I've been an Ace Detective all my life. My name, Goro Akechi, is one that's so popular nowadays, I'm considered a celebrity, despite being only 18. The cases I've worked on up until this point have been small, but worthwhile. Then all of a sudden, Japan becomes riddled with crime. Unique and volatile deaths begin popping up everywhere, and I'm assigned to the cases. The more I discover, the more blood is shed, and my life wading through small-time criminals disintegrates into a dangerous game of cat and mouse that leaves me on the edge of reality and dream, teetering on sanity and psychosis. At all costs, I must support justice, and persecute the culprit. Even as I continue to lose myself in the process. But then I realise, the very devil is the transfer student in my class named Ren. With his addictive eyes and enslaving demeanour, he becomes so entrancing... That I must pull myself together and take his heart, before he takes mine.

Goro Akechi is dead. Shot by his cognitive self. That is until he is given a second chance at life to follow through with his own rehabilitation, but only if he can gain the forgiveness of those he has wronged, truthfully or through more deception. -Spoilers for Persona 5 (not royal) -Akechi X Akira (protagonist)

For anyone who has read my Dark Sun fanfic, there is a ton of thought and research that went into the story to make it connect in ways that weren't canon to Persona 5 and Royal. I worked consistently on trying to make new connections that seemed canon enough to bring Dark Sun to life. This is some extra content of some of the different ideas, facts, and overall elements in the story that didn't make the cut :)

Back then, I had narrowly saved Goro Akechi from death. I remember it well, how close I was to losing him not only physically, but also mentally. His plot for revenge had shaped him into a weapon, designed to murder countless lives for the sake of his own retribution. I got him through that, and with some patience, we discovered a relationship that fell beyond the boundaries of friends. But it didn't last forever. His last words to me were his refusal to watch me serve jailtime for the crimes he commited at the Phantom Thieves expense. Before I could argue, he left, allowing Sae Niijima to take him in. But now, all of a sudden, my days change. Akechi and I both have a choice, one that will shape our future forever. The question is...what do we really want? Justice, or freedom?

I have but one goal, and no one will keep me from achieving it. I will burn my stepfather, Shido, to the ground with my bare hands. In order to further this, I decide to befriend the Phantom Thieves. I spend time with them, befriend them, laugh and joke with them, and even strategize with them as we dodge in and out of Palaces, taking hearts where we please. But I never lose sight of the real reason why I'm using them. We get closer and closer, and Ren Amamiya, the leader of the group, peaks my interest. We finally become friends, and suddenly, something changes. I must choose what side to stand on, and whether or not using the Joker and his friends is still my destiny.