2026-01-27: Fair Warning
- Log: 2026-01-27a Fair Warning
- Cast: Ren Amamiya, Goro Akechi
- Where: Shimokitazawa, Tokyo
- OOC Date: January 27, 2026
- IC Date: Sunday, September 16, 2012
- Summary: While on a cooldown jog back to Yongen-Jaya after training with Kasumi, Ren runs into Akechi by TOTAL COINCIDENCE, WE SWEAR. They talk first about Akechi's history with Akihiko and Shinjiro, then the true nature of the Old Maid, and finally the mysterious one in the black mask and what Ren should and shouldn't do about them.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Sneakers hit the pavement in low impact as Ren jogs through Shimokitazawa this early Sunday afternoon, wearing their Shujin Academy sports jersey despite the weekend because they don't have a non-school-issued one. (They used to, but left it back in Inaba when they moved to the city. Too many painful memories.) After spending the morning working out with Kasumi in one of her special gymnastics regiments over in Inokashira Park, then having lunch with her in Kichijoji, they're jogging back to Yongen-Jaya at a relaxed pace as a way to cool down. They could have taken the train back, but they're feeling in good form today, and they've got a big sushi dinner to look forward to tonight. They're not ready to stop moving their body yet--a feeling they want to indulge in while it still feels good. (They filled up their water bottle at the lunch place, so don't worry, they won't be dehydrated.)
As they move through Shimokitazawa, which lies in between Kichijoji and Yoncha, they glance around at the neighborhood. It's an interesting area--all the more for that boutique Peacock Silk they've heard of--but they've yet to have a reason to actually look through the area. There was that one time during the Dark Hour with Umie... but that was the Dark Hour, and it was a clandestine meeting. They didn't exactly get a chance to take in the local culture.
They're not really taking it in right now, either, but at least they get a better idea now during the day. There's a lot of bars, a lot of music, a lot of people crowding the streets. It's really interesting, and they wish they could stop to check it out more, but they've got to take a bath and change before heading out to Sumaru City.
To that end, it's actually a little too crowded. Spotting an alleyway that looks like it'll cut towards the local train station, they swerve that way in the hopes of a less crowded shortcut. Of course, they don't know the area well enough to know for sure it'll work out that way, though Tokyo is at least a safe enough city that they don't think they'll get jumped or anything. A risky but bold strategy either way--just like what they've been learning from Hifumi Togo over at Kanda Church during the shogi lessons she's been giving him every so often.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Sunday Afternoon. A day of reprieve from the repetition of the school day routine. Shimokita is both busy from the influx of teens spending the day here and sedate from the chill atmosphere all the same.
Here, one Ren Amamiya takes his cooldown jog back towards Yongen-Jaya. His reward? Sushi. So you might as well bring your appetite.
They pass by the boutique, which is when a figure turns a corner about a block behind him, at first at a slower walk, then a faster one, and then a jog. Then more like a fast jog. Arms swinging, as he pushes himself into a decent pace...
... it would be hard for Ren Amamiya to expect what comes next, as a familiar voice calls out, "On your left." And Goro Akechi, in a Seven Sisters Track Suit jogs up juuusttttt past him, before he seems to look to his right as if to double check his perceptions.
"Oh?" Like he recognizes him finally then slows down his pace before he chuckles, "Aha. Out for a run? I didn't expect to see you here, Amamiya-kun."
What might annoy Ren right away is not only just Akechi's presence as absolutely not a coincidence, but how PLAUSIBLY DENIABLE every aspect of it is. There's sweat on his brow. He has a water bottle that's partially drained.
He must have been working out just before pulling this, enough that he'd be hard pressed to prove its not merely a coincidence.
"Though I admit, I was hoping to after I swung by the Leblanc." He says as he looks over his right shoulder with a broad smile, "I altered my usual route to take me by Yongen-Jaya for that purpose."
What's even weirder about that is that rather than standing alongside him, he's just slightly in front of him at all times. If Ren picks up the pace, he matches it until he's in the same position, if he slows - the same happens.
He is just so frustrating.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
As they attempt to cross the crowded street, they fee a presence at their back. Drawing closer. Faster. Ren shoots a look over their shoulder--
--just in time for Akechi to pass him.
Ren slows down to stare at him. Akechi does his Plausible Deniability schtick. A vein might or might not bulge in their forehead.
After all, it does annoy Ren right away, because it is ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT to think that Akechi is doing this here for any other reason than to stage a run-in with them, considering he lives in fucking Sumaru, as underscored by his own Sevens jersey. Nobody would come all the way to another city just for a work-out.
Of course, he has an excuse for that too, saying he was planning to go to Leblanc after this--but that's just an admission that he is in fact here for them. Ren makes no effort to hide the way they roll their eyes.
They've slowed down in the course of this. Akechi has slowed down just enough to stay right ahead of them. They speed up. He speeds up too--staying just ahead of them. For a moment, Ren is deeply tempted to slap his ass just to show him what for. They refrain, partly because that's sexual harassment regardless of why they do it, partly because there is a non-zero chance Akechi is trying to bait them into exactly that. They give up on escaping for a side street and instead jockey for space next to Akechi, elbowing him as they pick up a little more speed but before Akechi does the same.
"What a coincidence," they say deadpan. "But good timing. There was something I wanted to ask you about." A beat. "You see, I ran into Sanada-san the other day..."
They watch for Akechi's reaction before they continue.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
And he has an excuse for being here on a Sunday too! Work thing! And he has a gym nearby that he rather enjoys when he's in Tokyo.
Of course he's not going to volunteer it if Ren doesn't ask~
And he doesn't, as he knows it would just be bullshit!
"Isn't it?" He asks in reply, sounding quite smug. However Ren asks him about Sanada-san. And for a time, Akechi looks straight forward, such that Ren would have trouble seeing his expression.
There's something stony on his face.
Of course he's met that Coward.
"The Captain of Gekkoukan's Boxing Club." Akechi relates, as if he were imparting a simple fact he were reading from a newspaper clipping.
"He's an old acquaintance of sorts." He adds, "But certainly, you may ask away."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren could ask about Akechi's excuses. But they already know he's going to have them and they're just not going to be able to call him on his bullshit well enough to get him to admit it is bullshit. So yes, why bother?
The bullshit part is the fiction that he just happens to be here as opposed to approaching him on purpose, and the fact that he said he was going to Leblanc after this is an admission that he's approaching him on purpose. Even if Ren can't win the argument, it's enough to know.
They roll their eyes again at Akechi's smugness. Even then, though, they note the way Akechi looks forward, away from them, when Akihiko comes up. Ren's looking for that reaction specifically, after all. It fits in with Akihiko and Shinjiro's attitude towards him. There's bad blood here, and Akechi is making an effort to maintain a pretense of politeness.
"He told me about the orphanage fire." Another beat. "Well. He told me to ask Aragaki-san about it, and Aragaki-san told me about it. But same difference." Another beat. "Especially when it comes to Miki-chan--and the person you saw back then."
This time, the beat is the silence of a period (and not a question mark, for all that they were invited to ask). Ren waits again for Akechi's reaction.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Did he? Why am I not surprised that he passed that responsibility off to someone else?"
Oh yeah, there's bad blood there. He doesn't even bother keeping his voice carefully neutral there.
And Ren will realize almost right away, Akechi despises Akihiko Sanada.
Yet, still he jogs. And is quiet afterwards other than the rhythm of his footsteps on the ground. For a while, he keeps pace, but he doesn't speak. Like he's trying to work through whatever he's feeling when this is invoked.
"He was about our age back then, with a penchant for arson. His crime of choice, given his pyrophilia. Though he did not confine himself to merely that kind of act of wanton destruction."
Akechi sounds, detached, somewhat now. Like he's reading from a true crime script of some horrible event.
"It wasn't long after that he dismembered a child at the Alaya Shrine in the Rengedai Ward of Sumaru City."
Ren has probably already put it all together who he means already, but it's not long before he outright spelled it out, "It was still a decade before he was ever known by the nom de guerre of 'Old Maid', but yes, I witnessed him on the grounds that night."
If I'd been believed - she'd still be alive.
In essence - she died because I was someone that no one would ever believe.
A blight even on her existence.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"..."
Yeah. Ren definitely realizes. When Akechi stops bothering to hide his feelings, they're like a roaring black aura of hatred--to say nothing of the words he actually says.
So they don't speak. They're waiting for Akechi to have his say, anyway. It takes a moment as he talks through it, but they do realize by the end that the one Akechi saw was the Old Maid. It's the confusion of the age and then the horror of child dismemberment over in Sumaru that makes it click that he doesn't mean someone who might be the Black Mask, but the infamous 'Joker Killer'--not that Ren acknowledges that nickname.
"I see," they eventually murmur. Shinjiro hadn't specified who it was; they'd fully believed they'd gotten a clue as to who the Black Mask could be. Even been hopeful about it, when they thought about it more. (If the culprit is someone else, then that means Akechi isn't...) "They had their own things to say, but I wanted to hear it from you."
It's only fair, considering once they realized Akihiko and Shinjiro have a past with Akechi, they wanted to know if the things Akechi had told them before about his own tragic past were true. Both of them corroborated, so... yes. It's nice to have something about Akechi they don't have to doubt. They know how cruel that would sound, though, so they keep that part to themself.
"For what it's worth, Aragaki-san seemed regretful about what happened. Sanada-san too, but... he didn't really want to talk about it at all, so it was harder to get a read on him." Considering his sister died, it's no wonder that he might not have wanted to open up to someone he barely knows. Ren expects Akechi will have a different opinion about it.
"Were you and Miki-chan...?"
Ren trails off on purpose. It'll be way more insightful to let Akechi fill in that blank on his own.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Wanted to hear it from you.
He nods at that, in acceptance. It's fully understandable. "Yes, I believe that of Aragaki-san." Akechi relates to Ren, as if to tell him 'I hold him in higher esteem' than Akihiko. Though they're obviously not close.
Ren asks the question whether him and Miki-chan... as if implied.
Akechi answers that with a slow shake of his head, as he continues to jog, "We weren't friends, if that's what you're asking. It's more that she was kinder to me than anyone else my own age at that orphanage."
He seems distant, "I regret that she died. It was senseless for such a young girl. I wish... I'd known her better."
It is close to his true feelings, not quite there, but very close. One would have to go deeper to learn the truth.
"Sanada-san was under the impression that it was an accident of faulty electrical wiring, as that was what the Fire Marshal and police had ruled. I learned recently of the money that changed hands... they didn't even bother to hide the blatant corruption."
A beat.
"I suppose after ten years, the truth was something he'd prefer to run away from."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Not as bad blood with Shinjiro, then. The two of them have some traits in common, so that's not shocking to Ren. They don't remark on it, though, and only nod when Akechi explains the kind of relationship he had with Miki. Not much of one, in essence--but maybe there could've been one. If she hadn't died.
At least, that's what he says. But at present, Ren doesn't have a reason to think he's lying or hiding anything.
They make a small noise, continuing to jog at pace with Akechi, when he then explains about what Akihiko had believed--that apparently he did not welcome the truth--or the corruption that had buried it.
"I can't even imagine how that must feel for him," Ren remarks quietly. "Or for you."
They suppose they can't blame Akihiko for not wanting to grapple with something he can't do anything about anyway; they can't blame Akechi for wanting to pursue--justice? vindication? revenge? all of the above--either. It's two points of view that each have merit.
Personally, for Ren, they're not sure they could ignore the revelation that their sibling was murdered and the murderer is at large. However, they know from experience that the Old Maid isn't someone who can just get arrested or even taken out. Beat him up, and he teleports away like a video game character. That can't sit well with Akihiko, any more than the corruption that protects him sits well with Akechi.
"Thanks for talking to me about it," they continue. "I'm not going to push for the gruesome details, just... I wanted to... let you know I know, I guess." They pause. "And if you do want to talk more about it, I'll listen."
They won't be able to plan together, but if Akechi's got a move in mind--especially if he's working with Shinjiro--maybe they can coordinate in a roundabout way.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
One really can't imagine. Who would guess that Akechi is such a contradictory mess deep down? He blames others - he blames himself. He's the killer - he's the victim.
"No one ever can, I suppose. It's what we all say, in the face of death... because what else can we about someone we never met?"
It doesn't sound like he's upset with Ren really, it's more like he's being a little clinical about it. Like he's had to talk with people who just are newly experiencing grief.
And often, there was nothing he could think to say...
"We can't really know. Only that the person is grieving."
The police said something similar to him, back then after he found his Mother. He thinks he remembers not even acknowledging it.
Not that he compares Ren to them mind you. It is the privilege of being someone who hasn't ever experienced grief in the same way...
He does know that there is something Akihiko could do but, he's not about to out other Persona Users without a better reason than that.
"Well, I appreciate you telling me. It's only fair, I suppose. After all, I knew of your past due to the work I do." He may not have said it, but Ren knew. Ren always knew. "All there is to say really is that I spent ten years trying to investigate the matter, but I only recently had the 'clout' so to speak to actually gain access to what I needed."
Akechi can be annoying being so fake on television, putting on that facade for the public, that act - but it seem to have real purpose, doesn't it?
Fame opens so many doors to you, that they wouldn't open for an eighteen year old otherwise.
"And it's my intention to bring him to Justice for everything he's done. One way or another. He's escaped its reach for far too long."
He then pauses for a time.
"It would be kinder to you if I withheld this fact... but you do deserve to know. The reason the Fire Marshal and Police covered up the truth was because it would harm his Father's reputation. He paid them quite well for their loyalty."
They are jogging, and can't be overheard in that sense unless someone was keeping pace with them, "The Foreign Minister, Tatsuzou Sudou."
Now Ren understands quite well why it would be kinder... because it's something that him and Sudou share in a sense.
Fathers that care nothing for their son other than how they might affect their reputation.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"...Yeah. We can't." Know, that is. Even so, Ren reaches out and rests a hand on Akechi's shoulder, even as the two of them continue the pace of their jog. "But we can be there for them. If they want us to be."
They let their hand linger, before slipping it off. They don't think Akechi is trying to tell them off, but it still might be presumptuous to say, especially of a death that occurred ten years ago and has never been resolved since.
(They do know Akihiko has a Persona, but they also know having a Persona by itself isn't going to be the magic bullet that solves the crisis that is the Old Maid. Without knowing why he's running away, Ren chooses not to judge.)
But then Akechi continues. "Hm?" Curiosity prompts them to listen, though they'd listen anyway. And when that bombshell is oh-so-gently dropped into their hands...
Ren stumbles and comes to a halt.
"Are you serious...?" they utter, eyes wide behind their glasses. The son of the fucking foreign minister?
They understand why Akechi shared this. The parallels between Joker and Joker Killer hit them, but that's not what's important right now. (They're not important.) And the fact that he dropped his name--Tatsuzou Sudou. Knowing that much, Ren could potentially find out the Old Maid's name, and-- Is that an implicit challenge? Akechi would know perfectly well that a name is the start to finding out if someone has a Palace. If the son of Tatsuzou Sudou could have his heart changed... No. Maybe Akechi already knows he doesn't. Ren can't see how a man that delusional could not, but it's not impossible. Probably.
If he does, though... then what? Do The Phantoms move to change his heart?
...The two of them talked about exactly this topic some time ago. Ren remembers it well. Something had seemed off about Akechi at the time--like it wasn't just discussion for the sake of discussion. Like it was personal.
Ren thinks they finally understand why.
(They think they do. Like Mementos, there's still so much further down to go.)
There's only one thing to ask--something that determines everything.
"...How close are you to arresting him?" he whispers, clenching their fists.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
It surprises him when he feels the contact on his shoulder, even as they jog. Enough that he almost slows from it, but that would break contact and he manages to keep pace anyway.
He takes a deep breath, and nods, "I suppose you're right on that." He's...
... never actually had anyone try to comfort him in his grief. It's a foreign sensation to him.
The hand slides off...
Then the bomb shell is dropped, Ren stops, and Akechi slows, then stops himself, pivoting. It's perhaps a testament to what good shape he's in that he's not even breathing hard, even if he is still sweating.
"Yes. Very much so." He says, as he confirms that matter, before placing his hands behind his head as if to make use of this moment for cooldown anyway.
He doesn't tell Ren what to do with this information, he seems to be watching him, as if to assess what he's thinking anyway.
"The younger Sudou- well, you already know the answer to that." He answers him, "The elder?" Lowering his hands down, he crosses them. "I've come to believe he's part of the leadership of the group known as the 'New World Order'. If I'm correct... then I'm not certain if I could arrest him by conventional means. That isn't to say there aren't Prosecutors who would be willing to file charges on the man- there are."
He looks troubled by this, "But there is always a chain of command. If their superior is clean, then their superior might be dirty. Given his leadership in an organization like that and his role as the Foreign Minister, we can't be entirely certain who's on his payroll... and not only that we're not entirely certain what resources his New World Order has."
It's easy enough for Ren to imagine what Akechi is communicating there. If they try to arrest him, does that mean the man in the Black Mask will stop 'playing around' so to speak?
Eventually he takes a breath, and meets Ren's eyes, "Given our past conversations... I'll admit it. The system is ill-equipped to bring a man such as this to Justice."
Kamoshida, Madarame, Kaneshiro - Ren knows Akechi believed he could have arrested all of them rather quickly had he been on the case. But not this one, "But that does not mean I've given up. It merely means that it will be something of a challenge for me."
A little bit of an understatement, just a little bit.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
'I suppose you're right on that,' Akechi says, but does not ask for more or share more. What he does share is more about Ren than himself.
Ren can read between the lines. They fully understand pivoting away from one's own feelings to someone else's. It's... less uncomfortable that way. The hand does not return.
But they do see Akechi watching him once he stops with them. (They're both in good shape. Ren's breathing harder than Akechi is, but they're not winded, just sweaty.)
They already know the answer to the younger Sudou. Ren's lips thin and tighten. As for the older Sudou... There's a certain steel in their eyes as Akechi simply dispenses with pretenses and outright names the New World Order. When he goes on to mention a chain of command, though--people who might be over Sudou, either of them, both of them, who are just as corrupt... not to mention how much they just don't know about this shadowy group...
Fuck. /The foreign minister./ If they've got someone that important in the group, that explains a lot. Ren moves to lean their back on the building next to them and cup their forehead in one hand. They make a noise of disgust/frustration, then remove their glasses so they can pull the shirt under their jersey jacket to wipe their face. (In doing so, they unintentionally show off the gains on their chest to Akechi. Yes, they've gotten in very good shape indeed. Also of note, though perhaps less riveting: their nails are painted black.)
"That does sound like a lot. Especially for one detective," they reply, tone carefully neutral as they put their glasses back on. They meet Akechi's eyes back, eyebrows furrowing when he admits this might well be beyond The System. But... he hasn't given up, huh.
"...I'm guessing you're not doing this all on your own, though." At the very least, he's got Shinjiro involved. That's just one person, sure, but where there's one...
They stare off into the distance. If Tatsuzou Sudou has the Black Mask on his payroll, then it could be very dangerous to try to arrest him--or to change his heart. Ren will look into that later, but for now...
They start to jog again, keeping it slow at first for Akechi to move in at their side before moving back to their former pace.
"On a totally unrelated note," they say, tone again neutral, "I talked to a friend about trying to track down that guy who beat me up for answers." A beat. "They told me I was an idiot," they paraphrase with some affection, "and after thinking about it, I have to agree. ...Even if I don't like it." They shake their head. "He let me walk last time, but--"
They look back at Akechi, expression a mask. "...you met the guy. He's a bloodthirsty maniac." A slightly nicer way of saying an attention-starved drama king, and Ren again watches closely for Akechi's reaction. "There's no guarantee he wouldn't beat me to death the next time around. It'd be insane to try to find him all on my own." They scratch their head in a frustration they don't need to fake. "I don't know where or how to find him, anyway. I don't even know his name."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
All the same, he still appreciated it... it just was... unfamiliar to him. Unfamiliar enough that emotional honesty was something to definitely pivot away from before he went too deep into his real feelings.
The truth of his feelings, well...
He understands what Ren Amamiya would do if he knew even a fraction of what he's done.
It's especially galling perhaps when Akechi was able to arrest the leader of the ruling party currently in the Diet, that when it comes to the Foreign Minister... he's potentially untouchable.
But, the leader of the ruling party did not have a Shadowy organization backing him.
Akechi's eyes flick towards Ren's abdomen and chest briefly as he wipes his face, before tearing his eyes away forcefully before Ren could see him do that...
... he definitely appreciates how much he's getting in shape. "Certainly I'm not." He says towards doing it alone. "I'm gathering certain allies who have been wronged by the machinations of this man."
Shinjiro - Umie - Katsuya.
He was hoping for Akihiko, but well, that fell rather flat. Just as well.
He'd rather not work with anyone who isn't ready to do what must be done for the cause of their justice.
"I'd say it's worked out quite well so far."
He begins to jog anew, alongside Ren, after a slow walk into the start up before picking up the pace. "Ah. From that night I spotted you in Yongen-Jaya. The... fight you got into." Akechi articulates it in a sense as being respectful of how Ren described it at the time.
While also trying to keep the details straight for his own story.
He looks over his shoulder at Ren again, as if interested on what he intends to do, then he says, with a hint of mirth, "Well it sounds like they gave it to you straight, at least. I can't say they're wrong."
He teases, "Though, there are far worse things than being an idiot because your heart is in the right place."
Like being someone whose heart isn't, for example. "Hm." He hums in thought as Ren speaks about how they walked last time. "Ah. That one."
How dare you!
It's true but how dare you!
"Now I see. I had speculated it was a fight in the 'unusual' circumstances of our double lives, but at the time I wasn't aware he existed."
It's interesting how much he drops all pretenses of the plausible deniability now, perhaps they really have gotten closer ever since the Jazz Club...
"... Well, I was going to attempt to set a trap for him, but I gave it more thought after your warning." He relates, "It would be rash for me to try, without first learning more of him."
Ren knows Akechi would undeniably say he was holding back, and the disparity isn't as great as Ren is imagining certainly, but at least he's not so proud as to not back down from something that's sure to be his death.
Right?
"You told me that he let you go that day, which implies a certain fascination with you. He didn't show it that day I encountered him... but that might be because you weren't alone."
What is he saying, exactly?
"It's a hypothesis that would be difficult to test without considerable risk. So I suppose it depends on how willing you are to risk your life for another encounter..."
He looks over his shoulder, "I suppose it depends on how much of an idiot you're willing to be, given that you warned me away from taking the same risk myself."
It's like he's cheerfully saying if he did, he'd be a bit of a hypocrite... but at the same time, he's not exactly condemning it either. And well, he shot Akechi, tried to stab him in the back.
But he let Ren Amamiya go...
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Maybe they could get into the hurt/comfort somewhere and somewhen else. Someplace more private.
If it's just the two of them, he doesn't need to hold back as much, hm? ...Or maybe he does. Who knows what Goro Akechi might do if he thought he could get away with it? ...Who better than Goro Akechi himself?
For now, though, the offer of comfort is dropped--but not withdrawn.
It is galling. But Ren gets that there's a big difference between a normal politician and a politician that has a Persona User like the Black Mask under his command. At least Akechi is getting a team together. They nod once in silent approval. (And since they weren't thinking of it, they do indeed miss Akechi looking respectfully. One more little secret he gets to keep.) And, if it's working out so far--
"Good," they reply. "Then I'll wait for you to shoot your shot."
They understand this is deeply personal to Akechi--that he wants to be the one to bring Sudou's son to justice himself. They care about him enough--and have enough faith in his abilities--to let him make his move first.
But if he fails...
The Phantom Thieves aren't going to just turn their eyes away and do nothing.
That's their fair warning.
The two resume their jog after that. At the same time, Ren turns the topic to something else they've been plotting for a while. They've confided in Morgana about it, just so there's someone who knows--Morgana's the one person who knows about their suspicions about Akechi and the Black Mask, anyway--but this one will be a risky one. If they're wrong, great, but if they're right...
"Right," they say curtly, when Akechi acknowledges he understands. They smile a bit when Akechi teases them and shrugs. "I'd rather be idiotic than heartless, yeah," they admit. Their humor fades. Akechi outright calls out their respective double lives. They weren't expecting that, and technically there's still some plausible deniability since he hasn't specified what he means by that... "But yeah. It was like that."
(How dare they? Very easily, in fact. Try and stop them!)
"A trap, huh... That's like you," they muse. "I'm glad you didn't." Because however much Akechi thinks he's hot shit--and Ren does remember very well how extremely confident he is that he could've taken them and their friends out alone, despite how much he was (seemingly?) struggling by the end of that fight in Kobayakawa's Palace--Ren doesn't want him gone.
They fall silent. It does imply a certain fascination--something Ren noticed immediately, and has been wondering about all this time--but they all but invited Akechi to say something to make them look like they're thinking about it. The Black Mask didn't show any particular interest in them when he dropped in on their fight with Akechi, sure, but if that was a trick--and it would have to be if Akechi is the Black Mask--then that doesn't mean anything.
"Hmmm," they murmur aloud, to imply they're chewing on his suggestion all the same. "Maybe you're right."
A dangerous hypothesis. It stands out to Ren, having talked to Yusuke about the matter, how little Akechi seems to be concerned for their safety. Yusuke didn't hesitate to say that there's no way they should try to take the Black Mask on alone, that at the very least they should have a team at their back. Yet Akechi, despite having feelings for them, is encouraging them to gamble their life... Not directly, of course. There is that implication that they'd be a hypocrite if they went for it. But he's definitely not discouraging them like someone who's concerned for their safety would.
It's another point in favor of him being the Black Mask. Which means--
"I shouldn't," Ren says.
But they let reluctance ring in their low voice. As if they could be convinced if Akechi just persuaded them a little more, a little harder.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Don't worry. I won't keep you waiting very long."
For the people he's putting together to arrest Sudou, obviously. What else could he possibly mean?
And indeed, he'd have no reason to object to the Phantoms' methods when it comes to the Joker Killer, correct? He at least knows they require a Palace, for a change of Heart, so a Persona User...
Well, in this matter they can align.
"That's just like you." Akechi says to Ren being idiotic, rather than Heartless. Indeed, isn't it why he's where he is right now? He got involved in a matter that most people say he shouldn't have... but he was following his heart.
At the same time, it's not as if Akechi thinks Ren is stupid. No indeed he rather respects his intelligence, even if he thinks he's the smarter. He just understands his principles sometimes cause him to act like an idiot.
Like for example, facing Black Mask at all, after seeing what he did to the Shadows in that Palace.
(MAYBE HE WILL THEN!)
"Yes well, I have a rather good assessment of my own abilities... I realized perhaps, I did not have when it comes to his." As he explains why he didn't try the trap.
Again that might seem arrogant to Ren, but of course, well... he did beat that 'Black Mask', didn't he?
Handily.
"Perhaps. Deductions are always a 'work in progress' in a sense. You use the best information you have at the time, then they evolve as you come into new information. A single line - and that act of sparing you. It's certainly not much to go on."
Pause.
"But we don't have much else, either."
Indeed, Ren seems to be leaning towards doing it. And Akechi considers his tone. In a sense, he's not certain he SHOULD be trying to persuade him to do this.
The more exposure everyone has the Black Mask, the more risks he's taking. But at the same time... he never would admit it, but he wants his true self to be accepted... validated...
... even if he thinks it's impossible.
"Well it's understandable that you'd be hesitant." He says without any seeming reproval, "And I can understand why. You're primarily used to working with a team... I was perhaps a little too, how shall I put it... 'Gung Ho'... because I am used to taking risks on my own in the Metaverse."
It is perhaps a change of tact in a sense, because if he knows anything about Ren Amamiya... he can be quite prideful too.
So acting as if he's merely stating facts, rather than trying to 'double dog dare him' into doing it might nudge him that way on its own.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Honestly, while it's true that Persona Users normally shouldn't have a Palace, the Old Maid is so fucking crazy that Ren thinks it's fully possible he could be an exception. It's not like Morgana knows everything he knows for absolute certain--he's always following up with 'probably' and 'I think.' Ren will wait until after they've gotten a name and entered into the Meta-Nav to rule that possibility out entirely.
Akechi agrees that being idiotic over being heartless is on brand for them, and Ren huffs a suggestion of a laugh. It doesn't sound like an insult, so they take it in stride--though even if it were an insult, they were the one who said it first. Akechi's just agreeing.
"...Yeah. True," they say of deductions. Much like what he told Tsubasa. (If Akechi is the Black Mask--if he is--then that means he was lying to and manipulating both of them after all. Ren's chest tightens painfully for a moment until they shove that thought in a box to save for later.) It is true that they need more information. Ren had told Yusuke that they'd likely run into him again in future Palaces, so they could always wait until then, but...
That really only works if the Black Mask isn't Akechi. Or rather, Ren's best chance of exonerating Akechi is by taking this risk. If they follow his advice and the Black Mask never shows up, then it couldn't be him after all, right?
"..."
...If it isn't him, he is being SUCH an asshole about this.
"Well, if you're so confident you can solo anything that comes your way, how would you trap him?" Ren asks, shooting him an annoyed look--and for all that the question is a set-up, the sentiment is real. More's the better for them. Thus, they mutter not quite under their breath, "If I do this, I need to pin down an exit strategy anyway..."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Ren does rise to it, because well, Akechi is being a smug asshole about it. "Well without giving up all of my methods..."
Akechi says with a speculative hum as he jogs along.
"... I didn't use the most effective items in my arsenal that day we fought, since I was mostly testing the waters."
God what a dick. He got his ass kicked but 'Haha I was just testing you' 'Ohohohoho I was holding back, I used my RIGHT HAND REN you don't know the true power of my left.' "Given his ferocity in combat, it is my presumption that his ability to detect Resonance is not quite the same as a dedicated 'Navigator'."
That's a big assumption, but at the same time, it does check out?
"Instead I'd presume he's mostly focused on not being detected, given his ability to ambush me without me sensing him. I'd stake out a Palace that I think he's likely to strike, find a path that has a 'roadblock' - so to speak, then determine how he would get around it."
Jog. Jog. Jog.
"Then I'd set up a trap on that alternate route so that if he came that way, he'd have no time to respond before everything I set went off. Then while he's disoriented, I'd attack him from a distance. If for some reason he was able to shake it off and recover, then I'd assess the situation from there. If it felt feasible to capture him, I'd continue- if it didn't, then I'd throw a smoke bomb get some distance, then utilize a Traesto spell, or a Goho-M.
"He who fights and runs away..." He says, like it's the start of a quote, "I have my pride, certainly, but well it's not as if I haven't had to flee from certain battles while I was learning the ins and outs of the Metaverse."
~Twenty Eight Long Months Ago~
"You have got to be fucking kidding me!"
"That High Pixie was bullshit."
"When I come back I'm going to TEAR YOUR WINGS OFF!"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Well, Ren was going to 'rise to it' either way. Akechi being a smug asshole just makes the act realistic. Thanks, Akechi?
To point: Ren chuffs and rolls their eyes again at the implication that he was totally holding back that day. It's consistent with what he's said before, but it's still annoying. At least he does answer the question sincerely, if incompletely (and Ren can't hold that against him). They refrain from reacting outwardly when Akechi just outright says the word Palace and more, but surprise does ripple through them. They really are dispensing with pretenses now, huh?
Maybe it's because they're about to move on to a new pretense. Easier to keep track if you phase out the lies that have outlived their usefulness. That's one shogi strategy too, though Hifumi would probably eschew that kind of ruthlessness in favor of being bold and loud... Ren thinks she'd respect Akechi's cunning all the same, though. If they were inclined to ever introduce their friends from one part of their life to their friends from another part of their life, maybe they'd invite the two of them to play together sometime.
"Makes sense," Ren says, because it is a solid plan. There's just one part-- "But the only Palace I know of like that is the Principal's, and we're not going back there. So I'm not going back there." They take a long breath in through their nose and out through their mouth, following the rhythm of their footfalls. "Maybe Mementos... I bet he lurks around the deeper levels. If I let him catch sight of me around one of those train stations and think he's chasing me down, I could lure him into something..."
They fall silent for the effect. The neighborhood has shifted from Shimokitazawa to Yongen-Jaya by this point; Leblanc isn't that far away. They shift from a jog to a power walk. This is a cooldown exercise, after all.
"Thanks for the input. I'll think it over," they conclude, glancing his way. "If I do this, it'll be tomorrow or the day after. I'll let you know how it goes." They let themself quirk one side of their mouth up. "And sorry to disappoint, but I'm not working today, so you'll have to settle for the Boss's coffee."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
It is interesting that he's dropping all pretense, mostly. And it's not as if Ren gets the impression Akechi is recording him or something to hang him. No, perhaps he really is 'still deciding' whether the methods of the Phantom Thieves are acceptable or not.
Even if it doesn't stop him from condemning them on TV- how annoying, but then again, they also both know that his TV Persona is a fake too.
Perhaps if he decided they were acceptable, his tune might change...
... which leaves them at an impasse, since the Phantom Thieves can't exactly hand over that information without risking the alternate outcome, where he decides they're unacceptable.
"Yes. It would take a great deal of prep time and recon... not even to mention deducing one of his current targets."
Yet, even if it took a long time, it probably isn't impossible.
"Very well... don't take too many unwarranted risks." He says with a smirk, "I'd prefer to think we'll be enjoying our jogs together for some time."
Smartass. This is the first and he's already planning MORE.
"Oh - he's back then? Well, I'm glad his family situation is resolved."
The matter is in limbo, for now - he's nervous, he doesn't trust Shinjo.
"But the day I consider Boss' Coffee 'settling' is the day I'll evaluate whether my standards are too high... for the first time."
FOR THE FIRST TIME?
He even winks at Ren, not even necessarily flirtatiously. Just because he's messing with him by adding that to the statement.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Perhaps. Either way, by dropping the presence with him, Ren expresses a certain level of trust. Whether it's real or simply part of the deception... ...they really should figure out before they get in too deep.
Especially since Akechi's absolutely right that this should take a lot of careful planning and research, and yet he accepts that Ren is going to rush into this within the next couple of days without question with only the mildest of pushback. That's a very, very bad sign as far as his true identity goes.
And yet...
"You didn't know? I guess it wasn't that long ago--right before the end of summer break." (Ren is certain he knew. Why would he suggest he could come to Leblanc post-exercise if he didn't know it had reopened? But they'll play along, because that's part of the game.) The jab about the 'first time' gets Ren to jab Akechi back with a nudge of their elbow into his side, smiling despite themself. "Shut up."
Hook, line, and sinker.
Now they need to make sure they don't hang themself on that same line...