I own nothing. Monika does.

Akechi awoke the next morning to his phone ringing. But I don't go to work today, he thought to himself, confused. He reached out and grabbed his phone. Unfortunately, it was not an alarm that had woken him up but a missed call from the last person he wanted to talk to, Especially at six in the morning. Groaning, he got up from the couch, knowing he had to call back.

He checked his bedroom and was glad to find Sayori sleeping peacefully. Good, she won't interfere. He stepped into the bathroom on the opposite side of the apartment, locking the door for good measure. Sighing, he tapped the call button.

An hour later Akechi stomped out of the room. It was sure to be a complicated day. He rubbed his forehead in exasperation. Let's get this bullshit over with, then I can get focused on what's really important again. He peeked into the bedroom. Sayori would probably wake up soon, but for now she was soundly asleep. Akechi was glad he had gone grocery shopping only a couple of days before. For the first time, he would have to make breakfast for someone other than himself.

He stumbled into the kitchen, pausing to grab an audio recorder from his jacket pocket. It would be best if he asked her questions as soon as possible. Hopefully her amnesia wasn't too severe and he could have her back where she needed to be before the weekend ended. He slipped on an apron over his night clothes and began his first task of the day.

Akechi looked up from his work to see Sayori making her way to the kitchen. She rubbed at her eyes. Akechi wondered if she had smelled the meal all the way from his bedroom.

"Pancakes…" she mumbled in a zombie-like state.

"Good morning, Sayori," Akechi said with a smile as he prepared the plates. Sayori managed a tired smile in return before she grabbed a plate and took a seat.

The detective sat down across from her. Akechi began contemplating how he should bring up the topic of her memories, when he noticed something. "Hey, don't scratch your bandages." The girl lowered her hand and blushed. She mumbled an apology before she began to stuff her face.

At least I broke the ice, Akechi thought. "Sayori, I was thinking after breakfast you could tell me what you remember from the last few days. Anything you think of that might help you get home."

He was beginning to wonder if it he had been too blunt with his question when Sayori finally answered. "Sure, I'll tell you all of the important things I remember from the last few days."

Akechi smiled. They would be making progress. Things were going just as planned.

"And then I asked my friend if he would start walking home with the other girls. I don't remember exactly what he said, but I know I was really sad when he answered. So anyway…"

Akechi checked his watch. Three hours had gone by and he had heard nothing sounding remotely suspicious, or important for that matter. This was getting tiresome. "OK, Sayori. This is all really interesting… But could you try to remember any of the bigger things before you came here?" The only thing he had been able to confirm was that she was depressed, but it didn't take a genius to figure that out.

He looked up and noticed Sayori looked upset. "But, I have been telling you the bigger things."

Sayori looked thoughtful for a moment. "One of the last things I remember was the day before the festival. My friend was having fun with the other club members. But even though he was doing what I wanted him to do, I still felt sad. He hugged me, but that didn't even help." She sniffled a little bit and looked away.

Akechi sighed. Sympathy and frustration were warring inside him. He turned off the voice recorder, weighing the few options he had. Considering the circumstances, it was clear that sharing his apartment was going to be a long term investment. But the glaring problem was that he wasn't prepared to have a roommate. Sayori couldn't keep wearing his clothes.

Luckily, he knew somebody with experience in this sort of thing.

"Hey, Sae." Akechi said casually into the phone. "I have something important I need to ask you." This is going to be so awkward.

Sae sighed. "Make it quick. I'm busy right now."

There is no way to make this not sound creepy. Akechi prepared himself. "So you live with Makoto, correct? What would you say children her age like to do?"

There was a long pause.

"Why do you ask?" came Sae's confused reply. Drowning in awkwardness, Akechi glanced behind him to see Sayori sulking in the main room. It would probably be best to rip it off like a bandage. His day wasn't over yet, afterall.

"I kind of… have a roommate now. And I need to make sure she doesn't accidentally die on my watch." Akechi decided not to go into too much detail. He had a feeling it would only make things worse. He checked his watch again. He only had a couple of hours left before the job.

"What have you gotten yourself into?" Sae finally replied. "And don't try to sugar coat things either. It's annoying and I don't have time for it."

You're telling me, Akechi thought. He sighed. Sae was going to find out sooner or later. She might even be able to help him solve this dilemma too. Sucking up his pride, he gave her the quickest summary he could.

"Shouldn't you turn her over to Protective Services that specialize in this type of thing?"

Images flashed in his mind. Akechi grit his teeth. "Let's just say I don't trust them to do a single thing for her. Call it past experience." He tapped his foot impatiently. "Listen, I have to go. Thanks anyways." He hung up without waiting for a reply.

The detective continued to brood for a few moments. I'll do this myself. I don't need them for this. A tap on the shoulder broke him out of his thoughts. Akechi turned around to face Sayori, who wore a somber expression on her face.

"I want to apologize for being such a burden. This can't be easy for you and I'm only wasting your time and making things harder." Sayori blinked away tears.\, not meeting his eyes.

Any anger Goro had seemed to evaporate.

"Don't scratch the bandages," he said with a lowered voice, pretending that he hadn't been close to throwing a chair out the window earlier. Sayori lowered her hands as he continued speaking.

"It seems that this is going to be a much longer process than I thought. I propose that we take this evening to discuss what we should do now," Akechi explained. "But first, we need to go shopping," he finished with a small smile.

Please R&R