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Okumura-san didn't seem to react at all when I mentioned Yoshizawa-san, which begs the question of if either sister died, if both did, or if they simply didn't attend Shujin at all.

[There have been stranger discrepancies between realities, and yet the broader picture seems consistent. There are certainly commonalities.]

Hers is a reality where Wakaba Isshiki and her father still died. You are still the one who caused the mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns. It's almost as if the general trajectory is the same, but minus a few pieces of the proverbial puzzle.

[Wakaba Isshiki still died. You are still the one who caused the mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns. His face smooths over, perfectly blank.] Or with different pieces. Our own worlds are enough to illustrate that.

[You could kill him, if you wanted. It would be the work of a moment. But you don't. You don't.

He picks up his drink, the second one; cradles it in his lap untouched. You didn't.] I had the impression, from comparing notes, that Maruki is significant. A cognitive psientist arriving at Shujin during the tenure of the Phantom Thieves is more than significant. But if he was missing in Okumura-san's world, and nothing changed... I wonder what he was doing in the meantime.

Edited 2023-09-12 02:31 (UTC)

Yes, even Okumura-san found it worrisome. If I had to hazard a guess, the key difference may be what Akira described- when Maruki reached the height of his power.

[Hmm... come to think of it, maybe there is something to it.

Akechi takes a sip from his second drink, then carefully sets the glass down.]

This is purely hypothetical, but perhaps Maruki's presence at Shujin is key. Ren and I have established confidant bonds with him back in our world, and Ren has been trying to help him with his "research," though I suspect that is solely a front, if he truly is our brainwashing culprit.

But if Maruki is a cognitive psientist, regardless of world, it is possible he could learn of Mementos. And I was informed that this false god lurked at the very depths of Mementos. But the god was defeated, so perhaps...

[Hm, but does that make sense? Or is it, perhaps, a stretch to assume?]

[The thing is, he doesn't really know what Mementos is. But he has theories. Oh boy, does he have theories.] If you tell me Takuto Maruki is a false god at the bottom of Mementos in Okumura-san's world, I'm going to walk out.

[He leans back.] You're thinking of what Kurusu claimed? That his power increased dramatically?

[Pffft... he snickers at that remark. Amazing.

Any hint of amusement fades fast, however.]

I believe it's possible that when one god fell, someone else took its place. If we assume that Maruki's powers became so wide reaching, then perhaps that is what allowed him to alter this other Akechi and presumably even his world.

So perhaps the difference is that, for one reason or another, Maruki did not go to Shujin in Okumura-san's world. He did not get whatever resources necessary to ascend, and thus never became a threat...

[He takes a deep breath, leaning over the table.]

But if that is the case, this vapid lookalike of ours might be a warning.

About Maruki. And more relevantly, if you'll forgive me—[he doesn't care that much about Maruki, and he really doesn't care about that lookalike beyond "shit, that's disturbing"]—about what's at the bottom of Mementos. The thing that erased Ren and the rest, and kept Shido from being defeated.

I suppose it connects to both our problems. I did wonder about those doors. Even the trains wouldn't take me to the bottom. [Yes, he used the trains.]

Edited 2023-09-12 03:56 (UTC)

What we've discovered is that the more the Phantom Thieves soar into the public eye, the deeper we're able to delve. So, I suppose that in order to reach the depths, we'll have to be quite notorious, if not beloved...

[Positive or negative attention, it's difficult to say if it matters. They only have so much of an indication. Namely, that each victory lets them dive deeper.]

Unfortunately, since I'm only from August, I can't say what lies ahead or just how much it takes to reach the depths. It took Okumura-san's Phantom Thieves until Christmas Eve, but I'm not sure if it could be achieved earlier under the correct circumstances.

[Wait a goddamned second. He sips his drink quickly, sets it back on the table.]

You're saying the doors are linked to the public's cognition. That as you make deeper inroads into the public mind, you likewise make deeper inroads into Mementos.

That seems to be the case. After Kamoshida, we could only progress so far, but once we had thwarted Madarame, we plunged deeper. The same applies to Kaneshiro, as I doubt Kobayakawa had nearly as much public sway.

[After all, one was a notorious mafioso who avoided capture for a long, long time. The other was a school principal.]

[Goddamn it to hell. He considered that specific theory several times, and discounted it for the best reason he could imagine.]

Only one problem with that. I'm probably the most famous boy in Japan outside a boy band—[he's a generous soul], and I couldn't even open the first door.

[Though now he comes to think of it... maybe he should have tried it in the white suit.]

Edited 2023-09-12 04:17 (UTC)

[Hmm... That is a wrinkle, isn't it? He pauses momentarily, running possibilities through his head.]

I can think of a few possibilities. One: it was all a ruse, orchestrated by the false god to drive us forward so that it could crush out spirits when the time is right. Two: That false god was deliberately keeping you from progressing.

Perhaps both. It's rather difficult to say.

I wonder if it would go differently if I wasn't in the black mask. More like the person the public think they know—though if they picture you and Ren when they think of the Phantom Thieves, you've really blown it.

[But there's another question, actually; another thing he's wondered about.]

Why didn't you use the trains? [Akechi never had any trouble getting to them, which might be revealing—as revealing as the fact that he was prepared to ride with the dozens of creepy Shadows.]

Morgana turned into a literal bus rather soon after we first arrived.

[And so he shrugs, playing it off like it's no big deal.]

It got the job done, so the thought of using the trains never really crossed our minds. I wouldn't mind pilfering some motorcycles, though, just to see how they compare...

Don't get me started on that cat again. A bus, for fuck's sake. [But there's a glint in his eye.]

You've thought about that as well? [If it hadn't been for the doors, he might actually have been reckless enough to try it. You can get in from Shibuya Crossing, after all—though not without being seen.]

...Want to give it a try? There's no police to watch if we were to, perhaps, obtain a set of expensive motorbikes and appropriate headgear.

[Though their Black mask outfits may perhaps render that point moot... Hmm. Something to consider, at least.]

[And he draws back, considering other-him across the table. His head's absolutely full of shit, of the go to Mementos and scream until it stops breathing variety. He wants to do something else, just to feel alive; to see those bars around him crack just a little more.]

I'm shocked. That doesn't sound like good boy behaviour. [But then, neither of them are good boys, deep down. He's seen that much.]

Yes, I know. But even "good boys" have limits.

[He snickers, shaking his head.]

I don't know. Is it strange to say that you make me feel as though I don't have to try so hard?

[He thinks about that. Those cage bars again, fixed so close to his skin. Call of Chaos, which they share, and which he believes his counterpart can't begin to understand. The countless psychotic breakdowns—he really did lose count long ago—that he largely doesn't even feel bad about, or remember; they blur together.]

I could do more than that. Not that you'd enjoy it—or who knows, perhaps you would. [And not that other-him has a Shadow—though that seems to be more of a moveable feast than he's thought.]

To you, I'm the road not taken. The potholes you missed, the coins flipped heads-up. As much a nightmare as our mindless friend the housebreaker. [He had the key, Akechi.]

Maybe that's why you can't look away from me. You see me as unchained in some way you're not.

I feel like there's a lot to it. I was already attached to you after you'd saved my younger self. Every bit of admiration he has is carried over to me, even if I'm more conscious to the "less ideal" sides of you that he doesn't fully understand.

[Not that he's wholly clueless- he heard just enough to realize there's more beneath the surface. But his child self doesn't know about the murders. Doesn't fully grasp Call of Chaos.]

I don't regret the path I've walked, but I certainly do hold myself to high standards. To be a model son, a model student, a responsible leader to the Phantom Thieves, an ace detective... My family has seen the "uglier" side of me, they understood it, but that was years ago, and my responsibilities in Tokyo are different.

[Heh... How funny.]

I suppose a part of me just wanted to be "better," to not need Loki anymore, but that was always a stupid notion.

Edited 2023-09-12 17:29 (UTC)

This again. [In the kitchen, the morning after. In the back of his mind, horns and hooves gleam.]

Do you know you bring up Loki more than I do?

...I suppose it really is just that you're the only person I feel like I can even acknowledge that side of myself with.

[Heh. And yet, in spite of all that...]

But to you, Loki is a well worn glove. With me, he's a reminder of a time when my world felt like it was crumbling around me, and all I could do was scream in fury as I yearned to kill the madman who made Inaba the stage for his nihilistic charade.

[He brings a hand up to his temple, wincing.]

I wonder what'd happen if I used Call of Chaos on myself now, but I think stealing motorcycles would be a more reliable form of catharsis.

You see this bad influence business goes both ways. You have me performing victimless crimes. [Sure, he'll bring the dark humour—even if he's not quite feeling it. He would love to steal a motorbike right now.

He's still never used Call of Chaos on himself. Hasn't dared. It's enticing, the way diving from a bridge is enticing.]

But yes, again—for you, Loki is all the worst parts of yourself, undeniable. Something you can never leave behind. For me... Loki is who I am. Who I always was, and wouldn't admit to.

Edited 2023-09-12 19:59 (UTC)

Rationally, I'm not even sure if he's "the worst" or if it's my own traumatic experiences making it feel that way. ...Not that you're lacking in that department either, but I've seen the difference in the way you wield Robin Hood.

[That almost empty, puppet-like state, so hollowed out that it's just a facsimile of "goodness."]

Heh... But wouldn't that be something? The two of us just going completely unchained, with no idea what the end result would be.

[His whole being twists with yearning and revulsion. Every time he uses it, he wonders what he'd be. What secrets there are, left deep in his heart.]

If you're talking about giving someone on a motorbike a psychotic breakdown, I've done that. I can't recommend it.

We could do the motorbikes. We could, perhaps... see what happens in a rematch with the chains around our hearts broken.

[His fingers dig into his hair. He's not even sure where he's going with this.]

I think we could both benefit from something that lets us cut our restraints.

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