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.

31. Roller Coaster of Feelings

A/n (2020/04/21): I hope everyone is staying safe and taking precautions to avoid the coronavirus. Over here, my city is quarantined, and only essential services like supermarkets, food stores, pharmacies and hospitals are allowed to open. Thankfully, both my mother and I are alright.

And still no Persona 5 Royal for me... Royal's release here in Brazil was delayed to May 22nd, 2020 because of the quarantines... at first, it was March 31 like everywhere else, but then the quarantine began and it was pushed to April 24, and now the quarantine was extended and the release was pushed to May 22! Well, at least I can get around to finishing PQ2 first...

Now, back to the fic.

To Candy Mix-Up: I love all your theories about what'll happen next! Especially 2 and 3.

To all: after many scene rewrites and deletes, chapter 31 is finally here! It took more time than I had expected, and gave me more trouble than I had expected. I can't believe I couldn't finish it even during my vacation! But it's finally finished now, and once again I broke the chapter length record. More than 23k words! I hope the length makes up for the delay!

---

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 31: Roller Coaster of Feelings

Tuesday, November 1

Akechi woke up crying, just like he had been at the moment the dream ended. His dreams about the child Akira were usually comforting, but that latest one had been rough. The moment the subject became his revenge plan against Shido, twisted feelings took over his heart. Exactly the same kind of feelings that he had had when he got access to the Metaverse, which he had thought he had already overcome. To add to that, a barrage of harsh words shot from his mouth and revealed the worst of his dark side. He didn't want to say any of those things. It may be a dream, but he didn't want Akira to see that horrible side of him. Akechi had internally panicked and tried to stop, but his body moved on autopilot and words sharp like daggers kept shooting from his mouth of their own accord. All he could do was watch helplessly as Akira looked more and more horrified at each twisted sentence he uttered.

It was only after Akira had thrown the chain necklace into the portal of light that Akechi regained control of his movements, as though her action had freed him from the curse that had been binding him. Then, he was unable to contain himself and poured his heart out at once. Akechi hadn't expected to pour all his deepest feelings for Akira in a dream, nor that it would feel as emotionally heavy as if he had done it in reality. Then she cried, and he cried too.

And now, a bad feeling bubbled inside his chest, and it seemed to be related to his Star Confidant, in other words, Akira. Had that dream happened because Akira's disappointment at his refusal to date her was still nagging at his mind? Worse, since those dreams seemed to be precognitive, could that latest one mean that he and Akira would get into a fight? Akechi feared that he might unintentionally say something and hurt her, horrify her the same way as in the dream, when he spouted his twisted revenge plan.

As Akechi took some time trying to calm down, it occurred to him that at least one good thing had happened in that dream. Akira had showed interest in the chain necklace. Could it mean that she would like to get a chain necklace as a gift? It couldn't be his mother's necklace because he had lost it in between foster home moves, not to mention that it was a fake jewel and had fully lost its shine by the last time he saw it. What happened in the dream might be a hint nonetheless, and Akechi concluded he should see about buying a new chain necklace for Akira. That thought improved his mood a little, and he finally got up to start his day.

---

Makoto was on her way to school, at the train station. She spotted Akechi walking nearby. He didn't seem to have seen her.

"Akechi-kun!" When she realized it, she was calling out to him. "Good morning."

Akechi jumped slightly and turned in her direction. He really must not have noticed she had been nearby. In fact, he seemed a bit out of it. "Hi. Good morning..."

And Makoto realized she wasn't sure why she had decided to talk to him in the first place. It felt weird to just leave it at a greeting, though, and she racked her brain in search of something else to say. "Um, thank you for the help the other day."

"The other day?" He asked in confusion.

"I mean about the question 25 from the previous mock national entrance exams."

"Oh, that. You already thanked me on the phone."

"Uh, well, maybe I did..." Makoto spoke awkwardly. Akechi was waiting for her to say something, but she was still unsure what else to say. She noticed that, aside from carrying his "A" suitcase, he had a school bag on his back. "You have brought a school bag today..."

"Actually, I normally use the school bag. But when I don't bring many things and everything fits inside the suitcase, I bring only the suitcase. That's either on exam days or when I already know I'll have to leave classes halfway through because of work."

Makoto nodded in understanding... and the conversation died again. Perhaps she should just say her goodbyes and leave, because it felt like she was just wasting his time. Makoto once again noted how he seemed to be a little pensive. She was debating on whether to ask him if there was anything wrong when...

"Hello, Akechi-kun. Good morning." An unfamiliar woman approached.

Akechi seemed to tense for a split second, but quickly regained his composure. "Good morning, Isaka-san."

"On the way to school, I see. Who is she?"

Makoto was considering whether she should introduce herself, but then Akechi said, "Ah, as you can see, she is a student from Shujin." He indicated Makoto's uniform. "I had approached her to ask about the incident involving that P.E. teacher. I need more information to make my points if I have to discuss the incident on television, and I couldn't let this opportunity pass."

His response raised warning flags in Makoto's head. Even though he really might want to know more about the incident involving Mr. Kamoshida, the rest was clearly a lie. To start, it was Makoto who had approached Akechi, not the other way around. Plus, he was speaking as though he and Makoto were strangers. Something was up, otherwise Akechi wouldn't have the need to lie like that. Could that woman be related to the TV staff?

"Oh, I see. That school's principal is in a coma and can't be interrogated, after all. But you're really dedicated to your duties, aren't you? You're an exemplar student, and also committed to work even on your commute to school! When you began, it was hard to tell, but now you can perfectly express your smartness and elegance through your looks alone. I feel proud to have helped train you!"

Now Makoto had her answer.

"I am glad to have found such capable instructors." Akechi forced a celebrity smile, and from his words at the culture festival about his dissatisfaction at the TV staff dictating how he should look and act, his response to the woman sounded like another lie.

The woman went on, seemingly forgetting that Makoto was there. "Too bad your popularity isn't the best right now, but once it recovers... I wonder if I'll see a rise in my salary. I was on the team that trained you. They need to recognize my efforts too! Maybe, Could you push for it a bit?"

Akechi let out a forced chuckle. "Once the time comes, I'll see about that."

It seemed to satisfy the woman. "Great! Thank you, Akechi-kun." She flashed a smile as forced as his. "Keep up the great work, but also remember you're still a teenager. You should have fun and do normal teenager things once in a while too." This was actually good advice.

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

"Oh, I got carried away, didn't I? I don't want to get in the way of your investigation. See you another time at the studio!"

Once the woman had disappeared in the distance, Akechi switched back to his newer non-celebrity persona that Makoto had slowly been getting used to. His expression showed a bit of annoyance, maybe because he was forced to deal with someone from the TV staff this early in the morning.

He exhaled and threw Makoto an apologetic look. "That just now was a bit awkward. I'm sorry."

"Is it always like this? I mean, you're forced to use those 'techniques' not only in public, but when talking to the instructors too?"

"Probably even more for the instructors. The public takes my gestures in subconsciously, but the instructors are consciously paying attention the whole time."

"Oh, I see your point." Makoto hadn't thought of that, but it made sense. "That aside, I have detected some small lies in your speech. But it's true that you'd like to ask about the incident involving Mr. Kamoshida, isn't it?"

"Huh?" Akechi blinked.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I actually don't know much. All I know was that students were suffering but no one tried to do anything about it... myself included. To me, it was the higher-ups' problem. As a mere student, I thought it was none of my business. Actually, it didn't even occur to me that there may have been something I could have done." Makoto heaved a sigh. "This is really a shame. As the student council president, I should have defended the students who had been suffering because of what was happening. This could be considered a failure to me as a police member too. If I were in the police and the school were a city, then I would have failed in my duty to protect the citizens. And worse, at the time, I didn't even remember that being in the police was what I had always wanted. I only did whatever the adults told me to, and drifted along the current aimlessly..."

Akechi listened with a solemn look.

Makoto gasped. "Oh, I'm rambling... I am sorry."

"No, I get what you mean. It can be frustrating. Why do we have to take so long to notice where we went wrong?"

It was more like a rhetorical question, but Makoto answered it anyway. "I think it is because no one is born knowing everything. This life is a constant learning process, and until we learn enough, we will make mistakes." Her gaze hardened. "But once we have realized where we failed, we can choose either to improve and fix what can be fixed, or cowardly refuse to admit our mistakes and insist on continuing doing things wrong. The first option is often harder, but is the one I chose. I will be sure not to make the same mistakes ever again."

Akechi released a chuckle, and his lips curved up into a sad smile. "I didn't think you'd actually answer the question, but you're right. I wish I hadn't insisted on the second option for so long..." His mood seemed to be darkening, but he shrugged and tried to disguise it. "Ah, sorry, now I'm rambling too..."

"I'm sorry that I couldn't give you much information regarding that incident. You would be better off asking either Ryuji or Mishima-kun, who got in trouble with Mr. Kamoshida."

"I've already talked to Sakamoto-kun. He gave me some interesting information."

"Oh, Akira might know something as well. She could be seen hanging with Ryuji frequently during that time."

"Okay, thanks." Hesitation crossed his gaze at the mention of Akira for some reason, but Makoto wouldn't ask why. "We should be going. Two honor students being late wouldn't be good."

They parted ways. On the train, Makoto kept wondering about Akechi. Despite wearing the same school uniform he he always wore on television, that was no longer the arrogant detective boy Makoto used to know. In fact, it was the opposite. He had been so humble and nice lately...

He was the person who had come out on top at the mock national entrance exams, and who she internally considered to be her greatest rival. The smart high school detective, self-centered and with enough reasons to be proud of his intelligence level which Makoto had no hope of reaching. Who would have thought that he would offer to help her with her studies, that he would spend the culture festival with her and her friends, and that she would engage in such casual conversations with him?

But again, months back, Makoto could have never imagined she would become friends with Akira, the rumored delinquent transfer student, much less learn that Akira wasn't a delinquent at all. Makoto had been very inexperienced at interacting with others, and this year she had witnessed how people could be nice once she got to know them. This applied to Akira, and apparently, it applied to Akechi as well. Maybe he wasn't as self-centered and arrogant as her first impressions of him had led her to believe.

Come to think of it, not only during this last conversation but also at other times Makoto had interacted with Akechi, he seemed sad for some reason, though he tried to disguise it. Perhaps it had to do with the mistake he had alluded to in this last conversation. Makoto wondered whether it was related to the mental shutdown cases, but wasn't brave enough to ask. She had never imagined she and Akechi could become friends, but now, she wished they could get closer so that he would open up and tell her what was the matter. She wished she could do something to help him...

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

---

Akira still hadn't told anyone about the harsh truth of their detective and secret agent friend's situation. In fact, she was having a hard time coming to terms with it herself. His situation was so messed-up. Thinking about it hurt so much, and she stubbornly tried to convince herself that they could do something for him, that the situation wasn't as bad as it seemed... but it was no use. Akira couldn't find any exit. She tried to focus on studies, but even during class, those thoughts kept invading her mind.

Lunch break started, and she left the classroom with Ann.

"Akira, you look very down." Ann noted, though she wasn't exactly cheerful today, either.

"Uh, I'm worried about... Crow..."

"Me too..." Ann admitted. "I keep thinking of how he was having suicidal thoughts, then I remember Shiho, how no one had noticed she had gotten to that point, and how no one was there to stop her from jumping off the roof... from what Crow described of the nearby people's reaction, no one had been there for him, either. If he's still having suicidal thoughts, then someone has to stop him."

"Come to think of it, isn't what he's doing like suicide already?" Morgana observed. "Maybe he'd manage to live a bit longer if he were to stay with the organization. But if he turns himself in..."

"Uh, y-you have a point..." Ann spoke solemnly.

Sorrow filled Akira's gaze. One of the reasons that he envied her was because she could have a future and he couldn't. The fact that he wants a nice future should mean he must want to live so that he can have it. But he also wants to do the right thing, and that might end his life sooner, like Morgana said...

A solemn silence fell between them. As they reached the courtyard, they passed two gossiping girls.

"You won't believe it!" The first girl began. "At the party yesterday, that cute boy asked to dance with me!"

"Wow, really?!" The second one was surprised. "He went and picked you, just like that?"

"Yeah! We held hands while dancing, and there was also one part of the dance where we had to hold each other. It was so surreal!"

"Someone got quite the crush..." Ann commented. "Since people at every school looked down on me, I've never felt anything like that. What about you, Akira? Have you ever had a crush on someone?" Ann was likely trying to change the subject and improve the mood a bit, unaware that the subject wasn't really changing at all.

"Huh? Uh-uh." Akira responded shaking her head slightly. "I hadn't felt anything different towards anyone before. I had thought that the time when I'd have a crazy crush would come someday, and then I'd start worrying about romance. But I guess this isn't how it works... we don't need to have a crazy crush to determine we've found someone special, do we?"

Ann's eyebrows rose. "Wait, from the way you're talking... do you mean you're actually interested in someone?"

"Uh, well... I guess you could say that." Akira answered with a slight blush, but still with sadness in her gaze.

"Hmm. May I ask who it is?"

"Um, actually, it's... Akechi-kun." Akira revealed awkwardly. Not that it should be a secret or anything, but the subject was uncomfortable, what with the poor detective knight's situation.

Ann's gaze lit up. "Whoa! For real!?"

Akira nodded. "I enjoy spending time with him, helping him out with stuff, or simply doing small talk. I like him a lot, and always want to comfort him and see him smile. I wasn't sure if this means my feelings for him are romantic, but people began teasing us, and I thought that maybe...?"

"I think you two make a cute couple!" Ann flashed a weak but supportive smile. "You know? At the culture festival, he showed interest in you too. Isn't it good news? You should talk to him about this!"

"Um, I actually did already. I asked him out, but he refused."

"What? Why?!"

"From what he said, he doesn't want to open up to me more or something..."

"It seems that he doesn't want Akira to find out about some things he did." Morgana added. "We wonder whether these have anything to do with the cases he solved wrong."

That wasn't all. One of the reasons Akira and Akechi may be unable to be together was because he might die soon. A reason he was hiding from her along with his Metaverse identity. It hurt that he was hiding something so important from her, and it also hurt to have found out the truth.

"This isn't right!" Ann spoke incredulously. "It's not even a matter of you winning his heart or vice versa. Both of you already like each other! You two have to give it a try. This shouldn't end even before it can start!"

"End even before it can start..." Akira echoed in a whisper. This was what would happen if no one were to do anything about the issue. She wondered whether one of Akechi's fears was to have their romance start, only to end soon after, once he had turned himself in and his fate forced them to be apart forever... this depressing thought made Akira want to cry.

"Akira, you can't give up!" Ann was still encouraging her.

"I..." Akira didn't know how to respond. She didn't want to give up, but the more she thought about the whole situation, the more it hurt.

"Akira, don't worry! If I have the chance, I'll be sure to talk to him and help hook both of you up." Ann totally misunderstood the reason for Akira's apprehension.

"Ah, um, thanks..." Akira responded awkwardly.

When they arrived at the rooftop, Ryuji, Makoto and Haru were there waiting for them.

Everyone was a bit down as well, probably because of the sad things Crow had told them last time, the same reason Ann had mentioned. Before anyone could say what was bothering them, though, Makoto told them about her encounter with Akechi in the morning and his behavior when a member of the TV staff approached them.

"I kept thinking about that theory where the organization may have had Akechi-kun solve cases incorrectly in exchange for a reputation boost," Makoto said. "Yesterday, I looked into the cases he has publicly talked about on television. I had thought he had solved them any which way, but to my surprise, that wasn't what it looked like. He seems to have put a lot of thought into the cases. His theories don't seem to be unfounded. Actually, if we disregard the Metaverse which is quite hard to find out about, his theories make a lot of sense. This makes me think he may not know what is happening, and may actually believe he has solved the cases honestly."

A wave of pain filled Akira's chest at the serious implications. Akechi being Crow meant that he had not only known about the Metaverse, but was also fully aware that his solutions to the cases were wrong, as he had caused the breakdowns and shutdowns himself. He had really closed those cases in a dishonest way. This was so disappointing, painful, and sad...

Akira remembered Akechi's words from the day she asked him out at Inokashira Park. "This is what I mean, Akira. I'm not a saint like you make me out to be." Indeed, he wasn't. Or rather, he hadn't been during the time he worked for the organization. He had been a terrible person. But from the way he kept shamefully emphasizing how he had lied too much and made too many mistakes, those mistakes seemed to be weighing in his conscience a lot.

Makoto was still talking. "I wasn't brave enough to approach the subject when I talked to him this morning. I'm thinking of asking for his help with studies again, and seeing if I can find an opportune moment to talk about this. Well, this was all I had to report."

"What should we do today, though?" Ann asked.

"Are we gonna head into Mementos?" Ryuji looked like he needed a distraction.

"Uh, sorry, not today. I have something else to do." Akira lied. As sorry as she was for refusing to go to Mementos, she wanted some time to herself. If they were to go to Mementos, they might run into Crow. Akira's heart was compressing in pain at each new realization about Akechi's secrets, and she feared it would compress to the point of crushing if she were to see him right now. .

Ryuji deflated. "Bummer. But if our leader's busy..."

---

The feeling that something was wrong with Akira kept nagging at Akechi the whole time. He actually considered calling her during lunch break, but if the problem was his refusal to date her, then there was nothing he could do as he didn't intend to take his words back.

After classes, Akechi received a call from the studio to sign a TV-related contract. As he still had some time, he decided to have a cup of Leblanc coffee, and maybe see how Akira was doing.

No customers were in Leblanc, and Sakura-san was solving a crossword puzzle.

"Good afternoon, Sakura-san."

Sakura-san raised his head from the crossword book. "Oh, it's you. Are you here to see Akira? Sorry, but she isn't here. She came back from school, left the cat here and headed out again."

"Hmm, I see. It's fine. How was she doing, though?"

"I didn't talk much to her today. All I can say is that she seemed a little pensive, as though she has a lot on her mind."

This only confirmed Akechi's suspicion that she might be upset because of their argument yesterday.

"Okay, thank you. I'll see her another time. May I have a cup of coffee, please? I still have work to do, and will need the extra energy."

"Sure thing. Which coffee or blend do you want?"

"Whichever one you recommend is fine."

"Alright. I'll get your coffee ready. It's on the house."

"Huh?" Akechi shook his head. "No, Sakura-san, don't worry. I'll pay for the coffee. You've been doing so much for me lately. Actually, people in general have been too nice to me lately... I have to admit, I'm so used to being treated badly that it actually feels weird to have people treating me so well all of a sudden..."

Sakura-san laughed. "You have a peculiar way of touching our hearts, and we can't help but treat you well. I guess you're similar to Akira in this regard."

"... Me? But I didn't do anything special for you to think that..."

"Of course you did." Sakura-san answered. "You let us see you without your celebrity mask. You were authentic, and showed us who you really are. You're a good kid, and deserve to be treated nicely."

Akechi was puzzled. This wasn't right. He was the one who had ruined the Sakuras' lives. Sakura-san shouldn't be saying those things. "You're mistaken. It can't be as you say. If it were, all those families would've treated me better. I did the best I could in hopes that they'd look at me, acknowledge me, see me for who I am... but no matter what I did, to them, I was just a bastard child that was burdening them, shoved into their hands because I had nowhere else to go..."

"Unfortunately, there are many insensitive people in this world. You were unlucky with the families you were sent to. But fortunately, there are many good people, too."

Akechi's heart ached. He wanted to protest, but words didn't come out. It was as though Sakura-san were saying people died from the mental shutdowns only because Akechi was unlucky and ended up on the wrong path. It wasn't true. Rather, people had died because Akechi had been weak and fell to that blasted entity's temptation of power.

Sakura-san added, "It's no use lamenting over what people did to you in the past. The past is gone, and there's nothing you can do about it. All you can do is move on. It's not easy, but it's the harsh truth, and we have to deal with it. Of course, this also goes for me. You know, about Wakaba and such..."

Akechi held his breath and did his best to keep his composure. If he were to break now, his cover would blow right in front of Sakura-san!

To make things worse, Sakura-san didn't stop there. "I had thought that I'd never overcome it, and that all I could do was run away, try to keep Futaba safe and continue weeping in this isolated corner of Yongen for the rest of my life. As you can probably tell already, I'm a coward. I was irresponsible and a troublemaker in my youth, and once life finally forced me to put my head in the right place, all I ever did was keep quiet to avoid trouble, or run away, even if I might've had a chance to do something about the situations I got in. 'A scalded cat is afraid of cold water,' as the French proverb says. Then Akira, and even Futaba, showed how they're strong and can face hardships with so much determination! And then, there's you..."

Akechi could only listen, unsure where that conversation was going.

Sakura-san stared solemnly at Akechi. "If I had had gone through half of what you have, I'd have given up a long time ago. So, hats off to you. You're doing great, unlike me. But you know what? At least I realized how shameful it is for me to stay with my head down and lose to you youngsters! Wakaba would've yelled at me if she were to see me doing nothing to get my act together. So, I thought a lot about this, and finally decided to do something. I've decided I'll forgive the person who took Wakaba's life."

Akechi's heart compressed in pain. What he had done was unforgivable. He didn't deserve forgiveness...

"... Why are y-you telling this... to me?" Akechi managed to utter as he tried to hide the fact that he was on the verge of breaking down.

"I connected the dots from a few things I've heard. Actually, you are 'Crow,' aren't you?"

That was the last straw. Akechi gaped, stunned in shock, unable to keep his composure and feign ignorance.

"As I thought." Sakura-san flashed a slight smirk in triumph. "I've heard about 'Crow,' who got ordered to cause the mental shutdowns using the cognitive world, and then had a change of heart and became the Phantom Thieves' mysterious secret agent who helped them avoid those bad guys' trap. The timing you began frequenting Leblanc regularly, how you began getting closer and closer to Akira's friends, the way you have connections to that man... it all fit too perfectly to be coincidence."

This was it. Akechi had been found out. He looked away in shame. He didn't deserve forgiveness. "Sa-kura-san... I-" His voice nearly failed to come out, and what indeed came out were his tears. "About Isshiki-san... I'm sorry, I'm really s-sorry..." He spoke between sobs and gasps.

"Yeah, I know, I know." Sakura-san patted Akechi on the back comfortingly. "It's one of the reasons that made me consider forgiving you. I don't know how you were before the change of heart, but I'm perfectly sure that now you aren't the kind of guy who'd kill people. And sometimes there are those bothersome expressions that shouldn't be on a kid's face, like the way your gaze fills with regret, which speak volumes, too."

"Sakura-san..." Akechi tried to fight the tears off, to no avail. "I don't... de-serve..."

"I've thought about this a lot. If it's 'wrong,' I don't care. You've moved my heart, and I concluded it's no use fighting my feelings. Forgiving you is what will put me at ease the best. I look at you now and can't help but think about how you're trying to be a better person, how you're helping Futaba, how you're risking yourself in the lion's den to protect Akira and her friends, how you're working so hard to make things right... this is what I mean. I wouldn't have been brave enough to do what you're doing. From what I've heard, the SIU would be after them if not for you, right? This means it's only thanks to you that Akira, Futaba and the others can still go about their everyday lives and smile. How am I supposed to resent you after knowing this?"

Akechi couldn't hold himself any longer, and allowed the tears to freely run down his face. He felt a strong mix of emotions from Sakura-san, and the Hierophant Confidant ranked up.

Sakura-san spoke again. "If you need someone to confide in, I'm here to listen. It's all I can do. Serve you coffee and listen to you talk. So, the coffee is on the house."

The sobs didn't let Akechi answer.

"Looks like you can't talk right now, eh? I'll go brew your coffee, then." Sakura-san discreetly headed to the cafe's back, also with some tears in his eyes.

Akechi continued crying while he waited for the coffee. He eventually excused himself to wash his face at the toilet, and refused to leave the toilet until he was looking fine in the mirror. It wouldn't be good to go to the TV studio looking miserable.

When Akechi returned, his coffee was ready.

"Are you feeling better?" Sakura-san asked.

Akechi nodded, though he still believed Sakura-san shouldn't be nice to him. The tears threatened to come back, but he did his best to swallow them.

"You sure took your time in the toilet. You'd better drink your coffee soon before it cools, or the coffee will taste bad."

An unsettling thought crossed Akechi's mind for a second. The thought that all that kindness was too good to be true, and that Sakura-san must hate him and had enough reasons to want to poison his drink...

"Akechi?"

He snapped back to focus. "Uh, no, it's nothing..."

Awkwardly, Akechi began sipping on his drink. Sip after sip, the still warm coffee entered his system in a comforting way, completely the opposite of his unsettling thoughts.

Akechi glanced at the time on his phone, and hastily drank the last of his coffee. "This time already! I'll be late! Sakura-san, thank you for the coffee!"

"I'm the one who should thank you for everything you've been doing. I hope your work won't be much of a hassle. Take care."

Akechi had to put his guilt aside as he focused on hurrying to his destination.

Once at the TV studio, he did something that he doubted most people did. He read the contract. The whole thing, through and through. He made sure to pay extra attention to the small letters in search of possible weird catches. To his relief, there were no surprises, though by the end of that, both his eyes and his brain were exhausted from focusing so much and trying to detect hidden meanings behind the contract's words, not to mention that the worry about Akira and the memories of the last talk with Sakura-san refused to leave him alone.

As Akechi was heading to the train station on his way back home, his phone rang.

"Akechi-kun, it's Makoto here. Do you... have some time?"

"Oh, yes, I'm on my way back from the TV studio right now."

"Good." Makoto sounded relieved, but also nervous. "Um, I am stuck on some tricky math exercises from another mock exam I found, and I was wondering whether we could meet up and discuss them..."

Akechi was tired, but figured those math exercises could serve as a distraction. Staying still at home would only make him keep thinking about his problems.

"Sure. Where?"

"I can't make heads or tails of these exercises, and this session may take a while... I was thinking I could go to your place or..."

"That's... probably not a good idea..." He quickly added before Makoto could misunderstand it. "Uh, I mean, my place is a small cubicle that is the very opposite of hospitable. It... err, has only one chair, too. I wouldn't recommend it for long visits," Akechi said awkwardly. It had been embarrassing enough when Akira dropped by there, and he wasn't willing to get more visitors anytime soon.

This surprised Makoto. "Really? I had known you live on your own, but I could have never imagined you would live at such a place."

"Since I only go there to study and sleep, I had never cared, and getting visitors wasn't part of my plan when I rented that thing I call an apartment."

Makoto deflated. "Oh. Then, what should we do?"

"Maybe we could do the opposite? I could go to your place... if it's not a problem, that is."

"Uh, it's f-fine by me, if it is not inconvenient to you..." Makoto stuttered.

"I'm on the street. Just tell me the address, and I'll find the way."

And this was how Akechi ended up going to the Niijimas' house, still in his school uniform and with all his study materials.

---

Makoto stood up at the sound of the doorbell, and when she opened the door, she became face to face with the high school detective in his uniform, and carrying both his "A" suitcase and with the school bag on his back, the same way she had seen him in the morning. Except, he was looking tired.

"Hi, Akechi-kun. Please come in."

She beckoned him inside and they sat at the table at the living room.

Akechi closed his eyes and rubbed them tiredly.

"Akechi-kun, is everything okay?"

"Ah, I had a rough day. I just had to sign a contract at the TV studio. It was really long, but I made sure to read every single character on it. After all, I was the one who had Sae-san sign that letter without reading it. Since I know the possibility exists, I must be prepared in case someone decides to do the same to me, right?"

Makoto burst laughing. Akechi's shenanigan to make Sae take a break still amused Makoto to this day.

---

Akira had no idea how much time passed while she wandered aimlessly on the street. Eventually, she got to the Velvet Room entrance in Shibuya. Caroline was standing outside as always. Akira got in conversational range with the explosive twin, and stared for a few seconds.

"What's with the stare, Inmate!? If you have something to say, then say it at once!"

"Um, Crow... is Akechi-kun, isn't he?"

"You have only realized it now?" Caroline responded mockingly. "Took you long enough, Inmate!"

"You had known?"

"Of course. We would not have allowed him to join us in our excursions otherwise."

Akira gaped in bewilderment. Of course the twins would have been vague and not told her...

What pained her the most, though, was the thought that there was no guarantee that they could save him from the likely death sentence. No one had been there for him his whole life. Now she had found him, and was willing to do whatever she could to give him the happiness he had been unable to get so far. He was working so hard to fix things and start over. It would be too sad if the justice system simply denied him this chance and killed him. This thought brought tears to Akira's eyes.

"What c-can I do to save him?" Her voice wavered as she started crying in front of Caroline.

"Who knows." The twin looked at her stoically.

"Um, a-at least there's a way... right?"

"We have no idea. The cards say it's practically impossible, but if you want to defy them, then find a way yourself!" This only made Akira cry even more. "Stop crying, Inmate!" A subtle hint of concern seeped through Caroline's voice, but she quickly returned to her strict self. "Uh, I mean, if you have no business here in the Velvet Room, then leave, now!"

Without another word, Akira turned behind and walked away from the Velvet Room door, in slow steps and with tears streaming down her face.

---

Makoto spent her afternoon studying with Akechi at the living room. The exercises were so difficult that even Akechi was having trouble. Makoto was getting tired and it was becoming even harder to reason, but she wouldn't admit it. She was so set on solving the exercises that she failed to realize how exhausted Akechi was.

"I'm home." Sae announced, and only then Makoto realized it was night.

"Sis! Welcome back..."

"Welcome back, Sae-san." Akechi also greeted her.

"Akechi-kun...?" Sae gasped in surprise.

"I'm trying to help your sister with some tough exercises. Emphasis on 'trying.'"

"These are really difficult..." Makoto glanced at the sheet of paper with the exercises again, but her eyes rolled in defeat. "... But what time is it?"

"It is almost nine." Sae told them. "I had to leave work a bit late today."

"Oh no!" Makoto jumped, and finally took a proper look at Akechi. He looked like his eyes may close on their own. He had already been tired because of that contract he had had to analyze, and she still went and forced him to help her until late. "Akechi-kun, I am sorry for keeping you here this late."

"No, I lost track of time too."

"Did you have dinner?" Sae asked Makoto.

Makoto shook her head. "Not yet. Actually, we haven't eaten anything..." Her gaze fell. "Sorry, Akechi-kun. Such a terrible host i turned out to be... I didn't even offer you anything to drink!"

"Don't worry about it." Akechi weakly chuckled it off, even though he was obviously exhausted, and could use some food or water.

"I will order dinner." Sae decided.

"I'll leave." Akechi was about to stand up.

"No, you won't." Sae stopped him. "You will be joining us for dinner."

"Huh?" Akechi paused while he tried to formulate an argument. "B-but if I stay more, it'll get even more late..."

Sae glanced at Makoto, at Akechi, and at his school materials. "Akechi-kun, look at you. You are exhausted. Just stay here for tonight."

"Huh?"

"I am telling you to join us for dinner, then stay the night here. You shouldn't be wandering the streets in this state, late at night no less."

Makoto had to agree with Sae's decision. She felt bad for not having realized Akechi's state. He didn't protest out of politeness, but now he seemed about to collapse, and was still acting polite enough not to protest.

While they were waiting for Sae to come out of the shower, Makoto felt she had to at least do something to make up for her failure as a host and brought a glass of water.

"Akechi-kun, I have brought you some water." She reached the glass out to him.

"... Thank you." He timidly took the glass and drank its contents. His current behavior was a stark contrast to how arrogantly he used to act before, at the time Makoto first met him. It was hard to think they were actually the same person.

When Makoto returned from washing the empty glass, she found the poor detective dozing off on his chair. Letting him stay the night was indeed the right thing to do.

Once Sae returned, Makoto went to the shower and let Akechi rest a bit more.

---

Akechi's eyes opened, and he felt a bit embarrassed for having dozed off.

Sae-san approached him with a folded dry towel. "Akechi-kun, are you really alright?"

Akechi nervously ran a hand through his hair. "Uh, yes, I'm fine."

"Did something happen at work?"

He shook his head. "No, just a contract I had to sign. It was really long, and took me a good chunk of time and focus to read the whole thing. No surprises, thankfully. But I didn't expect Makoto's exercises to need so much work..."

"Since you do not need to return home today, you should be able to take a good rest." Sae-san handed him the towel. "Makoto should be about to come out of the shower by now. Once she does, it will be your turn."

"Thank you." He accepted the towel, with guilt probably showing on his face. Just like Sakura-san, Sae-san was also being too nice to him, and it felt wrong. He didn't deserve that. She even wanted to build a case to defend him, which was absurd. "Sae-san-"

"I will order dinner." She cut his protest attempt off and walked away.

Once Makoto was back from the shower, Akechi went in. When he came out, the dinner had arrived. The three of them sat at the table in the living room. The dinner was sushi.

Sae-san directed a pointed look at Akechi. "I ordered these from the spinning sushi place. It is what we have for today. Do not complain."

"Huh...?" Akechi was taken aback at the sudden reprimand. Sae-san had been treating him so nicely until a few moments ago... "Why would I complain?"

"More than once, you had me pay for sushi a few months back, remember? Those times I called you over to discuss incidents past work hours. You got me to discuss them over sushi, to 'make up for having a high school student out late.'"

Displeasure was apparent on Makoto's face. "He really did that?"

"Yes, and he still complained that I took him to the spinning sushi place instead of a fancy restaurant..."

Akechi became self-conscious, and guilt filled his gaze at the realization of what a jerk he had been. He shouldn't have taken advantage of Sae-san like that, let alone complained at her restaurant choice. She had done too much by agreeing to take him to a sushi restaurant in the first place, and he had had no right to complain about anything.

Akechi avoided eye contact with both Niijimas. "Sae-san, I apologize. I shouldn't have said any of that, much less complained. You probably shouldn't have agreed to take me to have sushi, either..."

"It was past work hours, and I was hungry." Sae-san argued.

"Me too, but still..." Akechi shook his head. "I'm sorry. Let's just forget about this and-"

"It's impossible." Sae-san cut him off, and Akechi feared she was still upset at him because of his previous behavior. But then, her expression became unexpectedly sarcastic. "I have to admit. The disgruntled face you made when I settled on a spinning sushi restaurant was priceless. It was satisfying to have gotten the upper hand against the almighty spoiled detective prince for once."

"Ugh..." Akechi was in a mix between ashamed and flustered.

"Sis..." Makoto gasped at her sister's line of thought.

Sae-san's expression softened. "Not the most honest behavior, either, as you can see. So, Akechi-kun, I suppose we are even."

"Uh..." Akechi's mouth opened and closed.

"Enough of that. It is about time we start eating." Sae-san put an end to the discussion.

"Um, thank you for the hospitality, and for the food." Akechi finally managed to say something, and they began eating their sushi.

They were eating in silence, and the nagging worry about Akira came to the surface again.

Akechi couldn't contain himself. "Makoto, have you seen Akira today?"

"Yes, I have. Why?"

"How was she doing?"

"She was quiet and a bit pensive, as though she were worried about something, but didn't say what it was."

Akechi allowed the worry to show on his face. "This definitely sounds off..."

"Well, all of us have a lot on our minds lately, and I just assumed the same went for her."

Akechi's suspicions were nearly confirmed.

"Oh no. Could it be because of what I said yesterday?" And he realized he had spoken his thoughts aloud. Now he would have to justify himself. "Ah! I mean, I went to Leblanc yesterday evening and we got in disagreement..."

"Was it... related to the Phantom Thieves?" Makoto took a hesitant guess.

"Err, no. It was, uh, something else." Akechi didn't feel comfortable to say what the issue was.

"If you think the problem is something you said, then you should apologize to her." Sae-san suggested.

"I have no intention of changing my stance, though."

"Then, at least make it clear that you want to make up with her," Makoto said. "I believe it is what she would want as well."

"I don't know... what if the situation gets worse instead of improving?" He still feared they might get in a fight like in the dream.

"You have to talk it through." Makoto encouraged him. "You can do it. You have all those communication techniques at your disposal."

"Those haven't worked on her, ever since the day we met."

"That reminds me. How did you meet Akira?" Makoto asked.

"She hasn't told you? When I talked to Takamaki-san, she kept saying, 'Akira told me that you this, Akira told me that you that...'"

Makoto chuckled amusedly. "No, Akira didn't tell me."

"It was at the TV studio." Akechi revealed. "She was in a school trip."

"Oh, that school trip!" Makoto's eyes lit up in realization. "I still hadn't been friends with Akira at the time, but I remember that some of the second year students had gone to a school trip to the TV studio."

"Actually, Akira had been the student opposing my views in that debate about the Phantom Thieves."

"Really?" Makoto was surprised. "The camera didn't focus on the student answering the questions. But why did she debate with you? Did she volunteer to participate or anything?"

"No. The TV show hostess randomly picked her."

"Just... coincidence?" Makoto's voice came out low at the shock.

Akechi nodded, also incredulous at the realization. Come to think of it, how could the hostess have picked the leader of the Phantom Thieves to enter that debate, out of all those students?

A nagging feeling came to Akechi, but he quickly shook it off. "Honestly, it was the first time someone gave me so much trouble during a presentation. While people on TV usually just agree with whatever I say, Akira not only disagreed, but also threw questions back at me. If not for all my training to speak in public, I'd have been in a pinch for sure."

"So, was it... uh, what do they call it? Love at first sight?"

"What?!" Akechi jumped, and almost shocked on his sushi. "Wh-what are you talking about?!"

Makoto fidgeted when she noticed even Sae-san was looking strangely at her. "Uh, Akechi-kun, I've heard that you are interested in Akira, so..."

And Akechi had thought Makoto wasn't "shipping" them... he still had hope. Maybe Sae-san wouldn't...

"Hmm. I see..." Sae-san threw him a knowing look, much to his dismay.

"Sae-san, please don't simply accept it just like that!" Akechi protested in exasperation.

"Do you mean to say you dislike her?"

"Of course not!" He quickly blurted out. "There's no way that I would dislike her..."

"Such a quick response." Sae-san flashed a slight smirk of triumph. She had twisted the question. That wasn't fair! "So, she is the kind of girl that the detective prince is after..."

"Uh, but the fact that I don't dislike her doesn't necessarily mean... uh, that I have romantic feelings for her..." Akechi was starting to blush, in a mix of embarrassed and frustrated. "Why is everyone convinced of that, anyway? I never said anything that supports it!"

"Everyone revealed their conclusion and you didn't deny it." Makoto shot back.

"Ugh, that... that was..." Akechi was panicking, unsure what to say anymore.

"There is nothing wrong with liking someone." How could Sae-san say that? She was aware of his situation and should be able to tell easily what the problem was! "You know? Most boys in my school days were so annoying, hitting on girls just because they wanted to show off and boast they had gone out with someone. From your smugness and your status as a celebrity, I had imagined you would do the same. You have made a nice choice, though. Akira-chan is a very good girl."

"That's not it! I... I don't even have time for these things to begin with..." Since Makoto was there, Akechi couldn't mention the problem explicitly without blowing his cover. All he could do was look pleadingly at Sae-san and hope she would catch the hint.

"It's what I kept telling myself. I was so focused on studies and my career that I ended up missing a possibly good opportunity in college."

"Sis, you had gotten interested in someone?"

"I believe so. I had a classmate who used to be in my group for assignments. We worked well together, and sometimes ran into each other when having meals at the cafeteria. He was a humble person and came from a poor family, and was very competent. On one hand, I found it oddly enjoyable to be in his presence, while on the other hand, his good academic results bothered me because I was getting into that line of thought that men get the better-paying jobs with less effort. Because of this, I started to view him as sort of a rival, even though I don't think he had realized it. He began showing up at the cafeteria more often, and one day, he actually asked me out on a date."

Makoto was listening curiously. "What did you do?"

"As you might have guessed, I refused. I didn't even consider going to see what it was like to go on a date. I simply said no, and told him that I didn't have time for that because I needed to focus on studies. After that, he began acting awkward around me and didn't mention that event anymore, but now that I think about it, he might have wanted to try again but was afraid of being rejected. Now I regret what I did, but I have no contact with him anymore, and don't know where he is. He must have found someone else at this point, someone who didn't reject him." Sae-san shrugged slightly. "Well, my life goes on. At least I believe I have learned the lesson, and don't intend to waste the chance if someone interesting appears. Akechi-kun, if you have even the slightest interest in going after Akira-chan, I suggest you do, or you might regret it later. It may work out, or it may not. If it doesn't, at least you tried. Better to try and fail than to fail because you didn't even try."

Akechi still wanted to argue, to emphasize how complicated his situation was. He couldn't understand. Even though Sae-san was aware of the horrible things he had done and that his days were numbered, she still insisted on having him go after Akira? That was absurd!

As the discussion was going nowhere and Akechi didn't know what else to say, he opted to finish his sushi in silence and let the subject drop.

After dinner, Sae-san placed a futon on the living room floor. "This is where you will be sleeping."

"Thank you..." Akechi avoided eye contact with her while answering.

Sae-san retrieved the sushi's packaging from the table and left for the kitchen. Then, Makoto placed her study materials on the table again.

"You're still thinking of studying?" Akechi spoke incredulously. "Sorry, but I don't think I can help you with anything. I've already reached my studies quota for today..."

Makoto smiled timidly. "Don't worry. I know how tired you are. I can continue on my own."

"Sorry. I'll at least make sure not to be in the way." Akechi stood up from the chair and hurried to sit on the futon.

"You're not in the way." Makoto assured him.

Akechi couldn't understand. Before, when he still hadn't done anything wrong, all the families that took him in considered him to be a burden and mistreated him. Now that he definitely deserved punishment, people were treating him so well. It was so ironic.

"I believe I have reached my studies quota as well..." Makoto surrendered and set her materials aside. "Um, actually, I can't stop thinking about the conversation earlier. Romance is a subject I understand very little about. At school, I have seen many students wanting to date just to boast about it, like my sister said. On the other hand, in several movies and books, romance seems to be something very special and touching. I still do not understand, though. How do we know if we're interested in someone romantically? How do we know whether we like someone more than a friend?"

Akechi rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Huh? Why do you have to ask me, out of all people?"

"Uh, well, you seem to be experiencing this kind of things..."

Akechi heaved a sigh. "Sorry, but this is a subject I can't help you with. I probably understand as little about the topic as you. I do care about Akira a lot, but do I care more than a friend is supposed to? What are the criteria to determine that? I have no idea."

"I would also like to understand that. Have you been feeling anything different?"

Akechi lowered his head resignedly. "To be honest, I have been through a roller coaster of feelings lately. Good, bad, confusing, and even conflicting feelings... I have been feeling so many different things at once that I don't even know what I'm feeling anymore."

"Oh." Makoto looked at him sympathetically. "Do you mean towards Akira?"

"I mean towards everything."

"Was that after you began realizing that the results of your TV career aren't what you had wanted?" Akechi didn't respond, and Makoto took his silence as confirmation. "This has been a life-changing year for me as well. So many new experiences that I had never thought I would have. I imagine it must have been hard for you. But if it is anything like what happened to me, I am sure these experiences will make you much stronger. Um, if there is anything I can do to help make you feel better, tell me. You have helped me so much with studies, but I still didn't manage to help you with anything..."

Of course she did. She had promptly completed the very crucial mission of handing the USB stick full of important files to Sae-san. That was a huge help.

"Thanks." Akechi smiled wearily. "You don't need to worry about returning the help or anything, though."

"Oh no, I don't mean just because of that." Makoto hesitated. "Um, I mean, it's what friends do..."

Akechi gaped. Once again, came that warm feeling at one of the Phantom Thieves explicitly confirming that they were friends.

At his lack of response, Makoto had a similar reaction to Takamaki-san's. "Uh, you d-don't mind being friends with me, right?"

"I-I am glad to be."

Makoto exhaled in relief. "Me too. See? Another unthinkable experience. At first, I admit that I... actually didn't like you much. I could have never imagined we could become friends one day."

Could they really be friends, though?

"Um, do you think you could be friends with someone who..." Words hesitantly tumbled out of Akechi's mouth, but he stopped himself from finishing the question.

"Huh? What?"

Akechi shook his head. "No, never mind..." He paused awkwardly. "Uh, Makoto?"

"Hmm?"

He continued hesitating. His silence lasted a bit too long and he considered saying that it was nothing, but Makoto was still waiting for him to speak. He finally mustered the courage and asked, "Do you still... envy me?"

"Huh?" Makoto's mouth hung slightly open for a moment. Eventually, she answered. "Well, I believe I understand you better now, though I can't deny I still envy your intelligence a little. I still feel I can't follow your reasoning."

That made no sense to Akechi. "Why do you say this? As I'm helping you with the exercises, you've been following my reasoning just fine."

"But you have learned all those things on your own, without anyone's help..."

"Do you really think that's a good thing?" Since Makoto didn't answer, Akechi continued. "Previously, I did. I used to be proud of it. But in the end, all those things I had been proud to have achieved on my own didn't mean anything, since no one recognized my efforts anyway... I used to think that I didn't need anyone's help, that relying on others was a sign of weakness... but deep down I had known I was wrong. Those were just excuses I kept telling myself because I had no one to help me, and had no other option than to do everything on my own. But I was actually envious of the fortunate people who had others to help them, like when my classmates planned to help each other study for exams. I have to admit, when Akira set-up those study sessions and invited me along, I felt more glad than I thought I would."

"Oh..." The look in Makoto's eyes turned into admiration. "But you're really amazing, Akechi-kun."

"Hmm?" Akechi had no idea why Makoto would think that.

"It's amazing that you can reflect on your past and say such things. You have my respect."

Indeed, along with their newly confirmed friendship, Akechi felt Makoto's respect for him, and the Priestess Confidant ranked up. Still, Akechi couldn't get why Makoto would think his words were admirable. His past line of thought was shameful.

Makoto flashed a smile. "I should let you rest. I'll go to my room. Have a good night."

"Thanks. You too."

Makoto left, and Akechi remained sitting on the futon with a blank stare. A few minutes later, Sae-san came into the living room.

"Good. You are still awake. Akechi-kun, there is something I need you to clarify."

"What is it?"

Sae-san kneeled on the futon to reach is level. "From what I could gather, your reputation as a detective has shot up mostly because of the biggest cases you have 'solved,' or in other words, those ones you were forced to manipulate and close incorrectly. The ones involving the mental shutdowns and breakdowns."

"... Yes." Akechi confirmed, with shame dripping from that single word.

"However, there are actually other smaller cases you have solved besides those ones, not involving anyone dying or going momentarily crazy. May I safely assume the cases unrelated to mental illnesses were solved properly?"

"Sae-san, why are you asking this? Please, I've already told you to stop wasting your time with-"

"I asked you a question." She cut him off and looked him in the eye sternly. "Stop wasting both your and my time complaining. All I want to hear is your answer. So, yes or no?"

"Yes." He finally answered, still begrudging. "After my reputation went up, the police began asking for my help more often, and with honest cases too."

"Good. You actually have quite a lot of proper cases under your belt. It's good to confirm you live up to your reputation."

He didn't believe that was the case, though. "But Sae-san, I don't-"

"Thank you, this was all I wanted to know."

"Sae-san, please, you have to stop. You should forget this pointless case and focus fully on taking down the organization. It's already too much work as it is."

"I have already told you that my mind is set."

Akechi narrowed his eyes. "That huge criminal organization is a threat to the country. Between exposing them with true justice and trying to save one single person who is a lost cause, what is more important to you?!"

"It is true justice, of course." She answered without skipping a beat. "And that includes ensuring fair treatment where it is due. It would be unfair to have the law system treat one inspiring person who had an incredible change of heart the same way as it treats a heartless psychopath. I am not willing to let that happen."

Akechi gritted his teeth, frustrated at his failure to formulate an argument.

Sternness vanished from Sae-san's expression. "I will do my best to save you. If this ends well, I will be sure to take you to a fancy sushi restaurant, and not the spinning sushi place."

Sae-san's words were both touching and painful at the same time. Not because of the fancy sushi offer, but because she had decided to waste her kindness on him again. She would keep trying to defend him, no matter whether Akechi liked it or not. Her support was unwavering, and the Judgement Confidant ranked up as if to make a point.

"And then, hopefully, you can stay with Akira-chan, too. I noticed she cares a lot about you. Perhaps it can work out."

"I-it wouldn't work out!" Akechi shot back. "She's really nice to me. But if she finds out what I did..."

"You have already told her what you did, in the Metaverse. How does she treat you in the Metaverse?"

"She treats me nicely, but again, she's rather nice to anyone. I keep my distance so that the Phantom Thieves won't figure me out. In the Metaverse, it's as though we're strangers. When I told them what I did, they clearly didn't like it."

"Well, of course. What you did was very wrong. Despite that, from the times I talked to them, it didn't seem as though they dislike you. Actually, they were all worried about you."

"They must be worried about a lot of things, considering the scale of this whole mess. Maybe they worry about me, because they need me to help them take the organization down, but that's it. We're on a team and have to set our issues aside so that we can work well together to reach our goal. We've clashed about trust issues and the group's rules a few times, and will probably continue clashing."

Sae-san heaved a sigh. "Akechi-kun, this is not how it works. I understand that you are used to the ways of the corrupts at your workplace, who only cooperate out of interest and see others as tools. Even though I have interacted little with the Phantom Thieves, I can tell they aren't like that. They are caring and understanding people. I suggest you stop keeping your distance and try to win their hearts, if you haven't won them yet, that is. Pay more attention to how they treat you. Talk to them, find out what they really think of you."

Akechi would rather not waste time doing that. He had had enough of uselessly trying to have people acknowledge him. He had never succeeded in that his whole life, and couldn't imagine it would be any different now. Before the study sessions and the culture festival, the Phantom Thieves in general had been wary of him even outside the Metaverse, and that was without knowing he had done so many horrible things. He had somehow come to get along with them, but if they were to find out he was the one who had committed all those atrocities, Akechi feared his bonds with them would break, and they would begin disliking him again. He was pretty sure they only tolerated him inside the Metaverse because it was in their best interests to cooperate and avoid conflict. They would learn the truth once he turned himself in, but his life would come to an end soon after that. He would no longer be on their team and they wouldn't have to put up with him anymore. They would feel upset and betrayed, but there would be nothing anyone could do about it by that point besides forgetting about him and moving on.

"Give this some thought, alright?"

Akechi gave a slight nod just to satisfy Sae-san, though he had no intent of thinking about it, as he was sure it was pointless.

"I will turn off the lights. Good night." Sae-san patted Akechi on the head, then stood up, turned the lights off and left for her bedroom.

Alone in the living room and sitting on the futon, Akechi recalled the moment at the hotel when Akira expressed the wish to be his friend, and the moments when both Takamaki-san and Makoto said to him that they were friends. If only he hadn't gone too far, he could really be friends with the Phantom Thieves. The roller coaster of feelings he had mentioned earlier to Makoto continued its course as pain filled his chest at the thoughts of what could have been. When he realized it, he was crying. Akechi didn't try to suppress his tears. He remained there, unmoving, just allowing the tears to roll down his face freely.

He had no idea how much time he had stayed like that. Eventually, he heard the sound of a door opening. Someone seemed to be approaching. Akechi considered retreating inside the futon and pretending to be asleep, but it was too late. Makoto turned the lights on and caught him crying. Now he wanted to retreat, but because of how embarrassed he was.

---

Makoto had finished reading the news on the Internet and decided to check up on Akechi before going to bed. She opened the door and slowly walked to the living room. When she turned the lights on, her eyes filled with concern at what she saw. Seated on the futon, the ever so smug and confident Goro Akechi was looking so sorrowful and helpless. He looked so broken, in a way she had never imagined she would see him.

"Akechi-kun! Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?"

Akechi looked very flustered and tried to avoid eye contact. "Just... some unwanted thoughts."

"Want to talk about what is on your mind? It may make you feel better."

He shook his head. "Don't mind me. I'll be f-fine..." His voice wavered a bit.

It would be impossible to ignore him in that state, though.

"Is it something you can't tell me? Then maybe you should tell someone that is much closer to you, such as Akira." The face Akechi made had Makoto conclude that Akira may be part of the problem. "Does the matter has to do with the argument you had with Akira?"

"Uh, w-well, sort of..."

"It should be best to talk to her and sort this out soon," Makoto said, but he didn't reply.

After a moment of deliberation, she sat down next to him on the futon, and tentatively wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Akechi startled, but made no effort to push her away.

"My father used to do this when I was little and woke up crying. It always made me feel better." Makoto justified hesitantly. "Um, sorry if you think it's lame or something, but it's all I can do for you right now."

This only made Akechi cry even more. Makoto internally panicked, but didn't give up. As a friend, she felt she needed to do something for him, and trying to comfort him was all she could do at the moment.

Makoto had Akechi rest his head on her shoulder. "It's okay. Don't think about those things now. You're tired, and should take a good rest."

Akechi said nothing and only continued crying. Thankfully, though, Makoto's actions seemed to soothe him, seeing as he slowly relaxed until he dozed off.

Makoto eventually helped him into the futon. He totally succumbed to sleep the moment his head touched the pillow, and it was a relief to see his expression had become much more peaceful.

Makoto quietly got up from the futon, turned the lights off, and made her way back to her room with a smile on her face. Who could have imagined that she would comfort Akechi, out of all people, like that?

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

---

Wednesday, November 2

When Akira arrived downstairs to have her breakfast, she ran into someone she definitely didn't expect.

"Good morning, Akira-san. It appears I have arrived a bit early." Elizabeth sat at the table with a mug of coffee and a half plate of curry in front of her.

"Elizabeth!" Akira exclaimed in surprise. "Good morning..."

"The cafe is still closed, but she said she knows you." Sojiro explained. "I still can't believe she managed to nail the special ingredients in my curry!"

"Ah. First the legendary takoyaki from Iwatodai. Then the legendary portal to the meat dimension from Inaba. And now, I had the pleasure of tasting the legendary coffee and curry from Yongen-Jaya!"

Sojiro was a bit embarrassed at the compliment. "Err, I'm not sure if my coffee and curry could be considered 'legendary,' but surely you won't find anything like them around these parts. Glad you like them."

"To me, the curry is quite the rare treat!" Morgana spoke up. "And it's not just any curry. Its special recipe is backed by scientific methods, and not just anyone is allowed to learn its secrets!"

This added to Sojiro's embarrassment. "Now now. Fine, you may have some too."

"Whoa! Thanks, Chief!"

Both Akira and Morgana got a serving of curry as well, and they began eating.

An idea struck Akira. "Um, Elizabeth, you had said you're a fortune teller. There's something I'm struggling with. Could you check the cards for me?"

"Oh, of course! Just let me finish savoring this legendary food first."

Once they were done, Akira took Elizabeth to the attic.

"What is the problem you are struggling with?" Elizabeth asked.

"Um, the thing is..." Akira blushed slightly. "Someone very important to me is going through a really complicated situation. I wanted to know how I can help him, but no matter how much I think, I can't find any solution."

"Oh. Hmm, I see." A knowing look crossed Elizabeth's eyes. She mixed the Tarot cards and arranged them into three piles on the desk. "In my readings, I usually draw out the cards myself. But since you would like to know what you can do about the situation at hand, I will ask that you draw the cards. This should show what is within your possibilities. Would you pick one card from each pile?"

"Alright."

Akira closed her eyes and focused on the question she wanted the answer to. She pulled one card from the middle of each pile, and handed them to Elizabeth.

"Let us see what we have here... oh!" Elizabeth flipped the first card. "The Justice!"

"Whoa!" Akira's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that his Arcana is indeed the Justice."

"Most importantly, I should note that this is upright Justice, which holds the card's positive meanings, including fairness and honesty."

"From what I've read and what I've learned from my other fortune teller friend, I think his Arcana may have been reversed before. You know, things like dishonesty, and trying to take justice into his own hands even if it means harming others."

Elizabeth nodded. "Precisely. Seeing the card upright is a good sign, though. It may not only be related to the person in question and how how his views have changed for better, but may also represent hope for a good solution to the problem. The upright Justice is usually a good sign when solving problems is concerned. Now, let us see the second card. Oh!" Another exclamation from Elizabeth. "The Fool. How interesting. This indicates that you can influence the situation's development significantly. It is a very unpredictable card, and in this case, I feel that something surprising may happen."

"Something surprising? ... In a good way or in a bad way?"

"It is likely good, since both the Fool and the Justice are together. I have no idea as to what this surprise might be, though. You will have to find out for yourself, when the time comes."

Very interesting indeed. First the Justice, Akechi's Arcana. Then the Fool, which was often associated to the wild cards, and might really mean that Akira could influence the situation! It really sounded like Elizabeth's Tarot readings were the real deal!

"Let us see the last card... hmm?" Elizabeth stared at the card in wonder. "Now this was totally unexpected. It appears that I have mixed my decks... this card is the Faith, and is actually from a different Tarot deck. But no matter! This happening must not be coincidental. In fact, this card being here brings a very important point. You have to believe that the problem can be solved."

"I have to believe..." Akira muttered to herself.

"Yes. The first step to achieving something difficult is to believe it can be achieved. If one does not believe it is possible, one will not try to move in that direction, and nothing will change."

It was a good point, which also aligned with the Phantom Thieves' goal of making impossible things possible. How could Akira have not thought of that? Before anything else, she had to believe it was possible, and then do her best to maintain that belief and work towards the goal. It would be hard to believe so strongly that they would find a sure fire way to save Akechi, but if she didn't, then who would?

"Yeah, you're right!" Akira's eyes glinted with newfound hope, and she smiled. "I was so insecure about the problem that I didn't even think of this. Thanks, Elizabeth."

"You are very welcome. I am glad that I was able to assist you in some way."

They returned downstairs.

"I will take my leave. Thank you, Sakura-san. The coffee and the curry were wonderful." Elizabeth left a pile of 100 yen coins on the counter and turned around to leave.

"Hey! Your change!" Sojiro hastily tried to separate the surplus amount.

"There is no need. Consider it as my token of appreciation for your legendary food! The taste will remain ingrained in my memory forever."

"If y-you say so... thank you." Sojiro responded, taken aback.

"Now, if you excuse me."

---

Akechi was having breakfast with Makoto. The food was some rice with an omelet and a salad.

"My sister has already left for work." Makoto informed him. "Are you feeling better, Akechi-kun?"

"Yes. I'm sorry you ended up seeing... that." Akechi felt embarrassed at the recollection of Makoto comforting him.

"Everyone has their vulnerable moments. It would have been worse if you had been alone, though."

"I-I suppose so... uh, thanks."

She offered him a timid smile. "If there's anything else I can do for you, tell me."

"You're doing more than enough. I'm grateful that both you and Sae-san let me stay the night here at your home. I wish the foster families had been this nice."

"Living under such insensitive foster families must have been really hard. Akechi-kun, don't you feel like going against this kind of injustice?"

"Huh?" Akechi became alert. Something told him Makoto was trying to bring up a reason to drag him to the Metaverse. "It isn't happening anymore, though."

"Of course it is happening! There are those adults from the TV using you and mistreating you. Don't you feel like rebelling against this situation and taking control of your own life? Don't you want to be freed from those chains and walk your own path by your own will?!" Makoto's eyes flared, and now she was acting more like the Phantom Thieves' strategist rather than the timid student council president. "I certainly did, and my problems were nowhere as bad as yours. I had just been doing whatever the adults told me to, and letting the current carry me. I used to think this was all that there was to life. But I learned that this was not true, and that I have the strength to carve my own path if I put my mind to it. I feel much better now, and I am sure that you can, too."

Definitely Metaverse talk... and it was quite the powerful speech, too! Unfortunately, Akechi couldn't break free from his chains and carve his own path. He had crossed the boundaries, and would have to face the consequences.

"Not that I don't have any plan in mind about my situation with the TV staff." Akechi quickly justified himself.

"Is that so?" This piqued Makoto's interest. "I am curious. Care to share your plan with the future commissioner?"

"Uh, well, first, I want to close the Phantom Thieves case." He only gave the short version. The long version was to wait until Shido's change of heart, then give a public statement on TV admitting that the Phantom Thieves were right and then turn himself in. But if he were to tell her the details, she would surely figure out his Metaverse identity.

"Oh, I-I see..." Makoto got on edge. "Um, have... have you heard any new information from my sister?"

"Huh?" And Akechi also got on edge. Revealing that he had been in talks with Sae-san was also a hint to his Metaverse identity. The Phantom Thieves had just learned that Sae-san and "Crow" had had some serious talks, after all.

"It seems she has gotten big news regarding the Phantom Thieves. Your investigation may advance if you manage to get intel from her."

"Hmm. Interesting how you seem to be aware of what goes on in her work, future commissioner." Akechi replied cautiously.

"I am learning. What a better place to start than at home, isn't it?"

They finished their breakfast and left for school. On their way to the train station, Makoto kept glancing at him as though she wanted to say something, but she remained silent and Akechi didn't ask what the issue was.

---

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

Akira spent lunch break helping Mishima with studies, and trying to take her mind off Akechi's issues.

After school, she assembled the Phantom Thieves at the attic again.

Makoto opened the meeting. "I am sorry. I asked for Akechi-kun's help with studies yesterday, but he wasn't feeling well, and I didn't approach the topic of his wrong case solutions. I felt bad about making him uncomfortable."

"Hmm..." Futaba hummed sadly. "If the organization has a hand in Akechi's case solutions, then shouldn't Crow know? He basically knows everything about the organization... but that other day, he bashed Akechi so much and didn't mention the organization at all."

"This has occurred to me as well," Yusuke said. "Crow made no mention to the organization, and simply spoke as though Akechi was at fault."

Only now what had happened that day fully sank in for Akira. Akechi had basically insulted himself! He had called himself an half-assed detective, and it hurt. The Phantom Thieves had tried to defend Akechi, but he would continue saying harsh things. Akira had felt he was burning with guilt, though she couldn't tell what it was about at the time. Now she realized it. He was feeling guilt both for having caused the mental illnesses and for having closed the cases incorrectly. Perhaps he hadn't mentioned the organization so that the Phantom Thieves couldn't connect the dots and figure his identity out.

"All this mental illnesses thing is serious business," he had said. "It isn't a game. Whoever decides to tackle it and bring the truth to light should at least do a thorough and serious job." And then he had took out an USB stick full of spy-level valuable information and proceeded to do just that...

He was ashamed of his past actions and fully regretted them. He was desperately trying to set things right. The more Akira thought about it, the more she admired him for the way he did a 180, changed his heart on his own and had been growing so much as a person. She wished to be at his side and help him fix what could be fixed, and also wished she could remove those painful negative feelings from his heart. She hurt just by thinking of how he was suffering with guilt, and could only imagine the full extent of what he was feeling.

The conversation went on while Akira was lost in her musings.

"Should we go to Mementos and ask Crow about this?" Haru spoke up. "Um, he may get in a bad mood like the other time..."

"Hasn't he been a bit too explosive lately?" Morgana noted. "He used to be evasive before, but now he gets angry whenever we try to do small talk."

Last time, Crow had even threatened to jump out the Monamobile in the middle of the tracks.

"He gets explosive whenever we ask about personal things, or even his opinion about some stuff." Ann added.

"I don't understand why he keeps trying to appear tough," Haru said. "He's such a nice person deep down... it's even hard to imagine he was capable of doing all those bad things."

"He was so gentle when he protected me from the collapsing Palaces, too." Futaba observed. "That time at Okumura's Palace, I could tell Crow was really worried about me, even though we barely knew each other. I was so shocked... in a good way, I guess."

Makoto spoke. "In the beginning, all we had known about him was that he had been the one behind the breakdowns and shutdowns, and this made us wary. There is so much more to him, though. He is an amazing person. Without the distortions in his heart, he is so kind, responsible, and has strong morals. I wish there were a way to make the people who will judge him realize this."

Akira couldn't agree more. She still couldn't understand the reason why he insisted on running away from them, though. He was acting like a scared cat, either lashing out or fleeing whenever he felt "threatened." Inside the Metaverse, he could easily pull out a Goho-m and run away. Outside it, he kept feigning ignorance about said subjects and being evasive in general.

Akira wanted to tell her friends that Akechi was Crow, but perhaps she should find out his reason for hiding first. Who knows, maybe he had an important reason that she couldn't imagine. She should try to talk to him about it and find out what his reason was. Akira wondered whether there was a way to approach the subject without making him panic or run away. Maybe she could give him a small gift, both to show they were on good terms, and also to soften him and prevent him from fleeing when she approached the difficult subject. What could she give him, though? She had no time to look for a gift. Maybe a skill card to help improve his Personas? Yes, the Divine Grace skill card she had gotten by executing Kikuri-Hime at the Velvet Room might do...

"We could go to Mementos and wait for Crow." Makoto suggested. "If he doesn't come, we can simply continue exploring the new area."

Before anyone could respond, a masculine voice from a loudspeaker boomed outside and interrupted the Phantom Thieves' meeting.

"IF WE WANT A COUNTRY FOR THE FUTURE GENERATIONS TO BE PROUD OF, WE MUST BEGIN BY..."

"Aaaargh! So loud!" Ryuji snapped.

Akira suddenly felt lightheaded and placed a hand on the table for support. She apparently disguised it enough, since no one seemed to notice it.

As the noise made it hard to talk, they chose to wait for the car with the loudspeaker to go away. Thankfully, it left a couple of minutes later, as did Akira's dizziness.

The Phantom Thieves were about to leave for Mementos. Makoto signaled the others to go on ahead because she wanted to talk to Akira in private.

"Akira, you don't look too well. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You've been too quiet since yesterday." Makoto observed. "Did something happen? ... Perhaps, does it have something to do with Akechi-kun?"

"Uh, well..."

Makoto took Akira's hesitation as a yes. "He told me that you and he got into some kind of argument."

A light shade of pink tinged Akira's cheeks. "Uh, it was just a small disagreement..."

"It does not sound like it was small." Makoto argued. "Akechi-kun asked about you, and seemed very worried. Later, I saw him crying, and I suspect it had to do with that."

"He cried because of that?" Now Akira was the one worried. It reminded her of the moment he cried on the second day at the hotel.

"I wasn't strong enough. I... screwed up so much..." He had said with a pained expression while she hugged him. Then he abruptly broke free from the hug and shut his eyes tightly in panic and fear. "No! I don't want to think about it now. Or... ever again. I just want to... to..." And he was unable to hold his tears off. He had cried so much that Akira had to use up most of her tissues to wipe his tears.

Had Akechi been burning with guilt since that time? Poor detective. He was really so broken...

"I believe you two should talk and make up soon." Makoto advised.

Akira was still a bit nervous about seeing Akechi again, but she definitely needed to talk to him. "Yeah, you're right..."

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

The Phantom Thieves headed to the Shibuya Station and entered Mementos. Since Crow wasn't there, they waited.

A few minutes later, Crow came into the Metaverse. Joker had been a bit scared of her emotions going haywire upon seeing him again, but when he appeared, her nervousness dissipated, and her heart skipped a beat and settled on thumping excitedly.

Crow seemed to get on edge upon seeing her, though. To add to that, all the Phantom Thieves' gazes landed on him almost simultaneously, and Joker could tell this made him even more uncomfortable. This wasn't good... she had to do something quick.

---

The moment Crow stepped foot into Mementos, he spotted Joker and couldn't avoid thinking about their disagreement at Leblanc. To make things worse, all Phantom Thieves' gazes locked on him, and they kept staring with serious expressions. This put him on edge immediately. Had he done something that displeased them again?

"... What is it?" He asked and braced for whatever was to come.

"Um..." Joker took a step closer to him. "I want you to have this." She reached a skill card out to him. "I created this recently, and thought you could use it.""

"... Created?" He echoed dryly.

"Whoa, Joker, I didn't know you could do that!" Skull voiced his surprise. "It's disappointing that only you wilds can use those cards, but it's cool that you can even make them!"

"I basically created it out of a Persona." Joker replied.

"And I can make copies of the cards if need be," Fox said. "She asks that of me from time to time."

Joker could turn Personas into skill cards? One more ability that Crow didn't have... envy bubbled ferociously inside him like an erupting volcano.

"Do my limited abilities hinder the group this much?" His voice shook in utter humiliation.

"... W-what?" Joker asked in confusion.

"Of course. Why else would you decide to give me something?"

"Huh!?" Skull rolled his eyes.

Crow failed to notice the Phantom Thieves' confused reactions as his envy of Joker consumed him. "You humiliate me, Joker. I really envy you."

"You envy her?" Queen spoke up. "Because of her Persona abilities?"

"Because of everything!" Crow exploded. "She has everything I could never have."

"But she's just a normal high school student!" Panther argued.

"Normal?" Crow spat. The negative emotions took over, and he wasn't minding his words anymore. "Lucky her! My life has been wrong from the start, and has been anything but 'normal.' No matter how hard I tried, I never achieved anything! Meanwhile, she gets whatever she needs without even having to try! She's special. It's as though she were blessed to have everything go her way, while I were cursed into having everything go wrong. It's so frustrating!"

"What are you talking about?" Mona spoke. "You're quite amazing yourself. You're even a wild card! Not just anyone can be a wild card."

Crow scoffed. "As it turns out, my wild card abilities are incomplete, much inferior to hers. Considering that I don't even deserve these abilities in the first place after what I did, I have to be content with what I got, I guess..."

"It's not like that!" Joker argued back. "I understand how you feel, but-"

"Of course you don't!" Crow exploded. "You haven't gone through what I have. There's no way you'd understand!"

Joker flinched, and could only stare at him with her mouth agape and a painful expression.

Crow was feeling miserable, and the look Joker was giving him only made him feel even more humiliated. He couldn't take it anymore. "Stop giving me that look! I don't want your pity, and don't need your crumb cards!"

The skill card slipped from Joker's trembling hand and fell to the ground. It was only when her eyes watered that Crow realized what he had done. One of the things he had feared happened. Just like in his latest dream, he had lost his grip and shot a barrage of harsh words at her. Just when he thought his argument with her at Leblanc was bad enough already... now he had hurt her feelings for good!

Oh no? What have I done!? He desperately thought to himself.

Like in the incident after the twins fight where Crow had almost screwed Joker's heart, seeing her suffer made him suffer as well. Not to mention her shocked reaction reminded him of the traumatizing moment when his mother found out the kind of person Shido really was. The mix of conflicting feelings was overwhelming. Humiliation and frustration at his predicament, envy of Joker, the pain of seeing her suffer, and guilt for the words he had directed at her. The feelings fought violently inside his chest, and Crow panicked, unsure what to do, or whether he could even fix the situation.

The feelings got worse at each teardrop that Joker's eyes produced. Crow felt that his heart would explode if he were to stay there one more second. He spat a few desperate curses, turned around and ran as fast as he could further into Mementos before he completely lost his sanity. While he could have exited instead, it would be embarrassing if people were to see him on the street in that state.

---

Joker's mouth was still hanging open. Her plan of giving Crow a gift was a total failure. She could have never imagined he would react that way.

The other Phantom Thieves were also shocked.

Skull grunted. "He ran away, just like that, and we couldn't ask him anything!"

Oracle looked scared. "Aaaaah, what if he reacts like that when I manage to give him a gift?"

"Joker, are you okay?" Mona asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Joker answered weakly. "Crow's so broken, though..."

Fox nodded. "It is no wonder that channeling his negative emotions into Shadows would make them go berserk..."

"His life was bad enough to the point he entertained suicidal thoughts." Queen reminded them.

Life had mistreated the poor chess knight's heart much more than Joker had imagined. She had wanted to say she had no intention of humiliating him, that she was trying to share her resources with him, not giving him "crumbs." But she was so pained at his situation's sadness that words failed her.

"What now?" Panther asked.

still with watery eyes, Joker retrieved the fallen skill card. "Let's go after him. Oracle, can you tell if he's still nearby?"

"Hmm, yeah, he's still around."

The Phantom Thieves hurried to the tracks. The first area, Qimranut, was short, and it didn't take them long to reach Crow at the platform leading to the area's end.

However, when he noticed they were there, he ran to the end area.

Joker stepped forward. "I'll go talk to him. Would you guys wait here? I want to talk to him alone for a bit."

The others agreed unanimously, and Joker hurried to the end area.

---

Still in panic, Crow vented his frustration on every Shadow that happened to cross his path. Since that area's Shadows were weak, they were gone in just one slash of his sword. He only stopped to take a breather once he got to the platform leading to the end of the area.

He was still horrified at the harsh words he had directed at Joker. Deep down, he knew that she had no intention of humiliating him or anything, but he couldn't help but feel that way, thanks to the frustration of things having gone wrong all his life, and when he realized it, the words were already out. If he had still been on the wrong side, he would undoubtedly have worked to lead her to ruin just like the twins had stated. His envy of her was a strong and destructive feeling, and he was scared to imagine what he could have done. What should he do now, though?

The sound of Mona transforming out of his car form alerted Crow to the Phantom Thieves' arrival. He should have predicted that they would follow him. Maybe exiting Mementos would have been a better option, after all. He didn't feel ready to face Joker just yet.

Crow quickly retreated to the end area, from where he could use his phone to teleport to the entrance and leave Mementos. However, as fate would have it, he was forced to face Joker, because she got to him before he had the chance to take his phone. The others weren't with her.

Crow froze. He was face to face with Joker, though a few feet away. She was clearly distressed, but at least wasn't crying anymore.

"... A-are you calmer now?" She asked nervously, which was unusual for her. This went to show the damage he had caused.

He slowly nodded. "Joker. I... I'm sorry." He spoke after a delay, trying to avoid eye contact with her. "I apologize for my earlier words. The bad emotions got the better of me, and I lost it..."

"I know. I-it's okay..." Despite her words, it was clearly not okay.

Crow was still avoiding eye contact. "I shouldn't have said those things..."

"Perhaps you should. If you have more 'heavy' stuff to say about me, maybe you should say it. You can even call me names if you want." She stared at him determinedly. "I'm confident I can handle it. Bring it on!"

"Huh!?" Call her names and do exactly the same thing Shido did to break his mother's heart? No way! Crow felt chills just by thinking about it. "That's a stupid idea!"

"Maybe not. I may be doing other things that bother you without realizing it. You may feel better if you let it out."

Crow still thought her suggestion was absurd. He wanted to shoot it down, but was suddenly unsure how to respond. "Argh. Why do you always have to spout nonstandard arguments that I have trouble countering!? Ugh, why am I even saying this aloud, anyway?!"

"Uh, I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize! That only sounds like you're mocking me!"

"Uh, um... but I had no idea that I was making you feel so bad... I'll be more careful from now on."

Crow only realized he had snapped again when he saw Joker's hurt expression. He took a deep breath and shook his head. "No. I'm sorry. I said things I shouldn't again. I know you don't want to humiliate or mock anyone, but my emotions don't agree with my reasoning. To be honest, my feelings are a total mess. It's all so frustrating, confusing... but it's my problem, not yours. Don't suppress yourself. If you stop being yourself, it'll feel wrong." He still felt the need to say something to comfort her. In a low voice, he added, "Uh, and... just so you know, you don't only make me feel bad things."

Joker's lips slowly curved into a small smile. "I make you feel good things? Like what?"

"Err..." Once again, Crow was lost for words. That annoying blush threatened to invade his face behind his mask. "Uh, um, well..." He shrugged and tried to regain his composure. "Never mind. I'll do my best to keep these irrational feelings from ruining our teamwork."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Ugh... I don't know how to explain. And it was you who said I shouldn't try to justify my feelings!"

"Uh, yeah, I had said that..." She admitted.

"Let's just forget this incident ever happened, and focus on doing what needs to be done."

"Alright, I don't want to be on bad terms with you. But you'll need to prove that you're willing to make up." The slight grin that began appearing on Joker's face was a hint that she was up to something.

"... How?" Crow began preparing mentally for whatever difficult condition Joker would impose.

"I want a hug."

"Huh?" Crow blinked. "You mean..."

"Exactly what I said. A hug to show that we're back on good terms. Just give me a hug, and it's all good."

Crow was at a loss as to why Joker would want a hug from him, out of all people. If they were outside the Metaverse, he would understand. But to her, his Metaverse self was supposed to be a stranger, almost an enemy.

Joker was still waiting. "You're the one who has to do it. I won't move from here until you do."

Once again, Crow had the feeling he was being made fun of, as he recalled the embarrassing event on the first day at the hotel, when she had played a prank on him and made him give her a good night kiss.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to make up with me?" She pressed.

"A-alright. If this is wh-what it takes..." He gave in, and took slow steps towards her.

He slowly closed the distance between them. When they were in hugging range, his heart began beating faster. Joker threw him that cute expectant look of hers, and as always, it disarmed him.

Crow turned his face to the side slightly so that his mask's "beak" wouldn't be in the way, then tentatively reached out and enveloped Joker in a hug. This had the unexpected effect of causing a wide smile to blossom on her face. The smile he wanted engraved forever in his memory.

As he continued to hold her, he felt as though he was holding a unique and precious treasure which he had the urge to protect at all cost. On one hand, she made him feel so envious and frustrated because he hadn't been fortunate in life like she had. On the other hand, she was so dear and precious to him. Why did his feelings towards her have to be so conflicting?

She whispered. "This proves your will better than words, and you don't need to justify anything. Neat, huh?"

When Joker returned the hug, a wave of comfort washed over him, and all the conflicting feelings dissipated. Suddenly, there was nothing else besides her and him, and he began wishing time would stop right then and there. He felt tempted to forget the organization, his crimes, his end that was near, the things he wished but knew he didn't have the right to have anymore. He felt tempted to stop fighting the mess of incomprehensible feelings that were constantly fighting in his heart, and just succumb to the Phantom Thieves leader's hypnotizing spell.

---

Mona was restless while he and the other Phantom Thieves waited at the platform.

"Mona-chan, you look nervous." Noir noted. "What's wrong?"

Mona figured he might as well tell the others. "I hope everything is alright in there. I'm worried. When I fulfilled that one request with Crow, he had told me he is envious of Joker. One reason was her ability to use multiple Personas. He has the same ability now, but he didn't at the time he had been spying on us. He seems to view Joker as a rival ever since. I hadn't imagined his envy was this strong, though. What if he actually hates her? This thought occurred to me, but I felt bad about telling her."

"He might hate her? For real...?" Skull uttered.

As if on cue, they heard Crow shouting. "Don't apologize! That only sounds like you're mocking me!" He was snapping again.

Panther gasped and glanced at the others desperately. "Isn't that bad?"

"Let's wait a bit more." Queen suggested.

The Phantom Thieves were all worried now. A few tense seconds passed, and at least they couldn't hear Crow shouting anymore. With hitched breaths, they continued waiting. The atmosphere was tense, and the seconds seemed to stretch.

Noir spoke up. "Joker hasn't come back yet. Could this mean everything is alright?"

"Crow didn't run away again, did he?" Skull asked.

"Nope. He's still there with her." Oracle answered.

"I think it's about time we go check up on them," Mona said.

The others nodded and followed him into the end area. What was their surprise when they found Crow and Joker hugging each other.

"It doesn't look like he hates her." Skull whispered to the others.

"I bet it was Joker's idea." Mona wouldn't put it past Joker to hug Crow. Even though all of them may be worried and willing to support him, Joker would probably be one of the few daring enough to simply go and hug Crow like that.

"It was a good idea, then." Panther replied. "Crow really needed that."

"Awww, don't they actually look comfortable?" Noir observed.

---

Even though she had been the one who told Crow to hug her, it felt nice that he had been the one to take the initiative for once. Joker felt safe in his arms, and his hug was as comforting and caring as the one after the twins fight, or as the ones whenever Akechi returned her hugs outside the Metaverse. It was hard to believe the cold and calculating secret agent and the kind and caring detective were the same person, but if Joker were still in doubt, this hug would have cleared it for good. Both outside and inside the Metaverse, his fondness for her was the same.

This time, she was the one to return the hug. He not only seemed relaxed in her hold, but also the way in which he held her caringly expressed his feelings in a way words couldn't. And as she held him, she felt as though she were holding a precious treasure, tattered and threatening to fall apart, but rarer than all the Palace treasures combined. A treasure which there was only one of in the entire world, which might easily slip away from her fingers if the justice system proved to be unable to correctly appraise its real value. The thought of losing him scared her, and she wished time would stop so that she could keep holding him forever.

"How inspiring. A touching moment between two wild cards." Fox spoke as though reciting a poem, and only then Joker realized that her friends were there. "Two opposing forces join, and a new, unexpected feeling is born. That is-"

"Shut up, Inari. That was weird!"

"Gah!" Crow jolted and abruptly let go of Joker. "It's not what you're thinking. It's not, got it!?"

Joker suddenly felt embarrassed, and was sure the same went for her dear secret agent. She wished her friends would have waited a bit more before coming after her... or perhaps she shouldn't have let the fluffy feelings distract her for so long. The point was, she had missed the perfect opportunity to ask Crow why he was still hiding his identity!

"Uh, w-well, we've made up." She shuffled nervously. "How about we continue exploring the new area? Crow, you can come too, right?"

Crow timidly nodded.

Joker teleported everyone to the last rest area they had found, and they set off on the exploration in the Monamobile, with Crow as the driver.

---

While Crow drove, he couldn't stop thinking about the comforting moment earlier, which the Phantom Thieves just had to interrupt. Joker's hug had been packed with affection as it usually was. Affection, towards his Metaverse self. How could that be? He couldn't understand.

"You should pay more attention to her, detective." Justine's words replayed in his head. "No matter where you are or how you look, pay attention to her feelings."

No matter where he was or how he looked? Did Justine mean to say that even in the Metaverse, Joker might... no, that was impossible. Joker had no reason to have affection towards his Metaverse self...

The trip through the tracks continued, and the Phantom Thieves remained silent, likely in fear of making a comment and inadvertently setting him off again.

They entered a battle with a Kikuri-Hime and a Queen Mab Shadows. Crow's attack missed, and the Kikuri-Hime used the opening to cast Lullaby and put him to sleep. He tried to resist and remain awake, but resistance was futile.

X:X:X:X:X

Akechi found himself inside one of the special interrogation rooms at the court house's underground. With a gun in hand, his body moved on autopilot in slow but firm steps. His face broke into a maniacal grin at the sight of Akira sitting at a table, dazed, bruised and tied to a chair. She looked completely humiliated, and Akechi took pleasure in seeing his greatest rival in that state. For whatever reason, she was the special one, the chosen one. Chosen by who, Akechi didn't know, but he was sure he was the one who should deserve that place. There was no way that some attic trash should be allowed to have everything that he couldn't have. But now, he had won. The Phantom Thieves had fallen into the organization's trap, and her time had come. With her out of the way, he would be the one standing, and could take the special place from her.

He grasped the gun tighter and let out a dark chuckle. He retrieved a silencer from his pocket, and took delight in listening to the sound of fitting it on the gun, then slowly raised the weapon and pointed it at Akira's forehead.

"Now. It is time to take justice into your own hands and fulfill your role." A voice reminiscent of the one from the mysterious entity boomed inside his head. "Lead her to ruin, and glory will await you. The glory you have always wanted."

My... role. Glory... Akechi absentmindedly repeated those words as a thought.

His role was to lead Akira to ruin, and was the only way he could attain glory. It was his fate... or was it? Suddenly, he wasn't so sure anymore, and a new feeling began invading his chest. The feeling that something was very, very wrong...

In a blink, he was no longer with the gun, and no longer in the interrogation room. Akechi was in darkness, and the only source of light was a familiar shining blue butterfly.

"You must not allow the negative emotions to take over. It is exactly what the malevolent entity wants you to do." The calm feminine voice, presumably from the blue butterfly, reached his ears.

"... But it's my fate." He was able to utter.

"That was merely what the malevolent entity wanted you to believe. Now that you have opened your mind to different possibilities, you should see another path before you."

"Another path?"

"Follow your feelings. Your true feelings. What do you want? Is it really glory? Is it really to lead her to ruin?"

"I..."

A jolt of realization struck Akechi, and memories of the comforting hug from earlier resurfaced. The thought of all that comfort washed away the negative feelings just like Akira's action had done in reality, , and Akechi finally realized what was going on. He was in a dream. A nightmare, to be more exact. It was horrifying that the thought of killing Akira might have so much so as crossed his mind if he had followed through with the trap plan. Akira was so dear to him. He recalled how he had held her and felt the urge to protect her like a precious treasure.

"No... I don't want to ruin her life, nor to take her place." He muttered. "I want my own place to belong, from where I can watch over her. It's not glory that I want, either... I just want to be acknowledged, accepted, to feel useful, to be assured that my life isn't in vain, as horrible as it has been. When I protect her... when I protect the Phantom Thieves, I know that I'm being useful, that I'm needed, even if they don't say anything about it."

"Well said!" The voice replied proudly. "Do not allow the negative emotions to torment you. Whenever they appear, remember your true feelings and press forward. Fight for what it is right, what you really want."

He wondered whether what he wanted was really the right thing, though. After the bad things he had done, he believed he had lost the right to have anything good in his life.

"But I can't... I can't have a future anymore..." He argued.

"At first, I admit I had also believed you to be a lost cause and your path to be closed. However, you have been surprising me positively each day. Judging from the new path you have chosen to follow, I am pretty sure you will not allow this nightmare to become reality. Things are changing, and I began to feel that you still may have a chance. I apologize for being unable to help you more in my current condition, but know that I am cheering you on. I have become your fan, and eagerly await the day we can properly meet in person. Take care, my trickster. Do not lose hope, and remember, you are not alone."

The shining butterfly flew by very close to Akechi's face, and he felt as though its gentle light had caressed his cheek. A soothing feeling washed over him, and when he realized it, he was back at the interrogation room, with the gun in hand.

With a gasp, he dropped the gun to the ground. "Akira! I'm sorry. I almost..." Horrified at the thought of what he had almost done, Akechi hurried over to Akira. "Let's get out of here. I'll protect you."

X:X:X:X:X

---

The Phantom Thieves were still mid battle.

"Crow, wake up... ah!" When Joker tried to go over to Crow's side, she gasped at the Queen Mab's Agidyne coming for her. Joker had Byakko equipped and was weak to fire. She half closed her eyes in anticipation of the pain... however, it didn't come.

Even though Crow was asleep, he somehow scrambled to his feet, held Joker and jumped out of harm's way.

"Thanks!" Joker smiled gratefully, once again feeling safe in his hold.

The other Phantom Thieves finished the battle. Mona assumed his vehicle form. Everyone was getting aboard, but Crow was still holding Joker protectively, and refused to move or to let her move.

Joker turned her head to regard him. "Uh, Crow?"

To her amusement, Crow still seemed half asleep. He stood stubbornly, struggling to pretend he was alert. Without a doubt, this was Akechi in sleepy adorable mode. It reminded Joker of the second day at the hotel, when he had acted this way after taking a strong medicine that had made him sleepy. Those were fond memories.

"Crow, the battle is over. Let's go." Joker lightly nudged him, but he only grunted and shifted slightly. Rather than waking up, he seemed to be getting more sleepy.

"... Akira." He whispered, and the sound of him saying her real name made her heart skip a beat. "I'll protect you."

Warm and soothing feelings exploded inside Joker's heart at the realization that she may be as precious to him as he was to her. She smiled fondly and whispered back. "I'll protect you too, whenever you need. You're so precious to me, my dear detective knight."

Joker's lips inched closer to his face, and were about to plant a caring kiss on his cheek...

"Hey, Joker!" Oracle just had to call out from the Monamobile and interrupt the moment. "What's taking you so long?"

"Ah!" Joker startled and inched her face away from his. "Sorry! Crow isn't fully awake yet, that's all..."

"I'm... fully awake." Crow uttered in a very unconvincing way, with his speech dragging.

"No, you're not." Joker countered.

"... I am!" He insisted stubbornly. Once again, it was the same behavior as at the hotel, and Joker couldn't suppress an amused chuckle. Despite Crow's sleepy state, he noticed. "Stop laughing at me!"

Joker swallowed her chuckles. "Alright, alright. Sorry."

"I'm awake." Crow still insisted.

"If you say so." Joker pretended to have bought into his argument. "Let's get moving. It'll be bad if the Reaper thing comes after us!"

Crow finally stopped arguing, and Joker guided him to the car. Or rather, more like she had him walk behind her with a hand on her shoulder. It was both adorable and amusing how he acted courteous as though he were the one guiding her rather than the other way around. As soon as he got comfortable on the passenger seat, though, he promptly dozed off.

Joker would obviously have to drive since Crow couldn't. She might as well give her best to avoid battles, bumping or shaking, and keep from waking Crow up. He was in adorable mode, and Joker wanted it to last longer.

"I've never seen a sleep spell last for this long," Mona said.

"The outburst from earlier must've drained his battery." Oracle deduced.

"What's up with him all of a sudden, though?" Skull asked. "Isn't he gluing to Joker a bit too much? To think he was shouting angrily at her until just a while ago!"

"Perhaps he is too lonely?" Queen took a guess. "My sister had said he has no one to rely on. She was referring to his workplace, but who knows how his social life is going."

"He must have so much bottled up." Noir spoke. "If he has no one to confide in, or to comfort him through all the stress..."

"Joker offered to lend a shoulder, and he accepted it." Fox concluded.

"Joker, watch out. Shadows ahead." Mona warned and interrupted the conversation.

"O-okay." Joker held her breath and prepared mentally.

She did her best to drive as far away from the Shadows as possible. Once the enemies were out of sight, she released her breath. She was nervous, and her heart was beating fast. Her driving skills were still far from being good, but at least she was managing to provide a "bumpless" trip.

---

Crow eventually woke up. That butterfly in the dream had comforted him. Much to his own surprise, he felt calmer, and his feelings weren't as erratic now.

He didn't remember how he had ended up in the car, on the passenger seat no less. Joker was driving, something she usually refused to do whenever he was around. Also unlike usual, she seemed to be putting an effort not to have the car bump or shake too much. She was very focused, and clearly nervous. Crow didn't want to reveal that he was awake so that she wouldn't stop driving. She was doing a reasonable job, and he wanted to see her succeed. To think he had been so envious of her successes... but now, he concluded that seeing her succeed would make him feel proud. At that moment, he was content to just watch her while she tackled her endeavors, be there to give her moral support, or to lend a hand when she needed it. Deep down, he wished it could be this way for a long, long time.

When they reached the platform, Joker stopped the engines and heaved a sigh as though the trip had lasted an eternity. As she turned her head in his direction, her gaze met his, and he couldn't continue hiding that he was awake.

"Not bad." His mouth inadvertently curved up into a smile. "You can drive well enough if you put your mind to it."

She smiled back sheepishly. "You looked tired, and I didn't want to wake you up."

They exited the car and stepped on the platform.

Joker looked at him with concern. "Wouldn't you rather go home so that you can rest?"

"No. I can keep going." In fact, he felt so refreshed that he was considering staying in Mementos for a bit more after parting ways with the Phantom Thieves, and searching for more Shadows of possible witnesses to Akira's false charges case.

"Are you sure?"

Crow grunted in annoyance. "Why do you have to insist? I already said I'm fine."

"Because you're stubborn and keep trying to appear tough," she said it point blank. "I want to make sure you aren't just showing off."

"I meant what I said. I've rested enough. Actually, I feel like I've slept a bit too much. How could that sleep spell have hit me so hard, though? I have no idea how much time I was out or how long you guys had to drag me around. I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused."

"Awww, he can be so polite when he is calm." Noir commented.

"... Huh?" Crow felt embarrassed and got on the defensive. Were they going to make fun of him again?

"Crow, you have nothing to apologize for!" Panther said.

"You behaved quite well." Joker assured him, and the corners of her mouth seemed about to curve up. This led him to suspect he may have done something weird, and he concluded he would rather not ask about it.

"Yeah. It was refreshing to see you so relaxed," Mona said.

"Well, I admit I had been a bit out of it before. I do feel recharged now, though. I will do my best to avoid those annoying spells so that I don't become a burden to the group."

They headed to the next floor, and Joker continued driving without protest. However, she still seemed insecure, and kept throwing nervous glances at him, now that she knew he was awake.

"Will you stop looking at me and focus on the tracks ahead? You're doing something you're still insecure about. The results will be worse if you don't focus properly."

"Uh, sorry. You're right..."

They continued on their way, and Crow internally rooted for Joker while she drove. During battles, Crow didn't skip a beat, and hopefully proved to the group that he wanted to make up for having fallen asleep in that battle earlier.

Back in the car, Joker continued avoiding most battles, and their trip was rather quick. A few floors later, they arrived at the end area.

Joker checked the wall, but an additional area didn't open.

Mona sighed. "We can't go further than this."

"Same as it always happens, really." Skull remarked.

"Yeah, but couldn't we get access to two new areas straight for once?"

"This means the public isn't talking about us enough, right?" Panther asked.

"Should be it." Oracle answered.

"In that case, don't worry. Once we take the mastermind down, the new area will open for sure." Crow spoke confidently, and everyone's focus turned to him. "We'll be the talk of the public for sure after his calling card."

"Calling card?" Joker was curious. "We'll be sending a calling card this time? I thought we were supposed to avoid doing that like with Okumura."

"This time, we'll have to send one." Crow confirmed. "He's an influential figure, and won't be fazed by just anything. We'll need to send a very impactful calling card. And it so happens I have the perfect ingredients for that..."

"And those would be?" Joker prompted him to reveal the mystery.

Crow grinned and chuckled mischievously. "When my heart was in the wrong place, at least there was one thing I did right. Since I had approached him already intent on betraying him, from the start I made sure to gather the required proof to take him down later. Part of that were the text files I gave to Minerva, and the other part are audio recordings. As soon as they provided me enough money, I bought the equipment with the best recording quality I could find. Since then, I've recorded nearly everything the mastermind said, both on the phone and in person. This includes most of his twisted plans of who to cause mental illnesses on and what his desired consequences were. As a result, I have enough incriminating material to get him a life sentence."

Everyone gaped.

"Oh... my...!" Joker covered her mouth, taken aback.

"This is insane!" Skull exclaimed.

Crow continued. "Of course, I've always known fully well that all this material will also incriminate me, since I had to respond to him. As part of my revenge plan, I had intended to hand all the recordings over to the police and self-destruct along with him. But on further thought, they'll make for a hell of a calling card. If we somehow leak them to the media, not only him, but the whole public will hear his incriminating words loud and clear, and there will be no doubt it was really him who uttered them. After this, his public image will be done for."

Joker seemed the most shocked of them all, and her voice wavered. "You mean, you put up with them for more than two years, gathered all this dirt undetected, a-and have been concocting this huge bomb all along... this is... wow, just..."

"A-awesome... too awesome..." Oracle muttered in awe.

"Scary..." Skull said. "But it's so cool! You're really a pro!"

"I, uh, admit to have taken a brief peek at some of your files," Queen said awkwardly. "Those were already amazing, but this is on a whole different level entirely... it is scary. I was right to think you are dangerous..."

"To people I dislike, yes. And I hate that man from the bottom of my heart. You guys are safe, though. There is no need to fear."

"You know? You actually sound scarier when you say it coldly like that." Skull replied.

"I'm not scared," Joker said despite her expression. "I'm glad to be on your whitelist, despite your envy and all. If you were still on the wrong side, we'd probably be enemies. It's something scary to imagine."

Crow couldn't help but recall his nightmare about what might have happened to the Phantom Thieves, especially her, if he had followed through with the organization's trap. Even he was horrified to think that the nightmare could very well have become reality if his heart had still been consumed by hate and the desire for revenge. Thankfully, it didn't happen, and he wouldn't let it happen. It was exactly thanks to Akira that he became who he was now. She had changed his life for better when he thought it wasn't possible anymore, and he was very thankful for that. She wasn't exactly on his "whitelist," though. She was on his "golden list," if that were even a thing.

Joker wasn't done yet. "I don't know if I could win against you, but I feel we can't lose if we're on the same side of the board!"

Crow gaped. Once again, she had used the exact same words as in one of his dreams!

"How do you intend to leak the recordings?" Queen resumed the original subject, and snapped Crow out of his stupor.

Oracle muttered. "What if we do a national broadcast...?"

Crow heard it and perked up. "That would be perfect! It'd be a long shot, though. I don't think I'd be able to make use of his connections to arrange a national broadcast."

"No need." Oracle grinned mischievously. "I can hack into a national TV station's system and hijack the broadcast."

Crow's eyes widened. "Y-you can do that? Your skills are this advanced?"

Oracle chuckled. "Yep! It'd take a while to wipe something up normally, but my Persona has super computational powers! There's just a little problem. I can only use the Persona inside the Metaverse, but we need to do the broadcast-hijacking from outside the Metaverse. That's easy to solve, though. I'll use my Persona in the Metaverse and code the required software, then use the software on my normal computer outside the Metaverse. Easy peasy!"

It was a wonder how she could be so talkative when the subject was computers.

Skull looked at Crow. "Did you get what she said? I didn't but it sounds promising!"

"It isn't that hard to understand."

"Whoa, do you understand about hacking stuff too?"

Crow sighed in exasperation. "Not really, but what matters the most is, she means she'll use her Persona's powers to make a super program, then she'll download the program into her normal PC and use it outside the Metaverse to hijack the transmission."

"Ooo, I see! Cool!"

Oracle was mumbling to herself, lost in her own world. "I can have my Persona apply some processing effects to our voices to make them unidentifiable, and create 3D models of our silhouettes in our Phantom Thief costumes to show while we announce our move to the public..."

"We?" Fox was quick to catch her slip. "You will be talking as well? To the whole country?"

Oracle jumped and became nervous as she realized what she had said. "Gah! I... um... I'm n-not ready for that huge difficulty spike yet! I guess I'll j-just take care of the transmission..."

"Disappointing," Fox said. "For a moment, I thought you had fully overcome your communication problem, or that talking openly to the whole country would cause you to overcome it."

"Shut up, Inari!"

"Wait a moment." Crow interjected. "I know we're all excited about this, but we have been forgetting an important, obvious detail. Signal hijacking is illegal..."

Everyone deflated.

"Yes..." Queen admitted.

"Then... we can't do it?" Oracle sounded really disappointed.

"W-well... the mastermind wants to become the next prime minister. He got everything he wanted at this point, and at this rate, he'll win the elections. If he wins, he'll ruin this country!"

"Wait what? Prime minister!?" Joker gasped.

"We're against an evil politician, then?" Panther spoke.

"Hey, Joker, you were right!" Mona said proudly. "Remember back at the buffet, when we wondered what kind of person our biggest target would be? You had said it'd be an evil politician!"

Joker's mouth hung open for a second. "Did I actually say that?! I didn't even remember it anymore... but..."

"Your intuition is really something." Crow commented. "He's deceiving everyone with his politically-correct speeches. Exposing his crimes in a nationally-broadcast calling card would be the perfect way to show the whole country what kind of person he really is, but..."

"My... intuition? No, this can't be..." Joker kept muttering to herself.

"Whatever. If the broadcast's the best option, then we'll do it." Oracle's expression hardened. "I'll do everything so that no one can trace us. It'll be our most epic calling card ever!"

"Alright." Crow nodded determinedly at his decision. If worse came to worse, he would take the blame for the signal hijacking as well. "I'll select some of his worst statements and pass them over to you for the calling card." Crow hadn't listened to most of those recordings in a long time. He only hoped he could keep his sanity while trying to sort them through...

"I can't wait..." Oracle grinned mischievously, then became serious. "Hey... do those recordings also have, um... his order to cause a shutdown on..."

Oracle didn't manage to finish her sentence, but she didn't need to. Crow knew immediately who she was talking about. However, Fox did it. "Wakaba Isshiki, the Metaverse researcher. Oracle's mother."

Guilt was burning away at Crow's insides again, and he could only nod shakily in shame.

"Let's include that recording too." Oracle's words hurt in Crow's ears.

"Wouldn't this be a great way to prove Oracle's innocence?!" Mona spoke.

"Yeah!" Panther agreed. "Those guys from the organization made a fake suicide note and put the blame on Oracle for her mother's death. Her relatives believed it and began hating her!"

Skull added, "If her relatives hear the recording in the broadcast, they'll know that Oracle did nothing wrong!"

Crow was feeling worse by the second, but the Phantom Thieves had a good point. Proving Futaba's innocence in the national broadcast felt like the right thing to do.

"Oracle... I'm sorry. I'm very sorry to hear what you've gone through because of..." His voice shook and came out in a near whisper. Crow wanted to justify himself, say that the fake suicide note wasn't his idea, that he actually hadn't even known what the organization had done to close that case... but those would only sound like excuses, and what he had indeed done was inexcusable.

"Don't include your responses." Oracle's out-of-the-blue reply didn't seem to have anything to do with his apology.

"... Huh?"

"The audio. Don't include your responses. Only what he said." She clarified, and Crow gaped in confusion, unsure whether she had even heard his apology.

"Oracle. I-"

"And that's it." Oracle cut him off again. "Let's go home. I'm hungry!"

"Me too! Let's stop at Big Bang Burger!" Skull decided.

The others agreed, and no one paid any mind to Crow's apology attempts. In fact, he couldn't tell if Oracle was really hungry or if she only wanted to leave to avoid him.

---

Joker believed she understood it now. From Crow's reaction to the mention of Isshiki-san, the reason he kept hiding his identity might be something related to his guilt. Perhaps he was afraid of what Oracle might think if she were to find out her dear "lil' big bro" was actually the person who had killed her mother. Even Joker herself had needed some time to accept the notion that Crow was Akechi. Though she believed Oracle would also accept the truth once the shock was over. In fact, all the others probably would. Perhaps the most scared person in all of this was the poor detective himself... it looked like she would have to do something and quell his fears. Maybe, he would finally feel comfortable to reveal his identity once Oracle managed to say that she forgives him!

"Wanna come with?" Joker approached him and asked, even though she was sure of his answer.

Crow shook his head. "I'll stay here for a bit longer."

A plan began forming in Joker's head. "How much time is 'a bit longer?' Maybe 40 minutes?"

"Something like that."

"Ah, okay. Good luck with whatever you're doing. See you again!"

Akira and the others left the Metaverse, and headed to Big Bang Burger as planned. While they waited for their orders, Akira was mulling over the new information they got about the mastermind wanting to become prime minister.

"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!" The child Akechi from her dream had said.

That was a stunning coincidence. Was it her intuition? Everything from the dream couldn't be true, though, could it? If it were, then it would mean that the mastermind was Akechi's father. That would be shocking, to say the least.

The burgers arrived, and the Phantom Thieves started eating.

Yusuke took a bite of his burger. "Is it only my imagination, or does the burger taste different from before?"

Haru smiled proudly. "It's a new recipe! Now there's honesty inside!"She giggled. "Well, this is how Father joked about it. He has changed the products' recipes and the way he treats the workforse as part of creating a new image for the company. He even cornered some of the suppliers and made it clear that they would need to improve their products' quality to be able to continue doing business with Okumura Foods! He's also considering getting more smaller suppliers, as they are the ones that need more opportunities to grow. This is still in plans for the future, though."

"Awesome! Feels good to hear!" Ryuji spoke with his mouth full.

"Ryuji! Don't speak with your mouth full!" Ann chided him.

"If he were to spill something, at least he would be spilling honesty." Yusuke quipped.

"Crow is missing out again..." Futaba lamented.

"We should tell him about the new burger!" Ann suggested. "It wouldn't have been renewed if he hadn't helped us, right?"

"Yeah!" Akira nodded enthusiastically. It was exactly what she had been thinking. She had to give him a burger!

Makoto sighed. "What an odd conversation. I am still shocked at his professional secret agent abilities, meanwhile you guys are talking about having him try out a burger..."

"Ah, the stuff he's been doing is so cool!" Futaba made a whiny face. "I wish I could help him with his secret agent work..."

"I think he'd be happy if you were to tell him that." Akira gave her input.

Futaba shook her head. "Nope nope, he'd say he doesn't want me meddling in his work..."

"Uh, maybe, but if he says that, it's because he wants to protect you from getting in trouble. But I think deep down he'd be happy to know he has your support. You noticed his reaction when we were talking about your mom, right? What he did to her must've been weighing in his conscience a lot. He may be thinking you hate him for it. You need to show him your support to make him feel better!"

"He might be thinking that?" Futaba looked shocked. "Is this why Sojiro said I have to tell Crow that we forgive him, and that it can't be another person saying it?"

"Yeah, this has to be it. That must be a hard subject for both of you, but I'm sure you can sort it out!" Akira spoke encouragingly.

"I don't know when I'll manage it. I still don't feel confident about conveying my feelings..." Despite her words, a smile formed. "But at least I've finally managed to talk to Crow a bit today!"

"You're getting there!" Ann cheered her on. "Futaba, you can do it!"

"Yeah! I'll keep at it!"

They finished their burger. Before leaving, Akira looked at her phone. Around 25 minutes had passed since they left Mementos. She bought a burger for takeout, and they walked out of Big Bang.

Akira whispered to Futaba. "I'll drop by Mementos again and see if Crow's still there. Wanna come too? If he is, we can give him this burger together."

Futaba got nervous but agreed. Akira thought it was perfect. It would be a great opportunity for Futaba to train giving him a gift.

"Could someone take Morgana to Leblanc for me?" Akira asked. "Futaba and I will be around here for a bit longer."

"Yes, of course." Makoto answered.

Morgana came out of Akira's bag and went into Makoto's arms. "Okay. Akira, see you later."

Akira took Futaba back to Mementos. Hopefully, Crow would still be there. Since he would inevitably have to return to the entrance before leaving the Metaverse, she decided to wait.

A few minutes later, Crow teleported back to the entrance, much to her relief.

"... Joker?" He balked when he noticed them. "Oracle too...?"

"Yes!" Joker exclaimed. "It's been less than 40 minutes. I'm glad we could still catch you here."

Crow was taken aback. "You had asked because you intended to wait...? No, more importantly, why are you here?"

Joker nodded slightly to Oracle, who shyly took a step forward.

"This." Oracle reached the box with the burger out.

But Crow didn't take the box from her hand. He only stared in bewilderment. "Huh?"

"F-for you." Oracle spoke timidly.

"... What? Why?" Crow asked in confusion.

"'Cause you weren't there with us."

Crow was reactionless at the straightforward response, and his mouth opened and closed a few times without producing any word.

"Did you know that the recipe has changed? Now it has honesty inside!" Joker giggled. "Or so Noir said. Her father changed the products' recipes as part of the strategy to renew Okumura Foods' image. This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't helped us change his heart. So, there's that too. We believe you should experience the results for yourself."

"Oh, I-I see..." Crow seemed to relax a little.

Oracle reached the box out a bit further. "The burger's split in half. So, um, treat it like Joker gave you one half and I gave the other half."

Joker smiled brightly at the cuteness. "Yeah. Consume it with care, okay?"

"... Got it. Thanks." Crow replied awkwardly, and finally took the box from Oracle's hands.

Oracle gave him a sheepish smile, then spoke, also embarrassed. "I guess this is it for today... 'warefell!'"

Akira and Futaba came out of Mementos.

"I'm still nervous... did I do okay?"

Akira grinned from ear to ear and hugged Futaba. "You did great! The burger halves thing was sooo cute!"

"Think he got annoyed? What if he thought it was lame?"

"Nah. I think he was overwhelmed! In a good way. You might've caused an explosion of good feelings in his heart. He'll think about us when he eats that burger for sure!"

"Oh! Sounds awesome! This means I'm one step closer, right?"

"Maybe two."

"Great!" Futaba nodded determinedly to herself. "Alright! Now I only need to get that gift! Jack Frost doll, here I come!"

Akira smiled, both because Futaba was motivated, and because a Jack Frost doll would make for a very cute gift. Despite it being based on a mythical creature associated with cold, Akira was sure it would bring warm feelings to Akechi's heart.

---

Crow couldn't tell how long he stood there in Mementos with a blank stare and holding the burger box. Eventually, he absentmindedly left the Metaverse and boarded a train home.

Alone in the confines of his apartment, Akechi set the burger box on the table and spaced out again.

"The burger's split in half. So, um, treat it like Joker gave you one half and I gave the other half."

Those words from Futaba had almost made him cry. Despite the argument that the burger was for him to see the results of Okumura's change of heart, Futaba and Akira had been too kind, and right after they had talked about Isshiki-san's mental shutdown, too. This didn't feel right. Akechi's guilt and his fondness towards the two girls relentlessly fought inside him, and he didn't know what to feel anymore.

He decided to save the burger for dinner so that he wouldn't have to cook. At night, when he finally opened the box, Akechi couldn't help but smile at the two halves of the burger staring back at him. In the end, he still wasn't sure how to deal with his feelings, but there was one thing he was sure about: that one was the most delicious burger he had ever tried in his life.

---

A/n: more Akechi and Makoto bonding! I admit I like to have those two interact... and now Makoto is suddenly shipping Akechi and Akira too! To think this day would come... :P

Speaking of bonds, Akechi's Confidant rank ups in this chapter:

- Hierophant 6

- Priestess 8

- Judgement 6

I know from the Royal trailers that the Faith is the Arcana for Kasumi's Confidant. Kasumi isn't here (and probably won't be until I play Royal for myself and find out more about her), but when I had Elizabeth do the Tarot reading for Akira, I knew I had to sneak the Faith card in.

Speaking of the Royal trailers, the part where the envy gets the better of Crow and he yells, "I don't want your pity, and don't need your crumb cards!" was actually inspired by Akechi's lines in the Royal trailer. The moment I heard them, I wanted to have him snap at Joker like that at some point in the fic.

The other Phantom Thieves haven't found out Crow's identity just yet, but (spoiler alert!) next chapter, someone else will find out!