Wings of Rebellion

Written by Aiyumi

Disclaimer: Persona and all related characters are property of Atlus. Any trademarks that may be referenced in this fan fiction are properties of their respective owners. I am just a fan and do not have any relations to said people/companies.

Chapter 7: A Different Image

Thursday, September 22

Haru awoke to a pleasant surprise that morning. She arrived at the dining room, but instead of one of the butlers coming to serve her breakfast as usual, her father was the one doing it!

"F-Father! Um, g-good morning." Haru was so stunned that she nearly forgot to say good morning.

"Good morning." Her father looked embarrassed and unsure as to what to do, completely the opposite of his ever so imposing and confident businessman image. "Haru... I have prepared breakfast."

Haru felt a warmth in her heart. She smiled at the sight of fruit, a sandwich, and a coffee mug on the table. "This is... just like the way you used to do when I was little!"

Her father smiled sheepishly. "I am not sure if I was able to get it to taste the same way as it did back then, but I tried my best. Ah, this brings back memories." He continued after an awkward pause. "This is too sudden, I know. I am unsure how to put this, but I am sorry, Haru. I don't know what overcame me. My head has been in space this whole time, and I even forgot how enjoyable these simple moments could be. Only now I have realized how much I miss them..."

"I m-miss them too, Father. I miss them so much..." Haru's eyes couldn't help but fill with tears.

Her father seemed about to cry as well. "I haven't been paying attention to you, and went as far as to take advantage of you. I will rescind the marriage contract, and will do my best to be a better father from now on, but please forgive me!"

"... Father!" Haru took a step forward, but froze. For a moment, she thought he would say it was just an act and try to take advantage of her like his Shadow had done. But his Shadow had changed, and his heart also should have. With this conclusion, Haru determinedly closed the distance and tackled her father into a hug.

They spent a moment in silence, just crying quietly in each other's arms.

"Haru, thank you." He broke the hug, relieved that his daughter had forgiven him. "I would have liked us to have our breakfast together, but I must attend a meeting I was unable to cancel with some of our food suppliers. I need to be going."

"It's alright." Haru assured him. "We will certainly have other opportunities."

"Yes." He nodded. He turned around and was about to leave, but turned back. "Oh, I almost forgot. Our company had scheduled an event at Destinyland tonight, but as we have other priorities now, I canceled the event. But this was such a last minute decision that there was no time to cancel the rent. You are free to take your friends there and have some well-deserved leisure time." He paused. "... I mean, you have friends at school, yes? I am sorry. I haven't been paying attention even to these details..."

Before, Haru had no friends. Even though she got along fine with her classmates, she had had no one she could consider to be a friend. But now that the Phantom Thieves had entered her life, she finally connected with people she could call friends.

Haru giggled. "Yes, I do. Thank you."


Akira was on lunch break with everyone when Haru told them the news. "Wow, amazing!"

Haru had sparkling eyes and a wide smile. "His heart has really changed. I am so happy right now! This calls for a celebration, and we just so happen to have the perfect location!" She told them about the Destinyland deal.

"For real!?" Ryuji was the first one to voice surprise. "Destinyland! You mean that Destinyland, right?! The whole park all to ourselves tonight?!"

"In other words, the Phantom Thieves will take Destinyland for one night..." Morgana had a mischievous grin. "Is this cool or what, huh?"

"This is incredible..." Akira said while Ann and Makoto just gaped. "I have to tell Yusuke and Futaba."

Akira promptly took her cellphone and messaged them. A few texts later, it was decided that they would meet up at the amusement park at six.

... ... ... ... ...

As agreed, Akira took Futaba to Destinyland and met up with the others there. Haru hadn't been kidding when she had said they would have the whole amusement park to themselves. They enjoyed all the available attractions, and ate like kings at the restaurant. Haru even managed to get high-grade cat food for Morgana!

"Haru, see what you've done? Now you've taught them what real luxury is..." Morgana commented. "Thanks to this, they won't settle for anything less for the next celebration!"

"Hey, that includes you, too." Akira directed a pointed look at Morgana.

"It would, if only I could have something other than cat food..." Morgana muttered under his breath.

Haru just giggled. She seemingly hadn't heard what Morgana had muttered.

"Next celebration." Yusuke echoed. "Is it not too early to think about that? We don't even know what our next step should be..."

"Yes, I agree," Makoto said. "Either way, this surely is a formidable welcome party to Haru."

"... Welcome party..." Futaba mumbled.

"Futaba?" Akira was concerned. "You've been acting a bit weird since we arrived at the restaurant. Are you okay?"

"I... don't know, Akira."

"What's wrong?" Akira placed a comforting hand on Futaba's shoulder.

It looked like Futaba wasn't going to speak, but she eventually did. "Haru deserves a welcome party, of course. Uh, but this whole operation wouldn't have gone well if... you know."

Akira came to a realization. "This is about Crow, right?"

"... Yeah." Futaba slowly nodded. "I don't know what to feel, Akira. To begin with, I joined the Phantom Thieves to get back at whoever killed my mom, and we found the culprit already. It's Crow. I know I should hate him. But I feel that he's truly regretted the bad stuff he did. I feel he's really opened his eyes, and from the way he keeps breaking down, he's suffering a lot thinking about what he did. And still, he's trying to start over, just like me after you guys rescued me from the labyrinth in my heart. When I think how hard he must be trying to make things right, I just can't bring myself to hate him..."

"Actually, me neither, Futaba." Akira admitted.

Futaba perked up. "Then, I'm not weird to think like this?"

"No, you are kind." Morgana added, "... I think. Either that, or the three of us are weirdos."

"Oh, you too?" Futaba giggled, a bit more cheerful. "Whatever. I'm just glad to know I'm not alone in this. But I still think he should've been here..." And then she was back to her angry and demanding self. "When Haru brought up the party, I bet you guys didn't even remember about him!"

Makoto shuffled nervously. "... Well, we have no way to contact him."

"I agree that the operation might not have succeeded without him," Haru said. "Too bad we couldn't get a hold of him and invite him to the celebration. I believe he should have the treasure, at least."

"Fine with me." Ryuji agreed. "We usually burn the treasure to pay for the parties. This time we didn't need to do that, so..."

"It is your father's treasure," Yusuke said. "If you don't mind letting go of it..."

Haru smiled. "I will hand it to Crow the next time we see him."

The others nodded.

"I have an idea." Akira announced. "He seemed to be acting on his own even though he had been working alongside us. Maybe it's because he thinks he isn't part of our group. What if we try to make him officially join us? As long as he feels that he belongs in the group, he'll have to take part in our activities more, and to stay near us most of the time."

Futaba nodded decisively.

"If even Futaba is okay with it, them I'm game too," Ann said.

Ryuji was excited. "Oh, if he joins us, will this mean he'll be kinda like our secret agent? Sounds cool!"

And so was Morgana. "I think it's a good idea! When he refused to accompany us, I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to observe him, the other wild card. If he agrees to effectively join us, we'll have two wild cards! We'll be nearly invincible!"

"Wild what?" Ryuji asked.

"Wild cards. People that can use multiple Personas, like Joker! Persona users are already rare to come across. Wild cards are even rarer!"

"Oh... hell yeah!" Ryuji pumped his fist. "You're right! We'll be unstoppable!"

"And if he officially becomes a member, we can throw a welcome party for him after the next mission!" Akira declared.

Makoto closed her eyes and sighed. "Will this really be okay...?" She muttered to herself.

... ... ... ... ...

Friday, September 23

The Phantom Thieves went to Mementos to fulfill some smaller requests. To their luck, they ran into Crow at the last available rest area.

"Crow!" Joker exclaimed. "You knew we were here?"

"No, I just spotted you all entering Mementos and assumed you'd come to this platform."

"Status report?" Joker asked.

"Nothing really. The organization has yet to contact me about anything, and since our objective is to buy time, of course I won't be the one to contact them first. In other words, I just want you all to know that nothing has happened yet."

"Like the saying goes, no news is good news, eh?" Joker chuckled. "Thanks for dropping by to keep us posted."

"This was all I had to say." He was about to turn and leave.

"Wait!" Noir stopped him. "Um, about my father's treasure."

"What about it?"

"You haven't seen it yet, have you?" Noir approached him and extended the object towards him. "Here."

"Hmm?" He carefully took the object. "A plastic spaceship? This... is the treasure?"

"It turned out into that when we got out of the Palace." Noir explained. "It was the toy Father was never able to get when he was a kid, as my family was quite poor back then. This item was what led him into the greed for money."

"I see..." Crow turned the toy over. "Aside from the fact that it's a toy... it just had to be a spaceship, hadn't it?"

Noir giggled. "Yes. Father has always liked this kind of thing. He was a gentle person before his views got distorted, though."

"Hmm. It's hard to imagine that, because when I knew of him, his views had already been distorted. But from the Shadow's reaction after his defeat, I guess it's possible."

"Yes, and his heart has definitely changed! He has even been preparing my breakfast, the same way he used to do when I was little! He said he will rescind the arranged marriage contract as well! I'm so happy! We probably wouldn't have succeeded in this operation if not for you, Crow. We believe you should have the treasure."

Crow shook his head. "No, I can't have this."

"Didn't you say you were interested in the treasure?" She asked innocently.

"That was just an argument to convince the Shadow."

"Are you sure you don't want it? It seems to be a neat collector's item nowadays," Joker said.

"I don't want to run the risk of the organization questioning me if they happen to find such a peculiar item in my possession. Thanks, but I can't accept it."

"Well, if you say so." Noir accepted the object back.

"Most importantly, you said your father's heart has changed. I hope his Shadow is keeping his end of our agreement. He hasn't mentioned about publicly confessing what he did, has he?"

"No. This morning he mentioned a plan to restore Okumura Foods' reputation, which will include indemnifying the employees who sued the company, and other things that will take a while. It's all he has said."

"So much for remaining quiet in hiding." Crow sighed. "Ah well, I guess this alone should be fine. He desperately needs to do something about his company's reputation, after all. Let's hope that the Shadow will keep his end of the deal, and that the 'other things that will take a while' refers to testifying against the organization once we change the mastermind's heart like we agreed. Surely, this will take a while..."

"Interesting," Mona said. "Instead of just resigning and turning himself in like our other targets, he's actually taking action, huh?"

"He is back to the person he once used to be. I'm so happy to have my father back! This makes me think that, before their views got distorted, bad people could have been good." This was the same conclusion Akira had had after Yusuke's art presentation. "Crow, I wonder what kind of person you were before the desire for revenge consumed your heart. You seem to be a nice person right now."

"... Me?"

"I've been wondering this too," Joker said.

Crow sighed. "I was nothing out of the ordinary. Just one more person in the crowd, with nothing good to add to the world. All I could do was let the current carry me, since I didn't have the strength to defy it."

"Just like us, then." Panther concluded.

"Yeah..." Skull agreed.

"This is practically the reason that got all of us together," Joker said.

Crow let out a bitter chuckle. "If only your group had appeared a few years earlier, maybe I wouldn't have jumped head first into this mess..."

Joker realized it was a good opportunity to put their plan into action. "It's never too late. Wanna join us now?"

"... Huh?" Crow gaped for a moment. "A-are you serious?"

"Yes." Mona answered. "Your presence and intel were vital to our last operation, and will be to the next one too! Also, we could use another wild card in our team."

"Wild card?"

Skull grinned. "See, I wasn't the only one who didn't know what that was."

"No one said you were." Panther retorted. "To answer Crow, according to Mona, a wild card is someone that can use many Personas, like Joker."

"Ah, this explains the reason for Joker's code name. In playing cards, the joker is a wild card."

"You're into playing cards?" Skull asked.

"Not really. The joker card thing is just common knowledge."

"Uh, yeah, I guess..."

"So, you're joining or not?" Joker got back on track.

"... I'm not sure. I mean, after everything I did..."

"Thanks to that, you've lost your place to belong." Mona concluded. "We're a band of misfits too, and know what it feels like to be ostracized. We're willing to give you a chance. Crow, join us. As long as you are with us, you'll have a place."

Crow was speechless.

Joker's eyes darted between her friends, but no one else said anything. She looked at Oracle and spoke in a low voice. "Oracle, tell him what you told us at the party yesterday."

But Oracle froze up, and no words left her mouth.

It took too long with no one else throwing arguments, and Crow gave up. "Thank you for the offer, but I can't accept it. I'm fine being just an informant."

"Why?" Joker asked.

"It seems most of you don't quite trust me yet. We argued enough about this last time. I don't want to continue disrupting your teamwork."

"No, this is not it!" Noir tried to argue.

"Just worry about your training. I will do my best on my end so that the next operation succeeds." Crow didn't let anyone argue back. "I did what I came here to do. I'll leave."

"Crow!" Joker called out, but Crow used a Goho-M and disappeared. "Why didn't anyone say anything?"

"I had expected either Skull or Panther would say something." Fox tried to justify his silence.

"Huh?" Skull's head shot up. "What were we supposed to say, right after Mona said all that touching stuff?"

Panther nodded. "Yeah, if Mona's speech didn't convince him, then nothing we could say would."

"S-sorry." Oracle lowered her head. "I... froze up. I wanted to say something, but the words scrambled in my head and nothing came out."

"It's okay, Oracle. This must be quite hard for you, all things considered," Queen said. "Crow's insistence on working alone doesn't help eliminate my wariness of him, though."

Joker sighed. "He's misunderstanding us. He really doesn't feel he belongs here. We'll have to be more assertive next time."


From the time Akechi began fighting the organization, he had been feeling more out of place than ever. Not quite in the organization, and not quite in the Phantom Thieves. Strangely, Morgana seemed to be the one most willing to accept him. Despite acting mocking and rough often, Morgana was so kind deep down. Other than the supernatural cat, most of the Phantom Thieves seemed at least willing to tolerate Crow, though some of them were still uncomfortable around him, especially Queen and Oracle. He felt that if he were to join in these conditions, he would only hinder the group. Not to mention that if he got forced to accompany them everywhere, he would have to reveal his identity to them, something he wasn't ready to do just yet. He wanted to enjoy his friendship with Akira for a bit longer. On that note, he should get away from the Shibuya Station as fast as possible before the Phantom Thieves could come out of Mementos and catch up to him.

Akechi took the train home. When he was nearing his building, a woman from the neighborhood approached him.

"Um, excuse me, you are Akechi-kun, the high school detective, right?"

"Yes, I am."

"Oh, so it was true! I've heard that you live nearby. This is great. I could really use some help from a detective right now."

"Uh... huh?" Akechi was stunned.

"My son has been acting strange lately. He's in the first year of middle school. There are days when he doesn't come straight home from school, and only returns at night. I ask him what he has been doing, but he gets evasive, as though he's hiding something. He wasn't like this before. I'm worried he might be going somewhere dangerous, or hanging with the wrong kind of people at night. Akechi-kun, do you think you could investigate?"

It was the first time someone asked for his help like this. But Akechi had no reason to accept that random request. Everyone he had been helping lately was for a reason. He was helping the Phantom Thieves because it was the right thing to do, Akira because she was his only friend, and Futaba more as a way of trying to relieve his conscience because of what he had done to her mother. But this woman was a total stranger. He had seen her on the street a few times, and that was it. He had no logical reason to help her. But when Akechi realized it, his newly awakened will to help had prevailed over reason, and he found himself agreeing to fulfill her request.

The woman, Mrs. Takano, gave him more details, a picture of her son, her address and the boy's school's address.

Akechi traced the way from the boy's home to the school, and asked people whether anyone had seen the boy from the picture. One of the answers led him to a street near the school. Sure enough, the boy was there, crouched down.

Akechi approached the boy and spoke softly. "Hey. What are you doing at a place like this?"

"U-uh, I'm j-just taking care of her." The boy timidly pointed at a brown puppy fallen on the ground. "She's sick."

Akechi's gaze focused on the puppy. "Oh. So this is it..."

The boy stood up from his crouching position and looked at Akechi properly. "W-wait, you're the detective from TV, a-aren't you?"

"Yes. You're Takano-kun, right?"

The boy startled. "H-how do you know?"

Akechi smiled to put the boy at ease. "I ran into your mother on the street. She asked me to help look for you, and gave me a photo for reference. This is how I know."

The boy hesitated. "Is she angry?"

"No, she's just worried because you've been coming home late and doesn't tell her why. She's worried you might be hanging out with bad people or something. But it turns out you are just taking care of a sick dog. What a relief..."

The boy was shocked. "I've been coming here in hiding because I was scared my mom wouldn't let me. But I hadn't thought she'd worry like that!"

"You should tell her."

The boy slowly nodded.

When Akechi phoned Mrs. Takano and said where he had found her son, she hurried over there and saw the boy caring for the dog with her own eyes. The boy apologized for having kept this fact hidden. In the end, Mrs. Takano even agreed to take the dog in!

Akechi was relieved it had worked out. "I'm glad this had a happy ending. I didn't have the same luck when I was a child."

"Something like this had happened to you?" The boy was surprised.

"Yes, except in my case it had been a cat. And the people I lived with weren't... very nice."

Mrs. Takano was relieved. "Akechi-kun, you found my son so quickly. Thank you so much! You're really a talented detective! Um, sorry, I was so desperate that I hadn't even thought of a reward..."

"Huh?" And neither had Akechi. No one had ever asked for his help like that, and he hadn't been prepared. "It was nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Alright. I'll make some food and leave it at your building's reception. Just a small token of gratitude."

Akechi could tell she wouldn't take no for an answer. "Okay, if you insist."

Akechi parted ways with the Takanos and returned home.

... ... ... ... ...

Saturday, September 24

Back from school, Akechi was rummaging through his boxes and found some clothes from a few years ago. Mostly plain clothes that one of his last foster families had wanted to get rid of and gave him. Those were what he used to wear before he began appearing on TV... or rather, before he began his destructive quest for revenge.

Since the clothes had belonged to an adult before he got them, they had been a bit big for him back them. Akechi wondered whether those clothes fit him now. He tried a white shirt and gray pants on. To his surprise, they actually fit him just right. As Akechi looked in the bathroom area's mirror, he saw the image of a normal, not particularly impressive teenager in worn clothes. A totally unfitting image for a celebrity.

And Akechi realized how his celebrity status meant nothing to his satisfaction anymore, and its only use now was to mislead Shido rather than its original purpose of deceiving the public.

Akechi recalled Sae-san's words about how his connections could get him privileges, and how he was arrogant. Her words had hurt. He had wanted to say she was wrong. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized she was right. Even though it wasn't exactly the way Sae-san had said and he wasn't as talented as she believed, it was true that he got some privileges, thanks to his connections to the organization.

Before getting access to the Metaverse, Akechi had never gotten any remarkable achievement in his life. So, when the organization began giving him those privileges, he had thought it was finally his time to have everything he had never been able to get, and got all full of himself. As Akechi began his TV appearances, he started to give more importance to his looks and follow the trends to appear more charming in the public's eyes. Akechi felt he had power, and felt proud of himself as he managed to deceive the public with his fake case conclusions. Soon, he became lost in the sensation of glory. This had only been possible thanks to the Metaverse, and Akechi had thought he was chosen, special, and blessed with that power. However, now he realized that his "glory" was just an illusion, not unlike his charismatic looks and fake cases. The ability to enter the Metaverse wasn't a blessing. It was a curse. Now Akechi wasn't feeling proud of his power or his privileges in the slightest. Actually, he was feeling ashamed. How could he have fallen so low, and done so much wrong?

Akechi looked at his image in the mirror again. This was the image of what he should have become if only he hadn't given in to revenge. Until a few weeks ago when all he could think about was revenge and glory, he would probably have scorned at the image, or outright refused to put those old clothes on. But now, Akechi wished he could be his previous self, with no evil in his heart and maybe a chance to have a future.

At that moment, his phone beeped with a message. Akechi got worried it might be from someone in the organization, or in other words, trouble. Fortunately, it wasn't. It was from Akira! The perfect distraction from those depressing thoughts.

"Akechi-kun, are you free tomorrow?"

An involuntary smile spread on Akechi's face when he read the message. Spending some time with Akira was enjoyable, and he couldn't resist.

"Yes. What do you have in mind?" He wrote back.

"Nothing in particular. Actually, I was thinking I'd have you pick a place to hang out this time."

After some thought, Akechi responded. "How about we go cycling? I haven't done that in a while."

"Sounds good." Akira agreed, and they set a place to meet up.

Then, the doorman called to tell Akechi that someone had left a chicken pie for him at the reception. It must have been the reward Mrs. Takano had said she would give him. Now that he was sure what to have for dinner, Akechi decided to put his old clothes in the nearest laundromat for tomorrow.

... ... ... ... ...

Sunday, September 25

As planned, Akechi changed into his old clothes, and deliberately left home without his tie, his gloves and his cellphone. He arrived at the meeting place and waited. A few minutes later, Akira appeared, but walked away without noticing him.

"Hey! Akira! Over here!"

She balked, turned around, then skipped over to him with a smile. "Oops, I hadn't seen you there. Sorry!" She stared. "Wow, talk about casual clothes. Maybe those are the reason why I didn't recognize you. What's with the change?"

Akechi laughed sheepishly. "Uh, nothing. Yesterday I was cleaning up and these clothes popped out."

"Cleaning up? And I thought you had no space to accumulate junk in your home." Morgana appeared from Akira's bag.

Akechi jumped at the cat's sudden appearance. "O-oh, you're here too?" He ignored Morgana's comment, though. "Uh, they're old clothes I got at one of the foster homes I lived at. These were what I had before... uh, you know, before I started appearing on TV. I wondered whether they fit, and decided to try them on. They had been a bit big for me back then, but now they fit just right. Do they look bad?" Akechi was sure Akira would give him an honest opinion.

"Not at all. I just didn't think those were the kind of clothes you'd wear. You seem to enjoy standing out."

"You got that right. I do. Or rather, I thought I did. But today I want none of that. I even turned my cellphone off and left it at home. All I want is to have some fun, just between us, disconnected from all the rest."

"What if someone phones you about work and can't find you?" Akira asked.

"Then I'll say that the phone's battery ran out."

"Lying, eh detective?" She directed him a mischievous glance, but then smiled. "Anyway, you said these clothes are from before you became a celebrity. When was that?"

"I was 13. About to turn 14."

"Hmm. Then, basically, it's as though I were talking to 13 year-old Akechi-kun?"

"Not really."

"Why not? What changed? Aside from you having grown up a bit, of course."

Akechi's gaze lowered. "A lot has changed, mostly for worse. For one, 13 year-old Akechi would never lie."

"Aww, don't berate yourself like that. There are some rather nice things about the current you. For one, you're so caring and sweet to Futaba, Morgana and me."

"Uh, well, you're... my only friend. And Futaba-chan..." Akechi paused. He was helping Futaba out of guilt. "... For some reason, I just can't say no to her."

Akira giggled. "Yeah, she's so quirky and cute. It can be hard to say no to her sometimes."

Akechi nodded awkwardly. There was that too. "As for Morgana... I don't know. It's... a bit odd how we seem to get along."

"Odd indeed!" Morgana agreed. "I think I somehow get along with you better than with Ryuji! How can this be?"

"You're being authentic, Akechi-kun. Your feelings and actions are coming naturally, just as it should be. I've noticed your forced celebrity side's been appearing less and less lately. You're just being yourself."

Morgana scoffed. "To think this was actually the detective jerk's true nature, huh?"

Akechi's mouth opened slightly, and he had to hold himself from echoing, "true nature."

On further thought, even though Akechi had begun doing things for those three for selfish reasons, those Phantom Thieves had a way of warming and massaging his heart that made him want to elicit happy expressions on their faces. Was this really normal? Could this really be his true nature, like Morgana had said? Could a heart that had previously been consumed by destructive desires still have kindness to spare?

Akira's gentle touch on his shoulder pulled him out of his reflection. "So, my authentic detective friend, how about we do what we came here for?"

Akechi nodded, and they set off to rent the bicycles.

Akechi chose a bike, and looked at Akira. "I'm done choosing a bike. What about you?"

Akira fidgeted. "Um, actually, I can't pilot a bike."

"Huh?" Akechi gaped. "When I suggested cycling, you didn't mention that! If you'd rather do something else, you should've-"

"Who said I didn't want to come?" Akira smiled at him sheepishly. "I was hoping you'd give me a ride..."

"A-a ride?" Akechi hesitantly glanced between the back of the bicycle and Akira, who was making that cute expectant face. It was hard to say no to her too. "... O-okay. Uh, just be warned that... it's my first time ever giving someone a ride..."

"It shouldn't be a problem." Akira wasn't worried.

Morgana jumped out of the bag. "I guess I'll take a walk around while you hang out with-"

"Hey, don't run off." Akechi was quick to crouch down and catch Morgana.

"Ah! hey!" The little creature made no effort to escape, frozen in surprise.

Akechi placed Morgana in the bicycle's basket, and chuckled at the thought that they would basically be carrying their car on a bike.

Akira also chuckled, for a different reason. "Aww, so cute!"

Morgana made a face at Akira's comment. Akechi said nothing, and just took his position on the bike. He was a bit surprised when Akira sat behind him and held onto his waist.

"I'm ready whenever you are," Akira said.

Akechi nodded and began pedaling. Their bicycle built speed until it felt like they were sliding gracefully on the street.

"Ah... the sensation of freedom, and the wind on our faces. This feels so good!" Morgana practically squealed in joy.

Akechi laughed heartily, both at Morgana's reaction and at the nice feeling. The sensation of freedom was precisely the reason why he enjoyed cycling. Akechi had always been at the mercy of the adults, and freedom was something that he hadn't been used to have.

Another thing that Akechi was enjoying was the fact that Akira was relying on him, since she couldn't ride a bike on her own. Akechi had always wished people would accept him, love him and rely on him, but throughout his life, this had never happened. In fact, it had been the opposite. He had been weak and helpless. He had always had to rely on the foster families to survive, and people always viewed him as a burden.

After some laps around the blocks, they stopped. The three of them wore contented expressions as Akechi turned the bicycle back in.

They walked to an empty buss stop and sat down on a bench.

"This was fun!" Akira smiled at Akechi. "Thanks for the ride, Akechi-kun. This time I could tell that you really had fun, too. I like that happy expression on your face!" With no warning, Akira lightly pinched Akechi's cheek and made him flustered. "Oh, your flustered face's very cute too."

"Wh-what was that for? Stop it..." Akechi's voice came out weakly. He sounded like a little child being bullied.

"Oh, sorry. I couldn't resist. Okay, I'll let you have your revenge. Bring it on." She dared him to do something to embarrass her.

Akechi's stomach churned at that cursed word. He quickly shook his head. "No thanks."

"Oh, come on. Not bold enough to embarrass me?" She provoked him. "No one's looking."

Except for Morgana, of course. Aside from Morgana, fortunately, passersby were few and far between at the moment, and those who came didn't pay them any mind.

"I f-forgive you," Akechi said. "Besides, I don't want to see you flustered. I want your face to always be bright and cheerful in my memory. And if possible, in reality too."

"Awww, thanks. Detective, that was so sweet." Then, she looked at him with a mix of playfulness and suspicion. "Wait, you aren't trying to charm me, are you? It sounds like something you might say to one of those clingy fans."

"What? No!" Akechi laughed at Akira's sudden statement. "I mean what I said. Um, and I have to admit that most of my fans' faces got deleted from my memory..."

"Whoa. Poor fans. That didn't sound very nice..."

"See? I'm saying that 13 year old Akechi changed for worse."

"Why did you decide to be on TV, anyway?"

"I..." Akechi paused. He needed to choose his words to not reveal anything unnecessary. "I had always wanted to be recognized, accepted, admired by others. I came to be mindful of my behavior and my grades in hope that someone would acknowledge me, and that the foster families would view me less as a burden. It helped a bit, but didn't work as well as I would have liked. Everyone only acted as though I was doing nothing more than was expected of me. When I got the opportunity to be on TV, I thought it was my chance to have others accept me. At the beginning, I was proud to have waves of fans, and that lots of people were listening to my words at last. But now I realize that all that glory was just an illusion."

"It must not be easy to deal with so much backlash like what you've been getting lately."

"Definitely not. The 'fans' turn against me and criticize me at the slightest mistake. Before, it was limited to the internet, but now I can hear people criticizing me on the street, and even at my school. I've learned to ignore it, though. But this isn't the real problem."

"Oh?" Akira raised an eyebrow curiously.

"I've realized something. Even when the public seems acceptive of my words, it's not the kind of acceptance I was seeking. They only care about my looks and whatever is written on my social network profiles which, let's be frank, are just the result of marketing strategies and convey nothing about me at all."

"Well, I don't know about the social network profiles. I haven't looked..." She laughed sheepishly. "But I've always thought that your celebrity image doesn't convey a thing about you."

"I have rules to follow in public, from the kind of clothes I'm allowed to wear, to the way I should appear in front of the camera. I've been trained to behave that way on television, and the marketing people were the ones who wrote my social network profiles. This meaningless nonsense is all that the general public has to go off of to form opinions about me. They don't know anything about my past. The profile says that my mother died, and that's about it. Of course there's no mention of how I'm a bastard child, as it's something people frown upon. As such, the public doesn't understand my situation, and doesn't know about my problems. They only accept me for how I look, and not for who I am. Hmm, who I am..." Akechi paused, then heaved a sigh. "To be honest, though, I've been forcing my behavior in front of others so much that not even I know who I'm supposed to be anymore..."

Morgana sighed sadly. "Not knowing who you really are. I can understand that. The fact that I don't remember my past had been my biggest problem for a long time. But now I believe it doesn't matter as much. What matters more to me now isn't who I was in the past, but who I want to be from now on."

Not even Morgana was sure of his own origins? As curious and shocked Akechi was to know this, he shouldn't ask.

Akira smiled at Morgana's words. "We can't change the past, only the future. So, if we aren't satisfied with who we were until now, all we can do is change little by little and strive to become who we want to be from now on." She "translated." "Though if your views on your celebrity status changed, then I guess you're already changing."

"I guess so." Akechi agreed. However, his biggest problem wasn't trying to change now. The problem was all those horrible things he had done in the past. As Akira had said, it was impossible to change the past. His past actions had already destroyed his future, no matter how much he were to change from now on.

"I also didn't know anything about you before. This is why I decided to approach you at the hotel, to know you better." Akira smiled. "And I don't regret it one bit. What a strange place for us to have met, huh? That must've been fate. Like you said, fate brings people together."

"... I said that?"

"The first time you came to Leblanc. You said you believe fate brings people together. Don't you remember?" Akira looked disappointed. "... Was that a lie?"

Akechi chuckled awkwardly. "You caught me. Yes, it was a lie. Just empty words. That was the kind of thing I'd have said to my fans. Just beautiful words I know people would be pleased to hear. I'm sorry." Akechi looked downwards in shame. "I wish I could believe those words, though. But fate hadn't been kind to me thus far."

"But now you can, right? After that chance meeting..."

"Yes. Or maybe..." Akechi thought for a moment. "Do you think fate can be changed?"

"Yeah! I even made a bet with a fortune-teller about this!" Akira smirked. "So far, I'm winning, heheh."

Akechi chuckled. "That's so like you. And now I want to believe too."

The Phantom Thieves' "fate" should have been to fall into Shido's trap, be charged with crimes they didn't commit, and be eliminated. Maybe fate had indeed been changing.

Akechi smiled. "I'm really grateful for that chance meeting. If not for that, I..." Akechi trailed off.

"Hmm?" Akira waited for him to finish his sentence, but he didn't respond.

If not for that chance meeting, Akechi might have still been lost in his quest for revenge, without realizing it was doomed to fail, and without realizing how many people he had been harming. He wouldn't say this, though. Akechi just leaned into the bench's backrest, closed his eyes, and proceeded to enjoy the company and the soothing afternoon breeze. If only time would freeze and that peaceful moment would last forever...

Time actually froze for him, but it was brief, just to let him know that the Star Confidant was ranking up to level 6.


Akira waited for Akechi to finish what he began saying, but to no avail. It seemed he wasn't willing to talk to her about some things yet, but all in all, she was glad that Akechi was opening up to her a bit more. Still, she could feel his gratitude towards her, and the Justice Confidant ranked up to level 6.

They remained there, just enjoying the peace for a few minutes, then decided to part ways.

"Akira, thanks for today."

"Huh? But I'm the one who needs to thank you. You gave me a ride. I didn't do anything for you."

"You kept me company and listened to what I had to say. It's already way more than what most people do."

"I still can't understand why in the world people treated you so poorly. Preconceptions or no, your actions should've moved their hearts at least a little."

"They might've found me boring, I don't know. I really tried my best."

"Maybe your luck's turned around. Now you get along just fine with Futaba, Morgana and me. Continue being yourself like you've been doing, and hopefully you can get along with others, too!"

"Thanks for the advice. I'll try."

Akira and Akechi went their separate ways.

Morgana was back inside Akira's bag. "It's still hard to believe he's really that Akechi. But I guess we shouldn't judge a book for its cover, huh?"

Akira slowly nodded.

Morgana spoke again. "The foster homes stuff was already bad as it was, and even on TV he has no freedom at all thanks to those money-hungry adults."

"He's gotten it worse than any of us, and is still struggling to break free from those chains."

"I wonder, if..." Morgana trailed off.

"Hmm?" Akira encouraged him to go on.

"If Akechi's rebellious will were to awaken, I believe it'd be crazily strong."

"... You mean in the Metaverse? Yeah, now that you mention it..."

"It'd be hard to convince him to go there with us, though. He's inflexible when it comes to the Phantom Thieves. He might cell us out to the police if it goes wrong."

"Hmm. The others don't like him much, either." Akira reminded Morgana. "First, maybe we should have him hang out with the others so that they warm up to him, too."

"Yeah, you're right. If you hadn't forced me to spend a day with him, I don't think I'd be considering any of this right now. Wait, come to think of it, even Makoto and Yusuke had been against us in the beginning. Now Akechi's against us, and the others are against him. Ugh, what a complicated puzzle we've got..."

Akira grinned at the exciting new challenge. "But we'll make it work. I'm sure of it!"


A/n: Akechi's official profile (I think it was from the Persona 5 artbook) says that one of his hobbies is cycling.

Akechi's statement that fate brings people together comes from the game, during Justice rank 3, when he goes to Leblanc for the first time and discloses about his past.

Akira's and Akechi's Confidant ranks are synced! Justice rank 6 and Star rank 6.