2025-07-24: Doppelganger
- Log: 2025-07-24_Akechi_Tatsuya_First!
- Cast: Tatsuya Suou, Goro Akechi
- Where: Ebisu Beach, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: July 24, 2025
- IC Date: June 15, 2012
- Summary: While investigating the Supernatural incident at Ebisu Beach, Tatsuya Suou experiences the insanity of a detective first hand...
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
It's been a few days -- a week, even -- since the battle at Ebisu Beach, a situation where a certain junior officer was about to get blackbagged by agents of the New World Order. People've written it off as some sort of strange commotion, largely thanks to the supernatural space created by Yua further obfuscating things, but...
"...? I can still sense traces of it..." Tatsuya appears to still be pretty interested in the after-the-fact. At this time of day, most families aren't at the beach, leaving it relatively quiet; Ebisu Beach has attracted a number of tourists, but it's not *school holiday* season, which easily cuts out a large number of its would-be attractors. The youth in red brushes off the sand from his slacks, and then glances around once more.
A deep-set frown. He knew Sudou would have to be backed up by people, but his brother was in the lead in terms of knowing who they are. Still, he can't just walk up to him and start to question him... but thinking about how he's become involved in this...
How's that tutor that the he of 'This Side' involved? She's not just a normal tutor. She's pressing her luck going into Mementos. And it's not just out of a wild lack of self-preservation. What's her angle? Is she involved?
Tatsuya's deep in trance, looking odd as a youth in motorcycle leathers standing out in the beach when he should be in school.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
One might think that Goro Akechi approaches silently, but that isn't the case. It's difficult to be silent on the beach, with the footing uneven.
If anything, Akechi stands out more than Tatsuya does in his motorcycle leathers. He's wearing the Seven Sisters Summer Uniform, with the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up to his elbows.
His tie is slightly ajar, in that way that always implies that he's been involved in some sort of hard work recently. His dress shoes were immaculate, until they made contact with the beach sand.
Now they're the only thing that outwardly appears dirty about him.
"Well... that's not someone I expected to see. Your presence here goes to show that as much as society lauds detectives for their skills at deductions... that they certainly don't know everything."
He's carrying his metal briefcase, with the logo of his detective agency on the side, and he's smiling at Suou like he's a friendly acquaintance.
Except, try as you might, you can't place him as any student at Seven Sisters that this Tatsuya would know.
A hand strays up to one of his locks of hair, as the sea breeze blows, brushing a bang out of his eyes.
"It's been a while, Suou-kun. I thought you were merely skipping class... but it seems I was wrong."
That hand comes to rest on his chin, as he smiles at him, trying to knock him out of his reverie.
"Instead you must be here to investigate the attempted murder of your brother... so you know - it couldn't have been the 'Old Maid'." He says that quite confidently, "But that doesn't necessarily mean we should rule out any link to him."
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
...
...
Someone's coming. His eyes surreptitiously flick up, and he spots Goro -- a Sevens student? That's going to be troublesome. What's he doing here, also cutting class? The way he's dressed... he's been up to something as well. Add that to his rather groomed, upkept appearance and it doesn't look likely that he's just a delinquent student... far from it. And when he speaks, it even further adds to that--
Detectives?
There's a deep-set frown for a moment, before Tatsuya realises even a look of suspicion can already give a lot out away. He tries to look more neutral, as Akechi identifies him by name, as if he's familiar. Damnit... is it another person that the he of 'This Side' knows? It just doesn't end. What does he do-- stop time and flee into another manhole? No, that's going to draw way too much attention here.
What Goro says last does catch his attention, though. Think! That briefcase, the logo on it... wasn't there a television broadcast about this? It's no good. He can't remember. Why does this student know so much? This is a risk. It's too dangerous.
"... you're wrong, actually. I just like the seashells here," Tatsuya answers, hands in his pockets as he tries to turn towards the stairs to exit.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Tatsuya would be treated to a singularly rare sight at his 'stare' followed by his... 'answer' if he hadn't been already trying to walk away.
Akechi looks momentarily flummoxed, before he brings back up that Oh-so-affable smile to greet him again, and laughs, "Ahaha... really, Suou-kun? You could do me the courtesy of telling me it was 'Just a joke' after."
It's obvious that he doesn't believe him, after all. "Your delivery is enough to make anyone wonder."
He doesn't follow him at first, "There's no need to be so cold about this. We are classmates in the same year, aren't we?"
However, after Tatsuya takes enough steps away from him, he follows at a slow gait, "And besides that, I'm a detective that is investigating the same case as you. Tatsuya
Sudou... the Old Maid. There's no need to pretend otherwise."
The smile falls away, into a more serious tone, as he stops following to stand still, "One could say that resolving this before more perish at his hands is quite personal to me... and I'm well aware that it is to you as well."
What exactly does he mean by that? In what way does he know it's personal to Tatsuya Suou? Certainly it is but which specific way... is a maddening question.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Damn. He's not going to just let him get away, huh? By the time he gets out of sand and towards the concrete of the sand barriers by the stairs, Tatsuya's just resolved to stop. It's a little more out of the way here. Is anyone listening in? Has he come with anyone else? He can't spot anyone hiding in the reserves, but if he's learnt something, it's that you can never think you have Napoleon figured out.
Classmates... is that all there really is? His insistence definitely screams that there's something more -- mere classmates wouldn't be meeting like this, out in the open when they should be in class. His interest in the case, that logo and briefcase... he's clearly got a 'second job', of sorts. And he's doing more than just playing at detective. Is he also a...
"I'm not a detective," Tatsuya lowers his head as he says it, still feeling the need to pretend otherwise. "I'm just a high school kid. You want a detective? Talk to my brother instead."
He doesn't know his name, but Akechi knows his. That puts him at a disadvantage. He's going to have to play it subtle, but the fact that he can't cough up a name is something Tatsuya knows he'll figure out.
But then the smile fades, and he speaks of how this is serious -- and personal. A deep-set frown as Akechi points out that it's just as personal to him. "Really? How do you figure that...?" He's not convinced, still. That kind of statement can be taken as a cold read.
Tatsuya'll lead him on, then. He'll keep his cards close to his chest. If Akechi wants in, he'll have to do the legwork of unravelling him and pointing out specific details... which he might.
He'll be in danger if someone truly knows his true identity. He has to be confident about that.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Akechi laughs merrily again at Tatsuya declaring he's not one, "Well one doesn't have to be to know that."
There's no resonance to feel on this one. He's just a normal guy, certainly. That's the only explanation to that.
Isn't it?
"Though opinions on what you are do vary among our classmates. Declaring you're a 'man's man' in reverent, aspirational tones is a pretty prevalent one..."
His smile has grown quite thin now, but there's something more real about it perhaps in that moment, as it gets to be more serious.
"... You saved Yoshizaka-san from him." He does not say how he found this out. Anna isn't the talkative sort, but that doesn't mean no one found this out, "One could interpret that in any number of ways..."
He says as he stops, turning sideways, in the moment seeming to have taken the bait on saying more than he needs to at his questions. An easy enough thing for Tatsuya to do since whoever this boy is, he talks a lot.
"... I choose to believe it's because you're her best friend." If Tatsuya is paying close attention to the world he's been a part of, that may ring some alarm bells. Most people in his class believe the two are dating.
Which means he knows more about him than is likely comfortable. "But that doesn't exclude an ulterior motive. Such as... your father being framed for a crime that he didn't commit, in order to protect the elder Sudou politically."
Akechi does smile at him, perhaps even a touch smugly, "Not to 'toot my own horn'... but I am a very good detective. But as we already established, one doesn't need to be for this to be quite personal."
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Tatsuya feels the need to reach for a non-existent lighter and flick at it. He doesn't have one. ... he won't ever have one. That's not 'history', on 'This Side'. Indulging in somethiing like that will only rip at the seams.
A Man's Man... that checks out, from the cocky smirk that he saw on his driver's license here. They both have similar ideals about the role of a man, in their coming-of-age struggle. But he was always a little more distant, stoic about it... as he is now. A man should own up to his own mistakes and fix it. The Tatsuya of 'This Side' is clearly a little more brash about it... and to that end, he knows more people.
Like this guy.
Like Yoshizaka.
"I just happened to be around. A Sevens student being at Sevens... that's not that hard to imagine, right?" So why does it feel so much like he's talking about a 'Sevens student' like he's arguing for someone who he isn't? But the conversation leads on to how she's his best friend. And, at least on this end...
Tatsuya does know that. Because he did receive calls from her, when he awoke on that fateful evening in that garage. Who he had on his phone was already a clue -- and the way Anna seemed taken aback by him saying 'Yoshizaka' did imply closeness. ... it's so strange it'd end up this way. Him, being rumoured to be dating Yoshizaka? He'd fought so hard to help Yukino-san save her... the way she, through no small pain and loss of her own, finally broke through to her shell to convince her that it was okay to allow herself to let someone come close again, when they fought their way up that mountain...
(Napoleon didn't make it easy. Darnit, Napoleon!)
"... that briefcase," Tatsuya points out, seemingly a nonsequitur. "That logo sticks out a lot... you're pretty serious about the detective thing, I can clearly see. It reminds me of someone else I saw on TV... a 'detective prince', I think. It was someone else, though."
Tatsuya clearly hasn't been watching much TV lately. "But... all right. Even if I agree with what you've said... and I'm interested in the 'Old Maid'. What of it?"
There's a balance here. He does need leads. He can't go to his brother and Maya-nee and endanger them further. But this 'A' is just as dangerous... but perhaps less seam-fraying than the alternative.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Well - no, it wouldn't be." Akechi allows of his 'excuse' for why he saved Anna, "Until you consider that it was an infamous serial killer... with a connection to you."
Tatsuya points out his briefcase, causing Akechi to scrutinize Tatsuya suddenly, as if said something a touch 'amiss'.
"... That would be Naoto Shirogane." Akechi answers with a smile, "The first 'Detective Prince'... of the famous Shirogane family. He found his way into the public eye a short time before I did."
The 'first' may stick out in Tatsuya's mind... what's wrong with that statement? It's something, it must be something...
"So one might say I take it rather seriously."
And again, he puts a hand on his chin regarding Tatsuya... "Most curious." In regards to his statement of being interested in the Old Maid, like he's thinking upon something else...
... before snapping back into focus, "...Well as I said before, the matter of the Old Maid is quite personal to me. Years ago, he burned down an orphanage I was residing in and a young girl perished..."
There's no smugness now on that expression, his brown eyes settling upon Tatsuya's... "... ever since, I've been doing everything in my power to bring that monster in. My own personal sense of Justice demands it."
He pauses, and takes a breath. "But I've been stymied at every turn by the corruption in the Sumaru Police Department... that is why I'm seeking allies outside of the current power structure."
As he looks upon Tatsuya, there's a touch of a smile again, "And well, I could do far worse than a 'man's man' and a classmate - who's already proven himself by being willing to risk his life, to save a friend from a despicable murderer like him."
It is an offer, and he seems sincere enough in that regard...
... but alarm bells may still be ringing, and it's hard to say why that is. Perhaps, the more one exposes themselves to a detective...
... the more vulnerable the truth becomes.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Something within the way Akechi continues to draw a connection between him and Sudou makes him squirm. He doesn't know at what level he understands the connection between the two of them to be. 'Fought at Sevens' is one layer. 'Encountered one another and fought at Club Zodiac' is another, lesser-known one. Could he have found out from Miyashiro? No, she promised that she'd keep his secret. But her paperwork may be looser-lipped, in a way. Of course... 'had a long history when he was known as King Leo' is the layer Tatsuya doesn't wish him to know.
But it looks like he used the right card, regarding the Detective Prince. The *first* Detective Prince. It's not hard, then, to guess that he's the *second* Detective Prince. The first. ... it's hard, being second, isn't it? It wounds you, knowing that you're perpetually cast in a shadow.
The topic of the Detective Prince is nothing compared to Akechi dropping a literal bomb on him, though. Sudou, burning down an orphanage *he* resided in. A young girl died.
He feels yanked from his body, all of a sudden. Visibly, Akechi sees him pale, his eyes ghostly and a million miles away, pupils dilating slightly. It's like *he* was there, and Akechi just reopened his trauma. Why's that? He has nothing to do with it. He's sweating, all of a sudden. It's not because his motorcycle leathers are hot in this weather.
This was the consequence.
That was what Sudou was talking about... 'the first law of thermodynamics'. You got one guy who gets to be all happy... another guy's gotta be unhappy to make up for it.
No... no! No... they... they just wanted some happiness. Is that so troubling to ask for? Everything they'd fought for, all this time, only to have it all taken away. They all walked so boldly towards a bright future. He can still hear them, every one of them! Eikichi's solemn but caring words, Ginko-- Lisa's heartfelt farewells... and... the last words he parted with Jun on that day-- not ever wishing for that moment to end--
... Akechi might notice that not a lot of what he's saying is actually reaching Tatsuya's brain. He's *gone*.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
It is an interesting question, does he know about Shiori? Does he know what happened at Club Zodiac?
Unfortunately, there's no way to actually nudge him that way without giving him a card, unless he starts talking about it on his own.
Indeed, the Second Coming, they call him... and it is difficult. So difficult that the only consolation is to make so many TV appearances that most people would forget who Naoto Shirogane is.
Save for the fact they don't make many makes them all the more mysterious... and hot... damnit.
Akechi is still looking to him for an answer, "Can I count on..." But the words cease, because he's noticed the symptoms. A hand on his chin.
Dilated pupils.
Diaphoresis.
Tachypnea.
The way he stares off as if he didn't see him. It would be easy to take some symptoms as being the result of the heat but he knows better, "It seems that I reopened old wounds."
He approaches... only just enough, to nudge him with his right shoulder, as he comes up at a more personal distance.
Himself looking one way, and Tatsuya looking the other - like some strange 'Pretty Boy' representation of Janus, in the two most popular boys in Seven Sisters.
He could say something kind about what he suspects Tatsuya is going through, even though he can't really know. But he has none to offer for someone going through something like this... after all, there was no one who was ever there for him.
And guys like Tatsuya and him? They have their pride. That much he believes is true.
Up next to him he turns towards a nearby bench near the edge of where the sand meets the path back up to the streets of Konan. "You should sit down." He suggests quietly, "Clear your head."
He's still looking to the bench, but really past it, "Out here, no one will see anything but two classmates enjoying the atmosphere."
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Shiori's existence is not something Tatsuya wants to tip unless the person in question is already in the know. They're already doing a lot for him that's not in the norm... they don't want to cause more trouble. In a way, however, Tatsuya has the opposite problem, doesn't he? He has a Tatsuya Suou that came before him, and he didn't want to take over as the Second Coming of Tatsuya Suou...
It isn't until Akechi nudges him that he does lapse, ever so briefly, out of his distress and reverie. His frown deepens into a tight knot, when he realises how much he emotionally collapses in front of him. "No... it's fine," he says, but his voice comes weak and hoarse. It isn't all right. Nothing is all right.
He does step to the bench under the shade, because the sun is starting to beat down on them incredibly hard. He does sit, which feels a bit like giving an advantage to Akechi in turn... and then he draws a breath as he relents to how this conversation has turned out.
"So Tatsuya Sudou was responsible for an arson, ten years ago... I assume it was all covered up," Tatsuya asks. "But..." A frown. What was his involvement in all this? He isn't someone he knows from the 'Other Side'. Why this gap? This is just like that tutor. Unfamiliar faces cropping up. Is this the consequence of that 'first law of thermodynamics' Sudou mentioned?
"... I'll just cut to the chase, since I'm not feeling well. What do you want from me?"
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Akechi doesn't try to tell him it's not fine. Doesn't try to press the issue. It's an offer. He made it.
It's now up to Tatsuya whether he accepts it or not.
And indeed he does. Akechi sits down on the bench, placing his briefcase on the side of himself furthest from Tatsuya.
And then he waits, he waits for Tatsuya to speak of the matter again, he can be patient when he wants to.
"It was. By the police department on orders from his father, the foreign minister, Tatsuzou Sudou."
Akechi relates in a tone that's somewhat distant, like he's trying to take the edge off of however he feels about this himself.
"The Fire Marshals declared it an accident... faulty wiring in an old facility. It was all too easy to write her off."
This indeed, could be Suou's fault perhaps. Maybe even this boy here and now. Was he drawn into this, because of what Suou did?
The first law of thermodynamics... it feels like fate punishing him for what he did. A desire not to forget.
"Well, to put it plainly, I don't trust the police of Sumaru City to take him down. I believe that many of them are on his father's payroll."
It's only now that he turns to him with a serious expression, "You faced the Old Maid and lived. Ordinarily... I wouldn't want to involve anyone else... but this monster? He's different."
And indeed, it sounds it within Akechi's voice. "If I thought you were here merely for the seashells, I wouldn't ask... but now that I think about it, it's only fitting that I consider if we can't come to some sort of an arrangement."
An almost nostalgic smile upon his face as he looks out, towards the ocean, "You remember right? That promise we made during the entrance ceremony on our first year..."
Of course, he's lying through his teeth here. But he's had a growing suspicion ever since Naoto Shirogane was invoked...
... and now he's going to test it.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
He's so careful with that briefcase. It's a contradiction, Tatsuya is able to think even through the morass of his current debilitation. On the one hand, it's the most resplendent thing in the world -- a proud symbol of what he is. But it contains deep secrets he wouldn't want shown to the world, would it?
Tatsuya can understand contradiction. There was a boy with his loud motorcycle, who still wanted to recede into the background. Perhaps, no matter how unusual their lives are, they can't avoid being teenagers.
It's all the same. The accident at the Alaya Shrine... it was also just all written off as an accident. And of course, when their father, Katsuzou Suou, tried to chase after him, he was blindsided by corruption and taken down as someone who accepted a bribe, publicly.
The place and victims differ. But it's hauntingly similar. Is this why the Phantom Thieves also exist, as a haunting echo of the Masked Circle?
But now he's put further on the spot, because Akechi is clearly testing him further, like how he had to bait Akechi into divulging more information before. There's no way he could remember a promise from the first year. It doesn't sound like something he'd do. He's going to unravel his position even more no matter what he says. Is this bait, or is this truth? Is it important?
...
...
Think! Recall all the names on the phone. This phone is your only link to the you of 'This Side', Tatsuya Suou. Was there even a single 'A' on that list... no, it's no use. He doesn't remember the whole list.
... it's less incriminating to simply say 'no', here. Falsely remembering a promise that doesn't exist is far more incriminating than simply forgetting.
"I... don't, sorry," Tatsuya admits. "You know I don't have the best home life." That much, he should already be able to figure out, having known the issues with his father.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Indeed... the boy before Suou is such a contradictory being, and Tatsuya understands that. Perhaps, if the two actually spoke, these two contradictory boys would understand each other far better than either of them would like.
Unfortunately, each of them has their own path. A Sin that cannot be forgiven... and a Justice that decides the truth.
Akechi nods as if in acceptance of Tatsuya's excuse, at first.
"No... I understand. After what happened to your Father... who would? And as I understand it, you and your brother aren't on the best of terms."
He says it so casually, this knowledge of how terrible his home life is, but...
"I am... a little surprised though." He says as he leans back, and crosses his arms, "You really don't know who I am, do you?"
Wait!? What!? Shouldn't Tatsuya's 'safe' excuse have been enough to ward off such thinking!? 'I don't remember' is a perfectly respectable excuse!
What gave him away?
"You've been working it out through context clues, but my name still escapes you. How peculiar..."
Why does he sound FASCINATED rather than OFFENDED? Is this the 'insanity' of being a detective? That one simply can't react normally??? "... We've passed each other in the hall plenty of times... greeted each other. We're often spoken about in the same breath by our classmates..."
The girls at Seven Sisters define themselves often by whether they're a Tatsuya or an Akechi person - the manly delinquent, or the upstanding detective prince.
"... Well, there's no need to let pride get in the way of what's truly important... though as a detective, I'll have you know I won't be able to resist a mystery like this one forever."
As he holds out a hand towards Tatsuya, his right hand, actually, as he smiles so VERY affably...
"Would you like to know who I am, Suou-kun?"
... so affably, that it only vaguely looks shark like, in how those pearly white teeth just show.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
It only takes a little divergence and two people, so similar, like peas in a pod, can take entirely different paths. Isn't this what this is all about? This is why this is a 'Sin' that cannot be forgiven.
"No... we definitely aren't," Tatsuya admits. That much is pretty much public knowledge, given how he already found out that he had his brother's number blocked. But then Goro Akechi cuts to the quick of it and makes a knot form in his stomach once more--
You really don't know who I am, do you?
Damnit. He caught on... the longer he lingered here, the more ammunition he was giving him. It really was a terrible risk. There are already people like Sudou that are being whispered about the 'Other Side'. Is this just another ploy? There's always someone behind other people. Are they trying to ensnare him into something greater?
But he sounds fascinated. This is excitement for him. Nourishment. Food. He's an enigma, a mystery for him to solve. He can list out all the little discrepancies. He can rat them out to other people.
At this point, his brain makes a little connection, and he remembers, what feels like so long ago now... right after they'd just defeated Principal Hannya at the clock tower, and they met Master Joker once more... Maya-nee had recited a poem once more that she'd recited many times in their childhood.
The Heinrich Heine poem.
'O you doppelganger! You pale comrade!
Why do you ape the pain of my love
Which tormented me in this spot
So many a night, so long ago?'
Maya loved that poem so much he looked it up. There was an implication that to see one's doppelganger was to have already faced death... and while she was drawing some kind of subconscious contrast between him and Jun at the time, now, he can't help but feel that he's become the proverbial monster within that poem, having taken the place of the Tatsuya Suou who rightfully belongs in this world.
Jun... Maya-nee...
Now he's made himself really sad again.
"... tell me," he sounds more resigned now, as if he knows he's been beaten. He doesn't quite reach for that hand yet, however.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
It is public knowledge. Tatsuya the rebellious delinquent - Katsuya the overbearing detective. He's never met Katsuya during his work, though he's heard of him, looked into him.
Katsuya isn't much of a mystery, Akechi understands that if he continues playing the role of 'good cop' in Sumaru City, that he's doomed.
Informing Tatsuya prophetically of the death of a brother he may not even know any longer (for all Akechi knows) seems in poor taste though.
Unfortunately, Tatsuya has now presented a mystery to the detective. And it is in the nature of the detective to not ignore a mystery that's presented before them.
The very worth of a detective to society, is tied up in their ability to solve these mysteries. But... it goes beyond that.
He has to be the smartest, the best in the room. There is no other option in his mind, save that. A paradoxical enigma has presented itself before him in Tatsuya Suou.
And he... he will triumph.
What a wonderful day this has become, making the decision to meet the loner - that he hopes, prays, will give him such wonderful memories.
Reflected in his brown eyes, he sees someone who is perhaps... in some ways, like himself. His own doppelganger, so to speak.
After all, a Tatsuya who became powerful enough to be spoken of by the upper echelons... all on his own, without allies or comrades to speak of...
... he thinks he's found this in the mystery of the boy who knew who he was... but now doesn't. Resigned as Tatsuya sounds...
... Akechi sounds elated. "Akechi. Goro Akechi. They call me the 'Second Coming' of the Detective Prince on TV..."
He introduces himself, confirming it to him, "I don't begrudge you forgetting me."
After all, the Tatsuya who did remember him, wasn't worth considering a rivalry with, "Let's instead call this... a fresh start. A meeting between men for the first time."
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Both Katsuyas, as far as Tatsuya knew, would willingly walk into the line of fire for truth. That's what made him abandon his dreams as a patisserie in *both* timelines. He can still... taste the chiffon cakes and meringues he made... the extraordinary, overwhelming volumes of them. He can still recall being sugar-sick by the end of all of it, the way Katsuya's so proud of his work he doesn't know when to stop.
...
He couldn't give him a happier outcome in this timeline. Why is that? Was it because he couldn't -- didn't -- want to envision his brother being happier? Was it his fault? Was he so petty that he'd condemn him to the same fate across timelines?
Unfortunately, Tatsuya doesn't have such working insights into a detective and its role in society. But he does know that dangerous look. The look that seemingly ogles all over his body, every inch of it, wanting to get into his mind and lobotomise him until he finds out what the exact ticking mechanisms within are. He knows the type... that unbearable egoist...
In a way, he's got one talking to him every now and again, reminding him of his mistakes.
"Goro Akechi," Tatsuya reaffirms. Of course, he has to reassert his role on TV again. It's unmistakable. It's his brand. He wants to project an image into society so hard that he glitters just like gold. But there's a shadow underneath all that that he's been able to catch a whiff of, sitting so close to him all this time. There's a structured madness behind the glint of those eyes.
"... sure. I can work with that," Tatsuya doesn't sound anywhere near as elated. But looking at him now does deliver a cold chill through his spine, sends frisson down his skin. This is the product of someone who might've indulged further into the image of a 'man's man'... this is one of the outcomes he could've become. Still could've become, in this timeline, with the few unique talents he does have.
After all, if what happened in the Alaya Shrine happened at Akechi's orphanage instead... whose shadow was cast and became his image?