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Akira exited his classroom as the lunch bell began, preparing to be able to grab himself some lunch and subsequently meet with his friends or a small girl in blue. However, his plans were quickly thrown out the window (in a way) as a blue butterfly fluttered in front of him, a fluffy head jumping from his bag to brush at his neck on his shoulder.
“That’s…” Morgana began, looking intently after it.
“Let’s follow it.” Akira muttered to him, followed by a shush of his lips for the cat in his bag. There were still classmates walking about around him, after all. Not like anyone – including Kawakami – had really cared that he had a cat in his bag, at this point.
Akira made his way to the Nurse’s Office, making the astute observation that it just so happened also to be where Maruki spent his time. Now that Akira thought about it, in all his time at Shujin he’d never seen an ACTUAL school nurse minding the office. Was Maruki the school nurse?
As he entered, the blue butterfly transformed into a young girl with white hair and bright yellow eyes–Lavenza. He nodded to her, brushing a nervous hand through his hair. He was both excited yet nervous about what this meeting was meant to be, but at the very least he and the Phantom Thieves would get some answers.
“Hello, Trickster. Thank you for coming.” She greeted him with a solemn expression. Although Lavenza wasn’t very big or outspoken, Lavenza somewhat intimidated Akira. Best to be on his best behavior around her.
“No, thank YOU for coming.” He replied, really unsure what else to say.
She hesitated, expression now changing to a more excited one. “...I see! Exchanging common expressions upon meeting like humans do…It’s a rather pleasant feeling. But that is irrelevant – let’s turn to the matter at hand. As I told you yesterday, there’s something I wish to tell you. But first, gather all your other friends here.”
“...Here? You want to meet in the nurse’s office?” Morgana was asking the right questions, Akira thought. Why the nurse’s office, of all places?
Lavenza quickly nodded a sign of agreeance, “This place is filled with the cognition of ‘bedrest’. Maintaining my existence in a reality controlled by someone like Maruki is no simple feat… But the exhaustion it induces is limited by this place’s cognition, so I may converse with you all in person here.” The girl explained, tugging her compendium slightly closer to her in a way of comfort.
“I…see?” Morgana responded, his tone seeming more like a question than a general statement in understanding.
“Let us continue this conversation once everyone involved has convened. Ah–make sure Goro Akechi comes as well. He is vital to this conversation. In the meantime, I will provide my eyes with a much-needed rest.” Lavenza finished, eyes drooping in exhaustion.
“Uh…rest? Lady Lavenza?” Morgana questioned, tilting his head. However, his question was a moment too late, because barely a second later the Velvet Room Attendant let out a small breath, promptly disappearing.
“I guess we should get everyone in here, and make sure to invite Akechi separately – it seems Lady Lavenza really wants to make sure he’s here,” Morgana advises, Akira responding with a slight nod. He messaged the group chat with the Phantom Thieves, then Akechi separately to ensure he received the message.
***
Eventually, after about 15 minutes of waiting, everyone arrived. Futaba and Yusuke donned the Shujin Academy PE outfits, given to them by Haru and Ryuji themselves, respectively, as they each had about the same size clothes as the other two.
“Infiltration: Success!” Futaba said excitedly, pumping her fist towards the ceiling in confidence.
“I’m rather surprised no one took notice of us.” Yusuke commented, smoothening his own clothes of any wrinkles. He looked mildly uncomfortable in the texture of the clothes.
Makoto sighed, brushing some hair out of her eyes, relieving a crease that had begun to furrow between her brows. “Considering how I don’t have an adequate excuse for the school to allow you to be here… we’re lucky it went as well as it did.”
Just as she said that, a familiar voice began to fill the room. “As long as you maintain an air of confidence, you can fool just about anybody into thinking you belong.” Akechi, wearing a PE uniform as well, walked into the nurse’s office.
“I must say though, I hadn’t expected you to actually reach out to me for something like this.” Akechi shrugged, crossing his arms with a smug smirk on his face.
“Well–” Haru started, only to be interrupted by Akira. “Lavenza specifically requested you be here, actually. It’s why I messaged you personally. Considering cooking here already seemed stressful as it was, I figured I’d make it easier for her if I just made sure you came.” Akira shoved his hands in his pockets, looking over to Akechi, then back to Haru.
“Err, sorry for interrupting, Haru..” He mumbled an apology, face flushing a bit in embarrassment. He hadn’t meant to cut her off.
“Don’t worry about it, Akira. But,” Haru looked over to Akechi, her face barely hiding her disgust by being remotely close to him. “It’s as we said before – we’ve accepted your offer to work together. For the time being, of course.” Her tone was filled to the brim with loathing, and Akira could barely hide his wince.
Futaba nodded fervently. “Now’s not the time to let personal stuff get in the way of our goal. Buuuut, if you betray us again, we’ll make sure you regret it.”
“...Alright then,” Akechi responded coldly, Akira not missing the guilt in his eyes. “That’s no concern of mine, anyway. Remember what I told you all before? We share a mutual interest. Until Maruki is defeated, we have a deal to uphold.”
As he finished his sentence, Lavenza took physical form again, a shocked breath leaving Akechi’s lips. Akira had forgotten that he’d never seen Lavenza nor her form as the twins. Akira wondered what would happen if he introduced Akechi to Igor. It’d be kinda funny, he thought.
“It appears everyone’s arrived.” Lavenza starts, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. “Does this mean..that you’re ready to begin?”
“Uhh.. ain’t that OUR line?” Ryuji asks, bearing the same expression as everyone else in the room: pure confusion.
Lavenza nods, turning to Akechi and Akira, now standing next to each other. “Yes, perhaps. However, before we begin, I have something to say to the two Wild Cards.”
Akira and Akechi exchanged a glance, then looked over to Lavenza. “What is it you’d like to say?” Akechi asked, his voice filled with genuine curiosity.
“First and foremost, Goro Akechi, let me introduce myself and give you an explanation, in case you have not been filled in yet about who I am.”
Akechi nodded, the only indication for her to continue.
“My name is Lavenza, an attendant of the Velvet Room. My master – Igor – was forced to leave the Velvet Room due to a malevolent will, known as Yaldabaoth, or God of Control. As you may know, the Phantom Thieves fought and defeated the being and allowed my master to take control of the Velvet Room once again. The Trickster,” Lavenza nodded to Akira “is a genuine, real Trickster, a real Wild Card, and was taken advantage of by the malevolent will. As was myself, in my split apart form as Justine and Caroline…”
The room was filled with “Ohhhs” as she explained the last part, no one had yet connected the dots or understood why Lavenza was separated into twins. Lavenza stayed silent, waiting for the sounds to die down.
“Wild Cards are known as those who can control multiple personas. Significant mentions of those that are known as Wild Cards would be my older sibling’s wards, such as the leader of the Investigation Team in Inaba four years ago, or the leader of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Team seven years ago. I could go on. However, this time around, there were two Wild Cards in one period of time: Goro Akechi and Akira Kurusu.” She nodded to each individually, taking a breath after her tangent.
“Akira Kurusu, you were manipulated by the god of control, forced to rehabilitate, and were dragged into an ordeal you did not deserve.” Lavenza then looked to Akechi, “Goro Akechi, you were used to unite the masses against Akira Kurusu and the Phantom Thieves not only by the evil man known as Masayoshi Shido but also by the god of control. You were forced into an ordeal to satiate an evil will’s greed–”
Akechi cut in, an undeniable look of guilt and fear in his eyes, but seemingly covered over by his tone. “–Apologies, but I undertook the crimes I committed for myself, for my own goals. Not–not to benefit some god’s plans. I did everything I did of my own accord.” His words, icy and cold, did not faze Lavenza whatsoever.
“Perhaps so, but even then you were still manipulated by a man who WAS unknowingly following and helping a god profit. So, on behalf of the Velvet Room,Akira Kurusu and Goro Akechi,” Lavenza dipped down into a deep bow – “I’m sorry. If my master were here, I am sure he would say the same thing.”
Akira stayed silent, eyes burning with unshed tears. Despite being afraid of what the others would think, he lifted a pinky to meet Akechi’s shaking hands, gripping them together in a weird hand/finger hold.
“...Thank you, Lavenza.” Akira replied softly, using his free hand to erase the tears from his waterline. “I…I’m tired. Tired of…being manipulated. So let’s continue this meeting so we can learn about Maruki and how to defeat him.”
Akechi nodded fervently, staying silent. It seemed he was still struggling with the small girl’s words, struggling with processing them. The conversation continued, Akechi’s face stoic and seemingly calm, but borderline stayed disconnected from the conversation. During when Ryuji or someone else was asking or commenting something, Akechi leaned into Akira, whispering, “stay after everyone leaves; let’s talk.”
Akira simply nodded.
***
Everyone did eventually leave once the conversation came to a close, a general understanding of what was likely to come given they not accept the current reality. Two hung back: Goro and Akira, waiting for each other.
Once the group left, Akira took a seat where Lavenza had been sitting, letting Morgana go with Ann for the rest of the lunch period. Looking to Akechi, he tilted his head, “What is it that you want to talk about?” He asked.
Akechi crossed his arms, digging his nails into his skin. He looked properly pissed off, but as Akira searched his expression, he found his eyes downcast with less anger and more of a…frustrated look, confused.
“Wh..Why did she apologize? For something she couldn’t control? I don’t…I don’t understand. I did everything of my own will, for ME, not for anyone else. To get back at Shido. I don’t understand. Was I–Was I manipulated? By Shido? By Yaldabaoth?”
He seemed to be spiraling, digging his sharp nails deeper into his skin. Akira gently pried his arms apart, taking his hands into his own – Akira noticed how surprisingly soft they were, like he actively used moisturizer. Probably did, knowing his “Detective Prince” persona, he had to be perfect, but he wondered if he somehow used it AFTER the Engine Room.
Akira rubbed gentle circles into his knuckles, Akechi looking up to his face in confusion, looking for something. Betrayal, perhaps? Looking for Akira to leave him in this room by himself?
“...You were manipulated. That wasn’t your fault. You are allowed to be held accountable, but the actions you took were of your own accord. You were manipulated indirectly by being able to have multiple personas that you didn’t ask for, manipulated into doing some bald fuck’s dirty work when you were just a kid. Despite what anyone else might say, you deserve to be apologized to, deserve to be cared about.”
Akechi stared down at his hands, being held by the one person he had actively betrayed.
“Why do…why do you still…” He trailed off, unable to form words. Words were too much for the two of them, anyway. They always understood each other perfectly.
Akira looked at him, directly into his eyes. “Can I kiss you?” He says, blatantly and refreshingly honest.
Akechi nods, being the first to tug Akira’s collar towards himself. Akechi’s lips were warm, soft, and comforting. Maybe it was a bad idea to be doing this when the world around them was trying to form fit itself around every person in it, but Akira didn’t care. He was done being manipulated, done being used, so he’d do things of his own accord, like kissing Akechi.
They finally separated for a much-needed breath, gasping heavily.
“It’s kind of funny, if you ask me,” Akechi commented, flicking his eyes away from Akira’s face, but leaving a soft hand on his cheek. “You always were intriguing, always genuinely interesting, always keeping me on my toes. You somehow always manage to do that to me.” He smiled an honest, real smile.
“I tend to do that.” Akira grinned. “I think we really were drawn together by fate.”