[Week 0, Sunday post-execution: Makoto]

[purrtagonist]

[truthfully, out of his two thieves present for this game, Makoto was the one Akira found himself most concerned about at the moment. he had always known that Makoto had a more heated, fiery side, something to balance out her levelheaded calmness. and part of him had been impressed with the methodical way she had handled herself at the trial-- that was the daughter of a cop, for you]

[but when everything had ended, she had seemed. . . stressed? unhappy? it was tough to put a name to the emotion, but something was off. that, coupled with her being slightly off-kilter during their first thief meeting, meant that something was up. right?]

[once the execution is over, Akira seeks Makoto out, greeting her with two fingers pressed against his temple in a mock salute]

I kind of wish they had more restaurant choices than McDonalds and Starvi-- Starbucks. Where's a cheap diner when you need it?

[he'll get to the point soon enough, but he's absolutely going to ease into it slowly]

Comments

[justfists]

... Right. [a shaky exhale, and she leans back in the booth, wrapping her arms around her midsection.] You should know.

What, exactly, did Yusuke tell you? I'll try to fill in any gaps.

[purrtagonist]

Something about a Grail. About traveling into the depths of Mementos. About the will of the people.

[he had been a bit too overwhelmed to ask about it in detail]

But that's all.

What were we trying to steal in the depths of Mementos?

[justfists]

Morgana explained once that Mementos is a palace. We were trying to steal the treasure of that palace.

[which doesn't explain why, Makoto knows. She needs to go back farther, back to right after Sae's palace.]

We figured out that Akechi was working for Masayoshi Shido, who had started running for Prime Minister after snap elections were called. Someone who would use a teenager that way, and also abuse the cognitive world... Someone like that had no right to be Prime Minister.

That's what we'd agreed.

[purrtagonist]

The people's. . . treasure?

[he says to himself, words slow. but then she backs up, and does as well, to follow the entire story]

Ah. So that's who. . .

[. . . was behind the mental shutdowns that Akechi caused. he set his jaw tightly]

Masayoshi Shido. Did you steal his heart?

[justfists]

... Yes.

[she considers whether she should tell him about his own connection to Shido. He deserves to know, but also it complicates an already complicated story.]

We did. And Shido wasn't just connected to Akechi: he was connected to you, too. He was the man who claimed you'd assaulted him... The entire reason for your record.

[purrtagonist]

[that one knocks the wind right out of him]

What?

[his response is breathless. give him a moment to process this]

[justfists]

[She pauses, staring down at the table for a moment, and then back up at him.]

I'm sorry... I didn't think it would be fair to not tell you, if I was going to tell the whole story.

You deserve to know, no matter what.

[purrtagonist]

No, don't-- don't apologize.

[don't feel bad for telling him Makoto, it's something he'd want to know!!]

. . . thanks. I knew he had to be powerful, whoever he was. But I had no idea. . .

[that he was connected to Akechi, too? that he was running for prime minister?]

[even without all of the context, Akira feels like everything seems to slot together a little too perfectly, and he can't help the furrowed frown that follows]

[justfists]

Yes.

[she pauses, and then continues with a certain levity]

We stole Shido's heart, and he had a change of heart. Just like everyone else in the past. But... he still won. He was still elected prime minister.

[she locks eyes with him]

It was like everything we'd done... our calling card for Shido, our past acts... No one remembered it anymore. No one wanted to change course, even when Shido himself had admitted to his crimes.

[purrtagonist]

[the final piece slips neatly into place. not to complete the entire puzzle-- he isn't there yet-- but to at least let him see the bigger picture it creates]

And that's why you were trying to steal the Treasure in Mementos.

[they were trying to change the hearts of the entire general public]

[. . .]

[a low, impressed whistle]

Damn.

[that's a big undertaking, even for them]

[justfists]

[it's so strange for Akira to be so impressed with this, when he was as much a catalyst in their decision as anything else. Makoto's smile at that is weak.]

Yes. That's where the trains were going... they were taking everyone's shadows to the center of Mementos and trapping them.

We... even ran into Kamoshida... Madarame, Kaneshiro, and even Shido. We found all of their shadows trapped like everyone else's.

[purrtagonist]

[it's hard not to be impressed, when he's hearing this story as an outsider. as someone who hasn't yet partaken in it (who hopefully will, if he survives this game, when the time comes). it does cause a bit of. . . uncertainty? to yank at his heart. here are his teammates, doing something amazing, and here he is, still reeling from his biggest failure ever]

[. . . what is this weird, pervading feeling of not belonging? of not being good enough? he's managed to brush it off the past few times, but it's so uncharacteristic for him that the fact that it keeps popping up is. well.]

[a bit disconcerting]

[god, he needs to focus]

Why were their Shadows trapped in the center of Mementos?

[justfists]

Shido said it was because they wanted for the grail to make decisions for them... They were all there willingly. It doesn't seem right to me, even still.

[she pauses, as the next part is important. It's the final piece of why they failed so miserably. And she's clearly upset, because she covers her mouth, tears welling at the edge of her eyes.

Vanishing from existence, facing the utter failure of knowing humanity wanted this. That they were doomed to never exist again.

And that that fate could still be awaiting them if they went ahead with this game anyway. Perhaps Akira was lucky, and not unlucky like she'd originally guessed, to not be faced with seeing what she'd seen, and the lingering thoughts it had put into her head.]

[purrtagonist]

[holy shit]

Makoto--

[it's difficult to explain how much those tears make him want to completely and utterly destroy whatever it is that caused them. Makoto was so strong, so admirable. . . watching her break down causes something else to crack a little as well. he doesn't hesitate to extend both hands across the table this time, fingers searching, asking her to reach out to him in return]

I'm here.

[always. because right now, what else can he do?]

Lean on me for a while.

[while she regains the resolve to finish the story]

[justfists]

[this was not as intended... she pauses, and then slowly reaches out, her fingers lightly touching his. But she is focused on getting herself under control. She needed to separate herself from the choice, to compartmentalize.

She swallows and lowers her hand from her mouth. Okay.

She could do this.]

Thank you. A-anyway... like I said... they were there willingly.

Because of that, any time we tried to hurt the holy grail, the people would just give it their strength. And it would heal, instantly.

[purrtagonist]

[she touches his fingers lightly, but he uses that opportunity to grasp her hand warmly, an attempt to anchor her as much as he can]

And the grail. . . it was their Treasure, right?

[he knows enough context to make educated, smart assumptions]

The people's distortions were so strong that they protected the Treasure from even us.

[justfists]

Yes. Exactly. It was the treasure. The source of the distortion for the world.

[she exhales.]

So... of course we lost, nothing we could hit it with would overcome the will of the people. And the next thing we knew... we were back in Shibuya.

[purrtagonist]

[considering where they are now, he needs to ask for clarification]

This Shibuya? Or our own?

[justfists]

The real one. Though, I don't know if this place is much different from what that one would become.

[purrtagonist]

[a pause, as he tries to puzzle out the meaning of those words]

What do you mean by that?

[justfists]

... Shibuya and Mementos are one and the same now.

And as you know from Mementos, anything that does not exist in the public's cognition... can't exist anywhere.

[purrtagonist]

[and that's when it hits him]

[the full meaning of what both Makoto and Yusuke said about the people rejecting them. their profiles, which listed their causes of death as having disappeared from the people's cognition. and from what he remembers from back. . . the Phantom Thieves and their popularity was swiftly approaching the negatives]

[it all makes sense. the peoples stopped believing in them, and so they stopped existing]

[it feels like a punch to the gut]

You're. . . kidding. . .

[she isn't. he knows. but he needs a moment to be appropriately upset]

[justfists]

[she pauses, and then squeezes his hand, knowing that this would have some effect on him-- even if she thought that he would be better suited to handle it than she, apparently, was. Because he was the leader, the one who had pushed them forward, and united them. No matter how isolated they had been, he was the uniting factor.]

... It's what's waiting all of us if we make it out. I don't know what we can do to change this, if the people won't accept us. But...

[she exhales. She wants to believe that she has to try. It's that hint of stubbornness.]

[purrtagonist]

[even Akira has his moments where that strong, confident and composed leaderly facade cracks. it's done that several times already, through the course of this conversation. but in the end, he sets his jaw firmly. squeezes her hand in return, meets her gaze with a steadiness that's so quintessentially Akira]

[he replies as Joker would: voice steely. even. with strength behind every word that shows he's still full of fight. no matter their circumstances]

Who cares if the people don't accept us?

[ah]

That doesn't mean we should stop fighting for what we believe in. For our justice.

[Joker doesn't have to be from the same point in time as Makoto and Yusuke to come to the same conclusions]

[justfists]

... Yes. But we'll be down to just yourself, Yusuke, and me. We won't have Ann, Ryuji, Haru, or Morgana.

[she briefly glances at him, but then her courage fails her and she closes her eyes.]

... I want to believe you, Akira. I want to believe that I'll be able to believe in justice again, and we'll succeed anyway. We don't have a choice. But...

[she's doubting. Of course she is.]