2026-01-10: Dance of Deduction
- Log: Dance of Deduction
- Cast: Haru Okumura, Goro Akechi
- Where: Shujin Academy - Classroom Building
- OOC Date: January 10, 2026
- IC Date: September 08, 2012
- Summary: Goro Akechi follows up on a lead from a certain wedding. He and Haru dance around the truth and have a pleasant conversation that touches upon some unpleasant topics. CW: Heavy discussion of misogynistic abuse.
(|=================== Shujin Academy - Classroom Building ====================|)
-==================================================== Tokyo/Aoyama-Itchome ====-
Shujin Academy is split between its main classroom building, which faces the
back streets of Aoyama-Itchome, and its practice building out back. The
classroom building is a grim concrete building with sleek glass doors, three
stories tall, with classrooms for the third years on the ground floor, second
years on the second, and first years on the top. The faculty office is on the
second, and the student council room and the library on the third. Vending
machines dot the hallways here and there, and the bathrooms are kept clean. Its
front gates are wrought iron with a circular design, and a stylized clock on the
eastern wall informs students just how late they are.
The foyer is lined with glass cases proudly displaying trophies earned by its
top students, and just past them is the school store, though the yakisoba bread
there is almost always sold out. Billboards across the school announce various
articles and notices of interest. Past there, the walls are gray and white, the
floors are wooden, student lockers line the walls, and the sliding classroom
doors sport diamond windows. The classrooms themselves are rather more sober,
with simple desks and chairs for the students and a taller desk at front before
the chalkboard for the teacher. The windows to the outside seem simple, and even
have yellow curtains that can be pulled shut, but are lined in a diamond pattern
to prevent shattering. We wouldn't want our students to escape, now would we?
There is a fenced-in roof, but the door to it displays a sign stating students
aren't allowed. Despite this, it isn't locked, so nothing stops anyone from
hanging out there anyway--at least, not until they get caught. Oddly, there's
also several small planters there too for growing flowers and vegetables.
<Pose Tracker> Haru Okumura has posed.
Today should be a fairly routine Saturday at Shujin Academy. With only half a day of classes, and a Sunday off to look forward to, even the fairly stringent academy that is Shujin tends to see students in a rush to get through the day as quickly as possible.
By now, classes have already ended thirty minutes ago, and most students have either filtered out into their clubs for the day, or left the building entirely. The most dedicated of students went straight to the library. There's little movement in the halls by this time. It's the perfect time for a certain Detective Prince to carry out his investigation.
Of course, the Shujin Academy rooftop is usually off-limits to students. There's not that much of a reason to come up here, anyway. But certain rumours might just suggest a certain girl who prefers to keep to herself often comes up here to take care of the garden. Having no extracurriculars of her own, and no after-school plans either, one Haru Okumura is doing exactly that today. By now, she's almost finished for the day, having planted the new crops she picked up while she was meeting with Ichika, and watered the rest.
There's no rush. It's just a routine Saturday at Shujin Academy, right?
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"You can't even touch me." The smirking visage of a young adult said in the dark. "I'm someone who is qualified to alter this world. And you're just an attack dog, his chain held by a far greater man. My father assured me I had nothing to fear."
"Oh--Is that right?"
The One in the Black Mask regarded the Shadow of Sugimura with an expression of disgust, before he shrugged, then whipped out a gun. The echoing noise of a gunshot split the corridor as the Shadow's knee erupted into ichor.
The Shadow yowled in pain as it fell to the floor, part of it's leg just missing now. As the one in the Black Mask walked up and squatted down in front of him. "You pathetic piece of shit. You're only 'anything' because of Daddy and you think you can mouth off to me? I'm the one who decides who lives and dies in here!"
Sugimura whimpered as he pressed a gun painfully into his cheek as the Black Mask continued to speak, "If I killed you right now do you really think even Daddy Dearest would bat an eye? All I have to do is say you were plotting to betray us. Who's even going to say otherwise? He'd cast off even his own blood to keep his seat at the table."
"W-What do you want?" Shadow Sugimura bleated. "Anything! I'll tell you anything! Just- please don't kill me!"
The One in the Black Mask smirked, looking pleased with himself, "It seems you understand the position you're in. Now--let's talk about someone actually important..."
-=-=-
It's a lovely Saturday afternoon. Things are quiet here, by this point, so many people having left to take advantage of the rest of the day for the weekend. So quiet that Haru might not expect the hollow tapping of someone knocking on the metal door.
One that's already open. Like he already opened it without her noticing before knocking.
She might not expect the person she sees when she turns, even if the two had seen each other recently. After all, Goro Akechi right now is in the Seven Sister's Uniform, with Sumaru City nearly an hour away by high speed train.
He smiles, that winning boy next door affable smile, "Hello, Okumura-san. I'd say it's been a while but-" Well, he doesn't have to finish that statement. It hasn't been that long. "You look rather occupied at the moment. I don't suppose you'd mind some company?"
He is holding his briefcase as well, but that's just a matter of course.
<Pose Tracker> Haru Okumura has posed.
Haru doesn't often get company up on the rooftop, not unless you count her agreement with Ren to have them help out with the garden a bit. (They were just here a while ago! It's surely a shame Akechi had to miss them.) It's also not never that someone else comes on the rooftop, but they're usually not here to see Haru in specific. Unfortunately for her, Akechi is here to see Haru.
As strange as it is, after the wedding they attended, Goro Akechi is a familiar face. Even still, it takes a moment for Haru to process that he's here. In front of her. On the rooftop on a Saturday at Shujin Academy. Not wanting to react to his arrival with utter surprise a second time ago, Haru quickly cycles to her pleasant, practiced smile.
"Ah! Akechi-san. We're running into each other an awful lot lately, aren't we?" She agrees, as if it was purely happenstance. "What brings you all the way out to Shujin Academy?" She asks, simple small talk, before dropping the bag of garden supplies she was carrying by her feet. "...Well, I can venture a guess, at least. It must be busy for you..." Haru gestures vaguely - everyone knows Shujin is a hotbed for scandal in recent months. Haru has no idea just how much Akechi really knows - about her, at that, no thanks to him having a little fun with Shadow Sugimura.
"Thankfully, there's little going on up here, except for this garden." She asides, glancing down from the rooftop - at nothing in particular. It's certainly a beautiful autumn day, though. "I'm just about done here, but... some company would be nice." She agrees politely, though she's not sure what someone like Goro Akechi would get out of speaking with someone like her. She decides to go for the one thing she knows they have in common. "You had... quite strong opinions to express during the wedding ceremony." Haru says. "To be honest, I couldn't help but agree." She adds, reinforcing her own statements. "It was... uncomfortable."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Haru's really good at playing the game, isn't she? Out of the Phantoms, he suspects she can play it even better than Ren.
A heiress of a rich man's empire has to put on fake smiles often, to socialize, to hide her feelings behind that 'Persona' of that smile.
"I suppose we do! I hope you don't mind as I certainly don't. There are far less pleasant coincidences than running into a lovely young lady like yourself."
It doesn't seem necessarily flirtatious, save in the general sense of baseline banter he exhibits. The sort of 'plausible deniability' that he was flirting that might throw shy young women off their game.
Many are, around him after all, "My work here has certainly kept me busy-" He agrees, as if the point were worthy of sympathy, "But I was merely following up on a lead from one of my investigations. Coincidentally, it led me up here, to this very rooftop."
Which is rather telling for which investigation it is, isn't it? After all, the Phantoms once used this place as their hideout, and even if Haru joined after they'd moved on, she'd certainly know, wouldn't she?
"And who should I find, but yourself? To be honest, I don't think at this point there will be any evidence to be found, but I thought I should at least conduct a survey just in case."
As he steps inside, letting the door go, he places a hand to his chin at her comment about the garden, "I can see that. It's rather well-tended for a rooftop Garden. Are you caring for it all on your own? Usually there are whole clubs for that."
Indeed, she accepts his company and speaks of the wedding as uncomfortable, "That's putting it mildly. Well, while you're here, perhaps another conversation. Making your acquaintance was perhaps one of the few bright spots for that day..."
Indeed, he puts it far more bluntly, as if he found the whole thing distasteful, more than just uncomfortable.
"Well I see little point holding back when people are saying the quiet part out loud." His expression changes from that smile into something more serious, "I don't relish thinking about Ijuuin-sensei's future."
It still feels even... disgusting, calling her that. It makes her skin crawl, but that is her family name now, her prior one just... as Shimazu said, erased.
"Do you mind if I ask a rather... forward question?" Assuming she doesn't object, he continues, "I'd heard that you were engaged before even graduating from high school. Given that, I was wondering- now that we're out of earshot of others..."
...
...
...
"... Are you quite alright? Given your discomfiture with everything that was said... you used the word 'old-fashioned'I believe... is this something you're comfortable with yourself?"
It is quite forward, given that they barely know each other. And yet, given all that they'd exchanged, it's not an unreasonable deduction to believe that someone who was uncomfortable with traditional values... jingoism, racism, misogyny...
... might not enjoy her current circumstances. He is a detective after all. Yes just a detective, and only a detective who did not have a lot of fun torturing details out of Sugimura's Shadow.
[OOC] Goro Akechi says, "*blu-ray space between 'old-fashioned' and I believe"
<Pose Tracker> Haru Okumura has posed.
Perhaps it says a lot that among the Phantom Thieves, Noir is among the most different in demeanour, compared to her 'real world' counterpart. One might wonder if Noir is closer to the true Haru Okumura, than Haru Okumura herself, at least at this point in time. Then again, from the wedding alone, Haru put on a much more honest display for Akechi than she usually does.
"I could say the same, for a gentleman like yourself." Haru shoots right back, clearly capable of playing that game herself. "In confidence, it's certainly better company than some of my classmates, who are more interested in chasing rumours than anything." She admits, with a bit of a laugh, even. She listens, then, as Akechi explains what his business here is.
"Is that so?" Haru taps her cheek, almost in genuine surprise, as Akechi explains his investigation led him specifically here. Unfortunately, playing dumb is a lot harder when she has to do so towards someone who is very smart. "It is off-limits, after all. So I must look quite suspicious then, don't I? Hehe..." She giggles, deciding to accept it in a way that clearly sounds more like she's joking about the poor timing than actually admitting any guilt.
"Oh, but I do run into any trouble here, I can certainly let you know the next time we happen to bump into each other." Of course, she doesn't actually mean that. Ren's identity is safe with her! As little as that matters when it's Goro Akechi they're dealing with it. "But yes... I come up here to care for the garden." She nods. "There's nothing too special about it, nothing that would draw a whole club's interest. Still, it is special to me." She smiles, glancing at the sproutlings, and then back to Akechi.
"Yes, perhaps it is putting it mildly. I feel bad for our teacher." Haru says, clearly avoiding actually calling her by her surname. "It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, but she looked just miserable." Haru shakes her head. "And there was nothing we could have done about it either, right? We're just students." Just students - Okumura heiress and Detective Prince notwithstanding.
Haru lets Akechi proceed with his forward question, even though she knows she won't be happy to have to answer it. "That's correct. I've had some time to become acquainted with my fiance. He is... a passionate young man." Something Akechi would know all about from his fun in Mementos. "You really are a detective, aren't you? To deduce all that..." She shakes her head.
If I may be a little forward myself, it is a little strange for you to say that." She starts. "There are few who attend this school who would pity my circumstances. If I marry this man, I would see financial security for the rest of my life. I would never have to work a day in my life, let alone run a business." The only condition is to make her husband happy... but if she's not happy, that's of no consequence, is it? "So if I told you that life wouldn't satisfy me, wouldn't you think that's just as strange?" She doesn't say it. But she doesn't 'not' say it.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Is that so? Your classmates are certainly missing out..." He says with a tease, but it's not an ungenuine one. Haru kind of was a breath of fresh air. Phantom Thief or not a Phantom Thief...
... he knows from his investigation that she was so alone in the world until recently. Sugimura said as much as well... which he noted as a positive.
The reason why made his skin crawl even more than usual.
"Haha... shall I add you to my list of suspects then?" Akechi asks as the smile fades and he looks quite serious, holding her gaze for a few moments...
... before...
"... Just kidding." He says with a sudden smile, "Of course I don't suspect you, Okumura-san. You're up here for a reason and... well, who would ever think that the heiress of Okumura foods had a dual identity as a Phantom Thief?"
Well the way he says that, it sounds teasing like 'can you imagine' but- it hits so close to home one might swear it was his own form of an indirect accusation.
He didn't actually say it was the Phantom Thief case before.
"And do a fine job of it. I know very little about Gardening and yet I can still tell..." He murmurs, as if complimentary. "Oh? Is it because of it's secretive nature?" He asks, "I could imagine such a place of your own appealing..."
The subject moves to the wedding, and Akechi nods gravely, "Miserable... yes that was my observation as well. I do not think she actually wanted to marry Kimitake Ijuuin, but has been pressured into it by her... circumstances."
One of his deductions. A rather good one. It's easy to make that when you've spoken to his Shadow.
"... No there wasn't. Unfortunately. Both of us are in our third years, but we're still children in the eyes of the adults that were present. Even if I had evidence of a crime being committed... it would still almost certainly be dismissed."
She can likely guess why, after all the man who gave the speech they both detested was a Police Captain.
Haru does answer his question, and Akechi waits. "Passionate." He finally echoes, as if peeling back the feelings behind the mask, "I had wondered what sort of man he was... it seems I have my answer."
He actually looks distant - abstracted for a few moments. His Mother had once said she thought the same of Shido as well...
... until he let his ugliness show. But he suspects that Haru hasn't been fooled for even a moment, Shadow Sugimura's accounts disabused him of the idea that he would even try.
The Forward question however... she counters with her own. "Oh? What do you mean?" He asks, as she then relays the answer to him. "A fair question to ask. After all, many women would be thrilled to have such leisure - luxury - and financial security within their lives. At a glance, your situation would be the envy of most your age."
Which is mostly just repeating back what he said, "No, I wouldn't find it strange at all. Perhaps I would have years ago. I grew up quite poor."
Haru's situation is- what his mother's life might have been had Shido taken her as his bride. Would she be happy though? Could she keep him happy?
Akechi doesn't think so. "But I've consulted on enough cases for the upper crust of Japan to understand that many of them are to use your own word - miserable."
He says it with the emphasis as to say he understands her meaning. That she sees herself in Yua, as her own potential Dark Future.
"You're a modern young woman- who despite your ability to live in a world where arranged marriages are common... I believe from just a few brief interactions together that you value your independence quite highly. If you were to get married on your own terms, I would deduce it would need to be to a man who respected what you wanted out of your life... whom you loved- and reciprocated your feelings in turn."
It's hard not to resent her some. Everything she wants, by a random turn of fortune's wheel. But, he also understands.
He understands wanting to live your life on your own terms better than most. It's something he values most of all.
"Am I mistaken?"
<Pose Tracker> Haru Okumura has posed.
"Hehe..." Haru laughs, partially from sheer nerves as Akechi aims closer and closer to the heart. Those few moments almost feel like an eternity, before he laughs it off himself with that smile. "What a tale that would be!" She agrees, looking Akechi right in the eye. There's a strange feeling to it, knowing that there's a good chance they both know, but playing it off like that will probably make a better impression than getting defensive about it.
"So you're investigating the Phantom Thieves, Akechi-san?" She follows up, keeping the flow of the conversation as natural as possible. "Among all the scandals here, they're certainly the most talked about." After all, they started here, in Shujin Academy, with Kamoshida. "...If I may ask another forward question, then... what do you think about the Phantom Thieves' activities?" Naturally, a detective is diametrically opposed to the criminals he is trying to uncover - but that doesn't suggest the detective must feel a certain way about the crime.
"Why thank you," Haru smiles, as Akechi compliments her garden. "I suppose you could say that." She admits, about the secretive nature. "It's quiet up here, and it's nice to have some seclusion." It also helps for sharing private conversations, like this one. "That, and... gardening is something of a special interest for me." She adds, her smile widening. "Do you drink coffee, Akechi-san?" She asks, even if that's seemingly irrelevant.
"Yes. I may not be a detective, but... I could almost see it in her eyes." Haru frowns, of Yua's misery. She can only hope that she will continue teaching, that maybe that passion of dance of hers will keep her going forward. "I can't say for certain, but that, and the nature of the speeches definitely made it seem like she was giving a lot more than she was getting." Pressured into marriage... "It's sad." It probably happens a lot more than it seems. Perhaps her situation isn't so unique after all.
"He lets his emotions show easily." Haru follows up, on 'passionate'. She just doesn't say that most of the emotions coming from that man are negative in nature. She glances back down at her gardening bag. "In that way, I suppose we must be polar opposites." She says, in a joking tone, but she's also dead serious. "But... yes. My father made a calculated decision when he agreed to my marriage to the Sugimura family." She agrees, when Akechi points out she would be the envy of many girls their age. "I'd like to think he believed he was buying my happiness when he made that decision."
And she attentively nods when Akechi admits he grew up poor himself. "That's why... I don't wish to ask you for pity or sympathy. I've made my peace with what's to come.... whether it's miserable or not. She says - a half-truth. She's taken aback, however, when Akechi continues - describing almost exactly what she feels.
What would her ideal be? The slow sparks of falling in love with someone, going through each and every small stage of the relationship together - enjoying it for what it is and not what it will gain them. Marrying someone she can see herself running a small coffee shop with - living a life that's quiet but happy. That's not the life she sees herself living with Sugimura. "....In confidence, you're not." She nods. She just can't lie to him about that for some reason. "It really is strange, isn't it?"
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Indeed - it's a strange dance. A dance Ren and him perform every time they meet. Sometimes they let the mask slip from the masquerade. However, it gives them both plausible deniability.
The ambiguity prevents either from being placed in an untenable position. And now he's letting Haru try these same dance steps.
"Almost like something out of a TV drama." Akechi says, with a continued tease to the type of tale it would be, before Haru asks him outright. "I am. It's perhaps the most important case that I've currently taken on... and I do believe they are connected to Shujin Academy." He winks at her, "Though I'd ask that you keep that to yourself. After all, it would be preferable if the faculty here thinks I'm currently here for... unrelated reasons. I'd told several of them that I've ruled out them being Shujin Students to prevent leaks."
That's only true to an extent, Haru would know he recently had to tell Principal Kobayakawa's Shadow that he's ruled out them being Shujin students. However, it's easier to use 'Faculty' rather than Shadow while they're doing this dance...
"Currently they believe I'm here to resolve one of the more minor incidents related to the Kaneshiro case and Shujin's students."
What does he think?
"Hmmm, the fact that you're asking- does that mean you don't believe what I say on TV, or that you haven't seen any of my interviews?" He asks, with a smile, "I believe that until I know how a 'Change of Heart' is performed - that I'm against it on principle. Legality notwithstanding. However, I am willing to have my mind changed should they prove their methods don't violate their targets' free will."
He then asks her in turn, "What of yourself?"
Haru answers him as to her Garden, then asks him something that causes his eyes to grow a little wider, "Why yes, I certainly do. Are you telling me that you're actually growing coffee plants here? While I know little of gardening... I understand they're quite challenging to cultivate in this environment."
Well that's certainly one thing Sugimura didn't know, though he's not SURPRISED he didn't know. He regarded her gardening as a silly little feminine indulgence.
He nods in agreement as of Yua. "I'd argue that the majority of women do... especially in the traditional sense of marriage." After all, erasing who you were before to take on the colors of your husband... the idea sits all wrong with him. "But her far more than most, the groom's family were rubbing her nose in these sacrifices... like she were more of a breeding animal to them, than a woman."
Again, those blunt words, but - he's saying more of how he feels than he usually might, "Unfortunately, even if she decided tomorrow to leave - it is likely her family's influence would see her back before long. Families with that kind of power do not allow the possibility of public disgrace."
It's a dark sentiment, but it feeds into the idea they said earlier. They're powerless as children in a society where seniority means everything- and now Yua has lost her agency by marrying into such a family.
'He lets his emotions show easily.' 'In that way, I suppose we must be polar opposites' "You mean he has a temper that he doesn't even try to conceal." Akechi says, as if translating her as one of his 'deductions'. He had said he hasn't met Sugimura, but it's like he can understand the subtext of Haru's words quite effortlessly, doesn't it?
Of course, he also has quite the advantage for having not met the man... in reality.
"I see." He says mildly, "But you're worried that he wasn't actually factoring your happiness in at all?" He says, as if prying at the subtext to that again. "It is a... valid concern, with any marriage arrangements made without your input."
The way he looks away... well, it's clear he mislikes the idea either way, though he's leaning in one direction.
As Haru says she doesn't wish to ask him for pity or sympathy, "I won't insult you then by offering you either. Like you said, your situation would be enviable to most women. And as a young man, it's easy for me to claim I wouldn't stand for it if I were to have a marriage arranged for me... but as a young man, I wouldn't be in your position in the first place- I'd be in Sugimura-san's."
He says, with a sense of distaste at the idea, like he's aware of the unfairness. "It's a great deal easier for a young man to accept being handed a beautiful young woman they don't even have to put effort into 'winning over' as their bride, don't you think?"
Well he did put the word beautiful in there, and he's not insincere, but he's also definitely not flirting with her there either in that context. He sounds almost bitter over Haru's situation, and it's hard to place why?
Haru answers him, and...
"In confidence..." He replies in an echo of her words as he looks her away again, brown eyes fixating upon her, "...I don't think it's strange at all. To live your life in a way that isn't decided for you by anything else? That's the most understandable thing to me."
<Pose Tracker> Haru Okumura has posed.
"There's a certain romance to it," Haru agrees, all while carefully dancing the dance. "Though at the same time, it's so strange to think, if these Phantom Thieves truly are connected to Shujin Academy, that they may be classmates I see every day." She admits, though she's also surprised that Akechi's willing to give out that much. "Your secret is safe with me, Akechi-san. Since I prefer to keep to myself, it wouldn't exactly do to spread Phantom Thief rumours." She supposes she's become an 'accomplice' on this rooftop yet again.
Haru gives Akechi a guilty little smile as he points out he's made his stance clear on television. "I have to admit, I was curious to know what you would say without a camera rolling behind you." She giggles, and then listens to his take. "Free will... I believe that's a reasonable stance to take. You would prefer for these criminals to find the will to change themselves than to be changed by an outside force?" It's one that the Phantom Thieves don't actually have a strong defence to... they are technically 'brainwashing' their targets to confess, no matter how justified it is.
"As for myself, well... I can understand why the Phantom Thieves exist." She starts. "It's like how I felt at the wedding, powerless to change anything about a horrible situation. The Phantom Thieves, though? They do have that power, whether it's right to use it at all." She explains. "However, I wish they didn't have to exist - that the world wasn't in such a state that a group like the Phantom Thieves ended up forming. Does that make sense?" As a Phantom Thief herself, it feels strange to say it, but bettering society is one of their goals when changing a heart.
Haru's eyes do light up again when she has the opportunity to talk about her Special Interest. "Well... I'm trying at least." She giggles, at Akechi's surprise. "It's been up to chance whether they actually turn out or not, but I've slowly been making improvements. It's thanks to my grandfather, that I developed an interest in the process behind making coffee." She smiles.
"That didn't feel right to me, either." Haru agrees. "A breeding animal... or perhaps property, plain and simple. Either way... that's no way to treat a woman." Part of her actually appreciates how much of a feminist Akechi seems to be... but then again, when it comes to this, it's just basic human decency.
And she's once again surprised as how easily Akechi can tell exactly what she means, even through her euphemisms. "...Yes. Even over small, meaningless things, like if the traffic light stays red for too long." She frowns, actually thinking back to that argument that one night that led her to get caught up in Mementos in the first place. She falls silent, as Akechi emphasizes with her, as much as he can't directly put himself in the shoes of a young woman in an arranged marriage, hearing the sheer bitterness in his tone. "Maybe so. All the same, it's easy for a young man like him to believe I'm lucky to even have the privilege to breathe the same air. As him" There's almost bit of a laugh there. As if... she finally has some room to just complain to someone outside of her immediate circle.
"Perhaps I've said all too much, but... it's refreshing talking to you, Akechi-san. Thank you for listening to me." Haru smiles. She knows he's technically an enemy - that as long as she's a Phantom Thief, she'll never truly be safe talking to him. And yet, she meant what she said. "...And I'll remember what you said, about living in a way that wasn't decided for you." When she thinks about it that way, she almost wonders if Akechi is happy with the role he's been given as the perfect Detective Prince.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Akechi can understand 'certain romance'. In a way it's a childish fantasy, but does he not wear the accoutrements of his youth? "Why thank you, I'd certainly appreciate it." He says as Haru says his secret is safe.
Before she makes that guilty little smile, and he chuckles, "My- am I not convincing enough? It does make one wonder where you got such an idea..."
There's a shift of his stance though at her question, "It's more that I believe that any confession - any apology? It cannot be considered truly themselves any longer. Not if it was coerced by a forced change of heart. The psychological profile for several of the victims suggest that such change would be impossible... that some had near sociopathic tendencies... and yet..."
He lets that idea linger. Something that cannot be changed /was/ changed. Can it thus be said that they are truly the same person?
"But it is more that I believe their punishment cannot truly be just... if they're not the same person as they were when they committed the crime. If their apologies are not of their own free will, can that truly satisfy every victim of their heinous acts?"
It is a difficult question, isn't it? Each victim reacts differently, "I feel that either they should take responsibility for their actions of their own free will- or they should have to suffer the consequences of refusing to."
She explains how she felt powerless to change things- whereas the Phantom Thieves do. "Indeed. Children with the power to rebel against the will of adults who ordinarily cannot be easily defied. You can understand why so many support them. If not for the Change of Heart phenomenon - perhaps I myself would be one of their supporters."
Well maybe, they'd still likely be criminals.
Haru's small giggle, elicits a smile from him again, "Remarkable. To even try such a feat in this small rooftop space. Perhaps this truly is your 'Secret Garden'." He says, as he makes a mild literary pun.
Whether Akechi is a feminist or not is up for debate - on the surface, perhaps he truly is. Though, if one goes deeper... who knows what one might find.
But even if there's still misogyny underneath, he does consider women to be /people/ - which puts him head and shoulders amongst many men in Japan.
"Most certainly not." He agrees, on it being no way to treat a woman. He had tried to hint at Kimitake's cruelty prior to her being married - he /tried/. But, she still went forward with the plan for him to be her 'Beard'.
Whether he likes her situation or not, he did what he could...
His expression becomes disdainful as she speaks of the reality of his temper - his feelings, "I see. To think he truly looks down upon you that much..." Well, he's not actually shocked by it. He knew it.
And he's had plenty of examples in Masayoshi Shido - and all of his ilk within the New World Order.
"To be quite frank for a moment - conversing with you has been both a privilege and a delight. If he does not understand the gift that has been dropped into his lap in being engaged to a bright young woman like yourself- then he's more of a dullard than even I suspected."
He does smile again at the end. Perhaps it's a faux affable smile, some of it - but it's not /entirely/ fake in this instance, "Yes, I feel the same way. Thank you for allowing me to remain in your company for this time. I promise that my investigation here won't disturb your garden in any way."
Is he happy? Was he happy even for this conversation? Goro Akechi is a creature of contradiction. Even when he's happy, his thoughts turn to darker subject matter.
And when it comes to Haru Okumura - her Father - her Fiance. There is plenty of darkness to cloud away even the sunshine.