Work Text:
At six o’clock sharp, Sae shut the lid of her laptop and stood up from her desk in the SIU offices. “I’m heading out for the weekend, Akechi-san.”
Akechi gave her a slight glance and noted the satisfied smile on her face. “This is earlier than usual for you.”
“I have a commitment I’d like to keep,” was all she said as she collected her things. “I’ll tell you if anything comes up while I’m working remotely tomorrow.”
He pushed a strand of his hair out of the way as he read through the contents of a manila folder. “Don’t let me get in your way,” he said cheerfully.
Sae nodded, then walked out of their shared office, the door shutting behind her tightly.
Akechi took his feet off of his desk as his face curdled into a frown.
Sae was doing something on the weekends that he didn’t know about. Goro Akechi didn’t like not knowing things. And not because he was concerned for her or deathly curious, of course. He was a professional, and professionals made sure that all of their bases were covered. Which meant that him knowing about his coworker’s weekend habits was entirely a practical concern. If he was ever going to reach the top of the Special Investigations Unit and throw his father’s ass in jail, he needed to make sure his partner didn’t become a liability.
And he had nothing better to do, anyway.
Akechi sighed loudly for no one in particular. Then he wrote an email to the SIU Director asking for access to any data on Sae he could get his hands on, up to and including credit card information and location data.
The Detective Prince was given access to all records regarding Sae Niijima by the morning and, sitting at the counter of Leblanc with a cup of coffee and Akira giving him conspicuous glances every few minutes, started to sift through the information.
It was… remarkably banal, if he was being honest. The credit card transaction history was typical for a woman in her late 20s, mostly featuring supermarket bills, discretionary spending at boutiques, and the occasional online purchase. The only thing that caught Akechi’s eye was a consistent pattern of spending around 3000 yen at a particular bar in Ginza on Saturday evenings.
That would explain the early departures. However, Akechi wouldn’t be able to determine the details of the evening with transaction data alone, which meant that he had to reluctantly turn to the location data scraped from Sae’s phone. (He’d told her to put her phone on airplane mode whenever she wasn’t using it, but she’d demurred, stating that she needed to be available if Makoto or her superiors called. Damn woman…)
He took another sip of coffee and combed through the data for Saturday nights. And what he found then was… concerning.
Sae would consistently arrive at the bar in her purchase history at 6:30, linger for multiple hours, and then leave the building. Most of the time, she would head back to her flat and remain there for the night. But sometimes she instead traveled to Yongen-Jaya via train, and before Akechi could tell where she was spending the next portion of her time, she actually turned her phone off, making her location data vanish off the map.
Well, at least she was listening to his advice, he thought as he closed his computer and brought his hand to his chin.
Sae could be meeting with virtually anyone, with the sole caveat being they were likely of adult age. Not that it narrowed things down much. It was completely possible that it was an innocuous evening spent with friends Akechi didn’t know about, although he was still somewhat skeptical that Sae had a significant personal life. There was also the possibility, however, that she was meeting with someone related to an ongoing case of hers—and that she was getting in over her head with the time commitment.
Akechi needed to know what was going on. Entirely for practical reasons, of course. But at the same time, he was unsure how to get that information without exposing himself. Sae would certainly recognize him if he attempted to visit the bar undercover, and if she was a regular client the staff would be unwilling to release information about her (or, even worse, tell her about his query). Having a private investigator tail her was also an option, but—no, he ruled that out immediately. Sae deserved far better than that. Then who could…
Akechi’s attention was caught by Akira poking him in the head and holding out a fresh cup of coffee for him.
“Ah, thank you,” Akechi said as he took the cup with a warm smile.
“You looked stressed,” the messy-haired boy replied. “Figured you could use a second cup.”
Akechi looked at his unassuming, handsome face and—was that it?
Akechi put the mug on the table and fixed the barista with a charming look. “Akira, you’re remarkably good at getting a job without an interview, a background check, or a consistent work schedule, aren’t you?”
The other boy blinked. “Your point?”
“I was wondering if you’d be willing to do a favor for me.”
Akira’s posture switched carefully, maintaining the slack in his shoulders while his back stiffened slightly. “Let’s hear it.”
The detective smirked—Akira was curious, which meant Akechi had already won. He pulled out his pocketbook, tore a piece of paper from it, and wrote the address of the bar down with a pen.
“There’s a bar that a coworker of mine frequents on Saturday evenings,” he said as he handed his… acquaintance the slip of paper. “She’s let slip that she spends quite a bit of money and time there, and I’d like you to make sure that she isn’t embarrassing herself.”
Akira read the address, then raised an eyebrow. “You’re concerned about her.”
“It’s entirely a practical matter, I assure you,” he said smoothly. “I simply want to make sure she isn’t being exploited somehow, as that could harm the integrity of her work.”
“Can I know her name?”
“That shouldn’t be necessary,” Akechi said. Akira and Sae hadn’t met, as far as Akechi was aware, and Akechi would prefer if it stayed that way. “She’ll come in at 6:30 in her work attire, and I don’t want you to slip up by greeting her by name.”
“You slander me,” Akira said as he pocketed the slip of paper.
“But you’re going to do it anyway,” Akechi said with a knowing smile.
“I’ll consider it,” he said carefully. “But I get a favor from you in return sometime later.”
Akechi was careful to not let his smile falter, despite the fact that he was now cursing himself internally. “That seems fair enough.”
Akira nodded and excused himself, after which Akechi turned back to his laptop and groaned quietly. The things he did for his career…
It was 6:25 PM on Saturday when Akechi remembered that Sae had been the one who recommended Leblanc to him.
He gagged on the piece of convenience store sushi he was eating, then spent the next minute slamming his fist against the dining table in his apartment to block out his discomfort and frustration. Eventually he was able to finish chewing, swallow the food down, and take a long drink from a glass of water with much less dignity than he’d have preferred.
It was going to be fine, he told himself. Sae had probably only seen the boy once or twice, so the chance of her being seriously disturbed by the incident was quite low. And Akira had the discretion to keep quiet about his reason for being there.
Unless Akira thought it would be funny to tell.
The well-groomed boy pinched the bridge of his nose with his gloved hand and let out the loudest scream he could get away with in an apartment complex.
It was 6:35 PM when Akira realized that Goro Akechi was a fucking blockhead.
Akira had shown up an hour ago to start what would probably be his only shift at the place. Like Crossroads, this was the kind of bar you attended when you were looking for quiet and discretion. But unlike Crossroads, this place was seedy as hell and more known for its low prices than its hospitality. At least he’d picked up on a new drink or two as he watched the bartender when there weren’t any tables to wait on.
Then he walked over to Table 14 and tried not to run away when he realized that Sae Niijima was sitting there, more relaxed than he’d ever seen her. And on either side of her—
Kawakami, wearing her usual yellow sweater and denim skirt, was the first to notice him, her eyes widening immensely. “Wait, Akira?”
Sae was still in work attire, as Akechi had suggested. The only think stiffer than her well-starched gray suit was the shape her face took on when she recognized Akira.
And Takemi, in her typical iconoclastic getup, gave him a sly smile and leaned forward slightly. “Hey there, Kurusu.”
“H-hi,” he replied shakily. And before any of them could get the wrong idea, he pointed at his nametag and the black apron he’d been given when he walked in. “I just work here.”
“They let you work at a bar?” Sae asked, clearly still wary of his presence.
Akira shrugged. “Yeah, I get that a lot. As long as I’m not making the drinks I’m pretty sure it’s legal.”
After a moment of consideration, Sae nodded. “I’d appreciate it if you kept this meeting between us.”
“Oh, but you can tell your gay friends,” Takemi said as she returned to her previous casual posture. “Or whatever you call that posse of yours?”
“He has a posse?” Sae said incredulously.
“Oh, it’s this whole thing at the school,” Kawakami said in agreement. “There’s a small group of kids he’s constantly flirting with. Rumors are that it’s a full-blown polycule, you know.”
Then Kawakami gave him a guilty look as she realized he was there. “Sorry,” the teacher said. “I kinda get a bit too loose around my girlfriends sometimes.”
And then it was everyone's turn to be embarrassed, except for Takemi, whose grin only widened.
“Not. A. Word.” Sae said, giving him the most terrifying stare he’d ever received from anyone besides Makoto.
Akira nodded quickly and Sae gave him a terse smile before putting an arm around his homeroom teacher’s shoulder. "I appreciate your discretion."
“Don’t be too mean to him, Sae,” a fourth voice said from behind Akira. “I know Kurusu-kun, and he’s certainly one to keep a secret.”
The boy gaped as he watched Takuto Maruki slip into the fourth seat at the table, sporting the nicest sweater Akira had ever seen him wear.
“Sorry to surprise you,” Maruki said as if they were meeting in the Shujin hallways instead of a bar.
Akira was at a complete loss for words. “Are you—is this—”
“Oh, no, I’m not involved in their romantic lives,” Maruki said without any resentment. “I believe I’m what you would call the designated driver, or perhaps the third wheel.”
“There’s four wheels,” Akira pointed out.
“He and Sadayo here were talking about their weekends one time, and she let it slip out that she was going to a bar without mentioning that we’d be here too,” Takemi said mirthfully, ignoring Akira’s joke. “And when he asked to come along as friends, she couldn’t get herself to say no.”
“That’s… fairly accurate,” Maruki admitted as Kawakami gave Takemi a glare that could kill.
“It turns out that Doctor Maruki is quite the conversation partner,” Sae said with a warm smile, “and a remarkably discreet man. I hope you’ll follow his example, Kurusu-kun.”
“Sae, we told you to stop threatening him!” Kawakami said as she shoved her girlfriend's upper arm playfully.
The steel-haired woman blinked before realizing that she had been threatening him again, then gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry, I can get… rather territorial, I’m told.”
“I’ve been threatened by worse,” Akira deadpanned, before pulling out the tiny notepad in his apron pocket. “Anyway, do you four want any appetizers or should we just skip to drinks?”
“Ooh, appetizers!” Maruki said, starting a lively discussion at the table over the merits of the bar’s takoyaki.
It was just past 9 PM when Akechi received the text he had been dreading.
AK: you should have told me it was makoto’s sister
He leaned forward on his couch and tried to think of the best way to respond.
GA: My apologies. I had forgotten that you and Sae had met.
GA: She is unaware of the reason you were working at the bar, right?
AK: think she was too busy glaring at me to ask
GA: I’m sorry. I should be the one taking the heat from her instead.
AK: don't worry I'm fine
AK: and so is she
AK: she goes there with her romantic partner
AK: spends a reasonable amount of time there, nobody gets too inebriated
AK: my shift’s over but the manager says they’re usually out of there by 10
AK: nothing to worry about
GA: Thank you, Kurusu.
AK: you’re welcome
AK: and you still owe me a favor
Akechi put his phone face down on the living room table.
The one thing he had neglected to realize when reading his Shakespeare was that a comedy of errors was only funny if you weren’t on the receiving end. He had thoroughly and completely embarrassed himself, and he didn’t like it.
Firstly, how had he not considered that Akira and Sae knew each other? Had he been so desperate for an answer that he’d forgotten such a crucial detail? Akira would probably make a joke about Akechi having forgotten entirely due to his irresistible charm, but that was both completely untrue and besides the point.
The more important thing, however, was that he had completely failed to consider that Sae could be in a relationship. The prosecutor had never struck him as the romantic type, but he should’ve recognized the specialty purchases on her card as being indicative of that. Yet the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. Was he overworking himself? Had he not gotten enough sleep?
He considered the smile he’d seen from her as she left from work last week. It was a thoroughly pleasant and contented one, and one that made perfect sense for a woman in a fulfilling relationship to have. Yet he’d ignored that possibility completely. This wasn’t an issue of underperformance; it had been a cognitive bias on his part.
Had he just failed to comprehend that a woman as ambitious as Sae could have a fulfilling life outside of work?
Had he written the possibility off because his own life was so empty?
Was Goro Akechi jealous of his coworker?
He picked up his phone.
GA: Feel free to claim that favor whenever you like. Although the sooner the better, preferably.
AK: eager are we?
GA: I would simply prefer to not have it hanging over my head.
AK: alright then
AK: you, me, shibuya central street movie theater, 3 pm tomorrow
Akechi wanted to throw his phone out the window.
GA: I’ll be there.
He turned his phone off, dove into the shower, and tried to ignore the pleasant tingling and flushed cheeks overtaking his common sense.