Chapter Thirty-Six: Sadness

Mogi had no idea how to handle the situation, but it was clear that he was the only person who was ready to take the initiative.

He looked over at Matsuda. The younger officer was talking to Naoki, who he had apparently convinced to sit down. A moment later, Matsuda turned and trotted over to Mogi.

"Mogi," Matsuda said.

"Yes? What is it?" Mogi asked, although he was almost completely certain that he had been singled out for calm-the-irate-girl-down duty.

"Can't you…like…I don't know…" Matsuda mumbled.

"Make Callie like Naoki again?" Mogi asked, "I don't think so. But I will talk to her, if that's what you're asking."

Matsuda looked relieved.

"Thanks. I think she's kinda driving Naoki nuts."

"You could also ask Sayu," Mogi said, not because he particularly wanted to get out of talking to Callie, but because he thought that she might prefer hearing a lecture from another girl.

"Well…" Matsuda said, glancing at Sayu, "I guess…but I don't really want to bother her."

Mogi briefly considered telling Matsuda that he was being bothered, but decided against it, since he would have gone to attempt to reason with Callie whether or not he was asked.

"I'll go talk to Callie," he said, and walked away before Matsuda could reply.

He hoped Callie hadn't gone far. He didn't know the building very well…and it could take him a long time to find her…

As it turned out, he nearly tripped over her. Callie was sitting on the floor around the corner from the main room.

"Callie!" Mogi exclaimed, startled at having nearly stepped on her, "There you are."

"Go away, Mogi," Callie mumbled.

Mogi was thoroughly tired of being told to go away, and he did not plan to leave until he was ready.

"Callie, we need to have a reasonable talk, preferably free from screaming," he said.

"Go talk to your shoe," Callie grumbled.

"Callie," Mogi said, "That's enough."

He must have actually sounded as if he meant it, because Callie immediately quit talking, and began playing with her hair instead.

"Okay," she murmured, "So what do you want?"

"I think you need to…" Mogi paused.

"How do I go about this…? I understand why she doesn't want to be around Naoki, but she doesn't need to keep going crazy the moment he shows up."

"I think you need to put yourself in Naoki's place," he said, "Say you're the one who made a bad decision, and no one trusts you anymore. Wouldn't you want people to forgive you?"

"But he's the bad guy," Callie said, "He…he helped…he was gonna kill Matsuda."

"But then he saved Matsuda," Mogi said, "Don't you think that changes things?"

"I…I guess…" Callie stammered.

Callie couldn't understand why Mogi kept taking Naoki's side.

"Doesn't he get it? Naoki was my friend, and then he turned out to have been a spy the whole time…which means that he was never my friend. Ever. But…Mogi's right…he did save Matsu…"

"Okay, Mogi," she said, "I'll try. But it's not gonna be the same, understand? I'm not gonna just forget about what he did."

"I understand," Mogi said, not seeming overly surprised by this statement, "That's a start, anyway."

"Yeah," Callie muttered, "Like I'm ever gonna forgive and forget…? That only happens in the movies."

She thought about everything that had happened in the past week and a half.

"Although I thought a lot of things only happened in the movies…and then they ended up being real."

Matsuda was distracted, and he had decided that he wasn't the only one. The only people who seemed to be able to focus at all were Rester, Mogi, and, oddly, Sayu. Everyone else seemed more or less preoccupied, although Amity and Gevanni interjected their opinion into the conversation from time to time. Finally, after a long and mostly meaningless discussion, Rester spoke up.

"I think we've decided that what we really need to do is figure out how to keep something like what happened to Lidner and Ide-and what almost happened to Matsuda and Aizawa-from happening again. We need to find some way to never be caught off-guard. Question is…how?"

"It would be helpful if we knew the particulars of the various murder attempts-especially the latest one," Amity said, "I think I can trust that you have told me everything about what happened to you and Naoki, Matsuda?"

It took Matsuda a moment to realize that Amity was speaking to him.

"Huh…? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think so."

"Good," Amity said, "Aizawa is really the only witness to what happened…although we could question his family. They might have seen something…"

"Seriously?" Matsuda asked, "Eriko and those kids…how do you think they're gonna feel? I mean, Aizawa's in the hospital, their house is half destroyed…where are they even at right now?"

He couldn't believe he hadn't thought to ask earlier. Where was Eriko, and where were her and Aizawa's kids?

"I asked," Amity said, "She said that they would try to find a hotel after they got some kind of word on Mr. Aizawa."

"Its morning now," Matsuda said, "So…do you think we should find them?"

"We don't have their number," Amity said.

"Oh."

And that was how it went: one of them suggesting, and the others pointing out why they couldn't do it.

Eventually, Matsuda got tired of it, and stood up, intending to go locate the SPK's kitchen, and steal a soda, if they had any.

As he scanned the room, wondering which direction the kitchen was in, he noticed Naoki sitting in the corner, leaning his chair back against the wall, and staring at the ceiling. He looked tired, sad, and, as far as Matsuda could tell, thoroughly depressed. Although that was hardly surprising.

Forgetting his original intentions, Matsuda went over to Naoki.

"What's so interesting on the ceiling?" he asked.

Naoki sighed.

"I dunno."

"Well…you seemed kinda fascinated…" Matsuda said. "Are you…okay?"

"Yeah, I'm doing great," Naoki said sarcastically, "Everyone hates me, except for you, and now you guys are apparently leaderless and disorganized. All is right with the world!"

"Naoki," Matsuda said, "It's not that bad. Really. Everything's gonna work out."

"I'm not too sure," Naoki said, "I don't really think it's gonna end the way you think. I think maybe…maybe I won't be there in the end."

"What is he talking about?" Matsuda thought, "Is he crazy?"

"Look…Matsu…" Naoki mumbled, "Whatever happens…it won't be your fault, okay?"

"You're going to walk out of this alive," Matsuda said, "We all are."

But he knew it was a lie, even as he said it. It was a flat out lie, and no one knew better than he himself when he was lying. Because, even now, not everyone was going to be all right. Two people were already dead. And he was starting to wonder…if Aizawa was hurt that bad…would he be all right?