Joker came across the oddest sight as he ascended from the depths of Mementos following the revival of Wakaba's shadow and time spent hunting down shadows to brainwash. As he reached the entrance of Mementos he came across a tiny little boy in a grey parka with tiny grey boots, and black pants, his boots and parka covered in dark grey stars and moons. The child's hair looked like someone had pasted a grey cracked egg-shell atop it.
This wasn't what was making the sight odd, and nor was it the sight of a child-sized car with a tower of stuff strapped to the back. He'd call it junk but there seemed to be suitcases, clothes and even an umbrella that would refute that.
No, what made the sight weird was the giant floating flower-bubble thing that the child was observing.
"Hmmm, is this the right one this time?"
The child proceeded to touch the flower-bubble, the whole thing flashing slightly as it morphed into… a glass of some unknown orange liquid akin to orange juice. The little egg-shell boy then proceeded to drink said orange liquid. "Tasty," egg-shell child hummed gleefully as he drained the liquid.
Joker wasn't too sure to make of the strange child. He seemed harmless enough… but for some reason, this 'child' felt… strange… familiar almost but Joker was certain he'd never met him. He couldn't put his finger on it.
Joker approached the small egg-shell child.
"Oh? I thought I could feel something strange for a second…" the egg-shell child hummed as he finally realised there was another person. "Who are you?"
Joker almost said his name but caught himself at the last second, instead choosing to turn the question on the egg-child. "It's customary to introduce yourself before asking for someone's name. Would you be able to tell me yours?" Akira asked as he crouched down so that they were on equal standing. He didn't feel any sense of danger from the child.
"Oh, sorry about that!" egg-child apologized cheerfully. "I didn't know it was customary for a human to introduce itself before asking another human for its name. Thanks for that!"
If that didn't send warning signals to Joker, he wasn't sure what would. The child certainly didn't feel like a shadow but if had to put his finger on it… this child seemed almost like Morgana in some weird sense.
Joker gave a small smile, "No worries…"
"Oh right! My name's Jose! I'm looking for flowers!" the egg-child, Jose introduced himself.
Joker's eyes drifted to where that flower had been floating. If he recalled correctly there certainly had been bubble-like things floating down deeper within Mementos, but in his haste to get to Wakaba he'd completely ignored them.
"Are those flowers special?" he asked Jose curiously to which the Jose nodded happily.
"Mhmm! I'm collecting them for my research. I'm studying humans!" Jose explained with a smile. "Those flowers are bits and pieces of human thought floating around! I can get so much information from them!"
Joker was entirely unsure what to say there. For some reason after all the things he'd been through studying by drinking magic flower juice seemed… wrong? Interesting? He wanted to give it a try?
"Hey, would you mind helping me with my research?" Jose asked suddenly breaking Joker from his train of thought.
Joker looked at Jose, "You'd like me to collect flowers for you, I assume?"
"Mhmm!" Jose nodded. "Of course, my studies have shown me that something of equal value must be given in return… I find all kinds of things while exploring if you want we can trade if you'd like?"
Joker thought about it… but ultimately shook his head. "I'm afraid I already have more items than I know what to do with. But… do you have money?" Joker honestly felt silly about asking a child for money but, well, this was Mementos and he knew he'd be needing more money in the future.
Jose smiled but shook his head. "I don't carry human currency on me but I can help you get more money here in Mementos if you'd like!" he said while taking out a large squeaky hammer toy.
Joker smiled with a nod and held out his hand.
Jose looked at it in confusion.
"This is a handshake; two humans clasp each other's hands and shake them together for a variety of reasons. In our case, it's to display that a deal has been accepted," Joker explained as he noticed Jose's expression.
"Ah!" Jose's face lit up in glee. "My studies have been updated, thank you for your assistance! It's greatly appreciated!" Jose clasped Jokers hands and they shook.
Joker felt time freeze.
His heart stopped.
I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
that shall free thy shattered soul.
With the birth of the Aeon Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…
Joker let out a true smile.
"I'll be glad to help you out Jose," he took Jose's child-sized hands into his own and shook it as the egg-child smiled back.
"I'm glad to hear it! Here, this one I'll give for free!" Jose withdrew his hand and took out his hammer and crouched down till he was lower than Joker's own crouching position before patting the ground.
"Here we go." Jose nodded to himself.
Joker stayed silent as he watched the egg-child get to work.
Jose looked up at him, "I'll be changing the cognition of Mementos. This place has things like what you human call "Pressure Points." So, if I do this..." he explained as he rose his squeaky hammer with both of his hands high above his head.
And slammed it down.
BONK!
The resulting recoil from the squeaky hammer almost sent Jose falling to the ground.
It was still for a moment before Joker could feel it, Mementos shaking starting from small rumble to a violent tunnel-collapsing quake. All-too-soon it stopped.
"There," Jose nodded in satisfaction. "That should change it for you."
Joker was normally one not to take things at face value but in this instance, he was willing to.
"Thank you, Jose. I'll make sure the next time we meet I have some flowers for you," Joker said before raising a hand and ruffling the top of Jose's head, idly he noted that his hair was actually more like a helmet in terms of feeling, "Good job, Jose."
Standing up and allowing his knees to crack from crouching for so long, Joker exited Mementos, his pendant shining briefly before he disappeared from the collective unconscious of humanity.
Back in Mementos Jose rubbed the top of his head where Joker ruffled it, a tiny hand resting upon a grey egg-shell head.
"Good… job…?"
Aeon Arcana – Rank 2!
As Akira returned home it occurred to him that finding the real Wakaba Isshiki was quite literally impossible to even with all of the powers at his disposal. Mementos and the real world no matter how close they were to each other were still nonetheless separate.
For one, he was pretty sure that Wakaba still worked as a private researcher that only Sojiro knows where. And second, the only thing he knew about her death was that she threw herself onto the street in front of Futaba and got hit by a vehicle, the exact specifications of the detail foggy since at the time he was more focused on helping Futaba.
Little details like that were easy to miss.
Akira looked down at the pendant on his chest and grasped it, hoping for some kind of signal. It had helped him enter Mementos even when he shouldn't have been able, distorting the reality of the world within the pendant and this world.
But the pendant laid inert in his palm.
Letting it go he sighed as he sunk into the plush depths of his new mattress in his new house. Cleaned after a warm shower he'd all but thrown himself onto the bed.
He'd forgotten for a moment how exhausting exploring Mementos was, the toll of using a Persona transferred over to the real world after all and the use was mentally taxing.
Silence.
It bothered him, the silence. Reminded him.
Akira shot up for his phone, quickly scrolled through the paltry music list he owned and set it on repeat. An old album full of piano music resounded through the room from the tinny speakers of his phone. He set his phone back down before doing the same and reclining into the sheets.
Taking deep breaths Akira was asleep within minutes.
That night, Akira dreamt of nothing.
It was around three weeks later did Akira's world tip on its axis.
Literally.
Akira had been in the middle of setting up speakers in his room that he'd brought after being sick of his phone's terrible speaker quality, along with setting up a music streaming app for his phone before the pendant hanging between his chest burned and his vision went sideways before going right-ways up
Akira scrambled to put on his shoes and a coat before he'd flung himself out the door. Once more Ongyo-Ki had thrown itself to the forefront of his mind and he suddenly knew what had happene- no… what was going to happen.
All the while his pendant burned, no longer the cold comforting feeling it had once been but a burning urgency, a demand for Akira to move.And move he did.
He didn't know how long he'd been running for.
He'd skipped the trains entirely, instead choosing to stay in a dead sprint. The pendant was molten hot now. His body moved like the wind as a once fit body began to move at peak efficiency, little wasted movement as Ongyo-Ki helped, little urgings here and there all to make sure he arrived on time.
He didn't know where he was going.
But he did.
No, he didn't!
Yes, he did!
No, he didn't!
Before he knew it, Akira was somewhere in Shinjuku, on the other end of Shinjuku away from the red-light district and it was here he saw them. He watched as Futaba pulled insistently at her Mother's coat, Wakaba ignoring her as pale sweats dripped down her face, the whites of her eyes visible.
Akira watched as a large truck sped through the green light, the same light that held the crossing that Futaba and Wakaba were at. Akira clutched at his chest as lava flowed through his veins, a burning pain consuming him as he watched Wakaba fling herself into the oncoming traffic.
With a screeching thud, the truck struck Wakaba with enough force to kill her on impact.
Akira watched as Futaba cried and grieved.
Akira watched as people gasped in horror and the authorities were called.
Akira watched as both Futaba and Wakaba's corpse were removed and after half an hour Shinjuku moved on as usual.
Akira took shaky steps forward.
Akira approached the figure on the ground, people around them seemingly ignoring her existence.
Lava pulsed through his veins as he picked up Wakaba Isshiki, heart pumping with joy as her chest rose and fell with each intake of air. Bloodstained her clothes were, but otherwise, she was fine, no broken ribs or injuries to be seen. Her eyes were closed and she breathed rhythmically.
Almost as if she was asleep.
It took all of Akira's strength to not weep in joy, instead choosing to move into an empty alleyway. The moment he did so the lava coursing through his veins vanished and the red-hot glow that had taken ahold of his pendant did the same.
Akira's quickly checked her vitals just like Tae had taught him as he placed her on the ground. Pulse rate was normal, and consistent deep breathes. All typical signs of deep sleep.
Akira felt his body sag to the ground in relief.
He'd done it.
He'd made sure Wakaba Isshiki died.
As far as reality was concerned Wakaba Isshiki was dead and her research would soon be stolen. Akira took a gamble and it had paid off, just like it had with Akechi and letting him kill her shadow.
The cold sweat that formed on Akira's neck broke.
He'd gambled the fate of an entire reality just so one woman could live… Akira could feel his hands shake slightly as he picked up his phone.
Just how much more was he going to gamble?
"Hello, Tsuda-san…? I need you to help hide someone. I'll pay you handsomely."
Tsuda was sure as shit now this Kurusu kid was a murderer.
The moment Kurusu had asked him to help hide someone he'd fully been expecting to find out the kid had murdered one of his men and that the call was some sort of sick joke. So imagine his surprise when he rocked up at the kid's residence with Onoi in tow in the dead of night only to find out the kid did actually want to hide someone.
"Is there some sort of story behind her?" Tsuda nodded at the black-haired woman Onoi was dragging into the back seat of the car before sitting beside her.
"Call it a personal interest…" Kurusu murmured as he entered the front passenger seat with a briefcase. "She was gonna be killed, and I saved her."
Tsuda entered the driver seat and started up the engine. It didn't take a genius to tell the kid was holding his cards close to his chest. "She have a hit on her?" he asked for the sake of killing the silence but also partly out of curiosity.
…
"Not anymore, she doesn't…"
Ah… as far as anyone was concerned the woman in the back seat of his car was a dead woman. Which meant there was no longer a bounty on her.
Shame.
Well, either way, he was still making a hell of a deal just to hide her. "So, how long do you need her hidden for?" Tsuda asked as he drove to Yakuza territory.
"Three years, hidden deep, not a word. Full-care."
Tsuda nodded mind racing. "Coma?"
"Indeterminate sleep, unknown when she'll wake."
"It'll cost you…" Tsuda warned him for the sake of it.
"Good, it means you'll take this seriously…" Kurusu muttered as they approached a building.
Tsuda and Akira stepped out as the doors to the building opened. It was a squat two-story building but secretly it went eight floors underground, perfect for hiding. Exiting the doors were three women all in nurse attire along with two men in suits with a stretcher.
"VIP treatment people, long-term. Take good care of her and be careful!" Tsuda ordered as the two men lined up the stretcher with the sleeping woman and slid her into the stretcher. The three nurses did a quick check over, opening her eyes and checking the responsiveness of her pupils.
Quickly they ordered the men and Onoi to follow them. Tsuda and Kurusu followed behind at a slower pace to discuss business.
"As much as I want to do this cheaper, the price for this is going to be through the roof," Tsuda said truthfully. This building was primarily used for hiding people, the executives of their competitors and usually not in a kind manner, usually imprisoning them in the eight floors underground. There was also a side-use for the upper floors in that they were used to hide yakuza executives if a hit had been placed on them and they needed a long-term place to recover. It wasn't somewhere just anyone could stay.
"How much?" Kurusu asked as he walked.
"Ten-million yen a month," Tsuda replied with the slightest of flinches as he noticed a muscle under Kurusu's eye twitch ever so slightly. He hadn't missed the hidden signal his men had given him that Kurusu had weapons on him when they passed him to get the woman.
"Done," Tsuda was grateful he wasn't about to have his head blown out. It was damn near impossible for Yakuza to actually get their hands on firearms with the stringent laws in place, it was why they'd once used Iwai's realistic fake-weaponry to intimidate other gangs.
Tsuda had the feeling Kurusu wasn't carrying around a fake.
"I can pay fifty-million up front, five months," Kurusu held up his briefcase. Tsuda nodded as he exhaled heavily.
"Excellent, I'll tell my bosses as soon as possible," Tsuda nodded as they reached where the woman would be staying. Kurusu hadn't even told them her name which was good, the less they knew the less anyone could spill the beans.
The room they'd entered was modernly lavish with top-of-the-line medical equipment, higher quality than even most hospitals; each piece of machinery costing millions of yen. On-hand at any time were two people, a personal doctor and nurse for each VIP. Never mind the latest technology so that their VIP's could enjoy themselves along with room-brought personally cooked food by some of Japan's best chefs.
Tsuda's bosses were almost unwilling to allow a civilian to use such a commodity but money came before self-wishes and once a deal was struck it couldn't be broken.
"Impressive…" Kurusu murmured as he watched the woman get set up, the nurses taking over as they slowly inserted an IV into her arm hooked up to a saline solution along with a cardiac monitor connected to her chest.
One nurse moved towards the two. "Excuse me, but would you allow us some privacy to take care of our patient? We shall change her clothes into something more comfortable. We shall call you back shortly," she asked politely while waving towards a screen.
The two nodded.
"Anyone know about this place?" Kurusu asked to which Tsuda shook his head.
"Only people that know about this place are my bosses," Tsuda said. "I'm the only lieutenant that knows about this place since I've been with the group since the old family began making changes. Only other person that would know is an ex-yakuza out in Shibuya."
Tsuda was hesitant as hell even saying that last part.
"Munehisa Iwai, I presume?" Kurusu asked casually causing Tsuda to freeze at the mention of his oath-brother.
Tsuda nodded slowly.
Kurusu nodded in satisfaction. "Heard about him. Good man, trustworthy… I have no need to worry then."
The boulder that sat upon Tsuda's chest disappeared but it reminded him to be cautious. Even though Kurusu was fourteen he knew more than he let on… and it seemed he had some high connections if he knew about Iwai being from the old family.
The screen the two were standing behind swung open as the nurse pulled it away. "She's decent now," the nurse said, Kurusu flashing a charming smile at her causing a small blush to reach her cheeks. The other nurses giggled.
"I'll leave her in your care then," Kurusu nodded as he turned to Tsuda while holding out a hand.
Tsuda took it but stumbled as he was pulled close till Kurusu's lips were next to his ear.
"If I find out any harm comes to that woman… well, I'm sure you can figure it out yourself…" Kurusu whispered in his ears as Tsuda felt the barrel of a pistol push lightly against the lower-right of his ribcage, within the small room the sound of the hammer cocking back was easily audible.
Behind the two, metal scraping against leather rang out as the nurses held a knife each against Kurusu's jugular. Kurusu only smiled and stared Tsuda down as one knife bit down into his neck harshly but somehow against all reason only managed to barely pierce the skin of his jugular, a tiny trickle of blood dripping from the knife's edge down Kurusu's throat as he smiled at him.
"As crystal," Tsuda nodded as he ordered the women off, the three sheathing their knives in the sheathes around their upper thighs beneath their skirts. In a matter of seconds, the nurses were once more like a group of blushing schoolgirls.
Kurusu rose a brow at their quick change as he holstered the high-calibre pistol in the backside waistband of his jeans, the bulge of it covered by the blazer-jacket he wore. "At least I know she'll be safe at all times in case anyone hunts her down," he said before withdrawing a small bag with yen.
"Let's call this owed reparation, shall we?" he handed it to the nurses before turning to Tsuda, "That was just a display of my feelings towards this matter, I'm sure you understand."
"Yeah…" Tsuda massaged his ribs, the phantom pain of a gun digging into it threatening to blow his insides open was vividly clear, "I'll see to it personally that she's taken care of."
"Good man," Kurusu grinned with just a bit too many teeth, "I'll be checking in every now and then to make sure she's alright. If that's okay with you, of course?"
Tsuda nodded. He signalled to the three nurses to stay quiet on what happened in the room before escorting Kurusu out of the building.
At the end of the night, Tsuda was fifty million yen richer and had a couple of months shaved off his life out of fear. He winced and thought that maybe he'd need a fresh bottle of scotch and a bulletproof vest the next time he'd meet with Kurusu. The kid was already proving to be a long-term business client, and that was good and bad in every meaning of the term.
It had been around two weeks since Akira had been able to circumvent this reality's first Constant Event and since then he'd begun trying to get used to living in this world. Waking up in the mornings was strange.
For almost a year he'd gotten used to waking up to the comforting smell of coffee and curry, suffused by the slight smell of wood of Leblanc's attic. Now he had to get used to waking up to the smell of a new house and the sounds of a piano playing in the background as his speakers played throughout the night.
He had to get used to cooking his own food, to which he'd referred to newly bought textbooks, buy his own groceries and clean up after himself. Of course, he'd known how to do that even before Leblanc but now he was really living by himself, for himself. It felt wrong.
As he began his morning by making pancakes and low-quality coffee (he missed Leblanc which didn't even exist yet), he looked through his compendium at the Constant Events page.
Forging of Hope
Awakening of the Trickster
Reformation of Lust
Reformation of Vanity
Reformation of Gluttony
Reformation of Sloth
Death of Greed
Reformation of Envy
Reformation of Pride
Infiltration of Regression
Second Awakening of the Trickster
Even if these events were written slightly strangely compared to the initial one, it was still largely understandable. If what he was reading was correct, then the next thing he needed to look towards was when Morgana would be brought into existence in a bid by Igor.
Morgana forming from human hope occurred around a month before the school year started and the Trickster attended Shujin, so around two years from now. Two years of simply just existing. Akira wasn't entirely sure with what to do with his newfound lease in life. Sure, he'd ensure the aversion of Ruin but two years just existing till his purpose was continued?
He wasn't sure what to think.
He flipped the last of the large stack of pancakes as the coffee machine dinged that its duty was complete in making terrible coffee that could barely quantify as sludge. Sojiro had spoiled him for coffee.
~Ding Dong~
Akira tensed as the doorbell rang. Looking over the counter and into the hallway that led to the front door he paused as he closed his compendium, and shut off the stove. Quietly he tucked away the compendium into his back pocket and made sure that the Tyrant Pistol was on him.
Akira wasn't expecting anyone. He didn't even know anyone in this reality outside of the Yakuza now that he thought about it.
Ensuring that the pistol was on his person he slowly made his way to the front door. Just beyond the frosted glass of the front door, he could vaguely make out a singular figure standing there.
~Ding Dong~
One hand grasped the door handle while the other laid to rest on the Tyrant Pistol's grip, with a single movement he opened the door.
"Hello, I'm here regarding the roommate notice?" the figure asked as he looked down at Akira. "Um… this is the correct residence is it not?"
Ah… so that's why Akira had suddenly felt like pancakes for breakfast, it was strange for him to want something sweet in the mornings.
Goro Akechi sighed as he rang the doorbell to the fifth residence this month that he was visiting in hopes of finding accommodations. He loathed using his bastard father's contacts, much less any contacts that supported him but Goro had barely five-thousand yen to his name that he'd scrounged together when he came to Shibuya in search of Masayoshi Shido.
Finding out the true and uncaring nature of his father turned the gut-wrenching hatred for his father into something truly foul.
He swore if this one turned him away just like the last four had, he'd kill someone. The first four had turned him away from the door and the only reason he'd even entertained going to this one was that Shido's 'Janitor' had taken pity on him and suggested this one citing whoever this was 'wanted a roommate'. The thought of taking a yakuza's recommendation and the wavering legality was overtaken by the need for somewhere warm to sleep for the night.
Pressing a second time, he readied himself for when the door opened.
When it did he was the slightest bit stunned when he had to look down at the person. "Hello, I'm here regarding the roommate notice?" Goro uttered behind a thin veneer of politeness to the teen in front of him. Goro noticed the young age of the teen, maybe fourteen.
Had he gotten the wrong house?
"Um… this is the correct residence is it not?" Goro double-checked with fake innocence. Make it seem like it was just some sort of mistake.
The teen just looked at him.
"No… this is the place," the frizzy-haired teen nodded as he opened the door wider till Goro could see the interior. "Have you had breakfast?" the teen asked as he leaned against the door.
Goro's stomach grumbled as he smelled a sweet scent waft from the insides of the two-story building. The teen smirked. "I suppose that answers that. Come on in, we'll talk over breakfast," he said as he turned around and headed back inside, leaving the door open.
Was this some kind of sick joke concocted by Shido's 'Janitor'?
Akechi cautiously moved forward into the house, taking note of how sterile the house felt. It didn't feel like anyone lived here. He'd know from the number of foster homes he'd been juggled around. The house lacked a presence that other houses had, one that those living there for a long time left.
Like the one he and his mother had once lived in.
Taking his trolley suitcase with barest meagre possessions left to him he moved through the house slowly, the hallway leading into a kitchen area. The teen was already setting up two servings of pancakes on a small dining table, a yawn escaping his lips as he did so.
The teen looked up, "Would you like some coffee? It's some pretty terrible coffee but it'll wake you up a bit."
Goro just nodded numbly as he stood in the hallway, watching closely as the teen prepared two cups of coffee with some sugar and creamer. The teen set one down each beside each serving of pancakes.
"You can sit down you know?" the teen said as he took a seat on one of the wooden chairs surrounding the table, nodding at the other chair to which Goro slowly and cautiously took. The whiff of warm food made Goro's stomach rumble in want, but until he'd seen the teen take a bite of his pancakes and a sip of his coffee he finally touched the food.
As the taste of fluffy pancakes flooded his mouth he thought that if this really was some kind of twisted joke he'd milk the free food as much as he could. The two stayed silent till their meals were concluded
"So…" the teen asked as he polished off his breakfast, Goro doing the same. "Let's not beat around the bush here. Someone from the Yakuza sent you here. Referred you here for whatever reason because you were looking for somewhere to stay, stop me if I'm right?
Goro's hackles raised but he nodded nonetheless.
"Wonderful," the teen clapped his hand together. "It's been lonely lately," he said, Goro tensing as the teen stood up from the table but otherwise only made his way to a nearby key rack and withdraw one of two identical keys. Said key Goro swiped out of the air as it was lobbed at him.
"If you're going to be living with me, I might as well get your name," the teen grinned but Goro finally snapped.
"Is this some kind of fucking joke?" Goro hissed acerbically at the teen who remained unphased.
"Hmm?" the teen hummed unconcerned. "Not really… I asked for a housemate and you're here. Don't you want the keys?"
"What's your game here?" Goro asked.
The teen shrugged. "Let's be honest here, we're both here from less than legal means. If the Yakuza referred you here you're obviously in with some shady people and well, the Yakuza referred you to me so I'm in the same boat. Call it helping someone in the same situation."
Goro had to almost physically hold back a snarl, the teen for some reason or the other getting under his skin. "We are not the same!" Goro growled as his hands slammed into the dining table, tableware rattling from the force.
The teen's eyes just looked around before looking around the house. "Deceased parents or you're unwanted, maybe both. Orphaned and looking for a place to stay. Probably moved around foster homes by Child Services."
Goro froze in his tracks as the teen's grey eyes bore into his own burgundy red. "H-How-?" Goro sputtered.
"Take a guess," the teen shrugged. "A fourteen-year-old owning a house by the edge of Shibuya without any parents? Dubious connections to the underground? Shouldn't be too hard to figure out."
"… your family?" Goro asked as he took in the information, a picture painting itself in his head.
"…dead," the teen said after a long pause before getting up from where he'd been leaning against the kitchen counter and began to pick up the dishes. Soon he was cleaning them in the sink with a sponge and soap.
Goro could feel he was telling the truth, the anguish he'd tried to hide still noticeable even to him.
"If you want to stay here I don't mind. The place has already been paid off so there's no need for rent and as far as this city's concerned, this house is legally owned by an adult so CPS won't be barging the door down. I only put out that notice because this place is too large for me," the teen said. "But if you want to go find somewhere else, the doors open."
Standing up, Goro was out of the kitchen the moment the teen had finished speaking.
…
"Where can I put my stuff?" Goro asked bluntly as he dragged his suitcase from the hallway.
The teen smirked from the sink. "Any of the rooms upstairs except for the master bedroom at the end of the hall. The bathroom is the first door on the left, the toilet is the opposite door."
Goro nodded in the barest amount of thanks as he began to make his way towards the stairs but stopped just before ascending.
"Goro… Goro Akechi," Goro didn't see but he heard the tap tun off and the sound of dishes being washed stopped for a moment, "That's my name."
"Akira Kurusu."
The sound of dishes being washed resumed.
Goro continued to ascend the stairs.
Akira took calming breathes as he washed the dishes, the surprise of seeing Akechi so soon… what in the world was he thinking to take in Goro Akechi in as a roommate?
"Under different circumstances, we could have been great rivals or perhaps even friends… I wonder why we couldn't have met a few years earlier, Akira…"
Akira clenched his fist, the porcelain between his fingers shaking from the pressure before he finally eased up.
He was here to make a change for the better… and that included Akechi.
I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast re-acquired a blood-oath.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
and mend the cracks of thy heart.
Thou hast reawakened to the
ultimate secret of Justice, granting thee infinite power.
Maybe he was doing the right thing after all.