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*1*
Ren wakes up that day, much like usual; with great trouble and a lot of yelling from Morgana.
However, once he emerges from his pillows, ready to beg for five more minutes, the cat grimaces. “You look terrible.”
It isn’t even said in a mean way; but with concern.
Ren opens his mouth to disagree, but all that comes out is a wheezy cough.
Morgana yelps, jumping out of the way to avoid being splattered with saliva and who knows what else.
“I think I’m sick,” Ren whispers, his voice cracking in a couple places.
Morgana sounds appalled. “You think?!”
***
Five minutes later, Morgana has roused (wailed at) Sojiro enough to walk up the stairs.
Ren tried to go down on his own, but even leaving the bed seemed impossible.
Now, his cat and his guardian are both staring at him with twin frowns on their faces. “We should check your temperature…” Sojiro announces thoughtfully, after checking his forehead.
So they do.
“You are not going to school today,” Sojiro tells him sternly, sitting on the side of Ren’s bed. (Which isn’t really a bed at all.)
“But field trip,” Ren tries to argue weakly. All this time stuck in school, and he gets sick when they are finally going on a field trip?
“No field trip,” Sojiro denies immediately. “Or do you want your friends getting sick?”
Ren purses his lips.
“You should focus on getting better! We can’t go to the Metaverse like this!” Morgana adds with fervor.
Ren sighs.
Fine. He hopes Ryuji and Ann have fun at the TV station at least.
***
“-so sick of this place!” Goro hears the yell. Who the fuck is so loud, he has the fleeting thought, before it passes; he has better things to be thinking about, now that the meeting is upon him.
Arranging a class field trip from Shujin to coincide with one of his tapings was not exactly child's play, but nothing someone like him couldn’t manage – from then on, it was a matter of trusting his psychological profile of the Phantom Thieves that they would pick it… And, naturally, some carefully dropped words to the right ears that the show would concern the elusive vigilantes didn’t hurt either… There is no way they would pass up on the chance – Goro has constructed the perfect accidental meeting, perfectly innocent, perfectly inconspicuous…
At long last, he will see Joker from up close.
The only one who could ever become his equal – the one with multiple Personas, like Goro himself.
His superiority will be overshadowing all their meetings of course – the knowledge that he has an edge over Joker, while his rival only sees a detective out to get him… Goro gets the urge to giggle maniacally. His mastery of the Metaverse, his seniority will always be an advantage of course; but having an ace like that up his sleeve, while Joker has no idea…
A chuckle or two does manage to escape his lips – no matter, there is no one in the corridors, aside from two random students of those walking around from Shujin. Not Joker, Joker has dark hair and glasses, these two are blondes-
Wait a second.
Goro narrows his eyes, looking at the two blondes. Two of Joker’s companions are blondes… But it can’t be these two. His cronies never leave Joker’s side, whether that be inside the Metaverse or out of it; otherwise Goro would have orchestrated an accidental meeting much sooner-
“-know, right?!” The girl sighs, her volume matching the loud yelling of the boy next to him. “I’m so jealous of Ren! He gets to sit home all day long-”
Ren.
Wait a damn second.
Ren as in… Ren Amamiya, aka Joker?
Goro takes a second look – these two are Joker’s cronies. And Joker himself-
Stayed at home?!
That’s fine, Goro tells himself, trying to calm his racing heart, this is a two-day trip-
“-sick and in bed, Ann,” the boy says with way too many unnecessary hand gestures. “He’s probably still worse off!”
“Well, yeah, I guess,” the girl replies, not that Goro hears much more of her as they pass him in the corridor.
He is too busy standing still, frozen in place.
His rival is… sick?
What kind of sickness could have chained him to bed so badly that he can't drag his useless ass into the TV studio and meet Goro like he was supposed to?!
His brain vaguely registers some more background noise from the two blondes – something about an amusement park – but he can’t afford to pay attention to that.
All his work has been for nothing?!
Goro grits his teeth. What kind of rival fails the very first challenge (of meeting him in the first place) so spectacularly?!
…no matter, he tells himself, this is just a minor hiccup. He arranged this meeting, he can come up with another scenario for them to meet face-to-face as their civilian selves.
Goro steels himself, walking off briskly towards his assigned changing room. This taping has just turned into a chore, unworthy of his attention – but he can come up with a new stage, a new scenario soon. An even better accidental meeting – after all, Joker would be crazy to miss out on talking to him, after he is publicly announced to be investigating the Phantom Thieves.
Yes, Goro thinks, smirking. After this taping, all he needs to do is put himself near Joker… Then, the thief will be the one to come to him.
It couldn’t be more perfect.
***
“So,” Ren interrupts Ryuji’s ranting about this detective guy, who doesn’t think the Phantom Thieves are real, but is still willing to slander them, “you two have fun on your date?”
“What?!” Ann shrieks, as Morgana yelps and Ryuji gapes so wide, he falls completely silent.
“Your date yesterday,” Ren elaborates, voice still weak, but his shit-eating grin inescapable. “You went to the theme park together – ate food and rode all the rides together…”
“That’s not a date!” Morgana insists.
“I-it wasn’t!” Ann seconds, flushing and glancing between all of them. “Tell him, Ryuji!”
“Forreal?!” Ryuji revitalizes. “Date?! With her?!”
Ren settles back eagerly as Ann twirls on Ryuji, a thunderous expression on her face. “What is that supposed to mean?!”
Watching Ryuji try to explain to Ann why that’s not an insult is enough entertainment for the next hour.
*2*
Goro has never been more glad that Sae is his mentor, when she namedrops Leblanc Cafe.
“It’s a bit out of the way,” she says, “maybe you would like it.”
Due to his extensive research – not stalking, he would never stoop so low – Goro knows exactly how important of a place Leblanc is.
Thus, he smiles and nods. “If you recommend it, Sae-san, it must be quite the place.” His eyes take on a shine. “Perhaps we could go there soon?”
Sae’s eyebrows twitch, but ultimately, she agrees.
It really is the perfect caveat, Goro thinks gleefully. What’s more inconspicuous than a teenage detective being shown a place by his mentor where he can rest, away from the eyes of his adoring fans?
***
Ren is feeling much better – the cold lasted the better part of three days, but now he is back on his feet and ready to make up for lost time – even Dr. Takemi cleared him to go.
“Are you sure?” Sojiro asks him, eyes narrowed.
Ren already has his bag on, with Morgana inside. “I won’t be out too long,” he promises, even though he already made plans to hang out with Hifumi later that night.
Sojiro still looks disapproving, but Ren leaves with a wave and a goodbye – he only has so many hours in the day and there are a lot of people he needs to meet.
***
At Goro’s quiet, subtle insistence, Sae takes him to Leblanc that very day – arriving way after school has let out.
Joker should be home, Goro thinks, but upon walking inside the dingy store, there is only the owner and an old woman in the corner that he is chatting with.
“Sakura-san,” Sae greets.
“Niijima-san,” comes the reply as the owner steps up to meet them. He quirks an eyebrow at Goro. “And you are?”
“Goro Akechi, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” he says with a smile as his eyes dart around. Where could Joker be hiding…
Is he in the kitchen? In the bathroom? Up the stairs? Surely, Goro’s presence will summon him here.
“He is my mentee,” Sae adds, sitting down by the bar – Goro goes to follow in her footsteps.
The owner hums and doesn’t question it further – rather, asking about their orders and whatnot.
Joker must be out, Goro reasons. No matter, he will surely be back soon – even if, for some inane reason, he has made plans with his groupies, he will have to come back, have to come home.
It’s only a matter of time.
***
“...it’s getting a bit late, isn’t it?” Sae asks him, when he is on his third coffee.
Goro, who isn’t really enjoying the coffee at this point, no matter how delicious and rare it is, affects a smile. “It’s alright, Sae-san,” he tells her. “I wouldn’t want to rush perfection.”
And what else is more perfect than this perfect opening for Joker to walk into-
“He’s a flatterer, isn’t he?” Sakura asks, but he sounds more amused than not.
Sae’s lips curl as Goro hurries to assure the owner that no, he absolutely means the (accidental) compliment by heart, why wouldn’t he- “Well, if you want to stay until closing, be my guest,” she says, eyes gleaming with amusement. “If I knew you’d like this place so much, I would have brought you here sooner.”
“I am very glad you brought me here at all, Sae-san,” he croons, glancing briefly at the door.
Any moment now.
Any moment now…
***
Ren runs into Yoshida when Morgana reminds him of the special food deals in the Shibuya Underground Mall – although not a usual haunt for the politician, Ren recognizes him easily, thanks to the board that he usually holds.
Yoshida brightens upon seeing him. “Ah, Amamiya-kun! Are you feeling better?”
He was one of the people Ren cancelled on, due to his sickness – so even though he would normally be heading home by now, he sticks around to chat.
It’s not like he has any reason to hurry.
***
Goro’s eye is twitching.
It’s fine. This is fine.
“I really do have to close now,” Sakura says, still with a frown. “You sure that sixth cup wasn’t too much?”
It could be because of the coffee, but his whole being feels twitchy.
“Of course not,” he grits out, charm oozing from each word. “Thank you for your hospitality, Sakura-san.”
Five.
Fucking.
Hours.
He’s been sitting in Leblanc for five fucking hours, he ate his way through two curries – which surprisingly paired well with the coffees – and several cups of beverages and still, he has yet to see hide or tail of Leader of the Phantom Thieves Joker.
Wasn’t he sick earlier this week – what is he doing out so late?!
Sakura is watching him with ill-concealed worry, and Goro really cannot afford for the man to get too personal – it would be a hassle to dispose of him.
He can always just – come back another day. This is fine. It's not like Goro had to pull more than one string to free his afternoon up – isn’t it better if he sits here alone?
(No, having Sae there was the perfect cover-)
It’s fine.
“I think I will be back,” Goro says with a beaming smile. If I have to show up every fucking day until I meet Joker, I will.
At that point, he doesn’t even know how true his words will prove to be.
*3*
Yoshizawa, the remaining one at least, is as much of a bother as her twin was.
Still, Goro greets her courteously; he works a lot at her father’s TV studio, it pays to keep relations up.
Yoshizawa is way too bubbly in her response. “Ah, Akechi-senpai, hello! How are you doing recently?”
“I’m doing well, thank you for asking,” he says. Is he really gonna be here, stuck in an endless loop of small talk? He has so many better things to be doing – like staking out in Leblanc again, for the third time this week-
So far, he had zero luck.
Zero. Null. Zilch.
It’s like Joker doesn’t even bother taking his lazy trashy ass home at all-
“How about you?” Goro is forced to say.
Unlike the customary, ‘Ah thank you, I’m doing great’, Yoshizawa actually takes the question seriously. “Pretty well, all things considered! I started high school and I am keeping up with gymnastics-”
Goro tunes out, humming along as he stares next to her. Why did his way bring him here, he thinks. Why did her way bring her here?!
“-Amamiya-senpai has been helping me too,” Yoshizawa enthuses.
Goro’s brain zeroes in on the name.
“Ah, you’re making new friends?” He interrupted her tirade. “How nice. Is this person also a gymnast?”
Yoshizawa flushes a bit. “Ah, no – it’s…. Well, it’s a bit conceited, but I am the one training him! But he keeps me motivated and helps me work through my problems and…” She falters, her blush deepening.
Goro ignores her little crush on Joker, focusing on this new angle the universe has presented him with.
“I myself like to go bouldering on occasion,” he shares cheerfully. “The gym I frequent has a rather large selection of equipment for gymnasts as well – perhaps you’d like to go together sometime?”
Predictably, Yoshizawa brightens up and goes on to agree – Goro happily hashes out some more details with her, even going as far as to share their phone numbers.
His first meeting with Joker, at long last.
***
Goro goes to the meeting looking his best, with a pep in his steps. He feels like he is in his element already; ready to show Joker just how much better he is…
Yoshizawa meets him with a beam and an enthusiastic wave. “Hi, Akechi-senpai!”
Goro nods, also putting on a smile. “Yoshizawa-san.” He glances around – he figured that they would arrive together, but there is no Phantom Thief in sight, as far as he can tell. He focuses back on Yoshizawa for now – of course Joker would be late. “I hope you will enjoy this experience as much as I do,” he tells her earnestly. He does look forward to dominating his rival, after all.
“I’m sure I will!” She says cheerfully. “I’m so grateful you invited me, senpai,” she adds, also with an extra pep in her steps. “Shall we get going?”
Goro tilts his head. “Oh? I was under the impression we would wait for your friend…” He trails off, heart gripped by a sudden feeling of ‘fuck no’, as Yoshizawa’s blinks. “Did you text him to meet us there?”
“My friend…?” She repeats, sounding confused.
“The upperclassman you mentioned?” Goro reminds her, as if anyone could ever forget Joker after meeting him – not that Goro did, not yet-
“Ah!” Yoshizawa flushes, not meeting his eyes. “You mean Amamiya-kun, right?” She tucks her hair behind her ear, before focusing back on him, frowning. “I didn’t invite him along… I thought it would be just the two of us…?”
Goro stares at her, his own expression frozen.
“I didn’t know you wanted this to be a group activity!” Yoshizawa goes on hurriedly. “I thought you didn’t like meeting people? Ah, that sounds mean, I’m sorry – I was just very happy you invited me out and wanted to be friends-”
Friends. She thought he wanted to make friends with her.
Most importantly, she didn’t fucking invite Joker – ergo Goro missed his chance – again.
He holds back the primal urge to scream.
Instead, he puts on a tittering laugh, along with a bashful smile. “Ah, you know me so well, Yoshizawa-san! I merely thought you would invite your friend along so as to not feel uncomfortable with just me there,” he babbles, the excuse coming to him just then, “since I realize it seems like I was just asking you out of the blue on a date…”
Yoshizawa, still flushed, waves him off. “No, no, it’s okay! Sorry for jumping to conclusions, senpai!” Her beaming smile is back. “We’re just friends meeting on a friendly gym outing!”
“Exactly,” Goro agrees, while he thinks, I want to kill someone.
The feeling is not new by a long shot, but he usually reigns his murderous urges in better.
Nevermind. He can meet Joker at another time – now, he gets to suffer through hours of Yoshizawa’s lively chatter and grit his teeth while he climbs a wall and imagines pushing Joker off of the top.
Be it the mental image of his rival falling – without that stupid grappling hook of his – or Yoshizawa’s social butterfly tendencies actually being manageable when she starts talking about things of note, Goro doesn’t have an entirely terrible time.
“We should do this again soon, senpai!” Yoshizawa says, as they are saying their goodbyes.
Goro agrees with a placid smile.
There is every chance Yoshizawa will finally bring Amamiya to one of their meetings, after all… Better not burn this bridge just yet.
***
Ren gets a call as he is walking towards Iwai’s store, ready to pick up a shift.
“Hey, Sumi,” he greets, readjusting his grip on his bag – Morgana’s asleep. “What’s up?”
“Hi, senpai!” she calls back, a ball of excitement. “I wanted to apologize for canceling on you so last-minute – I got invited out to a new gym with a new friend!”
“Aw, that’s great – I’m happy for you! No hard feelings, I promise,” he swears.
Kasumi’s smile is audible as she chatters some more – about gymnasts, bouldering (whatever that is) and how much she looks forward to hanging out with this new friend again, despite his busy schedule.
Ren’s heart warms at the thought – it’s reassuring to know she still has friends in her corner, even if he is not there.
He doesn’t want to interfere with a budding friendship though; so he probably should leave Sumi be, to manage her and her new friend’s schedule like they want to.
*4*
While Goro has not entirely given up on his plan with Yoshizawa working – considering how much she babbles about Amamiya, he has to show up sometime – nor his Leblanc stakeout plan, he has to admit that it’s been three. Fucking. Weeks.
And he still has not seen a single hair of Joker outside of the Metaverse – how the fuck is he never home?!
Goro is still fuming as he drinks his coffee – perfect, as is standard of Sakura-made beverages – and very much not getting anywhere with his homework.
He is starting to think Amamiya doesn’t have a fucking life, because if he did, then Goro would have met him by now.
But no – no fucking way would the thief step into his own supposed home base, he is always out, out on the streets and-
“-late again?” Sakura’s voice drifts into his ear. The man huffs. “Out with friends, huh.”
There is the tinny reply from the phone’s speaker, not that Goro hears that – thankfully though, Sakura repeats it.
“Penguin Sniper? No, haven’t heard about it,” he says. There are more words in the phone, but Goro doesn’t register them, because he knows Penguin Sniper. “Ah, I see. Then have fun, kiddo – I’ll leave some curry in the fridge.”
Amamiya says something that leaves the cafe owner huffing and scowling. “-because there is too much left over!”
Goro’s brain is already coming up with a plan, running numbers and rearranging his priorities.
He throws his coffee back like a shot, scrambling to get his papers – Sakura, now having finished with his phone call, glances at him in surprise.
“You okay, kid?”
Goro half-heartedly throws a, “Apologies, I forgot the time, I’m late.” And slaps some bills on the counter without even bothering to make sure it’s the right amount.
Penguin Sniper – fucking Penguin Sniper, the billiards and darts place so near Goro’s apartment, in the middle of Kichijoji… halfway across the city.
Goro books it for the underground.
The sooner he gets there, the better.
***
Coming to play billiards was a great idea, Ren thinks, mentally patting himself on the back as Makoto, Morgana and Ann (mostly Makoto) absolutely demolish the team Ryuji, Yusuke and him make up.
“Drinks on me this round and we can do a switch-up?” he offers, grinning at the team. They are loud and they are getting a lot of looks, but he doesn’t care; can’t care, when his friends are so obviously happy.
“Hell yeah, Prez’s on my team now!” Ryuji declares.
“No, she’s with me!” Ann argues, grabbing onto Makoto.
Makoto looks torn between chiding them both and being embarrassed by the attention.
“I would like to partner up for this next round as well, if possible,” Yusuke adds his two cents.
Makoto glances at Ren for help.
He winks. “Choose wisely, Queen…” And walks off, Morgana coming to join him, ignoring her call after him.
“Ren…!”
“I want to try the sparkly fish drink!” Morgana declares, stars in his eyes.
Ren picks him up and puts him into the bag, so he doesn’t stick out too much. “Oh? The sparkly fish drink?” His gaze trails over to the menu – and there is indeed a sparkly drink with plastic fish in it. “Cute…”
The woman next to him in line snorts. “If you want really cute drinks you should come to Jazz Jin,” she tells him with a wink. “Totally unbiased opinion on my part.”
Ren hums and she turns, showing off the back of her T-shirt – with the words ‘Jazz Jin get-along shirt’ printed on it.
He huffs, amused by the idea – maybe he should get some bootleg Phantom Thief merch the same way… Though Yusuke might get a heart attack if he sees the bastardized version of his logo. “What even is Jazz Jin?” he asks, genuinely curious.
She turns to face him fully, lips curling into a grin. “Oh, where do I start…”
***
Goro does not, at all, look like a fool who spent the last who-knows-how-long running for dear life.
He could never.
His, ah, for lack of a better expression, rumpled, appearance is entirely a part of the plan – his perfect plan to subtly introduce himself to Ren Amamiya, kick off their rivalry and eventually defeat his opponent.
He straightens his tie with some effort, panting as he approaches Penguin Sniper; fixing his hair and decidedly not checking the mirror – his flush is only there due to excitement, not overexertion at all-
He walks into the lounge like he owns the place. Meeting Joker without his cronies present would have been preferable of course, but it’s not like such asinine matters will stop Goro from-
He halts, his inspection of the room turning up no Phantom Thieves.
Where the fuck did the Phantom Thieves go?!
…maybe they just went to the bathroom, Goro reasons, like – all of them. At once.
He should check – but meeting in a bathroom sounds very beneath him and his rival – perhaps if he waits a couple minutes first…
***
Honda, as she introduced herself, is one of the bartenders of a jazz bar in Kichijoji and also ‘not exactly a stickler for rules, if you know what I mean’, she added, when the others joined them.
Ryuji seemed excited at the prospect of possibly getting alcohol; Ann was taken in by the idea of an underground club; Yusuke declared it would be quite helpful to his artistic journey to listen to music; and Makoto didn’t want to leave all of them alone to go and be irresponsible in a jazz bar of all places.
Morgana wrinkles his nose, but gives his assent – so they follow Honda out of the lounge and into the streets.
“-usually stop by Penguin Sniper before my shift starts,” she shares, “at least on Thursdays. Have you seen the cashier? She’s super cute!”
Ren listens to her with a grin.
***
Goro walks into the bathroom after fifteen minutes of pretending to wait around, but – nothing. Nada. No Phantom Thieves.
He has a quiet moment, where he is alone in the bathroom and he forces his gloved fist into his mouth to muffle his enraged screaming.
Then, he makes his way out and subtly – not at all desperately, he is the expert here – inquires whether his friends were here earlier today, since his phone died, but they were supposed to meet here, but oh, no, he doesn’t see them anymore…
The cashier, a pretty woman with green hair, blinks at him – then, very helpfully tells him that yes, there was a group of teenagers here like twenty minutes ago, but she has no idea where they went.
Goro thanks her with a smile and walks out, waving down her offers of help.
Instead, he digs out his phone and goes straight to the Metanav – that has to be where the Phantom Thieves disappeared to, right?!
***
Honda gets called out by her boss, Muhen, for trying to sneak them anything. “-bad enough that you always try to shove your cocktails at my kid!”
“He’s a regular though!” Honda argues, her tone of voice making it clear it’s a recurring argument. Her eyes widen. “Wait a second – did you just admit he’s your kid?!”
“Might as well be,” Muhen grumbles and Ren is reminded of Sojiro.
He smiles and looks back at his friends. “We can grab something else,” he says. No need to make trouble with someone who just wants to look out for them.
Honda huffs, but Muhen gives a nod of approval – Ren feels like he passed the test with him, whatever that test was.
***
Goro prowls in the Metaverse for what feels like hours, switching between Robin and Loki and no fucking dice.
He runs as many Shadows through with his sword and magic as he can though, so when he leaves the Metaverse, he is feeling marginally better. Yes, he might not have met Joker today, but considering everything, it would have been a rather lousy first meeting – he, no, they can do much better, Goro is sure.
He walks back to the main streets of Kichijoji – the Nav deposited him on the other side to where his home is, thus he needs to cross by the underground, if only there weren’t so many fucking people-
“-can’t believe all of you,” he hears an eerily familiar and eerily annoying voice.
Goro turns to see Niijima – the bitchier one, that is – walking with-
His eyes boggle.
The Phantom Thieves?!
And there, right next to Niijima, giggling like a lunatic-
Joker, Goro thinks, taking in the sight, much closer than usual, only the street and the crowd separating them…
And then Joker disappears from his sight, because he and his cronies are leaving.
Goro pushes at someone – several someones actually – to cross the road as fast as he can, ignoring the yelps and cussing, ignoring everything, because Joker’s unruly mane of hair is gone from his sight and where the fuck did he-
The stairs, Goro realizes, quickly followed by: the underground.
He stumbles in his haste to get to the bottom – snaps his train card at the reader, impatiently vaulting through the machine, even if it’s only half-open – his ears pick up the faintest noise of a train, but no fucking way, not now, come the fuck o-
Goro takes the stairs by two, three, then four – landing on the very bottom with a crack and a wince, but he is there, he is in time-
-to see the back of the Phantom Thieves as the train speeds off into the distance.
Goro stares.
And stares.
And stares.
A man, who has presumably watched his mad dash downstairs, pats him on the back. “There is always the next one, kid,” he says sagely.
Goro forces his face into the faintest impression of a smile.
“Yes. Of course. There is always next time.” Dazedly, he leans, attempting to find purchase on a wall, but missing it half-way.
The man yelps, clearly worried, but Goro just can’t care, staring at the dirty ass ceiling of the dirty ass underground station where he is laying on his back on the dirty ass floor.
This plan was clearly not perfect – but next time, it will be. It has to be. RIGHT?!
*5*
Goro has a plan.
And it’s different from all the previous plans, because this time – this time, it’s perfect.
He’s been clearly hoping for too much, trying to approach Joker accidentally. Of course, he cannot come up to his rival in the Metaverse, as the Black Mask, as amusing as the thought is – he could pummel Joker so easily after all, his superiority clear for all to see – but his alternate self isn’t the only mask Goro can use to his advantage.
He already tried something similar, both with the TV studio and with Sae and Leblanc – unsuccessfully, so far. But, by now, it has been over a month and Amamiya had to have heard about Goro’s numerous interviews and involvement with the Phantom Thieves case – he is bound to be curious about the Detective Prince.
And Goro will be kind enough to satisfy his curiosity.
***
The plan is easy and simple, even if arranging it means pulling quite a lot of strings and enduring Sae’s questioning looks all day.
But really, Goro absolutely has to go to the ‘scene of the crime’ and talk to the victims affected by the first change of heart – how else is he supposed to solve the case of the Phantom Thieves?
The principal of Shujin is ecstatic to have him.
And the Phantom Thieves – Joker especially – cannot escape him, not in their own school.
***
“We have finals next week,” Makoto reminds them all sternly, “so there is no reason to slack off now-”
Ren doesn’t sigh, but he does exchange a commiserating look with Ann, even as Ryuji complains, “We literally just had those!”
“The mid-terms were two months ago,” Makoto argues. She fixes them all with a glare.
Ren steps up to play peacemaker. “We can study at Leblanc?” he offers.
“We’re almost done with the Palace,” Morgana agrees, popping out of his bag. “Plus your grades are important to keep up appearances…”
“Coffee!” Ann cheers. “I could definitely use some!”
“We can invite Yusuke,” Ryuji gets into the idea too.
Makoto smiles, nodding. “That sounds nice.” Ren smiles back at her.
“Let’s go then.”
***
Goro is there before the last classes end, but the principal takes quite some time to talk to him – it gets a bit much, but then, the man goes ahead and announces Goro’s presence over the speakers.
This is it, Goro thinks, as he hears students’ voices get louder and louder in the corridors. He has situated himself in an empty classroom – with the invitation that he would be happy to talk to anyone who has information on Kamoshida’s transgressions, or the Phantom Thieves.
…this does mean that there is a line very quickly forming, but Goro has made a special request to be sent to students who were involved in the case as victims of abuse; thus it is only a matter of time before he meets Joker…
***
“Sis?” Makoto calls out to the woman sitting at Leblanc’s counter, sounding surprised. “What are you doing here?”
“Makoto?” The woman looks just as surprised, her expression mirroring Makoto’s. “Ah, just – having a cup of coffee.” Her eyes, deeply scrutinizing, move onto the group. “And you…?”
“We are studying for the final examinations next week,” Yusuke replies primply.
“Yup! Prez is helping us, since she’s so smart!” Ann adds, grinning at Makoto.
“T-thank you – I’m really not, though…”
“That is kind of you, Makoto,” the woman says, settling back somewhat. “I didn’t know you were tutoring.”
“We’re friends,” Makoto says sternly. Then, she glances around, quickly doing a round of introductions – Ren learns the sister is Sae Niijima, the prosecutor working on their case.
They take over the middle booth, like usual, but Makoto and Sae keep up a somewhat stilted conversation as Sae comments about the unusual size of the friend group – for Makoto at least.
Ren frowns – he is sure she didn’t say it to be mean, but…
“Surprised to see you alone, Niijima-san,” Sojiro cuts in, handling a fresh pot of curry. Ren has joined him behind the bar to assist. “Lost your little mentee?”
“He had other plans for today,” Sae replies.
Sojiro huffs. “He’s been here so many times, I’m starting to consider him part of the decoration.” Ren’s eyebrows raise at that.
Someone working with Sae – possibly on their case – coming to Leblanc so much?
Huh. And here he thought he knew all the regulars – must not have met the guy, or maybe he missed it when Sojiro was talking to him. It’s fine, Ren is sure he will eventually run into whoever that is.
Until then, having access to Sae and the investigation through Makoto is more than enough.
***
Goro has a pen and a notebook, mostly for appearances’ sake.
Now, his grip on the pen is so tight, the plastic starts making noises. “...what?”
“Already left for today,” the teacher repeats, frowning down at him. She looks tired, with bags the size of suitcases under her eyes and an attitude that tells Goro she hates the fact that his presence means extra work for her. “You should have said something earlier, you know.”
Goro grits his teeth, lips a mockery of a smile.
He’s been sitting here for fucking hours – listening to fangirls and fanboys alike swoon and giggle and not give him anything to work with-
And Joker wasn’t even fucking here to begin with?!
How the fuck does this keep happening to him?!
This was supposed to be the perfect plan – he brought the war right to Joker’s doorstep (figuratively, since Joker’s real doorstep, Leblanc, also seemed to be a failure) – and still, his ultimate goal of meeting his rival-
The teacher flinches. “I don’t think you should do that with your teeth,” she says.
Goro only grits his teeth harder.
So many fucking hours of his life – it’s been over a month, how the fuck does he keep missing-
He ignores the teacher slowly back away from him, because this cannot possibly be real; he is perfect, he is better, his plans are better than this and Joker-
Joker just keeps fucking thwarting them, as if it were nothing – as if Goro were nothing. His blood boils. His fucking phantom of a rival, thinking he doesn’t even need to take a single step out of the shadows to defeat him – well, Goro will force him into the light, if it’s the last fucking thing he does!
He just needs one more plan – one more try. One more idea, even just the nugget of an idea, an angle he hasn’t considered yet…
He doesn’t register the teacher still backing away from him, nor the broken pen in his hands, nor the notebook with the paper wrinkled from his grip.
Just one more try and then he will meet Joker and then-
All will be perfect.
*+1*
Ren whistles to himself as he walks over to his connecting train in Shibuya. It took him a while to wrap his head around the Tokyo underground system, but by now, he can get to school and a lot more cooler places easily.
Morgana in his bag, asleep, he is more than on time this fine morning – thus, the whistling. He is not usually the type to whistle, or so he thinks, but today is a nice day and it deserves a good whistle.
He settles in to wait for his connecting train, gaze flickering through the early morning crowd – maybe if he waits for the next one, there will be a seat for him…
***
Goro fucking Hates Monday mornings with a burning passion.
A passion that burns even brightly today, because he spent the last few days – his precious weekend, his precious sleeping hours, his precious sanity – on trying to come up with scheme after scheme of meeting Joker.
There are stakeouts at Leblanc, approaching him through Yoshizawa, approaching him through Niijima, finding out another workplace of his, cyberstalking his admittedly sparse social media, actually stalking him until they ‘bump into each other’-
The list goes on and on and Goro is going on and on and there are so many fucking people in this fucking station and they should all just die, because he cannot breathe and he doesn’t have any space and-
“Fu-!” Goro bites his lip as an asshole barrels past him, making him drop his briefcase, because of fucking course he does.
Monday fucking mornings, he thinks darkly. At least he didn’t have his usual ‘I Hate Mondays’ coffee with him (due to the store being closed and him running late along with everything else), or else he would have spilled hot coffee all over himself and that would not be any-
Another asshole barrels him over, just as he is reaching for his briefcase and Goro falls on his ass.
He grits his teeth to keep from swearing at the motherfucker who can’t keep his fucking eyes on the fucking road or his fat-ass five fucking centimeters away from-
“You okay?”
Goro’s fuming thoughts grind to a screeching halt as he registers a voice and the face right in front of him.
“People are pretty intense on Mondays,” Ren Amamiya tells him, still with a worried tilt to his head, “no idea why they are crazier than the rest of the week.”
Goro cannot breathe; he can only gape.
After all this time – all this planning-
Joker just walked up to him on a Monday morning, when his hair is in shambles, his make-up only barely thrown on, he is sitting on his ass in the Shibuya underground-
“YOU!”
Goro’s snarl is met by rapid blinking from the thief. “...me?” He repeats, pointing towards himself – Goro realizes a beat later that his own shaky left is accusingly pointed at Joker who has been evading him for fucking forever and now, now of all times-
HOW FUCKING DARE YOU SHOW UP?!
***
The guy’s – he is pretty cute, if you ask Ren’s unbiased’s opinion, what with hair long enough to tie into a ponytail and eyes that shine like rubies – face contorts into the most hateful scowl Ren has ever seen, then, smooths into a very cracked-looking fake smile.
“Y-you…” He says through the gritted teeth of his smile. “Thank you.”
Ren should probably regret coming over to help the crazy psychopath who looks at him like he wants to wrap his gloved hands around Ren’s neck.
Regret is very far from what he feels though.
“No worries,” he says, offering a hand – his right, to match the boy’s left, which is still pointing at him. “We all have bad days,” he adds.
The boy stares at his hand, transfixed – his expression shifts through a myriad of expressions that Ren wants to give name to, but doesn’t know him well enough to do so, before he accepts it.
“A bad day,” the boy says, kind of hysterically as he stands. “Yes. I’ve had… quite a lot of those recently.”
Ren grimaces. “I feel that.” Despite the takedown of Kaneshiro, exams this week are gonna suck, extra studying or not.
The boy’s eye twitches. “How unfortunate for you,” he says flatly.
Ren leans down to grab the briefcase – what kind of a high schooler walks around with a briefcase, he thinks, amused, especially when he catches the gigantic letter painted on front – like a toddler trying to mark their toys to distinguish it from the others’. “There you go,” he says, feeling the strange need to continue conversing.
“You’re too kind,” the boy retorts, his pasted-on smile like porcelain about to shatter.
Interesting, Ren thinks again, like he first did upon seeing the boy.
“I think we can all use a little bit of kindness on our bad days,” he murmurs, the cheesy words leaving his lips before he can think twice.
This startles a snort out of the boy. “You help every fallen person up then, I presume?”
Ren shrugs, flushing, but keeping eye contact. “I might have a bias for the pretty ones.”
The boy’s expression, already a cracking mask, freezes completely.
When he next speaks, his words are dripping with honey – his face matching the tone. “Oh, really?”
“I can’t be the first to tell you that you are pretty,” Ren points out, smirk matching the boy’s.
“No, but I do find myself wondering if you have any basis to form such an opinion,” come the sweet words, along with a finger tapping on his chin, as if in thought, “especially considering that rat nest hair of yours.”
Ren holds back a laugh, but a huff escapes his lips. “Well, I’ve been told it’s hot.”
The boy gives him a look. “Who lied to you?”
The deadpan delivery gets to him – now, he is laughing. “Maybe you could give me some tips then,” Ren tries, grinning as he holds his mirth back. The boy is watching him, attention intense in a way that only makes Ren want to bask in it even more.
“...maybe,” the boy agrees softly.
“I might need your phone number for that,” Ren bargains, eyes glinting.
The boy’s lips twitch, watching him with a similar expression. “Ah, but we haven’t even introduced ourselves, have we?” He tilts his head – cute, Ren thinks. “Or does my fame precede me?”
Ren blinks. Wait what.
He is famous?
“Ah, quite presumptuous of me to think that, I see,” the boy continues, laughing at Ren’s expression awkwardly. “Perhaps I was remiss in thinking you were an overeager fan.”
“I could be both of those things,” Ren assures him. “But sorry, no idea you were famous.”
The boy’s entire body does a flinch – Ren worries for his health. “N-no matter,” comes the answer through gritted teeth, “mayhaps my name will ring a bell; I am Goro Akechi.”
Ren takes in this information with as much grace as someone who has no idea who Goro Akechi is, can.
“Nice to meet you then, Akechi-kun,” he says. “My name is Ren Amamiya.”
“Nice to meet you as well,” Akechi echoes, extending a hand – his right hand, this time, Ren notes. Interesting, interesting… “I suppose you must not be a big supporter of the Phantom Thieves if you can say that so earnestly…”
“Huh?” Ren has… no idea how that relates even remotely to anything they were talking about. “What do you mean?”
Akechi gives him another look, as if he were particularly dense. “I’m. Goro Akechi. Like. Detective Prince Goro Akechi.”
“Oh, you’re a detective? That’s cool.”
Akechi splutters. “Cool?!”
“I guess that means you’re investigating the Phantom Thieves then?” Ren vaguely remembers the others talking about something like this, but he dismissed it at the time – they should have said Akechi was hot, he would have been all over the topic, really. “Why do you think I don’t support them? They do more than the cops,” he adds, getting front row seats to a vein in Akechi’s forehead attempting to pop out from under his skin.
“You-” He bites down on what Ren is pretty sure would be a swearword. His lips curl into a smirk, Akechi is fun.
“I kinda wish we met earlier,” he comments, mesmerized and deeply entertained by the detective with visibly shaking hands, as if straining not to throttle him.
“REALLY,” Akechi breathes shrilly, each exhale sounding like a broken teakettle. “That’s. So- Kind of you to say.”
Did I break him, Ren wonders, tongue darting out to lick his lips.
Would he swear if I pushed him further?
Unfortunately, just as he thinks that, the crowds around the two of them surge and move – a train has pulled into the station.
Not mine, Ren checks quickly, but the one that usually comes before his – he should probably get going soon.
“My train’s coming next,” he offers earnestly, along with a cheeky smile. He will just have to push Akechi towards swearing next time. “Now that I have your name, may I be bold enough to ask for your number?”
The detective is slow to respond. “My number… My phone number. Yes. I have one of those.” A totally normal thing to say, Ren notes. Interesting, he thinks again. “In exchange, might you lend me yours, then…?”
Nothing’s easier.
Ren brings his phone out for the exchange, cementing Akechi as one of his contacts and adding his own to the detective’s list.
“Hope we run into each other soon,” Ren comments.
Akechi chokes. “Yes. Sure. ‘Run into each other’.”
Weird, Ren thinks, but cute.
“Have a good day, detective!” he waves as he passes by, his train rolling into the station just in time. Today really is a good day, Ren thinks gleefully, as Akechi stiltedly raises a hand to wave back… Coming to Tokyo, despite his circumstances, was the best thing to ever happen to him.
After all, he wouldn’t be accidentally running into cute detectives anywhere else! Ren’s lucky stars have finally shone on him, it seems.
***
Goro stares after Amamiya numbly, phone still in his hand.
After a month – of planning, of bending over backwards, of scheming to get what he wanted-
He finally met Joker.
He has Joker’s phone number.
He has been called ‘cute’ and ‘pretty’ and other synonyms by Joker repeatedly.
Joker, who apparently, had no earthly fucking idea who Goro was before seeing him on the ground and thinking to himself that it was a good day to help a ‘pretty stranger’.
(Yes, Joker could have been pretending not to know Goro, but Goro is a better actor than his rival will ever be and that confusion was painfully genuine.)
Thus, the only reason they met, fucking finally…
Was because Joker had a saving-people thing and Goro’s face was too pretty, even when he was deadly fucking tired and done with everything and everyone, especially stray Phantom Thieves and their fucking leader.
Goro’s grip on the phone tightens.
That fucking asshole was looking down on him! Why else shower him in compliments, help him up, ask for his number-
(Ignoring how Goro himself had similar plans for their first meeting-)
-as if he was somehow more charming than Goro?!
Two can play this fucking game, you bastard, Goro thinks venomously, staring as the train with Amamiya speeds by. And now that he met Joker – now that he knows what he is up against…
He will charm the fucking pants off of that Phantom Thief if it’s the last thing he does!
He is one month behind on his schedule already – he will climb into Amamiya’s good graces and plant himself so deeply into the ground, Joker won’t even notice when he pulls his finishing move!
Resolution made, Goro snaps his phone up, composing a message; he has a lot of time to make up for – and what better way to get to showcase his skills to Joker than inviting him out for billiards… Maybe the aquarium to highlight his superior knowledge, or-
He is so busy coming up with a million new ideas, it takes him a hot second to notice-
Wait, where is my train?
Temporarily shocked into stillness, it takes him several seconds to remember that his train did roll in… Right before Amamiya’s in fact… Ergo he is late now.
Goro lets out a muffled scream, uncaring of anyone nearby. His fucking rival…!
He throws himself back into crafting the invitation with even more fervor – he has a grudge and a rival to blow into next week.
***
Ren is not even at the school gates yet, when his phone pings with a new message from his brand new contact – and he can’t help snorting.
Morgana stirs from his slumber, sleepily looking out of the bag while Ren types out his answer. “Wazzat?”
“I have a date, I think,” Ren says, tapping the phone with a smile. If they do start dating, having a meet-cute like the one they had this morning will make for a great story.
***
(A lot of time and a lot of fights and apologies and healing later, when they are together, Goro silently swears to never tell a soul about the truth.
So naturally, Ren finds out after getting his boyfriend drunk one night – and he cannot stop laughing for hours on end.
“I hate you,” Goro tells him, once he is sober.
Ren, armed with brand new, shiny blackmail, only grins back. “Of course you do, honey. I too, run around trying to ‘accidentally’ meet everyone I hate-”
Goro silences him in the only way he knows how (that doesn’t involve stifling his asshole boyfriend with a pillow).
Ren melts into the kiss.
It’s not like he will tell the others… Not yet anyway.
But the story of their series of failed meet-cutes makes for a fun memory even later down the line – by the time Ren recounts it at their wedding, Goro is exasperated, but used to it.)