Slight warning this chapter deals with trauma and regret if you are sensitive to this kind of thing skip this chapter.

December 4th Sunday

BANG!

The shot rang out as blood splattered across Yu's vision.

Yu instantly woke. His vision was dark and for a second his heart skipped a beat thinking he was still back in that dream. It was only the silvery light of the moon filtering through the curtains of his shared bedroom that showed him the truth. Well, that and a slight weight on his left side. Blinking away the haze that comes with violently waking up, Yu instead turned his attention to the weight snuggled up to his side. Rise was sleeping soundly, cuddled up to him as if he was nothing more than a large teddy bear. He was glad he hadn't woken up his girlfriend with his sudden exit from dreamland. She had enough on her plate balancing her work and helping out the teenagers. She deserved sleep.

Yu had two options. Lay there in bed just watching his girlfriend sleep but that came with the price that he wouldn't be returning to dreamland until the following night. The next option was to get up and do something to either exhaust his body or find an activity that banished his personal demons from his mind for the moment. In the darkness, Yu weighed his options until he moved to extrapolate himself from his girlfriend. The movement, however, woke his girlfriend ever so slightly.

"Yu…?" her voice was small as her barely conscious mind tried to figure out what was going on.

"Go to sleep, I'm just heading to the gym," Yu whispered leaning down to kiss Rise's forehead.

"hmmm.." Came the sleepy response before she stole his pillow and snuggled up to it in his place.

Yu watch her for a while until her breathing evened out and it was clear she had fallen back to sleep. Only then did he move from the bed. The light from the moon was just enough for him to get changed into some workout clothes. One last glance was spared towards his girlfriend before he exited the room into the darkness of the condo. The darkness was absolute as no lights lingered on from the day before. It wasn't a problem as Yu had walked these halls many times before he came here to investigate the Phantom Thieves. As well as being Rise's home base while here in Tokyo, Yu had often shown up during Rise's extended stays in Tokyo just to spend time with her. It made the condo almost a second home to the young detective, almost like Dojima's place had been during his late teen years.

Stepping out from the hallway, Yu entered the living room. The large floor to ceiling windows at the back of the room allowed the moonlight to cast the whole room in a placating silvery glow showing its sole occupant. Akechi sat upon one of the L shaped couches, his arm out of its sling and folded in front of him as his body was leaned over his knees. The harsh stare he was giving the coffee table seemed to denote the state of his mind. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed Yu enter the room.

A silent debate echoed in Yu's mind if he should interfere or not. Akechi looked like he needed someone to talk to and that was generally Naoto's field. She understood the boy detective far better than anyone in the house, whereas Akechi looked up to her. However the more Yu thought about the common ground they shared, maybe the two could connect in some way without Naoto's help. It was worth a shot; Yu silently told himself. He didn't mind helping Akechi any more than he minded helping Ren. Reaching over, Yu flicked on the living room lights. Akechi twitched as if he had been struck before looking around. It took his eyes a few seconds to adjust to the sudden light before Akechi settled his gaze upon Yu.

"Narukami-san? What are you doing up?" Akechi kept his voice low as to not disturb anyone else sleeping in the house.

Yu moved to the large recliner, his favorite spot in the living room. "PTSD." He stated dryly.

"Excuse me?" A worried look appeared in Akechi's eyes.

Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say. Yu's PTSD wasn't something he necessarily wanted to talk about at the moment. His inner demons were still very fresh in his mind and if he wanted a hope of going back to sleep it was best to put them as far out of his mind as could. If Akechi was curious later, then he'd open up about them. Just now wasn't the right time. Also, Yu stopped not to help himself but to help the boy detective.

"Never mind." Yu waved his hand as if to excuse his earlier answer. "Why are you up?"

Akechi sighed and turned away from Yu. Clearly, he didn't want to talk about it. Yu didn't press, instead, he just leaned back in his chair and turned his attention from the boy to the windows at the back of the living room. Silence reigned for several long minutes before the sound of something lightly hitting the coffee table drew Yu's attention back to the boy he shared the room with. However, what he found on that coffee table surprised him. It was a gun.

It was clear, Akechi's inner demons were far viler than his own.

"I've been thinking of places to go to. Someplace where my body won't be found." There was a deep pain in Akechi's words, the kind of pain that stung even Yu.

"Why?" Was all Yu could ask.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm a criminal. A murderer no less! Yet you all just let me in your home and treat me like family?! I don't deserve this! I don't deserve anything. I deserve to die alone in an alley and to let the rats feast on whatever's left after I evict my brains from my skull. There can be no redemption for a sinner such as I." Akechi threw his arms around his body in a hug, clearly distressed. "Help me stop living this lie!" There was madness to the boy's voice and clear deep distress.

A very broken person stood in front of Yu and for once Yu wasn't entirely sure what to do. He had suffered with his friends in that past, but Akechi? His change of heart had affected him in ways no one could have predicted. It had brought so much guilt that now the boy detective was drowning in it. After a second of thinking, Yu reached for the gun. Picking up the weapon, the weight of it told Yu just how real the small 9mm was. This wasn't the toy guns Joker and crew brought into the metaverse that transformed into realistic guns; no this was the real deal. Ejecting the magazine, Yu then pulled back the slide causing the round already in the chamber to fly off and land in Yu's lap. Yu wasn't done there, he dissembled the gun collecting all the parts into his hands. Akechi did nothing as Yu worked, only watching him through the lens of a pained expression.

Yu got to his feet and silently moved across the living room. After going down a small hallway, Yu arrived at a door. Shifting all the parts to one hand, Yu reached up knocking loudly. He didn't want to bring Naoto in this but Yu needed the backup. Akechi was clearly deeply troubled and it would be better if they both tag teamed this issue. There was a sound on the other side of the door before it opened to a sleepy-looking Kanji. Yu's good friend gave him a confused look as he probably wasn't expecting Yu to be at his door at 3:30 in the morning.

"Go get Naoto. I need to talk to her." Yu spoke with a bit of added sharpness to his voice to express his urgency.

Kanji seemed to pick up on the tone and disappear back into the darkness of the room. A whispered conversation echoed from within the room before a few seconds later Naoto appeared at the door. Naoto wasn't a morning person and she had this rather grump look to her that Yu was ready to take the blame for. But before any blame could be cast, Yu reached out and grabbed Naoto's hands and placed the dissembled pieces of Akechi's gun within them. Naoto regarded the pieces with indifference for all but a few seconds before that bright mind of hers started to weave together the sudden facts. Her eyes filled with sudden fear before looking up at Yu.

"Where is Goro-Kun?" There was a panicked pitch in Naoto's voice.

"In the living room," Yu explained, stepping back down the hall.

That was all the information Naoto needed before she rushed past Yu. The parts of the gun clattered against the ground as Naoto discard them in favor of Akechi. Kanji seemed to sense the sudden urgency and shock in the situation as he appeared at the door once again. He looked at Yu with an even more bewildered look than the one he wore a few moments before. Yu didn't have time to explain the situation to his friend. Instead, he turned to follow Naoto back into the living room. Yu felt Kanji's gaze on him as he continued back into the living room.

Naoto knelt in front of Akechi looking up into his eyes, but the boy he had left was different than the one he returned too. Akechi was stiff as a plank. His eyes staring into nothing as if he was caught in some sort of bad memory. Naoto reached up to try and snap him out of whatever hell Akechi's soul had been caught in. However, it proved unsuccessful for several long seconds. When Akechi did snap out of it, his eyes went wide and he quickly bolted away from Naoto as if she was fire and staying near her would burn him. The action was so violent that he fell off the couch and landed hard on the other side. Yu stepped up to him only to find him curled up in a fetal position grabbing his ears, his mouth opened in a silent scream.

Yu looked to Naoto for guidance about what to do but she seemed just as lost as he was about how to help the deeply troubled boy. Naoto moved around the couch and knelt next to him, running a hand through his hair as he laid there. Yu joined her on the floor as the heavy footfalls of Kanji entering the living room could be heard on the other side of the couch. Akechi closed his mouth as tears started to flow down his face. His eyes still wide as he was trapped in memories Yu couldn't even begin to imagine. Kanji found them around the back of the couch and after casting a glance at Akechi moved to sit down as well. No one spoke in this weird surreal moment, as if speaking might cause more of a reaction from the troubled young man on the floor. For a moment Yu could have sworn he saw something dark loom in the air above Akechi. It took all but a blink and it was gone.

After what felt like longer than it probably actually was, Akechi started to relax. The hell in Akechi's head slowly released him from its visions as the young man struggled to breathe after the attack. Naoto reached out to brush the hair from his face as the troubled young man blinked several times. He looked upset as he pulled himself up to his knees and clutched his shoulders. His eyes darted wildly across the room as if the demons still lingered but their powers over him had dulled.

"It's over…" Naoto said breaking the silence.

Akechi turned towards her, the fear shadowed in his eyes. "No, it's not… I deserve this. I deserve to die."

"Hey, punk don't say that! We didn't go through that fucking circus to let you off yourself, in the end, you goddamned moron!" Kanji roared probably louder than he had intended to.

"I've made mistakes, I've hurt the ones I loved and thrown so many people under the bus. I'll betray you too… I'm evil." Akechi rocked back and forth, his eye wide as if the memories just lingered on the edges of his vision.

Naoto looked to Yu for answers, as everyone did. He was their leader after all, but this time Yu had no wisdom to impart; as much as he desperately wanted to. How do you fix someone who's done evil but deserves a second chance? On the scale of things, Akechi had killed more people than Adachi, ruined more lives than Adachi. But there was one difference between the two. Adachi did all of that of his own will. Akechi? He was manipulated by a man that had the whole country enamored by him. A clear master of the art of getting people to do his dirty deeds so his hands could stay clean. Akechi was more like Taro Namatame than Adachi; at least from Yu's perspective and it was a belief Naoto shared as well. Yu didn't know how long Akechi had let himself be swayed by that man's control and sure he probably should have turned things around before now, but honestly, what would that have accomplished? Shido would have just disposed of him if Akechi wasn't useful to him anymore, making it impossible for Akechi to get his revenge. That's probably why he cut pieces out of himself, to escape this guilt that was now taking over him.

"Go AWAY!" Akechi suddenly yelped in the midst of the chaos.

Naoto reached out and pulled Akechi into her arms, holding the troubled youth close to her chest. Akechi quickly pushed her away, fear welling up in his eyes. He looked terrified of something before he grabbed at his head once again and curled up over himself. It looked like he was struggling against his demon again as a few grunts of pain escaped his lips. Naoto reached out and just put a hand on his back trying desperately to help him but not knowing exactly how.

It was the sound of a new presence in the living room that drew Yu's attention from Akechi. Rise appeared next to him her eyes ringing with the same concern as the rest of them. Yu figured Kanji's loud voice had woke her or maybe she realized he had left the bed. Still here she was looking to the others for answers that no one seemed to have.

"What happened?" Rise's voice was gentle.

How do you explain exactly what was happening to Akechi? Yu struggled several long seconds to find the correct words. "Guilt… He's drowning in it." The words came out sour, like having to take a horrible tasting medicine. It described the situation but there was so much more depth to it that couldn't be conveyed in simple words.

Rise's brow furrowed before she reached out to Akechi. As soon as she touched him she recoiled back as if she had suddenly touched something way too hot to touch. Fear welled up in her eyes as she got to her feet and took a step back.

"Get away from him!" Rise suddenly demanded.

"What? Why?" Naoto asked confused.

"His Persona… It's rampaging…" Rise spoke with the knowledge of a skilled navigator. "He is barely containing it."

"Rampaging?" Naoto slowly released Akechi as everyone started to take a step back.

They had been just in time as the ghostly form of Loki started to engulf Akechi's body. Akechi put his hands to his ears as the Persona loomed over him, like a silent abettor of Akechi's fate. Everyone just stared at the manifestation in their living room. This was the first time they all saw a Persona in the real world. Loki floated down off his sword and loomed over Akechi before he reached out and started to strangle the boy.

"He can't control his Persona," Naoto muttered mystified yet terrified.

Akechi let out a few gasping sounds as he pawed at Loki's hands. Kanji snapped out of the sudden surprise of the Persona appearing, lurched forward trying to whack it with a closed fist. However, there was nothing to connect with and Kanji fist passed through Loki with no resistance. Yu looked to all his friends trying to figure out something to help the young man, but how do you stop a rampaging Persona that just manifested in the real world? This time, the answer came from Yu's side.

Rise stepped forward and put her hands on Akechi's shoulders and closed her eyes. Instantly the image of Loki flickered before it slowly faded from existence. Akechi caught a few gasping breaths before he just collapsed onto the ground, panting at the effort of just being alive. Rise remained still for several more seconds before she opened her eyes and started to fall backward. Yu was faster and grabbed his girlfriend pulling her into his arms safely.

"Whoa…" Kanji said impressed.

"What just happened?" Naoto asked as she looked between Akechi and Rise.

"I disconnected…" Rise's voice sounded distant. As if she was on the verge of collapse and speaking was hard. Yu held her steadily against him, but there was a certain weakness to her that hadn't been there a minute ago.

Akechi coughed slowly getting to his feet. "Loki…" Akechi gasped between breaths and coughing. "He's not happy."

"I need to call Mitsuru. Kanji keep on an eye on Goro-Kun." Naoto turned to head back in the direction of her and Kanji's room.

Kanji nodded before turning his attention back to Akechi. "That's it. Deep breaths." Reaching out he helped the boy to his feet. "Up and at 'em. Let's getcha over to the couch."

Kanji helped the still gasping young detective to the couch. Yu mirrored his action except helping Rise over. Rise didn't protest and promptly collapsed as soon as she reached the couch. Yu sat down next to her and she only moved slightly so she could rest her head on his lap. Akechi also didn't struggle as he was placed on the couch, but instead of collapsing like Rise he just leaned back and tried to catch his breath between coughing fits. Kanji disappeared into the kitchen leaving them alone with the troubled boy. Between coughs, Akechi grabbed his shoulders as he tried to control his breathing.

"My Persona doesn't want to be tamed anymore… It doesn't like the new me so it wants to use my guilt to incite madness in me… It wants me to turn back to who I was before…" Akechi explained between breaths. "I would rather die than have that happen… I can't go back…"

"How long has this been happening?" Yu asked

It was at this point Kanji returned from the kitchen and handed Akechi a glass of water. The teen accepted it. He quickly emptied the glass before setting it down on the table. He seemed to be able to catch his breath better and no longer had that wheezy sound echoing from his chest every time he took a breath. After another few seconds, his breathing returned to normal.

"That was the first time Loki attacked me, but I hear him in the back of my head all the time... He both mocks me for my crimes and tells me to continue on my dark path. The urges keep getting stronger… I've been trying to ignoring him, but clearly, that's not a solution." Akechi described as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Hey kid shouldn't you have that arm in a sling?" Kanji barked.

Akechi shook his head. "The pain was helping me dull Loki's maddening calls. Can't focus on something if you just focus on the pain... Right...?" Akechi's words once again were a sharp sword that unwittingly struck at the heart of those around him. How much pain was Loki causing Akechi that physical pain was the lesser of the two evils? "Forgive me…"

Kanji frowned looking like he wanted to say more, but instead just sighed. "Whatever, where's your sling little bro?"

"In my room," Akechi answered curtly.

Kanji nodded and again disappeared from the room. Yu ran his hand over Rise's resting form, pondering what she had done to stop Loki's rampage. He'd have to ask her, but currently, she didn't look in any condition to be answering questions. Then again all that mattered is that the crisis was over… For now. Yu was grateful for that, but what were they going to do if it happened again. Hopefully, Mitsuru had answers for them about what to do. Naoto was right to go to her.

"Rise-san is amazing. I don't know how, but she silenced Loki." Akechi was making an effort to sound positive yet there was still a pain in his voice… A lot of pain.

"Her Persona is different than everyone else's. She's powerful, but in her own way." Yu responded as he watched Akechi. "Do you still feel Loki?"

"Feel?" Akechi didn't seem to know how to answer the question before he closed his eyes. A second or two ticked by before he opened his eyes. "No… He's gone."

"Let's hope the worst is over then." Yu tried to remain hopeful, but he had an eerie feeling this was just the beginning of the boys' troubles.

"Here." Kanji, who had returned to the living room, handed Akechi his sling before he stepped up to Yu and handed him a blanket.

Yu gave a nod of thanks to Kanji before gently covering his girlfriend with the blanket. Rise didn't stir at all as the blanket was placed over her. Rise had just passed out and Yu had to fully wonder what she had done. He was grateful it worked but if it caused Rise to pass out like this, was it worth it? Everything was still so up in the air. The fact remained they needed to help Akechi, he was one of them now and Yu didn't turn his back on one of his own. Akechi returned his injured arm to his sling as Kanji sat down next to him.

"I'm sorry everyone…" Akechi's head drooped, the guilt of what happened tonight weighing on him even if it hadn't been his fault at all.

Kanji reached out and knocked Akechi upside the head. The move wasn't meant to hurt the boy that much, more a quick sharp pain to knock someone out of a particular train of thought. "Moron, stop apologizing for things you have no control over. We're family. No matter how much you don't like it, that's now a fact. So suck it up and act like a man by helping us figure out how to help you. Ya got that little bro?"

Kanji may not have been the smartest of their group but it was times like this that showed there was an intelligence to him that couldn't be measured by book smarts. Akechi reached up rubbing the spot Kanji had hit him, his eyes looking up at the older man with almost surprised admiration. Slowly a small smile appeared on the detective prince's face. After everything that just happened, it might have been a small victory to see Akechi smile, but Yu would take his victories where he could get them.

"Yes, Kanji," Akechi said to Kanji his voice dripped with appreciation towards the older man.

Kanji pat the top of Akechi's head. "Good."

Akechi put his hand to his chin, instantly his whole demeanor changed as shifted to his detective facade. That particular expression he had seen Naoto take several times and it could take several moments before Akechi would speak again. Naoto could sit quietly like that, immersed in her head, for up to an hour as she rolled over facts in her head. Luckily it didn't normally take that long before Naoto had an epiphany and would add a new fact that would get them closer to the truth; that was however if she just didn't figure everything out on her own. Speaking of Naoto, the first coming of the prince detective entered the living room. Her phone still in her hand as an expression equally as deep as Akechi lingered on her face.

"Get ahold of Mitsuru?" Yu asked.

"Yes, apparently I'm on the list of people she'll field calls from any time of day because of our situation. It wasn't the first time she heard of a Persona going wild. One of the early members of S.E.E.S. also suffered from a similar condition." Naoto explained.

"What did they do?" Yu pressed.

"He died before they could find an answer to solve his situation entirely, but he took some Persona suppressing drugs to keep his Persona in check," Naoto informed the group as her eyes drifted to Akechi.

"Still sounds like a solution," Yu said feeling there was a problem with this particular avenue of solution.

"No. The drugs are both rare and have some rather horrible side effects. They'll kill Goro-Kun if he continues to take them for a prolonged period. Do we have any real idea what Rise did?" Naoto slid onto the couch as she spoke.

"No, she passed out," Yu commented motioning to the sleeping navigator in his lap.

"She said 'I disconnected…'" Naoto muttered not really to anyone but herself as she thought. "I think we can take that literally. Her Persona's base power is to connect so it's not too much of a stretch to believe she can disconnect as well. But what did she exactly disconnect?"

Akechi was ready for this one. "My connection with Loki. I don't feel him anymore. It's as if he is gone from my mind."

"That's kind of scary if Rise has the power to disconnect people from their Personas," Kanji interjected looking towards Rise.

"Well, it's a feature I doubt she ever needed to harness until this moment." Naoto deduced. "Also it seems like with the other features she needs to touch someone for it to work. Let's face it we'd never let her get near enough to anyone we perceived as an enemy to disconnect them. Then again her Persona seems the most fluid out of all of us. She did turn it into a combat Persona briefly during that tournament. This could very well be a moment her Persona answered her desire to help Goro-Kun."

"It was a power I always had... Just never used…" the sleepy voice of Rise called from Yu's lap.

"Welcome back," Yu called warmly to his girlfriend.

"Thanks…" Rise yawned on his lap but didn't move from her comfortable location. "Loki doesn't feel like a Persona. Or like anyone I've ever felt… He seems more like a shadow. He fought against me as I disconnected him from Goro-Kun. He's tough… Probably the reason why I feel so sleepy.."

"A shadow?" The surprise evident in Naoto's voice as her gaze shifted to Akechi.

"A shadow," Akechi muttered but didn't say anything more.

"We can seal him temporarily but my guess it'll take a toll on Rise. Hey Goro, what about Lancelot?" Yu asked.

"No problems with Lancelot, Loki is the cause of all this," Akechi explained.

"Is there a way we could just remove Loki? Yu, you've gotten rid of Personas in the past." Naoto looked towards Yu.

Yu thought about it a second. "Yes, but that was through either fusion or the velvet room. If Loki is a shadow I don't think it'd be wise to fuse Loki with Lancelot. It could very well compound our problems. Also, we only know one person with access to the velvet room."

"Ren." Naoto sighed.

"Correct, also you have to be a guest to enter the velvet room so that option is off the table for the moment." Yu clarified.

"If we could wear Loki out, I could probably disconnect him easier." Rise offered.

"Like if we were to expend Goro-Kun's spiritual energy?" Naoto asked.

"And possibly damage the Persona a bit. Loki was at full strength when I disconnected him and had a lot of energy to fight back. I imagine with less it'd be easier." Rise shifted on Yu's lap getting comfy again.

"It's a theory worth testing. Looks like you have to come with us to Shido's Palace Goro-Kun." Naoto sighed as she looked towards Akechi.

"Very well." Akechi nodded.

"Until then we should keep an eye on Goro-Kun. We'll test the theory after we are done with the Palace today. Goro-Kun can you just lay down and rest for a while on the couch? You don't have to sleep, just please relax." Naoto asked.

"I suppose." Akechi nodded before he moved to lay down on the couch.

"I'll getcha a blanket." Kanji rose to his feet.

"Good" Naoto got to her feet and stretched. "Coffee now."

"Caffeine addict," Yu commented trying to break some of the tension.

"As long as it remains legal, it'll be my drug of choice. But that's kind of like the pot calling the kettle black isn't it, Narukami? Do you want some coffee too?" Naoto asked looking back at her partner.

"If you'd be so kind, Shirogane," Yu smirked to his partner.

The tension of Akechi's breakdown slowly died down to nothingness. Kanji returned and threw a blanket over Akechi before reaching for the remote and turning on the TV. The drawl of super early morning news lingered as Yu just got comfortable in his spot. The steady breathing of Rise on his lap meant she had gone back to sleep. A cup of coffee would help him start the day, as there was no real desire for him to return to bed. For now, everything was peaceful. Hopefully, it would remain that way until they headed for the Palace later that day…

Once I realized this was the next chapter, I edited it quickly. This was a hard chapter to write but I feel it really is needed. I really need opinions on it from other people, my editor who is a war vet said it hit close to home. If you don't review any other chapter please review this one. Next chapter might not be for a few days, I'll try to get it out this weekend.