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Right. Then I suppose it's all just a matter of time...

[It won't be long until they reach the Niijima residence at the rate they're going. It's as neat as it normally would be, but so, so empty.

As they step inside, he can't help but sigh.]

It's so haunting, you know. The emptiness of it all. I admit, there were times where I'd make myself scarce and stay at Leblanc just to avoid the sisterly bickering, but it was comforting to know at least one of them would be there.

[Ah, breathless laughter follows.]

That's the thing with bonds, I suppose. I'd argue they've been fulfilling, but when they're stripped away, it's... disorienting.

[So this is Sae's apartment. It's... neat. Clean. Like someone loves the place, and he knows better than to think it's Sae herself. Yet there are so many things scattered around, that make it seem a home and not a holding area.]

You were a little slow to talk about their disadvantages, yes. [His objections to forming close relationships are a matter of long record. He grumbles as they follow along.]

Look at this place. It seems so... busy. [He means lived-in. Other-him has seen his apartment, after all.] I don't even own a rice cooker.

It's not that there aren't disadvantages. I just find that the pros outweigh the cons, but I also know why you'd disagree.

[Bonds are dangerous business when leading a life like his counterpart's. He at least sees that much.

But as for the apartment itself... he sighs.]

In all fairness, you haven't exactly had the time, I imagine, to eat more than quick snacks. After all, you're a student, a hitman, and a celebrity.

And a Phantom Thief. Don't forget that. At least, I was when I left. Also, I'm a terrorist. [He makes it sound bright, running a gloved hand along the edge of the kitchen counter as they pass it. But then he sighs.]

I haven't forgotten what it's like to be in an empty home. [His mother. But he moves on.] What was it even like, to live with Sae-san?

Not too unlike living with my dad and sister, at least in some respects.

[He'll motion for his counterpart to follow down the hall. The bedrooms are a bit further.]

One of them being exceptionally busy due to a thankless and demanding job, and the other left to fend for herself when the work became too demanding. I suppose the key difference is that Dojima-san never placed heavy expectations on us. Sae-san... well, she changed after their father died. She certainly was a warmer person in 2011, at least.

[And there's an interesting little reveal, isn't it?]

You knew her when you were living in Inaba? She was involved with the murder case? But she must have been too young.

[He follows right to the bedroom door. Witnessing grief reminds him how much of him still lies behind his secrets; he sounds subdued. Like he hasn't made it his business to change Sae Niijima.]

Edited 2023-09-13 14:31 (UTC)

Her family came down to Inaba over the summer, after a suspect confessed to being the killer but was ultimately a copycat killer who murdered a school teacher. Naoto-san, Kanji, and I did a stake out the night we expected his kidnapping, and thus we learned that the presumed culprit drove a large vehicle that would be difficult for a fifteen year old to obtain, let alone drive undetected.

[He opens the door, revealing a bedroom with the aforementioned glowing stars on the ceiling. A pride flag with the Featherman emblem is pinned to the wall. There's a desk in the corner, a wardrobe and dresser for his clothes, and a small shelf with some books.

Everything is very tidy. Oh, and there's an attache case with an A on it.

He moves over to unlock it.]

[It looks so... real. Neat and clean, yes, as anywhere he lived would be; and there's his case. He wonders if the combination is the same.

But yeah, what draws his eye is the rainbow flag pinned up on the wall. It's so... out. He murmurs, rather inanely, staring at it.] Oh, there are your stars.

[Oh, he noticed that staring. That staring earns a chuckle as the case pops open.]

I figured myself out as a thirteen year old. I suppose what made it easier to come to terms with was that nobody in my friend group was entirely straight to begin with, no matter how much Yosuke protested otherwise.

[Ah, those were the days... The blatant denial until he finally caved and ended up with Yu of all people.

What the other Akechi might find alarming is what's inside the case. Namely, a sleeve shaped very much like a gun holster.]

Oh, and just so we're clear- this wasn't all a ruse for me to shoot you. Evokers... well, they're meant to trick our bodies into thinking we're on the verge of death.

[And yeah, the confusion vanishes in less than a heartbeat. He comes within a hair of stepping back and drawing his own gun, which is holstered against the small of his back. His voice drops to a killer's pitch.] You need to be more careful than that.

[But there's no need for his counterpart to bring him to his own home, his own room, to murder him. He knows that. He comes closer.]

Are you serious, though? A word to the wise—don't use that in the Metaverse. If you'd ever need to.

Oh, I know how it would work in the Metaverse. I had to warn Kirijo-san and the others, once they'd figured out what I was up to.

[He'll strap the evoker to his belt. Fortunately, though his uniform mostly covers it, there is a place for it. Then he briefly casts a glance to the very real sword in its sheath in the corner by his bookshelf.]

To be honest, I'm essentially using this room as a storage space for now, and for a place to slip away if I need a moment to myself. I can't exactly keep real weapons in a house with little kids, after all.

[But they got what they came for, so he'll snap the case closed for now. His laptop is safely back in his Inaba room, along with his cosmetics, so there's not much else of interest, really.]

[He doesn't mention that he brought his own weapon to that house party—even if he'd locked it out of reach of the children.]

You might want to consider it. There are options. Our situation may seem predictable and domestic, but it's not inconceivable those demons from Mikage-cho could take a walk through Inaba some night.

[Mitsuru Kirijo, though, who could call her Persona outside the cognitive world. With this same technique.]

I already told my younger self not to keep weapons in his room. He shares it with Hawk, and I'd rather he not get hurt, but I suppose the TV world isn't the worst place to keep things.

[It's the most accessible, with Junes so close, at least.

Well then, now that they have what they came here for, he'll lead his other self out of the room and back toward the exit.]

[Yeah, he'll just... give that flag a last glance, on the way out. Before he returns to watching his alternate's hand, near the holster.]

May I ask you something? Why the flag? [Actually, that sounds desperate, doesn't it?] I mean, Featherman.

[Pfffft. He can see right through his counterpart.]

I'm gay and I like Featherman. There's not much else to it.

[Here, he'll be nice and hold the door for him.]

[Oh, wonderful. Thank you. He'll just sail through that door like the celebrity he is. "I'm gay", really?]

I suppose if you want to wear it on your sleeve. You're fortunate, to be able to be so open about who you are. [Yeah, remember that lemon he ate? He looks like the whole thing has repeated on him at once.]

What does Sae-san think? [He doesn't ask about Makoto, who in his world he's fairly sure is too close to Okumura-san.]

Considering I'm living under the same roof as her sister, I think it came as a relief.

[He's still got a wry little smirk. There's an implication there on why she is so relieved.]

[...and he laughs abruptly, behind his counterpart, his sharp little Detective Prince chuckle.]

Ah. You too. [Living under their roof would have complicated that one, for certain.]

Oh? Has she given you 'the talk' about how she'll tolerate no 'funny business' around Makoto?

[Well, now that they've left the apartment, it's just a matter of reaching the SIU director's office. Then the real fun can begin.]

[It won't take them long to get there, either, walking back into the main body of Kasumigaseki; the Public Prosecutor's Office is just south of the Imperial Palace's Sakurada Gate, very near the main police building. He's walked this route many times, from the station onwards—though not typically so fast.]

She'd never dream. She sees me as an acceptable option, I think—when she thinks about such things, which is—[his fault]—increasingly rare.

It shows you how little attention she pays.

Heh. It's funny, actually. When I first enrolled at Shujin, everyone simply assumed we were dating. I of course shut that down fast. But the real humor came when Kamoshida tried to spread rumors about my sexuality, only for me to flawlessly turn it around.

[He stops at the door, gazing up. It certainly is a rather large building, isn't it?]

I was quite good at that. Reminding the student body that one's personal tastes in romantic partners have absolutely no bearing on their performance as a student, and partaking in senseless gossip only reflects poorly on Shujin as a school and causes unnecessary rifts in what should be a harmonious learning community.

[The way he says it, there's a hint of disdain. That the 'harmony' he proposes is merely lip service, not unlike what a celebrity may say for good PR.]

[Again, the chuckle, less strained than before. He's drawn closer to other-him's side.] Listen to you. That sounds quite masterfully done. And makes more sense of the flag.

So you do listen to Loki, after all. [It may not be how other-Akechi sees it—but it is how he sees it.

The main staircase is at the far back of the entrance hall. Akechi has been here... well, he's been here far too often. The lines of his face become sharper as he, now, leads the way.]

[Listening to Loki... an interesting way to put it. He'll let that ruminate for a moment, following his other self up the stairs.]

Oh, it was quite entertaining. I did the same thing when that bastard tried to slander Ren, pointing out how it reflects poorly on Shujin if everyone simply gives up on "problem students," when it should be a mark of pride if "we" as an academic community are able to lift them up and shape them into model students.

So, naturally, I took full "responsibility" for Ren, and suddenly I was a "hero" for being so willing to foster the growth of a "criminal".

[Ren got a good laugh out of it, too, at least. That's what mattered most.]

Edited 2023-09-13 16:06 (UTC)

[So much time in this place. Meeting Sae downstairs before the security gates, as if he doesn't have licence to be anywhere in the building. Waiting on the stairs for her that one time, reading the news about the subway crash on his phone. Your judgment is quite often correct, though.

He rounds the curve of the banisters, heading to the higher floors.]

Who you were fascinated by. Because you saw yourself in him.

[Like he sees himself in Akechi, yes, again. As for being a hero... that was what had awaited him, at the end. His reward, part of it. Likely the only reward he would have got.]

I wanted to help him because I could relate to the overwhelming loneliness he doubtlessly felt, when everyone would look at him and see only his record. So the day we met, I promised that I'd find a way to overturn his conviction.

[He follows, his voice subdued as he recounts the situation.]

It wasn't about heroism. It was about extending a helping hand to someone who had just had everything torn away from him. When Kanji reached out to me, it altered the trajectory of my life, so...

[It's really just a matter of paying it forward. Personal gain was hardly his priority.]

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