Marionette(My Strings Are Titanium, You Cannot Cut Them)

No Correct Choice

This had been something discussed before, it had been put on the back-burner but now there was a chance of figuring it out. "Do you think you could trace an anonymous comment from the Phan-Site?"

Futaba scoffed. "Yeah, duh, I can do that no problemo. Which comment you want traced?" She pulled up the site on a different tab.

Akira helped her locate the comment detailing the information of Kaneshiro's palace, and she agreed that it seemed suspicious. It didn't take long at all for her to finish. Dread pooled in Akira's stomach.

"Huh, weird, why's that detective guy posting stuff like this?" Futaba cocked her head. "If he knew the guy's name, shouldn't he have told the cops? I mean, hadn't they been after this guy for ages?"

Akira squeezed his eyes shut. He'd been right, Goro was somehow in big trouble and it had something to do with Kaneshiro. If he really was in that deep, which the evidence seemed pretty telling that he was, Akira could no longer stand by and do nothing.

"Oh, shit." Futaba whispered. "That's the guy who..." She stood up and held her arms out to Akira. He didn't take long to accept the offered hug. "I tried to respect your privacy, but I know you guys are close, and I know he blocked your number. And that he's come to Leblanc, to you, crying."

"Yeah." Akira stepped back, briefly removing his glasses to rub his eyes. "He, uh, he's someone really important to me. And I knew he was in some sort of danger before, but this...I don't know what to do."

Futaba nodded, thinking. "After I take care of Medjed, I can help you with that. It'll be a breeze, and he can't block me. Plus, having his info, I can track him easy. You probably don't wanna go full stalker-mode, but I'll be committing the bigger crimes, so no biggie." She shrugged. "What do you say?"

Akira hesitated. He really wanted to give Goro space, but it didn't seem like that was an option anymore. He sighed. "Thank you, Futaba. I really...I miss him a lot. And I'm scared."

Futaba wavered her hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, Futaba's the best. Now can I work?"

"Yeah, sorry." Akira chuckled sheepishly.

It took hours of rapid clicking and the occasional hum of annoyance or delight for her to finish. Akira slept for a little while, considering the sleep he'd been getting at night wasn't the best. He was feeling better now, more confident. Futaba had a surefire way to make sure he could at least hear from Goro himself what had happened.

Much to his dismay, Akira was also pulled into the velvet room. Honestly, it was always an annoying experience gaining nothing but cryptic words and a new feature of the room, if he was lucky.

He pulled himself to his feet, ignoring Caroline's glare and Justine's stern gaze. Igor always looked the same, voice always the same level of chilling. He didn't really seem to care so much about Akira as he did rehabilitation, whatever that meant.

"The game is far from over, but your choices now will determine the outcome." Ah, he so missed Igor's mysterious way of speaking. "Choose carefully who you trust. Your confidants will determine whether you succeed or fail."

Akira hardly held back a sigh, not wanting Caroline to yell at him. "Are you talking about Goro?" What, was Igor warning him away from the detective now, too? What was he caught up in that Igor himself was telling him to stay away?

Igor's stare bore through him. "Take heed in your choices. Be wary who you trust."

With a gasp, Akira shot up. The velvet room always made him uneasy, but he didn't remember ever waking up in a cold sweat like this before. It was like he'd had a nightmare.

That warning still prickled at his skin, and he wondered for a moment if Igor had intended for him to feel afraid.

Futaba didn't seem to notice him, still working tirelessly at her computer. Akira was glad, he didn't feel like explaining the Velvet Room to her, or anyone. He didn't quite know why he kept it secret, maybe because it was just another layer of weirdness that he wasn't ready to actually tackle.

Igor wasn't really talking about Goro, right? Then again, it seemed the most likely idea. But why? Would his current path really get him killed?

Akira took a deep breath. Even if that chance did hang in the air, it wouldn't stop him. If safety was his concern, he never would've returned to Kamoshida's palace. Igor could tell him outright that it was true, but he wouldn't care. Akira didn't care what was predetermined or not, he'd spent several nights trying to convince a fortune teller of the same thing.

If he was being honest, the warning only made Akira want to help Goro even more. It was probably pretty stupid on his part, no doubt Goro would agree, but he'd had multiple people call him selfless to a fault.

Before long, it was dark, and Akira was considering just heading back to Leblanc. He'd texted Sojiro a while ago letting him know Futaba was awake, everyone else as well. Before he could make a decision, Futaba stretched her arms and turned around with a proud grin. "All done! Now shoo, I'm going to bed, we can discuss stalking that detective tomorrow."

"A-Alright!" Akira laughed as he was practically shoved out of the room. The walk back to Leblanc was quiet, it usually was by this time. He did wonder what exactly Futaba had done, she hadn't exactly let him know the details. He trusted her, though, and was sure he'd find out very soon.

Akira did need to turn in soon. It had been close to a month now, but he hadn't stopped hoping. He felt Morgana and Sojiro's sympathetic glances every morning, knowing he wouldn't listen if they tried to talk sense into him. Even if Futaba had promised to help him, he'd rather not resort to such extreme measures. Even if he knew it was pretty much unavoidable on his part.

Sojiro thanked him when he got back, telling Akira he was glad that Futaba had someone else to rely on. He had just finished closing up, so it seemed Akira had timed his return perfectly.

Unfortunately, now that he was no longer stressed over Futaba and Medjed, it meant Akira had even more time to spend dwelling on Goro. Would the man be angry with him for what he was about to do? Almost certainly, yes. What if he did end up just making things between them worse? Were the only options really stalking him or forgetting about him?

He hated this. Hated not being able to do more. Goro probably would hate him, if he didn't already. If he was actually as good of a person as he tried to be, Akira would just let him go. It wasn't his call, they hardly even knew one another. Yeah, they were close enough to use their first names. And of course, Akira missed him so much that it physically hurt. But there was no way this was the best course of action. He could just keep up what he'd been doing, hope he'd run into the detective by chance. Maybe.

Akira sent Futaba a text saying he felt like anything she could do would be going too far. Maybe he'd ask Makoto if she could talk to him at cram school, even have her deliver a note from him or something. She didn't respond, considering she'd told him she was going to sleep, but she'd see it whenever she did wake up.

He wasn't going to stop trying, but Akira refused to resort to anything that would almost certainly just anger Goro. That wasn't his goal. All he wanted was to be able to spend time around his friend again, and to make sure he was okay.