2025-08-27: Use It With Care
- Log: 2025-08-27 Use It With Care
- Cast: Ren Amamiya, Goro Akechi
- Where: Yongen-Jaya - Cafe Leblanc
- OOC Date: August 27, 2025
- IC Date: July 02, 2012
- Summary: Shortly after Kaneshiro's heart has been changed, Akechi visits Ren at Leblanc while Ren is cleaning and has unearthed an old chess set. They talk over a game, and Akechi proposes an interesting stratagem for the cornered...
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
After coming home yesterday from a Sunday out in Shibuya, Ren opted to clean up his attic room. This involved a lot of dusting, because the attic is a goddamn magnet for dust no matter how thoroughly or how frequently he cleans and it's not like his teacher-maid is good at cleaning, but it also involved fertilizing and watering his pet plant, then sorting through the remaining attic detritus he sorted through when he originally moved in.
Most of that was tossed, granted. Some of it, though, Ren thought might be worth looking over later and deciding if maybe he wanted to keep it. He'd put those things in a box and stuck it on one of the shelves near the stairs, along with the box full of his clothes (he might like looking stylish but it's not like he's got a wardrobe or a dresser up here). Then they got extremely busy three times in a row and hasn't thought of it until now. But what better time than now, after The Phantoms' third victory in a row? And it feels like making a small, personal but better fresh start, something appealing to Ren after Tsubasa acknowledged her genderfluidity.
However, sorting through that stuff had to be paused for a visit to the bathhouse to bathe (and here he did hire "Becky" to do his laundry for him while he soaked), finishing up (starting) homework, and going to bed. Now that it's Monday and they've come back home from school, he can resume his work. He's seated downstairs in Leblanc proper at the booth all the way to the back, still dressed in his school uniform, the box at his feet and slightly jutting out into the aisle, as they go through the items one by one. The TV is on, but he's not paying attention to it; there's nobody else in here right now anyway. (Does that include Sojiro? We will conveniently fail to collapse that quantum waveform. Morgana, at least, is upstairs, sunning in the window.)
One he's kept is a deck of cards that, while scuffed and beat up, still has all 52 cards. (Aside from just normally playing card games with it, maybe he can use it to learn some card tricks, is his logic. It'd suit a Joker, right?) One he's tossed is a set of best-collection of old jazz CDs that turned out to be chipped and/or scratched on the backside and thus unplayable. She's also tossed a rolled-up rug and a battered tennis racquet--the rug is too stained and faded, and the racquet's strings too loose, and Ren's interest in them too meager to go to the trouble of fixing them up. But one that they've got in front of him on the table, that she's cleaning up right now with an old rag... is an old wooden fold-up chess set.
It's a beautiful set, really. Ren only has a basic grasp of the rules, but it was so beautiful they couldn't bear to toss it. It's only wood and lacquer--nothing flashy or fancy--but all the pieces are so nicely carved. Excitingly, they found it too has all its pieces still. Maybe she'll invite Makoto to play against them sometime. Ren's sure she'd wipe the floor with them, but that's fine. The point is to have fun, not to win.
Right?
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Not paying attention to the TV, are you?
Perhaps you might, the moment someone familiar starts to speak. "-might spell difficulty for his supporters. It's an incredibly tricky thing to wash one's hands from having any responsibility."
That would be Goro Akechi, in a more homely atmosphere, sits between a woman in a tailored dress suit, and a bespectacled middle-aged man in a blue suit.
"...Tawarada-san will almost certainly have to resign from the scandal." A political pundit? He's agreeing with him...
And that's when the bell to the Leblanc rings, maybe as Ren finally takes notice of the TV, only to see...
"Oh are you watching? That was recorded earlier." He says with a smile that feels like half a smirk at the idea that Ren was potentially paying attention to his TV appearance.
Before he takes a seat at the counter, placing his logo'ed briefcase up on it. "I'll take a blend, please, assuming you're taking customers?" As if it were an open question, given that Sojiro isn't here. "I find myself thinking about this place quite often these days. The atmosphere is wonderful, especially with all the little..." He looks sideways at the lacquered wooden chess set Ren was cleaning, not that far and to the side of him, "... knickknacks really add to it..."
...His brown eyes drift up to Ren, as he smiles at him, and for now it seems less smug at least, perhaps more genuine.
"... May I?" As if he were merely asking to inspect the chess set that he found in the midst of cleaning. Perhaps he recognizes the simplicity of it's beauty.
Black and white, a game of kings that can be played by anyone - matching wits against one another. The victor and the vanquished.
It has a sort of raw simplicity, that the world itself tends to lack in this day and age.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
And, annoyingly, when Ren hears Akechi's voice, he does look up and over their shoulder at the TV. Having not been paying attention up until that moment, they're not exactly sure what he's talking about, but it sounds like there's some kind of scandal involved? Politics. Ren loses interest in the topic, but he is sort of curious about the segment with Akechi himself...
Until the bell over the door tinkles, and in walks Akechi himself. Ren sits up straight, startled--
That was recorded earlier, he explains.
"Oh. Obviously," Ren realizes out loud.
They watch him sit and order a blend, assuming that the place is open to customers. "I guess the sign is set to 'open,'" they remark, glancing at the door. The waveform has collapsed: Sojiro stepped out earlier, and the sign is indeed still set to 'open.' Possibly Sojiro assumed Ren would serve whoever came in; possibly he just forgot; possibly he intended to only step out for a short bit and didn't see the point.
Regardless, they proceed to get up, amble over to the door, and flip the sign to 'closed.' If Sojiro isn't here right now, and they're doing something else, they really shouldn't be letting people just walk in.
Ren lets Akechi take in this implicit refusal for a moment... then ambles over past him and around the countet to start to prepare a cup of coffee. The place was open when he came in, after all. Still, while their eyes are no longer on the new Detective Prince, they do continue to listen. Leblanc is a relaxing place in terms of its atmosphere, but they somehow doubt it's really Leblanc itself that has Akechi's interest.
He trails off. Ren glances up, in time to see Akechi look over at the chess set, and smile like he means it.
"Go ahead," Ren says, gesturing at the booth. They have no reason to stop him, anyway; it's just a chess set.
...Even so, they start brewing coffee for two: one cup for each of them. Chess does seem like a game Akechi would like, and Ren finds himself waiting to see if Akechi invites them to play.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Was it not meant to be?
Ren only shrugs. "I just part-time here."
He could serve Akechi without supervision; he's done shifts here while Sojiro was out. His coffee isn't as good as Sojiro's, but he is learning, slowly but steadily, and there's usually a pre-made pot or two of curry on the stove that he can serve even if Sojiro's out. Still, that's at Ren's own discretion when they aren't specifically asked. ...Of course, maybe Sojiro figured he doesn't need to ask at this point, but he's not here right now to ask, is he?
It doesn't seem like it bothers Akechi either way. No, it really doesn't seem like he would've left one way or another. That figures. Ren glances at the TV segment, where the Detective Prince still smiles charmingly, and looks back at the real deal, observing and handing the chess set with an expression much more... sincere.
Ren finds his gaze remains on that version of him. Akechi might be the only one here for Ren to worry about, but he is such a big worry--as worrisome as he is intriguing. And when Akechi does indeed invite him to play, he smiles.
"I was waiting for you to ask," they reply, because Akechi ought to know why Ren smiled. (Would he know, just from that?) "Give me a moment."
And indeed, a moment or two later, Ren pours a pair of cups, then carries them over on a tray to the booth. He sets them down on the table with motions more practiced than before, even without an apron this time, and once the tray is returned, they slip into the booth across from Akechi.
"You're still paying for that cup, though," Ren adds before taking a sip of his own.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Not only that, but Ren is aggressively uninterested in politics. It is a mystery why.
"I guess it must, if I could predict you," Ren replies--but they're still smiling too. It's not like he can predict Akechi in every single way; even if he saw this one coming, it's not boredom or dismissal that hits him, but the triumph of knowing they understand him a little better now.
The arrangement isn't; after all, Ren was in the middle of cleaning the pieces when Akechi arrived. They'll need to be set up properly. That won't be hard for him to do, though. When Ren returns, they notice that Akechi has already chosen which color they are. One of the chess rules Ren knows is that white goes first, and they don't bother to hide an eyeroll.
"It was open when you came in," Ren replies aloud. "I figured, not your fault you didn't know, so I'd let you make an order. It's not like you're poor."
...anymore.
But Ren doesn't know about that.
They take another sip, but look up at the White King as Akechi presents it along with his proposition. A spark of interest lights Ren's eyes... but soon he meets Akechi's smug regard.
"No," he says plainly. "This isn't going like pool did. I know the rules and that's it. If we play normally, you'll definitely win." A beat. "Betting on that," he continues, continuing to maintain direct eye contact, "is boring."
...Is it Akechi's imagination, or is Ren not actually refusing a wager--just the terms of how to determine who wins and who loses? Either way... it's clear Ren's meeting his challenge with one of their own.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
It's nice to hear that he's not yet predictable but he supposes a Chess set on a table is akin to catnip to a cat for a Detective.
"Aha - I'm glad. It means there's so much more about me for you to learn." His eyes fall upon Ren, "And the other way around, as well."
Does that mean that Ren needs to keep remaining interesting to Akechi to continue these interactions? Perhaps, but it also means that Akechi is happy enough to be the party that Ren is interested in.
A true tête-à-tête, their relationship so far.
"Usually businesses enjoy my patronage enough to give complimentary offerings from time to time..." He sighs just as theatrically, "... but I suppose that's true, I can certainly afford a cup of coffee."
Indeed, Akechi does enjoy being offered free stuff, despite being well off, because each time it feels like a victory.
Back then, those businesses chased him off like vermin...
It is a reminder again of where he came from.
And as Ren rejects his challenge, there's a glint of interest in his eyes, as if to ask 'why' before...
"That is why I let you set your own stakes..." He does point out. "A cup of coffee versus anything you wanted from me, or wanted to know of me."
He says, but then he sits back, and sits the White King down, as if to concede Ren's point, "Oh very well, I suppose if I'm to be a proper regular here, then I shouldn't quibble over a simple cup of coffee."
And with that, he takes out his wallet (A fine leather one, also branded with his logo), and slides across a few yen bills, enough to pay for the coffee.
"... Well, in truth, the simple experience of playing against you, is enough for me." Akechi says quietly to Ren, before stating, "What say we bend the rules? Ordinarily it's white that makes the first move - but seeing as you acknowledge my advantage, I'll cede that one to you."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
The implication that Akechi only keeps coming to him as long as he's a mystery to solve isn't surprising to Ren. It's explicitly the basis of their entire relationship--the premise under which Akechi first came to Leblanc with that gray-haired woman and struck up a conversation with Ren while reading Arsène Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes. No, Ren knows, and maybe under different circumstances it would upset him, but right now, flush from the change of Kaneshiro's heart and the new mysteries unfolding for them, Ren has no fear of becoming boring to Akechi for the foreseeable future. A tête-à-tête, and they like it that way. So far.
"The Boss doesn't like too much of a crowd. If we encouraged you to keep coming back, you might bring a flock of your fangirls next time," Ren jokes, stone-faced enough to be devilishly difficult to tell if it is a joke.
The reminder of the offer to set their own stakes gets a 'pshh' of dismissal. "Stakes I had no chance of achieving. If you wanted me to take the bait on that, you should've said something like..." Ren rests his cheek on one hand and meets his eyes. "'If you can put me in check even once, you win.'"
But Akechi opts to pay after all, and Ren accepts the bills, folds them up, and gets up to put them in the till under the counter. They refuse to remark on Akechi's self-branded wallet, though internally they make a resounding, It figures. They'll pay for their own cup at the same time--or start to, until Akechi offers to let black go first. Their eyebrows rise as their chin lifts.
"You really want to be white, huh?" he comments, a touch of humor in his voice. The simple experience of playing you is enough for me... As a sentiment, it's almost sweet. Almost romantic. Ren knows better. (Ren believes better, anyway.) "Fine." They look down, then adds, "If I win, you pay for my cup, too. If you win... the next one's on the house."
It's low stakes after all. Maybe that means it's enough for Ren to be able to get to play him, too? Or maybe there's just nothing from him he wants.
He comes back to his seat in a moment regardless and considers his side of the board. He knows the rules, more or less, and even with the advantage of going first, he doesn't really expect to win. But he also thinks Akechi doesn't expect him to win--and that makes him want to win anyway. Just to show him.
Ren moves a black pawn two spaces forward. A fairly standard opening move, as one might expect from a chess rookie. His bespectacled eyes rise, though, to see Akechi's reaction--and what move he makes in turn.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Aha... I suppose that's true." He chuckles smugly, as if accepting his fandom, in particular, fangirls would follow him around, "But do you really suppose that's the kind of crowd that Sakura-san would hate serving?"
It's perhaps a small jab at the man, but only a very small one. The idea that he would set aside his standards for a crowd of pretty teenage girls.
It's certainly not suggesting that he would ever date a young girl. But when it comes to adult men who enjoy the presence of young women, Akechi does not think that 'The Boss' is exempt.
And Akechi leans upon a single hand, an elbow resting upon the table, leaning in just - as he meets Ren's eyes.
"Do you really think you could? That would be a sight worth coming here for alone..."
Smug as always, even to the idea that Ren could put him in 'Check'. It is an idea worth considering, for the future, but for now...
"Well..." Akechi's eyes flit towards Ren's hair, "... perhaps it's more that I want you to play to type. ... Black truly is your color."
The Dark Horse candidate, the Picaresque Hero, the Arsene Lupin to Goro Akechi's Herlock Sholmes- or perhaps Akechi's simply complimenting Ren's appearance in a backwards way.
Maybe infuriatingly it's all of the above.
"Then, I accept your challenge... and your stakes." Akechi says, with a smirk, and one handedly, pulls out more yen bills, keeping them on his side - as if only to show he's good for it.
(Obviously he's good for it.)
But without any expectation he'll have to pay out. Akechi hardly looks at the board, as he moves a pawn up to meet Ren's, considering whether he'll use the 'Scotch Game' to meet his.
"I met up with a coworker of yours recently to return her lost phone. It seems she's been spreading rumors... ever since, hoping to protect her fellow employees from the 'Old Maid'."
He smiles at Ren sedately in this moment, "What do you think, Amamiya-kun? Are you happy for her protection?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"I explicitly know it is," Ren replies. It's not because Sojiro dislikes pretty teenage girls; it's because he hates annoying teenagers, girl or boy, as Ren saw that day when Leblanc was filled with crowds of teens from the Sumaru Hyakumanzeki Festival, and girls who are specifically here to fangirl out over Akechi will almost certainly be super annoying.
Ren doesn't explain that nuance, though. Akechi can figure it out for himself.
Do you really think you could? Ren makes a face at him, annoyed by the implication. "Do you really think I couldn't?" Why bother challenging him at all, if he thinks he couldn't even make that much of a challenge?
It's true black is Ren's color, though, whatever which of those Akechi means, either all or none or somewhere in between. Maybe only second to red. But... Perhaps it's more that I want you to play to type. ...hm. That's a statement worth remembering.
Even if--no, especially because Ren's not sure she likes it.
It's a little annoying that Akechi barely glances at the board and makes an equally standard move, but Ren can't actually fault him for that one. He gives as good as he gets, at least. While contemplating their next move, though, Akechi brings up a certain matter...
"Really?" Umie hadn't mentioned anything, but she's got to be who Akechi means. There's something weird about his smile, though. Like he thinks he's making a move by saying this as much as by moving that white pawn. Ren stares at him for a moment longer; then they move their next piece. "It's kind of her. I don't understand the concern," well, he does, but not why she'd be worried about Ren Amamiya specifically, "but it doesn't bother me, if that's what you're getting at."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Oh? Well you would know him best."
Akechi concedes when it comes to Sojiro. It is after all not him making a claim as to it being one of his deductions. Merely perhaps... grouping him with the adults.
Why bother?
"We'll see." Akechi says to him, with another note of challenge in that voice of his. The truth is...
... he doesn't think Ren can yet. But he believes that he can rise to the challenge quickly enough...
... with the proper motivation.
Akechi listens to Ren and, after a time, moves another pawn forward, this time from the outside.
One would swear he did not so much as break eye contact with Ren the entire time to watch the game, but he must be watching, out of the periphery.
"Perhaps she believes you have your enemies..." Akechi deduces, out of thin air, "... enemies that might go so far as to call the Old Maid."
He continues to offer this to him quietly, "Even with the Phantom Thieves turning their sights higher in Shibuya, your Principal for instance, still believes they might be members of Shujin Academy school body..."
His eyes trace along his expression, "He even recruited the imouto of an SIU Prosecutor to discover their identities." He offers this up with a casual air, like it was child's play for him to figure even that one out.
"It all reeks of desperation to me, but why? Is he really so concerned merely with salvaging Shujin's reputation...?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
It's not as though Akechi's necessarily wrong about Sojiro enjoying the sight of pretty girls. Ren's well aware of that girl (well, woman, presumably) who keeps him wrapped around her finger and makes him leave the store to attend to whatever whim she calls him about. Ren's pretty sure the candy at the Sumaru festival was for her, too... But they haven't confirmed that and they don't intend to. Sojiro seems to have warmed up to him over time, but Ren has no desire to give him cause to decide to kick him out after all.
"Hmph." He'll see all right. Ren will make him see.
"That's a weird take," Ren comments, deadpan, when Akechi suggests Umie might fear he has enemies. (He's right, but there's no way Umie should know that.) "If she's doing it for all her coworkers, there's no reason to think she's worried about me in particular. Especially since she hasn't talked to me about it."
Another black piece slides forward--a knight, at an odd angle opened up by a pawn. A more unusual move. However, Ren doesn't really have a solid strategy in mind--they're mostly trying to do something unusual for its own sake--but it's not without intent either. They don't have experience playing this game, but as long as they can draw Akechi out into the open for that check...
Akechi brings up the principal, and an SIU prosecutor's younger sister. Ren knows about these things, so he maintains his poker face. That final question, though... They look up to meet Akechi's eyes.
"I'm betting you have a theory about it," they say. If Akechi really is a Persona User, and he really did go into Kobayakawa's Palace, then there's a solid chance this is no hypothetical question.
The matter of the Phantom Thieves in Shibuya is no question, at least. Their calling cards were literally everywhere there. And, just as Ren thinks that--
"We're coming to you live today from Shibuya!" a newscaster on the TV reports.
Ren looks this time. If it's not about politics, then it could be about Kaneshiro--and sure enough, the feed is of a couple of cops escorting a bedraggled-looking Kaneshiro. In fact, Ren realizes with muted surprise, he recognizes one of those cops. Isn't that the one from the police box in Yongen-Jaya?
But more importantly, Kaneshiro looks to the camera with red eyes. "I did it. All of it." His voice is shaken. Apologetic. "Forcing minors into working for us, through blackmail, bribes to seize property in Hirasaka. All of it! It was me. And I'm so sorry."
The reporter shoves a microphone in his face. "Kaneshiro-san," he says. "Can you confirm that the Phantom Thieves--"
But then the other cop hauling him in cuts it off. There's an announcement of a press conference from Prosecutor Niijima's office (Makoto's sister, no doubt), and the reporter goes on without them.
It's so hard to keep a straight face. It's so hard. Ren's insides feel as light as a hot air balloon, and he wants to break into a sprint, grinning in triumph all the while. However, Akechi's right in front of them, and they turn back around to consider him and his next move as stoically as before.
"Looks like the Phantom Thieves changed another heart, just like they promised," he remarks. And then, just to annoy Akechi further: "Are you any closer to catching them?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren blinks once in genuine surprise to hear that Umie talks about him more than anyone else. Really? their expression seems to say. Sure, they're coworkers, and sure, they get along well, but he didn't think he'd made that much of an impression on her. As such, Ren soon furrows his brows. "Are you trying to mess with me? Just because she's cute doesn't mean I'd buy she's that into me."
...
So Ren thinks she's cute, huh...
But the game continues--on both levels. Akechi talks about Makoto like he doesn't know she's broken away from Kobayakawa... but his Shadow shouldn't know that either. Kaneshiro's heart only just got changed, after all; Ren doesn't expect Makoto would have told him off before that. It remains... plausibly deniable.
"Probably from the school board or the superintendent or something like that," Ren thus replies. He doesn't comment on 'Niijima-san.' The student populace of Shujin Academy knows she's the Student Council President, and who else would the principal lean on among the student body?
Akechi pauses, then looks him in the eye and smiles. What does he think?
"I think you're seething inside about how they showed you up again," Ren replies, deadpan. Silently, he adds, I think if you could arrest us, you would've done it already.
Just because he doesn't look frustrated doesn't mean he isn't frustrated. But if he is, he definitely does maintain his composure well; Ren has to give him that. Part of this sort of thing is maintaining the air of being in control. (That's something Ren learned well from their father. They imagine 'Herlock Sholmes' would know it well, too.)
They look down at Akechi's own knight, then rest a hand on their chin as they stare at the board. It's not an inspired move--it's very similar to the one Ren just made--so it's hard to take it as anything other than a message.
"Are you any more convinced they're Just? It sounds like that Kaneshiro guy was a serious criminal," Ren asks anyway. They both know the 'but,' but they want him to say it anyway--and Ren's putting on his own airs of pretending to know less than he does. A thought occurs to them, though, and they glance up. "Is that coworker you mentioned the lady you came in with that first day?" If that's Makoto's sister... She definitely looked like the serious type.
For now, though, they move a pawn to capture that white knight. Ren is not nearly good enough at chess to use it as an entire second symbolism-conversation, but if Akechi is going easy on them, they may as well take advantage and go after a higher-value piece.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Aha... she is, isn't she? Cute that is." He agrees, but that laugh, it's a little awkward there, almost like his brain is hitching a little on him calling Umie cute.
"But it was just a joke." Akechi says flippantly, before saying more seriously, "If she were indeed into you, then overturning that corner of her heart before she were ready..."
Akechi says softly, "I would never do that, unless it were absolutely required in the pursuit of justice."
It's interesting that he would actually try to make that... not a hard boundary, but a soft one. "As a Detective, one need be careful when it comes to the matters of the heart."
Ren does reply that he thinks Kobayakawa has pressures from the School Board or the Superintendent and Akechi nods in acceptance of this thought, "That would be the logical conclusion, but I'm not so certain... him uncovering the identities of the Phantom Thieves as his own students would only make the scandal far worse, don't you think?"
Ren though? He answers the question that Akechi is seething inside about how they showed him up again, and there's a small laugh, "I will give you that it is highly motivating, but do you truly think I'm so petty?"
A single brown eye is what's visible now, as Akechi winks at him, "In truth, I'm quite enjoying myself, at the moment." Perhaps some part of him is seething for the hit to his reputation as the 'Detective Prince'...
... but he could have denied them the kill of Kaneshiro at any time. If the 'Detective Prince' is to have a rival, then they must be a worthy one.
"Granted, the same might not be true depending on their next target." As he baits the hook, after all - he wants Ren to rise higher.
And if wiping the look off his face is the incentive Ren needs, he's happy to give him that one.
Ren is looking hard at the board, and Akechi is still barely glancing at it, in fact, he's now turned almost completely sideways, one leg across the other, his head propped up by an elbow upon the table... and his eyes upon his opponent, more than the board.
"Just? No more than before. ... They get results, certainly." He allows, "And those results certainly have helped a number of people." His eyes flick back to the TV, to look at that image of Kaneshiro that's been put up again by the news.
"But I'm not so taken by the 'good' they've done, to believe the means aren't of any consequence." Akechi says as he speaks to Ren, "For example, you understand that the police are not allowed to coerce confessions out of people, and why they aren't?"
He looks back towards Ren, he's not smiling at him, "Would it bother you if Junya Kaneshiro were on trial not because the prosecutors had meticulously collected evidence and made their case... but because they covered him bruises until he confessed it all?"
And certainly, he's not implying the Phantoms did that to him physically, only that to a person like him, he cannot see so much difference at the moment.
But then Ren asks who that lady was, and...
"Oh? Sakura-san didn't say? That was indeed Sae Niijima, SIU's up and coming prosecutor, she contacts me for my services quite often. She was rather hoping she'd get a promotion from Kaneshiro's arrest."
And at the same time, had no idea that Makoto was in trouble with Kaneshiro... he definitely doesn't say, because even he's not supposed to know that.
But he sure is thinking that, as Ren captures his Knight with a pawn. And while hardly looking at the board, his Bishop slides diagonally to take that pawn- and threaten so much of Ren's front line, Knight included.
He's definitely not making a point about taking Ren to Church though, if anything it is Ren that would have to take him to Church, forcibly.
(Get in the Confessional Akechi, you know you need to.)
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren gives Akechi a long look on the matter of Umie. He would never do that, unless... It doesn't seem like a topic Akechi is really comfortable with though, and his excuse for that... is actually pretty believable. For Ren's part, Umie is someone he would date in a vacuum, but their respective circumstances being what they are, it would be a phenomenally bad idea. (Which doesn't mean they wouldn't do it. Just that they'd think twice before committing.) "Good," they state simply, and don't specify why or what specifically they're responding to.
"Maybe. But it wouldn't be great to let people gossip about it endlessly either," Ren says of Kobayakawa seeking the Phantoms' identities. ...Superficially, anyway. Internally, they think Akechi has a point. However, if they and the others go into his Palace and can ask his Shadow about it...
...Well, that's an issue for later. First, Ren wants to let Makoto handle things with the Principal in the real world. They've done a good deed--something amazing and fantastic--and they can afford to bask in that achievement for a while.
Ren looks up when Akechi winks. The corner of their mouth tugs up a bit. He's annoying, but he's cute too, sometimes. Though, if he's really this focused on having fun with the Phantom Thieves... maybe it's not that he can't arrest them, but that he doesn't want to.
That's a sobering thought. Ren's hint of a smile fades. I told you I hadn't played pool before and you did a break ace on me anyway. I definitely think you're that petty, they want to say... but they're not sure it's wise to make it clear they didn't buy his excuse that it was an accident. "Glad you're having fun, then," he says instead.
It's no surprise that Akechi continues to reject The Phantoms' justice. No, what makes Ren's hand pause on a rook--what makes his grip tighten and his knuckles go white--is Akechi's assertion that the police "aren't allowed" to coerce confessions.
"Maybe not on paper, they aren't," they say coldly. That frozen-angered glare only intensifies at Akechi's next point. It's not the same, but if Akechi is a Persona User and he's aware of Palaces... Whatever. He won't rise to that bait. His expression returns to deadpan; his grip loosens; he lets the topic change to Sae Niijima and looks down at the white bishop now crowding black's front line.
"Too bad for her," they say neutrally. Then they'll leave it at that. So that gray-haired woman is Makoto's sister... the prosecutor on the Phantom Thieves case. It's chilling to think she's a regular here. They'll have to watch their step when she's around.
They take their hand off the rook and instead chooses a different pawn to take the white bishop.
They have a bad feeling about this, though. Like Akechi's just guiding them into the conclusion they want.
If only they were better at this game... They're going to have to take out books on chess too at this rate.
(Would shoving Akechi into a confessional actually help? Maybe, maybe not, but it is an appealing image.)
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Personally I feel letting people gossip about it endlessly is the best avenue available to him, if he wishes the focus to turn away from Shujin."
Akechi explains with a chuckle, "The higher the Phantom Thieves of Hearts climb in capturing the attention of the masses, the more difficult it is for people to believe they could be 'mere' high school students. Certainly logic points out that they are likely to be... but most people would discount even basic logic."
Ren's got him pegged, he is that petty in fact, but it is interesting... is he actually petty about this topic in particular?
Well, guess one will have to see. Feelings can be a messy thing, after all.
"So am I, you always make our time together so very interesting."
But Ren's grip increases on a piece, and Akechi looks him dead in the eye, "Yes I'm well aware that the police get away with doing so."
He does not probe into whether the police coerced, or tried to coerce one in Ren's case. Ren hasn't shared his circumstances with him yet. "But they shouldn't. When I say that I believe coerced confessions should be invalid, I truly mean it. And so does Niijima-san for that matter."
What Akechi does not dive into is whether Sae would turn a blind eye for a conviction. He believes she would, but he knows if the police tried to have a laugh about doing so in her presence...
... exactly what she would do.
Ren uses a pawn to take the White Bishop, and there is back and forth, until eventually, Akechi's hand moves a Rook forward. "Check."
More frustratingly, the only way to prevent it is to sacrifice the Queen, and even if he does - his Knight is in position.
He's trapped him.
"The way out isn't obvious..." Akechi promises with glib ease, as he smiles at him with that 'winning' smile that the networks love him for as he extends a hand, albeit not all the way across the table so as to impose on his space, "... perhaps you wouldn't mind me guiding your hand here?"
Is he asking... if he can do what he did at the billiards table?
"I think showing you is simply... the more effective lesson."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Hmm. Maybe," Ren concedes. Whether the Principal is making sound decisions or not doesn't really matter; they were only making those suggestions for speculation's sake, since they're both pretending like they don't know... something. Ren glances up at him. "So if you were in charge of Shujin, you'd just ignore it?" It's a question genuinely asked; it doesn't really feel like a thing Akechi would do, but maybe that's because he's not actually in the position to have to deal with it. It's a lot easier to say you'd do X or Y when it's all theoretical.
Either way, Ren is not going to touch his point that the Phantom Thieves are likely high schoolers.
"..." They do, but they shouldn't... So Akechi asserts--not just about himself, but about Sae Niijima too. If that's true, that's genuinely reassuring. It's nice to think that your main rival has standards. "I agree," they say instead. "Not only are they wrong morally, they're likely to be wrong, period. Coerced confessions are just the cops' way of trying to wrap up a case and go home as soon as possible." Ren's eyes narrow. "It's something people who don't care about Justice do."
Asserting that so plainly... is that another one of those ways that Ren makes themself interesting to Akechi?
The game progresses. Sooner rather than later, Ren ends up in check. He stares at the board, and he sees an escape--but no, that just leads to checkmate another move later. Frustration wells up inside them. They couldn't make it to check after all... Maybe the stakes were low, but he really did want to win. It's just so--irritating. He's going to be so goddamn smug about this.
And he is smug--but he also suggests there's a way Ren could escape this situation after all. Ren gives him a cautious look. That picture-perfect smile of his does not inspire trust, but... the hand he's offering...
"..."
For a moment, Ren is torn, right hand hovering over the chess board. (Like this, Akechi can see--has no doubt already seen--that she keeps her nails a little long. Just a little. Just enough to feel it, if she were to rake a finger on skin.) On the one hand, knowing that there is a way out means that there's still a chance they can figure it out for themselves. They don't want victory handed to them; it's one thing for Akechi to match their skill level, and another for him to outright move their piece for them, even if by proxy.
On the other hand... it is like that day at Penguin Sniper... only this time, he's asking first. It wouldn't be as intense as before either way, considering how they're both positioned, but still. Ren... kind of wants to see where this leads.
What the hell--why not? Being too proud won't help them either. If Akechi's going to betray some of his own knowledge, then Ren will steal every last piece.
"Go for it," they quietly consent.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"If I were in charge of Shujin?" Akechi's eyes fall over Ren, as if giving the question serious thought, "Then Kamoshida would have been in custody long ago, or I would have accepted responsibility and resigned in disgrace- but assuming a world where neither was true, and that I am who I am now?"
Akechi actually spends some real time considering it, then he nods quietly, "I would consider trying to figure out the identity of the Phantom Thieves the job of the police, not my own. Mine would be to restore the trust of the students in our school's administration by tackling the actual problems which allowed Kamoshida to flourish."
It is the right call, in a sense, isn't it? But even without the pressures that he faces, Kobayakawa would never.
And Akechi understands that, because he's been inside his Palace, and understands the shape his heart has taken.
It is nice to see someone who can say that so plainly. Someone who does not try to sugar coat things about these institutions, someone who has been hurt by them - and speaks his mind, without fear.
Indeed, Ren takes a risk. All Akechi would have to say is that Ren is bad mouthing the cops, and many cops would take offense enough to find ways to rescind his probation.
But he takes that risk gladly to live as himself, even as Akechi himself wears falsehood to pursue his own Justice.
And then, an offered hand, and that moment, where Ren acquiesces... and Akechi leans over, and places his hand over Ren's, so very gently. Even through his glove, it's easy enough to feel his hand.
"There's no way out, save one, Amamiya-kun. First... you must consider the board carefully..." Akechi says with a certain gravity, as he lifts Ren's hand, over the board, trailing it over the pieces of the current 'Check'.
Then he brings his hand sideways, like there's a certain angle he's not seeing, as Akechi leans forward all the more, to guide him.
How smug can one look? One might say it's cat like except even Morgana at his most 'braggadocio' doesn't look half as self-satisfied, "And then, you realize... the only move left to you..." Akechi lifts his hand, not forcefully, but away from the board, and towards that handsome, smirking, boy next-door-face, so close that a finger is grazing one of Akechi's silken bangs, "... is to seduce your opponent."
And while Ren is distracted, Akechi's opposite hand moves his Rook back a single space with a single quick sleight of hand motion so rapid that Ren might have difficulty perceiving it. "And... would you look at that?" His gaze drops down to the board, where Ren is no longer in Check, and his hand loosens off Ren's enough that he can snatch his hand back.
"You have to understand, this is a very advanced technique. Even most Masters of the game can hardly manage it."
He says with a smile that truly does look like he ate the canary, as his opposite fingertip comes up to his lips, making a motion like he's hushing him with a secret, and with a wink he adds, "Use it with care, Amamiya-kun."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren waits for Akechi to think over the question. The answer he gives does seem superficially the "correct" answer. It's a little surprising--Akechi wouldn't want to solve that mystery himself at all?--but then, he is supposing that this is a world where he is the principal of Shujin Academy with his current personality. (At least, that's how Ren interprets what he says). So is it Akechi's truth, or is it just the answer he thinks Ren wants to hear?
They can't tell, and it's not playing fair to tell him they don't believe him. They nod once and leave it at that.
It is a risk to dress down the police in front of a detective. Ren didn't think that part through, truthfully. However, while he can't always tell what parts of Akechi are real and what parts are fake, they do think he isn't lying about being on bad terms with the police--and between that, the fact that Ren is agreeing with Akechi, and the competitive nature of their relationship, Ren doubts Akechi would use that knowledge to hurt them.
Besides, who's really shocked by the concept of a "delinquent" disliking the cops? Come on. (Though Ren absolutely believes there are cops who'd be petty enough to give them trouble over it anyway.)
Akechi rests his hand on the back of Ren's. Ren watches him--lets him lift their hand over the board, lets him shift the angle on it. Ren watches their hands--watches Akechi--watches the board in turn--until Akechi pulls their hand close, incredibly close, until Ren is leaning over the table with gaping eyes and pinkening cheeks. His lips are parted in surprise at the sheer gall of this handsome high school detective, and part all the more when he says it--
"Seduce your opponent."
What??? What???? Did he seriously
just
say that?????
There is a flash of motion in the corner of his eye. Ren shoots their gaze to one side--too late to actually see the sleigh of hand, but enough to see that the pieces they'd been staring at with such frustration a moment ago have moved--in their favor.
"...."
Ren doesn't snatch their hand back. When they lean back in their seat, it is slow and thoughtful. There is a certain openness in their expression still, eyebrows high, eyes wide, like they can't believe that just happened. They take in Akechi's smug, playful smile, that finger held over his lips, the way he winks and advises them to "use it with care."
"........"
Are you saying you want me to seduce you? is the question in Ren's eyes and heart. It does not make it past their lips. It's extremely funny, and surprisingly endearing, and maddeningly contradictory, and yet... That's literally what he's saying, isn't it? And Ren does not think Akechi is nearly clueless enough to not understand his own implications.
Damn. Actually, maybe Akechi does want to be seduced, they realize. Maybe that's what all this posturing and pussyfooting around is about.
Maybe that's why he got so upset when Ren joked that he shouldn't fall for him.
There's a certain thrill to the idea of a detective and a phantom thief falling in love, isn't there? There's a manga/anime about precisely that--a favorite of Ren's, even.
Yet, at the same time...
Ren's eyelashes droop.
They set their hand on the side of the chess board, and shove it towards the wall, upending several of the pieces. Ren pulls themself up, palms on the table, until they have one knee down on it, and lean forward to grip the back of the seat next to Akechi's head. The other hand slaps on the cushion at his back, trapping Akechi between their arms. With a sultry, half-mast gaze, Ren pulls their lips so close to his shiny, silky hair.
"Use it with care, Amamiya-kun."
"On whom?" Ren whispers harshly into his ear.
They linger for a pair of heartbeats. Then, as swiftly as they'd encroached on his personal space, they slip back over to their side of the table, then look to one side.
"Oh, I spilled my coffee," they remark mildly, as if what had just happened hadn't happened. This is undercut when they meet Akechi's eyes, and a sickle-sharp, devilish half-grin curves up their lips... just before they right their cup and sip down what remains. "...Anyway, all joking aside," they continue nonchalantly with an expression to match, "thanks for the advice, Akechi, but I don't think its applicability is very broad."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
At the very least, it's clear that Akechi believes Principal Kobayakawa's way of running Shujin is wrong. He does not much like the man... in a way similar to how he didn't like Hannya.
But would the mystery truly not entice him over his responsibilities towards the student body? That's hard to say.
But Akechi would like to believe at least perhaps, that if he were a Principal, that he would be better than the rest.
Perhaps this is why he's a detective, and does not aspire towards positions of leadership.
But they come then to the point where Ren is leaning over the table with gaping lips, and Akechi's eyes, those sweet brown eyes look so hazy, almost like bedroom eyes.
Did he seriously just?
It's easy enough to believe that he might, with that look in his eyes. There is something within them though, beyond the haze...
... almost like a hunger, for that deeper connection, but it's easy to discount that it is ever there to begin with.
Ren looks away, almost in time.
Then he leans backwards and contemplates the issue, does Akechi want him to seduce him? Akechi certainly looks like it in that moment, but he's made it clear that it can never happen too...
... what sort of maddeningly contradictory side game is he playing? And then, with a sudden motion, Ren shoves the chess board aside.
For a split second, Akechi looks actually shocked senseless, and wondering if indeed, he erred... until Ren's hand slaps the cushion.
"My... it seems my advice made an impression... Ah..." That's actually the words of him fumbling continuing to be unbearably smug, as Ren's lips near his hair, and a light flush takes his cheeks.
'On whom?'
He regathers his composure enough to say in a somewhat low, sultry manner,
"... That's rather up to you, wouldn't you say?" He doesn't have a better answer than that!? Well... perhaps it's the best answer, in a way.
Akechi is a firm believer in free will after all, everyone being responsible for their own actions.
And then - Ren slips back in his seat, and remarks that he spilled his coffee, "That's a shame." He says, without even moving away from the seat, "It was rather good coffee."
And despite the game being unresolved (albeit perhaps a foregone conclusion), he slides forward the yen bills, as if he doesn't mind paying up anyway.
Did he just do that!? Akechi is in fact, surprised, still, as he hardly expected Ren to do that in response.
But it remains... a pleasant surprise, he wants a rival that can match him, even when it's playful flirtation and... seduction that's not really seduction.
... Right!?
"Perhaps not." He finally agrees, after regathering himself some more, "But, it could become surprisingly applicable, when you least expect it."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Akechi might be playing a game here. He could simply be messing around with an attractive rival, flirting with someone whom they both know he can never have a real relationship, just for the thrill of seeing what it's like--to see if he can get a reaction over this (sometimes) boy.
But it's a game Ren doesn't mind playing back. If they're just messing around--if neither of them takes the prospect of having a real romance seriously--then they can escalate as they please. The reward? That shocked look on Akechi's face, that hint of pink on his cheeks, that betray how Ren struck home.
Even now, he can't commit to anything more than a game, telling Ren it's up to them. They chuckle at that. It turns into an outright laugh, however low and quiet, when Akechi pushes those yen bills forward. "Does this mean you admit I won?" they tease, folding their legs as they lean their head on one hand. With their other, they set down their cup and pull the bills towards themself. "I'll gladly accept, then~."
Yet for all that Ren has "won" their game just now, Akechi just can't resist having something else to say, can he? Ren laughs again, the corners of their eyes crinkling in affection. "I'll keep that in mind," they say, and get up to fetch a cloth to clean the table.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Let's just say it was well worth my time to come here today," Akechi replies, not committing to the idea he lost - but also not insisting he won either.
That Ren keeps these little chats in mind? Well... he could ask for little more.