The Detective Princess (Yusuke x reader x Akechi)

Chapter 27

Only feel happiness.

What does that feel like again?

I won't feel anything until I feel happiness again.

"Alright, gang! Listen up!" Morgana mused. "The calling card's been posted all over Shibuya."

"A good idea no? Given that the theatrical nature of his one, Kaneshiro must surely have been contacted about it." Makoto smiled, clearly proud of her plan. I stood beside Yusuke and listened to them. I just wanted to get this over with and return to work. They've called me to help them when they saw the calling cards all over Shibuya.

I bet Sae Niijima is going to be a part of this case too. She'll be a hassle to work with. Sae was always the type to compete against her coworkers despite them not even bothering to be better than her. She was already one of the best people in the agency.

"You truly are the brains of this Phantom Thieves operation! Ryuji, you should follow her example!"

The things Morgana said to Ryuji never sat right with me. Favoritism always leads to grudges against each other. It's very common. It's also why Sae Niijima and Akechi were always fighting. Akechi, being the star, always got the good cases, and she and I were given the other ones that no one wanted to take.

I've been noticing her desperation to take down her competition.

"Y'know, I'm the one who went postin' it everywhere, right!? I even had to get all dressed up so they wouldn't notice me." Ryuji glared at Morgana.

"Let's focus." I interrupted the two arguing and crossed my arms. "I like the idea of sending the calling cards all over Shibuya, Makoto, but Ryuji could have been jumped by Kaneshiro's goons if they had caught him."

"That's true. We're going up against a truly horrible criminal this time..." Ann said dejectedly and looked out to the city.

"You're right. I should have thought about his safety too." Makoto replied.

"Hey, at least I got away with it, right? But yeah, you're right, we should be more careful about this shit. That dick ain't gonna stop us not that we got our awesome new member! Makoto! You remember how this all works?"

"..."

"Once we steal the treasure, the Palace will crumble and the Palace ruler's heart will change."

"Wow! You got that quick! Alright, Akira, give us the signal!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

By the time we were at the palace, everything was on high security. You could see how stressed Kaneshiro was just by looking at how twisted and dark the palace had gotten. It was a lot colder than usual. The breeze was hitting my body way too much that I had to hug myself tightly and face away from that direction.

"Alright! Let's get started!" Mona cheered. Though he stopped after taking a look at me.

In fact, everyone was staring at me.

"Is something the matter?" I frowned and looked behind me. There wasn't anything there.

"Uhh, Y/N? What happened to your mask?"

I felt my face.

Why aren't I wearing my mask? Am I no longer a threat to Kaneshiro? That isn't even possible. There's no way. His palace is already at such a high level of security and I haven't even talked to Kaneshiro at all.

No, masks disappear if you haven't properly awakened to your persona or your determination isn't as powerful as before.

What's going on?

"How come? Can that happen to any of us too?" Panther asked and crossed her arms.

"I don't know. Everything was okay the last time we visited the palace too... Y/N, do you know what's going on?"

I shook my head and frowned.

"Not at all. Maybe once I enter the actual palace and see the treasure, it'll come back?"

"But now you're vulnerable. You may be right but how will we protect you if we'll be rushing through without fighting any shadows?"

"I still have the melee weapons. I can still defend myself, just not with a persona. Achyls was weak against most shadows though..."

"That is true..." Joker frowned and began to think of something. You could see how focused he got just by looking at him.

"Do you think she didn't awaken to her persona properly, Mona?" Panther asked.

"We can't be sure. She awakened to her persona on her own. All I know is that the trauma you've felt plays an important part."

That I knew. Trauma always kept a person going if it meant that have the chance to make a change. But why me? Does my persona no longer feel the need to fight with me?

Achyls, where are you? What's going on...?

"Wait, hold on. So if she doesn't change when we get to the treasure, what does that mean?" Skull frowned.

"We'll see. But for now, Skull, you and Fox will take care of her just in case any shadows target her. You know they target the weak prey." Joker ordered.

Weak prey? That's all I am now.

Damn.

That should have hurt me... But to be honest, it didn't.

"Gotcha. Now let's go kick some ass!" Skull hyped everyone up. We were all still confused, but tried to mimic the same enthusiasm he was spreading.

We ran through the palace. We were trying to be careful but also tried our hardest to go as fast as possible.

Meaning that we had to run away from every shadow that spotted us.

Every single shadow chased us. Skull stayed right behind me to make sure I wasn't falling behind and Fox ran right beside me, though I could tell both of them were trying not to pass me.

Am I really that slow?

"Joker! We're approaching the treasure. We should prepare before entering. Do we have all our items ready?" Makoto stopped us by the entrance.

"What will we do with Y/N if her persona doesn't show up? We can't just send her to the side!" Skull asked.

"I can handle myself. They won't pay attention to me if Kaneshiro will be protecting the treasure. As long as you guys fight him, I won't be harmed." I assured him. Though I wasn't too sure they'd like the idea.

This was way too dangerous but I don't want to be sent to the side like everyone else. I wanted to help in any way that I can.

Jokee stared at me for a second. Then he sighed and pulled me aside to where no one could hear us.

I already knew he was going to say no.

The risk was too much.

"Do you remember when we first came to the safe? Before we left, I spotted a couple ledges up top that isn't noticeable."

Why does this have to do with anything?

"If your persona does not appear, you will go up there immediately. I don't want you trying to fight if you can't summon her."

He grabbed the sleeve of my sweater and embedded something on it. It was pretty heavy.

It was a grappling hook.

"We'll figure out what happened to you. I don't want to send you away on your first heist. You and Makoto will watch and learn for the other heists that might happen later on."

"I understand. Thank you for not sending me away. I promise you, I won't let you down. I'll try to figure out what's wrong with me."

He nodded and cleared his throat before looking over to see if everyone was okay. How could someone so young be so mature? So much has happened to him and he puts his friends before himself.

I want to be like him.

I want to be like everyone, actually.

"Now, let's kick this guy's ass."