Sunday, January 15th, Evening

With all the confidence he could fake, Maruki marched into Leblanc.

Akira and Sumire were standing by the stove, next to a large simmering pot of curry. Sojiro was standing by the counter, with a magazine in his hands. All three of them had just turned to him after hearing the door open. Nobody else was present, and Maruki wondered if that was a silver lining or an additional nail in his coffin. "G-good evening," he said.

"Uh, good evening, Maruki-san," Sumire greeted him politely.

"Why are you here?" Sojiro didn't bother.

"I-I come in peace," Maruki raised his hands a bit. "I just… wanted to talk with Akira about some important things."

"Let him stay, Sojiro," Akira said. "It's over, he has no reason to fight."

"You should know by that point that it doesn't stop some people," Sojiro countered. "But fine." He turned to Maruki, pointing at one of the chairs by the counter. "Siddown."

Maruki did as ordered, without protest. "Right, before going to the main point…" he said, taking off his overcoat. "I overstepped boundaries both as a therapist and… and as a friend. I apologize. This shouldn't have happened."

"Apology accepted." Akira dared to smile. "I've forgiven worse."

"Same," Sumire nodded. "Uh, minus the 'forgiving worse' part. There was that incident with Goro-kun's revolver but I don't think it was his fault."

"Speaking of," Maruki tented his fingers on the counter. "I was asked by the prosecution's office to… perform a psychological evaluation of sorts on Goro Akechi. Weigh in on how truthful his testimony is."

"Hm." Akira pondered it for a moment. "Don't take this personally, Takuto, but I don't think you should do that."

"I know that I have a chip on my shoulder-"

"It's not about that," Akira interrupted him, "it's about literally everything else. You're entangled with this whole affair about as much as I am, if not more. Can you maintain professional distance and not slip up and show you know more than you should?"

"Well, I am willing to try." After a pause, Maruki added, "I am one of the few remaining experts on cognitive psience, and I have experience with working with teenagers. I am probably the best option when it comes to assessing Akechi's state."

"Right." After a moment, Akira conceded: "All I ask for is that you are fair to him. It's what he deserves, after all of it."

Maruki nodded in agreement. Then, after a moment of awkward silence, he reached for his wallet. "Uh, can I order a plate of curry?" He dared to joke: "I'll pay extra if you don't spit in it."

"I wouldn't dare," Akira replied, completely seriously. "Sojiro would go spare if he saw me do that."

"I take this business seriously," Sojiro muttered.

Akira turned towards the rice cooker with a wooden spoon in his hand. "And how are you holding up, Maruki-san?" Sumire asked.

"Fine," Maruki replied. "I'm not going to… do anything stupid, if that's what you're asking. I lost all of my cognitive powers, but I'm not going to weep for them. I'll just need a few days to adjust back to the status quo." After a pause, he added, "Rumi says thanks, by the way. She asked if she could say it to your face, but I didn't want to expose your identities."

"Well, I was arrested, so my identity is a borderline open secret at this point," Akira said, putting a plate of curry on rice in front of Maruki. "I am keeping my mouth shut about everybody else, but a sufficiently motivated investigator could probably connect the dots." He put a spoon by the bowl. "With the Metaverse gone, we're forced to lay low anyway, so maybe we'll avoid drawing further attention."

"Hm." Maruki picked up the spoon and stirred the food in front of him. "Do you think that's the end of it?"

That gave everyone present pause. "Why wouldn't it be?" Akira asked.

"Think about it. The god you defeated last month, whose power I inherited, was a manifestation of humanity's wishes," Maruki explained. "You've put a dent in the societal status quo, but you did not address the reasons for why it emerged – um, not that anyone expects you to," he quickly reassured them. "You've already done more than you had to. My point is… even without malicious people in power, the banality of the world might be enough to bring the cognitive world back in some shape."

That was enough to give everyone present pause. Sumire was the first one to speak up: "I mean… when it- if it happens, we will deal with it." She glanced at Akira. "Right, senpai?"

"Of course," Akira proclaimed. "I'll do you one better – over the past few months I have gathered enough experience and made enough connections that if any cognitive world stuff happens, I'll be able to intervene before things go out of control like they did last year."

"If you'll need a place to stay to deal with any nonsense down the line, my house is always open," Sojiro proclaimed.

"I know," Akira smiled at him. "Thanks, Sojiro."

Maruki was somewhat reassured by this. He allowed himself to put some curry in his mouth and chewed on it for a bit. There was something… weird about it, and he was sure that it wasn't his anxiety screwing with him. "Uzh-" he swallowed, "Is it me, or does this taste different than usual?"

"Well," Akira replied, "it's a limited offer. A slightly different recipe, meant to pair with how I'd make coffee for myself."

"Senpai was showing me how to make it," Sumire added.

"Hm." Maruki swallowed another spoonful. "It's a bit too late for coffee, but it's great in its own right. I was just-"

He was interrupted by his phone buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and sucked in air through his teeth.

"What is it?" Akira asked.

"The date and time of my meeting with Goro. Wednesday, 11 AM."

Wednesday, January 18th, Morning

Unsure how to dress, Maruki ended up breaking out the formal wear. Dressed in a one-size-too-big dark gray suit and tie, with a briefcase in his hand, he marched down some plain-looking corridor, following a stern-looking police officer.

He walked up to the door at the end of the corridor and opened them, then gestured at Maruki to enter. The room was small and barren, with no windows. There was a table with two seats by it, a lamp hanging from the ceiling, and a camera in the corner, overlooking everything. Goro was sitting by the table, looking more disheveled than usual; his hair was messy and he was dressed in an undershirt and light-gray tracksuit pants. His right hand was handcuffed to the table.

"Greetings, Mr. Akechi," Maruki said, trying to sound like he didn't know him personally. "My name is Takuto Maruki, I'm a psychologist and cognitive psience expert," he 'introduced' himself. "The prosecutor's office asked me to speak with you about your testimony and, well, about yourself."

Goro raised his head and gave him a disinterested glance. "I've already said everything I know," he scoffed. "If you want to waste time on me repeating it, be my freakin' guest."

"Right." Maruki turned to the cop. "Could you please wait outside?" he asked in a murmur. "I believe the two of us speaking in private will make my job easier."

The cop wordlessly shrugged and left the room, closing the door behind himself. Maruki took a chair, sat down opposite Goro, and put his briefcase on the table. "We are going to start with a simple exercise." He opened the briefcase with a click and pulled out a large, rectangular box. He then lifted its cover and pulled it aside, revealing a large stack of flashcards, just shy of two hundred. "There is a sentence on each card. Please read them all and sort them into two piles, one of the sentences you agree with, and one for those you disagree with."

"And what if I don't have an opinion?"

"Well," Maruki remained patient, "it wouldn't be a problem for two or three cards, but-" A phone buzzed in his pocket. "Pardon me," he announced, then pulled it out and glanced at the screen. No caller ID. He picked up the call: "Hello?"

"Don't worry about the camera," said a digitally altered voice. "You can talk openly. Now, pass the phone to Crow."

"Um, it's for you," Maruki said, handing over his phone.

Goro picked it up with his uncuffed hand, slightly confused, and put it to his ear. "Goro speaking," he said, in a conspiratorial murmur.

"Hey, Joker here. How are you holding up?"

There was a noticeable pause before Goro replied: "Fine."

"Do they treat you right in the clink?"

"More or less," he said. "I mean, it's the bare minimum, but nobody's drugged me or tried to kill me yet."

"I'll see if I can call in some favors to keep you safe."

Goro opened his mouth.

"Don't argue with me about it," Akira interrupted him.

"Tsk." A smile briefly crept on Goro's face. "Since you asked so nicely…"

"Moving on:" he continued, "I had a word with Takuto beforehand. As far as I can tell he isn't there to screw you over, he's just the best expert they could find. Please don't be difficult."

"I wasn't going to be." He gave Maruki a glance. "I want this thing to come to a proper conclusion, and pointless temper tantrums would be counterproductive."

"Understood." There was a pause on the other end. "Can I do anything else for you?"

"You know, there's one thing: get some fucking rest, Joker," Goro replied. "You've already done more for me than you had to. More than I deserve. Sit down, relax, rub Mona's belly if he lets you."

"Listen to what he's saying, Joker," a second voice came from the phone. "He's being smart for once in his life."

"Oh, choke on a fishbone," Goro retorted, with no malice in his voice. "Let's wrap this up before the guard gets suspicious. I don't know how thick the walls here are."

"Just one more thing…"

There was a click heard on the other end of the line, and Akira's quiet, undistorted voice came out of the speaker:

"There will be people waiting for you outside, Goro. I know I will be. Stay strong."

"You too. I'll see you, Joker," Goro said, then hung up and tossed the phone towards Maruki. "Did you know this would happen?" he whispered to him.

"I did," Maruki nodded. "He asked me if I would help him with getting you a phone call, and I agreed. I also asked him to get me some… privacy, so we can talk openly."

"I see." Goro pulled the box towards himself. "So, uh, is this an actual test, or some coded message?"

"It's an actual test," Maruki reassured him. "It's meant to gauge the patient's personality. And like I was trying to say, you can mark a few answers as 'unsure', but I need a lot of definitive answers to get anything meaningful out of it."

"Well, let's just get this over with." Goro pulled out a random card from the middle of the stack, glanced at it, and put it down on the table. It read: 'I bottle up my feelings'.

"That's the 'agree' pile," Goro explained, reaching for the second card, and almost immediately putting it on top of the first; 'I spend time thinking about past mistakes'. The third card read 'I dislike myself'. He put it on the other two, pulled out the fourth one, and let out a long chuckle. "Oh, this one's definitely a 'disagree'." He showed the card – 'I use swear words' – to Maruki, and noticed the unsure expression on his face. "Uh, is everything alright? Am I doing this thing incorrectly?"

Maruki let out something between a sigh and a groan in response. "Goddammit, I'm pathetic."

Goro raised an eyebrow. "Is this part of the test?"

"No, it's just another instance of unprofessional behavior on my end," Maruki rubbed his eyes, frustrated. "You… might have noticed that I have a chip on my shoulder when it comes to you. Do you know why?"

"Because I took part in fucking up your life and tried to kill one of your friends."

"Yes, but the thing is, you did this on someone else's orders."

"Of my own free-"

"Please don't interrupt me," Maruki said, firmly. "When I inherited that god's power, do you know what I did to Shido?" Dramatic pause. "I put him somewhere out of the way, gave him a normal, boring job, and did not think about the dipstick any more." He pointed at Goro. "And even if I take your self-flagellation at face value, in the grand scheme of things, you were at the absolute bottom of the food chain. And I singled you out because you dared to stand against me, to criticize my," air quotes, "'perfect' reality. Everything else was secondary."

After a moment of silence, Goro raised his free hand.

"Yes, I am done, you can speak."

"Okay." Goro lowered his hand. "I forgive you."

Maruki did not expect that. "A-bwuh?"

"You seem like the type of person that might get some relief from me saying this," Goro continued. "I allow you to move on with your life and not think too much about how I annoy you. That's what I'm gonna do when this is all over." He outstretched his left hand towards him. "I know you do that with your right, but mine's a little bit tied down at the moment." He moved his right hand around a bit, and the handcuffs jangled.

Maruki had to admit that it did ease the burden on his conscience. "Th-thank you, Goro." He awkwardly shook his hand with his own left. "I hope you'll be able to find inner peace in your own time."

"Most likely," Goro said, picking up another card. "Now that there's a point to playing nice, I don't have to burn my bridges the way Akechi did."

In response, Maruki inhaled air through his teeth. "You…" he said, "you know I lied on Saturday, right?"

Goro put down a card – 'I have a poor vocabulary' – on what was going to be the 'no' pile. "Hm?"

"That whole spiel about how I brainwashed you and messed with the others' memories. It was a lie." Maruki decided to not be subtle about it. "Villains lie sometimes, you of all people should know that."

"Right," Goro said, unconvinced.

"Why do you not believe me?" Maruki scowled, slightly irritated. "Why would I lie to you at this point?"

"I'unno," Goro shrugged in response. "Because you're scared of what the Thieves will do to you if you draw attention to yourself some more? Or maybe you're just deluding yourself. That's a villain classic."

For a moment, Maruki briefly considered dropping the topic, but a different thought came up in his head – if he pulled that thread, he might have gotten some insight into his psyche, which might be useful for the evaluation, or help him in some other way. "Hm." He adjusted his glasses. "Is there anything specific that makes you believe that… alterations were made?"

Goro closed his eyes and took a breath. "There's this…" He rested his head on his left arm. "For lack of a better term, I have this… memory. Right after I lost to the Thieves and my cognition entered stage left… I took a shot at some control panel and, like, a bulkhead dropped, separating the Thieves from the cognitive me and the mooks." Another breath. "I think I got the cognition in the end, but…" he trailed off.

"Hm." After a moment, Maruki said, "It might sound dismissive, but applying Occam's razor feels appropriate here. Are you sure it wasn't just a bad dream?"

Goro sighed in frustration and opened his eyes. "…it feels more real than everything around me."

"Do you mind elaborating?"

"Look the fuck around," Goro gestured with his free hand, startling Maruki despite the handcuffs still keeping him in place. "It's all a blur, coming to focus only when you stop to look at a detail. It- it feels like a bad reproduction, like a dream, filtered through… something I can't understand!" Realizing he's getting himself riled up, he paused and took a breath. "And then there's this… voice. Continuously rambling about what's around us, how we feel, what we think." A pause. "I know you can hear it. And I know it wasn't there before."

"This is not my doing," Maruki showed him his palms in a defensive gesture. "I know what voice you're talking about, and-and I won't deny that there's a chance that it is a real memory of some kind, but… well, if something affected you, it affected me as well. We're both stuck in this cave, watching shadows on the wall."

Goro wondered for a moment whether to believe him or not.

Hm.

"'Hm'?" Goro repeated.

I think I can tell you this much – Maruki is telling the truth. This is completely unrelated to his powers.

"Uh, you can call me Takuto at this point, I guess," M- Takuto commented. "There's no need to be formal."

Goro didn't find the revelation reassuring. "So there's some other… entity, overwriting the real us, our friends, the world itself?"

Takuto drummed the table with his fingers a few times, and then a thought popped up in his brain. "And why do you think this is an overwrite?"

Goro scoffed. "What else could it be?"

"A… different branch, splitting out from the trunk," Takuto elaborated. "Rather than imposing something completely new over the pre-existing base, this… entity gave the world a small nudge in a different direction." He put his hands together and then spread them out a bit. "You aren't… covering up the Goro you remember, so to speak, you are just two people that took different paths in a fork in the road."

"That's…" It gave Goro pause, that was certain. "Do you have any proof for that theory?"

"I do not," Takuto admitted. "But without the ability to pierce whatever veil surrounds us, both your theory and mine are equally unfalsifiable."

Goro quietly pondered it for a moment. "Maybe you're right." After a moment, he added, "Or at least I like your theory better. It's less depressing." He grabbed a bunch of cards from the box. "Let's pick up the pace. I'm sure you've got places to be."

"Take your time if you have to," Takuto reassured him. "I expect all the exams and other questions to take at least a few hours." He reached into his suitcase and pulled out a small plastic baggie. "I brought some dried apple slices if you're hungry."