Chapter Text
In many ways Tokyo's a better fit for him than Inaba ever was. Back home, he's just Amamiya Ren, unassuming high-schooler turned felon, everything he thinks and everything he feels compressed into one limited human form that's all he can allow himself to be.
Here, he's still all of that, but he's Joker, too—the flashy, daring, adventurous leader of the Phantom Thieves, with a Persona who reflects everything about him that he's had to hide for so long. He can be himself in Tokyo—and more of himself in the Metaverse. He has real friends now, who don't hesitate to take his side, who'll gladly fight beside him. Who believe in him. He can let them see everything that he is, because they do the same for him.
Well, almost everything. There's one thing Ren's kept to himself since he got here.
It's not that he thinks anyone would make fun of him for it. (Ryuji would say something tactless, of course, but he'd still mean well.) He's just not used to letting anyone see when he's vulnerable. He's the one they all turn to for support, after all.
He'd been apprehensive, that day almost three months ago when he'd arrived in Tokyo, not knowing what kind of a welcome he'd receive from his host. New city, new school, new life, none of it by choice. With no idea what to expect, he'd resolved to face it as best he could, to make himself seem safe and boring so no one could take offence at him. Keep his head down, keep out of trouble.
Keeping his head down hadn't really been an option when he'd disembarked at Shibuya. He'd had to look up to find signs for the right exit, and if he'd thought the JL station had been packed, it'd been nothing compared to his first glimpse of Shibuya Crossing. More people than he'd ever seen in one place at one time, all trying to cross the road in different directions. They'd swarmed him as he'd stood still, jostling him with their elbows without ever seeing him—one boy standing alone in a crowd, phone in hand, searching for the subway entrance.
As a first glimpse of Tokyo it had been overwhelming, but thankfully overshadowed by his first glimpse of a now-familiar blue fire. The world around him had slowed to nothing. They hadn't mattered, then, all the people talking and laughing, or looking at their phones as they walked, because they hadn't seemed real. Real life doesn't have a pause button, although Ren sometimes wishes it did. The shock of seeing Arsène had carried him through the rest of his journey, down to the Den-en-Toshi Line and finally to the far emptier streets of Yongen-Jaya.
Ren likes Yongen-Jaya, now he's had the chance to learn his way around. It's a lot closer to what he's used to than the frenetic pace of downtown Tokyo. People take their time, idling over supermarket specials, searching for hidden treasures at the second-hand store, having a lazy gossip as they soak away the day's cares at the bathhouse. No one's in a rush, because there's nowhere to rush to except for the station, and the neighbourhood's small enough that no one really needs to do that, either.
And Leblanc... as homes go, may not be ideal, but it's become more of a home to him than his own. Sure, he'd like to be able to take a bath without having to go across the street to the bathhouse, and it had taken a lot of work to get his attic bedroom habitable to start with, but it's actually bigger than his room back home, and now he's filling it with keepsakes of his time with the friends he's made here. He's got Morgana to share it with, too, and although he'd never really thought of himself as much of a cat person before (not that Morgana is a cat, of course not, how dare Ren insinuate such a thing), he's definitely become one now. There's something to be said for having a furry friend to snuggle with on cold nights.
Leblanc is his haven, his port in a storm, a small, quiet space where he can forget both the outside and the cognitive worlds for a little while and take a few moments for himself. (Despite the excellence of both the coffee and the curry, the café is hardly ever busy.) It's somewhere to rest after a day of being surrounded by classmates and teachers who either fear him or ignore him, frequently followed by a part-time job or perhaps spending time with a friend.
Even those sometimes take him among crowds. The Triple Seven's absolutely packed this afternoon—between the teenage girls stopping by to pick up idol magazines and the people hiding from the rain, there's barely room to breathe in the store. Ren's almost glad to be working behind the register the whole time. He's trapped until his shift ends, but at least he's only stuck with one other cashier on this side with him; everyone else has to keep the width of the counter away.
It's not far enough, though. The customers are a blur of hands and faces, penning him in with the products they thrust at him, each one following hard on the heels of the one before. The air is warm and damp, filled with the low hum of people talking amongst themselves, scrabbling for their wallets, rustling the pages of the magazines as they flick through, crinkling the cellophane on the yakisoba pan, all of it occasionally punctuated by the bell as yet another customer steps through the door. It's stifling; sweat drips down the back of his uniform shirt and leaves it sticking uncomfortably to his skin. He feels it whenever he reaches for another basket.
The end of Ren's shift can't come soon enough for him. When he finally slinks out, he's almost grateful for the rain, now more of a light drizzle but still cooling after the store. He braces himself against the wall for a moment, pressing flat to try to avoid passers-by with their umbrellas. Now he has the early evening traffic to contend with and although the people are constantly moving apace, not shuffling their way through a crowded store a few slow steps at a time, there's more of them than he'd really like to deal with right now.
The station will be worse.
The last thing Ren wants to do is cram himself in with a horde of busy Tokyoites, even if it will get him home again. Morgana would tell him he should just go, that the sooner he starts walking the sooner he'll be back in Leblanc and in his own space, but Morgana's not here. He's back in the attic this evening, not in the mood for hiding himself in Ren's bag during his shift.
Still, hiding under the awning's not going to get him anywhere. Reluctantly, Ren starts heading for the station, keeping as much to the fringes as the crowd will allow. At least no one's looking at him, eyes on their phones or straight ahead, no one caring about the slightly bedraggled teenage boy trying to keep it together long enough to make it home.
He gets as far as the station square before the sea of umbrellas before him solidifies into a wall. It's moving, he's sure it's moving, but not fast enough. He can't see any way through that doesn't involve him throwing himself into a heaving crowd of people and hoping he emerges alive at the other end.
He should be able to do that. He can hold his own with as many Shadows as the Metaverse wants to throw at him. Just... not like this. It's not like he can summon a Persona out here and send all these people sprawling, after all.
That gives him an idea. It won't get him home, but it'll get him away from the crowds for now, and that's all he needs, a little space to cool off where no one can find him. A moment with his phone and the world shimmers around him, emptying all at once.
Mementos.
It's a startling contrast, Shibuya transformed from teeming to desolate in a heartbeat, unlike the Shibuya of Kaneshiro's Palace, full of its human ATMs. The people around the station still exist but they can't reach him here, and if there’s anyone aboveground in Mementos they’re too far away for him to see. He's all alone. Too bad he can't travel through Mementos and pop out in Yongen-Jaya; he's seen the trains running underground but he's never tried to board one, and even Morgana can't tell him where they go.
He'd almost rather be underground now, he thinks. Emptying the entire square just makes it apparent how much bigger Tokyo is than anywhere he's ever been before. He feels exposed here, even if there's no one around to see him. He shouldn't be in the Metaverse like this, not unmasked.
The Shadows can't detect him up here. He hurries down the stairs, feeling safer the moment his glasses are replaced by a domino mask. The school uniform he'd thrown back on after his shift disappears, taking a portion of his unease with it. Down here he's Joker, black coat flying out behind him and his weapons close at hand, ready to take on the world.
Not that there's anything to fight yet. If he looks up at just the right angle he can still see the night sky above, eerily empty, and that means he needs to go further in. One level down and the outside world's behind him, hidden by pulsating red tunnels and cracks that promise treasure behind, if he only had Morgana to drive through them.
Not having Morgana also means no way around except on foot. He doesn't mind nearly as much as he would've done before all the training he's been doing with Ryuji, and walking in Joker's heeled boots always makes him feel more confident. Taller, more powerful, like a blunt knife that's just been sharpened and is ready to cut down anything in its path. As he strides through the dark tunnels he's fully confident that there's nothing on this level that can harm him.
Sure enough, nothing does. He shoots a pack of Pixies out of the air when they try to block his path and keeps going, not seeking out fights but not hiding from them either. The layout changes every time; it's all guesswork. Ren knows what he's aiming for, though, and he knows he'll find it sooner or later. Next level down, where the red gives way to blue and the surface feels even more like a distant memory.
He knows he's getting close. He's been through a couple of floors in this level already. If he can just get to the next platform...
The group of Slimes in his way have other ideas, though. Without even needing to think about it Ren summons Hua Po, ready to fry them all with a burst of Maragi. There's a slight drop in his energy levels as his Persona drains from him to power her spell but it's nothing he can't handle. He turns the fire loose on the Shadows and watches them burn. It won't be enough to kill them but maybe it'll make them open to negotiation.
Four Slimes wobble before him, glaring as the fire eats away at them. He only remembers they usually travel in packs of five when the fifth one knocks him to the ground.
He's better protected in his Phantom Thief guise than his regular clothing; even so, falling on train tracks hurts, and not in a good way. He lies dazed for a moment, all the breath knocked out of him. He should've known there were five. How many times have they faced down a pack of Slimes? Of course there would be one more than the four in his line of sight. If he needed any more evidence that he's still rattled from the crowds, this is it—distraction that could get him killed if he's not careful.
Wincing, he rolls off the tracks and manages to get his feet under him just in time to throw himself out of the path of another Slime. They're not on fire anymore. He must've been down longer than he thought. One more blast of Maragi should do it, maybe two. He needs to catch all five this time.
He doesn't. Four of them sizzle away into nothingness with his next spell but the fifth's not in his line of sight. Without the firelight it's difficult to spot in the murk of Mementos. He whips around at a low rumble from behind him but by the time he sees the lone remaining Slime, it's already hit the ground, writhing from a spell he doesn't recognise.
It's definitely not his, and it's nothing the other Phantom Thieves can do, either. He knows their abilities well. Is there someone else down here with him? Or maybe the spell's come from another Shadow? It's not elemental, he can only tell that much. The Slime succumbs to the spell and disintegrates before he can take a closer look.
He can't even tell which direction the unexpected help had come from. There's a couple of tunnels behind him and from where he's standing, no sign of life in either of them. If there is someone else in Mementos, it doesn't seem like they're interested in saying hello.
He's not sure he'd want them to, anyway. He came down here to be alone, not to have to deal with more people.
Next floor down, he gets his wish. There it is, a waiting room that's an eerie copy of reality right down to the No Smoking sign, windows tinted dark blue by the tunnel walls. It's empty, of course. The Shadows never come in here. It's safe—or at least as safe as anywhere can ever be, in the Metaverse.
Ren sinks down on the first orange plastic seat through the door, closes his eyes, and breathes.
There's no one here. No shoppers packed shoulder-to-shoulder in a tiny convenience store, no faceless crowds streaming through the streets. There's only the cool, still air of Mementos, untainted by cigarette smoke and fried chicken; the silence that soothes him after the sound of too many voices all talking at once. He can stop bracing himself for the next onslaught of people and relax a little.
It's moments like this that carry him through the chaos his life's become since moving to Tokyo. He can dispense with the masks he wears in the outside world and be himself: not the harmless defanged serpent he tries to be at school, nor the bold, unstoppable leader of the Phantom Thieves who thrives on rebellion. He's wearing Joker's mask, Joker's clothes, but the heart that's easing is Amamiya Ren's, and that's the one fewer people get to know.
The passage of time in Mementos is as skewed as its layout. By the time Ren emerges from its depths, feeling much refreshed from his time alone in the Metaverse, less than half an hour's passed in reality. Long enough for the rain to stop and the crowds to thin; not so long that he's missed the last train home. He makes it back to Leblanc without incident and settles down in a booth with a plate of curry to do his homework, pushing the odd incident with the Slimes to the back of his mind, where he forgets about it entirely.
Until it happens again.
This time it's after a busy shift at Ore no Beko. Morgana's back at Leblanc, because the manager had seen him peeking out of Ren's bag last time and thrown a fit, so Ren's all alone when he makes his way back to the station, still reeling from being swamped by customers. Once again, slipping into Mementos to get away from it all proves more appealing than trying to struggle through the crowds.
Also once again, he winds up biting off more than he can chew on his way to the waiting room. The first Andras in a pair goes down to an Agilao spell. The second...
He doesn't realise that it's done anything until he goes to ready another spell to throw at it, and finds he can't muster the concentration to do so. It's as if his brain's blocking everything but the essential functions, burying everything else under a pile of terror. He's never felt so afraid in his life. There's only one Shadow... but only one of him, too, and how could he ever have thought that he could survive down here by himself? It's going to kill him any second now and no one will ever find his body. Too paralysed with fear to do more than quake on the spot, he closes his eyes and waits for the end to come.
There's a flash of light so bright it hurts even through his closed eyelids, and when he ventures to open them, the Andras is almost gone, destroyed by a mysterious power and taking Ren's fear with it. His mind and body are his own again.
Of course there's no one in sight. Whoever's slinging spells around in Mementos doesn't seem inclined to stick around and be thanked, and Ren can't even be sure it's a person at all, and not some weirdly helpful Shadow. He'd like to know, but if they don't want to be found, he won't look. He knows a thing or two about how trying to help can get you into trouble.
It is strange, though. He thinks about it while he's relishing the peace in the waiting room. Perhaps he should tell the others after all? It doesn't seem like his mysterious saviour means him any harm—but he hasn't forgotten what Madarame's and Kaneshiro's Shadows had said about a criminal running around the Metaverse, even if they seem an unlikely candidate for helping a stranger in battle.
On the other hand, that would mean admitting he went into Mementos by himself, and his friends would be sure to ask about it. Then he'd have to talk about why, and he's happy to put off that particular conversation for as long as possible.
He manages pretty well with that until he's back at Shibuya station a few mornings later, waiting for his train to school. The platform's always busy but it seems worse than usual; he can normally find himself a few clear feet of space to stand in without other people's elbows digging into his sides, but today there's barely enough for him to keep walking in search of breathing room.
He's almost made it to the far end of the platform when he hears a familiar voice call out: "Amamiya-kun!"
It's not the first time he's run into Akechi on his morning commute. They don't attend the same school (and he still has no idea which school Akechi actually attends) but sometimes their paths cross on the way. Akechi's managed to claim a spot for himself against the wall; Ren wends his way through a dozen or so people to reach him and tries to keep himself calm. His school shirt's already sticking to his back; the air down here's too warm, the air conditioning no match for the late June heat, and it's only adding to how penned-in he feels.
"It's quite busy today, isn't it?" Akechi comments blithely when Ren reaches him. "Perhaps I should've cycled this morning after all."
Ren would like to respond to that, really he would, but he's too busy trying—and failing—to keep his breathing even. It's a little too fast, a little too shallow. If he doesn't pull himself together he's going to have to forget his train and get out of here, which means Morgana, currently hidden away in his bag, is going to figure out something's wrong.
Akechi gets there first. "Are you feeling all right? You seem to be overheating."
A trio of students close in on them from the side. Ren swallows hard when one of them gets close enough to bump his arm and then stays there, head turned to chat with her friends, oblivious to how she's encroaching on his space. He edges away as much as he can but there's almost nowhere for him to go.
Akechi catches it and narrows his eyes. "Could it be that you're uncomfortable in crowds?"
There's a slight smugness in his voice, like he's just solved a difficult mystery. Ren wants both to hear more of what Akechi sounds like when he's triumphant, and to knock it out of him because unfortunately, he's right, even if that's not quite the whole picture.
Ren's not about to confirm it for him. He doesn't know much about Akechi yet but one thing he does know is that Akechi's keeping secrets from him. To have understood Morgana that day in the TV studio he must've heard him speak in the Metaverse, which means that Akechi, whether he knows their real identities or not, has been close enough to the Phantom Thieves in the Metaverse to be able to hear them talking. That might not mean anything, but it might also be dangerous. Ren needs to spend more time with him to make sure.
So the part of him that relishes playing with fire makes him say: "You're the detective—why don't you tell me?"
"Oh?" Akechi breaks into a chuckle. "I don't think that will be necessary. Allow me."
Before Ren can ask what that's supposed to mean, Akechi's got one hand on his upper arm and is steering him towards the wall. He's only just quick enough to swing his bag around to the front so Morgana doesn't get flattened.
"There." Having switched places with him, Akechi now has his back to the crowd, but he seems unbothered by it. "That's better, isn't it?"
With his back against the wall and Akechi between him and their nearest neighbours, Ren does feel a little better. That's something of a surprise to him because they've lost some of their space in the switch and Akechi's standing close enough that if not for his bag and Akechi's briefcase hanging between them they'd be... well, fangirls of the 'Detective Prince' might get jealous over it if they saw them. Ren's not used to having someone so near, especially not face to face.
It should be making his panic worse. It isn't.
They've only known each other for a few weeks, just long enough for the seeds of friendship to take root, and yet Akechi's shielding him without hesitation, trying to help him through his discomfort.
"Thanks," he mumbles, staring down at Akechi's briefcase to avoid looking him in the eyes, because doing that from so close means Akechi might see more in Ren's eyes than Ren's ready for him to see right now.
Fortunately their train arrives before things can get any more awkward, bringing with it the struggle to board amidst such a crowd. There's enough people who recognise the famous young detective in the carriage they approach that they willingly try to make space for him; Ren's more than happy to take advantage of that, following along in Akechi's wake. It's not as if anywhere else in the train would be less crowded. He's all ready to grit his teeth and force himself to focus on something else for the handful of stops he has to endure before Aoyama-Itchome when Akechi abruptly turns around to usher him into a corner.
There's even less space than on the platform. Ren ends up with his bag slung precariously on one side and Akechi's briefcase tucked between his legs and the wall, where no one can knock it aside. Once again, Akechi's blocking the worst of the crowd, only now he's doing it from inches away and Ren's pretty sure his racing heart is due to that, not the mass of people in this carriage.
The only way Ren's going to avoid looking him straight in the eye is to close his own altogether, which he's not about to do. So he goes in the opposite direction and meets Akechi's gaze head-on, like he's trying to convince a Shadow in the Metaverse to join him and broadcasting such an aura of confidence that he knows they can't turn him down.
It's a front, of course. He'd bet on Akechi knowing that, as someone who clearly has to put up a public façade of his own, and if he's at all rattled by having another boy so near it doesn't show in the slightest. Ren just hopes that whatever Akechi's picking up from him doesn't make him want to back off.
Not that there's really any space to do that. As the train lurches away from the station he ends up rocking forward into Akechi, who doesn't move only because he's so wedged in himself.
"Sorry," Ren says, because Akechi hadn't signed up to be his personal cushion.
"I think I'll live… but I'm not so sure about your glasses. Here, let me."
Akechi reaches for his face and Ren blinks at the hands suddenly cupping his glasses. He hadn't even realised they'd been knocked askew—not when all he can see right now is Akechi, whose gloved fingers are brushing against his temples, reseating his glasses with as much care as if they were his own.
That's something he's not used to, either. A small town's not a good place to discover you like other boys, and he's never felt like it was worth the risk to see if any of his crushes felt the same, not when all their mothers knew his and all their fathers would've sympathised with his about how he'd turned out. But here in the city… none of that matters. He can take all the chances he wants, can see how far his feelings will take him.
He doesn't know if Akechi shares his preferences, or if he's just always like this with people he's only known for a few weeks, but there's nothing he's seen yet that makes him think he doesn't have a chance.
When Akechi takes his hands away, Ren has to fight the urge to catch them with his own and put them back. "Thanks. Maybe I should just take them off when the train's this packed."
"I'm afraid crowds are a fact of life in Tokyo," Akechi says. He's so close Ren can feel the puffs of air as he speaks, can smell the coffee on his breath. "You're going to have to get used to them if you don't want to be housebound for the rest of your time here."
As if Ren has time to be housebound. "I'm managing just fine now," he says with a little smirk, knowing Akechi can feel his words too.
"You shouldn't count on me to step in and save you." Akechi's tone is surprisingly serious—even to him, it seems, because he smiles sheepishly and softens it when he speaks again. "Ah, all I meant is that I'm usually so busy, you're unlikely to see much of me."
"All I have to do is turn on the television or open a magazine. The Detective Prince is everywhere."
"The Detective Prince, perhaps," Akechi concedes. "But Akechi Goro is more discerning about where he spends his time."
They've hung out on a couple of occasions since their first meeting: once playing billiards, once going to a café for cake and coffee. Both times in Kichijoji, both times instigated by Akechi. He's a celebrity. He must have other people he could go with.
But he'd invited Ren, and Ren hopes that counts for something.
As soon as he's clear of the station he checks his bag. It's not like Morgana to be so quiet; Ren hopes he didn't get roughed up by the crowd.
Turns out he needn't have worried.
"Was that Akechi on the platform?" Morgana asks sleepily, head popping out of the bag. "I thought I heard his voice." He yawns and rubs a paw over his eyes.
It's unbearably cute. Ren grins down at him. "Were you taking a catnap?"
That wakes Morgana up immediately. "I am NOT a cat!" When a couple of girls walking nearby turn to look at the source of the yowling they must be hearing, he turns down the volume a few notches. "I may have fallen asleep for a bit. It was so stuffy in the station."
Which probably means Morgana hadn't heard anything on the train. Ren's glad about that. Morgana agrees with him that they need to find out what Akechi's up to, which isn't going to happen without spending time with him, but for some conversations, Ren would rather not have an audience.
"It was," Ren agrees. "Akechi was regretting that he didn't cycle this morning instead."
"So he cycles. I guess now we know one more thing about him that we didn't before." Understandably, Morgana sounds less than enthused about it. "Did he say anything else?"
"Not much, sorry. It was too crowded to really hear each other."
Which would've been true if they hadn't been standing so close, but Morgana doesn't need to know that. Akechi had kept him focussed, given him something to fix on while the world rushed around him. Polite and outwardly friendly, but with a hint of something a little darker underneath, a bite to his teasing words that makes Ren wonder what he sounds like when he doesn't have to worry about being the perfect idol detective in public. If he ever does.
He gets a glimpse of it later that day. He has a shift after school at Rafflesia, by far the quietest of his part-time jobs, even if it is in the underground mall; while he knows more customers would be better for business, it's so much easier on him knowing the worst rush he'll ever have to deal with is perhaps two people wanting assistance at the same time.
His phone chimes as he's finishing up. When he checks, there's a message from Akechi asking if he's free that evening. He is, in the sense that he doesn't have actual plans, but he should probably be studying. On the other hand, whatever Akechi has in mind will undoubtedly be more interesting than his homework, and he can always squeeze that in before bed if he has to.
Besides, he's starving, and if he's going to go find food he might as well do it with company. Only if there's food involved, he writes back, and Akechi responds with assurances that he, too, is wanting dinner, and that there's a place in Shibuya he's been meaning to try.
Ren meets him by the Buchiko statue, minus Morgana, who'd insisted on making his own way home when he'd heard Ren's plans for the evening. Not that he doesn't want to eavesdrop on Akechi, but they can't take the chance of Akechi hearing him speak, and for all that Morgana sometimes chastises Ryuji for his outbursts, he's not exactly immune to having them himself.
"There's a diner some of my classmates have been talking about recently," Akechi explains as he leads them away from the station. "As I was in Shibuya this afternoon anyway, I thought I ought to try it."
The idea of Akechi having classmates seems so weird to Ren. He knows, intellectually, that the other boy goes to high school, but it feels incongruous with working with the police. (Although he supposes going to high school while being a Phantom Thief is also kind of weird.) "Do your classmates have good taste?"
"I suppose we'll find out soon enough."
There are plenty of places to eat in Shibuya in Central Street alone, but Ren has a feeling he knows where they're going. He's not at all surprised when Akechi comes to a stop outside Bikkuri Boy, which has always been at least half-filled with students in various uniforms every time Ren's been in there. "Your classmates have good taste," he confirms to Akechi.
"So you've been here before?"
"I come here to study sometimes while I eat. The booths are very comfortable."
"Then let's hope there's one available."
Ren follows Akechi up the stairs to find there are in fact several booths available. They're shown to one mid-way along the wall, where they have neighbours on both sides, and they take seats across from each other. Akechi chooses first, which unfortunately puts Ren with his back to the staircase, but that can't be helped. He gets as close to the wall as he can and angles himself into the corner to widen his field of vision.
"Getting comfortable?" Akechi enquires.
"I'm making sure I can spot your stalkers before they reach us," Ren says, keeping his face perfectly straight. "You might need to borrow my glasses again."
Akechi sighs, picking up his menu to study it. "That was most unfortunate last time. I had hoped that the presence of another person would dissuade fans from approaching, but being a celebrity has its price."
At least this time they're indoors, not sitting outside where anyone walking past can catch a glimpse of Akechi, recognise him from one of his many appearances on TV, and try for an autograph. Their waitress doesn't appear to recognise him at all—or if she does, she doesn't care—and they're able to order their food without any requests for a selfie.
They make small talk about food while they wait for it to arrive. It seems Akechi can't cook, and eats out quite frequently. Ren contemplates offering to cook for him sometime. He hadn't had much of an aptitude for it before coming to Tokyo but Sojiro is a surprisingly patient—if gruff—teacher, and Ren's free to make use of Leblanc's kitchen when the café is closed. Before he can make up his mind about it, their dinner arrives.
So do a lot more people.
It doesn't really sink in at first. Ren can hear the sounds of customers coming up the stairs, being greeted and seated, but all his attention's on the Hamburg steak in front of him. When he comes up for air, however, it hits him just how crowded the diner's become. His chest tightens as he looks around the room. Every other booth is completely packed, some of them with a scavenged chair tacked on the end, and there's a line heading down the stairs of people waiting to be allowed in.
They might have a long wait. Very few of the tables have people actually eating at them yet and the staff are struggling to get to them all. So instead of eating, most of the customers are staring—at them.
Or rather, at Akechi. It's not all teenage girls but they do make up a good proportion of the customers, and Ren's finding it very unnerving having all those eyes locked on their booth. It's better than at the station, because the high seat backs mean even the closest person to him can't actually reach him... but his fellow passengers hadn't been looking at him at all, too absorbed in their own business to concern themselves with his. Here, he's got their attention, and they're hungry.
A lot hungrier than Ren is right now. Knots begin to take shape in his stomach, making eating the rest of his dinner a gamble he's not sure he wants to take, especially not with so many witnesses. He nudges his plate away and reaches for his glass of ice water, hoping the cold will help to anchor him.
"Are you not going to finish that?" Akechi asks. There are a few squeals of "Akechi-kun!" from somewhere in the room after he speaks, which he ignores. "I thought it was quite nice, myself." His own plate is half-empty and he continues to work on it; the stares don't seem to be getting to him at all.
Ren fixes his gaze down on the ice cubes in his glass, which is the closest he can get to blocking out everything in his peripheral vision without actually closing his eyes, and tries to answer Akechi normally, like everything's cool. "Guess I wasn't as hungry as I thought."
"No? I thought it might be something to do with the audience we seem to have attracted."
Akechi's apparently got an idea in his head after this morning and Ren doubts there's any way to bluff through it. He'd left the train at his stop, of course, but there's no leaving the diner without giving Akechi at least some kind of reason, and he's not sure he's thinking clearly enough to find one.
So it might as well be the truth. It's not like Akechi's counting on him for anything besides his company.
"You're right." It comes out in a rasp; Ren clears his throat and tries again, raising his eyes to meet Akechi's. "About the crowds in here. You're right."
Triumph flashes across Akechi's face so fast Ren thinks he might have imagined it. "I thought as much. That's why while you were washing your hands I took the liberty of leaking some rumours to a few of my fansites as to where I'd be dining this evening."
Akechi's voice is oddly kind, like he's doing Ren a favour by surrounding him with a roomful of strangers. That makes it feel even more like a betrayal. He'd thought they were becoming friends, but why would a friend do this to him?
He can't imagine there's any good answer but he asks anyway. "Why?"
"Because it's something you need to get over," Akechi says, matter-of-factly. "If you freeze up in a crowd you're leaving yourself vulnerable, and this isn't a small town where everyone knows everyone else. You can't rely on anyone but yourself to keep you safe."
Ren had thought like that too when he'd first been sent away. That no one in Tokyo would be on his side, that he'd have to get by as best he could alone and if he failed, he'd have only himself to blame. He'd kept on thinking that right up until Ryuji had aggressively befriended him and he hadn't looked back since.
He knows in his heart that not one of the Phantom Thieves would abandon him over something like this. He's their leader no matter what and it's irrational to believe they'd think any less of him for it. But feelings aren't rational, even if it sounds like Akechi's trying to be.
Maybe he thinks he's doing Ren a favour, but it's not the kind of favour Ren wants. "I can manage, thanks," he mutters, grabbing the strap of his bag and starting to slide out the booth. He needs to get out of there.
"Not so fast."
Before Ren can escape the booth, Akechi's sliding in beside him, with only Ren's bag to separate them. There's more high-pitched squealing from elsewhere in the diner and it gets worse when Akechi leans in to talk to him, like he's about to share a secret for Ren's ears alone.
"If you run, you'll never win," Akechi murmurs. It's so soft and yet so harsh Ren's not even sure what to make of it, this new facet of Akechi that he's getting to see. "You have to stay and fight."
"Fight?" Ren shrugs helplessly. "There's nothing to fight here." It's not like he's in the Metaverse facing down a horde of Shadows. He can't call up a Persona to disperse a crowd of human beings.
"You fight your fear." When Ren continues to stare blankly at him, Akechi huffs out an annoyed breath and waves a hand in the direction of the other patrons. "Look at those people. They're not here for you. They're not even really here for me, just for a glimpse of the Detective Prince. And in the station this morning? Those were all just people trying to catch a train, not rob you at knifepoint. There's nothing to be afraid of."
It sounds so simple when Akechi puts it that way. Ren wishes it were. "I know that," he says. "I know they're not going to do anything to me." He's surrounded by Akechi fans, not cops who are here to haul him away on some drunken bigshot's say-so. "But what I know doesn't seem to matter."
"Of course it matters." Akechi sounds baffled. "If you perceive them as safe, then you should feel safe."
That might work in the Metaverse. It's not so helpful in a packed diner. "That's not working for me."
"So I see." Akechi snags his water glass from across the table and leans back against the seat. "Have you always had trouble with crowds?"
It's clear he has no intention of letting the subject drop, nor of returning to his own side of the table. Ren doesn't mind the latter so much—having Akechi there between him and the rest of the diner is rather comforting—but the former he's not so thrilled about. Unfortunately, it looks like he's not going to be allowed to get away without talking about it.
"It's... not crowds, exactly." Akechi knows Ren's a transfer student but Ren hasn't told him what's behind the move to Tokyo, and this doesn't feel like the time for it, not when some of the school uniforms in the diner belong to Shujin. But he can talk around it. "Until I came to Tokyo I'd never even seen so many people all in one place. I think you could fit the population of my hometown into Shujin and still have room to spare."
"It's that small?"
"Tiny, compared to here. One department store"—from which he'd been unceremoniously fired after his arrest, no felonious part-timers at Junes, thank you—"a shopping street it's slowly killing, a little shrine, a million stray cats. It's the kind of place where you can't go five minutes without running into someone you know."
"That sounds... quaint."
"It's peaceful." Or had been, until Ren had tried to help a woman in trouble. Nothing about his life had been peaceful after that. "Slow. It never feels busy. Not really, not like a city. Everywhere I went was small, and familiar, and..."
"Safe?" Akechi suggests.
"Safer, maybe," Ren allows. Even small towns still have crime, after all. "And now I'm here, where the buildings go on forever and everybody's a stranger."
"You've seen what happens when everybody knows who you are." Akechi tips his head back towards the rest of the diner and smiles. "You might be better off remaining unknown."
"I don't need everyone to know me." There are enough people at Shujin even now who still think they know him, without knowing anything about him except that he'd been sent there on probation. "Just the people who matter to me, and they do."
"But do they know this about you?" Akechi says archly. "I think not."
Ren can't say anything back to that, because it's the truth. He's been lucky enough, so far, that it hasn't cropped up when his friends have been around to witness it, and he's been hoping things will stay that way. So much for that.
Akechi seems to take his silence as agreement. "I can understand not wanting anyone to know your weakness, but it's only a matter of time before someone else does, unless you never set foot outside your home again, and that just isn't feasible. If I hadn't been there this morning, what would you have done?"
Tried to distract himself by talking to Morgana, probably, but that's not something he can say here. "I guess I'd have tried to find a quiet corner somewhere and distract myself with my phone." When Akechi frowns at him he admits: "Or maybe I'd have gone outside to cool off and tried for a later train."
"Making you late for school." Akechi tsks at him. "That's hardly an ideal solution. No, there's only one thing for it: we're going to fix this."
He sounds so confident about it Ren's almost tempted to believe him. Almost. "Fix this? How?"
"You can leave that to me." Akechi reaches for Ren's abandoned plate and nudges it towards him. "You should also finish this."
Since he then turns his attention back to his own meal and rushes them back to the station as soon as they're both done, Ren never gets a chance to ask him what he has in mind. Maybe it's better that he doesn't know, if summoning a horde of fans is Akechi's idea of helping.
Still, there's something comforting about knowing he wants to help. Even though there's a part of Ren's life that he can never share with him—what with Akechi investigating the Phantom Thieves—he's trusting Akechi with this, however hesitant he'd been to tell him. Maybe this friendship will work out after all.
Now he just has to hope Akechi doesn't decide to invite him to Tokyo Tower.
It isn't Tokyo Tower. It's worse.
"Harajuku... on a Saturday?" Ren gasps out, struggling to get clear of the JL station amidst the rush of other passengers.
"It wouldn't be my first choice for spending an afternoon either, but it ought to do well enough for our purposes," Akechi says, breezing past him onto the street. He points to the sign for the entrance to Takenoko Street, right across from the station. "There. That's where we're going."
Ren suppresses a groan. He's been here before once with Ann, when she'd wanted to shop for a present for Shiho, but that had been during the week and later in the day. He should've known that when Akechi had called last night and asked him to come to Shibuya after lunch, it wasn't going to be for a nice, quiet afternoon in a park somewhere. One stop on the Yamanote Line later, he's staring at a sea of people and hoping Akechi's plan isn't to let him drown.
"What are we even doing here?" he asks as they head for the entrance. "Just walking until we get to the end?"
"If you make it that far, I might even reward you with a crepe. I hear they're quite good here."
Ren's not Ann, to be enticed with the promise of dessert. It's the challenge in Akechi's voice that calls to him, taunting him to stride confidently into the teeming street and emerge unscathed, head held high. He can do this. He's thrown himself into more precarious situations in the Metaverse and walked away without a scratch. He's the leader of the Phantom Thieves, their Wild Card, their Joker, and he's not backing down from this challenge.
It is kind of tempting to do so, though, when the crowd surges around them and for a moment Ren loses himself in other people. Teenagers, mostly, but there are adults there too, some of them foreigners looking delighted by the weird and wonderful goods on offer. None of them looking at him, of course. None of them even looking at Akechi, as far as he can tell.
When they start heading downhill he breathes a little easier; his height lets him see over the heads of most of those around him. Nothing's that tall here anyway. Most of the buildings are a couple of storeys, nothing tall enough to need more than one flight of stairs. They make their way through colourful boutiques and tiny sock shops, fancy cafés and poster-plastered ticket shops.
There's one image in particular that catches his eye, and he catches Akechi's sleeve, grinning as he points it out. "Want to go in and offer to autograph that for them?"
Akechi grimaces when he sees what Ren's spotted. There's an idol shop on the other side of the street from them, walls mostly covered in pictures of various singers and actors Ren vaguely recognises. The odd one out is a poster advertising BOSS, with Akechi holding an open can of coffee and smiling for the camera.
"Not my finest work."
"What else do you advertise?" Ren wants to know. "If I go in there am I going to find posters promoting argyle sweater vests?"
"You're not going in there," Akechi says, exasperated. "I can promise you you're not going to find anything interesting inside."
Ren thinks otherwise. He'd been curious enough to stick his nose in one of the idol shops last time; he knows what they're like. "Isn't that the plan? Drag me into crowded situations and see if I sink or swim? You know it'll be busy in there."
"Yes, but—"
He doesn't wait to hear the rest of Akechi's objection, just crosses over the street. Akechi catches him before he can head up the narrow staircase.
"You realise if I go in there I may never make it out again?" he protests. "The diner was one thing, but this is hardly neutral ground."
Ren looks from Akechi's face to the poster and back again, and has an idea. A self-indulgent one, to be sure, but that's no reason not to go for it. "You will if nobody knows it's you. Give me a sec."
It's not the first time he's had his hands in the soft strands of Akechi's hair, ruffling it out of its neatly-combed style so that it's as messy as his own. He's surprised to get away with it again; surely Akechi must've seen it coming and is choosing to let him do it. Perhaps it feels as nice for Akechi as it does for him, such a careful, intimate touch, Ren's fingers stroking his scalp soothingly as they do their work.
Akechi's eyes are half-lidded, as though Ren's relaxing him right into sleep. It's a pleasant thought, that maybe, somewhere far less public, Ren could be the last thing he sees as he drifts off, the two of them sharing a lazy, comfortable embrace against the pillows.
Reluctantly, he pulls away to complete his plan. The finishing touch is placing his glasses carefully on Akechi's face. He stands back to admire his handiwork. "There. Your disguise is foolproof."
Akechi sighs. "I suppose I can't argue with that, given how well it worked last time. If you're still insisting on going inside, we might as well go."
They head on up the stairs, finding two rooms leading off from the landing. In the smaller one, groups of teenage girls work their way steadily through shelves of photo albums, noting down the numbers of the pictures they want to buy as they go. There might be photos of Akechi in there but Ren doesn't fancy his chances of getting close enough to the shelves to find out; wading in there is just asking to be suffocated.
The larger room is more sparsely populated, with clear sections dedicated to different products. Ren starts leading Akechi towards the stand of posters but a group of girls beat him to it and he veers off in the direction of a less popular wall housing something more intriguing: stickers. In amongst all the music and TV stars is a strip of cute stickers featuring photos of Akechi eating and drinking. Breads and pastries, coffees and juice. They all seem to be from commercials.
"Put them back," Akechi says when Ren picks up a set of stickers to take a closer look. "You can't possibly be entertaining the idea of buying those."
"Hmm." Ren makes as if to pick up another set, but relents and puts them back on the rack. "No argyle sweater vests. Are all your CMs for food?"
Akechi sighs, exasperated. "I knew I shouldn't have let you come in here. Are you finished yet?"
Ren flashes him a grin. "I'm just getting started."
Next to the stickers are stacks of notebooks. He starts flipping through them, pretending not to notice an impatient Akechi tapping his feet beside him. Most of them are not particularly interesting, with photos thrown together with incomprehensible English and some questionable colour combinations. There's one, however, where a little more creativity has been at work.
"Oh, I have to get this." Ren holds up a 'Detective Prince' notebook, which has not one but two familiar faces on the front, their photos placed across from each other so they seem to be exchanging significant glances. "Is that Shirogane Naoto?"
"Yes, the original Detective Prince," Akechi huffs, "and before you ask, no, I've never met him, despite the pictures."
Ren hasn't met him either—Shirogane-san had already graduated from Yasogami High by the time he'd started—but that's not about to stop him from getting the notebook. Making Akechi a little hot under the collar feels like reasonable payback for the diner.
"Do you really have to get that?" Akechi asks when he shows no signs of putting it back. "None of this is official merchandise, you know. What would you even use it for?"
Ren taps the words highlighted under a magnifying glass on the cover. "For writing clues in, of course. Or maybe this would be better." He picks up a set of loose Akechi-themed notepaper, bearing a photo of him holding a Mont Blanc and the incomprehensible English: 'I don't know what happen to me from now, thus it makes me so fantastic. Anyway, I think my natural character is never changed.'
"That's worse," Akechi says flatly, crossing his arms over his chest. "You can't need notepaper that badly."
He doesn't, really, and if he actually started using it anywhere his friends would be bound to tease him about it, but it's fun to see Akechi's mask slip a little, get some responses out of him that don't seem like he's playing up to a camera. Still, Ren doesn't know how far it's safe to push him, and maybe now's not the best time to find out.
"Not notepaper," he agrees, setting the stationery down again, "but I do actually need one of these." He gestures to a stand full of keychains. "Mine broke yesterday."
"And I'm sure you can find somewhere else along this street that would be happy to sell you a new one."
"Probably, but I like this one." Ren picks out the only Akechi keychain on the stand, featuring him with a cream puff. "If being a detective doesn't work out it looks like you could have a great career advertising bakeries."
Akechi's clearly losing a battle to keep from looking like he wants to burn down the entire building. "Why would you want a picture of me attached to your keys?"
"Why not? It might bring me luck."
"I doubt that," Akechi mutters, but Ren ignores him and goes to pay for his prize.
The cashier looks surprised to see his choice of purchase but keeps her opinions to herself. There's a poster taped to the counter that's advertising an unofficial Detective Prince photobook coming out next month. Good material for teasing Akechi, probably. Ren can save that for another time; Akechi's nowhere to be seen when he looks around to mention the poster.
Ren finds him downstairs, tucked away down the side of the building and just finishing up a phone call.
"I'm afraid it looks like we're going to have to cut our little outing short," Akechi apologises as he puts his phone away. "A detective's work is never done."
"I guess crime doesn't take a day off." Ren glances at the still-busy street. They've only made it about half-way down. "So much for my crepe."
"I never guaranteed that," Akechi says airily. "And now I know what you like to shop for in Harajuku we are never coming here again."
Ren supposes he can't really blame Akechi for that. It must be embarrassing seeing pictures of yourself for sale side by side with singers and actors. On the other hand, this has been kind of fun, and he's sorry to have it cut short. "There are other places we could go. Seeing so many pictures of you with delicious looking foods makes me want to try them for myself."
Akechi gives him a pained smile. "I suppose it's too much to ask for you to forget you saw those." He sighs when Ren grins and holds up his newly-purchased keychain. "Next time I'll have to pick our destination more carefully."
Next time. Our destination. Those words make Ren feel hopeful, even though he knows Akechi probably means to find somewhere else to throw him in at the deep end and see if he sinks or swims. Not a date by any stretch of the imagination—at least, not by anyone else's imagination. Ren thinks his own might be willing to stretch that far.
End of term exams aren't much more than a week away and the Phantom Thieves have been studying as much as Makoto can make them. Still, taking breaks is important too, and when Morgana reminds them that they still have all that junk from Kaneshiro's Palace to sell (Ren suspects it's because he wants them to use the money to buy him expensive sushi), they're all more than ready to stretch their legs.
A trip to Untouchable quickly turns into a stop at Ore no Beko after Yusuke's stomach produces some truly impressive growls. (Morgana has to settle for discreetly donated strips of beef.) By the time they emerge, Shibuya's filled up around them, and Ren's hit with it the moment he steps outside. Not just the July heat but the pressure, as if all the buildings stretching up over his head are currently sitting on his chest, squeezing the air from his lungs.
"Ren?"
He only realises he's pressed himself back up against the building when Ann calls his name. "Just forgot how hot it is outside." He mops a layer of sweat from his brow, although he's pretty sure it's not due to the temperature.
"Dude, you're tellin' me!" Ryuji agrees. "Feels like I'm gonna melt just getting back to the station!"
Ren's not even sure he's going to make it back to the station. The thought of throwing himself into that sea of people again...
He needs to keep it together. His friends are with him; he can't let them see there's anything wrong. The Phantom Thieves have just taken down a notorious criminal and he ought to be feeling triumphant, flush with success—not on the verge of fleeing in search of a small dark corner to hide in. If he were alone, he'd escape into Mementos to steady himself, but it's not like he can suggest it to the others. They've all agreed to stay out of the Metaverse until after their exams. It's not like they have a new target yet anyway, and exploring further into Mementos can wait.
Ren's just not so sure he can.
Still... they're in Shibuya. There has to be another option. He casts a glance around and finds it in the distinctive red and white sign of a BIG ECHO.
"Me too," he says to Ryuji. "How about we take a little detour for karaoke first?"
Makoto frowns in clear disapproval. "This was a good break, but we ought to be returning to our studies. We could go to karaoke to celebrate the end of the exams?"
"Aww, c'mon," Ryuji wheedles. "Just an hour? It'll get us all pumped up to hit the books again!"
"I want to hear Lady Ann sing!" Morgana chimes in from inside Ren's bag.
"Is music not as much food for the soul as art?" Yusuke says, like he wouldn't spend the entire time sketching pictures of the rest of them singing anyway. "We will emerge refreshed and redouble our efforts!"
"I think it's supposed to be classical music that's good for studying," Makoto says dubiously, but she gives in. "All right. One hour, that's it."
It'll be enough, Ren thinks. If he can just get off the street and somewhere he can recalibrate, he'll be okay.
He feels a million times lighter when they're all safely inside, shut away from the world, and the closest any outsider can get is the sound of heavily butchered idol songs drifting through the closed door. It's a tiny room, just big enough for five people (plus one definitely-not-a-cat), full of dancing shadows thrown by the stream of videos playing on the screen.
Not that he gets to revel in it for long. Ryuji hands him a microphone and pushes the stack of song catalogues at him, on the grounds that since he's their leader, he should set an example and go first. He supposes he can't argue with that, since it was his idea.
Ann helps him enter his song choice—KAT-TUN's 'Real Face'—on the touchscreen and for a few minutes, he sings his rebellious little heart out. It's only his second time doing karaoke with friends. There hadn't been anywhere to do it in Inaba; they'd had to take the train to Okina City and since it had been half his class going together, he'd barely managed a whole song to himself. In Tokyo, he can't turn a corner without hitting a place, and the company's much better.
As expected, Yusuke spends more time drawing than singing, but the others are all game. Even Morgana, who's ecstatic when Ann agrees to sing a duet with him. He sits on the table beside her as she holds a mic for each of them. It's the sort of thing Morgana's bound to want a photo of later, so Ren takes out his phone to snap a picture for the group chat.
He has to hold himself at an awkward angle to avoid elbowing Ryuji in the ribs, so the phone's not the only thing that emerges from his pocket. He dumps his keys on the table, intending to put them back when he's taken the photo, but Ryuji catches sight of them.
"Is that an Akechi keychain? Dude, why've you got a pic of the guy who's investigating us attached to your keys?"
Ren freezes. Maybe he should've gone for the notebook after all. "Just a reminder to be careful in public because he's always around?" he tries.
"Yeah, but..." Ryuji shakes his head in disgust. "Why's that guy got merch and we don't? The Phantom Thieves are way cooler than some high school detective."
"Because no one knows what we look like?" Ann points out, ignoring Ryuji's attempt at a retort when her song starts playing.
Ren's pretty sure if Mishima could figure out a way to make and sell Phantom Thieves merchandise on the Phan-Site, he would. It's probably just as well he's never seen them in their Metaverse gear (even if the notion of giving Akechi a little Joker keychain is hilarious).
Morgana gives the keys a quizzical look before giving all his attention to Ann. He sings surprisingly well for a... whatever he is; it's just unfortunate that if anyone's listening in on their room, half of this duet is going to sound like a cat being tortured. Ren snaps a couple of photos and puts the best one in the group chat, only to find there's already one of him singing in there, sent by Ann.
It's surprising how much he doesn't look like a guy who'd all but fled to karaoke after being overwhelmed by city life. He's standing tall, head held high, the flames of rebellion burning bright in his eyes. He's not wearing his Phantom Thief outfit but it's a photo of Joker in all the ways that count.
He's feeling much better by the time they head back to the station. Makoto provides an unexpected distraction by quizzing them all on the subjects they'd been studying earlier, forcing Ren to spend more time racking his brains than noticing the world around him. Between that and Ryuji confidently blurting out mostly-wrong answers that Makoto patiently corrects, he's back at Leblanc before he knows it.
They manage another couple of hours of group study before everyone agrees they've reached their limit for the day. The rest of them head out; the café's already closed and Sojiro's gone home, so Ren locks up behind them.
When he returns to his attic and sets his keys down on the desk, Morgana paws at them curiously. "Akechi, huh? I didn't notice it before."
There's nothing mocking there, just inquisitiveness, so Ren answers him plainly. "I needed a new keychain anyway." He shoots Morgana a sly grin. "And I thought it'd be fun to mess with him a little."
"He's seen it?"
"I got it when we went to Harajuku together. I thought his head was going to explode when I picked it up."
Morgana's tail flicks back and forth across the desk. "Just be careful around him, okay?"
"Don't worry," Ren assures him. "We don't know if we can trust him; I haven't given away anything about the Phantom Thieves, I promise."
"That's not what I meant." Morgana looks up at him in earnest. "Why do you keep hanging out with Akechi?"
Ren shrugs. "He keeps asking?"
"You don't have to say yes all the time."
Oh, but he does. "Wouldn't it look more suspicious if I started avoiding him? Like I had something to hide?"
"You do have something to hide," Morgana says. "I'm just not so sure it's the same thing the rest of us are hiding."
There's a touch of sadness in Morgana's voice. He's the only one who knows Ren's been spending time with Akechi since their first meeting at the TV station, and he knows, probably better than any of them, about wanting something you'll never have. His crush on Ann is very obvious; equally obvious is the fact that nothing will ever come of it. Not just due to the mismatch in species, but because even though she never comes right out and says it, anyone can see Ann's heart belongs entirely to Shiho. From the limited time Ren's spent around the two of them together, he's fairly certain the feeling's mutual.
With Akechi... well, how he feels about Ren remains to be seen, but Ren will take every opportunity to see it.
"You don't think I'm a good enough phantom thief to steal his heart?" he jokes.
Morgana sits up straight and puffs out his chest. "Under my tutelage, you'll be good enough to steal anything in the world!" Then he deflates slightly. "But that doesn't mean you should. He's investigating us, even if he doesn't know it. Wouldn't it be safer to keep your distance?"
Probably, but Ren's not interested in playing it safe. Akechi's all polite smiles and thoughtful commentary on the surface but every so often there's a glimpse of a darker, more acidic personality beneath, and Ren wants to see what happens when that mask comes off.
"I'm just keeping my friends close... and my enemies closer," he tells Morgana.
What he doesn't tell Morgana is that Akechi's in both categories.
When he gets a call from Akechi to meet him Saturday night in Kichijoji, Ren doesn't think twice about it. Morgana makes him promise to be careful before he leaves. He promises not to do anything to put the Phantom Thieves at risk, which isn't at all the same thing, and heads for the station.
Akechi meets him at the other end and leads him to what turns out to be a jazz club. It doesn't look like it's going to be crowded, and Ren says as much.
Akechi laughs at that. "I certainly hope it won't be, although the performers are excellent here.
"No, I thought perhaps it would be unwise to put you under duress so close to your exams, so fixing your fears will have to wait. Consider this a study break, if you like. I find that coming here helps me to relax and think more clearly; perhaps you will too. Can I assume that you enjoy music?"
In the time that they've known each other, Akechi has voiced several assumptions about Ren. So far, they've all been correct.
They're shown to a table near the stage. Akechi's obviously a regular here—he greets the staff by name, and the manager himself comes over to take their drinks order and exchange a few words with him. Akechi orders some non-alcoholic cocktails for both of them after checking Ren has no preferences. Seeing as Ren's not even sure what half the stuff on the drinks menu is, he has no objection. This place is a whole lot more sophisticated than his usual haunts.
It's also not particularly crowded, as promised, and the soft lighting is quite soothing. Everyone's either looking at the stage, where a female singer is just setting up, or at each other, talking quietly amongst themselves. Ren leans back in his chair, sips at his mysterious purple drink when it arrives, and thinks he can see why an idol detective might enjoy coming here to have some time alone.
It certainly seems to be working some magic on Akechi, who looks almost blissful when the music starts. Softer, somehow, like all the starch that's been keeping him rigid and implacable has leaked out, leaving him a little more malleable. It's not that the surface layer has been peeled away; rather, it's temporarily thinned out, allowing some of the personality underneath to peek through, still flavoured by what sits above it. Not the aspect of Akechi Ren had been looking to find, but a new one, nonetheless, and he'll savour this too.
They sit and enjoy the performance together without exchanging a word. Ren taps the fingers of one hand lightly across the back of the other in time with the music; Akechi gives him an approving nod when he notices.
When the singer's set is over and the music switches to the pre-recorded variety, Akechi says: "You seemed to be enjoying yourself. What do you think of this place?"
"I think it's great." Ren's telling the truth—although he still has no idea what's in his drink it tastes fine, the music, while not stuff he's ever really listened to before, is nice, and he's enjoying the company. "I don't know much about jazz music but I could definitely stand to hear more of it."
It's not very subtle, as hints go, and Akechi gives him a knowing smile. "Then perhaps you should join me again sometime. I'm glad to find someone else who appreciates the complex melodic chaos of jazz."
Ren smiles back, happy to take the vague invitation. "I guess you don't usually bring other people here."
"You're the first, actually. This place is somewhat special to me; somewhere I always feel at ease, no matter what's happening in my life outside these walls. Do you have anywhere like that?"
"I'm finding this pretty relaxing too," Ren admits. "I do have somewhere, though. There's this coffee shop..."
If they're going to be friends—and preferably something more besides—then it's about time Akechi knows why he's in Tokyo in the first place. It's not something about the Phantom Thieves. It should be safe enough, even if Morgana would probably advise him otherwise. He tells Akechi about his arrest and probation, and how he's living in the attic over Leblanc and under orders to keep out of trouble.
Akechi's either shocked by his revelation or doing a very good job of faking it; Ren wouldn't be at all surprised if he's done a background check on his new acquaintance, if his taste in friends is so discerning. At any rate, he makes suitably sympathetic noises about the injustice of it all.
"And you don't know who your accuser was?" he asks.
Ren shakes his head. "His name was kept out of it; all I knew was that he was someone important enough he could make that woman lie for him and have his story accepted without question. He wasn't local or I'd have seen him around before. He could be anywhere now."
"Do you think you'd know him if you saw him again?"
"I... don't know." Ren tries to dredge up the memories of that night, shuddering as he recalls the flash of bright lights in his eyes. Blood, and handcuffs, and the back of a police car. "It was dark, and everything felt like it was happening so fast. I didn't really register much until my parents showed up."
"It must've been quite a shock," Akechi says kindly. "It wouldn't be unexpected for you to have trouble remembering the incident in detail."
"I remember it was probably the worst night of my life."
Although the ones after that hadn't been great, either, when, still reeling from it all, he'd tried to adjust to the idea that he was being sent away for a year to live with a complete stranger. Funny how in the months he's been in Tokyo, Sojiro's been so much less a stranger to him than his parents have been since his arrest. He'd messaged them when he'd arrived at Leblanc to tell them he'd made it there safely and received only the briefest of acknowledgements in response. That's the last he's heard from them. He assumes they're still alive and doing their best to ensure the whole town forgets about their wayward son and the assault charge staining their good name. What happens when his year of probation's up, he doesn't want to think about.
A shadow crosses Akechi's face. "You were abandoned by justice that night."
There's something in his tone that sends a shiver down Ren's spine, perhaps the ghost of a past injustice in his own life. He's probably seen plenty of terrible things, working with the police. Ren tries to brush it away, and says casually: "I think justice had the night off."
"Undoubtedly." Akechi drains the last of his drink and locks eyes with Ren. "Knowing what would happen to you, would you still go to help that woman?"
Arsène had asked something similar in Kamoshida's Palace, and Ren had known the right answer then as he knows it now. "Yes. If I hadn't, things might've been even worse for her."
"Might've. You don't know if you even made a difference."
"I don't, but I tried, and I don't want to be the kind of person who stops trying to help. Besides, something good came out of it after all."
"Forgive me if I don't see how being falsely accused and sent away could be a good thing," Akechi says dryly.
There's plenty Ren could say to that, although some of it would definitely involve talking about the Phantom Thieves and he can't do that. But Akechi's still holding his gaze and somehow he feels like it would be wrong to talk about anyone else. "If I hadn't been sent to Tokyo I'd never have met you," he says, and Akechi looks away.
Not quite the reaction Ren had been hoping for. He must've embarrassed Akechi. Ryuji says stuff like that to him all the time and then gets all flustered about it, especially when he responds seriously, but it's nothing like how he'd used to talk to his friends back home and maybe Akechi's not used to it either.
He opens his mouth to try to smooth it over, but Akechi suddenly turns back to him with a dazzlingly bright smile and a voice too cheery to be true.
"You're just full of surprises, aren't you? I should've known you'd say something like that."
"I only meant—"
"My, it's getting late, isn't it?" Akechi reaches for his briefcase, and Ren knows their evening together is over. "We ought to be heading back to the station. You should make sure to get enough sleep before next week's exams."
Ren bites back a retort about how Akechi's the one inviting him out at night and follows him out the door. He'd wanted to get closer to the real Akechi, but maybe he's just pushed him further away.