- 𝐅𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 -

Chapter 15

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- 19ᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴅᴇᴄᴇᴍʙᴇʀ; 06:00ᴀᴍ -

Eventually the night passed, and to Akechi's great surprise, it wasn't the alarm clock that woke him up this time. Instead, it was the dead ghost that stared down at him, way too close in his face while 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 on him. And seeing the blood so near made his stomach feel bad.

"Wh- Akira?!", with a quick jolt the detective got up, making the other then fall right through him. "Why were you so close?!"

"Uff. Obviously I was waking you up..", Akira then replied while sitting up again, stretching his arms for no other reason than to make it seem like he got some sleep. Obviously that was a lie; the wildcard hasn't gotten any rest ever since he came back, but he wasn't tired. Maybe it was because he's really not alive, but he just didn't want to acknowledge that. So he blamed it on overthinking.

While the brunette tried his best not to ask if he had done anything weird while he was asleep, he continued talking; "... I have a meeting to attend."

"Oh? At 6AM already?"

"... Yes. Work stuff... The Phantom Thief thing will come in the afternoon then."

Akira then sighed. Leaping back down on the bed, he watched Goro get dressed into his work clothes. The dark haired male knew exactly that the detective didn't want him to come along to the phantom thief meeting, but he wasn't sure if it was because Akechi had something to hide or if he was just worried about Akira's mental health. After all, being dead must be rough, especially when only one person can talk to you.

"... You'll take me with you, right?"

Akechi groaned. Of course he didn't want the leader of the phantom thieves join him, but he also didn't really have a choice. "Well I definitely don't want you sneaking around my stuff... Urgh, fine."

After that statement a smile met the detective's face again, for some reason Kurusu seemed so fascinated.
But he really just said "yay".

"... Let's just get going.."

Akira then nodded again, reaching to hold the other's hand while they left. That must've been another perk, when you're dead you can touch others, just slightly, and they can't do anything about it.

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After a while the duo arrived at the building where this meeting was supposed to take place. But before they entered, Akechi had taken a deep stare into the Noiret's empty eyes. "...This meeting may be about your death. Are you sure you want to join?"

"Yeah. I want to find everything out..." Akira then answered after staring back for a while, with no emotion whatsoever.

"..." Goro let out a sigh. He really didn't want to risk anything, but there was no way to change Akira Kurusu's mind. "Alright then."

... So they walked inside the building, Akechi sitting down on his seat in the rumored meeting room while the 'thief' made himself comfortable on the floor.

It didn't take long for the chairwoman to start talking, and the start just sounded like some boring court stuff. Akira despised courts, so he didn't pay much attention at first. But soon a statement caught his attention. They were really talking about him, no, not just him; they were talking about his family.

The boy noticed a few worried glances from the 'perfect' ace detective towards him, but he tried his best to keep his calm. It wasn't like anyone would see Akira, but listening to them talking about his weak spots sure made even him uneasy.

"Are you saying the probation was a mistake?"

"Well it sure wasn't that boy's fault!"

"Silence!", the chairwoman then interrupted the chatters of the detectives and other police officers with a serious glare. It was almost intimidating, and for some reason it reminded them of Sae. "Have we even informed the family members of the suicide?"

𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘚𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦?
Akira knew that was a lie. And he knew that Goro knew that too. It wasn't suicide, at the very least it were the people who made him overdose, and this person that had shot him. But he couldn't remember who that person was.

"... No, Miss.. We'll contact them right away!"

The woman then scoffed a bit, and everyone could notice the disappointment in her breath. The meeting continued on for a while and they continued talking about everything, including the missing students that had just been found by Akechi.

Eventually the intimidating women then called the meeting off, telling everyone they're dismissed.

All the way out of the building both stayed quiet. But as soon as they got outside, Akira moved to glare right into the other's eyes. "Why did you lie to them? You KNOW it wasn't suicide!"

"... I don't know who killed you, Kurusu."

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦.. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨."