Desire and Love [AkiraxYusuke P5]

Chapter Twenty Five

   Akira hid himself away in his room when they returned home. Ann was the one to explain the situation to Erin and Jaehyun. Erin swore she was gonna teach Anesa a lesson and then grabbed her car keys and went to look for the girl. Jaehyun already had multiple things set up in a guest room; two mattresses, a bunch of blankets and pillows were set out, and two tables were covered in high tech materials.

   "I need your blood samples for your entry to the Metaverse," He had said. "Yusuke, since I already have yours, go check on Akira. Have him take his pills, and get him to sleep,"

   Yusuke did as told.

   Akira sat on his bed, head down and legs against his chest. Pico sat beside him, leaning against his side and humming softly.

   "Akira...?" Yusuke approached him slowly.

   The raven didn't answer. Yusuke sat close by and put his hand on Akira's back, starting to rub soft circles to soothe him.

   "Please don't cry... everything will be ok... we're going to help you..."

   "Why bother..." Akira didn't look up. "Changing my heart won't fix anything. I'll still be the same unwanted mistake I've always been..."

   The artist hugged him tightly, fighting his tears back.

   "Stop talking like that... I promise you, I won't let this pain come ever again...! After we marry, we'll get our own place, we'll start a family, and we'll be happy... I promise..."

   It was silent for a second. Then Akira hugged back, but didn't utter a word. Rather than drug him with pills, Yusuke simply laid Akira down, gently caressed his side and hummed a quiet lullaby. The raven was asleep in no time.

   "Yuke!" Pico tried to say his name. "Aki be okay?"

   Yusuke smiled at the little baby and ruffled his fluffy hair.

   "He'll be fine. Can you stay here with your big brother and protect him for me?" He asked.

   "Yea!" Pico beamed.

   Yusuke gave the baby another smile before returning to the guest room. Jaehyun had just gotten blood from Ryuji, who now rubbed his shoulder while gritting his teeth.

   "Was there no other way...?!" He whined.

   "I wish!" Futaba complained, rubbing her shoulder too.

   "Akira is asleep," Yusuke said.

   "Good," Jaehyun finished with the blood samples, and after punching a few keys on his laptop and scribbling notes in a journal, he faced the kids. "Listen here. When you enter the Metaverse, your bodies in real life will be in an unresponsive state, as if you were dead. After this entry, I will be able to put you all in and out of the Metaverse no matter where you are. But I highly suggest you put yourself in a safe place so nobody thinks you're actually dead and does something that tampers with my work. Since Anesa caused trouble tonight, Akira's Palace may be a little more corrupt, so be careful and watch out for each other."

   "Yes sir,"

   After that, they all got settled. Ann and Makoto slept on one mattress, and Futaba and Haru on the other. Ryuji, Mishima, Yusuke, and Morgana laid on the blankets. Jaehyun checked each of them over again, giving each of them a small dose of a medicine-like liquid that made them all drowsy.

   "Relax your muscles... clear your mind... let your body drift off..."

   They all began to get tired and slowly drift into a deep sleep. They fell asleep one by one, Yusuke being the last due to multiple thoughts.

   'I'll save you... Akira...'

————

   Everyone awoke at the same time.

   They sat outside the strange, grayscale castle bathed in snow. They all got back to their feet, muttering small things about chest and head pains. When they saw the area around them, they stared in amazement and fear. The sight of the Palace still haunted Yusuke.

   "So... this is his Palace, huh...?" Ryuji spoke first.

   "This is a prison? It looks like a castle of some sort..." Haru said.

   "It could be more of a mental institute for insane prisoners. Mr. Hanayome did say Akira has a few mental issues and slight damage to his brain..." Makoto said.

   "W-Whoa!" Mishima looked around with awe. "This is the Meteverse... and Kurusu-Kun's Palace...? And what happened to the cat...?!"

   Morgana folded his arms. He had in-fact transformed into his Metaverse form.

   "Well welcome to my world," Mishima's eyes went wide when Morgana spoke. "Since you don't have a Persona, I suggest you don't wander off anywhere,"

   "O-Ok..."

   Futaba was examining her clothes.

   "We aren't in our thief suits... I guess Akira doesn't see us as threats yet..."

   "Yes. Now then," Morgana faced them.

   "Since it's Joker's heart we're changing, I'll stand in as the leader!" He looked at Mishima. "You'll need a code name to go by. I don't know what will fit since we don't know how you look in your thief—"

   "Oh, it's Halo! It made no sense to me at first, but I kinda got it when he explained to me!" Ryuji spoke out of nowhere. Mishima had a look of shock.

   "What? Ryuji? How do you know that...?" Ann said slowly.

   Ryuji stood silent and scratched the back of his head. Mishima put a hand over his face and sighed.

   "He said he'd tell you guys at the right time..." He muttered.

   "RYUJI?!" Morgana suddenly cried.

   "Ok, ok!" The blond folded his arms. "So... around when we were trying to steal Kaneshiro's heart... I was hanging with Mishima cuz you all were busy... and I was telling him stuff about the Meteverse one thing lead to another aaaand..." Ryuji lowered his voice a bit. "I kinda sorta took Mishima to Mementos with me..."

   In five seconds, Morgana planted a hard slap to his face.

   "Are you crazy?! He could've gotten hurt!!"

   "Um, w-wait!" Mishima hurriedly spoke. "Don't take it out on him, I asked too much! He showed me because I asked! B-But really, I know what I'm doing, I promise!"

   The cat was silent, then looked at Futaba.

   "How's his strength, Oracle?"

   Hearing her code name tapped into her hacker sense. Futaba looked at Mishima and focused on the feeling of her Persona.

   "By the looks of it, Mishi—or, wait Halo, has a pretty weak persona. It hasn't awakened to full power. So, he's just like Noir was!" She said.

   "Ok. Then definitely, stay in the back," Morgana grinned. "Welcome to the Phantom Thieves, Halo~"

   Mishima made a small smile and gave a nod.

   "Now then, shall we be on our way?"

   They all had ready looks and nodded toward the cat. Yusuke felt anxious, he had already seen a small part. And those two little shadows he saw certainly alarmed him a little. But he wasn't going to back now.

   Not now...