Chapter 21 Back to Hebion!
Mink leave the room, and as if to switch places with him, a colorful cockatoo comes in. He leaves something near my legs.
...Oh. My bag!
"It's your stuff. Take it." The cockatoo flaps his wings and speak to me in a dandy voice. Of course, it's an Allmate, not a real bird. I've seen this bird somewhere before. I'm pretty sure he was resting on Mink's shoulder...
"Are you Mink's Allmate?"
"I am." He replies and flaps his wings again before quickly leaving through the door.
That's Mink's...
I think over the strangeness of the situation and then pick up my bag. I unzip it a little to check to see if everything's in there. Inside is a ball of dark blue fur and my Coil. "...Ren." He didn't break, right...? I hold him up and put him lightly to my face, which starts him up.
"...Aoba."
"Thank goodness..." I see Ren open his eyes and I let out a sigh of relief. "Are you okay? Any problems anywhere?"
"No."
"I see. I'll examine you later just to make sure." While I pet Ren's head, I put my Coil back onto my arm. When I took at the screen, I see an icon flash repeatedly, indicating unread messages. "Whoa..." My log starts to fill up with received messages like raging waves. They're all from Koujaku. I redial him, flustered.
"Aoba!?" Koujaku immediately picks up on the first ring.
"Yeah."
"You...Where have you been!?"
"Sorry."
"I was so worried, you weren't picking up at all!"
"Some things happened...But I'm going home now, so we'll talk later." I said.
"Got it. I'm at Heibon right now, so go there."
"Okay."
Hearing Koujaku's voice bounced me back to reality in an instant. With Dry Juice and Granny gone, and even being dragged here... Outrageous things keep happening one after the other, and by now I'm feeling numb to it. But this is reality.
And they'll keep happening.
...I should go.
I took some of my meds for my headaches, picked up my bag, and left the room. From the outside view, I realized that the building I was taken to was in the North District. I leave the building and face the direction of the East District.
I don't know how much time I spent in that gloomy building, but the sun was high up in the sky as I left. Mink traveled through back streets rather than the main ones. It seems like he doesn't want to be seen by too many people. For a person like him, there might be a reason he doesn't want to be seen...
The headaches calmed down considerably, but I'm not in top shape and walk slowly. A distance starts to open up between Mink and I. We turn a bunch of corners, and I find myself about to lose sight of the back I'm supposed to follow.
"Hey, wait...!" I turn a corner to get catch up to Mink and...Surprise. Right as I turn the corner, I find Mink standing there, staring down at me. Mink immediately averts his gaze and walks away.
I walked the rest of the way without a word, and eventually my surroundings changed. A little farther and I'll be at Heibon. Just the thought of being back warmed my heart with a feeling of extreme nostalgia. When I see Heibon's sign, a shadow suddenly jumps at me from above.
"Master-!"
"C-Clear!?"
The one who was calling to me...was Clear.
Clear fell face first to the ground, but he stood up, upbeat as usual, and clung to me. "Master! I'm so glad! Were you taken away somewhere!?"
"Ah...No."
"As long as you're safe! Last night I heard your voice from far away, and I got worried!"
"My voice?" I questioned.
"Yes!"
Last night...
That's when I was taken to that building by Mink...
"Did you really hear me?"
There's no way he could.
"Yes, I did! No matter the circumstances, I could never mistake Master's voice for anyone else's!" Clear responded.
"...Haha, I see. Thanks for that, then." I chuckled nervously.
"Huh?" Clear tilts his head and stares at me: then he pulls on my face again. "But you're a lot more relaxed now...I wonder why? Out of all the people, I wouldn't have imagined Master to be like that."
"Gah! You-!" I take a step back and escape from his fingers. Then I notice that Mink is watching us.
"..."
"...ah..." I have an idea of what Mink is thinking now...Pretty much.
How awkward...
"Now, please come inside, Master."
.
.
"...Aoba!"
"Aoba-chan!"
We go inside Heibon, and both Haga-san and Koujaku leap up, all color drained from their faces.
"Are you okay?" Koujaku immediately asked.
"Sort of." I said.
"That's good to hear." Haga-san sighs in relief.
"Hey, is that dog okay too?" Beni asked.
"I'm here." Ren's head pops out of my bag and looks up to Beni, who is perched on Koujaku.
"This gas mask guy came over to me and said you were kidnapped!" Koujaku said. "I didn't believe it at first, but I couldn't get in contact with you! And when I tried to ask Tae-san, I couldn't reach her either! I know she hates Coils, but..." Koujaku looks behind me, clearly scowling. "Hey, that guy..."
"Ah, um-"
"You bastard...You're Scratch's Head, aren't you!"
Scratch?
Isn't that the name of a Rib team made up of prisoners?
"...Huh?"
"You didn't even notice?" Koujaku asked me once he saw that the name clicked to me.
"No...I never saw their tag art."
"...Hmph." Mink finds my stupidity amusing and snorts.
That building was so dark and dirty that I couldn't see a thing, either...I think I remember seeing some kind of tag art there...
Based off of appearances, you could say that Scratch is just a Rib team, but in actuality it's a gang of prisoners.
In short, it's a group of violent prison escapees.
The police don't do anything, and no one wants to mess with them either.
...So that was it. And those 'punishments', too... Banding a mass of prisoners together isn't the easiest thing to do. You'd have to have serious authority in a lawless place. Even so, there's still discipline in the team.
"Shit, a newcomer?" Beni glares at the cockatoo with an intensity. It doesn't make an eye contact, showing that it doesn't care in the slightest.
"What a lovely cockatoo." Haga-san said.
"It is. It's a beautiful cockatoo." Clear agreed.
"Heh, don't be fooled. He's a bitch, I can tell!" Beni glared.
"You're quite a noisy fellow. How about you replace that habit of bantering with singing instead?"
"-You! Don't you mess with me!" Beni's feathers fluff out. Like a real bird, his hostility is clearly visible.
"This is just great. Running into some low-life scum. Go back to your cell like a good little boy." Koujaku said.
"You clearly don't think before you speak."
"Whaddya say? Why are you with Aoba? What are you trying to do here? She's got no money."
"It has nothing to do with you."
"Huh? Are you trying to start something?"
The tension between Mink and Koujaku seems pretty dangerous...
"Ko-Koujaku-kun, calm down." Haga-san said to him also feeling the tension between the two.
"Now, let's just go inside. This is the entrance anyway." I said.
"...Tch." Koujaku glares at Mink and clicks his tongues. Mink's expression doesn't really change, but he keeps looking at Koujaku. They were a lot more considerate earlier before...I feel a sudden wave of tiredness as we all enter the shop.
In the storehouse in Heibon's basement, we start a makeshift meeting held around a table, sitting on the sofas.