Trickster 3

Thank you guys for the reviews! I decided to finish this FF with one last chapter. I'm pretty rusty when it comes to writing so I'm sorry if it's kinda, eh, bad. Axel'sChakrams8 When you said this was one of the oldest Akechi fics I was a bit shocked haha! It's insane how much time has passed already. I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

"I've hated you since day one."

Akira's brows furrowed.

"I've been waiting to get rid of you and show you how pathetic you and your filthy excuse for justice are since day one."

The black haired boy's eyes were wide, pupils shivering ever so slightly.

"Case closed."

Something shattered.

"Woah, Akechi, are you okay?"

Blinking, Akechi returned to the present.

"W-what?"

Confused, he looked to the side and saw the shattered remains of the cup of coffee he had just dropped. Looking back up, he saw Futaba staring at him with slightly widened eyes. Did he just...?

"I'll clean it up." Before he could react, Akira appeared beside him from behind the counter and crouched down to pick up the shards, as well as put a cloth on the quickly spreading coffee.

"A-Ah... I'm sorry, Akira."

"No problem. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, Sojiro shatters cups all the time! Don't tell him I told you that though, he gets super upset about it, hehe..." He threw a quick smile at the two, mentally scolding himself for being so careless.

"But, what exactly was that? Already getting weakness seizures at your age? Don't overwork yourself so much Mr. Charming, or you'll have to retire before even reaching your twenties!" He forced a chuckle at the girl's attempt of humor, hoping it would seem genuine enough and ignoring the strange look Akira gave him.
"Don't worry, I can take care of myself."

"Sure you can. That's why Mona always has to save your sorry ass!"

"Ahaha. Fair enough." Grinning, Futaba jumped from her chair, clearly feeling like she had won this round.

"Alrighty, I'll go home now. Don't go to bed too late you two, tomorrow is the big day!" Akira scoffed.

"That's rich, coming from you." He smiled warmly when the girl elbowed him jokingly.

"Nighty night!" Then she was gone.

Silence.

Akira went back behind the counter, the sound of shattered porcelain filling the cafe when he poured them into the trash can. After that, he went back to cleaning dishes and cups in silence.

Appreciative of not having to uphold a conversation for the time being, Akechi leaned forward while tapping on his phone without any real intention behind it, completely lost in thought.

Maybe he shouldn't think of the scenarios he had dreamed up for when he finally put a bullet through Akira's head while the boy was right in front of him,

"Idol Clash?" Blinking, Akechi looked at Akira, who was staring at his phone with a raised eyebrow. He dropped his gaze to said object and felt his cheeks heat up ever so slightly; he had opened an app without paying attention.

"It's rude peering onto other people's screens, Akira", he attempted, but judging by the other's amused face his attempt at playing it off didn't really work. Amused? Was that really an amused face? Because Akira's face looked the same as always, eyes hidden by the reflection of his damn glasses like always, mouth drawn into a straight line... like always.

He felt his insides churn. Attic trash...

How? How did someone like this have everything he didn't have? He couldn't understand it. He-

"Hey Akechi, come to the beach with us next year."

His guts clenched. "Excuse me?"

"We went there this year, but Haru hadn't joined us yet so we plan on going there again. It's still in the far future obviously, but wouldn't you like a break every now and then too?"

…

"But aren't you back in your hometown again already next summer?" No, he won't be.

"Hmm. I guess so. So?" He won't be anywhere.

"And why invite me? I'm the reason you guys will have to stop being Phantom Thieves, you know." He'll be a corpse and rot somewhere.

"I guess so." I'll end him with my own hands.

"And you'd still invite me?" I'll take everything from him, because he doesn't deserve it.

"Yeah." So why...

"Why?"

Akira looked at him again, expression unreadable.

"Dunno. Because we're friends?" Friends.

Breathing out, Akechi leaned back, sighing but allowing an exasperated smile to touch his lips."You know, you were the one who refused to become my assistant back then." Akira smiled slightly back at him.

"I'm surprised you even asked me, considering you already knew I was a Phantom Thief back then."

"What makes you think that?"

"You're smart and we're stupid and obvious."

"Don't denigrate yourself like that. I meant it." Had he been making fun of him the entire time? Knowing he had been on his case and still not seeing even the slightest threat in him?

The thought made his blood boil.

But in one thing he was right. They were stupid and he was smart. It would all end tomorrow.

"Thank you, then." Akechi blinked.

"What?"

"If I wouldn't have been the target of your investigations, maybe I would have accepted your invitation." He stopped and Akechi was about to tell him off for it (ever since temporarily joining their group, he had seized the opportunity of finally being able to nag at Akira's bad habits without it seeming weird or rude), when his voice suddenly took on a serious tone. "You know, I do understand where you're coming from. I always have. That's why I didn't protest when you offered the deal. But the thing which made me respect you and your idea of justice the most was what you said back at the baseball hall." The baseball hall?

"Ah... about how people's desires cause them to commit crimes?"

"Yeah. That." He glanced to the side. "I... You probably know how I got on probation already, but... yeah. But it didn't come like that, so there's nothing we can do. It's nice having you on our side for at least a bit now, though." Akechi stared at him, finger tapping against the hold of the new cup Akira had given him.

"I see. Well, it is obvious what happened to you has been unjust. Maybe after we are done with everything I can look into it for you."

Akira didn't answer, eyes unseen by the reflection of his glasses, face lowered.

"What, you wouldn't like that?", he asked jokingly, only slightly startled when the other boy lifted his head and his gray eyes bore into his with an intensity he had never experienced from him before.

It doesn't matter. It all ends tomorrow.

"No... I'd be grateful."

"Ahaha. That's good to hear. Don't worry, leave it to me."

Akira's heart felt like stone in his chest as Akechi chuckled happily.

It was so hard to accept. So very, very hard.

"Ah, but don't expect too much out of it, okay? I can't make any promises. The man who sued you must have a huge influence if he was able to get it through..."

Hey Akechi... why?

"It's not like it would change anything. I'm almost done." What did I do to make you hate me?

"Hey, don't be so negative. Even if your probation is over, it will forever stay with you on paper. We wouldn't want it to affect your future careers, do we?" What did those people do to make you kill them?

"Thank you for caring so much about me, detective." Please let me understand.

"Well, we're teammates after all, even if only temporarily." He closed his eyes. "Akira?"

"Yeah... we are." That's why they had already plotted an entire perfect plan for how they were going to deceive the guy deceiving them and planning on killing Akira.

"It feels kind of nice, to be honest. Having teammates you can rely on, I mean." Just that they didn't rely on each other in the least.

"Yeah. It does."

"I'm not really used to it. I've spent a long potion of my life on my own, and now I have all these fans, but it's still a bit lonely. Ah, you wouldn't know that feeling, right?" There wasn't the least bit of venom in his voice or his expression, and a few months prior to now Akira may have believed it to be a genuine statement, but now he could still feel the negativity directed at him radiating from Akechi's entire being.

And the worst was, he was so wrong.

"Hmm."

"Cat got your tongue again? And here you were making such promising progress."

"Sorry."

"You're forgiven." He looked onto his phone and slowly got up. "It's time for me to go home; Futaba-chan is right, after all. Tomorrow we'll steal Sae-san's treasure and then I'll look into your case, alright?" He winked at Akira who didn't respond. "Good night, Akira."

Then he was gone.

Both of them knew that this would be the last time Akechi would ever walk out of Leblanc, but only one of them knew this wouldn't be the last time Akira would.

And that knowledge hurt Akira more than the thought of him actually dying.

A few days later Navi couldn't pick up Akechi's readings anymore and Akira was left wondering why they couldn't have met a few years earlier.