Chapter Text
Early Morning-
The station lights didn’t do much to pull Amamiya Ren's mind from its fog. He squinted into them, unable to fend off the LEDs bouncing off stark white tiles and floors, glaring at him brighter than the sun outside.
With his eyelids so close together, it was tempting to drift off. Had it been the quiet bus station in his hometown, he could have gotten away with it. But here, people moved impersonally fast. At least he could sleep on the train, with the cat in his bag sure to wake him before he reached his spot.
“I told you to go to bed earlier,” Morgana said.
“Mhmm." Ren rested against a pillar and checked his phone. Nothing new this morning. He clamped his teeth shut around a particularly powerful yawn and squeezed tears from his eyes.
“Fancy seeing you here.”
“Who is it?” Morgana chirped. Ren gently elbowed the bag and feigned like he was adjusting the strap.
“Oh, right, I guess Shujin was in this direction too… still, I wouldn't have expected to run into you at this time. Perhaps it really is fate… How are you doing?”
Akechi Goro stood before him in a crisp white button-up with a black and white striped tie. He wore leather gloves, and his right hand flexed tightly around an attaché case with an 'A.' on it. Ren deduced that the 'A' most likely stood for Akechi.
The detective continued to smile politely at him.
“I'm sleepy,” Ren said, not fully registering the response. Akechi was his senior, and a celebrity at that. He debated attempting to recover by apologizing or bowing, but Akechi’s demeanor tilted for a moment. The polite smile flickered and the kindness in his eyes hardened. As soon as the expression materialized, Akechi managed to cover it right back up with polite concern.
“Did you stay up too late? Are you all right?”
Ren blinked at him.
An inkling of something akin to scorn crossed Akechi's face - it looked nothing like the Akechi Goro crudely graffitied on the homeroom blackboard. Or the Akechi Goro on TV, who chastised the Phantom Thieves and looked neutrally polite until he had to disagree. Even that seemed practiced, tinged with regret for having to speak his contradicting opinion to public favors.
It was certainly interesting enough to make Ren forget about how tired he was.
They'd only met once prior, at the TV station for the class trip. Ren had heard about him in passing, mostly through giggling girls in school who quickly switched to frantic whispers when they realized Ren was near. Ann mentioned him once, a comment about his hair that Ryuji scoffed at.
He seemed nice enough. Confident enough to approach strangers in a hallway and skirt around something that might be considered nosy if he wasn't so polite about it. Ren thought he was cute, and that opinion grew over the course of their trip.
During the filming segment, Ren realized his importance and was handed the opportunity to toy with him just a little. Maybe it was the rebellion of his new role as the leader of the Phantom Thieves influencing him, but Ren dissented against Akechi's statements.
Akechi didn't seem to be used to that, and his expression flashed to something far meaner, just as it did today. It lasted a fraction of a second both times. Ren wanted to do it again, to see how far he could take it - like a Shadow in the Metaverse, tearing off his mask to see what truth hid beneath it.
Ryuji barely contained his dislike for Akechi on the bus ride back to Shujin, and Ren couldn't keep himself from bringing Akechi up in every mundane conversation over the next few days.
Ren thought it would be entertaining if Akechi Goro, the second coming of the Detective Prince, snapped harshly at his junior in public, and that ghost of a look made it seem like he was on the brink of doing so. It made Ren's heart rate quicken. A challenge he could rise to, insignificant in the long run. Ren didn't plan on keeping up communication. He was a detective, after all, the natural rival to a thief.
Ren, while lost in his head, blankly stared at Akechi, dropping the natural flow of conversation long enough for Akechi to scoop it back up and save both of them from awkward, impolite silence.
“...Ah, I do like that response. It’s surprisingly honest. I’ve been interviewed quite a lot recently and have been wondering the best way to respond to the same question. I suppose it is best to simply be yourself and say what you think..." Akechi cupped his chin, gaze drifting from the present.
"You don't tell them the truth?" Ren said.
Goro laughed- a sweet sound, grin wide, borderline sparkling.
Ren's neck blotched with heat under his blazer's collar. He pressed a strand of hair between his fingers, focusing on that instead. He wasn't sure what Akechi found to be so funny, but he wanted to find out to hear that laugh again.
"I apologize," Akechi said. "In my line of work, honesty isn't always allowed. I sometimes forget that's not the case for everyone. I suppose that's why I hoped to cross paths with you again. Your honesty at the studio was refreshing. I'm glad to see it again, even in casual conversation."
Ren gave a soft "oh" and released his hair.
"Would it be all right if I accompanied you to your next stop?"
Ren nodded.
The two of them stepped into the queue forming before the platform and stood side by side. Three people ahead of him, Ren spotted Yusuke. He craned over everyone else, with a slender frame, dark blue hair, and a somewhat peculiar uniform that immediately signaled he belonged to an art school.
Ren masked his surprise and hoped Yusuke wouldn’t turn at the sound of his voice.
“Have you lived in Tokyo long?” Akechi said with a charming grin.
Ren looked at Akechi as if he had forgotten he was there. “I’ve only been here a few weeks - well, I guess a few months now. I arrived in April.”
“Oh? May I ask as to why you moved here?”
“I-,” Ren’s hand found the strands of hair resting on the bridge of his nose again. He never put much thought into a lie - with his criminal record being leaked at school, everyone assumed before bothering to ask.
“My apologies, I didn’t mean to pry. It’s a force of habit from work.” Akechi gave a gentle self-deprecating laugh, much different than his previous one.
“You didn’t,” Ren said automatically. It felt odd to be asked, almost normal. Perhaps he could forge a bond not based on his outcast. “My parents needed to focus on work, thought it would be best to stay with a family friend. What about you?”
“I’ve been here my entire life,” Akechi said.
An announcement came over the speakers, acting as a precursor to the arrival of the train.
“You must know a lot of Tokyo’s secrets.”
“Secrets?” The slightest tear in his neutral expression appeared - a drop of something not so polite quickly spirited away within a second of its manifestation. “What an interesting topic choice.”
The train screeched into the station. People poured out of the open doors, and the ones in front of Akechi and Ren filed into the emptied pocket. Yusuke ended up across from them, facing them, hugging his bag to his chest near a full row of seats. Ren and Akechi could no longer stand shoulder to shoulder, forced to face each other with Akechi’s back to Yusuke, granting Yusuke a direct view of Ren over the tops of a cluster of people’s heads. Akechi held his attaché case between them at leg level, and Ren hugged his bag to his chest, squeezing Morgana a little too hard in the process.
“Hey! Why didn’t you ditch the detective!” Morgana shouted from the bag. It wriggled in Ren’s arms, and Ren gave him an intentional squeeze.
“Did your bag just move? What do you have in there, Amamiya-kun?” Akechi said, still somehow looking polite despite a curious expression.
“Don’t open the bag, Ren,” Morgana said.
“That depends, can you keep a secret?” Ren whispered, corner of his lips turning up to a tiny smile.
Akechi’s eyes lifted to Ren’s. He studied his features for a moment, a hint of a dare in his eyes. Finally, he nodded.
Ren gripped the zipper and slowly pulled it towards him. The bag parted enough for Morgana to get an eyeful of Akechi, and Akechi the same with him.
“Gah! What did I tell you!” Morgana attempted to scoot back into the darkness of the bag, flashing his teeth at Akechi and arching his back against the top.
“How curious,” Akechi said. If he was surprised, he didn’t show it.
Ren zipped up the bag.
“Does it have a name?” Akechi smiled.
“Morgana. My guardian doesn’t want him home during the day.”
“Stop telling him things, he’s a detective - doesn’t that mean anything to you?” Morgana lamented within his fabric prison.
“Was he with you at the studio? I thought I heard meowing, although at the time I believed it was just the long day.”
Ren nodded.
“Well, your secret is safe with me.”
“Next stop, Aoyama-Itchome,” an automated male voice said overhead.
“Hopefully that won’t compromise your detective status,” Ren said.
“We have much bigger things to worry about than a feline stowaway.” Akechi winked.
A smile warmed Ren's face.
The train slowed to a stop. As soon as the doors opened, the crowd shifted, almost taking Ren with it. He found his footing quickly, tearing his gaze from Akechi.
“Hopefully we can chat soon,” Akechi waved.
“Yeah, see you!” Ren waved back, grinning a bit too enthusiastically.
“Pardon me,” Yusuke said, walking around Akechi and quickly catching up to Ren with his long legs.
The doors closed, right when Yusuke matched Ren’s pace.
“Excuse me, Ren?”
“Yusuke,” Ren stopped mid-stride.
“Who was that you spoke to on the train? I didn’t want to intrude. I heard Morgana’s voice and spotted you.”
“That was Akechi-kun.”
“The detective from the TV?” Yusuke looked shocked.
Ren nodded.
“What ever could he want with you?”
“Well- walk with me?”
“Of course.”
“When we visited the TV station, he introduced himself and asked if we could continue the debate we had during the question-asking portion of the filming later. He gave me his contact information, but I never used it. He spotted me at the station and came to say hi…”
“Hey, let me out now!” Ren undid the zipper, and Morgana popped out of the opening. He leaned on Ren’s shoulder with his front paws. “Why did you show me to him? He could get you in serious trouble, Ren.”
“With all the chatting you do, I’m surprised you don’t get caught more often,” Yusuke said.
“Well I’m surprised you even noticed,” Morgana growled.
“What’s done is done,” Ren said.
They arrived at Shujin’s gates. Ren tucked his hands in his pockets and averted his eyes. “Listen, I know it’s probably not good to ask this, but can you both keep this to yourselves? I don’t want the others to know Akechi approached me, it’ll just make them worry.”
“If you deem that the wisest course of action, I will accept your request,” Yusuke said.
Morgana held his tongue. They both looked at him. “Fine… but if Akechi tries anything…”
“I will tell the others if that does happen,” Ren said. His attention shifted to Yusuke. “Why did you follow me to Shujin? Your stop is a bit after Aoyama-Itchome, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Yusuke smiled. “I was curious. I must depart now.”
“Bye, Yusuke…” Ren said, nervously watching his friend head back toward the station.