Goro Akechi

(Originally written by Guyman for Writing.com. Also, SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 5!!!)

A screaming swathe of girls — and some men — rushed past the alley in Shinjuku.

"WHERE IS HE?" The echo of their shrill cries echoed through the ward, even into the shop where the Detective Prince, their target, was hiding.

Akechi sighed to himself. The attention was nice, but crowds like this got annoying after a while. Some girl saw him when he was staking out Okumura Foods and sent out an alert to the 'Akechi Fan Club 'All it takes are a few fake cases and the sheep are following me around like I'm holding hay!' A voice laughed in the back of his head. Goro quickly silenced it — this was a time to be the Detective Prince, not the Black Knight.

"Excuse me?" A voice quavered from the front of the store. Akechi looked askance at the source — he hadn't actually wanted to talk to anyone today, so this was certainly inconvenient.

Regardless, he put on his most winning smile and approached the counter. "Hello there. My apologies, I was trying to hide, and your stor—" He stopped, realizing how suspicious he sounded. He quickly backpedaled. "Ah, not in any criminal sense, I assure you. Just a horde of fans. You see, I'm —."

"Goro Akechi." The old man finished, to Akechi's mild annoyance. 'YOU THINK YOU CAN INTERRUPT ME, YOU DODDERING FOSSIL!', The Knight in his head screamed, just in time for Akechi to shove it back down.

"I saw you on the television." The storekeep grasped Akechi's gloved hands with his quavering pair. "Y-You don't realize how much you've done for me... For this country!"

'That's right old fool, lick my boots. It's what you pawns are best at, anyways.' For once, Akechi let the Knight stay around for a bit. He did have a point this time.

The old man continued, tears in his eyes. "M-my son. He was on the train that crashed in April." Akechi's smile dropped quickly. The Knight was silent. "And to think you found the man who did it. It's heroes like you that let an old man me know that our country is in good hands."

Akechi could barely recall the following ten minutes. They were vague shapes in his head — he managed to fix his smile back on his face, the old man cried for some time, and said more things to him. Akechi smiled and nodded, but everything that came out of the man's mouth sounded like static.

The old man folded something into his hands, and Akechi politely opened the door, waved goodbye, and promptly vomited into the nearby trash can.

He feebly looked at what the old man gave him. It was ______________. Akechi shoved it into his pockets without a second thought and began the trek home, flipping the barely-used hood over his head.

People who looked at him on his way back didn't see a gallant Prince or a fierce Knight. They just saw another lonely soul walking back to an empty home.