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Takamaki Ann, Sakamoto Ryuji and Akamatsu Kaede stood together in a small group within the TV station they went to for their social studies trip. The latter speaking way too loud for his own good, while the former attempted to shush him, only for him to begin arguing with Morgana, who sat on Kaede’s shoulder.
“Excuse me, I couldn’t help but notice your uniforms. Are you students of Shujin Academy?” a polite, formal looking brunette appeared in her line of vision.
Ryuji was the first to speak up, “Yeah, whaddya want?” he turned to look at the boy as he stood at the end of the hall. He was holding a silver brief case and had a patch on his peacoat, presumably from his school.
He moved closer to engage more in conversation, “I happened to be passing by, so it seemed polite to greet you. We’ll be filming together, after all.” he smiled and tilted his head slightly to the side. “Ah, where are my manners? My name’s Akechi Goro?”
Takamaki seemed a bit confused when she heard the name, she looked him up and down before Ryuji spoke, “Filming? What, you a celebrity?”
“Only to the extent of appearing on TV a couple of times.” when she thought about it, she does kind of remember seeing Akechi on the TV in Leblanc before, but she never expected to meet him in person. He took his phone out of his pocket quickly to check the time, Kaede peeked over her shoulder to make sure Morgana was hidden while he was distracted. “My apologies, I really was just passing by, I must be going.” he began to walk down the hall when he turned around slightly to look back at the group. “So are you going to eat cake now?”
Takamaki and Sakamoto looked at each other then back at Akechi. “Cake? What are you talking about?” Sakamoto asked.
“Oh, am I mistaken? I thought I heard something about delicious pancakes?” and that’s what cracked Kaede. Kaede tried to conceal her laugh behind her hand but nothing could stop her shoulders from shaking. She began to cough trying to hide her laughing but it only brought up concern. “Are you alright?” Akechi asked.
“O-Oh yeah! Totally fine, heh…” Kaede rubbed the back of her neck before waving back at Akechi. “Well, see you tomorrow.!”
“Oh, it’s you!” Kaede snapped her head towards the brunette walking towards her. Kaede was standing against a wall waiting for Sakamoto while he used the washroom, she didn’t expect to be talking to Akechi for a second time today, but she didn’t mind.
“Oh! Hello, Akechi-kun!” Kaede smiled and waved her hand as the detective came to stand in front of her.
“I’m glad I found you, I wanted to thank you in person.” he smiled and did the same head tilt from yesterday, “To paraphrase Hegel, advancement cannot occur without both thesis and antithesis..” Kaede snickered once more when Akechi started talking about philosophicals. “Did I say something amusing? You seemed to have laughed in the hallway yesterday as well, do you find me funny?” Akechi smiled smugly as Kaede moved a hand to cover her mouth.
“I-- Well-- Ugh, your comment on pancakes was… kind of funny.. And listening to you speak about Hegel was kind of funny too..” Kaede trailed off placing the palm of her hand on the side of her head.
“Well, what I meant was, our discussion was quite meaningful, few people around me are so willing to speak their minds as freely as you did earlier.” Akechi gave a small laugh himself and placed the back of his hand over his mouth.
“Oh yeah.. Sorry about that..” Kaede moved to rub the back of her neck as she spoke.
“No need to apologize, I enjoyed our conversation.” he placed a hand on his chin and looked Kaede up and down. “I believe our discussions could prove quite fruitful. Would you mind talking with me again?”
“Me?.. I mean, I would love to! You seem like a wonderful conversation partner!” Kaede practically beamed at Akechi as she spoke. She seemed very happy with the idea of talking to him, and that made him smile in turn.
Akechi put out his left hand and Kaede took it with hers. She smiled once again and heard a small voice go off in her head.
I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the of wings rebellion
that breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Justice Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…
She let go off Akechi’s hand and looked over his shoulder to see Ryuji walking over to her. “Well, my friend is back now so I gotta go, Want to trade contact info? So we can talk again?” Kaede asked, pulling her phone out of her skirt pocket.
“That would be helpful, thank you.” Akechi smiled and pulled his phone out as well.