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le_corbeau) wrote1999-12-24 10:05 pm
Part 1: That time Goro Akechi decided to be an Idiot (takes place right before stealing Sae's Heart)
This is probably the worst, most utterly dangerous decision in Goro Akechi's life.
That, in itself, is saying a lot.
To think all of his previous experiences could culminate to this. His heart is beating wildly even as he transforms into his outfit, entering Mementos on foot.
I’m a Dumb. Stupid. Idiot.
Yet he doesn't stop running, nearly out of breath when he comes face to face with his target who is right on time as per the email he sent him. He had half expected Akira to come with others, but true to his word, it appears the both of them are alone.
"Ahh. I should have known it was you.” A sarcastic clap of hands echoes around them as the teen dressed in an outfit Akechi had caught a glimpse of, but had never seen completely. Such a stark contrasts to what he wore before. “Congratulations. You've caught me, Scholmes." Akira's sarcastic grin betrays the sadness in his eyes even as he looks away, the sentence bitter in his mouth as he sighs. "You came here, alone?" He doesn't seem to believe that Goro would trust him to that point. Especially since..."I honestly thought you were better than that. Where are your Phantom Thieves? Your precious friends?" The last part is especially condescending. The jealousy is so thick it could be entangling like the blackish roots that dot their current landscape.
Goro knows it's dangerous to face off against him alone, but the entire time that they've interacted with each other there's been a mutual respect despite the cat and mouse game they've been playing since their first interaction. Or at least, Goro seems to think it's been as such. He shrugs, as if pretending the idea hadn't even passed his mind as he runs his left hand in his hair.
Even if it had.
Even if Morgana had had suspected something was up with him and tried desperately for Akechi to bring him along. As backup. In case it went wrong. Or at least please give him a time if he didn’t return to send in the cavalry? Pretty please? Goro had always been so good about plans within plans, that’s what gave the Phantom Thieves their edge until now...
Yet Akechi had been steadfast about it. If it wasn’t for the fact the Metanav application was needed to come here, he would have left his phone home to be untraceable.
"No, I promised it would just be the two of us, Raven. I didn’t even tell Mona where I was going."
His mind briefly wanders towards his friend, and in a blink, ‘Raven’ is much closer to him, his gun pointed right at his forehead. The color was different than his usual one, black to match the costume he wore. Unlike the other, it wasn’t just for show either.
Dumb. Stupid. Idiot.
"You're a fool, you know." Goro scoffs at the accusation, half worried it might just push Akira towards the edge. He's had his own theories for a while now, but there's nothing solid enough that makes him ironclad that he's doing the right thing. Yet...that in itself is a thrill of its own. Detective work, after all, had a lot of deducing.
So this just happens to a lot more dangerous than usual. No big deal.
"I'm aware this isn't the most logical decision to take. But I figured you'd want to talk. You've always been the type to do so." His rival looked back at him as if this was some sort of trick, before laughing.
"Well...you certainly pick your locations. It's not like we can talk here for very long before IT shows up." Despite being in front of the Black Mask (and also having a gun to his face), it does send a chill down Goro’s spine to think that even the teen who is arguably the most powerful persona user out of the two be afraid of the creature. The Thing that they'd been avoiding the entire time they plunged deeper and deeper into the heart of this palace in the relative safety of the Morgana Bus. If they stayed too long in a 'level' that had active shadows, the Creature would show up, guns blazing. Even Akechi’s own lust for fighting made him all too keenly aware that trying to stay and battle it was a true Fool's Errand. Perhaps one day he'd have enough power to take it on, but now wasn't the time. Especially with Akira....Raven...the Black Mask in front of him. He needs to keep his mind focused.
"True. Maybe we should go to the nearest safe room to...discuss, then, don't you think?" Raven looks at him, tilting his head slightly as he rubs his chin. The hand around Akira’s gun tightens, the metal pieces of his glove clanking together as he does so, but still gives Goro a more trusting look. It makes Akechi’s stomach tighten, although the why of that he's not quite sure – or at least doesn't want to admit to himself.
Too much of a game. Too dangerous.
Akira Kurusu is Dangerous.
He can't let his guard down, even now. Even as he grins at him.
“Maybe. But what’s the fun in that….Ace?” Ahh...there we go. Going directly for Goro’s well-known affinity for danger and finally addressing him by his Phantom Thief name. It’s why he was here in front of his rival by himself, after all. Besides, he can’t look weak right now. If a fight breaks out, they’d both be too weak to fight the Repear by themselves. Goro grips on his own gun a little stronger. Each second in Akira's company making him realize the treacherous situation he is in. It would be easy for Raven to simply kill him right now, but he's not. Why?
It means, he concludes, that his hunch could potentially be correct. That, however, is a LOT of trust he's putting into chance. Heh. How ironic that it matches up perfectly with the dungeon they've been in. Tomorrow they’d pull the ‘heist’ to Sae’s heart as well. Which meant...
Now or Never. Bet your lot, or lose it all.
He looks down with his eyes without moving so that Raven does the same and see exactly what has happened. While they were speaking, Ace had silently managed to move his own gun towards his rival’s chin.
Evenly matched.
He smirks back at Akira despite it all. The same victorious smirk whenever they played a game of chess at café Scarlet.
“Alright then. We can talk—” he pauses for dramatics. “—here.”
What follows is uncomfortable silence with each additional second matching Goro’s beating heart. Laughter, again, as Raven looks visibly impressed.
“Alright.” The gun lowers from his forehead as his rival takes a more relaxed position and Ace breathes a sigh of relief. A sign of trust between them...or a warning of how casual he could take things and then end him, if he so wanted. This had been a constant growing thought since their first handshake at the television show.
“You want the Phantom Thieves to disband after we capture Sae’s heart, correct? That’s the agreement we have with you.”
He means it to be an opening to a longer conversation. However Raven doesn’t look impressed with the beginning of his (in his mind) power point presentation ‘I’m about to blow your mind in theory (but please don’t blow up mine literally)’
“You asked me here a day before we’re about to perform the heist just to remind me the terms of our contract? Sorry, no take-backs.”
Sigh.
This wasn’t going to work. Each word had to be carefully weighed, with his life was on the line. Even more importantly, THEIR lives were on the line. Ryuji. Anne. Yosuke. Morgana. Makoto. Futaba. Haru. He could be setting them up for a slaughter, and he knew it. Yet in his heart stirred something else. A closeness to Akira that made him want to try something besides their already impressively stupid plan that was so mind-numbingly idiotic it just might work.
The rest...lady luck would hopefully provide. The thing is, now he was asking her to work overtime.
Here goes.
“You’re working with Shido.”
The accusation is a dagger to the heart that gets Raven’s attention instantly, and the gun is back to Ace’s forehead once again. If it wasn’t such a tense situation, he’d probably laugh. How cliché.
“Well, well, well.” Raven’s breathing suddenly becomes slightly unhinged, something Ace hadn’t heard before. Oh. This is new. Terrifying, frightening, yes...but new. “First you send me an anonymous ‘I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, BLACK MASK’ with this location, and now you tell me this? I was wrong. I thought you were pretty good for an amateur detective...but you’re making Sakamoto sound like a genius right now.”
It takes every fibre of Ace’s being not to roll his eyes. He does love his friend, but honestly Kurusu is right about that one, and they both know it.
No.
No this is a serious situation and he could die at any moment. He has to make sure Raven is interested enough about this to want to keep him talking, and not just be done with it and kill him and his friends out of fear that they’d try to throw him under the bus as an accomplice.
“I looked at your files in regards to what happened two years ago.” Akira’s eyes, almost hidden by his mask, narrow. The gun clicks. Theatrical.
“Snooping where you don’t belong?”
“When you have the tools available at your disposition...” Don’t be too cocky, he warns himself internally. “...but there was a reason behind it.” The silence and the fact he isn’t dead means he’s allowed to go on, but that patience clearly won’t last. It was time for him to place his bets that this would at least give him another round.
“Shido is my father.”
That...is clearly not the answer Ace expected, as the small window of opportunity presents itself for Ace to violently move his head and upper body backwards, the gun firing into the air as a counter-reaction barely brushing past the mask’s nose. With a violent swap of his left hand, Ace manages to overcome Raven’s grip and throw the gun as far away from both of them before he can fire another shot. “Sorry, I like being alive. Not that don’t think you want to kill me right now, even if you clearly can.”
The insult, physically and mentally seems to snap Raven out of it. He growls and backs up, his gloved hands in a sort of claw formation. Feral, almost. That too, is new. That too, sends a pleasant feeling in his body. No! No you idiot, keep focused on the conversation.
“What makes you think I won’t? I don’t need a gun to kill you. Or even better, that I won’t kill your friends?” There’s bluish light under him, the sign of him summoning his Persona. Ace should be doing the same, but even now he wants to show that he’s not a threat or trying to be one. Every ounce of his body is screaming that he should be fighting, but he manages to push out the words he wants to say.
“...You never wanted to kill your victims in the first place. My father forced you to. You want out. I can help you.”
All of the weeks and weeks of analyzing everything about their cases and captured hearts to form a pattern. To figure out who the Black Mask was the minute he was mentioned. It all came to this and how Akira Kurusu would react to it. If he somehow ENJOYED working with Shido, then this would be the end of it. He’s confident but there’s a voice of worry in his head.
Please be right, please be right...
Silence.
He closes his eyes. Either he dies now, or he gets to continue another day.
After what seems like forever, the flames subside and Raven falls to his knees, slamming a fist into the ground before letting out a pitiful sob.
Bullseye.
Except, the victory feels flat and hollow. There’s no catharsis at the end of this chase. He feels no joy at all. Ace deflates and falls to the ground as well, feeling sick. This is probably the hardest mental fight he’s had in his entire life, and he wants to throw up. He’d need a few batches of Boss’ brew tomorrow to at least look presentable for the day at the heist.
If he got there alive.
“Are you working for him? Is this some sort of trick?” Akira doesn’t understand. It’s confusing, and Goro gets it.
“I don’t give a damn about my father,” he replies, his answer full of anger as it bubbles up inside of him. “But I care enough about this country to know he’d make it as rotten as he is. If it wasn’t for my mother taking care of me until now I...don’t know what would have happened...” He stops, realizing what he said, and laughs bitterly. “Or no...that’s a lie. I know I would have tried with every tool at my disposal to humiliate him. To kill him.”
He had never told this to a soul before. Even his friends didn’t know. Sometimes he had wondered if Futaba had looked into his family tree out of her usual boredom, but why would she care? Besides, neither really talked about their fathers, just highly about their mothers together. Honestly, at this point, Sojiro was a much better father for the both of them than either of the sorry excuses of blood family they might have.
His friends also knew his mother sent him to Sojiro as a favor so that he could pursue an education in Tokyo at a prestigious school despite her limited amount of money. They knew that while nothing official, he had always loved doing detective work first as a hobby since he was a child (an evolution of his childish dream to be a sentai), which had aided them greatly during their time as the Phantom Thieves, and against Akira himself.
Akira, The New Detective Prince, as they had set him up on TV. And while Goro himself was nothing as official, he knew that Kurusu was bad at playing the fake detective on television as time went on. Maybe Sae got fooled enough when she had been paired with him, blinded by her own desire to capture the Thieves at any cost. Yet Akechi was much more a ‘real’ detective than his rival ever was. Akira was an actor.
A really good one...but a terrible detective when he wasn’t being propped up by strings and told what to do. Why, Goro had asked himself for so, so many nights. Then the answer came to him earlier today.
Probably because he didn’t want to do it. The rest of the pieces seem to fall in so perfectly that he could pass up the opportunity to test out the theory. In the stupidest, worst way possible.
“I think, at this point, we both want to at least make him pay for his crimes. Mementos seemed like the perfect place to speak without whoever he has watching you or me being made aware.”
What Goro’s friends didn’t know is he’d never taken on his father’s name since he’d been an illegitimate child.
That meant earlier today when they had listened in on Akira’s tapped phone call, as they’d done since the first time they’d gone into Sae’s palace hoping for additional information, the mysterious man Akira was talking with was instantly recognizable. Even if they didn’t get a name.. that particular voice and mannerism of talking, Goro would recognize anywhere even if it had been years.
Masayoshi Shido. His father, in blood only.
Someday he’d demand a medal for how calm he managed to stay and concentrate on their heist. Only Morgana suspected something beyond the already horrific situation they were entangled in, and that’s because the cat (HEY! Not cat!) slept most nights on his chest and knew him best. He’d need to make up for it later this week.
Again, if he lived.
There isn’t much more time before the Reaper would show up. He takes off his mask. Why, he’s not sure (again), but it seems like the right thing to do. Perhaps to show he’s not putting up a facade, as he stands up and moves close enough to tentatively put a hand on the other’s elbow.
“So if you’re going to kill me, do it now.” Brash and brazen as ever. Being a cocky asshole had served him rather well so far. “However, if you’re not, let’s go down to the next level and I can explain in more detail.” His voice softens as those last words fall from his lips, then waits with baited breathe. When Raven speaks, his voice is quiet, a stark contrast to the violent cacophony of emotions he had displayed before.
“....Why?”
Now THAT is not a question Ace was expecting so it takes him a few seconds to try and figure out what Raven means. Why would he do it? Why him? Why would Ace help him? It all seems to be as a good to fit for that soft, desperate why. That why deserves a fitting answer.
“I...” Hmmm. “I think...” He clenches his teeth, annoyed with himself. Goro has no idea what to say. It’s strange. He usually is so good at weaving words into proper sentences. “I think...your situation is unjust and I want to see my father burn in the depths of hell for what he did.”
No. That doesn’t seem enough.
“...I want to help you...”
Because it’s the right thing to do.
Because that’s what justice is all about.
Because it’s what the Phantom Thieves are about.
Because--
“...because of who you are to me.”
His eyes open in sudden realization. Why did say that last part out loud? Shit. He made it sounds like he’s important to him. Ace bites down his tongue as time seems to slow down again, and his brain is catching up.
...Is he? Who is Akira Kurusu to Goro Akechi?
Gods, he really is an idiot. In his obsession with placing everything perfectly and figuring out theories and making plans, Goro Akechi, the great Ace Detective, is now suddenly realizing what Akira Kurusu means to him and how he never put his own feelings into the mix. And what a moment to realize it, stuck in the lietal place that represents the collective desires of humanity, months after all their little hangouts at the jazz bar, the games of billiards, the darts...the onsen....they keep playing back in his mind as he realizes that they’ve not only been playing a game but maybe he’s also been….
Raven stands up in silence, pointing the dagger he carries under Ace’s neck, where he can feel it prick his skin ever-so-slightly.
Well, fuck, he’s so dead. Akira is probably insulted by the implication of it. He can see it now; Rip Goro Akechi, killed for being the biggest dumbass when he was just about to actually preform a bloody miracle; he just couldn’t keep his mouth from speaking for his heart.
(And pants.)
But then, miraculously, he is still not dead. Even more miraculously, Raven’s Black Mask...mask, melts off with the usual burst of bluish flames so they can finally see each other eye to eye. Dagger still on his neck. Silence. Uncomfortable silence between them that makes Goro’s eyes wander. His feelings keep pouring from his heart like a damn that’s been broken. The outfit looks really good on him. Black is much more thematic to thieves and goes well with his hair and....what the hell is wrong with him?! He’s bracing for something akin to ‘Any last words?’ or ‘Goro Akechi, shut up and die’ out of his rival’s mouth.
He certainly does not expect said rival’s mouth ending square on his own as the dagger falls to the ground, forgotten.
….
Hello, Brain?
Hey! Brain!
Brain, he needs help. What’s the plan when the guy you’ve been subtly chasing and has been murdering people against his will due to your own sperm donor that probably also wants (or has) to kill you tomorrow suddenly flips the script and the ll’s in said word have now turned into ss’s?
…
Well he had said he was all in, right? Maybe he should flip those letters and kiss back as well.
So he does.
He’s such an idiot. How did he never realized how much he had wanted this? It now feels like he’s yearned it for months. It had always been there, he realizes, waiting for the opportunity. It’s been a goddamn long day and weirdly enough Akechi feels like he fucking deserves this. The fact that this is basically speedrunning a lot of typical Japanese taboos just make it that nice little bonus to the emotional rollercoaster. He should be paranoid about where this is going, but he’s too breathless – and occupied – to really worry about it right now.
Plans. Plans can come later.
This. This is nice.
...Okay, even Goro Akechi has to admit that this is better than nice.
The warmth of someone else this near him is setting his entire body on fire, and he closes the gap by gripping Akira’s right hand with his left. Akechi has friends, true, but he’s always keeping a respectful distance with everyone else when it came to...that. Not quite the cold professional, but not quite the warm friendship loving leader that he suspects the other Phantom Thieves want out of him. Ryuji placing his arm on his elbow and Goro subtly trying to snake out of it every team meeting had even become a sort of teasing joke between them but...
In the end, it was Raven who broke things off with a gasp and an amused grin. With the strange lighting of this world, Akechi would have easily accepted him as the true Leader of the Phantom Thieves, what with the way he just stole his heart.
“Hmmm...you should be trying to exhale now, you know.”
Goro then realizes he’s been holding his breathe for the past minute due to his entire worldview having been shattered, and does as he’s instructed.
“Well...” Tongue tied again. Akira starts laughing at that poor excuse of a reply. Real, heartfelt laughter like Goro’s never heard him do before. Another side of him he hasn’t seen. Between this one and the feral look, it’s hard to pick which one he likes more.
“...Well? That’s really all you have to say? Utterly pathetic.”
Okay, never mind. Akira Kurusu is an asshole.
“Shut up.” He sounds about as angry as a kitten trying to roar. It seems to make Raven even more bold as he holds up Akechi’s own gun to his face. Wait, had the jerk actually stolen that while they had kissed?
It should be a threat.
It doesn’t really feel like one.
“...Make me, Leader.”
Oh. Oh Goro knows exactly how he can do that, as the rivalry fuels him to boldly push his head towards the loaded gun aimed at his head. Or perhaps because there is a loaded gun to his head. Somehow, he manages to start to kiss him again. Surprise! He’s not dead. The gun falls on the ground too, clanking on top of the dagger. Imagine that.
He could get used to this.
A few more seconds before he breaks contact by pushing the other away, looking a little more serious. Despite his wildly beating heart, it’s hard to ignore the sounds of chains beginning to echo nearby. Nooooooooooooo…
“We need to get out of here.”
What a way to end this. Raven nods in silence, already making a beeline for his own gun as Akechi picks his up and Akira’s dagger. If they don’t, BOTH of them will die and then everything will be wrong in the world. They can’t die. He doesn’t want to give this up.
Whatever this is.
So the dumb, stupid, idiot(s) both already out of breath after being, well, actual teenagers (for once), begin to run downwards, attempting to avoid most of the shadows that dot the decrepit landscape. Even now, their rivalry refuses to die off as they try to be faster than the other. Yet the flame that had just been lit is now there too, growing much more steadily as they sometimes violently hold hands to swing the other to ‘help’ out of situations, or push the other away to shoot a shadow down. They only stop once they are in a safe level. Tired, messy, out of energy, but laughing in victory. Mona would be so angry and proud, he suspects.
Despite the intense fatigue, Goro feels like he’s swallowed a bottle of lightening even as he sits down.
“I can’t believe you kissed me.” He looks at Raven, saying it like an accusation. It’s his rival’s turn to shrug as he slicks his hair with a gloved right hand, imitating how Ace was at the start of this meeting.
“You were oddly persuasive.”
“I think I always wanted you on our side, but I didn’t think...” Well honestly, at that point he wasn’t thinking much anyway. Urgh. He exhales slowly, putting both hands on his head because this is going to require a large amount of correction in their plans and he needs to prepare for it.
“...you didn’t think what? That I’d be this handsome? It’s true, these lips aren’t just pretty for the television cameras.” Raven seems to be in a much more joking mood than before as he blows him a kiss, despite still panting from their shadow fighting and Reaper evasion (and maybe the kisses. Okay, probably also because of the kissing). Akechi doesn’t know if the burst of humor it’s due to him, due to the fact that he’s thankful that someone has finally figured out his situation, or if it’s both.
“I’m being serious. I wasn’t sure if you’d want to shoot me in the face the second I mentioned him, but I had to risk it before tomorrow.”
“Oh believe me, Goro, I gave it more than a few seconds of serious thought. You almost messed up in your delivery because I really thought you were working with him and if I couldn’t kill him at least I could kill you.” Ace makes a gagging noise at the very thought. Gods, he wants to hurt the man, not work with him. Who would want to work with Shido willingly and not be some sort of psychopathic asshole?
“You know,” Akira adds putting one hand on his chin, “if you had, oh I don’t know, talked a little more about yourself instead of just letting me go on and on during our...should I call them dates now?”
“No-”
“Right, right, you were a great listener during our dates, but I barely learned anything about you.”
Goro grumbles, but Akira is right. He was more of a helping out by listening to others than talking about his own life type of guy. This does make him wonder;
“How much did you tell me that was actually truthful?” He doesn’t mean to pry, but after getting kissed on the mouth, you sort of want to know if that same person was pulling your leg, and/or had to lie to stay alive.
“Oh, that’s the awful part, Ace. Most of it was truthful. I was raised by my parents in a small town just like you where they own one of the only two convenience stores. Our apartment really was above the same building, so I am used to being in small quarters. Even the Scarlet’s attic seemed more homely after you put your personal touch to it.” An odd place for a compliment, but Goro would take it, in part because of how proud of what he managed to turn it into. Akira then went on;
“I play the piano only because my mother expected it out of me, and I am their only child so they put all of their energy at making sure I got to be the top of my class. Late night shifts at the convenience store, putting me in cram school before that so I could go make them proud. You know. The typical Japanese parent stuff.” He looks on the left to avoid Goro’s gaze. “The lies start when I told you I have been happy being a television celebrity. I haven’t been happy for a long while. Not since I threw it all away two years ago by pushing Shido because it was the right thing to do.”
“He deserved it, I’m certain of it.”
“Of course he did, but heroes aren’t rewarded in the real world. He was already in the pockets of the local judge and police. I awoke my powers when he sent the policemen to take me away to be incarcerated, and pin what happened with the woman down on me. They died shortly after, and I awoke in a closed room with him and some of his men asking me a million questions. They seemed to know what had happened to me more than I knew myself. Since then, it’s been two years of utter hell being his personal metaverse assassin.” He raises an eye. “Until you and your Phantom Thieves came along, of course.”
Goro is so angry his gloved hands have begun to dig into his seat. His voice is low, as he speaks.
“Shido is so utterly vile he will deserve everything and more we will throw at him.” The affirmation seems to satisfy Kurusu, although he can’t help but quip back.
“We being Me and You, or Me and the Phantom Thieves?”
“...How about both?”
“You know what I did, and you still want me to be a Phantom Thief?” Even if it’s asked as a question, Akechi can tell it’s something Akira had thought about at least once before what with the speed and easiness into it.
“Only if you want to. There’s no rule of being your own Independent Thief.” That gets Raven to start laughing again, and Goro inwardly beams at himself for having been able accomplish that feat once more.
“Always with a witty comeback, huh? Hopefully that’s not just all you’ve got in your sleeve, considering that you out of anyone else is probably the most aware of what Shido is capable of doing if he’s crossed with.” Goro grins a chesire-like smile. There’s still a tiny bit of paranoia that Akira is still toying with him, but that kiss...he knows he’s a good actor, but he’s not that amazing of an actor. It felt real. It seemed real. It can’t be anything but.
“I have my secrets. Only close acquaintances get to find out what they are, however…”
“...Are you trying to subtly attempt to call me a friend without saying the F word?” Goro bites down on his tongue before speaking because it’s taking every ounce of himself to admit it.
“Considering what happened, I think friend is rather lackadaisical of a word.”
“Wow, now you’re busting out the thesaurus. For those in the front row who would need to look that word up, what does it really mean?”
Don’t make him say it, Kurusu. He looks at his rival. His rival who clearly wants him to say it. Dammit. Goro crosses his arms.
“FINE!...more than a friend.”
Akira looks like a cat who has finally caught the mouse its been chasing, grinning from ear to ear as his face turns a little more red. Akechi isn’t sure if he wants to bury himself into the ground or try to kiss him again to shut him up before he says something insulting once more – lost in his thoughts, he doesn’t notice his rival leaning on him and closing his eyes.
“...Thank you, Goro Akechi. For letting me know that I’m more than a friend.” Goro turns away, too proud to repeat it in full. Akira Kurusu had that effect on him.
“...Sure.”
Still, that seemed to satiate Kurusu as he hummed in satisfaction, one eye opening up to take a good look at him. Tease him one last time. To be just normal teenagers, even if for but a moment.
“...okay but seriously, you do have a good plan, right?”
“Akira, please shut up and enjoy the moment. I promise everything will make sense soon.”
“Fiiiiinnne.” His rival pretends to groan, but does as he is told, digging his head more into Goro’s elbow, making the Phantom Thief leader blush a little more.
Silence again. Only this time, silence is Golden. Just the two of them like this...Goro wishes it could last forever. As they lean on each other, Akechi is already making subtle modification in his mind as to what they’d be doing tomorrow, his thoughts regularly interrupted by the body heat and slow breathing of Akira. In a few minutes he’d break this contact and tell him their plan.
….Any minute now…
….
….Well, maybe just a little bit longer. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, after all. Besides, all complications that would come from this turn of events seem meaningless compared to the brief glimpse of happiness they both feel at this instant.
Hopefully he’d be able to make it last much longer. He holds on to Raven’s hand and begins.
“Alright. Here’s how it’s going to go…”
Story beats or whatever
- Why tho: This is a Goro Akechi and Akira Kurusu role swap AU that just said ‘hey make us exist’ when some of my santee’s prompts were ‘hurt/comfort – Christmas – identify reveals – Akechi is an actual detective AU’.
At the core this means that Igor picked Akechi as the ‘thief’ and Yaldabaoth picked Akira as the ‘controller’, but for the most part, nearly everything else is the same. Like in the original game, Yaldy decided to cheat and trap Igor to take over the Velvet Room, splitting Lavernza into two pieces. Igor created Morgana to help guide Akechi as best as he could, but because of what happened, Morgana is not initially aware of this.
- Goro Akechi: Goro’s new nickname is Ace instead of Joker, being the ‘Ace in their hand of cards’ meaning he is the most powerful of them, but also due to his new persona now being Holmes of Sherlock Holmes Fame (aka the Ace Detective). I love Robin Hood, but I think it fits more his rivalry with Akira and their respective personas in this AU, as Holmes and Lupin had an actual rivalry in a few books, although back then to avoid a copyright dispute, Maurice Leblanc wrote him as Herlock Sholmes and changed his personality drastically.
Because of this, Akira sometimes calls him ‘Goro Sholmes’ or ‘Mr. Watson’ to make fun of his novice detective abilities (he stops once he realizes that Goro knows Akira isn’t a real detective). His rebel god Persona is Satanael as he is the antithesis of Yaldabaoth. His 3rd persona is Altamont, one of Holmes’ more famous aliases (I thought about Joseph since Joseph Bell was the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes, but I felt Altamont sounds more fun to stay out loud and the rule of cool won). He has all of Akira’s powers in the original, including the 3rd eye.
His mother being alive is the biggest change to his canon counterpart. It doesn’t quite change his personality all that much (please see Reiji Kido from Persona 1, another example of an assholish standoffish personality who has a loving mother, so it is possible). It just makes him a lot less bitter about the world, but he still hates his father for how he treated his mother and the fact they had to survive with little to nothing. Goro is a novice deceive in his spare time, having solve some mysteries back in his hometown (in this AU, his mother moved away from Tokyo to be able to afford a place in a small town. She now works in a bakery).
He’s moved to Tokyo to go to a more expensive school that has accepted him, however to save as much money to afford said school, Akechi’s mother asks Sojiro to house him as a favor (they knew each other in part because Shido had talked about her during one of his usual ‘I am so awesome’ spiels when they worked together, and they probably had a brief little fling because it’sSojiro, let’s be honest).
Sojiro suspects that Akechi might be Shido’s son once he sees him, and at first treats him accordingly (sort of to be in tune with the original game where he’s harsher on Akira because of what crime he was accused of) expecting Goro to act like his father, but eventually softens up especially when Goro and his friends manage to bring Futaba out of her shell. He only confirms that he suspected something after they figure out Shido is the cause behind all of it and Akechi confesses to the rest of the Phantom Thieves about who his father is.
Unlike Akira in the original timeline, Akechi does a lot more deduction during the various heists, and this does keep them from falling trap with Haru’s father (aka they suspect that they’ve been purposefully set up BEFORE taking his heart) so they manage to save him from the Black Mask killing him, but he ends up dying on television anyway due to being poisoned by Shido’s men which is then presented like he’d been killed by the Phantom Thieves (the general populace doesn’t really know what having your shadow killed is like.)
- Akira Kurusu: Akira’s new nickname is Raven instead of Crow for the symbolism of Ravens being Odin’s messengers (Akira is essentially trying to clue in Ace on what’s happening without being found out) and the irony of his rebel god Persona being Loki who was Odin’s friend despite his chaos until he killed one of his sons. Like in the original game, his initial Persona is Arsene, although to make it more unique to the AU, he calls it Lupin instead. His suit is white instead of black (looking like one of his alternate outfits in Super Smash Brawl where he takes Akechi’s colors ironically). His final Persona is Raoul. He has the powers that Akechi was given in the original game, but since Akira also keeps the personality he had before plus the constant fear of being under Shido’s eye, so he does utilize the power of the wild card as well, although he has no access to the Velvet Room, so the other Personas are not as powerful because he can’t fuse and just can take what is available in a palace.
Akira is essentially forced to work under Shido not only for his own life, but also the life of his parents as well. Shido has promised to release him from his ‘work’ once he becomes prime minster, but Akira doesn’t believe him and is desperately trying to find a way out of the hell that his life has become for the past two years. He has made himself believe that at least the people who he kills deserve it (except for Futaba’s mother which haunts his entire life and gives him nightmares). He lives in the same apartment building as Sae and Makoto (a concept that had been thought of in the original game, but scrapped.) He’s a lot more hardened than he would be as the protagonist, but he still can be soft and gentle, a glimpse of who he really is. Akira mostly wears his glasses during his TV appearances, to give a soft look to his face. Akechi thinks he looks better without them (he likes the fierceness in his eyes).
Like Akechi in the original game, he ‘solves’ the crimes he has committed to give credibility to his detective prince moniker that Shido and his goons have created, but also so that they’ll be able to pin things on him once Shido is Prime Minster, something the Phantom Thieves throw a wrench right into.
- The Phantom Thieves: For the most part, the rest of the Phantom Thieves stay the same. There’s a few story beats that change, but their Personas and original situations are kept. Again, I don’t want to drastically change any character’s personalities or character beats, plus I feel like they are good enough as they are. The focus is more the swap between Akira and Akechi. The group’s name was picked ironically, since Akechi’s initial persona is a detective (a rebel in his field what with how he acts against other cops, but certainly not a thief) and during their buffet talk Ryoji joked about it because Akechi said that “The Police (of Hearts)” made them sound like they’d be hit with a copyright infringement lawyers.
More notes to come later once I write more during the year. YAY!