Chapter Text
Goro Akechi takes a deep breath and walks onto the stage. He’s met with bright lights and an excited crowd as the enthusiastic host shakes his hand and leads him to one of the seats beside his desk. He sits down and waves at the crowd with a smile.
“I’m glad you could finally find some time from your busy schedule to join us, Akechi.”
“Well, I know you’ve been begging me to come on.” Akechi says that with just a hint of sarcasm, it gets a laugh from the crowd. “In all seriousness, I’m glad to be here.”
“Let’s get to the questions shall we?” The host asks.
“Of course.” Akechi agrees.
“So,” The host starts, “it appears as though you’ve recently opened a food blog?”
This is about what Akechi had expected. Such vapid questions… It wasn’t like he wasn’t at least partially to blame for it.
“Indeed I have. I found it rather entertaining to talk about my favorite restaraunts on social media, so I thought having a dedicated space for it would be quite fun as well.”
The host nods.
“I see! What’s your favorite place to eat nowadays?”
“There’s a café in Kichjoji I’ve quite enjoyed as of late.”
The host comfortably leans back in his chair.
“You’ve talked about liking coffee a bit, is the coffee good there?”
Akechi nods enthusiastically. “Yes! The desserts too.”
In all honesty, Akechi didn’t like sweets that much. But he knew from the research he’s done on idols and other popular celebrities, that that trait appeals to people. Some found it cute. He hears a few quiet giggles from individual audience members. He doesn’t understand it.
“One thing you never seem to talk about on your blog is your personal life.”
Akechi sees a strange look in the host’s eyes, one that he was far too familiar with. He wanted the story, he wanted the headline. And he was about to reach out for it. He’d never give it to him though, he was smarter than that.
“Yes.” Akechi agrees. “I don’t see much of a point is all. I reveal what I want to be revealed.”
Akechi thinks he sees disappointment on the host’s face. This doesn’t seem to stop the guy, though.
“Well, I think your fanbase just wants to know more about you! To solve the mystery of the famous detective prince.”
He gestures to the audience. They cheer in agreement.
Akechi holds back a sigh, giving the cameras one of his signature smiles. “Well, I suppose a single question wouldn't hurt...”
The host gets an excited look on his face that feels Akechi with mild dread.
“Do you have a girlfriend? Anyone you’re interested in?”
Akechi thought he was smarter than that.
The audience erupts with loud “ohh!”s and Akechi shifts around in his seat. He tries to search for something, anything to say. Even a simple “I’m not particularly interested in romance” would do. But nothing comes out of his mouth. Of all times for Akechi’s brain to have failed him, of course it would be this one.
Just as he thinks he might have something to say, the host decides he had enough of leaving the poor detective dumbfounded in his chair.
“So you do!” The host shouts.
It’s very loud in the studio all of a sudden. Akechi quickly feels overwhelmed by all the noise.
“I’m not seeing or planning on seeing anyone anytime soon.” He tries to assure the crowd, attempting to slip back into his calm façade.
It was far too late though. Nobody believed it.
He sinks uncomfortably into his chair. Just what did he get himself into?
~~~~~~
Akechi frustratedly taps his foot on the solid floor of Leblanc. Sae sits next to him, silently sipping at her coffee while repressing the urge to laugh. She does, however, shoot him amused little glances, to which he responds with his own annoyed glares.
Akira had been wondering how to approach him. It was obvious he was upset, but he didn’t want to pry into anything personal. At some point, Sojiro steps up to do the work for him. He must’ve gotten tired of watching Akira stare at him like a worried puppy.
“What’s the matter?” Sojiro asks, somewhere between annoyed and mildly concerned.
Akechi looks up. It takes a moment for him to realize he was the one being spoken to.
“I’m surprised you aren’t aware of my current predicament already.” Akechi replies, trying not to snap at him. “It’s all over social media.”
Sojiro shakes his head. “How much time do you think I spend online, boy?”
Akira frowns, opening his phone to check. He’s been pretty busy today, he hasn’t had much time to spend goofing off online.
“He flubbed an interview.” Sae explains, brown eyes peering over the rim of her cup.
Akechi sighs. “I… suppose you could put it that way.” He wants to argue with her assertion, but it’s not exactly wrong.
“Oh my god-” Akira finally speaks up, looking up from his phone. “Secret lover?”
“I’m sorry?” Sojiro raises an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest.
“There’s a bunch of people talking about how Akechi has a secret girlfriend he’s hiding from everyone,” Akira explains. “and some speculation about who she is.”
“It’s all false, for the record.” Akechi takes a sip of his drink.
“Christ, what did you say to that host?” Sojiro can’t stop himself from chuckling.
“It’s what I didn’t say that’s the problem.” Akechi leans back in his chair. “He asked me a mostly unprompted question about if I was seeing anyone and… Well-”
“You choked.” Akira attempts to finish his sentence for him.
“Essentially.” Akechi replies.
“You’re really not interested in anyone?” Sojiro asks. “You know, when I was your age-”
“Spare him the details, Sakura.” Sae cuts him off unapologetically. “I don’t think he’s interested in hearing about your dating escapades right now.”
“You’re in my shop you know.” Sojiro grumbles.
Sae laughs. “You’re not kicking me out of here.”
Sojiro goes quiet. Sae’s won this time…
“So what are you going to do about it?” Akira asks. “I don’t think you should just jump into a relationship or something… But it’d be suspicious to keep avoiding it.”
That gets the gears in Akechi’s head turning. Maybe he did know what to do about this after all. He couldn’t go out and pick up a date of course. But maybe there was something else he could try.
“Kurusu.” Akechi said suddenly.
Akira blinked. “Uh, yes?”
“Meet me at Inokashira Park tomorrow after school. I have a proposition for you.”
Akira stared at him. He was confused, and honestly a little scared. He never knew what was going through that boy’s head. It’s why he was so interesting to chat with. But at times, he was a little frightening…
“Sure… This isn’t anything bad is it?”
Akechi smiles. “Not at all.”
Sae, Akira and Sojiro all share confused glances. Akira nods.
Akechi stands up from his seat and leaves the money for his drink on the counter.
“I have other matters to attend to now, but it was lovely to stop and chat.” Akechi gives Akira a soft smile. His entire demeanor changed at the drop of a hat. He was scheming. "Thank you!"
He waves and Akira watches him exit the small shop.
Akira slowly takes Akechi’s cup into the kitchen, and he has a strange feeling that his meetup with Akechi was going to be big. He guessed all he could do was sit and wait for it.