Real & the Ideal: A Persona 5R Dark Sun Sequel (Goro Akechi x Amamiya Ren)

11: When the Water Pulls You Under...

I wish to utilize my research to save humanity...

(Morning of Jan. 9, Ren's P.O.V)

Finally, the morning of our second meeting with Maruki had arrived.

I was up early, not only anxious about the infiltration that had been looming over me for days, but charmingly also to see my brooding boyfriend.

We hadn't actually met up since we last left the Palace on Jan 2. I wasn't an innocent guy by any means, but I could definitely feel an innocent excitement to see Akechi, especially since I'd only had contact with him over the phone for about 7 days.

This only added to the pressing fact that he'd hung up on me last night without a word. We didn't even get to finish our intel conversation about Maruki.

So, without as much as a wrinkle in my morning routine, I set out at an even earlier time than agreed upon to meet him at his apartment. The Phantom Thieves had all planned to be in Odaiba for 9am, so I took it upon myself to pick up Akechi first. Whatever kind of high school passion I had for the ruthless once-detective willed me to get as much time with him as I could before we were thrust back into another intense few weeks of battles. Any type of intimacy I could have with him was enough, and I presumed he would appreciate more time to strategize prior.

When I finally looked up as I passed through the streets of Yongen to discover his apartment up ahead, my heart fluttered.

I've missed you.

---------

(Akechi's P.O.V)

It was already sunrise.

I had been awake for a good few hours now, constantly thinking and discerning my meeting with Maruki and his warning of my 'eternal suffering'.

But despite the amount of effort I'd put in, I'd come up almost completely empty.

Why, of all the people living in this world, was he threatening me? Why was I the single focus that deserved so much of his attention?

Clearly I had something he didn't. Some kind of connection, or some kind of power over him that he couldn't control. His consistent coercing, asking me to accept his reality and blindly follow him was a warning. He needed me to accept.

But why..?

Either way, it didn't matter. I'd already made my decision on my next move, and against Maruki's wishes, it was going to end my suffering easily and in my control, whether I was in this reality or the true one.

And it would only take five minutes.

Knock, knock!

I didn't readily answer my door. I was sitting on my balcony, watching the sun as it rose in the sky. Skipping from one problem to the next in my mind, my heart responded by thundering harder, and my palms had already broken into a sweat. I continued to spin the trigger of my gun casually around my finger; safety on, ofcourse.

One blink. The bullet would enter easily. In a moment's notice, I could be free.

Then any consequences on me, any burdens that Ren and I would face, would cease to exist.

A familiar vibration shook my hip, and I registered it as a text message from my partner. I heaved a sigh, not wanting to let go of the array of thoughts that had spun a complicated, tangled weave in my head. In annoyance, I took out my phone with my non-dominant right hand.

Ren: Are you up?

I glanced my watch.

I could lie. I could tell him I'm just finishing my coffee, or just getting out of the shower...