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Akira hadn't thought seeing him in person would affect him as much as it does. After all, he's had two months to mentally prepare himself for this moment.

And yet, the sight of Goro Akechi, alive and in the flesh, perfectly put-together and looking like he was made to sit under the studio lighting, makes him feel... some kind of way. Unsettled, for sure, knowing what he knows now. Then again, there's a part of him that hasn't stopped feeling unsettled since he first (well, perhaps first isn't accurate) jolted awake to find himself on the train to Yongen-Jaya again. In one piece. Not bleeding out on the ground with a megalomaniacal pseudo-god bearing down on him. And, most importantly, as the only one with any recollection of all they'd been through.

It doesn't take Akira long to come to the most logical conclusion: That somewhere along the line, he screwed up. Somehow, it hadn't been enough, and now he has an opportunity to fix it—which would be a lot easier if he were to have some notion of what, specifically, he needs to fix, or even if this is a one-time deal.

At first, he tries copying his previous motions as closely as possible. People always talk about their regrets like they would change them in a heartbeat, given the chance, but the thought of altering the timeline as he knows it is overwhelming. The more Akira steps away from his previous path, the less accurate his existing knowledge may become, the bigger the chance that he may miss something important from the first time around.

That reasoning goes out the window pretty quickly. Akira finds that he can't watch Shiho Suzui jump off that building again, can't go through hearing that agony in Ann's voice a second time when he can so easily prevent it. So he stops her. It's what the Phantom Thieves would do. And things change... but not in a way that affects the flow of events in any profound way. Ann still stumbles after them into the Metaverse and finds the conviction to awaken her persona, somehow. He's not sure how it works out, but it does. What Akira does know is that fate is what you make of it. If he believes in his teammates, they'll end up where they need to be.

But for all of that, he still wavers as they're leaving the recording area. Up until now, the decisions to change things have been easy. Akechi, on the other hand... where to start? Is it even salvageable? Akira's not certain, but when he thinks of their last meeting in Shido's palace, Akechi's remark about the possibility of them meeting a few years earlier, the sounds of gunshots echoing from the other side of the bulkhead—he can't not try. It's not years, but maybe this handful of months will be enough.

Akira lets Ann go ahead with a nod, sliding his hands into his pockets as he tries to maintain his usual casual demeanor. Any moment now...

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Shit.

Shit.

There's no salvaging this situation anymore. No chance he can get everything he wanted out of this and keep both of them alive. The situation isn't the least bit funny, but Akechi huffs out a tired chuckle all the same.

"You really are incredible, you know. Managing to figure out that much from a conversation that happened five months ago..." He says it like Morgana figured it out, but Akechi is sure Akira realized it, too. And if they already know he's known about the Metaverse for that long, it won't be a tremendous leap for them to figure out that he's known about it for years, known about it ever since Wakaba Isshiki 'committed suicide'. "And what else have you learned since then? I'm sure there's plenty of conversations you've overheard."

His voice is cheerful, the sort of tone he uses when making lame jokes on talk shows, but there's already a frayed, manic edge to it. He can feel everything he's worked so hard to achieve over the past few years coming apart at the seams, and he's not even sure he can be angry about it.

Akira recognizes that unstable quality to Akechi's laugh. He's heard it once before, in an encounter that now feels ages past. It puts him on edge, but only because he can only imagine what must be going through Akechi's mind as he realizes how much they know about him.

Still, Akira doesn't shy away from clarifying.

"I know everything with Medjed and Okumura was a setup leading up to this. I know you're working for the people who killed Principal Kobayakawa." He hesitates for a moment, grip tightening on the backpack. "But I also know that you lied to them, at the risk of your own life, to save mine."

Akira may as well have said 'everything'. If they know that much then there's not much they can't figure out. The truth of his connection to Shido may be the only thing only he knows about by now. The realization puts another crack in his already crumbling facade of calm. Then Akira continues and the mania suddenly drains away.

That's right, isn't it? He'd taken a lot of risks, including this tremendous one, in the hopes that this friendship might make it out of everything that's still yet to come unscathed. That plan is already in shambles, but Akechi is nothing if not stubborn.

"I wasn't bluffing when I said the Phantom Thieves should disband." He doesn't include himself in that. He's pretty sure that no one, not even himself, ever thought he really counted. "They think you're dead right now. Let them believe it." The manic edge is gone from his voice now, replaced by calm resignation. There's nothing else he can do at this point but try to salvage a passable resolution out of the mess.

"No." It occurs to him that maybe he shouldn't push this when Akechi has just calmed down and seemed to accept things, but… He can't wait around and see if a better opportunity will present itself.

"I recognized Shido's voice. I know he's the one behind everything." Well, that honor truly goes to Yaldabaoth, but that's another matter entirely. One Akira isn't ready to deal with just yet, not with this mess still at his feet.

He fixes Akechi with a resolute look and continues, "We're going to change his heart, and I want you to stay with us for it." Contrary to what Akechi might believe, he's still a member—in Akira's mind, at least.

It's not a surprising response but it sends sparks of anger dancing through Akechi all the same - and those sparks are snuffed out by dread once Shido's name is brought back into the conversation. Akechi pales just a shade, feeling and even slightly looking like he might be sick. Akira had already admitted that Shido was an eventual target of theirs, but not their next target. Not that they would be targeting him close enough to the climax of Akechi's years-long plan to derail it completely.

"Don't." His voice is soft but his tone is positively icy. "Stay away from Shido. I'll handle him myself." Admitting that he's actively conspiring against Shido already isn't something he had planned, but he lets it slip without a thought right now. He's caring less and less about how he deters Akira from this path, only that he manages it in the end.

"I can't." Akechi might interpret this is some sort of self-serving revenge plot of Akira's own, but it goes so much deeper than that. If it were just the injustices Shido wreaked on him, Akira could deal with it. But there are so many others, probably more lives lost at Shido's hands than he's even aware of, and if he doesn't succeed, Akechi will be just another name on that list. He can't allow that to happen again.

He drops the backpack now, stepping away from the wall and closer to Akechi. There's no real aggression in Akira's stance, only a stubbornness that mirrors the same in Akechi's words. "You know better than any of us how dangerous he is." Possibly even more than Akira himself, which is saying something. "I'm not going to let you take him on alone." He really doesn't want this to get to the point of having to fight Akechi again—but the determination behind his words is clear. If Akechi wants him to back off of Shido, he's going to have to kill him.

Akechi doesn't have the time or presence of mind to try to make sense of Akira's motivations. He doesn't care. I'm not going to let you take him on alone might be a caring statement, the sort of thing that one friend would naturally say to another.

"I don't need your help!" But instead of soothing Akechi's nerves it just makes everything boil over in a flash. His temper cracks under the frustration, the jealousy, his hatred for Shido, his concern for Akira's safety, and the bitter resentment that's been building for months, making his tone raw and seething. Akechi takes a step forward himself but unlike Akira his body language is nothing but aggression, even if he doesn't actually act on it. "I've known him for years, but you ran into him once and ended up living in someone's attic! What makes you think there's anything you can do?"

But the most infuriating part is that Akechi doesn't doubt him for a second. If it comes down to it he's certain that Akira will accomplish more than he ever could. Thinking about that feels like it's clawing at more than just Akira's temper, though, so he's quick to shove the thought aside.

Here it is: the rage he knows has been simmering below the surface. Without the intent to kill behind it, it sounds more like a temper tantrum, but Akira doesn't take it lightly. In fact, the sharp increase in Akechi's volume causes something in him to snap.

"Because I've already done it once before," he answers, the last vestiges of his restraint peeling away. His voice is level, but there's a quiet intensity creeping into it, not quite anger but adjacent to it. "We changed his heart, and you weren't around for it because you tried to act alone and Shido had you killed." It's going to sound like he's gone crazy, but Akira doesn't bat an eye as he speaks about things that have never transpired here.

It doesn't matter anymore. All that he cares about right now is getting Akechi to see reason. If it means that he's putting himself or even the world in more danger down the road, then so be it.

The comparison to a tantrum isn't at all unmerited. Akechi is reacting with the sort of irrational, unhinged anger of a child suddenly being told 'no' after months and years of assuming 'yes'.

There couldn't have been better timing for Akira's reveal. Akechi doesn't understand what he's saying in the slightest at first and it kicks the legs out from under his anger entirely. He falters, confusion creeping into his expression and taking the edge off the white hot rage that's still simmering inside him.

"What?" That's really all he can come up with in response to such an absurd statement.

That, at least, seems to dampen Akechi's fury, even if only with sudden confusion. It's an understandable reaction. Even Akira knows how nonsensical this must sound. He doesn't expect Akechi to believe it without some convincing.

"I've been through all of this already." A broad statement—this encounter, as with so many others concerning Akechi, is actually quite new. "We failed our last mission. One moment I was dying, and the next… I woke up on the train to Tokyo again," Akira finishes with an exhale. Some of the wind seems to have left his sails, too. Maybe it's more relief at finally expressing this to someone. "I guess someone gave me a second chance to do it right."

Whether this counts as doing it right is still very much up in the air. Things are different, at least.

The nicest thing Akechi could say about Akira's claim is that it's completely ridiculous. A few harsher words like insane and asinine also flicker across his thoughts. He doesn't believe him for a second, but he also doesn't not believe him. Akira might hide things, but bizarre blatant lies like this aren't his style.

"You're lying." He doesn't sound convinced. "If that's true then why wait this long? Why not go after Shido right away?" He's not even going to touch on the fact that something like that is impossible - sort of like changing a criminal's heart and forcing them to confess is impossible.

"I thought about it," Akira confesses, "but this is even bigger than Shido. And I knew I couldn't do it alone." Even if he could've easily contacted the others, it wouldn't have been of any use. They still needed to go through their own trials to awaken their Personas. And even if they had somehow taken Shido down far ahead of schedule, then what? Wouldn't it only push Yaldabaoth's plans up as well, leaving them even more ill-prepared than before?

He doesn't budge from the edge of Akechi's personal space, resolve setting into his features once more. "You know that if I wanted to lie to you, I'd tell you something more believable."

That's a perfectly rational, logical breakdown of the situation, which is exactly the sort of thing Akechi doesn't want to hear right now. If there was something unsteady or incoherent in Akira explanation then Akechi could dismiss it as the drugs or the brutal beating disguised as an interrogation that he just received. But instead he's calm and steady, which leaves Akechi with two possibilities.

First, that Akira is lying to him right now, and for some reason has decided to feed him this fanciful nonsense with a straight fact.

Second, that Akira isn't lying now, but has been the entire time they've known each other, through every conversation and game and joke. It just validates Akechi's paranoia, the feeling that he was making a mistake with each little bit of his history that he revealed to Akira. He's not in the right state of mind to reflect that he was lying the whole time, too, and that maybe Akira's motivations made just as much sense as his.

He didn't just get out maneuvered, he lost the game entirely before he even realized they were playing.

Now that Akechi's anger has been derailed simmering frustration takes its place, along with resentment and suspicion and the sharp sting of betrayal. All of it shows on his face as he finally takes a step backwards, unable to care about being the first one to give up on the argument.

"Do what you want." He doesn't bother clarifying that Akira will be doing it alone. "I'm leaving. If I take took long to report in Shido will get suspicious." And while that's not a lie, there's also no reason that Akechi has to leave right this second. No reason except not wanting to be around Akira right now.

There's no helping the way his face falls when Akechi announces his intention to leave. Akira knows it's just a flimsy excuse to not have to stay in this room with him. Can he blame him? Not really. He's fully aware of what he just admitted to: months of lying to Akechi as they built up their friendship. It's not like he hasn't felt guilty about it for a long time, but it was always more important that Akira was ultimately trying to protect him.

But seeing the clearly wounded look on Akechi's face, that feels like an even weaker excuse. Suddenly nothing can justify the betrayal Akechi is feeling, and that's—not how Akira operates. When he believes a course of action is right, he sticks to his guns, doesn't let anyone else's opinion of him change his mind. Usually. Right now, though, the idea that he's hurt Akechi is making him reconsider everything.

His body moves before his mind can catch up, snapping out a hand to grasp Akechi's wrist before he can move any further away. "Wait." Akira pauses, and it's clear that he had no plan for how to follow up on this impulsive move, no idea of where to even begin to try to fix this rapidly widening gap between them. I'm sorry? The words sound as small and hollow in his mind as Akira feels.

He wets his lips before he finally speaks up, "I can't take back what I did, but… It doesn't make the way I feel about you any less real. I never lied about that." This may be pointless. For as flawless as Akechi's logic is, Akira knows he's just as much the type of person to be blinded by his emotions. Still, letting him walk away without even an attempt feels like it would be a huge mistake.

While it would be wrong to say he's expecting it, Akechi isn't surprised that Akira reaches out to stop him. What does surprise him is that Akechi lets it happen, allowing himself to be pulled to a stop and glancing back to Akira. He isn't sure why. Maybe he doesn't feel like talking to Shido again so soon. Maybe he's hoping Akira will manage to talk him down.

When Akira speaks Akechi is struck by a conflicting set of feelings that he's growing more and more familiar with: the certainty that Akira is telling the truth coupled with the knowledge that a lie is the only thing that makes sense. As usual, his personal experiences with Akira outweigh good sense.

"How?" That's the part he can't really grasp. If Akira isn't lying (and Akechi has already accepted that he isn't, much to his own aggravation) then that means he's know for months that Akechi has been working for Shido. He may have already figured out that Akechi's killed dozens of people and caused dozens of psychotic breakdowns so far. "How could you know all of that and still--"

He doesn't finish. For some reason, he doesn't feel up to the task of breaking down all the reasons he isn't worth someone's affection.

The almost frantic feeling fades at the question, replaced by a quiet sorrow. Even though he knows Akechi's view of himself was skewed, it's hard to listen to him casting doubt on his own worth like that. Akira wants to press in closer and show him with more than just words, but the moment feels fragile, and he's pretty sure that Akechi wouldn't be welcoming of it. No doubt that the wrong move will send him running again.

"There's more to you than that." Akira's grip tightens on his wrist, though not uncomfortably so. "You've done some terrible things. I'm not excusing that," he clarifies, having to steel himself as he does so, because honesty feels more important here than trying to coddle Akechi, "but you're not a bad person. You proved that to me more than a few times." He's seen glimpses of the person Akechi could be if he could find a way to let go of his past and all of the anger that comes along with it, snippets that show him that Akechi is still capable of relying on others, no matter how deeply he buries that desire. "You didn't turn me into the police. You didn't interfere with us when we went after Okumura. You sacrificed your own safety to protect me—twice." Akechi may not remember one of those times, but it makes it no less pivotal to Akira.

'Terrible things' is putting it lightly. Even if Akechi doesn't see it that way - everyone he's eliminated has been a threat to society, people just as in need of a change of heart as everyone the Phantom Thieves have targeted - he knows Akira surely sees a difference between the two. If he wouldn't kill someone like Kaneshiro or Kamoshida there's no way he'd think anything Akechi has done before now was justifiable. Even Akechi, who's far from being able to feel any guilt about his past actions, is starting to think that maybe he's just been wasting his time with this plan of his.

That thought inspires a different sort of instability, however. He sets the thought aside and finally breaks eye contact with Akira, turning his head and staring down some nonspecific spot on the wall instead.

He doesn't feel coddled, at least, which is actually a good thing even if he doesn't realize it. His temper will ignite all over again at the first sign of pity.

"If," he finally starts, his tone overly cautious and the word overly emphasized. "I were to agree to go with you, what do you think will change?" He hasn't decided if he wants to consider that route - hasn't even decided if he actually believes Akira's actually caught in some time loop - but like usual he wants as much information about the situation as possible.

Finally, he lets his fingers slip from Akechi's arm. Akira isn't dumb enough to believe that Akechi is convinced—quite the contrary, really—but if he decides again that he wants to leave, there isn't going to be any stopping him.

"It's hard to say," he admits, and when he continues, it's dryly joking in the way that humor injected into such a serious situation often is. "Everything around you has been pretty unpredictable for me." There's no doubt that they could deal with Shido. They did it before, even without Akechi's help. Whether he'd want to keep fighting alongside them after that would be another matter, but… Akira can't help but think that if he knew all that Yaldabaoth is responsible for, Akechi would probably have a bone to pick with him, too. "But I think we could succeed where we failed before, if we had your help."

Where they failed... against Shido? Akechi frowns for a moment before something else clicks into place.

"You said that this is bigger than Shido." Which is, admittedly, really hard to imagine. That man barely even listens to other people; taking orders is out of the question. Again, though, he doesn't think Akira is lying. "Who else is there?" He's very interested in the answer, but his tone isn't as forceful this time. He feels like that might be a card Akira still wants to keep close to his chest.

There's no real hesitation before he answers. Akira has already gone all-in on deciding to trust Akechi with this.

"A thing that thinks he's a god. Yaldabaoth." There's a subtle distaste in his voice, the same kind reserved for the other despicable people they've targeted up until now. "He gave us our powers and manipulated things to put Shido where he is. It's all part of a game that's meant to end in him controlling humanity."

He doesn't take pleasure in revealing that Akechi's been used as a pawn on an even larger scale than he though, but it's necessary. Akira worries a lock of hair between his fingers. Yaldabaoth may have put them on opposite ends of this, but that doesn't mean they have to follow the fates they've been dealt. There's nothing stopping them from teaming up to take him down—it might even be necessary.

Of all the things he's learned tonight, this one is the easiest to swallow. Akechi has often wondered where his power came from and how he got it, especially in the early days when he was fumbling through the Metaverse and figuring it out on his own. A god playing games with all of them makes as much sense as anything else. For a moment he's caught up in wondering what could have happened if he'd met Akira just a year earlier.

Still, Akira's unease about revealing just how much of a pawn Akechi has really been isn't misplaced. His expression darkens as he considers the implications of that statement, but for the first time in this conversation his anger is in no way directed at Akira. Once again, he isn't completely certain he buys into everything he's been told, but he's willing to at least try to believe it.

"If that's his goal, picking you for his game wasn't very smart of him." He doesn't even try to keep the cynical note out of his voice, but he sounds and looks more thoughtful than angry. He glances back to Akira, idly wondering if his habit of playing with his hair is why it's so wavy now. "You should stay away from Leblanc until tomorrow evening." A moment ago he was going to pettily let Akira figure things out for himself, but now he decides it's best to not cut him totally loose. Though it takes a moment to talk himself into it, he also adds: "If you can't find somewhere else to lay low, there's room at my apartment."

That had been the original plan, though now all Akechi can think is that letting Akira into his apartment means he'll need to figure out somewhere else to stay for the night. He's not exactly in the mood for company.

While he doesn't seem to completely buy into Akira's explanations, Akechi doesn't outright discount them either, and that feels like enough of a victory to him. Akira is willing to let this sit for now. That is a pretty big bomb he just dropped, and he knows Akechi is the kind of person to weigh his options before making such a decision.

The offer of his own apartment has surprise flickering through Akira's expression. Surely Akechi can't be totally comfortable with that, but… where else does he have to go? There's no telling how extensively his friends and other contacts are being watched; going to any of them could be tantamount to turning himself back in to the police and, even worse, painting a target on their backs as well. He briefly considers staying here in the Metaverse, a thought that he quickly tosses away. Even with his familiarity with Sae's Palace, this place still doesn't feel safe, and he's not sure he wants to risk sleeping in this dimension. And he'd really like to sleep right about now.

"… I'll take you up on that." He wonders if there's any way he can contact the others to let them know he's alive. What happened when Sae went back to get him and found an empty interrogation room? Would she have let them know that he's missing? Hopefully she didn't poke around further at the risk of her own safety.

Just as Akira is surprised to be given the option, Akechi is a bit surprised that he accepts it. Surely he realizes that there's about a dozen ways he could use that to double-cross him at the last second. Maybe he's just too exhausted to realize - or maybe he means what he said, and he really isn't lying about considering him a friend.

Once again, Akechi has no idea what the real answer is.

He digs into one of his coat's inner pockets and withdraws a small, sealed envelope. There's a key and a sheet of paper with his address inside, though he doesn't explain that. He's sure Akira can figure that out on his own.

"I'm not sure when I'll be back." It's the middle of the day right now, but he suspects that Shido will want him to tie up a few loose ends before night falls. "So help yourself to whatever you need." Akechi has already removed any overly revealing personal effects from his room - or started to, at least, before realizing he didn't actually have any. It's fine if Akira decides to ransack the place.

If Akira is worried about there being danger in going to his home, it's only in the form of being concerned about Akechi being caught harboring a supposedly dead man. However, Akira's pretty sure that this offer is only on the table because he's confident that won't be the case.

So he accepts the envelope without question. Between context clues and the slight weight to it, it's not too hard to figure out the contents. There is, admittedly, some curiosity about his apartment, although he doubts there's all that much to be gleaned about Akechi there if he's letting Akira stay without supervision.

And then there's the matter of what Akechi is going to be up to. Even with the bug on his phone, a lot of his actions are still shrouded in mystery. Is he off to continue to be Shido's lapdog? Or will he be attending to his own agenda? Akira decides he'd rather not dwell on it, not when all of the adrenaline is wearing off and exhaustion seeps into its place. There are some things he's better off not knowing.

"Thanks," he says, and once again, it doesn't feel like quite enough to cover all of this. "Be careful."

Whether it's deliberate or not, the echoing of Akechi's earlier warning to Akira gets a pause out of him. He's not sure what to make of it either, but after a moment he nods.

"You, too." Akira needs it more than he does, he suspects. Akechi turns to leave, though at the last second he remembers to hand Akira's phone over. He has no idea why Sae gave it to him (though he's got a strong suspicion, which makes him wonder how much she knows), but he doubts he needs it more than Akira does.

Akechi's apartment ends up being pretty close, only a few stops (or, most likely for Akira) a half hour walk away and not far from Roppongi Hills. The neighborhood and apartment building aren't nearly so flashy, of course, but they're just busy enough that no one so much as glances at Akira as he passes through.

As for Akechi's apartment itself, it's... kind of boring, though 'sterile' might be the better choice of word. It's a studio apartment, not that much larger than Akira's attic even with the bathroom and small kitchen. While it's tidy and stocked with the sort of furniture that could be expected in any student apartment - a bed, a couch, a small desk, a short bookshelf, and a small electric heater - it's also largely devoid of anything resembling a personal touch. There's no photos, no decorations, and only a few signs of his hobbies, such as the bicycle on his balcony, a handful of mystery novels on his bookshelf, and a small stack of magazines on his desk.

Regardless, there's signs he was expecting company and expecting not to be present when said company arrived. Easily prepared food like ramen and convenience store bento are in the kitchen, a first aid kit right is by the entryway, and both a towel and a set of loose-fitting pajamas have been left folded on the bathroom counter.

It turns out that Akechi's assumptions that he wouldn't be around are correct. Reporting Akira's 'suicide' to Shido is easy enough, but the discussion on what to do with the SIU Director takes a bit longer. Akechi cautions Shido against acting too quickly, but in the end the result is the same: Shido wants him dead, and so by the end of the day he is.

It's strange, though. For the first time in years Akechi feels something besides cool detachment as he he carries out an assassination. He ends up standing over the Director's Shadow much longer than is necessary why he tries to figure what that something is; all the while, some instinct telling him to not go through with the assassination. But ultimately he doesn't think that's an option. He's evaded detection during the Kobayakawa and Okumura incidents, but if the Director somehow survives then there won't be any hiding it anymore. It'll be the end for him and Akira.

So he pulls the trigger, and it's not until he's on the train to his next destination that he finally realizes what the 'something' from earlier was: disappointment. He hasn't even agreed to help Akira yet but it feels like he's letting him down.

He'd been planning on going by Shido's Palace to do some research of his own but he's suddenly more exhausted then he's ever felt in his life. He changes his plans and decides to head straight home instead. Despite his exhaustion he still has the energy to feel tense as he unlocks his front door and steps inside. He doesn't bother calling out a greeting as he enters, too used to returning to an empty apartment to bother.

( for fabrications )

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