Chapter Text
Stumbling upon the Phantom Thieves in Mementos is a chance encounter that has less probability of happening than getting struck by lightening while being attacked by a shark. At least, it should have had such a low probability. But unfortunately, no matter how improbable it should have been, Akechi finds himself hiding in the shadows of a bonelike structure in the wall of the gruesome tunnels and watching as the Thieves fight. It is quite the surprise when the cat looking thing turns into a car, and Akechi can't help but feel a pinch of jealousy. His job would be so much easier if he could drive through the maze-like tunnels instead of going on foot. Hell, that Nijima girl's persona is a damn motorcycle. Why couldn't he have something like that? It would certainly help him in every situation in Mementos. It would especially help him now, as he watches with exasperation as the cat-car speeds off with Joker at the wheel.
The thought makes him seethe with rage. That guy has everything, doesn't he? He has a bunch of friends, apparently good grades, lives with Sojiro, and gets to drive the cat-car. Akechi has none of that, besides the good grades. What do grades matter anyways? He is hardly ever actually in school because he can study the material and pass the tests, so the faculty don't say anything. Just having the "beloved detective prince Goro Akechi" in their student roster is enough to make the administration happy. Sickening.
As Akechi watches the cat-car swerve around and slam into another shadow, he sighs and moves to a closer bone-pillar to the fight. He does have to admit; their team composition and fluidity when working with each other is very attractive. It's too bad that they'll fall apart and die when Shido is through with them; when Akechi is through with them. He shudders involuntarily. It's cold in Mementos, but it isn't the reason for his discomfort. Akechi turns slowly to look behind himself down the tunnel, away from the battle. It seems there is a shadow bumbling along in its hideous form. The black masked boy ignores the battle to go take it out and leave. It's a risky move, but the Thieves seem very occupied extorting money out of the confused shadow in front of them. Besides, he's tired of watching the idiots train and make money, like fighting shadows is a game. To be fair, he enjoys fighting as well, but it's more therapeutic for him than it is fun. There is only a small thrill of sneaking up behind the shadow and impaling his sword through the center of it. The thing shakes and falls apart in globs, growing again into separate beings. Akechi looks behind him down the hall and can still hear the Thieves fighting. He has time. He can take these enemies on, easy.
He doesn't expect to get hit with despair. He doesn't have any items to stop it, either, and even if he did, he doesn't feel like stopping it anyway. The despair claws at him and shreds apart his already dwindling sanity until he's on the ground and struggling to breathe. But why should he even bother trying to breathe? If every breath hurts him, why struggle? Giving up just is such a tempting offer... no more Shido, no more mental shutdowns, no more public image. Goro Akechi would just sink away into the memories of the public until he disappeared from there too. Yes, that sounds nice. His chest aches and the rest of him fares no better as the shadows that afflicted him continue to beat him up. He wishes they would just go away, he just wants to die in peace now. It's all he wants, won't have to suffer any more. Yes... just close his eyes... and...
Like a slap in the face, it stops. The chest pain, the suffocating thoughts, all of it. His despair is suddenly cured, and he looks up at the red gloved hand extended in front of him and discovers why.
"Joker, should you really get so close?"
"He's wearing a black mask...!"
"Could he be the one Kaneshiro and Madarame mentioned?"
"Joker, get back!"
Akechi looks up with wide eyes as Joker refuses to move despite his friends' pleas. The masked Thief smiles softly and keeps his hand outstretched.
"Are you okay?" He says, sounding genuinely concerned. It isn't right. It can't be right. This isn't right! I can't let him see my face! Get away!
"NO!!!" Akechi yells and smacks the hand away, scrambling up on his own and holding his hand over his mask to keep it on and covered. If he was ever glad for the full facial coverage his black mask gives him, he is thankful now. He just hopes it's enough. Akechi stumbles backwards, less agile than usual, and gets his foot caught on one of the tracks. He falls backwards, where he tries to scrabble further away. "Stay back!"
"Dude, calm down, we ain't gonna hurt you." The one with the skull mask says with an exasperated tone.
"We can't be sure of that, though. If this truly is The Black Masked intruder, we should be prepared for battle." The artist boy speaks next, then grunts as Nijima smacks him to shut him up.
"Fox!" She scolds warningly, fixing him with a dark glare. Akechi still can't move backwards fast enough. He could have explained himself away if he was wearing his Robin Hood persona outfit, but the bright red and white weren't optimal for sneaking and spying. Thus, he is stuck still trying to hide his identity and move as quickly away from the concerned and wary looking group. To make matters worse, they've heard of him somehow. He's truly landed himself in a huge pile of shit this time. Joker is too close to him too quickly, standing over him menacingly. Akechi shakes his head vehemently as he leans down and reaches for him again.
"No! Don't look at me!" He panics, pulling out his light sword and slashing at the outstretched hand. Joker jumps backwards swiftly to avoid getting hurt and Akechi can take the moment to get to his feet again. The other Thieves have taken a more aggressive stance now, prepared to fight. Akechi knows he could normally take them easily, but after his despair, he barely has enough energy to summon his persona. So, he turns tail and sprints away from the other teenagers.
Akechi feels relief flood his system when he sees the platform to take him up to the next level of Mementos. It isn't much, but it means he's one step closer to getting out and avoiding devastating conflict. Unfortunately, just as he thinks this, the rumble of an engine rapidly grows closer from behind him. A blue flash whizzes past him and blocks the tunnel ahead of him. Nijima stares him down with a deadly glare and revs the engine. Once again, Akechi wishes he could have a rideable persona. It even just a regular bike would be nice. Cursing, he turns around to flee the opposite direction, but by that time, the other Thieves had caught up to him.
"Dammit-!" He swears, tightening his fist around his weapon. He knows he doesn't have the energy to fight all of them; trying that would be foolish suicide. He's strong and he knows it, but he also knows his limits. This situation far surpasses his limits, so basically he's fucked.
"Why'd'you keep runnin', huh?" The blond, "Skull," asks aggressively. Perhaps he is just asking a question, but the barbed wire bat with nails protruding from it takes the hospitality out of the image.
"I'm clearly at a disadvantage, wouldn't you run?" Akechi responds. He realizes his mistake a little too late as Joker's eyes flicker with recognition. He shouldn't have spoken; of course he would recognize Akechi's voice.
"Calm down." Joker commands. It pisses Akechi off. How dare he talk to me like one of his loyal lackeys?!
"Stay away from me, don't take a step closer!" Akechi points his light sword at the slowly approaching enemy as he backs himself into the wall. With Nijima behind him, the only place to go was to the side, after all. His back collides with the uncomfortably soft wall of Mementos and he shudders involuntarily. "Stay the fuck back." He warns again, though he is fully aware of how he probably looks more like a snarling, cornered dog than anything intimidating.
"Just calm down, we aren't going to hurt you. That is, unless you keep attacking." Joker sounds diplomatic, like he would actually be willing to compromise. Akechi lowers his sword just enough to fool him into stepping closer before he swings at him again. Before Akechi even has time to move again, he cries out in pain as his wrist is grabbed and twisted behind himself and his body is slammed up against the wall.
"Try something else, I dare you." Nijima tightens her grip on his wrist and snarls low in his ear. He tries to look behind him to see her instead of the wall, but his stupid mask blocks his peripheral with his head smashed against the wall like this.
"Let. Go." He commands, holding back his wince when she pushes his arm further out of place. He can feel it dislocating slowly; all it would take is one extra ounce of force to cause serious damage to the limb.
"Queen," Joker warns, but Nijima does not let up. Akechi clenches his teeth tightly in a snarl as his struggles minimally. He could barely move in her firm grip, after all. However, when he feels his mask start to be removed, he doubles his efforts of escape, gritting his teeth against the pain in his arm. The mask is lifted and Akechi meets the grey eyes of none other than Joker himself. The surprise in the other boy's face doesn't taste as sweet as it would have if he could have planned this. Still, Akechi forces a sneer, a mockery of his TV smiles.
"We seem to meet each other in the most unexpected places, don't we?" Akechi enjoys Joker's stunned expression as much as he can regardless. And what a lovely expression it is.
"...Akechi?" He mutters in disbelief. Even Nijima loosens her grip on his arm. Akechi forces one of his "pleasant" chuckles.
"It seems I've made a bit of a blunder."
"A bit, yeah." Joker nods slowly.
"So what do you say we both walk away from this, forget this ever happened, and never speak of it again?"
"I don't see that working out."
"Ah." Akechi shrugs to the best of his ability, moving only the tiny bit Nijima allows him to. "It was worth a try."
"You're the black mask, aren't you." Joker states with confidence. Akechi's smile wilts purposefully into a more accused look.
"I mean, I was wearing a black mask, but how should I know if I'm the person you're looking fo-aahk!" His response is choked off as Nijima shoves him into the wall forcefully. He can actually hear his arm creaking under the pressure.
"Don't play dumb, Akechi. You're better than that." He's never heard the younger Nijima sound so volatile before; he totally had her pegged wrong in the past.
"You're right, I am better than this." He allows his face to fall into an exhausted anger. "I am better than careless mistakes like this. Shouldn't even fucking be here." He sighs. "But let go of this black mask notion you have. Would you attack anyone with a black mask and accuse them? That one has a black mask on too. The short one. Would you attack him?" He nods his head to where he thinks the other Thieves are. It takes a second for their dull heads to figure it out.
"Huh, me??" A boyish voice exclaims. "This is just my face!" This makes Akechi's eyebrows draw together in confusion.
"What?" He can't resist questioning it. The little cat looking thing isn't a person in a costume?
"Yeah, I've always been like this since I- hey wait a minute, don't change the subject!" The cat yelps. Akechi groans and rolls his eyes. "You're the one under questioning here! What are you doing here, Goro Akechi?!"
"I could ask you all the same. To think I'd find this weird other world and end up getting caught by the Phantom Thieves; the very people I've wanted to catch. To think it'd be you..." he acts surprised, but truthfully he already knew from the very beginning there was something special about Akira Kurusu. Really, it was too fitting that he would end up being the leader of the ones he swore to apprehend.
"Looks like your plan crapped out on ya, huh?" Skull is all too happy to jeer.
"How the tables have turned, I believe." The artist, Fox, apparently, agrees.
"Never mind that! What are you doing here?!" The girl who wears the red latex cat suit pipes up accusingly next. Akechi groans, taking his time to get his words precise before speaking.
"I first discovered this place not too long ago. Hm, perhaps two months ago? This... strange app appeared on my phone, and it brought me here. I nearly died when I first bumped into a shadow, but I remember telling myself that I couldn't let myself die without even knowing where I was, and I received a persona." Akechi shifts a bit, the ache in his arm becoming more of an annoyance than a pain at this point. "Um, can you let me go? You can take my weapons. This is just very uncomfortable to stand like this."
"Not a chance in hell." Nijima replies automatically, once again pressing him harder into the wall.
"Queen, let him go." Both Akechi and "Queen" look at Joker stunned.
"You can't be ser-" Nijima starts, but silences herself when Joker holds up a hand.
"We'll still be cautious, don't worry. I just want to be able to look him in the eyes and talk for a bit." To Akechi's continued surprise, Nijima eases backwards until he's free. His gun and sword are removed from his grasp before he regains his space. Grimacing, he stretches his arm and winces at the the crackling sounds it makes as he rolls his shoulder.
"Ouch. You really do have a firm grip, Nijima-san. I'm glad to see the younger sister of Sae-san isn't as much of a pushover as I originally thought. I suppose I owe you an apology for that." Akechi looks at her fully, taking in the spiked brass knuckles she holds clenched tightly and ready to attack. She glares back at him, stance firm and defensive. "I'm surprised at myself, honestly. I should have known you had a rebellious heart inside of your proper good girl exterior. It's such a common theme among sheltered girls." Nijima doesn't respond. Instead, Joker calls his attention again.
"Akechi," he commands full eye contact with just the one word. Akechi can feel the grey of the Phantom Thief's eyes slicing into the red of his own like a sharp knife through fresh fruit. "Tell me the truth. What are you doing here? How long have you been following us?" Akechi has to break the eye contact for a moment to glance over at Skull as the thug boy moves in his peripheral. Truthfully, Skull moving is just an excuse. That eye contact is already bothering him.
"I told you, I've only discovered this place a short while ago. I was afraid so I never came back until today. I admit, I was following you today, though. I saw you all in the station and decided to see what you were up to. You all are very suspicious, after all." Akechi starts his explanation, easily fabricating a new truth to tell the others.
"You're the suspicious one!" Skull shouts out, startling Akechi a little. He isn't proud of the surprised hop-step he did as a reaction to it, but it would help his cover as a totally innocent individual.
"Shut up, let him talk!" Red catgirl smacks Skull in the chest sternly, glaring at her friend. Skull sulks and rolls his eyes, grumbling something that gets him hit again.
"Um, well, I saw you all at the station and was watching you as you pulled out your phone and suddenly disappeared. Really, you should be more careful where you do that sort of thing. Anyone could see it if they bothered looking." The Thieves fidget embarrassedly at having gotten caught so easily and called out on it too. Really, Akechi is surprised there weren't more reports of teenagers randomly disappearing or appearing in public.
"So after you saw us use the app, you used yours too and followed us this whole time?" Joker tilts his head and narrows his eyes carefully. Akechi can't help but feel like that gaze was reaching through him.
"Exactly. It took me a few minutes to find you after entering, but I was impressed by your fighting skills. I was watching you fight when I noticed a shadow lurking a distance behind me. It was in the path I would need to take to exit this place, so I thought I would handle fighting it and then go back to the real world. I was thinking I'd come back a later date and practice fighting here before coming up with a plan to catch you all." Akechi laughs deprecatingly. "It seems my plan backfired and I got hit with some sort of spell that threw me into despair so great I could hardly move. This is a dangerous place, isn't it?"
"Very dangerous. Coming in here on your own is a bad idea. Don't do it anymore." Joker reprimands him sternly, but not angrily. It throws Akechi off a bit.
"You afraid that I'll cause trouble without your watchful guidance?" He lightly teases, though he wouldn't be surprised if that is the true reason. Joker firmly shakes his head no.
"I'm worried that you'll come in again by yourself and get yourself killed. I don't want that." He glances around to the other Thieves. "None of us want that." The varying responses are both amusing and disheartening to Akechi. The artist seems not to have any reaction, Nijima reluctantly agrees, the cat thing just narrows his eyes distrustfully, and Skull looks unsure. The only one who really seems to readily agree with their leader is Catsuit girl, who tightens her fists close to her chest in a cheesy determined anime girl pose.
"Yeah! None of us want any senseless deaths, right guys?" She probes the others, shoving an elbow into Skull's side. He glares at her and smacks her away.
"Ouch, geez! Quit jabbing me! What the hell?" He then huffs and slouches forward, digging one toe into the floor. "But yeah, I agree. It'd leave a pretty shitty taste in my mouth if you went and got killed over something stupid like that. Somethin' we coulda prevented."
"Don't sound so compassionate, Skull!" The cat creature sarcastically quips at the slouching teen. It amuses Akechi slightly, considering the cat thing was the one showing the most outward disdain towards him. The cat thing then turns to look at Akechi with seriousness in his comically large eyes. "I was here alone a lot before I met these guys, so I'm a special case. But even I know how dangerous it is and how easy accidents can happen. I avoid coming alone as much as possible."
"Didn't you just come into Mementos alone the other day while Joker and I were in the park?" The artist thinks out loud and flustered the creature.
"That doesn't prove anything! The point is, it's dangerous, so seriously don't come alone."
"And don't tell anyone about this place, got it?" Nijima speaks up now in a cold voice. "We don't know what the reason for it's being is, or why we can enter, but the more people know of its existence, the riskier it becomes to the public."
"I have to agree with you there. I have no plans of telling anyone, I can promise you that." Akechi lies with a forced amused smile. He's already been doing Shido's dirty work here for years, so it's kind of late for him to keep it a secret from everyone.
"Yeah, it wouldn't make sense for you to want just anyone here. Didn't you express concern in your interviews about changes of hearts?" Joker idly twirls Akechi's ray gun on his fingers, the motion smooth and dexterous.
"It's true. I've been worried about the incidents and how they were perpetrated. The idea of someone controlling a mind is understandably vile, even if it is to get a criminal to confess." A few cries of disagreement fly up from the surrounding Thieves, but Akechi continues heedlessly. "I remember when we first met, you said with such conviction that the Phantom Thieves only target criminals. I thought: how could you be so sure. At the time I thought perhaps you were a blind believer, but now it makes sense. Of course you would trust your own sense of morality and justice is right."
"Right! And it's not just Joker that believes in the Phantom Thieves, in ourselves, but we each trust each other completely. We only go after targets that are agreed upon unanimously. That way we can all be sure that we only help people in need of it." Catsuit girl nods animatedly. It's cute to see someone so trusting of others. Cute in a disturbing kind of way.
"So that's how it is. Who is your current target? The hacktivist group Medjed has declared war on you, after all. How are you going to deal with that?"
"We don't gotta tell you anything!" Skull shouts defensively to which Akechi raises his hands up in mock surrender.
"Slow down, I was just asking. No need to get so violent. Unless... there is something you don't want me to know about?" His red eyes scan the others, all looking too unsure of themselves to say anything. All except for Joker. Akechi tilts his head in his direction curiously.
"We don't have a target yet right now. Not a big one, anyway. We come to Mementos, this place here where we are, to take out smaller targets." Joker answers slowly as if considering his words before speaking. "These people we change the hearts of are smaller, less influential people on a large scale, but their crimes are terrible nonetheless. This way we can save people who's voices aren't heard in popular media."
"Why are you telling him this?!" Nijima whisper yells to Joker. Akechi wonders the same thing. Why is he filling Akechi in like this? The answer shocks him.
"Because I'm about to invite him to join us." Joker's words stun Akechi into total silence. Join the Phantom Thieves? The group of self-righteous idiots who are the most likely to ruin all of his plans? He wants to annihilate them. The last thing he wants to do is to join them.
"Dude, what?! What are you thinking?" Skull bursts out as loud as ever.
"You must be joking!" The artist breathlessly adds with a hand over his chest. The other Thieves all open their mouths to argue but Joker bushes them with a wave of his arm.
"I'm serious. I think he should join us. We would work well as a team, didn't you say that to me?" Joker smiles smugly at Akechi as he says this. It flusters the detective further and continues his silence, so Joker continues filling that silence. "But honestly, I believe it would be best if he work with us, instead of him going off and doing things on his own. Firstly, I don't want him to get wrapped up in something, and secondly, it would be problematic if we ended up against each other. So, I figure we should invite him. What do you say?" He turns to the still frozen Akechi with a welcoming look. The detective just blinks at him a couple times before shaking his head.
"That- no, that's not a good idea. I'd just bring your group down." Akechi surprises himself with the honesty he feels saying that. It was supposed to be an excuse to not join them, but he actually feels it once he says it out loud. He saw their teamwork earlier; he knows how well they were running. He would just get in the way.
"No way, man! You're tougher than that. I'm sure you could keep up with us." Skull encourages him to his own further surprise. Did he somehow slip into another world entirely where the Thieves don't hate him? Akechi can think of nothing that would explain why he would be welcomed into the team like this.
"It would allow us to keep an eye on you as well. After all, you've been against us this entire time. Having you with us keeps you from spying on us." The artist explains out loud, seemingly not realizing how what he said is the actual only truth behind why they would want him along. After all, that bullshit reasoning about wanting to keep Akechi safe was so laughably fake.
But, when the Thieves all start agreeing even with that reason, and giving more examples of why it would be good to have him tag along, Akechi finds himself surrounded by a group of people that want him without wanting to just use him. They were giving reasons like "I always see you alone," and "if you have a persona, then you're like us, a misfit," and "strength in numbers." They mention his status with the police and investigations, and they mention with more importance his media popularity (or unpopularity at the moment, since the people have been riled up about Kaneshiro and how the justice system failed there). With the onslaught of arguments as to why he should join them, Akechi even started considering it. He could rework it into his plan to take them out, use his membership to gain even further intel and powers. It takes him a moment to realize that the others have quieted down and seem to be waiting for a response. Akechi glances back and forth between hopeful eyes and the pressure builds with each brief look.
"Ah, can I think about this?" Akechi asks with a faked embarrassed smile. At his side, just a couple steps away, Joker smiles softly at him and steals away all of Akechi's thoughts.
"Of course you can. You should give us all your number and chat id when we return to the real world. We have to keep in touch somehow, right?" Joker pauses, then jolts like he just remembered something important. "Oh, and I would like to have you nearby tonight. I'm sure you understand, we can't trust you yet. Even if your answer is no and that you want nothing to do with this, I still would like to keep an eye on you."
"What do you mean, keep me nearby?" Akechi narrows his eyes and tries not to feel too distressed. If Joker is suggesting what he thinks he's suggesting, it would be very bad for him. There's no way he would be able to talk to Shido if he needs to with the Phantom Thief hanging over his shoulder. He might as well shoot him self if it came to that, save someone else the trouble of assassinating him.
"Sleepover. It'll be fun." Joker smiles like he's casually inviting a friend, not taking a possible enemy hostage. Akechi immediately declines with a firm shake of his head.
"No. I refuse. I am far too busy to spend frivolous time 'hanging out'."
"Okay, then I'll come with you. You do whatever jobs you have to do, and I'll just tag along. Won't even know I'm there."
"That's not possible!" Akechi almost cringes at the strange crack in his voice. Is he really allowing himself to get worked up over this? What a strange day. "There are confidentiality issues. I work in law enforcement, you know. I can't just let some... random person follow me around!"
"What about a random cat?" Joker suggests with a smartass smirk. The boyish cat-creature-thing groans.
"That won't work either." Akechi shakes his head. he isn't sure what that plan would have been exactly, but he doesn't care enough to find out that he won't decline it immediately. His anxiety is starting to increase; if he can't get away from Phantom Thief custody, he's going to have some big problems with Shido. Grimacing, Akechi curses himself for being so stupid to get himself caught.
"You're making it really difficult for me to supervise you." Joker shakes his head and sighs as if he were really expecting Akechi to come willingly.
"That would be my idea, yes." Akechi fixes his rival with a blank stare. "This may come as a surprise to you, but I don't like being watched."
"Your always bein' on tv contradicts that." Skull grumbles. Akechi doesn't comment.
"Okay, how about this. Just for tonight then? Then tomorrow you can go about your usual business and check in during the day every few hours." Joker's suggestion earns a few sceptical eyebrow raises from his friends, but they don't say anything. Akechi thinks over this option. It is better than being followed everywhere, and isn't all that different than checking in with Shido to reassure him that everything is going smoothly. But then again, he will still have to check in with Shido, which he cannot risk doing around the Thieves. Still, this seems to be the most favorable option, so Akechi begrudgingly nods. Joker absolutely grins, smug as ever.
"Perfect! Well then, I think we've done enough for this Mementos trip to be over. Let's head back up. Mona?" He turns to look at the cat thing, who nods and jumps into the air, landing as a large vehicle. Seeing it up close is even stranger than from a distance.
"That's incredible..." Akechi admits quietly. Mona hears him and rumbles with pride.
"You bet I am! Won't find a swankier ride even in the best of car shows!"
"Oh stuff it, cat, you don't even have air conditioning." Skull complains as he is already climbing aboard.
"At least I have something to provide to the team, you useless ape!" The car's retort is delivered not so kindly, and Akechi can still hear Skull from the interior.
"Oh you wanna go?"
The two bicker and the artist, Fox, just sighs and climbs in as well, followed by an equally disgruntled catgirl. Nijima gets in shotgun, leaving Akechi standing outside with Joker. He looks over to the leader with hesitation, and Joker just smiles at him before climbing in the driver's side. Akechi sighs and climbs aboard the vehicle as well, sitting down on the weirdly warm seat next to the catgirl. She smiles oddly at him, in a friendly yet wary way. Akechi looks away from her to favor the window without a word. He has a feeling the days to come will be more exhausting than usual.