@rousseaucrowâ
It wasnât like Akechi to be so careless as to leave behind a confidential piece of information such as part of a case file. At least, that was what Ren would have thought before their outings were becoming more and more frequent as of late, rare moments in which he would manage to catch the briefest of glimpses of who Goro Akechi might truly be behind the mask of a punctual and polite Detective Prince. It might have been hard to believe for some, but even Akechi was as human as the rest of them, even going as so far as mistakenly leaving behind something important. Maybe it wasnât really as surprising as it seemed, though; at Leblanc the night prior, Ren had noticed the stressed out expression on Akechiâs face over his usual cup of coffee. Was that really all because of detective work? Though that was the obvious conclusion, Renâs intuition begged to differ.
Regardless of Akechiâs stance against the Phantom Thieves -- as the single biggest threat to the place where Ren belonged -- Ren still had half a mind to return his file to him. After all, they were... friends, maybe? Certainly not confidants, even if Akechiâs promise to teach him deductive reasoning was enticing as the leader of the Phantom Thieves. They stood at opposite ends, but connected somewhere halfway in between through their games and debates. It was fascinating.
Lately, Penguin Sniper in Kichijoji had been the stage for their battles, so it was the usual place for them to meet up when Akechi wasnât stopping by for a cup of coffee. Ren spotted Akechi waiting outside the entrance, and pulled out a manila folder from his bag to hand over to him.
âSorry, but I peeked at it,â Ren admitted. How could he not? The more confidential it was, the more he would want to look. âYou wonât arrest me, will you?â
Ren acted like he had simply been curious, but the victim of Akechiâs case had coincidentally turned out to be someone that the Phantom Thieves had been investigating after a desperate request posted on the Phan-Site just days ago. Ren had to wonder what Akechi would think if the Phantom Thieves ended up stealing the perpetratorâs heart before Akechi had a chance to solve the case himself... Or would Akechi beat him to the punch first?








