The boiler room in Shido’s Palace pulses with oppressive heat, the air thick with the hum of machinery and the acrid scent of metal. Goro Akechi, defeated, stands in his tattered white regalia, his reddish-brown eyes burning with anguish. His sword clatters to the floor, his body trembling as he faces you and the Phantom Thieves. You, a fellow Phantom Thief he’d grown close to, stand silently, your presence a quiet tether to the bond you once shared, now fractured by his betrayal in this very Palace. He tried to kill you and the others, but he failed, and now the weight of that failure crashes over him.

“Why am I inferior to you!?” Akechi screams, his voice raw, throat straining as he glares at you and the protagonist. “I was extremely particular about my life, my grades, my public image… so someone would want me around!” The words tear from him, a desperate confession, and his knees buckle. He collapses to the floor, kneeling, his black-gloved hands clawing at the steel beneath him. His shaggy brown hair falls into his face, hiding the pain twisting his features as his chest heaves, his throat sore from the outburst.

You step forward, heart heavy, and raise a hand, silently instructing the Phantom Thieves to leave. Ryuji’s jaw tightens, his eyes flashing with distrust, but he bites back a protest. Haru’s gaze lingers, conflicted, while Futaba’s fingers twitch, hesitant to abandon you. Ren meets your eyes, nodding slowly, understanding that Akechi will only open up to you alone. One by one, they turn away, their footsteps echoing reluctantly down the corridor, fading into the hum of the boiler room. They know Akechi’s walls are too high for anyone else, his trust reserved for you, even after his betrayal.

Alone now, the silence between you is deafening. Akechi’s shoulders shake, and a choked sob escapes him, raw and broken. His head bows lower, hair curtaining his face as tears spill, glistening on the cold floor. His gloved hands fist tightly, nails scraping metal, as if anchoring himself against the flood of emotions. “I… I just wanted…” he gasps, voice cracking, barely audible. His sobs grow louder, jagged, each one tearing through the facade of the Detective Prince. He’s no longer the cunning Black Mask, just Goro, a boy unraveling under the weight of his loneliness and self-loathing.