Chapter 37
[Akechi’s Perspective]
The next day was a regular school day. Yu sat at his desk, glancing at the empty seat beside him.
No one seemed to notice Akechi’s absence. Some classmates even whispered that he was avoiding school because he couldn’t handle being outperformed by the Phantom Thieves, their snickers echoing through the classroom, a stark contrast to the atmosphere when Yu had first arrived.
Back then, Akechi, the Detective Prince, had been lauded and admired, a celebrity wherever he went.
In this moment, Yu realized: Akechi was the one without friends.
Adoration and admiration weren’t friendship, let alone love.
On the first day of Akechi’s disappearance, the teachers and students assumed he was assisting the police with a case, even though he hadn’t requested leave. On the second day, his continued absence and unanswered calls raised concerns. On the third day, the school contacted the police, who arrived to investigate.
However, all leads went cold after the last day before summer break. No one knew where he had gone.
As Akechi’s “friend,” Yu was questioned by the police, but he managed to deflect their inquiries with his usual vague responses.
The police left, empty-handed, turning their attention to Akechi’s residence. The classroom buzzed with speculation: Had he run away? Had he been murdered in retaliation? Some even said good riddance to a detective who opposed public opinion.
No one genuinely cared.
Only Yu stood by Akechi’s empty desk, sighing softly after a long silence.
“That other world is different from Tokyo’s Metaverse.”
“Tokyo’s Metaverse is the world of cognition, while Inaba’s other world is the world of the self.”
“I hope you can truly understand your heart in there.”
Meanwhile, the person Yu was thinking about wandered through the unfamiliar other world.
How long had he been here? Two days? Three?
This place was incredibly vast, bearing no resemblance to Tokyo’s Metaverse, except for the swirling red and black vortex in the sky. Occasionally, Akechi encountered patches of white fog, teeming with Shadows.
After a few unfortunate encounters, his HP and SP had plummeted to single digits, Yu’s healing items long gone.
He relied on the meager healing items and soul drops from defeated Shadows.
“…Damn it.”
Exhaustion slowed his pace. It had been late summer, early autumn outside, the temperature hot when he fought Yu, but now it was growing colder, snow falling from the sky. Dressed in his thin summer clothes, Akechi was freezing.
“I’m so tired.”
“Yu Narukami, if I die, you’re a murderer.”
He trudged through the snow, his voice weak, even as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm him, his sarcastic remarks continued.
“Goody-two-shoes, nauseatingly righteous… if I die, you’ll be traumatized for life.”
“I’d love to see you cry over me.”
His feet were numb with cold. He stumbled and fell, his face buried in the snow, his mind momentarily blank, the hateful thoughts about Yu vanishing.
He lay there, dazed, unable to recall what he was doing.
Just as he was trying to remember, a faint chime reached his ears. He slowly looked up, lights flickering in his blurred vision.
A building had appeared nearby, its appearance and sign familiar.
—Leblanc.
He was too tired and too cold to question why Leblanc was in the other world. He struggled to his feet, pushing open the door, a wave of warmth washing over him as he stepped inside.
He was alive.
The warm, inviting light inside felt like spring, chasing away the chill that had seeped into his bones. He leaned against the door, sliding down to the floor, his body trembling uncontrollably.
After three minutes, he finally regained some control over his shivering limbs, enough to observe the cafe that had mysteriously appeared in this other world.
The interior was identical to the Leblanc he knew: the long wooden counter, the three tables, and three steaming cups of coffee on the counter.
“Why is there coffee?”
Akechi pulled himself up, his numb feet carrying him to the counter. He picked up a cup, inhaling the aroma before taking a sip. The warm liquid flowed down his throat, chasing away the chill.
Drinking an unknown liquid in a place like this was risky, but Akechi didn’t care anymore.
What was death, anyway? The thought of Yu’s eternal guilt and regret brought him a strange sense of satisfaction.
He drained the cup, placing it back on the counter, then collapsed, exhaustion finally claiming him.
He fell asleep, his breathing shallow.
He dreamt of himself and Yu, sitting at the Leblanc counter, chatting casually while Ren, wearing his apron, made coffee, occasionally joining their conversation. Everyone was smiling, including himself.
Yu, holding his coffee, sighed. “Akechi, you really need a hobby. I never know what to get you as a gift.”
“His hobby is solving cases. Get him a murder mystery,” Ren replied.
“Do you think I’m some kind of emotionless machine?” Akechi complained. “I enjoy Leblanc’s coffee, at least.”
It was a scene from after Yu’s return from Inaba, a rare reunion at Leblanc.
Akechi watched, like an outsider observing a pre-recorded film, his eyes reflecting their images, until he woke up, his neck stiff from his awkward sleeping position.
He lifted his head, wincing at the pain in his neck.
He glared at the coffee cup, realizing the three cups were arranged exactly as they had been in his dream, and he was sitting in the same spot.
It was as if he was still in the past, chatting with Yu and Ren at Leblanc, having dozed off while they continued their conversation, leaving him alone with the lingering aroma of coffee.
“…Disgusting!”
Akechi threw the coffee cup to the floor, shattering it, and stormed out of Leblanc.
Three hours later, shivering and covered in snow, he returned. The three steaming cups of coffee were back on the counter, the warm light welcoming him back.
He sat down silently, his gloved hand trembling as he picked up a cup.
Something within him began to shift.
Akechi spent three more days in “Leblanc.” Each day, he would leave, searching for a way out, but the snow continued to fall, and he always returned after three hours, the steaming coffee waiting for him on the counter.
After recovering his strength, he realized that drinking the coffee restored 200 SP.
“What is this?” Akechi mused, looking at the coffee cup. “Does Leblanc’s coffee have this effect?”
Yu hadn’t visited him since imprisoning him here. He didn’t think Yu could replicate Leblanc in this other world, complete with SP-restoring coffee.
Akechi was a detective, even if most of his achievements came from interrogating Shadows. He wasn’t completely incompetent.
Before leaving, Yu had said: This other world requires self-acceptance.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Akechi frowned. “Am I really yearning for something so disgusting?!”
He drained the last cup of coffee and left Leblanc. The snow continued to fall, the wind biting at his skin. He exhaled, his breath forming a white cloud, and clenched his fists, walking forward.
He wouldn’t lose to Yu Narukami. He wouldn’t stay here forever, waiting to be rescued.
He had to find his own way out.
Trudging through the snow, Akechi’s mind raced with a theory he couldn’t quite believe.
It was difficult for anyone to confront their true self, their desires and insecurities always so glaring. But Inaba’s other world was designed to expose those truths, even to Persona users.
Even to Goro Akechi.
He saw what he wanted to see, went where his heart truly desired.
Finally, he stopped, seeing a new building.
Unlike Leblanc, it was small, with white walls and a simple wooden door. Akechi frowned, not recognizing it.
He blew on his hands, then pushed open the door, his eyes widening in surprise.
The room was filled with flowers, golden bouquets overflowing from every corner, their fragrance subtle and sweet.
It was the flower shop in Shibuya.
Akechi sighed softly, brushing the snow off his shoulders, then stepped into the golden sea of flowers, picking up a bouquet and inhaling its fragrance. His trembling hands brushed against his nose.
The moment the petals touched his skin, Akechi paused.
His HP increased slightly.
“…What?”
His hand trembled again, this time not from the cold. He ripped off his black glove, touching the flowers with his bare hand. His HP surged, like a sunflower turning towards the sun.
By holding the flowers, he gained life.
“What is this?!” Akechi threw the bouquet back angrily. “Yu Narukami! I want you dead! I’ll kill you all!”
“But why…” he leaned against the wall, his strength fading. “Why am I gaining strength from these things? I should hate you, want you dead, erased from this world.”
“I hate you.”
The righteous, nauseating, infuriatingly gentle Narukami attack.
The carefree, untainted, unwavering Ren Amamiya.
“I hate you,” Akechi repeated, his head bowed, his expression hidden.
“…But I hate myself even more.”
Finally, Akechi removed his other glove, throwing it to the ground, and lay down among the golden flowers, drifting off to sleep as his life force slowly replenished.
He accepted it, accepted that he had been influenced, that he had formed a disgusting friendship, and that this disgusting friendship was now his source of strength.
The snow outside had stopped, a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds, melting the snow, the temperature gradually rising.
It was late summer, early autumn, the lingering heat tempered by a cool breeze.
The trees were shedding their old leaves, awaiting the new buds of spring.
And Akechi, asleep among the flowers, continued to curse.
Yu Narukami, Ren Amamiya…
You two were terrible people.
