Sae marched down the corridor in the police station. There were multiple interrogation rooms in the building, but of course her little conversation with Akechi would happen in that one, presumably so the universe could rub her mistakes in her face some more.

An agent in a suit was standing by the door. "Hey, Niijima."

"Hello. He's waiting inside, yes?"

"Yup. And the camera still doesn't work, so if he were to, say, trip and hit his head on the table… nobody would know or mind."

"Just wait outside."

Goro was a bit startled by her entrance - deep down, he expected someone with a suppressed handgun and an edgy one-liner. The prosecutor closed the door behind herself and sat down on the other side of the table. "You're not beaten, drugged, barely conscious, or all at once. Good." She put a few blank sheets of paper and a pen in front of the detective. "We'll do it like this: write down the whole story and I'll ask some questions afterwards to fill in the blanks."

"Sounds reasonable," he said, then started writing. One page of slightly smudged testimony later, he broke the silence: "Can I… be honest for a moment?"

"The walls and the door should be thick enough."

"Good." He tapped the paper. "I'm morbidly curious - why the dejected face? You've survived, you've won, the bad guys get just desserts, and you're gonna move up in the world when this is over. What bothers you so much?"

"Well," she tented her fingers, "my sister risked her life as a vigilante because I'm bad at my job, the supernatural assassin terrorizing Tokyo was right under my darn nose, and now I need to ask said assassin to not mention said sister is a vigilante in his testimony."

"Your sister? Really?" he responded with mock shock. "I didn't notice her. We were mostly using noms-de-guerre, and I only know the identity of the leader - Mao Tomokawa, an unassuming third-year from Kosei High." A sly smirk appeared on his face. "Of course, he was a rather secretive type, so maybe that was just another pseudonym."

Sae just shot him a nonplussed glance.

"Seriously though," he added, "I didn't disclose the identities of anyone in conversations with Shido, and downplayed the contributions of people besides 'Tomokawa' because of… let's call it envy-fueled tunnel vision. My lips are sealed, and if no other evidence points at them, they're safe for now."

"Good. I… don't have much trust in the justice system right now." She sighed, annoyed. "But I'm a part of the problem, aren't I? I took this case in spite of my personal involvement and I'm now colluding with a contract killer to keep it hidden."

The detective put away the pen. "Do you think that what the Thieves have done was evil or unjust?"

She mulled over her answer for a moment, but then responded with a firm: "No. Based on what I was told, they had no other choice. I could complain about the ethics of brainwashing people into guilt, but the alternative was letting unpunishable villains destroy the lives of innocents."

"Or killing said villains." Sae shot him another glare. "I just wanted to point out there was a third option, for completeness's sake. But yeah, you're not doing what you're doing now to cover up anything immoral - on the contrary, you're doing this to spare innocent people from getting dragged around by the system."

Sae felt uncomfortable with his approval. "I don't know. I feel like I'm just looking for excuses. A month ago I rationalized interrogating a drugged and tortured teenager to myself."

"He needed you to listen to him for his plan to work," Goro pointed out. "And I would have killed him if you wouldn't have."

"I didn't know that at the time," she countered. "I just wanted to salvage my own career and ended up dragged along on a redemption arc. And, as we both know, redemption is a lie and people don't change."

Goro realized his little bit of performative self-loathing from a few days before had ended up ricocheting at a comparatively innocent person and smiled awkwardly. "Whoever said that was full of shit."

"He also said something about wallpapering over with dark jokes."

"Look, I wasn't talking about you at the time, just…" He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I don't know. I have a bit of a double standard problem, where I'm willing to shrug off things done by others that I wouldn't forgive myself."

"Like shooting someone in the face in this room?"

"He didn't mean to do that!"

Sae barely stifled a chuckle.

"But yeah, I was wrong back then. Hell, even a lost cause like me is capable of doing something right. I retrieved documents from Shido's office, saved Sojiro from those goons, helped bring down Mementos… and even buried the hatchet with the Thieves." He paused. "I changed for the better. Not enough to atone for my past, but changed nonetheless. All it took was an opportunity and willingness to take it. You have both of those things and your mistakes were probably of a smaller caliber than mine. You'll manage."

"Thank you." Pause. "No, really, that was…" the prosecutor tried to find the right word, "weirdly inspirational?"

"I'm as shocked as you are." He picked up the pen and returned to writing.

"...and so I turned myself in." Shido finished.

Sae kept making notes during the interrogation - though it would be more fair to call it a monologue. "That was more exhaustive than I anticipated, sir."

"Honestly, I'm just hoping cooperating with authorities will make the guilt less unbearable," he admitted. "How do normal people deal with that?"

"I don't know," she answered, truthfully, then flipped through her notes. "I didn't want to interrupt you earlier, but there's something you didn't dwell on - namely, the identity of your assassin. Despite their large role in your ascent to power, you didn't mention any details about them."

"Unfortunately, I can't help you here." Shido adjusted his glasses. "He - I assume it was a he - was rather secretive about his identity. We communicated through a burner phone that was destroyed after the Thieves had changed my heart. I was paying him via underlings leaving cash in Shibuya garbage bins."

"Here's the thing, sir: two days ago, the assassin had turned himself in, and he claims you two interacted in person, repeatedly."

"I see." To the prosecutor's chagrin, if he was taken aback by that comment, nothing about him betrayed that fact. "But how can you be sure he's who he claims to be?"

"He knows a lot about… let's call it 'practical applications of cognitive psience'. I also have witnesses that saw you two interact regularly."

"Who the hell are you…" Sae was somewhat impressed by how convincingly he acted out the confusion, followed by realization. "You think that woss-his-name, Adachi, was moonlighting as a professional killer?"

"Who?"

"That teenage detective celeb, Tohru Adachi."

"Goro Akechi."

"Whatever. We talked multiple times about what it'd take for him to endorse me in the elections, but he demanded too much cash for that, so I told him to get bent. And he infiltrated the Thieves to get their leader arrested, that's enough to find out about the 'practical applications' you mentioned."

The prosecutor found herself frustrated by the sheer audacity of that statement. "And why on earth would he claim responsibility for multiple murders?"

"For attention?" Shido shrugged. "He didn't seem right in the head… Why would I know, I'm not his…" He paused. A ridiculous stray idea bounced around in his head and he lost his train of thought. "Anyway, don't go there," he muttered. "I am cooperative about all my transgressions, and will continue to be as long as you drop this particular subject."

Prodding the politician wouldn't produce any payoff, so she sighed and said "Fine." She flipped back to her notebook's last page, ready to make more notes. "One last thing and we'll call it a day." She gestured at an unopened bottle of still water. "Have a drink, we've been here for hours."

"No, thanks."

"Okay then." A pen clicked in her hand. "What do you know about the… entity that manifested in Tokyo on December the 12th?"

Shido raised an eyebrow. "…absolutely nothing? I mean, why would I?"

"Apparently that entity has granted powers to both the leader of the Phantom Thieves and Akechi, or so claims the latter."

"That's… that's…" He seemed surprised by the revelation, and it looked distinct enough from the fake befuddlement from a bit earlier to appear genuine. "What? Why? I… I know nothing about it, honest."

The pen clicked again and she put it away. "Alright then, that's it for today from my end. Unless you want to add something."

"Just this:" Shido tented his fingers and leaned forward a bit. "You will let him go, or else-"

"Or else what?" she snapped. "Your enforcer has betrayed you, your party is collapsing, you have no resources to draw from, and the Thieves made sure nobody can pull off a scheme like yours in the future."

The two tried to stare one another down, and, after a long pause, Shido quietly surrendered.

Sae gathered her notes. "If you don't have anything else to add, the officer will lead you back to your cell."

"No. No, I do not."

Makoto opened the door and invited a visitor in. "Hey, come in. Sae's already waiting."

Joker

Just Akira now, if you please.

Okay then, just Akira took off his hoodie and hung it on one of the hooks on the wall.

"Tea, coffee?" the president offered. "Fair warning, we are not in Leblanc, I only have instant stuff."

"Tea then. Hold the sugar."

The two walked into the main room. The prosecutor was sitting by the table, with a lot of papers in front of her. "Welcome," she outstretched her hand and the brunette shook it. "Thanks for coming."

"Not like I had anything better to do." He sat opposite her, and Makoto marched away to prepare the beverages. "What do you want from me?"

She gestured at the documents. "These are testimonies from Shido and Akechi. I have already noticed some discrepancies between them and what the Thieves told me, but I want you to read them as well and hopefully pick up something I missed."

Akira picked up the thicker stack, with MSh written on the top of the first page with a highlighter. "You know I know little to nothing about Goro's side of the story and nothing about Shido's, don't you?"

"Yes, but considering the uniqueness of the case and no witnesses to Metaverse-related events, any bit of information helps."

He flipped through the pages, skimming the contents. Shido must have been absurdly exhaustive, because the testimony covered what seemed like every single transgression he had committed in the past few years, in roughly chronological order. There were enough dates strewn through the text so that maybe, just maybe, he could find the event that cascaded into him becoming a vigilante.

"Okay, this is minor, but…" He showed the relevant passage to Sae. "He mentioned that time he sued me, and claimed I pushed him away to defend a woman he was harassing."

"And you didn't?"

"He was completely sloshed and tripped on his own feet." He was unable to suppress a faint scowl. "Though honestly, if I knew how this would end, I would've broken his sunglasses on his stupid face."

"Any relevant comments?"

"Lemme just…" He flipped to the end, trying to locate the other part relevant to him, namely Shido ordering his death. He found it and his eyes widened a bit. "What the…"

Makoto put a large mug of hot tea in front of him. "What is it?" Akira poked the relevant fragment with his finger. "'Conveniently," she read out loud, "that celebrity detective kid got the leader of the Phantom Thieves arrested, so I had him pressured into signing a confession and then my assassin faked his suicide - or so he claimed, but I'm getting ahead of myself.'"

"Yes, this is one of the discrepancies," Sae spoke up to fill in. "For some reason, Shido pretends Akechi and his assassin are two different people. Is this just a side effect of his change of heart or something else?"

"I have a theory." Makoto sat down next to her sister. "On two occasions, we attempted to talk down a specific person's Shadow without taking their Treasures." She glanced at her sister. "It worked remarkably well in both cases."

"And you've done the same thing with Shido?"

"No, we followed standard procedure," Akira spoke up, "But later, we stumbled into his banished Shadow in the depths of Mementos, and apparently Goro ended up telling him that he treated him better than most other people, because the bar was that low. It seemed to leave an impression on Shido."

The prosecutor internalized that for a moment.

"Yeah, nothing else to add, as expected." He put away the stack and grabbed a slimmer one, labelled GA. "I might be more helpful with…" He raised an eyebrow. "Hm."

"That sounds promising."

Akira turned to Makoto. "Here's how he described his awakening:" He ahemed and read out loud: "'I don't remember the details. Flashes of blue, debilitating pain, and a deep, commanding voice asking if I am ready to enact vengeance on those that have wronged me. I muttered something in agreement and lost consciousness. I woke up in Mementos, near the entrance, with access to two Personas and the Metaverse app on my phone.'"

"Is that weird?" the prosecutor asked.

"Some parts of it are," her sister replied. "I mean, the debilitating pain and the resolve to carve your own path match my experience, but there's something off about his laconism. I still remember my awakening in great detail, for instance. And the voice I heard sounded just like mine."

"Same on both counts," Akira nodded. "And the two Personas are iffy too. Most people have one, and even Wild Cards like me only get one during their awakening and gather more later."

Silence followed, broken only by the sound of pages turning. Nothing else in that testimony seemed surprising to Akira in retrospect. Finding out Shido was his father, approaching him to gain his trust and backstab him, realizing that the Mementos wetwork was enjoyable and carrying on, meeting the Thieves, joining the Thieves, betraying and 'killing' their leader, realizing he was duped, confronting the Thieves in Shido's Palace, joining them, and most of the things described in this story - without details that could identify or incriminate the Thieves or their associates, obviously.

"I'm surprised he actually owned up to the good stuff," Akira remarked.

"I wanted a complete picture, or at least as complete as possible," the prosecutor explained. "And besides, the journalist that wrote the article exposing Shido admitted she received the documents from Akechi, and we've had a witness report that someone vaguely resembling him was seen among the Thieves on the day of reckoning." She glanced at Akira. "Both of them unprompted, I assume."

Akira was unfazed. "Hey, if that wasn't what happened, they wouldn't have testified." He put aside the documents and picked up his mug. "Nothing to add. As far as I know, that's how it all went down. Any questions?"

"One, if I may." Sae idly drummed her fingers on the table. "Akechi claimed that all his actions were done of his own free will, but… well, the Thieves' actions established a precedent for changing people's personalities via the Metaverse, and the whole thing was masterminded by a mad god powerful enough to influence the entirety of Tokyo. Is there a chance that said god somehow coerced Akechi into working for him?"

For a moment, Akira thought to just straight up lie and hope Makoto won't call him out, but decided against it. Sae deserved the truth and nothing but the truth. "There's always a chance, but I can't weigh in one way or the other. As I said, some details don't match our experiences."

The prosecutor sighed. "You know, I have no problems with Shido's case. He seemed unaware of that god's involvement, he admitted to committing serious crimes before the mental shutdowns began, and there's enough evidence for those to get him tried without issue. But with Akechi… how do you even know he caused the mental shutdowns and drove people berserk? Is there anything pointing at him besides his own confession?"

"Shadows of Madarame and Kaneshiro mentioned an individual in a black mask scouting their Palaces," Akira replied. "Goro used to wear something to that effect."

"And there was also a cognition in Shido's Palace, confirming that the real deal worked with him."

"Nothing I can present without getting one of you to expose themselves then." Another sigh. "All I have is Akechi's own testimony, filtered through his self-loathing, contradicted by his handler, and claiming that in the end he saved Japan alongside the Thieves. Not only taking this to court feels like a waste of time, energy and resources, I'm beginning to wonder if I should do that."

"This is your job and duty," Akira tried to sound reassuring. "It's not like you can just let him go."

Makoto glanced at her sister, asking without words if she can point something out, and getting a nod in response. "The thing is… she can."

The boy raised an eyebrow, "I beg your pardon?"

"Where prosecution is deemed unnecessary owing to the character, age, and environment of the offender, the gravity of the offense, and the circumstances or situation after the offense, prosecution need not be instituted," Sae helpfully quoted. "Article 248 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Even without possible supernatural coercion, there are enough doubts and unique elements to this case that letting him go wouldn't raise an eyebrow."

"You know," the president said, "as much as I don't want to say it near Akira, letting Goro go just because prosecuting him would be a hassle feels… wrong."

"She has a point," the brunette reluctantly admitted. "And it's anticlimactic too."

"It's not just about the inconvenience. As I said, at the end of the day he risked everything alongside you to fix this mess. That has to count for something." She turned to Akira. "I suppose it all boils down to this: is Goro Akechi redeemable? If I let him go, will he remain on the straight and narrow?"

"I…" Akira lowered his head, "I don't know, honestly. I mean, yes, he can't abuse Mementos anymore, and yes, he has changed for the better, but… he doesn't have anywhere to go, and he mentioned that he dabbled in petty crime before this whole mess."

"And if he gets sentenced, he still won't have anywhere to go after he gets out, and will be burdened with a criminal record, making reintroduction to society even more of a tall order."

After a moment to consider his options, Akira reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "I have an idea, but it requires me to call in a favour."

In Leblanc, a cell phone rang.