Raito stood silent, still masked behind the massive Kawai Kitty head, the faux whiskers twitching slightly with each artificial breath of the voice box.
Akemi remained planted in front of him, arms crossed, brow arched, and the same sly expression on her face. She dug into her small purse and pulled out a folded slip of paper.
Without ceremony, she held it up and tucked it into the paw of his foam glove.
"Call me," she said, her voice light but diabolical. "When you get the time."
Raito tilted the mascot head slightly. "And if I don't?" he asked, voice still filtered through that too-cheerful feline tone.
Akemi gave him a smile that was far too sweet to be innocent.
"I'll tell Officer Yumi everything," she said softly. "Down to how you gracefully stomped a thug into the floor while shouting Kawai Kitty's Final Friendship Combo."
Raito was silent.
"I will think about it," he replied at last, dry even through the chipper filter.
She raised an eyebrow. "I know you will."
Then, just as Yumi's voice called, "Akemi? Where'd you go?", the actress stepped back, her expression shifting to something more casual, carefree. She turned with practiced elegance and strolled toward the nearby booth just in time for Yumi to look up from a plushie Emi had been trying to eat.
"There you are!" Yumi called. "Don't wander off, I'm already babysitting one person today."
Akemi laughed. "Sorry! Just got distracted by a super cute keychain."
Yumi rolled her eyes, bouncing Emi slightly on her hip as they continued down the aisle.
Raito didn't move for a moment, still holding the slip of paper in his foam paw.
"She's dangerous," Kurai murmured inside his head. "The cute ones always are."
"A little girl like her isn't scaring me," Raito muttered.
He turned sharply, slipping the paper into the secret compartment inside the suit and walking in the opposite direction—far from the drama, the detective, the actress, and the baby.
He could survive the last forty minutes. Preferably, somewhere on the other side of the con.
With each swaying step, he repeated his mantra: Just a bit more. Then I'm done.