I Promise

...

I promise.

Goro stared at the words etched on his right palm, ink black in color.

I promise.

He had done a little research about soulmates, but the internet didn't say much on the matter. The words form the moment you were able to comprehend language, and vanish when you or your soulmate dies. The sensation of having the words removed from your skin depended on the person. There were no real tell-tale signs on when they'll meet you, how they'll meet you, just that you will meet. Because those words etched on your skin would be the last thing they tell you. It could be something common that you'll hear a dozen times before lightning strikes, or something extraordinary or downright creepy.

There was no escaping it.

He remembered what his mother's had said, it was written on her back.

Is anybody home?

She would spend hours upon hours, waiting for Shido to come back, for an apology, a happy ending. And she dreamed of dying peacefully and old in her bed, hearing his voice while her eyes closed for the last time and she breathed no more.

It turned out that Shido wasn't even her soulmate, it was some local delivery guy who gave Goro candy and coins sometimes (technically, he stole them, but he only glanced at him with a knowing smile before going back to work so it still counted). The look on his face when he saw her corpse on the bathroom floor...

That was the awful side of the whole soulmate thing, you weren't even guaranteed a happy life with the love of your life. Some may pass you by a million times without either one noticing, or maybe the first thing you hear from them is their last words to you.

The world is cruel, Goro shouldn't have expected any better.

Still, sometimes when there was nothing to do, nothing to focus on, he would remove his glove and stare at the words, imagining what contexts it could be in.

What would they promise? To get home safely? To deliver something? To keep a secret?

Goro shuddered at the thought. There were a lot of secrets Goro Akechi bore, none of them especially pleasant. To share his darkest secrets with his soulmate...

...only to have them die by it.

His mood instantly soured at the thought. He didn't have a hard time imagining Shido's henchmen kill whoever he ran his mouth to if it could hurt his image. Or maybe they would disappear from his life the second they hear about his true nature, and that those last words would be nothing but a lie.

He pulled on his glove and stood up from his desk. He needed to put his mind off those kind of thoughts.

《》

"Care to share, detective?"

Goro faked a smile for the cameras, posture straight in the plush red couch.

"Of course. I've been doing a lot of thinking about the case surrounding the artist Madarame."

"There it is! So the Phantom Thief excitement has reached you, too?"

Phantom Thieves this, Phantom Thieves that. It was ridiculous, with their pompous calling cards and desire for "justice", and these extraordinary "change of hearts". But the way they operated... was there more to it than simple blackmail? It had to be.

The Q&A continued, with scripted answers and charming smiles.

Heck, he could've been an amazing actor in another life. Surely it wouldn't be as miserable as being part-time detective prince and part-time assassin.