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

Goro still felt like an idiot. He allowed more honesty than he ever should in his right mind. Akira seemed happy, though. He'd told Goro that he rarely talked out of fear of saying the wrong thing, and of course Goro was proud to know Akira didn't worry so much about that with him.

This...this had to be the right thing to do. He was making Akira happy, that was the best thing he could manage. Goro's heart twisted and ached seeing the man smile, knowing he'd soon have to kill him, but he was happy for now.

The plan to paint the Thieves as murderers was in place. They'd worked through his palace, and Goro had followed. Far as Shido knew, he'd blackmail them not long after. He'd have to reveal Akira as their leader in a matter of days. He'd still be betraying him.

If he changed parts of the plan, Shido didn't have to know. If, instead of blackmailing the Thieves, he expressed concern after learning their identities and asked to help protect them, Akira wouldn't be so badly hurt. It was the least he could do, now.

Goro wanted to stop thinking about Akira, but he couldn't. Couldn't get the way the man had looked at him from his head. He wasn't so dense as to miss Akira's lovesick gaze, more genuine than the ones he was used to but that only made it worse. He liked Akira, he knew that, and he was angry to discover Akira likely felt the same.

The short month they had left made rejecting him dangerous, for no other reason than how much it might hurt. That was all he could think, how much pain he'd cause Akira. It was hard, some days, to keep his premature grief from showing. From looking at Akira like the ghost he was soon to be.

Goro had seen at dozens of people who'd die by his own hand, passed them with the same pleasantries as always, without a pang of remorse. They meant nothing, just pawns on his way to revenge. They didn't deserve to live, anyway.

Wakaba Isshiki's death hit him hard, he still felt guilt over that woman, but he hadn't known her. He didn't speak to her for weeks, didn't call her a friend. She wasn't Akira, whom he loathed to admit he adored. Akira was personal, Akira was the most incredible person he'd ever met. When Akira stared down the barrel of his gun, Goro's kindness would be determined only by how quickly he'd pull the trigger.

The sound of the fight not far off was background noise. He didn't pay much attention, didn't care. He knew that the Phantom Thieves would win. They'd defeat Okumura, and leave with his treasure. Then, Goro would step out of hiding and finish him off. Another stab to his chest, knowing he was killing a girl's father. Okumura was a horrid man who didn't deserve to live, and he felt no remorse, but losing an awful parent could still hurt.

Goro had met Haru Okumura a few times before. Never was it anything notable, only due to their fathers' influence. They'd hardly spoken. He knew Okumura, though, from the jobs he'd done in the past for the man. He knew that he likely made his daughter's life a living hell. If Okumura lived, his daughter would get some closure, knowing he'd been brought to justice. She didn't want him dead, not like Goro. He knew she was a better person.

He'd be leaving that girl to inherit her father's company, as well as the bad name that surely would come with. And she was a Phantom Thief, which meant soon he'd have to face her and work beside her. Not only her, but Wakaba Isshiki's daughter, too. Goro knew it was karma spitting in his face. That was fine. He knew that he deserved it. 

If there was anything Goro knew he could do, it was mask his intentions and everything else. He was good at lying. He hadn't stopped in years, whether to himself or to everyone around him. Akira knew already that he didn't quite show his true face, even in his weakest moments, but Goro never admitted that the reason was because he refused to show it even to himself.