"Be careful! Joker just got transformed into a mouse! Any attacks he receive from the enemy will instantly knock him out!" Oracle warned everyone as she observed the situation from above.

"Squeak squeak!" Joker ran to safety of Makoto who was currently guarding the treasure that they found in Mementos. She immediately picked him up and held him protectively in her arms.

"Ah the guy is getting away! Let's chase after him!" Skull barked out as he pointed his bat at the retreating enemy.

"Understood!" Fox said as he sheathed his katana.

"Okay! Queen, Panther, and Crow, get Joker and the treasure into a safe room! We'll be right there!" Oracle said as Necronomicon lead the way to the enemy with the others trailing right behind her.

"You heard her, let's go!" Panther said as she went down the escalators to where the safe room was while carrying one of the bags full of treasure.

Queen also carried one and left Crow to carry the last two. While Crow isn't weak per say, however the treasure was heavier than he expected and gave his arms quite a workout.

He sat down on one of the bus stop benches in exhaustion, panting at the effort he made by carrying the treasure. He threw the bags right next to him. A few items might have fallen out, but he ignored it at the moment and focused on catching his breath. Akechi never knew he could be so thankful that Mona was able to transform into a bus and carry everything for them. Perhaps when they go back to the real world, he might treat the cat to some sushi for all his hard work.

"Wah! Queen let me see Joker!" Crow was temporarily resting his eyes and massaging his arms until he heard Panther's high pitch noise.

Queen held Joker out in front of her for everyone to see. Joker's little whiskers twitched as he was taking everything in.

"Oh my gosh, he's so cute! He's so soft too!" Panther began "petting" Joker. Her kind of petting looks more like she was poking him though. She managed to knock him onto his back and continued poking his stomach.

"Squeak!"

"Ah, you're right. I didn't notice at the time because we were too busy fighting." Now Queen was also poking him too with one hand while the other was holding him securely. Akechi kind of feels bad for him. Their poking didn't look that gentle and Joker seems to be struggling a bit from their attention.

Akechi wonders if they also poke Morgana too. He wouldn't be surprised if the cat avoids being touched because in reality he actually gets poked to death by the girls. Futaba does seem to like pinching his cheeks a lot too.

'What a poor guy…'

Even though he tend to avoid the Phantom Thieves' social gatherings because he wasn't use to being around people his age, Akechi couldn't resist coming closer to pet Joker too.

' Ah, he is soft.' With two fingers, he delicately moved them down from Joker's neck to his stomach area. Akechi always wanted a pet, but due to certain circumstances, he did not have the time to take care of them.

Akechi didn't notice, but he smiled as he continued to pet Joker. Someone else did though.

"Hmm, we might be able to transform him back! I have an idea!" Panther said suddenly as she stared at Crow.

"I'm listening." Queen said as Akechi didn't respond. He was still petting and currently being mesmerized by how silky and fluffy Joker's fur was.

'His Persona mask makes him look even cuter.' He thoughts as he started scratching Joker's head.

"We just need a prince to kiss him! So that means you're up Akechi-kun!"

"Hm?" He looked up when his name was called and saw Panther looking at him enthusiastically.

"You know those tales where the princess have to kiss the frog to have it transform back into a human! It just might work with Joker in this case!" She explained.

"I see, this is the cognitive world. It's entirely possible." Queen murmured as she glanced at Akechi.

"I-I'm not a prince!" He stammered. What is she even talking about?! This situation is getting too weird for him. Now that he thinks about it, why is he still petting Joker? Feeling awkward, Akechi slowly pulled his arm back.

"But the world sees you as a detective prince and the outfit that you're wearing reminds me of those fairy tale princes. Go go Akechi-kun! Take one for the team!" Panther cheered him on as she pat him on the back.

Akechi blushed and hoped his mask was able to cover his face so the others wouldn't see it.

"Here, hold onto him Akechi-kun." Queen waited patiently as she held out her hands.

'Ah, he feels so light.' Akechi thought as he took and held Joker in his hands. After examining the creature on his hands, he looked up to see both Queen and Panther looking intensely at him making him feel self-conscious.

"Uh, can you guys not look? This is kind of embarrassing for me." He turned his head to the side, Akechi avoid looking at them as his ears were turning red at their scrutiny.

"Oh! Sure Akechi-kun! Me and Queen will organize the treasure then. Take your time." Panther waved at him as they left.

Akechi glanced back at the mouse to see Joker staring straight at him. His face flushed as he looked away again.

He might not... hate Kurusu, but he has to kiss him? This is a little too much for Akechi to handle.

He harden his resolves as he lifted his left gloveless hand to move his mask to the side. He then grabbed Joker by the nape of his neck and let out a deep sigh as he moves in for the kill.

It felt weird knowing that he was kissing something soft, yet still alive. Usually when he has something brush against his lips, blankets or his winter scarf, it was just soft. At least it lasted for a brief moment before he felt Joker transformed back to normal.

Akechi opened his eyes to see Joker smirked at him before pressing their lips together again.

"Hmph!"

He felt Joker's hands wrapped around his waist as their lips connected. Akechi's hand was now holding onto the back of the collar of Joker's coat while his right hand was in mid-air, confused on what to do. Should he also hold Joker? Push him away? Gah! This is so confusing!

Akechi in the end did nothing. He didn't even respond to the kiss. He stood there as if a Zio spell was casted onto him and had successfully paralyzed him.

Akechi only responded after Joker started sucking on his bottom lip.

"W-w-what was that?" he asked as he pushed Joker back as best as he could. Joker still kept his arms looped around Akechi to prevent them from being separated too far. Well arm's length technically isn't that far.

Akechi's face turned red as he noticed how close Joker's face to him was. He still had his mask on too. Joker always love joking about "corrupting" the detective prince and letting him "join the dark side and that they have cookies, well, it could be pancakes for Akechi though". Ugh. Akechi didn't think he can survive another one of those jokes at the moment after what just happened.

Joker smiled as he finally removed one of hand from Akechi's waist to touch his cheek. Now can he remove the other one too?

"You started it."

"! That was for-" Akechi started to argue but Joker cut him off.

"I see our detective prince hasn't had much experience with this kind of situation. Don't worry, I'm willing to teach you. Very willing~" He said as Akechi felt his breath against his lips.

' It already started.' He mentally cried as his face flushed even darker. It might as dark as his mask at this rate.

He tried his best to make his voice sound normal but it might have come out a bit husky at the beginning.

"Ah, now that you transformed back to normal, would you mind letting me go?" He asked nicely even though he wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out of it again. Damn Panther and her stupid idea. Akechi just stared at Joker's collar, unable to look him in the eyes.

"I do mind." Joker frowned, but Akechi can see the glint in his eyes when he took a peek at Joker's face when he started talking. "...but I don't want to make you too uncomfortable."

He laughs as he let Akechi go from his grasp.

Akechi glared at him as he straightened his clothes. So he knew that Akechi was uncomfortable, but ignored it. Typical Joker.

He huffed and turned to walk back towards Queen and Panther before something suddenly stopped him.

"But in all seriousness," Joker grabbed his wrist before he could escape. "Thanks for the help, Crow. I really appreciate it."

Joker let out a small smile as he said his code name.

"...you're welcome." Akechi quickly turned and walked off. He was used Joker's playful flirting, making stupid jokes, or being serious during a fighting and planning their route in a Palace. The genuine Joker, the version that he was used to seeing making coffee and listening to him chatter about random topics, was unusual to see in the metaverse. It made him feel uncomfortable. It's not a bad feeling per say, but it was….different. Akechi was not sure if he wants to understand this feeling so he does what he usually do best, he ignores it.

Joker sighed lightly at Akechi's reponse. He wished he had the courage to tell Akechi that he likes him and that he was honest with his flirting, but he was afraid that might put a damper to their relationship if Akechi doesn't feel the same.

'Well one day,' he promised to himself as he watched Akechi walk away. ' One day I'll tell him.'


"Did you take a picture?" Queen asked as she finished reorganizing the treasure.

"Yup! Joker will want it later. Maybe he'll trade me a crepe for it!" she giggled as she stared at the pictures. The picture where Crow kissed mouse-Joker to where Joker clung onto Crow as he kissed him.

'They really are adorable together.' she thought. Panther hoped that they will officially get together because she can tell they both genuinely like each other.

"Ah Crow, it seems like Panther's plan worked." Queen said as Panther quietly put her phone away.

"...yes, Joker was...thankful for it."

' Heck yeah he was!' Panther was so tempted to say, but she knew Crow was shy with these kind of things, so her response instead was, "Ha ha, I wonder where everyone else is? How hard is it to chase down a Shadow? Wonder if Skull got lost and they had to look for him instead or something."

"Yo! I heard that Panther!" A voice came from the escalator.

Panther giggled as she stick out her tongue at him.

They got into a friendly bickering as everyone came and rest on the seats.

' This...might not be so bad….even if it's just temporarily, their interactions are pretty interesting.' Akechi thought as he smiled, watching everyone.

Joker was sitting next to him, quietly watching him before deciding to speak up, "Hey, seems like you have a lot of experience with petting. Want to continue later after we leave the Metaverse?"

'Never mind.'

Author's Notes:

Let's pretend that cameras work in the Metaverse.

I might write more one-shots with this AU later because it's cute and not very angsty as the game.