Marionette(My Strings Are Titanium, You Cannot Cut Them)

Breathtaking

They refused. Akira understood, they didn't know Goro like he did, but it stung. He didn't see another option. Yes, it would incredibly difficult, and they had no idea what his Palace would be like. Not to mention needing to finish Makoto's sister's Palace quickly as well. The feeling in his gut wasn't going away, though, and he couldn't rest easy until he knew everything was going to be okay.

Futaba had decided to plant a bug on Goro's phone, that way she could monitor him and try to find out what was going on. Akira really wasn't on board with the plan, but she did it before he could even try to convince her not to. It was secretly a relief, but not enough of one to fix the issue.

Could it really hurt to check it out? It would be an invasion of privacy, he was well aware of that, but Goro wouldn't be angry on that part. If anything, he'd be mad that Akira didn't trust him, which was also warranted. 

Akira was going against pretty much the only three rules for the Phantom Thieves: everything they do is unanimous, they always act as the whole group, and they don't target people without proof of their harmful distortion. Well, technically, he had no intention of actually changing Goro's heart. Not at the moment. All he wanted to do was investigate, but that didn't actually follow the rules either. All investigation took place in the real world, they never made that final decision after already(intentionally) going in.

It was too late to back down. Morgana was staying the night with Futaba, and he didn't know when he'd get a chance like this again. Everything had been piling on, and he just needed to know. He'd confront Goro's shadow if he had to, because he still trusted him despite it all.

The Nav had been open for two minutes, and Akira's nerves were on fire. Fear and guilt swirled through him, but his resolve was stronger. If it meant he could save one of his closest friends, it had to be worth it. Gods, he really hoped it was worth it.

The world shifted around him, still in LeBlanc. He figured it would be fine, considering the Palace was all of Japan. Akira noticed first that nothing changed around him, neither did it in the lobby. It felt almost like a safe room, lacking any sort of distortion. He could tell it wasn't, though. It didn't feel quite the same. Safe rooms were always a part of the distorted location that wasn't of interest to the ruler, such as a storage closet. It was more accurate to say that LeBlanc wasn't distorted because Goro saw it exactly as it was. How distorted did someone have to be to form a Palace, anyway? Where was the line?

Any lingering hope was dashed from Akira's mind as he stepped outside. LeBlanc may not be distorted, but the rest of Yongen Jaya was a different story.

Akira felt another alteration as he stepped out the door: his clothes changed the moment he was outside. Goro saw him as a threat. Akira stifled a gasp, never more afraid to see his Joker attire. Just like when he first saw those guards in Kamoshida's Palace, he knew without a doubt that he wasn't meant to be here, and he wasn't safe.

His awareness spread slowly from himself. Every wall and building but LeBlanc was adorned with a large screen, blank and foreboding. As he tried exploring, it was more of the same. Every step filled him with a terror Akira wasn't used to, different than he'd ever felt before. More potent, somehow. Akira dreaded what he may find.

He wanted to call it quits, return to LeBlanc and go to bed like nothing happened. He wanted to forget it all. He wasn't finding anything, could he pretend this was all there was? It was concerning, but not dangerously so.

Akira knew that there was more. There was always a treasure, and even he could tell it was nowhere near here. So where was it? Where was anything? He hadn't seen Goro's Shadow, either, only people not unlike those in Mementos walking the streets like everything was as usual.