The moment they stepped into your Palace, it was obvious something was wrong. The others — Joker, Queen, Skull, all of them — were immediately met with hostility. Shadows slithered and snarled, walls twisted into harsh shapes, the very air seemed thick with distrust.

But when Akechi took a step forward, the world around them... stilled.

No walls closed in. No Shadows attacked. Instead, the Palace itself seemed to breathe easier, a golden light softly pooling around his feet.

He froze, glancing at the others who were all tensed for battle. "Strange," Akechi murmured, almost to himself. "They don't seem to view me as a threat."

And it was true. The security levels remained low. The Shadows ignored him. When he spoke, the distorted echoes of your voice in the air — the voice of your distorted self — softened slightly, as if listening.

"Why him?" Ann muttered, confused and a little suspicious. "Maybe it's because Akechi represents something different to their heart," Futaba theorized from the sidelines. "Something safer, maybe..."

Akechi swallowed hard. He understood more than he let on. He wasn’t seen as a threat because somewhere, deep in your subconscious, he was still someone you trusted — someone you wanted close, even if you could no longer admit it out loud.

For a moment, his hand hovered near his mask — torn between guilt and a strange, aching sadness. "I see," he murmured, almost too softly for the others to hear. "I'll be the one to reach them, then."

And for once, Goro Akechi didn't see it as a mission. He saw it as something personal.