Storm clouds were forming over the island, being pushed by a harsh, warm wind. On the horizon over the ocean, the clouds were dark and slowly spiraling up. A hurricane looked inevitable at this point.
Akira had to take a minute to watch the black clouds roll in, standing at the edge of the rocks that reached out to the ocean. He stared with an uncaring look, not even flinching when the tide grew violent, splashing up against the rocks and getting his legs wet.
"Master..."
Akira paid no mind to the Persona behind him. He kept his eyes glued to the horizon.
"Master," Arsene said once more, "whatever it is you're feeling needs to stop... this island can't take another storm like this..."
Akira turned his gaze up towards the clouds, a small smile curling up on his lips.
"I've been thinking lately. Can you imagine Ryuji getting electrocuted? I can see it. He's at a bathhouse, all alone, someone tosses like a—a hairdryer or something in his bath. Boom, he's dead,"
"Master, please listen to me..."
"Poor Morgana, he'll definitely end up roadkill, or even maimed by wild animals. And Ann! Yeah, no denying she'd burn alive. I bet... she's fast asleep in bed, not even realizing a candle or a lighter fell over. Her whole room is ablaze in seconds."
"Master—"
"Yusuke does just about anything to get his art right! Somehow he'd get himself locked in a freezer! Can you imagine that? He'd look so fucking beautiful with frost on his skin and hair, and his lips and fingers turning all blue..."
"AKIRA!"
Arsene grew impatient, calling his Master by his first name by mistake. The boy finally looked back at him, a glare in his eyes.
"You're not being careful... you're going to bring yourself to your own doom if you keep like this. You and the other Prince will suffer," Arsene warned.
"What do you mean? I see it all now!" Akira grinned widely. "Goro and I are meant to spend an eternity together, that's why I was brought here! When the time comes, me and him will always be by each other's side..."
"No, Master, that's not what I'm telling you. You're violent, you're doing all of this for your own selfish wishes..."
Akira tightened his folded arms. The first drops of rain began to beat down on them.
"I'm taking care of the people I love... I have to be ready for their deaths... that way they can go with me to our paradise where they'll be safe and happy...!"
"Your paradise is a facade! They'll find out and it won't be easy for you to keep it from falling apart! You are a child, you can't use your power to manipulate things like—!"
"I'M PROTECTING THEM!"
A loud crack of lightning hit the ocean, thunder boomed up above. As the rain grew harder and the tide grew stronger, Akira panted heavily with tears running from his eyes and his body shaking.
"I'm... protecting them..." he said again.
Akira turned away as he began to sob. The thunder dulled down to a quiet rumble while the rain kept at a steady, rough pace. A red umbrella floated upside down on the restless waves and up to the rocks. Akira grabbed the handle and pulled it from the water.
"Arsene, I wanna wake up now..." he said, carefully closing the umbrella.
"Master, please... you're poisoning us, we can't continue like this..." the Persona was pleading.
Akira gripped the umbrella in his hands. He red dripped down his arms like blood.
"I said I want to wake up... that's a fucking order."
Arsene stiffened. He couldn't disobey the boy with control over his power. Silently, he followed his orders. Akira disappeared. The umbrella dropped and lodged into the rocks with a splatter of red.
Far in the distance, a hurricane finally formed.
————
"Mmm..."
Akira groggily opened his eyes to the sound of a light rain hitting the window, taking a small glance at the clock sitting on the windowsill. Not feeling like he was awake yet, he held tighter to the still sleeping boy beside him, burying his nose in those lovely tan locks.
Goro made a quiet noise but didn't awake. Even though Akira wanted nothing more than to stay like this forever, he knew the detective wouldn't be happy about missing an important day of work.
"Baby...?" Akira moved one hand from around Goro's waist to rub his shoulder. "It's six-thirty, you gotta get up..."
Goro's eyes opened a crack. He groaned and put his hands over his face, a sound of disapproval leaving his mouth. He hadn't slept that good in a while.
"Fuck, I really don't want to..."
"I know, baby," Akira hugged him and kissed his neck, "I don't want you to leave either..."
"What the fuck am I supposed to even do? Do I get police to Usagi's house now? A-Am I just supposed to keep pretending I don't know what's happening while she takes more lives for her own sick enjoyment?"
"Shhhh..."
Goro took a heavy breath, happy his boyfriend was there to calm him down. He sat up, moving so he could face Akira and immediately cuddled up to him again. Those silver eyes never looked so soothing before.
"I want everything to be alright..." Goro said. "I just want all of this shit to be over with, I've never met someone as fucked up as her..."
"I know, I know... I wanna be done too..."
Akira brushed his fingers over Goro's cheek and rubbed his thumb over his ear. The brunet shut his eyes, putting his hand over his lover's and just melting into the pleasant touch. Akira moved a bit closer to press a small kiss to Goro's lips.
"After we steal her heart and she confesses," he said quietly, "I want go somewhere. Just the two of us for a weekend or something. I just want some alone time where we don't have to worry about anything or anyone,"
"God, I want that so bad..." Goro quickly kissed him again. "We could go to Okinawa, visit the beaches, stay at a nice hotel..."
"Oh, yes baby..."
Akira brought their lips together once more, pulling his lover close and tangling his fingers in that pretty hair. Goro instantly pushed Akira flat on his back so he could move on top and pin him down, quickly making the kiss deeper.
The thief leader could think of multiple things they could do in this position. Enough things to make his briefs start to feel tight. But he restrained himself, chuckling as he took Goro's hands and broke the kiss.
"Ok, seriously, I don't want you to be late," he said.
"Ohhh, can't it wait five more minutes?" Goro whined.
"Babe, c'mon, I'm supposed to be the irresponsible one in this relationship!"
Goro laughed at that, finally giving in and sitting up over Akira's lap, his arms going above his head and he slid his hands through his hair and stretched. The noiret gazed at his partner's bare body covered in his bites. He breathed in and bit his lip, bottling up the urge to just pin Goro and take him.
"Ok, ok. And can I ask what it is you'll be doing all day?" Goro said. Akira barely heard him, he was distracted by the seductive aura in his eyes.
"I'm probably gonna lay around all day thinking about you,"
"Come on, if I have to be productive today then so do you, young man," Goro tapped a finger on Akira's nose with a smile before getting out of bed.
"Yeah, I know!" Akira sat up, "I guess ahhh... I'll go walk around Shibuya or something. Enjoy my freedom before I go back to school next week,"
Goro started getting dressed, grabbing his phone to check his notifications after he got his pants on. All he saw were multiple messages from Ann, explaining what the thieves had learned from Kasumi and the plan for later that evening.
'What... the fuck...'
Goro glanced at Akira, who was sitting at the window trying to catch the attention of a bird sitting outside. Then he scanned over Ann's messages again.
Once again it was in his face—the boy you love is sick, he's insane, he's dangerous. Why was the world so keen on trying to ruin his happiness? And what the hell was that last thing—half of them might try and infiltrate Akira's Palace? There's nothing wrong, how dare they even think of doing it?
"Tstststs... come on... come on..." Akira poked his lips out. He tapped the glass lightly and the startled bird flew away. Akira groaned but laughed right after.
"Aww, there he goes. Animals used to love me when I was a kid," a grin turned up on his face, "I'm telling ya', there were birds, mice, and lizards all over my old home. I loved finding them in the woods. You know what my favorites were?"
Goro's eyes shot to one line in Ann's messages:
'...She said he killed animals a lot after his mom died...'
Goro pocketed his phone and shook his head, quickly pulling his shirt on.
"Hmm, what were your favorites?"
"Bunnies~"
"Oh!"
Akira was suddenly behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and attacking his neck and cheek in kisses. Goro laughed and tried to escape, only for Akira to cup his face with one hand and bring him in for a real kiss.
'He's such a dork... but he's so sweet with me...'
Goro blushed when he was met with those ravishingly beautiful silvery eyes and that precious smile that made him feel weak.
'I love him so much... he can't possibly be the person Yoshizawa says he is...'
————
"Bababa... babababa!"
Takuto was interrupted once again as the baby girl crawled up to him, smacking her tiny hands on his laptop. With a laugh, he set his laptop aside to pick her up, standing her on his lap.
"You're fussy today. Does mommy not give you enough attention? Huh, Kirin?"
The baby squealed and kicked her feet. Takuto smiled slightly, setting her back on the floor so she could go play with her toys. Instead she attempted to climb on the couch again. Sighing in defeat, Takuto picked her up again and stood up.
"Alright, alright. It's about time for you to take your medicine anyway,"
"Baba! Baba! Baba!" The baby grabbed at his face, he narrowly avoided getting his glasses snatched.
In the kitchen, Takuto sat baby Kirin in one of the few highchairs that were set aside for their little patients. He started making a bottle, mixing medicine in with the formula. As he did that, Osoroshi came in, her expression dull until she saw the sweet little baby waiting patiently in her chair.
"Is that my Kirin? Look at that smile! She's been a good girl today, hasn't she?" Osoroshi bent down to the baby's level to pinch her cheek.
"Yeah, she woke up from her nap a while ago. She's been playing a lot since her mother dropped her off too," Takuto said as he handed the bottle to Kirin. The baby drank it up eagerly, not even noticing the yucky medicine mixed in.
Osoroshi turned an eye up to her assistant, a bit of a taunting look on her face.
"Have you been behaving yourself as well?" she asked.
Takuto swallowed. He cleared his throat and stuffed his hands under his arms, tapping his thumbs against his chest.
"Ms. Shinozaki said Kirin is still having chest pains, most often at night when she's supposed to be asleep. I took her temperature earlier, her fever went down since yesterday but she's been having on and off coughing fits,"
Osoroshi made that look—quit dodging my fucking question, Maruki.
Nervously, Takuto broke eye contact with her, laughing to himself as he pushed his glasses up.
"I got a call from Kirishima this morning, he had to cancel the 2 o'clock therapy session for today because his daughter was throwing a tantrum and she claimed that big girls are too cool for therapy, isn't that funny?"
Osoroshi's look remained the same. Kirin finished her bottle and was squealing for attention now. A bit of formula fell from her mouth and on her chin. Osoroshi smiled again, cleaning the baby's face with her bib.
"She's a sweetheart isn't she? Ren was pretty cute too at this age. Perhaps even more than her,"
Takuto felt an unease. He went to the fridge to grab a can of green tea. Osoroshi kept talking, knowing full well her words bothered him.
"You're a desperate man, Maruki. I've kept secrets for you in the past. All I ask is that you keep mine. Is that so much?"
Takuto cracked the can open, speaking quietly before taking a sip.
"No, ma'am..."
"Exactly! Good boy!" Osoroshi picked baby Kirin up and held her. "Let's get your checkup done, ok sweetie? Doctor's gonna make you feel all better soon, I promise!" she cooed.
Takuto waited until Osoroshi left with the baby. Then he proceeded to down the entire can of tea, almost drowning in it. He slammed the empty can down on the counter, breathing heavily as he began to panic.
"Easy, easy... it's ok, everything is fine! Don't think about any of that! Ahhh... oh, yes, work! Go finish your work!"
Takuto, still uneasy, returned to the little nursery for his laptop. With Osoroshi watching Kirin, it'd be easier for him to actually get something done now.
"Ok, let's finish checking these emails..." he spoke to himself. "Those are all medical records... that's spam... the antibiotics and vaccines are shipped... few more medical—wait, what?"
'We Wish For An Audience!'
What kind of email was this? Thinking it was another client, Takuto clicked on it to read the contents.
'Takuto Maruki,
My partners and I have questions in need of answers! We know you have some valuable information on Akira Kurusu. We wish to help him with his struggles and protect him from himself!
Some of us shall greet you this evening at the Hyacinth Café to further discuss this!
Please don't turn us down!
Signed, Alibaba'