January in Tokyo was much less snowy than Gifu, but just as cold. However, living in the Sakura household negated the majority of the chill, especially when he joined Sojiro, Futaba, Morgana– and recently, sometimes Yusuke– under the heated table in the living room. The small home was nowhere near as drafty as the old attic had been.
"You're getting worse than Futaba," Sojiro pointed out, as he brought out another plate of sliced vegetables from the kitchen and placed it on the table next to the hotpot.
Ren looked up from his phone guiltily.
"Yeah, you're on that thing constantly," Futaba added, petting a sleeping Morgana who was half tucked under the blanket covering her lap. Next to her, Yusuke leaned over the table to help add the new ingredients into the pot.
"Is it that friend of yours that Futaba mentioned earlier? The one that lives in Saitama?" he asked, handing the plate back to Sojiro, and stirring the soup with an extra-long pair of chopsticks.
"You mean his new bestie?" Futaba joked, watching him carefully. "Sojiro, more meat!"
Ren was saved momentarily from answering by the old man's grumbles as he took the plate back into the kitchen. Unfortunately, as soon as the door closed, the two former thieves turned to him expectantly. Firing off a quick message, he put his phone to the side. "I wouldn't call him my 'bestie,' but yeah. He wanted to know what I'm up to."
"I, for one, think it wonderful that you are expanding your network of friends. Perhaps one day you can introduce us," Yusuke calmly replied, ignoring the elbow to his side from Futaba.
"Yeah, maybe."
"Well, kids, this is the last of it, so eat up," Sojiro cut in, bringing a plate of thinly sliced pork to the table. Before he could bend over to put it on the table, both Yusuke were scrambling to stand and take it from him.
"I've got it," Ren said, holding up a hand to his friend, and grabbing the plate. With his hands free, Sojiro could maneuver himself back into his seat easier.
"I feel bad imposing, while not offering my assistance," Yusuke answered.
"Don't worry about it, Inari." Futaba quickly said, reaching up and pulling on his arm. She tugged and after another couple of seconds, he sat back down next to her. Once he had, she bumped her shoulder against his upper arm.
Ren added the meat slice by slice to the boiling soup. He ignored his phone as it vibrated against the table, knowing the other man could wait a few minutes until he was done and his friends' attention was back squarely on the meal. He wasn't really in the mood to answer any more questions, especially ones about his new friend.
If I'm not careful, they might figure out who I've been talking to.
Though, another more rational part of him knew that was highly unlikely. As far as everyone else was concerned, Goro Akechi was dead. They had no reason to suspect anything, but Ren still didn't want to risk it– not with what Akechi warned would happen if they did somehow find out.
The morning after he had gotten stranded overnight in Saitama had been an odd one.
Ren had little trouble falling asleep that night, despite sharing the same space as Akechi. He hadn't even managed to stay awake long enough for the former detective to finish up in the bathroom. As soon as his body was horizontal and tucked between folds of heavy fabric, his mind shut off and he was out like a light.
He was awoken however when something was unceremoniously dropped atop his sleeping form– on his stomach, to be precise. Startled, he bolted up, grabbed for whatever had fallen, and whipped his head side to side taking in the room. Akechi was already walking away, without a word. Looking down, Ren found a plastic shopping bag in his lap, along with his fully charged phone. In the bag was a little paper carton of fruit juice, a roll with a whipped cream filling, and a travel toothbrush.
"I assume you can figure out how to use those and where the bathroom is," Akechi muttered, returning to the sofa-bed and collapsing onto it, face down into his pillow.
Ren's stomach decided then to growl loudly, reminding him that he hadn't eaten much the day before. Pulling his breakfast out of the bag, he thanked Akechi– who responded with a grunt– and dug in. Although it wasn't anything fancy, the roll was incredibly fresh and Ren was surprised that the juice happened to be his preferred blend of apple, grape, and strawberry. While he ate, he checked his phone. It was just after five in the morning and there were twenty seven missed messages, five missed calls, and two voicemail messages. One was from Sojiro and another was from Iwai of all people.
He glanced at Akechi, who hadn't moved at all. He lowered the volume on his phone and brought it up to his ear to listen to the messages. He then looked up the train times. Popping the last of his breakfast into his mouth, he began typing out a message to Futaba.
Ren Amamiya 05:07
[Hey, just got up. See you soon-ish.]
Great Oracle Futaba the Wise 05:08
[U survived! ETA on when u'll b home?]
Ren Amamiya 05:09
[You're awake! Did you change your name on my phone again?]
Great Oracle Futaba the Wise 05:09
[That'll teach u not 2 leave ur phone laying around. ETA?]
Ren sent a link to the train timetable online. As it was a Sunday, the trains were running on a weekend schedule, which would add to his commute time. In response, Futaba sent a picture of herself giving a thumbs up next to a sleeping Morgana on her bed.
Great Oracle Futaba the Wise 05:11
[Safe travels, adventurer.]
Ren pocketed his phone and sent another glance Akechi's way. No change, so he got up with his bag in hand, and tiptoed into the kitchen.
He looked around for any sort of garbage can. Not seeing anything, he checked under the sink and found a few small bins– one for burnable waste and another for plastics. Next to them was a cardboard box for plastic bottles, in which were the two empty bottles from the previous night. He quickly threw away his garbage.
He glanced around and saw a curtain he hadn't noticed before near the refrigerator. Pulling it aside, he found two doors and a small washing machine. The door to the left led to the restroom, which Ren used, while the right led to the wetrooms. Opening that door, he was greeted by a large sink with a simple shelf lined with toiletries and a tiny glass shower stall with a blue shower mat in front of it. He flicked on the light and started his morning routine.
When Ren returned to the living room, Akechi had moved somewhat, though he was still reclining on the sofa-bed. He looked slightly more awake than before.
"Morning," Ren greeted, heading to put away the blanket and makeshift pillow.
"Leave it. I'll do it later," Akechi gestured to the items on the floor.
"I feel bad making you do that. I can at least put away the blanket. It goes in there, right?"
Akechi sighed heavily, but didn't try to stop him. He just watched Ren fold the blanket up and returned it to its storage bag. He smirked as Ren fiddled with the zipper. It took a minute or two, but he got it.
How the hell did he do this one handed?
"What should I do with this?" Ren held up the pillow made of clothes. "They're probably wrinkled as hell. Do you have an iron or…"
Propping himself up more, Akechi gave him a look. One eyebrow was raised high and his mouth slanted downward. "Leave it. They're just sleep clothes. Doesn't matter if they're wrinkled."
"Still…"
"Give it here," Akechi held out his hand and Ren put the bundle into it. It was promptly dropped on the sofa-bed next to him. "It's too early for this shit. Don't you have a train to catch?"
"I mean, yeah. I texted Futaba that I'm coming home, so it's probably fine. I didn't say anything about sleeping here or about you, by the way." Ren rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck.
"Good. Keep it that way. I don't want any of them knowing about me. Or where I live. So far as I'm concerned, I'm done with them and they're done with me. No need to complicate things."
"I guess," Ren shifted from foot to foot.
"What now?" Akechi sighed, turning over to face away from Ren. He seemed ready to go back to sleep, causing Ren to wonder if he had gotten any sleep at all.
Hesitating, Ren replied, "I was hoping… we could keep in touch?"
Akechi quickly turned over to stare at his former rival, "What?!"
"It was good to see you again. I hoped we could continue to talk, even if by text. Like old times."
"You realize that I was pumping you for information, right?"
Ren nodded.
"And searching for your weaknesses in order to take you down."
"Yep."
Pushing himself off of the sofa-bed, Akechi stood with a hand on his hip, "So explain to me why you want to continue playing those games? What's in it for you?"
"Um, a good conversation partner?"
"Bullshit."
"Look, I really did miss you after you were gone. It'd be nice to try this again, this time without all the backstabbing and lies… you said we could've been friends if we had met earlier. So, why not try? If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out, and we leave it at that."
Akechi shook his head and began pacing,"You don't need someone like me in your life."
"You're right, I don't."
Akechi flinched back as if slapped.
"But I still want you in it. What do you say? Want to try this being friends thing one more time?"
And that had led to the pair texting, sporadically at first, then several times a day.
Of course, Akechi being Akechi, had laid down his conditions early on.
First, Ren would tell no one that he was alive.
Second, he would keep his contact information as Azuma Takanashi in case Futaba saw fit to snoop through Ren's phone. As an extra layer of protection, Akechi also insisted all their communications be through text– having learned how easily calls could be recorded.
Third, and finally, if asked about the mysterious Mister Takanashi, Ren was to say that he was a shut-in client of Iwai's who preferred any and all future deliveries be made by the ex-phantom thief. If the two happened to text about topics outside of those orders, then that was their business.
Now, months later, Ren was determined to stick to that story, least Akechi cut contact all together.
Azuma Takanashi 19:23
[I find that hot pot is best finished off by adding leftover rice.]
Ren Amamiya 19:24
[Nah, noodles are better. Ramen if you have them, but rice starch ones work fine too.]
Azuma Takanashi 19:26
[You are thoroughly out of your mind.]
Ren Amamiya 19:26
[Pot, kettle, something-something.]
Ren Amamiya 19:27
[Tell me this doesn't look delicious?]
Ren sent a picture of the hotpot, making sure to get the still sleeping Morgana in the shot but not any of his other friends. He waited for Akechi's response.
"Are you really sending pictures of our dinner to your friend," Sojiro asked skeptically.
"If you insist on doing such, might I suggest a different angle? Based on the lighting, the optimal spot would be…"
The evening quickly devolved into an impromptu photo contest followed by a lecture on art and an argument between Futaba and Yusuke on the best way to arrange Featherman figures for display. After helping Sojiro clean up, Ren slipped away to his room.
Ren Amamiya 22:46
[Sorry about that. Futaba and Yusuke got into an argument about Featherman. Again.]
Azuma Takanashi 22:48
[Oh?]
Ren Amamiya 22:48
[How would you arrange your Featherman figures, if you had them. Hypothetically.]
Ren laid against the headboard of his bed while he waited for a response. He watched the three dots appear and disappear repeatedly and tried to imagine Akechi formulating his response. For as much as he pretended otherwise, the guy was a huge nerd.
Azuma Takanashi 22:59
[That's a difficult question. I need more information. Such as which series and which figures. Each series had multiple iterations of the figurines. Are we working on the assumption that these are the full sized ones, or the 3/4ths sized ones. Never mind the special limited edition models.]
Ren Amamiya 23:01
[Sorry I asked. So, what are you up to?]
Azuma Takanashi 23:03
[Not much. Mainly getting ready for tomorrow.]
Ren Amamiya 23:04
[What's tomorrow?]
Azuma Takanashi 23:06
[Meeting. With my doctor. Not looking forward to it.]
Ren Amamiya 23:07
[Everything okay?]
Azuma Takanashi 23:07
[It's bi-weekly appointment. It'll be fine. It's just draining.]
Azuma Takanashi 23:08
[I did want to ask, now that I have you. Are you free later this month? Perhaps on the last weekend of January?]
Ren checked his calendar. He would have to talk to Lala to make sure he wasn't needed at Crossroads, but he had no other plans so far. In fact, his schedule was pretty light, as there weren't many deliveries to be made for Iwai after the New Year and business hadn't been super busy at the cafe.
Ren Amamiya 23:11
[I think so. I sometimes work weekends at a bar for extra cash. But I can talk to my boss and get the time off if I need to. She's pretty accommodating like that. Why do you ask?]
Azuma Takanashi 23:15
[I was thinking of getting something delivered. If you had the time.]
Ren reread the message and snickered hard. He wondered if Akechi realized how suggestive that sounded and if he should point it out. Though, thinking about it, a lot of what came out of Akechi's mouth… phone… cognitive self did. He decided not to say anything. It would be the gift that kept giving.
Ren Amamiya 23:17
[Sure, though I am free on other days. So long as I have advance notice, I can probably do it. My first priority is helping out at the cafe, but recently it hasn't been too busy, so I'm sure Boss won't mind.]
Azuma Takanashi 23:19
[What about school? Don't skip on my account.]
Ren felt his body lock up.
That's right, I never told him.
Ren typed a reply, deleted it, then typed a different one. Before he changed his mind, he hit send and hoped Akechi didn't pry. Though that was like asking an ocean not to be wet.
Ren Amamiya 23:22
[Don't worry about it. Besides, it's only about an hour train ride each way. And not so expensive. Is there another day that works better for you?]
Azuma Takanashi 23:30
[I can't help but feel there's something you're not telling me.]
Well, shit. So much for that.
Azuma Takanashi 23:31
[But if that is the case, why don't you come by next week? How does Thursday sound?]
Surprised, Ren checked his calendar again. After confirming that it was indeed free, he was told to be in front of the apartment building by eleven-thirty. Ren then made a memo to tell Sojiro he needed the day off the next morning.
The two chatted a little longer before exchanging their good nights and Ren got ready for bed. Right when he was getting ready to lay down, a soft pitter-patter came through his door. When he opened it, Morgana slid in, wrapped around his ankle, and made for the bed.
"Can I sleep in here tonight? Futaba's watching weird anime on her computer again," the not-cat complained, pouncing onto the bed with a little butt wiggle.
"Sure."
"Thanks," Morgana waited beside the pillow for Ren to shut off the light and climb into bed. Then he curled up on Ren's chest. His body was warm and his weight comforting. Ren had no trouble falling asleep that night.