#im sorry im always on my stab minato with a giant ass sword aesthetic

[persona-rrau]

So how would have everything gone if Akechi and Akira's position been reversed? With Akechi the high ranking retainer who failed and Akira as the kitchen boy who worked his way up?

TNT: Interesting take. I didn’t think I’d have much to say about this because the question had me stumped at first, bUT HERE WE GO!

I’m going based on the fact that the au is mainly pegokita, so I can imagine Minato meeting up with Akira every now and again, using food as an excuse to visit the kitchen more often even during his younger years. If Akechi started off as Minato’s retainer, and he saw Minato doing this, I don’t doubt that he’d get jealous if he was excluded. Even if he was included, I feel like he’d still feel inferior if Minato even hinted he might enjoy Akira’s company more. It’d be up to Akechi’s perception. In canon RRAU, he wishes to be useful and special to the point of making Akira obsolete, and in this alternate version, it seems like he’d take issue with being born with the privilege of being special/closest to the king, yet somehow failing even at that if Minato feels the need to seek out someone else instead of remain in his company. 

We could also entirely spin this a different way and go full ham Minake, or go full ham Shuake by making Akira go all doki doki for the cute retainer in a much more innocent “I wanna be there too” way. Since Akira wouldn’t be fueled by spite, I think he’d genuinely try to rise in ranks the slow, grating way, even if it’d take a long while. While Akira keeps getting kicked down in canon, I don’t think he’d go so far as cheat his way to success. The cheating to success stems from Akechi’s overall pettiness as a person for being stepped on and I don’t think Akira would have the same chaotic energy or be petty enough to do the same things Akechi did, even if he’d meet the same end goal.

I think there’s two ways to end this. One, where Akechi becomes the first retainer to turn on his king and the country (since retainers for the Arisatos take over if every Arisato dies) and takes over by betraying Minato in a way he feels Minato betrayed him, or, you know, everyone can have a happy ending and they can all go to the beach and get sunburn with ice cream to the side.

I personally also love the idea of Akira being such a little shit, but he’s so charming that Minato can’t penalize him and it drives Akechi mad because Akechi’s supposed to make sure Minato abides by the laws and reinforces them and yet he can’t say shit bc Minato’s just shrugging off Akira’s misdemeanors in a way that he wouldn’t do for anyone else. Since Akechi is Law and Minato is literally Messiah, I feel like they’d be much more efficient as Retainer/King than Akira/Minato. I do think one key factor that would be similar to Akira is that Akechi would kill all his targets unless Minato told him otherwise. Akira would disobey Minato’s direct orders if he was told not to kill, rebellion and all that, but I wonder if Akechi would actually do as Minato said.

It’s hard to say if Akechi would act the same as Akira if he allowed Minato to get hurt, because they are different people. Akira got overprotective in RRAU canon, and I don’t doubt Akechi would do the same if he allowed Minato to get hurt, but I don’t know if Akechi would feel guilty enough not to take Minato’s affection if Minato showed that he really wanted it. I feel like Akechi wouldn’t mask his affection as “duty to his king” like Akira would. I think he’s too blunt to keep a lie like that one so consistently without contradicting himself or revealing the truth. The only way I see Akechi pushing away affection is if he knew/thought that it was a longshot for said affection to actually be mutual. Given how direct Minato has to be with his wants and needs in this AU, I don’t think he’d give Akechi room to doubt him (much like how Minato is with Akira).

It’s really hard to say, because Akira and Akechi have the potential to meet the same end by different methods. NGL tho, the thought of Akira working his way up as a corrupt soldier and then stealing Minato away like the thief he is, is really appealing, right down to the stabbing Minato with a giant ass sword aesthetic.