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The bow of Shido’s luxury cruiser and the ruined city around it fade away, and the daring Phantom Thieves step back out onto the street as a gaggle of ordinary teenagers. It’s a good thing there’s no one there to see them; a bunch of troublemakers lurking outside the Diet building after dark, huddled together, slouching around like they’re up to something.
The simple truth is that they’re all exhausted. They’ve finally secured a route through Shido’s palace to his treasure, but for today their fight has dissipated with the last of their adrenaline. Among them, one boy in particular looks on the verge of collapse, half-supported by the others, though there’s a wild look in his eyes that have an almost red gleam in the orange glow of the streetlights.
With shuffling, dragging steps and blearily blinking eyes, they all move on without too much delay. By a silent agreement, they catch the train back to their secret headquarters; the quiet little cafe Leblanc, nestled away in a hidden alleyway.
The old man behind the counter waves them in with the weary relief of a helpless parent. However, his expression shifts as he sees the boy who comes in last, now mostly walking on his own.
Sojiro Sakura crosses his arms over his chest. “What’s he doing here?”
Ryuji Sakamoto immediately perks up at the question, suddenly getting a second wind. “That’s exactly what I was wondering!”
“We couldn’t just leave him there,” Ann Takamaki says, but there’s an underlying tinge of uncertainty.
“You heard what he said,” Makoto Nijima says. “If we left him, he would have gone after Shido and probably killed him.”
“Or he might have gotten himself killed,” adds Haru Okumura, glancing over at the decidedly bedraggled Akechi, who is watching them all with a sort of sardonic bemusement as they debate his fate.
“You say all that like it’s a bad thing,” Ryuji says.
“Hey,” Yusuke Kitagawa protests to the others’ surprise. “We- or at least I wasn’t so different from him not too long ago; a loyal slave to Madarame, convinced that each of my fallen peers deserved their sad fate.”
“Except you didn’t actually kill anyone,” Makoto says sharply, “and we have no idea what Akechi’s body count is.”
Their debate is interrupted by a low, humorless chuckle. “Sakamoto is right,” Akechi says leaning heavily against the counter. “You should have left me to die when you had the chance.”
His gaze sweeps across the room, challenging each of the Phantom Thieves to deny it. His eyes linger on Ren Amamiya, their enigmatic leader, who has been silent and downcast through the entire exchange. But he’s not hiding behind those wild bangs anymore. His dark eyes meet Akechi’s, burning with the same defiance as when he was a prisoner being interrogated; battered and bruised, and stubbornly silent until the last.
But this time Ren speaks, his voice quiet but surprisingly forceful. “No. We couldn’t let you die.”
“Ah yes, the noble Phantom Thieves. But think, after everything I’ve done, you’d be doing the world a favor.”
“I don’t believe that!”
Akechi’s frown deepens. “Then you’re more foolish than I thought.”
“Oh, fuck off!” Ryuji says.
“If that is your verdict, then I am in no position to argue.” Akechi pushes himself away from the counter onto unsteady legs.
He isn’t looking at Ryuji; Akechi’s eyes haven’t left Ren, who stares back at him with grim determination.
“What will you do now?” Ren asks, scrambling for some way to call Akechi’s bluff.
“Finish what I started—what else? I’ve come too far to give up now. If I kill Shido, at least everything else I’ve done won’t be for nothing, And thanks to all your efforts, I have no more reason to bide my time.”
“How can you talk like that?” Haru exclaims. “Can’t you see it’s always been for nothing?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Akechi snaps.
Haru’s hands ball into fists at her sides. “You’ve killed enough people for your stupid overcomplicated revenge, killing anyone else, even Shido, won’t make anything better!”
Akechi lets out a sharp laugh. “When did I say anything about making it better? All I want is revenge. What you do is up to you.” With that, he slings his briefcase over his shoulder and heads for the door.
Just as his gloved hand settles on the door knob, Ren calls after him, “What about your promise?”
Akechi pauses, his head cocked in mild curiosity, though he doesn’t turn around.
“Your glove,” Ren says. “I still have it, remember?”
Akechi just shakes his head, and then he steps out into the night.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Ryuji demands as the door clinks shut behind Akechi. “Are we going to stop him or what?”
“We just have to get to Shido before he does,” Haru says.
“No one beats the Phantom Thieves at their own game!” Morgana says.
Everyone turns to Ren, waiting for their leader’s call. He’s still watching the closed door, his back to them.
Finally, he nods. “It’s time to send a calling card even Masayoshi Shido can’t ignore.”
It’s a tie.
The next day, the Phantom Thieves reach the grand doors to the heart of Shido’s palace to find Akechi already there, examining the golden lions’ heads that guard the way. Akechi has given up hiding his true colors and is back in angular black and blue.
Ryuji groans at the sight of him. “So much for beating him to it.”
Ann, however, smirks. “You didn’t think you’d be able to get in without these, did you?” she says, splaying out Shido’s accomplices’ letters of introduction in her hand like playing cards.
Akechi merely rights himself and faces them, unsurprised. “Shall we?” His eyes are hidden behind his armored mask, but it’s clear his words are aimed only at Ren.
“Like we’d work with you,” Ryuji says.
“It won’t be an easy fight,” Ren says. “The more people on our side the better.”
“As long as we don’t end up having to fight him too,” Makoto says.
“If you’re working with us again, does that mean we should call you Crow, or does your new costume come with a new identity?” Yusuke asks in something like an olive branch.
However, his question goes unanswered as the others slide the letters of introduction into place and the doors swing open, welcoming them into the heart of Shido’s palace.
Even with the nine of them, it’s a long, grueling battle. And Shido’s defeat is hardly the end.
Masayoshi Shido finally falls to his knees before them, ready to confess his crimes, but before they have the chance to relax from the fight, Akechi pushes his way to the front.
“I’ve waited so long for this...” He raises a pistol to Shido’s forehead, his finger on the trigger.
“Son of a-!” Ryuji shouts.
“He’s already defeated! Wouldn’t it be better to make him face justice for his crimes?” Makoto says.
“You don’t get to say what justice he deserves!” Akechi’s gaze and his pistol remain fixed on Shido.
But before anyone has the chance to move, the ground beneath their feet begins to shudder and shake, throwing them all off balance.
“The treasure!” Morgana shouts over the chaos that ensues.
They haven’t even claimed Shido’s treasure, but the palace is already crumbling. The Phantom Thieves scramble for the treasure, the cognitive Shido forgotten as they struggle to stay on their feet long enough to get the treasure and escape, so none of them notices when the cognitive Shido just disappears.
None of them except Akechi.
“SHIDO!!!” Akechi shouts with an entire lifetime of hatred. “I always knew you were a coward! I should have expected nothing less upon your defeat!”
With a sudden, rending screech, the spiderweb cracks reaching across the ground suddenly deepen and the assembly room floor abruptly gives way, rending the hall in two. The back half of the room tilts dangerously, ready to sink straight into the sea.
“You won’t escape me!!” Akechi steps back and breaks into a run across the plush velvet floor, straight toward the chasm, to fling himself across before the floor shifts entirely vertical.
As Morgana leaps for the treasure suspended in the air, Ren lunges after Akechi, tackling him to the ground just before the edge of the abyss.
“Joker!” The Phantom Thieves shout as they realize what’s going on. “Leader!”
Ren doesn’t have the chance to respond as Akechi strikes back, scratching and kicking with all of his strength. “GET OFF ME! LET ME KILL HIM!!”
But Ren just holds on tight.
“Shido is gone,” Futaba says.”We have to get out of here before this sinking ship brings us down with it!”
Akechi’s struggling finally stops, and he lies sprawled underneath Ren, still pinned to the ground.
“Joker, come on, we’ve got to go,” Ann says.
Ren reluctantly lets her help him onto his feet on the shaking ground. And then, he turns and offers a hand to Akechi, who glares back at him, as though Ren’s hand has offended him, and forces himself up on his own. However, Akechi follows quietly enough as they race for the exit from the sinking ship.
As the ship explodes behind them, they all tumble out onto the street in front of the actual Diet building, Shido’s treasure in hand. Many questions remain, but after the grueling fight they’re no less exhausted than the night before, and with nothing urgent left to figure out, they all go their separate ways.
Akechi lingers behind, and Ren is reluctant to leave him alone, but he can’t just abandon Futaba to find her own way home. Still, Ren keeps glancing over his shoulder at Akechi standing alone in front of the dark Diet building, until he’s out of sight.
It’s not until Ren and Futaba are back in Yongen-Jaya that he realizes they’ve been followed. Or, rather, that Akechi announces himself.
“I don’t suppose I could have a word?” Akechi doesn’t bother to hide the venom beneath his polite facade.
They’re just a few blocks from Futaba and Sojiro’s home, in a little alleyway that’s empty except for the four of them at the late hour.
Futaba glares, struggling to stifle a yawn.
Morgana, back in Ren’s bag, shoots Ren a worried look.
“Morgana, could you take Futaba the rest of the way home?” Ren says. “Don’t worry, I won’t be long—I don’t think.”
Morgana glares at Akechi, but reluctantly acquiesces to escort Futaba home, and she’s too tired to really give much of an argument, leaving Ren and Akechi alone in the dark, quiet alleyway.
It’s not like Akechi is ever really that interested in the others; his gaze always follows Ren, even if it’s just out of the corner of his eye. But the full force of his attention is something different entirely.
“You,” Akechi snarls, backing Ren against the dirty wall. “I have to hand it to you; you must have a unique talent for ruining my plans. If you were going to ruin my revenge, why didn’t you just get me out of the way when you had the chance? You should hate me for everything I’ve done to you and your precious friends! I’ve already thrown away every chance I could have at a normal, happy life, why have pity on me now!?”
“It’s not-” Ren struggles for coherent thought under Akechi’s burning gaze, so close he can almost feel Akechi’s ragged breath against his face. “I don’t want you to die, is that so hard to understand!?”
“Yes! What could you possibly still want from me?”
“I don’t want anything! I just-” Ren falters again, struggling to put it into words.
Finally, in a fit of frustration, he pushes back, his lips colliding with Akechi’s. Akechi quickly recovers from the momentary shock and presses back, shifting the balance and pushing Ren back against the wall.
Finally, Akechi breaks the kiss, flushed and breathless, still pining Ren to the wall, his fingers digging into Ren’s shoulders, and lets out a sharp, wild laugh. “That’s what you wanted all along?”
Ren makes no effort to deny the now blindingly obvious, though his face burns and his lips sting. Akechi’s expression slowly shifts as wild humor gives way to a sort of dawning realization, which Akechi seems to find no less amusing.
Akechi’s grip on one of Ren’s shoulders loosens and his hand wanders up to caress Ren’s neck, thumbing along the path of Ren’s jugular. Just as Ren opens his mouth to question, Akechi reclaims Ren’s lips, this time with intention, making up for any inexperience with bruising force, dragging his teeth along Ren’s lips and excavating his mouth with an eager tongue.
Akechi’s fingers reflexively tighten around Ren’s shoulder and neck as Ren kisses back, matching Akechi’s force with eager passion, sucking at Akechi’s tongue, pressing back against his body and clinging to his waist to drag him closer. Their legs tangle together so the wall at Ren’s back is the only thing keeping them both upright.
The buzz of a phone caught between their thighs sends a jolt through them both, groans mingling on their tongues. Through the eager haze, it takes them a moment to realize the source of the ongoing sound, and another to disentangle themselves enough for Ren to reach his phone, though Akechi doesn’t let Ren up from the wall.
“Shit,” Ren says, scrolling through the incoming texts and firing off a quick reply. “I should get back to Leblanc. Morgana got worried and put the others on alert.”
“They’re afraid of what I might do to you?” Akechi murmurs, nipping distractingly at Ren’s neck. “Rightfully so.”
Ren groans in frustration. As soon as Akechi raises his head, Ren kisses him again, using the momentary surprise to push away from the wall and back onto his own feet, and then he breaks away, ending the kiss much too soon.
“Good night, Goro,” Ren calls back and hurries back to Leblanc before either of them has a chance to change their mind.