[That line of thought... it was absolutely valid. It's hard to say that "anyone who had a palace" was deserving of having their heart stolen, because that wasn't always true, even as they had seen in Makoto's sister's palace. The line between doing what was just and doing what was done for self-preservation wasn't as thick as it should have been. But there were controls; there were meetings after meetings. Evidence was always needed.
But each and every member of the Phantom Thieves, Akechi included, had been royally shafted by society. Each one of them had been hurt, viscerally, by the crimes those palace owners had caused. And because of that pain, they knew, ultimately, that they would never steal the heart of a person who didn't deserve to have it stolen in the first place. They were the robin hoods of their world. Act outside the bounds of the legal system, avenge those who couldn't avenge themselves.
And that's why it's so complicated.]
Yeah... [Talking about Akechi... is this the right thing to do? Ryuji doesn't know. He probably shouldn't have said anything at all, but here he finds himself even needing to protect their traitor. It's a weird, fucked up feeling.]
We had just stolen Okumura's treasure- the thing that generates... all those corrupt desires. And then someone had come in and destroyed the person guarding it. That person's kinda like... someone's inner self. Their shadow? I guess. But once you destroy that, you destroy the center of their existence. They lose their sense of self completely and... die. We didn't know that at the time, though. We never saw... what he had done.
[It was inexplicable.]
We even celebrated at Destinyland that night. And then... the press conference... [He visibly shudders. It was something televised that he never wants to bring up again. Okumura had a heart attack on tv as black blood started pouring out from inside him. Ryuji doesn't mention it.]
But... Akechi... man. I know what you're probably thinkin', too. Like, he's a murderer, he ought to pay for what he did. It ain't that simple either. He was being used. I told you the cards were stacked against him to begin with, right?
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But each and every member of the Phantom Thieves, Akechi included, had been royally shafted by society. Each one of them had been hurt, viscerally, by the crimes those palace owners had caused. And because of that pain, they knew, ultimately, that they would never steal the heart of a person who didn't deserve to have it stolen in the first place. They were the robin hoods of their world. Act outside the bounds of the legal system, avenge those who couldn't avenge themselves.
And that's why it's so complicated.]
Yeah... [Talking about Akechi... is this the right thing to do? Ryuji doesn't know. He probably shouldn't have said anything at all, but here he finds himself even needing to protect their traitor. It's a weird, fucked up feeling.]
We had just stolen Okumura's treasure- the thing that generates... all those corrupt desires. And then someone had come in and destroyed the person guarding it. That person's kinda like... someone's inner self. Their shadow? I guess. But once you destroy that, you destroy the center of their existence. They lose their sense of self completely and... die. We didn't know that at the time, though. We never saw... what he had done.
[It was inexplicable.]
We even celebrated at Destinyland that night. And then... the press conference... [He visibly shudders. It was something televised that he never wants to bring up again. Okumura had a heart attack on tv as black blood started pouring out from inside him. Ryuji doesn't mention it.]
But... Akechi... man. I know what you're probably thinkin', too. Like, he's a murderer, he ought to pay for what he did. It ain't that simple either. He was being used. I told you the cards were stacked against him to begin with, right?