I can see the stars come through my room

While your loving attitude

Is like a flame that lights the gloom

After the school holiday ended and Ren went back home, Goro went to school feeling irritated and unloaded some bile on Suzui. Suzui, who didn't know Ren, loyally agreed with every terrible thing Goro had to say about him. She even promised to slap Ren if she ever met him, which may or may not have been a sincere offer, but was immensely satisfying to hear.

After school, when he went to work at Crossroads, he brought up Ren there too. Lala-san's reaction was completely different: although she agreed that Ren sounded like a cad and a louse and a scoundrel, she seemed to be giggling behind her fan for some reason. That was far less satisfying, so Goro gave up on complaining pretty quickly.

Luckily, Ren was a problem that solved himself. He was only in Tokyo briefly, for the school holiday, then he had to go back to his real life. Phantom Thief, indeed, thought luck stealing hearts from a hundred miles away. He looked sincere, but...what was that idiot trying to pull, anyway?

Meanwhile, Sae was following Masayoshi Shido's court case closely. His lawyers had been pestering her to get Akechi to talk to Shido, which she flatly refused. If Shido was going to deny their association and never speak to Akechi again, that was just fine. Smart kid or no, she didn't want Akechi anywhere near that Svengali.

Normally defendants gave statements to their own attorneys, or to police or prosecutors in interrogation rooms. However, Shido had requested to give his statement in open court, meaning he wanted people to hear it. Sure enough, most of the people filling the gallery were journalists. Whatever he had to say would be widely reported.

To open, Shido described the Metaverse as a fever-dream brought about by drug abuse. Then he recanted certain parts of his confession that implicated his accomplices, taking the blame on himself. Sae made notes about who, specifically, he was exonerating. She knew some of the names from her own investigation, but not all of them.

As Shido spoke, Sae watched his body language and listened for signs of stress in his voice. He was shackled and chained so he could hardly move, but his voice was clear and purposeful as he made his statement. There was no indication that he had been coerced or drugged.

"And finally," said Shido as he was wrapping up, "I want to apologize for the things I said about Goro Akechi. They were untrue. In fact, I do not know Goro Akechi personally. I know him the same way everyone does - from the TV."

Sae's head jerked up from her notes in surprise. She found that Shido was looking right at her, boring a hole in her with his intense eyes.

As if he was speaking directly to her, he went on, "If you try to find any evidence that we so much as said hello on the street, you'll discover that there is none. Might as well file for dismissal right now."

Sae's head was swimming. This was a shockingly brazen statement - there had to be some record of their interaction. As the hearing adjourned, she avoided the scrum of reporters and went out the opposite door. Drawing on her knowledge of the courthouse, she made her way to a quiet hallway she knew of and waited there.

It was a bit of a gamble, but she knew cops; she figured they'd take the most familiar route. As the bailiffs brought Shido past, she stepped out in front of him, arms crossed. The bailiffs stopped, confused, and one of them barked at her to get out of the way.

"Let her have her say," said Shido, and the bailiff fell silent. Even from prison, Shido commanded authority. "Well, Ms. Niijima? Are you willing to arrange a meeting with Akechi now?"

"No. I just want to know why you're lying about him," said Sae. "What are you plotting?"

Shido attempted to shrug innocently, though his bindings made it difficult. "I'm not plotting anything. The kid is off the hook. If anyone from my organization tries to contact him, tell them the same thing you told me."

"Go to hell?" she said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Exactly," he said, smirking. "But I'd be more polite if I were you. The rest of my associates aren't all as charming as me."

He leered at her as the bailiffs escorted him off down the hall.

That night over dinner, Sae explained what had happened in court. Goro turned it over in his mind. He'd always assumed he wouldn't live through his revenge plan. Over the two years he spent with Shido, who alternated flattery with threats, Goro had simply gotten used to the idea that his life was fated to be (as the philosopher Thomas Hobbes put it) solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. Ironically, it was harder to imagine confessing now, knowing he'd need to serve time in prison then come out and continue living. Now that he had a comfortable home and good friends, he found that he didn't want to lose them.

Nevertheless, he hated the idea that the choice was already made for him. It made him feel like a pawn in his own life. Shido can go to hell, he thought. He doesn't get a say in what I do. But there wasn't an obvious way to defy him; if the evidence was gone, it was just the word of a teenager against that of an adult. Even worse, Goro couldn't even rely on his own recollections. Any reasonably competent attorney could easily poke holes in his story.

What did Shido want? Why do this? And what about Goro's missing memories? It honestly didn't make it any easier to deny everything and walk away. There were still too many unanswered questions.

On the second of June, Goro turned nineteen. He'd made it his routine to start a pot of coffee first thing in the morning, but found it already running today. Sae, normally a bit of a night-owl, was up already and doodling on a notepad at the table. He peeked over her shoulder and saw a series of names and a lot of question marks.

He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at his usual place at the table. There was an envelope, containing a card with a lavishly illustrated sushi boat on the front. On the inside was written, This is the closest either of us is getting to good sushi this year. Happy birthday anyway.

"It's the thought that counts. Thank you, Sae-san," he said with a smile.

She shrugged apologetically. "I'd like to take you out this evening, if you don't have anything else planned. Adjusting your expectations slightly downward, is there anywhere special you want to go?"

Goro looked down at the table, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by her generosity. He was delighted by her offer, but at the same time, for reasons he didn't understand, he also felt a bit panicky. Not wanting to reveal either of those embarrassing emotions, he hid his reaction and played it cool. "Hmm? I should probably work, don't you think?"

"Not on your life. If Lala-san finds out I sent you to work on your birthday, we're getting in a slap fight. You have to save me from that fate."

The image of Lala smacking Sae with her fan, and Sae responding by yanking off Lala's wig, made Goro laugh out loud and relieved the tension he was feeling. Somehow, Sae had a way of putting him at ease.

"Much as I would love to see that," he said, "I haven't been to the jazz club in Kichijoji in forever. Do you know that place?"

She shook her head. "No, I've never been there."

"All right, then let's go tonight. You're in for a treat," he said with a grin.

When Goro got to school, Suzui seemed more upbeat than usual. She was mysterious about the reasons why until lunchtime, when she took a detour to her locker to retrieve a small white box. She wanted to have lunch with him and the day was sunny and mild, so they went to one of the outdoor picnic tables.

Suzui set the box ceremoniously in front of him and drummed her fingers impatiently on the table. She seemed to be desperately trying to keep a straight face, but it was no use. She could barely contain her excitement. Amused, Goro decided to tease her a little.

"Hmm, what a lovely cardboard box," he said, inspecting it like a jeweler would examine a gem. "Such an exquisite shade of white...truly, you could use this to contain almost anything. It is a mystery what could possibly be inside -"

He was prepared to go on and on until she stopped him, which she finally did by slapping his arm and crying, "Open it already!"

Chuckling, he opened the box. It was a cupcake, beautifully decorated with creamy white frosting and a strawberry on top. He lifted it out to admire for a moment.

"Happy birthday!" she said. "I made it myself!"

"Really? It looks professional-grade. Are you secretly a pastry chef?"

"Guess again, Mr. Detective. I might have made a lot before the one that turned out good, but you'll never prove it. All the evidence is gone now." She patted her belly.

"Then you'll have to explain...there's so much frosting. How do I eat this?"

"There's no delicate way to eat something like that. Your best bet is to stuff it in your face as fast as possible," she said, pulling out her phone.

"I can't help noticing you've readied your camera," he said, arching an eyebrow.

"Who, me?" she giggled, snapping a shot of him getting frosting all over his face.

"This is not funny at all," he mock-protested with a dollop of cream on his nose. "Take me seriously."

That made her laugh so hard she dropped the phone.

"Serves you right," he said, licking his fingers, as she ducked under the table to get it. It occurred to him that he should feel embarrassed, clowning around like this, but it was just...fun to make her laugh. More fun than embarrassing.

"Oh, I'm going to remember this day forever," said Suzui, wiping away tears. "So, did you enjoy the cupcake? The other girls told me you like sweets."

Damn you, Detective Prince, thought Goro. Out loud, he said, "I might've played that up a little for the cameras…."

Her eyes widened and for a brief moment, a familiar anxiety pang ran through him. He'd said the wrong thing. She'd be upset. She'd think he was ungrateful. Why, for the love of god, did he tell her the truth?

But instead, she burst out laughing again. "Just a little honey for the bees, huh? I should've known. Although you ate it awfully fast for someone who doesn't like sweets. Just saying."

"D-don't get me wrong!" he said quickly. "It really was delicious. I'm touched that you went to all that trouble for me. Thank you."

An anodyne statement, but it was impossible to explain how touched he was. His birth wasn't a cause for celebration in his family; he'd never had his own birthday cake before.

Suzui smiled happily and a faint blush rose on her cheeks. "I wanted to show you how important you are to me. Not just because you help me get around, but because you've been a good friend."

She squeezed his hand and Goro felt a strange fluttering feeling in his chest. For no reason in particular, an image popped into his mind of a butterfly struggling out of a chrysalis and beating its brand-new wings for the first time. And yet...it was somewhat smothered, as if the butterfly couldn't quite take flight. What a bizarre feeling.

At five o'clock sharp, Sae was dressed to hit the town. When they got to Kichijoji, she looked longingly down the avenue of bars. They went on a bar-crawl, Sae starting with sake and Goro with soda. He asked for cola with a splash of grenadine and a cherry (another of Lala-san's virgin cocktails), which garnered him some amused commentary from the adults.

After a while they were both getting hungry, so Goro gave Sae a quick rundown of all the best places in the neighborhood.

"Pork buns sound good, but it's your birthday. Where do you want to go?" she asked.

"Pork buns are fine. The baozi shop's pretty good. They have a spicy one that'll set your mouth on fire."

"Is that what you're going to get? I didn't know you liked spicy foods," said Sae as they walked.

"I don't. It's their house specialty, but I don't care for it."

Sae laughed. "Well, I do. I'll risk melting my teeth off. That should be cheap entertainment, at least."

After the pork buns, they decided to take a look at the secondhand clothes shop. While they were poking around, Goro found a rack that looked oddly familiar.

"Sae-san...these are my clothes," he said, pulling a tailored button-down off the rack and inspecting it. There was a small stain where he'd gotten coffee on the cuff...no question, these were the clothes he'd lost when he lost his apartment.

"Excuse me," said Sae to the store clerk, still wearing a large floppy hat she was trying on, "But where did you get these?"

"Those? I don't know specifically," said the clerk. "We get some resales, but we also buy from estate sales and evictions, that kind of thing."

Goro scooped up as many of his clothes as he could find, resigning himself to paying the trendy secondhand shop price. At least he wouldn't have to get them tailored again.

"These are pretty swank," said the clerk, ringing them up.

"Thanks, I thought so too," said Goro dryly.

After the clothing store, Goro suggested a game of billiards. Sae agreed enthusiastically and then lost spectacularly and demanded a rematch. By the time they finished their second game, it was about time for Jazz Jin to open.

"Hey, Akechi-kun!" said the proprietor warmly as they walked in. "Haven't seen you in forever, I was getting worried!"

"Mm...just studying and working," said Goro. There seemed to be little point to admitting that he had, in fact, almost died in a ditch.

"You kids work crazy hard. Well, I'm happy to see you back. Tell you what, no cover tonight. A special for one of my favorite regulars and his lovely lady friend."

"Thank you, sir. I'm really happy to be back," said Goro with a genuine smile.

They went to find a table and Sae looked around, soaking up the ambience.

"It's been forever since I went somewhere just for fun," she said, flipping through the drink menu. "What's good?"

"Do you prefer fruit-flavored or sparkling, or - "

Sae's eyes widened. "That one has glitter - ooh! This one glows in the dark!"

"Sae-san, I've never seen you as excited about anything as you are about the phosphorescent drink," he laughed.

She nodded sagely. "When you're having drinks with coworkers, you aren't allowed to get anything fun. Two ingredients maximum and zero colors. That goes double if the boss is there."

As they listened to the music and sipped their brightly-colored drinks, Goro commented on the musical selections.

"I'm not boring you, am I?" he asked after a while.

"Not at all. I'm sorry I don't have anything to add, but I don't think I can keep up with your knowledge of the topic. I had no idea you were so interested in music. Why didn't you ever talk about it before?"

"I did, if someone else brought it up. Most adults just want to talk about trends or restaurants, so that's mostly what I studied."

He thought she might say something soppy about how he should be himself or whatever, but she surprised him.

"Don't forget the weather," said Sae, laughing. "Adults are so boring. I understand, though. There's a lot about myself I kept hidden at work too."

"Like what?"

"Well...this is a little embarrassing, so keep it between us, all right?"

He nodded, intensely curious.

"When I was sixteen, I spent a summer working as a croupier in a casino. I know how to play fifteen different card games...and how to cheat at all of them."

"How to cheat?" he raised an eyebrow.

"An entirely legitimate area of study," she said, grinning. "To catch cheaters, you need to know what they're likely to be doing."

"That's...wait, you were sixteen? Is that legal?"

She looked guiltily away. "Not technically, no...my career in the gaming world ended when the casino I worked at was raided by the cops. Well, one cop. My dad, actually."

Goro clapped a hand over his mouth to cover his laugh. "Oh no."

"Oh yes," said Sae, laughing too. "I think he was more upset about the outfit I had to wear than the gambling. Hey, did you ever talk to Kitagawa-kun about music?"

"Kitagawa…? Isn't he into painting?"

"Music is art too. The way you talk about motifs and influences made me think of him. You two could probably learn a lot from each other. Just an idle thought."

"Thoughts seem to wander more freely here. It's one of the reasons I like it. Um…." He paused, feeling awkward, then decided to just spit it out. "You could use my first name if you wanted to. And, uh, thanks for taking me here tonight."

Sae smiled at him. "Thanks for sharing it with me, Goro-kun. And why don't you just call me Sae from now on?"

When they returned home, Goro tossed his shopping bags on the floor of his room. He came back out to the living room, where Sae was catching the end of the nightly news and rifling through the day's mail. She handed him a padded envelope, postmarked from the Shibuya neighborhood. Hmm.

Inside was an inexpensive cell phone. It had been unwrapped, but it didn't have scratches or signs of extensive use. The screen had been wiped of fingerprints, but Goro thought if he tried, he might be able to lift some from the less obvious parts of the phone.

Of course, it would take time to lift and run fingerprints. Quicker would be to simply turn the thing on.

The phone booted up and Goro flicked around the default apps. There were a lot of them; the cheaper the phone, the more of these garbage apps came preloaded. He dragged some weird eyeball-looking thing into the trash along with a number of others.

Then he checked the contact list. There was exactly one: Ren Amamiya. Of course.

The game is afoot, he thought, wondering if he was Sherlock Holmes or Professor Moriarty.

Pawn to e4, he texted Ren.

Pawn to e5, came the reply almost immediately.

Then, Happy birthday! 🎂

Goro felt absurdly pleased, but he wasn't going to tell Ren that.

Goro: Knight to f3. I'm going to crush you.

Ren: Knight to c6

Goro: Bishop to b5

Ren: Spanish opening complete. What could happen next…? 😉

Goro: Are you coming on to me?

Ren: Ooh, somebody thinks highly of himself!

Goro: Still you. Anyway, I thought you liked girls.

There was a long pause. Then,

Ren: If it's gay to be happy you're alive, that's ok with me

Goro blushed and clicked the screen off. Then he turned it back on and re-read the text and blushed again and flipped the phone over. He had only intended to poke fun at Ren, at how gushy and silly he was acting. He wasn't serious, for god's sake.

On the other end of the couch, Sae raised an eyebrow at him.

Now who's acting like a schoolgirl? he chided himself.

He said goodnight to Sae and headed to bed, still annoyed at Ren for messing with him. He started listing ways to get back at him, getting as far as "dress up like a butler and serve him a poisoned soufflé" before drifting off to sleep.

That night, he dreamed that he got up out of bed, took the elevator down to the street, and stood on the sidewalk outside the apartment building. The street was dark and almost entirely silent, making it feel not like Tokyo at all.

On the other side of the street, someone stepped into the lone streetlight, dressed in a black-and-blue striped suit with a tattered cape. He flipped up the visor on his black mask and Goro found himself staring into his own eyes.

"It's about time you got a damn phone. Now quit playing around," said the black-suited figure. "We've got work to do."