Like Rats Fleeing A Sinking Ship, Pt. 2

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Persona 5 Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji, Amamiya Ren/Sakamoto Ryuji Characters: Persona 5 Protagonist, Sakamoto Ryuji, Akechi Goro, Phantom Thieves of Hearts, (bc the others are there but not for long) Additional Tags: Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers, Third Semester (Persona 5), Angst, Whump, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mild Gore, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Sorry, no beta we die like merciless players, Minimally Verbal Persona 5 Protagonist, unless his friends do be acting up, anyway never get me on a rant about the post-shido-palace cutscene, because this is the kinda shit that can happen if you do Summary:

It wasn't like Akira hadn’t been planning to confront Maruki anyway, but... the knowledge that Akechi's life was dependent on his decision heavily complicated things. He knew he didn't have it in him to go against Akechi's wishes, though; the ex-detective had made it crystal clear that he would rather die free than live under the influence of another higher power. Akira had grappled with the dilemma for a while, tossing and turning atop his cot as the darkness of Leblanc's attic held little comfort, but eventually - as much as it had hurt him to think about - he'd resolved that he was prepared to have to let Akechi go, for his sake and for the rest of the world.

Akira had been finally ready to stop his racing thoughts in their tracks and sleep, despite the hour surely being ungodly by then. Unfortunately, his mind had other plans, having been given the space to wander and provide him with a thought that was perhaps even worse.

  What if Akechi's life wasn't the only one hanging in the balance?

Guys. Guys this isn’t my fic but it’s my dear friend @exist-without-saving‘s and it’s so good PLEASE read it please

https://www.tumblr.com/yumizurueleonora/759613838279753728/1-19-40-for-the-writing-ask

WHATTTT NUMBER 40!! WHAT HAPOENED

Idk man I had multiple concepts there that I kinda mixed up into one messy 9-word fic but it was like.

1. Akito got hit by a car to bring the Arata being the meaner version of Toya thing up to 11

2. Also could have been a self-harm Leo/need Toya thing?

People who write fic on mobile genuinely frighten me

So, I decided to write another fic. It’s basically me poking fun at tropey RPF fanfics. It’s pretty much crack but I enjoyed writing it and I did put a disclaimer in the notes, but here it is again: I am not against x Readers! I just find RPF fanfiction really creepy and it’s funny to write about!

Hey, here's a fun new game. Put "📓" or some other version of a book emoji into my inbox and I'll explain the plot of a fanfiction that I haven't written but daydream about.

PERSONA Q2 FANFIC... YOU ARE A WRITER OF CULTURE. will have to read- I'm currently playing through Q2 :D

HELLO THERE.

Hikari/Futaba Sakura is peak and I actually love them so much. Sumitaba is great but I got attached to Hikaritaba and I can’t think of anything else now.

toya and/or honami for the character thing!!

I just wanna say I love everyone sending me L/n right now I love them so goddamn much

Toya:

Honami:

I hope none of you disappear in the coming days. Seriously don't do anything that can't be undone.

Whumptober Day 8: Sleep Deprivation

5 Times The Phantom Thieves Didn't Sleep + 1 Time They Did

I

Hey, let’s meet up at Mementos today.

Yusuke’s ashamed of the tension that goes through his back at that text. The literature professor had decided to give them all a surprise take-home paper to write and turn in by tomorrow, and he really needs to work on it.

But, he can’t let his grades come before making sure his friends are ok, can he? Or the people who made those requests. It’s not a problem, he can just work late tonight. And take some time to work on that piece for class.

He’ll be fine with only a couple of hours of sleep.

II

“Makoto?” Sae asks. “You’re back late.”

“Sorry, busy with some work after school,” Makoto replies, yawning. If it’s resolving a Mementos request for another student, then technically it’s Student Council work. It’s her responsibility as Student Council President to resolve it at least.

“Are you prepared for your exam at cram school tomorrow?”

Makoto blinks. “Huh?”

“Makoto! I’m paying for you to go and–”

“No, I meant, erm why would you even bother to ask that?” Makoto chuckles. “Obviously I’m ready for it!”

“Good, even if it’s a practice exam, it’s important to be confident now so you’re even more prepared for your entrance exams.”

Makoto goes to the kitchen and makes herself a pot of coffee. She shouldn’t be up too late.

III

“Does this shit make any sense to you?” Ryuji asks.

“Nope,” Ann sighs. Putting the math textbook down. Two heads are supposed to be better than one, but maybe math homework is just too powerful for that.

“God,” Ryuji says, “I feel like you’re gonna call me a shithead for this.”

“I call you a shithead for a lot of things, what is it?”

“It fucking sucks that Ren asked us to go to Mementos today.”

“Honestly? Hard agree.” They’d invited Ren to their homework session today, but he’d never gotten back to them. Not that he needed it, but you know, it was always nice to hang out.

Except they wanted to do this in the afternoon, when they’d have more time and could meet at a cafe.

Instead, Ren decided today was the best day for requests.

“What if we blocked off Mementos for like, Wednesdays?” Ryuji suggests. “Then we can schedule around it better?”

“But what if a request is urgent. Plus Palace stuff.”

“Ugh, you’re right.”

Ann flops back and lets the textbook cover her face.

“Ann?”

“Yeah.”

“I kinda hate that I can’t tell him no.”

“Yeah, I know but like, it’s whatever?” Ann says. “That’s just part of being a student and a Phantom Thief, I guess.”

IV

Haru practically dives for the phone when she hears it ring. “Futaba-chan?”

“Hey, I got the info you wanted,” Futaba says. “This investor seems pretty clean.”

“Oh my gosh, thank you so much,” Haru says. “I’m supposed to get this report in to the investors tomorrow and I can’t ask for a delay and I wasn’t sure who to trust and–”

“Hey, no problem!” Futaba says. “Just don’t tell them you heard it from me.”

“Thank you, I owe you so much, Futaba-chan.”

“No prob, I’m probably gonna pass out, how about you?”

“I can’t, there are still things I need to arrange with my father’s will and then I’m meeting with lawyers in the morning, goodness I need more coffee!”

“How much have you had?” Futaba asks.

“Oh, four or five–”

“Cups?”

“Pots.”

“Holy shit, Haru!”

“I know, I know,” Haru says. “I was going to do all of this after school but then we had that Mementos run and now I have to do it all before morning.”

“You should have just told Ren you couldn’t make it! He gets we have lives, it’s not like he hangs out with us every time we ask.”

“Mementos is different Futaba, you know that. I’ll talk to you later.” Haru hangs up and gets back to work.

V

It’s not wrong to hack her friends’ phones if she’s genuinely concerned for their well-being, Futaba tells herself.

Besides, taking a quick peak at their calendars is like, barely snooping. She could text and ask them but she’s really hoping they’re asleep.

She’s not, but she doesn’t have school in the morning. She can go to bed at 7am and still get the proper eight hours of sleep a growing girl needs.

She and Morgana are the only ones who aren't students and Phantom Thieves though, and oh boy is being a high school student busy.

Let’s see, Makoto has an exam at cram school tomorrow, Haru had that meeting they were just talking about, Ryuji and Ann were texting (ok texts were a bit more snooping than calendars, but like, it’s important!) about meeting up to do a bunch of homework they’d put off while they were clearing Sae’s Palace, and Yusuke had an email reminder from a teacher about an essay.

And none of them had brought any of this up when Ren asked them all to go to Mementos today.

Damn, looks like Futaba has to be the responsible one.

+1

Ren doesn’t know why Futaba suddenly suggested group movie night, but hey, it’s always good when she wants to be social, and his schedule’s free now that they’ve finished up the requests.

They all gather around the attic, and Ren’s a little worried about them all watching the tiny TV, but it’s not really a problem, because pretty much everyone else falls asleep by the fifteen-minute mark.

“Wow, they’re tired,” Ren says. “Guess they don’t have Mona to tell them to get to bed early.”

“Uh, Ren about that?” Futaba asks. “Do you ask if anyone has stuff going on before saying to meet up for Phantom Thief stuff?”

Ren blinks. “I mean, I guess not but I figure they’ll tell me if it’s super urgent.”

“Ok, but see, I think they don’t,” Futaba says. “I actually asked all of them about it, and they feel really bad about canceling Mementos plans, so they push all their stuff back and do it at night. Like none of them got any sleep the last couple of days.”

Ren furrows his brows. He kinda, hasn’t thought about how his friends are always willing to show up when he calls for a meeting, even on days they’re not normally free to hang out. He just, you know, figured they did the same things he did. He doesn’t have a problem getting everything done before going to Mementos.

Then again, he’s the one picking Mementos days because he has nothing else going on.

“I’m a shit leader,” Ren says head hanging back.

“No, I don’t think you’re shit!” Morgana says. “We just gotta tell them they don’t have to come to Mementos if they’re busy, it’s not a problem to push it back.”

“We could like, make a group calendar?” Futaba suggests. “Plan ahead a little bit? I mean Palaces and emergencies are one thing, but I dunno, maybe everyone can plan better and say if they super duper can’t?”

“Yeah,” Ren says. “But uh, let’s do that later. They look like they need their sleep right now.”

like rats fleeing a sinking ship, pt. 3

intermission i

A/N: “intermission,” basically just means I couldn’t get a Whumptober prompt in there.

TW: mentions of being shot

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AO3

After a bit of arguing, Akira gives his bag to Haru with Morgana inside it, and takes Akechi with him to Crossroads. If given the choice, Akira would have preferred leaving Akechi at Takemi’s apartment to rest, but over the last three days since the notice for the Phantom Thieves’ arrest went out, Akechi has proven that he will refuse to sit still even if it’s for his own health, so he’s coming with Akira.

Akira lets Akechi get a seat on the train and stands up, watching the people on the train mutter amongst themselves. The news bulletin is giving updates about the “dangerous thieves at large.”

“…my aunt had a change of heart before she collapsed…”

“I heard they’ve given mental shutdowns to children too…”

“…put her name on the PhanSite. I hope Shido catches those thieves before something happens to her. She may be a bitch but I don’t want her to die.”

“So quick to turn on their supposed heroes,” Akechi mutters.

Akira hums.

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