Chapter Text
akechi goro is exhausted.
he’s always exhausted, but this time it’s significantly worse.
every time he opened any social media app, it was something with the phantom thieves. if it wasn’t that, it was someone roasting him online for expressing his opinion about, again, the phantom thieves. every café he entered, they’re doing a phantom thieves themed menu. every television appearance, the first question is about the phantom thieves.
shut the fuck up.
he’s never had any problems until now. everything was going perfectly; by day, he got the attention he’s always wanted even if it was for a fake version of himself. by night, he worked towards his revenge.
it was unorthodox. sick, even. every time he looked in a mirror, a vile insect stared back. all he knew how to do was to destroy. destroy. destroy.
destroy everything.
he heard the screams of his victims before he fell asleep every night, and it continued into his nightmares.
the most revolting part of it all was that those screams were what fed loki.
it was too late. he had to avenge his mother. he made a vow to her that day when she was lying in that bathtub, unresponsive.
he was going to kill shido. he didn’t care what he had to do or how disgusting it made him feel. that man would die by his hand.
if they wanted to execute him afterwards, that would be fine. he expected it, actually.
his plan was flawless and his performance was meticulously executed. in his apartment—which was a nightmare for a claustrophobic—he practiced his mannerisms for hours on end. ever since his mother died, he’s carried an immense amount of rage. he was a problem child in the foster system; nobody could handle his temperament. he slowly began to forget how to express emotions “normally.” he either felt nothing at all, or everything all at once. he taught himself how to control this in social settings, but it usually all came crumbling down once he went to his filth pit of a home.
needless to say, he’s spent months reforming himself into a character for this operation. with this came learning how to look presentable, how to talk respectfully, how to manage time, how to study… he taught himself everything, and he excelled in it, too.
if there was one thing he had, it was his intelligence. sometimes he wonders what he could’ve accomplished if he was normal.
the amount of effort he put into his plan was insane. only for the phantom thieves to intercept. the worst part of it was that he believed the leader was the one person in tokyo that he has ever had a genuine conversation with.
his only friend.
stupid. you’re stupid. have you learned nothing? trust no one. not even him. especially not him.
truly, he had nowhere to go. it was obvious that the atmosphere was tense the last time he was at leblanc. they have a right to be; he drags them on national television.
akechi goro claimed that he needed no one. in reality, he just wanted to be loved. not for the detective prince, but for the raw, volatile, broken version of himself.
~
goro grimaced as he took a sip of the gutted water the special investigations unit called “coffee.” he ran out of k-cups this morning at home. he needed coffee to be able to function at seven in the morning, and he was not about to go to leblanc.
his squad’s task for the day was to investigate yet another mental shutdown.
oh, boy. wonder who the culprit could possibly be.
the victim was another politician. goro forgot his name already. he killed him late last night, but someone happened to find him and rush him to a hospital.
he was getting sloppy. they weren’t supposed to find him until the morning, so there’d be no chance of survival. he was lucky that the victim was pronounced shortly after arrival.
he’d probably be notified if there was, but he always felt paranoid that there was clinical research in progress developing some kind of reversal. logically, that doesn’t make any sense without any awareness of the metaverse, but goro couldn’t help his paranoia.
get your shit together. this isn’t a fucking game.
~
the hospital was overstimulating. the fluorescent lights were too bright, the white walls only enhanced the migraine the lights caused, the beeping of machines were too loud and frequent, and people were walking too slow.
despite his irritation, he stood by niijima sae, the perfect image of a poised and respectful young man.
he had to be extra cautious of his expressions today. he was in a mood.
”we’re looking for a dr. ishikawa and… looks like there’s a student with him,” sae noted, her voice showing no hint of emotion.
great. a student. someone who probably doesn’t know anything about the situation.
”seems like a western last name, so we should be able to spot them easily,” sae added.
”thank you for the information, sae-san. would you prefer to look together?”
he hoped he could get this over with himself. it’d be faster. he could formulate some bullshit “deduction” and get on with his day. that’s what he did with most his cases, anyway.
”it would probably be better if we didn’t split up.”
son of a bitch.
of course she’d say that. maybe it was for the best. the university of tokyo has over 1,200 beds. it would probably take longer trying to regroup with sae than to go off on his own.
”my, this place is busy today,” he commented. something he learned in his journey was to always make conversation. silence looked bad, like he was hiding something.
“tell me about it,” sae sighed, “i already had a headache to begin with.” her eyes flickered down to her notepad. “they should be somewhere in the surgery center. apparently, the victim died on the table.”
”how unfortunate,” he replied, voice dripping with fake sincerity.
the surgery center was filled with patients, from pre-op and post-op. all goro could do was hope the duo they were hunting down weren’t in the middle of a surgery.
it didn’t take long to find them, thanks to the student. anyone could take an educated guess considering they were following dr. ishikawa around like a lost puppy.
”dr. ishikawa? niijima sae with the tokyo special investigations unit. this is my partner, akechi goro.”
as if on autopilot, goro bowed, a heavily practiced gesture, and extended his hand. “hello, dr. ishikawa. it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he said, his voice taking on a charming, friendly tone. he knew it was over the top, but everything with goro was over the top. he needed to excel in everything.
the doctor mirrored his greeting, shaking his hand vigorously. “ah, i’ve heard a lot about you. hello akechi-kun. niijima-san. i suppose i already know what this is about. this is my student, l/n y/n.”
he gestured towards the student, who stood behind him. they offered a small smile and a clumsy bow. “hello.”
”the body is downstairs, we will accompany you there,” dr. ishikawa said, already beginning to walk away at an irritatingly fast pace.
why do doctors walk so damn fast?
he probably should start making conversation. being too quiet would look rude, and rumors about him being different in person would arise. he didn’t need any more hate than he was already getting.
while sae talked to the doctor, goro slowed his pace to match the student.
“so, i hear you’re studying to be a doctor?”
the student nodded. “yes.”
this was odd. the typical reaction for someone of their age was to either scream or ask for a photograph.
”that’s wonderful. the rate of available doctors are declining these days. it’s promising to see young talent eager enough to make a difference,” he offered a smile, slightly tilting his head to make it seem like he was interested in the conversation.
”oh. i’m exchange. international medical research. i’m american doctor.”
goro just can’t seem to go a day without being embarrassed.
”oh…! well!” he hesitated, his smile becoming tight, “i’m sure the declining rate of physicians is similar in america, is it not?”
”bad. no primary care,” they gestured with their hands, as if it would help him understand what they meant. “i am sorry. my japanese is not good.”
”no, it’s not bad at all!”
it was horrible.
he waved a hand, “i’m sure you’ll get better with time and experience here in japan.”
goro watched the numbers descend as dr. ishikawa rambled on about the victim to sae. goro didn’t need to listen, it’s not like he had to gather information to “solve” this case. he learned how to pretend he was interested, maintaining eye contact and nodding every few words.
in reality, he was zoning out.
the body was already laid out on the autopsy table, waiting for him and sae. the politician’s face was frozen in a grimace of horror, eyes rolled back into his skull and black ichor seeping from the facial openings. classic signs of a mental shutdown.
“the most significant detail to us is this liquid here. we’ve never seen anything like it before,” dr. ishikawa held up a biohazard bag containing the oily substance, glinting in the harsh light of the morgue. “y/n here is researching its chemical properties and creating a profile for it.”
the student only nodded. goro wondered if they were just shy, or if they didn’t understand anything the doctor just said. regardless, the fact that they were looking into the scientific details of mental shutdown symptoms made him a bit nervous.
just another person to keep a close eye on.
“that’s incredible, l/n-san. i’d be interested to hear about what you’ve found thus far,” goro grinned. he wasn’t interested for their sake, he was interested because he had to know if this person was a threat.
sae and goro began their own inspection of the body, which honestly didn’t take too long. to his advantage, there’s not a lot of conclusive evidence about the culprit. the most they could do was determine how they were causing the body to react this way, which had to do more with forensics than investigation.
though, he couldn’t say that he wasn’t at least a little interested. in the metaverse, goro’s mind was only focused on his revenge. therefore, he never really paid attention to the inexplainable biology behind it all. he didn’t necessarily have the time, either. given his schedule and shido’s lengthy hit-list, it wasn’t a priority. still, the intellectual in him questioned it all.
by the time the group filtered out of the morgue, it was already lunchtime. goro was starving.
if he had a choice, he’d eat alone; but he never had a choice. he needed to learn more about this student researching the mental shutdowns, and prevent them from discovering the metaverse. goro was a damn good manipulator.
he didn’t like this part of himself because it reminded him of his father. however, in the context of his revenge, it was useful.
he was famous, and he was famous because he was hot—which pisses him off. he wishes people would pay attention to his actual work. he knows if he wasn’t conventionally attractive, nobody would know who he was. despite this, it’s something that allows him to pull information out of people. people treat him like a confessional if he gives them the right kind of glance. that is exactly what he needs right now.
“l/n-san?” he jogged to catch up to them, since they were already on their way out. “do you know where the cafeteria is?”
they paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. “yes. floor one. i show you where?”
perfect.
”that would be very much appreciated, thank you,” he gave a small bow.
showtime.