I own nothing. Monika does.

"You have to give us more details then that, Sayori," Ann practically begged a few days later.

Makoto nodded in agreement. "Yeah… You kept everyone awake that night waiting for answers. Actually, I think most of us were already asleep by the time Ann texted us in excitement… But still!" Her attempt at guilt tripping Sayori was cut short by the girl giggling at them.

"There aren't any other details to share with you… Like I said, after we got home, we talked about things for awhile…" Sayori smiled fondly, before snickering at the memory of what happened next, "And then Goro kissed me on the forehead before running to his bedroom." It had honestly been adorable, how shy he had been after that. Sayori wanted to focus on that memory, because that would arguably be a better thing to divulge to her nosy partners in crime. However, the girls seemed to think otherwise.

"Well, what did you two talk about?" Ann continued to plead. She stubbornly planted her feet on the sidewalk, wanting to get something out of the pink haired girl.

"Sorry, Ann. That's not something I can share, because it's not just my conversation to tell," Sayori replied, doing her best to seem genuinely apologetic. "Anyway, I thought we were looking for gifts for everyone, including poor Makoto here, who wants a good outfit for sushi," Sayori decided to hastily change the subject.

"Well, if Ann would at least continue walking, I wouldn't mind talking while we shop," Makoto said, giving the model a pleading look.

Ann grumbled to herself before she resumed her pace. "Can you at least give us a hint about what you talked about? Please? My curiosity will not be quenched until you do… Meaning I won't stop bothering you about it," the blonde added, noting the resigned sigh Sayori heaved.

"Fine… One thing we talked about…" the girl rubbed her chin in thought. "…Musical instruments," Sayori said hesitantly. That was the only hint she would give them. In truth, it was also one of the many things she had been thinking about since last night, and one thing she definitely wanted to know more about. I'll have to see if there is a way to get Goro to open up just a tiny bit more.

Ann and Makoto both had to quicken their pace as Sayori suddenly began to walk with a frustrated strut. Clearly Sayori had a lot of other things on her mind, much more than music at least. Little did they know she was basically on the same boat as them, in terms of not knowing things.

Sayori, in that moment, felt angry, and more importantly… helpless. Though she often chose to ignore the epiphany, in her heart, and in the back of her mind, the truth of the fake world she lived in was always there. This was a game, a game where the people she cared about most suffered so much… And although Sayori was a Phantom Thief, a part of a group of people trying to bring change to this broken world, the inevitable feeling that her life was not in her own hands gave her a certain sense of hopelessness as well. It was something that was plaguing her the more she focused on it, and no matter how hard she tried, she always found herself wandering about to it.

"You've been awfully quiet," Sae commented. "Is your weekly search failing once again?"

Goro looked up from his computer, groaning in frustration. "Yes, and no… There are a lot of things on my mind right now, honestly." It took everything in him not to slam the lid of his laptop shut. "I'm beginning to think checking is pointless. It's been months, and I haven't seen one person on this damned missing kids site post about Sayori. Or any of the other sites I've been looking at."

"It's important to be thorough," Sae hummed. "If I get a chance to get Makoto to leave the table for a little while, would you like me to ask Sayori about that?"

"I don't know," Goro muttered. "I check in with her constantly, and she always says the same thing… She doesn't remember." The detective leaned back in his seat. He was getting tired of writing about the lack of progress he was making on this case. The only thing that remotely convinced him that this case could be solved at this point was the flash drive.

Now that almost everyone in his workplace had tried to access its contents, and failed, he was keeping it safe in his apartment. Since it was from the metaverse, Goro felt more comfortable with it there, rather then filed away at the police station as evidence.

"Sae-san, you have continued to keep that promise, right?" He knew he was being paranoid, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Yes, I didn't tell anybody what the flash drive was for, or why you needed it to be investigated. Only Yaguchi and I even know about Sayori. I still don't understand why you don't want to let any of our superiors know about her, by the way. They might give you access to useful resources, if you let them know what you're investigating," Sae commented.

"That's an explanation for when our cases are all solved… both the mystery of Sayori, as well as the Phantom Thieves," Goro explained. He was keeping as many loose ends tied as possible at this point. If he had known earlier what Sayori would get herself involved in, he probably never would have mentioned her to Sae at all, or anybody, for that matter. He would be lucky if Sayori's stupid principal hadn't grown suspicious of the girl as well.

While he mulled over these thoughts, Sae grew impatient. "...Speaking of Sayori, I would appreciate if you would help me plan what I should ask her tonight. There are many things I could ask her at this point, and she'll probably be less hesitant to answer any hard questions if she knows you're okay with it. Despite how little progress you've made on this case, I think it's safe to say she trusts you," She commented, noticing how the detective cringed at her slight insult.

"Of course, Sae-san. I just need to check a few more things," Goro opened his laptop and began muttering to himself.

Sae gave her colleague a frustrated glare, before leaving for her own desk. They needed a new approach if they were going to solve these problems. Upon returning to her desk, she began mulling over any solutions. One thing she was sure of, was that all of this secrecy was only negatively affecting this case, as well as all of the emotional bias. That was one reason why she planned on talking with Sayori. She wanted to set an example for Goro Akechi. He could be friendly with Sayori as much as he wanted on his off time, but when he was investigating, he couldn't hold back.

It was harsh, but true. Sae sighed as she sat down and reviewed her own files on the Phantom Thieves. Taking out a piece of notebook paper, she began writing down important points of reference to bring up to the pink haired girl. When her page was nearly half full, a notification at the corner of her screen caught her eye.

What did Yaguchi find this time? Sae noted that the link did not come from the Phansite, but instead a tabloid.

The poor woman groaned.

While she knew Yaguchi was smart enough not to believe whatever trash the tabloids spewed out, it still annoyed her whenever he sent an article. It was just all the more proof that he was at least stupid enough to bother checking it out. Hesitantly, Sae took note of the very sarcastic message her coworker had left after the link.

I think it's time we had an intervention with "The Second Coming of the Detective Prince."

Oh great, the article was about Akechi. If Sae had to make a guess, it was yet another article praising or berating him for his public stance on the Phantom Thieves. Yet, if Yaguchi was even bothering sending it to her… perhaps there was something of note. Sae took note of the personal level of shame she felt as she clicked on the link, reminding herself to complain about it later, and glanced at the link.

Looking at the article, she found herself only able to speak in groans for five minutes straight, which translated to, "Please, can't some higher power answer why I've decided to surround myself with such idiots?" as well as, "Akechi, you dumbass… What have you done?"

"Sayori, what do you think of this blouse? The blue would look nice on Makoto… Don't you think?" Ann asked, holding up the article of clothing for Sayori to see.

"It's… nice," Sayori mumbled, not really looking up from her own browsing. Ann took one look at her and sighed.

"Sayori, is something wrong? We're supposed to be celebrating your emotional competence, but you hardly look excited anymore…" The model was concerned. How Sayori could switch between looking like the happiest cinnamon roll in the world, to a sad sack of drowned puppies in a matter of seconds was something Ann hoped she would never experience for herself. It was horrible to watch, and was probably terrible to go through.

Makoto peeked from behind her dressing room door, wondering why the influx of clothes that Ann had been piling up had stopped. Ah, I see. What did Mai advise me to do in this situation again?

"Sayori, there's work to do… Help me out, please?" Makoto requested. When in doubt, get Sayori to help you with stuff. I hope this works even when not in a work setting…

Sayori looked up in question. "What do you need, Makoto?" Ann seemed to snap out of her concern briefly, forgoing Sayori's opinion on the blouse and sliding it under the dressing room door.

"Ann, stop stabbing me with those hangers! Sayori, shouldn't you be looking for an outfit for yourself? I want my sister to have a good first impression of you. Maybe then she won't pry too much…" Makoto said this with her typical authoritative tone.

"Well, I would… But Ann seems to have planned all of my outfits until I graduate," Sayori jested.

Ann had no shame as she nodded. "Yeah! Sayori, you should definitely wear those white jeans I got you before we almost got kicked out of the mall," the model laughed. Sayori and Makoto were beginning to wonder if nearly getting kicked out of stores was something Ann was used to, judging by how relaxed she was about it.

"I don't know, Ann. Those things are so easy to stain, and I'm going out to eat," Sayori said hesitantly.

"Nonsense. If you get them stained, just let me see them. Trust me, I've gotten out a lot of stains from certain incidents while modelling…" These incidents were of course the times she snuck away for a few minutes to get crepes, only to spill them all over herself. Suffice to say, this was also why Ann didn't like high heels.

"And here I was, trying not to let the feeling that I have absolutely no control over my life continue to plague me on Emotional Competence Day," Sayori mumbled sarcastically. "Akira was so kind as to mark it down on his calendar after all."

I thought he called it "Akechi Finally Grew a Backbone" Day, Makoto thought to herself in confusion. However, she did not dwell on this thought, because Mai's tactic appeared to work. All Makoto had done was mention work, and now Sayori was talking about her problems… It was rather bizarre.

"Sayori, why do you feel like that all of a sudden? All the community service we do should be proof enough that we have plenty of control over our lives," Ann commented curiously.

"I know that… It's just…" Sayori bit her lip as she considered where to go with this. "That's another thing Goro and I talked about last night… sort of…"

"Related to musical instruments?" Makoto asked, stepping out to show off her final outfit choice.

"Y-Yeah, Makoto… Related to instruments…" Sayori sighed. "I like that outfit. I think it will look good for tonight…"

"Don't change the subject, Sayori," Ann coaxed gently. "What exactly did you talk about that made you so gloomy all of a sudden?"

Sayori clicked her tongue, cursing herself for saying anything in the first place. "I guess you could say we talked about… something that occurred in Goro's life, where he didn't have any control. He does a good job of hiding it, but I think it hurt him a lot." The girl couldn't help but remember how her roommate had grabbed her, how tense he was… And how, for a brief second, she felt terrified. Yet had she been scared of him, or for him?

There were so many things Sayori wanted to know now, and more than anything, she wanted to know why. She wanted to hear everything from the beginning, though she wasn't sure where the beginning was, or who she wanted to hear it from.

These disjointed musings were interrupted when Ann let out a small, somber chuckle. "He should join the club… We've got jackets."

Sayori felt annoyed for a brief moment, yet she couldn't find it in herself to voice this to Ann. The model hadn't meant anything by it anyway. "The day he joins us will probably be the day Ryuji and Morgana can go a day without being at each other's throats."

Makoto shrugged. "If I have anything to say about it, those two will learn to get along soon enough. We all need to be working together, afterall."

"So I'm guessing if I asked, you would probably say that you won't tell me what exactly Akechi's situation was, right?" Ann asked with a thoughtful look. Sayori confirmed this with a curt nod.

"That's too bad," Makoto hummed. "If it would have made you feel better, Sayori, I would have suggested we send in a request to the Phansite to have the cause of Akechi's situation receive a change of heart." The girl gave a very obvious wink, making Sayori smile sadly.

You can't change the heart of someone who is dead, though, Sayori thought regretfully. More than anything, Sayori wanted to know more about Goro, and his mother. In her mind, his father meant about as much as a used toothpick, better left behind in the dust.

"Thank you for the idea, Makoto, but that's not what I want right now. If Goro is hurting from this, then being there to comfort him is all I could wish for," Sayori said. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked to find Ann giving her a smirk.

"Sayori, if you ask me, you have plenty of control over your life to do that right now," Ann said dryly. "That's why after we are done with our shopping spree today, while I'm taking victory pictures of our loot to send to Akira, you should go to that apartment and comfort him so hard! Kiss his scrapes! Lick his wounds!" The model pumped her fist in the air for effect, resembling an enthused cheerleader.

Makoto reemerged from the dressing room, carrying her chosen outfit over her arms. "Ann, why do I get the feeling that when you say comfort, you really mean something else?"

Sayori's entire face went fire engine red in embarrassment. Bowing her head in immense shame, the pink haired girl grabbed her friend's by their wrists and dragged them to the checkout line.

"I am not having this conversation with either of you right now…"

"Goro Akechi, what kind of idiot gland is forming in your brain for you to be this slow?!" Sae screamed, dragging her fingers through her silver hair in exasperation.

Goro looked on in confusion, not knowing what was going on at all. "What? Is there something I'm missing as part of our case?"

"How about how you're a hypocritical, hormonal, idiotic, stupid detective of a teenager," Sae replied icily, listing out all of her insults on her fingers.

"Sae, I'm afraid that I don't know what you're talking about," the detective replied nervously, raising his arms in the air in an innocent gesture.

"Oh really?" Sae asked, opening her laptop, setting it down on Goro's desk. "It's all over every tabloid in the city, and before that, it was probably all over social media as well! Of all things, you could have at least thought to mention your unprofessional feelings for your client to me, so I could have prevented you from doing something so foolish in public!" The woman was now pointing at the very obvious photo that was the subject of the article, showing one Goro Akechi draping his jacket over Sayori.

"Bullshit!" Goro defended angrily. "It was cold, it was dark, and it was raining. My roommate was sopping wet. Honestly, the public backlash would have been worse if I hadn't given Sayori my jacket."

"So are you saying that this picture holds no water, Akechi-kun?" Sae questioned, her voice now a steady icy tone. "Come to think of it, for a long time now, you've been making a lot of comments about your guest that go beyond how one should view a client…"

"Sae, why are you asking me this?" Goro asked, feeling personally wounded. Where was the woman from not long ago, who had brought Sayori's name on the forum up to him, the woman who had offered her support so unconditionally to help him get Sayori back where she belonged?

"Because whether you like it or not, Goro Akechi, I need to make sure you don't mess things up. In case you don't remember, this girl is lost! She has amnesia! Not to mention, we have bigger fish to fry at the moment!" Sae replied, her voice becoming shrill.

"Do you think I don't know all of this?" The detective looked up to meet Sae's glare with his own. His voice now had a particular edge to it. "I'm not going to lie to you about this, Sae-san… I care about this girl more than I've cared about most people in my life… I freely admit that I've been pursuing a relationship with her, in fact."

Before Sae could get a word in edgewise, Goro Akechi was already giving his retort. "But don't think for a moment that I would let my feelings slow down my work, Sae-san. I have been juggling both of these cases for the past few months, as well as a few other things. For lack of a better term, I feel like shit because of it." The detective leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs. "I'll beg you if I have too… Please don't think poorly of me because of this."

Sae sighed, sitting down across from Goro with a small frown. "I suppose… As long as you don't let your feelings interfere with getting her home, I will be okay with this."

"I would never dream of doing something like that," the detective assured, relaxing in his chair almost instantly.

"However, this mess in the media is your responsibility to clean up. If you can't, I won't bother keeping my knowledge of Sayori secret anymore."

"Sae-san!"

"I mean it. I'm under a lot of pressure right now, Akechi-kun, and keeping this secret is just one more thing that I could do without on my plate," Sae sighed to herself, resting her chin on the desk. "I just sounded like a mom, didn't I? I mean it, what kind of coworker says that to another coworker?" The poor woman laughed to herself.

"Believe me when I say I wouldn't really know about that, Sae-san," Goro replied, chuckling to himself. "When it's next brought up… I'll clean up this mess."

"I never fancied you as someone who would lie to the adoring public about your relationship with a girl, Akechi-kun."

"There are a lot of things you wouldn't assume about me that are true. Besides, it will just be a half truth, not a lie," the detective assured.

"Well, when Sayori inevitably breaks things off with you, either because she couldn't handle the strain of keeping her relationship with you a secret, or because she finally gets to go home, I'll see about getting you a nice sweater… and some ice cream to stain it with," Sae said, looking like she was about to pass out in her chair.

"I appreciate the offer. And when you quit your job out of frustration, perhaps I'll help you find a nice box to live in," Goro returned the jab.

"But first, we have to get through sushi," the woman replied, managing to get herself to stand up. "I still have a few things to do to get ready for tonight. If I send you a list of the things I want to ask tonight, can you send me advice on how to approach those topics?"

"Of course, Sae-san," Goro replied happily. "Don't forget to take a nap beforehand! You look like a dead body with your new eye bags!"

"All I'm hearing is coffee and makeup!"

"Alright, aside from the clothes we bought today, we should get something for everyone else too," Ann mumbled to herself. The three girls looked around in the shops, wondering what they should get the boys.

"Yusuke will be easy. I heard him saying something about some nice paints he didn't have money for," Sayori explained, trying to remember where they had seen those. "It's the least we can do since Akira gave you all of our recent earnings."

"At this point, I think we should honestly consider getting Yusuke a well paying job," Makoto muttered. "He never has money for anything, and it's genuinely concerning."

"Well, he would probably quit at the first sign that it would interfere with his passion. For now, let's just see about getting him that paint," Ann said resolutely, adding the item to her mental list. "What about Ryuji, and Morgana?"

"And Akira," Sayori added. "If for nothing else other than to rub it in his face, we should get him something too!" The girls all chuckled. Ann was riding high with her wager. It was plainly obvious that she wouldn't be letting Akira hear the end of it any time soon.

"Sayori, I love the way you think," Ann hummed, looking in the store windows for gift ideas.

"Maybe we should find something educational for Ryuji," Makoto suggested. "He needs to take his studies a bit more seriously…"

Sayori, upon hearing that, jumped up and down, new idea in mind. "I remember seeing this one instructional book in a bookstore that Goro showed me. Maybe we can stop on the way home to get it?"

"That depends… What was it called?" Ann asked.

"The Secret Technique of Running Away, and Other Defensive Maneuvers," Sayori said, hands clasped to her chest. "Granted, I have no idea what any of that is referencing, but it seems like something Ryuji might like."

"He is trying to get back into running… And as long as the book has plenty of pictures, he probably won't mind giving it a look," Ann thought out loud. "Sounds like a good idea. Hopefully the bookstore still have it when we stop by."

"As for Morgana, maybe we could get him something to make him feel more human?" Makoto wondered. "But it has to be his size, so he can actually use it."

"A good pillow to shove into Akira's bag sounds like a good idea," Sayori replied. "I can never help but think how uncomfortable it must be to sit in that bag for so long…"

"As for Akira, I think I'll just get him a coffee mug, with something snarky printed on it," Ann muttered. "World's #1 Gambler (He helps to provide for everyone else with the money he loses)."

"And that's everyone. Let's get this shopping done quickly so we can get home," Makoto said resolutely.

With that in mind, the girls all raced off. If it weren't for the fact that none of them were wearing masks, they would have looked just like their Phantom Thief alter egos.

"Goro!"

The detective looked up from his most recent book in curiosity, only to find Sayori had somehow managed to get from the front door to his side in under two seconds. It would have been terrifying, how fast she was, if he had chosen to dwell on it. However, it would have been a wasted effort to even consider doing so, because there were more pressing matters to attend to, one of them being the excitable pink haired girl pressed against him.

"Sayori! I assume you had fun today, judging by your attitude." The detective awkwardly wondered to himself what he should do. On the one hand, he could enjoy a very brief session of affection with Sayori. On the other, he could do the much more responsible and smarter thing of reminding her that they needed to get ready for her first meeting with Sae.

While he was considering this, Sayori noticed his hesitation and couldn't help but moan. "I did have fun, but I also really missed you, and-" Her affectionate, and only slightly manipulative, fawning was cut off as the detective wisely decided that a few minutes wouldn't hurt anybody.

"I honestly don't know how it's possible, Sayori. But somehow you're even more affectionate then you were yesterday," Goro murmured, leaning back on the couch.

"We were only still friends though, and besides, you're the one to talk," Sayori giggled. "You probably didn't even notice, but your arm practically gravitates to my waist now… And I thought you were shy last night."

Goro looked down, and noticed that Sayori was correct. His arm was wrapped tightly around her waist, and he began to wonder how long it had been there. The detectives lack of self control was concerning, because Sae had requested he at least be professional tonight. His grip began to loosen, only for Sayori to stubbornly shake her head.

"Goro, pay attention to me," the girl whined, causing the detective to sigh.

"When you're not being a depressed bundle of blankets, you really seem to enjoy the attention people give you," Goro teased, complying with the request for the moment.

"Don't lie to me, Goro! You like this more than I do. You just don't like admitting it," the girl huffed, slightly annoyed.

"That's true," he replied, leaning into her touch. "But considering the fact that Sae is picking us up tonight, I don't want to get too distracted. She already thinks I'm reverting back into being nothing more than a hormonal teenager."

"Why's that?" Sayori questioned.

"Oh, because he's very inept when it comes to dealing with his fans," A voice said from behind the front door.

The startled teenagers practically tripped over each other when they tried to stand up in shock.

"I literally got home ten minutes ago," Sayori groaned.

"Sae-san, why are you here early?" Goro asked calmly, a blush spreading across his face.

"About two minutes ago. You weren't responding to my work emails," Sae replied.

Goro released a long sigh. I really need to start learning my lesson about this sort of thing.

You could probably attribute the last part to a recent epiphany I had of my own. Basically, a Korean comic I am fond of, Noblesse, which you may remember is partly the inspiration behind Sayori's thief outfit, ended recently. It's been running for about ten or eleven years, and although I was relatively new to it, it still stung quite a bit to read the epilogue.

Anyway, it gave me a certain sense of mortality, and because of where we are in the timeline, I knew it was time to stop beating around the bush and finally get to the romantic relationship between the two main characters of this story's focus. The ending, as well as a few recent personal events, have made me feel a bit self conscious about my writing, in a strange way. So I welcome you to please read, review, and if you are ever interested, please check out Noblesse. I'll see you all next time!