-21: Pre-Positioning-

It did worry me though. All through the shower, the warning tapped at the surface of my mind like the water at my skin. It buzzed distractions into my ear as I dressed and it took two tries to knot my tie. Even if Kawana wasn't unerringly accurate with this information, that still meant he was only mostly right. There's enough to worry about, even with this warning.

My thoughts ticked away until I got out to the curb and saw Hasuko waiting.

"Sorry." I absentmindedly apologized. "Ran a bit late after last night."

"It's all right, I'm actually a bit early today. Speaking of last night," She wove the car into the flow of commuters, "you might have a few admirers in my office. Two of my cubicle-neighbors asked who the handsome gentleman was, leaving notes at my desk."

"Oh." Honestly, I had no idea what to say to that.

"Don't 'oh' me, you're not in trouble! Unless some of the others also take a liking to you."

Tell her she should claim you first. "Well, I suppose that isn't too bad."

"Certainly not for you."

I probably overthought that all the way to the parking garage. Did she mean I would be in trouble if I distracted the other people, that I would get dragged into some kind of romantic polyhedron? Or would Hasuko be the one I'd be in trouble with? And then there was her last line. I wasn't even going to dig into that.

Thankfully, there was plenty to distract me at the office. Kureo was overseeing a busy planning table, and sorting through a sizable pile in an office on the third floor. He smiled at me and gave a brief wave. I nodded back, though what I really wanted to do was put a screen between myself and that unsettling grimace. At least with Juuzou, the childish glee was more believable.

"You and Amon did it!" He beamed. "You and Amon confirmed my hypothesis with your late night work! It is now officially confirmed that numbers seven-four-three and seven-four-five are connected and all but confirmed that the pair are ghouls."

"Where's Amon?"

"He's getting the Investigators who missed making your wonderful discovery together. With luck, we'll be ready to move well before noon. "

This was moving faster than I thought. "Today?"

"Yes, yes." Kureo waved my attention down to the map he was working on and began tracing a path. "Every other day, generally between one and two, the subjects make a direct route through the suburbs here. If we use the ghoul sense of smell to our advantage, we can intercept them here."

He tapped his finger on a point, about two blocks from the middle of the route.

"Looks good enough. I'm guessing you picked there to block them in?" I guessed. Well, not really guessed; I knew what an ambush looked like.

"Indeed. While these streets are pedestrian only, this spot is an ideal because of the nearby parking we can wait at, to subdue our scent while the chasers herd them into place."

"What if they aren't ghouls?"

"Then they won't notice the others and we can simply question them on the mask and odd…coincidences." Kureo had clearly thought this through. "But that's unlikely. Are you feeling doubtful as to the nature of our duty?"

"No." Yes. "Covering all possibilities is simply the best course of action."

"Good." He fixed me with a piercing stare. "I saw how unhappy you were after exterminating number six-nine-six. You cannot allow foolish sentimentality to take root in your heart. It will quench your flame and send you into darkness."

I was almost like we were reliving the meeting that had take place the previous day.

Same floor, same room with a wall of windows, same people, same seats. The only changes were the gloomy sky outside and the comparatively better news Amon shared. After Amon had finished with sharing his and my find, and subtly admonishing the pair, Kureo took center stage, laying out his map. Admittedly, while I kept my apparent attention on the map, I kept my attention on the gray skies out of the corner of my eye.

If I was lucky, any rain would hold off until tonight, when I could go out and sit at a little sidewalk place with an awning. Just to listen to the patter of water on fabric and the dancing reflections in puddles.

"—location will prove ideal for extermination; closing off escape routes and confining movement."

I blinked, attention suddenly back in the moment. "No capture?"

"Why show mercy to a monster?" Kureo looked at me as if I had sprouted extra limbs.

There was no reply I could think of that didn't put me in a bad light, so I simply kept my mouth shut.

Amon hardly spared me a glance, and went back to laying out the finer points of the plan.

"That's it then." Kureo spoke with a giggle. "The pieces are on the board; all we need to do is take our places. I can hardly wait to ask seven-two-three 'how does it feel'."

Once again, he stroked the top of his case as if it were a newborn. He desperately wanted this to end in a fight. And he may well do something stupid to ensure it.

After the plan had been disseminated, we rode down to the garage to pick up a vehicle, three of us in one elevator and the two in the other. We divided into cars the same way as well, with Kureo in the backseat with his case across his lap. At least Amon was driving more carefully with his partner in the vehicle.

"I will not pretend to understand your preoccupation with mercy, Allen. I would rather you explain it."