Ohya leans back in her chair, twirling her pen between her fingers. "Uh-huh," she says, into her phone. "That's right."

"I don't suppose," the voice on the other end says, "that you would be willing to share what you have on Kaneshiro?"

Her sharp cackle draws some eyes from her fellows, sequestered as they are, at their desks. "Detective Kagawa, that would be telling."

"Yes it would," the man replies, then sighs. "You know, I find it interesting."

"Which part?"

"That you're interested in Junya Kaneshiro after all this time, and that you seem to be the go-to reporter for things connected to the Phantom Thieves."

Ohya doesn't let her smile slip, even though she knows he can't see it. "I'm good at my job, Detective."

"So am I," Kagawa tells her. "Maybe we should get together. Pick each other's brain. Be good at our jobs together."

"Is that your version of a pickup line?"

Another sigh. It delights her that she can still frustrate people so. "No, it's an olive branch. You're looking into a dangerous individual. I have information on said dangerous individual. Maybe you'd find it helpful. Maybe you wouldn't. Meanwhile, I wouldn't mind a bit more information on the Phantom Thieves. You seem like someone with an inside source."

Did Akira think of this? Ohya wonders. When he had that Makoto girl give this guy my name? She can't tell. "If you expect me to reveal my sources, then I-"

"Nothing like that," Kagawa counters. "But maybe you could point a finger in a certain direction. I could do the same."

"Let me think about it," she says. "I'll get back to you. Anything else you need? My address? Horoscope sign?"

"You're a very funny person, Ichiko Ohya." She can hear the smile in his own voice.

"So they tell me." She hangs up. She sets the phone down. I need a drink. Rather than focus on that thought, she zeroes in on the pen in her hand. She tries to set her brain off on another of its spit-balling sessions.

Detective Hideotoshi Kagawa, she thinks. Once Akira had given her his name, she'd done some digging. He's a moderately decorated man. Recently, according to her sources, he became involved in the apparent murder-suicide of Rin Sugimura and his driver. That bothered her for some reason. She has been at this job long enough to trust her gut, so she pokes at the feeling a bit more.

What was it that bothered her? Was it the Rin Sugimura case? She'd read some article on it. A car had driven into the Tokyo Bay. The date had been...

She stops.

Wait one goddamn minute.

She dials a contact in her phone. Has a simple conversation. The information she requests isn't something her person on the inside has any problem with providing.

Oh shit, Ohya thinks. She thanks her contact and hangs up.

The investigation into Rin Sugiumura's death was proceeding, according to her source. Lately, the police were looking into a building near Tokyo Bay that they believed Rin Sugimura had been at before his death. Forensic analysts were apparently searching for something.

That's that had bothered her. The date of Rin Sugimura's death, and the location. She writes the address down. Then, she pulls up Akira's hacked GPS. She'd told herself to keep an eye on it, but her recent problems had taken precedent.

She shakes her head clear. Focus! She scrolls through all his previous movements. She has already done this, but hadn't noticed anything overly strange. He went to school. Shibuya. Shinjuku.

But.

There it was.

On the day Rin Sugimura died, Akira Kurusu's GPS logged him in the immediate vicinity of the building the police were now investigating. Then, his GPS had vanished and had only switched on a full day later, all the way back in Shibuya.

Oh, fuck, she thinks. Oh, fuck. Akira, what the fuck?

She stands up and sweeps her head around the office, suddenly paranoid of all the numerous reporters sitting near her. It wasn't as if they could read her thoughts. She scowls at them regardless, and drops back into her seat.

Calm down. Think. Akira was in the vicinity of the building Rin Sugimura visited before his death. Hideotoshi Kagawa is investigating the death of Rin Sugimura. Hideotoshi Kagawa was partners with Akihiko Niijima, who was investigating Junya Kaneshiro before his death, three years ago. Akihiko Niijima is the father of Akira's friend, Makoto Niijima, who just met with Kagawa to discuss Kaneshiro. The Phantom Thieves are going after Kaneshiro. Kagawa is looking into the Phantom Thieves.

Her brain starts to hurt.

What the hell am I missing? Could it all be a coincidence? But this many? Coincidences happened in a vacuum. They didn't stack up like a fucking Jenga tower.

She knows Akira isn't the most forthcoming person, but could he be concealing all this?

Ohya puts her head in her hands and shuts her eyes. I really do need a drink.

#

Akira watches Iwai perform his work. The man walks up the length of LeBlanc's bar, his hand gently sweeping the detector past every edge he witnesses. Initially, Akira's idea had been to inquire whether Iwai could track the burner phone Ali Baba had provided him. He'd known it a long shot, but had decided to ask it anyway. Iwai's response had been approximately, "No," and, "Don't you know the fucking point of a burner phone by now?" Both answers made sense.

But Akira recalled that, during his initial visits to Untouchable, the man had been a proper kind of paranoid, using his little detector wand to ensure Akira wasn't wired. He toyed with the notion of using that in his regular haunts, and Makoto had sealed as a good idea when she'd said his own paranoid was a useful trait in the leader of a gang of thieves. Thus, upon arriving at Untouchable, Akira had pressured Iwai into accompanying him and the rest of the Phantom Thieves - minus Ann, plus Makoto - back to LeBlanc, where he was to use the detector to ensure the place wasn't bugged. Akira was sure it was unlikely Ali Baba had somehow sneaked a listening device into Sojiro's cafe, but he would feel better knowing that it - at least - wasn't the source of their leak.

Realistically, he couldn't just bring the detector with him everywhere. He couldn't even be sure how Ali Baba had uncovered their secrets in the first place. It might not have been a listening device. It might've been something else entirely. Iwai continues his march through the cafe with a determined slowness, eyes narrowed, soundless wand waving through his hand. Akira can't help but smile at the image of the man as some sort of technological wizard worms its way into his mind.

Sojiro is out on a supply run, as the Cafe has seen a small surge of business in the last few days. The sign in the door is turned to 'Closed,' and Akira is glad this isn't meant to deter him. Still, Sojiro may take his sweet time during these trips, but he isn't typically slow about them. He begins to wish that Iwai hurries up his inspection and clears the place so they can-

Iwai holds up his hand. A small red light has come on the side of the detector wand. Gently, Iwai brings a finger to his lips, and looks at Akira.

You don't have to tell me, Akira thinks, even as another thought snakes through his mind. Are you fucking kidding me?

The older man's wand is held up, not over the bar, but over some of the paneling just above one of the booths. A booth Akira has sat in many times. He lowers the wand, and climbs onto the table, carefully. With one hand, he reaches up over the paneling, and slowly slides his it along. He pauses, then brings his hand back down. A small, barely visible circular device is in his hand. Akira takes a few steps forward and sees it's barely the size of Iwai's thumbnail. Given its location, it was likely Akira would never have found it on its own.

Iwai points to his face and mouths the words, "Listening only." Akira nods. A part of him wants to pour a glass of water from the kitchen and dunk this thing into it. But he knows they can't do that. Iwai points at the door, and mouths, "I'll keep looking for more." Akira has to squint and follow his words along carefully to ensure he gets the message. Then, he nods and backs away.

Outside, he finds Morgana, Ryuji, Yusuke, Haru and Makoto. All of them are standing around idly, chatting amongst each other. They look very conspicuous, but Akira is willing to forgive them this. They turn to him, and Akira can't help but notice the bored expression on Ryuji's face, and the hungry one on Yusuke's.

"Well," he says, trying to keep his voice humorous. "You're never going to believe this."

#

It takes Iwai another five minutes to clear the ground floor of LeBlanc, and another ten to sweep Akira's own room clean. Thankfully, the device he discovered downstairs was the only one. Akira didn't want to think about the idea that his own room was bugged.

"You should," Iwai says, as everyone gathers into Akira's room, having made sure to say very little as they walked through LeBlanc's cafe, "be safe to talk up here. Sound shouldn't carry downstairs, where it could get picked up."

"Question," Ryuji says, raising his hand. Everyone turns to him. "Why aren't we breaking it?" He sticks his thumb back towards the stairwell, and whispers, "Like, why aren't we gettin' rid of that shit?"

"Bad idea," Iwai replies, shaking his head.

"He's right," Akira says, and sits down at his desk. "I think it's fair to assume that device is how Ali Baba has their information on us. If we get rid of it, it will let them know that we're onto them. Keeping it around ensures we can censor whatever information we give to them."

"Sure, but what's the point?" Ryuji asks. "If they already have all this info on us, what does it matter if we destroy the listening device?"

"It's an advantage," Makoto tells him, crossing her arms. "A small one, but an actual advantage. We may be able to use the device to discover more information on Ali Baba. And if we get rid of this one, Ali Baba may find another way to spy on us, which would mean we'd need to discover it all over again."

Yusuke's face is scrunched in apprehension. "Perhaps I'm worrying over nothing, but I'm curious as to why that device is here in the first place."

Morgana hops up onto the table, sits, and stares at him. "What'd you mean?"

"It's to spy on us, yes?" Haru asks.

"Yes, but why is it here?" Yusuke repeats. He crosses his legs and rests a splayed hand against his head. "Presumably, this device is what exposed us as Phantom Thieves. But if Ali Baba was not previously aware of our status as Phantom Thieves, why would they place the device here in the first place? Why spy on LeBlanc?" He frowns. "Unless, of course, they already knew we were Phantom Thieves."

Shit, Akira thinks. "That's a good point, Yusuke." He leans forward, clasping his hands together. "Why bug a small coffee shop in Yongen-jaya?"

"There's something else none of you seem like you're considering," Iwai growls out. "We're talking about a listening device physically placed in your house, or apartment, or whatever. This isn't like loading a program onto a computer from a safe and secure distance. Someone had to actually walk in here and put it up there."

To this, no one says anything. Akira barks out a laugh, and looks at Morgana. "I guess that answers the question as to whether or not they're in Japan."

"Guess so," the cat replies.

"Not necessarily," Iwai says, with a shrug. "They could've hired a third party to put it there. There's a layer of dust on top of it, which means it could've been there for a while. They might not still be in the country."

Akira frowns. "I don't know. Seems like a lot of trouble to go through." A plan starts to form in his mind. "If they're out of the country, then there's not much we can do. If they put it here themselves, or hired someone to do it, maybe there's a way we could use that."

"What're you thinkin'?" Ryuji asks.

"Presumably," Makoto says, and she staring at Akira with a soft twinkle in her eye. "Ali Baba is monitoring all the conversations going on in LeBlanc." She looks at Iwai. "You're sure it's not a camera?"

He shakes his head. "I didn't see anything that looked like it could record or transmit video. It didn't resemble those cameras I gave you guys at all."

"Then," Makoto continues, "Ali Baba can hear what happens around the device, but not see what happens to it."

"So, do you want to move it?" Haru asks.

"That's one thing we could do," she says. She turns to Akira.

He nods. "Or, we could do something that would jar the device loose. Knock it to the ground or something. Make it obvious. Then, we set up a hidden camera in LeBlanc." He smiles at Iwai. "One of yours' of course, and see if someone comes to reset it or replace it."

Yusuke straightens in his head. "You think it's that simple?"

Akira laughs again. "Well, no. Nothing ever is. I'm just saying."

"Not a bad plan," Morgana says. "We wouldn't even need the camera though. I could just hang around to make sure someone shows up, then follow them back to where they're headquartered."

Ryuji grins. "Dude. Yeah! That could work. No one would see Mona coming."

"Doesn't Ali Baba know we work with a cat?" Makoto asks, staring at Morgana. "I'm assuming he's suggested that he follows the culprit instead."

"I'm not a cat," Mona hisses.

"He's not a cat," Akira corrects her.

Iwai frowns. "He's not?"

"No, he is not," Yusuke says.

Akira shrugs. "Why not do both? I trust you, Morgana, but who knows when they would show up? If they even show up. Having you sit around waiting for Ali Baba to arrive sounds good, but I don't know how feasible it is. We could try it at times, but it wouldn't be a permanent thing."

"This is a famous hacker," Haru points out. "I doubt they got as good as they are without being careful."

"This still," Yusuke continues, "does not address the question of why the listening device is here in the first place. If they did not know we were Phantom Thieves, why plant it? If they did know, and thus planted it, how did they find out?"

"If we find them," Akira tells him. "We can ask them."

Makoto nods. "I agree. Speculation won't get us very far here. We don't know enough. I suggest we put in place the plan to try and capture Ali Baba on film. With that in motion, we should discuss Kaneshiro."

"I'm all for that," Ryuji says. He looks to Makoto and asks, "So, what did you find out from Kagawa?"

"Unfortunately," Makoto replies. "He did not give me much. He did confirm Kaneshiro was a yakuza associate from several years ago. He ran prostitution rings and sold drugs, but managed to keep himself under the radar - as far as these things go - by differentiating himself from his cohorts by being less flashy and outrageous."

Akira ponders this. Not much more information than what we had before. "I noticed that about him," he says. "It's like he's muted or something."

Yusuke frowns at him. "From what you've told us, he does not sound very 'muted.'"

"I just mean that he doesn't do a lot to advertise himself," Akira corrects. "Obviously, he's crazy."

"If anything," Makoto points out. "All this confirms is that this is the same Kaneshiro who operated out of Shibuya three years ago. He vanished for a period of time, and now he's back. Kagawa offered no insight on his connections to the mental shutdowns, however."

Akira folds his hands together. "What about a Palace? Anything that could point to one?"

Makoto sighs and leans forward, resting her hand on her fists. "Not that I can think of. He told me, I believe his phrasing was, 'Kaneshiro ran Shibuya like his own little fiefdom,' but there was no specific place mentioned."

"I'd agree with that," Iwai points out. "The guy may not have been flashy by yakuza standards, and that kept him out of the public eye, but everyone in Shibuya knew his name and knew to stay out of his way."

Haru looks up at Iwai. "Are you aware of any specific location Kaneshiro might've used, three years ago?"

Iwai shakes his head. "I kept my head down back then. I had Kaoru to think about." He clears his throat, and glances away from Akira.

He ignores this and takes out his phone, queuing up the Navigation app. "Castle?"

"No Match Found."

"Kingdom?"

"No Match Found."

"What're you doing?" Morgana asks.

"He called it a fiefdom," Akira tells him. "Maybe there's something to that."

"Yes, but that's Officer Kagawa's interpretation," Yusuke points out, lifting a finger. "I do not think we should rely on outsiders to inform us of the specifics of a keyword. Perhaps the locations of the Palace, yes, but not the manifestation of the corruption."

Ryuji shrugs. "I dunno, dude. We got Madarame's easily enough. And Sugimura's and Kamoshida's."

"Kamoshida's was an accident," Akira reminds him, setting down the phone.

"And I'd hardly call the other two easy," Morgana points out. Haru translates for Makoto.

Ryuji crosses his arms and gives a faint nod. "Okay, but if that's true then how is Ali Baba supposed to figure this out for us?"

"I've got no idea what Ali Baba is capable of," Akira tells him. "But my guess is they're capable of a lot. Maybe they could track Kaneshiro's movements somehow and-"

Ryuji straightens, grin splitting his face. "Hey! Why don't you just hack Kaneshiro's GPS? Like we did for Madarame? Wouldn't that lead us to some potential Palaces?"

Makoto frowns. "I don't believe that's a good idea. Your other targets were unaware of your pursuit. Kaneshiro is going underground in a yakuza war. I imagine he would've taken certain precautions to prevent tracking of that kind. If it were attempted, it's possible it would be detected. If Akira tried to do something like that, we..." She trails off, suddenly looking a bit embarrassed.

"He'd probably kill me," Akira fills in for her. The other Phantom Thieves go silent at this.

"I don't think there's anything 'probably' about it," Iwai responds. Then, he shrugs. "Not before torturing you, though. To find out why."

"Okay, thanks," Akira cuts in, immediately shutting the door on that mental image.

Makoto sighs. "I apologize. I thought I could get more information from Kagawa. I don't see how this conversation benefited us."

"That's alright," Ryuji tells her. "It was a long shot anyway."

"He's right," Haru tells her, then reaches out and pats her arm. "Don't beat yourself up over it, Mako-chan."

Ryuji stares up at the ceiling. "I wonder what it's like, you know? Kaneshiro's Palace? Must be pretty messed up. Dragon Syndicate, you know?" His eyes bulge. "Dude, what if we have to fight, like, a dragon or something? That'd be pretty sick."

"I imagine that would actually be terrifying," Yusuke says, calmly.

"Buzzkill," Ryuji mutters.

Akira zones out and replays the words in his head. Kaneshiro ran Shibuya like his own little fiefdom. He does the same thing now, in his own way. His original headquarters isn't the Palace. He's got various hideouts around town. He could be at any of them, at any time. Could it be one of those others? Some place we haven't seen or heard of yet?

He looks down at his phone. Someone could've have multiple Palaces. Morgana had explained that. It was just the one, and they all knew Kaneshiro had one. But if he had no castle in his own kingdom, then where...

Akira feels his pulse quicken. That can't be right. But why not? A Palace had to be a physical location. Couldn't the place he operated - the entire space - be considered a single physical location?

He lifts his phone and says, "Shibuya."

"Match Found."

No one says anything.

Then, Ryuji throws his hands in the air. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. For real? Freakin' Shibuya? As in, the whole town?"

Makoto stares at Akira. "Can that happen?"

"Apparently," Morgana replies.

"Apparently," Akira says.

Everyone stares at the phone in Akira's hand. Then, Yusuke says, "This is all well and good. But what does Kaneshiro view Shibuya as?"

To this, no one has anything to say.

#

"I didn't want to say anything in front of the group," Haru tells him. "But I'm a bit worried about all this."

Akira chuckles and hefts up a bag of fertilizer into his arms. "Which part?"

"Kaneshiro's Palace," Haru whispers. "All of Shibuya? How big do you think that'll be?"

"Size doesn't matter so much in the Metaverse," Morgana tells her. "A room could be the size of a desert, if that's how the person views it. Maybe we'll get lucky, and whatever Kaneshiro views Shibuya as won't be very big."

Akira lowers the fertilizer onto the cart, and rubs his shoulder. "Believe me, Haru. Everyone's just as worried as you are."

"I suppose so," she says.

Morgana sits atop one of the higher shelves. Rafflesia has seen an influx of customers lately, and as such, they are running out of plants. As this allows Morgana more space to spread out, he doesn't complain, even as Akira catches Hanasaki's nervous glances at her ledgers from time to time. "Maybe now," the cat says. "Is time to bring in Ali Baba. At least, call them."

"I plan to tomorrow," Akira says. "Iwai should have the cameras ready by then. We'll install them in LeBlanc, and maybe whatever we can give to Ali Baba will throw them off their game, forcing them themselves." He knows it's not the most foolproof plan, but he can't see too much of a downside to it. Either Ali Baba shows or they don't. They already know someone has been inside LeBlanc. "Maybe they can hack into Kaneshiro's records. There's got to be some online presence for him. Then, maybe, it'll have something we can use towards figuring out the type of corruption."

"Akira," Haru says, clearing her throat. "This is all well and good, but we need to talk about Makoto."

He doesn't sigh or let his voice drop. He just says, "I know." He shoves the cart into the corner and straightens. "Makoto helped me out the other day. She actually cut school to be with me." He smiles. "And don't say, 'that's surprising,' because I know she's done it with you." Haru gifts him with a small smile. "I, uh, sort of broke down in front of her. It got very... cry-ing-ly, or whatever." He shakes his head. "And then I told her about her Dad." He feels himself deflate. "It just hit me. I had to do it. I couldn't lie to her again. I couldn't keep the truth from her. She deserved to know. Needed to know. But now?" He reaches up and taps his skull. "All the bullshit going on in here? I can keep it together until this is done. But I don't know about her. It's like she's shut down. She's still functioning, but it's all laser focused on Kaneshiro. Two weeks ago, she had a near panic attack over lying to Kagawa, and yesterday she sat down and had a whole conversation with ulterior motives. Ann said to me, this morning, about how gung-ho she was about finding our identities at first. But this is personal for her, very personal. Kaneshiro doesn't fuck around. Part of me almost feels like we're racing against Makoto to solve this, even though she's on our side. I'm worried about what she'll do. And I'm worried about how she's handling all of this."

"I am too," Haru tells him.

"Me too," Morgana puts in. Both teens look up at the cat. "What? You think you two are the only ones who noticed a difference? It's like Akira said, she's really focused on this, but that's probably not a good thing here."

"We need to talk to her," Akira tells Haru. "Together, because I don't think I can do this on my own."

Haru nods. "I was thinking, if we take Makoto into the Metaverse, in order to get her to understand Morgana, it might serve as an opportunity to speak with us. At the least, it would allow her to understand Morgana, which would allow us to phrase the meeting as one towards furthering our goals."

Akira crosses his arms. "If we do that, we're using your phone. I don't want Makoto to have access to the Metaverse."

Haru lifts her hands defensively. "That's fine. I agree. I don't want her in any danger. But what are we going to say to her, Akira?"

"I don't... I don't know. If I knew what was going through her head, I could tell you. But even though she's participating and working with us, it feels like she's closed off somehow. Does that make sense?"

Haru's smile is sad. "I feel the same way, unfortunately. We need to show her that we support her. She may not be a Phantom Thief, but she's still our friend. We have to convey to her that she's not alone in this. I wasn't alone, when you all helped me. We have to show her that it's the same for her."

"Right, so-" Akira starts.

Hanasaki's voice cuts in from outside the store room. "Akira-kun, Haru. There's a customer out here."

"Coming," Akira calls. He nods at Haru. "We'll pick this up later, yeah? Let's go see what she needs." Haru agrees and the two step out of the back storage room. Akira smiles and starts to bow. "Welcome to-" He stops.

Goro Akechi stands just within the confines of the store, having entered from the hall of Shibuya Underground. He blinks when the two emerge. "Oh. Hello."

Hanasaki looks between Akechi and Akira and Haru and asks, "DO you all know each other?"

"Yes," Akechi says.

"Sort of," Akira says.

"Um," Haru says.

Akechi chuckles. "We're somewhat acquainted," he tells Hanasaki. He takes a few steps towards the group. "This is something of a surprise. I didn't know you two worked here."

Akira brings his smile out and thinks on this. Is that so? It seemed like something far more than a coincidence, but he can't prove it either way. "What can I help you with?" He asks.

"Flowers, naturally," Akechi says.

Akira nods and turns to Haru. "I'll help him out, Haru. Mind taking care of that stuff in the back?"

Haru glances at Akechi with a wary gaze, but dips her head and heads back into the storage room.

Keeping his voice steady, Akira turns back to Akechi. "So, what're you looking for, specifically?"

:I don't have anything too elaborate in mind," Akechi tells him. "Something pretty and simple."

"Lots of those," Akira says, and gestures towards the roses. "Take a look at these."

Akechi nods as Akira shows him the wares. "If you don't mind my asking," Akechi cuts in, at one point. "Why are you working at this place? Don't you part-time at LeBlanc?"

Akira shakes his head. "No, not really. I help Sojiro out sometimes, but I was looking for a part-time job. I picked this place."

"Yes, but there are many part-time jobs. Why this place in particular?"

Akira wonders at this for a moment, then lifts a bundle of roses off the shelf. "I like flowers," he finally says.

Akechi nods. "A good enough, reason, I suppose." He steals a glance towards the storage room door. "Plus, having Makoto Niijima's best friend close at hand must have its advantages."

Akira clears his throat and is surprised that he doesn't blush. "Who are these for, anyway?" He smiles. "Your girlfriend?"

"My mother, actually," Akechi says.

Akira nods. "That's nice of you. She probably tells you she appreciates them all the time."

"Not exactly," Akechi replies, growing glum. "Actually, I leave these on her grave."

Akira's face falters and he looks around. "Well," he finally says. "Now I feel bad."

"Don't be," Akechi says, taking the roses from Akira. "These are lovely. I'm sure she'll appreciate them, wherever she is."

"Sorry," Akira says. "You sure you want those? There's stuff that might better represent... uh, death and stuff. Or rebirth, you know. Nicer things."

Akechi chuckles. "It's alright, really. Actually, these remind me of something. A little knickknack we used to keep in our old home, before she died." He looks up at Akira. "I imagine you're in circumstances similar to mine."

"My parents aren't dead," Akira tells him, gruffly. "They're just complicated. Very complicated. It was probably better for everyone that I came here." His voice softens a bit. "I didn't think that at first, but now I do." He shrugs. "I've got good friends here, at least." He gestures around the shop. "And I get to work with flowers, which is nice."

"Looking on the bright side of things," Akechi says. "Always good." He hefts up the roses. "I think I'll take these, please." He nods towards Hanasaki, who stands out in the mall, greeting potential customers. "I imagine she'll ring me up?"

"That's right," Akira says. "Thanks for the purchase."

Akechi nods and turns away. Then, he stops and half-turns back to Akira. "Would you mind if I swung by LeBlanc sometime soon for coffee?"

There's something about how he says, 'and we could hang out,' that Akira finds slightly embarrassing. Does the Detective Prince want to be my friend? Akira tries to smile at him. "Sure, that'd be fine. The coffee shop isn't too much fun, though. It's... well, it's just a coffee shop."

Akechi smiles. "That's okay. I prefer good company to exhilarating activities for the most part anyway." He lifts his hand in farewell, and turns back towards Hanasaki.

##
A/N: Happy Birthday Makoto!