fiddlestick | [IC] Mochi House Group Text @ recolle

[Elliot listens to Akira's breakdown of the suspects and the evidence. He knows what he's talking about with Eren's lack of motive. He won't give any details either, just giving a simple nod of confirmation.

As for the Leo part...] Futaba told me that Leo was with her the day Zee died, so that rules him out too. If anyone would notice something suspicious, it'd be her. [Because his baby sister is the smartest and the best]

[But...ah, he goes quiet at Goro's reaction. Still learning about the other, he hadn't realized that Goro's brother was on the suspect list. That was....well. Bad.]

Ah...

[He watches Goro go, a worried look on his face.

And then slowly he looks back at Akira. ]

...That's why you didn't want to talk about it with us, isn't it?

[ Akira waits for Goro to leave the house officially with the slam of the door before he continues. As much as he wants to say they should reevaluate the suspect list with a set of refreshed eyes, he has a name and a face in mind. He just didn't feel comfortable talking about it with Goro around.

Even when he wasn't, he would be forcing both Yusuke and Elliot to live with this secret since they share the same house. He lets out a deep exhale. Here we go. ]

... Yes. At first, I brushed it off, but Goro has been suspiciously evasive about this topic.

[ It makes sense why. His brother is a suspect? But it feels more like he's hiding something, but he doesn't want to doubt him, so. He's going to let it go and go a little deeper here. ]

After the months where we were kind of different people, Goro told me that he was part of a some mob family and his brother would take over in the near future. He never explicitly told me which family, so I couldn't use what knowledge Ren had of the underground to draw an exact connection... But that crime ring was big in Recolle, so taking them out would do a service to the public and for their family no matter how powerful and influential they were.

[ It's still a reach compared to concrete evidence, but it's a motive nonetheless. This connection has more weight than anything they could have pulled from the suspect list. ]

I like Akira, but he's the most suspicious right now.

People are evasive when a topic is uncomfortable, or holds a truth they don't want to discuss. Or both. Which is understandable. It is possible to press the topic with them, but it's tricky to do so without causing conflict.

[ Spoken with the wisdom and tiredness of someone who has had nine hecking months of this, and only managed to pick vague details along the way. Akira, you have his sympathies even if he is still lowkey ticked at you. ]

The ... things from when we were essentially different people haven't necessarily stuck though, have they? [ ... He knows it didn't for him, at least. ] Or some parts did and others didn't, if I'm remembering correctly? I wonder if it's possible certain aspects of those other lives could stick for one half of a family and not the other.

Yeah.... [Elliot bites his lip] It's possible he knows something, but it'd be better to look into other leads first before trying to force him to talk. It is his own brother, after all. It'd be really hard for anyone to come forward...so he needs to figure that out on his own terms.

[It'd be better for Goro, in the long run. As well for Goro and Akira's relationship. If they can get proof without forcing Goro to sell his brother out, all the better]

It's...hard to remember what stuck and what didn't, exactly. Besides, the murders against criminals did start around that time, so even if those memories didn't stick, he did have a motive at the time.

Meanwhile, I know that Togusa is a police officer. It's possible he's become crooked and decided to take the law into his own hands by killing some criminals...but if this power lets you control how a person dies, I think a cop would stick to lower profile deaths, you know? Deaths that wouldn't cause problems for other officers.

There was nothing low profile about Zee's death, you can say that much.

[ Yusuke being low key ticked is better than High Key. He will take this as a small victory. Anywhere, there is some solidarity in Mochi House again. ]

They would investigate those closest to suspects first—family and friends... Unfortunately, Goro will need to answer questions even if it doesn't come from any of us.

[ Despite saying that, Akira doesn't seem all too gung-ho about pressing Goro for any answers... He gets it. It's family. ]

I see your point, Elliot. I don't think it's quite enough to rule out Togusa, but I'll be sending this information off to someone capable.

[ Well. This is all awkward. What else is there to say? ]

Thank you for hearing me out.

[ Nailed it. ]

[IC] Mochi House Group Text @ recolle

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