A/N: This is my first cross-posted fic, so I'm hoping to keep up with this.
This idea has been stuck in my head for months, so I finally outlined it and started writing. I also blame hours of detective shows for never letting my mind rest.
A few notes: this will obviously deviate from the main story of Persona 5 from November on. By doing so, I'm kind of accepting backlash for denying the entire point of the game, but I hope it's not the end of the world. It's not really the angle I'm aiming for in this story.
I don't play chess. I know how to play, but I sure as hell can't last but 5 minutes. The idea of using chess as an analogy actually came from the anime adaptation. Actual game play is only described here, so if you're a professional chess player, well...sorry.
If you haven't already picked up where this is headed, it's going to be a bit dark. Again, I blame my criminal TV shows for my imagination. I also love my drama peppered with romance (not the other way around). But between suggestive themes and evil plots, there's a line I won't cross.
Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 5. If I did, I would be able to supply my demand of Christmas Ale to the point I would probably be dead.
"Who do you think is the most important player in a game of chess?"
Joker throws himself back into the shadows of the corner, avoiding another well-dressed pursuer. He tries to tell himself that he needs to escape quickly, but he can't help the smirk that comes to his face. Bastards were given a heads up and still couldn't catch him. Well, he's good at what he does, he thinks. It's still mildly entertaining to hear their frustrations.
He bolts around the corner once the coast is clear and runs through the door leading to the staircase. He hears the halting of footsteps and knows they see him, but he does not stop or falter. He wants to test his own wit and athleticism for an audience. It's dangerous, but as Skull likes to say, "Ya gonna go out one day; might as well go out in style!"
He busts through the door and his speed nearly sends him flying over the railing. He grips it tightly; he needs to think quickly about his next course of action. His eyes scan the room through his mask. He knows this route well; his team takes it every time they enter the palace. They just do so in silence. He is here to make a scene. Grab attention. Distract people.
Go out in style!
He hears voices from behind him and he makes up his mind. He turns to the three or four men who come barreling out of the stairwell. They stare at him for a brief second, as if they are surprised they found him and do not know how to proceed with his capture. Joker grins at them in their moment of stupor and jumps over the railing onto the rafters above the casino's main floor.
The shooting starts a few moments later, but he is too far away for them to hit him. His adrenaline is peaking as he runs while earning gasps and points and startled silence from the patrons below him. He hears his teammates in his ear, warning him of other people approaching and how badass he is at the moment.
When his feet meet the floor near the entrance, he allows his chest to puff in a proud, charismatic fashion. Yeah, he is badass.
The shooting, however, doesn't stop and he runs up the few stairs in front of him to his newest challenge. Oh, if Skull thinks he is badass now, the kid might shit his pants after his next move.
The enemy pauses and slowly approaches him like he's a wild animal. He turns to them, their guns still up in defense (or as a threat). They think they have him cornered.
Please.
Joker lifts a hand and mocks their attempts. With a flick of his wrist and a sarcastic "see ya," he jumps through the beautiful glass window. He expects shards to cut into him, but his super awesome duster is just that: super awesome. His arms shield his face and he practically flies through the air with the glass bits, as if to flatter his daring move that much more.
The landing, however, he is not ready for.
He makes sure that he lands on his toes and rolls with the momentum of the fall. He ducks his head into his chest as he does and surprisingly comes out of the jump with little pain. The shoulder he rolls on hits the pavement a bit too hard, but he doubts there will even be a bruise come morning.
Everything goes well as he stands and brushes loose shards from his duster and his hair. However, something heavy and cold lands in his stomach. He expects a crowd of uniformed officers around. He expects screaming and yelling and bright lights to blind him. He expects his stunt to leave him momentarily winded and the cops notice and he has no time to run.
What he does not expect…is nothing.
No one.
No sounds.
Nothing!
Joker's eyes scan the area, his heart picking up its pace out of fear. Where were the cops to arrest him? Were they waiting around a corner to ambush him? Did he seriously jump out of a window with such grace and no one was around to see it?
Something is off, but he doesn't know what. He jogs up to the corner of the building, thinking they were hiding from his view. Again, he meets darkness. He frowns and a finger goes up to his earpiece to see if someone knows why the police are missing.
He pauses. He knows he can't say anything. The traitor is still on the line of communication. Anything he says, he will hear. And then they will be in more trouble. Or were they wrong? Did he have some change of heart? Joker wracks his brain with conversations and chance encounters with the boy in hopes that in one of them, he drops a hint.
With his mind running on all cylinders, he fails to make any sense of anything. He needs to get in contact with his team without sounding surprised. He struggles to find his voice, but says, "I've made it out. We will reconvene at the Metaverse entrance. Don't forget the briefcase."
He only hears silence. He is hoping Oracle or Skull or really anyone will say something like, "What?!" and then he would repeat his statement to prevent any unnecessary incriminating statements. What the hell is going on?!
The voice of Noir cuts through the silence. "I have left the building as well. Meet you there!"
Fox follows suit. "I understand. As soon as I can, I will be there."
He does not hear from the others. He predicts that Skull is just keeping quiet to avoid raising suspicions. Oracle is likely confused as all hell and searching for answers. Queen and Mona are probably doing the same. Panther is hopefully the reason Skull has yet to say anything. Crow…well, he's not sure what he is doing. But the sinking feeling in Joker's gut tells him Crow is not helping.
He needs to hear from the others. "What about the rest of you? Who has the briefcase?" He looks over his shoulder at the blinding casino lights, hesitating before he walks away. "Do any of you need help?"
"Are you okay, Joker?" Mona asks. "No difficulties on your end?"
He hopes his voice is as steady as he wishes it. He also hopes that their enemy doesn't pick up on Mona's implication. "Nope. Busted that beautiful glass window, though. Pretty sure I'll get a bill for that."
A small laugh breaks out over the line. It's Crow. "That was quite impressive."
Okay, so he needs to hear from four more members. Skull's voice crackles through first. "Dude, this ain't the time to be jokin' around! What the 'eff is-,"
"I have the briefcase. I'll meet up with you guys at the suggested location." Queen.
"Y-yeah." Panther.
"We seriously need to get out of here." Oracle.
Joker breathes a sigh of relief. He hears from each one of his teammates. No one seems to be hurt. He assumes they are as confused as he is, but they can deal with that when he meets them again. "Be careful on your way out. Please alert anyone if there's trouble."
The line goes dead and he begins to walk to where the team enters the palace. His feet are heavy, his mind is racing, his heart is pounding. Why? Why is this happening? He knows he should be relieved that he's not being cornered and cuffed and thrown in jail, but there is a nagging feeling that something is very wrong.
He reaches the location in a matter of minutes. He sits on the edge of the sidewalk and thinks. He first tries to find loopholes in their plan. He has no doubt that the traitor wants to kill him. He knows none of his friends said anything to said person about their plan. Did he by chance catch wind of it anyway? He was extremely intelligent, but Joker thought his pride and ego clouded much of that at times. So unless he was personally exposed to their scheme, Joker doesn't want to believe he could have figured it out.
In the days leading up to the operation, he did seem eager to hang out with him. Pick his brain, or whatever. He had been polite enough to accept the requests, but smart enough to watch his mouth. Most of the days were spent sitting at their booth in Leblanc with freshly made coffee and a chess game.
"Who do you think is the most important player in a game of chess?"
Joker runs a hand through his hair. Had he been the one to say something to hint as to what they were doing without realizing it? And if so, what was he planning on doing to kill him? Did he plan on just coming out of the shadows and shooting him in the back of the head? No. He would have wanted Joker to see that he was going to kill him. He wanted to see the look of horror and betrayal on his face. He was up to something, but sadly, Joker has no idea what that could be.
And it's pretty terrifying.
"Who do you think is the most important player in a game of chess?"
Ren was learning strategies with Hifumi, but he was surprised to find out he was terrible at chess. He assumed when Akechi first invited him to play that it would have been a challenging match. Sadly, he couldn't utilize the same moves he was learning in shogi in a game of chess. Thus, Akechi defeated him every time. He was getting better and lasting longer, and his pride liked to remind him that the man sitting across from him wanted him dead and he wasn't thinking all that well.
But the last time they played, there was something different about it. Ren had been too deep in thought at the time, trying to read his opponents moves and predict his strategy to gain the upper hand. After he claimed one of Ren's pawns, Akechi threw him off balance.
"Who do you think is the most important player in a game of chess?"
Ren lifts his hand from his chin as he reaches for one of his pieces, his bishop sliding across the board to capture his opponent's knight. "That would be the king."
Akechi is silent for a moment, thinking about his next move. Or he next line. Or hell, even thinking about how to turn Ren's answer against him. He simply moves his rook without taking any pieces.
The move sends alarm bells off in Ren's head. He's up to something. However, before he can make a move of his own, Akechi addresses him once more. "Why do you say that?"
He pauses, trying to hide his confusion at the question. "What do you mean? The game is over when the king is captured."
The game halts and both of them stare back at the other. Ren searches Akechi's eyes, his face, his posture for a subtle clue as to where this is heading, but he is rather calm. Relaxed. Almost as if he really is asking a simple question.
Akechi clasps both gloved hands in front of him and leans into them. His eyes appear to be studying the board, but Ren's intuition tells him the board isn't where is focus is. "I don't mean to be rude, but that is an amateur response." As if in retaliation for his remark, Akechi swipes a lonely knight with the last of his own. "Check."
Ren glances down at the board and discovers that Akechi's move does leave him in a bind. His opponent doesn't give him a lot of time to think of a way out. "You know what happens now, right?" Ren turns his attention to him. "You're on the run."
Something in the undertones of Akechi's voice stirs some emotion in Ren. The glimmer in the boy's eyes only adds fuel to the fire. Ren remains stoic and unaffected on the outside, his eyes falling back to the game board to plan a new strategy. Maybe even one that Akechi will not see coming.
However, he realizes he is at a severe disadvantage. Any move he is likely to make will be sacrificial to keep his king in the game. And what is the point of that? Why sacrifice your players when the end will be the same?
He quickly finds an opening and sends his queen over to take out the threat from the knight. "Problem solved."
Akechi grins at him, almost like he anticipates this move and Ren has walked right into his trap. When he sit back in his seat to assess the situation, Ren smirks at him. "Surely that didn't catch you by surprise."
The grin on Akechi's face seems to darken as his hand hovers over the rook he moved in a previous turn. "Watching you play, you seem to rely heavily on the mobility of your queen." He stops it in the same row as his own king. "Check."
In his own defense, Ren always fell into Akechi's little chess-game-turned-cat-and-mouse. Naturally, when that happened, his queen became a vital player, usually for clearing away threats from Akechi to end the game. He assumed it was probably something "amateur" players did, but he was getting better. He could probably win a shogi match against him. He sure as hell was about to win this life and death match in real life with him.
So really, he was the real winner?
Ren moves a pawn to block his king, fully expecting Akechi to eliminate it and begin the running game. However, he takes Ren by surprise when he moves his queen and traps Ren's king at a different angle some distance away.
"Check again."
Hoping that he has just made a mistake, he moves his own queen to take out Akechi's queen. Why did he make that move to begin with? Was he letting him off easy? He feels like he has walked into something. But he has little options left. So why not? Maybe he won't notice?
He swears Akechi snickers at him. The atmosphere changes around them as one of Akechi's hands lift to grab his rook. Ren prepares for a counter attack. His pawn will be sacrificed. His queen will play catch up until the threat is eliminated or he loses. His one bishop will just move aimlessly when it can. Two other nearby pawns will also likely be sacrificed. Somewhere along the way, he hopes Akechi slips up, although he never has before.
Ren's eyes go wide when Akechi does not attack his pawn, but his queen. He wonders why he did so; his queen has already been captured with two knights so the element of surprise was no longer a valid tactic. Ren always seemed to fall into a trap, losing his king to a knight or the queen, so this move confuses him. He basically lost a chance to win by attacking a specific game piece that had little purpose anymore. Why?
"Who do you think is the most important player in a game of chess?"
The game piece dangles between Akechi's index and middle fingers. However, it's the smirk on his face and the narrowing of his eyes that send a sliver of fear down his spine. Instead of addressing it, Ren forces his voice out of his throat. "Why did you give up a chance to win to go after a piece that is kind of pointless to me now?"
He watches Akechi drop the piece with the others he has claimed during the match. "Because sometimes, it's not about finishing off the king in a calculated, predicted manner." The stare he receives is just as cold as his tone. "Sometimes, it's fun to watch what the king does without his most important player."
Every nerve of his body screams at him. While Ren does his best to feign ignorance, he is sure Akechi can feel his heart beat across the table, that he can see the tightening of his muscles as he tries not to lunge across the table and strangle him. He grits his teeth and forces a lighthearted laugh which painfully echoes in his own ears.
"While the queen is an important player, it's not the only one," he spit between his teeth. He moves his bishop (more in an attempt to keep the game moving) for his first "Check" of the night. Then his eyes burn holes into Akechi's. "So don't let your guard down, or you'll lose, and I'll get all my players back."
He can practically hear Akechi's gears turning in his head, but the boy laughs and literally kills the tension in the air. "I'm glad to see you so serious about winning for once. It was starting to feel like you just played because I asked you to." He glances at his wristwatch, and Ren takes the delay to calm himself down. Was he purposely trying to rile him up? Was it all in good fun?
No.
He chose his words carefully, and the undertones were meant to be dropped.
This is no longer about a game of chess.
This is personal.
"Well unfortunately, I need to be off." Akechi slides out of the booth and stands. He extends his hand out to Ren, who shakes it before the other teen has a chance to read the look in his eyes. "My apologies for leaving a game in a tie, but perhaps once all of this chaos is over, we can have one more match?"
He nods once, swallowing the dread that rises to his throat. "I'll be ready."
Akechi smiles his stupidly-kind smile, thanks him for the coffee and company, and walks out the door. The second the door shuts behind him, Ren sprints up to his room, startling Morgana sleeping on his pillow. He ignores the cat's questions and frustrations as he pulls his phone from his charger and frantically types out a message.
Something has happened. Please come over as soon as you get this.
Fuck.
Truth hits him like a ton of bricks.
Noir reaches him just as he is about to dash back towards the casino. "Joker? Is something the matter?"
No. No. No, please gods, no!
"I need to go back in there!"
Noir is genuinely surprised and actually follows behind him without retort. He has no idea where to even start looking, if they were even still there, but he knows he has to try. He peers around the corner of a nearby building to check the pathway to the entrance. No one is around. Perfect. He signals to Noir that he is going into the building and runs off before her confused look changes his mind.
He swings the door open with enough force to almost pull it off its hinges. Which, in turn, scares the hell out of Skull and Panther, who are screaming on the other side.
"W-w-what the hell?!"
"J-joker?"
Joker himself is momentarily startled. In the time it takes for him to compose himself and remember what he is doing, Mona runs up behind him.
"Joker? What are you doing?! We need to get out of here!"
He shakes his head. "Who do you think is the most important player in a game of chess?" "No! I need to go back in!"
Skull grabs his arm. "Woah, dude. It's too dangerous to-,"
"Let me go!" he snaps as he pulls himself from Skull's grip. Mona calls out for him to stop, but it's not until Skull literally tackles him to the ground that he hears anything.
"What the 'eff, man?! You trying to kill yourself?!"
The despair starts to set in; it's probably too late to do anything now anyway. He's probably long gone. He was probably long gone shortly after he heard their voices on the communication line. This was a suicide mission that wouldn't even be worth anything. But…he needs to do something.
He doesn't realize he's crying until Skull releases him and Mona stands in front of him. "Joker? What's wrong?"
"Because sometimes, it's not about finishing off the king in a calculated, predicted manner."
He pounds the ground until he is sure there will be a bruise on his fist and a dent on the floor.
"Sometimes, it's fun to watch what the king does without his most important player."
He screams as his teammates stand in stunned silence.
"You wanted to see me?"
As soon as he opens the door to the café, he pulls Makoto into the room and throws his arms around her. There is nothing but silence as his grip tightens around her until the door clicks shut behind him. She is clearly confused by his actions, she even tries to pull away, but his head lands on her shoulder and she stops. Slowly, he feels her arms come around his waist and without words, they sit in each other's embrace.
It's painful to pull away from her, but she is here pretty late and he does not want to take much more of her time. "I'm sorry to ask you out here like this."
She shakes her head. "It's alright." One of her hands finds one of his. "You're clearly upset about something."
He squeezes her hand, allowing a playful grin to spread across his face. "Any time you're not here, I'm upset."
She blushes as she lowers her gaze. "I-w-well," she clears her throat while he runs his thumb over her wrist. "What did you want to tell me?"
He resists the urge to kiss her, even though he wants to, but he knows how that will end up. And that's not why he asks her here. "I may have just wanted to see you."
"Ren." The look she gives him is proof of her irritation. She wants answers and is not satisfied with his lie. She repeats herself. "What did you want to tell me?"
He steadies himself with a deep breath. "Akechi was here earlier." Her eyes go wide in surprise, but she waits for him to continue. "He just made a comment to me that worried me. I doubt he knows anything of what we are planning, but - maybe - I've misread his intentions."
"What do you mean?" she asks after a brief moment of silence. He rubs the back of his head. Was this even a good idea? He panicked, and that was why she was here. He didn't really think the idea through but…if it was a bluff, it was a damn effective one.
"I think he might go after you."
She certainly didn't expect to hear him say that. "W-why would you say that?"
"Because you're important to me," he sighs. "And I think he knows that."
She stands still for a moment, thinking deeply about what he says. She releases his hand and rubs the sides of her head. "What did he say to you specifically?"
Something cold pricks his heart, but he ignores it. "We were playing chess, and he said something about how he finds it entertaining to see what the king does without his queen."
"Well," she starts, "I'm not a professional chess player, but the queen is very important in the game."
As she continues to explain to him details about the queen's importance to strategies and games, he plants himself on a nearby bar seat and drops his head into his hands.
"Have I said something wrong? You've likely played more than I have, so-,"
"I don't understand how you can talk so casually about this!" He is on his feet the next second. "He threatened you, and you're just going to sit there and tell me he said it in context with the game? You didn't hear him say it. You didn't see the look he had while watching my reaction. So you can't tell me that-,"
"I don't see why it bothers you so much."
His mouth hangs open as the words die on his tongue. What does she mean by this? That he simply overreacted to Akechi's words and he meant nothing by them? How was she not even the slightest bit concerned for her own welfare?
Her next statement cuts through his heart like a knife. "It's not like you care about me more than you care about Futaba, or Ann, or Haru. He could have been referring to any of us, or even one of your other friends. Why do you assume he meant me?"
He struggles to find his voice. "He dropped heavy emphasis on 'queen'."
"But you're not a king."
Realization dawns on him. She is smart enough to realize the analogy. She may not have been around to hear Akechi say anything, but she is vehemently denying that she is in any danger. It's to the point where her resistance isn't because of the revelation, but because of her connection to him. Like she isn't the one who is important to him.
"How long have you been upset with me?"
His question works the way he wants it to. She stares at him in surprise, then she tries (and fails) to cover it up with incoherent words.
When he takes a step towards her, she takes a step back. "You are upset with me."
She concedes under his gaze and her shoulders drop. She lowers her head and closes her eyes in preparation for her explanation. He gives her time to sort out her thoughts, but he braces himself for the worst. He knows why she is upset.
"I don't think there's anything for you to worry about." That takes him by surprise. "We will stick to the plan. He was probably trying to worry you into making a mistake, so let's not-,"
"I know why you're upset with me." When she looks into his eyes for the first time since she arrived, he takes a deep breath. His hands land on her shoulders to keep himself steady. It's been a roller coaster of emotions lately, so he can only hope he's not starting another ride. "You're upset because I haven't asked you out, even though we do everything that normal couples do in secret."
She doesn't step out of his space, nor does she immediately respond. She does drop her head again, a signal of defeat, and a signal he's hit the nail on the head. He braves stepping closer to her, but she puts her hands to his chest to stop him.
"I-I can't be mad at you," she finally says. "I don't know how I feel about it myself."
His heart drops into his stomach at her confession. "You mean to say that if I ask you now, you would say no?"
She shrugs his hands off her. "You wouldn't be asking me now for the right reasons, so yes, I would say no."
"Makoto…"
"We're both not in a good place right now anyway. I'm worried about my sister, and you." His heart perks up slightly. "So I don't think it's the right time."
She makes a step towards the door, but he quickly comes around to block her exit. "It's not like anything will change except our title."
She sidesteps him easily. "Right. Because I want to advertise that we've made the jump from 'friends with benefits' to 'boyfriend and girlfriend.'"
Her tone is sharp and painful. She's not one to use sarcasm against him like this, so the insult is painfully obvious. He clenches his fists and bites his tongue to keep from saying something stupid in the heat of the moment.
She pauses right before she reaches the door and turns to him. "We can talk about this once everything is taken care of. But right now, our focus needs to be on the mission. Your life is at stake. My sister's life is at stake."
He knows she is right, but he can't help but feel extremely hurt by it. "Just, promise me something before you go." When she nods and meets his eyes, he continues. "Keep an eye on Akechi. If you feel threatened or anything, please let me know. Or let someone else know."
She nods, offers a weak smile to put him at ease, then walks out the door.
He feels someone pull on his shoulders from behind him. "Dude, we gotta get outta here!"
Joker stares ahead of him, meeting Mona's worried gaze for a split second before Skull yanks him to his feet. He hears nothing around him, no comments from his friends, no footsteps of pursuers or guards. He only hears the pounding of his own blood in his ears. He breathes in a shaky breath before he quickly turns on his heels, his duster flailing behind him.
"Sometimes, it's fun to watch what the king does without his most important player."
If Akechi wants a show, he will give him one. He will make him regret ever threating one of his teammates - no - the girl he is in love with, just too stupid to realize it until she was in danger. He marches back to the point of entry, where the rest of his gang, minus one, is waiting for him.
"You want to tell us what's going on," Mona asks once in earshot of the rest of the team. Joker wastes no time pulling out his phone and clicking on the app to return to the real world. Everyone's reaction is similar and simultaneous. He did take them back without asking and missing one member, and that's not something he does as a leader.
Futaba's screeches are the first thing he hears. "Reeeeen?! What are you doing?! You just left Makoto in-,"
"Everyone go home and get some sleep."
Yes, because that will disperse all worries and questions. Ann is the first to break the silence. "You can't be serious."
He turns to his team, his friends, and tries to keep his voice strong and steady. Akechi wants this. He wants him to fall apart. But he will not. "I don't know how, or why, but some time in the recent past, he changed his plan."
Everyone stares at him. It appears Haru reads between the lines as her hand comes to cover her mouth. Morgana, either sensing his tension or understanding what is happening, rubs his head on his leg as a sign of comfort. Futaba moves her gaze to the ground as she shifts her weight around on her feet.
Again, Ann breaks the silence. "Um, can you explain what this has to do with leaving Makoto behind?"
The silence is all the others need to understand.
"Who do you think is the most important player in a game of chess?"
As his eyes take in the reactions of his friends, he addresses them once more. "I don't know the specifics of what's happened, but one thing is for sure."
While the queen may be the most important piece on the board, it isn't the only one. And he will fight. He will get her back. He will show Akechi that his move is only delaying his inevitable checkmate to come.
Everyone meets his eyes and the determination between them washes away the remaining fear in his heart.
"Let's save our Queen."
Thanks for reading!
龍の神様