Archive of Our Own

Ugh. Goro hated Mementos with every last bit of his soul. Not that he had much of a soul left anyway. 

Whatever. That was besides the point.

He couldn’t be bothered with some pissant’s random problems. Who the fuck cared anyway? Not him. They could go straight to the depths of hell for all he cared. 

Goro wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for that savior complex of an idiot Maruki. The guy thought he could make everyone happy by making their problems magically disappear like he was given magical powers from the moon or something. Sure, it could make people happy in the short run. Hell, some people might even be happy in the long run. It didn’t matter. 

Goro had enough of people pulling his strings. So yeah. Fuck Maruki. And Akira.

God, fuck Akira.

Goro was fine before that bastard showed up in his life. He was fine. He’d been the famed Detective Prince; people recognized him wherever he went, and they’d drooled for just a second of his attention, be it a selfie with him, just a word, just a conversation. They’d practically salivated when he’d go out seeking something… more. ( In an attempt to feel in control of something for once in his life.)

And sometimes, he’d give it to them. The selfie, the conversation, the sex.

It wasn’t hard. He was in control. (He wasn’t.) Killing people for his sorry excuse of a father wasn’t hard. (It was.) Killing his emotions along with those shadows wasn’t hard either. (It was.) Killing a part of himself every time he slipped on his mask had been easy too. (It hadn’t.) He had been fine. (He wasn’t.) It had been under control. (It wasn’t.) It wasn’t hard. 

(It wasn’t.)

(It wasn’t. )  

But then Akira had to come around and make everything actually hard. Him and his stupid friends that had tried to ‘save’ him. As if he needed saving in the first place.

Ryuji with his insistence on being his own person. Ann with her loud and empathetic acceptance. Yusuke with his brutal honesty. Makoto with her fierce almost-protectiveness. Futaba with her awkward but sincere offer of a second chance. Haru with her quiet determination and refusal to let him die. And later, much later, Sumire had accepted him for who he actually was. 

And then there had been that damn cat. Saying things like he didn’t hate Joker. That he should follow his true feelings. Upon hearing that , Goro had felt like he was suddenly thrust into the plot of a particularly revolting shounen manga. Absolutely pathetic. It made him want to vomit. Or kill the people in front of him. That would work too.

And, because why not, Joker had to hold him to his promise of a rematch, telling him he’d hold onto his glove. Really. Couldn’t he tell that was the last thing on his mind when he’d shut the door? What utterly useless sentimentality.

Still. He did promise. 

Akira promised to stop Shido. And that was almost everything Goro had needed.

But even as he faced his puppet self, even as he pointed the gun with practiced ease, even as he pulled the trigger, even as his hands shook…

Goro found that he didn’t want to die.

But what choice did he have at that point? This was how it always ended in the stories his mother told him. The good guys win. Villains like himself died. It was a simple fact.

I wish Akira and I had met sooner...and that we could have spent more time together. Then maybe things could have been different...

And now here he was. In godforsaken Mementos with them all. 

With Akira.

Fuck.

Goro blinked and shook his head to clear away the memories. It wasn’t the fucking time to think about pointless shit. It was time to tear through Shadows.

“Last one! Get ‘em!” Oracle’s voice echoed, cutting through the remaining errant thoughts in Goro’s head. 

He lifted his sword, cackling with glee, and ripped a gaping hole into a Bugs. He heard the satisfying crunch of bones, spurt of blood, the monstrous cry of agony before it disintegrated. And God , did it feel good. If there was anything in this world that Goro loved, it was crushing shadows under heel, sword, and Persona alike. The satisfaction was almost visceral.

But like everything even halfway decent in his life, it came to an end.

“That was the last of them! Good work, Crow!” came Oracle’s voice from above, dropping to the ground from where she had been safely stowed away inside Al Azif.

Goro bit back a sigh. And now came the part he hated most. Team bonding. 

He’d preferred it when he was dead. At least then he didn’t have to deal with this shit.  

Everyone gathered in a tight circle, the narrow alleyway they were in granting little space. If Goro had to guess, it was about ten feet wide. Very little room for maneuvering or dodging, but they’d all managed, somehow, and without hitting each other too. Goro was almost impressed.

“Yo, how much cash did that shadow drop?” Skull asked, shaking Goro out of his thoughts. He was stretching out his presumably bad leg; Goro hadn’t bothered to remember which one it was.

“Not much. It wouldn’t even cover the cheap sushi from 777,” Mona replied, one ear twitching.

“Mona, do you only ever think about sushi?” Panther wondered, idly fiddling with her gloves.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t say that when you spend all your Mementos money on dessert,” Queen said, adjusting her scarf so it laid more comfortably around her shoulders. Panther spluttered indignantly, about to retort, but Queen barreled on, ignoring her. “That reminds me. Fox, what did you eat last?”

Panther pouted, crossing her arms with another indignant ‘hmph!’, turning her head away. Fox looked up from where he had been drawing in his sketchbook. Goro caught a glimpse of many doodles of a Jack Frost and a Jack o’ Lantern playing together. “Hmm…” he hummed, smudging some charcoal on his chin. Really. Where did he even carry the damn art supplies? “The last thing I remember eating were some flowers I found blooming near the dorm.” 

Some of Goro’s brain cells perished. He’d pinch his nose if he could.

“...flowers.” Queen repeated, a little incredulously. Oracle burst out laughing.

“Flowers, Inari?” she wheezed out in between breaths. “Really?” She latched onto Joker’s arm for support, as if laughing took an absurd amount of strength from her body. Right. Because that’s what laughing does to a person. Goro felt himself tense up for absolutely no reason at all. Nope. No reason at all. Goro’s stiffness also had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Oracle was gripping Joker’s arm to her body like it belonged to her. 

No. Nothing at all.

He’d murder anyone who’d even dare to suggest otherwise. 

Queen adjusted her brass knuckles, a new, highly efficient weapon gifted to her by Joker. Goro wasn’t jealous of that either. He wasn’t .

Breathe, he told himself angrily. Unfortunately, any untimely murders would be inconvenient, and frankly, stupid. Losing even one of them would take away from their collective strength. As loathe as he was to admit it, he needed the Thieves’ power. Maruki was a formidable enemy, and Goro had learned that the hard way.

So. No murders. For now. Goro settled for taking a deep breath through his nose, holding it, and letting it out through his mouth. He felt only slightly better. He crossed his arms to hide his clenched fists.

“Is there something wrong with that?” Fox said in response to Oracle’s laughter, furrowing his brows, shaking Goro out of his murderous train of thought. Queen sighed and pinched her nose in exasperation, reaching up underneath her mask and dislodging it a little to do so. Goro almost understood.

“Why did you eat the flowers?” Noir asked, sounding genuinely curious. “If you were hungry I would have gotten you something. I have far too much money on my hands and you’re one of my best friends, Fox. Let me take care of you!”

“I’ll be sure to let you know the next time I find myself hungry, Noir,” Fox replied amicably. “Though to answer your first question, the flowers were small, and a bright shade of purple, and I remember thinking that they were wondrously beautiful and elegant. I thought that if I ingested them I’d come to understand their beauty on a deeper level. Alas, I was mistaken.”

“Bro,” Skull said, vibrating with...something. “What did they taste like?”

“After all of that, that’s the question you’re asking?!” Panther yelled, swatting at Skull for no reason.

“What?” he said, covering his head with his hands. “I was jus’ wonderin’!”

“Were the flowers really enough to satisfy your appetite, Fox-senpai?” Violet said, patting her stomach. It was no secret how much she herself ate. She’d probably die if she didn’t eat twice her weight in food everyday. Goro was still confused how she stayed so thin. And maybe a little bit envious.

“That’s besides the point!” Queen said, exasperation taken up a notch.

“Fox, when did you eat those flowers?” Joker said, catching Goro off guard. He hadn’t said anything this entire conversation until just now. Goro caught a faint smile on his face. Is he enjoying this?

“Let’s see,” Fox hummed. “I believe that was…yes, two days ago. I remember because I bought more paint then too.”

“You can’t be serious,” Mona said. “I can barely go without food for two hours . How do you even live?!”

“I am simply not restrained by base human desires.”

“I can’t believe this.”

“Wow, Inari. Just wow.”

A loud grumble interrupted the banter. Everyone looked at Fox, who put his hand over his stomach, face in shock, as if he couldn’t believe his appetite had just betrayed him like that.

“Wow, Fox-senpai, even I’m not that loud when I’m hungry!” Violet exclaimed.

“Oh, you poor dear. You should have told me earlier,” Noir chastised. Fox winced.

“Now that it has made itself known, I do suppose I am rather hungry.” He looked around at everyone pleadingly, hope in his puppy dog eyes, tail wagging slightly in excited expectation. “I don’t suppose anyone has something I could eat?”

“Sorry, man. I jus’ finished off the last of the ramen I brought with me,” Skull said, and Fox’ tail wagged slightly less excitedly.

“If I had known you hadn’t eaten I would’ve taken that guy’s offer of buy one get two free at that crepe stand I went to today…” Ann sighed. Fox’s tail stopped wagging entirely.

“I eat what Joker eats. I finished the last granola bar that was in his pocket,” Mona replied, and while Fox’s tail began to droop, Joker whipped his head at Mona, disbelief and betrayal evident on his face.

“I was gonna eat that! How could you, Mona?”

“Don’t yell at me, okay?! I was hungry!”

“I ate before we traveled down here,” Queen stated, redirecting the conversation.

“Same,” Oracle replied breezily. Fox’s tail drooped even more.

“I only brought tea with me today,” Noir sighed. “I’m sorry, Fox. Today was the one day I didn’t bring any sweets with me.”

“I’ve already gone through all my food supplies for today,” Violet said. “If I had known how hungry you were I would have saved some for you! Sorry.”

Fox sighed dejectedly, tail drooping to its lowest possible point. “I suppose I’ll suffer for now.”

Goro had an apple stowed away in his sleeve. He didn’t normally share food, and apples were one of the few foods he genuinely enjoyed. But if it would shut all of them up and make them move on with things, he’d be the first to sacrifice.

“Here,” Goro said shortly, yanking at Fox’s gloved hand, forcefully depositing the apple in his open palm. “Take it."

The room fell silent. Goro felt each one of their stares fall into him, felt them stay there.

“What?” he snapped, tone biting.

“Is this...for me?” Fox questioned tentatively, tail betraying his excitement.

“No, I thought I’d just show it off,” Goro replied, tone dripping with sarcasm. “Of course it’s for you. Now eat it, and then let’s move on . We have too much shit to do today to even bother with standing around and chatting pointlessly.”

Fox stared at him a little longer, before nodding his head in thanks, tearing into the apple and finishing it in record time.

“I didn’t know you had it in you, Crow,” Oracle said, voice taking on a teasing cadence. She let go of Joker’s arm, grin growing. Goro found himself relaxing at the release, for the same non-reason as before. Fuck.

“That was very sweet of you,” Noir gushed, catching him off guard with the sincerity of her tone. Goro couldn’t help but flush a little under the praise. It wasn’t his fault that he grew up without being genuinely complimented.

“I would have been content to let you starve,” Goro grumbled, crossing his arms, trying to deflect. “We just have too much shit to do. Don’t take this the wrong way."

The Thieves ignored him.

“Ooooh, are you blushin’, man?” Skull said, throwing an arm over his shoulders. Goro tried to shrug it off, to no avail. Noir invaded his personal space too, staring at his eyes through his mask. There was nowhere left to run. 

Not that he would run. That idea was absurd. He had no reason to run.

“Oh my goodness, he is!” Noir exclaimed, far too enthusiastically. “It’s actually kind of cute.”

Out of his periphery, Goro thought he saw Joker stiffen.

Strange.

“I am not blushing,” Goro growled petulantly, refusing to think about Joker.

“Dude, you totally are,” Skull said.

“There’s nothing wrong with a little blushing, Crow-senpai!” Violet exclaimed innocently, moving closer and patting his head. “You’re almost like a little kid.”

“Don’t do that!” Goro yelped, trying to wave away her arm, and somehow failing.

“Now that I think about it, he does remind me of a toddler,” Panther said, moving closer. “I could just hug you!”  

And then she abruptly threw her arms around him, trapping him. Goro’s thoughts raced and scattered like leaves on the wind.

He thought he heard a sharp intake of breath, but currently he was well restricted and preoccupied with the feeling of being hugged (was it always so warm?) for the first time in a long time, the amount of which Goro couldn’t recall at the moment (was it months, years ago?), but he could swear that someone hadn’t touched him like this since his mother died, and god don’t think about that , so he couldn’t identify who it was.

“Let--go--of--me!” Goro said, each word punctuated by another twist of his body. But both Skull and Panther were surprisingly strong, and he quickly resigned himself to being assaulted by them and Violet’s unrelenting pats, however unhappy he was with the situation.

“Panther and Violet are right,” Fox said after wiping his hands on his pant leg, looking satisfied. He then immediately framed them with his fingers. “A blush makes you look...softer. It lends to you some childish innocence I’ve yet to see on you, at least as of this moment.”

As Goro’s blush darkened, he suddenly thought dying wasn’t so bad anymore, if it saved him from this asinine and embarrassing situation. He clenched his jaw before sighing, thinking of dying kittens and other equally sad things in an attempt to get rid of the blush on his face, but the shift of arms on his body and pats on his head and the warmth radiating from them kept distracting him.

“Great,” Goro muttered. “Just what I need. To look softer . Yes, I can just picture it, Shadows running in terror from the blushing Crow! Fantastic.” 

“Can’t take a compliment, Crow?” Queen said, smirking, taking her turn to poke fun at him.

“So you admit it!” Oracle exclaimed before Goro could retort, pointing an accusing finger at him. “Your Honor! Crow has just confessed to blushing. I hereby move to have him sentenced to thirty minutes of public humiliation!”

“I’m going to kill you all,” he growled, pushing harder at Skull and Panther, trying to dislodge them. His struggle only caused them to hold on tighter.

“Yeah, yeah. That line stopped working after you failed to kill us twice,” Skull replied.

“Just accept the hug, Crow,” Panther sighed, somehow squeezing tighter. “You’ll feel better once you do.”

“All right guys, that’s enough,” Joker suddenly snapped, tone stern. His mouth was pressed into a firm line. “We should move on. Like Crow said, we have too much shit to do.” 

Everyone was startled at his tone, Goro included, but they all straightened up, and Goro was finally released. After making a show of brushing himself off, he glanced at Joker’s face, curious as to why he was upset. 

Joker’s jaw was clenched tight, as if he was gritting his teeth against harsh and scathing words. His arms were crossed, although Goro could see that he was trying to hide his clenched fists, and he could almost hear the red leather creaking from how tightly they were fisted. The pose was so similar to how he himself had been earlier when Oracle had grabbed Joker’s arm, and it startled Goro to understand that Joker was jealous .

But what the hell did Joker have to be jealous of? 

Goro thought back on the whole conversation. Skull, Panther, and Violet were the only ones who had touched him. Is he secretly dating one of them?

The mere thought pissed him off.

I wish, Goro thought to himself, that Joker and I were alone. It wasn’t the first time he had wished for it that day.

Goro caught something moving in the corner of his eye. His head snapped to it, only to find nothing there. Just more walls and train tracks that had been the backdrop across all of Mementos. It was probably nothing.

Still. It couldn’t hurt to be cautious.

“Joker,” he said, laying a hand on his shoulder with a clawed gauntlet. “I think there’s something here.”

Everyone straightened, alert. If there was one thing about everyone he could genuinely appreciate, it was the fact that when it came to Shadows, the Thieves were all business, all professional. It was also the one thing that he could connect with them on--he knew that they all took some form of satisfaction from killing Shadows. He understood that on a certain level.

Joker glanced at him, fists unclenching, arms uncrossing, breathing out a tiny little sigh. Goro couldn’t quite parse out his expression. If he had to guess, it looked like something of a mix between resignation and...relief. 

Strange.

Joker nodded at Goro.

“Everyone, stay on guard,” Joker replied, one hand moving to his chin in a mockery of Goro’s old classic Detective Prince pose, ”and weapons at the ready.” His other hand tossed his dagger and caught it deftly. Goro doubted Joker was even aware of doing either.

Did I really have that much of an effect on him…?

Goro blinked. He was getting distracted far too easily and far too often lately. He’d do something about it later, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on such things. There could be a potential threat in the area. 

Everyone was tense, weapons drawn, positioned in front of themselves, ready for anything. Goro had his own sword gripped tightly in his left hand, tip dragging on the ground, Loki sitting on the edge of his conscience, flaring to life and howling with rage, screaming for blood . Goro closed his eyes, honing his senses. If he concentrated, really focused, he thought he could hear the sound of something slithering just out of his hearing range, like a snake in the grass.

A guttural roar shattered his train of thought. Goro snapped his eyes open to find that the hallway had somehow been abruptly flooded with Shadows. He turned around, and found that they were surrounded.

Or rather, he and Joker were surrounded, somehow separated from the others. 

He looked at Joker. Joker looked at him. Something wordless passed between them, and they both eased into better, more relaxed battle stances. Months of experience and natural compatibility made them, in Goro’s opinion, a damn good team. It didn’t matter how strong the Shadows were. Few could stand any chance against the two Wildcards, especially when they worked together.

Killing the Thieves didn’t seem to be these Shadow’s goal, however, unlike literally all other Shadows they had ever come across. But Joker and Crow couldn’t tear them down fast enough, and Goro didn’t mean that in a satisfying way. They’d destroy one and more would replace it, and with each Shadow that was replaced they were becoming more and more separated from the other Thieves. Goro didn’t mind that as much as he should have.

Goro also noted that, with a strange kind of relief, that somehow, despite the Shadows attacking, both he and Joker remained unharmed. 

Strange behavior. 

Goro didn’t like it. He knew the Shadows were stronger than this. Even when working together, he and Joker had barely managed to defeat the Hastur that Maruki had thrown at them when it was revealed that Kasumi was Sumire. At the time Goro had been forced to come up with an improvised technique to kill the damn thing. Now, though...now, it almost felt like the Shadows weren’t trying to hurt them.

That was absolutely absurd.

“Joker, I’m getting a weird reading!” Oracle exclaimed, soft beeps and boops meandering their way into Goro’s ears, growing more distant as they were forced away from the others. “It’s coming from above us!”

Before Joker could respond, something transparent slid between them and the Thieves. It looked like glass. Then, just as quickly as they had appeared, the Shadows vanished. Everyone shared confused looks, dousing fire and ice attacks that were about to be loosed, but still on guard, weapons poised for defense. No one was quite sure what had just happened. 

Whatever higher power that isolated their best fighters from the group knew what it was doing. Goro knew that it certainly didn’t have a tea party in mind. The thought of tea made him think of coffee, which in turn made him think of Leblanc. Leblanc made him think of Akira, which made him think of the meetings they had there while he was pretending to be their friend. Disgusting. The mere thought of more team bonding made Goro bristle unintentionally. God. Get a fucking grip, he told himself, and then proceeded to not get a fucking grip, because in retrospect, that’s when everything went to shit. If you were to ask Goro’s opinion on the matter.

Those fucking tentacles appeared. Goro hated them almost as much as he hated Shido. Which was saying something. Goro hated them because it meant Maruki. Goro hated Maruki too. 

God. Fuck that guy.

Anyways. The tentacles.

They surrounded both him and Joker, and were slowly approaching. Goro had seen what they had done to Violet. Cendrillon had been hard to defeat. He and Joker hadn’t been able to do it on their own. They’d needed saving from the Thieves. It was the first instance that even their teamwork wouldn’t be enough to stop Maruki. 

He also knew he was significantly stronger than Violet. He doubted anyone could stop him if his persona was driven into a similarly crazed state. He wasn’t in any mood to be subjected to such  treatment. So Goro took his sword and began to slash wildly at any tentacle that got close to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Joker doing the same, in a much more calculated, but just as deadly, manner.

It didn’t matter.

No matter how many they tore apart, they just kept regrowing, more dropping from the ceiling and the walls to replace the ones that were cut down. And Goro noticed, with some trepidation and a small amount of fear, some of them were regrowing thicker. 

Goro saw the other Thieves try to approach, Skull hit his head on the barrier and fell back onto his ass. Oracle’s fingers began flying, and she was saying things to the others that Goro couldn’t make out. Their voices were muffled--like cotton had been stuffed in his ears. Panther, Violet, and Queen tried to use their weapons on it; they did nothing. Not even a scratch was left behind. Fox and Noir called their Personas, unleashed ice and psychic energy on it. Once the dust had cleared, the barrier remained intact, and unscathed. Once Skull had regained his footing, he and Mona rained bullets on it. They didn’t ricochet; they thudded against the barrier and fell to the ground, like a pillow thrown against a wall. 

Useless.

The whole thing would’ve been amusing if these damn tentacles weren’t so close to touching him and Akira. The thought of something, anything, that wasn’t himself touching Akira made Loki roar, liquid fire slipping into his veins, making his blood boil. He could tolerate the Thieves, however poorly he masked his jealousy at the moment. And yes, Goro acknowledged at that moment he had been jealous. But no monster deserved to lay even a cell on Akira. He wanted to scream--

“Don’t touch him!”

Goro felt something whiz by his ear, followed by the sound of a gun being shot. Goro glanced behind himself. A tentacle that had been sneaking up on him had been severed in half from the bullet, twitching on the ground before going still.

All of the tentacles stopped moving.

Goro looked back at Joker. He was breathing heavily through his nose, dagger covered in black ooze. He held his gun in his right hand, his aim steady--even as the rest of his arm shook. Joker’s eyes flicked over to meet his. They held eye contact. Goro saw protectiveness flaring, sparking in his eyes, turning the normally dull gray of his irises into molten quicksilver.

He...protected me?

The Thieves continued to attack the barrier, like nothing had happened at all. 

Strange.

Before Goro could think about that, the tentacles moved, far faster than before. They wrapped around Joker’s arms, his legs, his torso, his neck. Akira yelped and struggled as they pulled him towards the wall, positioning him as if he were on display.

Goro saw red, and brandished his sword with a guttural snarl. More tentacles moved to restrain him before he could make it happen, wrapping around him in much the same manner as Joker. He thrashed wildly, or at least he tried to. The tentacles held fast, keeping him in place, pulling and holding him against the opposite wall as Joker. Goro’s muscles strained, and he had half a mind to drive himself mad for that rush of power, just so he could get free, so he could cut Joker’s restraints. 

“Let him go!” Goro snarled, all rage and crazed fury. 

I’m afraid I can’t do that, an irritatingly familiar voice said. 

Fucking Maruki. His voice sounded like it had bypassed his ears, directly wired into Goro’s brain. But if the way Akira’s eyes widened beneath his mask was any indication, he could hear it too.

“And why not?” Goro said, straining against his bonds, his sword close to slicing a nearby tentacle, his hand inching closer to his mask, so close to tearing it off. If he could summon Loki, then he could--

None of that, now, Maruki said, and the tentacles on Goro’s arms shiftedd, digging into them, pulling in a manner that hurt. Goro tried to resist as his hand was dragged away, and he almost screamed in frustration, and then the tentacles twisted.

Goro knew the motion. He had used it before on Shadows, when trying to gain information out of them. Some of them had needed physical encouragement.

Maruki was trying to break Goro’s arms. 

Goro grit his teeth against the pain and the noises that wanted to rip from his throat. He kept most of it down, only letting one small, pained grunt escape from in between his clenched teeth. Akira’s eyes widened.

“Stop it!” he said, now straining against his own bonds, trying to aim his gun, trying to slash with his dagger. “You’re hurting him! I thought you said you didn’t want to hurt us!”

I’ll stop if he drops his weapon, Maruki replied coolly, unaffected. And if he promises to not drive himself psychotic. And if you drop your weapons, too.

“Don’t listen to him,” Goro growled, gritting his teeth against the pain, shaking in the effort to escape. “I’m fine. ”

The joints in his arms creaked audibly as the tentacles twisted more.

“Crow,” Akira said, voice pleading. “Do what he says. It’s not worth breaking your arms over.”

Goro initially bristled, about to argue, but then he stopped. Akira was right. If they had to fight, he’d need both of his arms intact. He’d need all of his strength to fight back against these damn tentacles when they got the chance. 

If that chance came at all. The way the tentacles were moving left no room for doubt in Goro’s mind. They weren’t leaving until Maruki got what he wanted.

Hissing, Goro dropped his sword. Akira dropped his dagger and his gun. They clattered to the ground.

Now promise, Maruki said pleasantly. Goro wanted to tear his teeth out one by one with pliers, and then make him choke on his own blood as he cut that damn tongue out of his mouth.

“I promise, ” Goro sneered. I’ll tear you to shreds, he thought to himself.

You promise what? Maruki insisted.

“Don’t patronize me,” Goro hissed. The tentacles pulled further.

“Goro, please, ” Akira begged. Goro paused at the use of his real name.

“...fine,” he muttered, still heated with rage. “I promise I won’t drive myself psychotic.”

The tentacles stopped pulling, and instead slithered soothingly up and down his arms, as if apologizing for causing him pain. 

It felt good. Goro couldn’t hold back a sigh of relief.

It shouldn’t have felt good. 

A growl rumbled low in his throat when he realized exactly what he had just done. He hated the fact that it had felt good enough for him to react. He hated himself for reacting at all. 

That’s much better, Maruki said, heedless of Goro’s inner turmoil. Now then…

Goro heard slithering behind him, and then he felt his helmet being pulled off. His hair tickled his neck and the tentacles rewrapped themselves around his neck as his helmet was dropped unceremoniously on the ground, along with Akira’s mask. They made tentative eye contact. Neither knew what was going to happen next. 

Then, Goro saw two tentacles approach. One came up to him, and the tip was distinctly needle-shaped. The tentacle that approached Akira was shaped the same way. Akira stared at it, fear creeping into his expression. Goro narrowed his eyes. He himself wasn’t exactly a happy camper at the thought of being drugged.

But the way Akira reacted...was he afraid of needles? No, he thought. That’s more than just a fear of needles. That’s dread...born from trauma. 

Goro knew the look. He saw it every time he looked in a mirror.

Akira didn’t blink, didn’t breathe, didn’t move at all as the needle-like tentacle rose up, and Goro narrowed his eyes as he noticed his own tentacle mirroring the other’s movements. They came to rest on both of their necks, right on the pulse point, the tentacles wrapped around their necks moving to accommodate. 

Don’t be afraid, Maruki soothed. Goro seethed quietly, vowing to painfully tear each individual follicle of hair from Maruki’s head the second he got the chance. I promise this will only hurt a little.  

“No,” Akira said quietly, a slight tremble to his voice, shaking visible throughout his body. “Please, Maruki, don’t. ”

You’ll be fine. Promise.

Akira whimpered. Goro felt a sharp pinprick of pain on his neck, and then felt something frosty enter his bloodstream. It spread all the way down to the tips of his toes. 

Goro could feel his anger slowly bleeding away, like he was being rid of poison. He frantically scrambled, trying to hold onto some semblance of it. Anger was something he was familiar with. It was a part of him. 

But as the cold worked its way into his joints, into his brain, he felt it slip between his fingers like fresh blood, leaving a residual stain on his hand as the only reminder that he had been angry, that he was capable of anger at all.

Before he could even begin to analyze the feeling the tentacle around his neck moved, sliding up along his jawline, slipping in easily between his parted lips. He couldn’t react fast enough. The frost in his veins slowed him down. He felt sluggish and stiff, like he could shatter at any moment. It was all he could do to register the fact that everything that was happening to him was happening to Akira simultaneously.

Together . Goro tried to shake his head, blinking rapidly when he couldn’t. It did nothing to clear the haze.

Goro felt the tentacle move along the roof of his mouth, reaching further back. It was surprisingly slick, as if coated in a thin layer of moisture. It felt hot and heavy on his tongue. It tasted good, like honey.

Fuck. Fuck. Get a fucking hold of yourself!

Something hot and wet hit the back of his throat. Goro swallowed instinctively. Kept swallowing the liquid, even as it sank to his stomach like a stone and sat there heavily, weighing him down, heating his core while his blood stayed chilled. Goro didn’t know which one to register. All he knew was that it felt really good.

He blinked, looking at Akira as he sputtered and whimpered around one of the thicker tentacles in his mouth, throat working to swallow his own drink. Goro registered, faintly, the feeling of jealousy. Why didn’t I get a thick one? It isn’t fair.

Goro blinked again.

He looked to his left, saw the Thieves as they stopped their attacks on the barrier. He saw that they were all just standing there, blushes evident on their cheeks. 

Could they see what was happening to them right now? Could they hear?

Goro found he didn’t much care about them when another thick tentacle joined with the other one in his mouth. He felt more of the hot liquid fill his mouth, and he swallowed again. He felt so hot, and so cold. He shivered from both. 

All thoughts fled his brain as they started to move, thrusting in and out at different speeds, reaching deeper and deeper. It was shameful. It was obscene.

Goro couldn’t get enough.

Let them watch. Let them listen.

Goro whined when the tentacles left his mouth, pulling a string of saliva with them. He looked at Akira, eyes half-lidded and panting. Akira’s expression held no trace of fear in it anymore. He heard him whine too as the one thick tentacle slipped from his lips, drool sliding down his chin. They locked eyes, panting.

I want to lick that off.

Goro found himself being ushered towards Akira, and he complied, one unsteady foot after another, tentacles supporting most of his weight. Goro soon found himself only inches apart from Akira. He felt Akira’s breath fan across his face, warm against his cool skin. Whatever he had been injected with kept him cold, but it only made the warmth of Akira’s breathing all the better. Goro looked from his silver eyes to his pink lips. Akira eyes made the same motion.

“Can I…?” Goro asked.

Akira blinked. Nodded.

Leaning forward, Goro licked along his chin, tasting the saliva. Akira shivered. Saliva had no right tasting that good. He wanted more. And, well, he had already given Goro permission. So why not indulge himself a little?

Goro kissed him. He slipped his tongue into Akira’s waiting, wanting mouth. He licked along his tongue, tasting the flavor of lingering coffee. He kept licking, tongue registering something mostly bitter, but with a hint of sweetness underneath it all. It reminded him of dark chocolate.

Goro bit Akira’s bottom lip as they broke away for air, a string of spit connecting them. Goro watched and sighed in appreciation as Akira leaned over and licked Goro’s lips, taking the string into his mouth and swallowing. 

That was hot. To be fair, everything about Akira was hot. The curl of his inky black hair, quicksilver eyes locked on his own merlot ones, the way his lips parted slightly, gulping in air. 

Though, there was one thing that Goro didn’t find attractive. The damn needle mark. If something was going to be there, he preferred if it was a mark of his own.

Without warning, Goro leaned down and licked at the small trickle of blood there, eliciting a quiet whimper. Damn Maruki. Scaring his Akira . 

Goro shook his head. Akira didn’t belong to anybody .

But he’s shaking, Goro’s hazy brain argued. And I want to comfort him.

The tentacles on his left arm loosened enough for Goro to reach up a hand and gently cradle Akira’s face. Akira immediately leaned into it, letting out a soft sigh of contentment. Goro licked at the wound again before looking back up, nudging Akira’s nose with his own to get his attention. He blinks up at him.

“I want…” Goro whispers, trying to think of the proper words. “Can I...get rid of his evidence?”

A quiet moment passed before Akira chuckled. Goro furrowed his brows, watching with slight incredulity as his chuckles evolved into full-on laughter. Goro found himself blushing for an entirely different reason.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, and if he sounded a little offended, it wasn’t his fault.

“Nothing!” Akira replied, a little breathless. “You just reminded me of how you used to be. You know, ‘Detective Prince’ and everything. ‘I’ll solve this with my deductions and evidence. No one stands a chance against me!’” Akira said, laughing more.

“You know I’m not like that anymore,” Goro sighed, exasperated. Even now he was cracking jokes? “You of all people should know that.”

“I know. I know! I just thought it was funny.”

Goro stared.

“Really.”

“Really!”

Goro sighed again. “I can’t believe you. Even in this absurd situation you still…”

Akira nudged him with his nose. “Hey,” he said. Goro blinked.

“What?”

“It’s okay,” he said, leaning into his hand again, kissing his palm lightly, and Goro’s heart melted a little at the gesture. “I’m okay with whatever you want.”

“I’m still going to ask, idiot,” Goro responded immediately.

Akira blinked, a little taken aback. “Why?”

“Because…!” Goro breathed, leaning his forehead against Akira’s. It was a relief to his cold skin. He took a deep breath. “Because...because I care about you. And I don’t want to force you into this, or into anything you don’t feel comfortable with.” Goro closed his eyes at the memories. 

“This isn’t just about me.” He remembered being held against the bed. 

“I want you to feel good, too.” He remembered being screamed at, being told to sit still, to take it.

“I don’t want you to feel as if you have to just accept it, that it will feel good eventually.” He remembered the pain. He remembered having no choice but to endure it. He remembered false promises of bliss that would never come. 

“I want to know that you’re okay, that you want it. That you want...this.” He remembered when they left and he couldn’t move. He remembered when his legs wouldn’t support him. He remembered feeling weak. He remembered feeling helpless. 

He remembered crying. He remembered hating himself for crying. Remembered that the tears wouldn’t stop no matter how much he wanted it to end. Wanted everything to end. 

Please make it stop. Make it stop. 

I don’t want to do this! Please! 

Stop it stop it stop it! Please let it end. Let it end. 

I can’t take it anymore. Let it end. Let it end.

Stop it. Stop it! It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. 

Stop it! Stop it! Please!

IT HURTS. ITHURTSITHURTSITHURTS!!!

…

...

...it hurts.

Let it end. Let it end…

“Oh,” Akira whispered, swallowing audibly. A long, pregnant moment passed. Something moved uncomfortably in Goro’s stomach. “Goro...Goro, I--” he said, and Goro could hear him opening and closing his mouth, at a loss for what to say. 

Goro kept his eyes shut tight. He took a deep breath, and held it, that something churning, roiling in his gut. He thought he might throw up.

Then he felt a hand cradling his own face, and his eyes snapped open, locking onto Akira’s soothing silver eyes. 

“Goro,” he whispered, and Goro shivered. “It’s okay.” Akira ran his thumb across Goro’s cheek, right underneath his eye, wiping away tears. “ You’re okay.”  Goro hadn’t even realized he’d been crying.

He closed his eyes again, letting out a shaky breath, leaning into Akira’s hand. The leather was soft, and warm. Goro heard the tentacles shifting, before he was enclosed in Akira’s arms, one hand curling around his shoulder before resting on the back of his head, gently guiding his face so he could hide in Akira’s shoulder, while the other settled on his waist. The tentacles moved again, wrapping around both of them, pulling them closer together.

Goro felt safe. He’d forgotten how it felt.

He made a noise of contentment as Akira combed his fingers through his hair, loosening some tangles. The tender pulling against his scalp sent light shivers throughout his body, and he buried his face further into Akira’s shoulder to hide his blush. The tentacles tightened soothingly.

Goro didn’t know how long they stayed like that. Time seemed irrelevant with Akira’s hand in his hair, on his waist, holding him like he was the most precious thing in the world.

And Goro believed, perhaps, that maybe he was.

He felt Akira’s head move, felt the ghost of warm lips on his cold temple. Goro sighed contentedly, before breaking away as much as he could, still held close to Akira. There was only a centimeter of air between their lips. Akira’s hands stayed where they were.

“You good?” Akira whispered, eyes searching Goro’s own.

“Yeah,” Goro replied softly. “I’m okay.” 

Akira’s eyes flicked downwards, focused on his lips, and stayed there. Goro squirmed a little.

“Can I kiss you ?” Akira asked, running his gloved thumb over Goro’s lips.

He blinked. "Yes," he whispered.

Akira leaned forward, chastely pressing their lips together, feather-light and soft. Goro pressed back just as lightly. Goro closed his eyes, content to just move their lips together, focusing on how good it felt to just be connected.

Akira’s hand carded through his chestnut hair again, settling on the back of his head, cradling it like one would cradle fragile glass. Any other time Goro might have been offended at being treated so fragilely, but whatever it was--the situation, the stuff they had been injected with, and a possible multitude of other things--made Goro forget about it and simply accept the affectionate gesture for what it was.

Goro eventually opened his eyes, gaze locking on Akira’s silver ones.

“Akira,” Goro whispered, tone firm. “Do you want this?”

Akira shivered. Goro could feel it under the hand that was still resting on Akira’s cheek and in Akira’s breath. “...yes, Goro. I really, really, really want this. I have for a long time, now.”

Goro’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Akira grinned fondly, grabbed a lock of Goro’s hair, twisted it around his finger. “Really.”

“I...had no idea.”

“You couldn’t figure it out, Detective? I thought I was being obvious.”

Goro blushed a little. “I was...in denial, I suppose. I didn’t think you’d want me. The real me, anyway.”

“A poor deduction, really,” Akira chuckled, bringing the lock to his lips, kissing it reverently. “And here I thought you were famous for them.”

“Shut up,” Goro said warmly. Akira simply laughed and nuzzled his nose with Goro’s.

Goro faintly, and belatedly, registered that they weren’t using codenames anymore. They weren’t even using family names. It was just them, Akira and Goro, together. Goro kissed him again, softly.

“So?” Goro asked again, quietly, after they broke away. “Can I replace his mark with something...a little more pleasant?”

“Please,” Akira breathed, flushing a little and closing his eyes.

Goro didn’t need any more encouragement. Seeing that damn mark made anger and protectiveness flare up again. He leaned down and bit hard.  

Akira whimpered for an entirely different reason. 

As he sucked and licked at the new wound, as a strange twist of pride and possessiveness flared in him, the tentacles decided at that moment to start moving them down onto the floor. It didn’t hurt. It just encouraged them with little nudges and pushes, and soon Goro was laying over Akira, his hands on either side of his head, caging him in. Akira didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to rather enjoy it, if the way he was blushing harder than before was any indication. 

“You like that, huh?” Goro couldn’t help but tease. “You like being underneath me?”

“Goro--” Akira said, writhing in the tentacles’ hold. He was shaking . Goro reached up, sinking his fingers into his black locks. He curled his nails lightly against Akira’s scalp, eliciting a moan. Huh. That was new.

Goro pulled. Akira’s moan turned into a cry.

“Interesting,” Goro said, loosening his hold somewhat. “Does that feel good for you?”

Akira only whimpered. Goro let go, and Akira whined. “Akira,” Goro said, closing his eyes, taking in a small, shaky breath. “Tell me. Does it feel good for you?”

“Y-yes…” Akira eventually stuttered out. “It feels good, Goro .”

Goro shivered at the sound of his name, dripping with intent as it came out in the low, husky tone of Akira’s voice. Goro opened his eyes, glared down at him, and then pulled his hair harshly enough to lift his head off the floor. Akira made a sound like he was dying, and then moaned deliciously.

“Cheeky,” Goro muttered, letting go. Akira’s head thudded as it hit the ground.

“You love it,” Akira teased lightly, breathless.

“No,” Goro replied, “I love you. ”

“I love you too,” came the immediate response.

Goro blinked, and then began to laugh. It wasn’t long before Akira joined him, and they both laughed incredulously, breathlessly.

“Was it really that easy?” Goro whispered, just a bit exasperated.

“Yeah,” Akira said. “And we could’ve been doing way more kinky shit if someone wasn’t being so stubborn about trying to kill me.” 

“I don’t know,” Goro said, staring into Akira’s eyes, purposefully licking his lips. “Tentacles are pretty kinky, in my opinion.”

“Oh my God,” Akira whispered, and Goro was amused at how his blush darkened. “You did not just say that.”

“I’m pretty sure I just did,” Goro replied cheekily, even fluttering his eyelashes for extra effect. “And I’m pretty sure you liked it.”

“Oh my God, shut up, shut up, shut up-- ”

“Gladly.”

Goro leaned down swiftly and kissed him. Akira eagerly kissed him back, licking into his mouth, robbing him of his breath. How apt for a thief. Goro pulled Akira’s hair again in retaliation.

The tentacles started to move. Goro and Akira kept kissing, neither moving away, mouthing at each other enthusiastically. They kept their eyes open as they watched the tentacles slowly start to remove Akira’s coat. Akira didn’t resist as they slipped it off his shoulders, even helped them by pulling his hands through the sleeves, and lifting his body off the ground as the tentacles took the coat and threw it somewhere off to the side. 

Goro took in the improved view, breaking away from Akira for air, but keeping his lips resting on his. He watched with rapt attention as the tentacles lazily circled themselves around the pale skin of Akira’s arms, as they circled around his wrists, tying them together, before forcing them above his head and holding them there.

Goro would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little concerned, but Akira seemed to like it. Maybe a bit too much, if the way he groaned and squirmed and panted was any indication. 

“So this is what you meant by kinky,” Goro said. He marveled at the contrast of Akira’s pale skin against black tentacles, against red leather. It was beautiful. Akira was beautiful.

“You have no right to judge me,” Akira breathed, making a show of struggling against his bonds. He’d closed his eyes. Goro kissed his eyelids.

The tentacles moved again, slithered around Goro’s own arms, removing his gauntlets. They found the hidden zipper at the back of his suit, pulled it down, slid the top half off his shoulders and arms, exposing his chest and torso. When they were done, they enveloped the newly revealed skin, encircling his ribcage and forearms. They weren’t restricting him. Just...touching. 

They felt a little different than when they had been touching him through his clothes. They were hot, and very moist, coated in some sort of slick, warm substance made them slide across his skin with ease. They counteracted the cold thrumming in his veins, working in tandem with the heat in his gut. It only took a little slithering to make Goro lose all tension in his body, groaning for the first time since this whole thing began.

“Wow,” Akira said, having opened his eyes at some point. He raked his eyes across Goro’s body, and Goro could only shiver in response. “I could get used to this view.”

“Quiet, you,” Goro growled. Akira chuckled. He shifted his arms a little, some of the mystery substance dripping onto the floor. 

“What is this stuff, anyway?” he questioned, trying to keep his breath steady.  “Sex juice?”

“Akira ,” Goro groaned, this time in exasperation.

“What? I’m just curious!” Akira griped. He eyed a thick tentacle that had meandered close to his face.

Then he stuck out his tongue and licked it .

“Akira!” Goro yelped, unable to make him stop. He watched as Akira licked his lips, watched as his eyes sparked with excitement. “Don’t do that!”

“Why not?” he said, licking the tentacle again. “It tastes good.”

Goro could only watch as the tentacle moved closer. Could only watch as Akira took it into his mouth, sucking on it a little before withdrawing, looking at Goro with a smirk, heated cheeks, and half-lidded eyes.

“It tastes like you. ”

Goro moaned.

Akira took the tentacle into his mouth again, this time sucking insistently, his tongue sliding along the underside.

The tentacle seemed to appreciate the attention, slipping further into his mouth before wrapping around his head multiple times, like a snake latching onto warmth. Akira made an obscene noise, and moaned again.

“Oh my god,” Goro breathed, unable to hold onto any semblance of dignity as he flushed darkly. Akira was being so unfair. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

If Akira could smirk, Goro was sure he’d be doing so. As it was, he simply fluttered his eyelashes, face flushed, and nodded.

“Unbelievable,” Goro groaned. Akira made a sound like he was laughing, though it was hard to tell with that tentacle in and over his mouth. Goro tried to think of something to say to that, but the only thing that came from his lips was a cry of pleasure as two smaller tentacles wrapped around his exposed nipples and yanked.

Akira moaned appreciatively underneath him, another tentacle slipping between the coils wrapped over his mouth, and then curling around his head like the first one once it had found its way in. Not that Goro could focus too much on that, focused only on the sensations the tentacles on his chest elicited as they continued to play with his nipples, making him moan and writhe at heat and the cold warring on his skin.

Goro tried to reign himself in, succeeding a little. He panted, locking his eyes with Akira’s before he leaned down, grabbing more of Akira’s wonderful hair and yanking, causing Akira to jump and moan. Goro chuckled darkly before moving again, licking at the tentacles around Akira’s mouth in a facsimile of a kiss. He had to admit, it did taste good. Goro tasted honey, and that same mixture of coffee and dark chocolate from before. Goro decided that that particular flavor combination tasted distinctly like Akira. 

Akira leaned up, humming around his gag, trying to return the kiss. He struggled against his bonds and Goro’s hold on his hair. He knew it wasn’t because Akira wanted to escape. He was putting on a show for Goro’s sake. 

He couldn’t deny that it wasn’t affecting him. He felt himself grow harder at the display.

He didn’t even notice the other tentacles moving, didn’t even notice as they pulled at Akira’s pants. But he did notice when they pooled at his ankles before slipping completely off, and then  more tentacles slithered over his thighs and calves, caressing them like one would caress the petals of a delicate flower. Goro let go of Akira’s hair, leaning back so he could get a better look. Akira whined again.

Akira’s dick was standing at attention, pink and perfect. Akira squirmed under Goro’s stare, flushing more. As if it was possible to get any more red than he already was.

“Mmmm mmmm,” Akira hummed, making an exasperated expression at Goro.

“What was that, Akira?” Goro teased, laying a hand on his dick, smirking when Akira moaned and jumped up into his palm. “I couldn’t quite hear you.”

Akira glared at him. “Mmmm, mmph!” he repeated, writhing on the floor, the tentacles on his arms and legs holding him in place. 

Goro’s nipples were released and the tentacles wrapped around his chest and back, sliding back and forth over the abused skin soothingly. Goro let out a small, soft moan of relief at the feeling.

“Hmmm,” Akira moaned, smirking that not-smirk again. “Hmmm.”

“Shut up,” Goro groaned, then flushed when he realized how pointless his words were. “I-I mean--”

“Mmm,” Akira said, thrusting shamelessly into Goro’s palm. Goro flinched and gasped, fingers instinctively clenching around Akira’s length, garnering another muffled moan from Akira.

The tentacles moved again. One wrapped around Goro’s wrist, pulling Goro’s hand from Akira’s cock, while another took its place, encircling the hard length, covering it in more sex juice.

Fuck Akira for putting that damn name in his head. Goro chuckled at the double meaning in his head.

Akira kept squirming and moaning and groaning for him, and Goro was growing so hard it was becoming painful. The tentacles seem to sense this and they slid the rest of his suit off, throwing it away in roughly the same direction as Akira’s coat and pants. They were immediately on Goro’s newly exposed skin, and he felt as wet and slick as if he were coated in a layer of wax, or oil.

Or lube. Goro shuddered.

A tentacle had curled its way around Goro’s waist. Another one had done the same to Akira, but he seemed too preoccupied with the tentacle working its way up and down his dick. 

“Akir--ah!” Goro started, his voice breaking into a whine as the tentacle around his waist slithered between his asscheeks and teased at his hole, before plunging the tip into him without preamble. Goro convulsed, losing all strength in his arms, the tentacles being the only thing keeping him from collapsing on top of Akira. Goro watched, panting, as Akira whined in response, his whine morphing to a muffled cry as he was invaded too.

The tentacles wasted no time in working themselves further in. Goro could feel himself being stretched by a particularly thick tentacle, and he couldn’t seem to get enough air, even as he panted. He could only imagine what Akira must be feeling like, unable to get a complete breath with the tentacles wrapped around his mouth. 

Goro’s brows furrowed as he collected what he could of his scattered thoughts. Akira may have acted like he knew what he was doing, but his reactions to how he was being treated, how quickly he submitted...he was too innocent and honest. Maybe, Goro thought, this is his first time?

“A...akira,” Goro said, as soon as his tongue decided to cooperate with his brain. He looked at Akira, caught his hazy eyes. “I...is this...are--ah!--are you…” Goro searched for the words, trying to concentrate even as the tentacle thrust in and out of him, coating his walls with more of the tentacles’ mystery lube. “H-have you...ever done--ngh!--done this before?”

Akira flushed more, looking away. “...mm-mm,” he moaned quietly, shamefully, while shaking his head, his whole body shivering.

Goro sucked in a breath as he felt a strong surge of irrational jealousy. No way was he going to let some tentacles take Akira’s virginity, no matter how good they felt plugged up his asshole.

He pulled his left hand away from where it had been caressed by his side, impatiently pushing Akira’s legs further apart before he shoved one finger into Akira’s hole, fighting for dominance with the tentacle. It gave it to Goro willingly, moving out of the way but not completely out of Akira’s virgin hole, simply giving Goro more lube to work with.

The tentacle had already stretched Akira some, and the large amount of lube wetting Akira’s insides convinced Goro that he could slip another finger in, thrusting much more roughly than the tentacle.

Akira’s cry of pleasure was so loud that even Goro was embarrassed.

“God…” he whispered, leaning over Akira, grabbing more of his hair, pinning his head down as he continued to thrust with his fingers, searching for that spot. The tentacle in his own ass matched his pace. “You’re...hah...so fucking--ngh!-- hot .” And it was true. Goro’s fingers felt like they were on fire.

Akira whimpered and writhed, but he moved his hips down, meeting his next thrust.

As Goro continued his ministrations, he looked back at Akira’s dick. He felt that surge of jealousy again--he didn’t want a tentacle to be the first thing that made Akira come.

Goro shifted backwards as much as he could, releasing Akira’s hair once again in favor of a better position. The tentacle continued to thrust inside him, singular in the intent to make sure he’d have a difficult time thinking about anything else. Goro tried to ignore it while also trying to enjoy it, and before he could think about that too much more, he closed his lips around the head of Akira’s cock, tentacle and all.

“Gnnnph!” came Akira’s responding groan, unable to keep himself from jerking up into Goro’s mouth. “Hmmm!”

Goro took it, running his tongue over the tentacle, finding skin between the coils. honey overrode his tongue. It was sickly sweet. It was too much.

Goro popped off of Akira’s dick, leaving behind a veritable mess of saliva and mystery lube. Akira whined, but Goro ignored him in favor of glaring at the tentacle.

“Get lost,” he growled, and the tentacle did, unwinding itself far too slowly. Akira whined at the loss of friction. As much as the sound made Goro want to tease him more, he was hard-pressed by his own needs, so he wasted no time in getting Akira’s cock back down his throat. 

Akira writhed, something low and hungry rumbling in his throat, and he twisted on the ground. Goro could tell that he was desperately trying to hold himself back. Perhaps out of misplaced concern that he would choke Goro. In response, he took Akira to the hilt and stayed there, hollowing out his cheeks and laving his tongue along the underside, swallowing down all of Akira’s hot, heavy, heady length.

Akira moaned and whined and whimpered, all of it turning high pitched when Goro’s fingers found that spot after a particularly hard thrust, causing him to finally thrust into Goro’s mouth. Goro hummed, feeling the shudders wracking Akira’s body as he curled his fingers, pressing insistently against Akira’s newly discovered prostate.

Akira didn’t last long. Goro only needed to deepthroat him one more time before he was moaning around his gag and cum was jetting down his throat. He swallowed all of it down, and it sat hotly in his stomach. Goro was overheating--and it felt fantastic .

His fingers slipped from inside of Akira’s ass along with the tentacle, and Goro licked at Akira’s now soft cock one more time before pulling away. The tentacles around Akira’s mouth untangled themselves as well, glistening with spit. They retracted to somewhere behind Goro. Akira’s jaw hung open, lips swollen and tongue lolling.

“Goro… ” he whispered hoarsely, panting, blinking up at him with blissed-out silver eyes. “Kiss me.”

Goro did. Coffee, honey, and dark chocolate overloaded his taste buds.

They broke away for air much sooner than Goro would have cared for.

“You’re still hard,” Akira marveled.

“Mmm,” was all Goro could say in response. He was a bit preoccupied with the tentacle in his ass, and the tentacles all over his body, rubbing, rubbing, rubbing.

Akira squirmed a little, seeming to think about something before his eyes took on a determined glint, seeming to have come to a decision.

“You…” he started, licking his red, red lips. “You can use my thighs.”

Goro blinked. “What?”

“I said…”Akira said, voice husky and a little gravelly, and Goro knew that Akira was trying to use his voice like a weapon. Smooth, purposeful, with singular intent. And dammit if it wasn’t doing a good job of taking what remained of Goro’s restraint apart. Of which there wasn’t very much in the first place, frankly. “You can use my thighs. ”

Goro moaned again, and before he could second-guess himself, one of the tentacles that Goro recognized as having been in Akira’s mouth curled around his dick, glistening, tightening. Akira’s saliva mixed with the lube on the tentacles, slicking Goro’s length swiftly. He whimpered at how hot it felt. He was going to burn up.

Akira watched as it happened, pushing his thighs closer together. The tentacles seemed to understand what Akira was offering, and they pushed at Goro’s back, guiding his dick to Akira’s closed thighs. The tentacle in Goro’s ass pushed deeper into him, forcing him to lean over Akira, causing him to moan. 

Goro was still hesitant, still trying to resist, when another thick tentacle joined the other one already inside of him, both of them thrusting further and further in, the slick of the tentacles coating his insides. The dirty squelching sounds that reached his ears, along with the feeling of the lube beginning to trickle down his thighs, made him quickly forget about everything except for Akira underneath him and the sole desire to get more, more, more. 

Goro thrust in between Akira’s thighs, groaning at the friction of Akira’s skin on his own, combined with the friction of the tentacle wrapped tightly around his cock. He pulled back slowly, and Akira groaned impatiently.

“C’mon, Goro, faster, ” Akira growled, moving his hips up. Goro groaned again at the sensation, thrusting again into the inviting heat and tightness of Akira’s pale, toned thighs. 

The tentacles moved once again, a couple circling Akira’s knees, binding them before pulling taut, forcing Akira’s thighs even closer together. Goro gasped, pulling back out a little before thrusting again, faster this time, harder.

“That’s it,” Akira groaned, helping Goro by thrusting up while Goro thrusted down, struggling against his bonds again, knowing that Goro liked it when he did that. “Good boy, Goro.”

“God, Akira…!” Goro panted, thrusting again, a wave of heat thrumming through his body. Goro watched as Akira raked his eyes across his body again, watched as he licked his lips.

“So beautiful,” Akira canted seductively. “Your skin is so pretty. So smooth.” Akira leaned up, kissed and licked at the edge of Goro’s lips, leaving behind a mix of something warm and wet and heady. “Your hair is so soft. So silky.” He kissed one eyelid. Moved slowly to kiss the other. “Your eyes. So beautiful.” Akira smirked against Goro’s cheek as his lips moved, brushing right over Goro’s ear. “Your mouth. So perfect, when wrapped around my dick.”

Goro was dying. He thrusted faster.

He was so hot, hot, hot. So, so close .

“A-Akira…” Goro gasped, trying to hold on, trying to hang on to this overwhelming, wonderful feeling just a little more, for just a little longer.

“C’mon, Goro,” Akira whispered, licking the shell of his ear. “You can do it, c’mon. Come for me, Goro.”

Goro cried out once a third tentacle joined the other two thrusting in and out of his sopping hole, shoving its way past the other two, stretching him impossibly further. It quickly found Goro’s prostate, and it practically attacked it, rubbing and pressing against it insistently.

He couldn’t hold out anymore, what with Akira whispering dirty things in his ear and the tentacles in his ass. With one last thrust and a choked off cry, Goro came, cum pooling underneath them, adding to the mess. 

He flopped bonelessly on top of Akira, face buried in his vested chest, gasping for breath. Nothing else seemed to matter besides the pleasure coursing its way through his body, the weakness filling his limbs--and the feeling that he didn’t mind so much, in that moment, that he was weak.

Goro’s blissed out mind distantly registered the tentacles retreating, pulling out of his hole one at a time noisily, unfurling from their bodies before returning to the walls and ceiling, disappearing completely from view.

One of Akira’s released hands found their way into his hair again, and Goro let out a pleased hum as he nuzzled further into the warmth underneath him. Akira’s other hand ran soothingly up and down Goro’s back.

It took some time before Goro could muster up the strength to get his voice to work properly, and even then it was soft, quiet, hoarse.

“I can’t believe it,” Goro mumbled, lifting his head up and resting his chin on Akira’s chest so he could look at Akira.

“Can’t believe what?” he responded with a fond smile, scratching lightly against Goro’s scalp with the leather of his gloves.

Goro purred at the touch, before smirking. “I can’t believe I’m being comforted by a virgin. ”

Akira’s cheeks had almost returned to their normal color, albeit with a light tinge of pink, but now they flushed dark red again. It wasn’t a stretch to compare the color to that of a tomato, or, perhaps more aptly, to a cherry. “Hey!” he complained, swatting lightly at Goro’s head, eliciting a laugh from him. “I’m not a virgin anymore! You can’t use that argument against me!”

“I also can’t believe that your first time…” Goro teased, heedless of Akira’s words. He swiped his fingers through some of the mess by Akira’s lips, leftover from the tentacles. He looked Akira in the eye as he brought it to his lips and slowly, oh so slowly, licked it off. “...was some of the kinkiest sex I’ve ever had in my life .”

Akira groaned, mortified, throwing his arm over his eyes in a feeble attempt to hide his face and his blush.

“You know, red really is a good color on you,” Goro stated, pushing himself up on shaky arms and leaning forward so that he could brush his lips over the heated, blushing skin of Akira’s cheeks.

“Leave me alone,” Akira grumbled. Goro chuckled, moving up to kiss the arm that was covering his eyes. He licked at the residual moisture, causing Akira to yelp and try to push at Goro’s face with his free hand. “Don’t do that!”

“You can’t hide from me forever, Akira,” Goro said, dodging Akira’s hand and moving to kiss his red little nose. He smiled fondly as Akira’s nose twitched a little and he turned his face away, much in the same way as a cat getting booped. “You can’t hide your blush either, Little Cherry.”

Akira choked on his own spit at the reference. “Oh my god, you can’t just--just SAY stuff like that!”

“I just did.”

“But--you can’t!”

“And why not?”

“Because I’ll literally die.”

“Then perish.”

“...I’ve moved on from this plane of reality. I don’t exist anymore.”

“You’ll get over it, I’m sure.”

“I can’t. I’m already beyond this mortal coil. You’ve finally succeeded in killing me.”

“How dramatic.”

“I don’t want to hear it from you , Pancake Boy.”

Goro narrowed his eyes, caught Akira’s smirk from underneath his arm. 

Goro hated pancakes. 

Akira knew Goro hated pancakes. 

Goro knew Akira knew Goro hated pancakes.

Goro bit Akira’s arm in retaliation.

“Ow! Hey!” Akira yelped, quickly retracting his arm from the offending teeth, finally exposing his face. He scowled at Goro. “You asshole.”

“You were asking for it,” Goro said, invading Akira’s personal space in order to prevent him from trying to hide again.

Akira scoffed, but there was fondness in the sound. “So petty.”

“You expected anything else?”

“Hah!” Akira laughed, grinning, warmth flooding his eyes. He reached up and ran his thumb under Goro’s eye. “No.”

Goro grinned back, reaching up his own hand, curling his fingers around Akira’s, squeezing affectionately. “That’s what I thought.”

They stared at each other, grinning. Akira leaned up and kissed him soft, kissed him sweet. Goro kissed back. He felt light and happy.

He blinked.

He felt happy.

The moment was abruptly disrupted by the sound of shattering glass. Both of them flinched, breaking their kiss, eyes snapping to the left. Goro squinted as the light reflected against small transparent shards on the ground. Clearly something had broken--something had changed.

They were back in their clothes, no mess to be found. 

Goro noticed that the Thieves were nowhere in sight.

“Weird,” Akira said, arms shaking as he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. Goro leaned back, straddling Akira’s waist, feeling too weak to do much else. 

The cold had left his veins, along with the heat that had made itself a home in his stomach. It left him feeling insubstantial, as if most of his insides had been removed, as if he was made of less muscle than before. His bones felt as if they had been replaced with wet sand, quickly drying and turning into something weak, liable to break apart at a touch, unable to support his weight without sagging or crumbling.

Goro had a brief, frantic thought that it had all been in his head. But a quick look at the hickey peeking out from Akira’s collar, accompanied with the feeling of having been thoroughly fucked, quickly dismissed the thought.

“I agree,” Goro sighed, attempting to stand, despite how he was feeling. His hand failed to find any purchase, slipping as he fell forward, back into Akira’s chest. Akira couldn’t support his own weight combined with Goro’s, accompanied by gravity, and they fell back to the floor in a heap. Goro spent a moment trying to recuperate, trying to catch the breath that had suddenly left his lungs. Akira’s chest worked in time with Goro’s as he tried to catch his own breath.

Fuck.

“Fuck,” Goro cursed. “What the fuck...did he do to us?”

“I don’t know,” Akira ground out, matching Goro’s irritated tone. “But the next…next time I see him...I’m going to fucking deck him.”

The sounds of heavy breathing filled the space. Goro eventually managed to find the strength to push himself back up into a sitting position, hunched over. His back refused to straighten--his spine was an extremely overcooked noodle of spaghetti, just a thin, flimsy string of mush.

Akira took a bit longer to join him, and he leaned heavily on his hands that rested behind his back, even as they continued to shake. 

“We have to find the others,” Akira said, still sounding out of breath. “Something could have...happened to them.”

“They can...take care of themselves,” Goro replied, not quite trusting himself to try standing again. “I’m a little more worried about us...at the moment. We’re vulnerable. We’re in no shape to fight Shadows, and they...they could show up at any time.”

Right on cue, a Shadow appeared in front of them. It was different than normal however, as it wasn’t the indistinct blobs that usually roamed Mementos, but one of the coated ones that worked at Maruki’s palace.

“I still hate it...when you’re right,” Akira grumbled, reaching for his gun.

There won’t be a need for any violence, the Shadow said, voice coming from nowhere and everywhere in classic Shadow fashion. The noise grated on Goro’s ears. 

“Give me one good reason as to why I...why I shouldn’t just blow your brains out right now,” Goro huffed, pulling out his own gun, aiming at the Shadow’s head.

I can lead you back to your allies, it responded succinctly, unaffected by the fact that it’s life was being threatened. Goro had half a mind to kill it anyways, just for the fun of it. And also to spite Maruki, because no way wasn’t this just another ploy employed by Maruki in an attempt to prove that he wanted to ‘help’ them.

“Goro,” Akira said, reaching up and laying a quivering hand on the arm that was aiming the gun. “We’re in no condition to fight. We’re away from our back up. We have few healing items. If we started a fight now, we would probably lose. Let’s just take its offer, and if we think that it’s leading us to our deaths, then we can kill it, and find our own way. Best case scenario, we find our friends and we get the hell out of here. Worst case scenario, we kill a Shadow, get a little lost, find our friends, and we get the hell out of here.”

Akira breathed heavily, the argument seeming to have sapped a lot of his strength. Goro grumbled before putting away his gun. “I hate when you’re right, too, for the record.”

Akira grinned, and somehow they both managed to push themselves onto unsteady feet, helping each other up, holding onto each other for support.

“Lead the way,” Akira said to the Shadow, to which it simply nodded and started walking away.

Walking turned out to be a monumental task. He had to keep reminding himself to put one foot in front of the other, had to grind his teeth and force the strength into his legs so that he could carry both himself and part of Akira’s weight. He felt like he would fall apart, crumble to the ground in pieces. He pulled at himself, desperately holding himself together, and kept walking.

They had to stop and catch their breath often, had to wait for their bodies to recover a little  before taking a few tentative steps, and then stopping and starting all over again.

After a while of this, they eventually rounded a corner, and spotted all of the Thieves sitting or standing in a waiting room by the tracks. The Shadow that had been leading them disappeared in a wisp of black smoke, and the movement attracted the attention of the Thieves. They all stared wide-eyed and open mouthed at the sight of them leaning on each other.

“Yo,” Akira said simply, raising a shaking hand and waving.

They all rushed towards them, forming a protective circle around the two. Some of them made like they wanted to help them, but they held off for now.

“Are you both okay?!” Morgana asks, looking over them for any obvious injuries. Goro is a little surprised and touched that the not-cat actually cares about him enough to be worried that he’s hurt.

“We’re fine, Mona,” Akira reassures. “Just a little weak, is all. Is it okay if we can get some help sitting down before you bombard us with questions?”

“I gotcha,” Ryuji says, grabbing Akira’s free arm and slinging it across his shoulders, supporting most of Akira’s weight. Goro would have been jealous of it not three hours ago, but having tentacle sex with the person you loved while on what were practically drugs does a lot to change one’s perspective on things.

Huh. Goro’s hasn’t had such unfiltered thoughts since...well, since he last drove himself psychotic. 

He couldn’t find it in himself to care, really.

Ann comes up to Goro and loops his own free arm over her slight shoulders. Goro is a little taken aback that out of all of the Thieves, she is the one who is supporting him as she helps him walk the short distance to the rest stop. Like Ryuji, she supports most of his weight. He remarks at her strength again.

Goro flops gracelessly onto a plastic bench, his muscles screaming in relief as he lets out a loud sigh. Akira isn’t much better off as he plops in next to Goro, practically melting into the bench.

Ryuji opens his mouth, but Akira holds up a hand. “Coffee first,” he says by means of an explanation. “Then questions.”

Haru pulls a thermos out of nowhere before handing it to Akira, who quickly opens it and swallows five times before taking a breath, handing the thermos to Goro. Goro takes it from him after he removes his helmet again. He takes much more controlled sips than Akira, but he finds it hard to resist gulping down the rest as fast as he can when he feels a little surge of energy return to his limbs.

“I suppose we were low on SP,” Goro notes as he hands the now empty thermos back to Haru.

“Yeah,” Akira says, waving his hand dismissively. “I think we can blame getting fucked by tentacles for that. And maybe the drugs.”

All of the Thieves, except for Yusuke, Morgana, and Futaba, blanche at the nonchalant tone of Akira’s voice and at the content of the statement.

Goro blinks, and doesn’t care.

“It was probably those damn drugs,” he responds, leaning back into his chair, getting as comfortable as one can get when sitting on a cheap plastic bench while your not-friends stare at you incredulously. “Though I won’t deny that the tentacle sex played a part.”

“T-tentacle sex?!” Ryuji practically screamed.

“Drugs?!” Ann exclaimed.

“Do you need medicine? A healing spell?” Haru said, hand in her pocket and on her mask, prepared to administer either at a word, even as red dusted her cheeks.

Sumire’s mouth was opening and closing, her blush rapidly spreading across her face, practically matching her hair at this point. She clearly had no idea what to say.

Morgana tilted his massive head, looking confused. “What are you guys so flustered over?” he said, looking around at the other blushing Thieves. “Do they need to be healed or something?”

Makoto looked like she was trying very hard not to scream, and her face was just as flushed as the others. “It’s...hard to explain.”

“I’ll show you what they mean later, Mona,” Futaba said, unaffected by this entire situation.

“How are you not freaking out about this Oracle?!” Ryuji exclaimed before pointing an accusing finger at Yusuke. “And why are you just standing there doodling in your sketchbook?!”

“Hmm?” Yusuke hummed, looking up from where he was drawing. “Oh. I was inspired by the idea of tentacles helping two lovers share their passion for one another. I simply had to give life to the feeling on paper.”

“Please, Skull,” Futaba said before anyone could freak out over Yusuke’s nonchalant statement. “I’ve seen way worse on the Internet. Plus, these two were making googly eyes at each other all the time when they thought no one else was looking. I was getting so bored waiting for something to happen.”

“What?!” Ann exclaimed. “You had this juicy gossip and you didn’t tell me? ”

“I thought it was obvious,” Futaba replied breezily. “Have you seen the faces they make when someone else touches them? They look like they want to paint the walls in blood. Which I expected from Crow, but Joker does it too.”

“For real? I didn’t even notice…” Ryuji said.

“I wouldn’t expect someone like you to notice, Skull.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Enough!” Makoto said, pinching the bridge of her nose. She turned to Akira and Goro, then sighed at the sight.

Akira had his arms and legs crossed, and had leaned over to rest his head on Goro’s shoulder, eyes closed. Goro had his own head rested against Akira’s and was idly running his clawed hand through his hair. Goro was pretty sure Akira would have been purring if he had been capable of it. As it were, he let out soft sounds of appreciation occasionally.

“Can one of you please explain what happened after that wall separated you from us?” Makoto said after she had regained some of her composure.

“You tell us first,” Goro murmured, wanting this moment between them to last a little longer. “Why did you leave if you thought we were in danger?”

“That’s…” Makoto started before biting her lip and turning to everyone else. No one seemed to want to explain, but Goro caught the determined glint in Ann’s eyes as she stepped up to speak.

“We couldn’t see what was happening behind the wall,” she began. “But we could hear you. We could hear you fighting, and we were trying to tear it down or something. We tried to help you.”

“That wall was made of some crazy stuff,” Futaba continued, picking up where Ann left off. “Our guns and weapons didn’t work on it. Our Personas couldn’t do anything either, even when I tried messing with some things.”

“Then you guys went all quiet,” Ryuji said. “We didn’t hear anything for a while.”

“Then…” Sumire quips, looking a little upset. “We heard Joker whimpering. I heard him say ‘please’ and ‘don’t’.” 

“I tried attacking the barrier again,” Haru supplied. “Joker, you sounded like you were so scared. I tried so many different things.” She closed her eyes and grit her teeth. “Nothing worked.”

“Once the dust had settled from Noir’s attacks,” Yusuke said, having stopped drawing for now. “We heard moaning, whining, and squelching. We assumed something intimate was occuring, and it lit my spark. I had to draw what I heard.” He rubbed his chin. “I remember everyone else getting red for some reason at the time, too.”

“Those noises were obscene!” Makoto nearly shrieked. “I think blushing is the normal reaction here.” She cleared her throat, trying to get back on track. “Anyways, we then heard you guys talking for a bit. I didn’t hear much of it.”

“I...heard some things,” Ann interrupted. “But I don’t think it was from you guys talking.”

Goro narrowed his eyes, holding onto Akira a little bit tighter. “...what did you hear?”

Ann took a moment before she walked up to Goro, getting in his personal space before she looked straight down at him. “I heard ‘make it stop’ and ‘it hurts’. I heard it so many times. And...then I heard you crying.”

Goro didn’t know what to do when he was suddenly hugged, head tucked under Ann’s chin.

“You reminded me of how Shiho was before Kamoshida raped her,” Ann said quietly, hand on his head. “She was in so much pain. She wanted it to stop, forever. I promised that day that I wouldn’t let something like that happen to anyone ever again.”

Goro didn’t know what to do. 

Akira’s hand found his own in his hair, squeezed it. Goro remembered Ann’s words from earlier. Just accept the hug, Crow. You’ll feel better once you do.

Goro reached up with his free hand and gripped at the back of Ann’s suit with all the strength of a newborn child.

He closed his eyes, breathing ragged. They stayed like that for a bit. No one said anything.

Ann released him. He saw that her eyes were watery, but she did not cry. Goro admired her strength.

“I tried attacking the barrier this time,” Ann continued from where she had left off in the story. “I got as far as Haru did.”

“Then we heard Maruki,” Morgana piped up. “He said something along the lines of ‘let them handle this. I promise they’re fine’. The next thing we know we’re here, and we can’t leave. The only thing we could do was wait. You guys eventually rounded the corner.”

“So?” Makoto said after a beat. “What happened on the other side?”

Akira made a sound. “Maruki gave us drugs. We dealt with some trauma. This idiot admitted he loves me. I told him I love him back. We had some tentacle sex. Then we came back here,” he mumbled, burrowing further into Goro’s neck.

“Dude, how can you just say things like that?” Ryuji groaned, rubbing his face with his hands.

“At this point? I just don’t care anymore,” Akira said, sighing, nudging his nose at Goro’s pulse point. “I don’t see any reason to keep dancing around it.” Akira looked up at Goro, smirking. “Besides, you should see Goro’s face when he gets hard. He’s so cute.”

Goro heard the Thieves all make noises of indignation or disgust. Sumire blushed again, harder. She’d need a fire extinguisher at this point. Goro knew they were imagining him in some rather dirty fantasies, but much like Akira, he couldn’t find it in himself to care about it. So he let them think what they wanted to think. Goro would much rather focus on Akira.

“Fuck you,” he murmured warmly. Akira’s smirk grew.

“You just did.”

“I did indeed,” Goro conceded, humming. He moved his other hand to cradle Akira’s face, guiding it towards his own. “And it was amazing . I fucking love you.”

Akira’s smirk turned into a genuine smile. “I love you too, idiot.”

Akira kissed him, and not chastely.

Goro could hear the Thieves dying in the background.

Look at how happy you are, Maruki’s voice cut in, echoing in his head. Goro broke their kiss, and he saw that the Thieves could hear him too, what with their eyes widening. This wouldn’t have been possible without my reality.

“God, shut up,” Goro growls. Akira hums his assent.

“What’s this all about, Maruki?!” Ryuji said, raising his fist at the voice. “Why the hell did you do that to them?”

All I did was give them something to make them forget their inhibitions. They’ve been denying how they feel about each other for too long.

“That’s not up to you,” Ann said, an angry edge to her voice. “It’s not your prerogative to decide when and how someone will confess to the person they love! It’s a total invasion of privacy!”

There’s no telling how long it would have taken them to confess on their own. I just gave them a little push.

“Did you really need to push them with drugs? ” Makoto ground out, fists clenching at her sides.

It was a necessary step.

“‘Necessary’ you say…” Yusuke muttered angrily. He had stopped drawing, and the stick of charcoal in his hand threatened to crack under the pressure of his fingers. “You’d resort to even the use of forceful administration of drugs to get your way? To make us accept your reality?” The charcoal snapped, dropping to the floor in pieces. “You’re no better than all of those selfish adults whose hearts we changed!”

I’m not like them! I was just trying--

“Maruki,” Akira interrupted, not having moved from where he was tucked into Goro’s shoulder. Maruki grew silent. “I don’t care for your reasoning. I’ve made that clear to you multiple times.” Akira sucked in a breath, and Goro could feel him begin to tremble ever so slightly. He moved his hand from his hair to rest on his waist and pull him closer. Akira’s own hand slid around Goro’s back to rest on his own hip, gripping tightly. “And the way you forced those drugs on us...I asked you to stop.” Akira breath came out in a shaky exhale.

“I...told you to stop. You didn’t listen. You just...you just stuck us with those needles, and--and pumped us full of that shit , and the only reason I didn’t--d-didn’t have a panic attack was because whatever was in me at that point didn’t let me. My head felt so hazy--I could only focus on the good things. I hated it. I couldn’t feel anger, or fear, or anxiety. I felt it all slip through my fingers.”

Goro breathed in sharply through his nose. He too had felt his own anger slip through his fingers. It had scared him too, but he had felt the fear bleed away in much the same way as his anger had. 

“Panic attack?” he bit out, choosing to focus on that particular bit of Akira’s statement, because Akira was starting to tremble more, holding onto Goro tighter and tighter. There’d be marks later to prove it.

Maruki was silent. The Thieves all held expressions of rage, from Ryuji’s blatant glare to Haru’s furrowed brow and downturned mouth. Even Morgana looked angry. The only one who looked as confused and concerned as Goro felt was Sumire.

“When the cops arrested him on the day you betrayed us,” Morgana said. “before Sae or you could get there...he told us he was beaten. They were trying to get him to sign a false confession and give up information. When he refused to give them names, they decided to resort to drugs to get what they wanted.” Morgana grit his teeth. “He was so badly hurt and scared when Sae brought him back to Leblanc. He would wake up in the middle of the night screaming, and he’d cry as he held onto me...for a while, even just raising a hand at him would set him off.”

Goro’s free hand clenched into a fist, claws tearing through the soft leather and staining his already black glove a darker color.

Is...Akira, is that true? Maruki said softly, as if he had the right to be concerned.

Akira closed his eyes, tucked himself as much as he could into Goro’s side. 

Nodded.

I just wanted you to be happy, Maruki said meekly, his echoing voice having lost all confidence. It was a pathetically weak argument, in Goro’s opinion. From what Goro had heard of him, Maruki had been a fairly eloquent speaker; he could argue his point from almost any poor disadvantage, making himself be the scapegoat, accepting acidic words pointed at him with humility, all while claiming that he’d make them happy, get rid of their pain.

This was the first time Goro had heard him sound so insecure.

And Goro was going to tear him apart.

I promise I can fix this! Maruki said, trying to back track. If you just give me more time, I promise I can--

“We don’t want to hear your bullshit anymore, Maruki,” Goro growled, holding Akira in a protective embrace and doing his damn best not to lash out unreasonably. “We didn’t need your reality before. It was a creepy hellscape of happy faces anyway. But with this new evidence...I think it’s really rather damn safe to say that you can only fix things that are in your reach. There’s no way for you to know if we don’t tell you. That makes this reality imperfect.”

Goro glared at the ceiling above him, hoping Maruki could see just how angry he was. He hoped he was scared. “I think I speak for all of us when I say fuck you and your damn reality. You’re no god. You’re not all-seeing. And you never will be, no matter how good at collecting data you are. You can’t know everyone’s needs. You can’t know everyone’s trauma. I’d much rather live in a reality where I choose to fight against my problems everyday, where I can feel pride in overcoming them, where struggle has meaning. One where I’m in control of my own life.”

“I…!” Sumire spoke up, after a beat of silence. “I was suffering for so long, thinking that I had killed Kasumi. But it was wrong to try and live as her. She wouldn’t want that. She’d want me to be myself, to be my own person and live happily. I can’t do that in your reality! I choose to live as Sumire, for Kasumi!”

“There’s no place I’d rather be than with all of these guys,” Morgana said. “If I was human, I’d have no place there with them. I’d be empty, with no purpose. It was because I didn’t have any memories that I was able to connect with these guys. So I reject your reality!”

“What Kamoshida did to Shiho and me was awful,” Ann interjected. “Of course I wish it didn’t happen. But to get rid of her hard work, all of what she worked towards after...you’d be killing a part of her. It’s an ugly, unfortunate side of her, but it’s also beautiful, how strong she is. I refuse to live in a reality where that is erased!”

“Kamoshida broke my leg, and killed all hope for the track team,” Ryuji joined in. “But so what? I can still work towards my dream of getting a scholarship. Should’ve had this leg fixed long ago anyway. And I sure as hell don’t need you to fix it for me! Screw your reality!”

“I was in denial for so long,” Futaba murmured, twiddling her fingers. “I needed a change of heart to accept the fact that I didn’t kill my own mother. And of course I miss her. I miss her so much. But...Sojiro took me in anyway, gave me a home, cared for me. And these guys saved me. They made my life so much better than it had been before. And I wouldn’t trade those awesome experiences I had with them or my new family for anything else in the whole world, even for a false reality where Mom is still alive!”

“I miss my father,” Makoto said quietly, sadly. “There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t. But I know that if he saw me now, if he saw what I was doing, saw that I was trying to make the world a better place...I know he’d be proud of me. I know he’d be proud of the path I’ve chosen to walk. He doesn’t need to be alive for me to know that. So I reject your reality too, Maruki.”

“I also miss my father,” Haru whispered. “He raised me, and there were times before he became a bad person that I genuinely enjoyed and will cherish for the rest of my life. However, he still needs to atone for what he’s done to hurt other people. And I want it to be my real father, and not a fake you made, even though he’s gone! A reality that you made will never live up to that expectation! I reject it!”

“I suffered at the hands of Madarame,” Yusuke added. “But a world where there is only happiness would be rather bland and tasteless. There is no beauty in being only happy. Happiness is only desirable because we suffer. Reality would not be beautiful without it. So I too, reject your false reality.”

Goro blinked, a little taken aback by the fact that they had all taken his side. He figured that some of them had been happier to have been stuck in a dream, especially those with dead parents.

“You hear that, Maruki?” Akira said, startling Goro. He had stopped shaking, and his eyes had taken on a determined glint, making his eyes turn into the same quicksilver he had seen on him before. “We all reject your reality. You can take it and burn it for all we care. We refuse to live in it!”

Silence. Goro was almost convinced that he had run off, before his voice echoed again.

It’s too late to turn back now, he said, and Goro scoffed. But I can tell I’m in a losing battle. I’ll retreat for now. The deadline remains the same. You have until the 3rd. I await you all…

And then he was gone. Good riddance.

“Sooooo…” Akira said, breaking the silence. “...is no one going to acknowledge the fact that Goro said ‘we’?”

Goro thought back on what he had said, and then blushed hard, mortified. He tried to hide his face but Akira quickly wrapped his arms around him, trapping his own arms at his sides. His blushing face was exposed for all the world to see.

“For real? You can talk about tentacle sex with straight face but you blush at this?” Ryuji sighed, walking closer to Goro, reaching up and ruffling his hair. Goro was even more upset at this--this marked the second time someone had ruined his perfect hair. And it was Ryuji, of all people! The heat on Goro’s cheeks grew downright feverish. “You’re so weird.”

“Who knew that you’d think of us like that! I’m actually kinda touched…” Ann said while smiling, wiping a little at her watery eyes. She came up to Goro before gently cupping his face and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m so glad that you’re on our team for real this time.”

Goro’s blush reached fever pitch. He’d be a puddle of useless liquid on the ground in very little time at this rate.

“Hey,” Akira grumbled, squeezing a little harder. “This guy needed two murder attempts and one god complex idiot to realize and admit that he loves me, so hands off.”

Ann simply laughed, but she backed off a little, releasing Goro’s face.

“Shut. Up.” Goro ground out, the barb directed at Akira. It rolled off of him like water off a duck’s back. Akira simply squeezed harder.

Yusuke was framing them both with his thumbs and forefingers. “Truly a beautiful and remarkable sight to see. Crow’s blushing face, as Joker hugs him, Skull ruffling his hair, and as Panther kisses his cheek softly...If only I hadn’t broken my charcoal, I’d be drawing it right this second. The vivid image of affection.” He put down his picture frame, coming up to Goro and patting him once on the back. “It is also nice to see you thinking as being a part of our team. I, for one, am glad to have your strength on our side.”

“You’re not half bad as a fighter,” Morgana said, laying a paw on his shin. “I’m putting my faith in you, so you’d better not let me down!”

“You’re as cute as a button,” Haru said, booping Goro’s nose with one gloved finger. She was smiling, but her face was lined with steel. “I still haven’t forgiven you, you know. I don’t think I ever will.” She looked at Akira, at the way she was hugging him, before her face softened a little, losing the edge to it. “But if you make our leader happy, then I’ll gladly welcome you with open arms. His happiness is important to me, after all.”

“I haven’t forgiven you either,” Futaba interjected, inserting herself in between Ann and Haru. She reached for his face, pinching both of his cheeks and pulling on them, similar to how a fond grandparent would do to their grandchild. “But I get where you’re coming from. I know what it feels like to have no one around to help you. So while it doesn’t excuse you for what you did...I think I can start to understand you.” She released his burning cheeks. “And you can start atoning by working with us to end this reality! You’d better get comfy, because you’re not going anywhere!”

“Your strength is invaluable,” Makoto said, laying a hand on his shoulder. It reminded him of the time he did the same thing for her in Sae’s palace, in order to reassure her. He looked up into her eyes, and something in them promised Goro he’d be ill-advised to cross her. “However, if you break Joker’s heart, I’ll break your legs.” She smiled serenely. “That’s all I have to say. Welcome to the team.”

“As long as we work together, I’m sure we can get through anything, senpai!” Sumire exclaimed, smiling at Goro. “Let’s make the final job for the Phantom Thieves the biggest one yet!”

Everyone cheered. Goro was dying from both the physical interaction and the overwhelming feeling of belonging that had invaded his heart. 

“I’m going to kill you all,” he mumbled into the silence once the cheering had died down.

“We love you too, you bastard,” someone said. Goro couldn’t make out who it was over the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears. Akira squeezed him, getting Goro to look at his face. Goro looked down.

Akira was smiling at him like he meant everything to him. Like he meant the whole world.

Goro would do anything to keep Akira smiling like that at him.

Even take down a god.