Akechi held onto a spray can tightly in his left hand as he painted the side of a train.
He sneaked into the station in the middle of the night, unable to get an ounce of sleep. He was drawing the logo of the Phantom Thieves onto the train, hoping that this action would decrease their popularity.
After the whole Medjed incident, their popularity has risen to new heights. It wouldn't have been a big deal for him if it wasn't for the fact that his fame was directly impacted by this. Walking down the street nowadays has been a pain in the neck. Random people would jeer at him because of his stance against the Phantom Thieves.
To be honest, why would a public servant ever support a group of vigilantes in the first place?! The Phantom Thieves are doing whatever they want by going outside of the law! That's the complete opposite of someone who works with the police department should be supporting. But somehow, he's the one who's in the wrong. Fucking annoying if you asked him.
He pulled out his phone, looking at a reference picture of the logo and picked up a black stray can. He carefully added the shadows to the drawing and continued to glance at his phone to confirm that everything was accurate. Finally when he was done, he smiled at the graffiti only to remember that he's smiling at his enemies' logo.
He knows that he'll get a mixed reaction for doing this. Kids and teens usually like to rebel against society and would take this positively. However, the rest of the public wouldn't. It was good enough for him. He shook the can as he wonders where he should place their signature quote.
'Fuck these guys.' He thought as he angled the spray can and sprayed.
"Ya know, sometimes I miss how supportive the public were when we were the Phantom Thieves." Ryuji said as he flipped through a comic book that was inspired by the Phantom Thieves. The action scenes felt rather dull when compared to their adventures in the Metaverse.
It was a slow day today. It was pouring heavily outside and their original plan of going to Dome town as a group didn't work out. They gathered at LeBlanc instead since it only one of the days where everyone was available to meet up.
"Is there anything particular that you're thinking of?" Makoto asked. Yusuke sat next to her quietly as he sketched everyone relaxing in Akira's room.
"Yea! The picture of our logo on the train! It was badass! I wish I was able to take a picture of it. It was too crowded that morning and I didn't see it on the way home. Sucks that they cleaned it up after one day."
Akechi choked in his coffee. Akira watched him with worried eyes as he coughed. He finally waved to Akira that he was alright as he coughed out the remaining liquid stuck in his airway. Shit, that was embarrassing. He shouldn't do anything else that would make them suspicious of him.
"I remember that. I was stunned that someone was brave enough to do that such a thing. I wonder if they were ever caught." Makoto pondered.
"I didn't hear anything about the culprit being caught. It seemed like it was only a one-time deal." Akechi said as he frowned.
"To be honest, I always thought it was Yusuke who did it." Futaba asked as she looked up at her computer screen at him.
"Never! While it was quite an intriguing piece of artwork, I only limit myself to my canvases and sketchbooks. While the train has a lackluster design. As an artist, I must respect another person's artwork. I couldn't dare paint and cover up their work." He stated as he paused sketching and frowned at Futaba.
"Hm, ok. Then what about the wall mural near Shibuya's Tower Records?" Futaba countered.
"What about it?" He questions.
"Me and Akira ("and me!" said Morgana in the background) saw that mural of the Phantom Thieves in December. It had all of us in our rebel outfits. There's no way that someone in Tokyo could have painted that and could have gotten all of the small details right. Akira took a picture of it too! Show them Akira!" Futaba pointed at Akira.
Akira scrolled through his phone until he found the picture. He held it out as all of them crowded around the phone.
"Woah!" "Yusuke, you did this?" "That's incredible Yusuke!"
Akechi's hands curled into fists and narrowed his eyes as the group praised Yusuke. That was his drawing! They were praising the wrong person! ...but he doesn't want to admit it to them. How can he explain that he took the time and spent hours drawing every small detail of their costumes just to see how the public would react? To the delicate markings of Fox's mask to the soft glowing design of Oracle's costume.
It was too much!
However, they are going to find out that it was him since Yusuke will not claim an artwork that's not his and Akechi doubts that anyone else in this group would do so either.
Shit! He kind of regretted putting that mural in the middle of Shibuya now.
Akechi looks at the stairs. How can he secretly sneaked out of here without alerting the thieves?
"Invitation to… what? Invitation to what?" Ann asked as she tilts her head. The mural had what looks like a beginning of a message, but where was the rest of it?
The picture had everyone but Crow, Mona, and Joker. Everyone was holding their weapons and looking solemn. Akechi placed Noir behind Panther, trying to hide a part of her face just in case someone was able to recognize her. He was debating doing the same to Panther since she's a model, but decided not to. She was part of the original team and he wanted them to be in the front and…fine it was for the aesthetic. The red of her outfit really popped out and he wanted to grab the public's attention to his mural with the deep red color.
"I wonder why Joker, Mona, and Crow are missing?" Haru asked as she observed the picture.
"The artwork is beautiful. Unfortunately, it's not mine. I wished I could've seen it live." Yusuke stated as he stared at the mural in awe. "Panther especially looks beautiful in her outfit. The bold red color from her outfit really stands out. By the way, have you considered being my nude mo—"
"No." She interrupted him as she punched his arm and glared at him.
The group looked at each other in surprise before wondering who else would be able to draw.
"It's not me! The best I can do is stick figures." Ryuji said.
"I'm only good at drawing clothes!" Ann stated.
"Unfortunately, I don't have any skills relating to art." Makoto said.
"I think my skills are decent, but it's nowhere close to this level. It's like I can feel the determination of everyone oozing out from this mural!" Haru said pleasantly.
"It's not me. I'm only into programing and computers." Futaba said.
"What about Akira? He's like good at everything." Ann points out.
The group mentally agreed with that. Even if Akira is new at something, he puts all of his effort until he perfected it. It's not unreasonable that he would also be good at art.
"Sorry, it's not me." He said as he smiled at them.
"…MONA?!" Ryuji shrieked as he looked at the cat. The cat somehow managed to pick the lock at Madarame's shack. The creature has done the impossible before. Maybe it's possible…?
"It's not me! How can I even hold up a canister in this form in the first place?!" The cat shrieked as he noticed Ryuji's dumbfounded look.
"Woah! Hey man, you picked locks before. I don't know what you can or can't do." Ryuji countered.
As they start bickering, Akechi was almost at the stairs.
'Just a few more steps.' He thought.
"Isn't it obvious then?" Akira said before he wrapped his arms around Akechi. He picked him up and shifting their positions until Akira was blocking the stairs.
"Hey! What the f—"Akechi cried out.
"Akechi?" The group was flabbergasted.
"What?" He snarled at them as he struggled with getting Akira's arms off of him.
"Did you….draw this?" Makoto took the lead and asked the question that was on everyone's mind. They know that even though he sounds angry, he wouldn't physically attack them. He's been trying to make amends with them, but his true personality is still awkward and prickly. He's quick to anger and wasn't shy about yelling at them. 'He's just all bark and no bite' Futaba would say.
"So what?"
"It's very pretty." Ann said as she smiled at him. Her grin grew as she saw his cheeks turning red. He turned his face to hide that fact but it didn't really work.
"I don't care what your opinions! I only did that mural to grab the public's attention!" He snapped. They would have believed him if his face wasn't all red.
"Why did you want to do that?" Ann asked.
Akechi sighed with a resigned look. Akira finally loosened his arms when he felt that Akechi wasn't trying to escape anymore.
"Everyone was talking about Shido at the time remember? It started pissing me off hearing how Shido could do no wrong and all the bullshit. I was hoping the mural could make them talk about something else since it was right in the middle of the busy area of Shibuya. It was very strange when I saw that my drawing had no impact on the public, but at the same time, nobody didn't try to get rid of it either since it was an illegal vandalism. That's when I suspected that something might be wrong with the public's cognition and that Mementos had something to do with it. Then I contacted Kurusu."
Akira pouted when he heard Akechi said his last name. Akechi must still be irritated that he was blocked from leaving by him. He had an important question that he needs answered! He bets that the others were curious too.
"Where's the second part? I didn't see it around the first mural and I spent a good hour searching with Futaba and Mona." He frowned. Even his third eye didn't help. The only people who were missing in the first mural were him, Akechi, and Morgana. He was curious and wanted to see how Akechi drew them.
Akechi smirked.
"You're a thief right? You sure should good at finding the impossible. I guess it's too late now since that mural is long gone." Akechi smirked as he saw Akira frowned in disappointment.
"Don't worry leader. Now that I know that it was Goro who drew it, I hacked into his phone. He took a picture of it and it looks pretty badass. Not as great as the other one since I'm not included in this one but it's still up there." Futaba said as she turned her screen to show the Phantom Thieves.
"Good job Futaba!" Akira promptly left his side to check out the picture.
Akechi hurried out of there as the rest of the Phantom Thieves crowded around Futaba's computer to look at the picture. His face grew hot as he raced down the stairs and rushed out of the building. He even ignored Sojiro's call from behind the counter as he ran out into the rain without an umbrella.
The picture had him and Joker together, their backs turned against each other as they coldly look at their enemies with their guns out. The image made it looked like they were working together as partners in crime, equals, which was why he was so embarrassed about it. He wanted to be Akira's equal, someone who Akira can depend on, but he wasn't sure how. Akira has many teammates to rely and Goro was just one of many. How can he in particular stand out from the rest of them?
After he drew them, Akechi wanted to kick himself. His feelings unconsciously leaked into this mural and he was tempted to cover it up with another image, but unfortunately, he doesn't have enough time to start a new one. He hastily added Mona in there between them to make the mural look more innocent and packed up his tools and left the scene.
Yusuke put it together that Goro was also the person who drew the Phantom Thief logo. The art style and word font were very similar to each other. Now everyone wanted to question him on why he painted that one also since it appeared in August. It was a few months before he joined the group, but their questions remained unanswered as he ignored their group chat for the rest of the day.
That's not going to stop Akira though. He learned how to lock pick from the very best and he knows where Goro lives. It's going to be an adventure to sneak inside his house and surprising him with his presence.
Mission start!
Arthur's Notes: I was inspired by Persona Q2 and how Akechi was holding onto a spray can. The word underneath the second mural was freedom. :)