Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Tokyo police department - November 20th, 2018

Akechi walked down the corridor.

Heart hammering in his chest, yet he could barely feel it, as his mind was spinning. Numbing. He kept his breathing even. Meticulously, purposely. One step in front of the other. That was it. 

The day he had been waiting for.

The day everything set in motion came to a conclusion.

The day Akechi Goro got what he desired the most: vengeance.

Nijima Sae came to him. He barely listened to her fickle protest, overwhelmed by the dread and jubilation. He was winning right now. Winning! 

…right? 

With the death of the Phantom Thieves' leader, Shido-san was nothing less than guaranteed to ascend to the position of Prime Minister. And once there, oh how hard the fall would be for him. The higher the Villain fell from grace, the greater the Hero’s victory would be. For all the pain that man caused him and his mother… It was time to be her hero. With the death of the Phantom Thieves’ leader, there would be no more distraction on his way.

“After all, if you wish to trick your enemies, you must first trick your allies.” Akechi told her, smirking. 

Enemies, allies, they were all the same anyway. Stepping stones to his plan. And he was at the last step.

Sae-san’s rusty-red eyes shone with comprehension. Fucking finally. Have you finally pieced it all together?

“Akechi-kun, does this phone look familiar to you?”

She showed him a phone - the Phantom Thieves’ leader’s phone apparently - but this was all meaningless. Akechi wouldn’t ever text that phone again for a relaxing break in his long term plan. Ephemeral pockets of time he had got to live in the moment. No more teasing texts, no more fights in mementos, no more playful competition, no more coffee nights or late night talks, no more games.

Amamiya…

No more fleeting moments of joy.

Do you understand what it means?

One step before everything was over.

Amamiya Ren was handcuffed - slumped on a chair - bruised eyes dazed with drugs, the thrown syringe was proof of how barbaric the cops had been to him. The blood on his shirt was just adding insult to injury. Tch. At least the righteous joy of killing the guard would give him just the adrenaline boost he needed.

‘Pow!’

Satisfying indeed.

Shooting at the corrupt guard, Akechi thought it felt surprisingly easy to do in real life too. Very similar to how it felt to kill in the Metaverse. One would have thought it was harder here. Interesting. On that momentum, Akechi turned the gun toward one very still Amamiya Ren.

Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick and painless.

“Have you finally pieced it all together?” Akechi asked, disappointed he didn’t see the shine of comprehension behind those dulled eyes. 

“...” was all he got from his rival, and Akechi was furious.

You lost and you’re not saying anything? I betrayed you, Amamiya! Aren’t you angry at me? Do you even care? I’m winning, I’ll win, I…

He won the fight.

He won this tryst that had made him feel oh so alive. Relinquishing his passionate conflictual feelings was the final price Akechi had to pay before obtaining the vengeance he so desired. It was easier to meet his doom with no more string attached.

A kamikaze move against his forsaken father.

Kamikaze - the divine (kami) wind (kaze) - how soldiers in war had been called as they crashed their aircraft into their rival’s ship. Just like me… I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom!

“Case closed… This is how your justice ends.” Akechi couldn’t help but rub it in the leader of the Phantom Thieves’ face, finger pulling on the trigger. 

There were just no other viable options left.

‘Pow!’

Akechi Goro’s studio - October 1st 2025

Akechi Goro woke up feeling like shit. 

Garnet red eyes blinked away the blurriness, as his hands removed the dried tears crusting in the corner of his eyes. Mouth dry and jaw hurting from the unconscious clenching in his sleep, Akechi could almost still hear the bullet ring. Wait… 

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, dread froze his heart. 

No…

Quickly he grabbed his phone, and messily unlocked it. 

There, on his phone’s background picture, he saw a young man with messy black hair falling a bit over his storm grey eyes, a curly lock behind his left ear revealing a few piercings there, proudly presenting a latté with a cat-shaped foam art. He was smirking, obviously pleased with himself. Vibrant with life and foolishly unaware of the picture being taken.

Just like in his dream but older, Amamiya Sakura Ren, alive and well.

At the sight, Akechi’s heart started to beat again. The relief was immediately followed by the warmth of embarrassment burning his cheeks. He burrowed his face in the cushions in hiding. He was barely a minute awake and he already hated the day. Stupid dreams.

“Fuck, I hate that one.” Akechi growled in his pillow, tired.

Nightmares weren’t strangers to Akechi’s sleep, often forcing him back down memory lane. Probably because his brain couldn’t imagine anything worse to terrify him than his own past. Even after 6 years, he was his own demon which he would never be exorcised from.

What a pain.

Still, he had a day to start, and while it was early, there was no way he would go back to sleep. He could always grab a coffee on the go and study before class. Keep himself on top, so he could look down on others. Perhaps review his texts for the upcoming slam poetry night too. He definitively could use it.

He had found in the past year and a half that writing poetry was an exercise that helped process those intense feelings flooding him. Getting them out of his head and heart, darkening pages with his wicked thoughts, creating something artful with it. That small enjoyment he got finding the perfect rhyme was enough to break the maelstrom in his mind for a little while.

Keep him from drowning just long enough to keep on moving.

First thing first, Akechi tiredly dragged himself up to get ready: choose some clothes, climb in the shower and wash his shoulder-length hair.

Akechi stared at his small wardrobe, gauging what to wear. Long ago, he had only owned a stuck-up uniform and classic white shirts that had been carefully crafted for the perfect, straight-A, goody two-shoes his teenage self had tried to impersonate so desperately. Those had come to be somewhat comfortable to him. Nowadays though, this university student preferred his button-up shirt and sweaters with a flair. Breaking out from his classic style to a more extravagant chaos. 

Admittedly, it wasn’t the most rebellious he's ever been, but whatever. 

Subtlety had elegance too.

‘It’s like choosing your mood for the day!’ echoed the cheery voice of Yoshizawa Sumire in his mind.

Of course, that was a much more simple minded way to put it, but Sumire-san had been a good cheerleader in that process - especially with his recent frequent shopping trips… - so he didn’t mind this over simplification.

Still, he needed something that fitted his state of mind. 

Today was a busy Thursday, he would have to be everywhere. Today was a long day where he had classes all day, he would need something that inspired absorbing knowledge from long dead philosophers. Today was a shitty day he had awoken from the memory of killing the only person that ever understood him, he was left feeling murderous - poisonous. Today was a fall day, he knew someone was inevitably going to complain about how cold it was…

Therefore, he spotted exactly the sweater he deemed fitting for his day.

Today was mushroom sweater day.

* * *

October 1st 2025, 7h16

Ren, 7h16

Good morning

20261001001.jpeg has been sent

Me, 7h17

I never thought to ask before but…

You give baths to Mona?

Ren, 7h17

Nope. That’s not water, that’s milk Ryuji dropped on him while making pancakes

Me, 7h17

See, the world would really do better without those damn pancakes

Ren, 7h18

Morgana is on your side now

Me, 7h18

Welcome to the bad morning club Morgana, please stay quiet in the corner

Ren, 7h18

Aaand never mind, he isn’t on your side anymore

Ren, 7h19

Got a bad morning Honey?

Me, 7h19

Just tired, nothing much to dwell on 

[Unsent] Me, 7h19

Could have used your coffee and presence around here

Me, 7h19

Nothing to stop me from beating my competition tonight

Ren, 7h19

Go! Go! Goro-san!

Me, 7h20

…Thanks, but no thanks

* * *

One mediocre coffee and an unfortunately inefficient studying session later, Akechi found himself in front of yet another irritation.

“Have you heard? There’s a department drinking party tonight!”

“Ehh, are the senpais going to be there? Treat their cute little kouhais to some drinks!”

“There is nothing cute about you, Saitou-kun!”

“Um, of course your senpais are going to be there, it’s an open event for the whole department.”

“Speaking of cute, are you coming, Fushimi-senpai?” 

Really, the day was still going terribly, in his very objective opinion.

Just as he arrived at his classroom for his ‘Philosophy of Law’ class, there was a horde of students chatting in the doorway, inadvertently blocking the access. Socializing. That hoard was composed of two of Akechi’s classmates - Saitou-kun and his friend he never bothered learning the name of - and a girl a few years older than them - Fushimi Chihiro, that he knew - informing them of the party.

Are they going to move or not?

At least the conversation was ending. The polite thing would be to wait and sneak in, right? He wasn’t even late after all. He could wait. He could. Of course he could.

“No, sorry. I find busy places too… stressful for me.” Fushimi-san answered, tucking a strand of one of her long strands of brown hair behind her ear, playing with the end of the hair.

Like a hand in dark curly locks, a mannerism Akechi had grown extremely familiar with. Wariness. 

“Come on! It’s your last semester before graduation, we should celebrate!” Saitou-kun smiled, already in party mode.

“Thank you for your enthusiasm, but there will be a graduation party where we will get to celebrate.” She replied to the boys, her smile growing more forced.

“It’s our last chance to get to know you, you really should come! Relax a bit, senpai!”

Saitou-kun’s friend snickered at that attempt to be smooth, but still turned their attention toward the senpai.

“I’m not very good when there's so many g-, erm, p-people around.” Fushimi-san stumbled on her word as she declined again the invitation.

I swear, if they don’t get the message and clear the door, I-

“Gimme your number then, I’ll text you after-”

Akechi snapped, annoyance flaring into anger. “Are you daft? Consent means ‘that a person voluntarily and willfully agrees in response to another person's proposition.’ It’s in the textbook’s chapter 1 ‘definition of notions’ from our soon-to-start fucking class.” 

“Uh? What-” Saitou-kun and company looked at him in surprise and slight indignation.

Akechi stepped closer.

“Either you need it spelled out for you, or you are playing idiot. Both cases are quite irritating frankly. She said no already in three different ways, not that it had to reach three times.” He graciously explained before simply forcing his way through, bumping into one of the guys shoulder. “Move.”

On his way, he caught sight of Fushimi-san’s dark brown eyes behind her glasses. The way they shone with surprise and slight fear behind her glasses made Akechi’s stomach sink. His anger dissipated as quickly as it had ignited, leaving ashes of bitterness. 

He hadn’t meant to terrify her… Just dismiss those insisting jackasses and clear the way to his classroom.

Dammit.

More fuel to the fire of his already ruined reputation.

Quickly, Akechi shuffled to his preferred seat for that class - middle row, at the end near the wall. It was close enough he could listen and see the lesson well, but far from the very coveted window sides seats. Convenient. Akechi tried to keep himself busy, but comments on what had just happened were already spreading.

“I hope he’s not coming to tonight’s meetup.”

“Nah, he never does. Too stuck-up.”

“Come on, prez is a stuck-up but still fun to be around. He’s just…”

“He’s way too pretty to be this mean.”

“I-I’ll be on my way now.”

The last voice was Fushimi-senpai’s. 

She hadn't said much, but Akechi could recognize fear in anyone’s eyes once he saw it. The skill of a trained predator, it was one of the few emotions he had always been good at decoding. Of course, intruding angrily into their conversation shouldn’t have been the way to go about all this. Akechi knew that. He had gotten marginally better at controlling his emotions, keeping himself in check without having to wear a fake socially pleasant mask constantly.

Still, he couldn’t help the roughness of his words at times.

Fuck it, I don’t care about their opinions.

This day was already shit anyway.

Why was it so hard to feel like he belonged somewhere?

No teammates or acquaintances. Not that I care, but that would be helpful for team class assignments.

One had to wonder if that’s how it had been for Ren too, back in high school. The known criminal no one dared approach. Just as Akechi felt like an easy smile and empty pleasantry would have smoothened everything, a part of him felt like it would be a betrayal to himself. His younger self had placed that princely mask in order to protect himself from those comments, but it just wasn’t sustainable anymore. If Ren managed to connect to his ex-Phantom Thieves as the despised criminal, Akechi had to try being true to himself too.

 He couldn’t be bested.

And apparently he couldn’t form a real bond if he wasn’t a little bit honest, apparently.

There was still that deep seated fear of being unwelcome no matter what grasping at his throat, making it hard to ignore those comments, drowning him in his own self-hatre-

‘Blam’

The sound of a bag being loosely dropped on the chair beside him caught Akechi’s attention to the person installing herself beside him. 

Surprised at first, Akechi threw a sideway glare at the familiar face. He recognized that girl. She shared most of his ethics and society classes, even sat beside him most of the time. Even if she wasn’t in applied philosophy like Akechi, she was a fellow liberal art student that shared interest in justice in society. Or so he deduced.

She had long brown hair that was often held back in two side ponytails, revealing bright brown eyes that met his glare with open curiosity.

“Hi.” She timidly smiled, as she got her bright orange notebook out.

Well, if her presence was familiar, her talking to him was new. 

“Mm. What do you want, Dojima-san?” Akechi asked, carefully.

“Oh! You know my name?” Dojima-san answered, her smile growing brighter.

“We have quite a few classes in common, I saw it a few times.” He would have made for a poor detective, had he not made it a habit to notice such things.

She giggled in reply. “Now it makes it awkward I don’t know yours.” She gave a small bow before sitting at her place. 

Well, Akechi didn’t care enough about her feeling of awkwardness to pursue the conversation as it was heading nowhere. Frankly, he was still a bit irritated at the moment. So instead he focused on his notes, revising his homework. He knew it was already good, but considering how tired he was today, it was worth a second glance.

“You won’t tell me? I’ll have to guess it then.” Dojima-san continued, crossing her arms deep in her thoughts.

Why is she still talking to me?

“Why would you do that? We never talked before, and I’m not quite sure what changed.” Akechi wondered out loud, slightly intrigued.

“I was a bit too shy to say hi.” She answered, looking down, almost regretful. “But when I saw you help Fushimi-senpai, I thought ‘He really is a good guy!’ and decided to finally say hi.”

“Help her? Don’t get the wrong idea, I merely wanted to get to class on time.” Akechi glared, hiding his fluster. She noticed? “Who would have thought people at university were less considerate of their surroundings and more gossipy than high-schoolers.” 

Honestly, Akechi might have been 4-5 years older than the average university student, he didn’t think it would make such a big difference in maturity. Why was the ex-murderer the more civilized one? Was he the only one that cared about education around here?

“Um, sure. You just wanted to get to class by quoting the definition of consent.” Dojima-san laughed a bit at that. “You’re funny. I’m sure Fushimi-senpai appreciated that. She is a good student council president, but she can be a bit timid too. Especially around men.”

Funny!? Who in their right mind calls me funny?

A memory flashed in his mind.

He recalled how Violet - Sumire-san’s thief name - as she asked Joker if Akechi was usually a ‘ruthless sort of person’, only for Joker to reply ‘just everyday Akechi’. Both of them teasing. Both of them, Joker and Violet, still enjoying his company, even if he was a bit rougher on the edge, a bit sharper. Perhaps even finding him somewhat funny against all odds. 

Perhaps when accompanied with camaraderie, being funny wasn’t a bad thing, or so it felt.

“You don’t think I’m a… ruthless sort of person? I’m well aware of the rumours going around, you know? It would be natural to be wary of me.” Akechi asked in a softer tone.

‘Rough’, ‘mean’, ‘delinquent’, ‘ex-prisoner’, ‘scary’, ‘probably violent’, ‘unfriendly’...

Dojima-san smiled brightly again. “One of my onii-chan’s friends looks scary and is always called a delinquent punk, but he has a heart of gold inside. I don’t think we should judge people on appearance and rumours alone.”

In my case, the rumours are true. A punk with a heart of gold… I know just the type. I’m not like that, like him or this friend of hers. With a tired sigh, Akechi missed Ren right about now.

“Please sign and pass the attendance sheet around, class will start soon.” The teacher called out, as she entered, giving the attendance sheet to the student in the front row.

As usual, once the attendance sheet arrived, Dojima-san signed her name and student ID before passing it to Akechi. Except this time, realization flashed in her eyes as she gave him the sheet.

“That’s how you know my name! I always sign before you!”

Well, at least she was smart.

“Told you I saw it a few times.” Akechi muttered as he signed the sheet, feeling her gaze as she leaned over to see. “It’s not like it was a secret.”

There was a time he couldn’t hide his name from anyone as the minor celebrity known as the second coming of the Detective Prince. It was refreshing witnessing someone struggling so much just to know his name. 

Perhaps even ‘funny’, Akechi smirked to himself.

“Akechi Goro-san, uh? As you already guessed, I’m Dojima Nanako, pleased to officially meet you.”

With that, Akechi had one classmate that knew his name. He didn’t know much about her, but it’s not like there would be many more conversations like that. It always was better to mind his own business, without expectations.

This was fine.

“Alright class, silence. We'll start with a quick surprise test. Close your books now.”

Akechi’s smirk turned into a glare, feeling quite foolish for not having seen it coming.

Of fucking course.

.

.

.

At lunch time, Akechi found his usual lonesome tree on campus.

The weather was still nice; therefore, he could still enjoy his quiet time eating by himself. He still had one season of relatively warm time before he would have to go to the cafeteria with the mass. Before the dreaded season of having to find a spot in the busy resting areas.

Even on a bad day like today had joyous moments of calm like this.

“Itadakimasu.” Akechi muttered softly, as he pulled out some tuna onigiris from his bag accompanied by fresh veggies.

A bento Ren had made for him.

Whenever he stayed the night at Akechi’s, he always cooked lots of leftovers and froze them all for his boyfriend to use as lunch on his school days. While greatly unnecessary - Akechi could buy ready-made meals at the konbini by himself, if he was hungry - it was also deeply touching. Food was Ren’s link to people and he had taken upon himself to fight Akechi’s bad habits of easy take-outs at random times of the day. It was the physical proof that even after almost two years of relationship, Ren cared, miraculously not getting bored of him yet.

How to repay such kindness?

Yet, as nice and sweet as it was, it also reminded him of his daily grievance of the past months. The reason he had those prepared bento instead of preparing them with Ren the same morning. The reason Akechi had to look at his fucking phone this morning instead of the real deal. The reason he had to content himself with instant coffee instead of bargaining his way into a fresh cup made solely for him in exchange of a a few kisses.

Ren still wasn’t living with him.

Why wasn’t Ren living with him?

Yet. Akechi thought to himself as he viciously chomped at the onigiri. Delicious and filling, as always. As he ate, his spirit started to lift, feeling warmth in his chest.

You’ll never see it coming, I have a plan. 

A simple plan really, only two steps! The scheme was bound to work. Even if his plans had had the notorious bad habit of failing - in particular those concerning Ren - this plan was months in the making. 

Step one: Get his life somewhat together. 

…which was a tall order to go about, he had to admit.

Ever since he had been out of juvie, Akechi did listen to what his social worker - Satomi Sakura - had recommended. He had come to see her as some sort of ally to navigate society, so her suggestions made for a good enough check-list of sorts.

Thus, he got himself motivated to finish his high school education and got into university in philosophy on a scholarship. And considering his social worker had been pleased with his evolution since then, he had to believe he was doing relatively okay and ‘try his best’ or some bullshit like that. 

He wasn’t sure exactly where it would lead him down the line, but he felt like he was following his own path. Would he even get to find a job out of this? What did the future look like?

Akechi was starting to figure out how it felt like to be a normal human being - filled with hesitation, no clear ideas of how to reach his goals or what comes next.

So many doubts.

Am I even worthy of such aspirations?

Once upon a time, I was filled with unbending dedication and deadly certainty, Akechi thought distractingly, munching on the last bits of his lunch. But no one wanted me around and I was left alone with nothing but ruin. My goals were clear but short-sighted. There was no future back then.

But this time he was aiming for the long-term, even if his goals weren't as clear.

His long-term had grey-like-a-rainy-sky eyes barely hidden behind messy black hair, the most welcoming smile, taunting smirking pink lips, a deep voice brightening any room with its laughter, dexterous hands that could prepare the world’s best coffee… 

I need caffeine.

With his lunch finished, lost in his thoughts, Akechi headed to one of the closest vending machines for a can of cold brew. It would allow him to survive the rest of the day and stay attentive enough for his afternoon class.

‘Clink!’

The can of coffee fell with his change, and with just one look at it he saw there was no 5 yen in the mix.

“Goddam-.”

“That’s where he is! Akechi-kun!” Akechi heard the voice of a girl behind him, interrupting his cussing. “Oh! Do you need some change?”

Turning around, he saw both a smiling Dojima-san and a shy Fushimi-san looking at him. The former looked more at ease than the latter, and Akechi was in no mood to repeat his social blunder from earlier today. Nonetheless, they both looked pleased to have found him. Frowning at them, he wondered: What do they want with me?

Dojima-san looked at Akechi with big bright eyes, as if waiting for him to answer. “Akechi-san, do you need change?” she repeated and ah, right.

“No, never mind. I got what I wanted.” Akechi grumbled as he pocketed his change, before giving both girls an interrogative look. “Now, if you please, I have classes to go to.”

“Wait.” Dojima-san pleaded hurriedly. “I mean, we don’t want to interrupt you, but there is still time before any classes start, and Fushimi-senpai was looking for you.”

“Yes.” Fushimi-senpai then bowed toward him. “Thank you for your help earlier.”

“I got flustered earlier. I tend to freeze when someone bursts in anger. But I think I hurt you by looking so scared. I do realize you weren’t angry at me, nor was it to hurt anyone. So thank you.”

“That was nothing.” Akechi scoffed, glaring around at the other students. “They were loitering in the way. Don't thank me for that.”

“I’m glad I got to say it still. And thank you for helping me, Dojima-chan.” Fushimi-senpai bowed her head toward the younger woman too before she replaced her hair behind her ear. “Will you guys come to tonight’s department party? The student council tries their best to organize networking events for all to enjoy, not just graduate students.”

“No.” Akechi simply said at the same time as Dojima-san declined politely, choosing for herself a fruit tea from the vending machine.“Sorry, I already have plans with friends.”

“I’m not even in your department.” He added to conclude.

“Eh, you aren’t a sociology student, Akechi-san?” Fushimi-senpai wondered out loud.

“No.” Akechi considered stopping the conversation there, but couldn't stop himself from elaborating. “I’m a philosophy student. I just took a lot of our common optional classes such as applied ethics in public policies, morals in society and philosophy of law. The concept of Justice is inherently what interests me.”

“So you are also interested in justice? If I may, then what brought you to philosophy?” Fushimi-senpai asked him, with a smile and genuine curiosity.

“It's interesting.” Akechi's hand reached for his chin, as he thought some more about it. “Philosophy is about rethinking what we think of the world, isn't it? Doubting everything so you can make your own conclusions. Questioning everything I thought I knew for the sake of finding the truth. And, mostly, it's about finding my place in an unjust society. Wondering what I can do to change that.” 

Philosophy has always been the quest for the young boy I was to find his own Justice. That hasn’t changed.

“Um, wouldn’t law make more sense? Isn’t the law supposed to protect us from the injustices of this world?” Dojima-san frowned, and Akechi heard the naivety of this question.

If only you knew… How naive of her, this trust toward police officers and the like. It was almost enviable really, this blissful ignorance, if it wasn't utterly foolish.

“Is the Law, or the people applying it, always moral? Does someone in a position of authority always act justly?” he asked her instead of answering, staring straight into her eyes.

“..!” Dojima-san looked surprised, her easy smile waning. He had struck a chord. She paused, before replying. “Yes… Y-you are right. There are people that abuse their position to hurt others.”

“Hence why we need people to advocate for those systemic changes that would make society and the law actually protect those in vulnerable positions. The law did change a lot through history, but it’s obvious there is still injustice.” Fushimi-senpai added, rising her hand up to her neck, playing with her pendant. “I’m sorry, I got enthusiastic. My master degree is on the single parent’s household living below the poverty line and the lack of helpful public policies. I do get passionate when our society of law doesn’t help everyone.”

Single parents household, uh? Would Akechi's mother have still been around had she had some adequate resources to help her? A what if that would never be answered, as her life and death was now just a statistic in someone's study.

“Interesting.” Akechi let out at the same time - again - as Dojima-san said : “That's really interesting.” She glanced sideways at Akechi, before adding: "I was raised by my dad, there were times he would be so busy at work… just trying to provide."

“Glad you think so!” Fushimi-senpai giggled at them. “We could talk some more about justice in society on one of our lunch breaks.” She bowed again to the two undergraduates. “I’ll let you go to your classes now.”

“Yes, I still have to cross the whole campus. See you later!” Dojima-san waved happily at Akechi.

What just happened? 

Had Akechi just had a casual chat with other students by the vending machine? Unlike his fans from high school admiring him or his current classmates despising him, it had felt… sincere. Fushimi-senpai felt honestly grateful to him. Dojima-san felt genuinely happy to just talk to him. 

But then a thought made his stomach sink.

It won’t last once they’ll know what I’ve done.

Shrugging the dread away, Akechi focused on finishing his passable at best coffee can, unsure what to think of this at all.

* * *

Truth be told, Akechi had held on to the naive hope that his day was actually going to end on a better note. It had started to get somewhat neutral, compared to that morning. He had found himself looking forward to his evening even.

Slam poetry night only happened once every month in a few izakayas around town after all.

While an international art, slam poetry was still relatively rare, but the Tokyo scene was young and vibrant nonetheless. The Giri Giri izakaya in Yongen-jaya were the main hosts of spoken word events - the bar small, but colourful and perfectly equipped with mics, speakers and spotlights. The lanterns and string light gave a soft hue to the dim lit jazzy ambiance of the place.  The overall chaotic decor inspired him.

Akechi was a bit surprised to have arrived before Ren, considering this was his neighbourhood.

It was early but still. With this surprise free time in his hands, he ordered himself a mocktail and sat at the bar, before getting his notebook to review his texts.  As confident as he was, it was still nerve-wracking to expose his guts like this in public. At the same time, it fed something that enjoyed being seen and heard and validated… The adrenaline high was truly fantastic, and hard to stay away from.

Is it sane? He asked himself. Did he care if it wasn't? It's still much more real than when I was paraded around TV stations.

Until he felt a presence beside him. 

“I hope you aren’t too tired?” the presence smirked, and Akechi snapped his attention to him. “You’ve been running through my mind all day.”

His heart leapt in his chest. Ren.

Here Ren was, grinning mischievously, messy black locks falling in front of his fake nerdy glasses. He leaned his head in his hand, his elbow on the table, Ren’s eyes meeting his. Oh he thought he was so smooth with this cheesy pick-up line, didn’t he?

“Not even breathless. Maybe you haven’t thought hard enough-” Akechi started, but interrupted himself.

Something was off. 

There! Even in the darkness, hidden behind those big framed glasses and the hair, Akechi spotted it. A bruise over one of his eyes! 

He swiftly grabbed Ren’s face and turned him sideways so he could better see his right eye. “What the fuck happened?”

Who dared hit Ren? Had Ren at least hit back? Should Akechi go hit that person?

Ren winced at the inadvertently forceful manhandling of his bruised face. “That bad?”

“Were you trying to hide it?” Akechi hissed to which Ren shook his head in a silent indignant 'no'. "Then, I need to see. Now."

Ren chuckled, but step closer complying to Akechi's demand. Good.

In investigation mode, Akechi slowly removed Ren's glasses, keeping his mouvement deliberate so the other could interrupt him if he didn't feel comfortable. Ren didn't move, and Akechi proceeded to analyse the bruise, dark purple-ish against his pale skin right at the corner of the eye near the eyebrows.

Beaten just like in my dreams… No, this has nothing to do with that.

"It's still swelling, so fresh from today. Likely caused by a small blunt object" Akechi assessed out loud, keeping his wits about him. The white of Ren's eye was stained with blood - probably the result of some broken small veins. It looked hard to keep his eyes fully open, but the pupil was reactive. "No sign of concussion. Be careful, why don't you?"

Ren sighed, nuzzling in Akechi's hand after the check-up with a self-assured smile. "It's not a big deal, Goro. It's even a funny story."

Funny? We'll see about that. Now that he was assured that Ren was physically okay, Akechi didn't feel like laughing. There was that void in his chest, like a hole near his heart. All the emotions of the day crumbling onto him. He was stressed, tired and incredibly, devastatingly… powerless. Yes, that was the root cause of all of his agitation today.

Powerless about the past and actions he had taken - and the chains it still had on his present.

Powerless about his current status, and how people perceived him - afraid he couldn't be relied on.

Powerless about keeping his one important bond safe - from others or himself.

What a fucking joke.

So Akechi pulled Ren in a hug, because goddamn it he needed it. And he could. Ren wouldn't refuse him, right?

"Goro?" Ren asked, but his arms swiftly circled around Akechi's back, returning the embrace without any hesitation.

"Had a long tiring day." Akechi muttered in Ren's ear, feeling the tips of his hair teasing his cheeks. The purple stain on Ren's skin was taunting him from this close, all he wanted to protect Ren so bad, craved the comfort of his touch, crush him inside his chest so that he would never be touched by anyone else again… Well, that sounded like a good idea. "Instead of getting punched, how about you just hold me with all your strength?"

"My pleasure." Ren purred as he crushed Akechi more against him.

The strength of his arms almost crushed him, the warmth filling him to his core, swelling his heart. He was hungry for Ren's presence, he craved his touch and reveled in all the points of contact between them. For a moment, it felt as if he was alone in the universe, only Ren and him. I want this everyday.

But soon, the more he actually calmed down, the more he was acutely aware of his surroundings.

"Alright, enough." Akechi straightened-up, breaking the embrace. "We are in public, let's practice a bit of decorum shall we?"

Ren scoffed at him, but still sat by his side, glancing at the menu of drinks over the bar. "So you had it hard today?"

"Just tiring." He sighed, thinking about his very ordinary day and all those small irritations. "While I enjoy studying and competing in class, my social energy is getting low, being surrounded by these buffoons all day and what not."

"Can I get you anything?" The bartender asked them in a timid voice, as if they didn't want to interrupt them to do their job.

"I'll have a soju please." Ren politely said.

The bartender came back with a bottle of Soju and opened it for Ren before leaving. Finally, drink in hand, he turned toward Akechi, giving him all of his attention.

"I think I made a friend today." Akechi confessed, not sure what to make of his interactions with Dojima-san today.

Ren blinked in surprise and gave a soft gasp. "How terrible."

"Don't mock me." Akechi huffed, swatting his smirking boyfriend's shoulder to hide his fluster. Of course it wasn't terrible, but it was unusual and risky. What if he was wrong?

"I'm an injured man already." Ren laughed making a show of massaging his shoulder.

"Oh you're fine." Akechi scoffed, but still more carefully knocked his knee against Ren's. “Speaking of, let's see how funny your story really is. Would you mind telling me what happened today?”

"Think it all started this morning when Ryuji was making pancakes." Ren started, pausing to drink his soju.

Of course it was somehow related to Sakamoto's antics. But Akechi stayed silent, simply clutching at his drink as he kept quiet for Ren to continue. But he had one thought in his mind.

I will get you from him.

Ren and Ryuji's apartment - Earlier that day

Sakura Ren woke up feeling good. Great even.

"Time to get up! You have a lot today!" Morgana the cat-shaped friend that lived with him exclaimed, jumping in his bed. Soon, he started to knead on Ren's ribs to wake him up, just as usual.

"I'm up. Thanks Mona." Ren smiled his voice low from just waking up.

He lazily raised a hand to pet Morgana's head as he let him knead to his heart's content. Coming from the kitchen, he could already hear Ryuji blending his usual morning protein shake. Sitting up with one last pet for Mona, Ren stretched and headed to his small dresser so he could get ready for work.

But before, he paused in front of his shelf , where a small framed picture of an old woman sat next to an incense holder.

Hey Grandma, Ren thought with a small smile. Every morning since she passed, he greeted her, even if he had a new last name, as she had been and always will be his family.

Filled with daily small rituals, this stability he never had before was greatly beneficial to his health and sanity. Habits he developed sure that the next day would come relatively similar to the last, not fearing it would all go away in the blink of an eye. Ren couldn't be more at ease. All his life had always been about one thing before:

Adaptation.

That was even one of Ren's greatest skill in life, or so he would say.

One had to when life kept changing and would change again. For every soul-cutting shards of ice the harsh winter brought, a soft spring breeze would follow to warm the heart. For every bright souvenir made in the summer, autumn calmed fiery spirits with its chilly winds. In both reassuring and worrying ways, whether in a good season or in a hard pass, that was how his life always had been.

Was it hanging so much with Goro that made him such a poet all of a sudden?

In any cases, life was good now. It wasn’t without hardship, but compared to his teenage years it was nothing he couldn’t adapt to. Living with Ryuji had given him a stable home here in Tokyo, where he got to graduate university with his friends and to be adopted by his found family the Sakura - Sojiro and Futaba.

And losing all of my blazers, why is my closet so empty? Ren wondered, trying to find something decent to wear for work. He had done his laundry recently, where were all of his clothes?

At least his cardigan paired well with a simple shirt and jeans, that would have to do.

"Mornin' dude!" Ryuji greeted Ren once he got out from his room.

Ryuji, dressed in his post morning-run slacks, looked busy with more than just his morning shake. He had gotten all of the different flours they had in the pantry and looked troubled trying to find a recipe online.

That wasn't usual.

"Morning." Ren just replied, getting out of the fridge the rest of the miso soup for himself and the tuna-salad he had prepared for Morgana.

"What are you doing?" Morgana meowed, clearly as curious as Ren. "There is no recipe in the world that takes all type of flours!"

"Yeah, I know that!" Ryuji huffed at the not-cat, then turned toward Ren with a sheepish look. "I'm just tryin' to find the ones without gluten, ya know?"

"You are eating gluten-free now? You think you can stop eating chips or bread?" Morgana snickered as he climbed on the counter.

"You're gonna put hair all over the place." Ryuji muttered, pushing his ingredients away from Morgana. "It's not for me, it's for my new clients. Well, if I get the job anyway!"

Seeing Ryuji's warm brown eyes shine with excitement when he spoke of his job always made Ren happy. His bad leg was clearly still injured - obvious on the way he's standing at times - it probably would be like that all of his life, even with all the physiotherapy he had done. Still Ryuji had dedicated himself to helping others with their health and body - never stopped running - and was now working full time as a coach at a local gym.

"The promotion at your gym?" Ren asked as he placed the bowl of tuna salad in front of Morgana.

"Exactly! To be a personal trainer, I have to show I can help people with their nutrition and stuff. And you know, no better way to learn then try. I need to keep up with what's trendy, like the gluten free diet!"

"Well, the only flours we have like that is the buckwheat or the rice one." Ren pointed out, starting on his morning coffee.

Ryuji nodded excitedly, already putting away the gluten-full flour. "Thanks dude!"

"Sure." Ren smiled, but the coffee machine was so loud, he doubted Ryuji heard him.

Sitting at the kitchen counter with his coffee and soup, Ren kept an eye on Ryuji's recipe - what shaped up to be… pancakes? Ryuji was simply smiling victoriously, as he measured his ingredients in a bowl. Slowly he was pouring in some milk to the mixture.

"Mm, I never thought I'd see the day Ryuji is all grown up, trying his best at something other than sports." Morgana teased, tail swishing in the air.

"Yeah, I'm trin' to think of my future, you know? I love being a coach at the gym, but a trainer has a better salary, and I still get people pumpin'!" Ryuji simply said, slowly adding the batter to the pan.

"Thinking about the future?" Ren repeated, wondering what that meant.

"Yeah, man. I've been thinkin' a lot. And I've been meanin' to tell you about it." Ryuji fidgeted a bit, kicking the ground, but looked straight at Ren.

Somehow, Ren felt it in his gut, something unusual was happening. Just like seasons moved on, life would change, something else was coming… Ren really liked his life right now, and the dread of change, losing his home again, made him fearful.

But he was also ready to adapt and support his best friend in his future aspirations, whatever it may be.

"I want to ask Sumi to marry me." Ryuji softly said all smile.

Ryuji… getting married to Sumire? Ren thought, his heart skipping a beat.

He felt immensely happy to hear it, and somehow a tiny bit sad. The pride and excitation overwhelmed that smudge of sadness and he could see it so clearly in his mind. Smiles always particularly suited Ryuji, and he never smiled brighter than when he looked at sweet, delicate Sumire, who could always find in him a cheerful enthusiastic partner.

Ryuji wants to ask Sumire to marry him!

"You what?!" Morgana exclaimed loudly, making both Ren and Ryuji jump.

Surprise, Ryuji knocked over the milk - left open from being used seconds ago - and sent it toppling right over Morgana, splashing everywhere!

"Whoa don't surprise me like that!" Ryuji loudly exclaimed, grabbing the milk.

"You dropped milk all over me!" Morgana yelled indignantly, completely wet. Unable to stop himself from smirking, Ren quickly got up to fetch some cleaning clothes and dry his poor cat-shaped friend. "Don't laugh!"

"Sorry! Um, but don't cats like milk anyway?" Ryuji teased, chuckling, as he took the cleaning towel from Ren to drop it in their laundry basket in the bathroom.

"Don't call me a cat!" Morgana grumbled after him, loud enough to be heard, before licking his milky fur. "I swear, I look forward to you moving in with Lady Sumire. At least Ren and Akechi don't drop stuff on me when they cook together!"

Ren's heat skipped a beat a second time that morning, touched and scared at the same time. Touched because how many times had Ren daydreamed about living together with his boyfriend too, waking up by his side, drinking coffee together, seeing him everyday - and it was reassuring his not-cat was accepting of the relationship.

Yet that daydream was often followed with the prickling fear that Goro might not want to lose his new found liberty. What if he felt Ren was too clingy? What if he didn't want to be chained down, after a life of fighting for his own sense of freedom?

Let's not think about that for now.

"Aww you are on Goro's side? I'll tell him." Ren deflected, getting his phone to take a picture.

Morgana placed his paw on Ren's phone to bring it to eye level, looking at Akechi's reply. "Ugh, he is so prickly, never mind."

Ryuji came back from the bathroom and leaned on the wall. "Yeah so that's the plan. I don't mean to leave you alone, you know? It's nice to live together. It's just, I want to live with my girl."

"It's not about us." Ren reassured him, knowing it was a change in their friendship that had been coming. "When will you ask her?"

"Eventually, soon. Not saying tomorrow. I still wanna get a better salary, but I'd like to pop the question soon. I don't know, I just feel like time is right." Ryuji said, shrugging but smiling.

"That's great. I'm really happy to hear it." He truthfully told him.

"Yeah! I wanted to tell you first, 'cause you are my bro. And also, I wanted to ask…" Ryuji trailed off, shifting his weight to his strong leg. "This is effin' embarrassing, but you're kinda like family, and it's kinda because of you I met Sumi. So, I want you there too. So if she says yes, would you mind standing by my side? At the wedding? As my best man, or something?"

"!" Ren's smile grew, and he nodded enthusiastically. "Of course."

It was an absolute honour, and Ren cherished that opportunity. Weddings in Japan were mostly a family affair, and as they were really pricey, only close friends were invited. While Ren didn't doubt he'd get invited, as he was close with both the future groom and bride, to be invited as a part of the party - whether it was as a best man of it was a western wedding or as a special guest for a shinto wedding - it was a great honour.

"Yeah? Yeah, of course you would say yes, but that's nerve wracking haha. Thanks man." Ryuji laughed, happily fist bumping Ren. "Dude, if you can, I'm trying to learn new recipes too, to be a better husband and all- oh shit my pancakes! I'm still not done!"

In a state of panic, Ryuji ran to his burning pancake, trying to scrape it off the pan. The classic first pancake curse. That's gonna be hard to wash.

"Good luck with that, I have to go to work." Ren announced, cleaning his dishes.

Ryuji turned a bewildered look at him. "Renren?! You're not gonna help me? For real?"

"You'll be fine. I'll show you some more recipe another day." Ren answered, leaving the kitchen.

Ren headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and try to brush his hair a bit. His job only required him to be casual, so fortunately, his shirt + blazer cardigan + nerdy glasses + messy hair combo worked just fine.

Why change a winning recipe?

"You're ready, Mona?" Ren asked as he gathered his stuff around - giving one last glance at Ryuji's battlefield in the kitchen - before he grabbed his backpack, opening it up for Morgana to jump in.

"Always!" Morgana cheered, jumping in the bag.

"This is so sticky!" Ren heard Ryuji complain in the kitchen. The apartment smelled a bit like burnt pancakes, but he trusted Ryuji to handle it.

So with a confident "See ya!" the young man and his not-cat left for work.

.

.

.

Newly hired on probation for a year at the Residential Centre for Children meant that everything he did was scrutinized, and all cases given to him a test. Should he fail, he wouldn't get hired here - and it would make for an awkward mark on his resume.

The pressure not to fail was on.

Ren cared about what he did, he really believed about giving those children abandoned by the system a second or third or fourth chance. The Centre was a place to rest and reside, for a short or long time depending on the case. Everyone here needed help at one point, and hadn't. But it wasn't too late.

Even if it seemed hopeless, Ren felt motivated, quite aware his method raised eyebrows.

Especially as he branded himself as the social worker with a therapy cat.

If a kid didn't feel like talking to a human adult - too many times disappointed - Morgana was the spy Ren could send to infiltrate their closed heart. And the sentient not-cat was glad to feel useful to humanity.

Phantom thieves one day, phantom thieves forever, or so they said.

"Who are today's targets?" Mona whispered, curling next to Ren's documents on his desk.

"The Miyazaki siblings." Ren whispered back, quickly scanning the siblings' folder. As of today, they were going to be new residents at the Centre, scheduled to arrive a bit before noon. "A 8 year old boy and a 6 year old girl. Their parents are divorcing, the father wants custody, the mother is fighting him in court. She is neglectful, so they have been staying at the mother's brother and sister in rotation for the past months. They'll be staying here until custody is decided between the parents."

"Not good, their trust in adults must be quite low. They never really got a home, changing households like that."

"Yeah." Ren's mind couldn't help but think of a young Goro, probably around the same age as the young Miyazakis when his mother died and he had to change from one household to another. Goro had said never feeling welcome anywhere since then, not wanting to depend on anyone else but himself.

Would he ever trust that I want him around all the time?

Ren shook the thought away, focusing on the task at hand. "You can get friendly with the girl? She is probably anxious, so just being a calming presence will help her feel better here. I'll try to spend time with the boy, and gain his trust."

"Sounds like a plan, leader." Morgana purred, straightening up to a sitting position. He looked at the clock then back at Ren. "Hey, you really trust that Ryuji hasn't burned down the place before leaving?"

"Yeah." Ren pushed back his glasses and stretched, trying to keep himself from slouching too much. He wanted his coworker to know he was serious about this. "I turned the stove off before leaving behind his back."

"Ah, gotcha! I wonder how he will fare without you and only with Lady Sumire."

"It'll be fine." Ren smiled.

They are great together, Ren though, picturing his two friends together. He really was happy to hear about their possible engagement, but a selfish part of himself felt sad because that was something inaccessible to him. Not with the current state of the law.

I wish I could marry Goro.

"What will we do when that will happen?" Morgana wondered, head tilting on the side, curious. "Will you ask Akechi to move in?"

I lack the guts to even ask him to move in with me, forget illegal weddings!

"I don't know." Ren simply said, rising up to close the conversation and get moving.

But too late, Morgana's questions had reawaken Ren's doubts, and distracted him through the day.

What will I do when Ryuji decides to live with Sumire? Our place is too big for just me and Mona.

I'll have to move again. Find a new home…

Could I ask Goro to move in? Is it too quick?

When the two young Miyazaki kids arrived at the Home, the plan was working. The little girl's eyes lit up when a friendly tuxedo cat pushed his head against her leg, begging for cuddling! She was immediately more compliant to get introduce to the other residents with Mona purring in her little arms.

The older brother, on the other end, didn't look happy to be here. Apart from everyone else, he sat near a window to look outside, not meddling with anyone.

"Hey." Ren said, as he approached him.

No answer, barely a glance from his dark eyes.

"Wanna go outside? It is a beautiful day."

That seem to have gotten his attention. "I thought I couldn't go out without permission?"

"You're with me. We can play a game." Ren smiled at him.

"I don't want to play with the others, they are all idiots. We have nothing in common." Miyazaki-kun crossed his arms defensively, throwing an angry look at the other kids here.

Ah, he doesn't want to feel like he belongs here, he wants to be better than them. Well that reminded him of someone, someone that called him an attic trash once to distance himself from what was perceived as being a friendless loner. Ren chuckled to himself at the memory.

"It's okay, I only invited you to play." Ren told him. He saw the small smile on the boy, before he tried to hide it. Looking worried now, he threw a glance toward his sister. Ren noted that he cared about her. "Your sister looks happy with my cat, she won't feel lonely."

A pause, where the boy's dark eyes looked at Ren for a while.

"We could play catch?" He ended up asking timidly.

"Sure."

Making their way in the courtyard, Ren grabbed a baseball and gave it to the boy so he could throw first. The boy had quite the throw, even if his aim was a bit off. But Ren had trained his dexterity by playing so many games with Goro, he could always catch it and throw it delicately at the younger one.

Placed in front of each other, with a game connecting them, Ren tried to get him to talk a bit. "You like baseball?"

The boy simply kept throwing and catching the ball.

"We could play ball often, if you want." Ren insisted on a friendly tone.

The ball was thrown a bit more forcefully. "You're not my friend."

"You're right, I'm your social worker." Ren acknowledge, not intending to fool the boy. He caught the ball and kept throwing it steadily. He intended to keep the same calming tempo during the conversation. "I'm still on your side."

"You'll give up on me too, we can't stay here." The boy spat, throwing the ball more quickly, but Ren caught it with the same ease.

"I won't give up on you or your sister." Ren assured him, throwing the ball. That boy really reminded him of Goro when they first met. Tentatively he added: "You are welcomed here."

That struck a chord, as the boy stopped throwing the ball and simply stomped the ground. "Liar! Mama lied, papa lied, you lie too!"

"It's hard to get use to another place, isn't?" Ren guessed, placing himself in the shoes of someone who had to move so much at such a young age. "You had to move often, without much choice, and never felt it was okay to stay in one place, no matter what you did?"

"Mmm." Miyazaki-kun's eyes were wetting with unshed tears. "One day, I'll be a bird, and fly away. Sis and I will make our own nest, away from liars!"

Crows were meant to fly, and discover their own happiness.

Could I be Crow's nest?

'bang!'

Distracted by his thoughts of Goro, Ren forgot completely they were playing a game of catch. The ball hit him straight on his face. Crouching in pain, Ren removed his glasses to cover the painful bruise on his eyes.

Then he started laughing at himself. All those times Ushimaru-sensei thought he could hit me with an eraser so I would stop daydreaming, but it's a kid that manages it!

"I-I didn't mean it I swear!" Miyazaki-kun exclaimed, fearful.

Not wishing for the child to worry, Ren quickly looked back toward the kid with a calming smile. "It's fine, I was distracted. You didn't do anything wrong."

Not convinced, the boy looked around in a panic. Ren sat at a nearby bench and patted the spot beside him. Slowly, Miyazaki-kun fearfully approached.

"You won't punish me or kick us out? I'm n-not violent or mean or…" He said in a low voice.

"Of course not." Ren reassured him again, his heart aching. Was he used to people blaming him? "We all make mistakes. It's not your fault. I was distracted, you remind me of a precious friend."

The boy nodded, slowly calming down. "Is your friend okay?"

"He is." Ren said, thinking carefully about what to share that could help this wayward boy. "At first, he was very, very angry. And very lost. He felt like he never had a home to stay in. When he got older, he made some mistakes too, very angry at everyone. It was hard to not feel like everyone was lying to him." He smirked at the kid carefully listening and added. "He also hit me."

'Hit' felt like the closest child-friendly metaphor he could find on the spot for Akechi and him dueling with their lives on the line.

"Really? But I didn't hit you!" Miyazaki-kun protested.

Ren shrugged and continued. "I'm sure he didn't mean it either. He started to realize that as long as he was angry, he wouldn't go forward. It took time, but he is fine right now. He is learning and trying his best to not stay angry at his life and focus on things that brings him joy."

"Nothing brings me joy."

"Maybe that's how it is now. We can search for something fun, while you are here. We might not find today, but we can try."

When the boy nodded, somewhat more open to Ren's idea, he knew in his heart that, while gaining the boy's trust would be hard, today he had made a bit of progress.

When they got back inside, Ren let the siblings install themselves in their room and got back Mona for a quick break. He needed to ice his eye, feeling the bruise swelling as the day went on. He would probably have to get it checked later.

"The girl was calm and compliant, but didn't say much yet. She seems wary and kept looking for her brother." Morgana reported to him, meowing happily in front of the others. "She did say she wished she had a cat and that I was the best."

"Good job, Mona." Ren cooed at him, giving him a head-pat.

"Think you can handle their case? You'll probably get called to their parent's court hearing, right?"

Ren nodded, thinking about it. His job was to assess their mental health, and their current social conditions. He would then be called to court to give his impression on their familial situation.

I want to hear what they both have to say about their parents and fight for what they actually want.

"Don't worry you have your co-therapist right here!" Morgana said with determination. "This is your test for your job, it's important!"

Yes, it was important. He was aware that as his first full case study, it was a test. But more than that, if the siblings could find a safe haven during their time at the Centre, it was all that mattered to Ren.

"So a child threw at you a ball that hit you because you were distracted by something Ryuji told you?" Goro summarized, looking unimpressed. "I fail to see the hilarity of the situation. And how did your glasses survive?"

Considering he had censored the part Ryuji confessed wanting to marry Sumire - it felt like a secret between best friends for now - and the parts he kept thinking about Goro seeing him in a child, Ren had to admit the story was considerably less funny.

Aware of the diffuse throbbing near his eye, Ren tucked away his glasses, apparently intact. He shrugged with an easy smile. "A kid managed to knock over the ex-leader of the phantom thieves, I found it funny."

At that, Goro did let out a scoff. "True that kids always had the upper hand on you. I remember you had difficulty fighting that odd flower kid back in mementos."

You were on the team too, it wasn't just me! Ren thought to reply, but didn't feel like poking at him right before going on stage.

"I can play-fight if I want to, but it was against abusers I was fighting, not kids." Ren said instead, before finishing his drink. Looking at the bottle, he spared a thought to José, hoping that little guy was faring well.

"Still ever the vigilante." Goro commented, his serious garnet red eyes catching Ren's.

In the izakaya's soft hues, his eyes looked darker, more intense then usual. It brought a slight shiver in Ren's guts.

"Is it a compliment?" Ren teased, leaning closer, not leaving his gaze.

"It's not a critique." Goro assured him with his small signature bittersweet smile. "You're doing exactly what you set your aim on. You're self-assured. It's quite admirable really."

Admirable. To be called so by the rival he had tried his best to surpass, by the partner he yearned to earn respect and trust from - it felt like the highest of praise Goro could offer.

" 'Self-assured' is a lot." Ren flustered, looking away from his boyfriend's intense gaze. I lost that round. "I doubt a lot when I think of the future. I'm not even sure if I can keep this job after my probation year. But even so, I can still try to help those kids."

"Doubt feels like an inevitability when thinking too far ahead." Goro leaned his head in his hand, elbow on the counter. His long caramel hair framed his serious expression, making for the perfect picture of a melancholic thinker at the bar. "You can only be you, and I can only be me. I'm not sure what I will do with a philosophy degree, but it's interesting and I enjoy it. I may not be a vigilante at heart, but social progress can also be achieve with knowledge, can't it? I'll find a way too, to be reliable and see my justice progress the world. "

"You will."

The light dimmed, spotlights illuminating the stage near the bar, jazz music swelling to catch everyone's attention. It was then the MC of the night presented the competitors of the night. Out of the seven other poets, Goro would present second after a Kusumi Mari.

The cool punk looking woman climbed on stage, and while she was preparing herself to read her text, Goro turned to Ren.

"Time for me to expose my truth." He whispered in his ears. "It's Showtime."

In the dark, with everyone's focus on the first poet on stage, Ren dared sneaking a a kiss near Goro's ear. "You can do this."

The quiet blushing on Goro's face was the only answer Ren received. It was satisfying enough. My win this time.

After Kusumi-san, during the crowd's applause, Goro went on the small stage. With no text in hands as he had memorized it all of course. Taking a deep breathe, he waited for the light to dim before starting to recite his own slam.

Everyday, I wonder

Even when I'm well

Filled with doubts as I grow older

How do I prevent falling back to hell?

I had sold my soul to my own Shadow

Now I'm only the shell of someone hollow

Is there some humanity left in me?

Or do I just appear ordinary?

Goro raised his wrist, as if invisible strings were pulling the up, his mouvements purposefully jerky and jittery. He glanced at his own hands before glaring at the crowd with cold anger.

Now that this puppet is free

Free falling adrift; no wind of blessings

I’m left controlling the loose strings

Strings of fate; losing grip of reality

How can I be me?

Can these bloodied hands, used to hurt,

Softly hold yours in need of comfort?

If I give you my shattered heart to keep

Will you hold it even if it cuts you with each heartbeat?

Could you believe these words of forever

knowing they come from the lips of a trained liar?

Can my moral compass guide me again?

Would I be able to repair the remain

Of a unjust world left in pain?

Even if I was its bane

Changes of heart, second chances

Redemption and retribution

Can those apply to my circumstances?

Ah! Never mind this question…

I'm setting my life in motion

Heed my resolution!

The crowd clapped, and Goro bowed accepting the applause before making his way back to Ren.

Every time Ren heard one of Goro's poems, he felt like he gained precious insight to his state of mind. He had shared about his doubts seconds ago, but Ren hadn't realized the depths of those self-doubts.

Ren's heartbeat ran faster with each steps Goro took toward him, wanting him to feel heard, seen and cared for.

So as soon as Goro was right by his side, Ren grabbed his hands and pressed them near his throbbing right eye. His hands were cold, which while usually not Ren's preference, was really comforting to his bruise right now. Your hands can bring me comfort.

"Don't get all emotional on me, I won't invite you again." Goro muttered, all bark no bite. He didn't even try to remove his hands.

"I'm not saying anything." Ren said, enjoying the cold contact.

His eye was stinging a bit, and if he could reassure Goro that he fully trusted him even vulnerable, then all the better. No matter if they lived together or not, or all of his questions of the day, Ren simply wanted his boyfriend to feel at ease and secure in their relationship. Having Goro feeling like he can be himself around him, and relying on each other, it was all he wished.

All he should wish.

"You're good with words, Goro." Ren told him, meeting his gaze.

"Mm, I suppose as a teen growing in the eyes of the public, I had to train my expression. Glad to hear it's still decent." Goro dismissed, sitting down, but Ren could see the self-satisfied smile the praise had caused.

Ren closed his eyes, enjoying the touch, which was the wrong thing to do, as he sensed Goro tensed up.

"Hey! Could I get some ice in a bag?" Goro roughly asked the waiter.

"I'm fine. I-" Ren started, but Goro's glaring stopped him.

When he got the ice bag, he slowly applied it instead of his hands on Ren's eye. "I don't have time for your useless protest. Just say it if you need a break."

"Aww but I like when you touch me." Ren smirked, but seeing Goro's worried glare, he sighed. "I'll go get it check at Takemi tomorrow after work."

Ren really didn't feel like it was a big deal, but if it would calm Goro down to go see a doctor, then he trusted Takemi-sensei enough to ask her.

"Ah yes, the poor ethics doctor. Whatever, good enough." Goro said, but already he looked less tense. Then a satisfied look crossed his face and he leaned to whisper: "If you want to keep touching, then come to my place after I win the show?"

"..!" Never mind, he's not good with words! Why does he keep phrasing things like that?

Ren nodded enthusiastically, not missing the opportunity. It didn't matter if he had work tomorrow - and no change of clothes with him - that was Future Ren's problem.

Ren never missed an opportunity to spend time with Goro.

Smirking victoriously, Goro turned his attention back to the stage and commented on every single poet that performed up stage as he usually did during those slam poetry nights. All of the contestants had passed, and a winner was to be declared. The prize was 3000 yen, which wasn't too shabby for a fun community event.

"I swear, if it's one of those idiot prose poets that wins tonight." He grumbled as the MC concluded the evening.

"The public's favourite poem and winner of the prize of 3000 yen - almost 20 American dollar folks! - goes to… Akechi Goro-san!"

"Ah! Not bad." Goro smirked, standing up to get his prize. "Not that tonight had much competition."

Ren half wanted to erase that smirk off his face, he was way too happy winning. Ren ought to kiss it away soon. The other half of him was ecstatic for Goro'win, his rival still had that fighting spirit in him and channeled it in something that did him good. Ren was proud of him for that.

"A win is a win, allow me." Ren got some money out to pay for their drinks like a proper gentleman.

Lucky him, he got a few 5 yen back from the change money, and pocketed it for later.

"Will you spend the night at my place? It'd be a shame to end it here, finally this shitty day for the both of us is taking a turn for the better." Goro discreetly took Ren's hand under the counter.

"Yeah, you promised more touching." Ren squeezed the hand back, pulling him out of the bar and the public eyes, meeting the cold autumn evening air.

The cold was such a harsh contrast with the izakaya, Goro's cheeks turned pink. Crazily enough, against the cold Goro stopped and removed his sweater to shove it in his arms.

"You were shivering. It's fall, you should dress up more." Goro muttered, his cheeks redder.

Ren blinked and looked at the sweater. The mushroom motif was such a nerdy choice, but it was Ren's nerd's choice, so he quickly wore it, feeling the embrace of Goro's body heat. It fitted perfectly.

"Thanks." Ren smiled, grabbing Goro's hand back. To keep him warm of course, no other reason, they were in the streets after all. "I couldn't find some of my sweaters or warmer blazers this morning."

"How inconvenient." Goro simply commented, as if the mystery was too simple for him to get interested.

Odd.

But Ren shrugged it off, as they chit-chatted about something else, walking back to the station, to Goro's apartment for the night, hand in hand.

All in all, the day had been tiring for the both of them. Ren's eye was still throbbing, feeling oddly warm, tomorrow would be another stressful day at his work - in addition to the impromptu visit to the doc - but it didn't matter. When days like these came, if Ren could end them with Goro by his side, no bad days mattered.

.

.

.

Especially when the day ended under a warm shower, his muscles relaxing under the water.

Ren meticulously washed Goro's hair, long and so silky to the touch letting his fingers softly scratch his scalp, his neck, his shoulders and arms. Following the trail of soap onto his back and massaging it, Ren slowly pressed his forehead and chest against Goro's back, taking in his presence, his vulnerability.

Not leaving his touch, Goro turned around and pressed his forehead against Ren's. "Your turn."

And soon, Goro's hands were on him, carefully avoiding his eye when washing his hair. Bringing his hands down, massaging Ren's chest with strength, making him weak in the knee. Ren leaned forward to drop a kiss on Goro's lips, missing it and kissing the corner of his lips the first time. He perfectly aimed the second kiss, helping himself by cupping his face.

"I'm not finished." Goro chuckled in exasperation, red eyes betraying his mirth.

Slowly, he kneeled, massaging with his soaps Ren's thighs and legs.

Ren sighed blissfully, and Goro smiled victoriously.

I want to live with him, Ren thought again, enjoying even the simplest of things such as taking a shower with his boyfriend to such intensity. Love was also sharing the same soap and shampoo, washing each other from the day's grim. Sometimes, it was in the ordinary that one felt the strongest of attachment.

If I asked, would he live with me?

Ren never felt as relaxed with someone else around, and he was sure it was reciprocated.

* * *

Waking up and sensing Ren's warm presence on his chest gave Akechi a taste of what winning would actually feel like once his plan would come to fruition:

A warm, satisfying and soft feeling in his chest.

Finding Ren's head laying on Akechi's collarbone, where he probably could hear his heartbeat, made his early morning more relaxing. Lazily, Akechi kissed his forehead and inhaled the smell of Ren's hair and his convenience store bought shampoo.

Yeah, he could stay like this for a long time.

But the moment wouldn't last, no matter how comfortable it was.

'Pi! Pi! Pi!'

Ren's alarm on his phone rang, waking him up.

"Morning honey." Ren said, voice laced with fatigue, as he turned on his side and stretched to close his alarm.

As an answer, Akechi slumped himself over Ren, stopping him from moving farther away. "Where do you think you are going?"

"To work."

"Your alarm's set awfully early. You're only working at 8, and we aren't that far by train from your job. There is no need for you to rush out." Akechi argued, nuzling in Ren's nape, a leg circling Ren's. "Case close, you stay in bed."

Here, with this impeccable logic, there was no way Ren would not-

"I still have to back home get dressed, and go by Leblanc to fetch Mona."

Fuck. It was time for one of his trump card.

"You don't need to go to your place, you forgot clothes here, and I remember seeing your blazer." Akechi half-lied. The blazer and clothes were indeed here, but 'forgotten' there was a slight exaggeration of the truth, if one was willing to ignore the fact Akechi had been hiding them here for the exact purpose of making Ren feel like he was at home here. "You can borrow my clothes if you want."

A pause.

Akechi felt Ren relax before he heard him comply with his logic. "I can spare twenty minutes then."

Yes. Today was a great day. Maybe his luck would turn, maybe today was predestined to be a good day? On that high, Akechi let himself relax on Ren, his mind focusing on Ren's hand distractingly playing with his hair.

'Pi! Pi! Pi!'

Akechi let out a sigh, but knew he wouldn't be able to make Ren ignore this second alarm. But he could still make it hard on Ren. He needed to make it so hard - on a visceral level - only because of the uncertainty of when the next time would be. Had it been sure that Ren was back tonight, then there would be no need to fight so hard for those fleeting moments.

As things currently were, Akechi was fighting for scraps of his winning scenario, and he would fight hard.

He started with a kiss on the jaw, making his way to Ren's ear and neck.

"Don't do this to me, I don't want to leave the bed." Ren sighed, closing his arms around Akechi.

"Suffer."

Ren chuckled. "We can still take the time to eat breakfast together. I'll make you coffee and something nice to eat."

Akechi took a dramatic second to think about it. Yes, he absolutely wanted to drink coffee and cook with Ren, but he couldn't let it be known he was satisfied just yet.

"Is that a good enough offer?" Akechi pondered in Ren shoulder. He added a kiss there for good measure.

"You're merciless." Ren breathed out, obviously struggling."You can choose which of your clothing I should borrow. Make it known when I'm outside that I'm yours?"

Yes this was a fun idea and stirred Akechi pleasantly.

"Interesting." Akechi rose his head to look at Ren and stopped. The bruise was darker, still swollen. Slowly, he passed a hand on Ren's cheek, avoiding the bruise. "That doesn't look good."

"I'll go to Takemi after work. It's fine." Ren smiled, always trying to be reassuring. "Want to meet back at Leblanc tonight?"

"Good. You have a deal." Akechi said, satisfied. Coffee, the promise of meeting Ren back later today and getting to dress him up added up to be a victorious morning. "What do you want to express today."

"?" Ren threw him a confused look, still battling with fatigue.

"For work. I get to decide what you wear, no? You said you were game." Akechi reminded him, sitting up. The air was colder now that he wasn't sprawled all over Ren. "So, what do you want to manifest today."

Ren thought about it, pulling at one of his lock of hair. After a few second, he looked back at Akechi with a taunting smile and said one word.

"Trustworthiness."

"You want to appear trustworthy? Quite the challenge, but fine." Akechi, a hand to his chin rose to his small closet, barely a step away from the bed. "You get on that coffee, I'll get you something."

With a yawn and a stretch, Ren climbed out of the bed, gave a kiss on Akechi's cheek and headed to the kitchen area ten steps farther. Akechi's studio was a small thing, one of the only places he had found right after leaving jail. He hadn't had the opportunity to be picky back then, his only advantage being his hitman money in his bank account.

Unfortunately, this place was way too small for two people to live comfortably in.

"Here." Ren came back a few moments later, with two cups of freshly made coffee.

"Perfect timing, your outfit of the day is on the bed." Akechi declared, gabbing the cup of coffee.

Akechi had settled on an outfit and presented it to Ren. With Ren's blazer - the one that had been forgotten here - he paired a tight dark sweater with a colourful flock of birds on it and a simple pair of jeans. It was warm, fitted the business casual style Ren had at work and the birds added an element of trust in his humble opinion.

And judging by Ren's surprised smile, he had hit bullseye. "Crows… that's great."

"They are generic birds, it's unspecified if they are crows or not." Akechi replied, sipping on his coffee to hide how pleased he was by the simple praise. "Though if you want to give it a form of sentimental meaning, they could be crows.

"I always trusted Crow." Ren winked at him, before changing right here and there.

"How do I look?" Ren asked, turning on himself.

"Fetching." Akechi answered looking proud of his work of art. "You shouldn’t have doubted. You'll gain whoever's trust you are trying to win."

Ren took his discarded jeans and took out the change from yesterday's drinks. "Do you have your 5 yen collection near?"

"Of course." Akechi answered, getting his big jar from his sock drawer. It was heavy, filled with yen.

"Here."

"Don't you want to keep them for your collection?"

"It's our collection." Ren shrugged with a small smile. "With you or with me, they are our bond."

A 5 (go) yen (en) was pronounced the same way one also pronounced "fateful bond" (goen) - a bond so important to you, it was as if Fate had placed them in your life. Two sides of the same coin, those fateful rivals had started to collect 5 yen. Their bond - the most intense in their live, beyond death, true in all realities - manifested in a simple, easy to disregard 5 yen.

"You're a sentimental fool." Akechi declared, opening his jar of coins for Ren to add to it.

* * *

When Ren left for work, Akechi was determined.

He really needed to move on to second step of his master plan to live with Ren. The hardest step of the plan. One so difficult, to ensure his chances of success he had rallied an ally on his quest, namely Yoshizawa Sumire.

Step two: find a bigger apartment.

Recruiting Sumire-san had started with one simple conversation.

Café crêpes et miel - August 30th, 2025

"I-I want to marry Ryuji." Sumire-san declared, her cheeks reddening from the confession.

Sumire-san and Akechi had spent an afternoon together, shopping for new clothes for Akechi. They had taken a break at one coffee and desert spot in Kichijoji when Sumire-san shared what had been busying her mind lately.

"Is that so?" Akechi raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "That sounds quite doable, I'm not sure why that would be a problem."

"Well, I've been trying to give him hints, subtly, but he isn't getting it." Sumire-san admitted, downright blushing. She was as red as her long hair and ruby eyes, which was quite the feat.

But ah, yes. Of course Sakamoto was too dense to understand his girlfriend's own desire. Understanding the situation, Akechi blew at the steam from his afternoon tea. "What have you done so far?"

"We enjoy watching shows together. I started to include romances that don't end after the first kiss." Sumire-san started, nervously pushing back her glasses.

"That's too subtle."

"I've been mentioning my ring size around him. Telling him I've been shopping with Haru-san, Makoto-san and Ann-san, and we have found precious souvenirs." She continued, showing the cat ring on her right hand. "We all got matching friendship rings. Good thing they had my size: about 16.6 mm. It's an 11 in shops."

"A good one, if his attention span was long enough to remember the details." Akechi commented yet again

"I told him I'd like to eat his miso soup everyday." Sumire-san smiled. Seeing Akechi's confused stare, she justified: "He makes a good one, it's his mother's recipe."

Sakamoto makes good food? Somehow, Akechi always assumed it was Ren that was feeding all of his friends, but it made sense they had picked up at least a trick or two if they hung out with him. And Sakamoto was always around Ren.

Ignoring the slight envy he felt toward Sakamoto of all people, Akechi focused on the main topic of conversation. "I doubt Ryuji understands love metaphors, even one as popular as 'I want to eat your miso soup every day'. You could tell him the moon is beautiful he wouldn't know you are quoting an author."

"I told him I loved him, and saw myself with him in the future. We have been together for four years now, I've never felt so sure." Sumire-san exclaimed, holding her fist determinedly in front of her. "Still, nothing! So now I think I need to let him know I want to live with him."

Akechi's attention perked up again at that.

"So we have a similar problem, I see." He told her. "I want to live with Ren. It's with me he should be living, not Sakamoto."

"If I may ask, Akechi-san… why don't you live with him?" Sumire-san timidly asked. "You don't usually sound so shy. He obviously loves you."

"My apologies, Sumire-san, but I do not want to live with Sakamoto, and I can hardly kick him out of his living space. I'm not that cruel." Akechi scoffed. "My studio is small. I'd need to perhaps find something decent first."

"I could help you find an apartment for Senpai and you." Sumire-san thought out loud. "It'd be quite helpful to me too. Then I'd get Ryuji to think about his own future and ask him to live with me."

"That could be a decent plan. Yes, this scheme does sound mutually beneficial." Akechi smiled, enjoying a good scheme. Oh how much he had dreamed to snatch Ren for himself, and he would be able to help Sumire-san along the way. "Good doing business with you, Sumire-san."

"Likewise! Let's do this!"

Good thing his Fridays were apartment hunting days. Dressing up with a Loki-pattern button-up shirt and a green neutral, slightly boring, cardigan, Akechi took his phone out.

Mission start!

* * *

October 2nd 2025, 8h17

Me, 8h17

Still ready for today? I have two possible contenders

Sumire, 9h07

Good morning, Akechi-san

Sumire, 9h07

Yes! Where is the first one you want to check-out?

Me, 9h07

Yes, good morning

Me, 9h07

I want to look up this one first, it is in my estimated acceptable price range

Me, 9h07

[ www.remax/jp/…]

Me, 9h07

I think it has serious potential

Sumire, 9h08

You are quite enthusiastic today, it's refreshing from last week

Sumire, 9h08

Not saying you can't be discouraged from time to time!

Sumire, 9h10

I was just saying, it is a good spirit to be in!

Sumire, 9h11

…Akechi-san?

Me, 9h12

Meet me at Ueno Station at 10

Sumire, 9h12

I'll be right there!

* * *

Even if slightly piqued by the comment, Sumire-san had been right. The past few weeks had been difficult on Akechi's morale - cumulating in the aforementioned last week's discouragement. Who knew it was so hard to find the perfect apartment to live in with your boyfriend?

Akechi had criteria to meet.

First, it had to be an LGBT+ friendly apartment.

Some landlords out right refused homosexual couples, a unfortunately common practice, and for obvious reasons, that wouldn't do. Akechi wasn't going to hide, he wasn't always the most demonstrative outside - yesterday be damned - but he was not going to be in the closet in his own home.

At least, in Tokyo, LGBT+ friendly apartments weren't as rare as other cities.

Silver linings and all that.

Second, it had to accept cats.

Akechi wasn't dense. Morgana came along with Ren, that was a fact, no matter what he thought about it. He even asked the internet if it was acceptable to ask your boyfriend to give up their cat (the answer was no). Well, Akechi didn't hate Morgana, and loved Ren more than the irritation of having to deal with a magical talking cat.

Third, it had to come with a parking for his motorcycle.

An impulsive buy from the period they rekindled and Ren lived far away. But the freedom he felt, on the road, in absolute control of everything, flying by different landscapes, was unmatched. He didn't want to get rid of it.

Fourth, it had to be within an hour of Ren's work.

It felt like a fair radius.

Fifth, the landlord had to be open-minded when doing a background check.

They both had court records after all. While Ren had been acquitted from all charges, he still had a past that could scare some landlords. And that was without Akechi and his currently on-going probation from his guilty charges - his situation definitively scared most landlords.

And finally, it couldn't be too pricey.

He might have some savings from his teenage years of hunting in mementos, but he was still a philosophy student on a scholarship and his boyfriend a community social worker on probation.

All in all, this was the hardest step of Akechi's two steps plan.

But today was a good day.

Somehow, he felt it in his gut, he would succeed today.

* * *

Luminous, spacious, clean, near the station, a small half wall creating some division in the room… This 1 bedroom apartment was simply-

"Amazing!" Sumire-san clapped in her hand, saying out loud exactly what Akechi had been thinking. "Akechi-san, how did you find this place? Wow, I would love to live here."

"Don't get too excited now." Akechi growled, feeling possessive, so close of his goal.

"This is as spacious as a 2LDK - an apartment with two rooms in addition to a living, dining and kitchen area." The landlord boasted. "We justify the low price since we kept the post war American style architecture, it is quite pricey to heat and cool down. It's its only trade off, past occupants have been quite happy."

Akechi looked at the kitchen, wondering if Ren would love it. It looked efficient. There would be space for Ren to prepare something, while Akechi helped out, cutting some veggies.

"It has a very quiet neighbourhood." Sumire-san said looking put the window.

The landlord laughed. "This place would be perfect for a young couple such as yourselves."

"No!" Sumire-san exclaimed, blushing hard, her outburst getting the attention of both men. "I mean, no. W-we aren't together!"

A silent pause followed.

"I'm looking for myself and my partner, who couldn't come. This is quite an interesting place." Akechi explained, sparing the Sumire-san further embarrassment. "Yes, my partner and I could definitively live here."

"Ah that is good to hear. We could schedule an interview date then?" The landlord asked, moving on to business, getting his agenda out. "When would it be good? Is your partner also a student?"

"No, he is a salary-man, so anytime in the evening, the weekend or at lunch push come to shove."

"A working man?"

Akechi frowned at the question. He had been clear, had he not? "Yes, he is a social worker. Works with kids. There are a few families here, a social worker shouldn't be a bad addition, no?"

The landlord coughed awkwardly. "No, it shouldn't but… is your partner a man?"

Akechi's heart stopped, but he kept his expression a polite neutral. Not again.

"Yes? You did say you rented to the LGBT+ community in your advertisement." Akechi reminded him, gritting his teeth.

"Well, yes, I normally would." The landlord said, closing his agenda. "But you see, you had mentioned in your email that you were a young ex-delinquent. I do believe in second chances, but this is all starting to be a lot from one person…"

"So it was fine if i was only gay or only an ex-convict?" Akechi summarized, the anger rising.

"There are young families here, and children. They are easily impressionable you see?" The man justified. "I try to be sure everyone gets a fair chance, but I can't take charity cases. It isn't possible."

'Charity case'

Cold anger iced his heart, Akechi glared at the man, this prick who pretended he had some sort of ethics - annoying 'holier than thou with my moral but not at the cost of my image' prick!

"Charity case?" Akechi repeated, feeling some manic laugh rising in him, his breath sporadic.

Charity case?!

Before he could spiral, he felt a small delicate hand forcefully grabbing his his arm.

"Akechi-san, let's get going." Sumire-san declared, her voice cold, stripped from its usual cheeriness. "Apologize for the abrupt departure, but this isn't possible for us."

Removing themselves was the most logical and peaceful option. Akechi knew that. Still the anger was burning away at his equanimity, and all he wanted was to hurt. Hurt that man, hurt this society that allowed this attitude to thrive, hurt as much as he was hurting.

"Fuck!" He screamed once outside, guided by the friendly hand of Sumire-san. He stopped on the street, blinded by rage. "Sorry, Sumire-san, I just- fuck!"

The reality was this: in the eye of society, he was a charity case. And he couldn't change that.

"Don't apologize, please." Sumire-san softly said, letting him vent out.

"Pathetic scumbag landlord!"

"He really is." She nodded, looking down. "It's disheartening, seeing everyone refuse you and Ren a decent place to live."

Another failed attempt.

"I was a fool thinking today was different." Akechi sighed bitterly. "All because I felt good this morning. As if it changed anything about who I am."

"You can hope, Akechi-san. It isn't foolish." Sumire-san immediately replied, meeting Akechi's intense gaze with her fiery determination. "I'm not just saying that. I mean, senpai and Ryuji managed to find an apartment, why can't we? I wonder how long it took them… well, no matter what, it happened once, it can happen again."

That managed to calm his anger, morphing into confusion instead. "What do you mean by that?"

Sumire-san looked pensive. "Well, they kind of have the same criteria as you…. They are two men and a cat, sharing an apartment that wasn't too pricey for students to live in. I know they are just friends, but it's not like the landlord knows that."

It hit him then. A new possibility came to light with this new fact, getting him closer to the resolution he had searched for.

"Yoshizawa Sumire!" Akechi exclaimed, making the girl jump in surprise.

"Yes! ..?"

"This is a brilliant idea." Akechi breathed out, feeling lighter than seconds ago.

"To ask senpai or Ryuji where they have found their apartment? Won't they get suspicious?" Sumire-san asked, confused.

"No need, Ren already has the perfect place." Akechi explained to her. "If it's too arduous to find a place for two poor gay outlaws with a cat like Ren and I, then you get Sakamoto out of there and move in here or any of the ones we checked in the past months. I'll take Sakamoto's place."

"Right! We should do that!" Sumire-san agreed, smiling. "And even if he doesn't want to move out, I'd have my own place for a while. Until he is ready. It can't be a bad experience."

"Don't prepare options for failure, find a place Sakamoto will like and move out for."

"Right, you do need him out for your success! Sorry, I should aim for the win." She said, her enthusiasm contagious.

"Don't apologize for nothing." Akechi told her, smirking as he got his phone out. "Here, this was the second one I was supposed to see today. Shall we look it up, now that we are shopping for you?"

"Yes!"

* * *

If his plan had changed a little bit, Sumire-san easily found a place for her to live with Sakamoto. Their plan had came to a success.

I did it! He thought to himself, heart pounding in his ears. No, don't celebrate too quickly, I still have one extra step to take.

He would now have to ambush Ren soon and tell him about it.

No!

First, he had to wait until Sumire-san talked to Sakamoto, and once Sakamoto finally agrees to live with Sumire-san, that was when he would strike. Ren would wonder 'What will I do, I can't stay there all alone', and like a hero to save the day, Akechi would pop the question:

'What if we lived together?'

What if he refuses?

No. There was just no way right? He knew Ren, and would have to be stupid to not think this man actually loved him. What were those last minutes jitters?

Over confidence was a flaw that could prove to be fatal. But even if Ren did say no… Akechi could be patient. He really could. Yes, he would be patient or convince himself he could.

'Ding! Ding!'

Distractingly entering Café Leblanc, Akechi quickly noticed three things. They were no clients here. Ren was sitting at a booth, with Morgana by his sides, in front of an odd electronic object. Sakura Futaba was at the counter, throwing a scared glance at the door once the bell rang.

Then he took the place in. The nostalgic smell of coffee laced with curry, mixed with the new decorative choice of the place. On all the walls, there were multiple paintings showcased, not just the Sayuri anymore. It gave the café an artistic flair that suited its atmosphere while keeping the cozy simplistic decor. Something old, something new, yet always welcoming.

Always welcoming.

"Hello Akechi!" Morgana greeted him first, Ren waving at him happily.

"Hey." Futaba-san nodded at him.

Still quite reserved, she was making progress over the years. Their relationship, tainted by his past actions, wasn't necessarily on a best-friend level - but who was with him - yet Akechi tried his best to show her some good faith, and he could acknowledge that so was she.

"So you beat up my brother?" Futaba-san said, and perhaps good faith was too much for today.

"He didn't beat me up." Ren denied, getting up from his place to pour two cup of coffee.

"Yeah, I've been keeping a good watch on Ren." Morgana added, surprisingly to Akechi.

"Mmmm." Futaba-san's purplish eyes narrowed at him in suspicion, her smirk viciously growing. "Sounds like what most drama's protagonists on TV would say. Could be the season 2, the toxic ex came back in the life of the unaware protagonist, pretends to do better, but still secretly isolates them from their friends and abuses them."

"What kind of TV novella protagonist do you think I am?" Ren chuckled, giving her a side glance from over his glasses.

'Isolate them from their friends…'

Is that what I've been doing? Was the plan a bad idea? What if he definitively refuses now?

"…" Akechi tried to think of a rebuttal, but frankly couldn't. What if he wasn't worthy? Instead, he turned toward Ren. "Could we talk?"

"Whoa, I struck a chord there." Futaba-san looked slightly sheepish. "I'm joking, you know… I told you I was forgiving you as long as you were taking care of my little brother. So don't be so awkward, it makes me awkward…"

"Little brother?" Ren wondered, coming back around the corner with two cups of coffee.

"I was the first one to be a Sakura, and you're the newest in the family!" Futaba-san said, crossing her arms. "Ergo, I'm the big sis, you are the lil' bro."

"I'm in your care, Futaba nee-san." Ren replied, before he turned toward Akechi and pointed with his head farther in the café. "Here, I took the booth there."

"What is all this?" Akechi wondered, trying to figure out what Ren had been working on, grabbing his coffee.

It looked like a old Polaroid camera.

"We stopped at the secondhand shop after Takemi's , and I was helping Ren repair this instant camera." The cat annoyingly replied instead of Ren.

"I see." Akechi politely replied. "Would you mind leaving me with Ren for a few minutes."

With an irritated swish of his tail, Morgana grumbled. "Alright, but I'll be back."

When the cat left, Akechi turned to Ren, staring at him behind his glasses, his eyes calm like a rainy day.

"You wanted to talk?" Ren asked, opening the conversation to listen.

That was what he always did, when he felt something was off. Always making sure to be there to listen. Caring about Akechi's up and down.

Always welcoming.

"I just wanted to be alone with you." Akechi started, then hesitated. He glanced back at the counter behind him, noting that Futaba-san was busy doing dishes. "You don't think I'm isolating you, am I?"

An incredulous pause.

"I see so many people, you always call me a social butterfly." Ren assured him, looking surprised. "Futaba's jokes got you that much?"

Akechi sighed, feeling a bit better. "She is your sister. Frankly, I'm not the best at… Healthy relationship. And some people say that every jokes have an half truth to them. So perhaps she isn't wrong."

"She is wrong." Ren said, again sounding quite self assured. "I'm the kind of novella protagonist that will break reality to wish for you. If anything, you should be worried."

You're not scaring me. Want me more. More.

Akechi couldn't help but preen. With Ren, it was easy to let his doubts go. It was easy to just be himself, without worrying whether he was adequate.

"Yeah. You really are, but I'm not worried." Akechi said, almost challenging Ren. "Nothing you do I can't reciprocate."

I want you too.

Fidgeting with a delightful blush - caused by Akechi! Another victory of the day - Ren turned his attention back on the camera.

"Has Takemi-sensei checked your eye?" Akechi asked.

"She has, no concussion as you had assessed." Ren informed him, inserting the final screws in the camera. "While waiting for the check-up, I have been thinking."

Ren looked up from his project, looking at Akechi. There was something in his eyes, a determination steeling. Akechi grew curious about that, wondering what sort of conclusions Ren had reached by himself, his inner landscape always so fascinating.

"Well, consider me interested. What have you been thinking about, Ren?" Akechi asked, leaning forward.

"Life will change. Again and again." Ren started, pulling at one of his lock of hair. "It's normal. But, I can't help but feeling a bit… scared of changes I can't control. But seeing Takemi always gives me a boost of courage. If I can survive her treatment, I can get through anything."

"That's… Not what a doctor should evoke." Akechi glared in annoyance. Could he even trust that back-alley doctor's conclusion? "What do you mean, life will change? Sounds a bit cryptic, coming from you."

Ren looked toward the counter again, where Morgana and Futaba-san were. Deciding it wasn't enough, he changed side and sat right next to Akechi on his side of the booth.

"This stays between you and me, but… Ryuji wants to marry Sumire." Ren whispered to him, sharing a secret. "Isn’t it great?"

Sakamoto wanted to marry Sumire-san ? Had the girl's subtle work actually worked, she just hadn't known? Their happiness soon colliding, just as wished, just as planned…

"Really now?" Akechi answered to Ren, pretending to be completely unaware of this development.

Though, wait… He had been aware of Sumire-san 's part, not Sakamoto's…

"It also means that, he'll probably move out soon. It's a big change, I've been living with him for the past 4 years." Ren continued, keeping his voice low. "But I'm ready to face it. I want to ask now, while I have the guts to do so…"

Ren paused and took Akechi's hand.

"Goro, I know you care a lot about your freedom. So really, feel free to refuse." Ren's hand trembled a bit, but he squeezed Akechi's and kept going. "But I'd love it if you moved in with me. I love you. I love being with you. I'd want to be your home.. if you want it too?"

Would he want to?! Of course. Absolutely. Yes.

Wait.

Akechi was the one that was supposed to ask this!

What about my plan? Its a failure? No!

"No!" Akechi barked, clutching at Ren's trembling hand. "I was one step away from asking you! How are you always always managing to ruin my plan?"

Ren's at first hurt expression morphed into confusion. "…what?"

"I spent weeks, months searching for an apartment so I could invite you to move in with me. Make you mine!" Akechi kept going, feeling both so happy and angry that he had been so closed, reached the ideal conclusion and still failed!

Unaware of Akechi's inner turmoil, Ren met Akechi's eyes, hands still trembling in his. "You want to live with me?"

"Obviously. I have been stealing all your clothes so you could feel like you have your place at my house too. I tried so hard to be worthy, to get better …" Akechi muttered, dropping his head on Ren's shoulder.

He wondered if he should bite it, to punish him, but reminded himself they were in public.

"Really?" Ren breathed out, still incredulous.

Akechi quickly straightened up, glaring seriously at Ren."Yes! Sumire-san and I have been apartment hunting… She has been helping me finding a place, so I could steal you away."

"That's such a over complicated scheme." Ren laughed, clearly reassured. "Did you find one? Want us to move in there instead?"

"No, Sumire-san found one for her and Sakamoto. We… changed plan." Akechi dismissed, not wanting to admit the challenge had been too difficult for him."Speaking of, how the fuck did you find an apartment in this goddamn city?"

"It's a stigmatized apartment." Ren answered simply, with a small smirk.

Jiko bukken - or stigmatized property- were places said to be cursed by their dark history, to be avoided at all cost.

"A stigmatized apartment? Someone killed themselves there? And because of the stigma, no one wants to live there… so the landlord isn't too strict." Akechi understood.

"I don't care about stigma, society's opinion or the place's backstory. It still had everything right to make a home." Ren smiled, squeezing Akechi's hands again.

'No matter the backstory, it still had everything to make a home.'

That was so Ren. Just like he saw this building with a grim history as a appropriate potential housing, he saw people for who they were too, even with a grim backstory.

In Ren's eyes, Akechi wasn't a charity case, he wasn't a ruthless delinquent.

He was the boyfriend Ren wanted to live with.

Just like in Akechi's eyes, Ren wasn't just a fearless leader or a untrustworthy delinquent that should be placed on probation.

"I want to live with you." Akechi whispered, forehead touching Ren's.

"Next time you want something out of our relationship, just ask me directly. I probably want it too, honey."

"Fine." You win this round, but I will take you by surprise one day, Akechi swore in his heart. "But so do you. You said it took you courage to ask me this? Talk to me, Ren. I'll try my best to hear you out."

"We can figure it out as we go. We will have time, now that we get to live together." Ren said, the excitement in his voice unconcealed.

But Akechi understood, he shared the exact same excitement on that slightly improvised win. On bad days or good days, now that they would live together, Akechi couldn't wait to share his everyday with his Ren.

A new chapter to their on going love story.

Extra :

A few weeks later.