2020-10-01 edit: Changed the chapter's ending to pace the deescalation a bit better.

Haru and Akechi were sitting on a bench at the Yongen-Jaya station, waiting for a train to Shibuya. The station was relatively empty, with only a few people standing around, mercifully not noticing nor caring about a celebrity amongst them. The girl finished typing a long message for the remaining Phantom Thieves and put her phone away.

"So, you need a place to stay, and so do Joker and Oracle. And Mona too, come to think of it."

"Uh huh," Akechi muttered, staring at the wall on the other side of the tracks.

"There's a hotel near the airport line, in Ōta. Some Okumura Foods workers stayed there on business trips, and it was good value for money. We could put you all there for a few days, and Joker could keep an eye on you."

"Uh huh."

"I have some pocket change and he has some leftovers from pawning Mementos loot. I guess you have some rainy day funds as well."

"Uh huh."

"So we have a plan." She glanced at him, annoyed. "Go to Ōta, get a room, stab you in the face."

Akechi returned the glance. "Believe it or not, I was listening the whole time. I just have no meaningful feedback. Are the other two fine with that plan?"

"I don't know yet, I've recapped what happened to them in a text message. They should call aft-" With convenient timing, Haru's phone rang, and she picked up the call. "Hello?"

"Are you okay?!" Ryuji screamed on the other side. "Did Shido's goons hurt you? Did they hurt Akechi?! Please say they punched him or somethi-!"

Some scuffle could be heard, and after a moment Makoto's voice was heard on the other side. "We got your message. At least, I assume it was yours."

"Yes, it was. You're out of the Palace now, aren't you?"

"Just barely," Makoto sighed. "The ship went down with the captain and we only got out because Ryuji got us a lifeboat."

"YOU BEAT ME UP FOR THAT!"

"We were worried you died there, you idiot!"

"STOP SCREAMING!"

"I am so glad to hear you pulled it off," Haru interjected. "Can someone pass the phone to Joker?"

After a moment, she heard a familiar voice on the phone. "Hm?"

"Hey. You're able to reach the Otorii station with Oracle and Mona, yes?"

"Uh huh."

"Full sentence," she snapped.

"Yes, I am able to. I will look up the itinerary."

"Lovely. Now, there's also a matter of what to do with Akechi, and, well, if you want to play warden for him."

"Get him on the phone."

Haru passed the device to her side. "Good evening, Joker." the detective said. "For the record, my suggestion is to throw me under a subway train."

The guy on the other side politely ignored that remark. "Heard you helped Sojiro out when Shido's stooges came a-knocking."

"It's nothing, really. He wants me dead, and you…" he glanced at Haru, "…well, you also want me dead, but for a much better reason."

Sigh on the other side. "Yes, we dragged your unconscious body around and nursed you to health just to murder you in the real world," he said, bitter, before returning to the default friendly tone. "Do you want to talk about it? We could hang out for a few days, walk through your issues over coffee and curry."

"I do not need your pity," Akechi growled.

"Then I'll just cook you coffee and curry, no strings attached."

He didn't need them. He had enough cash lying around for a rainy day and could've hidden by himself. Shibuya was crowded enough for him to lose Okumura in the crowd after a running start out of a train. Or was it? One of his many, many mistakes was underestimating the Thieves as a group, and someone who can swing a polearm as hard as she did probably could keep up with him when push comes to shove.

Laying low for now seemed like the most reasonable idea.

"Fine. I'll stick around you all so you can keep watch on me."

"Awesome!" Akechi could almost see the smile through the phone line. "See you in Ōta then!" He disconnected.

The detective handed the phone back to its owner. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Uh h- I mean, yeah, sure."

"Am I annoying you with the suicidal ideation?" he asked.

"Somewhat."

The hotel's interior was unremarkably dull - dark gray floor coverings, white walls and matching doors. The one thing worth noting was that the doorknobs had sensors on them, above the expected keyholes. Haru put a blank plastic card to one of them, and it unlocked the door with a short, sharp beep. She then turned the doorknob and opened the door, allowing Joker (with Morgana in the bag), Akechi and Futaba to enter.

"Um, you said we're renting a room," the cat peeked out. "Not a whole apartment."

"That was the plan, but then it turned out Joker had enough money on him to pay upfront for two weeks of a serviced flat."

"Shadows drop lots of cash," the brunette shrugged.

The corridor was humble - a coat rack, a full length mirror, and five doors. The leftmost three were leading to separate bedrooms, each with a twin-sized bed, a desk with a chair, and a window pointed towards the street. The fourth door was leading to a bathroom with a shower booth, a sink and tiled floors. The fifth was the toilet, you know how those look. To the right of the doors, a passage was leading to a spacious living room with a kitchenette, a dining table, a couch and a TV hanging on the wall. The walls matched the corridor's, but the floor outside of the bathroom and toilets were covered with dark wooden panels.

"Whoa." Futaba was mildly impressed.

Haru put the entry cards on the table. "I think you can take it from here. I'm going to head home now."

"See ya!" Joker waved. "And thanks for the recommendation!"

The girl left the flat. Akechi felt that was the right moment to eat the takeaway he had gotten earlier. He sat by the table and opened the container.

"Is that Sojiro's curry?" Futaba popped behind his back with a scowl on her face.

"Uh huh." He took an attached plastic fork and mixed the sauce and the rice together.

"Tastes good, huh?"

"Uh huh."

Futaba frowned. "Do you know whose recipe it is?"

"…your dad's?"

"No. My mom's. Wakaba Isshiki."

The fork froze in the air, between the container and his mouth. The name did not ring a bell, but the tone was a massive clue. What was he supposed to say to someone whose mother he had murdered and didn't even remember because it wasn't out of the ordinary at the time? 'I'm sorry' was out of the question, it was way too late for apologies. A joke about his own hollowness could've broken the tension, but could've also make her angry about trying to counter her suffering with his, and people were getting fed up with that schtick already. And it's not like he didn't deserve hi-

"Is he frozen?" Futaba asked Joker. "Does he need a three-finger salute?"

"Do you, erm… want to finish this?" Akechi blurted out.

The geek yanked the fork and the container away from him, all while giving him a death glare. Maintaining it, she started nibbling on the cold curry.

"One portion of curry isn't much for dinner." Joker piped up, looking into the kitchenette cupboards. "I've got enough kitchenware to cook up more, but we'd need to go to the store for foodstuffs."

"We?"

"You and me, Akechi." He shook the sports bag on his back. "Morgana, stay with Futaba for a moment."

The two walked out of the room, then went downstairs - 78 steps, Akechi counted - and out of the hotel building, in total silence. They marched down the street towards one of the supermarkets, and then Akechi finally growled "What do you expect? A tearful speech about how I regret my life up to this moment and will totally be besties with you forever and ever once we get past all the mom-and-pop-killing?"

Joker shook his head and reached into his pocket. Akechi expected a weapon of some sort, probably a swift and quiet one, but what came out was much smaller, tiny enough to fit in his palm. The brunette opened it, revealing…

"Shido's Treasure," Joker said. "I think you should have it."

The detective picked it up and inspected it, trying to find anything anomalous about it. "That's it? A legislator's pin?"

"Better than its original form," the brunette shrugged. "I can't imagine lugging around a large ship wheel."

"Speaking of," Akechi put it away. "I keep wondering why did you drag me out of Shido's Palace?"

"Why would we not do that?"

"I don't know," he scanned the surroundings, and noticing nobody within earshot, he went on, quietly, "because I'm an assassin with blood of your team's parents on my hands? And yours, while we're at it."

Joker did the same thing before continuing, "Eh, if I held a grudge at everyone that shot me in the face…"

"How many people did that?"

"Well, just you."

Akechi rolled his eyes. "Stop joking around. I bring absolutely nothing to your stupid quest for 'justice'. I am an active hindrance. I could backstab you again at any second."

"But will you?"

"I could."

Joker stopped and leaned against the wall. "But will you? What would you gain from that?"

Akechi turned to him. "More fame, for instance. Recapturing the Phantom Thieves' leader after the police botched the job by letting them escape is no small potatoes."

"Yeah, because celebrity life obviously made you happy. That's why the first thing you said to me after waking up was 'please kill me'."

"You are awfully talkative today," Akechi scowled.

"It's because the medium changed," Joker shrugged. "I'm no longer an extension of a video game player, which allows me to have a more defined personality and more dialogue - and an occasional fourth wall break as a nod to my role in the source material."

"…what are you on about?"

"Nothing," he waved him off. "You want an answer to why we pulled you out?" He adjusted his glasses. "When Kunikazu died…"

"When I killed him."

"We didn't know that at the time." Joker's expression changed subtly. "We were celebrating the succesful heist… and watched his press conference live…" A sigh. "I still remember everyone's faces. The anger. The disbelief. Wondering what went wrong in the Palace, what we overlooked. Watching Futaba lock up 'cause her mother died the exact same way…"

"To be fair though," Akechi opened his mouth, "Okumura had that coming. You've heard how he trea-"

"He did NOT deserve to die!" the brunette raised his voice, and the detective recoiled, startled. "And neither do you, you…!" He restrained himself, took a breath to calm down a bit, and went back to the hushed tone. "It isn't about removing the bad guys and calling it a day. If it was about that, I would've ganged up on Kamoshida with Ryuji and bashed his head with a hammer or something. It's about making them change for the better. I've managed to do that without killing people and I don't plan to break the streak." Pause. "And I will not take shit from you, but I will not leave you for dead either, even if that means more chances for bullets to the face. End of conversation."

He marched away, towards the store. After a moment, Akechi followed. No more words were exchanged before the two returned to the hotel.

Akechi was lying on his bed and playing with his phone when someone knocked on his room's door. "Come in?"

Joker walked in, carrying a bowl. "Hey, I brought you curry. Could you please eat in here? I don't want to upset Futaba any more today."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." He took the bowl from the brunette and started eating. Even without his stomach's continuous demands for anything edible, it was warm and tasty and yummy, and he found himself rapidly shovelling it in his mouth with a provided spoon.

"Are you enjoying it?"

He swallowed. "Slightly."

The brunette sighed. "Sorry for snapping at you earlier today. It was a long and tiring day."

"Eh," he waved him off.

"Please don't eh me. We'll probably end up stuck here for at least a few days, the least I can do is be civil, and ask for the same."

The spoon scraped the bottom of the now empty bowl. "Continue supplying me with such delicious meals and I might as well behave."

"Fuck it, I'll take it for now," he said, taking the dirty vessel from him and turning to leave the room. "Night, Akechi."

He loudly closed the door behind himself. The detective lied back down and returned to playing with his phone.