
Don’t bother, Goro wants to say. The boy either can’t or won’t leave. Amamiya is wasting his time playing hero. But that’s just how he is, isn’t it? If he knew what Goro was, really and truly, would he still try and save him? Yes, probably. He’s simply incorrigible like that.
“No thanks,” The boy says. Bingo. “It’s not worth it.”
“Helping someone is always worth it,” Niijima says stiffly, and if she was a little less of a fool she would have realised that he said ‘it’ and not ‘I’. Amamiya picks up on it, however, and he nods to himself.
“If you’re sure. But if you ever need help, call for the Phantom Thieves.”
“I won’t,” The boy says. Not confidently or arrogantly—as though it’s a statement of fact.
Amamiya nods. “Okay. We’ll be seeing you?”
“Probably not.”
The Phantom Thieves turn to go.
“Wait.” The boy says.
Amamiya turns around like he’d been expecting this. “Yes?” He raises an eyebrow.
“What’s his name?” The boy points at Goro. Goro resists the urge to snarl like a rabid dog.
Oh, dear, sire, Robin Hood tsks.
“Crow.” Goro bites out. Amamiya watches him out of the corner of his eye.
“Crow.” The boy nods to himself. “Okay, that’s all. Thanks.”
The boy turns and walks away.
“Huh.” Sakamoto scratches his head. “That was effin’ weird.”
The last time Goro sees the boy, he looks more agitated than usual. Which means, there’s a crease to his brow and his hands are curled into fists.
“Crow,” He says. Goro pauses and looks at him. “You’re going to die soon.”
“I’m aware.” It’s always a possibility. He just hopes to take down Amamiya before that.
“Do you want to?” The boy pushes. “Tell me you want to. I’ll leave it be.”
Goro shrugs. “What does it matter?”
“Hm.” The boy stares at him. “Alright. If you’re sure.”
I’m not. “I am.” He says instead of all the words that he wishes he could release in a desperate flood. He can’t back down now. He’s too committed.
“Good luck.”
“I won’t be needing it,” Goro says.
“If you’re sure.” The boy repeats.
Bleeding out with a bullet wound in his forehead, Goro thinks. I don’t want to die alone.
“Hello, Crow,” The boy kneels down next to him. “You should have told me you didn’t want to die.” His eyes are sad.
I’m not sorry, Goro says.
“It’s okay, Crow. I’ll be here.”
You can call me Akechi Goro, Goro says.
“You don’t want that, though.” The boy says it the same way he says everything else. Like it’s set in stone. “You want to be someone else.”
I don’t mind, Goro says. There’s nothing else left for me.
“Hm.” The boy sighs. “There was that other boy. He would have waited for you.”
Amamiya is a fool, Goro says.
“He’s a child in love,” The boy corrects. “As are you.”
Don’t you mean ‘were’? Goro asks.
“Just because you’re dead doesn’t change anything. Love endures.”
Goro says nothing.
“I wish I could have helped you.” The boy fidgets with his hair. “I thought there would be no more dead children after me.”
I’m not sorry, Goro says again.
“It’s fine.” The boy says. “At least I have company now. You can call me Arisato Minato.”
Goro settles into the space next to Arisato Minato. Two dead boys, victims of circumstance. Goro regrets everything, but also nothing. What more is there to be said? You cannot change the past. Will we be here forever? Forever is quite a long time.
“Who knows? Maybe. It’s better with company. We might even be able to prevent the next one.”
Maybe, Goro says. Maybe. At least we’re not alone.