Persona 5 x persona 4

chapter 25

The pain was almost blinding as Akechi slipped on his tan peacoat. His shoulder wasn't something that was going to heal easily with how he kept re-injuring it. Still, it wasn't the time to worry about the injury, he had other more important things to do. The best he could do was to mask the pain with another dose of painkillers. It didn't bother him as much as it might other people, but painkillers would mask all weakness. Retrieving said painkillers from the bathroom, he caught a good look of himself in the mirror. He didn't like who he saw. The Goro Akechi that had been Shido's pawn for so long stared back at him. Sneering at his reflection, Goro retrieved the medication and popped two pills before returning to the bedroom. It could take up to an hour for the pills to take effect but by that time Akechi would be in the den of lions and one never showed any weakness to a lion.

There was a soft knocking at the door. Akechi turned towards it and rolled his bad shoulder before reaching out and answering it. Naoto stood in the threshold, the concern written clear as day over her face. It struck the second coming of the detective prince hard in his core. This woman that he barely knew was more family to him than anyone else had been in his entire life. That look was for him and the fact he put it on her face was probably the most heart sinking in the world.

"Here," Naoto held up the pieces of the firearm he had almost used to end his life that morning.

Akechi slowly reached out and took the pieces from her. How swiftly Yu had taken it apart this morning seemed to hint that Naoto's partner had at least some experience with firearms. Considering he used a katana in the metaverse, Akechi had to wonder where that experience came from. Moving the pieces to the bed, he carefully reconstructed the firearm. Racking the slide a few times to make sure it was functional, the firearm looked ready for service. After putting a bullet in the chamber and sliding the magazine in, Goro slipped the weapon into the hidden shoulder holster under his tan peacoat. The weight of the resting gun against his side was a bit sobering. Naoto had entrusted his gun back to him despite just a few hours ago he had thought about using it to end his life. She either had more faith in him than he deserved or just understood she couldn't stop him. Possibly it was both.

With the gun secured, Akechi reached up to tie his necktie. However, the pain from his shoulders caused him to hiss with pain at the action. Naoto seemed to take that opportunity to step up and just tie his tie for him. She was very particular in how she did his tie, making it as neat and professional as the cultivated imagine of Goro Akechi would have it. In all honesty, the button-down shirts and jeans he had been wearing the past few days felt far more normal now than the get up he was currently wearing. Just something about this tan peacoat brought back so many dark memories but it was a necessary evil at the moment. Naoto buttoned up his jacket to complete the look before taking a step back.

"How do I look?" Akechi asked genuinely wanting to know how Naoto felt as he slipped on his black leather gloves.

"Like a Detective Prince," Naoto suggested.

"More like Shido's puppet," Akechi replied dryly.

"Those days are over." Naoto insisted before continuing. "Are you sure you need to do this? He'll know you failed to kill Ren."

Akechi gave the woman he thought of like a big sister a passive look. "I must. It'll be better if I'm by Shido's side when the calling card drops. Also, he'll need me to protect his other world, so I doubt he'll kill me flat out for my failure. He's already growing suspicious if that little trap in his cognitive world is anything to go by."

"At least wear your sling. Your shoulder..." Naoto started but Akechi cut her off.

"No weakness. If my ploy is to work, Shido needs to be convinced I'm still very much on his side. It'll work better if I appear to hide my injury. He knows I injured myself but he is still expecting me to come in. If I came in appearing too injured he'd lose faith in my ability to get the job done. If I'm still injured but can still come in and pretend everything is fine; he'll see I'm more loyal to him then my pain." Goro explained with a sigh. "If I don't answer this call, there will be consequences... Deadly consequences. He'll send someone to kill me, and if he knows I was here that means everyone here as well, then the rest of the Phantom Thieves. He normally doesn't move so fast without good reason but he seems tense now that it's so close to the elections."