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Rebirth.
A word that ridiculously far fetched and alien for a person like Akechi Goro.
Only those who practised Buddhism or Hinduism can associate with this so-called Cycle Of Life.
And yet, here he is. Surrounded by hundreds of full bloomed lotuses in a wide serene-looking lake, stretched across miles to misty destinations unknown.
Sitting beneath a pavilion drinking a hot cup of Pu Err tea beside his former... Enemy? Rival? Adversary? After his miraculous reawakening from below the depths of the Palace- in AMAMIYA'S fucking Palace.
What utter NONSENSE.
From the moment he rose from his watery 'prison' to take his first gasp of air, he knew something was not quite right.
He remembers the huge explosion occurred in Maruki's Palace. He remembers running together with the Thieves to avoid large falling debris while escaping the collapsing building. He remembers being surprised by Morgana's newly transformed helicopter form all the while being squashed beneath four panicking Thieves, at least.
He quite vividly remembers Joker, the foolish show-off, letting go of the dangling rope in order to face Maruki once more in a dazzling display of his tailcoat spreading like dark, majestic wings as he falls straight towards the defeated Palace Ruler for one last fight.
FISTS AGAINST FISTS.
Akechi knew Joker had won.
He could feel Adam Kadmon's tentacles unwrapped themselves off of Morgana's helicopter form. And the rest...... Were a chaotic blur.
It felt like only a few seconds ticked by before he fell into unconsciousness and woke up in a middle of a large lotus lake naked; having nothing but his pride in tact.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depends on the person's point of view, he saw Amamiya already waiting at the pavilion for him with a white towel hanging on his right arm, while Morgana meows loud in excitement as soon as he spots Akechi breaks through the water's surface. The Not-Cat, in his cartoonish Metaverse form, forcefully pushes a neatly folded set of clothes once the teen was dry enough to take them. Apparently, the clothes look like modern-looking Chinese clothes, similar to what the famous Kung Fu actor, Bruce Lee wore in one of his movies. In contrast to the black color the actor wore, Akechi's in white. The loose, long-sleeved Mandarin collar shirt looks simple, but elegant in a way that fits him just right. Matched with a pair of long, black trousers, Akechi feels as if he was thrown into an old era somewhere in China, extruding an aura that commands both power and wealth.
It's not until Akechi finishes changing into Ren's borrowed clothes did he realised the former Thief is wearing the same clothes as him, albeit the color is a stark contrast.
Ren's BLACK to Akechi's WHITE Hanfu.
The latter tries hard not to grimace at that cheesy bit of detail, in case he wants the dark-haired teen to tease him by saying sappy and god-awful puns of being fated rivals.
The ex-detective took it all with a blank face. His mind unable to stop asking the hows and the whys; questions on top of more questions. But none were able to form coherent words through his mouth.
To say he's overwhelmed by Ren's and Morgana's news certainly couldn't describe how Akechi really feels right now. Realizing how almost a year had passed after their fight against that mad therapist was difficult to comprehend.
So, instead of firing countless of questions towards Ren and Morgana, Shido's former Hitman decides to refills his tea into his empty cup and drinks in a leisure pace, his brain still working full speed by concluding the information given by his two former teammates.
With one last gulp of his Pu Err tea, Akechi puts down the cup onto the wooden table with a loud thunk.
"To conclude and to confirm on what you've told me, everything went back to the way they were except Amamiya ended up in juvenile centre and it took at least a week to get him out with the help of his friends and confidants. Am I correct?"
Morgana chirps, "Sounds about right!"
"After that, the rest of your sycophants went on your merry separate ways, chasing your individualistic dreams while still remain in contact with one another. Yes?"
"That's correct!" Akechi's plastic smile turns sharp, like a predator, "Then answer me this. Why did you need to revive me of all people even after you've gotten your happy ending? Why went through all that trouble by asking Lavenza to help resurrect a murderer just to ruin your happy ending? Or is this your way in getting revenge by letting me relive my hellish life on this Godforsaken world?"
Morgana keeps quiet.
He knows those spiteful questions were directed at one particular person, so his baby blue eyes turn to look at the curly-haired Raven.
Ren, in his usual enigmatic soft smile, calm demeanor, asks him back, "What if I say you're the closure to my happy ending? And I want you to be apart of my life...?"
Deep red eyes narrow in disbelief, he scoffs, "Then I'll say you're being a delusional, blind fool who has a masochistic streak! A freak of nature, that's what you are!"
What he didn't expect next was Ren showing off his iconic Joker's manic grin after he said those words that were supposed to hurt and ridicule.
To Morgana, it seems like Akechi is going to eat back his words.
"Well, well, my dearest Detective! It takes one to know one, after all!"
Akechi scowls deeper, crosses his arms, and rolls his eyes, replying, "You're insane!"
"Hmm... Insane only for you, Honey."
Oh boy. Morgana can see one of Akechi's eye twitches out of irritation and out of sheer willpower not to lose his goddamn mind right then and there. Sometimes, he wonders whether if Ren has a suicidal tendency when it comes to the other boy, his lifelong partner confirms it by prodding the former Detective Prince even further with outrageous flirtatious comebacks just to get a over-the-top reaction out of him no matter how dangerous the outcome will be.
Long story short, Ren is literally flirting with DEATH.
It isn't unusual for Morgana to witness his Leader dangling his life on the line while dealing with Death. Given their reputation for being the notorious Phantom Thieves Of Hearts, taking down Palace Rulers and completing requests from the Phan Site were not without risks.
It was after he'd officially join the Amamiya family did he realized the whole family is in the business for the dead for multiple generations. From services like funeral arrangements to helping the dead pass on are a few in their repertoire.
To put it as simple as to Ryuji's context... The Amamiyas are basically the real life ADDAMS FAMILY.
From that day on, Morgana felt a newfound respect towards them.
For Ren and his family, Life and Death go hand in hand.
But because of their business, people tend to avoid them like the Plague. They couldn't help but gossip, spreading false, and mostly ridiculous rumors about their jobs, giving them an infamous nickname as "Dealers Of The Dead". Especially children. Who were loud and unafraid to speak up.
The kids in town used to called Ren the "Ghost Boy" whenever he passed them by, because some of them saw him talking to someone one summer evening at the local playground when nobody else was there when Ren was still studying in elementary school. So, they did what they do best.
Physical violence.
Creeped out by what they saw, they quickly searched the area for pebbles and stones to throw at who they called a "Freak Of Nature".
No wonder Ren doesn't have any friends in his hometown... His parents didn't fare any better. Hostile gazes constantly followed them wherever they go, as if they'd expect the Amamiyas would do something bad to them at any moment if they let their guard down.
Too bad for them. Because Morgana thinks Ren and his family are better than most people he'd met. He felt bad accusing them for agreeing with sending their only son off to Tokyo for probation while it was really just Shido pulling the strings the whole time! They never had a say in any of it! Thinking about it made him lower his ears in shame.
They were nothing but kind, gentle, and caring when Ren first introduced Morgana to his parents and his grandmother. Though, he thinks Grandma Fuyumi has a soft spot for him for some reason if she hadn't continue to sneak in some mouth-watering snacks for him to chew on. Besides Haru's 5-star treatment, Grandma Fuyumi is a close favorite! Overall, the Amamiya household is amazing! Besides their eccentricities towards world views and their unique ability to see and communicate with the dead, he really can't complain about their 'rich people' lifestyle.
Now, back to the living, ticking time-bomb at hand... Akechi Goro.
"Ren, I get that you have a crush on Akechi, but this feels more like... A suicide attempt? Do you really want to die by his hands that much...?"
"I'd also wonder about that, Amamiya-kun. Given your reputation for 'flirting with Death' as Morgana had oh so kindly mentioned, are you used to being in risky situations or matters that heavily involved with your life on the line?" Akechi tilts his head as he asks, leaning forward as his left hand supports his face while his right rests on top of the table, obviously determined to get an answer straight from Ren's mouth.
What Akechi didn't expect was the boy to stand up and offers his hand as if he's closing an important business deal with a trusted business partner.
His steel eyes warm and bright, his smile gentle and carefree, his baritone voice calm and soothing as he asks Akechi, "Why don't we return to the real world and experience what it feels like to live my life from your own point of view?"
This... This feeling...
His words were caught in his throat. N-No! It can't be...
All of this must be some sort of an elaborate trick to make him vulnerable! An act to show his weakness and uses it against him! But still...
A small part of him wants to take Ren's hand; the weaker part of him which yearns for a place to belong-
"Why?"
It took a few seconds for Ren to notice Akechi had just asked him a question. "Why what?"
"Why are you treating me as if I'm some sort of a close friend to you?! I'm your murderer, Amamiya! I killed two of your sycophant friends' parents for the sake of my revenge! Back at the interrogation room, I put a bullet right through your skull and I. FUCKING. LAUGH. AT. YOU!!! If that wasn't enough, I knew what all of those mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns would do to people, and I don't give a shit! Fuck the consequences! As long as I get Shido to acknowledged my existence, then nothing else matters... Nothing..."
Huh. Isn't it hilarious? Amamiya didn't even need to try to raise his voice to get him all riled up.
He broke himself first.
Akechi laughs bitterly. How pathetic.
Then came a soft, plush lips plant themselves onto his wet cheek. Wait, wet...? Since when did he...?
And now he's gripping Ren's hand tightly till his knuckles turned white. Oh... He was too emotionally unstable until he was unaware of what he was doing, everything else seemed to go by a blur.
He feels nothing but warmth radiating off of Ren right now. His body heat is a welcome change.
The damn cat probably transformed into his feline form during his breakdown (maybe his awful, sorry-of-an-excuse self had gotten him to act out of pity) because Morgana even purrs as he rubs his body against his pant leg, hoping it would help to calm his unstable, broken mind. For some reason, Akechi stretches out his free hand to scratch his head and pets his smooth dark fur before he realised what he was doing. Seeing this, Ren hums in approval.
Then, his dark-haired rival leans in beside his ear and whispers, "We still care about you even though we knew you did all those things. To tell you the truth, we let Ann decide Kamoshida's fate whether he lives or dies, in the end, she let him live to repent for what he did not because out of the goodness of her heart, but because death was too merciful for a guy like him."
"Lady Ann said there are worse fates than death. Having him admit his own crimes out loud in front of the whole school and drown by guilt for the rest of his life was the better option. By doing that, his former victims gained enough courage to speak up when the news reporters came to Shujin to ask about the incident. But most importantly, it will give Lady Ann's closest friend the justice she deserves." Morgana slowly crawls his way up into his lap after he finished explaining, curling his body as Akechi resumes his petting.
After a moment of silence, Akechi finally raises his head to check his surroundings. To his shock, they were no longer in a misty void, but inside what seems like a lake in the middle of a modern-looking house filled with tall stalks of bamboo. The lotus flowers and the pavilion remain unchanging, albeit a wooden walkway which connects the pavilion to the house appeared.
The latter used Morgana as a distraction to teleport them back to the real world.
Akechi turns to look at Ren, who is holding his phone and his other hand is clutching something which looks like a Talisman of some sort concludes his suspicions.
The sentimental fool had truly gone to great lengths just to revive a disgusting corpse of a killer...
He doesn't know whether to cry, or laugh, or scream in rage at him for caring too much. But now, he's too tired to do any of those. He recalls back when Ren kissed his forehead and his cheek, they felt genuine. They felt REAL.
Akechi realised he wants to feel those kisses again. His body tenses once Ren kneels in front of him, offering his hand once more.
"You still haven't give me an answer, Akechi. What I'm offering to you has no strings attached, no tricks, no lies, no hidden traps whatsoever. All I want is for you to take my offer and give yourself a second chance to live life to the fullest. If this isn't the life you want, then that's okay. I won't force you to stay here forever, you can choose to move out and find some place where you feel comfortable..." And there he goes, rambling off to who-knows-where in the country of Japan. Morgana just lays in Akechi's lap, shakes his head and rolls his light blue eyes at his owner's desperate nerdy way of saying: Please give me a chance to start a romantic relationship with you!
He glances down to his left hand being wrapped by Ren's; the raven-haired boy makes a soothing repetition of rubbing his knuckles in an intimate way. Huh... A particular habit out of nervousness.
Akechi can't help himself but smiles softly at the sneaky but sweet gesture.
Even though this is just a simple yes or no question, Akechi feels as if he's being plunge into the dark ocean. Uncertain, and terrifying, with nowhere to go but down, he can feel his heart pounding at an erratic speed! So, he starts by opening his mouth, but his answer gets caught in his throat, a shaky hand wraps around his neck in fear, but because of Morgana's hopeful, encouraging gaze that shines brighter than any stars in the night sky, he finally... Finally says YES.