Here we are with Chapter 29 which is currently being written on a coffee-fuelled craze. Do I still have an assignment I'm slowly working on? Yes I do.

Will I continue spending my free time writing fanfic? Yes I will.

COFFEE!

"Ah, that was a load of crap," Ryuji complained as he, Rem, and Ann walked down one of the winding corridors of the TV station, having used the excuse of needing the bathroom to leave the "hands-on experience".

"At least you weren't being hit on by the Camera Director," Ann groused piteously, Ryuji giving her a commiserating wince.

"True…" Ryuji conceded. "All I had to do was untangle those damn cables… surprised Rem didn't do anythin' to the guy though," the dyed-blonde remarked as he looked at their leader.

Rem didn't say anything.

"Uh… she alright?" Ryuji asked curiously as he looked at the girl whose normally braided hair was untied, raven black hair falling in long strands.

"I think so? She wasn't paying attention the whole time the Director was… trying to get my number," Ann grimaced as she recalled the twenty-something-year-old man had been trying to get both of their numbers but Rem had seemingly paid him no mind in a rare change of events.

A black-furred head popped out from over Rem's shoulder, blue eyes looking at the two blondes before widening as a stray strand of hair tickled his nose causing him to sneeze.

"Achoo!"

Morgana sneezed quietly, shaking his head to remove the strand tickling his nose. "She didn't say anything because she has her earphones in," Morgana eventually said, a paw somehow managing to gather a bundle of hair from the left-side of Rem's face and pulling it back, exposing the earbud that was currently in her ear playing music.

Judging by the fact she had a confused look on her face as she suddenly looked at them quizzically, Ann and Ryuji realised she probably had them in both ears.

"Well, at least that explains why she didn't go do anything," Ann shook her head before reaching out and plucking the earbuds out of Rem's ears.

"And here I was thinkin' she was lettin' it slide," Ryuji murmured.

"Did… I miss something?" Rem asked now that she'd been returned to the land of the hearing, no longer oblivious thanks to her earphones.

"When did you even put those on?" Ann asked while crossing her arms, slightly peeved that even though Rem had been with her the whole time she'd essentially been left by herself.

Said girl just shrugged lackadaisically. "Just a bit after the PR woman said we'd be getting some hands-on experience," Rem said unbothered at the peeved expression Ann was sending her, rather taking the time to roll her sore shoulders and carefully rewind her earphones so they wouldn't get tangled in her pocket.

"That was five hours ago!" Ryuji recoiled in surprise, stunned that no one had ever called her out on it. Rem's response was only to helplessly raise her shoulders and let them fall in a shrug.

"It was getting too boring," was Rem's only response as she tucked her phone and earphones away into her skirt pocket.

"We were getting hit on and you didn't even notice!" Ann scowled lightly, still irritated.

"…We were?"

Ann hung her head at Rem's obliviousness and apparent lack of care. "Don't worry Lady Ann, it's all over now," Morgana hopped out of the bag and onto Ryuji's shoulder to console the blonde.

"H-Hey, quit it!" Ryuji whisper-yelled since they were still in the middle of the corridor. "We didn't even have permission to have you at school, much less in a TV station!" he scolded Morgana who let out a depressed sigh before hopping his way from Ryuji's shoulder and back over to Rem's before slinking back into her bookbag, his blue eyes and black muzzle the only thing peeking out.

"Do we have to do more of this tomorrow?" Rem asked with a yawn, rolling the shoulder Morgana had hopped upon and readjusting the strap of her book bag so it was in a more comfortable position.

"Yeah… man, what a pain," Ryuji groaned. "If it's this borin' can we just please skip this?" he pleaded, looking at both Ann and Rem. A hopeful expression wormed its way onto his face as Rem seriously considered flaking on the whole trip.

"No! I'm not going to be here alone," Ann shook her head vigorously while crossing her arms in the form of an X.

"Why don't you skip as well?" Ryuji asked.

"Because we're meant to be keeping a low profile?" Ann reminded him with a huff before sending a glare at Rem. "That's what YOU said a few days ago. Not to draw attention by being delinquents, remember?"

Rem just sighed with a slight slump while she nodded. "Yeah… guess no jigging tomorrow for us then…"

"Dammit…" Ryuji pouted, a foot kicking at the floor sullenly.

"Oh, you two are acting like children…" Ann moaned sufferingly at their antics. "At least we get to go home straight from here today."

Both Ryuji and Rem perked up at that.

"Yo… it ain't like we're around here often, yeah?" Ryuji said, a small grin breaking across his previously sullen expression, "You two wanna hang around for a bit after this?"

"Well, I wouldn't mind," Ann supposed slowly getting into the idea. "I haven't checked out some of the shops around here for a bit. What do you think?" she asked the black-haired girl who was in the midst of re-braiding her hair.

Rem just shrugged, holding a lock of hair with her chin as she braided her hair as neatly as she could with the limited amount of time she had. "As long as we get some food I don't mind," Rem flipped her now-braided hair over her shoulder to hang.

"Ooh, I know a place!" Morgana piped in excitement. "I wanna go to that pancake looking place we passed on the way here! It looked delicious… what do you think they have?"

"Would you believe me if I said pancakes?" Rem asked with a smirk only to get a paw full of toe-beans to the face. "Hey!" she frowned lightly as Morgana ducked into her bag, poking his head back out once he'd deemed it safe enough.

"Wait… pancake-lookin' place?" Ryuji mumbled, his brows scrunched up in puzzlement. "Oh!" he suddenly shot up, a look of dawning understanding and comprehension on his face as both Rem and Ann looked at him in bewilderment.

"You talkin' about Dome Town?" he asked with a grin, a fist slamming into an open palm as he asked Morgana. "The round part is some sorta baseball stadium, and they've got stuff like an amusement park runnin' along the outside."

"Oooooh, I think I've heard of it," Ann gesticulated excitedly, head bobbing up and down. "It's right in the middle of a business area, but they have some pretty hardcore rides there too."

Morgana leaned on Rem's shoulder, using the bottom of Rem's bag to hold him while using her shoulders to lean and balance on as he looked around, blue eyes gleaming with excitement and determination. "All right… Let's go! I'll show you just how courageous I am!"

"You two can take Morgana, I'll go search for a good place to eat before doing anything there," Rem waved off, not too thrilled at the prospect of going to an amusement park on an empty stomach.

"Can we please stop talkin' bout food for a second, you're makin' me hungry now," Ryuji whined.

"You two are like two peas in a pod… like two chopsticks in a ramen bowl…" Ann muttered, sending her two friends a disheartened glance.

"C'mon Ann…" Ryuji grumbled before looking up at Morgana. "'Sides, not like cats can get on amusement rides anyways."

"Really?" Morgana tilted his head in astonishment.

"I mean, yeah," Ryuji nodded. "You might be able to sneak in if you stay in Rem's bag, but you'd totally puke if you did that… actually, on second thought the last time you puked it was in me…" Ryuji paused and realised what had happened the last time Morgana had vomited.

"I'm all for it then," Rem smirked, suddenly seeming more than eager to go on the ride.

"Wh-What?! I don't wanna go on any puke-rides now!" Morgana yelped.

"Let's, uh… Let's just go to Dome Town yeah? We'll figure out the plan when we get there," Ryuji shook his head, speaking up to finalise the day's plan.

"Work sfor me," Rem nodded.

"Me too! Ooh, can we get some crepes before going on the roller coasters?" Ann asked with excitement.

"I mean, if you wanna do it, go for it. Sure as heck wouldn't try it though," Ryuji scratched the back of his head as he stared at Ann in wonderment, curious if she was really going to go through with it.

"I'm just saying you've been drinking enough coffee to kill a normal person through caffeine overdose, the amount you consume can't be healthy."

A voice interrupted their conversation from down the hallway, two pairs of footsteps accompanying the voice. The four froze as they quickly realised they'd been standing in the middle of the corridor for well over half an hour at this point.

"Morgana!" Ryuji whispered urgently, the black cat getting the message and swiftly tucking himself into Rem's bag.

"That's where you'd be wrong actually," another voice said, footsteps continuing to down the hallway.

Rem was slightly startled to realised that she recognised the voice.

"Coffee contains several healthy nutrients such as riboflavin, pantothenic acid, manganese, potassium, magnesium, and niacin. All being types of vitamins with the exception of manganese and potassium which are essential minerals," the second voice defended.

"…I don't know if that's true or if you're just being insufferable," the first voice said with a tinge of exasperation, the voices sounding much closer.

"Of course it's true, at least I can say that coffee is healthier than pancakes."

"You didn't…" the first voice growled, sounding off from right around the corner.

Two figures rounded the corner, deep in an argument. Rem recognised one of them, something which was quite easy since they were in the same class.

Akira Kurusu was currently in some sort of debate about coffee with another teenage boy with long brown hair and wine-red eyes, seeming to be slightly older than Akira. The teen wore a brown pea-coat, black glove, black slacks, a pair of black oxford shoes, and strangely enough a silver suitcase with the letter A emblazoned across its surface in black.

"Pancakes are not unhealthy compared to- Oh!" the teen got ready to defend pancakes for some reason, seemingly ready to further their debate before both he and Akira had taken notice of the three of them.

"Oh, my apologies, I didn't see you there," the teen apologised, a pleasant demeanour washing across his face as he addressed them.

"Yo," Akira waved in acknowledgement, looking strange without his school blazer. "Rem, Takamaki-san, Sakamoto-san," he greeted casually compared to the brown-haired teen beside him.

"Oh, you know them Akira?" the brown-haired teen asked in surprise before looking back at them analytically, specifically at Ryuji's pants along with Ann's and Rem's skirts. "Ah, you three are students of Shujin Academy then, I presume?"

"Uh, yeah…" Ryuji nodded uncertainly,

"I see…" the teen said before looking at Rem, wine-red eyes looking deep into Rem's red, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"You okay?" Akira asked with a small amount of concern, Rem feeling slightly out of her depth as the brown-haired teen continued to look at her.

"My apologies… but… have we met before?" the brown haired-teen asked puzzled.

Ryuji sighed before moving slightly between the brown-haired teen and Rem. "Look man, whatever you're tryin', I wouldn't suggest it-"

"Yes… we met back April. You were looking for Shujin Academy," Rem nodded, interrupting Ryuji who looked back at her in surprise.

"Wait, you know this guy?" Ryuji asked curiously.

"Not entirely..." Rem shook her head, braided hair swishing in the air behind her. "He was looking for Shujin Academy while I was on the way to school one day and he asked me for directions… I led him there but we didn't have much time to talk since I was in a hurry."

"Huh… what a small world…" Akira muttered.

"It was the day you came to Leblanc after the… incident with Shiho," Rem explained, a look of dawning comprehension appearing in Akira's face.

"Ah, I was wondering why you looked familiar," the brown-haired teen gave a familiar charming smile just like he did back in April. "I never did get to introduce myself at the time, did I?" the brown-haired teen asked to which Rem shook her head.

"Where are my manners, even now I've yet to do so. My name's Goro Akechi," the pleasant boy, Akechi, introduced himself. "We will be filming together after all."

"Akechi?" Ann murmured beside her.

"Filming? Are you a celebrity or somethin'?" Ryuji rattled off.

Akechi only gave a slight chuckle as he shook his head. "Only to the extent of appearing on TV a few times," he replied.

"What did you mean by together?" Rem asked curiously, "Are you and Akira doing some sort of interview because of the video?"

Beside Akechi, Akira grimaced while the burgundy-eyed teen's vision narrowed, a slightly strained smile appearing across his lips. "I'm… glad to say that isn't the case. As Akira has told me, Shujin Academy's social studies trip shall be taking place over the next two days. That likely means that the students of Shujin here will be acting as the behind-the-scenes audience so to speak," Akechi shook his head before explaining.

Beside him, Akira snorted. "I'd very much like to stay away from the cameras thank you very much," Akira scoffed which caused Akechi to look at him.

"And yet your face is plastered across every online media and even some news outlets, truly you've done a wonderful job," Akechi retorted sarcastically.

Akira seemed to pout dramatically, his face turning ashen while Akechi only rolled his eyes. The two swiftly remembered that they were still in front of the Rem, Ryuji, and Ann.

"My apologies about that," Akechi said sorry as he took out his phone and looked at it, his eyes widening slightly. "Oh, would you look at the time. I'm sorry but we must get going, there's a briefing that we need to attend for tomorrow's recording," Akechi apologised once more.

His words, however, caused the three to look at him in confusion.

"Wait, Kurusu-san needs to attend as well?" Ann asked bewildered. Said teen scratched the back of his head, his frizzy-hair barely moving as he did so.

"Unfortunately, since the TV station was my chosen location, I have to personally deal with any mishaps or problems that crop up because of students. I also have to be told multiple times of what's expected of Shujin Academy since we're guests here," Akira explained.

"With the amount of stuff on your plate, I'm surprised you're even standin'," Ryuji muttered, "How do you do it?"

Akira shrugged. "Copious amounts of coffee and… well, that's it really," he said lackadaisically. "Unfortunately, we really do need to get going. Pretty sure that you should be able to leave, just make sure you check with Miss Kawakami since she's the chaperone," Akira reminded with an apologetic smile.

The three nodded while the two teens left.

"Huh, sorta surprised Kurusu knows anyone outside of school," Ryuji whispered causing both Ann and Rem to look at him in confusion.

"Why's that?" Ann asked.

"I dunno, just sorta get that feelin' from him," Ryuji shrugged. "Like he doesn't let people close or somethin'."

"But he seems fine with us, doesn't he?" Rem cocked her head. "And Akira and I aren't that distant either."

"Eh, I dunno. Like I said just that sorta feelin'," Ryuji shook his head. "That doesn't matter though, we goin' to Dome Town or what?"

Both Ann and Rem nodded, the three, four including Morgana quickly checked with Miss Kawakami that they could leave before making their way to Suidobashi's Dome Town.

"H-Hey, can we skip the vomit machines and get some crepes or pancakes instead?" Morgana mewled and beseeched from inside Rem's bag.

Rem took great amusement in watching Ryuji try not to hurl up his lunch after going on the fastest ride that was available directly after demolishing a rice and beef dish.

The next day, Rem found herself seated in a row of seats next to Ann and Ryuji, a stark difference from the boring informercial that the PR lady had fed them and the hands-on experience that had apparently been torturous for everyone but her. She took note of the familiar head of frizzy-hair just ahead of her but that attention was drawn to the two newscasters on-stage.

There was a man wearing a two-piece black suit and a woman in a salmon-coloured blouse and black pants, both standing on stage eager to start. The cameraman stationed at one of the two large cameras directed at the stage rose a hand, three fingers lifted.

"Aaaand we're starting in three! Two! One!" the cameraman called out, a finger falling as he counted down, then his whole hand falling as he reached zero.

"Mr. Akechi is coming on!" one of the AD's called out.

"KYAAAAAA!"

"It's Akechi-kun!"

"Aaaaah, he's so cool!"

Rem almost felt her eardrums burst by the sheer wave of sound that followed the AD's announcement by the female Shujin students that were seated around them. "Wh-What the hell?" Rem winced as she covered her ears in a vain attempt to protect her hearing.

"Ain't that the guy we met that with Kurusu yesterday?" she was barely able to make out Ryuji's question over the din of squealing and fangirling.

It was with wincing eyes that she was barely able to make out the teen she'd bee. introduced to yesterday and that she'd escorted to Shujin over a month ago walk onto the stage, a pleasant smile beaming across his face. Akechi walked over to the man in the suit and shook his hand while beaming a smile to the woman beside him, the three exchanging pleasantries before sitting down on the red sofas behind them.

"Cutting back from commercial!" the veteran AD announced from behind the camera with an arm raised. "Seven, six, five seconds till start, four, three…" the man said before swinging his arm down.

Rem was thankful for the noticeable decrease in volume from the girls around her but was offset by the female announcer on the stage.

"And now, onto the Hottest Meet-and-Greet segment of our show…" the cute announcer spoke. "After his last appearance was so well received, we decided to bring back this fine gentleman today. It's the high school detective, Goro Akechi!"

Rem's hands quickly flew to her ears the moment she'd finished speaking, her quick reflexes were enough to prevent her from losing her hearing via female high-pitched squealing.

"Hello there," Akechi greeted pleasantly on-stage.

The male was the one to take over, and with a deep smooth voice, he continued the show. "Thank you for taking the time to join us today, Akechi-kun. Your popularity is stunning," the cheerful host praised.

"Even after the last three years, it's still such a surprise to still be so well-regarded," Akechi chuckled with a smile.

"I see," the woman nodded in understanding. "Moving along, we've been told there's a case on your mind right. Care to share, detective?" she asked.

"I'm… unsure which one you might be referring to," Akechi hesitated.

"Oh? What do you mean Akechi-kun?" the cheerful host asked curiously, head tilted with interest.

"Well, originally I was tasked with the investigation into one Suguru Kamoshida, the disgraced gold-star medallist," Akechi explained, his announcement causing both Ryuji and Ann to stiffen in their seats beside Rem, herself doing the same. "That occurred because of personal matters, however, I've also been assigned a joint-case investigation on the scandal regarding Ichiryusai Madarame."

"Oh… would you mind telling us about the both of them then?" the man in the black-suit asked, fishing for ways to make the TV ratings rocket.

"So long as time permits of course," Akechi nodded in agreement. "Where would you like me to begin?"

"How about we start with the first one, the one with the former Olympian?" the female announcer offered, "You said that it occurred because of personal matters. Would you be willing to expand on that? Were you placed on the investigation following his surrender to the police?"

"Actually… I was investigating Mr. Kamoshida prior to his confession," both the host and announcer were slightly stunned to see a grimace make its way onto Akechi's face.

"You… were investigating him before he surrendered himself to the police?" the host asked with interest. "Does this mean that the police were aware of Kamoshida-san's actions prior to his arrest?"

Rem could see both Ryuji's and Ann's hackles rise beside her, her hands quickly lashing out and landing on their thighs, reminding them where they were. They relaxed minutely in their seats but she could still tell that they were bothered by the discussion on-stage.

"Oh, nothing of the sort," Akechi denied. "Had the police been aware, there would have been a veritable bloodbath. Many of my colleagues have daughters that attend Shujin Academy, had they been aware that a man of Kamoshida-san's proclivities was getting away with such things… he'd have been arrested long ago."

"I see… if that's the case… then what made you decide to investigate the now-disgraced medallist? Would this have something to do with the personal matters you shared earlier?" the female announcer asked inquisitively.

Akechi seemed to consider his words for a moment. "Yes, that is indeed the case," he eventually revealed, his words causing smiles to appear on both the host and announcer's face. "I won't go into details but two students at Shujin Academy were severely injured thanks to the actions of Kamoshida-san. Thanks to the actions of Mr Kamoshida, he caused a horrific incident to occur which involved two students, both were grievously injured," Akechi explained.

She felt Ryuji tense once more but strangely felt nothing from Ann.

"One of the students injured was my best friend," Akechi announced causing gasps to ring throughout the stage.

"Oh my, is he okay?" the male host asked in concern.

Akechi waved him off casually much to the confusion of most of the people in the room. "Oh, he's recovered, quite well, in fact. He's stubborn and irritating, however, for the length of time that I've known him I've come to terms with the fact that he has an extremely high pain threshold," Akechi spoke.

"Well it's good to hear your friend has recovered," the male host nodded but a look of befuddlement was clear on his face. "However, I noticed you said that your friend was harmed in an incident. Would this incident be the one that's been spread online-"

Akechi held up a hand cutting the host off. "My apologies," Akechi apologised with a charming smile, "But for the sake of the other victim involved, I'd like to keep any speculation of the incident quiet for their privacy. I will divulge, however, that is indeed the incident I am referring to," Akechi nodded.

It was the female's turn to gasp, but this time in excitement. "Does that mean your best friend is the young man that's been shown to be protecting a girl, both of them wearing Shujin Uniforms in the viral video that's been taking Japan by storm?" the female announcer asked with ill-concealed excitement.

"That… yes, that's indeed him," Akechi nodded, but for the slightest of moments, Rem felt like she could've seen an expression of pure suffering on his face.

Both the female announcer and the male host looked around into the audience. Rem felt a small amount of amusement bubble in her chest as Akira froze in front of her.

"Would he happen to be one of the Shujin students sitting in our audience?" the female announcer asked as she looked at Akechi who seemed to freeze, the face of someone accepting his fate spreading across his face as he seemed to almost sag into the sofa even while maintaining a perfect posture.

Goro sighed before nodding. "Yes, he is."

Rem watched as the female announcer continued her search, before her eyes settled in her direction, only falling just slightly short.

With the purpose of a woman on a mission, she stood up and walked off the stage, stopping just before Akira. "You're the boy from the recent viral video, aren't you? Would you like to join us and Akechi on stage?" she asked, but from the way she was asking, it didn't seem like Akira was having much of a choice.

And here's my latest fic recommendation.

MonkKind - The Future of Royal:
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