2025-09-09: Make Your Argument

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The attic of Leblanc is quiet as Ren gingerly lies themself in bed. Morgana hops up onto it in their wake. The lights are out; Sojiro's already closed up for tonight, and good thing, after they got their ass thoroughly kicked earlier today. Between Dr. Takemi's patch job, a bath at the bathhouse, and the painkillers they took earlier, they feel less terrible physically. A good, early night's sleep should help them at least not look like death warmed over tomorrow at school. Emotionally...

Emotionally is more complicated, and not for the obvious reason.

"So you think Akechi might be the one in the black mask," Morgana sums up after listening to their recount of their alleyway conversation. "Is that it?"

Ren nods once--slowly, because there's still a dull throb in their face and shoulder and arm still. "Does that sound crazy?"

"Hmm... It feels hard to believe, but I know you wouldn't say that without good reason. If you think the two of them are similar, there must be something to it. How about we go over it again, point by point? Make your arguments. I'll refute them and you defend them. We've got to figure something out that way."

Ren breathes out, a hint of a grim smile on their lips. Like a debate--exactly what they'd do with Akechi, if it weren't about him. "Okay. First thing. The one in the black mask has a very similar personality to Akechi."

"How do you figure? One's a smooth, well-spoken detective and the other ran around murdering everything in sight while cackling about it."

"That's just a superficial read. Akechi... He says he's all about Justice on TV, but beneath that, he's very competitive. He likes playing games and he likes being challenged, but he's very smart and skilled and he's used to winning." Ren swallows hard. It feels wrong to go into this next part, but... "Plus... today especially... he told me about how he was poor as a child, and people turned him away or beat him up because of it. That's the reason he gave for approaching me tonight and being nicer than usual. He talked about how he's had a lot of experience with fighting, and someone who's good at it would have to do a lot of it."

"I see. And how's that connect to the Black Mask?"

"For one, they're incredibly strong. We saw them take out all those Kin-Kis like it was nothing--and they didn't do it with just raw force; they were cunning and clever about it, like Akechi would be, by using their defenses against them. When they caught us, they went after me specifically, like Akechi's been doing this whole time, even though you were there too. They talked about our fight like it was a game and basically demanded I challenge them, a lot like Akechi's done with pool and everything to do with The Phantoms. They completely overwhelmed me, like Akechi did with that break ace, but they also held back, like Akechi did by playing me with his right hand." They frown deeply. "And they spent that entire fight talking shit, like Akechi does all the time."

"Hmm... I can see why you'd draw parallels between them," Morgana muses. "But it could just be a coincidence. They might've done some somewhat similar things, but the way they did them seems totally different. I don't think you could say that Akechi and the Black Mask are definitely the same from just that."

"That's part of the point. Akechi's politeness is fake. His polished Detective Prince act? Just 'marketing.' I think the Black Mask is who Akechi is when he's not--" this is definitely mean but "--living a fake life."

"That's possible. You've mentioned--ranted, really--about how two-faced he can be."

"Right? And living like that has to be stressful," Ren continues, looking over at Morgana. "If he does what he does as the Black Mask to let off steam, it'd make sense."

"Hmm... But didn't you think he was about to kill you? Let's set aside for a second how wrong it feels for a detective to also be a murderer. If he's enjoying the game between you two, why would he do that?"

"I'm... not really sure," Ren admits. "But he didn't kill me."

"But you yourself said you thought he changed his mind, not that he never had any real intent to kill you."

That's also true. Ren can say nothing.

"Still, you are right. He didn't kill you. Maybe he's just that good an actor--and he'd have to be to lead such different lives," Morgana admits in turn.

"Not to mention, everything he killed was a regular Shadow or a cognition. He missed Shadow Kaneshiro and Shadow Kobayakawa on purpose, and Shadow Madarame clearly had survived them too if he could ask if he was with us. Maybe they don't actually kill. Maybe they just talk a really convincing game."

"Maybe. We don't know enough to say for sure. We don't know what the Black Mask is doing or why, only that Palace Rulers are terrified of them--and for good reason, given what we've seen of him so far. I think we can at least agree that he's dangerous."

"Yeah. Just like Akechi."

Morgana snorts in what sounds like amusement. "Not every dangerous person in the world is Akechi, Ren!"

Ren smiles. It's easier now; the painkillers have kicked in. "He may as well be."

"For you, maybe!" Morgana's joking subsides into a serious look. "Still, I think we can set this one as 'inconclusive' too. What else've you got?"

"The Black Mask had been to Kobayakawa's Palace before. He said he was 'home,' and talked like he already knew him. The whole reason we were in that Palace is because we suspected that Akechi had been there already too."

"But Akechi doesn't have any connection to Kobayakawa, does he? He goes to school in a completely different city. Even if Akechi had been investigating him because of The Phantoms, the Black Mask said they were 'home,' not that they were 'back.' Doesn't that imply a much closer relationship than a detective investigating someone suspicious?"

"I don't get that either," Ren admits. "But that could be another piece of information we don't know."

"That's still tenuous, then. It doesn't prove or disprove anything. Keep going."

"When he ran into me earlier, he didn't look at all surprised to see me beat up. It felt like he already knew."

"You did take two different trains to get back home, and even stopped by the Big Bang Burger on the way. Even with the bleeding stopped and the blood cleaned up, at least until we got to the clinic, there were a ton of witnesses who saw you clearly looking beaten up. That's something that could easily get back to someone who's got you marked anyway."

Ren grimaces. "True." Thank god it's Sunday. Hopefully no one they knows spotted them.

"Anything else?"

"The Black Mask is left-handed. So's Akechi."

"So's about ten percent of the world population!"

"Okay, fine, but combined with everything else... You have to admit it's suspicious."

"Sure, it's suspicious, but it's no smoking gun." Morgana pauses. "Sorry. No pun intended."

Ren lets it slide. It was a good pun. "One more thing. Akechi said..." They falter for a second. "He suggested that maybe the Black Mask wants something from me that they think I can give them, and that's why they let me live." Ren stares at the ceiling. "I think that's probably true--and that actually is just like Akechi. He knows, or at least strongly suspects, I'm one of the Phantom Thieves, but he hasn't made a move to arrest me or the others. Instead, he's been playing cat and mouse with me. Maybe that's because he lacks evidence and is trying to get me to trip up, but maybe it's because he's enjoying the game and wants something more before he ends it."

"What makes you think Akechi knows about us in the first place?"

Ren knows Morgana knows the answer to this, but they understand he's playing devil's advocate. This is too important for either of them to leave up to assumptions. "He heard you speak at the TV station. He's definitely a Persona User. And when he came to Leblanc the first time, he talked on and on about detectives proving their worth by finding a case only they can solve while he was reading Arsène Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes. That can't be a coincidence. He has to know, or at least have deduced it, and either way he's on to me."

"It's so strange to me," Morgana muses. "That was the first time you two had even met. Even if we assume he'd gotten his hands on a list of Shujin students, how could he possibly know?"

"It's not that hard to narrow it down. I'm the trouble-making convict transfer student, remember? And I had beef with Kamoshida, and my first friends were Ryuji and Ann, who also have beef with Kamoshida. That'd make me incredibly suspicious. Even if he couldn't know for 100% sure, he could've known enough to make a good guess--enough to look up where I live and get his friend to take him there and make contact. I stonewalled him then, but after we talked at the TV studio and I spoke up in defense of the Phantom Thieves..."

"Good point. And since then, you've made friends with Yusuke, a former pupil of Madarame's, and Makoto, who was set on your trail by your principal. It has to have looked only more and more suspicious from his point of view."

"Yeah... And I read Arsène Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes too after that. There's this one point where Sholmes is tailing Lupin and spots some other guys also tailing him, and he's mad about it--that... how's it go... 'that someone might deprive him, not of the glory--he cared little for that--but of the immense pleasure of capturing, single-handed, the most formidable enemy he had ever met.' That feels very Akechi. He might be playing cagey because he wants to get more out of the experience, for his own sake."

"But then, once again--if that's true, and he's the Black Mask--why would he try to kill you?"

Ren thought back to their impromptu debate with Akechi at the cafe in Kichijoji while Kasumi looked on. One of his points had been the idea that changing a rotten person's heart is actually a kindness to them that wrongs a victim who suffered at their hands and wants them to suffer back. When Ren had conceded that point and said they'd do it anyway if it meant protecting another victim who asked for their help, Akechi had ended the topic... and something about him at the time had made Ren uneasy. They'd been unable to pin it down at the time, but could it have been a killing intent...?

"I think... maybe..." they say slowly, "there might be something that they want from me, that they think I can give them... and at the same time, there's something else they want, that I'm in the way of them getting. Maybe they're wrestling between the ideas of letting me live for that thing I can give them, and killing me off to get rid of that obstacle to that other thing they want."

"Can you prove that?"

"No," Ren admits. "It's all just vibes."

Morgana huffs a little sigh. "That's what this debate is in the end, huh?"

"Sorry."

"No, don't be. Akechi is a dangerous enemy, whether he's also the Black Mask or not. All our talk is inconclusive, but that just means we can't prove he's not, either--and if your intuition tells you he is, that's worth paying attention to. The only thing we can do is gather more information so we can figure him out decisively."

"Are you saying I have to spend even more time with him?"

"It's up to you." Morgana's tone turns joking as he adds, "We both know Akechi will come to you first, though. He trails you around like a lovesick puppy."

And Ren laughs quietly, but he's not wrong. He remembers what Ryuji said about Akechi: Only other thing it could be is he's into you. He immediately dismissed it, and it was right after the much more plausible suggestion that Akechi's acting out of pride, but...

And then, you realize... the only move left to you... is to seduce your opponent.

When Akechi had said that and brought Ren's hand so close to his face, to his beautiful silky hair, he'd looked so smug, so self-assured, like he'd been using that same tactic on him. Ren had been struck with the thought that maybe Akechi, closeted bisexual boy who knows he can never be in a relationship with a guy if he wants to keep the adoration of the general public, wanted to be seduced. They hadn't brought it up in the debate just now because they promised Akechi that secret was safe with them, but...

They wonder again now: is Akechi attracted to them? Or is that, too, only another part of the game?

And is it proof, or just coincidence, that the Black Mask seemed responsive to it at first too...?

... Interesting, they had said, seemingly fascinated, just before sparing them and walking away.

You make such interesting company, he had said, after Ren had claimed they probably wouldn't make "good" company.

It's just a word. It's just a very common word. But Ren finds they can't forget it.

Either way, they know in their heart of hearts: they don't want to give up on or concede this game. As dangerous as Akechi and the Black Mask are regardless of if they're the same person or not, as badly as they were beaten tonight regardless of if they almost died or not, as much as maybe they're only free and/or alive as long as they continue to be interesting, Ren wants to keep going. They want to win--to prove their Justice to all the naysayers who insisted they should've turned a blind eye to someone in need of help. And maybe, just maybe...

To feel that thrill he gives them again.

"I'll keep hanging out with him," they say aloud. "Like you said, he's going to keep coming to me anyway. And we need to know for sure."

"All right. I've got your back, Ren," Morgana replies. "Now that that's settled--get some sleep, would ya? You've got school tomorrow, and you need to recover."

They groan. He's right, though, and they know it. That was the plan from the start, anyway. They've got Dr. Takemi's medicine still, but they'll save that for after they've slept--probably skip their daily morning work-out to get more R&R in. "All right..."

The two exchange good-nights, then fall silent. As usual, Ren drifts off to sleep within seconds, but Akechi is on their mind to the very last.

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