Improvisation

Part 2: Impromptu

"Godai-san?"

Godai hurriedly shoved the dirty magazine behind him and sat back against the park bench as Yako approached, carrying a small basket of apples.

That was his first clue that something was not right.

"It's been a while, ne," she said, tucking her skirt under her legs (not her school skirt – it was Sunday, after all) and sitting down. She set the basket between them. "I'm glad I caught you out of the office."

"Um, yeah…" Godai agreed distractedly, staring at the apples, trying to figure out what was so wrong with them that Yako the Glutton would not touch them. Had Neuro dipped them in poison, infected them with some virus, or shoved bugs into them, and then forced Yako to bring them on pain of torture? Was it because the monster was seeking to punish him on one of his too-few breaks from the madhouse of the data-mining company?

"Has… has Neuro been to see you?"

"What?"

"Godai-san, there's nothing wrong with the apples," she said tiredly, picking one up. There was a small ceramic paring knife in the basket as well; she used this to peel the thick dusky red skin from the apple, revealing perfectly white, glistening flesh beneath. The sweet smell tickled Godai's nose, and his stomach growled appreciatively. Bachelor tough-guy habits died hard – even though he was "in charge" of a company, his default menu was limited to whatever pre-packed onigiri or bento he happened to pick up at the convenience store. All the same…

"You take the first bite," he said, trying not to drool.

Yako sighed. "I'm not really hungry…"

"Bullshit!" Godai cursed more out of surprise than anger, but Yako nearly jumped off the bench, the apple flying from her hand.

The denuded fruit thunked softly on the dirt and lay there, pathetically inert.

"What the fuck's up with you?" he asked, more than a little perturbed by the way Yako simply selected another apple and began peeling as if nothing as catastrophic as food going to waste had happened.

"Sorry…" she murmured, methodically turning the apple as the skin came away in one long, thick ribbon. "Here, Godai-san, I just picked this up in the Marushoku across the street, Neuro… Neuro hasn't had a chance to mess with them." She cut out a good-sized wedge, extracting the tough fibrous core and dark seeds with deft movements that spoke of years of technique.

Godai snorted faintly and took the section of apple. "I mean it, Detective, what the hell's up with you?" he demanded again. A few seconds of ferocious mental gear-spinning later, he added, "What, you still depressed over that cop?"

Yako's shoulders twitched and she bowed her head, bangs veiling her eyes. "I can't help it… he was right there and I couldn't…"

"If you hadn't had that wall between you and Sicks, you wouldn't be sitting here feeling sorry for yourself," Godai pointed out with ruthless logic. "It had nothing to do with you – the idiot chose to go up against Sicks and Sai on his own and he lost. End of story."

"It's hardly that cut-and-dry, Godai-san," she said lowly, so that he almost did not hear her.

"Suit yourself," he tossed off, shoving the piece of apple into his mouth. It was good, sweet and a little tart, and, so far as he could tell, completely untampered with. He chewed and swallowed, accepted the next piece she proffered. "Feeling sorry for him or yourself ain't gonna bring him back."

"That's true," Yako agreed neutrally, staring at the remaining half of apple, "That's why I've decided to do what I can to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else."

Godai cleaned a bit of apple from his teeth with the nail of his pinky finger. Something was definitely wrong with the young detective, and it was not just depression or lack of sleep. For some reason, it mattered to him to find out.

"Hey, Yako…"

"Godai-san, I was hoping you could find a couple things out for me," Yako interrupted, handing him a folded piece of notebook paper.

Godai opened the page and skimmed the list. "Neuro already told me to check a couple of these things out, but why do you need to find one of Harukawa's old supercomputers? The police had those destroyed months ago."

"Maybe, maybe not, but could you please check?" Yako asked, handing him the knife and the apple. She took a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed away the traces of juice from her palm.

Godai stared at her. Was it his imagination, or did she look more frail than usual, hollowed out and exhausted? "What's going on, Yako?"

"It's to fight the New Bloodline, that's all that matters, right?" she returned, her voice and eyes hard. She blinked, noticing his surprised look. "If you could, when Neuro sees you next… can you not tell him about this?"

Godai was on full alert now: Yako, hiding things from Neuro? Was she nuts? "Yako…"

"My new cell number's on the bottom of the page – please call it if you get something, the old one's… no good anymore," she said quickly, turning to go. "Bye, Godai-san, the rest of the apples are yours. Thanks for your help!"

"Oi, wai- !"

Being able to run away that fast had to be a side-effect of working for Neuro. Godai looked down at the paper in his hand. "… Dammit."

---

Variation 2

He looked about disdainfully. When it came to his personal space, he was meticulous; while others might only see chaos, he saw an intricate system, one where he could access any required item at any given moment. This… habitat… of hers: Entropy wrapped Indifference, given a good beating by Ineptitude.

Further proof he had tolerated her for much longer than even his frightfully generous nature should have allowed.

Take the desk tucked under the window: littered with crinkled cellophane senbei wrappers gone stale, juice bags sucked dry and forlorn thin cardboard boxes emptied of chocolate-covered biscuit sticks, among other things. He riffled through the detritus, seeking what he had come for, jerking open the small drawers and discarding them and their jumbled contents on the floor.

Not there. He should be able to sense it, even if it was buried under an avalanche; it was his, after all.

Glass cracked plaintively under the sole of his shoe. Annoyed, he lifted his foot and glared down at the offending bit of trash: a photograph, her and her mother and the man whose murder had brought him here from Hell. She held a black tube across her chest as if it was a precious thing, staring at the camera, half-exhilarated, half-afraid. Both her mother and father, on the other hand, radiated joy and pride in their spawn, their arms enveloping her in a way that looked to feel so very different from how he…

He kicked it away under the bed, heard the frame shatter against the wall, bits of glass doubtless scattering in a way guaranteed to make reaching under the bed a hazardous proposition.

Good.

He narrowed his eyes, taking in the disheveled drawers and closet. "Akane, where are you?" he said, beyond irritated.

A soft rustle came to him in reply from the bottom of the closet. He threw aside a much-abused cream-colored sweater and located her black school bag.

The tip of a braided lock of ebony hair twitched at him from the side pocket.

"There you are," he muttered, sliding cellphone and secretary out of the bag. His errand completed, he turned to leave.

"Ah!"

He stopped short, blinking at the woman in the doorway, who stared back at him with equal surprise. "Okaa-sama!" he greeted in an eager boyish voice, sliding his cheerful mask seamlessly into place. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Oh, yes… Nougami-san," Katsuragi Haruka replied, sounding relieved. "Since before Valentine's, ne?"

He continued to smile, irritation rapidly mounting; why was he lingering here, making nice? There was no need for it anymore, not since…

"Oh, she must have left her cellphone," the woman was saying. She laughed briefly and shook her head. "She must be so distracted by the case to have done that. How nice of you to come and get it for her."

"Sensei's always forgetting things," he chirped through grit teeth, "She's always sending me out to fetch things for her, no matter how tired I am."

She nodded sympathetically. "Poor Yako-chan, she was all out of sorts when she came home a couple days ago. It almost reminded of the time when… well, that nice policeman had helped her out so many times, I suppose it was only natural." She swiped a stray bit of moisture from her eyes and beamed at him. "I worry about her, but when she has work to do, she becomes more alive. So, thank you very much, and please keep looking out after her."

He stared at her, uncomprehending. "She told you she's working on a case?" he asked slowly.

"Why yes! She said it was so important that she would be gone for a few days, but that I wasn't to worry." She looked at him, eyebrows raised in slight confusion. "Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing. I must be getting back to sensei. Have a good evening, okaa-sama."

"Have a good evening as well. Could you please tell Yako-chan to call me before I leave for Taiwan tomorrow?"

"Certainly."

Haruka saw him out to the door, and did not notice the cellphone discarded on the floor of her daughter's room.