2026-02-18: Elementary, My Dear Lupin
- Log: 2026-02-18 Elementary, My Dear Lupin
- Cast: Goro Akechi, Ren Amamiya
- Where: Back Alleys - Leblanc Cafe
- OOC Date: February 18, 2026
- IC Date: Thursday, September 27, 2012
- Summary: Ren invites Akechi over to Leblanc for a game of chess--both in the form of the board game, and a conversation about the Black Mask.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
It's a lazy Thursday evening in the Leblanc. An early fall chill in the air is keeping away regulars who just aren't ready for the coming change of the season.
Which means the Leblanc is pretty dead tonight.
But that's just fine for two participants in a heated-
"Checkmate in three," Akechi predicts. A fact that might annoy Ren, because it's something Chess Pros actually do- but he knows that Akechi is doing it as a way to assert dominance
The board is a mish mash of sacrificed pawns and even several greater pieces. Akechi for one is missing a Bishop and a Knight. And has just moved his Rook on up.
Here he is, sitting in the Winter Uniform four days early just because it looks better on the cameras, gloves covering his hands, as he leans on an elbow towards Ren. Those gloved fingers upon his chin, several creeping up the side of his cheek.
There's a cup of coffee, lukewarm by now, just because he's forgotten to drink it for about the past- ten minutes or so. A small tell that Ren has improved enough that he actually has to focus.
And now's the time that he sits up and changes the subject on Ren's turn. How terrible.
"So. You mentioned previously that you managed to find that one in the Black Mask. I'm curious- what method did you utilize to locate him?"
Though then he seems contemplative, "Or is it that he found you? Given what little we know of his psychological profile, he does seem rather fascinated by you..."
And who else does Ren know that's fascinated in him? ... Well there are a great many people, but that's beside the point, given that he's across from one of them!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Akechi predicts, 'Checkmate in three.'
Ren has to actively bite back an acerbic, 'Fuck you.'
They're likewise refraining from leaning over the table and glowering at the chess board like it owes them money. They're still frowning, but they've got their arms folded as they consider the implications of Akechi's latest move.
But this is Ren's own fault. They invited Akechi here to talk about the Black Mask, among other things, and they had the chess board set up for a game upon his arrival, cups of coffee fresh-brewed and steaming in anticipation, now likewise gone tepid because they've each got something hotter to focus on. Ren thought they'd improved their game after training with Hifumi--and technically, they have; it's not been nearly so one-sided a match as when they last played, and they have noticed that Akechi's all but abandoned his cup--but it's still so frustrating to be on the verge of losing to him. Again.
This is especially after how poorly the recent battle against the younger Ryouhara went--something they haven't and will not be bringing up, at least not until Ren figures out how to be circumspect about the sordid details, like how the elder Ryouhara apparently wants Tsubasa to fuck up the NWO despite working for them. Ren's still worn out after getting knocked out and revived in short order--thus the challenge to chess rather than anything more physical. More the fool, they; mental challenges take up energy and concentration, too, and theirs is wholly occupied by that now. Maybe another time they'll bring it up.
(Akechi's early change to the winter uniform doesn't bother Ren, at least. He did that weeks ago, and besides... he really /does/ look better in it compared to the Sevens summer uniform.)
So naturally, now is when Akechi chooses to bring up the Black Mask. Which again is Ren's fault, because that's what they invited him here to discuss--though it's Akechi at fault for choosing now to bring it up.
"Hm?" They glance up at him. A lifetime of practice allows them to not so much as bat an eyelash at the fascinated comment. "The second," they reply. "You know how the further down you go Mementos, there's doors that block your way? I got down as far as I could, and while I was inspecting the place, he waltzed out from behind it."
They look back down at the chessboard, lifting a hand without thinking to cover their chin and lips. "I don't know if it was a coincidence or not," they are pretty sure it was no coincidence, all considered, "but either way he beat me up again."
A moment of silence. Ren reaches out and moves a rook of their own into a risky position. This maneuver's a gamble, but if they can lure Akechi into going after it... they can use their queen to put him on the back foot and, hopefully, derail that predicted checkmate.
And then, because this chess game is but a metaphor that Ren themself set up:
"But I've got a better grasp of what he's like now."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
The fact that it's Ren's fault doesn't mean that Akechi isn't being a prick though. He merely smiles as if he were sensing Ren's frustration, exactly the effort he's using to hold back, then keeps doing what he's doing.
"I do." He confirms, "How far down is that, if you don't mind saying?" As he asks a follow up question to solicit more information.
He practiced this line of questioning beforehand, certainly but they come quite naturally to a Detective. While it's not an interrogation- the asking of intelligent questions to try and sell it, while keeping the details cordoned off in his mind as to make certain he doesn't say anything to give himself away.
But... it is a question about the Phantom Thieves, in a sense.
Akechi causes his face to scrunch up at the idea that he beat him up again. "Not as badly as the first time, I take it?" He asks, "I do hope you weren't getting stitched up as you were texting me about it..."
Akechi glances at Ren's move for a moment, before his attention moves back to Ren. "What were your impressions?" He asks of the idea he learned more, "Were they any different from your first encounter?"
He's keeping his expression carefully controlled but he can't help but slip that question in. After all, the way Ren Amamiya described his first encounter rather bruised his ego.
And then, while barely looking, he slides his second Bishop up. Which... threatens Ren's Rook, just as Ren planned.
However...
"In two, now." He adds, like he predicted Ren doing that, and it hasn't altered his predictions of the outcome at all.
He takes a sip of the coffee, lukewarm coffee hardly deterring him. He'll drink it out of a can after all from a vending machine on any given day!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"I'll leave that up to your imagination," Ren replies--partly because of course they're not going to confirm with the Detective Prince just how far The Phantoms can go down into Mementos, partly because the Black Mask does know and Ren wants to leave little conversational tripwires here and there.
"No stitches. He just pinned me to a pillar, choked me a little, and then flung me by the neck into a moving train," Ren replies with a casualness that belies the severity of the account. A whim prompts them to look up to meet Akechi's gaze, deadpan. "It was kind of hot."
...
...
...
"Just kidding," they add, returning their dark eyes--but not the entirety of their attention--to the board. "My impressions... You mean how I said he was an attention-starved drama king?" Ren mulls over this reminder like they mull over Akechi's move. He still predicts checkmate in two... Does that mean he's seen through their gamble? Or does it mean that they've tricked him into not seeing it?
...They've already set up this gambit. They have to have faith in themself and see it through. Even if they lose here, they'll learn more about Akechi's play style and psychology and inch that much closer to victory next time.
"Well..."
They reach out--and, instead of moving a piece, touches a fingertip to the crown of their king.
"...no. He's still very much that." Ren meets Akechi's eyes again, still deadpan. Still watching closely for his reaction. "Seriously, for a guy who claims he fights all alone without any help from anyone else, he's even more in love with the sound of his own voice than you are."
Another beat. Ren rests that hand on the side of their chin. "That doesn't mean he's not dangerous, though. I wasn't kidding about what he did to me. It was terrifying to understand I was interacting with someone who could've broken my neck as easily as breathing." They reach over to pick up their coffee cup and take a sip, mirroring Akechi a bit. "I didn't think he would, though, as angry as he got with me. I staked my life on that."
They reach forward and slip their queen diagonally across the board to claim the white bishop.
"And I was right."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Fair enough. I was mostly curious about whether he'd made it further than myself."
It's a trap in a way, whether Ren would ask himself what Akechi's limit is. Akechi knows very well how far 'Prince' can go, as opposed to the One in the Black Mask.
And it's something that can be tested as if to disprove the notion. If he stood in front of the same door... well, well. It certainly wouldn't open.
Akechi's in the middle of lifting his lukewarm coffee when Ren says what he did to them, and what Ren gets is his closed-eyes opening mid-sip, as he makes a choking noise with the smallest spray of coffee.
Then coughing, he grasps his napkin, and brings it up his face, right as Ren reveals 'Just kidding'.
"Ah-Aha." He chuckles, after a weak cough, "It seems you had me going there. I admit it was surprising to hear that you found the behavior of a murderer you described as positively puerile to be so... sexually charged."
Rubbing his lips again with the napkin, he takes a moment to recompose himself. "Especially given that he shot me." His recovery is fumbling, but it's at least... believable. If Akechi is in love with Ren, then hearing that treatment is hot might cause such a reaction.
Then again, it might do the same if he truly is that man.
"Yes. Precisely that." Ren leaves him hanging as he evaluates the chess board, and Akechi uses the time to make certain he remains calm. Calm. Calm.
He can't let himself get upset. Even though he is that Ren called him that.
Upset enough he contemplated ending things prematurely for a time.
Ren's 'Well...' gives him a moment of hope that he'll take it back, before he dashes it away expertly, "Hmm."
HOW FUCKING DARE YOU
Obviously, this means Ren hasn't connected Black Mask to him - but he's still mad about it anyway. He hums mostly to try and prevent reacting.
"Quite the unusual personality for such a powerful Persona User." He says as he leans back, in his seat, crossing his arms, "If he's as you say that theatrical as to desire attention, then why doesn't he seek to use his power for greater personal recognition?"
There, a tidbit of counter logic to try and make Ren reassess. Because, he can't let his true feelings show, but he doesn't want to let it SLIDE either.
At least his ego gets assuaged SOME by Ren indicating how dangerous he was.
"It doesn't feel as if it can be solely explained by the popularity of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts either... otherwise he'd take more interest in individuals that aren't you..."
He looks away from Ren, looking down as if he were focusing on that logical conundrum of why is he behaving as such, not even seeming to notice his Bishop was claimed- before he reaches out and... his Queen, now freed up, slides up across the board, all the way to the other side to claim a pawn that had not yet been moved from the second row.
"In one." One can avoid the Queen, potentially if they slide down to threaten the king next turn, but his Rook seems in great position to intercept.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
It may be a trap, but Ren doesn't respond to that one. It is a good question. If the depths of Mementos open up because of public acceptance, then it would make sense that Akechi might be able to go particularly far. But would that apply to a secret maniac with no overt association to the Detective Prince? Even if he's infamous among a certain crowd, that's not really the public. Does a secret conspiracy count as a group perspective?
Akechi chokes on his coffee. Ren can't help it: they grin a sickle-slash of a grin. It is believable that he might be mad or jealous that Ren joked about finding such a despicable man attractive in any way, but... "Yeah? I thought you'd be into it."
Come on. Hit me for real. I want to FEEL it, damnit! I can TAKE IT! ...So Akechi had goaded them that night they brawled in Mementos.
"Seems like exactly your kind of kink."
...They're joking, right? RIGHT?
......If they are, they don't say so this time.
At least they're both in the same position. Akechi masks his fury by humming; Ren masks their amusement with a return to a neutral poker face. After all, asking why doesn't he seek to use his power for greater personal recognition? blatantly invites the thought that there is someone right in front of them who's doing exactly that.
"You think so?" Ren says instead. "He's someone who's been wronged by the world. He got pissed at me for asking about it, actually--dangled me in front of an oncoming train over it, and said the train is the world: it smashes through anything in its path without hesitation or acknowledgement. Made it into a question, actually." They consider Akechi, dark eyes assessing. "He's about our age, you know. Talked about adults like he wasn't one himself. Which means he's been hurt by powerhungry adults, too. But he has power now--power he's apparently honed all by himself--and he exults in using it."
They lean back into their seat on their side of the booth. "I think it makes perfect sense that he's so theatrical. It's his way of gloating that he's above those who used to look down on him. Now he's the one looking down, and he's going to revel in every second of it. Why shouldn't he? If the world runs roughshod on everything, then aren't kindness and compassion inherently absurd?"
After another sip of their coffee, they slide their other arm along the back of their seat and lean their cheek on their curled fingers. "I got that question completely wrong, you know. He asked it like my life depended on it, but he still gave me 'partial credit' and didn't let that train smash through me." They look back down at the chess board as Akechi slides his own queen down to take a pawn--and all of a sudden they're in a terrible position.
Well. No. Not 'all of a sudden.' Akechi's been calling it for several moves now. Ren's frown deepens all the same. Still, they only heave a frustrated sigh.
"It wasn't about getting it right. It was about playing along."
They don't try to move a piece this time. They glower at the board while watching their companion in their peripheral vision.
"I think, on some level, he's lonely. I think all the power at his clawed fingertips isn't enough. He wants someone to talk to." Ren shrugs, flipping their hand palm-up. "Or talk at. Either way, I'm a good listener." They smirk again at Akechi. It's sheer pettiness that prompts them to add, "And, according to you, devastatingly handsome. Maybe he's got a crush on me."
As soon as they say the words, though, they feel bad about it. Teasing him about his maybe-kinks is one thing, but whether Akechi is the Black Mask or not, it's cruel to mock his feelings. The smirk melts away into a somber expression. "...No, that's just mean." They stare back down at the chess board. They haven't made their next move yet. What move can they make? "Sorry."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Akechi looks at Ren in surprise, because he hadn't really thought that through as well as he thought he had, now did he? Then he falls into a look of mulling it over some.
"I suppose you're not wrong about that." He admits, "It's just different when it's someone who's trying to kill you."
There's an amused shake of his head, "I guess it's fair to wonder if I might, though. There are for example, many women who are attracted to the dangerous 'allure' of a serial killer. Most famous ones in the entire world over receive a great number of love letters in prison..."
However- that's not exactly what he wants either. Distant admirers that know nothing about him but what the media has told them.
It doesn't sit well with him.
It is true however that he is using his power for recognition albeit, for what he claims is a good cause. To advance the cause of Justice undeterred by the usual barriers to someone his age.
Indeed... it's another similarity to the man in the Black Mask.
"Hmm. A victim complex? Or perhaps a desire to become something similar to 'the train'..." He contemplates, after Ren describes more of the encounter, "... an unstoppable force unto himself."
He murmurs, playing at deductions, detaching himself from the personhood of his other side. The duality of himself. The lie asserts itself, while the truth is sublimated as much as he can.
"... Even that implies a certain... childishness. To make a life or death situation like a school pop quiz."
That one physically HURTS for him to say, however, on certain days he can admit that he's a little childish. After all, he separates himself from the adults.
Ren continues with his evaluation of him being lonely, and it's painful how much he's correct in that. For so long he took for granted the Metaverse was his own playground. Shadows were not people in his eyes, and Cognitions were less than constructs.
"So the lone assassin is lonely- it makes a certain amount of sense."
...
However, as he's about to continue, Ren notes, 'Maybe he's got a crush on me.' And Akechi doesn't seem to react, much. "It's-" '... No, that's just mean.' Akechi stops.
Then stares at Ren as he says 'Sorry.' For a while he scrutinizes his face, as if to try and sort through several different ways Ren might mean that.
And narrowing that down to a single one.
"That was unexpected." He admits, "You believe then that I have a crush on you?" He asks, almost conversationally, before smiling, "... How unexpected Amamiya-kun." He says as if cheerfully impressed, "I didn't realize that you already knew that I was working up the courage to give you this love confession."
As he reaches towards a pocket, fishing his fingers around as if to grab a letter then...
"... Just kidding." The hand drops back out, "Though now, I actually have to ask- why are you under the impression that I have feelings for you in that way?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Fair," Ren concedes, quietly marveling that Akechi is in essence admitting he does find violence to be a turn-on. Even if it's not necessarily sexual or even sensual, it's something that excites him. Ren knows because they experienced that firsthand. They say nothing when Akechi moves on to serial killers who receive love letters in prison, though. That one feels too dangerous to touch outright.
"Hmm... I don't think he has a victim complex. He was deeply offended by the suggestion he'd been victimized," Ren remarks, watching Akechi. As for becoming the unstoppable force-- "I thought that at first too. But he thinks of himself as even more than that. He said the train is the world, and he's the one who knocks the train over."
They have to admit: if Akechi is the Black Mask, he's doing an extremely good job of distancing himself from him in this conversation. Talking about him like he really is just a criminal to analyze. He has a good mastery of his own reactions, and it makes Ren doubt their own suspicions. This... probably isn't going to lead them closer to the truth. Talking to him directly like this means he's got too much time to prepare his reactions, if that is indeed what he's doing. Ren furrows their brows as they press their hand to the sound of their mouth and stare back at the chess board.
They do huff a faint laugh when Akechi calls the Black Mask 'childish.' "So you think he's immature? Or just poorly socialized?" they joke. "Honestly, I could buy either one." That's also mean-spirited, but it's mean-spirited in a way Akechi would deserve if all of this is a lie.
However, Ren derails the conversation with their apology. They don't look away when Akechi stares them down; if he wanted to lash into them for that, they'd deserve it themself. However...
Akechi reaches for what he claims is a love letter. Ren's eyes widen, genuinely startled. They narrow into an annoyed frown when he laughs it off, but then they shrug. Fair's fair.
But then Akechi asks Ren why they've got the impression he's got a crush on them. For a moment, Ren lets their eyebrows do the talking as they rise over the rim of their glasses. Then they reach for their coffee cup and hold it near their lips. "I don't," they lie, calm and bald-faced. "I was just kidding. But then I thought, it might upset you that I was joking about that again after it made you uncomfortable the first time."
They set their cup down without drinking. "After all..." Ren meets his eyes, unsmiling. "You already criticized my 'twisted sense of humor' before."
Akechi will no doubt remember the context of that conversation--when he came out to them as bisexual in that soundproof karaoke booth, and Ren jokingly told him not to fall in love with them.
It hurt, didn't it?
Ren slouches forward then, arms leaning on their thighs, as they scowl once more as the chess board. If they go after Akechi's queen to protect themself, they're vulnerable to his rook... They could sacrifice their queen, but what comes after that? They won't have any pieces left in a position to threaten his king. Ignoring the White Queen isn't an option either, not with her so close to the Black King.
Checkmate in one. If they can't win, then delaying victory and proving Akechi wrong is good enough.
They slide their king to squares to the right, then slip the kingside rook into the spot the king had just passed over. It's a move called castling, and at this point it's purely defensive--but it'll buy them enough time to prevent a checkmate in the next turn.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Akechi is rather offended by the idea that he could be a victim. It's so offensive to the core of who he is, which is why it makes it the perfect thing to say.
"So in other words, he makes no excuse for his actions. Though I do wonder what he means by attempting to topple the train... the government? Some institution thereof? The world itself... as ludicrous as that sounds. Our theory that he's a part of the New World Order could lead us anywhere in that regard."
In his honest opinion, the New World Order can go fuck itself and he's going to enjoy watching it do so, after he's ruined everything for them.
But he's hardly being honest at the moment, in fact, he's being the furthest thing. Ren's laugh causes him to smirk in that smug way of his, "Well you're the one who posited that he's lonely." He says with a lightness of a tease, before he moves onto a more serious expression, "The reason I considered the Phantom Thieves of Hearts a suspect for the phenomenon in the first place was because I had thought at the time that I was the only individual with access to the Metaverse... and he proved me painfully wrong."
He actually sounds, somewhat embarrassed enough to try and sell it, "If the Mental Shutdown and Psychotic Breakdowns were happening so long previously, your group, albeit newly formed appeared to be the only potential suspects by simple elimination. Now that I know better- it gives us a timeline. Roughly two and a half years, give or take. It was lonely enough for myself, and I only spent a fraction of that time there... but to answer your question."
He takes a breath, then leans backwards in consideration, "More the latter than the former I think, but I'd hesitate to rule out that he might merely be childish. If he's our age, then he was killing when he was quite young... most Middle Schoolers can be quite childish after all. And if he had special powers... well, I hesitate to use the term 'Chuunibiyou' because, is that really the case when one actually has special powers?"
It's quite the analysis of the individual. Especially when Ren expects it's Akechi analyzing himself - correctly. It takes so much detachment to look at the self, as a third person.
But isn't that the same as putting on yet another mask? The other sides of you seem so unlike you.
Ren's apology derails quite a lot though in the moment. As Akechi suddenly focuses on him. He understands that Ren is lying.
One does not apologize sincerely as a joke, and he's certain Ren did. However, knowing he's lying, is he going to call him out about it?
"... Well, it's a trait we do both share." That 'twisted sense of humor'. Ren calls attention to. He says it quietly though, like he's contemplating other things. "That was why it was so startling at the time, I suppose. ... Seeing it in someone else was unexpected."
Unexpected enough that it stung more than he expected it to. He trails off though, lost in thought. Like he's not even paying attention to the Chess game now.
And then Ren moves a piece. Akechi looks up at that moment, at the switch, seeming surprised for the flicker of a single instant.
"Did you just..." He pauses, considering. It only takes him another second to understand it was a legal move. He knows what Castling is, but not paying attention to the board caused him to see only the pieces where he didn't expect them to be.
"Ahahahaha...." He chuckles with a grin, "... A splendid move. Suddenly my prediction has become a mite... premature. You never fail to surprise me, Amamiya-kun."
Even if Ren still loses this match, he has this. He surprised Akechi, like taking a pin to his ego and popping it like some overinflated balloon.
The novelty of having a worthy opponent though causes him to take it all in stride.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Of course, being offended by an idea doesn't make the idea untrue.
Ren makes a low, thoughtful hum as Akechi 'theorizes' about what it means to topple the train--specifically about how Akechi uses the word 'attempts.' "I asked him what he got out of doing what he does," they remark. "He said 'release.' He said the world's a miserable shithole, and he gets his fun poking holes in it." They look back down at it. "So if he's working for the NWO--" and Ren doesn't think Shadow Kobayakawa was mistaken about that, "--he isn't doing it out of loyalty to a person or ideal. He just wants to see the world burn."
They curl a couple fingers over their lips as they look back up at Akechi. They smile briefly at his obnoxious(ly charming) smirk, though it fades into neutrality when Akechi goes into why the Phantom Thieves were his prime suspects and how the Black Mask proved him wrong. It's kind of fascinating to watch him go over it--establishing a timeline for the Black Mask and making sure it's distinct from the 'Detective Prince's' timeline. "When did you Awaken again? I remember you saying it involved catching a crooked cop," they say, watching his face.
They chuckle again at the question about chuunibyou, though it also makes them thoughtful. It's basically a social illness when someone is just that desperate to be released from their everyday life that they make up a fantastical new one. A desire to be special... Everyone has that to greater or lesser extents, but how much would that be true for him--and for the one in front of them?
"Could be stunted social development. If he's been running around the Metaverse doing whatever he wants with no consequences..." Ren lets that thought trail off for a moment. But, instead of leaving it at that, they continue, "Whatever kind of person he is in the real world, I bet it's completely different from how he acts as the One in the Black Mask. You don't get 'release' if you aren't constantly putting a cap on who you really are. So it wouldn't shock me if it turned out he spends his days pretending to be a polished good boy, smiling for the adults and telling them what they want to hear while hating them in his heart of hearts." Ren shuts their eyes briefly as they shrug. "Alternately, maybe he's just that disenfranchised in his real life. A member of a youth gang, or a high school drop-out, or some orphan rotting away in a loveless foster home." A beat. "What do you think?"
Their dark eyes soften with a touch of sadness as Akechi acknowledges that moment, but not the context around it. They didn't think he would. That's why they lied in the first place. That's why they do let this trail-off go. They have no doubt that Akechi has feelings for them and could have given a laundry list of reasons why if they'd wanted to be cruel about it. They don't understand why Akechi essentially asked them for it, but they don't think it was to try to test the waters. Ren is in a committed relationship with someone else, and Akechi has made it clear they would never date a boy (or someone who looks like one) so long as he's chasing the public's approval. Acknowledging that Akechi's feelings are one-sided, even as part of an apology, was... just as cruel.
Better to let it go. It's not like they aren't both lying to each other to greater or lesser extents.
That seems to be the correct move--just like the castling. Ren smiles when Akechi breaks into laughter and praises their unpredictability. If they popped his ego like a balloon, then his acknowledgement makes a different sort of balloon fill with warmth in their chest. They sit up straight to fold their arms and cross their legs, chin rising.
"Your move," they say coolly, yet with warmth seeping into that smile too.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"... I see." As he acknowledges Ren's idea of him wanting to see the world burn. "A loathsome motive."
Thankfully, Ren cannot fully guess HOW the Black Mask would want to do that. He can't know it's Revenge against his Father, even if he suspects it's revenge against the World.
Toppling Shido at the height of his power though would be the same as creating a fever pitch of chaos in the country, and he can't say that he wouldn't delight in it.
But, he can detach himself from the idea that his Justice is this loathsome motivation. After all. That's simply a bonus.
"But what can one expect from someone working for such an organization?"
Ren asks him a clarifying question, and Akechi has his alibi well prepared here. "In early November. It was a murder case involving a young single mother in Sumaru City. I suspected a Police Officer, but I was being stonewalled at every turn... I know not how, or why, but as I was examining the evidence something I said near the smartphone she was carrying drew me into another realm."
He takes a deep breath, and this seems genuinely difficult for him to relate, "In that realm while I was still getting my bearings... the Shadow of the Officer who murdered her approached me, and began to beat me senseless. He referred to her as 'trash that nobody would miss'. I... took issue with that."
As he gives what might be his own version of a polite understatement. "And awakened to the power of a Persona. He wasn't a particularly powerful Shadow, and I managed to best him. At gunpoint, he confessed everything... including where I might find the evidence to put him away."
In truth, it was Captain Shimazu ridding himself of a rival in the department, by having the NWO 'arrange' him being framed for the crime. To this day, he thinks he pulled one over on the Detective Prince in private.
More fool he.
However, there are enough details from the reality of his awakening enough that the emotions he feels while weaving this lie feel less detached - more personal.
Ren theorizes on the kind of person he is in the real world, "... I'd been considering the same ever since you mentioned that. It does imply at least that he feels like he's under a great deal of pressure. Perhaps he's in a troublesome situation, even within the New World Order, one that gives them leverage over him... who can say?"
He trails off again, as if thinking about that matter to himself, trying to deduce it from what little he knows, but he doesn't. He does however flinch notably at orphan rotting away in a loveless foster home.
"None of the above would surprise me, really... perhaps a child in a wealthy family would fit as well, if being this one in the Black Mask gave him leave to act as his 'true self' that he doesn't get elsewhere."
Why did he ask? Why did he ask? Why would he ask Ren why he thinks he has a crush on him?
Perhaps... perhaps he was hoping to be surprised of something he superficially rejects. It's hard to say, as the moment passes.
But the sorrow is replaced by cheer. His arrogance was defeated and... he doesn't mind, this once. Or at least, this moment. Perhaps later, he'll be MAD about it in that contradictory, competitive way.
'Your move,' And now Akechi looks over the board in a way that Ren hasn't seen Akechi do so before. The look of someone who at least in the moment doesn't know what move to make.
He has to actually think hard about it.
"You've certainly improved..." As he reaches out and slides a pawn forward in sacrifice. A necessary move to prevent a great disaster. "... perhaps there's a chance you'll best me in this game after all."
He says in wonder, before looking up at Ren, right in the glasses, enough that his smug face reflects off of them, "Wouldn't that be a sight to see?"
Though the more interesting sight, is in his field of vision right now...
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
The Black Mask's specific motives are indeed nothing Ren could guess at. They simply don't know him well enough for that. Indeed, they've fielded a lot of Akechi's lies, and the only reason they can suspect him of being the Black Mask is being close enough to him to see the similarities in their personalities and approaches. If Ren could find some decisive evidence that Akechi isn't the Black Mask--and for a while, they did genuinely think seeing the two at the same time in the same place was it--they'd be relieved to accept it.
But, well... they can't really afford to be that dismissive. For their own sake, and for their friends and ideals.
"Mm," they murmur in agreement. The NWO is pretty clearly bad people, and someone doing their dirty work would have to be an asshole too. (And hasn't Ren called Akechi an asshole quite a few times by now?) It isn't even that weird that Akechi would call that motive loathsome, but... what kind of mental gymnastics would someone have to do to be able to do that while also acting as though they're Just?
Akechi lays out the details of their awakening, including when it happened. Ren nods along, listening to the details. Akechi's told them a version of this story before, but not quite as robust. Their eyes narrow at the Shadow Officer, but they don't interrupt. They make a mental note to compare it to whatever records they can find. They've tried to look Akechi up online before, actually, but all they could find was his social media feed and various interview videos--nothing about his past. Which makes sense, even.
"Yeah. Hard to say," they reply, still watching him. He really does a good job of acting normal, up to and including that genuine wince at the orphan talk, whose cause Ren knows well because Akechi already shared with them about it (and Ren confirmed it with Akihiko /and/ Shinjiro). Doubt stabs through them again as their eyes soften with concern--and a streak of guilt.
Maybe they are wrong about this. Maybe Akechi's innocent after all.
But if so, why the hell are Akechi and the Black Mask so similar?
However, that moment passes along with the question of Akechi's feelings for Ren, and they both move back to something comparatively more straightforward: their rivalry and the game on the table currently underway. Ren takes pride in seeing Akechi have to scrutinize the board like he has to revise his whole strategy. Even if they lose the game overall, that is a victory, and one they savor.
Which just makes them want to beat him that much more.
So when Akechi gives them that smug smile, Ren smirks right back, a lively spark in their eye. "I'd rather see the look on your face when it happens," they retort as they lean forward, shifting Akechi's reflection off the lenses of their glasses.
Which means Akechi gets to admire the sight of them calculating their own next move and executing it with the fire of enthusiasm. If they lose, it won't be because they flagged in their endgame.
It is a sight, isn't it, to see someone enjoy your company so much?
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Maybe he's innocent after all!
The thing is, Akechi doesn't even suspect that he's being suspected by Ren. But he's also made contact with so many more Persona Users as of late.
He has to get better at keeping his story straight, now that the Metaverse is shared by so many more people. A small slip up is all it would take - granted, he doesn't BELIEVE he'd slip up, but he takes measures to prevent it.
The game however takes his attention up fully now. Now Akechi isn't some Grandmaster at Chess, but he does have an Elo that would best most club-level play.
Stroking his chin, he reviews the positions of all the pieces on the board, when Ren he'd rather see the look on his face when it happens.
There's a chuckle at that, and a broad grin. "And that's why I enjoy our rematches as much as I do." He says, as he leans an elbow against the table, and leans his cheek against his closed hand, and drifts a gloved hand over the pieces, as he lifts up a single piece.
The White King.
"But... I'm going to make you work for it~" As he advances it forward a space, as if in preparation for some new stratagem which may not be immediately obvious.
"... Checkmate in six." He predicts, incorrigibly, seeming undeterred from this behavior by Ren defeating that prediction before.
(Because he enjoys seeing the look on his face when he pulls something like this.)
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Funny how that works, huh? Akechi is confident he won't slip up because he puts the work into covering his tracks. He doesn't consider that someone might suspect him because they just know him that well--because they see him for who he is, because he went out of his way to show them.
Self-sabotage much?
Akechi makes his own next move--to advance the White King. Ren's eyes widen. That, too, is unexpected--but it certainly makes them pay even more attention. The lilt makes them chuff, though. "As if you'd do anything less," they retort.
'Checkmate in six.'
"Fuck you," Ren says--out loud this time, because now they can say it with affection. ...even if that's also what they said to the Black Mask to seemingly curry his fascination.
They really don't want him to be the Black Mask. They really don't want him to be a violent psychopath who works for the organization that's ruined and ruining so many lives, including their own. They really enjoy this back-and-forth the two of them have developed, and they don't want it to end in blood and tears.
But they just can't let it go.
"Incidentally, what you suggested before about setting a trap in a Palace... I think I've found one," they comment as they search the board for their next move. "We've known about it for a while, actually. We're just keeping an eye on it for now. Don't know if he'd know about it, but considering the person it's for... I wouldn't be shocked if he's been patrolling it for his NWO overlords. Not that I'm telling you whose it is or anything."
They reach forward and move a piece to test Akechi. Is that enough information for him to deduce it on his own? What if he doesn't know about Okumura? Well... that might be answer enough in itself--if they could count absence as proof.
"If I catch him, I'll let you know how it goes."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
That is the problem. He didn't have to get closer to Ren Amamiya, nor come into contact with other Persona Users at all. Indeed, he would be a more effective assassin if he didn't have to keep up this cover.
He knows that. He knows it.
But that's not what he wants, now is it? In the very act of getting close enough to receive the praise he wants, he jabs himself on the hedgehog's quills.
And doesn't even notice that with each poke, he's leaving behind more and more evidence against his interests.
There's a wide grin as Ren says 'Fuck you,' affectionately, does he look? Happy? Cheered? Well one thing's for certain, he's enjoying this.
His rejoinder comes soon after, "It's still far too early for the seduction gambit, wouldn't you say? ... Perhaps in four moves, it'll seem quite attractive."
Not that he'll seem quite attractive, he's already doing that. However, it's clear he's just making a joke in response to Ren's affectionate expletive, not implying that he should cheat on his girlfriend or anything.
Ren however then mentions their prior conversation about a trap. Akechi's expression changes, to something that looks concerned, then somewhat pensive.
"Alright. Though... do be careful. I admit I worry about how far his fascination with you goes." As he spreads out his opposite palm, and sighs, "But as I've said before- as someone who acts upon his own in the Metaverse... I'd be something of a hypocrite to attempt to talk you out of it."
In the wake of Ren's move, he holds up his final White Bishop, near enemy lines, and says while waving the piece in the air back and forth in a pendulum like gesticulation, "I'd offer to assist, but the way you phrased that implies you'd rather keep the identity of the Ruler 'In-House' so to speak."
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
This is why Ren says the Black Mask is lonely, you know.
Well--if they're right about him, it is.
(It is.)
Ren snorts at the joke about the 'seduction gambit.' One thing they KNOW they're right about is how Akechi must be in deep denial if he has to ask Ren in all sincerity why they think he has a crush on them. They let that go, though. It can (has to) stay a joke. "We'll see," they say instead.
When they mention their plans vis-a-vis this mystery Palace, they of course are watching Akechi's expression, if in their peripherals. He did say before he's worried about them, but being a loner himself (just like the goddamn Black Mask), he's not going to try to talk them out of it. They don't complain about his plausible deniability this time. They've gotten used to it by now--and besides, saying something about it now would give away the game. "Thanks," they murmur instead.
As for his assumption... Ren can't help but smirk. "That's right." As if to funhouse-mirror him, they pick up and twirl the White Bishop they'd captured between their fingers with the deftness of a magician. "Brilliant deduction, Detective--as always."
(It's been established that Akechi's likely to have a violence kink. If he has a praise kink too, he might just be in danger.)
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
How deep is he in denial? Well if it were the river Egypt, he'd be drowning right now... and too prideful to come up for air.
It is quite plausibly deniable isn't it? Before he didn't express his worry - until afterwards.
Not really.
It's easily explainable away by him not wanting to let his feelings creep into the matter of such an important case and only could do so once it was obvious Ren was safe but- it's convenient that it turns out like that yet again?
As Ren twirls the white bishop, and praises him- even if it's for something quite exaggerated, he does seem caught off guard for a moment in that 'Oh- am I being praised?' way before he grins in pleasure. "Why it was elementary, my dear Lupin."
And promptly puts down his own Bishop in a diagonal from its original position, threatening Ren's Queen should it move for the most enticing piece.
"Elementary," he echoes. A quote never precisely said by Sherlock Holmes in Doyle's works, but so well renowned that he can't help but use it to express his pleasure in this moment.