Akira didn't know how he'd feel if his prey took the bait. He expected it to be some combination of vindication, fury, relief, and satisfaction. Instead, blinking as he focused on the man holding a gun at them, he didn't feel any of that. It probably didn't help that his earlier fight with Makoto put him in a rather strange emotional state. He was mainly confused.

Instinctively, he covered his body in front of Makoto's, facing the assailant with a frown as the cobwebs in his emotional state recovered. He spared her a glance, and she appeared more annoyed by his chivalrous gesture than afraid of the man with the weapon. That made him feel better, it was so much like her to take more issue with being protected than with having a gun pointed at her.

Arata Kyome was looking for a different reaction, the lack of surprise the two shown to their new surroundings unsettled him."How about we have a little chat." He sneered, Makoto squinting her eyes at the man and thinking fast.

"Arata Kyome, you're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will be used against you. You have the right to attorney at your trial." She said quickly, as if trying to get it out as soon as she could.

"Ah, you must be the copper girlfriend. They'll be no need for that. Toss your weapon over there. I'd rather not have to dig my bullets out of your flesh if I don't have to." The man responded coldly, starting to feel more in control.

Akira's brow furrowed as his mind completed shifting gears, Makoto cautiously complying as she slowly removed her gun and tossed it aside. Kyome laughed. They were in the Metaverse, no doubt about, but everything seemed much more faded. There didn't seem to be any shadows. The whole palace they were in seemed painfully small, the edges of the playground slowly disintegrating into an ominous white void.

"Very good. Now... Kurusu, you're going to talk." He growled.

"You too. Why Yoshida Toranosuke?" Akira demanded, undisturbed by the barrel pointed at his chest.

This gave Kyome pause. He blinked a few times before barking out a cruel laugh. "Really? You demand... heh... heh heh... I suppose I might as well..." He considered aloud. "It's funny... there was no specific reason... I just wanted to try it out. Mato mentioned that your party was vying for acquiring the New Age party, which we had our eyes on. I just figured taking out the geezer would weaken your party enough for us to swoop in." He justified dismissively. "It worked. We grabbed them the next week after your star representative bit the dust. Haven't tried it again since, but I'm eager~"

Akira trembled with rage, his opponent seeming so flippant at murdering his mentor, so petty a reason. He felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder, Makoto's presence barely holding him back from unleashing his fury.

"Can't say I wanted to use it on the same party twice so close together. Wanted to be smarter than that. Smarter than the Shido Conspiracy was. Only involve me."

"And Okabe Emiya?" Akira growled.

"Damn, you know about him too?" Kyome sneered with slight frustration and appraisal. "He's somewhere in that void. Curious one, he was. When he started sinking and held out his hand for me, figured then was a good time as any to cut him off."

The way he dismissed everything was infuriating to Akira, his body tensing, deciding how exactly he was going to end this man.

"And now, your turn, Kurusu." The man ordered. Akira snapped his attention to the immediate threat, gauging distances, considering avenues and openings. "You're too young to have been part of it. There's no way you could have known about the app. How. How did you know?! Who else knows?! Tell me!"

Akira and Makoto blinked in slight confusion.

"You... you don't know?" He responded, Kyome gesturing his gun at him more.

"No! How the HELL could you have known about this place? My phone?"

Akira wanted to laugh. "You... you don't know who I am." He scoffed incredulously. He did let out a cruel chuckle.

"What? What do you mean? You're Kurusu. A wet behind the ears punk."

He couldn't believe it. It was too absurd. It was too ridiculous. His dark mocking laugh came back. It concerned Makoto, but unnerved Kyome more. "You mean to say..." Akira clarified, taking a step towards his foe. "That you've been trying to use this app..." Another step, Kyome taking a frightened step back. "For ten years..." Makoto looked more afraid for the man with the gun than the unarmed one bearing down on him. "And you forget how you GOT IT?!"

Blue flames erupted from Akira's body, his silhouette lost in the azure blaze. Joker stepped out.

It was in that moment, that Arata Kyome knew he screwed up.

"Phan-Phantom Thief!"

In a flash, Joker was upon him, gun knocked aside, the man's phone dropped, Kyome lifted by his neck by a blood red glove.

The moment was tense, blood red eyes boring into the choked man as his mind slipped, unable to get the much needed blood and air to his brain.

"Joker. That's enough." Makoto prompted.

Kyome blacked out, going limp. He still remained raised.

"Joker!"

The Phantom Thief lowered his victim in a slow descent, pressure relieved enough to allow his prey to survive, but kept his hand clasped around his neck. He held the limp body in his grip, considering his oh so many options.

He could snap his neck...

Maybe a few well placed blows to his face and head?

Did he have his knife again? He could use that.

It didn't matter. He just wanted to inflict as much damage as he possibly could on this pathetic worm in his hand.

Instead, after a few tense moments he let the man fall, staring at his unconscious body with cold disdain.

"...I wasn't going to."

"I know."

Joker let out a long sigh, the blue flames once again spewing forth in a smaller intensity as Representative Akira Kurusu reappeared. Makoto sprang forth to cuff the suspect as Akira looked around, getting a better look at the palace they were in. Picking up Kyome's phone, he glanced at the name.

"Figures. Mato is so laid back, I imagined he thought this was all a game." He grumbled. Makoto took a look around as well.

"Akira." She said shortly, nodding her chin near a slide. The ground was stained with a dark brown of long-dried blood, the color splattered over a baseball bat cast haphazardly aside. He stared at the scene with a numb understanding.

"Think there are still prints?" He hoped.

"Possibly." She replied, retrieving a pair of latex gloves from her purse. "This along with his confession builds a rather strong case, even leaving out the Metaverse."

"Confession?"

"You heard me tell him his rights? His little monologue there is completely admissible." She said smugly. "Pretty sure he's not supposed to have this gun, either. Or point it at a political rival and a police officer. Arata Kyome's going away for a long time."

Akira made a soft noise, a conflict of his earlier shame mixing with hope and his affection for the remarkable woman processing the crime scene as best she could in front of him. Without photos working, Makoto was furiously writing in her notepad.

He let her work, gazing out into the white haze void. "How much of this place will become public knowledge?" He wondered aloud. Makoto hummed in consideration as she wrote in her notebook.

"Hard to say... Not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of the Metaverse falling into the government's hands again..."

Akira looked at Kyome's phone. "Right. And how much of what just happened..."

Makoto looked up at him and smiled. "What I saw was Akira Kurusu defending himself and me with minimal necessary force."

He considered this with a chuckle. "Well, that is technically correct..."

"I expect a lot of my report will have to be 'technically correct'." She lamented with a sigh, not quite comfortable with that but understanding the need for it.

Watching Makoto bustle around gave him something to look at as he sat heavily on the ground, emotionally drained. The night was only going to get longer too, the next few hours and maybe days devoted to the oncoming investigation. Akira resigned himself to a night in a holding cell, given the sensitive nature of the matter. He wasn't sure if it would prevent him from seeing Makoto, so this time together would be precious.

His tired eyes tracked the determined expression she showed, the light of intelligence in her analyzing gaze, the amazing competence as she went from place to place within the small Palace, documenting everything. To be able to shift from confronting his stubbornness, to comforting him, to professionally handling the scene made his heart flutter with admiration and infatuation.

Even in his pathetic state, he knew what feeling that was. He wouldn't be able to keep it contained much longer.

Smiling to himself and considering himself incredibly fortunate to have her in his life, he stared down at his hands and started considering options. Izaya would no doubt want to publicize and capitalize on this. Did he want it to get out? All of it? Given the positions of all involved, a minor scandal at least would be inevitable. The Diet themselves would want one thing, the authorities another, the media would try to sensationalize everything, and Akira had his party and constituents to protect and represent. How would all the different factions approach him and what was best…

The thoughts proved a welcome distraction for him as Captain Niijima finished her documentation. He barely noticed as she stood by him, assessing his expression. The light returned to his eyes as he snapped out of his thoughts. "Ah, we done here?" He inquired as he got to his feet. Oof. He was tired.

"I believe I've got more than enough for now." She replied, drawing him into her arms and nuzzling against his shoulder. "Akira... you okay? It's been a pretty rouch night for you."

He returned the warm comforting hug. "I'm good. I mean it this time. It's over." He assured.

Makoto gestured over to a stirring Kyome. "You ready to get out of here? It's going to be a long night for the both of us."

Akira nodded. "Yes. But before we go…"

The kiss was deep. His hand cupped her jaw, his lips covering hers and their bodies drawing closer and closer as if magnetized as the two indulged in an affection they both knew would be scarce in the near future. He tried to pour as much of his emotion as he could, Makoto responding in kind, their hearts pounding with the reciprocated sensations. As they slowly parted, the look passed between them promised further discussion, further interaction, future indulgences, and so much more.

Akira grinned. "Alright. Let's do this."

The time that followed was quite busy for Representative Akira Kurusu.

By the time questioning was done two days later, the media was swarming him for further details about the encounter with Arata Kyome. The attention was more of a nuisance than a boon though, as not much could be discussed as part of the ongoing investigation and he wasn't going to be sharing much info about the actual sequence of events anyways. Although he did promise Ohya an exclusive, which made her day.

The Metaverse didn't factor much into the proceedings. Makoto still had connections in the SIU, and apparantly there was a small department devoted to the supernatural. The trial and investigation wouldn't be public anyways, given the political nature of everyone involved, so a lot more discretion would be possible anyways. Kyome's phone was confiscated, but apparantly it was recovered in a rather damaged state. The app was inaccessable. Akira 'couldn't say' how that happened.

The Recovery Party's popularity enjoyed a nice spike, though. Izaya was amazingly pleased and was pressuring all sorts of factions to rally support for their cause. Members and funding swelled, and polling predictions increased dramatically. It was incredibly easy to portray the party as the underdogs the 'corrupt higher ups' were trying to squash once a staffer from the ruling majority party literally assassinated their last elected member. They had to call in security for the numbers that gathered in Shibuya Square the next Sunday.

He had a lot on his plate, able to gather vague ideas of Makoto's status through Sae who was representing him during the investigation from the authorities. He knew it would be a couple days before they'd be able to speak to one another as not to allow Kyome's defense claims of collaboration, but each night when he managed to come home to his empty apartment, his heart felt just a little empty too. He wanted to change that. So, despite the media chaos, party restructuring from the swell of new membership, standard Diet duties, and trying to maintain communication with his own friends and family, Akira started planning for something else on top of that too.

It was a little over two weeks when his doorbell rang, the man leaping to answer it. The sight of her there restored a hungry gap that had been growing for a while, but also gave rise to another desire. One that Makoto apparently felt too as the two embraced. They had planned on sharing dinner, catching up, just chatting but that would all have to wait for now.

Much later, as they cuddled in bed and their heads cleared, the two were able to converse properly. "Makoto, how much longer is your lease on your apartment?" The look on her face spoke volumes. He couldn't stop grinning.

"Two months." She replied with a wide smile of her own.

"Move in with me."

She gave a playful hum as she pretended to consider this. "You sure we're not moving too fast~?"

Akira shifted onto his elbow, leaning over her to look deep into her sparkling eyes. "These past couple months have been amazing. You make me feel so powerful. So invincible. Probably part of why I felt so helpless with Old Man Tora's murder, but still. You're the only one who can call me out like you did. The only one I want. I want more of you in my life. I want to come home to you. I want you to come home to me." He spoke, his bottled-up emotions spilling out finally, the man riding high on endorphins. "I love you, Makoto. I am entirely, one hundred percent, head over heels in love with you."

The brief moments of her silence almost made a cold dread spread through him before he saw her eyes watering up, her expression softening and her hands finding his hair to draw him into a long kiss. "I love you, too." She whispered back.

The two savored the giddy rush as they stayed like that, bodies cuddled together under the blankets, lost in one another's gaze.

"I was actually wondering how to broach the subject myself." She giggled, glancing around his room, planning where her own possessions would go. "My building manager's been inquiring if I wanted to renew."

"Mmh. I'm happy. This is a big step on our journey together." Akira hummed back, both understanding and embracing the heavy implication that there would be many more big steps in their future. But for now…

"Nnngh… hungry…"

"I'll reheat dinner. You staying tonight?"

"I didn't plan to, but… yes. I'll have to wake up even earlier though…"

"That's fine, I probably have to get up at the same time too. You wouldn't believe the way things are at work now. I imagine it's the same for you?"

"Yes, your little stunt is causing a huge shake up internally. I suspect many quiet resignations are coming soon."

"I won't apologize~"

"Hehee I wouldn't ask you too."

The two got dressed and had dinner, catching up on each other's lives, sorting out logistics for short term plans, preparing themselves for the endeavors to come. Their minds were full of ambitions for their careers, hopes for their future, and the strong possibility of a life happily spent with the other by their side.

FINAL AUTHOR NOTES:
The end!

This is much more satisfying an ending to me for the pairing than the canon would allow. I want to thank all of you for accompanying me on the journey. I particularly want to thank everyone who fallowed, bookmarked, or favorited my work, it's so flattering to see my title added to the lists of people's personal preferred fics!

Also, huge gratitude for those who've left reviews along the way, including IarIz, Flickerblade, AKhaos, ThereThereBearBears, Freidyne, AS_0323, Ryuu_No_Kami, and *especially* PixieRed. Many of them have wonderful works of their own so I encourage you to check them out!

Receiving all your words of support and constructive criticism really helped motivate me to completing this. There were a lot of times that I grew frustrated that I didn't nail the writing the way that I hoped, but knowing you guys were still enjoying it regardless really helped me to post it anyways, despite the perceived shortcomings. I'll always want the story to be better written than what my talent can produce, but I am very happy to be putting ANYTHING out there and seeing it through to completion. I spent almost a decade not writing at all because of that, and it feels so satisfying to be getting back into the groove again.

As for the smut chapter, I was surprised to compare the different responses to it. FFN always had a much higher view count for my main fic, but AO3, you guys are such perverts you blew them out of the water in views. My main fic also saw a nice boost after posting it as well, so if you guys need to drum up some interest in your own works, write a sleazy side-chapter. ;)

This piece especially marks a personal milestone for me, my previous works were a warm up to this one to test the waters of my resolve. Now that I got it down on paper and out of my head, I hope to construct many more fics in the future that I was too lazy to get out before, or too afraid I wouldn't get 'just right'. Nothing feature length for the Persona Phan-dom at the moment, but I do have aa few short plot bunnies hopping around that I hope to share. We'll see how many prompts from ShuMako week I can manage too.

For anyone else reading this who has considered writing something of their own, I highly encourage you to do so. Even if it's not perfect. Especially if it's not perfect. I've read so many fics from MUCH more talented writers, but you wouldn't be reading this one if I let my hang-ups continue to best me. If you have a concept or idea, get it down on paper! I'm trying my best to leave feedback of my own on the ones I'm reading now, so maybe I'll even stumble across yours someday! And if you have a few comments of your own to add here, please do so! I love praise, but I also love criticism too!