Finally a new chapter. I tried to make this one bigger. Not to mention we're diving more into the plot so I'm excited now. I own nothing, Monika does.

The moment Akechi opened the door to his apartment, Sayori collapsed in exhaustion. Akechi casually stepped around her and put the two bags he was carrying on the kitchen table. Sayori got back on her feet and picked up the many bags she had been carrying. She was starting to question why she had decided to carry so many when Akechi had offered to help. She breathed a sigh of relief before she looked down and started to pout. The bags had torn, spilling their contents all over the floor.

"I made a mess on your floor. I'm sorry, Akechi." She mumbled, bending down to pick the mess up. She felt like cursing when she slipped on a sock and went tumbling to the floor. Instead of trying to get up, she started stuffing the different items in a bag from her spot on the floor. A sudden laugh broke her out of her concentration.

"Sayori, you…"Akechi continued to chuckle as he pointed to his head. Sayori blinked twice before moving her hand to her own head. A sock was stuck to her bow. She pulled the garment off of her head. It was frilly and pink, with orange polka dots that looked more and more ridiculous to Sayori the longer she looked at it.

Soon enough they were both laughing. Sayori had to admit, it was nice to be able to have something to laugh at. Just another mess they had to deal with together. As Akechi bent over to help, Sayori hoped that they could get through this investigation the same way they were dealing with the mess at their feet; without a rain cloud in sight.

This time Akechi insisted on carrying the bags to the table. They both knew that would probably be for the best anyway, but now they had a new problem. Where were they going to put this stuff? Before Sayori could ask about that, Akechi's phone started blaring loudly.

"It's just an alarm. I have something important I need to attend to. You should take a shower. I'll get dinner ready when I return," Akechi said. He grimaced as he put his phone back into his pocket. Time had gone too fast. He didn't want to know what would happen if he was late for the job.

Akechi could only feel relief as Sayori gave a small smile and a nod, disappearing into the bathroom. He grabbed his jacket and briefcase. It was a nice day to ride his bike, he decided. After setting out a few things out for Sayori, he finally left the apartment. Taking a few deep breaths to quell the newfound guilt settling in his mind, he took out his phone. With only a press of a button, and a few spoken words, Akechi disappeared.

Sayori stepped out of the bathroom, sporting a new pink nightgown and a bright smile. While he was gone, she would claim the couch for herself so he could sleep in his own bed. But first she figured she would need to find a place to put her stuff. As she started thinking of places to put them, her foot slammed into a large metal trunk by the couch.

"Huh? Why is this here?" Sayori pulled the heavy trunk towards herself. A note fell on her lap. She picked it up and quietly read it.

"Sayori,

you can use this trunk to put your things away. I hope it's big enough, and that it's not too much to ask that you pack while I'm gone. I forgot to mention, but we have something important to discuss when I get back.

Akechi"

"He really thought this through," Sayori mumbled to herself. She wondered what they needed to talk about as she shoved her things haphazardly into the trunk and pushed it into a hall closet. She was a lot less likely to trip over it now.

That done, she decided to watch some TV to pass the time until Akechi returned home. She fiddled with the remote for a few seconds before switching on the news channel. A part of her wondered if she would one day be on the news. Not only was she probably labelled as a missing person to her friends and family at this point, but she was also living under the roof of a detective. A popular detective too, if Sayori had been correct in assuming the squealing girls from their shopping trip were directing their attention towards her roommate.

Her silent musings were immediately shattered when the subway on the screen violently crashed. Sayori leapt back and nearly fell off the couch in shock. She quickly grabbed the remote and turned the volume up. Her whole body trembled as she listened to the reporter.

"...According to the police, the engineer's life was not in danger despite his many injuries. After questioning, even he could not explain why he-"

"You shouldn't be watching something like this so late."

This time Sayori really did fall off the couch. When she looked up, she found Akechi staring down at her with a grim expression, mixed with something Sayori couldn't quite place. Akechi offered her a hand up. She sheepishly accepted and was pulled back into a sitting position on the couch. Akechi took a seat next to her and let out a long, tired sigh. They both sat in silence. Both of their minds were drifting to very different places.

"We were on the subway just this afternoon..." Sayori whispered, her face pallid with shock. Akechi could understand her fear. This only proved to make the queasy feeling he got after these hits even worse. He bit it down. This wasn't his fault. At least not entirely. There was one person even guiltier than he was.

He was responsible for all of the misery in Akechi's life that had made him so desperate for revenge that he would stoop to this low. There was no turning back either. The path to his vengeance was already paved in blood. Akechi would see this plan through to the end, even if it killed him. A temporary friendship with a girl who would have to leave his life anyway would never change that.

Akechi reached for his suitcase as he consolingly patted the frightened girl on the shoulder. He felt too awkward and guilty to do much else. He sorted through the case until he found what he was looking for. He set a brown paper bag and a black bundle of cloth in front of Sayori.

"There's sushi in the bag. You can eat while I discuss our living plans," he said as he pushed the bag towards Sayori. She nodded numbly, sorting through the bag until she had a good pile of sushi infront of her. She looked at Akechi expectantly. He cleared his throat and grabbed the bundle.

"I think it's time for you to start going to school," Akechi explained as calmly as possible. While he would have liked to give her more time to recuperate, he had work and school himself. He couldn't trust Sayori to stay in the house by herself and not find something incriminating that would put her life at risk.

He unrolled the bundle Sae had given him less than fifteen minutes ago. He could only hope that Makoto's hand-me-downs would fit. While Sayori studied her new school uniform, Akechi explained the rest of his plan. The change of subject was welcomed by both of them. They spent an hour discussing and compromising the strictures Sayori now had. Akechi would never admit how relieved he felt to have his bed back when Sayori demanded to take the couch.

The uniform was a bit too tight around the chest.

These were most of the thoughts Sayori had as she walked the streets towards her new school. Not that she would be voicing them anytime soon. Akechi had done too much for her already for her to complain right now. Not to mention, the thought of voicing these concerns to Akechi, someone who was in fact a few months younger than her, made her turn red with embarrassment.

And as obscure as it was, Sayori couldn't help but think of Natsuki and Yuri whenever the thought came up. She giggled at the memory of breaking their fight up only about a week before. The giggle morphed into a sad sigh. A part of her wondered if any of them were worried about her. It pained her to think that she could be causing panic with her friends as she leisurely strolled towards school. Sayori decided to quicken her pace.

Shujin Academy gave Sayori a troubling feeling. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she couldn't really remember what her old school looked like. Swallowing the sadness that came with this revelation, Sayori walked up the stairs just as the school bell rang.

Please R&R. We will be back to our normal schedule from now on