Ichika left and for a second everything was silent and still.
"I need some air." Sasazuka stated as he grabbed his coat and already left the room before anyone could question him.
"I don't like how he left right after Ichika." Kotori whispered before she began to gather her things, having needed to meet with Okazaki for breakfast. "... I should get going." She added before looking at Yanagi.
Yanagi nodded a bit before he stood up, "... Akagawa." He started, walking over to the woman and standing between her and the exit. "I need your help." He murmured.
Kotori looked at him a bit perplexed at first before she fixed her purse strap on her shoulder, "With what exactly?" She asked lightly.
"... Hoshino is our best lead on the X-Day cases... And even with you here, she said she needed time to think. I need your help in assuring that she comes back to help us." Yanagi explained as he glanced between her and the door. "... She is your cousin, you know her better than anyone here... She feels safe with you, and you know her best bet-"
"-Is here with the rest of us. I'm aware." Kotori looked down. Her cousin was a good cop, there was no question there, however, her cousin wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box. She wasn't as observant as herself or the other men here. Even Enomoto was more observant than Ichika, and that said something. "... I'll talk to her... But for now I'll let her breathe. I still have things to do before then, so I'll get her later, I'll convince her... I want her to be safe... I want all of this to be over."
Yanagi looked at her for a long time before he gently patted her shoulder, "Thank you... I know this must be hard on you."
Kotori gripped her purse strap before nodding, "Yeah... But I can't lose my composure again... We're going to save her... and we're going to shut down Adonis." She stated firmly before she set a hand over Yanagi's. "... Thanks for the support." She chuckled before moving past him and leaving to go downstairs.
When she got downstairs, however, Sasazuka was walking back up, shoving past her as he made his way back into the office. She watched him till he was out of her sight and she frowned. "…" She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and glanced back one last time before she made it outside, but Okazaki was nowhere in sight. With a groan Kotori grabbed out her phone to call him but was stopped.
"Akagawa!"
Kotori turned to see Hideaki Yoshinari rush up to her. "Hi Yoshinari. What's up?" Kotori asked before putting down her phone, "Where's the idiot of a boss you have?" She added.
Yoshinari smiled before he replied, "He went to check on something but he should be right back in a few minutes. He asked if you could wait for him."
Kotori thought about it for a second before she nodded, opting to sit on the curb. But it was longer than just a few minutes. It took him an hour to show up, immediately Kotori threw a rock at him, "Asshole." She murmured before she got up from the curb, with Yoshinari's help. "Where were you?" She asked as she gave him a look.
"I just made sure someone made it home safely, Sasazuka was scary." Okazaki stated.
Kotori wasn't an idiot and pieced it together quickly, "That little-" But she stopped herself, thinking of her next course of action before she sighed softly. "You still up for breakfast?" She asked lightly.
After breakfast with the ever so pushy Okazaki, Kotori had gone out to do some errands, and had even went out of her way to get her cousin something to eat as a snack later when they all met up for her decision. It was all still a bit too much to handle, too much to process in just those few hours of knowing, Ichika could die...
Her whole world revolved around protecting those she loved, around the people she cherished. Her parents, cousins, uncles and aunts, and the few friends she's been able to keep in touch with. Which were probably only a handful aside from Saeki.
It was like reality was playing a cruel joke on her when she had stepped into that room and saw her cousin on that couch. It was as if the universe, that God himself, wanted her to know that she was powerless yet again, that she can't protect even her cousin. The thought made her heart drop into her stomach and bile to build up in her throat.
"Saeki... Do me a tiny favor, yeah?" Kotori found herself texting before she put her phone back in her pocket and waited for his reply. By then, Saeki was probably in the middle of something, or doing nothing. It was a 50/50 chance.
Once she felt a buzz in her hand, buried in her pocket, she pulled out her phone and looked at the message.
"Sure, what's up buttercup!" Saeki replied.
"Tell Kurokawa that I'll be in tomorrow afternoon instead of the morning." Kotori sent before breathing a bit softly and heading down the street to see Ichika. She needed to talk to her, to make Ichika understand she had very few options, and only one having a bigger chance of ending well.
"You got it! I'll be busy for a while so I'll message you when I get out."
Kotori stared at the message and didn't even bother responding as she stopped at the light. Shit was hitting the fan so fast she could hardly keep up with it. She was usually so, collected, composed that hardly anything phased her. She knew that was the reason Shiraishi was having so much damn fun. She wasn't looking forward to her next run in with the profiler.
The woman slowly came up to the apartment building, walking in and making her way to Ichika and Kazuki's apartment floor. She had to do everything she could to make sure Ichika would get the best chances she could give the situation and knew very well Ichika would be on the fence about working outside of the office and with ex-cops. She knew her cousin was very dedicated to the job.
Knock. Knock.
Kotori knocked on the door before taking a deep breath when the door slowly opened to reveal the younger of the two siblings. "Hey there Kazuki."
Kazuki looked up at his cousin before looking away a bit, "… Hey." Was his low reply.
"Is your sister asleep?" Kotori asked lightly.
"Nah... She's been trying but she's been mumbling to herself for the last few hours or so, tossing and turning too." Kazuki grumbled, annoyed. He was probably irritated by the fact he couldn't sneak out if his sister was awake.
Kotori nodded before she frowned, "I'm gonna talk with her, why don't you take the opportunity to go out for a bit. Staying holed up here can't be healthy." She whispered before she slipped past him and removed her shoes.
Kazuki seemed to light up before he nodded and went to his room to grab some stuff before he left. Kotori making a bit of noise as she walked into the living room to cover Kazuki's leaving. She would rather not have him hear their conversation either.
"… Ichika." Kotori called out a bit as she walked over to her cousin, setting her bag down as she sat at the edge of the bed.
Her cousin turned to her before suddenly sitting up, tensing a bit. "K-Kotori! What are you doing here-"
"You don't need to be so tense around me, I won't bite you..." Kotori murmured, a bit hurt that her cousin had already changed how she was acting around her presence. "Unlike Sasazuka, I can take no for an answer." She added as she looked away and towards the front door where Kazuki had just left. "What's going through your mind?"
Ichika didn't answer her immediately, and Kotori had begun to contemplate if she was helping Ichika or making it worse by asking, but she finally spoke up, "… So many things, I don't think I can tell you all of them."
"Understandable..." Kotori nodded as she looked towards the ground, at her feet. "I don't know how I'd react if I was in your position." She admitted, frowning a bit more deeply before she bit her lip. "... I wish there was something more I could do for you... I'm pretty helpless... But I can assure you, me and the guys can help you get that collar off... That we can help you out of harm's way before your time is up..."
Ichika looked at her cousin before grabbing her hand, "I know... I know you will do anything to protect me and Kazuki... but those men..." She trailed off.
Kotori sighed, squeezing her cousins hand, "Sasazuka is rough, Enomoto is a bit animated, Shiraishi is eccentric and insensitive, and Yanagi is a bit intimidating... But they're all good people when it comes down to it. At first glance, maybe Yanagi looks like the only one, but I've known them a bit longer than you, and I can tell you they are capable of helping you. That they will, but only if you let them." She persisted.
Ichika looked at her cousin a bit apprehensively, her gaze slowly going to her bed, "... How can you trust them though? Any of them could have put this collar on me, Shiraishi could've planted that letter..."
"Because... They all take pride in their job. Enomoto is in a bit of a rut but he's a good cop. They all are. Shiraishi is just a bit of a... loon." Kotori whispered the last word before shaking her head. "You could die at any moment Ichika... And if you don't figure out what Adonis was talking about by some point before X-Day, how do you know they won't hurt Kazuki or me... Or your mom and dad. You have very few options here, Ichika... I just want you to make the right choice, to give you the best chance you can get..."
The two females sat there in silence for some time before suddenly Kotori's phone went off.
"Sorry..." Kotori apologized before she went to grab her phone from her coat pocket and pulled it out to see the caller ID. Shiraishi? Kotori stared at the screen for a moment before she got up, "I... I need to take this, sorry." She stood to her feet before she sighed deeply once she pressed the answer button. "What is it, catnip-for-brains?" She answered coolly, walking into the kitchen and lowering her voice.
"That's not nice, Akagawa~" Shiraishi cooed on the other side of the phone.
"I know you didn't just call me for idle chit-chat, so what do you need?" Kotori urged as she closed her eyes impatiently.
"I need some of the files I lent you the other day, but I can't go through your stuff. I need them now." Shiraishi explained. There was some shuffling around in the background so he was probably at work, and since there wasn't any yelling, Mukai probably wasn't there. Perrrrfect... Kotori thought sardonically. The last thing she wanted was to be in the same room as Shiraishi, let alone being the only other person in the room with him, but even she didn't want him snooping through her things.
"Fine. I'll be there in a bit, if you get impatient I'll hose you down." Kotori threatened before hanging up, not waiting for his response. "Sorry Ichika, but I have to go into work really quick. I'll try to show up later tonight to help ease you around the guys, but I can't make any promises." Kotori explained before she got her bag and already headed for the door.
Kotori arrived at the station and sighed with relief as she didn't find her superiors or any of the other men she worked with in the office. It was by some miracle that they weren't doing work, not that it wasn't unusual, in the office when she walked in. Quickly looking through her filing cabinet in her desk she grabbed the files Shiraishi needed before walking out into the hallway.
When she did, she ran into someone.
"Ah!" Kotori tripped over the person, stumbling, and falling onto the ground. A few of the papers fell out of the folder and she let out a soft groan of pain after her shoulder hit the tiled floor. "Shit..." Kotori whispered as she slowly pushed herself up from the floor and already began to gather the papers that fell out of the folders.
"Oh? Were you that close to the station?"
Kotori sighed deeply as she turned her head up to see Shiraishi staring down at her with a grin. "I don't like you." She stated bluntly before finishing up gathering the papers and shoving the folders to his chest. "You could've helped." She said curtly, grabbing her bag and heading back into her office.
"But why would I do that since you're the one that wasn't paying attention and ran into me?" Shiraishi sighed before smirking again. "How's that cousin of yours? Is she doing well considering her situation?"
Kotori aimed a kick at the man's head, which he caught in his hand, before he pushed her to get her off balance, but she simply flipped backwards back onto her feet. "Don't talk about Ichika." She hissed venomously. "What? Was there something else you needed or are you just here to bother me, Shiraishi?" She asked.
"I just wanted to know if you convinced the victim to help us." Shiraishi smirked.
"The victim has a name. And I don't know... Ichika is a good person but can be... Pigheaded." Kotori murmured as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She remembered many times where Ichika butted heads with her over her pride and sense of justice.
"I would say that's genetic, but that isn't really the case, is it?" Shiraishi grinned.
She could feel his eyes train on her, she knew he caught the moment her body grew tense.
Kotori looked to Shiraishi slowly, her body language blatantly showing she had her guard up. "... What?" She asked firmly as she narrowed her eyes on him.
"... You know what I mean when I say that, don't you?" Shiraishi smiled as he scratched his head a bit. "It's interesting to know that there is a subject that makes you squirm. I can see how hard you're trying to keep that calm, collected and professional persona on the surface, but beneath that you want to put a gun to my head."
"I didn't think prying into someone else's life was your shtick, Shiraishi. I figured no one was that interesting." Kotori stated as she stared down the much taller, eccentric individual. She couldn't give him what he wanted. To watch her squirm, to lash out. To become emotional where she would normally be emotionally detached. "... I will say this though. Curiosity killed the cat... And I know you've heard that expression before." She said, ominously, before she pushed past him and left the room.
Kotori hastily made her way down the hall and towards the shooting range. Her eyes stared down at the ground the whole time, hoping no one would stop her, afraid that if anyone touched her that she might've shot them.
"...Ugh." She groaned before she made it to her destination and found no one around. "Thank God..." She found herself whispering before she started to set herself up at one of the counters, getting her gun from beneath her coat.
"I would say it's genetic, but that's not really the case, is it?"
Kotori shut her eyes as she held the gun in her hands, careful not to put a finger on the trigger.
"Sumire! Kotori! Akemi! Come on girls! It's time to get inside!"
"Okayyyyy...!" The three children groaned as Akemi's mother called the three friends inside. Rushing in from the cold of the winter's snow, all of them smiled at one another, giggling as they noticed their rosy red cheeks and noses.
"Dinner is ready make sure your parents know you're sleeping over." Akemi's mom smiled.
"Okay!" Sumire and Kotori said happily.
"Help me! Kotori! Please!"
"NO!"
"LEAVE HER ALONE!"
"HELP ME!"
Kotori lifted up the gun, her eyes shooting open as everything stained red, pulling the trigger more than once, emptying the magazine of her bullets. She only stopped when she couldn't hear the noise of the bullets leaving her gun anymore.
Kotori panted, breathing heavily as that overwhelming, pent up anger crashed over her like a wave, before gradually pulling back into the abyss within her heart.
The female officer leaned against the divider before she fell to her knees, her head was throbbing now and she felt a sharp pain behind one of her eyes. "I hate this..." She whispered softly, letting the gun fall from her hands to the floor. "… I'm sorry... Sumire..."
Kotori was in her apartment when she received Yanagi's text about her cousin agreeing to cooperate with them. A sigh of relief passed her lips as she plopped down onto her couch and pressed her face into the cool pillow. The last 40 hours were a nightmare, and she knew this was only the beginning of it. Her troubles always had a way of creating more chaos. Life was "funny" that way. Throwing everyone through the loop for the benefit of whatever God watched over them.
When her phone started vibrating in her jacket pocket she let out a groan of irritation. Her day off wasn't exactly going as planned, and if it was her superior calling her in, she'd be a little more than pissed.
She didn't even check the ID before holding it to her ear after pressing answer. "Hello?"
"…"
Kotori's brows furrowed in confusion as silence greeted her, "Hello?... Um, this is Kotori Akagawa... Who is this...?" She asked, slowly pushing herself up from the couch.
"We would like to thank you for persuading your cousin into picking the more attractive choice. We would like to have your assistance in maintaining a relationship between Ichika Hoshino and the group you associate with from this point on."
Kotori frowned, her body tensing up as she stood to her feet, "I didn't do it for you. I did it for Ichika's sake." She hissed harshly. She wasn't in the mood to be toyed with right now. The day completely exhausted her. There was no self-restraint, there was no composure. She couldn't hide her irritation and anger any longer.
"Well your best interest happens to align with ours quite nicely. So you will hear from us again. Thank you for your time, Miss Akagawa."
The line hung up.
I know this chapter was shorter than the last two but I thought this was a good place to stop. (Considering I have a hard time determining where a good stopping point is when going off the games.)
Anyways, I apologize for the long hiatus, life has been extremely crazy and hard on me and I was in major writers block for a long time. Hopefully I can get the next chapter up soon. As always, please follow, favorite, and review this fanfiction I would really appreciate it. Till next time!
Sincerely,
Chess