Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Persona 5
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira
Characters: Akechi Goro, Persona 5 Protagonist, Kurusu Akira
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, GTA!AU, yes you're reading that right, ShuakeWeek2022, Aged-Up Character(s), Immortality, Alternate Universe - No Metaverse (Persona 5), Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, p3 and p4 characters exist in the au but arent mentioned here, personas and wild card still exist they just function differently, Implied Relationships, Fluff and Angst, POV Persona 5 Protagonist, Wings
Series: Part 4 of Shuake Week 2022
Summary:
They kicked Shido's ass, met the Shadow Operatives, and rule over South Los Santos; there's little else Kurusu can ask for right now. Well aside from some peace and quiet. He loves his fellow Phantoms Thieves, don't get him wrong, but sometimes he wants to get away from everything. It's more Los Santos than anything else. He used to live in another country entirely, his town was small, but it was his. Now he chokes on the air of the city and curses the corruption that has made this state its home. He's been changed permanently and there's little where else he can go, certainly not back to his hometown anymore.
The Phantom Thieves- his family, they helped make being here feel worth it. But that's not why he stays in the end. (It doesn't help that if he were to leave, they would follow making it a moot point.) Ultimately he stays not for them, not for the Shadow Operatives, sure as fuck not for the city. He stays for Akechi Goro. His enemy, his murderer, his rival. His friend, his confidant, his lover.
He couldn't say if it's can't or won't that Akechi doesn't leave San Andreas behind. But he knows no matter which one, he'll stay with Akechi. They won't be alone again.
fic under cut
3 a.m.
A haunted hour some say. For all the times Kurusu has stayed up here at this hour, he can safely say the only thing haunting this hour is him. Well… at least usually just him. Tonight he’s not alone in haunting the station roof. Sitting behind him is Akechi Goro, the once idol now ghost of Los Santos. The man watches the city while Kurusu watches the sea.
Their cars sit at the base of the mountain, by the cable car parking lot. Though neither particularly needs it if they want to get away from each other, they’re wildcards after all. But even if they weren’t, if push came to shove, it’s not like falling down the mountain could actually kill either of them.
Thankfully neither of them wants to get away.
Kurusu stretches and stands up. He sits down again next to Akechi this time, wings spread out behind him, catching the wind. Neither says anything, Akechi watching the city, Kurusu watching Akechi.
He doesn’t really know what Akechi sees in the city. It’s crowded and loud, the pollution practically chokes him. People hear gunfire and no one cares. It’s an ugly and rotten place where people like fucking Shido Masayoshi can thrive. The only things making the place worth it are his crew, his family.
But he doesn’t say any of this.
If anyone knows just how fucked up Los Santos is, it’s Akechi. He’s the one who had to actually work for Shido after all. He’s the one that lost his mother to this city. Who had to come into close encounter with the LSPD on a regular. Who bled himself out for this city. And yet… yet he still watches it as if it’s worth it.
The most bitter and jaded man Kurusu knows, yet he still thinks Los Santos is worth it.
And maybe Kurusu won’t say all the things Akechi already knows, but he still asks after what he doesn’t, “Why do you watch the city?”
If he caught Akechi off-guard it doesn’t show. He’d repeat himself except he can see Akechi’s expression shift into something more thoughtful. So he waits. And then Akechi answers, “The lights look like stars.” Kurusu looks back to the city.
He supposes Akechi isn’t wrong, particularly since the city is covered in fog. He still prefers the regular stars though, unfortunately, those are all covered by the light pollution from the city.
Akechi continues and Kurusu turns back to look at him, “My mother loved the stars you know. It’s one of the few things she never minded about the night.” A soft, but somber smile is on his face. “We didn’t have a computer to look things up and we could never afford the planetarium. But if we were together at night we’d go outside and look up. She’d always try to reach for them.”
A pause then, “I think she would’ve liked this view. She would’ve been able to touch the stars then.” He takes a deep breath, “That’s why I watch the city.”
“Because she loved the stars and you love her,” Kurusu summarizes.
Akechi finally turns from the city to look at Kurusu, “Because I love her,” he echoes. His smile is brittle but honest. And all Kurusu can think is how much he loves that smile even as it speaks of nothing but the bittersweet.
Akechi looks away, “It’s not all bad, you know? I learned what NASA calls their rovers since then.”
Kurusu snorts and asks, “Oh yeah, what do they call them?”
This time Akechi looks up at the sky as he says, “They called them Discovery, Curiosity, Explorer, Spirit, Opportunity, and Perseverance.”
“Humanity is shit for the most part, but sometimes,” Akechi looks back at Kurusu and says, “Sometimes we do pretty alright.”
Kurusu tilts his head. “You think she would’ve liked that?”
“Oh, she would’ve loved it,” Akechi looks at his hands, picking at his gloves, “No matter how bad things got she was still an idealist.”
“The same could be said for you right now, you know,” Kurusu teases, bumping his shoulder into Akechi’s.
Akechi smiles at him, “Guess that’s where I got it from then, hm?”
“Good or bad?”
Akechi bumps his shoulder into Kurusu’s this time, “One of the best things she could’ve given me.” He lays his forehead on Kurusu’s shoulder as he says, “Even after everything.”
Kurusu hums and curls a wing around Akechi. Akechi’s smile softens and the two turn back to the city. Kurusu rests his head on top of Akechi’s and smiles. The city still sucks, but Kurusu focuses on the lights. And it feels like their transformations aren’t the only thing keeping the cold out. There will be work to do in the morning. The city will call their names and they’ll answer just as they always have. But for now, they watch the city and think of the stars.
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