"I'm happy… I'm happy to sacrifice myself for you…"
He was slowly falling, drifting through shards of glass. There was white light peeking through the cracks of the glass. The light was pure. Through the shards you could see memories… When he was born, to the moment he died.
Every single person he had killed.
Every fake smile.
Every moment, a puppet.
Goro turned his head to look through a shard of glass.
Not all the moments were bad…
"Hypothetically, what would you say about the Phantom Thieves if they were real?"
Another T.V interview. Goro's leg bounced impatiently. He wanted to get this over with quickly. He had a lot of targets to go through. He looked up at the black haired boy that the announcer was interviewing. He could almost guess his response. He would say that he agreed with The Great Detective Akechi. These people, they were all the same…
"I think that they are the real enforcers of Justice." Goro could feel his eyes widen. He had never misjudged someone, ever. So what, what could make this boy different?
"And why do you believe that?" Goro answered swiftly, smile back in place.
"Because all that they did was help people, they didn't do it out of spite, revenge, or to hurt. They only did it to get back at rotten adults." Goro stared at the boy. The host was speaking but Goro wasn't listening. He was staring at the boy who defied his expectations. Just who exactly was he?
Goro was pushed back into the present. He smiled at the memory. That was the day he met Akira. The day everything changed… He was still drifting. But he felt out of place. The white light filtering through the cracks fell upon his black uniform. Spots of blood were floating above him, defying gravity.
Gravity: The force that attracts any object towards the center of the Earth… What a strange thing to remember from school. Even after he died, even in the strange place he was in now. He turned his head to look at another jagged memory.
Le' Blanc.
Goro stared at the red roof of the cafe. It was apparently notorious for its delicious coffee and curry… Well at least according to Sae. He opened the door. To get a blast of smells from the room.
"Welcome to Le' Blanc," A man with a small goatee said, "Take a seat." He motioned to one of the stools near the counter.
Goro smiled, bowed a little, and took a seat. Carefully placing his suitcase on the ground near his stool.
Goro took a look at the menu. As a detective, he trained himself to be decisive so he immediately knew what he wanted. He told his order to the man in front of him. Who smiled.
"Yea, you seem like the kid who'd want that," the man rubbed his goatee. Goro's smiled.
"Ah! Do I?" He laughed. The charismatic Detective Strikes again!
"Well I'll get to your order," the man said not bothering to explain further. He went into the kitchens and after a while reappeared again with Goro's coffee.
"Here you go. Hope you enjoy," The man laid the coffee on the counter in front of Goro.
"Thanks!" Goro took his coffee and softly took a sip. His eyes widened. The flavors! How could there be soo many iridescent, opalescent flavors in one cup of coffee! Goro had to admit it, he was now a fangirl!
"Wow! I might have to remember the address here!" Goro said amazed. The mad smiled.
"Well now that you will be coming here more often, I guess I should introduce myself, I'm Boss." Boss said smiling wider. Goro nodded.
"I'm Goro Ake-," Goro started.
"I already know who you are," Boss said and pointed at the T.V. Goro turned at stared at a distorted reflection of himself. Suddenly the T.V turned off.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to make you have to watch yourself," Boss said and smiled genuinely. Goro was definitely going to like this place...
Goro smiled. His visit to Le'Blanc. His first taste of true coffee! Eventually he met Akira, and learned more about him. God… What would he do for another cup of Akira's coffee… Goro turned his head for another memory
They were in the park. Golden leaves swirling around. Red. Gold. Yellow.
"I told you this was a good place for a picnic," Akira sat down on the blanket next to him. Goro rolled his eyes. Akira was insufferable, but he did have his good moments.
Akira opened a canister of Le' Blanc coffee, and took a sip.
"Mmm! Still warm!" Akira shoved it into Goro's empty hands. Akira looked at Goro expectantly. Goro took a deep sip.
The spices of Le' Blanc swirled in his mouth. But they had a tinge. It was Akira's mark. Strangely, Goro could always tell if it was Akira's coffee he was drinking. Goro put down the canister. Then he blushed at the thought of the indirect kiss they just shared. Goro could feel Akira's eyes burn into him.
No. He can't think these thoughts. He didn't deserve happiness like this. Not after Okumura's death…
Goro shook his head. Akira leaned closer to him. Goro stiffened, and if possible turned more red. Akira looked at him.
"I'm only getting the sandwiches," he said innocently, as if he didn't know what effect he had on Goro.
"I still don't understand why you wanted to bring me here," Goro looked down, "I mean you have a ton of other better frien-. Mmf!" Goro's eyes widened! Akira had stuffed a sandwich in his mouth!
In this position Goro had no choice but to chew and swallow, looking into Akira's eyes that were ever so close.
"You are one of my friends. And I brought you here, and that's that" Akira said. He looked at Goro who was still chewing as if expecting an answer. Goro nodded, he could indulge himself… If only for now…
The picnic! Goro smiled at the memory. He remembered that they had gotten rained on afterwards. Ha! So much for the picnic!
At that moment drifting in such a strange place, Goro felt truly at peace with himself. He wasn't some detective smiling on a T.V. set. He wasn't some hitman, his father's puppet. He wasn't some saviour dying behind a steel wall.
He was Goro Akechi.
A boy now lost somewhere between time and space in his memories. Goro closed his eyes. He didn't have to fake smile anymore. He could finally be at peace.
But strangely he wasn't satisfied.
Was that truely all he could do? Was dying truly atonement for everything he had done to Akira and the Phantom Thieves?
No! This wasn't enough! Goro opened his eyes. He tried to swim up, against whatever was making him drift towards the ground.
Gravity. Gravity. Gravity.
It was like swimming underwater with a glass lid on top. He tried to move his hands but the water was to thick.
Drowning. Drowning. Drowning.
He tried to scream, to shatter the peace of this broken world. But it was like screaming underwater. Bubble of blood erupted from his mouth.
No. No. No!
He couldn't, wouldn't let it end like this! He tried to push back with everything he could, despite all the bullet wounds.
He screamed his throat raw. But he couldn't do anything by himself.
Then he heard a voice. That voice. Akira!
Then he saw him swimming through his shattered memories to reach him. Akira reached out his hand!
"Take my hand!" Goro could hear him so clearly even under the water. He grabbed on, but whatever was pulling him down before started pulling him harder! He was so close. Fingertips touching fingertips. No! His grasp was slipping.
Slipping. Slipping. Slipping.
Goro closed his eyes. Death was inevitable after all….
"NO!" Akira yelled "I WON'T LOSE YOU AGAIN!" Goro opened his eyes. AKira had clenched on to Goro's wrist. And pulled him upwards. Up they swam through Goro's memories! Suddenly they all flashed through his mind. And strangely he could tell that Akira was seeing the memories too.
His birth.
Father leaving.
Mother's suicide.
Coming to Tokyo.
Meeting Shido.
Becoming a Detective and a Hitman.
Meeting Akira.
Falling in love.
Becoming a Phantom Thief.
Becoming a traitor.
Killing Akira.
And Killing himself… But strangely the memories went on.
Akira marrying him.
Adopting children.
The Phantom Thieves accepting him. Tears formed in Goro's eyes. It was everything he wanted. He could see the edge of Akira's smile.
And Goro opened his eyes.
He was still in Shido's palace. Akira's fingers were on both sides of Goro's head. His friends were crowding around him.
"AKECHI?!" they all yelled. Except for a not surprised Akira. Who gave Goro a huge hug. And Goro hugged him back. He could her the rest of the thieves hollering and cheering.
"At least you're all healed…" Mona said pretending like he didn't care. But everyone could see the dried tears on his face.
"Are you sure you want to continue now Akechi. I mean you kind of died…" Makoto said. Goro released Akira. A new determination stemmed through all the Phantom Thieves.
"Even though I'm thankfully not dead, you still accepted my promise… We will change Shido's heart right now!" Goro said standing up. The rest of the Phantom Thieves smiled alongside him. Especially Akira… And now Goro had something else to fight for. He will achieve that future!
"Alright! Lets go!" Joker said. And the rest of the Thieves followed him.
/
Hi guys it's me, Yadakitty. You can find this story on Archive of our Own as well! I have the same username!