2025-12-11: Denial of Justice
- Log: Denial of Justice
- Cast: Shinjiro Aragaki, Akihiko Sanada, Goro Akechi
- Where: Port Island Station - Back Alleys
- OOC Date: December 11, 2025
- IC Date: August 24, 2012
- Summary: Shinjiro and Akihiko rendezvous with Akechi in order to inform Akihiko of his sister's murder by one Tatsuya Sudou. Akihiko takes the revelation poorly and uncharacteristically, with Shinjiro and Akechi handling it badly in their own usual ways until things spiral into frustration and bitter feelings.
(|==================== Port Island Station - Back Alleys =====================|) -======================================= Iwatodai City/Tatsumi Port Island ====- The first thing one might notice is the conflict of old versus new. The businesses here are more run down, but still stand defiantly, signs of rougher dive bars and hangouts for the folk who don't quite belong in the sunlight of Port Island. In the day, it's mostly drunks and people with nowhere else to go who stand outdoors. At night, the rougher elements of the town congregate openly amidst the rusted chain link fences and litter-filled streets. Delinquent teens who never made it into high school hang out, openly ignoring the laws decent people follow. All who enter here are subject to at least seven pairs of eyes on them, deciding whether or not someone belongs amongst them. Better hope you pass muster, or you're gonna risk a beating. <Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
At some point, Shinjiro has to break the news to Akihiko on why *Goro Akechi* wants to talk to them about a serial killer. Their childhood...enemy(?) from the orphanage, now a successful private detective.
He has not done that yet. He has told Akihiko there'll probably be explanations once they're there, though.
The back alleys of Port Island Station are a perfect meeting place in Shinjiro's mind. Firstly, he controls the roost, more or less - the daytime thugs there are generally scared of him, and the drunks avoid him. Furthermore, it puts them on a strong mental advantage against Akechi if needed; he has to come to them.
He might still be seeing things in fights and rivalries.
As Shinjiro leads Akihiko through the back alleys, towards the spot he's designated (he assumes Akechi can navigate and get past the jerks himself), which is his old haunt he used to sleep in...
He immediately takes a perch on 'his' crate, wearing that red coat, sighing.
"I wonder what he has for us..."
<Pose Tracker> Akihiko Sanada has posed.
Akihiko follows behind Shinjiro closely, curious. They're meeting with Goro Akechi, huh? He knows that the kid has grown since then, but it's tough to imagine it. Regardless, he's hoping that it'll at least be smoother than his tagging along with Yukari to meet Ren Amamiya.
They arrive at the back alleys where Aki presumes Shinjiro used to call his...most of the time home? Anyways. He leans against a wall, giving his old friend and brother an eyebrow.
"We'll see if he'll match up to his word." Akihiko snorts lightly.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Yes, why does Goro Akechi wish to talk to them about a serial killer? Why contact them again at all?
These are all very good questions.
What isn't in question is that he can deal with a few low lives. Shinjiro, taking his place on a crate just has to look down the way they didn't come, and he'll see a glimpse of a pair of them groaning.
Well part of them anyway, they're mostly out of view. Before a familiar figure steps over one of them, and strides down the alley, adjusting his tie as he goes.
"Sorry- did I keep you waiting?" He says, as he centers his tie with one hand, shoring it's knot up, carrying his briefcase with his agency's logo on the side, a circled A.
"Apparently I didn't meet the dress code here- and I certainly wasn't on the guest list."
He quips, as he approaches them, seeing Akihiko, his smile smooths out into a more serious expression, "Sanada-san... it's been a while... we haven't seen each other since the day you left."
The day he was adopted, the day after the fire - the day after Miki died, "Before we get down to business..." He looks sidelong at Shinjiro, "... just how much have you told him, Aragaki-san?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro sighs, still figuring out how to play this off. "I think he will."
Akechi arrives, having gotten into a fight... Shinjiro nods once. "Well, you certainly fight like you belong here."
He shakes his head, turning over to Akihiko, before back to Akechi. "...nothing yet. I wanted to make sure you were involved," he says, not entirely bullshit. There's definitely some measure of 'I didn't want to drag him into this', but he knows that's been selfish. One of the many inconsistencies of Shinjiro Aragaki, selfish vs selfless to a fault on both.
"...we have a lead on the orphanage fire. It was... it was arson, Aki."
He rolls his shoulders, figuring out how to continue.
"The guy Akechi saw ten years ago... was real. I've seen him with my own eyes now." A tilt of a head towards Akechi, to explain some of it, since that's definitely *his* side of the story.
<Pose Tracker> Akihiko Sanada has posed.
So Goro really did... Akihiko is so surprised to see the brown haired young man again, and lets out an involuntary "Goro...!"
It's strange. To see someone you felt so strongly about, for so long, just step back into your life. He doesn't get very much time to come to terms with the feelings.
"...It has, Akechi-san." He smooths himself back over fairly smoothly, at least. He pats down his vest.
Unfortunately, Akihiko is the one who's on the backfoot here. He's just now realizing just how much out of the loop he really is. He's rendered speechless for several moments.
Arson? His sister's death was on purpose?
They know who the bastard is?
He was left out of this for so long? Why now?
Akihiko is silent for a while, his emotions clear on his face. He doesn't even know where to begin. His mind is a whirl.
And worst of all, his weakness is in front of a man's surely taking so much pleasure in Akihiko's pain.
"Why? Why now?" He says, uncharacteristically quiet. It's the only thing he can manage to say.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
'Goro' gives him pause, since nobody really calls him that, but he supposes it's shocking to see him again after so long. "I hear you've done well for yourself too, Sanada-san. Unfortunately I'm under no illusions that I'm here for us to 'catch up' for old times sake."
Shinjiro's comment elicits a chuckle from him, "Aha... well you get plenty of practice in a career like mine."
Indeed, Akihiko doesn't exactly look like he belongs here either in Akechi's opinion. The two are quite 'prep'. Perhaps clothes really do make the man- in how one is perceived.
"... I see." He says, gravely to Shinjiro's confirmation that he still knows nothing. The look in his eyes sharpening, as he checks behind him, then down the other entrance.
He'd prefer this moment not be... interrupted. Then Shinjiro says it outright... and he witnesses Akihiko's pain over it. It is satisfying, but it also isn't. It's a contradictory mix of schadenfreude and bittersweet feelings over being validated like this.
'Why? Why now?' then he actually answers him, "That is the question, isn't it?"
He says, in that tone that indicates that it's both a good question - and that he already has deduced the answer.
"The Fire Marshal, the Police... they were all bought off. They claimed it was faulty wiring - and discredited my testimony as the delusions of an attention-seeking child."
Opening up his briefcase, he fishes out a trio of pictures. One of a man with a Paper Bag over his head, a single eyehole, and a macabre grin drawn on it in marker from the streamed video online.
Then another- now without a paper bag, a shock of white hair...
... ten years younger.
"Because he was the son of an important man. His name is Tatsuya Sudou. And his father is the Foreign Minister, Tatsuzou Sudou. It would be a stain upon his reputation if the public found out his son was an arsonist and a murderer, so he bribed officials, and had him quietly committed to a sanitarium in Sumaru City."
He then shifts his stance, "As for why he is only active now? It's because the Rumor of the 'Joker Killer' surrounding him has grown strong enough for him to leave his cell whenever he wishes... due to the supernatural power it grants him"
A beat.
"As a Persona User."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Akihiko doesn't like the answer Shinjiro gives him... his friend sighs, closing his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Aki. Take it out on me if you need to, I just..." The fact he's even saying that means he knows how bad he fucked up, as he struggles for the words to say.
"This is some scary shit. This guy is dangerous," like that justifies anything. Like that justifies Shinjiro doing it alone to keep Akihiko from hurting himself.
Akihiko is shown the pictures. Shinjiro mulls on what Akechi's revealed. "His teleportation... that aura he has," A breath. "It's bad news. I've had a simple idea on how to lure him out, but..." It's risky as shit, and no one will approve, so he's been keeping it in his pocket.
"He posted a video about being some kind of time traveling savior recently. I think he could be telling part of the truth." Shinjiro doesn't believe he's a savior. But a time traveler?
He could buy it, with the story about the shrine fire Tatsuya Suou told him about.
<Pose Tracker> Akihiko Sanada has posed.
Akihiko doesn't have anything to say to Shinjiro right now. He needs any amount of time to figure his feelings out first.
A Persona User..." Could it be another way to use Personas? Outside of needing an envoker?
Much less, the ability to leave his cell like a damn ghost... It's really, really difficult for Akihiko to wrap his head around this.
And a time traveler at that? Jesus. He really doesn't know what to do with himself here.
"What am I supposed to say here?" It's said without humour. He's really, really out of his depth here. "...You're vindicated, Akechi-san. How are we supposed to handle something like this?"
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Akechi doesn't say he's sorry, doesn't console him. He just lays out the cold hard facts - the truth.
If anything, he feels he's doing him a favor doing so. Akihiko denied the truth years ago, because he didn't want to believe a child as bratty and attention-seeking as Goro Akechi.
He's giving it to him anyway, whether he deserves it or not.
"Not only that, but he can't be caught on any camera now unless he desires to be." He asides to Shinjiro to add to his abilities, "It blots out his face."
Time traveling savior? Giving the pictures to Akihiko, he now rests his hand upon his chin, with a serious expression.
"It certainly would explain a few things... but not necessarily about him. I wonder..."
He trails off, seeming lost in thought. "... There's only one way to know for certain." He decides, ultimately.
However- at Akihiko's statement- Akechi's gaze sharpens at being called out as being vindicated, "Ten Years. It's been Ten Years - Sanada-san...! Do you really think so little of me that I brought this to your attention just to point out 'I told you so'?"
He says, indignant. Because while it is a reason, it's definitely not the entirety of his reason. Often these things are Multiple Choice and 'All of the Above' for him.
And he'll double down on being the righteous detective any day of the week. "Do you really need me to tell you that?" He says, anger creeping into his voice, "I just told you that I've found the man responsible for your sister's death, and you ask me what you're supposed to say? You're supposed to say 'Let's take the bastard down' or 'I'm bringing him to Justice, whatever it takes.'"
He places the pictures away into his brief case, "But apparently I thought too well of the boy I once knew who's been climbing into boxing ring after boxing ring in the hopes of growing stronger."
Well apparently that confirms how closely he's been following Akihiko's life ever since parting ways. He is a Detective after all.
With a click, he closes the briefcase, "What good is that strength, if you the first thought in your mind isn't using it for this?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro frown as Akihiko has nothing to say. That wasn't expected. But he's out of his depth...
And Akechi (who seems to not dismiss the time traveling theory, interesting) lays into him. Shinjiro feels like he should stop him, defend Aki, but...
He's surprised, too.
"...I can deal with this. It's the least I can do." That's what he was trying to do... it's his justice, too. If he has to spend himself to do it, that's a risk worth taking.
He glances over to Akechi in the moment. But he says nothing else. He's feeling a bit numb, at seeing Akihiko like this.
<Pose Tracker> Akihiko Sanada has posed.
Akihiko doesn't react to Akechi's outburst. It washes over him. He just stares at the pictures of the man who killed his sister, blankly.
"It's been ten years." He says, quietly. "And you dredge all this back up for me, Akechi-san. And surprised me with this."
"This Tatsuzou Sudou... He seems untouchable." His mind can barely make out the man's features right now. "And we're supposed to do, what? Stop this Rumour phenomena? Expose him? Kill him?"
Is that strong? Is that kind?
"...What do you want from this, Akechi-san? What is the justice you desire here?"
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Shall I apologize then for the 'inconvenience' - Sanada-san?" He replies, his back obviously quite up right now.
He always did have a chip on his shoulder, "I only managed to find the evidence recently as a result of my newfound popularity. Beforehand, all avenues were closed to me by a widespread web of corruption attempting to cover this up. And once I found it - I immediately brought it to the attention of Aragaki-san."
He doesn't look in a way as if to accuse Shinjiro, because in a sense, he doesn't actually blame him for how Akihiko is acting right now.
"... Originally the two of us agreed that he would be the one to deliver the news, because I knew it would be better off coming from him rather than me. However, matters are coming to a head- there's no longer time to ease you into the uncomfortable truth as to what happened that day. You can either be a part of this - or Aragaki-san and I will do this ourselves."
However, he then asks what they're supposed to do? "Simple. We bring this psychopath to Justice. We can worry about the matter of his Father once we've managed that. However - I think it won't be difficult. If he's in custody - and I announce to the public that I have evidence tying the Foreign Minister to a cover up, he will have to answer to the public opinion."
And the fact of the matter is - Goro Akechi is much more popular than the majority of Politicians in this country. He's a media darling, the Second Coming of the Detective Prince.
But he then asks, what does he want from this? And Akechi looks away, and for a moment he actually looks stricken - disturbed, "I've seen his face in my dreams for ten years. That monster. The way he looked at me that day... I'll never forget it. And what he did after..."
He trails off. "... Your sister was kinder than most to me." He says quietly, "I want him to face Justice, for what he did. I want him brought in, and held to account -for her death. For every death he caused."
He then gives looks up to Akihiko with a look of resolution within his brown eyes, "Whether we like it or not - this matter ties the three of us together. And I felt - that the two of you deserve Justice for her death more than anyone else."
A beat.
"Was I wrong?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro still feels tremendously guilty... but at the least Akechi can handle the push to get Akihiko out of this funk, weirdly enough. Maybe being challenged by someone he hates will get him to move.
Even so, he is grateful Akechi doesn't directly accuse him, even as Shinjiro internally accuses himself.
"I believe he *has* to answer a call if you state *any* name. That's how the Rumor works..." Shinjiro says dangerously, tipping his hand to what his plan is.
Shinjiro shifts on his crate, looking between them. "I'm willing to risk myself in that. No matter what you choose." Akechi has likely noticed Shinjiro isn't healthy with his keen observation skills, even if he hasn't told either of them that fact.
"...I want to make this up to you, Aki. If you want to get justice for her, I'll help you. But I'm not giving up on this. While this is for us, it's more than us. My friends have been attacked. I threw him through a fucking wall that was magically repaired the next day. There's a conspiracy deeply embedded in this... and I won't stop until the people I care about are safe."
"That includes you."
<Pose Tracker> Akihiko Sanada has posed.
Akihiko just can't wrap his head around this. Isn't Sudou already behind bars? And that isn't holding him down.
"...I need some time to think about it." Akihiko says, finally. "I still don't know how to feel about this. And I'm busy enough with..." He pauses, unsure just how much information Shinji has shared. "SEES, and the Dark Hour." He decides to say, finally.
Then Shinjiro starts talking, and Akihiko's blank look turns into a heavy frown.
"Damn it Shinji, what the hell's wrong with you?! What if you die??" It's ridiculous. Akihiko starts yelling. "Don't treat your life so flippantly!"
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Ah... so that's what you intend." Akechi puts a hand to his chin, as if contemplating Shinjiro's words here. "I've called myself - once, though I didn't give a name."
He doesn't sound like he's particularly opposed to that one either. Even as Shinjiro gets up, and he drops his hand, and lets him speak.
He then nods at Akihiko as he says he's busy, "I'm well aware. I'm a Persona User myself - even if I'm a rather... different sort than most within SEES."
But Akechi looks surprised himself, startled even by the fact that Akihiko thinks of himself as busy enough with this.
But it certainly makes him angry.
"Who are you to tell him he can't place his life on the line? Don't you do the same every night you step into that tower?"
Akechi tells him sharply, "Wasn't it even more dangerous, several years back before SEES was in it's current form? Yes - I know about that as well. If you think it's too dangerous - then shoulder the risk with him."
A beat.
"As you would with someone facing death at your side in Tartarus. To tell him otherwise, that he shouldn't fight for this cause - shouldn't put his life on the line for this... is just rank hypocrisy, Sanada-san."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro is going to give Akihiko time... but he continues talking. He gets *mad* at Shinjiro, and it feels like Akihiko again, even as Shinjiro recoils a bit, dropping fully to his feet.
"What else am I supposed to do? This guy's gonna keep killing until someone stops him. He could kill one of my friends. Hell, he could kill one of our teammates. Frankly, if you ask me, it'd be a fair fucking trade!" Shinjiro's heightening because Akechi's heightening becuase Akihiko's heightening.
"We can already deal with one of our problems, let me deal with another." He's subtle enough not to mention they have a solution to the Dark Hour in front of Akechi, but...
"It'd be worth it for a life as failed as my own."
<Pose Tracker> Akihiko Sanada has posed.
Akihiko is in a losing battle, and he knows it. But he's lost. He can't even get his thoughts in order properly.
So, the meathead does the one thing he knows best. He plants a fist into Shinji's chest.
It doesn't hurt. It barely makes a noise.
Is this strength? Is this kind? He wants to beg Shinji, not to die. That Akihiko can't lose his family again. It just doesn't come out.
"I'm going for a run." Akihiko says, to the air.
He sulks out of the alley, overwhelmed and thoughts swirling.