FIC: Love's Mysteries ~ Persona 5 Royal ~ Akeshu ~ Teen
Title: Love's Mysteries Fandom: Persona 5 Royal Author: Batsutousai Rating: Teen Pairing: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren Warnings: Post-canon, mourning & grief, Valentine's Day, White Day Summary: On Valentine's Day, Ren leaves chocolate at a grave and doesn't expect anything back, least of all a mystery to solve.
A/N: @svnnnne sent out platonic Valentine's Day mail with an Akeshuake print and sticker, without requiring returns. Still, I wanted to send her something back, so I wrote White Day fic. On account of Svn not having an AO3, I'm posting the whole thing here on tumblr (I sent her a copy in the post, but it seems unfair for the online copy to be inaccessible for her), as well as locked on AO3. (Because I am not dealing with the anon harassment campaign and AI scraping over there. Which, related: Do not feed my writing to AI and do not repost.)
Read on AO3 by clicking this text here, or hit the read more link below.
Ren had probably spent too much of January trying to decide if it would be weird for him to give Akechi chocolate for Valentine's Day. It was, after all, the day that women gave chocolate, and while a year trading between personae of multiple genders had left him feeling a little less solidly male, he also didn't really think of himself as female, and Akechi, presumably, definitely didn't. So, it would be weird.
Except, how else was he meant to tell the boy he maybe, possibly, definitely had a crush on, that he was interested in dating?
And then, the second of February happened.
And the third.
And Ren had definitely spent too much of January thinking about something that had never mattered to begin with.
A year back in his hometown had given him more time to think about things than he'd really wanted. There just wasn't a lot to do in his hometown, and his conviction being revoked in Tokyo, didn't mean a whole lot to the people who he'd grown up around, too many of whom barely cared who their prime minister was, never mind judicial matters. Especially given the strange mental dissonance in the general population regarding anything related to the metaverse and the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.
Ann was the one, when he foolishly admitted the thought to her, who suggested he make the chocolates anyway, even if Akechi was dead, because his spirit could still be lingering. (That was the reigning reason the Thieves had settled on for Ren's glimpse of someone that he'd sworn was Akechi, when his train had been pulling out of the station, and then the following absolute lack of sightings of him. Despite attempts by various of them still in Tokyo to find him, directed by Ren's own knowledge of him, as much as it was by Ann's slightly concerning obsession with his food blog.)
He hadn't made anything in his hometown, had felt a little too lonely, with only Morgana there for any anniversaries or holidays.
But, back in Tokyo, the next year, things had felt easier. And Ann had returned to Japan for New Years, with plans to stick around for a couple of months, at least through the end of Tokyo Fashion Week, since she'd got signed to walk the runway for one of her father's contacts.
So, two days before Valentine's Day, found Ren with a small group of his closest friends, who had all decided to 'assist' him in 'perfecting his Valentine's chocolate'. (As if he didn't know they were all there in the hopes of handouts.) It had, at least, made the experience more fun than he'd been expecting, and Sumire had been the one, when Ryuji asked what he was even going to do with Akechi's chocolate, to suggest leaving it as an offering at his family gravestone, and Futaba had let herself be bribed with chocolate to turn up the location.
Which was how Ren spent Valentine's Day freshening the Akechi family stone—it hadn't been completely abandoned, had seen some semi-recent care, and Ren assumed it was some of Akechi's fans, coming to pay their respects, or someone he'd paid to continue caring for it after he was gone, for his mother—and then kneeling there and just...talking. All of the things he hadn't known how to say, during their last, stolen month, had thought he'd have time to figure it out.
He felt lighter, when he left, and hoped that Akechi's spirit, even if he couldn't eat the chocolate, would at least appreciate the gesture.
Ren hadn't not expected to get anything for White Day—Yusuke had pointed out that, since they'd accepted Valentine's chocolate from Ren, those who had 'helped' him in February were obligated to return the gift—but he hadn't expected to come downstairs the morning of the fourteenth of March, to find Sojiro offering him a white envelope that had been stuck to the café door when he'd arrived, with Ren's name written on it.
He opened it, intrigued, and found a single ticket inside, for the aquarium, and a schedule for the penguin show, with a time in the late afternoon perfectly circled in thick white—edited on a computer and printed out that way, Ren decided, after eyeing it for a moment—standing out from the colourful page.
He checked with his friends and confidants, but none of them knew anything about it, and their opinions about whether or not he should actually go were...expectedly varied.
But, well, he was intrigued by the mystery, and he hadn't made any other plans for the day, except to work a couple of his part-time jobs. And he had fond memories of the aquarium, both from his visit with Akechi at the end of July, and when he'd gone with Sumire in January. He'd sort of been meaning to go again, and this seemed like as good a time as any to do so.
It wasn't as crowded with couples as a part of him had expected it to be, and he fully enjoyed watching the penguins do their little performance, even if he was a little distracted trying to spot whoever had sent him the ticket.
At the end of the show, one of the trainers came up to him and asked, "Are you Amamiya-san?"
"Oh, uh, yes."
She smiled at him and held out a new white envelope, again with his name on the front. "I hope you enjoy your stay!"
"Thanks," Ren murmured, distracted with opening the new envelope and finding inside a map of the aquarium, with a path marked on it in white—still carefully straight lines, but this time it looked like they'd used a gel pen, instead of printing it out pre-done on the computer, implying they either hadn't been able to find a map online to edit, or they'd needed to be on site to check the exact path—leading him to the glass tunnel that let you feel as though you were underwater, ending at the other end.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Ren followed the path, letting himself stop to enjoy the sights, unable to not be delighted by the various creatures on display. Could almost hear Akechi's voice as he citied facts, just a little smug every time he managed to surprise Ren with one. He'd so obviously studied up the night before, like he'd thought he needed to impress Ren. It had been endearing, but also a little weird.
But, then, Akechi wouldn't have been as interesting as he'd been, without his little oddities.
The map led him to a bench, and he took a moment to look between the map and his end point, then looked around, trying to spot if there was anyone there, watching him. Maybe waiting for him to sit down, so they could reveal themselves?
He sat.
When nothing had happened after five minutes, he turned back to the map, checking it over for any additional clues, and then the schedule for the penguin shows. And then the envelopes.
And then, when none of those turned anything up, he slid off the bench and peeked under it, and was rewarded with another white envelope.
Puzzles, Ren mused as he slipped back onto the bench to open the third envelope. Tricks and puzzles.
There was a sensation in his chest, something like a fluttering of wings, and Ren was determined to ignore it, to not give in to hoping for the impossible.
It was hard, though. Especially when the contents of the new envelope was a single, familiar dart, painted white, even the fletching.
He forced himself to sit there for another couple of minutes, watching the people, the fish.
Watched a shark swim lazily past overhead, and remembered Akechi talking about their skin, how it wasn't smooth, like it looked, but rough, and how they had multiple rows of teeth, the better to ensure that, if their prey got away, it didn't make it far. Remembered how close he'd been when he'd said that, mindful of a guardian with two kids who had been shooting them dirty looks, and the way his voice had gone low. Threatening.
A warning, perhaps, far too late for Ren to have escaped him.
He got up, walked back through the tunnel and out, turning towards the train station. Caught the line back to Shibuya, and hesitated there, afraid to let his hopes grow. To go, and end up only getting hurt.
Afraid to go, and find who he'd finally convinced himself to stop hoping for.
Well, being a coward had never got him anything worth having, so he scanned his pass at the Inokashira Line platform and got on the train to Kichijoji. Walked past the familiar shops along and surrounding the Sunroad, and climbed the stairs to Penguin Sniper.
"Welcome!" the proprietor called. "What'll it be: billiards or darts?"
Ren hesitated, then pulled out the dart that had been in the envelope. "I actually have something that belongs to you," he offered.
The proprietor smiled and shook his head. "No, sir. That one's yours, to finish the game." And then he turned and motioned to the DARTSLIVE3 machine they had always ended up playing on, when Ren came with any of the Thieves. There was a reserved sign on it, with a game in process, only fifty points left.
Ren needed a bullseye.
"Oh, you asshole," he breathed, because there was only one person he knew who always got bullseyes, and would give Ren shit any time he got anything but. Even though winning the game required one of them hitting something other than a bullseye at least once.
He let himself be waved over to the machine, his entrance fee presumably already paid for, and he stopped in front of the machine, closed his eyes, and took a breath.
This was easier with his own dart set, safely back in the attic, and the use of his third eye, which he'd lost when the metaverse closed in February.
But this was not a challenge he would lose.
He opened his eyes, shifted his stance, drew in another breath, and threw the dart.
Bullseye.
He stood through the celebratory fanfare and, when no further leads appeared on the machine's screen, he turned back to the desk, finding the proprietor holding out another white envelope. "Congratulations, you won the grand prize," he said with a wink.
Ren huffed. "What would I have got if I messed up?"
The proprietor let out a nervous laugh and admitted, "A drink with a napkin with the words 'better luck next year' written on it."
Ren laughed, because that was all the confirmation he needed: Akechi was still an asshole.
And he was alive.
The envelope contained a familiar drink menu.
"Thank you," Ren said.
"Enjoy your White Day," the proprietor said, and winked.
Yes, but was this really meant as a response to Ren's chocolates? And, if so, was this meant as a confession, or an obligation?
Or was this a game, like the one they'd spent a year playing, with Ren cast in the role of the detective, while Akechi played the thief, always one step ahead, leaving just enough of a clue. Was the timing, the constant usage of white, just meant to throw him off?
It fluttered in his chest again, that desperate little hope, and Ren didn't know if he could afford to let it take flight.
Not that anything would stop him from following this to its conclusion, he needed Akechi in his life again, even if it was just as friends, or even rivals. He needed to see him again, alive.
He walked over to Jazz Jin. Hesitated when he realised it was still before opening, the sidewalk sign not out yet.
"Go on in," a voice said from behind him, and Ren twisted to find the owner, poking his head out of the record shop next door. "The door's unlocked."
"Thanks," Ren said, swallowed against something climbing his throat, and headed down the stairs. Finding that, as promised, the door was opened.
He was standing behind the bar, pale hair pulled back into a low ponytail, leaving only a pair of small glasses obscuring his face, wine-red eyes glinting behind the lenses, over a smirk, softer, somehow, but still familiar. He was wearing a white shirt, and white gloves, and Ren would bet white trousers, hidden behind the cover of the bar. "Welcome," he said, voice low and warm, "to Jazz Jin."
There were a dozen things Ren wanted to say to him, questions he wanted to ask, threats about what he would do if Akechi vanished on him again.
What he ended up saying, was, "You missed a couple of dates."
Akechi looked honestly taken aback for a moment, before he threw his head back and laughed, loud and a little too wild, a reminder of January, of how he'd stopped caring about the façade he'd worn so long, as the Detective Prince.
When he smiled at Ren, it was warm, fond, lacking the fake edge from before the twentieth of November, or the sarcastic edge of January. "I felt those would be better saved for a time when we could go together," he said.
The thing in Ren's chest beat its wings against the inside of his ribcage, thundered in his ears.
"Can I kiss you?" he asked. Had to know, to set aside their games and tricks, just for a moment.
Akechi stepped out from behind the bar, still smiling, and said, "Yes."
So, Ren stepped forward, and did.
.
