Saturday, 9th April 20xx
Masayoshi Shido was in a particular good mood.
And that was never, ever, a good sign.
Especially when that good mood included a call from him, expecting to get another name and case with a barking order to finish the job, but then to receive an invite for a meeting. There was someone Shido wanted to introduce to him.
The whole idea was so incredibly ridiculous and idiotic that Goro Akechi had to mentally prepare himself before he entered the diet building. Every step of his was carefully timed, fitting the rhythm of a song he had just heard this morning while grabbing a quick coffee before school.
He had made sure that his hands didn't smell like gunpowder anymore or the dark circles under his eyes vanished. It had indeed been a very long night and he could only hopelessly wish that the conductor had a couple of free days left. Or else...
Goro Akechi rose his shoulders and quietly nodded to one of Shido's loyal lapdogs. To see his presence in the Diet building was an occasion incredibly rare to witness. Normally, the contact they both held was done over phones – the majority of hackers already worked for Shido and they would never even dare to spy his possessions about possible information, but he remained suspicious.
But when it happened and Goro already had to shudder at the sole thought, it became a reason they both quickly thought off. Since Masayoshi Shido was a man known to many organizations who also did charity to uphold their social standing, like nearly every politician this rotten country had to offer, he was the man who was responsible for his scholarship. With his talents, grades and hard achieved efforts, to gain one was nothing but surprising. The few teachers back in Middle School who viewed him as a student and not as a bastard child would also tell him that.
He entered the lift and slowly ascended into the highest floor. The majority of the offices were empty, only three were filled – the one of the prime minister, then his secretary and finally Shido's own personal space. To consider this blasphemy was a truth he shouldn't even try to deduct and so, he only gulped it down, stepping out of the lift with another rhythm than this morning and approached the door.
With every step that he took to get closer, the tingle in his spine intensified. He recalled the words in his head when he had received the call.
"Get over here, quick. There is someone I want you to meet. ."
A new file. A new case. A new person he needed to eradicate for him. It wasn't the first time and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
Goro Akechi rose his hand and knocked against the door. Just short, not too many and not to long. Shido didn't like it, especially when he was busy. If he had time, he would listen and answer immediately.
"Who's there?," came the growl as soon as he expected and Goro took a final breath before putting on his mask once again. Now, he was the assassin. The one who wanted to see Shido's dream come true.
"It's Akechi, sir. You've called for me."
"Come in."
He entered the lion's territory, his ruling seat of his beginning dynasty and quickly closed the door behind him. There were only a few wagging tongues ready to spread rumors about his visits to him, but that didn't matter. "Good day, Mister Shido."
"Akechi."
Those visits were usually treated as a king's audience – the servant appeared before his monarch, bow his head in reverence and respect and would only speak when he was spoken to. The monarch meanwhile remained to sit on his throne. Why should a holy being, a king, rise from his seat of power to speak to a lowlife being? To mention that this unworthy creature was his own flesh, in fact carrying the same blood, was something that shouldn't be mentioned.
But before Goro could bite his own tongue and feel the familiar pain stung through his nerves, he witnessed a crucial difference.
First, Masaoyshi Shido ascended from his seat.
Second, they weren't alone.
Third, a woman unknown to him sat on the couch. A young one, probably around his age.
All these components resulted in a picture that was absolutely not like Shido would want it. The routine was always the same: he'd stay in his chair and bark at him with furious orders. "I hope there is nothing else I must say"; "I know we are on the same page, right, Akechi?"; "You have your orders. I am sure you are aware of what will happen if you disappoint me."
But now?
"Akechi." Shido rounded his desk, stepping close to the young woman sitting on the couch and putting a hand on her shoulder. "There is someone I want you to meet."
Oh. Wasn't that kind of sentence the perfect invitation for his young and scar littered mind to imagine and start to daydream?
Goro hadn't even realized his fists were balled. But the sharp narrow of Shido's eyes was enough to remind him and so, he forcibly relaxed his posture and risked a look at the girl.
Long hair that hung down in black curls, reaching the middle of her chest. It reminded him of black silk, shining faintly in the ceiling light. High and sharp cheekbones, a small nose, full lips, big eyes, orbs painted in gray. Wearing a dark blue blouse tucked into black slacks. Her hands were folded in her lap, an exwpensive watch adorned with silver on her right wrist. A silver bracelet on her other wrist. A long necklace glittering like stars in the right angle.
She looked like a high class lady. Someone who knew how to dress in order. Maybe the daughter of a high ranked politician. Someone who stood in Shido's favor and hadn't yet decided to be discarded by him.
All of those things were nice and good. Absolutely fine. But there was still one thing that was fishy: why was she present? What was she doing here? Shido was a man of discretion; he never liked noisy people and that was something Goro had quickly learned when he had been tasked to deal with a reporter who had just risen her voice a little bit louder than the rest.
But her? The girl continued to look into space. Only when his hand met her shoulder, he watched how her entire posture tensed at a moment's notice: shoulders going straight, the tip of her fingernails burying in the expensive texture of her slacks, chest going forward, feet clicking together in one fell motion. The little gasp she let pass through her lips spoke another thing.
"This is Akira Kurusu."
That name didn't ring any kind of bell. There was no ally of Shido with the same name. And so, with creeping pace and much pain accompanying him, he realized who this was. Although the amount of pressure his lapdogs had to endure, they also weren't resistant against rumors. At first, Goro discarded it as a rumor. Now, he believed it otherwise.
Two months ago, he had listened to a story how Shido returned from one of his trips for the election like a new man. His speeches were even more emotional, his efforts were stronger and he just seemed... more content. Of course, Goro had first stashed it away. Masayoshi Shido and the word 'content' in the same sentence? What kind of joke was this supposed to be.
But the reason why sat rigth in front of him. The girl rose her head and looked right at him. With her orbs, she cut a clear path through his own and he looked deeply into her soul.
"I've heard there was a woman at Mister Shido's side now..."
The monstrosity of the man before him had just reached a new peak. And the girl? Features stricken by fear and uncertainty, her lips pressed to a thin line and the sound of the high quality fabric bunching under her fingertips haunted his ears.
He stared at her, wordlessly. Shido's eyes narrowed for the tiniest amount of space and he quickly nodded to the young woman, even bowed to her, although with every centimeter that he lowered his head and back, he felt another tingle crawl up his spine. "A pleasure to meet you."
A pause. A silent moment for his moments to race in a competition and his anger to flow through his veins. "Likewise." Her voice was high and thin. She didn't even look at him.
"Akira is my partner." One stab.
His mother appeared right in front of his eyes. A silhouette of a woman once considered pretty. Time and cruelty had taken that beauty away.
"She lives with me now." Another one.
"Mooom?," He had whispered once. His hair was in disarray, standing up in every direction, still clad in his pajamas. They were one of the few he owned and they were already starting to smell. The other two were lying in the laundry basket and it wasn't full enough yet. "I can't sleep. Can I lie with you?"
To maintain his face was probably in similar difficulty to the one he had possessed back during their first meeting. Now, the act had become second nature to him. But there were still cracks that could break him.
He really needed to practice more.
"She will visit Shujin's Academy from Monday on. You will accompany her tomorrow to her introduction. I personally can't make it due to an appointment with the Prime Minister."
To watch how Shido's hand wandered from her shoulder to her neck, sweeping a part of her black curls away from her shoulder and let his fingers skim over the creamy white skin forced another shot of bile up his throat. "Is that understood?"
A third stab. Not for very long anymore. Time was limited and Masayoshi Shido's fucking time would also come to a timely end.
"Yes sir."
"Good."
The girl that remained sitting shivered.
"Since I have accepted Akira as the woman by side," he said, his chest boasting with pride and who would have thought that a man like Masayoshi Shido could show such simple and childish emotions, "You will also start to listen to her wishes. Whatever she asks of you, make it true or right." His hand wandered back to her shoulder and Goro watched with sickening satisfaction how a small sigh of relief left her lips, invisible to Shido, obvious to him. "View it as an extension of our deal. You won't say no." Behind his yellow-colored sunglasses, his eyes were those of a predator. "Right?"
He wished to say 'of course'. He wished to say obviously. But he couldn't. Not in the first second, not in a split of a moment where the words passed his lips like water.
The image of his mother staring at his soul made him hesitate. A fatal mistake.,
"Akechi."
"Yes, sir. Whatever you wish for."
His face filled with mistrust and suspicion stayed hard as stone. Goro Akechi could only watch in wrath and trembling anger how it changed when he looked down at the black haired girl. To consider thinking that Shido had any kind of expression that betrayed 'softness' was another curse that he shouldn't have spoken aloud, but it was the closest word he could think off when this grimace took place on his face.
"Good."
This time, his hand lay on the side of her head. Playing with the tip of her curls, the girl gulped and closed her eyes. "If there is something going on in Shujin Academy, tell me."
It was a plea. But also a command. He spoke to his 'partner', but couldn't cut away his demanding tone. Like this, it was assured that he would soon discard her because she didn't seem interesting enough.
Goro lay another look on her. Scanned her from top to toe. And even though her make-up was perfect to conceal any kind of abuse, her entire appearance speaking of one of high class and trained etiquette, she seemed... normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Why Shido chose a girl like him to be by his side and damned her to a devastating fate, he couldn't get.
But he understood something very in particular. His mother stood right behind them, her eyes sunken in, her brown hair shaggy and frizzy. Wearing nothing but one of her oldest dresses for "special occasions", she looked like the ghost she was before swallowing the pills. Before he found her lying in their living/bed room. Before his entire life was ripped apart by forcing the root out of the earth and cutting it off from all nutrients.
She looked at Akira with bile in her eyes. Poison in her bloodshot orbs. Hatred in her veins. Jealousy in her heart.
Goro Akechi followed his mother's stare. Akira Kurusu and him exchanged glances. Shido's blabbering in the background was erased.
She looked at him in a cry for help. Her eyes pleading. Her gray eyes weren't lost yet – they still showed that glimmer of hope. She wasn't Shido's right now.
His mother's stare grew in intensity.
Goro Akechi looked away.
According to Wakaba Isshiki's cognitive research, a palace was a manifestation of one's own view of everything around him. Based on his wishes, dreams, desires, fears and standing. All that defined a human being in a human society was unified in his own cognition.
A palace was perfect to gain information. If there was anything he needed to know about Shido, he could find it inside his palace. Just after he had left the Diet building with a repetition of obeying his request and playing the bodyguard for his partner – his partner – his destination was clear.
Akira Kurusu. The name was a mouthful and somehow not really fitting for a girl like her, but it wasn't Goro Akechi's business. Not at all. Absolutely not. He shouldn't even care about that girl. If Shido suddenly had the feverish idea to kidnap a girl in his age and claim her as his own, then what was he supposed to do about that?
Nothing. Easy as that.
But curiosity killed the cat. And denial may be one of his strongest fortes, this was a case he just couldn't ignore. The same thing that was cursed in his childhood and blessed in his high school years became the leading ticket to activate the nav on his phone.
The sea was sloshing underneath the ship. The arc, as he had once called it, was continuing to ride through the masses of water, sloshing on the side. It was the only sound in this vast space of emptiness and the usual feeling of disgust climbed up his throat.
Even though the entire country may sink and fall, he alone would survive. A man thinking of himself to stand at the top of the world; thinking that he had the right to choose who survived.
Loki's presence fueled his anger. And even Robin Hood wasn't the one to hold him back.
Clad in his princely disguise, he entered.
"Have you heard about Mister Shido's new woman?"
He searched the entire ship. From the Central Hall over to the restaurant, to the swimming pool, even the billiard room. All those influential people who held the keycards to the core of this place. The place where he would get elected with only the supporters by his side.
The main assembly hall was his throne room and Shido was only rubbing his hands until he could finally ascend it.
But there were absolutely no information about Kurusu. None at all. Not even a whisper. Until a lady in the central hall suddenly giggled over her glass of champagne.
"Mister Shido has finally decided on a woman?"
"I've heard so! Very young, but very classy. A girl from a city called 'Sumaru City', the daughter of a business man."
"She certainly sounds like a fitting woman for him. There were so many voices speaking their doubts about him. To be in that age and not be married..."
"Oh hush! A man like him needs someone worthy to stand by his side! Someone who can stand up to his own greatness!"
His heart was frozen cold. His blood instead was liquid fire.
"Mooom?," he had asked once his mother. She sat like usual in their living/bedroom, her arms folded on the table and her head buried in them. He tried to be quiet and not disturb her – she had a really bad headache and she taught him to leave her alone when she was like this. The pack of pills was half empty. She bought in three days ago. "Can I ask you something?"
His mother only moved in the slightest. Her silent cue for him to continue.
"Where's my dad?," he had asked, his little hands grabbing the hem of his shirt and playing with the loose threads coming out of the fabric. "Every other child in my class has one, but I don't. Why don't I have one? Where is he?"
His mom stayed still for the first few moments. And Goro had thought that she had perhaps fallen asleep. Maybe she didn't even hear his question and he could retreat, leave her alone. It was the only thing he did when he saw her like that and many times, it felt like it was the only thing that helped her to get better. And Goro just wanted his mom to be happy.
But she heard him. She lifted her head slightly, looked over her shoulder and he looked into the same red colored ones as his. The same brown hair, the curve of her jaw, even their earshape was identical. He was her carbon copy.
"Well, I guess his father can be quiet happy about it. At least no one would suspect that he is his with those looks of yours. Must be impossible to foist this one on any man."
His mother had broke down crying. She didn't even mutter. She didn't say anything. Just her sobs. Goro stayed still on the spot, unable to carry any limbs.
One evening later, she killed herself.
"Mister Shido is the only one to get this country into the right direction. And if he truly has found a woman he wishes to have on his side and to share his life with, what is there to say? The future of our country is assured and we have absolutely no need to worry about anything."
"I must say, I've always expected him to stay true to his ideal of being a man for the citizens. To see him happy and in love is a sight that is truly heartwarming."
"The young lady must truly be a lucky girl."
His mother stood in front of him. Her eyes bloodshot, the red tangling with white, deep bags under her lids. Her brown hair frizzy and pointing into every direction, her lips bruised. The thin lace she wore for work was torn and hand prints were visible on her arms and hips.
That night, she had reached for his hands. One of the few times she actually did that. "I'm sorry, Goro," she had whispered, sobs mingling in her voice. "I'm so sorry."
"For what, mom?"
"You are such a smart boy." And she cupped his cheeks while saying that. She smelled like perfume, sake and something else he couldn't identify. Something white and creamy was visible under the lone lamp over their heads. "You are so smart and there is absolutely nothing I can grant you." Her thumbs brushed over his cheekbones, under his eyelids and he could only stare in wonder.
It had been ages since she last showed any kind of wish to speak with him. To actually touch him from her side was a new one too.
"I wish I could give you the things he could have given you." A sniff, snot already running out of her nose and with a sneeze, her bare thighs were covered in the green substance. "A stable home. A warm meal on the table. An education fitting for a boy like you. A pathway into a safe future. Your own home. Your own bedroom. Your own bed." She had lowered her head. "But instead, I can't give you anything. You deserve far better than me, my boy."
Another round of sobs. "You are the only thing that binds me to this horrible world. Without you, there would be nothing I had. You are my everything."
"You don't need to give me anything, mom," he replied every time he remembered. "I already have all I need."
Her red eyes, the same color as his, widened. Her bottom lip trembled. And Goro, back then in his naive self, thought that if his father didn't want his momma to be there for him, then he really missed out on something.
"I have you. We've got each other." And he always smiled when he said that. "Right?"
Years later, he understood why she took her life.
Robin paid his respect by letting out a sound of pity. Loki instead showed his quiet and rising anger without any qualm.
From the corner of his eyes, the prince saw a silhouette. A white dress. Long black hair. But when he blinked and looked to the direction, nothing was there.
He couldn't find anything of Akira Kurusu in his palace. It was time for him to go. Masayoshi Shido was a calculating man.
Goro gave the man two weeks tops to realize his mistake.