"There are a hundred possible payphones," Kaito said. He handed Ryoga a map. "I expanded the scope of my original search. We need to narrow them down to the most likely ones we don't attract attention while we're canvassing."
"How?" Ryoga glanced at the map. He recognized three of the payphones, the ones that were in the red light district. He was going to make Kaito canvass those. Someone would recognize Ryoga if he went, and as long as the Barians kept feeding him, he wasn't going back there.
He crossed out the few payphones he and Kaito had surveyed yesterday. They'd run into trouble on their way out, and come out with three identical Numbers (Kaito's opponent had had two, Ryoga was still seething) but by that point it had been too late to keep going.
"By picking out which ones have the least surveillance."
Ryoga frowned. "You're assuming the guy who tipped off the cops knew what he was doing?"
"Yes…" Kaito stared at him. "You don't think so?"
"Makes sense," Ryoga mumbled. He had to be careful. He doubted Yuuma had known what he was getting into when he called the cops, but he could guess which payphone he'd used - there was one near the station Ryoga had dumped him at - and it wasn't on Kaito's map.
At the same time, if he was too careful, Kaito would know that Ryoga was holding back. "How'd you pick these thirty?"
"Based on their proximity to the raid and on whether they were in use at the time for a call I could trace." Kaito shrugged. "Regular calls aren't as highly secured. Orbital 7 retrieved the call logs."
"Hmph."
"What?"
"If they knew what they were doing, why would they call from near the raid?"
Kaito pulled up a map of the building they'd been dueling in onscreen. "Judging from the way the raid was carried out, whoever called them told them where in the building we were and how the room was laid out."
"Hmph," Ryoga repeated. Inwardly, he was confused. How would Yuuma have known that? There was no way he could have, unless he'd been there, or talked to someone who had.
Maybe he'd talked to one of the duelists in the dueling ring. Ryoga decided he wouldn't suggest that to Kaito.
"Of course, it's possible they knew someone who was present, or were a duelist in that ring, so we'll have to track them down. The ones who weren't arrested."
Fuck, Ryoga thought. Dammit, Yuuma, I hope you covered your tracks. I told you not to get involved!
A tiny voice reminded him that Yuuma had been involved before he had been, but he dismissed it as a stupid little voice.
"Ryoga." Kaito's tone changed. Ryoga tensed. "How did you find out about that place?"
Ryoga couldn't hesitate. "Some guy I dueled before was talking about it."
"Who?"
Ryoga rattled off a name.
"You should talk to him again."
"Hn." Ryoga had made that name up. And now he was going to have to come up with a better explanation, and soon. Kaito would check.
Kaito glanced around the lab, which was a mess. There were papers everywhere, maps and call logs and time lines displayed on every available screen, and a bag of trash from the takeout Kaito had made Orbital 7 pick up. He swept everything off the stretcher that lay in the center of the room.
"Get to work." He hefted himself onto the stretcher and stripped off his jacket and shirt. Kaito began taping electrodes to his chest. He worked fast enough that Ryoga could tell he'd done hundreds of times. "I'll...join you later."
After he got whatever treatment he was getting for his Photon disease or whatever. Ryoga had seen him give himself injections, and hook himself up to an IV with a bag of disturbing green fluid, and study the readings from a box that pierced his palm with a needle. Orbital 7 was always taking readings and reminding Kaito he had however many minutes of dueling time he had.
Last night had been good for Kaito, he knew, just based on the frequency of Orbital 7's whining. And they had enough Numbers that they could focus on the investigation (much as it galled Ryoga to have to work for IV's brother, he had no choice if he wanted to try and keep Yuuma out of it) so Ryoga had no excuse for not getting right to work.
He wanted to see Rio, though.
"Right." Ryoga snatched up the map and folded it messily. He shoved it into an inside pocket of his jacket. "Later."
"Tch," Kaito replied. He was inserting his own IV carefully while Orbital 7 charged silently in the background. Ryoga nodded at him, not wanting to wait any longer, and headed out.
His sleeve was beginning to fray, already, even though these clothes were new. They were mostly like his old set, the same style of jacket and pants, just without the gem studs at the wrists and down the front, and in a more muted purple. And they were warmer.
But not sturdier. There was something steadying about the fraying, the reminder of how poor he really was. He couldn't get comfortable. One mistake, and he would lose everything, and he would have to go back to much worse things.
He missed his old clothes. He'd stolen them years ago when the clothes he was wearing stopped fitting. They'd been in the window of some designer shop. Ryoga could never have dreamed of affording new clothes back then, let alone expensive ones, but he'd convinced the gang he was hit to rob the store. Then he'd made off with the clothes in the confusion.
He'd gotten much better at taking care of himself after that. Maybe he could have bought or stolen new clothes. But those had been special, because they were his, just because he'd wanted them. He'd been selfish, just that once.
He doubted Kaito, who owned an endless supply of his flashy Photon Mode outfit, could understand. But the fraying made this jacket a little more like that jacket, and it made Ryoga like it a little bit more.
Rio would have understood, even if she'd have laughed at him. Maybe.
It had been a few days since Ryoga came to the hospital, but the side door he used to sneak in hadn't had the passcode changed yet. He punched it in, one-two-one-three, and climbed the seven flights of stairs to the floor with the coma ward. Rio's room was the last room in the hallway, and there was nowhere to hide between the ward entrance and her door. Ryoga always took it at a dead run.
The nurses were having some kind of meeting, and Ryoga slipped past them. Not that it would have mattered; some of them knew him, and covered for him. They liked him, despite or because he was so pitiful.
Rio was the same as she always was. It still hurt.
"I'll get you more Barianite next week." He sat down in the recliner that was sitting next to her bed. One of the volunteers who read to coma patients must have been by. "I won a lot of Numbers. You should be good for a couple weeks."
He was forgetting how to talk to her. Ryoga blinked back tears.
She hated it when he cried.
"So, what, you just gonna sleep?" He picked up her limp hand. "And you used to call me lazy…"
The monitor continued to beep slowly.
"You're such a bitch. Going into a coma after a stupid fire. it's pathetic."
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Fuck you, Rio," he mumbled. "I hate you."
He thought about Kaito, and his dead-eyed little brother, and Yuuma with the sister that yelled at him, and the way his parents had screamed in the moments before they'd died.
He thought about IV, with a brother on each side, mocking him.
They lived, and Rio was...Rio was…
He wouldn't cry.
At least, not until he was somewhere Rio couldn't hear it. Just in case she was still listening.
Chris still hadn't sent him the satellite imagery he had asked for, or any of the other information Kaito needed to continue his investigation into the raid, but he had sent Kaito the profile of the energy reading they were all supposed to be tracking.
A brief search using the image Tron had provided of the Numbers had yielded no results in the database of Numbers the Hunters kept, or in the official card database. And Kaito had never seen any signs of other hunters, or any reports of soulless bodies. But that did leave him with a lead, because Ryoga was a Numbers Hunter who had the ability to take Numbers without taking souls.
Kaito hadn't had an opportunity to search Ryoga's deck and confirm he wasn't the Numbers Hunter they were hunting (although he doubted it; the Barians could easily capture Ryoga if that were true). And he couldn't see any reason for Ryoga to betray them so stupidly. Ryoga needed them, and he wouldn't jeopardize himself.
But he was...unusual. Perhaps the Hunter they were searching for was too.
Most of the blood sample he'd gotten from Ryoga initially was gone, used up in experiments, and the data it had yielded had been useful. But with a fresh sample, he could compare it to the energy profile Chris had sent. Or even scan Ryoga himself - Orbital 7 could do it discreetly - now that he had an idea of what he was looking for.
Ryoga had a sister, but no other siblings or living family members, so unless he had unknown relatives, whatever was different about him wasn't genetic. Kaito had checked himself, reluctantly, to see if it could be sexually transmitted or transmitted by close contact (although with Ryoga's history the odds were minuscule.)
Which left him with no idea what the connection was. It would help, he thought, if he knew more about Ryoga. He could bring it up with V…
He dismissed the idea immediately. He could only imagine what Tron would do if Kaito showed him the connection. They would hurt Ryoga.
Not that it matters. It would just hamper my investigation, and lessen my efficiency.
He'd ask Ryoga for a second blood sample when he saw him next. Explain why he needed it. Perhaps Ryoga would have an idea.
His medication was almost done infusing. Kaito checked the bag - it was near empty - and tossed a stapler at Orbital 7. It landed with a crash near his head.
"Kaito-sama!"
"Get up. We're leaving."
"Yes…" Orbital disconnected himself from the charging port and began tidying the nearest lab bench. Even being modified for hunting and combat couldn't break him of his babysitting habits. He was a nursing bot at heart, even though he served Kaito in a different capacity now.
He grabbed a copy of the map and sent Ryoga a message demanding to know which sites he'd covered. Kaito could start at the opposite end of town, and work his way across. It was safer if they avoided been seen together too often by people they weren't going to duel.
Ryoga's reply told him to fuck off, and also that he had started on the eastern most end, nearest the hospital.
He must have been visiting his sister, Kaito thought, and his chest twinged.
Get to work, he messaged back. He unhooked his IV and slapped some gauze and medical tape over it, to stem the bleeding. It was sore; he would use the other arm next time. It was best to rotate the site of infusion as much as possible.
He put on his shirt, then his jacket. "Orbital 7!"
"Yes, Kaito-sama! Flight mode engaged!"
"Wait until we're outside!"
"Yes, sir!"
Kaito steeled himself as he flew. This would be his most difficult mission yet.
He had to talk to people, and make them answer his questions, without threatening them.
"Kaito-sama, if you wish, I can do the surveillance…" Orbital's voice quavered.
"I'm perfectly capable," Kaito lied. He landed on a rooftop, and checked the map while Orbital 7 switched to normal mode. He could see the payphone from the rooftop; there was an adult video store across the street from it, with huge tinted windows. There were displays behind the glass, but sightlines would still be good.
He would go inside and ask. No problem.
Kaito climbed down a fire escape, jumping the last ten feet to the ground, and crossed the street quickly. No one was around to catch him going into the video store.
The first thing he saw was a mannequin, bent over, wearing a strap-on. This seemed to be in defiance of the way Kaito had thought strap-ons were used.
The second thing he noted was the clerk, leaned against the counter by the register, looking deeply bored. She was playing a noisy video game on her phone.
"You looking for something?"
Kaito glanced over his shoulder. He could clearly see the payphone through the window.
"That payphone. Were you here two days ago?"
"Maybe."
"What time?"
"Look, this is a clean place, we don't do anything illegal -"
"I'm not here about the shop!" Kaito sucked in a deep breath. "I want to know if you saw anyone use that payphone between five and seven pm."
"Nah. No one." Now that Kaito wasn't threatening her livelihood, the clerk turned her attention back to her game. 'You want anything? Dildos are half-off right now."
"No," Kaito said firmly. He left the store.
A passerby eyed him suspiciously. Kaito glared.
He was deeply relieved when, while checking the site of his next pay phone, his phone rang. It was a text message from Tron.
Kaito was less relieved.
"Surprise Numbers collection," Kaito read. Their quotas weren't due for another three days. What was Tron doing, collecting them early?
Trying to undermine Ryoga and himself, of course. The Arclights had probably just made quota, so Tron was trying to find an excuse to punish them. After all, if they didn't do well, he could justify his decision to keep his Hunters in charge and make them the only recipients of Barian crests. And he would continue to stay in the Barians' favor, while Heartland and Faker were...not.
He was in for a nasty surprise, then, because he and Ryoga were doing exceptionally well.
Ryoga messaged him next. Tron?
Kaito typed back, we scare him. He could imagine Ryoga smirking. Find anything?
No, Ryoga replied.
Kaito hadn't expected anything different. He pocketed his phone and began walking towards where Orbital 7 was hiding, badly. Maybe white was not the best choice for his color...Kaito would consider repainting him a more subtle shade of grey.
"Orbital. Headquarters."
The city grew smaller as he took off and flew. Kaito much preferred it that way.
Tron and the Arclights were waiting when he arrived, in Kaito's decoy lab. They were obviously searching it for information - V was trying to guess his password - when he walked in. Kaito stood in the doorway and watched in silence for a few minutes as V tried various things: Haruto, Christopher, his mother's first name.
The password was actually a sixteen-character string of letters, numbers , and symbols, because Kaito wasn't an idiot.
He heard Ryoga's distinct footsteps behind him, and cleared his throat.
"Excuse me," he said as Ryoga shoved past him.
"Kaito," IV said. He was posing against the computer bank. Kaito had never really cared for IV before, but the way Ryoga ground his teeth every time IV was present was rapidly ruining his opinion of him.
He was sure Ryoga's story about IV attacking his sister was true. Nothing else could make anyone so insane with rage.
Kaito grabbed the back of Ryoga's jacket in warning. It was fraying, he noted. He should replace it. Later.
"Now that we're all here," Tron said. He clapped his hands together. "Let's see your Numbers!"
Kaito dropped his seven Numbers on the table. Ryoga produced his six, glaring at Kaito's stack (they had flipped a coin for first choice of opponent, Ryoga had won and chosen wrong). III had two; IV had three; V had two.
Tron carefully examined each of their stacks. He looked angrier and angrier as it became clear how outclassed the Arclights had been. He was dangerous, and there would be reprisal. But Kaito savored the moment anyway, savored Chris's expression, savored the way Ryoga's mouth had turned up at the corner as IV sweat.
"Well," Tron said. He sounded like he was trying to sound normal (normal for Tron) and he was failing. His voice was shaking with rage. "Since you two have been so busy, perhaps I should increase your quotas."
"Naturally." Kaito smiled. "And you'll report that to the Barians - that Ryoga and I are such able Hunters?"
Tron looked murderous. "Kaito…"
"Yes?"
And then Tron smiled. "Ryoga. Since you won't be hunting, IV will be borrowing you."
"Fuck no -"
"Or else I'll get rid of you!"
"No, you won't." Ryoga rolled his eyes. "Don't make threats you can't back up."
"Fine! Then I'll reduce your pay -the Barians don't enjoy giving you Barianite, I assure you. It goes to waste, after all, if you aren't distributing it." Tron adjusted his mask. "IV. Take him. Put him to some use."
"Yes, Tron." IV was smirking again, but he looked a little strained now.
"V. Kaito. I expect results."
"Yes, Tron," V said. "Kaito. Come."
Kaito wanted to protest. He absolutely didn't want Ryoga to go with IV, but he couldn't think of anything he could do that would help. And he absolutely couldn't risk Tron doing something to Haruto, like withholding his treatments.
Ryoga shrugged, the motion so forced Kaito's shoulders twinged in sympathy. "Fine. Let's go, IV."
"Yes." IV said. "Let's."
The two of them left, III following silently behind, flanking Ryoga. V pointed at the computer bank, and Kaito moved to unlock it. He would change his password later; the whole system could be controlled remotely from his real lab. He had stored a fraction of his data here for V's eyes.
He listened for Ryoga's footsteps until they faded away.
By the next morning, Yuuma had decided he liked Rei a lot.
He was so earnest, and Yuuma had felt connected to him immediately - they were on the same mission, believing in the same things, even wearing kind of the same outfit - so much so that he'd promised to come back the next night.
"Oh, but Yuuma...I know you're busy…" Rei had glanced at Astral.
"This is the most important thing," Yuuma had said. Astral hadn't looked happy.
It wasn't that the Numbers were unimportant. Yuuma knew they were, and he knew, with the duplicate Numbers appearing and the further fragmenting of his memories, Astral had to be worried he'd never regain them all. But even when Yuuma did nothing, Numbers just appeared in front of him. And Shark had told him that the Numbers were somehow connected to the Barianite.
Now their enemy had a name. They were Barians. And Yuuma was going to find them, and find out why they were doing this to innocent people, and figure out how to stop them.
Last night had been a success. Yuuma had been able to help three of the duelists there by following them to the train station and getting onto their train. They hadn't believed him at first - in fact, one had tried to duel him and the other had socked Yuuma in his already bruised eye - but in the end he'd been able to cure them. They'd been grateful. One of them had shown him a picture of their little daughter.
Poor Rei had hidden behind him. As it turned out, he wasn't a great duelist.
But that was fine. He was good at finding Barianite rings, and Yuuma could handle everything else. They were going to be a great team. Him and Rei. And Astral.
It wasn't that Astral wasn't great, because he was! But he wanted Yuuma to be careful, and focus on the Numbers, and no one else could see or hear him. Rei was a flesh and blood human just like Yuuma, with Yuuma's problems, and he understood that Yuuma could never let the city be consumed by drugs and danger if he could stop it.
This was home.
After a brief and deep night's sleep, Yuuma dressed, and iced his face before going to school. He was late, a piece of toast jammed in his mouth, when he saw Rei fighting with an O-bot.
Yuuma rushed to the rescue.
"Hey! Leave him alone!"
"You are a dumbass!" The O-bot yelled, and it rippe Rei's deck off his belt. "Goodbye!"
Then the O-bot started rolling away, fast. Rei tried to grab onto it, but it shook him off, and Yuuma's attempts to grab it were even more useless. He and Rei saw on the ground, stunned, as the O-bot escaped.
"What was that? Geez, that O-bot was weird." Yuuma dusted himself off. His pride was sore, but it was nothing a little kattobingu couldn't fix. "You okay?"
Rei's eyes filled with tears. "My deck…"
Yuuma slapped his back. "Don't worry! I'll get it back for you!"
"Really?"
"Really!"
"Yuuma, you're the best! I don't know what I would do if you weren't here." Rei clung to his arm. Yuuma grinned as he gently pried his fingers off.
"Ah, it's nothing...right, Astral?"
"You should go to school," Astral said tonelessly.
"Aw, come on!"
"He's right, Yuuma. I'll track that O-bot down! Then, after school, I'll come get you, okay?"
"Alright! but, uh, meet me over here, okay? Not at school!"
"Eh? Yuuma…" Rei's eyes filled with tears again. "You're embarrassed of me?"
"No!" Yuuma shook his head violently. He hadn't meant for Rei to take it like that! "If my friends see you, they'll wanna know what's going on. It's too dangerous for them."
"Of course...okay, right here is where I'll be!" Rei linked arms with him again. "I'll walk you to school!"
Yuuma was suddenly reminded of the feel of Shark's hand. He jerked away. Rei looked hurt.
"Nah, it's okay! I got it!" He took off running before Rei could protest.
He made it to school on time, so no one asked him any difficult questions. Ukio-sensei eyed his face suspiciously, but he didn't say anything. Kotori put some make up on him the bathroom during lunch.
Yuuma told her about Shark while she patted powder around his eye.
"He sounds like a bad guy," Kotori said seriously. She produced a tube of thick beige liquid and began using it on his face. "Be careful, Yuuma."
"I am," he said. Kotori raised her eyebrows, looking eerily like Astral, who floated behind her and made the same expression.
"Okay." She patted his shoulder. "Let's have lunch."
The day seemed to fly by. Before long, it was over. The bell rang. His friends went to the arcade, and Yuuma and Astral made their way back to the place he'd run into Rei before.
Rei was already there, sitting on a curb and playing with a yo-yo. "Yuuma!"
"Rei! Find anything?"
"Yeah! That O-bot is hanging out at the marina." Rei lowered his voice. "And it has a Numbers!"
"What? A robot duelist?" Yuuma pumped his fist. "Alright! A challenge! Let's go, Astral!"
"Perhaps this Numbers will have more memories as to my purpose here on Earth," Astral said quietly.
"I hope so," Yuuma said. He glanced up at Astral. "But if not...I'm not giving up until you get all your memories back, okay? Even if it takes a long time."
"Of course," Astral said.
He doesn't believe me, Yuuma thought. It hurt.
He followed Rei down to the marina, using several shortcuts that were increasingly dubious. One hour, three alleyways that were dead ends, and a trip through the rose bushes later, they arrived at the marina. There were boats of all shapes and sizes docked, and it was crowded. Rei walked down the docks like he belonged there; Yuuma tried to mimic his stride.
"Over here," he whispered. He pointed; Yuuma followed his finger to a wooden shack that at by the docks. It looked like a fishing supply store. "The O-bot is in there."
"Okay," Yuuma replied. He nodded at Astral, who didn't respond. "We'll get the Numbers, and your deck back. Wait here!"
"But what if it's dangerous? I think I should watch," Rei said.
"Okay...be careful." Yuuma patted his shoulder. "Let's go!"
The door was unlocked, and it was dim inside. Rei closed the door behind them. It locked with a click.
It was a little like a horror movie Yuuma had once watched and vehemently denied being scared of. He clutched at his deck.
And then the O-bot appeared. Its eyes were glowing pink, and it was wearing a weirdly-shaped duel disk on one skinny metal arm.
"Duel Mode online," it said. "I challenge you!"
"Then let's duel!" Yuuma cried, and he slammed his deck into his duel disk. It glowed brightly for a moment, and the world tinted green briefly as his D-gazer went online. The on light lit up; everything was functioning correctly.
"I draw!"
IV took him to the red light district.
Ryoga was sweating by the time they got there. He had been initially afraid he'd be in a tournament - IV had to know he was afraid of them - and he'd been trying to prepare himself mentally. He'd managed alright during the last one, with Kaito there, but he had no desire to push himself.
Instead, they were here, in front of a bar. Ryoga had been to this bar before, when he was...practicing. It was easy to pick up men, or be picked up. He'd learned a lot here.
Mostly, that he had no shame, no limits, no line that he wouldn't cross for Rio. It had been comforting to know he could do it, once he stopped being disgusted with himself.
These days, Ryoga could get fucked, collect his money or information, and not ever throw up afterwards or cry.
"One of the tech guys from the Heartland police is in there," IV said. III handed Ryoga a creased polaroid; the mark was middle-aged, balding, pudgy, wearing yellow plaid.
"Yeah?" Ryoga made himself sound bored. Maybe if he didn't give IV a reaction, he'd reveal what the real plan was.
"Yeah. Fuck him, and pick his pockets, and see if you can get him to reveal some police secrets during the pillow talk."
"No one makes pillow talk with whores," Ryoga said tightly.
"Then you'll have to work extra hard." IV smirked, like he'd made a hilarious joke. Ryoga had heard that one hundreds of times. Rikuo and Kaio had made that joke, it was that dumb.
He rolled his eyes. His stomach was turning over, and he ignored. IV wanted a show? Fine. Ryoga could give him a show. He could do this.
He shrugged off his jacket and thrust it at III, who took it. His blank expression twisted for a moment. Good. Then Ryoga ran his fingers through his hair until he felt it was sufficiently mussed, and he took his his belt and shifted his deck base so that it was strapped around his thigh.
"I charge by the hour," Ryoga said. When IV just looked at him, he sighed. "Pay up."
"Excuse me?"
"Either pay me, asshole, or do it yourself."
IV stared at him. "You're joking."
"I don't joke." Ryoga was so tense he was aching, the desire to hurt IV was so strong, and he couldn't indulge it one way, so he would indulge it in others.
He didn't want IV to think he could order Ryoga around, just because Tron said so. Not without consequences.
IV produced a wallet - made of leather, expensive - and handed him a wad of cash. Ryoga counted it slowly, watching IV twitch while he did it. Then he pocketed it. He slapped Ryoga on the shoulder.
Ryoga didn't hit him back. His nails dug into his palm, and he drew blood.
"Meet me back at headquarters."
"I'm waiting right here."
Ryoga shook his head. "You don't fit in."
"Obviously not," IV sneered.
"So get the fuck out, before someone sees us together and figures out why we're here, you fucking moron."
He didn't wait for their answer. He just started walking.
With his back turned, they couldn't see how hard he was breathing.
Calm down, he thought. You've done this before.
He slipped into the bar - the bouncer eyed him until Ryoga lifted an eyebrow and hissed, "I'm working," - after being informed the owner charged a ten percent commission for letting him work out of his place. That was fine with Ryoga. He handed the guy a few of IV's crisp bills, and suddenly he was a VIP.
"Looking for this guy," Ryoga said. He flashed the polaroid III had given him. "Who is he?"
"Oh, Okeda? He'll like you." The owner grinned. "End of the bar, baby."
"Fuck off," Ryoga said. He went to the end of the bar, and took a seat, two stools down from where Okeda was drinking liquor and looking surly. He was an ugly man; Ryoga hoped he wouldn't want Ryoga to top him. Or show actual signs of enjoyment.
He ordered himself a drink.
"Cash or credit?" the bartender asked.
Ryoga gestured to his right. "Put it on his tab."
Okeda looked up at him. Looked him up and down, like he was meat on the butchers' block. "Excuse me?"
Ryoga gulped down half a glass of his drink. It burned. "You heard me."
"You have expensive taste," Okeda said. "Am I buying you these drinks for free?"
Ryoga met his gaze. He tried to think of himself as empty, hollow, nothing inside him that Okeda could see in his eyes. His stomach hurt.
Come on, he thought, irritated. Let's get on with it.
"I don't know." Ryoga drained his glass. "Are you?"
"Oh." Okeda smiled into his glass. Ryoga was going to pick his pocket after this was over. Not because he needed to. Just out of spite. "I don't think so."
Finally, Ryoga thought.
Okeda slid into the seat beside him. He smelled like trash and booze. He touched Ryoga's shoulder, and Ryoga thought about nothing, nothing at all. He was empty, he was hollow, and he wouldn't allow himself to feel anything until it was over.
It was easiest that way.
