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Summary: Akako receives a visit from KID and is given a request.
When it comes to information gathering and computer hacking, there's only two people worth paying in Tokyo.
All the others will work if faced with intimidation tactics and blackmail, but Koizumi Akako and her partner… well, they only work when there's money involved. Maybe they can't be intimidated because they're also information brokers, but there's never been an instance where they've been forced to work without pay or to give up secrets unwillingly.
So, as soon as KID comes through into the bar she runs – WitchCraft – Akako has to swallow the words 'wallet out first', each word slithering back down her throat like ink. It's tasteless, almost disgusting, but they've got a certain… clause to their business that makes KID's situation different to the others.
Instead of saying anything, Akako pours him a drink – nothing alcoholic, he's driving and needs to get home to Aoko-chan soon – dropping two ice cubes into the glass and splashing lemonade onto the bar. Bubbles burn against her hand, but it's not painful, not the way hellfire and acid are, so she doesn't think twice about it.
KID drops into a stool as she pushes the glass over, offers her one of his most charming grins, (which means that not only does he want something, he wants it quickly), and sips at his lemonade without breaking eye contact. Akako almost wants to snatch the glass back, and throw it at his smug face.
She doesn't.
"Can I get an ice cream?" He asks, and Akako's eyelid twitches. She's surprised she's not throttled him yet – and then she reminds herself: the clause. A mutual decision between her and her partner and for every moment she's been glad it's in place, she's also wanted to redact it and burn the unwritten contract to ashes.
"We're in a bar, Kaito-kun," Akako says, and she's glad they've reached a point where he doesn't glare every time she uses his given name, it almost makes her feel giddy. "Does it look like we have fucking ice cream here?"
"Is that a no?"
Akako squints, "there's some up in the office. If you want it that badly, you can go up yourself." She pauses, eyes glancing towards the dance floor where a couple of foreigners are dancing a lot more promiscuously than she'd anticipated. She'll have to cut them off soon, before they become complete messes. "What are you really here for?"
"I have a disc, but it's encrypted. I need you to unlock it."
Akako shrugs her shoulders. All of the equipment is up in the offices, and since she's waiting for one of her bartenders to come back from their break she can't exactly leave their newbie by himself yet.
"How soon do you need it?" She says, which is as close to a 'yes, I'll do it' as she'll ever come to saying. If she can get to the computers then she can start – but well, she doesn't think that KID knows enough about hacking to understand that things like this actually do take time. It's not like she can just hard break an encryption, it'd take years if she goes about it that way…
"How does an hour sound?" KID asks, and this time Akako does lean forward, snatching the glass from his hand and pouring it away into the sink. She places it back on the counter, glares across at him. "I take it an hour is an insult?"
"Hacking isn't as easy as typing a little bit of code and expecting everything to unravel," Akako says, "but we'll see what we can do."
KID jerks around, and Akako smirks as she watches him search for her other half. It's almost comical, and she has to suppress a laugh, mainly because KID's always been a performer, and performers get antsy whenever their audience don't respond the way they'd planned.
"If you're looking for Saguru-kun," Akako says, clicking her tongue, "he's in the office. If you wait for one of my staff to get back, we'll go up and bother him together."
When he turns back, his lips are pressed into a thin line. He's not Hakuba Saguru's biggest fan, but he does respect him. There's distaste there, at having to ask Saguru for help, and Akako almost revels in seeing the expression instead of a grin, purely because it's real and it's raw.
"Unless," Akako raises an eyebrow, "you'd like to go up without me?"
A shake of his head. KID leans forward against the bar, pushes the glass back towards her and says, "as long as I'm not waiting too long. Aoko will worry."
It takes fifteen minutes of waiting, but eventually her staff member does finish her break. It really shouldn't be so long, Akako thinks, but one look at the break roster shows that her bartender is actually back ten minutes earlier than expected.
Akako shrugs it off with a half-hearted smile, sends KID a look for him to follow after he and makes her way over to his side of the bar. Then, she throws off the slight apron she's wearing, folding it over her arm. It's a fluid movement, as she walks, shadowed by the thief.
"I've still got some things I need to do as well," Akako says, as KID falls into step beside her, the two of them making their way to the back, where the offices are situated, "but I'll offer whatever help I can while you explain. We do need to check our books before we close tonight though, so that's my priority."
"It must be a pain running this place," KID says after a moment, which… Isn't exactly false. It's not true either, not by a long shot, and Akako saves the response that she actually enjoys running a business, half because she knows he doesn't care, the other half because it's something she wants to keep secret.
Instead, she hums – a sound that's not quite a confirmation, but not disapproval either.
"I'm glad you're here tonight though," KID continues after a moment, as if her silence isn't a request for him to quit talking. Akako doesn't know whether she loves him or hates him; The emotions twist and mix into one another. "I'm not dressed for the casino."
"You know that the casino is Saguru's domain," Akako sighs.
"And yet," KID says, "he's here."
This time, she can't resist the smirk that rises to her face. Seriously – who does Kuroba think he's dealing with? He's visiting the best informants in Tokyo and he's wondering why they're both in the same place at once? There's only one answer to that:
Him.
"We had a feeling you might visit soon," Akako says, as she opens the door to the office. She offers another smirk, "we can tell the future you know, I'm a witch."
She's not but well… with the right amount of hallucinogens and alcohol mixing into the bar, she might as well be. And with the right sources, the right information, it's not difficult to predict future events. It's why she works well alongside Saguru – mixing logic and magic together leaves them both at the top of the metaphorical food chain in Tokyo.
"A witch, huh?" KID mutters, "sounds fitting."
It's difficult to decide whether she should be insulted or complimented. Shelving it away for later consideration, she steps inside the office, waiting until KID's stepped inside to close the door behind him. It closes with a click, leaving them in a artificially lit room.
It's not much different to a regular office: There are file cabinets in the far right corner, and a desk with paper stacked on the side. Work schedules are scattered around the middle of the desk, around the monitor and maybe Akako is a bit messy but she's efficient.
"I thought it was about time for you to show up," Saguru says, from where he's searching through the cabinets. The cabinets all have files, information that they've printed out for clients who'll be interested, but most of their information is kept on USB sticks that they wear on their person at all times. "Tea?"
Beside her KID tenses. The tension is palpable, easily sliced into and Akako leans forward to click on the kettle that Saguru has brought, for something to do.
"Tea would be nice," She says, "I'll make gyokuro, do you think that'll be sweet enough for your taste, KID?"
She turns, and receives a nod. KID slumps forward, throwing himself down onto one of the couches in the middle of the room. There are two, positioned opposite one another with a coffee table between them. By the time she's poured the tea for the three of them, Saguru has gathered a file from the cabinet, and has thrown it on the coffee table.
Akako doesn't need to ask which it is.
KID scoops it up as she places the cups down onto the table, opens the file to the first page. He pauses, glances up at them both as Akako settles next to Saguru on the seat.
"What the hell is this?"
"Masuyama Kenzo's phone records." Saguru says, "all the calls he made from his mobile and house phone in the past three months. Who he called, and for how long. You should've interrogated him before shooting him, you know."
"What does it matter who he spoke to?" KID grumbles, "all we need to worry about is what he knew. Not who knows what."
Akako sighs, picks up her cup, blowing at steam to cool it down. She takes a sip of her drink, leans it on her knee as she says, "you're usually so smart. I guess this is why you're not an informant. Look at the second page, third from the bottom."
KID turns the page, scowls at the paper. He looks up, "Why the hell would Pisco be phoning an American number…? I take it you guys have looked into it?"
"Naturally," Saguru says, pulling his phone from his pocket. He unlocks it with his fingerprint, swipes at his screen to pull up a picture. He turns it to show KID, the photograph depicting a blonde American woman with glasses framing her face. "Starling Jodie. She's an FBI agent working in Japan. Her official records say she's working as an English teacher while taking a holiday from the force."
"Let me guess," KID says, glancing at the photograph, memorising the lines of her face, the crinkle between her brows, "the FBI records say differently."
"Exactly," Akako says, "that, mixed with the fact that she's talking to Masuyama, means that you've got yet another organisation on your back."
Reaching his hand into his jacket pocket, KID pulls out a disc. He passes it over to Akako, narrowing his eyes as she takes it. He says, "So they've obviously got something concrete to get the FBI involved then. We need to read into this disc then."
"The disc that Gin was asking for?" Saguru asks, as Akako places her cup back onto the table, making her way over to her desk. Opening the disc drive, she places it inside, sitting down on the chair to glance at the monitor.
"How- You know what, I'm not gonna ask how you know. How long do you think it'll take to get into that disc?"
Saguru stands too, bringing his tea with him, where he stands behind Akako, glancing at the monitor as she pulls up lines of code. It'd not taken either long to learn to read binary code, and sometimes looking at ones and zeros seems more natural than at letters.
"Anywhere between seconds," Akako says, "and never. We'll text you when we've unlocked it."
KID crosses his arms, opens his mouth to speak but ultimately, says nothing.
"Anyway, don't you need to burn down Masuyama's house?" Saguru adds, "I thought Kudo gave you orders for it."
"I couldn't exactly burn the place down until I knew I had the right disc, could I?" KID sighs, shakes his head. "I guess I'll just have to drive back now. If it's not the real thing, you'll get into it by the time I get to his house again, right?"
Once again, Akako wants to hit him for thinking hacking is as easy as that. Instead, they both nod – hacking is always easier when no one's around trying to distract you – and tell him they'll be in touch.
"Oh, and Kuroba?" Hakuba says, as KID stands, readying himself to leave. "Use the fact that Starling is a teacher to your advantage. There's a teacher conference in a few weeks, involving both your school district and hers. Maybe it'd be beneficial to actually go to one for a change."
"Make contact with a FBI agent, huh?" KID says, "I'll sign up as soon as I know what's on that disc. It'd be stupid to go in without knowing how far they've gotten."
It's not until he's closed the door behind him, that Akako realises his tea has gone untouched.
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