A/N Sorry for the long hiatus. I've had a lot of work, school, and paperwork to deal with in the last month and a half. And to be honest I'm going to have more to deal with in the next coming months (I won't be here for pretty much all of July but I'll still try and work on my fanfiction as well as I can). Sorry for the slow update rate and I do appreciate your patience. Also please note that there will be a smattering of original characters from here on out to support the plot.

"Those long days pass by that door like late summer, then fade away. I find my way through the favorite tune that fills me with those sounds—I can't remember the way you smile. I have no way to tell you not to walk away and yet sorrow still ties me."

"It's…quaint."

Lavenza gazed across the dark grey interior of the apartment; like they had been promised, it was very threadbare. Patches of heavy dirt and dust were interrupted by occasional cleaner square patches, likely once covered by paintings and photographs of whoever had been there before there. The kitchen area was squashed together with the living room—the grime on the stove raised doubt in her mind whether it worked or not. Each counter was coated with a similar blanket of filth. Across the entryway where they stood was a cut up couch turned on its side. Whatever shade the leather had once been, it was now just a sickly yellow color. At least, it certainly looked it with the midday sun boring down on it from the open door behind them.

Akechi carefully placed his foot on the cushion in front of him and pushed forward. The couch didn't as much budge. With a sigh, the teenager swept his hands under Lavenza's armpits to hold her above his head while he climbed over to the backside. Both of them fell inelegantly in a pile of newspaper piled on the other side. Upon inspection, they all seemed to be shredded remains of lottery results and celebrity gossip magazines. He let the scraps fall through his fingers as he rose to his feet to inspect the room.

"And they always talk about how cheerful and high class Paris is." Akechi mused to himself as he straightened his shirt cuffs out. One polished loafer rubbed a circle in the dust of the floor with the front of the sole; a small indent, perhaps as deep as the fingerprint of his thumb, was readily visible. He sighed. "We're going to need cleaning supplies. Can I ask why you chose this…lovely little apartment, exactly?"

"Because they didn't ask questions."

"Ah. I see." Akechi had to hold back a sharp laugh. He supposed that it would generally be challenging to convince a renter to give out their keys to a dead man accompanied by a ghostlike child. Only a wreck of an apartment like this would've been willing to let them in. It wasn't exactly like they had anything to fill it with, anyways—they had walked right into the city of Paris without even a single box to their names. All they had was a dark blue shawl that Lavenza had tied around her neck; the long fabric now drug in the dirt behind her. Akechi shook his head and laced his fingers around her neck to untie it and lay it aside the window.

He coughed as he struggled to pull the stubbornly sticky window frame up; as it finally loosened and relented, a gust of dust seemed to pull itself out the window. The cold afternoon air graced his face and the teenager sighed as he rested an elbow on the wooden frame, completely ignoring the creak under the minimal weight. The sight was not an enchanting one. Their building was buried behind rows and rows of block-like cement squares speckled with porches and windows, laundry hung out to dry across banisters and cardboard taped loosely over broken glass. It was by the sheer virtue of that they were in the furthest room that he could see past them to an empty dirt square with a selection of leaf-barren trees. Men and women in heavy coats milled around the areas with their all to their name dragged on their backs and in carts. Beyond that the streets curved upwards into rows of stores and cafes. The further from their decay, the more fancy they seemed to get.

"We have a lovely view of the graffiti on the neighbor's wall. You should come take a look at it. Very avant-garde." Akechi remarked sarcastically. It didn't even earn him a glance from the blonde, who was running a finger through the grime on the stove and inspecting it. He shook his head and laid his forehead against the frame next to his elbow. If Akechi were to be honest, this sort of accommodation was nothing he wasn't used to.

He had put on a nice image back in Tokyo—clean and pressed clothing, expensive blazer, fancy briefcase, styled hair, all of the works. But it was entirely for show. The price of the briefcase alone had almost caused him to starve for a month. His apartment back home (if he could even call that city home anymore) had been barely the size of the one they currently sat in, and just about as run down. He had spent many an evening locking multiple deadbolts that had been installed on his door before settling down to a meal of Lawson rice balls and a premade drink that could possibly (and laughably) be called coffee if one were to stretch the definition. It had been jammed right between a small shrine and a towering electronics company, and he had learned to sleep with a lullaby that consisted of car horns and brakes.

At least here he was higher up, he supposed. The busier road wasn't as close either. It had been a long time since he had slept without that endless cacophony surrounding him—his time in the Velvet Room had not ever been a time of peaceful sleep. Nightmares, nonstop nightmares, with Loki right at his side. Maybe in his new shithole he could finally get some rest.

Though you know they still have work for you…

Akechi glanced over at the Velvet Room Attendant sneakily, trying to avoid her curt and determined gaze. He was surprised to find that she had turned around to stare, head cocked curiously to the side, at the doorway. Her gaze was intent and guarded—it wasn't too different from the expressions he often found himself faced with. With a raised eyebrow the brunette leaned back from the window frame to see what the small girl was so hypnotized by.

Another girl.

Standing in the doorway, right behind the cut up couch, was another little girl.

Her skin was pallid and her cheeks were slightly sunken. Vivid blue eyes seemed to be circled with dark marks, and small hands clutched weakly at an off color blanket that rested on her shoulders. Under it seemed to be a dull light pink sleeveless dress. Bright blonde hair fell awkwardly around her pale cheeks. It splayed out without much care, as if it had been cut in a kitchen with a pair of blunt scissors. In the middle of the choppy mess lay a black ribbon tied at the top of her head.

For a moment, she and the two new tenants just stood staring at each other blankly.

Then she slid easily over the couch.

"Miss! What in the he…what in the world are you doing?" Akechi pulled away from the windowsill to kneel in front of the girl, quickly catching his irritated curse in his throat. His time in the Velvet Room had dulled his social senses a bit; the barriers that were so effective against other people were completely useless against the residents in there so he had temporarily discarded them. It seemed that the teenager was going to have to recoup that loss. "Are you lost, little girl? You can't just walk into other people's houses like that, it's dangerous."

She just fixed him with inspecting eyes. Despite the bags under them, this strange child's eyes were surprisingly inspecting. But just looking at the little girl it became obvious to Akechi that she was nothing more than that. Her hands were clutching at her blanket and her form was trembling slightly in the brisk afternoon wind that blew through the window. Lavenza quickly closed it but made no move to come any closer to Akechi and the child. She seemed content to watch.

Apparently, Akechi thought irritably, it was his problem to deal with this.

I don't even speak French…she probably doesn't understand a word I'm saying.

"Are you the weird new tenants that grandmamma was talking about?"

Akechi started a bit, staring down at the girl incredulously. He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but whatever she was saying…he could understand it. Somehow he could tell she wasn't speaking HIS language yet it all seemed to click perfectly in his head as soon as her lips moved. He cast a glance back at Lavenza, now sitting on the counter with one leg linked over the pointedly did not look back at him. It was her. It has to be. Something that the Velvet Room people could do…how strange. She could've at least done this the LAST time we were in Paris…

"Aren't you going to answer her question?"

"Ah…" He turned back to the intruding child. "Do…do you live here? In these apartments, I mean."

"Yes." The girl swung her shoulders back and forth. It made her dress swish around her ankles as her lips pursed in thought. "My grandmamma owns these apartments. I live here with her. She told me that some very weird new tenants were moving in. I mean, she didn't really say that to me. She said it to Mister Bernard. But I overheard her saying it when I was getting out of bed to go get one of her macaroons. She thinks I don't know where she keeps her macaroons but I do. So when I was getting a macaroon I heard her talking about it to Mister Bernard. So please don't tell grandmamma that I've been eating her macaroons."

"I…uh…" Akechi was somewhat at a loss for what to say. He knew how to deal with people from a distance but children had never been his strong suit. Especially ones like this—the kind that wouldn't shut up and wouldn't make sense. All he could do was hold his hands out in confused defeat. She shook her head fiercely with her choppy hair flying all about her head. One firm bare foot stepped close into the brunette's personal space and he fell backwards in an undignified pile.

"You GOTTA promise me. Don't tell grandmamma that I've been eating her macaroons. She said I couldn't have no more of them." The girl insisted. Akechi groaned, rubbing his face where it had hit the floor.

"Tell you what. You tell me who you are and why you're here…" Akechi exchanged a desperate glance asking Lavenza to step in but she still would not move. "…and I won't tell your grandmother about you stealing her macaroons. Deal?"

The girl's hand swung up from her side confidently. Her free hand, however, reached up to cover a cough that hacked out of her throat. It seemed to make her whole body tremble. Carefully, thanking God for the presence of his gloves, Akechi reached out to give her hand a limp shake. She seemed satisfied with that, nodding with a barely concealed smile.

"M'name is Nadine DuBois. I'm a tenant in here, sorta. My grandmamma is taking care of me right now. She's the manager of these apartments. And those ones too." The girl introduced herself and pointed out the window to the building behind them. "And she said you were kinda weird."

"So you thought it would be fun to come look into it?" Lavenza finally spoke up. Her voice was a lilting relief in the awkward position that Akechi had found himself flung into. Nadine looked to her curiously but kept herself rooted in front of the brunette teenager. "There is a saying, you know, by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes. Curiosity is the lust of the mind. It's in reference to the mind wanting to know all the answers. Is that why you came here?"

"Um….I guess?" The slight girl looked down to the side, clutching her blanket closer to her shoulders. Akechi couldn't help but notice that she hadn't stopped trembling since she had appeared. He wasn't sure if it was fear or something else. If it was fear, she was quite good at overcoming it—most of the fearful didn't just walk into stranger's houses. Though it didn't help that Lavenza was tossing complex philosophy in the poor child's direction either.

"Nadine? Nadine! Oh, NADINE!" Akechi looked up; in the doorway stood an elderly woman. Her hair was tied up in a bun and a green shawl lay across her high collared dress. Awkwardly she shuffled over the cut up couch to kneel aside Akechi and the young child. "Oh Nadine, what did I tell you about bothering the neighbors? You can't just walk into other people's homes just because I'm the lease owner here. I'm very sorry, young man. She's not very good with listening."

"Or with personal boundaries, it seems." Akechi murmured. Thankfully the elderly woman didn't seem to catch it. Nadine, however, fixed him with an annoyed frown. "Don't worry about it, ma'am. She wasn't any bother. It was just a bit of a surprise, that was all."

"Oh, you're the new tenants, aren't you? I'm terribly sorry about this. Nadine shouldn't even be out of her room." The woman shook her head exasperatedly and took the little girl's hand in her own to lead her over the couch. For a moment, though, she paused. Wrinkled hands delicately held up glasses, hung across her breast with a thin gold painted chain, to inspect Akechi. "My, you do so look familiar though. Have I seen you somewhere before? I could've sworn I've seen your face on the television or something."

"No, no, no. Of course not." Akechi said hastily, turning away from them so she couldn't take his face in further. "I've gotten that a lot, though. I guess I just have one of those kinds of faces."

"Mmh…I suppose so." Her voice didn't sound like she was buying it. But she was also, thankfully, preoccupied with leading Nadine out. The girl didn't seem interested in leaving, though, wrenching her hand away from her grandmother to approach the ex-detective. Akechi looked down at her inquisitively. The girl was too odd to trust. Years of trusting no one led him the knee jerk reaction that even a child could be dangerous. Despite the pleasant smile plastered on his face he could feel his body tensing as if faced with a snake ready to strike.

Instead, she pulled her blanket off her shoulders and threw it around his back.

"Here. In case you get cold."

His mind halted for a moment.

Thankfully Lavenza picked up his steam.

"Thank you. It was nice to meet you, Ms. Dubois. My name is Lavenza. This is my….older brother." Nadine scrunched her nose when the Attendant said that. Akechi had to force himself not to roll his eyes. The two of them didn't look alike at all. Of course people would find that weird. "Alexandre Mukogawa. He's half Japanese, you know."

"Ooh? I've never met anyone from Japan."

"Yes, but he's half French too. We were both born in…" Lavenza paused, thinking to herself. "Chamonix."

Just write my whole fake life out on the fly, why don't you. Akechi thought irritably. But the small girl seemed enamored with the false identities they so desperately needed to maintain. Based by how quickly and effortlessly Lavenza was shooting out information on 'Alexandre Mukogawa' and his little sister, she had planned this far in advance. In a way he wished she had run some of it by him but it was all solid enough so he couldn't complain.

Nadine's grandmother was fixing them with suspicious eyes, though.

"I think that's enough talking about us, little sister." Akechi interrupted evenly. "I imagine that these two probably have places to be."

"Yes. You need to take your afternoon medication, Nadine." Her grandmother admonished the little girl. Nadine simply puffed up her cheeks obstinately. Things like these were why Akechi knew parenting would not be in his future even if he DID get his life back on track. He simply couldn't stand that kind of obstinate, childish behavior. In the back of his mind he couldn't help but think to himself that only a year prior he had been just as obstinate and childish. At least the eight year old wasn't yelling.

Instead she turned back to him with clear eyes.

"May I come back and visit again sometime?"

Akechi was at a bit of a loss for words. He couldn't really say 'god what kind of weird ass kid are you?', at least not right in front of the kid's grandmother. He wasn't even really used to people wanting to be in his home without some pretext of celebrity on television. His old apartment had always felt painfully empty but Akechi had pointedly avoided the desire of inviting anyone inside anyhow. There were too many dark secrets that just that one tiny place could tell people. But that darkness wasn't in this room, dirty and low rent as it was. So instead he looked to the side, scratching his nose awkwardly and searching his mind for an answer.

He couldn't really come up with anything better than a muted "Well, I mean…if it suits you, certainly, you may…"

A smile burst onto the child's face and she gave a small wave as her grandmother escorted her out, lecturing her on personal space and proper manners. Akechi rested against the wall, one fist above his head, as he poured through what had just happened. He had just allowed someone, a complete stranger, into his life. Sure, she probably wouldn't actually come back, but he had still allowed it. He hadn't schemed to make her go away or manipulated the situation so that she wouldn't be able to come near him. He had just…allowed it.

He didn't like that soft smile on Lavenza's face.

He certainly didn't like the echoing sound in his head.

"I am THOU, thou art I."

"Thou hast acquired a NEW vow."

"It shall BECOME the wings of rebellion that BREAKTH the chains of captivity."

"With the birth of the MOON Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to FREEDOM and new power…"

Akechi groaned as Lavenza's slight smile widened.

"Wipe that smug smile off your face. We have work to do."