Chapter Text
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Rivals But Never Enemies
Thursday—Febuary 2
Damn it.
Ren’s thumb cramped for the third time this evening from holding his phone so tightly. Morgana flicked his tail and arched his back in an idle stretch, toes curling as the claws poked out. He jolted the moment his phone rang, picking up the anticipated call on the first ring.
"My apologies for calling so late. This is Maruki by the way."
Ren's breath seemed to hitch and the weight of the phone seemed to attenuate his already pathetic grip strength.
"I'm actually rather close by…would you mind lending me an ear? There's something important we need to talk about…and if you do intend to confront me, I believe there’s something you have to give me first.”
"All right," he replied softly, nodding even though the recipient would not be able to see.
Was there any merit?
“Thank you. I’ll be at the cafe shortly—see you later.”
The leader’s fingers dug into his thigh as he pocketed his phone, jaw aching from the amount of clenching.
“I caught all of that. Just as we suspected, he knew he’d have to get a calling card. I have no clue how this meeting is going to go down.”
“Uh, hey…Ren,” Morgana added, pricking his ears up as those blue eyes stared at him…or perhaps through him. “Just make sure you keep your guard up, okay?”
And though Ren was quick to nod, he wanted to know why Morgana would say something so obvious—that was unless the feline knew something he didn’t and it was very much a likely possibility. Still, time was short and he hadn’t any to interrogate the other before the final confrontation.
“Maruki’s finally coming. Are you mentally prepared?”
Again, the question would not have raised any eyebrows if he did not know any better… weeks of meticulous planning and Morgana truly thought he would be swayed now?
“Let’s go,” Ren responded with conviction, though his expression may have insinuated otherwise.
“However you respond to Maruki, I trust you,” Morgana added as an afterthought, claws working the little, wooden table that he sat on. “I know you’ll make the right decision.”
It was an ominous choice of words and ones that made Ren ponder, but the bell to Leblanc’s door carried up to the attic. With no time left to discuss, the Leader stuck his hands in his pockets and headed downstairs, spotting Maruki standing awkwardly by the door. Memories of the past year with him circled around his thoughts and it felt like he was staring at an old friend rather than the stranger who threatened their reality. The psychologist took a seat at one of the booths on his own accord, gesturing for him and Morgana to follow in suit, which they did without hesitation.
“Sorry for the last-minute visit. How’s Yoshizawa-san holding up? I’ve been concerned about a potential relapse, considering her difficulties with accepting this reality.”
Ren could feel his face morph into a look of displeasure, but he was quick to fix it. “She’s just fine.”
“I see,” Maruki said and cupped his chin in a hand; his own features changed as he must have seen Ren’s expression. “No, that’s great news.”
Beside him, Morgana snorted softly.
“So...getting down to business…I wanted to confirm with you one last time. Is there no other way to come to an agreement besides fighting?”
He despised Maruki for speaking as if they all had a choice; in either reality, Ren was a prisoner…trapped to whatever future Fate dished out for him.
“The reality I created may seem distorted from your point-of-view, but it’s a reality where everyone is happy. If you just stay, you’ll never have to suffer the pain of loss, or the pain from having people and things stolen away from you!”
There was a stagnant pause before he rebuked with narrowed but not unkind eyes. “Like you have?”
The dumbfounded look on Maruki’s face was admittedly satisfying.
“So…you saw what happened with Rumi. I’m not the one who suffered—she is…but she’s still living a wonderful life right now…” Maruki apprised, speaking in a tone that sounded superficially convincing. However, Ren was hardly the ingenuous fool he was before. “In this world you call a ‘distorted reality’.”
Morgana's ears twitched, as if gauging for an answer he was not going to get verbally. "But she still doesn’t remember you, right? And you’re fine with that?”
Despite his reservations, even Ren could not completely satiate his curiosity of Maruki's past.
“She may not be in my life anymore, but at least her own life is a happy one now. I’m not just doing this for Rumi—I want all of you to live just as happily as she is…but for Rumi’s happiness to last, I have to move on. After all that’s happened to her—to me—I just can’t drag her into it.”
Morgana flattened his ears. “Doc…”
“My stance will not change. Strange circumstances have led to my gaining this power—however, I now recognise it as being wholly inevitable. This is something only I am capable of doing. I promise every person alive will be happy in the world I create.”
But who told him to play God?
Ren's desires were his own, but before him sat a doctor, a self-sacrificing doctor willing to throw everything away for a reality that pandered one’s every whim—
Where had he heard that before?
"So, let me ask you the same. After really considering every option, do you have any doubts about your views?”
The equivocation sparked his ire and the question came out as harsh as he intended. “What are you getting at?”
“I suppose it’s more accurate to ask, ‘do you two gentlemen have any doubts’?” Maruki asked with a deridingly pointed tone. With his head turned to the side, he addressed what it seemed to be the front door. “You’re here, aren’t you…Akechi-kun?”
The bell to the door rang softly as Tokyo’s ace detective and most recent ally came strolling through the door as if times were old and past events never occurred. His heart plummeted to his stomach as he nearly leaped to his feet.
“Akechi,” Morgana exclaimed, eyes widening.
“You caught me,” Goro said to the doctor in that same, sickeningly saccharine but eerie tone. Those copper eyes never revealed anything, but those gloved hands were tightening into fists—
Ren’s breath hitched as his hand went to the left pocket of his jeans because sitting inside it was the very glove that now covered Goro’s right hand.
How had he not noticed it before?
“Oh, it was just a hunch,” Maruki’s voice said, slicing through Ren’s train of thought and dragging back to the present. He turned his gaze back to the leader and addressed him. “This issue doesn’t only affect you, Amamiya-kun. Akechi-kun, this involves you, too.”
“Both Akechi and me?” Ren asked before he could stop himself, eyes never leaving Goro even if he was speaking to another.
Goro grunted, a noise so soft, anyone would have missed it if their attention was not solely on the brunet.
“What do these two have to do with…?”
“The relationship you two share is very unusual…” Maruki said, leaning forward as if trying to do a bit of soul-searching along the way. “A detective and a Phantom Thief.”
Ren gritted his teeth, fingers twitching as if they wanted nothing more than to strike Maruki across the face. He hated the way the psychologist sat across from him, sanctimoniously so, and evaluated their bond like he had the slightest idea.
“Despite being enemies, your relationship isn’t based on hatred or ill will.”
Enemies.
He almost laughed aloud as the idea was so preposterous; if Maruki had any idea of what he was speaking about, he would have known Goro was never an enemy and could never be. Ren stole a sideways glance at his detective and felt his chest tighten.
“That’s why I found it so tragic when I learned what happened in Shido’s Palace.”
Morgana winced beside him as his tail purposely brushed against his leg. However, Ren’s mind already flickered back to memories he had on that god forsaken ship—the desperation, the grief, the self-hatred, the loss…the loss of hope, strength, confidence…the loss of will to fight…
“Say, Amamiya-kun,” Maruki said, voice vaguely registering. “Didn’t you regret how things ended with him?”
Ren could feel Goro’s eyes fall on him, but he still could not bring himself to feel shameful for admitting it.
“You two came to a deep understanding of one another,” Maruki continued, now seemingly aware of the tension. “Yet you had no choice but to leave Akechi-kun to his fate.”
While he could sit there and vehemently deny doing such a thing, Ren knew it would be fruitless. His desires, though private, were not undetectable. Regret was one way of putting his feelings into words, but he was sure regret was an understatement and Ren was certain Goro would catch on…
“That’s why I created a reality where you two could have a fresh start together.”
The confession was precisely what he was hearing. Opulence, greed, lust…none of it mattered in paradise; Ren felt assured his reality was left untouched, unaffected by any vulnerable desires he secretly had.
“That would mean the Akechi in the real world is…”
No.
“Get what I’m saying?” Maruki said gently, leaning back and folding his hands in his lap as if this was a mere conversation about the weather. “I genuinely didn’t want to tell you like this. I didn’t want to make it seem like I’m holding him hostage. But, no matter what you may think of me, I just want you all to accept this reality and move on with your happy lives.”
“And that matters, how, exactly?” Goro sneered, lip curling back as he confronted the doctor without his usual grace or pleasurable attitude. “Don’t tell me you think dangling my life before us is going to have any impact on our decision.”
Ren’s eyebrows drew together, rising in an irate state. “So, you knew…”
“Well, I lacked conclusive evidence,” Goro replied in that drawling, bored tone that Ren detested right now. “But after I fought against you all, I had a gap in my memory that ended with meeting up with you again. There were also the cases of Isshiki Wakaba and President Okumura…of course I’d find all of that suspicious.”
“I see…I had a feeling the truth of the matter still wouldn’t dissuade you, Akechi-kun.”
Ren felt his face burn red; the truth of the matter would never evade the detective…just him.
Maruki turned to him. “‘You think dangling my life before us is going to affect our decision?’ That’s what Akechi-kun said a moment ago. If that’s how you see it at this point, I’m fine with it. But, I’m still going to ask you one last time. Will you accept the reality I create for you?”
Ren’s eyes finally dragged back to Maruki.
“You were the guiding light to my research. You showed me the way so I could make my dream into reality. I have nothing but gratitude for you—not a single ounce of ill will. That’s why I wanted you, of all people, to understand.”
Fate dealt him a hand worse than the lowest cards. The man, who had the audacity to put not only a life, but Akechi's life on his hands, had the brazen gall to compliment him…to praise him…to treat him as an equal when Ren was nothing more than an animal caged with shackles.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t ask you for an answer on the spot like that. I’ll be going now.”
“You forgot something,” Ren said, devoid of emotion. With shaking hands, he pulled out the calling card from the interior breast pocket of his blazer, flicking it over without a single twitch of his stony expression.
“Ah, that’s right,” Maruki said as he picked up and read the card. “I’ve heard your calling.”
Ren’s hands gripped his knees so relentlessly, he was sure it left bruises by now.
“And about my question—let’s do this. I’ll be waiting in the Palace tomorrow just as I promised. If you still haven’t changed your mind by then, we’ll meet there. But, if you don’t show, I’ll take that to mean you’ve accepted my reality.”
He turned his back on the two teens and made his way to the door.
“See you,” came the soft farewell and without a trace of malice.
The perpetual silence slipped over the cafe like a blanket, but Morgana was quick to break it.
“What are you gonna do?”
“I’d like to speak with Ren…”
The ravenet looked up at his rival with apprehension and dread.
“Akechi…” Morgana trailed off before nodding. “Gotcha…I’ll leave the decision up to you, Ren—let me know when you’ve reached an answer.”
The sleek feline leaped from his seat and climbed out the open window, leaving a wider gap for the breeze to penetrate through. Ren watched with resignation as his friend departed, but the privacy granted between him and Goro was imperative.
He rose to his feet, hands in his pockets, and approached his friend with trepidation.
“I will carve my own path for myself.”
Ren’s hand gripped the glove in his pocket as he listened, drenching it with sweat for the upteenth time this evening.
“I refuse to accept a reality concocted by someone else, stuck under their control for the rest of my days.”
He was irresolute, unable to pull himself from the rut of doubt. “But then you’ll…”
Ren couldn’t even finish—he couldn’t even bring himself to finish.
“So what?” Goro snarled in response, the kind of reaction that was expected when he was nothing more than a fish in a barrel. “That’s the path I chose. All you have to do is stick to your guns and challenge Maruki.”
Ren snorted, a look of disbelief washing over his exhausted features.
“Or are you really so spineless that you’d fold over some bullshit, trivial threat on my life?”
The ravenet felt his temper flare as he took a bold step forward, lip lifting as a snarl came over his face. With his exhaustion replaced with chagrin and disapprobation, finally, the shadow of Joker could be seen without the mask.
“This isn’t small potatoes.”
“It is!” Goro growled, his own frustration evident in his tone as he looked away. “Do you think I’d be happy with this? Being shown mercy, now of all times?”
Resentment towards Maruki, someone Ren once considered a friend, rose to its maximum. It was going to come out either now and on Goro or later and on himself.
“I don’t want to be pitied—this isn’t something I’m debating with you!”
Ren glared but in vain; he was outdone…outmatched like always.
“I want to hear you say it out loud. What do you intend to do?”
Was there an answer?
For the first time, Ren was unsure.
Realisation struck him hard—Maruki had tampered with his reality, creating one he secretly dreamed of but never voiced aloud…or so he thought. What foolishness to think he was above that sort of trickery…that he was above the brainwashing. He was as malleable and impressionable as society’s sheep and he admittedly could not bring himself to hate it.
“I won’t wait a moment longer. Answer me.”
“We’re stopping Maruki.”
Though they came from his mouth, they sounded foreign, poisonous even. Everything in his body seemed to cease as the words fell out. He would lose what mattered to him the most but who would he be if he didn’t showcase a rebellious, iconoclastic influence? Craven? Fatuous?
“All right,” Goro said with an empty, ingenuine smile. “I’m relieved to hear it. I will never accept this form of reality. I’m done being manipulated. Let’s go back…to our true reality. We have to win this—no matter what.”
Ren was left there to stare at the closing door and Goro’s retreating back. And while he occasionally welcomed the solitude (when time with his friends became overwhelming), being left alone felt like the last thing he wanted to do.
“Wait,” he said before he could stop himself, seizing his jacket that hung from the back of a barstool and running out after Goro. “Akechi.”
“What do you want, Amamiya?”
“Believe in me.”
*****
“This sure brings back memories…it’s been quite some time since we last got together like this.”
“Nostalgic, huh?”
The two were seated in the old Jazz Club in Kichijoji and though it was bittersweet, Ren could not help but bring Goro here for their last night. It was, after all, the only thing he had left within himself.
“Nostalgic, eh? You very well could be right,” Goro said with a ghost of a smile upon those gaunt features. “I’m remembering things that are a bit too bitter for me, though…”
Ren was comforted by the fact he was not alone in that sense.
“At any rate, I want to thank you about the deal we made on the ship. Shido was arrested in our reality after his heart was changed by the Phantom Thieves. Could this really be…?”
“Just upholding the deal,” Ren murmured softly.
“Boy, you’re honest to a fault, aren’t you?” Goro said plainly, even bluntly but not unpleasantly so. “For so, so long, I’ve wanted to crush him…but it seems you took care of that for me. Sorry, but I don't see this as a favor to me. If anything, it’s the exact opposite. After all, I lost my one shot at revenge.”
Once again, the familiarity of Goro’s unwavering determination to disdain obsequiousness offered that small sense of comfort.
“Still hung up on that?”
Goro knitted his eyebrows as he straightened up. On the contrary, Ren leaned back in his chair, legs folded at the knee and arms folded over the chest.
“Are you saying I’m being illogical with this?” the brunette asked, sounding taken aback before shrugging a shoulder. “I’m well aware. I know this isn’t the reaction I’d usually have, but it’s how I feel, so there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Goro shifted in his seat as Ren tried to keep his shaky hands undetectable.
“Maruki may claim to be distorting reality so as to grant wishes to society at large. However, that’s still nothing more than the most convenient path to attaining his wishes. It’s no different than Shido.”
While there was truth to his statement, Ren could not bring himself to conjure up a response.
“What’s a life worth in a reality that was cooked up just to satisfy someone else?”
The staccato in Goro’s voice made Ren hopeful there was still a chance he would…
No, he felt shameful for thinking that.
“I’d say…none.”
“I get how you feel,” Ren admitted reluctantly.
The upward curvature of Goro’s lips indicated a sense of renewed energy. “Your straightforwardness is quite aggressive…actually, it’s to the point of irritation. I genuinely cannot comprehend how you live your life like that.”
Again, the Leader was left to decipher the meaning behind those words, having learned never to take Goro’s statements at face value.
“After speaking with you here, though, I’ve come to a realisation,” said the studious teen, eyes never straying from his own. “While I may never accept this form of reality, I cannot face it alone. When we return to our reality—our real one, you must promise to remember something.”
Curiosity piqued, he held his breath.
“I was your greatest rival.”
Unbeknownst, unseen, and undetectable to the other patrons, the room began to slow until it came to standstill. Familiar, blue flames illuminated the Detective as he broke out into a wicked grin.
“So this is it,” Goro said with a chuckle. “This is great…I feel so alive!”
The flames licked the ceiling as its power grew, spanning out to engulf the stage, piano and all. The sound of crackling wood thrummed painfully off Ren’s ears as his own set of flames protected him from the skin-melting heat.
“I’ll sow chaos as far as the eye can see!”
Ren barely had enough time to throw up a hand before the light emitting from the other nearly burned him blind. The heat, as intense as it was, crawled underneath his skin—through every pore, filling his body with agony. Fatigued muscles became new and weary bones grew strong.
With his hand still held up to shield some of light from his gaze, Ren watched the fire tame itself until the incessant blazing blue dimmed to an indigo. Goro opened his eyes and lifted his head once more, seemingly controlling the flames to die out. The sound of bustling crowds and mingled conversations filled Ren’s ears once more and time had continued right where it left off.
“You still have my glove, right?” Goro asked pleasantly, sitting up straighter. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that…I simply can’t lose to you again.”
A hint of a true smile finally punctured through his hollow features, revealing the ghost of Joker’s fighting spirit. If it was a promise, Ren knew Goro would never go back on it.
Hope you enjoy!