Chapter 35: High Stakes Gamble
Naoto Shirogane inhaled a little bit as she sipped at her coffee. It was the sixteenth of October. A fair bit of time since Okumura's death. The Phantom Thieves had been dealing with the fallout of that event, from the downswing in their popularity to having their numbers questioned by the police.
Poor Akira had been the very first student pulled in for question for… obvious reasoning. Thankfully, he had the foresight to leave Morgana at home on the day that the police were going to be at Shujin so that when they had inevitably searched his bag, the cat wasn't inside it and he wasn't getting in trouble for having an animal at school.
Haru was… Managing. Naoto was familiar with the sensation. She wasn't going to be the same for a little while. Makoto seemed to be helping her out thankfully.
And Naoto herself was doing something she despised. She hated with every fiber of her being but felt the need to actually do it. She sipped more of her coffee, ignoring the hustle and bustle around her of the TV crew setting up cameras and doing finishing touches on the makeup of the host and hostess. Cables were strewn about.
Ugh… Interviews. They were the bane of her existence. But one of the officers she worked with asked her to go on when she had been about to decline the invitation with a shredder. Thankfully because the station had been wanting to get this particular special for so long, they were willing to concede to a few of her demands. The first was for coffee. There was no way in Hell that she was going to go through with an extended interview on television without caffeine in her system. And the coffee they provided her sucked which made the situation worse, but it was coffee nonetheless.
She didn't even have to fight to keep her hat. The producer that had sent her the invite to come onto the studio had said it was sort of her trademark and that people would be able to better recognize her if she had it on. So she didn't have to give it up. And she had made it blatantly clear she wasn't going to wear any form of makeup for the damned cameras. She was a human being, not a doll to look perfect before the masses. Besides, it wasn't like her complexion was bad to begin with and she didn't have obvious blemishes on her face except for a faint hairline scar above her eyebrow that would be hidden by the hat.
But the one she had to fight almost adamantly for had been a necessity. Speaking of…
Her co-interviewee had just arrived. And judging by the look of surprise on his face, Goro Akechi clearly had not been expecting her to be there. "Ah…. Shirogane-san." He said, putting a pleasant, but faked smile on his face.
"Akechi-san." Naoto said politely. She didn't bother with a smile.
Hence her last demand to be on the interview. She was to not be seated beside Goro Akechi. She didn't want to waste perfectly good, if horrible, coffee by spilling it 'accidently' on Goro Akechi and his damned briefcase.
Thankfully the hosts of the show and the producer had seen no issue with keeping them seperate. Something about how it would bring in more views if people didn't think Akechi was partnered with Naoto Shirogane, or even apprenticed under the 'former Detective Prince.' Naoto let them believe what they wanted.
She just didn't want to sit beside a murderous hypocrite.
The time approached for the show to go on the air. The cameraman held up three fingers, two, one before signalling to the hosts of the show. Naoto drowned out the name of the show and the hosts' names. She honestly didn't care.
"And tonight we have a special treat for everyone! The illustrious Naoto Shirogane, the Detective Prince himself, joins us for this special interview with Goro Akechi, the second coming of the Detective Prince." The male host said, clearly trying to gain everyone's attention. The camera zoomed in on her a moment and she looked towards the host. "Naoto-kun, we've been trying to get this special for a long time. A once in a lifetime interview with both Detective Princes. Can we ask why, up until this point, you have declined the invitation to come and what changed?"
"Shirogane-san, please." Naoto asked politely. "Many times that Goro Akechi has been on this show was because of the recent crimes perpetrated by the Phantom Thieves. That has not been my jurisdiction, and still is not. I have no intention of stepping in on the toes of Akechi-san as he has so vehemently decried the crimes of the Phantom Thieves. However, I was asked to come by one of the officers I work with, hoping that I might shed some light on the Phantom Thieves and their actions."
"Yes, thank you for that Nao… Shirogane-san." The male host said carefully, having not expecting Naoto to, politely, correct him on the use of her name. She did not know him well enough for him to use her given name and the '-kun' suffix. "Akechi-kun, since this is your case, can we start with your thoughts on the recent murder of Kunikazu Okumura by the Phantom Thieves?"
Akechi seemed to be watching Naoto sharply, eyes narrowing slightly from her words. "I still believe that the Phantom Thieves are quite wrong, despite my opinion being met with strong criticism." He said. "And I intend to bring them to justice. However, I do not believe that these recent string of murders, including Kunikazu Okumura and Keiji Kobayakawa, was the result of the Phantom Thieves."
"W-what?" The female host asked, finally inputting on the conversation. "Weren't you the one that first cautioned everyone about the danger of the Phantom Thieves?"
"I was. And this doesn't change the fact that they are indeed a dangerous group." Akechi said, his smile becoming less forced and more confident. "But linking them to these murder cases is too hasty. I feel as though there are far too many questions to be answered here." He said.
"Hmm." Naoto made a sound with her mouth. "Why?" she asked.
"Why?" Akechi asked.
"Yes, why. What is your thought process? Why do you think the Phantom Thieves were not the ones that did this?" Naoto asked.
"Surely you have had gut intuition before, Shirogane-san." Akechi said. "This is what my gut is telling me." Naoto scoffed at that and took a sip of her coffee. Akechi smiled at her like he was going to do something she wouldn't like. "Do you have something to add instead, Shirogane-san?"
"I have experience." Naoto said calmly. "I have history on my side. I have friends in other Prefectures willing to validate what I have come up with. The criminal profiling that was released recently was a biased piece of work intended to work as propaganda to discredit the Phantom Thieves. Make no mistake, I do believe they are a dangerous group, and that they didn't commit these murders."
"Would you care to enlighten us then, Shirogane-san?" The male host sounded excited at the prospect. After all, usually anytime she was in the public eye, she kept the interview brief, succinct. She hated doing them.
"Let's begin with Thieves. Thieves implies… theft." Naoto said. "What they steal is ambiguous, but tangible enough to produce results and to be worth their time in stealing. Thieves often don't commit murder as it is bad for them to do so. I would have to look through the various records of the Shirogane Estate, but there have been maybe one or two instances in which a Thief has actually killed someone that we have been called in upon. Police Prefectures have quite a bit of crime to deal with, and they do take the various forms of larceny seriously, but the number of options that an officer can perform regarding larceny is, sadly, limited based on what is taken and how cooperative the victims are. Murder on the other hand immediately bumps things to the Homicide unit, where they have a great deal of officers that can, and will, find every last detail that they can. A thief will go out of their way to not commit murder. The Phantom Thieves have, since they started, had a sizeable albeit token task force dedicated to catching them. By decrying them with the murder of Kunikazu Okumura, that task force has doubled in size. More manpower, more people to look over evidence, and more people to go over information with a fine tooth comb. History says that a Thief will try their very best not to commit murder. That they stole from Okumura-san and left him alive, indicates that the Phantom Thieves did not actually kill him."
Naoto could see the sour look that Akechi was giving her with his eyes. And despite herself, it pleased her to see. She really couldn't stand the hypocrite. "As to Principal Kobayakawa, he was unfortunately killed at the height of the Phantom Thieves' success and popularity. But, again, he doesn't fit with the pattern, even if a calling card was sent. And therein lies the problem, the calling card. Anyone with a few spare yen could go to a convenience store and pick up a pack of calling cards. It could have been written by anyone." Naoto took a slow sip of her coffee. "I had to dig a little bit deeper in order further rule out Principal Kobayakawa, but it was doable." She added.
"And what did you learn?" Akechi asked. His smile was a little strained.
"Further proof that the criminal profile didn't match." Naoto said. "The Phantom Thieves' victims can be categorized into primary and secondary targets. Primary targets are those that receive a calling card directly. These include Suguru Kamoshida, Ichiryusai Madarame, Junya Kaneshiro, and Kunikazu Okumura. The Medjed incident can also be considered a primary target, but a 'Change of Heart' wasn't induced so there is some controversy with that theory. Each of the primary targets of the Phantom Thieves were individuals who committed crime on grander scales. Kamoshida was sexually abusing the female volleyball team members, abusing the male volleyball team members. Madarame was plagiarizing his students' works, driving many away from the art world or even blacklisting them. One student was even driven to suicide. Kaneshiro was a mob boss using students as drug runners that the Police couldn't touch because of how careful he was being. Medjed was threatening the very financial stability of all of Japan. Okumura was overworking, underpaying his employees and keeping other corporations from being able to expand within Japan. All of these are more significant crimes. In hindsight after an investigation, Principal Kobayakawa was only guilty of receiving a few bribes and turning a blind eye to Kamoshida's actions in lieu of the reputational boost that Kamoshida brought to Shujin Academy."
Naoto wanted the people of Tokyo, of Japan, to think. Not just be blindly led about like sheep, but to actually think for themselves. Yes, she was decrying the Phantom Thieves as a dangerous group. They were, even if they were her friends. One small slipup, and they could kill tons of people. But she wasn't finished by a long shot. And perhaps it was a fool's errand to try and get the masses to use their brains, but she had to try.
"The secondary targets of the Phantom Thieves took a bit of work to find. First you have to look at the behavior of the primary targets. Increased risk of suicide that, if they can work past, instills a drive to become even better than they were. Kamoshida is teaching fitness and wellness to inmates. Madarame is offering free lessons in artistry, Kaneshiro is offering lessons in finances. So once a pattern is established with the previous victims, you can start looking into the secondary victims of the Phantom Thieves. They made a mistake in using the Phantom Thieves Aficionado Website. It takes some scouring through the various false positives to find others, but they are there. Individuals who show the same pattern as the primary victims. Increased risk of suicide followed by an almost manic drive to be better than they were. If Principal Kobayakawa should have been a victim, he would have been a secondary victim and would have received a 'calling card' through the website." Naoto took a moment to take a deeper drink of her coffee. She knew she had dropped a lot on the viewers, the audience, everyone. And she knew the Phantom Thieves would be watching so it would be good to give them the chance to digest the information..
"But what about Okumura-san?" The female host asked. "According to you, Okumura-san fits with the Primary targets, and he ended up deceased." She spoke in a manner as though what she was saying was busting the theory wide open.
"Yes, tell us what you think, Shirogane-san." Akechi said.
"A shell game." Naoto said succinctly.
"I'm afraid I don't follow." The male host said, clearly getting enraptured in what Naoto was saying. This wasn't a talk about gut feelings, this was cold and clear thought out logic based on experiences, based on the experiences of the past. And despite what people might think about Naoto Shirogane, Takashi Shirogane's reputation was stellar and he had most certainly dealt with thieves in the past.
And if in his long and illustrious career he didn't deal with many thieves killing people, then there was a damned precedent to say that the Phantom Thieves didn't kill Okumura. Not that they weren't capable of it, but it wasn't their modus operandi, as established by the long line of what could be dredged up on the actions of the Phantom Thieves.
"A shell game is a common phrase to indicate a game of sleight of hand in which a magician uses three cups, or nutshells, to hide a ball under. The magician will then shuffle the cups or shells and the participant must pick the right spot the ball is under. It's a ploy as the magician controls where the ball ends up. Okumura was a cup, with the ball being underneath him being the Phantom Thieves. But it wasn't the Phantom Thieves that killed Okumura, it was the Magician controlling things behind the scenes. They're just using the Phantom Thieves to try and get away with it." Naoto said. Oh, she knew she was poking a few hornets by doing what she was doing. And worse, she was doing it without Yu's knowledge.
Akechi started to laugh a bit from his side of the stage. "Oh… Shirogane-san." He laughed a bit more. "Listen to your paranoia." He said, not quite mockingly, but making it clear he didn't believe her for the audience. "I'm starting to think you're not cut out for the job of Detective anymore." he said. Naoto arched a brow at him, turning to give him more attention. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I touch a sore spot? It's well thought out, I admit, but it sounds ridiculous. Then again, what can one expect from someone such as yourself." He offered that charming smile.
Naoto felt red flags raise in her mind. But she couldn't stop herself. "Oh? Someone like me?" She asked.
"A fraud." Akechi said, the smile on his face coming away. "Someone that has had to act like a tough broiled detective their entire career to keep the fact away from who you are. Someone that has had to obsess over facts and cases, trying to keep the officers from finding out what a fake you are. Naoto Shirogane, the Detective Prince, an insecure little girl trying to play Detective like her parents because she's lonely. A child needing to prove herself."
Naoto arched her brow again and took a sip of her coffee, but stayed quiet. She looked into the cup, noting that it was almost empty. She had probably another good pull from it.
"What's wrong?" Akechi asked. "Your silence can be rather damning."
Oh, he was enjoying this. She was going to enjoy busting his bubble more. Naoto sighed. "I'm lamenting that the media has given my title, loathe as I am to admit it is mine, to such a spoiled child. Instead of poking holes at my logic, you are poking holes at my character. Your argument is weaker than the coffee I've been drinking." With that she finished it. "And frankly, mostly false." She set the cup down. There were whispers abound from the audience.
"I did not become a Detective because I was lonely. I become one because it was a matter of doing what I chose to do." Naoto said bluntly. "I do not act like a tough broiled detective, I act like a professional, as you have failed to do so. I admit, I have obsessed over facts and cases in the past, but I like to think that all Detectives, Officers, Private Investigations, and Special Investigators are obsessed to a point over a case. I'm not an insecure little girl, I am a very much secure woman that doesn't want to cause any more issues in the workplace than there already is."
She didn't need to keep her gender a secret. And just trying to hide it or deny it would have backfired in any number of ways. Instead, she owned it and twisted it on itself to further make Akechi look like a fool. She didn't change the octave of her voice, keeping it at the professional and slightly masculine tone. "What others think of me in the workplace matters little to me, but if my gender is going to get in the way or be a problem, I see no reason to enlighten anyone about it. Being an eleven year old boy of one hundred and thirty five centimeters was bad enough in the eyes of some of the first officers I worked with, being an eleven year old girl of one hundred and thirty five centimeters would have been a straw too far. Especially once I started solving things that they couldn't. I won't hide it when it is so very rudely brought up, the way you have done, but at the same hand I don't see the point in flaunting it. It would make me seem like a spoiled child rather than the professional that I am."
She was glad to see Akechi didn't like that she had turned it around on him. Good, she wanted him to squirm. "And for the record, anyone that bothered contacting someone of standing in Inaba or even my own home town would have likely said I was a girl. Detective Ryotaro Dojima had me pegged within two weeks of my start in Inaba two years ago." She said. She wasn't going to mention that she had drove the man to drink on the first day she was there as a contracted Special Investigator. But she was thankful that, for a long time, Dojima hadn't called her out on her gender.
"But the news reported you were a homosexual." Someone from the crowd called out, despite the rules being in place to keep the audience from directly making comments out of turn like that
Naoto glanced in that direction a moment. "The news reported that I had a boyfriend. It is not my fault they believed me to be a male at the time." She said rather frankly. She saw no harm in actually answering the question. It wasn't a secret that she had a boyfriend. She turned her gaze back to Akechi and smiled in an almost predatory manner.
"Now that you have so rudely assaulted my character, allow me to do the same to yours as it pertains to my theory and investigation." she said. "You have, since the beginning of your career, handled eighteen cases." She said factually. "Closed successfully, eighteen cases. Each of these cases has pertained to the mental breakdowns. Now the first few, experts thought them to be some sort of disease, a possible epidemic. But with the knowledge of what the Phantom Thieves are doing, I would make the argument that it is a third party instead causing these mental breakdowns. And they targeted Kunikazu Okumura because he was one of their group, and about to sell them out. Eighteen cases where you have, successfully, brought the perpetrator to justice through a piece of evidence that you have procured through the search of the individual's residence." Naoto shook her head. "It's too damned convenient."
"I beg your pardon?" Akechi asked, that charming facade slowly breaking away to reveal the creature beneath.
"I'm saying that either you are a fool that has been lured in and taken the bait, time and time again or that you are in collusion with the individual or individuals behind the mental breakdowns. When I came to Shibuya from Inaba and offered my services to the local Police Prefecture, I dived in on the mental breakdowns under the idea that they were all connected. And it paints a very interesting picture." Naoto said.
"Shirogane-san, it sounds like you've made a breakthrough on the mental breakdowns." The male host. "Would you be able to share anything at all?" he asked eagerly.
"I'm afraid I cannot. It is still a pending police investigation, and I have said the limit to what I am able to. I will however be presenting my findings to the homicide unit and let them make their own investigations." Naoto said. If she had poked the hornets' nest before, she knew that she had just kicked the damn thing like a soccer ball. Damn, she hadn't meant to let it all slip like that, but there it was. She would just have to somehow make do.
Yu was going to be most upset with her.
She played a dangerous game that was high risk, but extremely high reward. She hated playing those sorts of games, but as a Special Investigator, she had to accept some risk to do what was right. And these incidents didn't stop with merely Goro Akechi or Muyasashi Shido. She wanted to bring down each and every one of the people involved.
Naoto smiled, almost pleasantly. She couldn't help but be pleased. "I do look forward to seeing your work with the Phantom Thieves, Akechi-san, and hope that your passion for justice has not been dimmed by this interview." She said politely. She knew such a thing was false. After all, Goro Akechi was the prime suspect in perpetrating the crimes of attacking the people within the Metaverse to cause the mental breakdowns in the real world. But she still had a role to play, she could not act like she was suspicious of Akechi actually being the one to cause the breakdowns.
Oh, she accused him of being in league with the ones doing it, making it look like he was performing arrests and all, but Akechi's kill count was astronomically high. If the courts ever got wind of how 'hands on' he really was with the mental breakdowns, then he was likely going to go away for a very long time.
When they called for commercial, Naoto announced that she would be leaving the TV station, as her part of the segment was done and over with.
Take Your Time
Akechi stared at his gloved hand as it shook with rage and fury and humiliation. His nostrils flared as he was in the privacy of his own apartment after the disaster that was the interview. Naoto Shirogane had outplayed him and made him look like a bumbling fool or a criminal. He clenched his hand tight, thinking about the little girl that had done this to him, his nails dug into the skin of his palm until blood welled between his fingers.
After the commercial break, she had declined returning, stating how she had homework or some other such drivel to worry about. He had managed to salvage something of his reputation by declaring he had a list of suspects in regards to who the Phantom Thieves were, a trump card that he had hated playing. But he had been outmaneuvered by that…
He pulled out his cell phone and brought up the MetaNav. "Naoto Shirogane. Mementos." He typed in. It had been almost two years since he had first found the MetaNav on his phone, it just booted up one day and dragged him into Mementos.
At first he had thought he had been losing his mind and would lose his life, then he had awakened his Persona and been able to fight back. Since then, he had always done his best to remain as the strongest. He had been quite surprised when Akira and his group of friends had made their way into the Metaverse, but he knew that he was still stronger than any of them.
He would have to get creative with how he killed Naoto Shirogane. Maybe make her go home to her grandfather and have her eat his revolver. Yes, that was a good idea. Not only would it break the older Shirogane, but it would end the prestigious line of Detectives for good.
And Akechi could step back into the spotlight where he belonged.
"No Match Found." What? Akechi looked down at his phone as those three words blinked on the screen. Everyone showed up in Mementos. Unless they had a full blown Palace, but something told him Naoto Shirogane wasn't twisted like that. So how was it that Shirogane didn't show up in Mementos?
His phone buzzed in his hands and he saw the number. He sneered at the number a moment before he swallowed his anger and hit accepted. "Sir." he said politely. He tried to keep the anger from his voice, and he probably failed on some measure.
"What is the likelihood of Shirogane having found anything?"
A good question. "I have mentioned in the past that if there were anyone intelligent and driven enough to find the truth of the matter, it would be a Shirogane. I did not expect her to do it so quickly however or to be foolish enough to so blatantly flaunt that knowledge" Akechi said. He did have a measure of respect for the Shirogane family as a family of Detectives. He would not be blindsided like this again though.
"I want her gone." Shido's anger barely matched Akechi's. Of course he did. "I don't want any chances of her having figured anything out. I want her gone before she can finalize her thoughts and deliver it to the police. Use whatever means you have to use." Of course Shido didn't want anything being found out. According to him, he had worked too long at being Prime Minister for his plans to fail. They might have owned a good chunk of the police, for whatever reason, but the truth of the matter was that with enough overwhelming evidence, the police would have to investigate.
"I was already in the middle of figuring out how best to dispose of her." Akechi said. But not for Shido's purposes. He didn't care about his father anymore. His plan could burn for all Akechi cared. He had been given the chance to be in the spotlight and he was going to take it, take it and enjoy it. No, Akechi was doing this for himself. He had been going to enjoy going into Mementos and killing the girl's Shadow. Usually, he used a gun or Loki, but he wanted to be creative with it. Loki could implant a message to the person before their Shadow died, an inexplicable urge to do something. Unfortunately, he wasn't going to have that. "There's been a small hitch however. Do you have anyone else you need to get rid of? Particularly a police officer that may have been sniffing too close?"
"What are you getting at boy?" Akechi grit his teeth at that. He hated being called that by the bastard that was his father. Shido had no right to be calling him that, not after everything that Akechi had done for him.
"As I said, there's been a small hitch. This won't be like the Mental Breakdowns outlined in Isshiki-san's research." One of his first targets, Akechi could remember the way the woman's shadow had squirmed. It had been… beautiful. His hands clasped on her throat, holding her down while Loki implanted the message for her to go walk in traffic. "It can't look like a mental breakdown or we will be justifying that girl's words and theories. I'm thinking of getting rid of two birds with one stone."
"I'll forward you a list of names. Make sure it's destroyed once you have made your pick." The line went dead and Akechi pulled his phone away from his ear again to look at the MetaNav once more. Like he needed to be told something as trivial as that from Shido.
Naoto Shirogane didn't show up within the MetaNav. Didn't produce a hit within Mementos. And he hadn't done enough digging into things in order to find out the name of her boyfriend, or else Akechi would go after the idiot first. He wanted to taste Naoto's despair. It had been ridiculously easy to find out Naoto had actually been a female.
Akechi inhaled, tried to find focus. He tried to go into that mental state before each job. He had to do it soon. If his hunch was correct, his popularity upswing, before the Interview, would have made most of the students of most schools want to invite him to speak. Even after the interview, the sheep would still likely flock towards him. Shujin Academy was having their festival soon and Sae Niijima would no longer be speaking about police matters with Makoto.
The good prosecutor was easy to read really. She was too dedicated to the job, too inflexible. They would have to get rid of her at some point, but they had done a good job of keeping her on a leash for the time being and directing her attention to what they wanted.. They would also have to get rid of the District Attorney, but that man's usefulness was coming to an end. As soon as they had the Phantom Thieves in custody, or running.
But he was almost certain that Makoto would email him, or have Akira Kurusu ask him on one of Akechi's planned visits to Le Blanc, to go to Shujin Academy as a guest speaker for the festival. He would of course act like he didn't know, but it was all leading into his trap.
Inhaling, he continued planning his game out. If he brought in Akira Kurusu, then he would be able to show that he was still a brilliant detective in the eyes of the public. And then Akira Kurusu would meet a tragic demise within the interrogation chamber. Murder suicide. It was all carefully planned out, he didn't want anymore slip ups like he had dealt with in the interview..
By this time the next month, everything would go back to normal. Naoto Shirogane would be out of the picture, Akechi would be back in the spotlight, the Phantom Thieves would be labelled as criminals for his acts, and he could get onto his business of dealing with Shido.
Akechi looked to his hands that still trembled with his anger. It had been a very, very long time since he felt this deep seated anger, this sort of rage and humiliation. He despised this feeling with everything that he was. But he couldn't deny the sort of… focus it gave him.
Naoto Shirogane had humiliated him, but she would get her comeuppance. Still… That she didn't show up within the MetaNav was… curious. Was she perhaps a Persona user? Hmm, that could be troublesome. But regardless, the Metaverse was not the real world. Or was it simply a small minor hiccup? Was she the one in a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred, that didn't show in Mementos? He had never had it happen before, but he supposed it was a possibility.
And then there were the Phantom Thieves themselves. How were they sneaking into the Palaces? It was trivial for him to set up a few cameras, paid men with laptops or newspapers with cameras to loiter around in front of Okumura Foods headquarters. He had witnessed the Phantom Thieves come out after the near imminent collapse of Okumura's Palace, but how they had gotten in was beyond him. Perhaps when he ingratiate himself with their group, for Sae's Palace of course, he would be able to find out their methods.
Hmm. Loki was too visible, as was his Black Mask. He would have to do something to bury it. Inside his mind, he thought he heard Loki's laughter. Yes, surely his Persona's trickey nature would allow him to be able to change certain aspects with little issue. Now the question was, how should he look? He really should go into Mementos and figure it out.
Maybe he could obtain a new Persona as well, something to hide Loki behind. Hmm. The Phantom Thieves seemed to act as doers of justice, so perhaps his Persona could manifest as a fictional doer of justice. Maybe something like… Robin Hood? Hmm, it bore merit.
Akechi smiled a cruel smile a moment as he started dinner and making his plans. Yes, everything would soon go back to the way it should. He just had to be patient, then he could slip in the knife.
Take Your Time
"Damn it Naoto!" Yu actually yelled, yelled at Naoto. "This is just like Inaba two years ago! You played a dangerous game then and now you're playing a more dangerous game!" Fuck. Fuck! Yu paced in his living room, a complete trainwreck of emotions that logic wasn't playing into in the slightest. Whereas Naoto sat at the Kotatsu, sipping some tea, and looking the perfect picture of calm.
But anxiety had its grip on his stomach. He had watched the interview on the TV, watched her verbally destroy Akechi and practically announce to the people that were behind the Mental Shutdowns that she was onto them. And Yu couldn't help but know that something bad was going to happen. This wasn't Namatame who was trying to 'save' people. This was a group of people that would want to hurt her to keep her silent and wouldn't hesitate to do so. They had done so with Wakaba Isshiki, they would do so with Naoto..
Naoto set her mug down. "I know Senpai, and I'm sorry to see you distraught like this." She did sound apologetic, but she had to know what it did to him when she was in danger.
Yu yanked at his hair, trying to figure out how his girlfriend could be so calm, so lackadaisical about this entire thing. Her life was at stake now. "Why?!" he asked, desperate to try and understand her logic because as it stood, he wasn't following.
Naoto watched him with those eyes he had come to enjoy looking into so very much. "I do admit, I am playing a dangerous game." she said. "It has high risks, but with those high risks comes higher rewards. If they do come after me, it will prove my theories correct. I'm waiting on a phone call from a contact, and once I have it, I'll be able to turn in all my work. I just need to be careful for another few days."
Damn it, she sounded so damned logical and reasonable about it. And Yu was being anything but logical. "Naoto, these people will-"
"I am quite aware of what they will do to me if they get the chance, Senpai." Naoto said sharply. It was the beginning hints of her own anger that was beginning to creep in. She didn't like being questioned like this, Yu knew that. She didn't like being thought of as helpless. "But I would have thought, by now, that you would understand the dangers of my chosen profession. Much of my evidence is circumstantial which makes it much more difficult to make an arrest, nonetheless an actual prosecution. It could take months as they will undoubtedly drag this out as much as possible. If they try something, it will help put the other officers on alert."
Yu watched her. He did know about the dangers of her profession. He went to her and slumped down onto his knees beside her. "Damn it Naoto, I know you have a potentially dangerous job." He said. He did. "But I love you, doesn't that count for anything? Can't you tell me when you're going to do something like this? Can't I just worry about your safety?"
Naoto's stern features softened just softly. "I know Yu-kun." she said softly. "And I'm sorry, I should have told you." She reached out to take his hand. "I love you too, but this was something I felt I had to do. I got caught up in the heat of the moment with Akechi, and I began to roll with it. There's no point in not using it to my advantage now."
Yu clutched her hand in his, squeezing firmly but not painfully. Once again, she was being logical and he was being an emotional fool. He took a deep breath in and held it before exhaling. He could understand what she was saying. Akechi had gotten her worked up, angry even, when he had revealed her gender the way he had, making her seem like an insecure girl rather than the confident woman she was.
"My brave Investigator." he said, trying to be strong. He knew she gained strength from him, and in turn he gained it from her. Not that they weren't capable of independence, but it was a matter of their partnership worked best when they could be strong together.
Naoto leaned over and kissed him on the lips. "My wonderful worrywort boyfriend." She joked. Her features turned a little more serious. "I've already made preparations. I'll be extremely careful, other than Monday when Akira wants us all to go to Le Blanc, I'll mostly be changing up my routine so that whoever might be coming after me won't be able to figure me out. Besides, I'm sure you can come pick me up on your motorcycle to give me a ride to work."
Yu nodded his head. He could do that. It wasn't something he expected to be doing so soon, but she was right. He could start to drive her to the police station rather than her taking public transit. He leaned into her, feeling emotionally drained. He had been stressed since he had seen the broadcast only for her to come home and he was trying to figure out why she had done what she had done.
Naoto reached up and brushed her hands through his silver hair. "It'll be okay." she said more calmly than Yu felt.
"I know." Yu said finally. He wrapped his arms around her. "After all, you're the Detective Prince." he offered her a bit of a smile. "Or would it be Princess now?"
Naoto made a retching sound. "Oh I hope not." she said firmly. "Last thing I need is for someone to think Akechi and I should be partners or something because he'd be Prince and I'd be Princess." A shudder of revulsion stole through them both.
"Point taken." Yu said. He pulled her in close, arms wrapping around her. He had to trust that she knew what she was doing. It was the only way that they were going to make it through this was by trusting in one another.
She leaned into his hug and wrapped her arms around him as well. "Besides, speaking of dangerous things, I do believe that you are the high king of that, Mister I'm-going-to-talk-to-a-known-and-outted-Murder." Yu winced at her accusation. It had definitely not been his brightest moves to go and speak with Adachi, so he could understand what his girlfriend was saying that he still had the upper hand.
"Just… be careful." Yu said. "Please. There's no telling who, or what, they will use to get to you." He said as he stood up, grabbing her mug to give her a refill on tea.
"On the plus side, they will not be able to use Mementos to get at me." Naoto said. Ever since her Shadow had disappeared, Naoto's 'ping' in the MetaNav had gone with it. "So I do have that much going for me." she said.
"Not making it any easier on me." Yu said from the kitchen. "That just means they have to act out in the real world, and we've never tried going into the Metaverse severely injured, not the TV World or Mementos." Yu poured the tea. There was no time for coffee that evening, not as late as it was or as wound up as both of them were.
Yu was already going to have enough difficulty sleeping. He didn't want to even think about the various things his mind was going to come up with when it came to how Naoto was going to get hurt. He just had to trust that she knew what she was doing, he just had to be there for her as he always was.
A task that was easier said than done, but he knew that if anyone could do it from the Investigation Team, it was him. He moved to sit beside Naoto again, setting her mug in front of her. "I don't like fighting with you." He said. And the last two months had seen them fight more than Yu wanted to think about.
"I don't like it either, Senpai." Naoto said as she leaned into him a bit. "I'm sorry." She said.
"Me too." Yu said. That was all they could do, talk and apologize when they needed to.
Take Your Time
"So how does it feel to not have to hide your gender?" Yusuke asked as the group walked together down the streets from Yogen-jaya station. Naturally there was some curiosity as to the reactions of the general populace after Naoto had, publically, owned up to being female.
"A hassle." Naoto sighed and tilted her cap down. "I now have to deal with more and more male admirers and idiots that don't seem to get the memo that I am already happy with my boyfriend." She said. "I had four love letters in my shoe locker just this morning. And that was only this morning."
The sleuth inhaled and exhaled a deeper sigh. Really, it was driving her crazy. And then she was pulled aside by Kawakami to be informed that Naoto had two weeks to procure the proper uniform before disciplinary actions were taken. She already had plans with Makoto to go shopping for what she needed of the school uniform.
Apparently being a prestigious Special Investigator didn't buy her any leniency when it came to the school dress code. On one hand, it was rather annoying, on the other it was quite nice being treated as just another student.
Kawakami wasn't even her homeroom teacher, but Mr. Ushimaru had apparently asked Kawakami to speak with her since it might have been a little awkward for him to do so.
"Shujin is fickle." Akira said, likely from some experience. "Just put up with it the best you can, it'll die down eventually." He shook his head. "Then again, it might not. I still hear some rumors about a rusty knife." The frizzy haired teen sighed. "What do I have to do? Go on a stage and turn my bag inside out?"
"Even after the cops questioned you?" Ann asked incredulously.
"Even after." Akira said dejectedly.
Naoto shook her head at the byplay. But it made her smile some. They were her friends. Again, maybe not as good as the ones she made in Inaba, but good friends nonetheless that she had long since trusted with the truth of her gender.
"So uh… Are you goin' to be wearin' the girls' uniform?" Ryuji asked.
"Why?" Yu asked Ryuji. "Not thinking about looking, are you Ryuji?"
"Nah, nah!" Ryuji quickly backed up, realizing he was treading into dangerous territory with her boyfriend there.
Naoto smiled a little bit at that. "It won't be much of a change, I assure you." She said. "It is better than the Yasogami Girl's Uniform." She shook her head at that. "Thankfully, the staff let me get away with wearing the male uniform. Unfortunately Shujin is just a bit more prestigious."
"I don't know for how much longer." Makoto said. "The scandals between the track team, the volleyball team, Kamoshida, the Phantom Thieves, Principal Kobayakawa's death, we might end up with quite a number of transfers out of Shujin for next year." she said.
Naoto saw Akira wince. She could understand, as a number of those had been, inadvertently, caused by him. "Don't." she said, turning to look at him. "It's not your fault."
"Maybe not, but… how much would things be different if I didn't go to Shujin?" Akira asked.
"A pointless question to ask." Yusuke said. "You have bettered the lives of many, do not sully that by thinking about what might have happened if things were different. There is a real possibility that I would still be under the thumb of Madarame, or worse."
"I'd like to point out I was in a relationship with Kamoshida thinking I was helping my best friend." Ann said. "And while I did try to not do anything given he was like ten years my senior, something would have eventually happened."
"The point," Haru said. "Is that yes, you brought change, but you did not bring it out of sheer maliciousness, Akira-kun." She turned to face him a little bit, just as the group was about to head down towards Le Blanc. "And we shouldn't have to be telling you that have done good."
"She's right you know." Ryuji said calmly. "Shit man, I actually managed to get some passin' grades cause of you."
Akira offered a smile. "Alright, alright, I'll hold off on the thoughts."
Yu chuckled a little bit. "Besides, without you, I'd probably be stuck in my own head, not heading out to Inaba to be with my friends and girlfriend." Yu shot Naoto a smile that made her stomach twist a little bit. She loved that smile on his face.
And soon they would likely be heading back out to Inaba, which was just fine with her. She already had an acceptance letter from one of the universities around Port Island which was much easier to get to from Inaba than Shibuya was. Not that she wouldn't miss the friends she had made in Shibuya, but she was a small town girl at heart.
"You just like being able to call me your girlfriend now." Naoto accused Yu almost playfully.
"Guilty." Yu said without shame.
"Oh you guys are finally here!" Futaba said, standing up from her spot in front of Le Blanc. "I thought you'd never arrive. I've been waiting for you after delivering the order for all the curry to Sojiro. Come on! I'm starving!"
"We best hurry before we're assaulted by a wild and ravenous Futaba." Morgana said, poking his head out of the bag as the group headed inside.
Sojiro was busy at work cooking to curry in the back, so Akira quickly pulled his bag off and removed his uniform jacket. He threw on his apron and washed his hands before he started to make the coffee for everyone.
"Hey, everyone's here." Sojiro said from his small kitchen area. "Futaba warned me you guys might all be coming."
"It smells delicious, Sakura-san." Naoto said, moving to take a seat at the bar while the Phantom Thieves took up two of the four booths.
"So uh… Not to be rude or anything, but are you really a girl?" He asked, bringing a plate over to her. "Not judging or anything, but just curious."
"Yes, yes, I am." Naoto said, accepting her food. It truly did smell heavenly. While Akira was quite capable at cooking the food, Sojiro Sakura had the experience that came with cooking it for years and years. And Akira set a mug of strong, black coffee in front of her.
Yu was coming back from the small bathroom to sit beside Naoto when the bell to the small cafe rang out. The door opened and Naoto couldn't help but glance over. "Shirogane-san?" The man asked. He wore a pair of black slacks and a dark blue shirt. Naoto recognized him as a detective over in homicide. Alarm bells rang just a little too late when the man raised a revolver.
Bang!
"Naoto!" Yu screamed out. But all Naoto could notice was the immense pain that was blossoming in the left side of her chest as her lifeblood began to leave her.
Chapter End
A/N: I had to play around with the dates a little. Akechi's interview didn't actually happen until 10/22, I pushed it back by almost a week.
Edit: Holy crap, I forgot to hit the spell check. Also, changed the title as an afterthought