2025-07-02: Empty Calories
- Cutscene: Empty Calories
- Cast: Goro Akechi
- Where: Shibuya Ward, Tokyo
- OOC Date: July 2nd, 2025
- IC Date: June 1st, 2012
- Summary: Akechi eats his fill for the day...
The sunlight glinted off the side of an Agepan food truck, a classic awning of blue and white inviting everyone in, the proprietor ready and waiting with a fresh batch, as the man of the hour walked up.
His Seven Sisters Uniform was immaculately pressed, his senior blue tie loosened roguishly as if he'd just walked up from a difficult case. At his side, a metallic briefcase, with his logo. As the sandwich paper filled with the bounty of a hard days work was handed to him, he turned, and smiled affably as he began his explanation.
"Despite my appearance, I'm a sucker for sweets. Detective work requires significant mental exertion. So you could say that sugar is essential for my day to day."
"And cut! That's good for now!"
Look at another angle. You'll see the Boom Mike overhead, the street half cleared save for the crowd of onlookers cordoned off in the distance. A crew of production staff from MHK broadcasting surrounding him, as the director gave him an enthusiastic look.
"That was perfect! You managed it in only one take. Go on, take a break while we check the footage."
"I'm glad you're satisfied." He replied, "It would be really inconvenient if I had to stay here all day filming with my current caseload."
"We wouldn't do that to you Akechi-kun! Don't worry, we'll cut you loose soon."
Taking a seat near a local store front, he finally peeled back the sandwich paper for the deep-fried, sugary bread, and took a bite.
His actual evaluation? "Disgusting." He murmured in a hushed tone, but he kept eating, as if he didn't much care about what he was eating at all, so long as it was food.
Noticing two girls in Shujin uniforms that had somehow slipped the net of security and were whispering nearby, he took another bite, allowing some of the sticky crumbs to adhere to his left cheek. He had an image to maintain after all.
It took a while for them to find the courage to approach him, but then they did.
"You're... Akechi-kun, right?" The other spoke right after, "The great high school detective?"
He smiled affably as he lowered the bread, putting that crumb on full display as his head canted slightly to the side shifting his silky yet boyishly messy hair. The perfect image of the boy next door, idealized the whole country over.
"Yes, I'm surprised you've heard of me." He replied, "I'm honored." That act caused the first girl to get nervous as she stammered, "Y-Yes, well..." The other girl interjected, as if sensing her friend's courage failing her, "Can you tell us about your progress on the Phantom Thieves case? They could just be rumors but... my friend, she's worried. What happens if they decide to change more hearts?"
His expression turned more serious, as he acted like he had just noticed the crumb on his cheek and wiped it away on the wax paper; now that they'd touched upon a topic of great import to him. "I'm sure you haven't done anything that would cause them to target you, correct?" The girl looked like she was going to fall apart at that moment, "W-W-Well..."
Rather than let her twist in the wind stammering, he continued, "...but you're right to be concerned. With their methods unknown, we can't know how they choose whose heart to change. It could be entirely arbitrary."
The first girl relaxed subtly, "That's what we think! So - how long do you think before they're held accountable."
"Soon." He answered her with a certitude that caused them both to seem more relaxed, "I'm staking my reputation as a detective on these 'Phantom Thieves' being brought to justice."
"That's so cool!"
"I told you! He's just like the detectives in the novels!"
Akechi smiled to them both, the Agepan still left a sickly taste in his mouth, but it mattered little. He'd had his fill of empty calories for the day.