The chapter contains a minor out of context Royal/ninth Palace spoiler.

Goro stared at the document in front of him. Maybe there were some alternate kanji readings that would make it make more sense or something.

"All I want to know," he looked at Sae, "is what he did to get me released."

"This decision was made by me," she replied. "And let me set something straight:" She tapped the document in front of her. "This isn't an acquittal, and this isn't an absolution. This is just an admission that judging and sentencing you will bring more harm than good."

"Let's agree to disagree."

"Hey, you can always punch the first person outside the police station and get tried for that." Pause. "…it was a joke, do not do that."

"Not like I have any better plans now."

"Get out of here."

A police officer escorted him to the storage room, in which he got his personal belongings back - a wallet with 9556 yen and a train pass in it, a notepad, two pens, a multitool, a flat cap, a pair of gloves, a third, pairless one. The officer then led him outside and returned to the building, leaving Goro alone with his thoughts.

"Hey, kid."

He spun on his heel, ready to run, but relaxed slightly after noticing a familiar face. "Hello, Mr Sakura."

"'Sojiro' is still fine. How do you feel?"

Goro opened his mouth, and realized that he doesn't have a clue how to answer that question, so he just shrugged.

"I see. Come, we need to have a word." He gestured at Goro to follow him.

"About what?" the detective asked, marching besides him.

"Lots of stuff. I'll explain in the car."

The car, to Goro's surprise, was a vintage Porsche. He got in and placed himself in the back, as Sojiro sat in the driver's seat and rummaged through the glove compartment. He pulled out the detective's phone and handed it over to him.

"Alright, here's the deal," he said, as the car took off, "Niijima believes you're rehabilitatable, and didn't want you to end with a criminal record, 'cause that won't help reform you. At the same time she's not sure if you can be left to your own devices for now, so she asked me to keep an eye on you."

"This is news to me."

"It's an informal arrangement. Legally speaking, she just decided to not prosecute you and called it a day."

"And why did you agree to it? As far as you're concerned, I'm the guy that killed your daughter's mother and hurt everyone else in her circle of friends."

Sojiro briefly glanced at him in the rear view mirror. "All the Thieves vouch for you. You also saved my life, and then went and saved Japan with the others."

"Eh. You were in danger as a direct result of my actions, I shouldn't get brownie points for trying to fix that. And the Thieves would have saved it without me."

"I don't think you can blame yourself specifically considering how high this thing went," the barista countered. "Figuratively and literally. And what matters isn't if they would've killed that god without you - 'cause they would've, obviously. It's the fact that you went with them and did your part of your own free will."

"I guess…" Pause. "So, what happens now?"

"Do you have anywhere to go, accomodation-wise?"

"No, not really. I had a flat in Kawagoe, but cancelled my rent agreement before confronting the Thieves in Shido's Palace. I… didn't expect to need a place to stay by the end of the year."

"Kawagoe… It's in Saitama, isn't it?" the barista noticed. "The daily commute must have been a pain."

"It was far from convenient."

"You're going to like your new place then - I talked with Akira about letting you stay with him in the Leblanc attic, he doesn't mind."

"Of course he doesn't," Goro remarked. "How much is the rent?"

"Rent?"

"Like, how much do I have to pay for it?"

"…nothing."

Goro appeared shocked. "Oh."

"Do I also need to say that I'll pay for your food and other stuff? You know, like adults do with wards? And that I don't expect you to work that off for me in any way?"

"Alright, where's the catch?" he asked, defensively.

"Go to therapy." Pause. "No, seriously, I want you to seek professional help to deal with your baggage. Other than that, same deal as with Akira - behave, clean after yourself, go back to school. Does that count as a catch?"

"I don't think so, no."

"Then there are no catches. Feel free to speak up if something's bothering you though."

Sojiro glanced in the rear view mirror. Goro looked terse, waiting for the other shoe to drop. And yet, the barista felt confident for the first time in a while. Changing the hearts of criminals and confronting a god empowered by the Japanese people as a whole? That was above his pay grade. But taking care of a troubled teenager? He could do that, he had experience with it.

"You know," he went, to try and calm him down, "Akira and Futaba will be glad to see you back."

"D-did they move back to Yongen?"

"Yeah, and they brought your stuff from the hotel. After Shido's party got trashed in the elections, it seemed safe enough. Akira managed to return to class just in time for the exams." Sojiro clicked his tongue. "And what are your plans for school?"

"Finish high school, probably," he replied. "I think I will request an individualized learning program. I would rather avoid returning to normal classes, or to any sort of spotlight. After that… I don't know, a gap year? I never thought about colleges or majors, I didn't plan to live that long."

"Got it. No pressure from my end. I can't tell you what to do, I'm not your father."

"That… is a point in your favour, Sojiro."

The car was parked in Yongen-Jaya, not that far from Sojiro's house. The two got off and marched to the cafe. Goro continued to expect the absolute worst - a blow to the skull, a stab in the back, a bucket of pig's blood dumped on him, anything. Alas, nothing of the sort happened. The barista unlocked the door and handed him the key. "It's yours, I made a copy on my way to the police station. Don't stay out too late."

The two entered. Futaba was waiting inside, sitting in one of the booths with her laptop. "Rootkit!" she waved.

"Hello." He sat down opposite her, as Sojiro marched to the sink to finish cleaning some leftover dishes. "You'll need to tolerate my presence some more."

"I know, dad asked me if I'm fine with it." She smiled. "I am, eff-eye-why. Welcome to your new spawn point."

Goro averted her gaze. "Look, I know we're… on speaking terms, but I still think you're too happy about this."

"Come on, Rootkit. You've got more issues than a Bethesda bug tracker, but underneath all that, you're a swell guy." The detective predictably winced, and the geek's smirk turned mischievous. "Or maybe I'm getting my vengeance from you squirming at every mildly affectionate remark sent to you, mwehehe…"

"Futaba, we talked about this," Sojiro spoke up.

"Come on, dad, that's just friendly ribbing. He knows that, right, Rootkit?"

Goro shot her a glare in return. "I will… tangle up all your computer cables."

She scowled. "Try it and I will end you."

A gleam appeared in his eye. "What makes you think I fear endings, Oracle?"

The barista just looked at them, concealing his mild bemusement.

"This is just banter on my end," Goro reassured him. "Futaba's a ray of sunshine and anyone that hurts her will be brought down to their knees."

"Actually, I'm more of a focused laser beam."

He cracked a shy smile. "Of course you are."

Sojiro, reassured, returned to the dishes. The detective, for the first time that day, felt, for lack of a better word, safe. It lasted for all of two minutes, until the door to the cafe was slammed open and Akira entered, talking to a girl the detective didn't recognize.

"…and a journo friend of mine is looking for that woman, so…" He trailed off, as he noticed the detective in the cafe. After a split second of surprise, he grinned. "Goro! I thought they'll release you tomorrow!"

"Sojiro told you, Friday the twenty-third!" Morgana poked his head from the sports bag.

"And today's twenty-third?" He reached for his phone to check. "Jeez, I've lost track of time this month."

The detective got up and turned to the new face - a girl in Shujin uniform, with long crimson hair tied behind her head with a ribbon. "I don't believe we've met." He outstretched his hand. "Goro Akechi, soon-to-be-former-celebrity and soon-to-be-Akira's-roommate."

The girl just looked at him. "Didn't you get senpai arrested a month ago?"

The detective glanced at Akira, who commented "She knows that I'm- I was a PT, but doesn't know any details."

"Ah." He looked back at her. "Then yes. It was a mistake for which I will never atone." Akira ahemed and he realized the ambiguity. "I mean, I will try to, but considering what he went through because of me, it's a tall order."

"I swear, he's a decent guy once you get to know him," the brunette reassured her.

"If you say so…" Unsurely, the girl grabbed Goro's hand and squeezed it. "Sumire Yoshizawa. You were on my dad's talk show."

"I was about to ask if the last name is a coincidence."

They released each other and, after a brief awkward pause, the girl asked "So, you're rooming with senpai?"

"As of today, yes."

"If I can ask… how did that happen?"

"That's…" Goro's mind raced to come up with an innocuous enough answer, "that's a long story," he gestured at the brunette, "but it boils down to Akira over here being a gosh-dang Samaritan."

Sumire smiled. "Yeah, tell me about it."

After another awkward pause, Goro inched towards the staircase. "I think I'm going to go upstairs, unpack some stuff. It was a pleasure to meet you, Yoshizawa."

He ran up the attic, tripped on the last step and fell flat on his face. He picked himself up and scanned the surroundings. Everything was in the same place as last time - a desk, a bed, a chair between them, some shelves holding assorted odds and ends, a CRT TV with a DVD player and a retro console, a heater, and a couch. He sat on the last one, and just idly stared at the ceiling for some time, trying to figure out how he felt about all this.

"What was the line, 'criminal trash living in an attic'?"

He turned to notice Akira marching upstairs, carrying two mugs in his hands. "I admit, it was uncalled for. Your attic is pretty cozy."

"I promised coffee and curry and then I never made you coffee," he smiled, putting one of them near the TV stand and sitting next to him. "Sumire excused herself and left. Hey, now that I'm not a wanted man, I can spend time with her tomorrow."

Goro took a sip of his coffee. It was warm and slightly bitter, but not unpleasantly so.

"Ya know, Sojiro made it clear I'm not allowed to date you, but he never said anything about casual hook-ups."

The only reason why that wasn't met with a spit-take was because the detective needed a moment to guess what 'hook-up' means. "I'm asexual."

"Oh." Beat. "…well, we have a Joker, an ace and a Queen, we're 51 cards short of a deck." He chuckled at his own bad joke, as Goro rolled his eyes. "Emergency change of topic: you're a free man now. How does that make you feel?"

Another sip of coffee. "You know, a part of me is still convinced that I haven't earned it. That I will never be able to justify letting myself live."

"That's a load of-"

"Let me finish the thought, please." He put the mug aside. "I could have changed sides in November and helped you fake your death, but I didn't. I could have surrendered in the Engine Room and taken Shido down alongside you, but I didn't. And now, in spite of all that, I get a third opportunity to get my shit together. I don't care if it's unearned, I'm not going to repeat that mistake again."

"That's the spirit!" Akira cheered him on.

The detective pulled out a notepad and a pen clicked in his hands. "There are a lot of things I need to do. Get my affairs in order at school, call my former landlord and ask if he didn't throw away my things yet, look for a therapist…"

"And a separate bed."

He thought about it for a moment. "I can sleep on the couch for now. Do you have any spare duvets?"

"I'll go downstairs and ask Sojiro."

"Goro!"

He opened his eyes, breathing heavily. He was curled up on the couch in the Leblanc attic, it was the middle of the night, and the one thing visible in the darkness was a pair of blue cat eyes, hovering above him.

"What happened?"

"You had a nightmare," Morgana explained. "You were tossing and turning, muttering that you've gotta 'find the casings' because 'he'll go spare again' or something."

"Oh, that one. Sorry for waking you up."

"No worries. Is everything alright?"

The detective thought about the answer for a moment, before carefully reaching for where he thought the cat's head might be and scratching him behind his ear. He got a satisfied purr in response.

"Yes," he said. "Everything's alright now."

Aaaaand that's all he wrote.

Will there be a sequel? Maybe. I tried to make the ending stand alone on its own, but Sumire is obviously a sequel hook. I have ideas for what to do with the Royal Trio, but I barely started the ninth Palace and I'm scared that any more exposure to canon post-reveal Akechi will make me go back and change the ending to "and then he cut himself on his own edge and there was much rejoicing".

[edit: WELL THERE IS NOW! It's called Zwrotnica Królewska (no points for guessing what 'królewska' means in Polish) and you can find it on my profile]

Special thanks to:

- Dusk, for proofreading and encouragement

- Wren, for proofreading, encouragement, drawing a cover for this thing and a sketch of Akechi incognito (that I can't link here :c)

- Funny, for drawing Rootkit's outfit and for one more thing that will come soon :3

- and you, for sticking around long enough to read this author's note