Wings of Rebellion

by aiyumi

Contains major spoilers. Sequel to "Unfiltered." Akechi has had enough. So, he... tries to be a better person. Can he mislead the Conspiracy, and prevent the Phantom Thieves from falling into the trap? He isn't sure, but this is his last chance to do something right for once, and he has no intention of wasting it. His mind is set. This is his resolve. Crow's wings of rebellion.

30. Check Mate

A/n (2020/02/07): chapter 30 is here, and I just broke a new length record. More than 21k words! I wish you all a good read. :)

---

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 30: Check Mate

Akira's heart began racing, and she gaped in shock at the sleeping detective, who was holding her and resting his head comfortably on her shoulder. Her surprise was not only because of his unconscious action, but because of a sudden realization that hit her. Akechi's hair color was exactly the same as the child Crow's hair color! Their hairstyles, though, looked nothing alike, even less after Akira had cut the dream boy's hair. Still, their faces had similar traits, come to think of it...

Okay, the boy from the dream was just a cognition, and she must have subconsciously assigned those traits to him. Still, that was intriguing... why had her subconscious "borrowed" Akechi's traits to fill in the gaps?

As though in a daze, her hand reached out and stroked the detective's face.

Akechi shifted slightly and began mumbling. "Akira, you're still here... what if they see you?"

"Huh? Th-they?" She uttered in confusion. "It's only us here..."

"They can open the door..."

Those words made no sense, and Akira concluded Akechi was definitely sleeptalking. But she remembered he had also sleeptalked similarly at the hotel, and said he couldn't make noise because the adults would come and yell at him... just like in the dream about the child Crow earlier! Yet another coincidence involving Akechi and her dream about Crow.

Akechi kept mumbling while Akira was stunned. "You have to leave, but I don't want that..."

At the realization of how lonely the poor detective must feel every night, the urge to comfort him spoke louder, and Akira finally regained her movements. "It's okay. No one will come." She spoke soothingly and stroked Akechi's hair. "You have the key. No one else can open the door. And I won't leave. We have the whole day. I'll stay here as much as you want, my precious detective prince." That last part left her mouth automatically, and she only realized what she had said when Akechi's response came.

"Stop calling me that..."

Again... same reaction as the child Crow from her dream!

Akira's reply took a while to leave her mouth, and when it did, it was in a stutter. "O-okay, sorry."

Akechi stopped mumbling and relaxed. A few minutes later, both of them were asleep again.

---

Akechi's senses slowly came back to him, though he was still a bit confused. First, he had had a nightmare he hadn't had for years, about the most traumatic moment of his life: the moment his mother died. Akechi used to have that nightmare often in his first years of foster homes, but had eventually stopped having them. He suspected that those memories might have triggered because of his talk about his mother and the villagers yesterday.

Then, he woke up. Or rather, he had thought he had woken up, but Akira's child self was staring at him, and he realized he was also a child, which could only mean he was still dreaming. He did his best to remain alert and pay as much attention to the dream as possible so that he wouldn't forget the details. He tried asking Akira about the things she liked to do, in hopes she would drop hints about something she might like to get as a gift. Of course, he could also ask her while awake, but if those dreams were really precognitive, then hints from the dream could be used to surprise her in reality. Sadly, she didn't say anything that could hint at a jewel-related gift she would like.

Nevertheless, the dream was sweet, like every dream where the child Akira happened to appear in. As sleepy as he had been, Akechi could swear he had held her and given her a kiss on the face at some point, in a way that would have taken much bravery for his grown-up self to pull off. It was embarrassing to even think about it.

And it got even more embarrassing when he finally woke up for real, only to realize he was hugging Akira and resting his head on her shoulder just like in the dream!

"Ah!" With his heart racing, Akechi hastily backed away from Akira and sprang to a sitting position. "Akira, I'm sorry!"

Unlike him, Akira sat up slowly and blinked sleepily. "Hmm? For what?"

"I... I don't know what I did." He looked away like a child that had misbehaved and was fearing a reprimand. "I have no idea how this happened. Err, I didn't do... anything weird, did I?" Akechi hoped he hadn't gone as far as to kiss her like in the dream. At that thought, he felt like burying his head into a hole on the ground.

"You only made yourself comfortable. I was comfortable, too. So, don't worry." She smiled. "Actually, this is giving me flashbacks from the last day at the hotel again."

Akechi blushed, both at Akira's first comment, and at said flashback of having fallen asleep at the hotel after taking a strong medicine, and then waking up on the same bed as Akira the following day.

"Sorry, I need to use the bathroom..." Akechi excused himself and quickly left for the bathroom while he tried to hide his embarrassment.

---

As she waited for Akechi to come back, Akira took her phone and texted Futaba to ask her to inform Sojiro that she was at Akechi's place.

Akechi walked out of the bathroom with his head low, and taking small and timid steps. It didn't even look like he was at his own home!

Akira stood up and took a few steps towards him. "Akechi-kun..."

"Akira, I..." He began awkwardly, and trailed off.

"Akechi-kun, relax. You did nothing wrong. And like I said yesterday, now we're way closer than we were back then. You must be very lonely every night. If I could comfort you more often, I would. Yeah, so, whenever you're feeling too lonely, you may call me over. I'll gladly come!" Akira took one more step forward and gave him a light hug, then giggled at the way Akechi stared at her reactionless. "My turn to use the bathroom. I'll be back in a few."

---

Akechi stood there reactionless for a while, probably a minute or two. As he finally regained his movements, he put an effort to shake the embarrassment off and headed to the stove to prepare breakfast. He took three eggs, a tomato and some green onions out of the fridge, and proceeded to crack the eggs into a bowl.

"Omelet for breakfast?" Akira's voice sounded from behind and startled him.

"Ah! Y-you're already back..."

Akira chuckled. "You're jumpy today, detective. This brings more hotel flashbacks."

Akechi blushed again. Indeed, at the hotel, he would startle at Akira's slightest touch.

"I'll chop the vegetables while you beat the eggs." Akira volunteered.

"No, Akira. You're the visitor! I should be the one doing everything."

"I'm here to help you out. This is the reason I came here in the first place!"

Akechi felt uncomfortable at having Akira visit him at that small cubicle of an apartment, and even more so at having her do his chores. "Akira, please. I know that my cooking isn't the best, but at least let me do this to improve hospitality a bit."

"Your cooking and hospitality are good enough to me. This isn't the point, though. Cooking with help is easier and less boring!"

Akechi reluctantly agreed, and they proceeded to work together. Oddly enough, Akira didn't seem to mind the cramped space nor the chores, and acted as though she had been familiar with the place for a long time.

Minutes later, their breakfast had materialized into a nice-looking omelet.

Akira stared proudly at their handiwork. "We did it! And it felt so good to prepare it together, didn't it?"

Akechi had to admit that this time cooking didn't feel boring like usual. More intriguing, though, was how Akira seemed to have enjoyed that moment. She had a glint in her eyes like a child that had just learned to do something new, in an expression that would perfectly fit her child self in the dream. It was the kind of expression Akechi would like to have engraved in his memory of her forever, and it brought a smile to his face.

They split the omelet in half, and had it while sitting on the futon. Even though they didn't put anything different in that omelet, it tasted pretty good. Once they were done, Akechi ended up letting Akira help him wash the dishes.

"Akechi-kun, you don't have work today, right?" Akira asked once the dishes had been taken care of.

His guilt made him feel bad about hanging out with Akira, as he couldn't avoid thinking about how she might react if she were to find out all the horrible things he had done, but Akechi was selfish and would allow himself to have a bit of enjoyment.

"I don't have anything scheduled. I suppose we can hang out like we had agreed. I just hope no one from work calls me..."

Akira's face lit up. "Great! You should use this time to have some fun and set your problems aside for a while."

"It sounds good." Akechi agreed, though he was sure it wouldn't be that easy. His guilt burdened him wherever he went, and his problems weren't easy to set aside. "Well, my phone's battery is running out." Akechi turned his phone off and set it on the table. "You know what? I'll only charge it after I come back. At least this way I know no one will disturb my day."

"What if you miss an important call from work?"

"Then I'll say that I arrived home tired from yesterday's meeting and forgot to plug the charger."

Akira threw him a mischievous look. "Lying, eh detective?"

"I didn't need to resort to this excuse the other time. This means I can still use it once."

Akira laughed amusedly. "Ingenious!"

"To be fair, it isn't entirely a lie." Akechi justified himself. "I indeed got home tired from the meeting, and indeed forgot to charge my phone. And you've just told me to set my problems aside..."

"Okay, I can't argue against that."

---

"Where should we go?" As soon as Akira posed this question, the phone rang. Not Akechi's phone, though, as it was already turned off. It was her phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Inmate!" Caroline hollered at the other end of the line.

"We are calling to request another outing." Justine added.

"Since your friend is already with you, it saves you the trouble of calling him."

Akira would rather hang out with Akechi alone, but she agreed to have the twins hang out with them for a bit. She explained the situation to him, and he also agreed.

"Akechi-kun said it's okay. So, where?"

"The Shibuya underground mall," Justine said. "We will be waiting for you at the station."

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

This time, the twins didn't get lost, and Akira and Akechi managed to meet up with them without problems. At the underground mall, a clothes store grabbed the twins' attention, and they entered it.

Caroline and Justine seemed to be having fun trying out different dresses, something that Akira hadn't expected they would like to do.

Caroline dragged Akira to a section with dresses. "Inmate, put that on." She pointed at a white silky dress decorated with shiny light blue ribbons.

"Huh? M-me?" Akira stared at the dress as though it were an alien. That kind of clothing wasn't her style.

"Put that on, now!" Caroline ordered.

Akira reluctantly did as asked.

Caroline sized her up. "Not bad."

"Actually, she looks better in that dress than expected." Justine commented.

The twins dragged Akira back to where Akechi had been waiting.

"Detective, look here." Caroline pointed at Akira, who was still in the silky dress. "What do you think?"

---

Akechi's gaze focused on Akira, and at first he couldn't find the appropriate words to respond. That dress definitely wasn't her style, but it highlighted a different side of her that usually didn't stand out much. Her more feminine side, the side many other girls showed, displaying their beauty through their delicate features.

"How do I look?" A hint of nervousness showed in Akira's voice.

"Um..." Akechi realized he was still staring and had yet to say something. "You look great... beautiful. Though that dress clearly isn't your style."

"Thanks!" Akira blushed slightly. "Um, yeah, it's not the kind of dress I'd normally wear. I guess I wouldn't mind wearing something like this at a special occasion, though..." She glanced at the men's clothing section, and then at Akechi. "Speaking of clothes that aren't our style, you don't usually wear dark clothes, do you?"

"Well, the production staff says that I'd look too serious in dark clothes. They want to sell the image of a high school student that is dabbling in detective work on the side, and dark clothes wouldn't work for that. This is the reason why I usually appear on TV wearing my school uniform."

"You're free from them for today. How about you put that gray suit on while I change back?" Akira pointed at a suit that they could see from their position.

---

The moment Akira heard Akechi's comment about what the producers dictated, a thought struck her. She thought that Akechi might want to rebel against everything that the producers decided for him, and this might reflect in his Metaverse outfit. So, maybe his outfit would be dark?

Akira changed back into her casual clothes and reunited with the twins and Akechi.

"He has done as you requested," Caroline said when Akira arrived. "Peel your eyes and take a good look, Inmate."

Akechi was wearing the dark suit over his white casual shirt. Akira only missed his tie, which he hadn't brought because he was in casual mode. Even so, he looked very elegant. That suit was doing wonders, and highlighting a different side of Goro Akechi. Not his smug and forced celebrity image, nor his newly discovered kind and humble image. It was a more professional side that imposed respect and coolness without him needing to show off at all, and Akira could tell it was a side of him that she would also like.

"You look so cool and elegant!" She said with admiration. "This style really gives off a serious vibe, and imposes respect. You're looking like a grown-up, professional detective!"

"I'm a professional detective."

"Yeah, but the production doesn't want you to show it. This is what I'm saying. This suit highlights your true image way better than your school uniform! I bet it'd look even better if you had your tie on."

"Um..." Akechi was getting flustered at the compliments. "Okay, it's enough, right? May I take the suit off?" He did so without waiting for her response, and in a blink, he was back to his casual look with his worn white shirt.

Akira snatched the suit from his hands. "It's decided. I'll buy this suit for you!"

"What?" Akechi startled.

"You need to prepare your wardrobe for when you're free from the production staff. Besides, I really like your new look, and would like to see it more often. Actually, I want to see it with the tie too! Stay right there. I'll pay for the suit."

---

"Akira, wait!" Akechi tried to stop her, but the twins blocked his way, with mischievous looks on their faces. "Hmm? What's with you two?"

"Both of you are really slow." Justine spoke. "Your bonds should have deepened further by this point."

Caroline sighed impatiently. "How hasn't she realized it yet? That stupid Inmate..."

"Even though it took some time, at this rate, she will likely realize it soon." Justine responded.

"Realize what? What are you talking about?"

"About how she feels," Justine said.

"How she feels?" Akechi was still confused. "No, wait... don't tell me you're trying to hook us up too!"

"It would definitely be an interesting prospect, considering you were meant to oppose each other." Justine gave her opinion. "We are interested to see where it leads."

Akechi rolled his eyes. Now the twins were "shipping" him and Akira too! It was just what he needed...

"This is absurd! You know about my whole situation, and should know that this can't work!"

Justine completely ignored Akechi's argument. "You should pay more attention to her, detective. No matter where you are or how you look, pay attention to her feelings."

"This is all we will be saying, though." Caroline added. "We should not interfere in the guests' affairs. Now, it is up to you two."

"... 'Guests?'" That was a term Akechi had never heard them use, and it stood out to him.

Caroline jumped. "Ah! We mean, the inmates!"

That was strange. The notion of a guest was the complete opposite of the notion of an inmate. While guests usually entered a facility of their own free will and were treated well, inmates were forcefully imprisoned and treated poorly.

"So, how many 'inmates' have you supervised besides Akira?"

The twins spaced out simultaneously, and from their panicked expressions, they had blanked out again.

"We do not remember..." Justine answered.

Caroline shrugged and tried to regain her composure. "Do not change the subject! This Inmate is always getting in trouble, and you know it. Keep a close eye on her, understand?"

The twins were being supportive in a rather weird way... and even more odd was that the Aeon Confidant chose that moment to rank up.

---

While she was in line to pay for the purchase, Akira got lost in thought. Since the Phantom Thieves' Metaverse outfits tended to be rebellious and cool, she believed Akechi's would also be. Considering how cool he looked in dark clothes, she was more sure he would look like a rebel knight in a dark outfit...

... Only, this was exactly what Crow looked like, with the dark armor and his helmet-like mask... his "knight" image was so strong that Akira had even called him a chess knight in the dream. This was a strange coincidence...

Her turn came, and she had to push those thoughts to the background and focus on paying for the suit. She returned to the twins' and Akechi's location, and handed him the paper bag with the suit. "Done. It's yours now."

"Thanks. You didn't need to do this." He timidly accepted the present.

Akira spaced out as thoughts about Crow invaded her mind again. Come to think of it, something about Akechi's voice reminded her of Crow... or was it the opposite? But the way they spoke was too different. Akechi usually spoke softly, while Crow was serious, cold, and even impolite at times. This was intriguing, though. Akira was getting more and more curious about Crow outside the Metaverse. If only she could listen to his voice without his helmet muffling it...

She blinked back to focus, and found Akechi looking at her with worry.

"Akira, did something happen?" Akechi asked as softly as usual.

For a few seconds, she stared back, in search of something, though she wasn't sure what. No matter how much she searched, she couldn't find anything different. In front of her stood Akechi, just Akechi, the kind and lonely detective. No sign of their serious and cold secret agent at all...

But what had gotten into her? Why was she insisting on comparing Crow and Akechi so much? Was it just because they had similar traits in the dream? It had been just a dream, though. Since she had no idea how Crow looked like, she could only use things from her cognition to fill in the blanks. That had to be it. There was no other explanation.

"Did someone bother you while you were shopping?" Akechi took a guess, still worried.

"See? This is because you didn't keep a close eye on her!" Caroline scolded him.

Akechi rolled his eyes. "It was both of you who didn't let me follow her."

Akira laughed amusedly. "No, it's nothing like that. Nothing bad happened. I'm just a little pensive today, that's all. Let's get moving, shall we?"

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

They took a walk around the underground mall.

"That is it?" Caroline seemed disappointed. "No fountains?"

"Fountains?" Akira echoed in confusion. What did fountains have to do with anything?

Justine elaborated. "We remembered our sister saying that she threw coins into a fountain at a mall."

"She was supposed to make a wish before throwing the coins, but she was so excited about the 'ritual' that she forgot to make a wish!"

"Since she had said the fountain was at a mall, we had concluded it was something common to have in malls." Justine explained. "This is the reason why, out of all places you tend to visit, we chose to take a look at this mall today."

"Oh, I see. This mall has no fountains, though," Akira said. "But if we had found a fountain, what would you two wish for?"

Caroline seemed about to give a "none of your business" kind of answer, but Justine spoke first. "We would like to regain our memories."

Akira nodded in approval. "It's a nice wish. I hope you'll have it come true even without the fountain! This is why we're helping, after all."

"And we hope you two do not disappoint us this time," Caroline said.

"This time?" Akira wondered what other time they might have disappointed the twins.

Caroline ignored her. "It is enough for today. We will take our leave." They started walking.

Akechi stopped them in their tracks. "Are you sure you won't get lost again?"

"Shut up!" Caroline exploded. "Stop poking fun at that embarrassing moment!"

"I'm not mocking anyone. I'm serious."

"As long as we get to the train station, we will be fine." Justine's argument made sense, as they could teleport to Mementos from anywhere in the Shibuya station.

"If you say so." Akechi also seemed convinced. "But if anything happens, be sure to call Akira or something, okay?"

The twins left.

"We're close enough to the station. I think they'll be fine," Akira said. "Back to the subject of wish fountains, Akechi-kun, what would you wish for?"

"I don't think I would. I don't believe in those things."

"Oh, really? I'm not sure whether to believe or not, but I think it might be worth trying. When we really wish for something, we've gotta do everything we can to fulfill it! Maybe the fountains can increase the odds for the wish to come true, who knows?"

"It's an interesting point of view. Then, what would you wish for?"

"Hmm." One wish immediately came to mind. Something she really wanted to increase the odds of as much as possible, was to save Crow from being sentenced to death, and have him get a second chance to live a happy life. "I have a wish, but it'd be really difficult to come true."

"Are you trying to win the lottery or something?"

Akira laughed. "No, it's not related to money. Actually, I don't think money can buy that. So, it may be even harder than winning the lottery."

"Not even the Phantom Thieves can fulfill it?"

"Huh? The Phantom Thieves?" Akira was surprised that he would ask that.

"You seem to believe they have the solution to all problems. But if not even they can do anything about this, it must really be a difficult issue."

"I want to believe they can, but I don't know how many percent the odds would be. You know, if only I could find 100 different things that increase the odds by 1% each, I could be 100% sure that it'd come true."

Akechi burst laughing. "It must be something very important to you."

"Yeah, it is." There was no guarantee at all that they could save Crow, and Akira felt as helpless as at the time she got the false charges. The notion that they might fail scared her. Her heart tightened just from thinking about it, and she had the urge to cry right then and there.

---

As much as Akechi would rather not get closer to Akira in order to reduce the impact of the truth, the twins had just told him to pay attention to her feelings, and it was obvious that she wasn't feeling any good right now. She seemed about to cry, with a painful expression that didn't fit her, and Akechi couldn't stand seeing that.

"Is there anything I can do to help increase the odds?" He found himself asking.

Even though he still hadn't done anything, Akira's response was a bright smile that caused a wave of relief in his heart. "I don't know. You have no idea how happy I felt to hear you ask that, though. I'll give it some more thought. Maybe you can do something..."

However, Akira wasn't back to her usual cheery self yet, and this bothered Akechi.

"Akira, are you really okay, though? You aren't acting normal."

"I'm just getting distracted easily today. Nothing that some fun moments can't fix! So, where should we go next?"

"Hmm." Akechi tried to think of somewhere interesting to go. "Have you ever been to Kichijoji?"

"Nope."

"Then, that's where we'll be going. They have many interesting attractions."

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

After dropping by Akechi's apartment to store his new suit away, they headed to Kichijoji. They passed by many different stores, restaurants, a jazz club, among other facilities.

"Hey, isn't that a darts place?" Akira pointed at one of the facilities. "You had said you were skilled at darts."

"I am."

Akira elbowed him lightly. "Show-off. Then, you'll have to teach me, because I've never played darts before."

Shortly later, Akechi had explained the game's rules to Akira, and they began playing darts.

"So, instead of beginning from zero and increasing our score, we start with a high score and have to reduce it to zero? Interesting." Akira summarized what Akechi had just explained to her. "Whoever reaches zero first wins, right? Let's try this out!"

The game began. At first, Akechi went easy on her and aimed for small numbers so that his score would take longer to reduce and Akira would have time to familiarize with the game. Her aim wasn't only imprecise, but she also didn't seem to be putting much thought into the numbers she was targeting at all.

"Akira, once you get the hang of aiming, you have to plan your moves. You must determine the right numbers you need to hit to reach zero."

Akira tried a few more times, but the numbers she managed to hit were still all over the place.

"Welp, this is hard. I can't hit the numbers I'm thinking of! Akechi-kun, care to show me how it's done? I want to see your skills!"

"Very well." Akechi did as asked, and swiftly ended the game with a few precise throws. He knew it was unfair since Akira was just starting out, but he couldn't contain a smirk when the game ended. He had found something he was better than her at... at least for now.

---

Akira could only stare with her mouth agape in amazement. Akechi threw his darts with skill and precision, and hit exactly the numbers he wanted. In only a few turns, his score had reached zero. Pride showed in his expression, and he indeed had reasons to be proud of himself. He was really skilled.

This reminded Akira of her chess matches against the child Crow in her dream, where she didn't stand a chance. Come to think of it, Crow had a good aim too... but why was she thinking of Crow again?

She snapped back to reality and regarded Akechi. "That was some precision. Congrats! And it's been a while since the last time I've seen you making a smug face."

"Huh?" Her comment threw him off, and his smug face turned into an embarrassed face.

Akira giggled and lightly ruffled his hair. "Nothing wrong about that. I'm proud of you too. You're amazing."

"A-Akira..." His composure was totally ruined, and he was blushing and looking away timidly, which Akira found very adorable.

"Shall we go for another round?"

Akira kept trying to hit the numbers, but her aim wasn't improving much. The best part of the game was observing Akechi whenever his turn came. She didn't think she would get good at throwing darts for a while.

---

Once they were done with darts, Akechi took Akira to a crepes restaurant. They were looking at the menu.

"Akechi-kun, do you come here often?"

"Not really. I've come here when I was nearby for work reasons. It's been a while."

"I've always liked crepes. There's a crepes store at my hometown. I've gone there a lot with my parents."

"Huh? I-is that so?" Akechi perked up. Akira had said something similar in the dream too.

"Yeah." Akira's gaze quickly scoured the menu. "Have you decided what to order? If you want, I could help you choose."

"I was thinking of getting one that I had before and liked. I'm considering either the crepe with ham and cheese, or the one with cooked tuna and peas."

"Say, why not both? I was thinking of the tuna and peas one too! We could order both and have half of each one."

"Um." Another déja vu from his dreams... and the embarrassing memory from the day they went to the crepes store in Shibuya, and Morgana kept telling him to trade crepe halves with Akira because it was supposed to be "romantic."

"What's wrong?"

Akechi quickly shook his head. "Uh, n-nothing. I suppose we could do just that..." Not for romantic reasons, but only because they wanted to have both crepe flavors, that was all...

They placed their orders. In the end, both flavors were as great as Akechi remembered, and they had a satisfying lunch.

"Akechi-kun, would you wait here a bit?" Akira asked as they were about to leave the restaurant. "There's something I wanna check."

Akechi agreed. Akira went to the counter and ordered a small dark chocolate bar that was on display.

She returned and showed him the bar. "Hey, look! I had read that chocolate can actually have health benefits if it's rich in cocoa content. Looks like this is one of them! I've never had one of these before! What about you?"

"I've also heard about that somewhere, but never bothered to try darker chocolate. Just the common ones so far."

Akira grinned. "Then, you'll try it now, because I actually bought it for you."

"... For me?" Akechi wasn't expecting that.

"Yeah! I remembered how my parents and I used to bet food when we played at the arcade. Since you did way better than me at the darts game, I felt like giving you a special treat."

Akechi was frozen in shock. Akira had told him about the exact same thing in the dream. Once again, something from the dream was confirmed! More than ever before, he was sure that he should take advantage of these dreams to find out what gift to give to Akira. And now he realized he had missed the chance to ask the twins if they had anything to do with those dreams.

"Akechi-kun, what happened?"

Since Akechi wanted to use information from his dreams to surprise Akira, he wouldn't mention the dream to her. He did his best to recompose himself. "Uh, no, it's just, this was a bit sudden... you didn't need to give me anything."

"Your darts skills impressed me enough to make me want to give you a reward. Besides, it's nice to have a special treat once in a while, right?"

"Um, if you insist. Thanks for the opportunity to try the healthier kind." He finally accepted the present. "But you'll have to accept half of the chocolate. You already gave me too much today. First that suit, and now this chocolate... I still haven't done anything for you. And you've just said you've never tried this kind of chocolate before. It feels unfair to have it all to myself and leave you without dessert."

It seemed as though Akira was about to refuse, but she ended up giving in. "Awww, this is so kind of you. If it's what you want..."

On the way back, Akechi split the chocolate bar in two to share it with Akira.

"Hmm..." Akira took a bite of her half of the chocolate, and seemed to be savoring it. "It isn't very sweet like milk chocolate, but causes an explosion of creamy goodness in the mouth that feels quite good. At least this is my opinion! It seems we can't agree on the Phantom Thieves, but let's see if we can agree on dark chocolate."

Akechi failed to suppress a laugh as He took a tentative bite of the treat. It really wasn't very sweet. Akechi found it a bit strange at first, but around the third bite, he began getting used to the taste, and also to understand the explosion of creamy goodness that Akira had mentioned.

"I see what you mean about the creamy explosion. In fact, I think it's growing on me... if I become addicted, it'll be your fault."

Akira laughed. "You may need to learn to contain yourself, then. This may be the healthier kind, but don't go eating too much of it, okay? Moderation is the key, and an important part of the challenge!"

"Fair enough. I like a good challenge." He flashed a playful smirk.

Akira responded with a smile, and they proceeded to finish their chocolate in silence.

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

They rode the train back and returned to Akechi's apartment.

Akira threw a quick glance at the kitchen area. "Before I leave, want me to prepare your dinner in advance or something?"

"Huh?" Akechi was surprised at the unexpected offer. He shook his head. "No, don't worry. I'm well enough to cook today."

"Are you sure? Having your dinner ready would make your day a bit easier."

"You've already made my day a bit easier, and much more enjoyable. Thanks."

Akira shrugged. "If you say so."

"Want me to accompany you to Leblanc?" He offered.

"No need. Both your building and Leblanc are very close to the train station. Let me ask just one favor of you, though."

"What is it?"

"I want to see you in the new suit and with your tie. Could you put them on?"

Akechi complied. After all, Akira had come all the way to help him out, and this was the only thing she asked of him.

"Wow. As I thought!" She stared at him in admiration. "You look even more cool and handsome with the suit and the tie!"

This kind of comment normally didn't have any effect on him, but hearing it coming from Akira made him feel a bit embarrassed for some reason.

"Why so serious, though? Totally the opposite of your celebrity self! And it's not only because of the clothes. It's the face you're making." Only after Akira pointed it out, Akechi realized that his effort to disguise his embarrassment had resulted in a very serious expression.

"Ah!" Akechi was about to apologize when Akira playfully pinched his cheek and startled him. This was too much, and he was unable to hide his embarrassment any longer.

"Awww... detective, no matter what you wear, you're so adorable."

"Akira, stop!" Akechi half closed his eyes, flustered at being made fun of.

---

Akira froze. Akechi was reacting the same way as the child Crow when she complimented him in her dream! He was behaving like a little child who had been picked at. Even though it may be just a coincidence, she couldn't ignore it. Their reactions were the same, and so was her urge to comfort them. Akira felt the need to justify herself.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to make you feel bad... I thought you'd either laugh, or playfully get back at me, or something... you know, like on that day you got sick at the hotel."

Insecurity filled Akechi's gaze. "I-I don't remember what i did..."

How disappointing. "Never mind, then. Just forget what happened just now. Well, I asked you to show me your new look, and you did. I guess I'll be going. Would you open the door for me?"

Akechi led her to the door and opened it, still trying to regain his composure.

Akira stepped through the door and turned around to face him. "I don't take back what I said, though. You're very adorable." After a quick hug and a soft kiss on his face, she whispered her goodbye and left.

---

Akechi's attempts to regain his composure were fruitless. Just when he had thought he had managed it, Akira graced his face with a kiss that smelled of chocolate and caused an explosion of fluffy goodness in his heart. Why did her actions had to have such an effect on him? The fluffy sensation was so overwhelming that Akechi temporarily blanked out for a moment and forgot why he was even standing there in the first place. It took him a long time to finally regain his movements and get back inside the apartment.

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

Monday, October 31

"You really don't know anything, then?"

"I already told you. I don't know anything!"

"Okay, fine. Thank you for your time." Crow walked backwards and left the Shadow's special area.

He sighed in frustration. This was proving to be harder than expected. He had already talked to quite a few Shadows, but none of them had any intel about the incident that ruined Akira's reputation. They either didn't know anything or didn't remember what might have happened those many months back.

He managed to find another Shadow from his list, and entered its territory.

"What do you want!? If it's about the car, it isn't my fault!" The male Shadow was on the defensive immediately.

Crow rolled his eyes. "Huh? I have no idea what you're talking about. I just need some information. On the night of March 21st, there was a commotion that led to the police being called near your home. Do you remember hearing shouts or anything nearby?"

The Shadow was clueless. "I don't know. I don't even remember what I had for dinner yesterday. Seriously, do you expect me to remember hearing noise from a random fight on the street that happened so many months ago?"

Crow was unable to keep composed at hearing Akira's incident being treated like that. "It wasn't just some random fight! An innocent girl was falsely-accused of assault and had her reputation completely ruined because of that incident, just because she tried to defend a woman who was being harassed on the street! From the anonymity of the report, the harasser was a powerful man, and some deal must've gone down to arrive at that ruling. Sounds like he used his authority to ruin her reputation just because he could."

The Shadow was taken aback for a second. "Y-you're saying something this messed-up happened right near my house! ... Uh, wait. I think it was around the end of March that I heard some delinquent girl was expelled from the school my friend's sister studies at. Then people nearby began gossiping and saying how irresponsible some teenagers are..."

Crow gasped. "This must be about the incident I'm talking about! She may be reckless, but is the most responsible person I know. She was a victim of injustice. I can't let the asshole who did that to her just run free! This is the reason I'm looking for witnesses. Are you really sure you don't remember anything about the night of March 21st?"

"Sorry, but I don't." The Shadow really looked sorry for not having any useful information. "Giving the exact date doesn't help, either. I don't even remember if I was home that day. I can't be of any help. I'm sorry for her, though. Good luck figuring it out."

The conversation with that Shadow had been the best one so far, though unfortunately nothing had come out of it.

"Of course it wouldn't be that easy..." Crow grumbled as he stepped out of the Shadow's territory.

"Crow!" Joker, the subject of his investigation, called out to him just as he was about to activate the skates on his boots.

Mona had untransformed from his car form, and the Phantom Thieves ran over to Crow on foot.

"Having a tough time fighting the Shadow alone or something?" Skull noticed the fact that Crow had come out of a Shadow's area.

"No. I didn't fight, and have no intention to do so. I don't even know what the cause of his distortion is." In fact, the guy had been rather sympathetic for a Shadow. Probably because they hadn't brought up his actual issue.

" What are you doing here, then?" Panther voiced everyone's confusion.

"Just asking around."

"You mean, you are getting intel... from Shadows?" Queen correctly guessed, and he nodded in confirmation. "That's ingenious..."

"Doing stuff without us again?" Panther spoke disapprovingly.

"This has nothing to do with our next mission. It's a private matter."

"You're free to ask for our help with private matters too." Mona shot back.

"This is something I must do alone." Crow didn't want the Phantom Thieves to learn what he was investigating, because it would give his identity away.

"Hey, we're idle in the middle of the tracks!" Mona reminded them. "let's get out of here. Crow, you too."

Mona transformed into his vehicle form and everyone went aboard. This time, Crow wordlessly agreed to drive.

---

Joker observed Crow while he drove. He seemed fully focused on driving, and wouldn't even throw a sideways glance at her, nor quickly turn behind to check on the others. As serious as ever.

They got into a battle. The enemies were three Mothman Shadows, which Crow knocked down with three precise pistol shots. His performance reminded Joker of the darts game with Akechi. And she realized that Crow was left-handed! Well, she had realized this before, but had always taken it for granted. Now, though, she recalled that Akechi was left-handed too. Not that there could be only one left-handed person in the world, but it was a weird coincidence. Or rather, another one...

"Joker, Joker!" Mona called out to her.

"The enemies are getting up!" Oracle warned, and Joker realized that she had missed the chance of going for an all-out attack while she spaced out.

Not willing to let the enemies recover, she hastily shot at them to knock them back down. Even though she succeeded, her movements were a bit awkward, unlike Crow's cool performance. At least they managed to finish the battle with an all-out attack as they should have.

"Joker, what happened?" Queen asked.

"I got distracted for a second. Sorry. Let's get moving."

The Phantom Thieves returned to the Monamobile, and Joker continued observing Crow intently. The Phantom Thieves' interaction with him last time had ended in a good note. Joker only wished Crow would feel close to them enough to show his softer side more often. But no matter how much she searched, she could only see the cold and calculating secret agent. Joker wondered whether his softer side would show if something good were to happen to him, like if they were to give him a present, and she wanted to slap herself for having forgotten to prepare some food for him like she had agreed with her friends.

---

Crow was doing his best to ignore the other Phantom Thieves talking at the back seat, but it was proving to be difficult.

"If only Crow would set his pride aside and agree to let us help him with his personal matter..." Noir began.

"Perhaps he wants to reach his goal through his own efforts in order to impress someone." Fox theorized.

"Oh!" Panther exclaimed. "You mean, like a girlfriend!?"

Crow didn't like where that was going, and was unable to remain silent any longer. "I'm hearing everything, you know. And this is not it!"

"No need to deny it, Crow." Mona joined in. "I understand that feeling. Conveying how reliable you are, and that her heart is safe in your hands... it's such a gentlemanly thing to do!"

"I already said that this is not it!" Crow snapped. "Where did you even get these stupid ideas from? Quit theorizing nonsense!"

"If you'd tell us more about yourself, we wouldn't need to guess, right?" Skull spoke in the group's defense. "So, spill the beans. Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Huh!?" Crow hollered. "Of course not!"

"Why not?" Noir asked innocently.

"Why else could it be? It's obvious. My past condemns me, and I can't have a future. There's no way I can think about such things!"

A solemn silence followed. They had to stop and battle a group of Shadows, and Crow had thought the subject would drop. However, this wasn't what happened once they were back in the car.

"Hey, Crow." Skull began. "You said you don't have a girlfriend, but if you could have one, what kinda girl'd you choose?"

Crow grumbled. "This again..."

"Of course!" Skull declared enthusiastically. "We're curious to know what kinda girl's our cool secret agent's type!"

"You're so smart and rational," Panther said. "So, how do you choose? Is it by logic, or is it really by looks?"

"The bars must be very high..." Even Oracle showed interest in the subject.

Crow sighed, but otherwise remained stubbornly silent.

"Um... so, what kind of girl do you like?" Joker unexpectedly asked.

"Why did even you decide to ask that!?" Crow exploded, exasperated.

"Uh, w-well, I'm a bit curious too..." Joker spoke awkwardly.

"What does it matter?! It's the end of the line for me. We'll change the mastermind's heart, I'll turn myself in, and that's that."

"Crow already likes someone, though." Mona butted in. "He said so when I fulfilled that request with him!"

Skull perked up. "For real?"

"I didn't say that!" Crow was quick to deny it.

"Not exactly, but you said you understand how sad it is to be unable to stay with a beloved person. This can only mean-"

"Shut up!" Crow blurted out in panic.

"The more he tries to deny it, the more it sounds like a confirmation," Fox said.

Why did the Phantom Thieves have to insist on that subject both outside and inside the Metaverse? It was so annoying! Crow felt the need to justify himself so that they would stop. He wouldn't give many details, obviously.

Crow halted the car and turned behind to regard the others. "Alright, listen! This is the issue. So far, I've only messed up. I haven't done anything that really makes a difference."

"But you're helping us take the organization down," Noir said.

"That doesn't count. Much of this mess is my fault, and what I'm doing is only mitigating the damage I have caused. Nothing I do can make up for the wrong things I did. But there's someone who, unlike me, hasn't made any mistake, and who I'm sure can achieve everything I could have never achieved, and can help make the world a better place... except for an annoying roadblock that's preventing this person from flying higher. If I at least manage to eliminate this roadblock, the path would be clear for her to continue on." Crow had to make a conscious effort to prevent his eyes from twitching, or from looking at said person who was at the passenger seat right next to him. "I want to finally make a difference for once. This would be the biggest achievement I could hope for at this point, and I wish to manage it alone. This is all that there is to it."

Crow turned ahead and resumed driving, satisfied with his justification, which he managed to give with as least details as possible.

"Hmm. You wish to clear her path so that she can achieve what you could not." Fox summarized. "Such a noble goal! I wonder how to create an art piece inspired by this..."

"So cool..." Oracle muttered.

Unfortunately for him, the Phantom Thieves didn't drop the subject like he had wanted.

"It's a she, huh?" Skull caught on. "Spill it. You like her, don't you?!"

"Of course he does, or he wouldn't go to these lengths!" Panther said.

"Haha!" Mona spoke knowingly. "It's her, isn't it? Your beloved person you alluded to that time, who you can't stay with."

Crow was blushing profusely behind his mask. He wanted to snap and shout for the Phantom Thieves to stop, but a mix of anger, embarrassment, panic and frustration at his whole predicament stole his response. A lump formed in his throat, and all he could do was grit his teeth and continue driving.

"He hasn't denied it. It's a yes then." Panther concluded.

"There's nothing wrong with liking someone. It means you have love in your heart!" Noir pointed out.

"Enough!" Crow finally snapped. "Stop this nonsense talk, or I'll leave!"

Skull seemed about to say something, but Mona cut him off. "Alright, we get it. What you're trying to do is very honorable. We'll leave you to do it alone. But in turn, be sure to tell her your feelings, got it? Knowing how you hardly let your feelings out, I bet you haven't told her yet."

"You can do it!" Panther encouraged him.

"This is my last warning." Crow ignored their comments, and threatened to open the door and jump out.

"Um, guys, it's quite enough. Let's leave it at that. Crow, I'm sorry." Once again, Joker was the one to step in and save him from the awkward subject.

Thankfully, the subject finally dropped. Without another word, Crow continued driving, and did his best not to look at her.

---

Joker had wished Crow would show his softer side, and he showed it in the most unexpected of ways. All those warm words about what he was trying to achieve deeply touched her, and also proved how kind Crow's heart was. Joker sincerely believed Crow should get a second chance, start over, and live the happy life he hadn't had the chance to live so far. Actually, she wanted to pull him into a hug and comfort him like in her childhood dreams, say that everything would work out, that they would save him so that he could turn the page and have a happy life... but she couldn't. She just couldn't. Despite all their efforts and even with Minerva's help, There was no guarantee at all that they would manage to save him. Joker's heart compressed painfully, and the words she wanted to utter died in her throat.

Joker wanted to do something to help him, but all she managed to do was ask her friends to drop the subject, as it was clear that this issue was very hard for him, and that they were making him extremely uncomfortable.

They went to the Kaitul area to look for some request targets. Everyone remained in a heavy silence, which was broken only after they had located a Shadow's territory.

"What is this request about?" Crow asked out of the car, once they were about to enter the Shadow's special area.

"Oh yeah, you weren't with us when we discussed the requests." Panther noted.

And Joker realized they might have problems with that request. Out of all target Shadows they could have run into, it just had to be that one...

"It's about one of our informants, a very talented and daring journalist!" Joker told him. "Actually, it's about her boss. He's nearly killing her with so much work he gives her." Joker didn't want to get into detail because it involved Ouhya's friend who had suffered a mental shutdown, and talking about it might make Crow feel bad again.

"Alright."

No damage done. Joker hoped it would continue this way.

The Phantom Thieves entered the place and approached the Shadow.

"That stubborn woman! She really doesn't know when to stop, does she!?" The man's Shadow was angry.

"You're the one who doesn't know when to stop!" Joker countered. "Your pressure is insane! You have to free her! What happened to journalism?"

The Shadow scoffed. "Don't talk about things you don't know about. Journalism isn't just about doing whatever one wants. She is going too far!"

"She's trying to expose the truth!" Joker shot back. "This is what true journalism is supposed to be all about!"

Since The other Phantom Thieves didn't know the situation's smallest details, they left arguing up to Joker. Once the argument turned into a battle, they joined her.

"What else could I have done, though?" After the battle, the Shadow was conflicted. "I'm also being pressured! If the higher-ups find Ouhya poking her nose to investigate that incident, it is me they will blame!"

"If you keep this up, you'll literally kill her!" Joker continued the argument.

"But..." The Shadow heaved a sigh and his gaze became distant. "Ouhya... is a great journalist. Her passion for her work is impressive. To think I had that same level of passion in the beginning... but that incident ruined it."

"'That incident?'" Crow just had to ask and prompt the Shadow to drop the bomb. Joker gulped, dreading Crow's reaction.

"Two years ago, Ouhya had been working with a very talented journalist named Kayo Murakami. One day, Ms. Murakami uncovered a potential political scandal involving a bureaucrat. She headed to a hotel where the man would take part in a meeting, but then both of them suffered what appears to have been a mental shutdown." The bomb was out, and caused Crow to gasp in horror. "We didn't know about mental shutdowns at the time, but from what we know now, that is what it seemed like. The bureaucrat died, but Murakami survived in a vegetative state. Since there had been no one else near the bureaucrat when they found the body, the police accused Murakami of killing him for 'passional crime,' and left it at that."

Crow gritted his teeth.

"You had known she survived?" Joker asked. "Ouhya just found this out recently!"

"I had known. I had even thought her state was reminiscent of Apathy Syndrome. But the higher-ups began pressuring me to keep quiet about the incident, and I have been hiding these details from Ouhya for all this time. There is no telling what they may do to us if we stick our noses further. I sure don't want to take the risk and lose everything! ... But Ouhya isn't afraid of it. She is really a true journalist. She will do everything she can to expose the truth. Maybe she can actually pull it off..."

The Shadow disappeared into a bright light, and Joker could only hope Ouhya's situation would change for better... and that Crow would be fine after having that subject brought up.

However, Crow wasn't fine. His voice exploded as he spat a curse that startled everyone. "It's my fault! Not only this journalist, but also other people around the mental shutdown victims are suffering, and it's all my fault! If only there were a way to save the ones that survived..."

Skull spoke up. "Hey, that Shadow mentioned an Apathy something... what's that?"

"Apathy Syndrome, was it?" Panther said. "I think I've heard that name before, but don't remember where..."

"It was a mental illness that had been on the rise a few years ago." Queen explained. "People suddenly got into a vegetative state, and no one knew what caused it, or how to cure it. The strangest thing about it was that the illness just disappeared as unexplainably as it had begun. The people who had been afflicted suddenly healed on their own, and everyone practically forgot about that illness afterwards."

"Whoa, that's crazy," Skull said. "People just healed and went back to normal as though nothing had happened?"

"Yes." Queen confirmed. "Because of this, some people think the media had just made the illness up, but those who had seen someone who had been afflicted know better."

"Now I recall having seen it on the news at some point." Fox commented. "I do not remember when that was, though."

---

"Around 2009 or 2010. Yes, that should be it..." Crow concluded. "How could I have forgotten? I had a lot of trouble with finals thanks to that!" He said without thinking.

"Finals? You mean, school exams?" Panther's words made Crow realize what he had said.

"Uh... yes." Crow nodded awkwardly.

Skull grinned. "Can we take it that you were quite studious, then?"

"Of course he is." Queen replied. "From the way he is smart, we shouldn't expect otherwise."

"Uh, but most importantly... Crow, you're saying you were afflicted by that illness, right!?" Joker uttered in shock, and only then everyone else realized the implication of his words.

Crow nodded, and felt all gazes focusing on him.

"Um, let me see if I got this right." Skull spoke. "That Shadow said this crazy illness was similar to the mental shutdowns. So, you're basically saying that you suffered a mental shutdown-like thing and survived?! Can't this mean the mental shutdown survivors can be cured too!?"

"But no one knows what caused that illness!" Panther quickly quipped. "There's no way to be sure-"

"Hold on!" Crow cut her off, suddenly hopeful. "Skull, actually, it's a good theory!"

"It is, right?" Skull grinned proudly.

Crow recalled that Elizabeth had said a group of Persona users had averted a huge crisis right around that time.

"That illness might be more similar to the shutdowns than we think! What if it also had to do with Personas!?"

Mona gasped. "Now that you mention it, I have the feeling I should have known something about that... you may be right! There might be a way to save them!" Hope seemed to light up in all the Phantom Thieves. "Crow, what do you remember? How did you feel while you were afflicted? Since you're a survivor, you might be able to help us find a clue on how to save them!"

Crow took a deep breath in preparation. It had been a while since he had last thought about that incident. While there wasn't much to remember, the memories certainly weren't pleasant.

"It was... agonizing." Crow spoke slowly, already feeling bad at reliving the pain in his memory. "I felt drained, with no will to do anything. That agony seemed to drag forever. I just wanted it to end, to close my eyes and not need to open them ever again. I couldn't tell how much time had passed. Then, it ended. But rather than closing, my eyes opened. I don't know how, or why. But I woke up. That was at the beginning of February 2010, and I learned that I had been out for three weeks straight..."

"This sounded sad. People around you must have been really worried!" Noir said in that innocent way of hers.

"Worried?" Crow scoffed with disdain. "That incident pissed them off for good! They yelled at me and said, 'How dare you catch some cursed illness no one knows anything about?!' I didn't get sick on purpose, dammit!"

"What the hell!?" Skull snapped.

"What insensitive guys! Crow, you still resent them, don't you? We should take their heart!" There came Joker trying to butt in... and if the Phantom Thieves were to dig in too deep, Crow feared they might find out his identity.

"There's no need. I have no relation and no contact with them anymore. I've even forgotten their names..." Crow felt the need to add the last bit, as the Phantom Thieves needed the names to look for their targets' Shadows.

"But..." Joker still tried to insist.

"I already said no!" Crow exploded and made everyone jump. "It doesn't matter anymore!" He huffed and shrugged. "Most importantly, I think we should try to learn more about the Apathy Syndrome thing. It's what I'll do. I'll leave. Good luck with driving."

"Hey!" Skull called out, but it was too late. Crow pulled out a Goho-m and teleported away.

---

Joker's heart ached. How she wanted to do something for him... but her insistence only seemed to have irritated him.

"We ruined his mood, didn't we?" Came Panther's rhetorical question.

Joker made an affirmative sound. "It's no wonder he's worn out, though. We talked about Murakami-san's mental shutdown, then got Crow into remembering how he suffered during the Apathy Syndrome. A lot must've been buzzing in his head right now..."

They decided to also call it a day. Everyone was still shaken on the way back, out of the Metaverse.

"He said he wanted to close his eyes and not open them anymore..." Ryuji spoke up. "It means he was thinking of..."

"it sounded like suicidal depression." Yusuke noted.

"I can imagine that," Futaba spoke timidly. "I had also had the same kind of thoughts before you guys changed my heart. Crow must've suffered a lot..."

"Is this the mastermind's fault? Crow had said that the mastermind had turned his life into hell." Makoto reminded them. "What could this mastermind have done to get Crow into such a situation?"

Akira felt she was missing something. Where did that mastermind fit into everything? What did that man have to do with Crow? Akira had the feeling that she could almost grasp the answer, but it escaped her.

"I don't know..." Akira answered in a restrained voice. She recalled the vision about his memories, where he was just a child, was suffering so much, and those adults didn't seem to care in the slightest. No one had even noticed how much he had been suffering, nor shown any concern for him, not even when he actually... tried to end his life by running into traffic.

"Why... am I still alive?" The image of the melancholic boy from the visions surfaced in Akira's mind.

The visions had been foggy, but now she had his appearance from the dream to create a clear image... and when she did so, she gasped. That image reminded her too much of Akechi.

"Akira, what's wrong?" Morgana asked in concern.

"N-no, it's nothing." Akira shook her head and tried to dismiss the thought. She had known that Akechi had also suffered a lot during his time at the foster homes, but she didn't want to think that it might have gone to a point where he would have tried to commit suicide. It couldn't be...

The Phantom Thieves parted ways, and Akira returned to Leblanc with Morgana and Futaba.

Sojiro noticed their gloominess right away. "What's up? Did something bad-"

"No." Akira answered quickly so that he wouldn't worry. "Nothing bad happened. The thing is, Crow told us something really sad that happened to him years ago." She told the whole story to Sojiro.

"That's terrible..." Sojiro furrowed his brows. "Also no support or anything! If it had usually been like this, then it's only natural that he'd go crazy. It'd be weird if he hadn't. Actually, it's a wonder that he's recovered and can still keep sane right now." Sojiro heaved a sigh. "I probably should think hard and find something I can do for him, too. If I don't and he isn't saved, I'll regret having done nothing."

"Boss..." Akira uttered.

"Yeah!" Futaba looked at him with admiration. "You're a hero, Sojiro. You saved me. Maybe you can do something to help save him too!"

---

Akechi was at Elizabeth's apartment, and the protection was active. "I still couldn't get the Personas required for your recipe, but I have a few questions. Today I heard someone point out that the mental shutdowns might be similar to Apathy Syndrome, that illness from years ago. I realized it had been on the rise around the time you said the other group of Persona users was around. Is it somehow related?"

Elizabeth's eyebrows rose. "Great deduction, young detective. You are correct. Shadows had been attacking vulnerable people during the eerie extra hour of the day, and stripping them of their will to live. Once the Persona users averted the crisis, the Dark Hour ended, and those afflicted returned to normal."

Akechi gaped. "I... I was one of the afflicted. One night I couldn't sleep and decided to gaze at the sky at the balcony, then I collapsed and..." He made a pained face at the memories he had described to the Phantom Thieves earlier.

"I am sorry to hear this. Still, I am glad that you came all the way here."

Akechi wasn't sure this was something to be glad about. Come to think of it, after waking up from that illness, he began having less suicidal thoughts than he used to have before, and he began thinking more about surviving. That was not all good, though. After being sent to another foster home and rejected by the new family once again, Akechi began thinking about finding Shido, about revenge. He became set on surviving and enduring whatever he needed to endure until he could find Shido and exert his revenge...

Akechi shook his thoughts off and got back on track. "If the Apathy Syndrome was related to the Shadow world and everyone was cured when the Persona users averted the crisis, can the same also apply to mental shutdown survivors?"

"It is likely. The Apathy Syndrome victims returned to normal once their wills to live were restored. To cure the mental shutdown survivors, I assume the part of them that got destroyed along with their Shadows would need to be restored."

"And what got destroyed?" Akechi asked.

"Their desires, probably. Both the distorted ones and the normal ones."

"Wait. But how can I do that if the Shadows are gone and I can't find those people in the Metaverse anymore?"

Elizabeth made a mysterious face. "I apologize, but I also do not have the answer to this question."

Akechi sighed in disappointment. He had thought Elizabeth would have all the answers. "Is it really possible, at least?"

"I believe so. It is highly likely."

Akechi would have to be content with that answer. "Okay. It's all that matters to me now. Thanks."

As Akechi returned to his apartment, he thought, There's Murakami-san and two others. Three survivors. I can't do anything about the people who died, but it's my obligation to save these three. It's the closest I can get to undoing what I've done.

Akechi had thought of looking up the Apathy Syndrome on the Internet, but since Elizabeth had given him lots of valuable information and things he wouldn't find on the net, like the incident having to do with Personas and Shadows, he decided it was enough for the day.

And once again, Akechi found himself not in the mood to cook dinner. He needed to stay strong, and for that, he should eat properly. Just two days ago, Akira had chided him for skipping dinner, and doing the same again wasn't a good idea. Maybe he should have something at a restaurant, or even a bento from a convenience store, or... some curry... his mouth watered at the thought of curry, but he realized he wouldn't be satisfied with curry from anywhere other than Leblanc. Akechi recalled that there was a bathhouse at Yongen. He could take the opportunity to go there and try to relax, then drop by Leblanc and order some curry. That sounded good.

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

He was a bit disappointed that medicated baths were only available on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though the normal bath still proved to be relaxing. When he entered Leblanc, Sakura-san glanced at him without a word, but it was clear that he had noticed Akechi's arrival. The last customer, an old lady, was about to leave. The TV was on, and an interview with Shido was airing, out of all things.

"We are living in chaos, and the authorities are losing credibility. The public is so desperate that they are placing their hopes in vigilantes rather than the authorities!" Shido spoke animatedly. "This country needs competent authorities. And for that, this country needs a reliable leader! Someone that can make sure everything works as intended, gets the public at ease and restores their faith in the justice system!"

"I don't understand much about politics, but that politician seems so reliable, doesn't he, Boss?" The old lady commented.

Akechi was unable to suppress a displeased expression for a second. That lady was one of the many people Shido was successfully deceiving with his politically-correct words.

"Huh?" Sakura-san lazily directed his gaze at the customer. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

The lady paid for the coffee and left. It was only Akechi and Sakura-san now.

Sakura-san threw Akechi a concerned look. "Hey. You look very tired. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I've just taken a bath at the bathhouse, and since I'm here, I thought I'd order some curry."

"And see Akira too, right?"

"Huh?" Akechi blushed slightly. He could tell that Sakura-san was having weird ideas again. "Um, well, I just-"

"Yeah, yeah." Sakura-san cut him off, totally unconvinced. "Akira's busy right now, though. She's on the phone upstairs. You'll have to wait a bit." Sakura-san turned the TV off and approached Akechi. "By the way, what do you think about that politician on TV?"

This proved that Sakura-san had actually been paying attention to Shido's interview. Still, he had to ask Akechi, out of all people...

Akechi chose his words. "I think... what he's saying is not wrong."

"Hmm. But what he's doing is a whole different story, eh?"

Akechi failed to prevent his eyes from twitching. Apparently, he hadn't chosen his words well enough. He hadn't expected Sakura-san to read between the lines.

"What... he's doing?" Akechi insisted on feigning ignorance. He tried to stall and come up with suitable responses to other possible questions.

Sakura-san lowered his voice. "Most people have no way to know about him beyond the words coming out of his mouth. I saw the face you made earlier, though. It looks like you know more than most people do, and more than you let on. You know what's up, don't you?"

Akechi gasped, unable to hide his surprise anymore. Sakura-san had cornered him. He tensed, unsure what to expect from that talk.

"Y-yes." Akechi admitted. "He's powerful and has a lot of screwed connections, including in the police and in the TV studio I work for..."

Sternness vanished from Sakura-san's expression, though he was still serious. "I've known of him since the time I worked for the government. Back then, he still wasn't a very known public figure, but insiders could tell he was trouble. Even though he wasn't as powerful, he already had shady connections, and wouldn't hesitate to screw over the lives of those who happened to stand in his way. Some of the immoral stuff he did had come to my attention, but all I could do to avoid trouble was stay out of his way and pretend I didn't know and didn't care. The mood was darkening at the government, and I realized that it wasn't the place I wanted to be at. After Wakaba died, I decided it was time to retire. It's what I did. I retired, cut all ties to the government and fled to this back alley in Yongen with Futaba."

Guilt gnawed at Akechi again at the mention of the researcher, and whatever words that he might have said died in his throat.

Sakura-san stared straight into Akechi's face. "I know how hard it is to have to stay near them and pretend nothing is happening. It surely isn't a situation I'd wish for a kid..."

"Huh?" Akechi held himself not to take a step back. "W-what are you talking about?"

"It's what you're doing, isn't it?" Sakura-san insisted. "You've just said that his connections include the people you work for. Actually, wouldn't you happen to be-"

"... Akechi-kun!?" Akira exclaimed in surprise as she came downstairs with Morgana trailing behind her.

Akechi's focus awkwardly turned from Sakura-san to Akira. "Akira..."

She stared at Akechi intently, as though searching for something. It made Akechi feel uncomfortable. First, Sakura-san seemed to be suspecting him of something, and now Akira was giving him that look...

"Um, what is it?" Akechi fidgeted.

Akira blinked. "Uh, y-you look exhausted. Are you okay?"

Akechi just nodded.

"I'll make sure you'll have a proper dinner," Sakura-san said. "It's about all I can do."

Akechi felt Sakura-san's concern, and startled when the Hierophant Tarot card appeared to indicate his Confidant had ranked up. He couldn't understand. From the questions earlier, it seemed as though Sakura-san had almost figured him out. But if so, Sakura-san shouldn't be treating him so nicely. Akechi had ruined Sakura-san's romantic life, and Futaba's family life...

"Curry'll be ready in a few." Sakura-san spoke next to the stove. "As soon as it's ready, I'll leave the two of you to yourselves."

"Three!" Morgana protested at being excluded from the count.

"Okay, two and a cat."

"I'm not a cat!" Morgana snapped.

"I'll allow you to have a bit of curry if you stay quiet."

"Curry!" Morgana sounded delighted. "I've always wanted to try that! It always smells so good..."

Akira giggled at the interaction, and Akechi also allowed himself to chuckle.

"Here." Sakura-san finished his cooking and gave them a serving of curry, including Morgana. "I'll head home. Akira, remember to lock the door. And Morgana, don't get in their way, got it?"

"Of course, Chief! I can read the mood!"

Sakura-san left, and Akira locked the door as requested.

Morgana went straight for the food, and his eyes shone like stars. "Oooooh... this is as good as I had imagined! Or maybe even better! How could I have been deprived of this wonderful food for so long!?"

Morgana placed his front paws to the two sides of the bowl as though he were holding it, and devoured the food with delight. Both Akira and Akechi smiled at the sight of how happy Morgana looked.

"Alright, let's eat too." Akira prompted, and they turned focus to their dinner.

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

After dinner, Akira beckoned Akechi to the attic, and they sat on the sofa to talk.

"Akechi-kun, I was talking to my mom on the phone when you arrived," Akira said, with Morgana on her lap. "I told her about you, and that we've been getting along. She said she wished she could come over and talk to you."

"... H-huh?" Akechi startled at the sudden recollection about the dream, where the child Akira had talked about her parents.

Reality Akira grinned and took out her phone. "This is it! I'll call her back and have you talk to her!"

"What?!" Akechi panicked. "Akira, wait..."

But Akira was already on it. "Mom, it's me! Akechi-kun is right next to me. Wanna have a word with him!?" It was easy to tell that the answer had been yes, from the way Akira got excited. "Alright! I'll put you on speaker!"

Akira activated the speaker option and shoved the phone into Akechi's hand. All of this was too sudden. At first, he just held the phone as though he didn't know what to do with it. Eventually, he spoke. "H-hello?"

"Hi, Akechi-kun! It's nice to talk to you!" An equally excited feminine voice came from the phone's speakers.

"It i-is my pleasure." Akechi stuttered.

Mrs. Kurusu chuckled. "Oh my god. It's really you, the cute soft-spoken detective. You don't need to be so formal with me. You know how Akira is. I'm just like an older version of her!" She didn't give him time to respond. "So, any chance of you and Akira agreeing over the Phantom Thieves yet?"

"Huh? Um..."

He heard Mrs. Kurusu talking to someone else briefly in the background, then she returned to the phone. "Now my husband wants to talk to you too!"

Then a man's voice spoke. "Hello, Akechi-kun. It's Akira's father here. How are you?"

"I'm f-fine..." Akechi answered awkwardly, overwhelmed at that whole interaction.

"How is the Phantom Thieves case moving along? You look so confident on TV. Tell me the truth. You know more than you let on, don't you? I bet you even know who the Phantom Thieves are!"

"U-uh..." That was too sudden, and Akechi didn't know how to respond. In the end, he decided to throw a question back. "By any chance, d-do you know anything?"

"No, I don't."

Akechi chuckled nervously. "Oh, just imagine that. If it were to turn out you knew something, then I could get Phantom Thieves intel from the most unexpected source possible!"

Akira's father laughed. "I have no idea. But I know you're very smart. It's amazing how you're just one year older than Akira and are a skilled and famous detective already!"

"Yeah, it's amazing." Mrs. Kurusu spoke. "To tell you the truth, I didn't pay much mind to your interviews before. But the day you appeared on TV alongside that model, Ann Takamaki, she seemed very nervous and you kept intervening to help her through the interview. That was when I realized that there was more to you, and what a sweetheart you are!"

Akechi's mouth hung open in surprise. Had his change in behavior been that obvious? He had ended up letting a bit of his normal self show that day, but he had hoped no one would notice. Or at least that the organization wouldn't notice...

Akira giggled. "That was just the tip of the iceberg! He's totally different when not in celeb mode. He's so cute! And smart, gentle, and nice."

Akechi gasped. Akira had just uttered words from one of those dreams. The exact same words, no less.

But he had no time to continue mulling over that because Mr. Kurusu spoke again. "Wow. You must be really popular at school."

"Um, currently, not really... I've mostly been getting criticism for what I say about the Phantom Thieves, and many students are envious both of my scores and because I'm allowed to skip classes in favor of detective work."

"Since you're a public figure, getting criticism is inevitable," Mr. Kurusu said. "But don't you have any girls interested in you?"

"The girls who come after me only care about my looks."

"What about you? What kind of girls pique your interest?" Mrs. Kurusu asked.

"M-me?" Akechi recalled Akira saying her mother was also "shipping" them. Was this an attempt to push him towards Akira? Why did everyone had to bring that subject up!?

"... Mom?" Akira also seemed to be getting uncomfortable.

"Akira, aren't you curious about the detective prince's standards? I sure am!" There was a hint of a mischievous smirk in the woman's voice. "Akechi-kun, you mean looks aren't everything, right? What other factors are important to you in a girl? Smartness? High grades? Personality?"

Akechi blushed and closed his eyes,. "Uh, I ha-haven't set any bars... actually, I haven't put much thought into these things. I've been going through a very complicated situation at work, and don't have time for much else..."

"Complicated situation?" Mr. Kurusu just had to ask...

"Um, trouble. Corrupt people..." Akechi tried to summarize without getting into detail.

"Oh, that sounds tough. You're dying to expose them, aren't you?" That innocent comment from Mrs. Kurusu nailed it, and caught him completely by surprise.

"Um..." Akechi was unsure how to respond. In the end, he admitted it. "Yes."

"For real?" Was Morgana's comment from his position on Akira's lap.

"This is really cool!" Mrs. Kurusu exclaimed while Akira gaped.

"Can't you ask the Phantom Thieves for help with your issues at work?" Mr. Kurusu asked.

Mrs. Kurusu added, "The Phantom Thieves change the hearts of corrupts and such too, right? Maybe they can help you!"

"What?" Akechi was getting uneasy. It was as though everyone was conspiring both to hook him up with Akira and for him to ask the Phantom Thieves for help.

Mr. Kurusu continued. "We'll be open about this. We fully believe in the Phantom Thieves, and are quite amazed by what they're doing. It's as though they make impossible things seem possible. Even though there are no big news about their actions lately, people are still commenting about how someone had been unfair to them and the Phantom Thieves did something about it! Hearing these success stories brings hope for a better world, doesn't it?"

Making seemingly impossible things seem possible and giving hope to others. This was exactly what Akira had told him the Phantom Thieves' main goal was. Akechi wondered whether her parents actually knew she was a Phantom Thief, or whether they simply happened to think similarly to her.

Speaking of Akira, she was at his side, unable to contain a proud expression at hearing her parents' words about the Phantom Thieves.

"Well, I won't deny that the Phantom Thieves' actions had some positive results." Akechi admitted. "My situation is complicated, though. I have to consider my options carefully."

"We'll be rooting for you," Mr. Kurusu said.

Followed by his wife. "You must be having a hard time. It may be time to start considering getting a good girlfriend, too. You probably need a breather from your work issues, and comforting moments with someone special might do you good. Think about it, okay?" She didn't wait for Akechi to respond. "Akechi-kun, we'll have to hang up now. It was very nice talking to you. I hope we can talk again soon!"

The call ended, and the phone's home screen appeared with the Metaverse app clearly visible, unlike on Akechi's phone where he had hidden it several pages away. But he ignored it and handed the phone back to Akira, who was sporting a wide smile.

"What did you think of my parents?" Akira asked him.

"They seem like nice parents. I think they are like you, actually."

"Oh, they are! They have their quirks, but are very nice people! My dad's a bit clumsy and disorganized, while my mom is basically the opposite, very organized and efficient at what she does. She told me that when she was pregnant, she had decided that no matter the gender of her child, she'd name it Akira! Yay for unisex names!"

Akechi laughed. "Talk about being practical!"

"And my mom liked your for your normal personality, not the celeb one. Isn't this great?"

"Uh, I certainly wasn't expecting that..."

"Oh yeah! I'll take a picture for them to see!" With no more warning than that, Akira shoved Morgana into Akechi's arms, and the detective held the supernatural creature on reflex.

"Hey!" Also surprised, Morgana yelped in protest.

But Akira ignored it. She glued to Akechi and snapped a selfie with the three of them.

"Look!" She showed the picture, which had a surprised Akechi in casual clothes right next to her and holding Morgana.

"This picture is so awkward..." Morgana complained, and Akechi couldn't agree more. It was so embarrassing...

But Akira disagreed. "Awww... this photo is so adorable! My parents will love it!"

Akechi panicked. "No, Akira. You won't send that!"

"Oh, I will." She smirked.

Akechi left Morgana on the ground and hastily tried to take the phone from Akira's hand to delete the picture, but she jumped to her feet and dodged swiftly. Akechi also stood up and grabbed at the phone, but Akira managed to dodge again, much to his frustration.

For the next minute, Akechi kept chasing Akira around the attic. The moment he finally managed to take the phone from her, he could only stare at the screen in horror because Akira had actually succeeded in pressing the send button.

"Check mate." Akira declared triumphantly. Akechi made a disgruntled face, and Akira laughed. "This reminds me of when I took your notebook when you were sick at the hotel, and you struggled trying to take it back."

"I don't remember much of that." Akechi answered dryly, still making a displeased face.

"You were acting like a stubborn little child. It was so cute... I could keep mock-fighting you all day."

Akechi didn't remember much of what had happened while he had been sick at the hotel. He had a vague memory of struggling to take his notebook from Akira, but he couldn't remember the details, except that he might not have behaved too well that time. Now that she mentioned it, though, he felt embarrassed.

Akechi shrugged. "Whatever. Just tell your parents not to show the photo to anyone. Things will complicate for me at work if the photo gets spread on social networks. It's too different from my public image, and the TV staff won't like it."

"My parents wouldn't spread the photo. It was just for them to see and no one else."

"Still, tell them, to be sure this condition is clear. It's all I ask."

"Okay. I'll tell them. Seriously, you deserve a better workplace. You said there are dangerous people in there, and I wouldn't want to get you in trouble." To Akechi's relief, Akira promptly texted her parents to explain the condition.

"Good. Thanks for your understanding."

She finished sending the message and set the phone aside. "So, you're planning to expose the corrupt guys?"

"I am." Akechi confirmed. He had already let out the fact that this was his plan, and there was no backing out.

"Isn't it dangerous, though? You had told us at the culture festival that messing with them could be trouble."

"Yes, and to be honest, I can't do anything about this right now. But if an opportunity arises, I sure won't waste it. I'm not willing to just sit quietly and continue letting them use me as they see fit."

---

Akira felt proud to see that Akechi was no longer resignedly letting the corrupt guys run over him, and now had the resolve to fight back.

She flashed a supportive smile. "I'm rooting for you. And if you find something that the Phantom Thieves can do for you, be sure to get in touch with them! I still believe they can help you."

Akechi made an annoyed face for a split second, but regained his composure and spoke. "Like I've just told your parents, I have to consider all my options carefully."

A message on Akira's phone interrupted their conversation. It was her mother. "Nice picture! Akechi-kun looks so different from how he does on TV!"

"He looks pretty cool in a dark suit, too!" Akira replied, regretting not having taken a picture of him in the new suit the previous day.

"The two of you really look cute together." Her mother wrote back. "You've heard our conversation. He still doesn't have a girlfriend, and hasn't set any bars in particular. Isn't this great luck? The path is open for you, Akira. Be sure to capture his heart before anyone else does!"

With a slight blush, Akira raised her head away from the smartphone and spoke to Akechi. "It was my mom. She loved the picture. Uh, but she seems a bit too eager to get us together..."

Akechi also blushed.

Akira hesitated. "Um, Akechi-kun. You... still owe me a response, you know."

"Uh, y-you mean..."

"About getting into a... deeper relationship. I had told you to give it more thought, remember?"

"Of course I remember..."

Akira looked at him expectantly. "You said that you don't have time for much else right now. But once your complicated issue at work is solved, do you think...?"

The response took too long to come. Out of the corner of her eye, Akira saw Morgana sneaking out of the attic, presumably to give the two some space.

Akechi eventually spoke. "I... don't know."

"Akechi-kun, I can wait. I'll wait for as much time as you need to solve your problem."

Insecurity took over the detective's expression. "No. I've thought about this relationship thing a lot and... um, actually, I believe it wouldn't work out."

"Why?"

"What if it goes wrong? Things may not go the way you expect. I may end up upsetting you, or even... hurting you..."

"I also may end up doing things that you won't like, though." Akira argued. "It happens. Everyone has their differences, and we probably won't agree on everything 100% of the time. But we won't find out if the relationship will work out or not unless we try, right? I don't feel really confident about it, either, but I'm willing to try and see what happens."

---

Akechi was running out of arguments. While he didn't want to reveal too much, he needed to convince her to give up on that idea. He shook his head. "No, Akira. That's not what I mean. You know that saying, 'if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.' Both you and your parents seem to view me as the perfect role model, but I'm not. That's the image I began trying to present to others since the start of my TV career, and it's a false image. I'm anything but perfect."

"I like being with you. I don't care if you're perfect or not." Akira insisted.

"Akira, you don't know what you're talking about. Starting a deeper relationship would mean getting to know each other better... and..." Akechi took a deep breath, then spoke reluctantly. "There's more to me that you still don't know. And... to be honest, I'd rather you don't get to know."

Akira's expression became serious. "Is this about those things you said, that you lied to the public and stuff?"

Akechi's expression was unreadable as he nodded. "That other side of my is selfish, irresponsible, among other things I won't be saying."

Akira stared at him as though he were spouting nonsense. "What? You, selfish and irresponsible? It's hard to imagine it, but I think I can handle that side of yours. If not, I can learn how." She threw him a playful smirk. "Wanna test?"

"Akira, I'm serious."

"And so am I."

They began a staring contest, which Akechi eventually broke with an exasperated sigh. "Seriously, you wouldn't like it. I'm grateful for your friendship, but getting closer than this may not be a good idea. Getting deeply involved with me probably will only cause you trouble and make you suffer. You should be with someone better."

Akira seemed lost for words for once, and disappointment showed clearly on her face. Akechi felt bad for crushing her hopes like that, but he wouldn't take his words back. The last thing he would want was a repeat of what happened to his mother. Falling in love for the false image of someone and believing that illusion for years, only to fall into despair upon learning what a horrible person that man was. This was what ultimately broke his mother, and Akechi didn't want the same thing to happen to Akira.

Akechi didn't give her a chance to argue. "Sorry. I know this wasn't what you wanted to hear, but I thought it'd be better to say it now so that you won't keep harboring false hopes. Just forget this romance thing, alright? If we can at least continue being friends, it's more than enough to me." Even if just for a few more months, or whatever amount of time he still had left.

Even though it looked like Akira wanted to say something, no words left her mouth. She only stared at him stubbornly, with an imploring gaze. It was painful to see her in that state, but it should be better this way. He had only revealed a tiny fraction of the truth, which couldn't so much so as hint at the seriously wrong things he had done. The whole truth would shock Akira much more.

"I'll go home." Akechi spoke as neutrally as he could manage and turned towards the stairs.

Akira took a hesitant step closer to him. "Um, can I at least kiss you good night like usual?"

Akechi was a bit reluctant, but allowed it in the end, as a way to try to make up to her a bit. "If this makes you feel any better..."

"Then..." Akira slowly closed the distance between them. "Good night." She whispered in his hear, and once again wasted huge amounts of kindness on him, in the form of a tight but comforting embrace, and the affectionate kiss she planted on his cheek. It was as though she were indirectly asking him to reconsider, but he wouldn't. His mind was already set.

Akechi's heart was accelerating and the usual blush threatened to invade his face, and he put his best efforts to resist those effects. "Akira, I'm sorry." He broke free from her embrace and turned away, in a clear refusal to return the kiss.

"I'll open the door for you." Her disappointed voice reminded him that the cafe was closed.

Akira accompanied him downstairs and unlocked the door.

"Bye. Good night." Akechi uttered before leaving Leblanc.

It should be better this way, He kept telling himself as a thought, while trying to shake off the image of Akira's disappointed expression that insisted on popping up in his mind. It should be...

---

Akira once again locked Leblanc's door.

"How was it? Are you two finally together?" Morgana asked from a stool by the counter.

"No... it was no go. He thinks it won't work out."

"What!?" Morgana was incredulous. "You can't know if it'll work out or not if you don't even try!"

"I think so too, but he doesn't want to even try. He seems totally convinced that he's not the kind of person I should be with or something. He basically said that he has bad qualities he doesn't want me to know about."

"Oh, I think I get it. Well, it's normal to have a side one doesn't want to show to others. He probably fears your rejection!"

That point actually made sense. "So, this means he may actually want to date me, but he's scared that I might begin to dislike him if I get to know him deeper?"

"Sounds like it! You have to argue more and assure him that you're willing to accept him no matter what! ... You are, right?"

"... Yeah." Despite not knowing this "hidden" side Akechi was talking about, she believed he was being too hard on himself. No matter how much he tried to tell her what an irresponsible and selfish guy he was, Akira didn't buy it. Perhaps he had lied a lot in the past, or done irresponsible things. But he wasn't like that now, and all Akira could see was the adorable and lonely detective who had been rediscovering himself. This was one more reason for her to wish to be at his side, and follow his progress and new realizations along the way. "He wouldn't listen to my arguments, though. He told me to just forget about this romance stuff. I won't give up, though!"

"Well said! You're finally getting the hang of these things!" Morgana was satisfied with her decision. "By the way,' I hadn't imagined that Akechi might be planning to do something against the corrupt TV staff. This strengthens my belief that he should join the Phantom Thieves!"

"Perhaps I should tell the others about this." Akira took her phone and texted her friends. They were pleasantly surprised, and also shared Morgana's opinion.

"Guys, I was thinking of something." Ann wrote. "The other day, Akechi-kun admitted to me that he had cheated to boost his popularity, and then seemed unsure of his detective skills. What if he actually knows that his solutions to the mental shutdown cases weren't right?"

"Oh no!" Futaba replied. "This might be even worse! Akechi had told Sojiro and me that to get famous, he let people use him in exchange for privileges... What if those people were connected to the evil organization and had him mishandle the cases?"

"We already talked about how the TV staff and the organization might be connected, but have him mishandle the cases? Isn't that pushing it a bit?" Ryuji tried to reject the theory. "Akechi's just a kid!"

"No, it is actually possible." Makoto wrote back. "Both the media and the police are involved. As it is against the organization's interests to have their methods revealed, it would be convenient to them to assign him to the cases, and have him 'solve' them any which way in exchange for more exposure on the media. This would make sure that the conclusions would be incorrect and the truth would still remain hidden."

"This is messed-up!" Ryuji was probably gritting his teeth behind his phone.

"They must have considered him easy to take advantage of." Yusuke theorized. "He was starting out in his detective career, desperate for more exposure, and they saw that they could give him exactly what he wanted."

"And Akechi-kun might've been so desperate for fame that he might've agreed and done as they wanted..." Akira concluded.

"That's really dishonest..." Ann commented. "If the organization is really trapping him like we're thinking, then it makes sense that he cant just quit."

"I wonder if Akechi-kun actually knows the truth behind the cases." Haru wrote.

"If he wishes to expose the organization, it is something he needs to know. If he does not know, he will have to find out." Yusuke concluded.

The chat was over, and Morgana sighed. "From Akechi's smugness in earlier interviews, I had suspected he wasn't that well-behaved, but this..."

"They must've gotten to him when he was vulnerable," Akira said. "Maybe he was so desperate that he didn't even think of refusing, or maybe he couldn't refuse even if he wanted to. The organization is powerful. Who knows what they might've done to him if he were to refuse. Still, if this theory is true, then Akechi-kun's gotten famous in a very dishonest way, both from the organization's and from his part. I wonder if this has to do with the things about him that he doesn't want me to know..."

"If this is true, then I can see why he wouldn't want you to know about it. It's a bit disappointing to think he's gone that far. Even so, do you still support him?"

"Yeah." Akira answered without hesitation. "He's been rediscovering himself, and it feels like he's learned the lesson. He needs support throughout this transition, and of course I support him!"

"That's the spirit!" Morgana grinned. "If you talk to him and this theory gets confirmed, you should tell him that he has your support! Then, there'll be no more obstacles for both of you to start dating!"

"I'll try talking to him about this." It sounded like a good plan, but why did Akira have the feeling that there was more to the issue... that Akechi may actually have done more than just this? "Though I wonder... if another mental shutdown case were to happen, what would Akechi-kun do? No, wait. Rather, if a mental shutdown order were to come, what would Crow do?"

Crow... Akira thought. Crow was trying to expose the organization too, and being used and...

A knot formed in Akira's stomach. Once again, she was comparing Akechi and Crow, and this time, the comparison was giving her an unsettling feeling. It was as though she were sticking her hand into a bag with a snake inside, and she felt the urge to stop and back away.

"Let's hope it won't happen," Morgana said. "But if an order comes, Crow should know better and tell us about it so we can find a way around it together. We've talked to him enough about the unanimous decision rule. He shouldn't forget about it anymore."

"Uh, yeah, gotta think positive..." Akira tried to cheer herself up and shake off the unsettling feeling. "even if it happens, we can find a way around it!"

---

During dinner, Makoto told Sae the story of how Crow caught the Apathy Syndrome.

Sae sighed with a frown. "Apathy Syndrome... to think he would have caught even that..."

"Sis, do you think you can use this information to argue in his favor?"

"It can certainly help. A study has pointed out that those who were afflicted either had suicidal tendencies or were harboring suicidal thoughts. For him to have reached that point, his life must have been horrible. I can only imagine the mess that his mental state must be even now. It's a wonder that he still has sanity left."

They finished their dinner.

"I'll do the dishes." Makoto volunteered.

"Thank you. I'll go back to compiling evidence against the organization."

"Um, Sis?" Makoto retrieved the dishes but stopped midway to the kitchen. "Speaking of the organization... we began thinking that the TV staff Akechi-kun works for might be connected to them. Do you know if this is true?"

Sae thought a bit before answering. "Apparently, the TV station's president is connected to them."

Sae left for her bedroom, but Makoto stood there agape for a few seconds, still with the dishes in hand. The TV staff and the organization were really connected! Akechi was in serious danger! The organization might have had him solve the breakdown and shutdown cases incorrectly like the Phantom Thieves had theorized, too!

Once Makoto had washed the dishes, she retrieved her smartphone to look up information online. She had initially thought of researching the Apathy Syndrome, but decided to look up the conclusions to the shutdown cases instead.

---

X:X:X:X:X

By that point, Akira was getting used to having Arsène appear in her dream and guide her through a light portal. In fact, she came to eagerly hope it would happen. And once again, it happened.

She came out of the portal and appeared one block away from the house where the child Crow lived. Akira made her way to the house and peered through the window. The boy was there seated at the desk and gazing at something.

Akira knocked on the window. "Hi! May I come in?"

He raised his head and flashed a weak smile in her direction. "Oh, it's you. Sure."

Akira jumped through the window and approached him. "Any news on when the adults will be away so that we can sneak out?"

"Um, about that. Thanks for trying to help me, but we can't..."

"Huh? But you had agreed! You can't just give up!"

"No, the thing is..." He shuffled nervously. "I'll be leaving."

"What?! Leaving?"

"Yes, I'll move to another house. I have to leave... tomorrow."

That piece of news caused a pang of sorrow in Akira's chest.

"Is it a better place? I hope it is." She tried to view it from the bright side and disguise her sadness.

"I have no idea," was his insecure response.

"I know living in this house wasn't exactly good, but anything you'll miss?"

"I had never thought I'd miss anything from here, but I have to admit, there's one thing that I'll miss. The chess board."

"Why don't you ask the adults to give you the board? I bet they don't even use it."

He shook his head. "Even so, they wouldn't give it to me. I think I'll just make my own board, from paper and such."

"Wow, it'd be cool if you could really do that! I'll visit you at the new place too, and I hope to play chess with you using your homemade chess board!"

"Um, I don't think it'll happen. You can't visit me at the new place. It's too far from here. It's in another city..."

The full weight of his words finally dawned on her, and the sorrow expanded in her heart. If she couldn't visit him at his new home, it meant she likely wouldn't see him again. "You mean... this is goodbye?"

At his confirmation nod, Akira's heart tightened.

He smiled sheepishly. "Uh, I'll also miss your visits..."

Akira forced a smile and tried to cheer both of them up. "Then, we gotta make the most of this last visit! how about we use the board and play chess one last time?"

He agreed, and they played a match. As Akira expected, she lost horribly. Despite that, she was satisfied.

"Sorry that I can't pose you a challenge."

He also seemed satisfied. "The match was nice, though. It's really different to have an actual opponent to play against."

"I'll try to improve my skills, and if we ever meet again and have the opportunity to play, I hope I can pose you a formidable challenge then!"

With a smile, he set the chess board aside. "I'll finish packing my things." He pointed at a handbag that was on the ground. It looked like he didn't have many belongings. Probably only a few changes of clothes.

Akira's gaze landed on a gold chain necklace on the desk. It was the object the child Crow had been gazing at when she arrived. "What a beautiful chain necklace!"

"It was my mother's. The only thing she left. Well, more like she threw it away and I took it for me. There was also a pendant, but we needed money to buy food and I ended up selling it. She died, and this chain necklace is her only belonging that remained. It's the most valuable thing that I have."

Akira stared at him solemnly. "Your mom died? I'm sorry to hear. From the fond way you look at that necklace, I can tell you liked her a lot."

He nodded. "She was so caring and so nice... if only that man hadn't appeared..."

"Huh? That man?"

The boy hesitated, likely debating whether or not to share that bit of information with Akira. In the end, he gave in. "Remember I said I had met someone that wanted to become prime minister? It's him."

"O-oh...?" Akira stuttered in surprise. "But what did he do?"

"He ruined our lives. If not for him, my mother might not have died, or at least could've died happy. I... wouldn't be here, but it'd have been better. I shouldn't have been born, anyway."

"Wh-what are you saying!?" Akira's eyes widened in horror.

"If I weren't here, my mother wouldn't have had an extra mouth to feed and would've had more money to go by. I wouldn't be burdening the people at this house or those at the next house... and I would never cause harm to anyone. I wonder, if they despise me so much, why don't they just kill me at once? This way my suffering would end, and I wouldn't be a burden to anyone else. But I'm here, and if they won't kill me, I'll live and do the only thing I can. Endure. And if I ever find out where that man is, I swear I'll make him pay! For shattering my mother's heart, for putting me through this meaningless hell that's my life... I'll find a way to make sure he suffers as much as we suffered and then some!"

Those words gave Akira the chills, and she could only stare at him in shock.

"If he manages to become prime minister, I'll destroy his reputation for good!" The boy looked angrier by the second, and didn't seem to be minding his words anymore. "If the people learn that the oh so almighty and 'honorable' ruler of their country has an illegitimate child, it'll be a huge scandal! He'll know firsthand all the humiliation, how it feels to have nothing left, and how it feels to be despised by society, just like we were!" The child Crow laughed evilly, with a crazed expression that definitely didn't fit him. It felt so wrong!

"... Illegitimate child?" Akira gasped. "Y-you mean, you're...?"

He slammed on the desk and made Akira jump. "Yeah, his illegitimate son. So what!? You have a problem with that!? Oh, of course you do. Everyone has a problem with it. I'm a bastard child. An undesirable existence to society, forever to be labeled and despised. I shouldn't have been born. Still, here I am, only consuming resources and burdening others. No matter how much I try, no one will ever acknowledge me. No one will ever accept me." He looked at Akira with scorn. "Now you understand, don't you? You were wrong about me. I'm not special. Actually, the very opposite of that. I'm a disgrace."

Akira was paralyzed, unsure what to think. If Crow was seeking revenge on that man, then that man could only be the evil organization's mastermind. And Crow was the mastermind's child!? This was a dream, though... nonetheless, the boy's words were painful. Akira wanted to argue, say that he was indeed special and that she accepted him, but her eyes watered and words scrambled in her head.

"Don't do that! Revenge won't make you happy!" Was what ended up leaving Akira's mouth, out of all things.

"You wouldn't understand! You have caring parents, probably many friends, and people around you don't view you like trash. You couldn't possibly understand how I feel!" He stabbed Akira with more sharp words. He wasn't even talking like a child anymore. "I have nothing! I've never had a chance of a good future from the start. If I manage to get revenge, I'll be satisfied. I'll at least have accomplished something so that I can say that my life wasn't in vain. For that, I'll do anything. Anything! Even if it means I'll have to do something that society considers unacceptable."

"No, don't! He might be a bad person, but if you do bad stuff, you'll become a bad person too!"

He scoffed. "No matter if I do good or bad things, people will despise me anyway. So who cares!?"

"Akechi-kun!" The detective's last name rolled off Akira's tongue of its own accord, just like that. She only realized what she had said once it was already out.

But the boy wasn't surprised in the slightest, as though Akira hadn't said anything out of the ordinary. "My mind is already set. Looking at this chain necklace strengthens my resolve. I'll get revenge. This is my only purpose in life, and I'll accomplish it no matter what!"

Akira gritted her teeth. Trying to reason with him was proving to be no use. His views were beyond distorted. It hurt to see him like that. He was no longer the shy and gentle boy Akira used to know, and who used to make her dreams the cuttest and fluffiest ever. In fact, he was reminding her of his dark and cold Metaverse self, but more... evil. Crazy. Broken. And... lonely...

In an act of desperation, Akira did the first thing that came to her mind. She snatched the chain necklace from the table.

"What are you doing!?" The boy exclaimed, taken aback at her sudden action.

"This is in the way. I won't let you keep looking at it!"

"Wait! Give that back!" He jumped to his feet from the chair and grabbed at the necklace in her hold.

Akira dodged, but he kept coming at her. He began chasing her around the small room, much like Akechi had chased her trying to take her phone to prevent her from sending their picture to her parents.

"Akira, stop! Don't make me... hurt you..." He sounded conflicted, but Akira wouldn't stop.

She scurried off to the other side of the room and jumped out the window. The child Crow's usual insecurity was absent, replaced by unwavering determination. He jumped through the window after her without a second thought and chased her into the streets.

The city was strangely empty. No passersby, no cars, just the houses and buildings nearby. It was as though the child Crow and Akira were the only people in the whole city. But Akira didn't have time to think about that. She ran as fast as she could, but Crow was having no trouble to close the distance between them. They crossed the street and arrived at the block where her dream had begun. Much to her surprise, the light portal was still there.

The sight of the portal distracted Akira for a second, and she tripped on a small hole on the ground. While she worked to regain her balance, the child Crow managed to close the distance even more.

"This is it. Leader of the Phantom Thieves, surrender now!"

"No way." Just as Crow was about to catch up to her, Akira threw the chain necklace forward. As the piece of jewelry passed through the light portal and disappeared from sight, Akira turned behind to face Crow with a triumphant smirk. "Check mate."

Determination vanished from the boy's face, and he stared forward in horror. "My... my... treasure..." His voice came out weak and shaky.

Apparently back to his timid self, he began crying like a small child who had had his candy stolen, a stark contrast to his dark and maniacal self. He looked devastated as though the world were going to end, and Akira was starting to feel bad at having taken his precious object away from him. The thought of giving it back crossed her mind, but the chain necklace had disappeared into the light portal and was nowhere to be seen.

Akira took a hesitant step towards him. "You must be angry at me right now. I'm sorry." No response. She began trying to reason with him again. "I know that the necklace was really precious to you, but if looking at it only makes you think about revenge and doing bad stuff, then it does you more harm than good. Revenge won't make you happy. If you become a bad person, you'll make other people suffer, and someone might hold a grudge against you, the same way you hold a grudge against that man. If you want to get other people to accept you, that's definitely not the way to do it!"

Crow seemed to calm down, and over a period of around half of a minute, his crying reduced gradually until it stopped. He blinked to focus, and spoke with an ashamed expression. "You're right. It's as you say. This revenge thing isn't worth it, and following this path will only make me as bad a person as him..."

Akira smiled brightly, glad that her words had finally reached him. "You don't need revenge to accomplish something in life. I don't care whether your dad's a bad person or not, or whether you're a bastard child or not. All that matters to me is that somehow we met, I got to know what a nice and caring person you are, and we came to get along." She looked at him expectantly. "So, how about we put our big plan into action? If you come with me, I can help you have a better life. I'll explain everything to my parents. They're very understanding, and I'm sure they'll think the same way as me and won't mind your origins. I'll ask them to call the social services to see if they can take you in instead of the family from the new house. This way you'll have a caring family, and we can be always together! What do you say?"

His expression improved a bit, though he still looked ashamed.

"It's a tempting offer." He smiled sadly. "But I'm going to have to refuse."

"Why?"

"Because this is a dream," he said matter of factly. "If this were real, I'd go with you. It isn't, though, and no matter what we do here, it won't change reality. I'm not sure if you get what I'm saying..."

It was a valid point, and all Akira could do was nod sadly.

He continued talking. "I wish we had met earlier and all of this had really happened, so that things would have gone differently for me. Unfortunately, in reality, I've already followed the destructive path and done all the wrong things. Yes, this means I'm a bad person already, and there's nothing you can do about it. The point is, it's no use trying to help me here, and it's probably best that these dreams stop. It's no use mulling over things that could have happened but didn't."

"I see what you mean..." Akira had to admit. It was sad, but true. "I still want to help you, though. The problem is that I don't know how. If there's anything that I can do for you in reality, just tell me."

"I don't think you can really help me. I became a horrible person. If you were to know what I did, you probably wouldn't even want to be my friend anymore."

Akira wanted to argue and say that she knew what he did, and that she still accepted him despite that, but the place suddenly shook violently and she heard sounds of structures collapsing in the distance.

"Looks like this dreamscape won't be standing for long." The boy smiled resignedly. "These dreams were fun while they lasted, but now I guess it's time to stop dreaming about impossible things, return to reality and face the consequences of what I've done..."

On one hand, even though they would part ways in the dream, they could see each other in reality rather easily. On the other hand, though, the consequences of his past misdeeds meant he might get the death penalty. That would force them to be apart for good, and Akira's heart squeezed painfully just from thinking about it. The next thing she knew, she was crying and clinging to him desperately.

"H-hey! Do-don't make this harder than it already is..." He tentatively wrapped his arms around her waist. "Don't cry, please. I don't like to see you suffer, even if it's in a dream..."

He stroked her hair and tried to comfort her, but her crying and sobs just wouldn't stop. Akira wanted to comment that Crow wasn't a bad person, as a truly bad person couldn't manage to be this gentle; that he made those mistakes because he had been lost and with no one to support him; that now he had been discovering the kindness which had been suppressed in his heart by all the suffering, and thus he deserved a second chance in life... but her sobs didn't let her speak.

Meanwhile, he was almost panicking because Akira still hadn't stopped crying. "A-alright, alright! Here g-goes nothing..." He blushed as his face inched towards hers, and his lips landed on her cheek in a caring kiss.

This may be a dream, but the feelings were real. Akira felt dazed, and her heart began thumping loudly. The tears and sobs didn't stop completely, but her mouth curved up into a contented smile.

The child Crow was still blushing. "Ugh... this may be a dream, but it's still so embarrassing! Uh, but at least you're smiling now. This is more like it." He let out a sheepish chuckle. "I want your face to always be bright and cheerful in my memory. And if possible, in reality too."

Akira gasped in surprise at hearing him say the exact same thing she recalled Akechi had once said.

A loud noise startled her, and a house collapsed into debris nearby.

"I guess this is goodbye." The child Crow gently pried her away from him and pushed her towards the light portal. "I don't think I can say this in reality, but since this is a dream, I guess I can admit it fully." He stared at her in the face. His expression was caring and gentle. "I can't deny it. I'm envious of you. You have everything that I could never have. Caring parents, many friends, a positive outlook in life, a promising future... but being with you always does me so much good, and whenever I realize it, I'm thinking fondly of you. I can't deny that I envy you. But I also can't deny how much I like you, Akira Kurusu." He used her full name, even though Akira didn't recall having told it to him. "Unlike me, you have a promising future ahead. Don't waste it. A-and..." Tears began streaming down his face as well. "Be sure to find someone good, who has a pure heart and has never done anything wrong, and that can be by your side to follow your progress. Someone who deserves you... and... be happy, because you deserve it." His voice failed at the end.

Those words deeply touched Akira. She wanted to respond, but the torrent of tears threatened to come back. The light from the portal expanded outward and engulfed her. Crow's child form disappeared along with the rest of the scenery, and Akira found herself alone surrounded by a gentle light. She began feeling lightheaded. At first it was just a bit, like when teleporting in or out of the Metaverse. However, the lightheadedness gradually became stronger, until Akira lost the grip on her consciousness and blacked out.

X:X:X:X:X

Akira awoke in the middle of the night. That dream had been quite the ride. At the beginning, the child Crow had been acting like usual, but then he broke and reminded her of his grown-up Metaverse self during an emotional crisis, and once he had calmed down, he came to act more and more like Akechi. She wondered whether she was mixing the two up because she had been comparing them a lot lately.

That aside, the way he comforted her while she cried and his words at the end were so heartwarming, though it felt unfair since Akira was sure he needed to be comforted much more than her. Actually, it reminded the way his real grown-up self had hugged her after the twins fight...

... And her eyes shot open at the faint recollection of having seen a Tarot card after the twins fight, when she fell asleep in Crow's arms. Akira had been waiting for so long for her Confidant with Crow to start... but as faint as the memory was, Akira was pretty sure that the Tarot card from that day indicated a rank up, not a Confidant start. This could only mean that Crow was already her Confidant! And if so, this would explain the peculiar Confidant-esque empathy she had towards him. But then, who, and what Arcana?

Akira gasped at the thought from the other day, when she had had the feeling that the Justice Confidant seemed to be on a rank higher than she last remembered. The Justice Confidant. In other words, Akechi's Confidant...

No, this can't really be true, can it? she thought.

Could Crow really be Akechi? She had constantly been comparing them these last two days, and there was a nagging feeling that pointed to them as being one and the same. But she didn't want to believe that, because if it were true, the implications would be very serious. Akechi being Crow would mean he had known about the Metaverse all along. It would mean he could understand Morgana's speech, knew Haru was President Okumura's daughter, and probably knew that Akira and all her friends were the Phantom Thieves. It would mean that Akechi had suffered so much that he had attempted suicide when he was a child, and that he had caught the Apathy Syndrome. It would mean Akechi had lost his mind and killed people, including Futaba's mom. It would mean he would probably be sentenced to death even though his heart was as pure as an innocent child's now. It would mean Akechi envied Akira because, among other things, she had a chance at a future and he didn't. It would mean that all these factors combined were the things he didn't want her to find out, and must be the reason for the bothersome sadness in his gaze... Akira didn't want him to suffer like that, nor to envy her. She wanted him to be happy, and wished she could share her future with him.

She recalled what Akechi's sleepy self had said at the hotel. "Your heart is so pure. Unlike mine... If only you could look inside my heart, you'd see how messed-up it is. And I'm sure you wouldn't like it...

She had input his name into the Metaverse nav after that, and hadn't gotten a hit. Akira had been relieved to know he didn't have a Palace, as she had assumed his views weren't distorted... but what if he didn't have a Palace not because his heart hadn't been distorted, but because he was a Persona user?

No, Akechi-kun...

Akira's heart tightened. Those words Akechi had uttered fit with Crow's situation perfectly. The way the adults mistreated Akechi at the foster homes also fit with the glimpse she had had of Crow's memories perfectly. Akira was having a hard time to accept that Crow was Akechi, but the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. That realization was painful, and his already sad situation felt twice as sad now.

"Akechi-kun..." A lump formed in her throat, and she whispered his last name with difficulty.

Huge teardrops slowly rolled out of Akira's eyes. She cried in silence, and not even Morgana woke up to comfort her.

---

A/n: I'm not sure why, but I always thought that Lavenza would enjoy window-shopping at the Shibuya mall with the protagonist. So, here the twins are :P .

Speaking of the twins, even they are shipping Akechi and Akira now! :D

I'm writing this in February 2020, so no Persona 5 Royal for me yet (the western release will be on March 31, and I'm still avoiding spoilers beyond the promotional material). As Kichijoji was in the promotional material and seemed interesting, I decided to feature it here in this chapter. Since Akira had basically been following the plot of normal P5 rather than P5R, she had never been to Kichijoji yet.

But... oh noes! Akechi refused to date Akira! How come? Their Confidant didn't rank up to 9 yet, though, and maybe there's still a chance! Now it may be up to the shippers to change his mind! Or up to Akira to give him convincing arguments, since she has figured his identity out... or both.