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Though he was becoming attuned to the bustling crowds of Shibuya, Goro found the quiet streets of Yongen-Jaya a welcome reprieve from the city. He walked at a leisurely place, appreciating the sky awash in a dull orange.
Now that he could hear his own thoughts, he considered his plans for the evening.
Seeing Kawakami in a maid outfit wasn’t something he was mentally prepared for at the moment. The materials he'd obtained from Okumura’s palace today could be enough to make a permanent lockpick, and he wasn't really in the mood to go out tonight. He rounded the corner with his mind made up.
Kurusu blocking the path to Leblanc wasn’t part of Goro’s schedule. He’d been coming by lately, taking the seat at the end of the bar and greeting Goro each time.
Goro drew closer to his crouched figure, raising his brows at the cooing noises he was making.
“To what do I owe the honor of having the Detective Prince’s company?” he said.
Kurusu stood up fluidly, as if liquid constructed his bones, and turned around. In his arms, a tabby cat lazily swished its tail. The dark leather of his gloves stood out against light orange fur, disappearing into it as Kurusu scratched at the cat’s chin.
His friends told him to be careful around Kurusu. Due to his tendency to share personal anecdotes unprompted, they worried he would let his tongue slip about sensitive information. It wasn’t a completely unwarranted concern, but he wasn’t so stupid to blurt out that he’s a Phantom Thief like Ryuji tended to.
“A friend of yours?” Goro said.
Kurusu looked down at the cat, giving it a single-minded focus that had Goro contemplating walking around him and escaping his notice.
“Just met.” Kurusu chuckled when it snuggled further into the basin of his arms. “Welcome back. Can I bring him in?”
“Unfortunately not. Morgana’s a special case, since he keeps me in line.”
Without protest, Kurusu deposited the cat on the sign just outside Leblanc. It stared at him, pawing the air as if to beckon him closer. “Oh, I know, honey. I’ll play with you again,” he said, scratching it behind its ears.
Turning his back to it, he picked up his briefcase and opened Leblanc’s door. “I understand. Let’s go in.”
Goro rolled his eyes. He didn’t need someone else to encourage him to enter his own temporary home, telling Kurusu as much and receiving a laugh in response.
He headed upstairs to change out of his school uniform, leaving Kurusu to pick a booth and set up the chessboard.
Morgana leapt out of his bag and waited for him to open the window. “Don’t do anything reckless,” he said, nose twitching. Goro snorted.
“The most reckless thing I can do is use my queen as a sacrifice.”
When Morgana stared at him wordlessly, he continued, “I’m careful when I need to be, aren’t I? Go enjoy the thrills of Yongen.”
Morgana pouted, or pouted as much as a being resembling a cat could anyway, but nonetheless scampered off onto the roof. “I'll be back before dark!”
Kurusu was already nursing a half-empty cup of his usual order, by the time Goro slid into the booth. How scandalous, to play a game of chess and fall so easily into fraternization with the enemy.
He didn’t forget about Morgana, but he would admit that he had gotten distracted. It was Kurusu’s fault for goading him into another round. He was glaring at his remaining pieces when Kurusu said, “Isn’t that your cat?”
Goro turned to look at the stairs, ready to reprimand him for coming down when there were customers, but saw nothing.
“At the door,” Kurusu said.
Morgana pawing at the glass while on his hind legs may have looked cute to everyone else, but Goro could hear his frantic words as he meowed, “Let me in! Let me in!”.
He didn’t exactly fawn over Morgana, but he was among the small group of friends he actually gave two shits about, so he strode over to the door quickly.
Morgana dashed inside the second he could fit through the opening, watching the door until Goro closed it.
Goro flinched, hissing in pain, when Morgana jumped onto him and climbed up his arm. Dammit, those claws were sharp. “What’s the matter with you?” he whispered through gritted teeth.
“Some lady tried to grab me! She chased me around the block. I think she’s the one we heard about the other day.”
Feeling Kurusu’s intense gaze on him, Goro kept quiet. The rumors of a catnapper hadn’t seemed serious; he’d completely forgotten about the possibility of one with everything that had been happening as of late.
He made for the stairs to avoid Sojiro’s scolding, but Kurusu got up and stood in his way.
“Your cat seems distressed,” Kurusu said, his brows knitted.
Goro frowned. “It’s none of your concern.
Kurusu opened his mouth, then shut it quickly and shook his head. He sidled past Goro. “You’ve got my number.”
“That was weird,” Morgana said as Kurusu left.
“He’s always weird,” Goro muttered.
The subsequent times Kurusu stopped by, he was always playing with the tabby cat. Once, it weaved around his legs as he tried to enter Leblanc, and Goro had to shoo it away. On days Kurusu didn’t come, it waited faithfully until Goro’s arrival—to which it slinked off into an alley while meowing petulantly.
Then on a Sunday afternoon, in which Goro was helping Sojiro around the cafe, Kurusu walked in with a deep frown.
In the short time he was seated, he frequently looked at the door and twirled his pen to the point it made Goro dizzy.
“What is it?” Goro finally snapped.
Kurusu blinked and caught his pen. “What is—?”
“You’re worried about something. It’s irritating how obvious it is.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Oh, out with it already.”
Kurusu smiled at that. In the time they've known each other, he’d yet to call out Goro’s rudeness. Whether he had the patience of a saint or secretly plotted various ways he could murder him, Goro didn’t know.
He propped up his face with a hand. “My favorite little kitty wasn’t here today. He’s usually outside the entrance, but—maybe I’m overthinking it.”
Goro grimaced. He’d meant to find the supposed catnapper. No time like the present, he supposed, and it was close to the end of his shift anyway.
He hung up his apron and, after Morgana jumped inside, picked up his bag. “Come with me.”
Kurusu followed him out. “Where to?”
“You ask that after leaving with me? What if I was planning to mug you in the alley?”
“Are you?” And here, Kurusu had the audacity to wink at him.
Goro scoffed. “Of course not, but aren’t you a celebrity? You shouldn’t trust others so easily.” He lowered his bag to let Morgana climb out. “There’ve been rumors of someone kidnapping cats around here. I already tried asking around, but I couldn’t get a name. If we can lure him or her out with Morgana…”
Morgana trotted ahead of them. They made sure to keep him in their sight while maintaining some distance. Kurusu stayed quiet as they walked around, silently taking Goro’s cues to act as if they were examining signs or loitering in front of shops.
They were peering at the fruits in front of the grocery store when Morgana yelled for them. Goro looked in the direction of his voice to see a vaguely cat-shaped blur and a woman with a shocked expression. She stumbled backward, turned on her heel, and ran.
“Good boy, wait for me at home,” Goro said, now grateful for Ryuji’s training, as Morgana passed him.
He chased her to her apartment, reaching the top of the stairs just in time to see a door slam shut. Belatedly, Goro realized that Kurusu was right behind him.
Kurusu dusted off his coat, walked to the door, and knocked.
“I doubt she’ll answer,” Goro said in between gulps of air.
Kurusu crossed his arms. “What else can I do? The station will laugh at me if I ask for a warrant to”—he waved his hand at the door—“search for cats.”
Goro checked the door for an apartment number. “You could ask the Phantom Thieves. There’s a forum for requests. You just need to give them her name.”
The look tossed his way could flatten mountains. “They wouldn’t care about something like this.”
“They would. Aren’t you curious about their sense of justice anyhow?”
Kurusu sighed. “Alright, I'll think about it, but I still don’t have a good reason to ask for her information.”
“I may be able to obtain her name. I’ll need your assistance though.” Goro led him to the mailboxes in front of the apartment complex. Checking left and right once he found the mail slot with her apartment number, he pulled out a lockpick and tension tool from his bag.
“I could arrest you for this,” Kurusu said.
“Yes, or you could be useful and keep watch.”
Goro hummed along to the clicking noises as he worked, sticking his tongue out the corner of his mouth as he picked at the final notch. “Aha, here we go.” He stowed his tools away and swung the panel open.
Kurusu shuffled closer to look at the envelopes in Goro’s hands. “Aino Ryoko,” he muttered. “Okay, I’ve memorized the spelling. Put them back before we get caught.”
On the walk back to Leblanc, Goro asked, “Do you need me to teach you how to use the forum?”
“No, thanks.” Again with the chivalrous door opening—it made Goro want to retch. “Have a good rest of your night.”
The request came in under an Amamiya Ren later that night.
It was quick. He hadn’t even needed a team to accompany him. They found her shadow in one of the early sublevels of Mementos. It took a single ziodyne to down the nekomata that sprang from her heart, and a little bit of coaxing to calm her down.
Aino wasn’t taking the cats for any selfish reasons. Her intentions were born out of fear, if a little naive.
Goro called it a day, unwilling to keep Makoto out any later than necessary; she was losing enough sleep already from overseeing the school festival.
Kurusu showed up at Leblanc a couple days later, petting the tabby cat from before.
“I take it they’ve fulfilled your request?” Goro said in lieu of a greeting.
Unruffled as always, Kurusu turned around smoothly. “The Phantom Thieves overlooked something.”
Goro scoffed. “Well, I’m sure I don’t have to encourage you to elaborate.”
Kurusu laughed into his fist, shaking just the slightest bit—a tactic intended to give the recipient some sort of satisfaction at amusing the Detective Prince, yet restrained enough to prevent one from feeling cocky. It kept people at a distance, while simultaneously rewarding them so they would remain acquaintances aiming to please.
It was the kind of shit Goro used to pull around his classmates before he was sent to Tokyo. At Shujin, he didn’t care enough to keep up the act.
The difference between him and Kurusu was that Kurusu somehow made it seem genuine. He tended to be quiet, barely reacting to things in general. His fans adored him for it.
Still, he remained humble, avoiding the spotlight and only appearing on talk shows after very public pleas from their hosts. Even then, the segments ended up running short because he stayed merely to announce his findings and nothing else.
And that was what Goro couldn't stand about him, because it had to be an act. Yet, he couldn't figure out what Kurusu would get out of it. He could easily have the population of Tokyo wrapped around his finger if he showed his charming side more.
His atrociously long eyelashes fluttered, catching the sunlight and gleaming with each blink. “The cats were saved, but they didn’t bother to check on Aino Ryoko afterward.”
“Do you believe she was committing a crime?” Goro said slowly. “I don’t see a reason for her to confess on national television.”
The smile Kurusu pasted on was a duplicate of the one he showed on TV. “Not what I meant. Have you ever pet Morgana and ended up scratched?”
Goro snorted. Morgana would never debase himself to be pet like an animal. He would lick his own asshole in full view though. Apparently that was perfectly acceptable.
“No, I haven’t. Why do you ask?”
“Cats get stressed when they feel smothered. Aino’s apartment was a mess because she let them roam. However, with the tiny space and the number of cats…”
Goro adjusted the strap of his bag and felt Morgana’s paws on his shoulder. “I know where you’re going with this.”
Kurusu nodded. “She was covered in bites and claw marks. Most of them were infected.” He twisted a lock of his bangs, sweeping his hair back after releasing it. “She was wallowing in her guilt—didn’t think of taking care of herself. It took some time to convince her to check into the local clinic.”
That was unexpected. For all of their past targets, Goro assumed that everything would resolve cleanly. It would be troubling if changing their hearts affected only certain parts of their thinking. He’d have to discuss the possibility in a future meeting.
“I suppose the Phantom Thieves aren’t as reliable as people may believe them to be,” he said eventually. Morgana made a contemplative sound, his twitching ears tickling Goro's jaw. Goro brought up a hand to rub his head, but stopped almost immediately when Morgana squirmed away.
“Right, but they’re the reason why this case was solved.” Kurusu nodded. “I won’t ignore that.” He reached over to Morgana.
“Hey, wait! I’m not—” Morgana said, then melted onto Goro’s shoulder. His entire body vibrated as he purred.
Goro let it be. As much as they acted annoyed with each other at times, he preferred Morgana to experience some good things while in cat form. He watched the elderly shopkeeper at the second-hand goods store organize the shelves.
He startled when Morgana whined, “Ugh, quit it!”
Before Goro could do anything, Morgana let out a loud hiss, causing Kurusu to whip his hand away, and scrambled back into Goro’s bag.
Smile still in place, Kurusu examined his gloves curiously. Pale scratch marks ran from the inside of the palm to the side.
Goro blinked twice as he felt Morgana’s weight twist and huddle against his back. “Did—he’s not usually—”
“He’s well-behaved,” Kurusu said, curling his fingers in. “I agitated him on purpose.”
“Why did you—”
Kurusu leaned in uncomfortably close, slowly enough for Goro to see the flecks of black in his irises.
“Creatures with any amount of pride will retaliate if you push them enough.” Each word brushed against Goro’s cheek. “As his owner, you should keep that in mind.”
“And you would know from personal experience?”
The laugh that gusted over his neck made him shiver. “Maybe.”
Kurusu finally pulled back. “What a foolish woman.” A crooked smirk twisted his lips, flashing by so quickly that Goro had to convince himself he hadn’t imagined it. He opened Leblanc’s door. “After you.”
Goro shifted his bag to hold Morgana in his arms instead, feeling Kurusu’s presence looming behind him as they entered.