#also. akechi genuinely laughing so hard he ends up on the ground because he was so caught off guard...

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Ren's told he needs a disguise and so he shows up in drag as a cop. No hesitation, no lead up; the moment arose and he jumped at the chance. What an absolute legend.

[auncyen]

So a long time ago I wrote a start of a fic where Ryuji gets knocked out from Shido's explosion and is thrown back into the real world, unconscious. Ren brings him to Takemi's clinic and then answers Ryuji's phone when he realizes Mama Sakamoto is calling, attempting to make some kind of cover story for Ryuji not coming home or answering his phone before it becomes apparent she ID'd Ryuji from the video calling card. She's coming over to the clinic, and she wants answers.

AND THAT'S WHERE IT STALLED FOREVER. If anyone would like to take a look at what I have of part 2, where she gets to the clinic:

Ren was in the middle of sending an update to the group chat when the door to the clinic opened. The woman who walked in was short and dark-haired, and Ren had the split-second impulse to ask her if she had a real emergency--god knew he didn't want anything drawing Takemi's attention away from Ryuji right now--before her eyes landed on him with a look of such contempt that Caroline might have asked for tips.

The text for the group chat was forgotten. It would have only been to report that there was nothing to report yet. "Sakamoto-san?" he hazarded, his voice wavering.

"Where," she said flatly, "is my son."

He didn't know why it should have thrown him off so much that her hair wasn't bleached blond--of course it wasn't. But even besides that, she really didn't look like Ryuji at all. Short, somewhat stout, with a wider nose and other differences in the face...when it came to looks, Ryuji must have taken after his father's side.

Ren immediately knew he'd rather eat one of his daggers than say that to either mother or son.

"Sakamoto-san," Takemi said, emerging from the back. "Your son is in here. He suffered a concussion and Amamiya-kun brought him to me for examination." Her tone was a bit more polite than her usual, if still casual, and Ren appreciated that maybe she was trying to pull his fat from the fire.

"I want an explanation for all of this," Sakamoto-san said angrily. "...But I want to see him, first."

Ah. Now Ren saw the family resemblance, both in her expression and her protectiveness.

Takemi nodded, opening the door for Sakamoto-san to go in. Ren started to rise from his seat, wanting to see Ryuji himself, but a flat look from the doctor stopped him cold. She didn't want him following.

Logically, he knew Takemi was simply keeping things orderly and controlled. Ryuji's mother was upset, and Takemi knew she was mad at him already. Better to keep him out of the room if Sakamoto-san might take any of Takemi's news badly.

But the feeling that stirred in his gut was blame and guilt, making him cover his face with his hands after the door had closed. He felt sick.

He couldn't deny his responsibility. It had been his idea to stall in the safe room instead of immediately stealing Shido's treasure after Futaba broadcasted the calling card. If stalling had been the deciding factor in Shido being able to manipulate his own cognition and cause the violent collapse... Then it was completely his fault.

He shouldn't even care about what Ryuji's mother thought of him, anyway. That could wait until after Ryuji had woken up. But the cold way she'd looked at him hurt, pathetically enough. He'd really hoped that she would like him. Mostly because Ryuji was afraid she'd be upset when he came out to her--she'd asked a couple of times about him getting a girlfriend. Ren was hopeful, considering she'd supported her son through thick, thin, and hair bleach, and might only be asking about girlfriends because Ryuji was way more vocal about his interest in cute girls than cute guys, but he understood Ryuji's fear. There was always the chance that it would be the one thing too far. So he'd wanted to make a good impression on her when they met, hoping it'd help her accept it better whenever Ryuji was ready to come out.

But Ren had also just...selfishly wanted Ryuji's mother to like him. He'd wanted to make a good impression on her because Ryuji always lit up when he talked about her, and she sounded like a great mom, and Ren wanted someone like that to look at him and think that he could be a decent match for her son. That he was a good kid.

Well. He'd fucked that up already. He pressed his fingers against his closed eyes, forcing a deep breath as he tried to press the tears back. This wasn't the time for being weak and selfish. He had to worry about Ryuji waking up first. Then he could worry about making sure Ryuji wasn't grounded forever, and that he wasn't strangled for endangering Ryuji.

Except that still left him with nothing he could do for the time being.

He felt so useless. He wished he could have taken Ryuji to Shibuya station. If he could have just gotten him to the entrance of Mementos with Morgana, the two of them might have been able to heal Ryuji. But they hadn't been sure if cognitive healing would help when someone was plain knocked out cold in the real world; bringing him to the clinic had seemed the safer bet. But now...

Ren groaned. First he'd left Akechi behind a solid wall of metal on a ship that was now sunk. And now, Ryuji...

Takemi was speaking to Ryuji's mother in the room at length, and Ren rested his head against the wall, hoping to hear through it. Good news? Bad news? He could only hear her tone, calm and level. Takemi wasn't the type to sugarcoat, but she still highlighted better outcomes when they were possibilities to her patients. She'd said once that people often had improved outcomes if they were given attentive care and thought they should get better. She called it a placebo effect. Morgana called it the power of cognition.

But since Ryuji wasn't conscious, he didn't know he was being treated by one of the best doctors in Tokyo. That he should get better and just please wake up.

Ryuji's mother didn't seem any happier when Takemi opened the door for her to step back out into the waiting room. Ren felt his whole body stiffen when Takemi closed the door again, half-expecting to be screamed at, but Ryuji's mother just stared him down. When she spoke, her voice was tightly controlled. "So you're the leader of the Phantom Thieves. What must your parents think?"

"My parents?" he echoed.

She laughed, but it sounded more disbelieving than genuine. "You think they don't know? I recognized Ryuji plain as day under that weird skull-mask. Yours shows even more of your face. Do they actually approve of all this?"

That was a question he hadn't even considered recently, and he weighed what honest answer he could give her that didn't sound self-pitying. No, he didn't think they knew at all. They didn't have reason to look at the calling card too closely. Didn't have any suspicions about his after school activities, or any clue that he wasn't even in school for the time being. Ryuji's phone had several voicemails from his mother tonight alone. Ren's phone hadn't rang once tonight, and it had been a while since he had gotten a message from either his father or mother.

He was taking too long to answer; something in Sakamoto's expression shifted. "I don't have their approval," he said quickly, before she could get further upset. "I act for my own sense of justice."

"An' you dragged Ryuji right along into it," Sakamoto said.

That wasn't quite accurate, but Ren nodded anyway. "...Yes." It had a grain of truth to it: Igor had given the app to him. Ryuji would never have been thrown into the metaverse if he hadn't run into Ren. And it would be better to just get this over with. Take her anger and her blame. It was his fault she was upset.

Ryuji's mother took a long, deep breath. "What happened?"

"It's...hard to explain."

"Sure, you steal hearts and desires and whatnot. I still want an explanation," she pressed.

...He had no idea if she'd be patient enough for an explanation of the Metaverse. He'd bet on not. So he described the situation in broad strokes: "The group was in trouble. Ryuji took a risk to get us out safe. And he pulled it off. We could have all ended up dead if it wasn't for him." Futaba didn't know how to swim. Even for the rest of them, the waters had been turbulent enough that Ren didn't think their odds would have been good, not when they'd also had to navigate to their entrance point in the dark of night, already exhausted from a grueling fight. Perhaps some of them would have made it out...he doubted it would have been all of them. "But he got hurt. I'm--I'm sorry. It's my fault we were in that position."

"Why?"

"I...made the group wait before we changed Shido's heart. I was hoping..." Ren's voice shook, and the rest of the words failed to come.

He'd been hoping Akechi would show up. If Akechi had been alive, no matter if he was hiding somewhere in the Palace or trying to stay under the radar in Tokyo, as soon as they'd took over the airwaves with their calling card and set the Palace's security to high alert, Akechi would know. He would know they were taking Shido's heart. He would know that they would be in the Palace.

He could have joined them. So Ren had asked everyone to wait for an hour in one safe room as he warped between all of them and entrance, checking to see if Akechi would manage to drag himself in. Ann and Ryuji had both volunteered to help, and he'd been grateful, but he figured it was better if everyone else stayed together so they weren't split up between several different locations. When he hadn't spotted Akechi in the hour, he'd come back to the group and asked Futaba if she could do a scan for him--a last-ditch request, since she had every right to refuse to help.

Futaba had looked absolutely miserable. She'd already tried multiple scans. There was nothing. Ren had made everyone wait for nothing. He should have known it was too much to hope after Akechi had closed himself off behind the door. He'd only given Shido more time to counter.

"We were missing one," Ren said finally. Maybe Akechi would have objected to being counted as one of the group, but it was the simplest way to explain now. And he...wasn't going to object, anyway. "I made the group wait, but they never showed."

"They in some kind of trouble?"

The question surprised him a little, but this wasn't a subject he wanted to dwell on any longer. "Nothing I can help with," Ren said.

-and that's it so far.

And I'm just kind of......unsure where to go from there. Which makes me wonder if I should have started the dialogue differently or change something else earlier or...what.

[glassworkspiderlilies]

picnic baskets

Persona 5 | Goro Akechi, Haru Okumura | AO3 Summary: Goro runs into Haru amidst a crowded street. They have an outing together. Notes: Drabble two! If it can still be called that, given that it’s like, 2,000 words... 

He’s in Shibuya to check out the crepe stand today, as magazines have been boasting about its new selection of summer flavors. Goro always makes a point of keeping up with food trends—he doesn’t really need to, but he finds that it helps with maintaining his charismatic detective prince character, and being knowledgeable about such things provides him with more connections than people think.

Plus, as crowded as Shibuya gets, he’s rather fond of the city, because it’s easy to hide amongst all the bodies here. On occasion fans will recognize him, but because people are constantly moving and shifting on the streets, it doesn’t take much effort to lose them. There are also plenty of alleys to slip into, as well.

But today’s one of the particularly busy days, likely due to the influx of new seasonal additions to Central Street’s shops in addition to the crepe stand’s soaring popularity. It’s harder to navigate, and it’s easy to jostle others or be jostled, or both at the same time. As Goro makes his way towards the crepe stand, trying to keep close to the sides of the street, someone crashes into him and causes him to bump into someone else. Quickly, he puts his hand out to stop himself from falling further, inadvertently catching the other person beneath him against the window display of one of the shops.

“Sorry, dude!” the teenagers who’d crashed into him say as they hurry off, more focused on their destination than the people they had almost knocked over.

“I’m terribly sorry, I…” Goro says as he turns to see the other party of the accident, trailing off once he recognizes who he’s caught.

“Oh! Akechi-kun!” Haru Okumura says, eyes wide as she looks up at him.

“Okumura-san,” he returns politely, stepping back to free her. “What a way to run into each other.”

She giggles, bringing a hand up to her cover her mouth. “Indeed! A more exciting way than usual, isn’t it?” She adjusts the strap of her bag to rest on her shoulder better as she tilts her head, politely inquisitive. “Where were you headed off to on such a busy day?”

“Ah, I’ve been hearing many things about the new crepe flavors, so I thought I’d satisfy my curiosity and come to taste one,” he says, smiling.  

“What a coincidence! I was on my way there too,” Haru says, eyes gleaming, “Shall we head there together?”

There isn’t a reason for him to refuse, so they travel the short remainder of distance together. They discuss the new crepe flavors as they wait on line—lilac cream, peaches and cream, hazelnut and honey, tiramisu, strawberry and orange, amongst a few others, debating on which ones to get.

“I definitely want to try the lilac, it isn’t so often you get a floral flavor,” Haru nods, “But the hazelnut and honey one seems good too…”

“Ah, those do sound quite nice…but for me, I think I’d like the tiramisu,” Goro muses, putting a hand up to his chin as he thinks, “it would be interesting to taste the dessert in crepe form. But the peaches and cream doesn’t seem as popular as a choice, so I’d like to try it as well…but the same goes for the lilac flavor you spoke of…”

“Oh, I used to love peaches and cream as a child! And the tiramisu flavor seems to be quite popular, doesn’t it?”

“I suppose the coffee flavor appeals to an older audience in addition to the younger customers. My coworker was speaking highly of the honey and hazelnut as well though, for it not being too sweet either, which I’d also like to try, but…”

“Deciding what to get is proving to be more difficult than anticipated, isn’t it?” Haru says, and Goro agrees absentmindedly.

They both ponder for a while until Haru brightens, clapping her hands together as she turns to face Goro.

“I know! How about we get all of the flavors we mentioned and share?”

Goro blinks at her, perplexed at her suggestion.  

“That way, we can taste a majority of the flavors,” Haru explains, “I do this with Ann-chan and Mako-chan when we go out for dessert—Ann-chan has a very sweet tooth and always has a hard time choosing, so we usually end up just getting a lot and splitting.”

It takes him a prolonged moment before he realizes that she’s waiting for an answer.

“I…that sounds…acceptable,” Goro finally says, but with hesitation in his manner. He’s had meals with Sae-san, but their conversation tends to be about work. Otherwise, it’s rare that Goro eats with anyone else. He’s not entirely sure how to get along with Haru Okumura, but her suggestion is reasonable, and it would be rude to refuse at this point. And it would help him to taste more flavors in one go—and add more information in his arsenal.

She smiles at his choice of words, amused, and steps forward to order the two crepes she initially mentioned as Goro orders the other two. Once they have both dessert boxes in hand, Haru looks around for a place to sit, though with the day’s crowd she knows she won’t find one.

“If you don’t mind a train ride, what do you say to Inokashira Park?” she suggests.

Goro shrugs.

“That sounds fine.”

They ride in companionable silence on the subway, making occasional remarks on the passing scenery or today’s weather. When they finally arrive at the park, Haru guides him to a shaded area with a nice view of the lake, asking him to hold her crepe box as she digs into her bag. She pulls out a square of cloth, then opens it wide, laying it on the ground before taking a seat. Goro raises an eyebrow, but follows her actions and sets the crepe boxes down in the center. Haru opens them both, flattening the boxes and cutting the crepes with the provided plastic knife. She gestures for Goro to take first pick, and he shrugs and takes half of the tiramisu crepe, while Haru takes the other.

“Hmmm…this taste…it’s not quite what I expected,” Goro says thoughtfully as he chews.

“You’re right…the texture of the crepe itself doesn’t quite take the place of the traditional ladyfingers, does it?” Haru replies. “Still, it is quite good.”

Goro smiles, then chuckles when he realizes that he’s permitted himself to do so.

“I thought the same thing,” he says. “Shall we try another?”

They move to the honey and hazelnut, which they find to be a lovely blend of flavor and texture. After this one, Haru digs into her bag again and brings out a thermos of green tea. Goro raises an eyebrow.

“You’re certainly prepared, aren’t you?” he says with a smile, accepting a cup from her.

Haru smiles back.

“I just enjoy taking full advantage my personal outings,” she responds, sipping from her own cup. “I don’t…get them very often, you see.”

“Oh?”

Haru seems to hesitate before replying, looking as if she has already said too much. But Goro wants to know more about the member he knows least about (except, perhaps, the cat) and waits for her to continue instead of providing her a change of topic. She seems to deflate a little before squaring back up, rubbing a finger on the side of her cup absently.

“When father was…still alive…I was only allowed to interact with the people that he deemed appropriate. And after his passing, there are numerous things to deal with in regards to the company, and someone is often trying to find me for one reason or another. But it is more often than not that I cannot answer their questions, or do not have a detailed enough answer when I do…at present, everything is extremely stressful and it is difficult to find solace from it.” She falls quiet for a moment before smiling again, though it is weaker than her usual ones. “So quiet and peaceful outings are something of a treasure at the moment.”

“I’m sorry,” he says, averting his eyes. He’s not sure if it sounds genuine enough, just that it’s the right thing to say. “I interrupted such an outing today then, didn’t I?” Goro continues, looking somewhat apologetically at her.

“Not at all, I was the one who invited you, was I not? The company of friends is always appreciated.”

Goro pauses, his cup halfway to his lips. A friend? So she considers him a friend, his company appreciated. The feeling of being called as such is distinctly odd, and…also painful.

“Besides,” Haru says, quieter this time, “I said I wanted peace and quiet, but I did not mean silence. I’ve…had enough of silence.”

Goro thinks of his empty apartment and thinks he knows what she means.

The two of them are quiet, listening to the birds chatter and the distant voices of other parkgoers.

“By the way,” Goro says eventually, “This is very nice tea. It’s a bit different from standard green tea, isn’t it? Might I ask where you bought it?”

Haru smiles. “I’m glad you like it. It’s my own blend, actually. I can give you a tin of it the next time I see you, if you’d like.”

Goro inclines his head, surprised.

“I would…like that. I didn’t know you blended your own tea.”

Haru holds out the thermos and refills his cup.

“Uh-huh, it’s…a hobby, I suppose? I’ve grown to drink coffee more since we meet at Leblanc, but I suppose I’m more of a tea person in general. I keep about forty types at the house for different times of the day, you see, and I suppose when I was younger my curiosity got the better of me so I played around with the brews. I’ve gotten pretty good at it now, so if it’s tea, I can pair it pretty well, like the way Boss pairs his coffee with curry.”

Goro smiles.

“You’ll be formidable if you can also prepare coffee the way Boss does, if you’re his equivalent with tea,” he says, and Haru laughs, pink dusting her cheeks.

“I still have a lot to learn, but I hope to match Boss’ and Akira-kun’s skill one day,” she says. “Oh, if you have time, you should come join our lessons! Boss says you frequent Leblanc, and though it’s always lovely to be served a cup, it’s fun to know the process and details, too.”

Goro’s throat tightens, just a little. She includes him so easily, almost thoughtlessly, as if he might belong there, learning how to brew coffee with her, the owner of Leblanc, and Joker.

“Perhaps, if I have enough room in my schedule,” he demurs, taking a long drink of tea so that he doesn’t have to speak further.

Haru doesn’t press, and changes the topic to the flora around the park area, which she read about in a magazine, wondering if she might be able to add some of the flowers to her garden. Goro asks questions and learns that she grows vegetables on her school rooftop, and he permits himself a laugh at the thought of her breaking the school rules for such an innocent reason.

The time passes easily, and they decide to leave just before sunset. After they ride the train back to Shibuya, Goro offers to walk Haru home, which she politely declines.

“Scandal, you see,” she says apologetically, and a bit sadly. “I, uhm…the process of negating my marriage with Sugimura-san has been…overshadowed by company matters, at present.”

“Ah,” is all Goro says, and wonders if he might be disappointed that they are unable to continue their discussion on exotic plants. “Then…I wish you a safe journey home.”

“You as well. Thank you for today, I enjoyed our outing together,” Haru says with a warm smile, and walks a few steps before turning back to wave.

Goro waves back slowly, watching her silhouette disappear into the distance.

It was enjoyable, he realizes. Peaceful and relaxing. Usually he’s not one to sit around to relax—he prefers more physical exercises so that he doesn’t have to think. But while conversing with Haru, the dark thoughts were kept at bay just as easily, if not more easily. The thought is surprising. He spent quite a few hours with her today, and not once did he wish he hadn’t accepted her invitation.

Perhaps, then, this is what hanging out with friends was like, why his classmates and people in general want to meet up with others and spend the day together.

He feels strangely refreshed, pleased with today’s events.

He thinks he’ll try not to let this happen again.